Marigold
Chapter Five: Communication.

"Their music is very weird here…"
"I'm not able to understand it…"
"Yet, some of this speaks to me…"
"You're a naïve brat, boy."

{?}
{?}

Sunlight, rose over the boy's face slowly as his eyes slowly opened. Azure orbs stared into clear blue skies above, green grass wafted against his skin. Tickling him, strangely enough, making him feel more at peace with himself now more than ever. Slowly rising up, and stretching, he felt more relaxed than usual. His mind was a fog, his body sore, but somehow his mind wasn't as charged as before.

A giant tree stood off in the distance, it alone, a titan amongst common others.

"Hey, you're finally awake!" An excited voice greeted his ears. "Been waiting for you to wake up, c'mon, Kakashi sensei is waiting for us!"

"Sakura…?" Naruto asked bewilderedly as he met her green eyes. He sat there on the ground still, feeling slightly confused. "Is that really you?"

"Well duh, come on, get up already!" She yanked him up with both of his hands. Noting that she seemed cheerful about something. "We're doing some sparring today!"

""Y-yeah, yes you're right! I remember, c'mon, let's go!" Naruto shouted excitedly as he peeled off with her, both dashing along the grass. He noted that though he wasn't going all out, Sakura seemed faster than usual. "Hey, Sakura, where are we going? Ain't the training field back the other way!"

"Oh, Kakashi wanted us to meet him up at the monument!" Sakura stated, turning back to him, smiling brightly. "C'mon, Naruto, are you eating too much ramen lately?!"

"What, no, you wanna race you got a race!" He declared with gusto as he began to roar past her, and turned around to waive back. Only she wasn't there, and it bewildered him. "Huh, that's weird, she's gotten a lot faster I guess…oh well."

"Wait…when did I even get back to the village?" He wondered aloud before stopping after feeling a frigid wind tickle his neck. He turned around, his eyes shrinking back as he stared at Konoha. "No…"

The village was iced over, covered in snow, with bodies all around. All strewn out in the same manner as that one town he dreamed of. His hands shook, and then he heard soft growls. Watching, and nearly retching as a familiar desiccated body slowly lumbered toward him.

"Konohamaru, what happened?" He asked the desiccated corpse, his head hurting horribly as he heard ringing. "No, this isn't real, this is not real!"

"You're not real!"

"Big brother, Naruto…" The corpse posing as Konohamaru moaned out, limping slowly toward him, and then it fell to its knees. It's voice going from a deep groan to that of a child's in agony. "Help me, the pain, it hurts…it hurts…and I'm so cold."

"We're all so cold."

Naruto's eyes widened as dozens, if not hundreds of beings came lumbering from gates. All of them wearing faces he knew very well. He gripped his head, and heard the ringing getting louder and louder as the walls of the village's gates crashed down. Dozens of the tall skeletal monsters walking toward him, their ribcages vibrating!

"No-no-no, this isn't real, you're not real!" Naruto screamed at them before seeing Konohamaru getting stepped on without regard by one of the giant skeletons. His eyes snapped wide, and then turned red. "I'll…find a way to save you all, just stop coming toward me!"

"Don't make me do this!"

"Join us…"

They came closer, Naruto attempted to back up, only to get tackled and grabbed by Jiraiya. He was held firm, and they kept coming toward him. He attempted to kick and thrash to get the dead sage to let him go. Naruto's eyes widened when Sakura came toward him with Kakashi, both running with their sharpened bony fingers poised to strike him down.

"Become one of us!"

{Cave Near Mt Olympia.}
[Three Days Later. 11:00pm.]

"Qrow he's seizing!" Amber yelled out as she began to place both hands over the boy as they recovered from the crater. His entire body was bandaged up. Foam rolled from his mouth, and his body jerked. "Put that stick in his mouth!"

Qrow quickly did so, placing a piece of wood into the kid's mouth to keep him from biting down on his tongue. The boy's azure eyes lightly opened up, but rolled to the back of his head as flopped around. Blood dripped from his nose slowly, and surely. Thick globs leaking down, and his hands grabbed for anything nearby.

"What's wrong with him?" The hunter asked as he saw the boy's eyes start to shed tears as well, and particular acrid smell started to fill the cave. "Kid's got a serious infection, or something, going on."

"No, something's inside of him, other than what I've been detecting. I'm going to try something, it's super risky." Amber placed her hands over the boy's mouth, and they began to shimmer with power. She chanted a mantra, a mantra taught to her to focus her magic by her master himself. "Brothers above, brothers below, I call to thee to invoke thy will and harness my soul. I call upon my soul itself, your creations, my lifeforce, to grant me power over spirt and physical."

