Remnant of a Shinobi

by AuraofChakra

During the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke, things don't go so smoothly. Sent off to another world, Naruto is ready for a new adventure. What awaits him in this new world where people not only have to deal with each other, but a race of creatures that solely exist to destroy humanity?

23. Chapter 23 - The Way of the Shinobi

AN: A special thanks to SuperSaiyanFever for coming up with a name for this chapter.

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Chapter 23 – The Way of the Shinobi

While our main group at Haven recuperated and began their training, Tyrian was making his way back to the Evernight. His normally crazed demeanor was currently subdued. This was because he was worried how his "Goddess" was going to react when he told her that not only did he fail to kill the silver-eyed girl, but also that he was defeated by some kid with power similar to what she bestowed him with.

Due to traveling on his own and not being as injured as Cinder was during her return to the Evernight, Tyrian did not take nearly as long to make it back. Upon his return, he seen that the Grimm and Super Grimm army had grown even further. The number of normal Grimm had become too high for him to count. As for the Super Grimm, their number seems to have at least tripled since he left. He looked on into the distance to see the Nine-Tails Grimm laying down. It was having a break from having spawned so many.

Tyrian then finally entered the castle. While walking through, he hears someone call out, "Well look who's back." Tyrian looked up to the balcony to see it was Mercury who said this. Mercury in his usual smarmy way asked, "What's wrong? You don't have that same psycho smile on your face that you had before."

Emerald walks up from behind Mercury and tells him, "Come on, you know better than to mess with these guys."

Tyrian, who did not appreciate Mercury's attitude at the moment, said to the young man, "You should listen to your friend, boy."

Mercury shrugged and played innocent as he said, "Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly."

Roman then walked in the room with Tyrian and told him, "Take it from me, being annoying is how that brat gets along with people."

Tyrian observed that Roman was now walking around on his own. Tyrian said to him, "The doctor's "treatments" must have worked."

"It was awful!" Roman quickly shouted. "…But effective."

Emerald had a confused look on her face as she asked Roman, "Why do you seem so much more chipper this time around that guy?" That guy in this case being Tyrian.

"I will fully admit, this guy creeps me out" Roman answered. This made Tyrian gain a grin. "But! Him being back means he killed little Red! So how can I not be happy?" Tyrian quickly lost his grin, now reminded of his failure.

Cinder now approached with a new look. Her hair has been shortened and she has a glass mask over her missing left eye. Instead of the short, skirted red dress she used to wear, she now wears a long dark red dress with one long wide sleeve hiding the arm that was mangled. There are gold designs throughout the dress. The right side of her dress is open with no sleeve attached so she wears a sleeved glove. She is wearing black pantyhose under her dress. She asked Tyrian, "What was the look on that girl's face when she met her end?"

"Use your imagination" Tyrian snidely told Cinder. This caused Cinder to dawn an annoyed expression.

However, this came to an end when Salem entered the room with two Super Beowolves at her side. She looked at Tyrian and told him, "Tyrian, I want your report."

Tyrian could not hold it off any longer. He fell to his knees and with a voice on the verge of breaking he said, "I…I failed you…"

Surprised, Salem responded, "Explain."

"I couldn't kill the girl…" Tyrian clarified.

This caused Cinder to be filled with anger and Roman to exclaim in both irritation and shock, "What?! How?!"

"I also want to know how that child stopped you" Salem stated, curiosity and contempt in her voice.

"It wasn't her that stopped me" Tyrian informed them. "Her and her group were easy prey for our Super Grimm."

Throwing out a guess, Mercury asked, "Then was it her uncle?"

"Don't you dare insult me!" Tyrian shot back at Mercury. "I beat Ozpin's little birdie in no time flat."

Getting annoyed, Salem said, "Tell me who it was, now."

Tyrian pointed at Emerald and Mercury as he said, "It was a kid their age with blonde spiky hair, a red coat, and an orange metal arm."

Hearing this, Cinder's eye widened along with Emerald's and Mercury's. Roman on the other hand blew his stat as he pointed at Cinder and shouted, "You told me he was dead!"

"He is dead!" Cinder shouted back. She then motions to Tyrian and said, "He must be lying…"

This time it was Tyrian who was angered as he shouted, "How dare you accuse me of lying before the Goddess!" He and Cinder then start approaching each other.

"Enough!" Salem shouted, making them all back up. She then looked to Cinder and asked, "If you were wrong about this boy's death, then what else were you wrong about?" Cinder than looked down, trying to contain her anger. Salem then turned her gaze to Tyrian and asked, "How was this boy able to best you?"

"That boy…he somehow had power like the kind you gave me" Tyrian informed her. "I...I need more! So I can beat him!"

Salem stared Tyrian down as she said, "You aren't satisfied with what I gave you?" Tyrian could only stutter in response until she told him, "You disappoint me." She then began walking away. Her two Super Beowolves then started to follow.

Something then snapped in Tyrian. He began to have a mental breakdown as he tackled one of the Super Grimm and started punching it over and over again. Tears started streaming down his face as he began hyperventilating which turned into screams. This made all the others start to back away.

As Salem entered her throne room, she was thinking about what she just learned. She thought, "So there is someone else who knows of this power. How curious…I wonder how this boy came across this knowledge?"

Back with the others who were watching Tyrian's mental breakdown, they heard Watts walk in and comment, "This is quite the sight."

"Has this ever happened before?" Roman asked, very clearly weirded out.

"Never this bad…" Watts answered. "What happened?"

"She said she was disappointed in him" Cinder answered.

Watts' eyes widened as he responded, "I see. That's going to devastate him for a while."

"What…what should we do?" Emerald asked, not having any clue how to deal with this.

"Nothing" Cinder answered. "We have other matters to attend to."

Watts then left the castle as he said, "Time to visit that tribe." Then Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo followed Watts.

While walking, Cinder was in disbelief as she thought, "There's no way Naruto is alive. I know what I saw, he has to be dead!" They then boarded the ship. As they made ready to leave, they could still hear Tyrian's screams from the castle.

---

It has been a few days since Naruto first started training his friends in the ways of Chakra. After getting their Chakras all flowing, the next day was spent channeling Chakra to different parts of the body. While most of them picked up on it relatively quickly, it was Ren who pulled it off first. Naruto wondered if it came down to his fighting style.

The next day is when he taught them the way to cling to surfaces like walking up walls. This is where the struggle really started for everyone. Naruto had to make sure none of them landed on their head, so he needed to make some clones to observe them all. There were a few close calls with Jaune and Nora as they are easily the least graceful of the group. All of the others usually landed back on their feet.

So far, only two of them have made it up the wall: Pyrrha and Ruby. Why them? In Pyrrha's case, she was so excited about learning something new that on the day they learned this, when the others went to bed, she snuck out and kept practicing. Due to this, she was a little sleep deprived on the third day, but she was the first to make it up the wall.

As for Ruby, she was the second to make it up the wall. How? She had extra help and attention. While Naruto had to divide his attention between everyone, even with his clones, a certain someone who already mastered clinging to surfaces did not. That would be Yang. When Yang was not practicing with Naruto, she was fulfilling her role as a big sister and helping Ruby with tips and walking with her.

Speaking of Yang, she has made a good amount of progress with the Body Flicker. She can get where she wants in terms of short distances without running into anything. She still cannot pull off long distances yet and she cannot do it at a moment's notice in order to properly fight with it. But she is determined to get it right.

Naruto has also made sure Yang did not stop practicing her fire. She can use the Fireball Jutsu very effectively now. She has learned to shoot multiple small fireballs in a row and a big one that would give an Uchiha a run for their money. This was good because Naruto still planned on teaching her the hypothetical Fire Cloak. In order to pull this off, Yang will need to be able to use fire to an even greater degree than Sasuke. Was it possible? Sure. Sasuke became far more lightning focused as he got older, so it was not as if he was the greatest of all fire wielders; Amaterasu excluded. It was also thinking of Sasuke that made Naruto remember an even more powerful fire technique that Sasuke was able to do. He was going to teach that to Yang before they attempted the Fire Cloak.

It is the fourth day since training began. Naruto watched as Ruby and Pyrrha once again made it up the wall. He then made three clones to watch everyone. His real body said to Yang, "Come with me."

"Sure thing" Yang said as she followed.

Seeing them walk off, Ruby asked Pyrrha, "What do you think they're up to?"

"Likely some new fire attack" Pyrrha answered.

Ruby then looked down at one of the Naruto clones and asked him, "Hey, are we gonna be learning fire stuff too?"

"Not necessarily" The Naruto clone responded. "Everybody's got an element that they're naturally good at. Yang's just happened to be fire."

"I guess that makes sense" Weiss commented. The others seemed to agree.

"So then when do we get to find out what our elements are?" Ruby asked, full of excitement.

"Worry about that later" The clone told her.

Ruby slumped over a little and said, "Fine…"

The clone then looked to the side with a nervous beat of sweat. He thought to himself, "I still don't have a way to figure out everyone's element…"

The real Naruto has walked with Yang about a half a kilometer away from their living quarters. Yang then asked him, "So what are we doing out here?"

Naruto stopped walking to turn and face her as he said, "It only seems right for the "Sunny Little Dragon" to learn the Dragon Flame Jutsu."

Hearing the name, Yang smirked as she said in a playful manor, "Have you been holding out on me?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he admitted, "I only recently remembered…"

Yang kept her smile but shook head. She then asked, "So what makes this technique different?"

"For one it's harder to do" Naruto answered. "It's also focused more on a specific target and can't be fired multiple times in succession like the regular fireball can."

"Oh, so it's kind of a trump card then?" Yang asked after taking in that information.

"…Kinda" Naruto answered.

""Kinda?" What do you mean?" Yang asked, rightfully confused.

"You might as well just tell her at this point" Kurama told Naruto.

"Well, you see the main trump card I wanted to teach you is the hypothetical Fire Style Cloak, ya know" Naruto admitted.

"Cloak? Like what Ruby wears?" Yang asked, not sure what Naruto means.

"No! It's, um…" Naruto expressed, trying to think of how to describe the cloak. "Imagine an Aura made of fire Chakra."

As Yang tried to picture that, she said, "Okay…you have my attention."

"It'll raise your physical abilities to a drastic degree and act as a protective shield against attacks" Naruto further explained.

Yang put her hands on her hips as she continued to imagine what this would look like. She asked, "So it's basically a fiery augmentation armor?" Naruto nodded to confirm this. Yang then commented, "So on top of my Aura, this is gonna make me pretty hard to damage." She then remembered Naruto saying this move was "hypothetical." She then asked, "What did you mean by "hypothetical" Fire Cloak?"

"It's hypothetical because it's never been done before" Naruto answered.

"…Say what?" Yang responded. She had a hard time believing what she just heard.

Naruto crossed his arms as he explained, "Most shinobi don't fight the way you do. With one notable exception…the Raikage."

Recalling the term "Kage" from when Naruto told her his past, Yang asked, "That was one of your leaders, right?"

"Yup" Naruto answered. "The Raikage was huge, and he fought in a high-paced brawler style like you."

