Chapter 21 – Overcoming The Nightmare

In a clearing of the forest roughly a kilometer away from the desolate village, our group is setting up camp. Being the most injured, the two team leaders were told to stay seated while everyone else worked on setting up camp.

Watching everyone else walk off to set up camp, Ruby said, "It really stinks having to just sit here and watch everyone else…"

"I feel the same way…" Jaune admitted. He then sighed and said, "But they're not wrong wanting the two most injured people to rest. Especially with your leg."

Ruby then felt her leg wound and winced a bit. She then said, "The Alpha knew to go for my leg…"

"Your maneuverability is one of your most valuable combat assets. Especially considering your Semblance" Jaune pointed out. "I don't know what's scarier about those Super Grimm. The fact that they can get stronger mid-fight or the fact that they can learn."

Ruby gave an unenthused chuckle before saying, "No kidding…" She then cheered up a little and smirked before saying, "What might be scarier is that suddenly Naruto and Yang were able to wipe the floor with them."

Confused, Jaune raised a brow and asked, "How is that scary?"

Ruby snickered and jokingly said, "Because now teasing them is a hazard to our health." This made Jaune shake his head, but he also could not help but laugh.

Being the physically strongest members of the group, Nora, Naruto, and Yang went to gather firewood. Naruto picked a tree that looked the most flammable and knocked it over. Nora and Yang then caught it before Yang balanced it on Nora's shoulders. Naruto and Yang then grabbed some kindling before the three of them started heading back.

On the way back, Naruto muttered, "This would be so much easier if I knew Wood Style…"

"If we knew about you being Asura's reincarnate earlier, then you could have learned" Kurama mentioned.

"What?!" Naruto internally exclaimed.

"The first Hogake's extreme mastery of Wood Style came from him being Asura's reincarnation" Kurama further explained.

This annoyed Naruto more than it probably should have. He internally complained, "Is this some kind of joke?! I trained all that time with Captain Yamato and this whole time I could have learned Wood Style?! This is some bull—"

"So, there's a Wood Style?" Yang commented upon Naruto's initial murmur. She was just close enough to hear it.

Having had his internal tirade cut short, Naruto answered, "Yeah. It's a combination element made up of earth and water. And it's shockingly powerful, ya know."

"Oh, that's pretty cool" Yang further commented. She then got a smirk as she teasingly said, "I guess I wish you had it too. You'd be more useful." Naruto's jaw dropped at this which caused Yang to laugh.

Nora was getting annoyed at not being acknowledged and asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Naruto and Yang's eyes went wide as they forgot Nora would have no clue what they were talking about. They had been gathering wood just like this on their own while on the road and only had each other to talk to while they did. Their current conversation reflected as such so Naruto told Nora, "I…I'll explain once we get back to the others…" Nora pouted at this answer, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Ren, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Qrow were setting up the camp. Ren was taking supply of their food since he his inarguably the best cook of the group. Pyrrha and Weiss were setting up the tents while Qrow was setting up the fire pit.

"Hmm…" Pyrrha let out as she mused. "I hope three tents will be enough."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"Well, our team had a tent and an emergency tent just in case" Pyrrha began to explain. "The five of us shared one tent, but that was often with at least with one person outside keeping watch. Now we have nine people."

"Don't count me in that factor" Qrow chimed in. "I won't be sleeping in one of those tents."

"Three tents for eight people doesn't sound so bad" Ren commented. "Thankfully Naruto and Yang had a tent."

Qrow then looked back at Bumblebee leaning against a tree and said, "Shame that bike can only seat two."

"At least because of that bike they arrived as quick as they did" Pyrrha commented. She then looked at Weiss and said, "Although I wasn't expecting a portal."

Weiss was finishing setting up the last tent as she responded, "Thank Yang's mom for that."

Ren and Pyrrha then both exclaimed, "Het mom?!"

Overhearing Ren and Pyrrha shout, Ruby excitedly asked, "Did Yang finally find her mom?!"

"She found her alright" Weiss answered, far less enthusiastically.

"I'm so happy for her!" Ruby exclaimed. "She's been searching for her mom for so long."

Qrow sighed and said, "Calm down. If I know my sister, it wasn't the heartwarming reunion you're imagining." He then looked to Weiss for confirmation. Weiss simply nodded her head.

Seeing this, Ruby could not help but think, "Why? What could have happened?"

Nora, Naruto, and Yang had now returned with the firewood. Qrow seen this and said, "Good." He then grabbed his sword and started chopping up the small tree.

Yang grabbed one of the logs Qrow made along with some kindling. She then put it all in the firepit and lit it with fire from her finger.

Weiss sat down by the fire and said, "You have got to tell me how you're doing that."

"Don't worry, I will" Yang answered. She then looked back to Naruto.

Naruto sighed before looking at Pyrrha and he said, "My story's probably longer, so I'll go first." Pyrrha nodded in agreement as she took a seat around the fire.

Everyone was now gathered around the campfire. Ren was doing his best to prepare an edible meal with the meager ingredients they had. Ruby was sat next to Weiss as they were catching up. Pyrrha was sat next to Jaune as he tried to tell her he was not hurt that bad. Nora was impatiently watching Ren and getting hungry. Then finally there was Qrow, who was sat by himself away from the fire watching the still unconscious and tied up Tyrian. He was wondering to himself just how much he was going to reveal to these kids.

Yang now sat next to Naruto and seen a worried look on his face. She asked him, "What's wrong?"

"I'm just…I'm worried how everyone's gonna react when I tell them everything" Naruto confessed.

"Oh, you're worrying too much" Yang told him.

Naruto glanced at her and said, "You kicked me out of your house when I told you."

A little ashamed, Yang looked to the side as she said, "I let you back in…"

"Because of how much we cared about each other" Naruto commented. "I doubt Ruby will hate me, but what about the others?" He then looked up at Jaune and said to Yang, "You weren't awake when Jaune was screaming at me."

Yang looked at Naruto with a shocked look and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Naruto had a solum look as he thought back to the night Beacon fell. He told her, "When we all thought Pyrrha was dead, I told everyone that I failed to save you and Pyrrha. I felt like the world was dying and I failed to stop it, ya know…"

Yang's eyes showed concern for how he must have felt as she said, "I…I had no idea…"

Naruto then continued, "When Jaune heard I couldn't save Pyrrha, he got in my face and started shouting at me. But I was in such a haze I don't even remember what he was saying…"

Jaune overheard Naruto recounting the events of that night and looked away full of shame. Pyrrha noticed this and told him, "You know he doesn't hold it against you."

"That doesn't matter…" Jaune said, still unable to raise his head from shame.

"Jaune, it's okay" Pyrrha told him as she started reaching out.

"You don't get it!" Jaune said as he snapped his head back up to look at her. This made Pyrrha draw her hand back in shock. Jaune then explained, "When you sent me away in the locker, I called him and begged him to save you." Pyrrha's eyes widened at this reveal as she did not know how desperate Jaune must have felt that night. Jaune then continued, "Everything that night was so horrible. Naruto was in a state like I've never seen. But I still berated him for not saving you even though he actually did…"

"Jaune, you were simply overwhelmed…" Pyrrha said to comfort him.

"There's no way to justify how I acted" Jaune stated with shame. He then said with noticeable anger in his voice, "I screamed at the guy who was basically my hero…as he was starring at the unconscious body of his maimed girlfriend…"

Instead of trying to come up with some halfhearted justification, Pyrrha took his hand. Jaune looked at her as she said, "We all have regrets." Jaune then lost the anger he was holding for himself and held her hand.

Naruto looked at them and took a deep breath. He then stood up and said, "Okay guys, listen up…" He now had all their attention and he looked back at Yang. She gave him a reassuring nod. Naruto then steeled himself as he said, "The blue Dust we've been looking for. It comes from an energy called Chakra and it comes from another world."

They all look shocked, and Ren asked the obvious question, "How do you know that?"

Naruto sighed before answering, "Because I'm from that same world."

"You have to be joking" Weiss commented. She then looked at both Naruto and Yang's faces which showed he is not.

Ruby, completely stunned, asked Naruto, "Are…are you really from another world?"

Naruto nodded and said, "If you guys are willing to listen, I'll tell you guys my story."

As they all stared at each other, Jaune said, "After everything we've all been though, the least we can do is listen to you." The others nodded in agreement.

Naruto then sat down and told them his tale in as condensed a version as he could. He went into less detail than when he told Yang and took a little over an hour. He wrapped up saying. "And so there I was. Roughed up, no arm, and no powers."

The ones hearing this tale for the first time sat there in silence. Weiss was contemplating how there being other worlds with humans flew in the face of everything they know. Ruby was enthralled by the new revelations, but she is a little hurt that Naruto kept this to himself. Ren was wondering if he really believed what he just heard. Nora was excited by what this could all mean, but she was nervous about it too. Pyrrha was most floored by the fact that someone the same age as her could have really gone through so much.

Out of all of them, Qrow was the least taken aback. He was shocked to be sure, but he was already privy to mind-blowing secrets that the rest of them were not.

Then finally there was Jaune. He was grappling with the fact that the guy whom he believed to be the most honest was really lying to them this whole time. He thought, "How can we ever trust him again?" That is what he thought at first. However, he then looked beside himself at Pyrrha, and was reminded of one inescapable fact. No matter what Naruto hid about his past, the only reason Pyrrha is alive is because he saved her. That reason alone is enough to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt.

Having finished telling them all his past, Naruto took a deep breath. He then felt Yang hold his hand and he at looked her. She told him, "Be honest, felt good to get that off your chest, right?"

"Yeah, okay it did" Naruto admitted. "But I'm still worried."

Yang then noticed how quiet everyone was and it was making her nervous. She then said, "Uh…any questions?" With the exception of Qrow, all of their hands shot up.

Seeing this, Naruto stared at Yang and whisper yelled, "What were you thinking?!"

Yang then whisper yelled back, "I was freaking out from the weird silence!"

