When Ironwood came to an agreement with Naruto, there was a certain expectation of how their relationship would play out. The general had the framework in his head when he shook the boy's hand to seal their agreement.
Naruto would undergo a series of training that would acclimate him to the dangers of the new world he found himself in. The training would also serve as a subtle way to endear the young teen to Remnant, specifically Atlas. After the boy was all trained up, which would probably take nearly a full year, he would be sent out in the field with one of his trusted soldiers serving as oversight. Winter would've been his top candidate if it wasn't for her new found intense focus on her little sister.
His plan had several more steps but none were worth mentioning. After all, what was the point when Naruto compromised his plans on step 1.
James knew the kid was skilled. Surveillance footage of his acts at Beacon were the stuff of legends amongst his troops of soldiers. Yet, that seemed to be only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the teen.
An analytical mind that seemed to thrive off improvisation and pressure. The ability to make fully independent cognitive copies of himself. The power to easily wield several elements at a time. On top of all that, a mean streak of pranking that only got worse when the boy got bored.
Did he mention the boy's very limited attention span? Add all that together and James got an absolute ticking time-bomb of trouble as an asset he had to deal with.
Today had been an example of the explosive capabilities of that time-bomb. When James had arrived in his office with his signature morning coffee, he had felt that something was off. Yet, even with the constant threat that was 'Naruto' hanging over his head, he hadn't questioned it. Which is why he had no one but himself to blame when he lackadaisically sat in his seat, only for it to collapse into pieces the moment his ass made contact. If that wasn't bad enough, the rain of orange confetti that dumped on his head was an insult to injury.
"Does anyone have eyes on Uzumaki?" He had thought he managed to get all the confetti off his person but judging off the amused looks his staff was giving him, that was not the case. He was back in his office, seated in a proper chair, with a group of his more trusted soldiers standing in front of his desk.
"No idea, sir. Surveillance shows him entering and leaving your office earlier this morning but after that, he drops off the radar. No sight of him since 0447 today."
An involuntary sigh slipped through the general's lips. Typical. This hadn't been the first time the boy escaped the carefully put together surveillance package Ironwood had assigned to him. And he was sure it wouldn't last.
"Any idea where he would potentially go?" A bunch of blank stares greeted him. Great. They were all as clueless as he was. What was he even paying them to do?
"Put it across all comms that Uzumaki is missing. He needs to be found ASAP."
"Again."
The loud smack of metal against wood erupted through the room. Mixing with the harmony was the dull breathing of a teenage girl.
"You're slow. And when you move fast, you lose precision. Again but better!"
The smack resonated throughout the room yet again while the breathing grew louder. The breathing was coming from the rapier wielding white-hair girl who was currently attempting to carve up a wooden dummy with her weapon.
Standing only a few feet away from the girl looked to be an older copy of the girl. Her stoic watchful disposition contrasted with the erratic nature of the younger girl she was watching over.
"Enough." With just a single word, the girl's movements came to an end. Without the swinging of her sword, the girl's heavy breathing was louder than ever. If the breathing wasn't a good enough sign, her hunched over state and hands on knees made it very clear how exhausted she was.
"I think we can call that enough for today."
"But Winter-"
"Weiss, no." Winter's words were again enough to freeze her sister in place.
"You have the charity gala later today. Father would throw a fit at us both if you showed up like this." Her older sister's words seemed to erase any resistance Weiss had prepared to put up. However, the sharp look the older Schnee targeted towards a corner of the training room put the girl's guard right back up.
"Plus, we have an unwanted guest." Weiss turned at Winter's words, following the older woman's gaze. To her annoyance, there was someone other than the two Schnees present in the room.
"Again." When Winter's words froze her sister, they seemed to have the opposite effect on the Schnees' new guest. A spiky-hair blond teen stepped into the light of the room, a small smile on his face as he looked at the duo.
"Sorry about dropping in again. It gets boring hanging around Ironwood all day." Winter could already feel the migraine settling into her brain. There was no doubt in her mind that when she got back to her room, her scroll would be full of messages about the boy standing in front of her.
"It wouldn't be boring if you followed your daily schedule." All the woman received in response was a simple shrug of his shoulders. Winter would never admit it but the way the blond dismissed her comment set her mind boiling. There wasn't a man in Atlas bold enough to dismiss her in such a manner. Not even Ironwood or her father would offer up such a discourteous response.
"Your sister is right, by the way." It seemed the teen's attention had shifted over to the younger Schnee. Winter would've been even more incensed if a tiny bit of her wasn't a little curious to see her sister handle an interaction with the enigma.
