Shattered World

Story: Shattered World
Storylink: s/11654794/1/
Category: Naruto + RWBY Crossover
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Author: Codename-ShadowFox
Authorlink: u/3421662/
Last updated: 10/25/2017
Words: 150555
Rating: M
Status: In Progress
Content: Chapter 1 to 30 of 30 chapters
Source:

Summary: Locked in a sealed state as time passed him by, Naruto watched and learned as humanity dwindled and the Earth was slowly corrupted until at last it lashed back through the scourge known as the Creatures of Grimm. Finally awoken from his prison by the desperate calls of nature, Naruto returns to Earth in an attempt to save it and what's left of humanity. OOC Naruto

*Chapter 1*: Lunar Reshaping

Shattered World

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he watched the flickering form of the Tensaigan. The mini-sun's core having become unstable after he annihilated Toneri. "Hinata." His voice carried a grim resolution as he looked at the ominous artificial sun. "Shikamaru and the others are here, I need you to leave with them."

"B-But what about-"

"This thing..." He grimaced as it began flaring violently. "It's about to explode, I can feel the amount of chakra in it, I know you've seen it too. As soon as it pops, we're all done for."

"Then why...?"

"I can stop it from blowing... if only for a few minutes. I started learning the ways of Fuinjutsu after Jiraiya died, I'm certain with my powers as a Sage, I can hold off the explosion long enough for all of you to escape."

"No!" Hinata cried "I- I won't leave here without you! I... I-"

"I know Hinata." He gave her a morose grin "I've know since 'that' day. I didn't understand your feelings... they never made sense to me, I couldn't truly understand what love meant outside of a juvenile infatuation."

"Naruto... I can't, please, don't make me do this!" Tears began streaming down her eyes.

Naruto grinned at her "Hey Hinata," Her full attention was on him, never noticing the clone behind her. "Thank you."

Everything went black for the girl as the clone caught her. The two shared a nod and the clone took off at top-speed back to the the others. "Like hell I'll die before becoming Hokage!"

Sitting in a meditative stance Naruto called upon his full power and that of Hagoromo as well. He began manipulating the massive ball of chakra in ways that would re-direct most of the blast outwards and away from him.

He was beginning to struggle as even though his power was immense he still hadn't completely mastered his True Sage Mode yet. 'Because it's incomplete.'

Naruto blinked his eyes open and noticed that time had stopped and before him stood someone who looked a lot like the Rikudo Sennin but with long hair. "You must be Hamura?"

The elderly Otsutsuki nodded "So you are the one my brother entrusted his world to."

"I'm one of them, yes." Naruto answered.

"No, my brother only chose one. You. The other, he was given a small piece of my chakra that I left with my brother. I hold the true power of Yin." Hamura corrected. "You cannot control your form because you are missing my half. You only have the power of Yang, you can only breathe life but not create it."

"I see." It was like how Kurama wasn't complete until his own Yin half was returned to him. "Hamura... will you lend me some of your power so that my friends can make it out of here alive?"

"You do not seek to use it for yourself, to escape this tomb?" Hamura questioned as he watched the blond carefully.

Naruto shook his head, "While I'd obviously prefer to survive this bomb, if Hinata and the others can make it out safely then that's good enough for me."

"I see." Hamura said lightly "Then i'll trust my elder brother's judgement."

Naruto's left palm connected with Hamura's and suddenly he could feel a massive surge of chakra enter him - it felt strange yet familiar - he felt... complete. Time resumed and the chakra bomb was about to go off.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Channeling his newly completed Sage form, glyphs began covering every inch of the ball and just as it was about to blow the seal held strong and absorbed the concussive force of the bomb into itself.

Naruto sighed deeply in relief, feeling more tired than ever before. "Why... am... I... so tired?"

'That is an unfortunate side-effect of my chakra.' Hamura spoke to him once more, though the Sage's voice sounded just as tired as he. 'Enjoy... your... slumber.'

Still sat in his meditative position, Naruto struggled to stay awake but eventually his will alone wasn't enough and he fell into a deep sleep.

000

Nightmares haunted him. Humans had ripped and broken each other as a species, the peace hadn't lasted long and with him gone the shinobi had hunted themselves into extinction.

Those without chakra shunned the shinobi that survived, blaming them for their war-torn world until eventually all chakra users were extinct and those born with an abundance were killed at birth.

Chakra had returned to the earth and yet peace had only lasted so long. Human nature drove them to create weapons, to protect, to kill, to conquer. War never changed and eventually humanity dwindled to almost nothing, only four kingdoms were left standing at the end.

Only five continents were left, the rest were destroyed and swallowed by the oceans. Monuments to civilizations long since forgotten still stood, their massive crumbling towers that scraped the sky yet nothing inhabited them.

The Great War had ended, humanity had enough. Peace once again stood but for how long? Earth itself could no longer tolerate the plague upon itself known as humanity. Beasts rose from the ashes, darkness given form, creatures of grim.

He could feel it - even from up here - his connection to the Earth was never severed. The corruption of nature, its very chakra was tainted and now it began to fight back. Though humanity, ever resilient found chakra once more. Buried deep within the earth, hidden under the steel and stone tombs lay humanity's hope.

Dust they called it.

Crystallized chakra that had recollected over thousands of years. They used it to fight back, to cleanse the scourge that had descended upon humanity, never knowing that they themselves were the disease.

Defenses were raised, warriors bred, weapons made. History repeated itself once more.

Naruto's eyes eased open for the first time in a millennium and the moment he did the seal holding back the ancient bomb ruptured, exploding outwards and shattering the moon. Naruto gained a perfect view of Earth, where once blues and greens ruled now the world was covered with a dark tint hanging over it.

'My brother's world has lost itself.'

"We're you the one to wake me, Hamura?" Naruto spoke in a gravely voice, having not spoken in over a thousand years.

'No, Earth is calling for you, she's been crying for so long and finally gave into her despair some time ago.'

"I felt that moment, when the Nature chakra was corrupted. I can feel her deep inside still calling out. Something is exacerbating the problem and it's spiralled out of control." Naruto sighed as he stood, slowly working the kinks out of his body. "It seems as though true peace was never achieved. Is that the curse of humanity?"

'Hagoromo always believed in your kind... I never did. I chose to watch over the tomb up here and silently observe your kind. I was not impressed.'

A deep frown came across Naruto's face as he recalled the nightmares "Neither am I."

'Will you save them or remove the disease once and for all?'

Naruto sighed as he activated his sage mode "I guess i'll give them a last chance."

Hamura looked at the spot where the third True Sage stood. 'We shall see if they deserve it.'

000

Naruto appeared where he felt the closest concentration of human life. They seemed to be panicking over something. Suddenly a fist sized chunk of the moon pelted the street just up ahead, leaving a decent sized crater.

Turning around and looking at the broken moon he suddenly remembered. "Oh right."

Flashing high above the clouds he focused his power and summoned his Truth-Seeking Balls, sending them out to destroy the larger chunks that entered the atmosphere. The balls zoomed around at speeds invisible to most, de-atomizing anything they touched while Naruto himself focused on the largest piece that was about the size of the Hokage monument.

He aimed his finger at the rock and opened his eyes revealing the Rinnegan. "Shinra Tensei Saidai." (Maximum Heavenly Subjugation)

Starting from the tip, the massive meteorite was destroyed as the immovable force of the Shinra Tensei slammed against it. At the end nothing but a large amount of dust was left which Naruto guided back towards the atmosphere where it was burned away.

"Hmm." Naruto hummed to himself as his truth-seeking balls returned to him, their job done. He phased himself back to the street where he originally landed and willed away his sage mode. Looking around he noticed that people were trying to figure out what had just happened, considering that he was in the upper atmosphere he doubted anyone actually saw him up there.

Walking down the street he noticed a few of those new inventions from his time in a window screen. 'It appears as though that massive meteorite was somehow destroyed by... something?' One of the people, a woman spoke.

'We're still not entirely sure was it was but we're receiving reports that a humanoid being was spotted destroying the meteorites with some sort of ultra-powerful Semblance. Quite frankly I don't care who it was and I'm more grateful that someone like that is here in the first place or Vale would have been completely wiped off the map.' The other reporter, a man said nervously.

'Semblance? Is that what they call their modified chakra manipulation?' Naruto wondered as he continued listening to the report.

'Oh! Oh! We're getting recordings now from those that who were looking at the meteorite as it entered the atmosphere, here you can notice the - I believe its a man suddenly appear in the in the meteorite's path and send out ball-like objects that began decimating the smaller meteorites while he... pointed? He just POINTED AT IT!?' The woman along with the crowd that gathered around him watched at the man coated in golden fire pointed at the meteorite and it started breaking apart. 'How... How is that even possible? How strong is this person?'

'I- I don't believe it... is this real footage? Are we being pranked?' The male reported asked the staff, one of whom came slightly into view.

'No similar videos like this are being sent in from all over, that really just happened, whoever it was destroyed that thing by pointing at it.' One of the producers answered.

The male reported sighed as he leaned back into his chair and placed a hand on his forehead 'Amazing... just simply amazing. Do we know who that is? Maybe one of the top-ranked hunters?'

'No, nobody matches that description. There are few hunters with golden-flame like aura.' The unknown producer answered.

'Well whoever it is, I hope he's watching because I'd like to sincerely thank you on behalf of Vale for saving all of our lives.' The female reporter stated followed by the male who agreed wholeheartedly.

Well I caused the blast when I awoke so I should take responsibility for the aftermath. Naruto thought to himself.

"Holy crap, that was intense." A blonde to his right said as she stared at the TV that kept looping the footage of him blowing up the meteorites. "That shit was epic!"

Noticing that the girl had turned to him as if waiting for some kind of response he simply nodded, not all that excited about something he himself did with minor effort. "Yeah, I guess."

The girl pouted at his lack of enthusiasm "The hell kind of an answer is that? That guy just blew up a meteor by pointing at it!" She exclaimed while emphasizing the last part.

Naruto simply shrugged and began walking away, he was feeling a little hungry after being in a hibernative sealed state for Kami knows how long. Plus he had to go over all of his nightmares or visions of the world over the hundreds of years that he was gone.

Too lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice that the girl had started following him and began talking to himself as he had yet to truly notice her.

"...Are you even listening?" She finally said in a huff while stepping in his path.

Naruto blinked upon seeing the girl once more. "Were you saying something?" He asked after finally noticing her.

Yang gaped as she realised that he really wasn't listening. She was Yang Xiao Long, guys lined up just to talk to her and this... this guy had the nerve to not even pay attention. Noticing that wasn't going to speak up any time soon a part of Naruto really wanted to just walk away and get something to eat but another part of him told him that this girl was important... to what? He wasn't sure.

"Sorry but who are you?" Naruto asked seeing as she still was just looking dumbfounded at him. Focusing on her chakra he was incredibly surprised to notice that it felt like Tsunade's and First and Second's chakra. Could she be a descendant of the Senju?

His eyes subtly roamed her body, she was definitely built like a fighter although beautiful and holding a definite feminine quality there was a strength to her build that spoke of a taijutsu type.

"Uh... Yang. Yang Xiao Long." She answered caught off guard by the question. "Who are you? I haven't seen you around Vale and you're about my age so you should be in my school year."

"Yang... that makes sense." Naruto muttered. Someone with strong life-energy like her who likely descended from Senju would appropriately be named 'Yang'.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, honestly confused.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto answered as he quickly thought of a plausible reason as to why he might be here. "I'm Naruto by the way, I'm also new around here to answer your question."

"Ah, transferring in for the school year?" Yang asked with a grin.

"Sure." 'Lets go with that.' Naruto thought to himself "Hey, since I'm new here mind pointing me to the closest place to grab a bite? I feel like I haven't eaten in a thousand years." He spoke in a joking tone, though he was the only one in on the joke.

Yang was about to answer before a thought occurred to her and a sly grin crossed her face "Sure follow me."

Narrowing his eyes slightly at her look "No that's fine, I wouldn't want to trouble you. Some directions is fine."

"Oh but I insist, you're new here after all I wouldn't want you to get lost." Her grin was much too similar to Anko's for him not to be wary of it.

"Fine, far be it for me to reject a beautiful girl's company." Naruto said in an even tone. I bet she's trying to get a meal out of me. Too bad she doesn't know that I don't have any money.

"Hehe compliments will get you nowhere." Yang said with a grin before turning back towards the road, her grin darkening a little. This'll teach you to ignore Yang Xiao Long!

They walked next to each other in a pleasant enough silence before Yang spoke up again as she pointed at a building. "That's my favorite restaurant."

"Looks expensive." Naruto noted passively.

"Yeah but its a great place to lady out on a date dontcha think?" Yang pitched in.

"Let me know if you spot a lady for me to ask out around here." Naruto said, ignoring the glare she shot at him as he walked past her. His smile spoke of his amusement but he made sure to hide it when she caught up.

He made sure to open the door for her while giving her a mocking bow "After you m'lady."

"Remind me to punch you in the face later." She remarked with a twitching eye.

"Well that wouldn't be very lady-like now would it?" Now Naruto understood why people enjoyed teasing others so much. After seeing a thousand years of nothing but violence Naruto eventually learned to just not give a fuck anymore and he was thoroughly enjoying it.

Naruto looked around, there seemed to be a few couples out tonight. This did seem like a decent enough place to take a girl out to. They both sat down at an open table and began looking over the menu. No ramen. Dammit.

"Man everything looks good and I really worked up an appetite today." Yang said as she looked over some of her favorites. "I hope you don't mind if I get a few of my faves?"

Naruto simply shrugged "Order whatever you what."

A young man around their age came by after a few minutes to take their order. Yang pretended to be ignorant about the not so subtle looks down her cleavage and Naruto didn't really care in the first place so he said nothing either. "Right I'll take a the steak, medium-rare. Half a rack of ribs on fries and a cola."

The waiter raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on it. "And you sir?"

"A steak, the same and a cola."

"Alright, your orders should be done in a few minutes." The waiter said before taking one last peak down Yang's shirt before taking off.

"Not very subtle is he?" Naruto said with an amused smile.

"I almost offered to let him take a picture." Yang huffed and crossed her arms.

"So this school, tell me more about it." Naruto began, hopefully she would make assumptions and fill in the blanks for him.

"Oh right!" Yang brightened up "Well Beacon is pretty rad, I've been there a few times to look around but I'm starting this year also."

Naruto hummed "Any annoying rules?"

"Not really." Yang answered with a shake of her head, her golden locks weaving through the air hypnotically. "Technically there's a dress-code but most of the time it's not enforced. Kinda like a 'if you feel like it' sort-of deal."

"Well that's good, I hate uniforms." Naruto then thought of something else "Where exactly is it by the way? I know the general area but the directions were kinda vague."

Yang gave him an odd look before shrugging "It's along the east-end of Vale. There's a ship here that takes you down the river straight to the Beacon docks and the airship too."

"Which way are you going?"

"Airship." Yang answered with a grin. "I love to fly."

"Good to know." Naruto said with the smile. He has a location and a general idea of how the place is run, now for people. "So do you know anyone else that's going there this year?"

"Yeah two big names are starting this year. Weiss Schnee one of the heiresses to the Schnee Dust Company and Pyrrha Nikos the four-time undefeated champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament." She grinned and slammed a fist into one of her open hands. "I can't wait to fight someone like the 'The Invincible Girl' I'll put her name to the test."

Naruto chuckled "You seem fired up."

"Oh you haven't seen me fired up yet blondie." She said while sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Blondie?" Naruto questioned. "You're blonde too, don't give any more fuel to the dumb blonde stereotype."

"Who you calling dumb?" Yang growled.

Naruto laughed and raised his hands in defeat "Calm down there Firebrand before you burn whole the place down."

Yang scowled and crossed her arms "Tsk. Whatever." Luckily for him she spotted the waiter who was bringing over the food and set it down in front of them, once more sneaking a peak at Yang's abundant cleavage.

"So I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I haven't actually signed up to join Beacon yet, I was kinda hoping to just wing it when I got there, what did you to get in?" Naruto asked a began cutting up his steak.

"Well there are a few ways I know. There's a recommendation from one of the teachers, the entrance exam that most people use or a combat test." Yang answered. "I took the test after graduating from Signal last year."

Naruto paused. "Combat test?" This might just be what he was looking for.

"Well for some people that didn't go to a primary school or couldn't pass the entrance exams for whatever reason, there is a combat test that they can sign up for. Essentially you go up against one of the teachers and if they think you're skilled enough to become a hunter then they let you in." Yang answered after she finished chewing her food.

"I'm surprised you didn't pick that option if only to get a good fight out of it." Naruto commented.

Yang shrugged "I wanted to take the combat test but since I had already passed the entry exam they didn't let me. A shame really."

"I'm sure." Naruto said as he began eating his steak.

"So where you from anyway?" Yang asked inquisitively.

Naruto smiled mysteriously "Why don't you try guessing?"

Yang's eyes lit up "Alright. Hmm well you're pretty tan so Atlas is a no. Mistral is a possibility but I'm going to go with Vacuo!"

Naruto grinned "And what makes you think I'm from Vacuo?"

"Well a few things really, like I said a lot of people from Vacuo are pretty tan due to living in the desert. Then there was the fact that you seemed relieved there wasn't really an enforced uniform, I hear that Shade Academy doesn't have one." Yang said as she took another piece of steak into her mouth. "Plush your closhe match the Vacuo shtyle." She said while chewing on the piece of meat.

Considering his past eating habits and having known Choji he wasn't even mildly put off by that. "Good guess." Was all Naruto said as he kept eating, he was almost halfway done with his steak while Yang had somehow already finished her and was starting on the ribs.

"Hehe" Yang grinned triumphantly "So what kind of weapon user are you?"

"Hmm?" Naruto feigned ignorance as he continued eating his steak.

"You know... your weapon? For example I know multiple martial arts styles and combo them with Ember Celica, my shotgun gauntlets." She said while activating her weapon.

Interesting, her bracers become armguards and have tubes that can shoot out projectiles. Deciding to humor he girl he reached behind his back and used his Yin-Yang release to create a pure black blade. "Knives usually." He said as he showed her the weapon.

Yang looked severely underwhelmed "That's it?" she asked as she inspected the dagger in her hand. It was light and durable considering she was trying to crack the handle using only her grip. Even though she said that she was actually pretty impressed with it. "What's it made of?"

Naruto smiled smugly as he took the blade back and before her eyes it elongated into a tanto then curved into a sickle before the blade made a full circle into a chakram. "Like I said 'Usually knives' this little dagger of mine can turn into any weapon I want."

Yang's eyes widened as the small dagger cycled through the various forms "Woah, you gotta tell me what that metal is!"

Naruto smirked as he put the dagger away "It's not metal."

"Then what is it!?" Yang demanded.

Naruto paused as he chewed on one of the last pieces of steak. "Semblance."

"Huh?" Yang was momentarily confused before her mind caught up "You mean you make those?"

Naruto nodded as he popped another piece of steak into his mouth. Somehow - he wasn't entirely sure when - Yang had already finished the ribs and half the fries. "I call my semblance Onmyouton."

"On - Oninimy - On my niny - Omyonton?" Yang struggled to even pronounce the word.

"Onmyouton, it's an ancient way of saying Yin-Yang Release." Naruto explained.

"Oh! Why didn't you just say that?" Yang huffed at his questioning look "I study martial arts, of course I know what Yin and Yang is. It's balance, everything light has darkness and everything dark has light."

Naruto frowned slightly but shrugged "Close enough."

"Is that not what you meant?"

"For me Yin and Yang function much differently. Yin creates form out of nothing and Yang breathes life into it or makes it real so to speak. Yin is the ideal, Yang is the reality." Naruto explained. "I use Yin to envision what I want then Yang to make it real."

"That doesn't fit with the whole Yin and Yang thing though." She protested.

"Which is why I call in Onmyouton so no one knows what it even means."

Yang shrugged "Whatever." She then sadly noticed that she was now out of fries.

"Done?" Naruto asked as he pointed at her empty plates.

"Nope!" Yang said cheerfully, "Now it's desert time!"

'Well I'm not paying for it.' "I'll pass but go ahead and order some if you want it."

"Will do!" Yang announced, waving over the waiter as she had already knew what she wanted. "I'll have a slice of strawberry cake, a chocolate eclair, two lemon tarts and a vanilla shake!"

The waiter gave Naruto a look, the blonde himself simply shrugged. "And for you, sir?"

"I'm good thanks." Naruto said with a pleasant smile before turning back Yang with a raised eyebrow once the man left, "Bit of a sweet tooth?"

Yang grinned widely "Just a bit."

Naruto looked out the window into the nighttime scenery, it was rather serene. Times like this reminded him of the lul after the fourth war, when the fighting was finally done and peace fell over Konoha once more. As his gaze reached the moon, a small part of him thought that it looked better this way.

"Looks kinda cool doesn't it?" Her voice drew him from his thought but he didn't look away from his old prison.

"Yes, I was just thinking that I might like the moon better this way. The old moon was pretty boring, this one has some flair." Naruto said with a smirk as his eyes glanced over at Yang.

She giggled, it was a nice sound. "I guess it does." Naruto could have sworn that Yang blushed for a moment when their eyes met but considering that it was gone the next moment he possibly imagined it as some trick of the light.

"So..." Yang started then paused as she couldn't think of anything to say "Crazy weather huh?"

"Well hopefully meteor showers aren't too common in this part of the continent." Naruto drawled. "Oh look, a distraction."

Yang glanced at where he was pointing and noticed that the waiter was coming back with her deserts. "Oh good!"

Naruto was far less interested in watching Yang eat than he was in revising everything he had learned thus far. I think I'd be able to pass myself off easily enough. Though I'll need to gather more information on dust and find out if it works the same as Chakra in its crystallized or powdered form.

He glanced over at the blonde girl who seemed to be babbling on about something or other, his subconscious doing the occasional 'Sures' and 'Yeahs' for him. Looks like she's done with her desert. I haven't seen anyone eat like that since Choji.

Yang's phone beeped and she read the message on it. "Welp, thanks for the meal but I gotta run."

Naruto smiled and crossed his arms as he watched her stand up."What do you mean 'thanks for the meal'? I don't have any money."

"Huh? Then how are you going to pay for everything?" She suddenly got a bad feeling.

"Oh I'm not paying for it, she is." Naruto said as he pointed behind her.

Yang turned around with an inquisitive look only to meet her own reflection. Her eyes widened and turned back only to find that Naruto was already gone. She began seeing red, quite literally.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Naruto chuckled as he walked down the street about a block away from the restaurant. "Thanks for the meal Yang."

*Chapter 2*: First Day Drama

Shattered World

Naruto kept walking down the street admiring the serenity of the night or at least he would have had some guy and a little girl in a gothic dress wielding a giant scythe not come crashing out of the window of some shop. "Well, that's something you don't see everyday."

Naruto watched in amusement as the girl beat down three other guys that came rushing out of the shop. 'Huh, cane rocket.' He thought as the guy in the white coat shot some kind of explosive projectile out of the tip of his cane.

"Guy moves faster than I thought he would." Naruto mused to himself as he watched the orange haired man climb the ladder up the side of the building. "Will you chase him, 'Red'?"

The girl seemed to do just that and quickly shot up the stairs in persuit. Naruto shrugged and wall climbed up his own building so he could keep watching, this was mildly entertaining.

His eyebrow rose as some kind of airship came up out of nowhere. "Was it just parked in the alley below?" He wondered to himself.

"End of the line, Red!" The man shouted out over the humm of the vehicle. He tossed a red dust crystal and shot it, creating an even larger explosion.

"Hmm so dust is a volatile substance... well then again it is super-condensed chakra, and chakra itself is pretty volatile." Naruto was now glad he followed them, this was some good info.

"Oh? What's this?" Naruto said to himself as he watched a blond woman begin assaulting the airship with all kinds of attacks. Only for most of them to be countered by what looked like another woman in the open doorway. "They're getting away..."

A small smile came across his face. "Spear." He powered down one of his truth-seeking balls and morphed into a long javelin, taking aim for one of the wings. "If it works like a bird then take out it's wings!"

The spear whistled through the air from the speed it was shot at and hit one of the wings cleanly before exploding, causing the ship to crash into the street a few blocks away.

The two females turned towards Naruto who only regarded them with a shrug. "Why are you looking at me? Don't you have some villains to apprehend?"

The woman looked like she wanted to say something but thought better of it and took off towards the crashed ship while the girl stayed behind. "Woah, nice shot! It was all like 'whooosh' and then 'crash' and then 'KABLOOO-OHHEY!'."

Naruto gave the girl an amused smirk and nodded "I'm pleased it met your approval Red. For now I must leave though."

"Why?"

"Because the authorities are here."

With that the blonde Sage disappeared in a flurry of leaves that reminded Ruby of her own teleporting ability. "Mine's cooler though." She mumbled to herself just as a bunch of cops showed up on the scene.

"Hands up!"

"EEP!"

000

Two weeks had passed and Naruto could be found sitting on a lounge chair on a boat's deck. His clones had been hard at work scouring this broken world for him, finding out everything they could and managing to steal the transcript off some blonde kid.

He simply had to fill in the blanks since that guy had yet to do so. Sipping on his drink he sighed in relaxation as the boat cruised down the massive river that led to Beacon.

'Still don't know why that place is calling out to me but meh, maybe it'll be interesting.' Naruto mused, after all this world was completely new from his old one and there was still plenty to see and amuse him.

"It's a nice breeze is it not?" Naruto opened his eyes and lowered his shades as he turned towards the speaker. An admittedly very pretty red-head with bright - really bright - green eyes.

He smiled in a friendly manner at her attempt to start a conversation "Yeah, it's much cooler down here than it is in Vacuo."

The girl looked surprised for a moment before smiling "Oh did you transfer in from Vacuo? I came in from Mistral."

"Really? Did you come in from Sanctum or Haven?" Naruto asked just to keep the conversation going.

"Sanctum, I'm a first-year, what about you?" She asked in a cheery tone.

"First year as well, came in from Shade." He answered before extending a hand out to his fellow lounging student "I'm Naruto by the way. Uzumaki Naruto."

She has a nice smile. Naruto thought as she shook his hand. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

Naruto recalled something for a moment "Ah, so you're the one Yang was talking about."

"I'm sorry?" She asked in a questioning tone.

Seeing her unasked question he decided to answer her "An... acquaintance of mine brought up that you would be starting this year and seemed eager to test herself against 'The Invincible Girl' I believe she called you." Naruto said with a teasing tone towards the end along with the grin that let her know he was just kidding.

"It really is a silly title." She seemed embarrassed by it.

"Haha, regardless you must be incredibly skilled to even be recognized with a title like that." Naruto praised, "Personally I had never actually heard of you before Yang mentioned you but back in Shade we don't really care about stuff like that."

"Really? What is Shade Academy like?" Pyrrha asked as she turned her body towards him in her chair.

"It's... different from the other academies." Naruto began as he started drawing on all the info he gathered from Shade Academy during the two weeks. Wouldn't do to not be able to bluff his way out of situations. "We skip out on the whole dress-code thing and certain aspects of our training was specialized."

"Oh?" Pyrrha seemed really intrigued now, "Like what?"

"Well we're not really allowed to talk about to those outside of the academy but I can tell you that I specialized in stealth while I was there." Naruto said with a grin, "If I don't want to be found, I won't be."

"Oh I see." She seemed slightly disappointed but understood that if he couldn't talk about it then that was that, "Sanctum wasn't much different from Signal from what I've heard, we crafted our own weapons and were taught how to fight the creatures of Grimm."

"So I heard that they place us in groups for the next four years here." Naruto brought up as he turned towards the top of one Beacon's towers that was tall enough to see from a distance.

"Oh yes, I heard that as well." Pyrrha said with a nod "Do you already have a team in mind?"

"Nope." Naruto sighed and relaxed back into his chair as he looked up at the slightly cloudy blue sky. Man Shikamaru was really on to something back then. "I'm just gonna let the wind guide me."

Pyrrha giggled at his laid back attitude "Perhaps we'll end up on the same team together then?"

Naruto let a small smile cross his face as he rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes "Perhaps."

000

Half an hour later Naruto awoke to the announcement that the ship would soon be docking. He stretched and sat up with a satisfied groan. "Ah, that was a nice nap."

A giggle from his side alerted him that the same red-head from before was still beside him. "I see you have awoken, I was going to give you another five minutes before doing so myself."

Naruto chuckled and sussed his hair back into a somewhat presentable mess "I appreciate the thought."

The girl smiled kindly "Of course, I wouldn't want a new friend to miss the first day."

"Friend?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, he didn't know they were that close yet.

"Oh, forgive me, I presumed too much." The slight frown on Pyrrha's false almost tugged at his deadened heart. Almost.

Ah screw it. Naruto gave her a shrug "I didn't mean we couldn't be friends, I was simply unaware that we had reached that stage yet considering we had really only exchanged small talk."

"So then..."

Naruto allowed her an indulgent smile "Pyrrha I'm sure we'll become great friends."

Her hopeful smile brightened up considerably at making her first friend here. "I'm rather excited about attending Beacon, hopefully I'll be able to make plenty of new friends here."

"Well with your apparent popularity it shouldn't be too hard, then again popularity also invites unsavory leeches." Naruto said with a frown, remembering his own time as the 'Hero' who everyone wanted to get in good with.

"Hmm." Pyrrha didn't really comment on it but she also understood the feeling.

The two walked in a companionable silence, following the crowd towards the castle-like school. "It looks beautiful does it not?" Pyrrha said with a bit of awe in her voice.

"In a certain light, yes. Then I remember that even though its a combat school... its still a school and I suddenly begin regretting my decision." He admitted with a grimace, he really did hate classrooms even now.

Pyrrha laughed melodically "I'm sure you will do fine, Naruto."

"Well probably better than her in any case." Naruto said as he pointed at a girl who had just finished sneezing and blowing a hole in the concrete. "Wait a second... that's Red."

"Red?"

"I don't actually know her name but I helped her take down some criminals a few weeks back." Naruto said as they continued walking past, while Red was being berated by a girl in a white dress.

"Should we go say hi?" Pyrrha asked, not entirely sure if they should get between the seemingly irate white haired girl who Red sneeze-exploded on.

"Let's not." Naruto just continued walking on, pretending to have never noticed them. Pyrrha looked like she wanted to introduce herself anyway but thought better of it and caught up to Naruto.

000

Naruto leaned up against one of the columns near the back. He had spotted Yang earlier and didn't really want to deal with her in front of all of these people. "Why are we standing back here?" His red-haired companion asked.

"I prefer the shadows. I come from a place called Shade and specialize in stealth," Naruto answered as he turned towards her "It's kinda my thing."

"Oh, I see." Pyrrha said with a nod, she didn't really but chose to humor her only friend.

They quietly listened to Ozpin's speech, Naruto having watched Yang's interactions with Red or Ruby as she was called earlier figured they were either family or close friends. Naruto wasn't surprised seeing the blonde-haired woman from two weeks ago here seeing as he had studied up on all the teachers at Beacon.

"Guess they'll be serving dinner then we'll be sleeping here until we receive our dorms." Naruto figured after Glynda Goodwitch finished talking.

"It seems so." Pyrrha agreed, "Shall we join them then? I admit I haven't eating since this morning and am quite hungry."

"I could go for some food."

000

"YOU!"

"Hello again, Yang." His face was the perfect example of calm despite the situation.

Naruto was being held by his shirt collar a few feet above the ground by the irate golden-haired teen who's eyes seemed to have become red. It reminded him of when he used to use Kyuubi's chakra and that may not be a good thing. "You bastard, you ditched me after our date and left me the bill!"

Naruto noticed that everyone had turned towards them since the moment Yang spotted him. "In my defense I only ate a steak while you ordered half the menu."

"Do you know how long they had me cleaning dishes to pay for all that!? DO YOU?" Yang growled out.

"Again, you wouldn't have had to do that if you didn't order so much food with the intent to then leave me with the bill. I just watched you keep digging your own grave, It was rather amusing." Naruto said with a mocking grin on his face.

Off to the side Naruto was leaning up again the wall with Pyrrha beside him. "So how do you know her again?" She asked as they watched Yang attempt to strangle his clone.

Naruto had to admit that Pyrrha looked really good in her black tank top and red boy shorts. Hell even Yang looked really good, even more so when she's angry.

He was wearing a plain black shirt and black pajama bottoms, unlike most of the guys around who were trying to use their bodies to woo the girls he'd rather keep the seals and scars on his body out of public knowledge, especially the fist sized one on the right side of his chest. That one would be annoying to explain.

"We went out for dinner a few weeks back, she was mad at me for some reason and wanted to order a whole mess of food and then have me pay for it as some sort of revenge. I simply turned it around on her and left before she had the chance to." Naruto answered in nonchalance as Yang punched his shadow clone across the face and popped it.

"Oh." Pyrrha didn't really know what to make of that situation, "So is she..."

"No."

"I see."

Back with Yang she had just finished punching Naruto and watching him explode into a puff of smoke. "Oh my god Yang, you killed him!" Ruby cried out in alarm.

"Huh? But- but... I didn't hit him that hard!" Yang defended "Certainly not hard enough to cause him to explode anyway."

"That was a clone." A calm voice off to the side spoke. I was a black haired girl in a black sleeping yukata. She was dressed similar to what his people used to dress like. Interesting.

"Then where- THERE!" Yang yelled as she spotted him once more.

"Really Yang is this the time and place?" Naruto drawled out as the sisters approached him. He turned towards Ruby and gave her a nod "Hey Red, how'd it go with the cops?"

"Oh it went fine after you ditched me, I got accepted into Beacon because of it!" Ruby said happily.

"Oh good." Naruto said in a bland tone before turning towards Pyrrha. "Pyrrha this is Ruby and the angry one is Yang Xiao Long. Ladies, this is Pyrrha Nikos."

"Hello." Pyrrha said with a friendly smile and wave after being introduced.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" The girl in the white dress from earlier cut in and extended her hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Weiss Schnee." She had originally come to yell at them for making so much noise but upon hearing the girl's name she changed her purpose completely.

"Oh, hello." Pyrrha replied as she shook the girl's hand. "This is my friend Naruto."

Weiss gave the blonde and unimpressed look while he gave her a bored one "Right whatever any-"

"I'm more interested in learning how you were able to spot my clone." Naruto spoke as he looked past the three girls towards the yukata wearing one who was approaching them.

"It was a good clone, I almost didn't catch it until the end but the smoke gave it away." Blake said with an impressed tone. "The reason why I was able to spot it is because I can use clones as well."

Naruto nodded as the other girls listened to their conversation "Shadow or elemental?"

"Depends on which type of dust I use but my standard semblance is shadows." Blake answered with a smile. "Blake by the way."

"Naruto." He said with a nod before turning back towards Yang "Anyway I'll make sure to pay you back for that steak I ate sometime but considering that you planned on ditching me in the first place I can't honestly say I feel sorry for pre-emptively doing the same to you."

"I kind of agree with him, it seems like you dug your own grave there." Blake said with a shrug.

"If it was your intent to do that from the beginning then you shouldn't be mad that Naruto did it first." Pyrrha agreed.

"They're right sis, you kinda screwed yourself on that one." Yang gave Ruby a betrayed look "What?"

"Even my baby sister won't stand up for me..." Yang said in a fake depressed tone before shrugging "Well I guess they have a point, but you're buying next time Whiskers!"

Blake did wonder about the whisker type marks on his face but considering he didn't share any other faunus like features she figured it was possibly a tattoo or scars of some sort.

"Sure," Naruto shrugged as he extended out his fist "So we cool then?"

"Yeah." Yang said with a grin as she tapped her own fist against him and applied perhaps a bit too much force considering they all heard his knuckles popping. Though she was rather impressed that he didn't even flinch from it.

"Yay! We can all be friends now!" Ruby cheered gathering amused looks from everyone except Weiss who gave her a more annoyed look.

"Yeah and we can paint each other's nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys!" Naruto said in a mildly sarcastic tone drawing stunned looks from Ruby, Weiss and Yang. "What? I was joking."

"No it's just that..." Ruby started as she glanced over at Weiss "That's exactly what Weiss said to me earlier."

Naruto blinked and turned towards Weiss "Seriously?"

"Almost word for word." Weiss said with a slow nod.

"Huh... weird." Naruto said before shrugging so they could move past the odd coincidence. "Anyway we should probably turn in, we've got the initiation exam tomorrow."

"Initiation exam? What do you mean?" Ruby asked with a confused tone as she tilted her head to the side.

Naruto grinned "You'll see."

*Chapter 3*: Initiation

Shattered World

Naruto had just finished putting on his new combat gear that he created for the purpose of combat during his stay here at Beacon. It was all made from a strong and flexible material he made using the creation of all things then styling it into clothing. "I like your coat." Pyrrha's voice carried through the halfway.

Naruto glanced at the redhead, she truly did look like a warrior with the armor shield and spear. Much different from the casual clothes he saw her in one the boat. "Looks like you're ready for war Pyrrha."

Pyrrha smiled and looked over his own clothing. It looks like he had segmented metal plates on blackened leather armor that he wore under his black long coat that had a gold flame trim along the bottom. He wore similar style pants to his leather armor and black combat boots. "You seem to like the color black." She joked.

Naruto smirked as he looked over her own gear "Red and gold hmmm, a bit too conspicuous for my tastes but it looks good on you."

"Thank you." She said with her usual cheery smile "I believe we should get going however, the initiation should be beginning soon."

Naruto nodded and followed after her as they passed by Ruby and Yang "Morning Yang, Red."

"Good morning!" Yang chirped. "Ready to kick some forest butt?"

"Yes, I am rather excited about our first combat trial." Pyrrha answered.

"Have you given any thought as to who you would like to team up with?" Weiss asked Pyrrha as she walked up to them.

"I had the same plan as Naruto, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." The red-haired warrior replied honestly.

"I see." Weiss said with a nod as she turned towards Naruto who was looking elsewhere, more specifically at a certain bow-wearing girl on the other side of the hall. "Well I was thinking-"

Naruto turned his attention back towards Pyrrha "Hey we should probably get going, they're about to announce the start of the initiation."

'Would all first year students please Beacon cliff for initiation, again all first year students report to Beacon cliff immediately.'

Pyrrha blinked at Naruto who simply shrugged. "Told you."

Weiss scowled at being interrupted again like yesterday but seeing as they needed to leave anyway she just followed the group in a huff.

000

Ozpin and Glynda went through their little talk as they stood on platforms. Naruto looked down at his own. They're going to launch us aren't they?

"This is both an exam and a contest. At most only ten teams will pass this year as there are a limited number of relics for you to retrieve, once you have one you will need to defend it and return to the top of the cliff by sundown. Anyone who hasn't recovered a relic by sundown will not be allowed into Beacon." Ozpin laid out the rules. "Any questions?"

Seeing as no one spoke up he finished his speech "Very well, good luck trainees."

Naruto closed his eyes and lowered his center, seconds later he was soaring through the air as decent speeds, his keen eyes already looking for a good branch to land on. There!

From then on he began outrunning the majority of the group as he was able to hop from tree to tree with a trained perfection from years of being a Konoha shinobi.

"How the hell is he doing that?" Yang wondered as she was the only one able to keep up with him due to her using her shotgun rounds to propel herself further.

Pyrrha had to admit if only to herself that she was struggling to keep up with the two blondes as they soared through the treetops. "How *huff* how are they doing that?"

Naruto didn't seem like he was going to be stopping any time soon while Yang had finally lost the majority of her momentum and landed on the forest floor.

Meanwhile a certain cat-eyed girl watched Naruto as he expertly navigated the trees much like she was, were they trained in the same way perhaps? After a momentary break she tried her best to catch up to him.

Naruto smirked as he looked back at the group behind him "Should I?" He debated "Ah, why the hell not."

Launching himself up as high as he could go he held a single hand sign and pointed it behind him "Wind style: Gale Eruption" The wind pushed him up even higher and taking a page out of Temari's book he turned his one non-lethal truth-seeking ball into a fan which he used to soar through the skies.

From his vantage point high above he was able to easily spot the alter Ozpin was talking about. Tilting his head to the side he let a golden/red spear fly past him only to catch it at the last moment. "What are you playing at Pyrrha?" He wondered as he turned back in time to see the girl jump into the air and ride her shield like some hoverboard towards him.

He felt the spear yank towards her in his strong grip and judging from the way she's balancing on the shield she's using them to attract to each other? A smirk crossed his lips Clever girl.

"Naruto! Please don't let go!" Pyrrha pleaded as she wobbled on her shield slightly.

He chuckled when she finally caught up to him and landed on his giant fan with a relieved sigh. "You know, if I didn't have as strong a grip as I did I wouldn't have been able to hold on to your spear." He said in an amused tone as she looked at the red-haired warrior sitting behind him.

She chuckled nervously "I had immediately regretted my actions as soon as I was in the air but at that point it was too late."

"You're lucky I'm such a nice guy." Naruto joked as he guided the fan towards the ruins. "So I guess that makes us partners?"

"I suppose so" She didn't seem upset in the slightest at it considering her smile.

"Oh, perhaps this was your plan all along?" Naruto teased "Tossing a spear at me and then forcing me to hold on so you wouldn't fall and hitching a ride on my fan with just the two of us up here? You're a lot sneakier than I first imagined Pyrrha perhaps I should be more careful around you from now on?"

Pyrrha blushed at his implications "I-" She tried to deny only to blush further.

Naruto laughed "I'm just messing with you Pyrrha... though I wouldn't be opposed to it." He said as he glanced back at her with a sly look.

"The forest is very beautiful from up here, I didn't get a good look before as I was more concerned with my landing but it is quite lovely." Pyrrha said to distract him from the small blush that lit her cheeks at his words.

"Yeah, I've always enjoyed forests." He almost said that he grew up in one but remembered that Vacuo was supposed to be a desert. "They're much greener and more lively than Vacuo's sands."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement "Mistral's trees never lasted long before the cold got to them but they had their own appeal."

"Hey Pyrrha." Naruto suddenly spoke as he zeroed in on their landing point.

"Yes?"

"Hold on tight, we're going for a dive." Her eyes suddenly widened as Naruto gripped the fan and took them into a sharp dip.

She was quick to wrap her arms around his abdomen and held in the surprised scream that wanted to come out of her but held her eyes open as much as she could as the ruins we're fast approaching only for them to slide into a glide just before they hit the ground and slowed to a stop in the middle of the ruins.

"That was fun." Naruto said with a grin as he looked back at his frazzled friend.

She send him a small scowl "Never go that again."

Naruto laughed and picked up his fan that shifted its form into the small dagger he had originally showed Yang. "No promises. Anyway I'm guessing this is what Ozpin wanted us to find."

"They're chess pieces." Pyrrha said as she looked them over. "I understand why Professor Ozpin said they were limited now."

"Well we're the first ones here so we have the pick of the litter." Naruto said as they walked around for a bit "Go ahead partner, I'll let you choose."

"Hmm," Pyrrha looked around as she contemplated her choice "Well we're both strong and sturdy. Perhaps a rook?" She asked holding up the golden tower.

"While I would have picked the black one, I should have guess you would go for the golden one. Alright, we'll be the white rooks." Naruto said with a nod "Want to wait for our future teammates or leave now?"

"Let's wait, I'd like to meet our new team members." She said with a smile.

"Fair enough." Naruto said as he walked over towards one of the pillars and leaned up against it while Pyrrha took a seat next to him.

"How do you think the other teams are faring?" Pyrrha asked as they both listened to the sounds of battle coming from the forest.

"From the sound of it, they've found opposition in either the Grimm or other teams trying to improve their chances at a relic by removing competition." Naruto answered getting a questioning look from her.

"Would they really do that?" She asked.

"I counted fifty two people at yesterday's entrance ceremony, there will only be ten teams this year so forty spots. That means twelve people will not be accepted this year, even one pair removed improves your chances dramatically." Naruto told her as his eyes narrowed on a strange feeling he got off towards the side, like he was being watched by something.

Up on the cliff Ozpin hummed in thought as he watched the interaction between Naruto and Pyrrha, he could have sworn that the boy had looked directly at him through the stealth camera but figured it was just a figment of his overactive imagination. "He's an interesting one."

Glynda had also been watching the same feed as they were both intrigued by the boy sailed through the air on a fan and a few weeks earlier caused the crash of Torchwick's Bullhead ship. "He seems rather cynical to me."

"Perhaps but he comes from Vacuo does he not?" At her nod he hummed "Before the great war the denizens of Vacuo were often trained as assassins, I'm not surprised that such thinking and logic would come from someone born there."

"I don't trust him, everything from his transcript to his attitude and abilities are shady." Glynda huffed.

Ozpin chuckled "All hunters are shady, we're mercenaries to an extent. While he does seem rather mysterious I don't feel any malicious intent from him. I think he will be a fine addition to Beacon."

Glynda wanted to argue but chose to stay silent as they watched the other candidates.

000

"Think that's it?" Yang asked her partner as they looked down at the ruins.

"Considering Naruto and Pyrrha are there, it would be a safe bet." Blake answered as they walked down the hill and greeted the white rook duo.

"Have fun in the forest?" Naruto teased as he caught sight of their scuffed up and slightly torn clothes.

Yawn scowled "Well not all of us have the ability to float through the air like some fairy princess."

"Oh, so salty." Naruto grinned "Pick a piece, as you can see there's still a good selection to go around."

Yang picked up the white knight and showed it to Blake "How 'bout a cute little pony?"

Blake rolled her eyes "Sure."

"How many others have come by?" Yang asked Naruto.

"Three besides us." Naruto answered. "White pawn , Black Queen and Black Bishop."

"Which one did you guys pick?" Yang asked.

"Through the powers of deductive reasoning one could only assume that they picked the White rook, seeing as that is only other empty spot." Blake said sarcastically as she pointed at the empty pedestal.

Yang crossed her arms "Tch. No need to be snippy, I was just asking."

"Hey Yang." Naruto called out.

"Yeah?" She turned towards her fellow blonde.

"You might want to catch your sister." He pointed at the sky at her questioning look.

"Yaaaaaaaaaang!" Ruby cried as she fell from the sky.

Yang's eyes widened "I got you baby sis!" Or at least she thought she did only for Ruby to crash into her, both landing in a mess of tangled limbs on the floor.

"Well that was interesting." Blake mused only for her to turn towards the forest when an Ursa crashed through only for it to fall over dead and a girl dressed in pink lament over her ride being broken. "That was equally as interesting."

Nora's eyes gleamed as she zeroed in on the golden rook piece. "I'm the queen of the castle, I'm the queen of the castle!" She began singing.

"Nora!"

"Coming Ren!" The excitable girl called out as she went back to her partner.

"You alright Yang?" Ruby asked as she helped her sister up.

"Yeah luckily my spine broke my fall. Try cutting back on the cookies by the way." Yang groaned as she stood up and shook it off. "So why were you falling from the sky?"

"OH! I thought that Naruto had a good idea going through the sky instead of through the forest so I rode here on a giant Nevermore." Ruby answered with a thumbs up "Though I wonder where Weiss is."

"She's falling." Ren said as they all looked up at the falling heiress.

"Well I'm not catching her." Naruto spoke as they all continued to watch her fall.

"Heeeeeeelp!"

"Use that thing you used when landing in the forest!" Naruto shouted back.

Weiss seemed to blink before righting herself mid-air and forming multiple platforms to bounce off of until she lost enough velocity to land safely. "How could you leave me!?" She shouted at Ruby.

"Well I said jump..." Ruby said bashfully as she looked away.

"The nevermore is coming back." Blake pointed at the massive bird who seemed to be rearing back.

"Tuck-tail!" Naruto shouted as his dagger turned into a massive tower shield and he jumped in front of team RWBY followed by his own partner who helped him brace the shield as the nevermore's quills crashed into it.

"Holy crap, that's a big shield!" Yang shouted as it literally left them under it's shade.

"I don't think that thing is going to leave us alone." Ren spoke as the bird swung around for another run.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance and turned the shield back into a dagger. "We'll distract it, you guys take it down. Pyrrha!"

"Right behind you!" She called back as they charged towards the massive beast. "It's going to send another volley!"

"Don't worry about that just throw your spear! We need disable one of it's wings!" Naruto shouted back, Pyrrha was unsure of this choice of action but decided to trust her partner as he seemed to have a plan. "Take aim, I'll cover you!"

Pyrrha slid into a stance and took careful aim of Milo in it's javelin form, launching it with as much power as she could afford while still keeping it on trajectory. She began to worry as the bird reared its wings back.

Naruto grinned and narrowed his eyes as he watched the javelin fly past him. Holding a single tiger sign he took aim Wind Style: Great Breakthrough

The squall met the nevermore's arrows and battered them away while increasing Milo's speed significantly and having it sink deep into the monster's wing. The nevermore let out a horrifying screech as both the force of Naruto's jutsu and the javelin hit in head on.

Turning around Naruto cupped his hands, "Ready to fly again Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha shook her head with a smile and ran towards him, accepting his boost, soaring through the air as turned Milo and Akouo into attractive forces. Her shield slammed into Milo's end forcing the weapon out of the bird's wing through the other side.

Pyrrha too this chance to stab at the wing's joint multiple times in hopes of disabling at least one of it's wings. She watched as a gun on a ribbon sailed through the air and hooked on to the other wing followed by Blake swinging on the ribbon holding Yang and flinging her up so the blonde could land on the beast's back and begin unloading rounds on it's back.

"Nora, give me a boost!" Ren called out and hopped on her hammer which she happily swung around in and arc and using a dust shot from the back of her weapon she rocket propelled Ren onto the bird, landing beside Pyrrha.

"Hello." Pyrrha greeted despite the situation. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, Naruto and I will be your teammates from now on."

"Uh... Ren, nice to-" He suddenly gripped on to the thrashing bird's feathers so as not to fall off "meet you. Maybe we should save the introductions for later?"

Pyrrha nodded "Very well, I've made an opening in its defenses where you can shoot it." She said, pointed at the blood patch of feathers.

"Got it." Ren said as shoved the barrels of his machine guns into the wound and held the trigger. Pyrrha held on to him so he wouldn't fall off from the monster's frantic attempts to throw them off.

The bird eventually crashed into the ground thanks for the four's efforts and Weiss was quick to capitalize, using her strongest ice glyphs to keep it locked down. "Stop gawking and go!" She ordered Ruby who was standing around amazed as her older peers handled the massive Grimm.

Weiss could already feel the strain from using such a high level glyph and she wouldn't be able to hold it for much longer.

"A-Ah! Right! Leave it to me!" Ruby said as she activated her superspeed and lunged at the nevermore's neck "Hyaaaaaa! Urk-" Her arms jarred as her scythe got stuck deep in the monster's neck but not going all the way through, leaving her feet dangling as she tried to force her scythe through.

"SCRAAAAAAAAA!" The Grimm cried and shattered its frozen bonds sending the trainees everywhere as they weren't expecting that.

"Save me!" Ruby screamed as she hung on to her scythe for dear life.

"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE SLOTH!" Everyone looked up as Nara came flying from high above using the shots coming out from the back of her weapon to increase her speed. "TAKE THIS!"

Nora smashed her hammer into Crescent Rose, forcing it the rest of the way through and decapitating the giant nevermore. "Whoohoo! We won!" She cheered as the raven slumped over, dead.

Naruto stood with his arms folded and an amused smile on his face. They did well with very little help on my part.

"Well done Nora." Ren said with a smile which Nora grinned at.

"I got the last-hit, that means that I get the loot right?"

"Sure, take a feather."

"Yay!"

Naruto walked over towards the group as they celebrated their victory "Nice moves out there Red, you almost looked cool for a moment." He teased the girl who looked even more embarrassed now.

"Hey wait, how did you make that giant shield out of a tiny dagger?" Ruby, ever the weapons fanatic asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh that?" Naruto asked as he pulled out said dagger "My semblance allows me to turn this dagger into any weapon or shield in that case that I want."

"Long sword!" Nora shouted and the dagger turned into a long straight sword.

"Curved sword!"

"Pistol!"

"Mace!"

"Rifle!"

"Polearm!"

"Spear!"

"Shotgun!"

"Greataxe!"

Ruby and Nora continued calling out weapons until they ended on the massive twin-headed axe in Naruto's hand that he was holding as easily as someone does a pencil. "That. Is. So. COOL!" Both girls gushed in amazement.

"Well that's not overpowered at all." Yang groused. "Can it turn into a chair when you're bored?"

Just to mess with her Naruto turned it into a chair and sat down with a raised eyebrow and challenging look "I was joking you ass." She said with a twitching eye.

"Well anyway," Naruto started as he stood up and picked up his chair which shrunk back into a dagger "We should get going, wouldn't want to have gone through all that trouble only to be disqualified because we didn't make it in time."

"I agree." Red said a nod as he extended his hand towards Naruto "Lie Ren by the way, Pyrrha mentioned that we would be teammates."

"Oh right, Nora picked up the other white rook right?" Naruto said as he shook Ren's hand and waved at Nora who happily waved back. "Well now that, that is settled let's get going."

"Oh wait, we need one!" Ruby called out as she used her speed to rush back to the ruins and picked up a piece before rushing back. "Look I found a pony!" She proudly displayed the golden knight.

"Looks like we'll be on the same team after all lil' sis." Yang said with a grin as she held up her own knight.

"Yay!"

000

Ozpin smiled slightly as the encounter with the nevermore ended in a victory for teams White Rook and White Knight. "We certainly have an interesting crop this year."

*Chapter 4*: Team NRVN

Shattered World

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Cardinal led by Cardin Winchester." Applause rang out in the hall as Team CRDL walked off stage and Naruto's group walked up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos." His team stood at attending before the headmaster "The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Nirvana, led by Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded his consent while Pyrrha smiled and punched him in the arm good-naturedly as Nora clinged on to Ren. Team NRVN moved off the stage as Ruby's team came up behind them.

"And finally Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you recovered the White Knight pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Ruby led by Ruby Rose."

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin said as the crowd began clapping for the newly instated Team RWBY.

000

Naruto sat on his new bed as he watched his team organize the stuff in their room. His bad was on the far left next to Pyrrha's while Ren and Nora claimed the other half of the room. He had pretty much given Pyrrha ownership of his quarter of the room to do with as she please as everything he owned was sealed up somewhere on his body.

"So you really carry all your stuff under your skin?" Nora asked as she bounced on her bed.

"No, my storage seals are like a window to an artificially created pocket-space. I put stuff in and it stays there until I take them out." Naruto explained to her.

"And they look like those cool tattoos?" Nora asked as she pointed at a few designs on his bare arms. His seals were in clear view having taken off his coat and armor in favor of the black tank-top he wore underneath for comfort.

Glancing at his arms and the numerous seals that danced along with his many scars from years of service to Konoha he gave a simple nod. "Essentially, each seal does something different but they do need to be written. Either on a surface, skin, clothes or sometimes even in the air if you can project your aura enough."

"So if we combine your sealy-thingies, your super win dagger of awesomeness and those things, you can pretty much counter anyone right?" Nora asked as she pointed at the two devices resting on his night stand.

They were his answer for how he could use jutsu. Dust launchers, they worked in a way similar to Weiss' rapier in that it holds multiple dust varieties and can shoot out a spray of powdered dust.

He just made up a little lie that his aura was special in that it could directly manipulate powdered dust into attacks and he had a cover story for any elemental jutsu he may need to use.

"In theory yes." In truth Naruto didn't really need any of that, his Truth-seeking balls would be more than any human currently alive could overcome but the Grimm were another story. He knew they were made of corrupted nature chakra and while diluted the nevermore's quills still managed to dent his truth-shield even if it couldn't pierce it.

A strong enough hit from a powerful Grimm might be enough permanently damage or outright destroy one of his truth-seeking balls and that would really annoying since he only has and will only ever have, nine.

He was suddenly drawn from his thoughts as Nora asked him something else "Sorry what was that?"

"I was asking if I could have some of those sealy-thingies." She pleaded with a puppy dog look.

"For what reason?" He didn't really mind, theoretically she should be able to use a seal as Aura was a diluted version of Yang chakra and Semblance its Yin counterpart. If she managed to combine them it's possible for her to simulate chakra.

"Weeeeell..."

"She wanted to use them to store extra pancakes inside..." Ren said in a tone that he was far too used to her shenanigans.

Naruto shook his head "Sorry Nora, food and other perishables do still expire within a seal. You'll just have a bunch of moldy bread."

"Wait, how would it mold? I thought you said that your seals artificially create a space, how could they possibly be contaminated that quickly?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure there are gems and pollen and all that stuff in the air regardless and it gets on the stuff while its outside of the seal then while in it's in the seal it can basically multiply to its hearts content since its a sealed environment." Naruto said with a shrug "Don't quote me on any of that though, I honestly don't know, all I know is that I lost a lot of good ramen that way."

"Well that's a downer. Cant you just make a seal that makes your other seal work like a refridgerator?" Nora suggested causing Naruto to blink.

"Technically... yes? Possibly. I suppose it's possible if I integrated ice dust into the fridge seal... hmmm I'll have to get back to you on that Nora, but I'll definitely give it some thought." Naruto spoke as he began mentally designing the seal.

Nora saluted "Gotcha boss!" that was good enough for now, if he managed it then she could carry all the delicious pancakes she could ever want on her person and if not, well then there's always Ren.

Pyrrha glanced over at Naruto as he laid on his bed too deep in thought to notice anything else. She found that she liked this pensive Naruto, he looked rather cute. A blush formed on her cheeks and she quickly looked away to get in under control.

She couldn't deny that Naruto was handsome, clearly skilled and more importantly he was her first friend here simply because he wanted to be not because she was 'The Invincible Girl.'

While being quite popular due to her skill most boys seemed too intimidated to speak to her or far more concerned trying to impress her for her to take any interest in them but Naruto wasn't like that at all... he was just Naruto. A grinning, mildly sarcastic but genuinely nice person.

She also never really had any guy flirt with her like Naruto had this morning while they were on his fan. It was... nice, to just act like a normal seventeen year old girl for once. Naruto easily disregarded most pretenses of formality and just seemed to do whatever amused him, it was actually pretty refreshing being next to someone who could be so casual with her.

Having gotten control over her thoughts and cheeks once more she chanced a last glance over at Naruto before they went to sleep. It seems as though he dozed off sometime during his thoughts. She thought as she made herself comfortable and closed her eyes.

000

Naruto awoke relatively early, glancing over at the clock it was six in the morning. His teammates were all still dozing away so he decided not to bother them changed into a black jumpsuit so he can take a quick morning jog.

"Hmmm?" Pyrrha moaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Naruto?"

"Sorry for waking you Pyrrha, just going out for a jog go back to sleep. I'll wake you guys in an hour." Naruto

"Wait." She called out softly drawing his attention "I'll join you in a minute, just allow me to get ready first."

Naruto gave her a nod and waited outside until she came out again in sweat pants and a jacket. "Normally people choose sleep when the option is given to them." He said with a smile.

Pyrrha smiled back and followed him down the hall "I was already awake, I would not have been able to fall back asleep."

"Well I guess it will be nice to have some company for a change." Naruto said as they reached the gates of the school. She followed him in a comfortable silence as they jogged through the school yard and we're nearing the school's harbor. "I was planning on jogging down to the docks and back up."

Pyrrha blinked "Isn't the way down to the docks a long flight of stairs?"

"Yup." She never noticed the grin on his face.

"I... see." She suddenly got a bad feeling Perhaps I should have chosen sleep.

000

An hour later Naruto was calmly walking through the school's halls as Pyrrha dragged herself along behind him. "That was a fun jog, we should make it longer next time."

I believe Naruto is trying to kill me. Pyrrha thought with a grimace as she held her aching side, if she never sat a set of stairs again it would be too soon.

Naruto caught the slight whimper come from her at the thought of doing that again, he was glad that she was behind him and couldn't see the mischievous foxy smile on his face. He put her through a chuunin-level pace and she did fairly well though her stamina could do with some work.

The problem with someone stomping on competition so quickly being that they weren't used to long drawn out conflicts. He'll have to work on her stamina when he began putting his team through the paces.

Even if he didn't take any of this seriously, he'll be damned if his team is second-place to anyone.

Opening the door to their room he walked in just in time to catch Ren waking up. "Morning Ren, we got an hour until breakfast and another until first class in case you want to wake Nora or let her sleep for a while longer."

"Nora will wake up when she wants to, trying to wake her ends up with a fist landing somewhere uncomfortable." Ren grumbled as he got up.

"Good to know." Naruto said as he sat down on his bed just as Pyrrha entered the room with a groan and promptly fell on the bed.

Ren raised an eyebrow "What's wrong with her?"

Naruto grinned mischievously "I'm pretty sure Pyrrha developed an intense loathing for stairs today."

"Okay...?" Naruto didn't seem like he was going to elaborate so Ren settled for getting his uniform ready.

"Well I'm going to go take a shower, I'll be back in a few." Ren nodded at his captain as he glanced worried towards Pyrrha. For whatever reason he felt as though he too would soon develop a hatred of stairs.

"Hopefuly not." Ren murmured as he picked up a towel and went to go take a shower himself.

000

Team NRVN eventually made it to breakfast, though Pyrrha wouldn't stop scowling at Naruto who simply smiled and took her anger in stride. "I feel like pancakes today, what about you Nora?"

"Pancakes!" Nora agreed with a cheer, bless her hyperactive one-track mind.

Naruto followed after the hammer wielder as she began subtly stealing stacks of pancakes from other sections of the table and set them in a place big enough for all four of them.

"So we have classes today until four-thirty. I was think we spend an hour afterwards working on whatever work they may give us then hit the training rooms and learn a bit more about each other's fighting styles so we can better work as a team." If there was one thing... well really the only thing Kakashi taught them, it was teamwork.

"That's a good idea, Nora and I know plenty about how the other fights but we know nothing about either of you other than what we saw in the forest." Ren spoke as he began pouring some syrup on his pancakes.

"So Pyrrha why are you mad at the boss?" Nora asked between bites.

Her scowl intensified and Naruto could almost feel the heat from her glare on the side of his head. "Pyrrha volunteered to join me on a light jog this morning." Naruto answered with a serene smile before beginning on his own stack of pancakes.

Pyrrha huffed and turned towards her own food "If you call that light I would rather not see what you consider a hard workout."

"Oh you'll see soon enough my dear team," Naruto told them with an eye-smile that even Nora instinctively recognized as 'Not good' "There are ten teams this year and I intend for us to be the best amongst them."

"Why does that not give me a good feeling?" Ren asked with a fearful look.

Naruto's eyes cracked open a sliver and his team shivered at the look he was giving them, "You'll learn to ignore the pain eventually."

Nora looked like she was about to cry, Ren gulped and Pyrrha zoned out murmuring 'no more stairs, no more stairs.'

Oh yes, the next few weeks were going to be hell for his team.

000

Two lights shone over the competitors, one orange haired and the other blonde. They had been at this school for close to two months now and they were finally starting on Duels.

Cardin narrowed his eyes at his opponent, he only held a small knife but he was too quick to land a solid blow on. Meanwhile Naruto nodded to himself, he had seen enough and would know how Cardin would attack.

While he could have just curb-stomped him if he wanted he decided to limit his skill to around a chuunin-level seeing as that was a high-average around here. He subtly cloned his dagger using the chakra rod metal and hid the second up his left sleeve.

Cardin charged with a yell and an overhead strike. Heh, predictable.

Naruto blocked the large mace with his truth-dagger, the weapon biting deeply into Cardin's lesser quality weapon. Everyone seemed amazed that he could even hold the much larger weapon back with just his small dagger but this was trivial to him.

He suddenly parried the weapon back with force that staggered Cardin and slipped his left dagger into his hand, slashing across Winchester's chest plate enough to cut through it and leave a small red line across his chest.

Using the momentum he spun and smashed his right elbow into Cardin's unprotected gut. "Gah!" The orange haired teen grunted as he was thrown off his feet and landed on his back.

Suddenly the lights turned on and Glynda walked to the middle of the stage. "That will be enough, winner Naruto Uzumaki." The screens above showed Cardin in the red while Naruto's aura bar was still full.

Team NRVN clapped for their captain as Glynda explained how the Aura system works in tournament style duels. "Remember everyone, the Vital festival is only a few months away. It wont be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

The bell rang just as Naruto joined his team and team RWBY who were stood next to them. "Awesome job boss, you smashed him like a pancake!"

"Yeah! You totally kicked his butt!" Ruby cheered.

"Well done, Naruto." Pyrrha congratulated with a smile.

"Thanks everyone, now let's get to lunch I'm pretty hungry today." Naruto said as he led the groups out to the eating area.

000

"So there we were..." Nora began "In the middle of the night."

"It was day." Ren corrected.

"We were surround by Ursai-" Yang seemed enraptured by the start of the story.

"They were beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" Nora proclaimed as she stood up dramatically.

"Two of em."

"But they were no match! And in the end Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling ursa skinned rugs." Nora finished with a grin.

Ren sighed "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Naruto wasn't paying much attention as he was more focused on Cardin and his goons. They were messing with a faunus girl with bunny ears and he seemed extra obnoxious today, likely to make himself feel better after getting his ass handed to him.

His eyes narrowed when the orange-haired teen went to grab the girl's ears and his truth-dagger was flying through the air before he knew it. Cardin yelped as the blade sunk into his armguard deep enough to reach the skin underneath.

Silvery activated seals littered the weapon restricting it's ability to disintegrate and turning into nothing more than an almost indestructible and incredibly sharp blade.

"Ah! Shit!" Cardin grit his teeth and pulled out the weapon, seeing a bit of blood on the tip.

"Oh I'm sorry Cardin, my hand slipped." Naruto said as he picked up his dagger "Though you really shouldn't pick on girls like that, makes you look like an even bigger waste of space than you really are."

"What did you say punk?" Cardin growled as he stood up along with his cronies.

Naruto gently guided the bunny girl out of the way and stood face to face with Cardin. "I said that you're a pathetic excuse for human life and should do everyone a favor and bury yourself in an eight-foot hole."

Cardin smiled maliciously and after a moment he swung his fist only for it to be caught in Naruto's iron grip. Winchester flinched as the pressure on his fist began increasing "Ah!" and he was being forced back down from the pain.

"Settle down Cardin," His sharp glare turned to the other three sitting across the table "You too." The other members of CRDN did as they were told and sat back down with a quickness.

"Ah, ah, ah" Carding yelped as he kneeled on the ground.

"Now Cardin, I don't know why you're a bully. Maybe daddy never hugged you or mommy didn't love you enough? Quite frankly I don't care, but your shit stops now or I'm going to start bullying you and trust me when I say-"

"AH!" The others winced as they heard some popping coming from Cardin's hand.

"I'm a lot stronger than you." Naruto finished and let go of the teen's fist and walked back to his own group.

"Um th-thank you for helping me." A timid voice spoke from behind him after he sat down. Turning around his blue eyes met the bunny girl's brown ones which quickly looked away and watched curiously as her cheeks reddened and her arms linked together in front of her. Pale skin covered in a blush, closed off stance, shy demeanor.

Oh my god, It's Hinata! He mentally exclaimed. "No problem." Naruto said after his brain mentally rebooted a moment later. "Winchester was being an even bigger toolbag than usual today because of me and you shouldn't have to suffer for it."

"I- I see, well th-thank you nonetheless." With that her head and ears flopped down in a form of bow before taking off, her blush seeming to have calm down but traces of it could still be seen.

"Hmm," Naruto hummed to himself as his team and Ruby's watched him "She reminds me of an old friend of mine." He said offhandedly as he took a baby carrot from Pyrrha's salad and popped it in his mouth.

"Who?" Pyrrha asked.

Naruto was about to answer but thought better of it and shook his head "You wouldn't know her." He said with a tone of finality. Everyone I once knew has been dead for hundreds of years... damn.

Ren watched as his captain went into one of those moods again, like he was recalling something sad from long ago. The team had learned that when Naruto entered this state he would become lost in his thoughts for quite some time. "Well anyway we should probably finish eating, we have Professor Oobleck's class in twenty minutes."

Everyone agreed while Pyrrha looked at Naruto with a concerned expression. He had been zoning out a lot more lately and it was starting to worry her. "Naruto?"

"Hmmm?" Came the usual reply when he was in this state, like he was just on autopilot.

"Are you alright?" She tried asking.

"Yes." She was sure she wouldn't get anything more out of him than that so instead went back to finishing her lunch.

"What up with him?" Yang asked as she watched Naruto eat with robotic efficiency. "It's kinda creepy."

"Oh, we have reason to believe that the boss is actually a robot and every once in awhile his personally chip fries out and he goes into his robo-mode where he looks like that." Nora answered with a grin. "He usually falls asleep afterwards and reboots as normal Naruto."

"No one but you has reason to believe that Nora." Ren added.

Ruby's eyes widened "But what if he was a robot?"

Weiss facepalmed.

Naruto's eyes unblurred as he looked around the table at the smiling friends, reminding him of an age long past.

Yang reminded him of Kiba. Loud and brash but loyal to a fault.

Blake was like Shino, always calm and composed and seeking out the shadows.

Weiss and Ino would probably be good friends if they ever met.

Ren was much like Neji after he kicked that stick out of his ass.

The ever excitable and friendly Nora was much like Lee.

Pyrrha was like a mix of Sakura, Hinata and Tenten. Strong like Sakura, kind like Hinata and skilled like Tenten.

Then Ruby, the little kid who wanted to desperately prove herself to her peers. She reminded him of himself. She hid it well but he could see the crushing loneliness behind that smile, one he often wore in his youth.

So then, who was he? He could no longer claim to truly be Naruto Uzumaki, he died long ago with all of his friends. These new people they... they weren't truly his friends. How could they be when everything he's told them has been one lie after another.

No, he was simply here for his mission. Earth called him here for a reason but he sorely doubted it was to make friends. With a sigh he stood up, these thoughts had been plaguing him more and more recently and with having met the bunny-Hinata earlier it only kickstarted them back again and to make matters worse his best friend had yet to awaken from his own slumber.

"Naruto?" Pyrrha asked as she watched him stand up.

"I'll meet you guys at Oobleck's." Was all he said as he left the hall.

*Chapter 5*: Under the Pale Moonlight

Shattered World

Teams NRVN and RWBY walked into Professor Oobleck's classroom and found Naruto at the back corner seat with his head down. Pyrrha sighed and trudged up the damn stairs, hating every moment of it while the rest followed her up.

Pyrrha took her seat next to Naruto who already seemed to be asleep as proven by Nora considering that he didn't react to her prodding. "See I told you the boss falls asleep after one of his robo-moments. When he wakes up he'll be fine." She told Team RWBY.

"I'm surprised he bothered to wear most of the uniform today." Yang chipped in as she sat down a row below Naruto's team. "Usually he just wears the pants, white shirt and his coat. Today he's wearing the tie and the vest."

"Naruto's usual excuse is that it's too much clothing to bother putting on and restricts his movements too much." Ren stated "Why he's wearing it today I'm not entirely sure."

"Alright, settle down class." Oobleck called out as he zoomed into the room.

As Oobleck went through his class Naruto continued to sleep soundlessly. While his body rested on the outside Naruto sat within his seal and gazed at his oldest friend with a melancholy smile.

"Kurama... when will you wake up?" He wondered sadly as the great beast continued to sleep peacefully. Its been like this since he awoke on the moon, for some reason Kurama never awoke alongside him and still hasn't.

Sighing he stood, feeling far too much like Kakashi just zoning out like that. "I wonder how long I've been asleep for."

Hamura said that it would be a side-effect of receiving his chakra but honestly, just falling asleep at inconvenient times can get quite tiresome. At least he's able to stave off the sleep long enough to get somewhere comfortable and it truly only happens when he zones out and retreats into his subconscious.

He brought his senses to the forefront and was able to hear Oobleck's voice talking about faunus is some sort of context which he missed. "Mr. Uzumaki, perhaps you know?"

"Crap." He immediately awoke himself and lifted his head. "What was the question again professor?"

Oobleck sighed "I asked if you knew what advantage the faunus had over General Lagune's forces during the Battle of Fort Castle."

Naruto rubbed his eyes and nodded "Fort Castle... Fort Castle... they tried a night raid and failed because most faunus can see in the dark, right?"

Oobleck nodded "Precisely, thank you mr. Uzumaki it seems that even while sleeping you can still pay attention."

"It's one of my many talents." Naruto mumbled as he laid his head back on his arms.

"Now moving on-" Oobleck zoomed back to the front of the class and continued his lecture.

000

Naruto noticed he'd been sighing a lot as of late, he was starting to feel like an old man with how much he did it. His keen ears caught the almost silent footsteps behind him but he already sensed who it was and instead choose to keep watching the moon.

"It looks beautiful tonight." She spoke.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed "I've been coming up here lately when I can't sleep and just stare at the moon for a while."

He didn't protest when his companion sat next to him on the rooftop. She didn't speak again as they simply sat and watched the moon for a few minutes. "You're cold." It wasn't a question.

"A bit." She admitted.

He slid off his coat and passed it to her without another word. She wrapped it around her front as their backs were to a wall. No further words were shared as they sat and took in the calm night.

After what seemed like another hour he stood and soundlessly walked away, leaving her with her thoughts and his coat.

000

"Hey boss?"

"Yes, Nora?"

"Why does your coat keep ending up outside the door and folded up all nice?" She asked, picking up the garment and handing it to him.

"Who knows? Maybe someone keeps trying to steal it, realises the error of their ways and then folds it up nicely as penance." He offered, figuring that giving her a bizarre answer would settle her curiosity while he slipped on his coat.

"They must really want your coat then, this has been happening every once in awhile for the last month right?" Ren asked, equally as confused.

Naruto shrugged "I also sleepwalk, there's a chance that I drop it somewhere and a nice person takes the time to leave it out there for me."

"Well that is commendable of them if that were the case, I would much prefer that to be true than someone sneaking into our room every so often and taking things." Pyrrha added getting nods from Nora and Ren.

"In any case, we don't have classes until ten today since Goodwitch is taking us out to Forever Fall forest, I say we go have breakfast and relax until then."

"See Ren, this is why he's the Boss. Naruto comes up with best ideas." Nora said with a grin.

Ren chuckled "Right then, lead on boss."

"Please don't start with that too Ren, it's bad enough with just Nora doing it." Naruto grumbled as his team followed him out the door laughing.

Naruto went over to the opposite room and knocked, Weiss opening the door soon after. "Morning Weiss, we're heading out for breakfast if you guys want to join us."

Weiss nodded, "Let me ask." a moment later she returned. "We'll be down in five minutes."

"Gotcha." With that Team NRVN walked down the halls towards the eating area and settling into a table. "Bacon and eggs sounds good today." He said happily as he spooned himself a plate full of them along with a few slices of toast.

Pyrrha blinked and leaned closer to Naruto getting an odd look from him. "Pyrrha not that i'm not flattered but what are you doing?"

"Naruto..." She sniffed once more to make sure "Are you wearing perfume?"

Naruto just gave her a blank look "What?"

"Are you... wearing perfume?" She suddenly sounded unsure.

"No?" Naruto asked with an upward inflection, the hell kind of a question was that? "What makes you think that?"

"It's just that," Pyrrha paused and chose her words "You have a faint flowery scent to you."

Naruto blinked before his lips thinned into a line and he took off his coat. "What about now?"

Pyrrha sniffed again and this time he only smelled like Naruto which made her blush slightly at the knowledge that she was starting recognize what he smelled like. "No, it's gone now."

Naruto held his coat up and frowned at it "I guess we've found the culprit then." Odd that he didn't notice it himself until now.

Nora giggled drawing looks from the rest of the team "Naruto's stalker has been rubbing his coat all along her body so she could leave her scent on it, It's kind of romantic!"

"I suppose in a creepy stalker-ish sort of way it is..." Ren added "Though it doesn't make me feel any better knowing that Naruto's stalker has been in our room multiple times now."

"Oh! Oh!" Nora waved her arms as if a great realization hit her "I think I know who it is!"

Naruto gave her an amused look, he already knew who it was but was curious as to whom Nora's hyperactive mind linked to the crime. "Really? Tell us then Nora, who is my stalker?"

"The Bunny girl!" She exclaimed "Think about it, Naruto saved her from the evil villain Cardin in a heroic act of badassery. Her maiden heart instantly falling for him, but alas she couldn't be with him as Naruto and Pyrrha are clearly the OTP and knowing this she instead chose to make due with his coat." Nora explained dramatically. "At least that's how it goes in my fanfiction."

"The Bunny girl?" Naruto questioned then thought about it for a moment Well considering how Hinata was... it's not entirely impossible.

"OTP?" Pyrrha wondered as she was unfamiliar with the term.

"Oh, it means One True Pair-" Nora began only for Naruto to cut her off.

"IN ANY CASE" Naruto began as he sent Nora a glare "We should probably learn her name one of these days, it seems somewhat degrading to keep referring to her as ' The Bunny Girl'. Plus I sincerely doubt it was her anyway."

"Regardless we are locking the door from now on." Pyrrha said with finality which Ren and Nora nodded to.

"While I like to take walks outside when I can't sleep, I have my key so that should be fine." Naruto said with a shrug. Next time they meet he's going to have a little talk with a certain someone.

000

"Yes students the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful but we are not here to sightsee." Goodwitch spoke as she led the students through the scarlet forest. Like its namesake, crimson leaves fell from the trees leaving a red trail along the ground. "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The suddenly came to a stop as Glynda turned towards them. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap, however this forest is full of the creatures of grimm so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun."

The teams split up while NRVN and RWBY stuck together. "You know..." Naruto began as he walked beside Nora. "I hear that the red sap tastes like strawberry syrup, that would go great on some pancakes don't you think?"

Nora's eyes lit up as if christmas had come early, a bit of drool sliding down the side of her mouth before reality came crashing down on her as she looked at her single jar. "We only have one jar each though." She said despondently.

"Correction," Naruto grinned as he waved a small scroll in front of her "You only brought one jar, I brought ten."

All of Nora's earlier cheer returned and she began literally shaking in her boots before exploding in excitement "YAY! The Boss' sealy-thingies save the day!"

Naruto chuckled as he set the scroll down and released the ten extra jars. "Now Nora you have to promise me not to eat too much sap today alright? Else you'll never get to bed..."

"I promise!" She said with a wide grin "Now can I go start milking the trees?"

"Ah... sure." Naruto said with a shake of his head, that girl really did have an odd way of phrasing things sometimes. Turning towards his other two teammates he nodded towards Nora "We should probably keep an eye on her before she reneges on her promise."

"Umm Naruto?" Ruby asked as she poked his arm, gaining his attention. "Since you have so many jars, mind if I have yours? I kinda want to save a jar for later."

He smirked and handed her the jar in his hand "Knock yourself out kid."

"Thanks!" Ruby grinned and returned to her team with her prize.

Naruto watched as the two teams had fun collecting the tree sap before a sigh left his mouth. Of course that asshole had to try to ruin it. He thought, turning around and catching a jar of sap that was set to smash into him.

He could see Cardin grit his teeth and reach for another jar "Oh no you don't." He said drawing the attention of the others as he shifted the weight of the jar in his hand and threw it right back at Cardin, hitting him dead center in the chest with it.

"What was that about?" Blake asked as she walked up to him.

"Winchester likely thought it would be funny to hit me with the jar I just threw at him." Naruto answered as a smirk crossed his face "To be honest it was mildly amusing."

Blake shrugged and went back to her team while Naruto headed over to his. He noticed Nora's face covered in red sap and facepalmed "Nora, what did you promise me earlier?"

"Not to eat too much sap," She said with a nod before extending her arms around her "and I haven't, there's still plenty of sap to go around!"

Naruto just gave her a blank look before chuckling "Whatever, just save some for later."

"Aye, aye, captain!" *RAWR* "BEOWULF OFF THE PORT BOW!"

"That was an ursa." Ren corrected.

"URSA, URSA!" One of the members of team CRDL warned as he ran right into Yang.

"What? Where?" She asked, holding him up by his shirt.

"Back there, it's got Cardin!" The mohawked teen answered as he pointed back the way they came running from.

"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby ordered as a serious look came upon her face.

"Even now that dick is still causing me trouble." Naruto lamented "You two go back them up, there might be others nearby. Let's go Pyrrha." The redhead nodded and followed her captain.

The four landed in a small clearing nearby where they watched Cardin crawl away from the larger than normal ursa.

"You know," Naruto began as he watched the Ursa Major bat away Cardin with its massive paw "A part of me is saying to just let the bear maul him and be done with it while the other part of telling me to save the idiot... sadly for Cardin that side is losing."

"Naruto!" Pyrrha admonished.

"What? It's supposed to be Goodwitch's job to save him not mine." He reasoned.

"Umm, I don't think she'll make it in time." Ruby said with a cringe as the bear swiped at Cardin's new chestplate, cutting through it much like Naruto's knife had the month before.

"Ugh, fine." Naruto grumbled as he shifted his dagger into a rifle and let out a sharp whistle. "HEY UGLY!"

The Ursai turned towards the blonde with a roar and began charging his way. Behind him he could hear the sounds of weapons shifting around into ready positions.

Naruto created a single black bullet in the palm of his hand and loaded into the rifle. It was made from the same metal as the black chakra rods and while not as powerful as a truth-seeking ball they also weren't hindered by the ball's weakness towards senjutsu.

"Say goodnight." The bullet struck true and lodged itself deep within the Ursa's skull, leaving a large hole in between it's eyes. Naruto watched the body of the great beast slide towards him with a passive look, walking over to it once it stopped to examine the wound. "There's no blood."

"The creatures of grimm do not bleed." Pyrrha said as she kneeled down next to him also inspecting the wound. "We are not entirely sure how a grimm functions without a circulatory system but instead fade away as their life-force leaves the body."

Naruto's eyes narrowed on the smoke coming from the wound, he knew for a fact that it didn't come from his bullet and since it was a chakra receiver he could literally feel the corrupted nature chakra dissolving back into the world. Interesting.

Finally Naruto stood up and looked over at Cardin who was hobbling his way towards them while holding on to his chest wound. While he wouldn't die from it due to his aura slowly closing up the wound it would likely be best to have it stitched up soon. "Come on, your pansy ass teammates ran over that way." He said to Cardin before turning and walking in the direction he pointed.

"Such a fun day, ruined." Naruto groaned as they walked through the forest, eventually meeting up with Goodwitch and the rest of team CRDL. The teacher took one look at Cardin and send out a message to everyone else to return immediately.

"I hope everyone has collected a sample as we must return to the school at once so mister Winchester can have his injuries tended to." She announced, thankfully everyone had already collected their sap and were all ready to return to the school.

000

It was another one of those nights, the visions kept coming and none of them good. A woman on fire with burning amber eyes was very prominent in these dreams. She definitely had a part to play in all this and every instinct told him that it wasn't a good one.

His mind was drawn from his thought however at the soft footfalls of his occasional companion joining him. "Evening." He greeted but didn't look away from the moon.

"Hello." She took her spot next to him as usual.

"Interesting day, no?" He asked casually.

She hummed in return "It was eventful." Her voice came out with a slight shiver.

"I'm starting to think you don't bring a sweater simply because you like to wear my coat." Naruto said in amusement as he passed it to her.

"It's warm." Was her justification.

"You left your perfume on it yesterday, Pyrrha was able to smell it somehow even though I couldn't."

"Sorry... I thought my bath would have washed the scent away."

"It's fine, they just think I have a stalker who steals my coat at night and rubs it all over her body to get some sort of sexual thrill out of it." She gave him a blank look. "No I'm serious."

"That's... I don't even." She was at a loss for words.

"Well after I go to bed I don't know what you do up here alone," Naruto teased "You wouldn't be doing anything naughty with my coat now would you?" Her eyes met red-slitted ones as his elongated fangs shined in the night through his grin. She was caught off guard by his sudden change of appearance and caught herself staring at him.

A deep blush appeared over her pale, moonlit skin as she turned away "O-Of course not!"

Naruto chuckled and settled back into his spot against the wall, his eyes shifting back to blue while she bundled herself up in his coat. "I really don't..." She whispered, still not looking at him.

He smirked in amusement as he took his eyes off the beautiful faunus and returned them to the broken moon. "I believe you, Blake."

*Chapter 6*: Mimic

Shattered World

It was bright and early on Friday morning when Naruto had announced that they would be heading down to the training stadiums. "We have arena four booked for this evening."

