AN/ so I have written and rewritten this time and again, thinking about how I wanted to put my words, my thoughts to paper and it never seems to come out right. This is take… I don't know… in my attempt to write something, but I have written this countless times over and over again in my head. So this is going to be a bit informal, and off the cuff. As some of you may know, the past three years haven't been all that stellar for me. And recently I informed all of you about the devastating loss of my baby cousin. We'll go with 13 because that's how old she was when she passed (no real names will be used obviously so we're going to call her 13 for this note). Anyway, on August 17, 2024 we gathered as a family and celebrated and mourned the life of 13. She loved to read, dance, play sports, and sing. No matter how short and brief her life was she impacted all of us, we loved and cherished her deeply. And on that day as a family we said farewell one last time before letting her rest.
Anyway on to the meat and potatoes of why I am writing this, I've had some thoughts over the last couple of days, thoughts on what I'd do going forward, I'll be honest and say that I thought about starting a (PAT)reon, one separate from my current one, one where I would release my exclusive IP, commissioned artwork, maybe livestream some editing sessions, I know it's not anyone's fault but given my existing (pat)reon pages performance before what had happened over the last three years I was hesitant in starting this endeavor. And that was before the passing of my cousin. Now I'd like to do something to honor her. I thought about pledging to donate money earned not spent on commissions and on softwear to a cancer research charity or something. This is something I am hesitant in doing given the scams and scandals that have been exposed as of recent, like the completionist. So while I work things out on my end I'd like your opinions. Is this something you guys would be interested in? If so I'd be as transparent as possible, on what money is spent on. Again things regarding this are all in the works. So what do you guys think?
For context check out the AN/ on my new web novel Regaila, a story with magic, chaos, spicy lemons, and harems.
Sarada stretched, feeling out the flex of her armor. It fit like a glove, it always did, but she figured if she was going to give Qrow the chance to work up his courage and actually approach her. Now, while she was prepping for her mission, it was as good a time as any.
She knew he was watching her. He had been for a while now. That was why she chose to do her checks on the ridge that overlooked the emerald forest.
Finally, just when she was starting to get annoyed, the man stepped out of the brush. Most likely, he had finally realized that she knew he was there. And there was no longer any point in hiding.
"So…" He began eyeing her in her armor up and down. "Going hunting or something?"
"In a manner of speaking," Sarada said mysteriously, tying her hair back with a hairband as it shifted to the trademark crimson of the Uzumaki. "A 'informant' gave us the location of this branch's leader of the White Fang. He's not backing down, so I'm going to pay him a visit..."
Qrow was absolutely floored. They, the normal Hunters and police, had been looking for this guy for the longest time now. "Really? Where is he? Do you know who he is?"
"Yes, it's not all that far. His camp is near Mountain Glen," she admitted freely.
"Well then, let me charter a Bullhead. We can be in the air within an hour!" Qrow exclaimed, already retrieving his scroll from his pocket.
"An hour?" Sarada snorted. "In an hour, I'll already be more than halfway there. I may not be as fast as Naruto, but I most certainly am faster than an airship."
"What…" Qrow honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was near Mountain Glen that they were talking about, while it wasn't as far away as Lower Cairn. It was still more than a day's trek on foot. "You're joking, right?"
The grin she wore as she put on her mask unsettled the veteran hunter, especially when her eyes turned crimson. "No, not at all, we shinobi are skilled at running long distances in a short amount of time and I in particular… cheat."
Slowly, at first, the world around her seemed to 'spiral and warp' for a lack of better explanation. Then in one moment she was there, in the next she wasn't. It was as if the world had swallowed her up in the blink of an eye.
Qrow would have let out an undignified shriek were it not for the hand that covered his mouth.
"You want to come with? That's fine if you do, but you'll have to keep up." Qrow swallowed the spiteful retort he had on lips. When she let him go. Instead, he had another question he wanted to ask, one that he hoped wouldn't get him bitch slapped into oblivion, aura or not. He felt the strength she had, and he wasn't willing to piss her off.
"How did you do that?"
Under her mask, Sarada smiled. Not that Qrow could see it. "Of all the movement techniques or Jutsu that we shinobi have, our most prized are S-Rank space-time ninjutsu. The technique I use is called Kamui."
"Right…" Qrow nodded, not quite understanding the magnitude of the information he had been given, but eyeing her wearily all the same. "That's great and all, but what are you going to do about your team? Aren't they going to notice you're missing?" he asked, deciding to change topics.
