A/N: Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story.

If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.

I'm not joking.

That said, I hope you're ready, because this chapter's packed with content...and references.

So many references. Worked really hard on it these last few days, can't wait to hear what you think!

Now lets move onto your questions:

Q: Wait a minute! You only listed Six of the Arc Children! Saphron, Sabrina and Sable, Jaune, Jeanne, and Azula! Where are the other two?!

A: I'm glad someone noticed. That was deliberate on my part. The eighth has yet to be born. But the seventh...ohoho...she's a blond alright, and a very familiar one at that. Azula and Sabrina are the only exceptions to the blond rule and there's a reason dear 'ol Jaune didn't mention his seventh sister...because she's a force to be reckoned with. Emphasis on Force.

Anybody play SWTOR? Yes? No? Her name ought to ring a bell. The golden eyes certainly will.

Q: Daaaaaayum Pyrrha be thirsty.

A: She really is; after all, she's found someone like her, someone trying to be normal, someone who doesn't recognize her as the Invincible Girl, someone who just sees her as...well, Pyrrha. That flips ALL her switches.

Result! She hunted him down in Initiation. The rest his history.

Q: Don't just cut the Atlas bit there?! Blood for the blood god!

A: Blood you shall have.

Q: What are the teams?! Don't toy with us!

A: Had to deliberate long and hard for that one, but I finally came to one that I think you'll all enjoy. Sometimes the simplest ones are the best.

Alright them, I think I've kept you long enough. Hope you're ready; because from this point on? Well.

As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. Now off we go.

I think...we'll go with "Just" for the titles from here on out.

Naruto is best papa in this story. That is all.

"I'm not soft like Jaune. My chains are broken. You're proud of me, aren't you, Father?"

"Sure. Love you too, Vaylin. Now give your old man a hug."

"Do you want me to hunt him down?"

"No...not yet."

~?

Just a Little Pride

Pyrrha had found her partner.

Well, perhaps "find" that wasn't quite the right word. She hadn't so much found Jaune as she had hunted him down like a prized stag, but really! It was the thought that counted. The principle of the matter. That sort of thing. Semantics. As far as he knew they'd simply stumbled upon one another. Nothing more. He would never know the truth. And that was fine. Ignorance was bliss after all.

For once in her life, something had gone right. Wonderfully right.

"I'm just a normal guy."

Normal, he said.

Yet for all Jaune's claims of normality there was a surety in his step; a staid boldness in the way he held himself that Pyrrha recognized all too well. This was no hapless, bumbling boy, no matter what he might pretend to be. He could conceal it all he wanted, but she knew what she'd seen. She was seeing it now as he walked beside her. Not in front of or behind her, but beside her. This was a warrior. The true depth of his skill remained to be seen, but she was certain of it. He wasn't normal. Neither was she-

"Duck!"

Instinct took hold and her body obeyed at once. Just as well too; because Crocea Mors shot bast her, spinning end over end to split the skull of a Beowolf that had crept up behind her...followed by the tree behind it, and the tree after that. It slammed against a nearby boulder with a dull thud and all but sheathed itself in the stone to the hilt.

All this? In less than a second.

Pyrrha blinked a little as the towering monstrosity crumbled to dust before her like a forgotten memory. Its demise was accompanied soon thereafter by the awful crack of falling trees, then the the dull groan of splintered stone. Well, that settled it. She called dibs. All the dibs. Every dibs. She wasn't letting him get away from her. Not after a display like that.

"Damnit." She heard Jaune mutter to himself as he retrieved his weapon, "Threw it too hard. Gotta watch that."

Her eyes narrowed. A tiny voice stirred in the back of her head. 'Mine!'

How well could he fight? He clearly had strength in spades, but how was his speed? His stamina...? Oh, dear. Best focus on the task at hand. Jaune was loping her way, and she must attend.

"You alright, there?"

"Y-Yes," she managed. "I'll be alright. I'm sorry, I didn't see the Grimm."

"Nah, its fine." his smile was sunshine itself. "You're only human, after all. Its not your fault."

He really was flipping all her switches, wasn't he? But there it was, the mention of his Father again. He'd already spoken of him in passing a few minutes ago, but now she found herself curious. His style certainly seemed to be unorthodox enough.

"If I may ask, why did you throw your weapon?"

"Dad says you shouldn't be afraid to use every tool at your disposal." he shrugged. "It just seemed faster, you know? He's always telling me and my sisters to adapt."

