Here comes the long-awaited update!

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Sackcloth and Ashes

Chapter Eight: Sun meets Queen

Naruto studied the picture of Raven being presented to him, mentally thinking of a believable way to answer Ozpin's question. He could see why Raven didn't trust the man; he was obviously overly paranoid or suspicious of others. It was amazing he even had an inner circle that Glynda was obviously a part of.

"I've only seen this woman a couple of times," he answered, speaking truthfully at first. "The first time was when I was exploring some ruins that had some Grimm. She was camping out alone and had this vibe about her that told me to keep my distance."

"What ruins were you exploring?" the Headmaster pressed calmly.

"Hell if I know," Naruto replied, shrugging carelessly. "I was traveling alone at the time and didn't have any set destination until I heard that Vale was nearby. I'd heard of your school and figured I could find myself."

"Find yourself?" Goodwitch repeated with a raised brow.

Nodding, the Uzumaki elaborated, "I was in a low place after I lost my arm. Someone I saw as a brother had chosen a path I didn't agree to, and I needed him to help me with something personal. We ended up arguing before we fought and blew each other's arms off. I was able to survive, but I was alone when I came to."

The sincerity in his voice slightly stunned the two Huntsmen. "I'll admit that I thought it was a Grimm that took your arm," Ozpin confessed.

Naruto said nothing in response to that, prompting Glynda to resume, "What was the other time you saw this woman?"

"Here in Vale. I bumped into her on the street and she probably took pity on me, because she gave me one of the extra guns she had," he answered, gesturing to the holstered firearm. "She told me I should be more careful before leaving without another word. That's the last time I saw her."

"She never said anything that could warrant suspicion?" Ozpin asked.

"If anyone's suspicious, it's you, old man."

"Is that right?"

"You pulled away a student to ask about a random woman, and you aren't bothering to tell me what's so special about her. What, is she some sort of rogue, or a criminal? Is she one of the Huntresses under your employ that you're concerned about? All I know about her is that she's strong and that she was kind enough to give me a weapon; that's it."

Glynda narrowed her eyes at him. "This woman is more dangerous than you realize."

"Her name is Raven Branwen," Ozpin continued. "She's in charge of a tribe known for their illegal practices."

Crossing his arms, Naruto leaned back in his chair at the information. "How do you know there was some sort of connection between me and this woman, anyway? Spying on the citizens, or were you keeping tabs on her? Because, either answer is pretty messed up."

"In what way?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"If it's the first option, then it shows your really paranoid about what happens in the city. If it's the second, then you were watching a known danger to society and still let her come into contact with someone; aka me. Not sure how safe people will feel if that's your method of protecting them."

"You're speaking out of line, Mr. Uzumaki," Glynda admonished.

"No, I'm speaking as a concerned citizen," he argued plainly. "Vale is my home for as long as I'm enrolled in your school. If I know that criminals can walk around without consequence, I'm not sure if I will continue attending and just travel again."

"Cities like Vale provide security and protection," she fired back.

"Half-assed protection, by the look of things."

"How dare-?!"

"Glynda, enough," Ozpin calmly cut in, ignoring the incredulous look the blonde Huntress gave him. "Mr. Uzumaki has the right to speak his mind and bring to our attention his concerns about living in Vale. After all, if we were in his place, I'm sure we'd be just as concerned or critical about Vale's security."

She exhaled sharply through her nose, showing her annoyance at the situation.

"May I be excused now?" Naruto asked blandly. "I need to get back to my team and warn them about some rogue Huntress walking around Vale."

Glynda frowned at his tone while Ozpin let him leave. Once the two were alone, he spoke up, "Curious, isn't it?"

"That you continuously stand up for someone who speaks poorly about us? Yes, I find it both curious and aggravating," she answered.

"Not that. I find it curious how he knows Raven was a Huntress when you nor I said anything about that fact."

She blinked at that, mentally going over the conversation. "You believe there's something he isn't telling us."

"I believe that there's more than meets the eye concerning Mr. Uzumaki."