"How do you think I feel?!" Naruto whisper yelled again. He then sighed and said, "Ruby first."

"Why'd you keep your past hidden from us?" Ruby asked, trying to hide how much it hurt her.

"Because you all would have thought I was insane" Naruto calmly answered. "How do you just tell people you're from another world?"

No one was able to come up with an answer, so Ren said, "That's a fair point..."

Naruto, seeing that they were genuinely trying to understand, decided to tell them the true answer. He said, "And as time went on and I got closer to all you guys…I got scared."

Surprised by that answer, Weiss asked, "What could you have possibly been scared of?"

Naruto gripped his fists as deep down some of that insecurity was still there. He confessed, "By coming to this world I had to leave everything and everyone I ever knew behind. I knew I could never see any of them ever again. Somehow, I ended up getting friends again…" He then hung his head and said, "I was scared that telling you all my past would make you guys want nothing to do with me after that. I would have lost everything all over again and that terrified me…"

None of them, Yang included, had put that into perspective. Could any of them have forced themselves to risk losing everything just to reveal a past you were trying to move on from? None of them could reasonably say that they would, so they understand his perspective much more now.

Ruby in particular cannot imagine having lost what Naruto has. The idea of risking it all made her feel ashamed for expecting him to. She then said, "I'm sorry…"

"Hey, you got nothing to apologize for" Naruto told her. This made Ruby smile knowing he did not hold it against her.

As silence returned, Weiss asked, "When did you find out the Dust was this Chakra stuff?"

"I found out the night Beacon fell" Naruto answered. "I beat up Mercury and found some on him."

Weiss, trying to lighten the stress he and the others were feeling, told Naruto, "That proves that even though you were scared of revealing your past, you never hid anything critical." This made Naruto smile and made everyone else feel a little more at ease.

"So…you said you had a giant fox inside you?" Nora asked. Naruto nodded and Nora then asked, "Is he still there?"

"Yeah, Kurama's still here" Naruto answered. Nora was about to ask another question, but Naruto cut her off saying, "No, you can't talk to him, ya know." Nora then looked disappointed.

"And for that I'm grateful…" Kurama commented.

"Oi, don't be a jerk!" Naruto internally chastised.

"Technically the fox can hear you, but he can't talk back" Yang clarified.

"How do you know that?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

Yang got a mischievous smirk as she asked, "Any of you guys ever seen Whiskers seem like he's having a conversation with himself?"

"Now that you mention it…" Pyrrha expressed. Naruto was clearly embarrassed by this making all the others laugh. All the tension that had built was now gone.

Nora then looked to Ren and said, "Your turn Ren."

"So, can you show us this Chakra?" Ren asked. Naruto shook his head to which Ren asked, "Why not?"

Naruto then made his hand radiate his new orange energy and said, "I don't have Chakra anymore. My Chakra and Aura merged into something new."

"Whoa…" Ruby said in amazement. "What do you call it?"

"I haven't really thought about it, ya know" Naruto answered. He then smiles at her and said, "Maybe you can come up with a name for it."

"Why should I come up with something when I can't use it?" Ruby questioned.

Naruto scratched his cheek while looking off to the side as he said, "Because you might be able to…"

It got quiet again before Ruby asked, "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Okay, now for the second big revelation…" Yang commented.

As the others were questioning among themselves what she meant, Naruto asked, "How many of you guys absorbed a blue energy stream from a Super Grimm?"

"Uh, me?" Ruby answered.

"I have too…you were there" Weiss answered as well.

"I did when we beat that Super Ursa" Nora answered.

"For me it was one of the Super Alpha Beowolves that attacked the school" Ren revealed.

"I…don't recall ever absorbing one" Pyrrha commented.

"Me neither" Jaune admitted. They both absorbed a stream from a decaying Super Giant Nevermore, but they were too preoccupied at the time to notice.

"Well, all of you that did absorb one of those streams now has Chakra" Naruto revealed.

They were all completely stunned at this revelation. Pyrrha then asked Yang, "Is that new powerful state of yours from Chakra?"

Yang engulfed her hand in flame and said, "That's right." They were all excited at the prospect of this now.

"I'll teach all you guys to use your Chakra when we get to Haven" Naruto told them all.

"What? Why wait until then to teach us?" Jaune asked.

Naruto was about to answer, but Qrow said, "It's probably a lot of work mentally and physically. Can't afford to have you all exhausted when we could be attacked by Grimm at any time." He then looked to Naruto for confirmation.

"That's…exactly right" Naruto confirmed. "That's why we spent a few extra weeks at Yang's house."

A thought then occurred to Ruby as she asked Yang, "How'd dad handle me leaving?"

Yang smirked as she said, "He absolutely freaked."

Naruto decided to follow up and say, "He came running into the house after looking for you for a bit and asked me which way you went…I pointed him in the opposite direction."

Ruby laughed before and sighed and said, "I feel kinda bad…"

Clearly having fun conveying this, Yang said, "After searching for you for a couple hours, he spent the rest of the day sulking in his room."

This made Ruby feel even worse. She then tepidly asked, "How'd he handle you leaving?"

"He was cool with it" Yang said casually.

"Wait, what?! How?!" Ruby indignantly shouted.

After laughing at her response, Yang explained, "I healed and got stronger before I left. You left the day after waking up from a coma."

"But I…" Ruby started to say before she hung her head in defeat.

"To be fair to Ruby, my team did set a deadline" Jaune said.

Weiss then interrupts the conversation and says, "I'm actually kind of lost on that. Just what are you guys doing out here?"

"We're heading to Haven to figure out how to best take the fight to Cinder" Pyrrha answered.

Now more confused, Weiss asked, "Why do you feel the need to go after her?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath and said, "Now it's my turn to make a confession." She then looked over to Qrow who gave her a nod of approval. She then asked, "Does everyone here know the "Tale of the Seasons?"

"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Mom read that to us a bunch" Yang commented.

"Who doesn't know that story?" Weiss sarcastically asked.

Naruto then raised his hand and said, "Uh, hi. Guy from another world here." This caused the others to laugh.

Pyrrha started out recounting the Tale of the Seasons for Naruto. She explained to everyone else how the story is real, about Ozpin and his group being their guardians, the choice she had to make, and how Cinder now has gained the Maiden's power. This took about forty minutes.

While JNPR were already made aware of this, Naruto, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were all shocked. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were just as shocked as they were upon learning Naruto was from another world.

After all of this, Naruto finally commented, "That explains how Cinder was using multiple elements…"

"And that's why people thought I was a Maiden when they seen my fire…" Yang commented as well.

While also in shock, Ruby had sorrow on her face as she mutters, "So that's why Penny had to die? Just so some lady could get more power?" Despite Ruby muttering what she just said, everything else was quiet enough to where the others were able to hear her.

Naruto thought about how full of life the supposedly "not real" girl was. He then looked at Ruby and said, "Ruby, Cinder's not gonna get away with it." Ruby nodded, but then their attention was turned to Pyrrha. Pyrrha's head was down as she was clearly still haunted by the sight of the dismembered Penny that she was used to kill. Naruto did his best to ease her mind as he said, "It may not change how you feel, but you gotta remember it's not your fault."

Pyrrha was still quiet. That was until Ruby got up and walked over to her before placing a hand on her shoulder. Pyrrha looked up at Ruby as Ruby said, "Penny wouldn't want you punishing yourself like this."

Pyrrha wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Thank you...everyone."

Someone who was surprisingly quiet after the reveal of the Maidens was Weiss. Nora picked up on this and asked her, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Weiss came out of her own thoughts and said, "It's just…what Yang's mom said is now making sense."

Yang raised a brow in confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your mom kept telling us not to trust Ozpin" Weiss reminded her.

Yang sighed before begrudgingly admitting, "Yeah, I guess she at least had a point..."

"Hey, remember what you told her" Naruto said to Yang. "We're not here for Ozpin, we're here for Ruby and our friends." Yang simply nodded and this brought a smile to Ruby's face.

"Besides, whether we trust Ozpin or not, Cinder is still a problem" Ren further pointed out. As consensus was being met among the group, they started to hear laughing.

Qrow then looked next to him to see the source of the laughing was the previously unconscious Tyrian. Qrow then commented, "Great, he's awake now…"

With an annoyed look on his face, Naruto asked, "What's so funny?"

Tyrian now sat up and said, "The fact that you think our little Cinder is the big bad!" He then looked at Qrow and said, "I can't believe you haven't told them."

"I was getting to it…" Qrow muttered.

"What is he talking about?" Pyrrha asked in both concern and confusion. She though she had the whole picture, but it seems she does not.

"Yes! Tell them about our Goddess!" Tyrian excitedly exclaimed.

Having gotten annoyed with Tyrian, Yang walked over and kicked him in the mouth. She then said, "If we have to keep hearing you there's more of those coming."

Seeing this, Naruto simply commented, "Isn't she great?" This earned some giggles from their friends.

Now seeing that he will not be getting constant interruptions, Qrow stood up and walked over to the fire now having everyone's attention. He said, "I know with everything that's been revealed tonight it's hard to know what's true and what's not." For once, Tyrian was confused. He was not awake when Naruto revealed his past.

Qrow then kneeled down and started working on the fire as he said, "Of all the Gods and Goddesses you hear stories about, at least two of them are real according to Oz. They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So, one night, the younger brother went and made something…something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything…"

Ruby quickly realized it and said, "The creatures of Grimm."

Qrow nodded and said, "You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation...together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be."

"Wait, humanity was created by the Gods?" Naruto questioned.

"That's how the story goes" Qrow answered nonchalantly.

This came as a shock to the whole group. It might have come as less of a blow to them if they had not just learned that Naruto came from another world where humanity was not created by Gods. In fact, a few of the Gods in Naruto's world were part human themselves. As a result, the members of the group from this world did not like hearing that they were created by the Gods.

"Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there" Qrow started to continue. The group could feel their anxieties rising. "The four gifts to mankind - knowledge, creation, destruction and choice - aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the Gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose - guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself...and, of course, keeping them out of her reach."