This hadn't been the first time the boy had dropped in on the two sisters. Each interaction between the trio left both Schnees confused, irritated and slightly exhausted. The boy was everything but boring. And today was yet another chance for him to showcase that to the Schnees, especially Weiss.
"You're bracing the weapon with your wrist which means when you attack and defend, it's all wrist." The ninja had the full attention of both Schnees as he took several steps towards them. With a small puff of smoke, a black rapier manifested in the boy's hand.
"No offense but you don't look like you're really built for strength." Adding no offense to a statement rarely took the sting away from the words that followed. Winter got a full display of that fact as Weiss looked ready to bite the boy's head off.
"So, instead…" The blond bull-rushed through, not giving the girl a chance to retort. "Brace the grippy part against your forearm. Instead of your wrist taking all the force, the rest of your arm can now help." The boy took the time to demonstrate his instructions with his own rapier. Judging from the look plastered across Weiss' face, she was not amused by the display.
"It's called a pummel, you simpleton." Another shrug was offered to the Schnee, further incensing the young girl.
"Just wanted to help." The boy flashed one last irritating smile towards Weiss before focusing his attention on Winter.
"James is looking for you." An eye-roll was all that boy received in response to his statement. She had come to that conclusion the moment she saw the boy. His appearance was tantamount to an avatar of chaos. When he was in sight, a trail of disaster usually followed behind him.
"I have a feeling he's actually looking for YOU." The Schnee sighed out while holding her temples. "You're meant to have your clothes fitted for the benefit tonight."
"He's going to be there?" The younger Schnee rounded on her older sister with a look of anger and bewilderment on her face.
"He almost single-handedly saved Beacon and several of your classmates' lives, Weiss. Of course he's going to be there." The answer did little to stem Weiss' anger. Unable to take it out on her sister, she turned to the still present blond, her mouth open and ready to lambast the teen.
"Father demanded he be present." Just with those words, Weiss was stopped in her tracks. Any words she had died silently in her throat. She desperately wanted to let them loose but she knew there was very little reason for it. When her father wanted something, he got it.
"I'm not really a fan of stuffy clothes." Naruto was the first to break the silence, earning him two patented Schnee glares aimed at his head.
"It does not matter. If I'm to suffer your presence at the gala, you will be presentable." Winter reached out for the boy but found him too quick to grab a hold of. Another grasp attempt resulted in her nearly stumbling over her own feet as he danced around her outreached arm. A frustrated hiss slipped through her lips before she reached for her sword.
"Sit still or be skewered." The Schnee leveled her sword and a glare at the young boy. A grin and a shrug was, once again, all she received. The two sat in silence for a moment further before the girl thrust her sword at the boy's throat. The metal pierced his throat, remaining stuck for a second, before the blond erupted in a cloud of smoke.
"Of course, it's a clone. It's always a clone." Winter mumbled to herself. A quick look over at her sister showed that the girl shared the same exasperated expression.
"I need to go to my scroll before the general loses his mind."
"You okay, son?"
Naruto gave a quick shake of his head before looking over at his companion. A small smile spread across the boy's face as he flashed the other male a quick thumbs-up.
"All good, Pietro. Just had a few memories popping in my head."
The memories of his clone's daily "bother the two princesses" trip wasn't unexpected. The method of death was a pretty new one yet he wasn't one to critique creativity. Usually, Weiss was the one who lost her patience and killed his clones. Winter must've been pretty pissed off to take it as far as she did.
"Friend Naruto! Observe me!" Naruto's attention was stolen away by the other occupant of the large room he and Pietro were in. His eyes darted over to Penny, Pietro's daughter in everything but flesh.
"I'm combat ready!" The orange-haired girl announced with her fist on her hips. Her appearance had changed quite a bit from when Naruto had first met her. Of course, the first time he had seen the girl, she was nearly an unrecognizable mess of mechanical bits and synthetic flesh. Luckily, Pietro wasn't considered a scientific genius for no reason. Within weeks of the battle of Beacon, the scientist had rebuilt the girl. Her orange hair was much longer, flowing down to the bottom of her back. An olive green dress covered her top and sat over a modest white blouse. The black mechanical stretches of her leg, from her knees to her feet, could've easily been mistaken for boots but Naruto knew better. He had taken knees to the head from the girl to make that mistake again.
"Up I go!" The girl proclaimed before green jets erupted from her feet. The girl rose up nearly ten feet before floating steadily in the air while flashing a smile at her father and friend.
