AN: ...Holy shit, Vol. 4...Ladies and gentlemen. I believe...We have a Greed. Frankly?

I love it.

AN 2: Oh, yeah, and Engineer4Ever made a reading of this story. But, whatever. I mean did you see that Grimm!? ...Ugh...So cool.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY.

Anarchy Of A Storm

Abrupt Course Change

So Tenshi, hm?

Ma's question implied that, had she a way to express it, she'd have her eyebrow raised and a scrutinizing look locked on Naruto. Thankfully, she didn't – she was only a voice in his head after all – and Naruto was easily able to shake off the feeling of his spine falling out as he raced across the rooftops of Vale.

Why the urgency? Well, there were two reasons for that. The first and most important reason being that you did not linger after a job. Ever. No signatures, no hovering over a job well done – the residents and members of Hel considered any job where the police were stupefied as such – and leave absolutely no evidence behind. Raven-sama beat that lesson into him quite literally. Really, all new bloods had to have the rule burned into their skin; it was part of the initiation/probationary process. Naruto was unlucky enough to get it right in between his shoulders and it remained there for a good year and a half before he was allowed to have it healed or covered up.

The second and not as important reason was a good amount of carnage being performed that had drawn Naruto's attention when he made his leave from The Club. Being that he was denied any information that would turn his confrontation with Neechan the Bitch from fantasy to reality, Naruto wanted to vent out some of his bottled up negativity. More so than he was able to with Junior, that is, and the only reason that beat down was so 'mild' – in the sense that Junior would walk away alive from it, which is more than others can claim – was because Naruto really didn't want to kill him.

I'm waiting... Ma drawled. Hell, now Naruto could imagine that she'd have been tapping her foot if she had one.

"What do you want me to say, Ma?" Naruto asked in annoyance as he vaulted over an air conditioning unit and used a flagpole like a springboard to clear the street below him. Being turned into paste was not on his agenda tonight. He landed firmly on another rooftop and slowed to a trot as he stared at a car dangling precariously over the edge of the highway.

Talk about car troubles, Naruto thought privately in amusement before he responded to the impatiently cleared throat. "What? Do you want me to say that I didn't mean it? That you're prettier than Tenshi? News flash: You're a voice inside my head, Ma! I'll lie to you if it makes you feel better, but it doesn't change the facts."

You-! ...I just don't think she's as angelic as you're making her out to be. Ma's forced tone made Naruto arch a brow, but he remained silent when Old Man spoke up.

I think what your-What Ma is trying to say is that she doesn't like Raven's daughter. Old Man offered.

It's not that I don't like her, it's that we don't know if she'll reciprocate whatever it is you feel for her. If you feel anything at all, that is. Ma pointed out. For all you know, she might just want to use you to get closer to Raven!

"Maybe, but she's got pretty... eyes..." Naruto trailed off as he came to a stop on the edge of a roof that oversaw the highway. More, mobile cars were being tossed left and right by a massive suit, a hunk of crap that Naruto recognized all too well. The whiskered blond palmed his face before he gestured wildly at the Paladin. "Oh, come on! How'd one of those get here? I destroyed the only one at the facility when I snatched the doc...tor... Oh, crap!"

This is why I told you to leave him with a clone instead of by himself! Old Man chided. Naruto raked his fingers down over his eyes and released an exasperated groan.

"Yes, I should've. No use crying over it now. Hindsight can kiss my ass." Naruto grumbled. He glared at the massive mech and watched impassively as the girl he called Tenshi drove up behind it on a motorcycle. Naruto's scowl increased dramatically as he watched the Nerd, who was riding bitch behind Tenshi, stood and leapt at the mechanical monster, only to be knocked away into a blond Faunus (presuming that yellow thing coming out of the teen's backside was a tail and not a rope or, god forbid, a figment of Naruto's frighteningly infrequent imagination).

"Sonovabitch," Naruto said when the teenage boys were knocked to a relatively nearby rooftop. "This would be so much easier to catch up to if Skater didn't still have my ride!"