"Her?" Ruby questioned.

"Who are you talking about?" Pyrrha questioned as well.

Qrow sighed and said, "That "Goddess" that annoying guy kept prattling on about? There's an ancient being named Salem. She is older than any of us…much older. She knows all about the Relics, and Maidens, and so on. She might be older than any of them herself. She's Cinder's master and even worse, she is the master of the Grimm. And apparently that includes the Super Grimm since they were listening to that guy."

After that reveal, no one was quite sure what to say. When they learned about Naruto's past and the Chakra he introduced, they were filled with curiosity and excitement. When Pyrrha revealed the existence of the Maidens, they were shocked, but not overwhelmed. But this? The revelation of some ancient and seemingly unstoppable evil? Relics of the Gods to take over the world? Dealing with Cinder already seemed like the odds were against them, but this was just too overwhelming. That was, with one notable exception.

"Do you know where Salem is? Does she know the Relics are at the academies?" Naruto asked. Him asking this resulted in his friends staring at him in shock.

"I don't know where she is, but yeah, she knows the Relics are there" Qrow answered.

"How…how are you not scared?" Jaune asked in amazement.

"I might be a little afraid of the odds, but I'll never let fear stop me" Naruto proudly explained. As his friends fed a little on his inspiration, he continued to say, "Besides, it's not my first time fighting overwhelming odds to save the world, ya know." And just like that, they were reminded that despite being their age, they cannot begin to compare the things they have faced to what he has.

Tyrian began to mockingly laugh before he said, "Destroying a few Grimm makes you think you're saving the world?" He then continued to mockingly laugh.

Ruby was about to say something, but then Qrow whispers to her and the group, "As long as that guy's with us, we should keep a lid on your friend's secret."

"That's a good point" Pyrrha whispered in agreement. "We don't want Cinder and Salem to know."

"I agree with you guys" Naruto told them. "Besides, with the exception of two others, everyone who I want to know about my past now know."

"Wait, what? Who are the other two then?" Weiss asked curiously.

"Blake and Hesta" Naruto answered.

The rest of the group was confused except for Yang. So, Ruby asked, "Who's Hesta?"

"He was the first friend I made here on Remnant" Naruto answered. "He gave me a place to stay until I got to Beacon."

Yang then pointed to her cybernetic arm and said, "And the guy that made this."

"Oh, I almost forgot you got a new arm!" Ruby exclaimed.

As everyone started inspecting Yang's new arm, which she was proud to show off, Qrow could see that they were no longer in the overwhelmed state they were in upon learning about Salem. This brought a smile to his face while disappointing Tyrian.

"So how strong is the new arm?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.

"As strong as the old one surprisingly" Yang answered. "It's got special nerve tech for channeling Aura! Works with..." Yang was about to say it works with Chakra, but then remembered they need to keep a lid on it.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Nora shouted. She grabbed a log and placed her arm in position for an arm-wrestling contest.

This brought a smile to Yang's face as she said, "Challenge accepted!"

"Uh, Nora? That's not a good—" Naruto started to say. But Yang covered his mouth before he could finish.

Nora and Yang then locked hands as Ruby started to count down, "3…2…1!"

Nora put her full might in right away. Yang pretended to start losing causing Nora to grin. Just as Yang's hand was about to be brought down, she easily slammed Nora's hand back, gaining the win and knocking Nora over.

Nora sat up and exclaimed, "What just happened?!"

Yang gave a fake yawn as she said, "Seems you're all pretty quick to forget." This caused them all, except Naruto, to look confused. Jaune and Pyrrha then both facepalmed as they remembered.

For the others who did not understand yet, Naruto explained, "Yang's body is now enhanced by her Chakr—" Naruto's eyes widened as he cut himself off remembering that Tyrian can hear them. So, he then said, "by special training…" Those he revealed his past to were able to catch on that he meant Chakra. He then looks at Nora and says, "You're gonna need that special training too before you can match Yang in strength again, ya know."

This made Nora pout until Yang gave her a hand and helped her back to her feet. Seeing the drastic strength difference between the two resident powerhouses, the others were wondering what it will be like to gain so much power.

"Well…I think it's time we all got some sleep" Jaune suggested. "We went through a lot today and we still have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow."

"No arguments here" Naruto said in agreement. "So, who wants first watch?"

"I'll take it" Ren stated. This left Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora to take one tent while Ruby and Weiss take the second.

Naruto walked up to Yang and asked, "Wanna stay in your sister's and teammate's tent tonight?"

"Trying to get rid of me so you can have the tent to yourself?" Yang jokingly responded. This caused Naruto to let out a chuckle before she admitted, "I actually do. Just for tonight though."

"Hey, I get it" Naruto said with a smile. "Goodnight, Yang." He then headed for his tent.

"See ya in the morning, Whiskers" Yang told her boyfriend. She then headed into the tent with Ruby and Weiss.

It is now the following morning and our group of nine had finished packing up their tents and what remained of their supplies. Qrow has been keeping a close watch on Tyrian who had been giving him a mischievous smile as if he is waiting for something. Yang was currently checking on Ruby.

"You sure you can walk on your wounded leg?" Yang asked with concern.

"Sis, don't worry. I'll be fine" Ruby said to reassure Yang.

"Just let us know if it really starts bothering you" Naruto told her.

With a little annoyance in her voice, Ruby asked, "Will I be forced to ride piggyback again?"

Naruto looked to the side and muttered, "You weren't complaining before…" This earned a snicker from Yang.

Qrow saw this and smiled. He thought to himself, "That kid's already fitting in like one of the family." His vision then started to blur causing him to stumble.

Jaune managed to catch him before he asked, "Whoa, you okay?"

Qrow shook his head as his vision stabilized again. He told Jaune, "I'm fine."

"You heard him boy, he's fine!" Tyrian mockingly said.

Jaune gave Tyrian an angry look as Nora pushed Tyrian from behind and said, "Get moving."

This annoyed Tyrian, but he complied. He then thought to himself, "I could easily break free of these restraints and make a run for it…" He then glanced over at Naruto and Yang as he continued to think, "The problem is those two…I'll need to wait for the right opportunity."

The group then got on the move with Jaune and Pyrrha up front since Jaune had the map. Qrow and Tyrian walked just a little behind them with Ren and Nora following close. Nora was staring intently at Tyrian, looking for any excuse to batter him with her hammer and Ren was trying not to laugh. Weiss, Ruby, Naruto and Yang were bringing up the rear as Yang had to walk with Bumblebee.

Naruto looked at the bike and said, "It was nice while it lasted…"

"You said it…" Yang commented in agreement.

"Hopefully wherever we go after Haven can be accessed by train" Weiss added.

Ruby sighed and said, "I'm so sick of walking everywhere…"

"Amen to that…" Nora complained. Everyone seemed to share this sentiment.

Yang let out a sigh of her own before looking at Naruto and asking, "Any lesson plans for when we reach Haven?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head before he said, "First we're all gonna rest for a day, ya know. Then we'll work on getting everyone's "special Aura" working." He placed "special Aura" in air quotes since he did not want to say Chakra around Tyrian.

"Okay, then what about me?" Yang asked.

"I'll be teaching you some more advanced stuff starting with the Body Flicker" Naruto answered.

Having no way of knowing what that is, Yang simply had to ask, "What's the Body Flicker?"

"It's a high-speed movement technique mostly used for pulling off escapes" Naruto explained. "But with enough practice, it can be used for combat too."

Overhearing this, Ruby turns to him and asks, "So, she's gonna be faster than me now?"

"I kind of already am…" Yang thought to herself, not wanting to say it out loud.

"Relax Ruby, I planned on teaching Body Flicker to everybody" Naruto clarified.

As they kept walking, Ruby thought, "I wonder if I can use this Body Flicker to augment my Semblance…"

Continuing the conversation, Yang asked, "So what else are we learning besides the Body Flicker?"

"We'll need to figure out a way to find out what everyone's chak—special aura nature is" Naruto said, making sure to catch himself. He then looked at Yang and said, "Not everyone's is obvious like yours." Yang just shrugged. She could not deny that.

Curious, Weiss asked, "How do you plan on being able to teach everyone? I imagine this is going to require a lot of individual attention."

Naruto just smirked as he crossed his middle and index fingers together and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He then produced two clones of himself. They all heard him shout and were then floored to see three of him.

Even Yang was shocked as she shouted, "Since when could you do that?!"

The real Naruto said, "This was the first major technique I learned." He then looked at Pyrrha and told her, "I made one to go save you while I went to find Yang." He then made the two clones vanish in a puff of smoke that Ruby and Pyrrha recognize from the night Beacon fell.

Still shocked, Pyrrha asked, "Why did you purposely unmake your clone that was helping me?" So far, she has only seen these clones disappear for certain when Naruto undoes the technique.

"I didn't" Naruto answered. "If one of the clones receives actual damage it disappears and the memoires and experiences of that clone return to me." Pyrrha simply nodded in understanding and was glad to know he did not simply abandon her.

Ruby was looking down as she muttered, "So, I was traumatized by a clone…" Weiss heard this and put a hand on her shoulder.

Naruto then turned to Yang and saw her glaring at him. Concerned, he asked, "W-what's wrong?"

"How long have you been able to do that?" Yang asked, in a stern tone.

"Th-th-the night of the fall was the first time I pulled it off here…" Naruto nervously answered. The rest of the group was watching this happen and could not help but be amused.

"Then why didn't you show me before?" Yang followed up. Her tone a little less stern this time.

Still noticeably nervous, Naruto responded, "W-why would I? I was only teaching you, ya know…"

Yang kept glaring at him until she shrugged and said, "That makes sense."

Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief causing the others to laugh. He then said, "Honestly, Blake was the only one I had planned on teaching this too."

"Huh? Why?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Because the Shadow Clone can do anything the original can do. Including their Semblance" Naruto answered. Everyone then imagined Blake making two clones of herself and then those three Blakes quickly become six Blakes.

