Chapter 18: Always been you

The second he set foot inside his bedroom he knew something was wrong, very wrong.

A quick scan of the room proved nothing being out of place however there was a light scent coming from beneath the covers of the bed, a scent that brought about bittersweet memories.

Naruto heard Lynn rustling about in the kitchen preparing dinner, knowing that she would be too preoccupied with finishing that task Naruto wasted no time in pulling the covers from the bed. The white blankets had done an incredibly good job of masking the scent that was left behind for as soon as they were torn away, his nose almost exploded from the overload of scents. Hand holding his nose, he inspected the item that produced the scent.

A black envelop.

Naruto frowned, there were only two people who used black envelops to contact him and it was only one of those two that smeared such scent on the message. He picked the envelop, a quick appliance of wind had the top was sliced, and he pulled out the letter.

The paper was nothing out of the normal, if only being black in color. There were no words written, only a single white symbol at the very center.

It was his own symbol.

The Uzumaki Swirl.

He laid the paper on his desk and inspected the inside of the envelop, he was not surprised to find a feather in it.

A black feather.

"Even if you were to give me all I desire I still wouldn't go back to you" Naruto mused out loud as he sat on the bed facing to the door. Soft arms enveloped him from behind, one going from below his right armpit, the other from above his left shoulder and connected at the front by holding a knife to his throat.

"I know" Her voice hadn't changed at all since he last heard it.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't come no matter what" Naruto closed his eyes and leaned back into her embrace, he felt her arms stiffen and the knife drew the smallest tricks of blood.

"The situation's changed" Even her voice tensed "We've discovered another type of Grimm"

"And?" Naruto knew there was no way such a simple thing would've brought her around or force her to keep him under knife point. Well, she may actually use that as an excuse but that's beside the point.

"They're similar to you"

His blood froze.

"They're what?" Naruto didn't move however she certainly felt the shift in his emotions because the knife was no longer in her hands instead it was stuck on the ceiling.

"So it wasn't you then" She didn't seem to be surprised at having lost her weapon, if anything she sounded amused "That means she's mobilizing already"

Naruto didn't reply, his hands went up to hold his head and he groaned in irritation.

"I told you this was going to happen" Her amusement was palpable as she spoke yet there was an undertone of insecurity "If we want to stop her, we have to do this together and we'll have to ga-"

"No"

Her nails dug into his shirt, ripping through the remains and digging into his skin painfully.

"We won't do things your way, we've already discussed this" Naruto spoke though his hands still held his face "Even if she started mobilizing already, we still have a year at best to prepare"

"By then it'll be too late"

"You're too pessimistic" Naruto sighed and dragged his palms across his face, a tired expression accompanied as he sagged even more into the woman's painful embrace.

"I'm just being realistic" She muttered through clenched teeth but sighed in defeat, her fingertips replaced her nails and she slowly caressed the wounds.

"Even so, I won't let her continue this senseless war" Naruto pried himself away from her embrace, her hands gave no resistance since she knew there was no point in further talk, and he walked until he stood by the door "I will stop her, I promised as much" He gave her his trademark foxy-grin.

"Hmmm" She smiled predatory with a tilt of her head.

"Master, food's almost ready!"

Her eyes narrowed "So you did make another one"

"Lynn's different" Naruto shook his head "She's more human than Grimm"

"That thing still is half-Grimm" She spited with venom in her voice.

"Even if it's you..." Naruto turned to fully look at her in the eye and released all the restrained power he'd been holding back, unleashing straight onto her "I don't want to hear you call her a Thing ever again."

She scoffed and looked away "Ever so sentimental about your toy-"

Sssss

She blinked, her hand instinctively went to her cheek and traced the new thin wound on her skin. It was so clean and superficial it didn't even draw blood, yet it still burnt.

"Leave"

She scowled but nodded nonetheless, a swirl of crimson and she was gone.

"Master dinner's ready!" Steps echoed in the hallway "Master?"

Naruto reigned in his anger before he turned to look at Lynn with a smile "Yes?"

"Uhm is something wrong...?"

Naruto chuckled but shook his head "No no, I was just dealing with a lost bird. Dinner's ready right?"

"Yes!"

- 0 - RWBY: KnR - 0 -

February 19, Monday

What was supposed to be a normal Monday turned out to be one of the most unexpected days for Naruto to comprehend, in the span of 15 minutes after the first class started Opzin had made an announcement for class to be canceled and for every student to be gathered in the Amphitheater. No sooner had that been said that students flooded out of their classrooms and rushed to the Amphitheater.