The 'Heap of Stupid Shit', as you so elegantly call it? Ma asked. Naruto could hear the incredulous tone and frowned as she continued. Why not just scrap it and get a new car? You can afford it. I've seen your bank account

"Well for one thing, it's my Heap of Stupid Shit!" Naruto shot back as he leapt to the next rooftop to keep an eye on Tenshi as she pursued the Paladin. "And for another...I got it for my fourteenth birthday from my Hel-Mates."

That's...reasonable. Old Man admitted after a long pause. Do you think those boys landed safely?

"I'm sure they're fine. The magic Aura and all that junk probably saved their lives." Naruto mumbled as he stopped and watched the mech tumble off of the freeway. Then the blonde Tenshi parked her bike and jumped down after it. Personally, Naruto would've burst through the barrier on his bike, to look even more like a badass in his pursuit, but that was just his preference.

There was also the fact that Naruto didn't care much for any vehicle aside from H.O.S.S., but that was because he almost got hit by a lot of drivers on one pain in the ass mission. His legs still ached just thinking about that botched job. The blond shook those thoughts away and jumped to a roof that was close to the alleys where the fight had disappeared into.

You should go check on them. Ma suggested before Naruto could leap from the ledge he was on to get a closer look at the fight. The teen let out an annoyed groan, but Ma persisted. If you didn't care about his or that 'Tenshi's safety, Naruto, you would've just killed them back at the bar.

And it should be noted that checking on them would put you in a good light, making Vale's law force less likely to assume you're the cause for the fire and the incident at The Club, Old Man said.

Naruto conceded to that, he did need less publicity.

Not to mention that the fight was probably almost over – the Tenshi was a power type fighter and those types were very effective against anyone like whatever Pussy-With-A-Paladin she was facing. Naruto would admit he was curious about the Nerd's safety. He was a skittish dork, and sure, he didn't like Naruto – if not outright feared the insane blond – but it wasn't like Naruto wanted to see him dead. The guy never did anything to him.

...Okay, he mildly annoyed Spider and by extension Naruto, but aside from that, Nerd and that Faunus guy didn't have to go out like a pair of chumps.

With this thought in mind, the blond made his way over to where the younger teen and the Faunus had landed. Naruto arrived to find the Nerd checking over the Faunus' leg.

"Just a sprain, you should be fine in a sec." The Nerd reassured the other teen with a relieved grin while the Faunus groaned.

Naruto pursed his lips, since abnormal healing speed was often associated with aura, and most civilians had their auras locked away. That meant these two were Huntsmen-in-Training, though Naruto guessed that at least The Nerd had back when he guessed the same for Tenshi. Though he wondered now if they did it in school or if they had an accident like some of the Hel-Spawn Naruto worked with did.

I wonder if there is an age limit to unlocking aura, Old Man said suddenly. With chakra, we know that it has to be done while young so that the pathway system can grow, otherwise it withers down to the bare minimum.

"...Old Man, do you know that you've got a very bad habit of your musing sounding like the terrible exposition from Ero-Sennin's books?" Naruto asked. Ma burst into laughter while Old Man spluttered indignantly.

Distracted by the voices in his head, Naruto was brought back to reality when the blue-haired boy yelped after realizing that he was 'suddenly' perched right next to them atop an air conditioning unit. The nerd fumbled with his rifle for a moment before he aimed at the whiskered blond. Naruto cracked a grin and pushed the rifle out of his face.

"Oh, relax, Nerd Boy, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help!" He declared valiantly. He looked to the golden-haired Faunus that was still groaning on the ground.

Ooh, he's cute. Ma cooed.

Naruto let out a hum of thought, but decided not to comment as he stared the younger teen down. He gave off a warmth, as if the sun radiate from him, and dressed very loosely. The teen appeared to be what Naruto had overheard the barkeep from Hel call a 'total hottie'. At least the guy wasn't a 'brooding beauty', like his old Frienemy, but there was a charm about him.

The sudden feeling had Naruto pursing his lips in thought. Was he attracted to this Faunus? Odd, Naruto hadn't really considered himself capable of being attracted to other men after what happened between himself and his Frienemy on the last day of their class. Then again, there was that whole thing with Haku...damn that boy/girl's androgynous features! To this day, Naruto wasn't sure if Haku was fucking with his head when he/she said that he/she was a boy.

