Oh man. My gosh this delay. Apologies to the lot of you waiting for this. Job hunting took priority instead of Fanfiction. But hey, better late than never, right? So here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: first chapter

Chapter 40: A Simple Trigger

"Good evening, Headmaster."

"And a good evening to you as well, young man." The Headmaster stood up, and moved away the papers off to the side of his desk. "How may I be of service to you this evening?" He asked as he shuffled his work neatly. "I don't suppose you're here for something small if you've come to me."

"I must ask. Have you ever read the Tome of Beginning?"

Ozpin nodded. "I have. And I am the owner of two copies of it."

"Two?" Ren questioned. "Impossible. There should only be one per child as was the given rule by the ancestors."

"It…it was my brother's. On his deathbed, he requested for me to have it since…he had no child to give it to." He admitted hesitantly. "I keep a copy in my desk, the other, in the library you and your friends use." He fixed the position of his spectacles on the bridge of his nose and leaned forward on his desk. "Since you asked about the Tome, am I right to assume that you're here in question of the one who bears the Hero's name?" The cryptic question wasn't lost to the young man; he stepped forward with unease showing in his slightly shaky posture.

"Have you seen the news lately, Headmaster?" The young man asked.

The response was swift. "Of course, young Ren. I'd be an ignorant fool not to see it. That and it would be irresponsible for a man of my standing to not keep up with current events." A small chuckle escaped the man's mouth. He finished organizing his papers, and properly looked at the student. "Regarding the news…what do you make of it?" He asked while his left hand pressed a button the opened a panel on top of the desk to reveal a large book. "I'd like to hear your interpretation as a fellow individual tied to the Tome."

Ren shuffled backwards uneasily. "He's slowly unraveling himself. That is not a good sign, Headmaster." A bead of sweat ran down his temples. "I…I fear my mother's words were right; that it's true down to the last detail. And that the elegy is not merely a piece of fiction, but rather a promise." He confessed. "He's shown aspects of the Hero. Not in personality, but rather in his martial aspects. At first I thought it was merely a tale of false hope. But seeing events unfolded in these circumstances…" He trailed off, fully aware that the Headmaster observed the changes in the janitor. "First was the evolution of his fighting style. It's been refined, but still brutish. Next, the infamous Rasengan the Hero utilized, is now in the form of an Aura technique. And according to Blake Belladonna of team RWBY, he might have displayed the skill to imitate his old friends' moves. Last Sunday, the Nine-Tails' cloak emerged along with the Lunar eclipse. The raw power exuded…I fear that's merely a fraction of it. That and the reemergence of his King persona…" He gulped. "I fear he is a reincarnation as Blake surmised."

Ozpin nodded as he crossed his arms. "Indeed, he's unraveling himself." Ozpin was calm when he said that. "I've observed the same incidents and have hypothesized the same. By what we see outwardly, he displays the physical features of the Hero. But…"

"But?"

"We have yet to see him bear the Hero's mentality." Ozpin explained. "As far as I am concerned…our janitor is not the Hero we revere and fear at the same time. He is not Naruto, the Hero. He merely has the strength -a fraction of it. The mind is another matter."

"And what of Sunday's incident? What of last night's incident? Is that not a sign of the return of a dangerous part of his mentality? One of ruthlessness to those that invoked his wrath?" Ren asked the Headmaster. His words dripped with fearful concern. "We both know how rage affects the Hero! The two incidents caused a rise in Naruto's rage, and thus displayed power expected of the Hero."

"Indeed that happened." Ozpin agreed. "But I cannot say for sure that the young man is-"

Ren stomped his way to the Headmaster's desk to slam his palms on it. "He's getting stronger with every fight, Headmaster! Faster, wiser, trickier, better than the previous fight. You may not take caution now, but sooner or later, the memories will come. What then?" Ren challenged boldly. It was only because he and Ozpin knew the potential Naruto's potential, that he dared to disrespect his elder. "You want to wait, I presume? It'll be too late by then."

"His current memories will restrain him from acting too rashly." Ozpin said.

"Are you sure?" Ren questioned. "Because I am not. Not when I saw that destruction from afar, and still felt the chaotic presence he exuded."

"And on the other hand, I myself am positive, young man." Ozpin replied.

Red's eyes narrowed to a suspicious squint. "May I ask why you are sure? How are you this confident in him?"

Ozpin sat down on his desk. "Because he has his friends." He replied confidently.

Ren flinched. Friends. The word the Hero valued. Ren took a deep breath. He now saw the thought process of the Headmaster. The Headmaster thought that no matter how lost the Hero's reincarnation, the thought of his friends will return him to normal. Ren stepped back, away from the Headmaster and his desk. Ren shook his head as he said, "Very well, Headmaster. But know this, there will come a time…that you will need to do something."

"I'm well aware." Ozpin answered softly. "I've lived long enough. Made choices both good and bad. Bountiful and terrible." He sighed. "I'm no stranger to choices."

"Even so…take heed from the words of one relative to another." Ren spoke calmly, his composure more relaxed than moments before. Ren spoke from the heart, where an anchored memory lay hidden. He said, "Sometimes the worst action to take, is taking no action at all." He bowed to the Headmaster, and left his office without another word.

Ozpin sat back on his chair, and eyed his copy of the Tome. He whispered, "Only a matter of time…"

A matter of time.

Ozpin recounted the personas Naruto the janitor wore.

The most glaring, the Beast. The next, the King. These two were alarming. The former showed no care for the surroundings. The latter was known to cleave into the earth to stop the spread of negativity. Calamities caused by an individual. But there was one other persona that Ozpin feared.

The persona of the Hero himself.

The Beast contained the mindless power and destruction. The King contained the conscience and the experience. Either one was dangerous in their own right. Either one beckoned the presence of the Creatures of Grimm.

The Hero however was the worst offender. He had both the power and the conscience. But he was a willful man too stubborn in his ways. Ever straightforward. Never straying. Because of it, he beckoned all of the Grimm to him with his anger, frustration, and wanton bloodlust for the creatures' corruption of his only friends. That plethora of negative emotions, one that started off as a spark became a raging inferno that translated into a massacre worth millions of Grimm with little to no progress in their extinction.

