Well, this isn't much of a race, is it?
Weiss is dominating... But I'm gonna give it some time for new readers to come in.
No need to rush it when that is for later.
For those trying to introduce different ship ideas, not happening, but appreciate you voice your opinion!
I have stories or concepts where they are the ship or could be the ship, but these are who I want for THIS STORY for they make the most sense for what I have planned.
And I do appreciate those asking about how he will use chakra, what his Semblance will be or his weapon!
I have an idea for what will happened and the answers is eventually, kind of won't have one as he doesn't have Aura (but he may inherit something that would be LIKE a Semblance) and he will wield an Ax/rifle just like HIS mentor.
I thank you all for the feedback so far!
So, let's get to the chapter, shall we?
Edit: For those that know Naruto's and Yang's actual birthdays, to explain the disparity, Naruto went through a dimension to another world. The fact that both of their world's calendars follow ours is purely for our sakes and for those of us that like tracking timelines. The fact is, those worlds shouldn't have our calendar and have a different year cycle all together. So that is what I'm playing with here.
"Day by day, it's getting nearer. Step by step, you grow."
A melodic hum left her lips. Raven frowned momentarily and scoffed, glancing down at her round and bulbous stomach, gently rubbing it as the kettle on the stove whistled. "Here I am trying to sing… This is so not me…"
"And my song choices are horrible… All about violence and death." Raven rolled her eyes as she pulled off the kettle, pouring into a cup set beside her before smiling at feeling a gentle motion rocking in her stomach. "It's too soon to be brought into that world… Although you have been very impatient… Think you really inherited my personality…"
A clatter snapped her out of her musing and alarmed her. Her gaze bolted to the carrier just a few feet away, tipped on its side. "Naruto!"
Quickly bending down, groaning as she did, her stomach refusing to accept the motion, she worriedly grimaced as she checked on her baby boy before exhaling softly. Vivid cerulean eyes gleamed at her, and excited babbling soon followed, his arms and legs waving wildly in front of him.
"You're impatient too…" Raven chuckled, gently tilting the carrier back on its side and checking for bruises. "You are just trying to run all over the place at just four months old…"
A high-pitched shrill as Naruto joyously rocked and swayed in the baby carrier, Raven smiled, playfully letting the boy bat around her hand. "Oh, trying to fight, are we? …Ha, let's see what you got! No biting!"
Squinting as his sharp little teeth were coming in, Raven laughed as she poked Naruto in the chest regardless, his fluffy fox tail wiggly behind his back. It seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes…
What was weird was the mother didn't show any apparent signs of being a Faunus, so did that mean his father was?
Shaking her head, dodging a quick nip from the babe, Raven's hand swooped in and began to tickle him and his tail, eliciting a gleeful shriek as he waggled around in his cradle, swatting back at her. Raven's eyes glittered in amusement. "You're getting so big and aggressive already… Good."
"Yang's gonna need a strong baby brother to look after her."
"He is ahead of schedule…" Summer watched in awe as the four-month-old explored the settings of the couch with vigor, shrieking enthusiastically even as little body wasn't strong enough to keep up with his energy.
"Like I've been saying, he's strong." Raven's lips twitched, carefully directing Naruto to keep him from wandering off the edge.
"Don't think that quite explains it. His growth has been ahead of the curve… The doctors are even surprised by the development." Tai brightly smiled as Naruto managed to crawl over to his lap before gently reaching out and lifting him. "Hey there, big man, doing good."
Naruto shouted and waved his arms enthusiastically before Tai chuckled and set him back down a course for Raven. Seeing the faint smile on his wife as she carefully waited for Naruto to reach her, his eyes trailed back to Summer, a distant glint in her eyes as she kept track of the four-month-old.
Frowning momentarily, Tai decided to snap her out of her thoughts. "How have missions been going with Qrow?"
"Been a pain in your ass?" Raven added with a smirk before she scowled. "Where is the bad omen, anyways? He's supposed to be here… Even if he'll curse us with his bad luck."
