Sorry if the story link in your email didn't work. I deleted a chapter that was just a couple of paragraphs long where I asked for your opinion on where the story should go. That shortened the story length by one chapter.

And we're finally back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 53!

Well…I honestly didn't think I would ever be doing this again, but the hype of Kingdom Hearts 3 made me want to do at least one more chapter.

It's so hard to write when you're not motivated. Two and half years ago I could do 1,000 words in about 45 minutes if I pushed it. Now I can do 500 words in a little bit more than an hour before I decide to take a break for two hours.

Anyways, on with the story!

I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, or anything else. I'm just a broke college student…

Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."

Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'

Bijū/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."

Bijū/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'

Scene Change: Insert Place Here

Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here

Last Updated: 1/16/2019 (Initial Proofread)

Gummi Ship

"Can't you fly this thing any faster? It feels like we've been on this thing for over a year!" Naruto sighed upon hearing Happy's whine. The only reason he wasn't telling the Exceed to stop complaining was the fact that the trip here did feel like it took an unnaturally long time.

Shaking his head, he decided instead to simply respond. "We're almost there." He reassured.

"How almost is almost?"

"Almost as in the world should be visible any moment now." Kairi answered, with a small undercurrent of relief in her tone. The trip had taken its toll on all of them this time.

None of them were even sure why this trip had been more tedious than the others. But whatever the reason, it felt like it had been over a year since they had left Traverse Town, despite it only having been a couple of days.

Spotting something in the distance, a small smirk appeared on Gray's lips. "In fact…" He nodded to the rapidly approaching object. "There it is right there."

Natsu raised his fists into the air. "Finally!" The dragon slayer cheered, Happy quickly following his example.

Kairi tilted her head in interest as she took in the newest world. "This one looks about as big as Mahora." She said in slight surprise.

"No, I think it's even bigger than Mahora." Naruto noted. "Mahora was big, but this...this one huge. Look, they have everything from forests to an ocean…" He blinked when he spotted something else. "Is that a…castle?"

"It is!" Happy exclaimed in excitement. "That's so cool. I wonder if there's a princess?"

A familiar sheen entered Natsu's eyes, immediately putting both Naruto and Gray on edge. "Forget the princess. If that's really a castle, then there's something way better than some stupid princess."

Happy's eyes grew even wider as he swiveled around in Natsu's lap to gape at his partner. "Really? What? You gotta tell me!"

"Simple." Natsu's grin widened even further. "If there's a castle, then there's gotta be a dragon!" He declared. "And that dragon's gonna tell me where Igneel is!"

Gray rolled his eyes at this. "First of all, there's no guarantee that there is a dragon here just because there is a castle." Hearing the ice mage, Natsu's excitement was extinguished, only to be replaced by irritation. He opened his mouth to argue, but Gray wasn't planning on giving him the chance. "Second, remember what happened the last time we came across a dragon?" Kairi shivered at the reminder of what she woke up to following the loss of her world. "Last, but not least…Let's assume there is a dragon here. Heck, let's even assume that this one will be a dragon like Igneel that can actually talk…Why the hell would a dragon from a different world know where Igneel is, idiot?" He demanded.

Faced with these facts, Natsu shot to his feet, unintentionally forcing Happy to quickly summon his wings or else be dumped onto the ground. "Shut up!" He snapped back. "You trying to start a fight?! Because you're about to get one!" With a growl, Natsu ignited a fist.

"Guys. I get that we're all tired of being cooped up in here, but come on. Let's just keep it together for a few more minutes" Kairi pleaded wearily. "Please?" Seeing that they were going to keep themselves under control, albeit reluctantly, she allowed herself a small smile. "Thank you. We set to head on down, Naruto?"

Naruto began to input the needed commands for entry into a world. "I'm on it." He replied. Confirming everything was in order, he nodded and started to guide the ship closer to the world. "Alright, here we g-"

Eyes.

Eyes the color of blood.

They could see him.

They could see through him.

They were watching him.

They were so red.

They were so dark.

"-!"

He was drowning.

Everything was so cold.

"-!"

He needed to escape.

"-to!"

They needed to escape.

"Sn…ou…t!"

Escape from this world.

"Kair…oo! W…em?!"

Escape from the eyes.

"Mov…out…ay, Flam…!"

Escape.

Escape.

Escape.

Escape.

Escape.

They needed to run.

"Well, aren't you an interesting one?"

SMACK

Naruto's head snapped to the side as pain blossomed in his cheek. It was only then that his senses finally return to him. Besides the pain, he registered that his breathing was shallow, there was cold sweat collecting on his face, and his hands were shaking. Somewhat shocked, he stared at Gray, who stood in front of him with a frown.

Understanding that Gray must have hit him to get him out of whatever trance he had fallen into, Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he did so, he also gathered some light, pushing the cold back and further calming his nerves. "…Sorry."

After a taking a couple of seconds to inspect him, Gray slowly nodded. "Don't worry about it…You good?"

Mulling over the question, Naruto hesitantly nodded. "…Not at my best, but give me a few and I'll be fine." He admitted.

"You don't have a few." Gray rebuked. He gestured over to the side. "Whatever just happened got to Kairi as well."

With a jolt, Naruto's attention shifted over to Kairi, who was trembling in her seat, eyes staring at nothing. Both Natsu and Happy were trying to rouse her, but she wouldn't come to her senses. Forcing his body into motion, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and somewhat shakily made his way over to her. Noticing his approach, Natsu and Happy made room.

"Kairi." Naruto called softly, although somewhat doubtful it would work. The last time something like this happened, they were in Evangeline's resort and it took Naruto pushing some light into her in order to snap her out of it. Deciding to do the same thing again, Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and started to mirror his action from the previous time.

Just like then, Kairi's eyes slowly lost the glazed look as the additional light being supplied to her drove off the crushing presence of the darkness. As with Naruto, they all waited patiently for her to return to awareness.

Finally, Kairi's eyes drifted up until they locked with Naruto's. Seeing that she was looking his way, Naruto offered her a weak smile. "You back?" Instead of responding, Kairi simply stared at him for several seconds, wiping the smile from his face. "…Kairi?" He asked hesitantly.