Yang raised a finger as she said, "Hey, I've gotten a lot more fluid in the way I fight thanks to sparring with you."

Naruto nodded and said, "Okay, that's true. But the way you like to fight is still like a brawler at its core ya know."

Yang shrugged and said, "Okay, fair."

"Getting back on point, the Raikage augmented his fighting style with a Lightning Style Cloak" Naruto informed her.

Taking in all that information, Yang surmised, "And since nobody else fought like him, nobody tried to make other elemental cloaks."

"That's why it's hypothetical" Naruto responded, letting Yang know she was right. He also decided to not overcomplicate it by telling her about Tailed Beast cloaks. "That's why I wanted to teach you the Dragon Flame Jutsu first. That way you have another strong attack to call on that I know already exists."

Yang nodded at his reasoning and asked, "So how do I do it?"

"The initial part is just like the fireball, but you have to gather even more fire chakra and concentrate it" Naruto explained. "Then wield the signs Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, and Tiger." He then demonstrated the hand signs. "Then as you expel the Chakra, an extreme level of flame will shoot straight out in front of you, ya know." Yang watched him carefully, but them let out a sigh. Clearly confused, Naruto asked her, "What's wrong?"

Yang started practicing the hand signs as she said, "The Dragon hand sign is hard to do…"

Naruto snickered at this and said, "I mean, you're right. But it sure is ironic."

"Ironic how?" Yang questioned.

Naruto had a big smirk as he said, "Ironic that the Sunny Little Dragon is struggling with the Dragon sign."

Yang then narrowed her eyes at Naruto and said, "You're having too much fun with this."

Naruto laughed and said, "Maybe just a little."

---

Back with the others who remained at the living quarters, they were still working on overcoming the wall. Nora had just made it three-quarters up the wall, but then she fell again. She landed on her feet and grunted in frustration.

One of the Naruto clones told her, "I know it's frustrating, but you can't let it get to you."

Nora in turn sighed before she refocused and said, "I'm getting up that wall if it's the last thing I do…"

Ren was standing still as he made the Seal of Confrontation. He focused on everything he has learned from his past attempts. He then began his walk up the wall. One of Naruto's clones was watching Ren and commented to himself, "I think he might make it this time." Ren made sure to keep a calm pace so as not to disrupt his Chakra control. Taking a step every two seconds, he ascended higher and higher.

Nora seen this and shouted, "That's it Ren! You got this!" Then Ren, taking one last step, finally stepped onto the roof and overcame the wall. He then started panting from the strain of controlling his Chakra and the multiple attempts. Nora now shouted even louder, "You did it! I knew you'd pull it off!"

Pyrrha and Ruby, who were already on the roof, walked over to the panting Ren and Pyrrha said, "Congratulations Ren."

"Yeah, way to go!" Ruby said, giving her own congratulations.

Ren wiped the sweat from his brow and asked Ruby and Pyrrha, "What now?"

Ruby then looked back down at Weiss, Nora, and Jaune. Naruto's clones were trying to encourage them to keep trying. Ruby then responded to Ren, "We help our friends. I'll go help Weiss."

"Then I'll help Jaune" Pyrrha followed up in agreement.

"That leaves Nora to me" Ren responded, now having caught his breath. The three of them headed back down.

Ruby walked up to Weiss and told her, "Let's get up that wall!"

Weiss couldn't help but smirk from this as she said, "Getting help from you would have felt humiliating when we first met." Ruby smiled back.

The Naruto clone by Weiss commented to her, "As a person, you've probably grown the most, ya know."

Weiss shook her head while keeping her smirk and said, "I'm not sure if that's a compliment."

"I meant it as one" The clone clarified. "And now that we'll have Ruby's help, if you start to fall, she can catch you so I can focus on where you're struggling."

Weiss crossed her arms and with a little annoyance in her voice said, "I still don't think the fall would kill me."

"Probably not" the clone said in agreement. "But doing this has been draining your stamina and by extension your Aura. If you fall on your head with no Aura or Chakra protection you will get hurt, ya know."

Qrow, who was standing off to the side and observing out of pure curiosity, followed up on Naruto's point, "And then the time you wanted to put to practice will be spent recovering."

Overhearing this conversation, Jaune commented, "That's a good point…"

Pyrrha stood next to Jaune and asked, "Are you ready?" This made Jaune let out a chuckle. Confused, Pyrrha asked, "What did I say?"

Jaune shook his head before he confessed, "It's dumb, but I thought that since we were both learning to use Chakra, maybe I'd be able to keep up with you this time. But here we are with you helping to coach me again."

Pyrrha looked a little ashamed as she said, "I…Jaune, I'm sorry…"

Jaune waved his hands and shook his head said, "No! Don't apologize!" Seeing he got her out of those thoughts, Jaune then said in a calmed manor, "I always really appreciate your help. I'm the one who should feel ashamed for having those thoughts."

The Naruto clone who was by them shook his head and commented, "You two are the most awkward couple I've ever seen."

Jaune and Pyrrha were clearly embarrassed by this comment and Jaune asked, "What do you mean?"

"You two unlocked your Chakra defending each other and then you have weird moments like this!" The clone exclaimed. They are further embarrassed, and the clone tells them, "Jaune, a big reason Pyrrha was the first one up the wall is because she snuck out to keep practicing while the rest of us were in bed."

Shocked, Pyrrha asked the clone, "How did you know?"

Seeing that Pyrrha acknowledged the clone was right, Jaune was now shocked as he muttered, "I didn't even notice she was gone…"

"I made sure to get back to bed before you woke up" Pyrrha informed him.

"To answer your question, I saw those bags under your eyes yesterday" The clone responded, answering Pyrrha's query. Pyrrha's shock then changed back into embarrassment.

"Oh come on, give them a break!" Nora shouted over.

The clone over by Ren and Nora in turn asked Nora, "Why?"

Nora placed one hand on her hip and held her other hand up with a finger extended as if giving a lecture, "Of course they're going to have weird moments as a couple. They're both socially awkward!" Jaune and Pyrrha's mouths were left agape at being called out like that in Nora's supposed defense of them.

This caused Ruby and Weiss to burst out laughing before Weiss said to the clones, "You really shouldn't compare the relationship of two loud extroverts to other couples."

The other clones thought about that and said, "That's fair…"

Weiss smirked before she started another attempt at the wall. She got a quarter of the way up pretty smoothly. The Naruto clone with her was walking up the wall backwards in front of her while Ruby was behind her in case she fell. At almost the halfway point, Weiss' Chakra started to get a little less concentrated. She started to lose her balance until Ruby caught her.

The clone told Weiss, "About halfway through your Chakra started losing concentration."

This surprised Weiss as she responded, "I didn't even notice…"

Naruto thought to himself for around ten seconds before he asked, "What's the longest glyph you've maintained?"

Weiss thought for a moment before she answered, "The night Beacon fell while maintaining my partial summon." Her eyes then widened as she quickly realized why Naruto asked her this. She tends to maintain any set of glyphs for only a few seconds. She is not used to maintaining a concentrated set of Aura besides her summons, and that is a recent phenomenon.

Seeing that Weiss understands, the clone reminded her, "Remember, Chakra's as much mental as physical. So until you become used to it, you gotta maintain complete focus."

Weiss then completed the thought as she commented, "Which is why you wanted to wait until we were in a calm environment to do this instead of while traveling where we could be interrupted at any time." The clone nodded at her assessment.

"So let's try it again" Ruby told her partner. "Just focus on your Chakra and I'll guide you forward."

"Got it" Weiss stated in agreement. She then headed to the wall. She made the Seal of Confrontation and gathered her Chakra at her feet. She started heading up the wall and felt Ruby's hands on her back guiding her so she can maintain complete focus on her Chakra. Slowly, one small step at a time, she got closer to the top of the wall. After a minute and a half, she made the final step and successfully made it up the wall. She then hunched over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Yes!" Ruby exclaimed as jumped with excitement. "You did it!"

"Nice job Weiss!" Their respective Naruto clone exclaimed. "We'll take a break. Then we'll keep at it until you can get up here on your own." Weiss nodded before a big smile dawned her face. It has been too long since she felt such a sense of accomplishment. Even achieving her summon did not feel this rewarding.

Over with Nora, Ren and their respective Naruto clone were checking where she was having trouble. After two attempts of Nora failing to get up the wall, the clone noticed something. The clone stood where Nora usually starts from and called out, "Hey, Nora."

Catching her breath, Nora replied, "What?"

"Do you always start from this specific spot?" The clone asked.

"I think so" Nora answered. "Why ya ask?"

"Just a hunch…" The clone answered. He then looked at Ren and told him, "Ren, come over here."

Ren walked over to the clone and asked, "What do you need?"

"Is there a bunch of cracks going up this specific part of the wall or am I just seeing things?" The clone asked Ren.

Ren inspected that area the clone was talking about and sure enough, there are a bunch of cracks. He then looked at the rest of the wall and did not see the same cracks. He told the clone, "I see cracks here but nowhere else."

"Thought so" The clone commented. "I got a theory, so make sure she doesn't fall while I keep track of her feet."

"Okay" Ren responded in agreement. He then looked over to Nora and told her, "We're trying again." Nora then nodded and stood back up as determined as ever. She started making her way up the wall again. The clone kept a close eye on every step she took. Once again, she made it roughly three-quarters up the wall when the clone noticed the wall crack a bit under her feet and she fell. Ren was able to catch her.

Nora again grunted in frustration before saying, "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong…"

"I just figured it out" their Naruto clone told her.

Eager for the guidance, Nora asked, "Really? What is it?"

The clone pointed at the cracks and told her, "You're putting too much Chakra into your feet for you to control."

Nora seen the cracks and said, "Oh…whoops."

"Holding back and subtly has never been your strong suit" Ren commented.

"Yeah…But I'll have to learn today!" Nora exclaimed, still very determined. Ren smiled as he and their Naruto clone got to work on helping her maintain a steadier moderate amount of Chakra.

Over with Pyrrha and the third Naruto clone, they were helping Jaune with his issue. Pyrrha was leading Jaune up the wall as she told him, "You're almost there. Just a little further." Jaune was trying his best, but he then started to stumble.

The clone caught his back and said, "I still don't know what the issue is."

"I might not be cut out for this…" Jaune commented. The clone got annoyed and then let Jaune fall.

"Jaune! Are you okay?!" Pyrrha shouted out in concern.

Jaune sat up and responded, "I'm okay…" He then looked at the clone and asked, "Why'd you do that?"

With clear annoyance on his face, the clone told Jaune, "I thought we were past the self-esteem problem." Jaune then rubbed the back of his head.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she asked, "Are you still doubting yourself?"

"Maybe a little" Jaune admitted. This caused Pyrrha to let out an exasperated sigh.

"Half of Chakra is mental energy Jaune. If you don't believe in yourself, it won't work" The clone reminded him.

Pyrrha walked over and help Jaune up. She then told him, "You can do this." Jaune looked her in the eye and nodded.