"What are we going to work on today?" Nora asked as she began pouring red sap over her pancakes.

"I was thinking about continuing what we did on Thursday." Naruto answered. "Except this time it will be myself and Ren."

Nora grinned at Pyrrha who smiled back "Ready to kick these boy's butts?"

"I will give it my best." She replied with a confident look.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before turning towards Ren who was across from him "You do know that we have to win now right?"

Ren sighed as he gave a resigned nod "If we don't Nora won't let us live it down like last time."

"Hey guys!" Ruby greeted as she and her team joined them. She spotted the red sap on Nora's pancakes and gave Naruto a pleading look.

Naruto didn't even bother turning and simply held out what was left in their last jar. "THANK YOU!" She cried in joy, sitting down next to him with Blake taking a seat on her right.

"So what are you guys up to today?" Yang asked as she and Weiss sat across from them.

"We're heading down to the arenas after breakfast to do a little training." Naruto answered then had a thought pop into his head "Why don't you guys join us? We'll have to work with other teams at times so why not split our teams up and form new ones?"

"Ooh that sounds fun!" Ruby agreed "Who's on your team?"

"It's myself and Ren against Nora and Pyrrha." Naruto answered "Why don't you and Blake join us and Yang and Weiss group up with Nora and Pyrrha?"

"What do you guys think?" Ruby asked her team. Blake simply shrugged while Yang grinned in excitement.

"There is actually a rumor that the transfer students attending the Vytal festival would be coming in today so I wanted to go... greet them." Weiss spoke up.

"Well I don't have the arena booked until six." Naruto added.

"Oh, well in that case it's fine with me." Weiss said with a nod.

"I don't mind." Blake said in a quiet tone.

"Yang?" Ruby asked only to flinch back from the blinding light coming from Yang's massive grin.

"Oh yeah!" Yang said as she leveled a challenging look on Naruto "I've been looking for a good reason to beat you up after that last prank!"

Naruto allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. While he had largely left his prankster nature Yang's own mischievous nature brought out his and they would at times try to outdo the other. "What? I thought electric blue looked good on you."

Yang's grin tightened and her eyes closed into a sinister eye-smile "Six hours. It took me six hours to get out."

Naruto rested his chin on his palm and smiled teasingly "I still say bright blue brings out the rage filled red in your eyes."

"I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass." She grinned viciously "You and mashed potatoes are going to have a lot in common soon."

"You'd have to catch me first," He said with a grin "and if you forgot I can run literal circles around you."

The rest of the team members became weary when Yang's hair began defying gravity and the utensils began shaking. Her eyes shifting between red and amethyst while Naruto kept on smiling mockingly. "You know if you glare a little harder you might start shooting laser beams."

Yang's power began coalescing around her in a visible aura as her blood-red eyes shined brightly "I must break you."

Naruto chuckled "Considering your semblance is you just get stronger the more I beat you, I bet you'll be able to transcend reality after I'm through with you."

Yang cocked her arm back and ready to crash it into his face were it not for the sudden burst of drowsiness flowing through her. Everyone was so focused on Yang that no one noticed the slight shimmer coming from Naruto's eyes nor the odd rippling pattern in them as he made a deliberate motion of snapping his fingers in front of Yang. "Sleep."

Yang tried desperately to blink the sleep away but eventually slumped over into a light sleep. Naruto simply had a satisfied look when they turned to him. "Well, I'm done eating so I'll meet you all down at the arena this evening."

"Wait! What did you do to Yang?" Ruby asked with concern.

"Hmm?" Naruto turned back before glancing at Yang "Oh, she's just sleeping. She'll wake up in a minute or two."

Ruby nodded, still slightly concerned for her sister but if Naruto said she would wake up soon then she would. While they would prank and fight with each other often, mostly because Naruto liked to rile her up, he's never actually done anything malicious before. "So anyone else curious how he put my sister to sleep?"

"The boss is just awesome like that, when you think you know everything about him BAM! Hypnosis!" Nora said with a sap covered grin. "It's kind've amazing."

"We've learned to just roll with it when Naruto shows us another of his abilities." Ren added. "He's like an overpowered anime character. As soon as he needs something new the universe simply allows him to have it."

"Psh." Ruby dismissed "I bet he can't do something crazy like walk up walls or something."

Team NRVN looked at each other before looking back at Ruby "Naruto sometimes does his homework while sitting upside down on the ceiling. He says it helps him think." Pyrrha told her.

Ruby gaped "Wait, seriously?"

"Mhmm!" Nora nodded "It looks really fun."

"He can also walk on water." Ren added. "How? I couldn't tell you but it is rather amusing to watch him casually ignore the laws of physics at times."

"Woah..." Was all Ruby could say "I've gotta get him to teach me that!"

Nora pouted and crossed her arms "Naruto says he's only able to do it because he can outwardly project his aura... whatever that means."

"Is that even possible?" Weiss asked with a doubtful look.

"It is." Pyrrha confirmed "I am actually able to do it myself, however not to the point that Naruto can."

"It requires a very high degree of control over one's aura. I can project mine like a shield but I'm still finding the defying gravity thing a bit out of my reach." Ren told added.

Ruby also nodded "You just saw Yang do it too, her semblance modifies her Aura so that it becomes visible and can absorb hits to strengthen her."

Blake had gone quiet as old teachings during her time in the White Fang rushed back to her Focus girl! You must focus your Aura to the point that it becomes tangible.

Why do we even do this?

When one masters their Aura, they can do feats other could only ever dream of.

Like what?

The image of her old trainer running straight up a tall tree as if he would on solid ground played in her mind. She shook her head to forget her time being trained as an assassin for the White Fang. Could Naruto have undergone similar training during his time at Shade Academy? It stands to reason that if someone could figure something out like wall-climbing then others could too.

Vacuo was once known as the land of shadows after all, their denizens specializing in subtlety, subterfuge and assassination. There are too many similarities to simply be coincidence.

000

A few hours later the two teams assembled in arena 4, one of the more reinforced training areas meant for students with more destructive abilities. "Great, you're all here." Naruto said with a grin as the two teams joined him in front of the stage though it looked like Team RWBY had a tense atmosphere about them.

Naruto casually ignored the scowl Yang was sending at him as he waved his arm behind him. "Today I learned a bit about these training areas and found that they were modeled after professional dueling arenas."

Pyrrha nodded "They do seem similar, though they are missing the artificial terrains." She recalled, drawing on her own experience in tournaments.

Naruto smiled and shook his head "Not missing, just hidden." He corrected, "With the Vytal Festival coming up I asked professor Goodwitch about it as a team captain interested in signing up his team. She told me of the history of the tournament, the battles, the stage and the reward. She actually let me know that the arenas here have similar features to professional arenas but use of them requires a teacher's permission and any repair costs would come out of any money made from the missions we can begin taking next semester."

"Are you saying that professor Goodwitch gave you permission?" Weiss questioned, somehow doubtful that someone as irresponsible as Naruto would be allowed that privilege.

Naruto smirked and nodded "Since our entrance into the tournament was accepted Goodwitch made sure to mention all of this to me if we wanted to train for the Festival in a similar matter to the real event... though she didn't seem happy about it, haha."

"Woot! We got in!" Nora cheered as she shook Ren's arm in elation. Ren and Pyrrha also looked excited but not nearly as much as the cheerful girl.

"Wait! When was the deadline for sign-ups!?" Ruby asked frantically.

"Half-way through next semester." Naruto answered with a shrug "When I brought our application to Ozpin he said that usually only older teams with a few years of experience and some missions done are accepted but he seemed impressed with our performance during the entrance exam and allowed us a spot to represent Beacon."

Ruby's eyes lit up "Hey we were part of that! we should be able to get a spot too then, right guys?"

Yang nodded "Definitely!"

"Maybe." Naruto said with a shrug before hopping to the higher arena "How about we get to it though? We only have the arena booked for an hour today so lets work hard."

"Right!" They all chorused before splitting into the teams determined at breakfast.

Team BRRN - Consisting of Blake, Ruby, Ren and Naruto Vs. Team WYPN - With the members Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha and Nora.

Naruto looked up and to the left where a camera was watching them. He subtly checked the dust launchers under his arms to make sure they were fastened well, while he had used them in training and spars before this was the first time he would try to fool trained huntsmen with them into believing that the dust was the source of his jutsu rather than his chakra.

"We're ready Professor!" Naruto called out to viewing deck where Goodwitch was watching them from and he was sure that Ozpin was too. This would certainly help promote the two teams not only as whole teams but also as two's partners and later singles.

This wasn't just a training session but a show for the professors to help show Teams NRVN and RWBY as the new talent of this year and hopefully help Ruby's team land a spot in the tournament.

The lights dimmed and holographic screens around them spun a bunch of images like a slot-machine to decide the random battleground. It landed on Ice for BRRN's side and Forest for WYPN.

"I call Blondie." Yang declared loudly so everyone understood her intent to go solely for me, Pyrrha, Nora and Weiss all understood and knew not to stand in the way of an angered Yang.

Naruto grinned, he really did enjoy fighting Yang. She was much like him, no matter how many times you put them down they stood back up, granted Yang would eventually pass out from either exhaustion or pain but the girl would certainly give as good as she got during. "So the Golden Berserker is my opponent then? Fun!"

"Golden Berserker, huh?" Yang grinned as she began powering up and slammed her fists together erupting a wave of fire from her "Try to not die."

"I'd you tell the same." Naruto opened his eyes which were not shining a deep red, his whiskers deepening and claws forming out of his nails. "It's been awhile since I've used this, forgive me if I'm a bit rusty."

Everyone watched as a deep red energy bubbled around Naruto, no one knowing that he was tapping into the barest amounts of Kurama's chakra to go into one-tailed mode. Yang watched with narrowed eyes as her own burning aura heated the air around her, she already knew this was going to be a good scrap.

Naruto shot at Yang at incredible speeds and had she not blocked her face would have taken significant damage from the punch that was strong enough to send her flying back into the forest followed quickly by Naruto.

The others took this as the unofficial start of the battle and started their own attacks. "HAAAAAAAAA!" Nora fearlessly leapt at the other team, her war hammer firing rounds behind her to increase her speed before slamming down with earth-shaking force causing the others to scatter.

Like a raging bull Nora continued on after Blake who substituted herself with a rock clone to take the girl's first swing before unleashing a hail of bullets at her.

Ruby on the other hand had been engaged with Pyrrha in a sniper battle where they were shooting each other's single shots out of the air though Ruby seemed to be making more progress than the armored girl who was more inclined towards melee combat.

This left Ren in a desperate struggle against the Schnee heiress who called the ice her home as she skated circles around him while sending dust-charged attack after attack. "Oh come on! This isn't even fair!" Ren complained as he dodged another round of icicles while firing back at Weiss who gracefully skated around them.

"Don't complain!" Weiss called back as she stabbed her rapier into the ground, Ren looked confused for a moment before dodging to the side as a stalagmite stood where he used to.

Ren gulped as his hand subconsciously reached for his pants She's trying to kill me!

000

Naruto and Yang circled each other, like two predators searching for any weakness in the other. "So what all that about?" Yang asked as she nodded her head towards him.

"You mean the cloak?" Naruto motioned towards the bubbling red chakra around him, the ears and single tail now forming. "It's similar to your own except mine is more... savage."

Yang's hair flowed freely above her like an open flame, gauntlets primed and ready as her own crimson eyes peered into his. "Is that so?"

Naruto grinned viciously, fangs poking out from under his lips "It is.""

Yang wasted no more time on words and charged head first, fists cocked unleashing a flurry of dust bullets that Naruto either dodged or batted away with his tail. Her face scrunched up in annoyance as he nimbly weaved through her barrage, that mocking grin never leaving his face. "Stand still damn you!"

"Don't think so!" Naruto retorted as he darted around her attacks and began circling her like he'd done so many times before. He could see her getting angrier and angrier by the minute "You know you can't hit me, why even try?"

"Shut up!" Yang growled as she sent a super charged bullet at him that was promptly dodged by Naruto.

"Maybe if you had your sister's speed or Blake's natural cat-like reflexes you might stand a chance but as you are, you could never hope to defeat me!" Naruto taunted as he began flicking his tail out to strike her with relatively weak hits meant more to sting than hurt.

"SHUT UP!" Like a boiling kettle Naruto could practically see the steam coming from Yang. Good, it was almost time then.

"Aren't you supposed to be the older sister? And here little Ruby is entering two years early and becoming team leader! Oh, but where does that leave Yang?"

"SHUTUP!SHUTUP!SHUTUP!SHUTUP!" Yang's already red eyes began glowing as rage filled her, even from within his chakra cloak Naruto could feel the heat from her rising. The damage was going to be hell to pay off but hopefully it will be worth it. "SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!"

Golden flames engulfed her eyes and most of her body as she reached her current peak. It was certainly powerful but like he said before, she's gone berserk and with it her conscious action. Yang was all instinct now. "Perfect."

"GRAAAAH!" She roared and charged at Naruto, burning fists zooming past him as he easily dodged the girl's attacks. His keen eyes tracked her every movement and moved to dodge before she even moved herself.

"Focus Yang!" Naruto commanded as he dodged another fist and drove his own into her stomach, fighting back for the first time since his opening hit. "Push past the haze!"

"RAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Naruto had to dodge back as a flame wave erupted from her like an explosion, powerful as it was it still couldn't pierce his chakra cloak.

"You have to push past the rage, past the instincts." Naruto said calmly as he dodged another jab and scored a left then a right to her face "You have to retake control of your body! Don't let it control you, instead control it, tame it, synchronize with it. Become it!"

Yang paused for a moment, a moment that Naruto capitalized on to score a direct hit to her sternum and send her crashing back into the artificial trees. Luckily the fake forest was proving some cover for them but he doubted that Ozpin would continue leaving him alone after seeing his chakra cloak.

The fight continued on in its once sided nature as Naruto shouted commands at the enraged girl while dodging any of her retaliations. Yang was starting to show some damage as she began slowing and a bit of blood dribbled down her chin from one of his particularly brutal haymakers.

Yang went for another swing which Naruto smoothly ducked under and slammed his knee into her side with crushing force, even with the ability to ignore pain the enraged Yang was stunned for a moment from the hit, blood and spittle flying from her mouth.

It's far too much to ask for her to get it in one fight but at least she managed to unlock it. The only problem is the activation... Naruto mused as he absent-mindedly dodge her attacks before spinning and crashing his foot against her temple in a round-house kick. I should end this before she does some real damage to herself.

Yang slowly picked herself up, arms swaying in exhaustion. Though her spirit was willing and pushed on, her body was reaching its limit and couldn't keep up. The fire in her eyes burned strong but the fuel was all but depleted.

Naruto flashed behind her and slammed his palm into her back, black squiggles that only meant something to him spread across her back. "Lion wall seal." He whispered as the seal sunk into her skin.

The haze lifted from Yang's eyes as she was barely able to recognize the forest around her before passing out. Naruto sighed as he picked her up, not bothering to catch her before she fell and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Guess I should go see how the others are doing.

000

Ren laid defeated as he huffed for air, glancing up at the boards even in an official match he would be considered eliminated as his Aura bar had depleted. "Well it's up to Blake, Ruby and Naruto now."

He had to admit if only to himself that he was disappointed in his fight with Weiss, while he was not stamina monster like Naruto he had definitely improved under his zealous captain's constant training and yet he was still entirely outmatched by the Schnee heiress.

Taking a seal on one of the spectator benches he recalled his fight and everything that went wrong.

Well... the fight didn't start too well. 'Icicle!' I swear she was trying to kill me... If I hadn't slipped on the ice the last two would have pierced me.

'Mistake number one! Don't let the enemy set the pace of the fight!' For some reason Naruto's voice said that in my head... odd.

'Icewall!' She cried and much to my despair giant walls of ice encircled us.

'Mistake number two! Don't get boxed in!' The voice of Naruto told him.

I super-enhanced my body with Aura to match her speeds but I most of my ability in her ice dome while she just skated up and around the walls without a care. I was on the defensive from the get-go and even with my enhanced speed and reflexes my aura boosting only drained my stamina and eventually I wore myself out.

'Mistake number three! Don't help the enemy beat your faster!' Naruto yelled in his head.

Oh shut up!

'What was that!? You want to do stairs for an hour? Well bake me a fucking cake and get me some candles because itmust be my birthday! Well then, what are you waiting for lady-fingers? Get to it!'

Yes sir...

The other five were too entranced in their own battles to pay notice Ren trudging up and down the stadium stairs with a sullen look on his face as he grumbled to himself about the evils of stairs and their blond overlord.

"Agh! Stay still!" Nora cried as she swung her war hammer once more only for Blake to dodge roll into her personal space and drive an elbow deep into Nora's side "OWWWW!"

Ignoring Nora's exaggerated cry of pain, Blake used her gun's ribbon to tie Nora's legs together and trip her over. "Ah! Oof-" The Valkyrie huffed as she hit the ground. "No fair!"

Blake hovered the blade end of weapon over Nora's throat "Surrender."

"Never!" Nora yelped as she began squirming under Blake and making as hasty grab for her hammer only to be hit in the back of the head by the butt of Blake's sword.

"Ouchie!" Nora yelped as she grabbed the back of her head.

"Surrender." Blake commanded.

"Fine..."

Blake quickly undid the ribbon around Nora's feet and moved to intercept Weiss who was going right for Ruby. With a hail of bullets Weiss was forced to dodge and put up a shield glyph to block the continued onslaught.

"Weiss." The catgirl hissed.

"Blake." The heiress returned coldly.

Blake gripped her sword and SMG tightly as the earlier argument with Weiss ran through her mind. She would have revealed her previous loyalty to the White Fang had Team NRVN not come knocking to let them know they were heading down to the arena.

Weiss coolly took her stance as she raised her rapier into a ready position. Accelerate!

The fight began immediately as the Blake that Weiss skewered exploded into flamed which she managed to block in time with an ice-wall though she hadn't expected the kick from behind that slammed her into that same wall. "Ah!"

On instinct Weiss brought her sword to block Blake's blade and quickly summoned a shield glyph to take the spray of bullets from the faunus' machine gun.

Dropping her shield glyph Weiss summoned another directly under Blake who curled around the ice spike that sprung up and went back at Weiss with a relentless flurry of strikes from her sword.

Finally seeing an opening Weiss parried Blake's sword and her lightning fast riposte drove into Blake. Weiss looked horrified for a moment before her logical mind caught up and knew that Blake's aura wasn't low enough for a strike like that to penetrate her skin.

Realising it just a moment to late she was able to escape most of Blake's swing from behind, though a gash was cut into the side of her outfit but her skin was still unmarred.

"Kokuangyo." Blake chanted as she snapped her fingers and the clone behind Weiss exploded causing a shroud of black dust to cover the area.

"Ah!" Weiss yelped as her vision was completely cut off. She summoned a wind glyph to blow away the dust but before she could finish casting it the broad side of a sword crashed into her wrist.

The heiress grit her teeth from the slight pain but more from frustration as she was now stuck in an unfavourable position. She was straining her ears for anything that would help her detect Blake but it was all just pitch-black silence.

The silent blade slid across Weiss' arm drawing another yelp from her as this time it left a small red line. Her aura was getting low and they both knew it. Hearing a faint noise Weiss lashed out to her right only for a strike to rip across her stomach. "Gah!"

Weiss pulled out her scroll and noticed that her aura was getting dangerously low, soon attacks would start piercing her aura and the last thing she wanted was an injury. With a quick movement the stabbed her rapier into the ground and summoned a massive glyph under her. "Blizzard!"

Blake jumped back and away from the snowstorm as it dispersed her black dust leaving her and Weiss back in the normal battlefield. Weiss frowned as she took in the damage to her combat outfit and minimal wounds across her body.

Blake's eyes narrowed before running full tilt towards Weiss and unleashing a burst of bullets from her gun to cover her while she closed the gap once more. Once more they were locked in a dance of blades and while Weiss' fencing experience helped her parry most of Blake's strikes the black-haired girl's unnatural grace weaved around any counter-attack that the heiress attempted.

Weiss could feel her stamina waning as she fended against Blake's heavier weapon while the cat-girl's SMG stopped any attempt for her to use her Glyphs. This was a battle of attrition and she was losing quickly.

Seeing a chance she struck out in a flurry of thrusts causing Blake to jump back only for Weiss to do the same and activated a set of acceleration glyphs so she could make a tactical withdrawal back towards her last teammate.

Blake's ears twitched in annoyance as she chased after Weiss who was quickly approaching Ruby. "Ruby watch out!" She called out.

"Huh?" Ruby turned in time to block Weiss' thrust with her scythe's handle before blurring away in a burst of speed towards Blake. "Heya Blake!"

Blake couldn't help the small smile that crept to the corner of her lips as even in a combat situation Ruby was still her carefree self. "Weiss is almost down, she's too far for me to catch but I bet you could."

Ruby glanced up at the screens and nodded, Weiss was past the danger line and one more hit should be enough to consider her K.O'ed. "Got it, think you can distract Pyrrha?"

"Yeah, anything I should watch out for?" Blake asked as her eyes zeroed on the red-haired warrior.

"She can control poles." Ruby replied, remembering what Pyrrha once said about her semblance.

"..." Blake threw her a blank stare "What?"

"Uh, I mean magnets." Ruby corrected. "She's like a big magnet."

"You mean polarity?"

"Right!"

Blake sighed and nodded "Alright. I'll keep her distracted just finish off Weiss, from the looks of it Naruto should be done beating up Yang soon."

Ruby chanced another look at the boards and grimaced, Yang was close to the danger line and Naruto's bar hadn't even moved. "Right."

Blake pulled out a small bag of black dust and slammed it into the ground creating a smoke screen for them. Ruby had already blurred away using her extreme speed enhanced by her shooting rifle rounds behind her.

Meanwhile Blake's gun came flying out of the dark cloud, trailed by her ribbon as it flew towards Pyrrha who used her semblance to push the gun away. Her instincts flared and she used her shield to bash away the sword coming at her back and quickly struck out with her spear.

Blake mostly dodged but the spear's tip did catch her clothing and ripped a small hole in her side which she paid no mind to, as her fist clenched around the ribbon still tied to her gun and gave it a hard yank.

The gun was meant to be a distraction while she hitched a ride with Ruby but it seems that plan failed.

Pyrrha paid it no mind as she struck out with Milo once more while her other hand swung behind her to slam Akouo into the incoming gun and using that hand to magnetize the gun, she spun it around Blake like a cyclone.

Realising what was happening Blake let go of the ribbon and jumped out of the cyclone before it twisted around her.

She had to keep leaping back to dodge the precision shots from Milo's rifle form and would have kept doing so had Pyrrha not have raise her shield to block a sniper round shot from across the field.

Ruby must have just beaten Weiss and now it was a two on one but Pyrrha didn't seem overly concerned about the fact. Ruby was likely to stay at range so that Pyrrha's semblance didn't affect her but Blake wasn't so lucky.

Even with her enhanced reflexes Pyrrha was landing more and more hits on the tiring Blake, the red-haired warrior's experience and stamina proving to be superior even with half her attention focused on blocking Ruby's sniper shots.

Pyrrha saw her chance and spun, blocking a bullet mid spin while lashing out with Milo in its javelin form for the extra reach and knocking down Blake then landing a clean rifle shot to her chest.

"I'm going to feel that one in the morning." Blake moaned as she held her chest.

"Sorry." Pyrrha apologized before ducking under Ruby's scythe swing and lashing out with her shield bashing the poor girl in the face and knocking her down.

"Oh come on! How did you even see that?" Ruby wailed as she stood up and rubbed her aching nose "I swear it's like you have eyes on the back of your head or something."

"No she can just sense magnetic fields around her and metals entering her immediate area." A third voice spoke up causing the three girls to turn towards Naruto walking towards them without even a scratch on him while Yang looked pretty beat up and slung over his shoulder. "It's pretty cheaty if you ask me."

Pyrrha pouted and placed her shield hand on her hip "This coming from you?"

Naruto smiled and shrugged "Fair point." He gently set Yang down raising his fists. "Let's give Pyrrha a run for her money Ruby."

"Yeah!" Ruby grinned viciously though it looked more cute than threatening on the younger girl.

Pyrrha re-armed herself and slowly began making distance from the two team leaders. Both were excellent in close range as well as long-range. She already knew this was going to hurt.

"Hey Red."

"Yeah?"

"Race you?"

"You're on!"

"Oh dear." Pyrrha gulped as the two vanished in flickers of speed, only after image projections left behind to track them along with Ruby's bullets giving her a general idea of where the girl was but Naruto- "Ah!"

She couldn't even finish her though as a kick slammed into her back and sent her flying right into Ruby who was spinning along with her scythe like some sort death-wheel. Her shield took the brunt of Ruby's attack but her arm was jarred and the foot that just kicked out her legs was only going to add to that pain.

Pyrrha locked up her arm into her side to absorb the kick aimed for her side that sent her crashing into the icy environment moments later. Her right arm was officially numb now and even trying to pick up Milo was sending what felt like a thousand needles up her arm.

"Ow, that just hurt to watch." Ruby said with a slight grimace as Naruto stood up and joined her.

"Her weapon arm should be disabled for a short while, think you can handle it Red?" Naruto asked the younger girl who gave him a dutiful salute.

"You can count on me!"

000

Goodwitch was frowning as she watched the continued battle between Pyrrha and Ruby. While Ruby was quick and agile even with Pyrrha's handicap the red-haired girl's experience in fighting other huntsmen trainees was once again shining through.

Grimm, as powerful as they may be, are very simple creatures and only the older and wiser Grimm truly begin to think like sentient beings. Other hunters on the other hand are mysteries all on their own, each possessing a different skill set than the last and while Ruby may be incredibly skilled for her age, Pyrrha wasn't an undefeated national champion for nothing.

"It seems as though this match is winding down." A male voice drawled, drawing her attention. Ozpin fixed his glasses up higher on his nose as his own scroll focused on the blonde haired youth lounging on the solid black chair he made from his weapon.

"It seems that way." Glenda agreed, taking in Ozpin's point of interest "I still don't trust that one."

The corner of Ozpin's lip raised ever so slightly "I'd like to speak. I must admit that the mystery surrounding Naruto Uzumaki is beginning to intrigue me."

"Very well." Glenda responded along with a nod.

000

"Hyaaaaaa!" Ruby cried out her final swing only for Pyrrha to twirl Milo into its rifle form and shoot her point-blank in the chest. "Ow-how-how-how-how-howwwwwwww... owwwww..."

"If it weren't for her complaining I'd think you killed her with that one." Naruto said with an amused tone as Red wriggled around on the floor in pain. That one shot had dropped her down from her 18% to 3%, low enough to be considered a K.O.

Pyrrha stood proudly once more, sweat soaked hair sticking to her face which she paid no mind to, her breathing was loud enough for him to be able to hear it clearly, her shoulders were slightly slumped and she seemed to be favoring her left leg.

Even with the handicap of being unable to use Milo she made excellent use of both Akouo and her semblance to ward off Ruby's attacks and counter-attack with shield bashes and thrusts. Which led to her victory in Ruby's short bout of overconfidence.

"So the feeling came back to your arm?" Naruto asked as he approached her.

"Not fully," She admitted before pushing past the numbness and gripped her weapon in preparation for what will be the most difficult fight of the match.

Naruto smiled seeing her stance "Shouldn't we end it here? You're tired Pyrrha, I prefer fighting you at full strength."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed slightly "Are you asking me to surrender?"

He blinked seeing the change in her tone "Yes?" Naruto tilted his head to the side to avoid the rocket powered Milo in its javelin form that Pyrrha shot at him. "Well then..."

Pyrrha held her shield up and using her hidden shield arm she used her semblance to redirect Milo back towards her, through Naruto. He sighed and ran at her waiting for just the right moment to twirl once more and grip Milo tightly, riding it straight towards Pyrrha where he slammed both of his feet into her shield at about a quarter of his normal strength.

Pyrrha blinked as the light refocused in her eyes. The last thing she remembered was being hit by a truck, she tried to rise only to hiss slightly in pain as her left arm now hurt even more than her right.

"You alright Pyrrha?" A familiar voice asked as she blinked her eyes wearily, a person slowly coming into focus. She could make out bright yellow hair and ocean-blue eyes... Naruto.

"N-Naruto?"

"How many fingers do you see?"

Pyrrha tried to focus on the hand he was waving in front of her "...Six?"

"Alright well seeing as I only have five fingers on one hand that's entirely wrong." Naruto replied as he helped her sit up and was moving her head around for some reason.

"What... what are you doing?" Pyrrha asked dizzily.

"Well when I kicked you out of the stadium for a ring out you may have kept going and crashed into the concrete wall... sorry." Naruto apologized sheepishly.

"I... I see." Pyrrha attempted to stand up only to lose her balance though a pair of strong arms caught her and her head rested against something warm. "Naruto...?"

"I got you Pyrrha, come on let's get you to the nurse to get you checked out because I'm pretty sure you have a concussion." Naruto said softly as he hefted her into his arms in a princess carry.

"I- I can walk..." She protested.

"Pyrrha you can barely stand." He told her firmly "Don't worry, I got you."

Pyrrha eyes were able to focus on his roguish grin and couldn't help the small smile that crept into her lips as she closed her eyes and leaned into him. "Ok."

"Is Pyrrha ok?" Nora asked as she and Ren walked up to them, followed shortly after by team RWBY.

"She's fine, just a concussion. A bit of rest and some pain killers and she'll be fine." Naruto told them as he continued walking out of the arena followed by the others.

"So how are you feeling Yang?" Naruto asked as the girl hobbled along, helped by her younger sister.

"Like a pack of Beowolves took turns mauling me." Yang grumbled "Speaking of which what the hell was all that about!?"

Naruto turned his head and gave her an eye smile "Sorry, the fox wanted to play for a bit." After that Naruto ignored any further questions about his chakra form and simply kept walking to the nurse's office.

Walking in Naruto explained what was wrong with Pyrrha to the nurse who guided him to an empty bed where he laid her down. "It does seem to only be a concussion so she should be alright in the morning."

"Good to hear." Naruto said with a grin before her door opened once more and Glenda Goodwitch walked in with her usual dour expression.

"Mister Uzumaki Professor Ozpin would like to have a word with you." She stated.

"Not as good to hear..." Naruto mumbled before nodding and following the woman out the door.

"What was that about?" Ruby asked her sister who had also sat down in one of the empty seats.

"He's probably going to get a lecture about not using excessive force..." Yang said with a hiss as she laid down in the bed "Doc, can I get an aspirin? My head is killing me."

The nurse sighed as she handed the girl a small bottle and a cup of water "I swear you kids today don't know the meaning of restraint."

000

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Uzumaki." Ozpin began as he offered Naruto the seat in front of his desk while Glenda stood at his side.

"Well, when the headmaster calls I can't exactly say no." Naruto replied before taking a more serious look "I'm guessing you have some questions regarding my more... unique abilities."

Ozpin steepled his fingers in front of him much like Tsunade used to. Maybe it was a leader thing? "Indeed."

"More specifically on what my real semblance may be?" Naruto added drawing a raised eyebrow from Ozpin.

"You're quite perceptive." The man acknowledged.

"I wasn't at first but it eventually gets beating into you." Naruto admitted.

Neither spoke and simply stared at each other unblinkingly. Seeing as neither would be willing to give up their little childish game Glenda took it upon herself to speak up. "Mr. Uzumaki, we would like to know how you can do what seems to be multiple semblance abilities."

"Getting right to it, huh?" Naruto asked, still not turning from Ozpin "Alright but first I would like to know what you may have theorized is the source of my powers."

Ozpin kept his face blank before reclining in his chair and taking a sip of his coffee. "What do you know of fairy tales?"

"Fairy tales?" Naruto paused in their little game to give him a confused look.

"Children's tales?" Ozpin rephrased.

Naruto shrugged "Not much, most orphans aren't read bedtime stories."

Ozpin nodded his understanding "One particular tale details the adventures of four maidens whom attained another power all together, something far more powerful than either Aura or Semblance... something closer to magic."

"So you think I'm some sort of wizard?" Naruto asked, unable to hide the amused smile on his face.

"No, this particular ability has only ever appeared in young women." Ozpin answered.

"Well, while I'd like to know more about these magical girls I will only assume that you won't tell me anything either way so in the interest of speeding things up, no I'm not magical in any way shape or form." Naruto began, slipping out his black dagger as he did. "This weapon should have been enough to tell you the true nature of my semblance."

Glenda looked confused and it took a moment for Ozpin to draw upon everything he's learned about the boy before coming to his own conclusion "You can copy others?"

Naruto shook his head "Not copy, mimic." He corrected.

"What's the difference?" Glenda asked.

"It's in the wording." Ozpin acknowledged. "Mr. Uzumaki hasn't perfectly copied anything but used something that greatly resembled them instead... Miss Rose's speed, Miss Belladonna's clones, Miss Xiao-long's battle trance."

Glenda took in his examples and nodded though seeing Naruto's smirk gave her a bad feeling. As his finger pointed towards a pencil on Ozpin's desk and floated it in front of Glenda using his gravity manipulation.

"Your telekinesis." Ozpin added. "I assume you must see a semblance first before being able to mimic it?"

Naruto nodded "That's right, I still don't know what Ren's is nor yours for example."

"I believe it is getting late Mr. Uzumaki, perhaps you should make your way back to your dorm." Ozpin said in his usual tone of voice.

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Naruto stood and bowed his head the barest amounts before leaving the office. Glenda took the empty seat and thought over everything she learned. "This makes me trust him even less, who knows how many abilities he's stolen."

Ozpin smiled in amusement at her words "I believe we'll have that answer in the coming months. I can sense that he's lived a harsh life and learned to flourish in a hostile environment but lacks any ill intent towards us or the students."

"What about what happened with Miss Nikos?"

"I believe he simply got caught up in the moment, Mr. Uzumaki seemed genuinely concerned for her afterwards and even carried her to the nurse." Ozpin pointed out "I stand behind my earlier assessment of him, while he may be dangerous, I don't believe we're his enemies."

000

The moon was very bright tonight as Naruto stepped out into the usual balcony he used to jump up to the roof of the dormitories. Walking to the usual spot he noticed that she was already there.

"The fox huh?" Blake spoke, recalling his earlier words after he took a seat next to her. He gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a faunus?" She inquired, her soft voice was neither demanding nor annoyed simply curious.

He smiled slightly "Why didn't you?"

Blake blinked and turned away back towards the moon "So you already knew?"

Naruto nodded "I figured you had a good reason for hiding the fact so I never brought it up."

"I see." Blake said as she trailed off into silence "How long?"

"The whole time." Naruto answered "You have the distinct smell of a cat."

"You don't smell like a fox." Blake pointed out.

"That's because I'm not a faunus." Naruto said much to her confusion. "The fox is something... more."

Blake nodded, feeling that he didn't really wish to talk about it. "What did professor Ozpin want?"

"To ask me about the same thing mostly." Naruto answered and Blake was satisfied enough with the answer to not ask for more.

"So then," He began after a few moments of silence. "What's got you down Kitty Cat?"

Blake considered saying that it was nothing but Naruto was far to perceptive to believe that so with a sigh she began explaining the fight with Weiss earlier and how she almost revealed her previous allegiance to the White Fang.

"So you left after becoming disillusioned with the way that the White Fang began doing things." Naruto surmised.

Blake drew her knees up and hugged them to her as she nodded "I thought we were making a difference but I was just deluding myself."

Naruto nodded as well "How are you planning on handling this?"

Blake shrugged helplessly "I'm not sure. I think I just need some time to think... preferably away from Weiss while doing it."

Naruto said nothing for some time as he stared at the moon as did Blake. "I have a place in Vale where you can crash."

Blake slowly turned towards him but said nothing. "Do you want to go back to your dorm?"

"Not really..."

"Then let's go." Naruto said as he stood and handed her his coat. "Running through the night might get a bit chilly."

Blake smiled as she put on the warm long coat and took his still outstretched hand. They stealthily leapt from roof to roof before landing in the courtyard.

A monkey-tailed blonde who was hanging out watched the two run out of the school, his eyes easily making out the beautiful cat faunus he saw earlier that day. The smile on her face, a far cry from the blank look she wore at the docks. "Heh, lucky guy."

AN 2 - Considering that Blake is basically a ninja, in the more traditional sense than the Naruto sense I'll have her using more traditional ninja techniques like smoke bombs made from Black Dust and considering dust is Chakra she may learn some jutsu that can be activated through the dust like she did with the bringer of darkness jutsu.

*Chapter 7*: White Fang

An - Re-upload for a few minor spelling fixes and stuff.

Shattered World

Blake blinked as she took in the nice looking studio apartment in central Vale. "Nice place."

Naruto grinned "Thanks. I got it some time after coming to Vale." With multiple henged clones running around doing odd-jobs for him, getting some quick cash was no problem.

Blake followed Naruto into the living room where she took a seat on the couch. "You want anything to drink?"

"Tea, if you have some." She replied with a small smile.

"Sure." Naruto said as he walked towards the kitchen section and given that it was a studio she could still see him clearly. "Go ahead and make yourself at home."

Blake nodded her thanks and made herself a bit more comfortable as Naruto joined her on the couch. "Well... you've pretty much explained the situation to me and unless you want to talk about it again how about we indulge ourselves in some mindless TV instead?"

Blake raised a hand to cover the growing smile on her face "Alright."

Which is how they spent the rest of the night and well into the early morning, watching trash tv before settling on a zombie flick. Blake opened her eyes blearily as they adjusted to the glare from the screen in the middle of the night.

"I should probably turn off the TV." She muttered sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. Blake looked around for the remote and noticed it was across from her on Naruto's side of the couch.

She tried to reach over as silently as possible so as not to wake him but the couch creaked and his eyes twitched slightly and turned towards her. Blake froze, mid-reach for the remote before sighing as Naruto's breathing evened out once more.

She took a moment to take in his sleeping face, it was much differently from the friendly yet guarded look he always wore. He almost looked peaceful not that he wasn't training or teasing someone.

She caught herself staring and blushed slightly but didn't look away, leaning in closer instead. Her breathing quickened as she hovered over him, her mouth had suddenly become dry so she had to swallow as she got closer.

Just before their lips met she flinched back and shook her head "Wait.. what am I doing?" She murmured to herself before reaching over to the remote and turning off the television. Settling back into her side of the couch she couldn't help the question that sprang to her mind. Did I just try to kiss Naruto?

No... I'm just tired. She thought to herself before snuggling back into Naruto's side and covering them with the blanket Naruto had brought out for them earlier which she had apparently stolen some time during the night.

Once he felt her breathing also even out Naruto let out a sigh of his own. He couldn't be entirely sure as his eyes were closed but he could feel her warm breath on his face so she either tried to kiss him or she's just really creepy... one or the other. I really hope it's the first.

000

The following morning Naruto's clone awoke along with the rest of the of Team NRVN. "Morning guys." His clone announced.

"Good morning." Pyrrha replied as she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"Morning." Ren groaned as he sat up and glanced over at Nora's bed, said girl still snoring away.

"You two have anything planned for today?" The clone asked them.

"Not really." "No." The two conscious team members answered.

"Oh good." His clone said with a nod "Well I need to go get ready then, I'll catch you guys later."

"Are you going somewhere?" Pyrrha asked as the clone popped a towel out of one of their scrolls.

"Yeah, heading into town for a few things." He answered.

"Oh? Like what?" She wondered.

Naruto's clone just shrugged "You know, just some things. Anyway I'll be back soon."

Ren watched Naruto leave with a curious look "Did Naruto seem a little evasive to you?"

"Yes, somewhat." Pyrrha said with a nod "I'm sure he has his reasons however."

Ren just shrugged and figured he should get ready to start his day too.

000

"You know, I'm not much of a tea guy but this is pretty good." Naruto admitted as he sipped on the drink.

Blake let an amused smile shine on her face "This is my favorite café."

"Really? Seems kinda familiar." He said quietly as gazed over at the shops across the street "Oh... that's why."

"Hmm?" Naruto waved his hand dismissively as he turned away from the very restaurant where he left Yang.

"It's not important, anyway what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Blake took a moment to compose herself before leveling a sharp look on Naruto "What do you know about the White Fang?"

Naruto took a moment to analyze her mood before reclining in his chair and setting down the drink "A faunus extremist group which until recently attempted to peacefully negotiate better conditions for their fellow faunus."

Blake nodded, a frown clear on her face "Adam Taurus happened."

"I'm guessing he's the new leader?" He could have already guessed as much but Blake confirmed it "He's not alone."

"He has the White Fang behind him." Blake stated with a questioning look.

"Aside from them." Naruto added before taking a sip of his tea "I've looked into the White Fang for some time now, some of their members have been spotted with Roman Torchwick. Now what business would human hating faunus have with a scumbag like Torchwick?"

"Are you sure?" Blake said with a shocked expression. The new White Fang would never willingly work with humans. So then, why?

"They're collecting dust. A lot of it." Naruto answered then took another sip of his drink "I'm sure that they're behind the robberies and I have no doubt that they will be here today."

Blake blinked "Why?"

"A Schnee freighter carrying a crap load of dust is supposed to dock today. Trust me, they'll be here." He said with a serious look.

"What should we do?" Blake asked only to receive a shrug.

"What do you want to do?" Naruto asked. "I'm no Schnee, I'm not the one standing to lose here."

"How can you be sure?" She asked, even though she knew it would likely happen she didn't want to believe it.

"Because it's something I would do." He answered "To catch a thief you must think like one." Naruto finished the last of his drink and stood up giving her an expectant look.

"We... should at least investigate it. To prove that they're not there." Blake's weak excuse only earned her a blank look from Naruto before he shrugged.

"If that's what you want." He finally said as he laid some money on the table and began walking back into the restaurant so head downstairs "Just don't get your hopes up."

Blake glanced down at her almost finished tea, her reflection glancing back at her with an equal frown on its face. It vanished moments later as the tea sat there forgotten.

000

Naruto's clone was sneaking along the docks per the original's orders as he waited for the next stage of the plan. He silently ran past some guards towards the already loaded freight and jumped into the nearest one.

"Ooh, dark in here." He dropped the backpack he was carrying on the ground and a few scrolls fell out as he pulled out a flashlight which he turned on and held in his mouth. The dust crystals glittered in the artificial light as his eyes took in all the free chakra.

The grin on his face widened around the tiny flash light. Later that day the White Fang would open up these shipping containers only to find them empty.

000

"I don't think they're coming." Blake reasoned as she nibbled on her tuna sandwich that Naruto had brought a few minutes ago. "We've been here all day."

"Well we've been here all day because you wanted to come here, if you had just listened to me then we would have only just arrived." Naruto said as he looked at his fancy new 'Scroll' and checked the time. "Give it five minutes."

"Ok..." She'd been here all day, five more minutes couldn't hurt. "Where did you get these by the way?"

"Good aren't they?" Naruto said with a chuckled as he finished his own. "I saw this sandwich shop while we were walking here and thought I'd drop by to grab us some dinner since I'm sure you wanted to skip lunch."

Her stomach grumbled slightly causing her to blush "I thought they might have come as soon as the containers were finished being unloaded... I wanted to be ready."

Naruto chuckled "Finish your sandwich, the fireworks are about to start."

Deciding to take his advice this time Blake finished off her meal and returned to her vigil over the docks just as a bullhead came flying into view. "I didn't want to believe it..."

The two watched as White Fang members came walking out of the ship while Roman barked orders at them "He really is an unlikable fellow, that one."

"This isn't right, they White Fang would never work with humans, especially not with one like that!" She stated fervently as she stood up and unsheathed her weapon.

"You're going to rush down there aren't you?" Naruto didn't bother waiting for a reply as the girl was already gone. With a sigh he stood up and brush the dirt off his pants and created another clone. "The White Fang showed up, Phase Three is a go."

The clone nodded and popped itself letting his first clone know its orders. Naruto hopped down and calmly walked towards the group as Blake began pleading with the faunus only for Roman to take the opportunity to blast her away with his rocket cane.

"Well that wasn't very nice." Naruto spoke up drawing their attention. Roman narrowed his eyes at Naruto as he pointed his cane at him.

"And just who the hell are you?" Roman spat as Naruto approached them with his hands in his pockets.

"Me? Well no one too important... just the guy who's about to kick your ass." The first kick caught the middle faunus off-guard as he sent the man flying clear over some of the shipping containers where his clone would be waiting to switch with him.

Reinforcements kept piling in around Naruto as the two other bullheads pulled up. "Still sure about that?"

Naruto simply grinned "Great breakthrough" The blonde spread his arms and lime green dust puffed out in front of his palms "JUTSU!"

The White Fang's forces were blasted across the docks as the wide-area jutsu hit them point-blank. "I'm sorry, were you saying something? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me winning."

"Tch, cheeky brat." Roman shot a few rounds at Naruto who easily avoided them by side-stepping of dodging out-of-the-way all with that clear mocking smile on his face.

"Is that all? We're you supposed to be some big-bad or something, are you actually just someone else's grunt?" Naruto mocked causing Roman to grit his teeth in anger and fire even more shots at the Sage who simply dodged them like before. "Tag-out."

"Huh? Agh!" Roman yelped as Blake's kick sent him skidding along the floor "You bitch! Do you know how much I have to do through to keep these white?" The crime boss yelled angrily as he dusted the dirt off his suit.

"Really this just reinforces my theory that he's someone else's bitch." Naruto murmured as he glanced over at Blake "He's all yours if you want."

Blake nodded wordlessly as she charged the suit-wearing gangster and fought evenly for a bit before he snuck in a shot and blasted her back. "Good night, Kitty." Roman said as he shot the cables on a hanging container that was over Blake.

"Now, now, none of that." Naruto admonished as he stopped the container mid-fall much to Roman's surprise.

"The hell!?" The man shouted as the container kept floating there in midair. Only for his eyes to widen as it turned towards him and began falling his way at increasing speed "Oh come the fuck on!"

Torchwick desperately fired shots at the container only to dodge out at the last moment to avoid being crushed by the giant metal box. "Shit..." He said to himself as he re-adjusted his hat. "That was just a bit too close."

Naruto meanwhile watched as the three airships opened up their turret bays and prepared for a strafing run. "Well then..." Pulling out his tiny black dagger he allowed it to begin coiling around itself into a DNA-like structure.

Lifting the blade overhead it super-extended in less then a second until the tip could no longer be seen. "Nunoboko." The blade swung down at an angle clipping all three planes.

Ruby and Penny who had just arrived watched as the planes crashed into the docks, crumbling to ash as soon as they hit the concrete. "Woah... what was that?"

"I'm not sure." Penny admitted. "Is he your friend?"

"Uh... yeah, that's Naruto. He's the leader of team NRVN." Ruby answered.

"He's strong." Penny stated.

"Yeah..."

Back down with Roman he began boarding one of the two bullheads that were still intact and shook his head "Damn kids just get weirder and weirder."

The ship took to the air as Roman sat down. She probably won't be too happy about the failed operation. Were he paying more attention he might have noticed that one of the masked faunus had short spiky hair much like that blonde haired kid.

000

Naruto sat down next to Blake as they waited for the cops to show up "So?"

"I didn't want to believe it but deep down I think I already knew." She said.

Their acute hearing could pick up the sirens in the distance as Naruto sighed "It's always hard seeing the ugly truth, believe it or not I was once like Ruby... then my eyes were forcefully opened to the reality of this world. It's a cruel and harsh place, a grave of our own making and yet for some reason they push on."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto shrugged "Not even I'm sure yet and the more I see, the less clear the answer becomes." He answered vaguely. "We all have to make a big choice some day, sometimes personal sometimes overarching. What matters is that we stick with that choice because regretting it will only bring our downfall..."

Blake wasn't really sure if Naruto was talking to her or himself but the way his eyes had unfocused concerned her "Are you alright, Naruto?"

He gave her a faint smile "I will be." Someday. "I think you have bigger problems than me though." Naruto said while pointing at her approaching team.

Blake groaned, already dreading the upcoming talk. "Weiss I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them-"

"Stop." Weiss interrupt "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"

Seeing as Blake wasn't going to answer Weiss continued on "Twelve-hours. That means that I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in those twelve hours I've decided... I don't care."

"You don't care?" Blake asked, genuinely surprised.

"You said you're not one of them anymore right?" Weiss pressed.

"No I haven't been since I-"

"Apapapap!" Weiss interrupted again "All I want to know is that the next time something like this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates... and not go gallivanting around with Naruto."

Naruto blinked "Hold up, what did I do? I was just in town to buy some stuff when I ran into Blake, I didn't even know she was missing."

"A likely story!" Weiss said with a piercing state.

"I... I don't understand, am I being interrogated here?" Naruto asked Blake who gave him his usual answer of a shrug. "Well, whatever, since we're done here I should head back to the academy. God knows what Nora's been up to without me to watch over her."

"Nah, she's got Ren." Yang quipped.

"Right." Naruto said as he picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder "Shall we?"

"Hey Naruto?" Blake caught him attention "Where did you get the backpack?"

"Oh... uh, it's one of the things I came into town to buy. Along with a few other things I have sealed up." He said as he opened up his pack to show the scrolls inside.

"How much stuff did you buy that you need that many scrolls?" Yang wondered, having seen just how much a single scroll could hold before.

"I wanted to keep the stuff separate." Was his answer as they kept walking along. "Hey by the way, what happened to that girl who was with Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh you mean..." Ruby looked around, confused "Penny?"

"Grats sis, you're down another friend. You're now at six friends and one enemy." Yang teased the younger girl with a grin making her groan.

"She probably just had to go, it is getting pretty late." Ruby figured, though she was a bit put off that Penny would just leave without even saying bye.

000

The disguised clone tailed Roman as the man walked into an empty building carrying a small case. His eyes narrowed as a woman followed by two others soon walked in, his eyes focusing only on her. That's her.

He began walking closer towards the building and strained his ears to catch their conversation.

"-stupid mutts from the White Fang." Naruto head Roman say.

"And you will continue so." The woman spoke in a sultry tone and the clone's eyes narrowed further as he felt a spike of chakra come from inside. Not from dust but real living chakra and that concerned him greatly. "We have big plans for you Roman. All we ask... is a little cooperation."

Naruto frowned as he walked off, this just a whole lot more complicated than he first anticipated. Entering a darkened section of the hideout he created a clone who instantly dispersed sending its knowledge to the original.

Taking out a small scroll he unsealed a dust crystal from it and absorbed the chakra within it using the Preta path. This just became a long-term mission.

AN - Alright that wraps up Season 1. It looks like Blake is pulling ahead of Pyrrha but I'm sure our dear red-head will get some alone time with Naruto in the future. Hopefully the grammar isn't as shit this time since that's all you guys yell at me for /cries 'Im sorry, I no good engrish!'

*Chapter 8*: Pure Heart, Black Soul

AN - Alright so shit got real in the RWBYverse since my last chapter. So I'd like to take a moment to address two quick issues.

1) I've decided that since Velvet Scarlatina was made before I thought up of Naruto's cover story, I'm going to allow her to keep her weapon stealing camera thing.

2) Not gonna lie, some characters are going to die. I've always felt that RWBY had some pretty dark undertones (hell just listen to the songs) and this third season is finally starting to show them so my story, much like many of my other ones will also happily tread into the darkness.

With that, let's get this chapter started.

Shattered World

Naruto awoke with a gasp as the influx of memories flooded into his brain, it only took a few moments to relive everything his clone had seen and it all but confirmed his suspicions.

The White Fang allied themselves with a human, the woman from his visions undoubtedly. At least I have someone on the inside now.

Knowing himself he already knew that his spy was in it for the long-haul now so he didn't bother making a clone to relay his order and he didn't really want to risk his teammates finding out either.

"Naruto?"

His head turned sharply to the left before wincing slightly at his jerked motion "Sorry Pyrrha, did I wake you?"

"Are you alright? You were breathing heavily and looked worried." Pyrrha asked sleepily.

"I'm fine." He said with a smile "I was just remembering something."

"I see." She said with a nod before laying her head back on the pillow "Well goodnight then Naruto."

"Night Pyrrha." Naruto also settled back in with a sigh. His thus far relatively peaceful life would soon be thrust into conflict once more. How annoying...

000

That morning Naruto kept a reserved look on his face as he contemplated what he would do about the White Fang and that woman.

"-to."

Now that he knew for a fact that the White Fang was after large amounts of Dust he needed to stay on top of them and beat them to the punch. Luckily his spy should be able to tell him of any of their operations and hopefully put some counter-measures in place.

"-ruto..."

He'll need to make a few clones using Kurama's chakra so they would last longer and implant them in places where Dust is distributed in mass.

"Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto was drawn from his planning as a white-haired girl popped into his vision "Weiss?"

"Finally! I've tried getting your attention for the last five minutes!" She huffed, placing her fists on her hips and glaring at him.

They just stood there in silence as she just kept glaring at him "So?" Naruto began.

Weiss blinked and shook her head "I wanted to ask you about what happened at the docks."

Naruto nodded "Sure, I met up with Blake while looking for lunch. She said that the White Fang might hit the docks since one of your freighters was coming into port with a ton of dust. When they showed up Blake went down there to face them while I backed her up."

Weiss nodded as well and crossed her arms "That's what Blake told us too. What about the Dust?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and shrugged "They didn't get away with any of the shipping containers so I can only assume they're still there."

"They are." Weiss confirmed "The containers at least, the Dust is gone though."

"What?" Naruto faked shock "We were there the whole time though, they didn't even open the containers."

"Which is why I wanted to ask you and Blake if you guys saw anything suspicious beforehand. Even if the White Fang would have made off with the containers that's all they would have gotten." She bit her lip with a worried expression "Someone else is after the Schnee company's Dust as well..."

"Well Dust is a valuable commodity that can't really be traced or marked so it would likely be an easy way to make quick money." Naruto reasoned drawing a narrowed look from her, he lifted his hands up in surrender "Just a thought."

Weiss glared down at the floor "We'll need to start hiring full-time security then."

"Probably," Naruto agreed with a shrug "Was that all?"

Weiss nodded and thanked him before walking off to call her sister about the situation. Pyrrha walked up to him from the side, also watching Weiss walk off. "What was that about?"

"She wanted to ask me about what happened down at the docks, apparently the Dust containers were pre-emptively robbed before the White Fang got to them." Naruto recounted.

"That's awful." Pyrrha said with a frown.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Naruto asked in a more up-beat tone.

"I was actually thinking of heading in to town as well, I was going to restock my Dust but it seems as though that won't be happening." She told him, really that's all she had planned so it was probably going to be a lazy Sunday.

Naruto looked at his scroll "It's almost lunch time, want to head down there anyway to get something to eat?"

Pyrrha blinked at the question before smiling and nodding "Yes, that sounds grand."

The two walked back to their room and found Ren and Nora playing some game on their scrolls. "Hey guys we're heading into town to grab some lunch, want to come?"

"Sorry Boss," Nora said, still not looking away from her game "Ren and I are in the middle of a raid so we can't stop... but feel free to bring me back some tacos."

Ren at least looked up with an apologetic smile "I'd love to but Nora won't let me stop now, I'll pay you back if you feel like picking us up some tacos though."

"Ren! I'm dying, heal, heal!"

Ren's eyes snapped back down and frantically clicked some buttons. Naruto looked over at Pyrrha with an amused expression "Guess it's just us today." He said with a chuckle.

"It seems that way." Pyrrha said with a smile that was just a bit wider than her usual one. "I'll be ready in a few."

Naruto sniffed himself for a moment before responding "Take your time I'm going to take a quick shower."

With that the two went to their separate bathing areas and were ready within half an hour. Naruto was waiting by the entrance of the school in blue jeans and a black jacket that had the Uzumaki swirl on the back which he had made his emblem.

"Ready to head out?" Pyrrha voice asked from behind him. Naruto turned and grinned seeing Pyrrha.

"Looking good." He said drawing a blush from the usually confident warrior, her arms linked before her back shyly. She was wearing tight black jeans that showed off her legs, and a white blouse under jacket that would suitably protect her from the autumn cold.

"Thank you." She said with a smile "You look very nice as well."

Naruto chuckled and nodded his head behind her "Let's head out before we give those nosy bastards any more reason to think we're having some sort of cliché pre-date moment."

Pyrrha turned and blushed slightly seeing the small group of people looking towards them whispering among themselves. "Right."

They had decided to take the monorail into town rather than the boat or walking so they were in downtown Vale within the hour. "So what do you feel like eating?" Naruto asked as they got off the shuttle.

Pyrrha hummed "I'm not sure, did you have anything in mind?"

"Honestly I've been craving some pizza for a while now." Naruto admitted.

"That sounds fine." Pyrrha said with a smile. While not wholly healthy with the amount of excercise Naruto puts them through, she'll work it off tomorrow.

"Cool." Naruto said as they continued down the street towards the nearest pizza place "Can't wait for winter break, while the huntsmen training is fun and all I could do without all the reading."

Pyrrha sighed "Naruto you really should try harder in class."

"To what end?" Naruto asked with a shrug "I'm not going to bring a book to a battlefield."

"Did you miss the lesson about General Lagune?" Pyrrha asked rhetorically.

"If I recall correctly I slept through that." Naruto said with a cheeky grin drawing another sigh from her. "I understand your point about not repeating the past though, it's just soooo boring!"

With a huff Pyrrha gave up trying to convince him once again, if it didn't work the first hundred times it likely wouldn't the next hundred. "As team leader are you not supposed to set an example for us?"

"Oh but I am my dear Pyrrha, have you seen me fight? Everyone should aspire towards my level of greatness!" Naruto said with a fake haughty voice that sounded oddly like a Weiss impersonation.

Pyrrha giggled into her hand and could only nod "I could only hope to steal so many abilities in one lifetime oh great plunderer." She said, playing along.

"Plunderer?" Naruto repeated as if tasting the word before ultimately shaking his head no "Nah. Makes me sound like some sort of pirate, I'm team ninja all the way."

They continued with their lighthearted conversation until they came upon the pizza shop. Naruto stepped ahead and opened the door for her with a flourish "M'lady."

"Oh, thank you kind sir!" Pyrrha said with a smile.

Naruto followed her with a chuckle as they sat down at a nearby table and looked at the menu. "Any preferences?"

"Usually pepperoni or plain but anything is fine." She answered "I'm thinking about a small salad as well."

Naruto nodded along as he checked the menu "So Pyrrha how is that exercise I gave you going?"

Pyrrha smiled and pulled out a small pouch "It is going well, I can form some more intricate shapes now." Iron shavings came out from within the small pouch and began forming small shapes in the air.

"Nice!" Naruto grinned "Next up we'll move to steel dust."

Pyrrha nodded happily, with Naruto's help her control over Polarity had increased with his small exercises. She was rather surprised when he had shown his own ability to manipulate magnetism but considering his Semblance she really shouldn't have been.

What had surprised her more however was when he mentioned that he had learned it from watching an old friend of his named Gaara which explained his already fine-tuned control over magnetism that far surpassed hers.

"What about hiding the activation, any luck with that so far?" Naruto asked as he pointed at her hands which glowed with a black aura.

Pyrrha frowned as she looked down at her hands which clearly showed she had her semblance activated to control the iron dust. "I have noticed a slight lightening in the color but little else."

"Hmm." With but a glance Naruto hijacked the iron dust from Pyrrha's control and forced it into the Uzumaki swirl. "Well I guess you'll just have to keep at it. After all if the enemy doesn't know you're using your semblance then it will be harder from them to react to surprise attacks."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed on the swirl and her hands were shaking slightly as she tried to wrestle control back from Naruto as another one of their exercises which was similar to a tug of war.

Naruto chuckled and let his control slip allowing her to retake the iron dust. "Keep at it Pyrrha, I have no doubt in my mind that you will eventually surpass me. A cheap imitation is nothing on an original."

Just as Pyrrha was about to speak a waitress came by with a small notepad and a smile "Hi there, are you guys ready to order?"

Naruto nodded and set down the menu "Yeah we'll take a medium pepperoni and a small salad."

"Alright." The young woman jotted it down before looking back up "Anything to drink?"

"A water please." Pyrrha said.

"I'll take a cola." Naruto added and waited for the waitress to leave before turning back towards Pyrrha. "So I've talked to some of the other team leaders that will be in the Vytal Festival and some of them agreed to practice matches to help work on teamwork against other hunters."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked with interest "Which teams agreed?"

"Ruby naturally, Coco Anel of team CFVY agreed, Cardin said he'd do it as well." Naruto listed.

"What about the other teams?" Pyrrha asked as they waited for their food.

"Out of the ten approved teams the other six are CMSN, STNN, OCEN, COAL, HRCN and FYRE. Crimson, Stone, Ocean, Coal, Hurricane and Fire respectively. CMSN is second-year, STNNf is third-year and the last four are fourth-years." Naruto recounted from memory "I haven't gotten much info on the fourth years but the other two teams have some skilled members from what i've seen."

"So how exactly will the festival work? Do you know?" Pyrrha asked seeing as they haven't been told much yet.

"Well I researched the earlier Festivals and they seem to allow ten teams from each nation to face off against each other over a few days. The first two days are 4v4 matches until ten teams are left. The third day the teams pick two members to enter 2v2 matches dropping it down to five teams by the end then the last day is singles matches between the ten people left."

A competitive smirk came across Pyrrha's face "I suppose I will be seeing you in the finals then."

"You mean you'll be losing to me in the finals right?" Naruto joked with a cocky grin.

She returned the grin. "We'll see who beats who."

Naruto crossed his arms and leaned into his chair with his grin settling into a smirk, he briefly wondered if this was Pyrrha's attempt at flirting. It would fit he supposed. "In any case I'm looking forward to fighting you at your very best."

Pyrrha raised a delicate eyebrow "What makes you think I haven't been giving you my best now?"

Naruto chuckled drawing a small scowl from her "It's because we're teammates and friends, I was interested about your pro circuit before you came to Beacon and read up on you. You were pretty brutal during some of those matches, some didn't even last longer than a minute because you sat on such a higher level than most of your opponents."

Naruto continued on seeing as she wasn't going to deny it though she did grimace at the thought of some of her past matches "During that pro setting you didn't play around and you took everyone seriously and threw everything you had at them until they were overpowered, outmatched or both."

Pyrrha nodded solemnly "I have held back as I did not wish to harm any of our friends."

Naruto gave her an understanding smile which flipped her frown over "I know the feeling but when we face each other in the tournament I want you to throw everything you have at me until nothing is left, only then could I take you seriously."

Pyrrha looked at him with a sad smile "I don't know if I can... you are the first true friend that I made and the thought of possibly hurting you even if by accident pains me."

Naruto didn't say anything for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts "There was something my teacher said to us once... 'To even stand a chance, you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill.' at the time I didn't understand the meaning but as I grew I found my own meaning in those words in that I had to give it my all or else there was no point in even trying."

Pyrrha looked up, locking eyes with his deep mysterious blue that pierced to her very soul "Naruto..."

"I need you to prove something to me Pyrrha... prove to me that my faith in you was not misplaced." I need you to prove it to me that you can push on through the trials you will soon face. "Come at me with you've got or not at all."

A fire began to burn deep within her heart as his spoke of something far more important than a simply match. It spoke of something bigger than herself. A resolution formed in her mind, one to give it her all even the in the face of utter defeat. "I promise."

Naruto watched her carefully as resilience, the most redeeming trait of the human race raged within her heart. "Good."

"I- I hope I'm not intruding..." The waitress said sheepishly, their eyes snapped to her in an instant causing her to flinch and almost drop the pizza had Naruto not caught it. "I uh, I brought your order..."

Naruto set the pizza down in the middle of the table while the waitress set down their drinks and Pyrrha's salad. "Will- Will there be anything else?"

"No that's fine, thank you." Naruto said politely and the young woman breathed a small sigh of relief as she bowed her head slightly and quickly walked off.

"Woah... that was intense." The waitress muttered to herself as a blush crept along her cheeks. "I wish I had a boyfriend who would look at me intensely like that."

While Naruto picked up her hushed voice he ignored it and seeing as Pyrrha hadn't heard he didn't feel the need to comment on it. "Right then, enough serious stuff, can I borrow your notes for Oobleck's class when we get back?"

Pyrrha couldn't help the giggle that slipped out at how quickly Naruto could change gears like that, silly one moment then serious the next and back to silly. She really like that about him. "Sure why not, even if I said no you would still find a way to get your hands on them."

Naruto grinned around the pizza slice he had bitten into drawing another giggle from the warrior girl.

000

"You two, we're going on a job, get in bullhead." Roman ordered drawing Naruto's attention, having taken over the usual guard's position in hopes of something like this happening he jumped on the ship without complain.

Naruto checked out the window and noticed three other bullheads lifting off, likely joining them on this job. "Listen up," Roman called out "The Schnee company has tightened security on their shipments the past few weeks since the fuck-up at the harbor so we're going to have to... pro-actively remove said security."

Naruto didn't bother speaking up and neither did the other faunus so the orange-haired gangster continued on "The Schnee corp. uses atlas tech. so we're going to where we tracked down their HQ burn it down. While that happens the others will be hitting some of the last shipments left and we should be done with this dust collecting crap."

Seeing as the man was done relating the plan Naruto turned back towards the window. It's been close to a month since he infiltrated the White Fang and he learned a lot about Roman, Adam the leader of the White Fang and most importantly of Cinder the overseer of this little rip-off operation.

His nose wrinkled slightly at the hint of fox coming from him, no offense to his still comatose friend but having to hide himself by artificially adding a scent of fox to himself to fool the faunus noses was rather annoying.

Speaking of which Kurama was still out cold but he seemed to be making progress as every once in a while an ear or toe would twitch slightly letting Naruto know that the great beast was at least still alive.

He gazed disinterestedly at his hands as his fingernails grew into blackened claws due to the Kyuubi's chakra inside of him that linked him to the original. "So what kind are you?"

Naruto looked up towards the faunus who he assumed asked the question. "Fox, you?"

"Tiger." The Faunus replied while extending the claws on his right hand to prove his point. He glanced over towards where Roman entered the cockpit "Real prick isn't he?"

"Yeah but he'll get his soon enough." Naruto said casually.

"Heh, you said it brother." The man said with a hint of disgust as he glanced at the door once again.

The rest of the flight was spent in silence as Naruto closed his eyes and went into the odd limbo that clones entered when they slept. Clones didn't dream seeing as their very purpose was to store memories like a flash drive so they could simply access the databank and look at memories in perfect clarity unlike dreams that tended to mix memories up as they were cataloged.

The clone appeared in front of a massive collection of notable memories that it highlighted over the month to be predominant in the real Naruto's mind when he finally dispelled. This highlighting feature was something he discovered shortly after the war when he began really exploring the mysteries of chakra using Hagoromo's power.

He could essentially select and at times erase sections of useless memories and sometimes even further delve into a memory to highlight especially important moments within that memory, the other problem being that it was a very time-consuming and mentally taxing ability.

After what felt like days within him mind, sorting and cataloging memories he felt someone tap his shoulder and he instantly woke himself up. "We're about to land." The tiger faunus told him.

"Thanks." Naruto said with a nod as he sat up and worked the kinks out of his body. "Where are we anyway?"

"Somewhere in Atlas." The tiger said as he pointed out the window, Naruto took a glance and noticed the snowy mountains all around them.

"I'm guessing we'll still having to travel a bit further to actually get to the place?" Naruto said with a grumbled as he picked up his sniper rifle.

"Naturally." The tiger said with a chuckle.

Ten minutes later the four bullheads landed and the selected members stepped out of the ships. There were twelve White Fang in total plus Torchwick. "Alright listen up, Cinder wants this done quick, clean and quiet which is why we're running with such a small crew so no fuck-ups, got it?"

Luckily the masks hid the sneers on the faunus member's faces but they all saluted nonetheless. Even Naruto sent the man a glare but having spent a month in the little shit's company he had just as much a reason to hate him as the faunus did.

You're lucky that I haven't shoved that cane up your ass you pretentious, fake suit having, eyeliner wearing, wanna-be badass prick.

"Neo! Hurry it up!" Roman shouted into the Bullhead they had just exited. Naruto watched as a few seconds later a young and rather short woman stepped out of the ship carrying an umbrella of all things.

Naruto had seen her from afar from time to time and she seemed to be either Torchwick's assistant or perhaps protegé. Her outfit was a mix of whites, pinks and browns just like her hair and eyes and the smile that graced her pale lips reminded him far too much of Anko.

Her eyes seemed to scan the gathered faunus, silently judging them until they landed on him and froze for a moment. The barest hints of surprise lingered in her mismatched eyes as her fake sweet smile widened just a fraction before moving on.

Does she suspect something? It would be far too troublesome to be found out now and it would be just as annoying to implant another clone so if need be then he would make her disappear during the mission.

Night followed the strike force as they marched along the snow-covered mountain and soon saw a hidden facility about a kilometer away. "That's it." Roman said as he put away a pair of binoculars, his white suit blending into the cold snow.

"Three snipers on the roof," With that Naruto and two others stepped up and picked their targets. "On three... one... two... three." Three simultaneous silenced shots dropped the three sentries instantly and they moved on to phase two.

"Neo, you know what to do." Roman said getting a nod from the young woman. Said girl lifted her umbrella above her head and twirled it around rapidly until a shimmering barrier showed up around her. "Everyone get inside, Neo is going to camouflage us with her Semblance."

From inside of the barrier the world outside looked like a warped and shifting mirror but from the outside no one would see anything and their snow shoes help hide the tracks.

Naruto slid the sniper rifle over his shoulder so the strap would hang on the crook of his neck and focused on trying to decipher this girl's ability. It seemed like she could distort either space or light inside of her bounds and the umbrella was either required or perhaps enhanced the effect.

His eyes shifted toward her just in time to catch her doing the same and that same fake smile coming sliding across her delicate features. Turning forward once more he tried to put ease to his thoughts.

While the real him would undoubtedly be able to crush this girl like an insect he was a clone, even if he was far more durable that most clones due to the hint of Kyuubi chakra in him if he was pierced or shot then it was game over so it wasn't worth risking drawing more attention to himself than needed.

As they stealthfully entered the building they made their way upwards towards the control rooms, silently taking out patrols as they went. "Ok the control room is just ahead, I'm going to upload a virus that will put the Schnee sentries under out control until we get the OK then we're torching this place." Roman whispered.

They entered the control room and made their way towards the large computer screens but just as they made it to the middle of the room little red lights began appearing all around them. "Shit."

"FIRE!" The White Fang members scattered as a hail of bullets rained down on them, some tried to stand their ground and shoot back but were quickly mowed down. "NEO! How the fuck did they see us?"

The frazzled girl scowled at the shooters before pulling out her scroll and quickly typing something and showing it to him "Thermal scopes? GOD DAMMIT!"

Naruto had taken cover behind the same set row of boxes that they had and was lucky enough to catch a weakness to her Semblance. Maybe it's some sort of illusion then? It can hide from the naked eye but can't hide the heat coming from the body that is still there.

"You!" Naruto turned towards Torchwick "What the fuck are you waiting for? Take them out!"

The clone's eye twitched for a moment from having this little shit yell at him but slung his sniper rifle over and began picking off whoever he could. Honestly if he didn't need Torchwick alive to keep an eye on Cinder he would have slit the bastard's throat long ago. It was only his own ineptitude that kept him alive, better this idiot than someone competent who might realise they were being watched.

Still he did wonder how the Schnee company became aware of tonight's raid considering that he only just found out about. Maybe the Schnee counter-intelligence was finally starting to wise up, that or they simply anticipated an attack on their defense headquarters.

His crosshairs lined up with another robotic sentry and with the pull of a trigger its head became shrapnel as his explosive fire rounds tore through their metal casings like a hot knife through butter.

As his eyes scanned for more targets he caught sight of a woman who looked strikingly similar to Weiss that was barking orders to her sentries. Considering this was a Schnee owned facility she might be a Weiss' older sister or cousin perhaps.

The woman's eyes narrowed on him as his bullet tore through the chassis of the sentry right next to her. Naruto watched as she unsheathed a cutlass and pointed it at him with a deep orange Glyph forming in front of it that he remembered Weiss using to launch a projectile explosive.

"Shit, dodge!" Naruto warned, grabbing Neo who was closer to him and jumping away just at the boxes exploded from the Glyph missile. Roman landed next to them roughly a moment later and cried in pain.

"AH! Fuck!" The man yelled as he held his left leg where a large piece of wooden shrapnel pierced through his thigh.

Shit, why do I have to save this piece of crap? Naruto reloaded his rifle and turned towards the girl "We need to get out of here, you pick up Torchwick and I'll cover you."

The girl nodded and helped the man up as he finally as use for his cane as he hobbled along with Neo's help as Naruto picked off any sentries that shot at them. Roman turned back with a vengeful sneer and aimed his cane at the elder Schnee. "Payback's a bitch."

Torchwick overloaded his cane and shot out a larger than normal missile from his weapon that caused a huge explosion and tore apart the catwalk where the Schnee and a few sentries were stationed.

Torchwick let out a satisfied laugh before turning back towards the door "Let's get the fuck out of here."

The White Fang that were still alive inside kept up the gunfight as Naruto, Neo and Torchwick got away, leaving only a trail of blood and expletives in their wake. Neopolitan took the chance to glance at the faunus who likely saved her life as the blast had happened right where she was taking cover and if he hadn't pulled her away she likely would have died.

His eyes shined a cold blue under the midnight moon, showing little more than annoyance. He showed no sadness for his fallen comrades, no anger for failing his mission, no joy in slaughtering his enemies and no fear in what may come. He was simply... empty. Like her.

Her usual feigned smile came across her face but this one felt a little more real, for the first time in a long time she felt something in her cold dead heart. The smile turned distinctly more cruel.

Her tongue slid out to lick her lips as she watched him from the corner of her eyes. She was certain of it. She found one, someone who could understand her. Someone who has lived a similar life.

He was someone like her.

Dead inside.

Living only for the moment.

Did he perhaps live a similar life?

Has he seen the darkness of this world?

Known its despair? Felt it, tasted it, revelled in it?

She would make him hers.

He would make her his.

They would kill each other.

And be forever in bliss.

AN - Uh-oh! Yandere alert! Anyways I would like to hear your guy's thoughts on the season finale, did you also rage at your screen when a certain someone crumbled to dust? What about Ruby's sonic boom thing and her apparent special eyes? *Possible doujutsu? Maybe... ;)*

So please leave me a comment, I'd love to know what you guys thought of the last few episodes since I last posted, hell tell me your thoughts on the season in general. Personally I'm enjoying the darker tones that are finally starting to come out because they've been there since the beginning and they've been teasing them all throughout the season 1 and 2 but I know some people that prefer the more light-hearted side even though it didn't match the tone of the trailers at all so please let me know which side of the fence you fall down on and possibly your predictions on S4.

*Chapter 9*: Pounce

AN - Before we begin I'd like to clear up a small confusion that some of my readers PM'd me about. The previous chapter and this one as well happen in between the end of season 1 and shortly before S2E1.

There is a few months gap between the two seasons so I'm using this gap as filler to show the increase in bonding between the teams considering that I skipped months at a time by following the RWBY timeline so I'm using this blank-spot to my advantage.

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or RWBY.

Shattered World

Team NRVN was hanging out in their dorm room playing Grimm Eclipse since Nora had managed to convince both Pyrrha and Naruto to play with her and Ren. Pyrrha did it because she was too nice to say no and Naruto simply because she would be infuriatingly persistent about it if he refused.

"Tell me again why we're playing a game about being hunters when we are hunters?" Naruto asked as he tore another beowulf in half using his character's skill.

"Well technically we're hunters in training." Ren pointed out.

"Don't throw technicalities at me Ren." Naruto grumbled before turning towards the door when a knock sounded. "I got it."

"No! You're DPSing, if we don't down this Ursa Major fast enough he'll enrage!" Nora yelled out desperately.

Naruto simply gave her a blank look as another knock sounded "Right." Walking to the door he opened it and smiled seeing it was Blake. "Hey Blake, what's up?"

Blake allowed a small smile to slide across her face before forcing it down "Yang wanted me to let you guys know that she's throwing Ruby a surprise birthday party next week."

Naruto grinned "It's going to be Ruby's birthday? When?"

"November fifth." Blake told him before looking away slightly and lowering her voice "I... was going into town to buy her a gift if you want to come... if you're not busy that is."

Naruto turned back to see his team members frantically pushing away at buttons to make up for his loss most likely. "Uh... give me like ten minutes? Let me just finish up here and we can head out if that's cool with you?"

Blake nodded with a small smile "That's fine, just text me when you're done."

"Sure thing." Naruto said with a grin before closing the door.

"ARE YOU DONE YET!?" Nora cried as she began panicking.

"Yeah yeah," Naruto waved her off as he picked up his scrolls again and rejoin the fight. Five minutes later an emotionally exhausted Nora collapsed on her bed, boss defeated and loot distributed.

Ren was much the same and Pyrrha also put down her scroll before laying on her bed. Naruto simply shook his head and put on a hoodie which Pyrrha noticed. "Are you going out?"

Naruto briefly considered asking them if they wanted to come along but Blake was whispering for a reason so he decided not to. "Yeah, just heading out for a bit, I'll be back a later."

"Be safe." Pyrrha called out as he waved goodbye and closed the door behind him. He pulled out his scroll and walked a bit down hall as he sent Blake a message. 'Be right out.' She replied just as he neared Team RWBY's room just down the hall and out stepped Blake in black pants, high heeled boots and a white jacket that showed her midriff with a scarf around her neck. And was that lipgloss? It wasn't very noticeable but there was a certain sheen to her lips making them that much more enticing. Very sneaky Blake, very sneaky indeed.

Blake closed the door behind her as Naruto approached with a raised eyebrow and a smirk growing on the corner of his lips. She blushed slightly and looked away "Not. A. Word."

Naruto laughed and kept walking down the hall followed shortly behind by Blake. He understood enough about the introverted and reserved Blake not to make it seem as obvious that they were heading out together than he had with the more outgoing Pyrrha.

Once they cleared the gates of the school he slowed his stride and Blake caught up. "Sorry..." He heard the quiet apology from behind him.

"Why are you apologizing?" Naruto asked without looking back. "I would never apologize for being myself so I don't expect you to either."

Blake caught up to him and began walking beside him "It's just that..."

"It's fine Blake." Naruto said as he turned towards her with a grin "I had a friend like you long ago... Shino. He was the quiet type but most people thought he was shy, not knowing that he had more going on up here than most people realised." He said while tapping his temple.

Blake smiled a little at his words as they walked towards the airship docks. "So which book are you reading this month?" Naruto asked, turning towards her with interested look.

She blushed heavily and turned away "It... it's about two ninjas in love."

Naruto stifled a laugh at her embarrassed look "Let me take a guess," He began with a grin that worried her "Is it Ninjas of Love?"

She looked down dejectedly "Y-Yes."

"Pfft." Naruto began turning red as he held in the laugh.

"Jerk!" Blake cried with embarrassed indignation and slugged him in the shoulder.

"Hahaha!" Naruto finally let out his laugh much to Blake's chagrin but he eventually let up and settled on an amused grin "Sorry, sorry, I just didn't know you into 'that' kind of literature."

"I read it for the plot..." She defended.

"Right, just like how Nora watches anime for the bouncing, jiggling plot." Naruto teased. Really though, that girl has a problem.

Seeing that Blake was actually getting upset now he finally relented and reached into his coat pulling out an old and slightly weathered book. "Here." Was all he said before passing it to her.

"What's this?" She wondered, looking at the title. "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi?"

"My godfather Jiraiya wrote that a long time ago... that was my father's copy." Naruto said forlornly. Being an immortal meant that he likely would never get to see his parents or any of his old friends again unless he chose to disturbed their peace in the afterlife.

"I- I see." Blake said as she hugged the book to her chest, understanding the sentimental value in it. She was happy that he trusted her with something so important.

Naruto looked over the horizon at the rising moon, his melancholy smile gave way to a mirthful chuckle "And if you like his writing style then I lend you Jiraiya's make-out paradise books since you like reading smut."

"Naruto!" Her cries gave way to more laughs and eventually even Blake joined in, a radiant smile stretching her blushed cheeks.

When they calmed down and entered the ship Naruto noticed that there were only a couple of other students inside. "Thank you." Naruto turned to his side where Blake was sitting by the window with a small but honest smile on her face, still clutching his book close to her chest.

Naruto noticed this and sent her a soft smile that made Blake's heart beat faster "Anytime Blake."

000

Naruto opened the door to his barracks and scanned around outside for any sign of pink hair, where there wasn't any visible he breathed a sigh relief and stepped out only to turn the corner and come face to face with her. Oh god dammit.

She tilted her head at him and smiled. Were it literally any other girl it would be cute but on her It was downright disturbing. "Can I help you with something Neo?"

She smiled and quickly typed something on her scroll to show at him. 'You remembered my name?'

"Yeah..."

'That makes me happy :D'

"Right..."

'So, what are you up to?'

"I was going to report in for my shift."

'That sounds boring, come with me instead!'

"I really don't think I-" Naruto was cut off by her shoving her scroll close to his face.

'Come with me. NOW.' Her sweet smile promised only pain if he refused.

"...Fine"

'Yay!'

"Yay..." The clone simply let the little psycho lead him around, silently pointing out things to him and typing away at her scroll when she wanted to communicate. Kill me now. Please.

000

"A weapons shop?" Blake questioned as they arrived at the place where Naruto said they could find the perfect gift for their team leader.

Naruto gave her a blank stare "We're shopping for Ruby remember."

Blake paused for a moment "Good point."

Entering the shop they were greeted by the shop owner, Blake went to go look around while Naruto walked up to the counter. "Hey do you do special orders?"

"We do, most people bring in schematics or drawing and details of what they want and my team will usually be able to build it." The owner replied.

"Cool, so my friend Ruby-"

"The scythe user?"

"You know her?"

"She's infamous among weapons shops, if she wasn't determined to become a huntress I'd advise her to become a weapon crafter." The man said with a good natured laugh.

"Right. Anyway her birthday is coming up on the fifth so if I gave you the materials and the design could you make me something for her by then?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Hmm," The man rubbed his bearded chin in thought "That's rather short notice but if its for Ruby I might make an exception."

"Great thanks, it's not a big build or anything, it was actually something I had designed for fun but it might be of use to her." Naruto said as he pulled out a tiny scroll meant to hold a limited number of things.

He laid the scroll on the counter and a few items popped out; a steel ingot, a solid block of mahogany and a set of blueprints. "I know not everything is here but I'll pay for whatever extra parts you need."

The man took a look at the drawing and nodded along "This actually shouldn't take more than two days. A long-barrel revolver with a bladed edge under the barrel, rather simple actually."

"Anyway I could get you to engrave her sigil on the blade?" Naruto asked to which the man nodded an affirmative. "What about a holster?"

"We'll have to make one but my boys can get it done." The man said with a smile. "Anyway can you get me a copy of her sigil?"

"Uh, yeah one sec." Naruto pulled out his phone a typed away, a minute later he heard the beep of a message. "Anywhere I can print this out?" He said, showing the man the picture that Yang sent him of Ruby's Rose symbol.

"Give it here for a minute." The man said, taking the scroll phone and plugging it into his laptop. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Nope that's it." Naruto said with a grin as he took back the phone "So much?"

"Since you're providing the bulk of the material, 50 Lien for the order and we'll throw in the holster as a birthday gift from the shop." The man said with a casual shrug.

"Sweet." Naruto unsealed two small red cards and a yellow from another tiny seal and handed them to the man. (1) "Hey Blake, you found anything?"

"Nothing specific but I was thinking of giving her some more ammo for her rifle, I remember her moaning about being too broke to buy more since dust has shot up in price." Blake said with a frown, having not really found anything better than the two boxes of ammo in her hands.

"Knowing Ruby she'll love them." The shop owner agreed with Naruto on that one.

"Alright, I'll take them." Blake said, placing the two boxes on the counter.

"Two boxes comes out to 138.86" The man said as he rang up the purchase.

"Holy crap." Naruto said, honestly surprised. He knew the prices went up but that was more than double what they used to cost. Blake also looked shocked and somewhat hesitant as she looked at her wallet.