She repeated the mantra, focusing as deeply as she could. Her own nose began to bleed as energy seeped into the boy's mouth. It latched onto the darkness, not the one that was in his stomach area, but something near his heart. She yanked it back, pulling a black mass from his mouth. It had a red eye on top of it's head, it's single eye locked onto her, and tendrils flailed about from its bloblike body.

Qrow didn't hesitate and roared out as he brought Harbinger down right onto it. A loud squelch filled the air as the thing squished under the untransformed weapon. Amber felt relieved as the boy's seizure ceased. She looked over at Qrow, nodding her head, smiling softly.

"That thing was feeding on his energy over the last few days. It became physical because of it, and his body was actively rejecting it. Which explains why he wasn't healing, despite us keeping him safe over the last couple of days." Amber explained to Qrow as he nodded along and then turned the boy. "Poor guy, he's been through the ringer, he's got scars all over."

"I noticed one near his right pectoral, and coming out of his back in roughly a straight line." Qrow observed as the boy started to breathe heavily, though his nose stopped bleeding. "Kid was ram through by something, and somehow lived."

"With no aura activation?" Amber questioned whilst crossing her arms and looking at him. "He's not normal."

"No kidding, his speed that night at Wind Runner was incredible. Then he took down bandits along the way to Ryoko, and those Arachne. That Arachne infestation alone would normally require a duo of trained Huntsmen. Kid's definitely got something weird going on, but I don't if it's our kind of weird." Qrow stated before checking the boy's pulse and nodding his head. "That's right kid, stay in there, keep being stubborn."

"Heart back to normal?" She asked him.

"More than that, beating strong, and look." He pointed out the hissing sound coming from a large cut in his abdomen that had been bandaged. He noted white bony fragments pushing themselves out. "Kid's healing rapidly now, aura?"

"No, but it feels more similar to my magic." She placed a glowing hand over his stomach, and began to channel energy toward him to help him heal. "What language was he speaking earlier before he seized?"

"I have no clue, I know the last time Remnant used separate languages was nearly a hundred years ago in The Great War." Qrow walked over to the fire, getting out a thermos. "Tea, Amber?"

"Sure, we got anymore chamomile?" She inquired, watching scrunch through their bags. He gave a lighthearted victory cry before taking the tea bags and putting them into the boiled snow. "Sweet, now all we need is a few cookies, and it'll be a weird outing."

"Heh, teas and crumpets, Lady Amber?" He jibed before looking over his shoulder, and noting a stirring from the boy. He was slightly confused, noting the tattoo on his stomach glowing brightly. "Ever seen anything like that?"

"Not really, no, unless it's sigil of some kind." Amber examined the strange tattoo, which seemed to house power that was, by her senses, most foul. "All I can say is that what's ever in that sigil, or whatever, I don't think it's friendly."

"Noted," Qrow replies before walking over with tea in a flask. "So, really just a kid, huh? No trickery, no BS, nothing to do with Salem once so ever?"

"Not as far as I can tell. Judging by the literal war path the kid's been on, I don't think he'd really jive with her whole conquer the world plan." Amber told him as she took the flask of tea, and sipped on it. She looked at the boy's face as he seemed to still be fitful sleep. "How old do you think he is?"

"I'm gonna guess around fourteen." Qrow guessed as he looked at the boy, noting the lack of any kind of growing facial hair. "Boy's got scars on his legs, arms, and back too. Kid's either a child soldier, or some sort experiment."

"Ironwood," Amber slightly hissed under her breath, but then shook her head. "I don't think he'd dabble in that stuff."

"Lately, he's been dabbling in a lot of Ozpin's more…unflattering disagreements." Qrow then heard another voice join the conversation. He looked toward the boy, who seemed to struggle in his sleep. "What's he saying?"

"Ikanai de, ite kudasai." The boy murmured out through fitful bouts of tossing, and both watched as a tear left his eye. "Iruka sensei."

"Sensei, that's old Mistralian, really old." Qrow sipped his flask, and then watched as the boy repeated the same motions. "Kid's having the worst possible nightmare. Losing someone, or something, and trying to reach them knowing that it'll never happen."

"Qrow," Amber placed her hand on his shoulder. "If you ever want to talk-"

"I'm fine, just don't touch that subject, please." The red-eyed hunter interrupted her, and took a deep breath. The man moved the back of his hand onto the boy's forehead. "Kid's burning up, but then again, he's been kind of toasty since we've got him in here."

"I was rummaging through some of the kid's things you recovered earlier today. We know at Ryoko that he had trouble speaking, and now I may know why." Amber held out a slightly burnt and torn journal. She already had it on a page with a crude drawing of various things, by various words, and then some weird text next to it. "I think the kid's teaching himself on how to speak like us."

"Yeah, that family in Ryoko said he had some type of accent. Not heavy, but it was just there in some words. Kid didn't really hold long conversations either." The man moved his hand back of the head of the boy. He bit his lip, sighing. "Hard to believe that this guy took out that entire town a few days ago."

