A quick update... For once.
Had it on the mind and wanted to get to it!
Know the site has been having issues, let me know that you got the alert or if you only saw it was updated by finding it that way!
So let's get to the chapter.
He hadn't felt this way in a while.
Everything was tense for a while after Blake's father was shown what happened in Vale. To say he was displeased was putting it mildly.
He understood why his fist nearly broke the table. The man was disturbed by what his creation had become. And yet, he seemed to be taking a calm and measured approach despite losing his temper.
A very level-headed man.
He had come out to the balcony to look at the city nestled in the jungle and the coastline in the distance. It was quite beautiful at this time of day… Even if it was still sweltering. He understood why people lived here even if they didn't choose to.
The view was something else.
Yet he still had this unnerving sensation that he was being watched. He squinted, taking a careful look at his surroundings. It felt like someone was here…
"Oh…" Naruto mused, catching the slightest shift of color in the forest before smirking, whispering to himself. "I'm not alone, am I?"
"Naruto? What are you doing out here?
"Weiss?" Naruto blinked, turning his attention from the jungle to see the Schnee heiress strolling toward him on the balcony. "I could say the same about you coming out here alone."
Weiss furrowed her brow and scowled. "I'm not afraid of them. I've been dealing with their attacks on my family for quite some time… Longer than what Blake would like to believe… I'm confident in my ability to handle myself against them."
"Is that so?" Naruto's lips quivered in amusement. "Care to prove it to me then?"
Squinting her brow and giving Naruto a questioning stare, Weiss put her hand on her left hip. "I don't see what I should have to… But to amuse this notion, just what would I have to do."
"Land a single effective hit on me." A full-blown grin spread across Naruto's features as he crossed his arms and looked down amusingly at Weiss' petite frame.
Weiss' scowl increased. She immediately knew he was playing her. This was someone in his fairy tale who could dodge beams of light and had attacks that obliterated asteroids that could devastate an entire country. Even if some of that was exaggerated… To land a hit who had a faction of the ability required those feats would be a triumph.
"If I do," Weiss slowly drew her words, thinking carefully as she measured him. "What would I get out of this besides your bode of confidence?"
"I dunno. What do you want?" Naruto shrugged without a care, his eyes twinkling. He kind of wanted to see how skilled each of them were. This was perfect. What better way to…
"Is that so?" Weiss' eyes shone vividly as her stance closed to where she stepped on her toes, yet still perfectly balanced. "I heard that you're supposed to be going on a date with Blake soon… I want a date before you go with her if I hit you."
The air left Naruto's lungs as he coughed several times, finding catching his breath was a challenge as his face flushed. What was this? He never garnished this kind of attention back home, even after saving the village! The only person who ever really wanted to go out with him in that matter was Hinata!
Now he had two separate girls that wanted dates with him and a third that he accepted one from?! What was this bizarro world?!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is gold! My boy is finally gonna get some!
FUCK OFF, KURAMA! Naruto cursed under his breath at Kurama's laughter, only for it to increase in volume and fervor.
Composing himself with a deep breath, her squinted down at Weiss as she smirked satisfactorily at him. "Addendum…"
"If you fail to get two hits, you and your friends are gonna go do some of my style of training," Naruto growled as Weiss lost her balance and coughed herself, looking up at him with widening eyes that only darted to the side silver went flying through the air.
And penetrates a tree just past the clearing of the house. "And without your weapon."
"Don't throw Myrentanster like that! You don't know how much effort I put into making her!" Weiss hissed as she glared at Naruto, who smirked in amusement as a shade fell to the ground and crawled into the thicket beyond.
That would teach them…
"Mah, so what's your answer?" Naruto looked down at the miffed Schnee heiress, rubbing the back of his neck as he cranked his head to the side. "Gonna accept my terms… Or chicken out?"
Weiss, furiously bristled by his action, huffed with a stomp to turn away before she growled. Her fists clenched, and with a snarl, she turned around.
"I accept!"
This was not good… He knew she was there all night! Kept giving her side glances… Monitoring her!
He allowed her presence! What was he doing? If he knew she was there… Why wasn't he doing something more?
This was bad. She needed to report back immediately!