Without another thought Naruto placed a purple and red card on the counter getting a questioning look from Blake "What? It's for Ruby, plus my gift came out to a lot less than I thought it would, I was expecting to pay around 100 anyway."

Blake relented with a smile "Thanks." She placed an equal amount on the counter and got her change before they left the store.

"Man, almost 140 lien for just 20 rounds? That ridiculous." Naruto said with a sigh as they walked down the street.

Blake frowned "It's because of the White Fang and their constant dust robberies."

"You do know that's just the beginning right? Something big is coming, starving us of dust is probably just phase one." Naruto told her.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked worriedly.

"Well think about it, if dust and dust ammo costs so much then no one will be able to afford it. So whenever the White Fang try an attack or something we'll all be working on limited ammo while they will likely be loaded to the brim with it." He told her, only increasing the worried look on her face.

"This isn't just a Schnee problem, it's been affecting every hunter and huntress, hell even normal citizens who require dust for their electronics are suffering from this and that's exactly what the White Fang wants." Naruto continued.

Blake frowned deeply, turning towards Naruto "Do you think they are planning to attack the city?"

"The cities barriers and defenses run on dust right?" He asked getting a nod from her "Then it's only a matter of time until they attack, once the barriers are down I don't doubt they'll try to assault the city."

Blake's face set itself into stone "Naruto... when do you estimate the attack will happen?"

Naruto blinked at her sudden change but didn't comment on it "Well I don't know all that much about the city's barriers but unless they have reserves and back-up dust in case of emergencies I would say within the month."

"A month..." Blake worried her lip "That's not enough time."

"For what?" He wondered.

Blake turned towards Naruto then looked around and dragged him towards a nearby mostly empty cafe. They sat down in a secluded corner of the store and ordered some drinks, Naruto waiting patiently for Blake to begin but it looked like she was reluctant to. "Blake, not enough time for what?"

"Adam." She answered "I won't be able to reach his level within a month."

"Adam Taurus you mean?" Blake looked up in surprise, Naruto's eyes leveled with hers. "Before you ask, yes I know of him."

"How?"

"Blake..." Naruto wondered how he would spin this tale "What if I were to tell you that I had an inside man?"

"In the White Fang?" Surprise bleeding into her tone.

"Yes. He's been feeding me information whenever he's able but lately... he's had a very annoying little tick following him." Naruto began as he kissed his teeth in annoyance at the insect known as Neo. "Info has been slow as of late because of that but I have a general idea of how the White Fang is operating and a little about their leader."

"Why haven't you told us this before?" Blake questioned.

"I couldn't risk my spy's life by letting information like this just spread around, the only reason I'm telling you is because you used to be a part of the White Fang and likely know more about Taurus than I do." Naruto watched as a string of emotions crossed her face before settling on sadness.

"He wasn't always this way, when we were kids he always wished for everyone to live peacefully." She said before taking a drink from her coffee "When things started going south for the White Fang and more and more of our friends started dying he hardened his heart and declared that he would forge a world for faunus to live peacefully. Only faunus."

"And yet he's working with Torchwick and a few other humans." Naruto cut it receiving a nod of acknowledgement from her.

"A means to an end." She stated. "Adam is a skilled swordsman with a very strong aura and his Semblance is called Riposte, it allows him to absorb the power from an attack and redirect it. Instead of using his own body however he channels his semblance into his sword and uses all the energy in one swing."

Naruto nodded "Uchihagaeshi."

"I'm sorry?" She asked in confusion from the odd term.

"Oh I'm just remembering a prick that used to do something very similar using a giant gunbai. Whenever I hit it he would redirect the energy back at me." Naruto recalled his fight with Madara all those years ago.

"Was there a way around it?" She questioned.

"Nope, just had to hit him from behind or hit him while he didn't have the gunbai." Naruto recalled "We'll have to separate Taurus from his sword."

Blake scoffed "Good luck with that, he'll likely give you his left arm before his blade."

"Then I'll just have to rip both away from him." Naruto said with a grin that caused her to giggle slightly. He set down his drink and leaned back "Well it sounds like we'll have to start training immediately."

Blake turned her head in confusion at his declaration "Huh?"

"You and this Adam guy have some history right?" He asked getting a nod from her "Then I'll leave him to you but it sounds like you'll need some help getting stronger, faster so I'll help you. This is your fight and I'll let you fight it but that doesn't mean I can't give you an edge."

"How?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and his grin stretched as he slid a tiny scroll out of his jacket "Seals are wondrous things, difficult to master but someone truly skilled in the art can make the impossible possible."

Blake looked at the small scroll in the palm of her hand, no longer or wider than her pinky. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Your first task is to find a way to open it. Aura, semblance, dust, I don't care how but if you can open that scroll then I can open a world of impossibilities to you." Naruto answered his grin widening.

She tried channeling her aura into it then her semblance energy and finally trying to rub some raw dust on it only for it to remain inert. "What's the deal here?"

Naruto shrugged "Figure it out." He chuckled seeing her continued failures "I never said it would be easy, and technically opening the scroll is the easiest part."

Blake huffed and stuffed the scroll into her pocket for later "I've only ever seen you put things away or summon them using these seals of yours."

Naruto nodded "That's because I've never had the need to use them for anything else." Snapping his fingers he unsealed a tiny bottle of orange dust and a slip of paper. "Observe."

Blake watched a he quickly drew an intricate pattern onto the paper using his finger which left behind little black lines before taking a pinch of the explosive dust and dropping it on the tab. She watched in fascination as the dust disappeared and the previously black lines glowed a faint orange. "What you see before you is an explosive tag. The seal absorbed the nature of the pure explosive dust and enhanced it tenfold. Anything this lands on with be blown to the moon."

With his recent experiments using the massive quantities of dust he stole at the docks he learned all he could about the crystalline chakra and learned that while not as versatile as chakra it was far more potent when used for its corresponding element due to thousands of years of similar chakra coalescing into compact forms.

It was like channeling pure chakra nature without having to learn how to do so first and the more he learned about dust and its many variants the more he more interested he became.

"You're- You're kidding me? Right?" She gaped at the tiny tab of paper that was now littered with glowing lines.

"Not in the least, trust me I've been studying this for quite some time. As soon as we leave I can better show you the power in this tiny unassuming piece of paper." For the time being Naruto slipped the tag back into his coat and finished his drink, Blake doing the same a few moments later.

They paid on their way out and scaled the sides of the buildings until they were on the roofs. Naruto pulled out his truth-seeking ball in kunai form and wrapped the tag around it before tossing it straight up "Boom."

Blake's eyes widened at the power behind the explosion, Naruto had thrown it at least a hundred feet in the air before detonating it and she still felt the sudden change in air pressure.

He reached out his hand and caught his undamaged kunai as it fell back down and returned it the sheath on his lower back "So whaddya think?"

"How is that even possible? The amount of dust you used normally wouldn't even be enough to blast through a wooden door but... "how?" She asked in awe.

Naruto chuckled "I told you, Fuinjutsu makes the impossible possible."

"How do they work?" Blake pressed.

"Think of them like Weiss' glyphs, certain symbols or sigils in a specific order have a mystic power to them. Don't ask me the exact details behind that however because not even I know that yet, only how some strings of symbols correlate with others."

"Where did you learn uhm Fuinjutsu?" Naruto nodded showing that she got the name right "How did you learn it?"

"Well," Naruto sat down on the edge of a fan with Blake joining him a moment later "I guess I first took an interest in it during my travels with my godfather Jiraiya. He was a seal master and later I learned that my father was one also, plus my mother's entire clan was said to be foremost experts in the art so Fuinjutsu kinda runs in my blood."

"I see." Blake smiled "I'm glad you found something that could connect you to your family."

Naruto looked pensive as he nodded "You're an orphan also right?"

"Yes." She answered through Naruto noticed she wasn't overtly saddened by it.

"Do you know anything about them?" He wondered.

Blake shook her head "No, I was raised in the orphanage until I joined the White Fang."

"Have you ever wondered about them?" Naruto asked as he turned his head towards her.

"I would be lying if I said I hadn't but then... I don't know, I never really dwelled on it I guess. I found a new family in the White Fang so it kept the loneliness away but after I left..." She sighed, trailing off her sentence.

Naruto nodded along before standing up "Well I guess it's all in the past right? We've got to focus on the here and now."

Blake watched as the sun set behind him, his foxy grin covering his face. "You're right."

Naruto could have considered many things happening in that moment but not once did he predict that Blake would cross the short distance between them and plant her lips on his.

Sneaky Kitty...

AN - Before my Team Pyrrha fans start freaking out, I have decided on BlakexNarutoxPyrrha. I've been writing different scenarios for each route and I liked the multi pairing route the most so Pyrrha will still be with Naruto, just after Blake is all.

(1) Since the RWBY guys haven't given a set worth for each color Lien I'm going by the rupee system.

Green = 1 Lien

Blue = 5

Yellow = 10

Red = 20

Purple = 50

Orange = 100

White = 200

*Chapter 10*: Birth and Rebirth

AN - Right off the bat I apologize for the late and extremely short chapter, Black Desert and The Division have all but devoured my life and attention. This is mostly a filler chapter but it does have some important reveals and will finally transition us into Season 2 next chapter which I promise will be longer. So please enjoy and thank you to all of my wonderful fans new and old that helped me reach 1000 alerts and 1000 faves here soon.

Shattered World

"Blake?" Naruto asked after they separated.

"I-" She took a moment to calm herself "I like you."

"Really? I never would have guessed." Unfortunately his mouth was usually set to automatic sarcasm nowadays.

"Shut up." Blake huffed "Be serious for a moment would you?"

Naruto held her gaze for a moment before replying "You know this is going to complicate things right?"

"It doesn't have to." Blake said, looking away "We could keep it a secret you know."

Naruto crossed his arms "I don't have a problem with that but is that what you want?"

"Just until I can figure... this out, sort out my feelings." She answered.

With a sigh he nodded "Fine but if Yang finds out, you came on to me."

Blake gave him a blank look "She will not find out because we are not going to say anything. Besides it might not even be anything..."

Her answer didn't sound very convincing to either of them but ultimately Naruto shrugged, "Fair enough." She did notice a slight frown forming on his face however.

"What is it?" Blake asked worriedly.

"Pyrrha."

"Pyrrha?"

"I may be wrong but I think she likes me as well." Naruto told her.

"Oh..." Blake paused as she looked down "And you?"

"Me what?"

"Do you like her?" Blake asked steadily as she faced him once more.

"I wouldn't mind dating her." Naruto replied casually.

"I see." Was all she said.

"Oh don't be like that Blake, it's not like we're actually dating or anything. You kissed me and you may or may not like me romantically, something you've already admitted. If you can be wishy-washy about this then so can I." He said calmly.

Blake bit her lip and cursed her sudden bout of had all gone a lot better in her head. "Then?"

Naruto reached out and took hold of Blake's shoulders "Listen Blake, I like you both as a person and as a potential girlfriend but... I also like Pyrrha. I've restrained myself from forming any sort of relationship however due to a mission I've given myself."

"A mission?" She wondered.

"Something important will be happening in the near future, I can feel it and during this event I will have to decide if I should interfere or allow it to run its course." That feeling he would always get before a new nightmare plagued him during his great sleep on the moon had gotten stronger and stronger as of late and this feeling only came about when a great event that changed the world happened.

The planet was warning him, telling him of what is to come. He didn't know the details just yet but with Cinder and the White Fang he could only guess that it revolved around them.

That and something of even greater concern worried him. I can't be sure but I swear I felt Her chakra for a moment...

"Do you mean the White Fang's invasion?" Concern clear in her tone.

"Perhaps but I think that this is bigger than even them." Naruto said contemplatively before shaking his head "Regardless it was because of this that I never took an initiative towards either you or Pyrrha but if you asked me then who am I to say no?"

Blake smiled slightly and placed her hands on Naruto's as they were still on her shoulders. She took a moment to caress his rough hands, tiny scars and calluses littered them likely from years of training and combat.

Turning her eyes upwards to meet his once more "Naruto would you like to be my secret boyfriend until we both decide if a relationship is what we want?"

Naruto chuckled "Quite the romantic aren't you?" At her cat-like pout he smiled once more "I'd love to Blake."

"Good." She leaned in closer, one of her hands sneaking behind his neck to pull him down so their lips could meet in the middle.

000

Naruto's clone was able to evade Neo long enough to sneak into the meeting between Roman and Cinder. "Roman, we'll be moving into phase two of the plan next month. Make sure the next base is prepared and the majority of our forces and the dust moved there."

Roman looked down at the map Cinder provided for him "Southeast, eh? Anything important going on down there?"

Cinder smiled sultrily "Nothing of direct importance to you but to our goals, yes."

Roman's eyes narrowed slightly but choose not to comment on it "Fine, so we'll move to this new base and then what?"

"Return to Vale with some of the White Fang and hold recruitment rallies, we'll need to begin boosting our numbers for the coming war and they'll need time to train."

Torchwick sighed at the thought of more dirty faunus joining them but nodded all the same "Anything else?"

"Yes." Cinder said with a smirk "I believe you'll enjoy this surprise. Our spies in Atlas have managed to get their hands on a few prototypes of the Atlesian military's newest machines and they'll be delivered here by the end of the month." She handed him a schematic with the features of the upcoming Atlesian Paladin-290.

"Oh-hoh-hoh-ho! That's what I'm talking about!" Torchwick said with a wide grin as he scanned the schematics for the mech-suit.

"I thought you'd enjoy that." Cinder spoke, her haughty smirk still prevalent on her lips. "We'll be going now, try not to enjoy your new toys too much Roman." She walked away with a wave, followed by her two cronies.

Naruto's eyes narrowed under his mask. Mech-suits? Well that's just perfect...

He was about to sneak out once more when the door opened and he came face to mask with Neo who smiled widely upon seeing him, she was just about to pull out her scroll when Roman noticed her.

"Neo, good, you're here." Roman waved her over "We've got a big job coming up so get over here."

Neo pouted as she turned back towards Naruto and shrugged apologetically before walking over to Roman. Naruto turned back and breathed a sigh of relief. Nice save, Torchwick.

000

The next week the crew gathered in team RWBY's dorm room except for Yang who was fetching Ruby. Naruto had went along with his team the day after his date with Blake so they could pick up presents for Ruby.

They could now make out the voices of the two sisters as they approached the room so they quickly shut off the lights and hid slightly waiting for Yang to give the cue which was her flipping the lights on.

"I still say Ray should have stayed in the band but oh well..." Yang said as she stepped into the room and as soon as Ruby entered she flipped on the lights and everyone jumped out yelling surprise.

"AH!" Ruby cried out.

"Happy birthday sis!" Yang said with a wide grin.

Ruby looked shocked for a moment before giggling and hugging her sister "Thanks Yang, thanks everybody!"

The small party went by smoothly as the two teams just hung out, feasting on the pizzas that Yang ordered earlier that day. "Alright I think it's time to bring out the cake and presents!" Yang declared happily. Perhaps a little too happily. Naruto looked down at his drink and sniffed it. She spiked it...

Looking over at Ruby he noticed that she was swaying slightly and was giggling more than normal. A smile spread across his face as he looked around the room and noticed that everyone was tipsy to some degree.

Yang seemed to be holding her own the best aside from him but considering his body passively burned away all toxins it was rather hard to get drunk, really the only time it ever happened was when he shared that drink with Bunta.

"Great idea Yang." Naruto walked over to the table filled the pizza sat on and unsealed a red velvet cake from a scroll.

"What!" Nora shouted seeing the cake "I thought you couldn't hold food in your thingies!"

"I never said they couldn't Nora, they can, just not for very long." Naruto corrected. Next to the cake was also a mix of red and black candles which he put eight of each on the cake and lit them using a weak fire jutsu. "Alright birthday girl, it's ready for you."

Ruby beamed and went over to the table where the cake sat and was crowded by her friends who started singing happy birthday to her.

"-Happy birthday dear Ruby, Happy birthday to you!" They all clapped when Ruby blew out her candles. Yang readied her scroll and shared a look with Naruto who nodded "Hey sis, why don't you take the first bite?"

"What?"

"C'mon give it a good bite" Naruto encouraged with a smile, Ruby thought about for a moment before nodding.

"Ok!" Yang grinned and readied her camera and just as Ruby was going to take a bite Naruto tapped her head down so the frosting would cover her face. "Mmm velvety." Everyone including Ruby shared a laugh as her sister handed her some napkins to clean her face off.

After cutting the cake they moved on to presents.

Pyrrha bought her a new red scarf, Ren a sharpening stone made from wind element dust and Nora a picture of a baby cow for some reason. It seemed as though her team all had the same idea as they all got her ammo or dust with Yang throwing in the newest Achieve Men album as well.

Being last Naruto handed her a long black box with a red string around it. "What is it?" Ruby asked excitedly feeling that box had some weight to it.

Naruto grinned "Every sniper should have a sidearm."

Ruby squealed and opened the box and inside was a holstered pistol, sliding the revolver out her eyes widened seeing it was also a bladed weapon with her insignia engraved into the blade. "This. Is. So. COOOOOL! Thank you Naruto!" She holstered the weapon and hugged Naruto before turning towards the rest of her friends "Thanks you guys!"

Ruby spent the rest of the party with her new gun strapped to her right calf, the custom black holster made by the guys at Guns 'n' Things matching her outfit perfectly as they trimmed it with a dark red.

As the night progressed he could tell that everyone was starting to get more and more sleepy, the alcohol that Yang slipped into the drinks likely getting to them. "I'm going to get some fresh air." Blake said as she made her way towards the door.

"I'll join you, the moon is probably beautiful tonight." Naruto said with a mischievous smile, Blake blushed slightly at the look in his eyes but nodded quickly and looked away as they left the room.

The walk up to the roof was quiet aside from their footsteps and only when they reached the top did Naruto take hold of one of her hands. Blake turned towards him and he smiled "You look really nice tonight."

Blake turned away to hide the small smile on her face "Thank you." She was in a dark purple blouse and black skinny jeans, nothing out of the ordinary but she still looked great in his eyes.

"There's no need to coy Blake." He whispered into her ear, hugging her from behind. "You know I like the more bold you better."

"Is that right?" Blake turned her face so she could looked at him, her eyes smouldering, a light smirk on her face "Then how's this?" She reached and arm behind her and pulled him closer so they could share a kiss which quickly grew more heated. She would later blame it on the alcohol but she knew she wanted this, even if she would only admit it to herself.

Naruto grinned into her lips when their kiss ended "Yup, definitely like bold Blake better." She turned in his arms so she could lay her head in the crook of his neck, her hands wrapped around his strong frame. The both started to sway slightly to the night's song.

"I have a lot of enemies."

"I'll protect you from them."

"I have a lot of baggage."

"I'll help you carry it."

"I have a psychotic ex-boyfriend."

"I'll rip the sword out of his hand and tear him apart with it."

Blake smiled into his neck and closed her eyes, the warmth of his body fending out the cool November air. "I think we should we wait until this whole mess is settled before we truly explore a relationship together."

Naruto smiled "I'm glad you feel that way because unfortunately my mission would have taken priority."

"You still haven't really told me what it is." Blake pointed out.

Naruto smile dimmed slightly "Pray it never gets to the point that I have to."

"I could help you." She added.

Naruto nodded "You can and I'll likely need it soon but for now let me handle this... lately I've had a bad feeling."

"About what?"

Naruto's gaze turned towards the moon and his eyes hardened "I... felt a presence. One I haven't felt in a very long time."

Blake blinked in confusion "You felt a presence?"

Naruto's eyes refocused and turned towards her with an apologetic smile "Sorry, just forget what I said."

"What's going on Naruto?" She questioned with a stern look.

Naruto smiled "It was probably just my imagination." His smile was somewhat strained however, her presence was unforgettable after all. It was like you were a child standing before a queen, royal and powerful with the ability to end you at any time she wished.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't going to share she let the matter drop for now and instead leaned further into his touch, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart as they swayed in the night.

His gaze returned to the night sky, a heavy-set frown on his face as he searched the skies for answers. We'll finish this fight once and for all... Kaguya.

000

A white-haired woman with shining red eyes and black veins leading to them sat upon a throne of rock as she took in the chaos filled world surrounding her. A smirk crossed her face as she looked up, eight identical floating orbs made from molten rock hung in the sky. "Soon I'll be whole once more."

*Chapter 11*: A Day at the Lake

Shattered World

Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, and unlikely combo if there ever was one. One a street rat turned pickpocket, turned assassin and the other the son of a skilled assassin who became one himself after killing his own father in fight.

Currently they were closing in on the site of a self-imposed mission to remove a traitor by the name of Tukson.

"Tukson's Book Trade." Mercury read as they neared the building. "Looks like we found it."

"No thanks to you." Emerald quipped.

"Meh." The two entered the slightly dark shop, not seeing the owner anywhere but there was humming coming from somewhere nearby.

Emerald walked up to the counter and rung the bell while Mercury hung back and covered the door. "Be right there!" A voice sounded from the back.

A large man walked in backwards through the door carrying two stacks of books. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun how may I-" He placed the books down and gasped slightly when he took a look at his two customers. "How may I help you?"

"Just browsing." Mercury said from over by the door as he closed a book.

"Actually I was wondering, do you have any copies of the thief and the butcher?" Emerald asked as she rested her arms on the counter.

"Yes we do." Tukson said with a nod.

"Emerald smiled "That's great!"

"Would you... like a copy?" the store owner asked uncertainly.

"No..." Emerald said as she stood straight once more "Just wondering."

"Oh, oh! What about, Violet's Garden? In paperback." She mint haired assassin asked.

"He's got it!" Mercury called out holding up a book. "Hardback too."

Emerald took a thinking pose with a smile "Ooh, options are nice."

"Eh, no pictures." The silver-haired assassin muttered as he slammed shut another book. "Hey! Do you have any comics?"

"Near the front." Tukson answered, turning his attention towards Mercury.

"Oh! Wait! What about, Third Crusade?" Emerald questioned, drawing his attention back over to her.

Tukson swallowed as he looked between the two teens "Umm... I don't believe we carry that one." He said worriedly.

"What was this shop called again?" Emerald enquired as she leaned in slightly.

"Tukson's Book Trade." The man responded.

"And you're Tukson?"

"That's right."

"So then I take it that you're the one that came up with the catch phrase?" Tukson's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes."

"And what was it?" Mercury questioned drawing a sigh from the man.

"Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." Tukson repeated.

"Except, the Third Crusade?" Mercury pointed out.

"It's just a catchphrase." The man said with a shrug.

"It's false advertising!" Mercury rebutted.

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, Tukson." Emerald said with a glare as Mercury began dimming the lights. "I hear you're planning on leaving, moving all the way to Vacuo. Your brothers in the White Fang wouldn't be happy to hear that. And neither are we."

Emerald smirked as she reached behind her back for one of her pistol blades "You know who we are, don't you?"

Tukson narrowed his eyes with a frown "Yes."

"And you know why we're here?" She wondered.

"Yes." Tukson said as he took a few steps back to give himself some room.

"So, are you going to fight back?" Emerald asked with a smile.

"Yes!" The Puma faunus roared as he leaped on the desk and lunged at Emerald, swiping at her head only for her to duck under the strike.

"Huh?" Tukson looked forward only to be met by Mercury's shotgun boot. The shell blasted through Tukson's aura instantly and Mercury's boot shattered Tukson's jaw. "Grahh!"

Emerald spun around and cut both of Tukson's tendons in one sweep forcing the man to his knees with a gurgling cry of pain. With a sadistic grin Mercury reared back his right leg and punted the faunus into the wall behind him, followed by Emerald sliding her blade between his ribs and pinning him to the wall.

Tukson attempted a weak swing at Emerald's face only for her to back off, taking her blades with her and letting the man slide down the wall. His eyes only briefly reflecting his painful end before glazing over into a cold apathy.

Emerald slashed her blades through the air to slide the blood off while Mercury rummaged around for their objective in the back. "You find it yet?"

"Yeah, I got it." Mercury came out from the back with a small black book and what looked like a plane ticket. "Looks like ol' Tukson here was heading back to Vacuo."

Emerald sneered "Cinder said they would try to sneak their spies into the White Fang."

"Well as soon as they decode this book I'm sure we'll be able to snuff out the other rats." Mercury said as he stashed away the small book and the two made their way out the store.

"Why the Third Crusade though? Seems like a weird code word." Emerald asked as she took a quick look around for the books she asked for.

"During one of the few nights that he was sober my dad once told me a story, said that we descended from a brotherhood of assassins who called Vacuo home. These assassins were in a constant covert war with the then Templar Order of Mantle, some say that the two factions had been at war since before recorded time but we can't be sure." Mercury recalled as he rifled through a few of the comics.

"Does this story have a point?" Emerald asked as she found the last book on her list.

"I'm getting to it, anyway the Third Crusade is like a warning that all descendants of the brotherhood would understand. Essentially it means that the Knight's Templar has risen again and will attempt a holy crusade - this being the third - to bring about their goal laid out by their 'Holy Lady'." Mercury finished.

"That being?" Emerald asked seeing as he wasn't going to elaborate.

He turned to her and smiled "Create a perfect world through the subjugation of freewill."

000

The last few weeks of school and winter break passed far too quickly for some and it would soon be time for the second semester at Beacon.

"Honestly I'm surprised it's held her attention this long." Ren said as he sat next to Naruto with the girls across from them as they played Grimm Eclipse, Nora had pushed them hard throughout the winter break and their characters were not max level and ready for end-game content.

"I'm just glad that it keeps her in one place and out of trouble." Naruto grumbled and he quickly tapped the buttons on his Scroll.

"We have arrived at that room again." Pyrrha said with trepidation, looking over at Nora who had taken the chance to dig into her pancakes during the short break.

Naruto sighed heavily "Does anyone need anything from this boss."

"Nora needs the shoulders." Ren answered.

"What? Isn't she a ret pally?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah but it will help with her self-heals so I won't have to heal her as much." The martial artist replied.

Naruto sighed once again "Alright this room has given us trouble in the past, Pyrrha will run in and use her shout to scatter the Griffins so we don't have to fight as many at once, when her's is up I'll do the same. Nora, Ren I want you two to focus on my targets and when my shout is up I want you two to blast them down with AoE."

"Got it."

"Affirmative."

"Mfffmpr."

"Nora chew your food." Ren chided.

"Alright I think we'll be able to get it this time since we have an actual plan, what do you think Ren? Can you give me a number crunch real quick?"

"Yeah, given our new gear I'm coming up with a 32.33 repeating of course percentage of survival." Ren answered his leader.

"Well that's better than we usually do-" Naruto was cut off as Nora suddenly shot up from her seat, face covered in syrup and pieces of pancake with a manic - most likely sugar induced - look in her eyes.

"Alright times up, let's do this! NOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAA VAAAAAALKYRIEEEEEEE!" Naruto and Pyrrha just boggled at her.

"She just ran in." Ren stated as he stared at his Scroll.

"Stick to the plan, stick to the plan!" Naruto quickly pulled up his Scroll and furiously tapped away at buttons as the three friends tried their best to save Nora.

Two minutes later Nora was the recipient of three less than amused looks. "It's not my fault..." She said meekly.

Naruto firmly planted his face in his palm "Dust dammit Nora."

Pyrrha crossed her arms and shook her head slowly in disappointment while Ren gave his best-friend a reproachful look. "Really Nora?"

Nora simply shrugged and reached over the table "At least I've got chicken." She said, taking a bite out of the drumstick.

"And I'm done!" Naruto said in exasperation as he stood from the table and pocketed his Scroll.

With a light sigh Pyrrha also stood and trailed after Naruto. Nora looked at their retreating forms and gave Ren a questioning look "What's with them?"

"You mean aside from the fact that we wasted a good hour getting to the boss room only to wipe at the griffins?" Ren stated more than asked.

Nora waved him off "It's just a game, they'll get over it."

Ren wasn't sure if he should could it as a blessing or a curse that Nora's weird sense of logic picked now of all times to kick in, especially considering that Nora was the one that forces them to play. "Right."

"If anyone should be upset it should be me! I really wanted those shoulders." She pouted and slammed her fists on to the table playfully, accidentally clipping the edge of a pie dish and sending it flying over her shoulder. "Huh?"

Turning around she was able to see it land perfectly on Weiss' face. "Uh oh." Seeing team RWBY turn towards her she quickly pointed to the next table over "It was Cardin!"

Indignant rage filled the Schnee heiress as she looked over at where Cardin was sitting, laughing it up with his good squad over something. She picked up a pie of her own and with righteous vengeance and furious anger, flung it over Nora and hit Cardin in the back of the head with it.

"What the fuck!?" Cardin raged as he tried to clean the apple pie off his head.

"Nora let's get out of here!" Ren said as he quickly stood up.

"Right!"

000

Later that day Naruto would come to learn that a massive food fight had broken out that morning after he left and a part of him wished he had stayed to at least watch the show.

Apparently team RWBY came out on top, good for them.

At the moment however he was laying languidly on his bed enjoying his last day of winter break before classes started up again tomorrow. Or at least he would be if wasn't so incredibly bored. "AGH!"

Pyrrha who had also been lazing on her bed turned her head to regard him "What is wrong?"

Naruto hopped out of bed and looked out the window, "This!"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow "You can open the window if you wish, I was thinking that it was quite stuffy in here."

"Not the window, the day! Look! It's a bright, sunny day and here we are just wasting the day away!" Naruto ranted.

Pyrrha sat up with a thoughtful look and nodded. "I believe you are right, Naruto."

"Right? I mean we don't get many days like this often especially during winter so why don't we make the best of it?" Naruto asked.

"What do you suggest?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Ah!" Naruto raised a finger in the air before slowly lowering it "Uh..."

"Nothing?"

"Wait!" Naruto raised his finger again and snapped them "I got it!" He turned towards Pyrrha who was giving him an interested look. "Let's go swimming!"

"Swimming?" She wasn't expecting that but not that she thought about it, it had been some time since she last went for a dip. With a smile she nodded "That sounds fun."

"Cool, let me call up team RWBY and see if they want to come." Naruto turned around, missing the slightly disappointed look on Pyrrha's face. She was hoping to spend some alone time with Naruto but it seems as though it wasn't meant to be. "Hey, Ruby? Whatcha up to?"

"The girls and I are hanging out, we were thinking about playing Remnant: The Board Game."

"That sounds lame, you should come swimming with us instead!" Naruto said only to receive a squeal causing him to wince and move the Scroll away from his ear.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't gone swimming in years! Hold on let me ask them. Hey guys, want to go swimming with Naruto's team instead?"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto made out Yang's voice in the background.

"I'm fine with that." Blake answered calmly though Naruto was starting to detect the inflection in her tone that gave away her true feelings. She sounded excited.

"Where would we even go swimming? Beacon doesn't have a pool." Weiss asked, it was a good question after all.

"Oh... that's a good point. Hey Naruto where are we supposed to go swimming?" Ruby asked for Weiss.

"The lake just outside of Forever Fall. It's still close enough to the school that students are allowed to be there and there are rarely Grimm sightings there so it should be safe." Naruto answered.

"Sounds like a plan! Meet you guys at the gates in thirty?"

"Sounds good Red." Naruto hung up and turned towards the door that just opened "Perfect timing you two, hope you have bathing suits because we're heading down to the lake!"

"YAY!" Nora cheered in delight before rushing towards the closet on her side of the room, she was muttering to herself while looking at different bathing suits while Ren simply stood there momentarily shocked.

"So... we're going swimming?" He finally asked after shaking himself from his daze.

"That seems to be the plan." Pyrrha said with a smile before walking over to the closet on their side and moving some clothes out of the way so we could reach her only bathing suit which was a simple crimson two piece suit. "I never thought I would actually need it when coming here but I suppose it pays to be prepared."

"Well I'm sure you'll look great in it." Naruto said with a grin as he unsealed a pair of black board shorts that had a dark orange stripe down the left side. Even if he had largely changed in personality, keeping a reminder from the simpler times was nice... then again the simpler times involved constantly fighting for one's life during a war then having your prospective girlfriend and her sister be kidnapped by some asshole moonman only to wind up sealed for Kami knows how long then having to wake up in the aftermath of hundreds of years of fuckery only for Kaguya's bitch ass to conveniently show up again just in time to shit all over his parade.

Damn... Naruto thought with a mental sigh. I've really been holding that in. I should really stop bottling things up again.. not healthy Naruto, not healthy.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Pyrrha asked in concern.

Naruto blinked "Fine, why?"

"You face just went through about seven different emotions at once." Ren answered for her "Frankly it was a little disconcerting."

Naruto waved him off "Nah I'm cool. Anyway you guys get ready, we're meeting team RWBY at the gates in twenty." He said while walking towards the door.

"Aren't you going to get ready?" Ren questioned.

Naruto grinned as he held up a small scroll as if that was enough to answer his question and Ren simply nodded in acceptance. "I'll be back in a few, just going to secure us some grub for later."

"Oh-Oh! Get me a chimichanga if they have any!" Nora called out as Naruto exited the room.

Naruto smiled to himself in satisfaction, he would get to see Pyrrha and his not-girlfriend Blake in their sexy bikinis not to mention Yang and her melons and to a lesser extent Nora's. While no Jiraiya, finally maturing gave him a healthy appreciation for the female form and he was just fine with that.

000

"Everyone ready?" Naruto asked the members of the two teams who gave their nods "Cool lets head out then."

"Oooh I'm so excited!" Ruby cheered as she bounced around at the front of the group.

Yang laughed "Calm down sis, we're just going swimming."

"Wellyeahbutit'sbeensolongsincewewentswimmingsinceuncleQrowbrokethepoolandit'ssuchanicedayandwe'rehangingoutwithfriendsandit'sgoingtobeagreattimeandI'mjustsoEXCITED!" Ruby rambled on rapidly with only Yang being able to understand her fully. "You know?"

Naruto suddenly froze "What did you just say?"

"Please don't make her repeat all that." Blake pleaded.

"No, no, what was that last part?" Naruto asked as he stared intently at Ruby getting a freaked out look from her.

"Uh... you know?" The tone, the inflection, the fucking word choice. Naruto shook his head No I'm just reading into it too much.

Naruto forced out a laugh as he scratched the back of his head "Sorry bout that, you just reminded me of someone I used to know."

"Why did they have that verbal tick too?" Yang asked, this time Naruto did his best to hide any sort of reaction to the news. "Now that I think about it mom used to do it all the time too."

Ruby smiled sadly "Yeah, she said it ran in the family."

Naruto shook his head once more Nope. nope. reading into it too much. Noticing Ruby's sudden sadness he ruffled her hair a bit "Cheer up kid, weren't you bursting with joy over going swimming earlier?"

Ruby pouted as she straightened out her hair only for Yang to mess it up again "YAAAAANG!"

The older sister giggled "Yeah cheer up Ruby, were going to have an awesome day!"

Ruby smiled and nodded "Yeah! Race you guys there!"

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow as the girl shot off. Weiss turned towards them with a sigh "I'll go keep an eye on her."

Naruto noticed the twinge of grief in Yang's eyes when she spoke of their mother and wondered about it. "Past tense?"

Yang nodded slowly "Happened a few years ago, mom went on a mission and never came back." Pyrrha placed a comforting arm on her shoulder as her two other teammates walked up.

"Ren and I can relate." Nora said in an unusually subdued tone, "Our parents were teammates and well, sometimes missions go bad... and sometimes they go really bad."

Ren nodded solemnly "That is the risk we take to make sure that those who can't fight are safe from harm."

"Yup!" Yang suddenly regained her cheer "It's up to us make the world safer for the future generations."

Naruto smiled as the group regained their earlier fervor and moved towards the lake. He slowed down his gait so that he could fall back and walk beside his not-girlfriend "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Blake said evasively.

He simply gave her a look "Blake."

Blake gripped her left arm "I was thinking about that night at the docks... Professor Ozpin approached me afterwards."

"Oh?"

"He asked me if I knew anything about the White Fang..." She said quietly, mindful of the others nearby.

"Did you tell him?"

"No."

Naruto nodded "Speaking of them... I might need your help in the future with something."

Blake blinked, curious about what he would need help with in regards to the White Fang "With what?"

Naruto smirked "The enemy is getting bold... or arrogant. She plans to infiltrate Beacon using the festival as an excuse. If my intel is right then she should arrive with the group from Haven tonight."

"You mean...?" Naruto simply nodded with a finger to his lips. "What we going to do about it?"

"Nothing." He raised a hand before she could object "I need to know what she's planning and she'll be easier for me to keep track of inside of Beacon, that's not what I need your help with however."

"No?" Confusion laced her tone.

"Torchwick is throwing a little party and I need you to go as my date. I don't make a very good faunus given that I have no animal scent and really only my whiskers and fangs to go on, if you're there with me then at least it won't be as suspicious." Naruto told her. While not entirely truthful as he could easily infiltrate the recruitment rally, he really just wanted to go out on a date with Blake.

She nodded firmly "When?"

"Next week, I'll tell you more later." With that they caught up to the rest of the team.

"Soooo what were you two whispering about?" Yang said with a salacious grin as soon as they caught up.

"I need Blake's help infiltrating a White Fang recruitment rally. Since I'm not a faunus I need her to cover for me." Naruto answered with a straight face.

Yang pouted as neither he nor Blake reacted in the slightest to her teasing. "You guys are no fun."

"The White Fang? Are you sure you should be doing that?" Ren asked worriedly.

"We'll be fine, Blake and I specialize in this sort of thing." Naruto waved off his concerns.

Nora agreed. "It's true, the Boss is our ninja and Blake is team RWBY's."

"Just be careful, I don't think criminal groups take too kindly to spies." Pyrrha added before the subject was dropped as they arrived at the lake where Weiss was yelling at Ruby for splashing water at her.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he pulled off his shirt and threw off his sandals "Time to enjoy the last day of break!" He ran towards the lake and cannonballed into the water splashing both Ruby and Weiss much to the laughter and dismay of them respectively.

"Hell yeah!" Yang shouted as she also shed her long shirt and sandals leaving her only in her yellow two piece, following in Naruto footsteps and splashing into the water.

"WHOOOO!" Nora and Ren followed shortly after leaving only Pyrrha and Blake on land.

Pyrrha smiled softly and turned Blake "As they say, when in Vale do as the Velians." She too jumped in the water.

"C'mon Blake, the water's fine!" Yang called out as she backstroked through the water, protruding her large breasts out more than normal.

"I'm fine here." She pulled a small scroll out of her jacket and laid it on the floor, soon after a lawn chair and a book popped out. She took off her jacket to reveal her black two piece bikini and sat down on the chair as she opened up the book.

"What the!? Blake you can use the sealy thingies?" Nora called out seeing Blake unseal the chair. The others all looked at the faunus in shock after hearing what Nora said.

Blake looked up from her book and nodded "I solved it a few weeks ago."

"How!" Nora demanded.

Blame smiled "Figure it out."

"AWW." The hammer girl whined before returning towards her splashing.

"You taught Blake your seals?" Yang asked as she swam up to Naruto.

"Yeah, I told her that if she could figure out how to open the sealing scroll then I would teach her." Naruto told her.

"And how do you open it?" Weiss asked in interest as she joined the conversation.

Naruto grinned "That is a secret."

Weiss sighed at the lack of information once again, she truly was curious considering that the Schnee Glyphs and his seals were so alike. "You can't tell me anything?"

"Well how do you summon your glyphs? Maybe they work mechanically in a similar manner or my seals." Naruto questioned.

Weiss pondered the question for a moment "Honestly? I'm not entirely sure, the Schnee family has always been able to summon our glyphs."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "It's hereditary?"

"Yes." Weiss answered with a proud nod. "The Schnee family have used Glyphs for the past twelve generations."

Twelve generations? That about five hundred years... right around the time that dust started showing up. Is it possible that the Schnee ancestors created a bloodline around that time? "Interesting, I didn't know that." Naruto added.

Yang whistled "That's a pretty long family history."

"Anyway my seals aren't hereditary perse but the Uzumaki clan was known for being seal masters." Naruto told the heiress who took a thinking pose.

"I know of most noble clans but I don't believe I've ever heard of the Uzumaki clan." Weiss mentioned.

Naruto smiled "You wouldn't have, the Uzumaki clan has long since become extinct. I'm the last."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Weiss said sympathetically.

Naruto shrugged "Thanks but I accepted it a long time ago, honestly I only really met two members of my clan outside of my mother and well, Nagato tried to kill me and Karin was a decent enough person."

Yang's eyes widened "One of your own clan members tried to kill you!?"

"Well technically he wanted to capture me, destroying my entire village to do so was simply his means toward that end." Naruto told them.

"Is he still after you?" Weiss questioned.

"Nah he died, completely exhausted his aura." Naruto told them drawing nods from the two RWBY members.

"And the other one?" Yang asked.

"Karin?" He asked getting a nod from the blonde "Err the best way to put it would be that she was my best-friend'sgroupie. An extremely gifted sensor and was able to use the Uzumaki Chains but not really all that great of a fighter."

"Uzumaki chains?" Weiss asked.

Naruto nodded "The bloodline ability of the Uzumaki clan which is dominant in its women but recessive in its men. Essentially you sprout chains from your body that can seal away someone's semblance."

Weiss' eyes widened "Are you serious?"

"It's why my clan was wiped out and all knowledge of it destroyed." Naruto said sadly recalling what happened to his clan during his time "Fear, unfortunately, is a powerful motivator that can easily be manipulated."

Weiss narrowed her eyes "You think someone conspired against your clan?"

Naruto smiled "Oh I know they did but there's nothing to do about it now since those people died long ago."

"Hey Naruto," Yang began gaining his attention "Where is the Uzumaki clan originally from?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the odd question "The Land of Whirlpools, why?"

Yang scratched her head "I remember reading something about a little island south of Mistral covered in odd writing but you needed a death wish just to get there since there is some weird electromagnetic field covering the island that wrecks all electronics including airships and trying to sail a boat through the whirlpools is downright suicidal."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he'd seen the map of Remnant plenty of times now and while it bore a small resemblance to what used to be the Elemental Nations he highly doubted that a tiny island like Whirlpool would have survived the war that irrevocably changed the map. "It might be worth me looking into it but I highly doubt the island survived the Catastrophe."

Weiss gasped "Your family is that old?"

Naruto chuckled "Older, it was already dying out by the time of the Catastrophe."

"How did the name survive so long then?" Yang wondered.

Naruto shrugged "Probably the same way my parents did it, I was named Uzumaki after my mom and not Namikaze after my dad."

Weiss nodded "It is common practice for dying families or clans to name their males or first-born after that family."

Yang just huffed and crossed her arms "Nobles."

"Well I for one am glad to meet another heir of an ancient house." Weiss said with a smile directed at Naruto who returned the gesture.

"Same here, Weiss."

"Hey guys what are you talking about?" Ruby asked as she swam up to the group.

"The long legacy of mine and Weiss' families." Naruto said a laugh.

"Bleh!" Ruby groaned "Let's play some water volleyball instead!"

"We don't have a ball." Yang pointed out.

"Or a net." Weiss said as she crossed her arms, annoyed that Ruby interrupted their conversation.

"Yo." Naruto said as he held a ball, net, and made two black metal poles using his creation of all things.

"H-How?" Weiss asked in honest shock.

"Alright, Naruto!" Yang said with a grin as she took the poles and net "Sis, help me set it up!"

"Ok!" Ruby as they worked on sticking the pointy end of the long poles into lake floor which luckily was only eight feet deep. After a few minutes of setting up they were ready to play except for one problem.

"Hey Blake you should join us, we need another player to even up the teams." Naruto called out.

Blake looked over at water and grimaced "No thank you, water and I don't get along." She said while pointing at her exposed kitty ears.

"Oh right..." Naruto sighed before perking up "Well you guys play I'll sit out this game and we can alternate." He suggested which they all agreed to.

Blake peeked over her book to watch Naruto rising out of the lake, his perfectly cut body sculpted by years of rigorous training dripped with water as he walked towards her with that teasing grin of his... wait.

He knew she was checking him out. And he was amused. Infuriatingly lovable bastard. "See something you like Blake?" Naruto asked as he approached, grin still in place.

Fine, he wanted to play that game? She'll play. "Hmm..." She put her book down and stretched languidly with feline flexibility before turning on her side and giving him a smouldering look. "Perhaps."

Naruto watched the show with a raised eyebrow "Damn that bikini looks good on you."

Blake indulged him with a tiny grin showing one of her fangs "Thank you."

Naruto sat down next to her "So you don't like water then?"

She relaxed back into her chair and spoke softly "I don't like deep water... I don't know how to swim."

Naruto blinked and turned towards her "Really?" His tone was less accusing and more curious.

Blake nodded "As a feline faunus I never really cared for swimming in the first place so I never deemed it necessary to learn."

"Well being able to swim is a valuable skill regardless." Naruto stated before turning towards her "Want me to teach you?"

Blake bit her lip as she looked over at their teammates "Maybe another time."

Naruto chuckled "Sure."

Blake picked up her book again and smiled as she opened it "While not the best story I've ever read, I'm enjoying it."

Naruto looked over at the book and grinned "Oh? And what do think of the awesomely handsome main character?"

Blake laughed melodically "If I didn't know better I'd think you wrote this as an over embellished autobiography."

Naruto grinned "Oh no all that stuff really happened."

"Really?" She asked with a sly smirk of disbelief.

Naruto shrugged "Probably?"

Blake laughed again, a sound that Naruto was really starting to like. "I bet."

"So how goes the seal?" Naruto asked after she settled down.

Blake bit her lip "Not as well as I had hoped. Creating a barrier from air is unsurprisingly difficult, especially a portable one."

Naruto grinned "Told you." He sat back on the grass and laid his head on his hands "For something like that you need to master three-dimensional sealing and well you're still learning 2D."

"How would you go about making it then?" Blake asked curiously.

"Well all barriers and wards require focal points so making that would be priority. Consider this, if you make your focal point a ball that you can fit in your pocket then you would be able to theoretically create a movable barrier." Naruto explained as he dropped into his lecture mode.

"You say theoretically." Blake pointed out.

"Theoretically because creating a seal for a barrier usually takes thousands of characters, trying to fit all those on a tiny ball? While not impossible considering the technology available engraving that many runes perfectly and in the right order in as limited space as say a baseball... well I'm not one to say something is impossible but good luck with that."

"So it is not impossible but infeasible." Blake summarized.

"Pretty much. The problem is that there is only so much room on a 2D surface, using a 3D model would make it easier. I mean you could cut the ball open and use the insides but... wait a second." Naruto's eyes suddenly widened "That's it!"

"What's it?" Confusion think in her question.

"The insides! Why didn't I think of it before?" Naruto suddenly unsealed a pen and his sketchbook, quickly writing down and rough sketching his idea.

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded.

"A nesting doll! Or in this case a nesting ball, instead of having the insides of the ball be hollow, we'll keep putting progressively smaller balls inside of the others, expanding the space to write the seals on exponentially." Naruto explained.

"Wait hold on, I've seen some of your more advanced seals and they don't take up nearly as much space as this." Blake protested.

Naruto blinked "Well that's because I have two advantages, One I can use three-dimensional seals so the air is my canvas and two I've mastered seal condensing."

"Seal condensing? You've never mentioned that before." Blake said with a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"Ah, well seal condensing is basically turning all of those seals into microscopic versions of themselves to create a new image, kind of like how you can take a thousand tiny pictures of people and make a new giant picture out of it." Naruto explained "This process can only be done after the seal is fully written however, so I can teach you it but you'll still need to write out the seal in its entirely on the surfaces of the ball, then you can condense it into a single word or image."

Blake groaned as she fell back into her chair "I normally welcome a challenge but Fuinjutsu is ridiculous."

Naruto laughed "It was widely regarded as the most difficult art to learn." He tossed her the notes and turned back towards the game just in time to see Yang spike the ball directly into Ren's face.

"Ouch, you alright Ren?" Naruto called out getting a thumbs up from his teammate.

"I'm good... just a little dazed from that last hit. Want to switch out Naruto?" Ren asked as he swam towards the shore.

"Sure." Naruto replied "I'll be back."

"Have fun." Blake discretely wave him goodbye before returning to The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

"Alright what's the score?" Naruto asked as he joined Nora and Pyrrha on their side.

"We're down two since Yang smashed the ball into Ren's face." Nora answered.

"Then we'll just have to get a little payback then wont we?" Naruto said with an evil grin matched by Nora.

"Yeah!"

"Ready?" Pyrrha called out as she got ready to serve the ball.

The game too a far more competitive turn once Naruto joined and more than once a ball was spikes into someone's face. It was all tied up and the next point won the game.

"I'll get it!" Pyrrha announced.

"I got it!" Naruto called out at the same time only for them to collide. Naruto blinked and rubbed the side of his head "Ow... you alright Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha was rubbing her forehead and smiled softly "Yes I'm fine."

"Noooo!" Nora shouted at the ball touched the water.

Team RWBY cheered in victory while Nora sulked. "Guess we lost this one." Naruto said in amusement.

"It seems so." Pyrrha said distractedly as her eyes trailed down from his, a light blush forming on her cheeks.

"Well I don't know about you but I've worked up an appetite." Naruto said with a smirk drawing her eyes up to his once more.

"Yes, food! That sounds grand!" She looked away quickly and began swimming towards the shore. Naruto chuckled and followed after her.

Unknown to the two of them a pair of yellow eyes peeked from behind a book and watched their interaction. A delicate frown set itself upon her lips before setting it back into more neutral line with a mental scolding. Naruto is not your boyfriend Blake... you have no right to feel jealous since this is what you wanted.

Was it though? It was getting harder and harder to answer that question honestly as she and Naruto grew closer. Even though Naruto agreed to be her boyfriend she decided that they wouldn't be official just yet.

Blake watched as Naruto laughed along with Pyrrha over something or other, she had to admit they looked good together but did that mean she would give him up so easily? Of course not. She closed her eyes.

I want to deal with the situation with Adam first... I need to know for sure that I still don't have feelings for him before I can be with Naruto fully.

"-ake."

The faunus girl opened her eyes to see her team leader in front of her "I'm sorry were you asking me something?"

Ruby shook her head and held out a plate "Naruto got a few of these sushi rolls and he said that you would probably enjoy them."

"Thank you." Blake said gratefully, taking the plate from Ruby. Her eyes sought out Naruto who happened to look her way at the same time, she smiled at him and he returned it with a nod before returning to his conversationg with Ren.

Putting her book away into a seal on her wrist she began eating the food that she knew for a fact came from a tiny restaurant in Vale, a small sushi place by the docks that they went to the morning after she stayed at his place.

The makizushi were even her favorite kind, tuna with cucumber and mango. She was rather touched he remembered something so small and inconsequential that she only casually mentioned three or so months ago.

An hour later the group packed up and made it back to Beacon just before it started to get cold. "So the next semester is already starting huh? It barely feels like any time has passed since we got here." Ruby voiced.

Naruto groaned "Don't remind me. At least the Vytal Festival will break up the monotony of boring study."

"Speaking of the festival I hear that the Schnee Dust Company will be sponsoring it." Ren said, looking towards Weiss for confirmation.

Weiss nodded "My father has been a long-time fan of the Festival and with dust prices soaring in Vale the company decided to sponsor the event and provide the participants with dust or rounds for the duration of the event."

"Wouldn't that cut into the company's profits?" Ruby asked.

Weiss scoffed "Hardly, while dust has shot up here the other three kingdoms have been mostly unaffected so a couple thousand lien's worth of dust is a worthy venture in my father's eyes so that we can give a good show."

Naruto nodded "It's because of that, that smugglers have sprung up. They buy up loads of dust in one of the other kingdoms and sell it for a premium here but only marginally lower than what the shops are selling it for while skipping out on all the taxes."

Yang crossed her arms "Damn vultures."

Pyrrha agreed "Utterly reprehensible."

"That's life." Blake stated lowly "There will always be those that take advantage of the others."

Weiss winced slightly feeling as if that was directed at her or more specifically at her family business and it's less than stellar reputation when it came to faunus labor rights.

While they had for the most part come to an understanding it would always be somewhat of an open wound as she could do nothing to stop it and even then Winter was the primary heiress and she would take over the company.

Naruto watched the subtle interaction between the two RWBY members. It would likely always be a sore subject, a scab that was constantly picked at and would never heal unless they let it go or actively worked to heal it. He wanted to do something but this was between Blake and Weiss and he couldn't be there to solve all of his not-girlfriend's problems.

He sighed as the group descended into silence as they entered the halls of Beacon Academy.

000

Blake was snuggling into Naruto's side, his coat wrapped around her like a blanket as they looked up at the night sky. Light purring rumbled from her chest as Naruto lazily stroked her ears with his right hand.

Blake was thoroughly enjoying this peaceful moment with Naruto where she could just hold him tightly and forget about all her problems for a time. She smiled in amusement at her own actions. I'm acting like one of those air headed princesses after they find their prince charming.

"Hey Blake?" Naruto started, drawing her attention.

"Yes?"

"Mind if I ask you a person question?"

Blake raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Go ahead..."

Naruto's eyes shifted to her cat ears as a lone finger sliding up and down the outside of her left ear causing goosebumps to run up the girl's skin and a blush to form on her cheeks. "How does the whole two sets of ears thing work? Do you hear things twice like an echo?"

"Oh." Blake began, not really expecting the question but not really bothered by it either. "Well no actually, my normal ears work like yours do but my cat ears are trained to focus on sounds that normal humans can't detect."

"Really? That's interesting." Blake gave a noncommittal shrug as she snuggled further into his warmth. To her it wasn't all that big of a deal since she was born with them but she could see how it might be interesting to humans since they don't have extra appendages.

Naruto amused himself by watching as his warm breath misted over in the cold winter air. He used the arm he had wrapped around Blake to pull her closer "I can't wait until it gets warmer in spring... though I am going to miss getting warm this way."

Blake smiled coyly as she looked up at him "What makes you think we'll stop doing this just because of the weather?"

"Oh?" He returned the look "And here I thought we agreed on not having a serious relationship yet."

"We did," Blake agreed as she began trailing kisses up his collarbone to his jaw, stopping in front of his lips so she could gaze into those bright blue eyes that lit a fire inside of her every time gazed at her. "Right now we're just friends but admittedly with special benefits."

Naruto grinned roguishly "You don't say? And what are these special benefits?"

Her eyes smoldered like a bright yellow flame "Allow me to show you."

Their lips met and tongues soon after, enjoying only the sounds of the other on that quiet night.

*Chapter 12*: A Night on the Town

Shattered World

Blake and Naruto separated from their intense make out session, panting breathlessly as they refilled their lungs. After getting his breathing under control Naruto checked the time on his Scroll and noticed it was almost curfew. "We should probably turn in Blake, we have classes tomorrow."

Blake nodded in agreement "I'll head in first."

"Night." He said with a small wave as Blake hopped down to the fourth story balcony. After five minutes he also jumped down and made his way down to his own dorm, at least he would have had a now familiar chakra presence not entered his sensory range. Hmm...should I?

A mischievous smirk crossed his lips Well it would be rude not to say hello... hehehe.

Reaching a decision Naruto stepped over the balcony and wall climbed down to the second floor where he opened the window and slid in to wait in ambush. His eyes closed in concentration as he followed her movements, he could also feel the Auras of her two followers walking in front of her.

The team just moved past Team RWBY's door and was approaching his own. Taking a few steps back into the hallway he waited, mentally counting down before beginning his run down the hallway at a decent speed.

Emerald turned the corner and her eyes widened as a blonde bullet shot towards her "Woah!"

"Shit!" The bullet cursed and quickly sidestepped out of her path before turning and spinning the other way to avoid Mercury only to crash directly into their Boss as soon as he turned around. "Ah crap I'm sorry, are you alright?"

Naruto offered his hand down to the fallen Cinder who took it demurely after rubbing her nose "Yes, I'm fine, though I do have to wonder why you were running down the halls." Cinder drawled huskily.

He smiled apologetically "Yeah sorry, I was just trying to get back to my dorm before curfew." Naruto said as he pointed to the door they just passed "Anyway, again I'm sorry about that, please excuse me!"

With that Naruto retreated into his dorm room where his teammates were already in bed. Looking at his right hand he grinned wide enough to fully show his larger than average incisors.

On his hand was a seal that linked to the one he slipped on Cinder, holding it up to his ear he tested it out.

'What kind of a dumbass just runs down a hall without even looking?'

'Well he almost dodged all of us, I was kind of impressed he could react that quickly.'

'Shut up Mercury.'

'I don't know why but he seemed... familiar.'

'You've seen him before Cinder?'

'Not that I can recall.'

'Hmm, maybe he just looks like someone you've met?'

'Perhaps.'

Naruto de-activated the seal after testing it out, obviously he wasn't expecting a whole lot more than them discussing him running into them but at least he confirmed that the seal was functional.

As he divested himself of his clothing he couldn't help but chuckle lightly. Jiraiya always did say I had a hidden talent for spy work. It's probably all that pranking experience finally paying off.

000

Meanwhile Blake had just entered her own dorm and to her surprise her team was still awake. "I thought you would all be asleep by now."

"Oh we were just waiting to hear the deets on your little midnight rendezvous with Whiskers." Yang's eyes practically sparkled as she teased Blake, unfortunately for her Blake didn't so much as even twitch an eyebrow at her efforts.

Looking down at her Scroll Blake spoke up "Ten o'clock is a bit early for a midnight rendezvous and we were simply discussing our plan for tomorrow, turns out the recruitment drive got pushed up to tomorrow night so Naruto asked me to meet with him tonight to work on a plan."

"Oh? Then why are your lips all red and puffy?" Yang asked with a knowing grin.

"You do realize it's the middle of winter right? It's freezing cold outside." The cat girl countered easily.

"So then it is true, you two intend to infiltrate a White Fang event." Weiss stated with her arms crossed "Are you really sure you should be doing something so dangerous?"

Blake narrowed her eyes "And why not? Nobody else is doing anything about it, it seems that only Naruto and I are the ones concerned about the threat that Torchwick and the White Fang can bring to Vale!"

"And why exactly is Naruto so invested in this? How even? No normal student should even have access to information from within the White Fang, doesn't that strike you as odd?" Weiss pointed out, refusing to back down so easily.

Blake shook her head "We all have our pasts, I have my own ties to the White Fang and somehow Naruto is involved with them too. I don't know how or why Naruto knows the things he does but if he plans on fighting back the White Fang then I'll do everything I can to help him."

Yang huffed "You two are so boring! Couldn't you at least humor me and say that you were making out instead of making plans to infiltrate a criminal organization? Ugh!"

Blake raised an eyebrow at her teammate, normally she would have ignored the comment but her more feisty, provocative side dubbed 'Bold Blake' by Naruto choose to make an appearance "Fine, Naruto and I weren't actually doing any of that and we were actually having an intense make out session on the roof." The monotone and flat look on Blake's face gave nothing away as she told her teammates the truth under the guise of sarcasm "Happy?"

"No." Yang grunted as she crossed her arms "You're no fun, it's like trying to tease a brick wall."

"But..." Ruby started, eyes wide "What if they were?"

There was silence in the room before Weiss let out a very unlady like snort in disbelief "Puh-leaze Blake and Naruto? Highly unlikely. Besides I'm relatively sure that Pyrrha has a thing for him, so she'll probably make a move sooner or later."

Ruby giggled "Yeah you're probably right."

Yang also nodded her agreement "Naruto and Pyrrha would probably be a good couple now that I think about it."

Blake tried hard to keep a frown from growing on her face "Right." Was all she said before changing into her sleeping yukata. "We should get to bed, we have classes in the morning."

"Oh crap, that's right!" Yang exclaimed and quickly followed suit changing into a tank top that did nothing to hide her already impressive chest and a pair of booty shorts. "Night ladies!"

"Night." The others chorused.

Ten minutes later Blake opened her eyes as she was unable to sleep, her fist bunching up her sheets in her grip Pyrrha...

It's obvious that she's interested in Naruto and as he said the only reason he hasn't done anything about it is because of his mission but if she were to approach him he wouldn't deny her advances...

An image of Naruto kissing Pyrrha flashed through her mind and were she paying attention she would have noticed the sheets ripping under her grip as her nails subconsciously elongated.

Logically I shouldn't be jealous, I have no right to be, I have no claim on Naruto... he's not my boyfriend. Yet. So then why? Why does the idea of that damn red-head kissing Naruto piss me off so much?

Finally letting go of the shredded sheets she reigned in her emotions like she always did and calmed her mind. This whole secret relationship with Naruto was starting to prove more trouble than it's worth. And yet... I don't want to end it. With a sigh she closed her eyes and finally allowed herself to drift off to sleep after mentally and emotionally exhausting herself.

000

Blake could barely concentrate on the lessons of their first day as tonight's mission kept creeping into the forefront of her mind. "Hey Blake!"

The catgirl zoned back in and turned towards her partner "Yes Yang?"

"So what time are you and Naruto going to this little shindig?" The blonde asked.

"It starts in three hours so we'll likely be leaving within the hour so we can make it down there with time to spare." Blake answered as she began readying her equipment and laying out her new outfit as her usual one had already been seen by Torchwick.

"We all decided to help you." Ruby quipped from her desk chair which she was sitting cross-legged on.

"I'm sorry?" Blake asked in confusion as she turned back towards her team, looking specifically at Weiss "Weren't you the one that said that it was too dangerous?"

"Hmph." Weiss looked away, chin firmly in the air "Alone perhaps but we are a team for a reason."

Blake crossed her arms, unconvinced "We don't need your help, this is a simple infiltration mission. We'll even be wearing masks." She said, holding up a bone white mask that Naruto gave her "There's a very low probability of danger."

"Then we can help out another way!" Ruby pleaded "Maybe we can gather some information or something?"

"Naruto seems to already have his own extensive information network, I'm sure whatever you find out would be something he already knows." Blake dismissed her proposal.

"Somehow I doubt that." Weiss said with a frown.

Blake simply shrugged "Believe what you will but it is not my place to reveal his sources."

"Why exactly is Naruto telling you these things anyway?" Yang wondered "Just how close are you two?"

Blake gave her a blank stare "You really aren't going to let that go are you? You're like a dog with a bone, I swear." With a sigh she sat down at her desk "I honestly don't know all that much. Naruto only tells me what he thinks I need to know and nothing more. He chose me because he knew I had ties with the White Fang and I knew how they operated, for someone who portrays himself as a friendly and open individual he's surprisingly secretive."

Ruby gasped "What if he's actually a spy?" she wondered only for Weiss to shake her head no.

"No I don't think so, but I have recently noticed that we don't really know all that much about Naruto. Sure we know that he came from Shade, was born in Vacuo and is noticeably stronger than the average student. When you put all that aside you realise that it's just trivial knowledge and we don't actually know anything about him." Weiss spoke up as she sat in a thinking pose "When we were at the lake I learned quite a bit about him that I never knew before, just the fact that he's the heir of an ancient clan was shocking enough to me but it makes me wonder what else he's hiding."

"I don't think Naruto is intentionally hiding it, he likely just deems it unimportant." Blake added as she returned to sorting out her equipment "He's rather blasé about most things."

The room descended into silence once more as no one really had anything else to add so Blake changed into her disguise and packed away most of her equipment into the seals on her arms. Now that I think about it I really don't know all that much about Naruto either.

*Knock - Knock*

"That must be loverboy himself." Yang quipped.

Blake went to the door and opened it to show Naruto in nondescript black clothing with a dark blue shirt. "Ready to go?" He asked.

Blake nodded and waved toward her team "I'll be back."

"Enjoy your date!" Ruby called out as they left the room, snickering to herself immediately afterwards.

000

The two ninjas sat at the back on the transport shuttle, taking note of the few faunus students that were heading into the city. They were likely heading to the same place so it would be good to identify them now.

"You look really good in that." Naruto suddenly spoke as the took in the evening sky.

Blake blushed slightly before it faded and she smirked, tugging at his shirt "And you look like you got this at a discount store."

Naruto chuckled crossing his arms meanwhile "The point is to look inconspicuous," He said, turning back towards her, intentionally raking his eyes over her outfit. "Not to show off your non-existent belly button."

Blake blushed and covered her exposed midriff "It's there! It's just... not as visible." She protested.

Naruto grinned "I know, I'm just messing with you. From what I know most animals have almost unnoticeable belly buttons, I'm guessing it's just a faunus thing."

Blake nodded, suddenly looking sullen "It's just another thing that purists have against us. Since we don't haveobvious belly buttons they've 'theorized' that all faunus are just creatures made in a lab hundreds of years ago using human and animal genes."

She gripped her fists tightly "That we have no family, no parents, that we're just some - some lab experiment!" Blake hissed out "That we're little more than animals that have learned speech and don't deserve to be classified as a human being or share the same basic rights."

Naruto reached over and gently took one of her fists into his hand "Honestly I've been curious how the faunus race even came about in the first place." They sure as hell weren't around back in my time. "Makes you wonder if that really did happen, you know?"

Seeing the enraged look in her eyes he held up his hand to stall her coming rant "I'm not saying their right because I honestly don't know but a new race of beings doesn't just spring up out of nowhere." He spoke calmly and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze "Do the faunus know how they came about?"

Blake sighed, releasing her anger and turning her hand over so her fingers were entwined with his "Not to my knowledge. All we know is that the faunus race began roughly eight-hundred years ago."

Naruto hummed in thought "So before the Catastrophe?" Blake nodded "They say that during those times the human race was highly advanced technologically and it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that some scientist attempted to splice human and animal DNA to make an entirely new race and possibly succeeded."

"So you think that might have happened then?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"I'm saying it's highly possible but that doesn't mean I agree with the racist bigots that try to deny you rights for being a faunus. I mean you are clearly an intelligent, sentient being with thoughts and feelings like any another human... you just also happen to have cute kitty ears." He said with a teasing grin, slowly running a finger along the outside of her left cat ear. Just as always she froze up and goosebumps formed along her skin along with a healthy blush to her cheeks.

"S-Stop." She whimpered as he continued with his sweet caresses. He leaned in close to her, she could practically feel his breath on her right ear only adding to the already increased heat in her reddened appendages.

"You react to touch like a human," He whispered huskily "Your ears can hear me like a human's." Feeling a little adventurous he gently bit her earlobe drawing a startled gasp from the girl, her eyes closing on instinct.

"You can feel love and lust like a human." He continued whispering the words in her ear, his other hand sneaking to her stomach, fingers running along the hidden dent in her otherwise smooth belly "So unlike them I don't see you as any less of a human, quite the opposite in fact... I see you as a human, with something more."

He stopped his sensual torture long enough for her to turn towards him. Surprise flashed across her face as the person in front of her was definitely Naruto but his whiskers had deepened, his eyes were red and slitted and there above his head sat a pair of twitching blonde fox ears.

He had admitted before to not being a faunus and she guessed he wouldn't outright lie to her face so this must be that 'fox' part of him that he only mentioned vaguely. Even if he wasn't born faunus he sure as hell looked like one and the blush on her face only intensified further.

If Naruto really was a faunus then she could admit that he'd be perfect for her. He was everything Adam wasn't. Kind, considerate, loving, fun, goofy, and compassionate. And those fox ears are downright adorable!

Naruto smiled with a fake smugness at her stunned look "So, whaddya think of my disguise? Think I'll pass for a faunus?" He asked, fox ears twitching directly afterwards.

It was too much for her "Shut up and kiss me." Using her cat instincts she pounced on her pray and began devouring his lips hungrily. Taken by surprise Naruto almost didn't have enough time to erect a privacy seal that would blur sight and muffle sound to those around them.

000

Stepping off the ship Naruto fixed his clothing and smoothed out his hair with Blake following behind him. He would akin her to a brick at this moment, showing about as much emotion as a brick yet still being as bright red as one.

With a cough Blake got herself under control and reigned in her embarrassment "Sorry about that."

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Naruto shrugged. "When did you learn to do that thing with your tongue?"

"Not in public, please?" She pleaded after they received an odd look from an elderly couple walking the opposite way.

Naruto snickered but agreed to drop it "We'll be nearing the place soon." He mentioned as they crossed into the industrial district.

Blake nodded and slipped her hand into his. The blonde blinked and looked down, an eyebrow raising in question towards Blake. "We're supposed to be imitating a couple right?"

"That's right." He confirmed.

"Then its fine right?" She rationalized, placing her spare hand on the crook of his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Naruto just rolled with it "Fair enough." After all his real reason for bringing Blake was so they could go out on a date afterwards, he could have easily gotten the memories of this event from his spy clone.

"So Naruto," She began "What's with the ears?"

"They're an illusion or more accurately a transformation." He responded.

"A transformation? How?" She questioned further.

"I... stole an ability some time ago used to disguise one's body with an illusion but because of the odd intricacies of my Semblance it changed from 'Illusion' to 'Transformation' the ears feel real because they are." He leaned his head over so she could get a feel only to recoil slightly at the soft fur. It was real. "On an unrelated note I also found out I could become a woman this way, I blame teenage hormones."

"You... you what?" She asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, Naruko is actually really good at information gathering. Men have looser lips near a cute girl." He added as they continued walking down the street, up ahead were the few faunus from the school that they were following.

"You flirt with guys while posing as a girl?" She was both horrified and oddly intrigued by the thought.

"You make it sound like it's just something I do for fun, the only times bring out Naruko are when I need some important information and it would simply be easier going as her." Naruto corrected.

He noted the way her eyes sparkled for a moment... It wouldn't do well for his somewhat girlfriend to think he swung both ways when he didn't. She might get weird ideas.

Naruto looked up at the fading sunlight, it would be dark soon, all the better for their mission. "Bingo." He pointed at three odd chalk lines on an alley wall down the road.

"That's definitely a White Fang marker." Blake said as her own sharp eyes narrowed at the chalk lines. The two walked down the darkening alley and followed the signs across a few streets and down a few roads until it led to a building where a few other faunus were seen showing up.

"Suit up." Naruto said as he donned his mask. Blake nodded and slipped her own mask on as they walked up to faunus bouncer. "Teeth in the night." He intoned.

The bouncer nodded and waved towards the door "You are welcome here, Brother, Sister."

Neither spoke as they walked in, Blake followed Naruto's lead as he seemed to know what he was doing and he clearly had some plan going in so for now she would wait and see.

The room they entered was full of White Fang soldiers while the recruits were sorted to the right side of the room. Naruto recognized the man on stage as a lieutenant by the coloring on his mask.

Naruto led them towards a darker side of the room by the wall behind a pillar. While he had faith in their disguises there was no need to chance fate by going into the light.

The lieutenant then introduced a man who caused a slight uproar among the crowd. "Torchwick." Blake hissed.

"Yep." Naruto said with a nod, his gaze shifting to the left "... and Neo."

"Who?" Blake asked as Torchwick droned on.

Naruto subtly pointed at a pink haired woman sitting off to the side of the stage. "See her?" At Blake's nod he continued "She can create illusions and is pretty good at both hand to hand combat and fighting with her parasol."

Naruto couldn't see it but he was sure Blake just gave him a disbelieving look "Yes a parasol. And she's damn deadly with it too." Roman continued talking and then he suddenly unveiled a giant mech suit.

"How did he get that?" Blake asked Naruto, somehow sure that he would have the answer.

"They stole a few prototypes from Atlas Corp." Naruto answered, his clone had reported that they had just arrived yesterday.

As the new recruits started walking forward Naruto motioned that they should leave, easily sneaking out before anyone had a chance to find them. "So what now?" Blake wondered as they stepped out into the alleyway.

"Now? We're going to go have dinner, from the sounds of it the White Fang is moving south-east. Once we eat we'll stake out the building and when the we see a chance-" He unsealed a stack of fifty explosive notes that he personally powered to their maximum effect. "we blow that suit to kingdom come."

Blake blinked, frowned a bit then nodded. Truth be told she was a bit hungry and they would have to wait for the White Fang forces to clear out before they could destroy that thing. "Alright, that sounds good."

"Excellent!" Naruto exclaimed as he sealed his Grimm mask away "Now where shall we eat?"

"There is a really nice café nearby that sells some delicious sandwiches." Blake offered as she pointed down the road.

"Sounds fine." Naruto accepted readily, he was more hungry than picky at the moment.

000

"Oh! There they are!" Ruby pointed out, having spotted her targets through the scope on her scythe.

"Why are we still out here? It's freezing and we already know that they were telling the truth, we saw them go into that building with the rest of the faunus." Weiss complained, shivering as she did so.

"Because!" Yang exclaimed with a grin "I'm not entirely convinced about Naruto's excuse for asking Blake out tonight."

"Plus we saw them holding hands!" Ruby chipped in.

"They're posing as a couple." Weiss countered "Why do you even care anyway? Even if they were secretly seeing eachother, it's none of our business!"

Yang gave the heiress an affronted look "Of course it's our business! Blakey is my partner and our teammate!"

"And we have to look out for our teammates!" Ruby added with a sage nod though she had yet to take her eyes off her targets.

"From who? Naruto!?" Really this was getting ridiculous now, why she ever allowed these two to convince her into spying on Naruto and Blake she'll never know.

Ruby gave a sharp whistle "Ladies, targets have entered a Cafe, I repeat, targets have entered a café."

"Which one?" Yang questioned as she quickly stood next to Ruby looking over the rooftop.

"La Rouge." Ruby answered.

"You mean that fancy one that's painted all red and has those tiny sandwiches!?" Yang questioned frantically.

"The very same!" Ruby confirmed, mouth-watering slightly.

"That bastard!" Yang shouted in indignation "Everyone knows that's a couple's café... why the hell does Blake get to go when no one has ever taken me!?"

Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose "That's it, I'm going home."

"Wait no, Weiss!" Ruby tried to stop the girl but she had already jumped away.

"It looks like Private Weiss has gone AWOL captain, it's just you and me now sis." Yang said with serious expressing.

"We need to save Private Blake!" Ruby said with an arm pump "Operation Black Cat Down is a GO!"

000

Meanwhile... "They're charging me thirty lien for these little ass sandwiches?"

Blake sweatdropped "Well it's for the sandwiches and the tea... because they're tea sandwiches."

Naruto sighed "Well looks like I'm doing a midnight run to the kitchens when we get back to Beacon."

"Oh don't be so melodramatic, they're good aren't they?" Blake said with an amused look.

"Yeah I guess... still won't be enough to fill me up." Naruto said before sitting back and sipping at his coffee. Considering Blake's affinity for cafes he'd taken a liking to the drink since he wasn't much of a tea man. As long as it had plenty of milk and sugar he was fine... and whip cream... man did he love whip cream.

Blake frowned as she looked out the window. "Something wrong?" Turning her attention back to her pseudo-boyfriend she nodded.

"I've had the weirdest feeling that we're being watched, since before even the rally."Blake confessed, a slight shiver running down her back.

"Oh that's because we are being watched." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"What!?" Blake hissed "By who?" She demanded.

"Your team." Naruto answered. "White building three streets down, rooftop. Though it looks like Weiss took off."

Blake discretely looked and using her enhanced faunus vision she managed to see Ruby and Yang. "How long?"

"They've been trailing us ever since the second shuttle from Beacon landed. I didn't mention it since they're probably just worried about you and we couldn't chance them being seen with us." Naruto explained to her as he picked up another tiny sandwich and popped it into his mouth.

Blake sighed. "I should have known..."

"They probably think we're on a date right now since we are at a popular couples spot." Naruto reasoned, a sly grin forming on his lips.

Blake smiled coyly "Aren't we though? I did find it odd that you asked me out tonight even though you could have easily handled this mission on your own."

Naruto's grin widened as he held up his hands in defeat "Guilty as charged."

Blake raised a delicate eyebrow as she glanced at her two teammates from the corner of her eye, a mischievous thought popping into her head. "Want to give them a show?"

"Hoh?" Naruto sat back, crossing his arms "Are you sure you want to go that far just to mess with them?"

Blake instantly blushed "I- I didn't mean that! I meant maybe just sneaking into one of those alleys and kissing a bit?"

Naruto leveled a stare at her "You know if you just wanted to mess with them there are simpler ways... methinks you just want your teammates to know about us. Which is odd since according to you there isn't an 'us' yet."

Blake returned the flat stare "You're going to bring that up every chance you get aren't you?"

"It's highly amusing." Naruto said with a smirk "Needless to say however, I'm all for the plan. I do very much enjoy messing with people."

Blake pouted and looked away "Maybe I don't want to kiss you anymore?"

Naruto shrugged "Oh well, would have been funny though."

Blake sighed and turned back to him "You know sometimes I think that you really don't care about our relationship."

"What relationship? We're friends with benefits at most, just like you wanted." Naruto pointed out.

Blake grunted in exasperation "You're impossible..."

"Soooo about that show?" Naruto prodded, a single golden eyebrow raised in challenge.

Looking down at her Scroll's screen "No time, we should head back to the Fang building."

Without even waiting for him to respond she stood up and walked off. Naruto blinked in confusion, she seemed mad for some reason. "Wait up! I haven't finished my tiny sandwiches yet! Blake! Ah dammit!"

Naruto grumbled as they left the café "First you make me eat overpriced finger food and then you don't even let me finish it?"

"Suck it up." She bit back.

She's definitely mad, maybe I took it a little too far. Best to leave it alone for now so her temper has a chance to simmer down. Hopefully it will work itself out, he almost forgot how quickly women's moods changed. You'd think Sakura would have beat that lesson into him.

And so they walked down the street in an awkward silence, Blake internally too annoyed to speak with him and Naruto unwilling to draw her ire anymore than he already had.

000

"Looks like Whiskers struck out." Yang quipped as they watched the two leave the café.

"Blake looks pissed, which is saying something because Blake's face only ever shows Happy, Sleepy, or Blank." Ruby added "I wonder what Naruto said to her."

"Probably something stupid, if you haven't noticed he's not the most tactful of people. Hell during our date all he did was insult me the whole time." Yang remembered.

"He doesn't look too concerned about it though." Ruby pointed out.

"Naruto never looks concerned about anything, the blonde bastard just goes along with whatever life throws at him. Crack open a dictionary and his stupid smug face appears next to unflappable." Now even Yang was getting mad on her partner's behalf. Naruto must have said something really mad to actually get Blake of all people to show this much visual emotion.

"Shuush, they're heading back this way." Ruby whispered to her sister as they moved away from the roof ledge. "I guess they're heading back now?"

"Tch. What a waste of an evening, those two didn't even do anything!" Yang groused "If anything Naruto just insured that they won't now."

"They're not going back to the shuttle station." Ruby spoke, confusion lacing her voice.

"...What?"

"They just went into an alley!" The younger sister answered as her sharp eyes followed the two ninjas as they quickly raced down the alleyways. "Crap they're getting away!"

"Quick, after them!" Yang commanded.

000

"Think we lost them?" Naruto asked as they entered another shadowy alley.

"I doubt it, Yang is nothing if not persistent." Blake answered as she accepted half the explosive notes.

Naruto grunted "We'll just have to be quick then."

"Right." Blake nodded, switching to mission mode and leaving her anger behind temporarily.

Sneaking into the building was almost as simple as sneaking out. It was empty aside from a skeleton crew of White Fang guards which we stealthfully knocked out as they crossed them.

There on the stage sat the prototype Paladin they saw during the rally. Blake looked at the stack of notes in her hand and wondered "Aren't these a bit much for just one?"

"It's not just one." He whispered back and motioned for her to follow him into the back where another nine were stored. "It's ten."

Her eyes widened seeing the small fleet of mech suits. "How are we going about this?"

"Five each, one note per joint and one on the cockpit." Naruto instructed and she nodded before quickly setting off to place the tags on her five Paladins. After a few minutes they were sneaking back up to the front where Naruto placed the last of his tags on the one sat on the main stage. "Alright let's get out of here."

They climbed up the buildings to get a good vantage point over the hideout. "Ready for the fireworks?"

"Wait what about the White Fang member's inside?" Blake hurriedly asked.

"... What about them?" Time slowed down for her as the words slipped from his mouth. The same words she heard the last time she saw Adam. No, Naruto couldn't possibly be that heartless? Not him.

Naruto formed the hand sign to detonate the charges only for Blake to interrupt him once again "What are you doing!?" She demanded.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm blasting that warehouse into next week." He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"With all of those faunus inside!" She pointed out to him, eyes wide, trying to get him to understand.

"They're White Fang Blake, people die during war all the time. Try not to think about it too hard." He advised, once more making the hand sign.

"Stop!" She covered his hands "I won't let you murder those people!"

"Blake open your eyes, they are the enemy. They aren't the peaceful group you once fought for, stop looking at the White Fang through your rose-tinted glasses for a minute and see the truth!" Naruto said roughly as he shoved her off him "Stop seeing the White Fang as your fellow faunus and start seeing them for the threat that they are. I have no problem seeing Torchwick as anything less than the criminal that he is, never mind him being human but add a tail and suddenly he's just some misguided person to you!"

"...Naruto?" Blake breathed out in shock and disbelief.

His face set itself into a grim line as he turned towards the building."Welcome to war Blake... and all the horrors it entails."

Behind him the entire warehouse exploded. Naruto said nothing as he leapt away while Blake sat there, staring at the flames coming from the building in complete and utter shock.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen...

This was all wrong!

They were only supposed to sabotage the suits!

They weren't supposed to kill any of the White Fang members!

She could faintly hear the shouting of her name, followed by two pairs of hands lifting her up and carrying her away. But the faunus never looked away, never did her eyes stray from the flames nor did a set of words leave her mind.

Welcome to War.

*Chapter 13*: A Scar for Remembrance

Shattered World

Pyrrha panted heavily as she blocked another heavy strike from Naruto. It was a constant struggle, trying to overpower his magnetic force while also blocking or avoiding his strikes. He spun with unnatural speed for the size of his weapon and smashed his giant cleaver into her shield, finally dropping her on her back.

"Break time?" Naruto asked casually as he leaned against the massive blade that he swung around like a twig.

"Yes... please..." Pyrrha breathed out tiredly from the floor, her sweat soaked chest heaving in exhaustion.

Naruto unsealed a bottle of water and handed it to her. "You're progressing much faster now, I actually felt the blade giving me a bit of resistance."

"A bit... he says..." Pyrrha was at least sat up now, draining the rest of the bottle on her head. Her ruby hair stuck to her face, drops of water falling down her chest and shoulders. Naruto at least made an effort to look away for a few seconds.

"Come on Pyrr, let's get you to the dorm so you can shower up and I'll get us some lunch." He sealed the steel replica of Kubikiribocho back into its scroll and hoisted his partner on his back. She basically draped herself over him, looking dead to the world other than her small groans of pain.

A few minutes and odd stares later they arrived at their dorm room which was strangely empty though Naruto figured Red and Nora were out doing something. Walking over to their small in-dorm bathroom he set Pyrrha on the counter and turned towards her with a teasing grin "You can undress yourself right? Or would you like me to help you out with that?"

Pyrrha turned as red as her hair but managed to squeak out a reply "I-I can do it."

Seeing no further need to tease his partner he simply let her be and stepped out of the bathroom so she could relax after their intense training session. He created a clone and set it to get them some food while he sat on his bed and thought about the last week.

It had been four days since that night and Blake was doing her best to try to avoid him. He could easily corner the girl if he wanted to but that would only serve to further alienate her from him.

Blake also seemed pretty closed lip about that night so when Ruby and Yang confronted him about what happened at the warehouse he simply told them that there was a bomb inside that the White Fang planned to detonate in the middle of the city.

Right now, the best thing to do was to give her some space and let her figure it out on her own. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes, he never meant for her to see his warface but Kaguya was back and he could no longer afford to mess around and let humanity sort itself out.

If humanity is to live or stamp itself out then it would by their own merits not Kaguya's and he would be damned before letting her succeed in whatever she has planned. His mission had shifted from watching over the Earth to eradicating Kaguya once and for all and just like that night proved, he would continue his mission even if it cost him a friendship or something more.

It left a bad taste in his mouth but Kaguya was a threat this world was ill prepared to face and if a few people had to be lost for the sake of the rest of the world... then so be it.

000

Blake sat on the roof, knees pulled up to her chest to shield her from the cold. It had been over an hour according to her Scroll and she had spent a lot of time this week thinking about what happened a few days ago.

Was this the mission that Naruto always went on and on about? Was he so dedicated towards removing the White Fang that he was willing to put their... whatever it was they had in jeopardy?