That is not funny. That will never be funny. Stop trying to be funny! Old Man grumbled at Ma, oblivious to Naruto's sudden concern over his sexual preferences and the gender of a long-dead friendly foe.

What? He's like a tailed, whisker-less Naruto with your-Naruto's father's girly face! ...Damn, I bet he could grate cheese on those abs! Ma whistled in appreciation at the toned definition as the Faunus got up with Naruto's assistance.

"Probably, but I bet that the smell would linger something awful," Naruto said thoughtfully to himself when his fellow blond took a step back. "Nice to meet the Nerd and Tenshi's teammate. I think he kept talking about you when I captured him."

Naruto, be nice! Old Man and Ma barked while the Faunus gave an amused look to the blushing blue-haired boy.

"My name is Neptune!" The rifle-bearing boy growled. "And you didn't capture me, your goon did."

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the details." Naruto rolled his eyes and met the cautious, but amused, gaze the monkey-tailed Faunus had locked on him. He grinned. "Let me guess, Son Goku, right?"

Dammit, Naruto! Ma and Old Man groaned while the Monster snarled in annoyance.

"I'm Sun Wukong, yeah." The Faunus, Sun Wukong, nodded slowly, not at all reacting to the complete butchering of his name.

...Roll with it! Old Man and Ma advised.

Rip his head off! The Monster roared. Naruto blinked, confused by the sudden demand, but brushed it off. He would address it later. Maybe.

"Cool, cool." Naruto nodded back and stuck his hand into his pocket while he ignored the voices in his head. "...This is awkward isn't it? I mean, you guys just got knocked out five minutes into the fight, I'm some random psychopath that's helping you for some reason unknown, and The Nerd's still got his rifle aimed at me."

"Dude!" Sun admonished his teammate and Neptune looked at him like he was crazy.

"What?! He just admitted to being a psychopath! I think some precaution is called for in this case!"

To be fair, he's got a good point, Old Man said. You did admit to being unstable, and that's dangerous. Especially when you're infamous.

"Whose side are you on?" Naruto asked, his eye twitching as he glared with glazed over blues, at nothing in particular. A loud explosion caught his attention and he turned away from the teens. Looking down – notably from the surprisingly fantastic vantage point they had – at the ends of the fight against the Paladin, Naruto spotted a white coat, a black bowler cap and an awesome shade of orange hair.

"Well, this has been fun. Goku, always nice to meet the Hope of the Universe. Nerd, keep on quacking, man." The two teens were unable to speak when Naruto saluted at them. He then executed a perfect swan dive into a dumpster over five stories below and hopped out of the bin unscathed.

Sun and Neptune stared at each other in disbelief before the latter snapped and gestured at the spot Naruto previously occupied.

"See?! Psychopath!" The blue-haired boy ranted. He clapped a hand over his eyes "I should've pulled the trigger! Now he knows our names and our faces!"

"Didn't he know your face already?" Sun asked. Neptune blanched and hung his head. Sun rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I dunno, dude, I think he's kinda funny."

"...You were dropped on your head as a child, weren't you?" Neptune asked dryly.

"Not dignifying that with an answer. Who cares if he's crazy?" Sun shrugged, his carefree grin back on his face. "We're all a bit nuts considering what we want to do with our lives."

Neptune opened his mouth and raised his index finger, fully prepared to argue against his claim, but then sighed and slumped forward when he realized that Sun's logic was...correct.

Dammit.

"It's been fun kiddos!" Roman called to the four girls that destroyed his Paladin. He cracked a grin when they prepared to rush him, and stood by Neo. Neo cracked a small smile and twirled her parasol before she rested it on her shoulder. Roman let his partner-in-crime envelop him in her semblance so they could slip away. Still, being who he was, he had to get in a final taunt. "But, it's past your bedtime, so we'll have to continue this another day-"

"ELEMENT OF SURPRISE!" A yellow blur tackled Roman from the side to the ground, further away from the girls, and quickly turned to throw a short dagger of some sort at Neo.