Ozpin wanted the Hero to return. But not in the circumstances portrayed in the Tome. The Hero was as destructive as those he fought against. He was a calamity in his own right. And if the forces that conspire to destroy or uproot the peace this world were to strike a nerve just right, there might be…

A Calamity Trigger.

"…You're saying Naruto's the reincarnation of the Hero?" Jaune asked to make sure what he heard was correct.

"That's the theory." Ruby said to clarify. The little sister looked to her sibling. "Yang…you and Weiss have anything to say about this?" The question wasn't answered immediately. The one who bore the silver eyes carefully watched her teammate and sister take glances at each other for a few moments.

Weiss sighed before she gave everyone a confident and calm look. She said, "We think that Blake's theory has merit." The answer shocked everyone, especially Blake. The room went wild in a controlled uproar. Weiss easily silenced them. "We understand you sound surprised. I've heard that Yang vehemently denied the theory." Weiss cleared her throat. "But Yang and I have seen things." Her eyes scanned the facial expressions on all of the people currently in the room. "It's safe to say that Yang told Pyrrha since she's being rather quiet about this." The attention was directed at Pyrrha almost immediately. Pyrrha did her best not to look so startled, but synchronized stares were a bit much for her. Weiss continued. "But regarding our current position on Blake's theory, it's all thanks to what happened last night."

Curious, Ruby asked, "Was it about the Dust thing that Yang mentioned at the table?"

"Yes, Ruby." Weiss answered. "The particulars are confusing, so I'll simplify it as best as I can." She took a deep breath as if to prepare herself for a backlash due to her next choice of words. "Naruto…purged Dust from his body." Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw movements, and put her hand up to signal that she wasn't done. "That Dust wasn't anything like the Dust we use everyday of our lives. This one was raw power. Not even a single elemental affinity to go along with it. But the fact remained that when Yang and I activated that Dust, we were blown away."

Ren spoke up. "But there's more to it than that. Something happened in the short duration in between activating and releasing the power of that Dust." Ren said it more as a statement rather than a question.

"We saw memories." Weiss bluntly put it.

"Memories? Are you sure that's what you saw?" Blake stood up, and ran in front of Weiss. She grabbed her teammate's shoulders. "How can you be sure?!"

Weiss calmly placed her hands above Blake's. "The first few memories…told us that he was at death's door, leaving a family behind." Blake stepped back. The others were left silent. "Now I'm sure Naruto is old enough to start a family, but it's not really…encouraged. It's also not encouraged to have multiple partners to be wives." The silence remained. "The next set was that of him facing armies. Five whole sets of armies." She adjusted her seating position on her bed before continuing. "I did some research, and found that event wasn't made up; the event was known as 'The Divide'. I'll make it short: 'The Divide' was a one-sided massacre done by the first and only King of Vale -meant to stop five Kingdoms from desecrating his lands with Grimm and perpetual cycle of death and misery."

Nora took her chance to interrupt. Loudly. "You mean to say Naruto was a King?! And he was a juggernaut? That's fantastic! Next time I see him" Ren held her right shoulder, and plopped her down to sit on the bed once more. He looked at his partner and friend with a knowing stare. She returned that stare with a small nod.

Blake was the one of team RWBY that read the farthest into the Tome of Beginning. But she had yet to read further past the betrayal of the Uchiha. Ren and Nora finished the Tome as children; they knew the Hero never left Humanity alone after he made Dust. He took on other lives. He took on the role of a King. He took on the role of the Wizard in the story of the Four Seasons.

Vale's King. Wizard. One man apocalypse. He was that and more.

A stray memory lingered in Ren's mind. "Mama? Did the Hero do all the things that were written in the Tome?"

"Yes, dear. He did all those things. If he didn't, he wouldn't be called the 'Hero' for nothing, right?"

"But…he did a lot of terrible things."

"He hurt the earth. He killed many people. But it was for the benefit of everyone else. I'm sure that when the time comes, he will do it again to save the people he cares about."

"Then…will the Hero really come back?"

"He will. The Hero always fulfilled his promises. And the last page was a promise."

Ren's posture became less rigid upon remembering his mother and about the Hero. Hearing Weiss talk about the King of Vale interested him. To hear their perspective was a fresh experience. The Tome spoke about his time as King. Though that piece…and a few others were left hidden away from the public eye.

It would be a conundrum if the whole world knew the fact that some of the world's important events and stories were done by one pseudo-immortal.

It was secret only of the Hero's blood -of the Observer's blood- and for the trusted few were fit to know until others solved the puzzle that was the Hero. Nora was one of the lucky few to be trusted with the information.

To the rest, the sections were written in an unrecognizable language. And no one dared to translate for those curious to the contents.

So…In order to find out what else Weiss and Yang knew, Ren needed to spur them on. "…I hardly see how this is connected to Blake's theory." Ren spoke calmly. "It doesn't link it to him." He wanted to believe Weiss and Yang. They were at the cusp of finding the truth. Most of what was said just now…was about the life the Hero lived after the cataclysm. They were so close. Heck, he wanted to tell Blake's ideas weren't garbage the moment she connected the dots -even if they were coincidental. But he needed concrete evidence, not coincidental nor circumstantial ones.

"I agree with Ren." Jaune spoke. "Get to the point." He said as neutral as possible. "It's not helping Blake's position on the matter."

Yang did her best to quell her rising temper. "Look!" She said in a mildly harsh tone. "You want a link? Weiss saw Naruto absorb Dust into his body like water and salt mixed in. Then he appeared to change his attire and personality into someone else's: the King she mentioned!"

Jaune looked suspicious. "When did this happen? What caused him to need to absorb Dust?"

Weiss responded, "Yesterday, Naruto's best friends and another individual came to his room. I myself don't know what happened, but what I did see was that unknown individual pinned to the wall by Naruto, who held her by the throat. He almost tried to burn her to a crisp, but instead chucked her out the window." She paused. "Jaune…did you take notice to the condition of the Hospital equipment?"