"Yeah, can't believe it either. All those monsters, and whatever that giant thing was. I'd say he's on par, right now, with me if I truly unleashed everything I had." The maiden figured before looking at her protector. "I know, either way, Ozpin would want to see him."

"We both know, however, that if this kid wanted to be evil there would be bodies everywhere."

"Yeah, no kidding, kind of a scary thought." Qrow thought about it, and nearly chuckled to himself. "I know one particular person who can count themselves lucky they didn't run into him. Given that he stopped sparing a lot of bandits back months prior to Wind Runner if our map holds."

"Your sister, Raven?" She concluded, but still asked, in case there was someone else.

"Yep," Qrow drank from the flask, and sighed. "She has that luck about her, easily the absolute worst person to have it too, cause she squanders every single bit of it."

"Bitter about her abandonment of Yang?" The woman asked whilst she watched him sneer. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Oh, yes, it's a definite yes. Ornery bitch has the luck, grace, of being able to have kids. What does she do? She ends up giving both her newly wedded husband of one year, and her newborn daughter the middle finger before walking out. Tribe this, tribe that, our forefathers blah-blah-fucking-blah." Qrow ranted a little as he remembered his sister's reasons of abandoning his niece, and just scoffed. "Should've figured, really, all she ever wanted was what she wanted. Damn everything, everybody, else."

"You should get some rest, I'll take first watch." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and nodded before yawning. "I'll let you know if something happens."

"Right, night, Amber." He got up, and walked over toward a bed roll, laying down in it. "Hey, by the way, thanks for…listening to that."

"You're more than my protector by now, you're my friend." She said to him before giving him a warm smile. "Get some sleep, old man."

"Pfft, I'm old when I can't lift up Harbinger." He retorted back before adjusting himself, and getting comfortable. "Seriously, wake me up if he wakes up."

"I know, sheesh." She simply waived any concerns. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

"Heh, right…" He said before yawning, and then shutting his eyes.

[Six Hours Later, 5:34am]

Resting eyes snap open, revealing bright azure to the meet the ceiling of cave. His mind was foggy, his body hurt, and the feelings around him swam in various stages of cold, warmth, and uncertainty. He looked off to his right, seeing a brown-haired, dark tan, woman sitting near the cave wall.

She was fast asleep, and then his mind clicked. She looked familiar, and then heard snoring. Looking over toward the left, he saw the man from the inn all the way back in Wind Runner. Raising up slowly, but steadily, careful not to make a noise. He noted his arms were bandaged.

Slightly peeling the bandages off, he saw that they were burnt a little. His mind was filled with confusion, because the last thing he loosely remembered was fighting that giant bone demon. Getting up slowly, he slightly blushed when he noted he was naked.

Looking over toward the left, where clothes were. He wondered up to it. Quickly, but surely sliding some on. He noted the fire was growing weak, and walked over toward it. Taking a moment to contemplate, he figured that if they wanted to hurt him, they'd had plenty of time after finding him.

He carefully placed some more kindling into the pit, making sure that the fire was going back strong. Grabbing the torn jackets, sliding them over himself. Making sure they were tight, the blonde shinobi took to checking their pockets. He frowned when he didn't feel his journal, but then looked toward the woman.

She had an open book in her left hand, which was slumped over toward the ground. Walking slowly, carefully, not even kicking any gravel. Naruto took the book from her hands, and then frowned that seemed cold. Reach over, and grabbing one of his larger jackets he pilfered off himself, he covered her up.

"Hehe…Qrow," she drowsily giggled before blushing in her sleep. "Least take…a girl to dinner first."

Heat filled his cheeks, and he looked toward the man on the ground. Both of them, probably, saved his life. If they hadn't came along, or tracked him now that he thought about it, he'd been dead. Still, if there was ever choice to be made, he certainly had one in front of him now.

Part of him figured they'd be fine, but he didn't know that. Everything in him was tired of being lonely, his will was strong, but his mind and emotions were dangerously weak. They saved his life, so surely, they couldn't be bad people, right? Naruto stood there, thinking on it some more, and then he bit his lip.

Then again, if they were near enough to him to rescue him, they probably saw him fight those monsters somewhat too. He checked wounds on his arms, noting that they were at least a day or two old, but the aching in his arm indicated he had broken it recently.

Those were never fun to heal from.

Plus, earlier, he felt like he was dying. Those dreams of the zombies ended suddenly, and he didn't know why.

He walked toward the cave entrance, and saw that there was basically nothing but a white out in front of him. A massive blizzard was raging. He took a moment, and frowned as he looked out into the whiteout. Snow whipping by at speeds unreasonable, and the air was colder than it had ever been. It almost burned it was so cold. Taking a deep breath, and slowly turning around, he looked at the two.