Sarada snorted as she stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. "Hmm, yes, that would be a concern if I didn't have a clone taking my place. They might be a bit more willful, but what's the worst that could happen?" Then she was gone and Qrow let out a curse. Quickly following her off that cliff, transforming and taking flight.
He caught a glimpse of her as he took flight, but it was brief, just the barest glint of her now crimson locks as she slipped through the forest like a wraith. It had only been a scant few seconds, but she was already out of the forest and looping around Vale on a straight path to Mountain Glen.
]|[
Jaune swallowed thickly as he and his team stepped onto the field with the members of SLVR. "s-so uh, Sarada… just what are we doing here?" he couldn't help but ask. Normally it was Kurama handling his training in Naruto's stead when he was busy. So he had hoped that he'd have a reprieve while the pair were out of town.
The sense of dread that filled him only grew when she smiled at him. He knew that Normally Sarada liked to put up a cold stoic front in front of Beacon at large.
"It's simple, really silly." she giggled, actually giggled.
Jaune was ready to bolt right here, right now. This had to be some sort of fever dream.
"We're going to train, duh," Jaune had that feeling that he had to Run! That he needed to run Right god damn now! It drowned out any other rational thought when she explained her plan. "Since you haven't unlocked your semblance and we need to get ready for the Vital Festival, we're each going to have one on one matches with you until you're completely exhausted. Then we're going to push you just that little bit more each day."
Jaune wanted to run, he really did… but the only thing that stopped him was his team. The support they gave him was heartening, it made part of him want to stay.
There was just one thing he had to know first. "Did you guys put her up to this?"
"We all wanted to help." Lyzette admitted. Acting as team spokesman.
Even if it was a weak smile, Jaune still smiled in her direction. "Thanks, Lyze…" he caressed her cheek with his hand. Causing his normally stern teammate to blush.
"So I think I'll start things out." Sarada grinned, stepping into the center of the field. "You ready Jaune?"
Jaune knew it! There had to be something wrong! He knew it! That predatory gleam in her eyes only had pain behind it, his pain. "Yeah." he swallowed thickly, as ready as he'll ever be.
She gave him a beatific smile, cocking her fist back... "Good, then! Dodge!"
]|[
Cinder sighed as, once again, Adam destroyed another expensive piece of mining equipment. The sound of which echoed through the cavernous tunnel that they had dug.
Honestly, he really needed to get that temper of his under control. And he was doing so good, too.
"What do you mean, you're withdrawing your support?" He raged at Laruam, something that made Cinder wonder if the man had a death wish. Because if his tantrum wasn't so amusing, she was sure that Laruam would have mounted his head on a pike.
"It is as I said. EARLIER!" she growled back. What did this child not understand? "Since the tunnel back to Vale is cleared, and to top it off, we've even set the dust charges. Cinder's obligation, our obligation to your cause, is at an end… for now, anyway. We have to move on to the next part of our plan."
"Look, we have other obligations, other agendas, as you already know, and we can't afford to be seen here." Cinder cut in lest Adam test Laruam's patience any further. She saw how the shadows writhed at her feet. Adam was so lucky that she preferred him very much alive. "We will meet again once we've both done our parts, until then if you have need of anything, then you may contact Roman, he will provide you resources and support in our stead." she said quickly, cutting off any further protests that this 'leader' of the Vale White Fang branch might have had. Pushing off of the large boring machine, she followed Laruam out.
It was time to go, and while she would miss Nar- no, it was Menma, she mentally corrected herself. She didn't have much of a choice in this matter. Laruam and Leere had effectively co-opted for her little mission in Beacon.
At the very least, she figured she had the time to say her farewells to Menma. He was always in the training room around this time, working with his squad.
So that was where she headed.
When she opened the doors to the Gym that Menma's team normally occupied, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What the hell…" There he was, Naruto, or as he was called in this form, Menma, standing in the middle of the training mats with a broken and bloody Mercury knelt before him. A wickedly long needle in his hand.
Cinder felt it fair that her natural reaction was to storm in and demand what was going on. But the blade at her throat gave her pause.
"Woah, there Sister…" goddamnit, it was that tricksy Faunus girl Senka. Cinder had to bite back the curse that was on the tip of her tongue. "Not another step… Savvy?"
Cinder wanted to roll her eyes. What was she going to do? Launch a fireball? Certainly not with that blade of hers at her throat. "Yeah."