"Focus only on getting up the wall. Don't let doubt creep in" The clone told him. Jaune then started heading up the wall with Pyrrha walking next to him. The clone followed behind and just from Jaune's stance, the clone can tell Jaune is more determined. As Jaune got closer to the top, his control became strained, but he kept going.

Nora, who had just gotten to the top herself, noticed Jaune approaching and shouted, "Keep it up Jaune!"

"This is it Jaune! You can do it!" Ruby shouted.

"You're almost there" Ren commented.

Hearing the encouragement from his friends, Jaune felt extra motivated as he kept going. Then before he knew it, he made it over the wall.

"Congrats Jaune, you did it" Naruto's clone told him. The others then ran over offering their own congratulations…except Pyrrha. Instead of congratulating him verbally, she grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. Jaune's face showed complete shock.

"Wow…that's some motivation right there" A Naruto clone commented.

After the kiss ended, Jaune was still in shock. Ruby waved her hand in front of his face to snap him out of it. Trying to regain his composure, Jaune asked, "What a…what are we doing next?"

One of the clones disappeared, notifying the original of everyone's progress. Another clone then said, "We're not done. One trip up the wall hardly counts as mastering your Chakra control."

"He's right. We're going to need more practice" Weiss commented. Then, from out in the woods, intense flame shot into the air.

"Whoa…that looked amazing!" Nora commented.

The clones looked shocked as one of them said, "Yang must be getting that technique down pretty quick…"

"She pulled it off already?" Ruby questioned.

"Not yet, but she's close" The clone clarified.

Ruby looks back to where the fire shot up from and shouts, "I can't wait until it's my turn!"

"I couldn't agree more" Pyrrha commented.

"Same here" Weiss followed up.

"I second that…or, fourth that?" Jaune expressed. Ren laughed but felt the same. However, the clones looked at each other nervously. They are going to need to figure out how to find everyone's natures and soon.

---

On her way to Haven, Blake is once again on a ship ferrying people back and forth to Mistral and Menagerie. She was joined on her trip once again by Sun, but not just Sun. Along this voyage is also her father Ghira, her mother Kali, and the former members of Adam's sect of the White Fang. Those former members are unmasked and are wearing the insignia of the new White Fang. Or, perhaps true White fang would be a more apt description. Where they were wearing the symbol of a red aggressive panther over a claw mark, the symbol they wear now is of a blue, calmer panther. A symbol of hope and peace as opposed to fear.

Blake is currently leaning against a railing of the ship and watching the sunrise. Her thoughts are filled with uncertainty as she does not know what awaits them when they get to Haven. Sun then walked up next to her and said, "Morning Blake."

Blake looked at him with a subtle smile and said, "I'm surprised to see you're awake. You were trying to get the others to "liven up" last night when I turned in."

"Yeah well, that was a bust. So I didn't stay up too much longer" Sun informed her. "Those White Fang people are just so serious all the time…"

Blake then thought back to Ilia and how she wished to make up for her mistakes. Blake then responded to Sun, "They're probably still ashamed and see no reason to joke around. A lot of people died during their attack."

Hearing this, Sun sighed and said, "Yeah, that makes sense." He then turned around and had his back lean on the railing as he looked at Blake and asked her, "So, what's on your mind?"

Continuing to look out at the sunrise, Blake replied, "Nothing in particular."

Sun scoffed and said, "Right, you're just starring at the rising sun NOT totally lost in thought."

"I mean it" Blake said after rolling her eyes. "There's so many thoughts going through my head that I'm hardly focused on one of them."

Thinking on that response, Sun replied, "Well, how about you pick one and we talk about that?"

Blake looked down at the water in contemplation. She them decided to go with her most recent thought and she said, "I have no idea what Adam has waiting for us."

This time it was Sun who rolled his eyes when he heard the mention of Adam. He asked, "Seriously, what's that guy's deal?"

"A long time ago, someone, probably a human, wronged him" Blake answered. "Ever since he's been on an obsessed crusade." Upon putting more thought on the topic, Blake asked Sun, "Have you ever met someone and thought, "They are the personification of this word?""

"I don't get what you mean" Sun answered.

"When I first met Ruby, I thought that she personified "purity"" Blake explained. "Weiss was "defiance" and Yang was "strength.""

"What about me?" Sun asked, genuinely curious.

"Jury's still out on that one. But I'm leaning towards "earnest"" Blake told him with a smile.

Sun showed a big grin at that answer. He then asked, "Okay, so what about Naruto?"

Blake looked back at the sunrise before she said, "Hope." He's definitely "hope.""

Sun then recalled the way Blake described Naruto as the one they all look to when things are tough. He commented with a smile, "Couldn't agree more." He then dropped his smile as he asked, "So then what about Adam?"

"At first, I thought he was "justice"" Blake answered. "Then I thought that maybe he was "passion." But eventually I realized…he personified "spite." He doesn't want equality; he just wants to make everyone suffer like he did."

"That's not good for anyone" Sun commented upon that information.

Blake shook her head and said, "No it's not. And that mentality can spread quickly. Just look at what it took for those White Fang members to see they went too far."

"Hey, you seen to be doing a good job changing things around" Sun said, giving Blake some encouragement.

Blake then turned around to look at the others on the ship. Ghira was helping some of the new crop of White Fang members work on their basics. Seeing this, Blake smiled before she looked at Sun and said, "I had a lot of help."

Sun smiled back and asked, "So, what do you plan on doing after we stop Adam?"

Blake fell silent for thirty seconds, clearly thinking hard on it. She then replied, "I need to find my friends and make things right."

"I know you can do it" Sun told her, once again giving encouragement.

"What about you?" Blake asked him.

Sun crossed his arms as he thought about it. "I'd like to stick around, but I know I probably gotta make things up to my own team. Luckily that's exactly where we're going."

"Hopefully they're not too lost without you" Blake commented.

"I'm sure they're fine" Sun replied. As he said this, somewhere in Mistral, Neptune is staring at a bottle of hair dye and wondering if he is going to go through with this.

---

It is the following day in Haven and Yang has everyone but Naruto gathered in the hallway of the bedroom section. Ruby told Yang, "I got them all gathered just like you asked. What's this about?"

"Just follow me, but keep quiet" Yang told them. She them slowly led them to her's and Naruto's room. They heard Naruto talking, but no other voice but his.

Jaune whispered to the others, "Who's he talking to?"

Yang snickered before whispering to them, "Just listen."

"Come on Kurama, I'm desperate here!" Naruto exclaimed to his oldest friend.

"And you being desperate doesn't change the fact that I don't know how to help this time" Kurama replied.

"But I'm out of time and I need to figure out everyone's Chakra nature…" Naruto stated out loud.

"Wait, he doesn't know how?!" Nora shouted out.

In his panicked state, Naruto had not realized there were others outside his room as he exclaimed, "Oh crap!" This led to all those in the hallway to laugh.

Yang them walked into the room to see the wide-eyed Naruto which put a big grin on her face. She then told him while shrugging, "I couldn't resist."

Recalling their first morning here at Haven, Naruto grumbled, "This was your plan?"

Yang kept her grin as she sat next to him on the bed and told him, "You should be glad it wasn't something more diabolical."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked at her and said, "Oh, I'm gonna get you for this…"

"Yeah? Bring it" Yang replied full of confidence.

Ruby then walked in the room with the others following and she asked, "Do you really not know how to figure out our Chakra natures?"

Naruto had a very guilty look as he admitted, "No, I don't…"

"Then how did you know Yang's was fire?" Pyrrha innocently asked.

Naruto just gave Pyrrha a deadpan expression as he replied, "Seriously?"

After a pause, Pyrrha realized it was the most obvious thing in the world. She then said, "You have a point…"

"So, then what are we supposed to do now?" Nora asked. Now they didn't know how they were going to progress.

Naruto felt like a failure as a teacher. He quickly walked out of the room feeling shame as he said, "I'll…I'll figure something out…"

Seeing Naruto for the first time like that, Ruby commented, "He really seems bothered by this."

Yang was no longer smiling as she said, "He doesn't want to let any of you guys down. But he's not prepared for this."

"But shouldn't he be?" Nora asked. It was a reasonable question to ask.

Weiss looked down at the floor as she replied to Nora, "It's not like he asked to become our teacher. Keep in mind he's the same age as all of us."

Jaune followed up as he said, "The reason he's teaching us is because no one else can."

Nora now felt bad as well she said, "I…I hadn't thought of that…"

"He'll be okay" Yang told them. "He just needs more time."

Naruto was walking through the living quarters when he spotted Oscar on the couch facing the big window. Oscar was staring at Ozpin's cane…or, his cane now. He was feeling overwhelmed at his current situation. He is now wrapped up in an ancient struggle he never asked to be a part of. And what is worse is now this battle has evolved with elements that even the wise old soul inside him is unfamiliar with.

From within Oscar, Ozpin asked him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure how I can deal with all this…" Oscar replied internally.

"It is a lot. But you aren't alone" Ozpin told him.

Oscar gripped the cane tighter as he told Ozpin, "But even you're out of the loop of what can happen now…"

"I'm not just talking about myself" Ozpin clarified, "Sometimes just talking to another person can help."

"I don't know…" Oscar internally replied.

As Oscar replied to Ozpin, Naruto had walked up and said, "Hey there Oscar."

Oscar was a little startled by this. He then noticed it was Naruto and replied, "Hey, umm…"

"His name is Naruto" Ozpin reminded him.

"Hey Naruto" Oscar said, finishing the greeting.

Noticing Oscar's reaction, Naruto asked, "Did I just interrupt a mental conversation?"

Embarrassed, Oscar sighed and replied, "Yeah…"

"Sorry about that" Naruto told him. "The same thing just happened to me…although I talk out loud to Kurama when I think I'm alone…"

Oscar blinked a few times before he asked, "Is that why I heard laughing?" Naruto signed and nodded to confirm. Oscar then said, "I'm kind of grateful you came when you did. Maybe conversing normally with someone will make me feel better…"

Naruto let out a chuckle before sitting on the other couch and he said, "Conversations with me can be abnormal, ya know. So what's bothering you?"

Oscar hesitated before he said, "I don't know what to do. I was just thrown into this situation." He was then embarrassed as he admitted, "Even though I have a guide, I still feel overwhelmed."

Naruto looked down with a smirk and replied, "Trust me, I know the feeling."

"You…really do?" Oscar asked, very surprised to hear that.

"Yup" Naruto answered. "When I came to this world last year it was right after my 17th birthday. A day I fought the end of a war and then had to fight a battle to the death with my best friend."

While Oscar was in awe thinking about that, Ozpin could not help but feel sympathy for Naruto. In Ozpin's eyes, Naruto was still a child and yet has been through more than anyone he has ever known in a single lifetime.

Naruto then continued, "When I got here, I lost most of my Chakra and I had no clue what was gonna happen. Now here I am trying to teach my friends about Chakra and I'm completely unprepared…"

Hoping for an answer that will help him as well, Oscar asked, "Then how do you keep going?"