Suddenly, Kairi jolted upright and her eyes shot wide open. Her hands flew up to grasp the front of his jacket, nearly making him jump. "N…Naruto!" Her voice was frantic, boarding on panic. "Th-The darkness! Those eyes! That voice! We can't go down there! This world-Those eyes are going to get us!"

"What?" A bewildered Natsu asked. "What eyes?"

Temporarily ignoring the dragon slayer, Naruto gently took Kairi's hands into his own and channeled more light. "Kairi, relax. Just breathe. Focus on the light...Don't let the darkness get to you." He instructed her. "The eyes can't reach us here." Even as he said this, Naruto ruthlessly pushed down the inexplicable fear he could feel at the back of his mind.

What if they could reach them?

"B-But-"

"Kairi." Naruto implored.

"Okay…" Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths, doing all she could to ignore the darkness she could feel dwelling throughout the world below them. Although it was still more than she was comfortable with, it was getting quickly getting easier to ignore.

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" Natsu demanded. Naruto could tell that the only reason he wasn't shouting yet was because he could tell how on edge both Kairi and Naruto were, and Naruto was grateful that the normally oblivious mage could at least determine that shouting in this situation would only make things worse. "What eyes is she talking about?"

Deciding to join in, Gray spoke up as well. "And what did she mean by they're dangerous? That the world is dangerous I can understand, but eyes?" His eyes flicked between them. "The two of you sensed something about this world?" He guessed.

With a nod, Naruto glanced his way. "You remember how when we first started to get close to Mahora, Kairi and I were able to sense that the world was saturated in light?" We waited a moment for their confirmations before continuing. "This world…It's…bathed in darkness. It's crazy how much there is of it down there." His eyes drifted back to the world as it sat innocently in front of them. "This world…It's…I have no idea how it hasn't been overrun by heartless yet."

Finally managing to fully gather herself, Kairi joined the discussion. "Mahora was really bright, especially towards the end of the festival. This world…it's the exact opposite." She said quietly.

Knowing that his normally boisterous self wouldn't be appreciate by his two on edge friends, Natsu frowned at the world as if it had personally offended him. "So it's gonna be dangerous down there?"

"Probably." Naruto agreed. "Actually, definitely. A world like this is a perfect place for heartless to gather."

"True enough." Gray consented. "But there's still one other thing." He paused, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "What was that other thing that Kairi mentioned about? What eyes?"

Grimacing, Naruto felt Kairi shiver for a moment before she quickly got herself under control once more. Giving her hands a small squeeze in support, Naruto slowly explained what they had seen. "…When we approached the world, two things happened. The first was that we suddenly started to feel like we were drowning in darkness. That's what you guys saw us reacting to. The second…" This time, Naruto was the one who had to fight back a shiver as those redredredredsoveryred eyes flashed through his mind again. Shaking his head to pull himself together again, Naruto continued. "…The second is was that we saw these eyes staring at us."

"It felt like they were right here…Like they were with us. Like they could actually see us." Kairi whispered.

'I would be surprised if they could actually see us….' Naruto thought to himself, but didn't dare say aloud. "Then the voice came." He continued.

"…What did it say?" Natsu's voice was nearly silent in the gummi ship, but he may as well have been shouting given how quiet it was.

Closing his eyes, Naruto recalled the feeling he got from those eyes, along with the shivers that slithered down his spine as the voice echoed in his mind. "Just one sentence. 'Well, aren't you an interesting one?'" He opened his eyes again when he felt Kairi squeeze his hands this time. Giving her a small smile in thanks, he then turned back to the others. "That's all the voice said before you snapped me out of it."

"But whose voice was it?" Happy wondered. "And what did they mean?"

"I don't know." Naruto muttered. "But whoever she was, I don't think we can count her as friendly."

"She?" Gray noted.

"Yeah, she."

The gummi ship descended into silence once more, but it was eventually broken by the single non-human with them. "Maybe we should skip this world?" Happy suggested. "If this place is so dark, maybe we shouldn't go down there? Move onto the next?"

Gray scowled at the idea. "And let the darkness continue to grow until it consumes it? No way in hell." Happy flinched at this, but nodded afterwards in agreement. "The keyhole needs to be locked."

"And besides," Naruto began. "There is no 'next' world." He added, prompting everyone to look at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.

Naruto sighed. "You remember my explanation of the gummi blocks?"

"Yeah…?"

"Specifically, do you remember what I said about navigation gummi blocks?"

Always quick on the uptake, Gray knew where Naruto was going with the question. "The navigation gummi doesn't have any other worlds, does it? Besides this one, we've already visited all of the world on there, right?"

"Exactly." Naruto freed one of his hands and ran it through his hair in slight frustration. "Like I said, isn't a next world. We could go back to one we've been to before, but there's no guarantee that we would magically find a new navigation gummi block there. And if we're going to blindly search for one while hoping for the best…" He shrugged. "Then we might as well start with this world." With one final squeeze, Naruto released Kairi's hands and went back to his seat. "Everyone buckle up. We're going down there." Hearing this, the others did as instructed, not saying a word.

"Hurry up, you guys!" A teenaged girl called over to the four others who were lagging behind her by a good dozen feet. She paused when a stray strand of dark hair fell into her line of sight. Taking a moment to judge whether or not she wanted to cut her hair a bit soon, she brushed the gradient hair out of the way. "I want to take a look around the fairgrounds before we have to report to the battlegrounds later!"

Hearing this, a slightly older blond girl smiled in fond exasperation. "Geez, sis. What's the hurry? It's not like it isn't gonna be there after we whoop butt."

Trailing behind main part of the group by a few steps, a girl with black hair didn't bother to glance up from her book as she turned a page. "Don't jinx it." She said quietly.

"I'm not gonna jinx it!"

"While I would normally hesitate to agree with one of the loud ones," A girl with white hair began.

"Hey!"

"I do not think that speaking confidently will 'jinx' us." She scoffed quietly. "We've worked hard for this. We won't lose so easily."

"Damn right. You said it, Ice Queen!"

"Do not call me that!"