Jaune crossed his arms. "You mean when the nurses said that some of the lights in some floors and other medical equipment seemingly lost power?" His eyes narrowed as he understood the link. "Naruto was the cause of that?"

Weiss took charge of the conversation. "I'm not exaggerating about this. Naruto's Aura appeared to resonate with the Dust he absorbed, and became cloth-like around him." Weiss grabbed a book behind her, the one Dr. Oobleck gave her to continue her search for answers. She turned the first few pages, and found a colored picture of an ancient painting of the King. She stood up from her seat on her bed to show the others. They crowded around the book.

"Ooh!" Nora awed at the picture. "Look at all that bright yellow-orange! Knight of the Sun indeed!" She grinned from ear to ear. "Me impressed. Hey, hey Ren…what do you think? Didn't we see the news last night? Doesn't he look like this guy?"

Ren nodded silently. He recalled the news of last night. This picture certainly alarmed him; Blake was right from the start, and everyone else was catching up to support her theory. His eyes carefully scanning the picture. "Yes. But what caused the incident?" He asked Weiss.

Weiss explained, "Naruto, for whatever reason, was angered by the unknown individual's presence. But what I could make out from his shouts that the individual did something terrible to someone he cared for."

"And that is…?" Ren questioned.

Weiss slowly looked at Yang. Inwardly, she feared her teammate's reaction to this; she never told Yang what she heard about the incident. She only told Yang that Naruto went ballistic and that she saw him absorb Dust. She gulped. "I heard Naruto shout, 'What did you do to Fall? What did you do to my…wife's soul?'"

Nothing was said for the first couple of minutes.

Weiss for sure thought that everyone shut down for a moment. Yang especially. So she uneasily said, "I-I understand if any of you are alarmed by what he said, but make no mistake something was off about him that time." She retrieved the book and let everyone process what she said.

Who spoke next surprised everyone. "So yeah, you hear that?" Yang asked. "There's something going on. Something off about him!" Yang fought back tears that welled up in her eyes. Her heart nearly broke; just when she had Naruto back, this was dumped on her. She knew more than she wanted. "That revenge-driven anger is not him… That woman he mentioned…has to be someone from a past life! Last night, we saw Dust get purged out of his body like it was a parasite that needed to get out of his system." She drove a fist to her knee. "I ask again, you want a link? That very Dust showed memories. Memories dammit! How can you be so dense to not understand the implications?!" Her eyes flared red as she stared at the reluctant naysayers. "If what Weiss said wasn't enough…then what about one of the last things we saw!"

"Yang…"

"NO!" She shouted as she stood up from her spot on Weiss's bed. "The Legend of the Hero states that he fought them right? That he fought the Nine Legendary Grimm? We saw him fight the so-called Legendary Grimm. From Nine counting down to One. He did that under the light of a bloody, broken moon just like Sunday night! They were flashes, but I- we felt the anguish he felt fighting them. We felt the rage. We felt his desire to save them. So don't go telling that there's no link to the memories. Don't deny us this fact!" Yang shouted a little louder. "You have to see that Naruto is something!"

"And what is that something, Yang?" Ren questioned, full knowing what the answer was.

The question was expected in Yang's perspective. But it hurt Yang nonetheless to admit the answer to that very question. "That Naruto is anything but a simple janitor."

Then came the small tremor and explosion that the whole campus felt.

All eyes turned to the second year building, where they heard the explosion.

Naruto skidded backwards to a stop after a heavy blow to his chest. The impact was surprising. He thought it was about as equal in power to Yang's punches. His eyes refocused to the view of the floor when he saw something move at the top corner of his eyes. That view was suddenly changed to the view of the ceiling. What was a momentary sensation of pain to his chin was moved to his chest as two consecutive blows pushed him back onto the floor rolling.

He clawed the floor, dug the front end of the soles of his shoes into the floor and took the stance of a beast ready to pounce. His eyes burned molten orange as his palms and his feet ignited in that red orange flames. His ears overheard the crackling sounds his flames made to the material that was in the process of burning into a near molten mush underneath him. Just then he heard a whistle of something cutting through the air. Naruto pushed his Aura towards his palms to push himself backwards a tad.

He looked at a sword. A wireframe outline of one. But a sword nonetheless. He heard another whistle, then another. He moved his head a tad to the left, then lowered his profile into a near prone position. Two more swords stabbed the floor just behind him. His eyes looked back to his target, who chucked another one-

But one with the length of a bus and the thickness of a refrigerator.

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto shouted as he charged forward, moving slightly to his right. He marginally evaded the projectile. His left gauntlet acted as a guard as the sword scraped past him. A blast of Aura erupted from his left palm, pushing the projectile away like nothing. The image of the titanic sword dissolved into pixels.

Velvet desired a weapon with a bigger impact, and reached for it with her mind and Aura. Her left arm was in front of her chest in a grasping position while her other arm was outstretched forward. Lines of Dust seeped out of the box behind Velvet and made the necessary silhouette to make the weapon's form. It was an elongated, rectangular form that appeared to have no end to it. But not only that, the frame of the weapon stretched to the back in the form of a cylindrical canister strapped to a stock similar to that of modern guns.

Off in the stands, Team CF(V)Y and a few stragglers watched with awe and fear.

"Hey, hey…Velvet's taking this a bit too seriously." Coco remarked with a bit of concern for her partner and the opponent he partner faced. She had to take her sunglasses off to see she wasn't seeing things. "That's too much, Velv." She looked to her teammates. "Any idea why she's doing this?"

"None." Both young men replied.

"Wonderful…" Coco said blandly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "May that janitor's soul rest in peace."

"You think highly of Atlesian guns, Coco." Yatsuhashi spoke calmly. "Not every firearm they make is a force to be reckoned with."

Coco looked to her titanic teammate. "Look at the heat that's packing!" She shouted. "I don't even know where she got a picture of that!"

"It matters not." The rest of CFVY looked to Fox. Fox, who crossed his arms while watching the battle, said, "The janitor looks like he hasn't wasted no less than ten percent of his Aura according to the system." He laughed inwardly. "Compare that to Velvet's fourth of Aura lost, the janitor has more to offer if he decides to do something about Velvet's new weapon."