Walking over to the pack, and pouches that were his, he grabbed some wiring out. Picking up some discarded cans and puncturing them, he made a makeshift alarm system at the front of the cave. Being silent, working like a mouse sneaking in fear of alerting a cat. Carefully, methodically, he rigged the cave's entrance with the alarm of cans.

Moving back into the cave, Naruto saw the bed roll he had been in. It was filthy, dried blood, and various other stains. He was slightly confused, because if he had been out for more than a couple of days, then someone had to…he didn't want to think about that.

Taking a moment, looking around the cave, Naruto spotted their gear. He walked over to it, placing it behind him in the cave, and then sat down. Crossing his legs, and keeping his eyes on them at all times. On the very small chance they were hostile, and he'd have to fight in a confine space, denying them access to their equipment gave him a critical edge in a easy victory.

His eyes soften at those thoughts, and made him wonder just where in his time here he had been forced to start thinking like this? Was it getting captured by bandits back in his first month here, still injured and weakened? Was it the time he almost got lured into a Grimm pit by seemingly stranded merchants who just turned out to be psychotic opportunists?

He figured somewhere in that range, within his first three months here, that he couldn't trust anyone for long. Even the people he helped, like that family in Ryoko, he had came too close to exposure. That uncle's eyes had said it all, and it reminded him that in this world, even with his own base skillset…he was an unknown.

Sparing bandits only led to more people getting hurt, so he started doing what he had to do!

Caravans with old, desiccated, bodies on the road had supplies! He did what he had to do!

Often lying to people, or avoiding people altogether, for fear of exposure!

He. Did. What. He. Had To. Do!

Those six words, "I did what I had to," were his go to comfort for the multitude of things that had happened. Dropping bodies here and there, bandits who had long forgone humanity. Taking supplies from dead people, just so he could survive in the wilderness, it broke him slightly. Watching this world from the distance, all the technology, and peace…at least seemingly on the surface.

Only to hear about a town, a settlement, or a family going missing every other time he walked into anything populated. A constant, horrible, reminder that he could never stay off edge. He had to constantly stay on alert, readied up, and combat ready. Never once having to slow down, never once letting anyone in, and even now with people who had saved him…

He didn't trust them enough to just suddenly lash out at him.

It wasn't fear, it was survival.

It wasn't an excuse, but precautions.

It wasn't even hostile, but he lacked trust.

Trust got him nearly killed.

Without the precautions, he nearly got eaten.

With the attitude of survival, everything fell into their respective categories of importance.

Food source, water source, shelter, weapons and tools, and lastly an escape plan. That all trumped anything, everything to do with being sociable, with any idea of opening up. Ryoko Lake was the closest he had ever came to disobeying that rule, and it nearly caused him to fight someone he had originally intended to save because of his powers being on his display.

These thoughts clouded his mind, his eyes hyper focusing on everything, and anything. His body's heart thumped in his chest faster, and faster anytime either one of them stirred. His hands were balled into fists already, ready to fight. The young teenager sat there, focusing on them, awaiting the inevitable. Either way, this would happen eventually, because they wouldn't stop following him just here.

Which either meant they wanted to simply talk on behalf of someone else, or there was a bounty somewhere. Either way, he wasn't going anywhere due to the raging storm outside. Neither were they, but what would determine either of them walking out of that cave would be what words were said, who said them, and how they came off.

Time passed by, slowly, but surely. His eyes never leaving them for more than a brief moment. The whirling winds outside flooding his ears with the sounds of nature's cold fury. His heart still thumping faster than normal, a drum of war readiness, preparing the absolute wash of adrenaline that would happen in the moment he had to move to make combat.

"What am I doing?" He thought to himself as he looked at them, thinking about what he dared not to earlier. "Am I being cruel, have gone to be cruel, am I becoming just like…Sasuke?"

He thought to himself, and took a moment. Quickly moving their equipment within arms reach of them. If he had let them wake up with it out of reach, they'd been on edge from the start. His heart thumped more, though, knowing that he just gave up any tactical advantage.

The young shinobi was tired, and his actions were a mess. Slowly, but surely, he retreated back to the entrance. Arms shaking, mind racing, and bits of the memories inside of the town flooding into him. They surely knew if they were even close. It was an easy conclusion if they had found him in the center of it all.

He sat on the ground, cross legged again, and took a deep breath. Calming himself, at least trying to. He didn't know how to handle this situation, not by a long shot. Still, he knew someone here had to do the dirtiest job of all time, and it was an intense sign of care.

Still, high valued prisoners would be considered almost lavishly treated in some cases.

His eyes grew heavy, very heavy. Why was he still so sleepy?