Every night she remembered his face, that grim determination then fire and destruction. Then his words would ring in her head Welcome to war. In those moments he looks so similar to Adam - the same determination, the same resolute stance and the same apathy for their enemy.

Everytime she compared them she found more and more similarities. She couldn't do it again... she couldn't stand by and watch as someone she cared for become a monster.

A shiver ran through her as a cold wind hit her. Looking at her scroll she noticed another half hour had passed and it was now midnight and still no sight of him. "Cold?" Her shoulders jumped slightly at the sudden voice.

Turning she noticed that Naruto was stood there, his cloak swaying gently in the breeze. "I didn't hear you." Her cat ears twitching slightly.

"Well clearly I'm the better ninja." He tried joking, bringing up Nora's insistence that they were both ninjas in disguise. If only she knew how right she was. Blake didn't seem amused however.

"How could you?" Was all she dared ask, her throat becoming inexplicably dry and her heart beginning to pump just a bit fast.

Naruto sighed. I guess its time. "Blake... I'm a product of my experiences. Tell me, what did you do when you were twelve?"

"What?" She didn't understand "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Humor me." He pressed.

"I... well during that time was when our strike were becoming more vocal and certain groups within the Old White Fang started using more radical means." She told him. "I was part of the protesters."

Naruto nodded "Want to know what I was doing when I was twelve? I was constantly fighting for my life. Zabuza...Orochimaru... Gaara, Itachi, Kisame, Kimimaro... Sasuke. These were all people who attempted to kill when I was twelve."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Naruto nodded "I was trained since the age of eight to fight. To become a weapon for my village but I wanted to be more, so much more, to rise above the status of 'weapon' and become the Hokage. The leader of my Village."

Blake sat enraptured as he walked over, sliding off his coat on instinct and handing it to her while taking a seat beside her. "I never enjoyed killing... it left a bad taste in my mouth but two wars and several betrayals have taught me that while some enemies can become friends, most will simply rise up and try to kill you again."

He peered deeply into the moon a frown sat heavily on his face at he stood up and slid off his shirt. Blake stared up at his muscled back, riddled with tiny scars and ink plus the one massive wound on his right side. She had seen it when they went to the lake but everyone agreed to not bring them up so as not to drudge up possibly bad memories.

Battle scars were nothing new in their profession but those weren't the wounds of a few bad scuffles, they were old scars that accumulated over the years. "Blake the scar on my chest, you've seen both sides now."

Blake nodded even though he didn't turn to watch her do so. "Something pierced your chest..." She suspected.

"Not something... someone." Naruto corrected. "My former best friend Sasuke Uchiha stabbed me through the chest not once, but twice."

"The first time was when I was twelve, a foolish child trying to get my friend to see reason. I always pleaded his case, fought tooth and nail to get everyone to understand that Sasuke was simply misguided just like you did with the White Fang. I allowed the first wound to heal and was determined to lead my friend back into the light." Naruto took a moment to compose himself "The second time we had teamed up and had just won the fight of our lives but when I least expected it, he stabbed me in the back. Literally and metaphorically."

Turning back towards Blake he allowed her to see the emotion in his eyes "From then on I never allowed myself to fully heal, I would always leave a scar as a reminder. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice then shame on you because I'll make sure there won't be a third time."

Blake wasn't sure why Naruto had told her all this but she felt as if she could understand him just a bit better now. He was just someone who had been burned one too many times while trying to help someone he was close to. "Naruto... why did you tell me that?"

"Because I won't apologize for my actions, I will do what I must to end this war before it begins. I have fought in two wars, neither one lasting very long and yet hundreds if not thousands died in that short period of time." He told her, crystal blue eyes shining in the starless night. "That night... you got a taste of war. Do you really think you could handle it? Do you really think your team could handle it? My team? Any of these students?"

Blake didn't know how to answer any of those questions. While she was more accustomed to the darker side of the world thanks to her stint in the New White Fang, was she truly ready for open war? "War is ugly Blake, monstrous things happen during war but if I have to become a demon and slaughter a couple hundred in exchange for saving the thousands living in Vale? That's an easy choice."

"And what about all those Faunus students that joined the White Fang? That think that they will make a difference?" Blake protested.

"They aren't innocent Blake, the White Fang's tactics aren't hidden, they are a well-known violent extremist group and those willing to join them wish to lash out and cause pain to others. While I can understand the Faunus side and their fight to obtain equal rights, this is no longer about that, this is about creating an embittered and needless war."

"Then couldn't you just take out the leaders?" Blake reasoned "If you cut the head off then the body will follow!"

"Are you so sure of that? Without their leadership the White Fang will only devolve into a group of angry people who now have martyrs to rally behind and without a focus they will instead cause as much chaos as possible which would likely be a worse scenario for all involved." Naruto told her "War is always a no-win situation Blake, both sides lose, it only comes down to which side lost less."

She bowed her head and hid it in her arms "And you've already picked your side."

"I never hid from you which side I picked." Naruto returned the stare before his eyes softened "Do I wish that faunus could be seen as equal? Yes. Is it unfortunate that those kids are being manipulated into fighting a war they have no business being in? Yes. But sometimes that's life, the strong will always pray on the weak."

"You mean by Torchwick and Cinder." She concluded, looking back up.

"No, those two are small fry compared to... her."

Blake noticed the darkening tone in his voice when he said that word "Her?"

Naruto sighed "That's on a need-"

"To know basis." She finished with a glare "You still don't trust me. Even after telling me about your past, telling me about what makes you you... you still don't trust me?"

Naruto balled up his fists "It's... complicated. Kaguya, who I'm sure is behind all this shit is someone I've fought before, someone very dangerous and just like how Adam is your fight, Kaguya is mine. I don't want you anywhere near that battlefield when I face her either... I doubt there will be much left."

While she wanted to protest, she settled for an understanding nod. Standing up she gripped the cloak tighter and walked into him, allowing his arms to encircle her. "Thank you... for telling me."

"It's not an easy thing for me Blake but even though I act a certain way to seem uncaring... I do care. I just - used apathy as a defense mechanism for the longest time, to shield myself from the truth of the world." As he hugged the girl tighter to himself he rested his head on the crook of her neck, whispering lightly "For what it's worth... I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"I still haven't forgiven you..." Her eyes clenched as tried to keep her conflicting feelings hidden.

"I know."

000

Naruto clapped as his team watched Pyrrha just finish wiping the floor with Team CRDL. "And that's match, I believe we have time for one more match... any volunteers?" Glynda asked the class.

"Yo!" Naruto raised his hand and immediately volunteered.

"Very well Mister Uzumaki, would anyone like to face him." Almost as one the Beacon regulars looked away hoping not to catch the teacher's eye lest they be volunteered.

Mercury turned towards Emerald with a raised eyebrow "This guy a big-shot or something?" He whispered.

She shrugged "Why don't you find out?"

"Alright." Mercury said aloud as he stood up "I'll take him on."

Glynda looked down at her Scroll "Mister Mercury was it? Very well, come down."

Naruto knew immediately who this guy was but pretended not to "Hey, have we met before? I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"You bumped into our team while running down the halls a couple days ago." Mercury told him.

"Ah! Right, sorry about that." Mercury shrugged. "Well let's get started then shall we?"

Mercury slid into a ready stance while Naruto stood there with a small smile and a relaxed look. His eyes narrowed. Was this guy not taking him seriously? He'll wipe that stupid look off his face.

In a burst of speed Mercury appeared before Naruto, leg already in mid swing for the blonde's head only for his eyes to widen. He wasnt there? He suddenly felt his other foot get kicked out from under him where a crouched Naruto had swept his foot and then a solid kick sent him sliding across the floor.

"Nice... kick." Shit. I think he bruised a rib.

"Thanks." Naruto responded, his smile widening so much that it looked like his eyes had become fox-like slits.

He was messing with him! Mercury could feel the anger bubbling in him... this fool was playing with him. "Take this!"

Mercury wasn't exactly sure when the foot had connected with his face. Was it when he moved? Was it when during histaunt? Or was it while he was still distracted by this thoughts?

Naruto watched as Mercury picked himself up and calmly walked over to him "Mercury was it? You have a partner right, the green haired one? Want her to join you?"

Mercury grit his teeth. This son of a bitch was taunting him now! Mercury pushed himself up and rushed at Naruto once again, sending out kick after kick but the blonde bastard dodged every single one with and amused look on his face.

Naruto sensing a minor threat behind him, jumped and quickly spun his body to deliver heel kicks to both Mercury and Emerald. Seeing that Glynda was moving to interrupt the match he waved her off "It's fine, professor."

Goodwitch frowned but nodded nonetheless "Very well."

Naruto kept his eyes focused on Mercury, entirely ignoring Emerald much to her silent chagrin. He continued playing with the two, purposefully using only kicks or knees against them but it was starting to get a little boring. "Say, this was fun and all but we've got two minutes till class ends and I don't want us to be late for lunch so..."

In a blur of speed Naruto double-drop kicked the two out of the stage area for a ring-out with Glynda calling the match. Naruto looked over at the two criminals with a fake smile "Welcome to Beacon."

000

Team NRVN followed by Team RWBY sat down at their usual table. "Man, I can't wait for this day to be over!"

Pyrrha laughed "Luckily we only have one class left today, Naruto."

"So Whiskers... who you planning on taking to the dance?" Yang asked with a grin.

Naruto shrugged "I'm probably going to skip it, my ninja like grace surprisingly does not transfer over to dancing ability."

"Wait, you can't dance?" Ruby asked, unsure of what she just heard.

Naruto scoffed "Don't be so surprised, there are things I'm not good at."

"That is surprising." Blake spoke up, eyes not leaving her book. "Seeing as my ninja like grace only adds to my dancing ability."

"What are you trying to say? Hmm?" Naruto challenged.

Blake smirked as her eyes locked on to his "Clearly I'm the better ninja." She responded, throwing his own words from last night back at him.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Alright then, challenge accepted Blake! By Sunday evening I'll be the best damn dancer this school has ever seen!"

Blake giggled "And the stakes?"

"Name them, just be ready to lose!"

"Hmm..." She coyly looked away before returning her gaze to him "Alright, if I win then you teach me Seal Condensing."

"Fair enough but when I win then you must publicly proclaim me as the better ninja and carry around a banner stating as such for an entire day." Naruto said with a smug look.

"Fine then, we'll test your dancing ability Sunday night." She struck out her hand to seal the deal and he shook it.

"Sunday night!" He repeated.

"Did Naruto just ask Blake to the dance?" Weiss asked, not entirely sure that she was correctly adding up what just happened.

Blake blushed slightly and shook her head "No that was just a bet but I will have to share at least one dance with him that night to prove that I am the better dancer."

Nora snorted "Of course he didn't, nothing could get in the way of Pyrruto."

"Pyrruto?" Ruby questioned.

"Pyrrha and Na-" Nora was interrupted by a potato wedge hitting her in the face.

"Nora don't bring up your weird fantasies." Naruto chided.

"But I've already come up with a name for it and everything! Pyrruto is my OTP!" Naruto tossed another wedge at her but she was ready this time and caught it in her mouth.

Naruto glanced at Pyrrha and noticed she was blushing and remained quiet through all of this. Someone must have told her what OTP meant. "Why don't you focus on your own pairing instead of me, after all you still need to ask Ren to the dance don't you?"

Nora began laughing nervously from being caught off guard. "I- Haha well - Uh Ren, we're going together right? I mean unless you don't want to, which is fine, I won't force you It's just that we've always done this kind of stuff together so I kind of assumed that we would go togetherbutifyoualreadyhaveadateinmindthenthat'scoolyouknow?I'lljustthinkofsome-"

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder "Deep breath Nora, you're rambling again. To answer your question, I was planning on asking you tonight."

"Oh good," Nora breathed a sigh of relief "It would have been really awkward for me to ask around for a date if you already had someone in mind."

Naruto quickly decided to further take the spotlight away from him and Blake by asking the others "What about you guys? Anyone in mind?"

"Nope!" Yang declared with a grin.

"N-No..." Ruby repeated shyly.

"Yes." Weiss answered confidently, then she glared slightly at the others who had all turned to her in amazement "What?"

"I didn't think you actually liked anyone, I thought you held all us commoners in disdain." Naruto quipped.

"For your information, I find you all tolerable and whom I show interest in is none of your business." The Schnee heiress declared.

"Hear that Red? You've been moved up from annoyance to tolerated annoyance." Naruto told Ruby with a thumbs-up, said girl's eyes widening with glee.

"Is that true Weiss!?" Progress! Progress has been made!

Weiss grimaced at the excitable girl next to her "Don't make be demote you back down to irritating tick."

"Sorry, I'll behave!" Ruby quickly replied, looking down in hope that she wouldn't lose her recent promotion.

Naruto noticed that one person hadn't spoken up and turned towards the girl next to him "What about you Pyrrha?"

The 'Invincible Girl' smiled faintly and shrugged "Ah, no... no one in mind." She refused to look him in the eye lest shelose her nerve.

"Well I'm sure you will receive many offers soon enough." Weiss reassured her.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Pyrrha trailed off.

"Pyrrha is probably in the same boat you are Weiss, just guys trying to ask you out for your names." Naruto added,

Weiss blinked before nodding slowly in sympathy "Right, of course, I hadn't thought of that."

Naruto mentally ran over the consequences of what he was planning. Asking Pyrrha to the dance could potentially piss Blake off even more than she already was at him but Blake kind of burned the bridge he subtly tried to make using the bet as a reason to ask her out so it's not like he could ask her. Ah screw it, I've never given two shits about consequences anyway.

"Well why don't we go together Pyrrha?" Her head suddenly shot up in surprise, causing him to draw back in alarm "I mean, if that's cool with you?"

"I- I don't know what to say." She was honestly speechless, while part of her hoped that Naruto would ask her the other part would always say that he would never notice her feelings.

"Well generally a yes or no are common responses to this scenario." Naruto told her with a chuckle "Like I said if you don't want to then that's fine but this would conveniently solve both of our dilemmas of not having a date."

"Woah there Romeo, tone it down a notch before I swoon here..." Yang drawled sarcastically. That had to be the least romantic way to ask someone out that she had ever heard.

Naruto rolled his eyes "I do of course mean that we go as friends, sorry for not kneeling before you with a rose in my mouth... that's not really my style."

Shaking herself out of her shock Pyrrha smiled genuinely "I would love to Naruto." While she could agree that it was not even remotely romantic, that was just how Naruto was. He was a pragmatist through and through and if he did suddenly go on one knee and present her with a rose then she might have considered that request to be more fake than his frank admission.

At least this way she knew that Naruto asked her because he wanted to ask her and not as some sort of pity date because he felt bad for her. Perhaps this dance won't be terrible after all.

"YAY!" Nora cheered "Pyrruto prevails!"

Naruto face palmed. "For dust's sake."

Pyrrha laughed good-naturedly but one could see the hint of pink on her cheeks "Oh let her have her fun."

"Don't encourage her Pyrrha, she's already taken to writing fanfics." Naruto groaned.

Nora wink at Pyrrha "Don't worry I'll lend them to you later."

"Moving on, Coco came to me the other day and mentioned that after her team returns from their mission that they would like to have another team spar and I thought it would be a great idea." Naruto told his team who seemed all for it.

"Speaking of team CFVY, Goodwitch asked Weiss and I if we would like to help with the dance since their mission was taking longer than expected." Yang added with Weiss confirming it.

"Ooh sounds fun! Can I help?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Sure thing sis."

Taking a glance at his Scroll to check the time, Naruto's eyes widened and he immediately stood up "Crap, I'll catch you guys later I gotta go!"

"Go? Go where, lunch isn't over for another ten minutes." Weiss asked.

"Exactly! I only have ten minutes!" Naruto then took off towards his team's dorm to collect a few things.

"What was that about?" Nora asked Red who merely shrugged.

"I don't presume to understand the mind of our captain." Ren stated as he watched Naruto leave "I feel attempting to put logic to Naruto's actions would only lead to headaches."

000

Naruto moved a loose floorboard and pulled out a scroll before replacing the board and using the hiraishin to appear in a dark room. "You're here, good."

"Yeah sorry, was having lunch. So have you learned anything about her disappearance?"

"I followed a lead that took me to Mistral but then the trail went cold again." The person addressing him answered through gritted teeth.

"Right I guessed as much." Pulling out his scroll he laid it on a dusty table and unsealed a small pile of papers that he handed over. "My spies managed to learn that she chartered a ship."

"Where to?"

"Dragonsmouth."

The man's eyes widened "What the hell could she possibly be going there for?"

"Who knows? My guys are probably on the island by now so they might find out but I wouldn't count on it, she's already found one of my spies that got careless so she's likely on high alert." Naruto told the man who frowned and pulled out a cigarette.

"Dragonsmouth... what could be so important that she would willing go there of all places." The man sat heavily on a chair and took a drink from his flask before offering the bottle to Naruto.

"I'm good thanks." Naruto declined.

"We'll need her help."

"Yeah..." The blonde agreed.

"How are the girls doing?" The man asked after a short silence "I heard they were in Vale when that White Fang base went up."

"They're fine, a little shaken up but otherwise fine." Naruto told the man, taking a seat across from him.

"You know they're going to learn the truth sooner or later." The man told him from experience.

Naruto drummed his fingers on the table in thought "Perhaps but they don't need to know yet, they aren't ready."

"And you?"

Naruto looked the man in the eye "You're joking right?"

The man shrugged "Are you sure it's who you think it is?"

"I know what I felt and I know that she's back." Naruto told him firmly.

"Listen, I'm not saying she's not back I'm just saying that's it's a hard pill to swallow. Trying to get the others to believe that the ancient Templar deity is back among us and she's trying to start-up a third holy war... it's just a little hard to believe."

"Well you better start believing. Remember I'm only helping you because I'll need their help." Naruto said as he stood up.

"She's failed twice before, what makes this time any different?" He asked.

Naruto looked down and placed a hand on his stomach "Because I hold the last key to her prison... I'll catch you later Qrow." The blonde turned into a flash of light and then he was gone.

Qrow put out the rest of his cigarette and looked down at his right arm, undoing the bit of cloth around his wrist to reveal a small brand that looked like an upside down V. He chuckled, gathering up the papers.

Pushing back his seat and picking up his scythe he quickly got to work. It would take a while to track down all the remaining bloodlines. "A Third Crusade." He scoffed "Bring it on you old hag."

000

Naruto snuck into professor Port's class just as it was about to end. "Now, can anyone tell me the best way to deal with a Drake?"

He raised his hand and Port called on him "Drakes are generally wingless but very agile so taking out its legs would be the most effective way to defeating them."

"Excellent answer Mr. Uzumaki! Drakes, unlike their cousins the Wyvern or Dragon do not have wings that are flight capable. While some species grow small wings that are capable of gliding they cannot truly fly so removing their mobility in the form of their legs is crucial."

Just as he finished his sentence the bell rang "Ah, perfect timing. Your homework will be a short essay on the similarities and differences between Drakes, Wyverns and Dragons due Friday."

"So where did you run off to in such a hurry?" Yang questioned as they left the class.

"Had to meet with someone about a time-sensitive subject." Naruto answered automatically.

"Blake was right, you really don't like revealing anything do you?" She said in response.

He raised an eyebrow and turned towards Blake who looked away. Turning towards his Pyrrha "Anyway now that classes are over could I trouble you for some dancing lessons? I have a bet with my pride as a ninja on the line and I cannot afford to lose this battle."

Pyrrha smiled "Alright, lets just change into something more comfortable."

"Awesome." Naruto said with a grin before waving at team RWBY "Catch you guys later."

Blake scrunched her nose up in annoyance. She knew that he only asked Pyrrha that while she was there to make her jealous... and it was working.

Two can play that game.

As the two teams went into their respective dorm rooms the faunus turned towards Weiss. "That guy you've talked to, he has a faunus friend doesn't he?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Weiss asked, caught completely off guard.

"Oh come off it Weiss, you're not as sneaky as you think you are." Yang said from her bed, having already splayed out across it. "Tall, tan, blue hair, kinda dopey looking expression."

"He is not dopey looking!" Weiss heatedly protested.

"Right him, he's friends with that guy that doesn't know how to button a shirt right?" Ruby added, digging the hole for Weiss deeper.

Seeing as her whole team already knew there was no point in denying it any longer "Fine, yes, Neptune has a faunus friend. Sun."

"Think you could introduce me to him?" Blake asked as she moved over to her bed.

"Told you Blake had a thing for blondes Ruby." Yang said with a snicker.

Ruby nodded along, "Looks like it, sis!"

Blake groaned and let herself fall back into her bed. When did life become so complicated? It wasn't enough to deal with criminal organizations but now she had to deal with stupid petty jealousy.

He probably only did it because she turned him down but her own whirlwind of emotions over Naruto stopped her from accepting his attempt at asking her to the dance. Ugh I should have just said yes and skipped all of this crap...

000

Later that evening Naruto and Pyrrha were alone in an empty classroom. The desks had been moved to the side so they had plenty of room to practice. "Alright let's start with the basics."

"Sounds good." After going over the basic movements Pyrrha played some music on her scroll.

"I thought you said your ninja grace didn't transfer over to dancing ability?" Pyrrha asked, surprised with how well he was doing.

Naruto laughed "Well that was just a joke but a lot of footwork goes into combat stances so I have a good idea of where to put my feet so I don't step on yours, I've just never actually had any experience dancing."

Pyrrha smiled "I'm glad, I was somewhat worried for my toes."

Naruto grinned roguishly "Don't worry, I'm not that bad. Plus-" He spun her into a dip "I learn by doing, and I learn very quickly."

Pyrrha's face lit up at their close proximity "I- I..."

Naruto smiled and helped her back up "Relax Pyrr, I was just messing with you but honestly thank you for doing this and for going to the dance with me. I'll do my best to make it a decent night for you."

The girl got her breathing under control and gave him a reproachful look "Why do you always do that Naruto?"

Naruto blinked "Do what?"

"Depreciate yourself like that." She asked seriously.

"Oh.. uh, I dunno." He said with a shrug as they returned to a simple sway "I mean I'm fully aware that I'm kind of an asshole."

Pyrrha sighed "No you are not. Perhaps you can be a somewhat abrasive at times but I can tell that deep down... deep deep down you are a good person."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion "When have I ever given you a reason to believe that?"

"I remember the day we first met," She recalled "When I assumed we were friends. You could have said that we weren't and continued along with your day but you decided not to and instead choose to befriend me. Why?"

"Maybe I felt bad for you?" He feigned ignorance.

"Did you asked me to the dance for that reason?"

Naruto looked away "...Maybe?"

"Did you?" Pyrrha turned his head back towards her, her eyes softening seeing his many different things going through his mind.

"No." He finally admitted "Maybe a small part of me asked you to make someone else jealous but I asked you because I wanted to go with you."

"I see..." Pyrrha said "And this person, why did you not ask her instead?"

Naruto shrugged "It's complicated. I've never been good with feelings or emotions since they aren't a problem I can punch my way out of."

Pyrrha smiled and let out a tiny giggle "I suppose you are right... if they were then I may have solved my problems as well."

"So then it's fine right? If we just go as friends?" He asked.

She nodded "That sounds perfectly fine."

Naruto grinned and from there they simply enjoyed their time together as Pyrrha showed him the usual ballroom dances. Both laughing and enjoying themselves.

000

"I see... try to find out what her semblance is then but add her to the list."

"The real problem-" Emerald began

"Is Naruto Uzumaki." Mercury interrupted.

"Oh?" Cinder asked.

"Remember that guy that bumped into us in the hall a few days ago? Him. The bastard was toying with us the entire fight." Mercury growled.

"Us?" The Queen questioned.

"I jumped in to help Mercury teach that guy a lesson..." Emerald grimaced as she held her cheek which still had a bruise on it "It didn't end well."

"His semblance?"

"Never used it." Mercury stated.

"They guy only used speed and kicks." Emerald added "Considering he was running down the halls and managed to evade two of us, it seems as though he prefers using his legs like Mercury."

"And he was able to defeat both of you with only his natural speed?" Cinder was now intrigued.

"Yeah." Emerald admitted, much to her displeasure.

"How interesting... add him to the list." She commanded.

"You may have to deal with him personally." Mercury said though Cinder simply smiled.

"We would need to figure out what he can do first." She stated "We'll have Neo keep an eye on those two, hopefully she will be able to uncover their abilities."

Mercury sighed as he rested his head on his hands "I just wish we could get to the tournament already, I hate waiting."

"Don't worry Mercury, we're in for a fun weekend."

AN - The 'Fool me once' quote, while it was wrong I intentionally wrote it that way because my mind works in weird ways.

(Fool me once, shame on me) The shame would be on him because he gave them a second chance in the first place.

(Fool me twice, shame on you) The shame would be on them because Naruto would ensure they wouldn't survive to fool him a third time.

*Chapter 14*: Moon's Mirror

Shattered World

A flushed Pyrrha laughed happily as Naruto spun her around. "So Coach, am I getting any better?" He asked after pulling her into a stop.

She let out a giggle, holding a hand to her forehead to halt the slight dizziness. "You are indeed."

Naruto grinned "Oh good! I was worried that I was just hogging up all of your free time to myself for no reason."

Pyrrha smiled kindly "No it's fine, I enjoy spending time with you."

"Mind if we cut out early tonight? I'm kind of hungry, what about you?" Naruto asked as they walked over towards the desk with her Scroll on it.

"Famished actually, I didn't get a chance to eat lunch today." She admitted, blushing slightly when her stomach grumbled a moment later.

Naruto laughed "Well let's head to the kitchens then, shall we?" He held out his arm and she took it readily.

"Are we even allowed in the kitchens?" She felt the need to ask.

Naruto shrugged "Whether I'm allowed to do something or not has never stopped me before?"

Pyrrha let out an exasperated chuckle but continued along with him either way. Looking out one of the windows she could see a bright starry night, the full moon hanging up above. "It's beautiful."

Naruto turned, hearing get words. He turned catching sight of the moon then turned back to her, her face still entranced by the moonlight. He nodded "You should see it from the roof, on full moons it almost feels like you can reach out and touch it..."

"Do you look at the moon often?" She asked, hearing the wistful tone in his voice.

"More than I should." He answered, tugging her lightly so they could continue "Sometimes I look up there and just... search for answers. Like it's written up in the stars or something."

Pyrrha didn't feel as though she should pry but curiosity got the better of her "Answers to what?"

"Everything... sometimes I wonder if I should have done some things differently. Some days I wonder if my parents are up there waiting for me, are the proud of me? Other days I think about the future and what will come." His voice had taken a somewhat sullen tone. "Pyrrha..." He hesitated.

"Yes?" She encouraged.

With a sigh he stopped and turned towards her, the window behind her let the moonlight shine down around her like an aura. "If Vale were invaded tomorrow, what would you do?"

"I'm sorry?" She was caught entirely off-guard by the question.

"Things are happening Pyrr."He narrowed look at her "I need to know Pyrrha, do you think you could handle a war?"

"I- I don't know what to say?" Pyrrha was well and truly baffled by his responses "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

His brow creased as he turned back towards the hallway, spotting one of the classrooms he went towards it and made short work of the lock. Pyrrha followed him in and took a seat, feeling she would need it soon. "Pyrrha, sometime soon the White Fang will invade Vale. I want to make sure that you are prepared for that eventuality and that you can... survive it."

Her breathing hitched "Are- Are you sure?"

"Entirely." His face set itself into a mask "Lately when I look up at the moon only one thing stays in my mind. A name. The name of the greatest threat Vale and then Remnant will ever know."

"Who?"

"Kaguya."

"Why are you telling me this?" She was more than a worried now.

"If it came down to it..." His mask grew colder "If it was you or them, could you kill another person if it meant your own survival?"

She gasped, voice caught in her throat. "I-I-"

Naruto dropped his mask and sighed "I'm sorry for dropping all that on you so suddenly it's just that... look around. We're in a school full of kids who aren't ready for that kind of shit and instead of training them we have to keep it quiet so as not to incite panic and fear mongering."

"We?" Pyrrha asked, only just recovering from her shock.

"Three week ago I met with Ozpin and General Ironwood. You know I've looked into the White Fang for some time now and I had proof that they were gearing for an assault on the city." Naruto told her "While they were skeptical at first, I sent some images to Ozpin of the Faunus rally last week and how they had gotten their hands on some prototype models of the Atlesian paladins."

"Those robot suits?" She asked, only vaguely recognizing the name.

"The very same. Ironwood was furious that they had gotten hold of them but Blake and I used the bomb they planned on detonating during the Festival to destroy the building they were in. I met with Ozpin and the General that night and they both agreed that at the moment only those who need to know should be told."

"And-" She hesitated "And I need to know?"

Naruto nodded "I've been let in on a few other things and Ozpin wanted me to tell you about all this, not only so our team could be ready but you specifically for... a reason."

"A reason?" She was not entirely confident in that vague answer.

"What do you know of the Maidens?"

"As in the children's tale?" She thought about it "Not much."

"Long story short, someone gave four girls the ability to become magical girls or something and they could then pass on their gift to their heir. I thought it was a load of crap... up until Ozpin took me to one of them."

"You've met a Maiden?" Her eyes could not have gotten wider.

"Met is a strong word, more like watched her slowly wither away in a tube." He corrected "She was attacked some time before the year started, most likely by Cinder. Ozpin has developed a way to take the power from the Fall Maiden and give it to someone else, he believes you to be the best candidate."

Pyrrha was glad that she was sitting down as this was quickly becoming too much for her. How did a fun night with Naruto come to this? "How?"

Naruto took a seat on a nearby desk "They have to drain the power from her."

"Wouldn't that-"

"Kill her?" He interrupt, earning a nod. "Yes. Every Maiden dies when she passes on her powers to make sure that there were only ever four Maidens. The problem is that now Cinder has half of her power and the magic or whatever is behind the Maiden's powers is wanting to become whole again. Cinder being the healthier one and holding slightly more of the power is forcing the magic out of the current Maiden and into herself."

"But then wouldn't the same happen to me?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

"According to Ozpin when there are two viable candidates for a Maiden's power at the same time, it instead of stealing the magic from one forces them against one another." Naruto told her "So if you accepted then you would have to be the one to deal the killing blow on Cinder and claim the Fall's powers as your own."

Pyrrha grimaced "That's rather dark."

Naruto shrugged "I've looked up some fairy tales and when you read between the lines most them are actually pretty dark."

"How am I supposed to beat Cinder though? I'm sure that she's more powerful than I am." Pyrrha asked.

"Well most of her strength came from stealing Fall's powers and if you took the other half then it would nullify that. I think that without the power of a Season behind her and with some intense training you could take out Cinder."

"What about Ren and Nora?"

"I'm already pushing them as hard as they can go for the Festival, anymore and I might do more harm than good. I'm going to tell them just before the tournament starts but right now I want them focus on training and not worrying about whether our home will be destroyed or not..."

Pyrrha frowned and reached over to grab his hand. This couldn't have been easy on him. How long had he know? How long had he been worrying about this while everyone around him was more concerned about some silly dance. "I don't think I can do it... I don't think I could go to the dance and pretend that everything is alright when there are enemies at our gates."

"You have to." Naruto urged her "The enemy is already here and watching us and you. If Ozpin feels that you are a worthy candidate for the Fall Maiden's power then I'm sure Cinder has her eye on you as well. You can give nothing away Pyrrha, you must not, or all of this will be for nothing."

Pyrrha's breathing began to pick up and her pupils began dilating as she stated into her lap "How? How can you be so calm about this? About all of this?" She pleaded, hoping he could offer her with some way to relieve her growing anxiety.

Naruto could understand, she had never experienced something like this before. To be watched, to be targeted, to know that war was coming to her home. This was all new to her and she was reacting as most would in her place. "Pyrrha." Her wide eyes snapped to his and he placed his free hand on the girl's cheek. "Look at me."

She didn't respond, though her erratic breathing did slow down somewhat when their eyes met. "You will survive this, you already promised me didn't you? To fight with everything you've got? Or was that just a lie?"

"N-No..."

"No what, Pyrrha?"

"No it-it wasn't a lie."

"You promised me that you would push through everything that would come at you, well now it's time to put my faith in you to the test. Can you do this or not? I need you to be sure Pyrrha, I need you to be one hundred fucking percent because hesitation from now on will only lead to death or injury."

She looked down at her trembling hands that were holding onto Naruto's own like a lifeline, slowly her hands and breathing settled down. She looked him in the eye, her own showed fear and uncertainty but it seemed to be fading as his hands gripped hers. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for all of this but... I can be. I must be. If you and Professor Ozpin both believe in me then I must do my best to live up to the faith placed on me."

Naruto cracked a smile, it was a softer one, one that was more real than most he gave. "Good, but remember you're not alone Pyrrha. You have me and Ren and Nora and team RWBY. It won't all be on your shoulders, we'll help you carry your burden."

"And how long have you had to carry your burdens?" Pyrrha wondered.

His smile only diminished slightly before returning "A shinobi is one who endures." He chuckled lightly "War is nothing new to me."

"I haven't heard of any recent wars though?" She recalled.

"Not all wars are fought in the light, the most frightful nights are when you know the enemy is there, among you and you have no idea who is who... so many people died before we discovered a way to distinguish the enemy 'plants'." He recalled the stories Sakura told him about how the Zetsu clones had infiltrated the camps during the night and begun slaughtering people and causing panic among the shinobi.

He remembered Hinata almost dying that night had he not come in when he did.

"Naruto?" He was pulled from his thoughts by Pyrrha's voice.

"Sorry just... remembering someone from long ago." He told her distractedly "Anyway let's eat." Moments later a Naruto clone walked in and handed Naruto a tiny scroll which he used to unseal their late dinner.

"When did you...?"

"Just before we walked in." He answered, already anticipating the question "I've become quite good at summoning my clones stealthily."

She giggled, helping release some of her tension "I'd say."

"So have you picked a dress yet?" Naruto asked conversationally, sitting down next to her and starting in on his food.

"Not yet, the girls and I were planning on going down to Vale tomorrow evening to go shopping." She responded. "What about you?"

"Well my dress looks great on me." He said making her laugh "Yeah, I had a clone run down and pick up a suit for me."

"Well I'm sure you will look very handsome in it." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." He grinned. "Are you excited to start taking missions soon?"

She nodded happily "I am, while I've enjoyed my time here at Beacon I have longed to see the world outside of our kingdom walls."

Naruto nodded "I feel the same... there's been a question on my mind ever since I came to this place and I feel that my answer will be out there somewhere."

"What question is that?" She wondered.

"What happened?" He took a bite of his steak "I'm looking for someone... or someones I should say. If I find even one of them then I might get my answer."

"Who?"

Naruto gave her an apologetic smile which she understood and nodded. She had already learned so much about Naruto today, it's only fair that he be allowed to keep some things to himself.

Naruto continued eating, mentally wondering where a Bijuu could be hiding in this world. The majority of the world is simply old ruins so it wouldn't be too difficult to hide among the rubble.

"Naruto?"

He blinked and turned towards his friend "Sorry I was in thought, did you ask me something?"

"No, I was just wondering what had you such deep in thought... you seem to do that often." Pyrrha admitted sheepishly.

Naruto chuckled "Well given what I've just told you, I'm sure you can tell that I have a lot of shit going on up here." He said, tapping a finger on his temple.

Pyrrha reached over and placed her hand on his once more, offering him her support this time. "Don't forget what you said to me Naruto. You have others you can depend on, our team and RWBY... you don't have to do everything by yourself Naruto. We're partners aren't we?"

Naruto looked down at her hand and smiled, giving it a light squeeze "Yeah. Yeah we are."

"If you ever need help with anything, you can always count on me." Pyrrha said softly.

"Thank you Pyrrha, that means a lot to me." She blushed slightly at his words, with a shy smile on her lips. He suddenly hated himself when another face layered over her own.

"How about we finish our dinner and head to bed? We have early morning training tomorrow and we should a good night's rest." He quickly offered to take his mind from her.

"Yes! It is getting rather late so we should hurry." She thankfully agreed and Naruto focused on his food.

Why does she still come to mind? Naruto looked out the large windows that showed the full moon in all it's glory. Hinata...

000

"What time is it?" Cinder asked as she kneeled down on the floor, facing the moon.

"8:45." Mercury answered as he checked his scroll.

"Good it's almost time then." She woman said to herself, her subordinates watching silently as she did her monthly ritual.

There was a light tapping coming from behind them causing both Mercury and Emerald to turn only to see their fourth member for this mission stood there. When she finished Neo held up her phone. 'What is she doing?'

"Meditating." Emerald whispered.

Neo looked confused but shrugged 'I'm here by the way, we just arrived an hour ago.'

Mercury nodded and showed her their tablet. "These are your targets. Pyrrha Nikos and Naruto Uzumaki. You're to watch them and learn their semblance." He told her quietly so as not to disturbed his boss's concentration.

Neo looked at the two pictures, first Pyrrha and memorizing her features before switching to Naruto. She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly before letting up, a small smirk drawn on her face. 'Can do.'

"Good." Emerald said with a smile before pointing at a bed. "That one's yours."

'Thank you.' The petite woman picked up her luggage and walked over to her assigned bed, sliding her stuff under the bed before taking off her boots and laying down on the bed.

A master of illusions like herself needed to learn how to tell every little detail of a person's features to not only copy them if need be but to also see through any of their disguises and just not she saw the one person she never suspected of being here.

The smirk on her face widened. So that's what you look like under your mask, my love?

A soft, almost girlish giggle escaped her lips but she made sure to muffle it. He has cute whiskers.

Meanwhile Cinder's conscious was pulled from her body and summoned to another plane. "Cinder."

The black-haired woman instantly went on her knee. "My Lady."

The being regarded the woman in front of her. Thus far she has been a very effective pawn but soon even she might fail her. "There is something you must know, my freedom and greatest threat has finally shown himself."

"My Lady?" Cinder dared to look up, the woman in front of her was pale white with glowing red eyes and a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.

"I suspect that you will soon meet a man named Naruto Uzumaki. Do not let his appearance fool you, he is the only being that could match me in power at the moment."

Cinder's eyes widened "How- How is that even possible?" That was the fool that crashed into her some time ago.

Salem sneered "My foolish son gave that boy and his friend his power and together they annihilated my body long ago. When I had finally gathered enough strength to create the avatar you see before you I could sense that we shared the same cell."

"The moon?" Cinder questioned.

"Yes. While this world is an alternate version of Earth's moon, he resided within the true Moon in a hibernation. Now he has awoken and has the power of both of my sons... if he were to ever find a way to this place before I the ritual is complete then he might just destroy me for good this time." Salem said with a growl, her earlier battle with the host of the Nine Tails replaying in her mind.

"So the plan still remains, My Lady?"

"Yes, you are to shoot the girl with that arrow and it will send her here so that I can complete the ritual." She ordered.

"It will be as you say, My Lady." Cinder said, bowing her head once more.

"Good. Leave now, the window is almost closed." With her words Cinder began fading from this reality leaving only Salem sat atop her throne. Looking up once more at the eight floating orbs.

*Chapter 15*: The Beast and The Harlot

Shattered World

"So..." Naruto said, trying to think of something to say but failing at the moment so he checked the time on his Scroll. 2:35.

"Yep." Ren agreed.

Naruto looked around "Guess it's just us today."

Ren nodded "Yep."

"Got your suit already?"

"Yep."

"..." Naruto checked his Scroll. 2:36. "I'm bored."

"Want to go... train?" Ren offered.

Naruto frowned "Ren, we're teammates right?"

"Yes?" The black-haired boy answered in mild confusion.

"Friends, right?"

"Sort of." Ren said with a shrug.

"Why do we never hang out? I mean you're like the only guy I know at this school who isn't that douche Cardin." Naruto questioned. Ren thought about it for a moment before coming up with nothing.

"I'm not sure."

"Well the girls are off shopping, want to... I dunno go to the arcade or something?" Naruto asked.

"Does Vale even have an arcade?"

"I don't know?" Naruto said with a sigh.

Ren frowned also before reaching for his Scroll "Want to play-"

"No. Hell no. Unless Nora is forcing us to, I do not ever." Naruto vehemently protested.

"...Pizza?" Ren weakly offered.

Naruto sighed. He wasn't even particularly hungry but surely there was something he could find that he had in common with Ren? "Fuck it, let's go."

000

"Oh that would look so cute on you!" Ruby gushed at the white dress her sister showed her.

"Right?" Yang agreed, holding the dress up to herself "Plus I got the boobs for it." She added with a naughty grin.

"I believe it will look lovely only you." Pyrrha chimed in.

"What about you Pyrrha, spotted anything yet?" Weiss asked.

"Oh yes, I found a few dresses that I liked but I have decided on this one." She held up a strapless red dress that matched her hair color perfectly.

"I'm sure it will look nice on you." Blake said quietly.

"What about you Blakey?" Yang wondered.

"I'm still looking..." She answered vaguely.

"Well I found miiiiiine!" Nora cheered happily, holding up a frilly pink dress with a wide grin on her face.

"What about you Ruby?" Pyrrha asked the youngest member of their little group.

"Oh uh... I usually buy my clothes at a different shop." Ruby said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Yeah, Ruby goes to this gothic lolita place a few blocks away." Yang held up her hand as if whispering but didn't bother lowering her voice.

"YAAAAANG!"

"Five Lien says she shows up in black and red." Weiss said with a teasing smirk toward her partner.

"Yeah, just like you're showing up in white and Blake in Black." Yang quipped.

"So?" Weiss huffed, "I'll have you know that my dress is on its way from Mistral. It was tailor-made just for me."

"And how many slaves did your father have to whip to have it sewn so quickly?" Blake asked coldly.

"Now see here-"

"Girls! Girls!" Ruby came between the two and gave them pleading looks "Can we not do this right now? We we're supposed to have a fun evening let's not ruin it alright?"

Blake's bow twitched as she picked up the whispered voices of the other customers. "Whatever."

"Hmph." Weiss turned away as well. "For the record, the dress was hand-made by Vanille Adel. Who is known for standing up for faunus labor rights."

"Isn't that Coco's mom?" Nora asked as she joined the others.

"Yes. Lady Vanille was gracious enough to accept my request for a dress, though I did have to order it last month and she almost refused given my name..." Weiss admitted, looking over at Blake. "The wound won't heal unless we work at it."

Suddenly feeling really bad Blake tried to apologise but Weiss stopped her. "It's not something that will happen overnight, I know that, but I also want you to know that I'm trying Blake."

"Thanks Weiss." Blake said with a smile.

Nora blinked and whispered to Pyrrha "Did I miss something."

"I'm not sure... perhaps we should stay out of it?" She whispered back.

"Ohhhhh" Ruby bunched up her fists in excitement before jumping on her toes "Group hug!"

Blake and Weiss were suddenly pulled in my Ruby's unnaturally strong grip followed by Yang adding in her own strength. "Yeah!"

"Good call, Pyrrha." Nora whispered as two backed away slowly seeing that Blake and Weiss were struggling to breathe.

"Shall we go purchase our dresses?" Pyrrha asked, hoping her friend would say yes.

"Let's go!"

000

"So you like bacon huh?" Ren asked awkwardly as Naruto was about to take a bite of his pizza.

Naruto paused, closed his mouth and looked over at his teammate for a moment. "Sure?"

"Usually I get pepperoni and sausage but bacon is good too."

Naruto set down his slice with a sigh "Ren... why don't you tell me a little about yourself? You and Nora are childhood friends right? Where did you guys grow up?"

"Well, as you know our parents were teammates so Nora and I have known each other since we were babies and we grew up in a small village called Whitebranch just a bit south of Vale." Ren answered.

"Oh, so you're a native then?"

"Born and raised." Ren confirmed.

"That's cool." Naruto said with interest.

"What about you?" Ren asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Well I lived in an orphanage for the first couple of years before living on my own. When I was old enough I joined the military school and learned how to become a weapon for me country." Naruto gave him the quick rundown of his childhood back at the Leaf.

"Did you... have any friends?" Ren hesitated to ask since Naruto didn't particularly mention anyone in his quick and vague overview.

"I had a few after I join the military academy but I probably won't see them again." Naruto answered.

"Right then." Ren figured there was a land mine waiting to pop there and he deftly decided to avoid it. "So, hows the dancing coming?"

"Good, good. Pyrrha's a great teacher." Naruto told him.

"Yeah? So uh..." God he was going to hate himself for this but Nora pleaded with him to ask. "How do you feel about Pyrrha?"

Naruto blinked slowly "She's a good friend and strong warrior." He answered diplomatically.

"Well yeah but... how do you feel about her?" Ren pressed.

Naruto crossed his arms "Ren you're terrible at this, just speak plainly like you usually do."

"Do you like Pyrrha romantically?" The black-haired boy relented.

"No." Naruto answered automatically. "Could I? Possibly, I can honestly say that Pyrrha is my type but do I have any feelings for her at the moment? No, not really."

Ren let out a breath he was holding in "Sorry, Nora asked me to ask you."

Naruto chuckled "I don't doubt it, but it's nothing Pyrrha doesn't already know. We've already established that we were going as friends and she's perfectly fine with it."

Ren wasn't so sure about that, given that both he and Nora have seen the way Pyrrha looks at Naruto. "Are you sure about that."

Naruto picked up his piece of pizza and took a bite of it. Cold. Dammit. "Maybe?"

000

"So Pyrrha," Nora began as their group sat in a cafe. "Are you finally going to make a move on Naruto?"

Pyrrha blushed and stammered slightly "I d-don't know what you mean."

"Oh come on, we all know you've got the hots for Whiskers. It's pretty obvious." Yang teased.

Ruby snorted "Yeah, you look at Naruto the same way I do to a batch of fresh-baked cookies."

"I wouldn't go that far sis, I've heard you eat cookies when you've thought you were alone. If I didn't know better I'd think you were exploring yourself."

Ruby blushed beet red, matching Pyrrha's own"YAAAAAAAG!"

The rest of the girls laughed with both Pyrrha and Ruby eventually joining in. "I doubt anything will happen." Pyrrha suddenly said. "Naruto and I agreed that we would only go as friends."

"Maybe he's just shy?" Weiss spoke drawing odd looks from the others "What? We've already established that Naruto is a secretive person, maybe he just acts that way because secretly he's shy?" She explained, drawing from her own experience of showing an outer layer of confidence to hide what's really going on inside.

"Nah." Nora dismissed the idea instantly "You see the boss is actually smart. Like really smart, and cunning. I bet he staged that whole thing at lunch just to get Pyrrha as his date and not only that but our two lovebirds have spent all their free time together 'teaching' Naruto how to dance."

Weiss hummed, the theory had some merit "How are his 'lessons' going by the way?"

"Oh, very well." Pyrrha answered happily "Naruto is actually a very good dancer."

"Naruto is also a really good actor." Ruby added with a shrug "Just saying."

"Wouldn't be hard to fake being 'bad' at dancing." Yang said with a smirk. "The devious blonde bastard."

"See?" Nora said to Pyrrha "Everything points to Pyrruto."

"I somehow doubt that." Blake felt the need to speak up. It only took a moderate amount of effort to keep the irritation and jealousy out of her voice. "Naruto has never showed more than a passing interest in anything other than the White Fang. You would probably have a better chance of him noticing you if you started wearing a Grimm mask."

"Or if you had cute little cat ears." Ruby added quietly but it was still heard by Blake who sent a tiny glare at her.

"Are you seriously still on that? I haven't even spoken to him since that night." Blake told them.

"Why have you been avoiding him?" Weiss wondered.

Blake sat back in her seat "I learned just how far he's willing to go for his goals."

Yang shrugged "What's the big deal? So he blew up a building, from what he told me the White Fang were planning to detonate the bomb during the Festival. It was the best option at the time right?"

"Something like that..." Blake responded bitterly.

Pyrrha had also learned what happened on that night from Naruto but she couldn't help the feeling that there was something he was leaving out. Something Blake seemingly hadn't told her team either. "Well it was a fun afternoon but we may wish to head back to the school soon, it's almost dinner time."

"Second!" Nora agreed.

000

Naruto and Ren were both furiously tapping at the buttons on the cabinet until the words K.O. popped up on the screen "WOOT!" Naruto cheered at his victory.

Ren laughed "Good game, I thought I had you there."

"You almost did If my special hadn't come up when it did." Naruto admitted as they went to go sit down.

Ren checked his phone seeing that he had gotten a message from Nora. 'I hope you guys weren't too bored, we're heading back. -Boop' "The girls are on their way back to the school, want to head out?"

"Yeah sure." Naruto said with a nod as they exited the arcade they found while walking around, exploring the city.

"You know, I really enjoyed hanging out with you today Naruto. I've really only ever had Nora as a friend and she usually wants to do... girly stuff." Ren spoke honestly.

"Me too Ren." Naruto said with a grin "It was a bit awkward at first but we should do it again."

"Definitely." Ren agreed.

"Well look at that." Naruto said as he pointed over towards the terminals. He gave a sharp whistle drawing the attention of a few people there. "Hey girls!" He called out.

"Naruto!" Pyrrha said as she started walking over towards them followed by Nora.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Nora asked.

"Ren and I decided to get some pizza and hang out for a while." Naruto told her.

"It was fun." Ren said with a smile.

"Well I'm glad you two enjoyed yourselves." Pyrrha said kindly.

"What about you two? Pick out some nice dresses?" Naruto asked.

"Yup!" Nora said with a grin.

"I belive so, yes." Pyrrha said as the four walked over to team RWBY.

"Evening ladies." Naruto said with a nod "Any luck?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be turning heads all night!" Yang boasted, "Play your cards right and I might just save you a dance Blondie."

Naruto snorted "I'll keep that in mind."

"So what were you guys up to?" Ruby asked.

"Pizza and Video games." Ren answered this time.

Weiss scoffed "Boys."

000

Watching them from behind a pillar was a black-haired girl with emerald-green eyes in a black tank top and skirt. Her eyes narrowed at how close Pyrrha Nikos was to her man. If that red-haired slut even so much as touches him, then she's taking a limb off! Cinder's plan be damned.

For now though she would have to wait. She'll have to use her disguise for the festival to grow closer to Naruto but with it she would at least be able to communicate normally with him like all lovers should.

A faint scar shimmered into existence across her throat only to be covered up moments later by a silvery choker with a black ribbon on it. An adoring look crossed her face as she looked upon her lover's visage.

They didn't know. He had them all fooled, they only saw the mask and not the monster within. But she saw him for what he was, what he was capable of. "I see the real you my love."

Her voice came out soft and raspy from years of unuse but it carried a haunting yet melodic sound to it. "Only another monster is worthy of you." Only her. Only she, with her special eyes could see the massive demon sleeping within.

000

Naruto suddenly shivered as the group entered the shuttle. "Are you alright Naruto?" Pyrrha asked.

He gave her a disarming smile and nodded "Yeah, just... a bit cold is all."

"It is a little nippy, probably should have brought a jacket." Yang agreed.

"Mmm." Naruto hummed back as he focused on his negative emotion sense and he quickly found a fountain of malice, jealousy, hatred and... lust? He suddenly frowned knowing exactly who this person was from his clone's memories. "Neo..."

"Did you say something?" Pyrrha asked, apparently having taken the seat next to him without him noticing.

"I was just thinking about what type of ice cream I'll destroy first when spring comes along, I was thinking Neopolitan." Naruto answered.

"OOH OHH! I want strawberry!" Ruby said as she stuck her arm in the air as if answering a question in class.

"I'm rather partial to Vanilla myself." Weiss added.

"Nah, Choco-train all the way! Choo Choo!" Yang piped in.

Blake deadpanned "Then why not just have Neopolitan like Naruto? It's all three of those."

Naruto turned towards his not-girlfriend "What about you Blake? Have a favorite flavor?"

Blake shrugged "I'm not much of a sweets person."

"Oh come on, there's gotta be one kind you like right?" Naruto continued, hoping he would be able to learn a little more about her.

Blake huffed "Fine, chocolate chip."

Naruto grinned "Ah! See that wasn't so hard was it?" He then turned towards his team "What about you guys?"

"I usually get pistachio." Ren answered.

"I LOOOOVE RAINBOW SHERBET~" Nora cheered from beside him.

"What about you Pyrrha?" Naruto asked as he turned towards his partner.

"I don't often eat ice cream but I do enjoy a scoop of mint chocolate chip. It is very refreshing on a summer hot day." Pyrrha told him with a smile. "Perhaps we should all go out for ice cream in this summer to celebrate our first year here?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea Pyrrha!" Ruby chirped, excitement already coursing through her.

Naruto silently watched as the two teams interacted. It reminded him so much of the simpler times between him and the Konoha eleven. And Sai I guess... He mentally added.

Neo had finally left his sensory range as the shuttle finally begun picking up speed and just exited Vale city. I'm pretty sure she's already found out who I am. Her damn stalk-o-meter is beyond amazing.

Naruto wondered if the psycho Hinata from that parallel world would be friends with Neo. Nah He shook his head in amusement They'd probably kill each other.

000

Team NRVN had spent their Saturday helping team RWBY with the party decorations and now that it was finished the ceremonial hall looked great. All that was left were a few finishing touches but they all decided to leave that for Sunday morning.

Naruto and Pyrrha slowly waltzed to the music as they conversed. "So you excited for tomorrow?"

Pyrrha smiled widely and nodded "I'm sure it will be quite enjoyable."

"So have any guys asked you to reserve them a dance?" Naruto wondered.

Pyrrha stiffled a giggle and shook her head "No, I believe most boys our age are intimidated by me."

Naruto nodded in understanding "Well their loss."

"What about you?" Pyrrha asked, wondering if perhaps she would be sharing him with Naruto's secret crush.

"Just the girls." Naruto said with a shrug. "I think most everyone our age is intimidated by me."

Pyrrha laughed again this time unable to stop it. "You do make for a very imposing figure Naruto. Our fellow students have seen you take down our team by yourself and while I don't like enjoy boasting I like to think myself a very good duelist and simply besting me would be considered a feat by most. Let alone me and two other skilled people who are very familiar with how the other fights."

Naruto nodded along "Fair enough." He admitted "Though much like your case they only see the warrior, not the person."

"Exactly." Pyrrha agreed.

Naruto glanced at the clock on the wall "Huh, It's almost nine already. I hadn't realised it had already gotten that late."

*Beep* *Beep* "What was that?" Pyrrha asked at the sound of the odd noise.

"Oh sorry that was my scroll." Naruto said as he let go of her and pulled the device from his back pocket.

'Room 204. 5 minutes. Be there -Swirl.' The message read. Well shit.

"Is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked seeing the annoyed look on his face.

"Ah yeah, listen I'm sorry to bail on you but I have to go deal with something real quick. I'll catch you later Pyrr." Naruto said as he hurried towards the door.

"Ah wait I-" Naruto had already left the room by that point. She sighed and went over to her Scroll that was on a desk and turned off the music. A concerned look came upon her face as she looked towards the door and held her phone to her chest. "Be careful."

000

Naruto frowned as he reached room 204. A mostly unused room on the second floor, he wasn't even mildly surprised that Neo had already found it. "Might as well get this over with..."

He opened the door and entered seeing only a solitary figure sitting on the teacher's desk. Her hair and clothing was black but her emerald-green eyes shined in the night's light. Even with the different face he knew exactly who this was. "Really Neo, Swirl?"

A small, teasing smile came upon her face. "What? Neapolitan ice cream is a swirl and your name means swirl or whirlpool in the old tongue doesn't it? It's just another thing we share in common."

"You can talk." He said carefully. It was a raspy yet distinctly feminine voice, he imagined the sound from an old rusty bell would be similar. Haunting tinkling in a shell of its former glory.

"Thank you for noticing." She said, sauntering over to him as she did so. Her smaller stature didn't deter her as she strode right up to him and trailed a slender finger under his jaw bone. "You are the only other person still alive who has heard my voice."

"Why's that?" Naruto wondered.

She reached for the choker around her neck and unclasped it to show the long faded scar across her throat. "I don't trust easily." She admitted, sliding the same finger across the scar.

Naruto looked at the scar and blinked in confusion "And yet you trust me?"

"No." She laughed at the face he made "I don't trust anyone but... I've come to like you."

"So what happens now?" He questioned.

"Nothing." She told him with a smirk "You see my dear Naruto, I'm a mercenary. An agent of chaos. I don't care which side I choose as long as it lets me do as I please. And you are about to unleash a whole lot of fun upon Vale."

"You know I'm actively working against Cinder and you aren't even going to attempt to stop me?" Naruto wondered.

Neo giggled once more "I already told you, I serve no one but myself. But let's just say that I could see myself under you... especially since you plan to launch your own war and use these people as your pawns." She muttered sensually.

"I'm sure you can, you positively reek of lust right now." Naruto muttered. He hadn't seen anyone this turned on by the thought of bringing pain to others since Anko.

"Do I?" Neo considered that information "Possibly, you are the only man that's ever caught my attention. But it seems the same is not true for you."

Naruto could sense that her emotions switched straight to jealousy and loathing. "You mean Pyrrha."

"Yeah, that bitch." Neo huffed "Why do you even keep her around? Is my love not enough for you!?"

"She's necessary." He answered quickly, hoping it would calm her down. Naruto felt sick for what he was about to do but it would be worth it in the long run. He hoped. "Cinder needs her. Even if I have to kill Pyrrha myself, Cinder isn't getting her alive and keeping her close is the best way to ensure that doesn't happen."

"You're right," Neo said "Cinder does want her. Why? I don't know but she does."

"Then you understand why I have to get close to Pyrrha until she trusts me." Naruto said.

Neo scowled "Of course I do, this isn't my first undercover job." With a grunt she crossed her arms and looked away "Still doesn't mean I have to like it. You're my man and I'm not letting some red-haired bimbo take you away from me."

He took a deep breath through his nose and quietly let it out. "Yeah well sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to." Naruto said as he closed the gap between them and claimed her lips, while surprised, Neo readily admitted him entrance into her mouth. Her hands slid under his shirt to lovingly trace his multitude of scars.

When they separated Naruto looked her in the eyes which had reverted into their normal hetero-chromatic colors along with the rest of her features. "You're not the only one experienced in illusions."

Neo looked at herself and smiled, the smile turning into a giggle and then a laugh. Once she finally calmed down, throat burning from laughing she finally pinned him with a lustful stare. "Can you really see me though?"

"I can practically taste the malice that fills your heart and the hatred in your soul. You would like nothing more than to see this world burn wouldn't you? I can see it in your eyes, that's the real you." Her smile widened at his answer "Vale, The White Fang, hell the World. We can light the fuse right now, all I would need from you is to find out why Pyrrha is so important to Cinder."

Neo's eyes lit up in excitement "I've seen what you can do, both as a White Fang and as a 'Student' I've gathered a lot on you and your Mimic ability. It's really quite fascinating how you can steal other's powers and use them as your own."

Naruto smirked and silently invoked part of Kurama's dormant chakra to transform him into Neo. "Isn't it?"

Neo grinned seeing her own reflection and traced the scar on her copy's throat, every groove and bump was exactly the same. "Cinder is right to fear you my love," Her grin widened "You truly are terrifying."

"So what do you say?" Naruto asked in Neo's voice.

"Why is she so important to you?" Neo wondered why he would go so far for that girl.

"She isn't," Naruto said "Destroying each and every one of Cinder's plans is. Watching Cinder's world crash down around her during her moment of victory would bring me the greatest joy in this world. This isn't about saving Pyrrha but crushing all of Cinder's hopes and dreams."

He chuckled menacingly "Yeah... this isn't about protecting but about revenge."

Neo took a moment to consider his words before a small smile lit up her face "Revenge? Well that's certainly something I can get behind." She stood on the tips of her heels and pulled him down slightly to meet his lips in another heated kiss. "Just save me a dance alright?"

"Of course." He said replied as Neo made her exit, swaying her hips slightly as she walked away. Once the woman left the room Naruto spit the taste of cheap ice-cream flavored lipstick out of his mouth and grimaced. "And sometimes we have to do things we really don't want to."

Naruto wiped the rest of the lipstick off with his shirt sleeve and looked at the small stain it left with disdain. Yep, definitely destroying Neopolitan first.

*Chapter 16*: A Dance to Remember

Shattered World

"So, what's got you so nervous?" Naruto asked as he did his best to comb his unruly hair down, really it was an exercise in futility but he was sure that Pyrrha would at least appreciate the effort.

Ren said nothing at his outfit with a mild frown. Naruto's eyes caught his in the mirror and the boy sighed "It's nothing."

"Hmm." Naruto set down his comb and glanced at his friend "Even though we aren't super close I'd like to think that we're starting to become good friends and comrades so even if you can't tell me, just know that I'm here to for you man."

Ren smiled, and his eyes showed appreciation "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto patted him on the shoulder "No problem, buddy."

"I was thinking about asking Nora out tonight." Ren said finally said.

Naruto paused, hand still on Ren's shoulder. "Oh? Huh... OK."

"OK?" Ren asked with a laugh "Is that the best you can offer?"

"Well I'd wish you luck but I don't think you'll need it." Naruto said as he picked up his comb and stuffed it inside of his jacket pocket. He turned towards his friend and smiled "Boop means yes."

"What?" Ren asked, confusion drawn on his face as he followed his captain out of the first-year boy's locker room.

Naruto laughed knowingly "You'll understand when it happens."

They arrived at their dorm just in time to see Ruby and Blake leaving. Naruto grinned "Hey girls, looking good."

"Ah-ha... thanks." Ruby replied with an embarrassed look after she wobbled slightly "Stupid heels."

"I guess even someone like you can clean up." Blake said drawing the blonde's attention. He was about to retort but the small teasing smile on her face stayed his tongue. She was in a dark purple dress that had a slit cut into the right thigh.

"You really do look lovely tonight Blake." Naruto said as their eyes met. "I still have dibs on the last dance right?"

"Of course," She replied "How else will I win the bet?"

"Well I'm looking forward to showing you up so don't get too tired out there tonight." Naruto said with a grin as he and Ren waved good-bye to the girls and continued down the hall towards their own dorm.

Naruto was about to knock on the door before his malice senses went off. His eyes flickered towards the corner at the end of the hall where a head of black hair and greens eyes was poking out from. "For Dust's sake..." He grumbled. "I'll be back in a sec, see if the girls are ready I just need to go talk with someone real quick."

"Uh... ok?" Was all Ren was able to reply with before Naruto briskly walked towards the end of the hall.

"What are you doing here Ne-" He began only to be quickly silenced by her finger.

"Shuush It's Noire while I'm here." She corrected before twirling, giving him a good look of her dress "What do you think?"

She was in a short black lace dress with glowing green dust accents that complimented her eyes. Instead of her usual twin ponytails she let her hair flow down freely with her choker firmly in place on her neck.

"You look great Noire, I'll be sure to save you that dance." He said with a smirk "Though I'm sure you evening will be full of dance requests."

"Perhaps," She said sulkily, strutting up to him and placing a hand on his chest which snaked up higher until it cupped the back of his head. "but you don't need to worry. I'll always belong to you."

Naruto allowed her to pulled him down and responded to her kiss, trying to ignore the artificial ice-cream flavored lipstick. It tasted like shame to him. She winked as she pulled away, cheeks colored more than they already were. "I'll see you out there, Love."

"Right." Naruto said as she walked away, adding a bit more sway to her hips than necessary. The blonde pulled out his Scroll and used the reflective surface to check his lips and made sure to clean off any left over lipstick with his hand before returning to the hallway.

"Oh, there he is!" Ren exclaimed, catching sight of him.

Naruto smiled apologetically "Yeah sorry, I had to talk with someone." He noticed only Ren and Nora were standing at the door however "Where's Pyrrha?"

"Oh! She was just putting on some finishing touches but she'll be right out!" Nora explained, while latching on to Ren's side "We'll meet you guys there!"

"Why don't we just all go-" Naruto began only to be cut off by Nora.

"Can't hear you!"

"I said why don't-" He tried again.

"CAN"T HEAR YOU!" Nora shouted from halfway down the hall.

"Well then..."

A light giggle came from the doorway drawing his attention and he took a moment to appreciate the young woman in front of him.

She was in a wine red dress that perfectly matched her hair which was done up in her usual pony tail. It was a backless number with a long cut half way up her leg and it fit her perfectly, showing off her developing womanly curves.

"Wow, you look amazing Pyrrha." He said genuinely.

"Thank you, you look very nice as well." She replied with a shy smile and a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Shall we get going?"

"Let's." Naruto said with a grin as her offered her his arm which she gladly took.

000

"Where did you run off to?" Mercury asked as he tightened his bow tie.

Neo quickly typed out a message and showed it to him 'Was keeping an eye on my targets, they're going together. Makes my job easier.'

"Fair enough." He said with a nod "Yo Emerald, you done yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses." Emerald said as she exited the small dorm bathroom. "Let's get going."

"We'll see you guys there." Mercury told Neo who simply nodded and sat on her bed, patiently waiting for their boss.

The bathroom door opened once more and Cinder stepped out in a black leather bodysuit. "Did your targets make it to the ball room?" Neo nodded and stood up. "Excellent. Head to the dance and keep any of our new friends from wandering out too far."

The petite woman simply saluted and left the room. Cinder smirked as she went over to her bed and picked up a small mask. "Begin the operation." She said while pressing into the com in her ear.

Neo who had walked out of the room also held a smirk as she sent out a text message. 'The Queen is on the move.'

While working for Roman and Cinder has been interesting, plotting to destroy both sides would be more interesting. She held a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggle that threatened to leave it. Such wonderful chaos you will bring, My Love.

000

In a dark room, lit only by the light of monitor screens a small beep ran out followed by a chuckle. "The payoff is definitely worth the hassle."

The trap was set, all that was left was for Cinder to spring it.

000

"Heya guys, lookin' good!" Yang complimented Naruto and Pyrrha as they entered the room.

"They got you working the door Yang?" Naruto asked as they walked up to the podium.

Yang grunted "Yeah, comes with the job unfortunately."

"How did they even convince you to do it anyway? I would have thought you'd rather be in there partying it up." Naruto asked getting a shrug from his fellow blonde.

"Came with a few perks." Yang answered before leaning over slightly to whisper, "I convinced Ozpin to give my team first pick on missions next week."

Naruto laughed "Well enjoy your podium, we're going to go have some fun though."

"Enjoy the rest of the night." Pyrrha said kindly as the two walked to the dance floor.

"I get relieved in an hour, don't forget to save me a dance Blondie!" She called out, only getting a hand wave in response. With a sigh she turned back towards the door. "Dammit, he's right, now I'm bored."

Once inside they spotted their teammates and made their way to them. "You made it." Ren noted as he saw them first.

"Yeah, thanks for ditching us by the way." Naruto replied sarcastically. The current song started to die down and soon the next one started, it was more pop than ballroom. "Well I can Tango and Waltz but I don't think I've been properly instructed on how to Douglass quite yet."

Pyrrha giggled and pulled him into the dance, with Naruto easily following her lead. "For a supposedly bad dancer, you picked this one up very quickly."

"What flailing my arms to a beat?" Naruto joked "Yeah I guess I did."

Even with his earlier misgivings he was actually enjoying himself more than he thought he would. While he wasn't lying when he said he couldn't dance, it was more accurate to say he never had the chance to actually practice it but following steps in a flowing fashion was much like sparring. You acted and reacted to your partner's moves in a constant back and forth.

Naruto was glad that Pyrrha was truly enjoying being a normal girl for a while and just having some fun. With the events to come he could agree to unwinding for one night, Kami knows there might not be many more to come when Kaguya starts her plans in earnest.

Even with Cinder making her move tonight, he already had a plan in place for her so he could allow himself to relax and enjoy the night. After a few songs Team NRVN picked out a table with Ren and Naruto going for some drinks.

"Are you enjoying the dance the so far Naruto?" Ren asked as they reached the punch bowl.

"Oddly enough I am." He answered "What about you? Still plan on telling Nora tonight?"

Ren nodded "I am."

"Want to me to keep Pyrrha back for a while after the dance so you two can have some privacy?" Naruto asked as they finished pouring the drink and began back towards the table.

"Maybe for a few minutes, but if Nora agrees then I doubt she'll be very quiet about it." Ren told his friend "You two would probably know immediately afterwards."

"Well, here's to you friend." Naruto said as he raised his glass and took a drink from it. Ren smiled and took a drink as well.

000

Neo smiled the whole way to the ballroom, grinning slightly as she joined her teammates who were taking a short break. Both entirely unaware of her duplicity. Her eyes homed in on the one that remained on her mind, he was also taking a break with his 'team' it seemed.

Then her eyes flickered over towards the door as one of their targets left the room. With a sigh she stood up gaining the attention of her temporary teammates. 'Red is outside.' She quickly typed.

They nodded and Neo quickly left the room, following closely behind the girl. Naruto explicitly stated that no one was to interfere his official meeting with Cinder and with a few well placed illusions he had the kid walking around in circles.

"I swear I just passed that tree?" Ruby pondered as she walked past said tree, with Neo quietly snickering behind it as she messed with the little girl's mind.

Meanwhile at the communications tower, a masked Cinder was making quick work of the guards. The smirk on her face told of her satisfaction in the ease of her mission. She exited the elevator and entered her destination and the opening move of the Third Crusade.

Suddenly the walls and windows all began to glow with odd runes and glyphs. What was this? She hadn't heard of any extra security.

"Well hello sexy." A voice drawled instantly putting her on edge as she didn't sense anyone else in the room. Her eyes carefully scanned the room and still couldn't find the source. "I didn't know tonight's ball was a masquerade party, your outfit actually reminds me of a certain secret agent from a movie I watched recently."

"Who's there!?" Cinder demanded, blades drawn and ready as she desperately tried to find the speaker.

"I am." The voice whispered into her left ear making her quickly swing her weapons in reaction. "Jumpy one, aintcha?"

Cinder gripped her scimitars even tighter as the man appeared before her. "Allow me to formally introduce myself Cinder, I am Uzumaki Naruto."

Her eyes widened in recognition but she quickly schooled her features back into an impassive glare. Naruto easily caught the slip however "Ah, so you know me then. Good, that will make this easier."

Her eyes subtle shifted around looking for the quickest exit but his next words ended her hopes "Sorry but I already placed seals on the exits, you only leave when I say you can."

"Speak then." She said irritably. This was the man who Salem had warned her about, the only being who could stand against a Goddess. Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto smiled in amusement, such a petulant child. "I have a message for your Her. I felt her and I know she's awake so I'm almost certain that she knows I'm awake also."

He paused to pull out a chair and sit down, intentionally making himself look relaxed to show Cinder how little of a threat he saw her as. "Next time you see her, I want you to tell her that I'm coming after her. I'm coming for her and this time I'm not going to seal her, I'm going to kill her."

Cinder scoffed "Such arrogance, you truly think you could match Lady Salem?"

"Salem? Is that what that witch is calling herself now?" Naruto snorted in amusement "Tell Kaguya that her days are numbered and I'm going to enjoy tearing apart her schemes."

Once his sentence had ended the seal around the roof faded and the elevator door opened behind her. "Do feel free to enjoy the rest of the dance though, take this chance to enjoy yourself before your whole world starts to crumble around you."

Her whole body felt as if it was crushed under the weight of the great oceans, swallowed whole by a massive maelstrom. The only time she ever felt power like this was when she was in the presence of Salem.

Cinder's breath picked up and she could see it forcing in front of her, the sudden coldness in the room was a more literal thing than figurative. She needed to leave, now! Move... move... MOVE! Her body refused to respond as the monster took calm, measured steps towards her.

"N-No... stop..." She pleaded.

Naruto bent down, eyes closed in a kindly smile though to her it looked like she was looking a demon in the eye. "Let this be a lesson to you girl. You are stuck in the middle of an ancient battle between two titans. I'll give you this one chance to escape, if you abandon your ambitions then I'll leave you be but if you continue to stand in my way." His eyes flashed open, glowing a deep menacing red much like Salem's own "I. Will. Crush. You."

Then his eyes closed once more and the smile returned "Understand?"

The pressure on her body suddenly lifted and she scrambled into the elevator, hastily pushing any button she could to get away from the Demon in front of her. His smile remained as the doors slowly closed.

When the elevator finally began moving so did her breath return to her. She finally understood. Salem's words were never trivial, when she said that Uzumaki Naruto was the only one who could stop her she was entirely serious.

Only a demon like that could match the divine powers of a goddess. Slowly she picked herself up off the floor and patiently waited for the doors to open, transforming her outfit into a dress before she reached the bottom floor.

It took the whole ride down before she could compose herself but her breathing was finally back under control and her emotions in check. Today she learned a valuable lesson but it would not deter her from her mission, only strengthen her resolve to see her Lady returned to this world if only to remove that Monster from it.

000

Naruto twirled Yang around and caught her just in time as the song ended. Yang was grinning as Naruto helped her up, her face red from exertion. "Damn Whiskers, two weeks and your already that good? You know I had my bets on Blakey but I'm not so sure now."

"Heh, thanks." Naruto said as he walked her back to the podium seeing as her break was over. "You're not so bad yourself Yang."

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet." Yang replied heatedly, leaning back enough to give him a good look at her cleavage "You should come clubbing with me some time, I'll show you a good time Blondie."

Naruto laughed "Right. I'll catch you later Yang."

"Yep!" She said with a wave.

Naruto walked back to his team's table and sat down next to Pyrrha "Hey sorry for taking so long, Yang insisted that she use up her whole break 'testing me out' to see if I was good enough for her partner."

Pyrrha giggled "No I'm fine, it looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"Well you know what they say about blondes having more fun." Naruto replied "Mind if I rest for a bit before we hit the floor? Dancing is surprisingly exhausting."

"No, that's fine. Let's talk for a while." Pyrrha said as she turned her chair towards him.

"Sure, what about?" Naruto asked, having to talk a little louder as the music had switched to heavier electronic song.

"Well..." She seemed hesitant Naruto noticed "The girls brought up a theory that I wanted to ask you about. If that's ok with you?"

"A theory?" Naruto wondered.

"They thought that you actually already knew how to dance prior to our lessons." Pyrrha gave him the more condensed version while keeping out the embarrassing parts.

"Huh... well I can honestly tell you that the first time I ever actually danced with someone was when we started practicing together. Moving in rhythm wasn't too difficult when I began comparing it to a fight of reading your opponent's moves and reacting to them.

Pyrrha giggled "Somehow I'm not surprised that the reason you picked up dancing so quickly is because you turned it into a battle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, acting as if he was offended.

She smiled at his antics "If nothing else Naruto Uzumaki is a fighter." Pyrrha teased good-naturedly.

Naruto grinned "Guess I can't really argue with that."

The current song was just about over so Naruto stood and offered his hand to Pyrrha who gladly took it and followed him to the dance floor. The next song started up with an acoustic guitar flair, Naruto looked around seeing some of the guys shy away and move their partners towards the tables.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Pyrrha "Want to show these guys how this is done?"

"Are you sure? We only tried it once." Pyrrha asked, her cheeks already brightening at the southern tune.

"I think we'll be fine," Naruto said as he brought her in close and they began flowing to the beat "I've been practicing a bit extra." He whispered.

He twirled her about to the rhythm of the song, holding her close as he perfectly led them through the Vacuo version of the tango. The students from Vacuo had also joined them as they were more comfortable with their native style of dancing that the other foreign students were.

Neither of them noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch them as The Invincible Girl and The Indomitable Guy as they had taken to calling him glided across the dance floor.

Just before the song ended Naruto dipped Pyrrha his other hand holding on to her exposed leg firmly. Her face lip up as they were only inches apart from one another, his bright sapphire eyes peering deeply into her own shining emerald.

Clapping came from all around them as they came out of their own little world and rejoined the one around them. Naruto helped her back upright they both looked around as the students cheered at them "Shall we give em a bow?"

Pyrrha laughed, glad that Naruto was always able to so easy cut through tension. He took her hand and they both gave a short bow earning them more cheers as they left the dance floor and returned to their table.

Watching from across the room was Blake who had decided to sit with Sun and Neptune for the evening. It was hard to keep the small frown off her face just as it was hard for her not to admit that they looked good together.

"So what's all that about anyway?"

"Huh?" Blake asked as she turned to Sun.

"Why aren't you here with him?" He asked "Did you two break-up?"

"N-No. We were never together to begin with." She answered, caught off guard by his question.

"Huh, so that night that you two snuck out of Beacon was just a fling or something?" The monkey faunus wondered "Actually, nevermind, it's none of my business."

"Nothing happened that night, I was just going through some issues with my team and I needed to get away from a while. Naruto suggested we head into the city for a while. He has a small apartment in Vale and we just hung out watching trash tv and crappy movies." She said with a hint of a smile.

Sun nodded "So then I gotta ask again... why aren't you here with him? Don't get me wrong I'm having fun but it feels like I'm in the way of something."

Blake smiled apologetically "It's... complicated. Thank you for being so nice about it though."

"Yeah I know, and because I'm such a nice guy I'm not gonna get mad if you do ask him for a dance or two." He said "Just save me the last dance?"

She gave him another apologetic look "Sorry Sun, unfortunately my last dance is already reserved."

Sun blinked "By who?"

"Him." She said with a chuckle "We had a bet on who would be the better dancer by the end of the night."

"Huh." Sun looked over at Naruto who was laughing at something Nora said "Well I'm not gonna lie, he had some moves. Sure as hell can dance better than me and I was born in Vacuo."

"So was he." Blake told him "Did you ever see him while you were there?"

"Nah, can't say I have. He's got the Vacuo look though but I never went to Shade so I wouldn't have taken any classes with him." Sun explained.

"What about Primary school?" Blake wondered.

"Shade is Primary and Secondary, Vacuo didn't separate the two like the other three kingdoms so it's just one giant school." Sun told her.

"Oh that makes sense... I always found it odd that Naruto said he was from Shade when there are students from Shade here for the Festival." She admitted.

"Yeah it's just one mega-school, does cause some confusion at times though." Sun confirmed. "So want to hit the dance floor again?"

"Sure."

000

Neo was actually getting bored with leading Ruby around in circles so she was glad when Cinder left the communications tower but instead of heading towards the ballroom she walked back towards the dorms.

Her Scroll beeped a moment later and she received a group message from her 'Abort Mission.' Huh, guess Naruto gave her a good scare. She couldn't help the smirk that her lips slid into. This double-agent deal is actually pretty fun.

"You can let her go now." A soft voice commander her and she dropped the illusion without question.

"What did you do to her? She seemed pretty spooked." Neo asked from the rooftop where she watched the fifteen year old run around for the past ten minutes from.

"I showed her our difference in power." Naruto's clone responded.

"So you released the beast?" Neo surmised.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. While it was a pretty common saying Naruto felt as if Neo picked those words out specifically. "You could say that."

"I can't wait until I get to see you release that power." She giggled, a pinch of madness in her eyes as they glazed over imagining the untold terror the monster living within her Love could unleash.

Naruto narrowed his eyes "What power do you mean specifically?"

"Your inner monster." Neo answered as if it was obvious "I've seen it you know? Pretty scary, it's probably scarier when it wakes up huh?"

His eyes widened dramatically, unable to hide his surprise "How do you know about him?" He demanded.

Neo blinked in confusion before reaching her own conclusion "Oh, were you keeping it a secret?" She giggled "Silly Naruto, I know everything about you... my special eyes can see what someone truly is like on the inside."

"And when you look at me... you see him?" He questioned.

Neo nodded "A beast of destruction, of calamity... of malice." She grinned widely "I first saw him when we went on that mission together. I wanted to know more about you so I took a look and inside I saw a sleeping monster. From that moment on I knew I had to be by your side."

"So that's what started all of this? Because you can see him?" Naruto summarized "I suppose a part of me will always be Kurama."

"Kurama..." Neo tasted the word and found it to her liking "I don't know why but I like the name, it reminds me of the old tongue."

"You keep saying the old tongue, what do you of it?" Naruto wondered.

When Naruto first arrived he noted that they spoke a very similar language to his but with what seemed like a strange dialect, it was only later when he tried reading the signs that he noticed that it was a different alphabet altogether and he pushed his clones to learn how to read and write as quickly as possible before he was due to start at Beacon.

Neo hummed "Not much, before my mother died she used to tell me that our family was of the 'Old Blood' from the time before the Catastrophe. That our hair color and eyes have been around since that time."

Pink hair. Illusions. Special eyes that could see Kurama? No but that couldn't be could it? I killed Sasuke, I know I did... Then he remembered something from the time after the war. The clean-up as it were. They had raided one ofOrochimaru's labs in search for the Sannin and Sakura mentioned that they had found some samples of Sasuke's DNA stashed away. No... Sakura... you didn't? Did you?

"You alright?" Neo asked, looking at him funny.

"Neo, what's your family name?" He felt the need to ask.

The girl shrugged "My mom never told me, she always said that it was a dangerous name that would only make my life harder" She scoffed "Fat lot of good that did me."

Naruto gazed at her for a few moment before nodding. If she is an Uchiha then it's best to make sure that the line ends with hers. The last thing we need in this world is a living Uchiha... I guess that explains why she's batshit crazy.

Wait a second, what was the condition for unlocking the Sharingan? "Hey Neo, when did you first... uh notice you had special eyes?"

"The night my mother died, she was all I had so when she died I was all alone." Neo answered dutifully, delighted that Naruto was taking an interest in her.

"I see, strong emotional pain... that sounds about right." Naruto mumbled to himself. "And how did your mother die?"

"I killed her." Neo responded.

Naruto paused his musing and looked up, catching her eyes "I'm sorry, one more time?"

"The voice in my head told me that if I killed my mother than I would be stronger. They were right, my eyes were able to see the world for what it was from that night on and I could make my dreams come true." Neo said happily which disturbed Naruto.

"By dreams... do you mean your illusions?" He asked her carefully.

"Mhmm," Neo leaned in closely as if to whisper a great secret to him "Most people think that my semblance is illusions but they would be wrong, that's just my eyes!" She giggled girlishly afterwards.

Naruto hesitated to asked his next question but he needed to know so he henged just his voice to sound like that of his ancient enemy "Does the voice sound like this?"

Neo's eyes widened "H-How did you know?"

He frowned deeply What the hell are you playing at Kaguya?

"When does the voice speak to you?" Naruto demanded, his eyes hard.

"Only on blood moons? But it missed the last one." She answered, unsure about why he suddenly looked so serious. "Why?"

"That voice." Naruto growled "Don't listen to it anymore."

"What? Why not?" She hesitated, not wanting to tell her Love no but the voice had only ever made her stronger before.

"It's either that voice or me but if you keep heading it's whispers it will try to turn you against me." He told her. "Will you keep listening to it?"

"No... " She seemed hesitant before shaking her head and stating it more clearly a second time. "No, you are the only voice I need."

"Good. Now what do you know about the Moon?"

"It exploded?"

Naruto gave her a flat look "When you look at the moon do you ever feel drawn to it?"

Neo thought about the question before nodding slowly "After I gained my eyes and before it exploded I would sometimes look up at the moon for some reason."

He nodded "I'm going to try to teach you something ok? If it works then it will greatly benefit us both in the future and if it doesn't then it's no big deal."

Neo perked up and nodded "What is it?"

"I need you to look me in the eye and just keep trying to imagine you pulling me into your mind, your world. If it works then I'll explain what that world is and if it doesn't then oh well." Naruto told her.

Neo smiled coyly "You want me to look into your eyes? I think I could manage that."

Naruto smirked in amusement "Focus."

"Right." She said happily, turning her body to face his and looking deeply into the deep oceans that were his eyes. She called upon her feeling for him, her want and need to make him hers and hers only, to keep him to herself and never let him go.

Suddenly everything went black for both of them other than a red moon hanging in the sky.

000

As the night began to wind down Naruto approached Blake's table. "Sun Wu Kong, right?"

"Yep." The faunus said with a wave "Here to steal my date?"

Naruto grinned "If that's alright with you?"

Sun shrugged "The party is over anyway." He turned towards the cat faunus "Thanks for the invite Blake."

"And thank you for coming with me tonight Sun, I had fun." She said honestly before standing up and taking Naruto's outstretched hand.

"He seems refreshingly understanding." Naruto commented and they walked to the dance floor.

"Yeah... Sun is a nice guy." She agreed.

He winced "Ouch, that's a friend zone compliment."