"But-"

"Coco…you, Fox, Velvet, and I know what the rumors and various media sources presented the janitor as." Yatsuhashi reminded the team leader.

The leader stood there watching the imminent clash wondering if her fears were correct or if her teammates' faith in the janitor was well-placed.

Naruto didn't react outwardly. He just let his arms and legs ignite with his Aura. The fire around him glowed brighter than ever, turning into a red hue as well, and sported sparks of red lightning to add to the flashiness of it all. At this point, his body was on autopilot. His mind was being fed information on how to survive. His body did what it needed to use his Semblance. His soul was at relative ease. A spiritual burden lifted.

He felt like he was at the right place at the right time. He felt that he belonged in the fight despite how much he wanted to deny it. His soul was meant to fight.

The pattern went that the more he fought, the more he saw things. The more he remembered. Case in point, that sphere of Aura, those weird palm strikes, that Izuna drop he thought Lee did (but never actually saw) were done in times of fighting. And just as planned, he saw things. Things that helped for the current situation.

His mind was fed the memory of an old man covered in lightning as if it was an armor; his body emulated the technique.

He ran towards Velvet with a spring in his step.

But it was hardly a step. It was a leap. And add in the power and speed from that one step…

Velvet was in a bit of a bind. She knew it the moment his body flashed towards her. Whatever natural advantage she had over Naruto was gone in an instant. She may have the better hearing, but the crackle of lightning drowned the other sounds. She may have had the stronger legs, but he was faster than her in this one instance. She may have a move that she learned over the years to counter this, but she was reminded of a lesson from her father.

"A little brute force can overcome skill just like how underhanded tactics may lead to success. All it takes is someone doing something a little differently to change the pace of battle."

As she remembered, she smiled. Not a mischievous grin. But a soft smile.

"And that is why, not matter how open you present yourself to be as, keep your guard up."

So when Naruto appeared before her as a sphere of red fire and lightning, she aimed her cannon at him with the intent of unloading the Dust infused in its form. She pulled the trigger, and the pulsing blinding sky blue trail of energy clashed against the ball of flame and electricity. But instead of piercing through, the attack bent around it like water going around a rock. And while it was parted by Naruto, the energy dissipated not too long after making contact with Naruto's defensive attack. In fact, it was so effective that there wasn't a sign that Velvet's attack had stalled him. He just forced his way through.

So in accordance to the situation, she dissolved her weapon to reach for something else. The Dust stored in her box morphed once more as it manifested in front of her. It took the shape of a giant cross with a disc placed at the intersection of the structure. Velvet placed her right arm on the handle right in the middle of the disc while her other hand rested below to brace the lower half of the structure.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that what Velvet brought out was a shield. A shield that towered over her. A shield the size of Yatsuhashi. A shield that her father boasted could handle many blows.

The situation almost harkened back to the day her father fought a deadly fisherman, whose method of fishing was to use a red spear. The story was all to familiar. Brute force versus skill. Brute force won.

But she'd attempt to change that outcome this time.

The moment Naruto's flames made contact with the shield, the shield dispersed without any resistance. Velvet leaped backwards to let the lion Faunus land like a candle blown out. What she didn't expect was an attack immediately after. One of his knives came at her, and she caught it. She immediately regretted the decision the moment she heard the screech of rubber sliding on the floor just a few feet away from her. Even worse was the sound emitted soon after the saw blades on his footwear spun into the hard material that made the floor.

Velvet was stunned. Disoriented. Keeled over. It was like she was standing next to an Atlesian airship taking off. Her ears hardly found the sound pleasant. But despite her exposed form, she had her defenses ready. She knew where her opponent would strike next. There was only so much a fighter could change up until he or she became predictable.

So when Naruto arced his kicking foot upwards to Velvet's chin, the latter hopped backwards a tad. She called to her weapon to reach out for a particular weapon that wrapped around her forearms and hands. And as it manifested, she morphed her Aura into a sphere. After years of toying with her Semblance, Aura manipulation was an easy task for her. Done manifesting, the wire frame version of Naruto's own gauntlets purged a piece of Velvet's Aura out of the thruster to launch the Aura attack straight into Naruto's stomach.

But that didn't happen. All because he disappeared in a flash. He reappeared just behind her with his raised leg still holding. The saw blades spun faster as it ignited flames at each tooth. Incited by the activation of dust in the core mechanism hidden in the motor attached to the saw blades, the piercing shrieks from the metal hindered any foreseeable movement from Velvet. Naruto looked behind him, twisted his body, and swung his leg down like an axe with all of the force necessary to smash his opponent into the ground.

Velvet, her left hand still holding one of Naruto's knives, chucked it at his head. The sudden attack forced him to redirect his kick to block the knife. His foot slammed onto the floor, and cracked underneath his feet. The flames he let out turned into a pillar that covered the point of impact. It was time for her counterattack. She spun herself around using her pivot foot and increased the power of the Aura attack. She thrusted her attack through the fan of flames with no hesitation.

She expected a direct hit. The reality was much different. The flames blew away to show the result of her offensive action. Her attack clashed with the original made by the one who invented it. Gusts of air blew at a myriad of angles. They twisted, carved, slashed, cleaved all around the epicenter of the chaos. Her hair blew back wildly while she tried to protect herself from the harsh winds. As she did, she looked at Naruto, unfazed by the storm right before his very eyes.

Like he was used to a clash of power…

Naruto knew he felt a natural ease under this situation. He felt content expressing his power in a battle of will. He felt the wind blow by him, and found a strange sense of peace to it. He pushed forward; she pushed back. He smiled. A stalemate. Equal powers fighting for dominance.

It felt nostalgic despite this being the first time it ever occurred.

He almost thought he heard the chirping of a thousand birds too.

The clash ended in a violent explosion of air and flames. Any dust that was resting on any surface was blown away within seconds of the explosion. Spectators were forced to cover their faces from the sudden gale. But the winner of the trade was Naruto, whose own feet grounded him. His right hand was sent backwards like a hand the flew away from the recoil of a hand cannon. Velvet was blown away like a tumbleweed in Vacuo's vast desert.