Naruto looked Oscar in the eye and Oscar could see a look of determination like he'd never seen. Naruto then answered, "If I gave up, then what was the point of all the lessons I learned? Of all the hardships and death? Not just in my life, but everyone else's too." He then put his fist on his chest and said, "I'm not just a Huntsman ya know. I'm also a shinobi, and to be a shinobi means to be one who endures."

"That…that's incredible…" Oscar muttered to himself.

Even Ozpin was in awe of Naruto. He was so affected he even let himself think for a moment, "Maybe…maybe this time we can beat her…"

Naruto then dawned his endearing grin as he rubbed the back of his head and admitted, "I'm really stuck on this teaching thing though."

As a teacher himself, Ozpin wondered if he could help. He then asked Oscar, "Would you mind letting me speak to him?"

Oscar looked at Naruto and said, "Hold on, he wants to talk to you."

Ozpin then took over and said, "Hello Naruto."

"Hey Ozpin…or, should I still call you professor?" Naruto asked.

"Not when we are no longer in my school" Ozpin told him. "Now, would you mind telling me where you seem to be having trouble? I may not be a Chakra expert, but I am a teacher. And sometimes talking about it with someone can make you realize something you didn't before."

Naruto internally asked Kurama, "What do you think?"

"We don't have anywhere else to turn at this point. So it couldn't hurt" Kurama answered.

Naruto nodded and told Ozpin, "The next part of everyone's training was going to be nature transformation." Ozpin had a curious look on his/Oscar's face. Naruto seen this and explained, "There's five basic nature elements in Chakra and everyone has an affinity for one of them. There's fire, lightning, earth, water, and wind."

"I see…then what is the problem?" Ozpin asked.

Naruto sighed and admitted, "I don't know how to figure out everyone's Chakra nature."

Ozpin pondered this before he asked, "How did you figure it out back in your world?"

"We had paper made from a special tree that reacted to Chakra" Naruto answered.

Ozpin pondered more and simply thought out loud, "With Chakra slowly becoming a part of this world, one of those trees may grow eventually. But we don't have that kind of time." He then looked back at Naruto and said, "Your ancestors must have had some means of figuring it out prior to this paper."

"Well Kurama?" Naruto internally asked.

"It was likely just trial and error" Kurama told him. "I admit I was not constantly watching humans and their innovations. But nature transformation was not as common long ago likely due to this."

Naruto then shook he head, letting Ozpin know that there is no help in that department. Ozpin was disappointed, but he said, "It is still remarkable to see nature commanded without magic or Dust."

Picking up on that, Naruto asked, "Was Dust made by the Gods?"

Ozpin hesitated to answer anything related to the Gods, but still said, "They must have."

"Huh…that's weird" Naruto replied.

Confused, Ozpin asked, "Why is that weird?"

"It's just that Chakra amplifies Dust" Naruto answered. "I just thought it was weird that something from another universe made something made by the Gods stronger."

Ozpin was very shocked by this. He then then asked, "So…Dust reacts to Chakra?"

"Yeah. And it's a big increase" Naruto told him.

"Do you have any Dust with you?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, just a sec" Naruto replied. He then walked back to his room.

The others were still there and watched him come back into the room. Yang asked him, "What are you doing?"

Naruto walked up to one of the nightstands that had his back pouch on it. He opened it and took out some fire, water, and wind dust before telling everyone, "Hopefully following a lead." He then headed back to Ozpin. Now curious, the others followed. Naruto sat back down on the couch and asked Ozpin, "So what were you thinking?"

"I wanted to see how the Dust reacts to Chakra" Ozpin answered simply.

Naruto's eyes widened as he started to catch on. He then said, "But how do we test it?"

"Well, what is your nature?" Ozpin inquired.

"We can't use me to test it" Naruto informed him. "I have Ascended Aura now, not Chakra."

Ozpin looked confused as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"My Chakra and Aura merged into something new" Naruto answered. He then smirked before looking at Ruby and saying, "Ruby came up with the name." Ruby proudly grinned.

Upon hearing this revelation, Ozpin thought to himself, "This Chakra is even able to change the power bestowed by the Gods...this could change everything…"

"It's a slow process, but once the others start mastering their Chakra, I think the same thing will happen to them" Naruto further explained.

Trying to not let himself get too excited, Ozpin cleared his throat and said, "We should focus on finding everyone's elements first."

"Oh yeah, good point" Naruto replied. He then stared at his three vials of Dust wondering what do to. He then had an idea as he said, "Yang, come here."

Yang walked over to him and asked, "What's up?"

Naruto help up his vials of Dust and told her, "Take these and apply your Chakra to them. Not fire Chakra, just the normal stuff."

"Uh, okay" Yang replied before taking the Dust vials. She applied her Chakra to all three. The three Dust vials reacted to the Chakra, but the fire Dust vial ignited and caught everyone by surprise.

Naruto jumped up excited as he shouted, "It worked! We can use Dust to figure out everyone's natures!"

"Really?!" Nora exclaimed excitedly. The others all got excited as well.

Naruto smiled at this and said, "We need to get six samples each of fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind. We might need to go pick up more Dust." The others all started scrambling to get all the Dust they had. Naruto looked back to Ozpin and said, "Thanks Ozpin. I really owe you one."

Ozpin simply smiled and said, "I was glad to help." He did not want to say it out loud, but he felt a deep sense of satisfaction being able to help his students again.

---

Watts has landed the aircraft about a kilometer away from the Branwen camp and the group will be walking the rest of the way so they do not alert the bandits. On the way, Emerald commented, "There's a surprising lack of Grimm in this area."

"Maybe they cleared most of them out since they have one of those Maidens" Torchwick replied.

"It won't last long" Cinder commented. "Especially with the increasing number of Commander Grimm our master is sending out."

"The hell is a Commander Grimm?" Mercury asked with confusion on his face.

"It is what our master is calling the Super Grimm that she sends out to take command of an area's Grimm population" Watts answered. "Then something like a pure Alpha Beowolf, Death Stalker, or other large Grimm that can command lower Super Grimm she calls Master Grimm."

Putting his hand to his chin and nodding in understanding, Mercury then asked, "Okay…then what about the big fox one?"

"It is so far above all the other Grimm that to give it a rank would seem ridiculous" Cinder informed him. "Tyrian called the fox their God, which is an apt description."

"So then what does the boss call that thing?" Torchwick inquired.

"For now she just calls it her child" Cinder answered. "She's working on a name."

Mercury shook his head as he said, "Hopefully it's not something cute like Whiskers."

Emerald rolled her eyes and told him, "Shut up."

They were now coming upon the Branwen camp and three guards stood up. One of them said to the other two, "Go get Vernal." As they headed off, the remaining bandit asked the approaching group, "Who are you guys?"

"We are here to speak to your leader" Watts said, dodging the question. Vernal was now making her way over.

"I don't think so" The bandit replied as he readied his weapon.

Cinder walked forward with trails of flame coming from around her eye and made a flame appear in her hand as she said, "Are you sure you want to do that?" Upon seeing this, the bandits all backed off.

Mercury laughed and said, "That was pathetic!"

"For once we agree on something" Torchwick commented.

Seeing that Cinder is a Maiden, Vernal quickly realized who these people were. She ran to Raven's tent. Raven seemed to be thinking about something distant when Vernal opened her tent and told her, "Raven, Salem's found us."

Raven shook her head and said, "Salem…okay."

"Six of her followers are waiting to speak with you" Vernal informed her.

Raven was a little surprised as she said, "Six is a bit much…" She then looked at Vernal and said, "Bring my helmet." After a moment, Raven walked out of her tent with her helmet on. She seen the six visitors before her and said, "I don't recall inviting so many guests to our home. Either I'm losing my memory…" She then yelled, "Or you've all lost your spines!"

"Don't be too upset with them, Raven" Cinder told Raven, gaining her attention. "Your men simply recognized the power of a Maiden when they see it." She then made her eye flow and trail with flame again. "Which is why we'd like to have a word with you."

Raven then told her bandits, "Leave us. Pack your things, then break down camp. We're moving." Her bandits then scattered and made ready to head out.

Watts noticed this and commented, "A little late to run and hide. You've been on our master's list for some time, so you must understand that we cannot allow you to slip away."

Raven looked towards Watts and said, "I know all about your master, but I don't believe we've met."

"We're the guys you should be afraid of" Mercury replied in a cocky manor as he crossed his arms.

"That would have sounded better coming from anyone but you" Torchwick muttered. This caused Neo and Emerald to snicker. This annoyed Mercury, but before he could retort…

"I doubt anyone should be afraid of you" Raven replied to Mercury's boast. Torchwick, Neo, and Emerald openly laugh upon hearing this. Hearing their response, Raven commented, "That's what I thought."

"I'm Cinder Fall" Cinder said, introducing herself. She motioned to Watts, Neo, and Torchwick as she said, "These are my associates Arthur Watts, Roman Torchwick, and Neopolitan." She then motioned to Emerald and Mercury before saying, "And my disciples, Emerald and Mercury."

Raven observed the group before she replied, "Two children you've tricked into following you. A disgruntled Atlesian scientist. A common crime boss from Vale—"

Roman interrupted saying, "Hey! There's nothing common about me lady!"

Raven shook her head and continued, "A small girl who, well, at least is smart enough to know when to run." Neo glared at Raven, recalling their interaction on the train. Raven then finished saying, "And a Fall Maiden with a surname so appropriate she probably picked it herself. Something tells me you've got more than a slight case of egomania. Is that about right?"

Watts cleared his throat and said, "Technically, I was also a doctor, but I must say, the rest was spot on."

"Aren't you perceptive" Cinder commented.

"It's what's kept me alive" Cinder replied.

"I'm afraid the only reason you're still alive is because you have something our master wants" Cinder retorted. "Of course, if I'm wrong..." Cinder then made fire appear in her hand as a threat.

Raven looked to her side and called out, "Vernal!" Vernal then walked out, not looking thrilled about this.

"So, this is the long-lost Spring Maiden. Prove it" Cinder stated upon seeing Vernal. Vernal looked at Raven who nodded in approval. Vernal sighed before closing her eyes and holding out her hands. The wind picked up and clouds gathered above them. Thunder could be heard, impressing those gathered. Cinder had an ecstatic look on her face. Vernal then lowered her hands and the weather went back to normal.

"Vernal has done well under my guidance" Raven told them. "I'd take that into consideration before you try anything."

None of the group was intimidated as Cinder replied, "Raven, I won't underestimate you, so please don't insult my intelligence. There is a slim chance you and your Maiden could escape today, but if you know our master as well as you claim to, then you know you could never truly escape her. But we come bearing an olive branch."

Watts walked forward and said, "The Maidens are merely a means to an end. Salem's true desires are the Relics locked inside the Huntsman Academies. Come with us. Allow Vernal here to unlock the Relic of Knowledge, and all previous acts of defiance against Salem will be forgiven." He then whispered to Raven, "It's the best deal either of you are going to get." He then backed up.

"You talk as if walking straight into Haven will be easy" Raven replied, trying to keep a semblance of control.