She slapped him on the arm "Shut up."

Naruto laughed "Alright, alright."

"So, you ready to lose this bet?" Blake asked with a smirk as their friends began to gather around along with those that had placed their own bets.

"Ha! Me? lose a bet?" He grinned confidently as he loosened his dress jacket "There's a reason why I was banned from over twelve casinos."

A slow southern beat began played "Plus I may have paid off the DJs to give me the home turf advantage." He admitted.

"Isn't that cheating?" She pointed out, not really bothered by it though as she got into proper form for the upcoming dance.

"Well at the heart of this bet, wasn't it about who was the better ninja? I think it was a perfectly legal move given the context of the competition." She couldn't really refute that.

"That's fine, it will just make my victory all the sweeter." She taunted.

"We'll see." He countered and they began the slow and sensual dance. He chasing after her while she coyly pulled away.

"I'm genuinely surprised, you haven't stepped on my toes yet." She teased when he came in close just as she pulled back.

When she came in close, molding her body to his he responded "I'm a quick study."

Blake spun around him before coming in close once more, hooking her leg around his. "If only my clones worked like yours."

Naruto smirked as he dipped her "Maybe you're just using them wrong? I could teach you... I was known as the master of clones in my time."

Blake slid to the floor dragging her nails down his chest before shooting up once more and pulling away again. Naruto followed after her, both of them slowing down as they matched a slow section in the beat.

Yang whistled loudly from her section of the room at the show. Ruby whacked her sister in the arm in embarrassment. Weiss who was intimately familiar with all forms of dance, having learned since she was a child was actually incredibly impressed by Naruto's showing.

She was sure that Blake had this in the bag. Now she was actually regretting not sharing one dance with the blonde.

"Yang seems to be enjoying the show." Naruto snickered, trying to distract his mind from Blake sliding her body across him.

Said girl twisted her body in ways only a cat could and it was honestly becoming hard to ignore the subtle touches and soft mewls she left out that only he could hear over the music followed by the hypnotic shaking of her hips.

"I'm sure she is." Was all Blake said as she instead went on the offensive this time, she could hear his breathing pick up and could feel how hot his breath was against her. It was time for her to go all out on the attack and she would come out on top.

Goodwitch pursed her lips as she watched the teens. "Shouldn't we put a stop this?"

"Why?" Ozpin asked with a chuckle "With the exception of young Ruby, they're all at least seventeen. Practically adults."

"It isn't proper." She groused.

"Oh leave them be, Glynda." Ozpin said as he took a drink from his cup "It's actually a very entertaining tale."

"What?"

"The dance tells a story between a strong male lover and a coy teasing woman. She pulls away continuously but always comes back for more, hes patient but determined as he always goes after her. A rather fitting dance I would say." Ozpin analyzed.

"In what way?" Glynda asked, Ozpin smiled but said nothing more.

000

With a final twirl the two teens ended up in each other's arms, the lights had dimmed and all around them cheers and applause broke out. Naruto cleared his throat lightly and asked "Tie?"

Her amber eyes which glowed lightly in the dark showed amusement and the bobbed up and down as if she was nodding. Even with the end of the song they still hadn't let go of each other. "Blake?" He whispered.

"Shuush." With her arms still around his neck it was easy enough to pull him into a kiss and even though only their darkened silhouette could be seen in the dim lighting many people were close enough to see what was happening and the wolf whistles began.

Naruto pulled back after a moment and gave her a questioning look. She simply shrugged. "Well then..."

"NOOOOOO!" Nora wailed from the floor "MY SHIP! It just crashed harder than the SS Bumblebee!"

"Oh shit," Naruto looked around in the dim lighting and couldn't see Pyrrha anywhere. Looking back at Blake he gave her a reproachful look and she honestly looked ashamed.

"Sorry I... wasn't thinking." As much as he wanted to blame this on Blake he was just as much to blame for stringing Pyrrha along. It was probably time to tell the truth for once.

With that he pushed past the crowd just as the lights returned to normal and made to exit the room. "Crap where did she go?"

"Must be tough being you." A masculine voice drew his attention.

"Sun?" Naruto asked as he turned towards the speaker who was sat down on a nearby wall.

"Yep." Was all the boy said. "So is she the 'complicated' that Blake mentioned?"

"Err... part of it I suppose. Did you see where she went?" Sun nodded.

"I'll tell you but first you have to answer me one question." He said.

"What is it?"

"Why are you such a pansy?"

Naruto blinked "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, let me rephrase that. Why are you such a bitch? You've got two beautiful girls who are interested in you but you can't man up and just pick one so the other isn't being led on for god knows how long you plan on keeping this up?" Sun said with a scowl

"Either way one of them is going to get hurt so you might as well rip the band-aid off now and get it over with, no? Listen I'm not going to tell you what to do but I just want you to know that you're being an idiot. I don't know what happened in there to make Pyrrha Nikos run out like that but it must have had something to do with Blake, but running after Pyrrha probably isn't going to win you any favors with Blake either." Naruto stood there and let Sun say his peace.

Sun wasn't wrong either, Naruto knew full well what the situation was he just wasn't sure how to handle it. It was his old complex about trying to make his friends happy acting up again and in this case, someone was going to get hurt.

"I know." Was all Naruto said after a short silence following Sun's speech. "I know I'm being a real douche here but... if nothing else I need to apologize to Pyrrha and to do that I have to find her first."

Sun studied him for a moment before nodding and tilting his head in a specific direction. "She went that way."

"Thanks Sun!"

000

"Pyrrha..." He found her sitting on a bench facing out towards the forest.

"It feels like so long ago since we started school." She smiled, reminiscing about their second day here and how theywere launched off this very cliff.

"Yeah... a lot's happened." Naruto agreed, cautiously taking a seat next to her.

"You know I was actually quite surprised that you learned two entirely new dances on your own." She said awkwardly.

"Yeah... clones, they're pretty handy." He replied just as awkwardly.

"So you and Blake?" Naruto noticed the hitch in her voice and only now dared to look at her, he could tell that she was trying to be strong but the makeup stains on her cheeks said otherwise.

"I'm not sure what Blake and I have. It's not a normal relationship." He told her. "She not my girlfriend technically."

"I see." Naruto chose to remain silent. "Naruto?"

"Yes?" He asked, seeing her turn towards him.

"How do you feel about me?" She asked seriously.

"Oh, well, you're great. You're funny and kind and warm and just a genuinely good person whom I've really come to cherish as close friend." He answered.

She smiled faintly "I feel the same way... only my feelings run somewhat deeper. I cannot honestly say if it's love as I have no prior experience with romantic feelings but when I look at you I... I just want to be near you, to laugh with you and spend time with you."

"Pyrrha?"

"I don't know if I'm saying this right or if I should say this at all considering your closeness with Blake but I feel that I don't say it now I'll never get the chance to later." The warrior girl said resolutely "I care about you Naruto, I care about you deeply. If you choose to be with Blake then I will understand and I'll try to let my feelings go for the sake of the team but - if... if you choose me then-" He silenced her by placing both hands on her cheeks and forcing her to look at him.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha" Seeing her face fall he quickly added to his statement "I can't give you an answer just yet. Not while everything is going on, it's the same reason Blake and I aren't together. There are more important things going on than our feelings for each other and Blake understands that."

"I see." She nodded in understanding "Very well then. I'll wait for your answer but for now I'll at least make my claim."

Naruto allowed her to get closer and enjoyed the taste of her lips, her curves pressing into him, tantalizing him as she tried to pull him in deeper. Naruto knew that this would only further complicate things but dammit if he didn't care at the moment.

Right now it was just him and Pyrrha.

*Chapter 17*: A Power Thought Lost

AN - Cover Image belongs to DigiFlohw on DeviantArt.

Shattered World

"RAAAAAAGHHHH!" Naruto calmly analyzed the raging attacks of the fire beast before him, dodging and weaving through each of her hits but the heat was beginning to become uncomfortable for even him.

He coated his right fist in a tightly compacted ball of ice and delivered an uppercut to the enraged Yang who shrugged off the hit with a grunt and sent a punch of her own that energized the very air around her and lit it aflame sending a wave of fire towards him.

Naruto dodged to the side and shook his right hand a bit, light scorch marks littering his knuckles.

For her flame aura to melt my ice before it could hit her... she's really gotten stronger. The male blonde thought with a smirk. "Alright Yang, that's enough for now. End the Trance."

Yang who was in mid charge stumbled to a halt and her fists balled up as the person inside the walking fireball was visibly straining herself to retake control. "GRRRRR."

"You can do it Yang, release the rage, soothe the instincts." He encouraged.

She stumbled slightly, falling to one knee before the intense wave of white flames coating her body withered away and she was left as naked as the day she was born, her clothes having burned away long ago. "I should really make yoursome fire-resistant clothes." He mused aloud.

Yang smirked tiredly as she looked up at him unabashed "Don't act like you don't like what you see."

"The novelty ran out after the first two times, now it's just inconvenient. How many work out clothes have you burned away now?" He wondered.

"About half my wardrobe." She grinned, "Had to have dad send me my old clothes."

"That must be why they seem to be getting smaller and smaller each week." He surmised.

She winked and accepted the blanket he unsealed. "So how'd I do?"

"Exceptionally well," He praised "Now that you're starting to get used to Overdrive you've gotten better at controlling your basic Berserker Trace since we started these training sessions last month."

"Well that seal you gave me really helps out." She said with a thumbs up.

He nodded "Perhaps but soon you'll have to learn how to turn it on and off by will. The seal is a simply a crutch for now while you're learning."

"Fair enough." She shrugged "So what now? We ended it kinda early didn't we?"

"We're going to work on fire manipulation again, having ranged attacks would help round out your fighting style."

"I have ranged attacks!" She protested.

"Your shotgauntlets are short-mid range weapons and you can only do flame lashes while in the trance. Now come on, show me how your fireball is going." He urged.

"Ugh fine, but if I get heartburn again I'm blaming you!" She took a calming breath and visualized the fire building in her lungs just like he told her to. Taking a deeper breath this time and rapidly exhaled letting out a continuous stream of fire that ended a few moments later.

"Well you've gotten Dragon Fire down but still can't Fireball huh?"

She crossed her arms in annoyance "What am I doing wrong?"

Naruto gave it a thought "Try your aura."

"Huh?"

"Use your semblance to call the fire but use your aura to shape it into the ball." He suggested.

Yang shrugged figuring it was worth a try to internally visualized the air in her lungs growing hot and agitated, then her semblance lit the spark, her cheeks bulged up begging to release the sudden explosion of fire but not before her aura coated around it like one would a piece of gun when blowing a bubble.

Naruto smiled seeing Yang forming a medium-sized fireball in front of her. Her eyes were wide, watering from the burning sensation in her lungs but she jumped in the air, cheering at her accomplishment. "Did you see that!?"

"Oh I saw everything Yang." He deadpanned "Wait here, I'll go get you some clothes." Naruto turned and walked out of the special room they were in.

Yang looked down seeing that she was still butt ass naked but couldn't find it in her to care "Nah I'm cool!" She called out only to hear the sound of a closing door. "Prude."

000

Naruto's eye twitched slightly as he closed the door. Even if he wasn't really romantically interested in Yang he couldn't deny that she had a great body. "Oh, Hey Naruto!"

He blinked and turned towards his right "Ruby, what up?"

"Have you seen my sister?" The girl asked "She's taken to just disappearing every once in a while."

"Think I saw her heading towards the kitchens." He answered, "Where's your team by the way?"

"Uh Weiss is at the library and Blake, I think, went for a walk." Ruby told him "Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Oh..." Then she noticed something "Hey Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you walk out of a broom closet?" She asked, opening the door he just walked out of seeing only a small room filled with cleaning supplies.

"I just needed a quiet place to think for a bit and this was the quickest option." He answered seamlessly.

Ruby snorted "You're weird you know that?"

"Pot. Kettle. Anyway I'll catch you later Red." He waved over his shoulder and headed towards the dorms.

"Bye!" Ruby replied, heading over towards the dinning room in search of her sister.

Unknown to all but two that broom closet with a help of a few seals and the Rinnegan had been turned into a trans-dimensional portal to small pocket space he created specifically for helping Yang out with her semblance when she came to him.

Best of all unless the seals on the door were first activated it was still just a simple broom closet, honestly he was surprised no one noticed him walking out of it before and then Yang usually a few minutes later.

He sighed in annoyance once more, Yang usually brought a spare change of clothing after the first couple of times but she seemed to have forgotten today so now it was up to him to sneak into team RWBY dorm and grab some of her clothes.

Reaching their door he gave it a quick knock and when no one answered he cautiously opened the door, seeing that the coast was clear he quickly walked over to Yang's dresser and sealed the essentials up for his friend.

His ears picked up the opening of the door and he already had his cover story in mind. "Hello Blake."

Said girl flinched in surprise seeing Naruto in their dorm room "Uh hi? What are you doing here Naruto?"

Naruto held up a small scroll "Yang set her clothes on fire and asked me if I could grab her some."

"She... set her clothes on fire?" Blake questioned slowly so her mind had time to fully comprehend what she just heard.

"Yep, she was testing out the fire element to her semblance and fwoosh, up in flames." He explained.

"How much did you-?" The girl promptly cut herself off, not really wanting to know.

"Turns out Yang is a natural blonde." Naruto answered anyway.

Blake scowled "I could have gone without that information."

"Well now you know. Anyway I should probably get these to her." Naruto then side stepped past his not-girlfriend and left the room leaving a bewildered Blake behind.

Naruto chuckled to himself. Sometimes honesty was the best policy... or at least an abridged version of it anyway.

Reaching the closet he activated the seals after checking that he was alone and entered the training room. Splayed out on the floor in a sexy pose was Yang with only the blanket covering her naughty bits.

"Hey Honey, what kept you?" She purred, though he was entirely unaffected by the joke.

Naruto unsealed the clothes as he walked and tossed them to her. "Blake caught me."

"Oh yeah?" Yang asked as she slipped on her panties "What did you tell her?"

"That you set your clothes on fire and asked me to get you some."

"Huh," She was surprised that he didn't go with some sort of elaborate lie "How did she take it?"

"She wasn't too pleased when I told her that you were a natural blonde." He answered, laying down on the training room floor.

"Ohhh?" She grinned "So you did look then? Want a closer look?" She crawled over to him, clad only in her bra and panties.

"I'll pass, but yes, it was kind of unavoidable but not wholly unpleasant."

"Oh good, so my body isn't wholly unpleasant. How fucking kind of you to think so." She snarked, slapping him on the chest as she did so. "You really need to get better at this compliments thing if you're going to start dating Blake."

Naruto blinked and took his eyes off the ceiling to turn towards Yang "I'm sorry, what?"

Yang scoffed and crossed her arms under her sizable bust "It may have been dark but I know for a fact that I saw you two kiss after that dance last night."

"So?" Naruto said "That doesn't mean we're dating. Hell I've seen you completely naked a few times now and that doesn't mean anything."

"Well yeah, but it doesn't mean anything because we haven't done anything. Blake didn't just kiss you, you kissed her back." Yang pointed out "That means something... even if you did run away like a bitch directly afterwards."

"I had a good reason for leaving when I did." He told her.

"Oh yeah, and what was that?"

"Pyrrha saw." He answered causing her eyes to widen.

"Oh... damn, that's rough." Yang said sympathetically. "You know she likes you right?"

"She made that abundantly clear last night."

"Wait, WHAT!?" Yang asked, eyes wide.

"Pyrrha confessed her feelings to me last night. I haven't given either of them an answer yet but I'll probably have to here soon. Especially with how Nora was this morning." Naruto mused, shifting his arms under his head as he turned back towards the ceiling "Ren asked Nora out some time last night and obviously she said yes so now Nora is... well she's always been an affectionate person but Dust, she almost suffocated Ren this morning with a hug."

"Oh, that's cool. How does that tie in?"

"Now that Nora is in a relationship she feels like it's almost demanded of Pyrrha and I to be together. Probably because her's and Ren's parents were like that but... I dunno... there's too much going on right now for me to focus on a serious relationship. Fooling around? Sure, but an actual relationship requires time and effort that I just don't have at the moment." Having said his peace, Naruto stood up seeing as Yang was now fully dressed. "Do you want to go first or should I?"

"I'll head out first, kinda hungry." Yang answered.

"Ruby was looking for you by the way, I pointed her towards the kitchens since I was sure you'd want to eat after we finished here." Naruto told her as she reached the door.

"Got it!" With a wave, his fellow blonde left the special pocket space.

Once the door closed Naruto took out his Scroll and checked the message he received a few minutes ago. 'Cinder changed her plans. We need to talk ASAP.'

Naruto narrowed his eyes and typed his own message back 'Room 308 as soon as you can.'

Maybe scaring the shit out Cinder wasn't the best course of action now that she's gotten off-path. He thought about it for a moment before shrugging "Oh well, we'll just need to adapt."

Walking out of the closet he was glad that the halls were empty, classes were probably going on right now. He gladly took his opportunity to get up to room 308 before anyone got the chance to see him heading there.

He hopped up the stairs, passing another first-year along the way but ignored him in favor for moving towards down the hall towards the unused classroom. Naruto looked inside and it seemed as like Neo hadn't gotten here yet so he took a few moments to close the blinds and set up a silencing seal on the door.

A few minutes later a black-haired girl with emerald-green eyes walked in with a smile. "Hey Babe."

"Hello Neo." Naruto said with a nod, his face already set into stone. Neo crossed her arms in disappointment at the lack luster greeting but remembered that Naruto was just being Naruto.

"Cinder packed up." Neo began, taking a seat next to him. "She's planning on leaving tonight for the White Fang camp to the south. Since her plan failed here she's going to try in Vacuo instead."

"What is her plan exactly?"

"She was supposed to plant a virus into the CCTS that would bring down all communications between the kingdoms. With this in place the White Fang would invade Vale while the other three kingdoms are left in the dark, making the next conquest an easy target during the confusion."

"So that was her plan..." Naruto frowned "She's going for Vacuo this time then?"

"Mhm." Neo confirmed "She's sending in a replacement that I need to keep under an illusion to look like her so I unfortunately won't be able to escape for long periods of time."

"A shame that." Standing up he turned towards the tiny psychopath "Good job though Neo."

She giggled "Well working for you does have its benefits!" The illusionist leapt out of her chair and planted a quick kiss on his lips before heading towards the door. "Sorry Naru but I gotta get back to the team or they'll start wondering where I ran off to!"

Oh right, now Neo will have to devote most of her time to keeping an illusion up on Cinder's replacement... all in all, not a bad day so far.

With an honest smile he walked over to the windows, opened one up and began walking up the building towards his next destination. And as soon as I reach the top, it'll go to shit again.

Ozpin was by now rather used to his associate's odd methods of entry so he didn't even bat an eye when Naruto entered through his open window. "Ah, Naruto, hello."

"Yo." Naruto waved "Call in your fairy hunters, we've got a problem."

Ozpin chuckled "I anticipated that from the moment of your entry." He sent out a message through his Tablet and Naruto took a seat while they waited for their guests to arrive.

"Any news from Qrow?" Naruto asked while they waited.

"Yes, a few families have died out apparently. The most recent being the Black family seeing as Mister Mercury killed his father." Ozpin said before taking a sip from his mug "Qrow has established contact with a few of the minor houses but the older blood lines have taken to an alarming trend of... dying out."

"I'm not surprised." The blonde grunted, crossing his arms in annoyance. Ozpin took a moment to recall how the enigma before him came to be one of the most informed people within Vale.

Flashback

Ozpin sat down across from Naruto, a single bulb hanging above the table they were sat at. "I've already spoken to Miss Belladonna about this but I believe I may reach more fruitful results by asking you. What do you know of the White Fang, Mister Uzumaki?"

Naruto took a moment to regard the man in front of him. He was powerful in terms relative to the rest of the world's inhabitants. He was also much older than he appeared.

"Not much at the moment." Naruto admitted "I know that they're a terrorist organization and that they want large quantities of Dust. For what reason I couldn't tell you but that's what I've gathered so far."

"And how did you come about this knowledge?"

Naruto laughed "Come now Ozpin, do you honestly believe I'm just going to tell you my sources?"

Ozpin gave him a stare over his mug "No I suppose not." The man relented "Would you at least care to tell me how you knew the White Fang would be at the docks tonight?"

"The Schnee company had a freighter filled to the brim with crates of Dust and minimal defense coming in late in the evening?" Naruto chuckled "Sounds like an easy score if I ever heard one, plus all you need to know is shop restocking times and check the docking records, and bingo here's the next shipment and time."

"Hmm." Setting him cup down, Ozpin steeple his fingers "The police reported that all the containers were empty."

"Bait maybe?" Naruto offered "To lure an animal into a trap you need bait. Big containers, few guards, dim light? I wouldn't put it past the Schnee company to set this trap in trying to figure out who's been going after their shipments."

Ozpin nodded in agreement, that was entirely possible. His next action was to ask something that had bothered him for some time and there was no subtle was to go about it "Who are you exactly, Mister Uzumaki?"

Naruto grinned "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a man with many talents."

"And whose side are you one?"

The blonde snorted in amusement "Side? Well my side of course, until someone gives a reason to do otherwise my goals remain my own. Some of them will undoubtedly coincide with yours as the White Fang is an annoying thorn in my side but in the distant future I could become your greatest ally or your worst nightmare."

"Is that a threat, Mister Uzumaki?" Ozpin asked carefully.

"Not at all Professor." Naruto answered genially. He took a moment to think about how he would phrase his explanation "You believe in fairy tales and myths and legends right?"

Ozpin blinked at the seemingly random question. "To an extent yes."

"What about prophecy?" This time the blonde in front of him took on a more grave countenance.

The white-haired man suddenly felt like there was much more to Naruto Uzumaki that even he guessed. "Where is this going?"

"Long before I was born, a prophecy was told to a man detailing how one of his students would bring about a great revolution to the world, whether this change brought about the world's salvation or destruction wasn't yet determined." Naruto looked troubled for a moment "I never put much stock into prophecy and always followed my own path... and yet doing so has led me to certain events that have me questioning whether I was actually just acting out a script all along. Recent events... they've put me in a place where I might just have to decide the fate of the world."

What Naruto didn't say was that the Prophecy might be more literal that he once thought. One would think that saving the world might mean saving humanity... now it might mean saving the world itself and destroying humanity.

"What events?" Ozpin pressed.

Naruto pointedly ignored the question "This power I have... this semblance, Mimicry, I don't think it was a coincidence that I have it. That my aura feels so much different that others... more complete."

Ozpin took a moment to settle his thoughts "Naruto." The blonde looked up, hearing his given name. "I feel as though you should know something."

Naruto nodded, allowing the man to continue uninterrupted. "I believe I mentioned the Maidens to you before, yes?"

"The magical girls?"

Ozpin couldn't help but crack a smile "Yes. Something you just said has me intrigued, you see I've met a few of the Maidens throughout my time on this Earth and everyone said the same thing when I asked them what it felt like to transition from a regular girl to a Maiden. They all said 'I feel complete.' they all believed that some long-lost part of them was returned and that their true power was unlocked."

Naruto made sure not to give anything away but he was surprised that one of his stray thoughts might just be true. Could the Maidens somehow have unlocked their chakra?

"I believe..." Ozpin paused to take a drink "That you may be one of our magical friends."

Naruto gave him a flat look "I'm not a girl."

"That much is obvious."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the table, thoughts racing through his head. "I need to meet one of them." He said quietly.

"For what reason?"

"I need to know." The blonde told him "I need to know if they also have it."

"Have what?"

"The gift." He answered. The gift of chakra.

Ozpin studied the teenager carefully. He was a variable, an enigma, something that should not belong but did. Perhaps he will be the one to defeat his old nemesis? The headmaster was nearing his time, he was old, far older than any other human alive and he wasn't sure that he would be strong enough to face Salem when she returned.

He would need to trust his gut on this one.

"Tomorrow I would like you to come to my office... there's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Alright, Professor."

"Please, call me Ozpin."

Naruto nodded "Then you can call me Naruto."

The man smiled. "Very well, Naruto."

Flashback End

000

That following day it seemed as though Naruto had made some massive discovery upon seeing the Fall Maiden. It also revealed to him that Naruto held the same power that they did, Ozpin revealed that he too was able to use it and had unlocked it long ago when he was a boy.

For some reason Naruto felt as though certain people would be able to unlock this power under the right conditions and with the help of another user, much like how an Aura user can unlock the Aura of another, this worked on a similar concept. Only the blonde called it... Chakra.

"How goes the experiment so far?" Ozpin asked as his mind returned to the present.

"They are both making more progress than I originally expected. Blake was able to unlock hers but until she trains up her reserve she can only use it in short bursts. Yang has the opposite problem, all power no control." Naruto told the man.

Ozpin smiled "I didn't think it would be possible and yet here I stand corrected."

The blonde smirked "Uzumaki Naruto makes the impossible, possible."

"Clearly." Ozpin said with a small laugh, trailing off as the elevator door to his office opened up. "Glynda, James."

Naruto nodded to the two "Professor, General."

"Uzumaki, Headmaster." Goodwitch greeted curtly.

"Hello Oz, Naruto." Ironwood said as he shook both their hands "Ozpin mentioned you had some information for us Naruto?"

"Some troubling news, unfortunately."

"Isn't it always?" At first James was unsure about trusting the boy but his information always proved not only accuratebut in many cases helped save some of his units from being destroyed during White Fang raids.

Naruto offered his chair to Glynda as he stood up and pulled out his Scroll showing a hologram of the CCTS. "I've learned why our little guest was sneaking into the Communications Tower last night."

Ironwood was impressed that Naruto had already figured out the intruder's goal but knowing the shady blonde he probably shouldn't be so surprised. The kid was known for results so he listened intently. "Cinder was trying to implant a virus into the Cross Continental Transmit System that would have allowed her to shut down all outgoing communication as well as infect all devices connected to the network."

Glynda's face tightened even more than usual "She would have been able to control all of our computers, scrolls and tablets."

"And considering that the General's robot army is linked to his Scroll..." Naruto trailed off.

Ironwood's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before scowling deeply "They would have all come under her command."

Naruto nodded "Cinder is planning on leaving Beacon tonight and heading towards Vacuo to try again. Considering all the communications towers are linked and dependent on each other, it's possible that she may be able to infect all the others anyway if she succeeds."

The General bunched his robotic arm into a fist "Why are we keeping her alive again?" He asked angrily.

"Because I've yet to learn the end-game." Naruto told him once again "I've recently learned that the massive amounts of Dust they've gathered was for a ritual that would create a portal between this one and a parallel world."

"What!?" James shouted "For what reason?"

"They're attempting to free her." Ozpin answered, taking a sip from his cup. "The 'Goddess' as her followers dubbed her."

"Salem." Goodwitch growled.

"Then we need to stop them! No more of this wait and see bullshit, we need to end them! NOW!" James said hotly.

"No. There are still pieces missing, we can see the picture of the puzzle but there are still a few pieces missing that I need to know. We know that Salem has chosen Pyrrha to be her next body, we know what the dust is for, we know how Cinder plans to attack. Now all I need is to find eight last clues." Naruto said firmly, Ironwood was about to protest but the blonde pinned him with a sharp look and remembered the other reason why he respected this child.

He was damn powerful.

"I need to find the Bijuu, with them the puzzle will be complete but until I find them I can't make a move yet." Naruto said with a sigh.

"That doesn't explain why you need Cinder or the White Fang around for that." Ironwood stated.

"It does." Naruto countered. "Salem will want them, I know for a fact that Salem will want the Bijuu because they hold the strongest concentration of chakra per being of anything else on this planet, and she wants all of that chakra to be hers once again."

"I still find it hard to believe that you think monstrous being of pure magical power exist hidden out there in the world somewhere." Glynda spoke.

"Trust me, the Bijuu are just as real as you and me." Naruto told her.

"And what proof do you have of that claim?" She asked haughtily.

"I've seen it." Ozpin butt in. "With Naruto's permission I was able to enter his mind. A great nine-tailed beast slumbers inside of him. It's power was suffocating simply to be around, the Bijuu are no myth, they are very much real."

"You can't be serious?" Goodwitch said in disbelief.

"Regardless, I need to find the other eight before Salem gets her hands on them... if she hasn't already. Kurama has been asleep for a long time and nothing I do will wake him so unfortunately he's not much help at the moment but still, the Bijuu will be a large goal for Salem and she will undoubtedly have Cinder and the Fang looking for them so they will hopefully lead us right to them." Naruto told them. "Even if they don't I still need Cinder because she's my way of gathering information on Salem, either through my agent or my seal."

The General didn't like it but couldn't fault his reasoning "So we simply keep running interception while you continue to search for these... tailed beasts?"

"That's the plan." Naruto answered "Plus now that Cinder has set her eyes on Vacuo, it's no longer just Vale's problem but an international issue now."

"You're right." Ironwood cupped his chin in thought "Perhaps I should fly ahead and meet with Vacuo's council?"

"That would be ill-advised." Ozpin said "You are a notable figure who would be missed easily and if news of your departure reached Cinder then she might change her plans once more."

"By then she would be out of range of my seal as well so we would be in the dark since my Agent has to stay here." Naruto told them.

"So we just let it happen?" Glynda asked rhetorically.

"I was actually hoping the General might know someone who could look into the virus." Naruto said "While this plan, if we choose to go with it, could backfire on us, I wonder if we can't neutralize the virus and simply let Cinder think she has control?"

James tapped his fingers on the desk in thought "I know a few people who might be able to but getting them into Vacuo's CCTS and giving them enough time to study the virus without looking suspicious? That would be difficult."

"What if we told the council of Vacuo ahead of time?" Glynda asked.

"Tell them what? That we want them to allow a crippling virus to be installed in their network so our hackers could go in and further mess with their system? Even if they did believe our intentions were good, I doubt they would allow it." Naruto pointed out.

Ozpin took a drink from his mug, taking the moment to think things over. "Whatever we choose to do, we must do so quickly. The hour draws late and our enemy leaves tonight."

"I can make the call now, get some of my tech guys down there by Wednesday." Ironwood offered.

"I still feel as though we should tell the Vacuo council, if your men are caught, it could lead to an international incident we really don't need right now." Glynda advised.

"It's possibly that Vacuo could handle this internally and have their own people look into the problem." Ozpin offered his own thoughts.

"Out of the four kingdoms Vacuo is considered the least technologically advanced, preferring to stick to the old ways of combat. While possible that they have people who could handle it, I wouldn't want to risk the entire CCTS network on it when we could have some of the guys from Atlas that could rip it apart and rebuild it in no time." The blonde sage shared his thoughts.

"It seems as though we've reached an impasse." Ozpin mused. He linked his fingers together in deep thought "James if your men are caught it would place an unfavorable light on your country."

"Then so be it." Ironwood said "If she brings down the CCTS then everything comes down with it. If they do get caught then leave the fallout to me, but I still believe Naruto's plan to be the best course of action at this time."

"I can get some of my guys to help them out and keep them hidden but I won't be able to do much myself." Naruto told them, which technically wasn't entirely true since all of his spies are just clones of him.

Ozpin sighed "Despite the possible consequences I believe we may have to keep this one to ourselves for now. Make the call James, we'll go with Naruto's plan."

"I'll also let my agents know." Naruto said as he and James excused themselves to opposite sides of the room. A few minutes later both men returned, having given their orders.

"What now?" James asked.

"We wait." Ozpin told them.

"What of the Maiden candidate?" Glynda brought up, turning towards Naruto "Has she given an answer."

"Pyrrha is still unsure but I will speak to her again tonight, now would be the best time to do the transfer with Cinder leaving the country." Naruto told her.

"Yes, please speak to Miss Nikos as soon as possible. If she refuses to take up the mantle then we will need to find another suitable candidate quickly." Ozpin said to him.

"I believe that's everything." Naruto said. "Unless you still need me around to discuss something else, I'm going to go find my partner."

"No I believe that will be all for tonight Naruto, thank you as always for your aid." Ozpin said with a grateful nod.

"Alright." Naruto gave a nod to the two others and leapt out the window.

"I still can't get used to that." Glynda spoke, all of them still watching the window the blonde jumped out of.

"Boys will be boys." Ozpin said with a chuckle. "Now then, I don't know about you two, but I could use something stronger than coffee now."

"Please." Ironwood said with a laugh as the white-haired headmaster handed him a drink.

Glynda thought about for a moment before also accepting a drink. Dust knows she needs it after another stressful day.

000

Naruto checked the time on his Scroll and noticed that it was almost time until the school day ended. Technically he should have been in Oobleck's class right now but there was no point to going seeing as the class would end in twenty minutes.

Pyrrha would probably be disappointed but oh well, he had more important things to discuss than the rise and fall of Mantle.

Reaching his dorm he went in and fell on his bed with a sigh. "Man... what a day."

"You're telling me."

Naruto turned to the other side of the room and found Ren on his bed. "Ren? What are you doing here?"

"Nora tackled me into a hug as I was turning a corner and ended I up twisting my ankle. Apparently she thought it would work like in anime where I would somehow perfectly land on my back with her sitting on me." Ren told his friend.

"I'm guessing it didn't go as planned?"

"Nora tripped while trying to land and crashed head first into wall, she's at the nurse's office getting some pain killers for the headache." Ren said with a smile, even though she was spazzy weirdo, Nora was his spazzy weirdo now.

Naruto laughed "Sounds like an eventful day alright."

"What about you?" Ren asked.

"Oh you know, same old same old, had to put a stop to some evil plots to destroy civilization as we know it." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"When it comes to most people I could accept that as a joke but when it comes to you there's a very good chance that, that's exactly what you were up to." Ren mused.

Naruto shrugged in indifference "So judging from this morning I can safely assume that Nora said yes?"

"No." Ren said.

"No?" Naruto asked, honestly shocked.

Ren chuckled "She said Boop and tapped my nose."

Naruto blinked before also laughing "Told you."

"Owwww..." They heard Nora dramatically moan in pain as she entered the room.

"You alright Nora?" Naruto asked as she laid down on her bed.

"Yeah, just a little bump." She assured him "I forgot to put some toast in my mouth, I bet that's why the lover's tackle didn't work."

Naruto face-palmed. "You have a name for it now?"

"Of course!" She said with a grin.

The door opened once again to reveal Pyrrha there in her school uniform looking very disappointed.

"In my defense, it was Nora's fault." Ren stated.

"In my defense, I forgot the toast." Nora added.

Pyrrha then gave Naruto a pointed look which he promptly ignored. "And you Naruto?"

"Oh I just didn't want to go." He said with a shrug.

The red-head sighed and sat down on her bed, facing him "Naruto, you're our leader. You're supposed to set an example."

"I mean you say that but I think you get along fine." Naruto countered as he turned towards her "Dust knows I'm the last person you should depend on when looking for an academic role-model."

With a roll of her eyes the warrior girl set down her book bag and laid down on the bed. She blinked feeling a small vibration from her pocket and pulled out her Scroll, oddly enough it was a message from Naruto.

'I need to talk to you about something, preferably tonight.'

Her eyes turned towards him only for his to be closed. As she rested on her bed she wondered what he wanted to speak to her about. Was it about her confession last night? Probably not. Knowing Naruto he probably just wants to tell me about some new type of training we'll be starting.

Proud of her felt happy that they were close enough for her to know what Naruto would likely do in a situation, but another part of her was annoyed because she knew that it likely had nothing to do with her confession.

What a conundrum...

000

Pyrrha was awoken what felt like five minutes later, when in truth it was five hours. "Naruto?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah, come on." He urged.

The red-head grumbled as he pulled her out of bed and lead her out to the courtyard. She was glad that she brought a jacket as even though it was getting warmer, it was still relatively cold. "So what did you want to talk about Naruto?"

Naruto touched his finger to a bench where a circle of runes and symbols appeared under it, on the ground. "To put it bluntly Ozpin wants to know if you've given the Maiden business any thought. The next few days would be the best time to perform the operation and if you say no then they need to find another candidate."

"And they want an answer tonight?" Pyrrha asked nervously.

"Yes." Naruto told her "Cinder left an hour ago, heading towards Vacuo, to enact her back-up plan. With Cinder out-of-the-way we need to transfer the Maiden's power to a candidate so we need your answer."

Pyrrha nodded thoughtfully "Truthfully I have given it some more thought since you told me. My answer hasn't changed, if you and Professor Ozpin believe that I'm the best candidate for the position of the Fall Maiden then I will accept it."

One of her hand slid over to grasp one of his "I just hope that I can count on your support and aid." She said shyly.

Naruto looked at her with an honest smile "Always Pyrrha." He said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Then I accept, the duty and responsibilities of the Fall Maiden as my own!" She stated firmly and confidently.

Naruto's smile took on a more relived look "Good, let's get started then."

AN - Anyone wondering about the Maiden powers, wait until next chapter, it will all be explained.

*Chapter 18*: Rise of a New Fall

AN - God this chapter was utter hell, I must have written and re-written the damn thing twenty times before finally settling on this draft and even then I'm not entirely pleased with it but I knew I had to put something out since it's been over a month and for that I apologize my lovely and loyal readers.

Shattered World

"Ozpin."

"Yes Naruto?" The man asked as he turned towards the only other conscious person in the room.

"I've held off on asking out of respect for you not questioning me but I feel as though I have to ask given the circumstances..." Naruto paused as he turned and looked the headmaster in the eye, "What are you?"

Ozpin, ever the unflappable man was unfazed by the question as he was sure that Naruto would eventually find out. "Simply put, I am someone who exists outside of the constraints of time."

Naruto took a moment to consider that answer "Is that your Semblance? Time manipulation?"

The professor took a moment to gather his thoughts by drinking from his mug "Not quite. Time manipulation wouldindicate that I could control time in general, I can only control how time affects me."

"Do you exist in multiple timelines then?" Naruto wondered.

Ozpin pondered the question before ultimately shaking his head "No, time doesn't work in such a... static form such as a straight timeline. Much like sound, time could be considered a wavelength, constantly changing and undulating but always following a rhythm."

Naruto stayed quiet as his mind thought back to his own time. If he could simply go back in time would he have changed anything? His past choices had shaped him into what once was Uzumaki Naruto but now who he is and who he was were two distinct figures.

Ozpin must have noticed the look of concentration on his face as he spoke "Nothing good comes from altering the past."

"Ozpin?" Said man smiled knowingly though it took a more forlorn feel as the headmaster thought of his own past.

"I tried... many times. In those times there was never-ending war, among ourselves and the Grimm. I had been given this great power to turn back the clock, to save those that meant everything to me, to save countless lives, to save my family."

The man looked down at his coffee, pain reflecting in his reflection's eyes. "Fate is a cruel mistress, I learned. She can be defied, you can fight against her for years and years but she always gets her way in the end."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Fate and I have never had a good relationship."

Ozpin laughed mirthlessly "Neither have I. Certain events can be changed... altered... but some cannot. Events that shaped humanity, events that change the world, those cannot be avoided. People... people who have already died, cannot be saved. When death claims a life it clings to it desperately, when that life is taken away it seeks to retrieve at any cost."

"So short of complete resurrection there is no saving someone who has already died?"

The white-haired professor shook his head "I spent well over a hundred years reliving the same events to save my wife and child. The furthest I ever got was eight days before they died once more to some unseen force. I planned for every possible eventuality but I could never save them. A truly worthless ability I have, always knowing what will happen but always being too late to do anything about it. I can only guide, but never lead."

Naruto stayed in quiet contemplation as the professor took a few steps forward and stopped in front of the soon to be coffin of the Fall Maiden. "Do you know what the definition of insanity is?"

The blonde thought about it for a moment before remembering "Trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

"That's right." Ozpin answered sadly "I hadn't noticed it at the time but I was falling into madness, I could never figure out why I couldn't save them. Even with my amazing gift. It wasn't until many years later that I realized my folly in trying to save them, they had already died and no matter how many times I tried to change that fact it could never be."

Naruto walked up beside him to look at the tube where Pyrrha slept. "I've seen her die."

Ozpin regarded the blonde with a curious look "It felt like a dream but I was awake... I hadn't even met Pyrrha at the time but when I was drawn to this school I saw many things. Flashes of madness, images blurring by that made no sense but I could see that without my intervention terrible things would happen here."

Ozpin took a deep breath "I've answered your question... would you care to answer the same?"

Naruto reached into his coat and unsealing a metal plate, handing it over to Ozpin. "That headband once belonged to Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi of Konoha. Naruto lived roughly one-thousand years ago, he was a kind person who cared for his friends and wished to become Hokage - the leader of his village - he died long ago protecting his friends from certain death. In doing so he gained immortality, disconnected from the mortal plane of time and space."

"You are also an immortal?"

Naruto nodded "Ozpin, how long have you known Salem?" He suddenly asked.

The man was quiet, Naruto's hearing could pick up low breathing but that was all. "All of my life." He whispered.

"What is your relation in terms to her?"

"She is..." The man took a moment to find the proper words "My creator."

Naruto sighed "That explains a lot. I've known Salem for longer, but back then she still used her true name. KaguyaOtsutsuki. Possibly a few hundred maybe a thousand or so years before I was born a priestess by the name of Kaguya ascended to godhood and gave birth to two sons, the eldest son was my ancestor and through him I became a demi-godit was only before my sleep that I met the second son and became a Sage myself."

"So Salem has been around for that long?" The thought worried Ozpin greatly.

Naruto chuckled "Yeah, crazy bitch hatched a really convoluted plan to summon a ten-tailed primordial demon to wipe out all life on the planet simply because she wanted all the power for herself." He then grinned "My friends and I had other plans and kicked her godly ass then sealed away her power and sent her to another plane."

Ozpin smiled slightly "A goddess... I suppose that's how even in a sealed state she was still able to manipulate events here on Earth. I was created to facilitate her return to this world... I chose to defy her as a young man and have fought a cold war against her for a few hundred years now."

Naruto tapped the glass of Pyrrha's tube lightly "You created them didn't you? The original Maidens?"

"Your ability to come to the right conclusions continues to amaze me. Yes... many years ago I had gifted four young women with a great part of my original power after they saved me from my despair. This was shortly after I had finally given up on saving my family or friends to live out the rest of my years in solitude." The old wizard replied with a fond smile "I gave each one a portion of the power and I knew that they would be able to do more good with it than I ever could."

Naruto nodded "The pieces are coming together." He glanced over at the previous Fall Maiden "You are a being of chakra, created purely from it but your chakra levels were always so low that I never thought anything of it other than you were perhaps one of the few with ties to the old world."

Naruto stepped away from the glass tubes and looked towards the high ceiling "Somehow you were able to transfer your chakra into the Maidens and considering it was pure chakra from the very source - namely Kaguya - it allowed for the use of all elements and an instinctual knowledge of how to use them, much like how I did when I first received my Six Paths Chakra."

"Chakra. Is that the power that I once held?" He chuckled lightly "And here I thought it was magic."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the man's musings "It also explains why the Maidens die once they transfer power. While you survived because of your own immortality they aren't so lucky. When someone who uses chakra suddenly loses all of it... they die. It was known as FCE or fatal chakra exhaustion. Though that doesn't explain why it doesn't kill the Maidens in the first place... normally injecting someone with undeveloped chakra coils with massive amounts of chakra would kill them in a way similar to force feeding someone until their stomach literally ruptured."

Ozpin grimaced slightly at the image of what he might have accidentally done to those poor girls had his idea not worked the way he planned it to. "Then again it's possible that you forced their bodies to adapt to the chakra by subconsciously using Yin-Yang chakra." Naruto theorized as he scratched his head.

"Yin and Yang chakra?" Ozpin said in a way that asked for clarification.

Naruto held up his palms distractedly "Yin-" His right hand began glowing blue, "Yang." then his left glowed red. "Yin creates form from nothing while Yang can bring life to form. When combined almost anything could be created, even altering the bodies of four young women to accept the chakra. No... it was likely because they were young women who still had growing and adaptable bodies that it worked so well, this then followed a trend with Maidens choosing young women to give their powers to."

Ozpin watched as his fellow immortal whispered to himself, most likely creating more theories in his own mind. The aged headmaster simply smiled as some questions that had plagued him for many a century were answered, even if they did remove some of the old wonder and mystery of what he once believed was magic.

000

Pyrrha's eyes felt heavy but she forced them to open slightly, her body felt stiff and achy as if she slept wrong but still willed her hands to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

The pneumatic hiss of her metal chamber signaled it's opening and her eyes adjusted to the light where she could make out hair as bright as the soon and eyes as deep as the oceans. "Good morning."

His smile was infectious and she could feel one spreading across her own face, "Good morning Naruto... all went well I hope?"

"Yep, how do you feel?"

"Sore." She answered, accepting his help out of the metal tube. "How long was I asleep?"

"Six hours, It's seven in the morning." Naruto answered helpfully.

"Welcome back Miss Nikos, I'm happy to report that the procedure went by without any problems." Ozpin said as he stood up from the chair he was monitoring her vitals from.

"Thank you headmaster." She was able to stand a bit straighter now. She was going to speak again before her stomach beat her to it, with a blush she covered her midsection. "Excuse me."

Naruto laughed "Let's go get you some breakfast, to be honest I'm pretty hungry myself."

"May we be excused headmaster?" Pyrrha asked, ever the polite young lady.

Ozpin chuckled and waved them off "Yes of course, far be it for me to keep teenagers from their food." Then again Naruto was only a teen physically as he learned last night, among other things both great and terrible.

Before they entered the elevator that went straight into Ozpin's office Pyrrha turned back towards the other pod and gave a short prayer for the previous Fall Maiden. May you find peace in the next life.

She then joined Naruto in the elevator. "Naruto?"

"Yes?" He asked, giving her his full attention.

"This... power... what can I expect from it?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well," He paused in thought "You're sort of like me now. If my theory is correct then you should be able to use the five elements at will now, though you'll likely end up with a preference toward your natural element. This means that you and I will be spending a lot of time together in the near future fine-tuning your chakra control."

"I see, I'm looking forward to it then." She said honestly, the smile on her face making that much clear.

"On a side note it should be easier for you to use your semblance now since I can just teach you the Magnet Release." Naruto said with a shrug "We'll have to see which elements work best with your fighting style first however."

"Elements?"

He nodded while holding up five fingers "Fire; water, wind, lightning, and earth. Given what I've seen from our training, I would say you would be best suited towards Water or Lightning. Your attacks flow from one to the next like water but at the same time they're swift and piercing like lightning."

Pyrrha slowly nodded in agreement "That sounds about right."

"But like I said we'll wait until we know for sure what your primary element is, thought my money is on lightning considering the whole polarity semblance." Naruto told her as they exited Ozpin's office and walked down the hall before entering the main school elevator.

"Naruto, what is your primary element?" Pyrrha suddenly found herself curious to know if they shared one.

"Wind,." He said with a grin while holding up a rasengan made of light wind breezes. He knew better than to fully charge a wind rasengan indoors, damn thing was like a small tornado. "You know my best friend was a lightning user so here's hoping you're one too since I already know that I can work well with them."

Despite herself she couldn't help but feel happy, even if holding this power paints a target on her back she had Naruto to guide her through it and help her master it. "As do I."

Feeling a tad more adventurous than normal she slid her fingers down his wrist until her hand was nestled in his. Naruto smiled in amusement but let her have this moment and simply held her hand gently.

It was a short ride up to the headmaster's office where they were greeted by Glynda and Ironwood. "I see all went well?" The general asked.

"Perfectly." Naruto answered as he walked up and shook the man's hand. "Pyrrha this is General Ironwood, General this is Pyrrha Nikos the new Fall Maiden... or at least half of one."

"A pleasure, sir." Pyrrha said, shaking the man's hand.

"Likewise. Naruto is Ozpin still down there?" James asked, turning back towards the blonde.

"Yes he's preparing to cremate our previous Maiden." The general nodded and began to walk past them.

"Please excuse me then."

"Breakfast will be served in ten, I'm sure you're both hungry so I suggest you head down there." Glynda suggested though it sounded more like an order.

Naruto decided to hold back his sarcastic reply and instead lead Pyrrha back to the main elevator that would take them to the first floor of the school.

"When will we begin training? I must admit I'm quite excited." Pyrrha wondered.

"Well I'd have to talk to Blake and Yang first and hash out a new schedule that works for all of us." Naruto answered.

"Blake and Yang?" Pyrrha repeated, confused as to why they would need to ask them.

"They both naturally unlocked their chakra. It's not much but I'm helping them bring it out." He explained. "I usually work Mondays and Thursdays with Yang and Tuesdays and Fridays with Blake."

"Oh, I had no idea you were already so busy. I'm sorry!" Pyrrha fretted but Naruto waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, if need be I can always just use clones and be in multiple places at once." He said with a shrug. "And speak of the devils. Hey Blake, Yang you two got a sec?"

The two members of Team RWBY that were coming down for breakfast walked over "Morning you two, what's up?" Yang asked with a grin.

"Hey, so, Pyrrha just unlocked her chakra and I was wondering if you two would mind me moving you around. Yang if I could switch your Monday to Saturday and Blake's Friday to Sunday that would really help me a lot." Naruto suggested to them and neither saw a problem with it since he was using his free time to help them anyway. "Excellent, thanks girls."

"No prob." Yang gave him a thumbs up "So Pyrrha welcome to the super secret chakra club!"

"Ah, thank you." Pyrrha said, not really knowing how to respond to that.

"Does she know the handshake yet?" Blake asked with a straight face.

Yang snapped her fingers as if remembering something important "That's right, she's not an official member until she knows the handshake."

"Hand... shake?" Pyrrha directed the question to Naruto who snorted.

"They're messing with you Pyrrha." Naruto informed her with a chuckle.

"Oh, haha." Pyrrha laughed, embarrassed, even now she was still somewhat socially awkward due to not having many friends growing up.

Seeing the now uncomfortable atmosphere Yang being her usual self suggested them going for some grub. "So which element are you Pyrrha?" She asked.

"I'm not sure yet, I only received my chakra this morning." The red-head answered. "Though Naruto believes I may be water or lightning element."

Yang nodded "Well I'm fire and Blakey is wind."

"Which reminds me, soon I'll have to teach you guys some combination attacks since Wind boosts Fire." Naruto noted. "That will come later once you two can better control your elements though... wouldn't want you to blow yourselves up."

"Speaking of which," Blake pulled a small red leaf from her pocket, held perfectly between her fore and middle fingers. "I finally did it." Pyrrha gaped in amazement as the leaf split perfectly down the middle in one clean cut.

She watched Naruto grin that fanged grin of his that made her wonder if he was part fox faunus "Nice job Blake, that means we can start in on the second step!"

"What's that?" Blake asked. Perhaps she'll be cutting rocks next? Or maybe metal?

"A waterfall!" That answer made Blake trip, causing Yang to burst out laughing. Even Pyrrha herself couldn't help the incredulous look on her face.

"THE HELL? HOW DO YOU GO FROM A LEAF TO A WATERFALL!?" Blake demanded once she got back up, face red from either embarrassment or anger.

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion, holding his hands up in defense. "That's how I learned wind manipulation. First I cut a leaf a couple hundred time then I cut a waterfall."

Yang held her side as she calmed down "Geez no wonder you're a slave driver, with expectations like that your teacher must have been a sadist."

Naruto's face went blank as old memories came to mind. "Kakashi-sensei once made my female teammate see the guy she liked die a brutal death during our graduation test, buried said guy alive and... performed a hidden taijutsu move on me. I learned to walk on water from a closet perv in a hot spring so that every time I failed I wouldn't be scolded but scalded.

Once, to bring out my inner power my sensei pushed me down a ravine and told me good luck. When I was learning the art of senjutsu I was constantly beaten with a stick for moving even a fraction of an inch because any distraction in my chakra regulation would have turned me into stone..." Then a grin came across his face "Those were the good ol' days."

Yang paused, face equally as blank as she came to a realization, "You're actually kind of hardcore aren't ya?"

Naruto laughed her off and continued on towards the food hall, only stopping momentarily to peer over his shoulder "But seriously though Blake, a waterfall."

The faunus paled and dropped her head in anguish. It took her three months just to cut a damn leaf and now she has to gut a waterfall? What does that even mean? "Like... across?"

"All the way across, if you can only stall it for a split second that's acceptable but I was able to completely cut it and hold it that way for twenty seconds." Granted he had a small army of shadow clones to help him but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Yang whistled "How long did it take you to cut the waterfall?"

Naruto scratched his chin "Four or five days."

"And how long did you say it took you to cut the leaf again?" Blake asked, dread setting into the pit of her stomach.

"A few hours." He answered dutifully.

"It took me a few months..." Naruto shrugged, he could tell her he cheated and racked up a few thousand hours in the span of that one day but where's the fun in that?

"Yeah it took me a while to finally cut the waterfall, I remember getting frustrated a lot during that training session. Then again I was kind of an impatient idiot back then and was getting mad over not seeing results within a few hours." His lips twitched into a frown "Really I had no room to complain when I mastered wind manipulation within a week when it normally took years of work."

"Years..." Blake breathed, eyes going wide.

Suddenly Yang started laughing nervously "I'm not going to have to set fire to a waterfall am I?"

"Oh no, I'm going to have you melt a two foot wide steel beam with your chakra alone." Naruto said with a smile "But first you still have to turn that knife into slag."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Why does Blakey get off easy with just cutting a damn leaf while I have to melt metal?" She complained.

"Well wind is about precision, fire is all about power." Naruto explained "Cutting something as delicate as a leaf without having the sides shear is the point of the exercise not the actual material itself. For fire on the other hand it's entirely about overpowering and devouring whatever is in front of you. It doesn't have to be quick or clean, just powerful."

"Oh," Yang blinked "Well in that case, it makes sense I guess."

Pyrrha trailed behind them taking in everything she'd heard so far. It seems as though her upcoming training would be very exhausting and time-consuming, though she remembered Naruto saying she would have an easier time with it as it would come easier to her with her status as a Maiden. All in all she couldn't wait for tomorrow, a smile sliding across her lips as they entered the food hall.

Naruto and Yang were all smiles while Blake seemed to be sulking. They soon joined the other four members of their teams and enjoyed a talkative morning though Pyrrha noticed that the others never brought up chakra or elements. It then dawned on her that the 'secret-handshake' thing was more likely a subtle warning from Blake to keep things quiet and between them than a jest at her expense.

Part of her felt like she should tell her friends about this suddenly extremely important part of her life but another reminded her of all the secrecy behind the project. She hadn't even known about Yang or Blake being practitioners of chakra up until this morning and apparently Blake had been at it for months now.

Which also made her reassess just how close Naruto and Blake were. She always felt that Blake was far more comfortable around Naruto than would be normal for her especially considering that he was someone outside of her team.

Recently there seemed to have been a rift forming between the two but it seems as though they worked things out especially considering their kiss during the dance. That wasn't a first kiss, sprung in the heat of the moment it was something practiced. Although she had little experience in the matter herself, even she could see that there was something more there.

"Pyrrha, you alright?" Naruto suddenly asked, pulling her from her thoughts. "You looked like you were lost in space there."

The red-head smiled nervously "Ah ha, yes I'm fine, I was simply... thinking."

Her eyes caught Blake's who was peering intently at her before turning away. It seems as though Blake had caught her staring earlier but choose not to bring it up. Naruto followed her line of sight and held in a sigh. He'll have to address that sometime soon. "Right, well I was just trying to tell you that we'll be heading out into Forever Fall for a mission."

"A mission?" She questioned before remembering "Ah that's right, I was wondering when we would begin ours."

Naruto nodded "I picked us an easy one, a few Ursa nests have been spotted inside of the forest so we need to clear them out."

"Extermination huh?" Nora overheard, face grinning "Magnhild is ready!"

"At least it's close by." Ren added, "We'll likely be able to return for dinner and get to sleep in our own beds."

"Lucky you, Ruby picked us a mission in the middle of the Southern Ruins." Yang huffed "We'll be lucky to be back by next week."

"But that's where we need to be!" Ruby proclaimed, before lowering her voice "That's where Blake said the White Fang would be."

Naruto raised an eyebrow before turning towards Blake, who simple shrugged "They wanted to help." He sighed. "Alright, just be careful."

"What's the big deal? We'll just roll up in there and bust some asses like always." Yang boasted confidently.

Naruto turned towards his not-girlfriend once more "You haven't told them?"

"No..." She whispered "It's not exactly something you just bring up."

He turned back towards the rest of them, meeting each one of their eyes. "Finish up, we all need to have a talk. Yang you know where to take them."

Yang blinked before nodding as he walked off. "Seriously Blake you need to tell your boyfriend to tone it down a notch, he's always so serious."

"That's just how he is, you know that." Blake replied before putting down her fork and following after the blonde.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, trying to understand what all of that was about.

"What? Don't look at me, those two don't tell me anything." She groused, crossing her arms "I guess whatever they have to tell us has something to do with the White Fang."

They quickly finished up their breakfast and followed Yang to a cleaning closet. "Hey, that's the closet I saw Naruto walk out of yesterday!" Ruby remembered.

"Well to you it might as well be a closet," Yang said as she stepped up to the door and concentrated hard before the seal visibly glowed and she opened the door to see Naruto and Blake already inside discussing something.

"What the!?" Ruby gawked "B-But I opened it before... and it was just a closet!"

"Yeah well as Naruto often likes to remind us, his seals make the impossible possible." Yang huffed as she held the door opened allowing the other five to enter first before closing the door behind her.

"Woah..." Nora said as she looked around at the giant room. "It's a super-secret room of secretness!"

"Actually it's a Fabricated External Dimensional Space." Naruto corrected as he and Blake joined them.

"Uh..." It took Nora's mind a moment to restart "And that means?"

"It's an artificially created dimension but one that still follows the same passage of time." Naruto clarified "You know how I can seal stuff up in my scrolls? This is what it would be like if I sealed you into one of my scrolls."

"Ohhhhh," She grinned "Ok."

"Yang how are the oxygen levels?" Naruto asked the blonde who went over to one of the walls.

"We're at 40%, we should be fine for a good few hours." She answered.

"Oxygen levels?" Ren decided to ask.

"Oh, well we're in an enclosed space, no natural air gets in so we need to artificially add in air. It took me weeks to figure out how to do so without completely flooding the room with pure oxygen because if that happened, well Yang's fire training would have literally ignited the whole room." Naruto told him.

"Well I would have survived at least." Yang quipped.

"Considering you would have ignited all the oxygen in the room, you would have survived long enough to see yourself suffocate to death." Naruto pointed out.

"Oh right," She paled. That would have been a shitty way to go.

"Can we get on with it? Our team is leaving in an hour." Blake decided to cut in.

Naruto sighed "Yeah we probably should. Right then, the White Fang is now militarizing for the complete and utter destruction of the Four Kingdoms. Soon open war will begin and you will all be thrust into the battlefield against both Grimm and Man. I and a group of individuals are actively working to prevent this from happening but know this, the White Fang is a criminal organization aiming towards killing every single person in Vale. They can and will come at you with the intent to kill whether you're willing to respond in kind or not."

Blake turned a glare to him "Have you no tact, Naruto?"

"We've been keeping this from them long enough Blake, something big is happening and I haven't been able to find out what just yet so until we know for sure it's best that your team and mine know that if you encounter the White Fang, it could lead to a fight to the death." He responded sharply.

"I was already aware of that." Weiss spoke "My family has been at war with the White Fang for years, hundreds of our friends; family and employees have been killed. Before I left for Beacon my father made sure I knew this, and just a few months ago my sister was involved in a fight with the White Fang that left her in critical condition for weeks before she recovered."

Her eyebrows pinched into a scowl "I know this war all too well. If it comes down to my life or theirs, I already which choice I'll make."

Yang looked down, eyes wide as she said "That's some heavy shit man. I don't know if I can kill someone, Grimm sure but another person...?"

Nora looked mildly worried and clung to Ren's hand. "How soon are we talking, Naruto?" He asked.

"I'm estimating sometime near the Vytal Festival. Ozpin and General Ironwood agree." Naruto informed them, letting them know his connection with the two powerful men to add credence to his claims.

"Is this why they were so desperate for another Maiden?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Part of the reason." Naruto confirmed "It's also the main reason I've tried to give you guys the edge as best I can. Ren, Nora, Weiss and Ruby have the potential to unlock their chakra but you three showed more promise towards mastering it fast enough to be of use by the time the White Fang makes their move."

"You mean I could use those sealy thingies too?" Nora asked, hope radiating in her turquoise eyes.

"It's possible and considering your semblance you're almost assuredly a lightning nature user. While Ren's fighting style reminds me a lot of the Hyuuga clan so he's most likely an Earth nature." Naruto told his teammates before turning towards the Schnee heiress "You're likely an ice nature or possibly just water."

"And me?" Ruby wondered.

"You..." He glanced into her bright silver eyes "I believe you have a rare bloodline limit known as the Swift Release, a combination of both Wind and Lightning chakras. I've only ever seen it once before but it would explain your extreme speeds and ability to mentally keep up with those speeds."

"Swift release? Sounds fancy." Yang said with a grin as she slung her arm around her little sister's shoulders. "Hear that Rube? You're special."

"Your mother," Naruto began carefully as he continued looking into her silver eyes. "Was she also capable of quick movement?"

Ruby nodded meekly, still not entirely comfortable talking about her mother. "Dad said she had the same semblance."

"It might not be a semblance after all then, rather a... I guess you can say a half-unlocked bloodline limit. Ozpin said that those with silver-eyes were powerful, it would make sense if you were a Bloodline Clan." Naruto mulled this new information over in his head before storing it away for later. "Anyway that's all I really wanted to say, keep a sharp eye out there girls because things are going to get serious from now on."

"Right, and with that grim tone, I think it's time for us to go get ready for our mission." Yang cut through the suddenly tense atmosphere with the guile of a raging bull. Followed by Ruby and Weiss, Blake only hanging back for a moment to meet his eyes.

Naruto gave a small nod but she knew the meaning behind it. Blake smiled for only the barest of moment and returned the nod before following her teammates. Be careful.

"We should probably get ready as well, when are we supposed to meet our Huntsmen sponsor?" Ren asked his captain who checked the time on his Scroll.

"In about forty minutes, might as well go get ready now. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back." Naruto said as he lead them out of the room before resealing it. They simply walked past the boggling students who watched eight people leave one tiny broom closet, opening and closing it multiple times to make sure they weren't missing something.

They walked out to the landing bays to wish Team RWBY good luck. As luck would have it they arrived just in time to see Team CFVY return from their own mission which they were expected from over a week ago.

They looked downcast and exhausted as they walked back towards the school. Blake jogged up to the rabbit faunus in concern "Velvet, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." She answered.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago." Weiss added, this being the reason she and Yang were asked to decorate the hall for the dance. "What happened?"

"N-Nothing happened... there was just... there was just so many." The rabbit girl looked down once again before looking up once more with a smile "Oh but don't worry, you firsties are just shadowing huntsmen so you should be fine."

"Right..." Yang was unconvinced, especially after what Naruto told them.

"Well at least you all made it back safe, it's been getting pretty dangerous out there." Naruto spoke drawing the girl's attention to him. She blushed slightly before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah it is..." She looked towards her retreating teammates, likely heading straight for their beds. Honestly she wanted to do the same after a nice hot bath. "I should go... be safe, OK?"

Yang rolled her eyes seeing the girl's expression when she saw Naruto. "Really Blondie? Velvet too?"

"She's had it bad ever since Naruto stabbed Cardin for pulling on her ears." Nora added helpfully, a wide smile at the chance to take a shot at her captain.

Naruto didn't deign their commentary worthy of a response. "Well good luck out there Team RWBY, we need to head out and meet up with our own Huntsmen."

The two teams exchanged their goodbyes and well wishes before Naruto led them towards the Beacon cliff. "Why is our Huntsmen sponsor meeting us here?"

"Why it's the fasted way into the Forest of course! Nothing get's the blood pumping like sailing through the air on your way to exterminate some Grimm menaces! Haha!" A very familiar voice answered Ren's question.

"Professor Port? You're our sponsor?" Naruto asked.

"That's right! I heard there was to be Ursa hunting in the nearby forest and I jumped at the chance!" He exclaimed excitedly, brandishing his Musketaxe. "Now then my dear students, shall we depart?"

Nora cheered "YEAH! LET'S GO HUNT SOME URSA!"

"That's the spirit, miss Valkyrie! AWAY!" With that the five were launched off into the mid-day sun.

AN - So two quick announcements, my birthday is on the 25th and I'll be turning 24 so I am much excite. The second is that I've decided to write a HP/Gaming fanfic in the style of other Harry the Gamer fics only this one will be heavily influenced by Fallout's system and a few other games. The first chapter is out so please go take a look if you're interested!

*Chapter 19*: Birdcall

AN - I'm finally back! I decided to wait a few episodes into the new season to see if I can integrate anything from the canonverse before I started deviating too much and there are somethings that I will add and others that I won't. I'll leave my full thoughts of the new season so far at the end of the chapter but be warned of spoilers. Enjoy!

Shattered World

"11... 12... 13!" With a final grunt of exertion Nora smashed the last Ursa in her sight. "That's all of them right?"

"Indeed miss Valkyrie!" Professor Port exclaimed joyfully, "A marvelous hunt you four! It's good to get the old blood pumping every once in a while." The man said with a smile hidden under his impressive mustache.

"So what now Prof? Shall we slay some Beowolves or maybe stalk some Death Stalkers?" Nora asked with an equally if not more excited or maybe bloodthirsty zeal.

"Unfortunately that is all for today Team Nirvana. You'll come to note that some missions could range from a few short hours like this one to a week or more for others. Enjoy the downtime until your next mission, soon you'll find that it will last less and less with each year." The man said sagely as he led them back to the school.

The team chatted amicably meanwhile during the almost hour-long trek back up to the school and they had decided that the mission proved to be far too easy and would be going with Ren and Nora's original idea to shadow the sheriff of a village in the outskirts of town.

By the time they reached the school it was already lunch time and luckily his Scroll showed that the request was still up on the mission logs. "I'll go sign us up for the mission real quick, I'll meet you guys there."

"I'll join you." Pyrrha said kindly, while ignoring the wink Nora sent her.

"Right then, we'll meet you guys there!" Nora half-shouted. "Come on Ren."

Naruto snorted in amusement at the pair before turning to Pyrrha "Shall we?"

She nodded and walked beside him as they made their way to the mission hall. "I don't know why I was expecting more from our first mission... exterminating an Ursa nest is rather straight forward now that I think about it."

Naruto laughed and nodded in agreement "I know what you mean, I honestly half expected us to run into a pack of Beowolves and with a Dragon on top. Knowing my luck, I was a little anxious myself."

"Yeah that sounds pretty boring." Sun Wukong said as he walked up to them, having just exited the mission hall.

"Sun... right?" Naruto asked as the monkey faunus and his blue haired friend waved at them.

"Yeah, this is my friend Neptune by the way." Neptune waved a greeting.

"Hello, a pleasure to meet you both." Pyrrha greeted them.

"Anyway, yeah it was a bit boring to be honest. We're on our way to sign up for a mission to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village tomorrow." Naruto said conversationally.

"Then you guys can party with us tonight! We're shadowing a crime specialist, all undercity detective stuff... we get junior badges." Neptune told them rather animatedly.

Naruto chuckled "Sounds fun, I'm sure Nora and Ren would be up for it."

"Awesome, we're heading out at seven, catch you guys then?" Sun asked.

"That sounds lovely." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Naruto smirked at her "Undercover crime fighting? Sounds like it's right up my alley."

Pyrrha laughed and pushed him along toward the hall. "It does sound somewhat exciting."

"Naruto and Pyrrha, Private Detectives!" Naruto said dramatically, splaying his hands out in front of him as if he were looking at a billboard.

The red-head kept on giggling at Naruto's antics, both ignoring the odd looks they were getting from random students.

"Alright let's see here... Bodyguard, nope. Escort mission, nope. Extermination, nope... ah here we go!" Naruto said after finally finding the mission posted by the sheriff. "Mission parameters: Assist the sheriff of Green rock village during his patrols and deal with any criminals or Grimm as appropriate. Seems easy enough."

Pyrrha smiled, "It almost makes me wish we picked a longer mission like team RWBY."

"Yeah but then we wouldn't be able to sleep in our own beds, eat decent food or just hang out for a bit." Naruto told her, having long since come to enjoy the downtime between missions.

"I suppose." She relented. "I wonder how their mission is going by the way."

000

"What now?" Ruby asked as they watched a lone Beowulf sniff around down the road.

"We wait. We track. If the specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck told them.

"How long do we wait?" Blake asked.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months- and there's the whole pack." The green haired professor ranted.

"What!?" Weiss exclaimed, wide-eyed at the sudden influx of beowolves.

"And now they've seen us."

"What!?" She repeated.

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US." Oobleck also repeated.

"I take it that tracking is out of the question?" Ruby added hesitantly.

"An accurate assumption, yes."

"What's the plan then?" Yang asked as the pack began charging at them.

"...Show me what you're capable of."

000

"Knowing Oobleck he's probably giving them a history lesson or something." Naruto said with a shrug as they walked towards the dinning room.

"If nothing else, it might be nice to see parts outside of the kingdom." She offered to which he shrugged. Ruby had almost as bad luck as he did so she would probably end up stumbling upon the Faunus operation going on in that sector and most likely end up getting captured because of it.

"I'm sure they're fine." No reason to tell Pyrrha about his cynical point of view though, it would just make her worry.

"There you guys are! We've been waiting for AGES!" "It's been ten minutes." "But I'm hungry so it's felt like ages!" Naruto smiled at the usual funny man/straight man thing those two had going on.

"Well luckily for you Nora, we're here now." Naruto said as he allowed her to dig in, while he and Pyrrha sat down and started in on the food that the other two got for them. Burgers, not bad.

"We've received an invitation to join Sun and his friend Neptune on their mission tonight if you two are interested. From what I hear they will be shadowing a detective." Pyrrha mentioned.

"OOH! Sounds fun! When are we going?" Nora asked excitedly.

"We'll be meeting with them tonight at seven. Luckily our mission doesn't start till five tomorrow so we should be able to rest up even if we're out late."

"So what exactly will we be doing?" Ren asked his captain.

Naruto shrugged, chewing at the bit of food in this mouth. "Probably the same we'll be doing for our mission, just following the guy and watching what he does."

"Maybe we'll get to meet his underground informants! Or maybe we'll hunt down one of the gangs in the lower city! Or maybe we'll help bust a drug ring or-" Ren placed his hand over Nora's mouth.

"Or maybe we'll just be following him around." Everyone could see Nora's pout at his words as he took his hand off her mouth.

"You're such a killjoy Ren."

"Someone has to balance out your overzealous personality."

"Hmph." Nora turned away in a huff. "Yeah well you should liven up more."

"And you need to lay off the coffee."

"Blah blah blah," "Blah blah!" Blah blah, blah blah blah blah." "BLAH!"

Having long since gotten used to their back and forth, Naruto easily tuned them out and continued eating. Pyrrha looked at him for help for a few moments before giving up and leaving the two lovers to their bickering as she also started in on her burger.

"And you eat all the pancakes-"

"Yeah well you-"

Naruto casually munched on his fries as he sub-consciously nodded his head at things directed towards him. These fries are a bit stale. They've probably been sitting there for a while.

"You still haven't even shown us your semblance."

"You already know my semblance!"

"Yeah well-"

I wonder if I can grab some pizza while we're out. These fries are crap and the burger was shit. His hand idly tapped around the plate only to come up empty every time. Naruto frowned and looked down. Empty. "Damn... I was enjoying those."

"Would you like mine?" He turned towards his partner who was sliding her plate of fries over to him. "The burger was enough for me, you can have mine if you'd like."

"Oh cool, thanks Pyr." She smiled warmly and him and nodded. Mmmm... stale fries. Needs more salt.

"So Naruto about our date-" Pyrrha whispered so she wouldn't be overheard by their teammates. The blond blinked and looked back towards his friend keeping his voice as low a hers.

"Sorry hold on, roll that back a bit. What's this about a date?" Pyrrha frowned in confusion for a moment before explaining.

"I... I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date after the mission? You nodded so I assume you meant yes." She said hesitantly.

"Oh." Crap. "Well to be honest, for the last five or ten minutes I completely zoned out and wasn't paying attention to anything really."

"Oh... I see." Double-crap, damage control time.

"That's not to say I wouldn't like to go, just that had agreed to it without consciously knowing." He told her before taking on a more joking tone "For future reference though, If I suddenly get really quiet and just start nodding, assume I'm no longer paying attention."

She chuckled "Alright. So does that mean...?"

"I'd love to Pyrrha, did you have something in mind?" Naruto wondered, giving her his full attention this time.

"I was hoping to just explore the village we would be in for a while." Pyrrha offered.

"Sure, sounds good." He agreed readily before turning back towards the two across from them. "I don't think they're going to stop any time soon."

Pyrrha smiled weakly "I think I will rest for a while before our mission."

"I'll wake you up an hour before we have to go." Naruto said as his friend headed back to their room.

"Blah blah blah blah blah."

"Blah blah blah."

"Blah, blah blah blah."

Maybe some ketchup would help these along?

000

"Hey guys, you made it!" Neptune exclaimed with a cheerful wave.

"Yep." Naruto responded before turning towards the monkey faunus who was hanging upside-down from a lamp-post. "Hey Sun, how's it hanging?"

"A little to the left at the moment." The faunus said with a grin.

"Oh good." Naruto said, barely even reacting to the joke. "So where's our detective friend?"

"Right here." A gravely voice answered. They all turned to see a man in a dark blue coat and hat with a graying beard. "The name's Coal. Flint Coal."

Naruto blinked, "Did anyone else notice the world going into black and white just now?" The others looked at him strangely. "No? Just me? Alright then."

The world went into monochrome once more as the man spoke "I approached the kids that were assigned to follow me on this job. Rookies, the lot of them... except for the one in the back, I could see it in his eyes, he's a wolf hiding in plain sight."

"Seriously? No one else saw that just now?"

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Ren asked in confusion.

"Nothing, apparently I'm just imagining things." The blonde grumbled.

"I have to keep my eye on that one, he looks like the loose cannon type. Someone who only plays by their own rules..." Naruto assumed the man meant him, in which case he didn't feel the need to correct him since he was right after all. "Alright trainees, you'll all be shadowing me on a small time job I've got down by the docks."

"I led the kids down to the airship I prepared earlier today, it'll be a quick trip down to Vale city. Just in time to hit dusk, well all the low-down scum of the city start to wake up."

"Is he monologuing?" Naruto asked Pyrrha who looked at him oddly "Let me guess, you didn't hear him talk just now?"

"No...? Mr. Coal has only spoken to tell us his name and that we would be following him on an investigation by the docks." She answered. "Are... are you feeling alright Naruto?"

"Yeah - I'm fine." Naruto let his face drop into a blank facade as he watched the man. Something was definitely up with this guy.

"I could feel the heat from that kid's gaze from here, he's been watching me like a hawk the whole time. Could he be in on it?" Flint Coal asked himself as his corner of the plane turned grayscale. "Something wrong kid?"

"Naruto."

"He said, giving me his name. What's with the thousand yard stare?"

"Trying to figure out whether I've gone insane or something really weird is going on."

"There's always something weird going on. I said over the hum of the bullhead engines. The soft thrumming reminding me of simpler times when my father would take me out on flights on his personal craft." Naruto noticed that the color only seeped away when he started narrating. Odd.

"So what's the job anyway? You said it was something small right?" Naruto asked, drawing the attention of the others who were also curious.

"That's right, a man by the name of Kyle came to me yesterday asking me to find a bag for him. Supposedly inside was the man's wallet, cash and most importantly his Scroll. He didn't seem to care about the other things in the bag but he stressed that I find his phone. Perhaps it holds some secret documents or possibly even a link to some secret society that he doesn't want anyone to know about? Regardless it was none of my business other than to find the man's possessions and returned them back to him."

Secret society? Naruto wondered to himself. Fang maybe? Or another possible faction?

"That's it?" Sun asked, incredibly disappointed.

"Yeah, not all jobs are catching crooks and busting spice rings." Flint told him.

"Spice rings?" Pyrrha asked uncertainly.

"Spice is a type of drug that was created in Vacuo some fifty years back and has grown to become a major problem in the kingdoms." Naruto informed her.

"Wasn't that the one that was originally made for Vacuo's soldiers?" Ren asked the blonde who he believed was native to that kingdom.

"Originally, yeah, the Dust used in Spice was supposed to enhance one's ability to use that element to their maximum potential and it did, but there were... side effects." Coal watched as the well-informed blonde told them about that pesky drug. Too many times had he run into hopped up Spice addicts that lobbed fireballs around like they were going out of style.

"Like what?" Nora asked this time with a frown.

"Well the benefits of its original purpose were still there, increased energy, heightened senses, artificial boost to self-esteem, euphoria and the ability to use the element it was cut with to absurd levels. The other side-effects and the reason it was banned from further use however were increased feelings of paranoia and anxiety after the effects wore off, fits of rage and an incredibly high chance of becoming addicted to it." The blonde told the group all they all seemed interested now.

"You seem to know quite a bit about Spice, your file said you came in from Vacuo right?" Flint asked.

"Straight outta Shade." Naruto confirmed "I grew up an orphan in one of Vacuo's shanty towns, the ones sprung up as quick as they fell. People there don't have a lot going for them so they look for ways to escape, Spice was the usual choice. Unlike those weaklings I preferred to keep to Vacuo's rule instead of hiding in some hallucination."

Flint nodded in understanding "Vacuo, a harsh desert that breeds hard people. It's a story heard a thousand times and yet it never gets any easier."

"Vacuo's rule?" Neptune asked, having never heard of it.

"If you survive, you're welcome there. Vacuo is a mostly barren desert and it's a constant fight for resources, food and water are scarce so many go days without. I got real good at stealing when I was a little kid to keep myself to starving until I was old enough to join the military academy." Naruto explained, both statements being entirely true, only he stole while he was in Konoha not Vacuo.

"Damn dude..." The bluenette breathed out, unable to picture himself surviving such a thing.

Naruto shrugged "It's in the past, plus I'd like to think I got out stronger for it." He said dismissively, growing bored with the conversation now.

After that the ride into Vale was mostly quiet for the ten minutes it took for them to land in downtown Vale, close to the shipyard.

"So where are we starting the search?" Sun asked as they left the aircraft.

"Our client said that he last had his bag at Joel's Crab Shack so we'll start our search there. The crab shack - a small seafood restaurant run by a man name Joel, an oddball that one. In my few visits there I've heard some customers refer to him as Caboose, though I never quite figured out why."

Naruto listened attentively to the extra narrated information, no longer attempting to bring to attention the world altering phenomenon as the world returned to its normal coloring. Maybe he's become some sort of mind-reader now like Ino? I remember her mentioning that the world faded around her when she projected her mind... maybe I'm subconsciously doing that but it only works on this guy?

He thought about it for a minute before shaking his head. Nah, I'm just going insane. A thousand years of solitary confinement on the moon is finally catching up to me. Naruto's lip twitched in amusement from his mental joke.

"You alright Boss?" Nora asked as the group walked down the wharf towards the restaurant.

Naruto turned towards Nora who was looking at him funny. "Yeah, I'm alright. Why?"

"You were smirking just now." She answered, giving him a weary eye "You've been acting funny since we left Beacon."

The blonde captain waved her off "Don't worry about that, I'm just having delusions."

"Perhaps you need some rest?" Pyrrha offered "You have been working non-stop for the past few weeks. Maybe you should take some time to relax?"

"I'm fine Pyr, I've got clones to keep on top of everything." He said dismissively.

Pyrrha looked at him in concern and was about to let it go before frowning and shaking her head. "Come with me."

"Wha-?" Naruto was cut off as she pulled him along.

"Mr. Flint, we shall return momentarily." Pyrrha called back.

Coal glanced back and smiled in amusement, "Blondie's got a good one there, reminds me of another fiery red-head from my youth. Best of luck to ya, kid."

000

"Seriously Pyrrha I'm fine." Naruto restated as she dragged him into an alley.

"Naruto-" He could see the concern radiating from her eyes. "I'm worried about you."

"Listen-"

"No, you listen!" Naruto blinked and instantly shut up, never having had Pyrrha raise her voice to him. "I- I'm sorry for shouting but you need to hear this... you don't have to do everything Naruto. You're one man, an incredibly talented man but still only one man, even with your clones helping you they still transfer their mental fatigue to you."

"You don't always have to be strong, you don't always have to be the pillar that holds the everything together... let us help you. We're all in this together now so please stop trying to do it all yourself again." She pleaded.

Naruto tried to speak but oddly found his voice lacking in the face of Pyrrha's honest words. "I understand the need for secrecy and I understand why you want to protect us from everything but we're training to be Huntsmen Naruto, we understood that our lives would be on the line the moment we joined the military academy. You've already let everyone in on the secret so let us help you."

Naruto let out the breath he was holding ever since Pyrrha started to lay into him and let himself slump into the brick wall behind him. He chuckled mirthlessly. "You know, I've changed a lot from the person I was when I was younger. I had believed that the old me had faded away long ago but I guess he was still hanging on there, stumbling around in the dark."

He drew his eyes up to meet hers "Hidden deep down under all the sarcasm and pretense, the old me that just wanted to protect those dear to him was still in there somewhere. Letting people worm their way into my heart... like some insidious little tapeworm."

Pyrrha's nose scrunched up at the mental image. "So I'm a tapeworm now?"

Naruto laughed and drew her in."You must be, because I can't seem to get rid of you."

Pyrrha scowled, but it was downplayed by the blush on her cheeks. "That was awful... truly."

"And yet you still haven't pushed me away." He teased, his boyish grin shamelessly splayed out across his face. Pyrrha didn't resist when he held her tighter, her hands slipping up around his neck.

She laughed, "Oh shut up."

Naruto did as he was told and craned his head down to meet her awaiting lips with his. He was about to go in for another when a loud gasp and the tell-tale flash of a picture being taken alerted him to the their guests.

"I KNEW IT!" Nora yelled triumphantly, pointing her finger at them accusingly while the other held up her Scroll with the camera aimed at them.

Pyrrha's face exploded into a deep enough shade of red to match her hair color. Choosing to hide herself in the closest thing possible, which at the moment was his chest. "Oh. Hey Nora, what are you guys doing here?"

Ren having gotten over his own surprise calmly took out his wallet and handed Nora a twenty lien card. "Coal asked us to get you guys since you were taking so long but it seems as though we're intruding. Come Nora."

"WHAT!? No! I need details!" Nora demanded as she pried a reluctant Pyrrha from Naruto. "Alright girl, spill!"

"I c-cannot, not with Naruto and Ren here..." The red-head protested.

"You heard the lady, boys! Scram!" Nora said with a shooing motion.

Naruto sighed and walked past Ren and continued on down the wharf, followed by his martial artist friend. "Ren?"

"Yeah?"

"As an old friend of mine would say 'That woman is troublesome.'" He grumbled.

"Yeah..."

000

Everyone regrouped inside of the restaurant and Coal gave them their orders. "We work from here out. Sun and Neptune, you two check the western side of the wharf, Nora and Pyrrha you get the east. I'll check the closer around here for any clues and Naruto and Ren you get the north end. The bag was described as a plain black duffel bag about three feet long with some clothes and his other items inside, if you find it message us back on your Scrolls."

With their orders given the teams split up and Ren and Naruto went towards the north end of the wharf. "Alright well I don't feel like spending all day looking for a stupid bag so I'll just do this..." Suddenly fifty Naruto clones appeared and scattered about on their search. "So what do you wanna do Ren?"

"Shouldn't we be doing our job?"

"Nah, that's chump work. Let the clones handle it, let's go find somewhere to relax for a bit." Naruto said, leaving Ren no room to argue as he already started walking off.

"So..."

"It started after the dance." Naruto laughed seeing the look on Ren's face, "That's what you wanted to know right?"

"...Is telepathy one of your abilities?"

"You know, recently, I'm starting to think it is." The blonde captain said with a laugh. Their conversation tapered off as they continued walking down the street looking for a place to squat for the day.

000

"So...?" Nora didn't even bother hiding the massive grin on her face as she asked the unspoken question.

Pyrrha blushed brightly and looked away "What do you wish to know?"