She recovered. It was graceful as one might expect from a trained fighter, but she did so nonetheless. A moment of reprieve was given. He didn't chase after her like any practical fighter would do to keep the pressure on. He just stood there watching her. He stood there waiting for her next move. It allowed the rabbit Faunus to gauge herself against her opponent. She glanced at the screen above. She was at the sixty-three percent mark of Aura depletion. Her opponent however was at the twenty-seven percent mark. The gap between them was too large, and her attempts to close that gap only gamble the rest of her Aura.

Whatever Naruto did to pack so much power without so much as a trickle of Aura lost scared Velvet.

As far as she knew, that spiraling sphere was a suicide move -a last ditch effort to annihilate the enemy with the last of your strength. His weapon and that attack were supposed to be Aura guzzlers! But he just made it seem like it was one of the many tricks up his sleeve.

'The means to counter long-range and the strength to overpower it… Not to mention a powerhouse within his effective range. A battle of attrition against him is ill advised.' She bit her thumb, unsure of what to do next. She never expected to be pushed to use her trump cards in the middle of battle. Well... She had to rethink that. The choice to use them was more voluntary than a necessity. She wanted to beat him. He desired a challenge; she did as well despite her reserved personality. For that, she respected him; he gave her an outlet as well as a means to test her limits. This was an enlightening experience for her that her skills with weapons she copied weren't up to par -because he could dismantle them in an instant if he so wished.

She wasn't stupid. When the fire became red, the properties changed. No longer did it give away heat. But it give way to something else. Something that could negate or repel Dust.

She dusted herself off, and stood up straight. She took a breath to calm herself. Her only option left was to battle him in his element: close combat. Her eyes locked with his. In her opinion, between her determined expression and his blank visage, the latter appeared more composed.

She took off. He did the same time she did. The two ran faster than any human; their powerful steps were heard by everyone in the stands. Velvet's were a speeding metronome; she gradually accelerated to top speed as her steps became more and more frequent. Naruto's were dissonant screeches; his saw blades whirred to life with each step like a car being revved up. The distance between them drastically decreased within seconds.

When Velvet came close, she leapt towards him while she spun backwards. Her forward momentum carried her as Naruto ducked to evade her legs. But it was the plan all along. She wanted to get to his exposed back. She twisted her body in midair, and conjured up a weapon. A blade as massive as Yatsuhashi, but lacked the elegance of her teammate's weapon. The frame of the weapon certainly looked the part of a sword, but its jagged and coarsely-made serrated edges begged to differ. A chunk of rock carved into the shape of a melee weapon if anything. But the power of the weapon her father described was undeniable. The weapon in her hands was weightless; Dust given form to something else. What would have been unwieldy to anyone suited her just fine.

She slammed the sword down on Naruto's back, but he turned around in time to block it with one of his gauntlets, and push it aside. But because of the weightlessness of the weapon, she simply swung it back at his head. He ducked. She swung it down at his legs, but he hopped over it. Velvet twirled the sword to stab it into the ground. Using her arm strength, she pushed herself away from effective close combat range. Right as she landed, she swung the blade in an uppercut motion, carving the ground. The dust and debris were launched at Naruto, who cared little about it. He just swatted the sword away with the red flame, and made Velvet's weapon dust in the wind.

'There it is again... Changing properties.' She charged forward with a new weapon, a lance in tow. It clashed against Naruto's gauntlets; the red flames were gone. Velvet instantly took the opportunity to launch as many critical blows at him. Her speed with the lance was special. A single thrust by an experienced spear/wo/man was three or four in Velvet's case. She poured all of her strength into her arms and legs in an attempt to beat him with speed. She was confident in that speed of hers, and aimed centrally multiple times.

And there laid the problem.

Naruto never saw the spear. It was too quick for his liking. His eyes may have adjusted a little to see the form of the spear from the short experience, but to know where the next attack was, he just looked at her hands. The position of each hand determined the aim. He used that knowledge to parry, evade, distance, and to counter Velvet's barrage. Her flurry of strikes were fearsome, but rather ineffective in terms of achieving victory over him. Instead, it was effective in keeping him at bay, never allowing him the range to punch her. He couldn't even snap a proximity explosion with how much pressure Velvet did. He was on defense trying to find her openings, which were glaring, but unable to reach them.

Velvet aimed for his head, and that's when he made his counter attack. He moved his head to the left as his left hand, coated in watery blue flames pushed the Dust spear aside. He charged forward as his left hand dragged across the spear. The flames burned the Dust in a way Velvet nor Naruto ever imagined. The Dust spear dissolved into unachieved Dust powder as Naruto's left hand became a hammering fist that pounded against Velvet's chest. She staggered backwards while Naruto followed up with a fist directed at her gut. This was the finishing blow.

Velvet regained her footing, and spun to Naruto's left to marginally evade his powerful punch. She used her momentum and called out a familiar weapon that Naruto knew by heart. The two-layered gauntlet manifested just before Velvet put her weight into the punch. There was a sickening impact that sent Naruto's head back. He flipped backwards easily as if he wasn't hit by it. Velvet drew the frame of Magnhild, and dropped it on Naruto's lowered form. The impact created a small shockwave of air.

All the while, Naruto grinned. Finally understanding Velvet's similarity to his boss, he internally praised the Rabbit Faunus. 'Devious. Risky. But worth when done correctly.' He thought as Velvet pinned him down with Nora's hammer held above his head by his hands. 'Unlike him, you're inexperienced. Your gamble is lost under attacked under pressure.' He hummed. 'Keep the pressure going, Naruto. Do it, and do it as unpredictably as possible!' After the self-targeted pep talk, his form was engulfed in misty indigo flames.

Velvet pulled back the weapon, and studied this new development cautiously. She circled Naruto, hidden inside that indigo bonfire. A new color. She was confused what this one's ability was. From what she saw before, orange produced heat and propulsion, red disintegrated Dust, blue deactivated Dust. 'What did this one do?' Just as she asked this, a fist came out of the flame. And like clockwork, Velvet evaded and countered with a wide swing of the hammer. The flames were dispersed with no one hidden inside. Confused, she swung again when another misty flame approached her with a fist leading the charge. The result ended with a lack of impact.