"My combat abilities have been rest-" Just as the girl was about to proclaim her success, the jet in her left foot began to sputter. Her steady flight came to a quick end as she teetered dangerously in the air. The jets in both of her feet went out moments afterwards, letting her plummet to the ground.
Penny's harsh reunion with the ground was delayed when she fell into the arms of her blond friend. She shot him a sheepish smile before giving him a quick hug then hopping out of his grasp.
"I don't think you're quite there yet, Penny." Despite the look of disappointment on his daughter's face, the man couldn't help but smile as he looked at her with Naruto. He had tried his best to make it known to the boy but his help with rebuilding Penny had touched him in a way that was nearly indescribable.
Now, Naruto was no scientist so the actual rebuilding of the girl had been left mostly to Pietro. But the ideas that the boy had … the sheer creativity of them all nearly left the scientist blind. For all the academic acumen that the scientist carried, his creative brain didn't hold a candle to Naruto's flames. From combat modifications to bodily functions and autonomy upgrades, Naruto's vision had helped Pietro shape his daughter into a much better version of herself.
"Your gyroscope needs a little more tuning and your energy generation unit isn't quite at full power. But, you're close." The scientist's last statement brought the smile back to his daughter's face.
"You hear that, friend?" Penny shouted as she turned to Naruto." Soon, I'll be ready to go out and protect the world from all the bad guys!"
"And I'll be right there with you." Naruto returned the girl's enthusiasm with a smile of his own.
"Maybe we can convince friend Ruby to join us!" The mention of the girl's name sent a small shot through the boy's brain. He had been meaning to catch up with the scythe-wielding girl at some point. Weiss and Penny had mentioned her several times, sparking his interest. But, there was something else, something a bit deeper than just a small interest.
His time in Atlas hadn't been completely spent on pranking Ironwood and messing with the Schnee sisters. His involvement with the general had partly been for the greater good. His world or not, he couldn't turn down kicking some bad guy ass. It also didn't hurt that he had access to this world's leading military power and all of its intelligence while being chummy with it's leading general.
Getting access to the information was an easy task for him at first. Some clones, a couple tasteful applications of Henge mixed with some of his patented stealth was all it took to sneak into some of the more heavily guarded information libraries within Atlas. Though, he quickly ran into a problem when it came to extracting this information.
Back in Konoha, back in his world, it was as simple as grabbing a physical file, cloning the information, putting the file back in place and disappearing. This world came to the wise conclusion that making all the information digital would stop any random from just walking in and out with their files. This decision was a pain in Naruto's ass for several days before he ran into Pietro.
The ninja had originally been against asking the man for assistance. Pietro's funding mostly came from Atlas. Why would he ever work with someone trying to steal information from them? Naruto had thought there was no way the man would ever assist him. Though apparently, helping the man rebuild and improve his daughter had greased him up enough since he seemed happy to help when the blond eventually approached him.
With Pietro's help, extracting the electronic data had been a piece of cake. And, with that data in hand, Naruto now had access to every bit of juicy information the military wanted the public to know and the even juicier bits that they wanted to hide. This included a very tucked away piece of info that centered around people with silver-eyes.
While the info packet was limited, it did contain enough to make the boy VERY interested in silver-eyed people. Luckily enough, he had already met one! Even luckier, he was slowly becoming best friends with some of that person's friends.
"Friend Naruto!" Penny's shout broke the boy from his thoughts. "It's almost time for the gala."
"As much as an irritated Ironwood amuses me, I think you've given him enough grief for today, kid. It would be best for you not to be late to this one." Naruto chuckled at the old man's words.
"Fair enough." The boy said while holding his hands behind his head. As much fun as it would be to further irritate the man, going to the event was actually something the boy was looking forward to. It was for a variety of reasons but none more important than getting a chance to watch Weiss perform. Despite all the 'close' moments he shared with the girl, she refused to sing in front of him.
"Hopefully Ironwood's closet has something in my size because I'm pretty sure I missed by sizing appointment."
She always hated these events. Even as a child, having all those eyes on her made her skin crawl. Being the center of attention wasn't foreign to her. In all honesty, she didn't mind it when it was combat related. But, when she had a mic in her hand? With a frilly dress on and her weapon out of reach?
She hated it.
But, there are many things you hate in life that you are forced to deal with. Her time at Beacon and experiences with her own family had hammered that truth deep into her soul. So, with a sigh of resignation and a tightening of her shoulders, she did one last scan of her room from the stage.