"Good…" Senka hummed, "cause I'd hate to make a mess. Like that shit head did when he went after the Captain. Soo…" she practically purred into her ear. "Just sit back and watch the captain work."
Senka sighed like a love struck teen. And all Cinder could do while she pouted mulishly was shiver in disgust, 'ewww…' she thought. That wasn't envy no sir. She most definitely didn't sound like that whenever she thought of the blonde. No, sir. Fortunately or unfortunately her revulsion drowned out by shock when Menma drove that massive fuck the fucking fuck off big needle right through Mercury's skull and into his brain. 'oh… oh my… GOD!' Cinder struggled to hold back her disgusted gasp of shock. The sounds of cracking bone wouldn't be something she forgot anytime too soon. And worse, Senka was giving him bedroom eyes all the while.
Mercury struggled in his grasp, whimpering and writhing like some injured animal. 'Oh, god urp…!' Cinder felt her gorge rising, yet she couldn't take her eyes off the sight of the man she felt some sort of kinship towards. Torcher Mercury like he was plucking the legs of a spider with a sort of sadistic glee.
Mercury screamed, oh how he screamed when the Needle pierced his flesh. Blood pouring down his face in little rivers, it seemed to only excite Senka the little psycho. "He's great, isn't he?" she sighed gaily at the macabre sight.
Mercury shivered bodily, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth. And by the time the deed was done. He looked only towards the ceiling with glassy eyes that saw everything and nothing at all. Menma's hands seemed to flow through a sequence of symbols faster than Cinder could track. Ending on the Ram seal.
Mercury convulsed one last time before the light returned to his eyes. That was when Senka finally released her, eagerly launching herself at her captain. "that was so cool CAAAPTAAAIN!" she cheered, her legs and arms wrapping around his waist and neck.
Mercury looked at the pair blankly as Menma turned his attention to Cinder.
"What's going on?" Mercury asked so timidly that if she didn't know any better, she would have thought him a fraud.
"Ignore him. He won't remember anything for a while." Menma said with callous disregard. "So what can I do for you?" the Sage asked, while blocking Senka's wandering hands. Not that he minded. She was just a clingy person and just needed to cling to him. She would get over it as soon as she made sure he was ok. She was always overprotective like that.
"Err, uh…" Cinder flushed pink at a loss for words.
"Who are you?"
"I, uh, just wanted to say goodbye. We're moving out."
Menma nodded. "I see. I suppose that means you'll be meeting the boss soon, huh?"
"Yeah, but what about Mercury? What did you do to him?" Cinder felt it only fair to know, since she was the one who had to deal with him. Like it or not, he was a part of her plans and all. At least for now, anyway. Cinder froze, another more important matter dawning on her now that she had pushed past the horror show of before. "Wait, is it ok for her..." She pointed at Senka, "to be here?"
"Yeah, she's in the know." Menma quirked a brow, while he patted her on her head, rubbing the spot between her feline ears. Causing her to purr in delight. "You didn't think she wasn't in the know, did you?"
Cinder flushed with embarrassment. Of course she had thought that the only one who knew about him save for ever loyal Emerald was here. She might not have been as bold in her flirtations had she known the truth.
"You did, didn't you?" he wheedled
'He's right, you know,' Polaris added, ever so helpfully.
"Where am i?"
'Quiet you!' Cinder hissed. 'you're not helping.'
'What? It's not like you didn't make your feelings plain already.' Polaris snickered.
Cinder huffed, rolling her eyes. 'Yes, and I totally wouldn't have acted like such a horny teen slut in front of him had I known. God, I need to get laid…'
'Again it isn't like father will say no… then again he is a clone. So I'm not sure how durable he is. So you'd have to be careful.'
'Polaris… no, just no, we are not having this conversation. I have more important things to worry about, like what he did to Mercury.'
'I fail to see what you have to worry about. It's clear that father used a variation of the Sennō Sōsa no Jutsu on him. He'll be fine once father sets his commands in place.' her partner sighed, 'well that's if he doesn't have other plans for him…' treating this as if this were all plainly obvious. 'So I don't see why you shouldn't jump, father, while you have the chance. There are worse ways for a clone to go out than death by snu-snu.'
Cinder flushed to the roots of her hair. "I'm going now. I am going to go now before I die of embarrassment and utter mortification…" she squeaked.
'Chicken,' Polaris cackled with glee as Cinder made her retreat.