Her ears twitched when she heard the screech of a saw blade to her right.

"Velvet! Watch your right!" Coco shouted from the stands.

Velvet was already alert from the noise. But the main problem was that she only heard him, not saw him. He was invisible to her. So when the moment of truth came, Velvet was struck on her right cheek with the heel of one of Naruto's shoes. The attack spun her in place.

"Keep the pressure." She heard him chant.

Another kick was sent to the same spot at a faster pace.

"Keep it up!" He shouted to himself. He threw one of his knives at her to which Velvet responded by batting it upward. He expected this, and instantly countered by grabbing hold of Velvet's face with a golden hand. He lifted her up only to slam her down onto the floor. She bounced a little, so Naruto took the advantage to lift her up by one of his legs then smash a fist into her exposed abdomen. The punch launched her skywards, ascending towards the ceiling at speeds similar to what Ruby took when she used her Semblance.

Naruto looked up at Velvet's silhouette. But something was different. He looked like he was watching through a television.

"Bravo, bravo! You are making fine entertainment, boy. My, my...what a curious case you are." A voice reverberated into the void. It asked, "How goes your search for answers? Are the experiences you see to your liking? You want more of those answers?" Naruto searched for the owner of the voice. But he couldn't see through the darkness no matter how hard he tried. "You won't find the answers by whining, as you suspected. What you need to do is to reach for it!"

"And what do you think I've been trying to do?!" Naruto shouted at the voice. "I've been forced to beat myself up to see visions from memories that I know I'm not supposed to have!"

"You really think that?" Another voice asked.

"Foolish." Remarked a third voice.

"Why is that foolish?" Naruto demanded to know.

"Let me ask a question." A fourth voice bellowed. "Why do you feel at ease when fighting? Why do those visions of yours erupt in the midst of battle?" Naruto tried to answer, but all he did was open his mouth. "The answer is because you are a soul born in fire. A soul destined in the fight. A soul that is tempered by the heat of battle and the heavy hammer of experience."

"You mean I was born for this life? A life where I'm supposed to fight?" Naruto questioned the fourth voice. "Is that all I'm good for?!"

"It is the only life you knew!" A chorus of voices answered in unison.

Naruto stepped backwards from the reply. "...W-What does that mean? What do you mean by those words?!"

"A final query." Continued the fourth voice.

"No!" He refused with a shout. "Tell me now, dammit! You know something, and I intend to get something out of this conversation!"

"What a brat!" Said a fifth voice.

"Wanna run that by me again?!"

"Young man, listen." Pleaded a sixth voice.

"I've had it with visions!" Naruto shouted again. "They may be helpful, but they don't paint the whole picture. They don't tell me what I want to know!" He looked left and right, up and down trying to find the people behind those booming voices that lurked in the shadows. "I've had it with wordless answers! I need something concrete! So tell me what I want now!" He reiterated.

"It is not our place to give you what you want. We're pushing our luck by talking to you." Told a seventh voice.

"What we can tell you is that what you ask for is already accessible." Said an eighth voice.

Naruto growled. "I told you that-"

A ninth voice boomed. "Why do you fight? What reason do you have to search for strength behind the visions you seek?!"

The response was swift and without any hesitation in his voice. "I fight for my friends. My family!" He took a step forward in whatever direction he faced. "I fight for those I care about, and whatever they cherish! I fight because that is-"

Naruto's vision returned to normal. But that little event gave him one last vision. A hand sign. And the feeling of the need to protect. The significance of it was lost to him. He didn't understand what it was for. But he knew that it was an important thing that he saw. Once again in autopilot, Naruto's body moved. Right arm raised, he snapped his right hand. Soon, a dark purple fire engulfed the knife that was smacked into the air. Naruto lowered his right hand, and the flame flickered into action.

It split apart into embers, multiplying in numbers like a cloud covering the sky. With another snap of Naruto's fingers, the embers changed. Expanded. Morphed. No longer were they embers, but rather flames of significant size. The final part of the change was when those individual flames changed into the maker. It wasn't anything like Sun's Semblance, nor nothing like Blake's. However, it easily resembled Blake's as these flames emulated the look of Naruto down to the last individual detail. The Narutos rained down from above Velvet. Each single clone took a shot at her, sending her down, down, down until the final one sent the final punch to end the battle.

The alarm blared to signal the end while Velvet fell into Naruto's arms.

Velvet groaned. "Looks like I bit off more than I can chew."

Naruto lowered the Faunus back on her feet. "To be fair, you pushed me to use those things. And I did the same to you. Some of your weapons...were pretty scary, y'know." He scratched his head, and nervously chuckled. "Did you find the battle to be a learning experience?" He asked with a smile. "I did, and I found it eye-opening."

Velvet recounted the battle's events, and nodded with a small bit of red dusting her cheeks. "Yes, it was a very enlightening experience!" She said eagerly. Her eyes glinted as curiosity filled them. "May I ask if you found how my fighting style is alike your boss?"

Naruto found it cute that Velvet was polite out of the battlefield and a fighting machine in one. He couldn't help but try to imagine one of those mystery women in his vision looking like Velvet. He blinked, and figured that he should stop zoning out since Velvet stared at him intently. "Ah...yeah. You two are major risk takers with major rewards if successful. And that you two can be quite tricky."

Velvet pushed her index fingers together while her face faced the floor. Velvet's ears twitched as she hummed. "You're right about that. You...you caught on quick!" She praised from her position.

Naruto leaned forward curiously. "If I may ask...are you all right?"

Velvet looked up. When she saw how close Naruto was, she stepped back, and stood straight like a soldier. "Hm?! I'm fine!" Velvet replied with a high-pitched and cracked accented voice. "You may have done a number on me, b-but I've been through worse before! I-In my opinion, of course!"

"Glad to hear I didn't hurt you too much." He said with a slight bow to signify forgiveness. "I'm sorry about the rough time."