Luckily enough since a lot of senior students had already started going out for their mission assignments the Amphitheater could comfortably held the thousand or so students left, it was still quite packed but not saturating.

Naruto choose to stand by the door and he wasn't the least surprised when Ruby joined him, then both team RWBY and JNPR gravitated to her. He gave each member a short greeting but kept to himself, there were many thoughts running through his head and he had to sort them out.

It didn't take too long for the Amphitheater lights to turn off and the Headmaster appear on the stage, his trademark coffee mug in hand.

"Good morning students" Mumbled greetings from the crowd "As you may already be aware, every two years we celebrate a special international event" More excited mumbling "Yes, the Vytal Festival" A smile graced the headmaster lips as some students started cheering.

"Behave" One order, eyes that dared anyone defy it. Glynda nodded happily once the crowd obeyed.

"Now what you may not be aware of is that our kingdom will be the host to the 40th Vytal Festival therefore, we, as the top Huntsman Academy in Vale will have the honor and duty to help out in the preparations for this exciting event" More cheers, Ozpin patiently waited until the died down before continuing "Due to this, missions that will help in the preparations of this grand event will be available for all teams. We expect you to uphold your integrity and professionalism and in turn, depending on your performance, you will be given extra grades."

If the previous cheers were loud, the next one were even moreso. As students, anything that gave a 'free' grade was hold in the best of lights possible, add to that the fact that the missions would be focused on helping setting up stuff for Vytal Festival, an event everyone was excited to participate in one way or another, then there truly was no better announcement ever made for the students of this generation.

"On an additional note, due to the shock of this notice today classes have been cancelled so you can have time to contact your family or friends and give them the good news, that is all" Ozpin walked off, leaving the cheering crowd exponentially happier than they were earlier.

"Dismissed"

Naruto blankly stared at the stage where his surrogate-sister was discussing something with most of the other teachers, he moved away from the door just in time to avoid the deluge of overexcited students. Team RWBY and JNPR weren't so lucky as they got dragged along with the flood of students, he chuckled and waited near a column until his sister finished her discussion.

"The Vytal Festival huh..." Naruto murmured to himself as he waited, back when he had recently arrived in this world there had been one of those festivals going on. Unfortunately since he had been in shock then neither him nor Glynda went to the festival, it was one of the few things he regretted learning later on from Glynda. Of course his surrogate-sister played it off by mentioning it was more trouble than it was worth but he still felt bad about taking away that chance for her to have fun.

This time, he'd take his surrogate-sister to the festival and make sure she thoroughly enjoys herself, for sure.

"Were you waiting for me Naruto?" The voice of his surrogate-sister broke him out of his reveries, with a slight smile he waved at her. Glynda looked as pristine and formal as ever, not even a single hair out of place.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you" Naruto spoke in a light tone, his eyes gazing past Glynda's form and onto the teachers she had been speaking with moments ago, their faces were a mix of emotions ranging from disgust, contemplation to, surprisingly, respect.

Glynda noticed Naruto's gaze and followed it, when her eyes landed on the teachers who were staring back they quickly scattered lest they incur her fury. Her eyes hardened slightly but softened when she sighed.

"I don't mind them" Naruto spoke before she could say anything.

"You might not but I do" Glynda crossed her arms as a frown marred her features "The students are one thing but the teachers too? Now that's just-"

"Stupid"

"-I would've used unprofessional but yes, stupid works too" Glynda rubbed the bridge of her nose and scanned Naruto up and down before scrunching up her nose "You look like a mess"

And like a mess he felt too.

Since he hadn't cut his hair for so long it was already starting to look like his father's with the sidebangs and covered the top of his eyes. His black vest was unbuttoned showing his tousled white shirt, the tie had long since been discarded. His shoulders were slouched, there were traces of dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pale, a stark contrast with his natural tanned color.

"I know" Naruto replied with the same light smile.

"If I had known the Academy would treat you this way, I would've never suggested this" Glynda spoke in a soft voice, her hand came to rest on his elbow and gently guided him out of the Amphitheater.

"You didn't suggest it, Ozpin did" Naruto corrected her, he put no fight and let himself be guided by his sister "Besides I'm having fun you know?"

Glynda rolled her eyes.

"Hey! It's the truth, if you don't take into count the massive shitstorm that's been brewing and forget about the utter bullshit that has happened the past few days, I have had fun."