Looking at his arms again, he noted something. It looked something similar to IV port. His eyes locked onto it, noting something in vial on it. He took his hand around, and pulled quickly to take out the needle. He read the vial on it, and took a moment to look into his journal as he did so.

"Aug-Men-Tin, Augmentin." The teenage shinobi muttered softly, and saw the exceedingly small letters near it. "Anti-Bi-Otic, Antibiotic. Keeping his journal open, reading the burnt, and tattered pages, he managed to find the word anti. Opposite, or against."

"It's made to help you." A voice, a woman's voice, suddenly cut the air. "You're terrible at keeping silent."

Naruto snapped backwards, and moved towards the entrance of the cave. The woman was sitting upright, with her hand held toward the man. It was glowing, and some shimmering light was near the man. Some sort of barrier, perhaps even blocking the sound, but that was boldly risky if so.

He didn't dare speak.

"I kind of figure it's better if I introduced myself first. Qrow, here, he can be a bit brash. I set up a sort of an alarm for when you got up. Don't be alarmed." She punned slightly, but noted it didn't seem to register with him. She figured it was due to the language barrier, most certainly because he still probably couldn't pick on social ques like the family in Ryoko stated. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered her back, almost abrasively. The young shinobi held up his arm where the IV had been. "Thank you, for the medicine."

"You're welcome," she replied before looking toward the cave entrance. "Good job, on the defenses."

"Um, good job, for?" He questioned her, and then looked to where she was also looking. "Oh, no problem."

"How old are you?" She inquired, moving her hand down slowly from Qrow. "You seem young, are you a child?"

"What month is it?" He questioned her, still with a small accent as he started to adjust his voice accordingly. "No-Vem-Ber?"

"October," She held up ten fingers, emphasizing the order of the month. "It's still October, but almost Halloween."

"Halloween, what's that?" He asked before seeing her perturbed look. "Um, did I say something wrong?"

"No-no, it's fine." She waived him off before crossing her arms, thinking. "Halloween is something usually all kids know about."

"I didn't know that." He stated before rubbing the back of his head nervously. Looking past her, he saw the man stir. "I'm not a child, though."

"Ah yeah, we were on the subject of your age, how old are you?" She inquired, and saw him think on it. "Listen, don't lie, you're not exactly amongst enemies."

"How do I know you're friends?" He questioned her, which kind of threw her off a little bit. "Trust is hard, especially out in the wilds."

"Ah, I get it, when he gets actual engagement he's not half-bad. Kind of like any skill, the more you use it the better you get, but the time's you go out of practice, you're rusty." She figured out as to him quickly catching up on holding a conversation with her, well sort of. "Still, a little abrasive."

"We saved you, you were under a possession when we found you." She told him, and then got a boastful smile. "Specifically, me, I sort of ripped out a Grimm from you."

"Grimm, possession, oh…" His skin slightly paled, and he looked toward the cave entrance. "The dead things."

"Yeah, the dead things." She shivered a little bit, and then saw him sigh. "Are you okay?"

"Why did you save me?" He questioned her, gaining a sort of sideways glance. "You, and I both know, what I did."

"So, it was you, that red light and explosion." She murmured, slightly on edge, knowing for certain she was looking at something more than just a mere human. "Are you a magic user?"

"Magic, what the hell's magic?" He crossed his arms, and then thought about the word. He took a gamble, and weaved hand seals in front of her without activating anything. "Is this what you call magic?"

"I don't know why you were contorting your fingers like that, but that seems similar to something I kind of do." She mentioned before getting a sort of confused look come across her face. After he had finished those, she felt a flicker of power emanate from him. "Are you thirsty?"

"A little bit," he admitted whilst looking toward the flask next to her. "Can you toss that flask over?"

"Do you one better, just prove I wasn't lying." She put down her middle and ring finger. The flask suddenly had a soft orange glow come over it before she flicked her wrist. The vessel went soaring right over toward him, to which he caught without much surprise. "That's what I meant, earlier, by magic."

"That's…" His eyes suddenly beamed with stars, "so friggin' cool!"

"I'm guessing that's a no, on the whole magic thing." She slightly giggled before feeling eyes on her. Turning nervously toward her protector, and feeling a cold sweat run down her forehead, the maiden realized what she had done. "Oh, hey, mornin, Qrow."

"Kid went from near death, to up and about, just like that." Qrow observed before seeing his hands contort similar to Amber's when she did telekinesis with her magic. He frowned, grumbling before placing a hand on his chin looking at her. "Seriously, you know the rules on that."

"Oh c'mon, he's similar to me." She childishly pointed out, and then heard him sputtering as he took a drink. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Why does it burn?!" He yelled out slightly, looking at the flask. He felt it suddenly get yanked out his hand and back to her with telekinesis. "Hey, didn't say I didn't like it!"