"Brrr, don't use your ice powers and try to freeze me with that glare!" The blonde teased. Seeing a familiar pattern start to play out, the black haired girl opted to simply walk around the two bickering girls while continuing to read her book, not wanting to stop like them just so she could watch them argue.

"Come on, don't do this again…" The other blond of the group attempted to stop the argument before it began. "Can't you guys focus on the here and now? This is my first day off from studying with the headmaster in a while. I don't want to use it up like this. Plus, if you want to hit something so bad, hit the other teams, not each other." Sometimes watching the two of them interact gave her a strong sense of déjà vu of a certain pink haired boy when he was with a black haired boy.

Although…If she were being completely honest, this relationship was a lot less hostile.

The first blonde grinned wildly at the reminder that there were indeed suckers for her to punch. Ones she wouldn't even get in trouble for later! "Good point, Luce! Gotta save my energy for the volunteers!"

The girl with the white hair sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "That's…Sure. Let's go with that." She muttered.

"Guys! You're not hurrying. In fact, you've gotten even slower!" The first girl complained.

Both blondes were amused by the younger girl's whining. "We're coming! Just relax a bit, okay?" The second blonde called back while the first simply smiled and placed her hands behind her head.

"Relax?" The black-red haired girl parroted in bemusement. "You want me to relax when there's a festival happe-" Silver eyes widened when an unfamiliar feeling washed through her body. "This is…" She mumbled, her eyes instinctively raising to the sky in an attempt to see something far away.

Noting the sudden change in behavior in the younger girl, the first blonde's smile was wiped from her face and she hurried over to the other girl's side to check on her. "Rubes? You okay?" She asked in concern, protective instincts for her sister shining through. "What's wrong?" Her worry increased when no answer was given by the first girl, which was mirrored by the others as the others gathered around her.

"You don't…feel that?" The youngest member of the group asked.

"Feel what?" The black haired girl asked, her amber eyes narrowed as they scanned the crowd around them. Out of the five of them, she had the best senses, but even she couldn't detect anything amiss with their surroundings. Confirming that the immediate vicinity was safe, she followed the silver eyes to the sky, but still could not see anything strange.

Frowning slightly, the white haired girl joined in on the questioning. "Can you describe the feeling?" She requested.

Hearing this, the silver eyed girl's face scrunched minutely as she thought. "It's so…warm. But, not only that...It's also kind of cold…" She said quietly, confusing the others more. "It's like it's-it's warm and strong, calm, a-and fluid and raging, loud, and-!" She took a deep breath as she focused on the feeling. "It makes me feel…safe."

"Safe?" 'Luce' repeated. "And what do all of those other things mean? You're not making much sense…" She said. "Can you explain some more? Where is the feeling coming from?"

"I…" Considering the request, the silver eyed girl slowly shook her head. "I can't…" She finally determined. "It just feels…natural to me." Her eyes narrowed it determination. "Whatever is making this feeling, it's getting closer. I gotta get there!"

Knowing what was about to happen, the first blonde reached a hand out to stop her sister. "No, wait!" Unfortunately, she was too late, as the first girl had already vanished in a blur of red and rose petals. "Damn it, wait up!" She ran after the blur as it sped off.

"Huh?! Wait!" The white haired girl called after them, but sighed as her words went ignored. Now obviously frustrated, she groaned and shot an irritated look at the remaining two. "Well, I supposed we had better follow them to see what that was all about…" Getting a pair of nods in return, the three of them followed after the other two.

A pen stopped its movement across a piece of paper as brown eyes narrowed in thought behind a pair of shaded glasses. Taking a short moment to assess the newest presence entering the area, the man slowly reached over and picked up a device laying on his desk before activating it and bringing it to his ear.

"…Glynda. Something has come up."

Blue eyes blinked in surprise at the presence that was suddenly picked up before a smile appeared. "Sweet! Look who showed up to the party!"

Blood red eyes watched the dark wasteland before them in silence, their owner lost in their own thoughts as they considered the unexpected piece that just entered the board. While it wouldn't necessarily ruin her plans, such a development would need to be taken into account.

As an idea came to her, the corner of her mouth lifted into the smallest of smiles. "If you are sincere about what you have proposed to me, then I think you should prove it." She looked over her shoulder to her quiet companion. "Prove your intentions and your worth by taking care of the problem that has appeared."

The room silent for several moments before a reluctant groan was heard. "Well, if that's what it's gonna take…" The man said. "Sure, why not?"

Gummi Ship

The off-worlders marveled at the large city as the flew high above it. "Whoa…Look at all the people! There are so many of them!" Happy exclaimed. "They look like ants from up here! And are those islands flying?!"

Gray scanned the streets below in interest. "Some of the streets down there are blocked off from traffic, but there are still people walking around…" He smirked to himself. "Looks like we arrived during another festival."

"Great!" Natsu laughed. "That means more partying!"

"Aye!"

Unlike the Fair Tail members, Naruto and Kairi's attention was caught by something in the sky. "They have air ships in this world." Kairi noted in slight awe. "That's new."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "This world looks like it is a lot more advanced than any of the others we have been to so far."

Suddenly, Kairi's console began to beep, drawing all eyes to it. Blinking in surprise, Kairi looked down at it. "We've got an incoming call." She glanced over to Naruto, who shrugged.

"Go ahead and answer it." Nodding, Kairi pressed confirm.

"Attention unidentified aircraft. This is the Vale ATC Tower. You are entering air space restricted to commercial transport, military, and emergency services. The public use air space has been reduced for the duration of the festival. Identify yourself."

Grimacing slightly upon realizing that they could potentially get into trouble simply for being there, Naruto quickly spoke up. "This is Naruto, pilot of the Stingray. I apologize for any trouble we may have caused. If you could please direct us to the nearest public landing zone, we would appreciate it."

"Wha-A kid?" The man on the other end said in bewilderment. "Listen, kid. This isn't funny. Get off the comms and hand it over to the actual pilot." The man's response turned Naruto's grimace into a scowl, which in turn deepened when the sound of Natsu and Happy snickering reached his ears. He was about to open his mouth, but a new voice joined the conversation.

"Vale ATC, this is Beacon Academy. The aircraft in question is one of ours. Let them through." The new man said, making Naruto and the others blink.

"What? But sir-!"