"When did you and Captain Whiskers hook up?" Nora asked excitedly.

"We-" Pyrrha hesitated slightly, "We're not actually together."

"...Eh?" Nora stopped bouncing on the balls of her feet suddenly and looked like someone just dumped a bucket of water on her. "But- But I saw you two making out?"

"Yes, but Naruto and I are not actually dating." Naruto had explained the convoluted situation he was in and while she didn't fully understand it, Pyrrha was willing to wait until Blake returned from her mission so they could all sit down and talk about it. "But I have enjoyed kissing Naruto in private..."

"Oh~ So you're in that kind of a relationship?" A sly grin streched across Nora's face. "How scandalous!"

"It's complicated... needlessly so." Pyrrha answered with a frown.

"Really?" Nora wondered.

Pyrrha looked embarrassed, "Well there are some... extra elements to our situation that make things far too complicated."

"Like what?" Nora pushed.

"Reasons..." Pyrrha trailed off, not really knowing how to explain the odd relationship she was in with Naruto.

Nora frowned "Well, as long as you're alright with it. Sometimes being friends with 'benefits' doesn't work out too well."

Pyrrha smiled reassuringly."It's fine, even though what Naruto and I have is complicated, for the time being I can't really say I mind all that much..." She said with a blush rising on her cheeks once again which Nora could easily guess at what Pyrrha was hinting at.

"To think our squeaky clean, good girl Pyrrha has being having an affair with our captain behind our backs this whole time~" Nora giggled "Oh It's all so very exciting, like a soap opera!"

Pyrrha let out an exasperated sigh, noting that she'd been doing that a lot more lately. Likely due to Naruto's own habit of doing so. "Let's just get back to what we were supposed to be doing."

000

"Dum di-di dum dum dum dum di-di dum dum - da dum dum dum dum dum dum-"

"DA DA DA, DADADA!"

"Dadada da da dadadada dada dadum dum dadum dum dadadada!"

Sun and Neptune paid no attention to the odd looks they were getting as they sneaked down the side-walk holding their hands together as if they were pistols while singing the theme song to some old spy movie they watched.

"What are they doing?" A Naruto clone asked another as they watched from the rooftop.

Clone #2 shrugged "Hell if I know."

"Still can't be any weirder than having conversations with yourself that the main body is completely unaware of." A third clone said as he sat on the edge of the rooftop, also watching the two friends.

"Point." 1.

"Shouldn't we be doing something?" 2.

"Probably." 3.

"We're not going to bother I'm guessing?" 2.

"Course not." 1.

000

"It was nearing ten and almost time to gather up the kids and call this night a bust when suddenly my instincts told me to check out that tea shop one last time..." Flint walked down the darkened road to a closed tea shop and noticed that a light in the back was still on. He crept towards the back and found a window he could peek through so he set up a few boxes as a stand and looked inside the building.

There lying on the table between two masked men sat a duffel bag matching the descriptions and a large Pad-style Scroll. "We've tried everything, I can't figure out the damn password!"

"Well keep trying, the boss wants the info inside of this thing."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I knew it, this reached deeper than just some simple retrieval job. This stank of conspiracy from the beginning." Pulling out his own personal Scroll he set it to conference and lowered the volume before calling his temporary subordinates. "Everyone get to the Sea-breeze Tea House, asap but be discreet."

He didn't have to wait long for the soldiers in training to show up. "Alright good news is I found the client's bag, bad news is White Fang's trying to get into the Scroll."

Naruto narrowed his eyes but let Flint continue. "We're going to do a quick smash and grab. Nora, you knock down the door. Ren, Naruto you two handle the two guys while Neptune grabs the package. The rest of us will be ready if any other Fang members show up after Nora busts the door down."

After everyone was clear on the plan Flint turned towards Nora and gave her the signal. "BREACH AND CLEAR!" Nora shouted and smashed her hammer into the door, sending it in and knocking over one of the two Faunus.

Naruto ran in faster than the other Fang member could comprehend, landing a vicious knee to the gut then an elbow to the temple. The faunus was out cold before he hit the ground. The blonde captain turned towards the other side where Ren had made sure the guy under the door was properly knocked-out.

"What the f-" The three other Fang members than rushed in were dealt with quickly but the others.

"Package secure!" Neptune yelled from outside though his voice seemed distant and Naruto could hear him still running down the street.

"Retreat!" Flint called out and they quickly vacated the premises.

Naruto knew that this was his only chance and shunshined directly in front of Neptune. "Holy cr...a...p..." The boy slowed to a crawl and fell over asleep.

Naruto had a clone quickly turn itself into the Scroll and placed it in the bag while he sealed the real one into a scroll. Then he paused and noticed something on the shoulder of a shirt, normally he would ignore it as some personal sigil that Hunters often place on their clothing but he'd seen this one before. A pair of black stylized wings.

He could now hear the others catching up so zipped up the bag and dispelled the genjutsu before shaking Neptune awake. "Ah wha-?"

"Get up Neptune." Naruto said firmly.

"What happened?" The blue haired boy asked as he rubbed his face where he fell on the side-walk.

"Sorry, that was my bad, I saw you were still running so I teleported in front of you and you... kinda just fainted. I'd suggest not telling anyone that happened." It seemed like a reasonable request to Neptune, if Naruto was willing to keep quiet about him fainting then he as sure hell wasn't going to tell anyone.

"Right." Neptune said with a nod "So everything went well?"

"Yep, just gotta wait for the others to show up and then we can take the package to the client." Naruto told him just as the others joined them.

"Is everything in there?" Flint asked as he walked up to the two.

"Neptune?" Naruto turned towards the guy who was still sitting on the ground.

"Oh, right!" Neptune opened up the bag and took out he Scroll "Got it."

Flint nodded and took the bag and Scroll from him. "Good work everyone, go ahead and head back to your school. I'll get this to the client and mark your mission as complete."

"Hell yeah! First mission complete!" Sun cheered.

Flint chuckled, "Go on, get out of here kids."

000

The plane ride back to the school was a joyous affair as Sun and Neptune happily talked about how the boring retrieval mission had turned into a super-secret government contract to steal back military secrets from the clutches of the White Fang.

Naruto remained quiet with only an amused smile on his face, though for entirely different reasons. Atlas had some of the best hackers and engineers anywhere in the world and he had no doubt that Ironwood would have this Scroll cracked in no time.

The blonde took out his own scroll and typed a quick message to the general. 'Heading back to Beacon, need a Scroll cracked.'

It took less than a minute receive a reply. 'I'll have a man ready by the time you get here.'

Naruto put his Scroll back into his pocket and laid back enjoying the ride, it will probably be a busy night. Then he thought better of it and retrieved his Scroll to send out one more message.

'A bird wandered into town, he was kind enough to leave me a way to contact the Nest.'

His Scroll beeped seconds later.

'On my way.'

AN - Alright so first off, Salem's little group of evil. While the mustachioed gentlemen Dr. Watts is highly amusing in his insults to Cinder, I don't really care about him or the blood thirsty psycho Tyrian or the big stoic Hazel.

Finally for some of my previous theories that may or may not have been confirmed already.

1) Pyrrha is still alive in some form.

In recent episodes either Ruby is going crazy or Pyrrha is trying to reach out to her.

2) Ozpin isn't dead.

That one was straight up confirmed at the start of the newest episode.

3) When the power of a Maiden is shared between two hosts, one must die for the other to become the full Maiden.

I assumed this would be the case with episode 12 of season 3 but Salem basically confirmed it S4E1.

Now for my predictions for the rest of the season. There were six seats in Salem's meeting room so I assume she'll try to find two more, starting with Sienna Khan the leader of the White Fang. As for the last I'm still not sure.

Also I'm pretty sure Salem's domain within Remnant is that dark spot on the eastern most part of Anima.

*Chapter 20*: Firesong

AN - Happy one year anniversary! I would like to thank all of my fans who have stuck with the story and continue to enjoy it. This chapter will finish off season 2 of RWBY and I'm really excited to begin season 3!

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or RWBY.

Shattered World

"Night guys." Naruto waved to Sun and Neptune mirrored by his team.

"Night." "Good night!" The two replied as they left for the area set aside for the visiting students.

Team NRVN then stepped into the elevator and Naruto pushed the button for the second floor where the first year dorms were. Seconds later the doors opened up and everyone but Naruto exited. "Uh... Boss?"

"Go on ahead, I have to talk to General Ironwood about something." Naruto told his team.

Pyrrha frowned "Is this something we should know about?"

He gave her an apologetic smiled "Sorry guys, Ozpin and Ironwood want to keep this quiet. I'd tell you if they didn't specifically ask me to keep it to only us."

Ren nodded, "Understood captain."

Pyrrha touched his arm light and smiled "I suppose it's out of our hands then."

"Don't stay up too late Boss!" Nora said cheerfully before striding towards their dorm room.

"I'll be back soon." With that the doors closed and the elevator zipped up to the lobby outside of Ozpin's office where Glynda was waiting for him. "Professor Goodwitch." He nodded.

"Good evening Uzumaki, James and Ozpin are waiting inside." She said, as they strode towards the door and entered.

Ozpin smiled "Welcome back Naruto."

"Naruto, good evening." Ironwood said as he strode up to him followed by a mousy brown-haired girl around his age.

"General." Naruto said as he shook the man's hand.

The man gestured towards the girl behind him "This is Beige Sandclaw, one of our best crackers."

"Nice to meet you." Naruto greeted the young woman.

"H-Hello." She replied timidly.

"Excellent, then I'll give this..." He reached into his coat and pulled out a Scroll "to you."

"Why the need to hack this specific devise Naruto?" Ozpin asked as they watched the mousy girl pull out a small device and her own Scroll that was linked to it.

"The mission my team just returned from was to retrieve a package for the client. He reported a dufflebag with some clothes and money missing but what he really wanted was the Scroll inside-" Naruto pointed at the Scroll in the girl's hand "that Scroll."

"Naruto... you do realize that theft is a crime right?" James said, not entirely sure what was going through the boy's mind.

Naruto gave the man a reproachful look "General, you should know by now that most of the time I do things for a reason more than just to entertain myself. When I was searching the bag I noticed that the man's clothing had a very specific sigil on them, that of the Corvus clan."

Glynda's eyes widened "You must be joking?"

"I've seen enough pictures of them and had Qrow tell me enough about the clan for the Sigil to be unmistakable to me. Either the man was a Corvus member or working for one but that just means that we have a highly trained assassin inside of Vale as we speak." Naruto told them.

"More importantly, the reason why I even took it in the first place is because the bag and more specifically the Scroll was in the possession of the White Fang and they were desperately trying to get the information inside."

"I see," Ironwood nodded "Well Beige should have it ready for us soon."

"Good, I think I'll go get some sleep th-" *Beep* *Beep* "Uh, sorry, one moment." He looked down at his own scroll and looked at the message Neo left him. "Well there goes that plan..."

"What is it?" Ozpin asked.

"You remember that thing I told you about with the train?" The three adults nodded. "Yeah, Torchwick just started it early. Looks like Ruby and her team found the White Fang base and forced them to speed up their plans."

James frowned "This isn't good, we need to send a strike team to stop that train before it reaches Vale."

Naruto nodded "I have just the people in mind. Ready me a plane, I'll have my team ready in five."

Ironwood took out his Scroll and quickly got in contact with his main ship. "Get a Bullhead to the landing pad ASAP we have an emergency mission to Quadrant Five."

Naruto was already in the elevator by the time James placed the call with his own Scroll out. '...Naruto?'

"Pyrrha get the team ready, we have an emergency mission." Sensing the urgency in his voice Pyrrha did just that and awoke her too teammates.

'Naruto what's going on?"

"I'll tell you on the way there, meet me out on the landing pads, a Bullhead will be waiting for us there." He informed her before ending the call.

Naruto couldn't help tapping his finger against his arm as the elevator was taking too damn long! After another few seconds the door finally dinged and opened up, he began jogging down to the landing pads followed shortly by his own team.

"Team Nirvana?" The co-pilot asked as they neared the ship.

"That's us, we ready to head out?" Naruto said as they began pilling in.

"Yes sir!" The co-pilot got in his chair and they took off as fast as they safely could towards the southern quadrents.

Naruto turned back towards his team. "Alright here's the mission. My informant in the White Fang just contacted me that one of their plans just prematurely activated. We need to stop a train heading towards Vale loaded up with bombs and White Fang. Team RWBY is on-site as well and we should aid them if we can but our main objective is stopping that train before it reaches Vale."

Naruto headed up to the cockpit. "Keep an eye out for explosions and holes in the ground popping up, those will be our entrance point. From there, fly through the tunnel to the front of the train."

"Got it." The pilot gave a thumbs up and Naruto sat back down. "OK here's the plan, I'll-"

*BOOOOM*

"Sir! Entry way spotted!" The co-pilot said as he turned back towards Naruto.

"Get in there quick, we'll only have a short time before the next charge is set!" Naruto told them with urgency and turned back towards his team. "Strap in, we're about to do some harsh turn!"

His team followed his orders and the Bullhead dived into the hole before flipping over and turning itself right side up. "Captain, get to the front fast, those last two carts are loaded with explosives!"

The pilot nodded and kicked the Bullhead into high gear to catch up to the train. "There team RWBY!" Nora pointed out.

"Ok you three jump off and help them, we'll fly ahead and stop the train at the front!" Naruto ordered.

"Got it!" Ren said as he undid his straps and the three members moved towards the sliding door as the Bullhead pulled up near the train.

"It's Naruto's team!" Ruby called out in relief at getting back up.

Pyrrha landed followed by Nora and Ren, "Naruto told us the situation, we're here to assist you while he flies ahead and stops the train."

"Excellent! Your help will be much appreciated!" Oobleck said with a smile. "I'm confidant your captain can handle the train situation so we will deal with the enemies on it!"

"Understood, kick all the ass!" Nora cheered and drew her hammer. "It's smashing time!"

000

Naruto went back into the cockpit after his team jumped out "Get the shields to maximum power, we're going to be an easy target in this tunnel."

"Diverting power from weapons sytems." The co-pilot said as they switched to full defensive mode.

"Get me in front of the train, I have just the thing to stop it." The pilot nodded and they flew past all the small army of faunus that were trying to shoot at them.

"Shields at sixty percent." The co-pilot read aloud "At this rate they will fail in two minutes!"

"Just push on, we're almost there!" Naruto ordered at they neared the front of the train. "Pop the cargo bay and get me a good distance in front of the locomotive!"

The pilot did as he was told and went several meters in front of the train. Naruto began powering a big ball rasengan as the back ramp opened up. "This is either going to be a really good idea or a really stupid one."

He could see the widening eyes of the train's conductor as the rasengan rapidly grew in size. Naruto grinned and pointed at the man "GET YOUR ASS READY CAUSE I'M COMING IN HARD!"

The blonde ran towards the exit and jumped off the back of the cargo hold, letting the train catch up to him with his rasengan held in front of him. "I REGRET NOTHING!"

000

"HIYAH!" Yang swung her fist and met the Fang member's mask with a satisfying crunch that sent the man flying into his allies. "Your up Blakie!" She said, pulling hard on the ribbon tied to her arm.

Blake flew into their ranks and began decimating their forces with well placed shots or slashes, using her clones to masterfully engage and disengage from the enemy.

"Blake behind you!" Said girl turned just in time to block a sword from cutting her down the middle. "Ha!" Her eyes widened when the blade of a rapier stabbed through the Fang member's chest.

Blake's breath hitched for a moment when the blade was roughly pulled out drawing a wet gasp from the man that tried to kill her. "You ok?" She looked up and noticed that the voice belonged to Weiss who was holding her hand out. "Come on Blake, we have to keep moving, we need to catch up with the others."

Yang and Ruby ran past them and she stared at her teammates hand for a moment before accepting it and letting herself be pulled up. "Blake are you alright to continue?" Her eyes refocused on Weiss' and nodded.

"Yeah, sorry."

Weiss gave her a sad smile, "I understand, I was like that the first time too. It never gets easier but eventually you become numb to it... like a coldness that freezes your heart in that moment."

Blake watched as Weiss ran ahead before gripping her weapons. What the hell am I doing!? She had frozen in the middle of a fight like some amateur. Dammit!

000

Ren slammed his palm into a Fang member's chest and only winced slightly when the man coughed a globule of blood on him before falling back dead. There was no room for hesitation today, they were outnumbered twenty to one and the only way they were getting out of this alive was to go all out.

"Pyrrha!" "Get behind me!"

Nora crouched behind and laid her hands on the girl's shoulders while Pyrrha stabbed her spear into the ground and held her shield forward. Ren wisely chose to get behind them and use his guns to cover the girls while they charged up whatever they were doing.

A wave of dizziness overtook him followed by the lights in the car flickering erratically, Ren also took note that their enemies were struggling to get stay up and he was pretty sure that one of them just threw up in his mask.

"Ready!" Pyrrha announced as her eyes opened, glowing an ominous gray.

"Electro-" Nora began as her own eyes glowed a shocking blue.

"Magnetic-" Pyrrha said through a strained voice just before letting go of her spear and point both palms forward.

"STORM!" "STORM!"

A wave of black lightning shot forward, blasting through everything in its path and frying the White Fang members and blowing a hole in the back wall into the next cart over. Pyrrha slumped in exhaustion while Nora moved in front of her. "Pyrrha?"

"I'll be fine, I just... need a moment to catch my breath." The red-head answered. Their combination attack was clearly still not combat ready as it took too long to set up and drained Pyrrha immensely as she had to not only control her magnetic powers but channel Nora's electricity at the same time.

Ren walked up to one of the fallen Fang members and felt his neck, there was still a pulse, irregular as it may be. Whatever Nora and Pyrrha just did, may not have killed their enemies outright but it likely did permanent damage to their hearts, brains and nervous systems.

*Bleeggghh* He looked up and noticed that the White Fang in the next cart over were affected by the blast to a lesser degree. Likely just suffering from severe nausea.

"Holy crap, what happened here?" Yang asked as they caught up to them.

"A storm broke out." Nora answered cheerfully.

"No kidding?" Ruby said with wide eyes as they took in the trashed room.

"What the hell are you all doing on the floor!? What do I even pay you people for?" Roman shouted as he came into the next car over followed by Neo.

He grit his teeth seeing that the kids had back-up now. "Honestly where the bloody hell do you kids keep coming from?" Without another though he lifted his cane and unleashed a barrage of explosive shots.

"Heads up!" Yang kicked a crate in the way of a the explosives before tossing another. "Oh you're mine now!" She lit her arms on fire and charged forward straight at Roman followed by Ren and Nora.

"Let's break his freaking legs!" Nora cheered and swung her hammer at the man who managed to dodge in time only to be caught by Ren in an arm-bar. "Would an arm do?" The boy asked.

The man's eyes widened as he found himself in a bad position right now "Now let's be hast-EEEEEEEEE!"

Ren didn't even hesitate as he activated his Semblance and smashed his palm into the criminal's elbow followed by a savage left hook from Yang that sent the man into a crate.

Meanwhile Ruby, Blake and Weiss teamed up against Neo who while incredibly skilled and agile was no match for all three girls at once and took a particularly harsh kick from Ruby to the side of the head that left her dazed.

Teams RWBY and NRVN were looking at their fallen enemies before falling themselves as the train jerked violently following a series of explosions. "Ow... what just happened?" Weiss asked as she got up.

Neo winced as she held the side of her head where Ruby smashed her boot into it. "Ah! God dammit!" Roman cried as he stood up and cradled his now broken arm.

"It seems as though Mister Uzumaki has completed his objective considering we are no longer moving." Oobleck said as he poked his head in from the top of the train car. "Let us check the situation!"

Teams RWBY and NRVN jumped up the escape hatch and could see further up the tunnel that many of the cars were derailed and smashed. They watched as some of the White Fang also joined them on the top of the train and prepared for another fight.

"Well it seems as though we are no longer hurtling towards Vale! However we now face a different problem."

"What's that?" Ruby asked only for the professor to point behind her where a horde of Grimm were approaching. "Oh..."

"OH COME ON!" Nora complained loudly.

A smoking Naruto appeared beside them a second later "Note to self: Don't Rasengan a moving train." He said before patting out a small fire on his shoulder.

"What do we do now?" Blake asked as the White Fang started gathering up and nearing them while the Grimm came from the other side.

Naruto walked towards the end of the train where the Grimm were approaching. "Well that's annoying."

"Captain?" Ren asked seeing only a look of mild annoyance on the blonde's face.

"Leave them to me, you guys deal with the White Fang." Naruto said as he made the Horse handseal.

"You're joking right!? There's got to be hundres of Grimm there!" Yang exclaimed. "How the hell are you going to deal with them all by yourself?"

Naruto grinned as he turned towards her "Remeber what I told you about fire Yang? It's a gluttonous nature that only wants to devour everything in it's path!"

The blonde's grin widened and let a sliver of his true power show so he would have enough chakra for the technique. "Fire syle..." He tilted his head back "Great Fire..." Took a deep breath and looked back at the encroaching Grimm "ANNIHILATION!"

Everyone including the White Fang stopped what they were doing and could only gawk at the raw, pure, unrelenting power of the conflagration that ignited the whole tunnel from top to bottom and side to side.

Yang watched entranced as the majestic flame destroyed everything it touched, eating everything whole, leaving only ash in its wake. The walls were stained black and the rains warped from the immense heat. In one word she could only summarize it as "...Beautiful."

There was nothing left for miles, only soot and the fading essense of hundreds of Grimm. Naruto felt as the corrupted energy returned to the earth and knew that soon he would have to find a way to purify the chakra before allowing it to return back to nature.

"Well then..." Torchwick began as he picked up his chin. "I think I speak for most of us when I say I surrender. Rather sit in a cell than be roasted alive. Thank you, very much."

Beside him Neo could only stare hungrily at her master, raw lust burning in her eyes at his display of power and complete domination. All around her White Fang members were dropping their weapons and kneeling on the ground in surrender.

Naruto tapped into the headset he still had on "Captain, report to General Ironwood. Mission complete, request immediate transport for a large group of captives."

'Copy that.'

"So uh..." Ruby looked around "Is anyone else suddenly feeling self-conscious about their abilities?"

Naruto chuckled and pulled her into a one-armed hug "Don't be Red, I'm what Nora would call an OP character so don't feel bad, you're still an awesome little Huntress in my eyes."

"Boss-" Nora began and was speechless for a few moments as she tried to mentally form the words that just weren't coming to her "Overpowered doesn't even begin to describe you!"

"That was..." Everyone turned to look at Yang who was still facing down the tunnel, eyes darting back and forth taking in all the damage and the small fires that still had yet to be put out.

"Sis?" Ruby asked.

"I can't..." Yang kneeled down and let her arms hang, "It was just so..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her behavior "You alright Yang?"

"I..." She whispered and turned her still wide-eyed look towards her fellow blond. "Naruto."

"Yeah?" He asked slowly.

"I saw the true beauty in it... in the flame. I need to see it again," She breathed out "I have to."

"Oh good, congratulations Naruto! You've turned our teammate into pyromaniac!" Weiss snarked.

Blake frowned and approached her teammate. "Yang are you ok?"

"I saw it Blake... in the fire." Yang stood up with Blake's help. "I understand now."

"What did you see sis? Was it a dragon? Or - or - Like some big fire demon!?" Ruby wondered.

Yang shook her head and held her head with one hand "No nothing like that... it's like something inside of me just clicked and... I understand now. Where before I had to force the fire out-" She held up her hand and a small controlled fire lit in her palm, dancing and swaying as it followed her commands. "I can't explain it, I just know that I can feel the fire burning inside me now but it doesn't hurt anymore, it's not as wild as before."

Naruto would have asked her to clarify were it not for their White Fang audience and the last thing he needed was the Fang learning about chakra if they haven't already. 'Mr. Uzumaki.'

"Yes?" Naruto asked into his communicator.

'General Ironwood has an ETA of five minutes, we're only two miles out from Vale.' The blonde frowned.

"Looks like we cut it a bit close." He said contemplatively while others were looking at him curiously.

"General Ironwood will be bringing ships to carry our prisoners and extract us." He said before looking over at the professor who remained oddly quiet throughout "I apologize for usurping control over the mission Professor but it was an emergency situation."

"Think nothing of it mister Uzumaki, I dare say we would all be in a much more dire situation without the timely arrival of you and your team." Oobleck praised. "I thank you four sincerely."

"We were simply doing our duty Professor." Ren said but accepted the thanks regardless.

"We should probably start rounding up our captives." Naruto began as he walked in front of the group to face the White Fang members. "Alright! Everyone off the train and start walking towards the holes in the ceiling!"

They were hesitant at first but Nora pulling out her hammer and suggesting the breaking of legs got them moving along real quick. "I almost wish they had fought back."

"Nora, Ren, Pyrrha search the cars and make sure we have all of them." Naruto told his team who followed the order without question.

Yang looked like she had finally regained her senses so Naruto took this time to talk to her in private. "Got a minute Yang?"

"Uh, yeah, sure Foxy." She said with a nod, following him to an empty cart. "Listen about ealier... I know I went a little crazy but I know what I saw."

"And what exactly did you see Yang?" Naruto wondered.

"A bird."

"... A bird?"

"Not just any bird, it was a bird made entirely out of fire. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and it sang to me. I could feel its song touching my soul and calming the fires inside of me! It- It was the most amazing thing I had ever felt and in that moment I truly understood what it meant to be one with the flame." She spoke reverantly as she tried and failed to convey exactly what she felt. If anyone had the ability or knowledge to explain this to her it would no doubt be her fellow blonde.

Naruto sat down on a crate and closed his eyes. He simply sat for a few moments before chuckling and eventually breaking out into a full laugh. "What the hell is so funny, you jerk!? You think I'm crazy right?"

Naruto calmed down and smiled at Yang "No, you seeing a bird actually makes perfect sense."

"What...?" Yang looked at him strangely "How?"

"Because you're a Branwen, a member of the Corvus clan by birth." Naruto told her.

"How... how do you know that?" Yang asked apprehensively.

"Qrow told me about your mother." He confessed. "Your mother's blood, that of the Branwen family has intrigued me for some time now."

"My mom's family?"

"Your mother, from the photo Qrow showed me, looks a lot like an old enemy of mine. Same hair, same armor, same eyes... hell If I didn't know any better I'd say she was Madara's daughter but that wouldn't be possible." Naruto told her.

"Why would it be impossible?"

Naruto smirked slightly and shook his head "Trust me, it just is."

"So... birds?" Yang asked, trying to get back on track.

"Oh right!" Naruto hopped off the crate "You see, the Corvus clan has long had a tradition of being affiliated with birds of some nature. Your mother's and her brother's name being obvious examples."

"Do you..." Yang hesitated for a moment before balling up her fists "Do you know where my mother might be?"

Naruto scratched at his whisker marks and shrugged "Last I heard she was on Dragonsmouth, that was some time ago though."

"Dragonsmouth," Yang murmured to herself in worry "Why?"

"Hell if I know, my agents never got back to me." Naruto answered truthfully. That damn woman was as slippery as Obito. They both heard the rumbling overhead of multiple aircrafts landing. "Come on let's get out of here Yang."

"Phew! I can't wait, it was getting stuffy down here." Yang said with a relieved smile.

Naruto cracked a grin "Speaking of which... you do realize I'm going to have to start calling you Phoenix from now on right?"

Yang's eyebrow twitched "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, Yang, you know damn well I would dare to do a lot of things... Fire Chicken." The others watched at Yang chased a maniacally laughing Naruto. "You're gonna have do better than that Roast Turkey!"

"AUGH! GET BACK HERE YOU BLONDE BASTARD!" Then everyone went back to what they were doing seeing as it was simply another case of Naruto pissing off Yang.

"You know Blake, as much as my sister likes to tease you about Naruto, she's just as bad." Ruby said with a giggle.

"Yeah..." Blake trailed off as her eyes glanced over towards Pyrrha who caught her gaze. Pyrrha smiled awkwardly before nodding, one which Blake returned in the slightest margin.

They both knew that their talk would be in the near future.

000

Teams RWBY and NRVN stood before the headmaster, Goodwitch, Oobleck and Ironwood after their successful mission.

"I wanted to personally thank and congratulate you eight on completing this mission. While it may have started off as something innocuous for team RWBY you saw a threat and acted in the defense of Vale and that is what it truly means to be Huntsmen." Ozpin praised.

"I wholeheartedly agree. You eight have gone above and beyond the call of duty and saved Vale from a dangerous threat. I am glad to say that the future of our kingdoms lies in reliable hands." General Ironwood said before saluting them.

"You all have done Vale a great service tonight, be proud of that fact. I was apprehensive at first about allowing you eight to join the Vytal festival at such a young age but you have proven your worth and skill tonight and I no longer hold any doubts." Glenda said with a proud smile.

"I believe my colleagues have said enough on the matter, I was there and witnessed you all perform marvelously and have no doubt you will make excellent Huntsmen and Huntresses in the future!" Oobleck added while Zwei who was sat beside him barked in agreement.

Naruto grinned at his team "Good work guys."

Ruby did the same only with a lot more excitement and explody noises. "And then Naruto was all like *FWOOSH!* and it was SOOOOO COOOOOOL!"

"If that will be all I'd like to respectfully ask for my team and I to be excused," Naruto began before checking the time on his Scroll "We still have another mission in a few hours seeing as it's already morning and I'm sure my team would like to get some rest."

"Given the circumstances I'm sure we could find another team to take your mission for you if you wish to rest for a time?" Ozpin offered.

"Guys?" Naruto asked his team.

"Zzzz..." Nora mumbled, finally feeling her exhaustion catching up to her now that her adrenaline was spent.

"I concur." Pyrrha agreed tiredly.

"Ren?" Naruto turned towards his male teammate.

"I could use with some rest." The boy said as he shifted Nora who was resting on his shoulder.

The blonde nodded and turned back to Ozpin "I think we'll take you up on that offer then Headmaster."

"Of course Naruto, please, all of you go and get some rest. You've earned it." Ozpin dismissed the two teams who happily took their leave and headed right for the elevator.

Pyrrha wobbled slightly only to be caught by Naruto "Easy there Pyrrha."

She nodded slowly so as not to make herself any more disoriented than she already was, "Thank you. No need to worry however, simply an unforeseen a side-effect of an attack Nora and I tried. It still... needs... work..."

The girl trailed off as she fell asleep from exhaustion in Naruto's arms. "What about you girls?"

Ruby yawned "We're a little better, we got some sleep before that train stuff went down."

Blake nodded "Have you guys been awake this whole time?"

"We got in maybe ten minutes of sleep before Pyrrha woke us up telling us we had an emergency mission." Ren answered, using his Semblance to circulate his Aura around his body like some artificial battery to keep himself awake.

The elevator finally dinged and they all walked down the same hallway that led to the first year dorms. With Ren putting Nora on his back and Naruto carrying Pyrrha in his arms. "Good night guys." Yang waved with a yawn.

"Night." Naruto returned as he followed Ren into the room where he laid Pyrrha on her bed, removed her boots and metal armor pieces before covering her with her blanket.

He could hear that Ren had just passed out himself and sat down on his own bed. Naruto took his Scroll and laid it on his nightstand before laying down with a sigh. "Heh, Flame Pheasant..."

"I HEARD THAT!"

With a grin Naruto drifted off to sleep.

AN - Hope you enjoyed it, please review!

*Chapter 21*: Countdown to Vytal

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or RWBY.

Warning: 18+ scene towards the end, to skip it shift+f 'Lime End'

Shattered World

"Alright team, we've got three weeks to train for the festival with missions in between." Naruto began once his team was awake and ready to start the day. Even if it already was mid-day due to them oversleeping from this morning's emergency.

"So what are we doing first?" Nora asked excitedly.

"Well I just texted Coco about that team fight and she said her team was ready when we were so let's head down to the training rooms set aside for Vytal contestants." Naruto told his team and led them out of the dorm building towards the training facilities.

Three of the ten training arenas were specially reserved for Vytal contestants so they finding and open field should be relatively simple. They entered the facility and weren't surprised to see reserved fields occupied but luckily he was able to spot team CFVY in the sixth arena.

Naruto smiled and walked up to greet the other team "Coco, how's it going?"

Coco smirked and bumped her fist into his "Doing good Uzumaki, you guys haven't met the other yet have you?" She asked the others in team NRVN.

"Not yet." Ren said as he walked up to the large team member with a sword on his back. "Lie Ren, a pleasure."

"Yatsuhashi Daichi, likewise." He replied, shaking Ren's hand.

"I'm Nora!" She said with a cheerful wave.

Fox nodded slightly "Fox Alistair."

"You all know Velvet and I of course am Coco Adel." She introduced herself, "Now shall we get to beating the shit out of each other?"

Naruto smirked "Rules?"

"Hmm... standard festival rules. We'll have the scanners measure our Aura levels and use those to gauge TKOs, ring-outs are allowed." Coco answered.

"Sounds good." Naruto said with a nod and leading his team over to the other side where the Aura calibrators were. "Alright guys from what I've seen team CFVY is a heavy assault team with Fox, Coco, and Yatsuhashi being pure damage and Velvet activating as their support."

"So what's the plan?" Ren asked while they waited for their Aura readings.

"Well Fox and Yatsuhashi are only effective in melee range so I want Nora up against Yat since he's their strongest while Ren gets fox since you should be able to keep up with his speed. Pyrrha you handle Coco since you can use your shield to get in close and then attack. I'll remove Velvet quickly and move in to help you with Coco." The scoreboards above beeped showing their readings.

[Naruto Uzumaki: 583/583 Aura.]

[Lie Ren: 148/148 Aura]

[Nora Valkyrie: 193/193 Aura]

[Pyrrha Nikos: 240/240 Aura.]

He wasn't all that surprised that his Aura level was counted so high even though he was suppressing his chakra as much as possible. Peeking a glance over at their opponents, their aura levels seemed to have only increased slightly since he last read the report on them.

[Coco Adel: 212/212 Aura.]

[Velvet Scarlatina: 125/125 Aura.]

[Fox Alistair: 165/165 Aura.]

[Yatsu Hashi: 253/253 Aura.]

Naruto looked back towards his team "Remember the key to winning this tournament is teamwork. Ren and Nora know each other in and out, use that against your opponents while Pyrrha and I take down Coco. Any questions?"

"Nope!"

"Sounds good."

"We shall win this!"

Naruto nodded and led his team back into the area. Where Coco eyed him accusingly. "Five thirty-eight? How in Dust's name do you have that much as a firsty?"

He shrugged with a teasing grin "Drank a lot of milk growing up."

"I bet." She said with a huff and crossed her arms. "COUNTDOWN BEGIN - TEN SECONDS!" The scoreboard accepted the verbal command and started counting down from ten with both teams tensing as the number grew lower.

"You know your targets." Naruto whispered, "Take em out."

"3"

"2"

"1"

In a shunshin fueled burst of speed Naruto appeared next to Coco and kicked her toward Pyrrha while he moved in on Velvet. Coco tumbled to a stop and pointed at Naruto who was making a bee-line at the Faunus. "Stop him!"

Fox and Yatsuhashi would have done just that had they not been stopped by Ren and Nora. Yatsuhashi had to brace the flat of his blade against his other palm to hold back Nora's considerable strength. "You're... very... strong." He said through gritted teeth and he slowly began losing the test of strength.

Nora grinned as a flash of lightning streaked across her body "Hey wanna see something cool?"

"Wha?" Was all he could say when Nora suddenly let up on the pressure making him stumble forward slightly.

Faster than the muscled boy could react Nora had spun and smashed her Magnhild into his ribs drawing a shout of pain as she sent him flying towards Ren's position where he was maneuvering Fox right to where he wanted him.

He chanced a glance at the score board and noticed that Yatsuhashi's health dropped down to one-eighty. "Nice! Critical Hit!"

Yatsuhashi spit out a glob of blood before wiping his lips "That was a solid blow, I'll make sure you don't get that opportunity again."

Meanwhile Ren and Fox were exchanging blade swings while Ren had the added advantage of them also being guns. "Enough of this." Fox suddenly said and began gathering his Aura around him.

Ren's eyes narrowed before smiling slightly "How unfortunate..." He holstered his pistols and ran straight at Fox while covering his own hands in Aura. Ren dodged the shock wave that he sensed rather than saw and slammed his palm into Fox's outstretched arm before landing another two on his arm and shoulder. "For you."

Fox stumbled back and held his arm "What...?" he tried moving it only to find out that it was completely numb and wouldn't budge and inch. "What did you do?"

Ren simply slid into his father's stance and breathed out. Yatsuhashi had just landed behind Fox and everything was ready. His feet began glowing a light blue to match his palms "It's over."

This was a technique Naruto had taught him to help his control over his aura and it had worked perfectly. Coincidentally he now knew how Naruto was able to walk up walls.

In a burst of speed Ren appeared before Fox and set of a barrage of palm strikes forcing the second-year to back up while Nora was pushing Yatsuhashi back as well. They didn't even know they were played until their backs touched forcing them to turn and look on instinct.

"IT WAS AN ELABORATE RUSE!" Nora laughed as she swung her hammer at Yatsuhashi's torso while Ren used both of his palms to send out a shock wave at their feet. The two CFVY members went flying right over the crouching Ren and hit and Ring-out barrier sounding their defeat.

000

A few minutes earlier...

Naruto caught Pyrrha engage Coco in battle out of the corner of his eye and strode up to Velvet confidently. "Hey V." He said with a charming smile. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"W-We've been busy... training... and on missions." Velvet answered, with her face growing progressively redder as he drew closer.

"Really? That's good, I'm sure your hard work will show during the tournament." He was only a few feet away now and didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

"Y-You think so?" She stuttered slightly when he entered arm-length.

Naruto walked right up to her and whispered in her ear "I know so."

He blew into her ear for good measure and smiled fondly as Velvet did exactly what Hinata would have done in this situation. She passed out. Naruto caught her before she could hit the floor and laid her down at the end of the ring. "I can't wait to see what you can do Velvet, you're the only member of your team I don't have any info on so don't disappoint."

While he doubted she could hear him it was still true that he found her the most interesting member of team CFVY solely for the fact that she could hide things from him for so long. He even knew what most of the fourth-years could do now but still nothing on the friendly bunny girl.

He approached the fight between Coco and Pyrrha at a slow gait and momentarily enjoyed the show. Two beautiful and incredibly talented women trying their best to smash the other's face in? Hot.

He gave them a chance to make use of the training time and actually test themselves against the other before he stepped in. Naruto looked over at where Nora and Ren were fighting their targets and decided to let his team handle their own fights.

Naruto lifted a rock stool out of the ground and sat down to watch the fight between the highly skilled women. "Some ramen would have really hit the spot right about now..." He lamented.

The fights only lasted for a few more minutes as the fighters whittled each others auras down. "IT WAS AN ELABORATE RUSE!" Drawn to Nora's shout he looked in time to see Fox and Yatsuhashi get sent flying towards the barrier and slam into it. "Ouch."

"Guess that means the show is over." Naruto watched Coco for the right moment and just as she lifted her bag for an overhead slam, he flashed in and kneed her exposed side followed by a shield bash from Pyrrha that knocked Coco on her back.

The scoreboard beeped to show that Coco had dipped into the 'red' and was considered technically knocked out. "You alright Coco?"

"Did you have to hit me so hard?" She groaned "For dust's sake man, they'll be bruised for a week!"

"Sorry!" Pyrrha said, genuinely concerned for her new friend.

Naruto smiled apologetically "Sorry, saw my chance and I took it."

"Yeah whatever, help me up would ya?" Naruto walked over to her uninjured side and helped her up while being mindful of her ribs. "You ok to walk?"

"Yeah I should be good, hurts like all hell but I don't think you actually broke anything..." She touched her side and winced "At least I hope."

"Come on I'll walk you to the infirmary." Naruto didn't bother waiting for an answer as he slung her arm over his shoulder and let her rest her weight on him. "Pyrrha can you guys wake everyone up and meet us down at the med bay?"

Pyrrha eyed Coco for a moment before nodding. "Of course."

Once they were out of earshot Coco asked, "So you and the amazon, huh?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the description but shrugged a moment later "Not really, we've still got to work some things out before anything becomes official."

"I bet, I thought she was going to attack me again for a moment there." Coco said before sighing "Velve's gonna be disappointed."

Naruto nodded knowingly "I'm sure Velvet is a great person but I don't think I would be able to date her honestly, she reminds me a lot of my ex and I would keep comparing them and that wouldn't have been fair to Velvet."

"Well I can understand that at least. Just let her down easy if she does work up the courage ok? She puts on a strong face but she's someone whose gone through a lot of heartache." Coco said sadly.

"Is that why her sigil is a stiched up heart?" Naruto recalled. Coco nodded but refused to say any more on the matter. That was Velvet's story to tell and no one else's.

After dropping Coco and her team off at the infirmary that was inside the building they continued training for another hour. A clone of Naruto was going through pure taijutsu sparring with Ren while the main body worked with Nora and Pyrrha on lightning release.

Due to her Maiden status Pyrrha would eventually be able to use all of the elements so for now they were working on effectively channeling Nora's lightning through her body. "While impressive, that attack could have fried you just as quickly as it did those Faunus." Naruto chided.

"The thing you did wrong that left you exhausted is that you simply took in Nora's lightning and stored it then unleashed it all at once which left you feeling drained. Lightning needs to be allowed to run in a current, you need to let it course through your body until its ready to be expelled. Quite frankly you're lucky you didn't explode." He said with a stern tone, carefully monitoring the two. "Nora pull back a bit, you're channeling too much."

"S-Sorry," Nora grit her teeth and tried to rein her power back in, only for it to try and fight back now that it was freed to run rampant.

"Get a feel for Nora's lightning, let it run through your body like the very blood in your veins. If you're able try to direct a small amount to your nervous system, let it boost your reaction time." Not once did he take his eyes off of Pyrrha and was ready to siphon the lightning out of her at a moments notice.

Pyrrha listened to his instructions and tried to do just that but such finesse with a foreign element was still out of her reach even with her Maiden powers helping her control.

He blinked as his clone dispelled signalling the end of their training time. "Alright that's enough for now, let go Nora." For a moment the lightning in Pyrrha grew erratic after loosing connection to its source only for Naruto to capture it and transfer it back to Nora using himself as a conduit.

Pyrrha slumped to her knees in exhaustion, "Why does my body suddenly feel so weak?"

"For the last hour you were maintaining a constant stream of power running through your body, now that its gone you're left feeling weakened by comparison. Like when Nora uses too much syrup and gets a sugar rush." He explained.

"I love syrup." Nora said with a shameless smile.

"We know you do." Ren quipped as he joined them. "Shall we return to our room?"

"Yeah, come on Pyr." Naruto offered his hand which she gratefully took. He took her arm and wrapped it around his shoulder. "We don't have any official business going on today so lets call it a day and either relax or do whatever you want."

"OOOH REN! Can we head down to Vale? Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle II: Game of the Year edition came out yesterday and I'VE GOOOOOT TO HAAAAVE IIIIIT!" Nora begged as they left the building.

Ren chuckled and nodded "Sure thing Nora."

"Have fun guys." Naruto waved as did Pyrrha.

"Stay safe." She called out.

"Guess its just you and me then." Pyrrha blushed at his suggestive grin.

"Surely you wouldn't take advantage of me in my weakened state?" She said coyly and they neared the dorm room.

"That was if you still were weakened, don't think I didn't notice you having already recovered a while ago." The girl blushed once more and was about to slip off his shoulder only for Naruto to pull her in closer and close the door behind him.

XXX Lime Warning XXX

To skip search for 'Lime End'

"Naruto-" She gasped as he began kissing the side of her neck. Instead of pushing him away however, she pulled him in closer, relishing in his touch.

Pyrrha moaned as his hands massaged her rear and instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist when he picked her up. She fell on one of the beds and pulled him down with her, eager to feel his lips upon hers once more.

Naruto's deftly untied her bracer and slipped the gloves off her slender arms. With their new freedom Pyrrha's hands slid underneath his shirt and ran along the hard grooves of his muscles, tracing the many battle scars that outnumbered even her own.

He growled appreciatively and broke the kiss momentarily to sit up and pull his shirt off taking a moment to peer down at Pyrrha who was eyeing him with a deep want. "Naruto!"

She pushed him down on to the bed, reversing their position and while she felt a moment of embarrassment from straddling the boy, another part of her only grew more excited as she leaned down and forcefully claimed his lips once more.

Pyrrha sat up once more and reached behind her to undo the laces to her corset armor and slid pull it off as soon as she was able leaving her in only a small black tube top that seemed to be doing a horrible job at holding back her impressive set of tits. "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha swallowed as her mouth had gone dry. "I want you to touch me Naruto." She said plainly, taking one of his hands and guiding it to her chest where he gladly followed her lead and soon had his other hand join in.

"OH Naruto~" Pyrrha moaned as he massaged and kneaded her breasts. Her voice hitching anytime his fingers ran over her hardened nipples. "Take... take it off, I want to feel your hands directly."

Naruto did as he was told and slid the undergarment up her chest revealing her milky white breasts tipped with light pink nipples. "Amazing." He breathed out huskily and took one of them into his mouth.

"Ah!" Pyrrha gasped from the new sensation and pulled his head in closer, running her fingers through his blonde locks. She hissed from the slight pain when Naruto bit down lightly but it was quickly joined by the pleasure of having his tongue run over the tip.

Naruto let the nipple fall from his mouth with a pop before switching to the other, one hand kneading her breast while the other pulled her in closer. "Yes! Naruto~"

He took control once more by flipping them over, "These have to go." Naruto said while tapping her greaves. Pyrrha nodded in agreement and the two made quick work of her arms while her boots flew off somewhere followed by Naruto's pants.

"Much better." Pyrrha smiled widely and wrapped her powerful legs wrapping around him, thoroughly enjoying Naruto grinding his member into her groin. Not that she would say such a thing out loud.

The spandex shorts under her miniskirt became slick with her juices and she neared her first orgasm from all the of the wonderful things Naruto was doing to her body. "Keep going, al-almost there... " Pyrrha panted heavily as Naruto increased his pace, rubbing his hard cock up and down her slit. "Yes- Yes- Yes!"

Naruto began breathing heavily as well as his own release was approaching "Pyrrha!"

"Narutooooo!" She moaned loudly as her body began shaking in ecstasy from her first orgasm not brought about by her own hand.

Pyrrha held him closely when she felt him slump into her, his weight more comforting than crushing to her. "That..." She began with a pant "Was amazing."

She felt Naruto smile into the crook of her neck before finally lifting his head "My thoughts exactly. "

Pyrrha really surprised him today, he honestly expected Blake to have been his first sexual encounter but things have a funny way of not going the way you imagined. Not like he was actually complaining however.

XXX Lime End XXX

That was nothing short of amazing, he hadn't even gotten this far with Hinata during their brief time dating so this was all new ground to him and that excited him greatly. Naruto smiled as his eyes met Pyrrha's own whom shined brightly with emotion. Chief among them being a deep affection for him. He slowly leaned forward and kissed her gently.

Her cheeks flushed instantly at the tender kiss drawing a wider grin from him "What was that for?"

"For being the Pyrrha I know and love." He answered softly.

"L-Love?" She stammered, taken aback by his words.

"You recently made me realize that an old part of me still lives on, one who wasn't afraid to show his affection for others. I've never understood the love between family but I know what I feel for you Pyrrha. It's love." He said, cupping her cheek in his palm. "I've been trying so hard to forget the pain that I ended up forgetting who I was somewhere along the way but I think I can remember now. Slowly, I'm starting to remember what it was like to genuinely care about people."

Pyrrha watched as his grin shifted into a much more honest smile that she had never seen before but fit him better than any other he had ever given. "I love you Pyrrha."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise before placing her own hands on his face and smiling brightly, eyes beginning to water. "I love you too Naruto."

The kiss that followed was chaste and sweet but made her heart soar and beat faster than any he had given her before. She had finally found what she was looking for, someone who could look past the fame, titles and everything else yet still love her all the same.

It was the best day of her life.

Or it would have been had Nora not busted down the door in her excitement to play her new game. Naruto and Pyrrha looked towards the door in alarm where Nora had frozen in her tracks while Ren stood wide-eyed before flushing brightly.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, we'll come back later!" Ren said quickly and rushed Nora out the door before closing it behind him.

They both continued staring at the door for a moment before turning back to each other and breaking into laughter. "Oh dust, did you see Ren's face? He was absolutely mortified!"

Pyrrha giggled lightly behind her palm and nodded, "I was hoping we could keep this between us for a while longer but knowing Nora and her... pairing, I doubt she will remain quiet about it."

Naruto sighed and nodded as he sat up. "We should probably get cleaned up anyway." He said while glancing at his favorite pair of orange boxers with a wince "That's probably going stain..."

Pyrrha turned to him with a mischievous smile that was offset by her deep blush on her whole body, one arm draped across her delectable chest while the other took his hand "Come, we should have some time before they return."

Naruto grinned and quickly made a clone before following his red-haired lover into the built in bathroom. "Lucky bastard." The clone said jealously as it did the task it was created to do.

Walking over to where the original's pants were thrown he fished out the Scroll and sent Ren a message. 'Come back in an hour.'

'I'll make it two.' The clone read the reply and saluted. Lie Ren: Wingman.

*Chapter 22*: A Crow's Flight

Shattered World

Ren checked his phone and nodded as he led the still stupefied Nora out to the courtyard. He found a nice out of the way tree and decided that would make a good place to wait. "Are you alright Nora?" His concern showing as normally Nora would have been babbling right about now.

"Ren..." She began "Naruto and Pyrrha were-"

"Yes, they were. We both know that they've been in that type of relationship for a while now, they are both eighteen and adults, what they do behind closed - while unfortunately not locked - doors is their business." Ren waylayed her by laying down the facts.

"I know but- I mean... not even we've-" Nora started only to cut herself off with an embarrassed blush. "I- I mean not that we have to just yet, I don't want to rush you or anything it's just that..."

Ren smiled knowingly and sat down next to Nora "I know, I just don't want to rush things. Nora we've been best friends since we were babies, it's always been you and me, I don't want to lose that by rushing into things."

"I know..." She then blushed again "It was kind of hot though, Pyrrha's boobies were out and everything!"

Ren face palmed and chuckled. In the end, Nora would always be Nora. "Please don't remind me."

"What? She's got great tatas! You can say it, I won't get mad. I know it, she knows it, Naruto sure as hell knows it!" Nora said with a growing grin as she teased her boyfriend.

"Please, Nora!"

She finally relented with a laugh and settled into his arms. "I don't mind waiting Ren, as long as I'm with you, everything is right with the world."

"You do realize our world isn't that great of a place right?"

"Everything is right..."

000

Neo sat down with a huff in front of the fancy pants General. She'd been sitting in that damn cell for the last twelve hours and they still hadn't gotten her the damn sundae she demanded! The nerve of these people!

"So you're the infamous Neo." James began, sitting down across from her.

Neo gave him a blank 'What do you think?' stare.

"Naruto mentioned you were a mute." He began, passing her a notepad and a pen. "You were the one who informed us that Roman Torchwick began his plan early correct?"

Neo stated at him hard before writing down something on the pad and then holding it up for him to read. 'Get me my fucking sundae then we'll talk. Extra sprinkles.'

James sighed and waved his hand, the door behind him slid open and a soldier walked in. "Get our... friend here a sundae, extra sprinkles."

"Sir?" The soldier looked at the General oddly.

"Just do it."

"Yes sir!"

Ironwood returned his gaze towards the remarkably short woman "Happy?"

She nodded slightly and waved her hand for him to continue. "Have you been able to learn about Cinder's movements lately?"

Neo raised an eyebrow looking at him oddly and wrote down her reply 'Are you stupid? She's still in Beacon.'

James blinked "What?"

'She's posing as a student from Haven, Team ENME! For Dust's sakes our team name is ENEMY and she used the fake name Ember Autumn, EMBER AUTUMN!' Neo wrote done furiously - honestly - how her master had the patience to put up with these fools she'd never know.

He didn't know when but his cold metallic palm had touched his face. "I... I don't even."

'Yeah, feeling stupid now huh? Cinder likes taunting her enemies but I mean come on, she wasn't even trying with that one!' Neo scribbled down.

"I think we're done here." James began to stand up only for Neo to grab his arm and shake her head.

'I want my sundae and get me to Naruto.' She showed him her message before letting him go.

"You know that I can't just let you go, it would blow your cover if anyone were to find out." Ironwood tried to reason with a young woman.

Neo's face scrunched up into a glare before calmly sitting back down. James gave her an odd look but let it go, he had to remember that this was Naruto's agent and an ally who's information potentially saved innocent lives so he was willing to cut her some slack.

"Don't worry about your sundae, i'll make sure you receive a steady steam of them." He reassured the girl who simply sat back and nodded.

James closed the door behind him and had no idea that he had been talking to himself for the last ten minutes with a blank notepad and unused pencil on the table.

Meanwhile Neo was in the storage room with a wicked grin on her face as she retrieved her precious umbrella and Roman's cane. Making her way back down to the holding cells under her Semblance she approached Torchwick's cell and pushed the button to open the door.

Roman looked up to see only empty space and smiled. "Neo! Got my cane?"

He caught the weapon that came out of nowhere and smirked. Ah, Neo, such a loyal and dependable girl. "Great! Now, let's get out of here before General Cyborg catches wise!"

Under her illusion Neo smuggled them out of the ship just as her Lover has ordered and she would move on to stage two of their plan. The Vytal festival would begin soon and she was to take part in the fights along with the rest of her 'team'.

She giggled in a light yet sinister way that drew Roman's attention only for her to wave him off. If only you knew that all this is just a trap! Cinder even made me her get-away pilot! The idiot hahaha! Fools, all of you, playing right into my Lord's hands like this! I can't wait to see the look on your faces when you realize you've been betrayed...

She couldn't help the dark grin that stretched across her face. Life was so much more fun now that she had met Naruto, these idiots didn't even know that he could end their lives at any moment but like some cruel god he lets them pretend at having any semblance of control only to snatch it away from them in their moment of triumph!

She was wrong all those months ago when she had thought that Naruto would be her equal... no she was nothing to him, an insect to be stepped on but he had chosen her. Her. To be his agent of chaos, to destroy his enemy from within. She had seen the truth of this world through Naruto's eyes, seen the extent of his power with her own special eyes and how only a primordial Goddess was powerful enough to contest him.

She couldn't wait until the day that the world saw what she did... when a God revealed itself to this unworthy world. In that moment she would proudly stand by her Love's side. By her Master's side.

Roman meanwhile was inching further and further away from her. Cute as she was, Neo had that psychotic look in her eye again that usually meant she would brutally torture and then kill some poor sap. Please just let it not be me! He prayed to any god willing to listen.

000

Naruto suddenly shivered. Pyrrha glanced at him in concern, "Are you alright Naruto? Perhaps we should get out, the water has cooled down..."

"Ah, no, I'm fine..." He lied. It's not like he was going to tell Pyrrha that he suddenly felt Neo worshiping him as a God again. That would lead to many annoying questions. "Maybe we should get out though."

They had sat in the tub and simply enjoyed soaking in the bath while they relaxed in each other's arms. While their earlier activities were more of an impulse on her side, she didn't regret it for a moment.

Ever since the dance and especially after receiving her Maiden powers, they had grown much closer and kissed more often, having recently moved on to what she had heard other girls refer to as 'second-base'.

His hands always felt so wonderful over her clothes but as of late she had a burning desire to feel him closer. While she was attracted to Naruto, it wasn't until she began experimenting with the Maiden's power that she began to have an almost physical need to be with him, to touch him and hold him close as his amazing chakra linked with hers during their moments of intimacy.

Even now, simply being in his arms had calmed the raging inferno of lust that had overtaken her and allowed his chakra to soothe and relax her. Though from what she could feel on her lower back, unfortunately the same wasn't true for him.

Her trainers had always warned her about her bouts of impulsion and that she should control such things but in this case, she was more than glad that she had taken the next step with Naruto.

She smiled back at him and nodded "Alright."

"I'll let you get out first... I uh... have to calm down a bit first." He said with a sheepish grin.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said with a sympathetic look.

"No, no, it's fine. Natural reaction to having a beautiful woman with me in the bath is all." He assured her with a wink that made her blush from the compliment.

Pyrrha smiled shyly and closed the curtain behind her so she could dry herself off. Not that she minded if Naruto saw her but it likely wouldn't aid his current... situation. Then a traitorous thought came to her mind. "Naruto... we really need to speak with Blake soon."

She didn't want to, truly she didn't. If Pyrrha were honest with herself then she would admit that she wanted to be greedy for once and keep Naruto all to herself but Blake was her friend and Naruto's friend. Those two had even shared a close relationship for far longer than she did with Naruto even though she had met him first.

She heard a sigh come from within the bath and a hand reach out for his towel. A moment later Naruto exited the bath, noticeably cured of a certain ailment downstairs. "I know."

"Tomorrow is Saturday, let's head into town and we can use my studio to talk in private." Naruto said as he began toweling himself off. Pyrrha was turned the other way but he caught her sneaking a few glances in the mirror.

Then she processed his words and looked back to him in confusion before blushing and turning back, eyes looking straight at the door after getting an eye full of his 'package'. "Y-You have an apartment?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you about it?" He asked while drying his hair.

"No... I don't recall you ever mentioning one."

Naruto frowned slightly and thought back, "Huh, must have slipped my mind."

"Does... Blake know about it?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah, she's been there a few times." Only after answering did he realize what he had just done. God dammit! I just activated her trap card...

"I see."

Naruto sighed in defeat and wrapped his arms around her "Don't be like that Pyrrha, Blake only found out about it because she needed a place to stay after her team found out about her being a faunus. After that we only used it a few times to fool around in secret because she wants to keep it that way."

Pyrrha held on to his arms and leaned back into his strong chest "So you two have a... similar relationship?"

"Similar but different. With you, I know you wouldn't mind going public and you know that I love you but with Blake it's a lot more complicated. She has a lot things she has to sort through and make peace with first before she could feel comfortable in a relationship. "

"Not to mention having a psychotic ex-boyfriend who is disturbingly obsessed with her. Understandably it's taking her some time so she wanted to keep things between us quiet." Naruto explained to Pyrrha who nodded in his embrace.

"Do you love her as well?" She honestly wondered.

Naruto didn't answer immediately as he took his time to ponder the question. "I'm not sure. I know that I care deeply about Blake but love? I don't think I'm quite there with her yet, at least not until she's able to face her own feelings."

"And you?"

"Me?" Naruto buried his face into her neck and scattered a few kisses, "A few months ago I would have said I don't have time for such things but now? I think I'm ready to stop hiding in my shell and slowly start opening up again."

"Oh?" Pyrrha breathed as his kisses trailed up followed by a nip at her pulse point that made her shiver slightly.

"I never knew love growing up, it wasn't until I was sixteen that I had my first glance at it... only for her to almost die five minutes later. I ended up dating that same girl two years later only for us to be separated once more." He told her, his hot breath whispering in her ear. "I want that... to be able to love some one, to have someone to hold and not be alone again."

Pyrrha turned in his arms and stared deeply into his eyes "I already promised you didn't I? You're no longer alone Naruto, I'm here for you, I want to be that special person for you."

Naruto gave her a melancholy smile "If only I didn't have feelings for both of you... being starved for love and attention as a child made me seek it more than anything. Now that I know the feeling, I've grown greedy and I want as much of it as I can get."

Pyrrha placed her hand on his cheek and for the first time ever she caught a glimpse of the deep sadness hidden behind that mask. She smiled sadly and gave him a tender kiss before pulling back, "I see." For the first time, she truly did understand.

The person Naruto was before, after creating this illusion to protect himself was still in there. He was lost and scared, only to find two lights in the darkness but not knowing which to follow he took accepted whatever he could from both sources.

She smiled resolutely as she stepped away from him and entered their dorm room proper. It may take some time and a lot of work but for Naruto, her best friend and the person she loves most, she would be willing to work together with Blake to bring out the true Naruto.

Naruto watched her leave the bathroom with an odd look on his face. He'd seen that determined look on her face before when she was prepared to see something to the end but what could she be thinking?

Shaking his head he decided not to think on it, as knowledgeable as he was now, girls we're still mostly a mystery. Predictable to a degree but he could not claim to know the inner workings of a woman's mind.

000

It was later that evening that he received a message on his Scroll from Qrow. 'Ozpins 5mins'

Pyrrha glanced over at him from where she was reading on her bed having heard his scroll beep. He gave her a smile and wiggled his Scroll in his hand a bit "Be back in a bit, have to go talk to a crow."

"You talk to birds?" Nora asked from her end of room.

Naruto chuckled as he made his way towards the door "Only if they're drunk."

"...What?" Ren gave the door an odd look as his captain left the room. Drunk birds? That doesn't even make sense.

Naruto leaned back against the wall as the elevator took him up to Ozpin's office where he was sure the 'war council' was already called. If they were lucky Ironwood's little cracker had finished up already.

The doors finally opened up a minute later into the lobby just outside of Ozpin's office. Not even bothering to knock he strolled on his and greeted his colleagues. "Naruto, thank you for joining us tonight."

Naruto nodded at Ozpin and took a seat. "So is our bird friend's Scroll open?"

"Yes," James began as he took the device out of his inner pocket. "As you suspected this Scroll belonged to one Rook Branwen."

When everyone turned to Qrow he sat back and took a drink from his flask. "Rook... if I remember correctly he was one of my second cousins. Kind of a weakling from what I remember, probably not very high up on the ladder."

Naruto took the Scroll from James and perused through it, a few stuck out but no one important or from the main family. "Looks like this might be a bust but... heh hehehe-hahaha."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow when Naruto began laughing. "Would you care to illuminate us on what you found so amusing Naruto?"

"He took pictures." Naruto said with a grin as he showed them all the phone.

"I fail to see the humor in that Uzumaki." Glynda said curtly.

He smirked at the woman and went to the gallery. "It's funny because the GPS built into the Scrolls notes where the picture was taken."

"Well I'll be damned." Qrow said with astonishment as he had forgotten about that feature. "He's right. Most of them were taken here in Vale but a few that feature the family were taken on Garyx, more specifically in Dragonsmouth and Stormwing."

"So we can assume that the Corvus clan has settled somewhere in norther Garyx then?" Ironwood pondered. "One has to wonder what would compel them to live there of all places."

"It's not that hard to believe to be honest," Qrow spoke up after taking another drink from his flask. "At first I thought Raven was crazy for going there alone but if the whole clan has settled there? They might be using it as training grounds, my twisted family has always had a tradition of throwing their children into the fire and hammering them into weapons."

"It seems as though we have a heading then." Ozpin surmised. "Qrow how confidant do you feel in your ability to make contact?"

The man scoffed "Alone? Doubtful..." He then glanced towards Naruto. "With help? Slim but doable."

"Naruto?" Ozpin's question left unasked.

"Make up something believable." Naruto told the white haired man "I'd rather my friends not worry."

"Of course." Ozpin nodded and turned towards his assistant "Glynda?"

"I'll think of something." She said with a sigh. "The other professors will be notified that you will be excused from classes for an undefined length of time."

"We'll need a ship." Qrow told Ironwood. "A strong one that can fly against the storms."

"I'll have one ready in the morning." James assured him.

Turning towards his blonde partner Qrow asked "Anything else we might need?"

"Probably some supplies, I can seal them in my scrolls so we can take whatever we might need. Other than that?" He hummed for a moment before shaking his head. "Got nothing."

"Right then, a quick stop at the local liquor store and we'll be ready to go." Naruto gave the man a look before sighing. He shouldn't have expected any different from the man.

"You go do that, I'm going to catch an early night's sleep. Try not to be hungover tomorrow morning." Naruto told the man who waved off his concerns. "Goodnight."

A few minutes later Naruto entered his team's dorm to the questioning stares of his teammates. "I'm going bird watching tomorrow, don't know how long I'll be gone."

"You're going on a mission?" Pyrrha deduced.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and made his way over to his bed "Myself and a Hunter are going on a search for his estranged family. Unfortunately I can't turn this one down." He said apologetically towards the red-haired girl who simply gave him an understanding smile.

He took off his shirt drawing a wolf whistle from Nora much to his annoyance and sat down on his bed. "The mission shouldn't take longer than a week so until then Pyrrha's in charge. Keep up the training for the tournament while I'm gone."

"We leave in the morning so I'm turning in early." He unlaced his boots and slipped into bed even though it was barely nine o'clock. "Night."

Pyrrha looked at him in concern but wished him a good night all the same. Looks like I'll have to speak with Blake on my own.

000

"UNCLE QROW!" The man had just enough time to turn and catch the little red missile that hit him square in the chest. He laughed lightly and pat his favorite niece on the head.

"Hey kid, how you been?" He asked fondly.

"I've been great uncle Qrow! What are you doing here though?"

Qrow thumbed at Naruto "Got a mission. Taking Whiskers here with me."

As he finished his sentence the others caught up. "Hey Uncle Qrow." Yang said with a wave.

"Yang." He smiled at her and gave a quick nod.

Blake glanced over at Naruto in confusion and he shook his head minutely as soon as their eyes met. Either it wasn't important to her then or he would message her later.

"Good luck on your mission Naruto." Ren said with a pat on the boy shoulder as the ship behind them began firing up.

"Yeah! Kick someone's butt if you get the chance!" Nora grinned.

"Come on Blondielocks, we're killing daytime!" Qrow called from the hatch.

"Good luck Naruto." Pyrrha said with a smile which he returned.

"Right, I'll see you guys when I see you!" Naruto waved and joined Qrow as they walked up ramp where it closed behind them a few moments later. "So where do you want to try first?"

"Stormwing." Qrow answered immediately "I'd rather take my chances there than Dragonsmouth."

"Stormwing it is." Naruto agreed as he walked up to the front end and told their pilots. "Hopefully we'll make landing before nightfall."

"We're relatively close to Garyx so it shouldn't take more than a few hours." Qrow replied and then took out a brand new bottle of Gin. "Now hows about a drink while we wait."

Naruto rolled his eyes but accepted the offer and took a drink from the bottle before passing it back to Qrow. He took out his Scroll and sent a message to Blake. 'Helping Qrow look for potential allies.'

A minute later he received a reply 'Got it. Good luck.'

000

Back at Beacon the two teams were having Breakfast and once they finished up Pyrrha approached Blake. "Blake may I have a moment of your time?"

The girl raised an eyebrow but nodded and followed the red head down a secluded hallway. "Did you need something Pyrrha?"

"I wanted to speak with you-" She then paused remembering that Blake wanted to keep her activities with Naruto a secret. "Regarding our... mutual interest."

Blake titled her head in confusion before catching on. With a sigh she nodded "Do you mind if we go somewhere a little more private first?"

"Naruto mentioned owning a studio in Vale that we could use. He was originally going to come with us only for his mission to suddenly come up last night." Pyrrha talk the faunus.

Blake bit her lip before nodding. "We can head out now if you're ready? The next ship should be here in ten minutes."

Pyrrha reached into the pouch just above her butt and felt the keys inside. "Yes I'm ready."

"Alright." They returned to their teams who were still sat at the tables.

Pyrrha cleared her throat slightly "Blake and I have some things to discuss so we'll be heading down to Vale for the morning."

"Does this concern the secret handshake?" Yang asked her partner who shook her head.

"No. Just something we've been putting off for a while now." Blake answered.

The others gave them odd looks but decided not to pry any further. "Please excuse us." Pyrrha begged off with a slight bow and made for the exit while Blake walked beside her.

Yang eyed the two suspiciously as they left the dinning hall and stood up. The others then turned towards her where she scratched the back of her head sheepishly "I forgot something in the room." She then walked off calmly while hiding her true intentions.

If her intuition held strong then one of two things was going to happen.

A) A sexy cat fight. With one them actually being a sexy cat.

or

B) A sexy cat fight followed by a heavy make-up session.

Yang giggled perversely as she stalked down the halls after her targets. She's be damned if she missed either of those things.

AN - I've named the western dragon continent after the chaotic evil dragon Garyx. Dragonsmouth obviously is the peninsula in the shape of the dragon's mouth but the region covers the whole 'head'. Stormwing is the top wing near Atlas and home to the Wyverns of the world while Greenwing is the area to the south towards Vacuo which houses the Drakes. There's also Highnest or the 'neck' of the dragon that is a region of stormy mountains that connects Dragonsmouth to the main continent which is also home to many nesting dragons and considered the most dangerous area in all of Garyx due to the aggressiveness of the nesting mothers. Finally there's Tail's Port, a small settlement on the tail end of the continent used as a research center into Draconian species of Remnant..

*Chapter 23*: Welcome Home

AN - We've reached my personal goal of 2500 favs and 3000 follows, so thank you all, let's see if we can't get to 900 reviews!

Shattered World

Naruto was resting his eyes as was Qrow when suddenly both of them caught the sound of a stifled yawn coming from the cargo bay. The blonde narrowed his eyes and turned towards Qrow who caught his gaze. "You heard it too?"

"Yeah." Qrow said with a frown and picked up his weapon.

The two stood up and crept towards the bay. They heard the rustling of clothing and Naruto flashed his hand out to catch the stowaway by the hem of their shirt and throw them to the floor where Qrow jumped on his back with his sword to the person's neck.

"Ah- What the hell!?" The pinned down blonde shouted in pain.

Only then did Naruto recognize who it was. "Sun?"

Qrow glanced at Naruto for a moment before turning back to the guy he was pinning down "You know this kid?"

"Get the hell off of me man!" Sun exclaimed.

"Yeah, let him up." Naruto said with a sigh and put away his kunai. Qrow hesitated for a moment before taking his knee of the guy's back.

Sun groaned as he stood up and rubbed his back "Damn dude did you have to knee me?"

"Sun what the hell are you doing on this ship?" Naruto demanded with a glare.

Sun flinched and held up his hands in defense "Chill man, I was just looking for a place to take a nap and then I saw this parked ship so I hopped on. So... where we going?"

Qrow groaned. Naruto sighed "We're on a mission Sun, you'll have stay on the plane."

"What? Why? I can help you guys, besides I let you join my mission last time." Sun pointed out.

"Well yeah but that was nothing more than finding some guy's phone, this is serious." Naruto countered.

"If its so important then more help is a good thing right?" Sun persisted and began poking Naruto's shoulder. "Cmon just let me help."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Qrow?"

The man already had his flask out and taking a drink "Might as well, he's already here. Don't say we didn't warn you though, we're going to one of the most dangerous areas of Remnant."

Sun nodded knowingly "New Detroit?"

Naruto smacked the faunus in the back of his head "No you idiot, Garyx."

Sun's eyes widened comically "Wh-What!? Are you insane?"

"Still want to come along, kid?" Qrow questioned before smirking "Or are you going to bitch out?"

The faunus' eyes narrowed on the man and shook his head "Ain't no bitch in my blood!"

Naruto chuckled and went back to his seat followed by the two others. Sun sat down just across from him with a grin on his face "So what's the mission?"

"We're looking for some people, one in particular." Was all Naruto said. This was Qrow's show, if he wanted to fill Sun in then it would be his choice.

Qrow caught on and nodded "It's a personal mission kid," He began, turning towards Sun. "Looking for my estranged family... whom just happen to have taken up refuge on Garyx."

"Oh cool." Sun said with a nod "So... how long till we get there?"

Naruto glanced out the window only to see blue. Clearly they were over the ocean but how far in? He wasn't sure. "Probably a few hours still."

Sun nodded again and twiddled his thumbs for about a minute before speaking up once more "So... you guys have any cards?"

Qrow groaned and Naruto mentally agreed. It's likely going to be a long trip.

000

The walk into Vale was awkwardly quiet as the two unofficial rivals walked side-by-side, not allowing the other to get ahead of them. At least until they came to a certain intersection where Blake stopped completely. "Are you coming?" Pyrrha asked after a few seconds of silence.

Blake furrowed her brow at the girl before smirking in challenge, "After you."

Pyrrha hesitated and looked towards the street before turning back to the faunus. They continued their stare down before the red-head eventually looked away and admitted she didn't know the way.

The former Fang member's smirk grew subtly at the victory and continued on down the left path followed by Pyrrha. They entered a building that housed several apartments and rode the lift up the fifth floor.

Blake led the way to the third door and fished out her key to unlock the door, mentally adding another tally to her victories over the dueling champion. Making her way to the kitchen with a practiced ease she opened up the fridge and withdrew two water bottles from inside while Pyrrha went to go sit down.

Pyrrha frowned slightly at having been bested at every turn so far by the cat-girl but she needed to make peace with Blake for Naruto's sake. She was willing to work with the girl even through her passive-aggressive nonsense for him.

Blake placed the drinks on the table and sat down just to the side of Pyrrha on the love seat where she and Naruto would often kiss after sneaking out, her enhanced sense of smell was still able to pick up his lingering scent. "So?" She began haughtily.

Pyrrha sighed. Blake was going to make this difficult, she could already tell. "Blake... how do you honestly feel about Naruto?" Never much one for subtly, she went with the usual direct approach.

Blake scowled and Pyrrha was almost certain she head a faint hiss. "What does that matter to you?"

"It matters to me because I love Naruto and I want him to be happy." Pyrrha replied calmly, not rising to her aggressive stance. "Naruto cares about you as well, he's told me as much but your hesitance combined with his unwillingness to let you go is hurting him."

Seeing Blake do nothing but glare, Pyrrha continued "Blake I consider you a friend, one of the few I have but this - rivalry - between us... it's unnecessary. For Naruto's sake I'm willing to work with you but I need to know that you won't hurt him in the end."

Blake's glare lessened as she really looked at the girl for the first time. She also considered Pyrrha a friend and a comrade but she was envious of what Pyrrha and Naruto had, they fit well together and Pyrrha wasn't weighed down by the skeletons in her closet.

Blake was honest enough with herself to know that she was jealous of Pyrrha, for a while Naruto was all hers, their nights spent in each other's arms under the moonlight. Then the dance neared itself and Pyrrha pushed herself into the center stage, willing and able to openly display her feelings for him.

Envy clouded her mind, wanting what Pyrrha had, the courage to let go of the past and move forward. To be with the one they loved unhindered by their past mistakes. "I care about Naruto... I would never intentionally hurt him."

Pyrrha wasn't sure if Blake was telling her or herself that. "Have you seen it?" She began. Blake gave her a confused look. "The loneliness. I only saw it recently... he hides it well but I can tell that Naruto's been alone for a long time, I can relate in a way. I'm sure you can as well."

Blake didn't answer her verbally but she did nod sadly. She'd seen it, often when Naruto would look at the moon he would let down his guard and his eyes opened up the window to his soul.

It was clear that Naruto also had the weight of his memories crashing down on him but unlike her he actually had the strength to carry on, to push past everything and live his life as he wants. While a coward like her only seeks to run away and seek solace in the light of others.

Pyrrha scooted down her seat on the couch until she was right next to Blake. "Blake, I discovered something about Naruto recently. He's... been deprived of love, according to him since he was a child and now here we are giving him the very thing he's always longed for and here we are fighting over him when we should be focusing our efforts on being happy together."

"What are you getting at?" Blake wasn't sure she liked Pyrrha's line of thinking.

Pyrrha frowned, wasn't Blake supposed to be the one that could read between the lines? "I... am willing to share Naruto with you for his sake. I don't want us to fight over him Blake, it will only end up hurting Naruto trying to choose one of us."

Blake was shocked for a moment before her scowl returned full force "I'm sorry you're willing to share him with me? Naruto and I were together long before you came into the picture! If anything I should have to be the one allowing you to be with him."

Pyrrha shook her head in disappointment "That's exactly what I meant earlier... are you even listening to yourself Blake?"

"Don't give me that high-road bullshit Pyrrha! Everything was fine between me and Naruto before you showed up, SO DON'T YOU FUCKING JUDGE ME!" She stood up and shouted, red in the face from anger.

Pyrrha also stood and slapped Blake hard causing the girl to stumble. "Blake Belladonna, stop being a selfish child for once in your life and put the person you care about above yourself." Having said her piece Pyrrha turned on her heel ready to leave. They both needed some time to calm down.

"You..." Blake hissed, holding her cheek. "BITCH!" Pyrrha didn't even have time to dodge as Blake leapt over the couch at her.

000

Yang slipped into the apartment complex and looked at the elevator she saw Blake and Pyrrha go into. The light at the top showing the floor it was currently on. "2...3...4...5!"

Rushing towards the stairs she leaped off the rails and made it to the fifth floor in record time, fast enough to see the girls enter room three. She pulled out Ruby's Scroll that she swiped on her way out and slid it under the door after calling herself and setting it to speaker.

'-does it matter to you?' She heard Blake say. Yang made her way back to the stairwell and jumped down the several floors without any problem, listening in on the conversation while she made her way to the rooftop across from room three.

She didn't have a great angle but with her binoculars she could at least see them. 'What are you getting at?'

Yang listened in intently, not even remotely concerned about the morality of what she was doing. Did Pyrrha just say she wanted to have a three-way between her, Blake and Naruto!?

It was clear to Yang that Blake took exception to that considering the sudden burst of shouting only for - Ouch! Damn, Pyrrha I heard that bitch slap from here!

Yang frowned seeing Pyrrha start to walk away. I guess no catfight... bummer. Only for Blake to lunge at Pyrrha. Oh god yes! Way to save the day Blakie!

Damn I don't really have a good vantage here though... Looking around she spotted a light pole drawing a grin from the girl. Bingo.

000

"Ah!" Pyrrha yelped as Blake pulled her hair. She turned and back-handed the girl away, the metal of her bracer cutting Blake's lip.

Blake scowled and wiped the blood off her lip, she looked at her bloodied thumb for a moment before smiling. Pyrrha just drew first blood. It was on now. She took a moment to release her Aura and have it circulate throughout her body strengthening it to super-human levels.

Pyrrha noticed the tell-tale sign of Body Strengthening and did the same just as Blake came at her. The red-head dodged Blake's flurry of claw swipes before sweeping her legs.

Blake true to her nature twisted her body and landed on all four before lunging at Pyrrha once more. Pyrrha side-stepped past Blake and kicked out, catching the faunus in the ribs.

Blake tumbled once before righting herself. She hissed in both pain and anger before running at Pyrrha once more. "Blake stop this!" Pyrrha pleaded as she dodged another claw swipe only to be caught in the leg with a kick.

Blake grinned savagely seeing that she actually landed a solid hit on Pyrrha. "You know, there's an ancient tradition among my people. I used to think it was barbaric but right now... right now it makes perfect sense."

Pyrrha frowned lightly, unsure at what Blake was getting at. "What are you talking about?"

Blake crouched lower to the floor on all fours, Pyrrha watched in fascination as Blake's eyes thinned down into slits. "When two faunus wanted the same mate they would fight for them until one asserted dominance... usually by killing the other." Seeing Pyrrha's alarmed look only made Blake's grin widen and expose her fangs.

With her new heightened senses Blake was able to keep up with the much more martially powerful Pyrrha. They exchanged blows and blocks, dodging and weaving through the other's attacks as they tried to get the upper hand.

Blake ducked under one of Pyrrha's swings and slashed her claws up Pyrrha's back easily cutting through the laces holding her armor together before kicking the red-head away.

Pyrrha gasped feeling her top fall away leaving her only in her tight undershirt.

000

Yang ignored the plebeians staring up at her as she perched on the light pole that was giving her an excellent vantage point into Naruto's apartment.

The blonde's eyes widened as the armor fell away "Score! Nice one Blake!"

She watched the two continue fighting as Pyrrha wrenched Blake's arms behind her back and rip her white jacket down to keep them in place before tossing her over the couch and into the coffee table.

When Blake got back up Yang giggled perversely seeing her partner left only in her black lace bra. "Ohohoho this is getting good!"

000

Blake could feel herself getting tired as she wasn't exactly known for her hand-to-hand skills unlike Pyrrha but she pushed on and raked her claws across Pyrrha's unprotected upper arm.

Pyrrha quickly disengaged, taking a moment to glance at her arm, blood began to drip from the shallow wound. "I didn't want to hurt you Blake but you're leaving me little choice."

Blake didn't even hear the girl as her predator instincts were starting to take over at the smell of fresh blood. She reigned herself in quickly before the blood lust would take over and cleared her mind. "You keep talking but all I hear is bullshit."

Pyrrha eyed the now trashed living room carefully, making a plan in mere moments. It would be painful but it should end this once and for all.

They both stood staring the other down as they breathed.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Blake charged in a flash of movement and Pyrrha dodged right only enough for Blake to catch her left shoulder and sink her claws in. Blake almost gave a victorious smirk but froze when she felt her wrist in Pyrrha's iron grip.

Pyrrha gritted her teeth as she suffered another wound to trap Blake, using her other arm she leveraged Blake's elbow and painfully twisted her arm drawing a cry from the girl. "Sorry." Grabbing Blake's head she slammed it into Naruto's wooden counter top.

Blake's head snapped back in a daze, her eyes blurred in sudden pain before she felt exploding pain from her back. "GAH!" She clenched her eyes and rolled on her side, feeling that she was on the floor after Pyrrha slammed her down.

Pyrrha stood her ground a bit away eyeing her opponent wearily as she writhed on the floor before finally letting herself leave the heightened state of awareness she entered during combat.

She was feeling drained now that the adrenaline had left her body and just wanted to sit down for a while. Glancing at Blake she winced seeing the girl in quiet agony on the floor, she must have forgotten to reign her new maiden enhanced strength in momentarily seeing that there was an actual dent in the floor.

"Blake?" She asked cautiously.

Blake opened one baleful eye before closing it again in pain "For Dust's sake Pyrrha I wasn't serious about killing each other." She said through gritted teeth.

Guilt and concern raced through her now. Could she have broken Blake's ribs on accident? Or Oum forbid her spine? Pyrrha could feel a wetness gather around her eyes "I'm so, so sorry!"

Blake was once again thankful that her faunus body was much more durable than a humans especially with her Aura having been actively strengthening it further. Still her back was probably going to hurt like hell for weeks.

Laying on her back she sighed in slight relief before extending her arm upwards. "Help me up."

Pyrrha rushed over and in her emotional state couldn't react fast enough when Blake gripped her hand tighter than normal, nor was she expecting two harsh feet to dig into her stomach and vault her into a corner of the room.

Pyrrha groaned from the rubble of a broken table and lamp. Having been caught unaware and without any of her Aura coursing through her, it hurt a lot more than it would have if done during the fight.

"Now... we're even." Blake said before sighed deeply and letting her head fall back on the floor, laying in her dented hole.

Pyrrha glanced over at Blake just as the front door slammed open. "ALRIGHT EVERYONE COOL IT!" Yang shouted much to her confusion.

"Y-Yang?" She moaned as she picked herself up, the pain from her injuries finally starting to affect her. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Yang glanced at Pyrrha then at Blake who was passed out on the floor. "Oh... I guess it's over already."

Pyrrha tilted her head, bewildered by Yang's sudden appearance and likely a mild concussion. She decided to ignore Yang for now and drag herself over to the kitchen.

Yang closed the door behind her and entered the ruined apartment after subtly picking up Ruby's Scroll off the floor. "So... what was all that about?"

Pyrrha glanced over at Blake with Yang following her gaze. "The asserting of dominance."

"Shit, I'll say." Yang said, only feeling mild concern for her partner. She'll be fine. Probably.

Pyrrha reached into her pack and pulled out a bandage roll that she used to step the blood flow from both her upper arms. "I hope she's okay... I may have used more force than was intended."

"She'll be fiiiiiine. More importantly however, who were you two fighter over?" Yang asked with a knowing grin.

Pyrrha blushed and turned away towards the fridge where she pulled out some ice packs "I do not know what you mean Yang."

"Oh don't give me that! I can smell a cat fight from a mile away, now come on, admit it, you two were fighting over Naruto weren't you?" Yang pressed on with her teasing smile.

Pyrrha's eyes met Yang's and she knew in that moment that they wouldn't be able to hide it. "Yes... I wanted to reach an accord with Blake but things devolved into." She turned back towards the demolished apartment and winced. Naruto is not going to be happy. "Into this."

"Yep, probably should have taken it outside." Yang agreed. "Been in a few scraps myself and let me tell you, fighting in an enclosed space is a no bueno. Especially when said space belongs to the guy you want to date."