That sounded wonderful. Her own home life had been...less than grand. Despite her best efforts, a seed of envy sprouted in her heart. It took root and threaded itself through her every thought.

"So, what's he like?" she asked.

Jaune warmed to the new topic immediately.

"Dad's great, but he can be really protective when it comes to family...


(.0.0.0.)


Juniper considered her husband's punch nothing short of spectacular.

Well, perhaps she was a bit biased in that regard.

Still didn't change the results, though.

Naruto's fist collided with the poor Specialist and that was the end of it. His target didn't simply die. They ceased to be. What was their name again? Vine, or something? She supposed it didn't matter. What little remained of him didn't even look human. There was hardly any blood. Everything just...evaporated. The soldiers took one look at space where their commander once stood and paled.

"See this?" Naruto spread his arms, placing himself firmly between them and his family. "This is the part where you run away screaming."

"..."

"Go on, now." he waved a hand. "Shoo. Or the same will happen to the rest of you."

No one moved.

"Really?" a blond brow quirked. "I'm giving you all a chance to walk away here."

"You heard him! Stand down!" A voice, the very same as before, frantically sought to impose order. "I repeat! Soldiers of Atlas!" a young man with dark skin and darker hair sought to to thrash his way toward the front of the rigid men and women before him, to no avail. "Lower your weapons, damnit! Whatever you do, do NOT-

"OPEN FIRE!"

Someone snarled and two dozen rifles barked at once.

Juniper whirled at once, shielding the children with her body. Naruto's stepped past them, lazily interposing himself between them and harm. A hand rose, and as she looked on blue eyes shimmered into seven shades of vicious violet. He didn't shout. Didn't speak. Just raised an arm with lazy grace. Dozens of dust rounds stopped well short of him. They simply hung there, adrift, in defiant of all laws of reality. His expression was nothing short of fierce; the look of a furious father come to reap those who would threaten his family.

"Good soldiers follow orders, eh?" the words escaped him in a low hiss. "Aright. Here." he snarled. "You dropped these. Allow me to return them!"

The air boiled with an almighty push, and Juniper found herself intensely grateful she'd ushered the children back inside. It wouldn't do for the little ones to see this. Men and woman dropped in droves, eviscerated by their own bullets. At least the girls wouldn't remember this. Ordinarily she wouldn't countenance killing, least of all in the open like this.

Today? She was willing to make an exception.

"Sable, be a dear and hold your sister." She darted back into the house and pushed the youngest into her daughter's arms. "Mommy's going to help daddy real quick- She performed a cursory headcount, then paused as she realized something. Wait. They were two short. "Where's Saphron?"

"Town!" One of the younger girls sang over the noise outside.

"Went to see her girlfriend! Chimed another.

"She what?!" Naruto's voice thundered from the yard.

No, nevermind that. Even that reckoning, they were still one short. "Has anyone seen Vaylin?"

A dull crunch from upstairs -punctuated by a familiar laugh!- was all the warning Juniper received before a body came crashing down the wooden stumps. She dodged aside with casual grace, sweeping her children with her left they be bowled over. Just as well too; because said corpse hit the floor, bounced once, and went crashing out the door. Well, thank heaven for small mercies. At least the little ones didn't see anything horrific.

"This one thought he was clever." A soft voice purred from the top of the stairs. "He slipped in through the back. I caught him."

Black boots descended the steps at speed and she found herself gazing upon one of her elder daughters, wrapped in a dark tunic and long flowing skirt to match. Eyes of pure amber, bright and heady beamed back at her, framed by flaxen hair. Her face was pale and her eyes narrow, but that smile? That was every bit Naruto. Her powers lay in the arcane. Her emotions gave her strength. Love. Hate. Joy. Sorrow. These were her tools. And with them, her chains were broken.

This was Vaylin Arc.

"It seems we have uninvited guests, mother." She granted her a smile sweet as sunshine, with a hint of steel lurking beneath. "Can I kill them?"

Juniper stifled a sigh as she gazed upon her willful daughter. She really did have wild children. "Just don't make a mess."

"Sweetie," Naruto's voice called from the yard, "Be a dear and help me clean up this mess, would you?"

Golden eyes flashed with glee and she all but shot outside in a swirl of silk. "Coming, father!"