"Authorization code XG2-IA6Q4. Please confirm." The second voice said calmly, cutting off the first before they could argue.

"…Confirmed." The ATC personnel reluctantly replied. "Please proceed to the designated landing zone, Stingray."

Not wanting to question their unexpected luck, Naruto agreed. "Understood. Thank you for the help." He waited for the connection to the ATC Tower to get cut before speaking again to the remaining caller. "So…Who are you?" He asked.

"All your questions will be answered soon. I'm sending you the coordinates of the landing site now." A moment later, Kairi's console beeped again. "The landing site is Beacon Academy's personal one. It should still be easy to spot."

"The academy?" Gray repeated. "You mentioned that earlier. That castle is a school?"

The man hummed in acknowledgment. "Indeed. Beacon Academy is one of the finest training institutions in this world. I am proud to serve as its headmaster."

Naruto's attention was immediately caught by the specific wording the man used. "You know about the worlds." He stated.

"I do." The headmaster agreed. "But we can talk more about that when you arrive. I have sent one of my professors to meet you. She will guide you to my office and we can talk more then."

"Will do." Naruto agreed. "See you then." He waited for the connection to be cut before letting out a sigh. 'Another world where people were already aware of the other worlds." He could have sworn that Hikari and Yami said that such a thing wouldn't happen often.

Beacon Academy

Gray let out an impressed whistle as he took in the massive school in front of them. "Wow, this place is huge. And there are almost even more people here."

"Yeah, no kidding." Kairi mused while looking around, but her eyes drifted back to the water in the distance. "And it's got a great view."

Natsu laughed loudly as he ran ahead a few feet. "I wanna go explore!" He shouted in glee. "Come on, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

Scowling, Naruto lunged and grabbed the pink haired teen by the scarf and the cat by the tail before he lost them in the crowd. "How many times do we need to have this stupid conversation?" He growled at them. "Do not run off on a new place! Not only are we already expected to show up to meet the headmaster now, but we also don't know anything about this place."

Gray rolled his eyes as he walked over to join them. "Dumbass. Even if we weren't expected to meet anyone now, it wouldn't be a good idea. Did you forget how dangerous this place is supposed to be?" He asked, referring to the darkness without saying anything specific while in such a crowded place. "Speaking of which…" He glanced between Naruto and Kairi. "How are the two of you holding up?"

Kairi shrugged before rubbing her arm uneasily. "It's getting better." She said quietly. "I mean, it's still there, but it's getting easier to deal with."

"She's right." Naruto agreed. "The longer we're here, the easier it is to ignore." Deciding that Natsu and Happy indeed weren't going to suddenly disappear out of nowhere, he released them and took in their surroundings for himself. However, unlike his companions, he opted to observe the crowd instead of the location. This led him to noticing one specific feature that many in the crowd had. "Are those…Some of these people have animal body parts." He said, making the others blink and look around as well.

"You're right." Gray shrugged. "Interesting, but not really the weirdest thing we've seen since leaving your world."

"Ain't that the truth." Naruto muttered.

"Ahem." The sound of someone purposefully clearing their throat nearby drew their attention to a woman that had walked up to them. "May I assume that you are the ones that the headmaster has sent me to greet?" She asked, assessing each of them critically.

Deciding to act as the spokesperson for their group, Naruto stepped forward. He had a feeling that this woman wouldn't react well to a personality like Natsu's, so he figured it would be best to give her the impression that at least some of them could be mature. "Yes. My name is Naruto. This is Kairi," Said redhead nodded. "Natsu,"

"Yo!"

"Happy,"

"Hi!"

"And Gray." The ice mage mirrored Kairi's nod. "The headmaster said that you would be leading us to him?"

If the woman was surprised at the sight of a talking and flying cat, she hid it well. If anything, she was more caught off guard by the fact that Naruto seemed to be the leader of the group. But even that surprise was limited to the quirking of a single eyebrow. "Yes, that is correct. I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch."

Glynda was a middle aged woman with light blond hair tied back into a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face, bright green eyes, and ovular glasses. Her outfit was made up of a white long-sleeved top, a black business skirt with buttons going down the front, dark stockings, and black boots with brown heels. Attached at the shoulders was a tattered cape that was purple on the inside and black on the outside. On the back of the cape was a brown tiara above a row of diamonds.

Taking one last moment to scan each of them, Glynda nodded before turning around. "Follow me. I will guide you to him now." Naruto and Kairi shared uneasy looks at being in the presence of such a serious woman while Gray, Natsu, and Happy suffered from some Erza flashbacks. Not wanting to get on the professor's bad side, the off-worlders quickly followed her as she started to walk in the direction that led deeper into the campus.

As they walked, Kairi grew more curious about where exactly they were when she spotted a nearby statue of two warriors along with some sort of strange monster. "Uh, professor?" Kairi asked hesitantly, gaining the blonde woman's attention. "What kind of school is this?"

Glynda blinked at the question before the corners of her lips dipped down minutely into an almost unnoticeable frown. "You don't know?" She inquired. Her eyes flickered over them again, taking everything into account this time. When they landed on Natsu's shoulder, she paused. "Hm…Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised." She mused. "Very well, I will explain as we walk."

Happy and eager to hear an explanation, Kairi stepped closer to her. "Okay."

"You are currently walking down what is known as the main avenue of Beacon Academy, the Kingdom of Vale's premier huntsman and huntress training institution. In fact, it is widely accepted as one of the top institutions in the entire world." Naruto noted the undercurrent of pride in the professor's tone. "It was founded eighty years ago following the Great War." She gestured to the statue. "Its purpose is to train huntsmen and huntresses in order to better prepare them for combat against the creatures of Grimm."

'Creatures of Grimm?' Naruto wondered to himself as he eyed the stone monster. 'It doesn't look especially like a heartless…and I can't see any emblem on it…But that doesn't mean that it isn't a heartless.' Then again, it could also be something unique to this world. Until he learned more, he couldn't make any conclusions.

"Here at Beacon," Glynda continued. "students are divided up into teams of four. These teams will spend the next four years together. From training to studying, they will work together as a team in everything they do." Naruto couldn't help but compare this to the genin teams back in the Elemental Nations.