Yang walked over to the fridge and pulled the few ice packs that were left before walking over to Blake's crumpled form. "Alright upsy daisy."

Blake groaned as Yang picked her up and walked over to the bedroom where she laid the girl down on her stomach and placed the packs on her already bruised back. "That must have hurt like a bitch." She glanced over at the red-head who followed her in and smirked. "Didn't think I'd ever have to be the one to lecture someone else about restraint."

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said dejectedly, head bowed in honest regret.

"Come on Pyrrha." Yang said as she guided the girl back into the living room and sat her down on the couch before moving over to the TV and turning it on. "Hmm... what shall we- Aha!"

Pyrrha glanced curiously over at the blonde who grinned and help up a box in victory. "What's that?"

"Grimm Rising 2, the Risining!" She exclaimed cheerfully and popped the movie in before taking a seat next to Pyrrha. Yang pressed play on the remote and turned up the volume before jolting back up "Forgot the popcorn!"

Hurrying back to the kitchen Yang grabbed a back of popcorn and leaped over the back of the couch to land on her seat. "Uh - Yang I think you have to *pop*"

"Huh?" Yang asked intelligently as the bag in her hand began popping.

"Don't you *pop* have to *pop pop* microwave that first?" *pop pop pop*

Yang scoffed "And wait three minutes? Ain't nobody got time for that, watch and learn!" She narrowed her eyes on the bag and soon it began rapidly inflating as the kernels inside began popping away.

"How?" Was all Pyrrha could ask.

"One of Naruto's control exercises." Yang said as her tongue peaked out of her mouth in concentration. "Naruto said that I don't always have to burn, sometimes just heat will do the trick. Bastard wouldn't let me have any popcorn on movie nights until I could pop my own by heating up the bag."

Soon the bag was fully popped to perfection and opened up to a heavenly buttery aroma. "Ah! The sweet smell of success."

"Movie nights?" Pyrrha asked as she took a few pieces of popcorn.

"Oh yeah, Naruto and I hang out sometimes and watch movies. Usually when he gets some new ones." Yang said before stuffing her face with a handful of popcorn "Ish shuper fun, we make fhun of shtuff and laugh at the lame plotsh."

Swallowing the food in her mouth she pointed at the screen as the title came up. "Naruto and I have the same taste in shitty B-Rank horror flicks."

"I see... so I'm the only one whose been here for the first time." Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a twinge of hurt from that.

Yang glanced over at the girl and sighed "Don't be like that Pyrrha, Naruto just does Naruto things. He brought Blake here because she needed a place to feel safe and we come here because we just want to relax for a while after having some stressful days."

"I mean sure it may have a deeper meaning with Blake for them but with me, we're just two friends hanging out. I mean sure I really like him and he's totally my type but with you and Blake already gunning for him..." She gave Pyrrha a resigned smile "Well it's already complicated enough as it is and I don't like complicated."

The relationship between her moms and dad had been complicated after all and see where that left her and Ruby. One with abandonment issues and the other traumatized.

Pyrrha had no idea that Yang also shared their feelings. Placing her hand on the blonde "Are you sure?"

Yang nodded "Yeah... plus I wouldn't make a good girlfriend anyway. I spend the majority of my free time chasing a bird."

Yang turned back to the TV and remained quiet from then on as the movie played. Pyrrha decided not to push the girl any further and relaxed into the couch as they watched a few movies until night began to fall.

"Oww... my back." They heard from the bedroom.

Yang stood up and walked over to the bedroom, returning soon after with the still half-naked Blake. "Look what I found Pyrrha, can we keep her?"

Pyrrha smiled halfheartedly at the attempt at levity in this situation. Blake was avoiding her eyes and were it not for Yang laying her down next to her, she probably would have kept ignoring her.

They all sat in a tense silence for a few minutes as the current movie played. Pyrrha finally breathed in and turned to the person she hoped was still her friend. "I'm sorry about earlier Blake."

Blake who was keeping up a glare aimed at the TV let her eyes soften somewhat. "I... I also apologize. I don't know what came over me."

Pyrrha hoped that now that they had gotten all the anger out of their systems that they could begin to move forward. "Like I said before... we don't have to fight. We can make things work between us, I know we can."

"I'm just... scared." Blake began tearily "I don't want him to leave me. I'm so used to running away that I've never really had someone to hold on to and now I'm scared that I'll lose him."

Pyrrha wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tight. "I'm not trying to steal Naruto away from you Blake... I want all of us to be happy. Nothing says that Naruto cannot be with us both nor does it matter to me what anyone will say in the future. I love Naruto and I wish to be with him... if you feel the same then we shouldn't be fighting, we should be helping each other."

Yang had to look away as all this was striking just a bit too close to home. The dark-haired loner who caught the attention of the charismatic blonde. The compassionate red-head who also fell for the boy and tried to make things work with her long-time friend.

The dark haired woman who eventually ran away like she always did.

The red-head who tried to keep her family together but was gone far too soon.

The blonde who was just trying to pick up the pieces and make the best of it.

Yang just hoped that this story had a much different ending than the one she knew.

000

The winds raged harder than before as they landed on the shores of Stormwing. Sun shivered as he was severely regretting not wearing warmer clothing. Naruto stood calmly as the rain dripped off his face while Qrow stood next to him with a grim look on his face.

Cries and shrieks were heard in the distance as large winged creatures roamed the skies.

Naruto smirked as he turned towards the older man "Welcome home."

*Chapter 24*: Like Daughter, Like Mother

AN - Sorry this chapter took so long, I had it ready about a week ago but I kept changing things so it got delayed. I'm still not entirely happy with it but fuck it. Also thanks for the 900 reviews, can't wait till we break 1,000.

Shattered World

"So what's the play here?" Sun asked after the three took in the horrible rain and screeching of Wyverns.

"Well the original plan was for Qrow to fly above as a scout while I made my way through the forest. Alone this would have been a simple task but with you here, it will take much longer." Naruto informed him.

Sun scoffed "I'm a monkey faunus, you'll find no one better among the trees!"

"You were born in Vacuo then moved to Mistral, how many trees have you actually climbed?" Qrow questioned.

"Not a one." Sun admitted with a grin.

"Great." Naruto groused before turning towards the Huntsman "Let's just go, we're wasting daylight."

"What daylight? It's all cloudy." Sun interjected.

"Oh it gets darker." Naruto assured him. "Much darker. And an unfamiliar forest is the last place we want to be at night."

Sun conceded the point "Fair enough."

"Alright. Be careful you two." Qrow bid them farewell before morphing into his namesake and flying off, far enough away that they would be unaffected by his ruinous nature.

"Try not to fall behind." Naruto warned before taking off into the trees, easily leaping from one to the other.

Sun, caught in his momentary shock seeing his fellow blonde leap through the trees like... well like a monkey was quickly falling behind and hurried along so as not be outdone. He caught up soon enough. "Thanks for waiting jerk."

"I was giving you time to catch up." Naruto replied, uncaring of his temporary partner's sarcasm "Now that you've finally caught up we can start making some serious progress."

This time Sun was ready when Naruto took off in a burst of speed, quickly following behind by regulating his aura purely to his lower body. It was actually pretty exciting racing through the trees like this.

"Try to keep yourself calm." Naruto warned from up ahead "The forest is full of Grimm and the last thing we need is train of them following behind us."

Sun frowned slightly seeing his fun squashed but relented, knowing that broadcasting they were there through strong emotions was a no no. "How far in are we going?" He asked, raising his voice slightly so it would be heard by Naruto through the whistling of the wind.

"At this speed we'll likely arrive at the rendezvous point in about two hours." Naruto informed him. "That is of course if we don't meet any resistance on our way there."

"Grimm?"

"Grimm." Naruto confirmed. "The trees begin to thin out closer towards the mountain where the Wyverns nest."

Sun briefly remembered the lesson on Wyverns. Unlike their draconic cousins they had thin spindly bodies but their wide wingspan and lightweight frames made them incredibly agile. Coupled with the fact that their feet and wing ends were capped with razor sharp talons made them very difficult to fight. More than one seasoned hunter was ended by a Wyvern's dive, torn to shreds as the beast swooped upon them with little to no warning.

Sun grimaced. "Who the hell would make their base here?"

Naruto couldn't help the laugh that escaped him "What better place for a secret base than somewhere no sane person would willingly go?"

"Crap you're right." Sun admitted. "I've gone insane!"

"No time for regrets!"

000

A knock on the door interrupted her work. Setting down the piece of paper she softly spoke her permission to enter. One of the clan walked in and gave a short bow before striding up to her desk. "Lady Raven, a ship has been spotted landing on the coasts of Stormwing."

The woman leaned back in her chair and remained silent for a moment before replying "Make and colors?"

"Military Bullhead, Atlas." The man answered dutifully.

"You said it was a single ship?" She questioned.

"That's correct, My lady."

Raven frowned slightly "Keep an eye on the vessel and any trespassers. It could be as little as another failed expedition for Dust mines from the Schnee family. If it is then we don't need to draw attention to ourselves, let the Grimm handle them for us."

The man snapped a salute and left the room. Once he was gone Raven looked out her bay window into the stormy evening. She had a feeling that her dear baby brother would make an appearance soon.

000

Stepping out of the elevator Naruto glanced around for the Headmaster who was standing just to the side of the room. "Good evening Naruto."

The blonde nodded and walked over to the man "So why did you want me to make a clone in secret?"

"Because I wished to show you something." The man replied. Naruto followed the man to a wall hidden in the dark of the room. "When I was young, I was informed by Salem that three treasures lingered in this world that would pose a threat to her. A side-mission of mine was to find these treasures and destroy them."

Naruto pondered on that. Hagoromo never mentioned any of his treasures being able to defeat Kaguya. "Oh?"

The man tapped the end of his cane on the wall in what appeared to be a very specific and practiced manner. "Indeed."

Naruto did well to hide his surprise when the wall came undone, vanishing from sight as if it were never there. "Impressive. Was that an illusion?"

"A dream that became a reality but remains a dream." The man answered.

"... A delusion then?" Naruto asked with a shrug, even after all this time he still wasn't good at this cryptic bullshit.

Ozpin chuckled and nodded "An illusion that can become real when I wish it."

"Real Genjutsu then." Naruto surmised. "I've encountered it before, old friend of mine named Yakumo."They continued on as Ozpin broke down layer after layer of illusionary defenses.

"It's not the illusion I wished to show you however, it's what it hides." Ozpin explained as they came upon a lone pedestal in the dark. Atop the pedestal was a glass jar and floating inside said jar was a pair of orbs.

Naruto took one look at them before sighing heavily. "I swear to Kami Ozpin if those are what I think they are I'm going to strangle you."

Ozpin smiled "So you do recognize them. Good, that will make this easier."

"I'm going to need to sit down for this one." Without further prompting he once again used the Creation of All Things for mundane purposes like making chairs.

Ozpin chuckled once more seeing that ability used again. "That very skill you so casually wield is seen as a sign of divinity in these times."

"Well considering that it was given to me by the two beings that came as close to gods as it comes it's not unreasonable." Naruto told the man who nodded in agreement.

"The Brothers."

Naruto paused then narrowed his eyes on the man, slowly leaning forward in his chair "And how in the hell do you know about them? They were a myth even before my time."

"Salem told me about my elder siblings. How much she despised them for betraying her and warning me of what would happen were I to do the same." Ozpin told the 'young' man in front of him. "The basis of religion in this time stems from a belief system I created when I once ruled these lands. A story of two brothers, one of light and the other of darkness. One to create and one to destroy but always keeping the other in balance."

"You know, Hamura would likely be upset at being painted in that light. You get brainwashed by your psychotic mother once and suddenly you're the bad guy. Just because he became the essence of Yin and 'darkness' doesn't mean he was a bad person." Naruto ranted.

Ozpin smiled "You seem to know my brother well Naruto."

"Well I did just spend the last millennia stuck on the moon with him." Naruto drawled before regaining his focus "Sorry let's get back on track."

"Of course." Ozpin nodded and took a moment to gather his thoughts "As the belief system goes the Two Brothers created humanity, this of course was made up but the next part isn't. As their last gift to humanity they gave them the physical forms of Knowledge, Creation, Destruction and Choice."

Naruto glanced over at the jar for a moment before turning back to Ozpin with a raised eyebrow "Creation?" He asked, nodding his head at the jar.

Ozpin smiled once more.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this but-" He took a breath before leveling Ozpin with a stern glare "How?"

"They were originally mine." The man answered as he glanced over at the jar. "When I surrendered the throne to live my life as a hermit I also removed my eyes and the power within them."

"Hold up, throne?" Naruto paused as he selectively heard that word.

"Ah yes, Oz, the Great and Terrible they called me. The Warrior-King of Vale and after the Great War ended the kingdoms were ready to submit to my rule. I told them no, created the academies, went into a self-imposed exile and then many years later returned to head this one after a group of lovely young ladies reminded me of my duties to this world."

The blonde digested this new information before leaning back in his chair and getting the conversation back on topic. "Those three treasures you mentioned before, are they the other three aspects of humanity?" Naruto asked though he already guessed as much.

"Correct." Ozpin confirmed. "Salem told me she had created three items upon her ascension to godhood. A necklace to celebrate her ascension, a mirror to gaze upon her new visage and a sword to strike down her enemies. All of these items were created with a great abundance of her newfound power and thus are strong enough to contest with her."

"I think I vaguely recall some history lesson about a magatama necklace, a mirror and a sword." Naruto mused as he tried to recall his early years to no success.

"Allow me to spare you the time. Salem created three items with her godly power. The necklace Yasakani no Magatama, the Yata no Kagami mirror and the sword Kusanagi." Ozpin informed him to move things along.

"So Hagaromo's necklace, Itachi's shield and Orochimaru's sword. Well that's just great." Naruto groused. "I take it you found the three sacred treasures then?"

"I have. Many years ago during my reign as king I ordered countless search parties to find these three relics that could combat Salem were she ever to return in physical form." Ozpin informed him "The shield that brings knowledge, the necklace that grants choice, the sword that brings destruction and the eyes of creation."

"Another shot in the dark here, they're all hidden in secret bunkers under the four main hunter schools aren't they?"

Ozpin smiled at him mysteriously "You really do take the suspense out of everything."

Naruto resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You keep god-level relics under schools knowing that a vengeful goddess wants them destroyed? The hell's wrong with you!?"

Ozpin grimaced slightly "Admittedly it was not one of my better ideas but I was also twenty years old, foolish and still reeling in pain from the loss of my family at the time."

"Right." He acknowledged the point. "So why are you showing me this? Why now?" Naruto wondered.

Ozpin glanced at the eyes forlornly for a few moments before returning his gaze to his companion. "I'm dying Naruto. Countless years spent travelling back in time in an attempt to save my wife took a heavy toll on my body and afterwards without the eyes and without my chakra my body began slowing down. With each day I feel weaker and weaker as time begins to catch up to me."

"So why not put them back in?" Naruto questioned.

"It's too late, even with the longevity granted to me by Salem, I've outlived even that in millions of lifetimes. The soul will continue but this body can no longer remain stable." Ozpin confided in his friend.

"Do the others know yet?"

"They are all aware, yes." Ozpin admitted.

"So what, you want me to hide them once you're gone?" Naruto questioned. "Because I can tell you right now, I'm not replacing my eyes for yours."

"A shame." Ozpin spoke as he picked up the jar and handed it to Naruto. "Then I can only hope that you can either protect or destroy them when the time comes to face Salem."

Naruto groaned as he accepted the eyes and sealed them away "What happens to you then? Are you just going to fade away?"

The man shook his head "In a moment of weakness and grief I once spent a night with one of my servants. She bore a child of my blood. A boy, my great,great grandson currently lives in the farmlands of Mistral. If your words on my elder brothers holds true then my soul shall cling to this world and I will make my way to him and guide the boy."

"Oh right, you guys can do that freaky ghost-spirit thing." Naruto recalled. He then shrugged "Well if you do go and possess your descendant, let me know, I'll keep an eye out for him."

The man nodded "Thank you Naruto."

"Right then." Naruto nodded and the two left the secret chamber within the secret bunker of secrets. Holding the scroll with the eyes in hand he could help but curse lightly "Fucking Rinnegan, always popping up at the best and worst of times."

Ozpin gave a small laugh but said nothing to assuage his blonde friend. He doubted anything would.

000

It was in the middle of the night when the real Naruto's ears twitched slightly, already aware of the invaders in their camp. He kept his breathing perfectly steady to keep up the act of him being deep in sleep as the potential assassins/comrades approached.

His shinobi instincts were roaring at him to quickly despose of the potential threats but his rational side stayed his hand as slaughtering Raven's men would not be the best way to get that woman to ally with them.

As soon as one of them reached him however his hand snapped up faster than the man could react and smashed his fist directly into the would-be assassin's mask. The man's neck snapped back from the force of the blow before falling flat on his ass, out colder than a winter's night.

This drew the attention of the three three others and Naruto was on his feet in moments, fending off attacks with relative ease. With a stealth honed from years of training Qrow also awoke and silently creapt to his feet where he blindsided one of the three and quickly knocked him out.

Between Qrow and Naruto the other two followed suit before they could retreat and were bound in ninja wire that could withstand even chakra enhanced strength so Naruto doubted they would be breaking through it anytime soon.

Qrow meanwhile gave Sun a light kick in the side causing the faunus to groan and complain about the rude awakening. "Seriously kid? We just fought off four attackers and you were still deep asleep. Get some damn awareness would ya?"

"Yeah well, I had a long day! You try sprinting through a forest at full-speed while soaked to the bone." Sun complained as they walked over to the trees that held their captives.

"Standard strike team." Qrow cited "Four man cell, quick and efficient."

"Time tested and proven." Naruto agreed. "Recognize any of them?"

The four were still unconscious but their masks were removed and laid at their feet. "Only that one." Qrow said as he pointed at the one in the middle. "My direct cousin Tristis or as the family calls him, Grey."

Walking over to the man he picked up his mask. He recognized the patters on it marking his cousin as a high-captain. "Grey's always had it out for me, hated me since we were kids. I doubt Raven approved of his little mission. Then again maybe she decided on willful ignorance."

"What the hell is wrong with your family that your cousin tries to kill you and your own sister would turn a blind-eye to it?" Sun questioned with a disgusted look.

Qrow glanced back at the kid and smirked "Get why I left them now?"

"Yeah." Sun then turned towards his sort-of friend. "So what do we do now?"

"Simple." Naruto stated as he undid the bindings on Tristis. "I'm going to take our friend here over to those dark woods over there and he's going to tell me where the rest of the Corvus clan is hiding."

"And if he doesn't feel like telling you?"

"Then we move on to the next guy. While I'd rather not kill them, returning them in a broken state is still technically alive."

Qrow barked out a laugh "Remind me not to get on your bad side Naruto."

"Will do." Naruto called out as he began dragging the man off into the shadows.

Qrow then stood and led the tag-along faunus back to the campfire where he re-lit it, thankful for the giant tarp Naruto had set up to keep the rain off them. He took out his flask and handed it to Sun. "Drink up."

"Uh - No thanks, I don't drink." Sun said as he pushed the flask back towards the man.

"I insist." Qrow said thrusting the bottle into Sun's chest. "You'll need it when the screams start."

"Screams?"

It wasn't long until just that happened. Sun glanced at the flask before unscrewing the lid and taking a drink. "Don't drink too much now." Qrow warned. "The interrogation is going to attract some unwanted guests soon. We'll need to handle those while Naruto deals with the information gathering."

Surprisingly Naruto returned five minutes later, once more drenched in rain but streaks of viscous red spotted his clothes and hands. "Good news is that our buddy Grey finally cracked. Bad news is the Grimm are fast approaching."

"How fast?"

*SCRAAAAAAA!* "Naruto pointed at the sky where several Wyverns were circling about "That fast."

Sun looked worried at the group of monsters. "What's the plan?"

"Well I can think of several options, each having its merits and flaws. Our best chance of survival is cutting our loses here and leaving these guys behind to be eaten by the Wyverns. Option two is we take them with us and get slowed down while trying to outrun a species of Grimm known for their top-flying speed. The last option is we take one each and leave Tristis behind as bait."

The Wyverns let loose another chorus of wailing shrieks. "I suggest we choose quickly."

"Everyone pick someone up." Qrow ordered and they each picked up one of the unconscious clan members. "As cruel as it sounds that poor bastard will be our distraction. They'll be attracted to the scent of blood and fear first."

"Right then, let's book it." Naruto stated as he shifted his luggage over his shoulder and leapt off into the trees. "The base is a few miles out. They built it into the mountain."

As the three ran through the woods a thought occurred to Sun. "Hey, I can see just fine in the dark but how are you guys not tripping over branches and stuff?"

Naruto glanced at Qrow before speaking for himself "I've been trained to move swiftly and silently through all terrain in all conditions."

Qrow snorted "Same deal."

"Right..." Sun drawled, "So in essence you're both just ninjas then?"

Naruto smiled to himself "Not just any ninjas, we're super ninjas!"

Qrow grinned and joined in "That's right, only the best of the best can join the SNC."

"SNC?" Sun repeated, unfamiliar with the term.

"Super Ninja Corps!" Qrow answered, laughing once he caught the annoyed look on Sun's face, Naruto joining in a moment later.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Sun grumbled as he re-adjusted the guy on his shoulder. "How much further?"

They had been running, sprinting really, for close to ten minutes now and he still wasn't fully recouperated from earlier yet so he was really starting to feel his exhaustion rearing up.

"Not much further, my clones scouted out up ahead. It's just past this next clearing." Naruto told them as they broke through the treeline and came upon the hidden base, carved into the side of the mountain with a few buildings built seperated from it all of which was surrounded by a rather impressive wall.

Qrow caught up first followed by Sun. "So this is it?"

"Looks like a secret base to me."

"The guards have spotted us by the way." Naruto cut in. Qrow nodded as he too caught the faint rustling of leaves.

"Stand down." Qrow demanded. "I'm Qrow Branwen. I'm here to talk with my sister."

"Oh, so we're family now?" Raven spoke with false sweetness as she walked out of the darkness. "Finally come home then?"

Qrow set his jaw "Raven-"

"Stop." She ordered. "How dare you bring outsiders here, Qrow?"

He took a moment to calm himself before setting down the Grey. "Raven she's making her first move."

"I'm well aware of that. I already told you Beacon would be her first target." Raven retorted.

"Not anymore." Naruto interrupted drawing a glare from the woman. "I stopped Cinder's little hacking attempt. They've switched targets."

Raven's eyes narrowed before turning towards Qrow who simply nodded. "Who?"

"Vacuo." He answered. "All of their ground forces are already on Sanus, it makes sense to go after Vacuo rather than wait for ships to transport them all to Anima."

Raven frowned before glancing at the other two "Why did you bring them?"

"Well I asked Naruto, the blonde there to come." Qrow explained before turning towards Sun "That one was just a stowaway on our transport."

"Hey!"

"And why shouldn't I have them killed for seeing this place?" Raven challenged much to Naruto's amused snort. She took exception to that and leveled a glare on him "You think this is a game?"

"No, strip poker is a game, you're just a joke." Naruto replied with a casual smile, tilting his head ever so slightly to avoid the blade that past right by it. "Close but no dice. Oh! Dice, also a game, but here's a joke to match your pathetic swing. How many assassins does it take to kill me? None, because I'm just going to laugh myself to death at this rate."

The blonde goaded the woman as he kept casually ignoring her attempts to dismember him. "Aren't you supposed to be the leader of this little rag-tag group of assassin wannabes? I'm sure you can do better than that."

Qrow held his face in his palm. Leave it to Naruto to piss off his sister literally within minutes of meeting her.

Raven was glowing with rage at this point that this child was not only embarrassing her in front of her men but doing it while taunting her and carrying another of her clan. "You've had your fun-"

"Oh is this where you say 'but now it's time to die?' or 'but playtime's over?' maybe throw in a threat to chop me up into pieces and feeding me to the Grimm?" Naruto asked with a mocking grin. Raven only replied with a tightening of the grip on her sword.

This time Naruto actually was caught off-guard by the sudden burst of speed from the woman who managed to lop off a few strands of hair from the top of his head. "Right then." Naruto nodded and dropped the man he was carrying like a sack of potatoes. "How about a wager?"

"How about you just die?" Naruto grinned and blocked her next sword swing with his black kunai.

"Well that's no fun." Naruto began as he flashed before her eyes and kicked her away. Raven grunted at the power from the kick before righting herself mid-air and landing. "How about this? If I win this little spar then you and your clan help us put down Salem once and for all."

"And when I win?" Raven growled.

"Well obviously you've already killed me at that point so I doubt I have anything more to give you." Naruto said with an unconcerned shrug.

Raven narrowed her eyes "I cant tell if you're fearless or just stupid."

"A bit of both to be honest." Naruto replied with a grin as he tossed his kunai at her which she parried only to be surprised by the boot to her face courtesy of the blonde teen who teleported directly in front of her.

Raven snapped her nose back in place and now set herself at full alertness. This boy had not only caught her off-guard once but twice now and his speed was nothing short of insane.

She'd suffered humiliation at his hands twice now. Raven just mentally classified this boy - no this man - as a serious threat and would treat him as one from here on. Naruto was watching her carefully and grinned seeing that she was taking this seriously now.

"Ah there it is, I assume this is the Raven you spoke to me about before, Qrow? The peerless warrior, not that pathetic showing we all saw earlier." Naruto said as he twirled his kunai in his hand once, allowing it to extend into a standard katana.

He set himself into the only stance he ever bothered to really learn thanks to Cat's teachings. "Mikazuki no Mai" He whispered much to the shock of Raven who only barely escaped the three-pronged surprise attack.

It was easy enough to see that while Raven was the better swordsman, Naruto had two clones and his speed to make up for it. Surrounded on all sides Raven was fighting a defensive battle as nicks and scratches littered her body but none of the Narutos ever bothered landing any decisive blows.

Raven grit her teeth and decided that if this man would bring Semblance into this then so would she. "That's enough!" The blade on her sword began to glow red along with herself. With a spinning slash she became a whirlwind of flame which dispelled the clones while Naruto got away with only minor scorch marks.

"Not bad." Naruto complimented. "Yang can do that too."

A metallic clinking came from within the fire which he caught just in time to the avoid the sudden hail of bullets that followed him. Naruto grinned "A Gatling gun for a sheath? Nice!"

"Do you ever shut up!?" Came the woman's irritated voice from within the firestorm that blocked his view of her.

"Not if I can help it!" He laughed along as he continued dodging or sometimes parrying bullets with his sword at least until that last volley encased his sword in ice along with most of his arm. "Well that's annoying."

Meanwhile Sun sat in awe up in a tree next to Qrow who had pulled him away from the battlefield as soon as the fire came out. "Has he always been this strong?"

Qrow shrugged, not entirely sure himself. While he had faced off against Naruto a few times and lost decisively each time, it was never as intense as this. On top of that even though they were twins Raven always seemed to stand head and shoulders above him.

A true prodigy.

Naruto however. He wasn't a prodigy and he highly doubted the kid was a genius. No Naruto was something else. Something that couldn't be classified by normal standards. He once called his sister a peerless warrior but seeing them now, perhaps she'd met her match.

A series of clicks later and a grunt of annoyance let Naruto know that she was finally spent on ammo. Glancing down at the ice crawling up his arm he simply shrugged and smashed the ice on the floor where it broke off of him easily enough. The chakra empowerment that he added to that swing also helped.

"Ready to swing our sharp sticks at each other again?" Naruto questioned.

The firestorm began to darken and shrink in on itself eventually covering Raven in a flame as black as her hair. Her red eyes began to glow ominously from within the black fire and he had to take a moment to calm himself.

"Enton..." Naruto murmured as he swore he saw his former best friend for a split second. His face set itself into a grim countenance as he once more settled into the Crescent Moon Dance. "Well alright then."

He actually had to flex his not insignificant strength to block her first strike, then the next came almost instantaneously and for the first time since he had awoken he felt excited. As much as he joked around and made light of his power, sitting at the top of the food chain was rather boring without anyone to challenge you for the spot.

But this woman. This peerless warrior as Qrow once called her.

Naruto never noticed the grin that had spread across his face as the two titans clashed swords, waves of super-heated air buffeted the clearing with each clash of their blades.

An unstoppable force meeting another unstoppable force.

Raven had already lost herself in the thrill of battle, nothing mattered anymore. The masterful grip she held over her true nature was released and the full fury of the beserker raged through her mind.

Her opponent was truly powerful. Far stronger than anyone she had ever met. Faster than anyone she had ever faced. The exhilaration of this battle, finally letting loose and throwing her full strength against a real opponent. It was nothing short of amazing. Euphoric even.

His soul sang in exultation at the opportunity to test herself against such an opponent.

Qrow was starting to become worried. He had seen his sister smile, seen her smirk, hell she'd even laughed a few times but grin? Never grin. He grimaced as he had to shield himself from another wave of super heated wind from the sheer impact of their blades crossing.

Honestly he was more impressed that neither one had shattered yet. That was some quality craftsmanship.

Naruto released even more of his seals that kept a tight hold over his power and brought his sword around in a wide-swing that Raven managed to block but unfortunately was unable to stay her ground, unprepared for the sudden jump in strength.

She quickly righted herself in time to block another strike but was once more caught unaware as a fist drove itself into her sternum sending her sailing back. Naruto was unperturbed by the fire coating his fist and simply shook the flames off.

Raven grit her teeth as she held her chest in pain. Normally she could shake off debilitating blows as nothing more than annoyances but being hit by that man was like taking the force of three trains at once.

Once more their swords met but this time Raven repaid the favor with a kick to the abdomen that Naruto shook off with a mere grunt and replied in kind with a spinning kick that sent her through at least a few trees.

Raven blinked a few times as she lifted herself to her hands and knees trying to regain her vision after the jarring kick. She gripped her sword and swung widely at the approaching Naruto who dodged past the black waves of fire that left her sword.

Naruto glanced down at his blade and decided to kick things up a notch. Raven frowned when her opponent began exhaling on his sword and covering in some kind of white aura.

Lifting her sword once more, preparing herself for the attack that never came, he simply stood there. Raven watched him carefully as he closed his eyes. She knew better than to think he was underestimating her at this point... no, he was up to something.

She noticed a slight breeze began to pick up then quickly grow around them. Raven didn't hesitate this time and coated her sword in the black fire once more and launched another volley of flame waves.

Naruto didn't so much as twitch as the attacks neared him. Raven quickly followed up behind the waves, suddenly skidding to a stop however when she noticed that they simply disappeared in mid-air when they reached a certain point.

She watched him smile. "I didn't think you'd react that quickly." He admitted, opening his eyes once more.

"You can negate my fires." Raven said factually. It would have worried but clearly he had to concentrate to do it.

He smiled mysteriously "It's no fun if you can figure out so quickly." With a shrug Naruto flicked his sword and sent a wind blade her way in much the same style she did with her fire.

"Now normally," Naruto began as he took his sword in both hands, staring down Raven as they circled each other. "Using Wind against a Fire user would be suicide."

Raven kept up her guard, only paying passive attention to his words in case he was trying to trick or distract her once more. "But what if the Wind user is skilled enough in their element that they could simply remove the air. No fire can burn without oxygen after all." Well technically Amaterasu can but I truly hope that's simply the Blaze release and not the real thing.

Naruto finally stopped and set himself into another the Crescent Moon stance. "It's time to end this Raven."

Raven took the invitation and ramped up the fires around her, no longer stuck to her skin but covering her much like armor would.

Naruto breathed in - then out.

"Crescent Moon: Convergence zone."

Raven wasn't sure when but her furious charge has slowed to a staggering gait before she fell to her knees. It felt like millions of little paper cuts covered her body. Naruto watched impassively as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Her fires had left her along with her strength, bleeding out of her through the many cuts she felt along her body.

Raven was panting deeply as the adrenaline rush passed next, the exhaustion she felt was far beyond any point she had reached before. With a weak, trembling arm she stabbed her sword into the ground to stabilize herself.

The man - Naruto, she remembered now that the haze had cleared - stood before her, not even breathing heavily. She hung her head and let out a choking chuckle which eventually evolved into a shallow breathless laugh.

She lifted her head, strands of her sweat-soaked hair matted to her face. She met his unflinching gaze and straightened out her back before bowing her head once more. "I concede."

Naruto continued to gaze down at her imperiously for a few moments more before sighing in relief "Good, I didn't want to have to kill you. You are by far the most skilled individual I have faced since coming here and your aid against Salem and her forces would be invaluable."

He passed his sword to his left hand and offered his right to the downed Raven. "Raven Branwen, will you join us in our fight?"

Raven heard his words and began to truly consider the weight of them. The families had been fighting a shadow-war against the Goddess' minions for centuries but their enemy no longer clinged to the shadows, they've become bold enough to step into the light.

Ultimately she knew her answer already.

She knew it mid-way into the battle.

While Ozpin may fail, she had a feeling that the young man in front of her would not. It wasn't often that she would make a leap of faith solely on a feeling but her instincts were telling her that this person would be their best bet against the witch.

Her eyes met his once more, this time they held the steely resolve he noticed throughout the fight. "I, Raven Branwen, head of the Branwen tribe and leader of the Corvus clan pledge the allegiance of me and mine to your cause."

Rather than take his arm, Raven kept her kneeling stance and in that moment the many clan members that had left the compound to watch the duel made themselves known.

Naruto watched them with a weary eye at least until they all began kneeling and placing their respective swords in front of them much like Raven was doing.

The gesture was obvious enough. He had proven his strength to the the Corvus clan and in turn earned their loyalty.

000

A pair of mismatched eyes fluttered open as a deep blush strained her cheeks and a slow burn began between her knees. She wasn't sure how or why but she knew, she just knew that her master had just finished proving his rightful superiority over some unworthy commoners... somewhere.

Looking around she could see that her 'teammates' were all still fast asleep. A glance at her nightstand told her that it was four in the morning. She bit her lip as the burning need between her legs became too much to bare as images of her Love dominated her thoughts.

A hand trailed down her lithe body.

Oh well, she'd slept enough for one night.

AN - (Thank you to those who pointed out my oversight with the rinnegan, I've gone back and fixed it. Though the Ozpin's eyes were never intended for Naruto in the first place. These things happens when you re-write something so many times.)

And so another season of RWBY comes and goes. We got to see a few new Grimm including the new Nuckelavee Grimm or as I like to call him 'The First Horseman' since it had a habit of conquering towns and taking trophies. While I haven't ready any RWBY fics lately, I don't doubt that the 'Four Horsemen' angle isn't already being done and quite frankly I don't care because I'm doing it anyway.

Now most, if not all of S4 will be ignored in my fic since pretty much all of the events leading up to it simply won't happen. I will however modify Ren and Nora's backstories to match those I've already established, except with the added portion of them living in, then escaping Kuroyuri.

Also Blake's parents are still dead, only now she'll find out who they were, who killed them and why.

*Chapter 25*: Of Things to Come

AN - There is a minor lime in this chapter, nothing long only a few paragraphs and easily skip-able to those not interested in them and you won't miss anything if you choose to do so. With that out of the way, please enjoy.

Shattered World

*SCRAAAAH!*

"Oh good the Wyverns are back." Sun deadpanned, having already grown to recognize the screeching of the wyverns from their time in the forest.

"I blame Qrow." Naruto added as he and the Corvus clan took in the impending swarm.

Raven tisked as the flock approached them rapidly. "Ready yourselves!"

As one, the entire clan drew their respective weapons and prepared themselves for the Grimm swarm. Naruto was mildly impressed by the show of discipline before turning back to the Wyverns.

Now, he had multiple options here.

Option A) Be a total bad ass and roast everything in sight.

...Nah, did that one already.

Option B) Pull out my sword and start wrecking shop.

...Nah, too much effort.

Option C) Sit back and let our new allies handle it while I analyze their skill and fighting prowess.

Yeah... let's go with that.

The next five minutes was an impressive display of coordination and battle-earned skill. The Corvus clan, around forty members strong from what he could see made short work of the normally extremely dangerous species of Grimm.

With so many Wyverns in one place they weren't able to use their full speed or aerial agility and were quickly defeated by the clan's superior tactics and teamwork.

Naruto had already helped Raven up at this point and had one of her arms slung around him to help carry her weight. "Oh by the way," He began, Raven turning towards him a moment later "Some guy named Tristis attacked us along with those three we brought along. I'm not entirely sure of his fate but the Grimm probably ate him."

Raven sighed. "Grey is - was - the third son of our fourth-born uncle, father's side. While possessing some modicum of skill, truthfully he was a thorn in my side and I don't believe I'll be mourning him any time soon."

"Oh good." Naruto said with a grin as the clan returned, victorious over the Grimm swarm. "Despite what I said, you've got a good group here."

"I'll accept that as high praise from a warrior such as yourself, Naruto, was it?" Raven questioned motioning for one of the members of her clan, a female to begin checking her wounds.

"That's right." He nodded, "Good friends with Yang too. I've been teaching her to control her fire and rage, she's a quick learner."

Raven smiled at the floor "Is that so?"

"I'm guessing you still aren't going to meet with her any time soon?"

The woman shook her head, "Not until she's ready."

Unwilling to pry further and possibly anger his new ally he simply nodded "Very well, I won't lie to her if she specifically asks me about you but neither will I tell her without prompting."

Raven bowed her head in thanks for a moment before standing up once the girl checked her over. "Let's head inside before more Grimm show up."

"Sounds good to me." He waved over his two temporary teammates who joined him and Raven on their walk.

"Raven-" Qrow began only to be cut off.

"Do not speak to me Qrow." She snapped coldly with a glare to match. "I have agreed to ally with you solely due to my faith in Naruto's power, you and I however? We have nothing to talk about."

Qrow sighed and let it go for now, favoring a drink out of his flask instead. Sun meanwhile wisely choose to stay out this conversation lest the crazy strong lady suddenly decide he had one too many appendages.

A few awkwardly silent minutes later Naruto and Raven entered her office followed by Qrow while Sun waited outside. Naruto stood calmly as he waited for Raven to sit down at her desk. "Please sit Naruto." She gestured towards the chair in front of her, pointedly ignoring her other guest.

"Thank you Raven." He took a moment to settle in and gather his thoughts. "I'd rather not waste your time with pleasantries and platitudes and simply get down to business. What do you know of Salem?"

Without hesitation Raven began, "The being we know as Salem is some sort of immortal, possibly a Goddess from before the Catastrophe. She was the deity of the Templar Order of Mantle before they were destroyed during the Second Crusade or as we know it, the Great War. We suspect that while weakened, she yet lives."

Naruto nodded "Indeed she does."

Raven frowned, "You have proof?"

"Not exactly but I can sense her. She's hiding behind powerful barriers but I sense she's somewhere to the east." Naruto said as he stood up and made towards one of the maps on the wall, pointing at the easternmost point of Mistral. "Here."

"The Wastelands?" Raven questioned, walking up to him.

Naruto nodded pensively "Supposedly it's a cursed place, heavy with the stench of hatred and malice."

"It is." Qrow spoke from his spot by the wall where he had leaned up against "Went there a few years ago on a scouting job for Ozpin... just trying to walk around in that place. It feels like the weight of world is on you at all times, like all the hope is gone."

"As dramatic as my brother has made it sound, I too have ventured to the Wastelands. There is a definite sense of wrongness in that land." Raven added.

"Is it true that was the location of the First Crusade?" Naruto asked Raven who walked over to a bookcase and scanned it for a few moments before finding what she was looking for.

"It was," Raven began as she tried to find the page she was looking for. Clearing her voice slightly she began reading a passage "'I can't even see my feet any more, the air is acrid with the smell of blood. It hangs so heavily like a mist that blinds us and yet we still continue our hunt. Our lady commands us to find the great beasts that predate even the Catastrophe, we have managed to secure another but we lost hundreds. Nevertheless the Goddess wills it and we obey.' This was a passage nearing the end of the First Crusade by Knight-Crusader Royle."

"Great beasts..." Naruto whispered to himself. For once he hoped his gut was wrong about this and Kaguya didn't already have the other Bijuu.

Raven nodded as she set down the book and turned to and illustration "Monsters of great power that could destroy armies on their own, Salem ordered her army to capture these beasts for her."

Looking down at the book Naruto could no longer deny it. There was an almost perfect rendition of Saiken the six-tailed slug. "Do any of the books say how many of them she captured?"

"Eight." Raven answered. "Or so the stories say."

Naruto sat down heavily on his chair. "That's... not good."

"Quite." She replied succinctly.

"What about the other families? Are you in contact with them?" Naruto wondered.

Raven shook her head, locks of midnight hair swaying with it. "Many of the old families have dwindled to only a few members and even most those no longer hold to the old ways."

"The Great War wasn't all that long ago, surely they couldn't all have been reduced so severely in number?" Naruto questioned. He knew that most of the old clans had rebuffed his and Qrow's efforts for alliance but he didn't think it was because they were going extinct.

"You underestimate the sacrifices of the Second Crusade. Mantle and the Order had both military and technological advantages over the other three nations and it was only due to sabotage and espionage that Mantle's superior army and weaponry didn't decimate everything in their path." Raven informed him "Sadly many of the Brotherhood fell during this war, spies were found within weeks and eradicated or tortured for information. Assassinations usually led to the death of the agents as they rarely escaped. The Great War was bloodier than most people ever truly realized."

"I see." Naruto said softly. So Kaguya had eight of the nine and Kurama still hasn't woken up from his damn nap.

Raven saw the pensive look on Naruto and gave him a moment before asking "What are you thinking?"

Leaning back in his chair he considered how to phrase his question "...Do we know the origins of the Grimm? How they came about?"

"Not much is known about them." Qrow began, "Though we do know for a fact that they were first seen in the Tropan desert."

"Where's that?"

"It no longer exists," Raven answered this time "At least, not in it's previous state. The Wasteland, that was once the Tropan desert."

"I've had a... theory about the Grimm for some time now. Ever since a Nevermore dented my shield which normally should be impossible." Naruto told them as he thought back to initiation day. "I had many different ideas about how they came to be but I feel like I've just gained a few more pieces of the puzzle, all that's left is one crucial corner piece."

Intrigued, Raven asked, "That being?"

"Did the Grimm only begin showing up after the First Crusade?"

"Yes, while not widely known it's also not exactly a secret. Why do you ask?" Raven pondered.

"I think Salem used the Bijuu or 'Great Beasts' to make the Grimm." Naruto told her "The Bijuu were originally beings of living energy called chakra, more specifically nature chakra."

Not entirely familiar with the term she asked "What is chakra?"

"Chakra is a combination of what you now know as Aura and Semblance. I believe the old assassin families had learned combine these two powers?"

"Yeah, it's one of the first things were taught." Qrow answered earning a glare from Raven though she did admit that they had learned to do that over many decades or trial and error.

"Right well Bijuu were infected with hundreds of years of hatred and malice that grew into a hatred of humanity... the Grimm of today behave like miniature versions of the Bijuu." Naruto told them.

"How do you know this?" Raven asked sternly. After all he looked no older than eighteen so he couldn't have possibly seen any of these beasts with his own eyes.

Naruto focused on her for a moment before turning towards Qrow and considering him. "This doesn't leave this room." He said with a seriousness that matched Raven's own.

"Of course."

"Sure?"

Naruto stood and lifted his shirt slightly where he activated the seal on his abdomen so it was visible. "Because I hold the last Bijuu, and if Salem gets her hands on him then she'll return to her full power."

Raven's eyes widened in true and honest shock.

Meanwhile Qrow took a glance at it, frowned deeply and simply said "Well, shit."

000

The morning's first rays of sunshine hit Yang in the face like an annoyingly persistent fly, finally forcing her awake after trying to snuggle back into the comfy pillows she was on. "Yang, I would really like to get up now if you're awake..." Pyrrha said with a hint of urgency "I have to use the restroom."

Yang groaned and rolled off Pyrrha where much to her pleasant surprise she ended up cuddling with her kitty comrade. "Yang. Get off of me."

Yang groaned even louder this time and sat up with a huff "Fine! Ruin my morning why dontcha?" She grumbled.

"You have problems Yang." Blake groaned as she stood up from the bed and hissed as a sharp pain shot up her back.

"You alright Blake?" Yang asked her partner who hunched over, the miserable expression on her face answering her question for her. "I'll take that a no."

"Do we have anymore ice?" Blake asked, wincing once more as she sat on the bed.

"Yeah, give me a minute." Yang said as she moved out to the kitchen, where she pulled out the ice packs they had put back into the freezer last night. Walking back she handed told Blake to lie on her belly and set them on her back.

Blake hissed for a moment from the cold before sighing in relief "Thanks."

"No problem-o." Yang grinned and laid back down on the bed facing her "So..."

"So?"

"How's life?"

"Shut up."

Yang laughed before settling down "Seriously though, are you going to take Pyrrha up on her offer?"

Blake frowned and turned her head so she was facing the wall. Yang also frowned and got off of the bed and kneeled in front of the bed giving Blake a stern look "Are you going to run away from this too?"

The faunus narrowed her eyes "Why does it matter to you? This is between Naruto, Pyrrha and I."

"B..." Yang felt like telling her about her own parents but held her tongue "Because you're all my friends."

Blake considered her for a moment before turning away once more. Yang was about to call her out on it again only to be stopped by Blake's next words "If you're not going to tell me the real reason then why should I tell you?"

Seeing that her chance was gone Yang stood up and made her way to the still mostly intact kitchen to make them all some breakfast.

While this was going on Pyrrha had listened in by the door despite her better judgement against eavesdropping but she wanted to know what Blake really thought about the matter. It looks like the girl was going to be as guarded as usual though.

Opening the door she entered the room and stepped over to the bed where Blake was watching her. "Better or worse?"

Blake scowled at her for a moment before letting the glare go with a tired sigh "You of all people should know that's it's always worse the following morning. I'm going to need some bruising cream."

Pyrrha smiled apologetically "I'll pick you up some after breakfast, we can head up to the med bay at Beacon afterwards."

Blake nodded her consent and closed her eyes. "Let me know when breakfast is ready."

Pyrrha left the room once Blake fell back asleep and looked around the utterly destroyed living room. "I... should probably start cleaning this."

"Probably." Came a reply from the kitchen followed momentarily by Yang walking in with a plate of syrup filled waffles and a glass of milk. "I was feeling lazy so I just stole some of Naruto's waffles. He'll be too preoccupied mourning his stuff to notice."

Taking another look around Pyrrha looked dismayed "M-Maybe if we clean up the mess, he won't notice some things are missing?"

"Oh no, he'll definitely notice." Yang countered.

Pyrrha sighed forlornly and sat down on the slightly ruined couch "You're right, Naruto is quite perceptive when he wishes to be."

"Well that... and I may have taken a picture of the room and sent it to him five minutes ago."

"You-"

000

"WHAT!?"

Sun yelped at the sudden yell and fell out of bed. With a groan he stood up and glanced over at his temporary roommate. "Wha's all the yellin 'bout?" He slurred, still half-asleep.

"They... they-" He paused, closed his eyes and began breathing deeply. After calming himself down he looked at the picture again and frowned seeing the image hadn't changed.

He had just come back from his morning job when he noticed his scroll was beeping from a message. Seeing it was from Yang he was rather curious what she wanted only to see the image of his destroyed living room with the caption.

'So our partners had a little sit down that turned into a throw down. It was actually pretty hot IMO.'

Glancing over his shoulder Sun snickered seeing the message earning him a glare from the blonde. "Hey, this is what you get from trying to juggle two girls. That stuff only happens in anime because they're written that way, real girls with emotions can feel this little thing called jealousy."

Naruto just ignored him even though he knew the faunus was right. Damn him and his pathological need for love and attention. Putting it out of his mind for now he dialed Pyrrha's number and stepped out of the room.

'Hello Naruto.' Was the uncharacteristically meek voice of Pyrrha.

"Hello Pyrrha. Any reason why you broke my lamp? I loved that lamp you know." He said sternly though she couldn't see the amused smirk on his face. He made the majority of his furniture with the Creation of All Things after all, it was all replaceable. Well except the TV... and the lamp.

'I know! I'm so sorry, I promise I'll replace everything by the time you come back and- and I-I' Noticing her voice was starting to hitch he decided that the joke was over.

"I was kidding Pyr, I'm not really mad. I mean I was at first for a few seconds before I remembered that all of stuff is replaceable." He told her, hearing a relieved sigh on her end "More importantly, what happened between you and Blake?"

'Well... I had asked Blake if we could speak about, well us. All of us. I wanted to clear the air with Blake but she was being rather difficult and we ended up saying things in the heat of the moment... and then things got really heated.'

"Well as long as you two are ok."

'Ah... yes...'

Naruto heard her hesitant tone and had to ask "You both are ok... right?"

'That... remains to be seen?'

"R... Remains to be seen? Pyrrha, what happened?"

'I... there is a possibly I seriously injured Blake. Possibly breaking some of her ribs.'

Naruto could only glance at his phone is disbelief. "Pyrrha. What the actual fuck?" Shaking his head "I'll be there in a few, don't move Blake!" Hanging up he quickly went back into the room he was sharing with Sun.

"Yo!"

"Sun, do me a favor." Naruto began as he reached into his pouch and took out an engraved kunai.

"Sure."

"Keep this on you for me, I'll be back in an hour or so." Naruto informed him. "If Qrow or Raven ask tell them I had to leave on an emergency for an hour or two but I'll definitely be back before lunch at the latest."

"Wait! Emergency? What-" Before Sun finished his question Naruto blinked out of existence with a yellow flash of light "...emergency?"

Glancing at the knife in his hand he wondered "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

000

"So, what'd he say?" Yang asked as she dug into her waffles.

"Naruto said he would be here soon... but isn't he on a mission?"

"Oh he's probably teleporting here." Yang told her.

"I know Naruto can move very quickly but I wouldn't call that teleporting."

"Remember how I told you that we sometimes hang out and watch movies? Well Naruto teleports us here but I've never actually been here so I didn't actually know where his apartment was." Yang answered before taking in another mouthful of breakfast.

"How much of Naruto don't I know?" Pyrrha wondered.

"Don't take it personally. I'm sure he's never mentioned it because it's not a big deal to him, you've seen how flippant he is about his own abilities. Being an overpowered bad-ass is just a state of being for him, he doesn't see that to most people teleportation is an amazing ability." Yang said, waving her fork around to help explain her point, "To Naruto, it's just another thing added to his vast array of stupidly strong abilities that us normies can't compete with."

"What's this about normies?" Naruto asked as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"Steak of the devil and he shall appear." Yang quipped before returning to her food.

"N-Naruto?" Pyrrha stammered seeing that he actually was here.

"Yo." He waved but kept moving towards the living room. Looking over at Yang he asked "Bedroom?"

"Bedroom."

"Be back in a few." Was all he said as he retreated into the room and shut the door.

"You... you weren't joking?" Pyrrha asked her friend who had a mouthful of waffles and was only able to offer a shake of her head.

Swallowing her food Yang set down her fork. "I would think you of all people, being his partner and all would be the most accustom to seeing him just pull impossible shit out of his ass."

Instead of answering verbally Pyrrha simply nodded her head pensively. Then a question popped into her head "When did you and Naruto begin watching movies?"

"When he started coaching me through my Berserker mode." Yang answered "Even when I leave my enraged state I still retain some of those feelings of anger so Naruto asked me what I liked to do in my spare time to relax. I told him I liked to watch movies so we got a few that I liked and we would come here after training so I could mellow out for a bit and not be tempted to rip someone's head off at school."

"Interesting, so knowing that you keep those feelings of aggression Naruto moved you both here to a controlled environment where you can release your anger and stress?" Pyrrha summarized.

"Pretty much, yeah."

The red-head smiled "Everything always seems to have a purpose when it comes to Naruto, does it not?"

"Guy's dependable, nothing wrong with that." Yang said with a knowing grin, "Though I do admit I was tempted to give into my baser instincts more than one. It's not only anger that coursed through me in that state but when fighting such a fine male specimen that could dominate me in ways no other guy can? Unf, it got me going like you wouldn't believe."

Pyrrha was turning progressively redder as Yang shamelessly told her about the many times she had to fight him stark naked because he's clothes would literally burn right off of her. Of how she was glad that any moisture around her evaporated near instantaneously or Naruto would have noticed that, that river of liquid between her legs wasn't sweat.

While that was going on Naruto was in the bedroom healing up the damage to Blake's spine and ribs. Nothing was broken thankfully, just heavily bruised with minor fractures. It didn't take very long for him to fix the damage.

All he had left to do was massage the tensed up muscles which he started doing after unclasping her bra 'so it wouldn't get in the way'. Though it wasn't as if he could actually catch a peak of anything seeing as Blake was laying on her stomach.

Naruto began working on the knots in her back, using his chakra to loosen the muscles as he went. Given the pleased mews Blake was giving off she seemed to be enjoying it even if she was still asleep.

Blake had woken up a few minutes into the massage and opened one eye to catch who it was working miracles into her back only to close it once more with a small smile. "Why did you stop?" She asked with a groan.

"Because otherwise I'd be here all day and technically I should still be on my mission." Naruto responded once she opened her eye and turned her neck slightly to catch sight of him.

"Thanks by the way," She said gratefully "I feel much better."

"Well I felt like this was my fault so I should take responsibility."

xxx Minor Lime xxx

"Are you going to take responsibility for how I'm currently feeling as well?" Blake asked sensually as she turned and got up on her knees.

"Such is duty, gotta take the good with the bad." Naruto said as he sat down on the bed next to her.

Blake wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a searing kiss, their tongues intertwining with each other while his hands roamed her body once more.

Cognizant of what he was doing, Blake let her bra slip off and guided to her breasts. She groaned with need as he played with her tits and laid kisses down her neck, ending with a bite at the nape of her neck which made her moan even louder, unaware or uncaring of how loud she was being or that their friends were in the other room.

Kissing down her chest he eventually reached her breasts and promptly took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it while one of his hands snaked down the leather pants she was still wearing from yesterday.

Blake moaned as she used one hand to hold Naruto's head closer while the other mauled at her own tit. She hissed in pleasure when his fingers reached her lower lips and began drawing circles on her clit.

Slipping his two middle fingers into Blake he began pumping them in and out while his palm ground into her sensitive bud, by this point the Catgirl was simply running on instincts and the main one was to find release at the hands of her mate.

Lust had clouded her mind as he fingered her cunny, all she could do was mewl and growl in approval, unable and unwilling to much of anything else under his touch. It didn't take much longer for her to scream her release, coating his fingers in thick clear syrup.

Naruto smiled seeing Blake fall back on to his bed exhausted like a few times before. Sliding his hand out he licked the sweet syrup off his fingers and smiled down at the girl who was watching him with lust filled eyes.

xxx Lime End xxx

He said in response to her burning gaze. "Now, now Blake. We've talked about this."

"It would help me forget about him." She reasoned, making to effort to cover herself up as she laid on the bed.

"And I told you that I won't take you until you were sure about this. If I just wanted sex, that wouldn't be too hard to get but I want you Blake." Naruto told her in a tone that said they've had this conversation a few times before. "Then again I suppose I am a hypocrite for asking you to get over Adam while I also have Pyrrha."

"You really are a piece of crap you know."

"Yeah," Naruto admitted with a grin "And for whatever reason, you still put up with me."

Blake couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips and she sat up and kissed him again, much more tenderly this time. "That's because I realized something last night."

"Oh?" Naruto asked as he leaned his forehead on hers and peered down into her still slitted yellow eyes.

"I love you." She said plainly, "While it hurt to leave Adam at first, the thought of losing you... it hurt. It hurt so much more than anything I could ever think of. It was then that I realized I had actually fallen in love with you."

Naruto smiled and pecked her lips once more "Thank you, for giving me your love Blake. As undeserving of it as I am."

Her smile matched his as she playfully said "Shut up." and kissed him once more before wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling herself into the crook of his neck, breathing in her mate's scent while playfully nipping at his neck.

"We really should stop Blake. I need to get back to my mission and we still have to talk to Pyrrha and you being topless and hugging me is really not doing my hard-on any favors."

Blake giggled and ran a hand down his chest "I could take care of that for you?" She whispered in his ear.

Much to both of their displeasure Naruto stopped her hand and pulled away, "As much as I would love that - and really I would - we do still have things we need to do this morning." He said while hating himself a little inside for saying it.

Blake sighed and nodded "Right then, hand me my bra, would you?"

Naruto looked around for a moment before spotting it on the floor and handing it to her "I'll be waiting outside." He made his way to the door while tapping a small spot on the wall above his light switch that de-activated the silencing seal.

Walking into the living room, thankfully having gotten himself under control he met the two expecting eyes of his friends. "Well Blake is fine now, I fixed the damage so she'll be out in a bit."

"Thank goodness." Pyrrha sighed in relief.

Yang checked the time on her scroll "You were in there for almost an hour," she asked with a sly grin "What were you two doing in there?"

Naruto fixed her with a blank look "Yang, when was the last time you had to fix spinal damage? Because I can assure than even more me, that takes some time."

"Ah-" Yang opened her mouth then promptly shut it "That bad, huh?"

Seeing the worried look on Pyrrha's face he held up his hand "It was mostly bruising but some of her ribs were cracked as well as a few of her vertebrae." It actually had only taken about ten minutes to fix the damage but they didn't need to know that. After all he wasn't a healer, he kind of just siphoned Yang chakra into her body and let it do it's thing.

A few minutes later Blake walked into the room looking good as new, using one of Naruto's shirts to cover herself seeing as her own was still ripped up in a corner somewhere.

She took a seat on the couch with Pyrrha and Yang while Naruto sat on the recliner facing them. "So... who wants to start?"

*Chapter 26*: Why We Can't Have Nice Things

AN - Apologies for the longer than normal wait but I just couldn't get this chapter right. I ended writing three different chapters and decided to go with this one. I'm still not happy with it but I also think my writing is shit so whatever.

Today's cover image is brought to you by RegalClaw on DeviantArt. Because apparently some people are unaware that dragons have been a canon thing in the RWBYverse since Vol. 3 so here's a visual aid.

Shattered World

"So... who wants to start?"

"Ooh, ooh, me, me! Yang wants to go first!" The boisterous blonde said as she wiggled around in her spot on the couch while lifting one arm in the air.

Naruto rounded on her "Yang why are you even here in the first place?"

"I smelled a catfight and came to investigate!" She replied before sticking her tongue out playfully.

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose but waved his hand in a 'go ahead' fashion. "Fine, what do you want?"

"I know you and Blake have a thing going on but she's still my partner so I think I should keep her on weekdays and you can have her on weekends and holidays." Yang said in a faux serious tone.

"Yang," Blake hissed drawing said girl's attention "Stay out of this."

The golden bombshell pouted and crossed her arms childishly "You're no fun today Blake."

"As amusing as Yang's antics are, I believe we should get back on track." Pyrrha cut in, facing her body towards the faunus. "Blake have you come to a decision?"

Blake scowled at the floor for a few moments before nodding, "You won. I challenged you to a duel and I lost. I don't like it but if that's the only way then so be it."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion "Only way to what?" He asked, not receiving a reply from the faunus and instead turning towards Pyrrha who was steadily turning red and decidedly avoiding eye-contact. "Pyrrha?"

"They plan on sharing you." Yang bluntly stated seeing as the other two girls weren't about to do so any time soon.

Naruto was momentarily taken aback "What?"

Blake sighed and looked up, letting the scowl on her face recede "Pyrrha proposed that instead of us fighting and ultimately forcing you to choose one of us, that we instead should share you. I... my cat nature took it as a personal insult that someone would try to muscle in on my 'territory' and I attacked."

She took a moment to get herself comfortable on the couch before continuing "I essentially challenged Pyrrha to Kaliffee, in where if two parties were interested in the same mate then they would fight over the right to be with that person. As I said earlier, I lost, while it wasn't an official duel I will have to accept the outcome or take the alternative."

"Alternative?"

"Death." She replied, stone faced.

Naruto gaped at her for a moment "Woah, woah! Listen I care about you both a lot but I don't want my selfishness to get either of you killed because I can tell you right now that I'm not worth it."

Pyrrha sent him a stern look "What have I told you about depreciating yourself like that?"

"To not do it." Naruto replied quickly "The point remains however that I'm not worth dying over. I'm really not."

Naruto was about to continue ranting until he felt a weight settle next to him. Looking over he noticed a curtain of raven hair with a pair of twitching cat ears on top leaning against his side."Blake?"

"I don't want to lose what we have." She said, her voice coming out a little muffled from being pressed into his side. "Even with my instincts warring against me, I want to stay with you. If that means that Pyrrha will be joining us then I will make peace with it because you are worth it. Even if you are kind of an asshole who takes himself too seriously sometimes."

Pyrrha smiled having heard Blake's muffled words and joined them on the couch on Naruto's other side. "She does a point Naruto."

"That I'm worth it?" He questioned.

"No that you can be sometimes be an- "She suddenly coughed something that vaguely sounded like 'asshole'. Naruto just gave her a flat look which brought a smile back to her face.

"You know It's funny when I say it in a self-deprecating way but when you guys point it out, it actually hurts a little."

Pyrrha giggled into her hand and judging from Blake's shaking shoulders she too was amused. Naruto grinned lightheartedly and wrapped his arms around the two girls who wormed their way into his ancient craddle-robbing heart like some incredibly tenacious tapeworm.

"Thank you." His voice came in a soft but grateful tone.

Yang smiled briefly as she closed the door behind her, the smile slowly lowering as she leaned against the door to the apartment. Who knows? Maybe their fairytale will have a happy ending.

She fished something out of her inner pocket and stared into the blank face of her mother. You know now that I think about it... Blake and mom look a lot alike.

Shrugging to herself Yang pushed herself off the door and made her way back to the street below where Bumblebee was waiting for her. She placed the old photo back into her inner pocket and mounted her bike.

She glanced back towards the apartment window before turning on the engine. With a sigh she put on her helmet. "I need a drink..."

000

Back in the apartment Naruto had finally disentangled himself from the girls and was saying his goodbyes. "The mission shouldn't take too much longer now that we've completed the main objective. We should be back in a couple of days."

Pyrrha nodded and gave him a parting hug along with a kiss "Be careful Naruto."

Blake who was usually more disinclined towards being affectionate in front of others surprised him by copying Pyrrha's actions "Stay safe."

Naruto smiled and nodded "I will." In a flash of light he was gone once more.

Pyrrha turned towards Blake and asked "Are you sure Blake? You were firmly against the idea before. I somehow doubt some duel would be enough to change your mind either."

Blake sat back down on the couch as she considered her words "You're right, you winning didn't actually matter to me all that much. I did think about what you said however, about putting the person I care about first. I'm still mentally and instinctively against the idea of sharing Naruto with you but for his sake I'm willing to try at the very least."

Pyrrha smiled brightly and placed her hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "Thank you Blake."

000

Naruto reappeared next to Sun and was momentarily stunned by the pandemonium he had just dropped into. "The hell's going on here?"

"Naruto!" The faunus said with a relieved tone "Things are bad right now man!"

"What happened? I wasn't even gone for that long."

"Dragons!" Sun answered, wide-eyed and scared. "Giant, scary fucking dragons! The drakes led them here and now they're attacking the base."

Naruto looked at him for a moment before rubbing the bridge of his nose for the second time this morning "It's always something." He muttered.

"Where's Raven?" Naruto continued after taking a moment to compose himself.

"On the upper floors planning the counter-attack." The monkey boy answered his fellow blonde.

"Well you know what that means right?" Naruto asked as he began walking away. "We're going dragon hunting."

"We? What the hell do you mean by WE?" The faunus was ignored as Naruto kept walking along. "Dammit Sun, you just had to pick that plane didn't you?" He cursed himself under his breath before running to catch up with the insane idiot that actually wanted to go out and fight those things. I'm going to die today... Oh god... I'm going to die a virgin!

It didn't take long for them to reach the top floor where Raven was commanding her troops. Skilled as they were, they were trained for assassination not fighting against dragons. With an S as in multiple.

"Raven!" He called out once they drew close enough. The woman looked up and shared Sun's momentarily relief upon seeing him from earlier.

"Naruto, thank Oum you're back." She said as he approached her desk. "I assume Sun has told you what's happening?"

"Bad shit?"

Raven frowned for a moment at the choice of words before conceding that they did in fact describe the situation for the most part. "Pretty much." She then turned a glare towards her brother who was leaning against the far wall. "Yet again my brother proves to be the reason why I can't have nice things."

"For the millionth time, I'm sorry." He said honestly "You know I can't control it."

Raven huffed and turned back towards Naruto who simply thumbed at the bay window where three dragons could be seen smashing the base. "Will you be joining me?" Was all he asked.

She nodded "My men are skilled but dragons are beyond their capabilities so they will be dealing with the left over drakes. The outer wooden ramparts have already been burned down and if we don't stop them soon, we'll all suffocate to death in here."

"So what's the plan?" He asked, turning towards the window to take a closer look at his targets.

"Kill the dragons and leave the island." She answered, "We were due for relocation in any case."

"Right, kill the dragons. Easy right?" Sun said to himself as he began shaking a little.

"You'll be fine, just stick with Qrow." Naruto told him "His luck is so bad that it even makes everything around him unlucky. Chances are any dragon chasing you will magically trip over Its own tail and break Its neck."

"That-" Qrow started only to take a gulp of liquid courage from his flask. "is sadly a distinct possibility."

"Wouldn't we also be caught in that too though?" Sun reasoned.

"Yep." Qrow answered with a resigned look.

"So I'll take big red over there in the back." Naruto said as he pointed at the largest dragon they could see.

"I will take care of the black one then." Raven nodded towards the significantly smaller and much more common black dragon.

"Guess we get the runt." Qrow shrugged seeing a smaller black dragon off to the side. "Works for me."

"Head down to the main hall, I'll relay the plan to my men." Raven ordered before heading over to the intercom and explaining the plan throughout the base. Five minutes later their full force was gathered at the front and ready.

"I'll head out first and grab Red." Naruto volunteered, a grin spreading across his face.

Raven nodded "I will follow you. Qrow, Sun you two lure your dragon away from the base while my forces deal with the drakes. After they finish that they'll be aiding you with your dragon."

"Got it." Qrow said with a nod.

"Open the doors!" Naruto called out and he set himself into a sprinting stance. The heavy stone doors took some time to open but Naruto only waited until just enough was cracked for him to rush through and charge the big red dragon.

The dragon didn't even know what hit it. It was simply minding its dragon business doing dragony things when suddenly WHAM, something hit it in the jaw and it smashed into the woods.

Thoroughly unamused the poor dragon rolled over to scowl at the creature that dared attack it only to growl in rage seeing that it was one of those filthy little humans. It wasn't even an impressive looking one at that!

Feeling its rage boiling to the surface the dragon let out a roar of dominance that for some reason had no effect on the little creature.

Naruto snorted. "Cute."

How dare he! The dragon swiped its massive paw with a speed that belied his great size and he assuredly crushed the little pest like the insect that it was. "You missed Red!"

Sure enough the little beast was still there, standing amused. Mocking him! How dare he? 'I the great Sarryx will put you down once and for all little human!'

Naruto raised an eyebrow as the dragon began roaring at him again in short bursts this time. It actually kind of sounded like when Akamaru would bark when he was talking to Kiba. "Eh? Well fuck you too mate!"

'Insolent little-'

Another right hook sent the creature stumbling. His jaw ached from the force of the blow. As unimpressive as the little monkey looked, he held a lot of strength behind those tiny arms. It seems I have underestimated the human. No more!

Taking a deep breath he reared back to prepare a most impressive fireball. Or at least he would have if his eyes hadn't bugged out from the force of the blow he just took to his stomach that interrupted the internal combustion of his fire causing Sarryx to cough and choke on his own fireball.

"Can't even breathe fire? What kind of a sad excuse for a dragon are you? Do you even have pride? Wait... can Grimm feel pride?" He suddenly stopped mocking the beast to ponder on the mental states of the creatures of Grimm. "I mean they can sense negative emotions but do they actually feel them themselves? I mean the bijuu could but-"

'Contemptible little ape! How dare you ignore me, the Great Sarryx, during a battle?' The great dragon roared after having successfully smashed Naruto with its tail.

Oh you son of a bitch. Naruto thought to himself, face mashed against the dragon's scaly tail. "Nou yu fukd uh." He tried to speak even with the massive tail crushing down on him.

He was never more thankful for old man Hagoromo's information dump on chakra control than he was now. Figuring out Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred technique wasn't so difficult after hearing about it from Sakura and now that he had the chakra control to match, bench pressing a likely ten-tonne tail off his chest was now apparently something he could cross off his bucket list.

"Now you fucked up!" With a yell of effort he threw the tail off his chest and reared back for another strike. Before the dragon could react Naruto's fist smashed into it's bone plated leg and smashed a section clean off before going around with a left hook to crush the fleshy bits under it.

The dragon roared in pain at the human pummeled his left leg. No longer to keep himself upright Sarryx fell to his side and tried to take another swipe at the human with his tail only for Naruto to leap over the appendage and run up along its length to his main body. "Now you fucked up!"

Sarryx tried to toss his off with his wing but Naruto dodged it. Then he tried rolling over on the human only for it to somehow continue running along his body seemingly unhindered by gravity.

"YOU. HAVE. FUCKED. UP. NOW!" Naruto roared as he reached the great dragon's maw and smashed his fist through the bone plating and into his jaw where Sarryx felt a few fangs loosen as his neck snapped back from the force of the blow.

Naruto breathed of heavily for a few moments before he realized what he had just done. "I just punched out a dragon..." He let out a small chuckled that rapidly turned into a full bellied laughed. "O-Oh Kami almighty I just punched out a fucking dragon! Hahahaha. I need a picture of this."

Pulling out his Scroll he flipped it backwards and took a picture of himself standing over the unconscious dragon with his fist raised up. Looking at the picture he grinned widely "Oh yeah, that's a keeper."

Putting his scroll away which somehow miraculously survived the pressure of being smashed by the dragon's tail, he made his way over to the monster's eye. Clearly it was still alive from the steady breathing so he decided to take this opportunity to test something out.

He could tell that this dragon was old, far older than the other two and a different color as well. And as history has proved the older the Grimm, the smarted they are... this one however wasn't just smart. It seemed to have an intelligence about it, he was almost entirely sure it was trying to communicate with him earlier.

Sadly for both however, he couldn't speak Draconic. Damn that'd be cool though.

Shaking his head to bring himself back on track. He pried open one of the dragon's eyelids and shifted his own eyes to the accursed Rinnegan. "Here goes-"

000

"-nothing? Woah." He took a moment to right himself. "Well that was unpleasant, kind of like when Kurama would kick me out of the seal."

"Human!" A great voice bellowed.

Naruto turned and wasn't all that surprised when he saw a mental representation of the dragon whose light he had just punch out standing there threateningly. Funnily enough he looked even larger with sharper fangs and teeth. Huh... a dragon with body issues. Amusing.

"Yo!" He waved jovially.

The dragon made to attack before stopping cold and giving Naruto an odd look. "Did you just speak?"

"I mean, I could ask you the same thing? While I haven't met many dragons I doubt they're big talkers. Then again a lot of animals back where I came from talked so... meh." He shrugged apathetically. "So then Red, looks like at least one of my theories checks out."

"Do not refer to me with such familiarity WORM! I am Sarryx, Archdragon of the Red Dragonflight!"

"Fancy title. I'm Naruto... of the Uzumaki clan I guess. Well not much of a clan really considering that most of my family was killed before I was born. But we don't talk about that." Naruto suddenly cut himself off before he began to ramble. "So uh- Sarryx, how long have you been able to think for yourself?"

Sarryx gave the odd human a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Well clearly you Grimm don't start intelligent. You learn, don't you? Eventually developing your own form of intelligence. I presume it to be a bleed off effect from the Bijuu. Likely pieces of their own intelligence lost and scattered among their chakra, eventually taking root in those Grimm that have lived long enough to become sentient as it were." Naruto explained his reasoning to the Dragon.

"Foolish child, I The Great Sarryx have always been! Born among the first of my kind by the Great Mother." The dragon boasted. Prideful little thing.

"Great Mother huh? I suppose the Grimm would come to see Kaguya as their mother seeing as she created them." Naruto nodded along before going back to something the dragon said. "Now you said among the first of your kind. Do you mean the first dragons or the first Grimm?"

The dragon considered ignoring the question and simply eating the human but the little monkey at least had a respectable amount of strength so he would indulge the mortal for now. Laying down on its haunches he simply answered, "Both."

Naruto nodded in understanding "I see. And you specifically mentioned the Red Dragonflight but nowadays only Black dragons are seen?"

The dragon gave him a meaningful look before nodding himself "The Red Dragonflight has long since gone extinct. My followers fought for the Mother and were slain for their efforts."

"I see." Naruto said sympathetically. While he personally wasn't all that attached to the Uzumaki clan, he did have friends that he held dearly all those years ago whom he had willingly given his life up for. "How many other flights were there?"

"Five. Black, White, Blue, Green and Red. Each flight was to lay siege to the kingdoms of man and allow for easier conquest while the Black flight served as her personal guard." Sarryx told him.

"Why have I never heard about this before? You would think dragons laying waste to the continents would at least be mentioned in history."

Surprisingly Sarryx shook his large head. "Because it never happened. The Blue, Green and White dragonflights declared themselves independent of her wishes and rebelled against the Great Mother. Myself and Otheria led our flights against these would be traitors. We put them down but lost many of our own in the process, followed immediately after by the campaign against the humans."

"How has the Black Dragonflight not gone extinct like yours?"

"Cowardice. Otheria's brood only attacked after my hot-blooded flight drew their attention." The dragon said with a hint of bitterness. "My own flight was too quick to anger, too quick to fight. They flew into rages that while allowing them to hold off three flights on their own, eventually led to a reckless death."

"Then the black dragonflight would swoop in and finish off the survivors." It wasn't a question and Naruto didn't need the dragon to nod to already know the answer.

"While the mother created my flight, her wars also ended it just as fast. Now I am all that remains of the Red Dragonflight, defeated by a mere human."

Naruto choose not to take offense to that. Nor did he even consider bringing up that he technically was part divine now. No need to bring back the god-complex. "Well in my defense I have a pretty mean right hook."

The dragon snorted a plume of smoke in amusement as he rubbed a scaly claw across his jawbone in phantom pain. "Indeed."

"So... do you still serve Kaguya?" Naruto asked, hoping to see where this dragon's allegiances lie.

The great dragon laid its head on his arms "I do not. In my many years upon this world I've learned the truth of the Great Mother and no longer wish to serve her, even now I ignore her calls and I am sure she will come for me one day."

Naruto gave the dragon a speculative look "What if I could help you with that?"

The dragon narrowed its massive eyes upon the blonde "How so?"

"Well one of two ways. Option A, I can place a seal around your lair that would block out all outside interference. Option B, the more fun of the two would be you join me in my fight against Kaguya."

"Kaguya?"

"What Salem called herself long before you were created. I along with an old friend of mine once sealed Kaguya away before recorded time, but like all seals it deteriorated over time and in recent ages Kaguya has gotten more and more freedom especially with the gathering of the Great Beasts I would imagine. It won't be long before she can step in to this world once more and she will be coming for her enemies." Here Naruto gave the dragon a sharp look "That includes defectors."

The dragon's muzzle twitch in annoyance "You speak truth human." It took a moment to consider its options. While the first would allow him to live his life in peace and solitude, the battle-lust that once consumed him began bubbling to the surface once more. At this human's side he may join the rest of his flight with once last glorious battle under his wing instead of laying in a cave waiting to die. "How do you plan on fighting the Gr-... Kaguya?"

Naruto grinned. His ability to turn enemies into friends seems to have popped up once more. "Well you see, when I unleash my full power I can match her own strength. Especially now that she's weakened. The great beasts might be supplementing her power but I can also take them away from her."

"I hardly believe you to be a match for Kaguya. Powerful you may be but-" The dragon suddenly stopped. In fact it felt as thought the inner world of his mind had come to a crawl. He literally could not comprehend what had just happened. "Wh- What was that?"

"That was me." Naruto gave him a smug grin as he continued "That was just a moment - a taste - of the true depths of my power." He would have continued if not for the fact that he was bragging Madara style again. Damn Rinnegan, he flares it for a moment and suddenly goes into god-mode.

Then again considering it was a true Rinnegan created from the fusion of both Brother's chakra it was understandable to some degree. Still though, tone that shit down Naruto.

While he was busy mentally scolding himself the dragon before him rose to its full height drawing the blonde's attention.

"What was your name once more?"

Naruto smiled a roguish smile up at the dragon and gave a short bow "Naruto Uzumaki, at your service."

The dragon bowed its head deeply, "Then I, Sarryx Last of the Red Dragonflight pledge my aid to your cause. I shall be ready to answer your call against the forces of the Great Mother."

"Pleasure to have ya."

000

As Naruto opened his eyes once more the outside world came into crystal clear view for miles away for a moment before returning to his normal sight. "Ugh." He held a hand to his head "Switching eyesight like that is seriously disorienting. I don't know how the Uchiha or Hyuuga do it... did it."

Moments later Raven's forces swarmed the clearing with a look of dread on their faces. Naruto looked around in confusion before realizing what likely had happened. He held his arms up and placated them "It's alright guys, false alarm. The dragon was about to get serious so I had to knock him out."

Apparently the outside world felt his little burst of power as well. Good to know.

"You... you really did it?" One member said in awe as she stared at the still unconscious dragon. "H-How?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow "Well I punched him of course. Gave him a good ol' right cross, went out like a light. For a dragon he's really got a glass jaw." The blonde demigod said while pointing out the fist sized hole in the dragon's bone plating on his jaw.

"You punched out a dragon." Another member spoke up in a flat tone. Though whether or not that was his normal speaking voice or simply born out of the situation was not readily known. "Not only that, you punched out an archdragon and went through its bone plating?"

Naruto blinked before nodding. "Yeeeeeah? I'm pretty sure that's what I just said."

"Who the fuck are you?" The same man asked, this time a bit of emotion coloring his voice.

Naruto grinned and flashed him a thumbs up "Naruto Uzumaki, professional badass."

"Clearly." Raven's normally deadpan voice came through as she stepped into the clearing where Naruto had lured the archdragon to. She had feared that the sudden burst of power marked the end of her new partner only to find him casually standing around as if punching out dragons was just something to do. "You were going easy on me weren't you?"

"Ah- well..." Naruto grinned sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. He really hoped that Raven wasn't offended. "I mean... I kinda wanted to at least make it interesting?"

To his surprise however Raven simply nodded once in acknowledgement. "I knew the gap between us was large but not to what extent." She glanced at the dragon once more before focusing on the Blonde again. "While my pride may have been dealt a blow, this simply reinforces my decision to ally myself to you. As it stands, you are humanity's best bet against Salem and her army."

As dramatic as it sounded Raven wasn't exactly wrong. Kaguya was on a level all her own and Remnant was not ready to face her full might. Perhaps this was what Hamura meant.

It was a trick question. My choice wasn't whether to save humanity or destroy it.

It was to save humanity or let it be destroyed.

The corruption wasn't what he once thought, it wasn't the humans that were a blight upon the world but the Grimm that feasted upon the world's life energy.

His choice was simple, so much so that it wasn't even a choice at all. He would save this world, kill Kaguya once and for all and cleanse Nature of the Grimm plague.

Focusing back on the here and now he noticed that some of Raven's clan members were singed and smoking but altogether alright. Turning towards the equally ruffled Qrow he asked "So how did your guy's fight go?"

Qrow grunted and looked away, a twinge of red coloring his cheeks.

Sun scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hey... remember what you said about the dragon falling?"

Naruto gave him a blank look. "It didn't."

"Well Qrow and the others were distracting it so I was able to jump above it and smash its head with my staff. When it turned to swipe at me it stepped on its own tail, tripped, and fell on its neck at an angle." Sun let out a mirthless chuckle "I guess that makes me a dragon slayer now?"

Naruto face palmed. "Dammit Qrow."

"I can't control it!"

000

It was later that night that Naruto sat on one of the walls that still stood. Raven's clan was working overtime getting everything ready to ship out come daybreak. He glanced up at the moon as he always did when he felt pensive.

Looking down at the people around him he couldn't help but think of his time on the moon. Most of it was but a flash and blur of events. A long dream that never seemed to end and yet ended in what felt like a moment only for him to awake hundreds of years later.

It was so easy to forget his own humanity when he spent the majority of his life looking down at Earth and the mortals that inhabited it. Mortals, he internally scoffed. Could he even call himself a human now that he was essentially immortal?

Weary as he was to call himself divine, even he couldn't deny that he sat a step above humanity.

*Beep beep*

Pulled from his thoughts he glanced down at his scroll that he had pulled out on instinct. 'I hope the mission is going well. Blake and I kept talking once you left and while still hesitant she at least seems open to the idea. I'll be waiting for your safe return. Good night!'

He smiled as he read the message from Pyrrha, he was about to reply when he saw that she was typing another message. 'Sorry! You were probably already asleep and I must have awoken you, sorry! I'm not terribly used to messaging someone like this, much less my boyfriend and I likely sounded like a clingy girlfriend and I didn't mean to, I'm just not used to this and... I'm sorry!'

And then things like this happened that brought him back down to earth. He smiled widely at Pyrrha's second message. It was rather endearing how awkward she could be about common things like dating.

Then again Pyrrha was likely someone who knew what he felt like just now. She was someone who was placed on a pedestal, someone who sat above the masses as an untouchable idol. She knew what it felt like to not have normal human interactions simply because she stood above the crowd.

Luckily for him however he had two awesome girlfriends that could keep him grounded and hopefully keep him from going the way of his cousin Nagato.

'The mission is going fine, we're shipping out in the morning. Sleep well Pyrrha, I'll hopefully see you tomorrow.' Naruto sent the message just in time to catch another being sent to him.

'The moon is beautiful tonight.'

'Yeah it is. You on the roof?'

'It's cold up here.'

'Steal one of my jackets.'

'It's not the same, I miss you.'

'Damn possessive cat.'

'Stupidly overpowered fox.'

Naruto grinned. 'We'll be heading out in the morning so I'll see you tomorrow. Don't spend all night on the roof, you'll catch a cold.'

'It's fine, I'll just pass it on to you.'

'No thanks, snotty Blake is not cute at all.'

'Screw you.'

Naruto yawned and got up, making his way over to his designated room.

'Night Kitty.'

'Night Fishcake.'

'I should have never told you about that...'

'Too late now.'

Smiling to himself Naruto laid down on his bed. Even if he hadn't already made up his mind on the subject, he would definitely save this world just for those two who for whatever reason gave him their hearts.

For that.

He would do anything for them.

AN 2 - Now I know and I understand that you guys want me to add Yang. Trust me, I do too but it is not her time yet! Not enough flags have been raised nor has Naruto progressed far enough down her quest line! There is a process to this, dammit!

*Chapter 27*: How To Summon Your Dragon

AN - As always here's your monthly update. I had the day off yesterday so I thought I'd type something up. I'm not terribly ecstatic about this chapter but it also wasn't too terrible in my opinion since I knew going it that it was more of a transitional chapter than anything.

Disclaimer - I own neither RWBY nor Naruto and sadly I couldn't find the artist of the cover image.

Shattered World

Early that morning Naruto met with Sarryx and flew with him back to the Archdragon's lair. Naruto whistled as he looked down, "Roomy." With his Rinnegan activated it was a simple matter to see the entirety of the dark lair clearly.

Somehow it made a very cliché amount of sense that a dragon as large as Sarryx would pick an old burnt out volcano as his lair. Still thought it made things easier for what he had planned.

"You are certain this will work?" The dragon's voice sounded in his head as if he were speaking right next to him.

"Of course, who do you think I am?" Naruto sniffed arrogantly as they stood at the rim of the inactive volcano. "I'll lay down the seal at the top that will work like a lid and keep you hidden inside so you can enjoy some peace until I call you."

The dragon who had kept himself floating above the rim nodded. "Very well."

"Should only take a few minutes." Naruto said as he created a few clones and ordered them to begin carving the seal into the volcanic rock itself. "When it's time to strike at Kaguya I'll summon you in like I told you about."