"So, what was so important that you were pulled away?" Emerald asked Naruto later that evening.

"Ozpin was asking about some woman I was seen with in the city a while back," he answered, disconnecting his fake arm and setting it on one of the desks. "Apparently, she's dangerous and I called them out on letting her walk around when they knew she was in Vale." He scoffed. "That Goodwitch lady can't take criticism well."

"Who was the woman?" Cinder asked curiously.

Naruto paused for half a second, but he was able to play it off by popping a kink in his right shoulder. Rolling it with the aid of his left hand, he answered, "Never got a name. all I know is that she had black hair and red eyes. She was wearing a simple cloak when I bumped into her."

"Was she one of the people you said helped you find your gun?"

"Yeah. Who knew that a rogue could be so helpful?" he joked, chuckling to himself as he laid back on his bed.

Cinder and Emerald shared a look while Neo eyed them from her own bed. Turning back to him, the False Maiden said, "As much as I don't like agreeing with the man, Ozpin is right on this one. If it's who I believe it is, she's dangerous and has a loyal following under her command."

Sitting up, he regarded Cinder with a raised brow. "Who do you think it is?"

"A woman named Raven Branwen. All I know is that she used to be a Huntress and that she's the leader of the Branwen Tribe; a tribe rumored to be full of killers and thieves."

"No offense, but isn't that the pot calling the kettle black on some level?" Naruto calmly challenged, earning a small smirk from the woman. "But, I'll keep my guard up if I ever see her again. That work?"

"That should be fine. I'm not saying you can't look after yourself, but you can never be too careful."

"Yeah, yeah…" he waved off, laying back down and settling himself to sleep.

Unknown to them all, the blonde with them was merely a clone while the real Naruto had gone off to Vale in the cover of night.

Red eyes stared out to the horizon from the docks of Vale, unfocused as the owner lost herself in her thoughts. That didn't mean she wasn't aware of her surroundings, like the approaching energy core that was rapidly closing in.

She blinked once to break from her thoughts, turning just in time to see a familiar blonde land in front of her from atop one of the warehouses of the docks. "Any reason you sought me out?"

Naruto rolled his ankle to get rid of a stubborn kink before he answered. "Yeah, there is. Ozpin knows you're here in Vale."

"Of course, he does. I spoke with my brother the day of initiation. He's quite suspicious of you and what I may have planned." She gave an amused smirk. "As if I could have a plan concerning someone so willful."

He rolled his eyes at the quip. "Hello Pot. I'm Kettle," he fired back, actually making her fight a snort. "Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that I'm planning on meeting this leader of the Grimm."

All amusement left Raven's face at that. "Come again?"

"You heard me…"

"I wish I didn't. Are you going back into your depression phase and slipping into suicidal tendencies?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he answered lightly, hoping to ease the tension.

It didn't work.

"This isn't a game, Naruto. Salem is not to be underestimated."

"Salem… So, I finally have a name to match a face to."

"Be serious!" she yelled, her hair flickering crimson briefly. "I've seen enough flashes of your life to know that you're stupidly reckless, and you can't have that same mindset when you interact with Salem! She's had Ozpin opposing her for years, and he still hasn't been able to stop her."

"Hmm…"

She took a breath and crossed her arms. "Look… I've glimpsed at how powerful you are, but power alone is nothing without the brains to use it. You're a knucklehead, and you can't stay as one with the power you can dish it. You need to handle this carefully."

"Uh-huh," was his dull response.

Her brow twitched. "Uzumaki…" she ground out dangerously.

"Yes~?" he asked back with a smile.

"Why are you acting so nonchalant about this?! Salem is nothing to laugh at, and neither is her ability concerning the Grimm or whatever other powers she may have! Are you willing to bet your life when you've never had to deal with her in the first place?!" She gritted her teeth before exploding, "I'VE SEEN WHAT SHE CAN DO!"

Naruto surprised her with an understanding smile. "I know you have, Raven…"

Recoiling, she took an instinctive step back. "W-What?"

"Don't forget that I've seen quite a few glimpses of your life, too… I know what she did to you and how that's only helped her grow stronger."