Noticing something specific about many of the people around them, Gray decided to speak up. "What's the required age for entering the academy as a student?"

"As with other secondary combat schools, students enter their first year at the age of seventeen and then graduate at the age of twenty-one."

"I see…"

"Yes, well...While it is true that seventeen is the normal age at which students are accepted, it is by no means a requirement for entry." Glynda said. "Every so often, there are exceptionally skilled individuals who display talent above the others of their age group. When this happens, a member of the faculty may choose to petition to the headmaster to allow this individual to enroll early, if said individual so happens to express a desire to do so."

"How often does that happen?" Kairi asked.

"Not too often, admittedly. However, we did have such a case happen at the beginning of this year."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Really? What happened?" He noticed Glynda adopt a minutely pinched expression at the thought.

"There was a dust robbery that took place in the city, but a fifteen year old girl stepped in and…stalled for time until I was able to arrive and handle the situation." She explained, not noticing their confusion at the unfamiliar term.

"So she impressed you enough for you to sponsor her?"

A sigh escaped the professor, slightly confusing the others. "No…I wanted to admonish her on her reckless behavior, but the headmaster decided that it would be better to reward her with a plate of cookies and a chance to enroll."

Natsu chuckled at this. "Sounds like I'm gonna like this guy."

"Quite." Glynda cleared her face of all weariness the subject brought her and continued. "Regardless of any prior hesitation I held, Miss Rose has proved that she belongs here. She has a good mind for teamwork and is one of our more powerful students." She paused before continuing under her breath. "Now if only she could apply herself more in her studies and showing restraint, she would be an exemplar-"

"Ohmygoshit'syou!"

"Huh?" That was all the warning Naruto got before a blur of red entered his vision and a girl appeared in a burst of rose petals. "Whoa!"

He made to jump back, but before he could, the girl grabbed his hands and held them tightly. As if that wasn't surprising enough, then the unexpected rush of warmth he felt flowing into him was. "You're the one I felt coming!" The girl gushed, leaning closer to him. "You're the one from the sky!"

"…Huh?" Naruto repeated, completely bewildered by what was happening.

"I can still feel it now! And it's even stronger than before!" She continued, completely unaware of their confusion. "How are you doing tha-"

"Miss Rose!" The girl flinched upon hearing Glynda's harsh reprimand. "Control yourself! You are not acting in a befitting for a member of this school. In front of our guests, no less!"

'Miss Rose' laughed weakly and ducked her head. "Sorry, professor…"

Deciding to try again, Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh…"

This served as enough to get the girl's attention, making her look back up at him, and allowing Naruto to note the unique color of her eyes. Finally noticing just how close they were, along with the fact that she was holding onto his hands, her face colored red and she jumped back. "Sorry!" She blurted.

Now that he had a little room to breathe, Naruto took a better look at her. The first thing he noticed about her besides her eyes was that unlike everyone else he had seen here, who were all in their late teens at the youngest, she was only a couple of years older than him. He also couldn't help but note that her hair started as black but then went on to transition into red as it reached the tips, similar to his.

She was wearing a black long sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves and skirt and a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces that had more red trim around the top, along with red soles. Her outfit was topped by a red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders by cross-shaped pins. Completing her outfit was a silver rose emblem that pinned her belt and…

'Are those…bullets?' Naruto wondered, before he was pulled from his thoughts.

"I'm really sorry about that! I didn't mean to surprise you like that! It's just that I felt you coming from all the back by the dorms and I just knew I had to find you. It was really weird, you know? One minute I was talking to my friends and the next I felt this weird surge in me, and I can feel that it's coming from you. Ah! But I'm not calling you weird or anything! No, just the feeling you gave me! Oh, but that sounds even weirder, doesn't it?! But still, this feeling is incredible! And-and like I told Weiss, it feels warm and cold-oh! It's also loud, raging, but still kinda calm. And I-"

'She can sense my light and darkness?' Naruto guessed to himself as he attempted to decipher what exactly the girl was talking about.

Eventually, she spotted the expression he must have been making, along with the way that Glynda was rubbing her eyes, because she flushed even more in embarrassment. Shuffling her foot awkwardly, she offered a shy smile. "Um…I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." She greeted.

Naruto waited a moment to see if she would start up again, but when she didn't, he smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Naruto." While their meeting like this was unexpected, he had to admit that it was somewhat amusing.

Weird, but still amusing.

Kairi grinned at the other redhead. "I'm Kairi." She gestured over to the Fairy Tail mages, who were still recovering from the whirlwind. "Those three are Gray, Happy, and Natsu."

Hearing their names, Ruby gasped and her silver eyes locked onto them. "Wait, really?" She asked, confusing them. "Your names are Gray, Happy, and Natsu?!" A wide smile broke across her face as her excitement returned. "That's great! I'm so glad you guys are here. It's so good to finally meet you."

"Huh?" While it was fun at first for him to watch Naruto get blindsided by the excitable girl, it wasn't as fun when he was the one receiving the brunt of it. "What does that mean? We haven't met before."

"Well, no. But I've heard a bunch of stories about you." Ruby said.

Happy floated over to her, tilting his head in confusion. "From who?"

"Oh my gosh, you really do talk and fly!" Naruto could tell that she was about to get sidetracked again, but she thankfully seemed to catch herself in time. "Focus, Ruby! Prove Weiss wrong." She muttered before turning her attention back to the Exceed. "I heard about you from-"

"Ruby!" A different voice called out, grabbing her attention.

Blinking, Ruby turned towards the source. "Huh? Oh, hey Yang!" She smiled, waving her arm as a blonde girl ran up to them, another group of girls close behind. "What took you guys so long? It wasn't that far."

Ignoring her sister's question, Yang frowned first at her and then at the boy that she judged to be too close to her. "Forget it. Who's this? They the ones who made you run off like that?" She asked as the others caught up.

"Yang, don't be rude." Ruby chided. "This is Naruto, Kairi-"

"Natsu! Gray! Happy!" Naruto's eyes were drawn to the other blonde of the group as he wondered how she knew them.

Although, he could probably take a guess based on the pink symbol on the back of her hand as it flew up to cover her mouth in shock.