She held up a finger, and looked at the flask. Confused at first, she looked off to her right, and saw another flask. Nodding her head, and slightly chuckling to herself, she nervously grabbed the other flask. Tossing the original flask over to Qrow, who took it into his freed left hand.

"That's my flask, Amber, Dragonroot Whiskey isn't cheap you know." He chided her, and then looked towards the boy near the cave entrance. "Kid drunk half the damn flask in one go too. That's about one hundred liens you owe me, brat."

"I'll cover his tab, sheesh, the crap he's been through I'm surprised he hasn't developed an issue." Amber chided her protector, and partner, before looking over towards Naruto who flushed cheeks. "I'm Amber Redwood, it's nice to finally meet you, sorry for the twenty questions earlier."

"Amber, quit breaking protocol." Qrow grumbled before sighing, and then looked at the kid, holding ups his flask to greet him. "Qrow, just Qrow."

"Um, I'm…" Naruto thought it over for a moment, and mulled it in his head. Finally, just deciding to be truthful, he took a deep breath. "I'm Naruto, just Naruto."

"Naruto, that's definitely a weird name." She commented before humming a little bit, and then tried to think on what else to say. "So, Naruto, where are you headed? Considering your crossing one of the most dangerous areas on Remnant, it must be important, right?"

"Just east," He admitted before thinking it over on what else to say. "I came from Ryoko, and figured this'd be the quickest path toward the east."

"Minus all the weird Grimm, it would be." The veteran Huntsmen said as he looked toward his partner. "Kid's probably just wondering about."

"Are you just wondering about?" She asked Naruto, who nudged his head side-to-side. "I mean, I get it, it's kind of what me and Qrow do."

"Are you two, you know, married?" The young teenager asked as he looked, making them both suddenly flush. Slightly giggling at their reaction, he pointed at both of them teasingly. "Hehe, you two are, aren't you?"

"Oh, my Gods, hell no!" She barked out, blushing mad, looking off to side. "No way, nope, nah huh!"

"Heh, kid's got a good imagination. Speaking of him, did you at least get the basic stuff?" Qrow asked Amber, who stopped, and then scratched her chin nervously. "I'll take that as a no, okay then."

He turned toward the blonde-haired teen, and nodded his head. Motioning for him to come closer. He took a moment to slowly approach them. Sitting closer by the warm fire made him realize just how cold he had been a few moments before. He took a deep breath, holding out his unbandaged hands to the flames.

They both allowed the kid to get some warmth. Noting how his eyes sort of stared into the flames.

"So, kid, Amber probably already asked. How old are you?" Qrow questioned him, watching him for any tells in case he was lying. "Don't lie about it, cause I hate liars."

"Qrow, c'mon, kid's probably still shrugging off some of wild stuff he's been through. He's no reason to even be as open as he's been." The woman turned to Naruto, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm twenty-seven, by the way, in case it makes you feel better."

"I'm thirty-six, if she's just gonna blabber, why not me." Qrow looked towards the cave entrance, and saw the raging storm still going despite it being morning of the third day. "Ain't like we're going anywhere anytime soon."

"Um, well, would it surprise you if I said I was…thirteen?" Naruto sheepishly admitted, only to hear both Qrow and Amber spit out their drinks. "W-what, something I said about my age?"

"Dude, you're a frigging kid, of course we're shocked! We guessed you were at least fifteen, but we have to rewind the clock nearly a year. When is your birthday?" Amber questioned him, and then sighed as she looked at Qrow. "You know what I'm about to say, right?"

"At this point I know I'm getting yelled at, so screw it." The older man waived as he sat cross legged in front of the fire, and in front of Naruto. "If it helps, I was born in August."

"That's the eighth month," Amber held up four fingers of each hand toward Naruto. "I was born in the fourth month, April."

"Oh, I was born in the tenth month. October, actually that means…" Naruto thought about it before realizing. "Huh, I guess I'm actually fourteen now…what day is it?"

"October twenty-third," Amber answers him before smirking. "So, really, just fourteen?"

"Yeah…" Naruto looked off to the side, and sighed. "So, what happens now?"

"Well when the storm lets up, you'll have to come with us." Qrow stated before seeing the azure eyes of the boy look at him. "I promise you, it's nothing bad, unless you make it bad in which case-!"

"Qrow, c'mon, choose better words than that. You're gonna get him anxious, then we'll have to chase him again. You know what old man, shut up, let me do the talking. One unique person to another." She cut him off from saying anything else, and then looked at Naruto. "So, let's cut to the chase, alright."

"Alright," Naruto looked toward the cave entrance, and shrugged. "I'm game, what is it?"

"Okay so, let's put it out here like this. We're not the only ones looking for you. Some other people are a bit more…shall we say…uh…" Amber struggled to describe one of the parties, only for Qrow to roll his eyes. "Okay, fine, you say it then."