"That's because it will be" Cinder told her. "Headmaster Lionheart is loyal to Salem. And now, all we need is the key to the vault." She then paused and said, "You're not the only one to turn your back against Oz, Raven."

Raven gripped her sword hilt in anger as she replied, "I'm not helping Salem, I'm not helping Oz! I don't want a part in any of this!"

"That ship sailed when you chose to harbor a Maiden" Cinder sternly told Raven. "But if you come with us to Haven, we'll leave you, your tribe, and your little secret to live out the rest of your lives squabbling in the wilderness. We just...need...the Relic."

Feeling a little cornered, Raven said, "I need time to think this over."

"You don't have time" Watts informed her. "In two days, Haven Academy will be destroyed by the White Fang. You're going to choose now."

"Backed me into a corner, huh?" Raven said, not sure what to do.

"So, are you with us, or against us?" Cinder asked, pressuring Raven.

Raven felt her control slip away, but then took off her helmet and went for one last play as she said, "Agreements like these are built on trust. And forgive me for saying, but I don't trust a single one of you. You're going to need to give me more."

"You are in a poor position to negotiate" Watts replied.

"I want my brother dead" Raven informed her visitors. They were shocked by the request.

"Qrow?" Cinder questioned.

"That's right" Raven confirmed. "He knows I have Spring. And if I help you get your Relic, he's going to become a problem. I have enough problems to deal with, especially with those new Grimm showing up. Qrow doesn't trust me, but he does trust Ozpin's other lieutenants. If Leo really is loyal to you, then you can order him to invite Qrow into an ambush. He arrives at Haven, we take him down, you get your Relic, and we all leave happy."

Cinder smiled and said, "Now this is a proposition I can get behind."

Not liking where this is going, Watts said, "Alright ladies, let's pause for a moment. We have one objective - retrieving the Relic of Knowledge. Now Qrow Branwen may be on our list of individuals we would very much like dead, but he's not going to go down without a fight, and he's not going to fight quietly. Our advantage here is just as you said - we walk straight into Haven, no resistance, no one the wiser. A battle with your brother throws that all out the window."

"He's good, but not that good" Raven replied. "All of us against him? It'll be over in a heartbeat."

"But it's not just him" Emerald commented, gaining everyone's attention. "He has the students with him. He has Ruby! And apparently someone much stronger Qrow…" Raven looked surprised at the mention stronger than her brother.

"You really believe he's still alive?" Mercury questioned.

"What reason would Tyrian have to lie?" Emerald replied. Mercury shrugged.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but a chance to kill that blonde idiot and little red for good sounds great to me" Torchwick commented.

"Glad to hear you see it my way" Cinder commented to Torchwick.

Not in agreement in the slightest, Watts told them, "If we leave that school a bloody mess, we will draw the attention of the authorities! The Kingdom will be on high alert, and the White Fang's attack will be ruined!"

"Then we wait" Cinder retorted. "We wait until the full moon. Leo invites Qrow and his little fighters to Haven the same night Hazel and Adam arrive with the White Fang. As soon as the battle is won, the White Fang demolishes Haven, and any evidence we may have left behind is lost along with the school."

"Then, Salem leaves my people alone. For good" Raven stated, making sure they understand the agreement.

"You have yourself a deal" Cinder stated. She then extended her hand to shake Raven's, but then Watt's grabbed her wrist. Cinder looked very displeased.

Watts looked Cinder dead in the eye and said, "Wait. Don't think I don't see what you're after. If this falls to pieces over your grudge with a child, I will not be taking the blame."

Cinder glared at Watts and said, "Then what are you worried about?" She then heated up her arm which burned Watts' hand. Watts quickly let got before the burn was too bad. Angered, Watts took out his pistol and aimed it at Cinder's back. Feeling no threat whatsoever, Cinder asked him, "What do you plan to do with that?" She then heard something charging and turned around to see the barrel of the fun glowing blue.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking your power as a Maiden makes you untouchable" Watts told her.

"I take it this is one of the advancements you've made with our special new Dust?" Cinder observed, still not feeling threatened.

"And I'm confident it will punch a hole right through your Aura" Watts informed her.

Cinder walked closer to him and said, "Then let's put that to the test."

Torchwick then sighed and aimed his cane at the back of Watts' head. Watts asked him, "What are you doing?"

"Siding with the crazy woman I know instead of the crazy guy I don't" Torchwick informed him.

"There's nothing crazy about me" Watts replied.

Torchwick shook his head and said, "You decided to pull out your fancy new gun on a Maiden despite knowing how the boss will react to her being dead."

Hearing Torchwick's response, Watts put away his gun and replied, "A fair point."

Seeing she won't be hearing anymore objections from Watts, Cinder turned back around to shake Raven's hand. Raven shook Cinder's hand, but then thought to herself, "What is in that weapon that made him think he stood a chance?"

---

It has been a couple of hours since Naruto and the others at Haven discovered they can use Dust to discover everyone's Chakra nature. They had to get more Dust as they did not have enough. They are now back in the living room of their living quarters.

Naruto sat in one of the chairs and said, "Who wants to go first?"

They all wanted to go, but Nora spoke first shouting, "I'm first! I'm first!" Naruto then handed her vials of earth, water, fire, lightning, and wind Dust. Nora imbued her Chakra into the Dust vials and started the reactions. They all lit up, but the lightning Dust started to spark making Nora ask, "So, I'm lightning?"

"Looks like it" Naruto answered. "I guess that's not much of a surprise."

"If she learns to use lightning Chakra, will she be able to self-augment?" Ren questioned.

"That would make sense" Jaune stated.

"With as compatible as Aura and Chakra are I wouldn't be surprised" Naruto responded. This only made Nora more excited.

"I'll go next" Weiss stated. Naruto handed her the vials, and she applied her Chakra. The wind Dust started to produce a tiny gust, but then the water Dust splashed everything else, providing a stronger reaction.

Kurama seen this and stated, "That was curious…"

"No kidding…" Naruto internally responded. He then told Weiss, "Looks like your element is water."

Weiss was drying her hands with a smirk as she said, "I can work with that."

Jaune then walked forward and said, "Guess I'm next." He applied his Chakra to his set of vials and the Earth Dust hardened and crumbled.

"Seems you're an earth element" Naruto informed him. Jaune simply looked at his hand.

"Always knew he was a down to Earth guy" Yang joked. Everyone in the room groaned.

"That's something I still haven't gotten used to with you, ya know…" Naruto complained.

Ruby shook her head and said, "She gets it from dad." She then grabbed her Dust and applied her Chakra. Like Weiss, the wind Dust created a gust, but this one was stronger. She then looked up to see Naruto have a huge smile on his face. She asked, "What's that smile for?"

"You're a wind element, just like me" Naruto informed her. Ruby's eyes widened hearing she has the same element as Naruto. This made her really excited. Naruto then asked Kurama, "Know anything less powerful than the Air Bullet that I can teach her?"

"Of course I do" Kurama answered. "Although she will likely be much like her sister and focus more on augmenting her physical abilities."

"Yeah, probably" Naruto responded in agreement. He then looked at Ren and Pyrrha before asking, "Which of you is next?" Pyrrha motioned for Ren to go so he did. Ren's element is water, but Naruto noticed something else. Ren's Chakra control is much more refined than the others, almost like Sakura. Naruto then asked Kurama, "You know any Genjutsu?"

"That's the area I can't help in" Kurama informed him. This annoyed Naruto considering Ren seemed like a Genjutsu type. He then wondered what he could teach Ren specifically. Pyrrha then stepped up and grabbed her Dust. She applied her Chakra and just like Weiss, the wind Dust made a small gust, but the earth Dust had a stronger reaction.

Naruto looked perplexed as he muttered, "It happened again…"

Kurama was perplexed as well. He then remembered that Pyrrha has a polarity Semblance. He also knows that wind and earth Chakra create Magnet Style. He then said, "There's no way…"

"What's going on?" Naruto internally inquired.

"Earth and wind Chakra make Magnet Style. And she has polarity Semblance…" Kurama explained to him.

Naruto then stood up and shouted out loud, "She has a Kekkei Genkai?! How?!"

Pyrrha blinked a few times before she said, "I have…a what?"

"Sorry um…I didn't mean to say that out loud" Naruto replied.

Kurama shook his head at Naruto's outburst. He then said, "Maybe their Auras have been influencing their Chakra and that's why she has two Chakra nature affinities."

"That makes a lot of sense actually…" Naruto internally responded. "Hold on, which elements reacted to Weiss?"

"Water and wind" Kurama answered.

"Ice…" Naruto muttered. Everyone was staring at him again. Naruto then sat back down and said, "That was unexpected…"

Yang looked as confused as everyone else as she asked Naruto, "What the hell are you going on about?"

"Oh, right, I need to explain…" Naruto replied. "First, let's start with the Kekkei Genkai. It's a special ability that belongs to the same family or clan."

"Like my family's glyphs" Weiss commented.

"Yeah, that's a perfect comparison" Naruto told her. "So, some Kekkei Genkai are combination elements." He looked at Pyrrha and said, "Like earth and wind that make Magnet Style." He then looked back to Weiss and said, "Or wind and water that makes Ice Style."

Weiss and Pyrrha looked at each other before Pyrrha asked, "You're saying we have these Kekkei Genkai?"

"How is that possible?" Weiss also asked.

Naruto leaned back in his chair before he said, "The working theory Kurama and I got is that your Chakras have been influenced by your Auras. Something that didn't exist back in my world."

Ozpin, who had relinquished control back to Oscar hours ago, commented, "The idea has merit. Aura is unique to the individual person. And if it really as compatible with Chakra as it seems, them influencing each other seems inevitable."

"Ozpin says that makes sense" Oscar told the group.

"So, they get two elements? That's so unfair…" Ruby complained.

"Everyone's capable or wielding more than one element" Naruto explained. "It's just gonna take the rest of you longer."

Yang then confidently said, "If you're strong enough with one of them, then you probably don't need any other elements." She then looked at Naruto and asked, "Did the Raikage use anything besides lightning?"

"Not when I fought him" Naruto answered.

Yang looked back to the others and said, "See? One of their strongest guys only used one thing."

"And if your attack is strong enough, it doesn't matter what element someone else is using" Naruto informed them. "I saw a guy casually use a fire attack that took an entire squad of water users to cancel out."

There was a few seconds of silence after that until Ren said, "That's actually terrifying to think about."

"Okay…I'll just have to be the ultimate wind user then!" Ruby exclaimed.

Naruto crossed his arms as he looked at her with a smirk and said, "Is that so?"

Ruby then remembered that Naruto was also a wind user and felt a little embarrassed. But she doubled down as she said, "I'll surpass your wind skills one day!"

Naruto kept his smirk as he said, "Looking forward to seeing it."

Yang had a curious look on her face before she said, "So I'm fire, Ruby's wind, Weiss can use ice apparently, but I can't think of what Blake might be."

"That's…a good question" Weiss admitted.