"LUCY!" Happy and Natsu shouted before the dragon slayer engulfed her in a hug. Although he lifted her off the ground, the girl didn't seem to mind as she laughed and returned the hug.

'So this is Lucy.' Naruto realized. She had been referenced a couple of times and there had been more than one occasion when he felt like he could sympathize with her based solely on the fact that she had to put up with the Fairy Tail members in the past.

The girl, Lucy, had bright blonde hair that was tied in a single small ponytail on the right side of her hair and brown eyes. She was wearing what Naruto guessed to be the academy's student uniform made up of a red plaid skirt, stockings, and a dark brown jacket with a white shirt. Although, Naruto's eyes were drawn to the keyring she had attached to her hip.

"Hey, pal. Back off!" The other blonde's eyes flashed from lilac to red as she said this, making Naruto stiffen momentarily before he calmed himself upon not feeling any chakra in the air. She reached over to grab Natsu and yank him off of her friend, but Lucy held out a hand.

"It's fine, Yang. I know them!" Lucy's grin stretched even further. "They're friends from home." She said in way of explanation. She waited for Natsu to put her down before pulling Gray into a hug as well. "I missed you guys so much."

Gray patted her on the back somewhat awkwardly, slightly unused to such displays of emotion. "Yeah, it's good to see you again. Glad you're safe." Once she let the ice mage go, Lucy's attention turned to the smallest member of the group.

"Oh, Happy!" She reached out and plucked him out of the air. "I'm so happy you guys are here."

"Aye! I never thought I would actually be happy to see you again, Lucy. But here we are!"

'Wow, that was fast.' In all of the time it took to blink once, the happy expression cleared from Lucy's face and a fist crashed down on the cat's head.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

Releasing the Exceed, Lucy crossed her arms. "You know exactly what it's for, you stupid furball. I take back every nice thought about you I had since we last saw each other." She huffed.

"So mean! You're just like Naruto!" Said shinobi twitched at this.

"Is that cat flying?" The black haired girl's eyes were tracking Happy's every movement in great interest.

"And…is it flying while…talking?" However, unlike the black haired girl, the girl with white hair seemed less interested and more reluctant to acknowledge the reality of just what she was looking at.

Blinking, Lucy seemed to remember the other people there only then. "Oh, right. Sorry about that." She stepped to the side and gestured back to the group she had come with. "Let me introduce you guys to the friends I've made since coming here. This is Weiss,"

"It's a…pleasure."

Similar to Lucy, Weiss appeared to be approaching the end of her teenage years. She had long white hair pulled back into an off-center center ponytail, ice blue eyes, and a pale complexion. Unlike Lucy, she seemed to be wearing her personal outfit as opposed to the school's uniform.

'That's…a lot of white.' Naruto couldn't help but notice, taking in the fact that most of her outfit was following a specific color scheme, from her bolero jacket to her boots.

"Blake." The black haired girl nodded in greeting, scanning over them with her eyes until she stopped on Naruto's cheeks.

Like Ruby, Weiss, and the blonde girl, Blake appeared to wear an outfit that followed a specific color scheme. She had long, wavy black hair, and her eyes were amber in color. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails, a white sleeveless undershirt that exposed her midriff, and white shorts that had zippers on the front of each leg. Her shorts went just far enough to meet her black stockings, which in turn led to her black low-heeled boots. Both of her arms had black ribbons on them, but only the left arm had a detached sleeve. Completing her outfit was a black scarf around her neck and a black bow on her head.

"And finally, this i-Yang!"

"Hey there!" The blonde girl, Yang, grinned as she threw an arm around Lucy, cutting her introduction off. Yang was a girl with long blond hair, pale skin, and lilac eyes. She was wearing a tan vest with puffy cap sleeves black cuffs and an orange infinity scarf. Under this, she had on a low-cut crop top with a black crest that resembled a flaming heart. On both of her hands were fingerless black gloves and strange yellow bracelets. "So…" Her eyes turned playful as she noted the still somewhat close proximity Ruby was standing to Naruto. "You like your guys even younger than you, sis? Huh, never would have figured you for the type. Is your prince here the reason you ran off earlier? You could feel in your heart that he was close? Careful though, even if you are still fifteen, I think his age makes this still be cradle robbing."

"Yaaaaaang!" Ruby whined, blushing once more as she attempted to hide herself in her hood. Immediately she took a step away from Naruto, but the damage was done. She knew that Yang wouldn't let this one go for a while.

Managing to fight off a blush much more successfully than Ruby while wondering exactly how young she thought he was, Naruto cleared his throat. "Uh, no…She just met us on our way to the headmaster." This admission made the five of them blink.

"The headmaster?" Weiss repeated. "Why are you on your way to see him? Are you visitors from another school and have only now arrived in Vale?" She glanced at Naruto. "Although…Perhaps not, considering your age…" She said quietly.

'I hope that's not a recurring thing.' Out of the limited amount of people he had come into contact with in this world, three of them had already made comments about his age.

"Oh, cutting it kinda close, aren't you? You almost missed the tournament!" Yang teased.

Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing this, knowing what Natsu's reaction would be. Already, he could feel the air start to heat up. He was about to open his mouth in order to deter him, but he never got the chance to.

"Ahem." The voice in question made all five of the newcomers stiffen. As one, they all turned to the side, only to be greeted with the sight of a severely unamused Glynda Goodwitch. Naruto watched, impressed, as the woman needed nothing more in order to ensure that all of them quieted down. "If the five of you are quite done…" They nodded in unison, not daring to open their mouths. "Then I may continue with bringing our guests to the headmaster. As I was supposed to do several minutes ago."

Ruby nervously. "Sorry about that, professor…We didn't mean to disrupt you or anything." The other members of her team nodded quickly. "If it's all the same, then we'll accompany you-"

"No."

"But why?!" Ruby whined. She wanted to keep talking with them! Any friend of Lucy's was a friend of team RWBY!

Glynda was unimpressed with her tone, and showed as much by narrowing her eyes, making Ruby break out into a cold sweat and attempt to inch behind her sister for protection from the glare. But while there was a lot Yang was willing to do for her sister, facing an irate Glynda Goodwitch was not one of them, so she took a step away from the younger girl.