The dragon twitched its maw as a few of the fangs that Naruto had forcefully removed were replaced with solid black fangs that his new partner had created with those strange ringed eyes of his that reminded him of the Great Mother. Naruto said they would allow them speak with each other and allow Naruto to summon him into a battlefield.

So far at least the communication aspect seemed to be working. Though Sarryx feared that suddenly appearing somewhere else in an instant would be horribly disorienting.

Naruto and his clones continued carving the seal for a few more minutes in relative silence until the real Naruto stood up and glanced over at his new dragon companion. "Hey Sarryx let's practice the summoning a few times so you get used to the feeling. I'd rather you not be taken down by a case of whiplash from sudden displacement."

"That would be a rather inglorious end." The dragon agreed. "What do I need to do?"

"You know, I'm not sure. I never asked the Toads how their end of the summoning went. Either I'll cast the jutsu and you'll just appear or it might ask you to accept the summon maybe? When they reverse-summoned me, they kinda just plucked me out of whatever I was doing at the time." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Very well."

Seeing that Sarryx was ready Naruto body flickered a few miles away and flashed his Rinnegan for a moment. "Animal Path!" He remembered that Nagato's animal path could summon without the need for blood or hand seals so he attempted the same.

Moments later a giant cloud of smoke enveloped him and Sarryx was frantically flapping his wings to keep afloat. "You alright there, big guy?"

"That... was a unique experience." The dragon replied. "It was as if something was beckoning me here and only pulled me after I let it. So it seems as though agreement is required."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully, "Good to know. Ready to try again?"

The dragon grimaced, made even more pronounced by its grizzled and scarred maw. "If we must."

They were at it for almost an hour before Sarryx had finally gotten the hang of being summoned and they would have moved on to reverse-summoning had Naruto's scroll not gone off. 'Naruto the preparations are ready, report back.'

'Got it.' He quickly replied to Qrow before looking up at Sarryx. "Well Ryx, I've got to go for now but I'll stay in touch."

The dragon huffed and made his way towards the now warded volcano. "Try not to call upon me too often. I believe I will enjoy being able to sleep once more without that damnable woman haunting my dreams."

Naruto smiled and waved at the dragon as it crawled into its den. "Heh... I'm a dragon summoner now. I wonder if I've reached cliché rank five yet? I think I get an over sized katana with the Uzumaki symbol on it at that level."

"So edgy!" He chuckled to himself even more at his own joke, "Ha! Edgy... because it's a giant sword. Ah~ where's Yang when I need her to appreciate my humor?"

"Stop talking to yourself you weirdo."

...Shut up Sarryx.

000

Hours later Naruto was fast asleep on the bullhead heading home after informing Qrow and Raven that he had managed to subvert the Archdragon from Salem's grasp and add him to their own forces.

Neither Branwen twin really knew what to say to that so they simply decided it was something Naruto could - and did - do and left it at that. Naruto was thankful for that since he wouldn't have to go into detail about his ability to tap into the fourth divine realm to summon his new partner.

And so they all returned to their respective ships and made way for the mainland. Raven was on her private bullhead flying beside them followed by a few of her escorts and a few clicks back were her ships carrying their supplies and anything useful they could scavenge from the ruined base.

Raven's temporary plan was to stop by their base in Vytal to restock essentials and then sail down the emerald ocean which divided Vale and Mistral and land on one of their hidden bases on Shani, one of the chain islands south of Vacuo where they would wait until the order to assault Salem's forces was given.

Naruto woke up some time later when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. "Wake up Naruto, we're home." The blonde blinked the sleep out of his eyes and sat up groggily.

"That was quick." He muttered.

Sun scoffed "For you and Qrow maybe, I wasn't able to get any sleep. Kept thinking the wyverns were going to attack us every time I closed my eyes."

"Sucks to be you." Naruto groaned as he popped his back. "Is the drunk awake?"

"What do you think?"

The shinobi glanced over at the still snoring Qrow before shrugging. "He'll be fine. C'mon I'm starving and if we hurry we can probably catch lunch." He said after checking the time on his Scroll.

"So uh... is this mission classified?" Sun asked hesitantly.

Naruto smiled "Eager to tell Neptune about your new status as a dragon slayer?"

"Hell yeah!" Sun replied with a grin.

"Well too bad." Naruto shot him down instantly, shattering Sun's hopes of basking in his team's awe. "I didn't even tell Blake or Pyrrha where I was much less what I was there for. Absolute silence on this Sun, this mission came all the way from the top."

Sun blinked "All the way from the top?"

"Ever heard of General Ironwood?" Naruto asked to which he got an uncertain nod. "Guy carries around an army with him as his personal escort. That's not someone you want to piss off."

Sun paled "R-Right. Got it." Even someone like him who wasn't so quick on the uptake could understand that. 'Keep quiet or the military will quiet you Sun.'

"Good." Naruto didn't really like scaring people like that but it was for his own good. Sun reminded him a bit of himself back in the day and he was a braggart back in the day who didn't know when to keep his stupid mouth shut about sensitive information.

It was actually kind of annoying not being able to just smash Kaguya's whole operation to pieces but he needed to play this subtly. If he suddenly went Super Sage-N (N for Naruto) and destroyed Cinder and her followers then he would also become the very public super-power that held no real allegiance to anyone.

Something that would make the world leaders and the Remnant council very wary of him. As it stands Oz only knows that long ago he helped seal away Kaguya not that he could now almost match her in power.

There was a very good chance that Ozpin might suspect such a thing but all he would have is speculation with no real proof until he gave it. So for now he would play it cool and handle this secret war on a reactionary basis.

The former shinobi pulled himself away from his thoughts as he and Sun arrived at the dinning hall. Most kids seemed to be finishing up their lunch and getting ready for their afternoon classes.

His eyes scanned the room and he smiled softly seeing his friends sitting a few tables down. "I'll call you after lunch to give our reports." He told Sun who nodded and made his way over to Neptune.

Yang was the first to see him and waved him over "And so the prodigal son returns!"

Naruto smiled "I don't think you fully understand the saying but yes, I have returned." He said with a dramatic flourish.

Pyrrha gave him a warm smile as he took the seat beside her. "Welcome back Naruto."

"Thanks." He replied with a grin, catching sight of Blake from the corner of his eye. Her subtle expression told him that she was also glad he returned safely.

"So where'd you go?" Nora asked as he sat down with them.

"To a far off country where I squandered away my fortune on hookers and blow." Naruto said with a mischievous grin "Which is actually more believable than where I actually went."

"You're not going to tell us are you?" Ren asked calmly.

"Nope." Naruto said, making sure to pop the P for added effect. "Classified."

"Maaaaan! Why do you get all the cool missions?" Ruby whined.

Naruto gave her an amused smirk "Ruby didn't you just come back from a mission to stop a speeding train carrying bombs that would blast a hole in Vale's walls thus letting in a horde of Grimm?"

Ruby flushed "W-Well yeah... but..."

Naruto smiled in amusement as he started putting some of the leftover food on his plate. "Starting tomorrow we're going to resume our normal training." He told his team. "We've missed out on a few sessions due to emergency missions but we really need to crack down and get ready for the festival in two weeks."

Nora scoffed "We'll be fiiiine we've got you and Pyrrha to carry us. You're like a challenger smurf and Pyrrha is at least diamond. Together you guys can pretty much shrek anyone."

Naruto just gave her a blank look before turning to his only male friend. "Ren?"

Ren palmed his face. "Nora found a new game."

"Do I want to know?"

"No." The answer came from six different sources.

Naruto nodded "Right then, moving on." He turned a sharp look at his orange haired teammate. "Just because Pyrrha and I are well above the average student doesn't mean that we will just carry you and Ren along like dead weight. We're all a part of team Nirvana and we all need to contribute."

Nora pouted at being lectured "I was just joking."

Naruto said nothing further on the matter as he finished the last of his meal and stood up. "Well I'll talk to you guys at dinner, gotta go turn in the mission report."

"Throw a ward if you need us to TP in!" Naruto blinked at Nora before turning and walking away. Unlike Ren he didn't have the infinite patience the poor man had for that girl.

On his way out he signaled for Sun to follow him and the two left the room headed for the elevators. "Hey Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"How high up are you?" The blonde faunus narrowed his eyes at the mysterious leader of team NRVN.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked his fellow blonde as they entered the elevator.

"How do you know so much?" Sun rephrased "First-years like us shouldn't be this dealing with this kind of crap!"

Naruto considered the question and how he should answer it. "Sun what do you think is really happening in Vale?"

"I dunno, bunch of robberies and some explosions? White Fang popping up?" He shrugged.

"Why do you think no one has made a big deal then? About the White Fang, the robberies, the killings and the explosion downtown?" Naruto asked rhetorically "It's because all relevant information is being suppressed by the higher-ups. The majority of the civilian population is unaware of what exactly is going on right now to keep them from panicking."

After having said that a silence hung in the elevator with only the pinging of floors breaking the tense silence. "Sun, there are only a few skirmishes happening between the White Fang and some of the more experienced Huntsmen. At the moment both sides are more concerned with gathering information and laying down plans than dropping bombs and sending in troops."

Sun took a moment to digest that before asking "How bad do you think things are going to get?"

"I'm not sure to be honest." Naruto replied. "Cinder and the White Fang are a threat, yes, but alone they would be horribly outmatched against all four kingdoms. No, the real threat is the one who commands Cinder."

"There's a big boss even above her?"

Naruto smiled bitterly as they exited the elevator "Isn't there always?"

Sun knocked on the office door and they both entered once given permission to do so. Ozpin stood up as they entered and beckoned them in "Ah Naruto and Sun Wukong is it?"

Inside the office was Ozpin at desk with Ironwood standing off to the side having been talking to the man and Qrow leaning against one of the far walls.

"Ah, yes, sir." Sun nodded nervously.

Ozpin chuckled and gestured towards the chairs in front of him. "Please have a seat Sun and no need to feel nervous you aren't in any trouble."

Sun wasn't so sure of that as he caught a glance at James Ironwood's stony look. The warning from Naruto ringing in his head all too clearly. Ironwood was definitely not someone he wanted mad at him.

He only hesitated for a moment before dutifully taking a seat, unwilling to tell either of these men no. Naruto chose to stand, casually slipping his hands in his pockets. "Qrow already give you the main points?"

"Yes." James answered as he walked around from the other side of the desk to stand beside the stowaway faunus. "Do you know the situation you find yourself in young man?" He asked, eyes narrowing with every word.

"Y-Yes-" Sun squeaked before taking a moment to clear his throat and calm himself. "Naruto explained it to me."

James glanced over at Naruto who gave him a nod. "I see." He trusted that Naruto impressed the gravity of the situation on the Haven student and stepped away from the boy.

"No need to scare the lad James." Ozpin chided as he turned a compassionate look at Sun. "Though now that you are aware of what is going on behind the scenes so to speak, I must implore you to keep yourself safe and train to become even stronger. The enemies outside our walls are known and visible but it's the ones that hide inside our walls wearing our faces that you must be most aware of."

"Who exactly is the enemy, sir?" Sun felt the need to ask.

"Who can know?" Ozpin responded mysteriously. "The White Fang is the only group publicly aligned with Cinder and her faction but whose to say that others aren't biding their time until the right moment to strike? Even then how do we tell the White Fang members apart from law-abiding citizens when they take off the masks?"

Sun thought about that before shaking his head "You can't."

"That's the spy game." Naruto grunted. "Annoying as hell trying to find the person aiming a dagger at your back when that could be almost anyone." God it was even worse back when the transformation jutsu was as common as dirt and scaled off that person's genjutsu ability.

"I know I probably shouldn't have gotten you involved but it's too late now." Qrow said before shrugging "I'm sure you'll be fine. You've proven you can handle yourself in a fight."

"Qrow's ill judgement aside, we would advise you to keep this matter quiet. Inciting the masses would do us no good but rest assured that our best people are already out there handling the situation." Ironwood told the young faunus. "Do you have any questions?"

"I'm not getting paid for this mission am I?" He nervously asked. The other four men simply gave him deadpan looks before Naruto cracked a smile and started laughing.

Ozpin also showed his amusement at the boy's attempt at levity but calmly shook his head. "Why would you be paid for anything? After all nothing happened the last few days, you were simply taking a few days off on a private island."

"So no bragging that I killed a dragon to Neptune then?"

"Well not until the open fighting starts anyway." Qrow answered. "At that point, keeping the war secret would be impossible."

Sun nodded seriously "Got it." He was prepared to leave it at that, at least until he remembered something. "Wait, what about Naruto's picture?"

Naruto tilted his head in a curious manner "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you say you were 'totally showing Yang as soon as we get home'?" The monkey faunus recalled.

"Well yeah but punching out dragons is just something I do in my spare time obviously. Can you think of anyone else aside from Yang and I who would do something that utterly stupid for shits and giggles?" He questioned and Sun raised a finger as if to protest before lowering his hand in defeat. "Exactly."

"Wait." Ironwood held his hand up "What is this about a picture and punching dragons?" He definitely could not see the correlation there.

"Naruto K.O'd an Archdragon and took a selfie of it." Qrow answered for the teen having been shown the picture on the plane.

"Speaking of which, remind me to never hand your bad-luck having ass my Scroll ever again." Naruto said with a scowl. Seriously how the hell does a professional huntsman almost drop a Scroll literally two seconds after being handed it?

Qrow sighed, now this kid was going to start blaming him for everything also. Dammit Raven. "I said sorry didn't I?"

"No you said 'shoorry' you damn drunk."

Qrow scoffed and turned away "Whatever."

Ozpin let the scene play out with an amused smile as he sipped on his... whatever the hell it was he drank all day. For all Naruto knew it was gin and juice. "Naruto."

"Hm?" Naruto turned towards the man with a questioning look.

"May I look at this picture? I believe the saying would go 'seeing is believing' in this case." The man asked with honest curiosity. Archdragons were things of myth and he only knew about them because of his own origins and connection to Salem.

"Yeah, sure." Naruto said as he took out his Scroll and showed the headmaster and the General the picture.

Ozpin smiled as he looked at the picture "Quite impressive Naruto. Could have used with some better lighting however."

James simply shook his head as he stood straight once more. "Truly you are too much Uzumaki."

Naruto up-ended his palms in a shrug with and impish smile on his lips. "Well some dragons decided to crash the party so what can you do?"

Ozpin chuckled "Qrow let us know about the dragon attack but didn't mention your own method of handling your opponent."

"Speaking of which," Naruto said as if Ozpin's words jogged his memory "Sarryx, the Archdragon in the picture is on our side now."

"What?" That was too unbelievable even for the normally unflappable Ozpin.

"So I had this theory right? The older a grim grows, the smarter they get. That's a known fact, but what if the really ancient ones became intelligent? Needless to say the first among the red dragonflight fit that category and he's been harboring a grudge against Salem for a while now." Naruto told them "So I just offered him some peace in the temporary for aid in the war effort later and when the war ended he would be free to sleep his days away."

"Can it be trusted?" James asked cautiously, his brow furrowing in thought. "It is after all a creature of Grimm."

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I believe so. Even if he does try to betray us, I can handle him easily enough." He said with a tone of finality.

"In that case I'm sure our new ally will prove a great boon to the cause." Ozpin spoke as he stood up. "I think that will be all for today gentlemen. Glynda is preparing for her next class so I will need to tell her later but I'm sure it was a tiring last few days for you three so please feel free to turn in early."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Qrow muttered before cracking open a window and slipping out of it.

"Holy crap!" Sun exclaimed with wide eyes as he saw the normally drunk man fall out of the window.

Naruto gave him an odd look "Sun. Don't you remember that Qrow can shapeshift?"

Sun opened his mouth before closing it and thinking back. "Oh... right, back in the forest he turned into a crow didn't he?"

Ozpin smiled as he escorted the two young men towards the door. "Qrow has always had a penchant for dramatics."

Just before they reached the door Naruto snapped his finger "Oh! You know what? I just remembered something." He smiled at Sun and opened the door for him "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit."

Sensing that this was something he wasn't supposed to hear Sun just nodded and left the office without complaint. As he entered the elevator he couldn't help the slight tremble in his hand as he pushed the button that went down to the first floor. "What have I gotten myself into?"

000

Back in the office Naruto addressed Ironwood. "First off, James sorry about Torchwick, I know you wanted him but he wasn't going to give anything useful up. He's more use to us out there where Neo can report his movements back to us."

James frowned as he recalled being tricked by the diminutive illusionist. "Your spy is quite skilled at exfiltration and diversion."

Naruto grinned "That she is." He readily agreed "She messaged me while we were on the bullhead coming here. Cinder left him in charge of the White Fang reserves stationed here and Neo will be working to find out who they are before she resumes her cover as a student from Haven."

Ironwood crossed his arms, clearly unhappy at having his captive freed but he couldn't dispute Naruto's words. "Very well, though I wish you would have at least mentioned something to me first."

"Had I of done that, your reactions wouldn't have been as genuine and Torchwick might have caught on. Neo is still undercover." Naruto reminded the General who simply nodded. "Anyway that was all, I'll be in my room if you need me... try not to need me."

With that he flashed down several floors and appeared next to Sun, scaring the hell out of the poor guy. Naruto looked at where the faunus was hanging on a light fixture by his tail. "I don't think that's going to hold your weight for very long."

Hearing his words Sun jumped down and glared at his fellow blonde "What the hell man? Give a guy a warning before you suddenly appear next to him!"

Naruto smiled impishly before extending his hand "Mind if I get my kunai back? At least then you wouldn't have to worry about me bending the laws of time and space just to avoid a three-minute elevator ride by simply teleporting to you."

Sun was speechless at that as he wordlessly handed Naruto the dagger he gave him. "You're actually insane aren't you? Like clinically. Normal people don't do shit like that."

Naruto shrugged dismissively "If I cared about social norms I wouldn't have worn orange for the first seventeen years of my life."

"What?"

"Long story." Naruto waved his hand dismissively "Anyway I'm going to catch up on my sleep. I'll talk to you later Sun."

"Right, yeah, later." The faunus said numbly as Naruto down the corridor.

"Try not to get kidnapped and tortured for information!" Naruto waved his hand over his shoulder as he walked away, a deliciously evil smirk on his face as he teased Sun one last time.

Naruto chuckled as he turned the corner only for his danger senses to kick in when an invisible hand pulled him into a hidden closet. "Welcome... home... my love." The raspy voice all too familiar in the dark room.

"Neo? I thought you were watching Torchwick?" He asked with a slight growl.

Heedless of his slight anger Neo pressed her body to his and breathed in his scent deeply, having missed his manly smell these past few weeks. "You... did. He... left, Cinder... called him... away. Emergency"

Naruto narrowed his eyes "Why?"

"Trouble... in Vacuo... not gaining... ground. Faunus there... unwilling. Fought back." She explained even though it began to irritate her throat to speak this much.

Naruto snorted "What did she expect? Vacuo is the most mercenary of all the kingdoms, their soldiers can be bought but not many will be converted."

Neo nodded at his words readily, still clinging to his shirt as she soaked in his essence. "What... next?"

"Lay low for now, keep your cover and let me know when Cinder gets back in town."

"Yes... Master." She reached up for a kiss on her tippy-toes and Naruto obliged her without even noticing. Something he only caught after the fact as the thought of kissing Neo usually filled him with revulsion.

Shit! He was getting used to the little psycho...

"Until... next time... my love." She left the room first under the illusion of her cover. She was 'dressed' in a black vest and skirt with white ruffles along the neckline and two white ribbons tying her black hair up in twintails.

Overall she pulled the gothic lolita thing off pretty well. Not as well Ruby but decently well. Taking a moment to wipe the cheap ice-cream flavored lipstick off he gave it a disdainful sniff. Seriously why the hell does she buy this stuff? It tastes like plastic and shame.

Putting it out of mind for now he continue on towards his bed. He was just happy that Neo was settling for just a stray kiss now and again, who knows how long it would be before she started demanded more?

And it's not like he could just kill her off for being loyal! Well... technically I could but that's just a little too fucked up! I mean yeah she's a weirdo stalker but so was Hinata for a while but she turned out to be awesome and Neo really does just want to help me. In her own messed up kind of way...

Naruto froze in realization as he reached his team's dorm room.

"Oh god. I'm making excuses for her now..." He whispered to himself in horror.

*Chapter 28*: Scaly on the Outside Silky on the Inside

AN - So I started writing this last night at around two in the morning because I couldn't sleep. I somehow wrote an entire chapter before I realized that it there was light coming in from my window. It's almost 8 AM now and I have the day off so I think I'm going to have a well deserved nap now.

Shattered World

A black-haired man looked at the picture on the paper. "And you want me to do what exactly?"

"Kill him." The client answered. "This Adam Taurus has led those filthy animals in raiding my trade routes and establishments. I want him put down like the animal he is!"

The man set the picture down and looked back at the person he was talking to "How much does this pay?"

"Ten thousand now, twenty when you bring me his head." The white-haired man said as he showed the would-be assassin a briefcase full of white 100 Lien cards.

The man looked over the suitcase "That's a lot of money."

"A mere pittance to what that filthy beast has cost me! Bring me his head by the end of the week and I'll double it." The man snarled.

The man raised an eyebrow before nodding and accepting the briefcase. "Well then Mr. Schnee even if I don't find him by the end of the week, I've never let my prey escape before and I won't start now."

The man's lips twitched in a smile behind his mustache before rising out of his seat and offering the mercenary his hand "Best of luck to you then Mr. Uchiha."

Winter watched as the man who looked to be about her age left the property. A look of distaste prevalent on her face. "I don't trust him."

"You're not supposed to." Jacques said as he joined his eldest by the bay window to watch the young man leave. "You're supposed to trust in their own greed and self-interest. Mercenaries are very close to business partners in that regard, they're driven by money and that is their leash."

"He didn't look like much." She pointed out. The man looked gaunt and sickly with only a simple sword strapped across his back over the large black coat with odd red symbols on it.

"Perhaps not, but I've heard good things about him. Timely and efficient, leaves no trail and remains true to his word. A consummate professional through and through." Having said his piece the man returned to his study and his work.

000

Later that day the same man was taking a break at a tea shop as he sent out a text to the main body. 'I was hired to kill Taurus.'

'Don't.'

'I'll cripple him but let him escape.' The clone henged as Itachi replied.

'Ok.'

'Should I end it with this job?' The clone waited as a few minutes passed before he got a reply. He only had one dust crystal left, just enough to finish off this job. He doubted he could actually kill Taurus in his current condition anyway so cutting down some numbers and crippling the man would have to do for now.

'Yes. We have enough money now, tear up Taurus and take out as many WF as you can.'

'Got it.' The clone looked down at his tea and decided to enjoy it. "At least I got to live a lot longer than most of us."

He sent out another text to the next closest clone so it could pick up the payment while he prepared himself for his mission.

000

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Pyrrha asked. Naruto had begged off their one on one spar for a few minutes saying that he needed to deal with something.

Naruto smiled as he put away his Scroll. "Sorry Pyrr, I got a text from one of my informants. It was pretty important."

"Oh I see." Naruto nodded but didn't explain.

"Anyway let's get back to work, three on one drills this time!" Naruto called out so that Ren and Nora could also hear him.

"YEAH!" Nora cheered "I call first!"

Ren sighed and he jumped over to where Naruto and Pyrrha where walking towards the ring. Naruto chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "You heard the woman Ren, she wants to go first."

"Ready Nora?" Naruto called out.

"Ready Boss!" She replied with a grin as Naruto started charging up a ball of lightning in his palms.

"Order up!" With a thrust Naruto sent the ball of pure lightning manipulation towards Nora who took it head on and absorbed the power fully, visually energizing her body with sparks of static.

"OHHHHH YEAH~ THAT'S THE GOOD STUFF!" Nora moaned in a way that made Ren and Pyrrha blush while Naruto just chuckled in amusement. "CMON THEN! COME TO MOMMA!"

"Weapons at the ready." Naruto calmly ordered and not a second later Pyrrha had her shield up and her spear poised while Ren took a stance low to the ground with both of his guns pointed at his partner.

"Pyrrha you go in first, Ren shadow her, I'll flank behind her and try to catch her off guard." He relayed his plan to his teammates who both voiced their acceptance. "Go!"

During these team spars Naruto had to write seals on himself to limit his chakra levels down to about five percent. Physically he wasn't much stronger than Nora unless he was using Tsunade's strength of a hundred technique so he didn't really need to inhibit himself there but he did need to tone his speed down quite a bit with resistance seals.

After all training time was so that his team could refine their skills, not 'Naruto gets to curb stomp everyone' time. That comes later. With that in mind however, it didn't mean he would go easy one them either.

One quick shunshin later and he reappeared a few feet behind Nora just as Pyrrha reach her and used her magnetism to slow down Nora's heavy swing and parry away the hit on her shield, leaving her guard open for Ren to sneak past and last a flurry of shots.

They only barely affected her super-charged aura but did distract her enough for Naruto to get in a solid cut across her back with his kunai. Nora grunted and flared her aura, sending out a wave of electricity from her body forcing the three to jump back and reform into a triangle formation around her.

"So you wanna play rough? OK!" She quick switched her weapon into its grenade launcher form and aimed it at Naruto "Say hello to my little friend!"

"Shit!" Naruto dodged out of the way as the spot he was just in exploded. Followed by three more. "A little help here!" He yelped.

Cursing herself for standing and gawking Pyrrha raised up her shield and charged at Nora who heard the sound of armor clanging behind her and shifted Magnhild into its hammer form as she turn. "It's hammer time!"

Nora had certain phrases she would sometimes yell to denote certain attacks and it was thanks to this that Pyrrha knew to quickly roll to the side as Nora slammed the head of her hammer down sending a shockwave of electricity in front of her.

The orange-haired bruiser growled seeing Pyrrha roll out of the way "Damn you, I-frames!"

Suddenly without warning she mule kicked directly behind her catching Ren in the chest and launching him away. "No free backstabs!"

Naruto who had watched her looked confused for a moment before chuckling. He briefly considered telling the others what she did but he figured Pyrrha could already sense the polarized field around Nora and Ren was always quick on the uptake when it concerned Nora.

He glanced at Pyrrha who caught his eye and she nodded. Ren was directly across from him and they could pin Nora down where she stood. "Ren! Cover fire!"

Reaching behind him he pulled out his most recent acquisition from the holster hidden under his long coat. His left hand emerged gripping a massive shiny black handgun.

The semi-automatic .454 magnum Atlas Arms brand Enforcer MK. III, codename: Blackbolt was something he commissioned from Ironwood after seeing the man's own pistol. While most people here had fancy sword-guns he just wanted a regular ol' gun-gun and James pulled through.

The Enforcer MK. III was actually a proto-type specifically designed to fire his black bullets crafted using the Creation of All Things. Unlike lead bullets that bent and splintered or dust cartridges that carried a charge for whatever element they used, his black bullets were all stopping power and this gun was built to use that stopping power to greatest effect.

His black bullets had pierced straight through most material and lodged themselves deep into the concrete backing of the gun ranges when they were going through testing. The only thing that even mildly slowed down his bullets was shooting through a steel girder and even then the bullet still ended up a good foot into the backer.

Currently loaded in however were rubber training rounds but even those when fired out of this gun could rip through someone's aura with just a few shots as Nora would soon find out.

Nora grunted in annoyance as her aura shield was peppered by Ren's auto-pistols. With her left hand she focused the full force of her electric field towards blocking the shots and was caught entirely off-guard by the three shots that slammed into her other side. Glancing down at her training band she could see that her aura had dipped into the yellow.

With one hand Nora switch her hammer back into its launcher form and sent one at Pyrrha who had been running at her forcing the red-head to block it then sent a volley at Naruto who had taken aim once more.

Pyrrha recovered shortly from the grenade impact and began charging once more while her two teammates covered her advance.

Nora abandoned the shield keeping Ren at bay and spun, using her body to hide the fact that she switched back to hammer form and slammed her weapon into Pyrrha's shield bowling her over.

Nora knew she wouldn't last much longer and decided to make this a... pyrrhic victory. *Giggle* "Sorry Pyrrha!" She said a little too cheerfully as she raised her hammer.

Pyrrha's eyes widened from her place on floor and drew her shield to brace herself for the blow. Seeing this Naruto unloaded the rest of his clip into Nora who tanked the shots like a champ but not before pinning poor Pyrrha to the ground with a hammer strike like a nail in a coffin.

"Time stop!" Naruto called out and a robotic voice replied 'Time stopped: Four minutes thirty-three seconds.'

Walking over to the two female members of NRVN he shook his head at Nora. "Really Nora?"

Nora stuck out her tongue "Momma always said to go down fighting."

Naruto sighed as he helped Pyrrha up. "You good?" He asked gently to which she nodded with a wince.

"I'm fine to continue." Pyrrha assured him.

He glanced at her then over at the large monitor that denoted her aura had just barely dipped into the red as a TKO then turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. She turned red for a moment in embarrassment. "Ok, I could use a short break."

Naruto snorted before turning towards the other girl whose own aura was deep in the red denoting that her aura shield would soon fall. "Nora, why don't you and Pyrrha take ten while I do a one-on-one with Ren?"

"Hmm... OK!" Nora agreed readily and pulled Pyrrha along "Come on Pyrrha, let's go grab some food while the boys beat each other up!"

"I'm not particularly hun-" Pyrrha was in the middle of protesting before her stomach shut that down. Her cheeks flushed and she quickly changed her mind. "Well having some food in us will help recover our aura faster..."

Ren joined Naruto at the center of the stage with a flinch. "I never truly appreciated how strong Nora was until she full on kicked me in the chest..." He glanced at his training band that monitored his aura levels "-and knocked off a quarter of my aura in one hit."

Naruto laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Well in Nora's game terms she's a tanky bruiser and you're more of an assassin type. Nora is build to take hits and dish them out... you kind of just dish them out."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Ren asked with a frown.

"Not really." Naruto shrugged "Then again I've never been in the unique position where my girlfriend was strong enough to bench-press me for the fun of it."

"... That was one time."

"Still happened Ren." Naruto said patting Ren on the shoulder once more before walking to his end of the ring. "Still happened."

Ren's shoulders slumped before walking over to his end. Naruto cleared his throat and called out "Score attack between Naruto and Ren: Five minutes!"

'Score attack: Active, most strikes delivered in five minutes wins.' The robotic voice replied and a number counter appeared next to Ren and another by Naruto's name. Score attack was a duel mode for singles or doubles where hitting specific parts of your opponent's body gave you points.

In the standard mode the head was worth five points, the back was worth three points, arms and legs one point and chest two points and a TKO was worth twenty points. In roulette mode a specific body part was chosen to be worth ten points, like say the left hand and that body part changed routinely throughout the match. Finally in random mode the point values were randomly generated and displayed on the screen.

Naruto kept the pistol gripped in his left hand while his right held his modified truth-seeking ball in its kunai form. Ren loaded fresh clips into his machine-pistols and held them at the ready.

'3.' Naruto's thumb pulled back the hammer on his gun.

'2.' Ren calmed his breathing like he had been taught and steadying his hands.

'1.' Naruto grinned as he took aim with his hand-canon. Kami he loved this thing.

'Start!'

Both sped towards each other in a hail of bullets. Naruto used his kunai to deflect the bullets that were unavoidable while his pistol rang with each shot like a crack of thunder. Meanwhile Ren was using the - according to Nora - 'spray n pray' method and just held down the triggers in hope that he could score some points before they reach each other while doing his best to avoid the heavy shots that would dead significant damage to his weaker aura.

After his eight shots were spent Naruto flipped the gun in his hand holding it by the barrel so he could use it to pistol-whip Ren when they reached each other in melee range. Seconds later Ren's own guns went *click* and he prepared himself to face Naruto up-close.

There was a flurry of blades and the metallic ring of steel hitting steel as their weapons crashed into each other over and over again. Both doing their best to strike their opponent's chest or arms.

Ren swiped Flower's sickle blade at Naruto which he parried with the butt of Blackbolt and slashed at Ren's other arm with his kunai. Ren twisted Storm and caught the knife with the blade of his gun before launching a snap kick at Naruto's leg.

Naruto raised his leg to block the kick before slamming forward and shoulder checking Ren in the chest. Ren staggered back with a grunt and quickly hopped over the leg sweep that Naruto sent his way then just as quickly crossing his arms to block the follow-up mule kick while he was in the air.

Using the force of the kick he disengaged with a mid-air back flip and with practiced ease hit the switch to drop the bullet cartridge out of his guns and slapped in new ones in but not before taking a solid hit to the shoulder from Naruto own gun but managing to dodge the follow-up shot.

Given Naruto only had the one gun he was able to quickly eject the clip and slide-lock reload then fire off a shot in far less time than even the more heavily practiced Ren could. Naruto dropped the kunai he had held in his mouth back into his hand and kept his distance from Ren.

In close range Ren's bullets would be coming too fast for even him to parry and he would rack up points from the rapid fire. They stared each other down for a few moment before Naruto grinned and dashed to the side as Ren began laying down a hail of bullets.

Ren soon discovered why Naruto was grinning as his kunai transformed into a tower shield similar to the one he had used against the Nevermore during their initiation ceremony only this time it had a small opening for him to see through. Naruto held the shield up with one hand while his pistol poked out of the side and took pop-shots when he thought he could hit Ren.

"That's cheating Naruto!"

Naruto laughed hearing Ren's complaint. "Our enemies won't fight fair and neither do I!"

Ren really should have expected this by now and decided to save his bullets instead he would have to try to flank around Naruto and strike him from behind. Though that was much easier said than done.

He decided to go wide rather than up close because one more shot from that canon and his aura would hit the red and end the match. "Where did you even get that thing?"

"Oh this?" Naruto asked from behind his shield as he tilted his gun. "Atlas Arms was nice enough to make it for me."

"Atlas Arms? The company that makes most of Atlas' weapons?" How the hell did he manage that?

"The very same." With a crack of thunder Naruto took Ren's moment of distraction to fire off a shot. Ren was able to twist his body away so it only glanced him but damn if didn't still hurt. "Is that game?"

"No or it would have been announced." Ren replied. He didn't' even dare take his eyes from that trickster Naruto to check his band.

"Right then." Naruto holstered his gun back behind him and shifted his shield into the Kubikiribocho. "There no more shield."

Ren gaped "The entire blade is a shield!"

"Cry about it!" Naruto swung the blade so it rested on his shoulder and charged at Ren using the maximum speed he could with the seals on. "I stole this one from the Demon of the Mist!"

Ren tensed up when he saw Naruto leap into the air but he never expected Naruto to twist his body and throw the massive sword at him. He froze for a moment seeing the giant spinning blade of death flying at him before his instincts kicked in and he dived out of the way at the last moment.

Naruto appeared on top of the sword where it was stuck into the floor and kicked out catching Ren in the thigh before he was able to move away. "Got you now!" Ren called out as he raised his pistols.

Naruto flipped backwards and took shelter where he could behind his sword but a few shots did land on his shoulders and legs. "Enough of this!" He forced the sword out of the ground and rushed his friend while using it to block the last of Ren's bullets.

With a front flip for style Naruto brought his sword down hard and while Ren was able to side-step it he wasn't able to block the follow-up kick that made him stumble back followed by the pommel strike to the solar plexus leaving him stunned and unable to dodge the final cut from Naruto's sword from shoulder to hip ending the match.

'Match end: TKO. Victor Red team: forty-three points. Blue team: thirty-seven.'

Naruto cursed "Damn I was counting on that TKO to win."

Ren smiled "It was still pretty close but I did have the advantage of more projectile hits."

"Yeah I guess." Naruto checked the time on his scroll. It was almost lunch time. "We've been training all morning so let's call it here and catch up to the girls, it's almost lunch time anyway."

"Sounds good."

000

Later that evening Naruto picked up a small briefcase and made his way out of the dorm room after putting away his Scroll. "Steeping out for a bit, I'll be back later."

Already knowing their leader's tendency to just leave at random times without any notice the other members of his team just said their goodbyes while Pyrrha sent him off with a chaste kiss.

Nora whistled as she looked up from her laptop causing Pyrrha to blush while Naruto left the room with a half grin half smirk. Pyrrha shut the door and pointedly avoided Nora's gaze. "Finally getting more comfortable with Naruto?"

It was at this moment that Ren wisely put in his ear buds and decided that a nice nap to the soothing sounds of the sea would be time well spent.

"Y-Yes." Pyrrha replied with a shy expression.

"That's good." Nora said as she looked back down at her laptop and continued playing her game. "I mean it's not like Ren and I don't know what's going on, especially considering how we walked in on you two-"

"Nora!" Pyrrha interrupted her, an atomic blush covering her face.

Nora giggled mischievously, a lecherous grin that would make Jiraiya proud splayed across her face. "Alls I'm saying is that you two don't need to hold yourselves back on our account. It would actually be better if you two were a bit more open 'cause then I could convince Renny to stop being so shy about PDAs."

Ren pretended not to hear any of this. All he could hear right now were the soothing melancholy songs of the whales.

000

"Heya Whiskers!" Yang greeted her fellow blonde fondly as he entered their secret training area.

"Hey Yang." Naruto sent her a quick wave, gesturing towards the case in his hand. "Ironwood brought over the working model when he went for my gun."

Yang blinked "You got a piece?"

"Yeah I'll show it to you later."

Yang smirked salaciously "Oh my, aren't you forward today?"

Naruto gave her a flat look before sighing "As much as I'm going to regret saying this... strip down and try on the suit."

"You only just came in through that door and already you're trying to get me naked? What would Blake say?" She purred, trailing a thumb across his whisker marks.

"She would say shut and stop being difficult Yang." He said with an eye twitch.

Yang thought about it for a moment before agreeing with a nod "Yeah, probably." Then like a switch being flipped she became serious. "So you think this'll work?"

"Only one way to find out." Naruto said as he laid the briefcase across his arm and popped it open with the other. Inside was a matte black body suit that theoretically was supposed to transfer the heat generated by her body when in phoenix form into geothermal energy that would be used to power the defensive properties of the material in the suit. With the obvious benefit of also being fireproof.

Yang picked it up and noted that it was actually pretty light. When Naruto had originally pitched her the idea she was thinking it would be heavier, almost like chain mail. "Are these scales?" Now that she felt it in her hand it was almost snake-like in that it was made up of thousands of little scales.

"Yep, it's made of the same black metal that I use in my bullets. It's light and durable and more importantly chakra-reactive. While they can be damaged by significant force, when powered by your Phoenix mode they should be strong enough to stop most projectiles and bladed weaponry." Naruto explained. He had tried to make the suit on his own a few times but every attempt just ended up as a stiff body cast or far too brittle to be on any use.

So after giving up he outsourced the problem to James who had been fascinated by the black metal he created using the Creation of All Things and agreed to have his researchers make both the suit and the gun in exchange for allowing them to study the material.

"Well?" Naruto prompted, drawing Yang out of her fascination with the suit as she had continued feeling it up.

"Right," Yang nodded and without a second thought shed her vest and flung her shirt off leaving only her lacy black bra on before starting on her belt.

Naruto rolled his eyes and spun around making Yang laugh. "Don't act like you don't like seeing the girls."

"Honestly Yang." He shook his head. This girl.

A minute later he could hear the rustling of the suit as she put it on and marveled at it. Figuring it was safe to turn back around he was happy to see that it seemed to at least fit her well. "How does it feel?"

"Silky. Like my whole body is wrapped up in some of those fancy expensive panties that you use on date night." Yang answered to which Naruto truly didn't know how to respond.

"Right..." He took a moment to get over Yang being Yang before continuing. "It's a synthetic lining that absorbs heat and transfers it into the scales which is why I'm sure it feels cool to the touch."

Yang tried to move around in it and test her range of motion before grinning widely "This is amazing! It barely constricts my movements at all!"

"Good, considering your fighting style I impressed upon them that you would need as much mobility as possible." Naruto said with and approving nod as she sent some test jabs and still kept her usual speed.

Yang ran her hands which were left exposed down the outside once more. Her smile softening down from its wide grin. She glanced over at him before returning her eyes back to the suit. "Hey Naruto?"

"Yeah?" He asked with a tilt of his head wondering why she suddenly went quiet.

"Why..." Stop it Yang, what are you doing? "Why do you go so far for me?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow "Why wouldn't I? We're friends that's more than enough reason."

Dammit Yang, don't! "Friends huh? Is- Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

She looked back up into his eyes, an uncertain one in hers which he caught. Abort! Abort! "I've never been this comfortable around anyone before." She snorted "I mean It's not like I go around stripping in front of every guy I see."

He couldn't help the feeling that he'd been in this situation a few times before. Granted the circumstances differed in each case but the signs were all there. "Yang..." He drawled out, not really sure how to continue.

From Naruto's expression it looked like he had already figured it out. Fuck it, I've already gone this far. Too late to pull out! "Alright I'm just going to rip it like a band-aid. Naruto I like you, and not in the way that Ruby likes cookies but in the way that I think of you while getting my rocks off in the shower."

Naruto could only blink dumbly as his jaw unhinged slightly. Only Yang. Only she could actually render him speechless in this situation. So he decided to go with an ill attempt at humor. "Isn't that the same though? I've seen the way your sister looks at fresh-baked cookies."

Yang held her serious look for a moment before he heard a small snort come out of her as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. "Pfft." She couldn't hold herself back anymore as a laugh burst out of her "Yeah no kidding, did you see her yesterday when they said that there was extra cookie mix and they would be making another batch? She practically creamed herself!"

Naruto smiled along as he tried to get a handle of this situation. Yang meanwhile sighed after her fit of giggles. "Don't worry." She suddenly stated drawing his attention. "I'm not looking for a reply or anything I just... I dunno, I wanted to let you know. I'm sure you already have your hands full with Blake and Pyrrha especially with our favorite Kitty being all grumpy about sharing so I'm not going to try to muscle in on that just yet."

"So then why? Why now?" He had to ask.

Yang just shrugged with a bright smile "I dunno. Why do we do anything?"

"You just wanted to make my life harder didn't you?" Naruto asked with a mock scowl.

"You know it!" Feeling a little daring she snapped forward and planted a kiss on him before stepping back with a cat that ate the canary look.

Naruto gave her good long look before breathing out "Look... Yang-"

"Shuush." Yang interrupted as she placed a finger on his lips. "I already told you that I wasn't looking for an answer. Besides I like how we are now, I'm comfortable just being me around you so let's not complicating things just yet, yeah? If something happens in the future then yeah that would be awesome but let's not force anything alright? Friends?"

Naruto couldn't say anything since Yang still had her finger on his lips so he simply nodded to which she grinned widely. "Good! Now let's break this bad boy in with some good ol' fashion rough housing and possibly some light groping!"

Naruto couldn't resist the chuckle that slipped out. Honestly, this girl.

000

A faunus yawned sleepily as he checked the time on his watch. Twenty minutes until the guard shift and he could finally go to bed. He unfortunately got his wish earlier than expected as he would only ever sleep from now on thanks to the kunai that had lodged itself into his jugular.

With a wet gasp the faunus tried to sound the alarm but failed to reach it before killing over. Moments later a black robed man jumped into the guard post. There were three posts in total north, south-east and south-west.

North post had just been eliminated and his own mud clones should be taking care of the two south posts in short order. The orders were simple, he would find Taurus personally and try to do as much damage as possible while his clones would kill as many sleeping White Fang as they could.

Even the advanced senses of the Faunus could do little against the stealth of a professionally trained shinobi, especially one who was uncharacteristically sneaky and cunning in his early years.

Finally reaching the tent he had spotted Taurus going in early in the day he was very careful not to make a sound or trigger any hidden traps. Much to his surprise there wasn't a single one to be found, either Adam Taurus was an overconfident idiot or he really never considered the possibility of someone being sent to kill him.

His sword which had already been in hand was poised above the man. "Schnee sends his regards."

Taurus' ears twitched and he was able to twist out of the way of a fatal strike on to have the sword pierce his right arm. Adam cried out in pain as the blade was twisted before remembering the knife under his pillow and throwing it at his attacker catching him under the jaw.

The clone gurgled for a moment as blood pooled in his mouth before dispelling. Meanwhile outside the mud clones as just finished setting the camp ablaze with a few fireballs as they knew their time was rapidly coming to an end.

000

Naruto's eyes snapped open as a four months of memories flooded into his brain. It took several minutes until he was able to sort them all out. He considered his clone's last act.

The Schnee family was already one of the White Fang's main targets so while he may have painted an even larger target on theirs and Weiss backs it should at least focus all of Adam Taurus' efforts into revenge.

He took Adam's sword arm. Hopefully he would be too fueled by anger and a drive for revenge to even bother with Cinder's efforts in Vacuo. With Cinder devoid of reinforcements Raven and her clan would tear through them along with the local resistance while the White Fang broke itself upon Jacques' private army.

He didn't like it, he couldn't even say it was necessary but it was efficient and more importantly it bought them some time so he could find out exactly where Salem was and find a way to finally put her down for good.

*Chapter 29*: My Body Is Ready

AN - I'm not sure what to think about this chapter, it was kind of all over the place because I wrote half of it last month and tried to finish it today since I'm already almost two weeks behind.

By the way my soul crushing depression is now being mildly alleviated by Destiny 2 so if you've got an Xbox and want to play with me, send me a PM and I'll give you my gamertag. Carry me through the raid senpai!

And with that let's get this show on the road!

Shattered World

Adam surged out of his tent after wrapping up his arm as best he could. He could hear the shouts of panic outside and could feel the rage boiling within his veins. As soon as he stepped out he could clearly see the reason had he not already smelled it.

Fire.

Their camp was burning down; tents, towers and the very ground itself was ignited in flames. Smoke was starting to fill the camp and they would not be able to stay here any longer.

His jaw clenched along with his left hand. "Schnee." He growled. Darting back into his tent he picked up his sword and strapped it to his right hip. It felt awkward holding it in his left hand but he didn't have time to deal with that at the moment.

He needed to find his would-be assassin that somehow managed to get away.

Even after organizing his remaining White Fang Adam would find nothing, not even a blood trail to follow. It was only later after properly getting bandaged up did he ask what the other assassins looked like and he frowned heavily.

The other two supposedly turned into mud but matched the appearance of the one that attacked me. Clones? He could only feel himself growing angrier as the thought of the only other person he knew to use clones came to mind. Unless Blake suddenly became a man however, I doubt those two are connected.

Nothing was making sense.

He lost over twenty members in this raid along with his right arm. The blade that he was stabbed with had been serrated and it didn't help that when the assassin twisted the blade it shredded his biceps. He could barely even hold his blade in his right arm now and it wasn't as if he could just show up at a hospital for a surgery.

He could only grit his teeth and deal with it. The rage returned.

"Schnee..." It was personal now. "LISTEN UP!" He roared, instantly gaining the attention of his surviving Fangs.

"We've been hit hard tonight, in our own hubris we believed that no one would dare attack a faunus at night. We paid for that mistake tonight." As he looked around at his Fangs he counted twenty-eight. Nowhere enough for what he had planned.

"Gather up what we can. We're returning home." He ordered, when it looked like they would protest he fired a round from his sheath-shotgun. "ENOUGH! We'll be returning to Menagerie to rearm, resupply and reinforce. Then we'll be taking the fight directly to Jacques Schnee."

"One month..." He whispered but in the quiet of the night he was clearly heard. "One month and I promise you revenge. For our lost brothers and those enslaved by that bastard."

"But Adam-"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" He roared and lifted his injured arm "Do you think I do not want to retaliate? Do you think I do not want revenge? That I will simply let tonight go unanswered!? NO!"

Adam took a moment to compose himself and lower his arm. "Rushing headlong into Jacques Schnee right now is exactly what he wants. We're wounded and undermanned, if we attacked now then Schnee would wipe us out. No, now is not the time for action but for planning."

"There was a reason my assassin specifically said that Schnee sent his regards. He wanted me to hear it, Jacques Schnee wanted me to know that he was coming after us." Adam turned back to the smoldering pile that was once his camp. The smell of burnt tarps mixing with that of charred flesh. "Jacques Schnee thinks of us as little more than wild animals that would wildly run into their own deaths. WE. ARE. NOT! We'll show him the error of his ways. IN BLOOD!"

The surviving Fangs cheered and roared in approval, the only exception being Taurus himself. His bulls blood demanded that he march his men to Atlas and rip Jacques Schnee to pieces but he knew better than to let himself be driven by the rage in his blood.

One month Schnee... you have one month.

000

The following morning was a Sunday which meant only light training in the morning followed by breakfast. As much as he liked to drive his team into the ground everyone needed a rest after the past few days of intense training and he planned to give his team the day off.

"So what are you guys doing today?" Ruby chirped after taking a bite of her waffles.

"I don't have anything planned." Naruto said with a lazy shrug. "Was going to give the team the day off."

"WOOT! FREE DAY!" Nora cheered.

"Actually," Naruto thought about it for a moment "Weiss do you mind if I talk with you in private after breakfast? It's important."

Weiss gave him a confused now before nodding. She couldn't help but wonder what he needed to speak with her about. They weren't exactly close, barely what one would consider friend, more of acquaintances really. "That's fine."

"Thanks." He briefly considered telling Blake as well but decided to hold off on that for now.

The rest of breakfast was the normal affair of casual chatting and general tomfoolery. After almost an hour they all got up and headed back to the dorm rooms for a lazy Sunday aside from Naruto and Weiss who split off.

"We'll catch up with you guys in a bit, this shouldn't take long." Naruto assured them as he gestured Weiss towards an empty classroom. Once inside Naruto set up a privacy seal at the door.

"So what's this about Naruto?" Weiss couldn't help but question.

Naruto scratched his whiskers for a moment and he thought about how to explain things. "Normally I would be vague about these sort of things but in this case I'll have to be blunt."

He took a seat at one of the desks and turned to her. "Yesterday I received notice from my... informants that your father hired a well-known mercenary to assassinate Adam Taurus, the field commander for the White Fang here in Vale."

Weiss gasped in shock. "He did what?"

Naruto nodded, "That isn't why I asked to speak with you however. Had the merc succeeded with his mission I would have never even mentioned this... the problem is that he didn't. And now Adam Taurus knows that your father sent an assassin after him.

I know that as a Schnee you're probably already used to being targeted by the White Fang but now your life is in more danger than ever. Adam Taurus is a vengeful man and if he can't strike at your father directly then he might try through you. Before it was simply raids and skirmishes between the WF and the SDC, now I believe there will be full-blown war between those two factions."

Weiss looked down in shock as she tried to steady her breathing "A-And you're sure about this?"

"Absolutely." Naruto responded firmly. "I know you can take care of yourself Weiss but I just wanted to tell you of the current situation and would advise caution when you leave the safety of Beacon even if it is only to go to Vale."

Weiss nodded shakily "I see... thank you. For telling me, Naruto. I don't often speak with my father so I doubt I would have known had you not."

Naruto nodded tersely "While we're not exactly close friends, I would hate for something to happen to you due to lack of warning when I had the means to do so. Unless you have some questions for me, that's all I needed to tell you."

The Schnee heiress took a few moment to compose herself before asking "Should I even bother asking how you got this information?"

"I'd rather you not." Naruto answered stiffly.

Weiss let out a huff before nodding. As a member of the SDC she knew the value of information and the song and dance that came with keeping things secret. "Very well, then I shall offer my thanks once more and if you require my aid in a matter in the future then I will do my best to do so."

The blonde dipped his head in acceptance. "In that case I believe we should return to our teammates before Yang starts making up false situations for her own amusement."

Weiss frowned heavily as she considered his words. "With due haste then."

000

Neo walked behind her 'teammates' with a bored expression on her face. She glanced at them and sneered. Idiots. Their faith in Cinder will only lead to their undoing.

They were supposed to be scoping out the older competition but in her opinion this was just an exercise in futility. Everyone else might be fooled but within this prestigious school slept a monster. A demon of unmatched power just waiting to unleash his wrath upon his unsuspecting enemies.

The sneer on her lips stretched into a dark grin. Her Demon King would soon teach them the folly of their ways.

"Uh... Shiro, are you OK?" Emerald asked. The girl was entirely unnerved when she turned back to talk to their silent team member only for her to be giving them a seriously creepy smile that didn't belong on her innocent face.

Like the kind of smile a clown might have given you when you were a kid only to irreparably scar you for life.

Emerald shivered when Neo's eyes locked on to hers. With a tilt of her head Neo or as she was known while under disguise Shiro asked the unspoken question of 'What?'. "I- Uh... I was just wondering if you were alright? You were acting a little... strange."

Neo's smile turned into a pouty frown before writing something down on a notepad she kept on her person. It read 'Murderous thoughts.'

Mercury shared a glance with Emerald before coughing into his fist "Right. Well we're supposed to be lying low so tone down the psycho just a smidge." He said in a low tone so only they could hear.

Neo gave them an annoyed look before shrugging. These puppets weren't worth her time anyway, just more fodder that would soon fall before her Love.

Even though she thought it was a waste of her time she still kept careful watch over the competition and recorded everything she could from names, semblances and attack patterns. She knew her lover would want the information regardless and he would reward her for doing so.

Her thoughts began to drift as her body functioned on auto-pilot to continue taking notes even thought her mind was elsewhere.

"My Love," She greeted her Master, her voice coming out in her original sweet dulcet tones. His hair shining like that giant ball of destruction in the sky and his eyes an icy blue with a cold fury like the deepest depths of hell. "I have some information for you."

"Oh?" His voice disinterested but she didn't begrudge him, Gods stood above pathetic mortals like herself but he still considered her useful and kept her close. For that she would serve him, always.

Her eyes peered into his, unaware that her eyes subconsciously shifted into a dark bloody red. She could see him again, the great beast that slept within that represented the true power that her Lover kept hidden within his perfect body. "Y-Yes..." She could feel her knees weakening and her skin tingling under his gaze. "Th-Those other teams - I took notes on them for you!"

Neo held the notepad out to him which he took and perused at his leisure. She shifted nervously hoping she didn't disappoint her Lord when suddenly he smiled and closed the notepad. Daring to look up she was ecstatic upon seeing his pleased expression.

"You did well Neo." He said as his hand cupped her cheek and tilted her head to which she complied immediately. Her Love would reward her! "You deserve a reward."

Her eyes closed as she tasted his lips once more, his tongue inviting itself inside her mouth but she made no move to stop it. His arms encircled her and lifted her closer to him, her own legs wrapping around his waist as best they could.

Moans escaped her mouth as his hands roamed her body, playing and toying with her as he pleased. "Do you like this?" His voice a sensual growl which made her even wetter than before.

"Y-Yes!" She gasped "My body is yours my Love. Please do with me as you wish!" She pleaded, praying that he would continue exploring her body.

"Good." He set her down on a table and ripped her shirt open with a grunt, buttons and fabric flying everywhere but she couldn't care less as he began mauling her breasts. "This thing is getting in the way."

Soon her lacy black bra joined her tattered shirt on the floor as his lips suckled upon her teats. Unlike their future child however Naruto was dominating her body and making her respond to his every touch and she loved every moment of it. "Oh Master~" She moaned wantonly.

Soon his lips left her breasts and explored the rest of her body, kissing wherever they pleased knowing that no part of her was off-limits. Just as soon however her Love grew restless and she could feel the strain on his pants due to him grinding himself against her core. "Neo-" He growled.

She didn't need any time to consider it or even hesitate for a moment. Her Master wanted her and she would give herself to him willingly. "Take me My Love! Use me in any manner you desire!"

Naruto grinned ferally, his teeth razor-sharp and his whiskers thickened with eyes as red as her own. He grabbed her hips roughly and spun her so she was laying on the desk on her belly. Neo's shorts and matching panties soon joined the rest of her ruined garb - not that she cared overly much at this moment. "...Neo"

Her breathing became heavy as she could feel the heat from the tip of his manhood sliding across her slit, making itself slick with her juices. This was it, the moment she'd been dreaming of for months!

"NEO!"

Suddenly her eyes refocused and instead of brilliant gold she could only see a disgusting shade of puke green. Neopolitan could feel her anger rising as the girl standing before her.

"Hey Neo, what's with you today? You were zoning out for the last twenty minutes and then you suddenly started turning red and breathing heavily. Are you sick or something?" Emerald questioned.

YOU FUCKING CUNT! Neo roared in her head and almost shouted out loud. She was close! SO CLOSE! And this filthy cur had to interrupt her just as her Love was about to take her!

Neo's eyes narrowed hatefully upon Emerald before standing up and marching away without so much as a wave. For this I will kill you twice. TWICE!

Emerald could only watch the diminutive assassin stomp away with a clearly angry expression before turning towards Mercury. "Wh- What did I say?"

Mercury just shrugged carelessly "I dunno, maybe it's her time of the month? Oum knows you get just as bitchy during your week."

Emerald's eye twitched as she glared at her partner before sitting back down. "Actually that would make sense, she's been moody since this morning."

"Whatever, just keep me out of it. Cinder doesn't pay me enough to deal with that kind of shit." Seriously why did he have to have three chicks for team mates? Three evil chicks on top of that, so they were even extra bitchy during their time of the month. Dear Oum above please save me from these damn harpies.

"Shut up Mercury."

000

"It's beautiful out tonight, if a bit chilly." She smiled upon hearing his voice and snuggled into his embrace when his arms wrapped around her. While it did annoy her slightly that he could still evade her enhanced hearing, considering he was a professional ninja of all things it could be forgiven.

"You haven't been up here in some time, it's been this cold for a few days." She responded. Naruto nodded into her shoulder while rubbing her arms to help warm her up.

"Sorry." He apologized "I've been sleeping better lately."

The corner of her lip twitched upward, turning her head Blake's eyes met with his and she kissed him lightly. "That makes one of us at least."

He said nothing, simply holding the faunus girl for a time before asking "Same as always?"

She nodded slightly and leaned into him further. Naruto didn't need her to vocalize it as he already knew from the single time she told him. If Naruto were a jealous man he might have been angry that Blake constantly dreamed of Adam Taurus but considering that they were mostly nightmares he never brought it up.

"You'll beat him Blake." Naruto said firmly. "Especially now that he might be crippled."

Blake turned sharply towards him, almost getting whiplash for her troubles "What?" She demanded.

"My clones in the WF tell me that an assassin allegedly sent by Jacques Schnee managed to stab Adam's sword arm and then twist the blade. Unfortunately my clone was popped by the assassin's partners when they attacked the camp." Naruto felt terrible lying to her face like this but it was better this way. Adam Taurus was Blake's fight but he would be damned if he didn't stack the deck against the bastard in her favour and this way it couldn't be traced back to him.

"So Weiss' father sent assassins?" Blake summarized.

"Allegedly." Naruto repeated calmly.

"Why do you say that?" She wondered. Naruto shrugged at her question and drew his arms around her once more.

"According to my spies on Menagerie Taurus is claiming that the would-be assassin said and I quote 'Schnee sends his regards.' before stabbing him. Now either Jacques really wanted Adam to know who sent his killer or it was actually just a red herring to cover their tracks." Naruto told her. The truth was sort-of there - if she could figure it out - but being the scumbag that he was he obviously wasn't going to tell her outright.

"Does Weiss know?" Blake asked after she took a few minutes to consider all he told her. "Is that why you asked to speak with her today?"

"Yes. Given that Weiss might actually be in danger from this, more so than she usually is anyway, I saw fit to tell her first." Naruto answered truthfully.

Blake was still for a couple of moments before nodding in agreement. "I agree."

Naruto withdrew his arms shortly to slip off his coat and used it as a blanket to cover them. She turned in his arms and laid her head on his shoulder enjoying his warm embrace while sat on his lap.

"Naruto."

"Hmm?"

"You're poking me."

"...Yup."

Blake lifted her head and stared at him for a moment before snorting and shaking her head, returning her head to his shoulder. "You are just the worst."

"I really am though." He replied with a smile which she returned.

Blake closed her eyes simply enjoying the peaceful evening. Naruto's smile softened as he saw her content look and began gently stroking her ears just the way she liked it. The low purring coming from her let him know that she was enjoying his efforts.

The nipping at his neck let him know that she was greatly enjoying his efforts as did the grinding of her hips against him. He had to breathe in deeply to calm himself. "Blake-"

"Shuush." She blew into his ear. "Just go with it."

It didn't take much convincing on her part as they spent the remainder of the night in each others arms, everything else having faded into the background.

000

Naruto smiled as Nora told them about another one of her amusing dreams while they flew up to the tournament grounds. "... And then we won and everyone cheered!"

"That sounds... nice." Pyrrha smiled politely at her excitable friend.

He turned back towards the window and saw that they were nearing the landing zone. "Grab your stuff guys we'll be landing in a few."

"Wooo!" Nora cheered and grabbed her hammer. "My body is ready!"

Ren palmed his face. "You... that's not..."

Pyrrha exchanged a look with Naruto and he shrugged "Nora things."

"We'll be landing in two minutes please make sure you have all your belongings with you before you depart the plane and good luck!" Naruto had everything he needed sealed up so he was fine while the rest of his team got their gear in check.

Once they exited the plane Naruto watched as his team looked around in wonder at the colosseum-esque structure that just happened to be built as a floating island. Some of the other teams began disembarking all around them as well.

Naruto was able to pick out a few teams he knew from Beacon along with Neo's team before turning to his team. "Alright Nora hit us with a cliche one liner so we can kick this tournament arc off right."

"Ohh, ohh, ohh... umm... ahhh" Nora racked her brain for a moment before looking and grinning "Ok, I got it! Everyone ready?"

Pyrrha nodded with a polite smile while Ren just palmed his face once more. "It's... Showtime!"

AN 2 - So I've decided that Limes and minor sexual content will still be posted here on FF but full on sex scenes and lemon-centric fics will only be posted on my new Pat-reon page under CNShadowfox.

To be frank I'm broke and kind of in debt so my internet connection is one of the last few luxuries I've afforded myself but even then I'm living like a college kid on ham sandwiches and ramen so if you've got $1 a month to spare and want to read my shitty smut or just support me in general I would greatly appreciate it and offer you all if not most of my love*.

*My Love may or may not be a metaphysical object and not an actual commodity to be given. Results may very, no refunds.

*Chapter 30*: Red Moon

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Shattered World

Team NRVN were in the stands watching as RWBY fought their opponents. "Looks like their having a tough- oh shit!" Naruto suddenly stopped his comment as Blake close-lined the hoverboard girl and kicked her out of the ring.

It did look like the other team was winning but now it was four on three with Blake free to help her teammates. "WHOOOO! NICE ONE BLAKE!" Nora cheered.

"That was an impressive strike." Ren commented on Arslan's palm strike that freed her teammates from Weiss' ice ball.

"Perhaps..." Pyrrha began with a wince after seeing Yang punch out the other three all at once. "But that was more impressive."

"WHOOOOO! TEAM RWBY!" Nora cheered once more after they announced their victory.

"Shall we go congratulate them?" Ren asked the team.

"Yeah let's go, there's still another two matches before ours so we have some spare time." Naruto agreed.

"Yeah let's go!" Nora chimed with her stomach following shortly afterwards which she covered up with an embarrassed blush. "Maybe get some celebratory lunch?"

Pyrrha smiled "That sounds grand."

They luckily managed to catch up with Team RWBY as they had the same idea and were on their way down to the festival grounds to grab some lunch. It was a short trip down to the festival grounds on the air shuttle where they wandered around for a while looking for some place to eat.

"So anyone got an idea?" Naruto asked as they walked along glancing at all the different stalls. There was a bit of everything from all the kingdoms represented here, either from goods and clothing to food and jewelry.

Yang grinned remembering something from one of their hang-out nights. "Yeah, I know just the place!"

"Really?" Nora begged hungrily "Is the food there good? Is it really, really good?"

Yang laughed as she shook Nora off "Yep! You know that old guy that owns a bunch of shops in town?"

"The one that owns that one dust shop?" Ruby asked.

"And the arcade?" Ren added.

"The army surplus store." Blake pitched in.

"And the bike shop where I bought Bumblebee, yeah that guy." Yang said with a nod.

"What about him?" Naruto asked.

"He also owns a wok stand downtown and I saw him setting up shop down here this morning. He also sells..." Yang dragged own leaning towards Naruto and whispering. "Ramen."

Naruto suddenly full-stopped causing Nora and Ren to both run in to him but he didn't even budge in the slightest as he dead-eye stared at Yang. "Did you say-?"

"Ramen." She grinned. "Didn't you say it used to be your favorite food?"

"I-" Naruto looked down and held his stomach "I haven't had ramen in... ages."

Blake did remember Naruto once mentioning that he used to have an unhealthy obsession with the food which he said that was more tied to the people who ran the joint and their kindness than the food. While he enjoyed the ramen well enough it was more the feelings of being welcome and loved than anything else that he craved.

"I could go for some ramen." Blake wasn't a huge fan of ramen but it seemed to be one of Naruto's comfort foods and she wanted to do her part to make him feel at ease.

Pyrrha hadn't heard the whole story but she did know that Naruto enjoyed the food in the past so she agreed as well, even if she'd never personally had the dish.

"RAMEN!" Ruby cheered happily surprising some of them aside from Yang who snickered.

"Rubes also loves ramen." Yang told Naruto after he came out of his musings. "So...?"

"Lets go." Naruto said seriously. "Right now."

Yang laughed once more and pointed in the direction she saw the old guy "Forward then, to noodles and glory!"

"Noodles and glory!" Ruby cheerfully repeated as she skipped up to where the two blondes were at the front. "So Naruto, you like ramen too?"

Naruto turned towards the younger girl and nodded with a grin "Yeah, I used to eat it all the time when I was a kid. Haven't had it in some time though, I'm kind of excited to be honest."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I love ramen! Mom... mom used to make it all the time." Her cheer took a dip for a moment before Naruto ruffled her hair and smiled at her.

"Funnily enough my mom used to love it just as much. The owner of the shop I used to go to told me that my mom dragged my dad out for ramen for their first date and would send my dad out to get all kinds of weird ramen combinations while she was pregnant. I probably got it from her." He said, cheering the younger girl up considerably.

"Haha, dad said the same about my mom!" Ruby admitted.

"And he still makes you super special birthday ramen every year!" Yang said as she came around and grabbed her sister in a headlock.

"Yaaaang! Let got!" The others smiled and laughed as Ruby tried to pry the blonde's arm off but couldn't.

As they walked along Naruto wondered how young Ruby was when Summer passed away. From what he'd picked up she was pretty young at the time but old enough to understand that she was gone even if it still pains her when Summer is mentioned.

There was clearly some issues there but dealing with things like loss and abandonment weren't exactly his forte considering his own past. He just did what Ruby presumably was doing and hid his pain behind smiles but unlike Ruby he's lived long enough to just move on.

While he'd like to help Ruby, Naruto didn't even know where to begin without sounding patronizing. While time does heal all wounds, one has to want those wounds to heal in the first place.

Looking at Yang as she teased her younger sister it looked like his fellow blonde was just as lost in how to help her sister as he was and instead tried to just take her mind off the issue.

Another thing to add to the list. He felt callous thinking of Ruby's problems as another point on a list but with so many other things going on in the immediate future he would have to put his amateur counseling on hold for now.

Suddenly all of his worries came back to him once more and momentarily soured his excitement for ramen before banishing those thoughts. Plans were in place along with contingencies and if all else failed then he still had his strongest power. Adaptability.

"Right then!" Naruto suddenly announced stopping drawing Yang and Ruby's attention causing them both to stop. He grinned at them "To ramen and glory?"

They grinned back "Yeah!"

"Seeing as it's already been decided I suppose I could go for a bowl of noodles." Weiss nodded "My treat, in celebration of our victory."

"I hear a lot of let's go but no actual going." Nora groaned as her stomach rumbled once more this time joined by Blake's.

"I've worked up an appetite." The faunus girl defended herself when they turned her way.

"It's just around the corner." Yang said as he walked a bit more before being interrupted by Emerald.

"Oh for dust's sake." Nora groaned quietly.

Ren sighed and led Nora away to the stand followed by Pyrrha since she didn't know the other girl and Naruto spared her a glance before walking off as well while Team RWBY spoke with her.

Naruto knew who she was of course but she held no interest to him. She was Neo's prey as he'd been constantly reminded of by the tiny girl.

After a minute they were joined by Team RWBY and ordered their meals. "Holy crap these bowls are huge!" Naruto exclaimed gleefully as he took in the majestic king sized ramen bowl.

Only for Weiss' card to be declined. "W-What? How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance."

Naruto's heart stopped for a minute as the thought of being denied his ramen spurred his arm into motion, pulling out his wallet with a speed only Ruby could dream of and slamming it on the counter. "It's on me! Take my money, all of it!"

The old man chuckled and opened up the wallet taking out only enough Lien to cover the bill before returning his change by which time Naruto was already about half-way done with his bowl and motioning for one more.

"Whoohoo! Blondie to the rescue!" Yang cheered while Blake sent him a thankful look before turning back to her fish bowl and digging in.

"Thank you for covering the tab Naruto, I'll pay you back as soon as I resolve the issue with my card." Weiss said only to get a thumbs up from Naruto as his head was hidden behind the bowl while he was slurping down the broth.

Naruto finally set the bowl back down and sighed wistfully "Man... that really hit the spot. Is that next one-" He didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before his bowl was switched for a new one. "That's some quality service right there!"

Ren had an almost pained look as he pushed his bowl away. "Maybe we shouldn't have eaten before our fight."

"Nonsense, it will give us energy." Pyrrha disagreed. While not incredibly healthy the carbs from the noodles may do them some good.

Naruto was well into his third bowl while the others pushed away their own. Ruby stared at Naruto in amazement before turning to the other members of his team. "So, you think you guys are ready?"

"Of course! We've got a world renown fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me, Naruto. We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda really only yells at Naruto now and uh... Naruto!" Nora replied cheerfully.

"No cool explanation for Naruto?" Ren asked.

"If I tried explaining all the cheaty stuff Naruto could do we'd be here all day." Nora answered "Just saying Naruto in itself is more than enough."

"She's not wrong." Naruto agreed after setting down his third bowl. "Now the question is... do I have time for a fourth?"

"Will Team Nirvana please report to the battlefield immediately.

Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!"

"Sounds like a no." Blake answered.

"No, that sounds like a challenge! Old man, one for the road!" Pulling out his wallet he pulled out another twenty lien to cover the bowl and a large tip before grabbing his to-go bowl and taking off. "See you guys later!"

"Go get em!" Ruby called out to the retreating team.

000

"Looks like we're fighting your old school mates." Ren pointed out.

"Looks like it." Naruto replied simply. "The sniper is their cornerstone, I'll take her out quickly and then you guys are free to beat those guys up at your leisure."

"Sounds like a plan boss." Nora spoke with a grin as she tightened her grip on her hammer while the battleground changed around them.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Begin!"

In a burst of speed that none of the others could keep up with Naruto appeared before May and hit her with a three-hit combo that she was powerless to stop and soon was laid out unconscious.

"May!" The three others yelled out in surprise seeing one of their own taken down less than ten seconds into the match.

"Outstanding! Naruto Uzumaki has knocked out May Zedong in a brutal display of skill and speed!" Port announced.

"Yes! Mister Uzumaki is one of Vale's most promising students, capable of supreme bursts of speed and strength coupled with highly trained hand-to-hand skills, Naruto is definitely a force to be reckoned with." Oobleck agreed readily.

"Now!" Ren announced.

"Right!" "Right!" Pyrrha and Nora both raced for the mountain region that signified a source of lightning dust.

"Greetings, gents." Naruto mocked angering the other three.

"Get him!" Brawnz growled.

Naruto laughed as he easily dodged and swerved around their attacks. While decently skilled these guys mere practically moving in slow motion to him while Ren sat back and supported him with pop shots to their weak points.

"Roy! Break off and take that guy out!" Brawnz ordered.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto grabbed Roy who was about to disengage and spun him around before sending him into Nolan causing them both to tumble to the ground.

"What the fuck are you guys doing? He's one guy!" Brawnz was starting to really get angry now as the blonde bastard kept dodging his attacks and taunting him.

"Is this was passes as Vytal material in Shade now? Glad I left that place then." Naruto mocked and ducked under Brawnz's wide swing. "Did your parents name you bronze because they knew you'd never go past third place?"

"Fuck you!"

"No thanks." Naruto snickered and jumped over him before tripping the other two once more.

"Ren!" Pyrrha called down drawing his attention. "We're ready!"

"Got it." Ren closed the gap a bit and began unloading his clips into the downed members "It's time!"

Naruto grinned "Well it's been a hell of a time but I've got places to be and so do you." He stopped Brawnz's next punch dead and judo flipped him into his recovering teammates dropping them all to the floor. "Bye bye."

In a short bust of speed he appeared next to Ren marking the signal for Nora jump on Pyrrha's shield a metal thump resonated between them due to the steel heels she'd added to her shoes. "Ready!"

"Got it!" Pyrrha took careful aim and reversed the polarity between her and Nora sending the orange haired girl flying Ruby level speeds.

"Whooooohooooooo!" Nora shouted in enjoyment as she reared back her hammer, lightning coursing through her body ready to be exploded out on impact. "Combo attack: Electromagnetic World Breaker!"

Naruto palmed his face. He should never mentioned that where he came from they used to shout their attacks.

Nora slammed into BRNZ with the force of a falling star and instantly shattered their aura shields. She'd only taken in enough lightning to take them out in one hit, any more and she would have done some serious hard or possibly killed them but she and Pyrrha had been perfecting their combination attacks ever since they found that their abilities worked so well together.

"And with that Team Nirvana with by knock-out! Can someone go make sure they're ok?"

Naruto and his team waved to the stands as they cheered before making their way back out of the stage. "Good work out there guys."

"I don't feel like I did much." Ren said with a shrug.

"It's fine Renny, you'll get your chance tomorrow! Sometimes you just gotta play support." Nora comforted her boyfriend. "You're more of an assassin type than a brawler anyway , while you may be deadly up close you're also super squishy."

"Thanks... I think?"

Naruto chuckled and followed after his team as they made way back to the stands.

000

'Everything is in place, Master.'

I really need to get her to stop calling me that. Naruto clicked his Scroll closed after reading the message.

"Is everything alright?" Pyrrha asked seeing his annoyed look.

"I'll tell you about it tonight." She gave him an odd look before nodding and turning back to the screen.

Naruto also glanced at the screen that was playing the current match against a team of second-years from Vale and a group of fourth-years from Mistral though his mind was in another place at the moment.

Tomorrow Cinder will attempt to attack the Vytal festival and send a 'message' to the four kingdoms and other typical terrorist bull-crap. His lips twitched into a faint smile for a moment before hiding it.

Until he met Neo Naruto never knew just how fun it was to completely destroy other people's plans. He even had to admit that he'd grown rather fond of the tiny assassin who was able to see Kurama. Sure she revered him as some sort of demon god but sometimes you just gotta take the good with the bad.

Neo also seemed to enjoy playing double-agent and constantly went on about how she would finally get to stab 'that fucking-cunt Emerald' through the eye. I wonder what she did to piss off Neo so much.

Roman was also supposed to put in an appearance with some Grimm and Fangs but little do they know that the cages aren't as secure as they seemed due to the replacement cages he and Neo snuck in.

They felt and weighed the same as iron but were about as strong as normal hardwood plank. The Grimm were all sedated under Neo's illusion at the moment but when he gave the word they would be set loose.

"And there goes Mauve! Team CMSN tried their hardest out there but they just weren't able to compete with the more experienced Team TNGR of Mistral!" Professor Port announced over the speaker system and soon it went to commercial to give the next teams a minute to prepare and get to the ring.

"Damn! Another down for Vale." Nora groused.

Naruto shrugged "It'll be fine; six Vale teams have all passed to the next round. Plus we still have Team Coal left."

They continued watching the fights and studying their potential opponents. COAL ended up defeating team IIVY and moving on to the 3v3 rounds followed by a win from team WHTE from Mistral and team IRON from Vacuo to wrap up the first day.

"And with team Iron's win that concludes the first day of the Vytal festival!" Oobleck announced to the camera "But tune in tomorrow morning at nine am sharp for the start of the triples match-ups followed by the doubles and singles and then the stunning final rounds!"

"Hahaha!" Port laughed merrily "Indeed my old friend, it will be a sight to see!"

Naruto stretched as he rose from his seat. "I'm kinda hungry again, anyone want to get some late dinner before we turn in?"

"Oh! Me, me!" Nora quickly volunteered and rose her hand up high, "I'll go, I'm starving!"

Pyrrha giggled behind her hand and quickly followed after her two excitable teammates as they discussed where to have dinner. Her eyes strayed towards her boyfriend and her smile widened, once more beyond happy that she decided to move to Vale where she met the annoyingly charming blonde.

000

Neo glanced at Cinder as she turned off the TV. Her eyes could easily pick up the small signs of tension and worry in her face. Even now, weeks later the fear she has for my Master still grips her.

A smug smile lit her lips as she turned away to head in to the kitchen for a nice cold snack. Their 'team' had beaten the fourth-years they were paired against and moved into the next round, though whether there will even be a next round tomorrow depends on how thoroughly they crush Cinder's plans and how quiet they could keep it.

Opening the freezer she was happy to see that her ice-cream bar was still right where she left it. She smiled maliciously. Slutface and Mercury learned very early on not to touch her things.

"Neo."

Turning towards her temporary boss she tilted her head in response while opening up her ice-cream bar. Chocolate coated vanilla was much more important than this soon-to-be-dead puppet anyway.

"Have you secured a getaway ship?" Cinder asked as calmly as she could but Neo was able to pick up the slightest trembling in her words. Then again Neo couldn't really blame her, mortals like them were just ants to be crushed under gods like Naruto and Kaguya.

So she simply nodded and began eating her frozen treat, the coolness helping soothe her throat. Most days it didn't bother her and she could speak normally if she wished but some days like today it would itch and sting like crazy and talking just hurt to even think about.

"Good, remember I'll meet you in hangar forty-three B after I've made the announcement." Cinder said before adding "Be ready to depart quickly."

Neo nodded once more.

43-B.

She smiled behind her ice-cream. There was no such thing as forty-three B, it was a strong illusion she placed on a piece of wall aided by Naruto's seals to create a cell to capture Cinder and aggressively 'question' her about Salem.

She giggled lightly. This is so much fun!

000

"Alright, listen up!" Roman called out to the White Fangs left here in Vale. A little less than a fifty it seemed since Taurus suddenly recalled the rest back to Menagerie or whatever hole those mutts were hiding in.

"Tomorrow morning we'll be loading up these caged up Grimm into the planes and flying into Vale. The defenses will be brought offline due to Cinder's virus so we'll be waltzing right in, dropping the payloads in the city and then getting the fuck out of dodge. We don't have enough people to mount a full offense but we can still cause a lot of destruction as a diversion so Cinder can get her little message out." Roman announced "Any questions?"

"What about the fleet waiting in Vale?" One of the faunus asked.

"Also will be brought down by the virus. Originally we were supposed to turn Atlas' tech against them but Cinder changed her mind on that for some reason so now we're going to fly in, drop the Grimm and get out. Quick and easy." The orange haired gang boss answered.

With all the panic and commotion it should rile up all the Grimm outside the city into attacking which is what Cinder was aiming for. While he disagreed, Cinder was the one paying him and without the majority of the White Fang they didn't have the numbers to mount a full assault on Vale anyway.

"Alright then, good talk people! Get some sleep and be ready to move out when we get the signal. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow." Roman dismissed the faunus before retreating into his own room to get some rest.

000

"Rise my dear."

Three simple words spoken in a hushed tone but resonated like the loudest order shouted clearly. The pure power behind the worlds shook the ground with a loud rumble followed by fissures erupting with steam and roars.

Moments later a massive creature flew from the rocky depths that housed it, its body blacker than any Grimm, gnarled and wicked bone spikes protruded from it like a twisted carapace.

Its roar shook the lands with the sheer force of it as the monster took to the skies, stretching its massive wings once more. This was the only other living Arch-dragon, the Black Mother Otheria.

"Come."

Again the person speaking barely spoke but the Dragon Queen obeyed instantly and swooped down to kneel before its mistress. "My Lady... how may I serve?"

"An old enemy of mine has emerged from his own slumber recently. I am yet bound to these lands so you will go in my stead. You will know your prey when you sense him."

"My brood?"

"Asleep, take them as well." The woman replied "You will need them. All of them."

"Yes, my Lady."

The massive black dragon took to the skies once more and began screeching in a very specific frequency this time and soon all around her smaller dragon began awakening from their slumber and taking to the skies.

Salem frowned. It would not be enough, this would stall her enemy but not stop him. He would be coming soon and she had yet to free herself fully from the seal that bound her soul to the other plane.

Nor would she be able to begin until she had a proper suitable body that could handle her power and her first two choices have already been denied to her. The first due to her proximity to the man she was quickly coming to loathe and the second to the very insanity she instilled in her.

The only other option was the Juubi but the Kyuubi was also firmly held by her son's chosen and she somehow doubted he would simply give the beast's power up without a fight.

At least she was able to deny him the beast's full strength but eventually it too will wake.

"Why must my own children be my bane?" She lamented before returning to her castle.

000

"Boss, we've spotted them." A man said over his com, he was dressed in desert attire along with his two companions. "Actions?"

"Send me your coordinates and I'll bring the boys." A distinctly feminine voice replied making him grin.

"Got it boss."

He quickly texted her their location and waited. "Looks like we're in for a scrap tonight guys."

The one on his left snorted "Right, scrap." He shook his head, "With those newbies we picked up from the local populace it probably will end up that way."

"Fodder will be fodder." The one on the right quipped.

It was only a few minutes before another twenty people joined them. The original three kneeled before their leader before standing once more. "We've counted only twenty of them. Look like Taurus really did recall the majority ofthem."

"Twenty huh?" The leader smirked "I would say we're evenly matched... but that would be a lie."

She turned towards the men she brought with her, these were her clan's elite. None of that riff-raff they picked up here or the standard forces but this needed to be a precision strike and these twenty are her best. "Defenses?"

"Minimal, it was built quickly and more focused on stealth than being a fortress." The leader of the scouts answered.

"Excellent." She looked up at the dawning sun and smiled "Prepare yourselves gentlemen, we strike at nightfall. No prisoners."

The twenty-three assassins around her saluted and prepared their weapons. Raven could already feel the blood lust rising in her veins, with a caw she took to the skies.

There would be a red moon tonight.

000

Naruto entered the room they were assigned in the Colosseum. "Guys?" He called out grabbing their attention from whatever they were doing. "There's something I want to talk to you all about."

"Is it about that message you receive earlier?" Pyrrha guessed.

"It is." Naruto nodded "Not to alarm you but Cinder plans on attacking Vale and the Festival tomorrow."

"What!?" Nora exclaimed.

"Calm down." He soothed. "We have counter plans for when she tries it and we're planning on capturing her tomorrow but there is another more important concern. If Cinder manages to drum up enough commotion then the Grimm outside of the city might be riled up and try to attack, that is if she doesn't plan on doing so herself anyway."

"A Grimm invasion?" Pyrrha concluded.

"Exactly. While Cinder's attack may fall short if she stirs up all the Grimm at Mountain Glenn and the surrounding forests then we'll have a very real problem." Naruto told them. "That however is only a possibility, with luck we'll be able to shut down Cinder's plans and no one will be the wiser and the Festival continues on schedule. Just in case though, be ready."

"Does Team RWBY know?" Ren questioned.

"Blake knows and she'll tell her team." Naruto answered. "For now though just play it cool and win your fights. We have Ironwood's army to help us and Ozpin has recalled as many huntsmen as he can."

"So we're just going to pretend like everything is normal tomorrow?" Ren summarized.

"That's the plan."

Nora had a worried look but nodded anyway "If you say so Boss."

"Naruto?"

He smiled at her "Don't worry Pyrrha, just do your best out there and leave the rest to me."

She seemed uncertain for a moment before going along with it. "Very well then but if anything happens-"

"You guys will be the first to know." He said firmly.

"Alright then." Ren decided to follow his leader on this one and just focus on getting Pyrrha and Nora into the duo rounds."

As always tomorrow would bring what it will.

AN - We're almost there! This turned up as more of a set-up chapter than I was hoping but everything will finally kick off next chapter. As I've mentioned before this is where the story really starts to deviate from canon due to a whole lot of events simply not happening, where the story goes from here even I don't know. I know the ending and how I want to get there but we'll discover the journey along the way together.