Yang gasped before exclaiming in dramatic horror, "It would be an infestation of cute cat girls!" Naruto then started laughing.

While also laughing, Weiss asked, "Why not teach it to all of us? It would be useful."

"I'll think about it. But keep in mind, it's dangerous" Naruto told her.

Ren quickly turned his head towards Naruto and asked, "How so?"

"Making a Shadow Clone splits up your power" Naruto explained. "If you're not careful you'll quickly exhaust yourself, ya know."

The others recall how quickly they can become a liability when exhausted and now understand Naruto's reservations in teaching them that technique. Then, upon that thought, a small group of seven Beowolves came out of the trees.

"I only count seven" Pyrrha announced.

"Seven's too few!" Nora complained.

Qrow, who is starting to sweat, said, "The problem isn't the number of Grimm in front of us right now. It's how many Grimm we'll be facing throughout the day."

Nora then jumped forward and sent a Beowolf flying with her hammer. She then jumped right to the next one and flattened it. Tyrian wondered if this was a good opportunity, but decided there were too few Grimm. He then felt Pyrrha's blade against his back which let him know it was the right call deciding to stay still.

One of the Beowolves got past Nora and lunged for Qrow. He was slow, but he managed to avoid the swipe in time before Weiss ran it through with her rapier.

"That was close…" Weiss commented.

"Uncle Qrow? Are you okay?" Ruby asked in concern.

"I'm fine…we gotta keep moving…" Qrow answered, clearly not doing the best. He just kept walking which caused Ruby and Yang to share a concerned look.

"We gotta keep an eye on him" Naruto told them. They were all in agreement on this.

They continued walking for another forty minutes. During this time, Qrow started to lag further behind. His breathing became more strained, and his skin became noticeably paler.

Ruby then walked over to Qrow and said, "Uncle Qrow, something's clearly wrong."

"I…I said I'm fine…" Qrow struggled to say.

"You can quit trying to make us not worry 'cause it's not working" Yang tells Qrow. The others then noticed Yang, Ruby, and Qrow had fallen behind.

Naruto walked over and asked, "What do you guys think happened?"

"I wish I knew…" Ruby answered with concern in her voice.

"He just keeps getting worse…" Yang said, also with concern.

Naruto then looked at Qrow's bandaged hand which he seen Tyrian had pierced with his tail. He then looked at Tyrian who had a satisfied smirk on his face. This caused Naruto's eyes to widen as he shouted, "Qrow's been poisoned!"

"He what?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"No no no!" Yang shouted, starting to freak out.

"This can't be happening…" Jaune muttered.

"What do we do?" Pyrrha asked in concern. Weiss, Ren, and Nora all showed concern on their faces as well. They had no answer for this.

Naruto was mad at himself for not figuring it out sooner. He then ran over and grabbed Tyrian by the shirt before shouting, "Give us the antidote!"

Tyrian started laughing in Naruto's face as he said, "Why would I carry an antidote for my poison?" Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration and punched the restrained Tyrian. Tyrian kept laughing despite the pain.

"Hang in there Uncle Qrow!" Ruby told her uncle.

"We don't have any way to treat this…" Jaune said, trying not to panic.

Naruto then lifted Qrow into his back and said, "Our only chance is to get to Haven as quick as possible!"

Jaune brought his map back out and said, "There's an old mountain pass. There's a warning about the danger, but it'll get us to Haven quicker."

Nora remembers that area and looked over at Ren who was looking down to hide his shocked face. She was about to voice her opposition, but Ren stopped her and said, "We don't have a choice…"

Nora then looked at the slowly dying Qrow and admits, "You're right…"

"Then let's get moving" Weiss told them.

"Lead the way Jaune" Naruto told his fellow blonde. Jaune looked at the map and started walking with his friends in tow.

The group has made it to the base of the mountain. As they are making their way up, Nora has noticed a change in Ren's demeanor. He is nervous, but also angry. He is clearly more affected by his memories than he originally thought.

Nora walked next to him and said, "We should tell the others."

"How would that help us?" Ren asked with irritation in his voice.

"It would help you. We're your friends" Nora reminded him.

Ren was unsure, but he looked at Naruto who was carrying Qrow. Naruto confessed his past to them even though it could have resulted in them pushing him away. So, Ren decided he would at least make himself useful with his past. "Hey, guys." As everyone looked to Ren, he told them, "I'll take the lead. My village used to be around here."

This made everyone look concerned as they heard him and Nora mention before how they lost their home. Jaune then asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"I am…" Ren answered, still a little bothered by all this. He then walks ahead of everyone. As they kept making their way up the mountain, Ren was reliving the day his village fell. The day he lost his home, his family, and his innocence. A Grimm attack seemingly out of nowhere. His village was completely unprepared.

Nora noticed the downtrodden demeanor of Ren's movements. She went to go and try to check on him, but Ren just walked faster saying, "I'm fine…" This only caused Nora further worry.

As Nora and Jaune shared a concerned look, Jaune says, "I've never seen Ren like this…"

"This can't be easy for him" Pyrrha comments. "Who knows what kind of tragedy he went through?"

This caused Jaune to hang his head and say, "If I knew this was the area he lived in I wouldn't have suggested coming this way…"

Pyrrha puts a hand on Jaune's shoulder and tells him, "We didn't have much of a choice." Jaune then turned his head to look back at Qrow. All the color had left Qrow's face, and he is constantly perspiring.

Ruby felt Qrow's head and said, "He's burning up…"

"I'm out of water" Naruto told her. "Can anyone else give him some?"

"Ruby!" Yang called out. She then tossed her water to her sister. Ruby caught it and made Qrow drink some.

"We don't have the supplies to keep this up" Weiss announced with concern. Ren heard that and started picking up the pace even more.

Tyrian, who was being watched by Weiss, thought to himself, "This couldn't have worked out better! My poison made them so desperate that they went to THIS mountain of all places!" He was resisting the urge to cackle.

After another hour of navigating the mountain, they came upon a cave that was the clear site of a slaughter. Ren was in a state of shock seeing this. He heard the sound of slow hooved footsteps in his head.

Once again, Nora went to check on Ren. All she could get out was, "Ren—"

"They…" Ren said, cutting Nora off. "They must have come here to try and escape that thing…"

Naruto saw the state of Ren filled with sorrow. However, he also seen something else in Ren's eyes that he is all too familiar with, vengeance. That same look of hatred that was always in Sasuke's eyes. He then walked up to Ren and told him, "I know what's going through your head right now and you can't let it eat at you. Especially right now."

The others, besides Nora, look confused as to what he is talking about. Ren then walked into the cave and found something. It was an old-looking dagger. This wasn't just any dagger, however. Ren recognized it as his father's dagger. He then grabbed the dagger and stared at it. He then closed his eyes and put the dagger on his belt and said, "I'll try my best to put those thoughts at the back of my mind." He then headed out of the cave and kept moving.

As everyone else got moving as well, Nora walked next to Naruto and asked, "How'd you know what was going through his mind?" She only knew because she was also there the day Ren lost his village.

"It was his eyes" Naruto explained. "They burned with a hate that I'm all too familiar with."

"Are…are you talking about that old friend of yours?" Nora hesitantly asked. Naruto simply nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're here right now. Him hearing it from someone besides me seems to have helped."

"Glad I was able to help" Naruto told her. He knew how reckless a need for revenge can make you.

After three hours, the group has made it up mountain pass and have come to a somewhat flat clearing near the top.

"We finally got to the top…" Ruby said with a little relief.

"Good…getting downhill will be a lot easier" Yang commented. She was sick of walking her bike uphill. Everyone else shared the same sentiment.

"I know we could all use a break, but we gotta keep moving" Naruto tells them all. He turns his head and can tell Qrow's breaths have gotten weaker. Ren simply nods and gets moving again until a few Beowolves enter his path.

Yang gets angry and shouts, "We don't have time for this!"

Pyrrha quicky runs and dispatches the Beowolves to allow them to proceed. They all then hear the slow approach of hooved footsteps. What comes into view is a Grimm that, except for Ren and Nora, none of them have ever seen. It was a Grimm with a horse-like main body and a skinless humanoid monster that was fused with it. The forelegs were shaped like claws, and it had hooved hindlegs. The humanoid part had long curved horns on its head, a mouth that looked almost sewn shut, and two long arms with two clawed fingers. The humanoid part also had boney spikes on its back along with weapons from its encounters with its victims. This unique creature of Grimm is known as a Nuckelavee.

Naruto had seen a lot of odd things in his life, but nothing quite like this. He could not help but exclaim, "What the hell is that thing?!"

Contrary to how stunned Naruto was, Ren was very familiar with what stood before him. It was this very Grimm that led the attack which took his family and village from him. He stood there with his fists shaking from both fear and fury.

The Nuckelavee then let out a piercing scream, but it was then cut off when Weiss rushed in with a dashing thrust. She managed to pierce one of the legs of the horse part, but it was mostly unphased. The humanoid part went to swipe at her, but Pyrrha jumped in and blocked the hit. This allowed Weiss to use her last bit of Dust to freeze the Nuckelavee down and back off. Pyrrha then did the same.

Ren watched his friends attack the Nuckelavee and thought to himself, "I can do this…" He then readied himself with bolstered confidence.

Tyrian then muttered, "Just a little longer now…"

Nora did not hear what Tyrian said so she asked him, "What are you on about?" They then hear more footsteps approaching.

Naruto tried to activate his Semblance on instinct, but like before it fails. He then finally realizes the problem. He cannot enter Aura Sage Mode because he no longer has Aura, just like he no longer has Chakra. He does not know how to balance this new energy with Nature Energy yet. Thankfully he did not turn to stone and for that he is grateful.

Then, attracted by the Nuckelavee's loud scream, a horde of Grimm now approach. There is at least fifty of them…and among them are a Super Ursa, a Super Manticore, and something that terrifies them…a Super Death Stalker.