"Because, if I remember correctly, Team RWBY's match is one of the earlier ones today. This means that you will need to report to the battlegrounds earlier. And while I doubt that this meeting will run through into the afternoon, I don't doubt that your team will be at the very least called to report to the battlegrounds before then."

"But…" Ruby tried again, only to be meet with an even more stern look from the professor. "Aww. Okay…" Her teammates sent her odd looks, not understanding why she wanted to go with them so badly when less than an hour ago she was rushing them to hurry up so she could go explore the festival.

Nodding in satisfaction, Glynda was about to turn back to the off-worlders but her attention was caught before she could. "Uh, professor?" Lucy began, drawing all eyes to her. "Would it be alright if I went with you guys?" Spotting the quirked eyebrow, she smiled weakly. "It's just that I haven't seen my friends in so long. And since I'm not a part of team RWBY, I don't have to report anywhere…"

"But you are a part of the team!" Yang protested. "I'm telling you we need to petition to change it to R-H-W-B-Y. The H is silent!"

"Not a part of the official team, then." Lucy allowed, smiling at the other blonde's insistence that she be included. "Plus, why would only my letter be my last name? I'm not like Ren. I don't go by Heartfilia. Either way, I'm not fighting with you guys in the tournament, so I don't need to be there at the same time you do."

Ruby seemed to be saddened when she heard this. "So you're not going to come cheer us on?"

"Of course I am." Lucy rolled her eyes. "You couldn't stop me from doing that. But…" She glanced back at the Fairy Tail mages, cluing them in.

"It's been a while since you've seen your friends and you want to spend time with them." Black reasoned, repeating what Lucy had said.

"Exactly."

Hearing this, Glynda granted herself a small sigh of resignation. "Very well. You may accompany us." She allowed, bringing a large smile to Lucy's face.

"Thank you professor!" She quickly turned back to team RWBY and raised a fist in a mock threatening gesture. "I won't go with you guys when you check in, but I'll definitely watch your match. So you better kick some butt!"

"Hmph." Weiss's lips quirked into a small smirk. "As if we would do any less."

Nodding again, the professor turned to lead them deeper into the school, but paused. "I wish you the best of luck, girls. I trust that you will show everyone the rewards of all your hard work. I know you will do well."

RWBY gaped at their professor for a moment before visibly pulling themselves together. "You know it." Yang laughed. "We'll catch you guys later!" With that, the four of them left in the direction of the transports.

"Now then, if there are no more interruptions…" Glynda gestured for them to follow. "Unfortunately, as brief as it was, that interaction made us even later to our appointment. If you would please follow me, then I will take you to the headmaster now."

Following the professor, Naruto noted that they were coming across fewer and fewer people. "Do most of the people around here go to the festival?"

"That is correct." Glynda confirmed. "While most people attend the matches, those that do not still visit the fairgrounds. I'm sure that you will be able to do so as well over the course of the next few days."

"I'll show you guys around!" Lucy volunteered eagerly. "You're gonna love it. Just the lead up to this was bigger than the Harvest Festival back in Magnolia."

Gray hummed in interest at this. "Sounds like a blast. But more importantly, Lucy…" He began.

"Are you okay?" Natsu finished, surprising Naruto and Kairi at such a rare display of the two normally opposing mages thinking on the same wavelength.

Hearing the question and the concern in their voices, Lucy gave them a small smile. "I'm fine, you guys. I was pretty lost and even scared at first, but…" Her smile grew as she spoke. "I've made some good friends here. They've helped me settle in. And the headmaster was nice enough to set me up as a student here, even without attending a primary combat school."

"Miss Heartfilia has been a fantastic addition to the student body." Glynda complimented. "She may not have all of the normal skills that our students come enter the academy with, but she is hardly the first student we've received where this is the case. Furthermore, her lessons with the headmaster have helped her improve even more."

"Lessons with the headmaster?" Naruto asked.

Nodding, Lucy pointed to the tower that they were walking toward. "I report there every other day after my normal lessons. This is usually the time when the teams do training exercises. But because I'm not part of any team…" She shrugged. "I use the time for that instead."

"What kind of lessons?"

Instead of answering, Lucy gave the ice mage a smirk. "Heh, I think I'll keep the answer to that a secret just a little bit longer~" She teased, only to laugh as Natsu and Happy started to whine at her. "Nope! But let me tell you, you're gonna be shocked!"

"Like always, Lucy is being mean. Why couldn't you have grown a conscience since the last time we saw you?"

"What the heck is that supposed to mean, you stupid cat?!"

Naruto sighed as the two of them continued to bicker. 'I'm relating to her more and more with each passing moment.' His train of thought was stopped when they walked up to the giant tower that they had spotted even before they landed.

As if sensing his curiosity, Glynda spoke up. "This is Beacon Tower, our destination. Located at the top of the tower, just below the clockwork mechanisms, is the headmaster's office." She led them inside to the elevator. "Unfortunately, this is as far as I go with you. I left my work incomplete in order to bring you here and I intend to get back to it before more of it piles up. Have a pleasant day." Not waiting for a response, Glynda walked off.

"Is she always so…" Kairi trailed off, not sure what to say and reluctant to offend anyone.

"Curt?" Lucy offered a weak smile. "Kind of. She's pretty well known among the student's as the no-nonsense professor." She shivered. "To be honest, she reminds me of Erza sometimes." The blond muttered as they stepped into the elevator.

Natsu's eyes lit up and the reminder. "Oh, we saw Erza!"

"Really?!" Lucy gasped. "When? Where?"

"We met up with her in a world called Olympus Colosseum." Gray told her. "She's doing well there. Even has a bit of a fan base that attend her fights."

"That's good to hear…Anyone else?"

Happy floated over to her and dropped onto her head. "Aye. We also saw Carla and Wendy in Traverse Town."

"And are they doing okay too?"

Gray smirked at her. "Wendy may be one of the younger members of the guild, but she can hold her own. She's working with a group there who help people who arrive there because their world was consumed by darkness." He blinked. "Oh, that means-"

"I know about light and darkness already." Lucy interjected.