"What would represent a cat?" Nora questioned.

"Is gloomy an element?" Ruby asked.

"No idea. But if she ends up being fire, I'm gonna laugh" Naruto told them.

The others all looked confused, and Yang asked, "Why would that be funny?"

Naruto smiled as he said, "You remember the Tailed Beasts I told you guys about? Well, Matatabi the Two-Tails is a giant blue fire cat."

"Huh…I guess that's a little funny" Yang admitted.

"Oh, the joke goes further" Naruto replied. "You know how she's often hanging around Sun?"

"So?" Ruby responded, not seeing the relevance.

"The Four-Tails is a giant monkey named Son Goku" Naruto revealed.

Now seeing the parallel, Weiss commented, "Alright, that's just weird."

Naruto nodded as he said, "Now imagine how weird it must have been for me to come to this world and find a monkey-boy named Sun."

Thinking of how he would have reacted, Jaune commented, "I think I might have had an existential crisis."

They all laughed before Naruto stood up and made some Shadow Clones. He then told them, "Okay guys, time to get to work!" They all then headed outside.

One of the clones headed off with Jaune and Pyrrha as the clone said, "I can't believe you both ended up having earth."

"You're not teaching her that Magnet Style?" Jaune questioned.

"She needs to learn to mold both earth and wind Chakras first" The clone answered.

"That makes sense to me" Pyrrha responded.

Another clone brought Weiss and Ren with him as he told Weiss, "We'll start you off with water."

"Not that I'm complaining, but is there a reason?" Weiss inquired.

The clone stopped walking and said, "The water Dust had a stronger reaction so you're probably more predisposed to it."

"That is true" Weiss acknowledged.

The final clone was standing next to Nora as he asked, "You ready for this?"

"Oh you know I am!" Nora replied excitedly.

The real Naruto was walking towards a tree. Yang asked him, "Is it leaf time?"

"Leaf time" Naruto replied as he lightly hit the tree and knocked a bunch of the leaves off.

"Leaf time?" Ruby question.

"The heck is that supposed to be?" Nora further questioned.

"The most tedious part of the training" Yang answered. She then placed her hands on her hips while shaking her head and stated, "I'm so glad I'm past that part."

Naruto then brought a small pile of leaves to all the beginners and said, "You'll all be applying your elemental Chakra to the leaves." He then walks over to Ruby while holding a leaf and says, "For wind the leaf will get cut." He shreds his leaf apart with his Ascended Aura and said, "Or shreds apart in my case."

Ruby looked excited to get started. But after ten minutes of practice, she exclaimed "This sucks!"

---

Leonardo is sitting in his office awaiting Salem's representatives. He hopes it is someone not quick to anger. Then Raven in her bird form flew in through the open window. She returned to her human form and leaned against the windowsill. She then called out, "Long time no see, Leo."

Leonardo was quickly startled at this. As he turned around to see her, he asked, "Raven?! A-are you here to kill me?!"

"Just calm down. You're waiting for Salem's representative, right?" Raven responded to Leonardo's panic.

The shock on Leonardo's face was very evident. He calmed down and commented, "She got to you too then?"

With a little shame on her face, Raven responded, "No one can stay out of her grasp forever…"

Leonardo thought to himself, "No truer words have ever been spoken…how I wish things were different." He then asked Raven, "What is you want from me?"

"In two nights, the night of the last full moon of the season, the White Fang are going to destroy Haven Academy" Raven explained.

Leonardo's eyes widened as he said, "Not another tragedy…"

"On that night, you are to gather Qrow and his students into the main hall of the school" Raven further explained. "That's where myself and Salem's lacky's will put an end to my brother for good."

Surprised, Leonardo asked, "Do you really wish to kill your own brother?"

Raven kept a straight face as she said, "He has interfered in my affairs far too much."

Not quite sure if he believes her, Leonardo asked, "But why involve the children?"

Raven shook her head as she said, "You would have to be out of your mind to think those kids would just stand by."

"But Raven, your own daughter is among them!" Leonardo reminded her.

Raven does look a little conflicted. However, she recalls telling Yang that there was no turning back and responded, "She made her choice." Leonardo looked horrified as he got up and walked towards his bookshelf, unsure of what to say. Noticing this, Raven was surprised as she asked, "Are you actually getting cold feet?"

Leonardo shook his head and replied, "It's too late to stop now. I would never oppose Salem. So if this is her wish, then I will comply…"

"That's the right decision" Raven said as she returned to her bird form.

Leonardo turned around just in time to see Raven fly away. He then returned to his desk. He looked at a picture of himself, Ironwood, Ozpin, and Professor Theodore, the headmaster of Shade Academy. He then started to weep as he said, "Ozpin, everyone, please forgive me…"

Raven returned to her camp a short time later. She entered her tent and sat on her bed. She recollected on everything that has happened in the past month. The life of a bandit has never been glamorous, but the past month had been harder than ever before. She has lost a good deal of her tribe in a Grimm attack that was led by a large Grimm much more powerful than she'd ever seen. She is still haunted by those glowing blue eyes.

Then her daughter shows up, and with a boyfriend no less. She knows she had no business trying to pretend like she was really a mother, and her daughter was luckily not too determined to make her. Although Raven did feel a small sense of pride that Yang is as stubborn as she is. Just when she felt she was getting a better grip on things, Salem's people showed up and coerced her into a deal. She placed her face in her hands, lamenting the frustration of her situation.

Vernal then peaked her head in and asked, "You got a minute?"

Raven lifted her head and asked, "Were you able to tail Salem's people?"

"Of course" Vernal said proudly. "They have a ship a few klicks out. But the Grimm are starting to gather around there."

Raven rolled her eyes and said, "Of course they are…"

Vernal looked a little nervous as she asked, "Do you...actually believe they'll let us go once they have the Relic?"

Raven shook her head and said, "Of course not. They'll never leave us alone. Once our purpose has come and gone, we'll be discarded. Salem only uses people until they are no longer useful. If we want to have any chance of defending ourselves against her, then we need this Relic." She then stood up and continued, "If Qrow and those brats want to follow Ozpin, then let them. When the chaos reaches its peak, we'll grab the Relic and make our escape."

"And the fact that your daughter will be a part of all that?" Vernal questioned.

A little annoyed to be asked that again, Raven said, "Doesn't matter. I warned her. She made her choice." She then recalls Yang creating that fire and muttering, "She should be able to handle herself…" She then looked at Vernal and said, "We do what's right for the tribe."

"I know. I'll do whatever it takes" Vernal responded.

"Good" Raven acknowledged. She then walked outside and observed the thinned-out numbers of her tribe. She understands that if this does not work, it very well may be the end of the Branwen tribe.

---

It has been a few hours since everyone's training for their change in Chakra nature began. Both Weiss and Pyrrha have managed to affect their leaves a couple of times, but they still require much more work. Ren has affected more leaves than everyone. All of the others have yet to achieve any success.

Naruto is working with Ruby and told her, "Keep picturing two spinning blades edging against each other in opposite directions."

Trying her best, Ruby said, "I'm trying, but it's a lot harder than it sounds!"

Naruto wanted to help her more, but he cannot do it for her. He then thought, "Maybe a little more motivation will help." He then told her, "Watch me." Ruby stopped to watch as he took out his kunai and threw it into a tree. He then went and retrieved his kunai and coated it in his Ascended Aura. He told her, "Now watch the difference." Ruby nodded and watched closely. Naruto threw his kunai again, but this time it pierced through four trees and kept going.

"No way!" Ruby shouted excitedly. She then thought to herself, "If I can apply wind Chakra to my Crescent Rose, who knows what I can cut through!" She now had a little more motivation. Naruto then made another clone to go retrieve the kunai.

Yang smiled at her sister's excitement while she was still practicing the hand signs for Dragon Flame Jutsu. Weiss seen this and asked, "Which hand signs are those?"

"They're Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, and Tiger" Yang answered. "The Dragon sign ends up tripping me up the most."

Overhearing this, Ruby said, "Really? But your name—"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Yang shouted, cutting her off.

Ruby looked shocked until Naruto told her, "I already made fun of her for the name thing."

"Oh…" Ruby replied before she snickered. Yang got a little annoyed before she went back to practicing her hand signs.

Pyrrha just got her leaf to turn slightly to mud and crumble again after a great deal of effort. She looked over at Jaune who was struggling but keeping focused. This made her smile. The clone watching them then told Jaune, "You're doing good, but try to relax a bit. This'll take a few days to get down."

They all looked shocked as Nora shouted, "A few days?!" They all then looked to Yang.

Yang noticed them all staring at her, so she said, "Yeah, it took me multiple days to really get it down."

Jaune then looked at everyone and said, "It took us multiple days to walk up the wall, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised."

"That's a good point" Ren acknowledged.

"You guys don't even realize how drastically your strength has risen" Naruto informed them.

"You really think so?" Ruby asked.

Naruto then looked at Yang and asked, "What made it really click for you?"

Yang thought about before she smirked and told everyone, "Jump as high as you can!"

Weiss looked at her confused and asked, "Why?"

"Just trust me" Yang replied. The others shrugged and then did so. They all ended up leaping over twice as high as their living quarters.

"I can't believe how high up we are!" Nora exclaimed in excitement.

Weiss, with a similar level of excitement, said, "I almost can't believe this is real…" The sentiment was shared all around.

As they all landed, they noticed something which Pyrrha pointed out, "I felt almost no strain from that landing."

"You're not just Huntsmen anymore" Naruto told them. "By learning to use Chakra, you're learning the way of the shinobi. You're Huntsmen Shinobi now."

"Huntsmen Shinobi…" Jaune muttered, trying to grasp to himself what that means.

"I think that sounds pretty cool!" Ruby shouted. She then looked at Weiss and asked, "What do you think?"

Weiss sighed and reluctantly admitted, "It has a ring to it."

Yang smirked as she looked to Naruto and said, "They seem to like it."

Naruto smiled at this while Jaune let out a chuckle. Confused, Naruto asked, "What was that about?"

"When I got to Beacon, I was easily the worst student in our class" Jaune explained. "But now I'm one of Remnant's first Huntsman Shinobi."

This caused everyone to smile as Pyrrha said, "You're not an underdog anymore."

Jaune shook his head and replied, "I wouldn't go that far…" Pyrrha looked confused. Trying to not let her read too much into it, Jaune asked, "So what technique did you plan on starting Pyrrha and I off with?"

"It's called the Mud Wall" Naruto's clone answered. "It's a decent sized wall of ground that rises in front of you. Pretty good for blocking basic level attacks."

"How basic exactly?" Pyrrha asked.

The clone thought about it and said, "Yang's initial fireball would get blocked. Although her current fireballs would probably break it."

"Is there a chance we could get a demonstration?" Jaune asked.

The clone had an unsure face as he said, "I could try, but I'm still getting the hang of my Ascended Aura. I only recently got my wind back in control." He then focused his Ascended Aura. He seen Kakashi do it a bunch of times, but he is still not as experienced with earth as he is the other elements. He only used earth as part of combo elements with the assistance of the Tailed Beasts like Lava Style of Magnet Style.