"Is that so?"

"Yes that's so" Naruto crossed his arms sullenly "I even got myself a girlfriend you know?"

"Really now...?"

Glynda stopped once their walk took them far enough from the Academy, just a few steps more and they would enter the forest. She scanned the surroundings and once she found no prying eyes, she sat on the grass. Legs tucked to a side and her back resting on a tree.

Naruto followed her example and sat (threw himself) beside her, his eyes gazing at the sky.

"Yup I'll have you know she's the cutest thing ever, she's pretty timid but also very assertive when she wants to be" Naruto spoke in a forlorn tone "She's currently on a mission so I can't present her to you but when she returns I promise I'll present her to you"

"Hmmm so she's older than you, she sounds like a nice girl"

"Yup, that she is" Naruto chuckled "Anyways, I imagine that after yesterday the staff must be going crazy"

"For the most part. There has been too much happening lately and everyone's on edge"

"What about the dead student?"

"The Headmaster decided to take care of that case personally"

"And his team?"

"They're still in recovery, the shock and wounds were greater than we expected" Glynda shook her head "Doctor Kenai told me about what you did for them" She paused and approvingly looked at him "You've completely mastered your Semblance have you not?"

Naruto smiled thinly "Yeah, I've been using it almost on an hourly basis everyday since we discovered it after all"

A concerned expression crossed the teacher's features "So you've been killing yourself slowly all this time?"

"Pretty much" Naruto replied, when Glynda frowned he hastily added "Besides without doing that I'd probably live for far too long, I want to die holding the hand of my loved ones not being the one digging their graves you know?"

Glynda scoffed "I don't like it"

"I'm sorry Sis but it's the one thing I won't budge on" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly"Honestly I'd rather nobody, not even you, ever know about that side-effect but I don't want to lie to my loved ones"

"You're just trying to sugar-coat it now" Glynda sighed "You really love making me worry about you..."

Naruto grinned but nodded nonetheless.

"You were always like this, even back then right?"

"Yup!"

"You... still think about them, don't you?"

"Everyday" Naruto replied easily "I wonder how life would've been if I didn't die, there are many things I would've loved to do but that's all in the past now. I'll always treasure all those regrets and memories until I properly die again"

"There's something really wrong with that sentence" Glynda muttered and shook her head.

"Might be the dying twice" Naruto supplied, his shoulders eased ever so slightly "I've been thinking about the things that are to come"

"So have I" Glynda replied with a faraway tone "Even Ozpin is worried over what the future will bring"

"I don't blame him" Naruto said "The gears are already in motion, it's up to us to make sure nothing too bad happens"

Glynda looked at him strangely.

"What?"

"You really have grown up, haven't you?"

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!?"

"Back then... You tried to take care of everything by yourself because you knew nobody else would be up to the task" Glynda patted Naruto's hair "But now you're finally trusting in others again, even if you don't like the way they're doing things"

Naruto scoffed but nodded.

"Just promise me you won't be trying to play Hero again"

"That's something I can't promise Sis, sorry" Naruto shook his head.

Glynda smiled faintly "I know, but it doesn't hurt trying"

The minutes trickled by as the two sat in silence while watching the Academy from the distance, teens were happily chatting away while moving back and forth, into and out of the buildings, all the while keeping themselves in tight groups. Their laughter echoed, their happiness almost palpable in the air yet none of that giddiness fully reached the two below the tree.

After all, no matter how light hearted they spoke of the previous topic it still was a topic that caused deep wounds to bleed all over again.

Glynda knew Naruto one day would take on more than he could handle and end up dying, that is if he hadn't already killed himself by then. Every second she spent with him always took away the edge from her daily life yet only added further stress whenever she thought of the future that awaited him.

"What else has been bothering you?" Glynda asked in a knowing tone.

Naruto didn't reply at first since he had been drawing symbols on the air with his finger, though he stopped after a minute and tilted his head when he replied "Lately I've felt as if I'm not supposed to be happy, that if I somehow achieve happiness I will be betraying my old friends"

Glynda frowned "Why do you think that way?"

"Even if Sasuke, Sakura and me defeated Kaguya there still was so much left to do. The Shinobi nations had been at war for so long that now I find it hard to believe that even after Kaguya there would've been peace"

"That doesn't explain why you feel that way Naruto"

Naruto grinned in response "That's the thing, I know there was nothing else I could've done. I mean, I did die there after all" He scratched the back of his head "I still can't help but feel that way though"

Glynda considered Naruto's words and feelings and his way of being for a minute before coming to a conclusion.