The usual suspects were scattered amongst the crowd. All the deep-pocket-havers and political fluffers were happy to have their face shown at the event. She could just barely make out General Ironwood's visage at the border of the gathered crowd, possibly heading towards the room's exit.. Her father was nowhere to be seen which wasn't a surprise to the girl. As much as he appreciated showing off her singing ability, the girl would never call her a fan. He was more of a fan of the business success that followed after each of her performances.
Weiss felt her shoulders tighten further when her eyes settled on another in the crowd. Staring right at her, dressed in a suit that eerily reminded her of the general, was the same blond boy that had been annoying her hours ago. Naruto flashed her a small grin while waving her way.
An eyeroll was all he received in return which only seemed to fuel the boy's smile. Though, not that she would admit it to him or anyone else, Weiss did feel a lot of the tension in her body leave her. Judging by the now ear-to-ear grin and raised eyebrow on his face, it seemed like the ninja had noticed the change in her disposition.
The girl began singing, immediately enrapturing the room. While the gala's audience sat immersed in the sound of her voice, Weiss patiently counted off the seconds until the performance would end. After too long, her time came to a close and an avalanche of applause fell onto her. The girl forced a smile on her face, performed a small curtsy before rushing off stage.
"She's pretty good, right?" Naruto thought to his partner. As expected, he received no response. Usually, the blond would pester the fox more but the group that was currently surrounding him forced his attention outwards.
"You must tell us your secrets. Multiple semblances, aura manipulation, all that physical strength? Plus, you can't be any older than what, 15?" One of the pompous gala-goers asked him.
"Actually, I'm 16. Am I really that short?" The blond muttered out the last part. For all of his spice, his height was definitely a very sore spot for his ego.
"Still, at 16, to be able to do all that you did at Beacon? Nothing but impressive." Another person spoke up. Naruto offered the man a shrug. He wasn't one to really bask in the praises of others.
"You must tell us where you studied. Atlas needs to poach their educators."
"Eh, I'm mostly self-taught with a little help from an old pervert." His statement seemed off-putting to the crowd as they sat in silence from his retort.
"Sounds like you're a commoner." A voice broke through the silence, capturing the small group's attention. All eyes shifted to the speaker as they pushed their way towards Naruto.
"I can only imagine how good you would actually be if you had some proper education." It took only a moment for Naruto to mentally descry the man. Dull-blue hair, brown eyes, crappy dress shirt, not a hint of muscle on him and no weapons in sight. Overall, not a threat at all.
"Proper education is overrated. Real life experience is much better." All Naruto received was an eyeroll from the guy that now shared the center of attention with himself.
"Sounds like something a commoner would say. Did your mother and father work in the mines? You do a pretty good job of hiding your features but those whiskers give you away, foxy?"
"You mention my parents again and-"
"Henry Marigold. I see that you are once again proving your parents' decision to name your sister heir to be the correct one." Before Naruto could finish the statement, a familiar voice broke through the crowd. All eyes turned to its owner who just so happened to be the main event of the night.
"Every time you show your face in public, you embarrass all who share your last name." Weiss' words elicited a few gasps and chuckles from the growing group of bystanders. Henry looked like he had swallowed a frog as he stared down the Schnee. Her performance attire did little to take away the intimidation factor she held, especially with her weapon at her side.
"Y-You're just as cold as your bitch sister." The boy managed to stutter out after a few moments of basking in his own embarrassment. Yet, it became very clear to all everybody in the gala that the boy would've been better off keeping his mouth shut as the temperature in the room dropped.
"What did you just say?"
"You heard me, ice princess. You and your sisters are a bunch of-"
"Grimm! Grimm! Run!" Henry would never realize he had just avoided death as a shout erupted from the other side of the room. Both Weiss and Naruto turned to the noise as the room descended into chaos.
Up on the stage that the girl once occupied stood two full-grown boarbatusks. How the duo had managed to infiltrate the twentieth floor of a Schnee facility, Naruto nor Weiss had a clue. Though, at the end of the day, it didn't matter as the duo launched into action.
Naruto was the quicker of the two, landing on the stage seconds before Weiss did. Both of the Grimm had their attention on them as he rocketed to the one closest to him. A flurry of shuriken crashed against the Boarbatusk's white mask, causing it to rear its head up. The blond took few advantage of the movement, sliding towards the Grimm and thrusting a kunai into its exposed neck.
The Grimm let out a garbled screech as a spout of dark energy poured from its new wound. Still, it was not enough to put down the creature. The Grimm swung its tusk at the boy who stood within its range. The tusk was solidly caught in the teen's hand before the Grimm was lifted by it and thrown in the air towards Weiss.