He took slow steps toward her, and she reflexively gripped the handle of her sword to defend herself.

"I know that you were reckless like I've been my entire life," he continued, keeping his slow pace. "I know that you tried to take her on with some of your tribe, and I know that it ended up a failure."

"Then why are you insisting on going through with this idiotic mission of yours?!" she raged. "You saw what happened to me! That witch ripped out my own darkness and turned it into a Grimm! My idiocy and recklessness only increased the strength of the army under her control!"

He finally stopped right in front of her, simply giving her a confident smile while his blue eyes bored into her red ones. "I'm going through with it because I refuse to be afraid of something I haven't seen personally. I wasn't scared of the Akatsuki, I wasn't scared of Madara, or of Obito, Kaguya, or even Sasuke. I knew what I had to do, and I faced them head-on. I refuse to do things differently just because I'm not home anymore."

She couldn't respond to that, slowly letting go of her sword one finger at a time.

"Besides," he continued, his smile becoming a grin, "I can't fail when I know a friend is worried about me."

She stilled at that. "…What?"

His grin turned cheeky in reply as his body was covered in golden fire, revealing a form she had only seen during his final clash with Kaguya. Absently, she noticed that the energy formed an ethereal right arm with clawed digits the flickered and twitched.

"I'll see ya soon, Raven," he bid before he vanished in a golden flash and a streak of light shot across the sky like a shooting star.

She watched him take off with a stunned gaze, unaware that her face had a faint blush from the warmth he gave. Slowly, her lips curved into a faint smirk as she replied, "Good luck, you stubborn idiot…"

He covered miles in just a couple minutes, passing over the oceans and smaller landmasses as before he stopped above an abandoned village. Landing down in the center, he dispelled his energy cloak and took a cursory glance at his surroundings.

The town had been abandoned for years, but in its prime, it looked to have had canals, enough space for a large open-air market, and plenty of shops or homes. He spotted a sign with faded lettering, but he was able to decipher the town's name from what he could read.

"Kuroyuri… The Black Lily…" he spoke aloud, his voice soft before he increased his volume. "Do you remember the names of villages or homes you expunge, or were they so forgetful that it didn't matter?"

Silence greeted him, making him sigh.

"I know you're there… You couldn't have missed my approach since I felt you."

"Impressive," a refined woman's voice spoke up, the speaker stepping out of the shadows. Her lips curved into an amused smirk as she walked more towards the center of the village, standing across from the whiskered blonde. "So, you are the source of light that has the Grimm so confounded. I expected someone older, to be honest."

"And I expected something uglier for a being of darkness; no offense. If it helps, small glimpses from visions don't do you justice, Salem," he complimented.

"You flatter me."

"I aim to please. It's how I've lived most of my life; doing right by others, even if I had to suffer for it. I was a living sacrifice, and I personified that by giving up my own happiness for others."

"And you still suffer," she noted, seeing his pain despite how well he hid it behind his blue eyes. "Your eyes scream of loss, of betrayal…of rage."

"Yep."

"And yet…the Grimm seek to protect or avoid you. Most curious…"

He shrugged plainly. "I honestly couldn't care what makes them act like that. I was more focused on the player instead of the pieces she controls on this board."

She hummed in acknowledgment. "It makes sense to know who or what you're up against."

"Who in this case," he clarified. "You're not some thing considering how you have a soul while the Grimm don't."

"And what makes you think I have a soul?" Salem asked curiously.

"I could feel life if I wanted to. While yours seems tainted in some sense, it's still life."

Her curiosity changed to amusement. "You continue to interest me…"

"Naruto," he supplied. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"A pleasure."

"Likewise."

"So," she began, waving her hand to form a table and a couple of chairs with her power. He nodded in thanks for the offered seat, both seated across from the other. "Why seek me out other than to see who the Grimm answer to? Surely, that isn't the only reason."

He shrugged again. "Nothing much other than that, honestly. I never went in with a plan already in mind. I preferred to think on the field rather than beforehand."