"I believe it's not because of your friends or that peace goal you wanted but rather you're regretting over not being able to be there to see the fruits of your labor" Glynda tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "The only one that you're really betraying is yourself Naruto"

Naruto tilted his head again as he thought over his sister words, they made sense in a way. The first goal he had set for himself when arriving in Remnant had been to make the discrimination between Human, Faunus and Hybrids to disappear. It was very similar to the 'peace goal' she had so brusquely summarized, for people to understand one another there had to be no discrimination when listening to one another after all.

In a sense he had simply superimposed his old goals into his new life.

Naruto chuckled humorlessly, from the very start he had been deluding himself that since he wouldn't ever see if peace was truly achieved in the Elemental Nations then he simply couldn't believe it would happen without him.

How selfish.

Guess that meant he truly did deserve all that emotional pain he had been going through for letting the grandeur get to his head and see himself as more than he truly was. Oh how Sasuke would be rolling laughter if he knew how Naruto turned out to be.

"Yeah, I think you may be right Sis" Naruto muttered and laid himself flat on the grass with his eyes closed "In the end it had always been me huh..."

As Naruto laid there with the minutes passing, his breathing evened up and before long he had fallen asleep.

"Watching you like this reminds me that you're still only 17 yet have been through so much" Glynda spoke to herself as she scuttled closer to her little brother and moved his head so that it'd laid on her lap "I'm really glad to have been the one to have found you first"

- 0 - RWBY: KnR - 0 -

Thanks to Ozpin cancelling the classes for the rest of the day, Naruto and Glynda spent most of the morning after he woke up from his nap until lunch break together without any inconvenience, from there the teacher had left Naruto return to his room first while she retrieved Rhea from wherever the servant girl had hidden the bunny.

During the time the teacher was in his room Glynda had decided to fix Naruto's appearance to the best of her abilities. Since she was the one who designed up his wardrobe she was pretty confident in said abilities so it was no surprise that when her eyes landed on some stray scissors in the room she had instantly asked nicely (ordered) Naruto to sit still while she cut his hair like she used to do back when they lived together in her apartment.

Funnily enough, midway through his haircut Naruto had fallen asleep again proving just how tired he had truly been from the events going on the last few days. In all honesty it was a wonder how Naruto kept himself together without falling apart before their talk. Glynda couldn't be any prouder of her little brother yet at the same time sad that he tried to carry everything by himself.

Again.

As her hands worked her magic on his hair, Glynda eyes trailed over the actions of the girl Naruto had brought after one of his missions.

Ever since the day she appeared before her eyes, she could sense something dark within the girl. Something extremely dangerous, she was not surprised when the Headmaster decided to allow the girl stay with Naruto. Probably because to him, if things ever went awry with the girl, Naruto would stop her and in the off-chance Naruto wasn't strong enough then that just meant that she would have to deal with whatever destroyed Naruto.

It was a repulsive thought but knowing Ozpin, it was more than possible that was the cause.

To think that Glynda had been blindly following Ozpin every order because of their old friendship before Naruto crashed into her life was a scary. A man who knew how to manipulate others just as easy as it was breathing was scary.

If it hadn't been for Naruto cautiousness when interacting with Ozpin and questioning much of what the Headmaster did, or asked, then Glynda would've been continued to be fooled by Ozpin elderly mask.

That wasn't to say that she questioned everything the Headmaster did but now she thought twice whenever she was asked to do something by him.

"Ms. Glynda"

The voice of the heterochromatic girl broke Glynda out of her musings and she stopped cutting Naruto's hair to look at her.

"There's something important we want you to know" Lynn pointed at the bunny sitting in her shoulder before meaningfully looking down at the asleep Naruto.

"That is?"

"We noticed Master's body has suffered some changes"

Glynda frowned

"What kind of changes?"

"Some of the fur from his tail and ears has turned white" Lynn paused in thought, the bunny squeaked and Lynn nodded "Also his presence has started to feel more... suffocating"

Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"The discoloration of his tail might be due to the amount of stress his Semblance puts on him but what exactly do you mean by his presence being more suffocating?"

This time both bunny and girl looked at one another before nodding in unison.