Sprinting through the jungles, a petite figure with long brown hair tied in a ponytail kept her head on a swivel. She wasn't sure of anything… She had this strange sensation of being stalked…
Yet she couldn't find it.
As she continued to run, nervously fumbling around every few moments, searching all around her, cerulean eyes gleamed, using the top of the palm trees as cover.
"Now, let's find out just where you are heading."
Never once in his life had he felt this uneasy…
What he had seen on that scroll twisted his gut, and his nerves frayed. To see his creation turn into a monster… Watching as Grimm were transported en masse by White Fang Bullheads… People he still cared for committing such violent crimes against citizens!
His rage was unyielding. He couldn't sleep and wanted to march to their headquarters for answers… To demand Sienna tell him the truth of what happened. Depose that boy for what he had done!
But his calm, rational side prevailed. He needed to be collected and have all the facts before confronting them about what had happened. After repeat viewings of the video, he kept seeing new details that riled him up further… This was unacc…
"Hm?" Ghira lifted his head upon hearing a knock on his study door, frowning momentarily at who it could possibly be at this hour in the morning. Was it one of Blake's friends… Perhaps the boy she was anxious around all afternoon and night… "Come in."
His thought proved correct as Naruto stepped inside the room, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, had a feeling you would be awake… Can I have a word with ya? It's rather important."
Ghira's frown deepened as the boy approached his desk in an aloof and casual manner, yet his expression was stern and serious. Boy was an enigma… Had some trouble gauging him…
"What is it you wish to speak about?" Ghira asked, sitting up in his chair and focusing on the boy. "Does it pertain to what you have shown me in this clip?"
"It is connected, yeah." Naruto nodded, keeping eye contact with the beast of a man… Sitting in his chair, he was at eye level with him! He was going through another growth spurt and stood at five foot nine, and even then, he was as tall as this man sitting down!
Mentally shaking that thought from his head, Naruto exhaled before straightening his facial features. "I assume you're going to want to reveal what you've seen and confront the leaders about the White Fang."
"That is indeed what my plan is." Ghira's lips quivered, sensing the direction of the conversation. "The only reason I haven't is that I wanted to reveal what happened once I was calm and had all the information… Is there a problem that I'm unaware of?"
"I can think of a few." Naruto grimaced before scrunching his brow. "The main concern is how the White Fang will react. If they informed you of only what happened and not the full extent, they were clearly trying to cover their tracks and didn't want this to become public knowledge. …Furthermore…"
"We have no clue how they will react to our arrival." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he thought about the possible reactions and repercussions. "Which brings me to asking you to hold off revealing this information for a brief time."
"I wanna see what their reaction to our arrival is so we can plan accordingly."
She couldn't help but yawn… She hadn't slept that well in a long time.
Blake had thought that with her nerves on returning home, she would have a restless night… But she had slept throughout the night without waking a single time. She was that comfortable!
Still woke up before the rest of her team, as she was accustomed to. Had a lot of early mornings to have breakfast with her father and see him off for the day.
It was also the best time to get up and beat the rest of her team to take care of her morning cares. They took forever… Especially Weiss and Yang…
Rubbing her eyes as she carried her wash kit and a towel under her arm, Blake yawned as she opened the bathroom closest to her room. She missed having separate bathrooms… Still had to share, but having several options was fantastic…
Her eyes snapped wide open as a waft of steam hit her face as she entered the bathroom. Her face flashed a vivid crimson as her golden eyes darted all around, absorbing every detail of the sight before her.
His strong jaw, solid biceps, and well-defined pectorals. Well-trimmed calves and sturdy thighs. Rock hard abs. And most of all…
He was completely nude before her as he stepped out of the shower, vigorously drying his hair!
Blake stood petrified as the towel slowly fell from his face. Unable to tear her eyes away from him despite nearly every fiber of her body screaming at her to apologize and run away… And a small part roared and desired to…
Cerulean eyes blinked several times, taking in the situation as he looked at her, his face flushing brightly before a horrified expression etched upon his face as he quickly wrapped his towel around his waist and jumped back into the shower. "Son of…! Did I forget to lock the door?!"
"I'm sorry!" Blake bolted outside and slammed the door shut behind her, heavily panting as she slumped against the wall on the other side of the bathroom, staring at it tepidly.