The ice-cream-haired was caught off guard by the weapon for about a fraction of a second. Neo used her umbrella to knock the throwing knife away, but it didn't go far enough that she was able to avoid the blast radius. She was sent off a good distance away, slammed back first into a pillar holding the highway up, and slumped to the ground.

A pair of hands tightly grabbed the thief's collar, kicked away his cane, and pulled Roman up so that he was face-to-face with his assailant. The blond's mouth spread into a wide, shit-eating grin and he dealt out a quick, restrained head butt that shattered the thief's nose before Roman could place the face to a name.

"How's it goin', Firecrotch? Didja miss me?" The teen asked the man as he tried to grab at his bleeding nose. The blond had none of that, though, and kept shouldering away the hands. "All the good men still helping your mom whenever she needs it?"

That was more than enough of a clue to tell the dazed thief who had him by the throat.

"Ohh, great. First those weird kids and now you're here." Roman grumbled as he glared at the without-a-care-in-the-world grin on the teen's face. The snark in his voice left abruptly when he was slammed back of the head first into the ground. A dazed groan escaped him as he was lifted back up.

"Be nice! Those weird kids as you call them are going to be my friends." The teen, Uzumaki, warned with a playfully dark undertone. "Scary, isn't it?"

"Not really." Roman grunted. He cracked a small smirk. "All you freaks love to flock together."

"Wow... That...That actually hurt my feelings more than I thought it would. And here I thought we had something special." Uzumaki frowned and his bottom lip warbled before he barked out a laugh. His smile vanished and a dark gleam that sent a shiver down Roman's spine appeared in his eye. "I have a question that I want you to answer for me: Where's the Bitch?"

"Ah, shit." Roman grimaced. Of all the times for Cinder's mistakes to bite him in the ass, it had to be now and with this madman, didn't it? Roman tried to put on a brave front, but couldn't as he realized that this probably wouldn't end favorably for him. A realization he apparently managed to speak, because the younger teen cut him off before he could finish the question.

"This isn't going to end well for you, no." Uzumaki's smile was still gone and the scowl slowly deepening. Another knife was pulled out and the edge was held tightly against his face, the tip just a hair away from cutting the thief's eyeball. Roman did his best to remain absolutely still even as his cheek started to sting as the cool night breeze rushed into the shallow cut the blade left. "And the longer you draw this out, the longer I draw you out."

"That-That doesn't make sense, but it's still frightening." Roman admitted. Uzumaki shrugged and gained a predator's smile.

"I always promise to try." The toothy grin disappeared and the amused blue eyes burned red. "Now. I won't ask again: Where. Is. The. Bitch?"

"You don't-" Roman's voice cracked just slightly, covered hurriedly with a clearing throat. He narrowed his eyes and tried to buy just enough time for Neo to get off of her ass and get him out of this situation. "You don't scare me."

"R...Really?" Uzumaki asked. His right golden brow had arched up in a challenging manner.

"Really." Roman hoped he sounded as confident in his words as he thought he did.

"Really?" Uzumaki's lips pulled back in a small smile.

"Yes! Really!" Roman snapped. A subtle gesture of movement caught his eye and he smirked. Just a few more seconds, hopefully he could manage to stall a little bit longer. "You good guys are all the same. That other night, what you did shocked me, yeah. You had backup, then; a group of hardcore professionals that followed you and are notably missing from this equation. All you've got now are a bunch of freaky school kids. And you know you won't break their innocent minds."

"..." Uzumaki took a deep breath through his nose and pursed his lips. He closed his eyes for a moment and then let Roman drop. "You know what? You're right. I don't want to break their innocent minds. ...Yes, really."

Roman smirked triumphantly. His bluff paid off, Neo was already back on her feet and–

Now pinned to the pillar she already slammed into by no less than ten more of those knives. Where the heck did those even come from? And why were they smoking at the handles?

The pillar Neo was pinned to was suddenly engulfed in a massive cloud of smoke and debris as the knives exploded. Uzumaki pulled his beast of a handgun out and fired three shots into the residual rubble before he pointed it down at Roman. Aimed right at the man's forehead.

Huh... Roman thought suddenly. I never even thought to try escaping.