"Said he needed to stop by and talk to Oz first, then he'd make his way over here." Summer exhaled before shaking her head and smiling. "Otherwise, everything has been going well… Haven't encountered any misfortune recently…"
"Because he cursed and blessed us in a single shot with his horrid luck…" Raven glowered briefly before gently lifting Naruto as he reached her lap, causing him to shriek excitedly. "Better get his ass here soon, or his bad luck is gonna get worse if he misses Yang's birth…"
"Yeah, about that… Why are we doing it out here instead of a hospital?" Summer frowned, and Tai winced and looked away, exasperated.
"I don't need their help! My mother gave birth to Qrow and me all on her own without any assistance besides our father being there to receive us! If she could do that, I can give birth to my daughter without any help!" Raven proudly proclaimed before huffing as she held Naruto closely.
Scrunching her face at her partner's reasoning, catching Tai's feeble gaze, Summer shot a dark glare at Raven before speaking. "Tai… Could you take Naruto?"
"No…" Raven's dilated, her gaze bored into Summer and glared at her husband. "I'm doing it here…"
"Summer, don't you dare!"
"How did you convince her to come here?"
"Gentle persuasion." Summer sat in the waiting room, gently rocking Naruto in his carrier as he soundly slept while humming a soft, melodic tune to him.
Squinting momentarily at Summer's answer, not believing her for a second, Qrow winced as a wail echoed through the hallways from the nearby delivery room. "Fuck you, Tai! You did this to me! We're never doing this again! Ever!"
"Think she realized why Mom didn't have kids after us…" Qrow muttered, running his hand through his hair while grimacing. "Wonder what she would do if she learned Mom didn't give birth to us at the camp…"
"And that she and Dad hijacked a small medical practice in Shion and forced the doctors and nurses there to deliver us."
Summer simply continued to hum, gazing down into the carrier as two cerulean eyes fluttered open. A weak cry followed as she reached for a bottle from the pack beside her and placed the nipple at Naruto's mouth, who hungrily devoured it and began to suckle. "Hungry? I'm not surprised… It's almost time to see your little sister."
"I don't care! The little bitch doesn't want to come out, no matter how hard I push! How about I split you open like this?!"
"And this is why you don't get a Branwen pregnant… They become even more violent." Qrow winced before sighing. "I warned him…"
"I want one." Summer whispered, causing Qrow to stumble and his skin visibly pale while she helped Naruto hold his bottle and drink his milk.
"Uh, Summer…" Qrow warily glanced at the tranquil Rose as she helped feed her friend's baby boy.
"I know what I said." Summer didn't break eye contact with Naruto as he happily suckled, gently swabbing the milk that escaped and dripped on his cheeks. "Yes, you are starving, aren't you? Let's get you all ready so you can go see your mommy and your baby sister…"
"Wanna make a good first impression."
With the echoes of a muffled cry as her heavily bated breathing trended to more calming, sweat glistened across her skin as crimson eyes stared at the bundle in her husband's arms. With a smooth voice and gentle waving motion, he knelt at her side and carefully placed her in her arms.
"Yang…" Raven muttered as she cradled her daughter, her eyes misting at the sight of her baby girl crying. "There, there… Mommy didn't mean any of that…"
"Let's get you all cleaned up so you can meet your big brother and aunt and uncle…" Raven cooed, a faint smile working her way on her face. "He's been waiting to see you…"
"And the longer Summer keeps him, the more afraid I am that she isn't going to give him back."
In the darkly lit room, gazing upon her two babies lying side-by-side, sleeping comfortably with one another, crimson eyes shimmered as she chuckled in amusement as their father slept next to them, blissfully unaware of anything but their presence.
She grimaced as she fastened her satchel on her right hip and her blade to her left. She felt an empty pit knotted in her stomach. It was time to head home… She couldn't stall any longer. She and Qrow had been gone too long, and they were expected to return home…
The secrets she learned needed to be shared with the tribe.
It was the entire purpose of her and her brother leaving to be trained in the Huntsman arts. So the Branwen could then learn from them too and become even stronger… Fight back against Huntsman and keep the Grimm at bay from their campsites with ease.
They were always supposed to come home. Raven's eyes glistened as she stepped beside the crib of her newborn and her big brother. But after what they had discovered… Did any of that matter if the entire world was in danger? If she had her way… There would be no tribe left regardless…
Yet, if they could learn to fight against her, too… Maybe they would be better prepared and…
Her eyes glistened as cerulean eyes glowed from the darkness. She repressed a curse as her baby was starting to recognize things, and with Faunus heritage, he could see clearly through the darkness. So he began to coo and giggle upon seeing her…
"No, no… Ssh." Raven grimaced as she reached down and lifted Naruto into her arms. "Can't play right… I have to go… So don't give your dad any trouble, okay?"