"You do?" Naruto titled his head slightly. "Is that what you've been learning about from the headmaster?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, among other things. Light, darkness, hearts, heartless…The works, really."

"So who exactly is this guy?" Natsu frowned. "We still don't know anything about him."

The blonde was about to respond, but paused as a ding resounded throughout the elevator. "Well, you're about to find out. We're here." Before anything else could be said, the doors slid back open, revealing a large room. After doing a quick scan of the room and taking in the various cogs rotating both in the ceiling and in the walls, Naruto's eyes were drawn to the man behind the desk in front of them.

Sitting there was a middle aged man with tousled grey hair and thin brown eyes behind shaded glasses. His outfit consisted of a dark green scarf with a purple cross emblem, a black suit worn over a buttoned vest and green undershirt, and dark green pants. Leaning next to him against the desk looked to be a cane.

The man's expression was partially hidden by the way his hands were steepled in front of his face. However, this did not hide the way that his eyes roved over them as they approached. Starting from Lucy and ending on Naruto, he seemed to catch even the slightest movement, although Naruto didn't miss the way that his eyes lingered on Kairi for a moment longer than the others.

Feeling the sudden tension in the air, the off-worlders had to resist fidgeting under the man's stare.

After what felt like several minutes, he spoke. "Hello. I am Professor Ozpin. I would like to welcome you to Beacon Academy." He greeted apathetically.

Suddenly somewhat apprehensive, Naruto slowly nodded. "Thanks…"

"May I assume that you're journey here went well?"

"A little long, but couldn't really complain." Gray answered this time, also tense.

"Good, good." The man, Ozpin, nodded. "Now then, onto business." He did one last sweep of them, but again finished by staring at Naruto. "I will be frank with you, and I hope that you will be frank with me. As I am sure you are aware, but this world is…much closer to darkness than most others. This has been the case for several millennia. I'm sure you can imagine what that means for the life here." He stood up, grabbing his cane as he did, and walked over to the window behind him, staring out to the city in the distance. "Remnant is not the safest place to live, but its inhabitants still do their best."

"..."

"...But sometimes, their best is simply not enough."

With seemingly nothing more than a gesture, a holographic screen popped up on his desk, displaying the image of the monster that they saw in the statue outside. But this time, it was an actual living being.

"What…What the hell is that thing?" Natsu whispered.

"What you see is what is known as a Creature of Grimm. A Beowolf, specifically. Think of them as…the cousin to the normal heartless." Ozpin answered, still not turning around to face them. "The darkness in this world is so strong that the heartless grew stronger with it. The Grimm were the result. Regardless, humanity has persevered. They rose to the challenge and survived." Naruto spotted his grip on the cane tightened. "…Often at great cost."

"…Where are you going with this?" Naruto asked. He was aware of why this could be things that would interest them, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something else at play.

"Where, you ask? Hm, well the answer is simple." Ozpin slowly turned around locked eyes with Naruto. "I have lived for a long time. I have met more than my fair share of people." Ever so slowly, he began to walk around the desk. "Some of those people did come from other worlds, such as Miss Heartfilia here, along with yourselves." Only when he reached the side of his desk did Naruto finally notice that the air seemed to be getting thicker, reminding him of the few times when he was exposed to exceptionally powerful chakra. "I've even met more than a few Keyblade wielders such as yourself."

Naruto's eyes widened as Lucy let out a small gasp.

"Now, like I said, I've lived a long time…And in that time, I've traveled. Both around Remnant and even to other worlds." The closer he got, the heavier the air felt. "I am not being arrogant when I say that I've been to more worlds than you probably ever will. I have made many allies in my travels. Some of those allies I am honored to count among my friends. I cherish them dearly."

There was a long pause.

"However." Suddenly, an invisible weight was pressing down on them, nearly forcing them to their knees. Gritting his teeth, Naruto summoned his Keyblade as he prepared himself for a fight. "In my battle against the dark, I have also made many enemies. And I have sworn to protect this world and its people against them."

"H…Headmaster…?" Lucy tried to raise her voice in protest, but couldn't manage to get it above a whisper.

"Imagine my surprise when I detect the presence of an unfamiliar Keyblade wielder enter the world. With someone who appears to lack a heart, no less. While I am not foolish enough to claim that I know every single Keyblade wielder out there, this one was…different." The man said, still drawing closer, even as they backed away from him. "While his light shined bright, his darkness also threatened to consume all. While this would not normally strictly be cause for concern, the fact that this wielder displayed such control over their darkness was. I know that no Keyblade master would train their apprentice so thoroughly in darkness to such a level. Not only that, but it would also take someone who was intimately familiar in darkness to train such an apprentice." He finally stopped, staring Naruto down as the Keyblade wielder in question glared back. "So that leaves two important questions…" Suddenly, Ozpin's cane was enveloped in light, and a new form took its place.

"A…A Keyblade…?" Naruto muttered in shock.

Gripped in Ozpin's hand was a dark Keyblade with a black handle and rectangular, violet guard that transitioned to pale yellow towards the bottom. The shaft of the Keyblade was wide, dark silver, and had concave, black edges. The tip of the Keyblade was flat, but the teeth were made into thee short, flat-tipped spikes. There was a black diamond at the base of the blade, and a thin, vertical line going down the length of the blade.

"Tell me…Who are you and what is your purpose for being here?"

There we go! All done with Chapter 53!

There's a reason that Ruby was able to sense Naruto coming. I'll get into it next chapter.

You may think that Ozpin's reaction is a bit harsh, but I like the idea of him reacting like that. I'm also going to try tying the Kingdom Hearts lore and the RWBY lore into one another. Meaning I would appreciate it if you would wait for me to at least give the attempt in full before you spout shit at me about how I'm wrong.

Don't review just to ask me about Embers of a Shinobi, please. Honestly speaking, I don't like that story. It's low quality in both story and writing. Not saying that this one is any better, but I have a higher tolerance for it here.

I'm gonna be doing more edits of old chapters that bother me. Nothing will change plot wise, but there are a lot of parts that I hate the fact that I used to think were a good idea.

As always, next chapter comes out when it comes out.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!

Until next time,

Kog6943