"Eh, don't you want to see what I'm going to do to mercury?" he asked her retreating form.
"No!"
Menma shrugged, returning to the task at hand. His hands blurring through several more hand seals. Before he placed his palm marked by a Karma like sigil on Mercury's head. He supposed, as the boy shuddered, convulsing in a wordless scream, that this was a worse fate than death. To have one's soul, their very sense of self, overwritten by another. This was truly the cruelest of fates. But Mercury had brought this upon himself. And at least this way he, or rather his body, could still be of use.
"You who have sworn yourself to my clan through life and death, I order you, Awaken Delta…"
Gray eyes fluttered open, unfocused, flickering that distinct shade of pink that he knew all too well before returning to their normal gray color. They closed once more before focusing upon him with a keen intellect hidden behind that gaze that they lacked only mere moments ago.
"Lord Uzumaki?" she questioned from her kneeling position. "Wh-where are we?"
"That can wait until you are used to your new body." Menma said, "Search your host's memories… Tell me, what is the last thing you can recall?"
Without question, Delta nodded, closing her eyes as she went over the memories of her body's former owner. It only took her a moment, but she snorted when she opened her eye's again. The boy was a fool, a true and utter fool, thinking that he had a chance to defeat her lord. "I can't believe he thought he had a chance against you. Even if you're just a clone, you are still so much stronger than he was."
"Yes, clearly, but do you know why he sought me out?" Menma asked, it would be concerning if his cover were blown now.
"No, his only concern was the effect you seemed to have on Cinder, that and for the thrill he would get in killing you."
"So he had no orders, then?" Menma hummed to himself, rubbing his chin in thought, more thinking to himself aloud than asking any real question.
Menma nodded to himself, coming to a decision. "Right then, we can use this…" he knew, however, she would not like what he had to say next. "But you're going to have to take his place."
Delta wrinkled her nose as if she had tasted something particularly foul. "But this is a boy's body!" She whined.
"It's just for six months, tops, I promise. If you do this for me, I promise I'll do something special for you." he begged.
"You promise?"
Menma let out an amused huff. In all the time that he had known her, first as enemies, then later as allies. She was always like this. Acting more like a member of his family, just like he saw Kawaki as a son. He liked to think of her as something of a little sister these days. "Yes," he rolled his eyes. "After six months, you can start making modifications to this body as you wish. It would take about that long for the right levels of chakra in your body to propagate and for your mark to settle and take root, so that you can overwrite him, anyway."
]|[
Lightning gathered overhead, and a storm roiled above the vast deserts of Vacuo. As if heralding a great change. Yet for thousands of miles in any direction, there was no one to see it. As reality itself seemed to warp and fray, then burst apart. That tear in space formed slowly but surely a portal.
Four figures in cloaks stepped out from the portal, then, as if it had never been, the portal faded from existence.
"Did we make it?" Izayoi asked, taking off the hood of her cloak. "I'm tired." She whined, collapsing into the sand, her arms and legs spread akimbo.
"Well, we will find out in a moment. I just need a moment to meditate and gather nature chakra." Kabuto said, cutting off what was to be a lengthy tongue lashing from her older sisters. Not that she didn't have it coming; she had truly made quite the brat of herself. Then again, it wasn't like she didn't have a reason to complain. Not After they found the dimension where Naruto and Sarada had been exiled to. A massive jungle world without a sign of intelligent life, and a distinct lack of either Naruto or Sarada. They had no choice but to continue on from there, following the residual traces of chakra from the two into the void between dimensions. A void that he likened more to a dimensional sea, an endless sea they surely would have been lost in for eternity had it not been for the devices that Orochimaru-sama had gifted them.
He sat down in a lotus position, his summoned familiar, Nono coiling up at his back.
Before long, he grew horns and the purple pigmentation around his eyes grew into thick bands. While his sclera darkened to an inky black.
When he opened his yellow slitted eyes, he placed a palm on the sandy ground, allowing his senses to expand. And he saw… everything. this dimension, it was rife with chakra. all but awash in Biju chakra. it had to be where they were.
He stood, allowing Nono to slither her way up his body and merge with him. "I've found them, let's go." he said, turning to the west. Determined to find their wayward companions.
"Finally!" Izayoi cheered, leaping up from where she lay in the sand. "Let's go!"
She was met with the silent snickering of her sisters when she started off in the wrong direction. "This way, you silly girl." bemused, Kagura snickered, grabbing her blushing youngest sister by her hand.