She knew he didn't understand. He was too young to understand. He hadn't even begun to recognize his name yet…
But he somehow recognized her tone. He was no longer playful, and his face scrunched up as he started to cry, causing Raven to shrink. "No, don't do this… Mommy loves you, but…"
As Naruto wailed in her grasp, her focus was drawn to his eyes. They weren't the usual blue hue she was so accustomed to. No…
They had become a deep scarlet with a dilated pupil.
Feeling a pull at her very being, her world was drug into darkness. She was now ankle-deep in a current of flowing water. She would have blanched as the surroundings almost seemed like a sewer drain system, but something was far more present in her mind.
Naruto was no longer in her hands.
"Naruto? Naruto!" She desperately called out for her son, glancing through the darkness, searching every nook and cranny around her, racing through to find where he had gone.
She was holding him. What had happened? Was someone using an illusion-based Semblance on her? A teleportation one similar to her own? Why couldn't she open her bond to him then?!
"Naruto! Yang! Tai!" Raven shouted in the darkness, finding she could not open her bonds to any of them. All she could do was travel ahead…
Until her attention was brought to by something out of place. Massive struts like that of a barred passage that the water drained through. And a strange paper was placed on the two central struts that were oddly placed against one another.
Was it a giant sluice gate? …Wasn't very effective if it was.
A loud rumble shook her to her core, causing Raven to crouch and grip the handle of her blade. Her entire body went stiff, a cold shiver trailing down her spine as she felt an oppressive aura of dread from beyond the gate.
And she leapt back as she saw a massive scarlet eye open within the darkness… One strikingly similar to the eyes…
Terror gripped her heart as a shadow figure beyond the veil stood, standing far above. A crimson glow radiated around the beast, illuminating its presence before her. A fox of an immense scale and nine tails wisped behind it.
Its scarlet gaze bore down, and a mighty growl echoed as its aura permeated through the gate it was trapped behind.
You will stay… Or you will lose everything.
In an instant, the dark and gloomy atmosphere had vanished. Two sets of shrill crying snapped her attention to the crying babe in her arm and into the crib.
She was back… And Naruto and Yang were upset. But what was that? What was that massive fox? She had never heard about anything like that…
"Raven? Are you okay? You're pale…"
Turning to her husband, her eyes shimmered as the terror subsided even as she trembled, glancing down at Naruto and gently rocking him as she reached down and picked up Yang as well. Cradling them both as she took a seat and allowed her breathing to calm alongside them, Raven gazed into Tai's gaze. "Just a nightmare…"
"Thought I saw something that can't possibly exist."
It was always calm at this time of night despite the incessant ticking that echoed through the room.
That was a severe design flaw… Why did my previous incarnation think this design was a good one?
Chuckling to himself, despite the moderate annoyance of the massive clock, he went back to his work at his desk. His work was never done… Searching for potential students and reading through their applications, checking the current grades to ensure students were excelling, scouring information throughout the network for any leads…
Preparing for shadows to make their move.
With an exhale, he continued his search, drinking a sip of his now cool cocoa. His job was never done… He needed a new…
"Oh?" A tapping at his window drew his attention before a large bird flew into his office. "I didn't expect to see you so soon… How is Naruto… And Yang?"
Turning into a woman clad in black and red, her crimson gaze burned into his browns. "What do you know of creatures of legends?"
"Like most things, Raven, I tangentially have knowledge over a wide variety of matters." The man with brown eyes and silver hair responded. "You can only ask, and I may have an answer… I may not. Some things are beyond even me."
With a sour expression at his answer, Raven crossed her arms over her chest, and her gaze bored into his. "Don't play with me, Oz… If you know anything, I need to know. What do you know of the legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox…"
"And why it would have anything to do with my son?"
A little short, but this is what I have time for currently, but hope you enjoyed regardless.
If you have a moment, I would love to hear from ya.
But for now, I hope you have a great day and I will see ya soon, my friends.
Peace.