"Even if it was from my sibling's assistance, you have still felt what it was like to wield earth Chakra." Kurama told him." Along with water, you likely have a strong connection to the earth element as Asura's reincarnation. Just concentrate and form the seals."

The clone concentrated and formed the seals Tiger, Rabbit, Boar, Ram, Ox, and Snake. He then placed his hands on the ground and exclaimed, "Ascended Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Then a thick wall of earth rose in front of the clone…up to his knees. He then made a very embarrassed face.

Jaune was in awe as Pyrrha said, "That's amazing!" She then noticed the look on the clone's face and asked, "What's wrong?"

The clone did not answer, but Yang said, "The wall's probably supposed to be a lot taller." The clone simply nodded.

Kurama, who would normally have a snarky comment for Naruto, told him, "That honestly wasn't bad for your first try with a new element. It shows how much you have grown as a shinobi…or I guess Huntsman Shinobi."

Kurama's praise made Naruto crack a smile. He then heard Ruby ask, "Ascended Earth Style?"

"Well, since my power isn't Chakra based anymore, I need to edit the name a little ya know" Naruto explained. "Like when I enter Sage Mode and my Chakra became infused with Natural Energy my moves became, "Sage Arts."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense" Ruby acknowledged.

Over by Nora, her leaf started to wrinkle, and she shouted, "I did it!"

"Good job Nora" Ren told her.

"How about you?" Nora asked him. Ren then showed her a few damp leaves and she said, "Wow, you really seem to be getting the hang of this."

"I don't know why, but this Chakra already seems to feel natural to me" Ren commented.

The clone by Ren said, "Some people are just better attuned to it. Although maybe it has something to do with your Aura."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked,

"Your Semblance is to mask the emotions of you and whatever you're touching, right?" The clone asked.

"That's correct" Ren confirmed.

"Well, that's gotta mean that your Aura must have a calm and focused nature to it. Even if you're feeling fear" The clone surmised. "And we've already got evidence of your Auras influencing your Chakra."

Ren thought that over and said, "So, because I have a calm Aura, I'm better able to control my Chakra?"

The clone shrugged and said, "Best explanation I got."

Weiss overheard and said, "I think it make sense. He seems to be getting this down even quicker than me and Pyrrha."

Ruby and Jaune, the two team leaders, notice that they are the only ones that have not affected their leaves yet. This makes them quite frustrated. Jaune's face was full of doubt now and Pyrrha noticed this. She told him, "Jaune we've been through this! You need to stop doubting yourself."

Jaune sighed and said, "Pyrrha I—" Naruto's clone then cut him off by rushing him and punching him right in the face, causing him to go flying back.

Pyrrha looked shocked before she turned to the clone and asked, "Why would you do that?!"

The clone looked quite irritated and replied, "I'm fed up with this." He then slammed his fist into his other hand as he said, "Me and Jaune need to have a "talk."" He then started walking over to Jaune who was getting back up.

Pyrrha got in the clone's way and said, "Stop it!"

"Pyrrha, you're not helping him ya know. It's time to stop being gentle" the clone told her. This confused Pyrrha and the clone told her, "Now move."

"I'm not moving out of the way! This makes no sense to me!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

The real Naruto, who is by Ruby and Yang, turned to Yang and asked, "Mind helping out?"

Yang looked confused, but told him, "I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I know you wouldn't kick his butt for the sake it." She then rushed to Pyrrha and tackled her out of the way. The clone took this opportunity to once again blitz Jaune and send him flying back into the woods with another punch.

Pyrrha got back up and yelled to Yang, "Let me pass!"

Yang crossed her arms and said, "That's not gonna happen."

"Are you really okay with Naruto just beating Jaune down like that?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know what Whiskers is trying to do with Jaune, but I trust him" Yang replied. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes before she took out her weapons and dashed toward Yang with alarming speed…alarming to those watching that is. Pyrrha swung her weapon in sword mode. Yang blocked it and said, "You've gotten way stronger and faster over these last few days." She then gripped her cybernetic arm into a fist and punched forward. Pyrrha reinforced her shield with Chakra, but she still went flying back. She landed on her feet as Yang told her, "But you're still not ready to take me on."

Watching this, Nora asked Ren, "What should we do?"

"We should stay back for now" Ren answered. Ren then thought out loud, "Naruto said she wasn't helping him…what did he mean?"

Nora thought about it too. She then said, "I think I know what he might mean."

"What is it?" Ren asked. Nora whispered it to him, causing his eyes to widen before he said, "That would make a lot of sense…"

The real Naruto was back with Ruby and told her, "Don't look at the fight, look at me." She then turned to face him. He knows Ruby will be honest with him, so he asked, "Why do you feel so frustrated?"

Ruby looked down and said, "Between me, Weiss, and Yang, I'm starting to fall behind. I'm the leader, I can't afford to fall behind."

"You're not falling behind" Naruto told her. He then sighed and said, "I've never seen you have this much doubt before. What's really going on?"

Ruby hesitated, but she admitted, "I'm…I'm scared…" Weiss managed to catch that, so she stopped practicing to listen.

Surprised and concerned at Ruby's answer, Naruto asked, "What are you scared of?"

Ruby had a sorrowful expression as she said, "When I woke up and heard that my team had fallen apart, I felt ashamed since I'm the leader. When I joined up with Jaune's team, I was a little relieved that I wouldn't be leading the team after my failure. But now my team is coming back together, and I'm scared that if I'm not strong enough, the team will fall apart again…"

Naruto was shocked as he had no idea the breakup of her team affected her so much. Kurama then commented, "No matter how cheerful a person seems, having your friends leave you is going to have an effect. You should know that better than anyone."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Naruto internally responded.

Never more emotionally vulnerable, Ruby did not know what else to do. She was then shocked when Weiss pulled her into a hug. Weiss then told her, "I'm sorry we made you feel responsible for that…"

"No…you shouldn't…" Ruby said, trying to tell Weiss not to apologize. But she started tearing up.

Seeing this, Naruto yelled over to Yang, "Yang! Come on back!" Yang was standing over Pyrrha who was on a knee and panting. Yang looked over to see her sister in tears and came running back.

Pyrrha seen this as a chance to head towards Jaune, but both Ren and Nora cut her off. She asked, "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making a mistake" Nora answered.

"If what is happening with Naruto and Jaune is what we think, then it's for Jaune's own good" Ren followed up. This only confused Pyrrha more.

Yang had run up to Ruby, Weiss, and Naruto and asked, "What happened?"

Naruto looked to Ruby and told her, "Tell her."

Ruby wiped her tears and told her sister, "I'm scared that my weakness is gonna cause our team to fall apart again…"

Yang's eyes widened and she felt horrible. Like Weiss, Yang hugged Ruby and said, "I'm so sorry Ruby. I never should have made you feel like that." Ruby of course hugged her sister back.

Hoping this will help Ruby feel better, Naruto told her, "You know Ruby, you're not the only one who's felt like that." Ruby looked at him confused. "You guys remember how during the initiation I had both Black King pieces?"

Ruby nodded as Weiss commented, "Oh right. That was an odd decision on your part." Yang nodded as she thinks she knows where he is going with this.

"Yang's the only one who knows this, but the reason I did that was because I was scared of being on a team again after what happened to my old one" Naruto explained.

It now clicked into place for Ruby and Weiss. Ruby then asked, "How did you get over it?"

"Honestly, I still have that feeling to some extent" Naruto told her. "But I got too close to everyone for that feeling to stop me. And I know you can do that same."

Weiss then placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder and told her, "No matter who the leader is, we're still individuals that make our own choices."

"Weiss is right" Yang said, following up. "It wasn't you who messed me up to where I couldn't follow you." She then places her hand on Ruby's other shoulder and tells her, "You are strong. And we're all gonna get stronger together."

Ruby smiled before Naruto handed her another leaf. With renewed determination, Ruby was finally able to make a cut. She looked at the leaf and was overwhelmed with joy. Naruto than put his hand on her head and said, "You're way stronger than you thought, ya know."

Ruby was beaming from all their encouragement as she said, "I'm just getting started."

---

Jaune is once again flying back into the woods. He received less damage than he would have prior to this training, but those punches sure still hurt. As he got back up, he seen the Naruto approach. He then shouted, "Why are you attacking me?!"

The clone grabbed Jaune by the armor and headbutted him on the nose. This caused Jaune to fall down and flash back to the last time Naruto headbutted him. The night before the dance when he was too stubborn to ask Pyrrha to go with him. That led to Pyrrha showing up alone and Jaune, "feeling like a jerk," as Naruto put it. Jaune now realizes that he must be like that right now. Instead of telling Naruto to stop, or even defending himself, he sat there with a focused expression, ready to hear what Naruto has to say.

Naruto seen this and sighed before he said, "Finally. Damn, you really are stubborn. It's no wonder you ended up with earth." This caused Jaune to look confused. Naruto crossed his arms and remembered old man Oonoki, the Tsuchikage. He then told Jaune, "The earth masters I know were always really stubborn."

Hearing that, Jaune retorted, "Pyrrha isn't stubborn."

Naruto did not bat an eye as he responded, "She sent you away in a rocket locker so she could face Cinder alone."

Jaune was a little flustered recalling that as he said, "Good point…"

"Technically she's also a wind element too, but we're getting off topic" Naruto commented.

Jaune sighed and asked, "So what am I being an idiot about this time?" He then lowered his head.

"Nuh uh, raise your head" Naruto told him. Jaune did so with a surprised look. "All that self-doubt's gotta go." Jaune was embarrassed that it was that obvious. Naruto then told him, "Despite you pointing out that you're one of the first Huntsman Shinobi, you still don't think you're good enough."

"But it's true—" Jaune started to say.

"According to who?!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Me!" Jaune shouted back. "I've always been the lame one as a kid! I wasn't good enough to get into Beacon the right way! I've always been the weak link of my team!" He then choked up a little as he shouted with shame, "It…it's why Pyrrha sent me off in that locker!"

Naruto was silent hearing Jaune's lamentation. He then said, "The reason she sent you away is because she knew she was going to die on that tower…and she probably didn't want you to see that."

Jaune deep down thought that Pyrrha did not believe she could win that fight, but now he knew for sure. He then started to say, "That may be, but—"

Naruto once again cut off Jaune by saying, "A Deathstalker."

Jaune looked back at Naruto confused and said, "What?"

"It started with a Deathstalker" Naruto continued. "Then you learned from Pyrrha and even confronted that bully Cardin before saving his life. Then you beat Ren in our five-way brawl. Then came the midterms where you beat multiple Grimm and led our team to victory in our advanced trial. During the attack on Vale, you defended your friends as much as any of us did and helped keep everyone's spirits alive. You trained your ass off for the tournament. You survived the Fall of Beacon. Even at your lowest point, you kept it together enough to call me and Ruby. Because of that Pyrrha's still alive."

"I…I don't…" Jaune said, not sure what to say.