"It feels as if Master no longer has control over his energy" The girl paused to think of an easier way to explain the phenomena "Because Master devours energy from Nature, he has to filter it before releasing it however some of that unfiltered energy leaks off him and causes this oppressive aura of raw, tainted, power to surround him"

Now that was worrying issue Glynda thought to herself, she had been at the receiving end of Naruto's Semblance more times than she'd like to admit during his initial Aura training and anytime he released the energy he had gathered in it's rawest shape it never bode well for anyone, or anything for that matter.

And if that wasn't enough, not even two hours earlier he had admitted to constantly keeping his Semblance active and energy still leaked off him, just how much power did Naruto contain in himself...?

This changed things, this changed many things.

"Ngrh" Naruto groaned

The two females jumped at the sound and looked down at Naruto, he was still asleep.

"If he loses more control, you instantly come to me and tell me, understood?"

"Yes!"

"Don't... Tell him about any of this conversation or he will try something stupid and hurt himself in the process"

"Yes"

- 0 - RWBY: KnR - 0 -

A few hours later Naruto woke up to the sound of dishes clinking together, he took a deep breath and stretched as he regained consciousness. The first thing he noted was that he was still sitting on the chair next to the kitchen counter in his room, cracking his neck he duly recalled falling asleep while his sister fixed his hair.

Some sluggish blinks later and he saw the back of his Servant dutifully cleaning the kitchen dishware while humming softly to herself.

"Lynn" Naruto hoarse voice startled the girl, making her drop the spoon she was washing and flinching when it hit the glasses in the sink. Despite all that, Naruto still asked "Where's Glynda?"

"Ah, uhm, Ms. Glynda left a few hours ago because she was called by the Headmaster"

"A few... How long have I been asleep?" Naruto asked again as he continued to stretch his shoulders and arms, they felt incredibly stiff, probably used them as a pillow at some point during his nap.

"Around five hours Master" The girl wearily looked back at him before continuing washing the rest of the dishes.

Naruto caught the look and frowned "Did something happen while I was asleep?"

The girl flinched again "No, well... yes but it's nothing Master should concern himself with"

"Lynn"

"I was just worried over Master's recent health and asked Ms. Glynda if it was normal or not"

Naruto frown softened and he sighed before scratching the back of his head "Heh, I've not been in the best of shapes recently. Sorry for making you worry"

Thankfully because Lynn had her back to him, Naruto didn't notice the girl biting her lip.

"I'll go outside and get a bit of fresh air, don't wait for me" Naruto stood from the stool and arched his back to stretch the last of his body.

"Yes"

As Naruto steps carried him outside of his room, his body continued to recover from being asleep in such an uncomfortable position for so long. With no destination in mind he allowed his instincts to dictate his course. Corners came and went by, students were few in numbers since curfew would be soon but that wasn't something that affected Naruto.

Perks of being a Scavenger.

His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he had yet to have dinner. Thinking about dinner also reminded him that there was supposed to be a party for Jaune's recovery, did Jaune even get the permission from the doctors to leave the infirmary...? Well, he was already too far away from the rooms of Team RWBY and JNPR to pass by to ask and he never promised to join so...

His stomach grumbled again.

But then again, free food was free food and he was in no mood to deal with the infirmary staff, not after Umi scolded him for his recklessness not even a day earlier.

He could go to the cafeteria and see if they were still open Naruto mused and started to walk towards the cafeteria, just as he rounded the next corner he saw someone walking a few steps ahead of him.

She must've sensed him because her ribbon twitched and she stopped to look back at him with an unreadable expression.

Naruto stopped too and tilted his head curiously.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a party in your room tonight?" Naruto asked.

The young woman smiled thinly "There is but someone drank all the soda"

Naruto chuckled "I wonder who. You took this chance to escape the ruckus didn't ya'?"

"Yeah" She lamely added "Ruby was pretty bummed out you didn't join"

This time it was Naruto turn to sheepishly reply "I fell asleep and woke up not to long ago"

She eyed him up and down, a certain weariness in her gaze "You look better than during the morning"

Naruto looked away "Yeah, there's a lot going on lately"

Silence.

Neither of the two moved except for the awkward feet shuffle, seconds tickled by but neither said nothing. It took a group of three girls running through the same hall while shouting at one another about something before both teens reacted.

"So about that soda?" Naruto asked as he straightened his posture.

"Right" Blake nodded and started moving again, she heard Naruto falling into step beside her and when she glanced at him she noticed he kept himself at a distance far away enough that she'd need to extend her arm and a bit more to touch him. A very stark difference to the time they walked together in the Infirmary Wing.