"Screw a stick, one of our own allies has a massive tree up his ass. Let's just say, rumors of some sort of hero fly around faster than you might think. You're kind of a folk legend nowadays. Aside from various forms, the general theme, some sort of kid walks into an area, leaves it better than it was, probably drops a few bodies along the way. You getting where I'm coming from, Naruto?" Qrow quickly explained the situation for this person in detail. "You're not being hunted, you're just being scouted."

"Scouted?" Naruto asked confusedly, looking at both him and Amber. "What does that mean?"

"It means that people who want to make the world a little better, are looking for people like you! Cause, well, you're like me. Essentially we're not like everyone else, and Qrow here, isn't really either but his thing is…much more inconspicuous." Amber continued from where Qrow started off, and made sure that she wasn't saying anything that could alarm him. "There's other people like me, possibly like you too, well no not like you uh…"

"Okay…" The teenager nodded his head, and frowned. "What makes you think I'd even be remotely interested?"

"Pfft, I don't know, it's gotta lonely always on the road, right?" She pointed out and watched as he pondered that for moment. "Better to deal with us, than some of our other contemporaries."

"Sorry, but I'm not interested." Naruto told her straight out as he got up from the fire, and stretched. "You wasted your time following me."

"Then why even stay here?" She asked him, and looked at him slightly confused. "Just seems like you're jerking our chains just a little."

"I'm not a jerk," the blonde replied whilst slightly smirking. "It was just nice that someone actually helped me, for once."

"Never said you was a jerk, never mind, it was a figure of speech. Still, what could be the harm?" She continued, and then watch him roll his eyes at her. "No, seriously, what kind of life is it to constantly be on the run? Alone, trust me, it's not any type of life."

"Plus, you would've died from exposure, or that possession."

"True…you got me there." The shinobi agreed, crossing his arms and biting his lip a little bit. "I'm not familiar with this place."

"Mistral, so you're from one of the other countries?" She guessed, trying to gauge his reaction before noting a slightly surprised look dress his face. "What's with the surprise look, I'm getting ready to guess Atlas next."

"How many countries are there?" He asked them both suddenly, having never really put much thought into it. "I know it's a weird question."

"No kidding, there's no way you don't know that…but let's humor you." Qrow got a device out of his pocket, displaying a world map. "This is Remnant, we're in this place called Mistral. Technically there is three other countries, which are Vale, Atlas, and Vacuo."

"Four, I always count Menagerie." Amber added in, making Qrow roll his own eyes slightly. "What, I'm just saying, the only difference is that they don't have an official unified government…probably better if you ask me."

"Okay, semantics aside on countries, there's also the freeholds which are small territories that border these countries. However, they're so small that they aren't really that important." Qrow put the device up, and then looked at Naruto. "So, where are you from, Vale, Vacuo, or Atlas?"

"What if I told you it's a bit more complicated than that?" The blonde rhetorically asked her, all the while trying to come up with the best way to explode it. "Like…none of them, not in that one, um…Menagada…Menjary, uh…"

"Menagerie," Amber corrected him, and then sat there looking at him. "So, what are you saying exactly, that you're not from here?"

"Well…" Naruto sort drawled a little bit, and then he sighed. "Not exactly, I don't know."

"Well, that is why you need to come with us. The person I work for deals with this sort of thing." Qrow pushed as he looked at Naruto, and saw the teen just cock his head with his lips pursed in thought. "I get it, you don't want to, but you'd be surprised that you're not alone as you think."

"Tch, yeah right…" Naruto got up from the fire, and looked at them. "No offense, but you guys have no idea how wrong you are on that."

"Maybe, maybe not, but why not just take a chance?" The veteran Huntsman continued, nudging his head side-to-side. "What's there to lose, a few weeks travel, maybe a month or two?"

"And I get to walk away if I don't like it?" Naruto added in, crossing his arms over his chest, eyeing the man incredulously. He took a moment to mule it over, and sighed heavily. "She's got a point though, I'm tired of moving around place to place. Truth be told, you know damn well what I'm capable of, the both you do."

"Are you sure it's even safe for me to be around large groups of people?"

"There's been no stories of you going psycho killer on a bunch of people. Unless, you have another secret you want to tell us." Amber suggested before watching flatly stare at her. "Well, I think that's about as far as any critical information we're getting, better than nothing."

"Still need an answer." Qrow reminded the blonde in front of them. "Take the gamble, or are you just walking?"

"Something tells me I'm not just walking, even if I wanted too." Naruto reasoned aloud before looking at the cave entrance. He began to stretch, and looked at them both. "Really don't want hurt you guys either, you've been nice to me, despite hunting me."