Everyone takes a step back, afraid of what now faces them. Jaune then says, "Last time we faced one that big it almost killed Naruto. And this thing is clearly tougher…"

Naruto sets Qrow down over by Bumblebee and makes five shadow clones. He leaves two of them to guard Qrow while the rest line up along with him. He says, "We're tougher this time too!"

They all take out their weapons as the Nuckelavee screams again, causing the Grimm to rush in. Naruto has spread his clones out to cover more of the battlefield. His main body kicks an incoming Ursa and sends it flying back into the horde. He then jumps up and lands on a Beowolf's face before jumping off that Beowolf and over a bunch of the horde. He is heading for the Super Death Stalker, but the Super Manticore breathes a big stream of fire at him. Naruto guarded up, but the flame knocked him back into the middle of the horde.

Yang then rushed into the horde to back him up. She yells, "Get out of my way!" before she punches through some Beowolves like tissue paper. She then jumps while readying her Ember Celica and igniting her fist. She then launches one of her projectiles causing an explosion that takes out fifteen Grimm in the horde.

Ruby almost drops her weapon in amazement. She then ducks in time to avoid a swipe from the Nuckelavee, whose arm had stretched out from its position in the horde. "It can do that?!" Ruby shouted in surprise.

"I'll deal with it!" Ren shouted as he ran forward.

As multiple Grimm tried to cut him off, Pyrrha headed them off and she yelled, "I'll deal with these! Keep going!"

Ren nodded as he continued to approach the Nuckelavee. Jaune and Nora then ran next to Ren to keep the other Grimm from slowing him down. Ren then jumped up and opened fire on the Nuckelavee. The humanoid part guarded up its face, which allowed Ren to get in closer and cut into the horse part's face with Stormflower. The Nuckelavee seemed unphased as the humanoid part slashed at Ren. He managed to duck before taking out his father's dagger and running behind the humanoid part. He then jumped up, thinking he took the Nuckelavee by surprise. However, the humanoid part spun its torso around and struck Ren out of the air. As Ren hit the ground, he saw the Nuckelavee about to strike him down.

"NO!" Nora shouted as she jumped in and swung her hammer. The Nuckelavee got stunned while Jaune and Pyrrha sliced its forelegs forcing it to kneel.

Ren then got back up and said, "I'm sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"I shouldn't have tried to take it on alone" Ren told them. "But even now, you're all supporting me."

"We always will" Nora told him as she stood next to him. Ren then smiled as he and his team got ready.

Naruto has lost one of his clones, but the other two have helped Weiss and Ruby make short work of the normal Grimm. His main body was fighting the Super Manticore as it swung its claw at him. He has Orange Spark in dual staff mode as he stopped the claw swipe with the staff in his left hand and clocked the Super Manticore over head with the staff in his right. The Manticore stumbled allowing him to get in a nice kick that sent it tumbling backwards. He then stared right at the Super Death Stalker.

Yang was fighting off the Super Ursa. She blocked the Ursa's swing, and she could not help but think back to the night of the warehouse incident. It took her whole team working perfectly together and they barely made it out alive. Now here she was easily blocking an attack from the same kind of Grimm all on her own. She then landed a mean gut punch to the Ursa before kicking it in the jaw. This made the Super Ursa fall on all fours allowing Yang to punch it right in the jaw and send it tumbling away.

Ruby was still in awe. She said, "I still can't believe how easily she's dealing with the Super Grimm now…"

As Weiss plunged her blade into the last of the normal Grimm, in this case a Griffon, she said, "We'll get to that level too."

Tyrian saw that none of them were watching him now. He smiled before breaking his restraints and jumping onto the Nuckelavee.

"What are you doing?!" Nora shouted to Tyrian.

"Making things more interesting!" Tyrian shouted before he reached into a strap on his boot and pulled out a vial of Chakra Dust.

Ren's eyes began to widen before he shouted with panic in his voice, "NO! YOU CAN'T!"

Tyrian then shoved the vial into the Nuckelavee's mouth before hopping off and covering his ears. The Nuckelavee started convulsing…then it started to grow. Its claws, hooves, back spikes, and horns started to glow blue before it let out a scream so loud that everyone there needed to cover their ears. That scream alerted every Grimm in a five-kilometer radius.

The Super Death Stalker then let out its own screech that caused the Super Ursa and Super Manticore to let out their own roar and gain a Chakra cloak.

"Oh, not again…" Jaune complained.

Naruto's two clones then each landed an axe kick on the Super Death Stalker causing it to stagger. However, it retaliated with a poison beam from its tail, even larger than Tyrian's. Naruto's two clones were destroyed by this beam.

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted in frustration. He then made the bird seal as he got ready to use an Air Bullet. Sensing the buildup in power from Naruto, the Super Manticore rushed Naruto with increased speed. This speed increase was not enough to catch Naruto off guard as he jumped back from the Super Manticore's incoming claw swipe. He then had drop down to a prone position to dodge the poison beam from the Super Death Stalker.

As this was happening, Tyrian started running away. Ruby saw this and shouted, "He's getting away!"

"Son of a…!" Naruto exclaimed as he made another shadow clone. He then told his clone, "Get after him!" The clone then chased the fleeing Tyrian.

Hordes and hordes of Grimm have now scaled the mountain. They easily number over two hundred. The now Super Nuckelavee then screamed and made the other Grimm all roar in unison. Everyone else covered their ears from this and also shut their eyes. Once the roaring stopped, they all opened their eyes to see the overwhelming numbers in front of them.

Ren's eyes looked panicked. He felt like he was back in his village during the attack. Nora was feeling the same thing. She remembers hiding under one of the homes with Ren, but this time there is no place to hide. Pyrrha is reminded of the train attack on Vale. She gripped her weapons tightly as she knows there is no cavalry coming this time.

Jaune on the other hand felt differently from the rest of his team. He is scared and nervous, but he is also reassured. He was reminded of the fall of Beacon, but unlike then Pyrrha is standing right next to him. He then looked ahead of him at Naruto's back. The one he admires is right there, not on the other side of a city.

Ruby felt similar to Jaune. She was thinking of the fight yesterday. They were all pinned down and at the Grimm's mercy. This time she sees them all on their feet. That is, until she turns back and looks at her unconscious Uncle Qrow being guarded by two of Naruto's clones. Her confidence started to wane as she remembered they are running out of time.

Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder making her smile. While this helped reassure Ruby, Yang was a little worried. She was also thinking of the train incident. Sure, they are all stronger now; her especially. However, it is still the day Naruto almost died.

Weiss has her eyes closed and takes a deep breath. She remembered her words to her sister about protecting her friends no matter what. She then gripped her blade and made ready to summon her Knight.

Naruto stood there confident as ever. He's overcome the odds time and time again. It is just what he does. He then told his friends, "Okay guys! Form a line and get ready!"

The young Huntsmen all lined up and the Grimm rushed forward. Naruto coated his staffs in his new energy and did a spinning double swing into the oncoming horde. He quickly annihilated eight of them, three Boarbatusks and five Beowolves. He also sends five more Grimm flying with a front kick.

Pyrrha cut down an incoming Beowolf with a downward swing of Miló in sword mode before flipping over a swipe from an Alpha Beowolf and cutting across its eye. She blocked a pouncing Griffon, but she struggled to get it off of her shield. Nora used the extra reach of her hammer to hit the Griffon which allowed Pyrrha to shove it back.

Nora then met an incoming large Boarbatuak with an uppercut swing from her hammer. The Boarbatusk went flying and hit the white half of a King Taijitu in the head. Ruby opened fire on the now disoriented white half of the King Taijitu. As she did, Weiss' Knight brought down its sword on the black half. Ruby then used her Semblance to go past some of the Grimm and finish off the white half with two swings of her scythe. She then feels the pain creeping up from her injured leg. She tried to ready herself for a rushing normal Manticore, but Weiss rushed in and stabbed it before it got to Ruby. The Manticore then backed off.

"Thanks Weiss!" Ruby said, grateful for her friend's help.

"I got your back" Weiss responded.

Yang sent seven Grimm flying with a dashing punch before she rushed towards the Manticore that was by Ruby and Weiss and shouted, "Serving up!" She then punched the Manticore into the air. Weiss then had her Knight finish it off with a downward swing that also took out four more Grimm. Yang then got an idea while looking at Weiss' summon. She picked up Ruby and said, "Hang on tight."

"What are you—" Ruby started to say before Yang cut her off by jumping onto the Knight's shoulder.

Yang put Ruby down and said, "Let's see what damage we can do from up here." She then armed her Ember Celica. Ruby smiled and nodded before she started sniping Grimm from up high. Yang was firing her Ember Celica projectiles charged with fire Chakra. The ensuing explosions caused drastic casualties to the Grimm's numbers. Having taken out forty-three Grimm in this volley, she is down to her last projectile and has lost a decent amount of Chakra.

The Super Manticore has now taken flight and flew right at Yang with its Chakra cloak. Yang stanced up before she said, "One last shot…" Ruby heard this, so she took aim and fired at the Super Manticore. It did no damage, but it succeeded in distracting it. Yang then hit the Super Manticore out of the air with her last fire charged projectile. She looked at Ruby and said, "Thanks sis!" She then jumped off the Knight and came down with a punch on the Super Manticore that had so much impact it caved in the ground below. This caused Yang and a bunch of the Grimm to fall into a cavern.

"Yang, no!" Ruby shouted out in concern.

Weiss was about to jump in after Yang, but the Super Nuckelavee swung at her. She did not have time to dodge, but Jaune was able to get in the way with his shield. They get sent flying, but the damage is far less than a direct hit would have been. Weiss said, "Thanks, Jaune…"

"Don't mention it…" Jaune responded.

Pyrrha threw her shield at the Super Nuckelavee, but it let out a scream that produced a shockwave and knocked the shield out of the air. Pyrrha then threw her spear and used her Semblance to reclaim her shield. While the Super Nuckelavee knocked the spear out of the air, Nora jumped up and hit it in the head with her hammer. It only flinched a little and quickly counter swung. Nora was able to hop off in time.