Her heart thunderously beat within his chest, lurching into her throat. Her ears stood on end as she clutched her chest, trying to calm. She saw everything…
"Dammit!" Her ears twitched, hearing him on the other side of the door. "Gotta remember to lock that thing… Shut up, Kurama! …Yes, she is pretty… …No! It's not like that! It was an accident! …You're an asshole! It's not like I didn't think about it, but there is a difference between thinking and acting on it!"
Blake's entire body had flushed, and she covered her mouth to keep her voice muffled as her ears flicked back and forth, hearing every word of his conversation with Kurama on his end. Were they discussing…
Without another word, she fled down the hallway. He thought she was attractive, and that thought also crossed his mind!
And it nearly happened as she almost acted on instinct from the site of those chiseled…!
"Blake?" Ruby's voice echoed as the sliding door to their room slammed shut. She squinted as she sat up, awakened by the sudden noise. "Is everything ok…"
"Everything's fine!" Blake croaked, diving back into her bed and shriveling within it. "Nothing happening! Nothing at all!"
"Okay…" Ruby blinked as Weiss and Yang were jostled from their sleep and bolted up at Blake's shrill voice. "Um…"
"Do I want to know what happened?"
"No! Our beach vacation! I'm not gonna see the whole package!" Yang blubbered in despair, causing Weiss to roll her eyes before her head snapped toward Blake, hearing her mumble.
"Be thankful you didn't…"
Weiss opened her mouth, realizing the horror of what her friend mentioned. Was… That happened this morning!
"Weiss! Seriously! How could you do this to us?!" Ruby wailed, her face swelling with indignation as she huffed and pouted.
"I… I was too into the moment…" Weiss flushed while twirling her hair, her eyes nervously darting between her upset friends and Naruto.
"And got what you wanted!" Naruto beamed and caused Weiss' blush to deepen to a dark cherry.
"N-no… That's not true!" Weiss flustered with a mixture of embarrassment and rage before turning her head away. "If I had known you were going to try at first…"
"Who said I wasn't trying?" Naruto raised his eyebrow before scowling and scrunched his brow. "Kurama, knock it off! What is with you today?!"
"What does that mean?" Yang scowled, crossing her arms over her bust and squinting her eyes at Naruto and Weiss. "What did you two agree to without us present?!"
"I think I know…" Blake's head slumped while her face was ripe as a tomato, catching the context of Naruto's dialogue to Kurama… It was very similar to what he was saying after their encounter this morning.
"And what does that mean?!" Yang glared at her partner, furrowing her brow at her. "What happened this morning? Did it have to do with him, too?! Ugh, why am I missing out on all the action?!"
"That's because you are so carefree that you cannot see the bigger picture. Makes it easy to trick someone like you." Emerald rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall, concentrating on Naruto, ignoring the seething glare and hatred rolling off Yang's very being at the insinuation she just made. "Can we get to the important reason as to why we are all here? You know, the White Fang issue?"
"Calling her out to her face? …Damn, I might not have the biggest set in this room." Mercury whistled and leaned back in case fireworks flew. After his fight with her… He had a slightly higher opinion of her.
Not much. She was still a meathead who got angry at the drop of a hat.
"Think you guys need to work out a few things…" Naruto muttered, seeing the fire build in Yang's eyes as they began to bleed crimson. He simply sighed and brought order to the gathering. "I happen to agree… They're already watching us and keeping tabs on our movements."
"What?!" Blake's ears stood on end as the rest of her team snapped to attention, and even Mercury and Emerald's brow rose. "How do you know that? If they know I'm here already…"
"Relax, would ya? It just means we need to be more careful and aware of our surroundings." Naruto's face scrunched at Blake's worry before he smiled broadly, causing Blake's features to pale further and Weiss' eyes to shimmer. "Because we had a visitor shrouded in the shadows watching us last night!"
"We were being watched?!" Weiss hissed, her eyes blistering with cold fury. "You didn't do anything! Say something discreetly to me!"
"Mah, I let her know I knew she was there. Your sword nearly cutting her cheek did that trick." Naruto explained in a relaxed tone, shrugging. "It's more important to figure out what they are doing, and currently, it seems they are only monitoring us. So it's best to stay alert."