Vaylin all but dove on the nearest man, ripping her weapon free as she went. A blade of pure golden light sprang to life in her hand and came crashing down. His head went spinning away into the morning mist, little more than a bad memory. In the same moment her hand shot out and clenched into a claw. Not three yards away a man dropped, clutching at his throat. Two more rounded on her, rifles raised, only to balk as her blade cut the weapons apart and flung molten shrapnel in their faces.

The enemy didn't last long after she started bringing trees down on their heads.

Really, it was shaping up to be a massacre...

"STAY!"

...until that.

Incredibly, the survivors obeyed that singular command; like a pack of a bad pets being told to remain still, the handful of surviving soldiers didn't budge an inch. Each stood there, rooted in place. Some remained froze in the act of attacking, others fleeing, still more gripping lost limbs or grievous wounds.

Juniper stepped out and poked one. He didn't budge an inch.

"I am so, so sorry!" a young man -the same one as before!- all but flung himself at her feet. "It wasn't supposed to go this way." as she looked on aghast, he all but prostrated himself. "Really, it wasn't! The council told us to...well," he cast a fretful glance to his squad, then looked back to them with a wince. "They wanted us to take you into custody, but Vine...!" A whimper stole out of him. "The general didn't tell us to do this, really, I swear. It was the Council!"

Naruto shouldered her aside, eyes burning. "Who are you supposed to be, exactly?"

"Marrow, sir." the man dithered. "My name is Marrow."

"Well, Marrow." a hand reached down, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "You can send a message to Atlas fo rme."

...are you going to kill me, sir?"

Juniper tugged at his sleeve.

Naruto sighed.

"No."

Instead, he gaze flashed up to the skies ahead and Juniper saw what he saw. A battle-cruiser?! What was something like that doing out here in Ansel? It explained where the soldiers had come from; how they had deployed so quickly in the face of such overwhelming odds. But again! Why! Was! It! Here?!

Her husband glared up at the battleship. "I want you to watch this."

With casual grace, he raised a hand.

And tore it out of the sky.


(.0.0.0.)


"That...is a big cave."

Yeah, understatement of the century there, partner.

Huh. Partner. Jane was still getting used to that word. He rather liked the sound of it.

In any case, back to the matter at hand, or rather, the cave. The great mouth of an impossibly large cavern yawned before them; its depths unexplored. A warning was pained into the side by ink or blood. Certainly looked red enough to be the latter. Men with spears and bows warded off a large scorpion-liked creature, as though they were herding it into the entrance itself, pushing it away from other painted figures who had fallen.

Well. That wasn't ominous at all.

"Should we go in?"

Wait, what? Jaune recoiled, somewhat startled by the agency he'd been given. "You're asking me?"

Pyrrha scuffed a boot against the ground.

"You're my partner." try as he might to ignore it, he couldn't help but notice the way she empathized that last word. "I'll follow your lead. Should I not...?"

"No, no!" he interjected quickly. "Its fine. I'm...just not used to taking charge, is all."

Huh. He couldn't remember the last time someone had asked him what he wanted to do. Vaylin and the others were too scary. Even Saphron humored him at best. But this? It felt pretty good. No, really good. He could get used to this...

"Look at you, stepping out into the world and finding your ego. Almost makes an old fox proud."

Jaune blanched. He knew that voice. Nearly every Arc child had heard it at least once. Ordinarily, said voice brought nothing peace.

Not so today.

'Uncle-erm, I mean, Kurama?!' he shot a thread of thought at the voice. 'Why are you in my head?!'

"Why do you think?" he heard the tailed-beast equivalent of a yawn. "Someone needs to keep an eye on you. Speaking of which, don't go into that cave."

'Why?'

"Use your training and see for yourself."

It was a simple matter to recall his training. One of the first things Dad had taught them -each and every one of them!- was how to sense Grimm. They had a distinct "wrongness" to them, the anathema of like antithesis of all thing good. Like oil running over water. He stretched out his senses now. Something responded. It felt like a Grimm. A very large Grimm. Nope. Not dealing with that. If it was trapped in there, it could stay trapped for all he cared. So long as they didn't provoke it, they'd be fine.

"There's definitely...something in there." he said for Pyrrha's sake as much as his own. "Probably shouldn't risk it."

"How can you tell?" his partner looked to him, baffled. "Is that your semblance?"

"Not really," he hedged. "Lets call it intuition."

"How?"

Urk.