Ren then jumped up and hooked the Super Nuckelavee's horn with one blade while firing his other pistol into its eye. It yelled in both anger and pain. Nora then went to strike again, but the horse part kicked her. She had her hammer in the way, so she avoided direct contact, but the force sent her flying back so hard she got embedded in the mountain rock. The concussive force and whiplash caused Nora to fall over, unable to move. The other Grimm closed in on her defenseless form.

"Nora! I'm coming!" Pyrrha shouted as she ran over as fast as she could. Ren also looked over with a concerned expression. This left him unguarded as the Super Nuckelavee stabbed Ren with its claws. This caused his eyes to widen as he dropped his Stormflower and coughed up blood.

Jaune seen this and shouted out, "REN!" Jaune's shout caught everyone's attention. He then ran over to Ren while Weiss kept the Grimm off of him.

Pyrrha had managed to keep the Grimm off of Nora and allow her to come out of her stooper. When she sees Ren, she just kept saying, "No" in a panicked voice over and over again.

When Jaune reached Ren, one of Naruto's clones that was guarding Qrow shouted, "Jaune! Bring him over here!"

Jaune then did so, but the movement caused Ren to lose more blood which got on Jaune's armor. He kept telling Ren, "Come on buddy, you gotta hang in there!"

Grimm started trying to attack Qrow, but one of the clones quickly dispatched them. Jaune then got there and laid Ren down and tried to keep the wound closed. The Super Nuckelavee struck at Jaune with its extendable arm. One of Naruto's clones took the hit and disappeared. The other clone then got ready.

Seeing the Super Nuckelavee was still trying to hurt her friends, Nora's rage went through the roof as a blue stream of energy wrapped around her arm. Pyrrha seen this and asked, "Nora? What is that?"

Nora gave no response as she jumped forward and swung her hammer. The Super Nuckelavee blocked the swing, but Nora then kicked it the jaw with all her might. This staggered it for less than a second, but that was enough time for both Pyrrha and Ruby to nail it with a couple bullets and allowed Nora to get her hammer free. She then hit it on the head with a slight Chakra enhanced swing. This cracked the Super Nuckelavee's horn and left it in a slight daze. Nora has now lost her Chakra enhancement, but she was unaware of it in the first place, so she just kept hitting the humanoid part in the head with her hammer. The horse part then started to shake her off.

Pyrrha then grabbed Nora by the hand and ran with her over to where Jaune and Ren are to help guard them. Naruto's last remaining guard clone is running on fumes as he has been the only thing stopping the Grimm from getting to Ren, Jaune, and Qrow.

Weiss has been using her Knight to try and keep the Super Death Stalker busy, but it has been going very poorly as the Knight has received multiple hits. It can hardly hold its sword as it swings one last time at the large Grimm. The Super Death Stalker caught the large blade in its pincers before shattering it.

Weiss, who is now exhausted from fighting Grimm and maintaining her summon, said in shock, "There's no way…" The Death Stalker then thrust its stinger into the Knight and destroyed it. Weiss fell to her knees having almost nothing left to fight with.

Ruby then grabbed Weiss' hand and did a stumbling run with her as she said, "We haven't lost yet!" Weiss just nodded as she ran with Ruby.

"Please…Ren you can't give up!" Jaune shouted desperately. Ren's blood now covered Jaune's armor as Jaune was trying to do whatever he could. That was when the flow of Aura started going from Jaune into Ren.

Nora seen this and asked, "Jaune? What are you doing?!"

"I…I don't know…" Jaune answered, just as surprised as Nora was. Ren's wound then slowly started to close.

Pyrrha took down another Ursa as she seen this and said, "Your Aura…it's leaving your body and going into Ren's."

"You once told me it was our Auras that healed our wounds…" Jaune said to Pyrrha. He then noticed Ren's wound had completely closed up.

Pyrrha smiled as she said, "I think you finally unlocked your Semblance." Ren then slowly sat up while Nora hugged him. Naruto's last guard clone gets destroyed, reminding them that they don't have the luxury of letting down their guard.

Ren then took out his father's dagger ready to defend himself and his friends. He told everyone, "Thanks guys."

Three Grimm were about to reach Qrow. Ruby sees this and tries to run to him, but her leg throbs with pain. As a Beowolf gets ready to swing, Ruby's eyes flash with blue before that energy transfers to her wounded leg allowing her to activate her Semblance and cut down the attacking Beowolf. She then blocks the swing from an Ursa while another Beowolf strikes at Qrow. Pyrrha manages to get there in time to parry the Beowolf and cut it down. Weiss stabs the Ursa from behind allowing Ruby to decapitate it.

"Ruby I'm sorry…I shouldn't have let them get so close" Pyrrha said to Ruby.

"Don't apologize" Ruby responded. "We let ourselves get spread too thin."

"They're still coming" Weiss points out. They all look at the approaching Super Nuckelavee and Super Death Stalker. The amount of normal Grimm is sixty-seven strong. Everyone gathered around Qrow and gripped their weapons tightly for one last stand. They are then shocked to see the Super Manticore and Super Ursa come flying out of the cave Yang made.

Turning the clock back around ten minutes, we return to the moment Yang struck the Super Manticore and caused a cave in. This cave in dropped her, the Super Manticore, the Super Ursa, and several other Grimm into this section of the mountain. The cave in took out seventeen of the thirty Grimm that fell.

Yang pushed the rocks out of the way that fell on top of her. She was a little dazed from the cave in, but none too worse for wear. She looked around before spotting the Super Manticore getting back up. She said, "That thing's annoyingly tough…" She then started making her way over to strike it. The Super Ursa burst through the rubble and made ready to strike the unprepared Yang. Her eyes widened as she tried to defend.

Naruto then came from above and knocked the Super Ursa back with a falling stomp. Upon seeing this, Yang smiles and said, "Nice timing, Whiskers."

"What can I say? The cave in made me worry, ya know" Naruto responded.

"Appreciate it" Yang told him. The remaining thirteen Grimm in the cave started crawling out of the rubble. The two Super Grimm then started to circle the two of them. Yang commented, "Look at that, they think they're scaring us."

"A couple of months ago they did scare us" Naruto reminded her.

"I don't know why, but it feels like it's been longer than that" Yang responded. Four of the thirteen Grimm rushed at her, but she tore through them like tissue paper. Three more then tried to do the same to Naruto, but he took them out in one strike. The Super Manticore and Super Ursa then rushed them from both sides. Naruto and Yang both ducked the Super Grimms' strikes and knocked them back; Yang with a quick punch and Naruto with a hit from Orange Spark.

The Super Manticore then breathed fire at them, and Yang coated her fist in flame Chakra to block it. While it was focused on Yang, Naruto dashed to the Super Manticore's side and jammed it with Orange Spark. This caused internal damage and sent it into the debris. The Super Ursa tried to strike Yang from behind, but she ducked under the strike and delivered a spinning hook kick that sent it back into the rubble as well. Two of the normal Grimm tried to attack her, but she hopped and kicked one on the jaw before landing and hitting the other one with a nice haymaker.

Naruto approached the downed Super Manticore when he received the memories from his clone that was destroyed by the Super Nuckelavee. His eyes widened and he gasped. Yang heard this and asked, "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Ren's mortally wounded…it doesn't look good" Naruto informed her. Yang's eyes then became filled with concern. She heard a Boarbatusk approaching behind her, and she nailed it with an anger filled fist. This caused the cave to shake. Naruto then said, "Gotta be careful in here, ya know. Or you'll cause another cave in." Yang was annoyed, but she knew he was right.

The last three normal Grimm in the cave pounced at Naruto. He quickly hit them out of the air with a swift swing from Orange Spark. Now all that remained in the cave with them were the two Super Grimm. The Super Ursa attacked Naruto, but he weaved out of the way and hit it twice with Orange Spark. This caused it to drift towards Yang who punched it to the ground and then sent it rolling with a punt kick.

The Super Manticore then ran at Yang while covering itself in flame with its breath. Yang coated her fist in flame Chakra and met its charge with a punch. Her flame canceled out the Manticore's and her hit managed to disorient it. This allowed her to nail it with her non-flame covered fist that knocked it towards Naruto. He met the incoming Super Grimm with his own punch that cracked its mask. Naruto then received the information from his last guarding clone and told Yang, "Both my clones that were guarding your uncle are gone. We gotta get back up there!"

Yang nodded in agreement as she and Naruto looked at the two Super Grimm that were struggling to make it back to their feet. They then looked at each other and smirked before they clinked their metal arms together. They then rushed in and both uppercutted the two Super Grimm out of the cave, finishing them off.

Without wasting a second, Yang performed the seals for the Fireball Jutsu while Naruto made the Bird Sign for an Air Bullet. They then both leaped out of the cave and into the air having caught the attention of their friends. Naruto exclaimed, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" His Air Bullet nailed the Super Nuckelavee and its surrounding Grimm. The Grimm were crushed by the air pressure while the Nuckelavee was knocked back. Team JNPR had to cover up from the wind that came out as an after effect.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Yang exclaimed at the same time. She hit the Super Death Stalker and its surrounding Grimm with a large fireball. The Grimm were either crushed by the force or incinerated by the fire. The Death Stalker was burned and backed up while Ruby and Weiss covered their faces from the heat.

Naruto and Yang then rejoined the group as Naruto asked, "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you guys" Jaune tells him.

Yang seen Ren standing ready to fight and then asked Naruto, "I thought you said he was wounded!"

Naruto then looked at Ren and was surprised as he shouted, "What the hell? He was! What happened?!"

Trying not to laugh, Pyrrha told them, "I'll explain later."

Naruto's clone was in hot pursuit of Tyrian. There were no trees at the moment, so it was a pure foot race. Naruto noticed Grimm heading past them towards the mountain. He tried to ignore it as he knew his job was to stop Tyrian.

Tyrian thought to himself, "I don't have my claws with me, so my tail will have to do." He then stopped running and thrusted his tail at the clone.