"It's quite all right, Mister Uzumaki." Velvet reassured. "Though...the arena may have a different opinion."

The mention of the arena caused the blond to wince. "Don't tell me." He just looked down on the floor in shame. "I'll be off then. Good luck to your studies and missions." He left quickly, leaving an awed audience that included team CF(V)Y, RWBY, and JNPR.

In the stands, nearest to the openings, two pairs of eyes watched Naruto intently.

"He did it." Nora whispered. "He made them."

"I can't believe it." Ren muttered. "I thought it would be impossible. But this says a lot."

Blake overheard the partners' conversation, and decided to step in to learn what they knew. "What do you know, Ren?"

"I know for a fact he has obtained the Hero's physical abilities and skills." Ren replied, not seeing any need to hide it now that Blake confronted him again. Blake was ready to push for more questions; however, he put a stop to it immediately. "But that is merely one facet." He chose to utter the Headmaster's words to him about Naruto's current condition to Blake. "Until he shows the mentality of the Hero, he isn't him, yet. As of right now, all we are seeing is a gifted fighter with gifted skills."

Yang stood next to Blake, and asked, "And what is the Hero's mentality?"

"The Hero is a man of will and conviction. Those who he deems precious to him are worth fighting for. Those who are lost in the dark can be guided back. And he won't give up in either; he'll do both until he makes his final breath."

Yang narrowed her eyes, "And you think he hasn't reached that point?"

"Too early to say." Ren admitted.

Yang looked to Nora. "What do you think?"

Nora rubbed one of her arms. She looked uneasy about the conversation. Ren did his best to pacify her unease. Still, she responded. "I think that if Naruru is the Hero, we let the Hero wake up on his own terms, not ours or anyone else's." The hyperactive girl's tranquil response was a surprise to many as the girl herself looked at the door Naruto exited. "I'm sure that many can relate at one time that whenever someone is woken up by someone or something else, the result may be less than pleasant."

Ren decided to add to this. "And all things considered with his capabilities, ones we know quite well, you should wish he wakes up on his own amicable terms."

Yang left the premises with heavy footsteps. Blake was ready to chase her, but was stopped by Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha?"

"Blake, let her be." Pyrrha requested. "She's under a lot of stress."

"That kind of stress is destructive to her mental health." Blake warned. "What do you expect me to do? Just let it slide?"

"I expect you to respect your partner's privacy." Pyrrha responded in kind. "Yang isn't the only one suffering. Naruto is too." She reminded the Faunus. "Your lord is in pain, no matter how well he looks on the outside." Pyrrha took a glance at Yang's retreating form. "Those two are each other's pillar of support. They'll depend on one another to resolve this." She patted Blake's shoulder. "So please. Give her space."

Blake was reluctant, but heeded Pyrrha's words. To an extent. "I'll give her space. But with enough space that she still realizes I'm there to help along with the rest of her team."

Jaune entered the conversation. "You're starting to sound like your partner."

Blake smiled a little. "She has that kind of effect on people."

Naruto found himself sitting on the edge of a rooftop on the Second year building. He sat there in silence, trying to figure out what happened in that fight along with what the person next to him wanted to talk about.

"Naruto?"

Naruto acknowledged to call to his name with a hum.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto knew what the apology was for. It was the only reason the both of them were talking in this moment. "Don't be." Naruto replied lowly. "You made a decision that you thought was best for the both of us. I can't fault you for it..." He said. "But it still stings." He closed his hands into fists. "I fought tooth and nail to defend your honor. Dad's too." He confessed. "Do you know how many people jeered at me for having no parents? Saying I'm unwanted goods?" He shook his head at the flashes of a time he wanted to forget. "You know what I told them? I told them that at some point they loved enough to have me born into this world." His fists clenched tighter. "Living as an orphan, I knew life was its ups and downs. I just figured I, my own existence, was a negative outcome." His ears picked up a small choking sound that went away within seconds. He sighed, and took one of his hands to put to his companion's own. "But I still tried to make it better for me. Tried to change it little by little. It worked for the things that mattered to me. To be honest, it kinda felt like flipping the bird at the powers that be."

"Naruto I-"

"You didn't kill me." Naruto said. "You had every right to. Mistral allows that kind of thing, and yet you took the pain. You took it for nine months." He looked at the main plaza down below. "I'm grateful for that." He said truthfully. "I realize...I've said some things that hurt. But they weren't without good reason; the negatives were still there no matter how well-intentioned your decision was. And decisions always have pros and cons to them." He closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. "Emotions were high for the both of us. I decided to look at the negatives instead of the positives. And you...you were only trying to salvage what you lost from your decision. So I'm sorry for that just as much as you're sorry for what you did."

"But nothing...I say will ever make things right about what I've done to you, will it?"

"Yeah." He agreed as his companion took a gulp of air. "But think of it this way, you can leave it behind. Start over. Focus on what you can do now. Not on what you could have done for me, Mom."

"Is it that easy?" She asked. "Are you capable of forgiving nearly two decades of neglect?"

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "If I wasn't forgiving, you would have already lost feeling to your arms and legs the first time we found about our ties to each other." The silence between them was left alone for a few moments. He scoffed. "And that's just the physical pain." He noted in a mutter loud enough for her to hear. He faced the regretful professor. "Look, I know you've been trying. You were there when I was unconscious before and when I was hospitalized." He recounted the time at the hospital. "I heard you got chewed out by Yang."

The professor had to ask, "What did you hear?"

"Nothing that will make this conversation go to a better place." Naruto replied. "You got a lot of people pissed off at you, I reckon. Or maybe a few that mattered enough to get through to you. Me included. I'm not about to do that again." He scratched his head. "So let's just simplify things."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let things go at a natural pace." He responded. "They say time will heal all wounds? Time gave us this moment. Why not see where this goes?" He asked. "You don't have to go overboard. Just be around as someone I can count on like my friends." He looked down. "Like Yang..." He said in a low but proud voice.

"Miss Xiao Long has been keeping you afloat."