"Pretty sure she'll be okay, not sure if I even hit her with that. Could've been another bullshit clone." Uzumaki's musing made Roman's eyes bug out. Had Neo already encountered Uzumaki before? Why didn't she say any-Er, why didn't she try to warn him about the crazed freak? Or Cinder?!

"Hey! My clones aren't bullshit! They're as solid as I am and kick as much ass-It has to be a hard smack!" Uzumaki's head suddenly tilted to the side and he hummed. "It's not like I haven't considered it. She is kind of cute. And I do like how her hair looks. ...Yeah, that figures. Keeping me isolated from any girl I come across...You really are an overprotective mother or what I presume to be one, aren't you?"

Is...Is he serious right now? Roman wondered. Seeing the blond break off into a spiel and argue with someone who wasn't there was morbidly fascinating. It was like watching a car crash or a train derail. Roman couldn't bring himself to look away.

That is, until the sirens sounded.

"They're surprisingly on time for once. That so figures," Uzumaki said with an annoyed growl. He looked back down at Roman and his upper lip curled back in disgust. His finger strained against the trigger before he angrily holstered the gun and grabbed the man's collar angrily. Roman found himself hoisted up to Uzumaki's face. Then, the aforementioned trigger finger was an inch away from the thief's face as the younger man snarled. "Don't think this is over, Firecrotch! I'm going to be your first visitor in jail, and believe me, you'll wish that you'd dropped the soap by the time I'm done with you!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Roman asked. "Is that a threat?"

"Bitch when I'm done with you, you will always be silent and deadly! And-" Uzumaki paused and turned away to grumble under his breath at voices only he heard. By this point, Roman wished that the little psychopath had just shot him and was done with it.

"VPD! Nobody move!" one of the law enforcement officers called with the use of a megaphone.

Uzumaki growled again and shoved Roman to the ground before he dove headfirst into a nearby dumpster. Roman blinked incredulously at the act and ignored the dull throb he felt at the back of his head.

A hand belonging to a girl much smaller than himself pulled Roman back to his feet. After he fought off the dizziness that came with his head trauma, the thief leveled his associate with a hard glare.

"Well, did you enjoy your nap?" He snarked. Mismatched eyes rolled and Roman scowled. "We have a lot to talk about, Neo. Now hurry up and get us out of here!"

Neo tilted her head before she nodded in agreement.

"Alright, what did we learn today?" Naruto muttered while he bounced around in the back of the VPD's armored personnel carrier. He was accompanied by two VPD officers fully decked out in riot gear, both seated across from him and most of their faces were hidden by their helmets, with only their mouths visible. Their stun batons were out and in their hands, ready to be used at a moment's notice.

Hiding in a dumpster doesn't work in the slightest? Ma asked. It was almost mocking, but to be fair, she had told him to hoof it instead of jump into a pile of trash.

"Hey, I was running on adrenaline! I reacted instinctively! Most people back home wouldn't search dumpsters..." Naruto argued childishly, a pout already on his face.

Most people back home don't have a chance of having mammalian scavenger traits in their DNA. Old Man pointed out. Naruto's pout increased at the almost parental chiding in the voice's tone.

"Okay, so I didn't think before I acted. I really have to stop doing that," Naruto said. He chuckled and let his head tilt back and rest against the wall of the truck. "Then again, thinking is nothing but a drag."

Please don't quote the Nara. Ma and Old Man pleaded simultaneously, which earned a snicker from the blond. His snicker elected a small snort from one of the two officers.

"What's so funny?" the guy on the left asked.

"Nothin'. Just thinking 'bout the last time I was chained up like this. Naruto lifted his hands to shake the shackles awkwardly, since they were connected to his feet and neck by a short chain that restricted his movements. A bittersweet smile settled on his face. "It was my sixth birthday, good times. Got all I could eat at the Ramen stand."

Good ol' Teuchi! Old Man chimed in happily. Wait, why were you all chained up when you were six?!

"I don't want to talk about it...although, that reminds me..." Naruto arched a brow and set his hands back in his lap. "Tell me again, officer. What are my charges?"