The clone's eyes widened as he managed to slide under at the last second and get back to his feet. He then told Tyrian, "Looks like you finally stopped running."

"I was sick of my pursuer" Tyrian responded. "Figured I would take care of things now."

Naruto brought out Orange Spark before putting it in dual staff mode and saying, "I kicked your ass once."

Tyrian grinned and said, "That may be. But are you the true blonde brat? Or a copy?"

Naruto did not answer and simply chucked one of his staffs at Tyrian. Tyrian weaved his head out of the way making the staff go past him. Naruto then rushed in and swung his other staff. Tyrian weaved back from this and tried to side kick Naruto. Naruto hopped over the kick and then jumped over to the staff he threw and picked it back up.

Tyrian put his hands together and concentrated before firing poisonous gas from his tail. Naruto starts running to try and avoid it, but Tyrian cut him off and kicked him back into the poison cloud. Tyrian thought, "I learned from our last fight. There's no reason to believe you're immune to my poison. So as long as my poison gets in your system, I can wear you down…"

Naruto jumped out of the poison cloud and punched Tyrian dead center. Tyrian guarded up against the hit, but he slid back and even had to shake his arm from the throbbing pain. Naruto then thought to himself, "I can't believe I let myself get knocked into the poison cloud! I don't think I breathed any in, but I'm not sure…"

"There's also the possibility that it can enter through the skin" Kurama commented. "Aura might prevent that, but we can't be sure."

"So, then we might be on a timer? Great…" Naruto commented to the fox. Tyrian concentrated his Chakra even more into his tail and started charging his poison beam. Naruto muttered, "Shit…" and started running.

Tyrian grinned as he wanted Naruto to start running around. If he is poisoned, then the increased movement will make the poison course faster. He then fired his beam which Naruto just managed to avoid. They then ran at each other before Tyrian threw a right straight punch, a spinning back kick, and then three thrusts with his tail. Naruto weaved to the right of the punch, blocked the kick, and jumped back to avoid the tail thrusts.

Tyrian then jumped right at Naruto and plunged his tail towards him. Naruto stepped back, but then got tripped up by Tyrian's low kick. As he is falling, he turns around and catches himself with his hands before trying to kick Tyrian in the chin. Unfortunately, Tyrian dodged that kick and then landed one of his own dead center on Naruto that sent him tumbling. Naruto started to get up, but Tyrian landed a tail strike on Naruto's shoulder that got through his energy Aura. This caused the clone to vanish.

Tyrian grinned as he said, "I thought it was copy." He then giggled before he started leisurely walking as opposed to the sprint he was doing earlier.

We return to our group standing across from the two very powerful Super Grimm. Naruto, Yang, and Pyrrha are in good shape as is Ren thanks to Jaune. Unfortunately, Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Nora are fighting exhaustion. However, having Naruto and Yang returned to their side has given them renewed fighting spirit.

Naruto looked over to Ren and noticed he is missing Stormflower. He noticed the dagger and asked, "Is that your father's?"

Ren looked at his father's dagger and responded, "That's right."

Naruto thought on that before reaching for his kunai. He then asked Ren, "Think you can handle the burden of another father's will?" He then held up his kunai.

Ren looked at the kunai. Now hearing that it belonged to Naruto's father, he said, "I'll live up to those expectations in this battle." Naruto smiled and tossed Ren the kunai. Ren caught it and now wielded a blade in each hand.

"Yang and I will back you guys up when we can, but we'll be focusing on that Death Stalker" Naruto told them.

Yang slammed her fists together and said, "Sounds like a plan!"

"Weiss and I will back you guys up however we can!" Ruby exclaimed. She then looked at Weiss and asked, "Right?"

"Right…" Weiss answered. "I think I have enough left for one last trick I want to try."

Jaune then looked at Ren and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Ren looked at the kunai he was trusted with and then back at his father's dagger. He said, "You're our leader. I trust you."

Pyrrha and Nora smiled at this response and Jaune nodded. He then told his team, "I'll get that thing's attention first. Then Nora, hit it with every last grenade you got. When the barrage ends, it should hopefully be dazed. If not, we'll at least have a smokescreen. Then Ren and Pyrrha will get in there and do whatever damage they can in those few seconds."

"Why all that for just a few seconds of hits?" Nora questioned.

"Now matter how powerful these things are, they don't heal mid-fight" Jaune reminded her. "Cumulative damage is the key to beating these things until we learn to use our Chakra."

"Yeah, guess you're right" Nora admitted. Ren and Pyrrha got ready to enact the plan.

Naruto rushed the Super Death Stalker with Orange Spark in dual staff mode. It swung its pincer claw at him and he slid under it. The next claw came for Naruto and he managed to get back to his feet in time to block it with his staffs. Yang then jumped over Naruto and onto the Death Stalker. It thrusted its stinger at her, but she managed to dodge it before hitting the shell three times, hoping to crack it. She was not able to and had to jump off as it tries to shake her. It then thrust at Naruto who jumped away in time and landed next to Yang. The Death Stalker then fired a poison beam.

They both jumped as Naruto said, "Damn, that thing's dangerous."

Yang then ran back at Death Stalker with her fists clad in flame as she said, "So am I."

Naruto built up his new energy before he fired a small but impactful Air Bullet. He then made two shadow clones. The Super Death Stalker flinched from the air bullet which allowed Yang to get in close and land four of her fire Charka enhanced punches, each of which caused the Super Grimm to flinch in pain. It then swung its claw at her, and she guarded against it. She was able to take the hit, but she stumbled back.

Naruto then ran in with his two clones and the Death Stalker fired its poison beam at all three of them. All three dodged the beam and continued to rush forward. The Death Stalker caught one of the clones in its pincer claw and destroyed it. The other clone landed an axe kick which disoriented the Super Grimm long enough for the real Naruto, who coated Orange Spark in his new orange energy, to shove his staff through one of the Death Stalker's eyes.

The Death Stalker roared in pain. Its roar then turned to one of anger as it was able to enhance itself with a Chakra cloak. It then charged its tail and fired a sweeping poison beam.

Naruto seen this and shouted, "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Back with JNPR and the Super Nuckelavee, Nora had just finished firing her barrage of grenades and Pyrrha landed a small cut on the humanoid part's shoulder while Ren managed to slice out one of the horse part's eyes. They then heard Naruto's warning and they all got down. They then saw the Nuckelavee get hit by the poison beam and let out the most nauseating pained screech they have ever heard. If it would not have been enhanced by Tyrian, it would have died on the spot.

Jaune then looked back up at the Super Nuckelavee and saw that it was temporarily incapacitated. He yelled, "Lay into it!" Team JNPR then rushed in and started landing hit after hit. The Super Grimm started to get weaker and weaker. Ren then took out the last eye on the horse part and Jaune landed a slash on the horse part's throat.

Pyrrha seen the cracked horn on the humanoid and slashed at it, making the crack just a little bigger. She then shouted, "Nora! Smash the horn!" Nora yelled at the top of her lungs and hit the cracked horn with all her might. The horn broke and went flying.

Ruby and Weiss were getting back up from ducking down from the sweeper beam. The beam damaged the mountain wall behind them causing large rocks to start falling. They managed to get out of the way, but then seen the unconscious Qrow was still there. Ruby freaked and tried to run back shouting, "Uncle Qrow!" Thankfully, Naruto's last remaining clone was able to get there in time and save Qrow. Ruby breathed a big sigh of relief and said, "I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

"You and me both…" Weiss commented.

Naruto's clone brought Qrow over by Ruby and Weiss and set him back down. The clone then asked Weiss, "When do you think you can get that last trick of yours ready?"

Weiss closed her eyes and calmed herself down before answering, "I just need ten seconds."

Ruby then looked over and noticed the broken piece of Super Nuckelavee horn on the ground. She then told Naruto's clone, "Go grab that horn. I got an idea."

As Team JNPR was still assaulting the Super Nuckelavee, it let out a scream and shockwave getting all of them off of it. Even on its last legs, the enhanced Nuckelavee still has enough strength to fight as it stretches its arms and swings them at everything it can. Jaune seen the claw coming and got behind his shield at the last second. A chunk of his shield was broken off causing him to get an annoyed expression and mutter, "Oh come on…"

While they were backing up from the spastic Nuckelavee, Ren asked, "How are we supposed to get close to the that thing?"

Pyrrha threw her spear, but it gets knocked away by the random attacks. She then said, "We're going to need a hand."

Nora then shouted, "Hey Naruto! We need some help!"

Naruto looked over and assessed the situation. He then held out his hand and shouted, "Yang!"

Yang looked over and understood the plan. She dodged a stinger thrust from the Super Death Stalker and dashed towards Naruto. Naruto grabbed her hand and threw her towards the Nuckelavee as hard as he could. Yang then ignited her fist and parried the claw from the Nuckelavee which allowed her to keep going. As she approached the Super Grimm, she punched it in the jaw, both cracking the mask and toppling it over.

Before the Super Nuckelavee could get back up, Pyrrha used her Semblance to reclaim her spear before she leaped into the air and thrust her spear into the Nuckelavee's arm to pin down one of its claws. She then shield bashed the cracked mask before jumping away from the other claw. It tried to free its arm, but Pyrrha used her Semblance to keep her blade in place. Jaune then ran in and shoved his sword into the horse part's mouth. As the humanoid part swung its remaining claw, Jaune predicted this and was able to parry the strike at the price of what remained of his shield. He then grabbed the arm and tried to hold in place.

Completely desperate, the Nuckelavee started to let out another scream, but Nora clobbered it with her hammer while yelling, "SHUT UP!"

As the Super Grimm was dazed, Ren came down and shoved his father's dagger in one eye and Naruto's kunai in the other. The Nuckelavee was flailing as a blue stream of energy traveled along Ren as he yelled and ripped the blades out of the Nuckelavee's head. Its body went limp and started to crumble…the nightmare had been slain.