"A rather uncommon mindset; but, I can understand where you come from. Things can happen unexpectedly, and any previously laid plans can fall apart in an instant."

"Though, now that I'm here, I do have a couple of questions," Naruto brought up.

"As do I," she replied, waving her arm to him. "The guest has the first move."

"If you make Grimm, who made you? You have a soul, so it's clear that you came from life. But I can't help but wonder where you came from."

She gave a smile at that, chuckling softly at the query. "Believe it or not, I came from the moon after it was shattered; at least, a past version of myself."

"You reincarnate," he deduced.

"In a sense. It's more like a reformation once the form I take reaches the end of its life. In my previous form, I was once male. However, the first form I took was female; one with memories of a different life."

Naruto sighed with a somber look. "Did these memories belong to someone hailed as both a goddess and a demon?" He saw her look intrigued while nodding once. "I see… To think that the future turns so bleak after Sasuke's stupid ambition…"

"You know of the life before my own."

He nodded. "She was someone I fought alongside some comrades to free the world from a state of artificial happiness. They didn't suffer, but they were still dying as their minds lived a paradisiac illusion; the energy that sustained them being used to empower her."

"And yet…you're here now. How far back does your life originate, I wonder…"

"You can wonder all you like. All I care about is either finding a way back or making the most of the time I'm stuck in," Naruto stated, a frown on his face. "I'm giving you this one warning, and I hope you take it to heart."

"A warning?" she repeated, looking slightly amused.

"I can understand why the Grimm act the way they do; but, I'm not going to stay quiet when I see them going after innocent life. So, Salem, if I catch your pieces going after those not part of this game…"

His form was covered in golden fire once more, cracking the ground and shattering the shadow table between them. Salem's eyes widened in delight at the power displayed before her; her amusement changing into excitement.

"…I'll break the board apart, and you'll answer to me. Are we clear?"

Slowly, she rose from her seat before dark violet power began emanating from her form. It grew in strength and started creeping up to his level while her red eyes locked to his now golden orbs.

"You may find it difficult to follow through with that; but, I don't wish to upset one such as you so soon into this game of ours." Her power receded to a minimal level, barely flickering off her skin while Naruto dropped his entirely. "You interest me greatly, Naruto Uzumaki. I hope you continue to do so. Perhaps you may succeed where Ozpin continually fails."

Naruto didn't answer, instead choosing to vanish in a flash of gold that cratered where he once stood. This only made her eyes glow in further delight.

"Interesting indeed," she murmured, shivering at the lingering residue of their mixed powers. Raising her left arm, she chuckled at the sight of it tremoring before her eyes. She clenched her hand to stop the tremors before unfurling her fingers to look at her palm.

Staring back at her was a marking shaped like a crescent moon colored an ebon black.

The next morning at Beacon, Naruto lounged in his bed as he thought over his talks with Raven and Salem. It was Saturday, which meant no classes until the coming Monday. This left him optimal time to think over many different things; both in the past and current timelines.

To think that he wound up years – more than likely centuries – into the future after his final clash with Sasuke. It was a shock; but not totally unexpected. Considering how the rip he was sent through was spacetime, it obviously meant that he would either be flung to another space or another time.

'At least the issue of getting back is narrowed down to one category instead of ALL of them,' he mused internally, relieved that it was Time and not Space that he moved through.

If it had been Space, he would've had to search across multiple realities on the very minimal off chance that he found the one his home lived in. And even then, the reality could've just been a very close substitute for the genuine article.

With time, it was simpler. He just needed to keep moving backwards until he reached the waypoint he was sent from; or at least one that's close enough to it. This meant that he needed to think of ways to try it while testing various methods with clones.

Someone poking his head broke him from his thoughts, and he turned to see Neo looking at him curiously. "What's up?" he asked.

Seeing as they were alone since Cinder and Emerald went into the city to shop, Neo answered, "You've been lying there for hours. What's eating you?"

He snorted and joked, "I'm at the top of the food chain. Nothing eats me."

The dry look she sent him could've turned a glacier to water.