"W-Well," he waved a hand at the painted wall, "That's obviously a deathstalker, right?" his gloved palm slapped against the mural once for good measure. "A very big deathstalker. I'd really rather not deal with it." Mind you, he was fairly certain he could handle it if it came to that, but he'd risk blowing his cover. Nope! Not happening. "No point in picking a fight we don't need, eh?"

Pyrrha deferred to him with a nod. "Well, if you say so...

And that, as they say, was that.

From that single choice, things changed.

But some things...well. Some things remained. the same.

"Forward, faithful steed! To victoryyyy~!"

Someone came crashing through the undergrowth at speed, riding an absolute behemoth of an Ursa. Jaune brandished his blade, and Pyrrha with him...for all the good it did them. Said Ursa made it all of two steps toward them before it slumped over with a groan. A grinning girl rode its even-now-crumbling corpse to the ground.

"Hey, there!" She saw them and flashed a jaunty wave. "You haven't heard a guy makin' sloth calls, have ya?"

Pyrrha blinked. "What does a sloth even sound like?"

"Huh. You know, that's actually a pretty good question...

Jaune gawped. "Did...did that girl just ride an Ursa to death?"

"I think she did." Kurama physically recoiled in his head. He hadn't thought that possible. "Back! Back, foul creature! Go sell crazy someplace else! We're all stocked up here!"

He dared a step back toward the cave, trying to tamp down on his anxiety. Well, this girl was certainly...off. Surely she wasn't that bad, right? Besides, he already had a partner! Everything was great. Everything was fine. His infiltration had been flawless. No one was any the wiser. Nothing to see here! Move along, crazy lady!

Behind him, the cave erupted.

Jaune flung up his arms.

"WHY ME?!"


(.0.0.0.)


James Ironwood slammed the scroll down against his desk.

"What?! Who sanctioned that operation?!"

The silence soon proved telling.

"You must be joking...

A/N: Poor Jaune. Had to snip a few things until next time. Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule.

If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.

A lot of folks are STILL asking if Jaune's gonna get himself a harem. Should that be a thing?

Real quick, yes. THAT Vaylin. She's a blond in her trailer, after all.

Had to cut some things until next chapter, would've felt too rushed to force them all in at once here.

Once again, reviews are my fuel. Without them I simply cannot write.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly?

And enjoy the previews.

(Previews)

Jaune looked left. Jaune looked right. Jaune sighed.

It really was nice to be wanted and all...

...but this was too much of a good thing!


Right, totally normal. He could do that.

"Yes, that's what I said." Ren regarded him curiously. "Are you alright?"

Far too sharp this one.

"No, you're just shit at lying."

Nonsense! He was an excellent liar. He'd just have to be on guard, that was all. Nothing to see here...


"Weiiisss!"

"You shouldn't bully her like that."

"Bully?!" the girl with pale hair balked. "I am doing no such thing!"

"Oh." he frowned, not quite understanding. "Then why were you being so rude to Ruby?"

"Excuse me?!" Her face turned an alarming shade of puce. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"No...?"

Yang sniggered behind her. "Wow, right to her face. Smooth move, loverboy."

"My father is the most powerful man in the world!" Weiss stamped a foot. "Jacques Schnee! Ring any bells?!"

"Most powerful man in the world? Nah, pretty sure that's my dad. Maybe you know him?"

Pyrrha broke and howled with laughter. Nora soon joined her.


Weiss lifted Myrtenaster.

Jaune brandished Crocea Mors.

Miss Good witch stepped back sharply. "Begin."


Naruto sighed. "My son, ladies and gentlemen...


With a flick of his wrist, Crocea Mors transformed into something else entirely.

Weiss recoiled with a yelp. "How did you sword turn into that?!"

Ruby squealed. "I WANT THAT!"


Sometimes you had to bully the bully.

A swift kick to the rear sent Cardin packing.

Velvet tilted her head. Then tilted it some more. "Wow...


Why didn't he block Mom's number?!

Against his better judgement, he set the Scroll to his ear.

"Hey, mom...

There was a silence.

"You there?"

"Jaune Arc." her voice promised doom. "You had better hope your father finds you first. Because if I do, I will take you over my knee and tan your hide until-

Pyrrha leaned over his shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

"Hello, there~!" Mom changed gears so quickly it left his head spinning. "And who might you be?" just like that, her manner was smooth as cream. "You seem like a nice girl. Are you dating my son by any chance?"

Pyrrha flushed.

Jaune turned rose red. "MOM!"

R&R~!