"Assault with a deadly weapon, trespassing, destruction of public and private property, and then there's the charges from Mistral and Atlas that label you as a terrorist-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! If anything, I am a freedom fighter! Not a terrorist! I fight for the right to partyall night! Terrorism, the mere thought disgusts me!" Naruto spat and his loogie missed the right officer's shoe by a hair. Apparently, that was enough incentive to earn the blond a sharp jab from the officer's stun baton. Naruto convulsed and warbled as the current raced through his nervous system.

"Duck, you have got to work on that temper." The left officer deadpanned to his partner. The right officer huffed and rubbed his stun baton while he watched Naruto convulse.

"For all we know, his semblance has something to do with his spit. Maybe it's acidic. Maybe it's explosive. I'm just being careful, Hill." The right officer, Duck, argued. "Besides, he just basically admitted to being the terrorist wanted by Atlas and Mistral!"

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when the Captain nails your balls to the wall for the coming excessive force charge." Hill muttered. Duck shrugged and Hill shook his head in disgust. He looked at Naruto when the blond groaned and righted himself. "How'd that feel, Funny Guy?"

"...That hurt, but also brought back a lot of memories. Like that time my best friend shoved his hand through my chest. Good times!" Naruto chuckled and looked at Duck. "Thank you, sir, may I have another?"

Duck and Hill looked at each other before they looked back at the smiling blond. Duck leaned forward and tapped the side of his helmet.

"You're not all there, are you?" he asked.

No. You are. I made sure of that. The Monster growled. It snorted. Though, whether or not your sanity is intact is another matter entirely.

"No one asked you!" Naruto snapped harshly, glaring at his navel as he did. Unfortunately for Naruto, this earned him another stun baton stab to the gut and he divulged into another spat of convulsions. Hill turned to look at Duck again. Duck shrugged.

"The suspect was getting volatile," he said.

"You are so getting suspended."

"With the animals acting up like they are? Yeah, I doubt it. Besides, it's not like you're going to turn me in."

You know, the fact that these two are officers of the law frightens me. A lot. Old Man deadpanned.

It's not often we agree on something, but I agree. Begrudgingly. The Monster snarled.

By the Will of Ramen, I never thought this day would come... Ma whispered in awe.

"Wh-Wh-what ar-r-r-re the cha-a-ances?" Naruto asked while he convulsed.

All of my hate goes to your damnable bloodline, Uzumaki. All of it! The Monster roared. Naruto was faintly able to hear Ma snicker and Old Man sigh before he tuned out of the conversation when the APC came to a sudden and abrupt stop. Naruto groaned from the blow he took to the head and twitched from the residue electricity that raced through his body.

"Whoa! Easy on the breaks! Did you just get your license or something?" Duck demanded of the driver. The view-slot slid open and a short four-inch long barrel slid through the grate that protected the driver from being grabbed by a would-be escapee. The officers' let out alarmed cry before four muffled pops silenced them forever.

"A license? Shit, man, don't they know that ain't nobody got time for that?" Snorted the driver in an endearingly annoying manner. At hearing the driver's voice and the words he used, Naruto groaned again.

"Raven-sama sent Mad Dog McQuaid after me?" He asked aloud. "Just kill me now."

Mad Dog McQuaid was one of Hel's high-ranking members, and since the ranking was determined by the amount of successful jobs as well as the fees acquired through said jobs, that said a lot. Most thought that he was a horribly disfigured man that hid his face behind a crimson helmet and there were rumors that he was somewhere in his seventies or that he'd been alive for just a little more than a century. Naruto knew from his occasional (possibly invasive) search through Hel's de-classified files that McQuaid was the man's real name, but that Mad Dog was something the other denizens started to call him.

Enough time around the man and you understood why.

"Bub, you're asking for too much, and that's not the job. Now sit tight and I'll be back there in a jiffy-" McQuaid's teasing tone cut off when something suddenly barreled into the side of the APC. The vehicle rolled for quite some time until two buildings were kind enough to halt its momentum.

Despite this, Naruto's head continued to figuratively roll around and he groaned beneath the weight of the two corpses that he found himself under.

"What the hell was that?!" he finally managed to ask. The reply he got was not reassuring.

"No more rollercoasters for me, Janie. I don't wanna go upside down again..."