He chuckled at her expression, turning his gaze back to the ceiling of their dorm. "In all seriousness, I'm just thinking about home and how I could try getting back."

She nodded in understanding, despite the anxiety she felt creeping up her spine. "If you were able to…would you go alone?"

He blinked at the question before looking back at her, noting how she wasn't meeting his gaze. Realization slowly came to him, making him smile softly. "I'd take some people with me if it was safe enough…and if they really wanted me to."

She turned back to him in surprise, her eyes both white as they looked into his blue ones. Slowly, she smiled back while the whites changed into pinks. With a silent nod, she moved over to her bed and sat down before pulling out her sketchbook.

Naruto chuckled softly at her before tensing as his scroll vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was an unknown caller and got out of bed. "I'll be back," he told his partner before leaving the dorm.

Neo raised a brow at his abrupt exit before shrugging to herself. She trusted him enough not to feel any need to pry. He would tell her if it was important.

"Still alive, I see," Raven's voice spoke through the scroll, hiding her relief with ease.

"Yeah. I gotta say, the Hive Queen wasn't what I was expecting," Naruto replied, speaking carefully in case anyone decided to eavesdrop. "You were right though; she's dangerous."

"I'm more surprised that she let you leave without any issues…"

"She said that I was interesting. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing yet."

"Consider it a bad thing. Salem showed interest in my darkness before she turned it into a Grimm. If you interest her, then you're in her crosshairs."

"Figured as much," Naruto groused.

"Just be happy that it means she won't try to kill you. If anything, she may try to make you see things her way and get you to join her side."

"Anyone I should be on the lookout for?"

"Besides that Fall girl, you mean," she clarified. "Three men work for her from what I've been able to find out. Doctor Arthur Watts, formerly of Atlas is the first. The next is a scorpion Faunus named Tyrian Callows, known for his cruelty and fanatical devotion. I've lost some good tribesmen from the bastard."

"And the third?" Naruto pressed calmly, walking through the halls and easily avoiding other students.

"He's named Hazel Rainart, and he's got some serious grudges against Ozpin since Hazel's younger sister died during a training mission. She was a Beacon student."

"So, he blames Ozpin for her death since he should've been able to prevent it; considering how she perished during training…"

"Exactly. While Watts isn't known for his combative abilities, he's still intelligent enough for Salem to accept. It's mainly Tyrian and Hazel you'd need to look out for. I'll send you some photos of the three of them that we were able to get."

"Thanks, Rae," he replied, still speaking carefully.

"In the meantime, I have a favor to ask."

"Oh?"

"…Keep an eye on Yang for me, will you?"

He paused in his trek, not answering immediately as he heard the pleading tone in her voice. "…She's actually starting to be a friend of mine, and you know how I try to look out for all of my friends."

Unseen by him, Raven smiled faintly on the other end before hanging the payphone she had used. Disconnecting the signal encryption, she placed it in her pack and walked off towards the ports.

A ship was scheduled to sail to Mistral and there was a certain cowardly lion she needed to speak to.

That's that! Shorter than previous chapters, but I needed to get something out there before my muse was lost on this. I'm eagerly awaiting anything regarding Volume 6.

Hope you guys liked the chapter and Naruto's talks with both Raven and Salem. Regarding Salem's origins, I'm sure many of you saw this coming and I hope it's interesting enough to have you come back for more.

One thing I'm on the fence about is Cinder… I'm not sure if I want her in the pairing, despite the summary of the story directly referencing her and the "corruption" going on between her and Naruto. If I switched her out, who should take her place?

And don't give me short answers; I want SOLID reasons for the choice you throw out there!

One last thing before I go. On Labor Day weekend, San Jose (CA) is having an anime convention. I'm going to drive there for the weekend to attend and I'm pretty excited (considering how it's the first time I'm GOING to one).

If any of you readers are in the area at the time, I hope I get to bump into you. I'm not sure what would be good meeting grounds, so I suppose it'll all be based on luck. Still, it'd be nice to see at least ONE reader to talk to.

Until next time!

~pain17ification~