"Besides, she didn't seem to notice my clone following her back to her base of operations," Naruto added with a confident smirk.
Emerald immediately stood off the wall, crossing her arms over her chest, crimson eyes staring directly into Naruto's. "Sounds like we have a job."
"Tonight, you and I will see what they're up to. Easier to operate at the dead of night for stuff like that." Naruto replied, and while Emerald frowned, she nodded and accepted the decision. And to the horror of the members of RWBY, his gaze gleamed upon them with a devilish grin. "As for you all… Your four are still students… You shouldn't be dealing with any of this, but you're knee-deep in this already, so I'm gonna make sure you're ready!"
"I don't like where this is going." Yang squinted and furrowed her brow. "You're losing points, handsome…"
"Good!" Naruto chirped, and all four of their faces fell at his chipper demeanor. "While we got some downtime, I'm gonna grill ya! Glynda was worried you might slack with this extended stay away from school… I promised her I'd work on some things you need to work on! …There was a lot on that list."
"Oh no…" Weiss' eyes flickered, and her face fell. "I think I may have doomed us…"
"Yep! There was a reason I put up that stake!" Naruto's visage had turned into some horrid demon as sadistically grinned at them.
"Welcome to Naruto's Expedited Bootcamp."
Come on, you two… Waving to the chibi girls with pink and brown hair, she strolled forward and opened the door of her room. Follow.
They both bounced to her side as a flash of white light blinded her vision. Closing her eyes and shielding the eyes of her smaller forms, Neo winced. What was this? Was she back to that strange world?
Was she back home?
"Ah, there you are! I was wondering where you went!"
A cold shiver ran down her spine as her body froze. Her heart leapt into her throat as its thunderous beats shook her being. That voice!
Her eyes slowly opened as her two child forms rushed to the solitary figure. "What the… Well, this one's new… Little brats like you."
Neo was unable to move as the room shaped into a familiar setting for her. Nor did she care. Her entire focus… Her entire being… Was intent on the figure the smaller versions had run to and stood beside.
How could any of this be real? How could he be here? She was wearing his…
"Well, what are you waiting for, Neo? We got a job to do."
Her breath rasped in her throat as she lunged forward. Yet with every step, she was only farther away. She was losing ground, unable to reach him as the world darkened around her. Desperately holding out her hand and reaching for him, tears flowing freely and sparkling into the air behind her.
Yet despite this…
She could see his smile clearly.
Her lips parted as she wordlessly called out for him, as everything turned to shadows.
Roman!
Pitch black was all that remained.
She was trapped and alone in the void… The void of her heart.
Falling to her knees, she wept in silence. She had no purpose… No place left… It was all gone.
A shining light caused her to recoil.
And a sense of rage overcame her as bright, burning amber and a radiant silver light beamed before her. Two figures stepping out of the light…
The creators of this void.
Unable to contain her grief, she screamed and shouted. They might not be able to hear her… But they would feel her rage! Her despair!
She would destroy them both!
With a muted scream, the void and figures shattered to glass.
Her heterochromatic eyes gleamed as she gazed into the ruins of a village that surrounded her.
She had a purpose for life. She would destroy the worlds of Fall and Red, for they had destroyed hers…
And then she would give them the mercy of death.
Well, things are moving along!
To everyone enjoying this tale so far, you have no idea how much you are appreciate!
I didn't really see any question in this last bunch, outside one, so I just want to thank everyone so far for supporting the story!
To the Guest asking about where's JNPR... They'll show up later. I dropped Pyrrha out of the ship because the way the story was shaping out JNPR didn't really have a role in it.
My bad that I'm not responding! Don't have much time.
As always, if you got a moment, I'd love to hear from ya! You guys keep the fire going and the more I hear back, it makes writer easier!
And I'm running a poll on my profile for what stories everyone would like to see updated weekly. It's a one choice poll, but the top two will end up going on a weekly cycle. Now, for context here, these chapters updated are gonna be around this size or to size of what my NWBY chapters are so far. If I know a chapter is going to be longer, it might miss a weekly update. This is mostly to allow me to focus on a few stories everyone wants to see while also... Working on what I want and have to burn out on something.
But until next time,
Peace my friends.