No, McQuaid's groggy and gurgled reply didn't reassure Naruto in the slightest. Then there was the sharp creak of metal as something pulled along the impacted wall of the APC.

You need to get out of here, Naruto! Old Man barked.

"Yeah, no need to tell me twice." Naruto muttered as he wriggled his way down towards the back doors of the APC. He stopped abruptly when an obsidian blade suddenly pierced through the hull, just an inch away from it being stabbed into his left eye. The blade retracted and a golden eye with small flakes of black speckled around the pupil stared down at the blond.

"Heh, would you look at that? Right where he said you'd be." The eye's owner chuckled in a masculine, if not also a disturbingly crazed (and this is Naruto who believes it to be disturbing) way. "He really can see the future."

The eye backed away and a thin obsidian tendril shoved itself into the hole. Now, Naruto wasn't one to freely disclose his past-times in regards to what sort of after-dark entertainment he viewed, but one of the few things he stayed away from was anything involving tentacles. Partially because of the poor quality that had been in his first viewing, but mostly because tentacles didn't choose. They just did.

"I am not getting killed by a tentacle monster! That is the last fuckin' straw!" Naruto declared as he shimmied away from the approaching ooze. There was a heavy punch against the side of the overturned APC and the Golden-Eyed Man snarled.

"Even if I was going to do that, which I'm not, I'd be the best you ever got you little shit-stain!"

He sounds frighteningly confident about that, Ma said worriedly. Naruto! You have to shimmy! Shimmy for your life!

"Again! Goes without saying!" Naruto snapped as he resumed his frantic – and awkward, Naruto was not happy that he has to climb over two stupid cops' corpses to get out of the damn death trap – crawl towards the doors.

Golden-Eye Man's obsidian tentacle felt around and snagged one of the corpses – Duck, Naruto thinks – by the ankle. The tentacle suddenly expanded like a massive garbage bag and the corpse was swallowed in, lost to the vast darkness. That spurned Naruto on to not only hurry his crawl to the door, but also try and get himself out of his binds.

You know, I bet the officers might've had keys on them. Old Man chimed. Naruto's eye twitched furiously and he stopped his occasional pull on the chains.

"Old Man, I would punch you through the gut if you had one!" He snarled. He turned around and began to search the remaining corpse. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?!"

I was trying to determine who or what is trying to kill you. I figured you would've gotten an idea like that.

"...You can't regenerate your head. You can't regenerate your head. You can't regenerate your head..." Naruto told himself repeatedly to not act on the idea of shooting himself just to make an attempt to kill Old Man. While he recited the five words like a mantra, he furiously searched the remaining corpse for a set of keys. He paused momentarily at the sound of something regurgitating.

Naruto was used to being the cause of that sound for some of his earlier jobs, hence why he was familiar with it.

"Ugh, god, that guy was a cop!? Jeez-Louise Agnes! What the fuck is wrong with Vale!?"

Hm, the consumption of a body allows for assimilation of memories? Does the head have to be intact? Or can it be as small as a blood sample? Old Man wondered.

Dear, your evil scientist side is showing again. Ma chided.

I'm not like Orochimaru! Old Man protested.

"That's up for debate – A-ha!" Naruto grinned as he pulled up a ring of keys that had a rubber duck keychain on them. He blinked at the accessory and then paled. "Wait, so...if this is Duck..."

Don't think about it! Just escape! Old Man and Ma urged. Naruto shook his head and nodded as he began to undo the cuffs. When he was free, he tossed the chains away and rolled away when the tentacle stabbed down at him. Like before, the obsidian organic snagged the corpse and devoured it.

Naruto the new sound of retching as he began to ram his shoulder into the back doors. It took a few tries, but finally, Naruto managed to burst free from the wrecked APC. He fell out of the vehicle and climbed off of the rubble that had been caused when the APC impacted with the building. Naruto looked around.

"Huh," he said. "This looks like a Haven dorm's common room. Must be lights out or-"

"It's being renovated." The echo-y, disturbingly crazed voice of the Golden-Eyed Man made Naruto still and he slowly turned around to finally get a good look of his hunter, who stood right behind him.