"Hunt is a strong word, don't know why you'd keep going back to that." Amber nervously chuckled out as she noted a stern, but cold, look in his eyes. "You're being serious about fighting us?"

"Wouldn't be much of a fight…" He cheekily stated whilst looking away. "I'm sorry, I'm just not really used to…this."

"Wired up for fights on the road, trust issues, kid. You're pretty much par for the course for us." Qrow responded with holding up his flask, and then he smirked. "I don't think you could beat us though, at least not hand-to-hand combat."

"Qrow, don't go picking fights with this kid, c'mon." Amber complained lightly but only watched as he ignored her. "Seriously, men, why does it always boil down to who throws the bigger punch."

"Sometimes its always about the pecking order." Qrow snickered before noting the boy was gone. "Hey, what the-!"

"The storm's stopped, it just happened, look!" Amber yelled out, noting the clear view in front of the morning sunlight. "Kid dipped on us!"

"Ah damn it, he was playing us!" The man shouted as he got up quickly, packing things into bags. "Amber hurry up, we need to get moving while his trail's hot!"

"Yeah, I know, damn it! I didn't even notice, one moment he's there, next moment he's not!" Amber shouted back at him, quickly getting her stuff into her set of bags. "What's the nearest town from here, going east?"

"Brunswick Farms, a farming settlement just past the mountains. Wait a second," Qrow took out the map, and then smirked. "We can beat the kid there! There's a train that runs through the area."

"Maybe the kid might stumble upon it too?" Amber pointed out, as they quickly started heading toward the cave entrance. "We may actually get lucky this time around, cause I have a feeling we were close!"

"Were we though, is that how he wanted to make us feel?" Qrow suggested much to Amber's chagrin, and both quickly sped off into the snow! "No matter what, we don't stop until we get to him!"

{Snow Plains.}
[Three hours later. 10:50am]

"Why'd I bolt like that, jeez!"

Naruto bolted through the snow, running as quickly as possible. He moved through the snow, sliding on ice skillfully, never once losing speed. He came to a cliff's edge, leaping off it, and feeling nothing but air. He looked down, seeing smaller mountains and large hills below him. Tucking, and rolling through the air to gain the magnus effect. He created a clone to help his landing, sliding on the snow with his side.

His heart thumped in his chest, and then realized all the things he told them. He could've lied, but part of him didn't want to! The teenage shinobi thought about what the woman had said, and all the things the guy had put out for him. Then again, he didn't know if he was ready to be apart of anything, especially since he barely even knew this world.

Part of him didn't trust them as well, at least, not who they worked for.

Bandit groups were one thing, but fanatics, they were entirely different breed of crazy he only had the misgiving into running into once. He didn't know if he was assigning reasons for avoiding at this point. That woman, the one with the powers, he knew she was entirely different from anyone else he met here.

Maybe there was a part of him that just didn't want to be around anyone. He had past that town, the dead town, and saw it was absolutely destroyed. Whatever had happened, whatever he did in the ultimate moments of the battle, made him have a cold sweat run through him.

There was thousands of thoughts swirling through his head. Everything they talked about, everything he had experienced, and then his own personal feelings mixing thoroughly into one messed up hodge podge of incisiveness, rash decisions, and fear.

He stopped with a slide in the snow, and looked off into the distance behind him. If they caught back up to him, if they even managed to, maybe just maybe…

He'd be tempted to see what they meant.

Chapter Five: Communication.
End.

{Brunswick Farms: Near a cave.}
[Around the same time.]

Gunfire echoed throughout the cave as a man with long brown hair ran backwards. Sweat caked his forehead, tired eyes hung lazily open. He panted, moving with purpose as he felt his consciousness leaving him. His halberd shotgun barked with blasts when he heard the hissing and moaning of the monsters in the cave.

He had to warn the village, no matter what, he had to…

His body gave out as he neared the entrance of cave. He crawled weakly toward the outer entrance and just shook in the cold. The people were in mortal danger, he couldn't just fall here, not like this. Anything, but like this. He was attempting to crawl more until claws grabbed ahold of his leg.

"No…no, get off me!" He screamed and looked at the village just a few hundred yards away. "Run! For the love of the brothers, just run!"

"Ru-aah!" He screamed as his aura began breaking, slowly and surely. The claws grabbing deeper, and deeper, until they started getting into his flesh. He felt claws grab the back of his neck! "No, no, oh gods no-aaah!"

RIP!

Blood slowly seeped into the snow! The man's hazel eyes dulled as life left them. His screams unanswered, his begging unsounded. All of his effort wasted, and not a soul stirred from their homes. Not one person, man, woman, or child came to help him…or see the disaster.

Perhaps it was out of fear?

Maybe, just maybe, they didn't hear him…

Frighteningly, perhaps, they were all just…apathetic to his plight.