"More times than I'd like to admit." Naruto said. "But she's not the only one. Pyrrha has done quite a bit too. Weiss is trying. Blake, in her weird way, is trying. Ruby does what she can. Jaune is like a brother. Nora's like a peppy therapy dog with a good heart. Ren? I don't know a lot about him, but I think I can count on him. Adam...wait- you know about him, right?"

"Mister Taurus is a valued employee and combatant. And, yes, I agree that he is trustworthy."

"So yeah, just be someone I can count on, and you can count on me. You don't need to baby me. I'm glad that I even know you. Some orphans don't get that lucky meeting their parents. I met both. And I'm happy about that."

It was then that the mother embraced her son. Naruto rested his chin on her left shoulder, and hummed. He overheard her sniffling while crying out "Thank you" repeatedly. He returned the hug just as firmly to show that he was there for her too.

"You can come out now, Yang." Naruto called.

The door that led to this part of the rooftop opened slowly. Like a child caught doing something wrong, Yang peeked out the door. "H-Hi Naruto, Professor." Naruto and his mother broke the hug the moment the third blonde entered. "How did you know I was there?"

Naruto stood up, and stepped foot on a stable platform that was the rooftop clearing. He waggled his right index finger. "Don't act like you don't know about my ears, Yang."

"What, your normal pair of ears?" Yang asked.

"No Yang. My other normal pair of ears."

"Oh." Yang intelligently replied. "Wait if you know-"

"Why were you eavesdropping, Yang?" Naruto asked, knowing what had planned to ask.

The brawler found the change of subject good. The topic was what she intended to have anyway, not something so useless given the current state of things. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That you weren't-" Yang looked at the professor. "-You know what? I-I'll just talk to you later."

"Miss Xiao Long." Glynda called as she stepped forward. "What were you about to say?"

Yang bowed. "I-It's not my place to say, Professor." She stood up straight. "It's Naruto's. I was only worried since he and I are..."

"It's nothing to worry about." Naruto interrupted. "Just a personal problem I'm dealing with. Yang was just trying to help me through it."

"And you don't think I can help?" Glynda asked. "Doesn't that go against your word? Am I not someone you can trust with this?"

"The issue isn't trust." Naruto replied lowly. "The issue is whether or not you'll recognize me in the end." He said in an even lower volume. No one seemed to hear it, which was fine with him. He needed to solve this with as little help from others as possible.

Glynda stepped forward. "I beg your pardon? Could you repeat that?"

Naruto looked at his Scroll. "Ah. I've got a shift in five minutes." He moved around the professor quickly. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be taking the elevator down." He went to the edge of the rooftop clearing. "Mom, glad we had that much needed talk. Yang, enjoy talking with Mom. Maybe the outcome will be different, and you'll be chewed out."

"Isn't that sending me to my death?" Yang asked incredulously.

"You survived a punch with the power equal to that of an Atlesian battering ram -something that is basically death. You can handle words from your scary teacher."

"I'm scary?" Glynda asked.

"Have you seen how your tone affects Yang's sister?" He asked in return. He shook his head. "I'm taking too long with this. Bye bye!" He fell backwards. Both women's eyes twitched. Serious in one moment, playful and happy the next. They didn't appreciate the minor mood whiplash. They didn't appreciate him leaving so quickly either. Never mind the fact he fell off a six-story building. No, no. Him ditching was an affront to them.

The younger blonde uneasily looked at her boyfriend's mother. "So...Professor, what's up?" Yang uneasily asked.

"I don't like you, Miss Xiao Long." Glynda said bluntly. "You are brash, headstrong, sometimes child-like, and frankly -a hazard to yourself and to others." Yang was speechless, but rebounded quickly. Before the younger blonde could retort, the professor continued, "Yes, you have your faults. You are a person. Obviously, a person has flaws. Despite that, you keep him grounded. And he cares little of the flaws I see. So I'm reluctantly accepting your relationship status with him." She walked towards the rooftop door. "Just make sure that he isn't hurt by that problem of his or anything else. I lost someone I loved, I won't lose another that I just got back. Understood?"

Yang nodded. "You can count on me, Professor. I'll try my best to help him out."

"So..."

"We didn't reveal anything that was critical, just like you said."

"But you did say something. Something about his soul being destined to fight."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It means everything! You asked for his reason to fight -his reason to live! Our reason to fight and live! You can't get any more closer to the core of Naruto Uzumaki!"

"And yet you haven't fused together with him."

"But you planted the seeds. You made a catalyst interfering like all of you did."

"Wow. What a surprise that interfering resulted in this. Stop taking the high ground, hypocrite."

"I'm with Shu on this. You're being hypocritical."

"I know. And you were right about before. I made a mistake. I should have just left it alone. But what you did just now was far worse."

"No. That isn't worse. All we're doing is giving him the tools to survive. Until he truly thinks like you, the issue is pretty much a moot point right now."

"And what then? I take over, and ruin everything he built for himself."

"No you won't."

"Luckily, this will be like Shadow Clones. Only permanent!"

"Integration will happen. Don't worry."

"Except-"

"What's done is done, brat. The forces that want to destroy this world are making plans. All we can do is put a stop to it when it happens. Until then, your mock self, our vessel, will live his life while learning from the visions the more he fights. And when a major trigger occurs, you'll be one step closer to integration. So don't panic over a simple push in the right direction. Just be prepared."

"Fine. We'll do it your way, partner."

"Good. You finally have your brains back."

"Hey."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attentions?!"

"A human?"

"How'd he get here?!"

"Who are you?"

"Faunus brethren, calm yourselves. I'm an acquaintance of Cinder's. And I've come with orders to move along with a mission that she planned to do herself. That I'm the one infiltrating Beacon tower in her stead because she's indefinitely detained by other pressing matters." He took a dramatic pause. "So, if one of you would please hand over the device meant to start the ruination of Vale? That would be a wonderful tool to have to make the mission successful. Oh and before I forget, my name is Tyrion. Pleasure to meet you all."

This is it for this one. Like I said earlier, I hope you enjoyed.

So review, follow, favorite, I don't care.

This is Azure signing off.