The Schnee was already in action the moment Naruto had grasped the Grimm's tusk. By the time the creature was in the air, Weiss had her weapon readied. With a practiced ease and a new found speed, the Schnee stabbed her rapier through the same hole Naruto had stabbed into the creature. In the same motion, the girl whipped her wrist and her weapon through the creature's neck, causing it to crash into the ground in a flurry of harmless dark wisps.
The sight of its brother's quick demise made the other Grimm roar before charging at Weiss. The girl ducked low, allowing Naruto to fly overhead with an outstretched foot aimed at the creature. The foot slammed into the charging Grimm, flipping its momentum and sending it crashing into the far wall. Before the creature could fall to the floor a white glyph blanketed it, keeping its massive form pinned against the wall. Moments after the glyph's appearance, a wall of shuriken and kunai slammed into the Grimm's exposed underside, ending it's existence just as quickly as it's partner.
"See! Isn't the new grip much easier on your wrist?" Weiss turned away from the sight of the destroyed Grimm to look at her combat partner. The girl opened her mouth to respond, no doubt in a sardonic tone, but was interrupted as a wave of security staff rushed the stage.
"Ms. Schnee, are you okay?"
"Ms. Schnee, your father sent us!"
"Secure the stage. We have the heiress."
Before either of the two could properly react, Weiss was swept up in a wave of Atlasiean soldiers and Schnee support staff, leaving the blond all alone on stage.
"But Father-"
"Absolutely not, Weiss! This useless huntress business has done nothing but put your life at risk. I will not have my legacy throwing her life away once more. From this point on, you are not to leave the house without a personal security detail. I will hear nothing further!" The man punctuated his statement by slamming the door shut, leaving Weiss alone in her room.
The girl stood in silence for a few moments, the only sound in the room coming from the soft tick of the grandfather clock stood in it's corner. Suddenly, the silence was broken as Weiss released a screech of frustration. The screech was followed by a loud bang as she slammed her first against her bedroom door.
"You have a pretty good voice, y'know." Weiss whipped around, her hand on her weapon as her eyes scanned the room for the intruder. Her alertness came to a screeching halt when her eyes landed on the culprit who was standing by the clock.
"What are you doing here, you pervert?" Weiss belted out at the boy. Though, both knew there wasn't much bite behind her words. The 'conversation' with her father had taken away any of the fire her shout would've contained.
"I came to check up on you." The boy moved from the center of her room and over to her bed. Much to her annoyance, he plopped himself down onto it, ruining the perfect job her maids had done to make it clean.
"I'm doing fine so you're free to leave." The girl huffed out before walking over to her closet. They both knew that physically removing him from the room would've been an impossibility so she was hoping he would catch the hint and let her stew in her frustration alone.
"I also came for your help." Weiss gave a slight pause before turning to face the boy again.
"With what?" The boy let his feet swing from the bed's edge as she stared down the Schnee heiress.
"As much fun as I've had in Atlas, I've been thinking of branching out. Exploring a little bit, y'know." Weiss rolled her eyes at the statement. It didn't come as a shock to her. With the boy's blatant disregard for Ironwood's authority and his constant penchant for disobeying any rules placed on him, it was clear to the Schnee that Atlas wasn't the place for him.
"First on my list of destinations is visiting a friend of yours." Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Ruby Rose."
Weiss froze at the mention of her team leader's name. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she had been desperate to see the girl again. She wanted to see her team again. Yet, the tight leash kept by her father and sister had stopped her from going and seeing her friends.
"What do you need to see Ruby for?" As enticing seeing her friend was, Weiss wasn't stupid. She had been raised in a culture of deals, bribes and back-stabbing. Jumping at the first good offer was something that was below someone of her stature.
"I'd figured bringing along one of her best friends would help her answer some questions about her eyes. An in-person interaction would be much better than just some call"
Her eyes? For a moment, Weiss sat confused. Silver eyes were rare, so rare that Weiss had never seen them before she met Ruby. Yet, why would the boy travel halfway across the country to ask about her eyes.
"What's so important about her eyes?"
"Check your scroll." Weiss gave a huff of annoyance at the non-answer before reaching for her device. She saw that she had one message with an attachment from the boy in front of her. She opened the attachment and began pouring over the information.
It took only a minute of reading for Weiss to look back up at Naruto, shock evident in her eyes. Naruto met her look with one of his own.
"So, how about it? Wanna go see your friend?"
AN: A few days late so I made an extra chunky chapter. Sorry about the delay. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
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