Naruto then walked towards Jaune as he continued, "You set out to travel outside the Kingdoms with just your team and Ruby. According to them, you always fought your hardest and led them to victory ya know. When I saw you again, you were beaten, but you were still fighting against those Super Grimm. The next night, you all went through the most grueling battle of your lives. Not only did you not falter, you unlocked your Semblance." He was now standing right in front of Jaune.

"I…I don't understand what you're trying to say" Jaune told him.

Naruto then screamed at the top of his lungs, "AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT WAS ALL DUMB FREAKING LUCK?!" This scream shook Jaune to his core. His eyes were wide as he could only now listen. Naruto continued to yell, "You've overcome way too much crap to still be plagued by self-doubt ya know!" He then seen Jaune was in a shocked state. Naruto returned to a normal voice as he said, "Your self-doubt doesn't just affect you. It affects all of us too."

Jaune started to remember all the times his friends tried to help him believe in himself. He recalls Ruby telling him it isn't just about him anymore. He then looked at Naruto who was desperately trying to teach him this lesson. He nodded and said, "You're right."

Naruto smiled and extended his hand. Jaune took his hand and stood up as they headed back to the others. Pyrrha seen them as she asked Jaune, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" Jaune responded. He did not elaborate as he grabbed a leaf and concentrated. The leaf started to crumble.

Pyrrha was shocked, but she also excited as she said, "Jaune, congratulations! You did it!" She noticed the lack of self-doubt on his face and asked, "What happened?"

Jaune smiled at her and said, "I'm just stubborn." He then looked back at Naruto and said, "So I needed a rough wake up call."

Ren looked at Nora and said, "Looks like you were right."

Nora sighed and said, "It's about time."

---

It is has been a few days since everyone began training with their elements. They are now pretty decent at channeling it into their weapons and limbs to further augment their strength. They have also all been taught a technique that they have been working on as well.

Not wanting to be a burden, Oscar has been learning to fight form Ozpin. They both know that he will not be fighting on the front lines, especially against the Super Grimm. But he will be able to defend himself. They then hear Qrow's scroll ringing.

Qrow picked up his scroll and said, "It's from Leo."

Ozpin asked Oscar, "Would you mind letting me be in control for this?" Oscar then handed over control.

Qrow and Ozpin sat down as Qrow answered, "What's going on, Leo?"

"Good news Qrow!" Leonardo announced. "I managed to get the council to round up a small defense for the upcoming raid. I wanted to invite you and your party to the school tomorrow for a walkthrough."

Qrow shared a skeptical look with Ozpin as he said, "That so? That's a relief."

"Can I count on you all to attend?" Leonardo asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be there" Qrow answered before hanging up.

"Hmm, that sounds drastically different from your original conversation, does it not?" Ozpin commented.

"It does" Qrow replied. "Something must be up."

"I have to agree" Ozpin said before he got up and walked over to the large window to observe his old students. "But we'll be ready."

Ruby clashed blades with Weiss. They then hopped back as Weiss summoned two Lancers and sent them at Ruby. Ruby dashed in between them and cut them down. This gave Weiss enough time to weave the seals Tiger, Ox, Tiger, Rat and internally exclaim, "Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu!" She then shot out a moderate volume of water from her mouth.

Ruby yelped and jumped into the air. She then weaved the signs Rat, Rabbit, Dog before exclaiming, "Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!" She then shot out four wind Chakra projectiles which Weiss just managed to dodge. Ruby looked disappointed that she only managed to shoot out four projectiles. She then landed back on the ground.

Weiss seen Ruby land on the wet ground and cycled her rapier to use lightning Dust. She then empowered the Dust with Chakra before zapping the ground and the water carried the lightning to Ruby. She was caught off guard and got shocked pretty good. Electricity crackles around her before she coughed up a little smoke and fell over. Weiss' eyes widened as she shouted over, "You okay?!"

Ruby got back up on her knees and shouted, "That was awful!"

Weiss tried not to laugh as she said, "The fact that you can still move after that is honestly really impressive."

Ruby smiled before she said, "Yeah, but you being able to do almost everything you could before but better is a little unfair."

"Maybe a little" Weiss admitted. "I'm still trying to get my Chakra to transfer to my summons, but it isn't going well."

Ruby thought about that and said, "Since your summons are a pure Aura construct, maybe you can't transfer something foreign like Chakra even though they're really compatible."

"That does make sense…" Weiss commented. She smiled and said, "You're a lot smarter than people give you credit for."

Ruby smiled before she gave a quick glance to Naruto who was sparring with Yang. She said, "Maybe if our powers merge into Ascended Aura then you can empower your summons the way you want to." Weiss thought about this before Ruby exclaimed, "…Wait, people don't think I'm smart?!" Weiss lost her train of thought as she burst into laughter.

Ren and Nora were sparring against Jaune and Pyrrha. Ren unleashed his own Water Bomb Jutsu which has noticeably more volume than Weiss'. Pyrrha dropped her weapons before wielding the signs, Tiger, Rabbit, Boar, Ram, Ox, and Snake. She placed her hands on the ground and exclaimed, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" A wall of ground rose up in front of her. It was two and a half meters tall, half a meter thick, and two meters wide. It blocked Ren's Water Bomb as she grabbed her weapons and hopped on top of her Mud Wall. She then leaped towards Ren as she reinforced her shield with earth Chakra and delivered a falling shield bash. Ren jumped back to avoid it as Pyrrha made a sizable crater in the ground. Ren opened fire with his pistols and Pyrrha blocked them with her shield. They then rushed each other and clashed their blades.

Nora swung her hammer at Jaune who blocked it while reinforcing his shield with earth Chakra like Pyrrha did. He then blocked more of Nora's swings before he retaliated with a swing of his sword. He did not coat his blade in Chakra as he did not want to waste it. Despite this being a sparring match, he was treating it like the real deal. He managed to parry Nora's swing with his reinforced shield before landing a slash on Nora's torso and kicking her back. Even though he is not reinforcing his attacks, the natural strength increase from the Chakra running through his body made his hits still hurt.

"Okay, let's see how you handle this!" Nora shouted. She then channeled lightning Chakra into her hand before placing that hand on her chest and activating her Semblance. Jaune realized where this was going and looked panicked. He made his own Mud Wall and then readied himself behind the wall with his shield presented. After charging up her muscles, Nora combines her hammer's charge upgrade with her own lightning Chakra. She then burst forward, making a crater where she was just standing. She yelled and swung her hammer, busting right through the Mud Wall and slamming it right into Jaune's Chakra reinforced shield. Jaune went flying back through several trees and was now completely out of sight.

Ren and Pyrrha watched in awe and a little bit of fear as Nora exclaimed, "I gotta come up with a name for that!"

A few minutes later, Jaune stumbled back to them and held up the shield that was contorted beyond recognition. He then yelled at Nora, "That shield was a rental!"

Nora rubbed the back of her head and said, "Whoops…" Ren and Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh.

Naruto made five Shadow Clones before he fired two small Air Bullets at Yang. She managed to jump out of the way before she launched two fire Chakra enhanced projectiles. The clones managed to avoid the explosions and circled in on Yang. One of the clones threw a punch from behind her. She reacted in time to weave her head to the side and catch the clone's arm and throw it to the ground. Before she could follow up, two more clones rushed in and threw a pair of kicks. Yang narrowly dodged both of them as she said, "I'm getting used to fighting your clones."

The clone on the ground said, "Is that so?" Yang turned back just in time to guard against the clone's rising kick. However, she still got sent into the air where three other clones kicked her and sent her further into the air, making her wince in pain. Her eyes then widened as she knew what came next. She spun around and met the other clone's axe kick with a haymaker. They knocked each other back and they weaved their respective signs.

The clone shouted, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!"

Yang shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The attacks clashed. Even though Naruto's attack was more powerful, it was not powerful enough to overcome the elemental advantage Yang had, so her attack won out and destroyed the clone. As she was about to land, she seen the other clones waiting for her. She then yelled, "Try dealing with this!" She ignited her fists and slammed them together, creating a fiery shockwave. This knocked the clones down. She then picked a spot that lined up with the clones and Body Flickered over to it. She then wielded the signs Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, and Tiger before internally exclaiming, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" She then unleashed an absolute inferno as if fired from a real dragon that destroyed all the clones.

Yang was panting as the real Naruto said from behind her, "Not bad!" Her eyes widened as she went to turn around. However, Naruto punched her away before she could guard up. He then concentrated and Body Flickered ahead of her and intercepted her with a kick. This made her hit the ground hard. She was in a lot of pain, but still ready to fight. She lifted her head to see Naruto coat her cybernetic fist in his Ascended Aura. She then did the same with her Fire Chakra and they clashed fists. Multiple shockwaves erupted out that took out the surrounding trees and made the living quarters start to crumble.

Qrow ran out and said, "Okay, stop before we lose our only place to sleep."

Naruto and Yang pulled their fists back as Yang giggles and said, "Our bad."

The others were staring at them as Ruby said, "We still got a ways to go…"

Ozpin walked out and said, "That may be, but you all have made tremendous progress." He then looked at Naruto and asked, "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yeah. They'll definitely be ready for the next battle, ya know" Naruto responded.

---

Out in the forest a little bit from the Branwen camp, Cinder was sitting with Torchwick, Neo, Emerald, and Mercury. Mercury complained, "I can't believe I'm back to just waiting around again."

"Oh, get over it" Emerald told him.

"Tonight is the last night we have to wait until we strike" Cinder reminded him.

Torchwick was gripping his wrist as he commented, "Tomorrow another school falls. People just don't value education these days."

Emerald looked at Torchwick and said, "That was tasteless."

"Now who's whining?" Mercury said to Emerald. They then heard approaching footsteps. They all looked to see it was Hazel.

"How are things with the White Fang?" Cinder asked him.

Hazel sat down by the fire with his arms crossed and said, "The White Fang will be ready. What about the Spring Maiden?"

"She will retrieve the Relic, so long as we uphold our part of the deal" Cinder answered.

"What deal?" Hazel inquired.

"Raven wants her brother dead" Cinder answered.

Hazel looked down and said, "I see…"

Cinder then stood up and said, "Tomorrow is a big day." She then reached out and a large Super Manticore Grimm peaked its head out of the woods. It is surrounded by a multitude of other Super Grimm and a horde regular Grimm as well. Cinder's eye had the flaming trail of the Maiden as she smiled.

Elsewhere, Adam sat on a box. Ready to lead his followers to strike down Haven tomorrow.

At the Branwen camp, Raven was looking at a map of Haven, readying herself to do what needs to be done.

Leonardo stared out a window at Haven, wondering how he is going to live with himself after tomorrow.

Blake was on the ship and could see the shoreline. She was ready with her new brothers and sisters to defend Haven at all costs.

At Haven itself, our group of Huntsman Shinobi were turning in for the night. All of these parties shall converge tomorrow.

The battle for Haven is nigh.

Chapter End

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AN: And there we have it people. As I said, I'm going to take a break for a couple weeks before I start writing Chapter 24. I hope you all enjoyed, see you all next time.