As Naruto threw Yang at the Nuckelavee, the Super Death Stalker went to go attack him from behind. Ruby shouted, "Now!" Then her and Naruto's clone come flying in on top of Weiss' newly summoned Queen Lancer. The Lancer crashes into the Death Stalker and staggers it. The Naruto clone then jumps onto the Death Stalker wielding the Nuckelavee horn. He clads it in his orange energy and uses it to slice the Death Stalker's tail open. The Death Stalker then flails in pain.

The real Naruto then takes the opportunity to grab Orange Spark and rip it out of the Super Death Stalker's eye socket, causing it even more pain. Ruby then uses the last of her Aura to activate her Semblance to boost herself forward and cut the wounded tail, rendering it completely ineffective. She then kept running to avoid its wrath. Ruby then seen Yang run past her and she shouted, "Go beat that thing, sis!"

"You can bet on it!" Yang responded. As this is happening, Weiss falls onto her hands and knees and her summon disappears. She used everything she had to pull that off.

Naruto seen this and told Weiss and Ruby, "You two did great!"

Yang hit the Super Death Stalker from behind, causing it to stagger. It swung its claw at her, but she jumped over it and landed next to Naruto. She then asked, "Got any plans to finish this thing off? I'm starting to get tired…"

Naruto thought for a few seconds before asking, "Remember what Nora and I did to the Death Stalker during the midterms?"

Yang thought back and remembered that they scrambled its insides by Naruto uppercutting it while Nora hit it from above with her hammer. She then said, "I can rock with that." Naruto then called his clone over before relaying the plan. Yang and the clone then moved back a few steps before jumping into the air. As the Super Death Stalker watched the two jumping into the air, the real Naruto was gathering his orange energy into his left fist.

Now in the air, Yang jumped off the clone's shoulders to go even higher. She ignited her right metal fist in flame Chakra and activated her Semblance, adding the force of the hits she's taken into her ignited fist.

As the clone descends towards the Super Death Stalker, the Death Stalker struck the clone and made is vanish. Now receiving the clone's memories, Naruto knows now is the time to strike. He dashes forward, right under the Death Stalker.

Yang is coming down with her first. She and Naruto both yell as their fists make contact with the Super Grimm. As tough as this evolved Super Death Stalker is, its shell quickly shatters and its flesh collapses between the fists of this power couple. Their fists then came to a collision that shook the whole mountain itself.

Now standing next to each other, they both look at a lone Beowolf that has just arrived. It slowly starts running away. They both smirk before clinking their metal fists again. Naruto puts an arm around Yang and they walk back over to the others.

Still in absolute awe of what they just seen, the others struggle to try and think of something to say. Nora simply asks. "Are the rest of us really going to be able to do things like that?"

"More or less" Naruto answers.

"If you say so…" Jaune comments before he goes to grab the piece of scrap that is his shield. Ren goes to retrieve Stormflower.

Weiss sighed and said, "I really wish we could rest…"

Ruby looked back at the dying Qrow and said, "We don't have the time…"

Our tired group has made if off the mountain. Naruto is once again carrying Qrow on his back. In front of him is Yang and Pyrrha who have the most energy left to deal with any Grimm that try to come out of hiding. Next to him is Ruby who is riddled with anxiety as they are out of water to deal with Qrow's fever.

Weiss walks next to Ruby and tells her, "We're going to make it."

"I hope so…" Ruby says, far less hope in her voice than she usually has.

"We fought too damn hard to make it this far" Naruto tells Ruby. "Qrow will survive." This makes Ruby smile, just a little.

Looking at Qrow, Jaune wonders if he can help him the way he helped Ren. He then puts a hand on Qrow's back.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Something desperate" Jaune told Naruto. He then transfers what is left of his Aura to Qrow.

Naruto's eyes widen before he asks, "How'd you do that?"

Now feeling even more tired, Jaune lets out a weak chuckle and says, "I uh…I unlocked my Semblance."

"His ability is to transfer his Aura to others" Pyrrha explained.

"I can't get rid of the poison, but hopefully this will help Qrow last a little longer" Jaune said, explaining his reasoning. Ruby's eyes light up a little more now that there is some more hope for her uncle.

"I'll be damned…congrats Jaune! I knew you had it in ya, ya know!" Naruto exclaimed in congratulations. Jaune was a little embarrassed at the acknowledgment.

The group traveled for another few hours. They were all on the brink of exhaustion and were walking up a hill. Naruto said, "It can't be too much further now…"

Pyrrha got to the top of the hill. She took a second to look around and her eyes widened. She then exclaimed, "I see Haven!" They all excitedly ran up the hill. They all looked at the beauty of Haven's campus as the sun rose in the background.

"We did it…" Jaune said, almost in disbelief. Nora held Ren's hand. Ren looked at her in surprise, but then they both smiled.

"Okay guys, one last push!" Naruto told the rest of the group. He then ran as the others tried to follow. He got further and further ahead, but no one told him to wait up. Now having reached the campus, Naruto ran into one of the staff and asked, "Please, I gotta know where the hospital is!"

The staff member told him, "It's in the southeast section of the campus."

Naruto then ran to the Southeast section as fast as his tired legs would carry him. He found the hospital and ran in shouting, "My friend was poisoned, and he needs help! Please!"

A nurse then gets a stretcher brought out that Qrow is laid on. She then gets on the landline and dials one of the extension numbers, "Yes, tell Dr. Tarasque in toxicology that he's needed." She then hangs up and Qrow gets taken back for immediate medical attention.

The rest of the group get to the hospital and see Naruto standing by himself. Yang asked, "Did they take him back already?"

Naruto nodded and said, "All we can do now is wait…"

"Uncle Qrow…" Ruby muttered, full of worry.

Yang hugged Ruby before telling her, "It's gonna be alright." All the others try to stay strong for Ruby as well.

Jaune took a look at the directory. He then said, "Looks like the waiting room is this way. Come on guys." He then led the group to the waiting room. Upon entering the room, they all sit down. They are all beaten, covered in blood and dirt, and are completely exhausted. This of course earned them some stares.

Nora, who's exhaustion dried up what little patience she had, yelled out, "What are you all staring at?!" The onlookers then looked away.

Naruto, who is sat next to Ruby, tells her, "Now that we're here…you should probably get your leg looked at."

"I agree with Whiskers" Yang commented.

"So do I" Weiss further commented.

"I will!" Ruby shouted, feeling like she was getting pounced on. "But not until I know uncle Qrow's okay."

Naruto leaned back in his chair and said, "That's fair…"

Twenty minutes pass and Nora goes to get them all water. Getting anxious, Naruto asked, "Is this what is was like when you guys were waiting to see if I was okay after the Giant Nevermore got me?"

"Uh huh" Yang answered.

"Yup" Ruby further answered.

"It's almost a one-to-one comparison" Pyrrha answered even further.

Naruto rubbed his head and said, "I don't know how you guys did it. My nerves are a wreck…"

"It's not like we had a choice in the matter" Weiss told him. Nora then came back with water for all of them. They stayed in the waiting room for another two and a half hours. In that time one of the nurses came by and checked their injuries. They got bandaged up and Ruby's leg was treated. After the quick treatment, the stress and exhaustion has gotten to them as all but Jaune and Naruto have started falling asleep.

Taking the opportunity, Jaune says, "I uh…I wanted to apologize."

"…What? What do you have to apologize for?" Naruto asked, completely baffled. This may be partially from exhaustion.

Clearly still ashamed, Jaune says, "For how I reacted the night Beacon fell…"

Naruto sighed and asked, "Why are you still beating yourself up over that?"

"Because I'm the one who begged you to save Pyrrha" Jaune tells him. "Yet I had the nerve to berate you when I thought you failed…despite what you were already going through."

"Look…not only did you think you just lost Pyrrha, but that I went back on my word, which I don't do" Naruto explained. "It's hard not to lose it when that happens."

Jaune shook his head and responded, "Like I told Pyrrha, that can't justify it."

Now a little annoyed, Naruto said, "Okay, well you apologized now. Now get over it, ya know." Jaune could not help but laugh at this.

Dr. Tarasque, the toxicologist, came into the waiting room and asked them, "Are you the ones with Mr. Branwen?"

"That's us" Naruto answered. He then started waking the others up.

"Is my uncle okay?" Ruby asked, feeling like there's a lump in her throat.

"It was a close call, but he pulled though" Dr. Tarasque answered. This caused celebratory cheers from the whole group. Dr. Tarasque then continued, "He needs a day or two of bedrest and IV treatment. He'll be back on his feet in no time. In the meantime, I have a representative of the academy who wants to talk to you."

The academy representative had light brown shoulder-length hair and glasses. She had a green business casual top and skirt and black high-heeled shoes. She told the group, "Headmaster Lionhart has been made aware of your arrival. He will meet with you all once Mr. Branwen is back on his feet. In the meantime, I will be showing you all to where you will be staying."

"I like the sound of that…" Jaune said, ready to go to bed.

"I could not agree more…" Weiss commented. They all got up and followed the Haven representative to their temporary living quarters. They then started splintering off and heading straight to bed.

Before Naruto and Yang headed to their room, Ruby hugged them both and said, "Thank you…I don't know what would have happened if you guys weren't there…"

They both smile as Yang says, "You won't need to find out."

Naruto follows up saying, "We always have your back. Just like you always have ours."

Ruby smiled brightly and told them, "Goodnight guys" even thought it is the middle of the day.

"Goodnight sis" Yang told Ruby.

"Goodnight, we'll see ya tomorrow" Naruto told Ruby. Ruby then headed to her room while Naruto and Yang headed to theirs where they all enjoyed a long and well-deserved rest.

CHAPTER END

AN: I'm having trouble finishing the next chapter, so it is going to be a bit before it comes out. For anyone who's curious, the Haven representative is not based on anyone. I just did a basic description of a secretary. As for Dr. Tarasque, that was very basic as well. A Tarasque is a creature in French mythology with poisonous breath. I figured that made sense for a toxicologist. And that's that. See you all next time.