The man wasn't bulky, but there was a mass of some sort of obsidian organic ...thing that gave the illusion of it. His face was clean-shaven, but the weird organism that surrounded him showed digging into his flesh, actively moving beneath his skin. It looked like black roots that were still growing or exposed veins pulsing. His eyes were bright gold, almost like a Grimm's, but lacking the red sclera that would surround the yellow orbs of mindlessness.

The man smiled, revealing sharper than average teeth that lined his mouth and lifted his – calling that thing a claw was an insult to Faunus who had such extremities – talon-tipped finger. It slowly advanced until it was halted by something. It was then that Naruto realized that only a window separated them. Instinctively, Naruto reached for the Samaritan and Baby.

Neither were there. Naruto's eyes slowly widened in horror as he remembered that another officer took all of his weapons in a separate cruiser. Everything. His guns, his kunai, his shuriken, his utility belt, and even the ammo in his vest.

The talon pressed into the glass and a drawn out skree was heard as the hand it belonged to dragged slowly around the window.

Naruto! Old Man shouted. Move! You have to move!

Make some clones! A Rasengan! Do something! Ma ordered.

Naruto kept his eyes locked with those of the Golden-Eyed Man. He could try clones, but judging by the multiple tendrils that sprouted from his back, they wouldn't do much to stop the guy. The Rasengan could wound it and give him some time to run away, but someone else sent this guy after him. He had a feeling it wouldn't give him much time to run, or rest, afterwards.

The glass shattered as the slow hand that dragged across the surface suddenly smashed through. It wrapped around Naruto's throat and pulled him close, just as the Golden-Eyed Man's upper face was covered by a white variant of the substance, resembling a large Grimm mask. The bottom part of his mouth became a wide, reptilian smile.

"Before I assimilate you, allow me to introduce you to your future brilliance," The Golden-Eyed Man said, his monstrous mouth not moving as he spoke. "My name is Erik Bagley."

"...Hi." Naruto greeted, as well as he could, as the hand around his neck cut off his airways. "...Uh, any reason you're going to kill me? Um, is it...Did I kill your brother or something?"

"Nah, you're just another job." Bagley's toothy smile didn't change in the slightest. "Nothing personal. You understand."

"Unfortunately." Naruto agreed tightly, as the hand slowly crushed his esophagus. Naruto's eyes slowly began to roll into his head and he was lifted off the ground. Air became harder to take in, let alone release. A feeble last attempt to retaliate was made by his hands, which grabbed onto the obsidian organic arm that held him, but they became very cold as the organic material engulfed them.

Boy... The Monster within called softly and drew Naruto's attention. Old Man and Ma were faintly heard calling for him. For once in the few years he'd been preferring their presence, at the moment he ignored them in favor of The Monster. This being is not natural. It is a threat to our existence. It must die here and now.

"Heh..." Naruto's whisker marks thickened as the taint within started to empower him. His hands balled into tight fists, his knuckles became bone white when red energy bubbled around his core. He grit his teeth and gave the confused Kincaid a pained grin, which revealed his slowly growing fangs. "Weird...I was...going to say...the same thing..."

Bagley's head tilted slightly. "I didn't say anything."

"Wasn't...Talking...to you." Naruto's red eyes flashed and the small bubble of energy that hovered over his navel suddenly engulfed his form. Bagley released a loud wail once the energy encased Naruto's hands and neck. The massive Grimm-like man backed away with his hand pulled against his chest, looking at the steam that came off of it in shock.

"Does it hurt? Trust me, pal. You don't know what pain is." Bagley looked up at the accusation to see the hunched over blond become fully covered by the red energy. The teen's breathing had increased dramatically, becoming a pained pant. When Naruto looked up, Bagley took a wary step back. Furious red eyes glared into Bagley's golden orbs. "Not yet anyway."

AN: Yeah, ending it there. Gonna have a nice fight between Shroud-1 Naruto and Erik Bagley. Took a bit from Marvel this go-around. Can't help it, they're a huge inspiration and frankly, I'd like to see this happen.

Especially now that we see more about how Grimm come to be...God...DAMN, Vol. 4 is going to be A-MAY-ZANG!

You know what to do...

REMAILINBOXTOPS!