She would never voice her thoughts out but she was thankful that after revealing she was afraid of him he wasn't acting as it was water under bridge. It made being near much easier to bear.

"You think they'll mind that I join the party this late?" Naruto asked after a minute of walking together.

"I'm sure nobody will care you almost didn't join" Blake spoke in her usual monotone voice "Well, almost nobody"

"Twist the dagger deeper won't you" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Velvet won't mind you going to a party without her permission"

Naruto facepalmed, he walked into that one.

"By the way, where is she?"

"Left a few days ago for a mission with her team"

"Oh"

Once again, awkward silence ensued but it didn't last long since they arrived at the cafeteria. With another of Naruto's Scavenger privileges they didn't have trouble asking for three more soda bottles, if that wasn't enough after the chef realized it was Naruto asking for the extra beverage he gave Naruto one of the leftover baked cakes for said party and even gave him a thumbs up for being more sociable.

That comment made Naruto want to punch the chef in the face but he withheld from doing so because free food!

"That was... weird"

"Yeah, I saw him eating alone during our first day of school and joined him. When he realized I was a the new kid with the Scavenger status he became suspicious of my actions but after a while he 'saw my real nature' and started giving me free meals and stuff"

"Your real nature?" Cue raised eyebrow.

"His words not mine" Naruto replied with a shrug, he adjusted the bag containing the bottles and scratched his cheek.

"Maybe he found a kindred soul in your perverted ways"

"Ugh, aren't you supposed to be afraid of me?" Naruto sourly muttered under his breath.

Blake sharply glanced at him "I am"

"Then why are you so at ease? It hasn't even been a day since we spoke you know" Naruto genuinely asked.

"I'm tired of running away from my fears" Blake replied honestly "Sometimes when I look at you all I see is something that could harm me but that doesn't mean that you will do it, unlike him" Her voice trailed off.

Naruto blinked, he wasn't expecting that kind of response. Actually, he wasn't expecting any response at all.

"Just being near you makes me feel uneasy but you've been keeping your distance since you saw me earlier" Blake pointed at the, rather large, empty space between the two "Even the way you're speaking to me is different from the first time we spoke at length, you're acting more..." She looked at him oddly "Reserved"

Naruto gave her a self-depreciating smile "Was I that obvious?"

Blake nodded in response.

Naruto scratched his cheek again and chuckled softly "I was never good at being subtle"

Blake raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Naruto was all too happy to end the conversation there, anything else he might say would sound too depressive and bring the mood down or antagonize the girl, and that was the last thing he wanted to do now that he had finally gained a meager scrap of her trust. Besides, judging by how her body didn't tense during any point of their conversation meant that he was doing something right, finally.

Since the conversation ended on a better note, there was no awkwardness in the silence that ensued as the two walked together. Naruto kept his distance and Blake kept him in the corner of her vision. All too soon the duo found themselves standing outside the door to Team RWBY's room.

Before Blake opened the door she glanced at Naruto one more time, he was lost in his thoughts as he looked at the bag in his hand.

"Naruto?"

The ninja blinked and turned to her.

"Are you sure you want to come in?"

"Ah yeah, I promised Ruby I'd come" Naruto shook his head and gave her a smile.

An empty smile, she noticed but didn't say anything.

She turned and went to open the door only for it to open by itself, two sets of eyes blinking back at her.

"I'm back?"

"Kittycat you're ba-"

"Naruto you came!" yelled the red bundle that somehow flew above Yang's and Blake's head before impacting hard onto Naruto's torso. Said teen staggered back with the added weight of Ruby but managed to stay upright, his free arm instinctively supported the small girl by her thighs.

"Sorry for arriving so late" Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"It's fine, I honestly thought you wouldn't come but you're here!" And with that shout she hugged his neck as best as she could in her clingy position.

Naruto chuckled.

"Hmph, about time" Came the frosty tone of the princess standing near the door, an unreadable expression on her face.

Yang gave Blake a look to which the Faunus girl glared back "I stumbled on him when I was heading to the cafeteria"

"Oh" The look changed to one of disappointment before it disappeared, the firecracker grinned again nonetheless and moved aside to let the two in. Blake wasted no time in doing so and going to her rather empty corner, chair siting next to the shelves and one of the bunk beds.

"Naruto's here?"

Said ninja walked into the room, still being nuzzled by the chirpy girl, he waved the hand carrying the bag in a hello motion.

"Sorry for arriving so late" Naruto would've scratched the back of his head sheepishly had neither of his hands not being occupied.

"Yay! Now the entire team's here!" Chirped the second exhuberant girl in the room, she waltzed to the table that had an untouched cake among other unopened chips "Can I eat the cake now?"

"Not yet" The ever so tired voice of Ren came from behind the girl as he physically dragged her by the scruff of her neck back to her chair.

When Naruto spotted the other table with the drinks he placed the soda bag there and turned to look at everyone in the room.

Yang was still standing by the door, or more like leaning onto it with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face as she looked at him. Beside her, siting properly with an elegance expected of her, was Weiss holding a cup to her lips as she also looked at him with a glare. Directly to his right was Blake in her forever alone corner with a book in her hand and a plate of chips ontop of the bed.

Directly across from Blake were Ren and Nora sitting on extra chairs beside them, on the other bunk bed, were Jaune and Pyrrha sitting together and smiling at him. Both of those smiles made Naruto heart throb painfully.

Seeing as there was no other spot left he sat down beside (still left a lot of space between) Blake on the bed.

As if that was their cue both Jaune and Pyrrha stood up.

"Naruto/Naruto" Both spoke at the same time before looking at one another and snickering, the sight made everyone in the room also smile at the absurdity of it.

"You go first Pyrrha"

"No it's okay I can wait"

"No, please do"

"No, Jaune you shoul-"

"Guys" Naruto interrupted with a light laugh "I'm pretty sure what both of you will say and don't worry, you're welcome, no I don't need to be repaid for anything. Just don't mess things up again all right?"

Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked at one another wordlessly before looking at Naruto "Thank you/Sure man"

Pyrrha returned to her spot on the bed and held her hands together on her lap as she looked at the group.

"Well... Now that you're here I think it's time we truly celebrate" Jaune started as he served drinks for everyone, Yang quickly moved to help, and once everyone had a drink in hand Jaune started talking again.

"I know I have not been the best leader or friend for that matter and I want to apologize to my team" Jaune looked at his group "I'm really sorry for letting you down guys, it won't happen again" they smiled back at him "I also want to thank you guys for helping my team when I was being an idiot" Jaune looked at Ruby's group this time "And also thank you Naruto, you may appear cold but you truly are a nice guy"

Naruto chuckled at that.

"So this night I want us to celebrate that we're all here, together, in mostly one piece and finally starting our dreams to become Huntsmen and Huntresses" He raised his cup and cheered, he was followed by everyone else in the room.

After the cheers, Yang nudged Weiss and the Princess huffed before turning off the light. There was a moment of confusion in the group before a Glyph glowed above them in multi colors, almost like a disco ball, but in a lower intensity giving the room a truly party feel. If that wasn't enough, Yang turned on the music player to some electro music that Nora found herself nodding her head to.

Curiously enough after that, little groups were formed. Jaune and Pyrrha were together talking about some training regimen, Ren was making sure Nora didn't eat the entire cake by herself, Yang had left Weiss and joined Blake in her little corner trying to get a reaction out of her.

The Princess rolled her eyes and moved next to him on the bed, she eyed the still nuzzling red bundle in Naruto arms with disdain.

What Weiss didn't know was that from the second Ruby had glomped him, she had somehow felt the emotions inside Naruto's heart for a single second. That single second was enough to make her feel deeply sorry for the otherworldly ninja.

How could he feel so much pain and still smile at them?

She only felt what he felt for a single second yet it was enough to make her remember the time her own mother had disappeared, and even then, his pain felt even painfull'er if that was even a word.

So she didn't want to let go, she wouldn't let go, not until she was absolutely sure he got the message that she, err, they were there for him.

"I almost break my promise about coming here" Naruto tried to explain when he caught the Princess's glare, that didn't stop her from changing her glare target to him though, nonetheless he wasn't a ninja for nothing "I noticed you've improved a lot with your Glyphs" Naruto pointed at the disco glyph sphere above them before smiling proudly at her.

Weiss cheeks tinted the ever slightest of red at the praise "This much is nothing, there's a lot I've improved after our talk"

"Really? I kinda hit a wall myself, we should get together again sometime" Naruto voice betrayed the excitement in his tone, no matter the circumstances he would always be excited at the prospect of improving himself or learning new things.

Of course Weiss took that comment in a completely wrong way and blushed up even more before squeaking a weak "Sure" and trying(failed) to hide her face behind her empty cup.

The rest of the night was spent by in meaningless chatter between the groups, every so often someone would switch places and continue the chatter until Nora finally managed to sneak a slice of cake for herself and squealed in delight at the flavor, then it was a tug of war trying to make her not eat the entire.

She only calmed down when Naruto said that once everyone had their slice she could eat the rest, so with the situation back under control (somewhat) the party continued late into the night. Many of stories were shared, some embarrassing but humorous, throughout it all Ruby clung to Naruto like a koala much to the ire(jealousy) of the Princess.

During one of those group switch instances was when Naruto found himself sitting beside an inquisitive Yang, she offered one cup of soda that he gratefully took.

"I'm not sure how to feel seeing my little sister cling to you all the night" Yang joked as she petted the girl in question

"That would make two of us" Naruto scratched his cheek "Ruby?"

"Mmm?"

"Would you let go?"

"Nop"

...

...

...

"So yeah, there you have it" Naruto told Yang as he scratched his cheek again.

Yang rolled her eyes "Come on Sis, what are you going to do if Naruto needs to go to the bathroom? Are you going to go in with him~?" A sly grin accompanied her words.

Ruby mumbled something incoherently before looking up at Naruto with slightly puffed cheeks "Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

"Err... I don't think so?"

"Then I won't let go"

"Okay, why won't you let go then?" Naruto asked curiously, he had ignored the fact that she had been clinging to him for the entirety of his stay but now that it was brought up more directly he was curious.

"I felt it" Ruby mumbled so only he could her "I felt your pain"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and thinned his lips, the change in expression shocked Yang.

"How?"

"I don't know" Ruby spoke louder "Why... why do you feel so lonely?"

Naruto sighed, a tired, faraway look came into his eyes "I lost a lot but that's all in the past"

Ruby looked up at him again, the tiredness in his eyes was still present but Naruto gave her a real smile as he added "Besides I've got you all now, so I'm not as lonely anymore"

He was surprised when a hand came to rest on his forearm, his gaze found followed the hand all the way to it's owner. He had forgotten Yang was still sitting beside them as he spoke to Ruby.

"You're one weird guy, you know that right?" Yang joked lightly "I haven't seen anyone besides my mother change expressions so quickly"

Naruto blinked in confusion, what did have to do with their topic?

"Look I'm not good with words or this feelings stuff so uh, like you said, with us around you won't feel lonely anymore and if you ever do just pop by, don't bottle it up" Yang lightly punched his bicep as she tried to show her support.

Naruto smiled again "Gee, If I didn't know any better I'd thought you were confessing to me"

"Pfft, you have to work harder for this fine piece Whiskers"

"Right" Naruto rolled his eyes.

- 0 - RWBY: KnR - 0 -

"What do you think?"

"He's going to get himself killed at this rate, I'm surprised he hasn't already died yet"

"He's... very resilient"

"Was that all you called me for, headmaster?"

"No. One of the letters I received from the city came from Vale's hospital, Purity, and they require volunteers for building maintenance and preparations for the Vale Festival. I'd like you to take young Naruto among other students for this request"

The man narrowed his eyes.

"Why exactly?"

"No special reason, I just felt like giving him an easy assignment for once" The headmaster placed down his coffee mug on his desk "It won't by an issue, will it, head doctor Kenai?"

"No headmaster"

"Great, you're may leave now"

Kenai nodded and left the headmaster office, once he was in the elevator he tsk'ed as he brought out his phone and sent a mail.

"What's your game, Ozpin..."

- Chapter End -

Author's Note: Yaharoo~ Sorry for the delay in releasing this chapter, I got sideblinded by work and university projects/exams. If you must know, I had to present two projects consecutively and that lasted almost 2 hours presenting so there was a looooot of preparation for that.

Anyways back to the story, this chapter focuses more on character development for all of the teens, specially Naruto finally finding some peace thanks to the softie side Glynda has shown to him. Perks of being an understanding older sister!

There's a lot of stuff that I didn't write but you can gleam it if you read between lines and understand some of the feelings expressed here, specially the new trust bridge between the main pairing.

Lastly, thank you all so much for still reading this story and following/favorite'ing it. I honestly never expected it to have so many readers and I'm just so happy, I'll try to be more serious in updating and I'll also keep you guys up to date via my twitter (IreJasmine) weekly on the stuff I'm coming up with for other stories like Touhou one and new ideas I have.

So once more, thank you! and see you next update! - Jasmine