Kitsune In Remnant

I don't own Naruto or RWBY

"Talking" "Different Language"

'Thoughts'

'Attacks'

"Demon/Summon Talking"

Naruto dressed in his ANBU gear trudged through base-camp as rain pelted down from above, turning the muddy ground into a swampy mess. All around him Shinobi, Samurai and standard footmen ran about to their jobs in a mass showcase of chaos. Nobody paid attention to him, which he was thankful for. Especially after the news they just received, everyone was more troubled with the break in their defensive line.

Thoroughly soaked, he entered the command tent where most the leaders of the war effort had gathered. Heads turned when he entered and the faces of the 5 kages and several high-ranking officials from the main army stared back at him. He bowed his head shortly in greeting and walked up to the table, where a map of the Continent was displayed.

"Commander thank you for coming, I assume the news you bring isn't good." Tsunade greeted with a grim look.

"I'm afraid not Hokage-Sama." Naruto replied, refraining from calling her Baa-Chan. "The defenses have been fully breached in the Land of Rivers. My ANBU report a vanguard of 10,000 advances through with more being assembled as we speak. They have a direct path straight into the heart the Nations, already the Daimyo of Rivers has announced his capitulation to the invaders and several more minors are likely to follow such as Mountain, Bear and Fang, who were already under threat."

"Just the Land of Rivers folding puts Fire and Wind Countries under threat. If more follow we could be looking at a total collapse of the Elemental Nations." Garaa murmured.

"Do we have anything to move in the way?" Mei questioned.

One of the General's shook their head. "I'm afraid not, we're already outnumbered and spread thin across the whole continent, if we move any large number of soldiers the entire war could collapse." He reported.

"The best we can do currently is throw parties at their flanks and attempt to slow them down." Another said. The tent became enveloped in silence as the full weight of the situation settled.

Eventually Naruto spoke up with a heavy heart. "Perhaps we don't have to send an army, how about just one man." Eyes turned to him and he felt their burning scrutiny.

"What are you saying?" A asked gruffly.

Naruto closed his eyes and shagged slightly, before reaching into his pouch and putting a single kunai on the table. If anything, the silence got heavier, each kage knowing exactly what the kunai meant.

"So boy, you finally figured it out." Onoki practically growled, his contempt for what that kunai represented went unsaid.

"Enough." He stated simply.

Tsunade crossed her arms under her breasts and frowned at the boy she thought of a grandson, "You are aware of what you are risking correct? You will kill more than your Father ever did." She pressed. "Are you willing to cast out your humanity? You will never be the same again."

Naruto looked at her through his mask and nodded once. It was enough.

"Very well Commander, the very fate of the war effort rests on your shoulders." Mei proclaimed solemnly.

"Do not fail, because you have no other choice in the matter." A grunted.

Naruto somehow stood a little straighter, "I need supplies." He requested.

"How much do you need?" Gaara prompted.

Naruto turned to him, "How much have you got?"

10,000 Remnent soldiers marched in quick time along a river, just outside a large forest that encompassed the land of Rivers. Spirits were high after the breakthrough and many within the ranks were overjoyed at being given the opportunity to drive the first knife into the Elemental Nations' underbelly.

There were of course those wary of an ambush along their route, they weren't exactly being subtle and ambushes were the shinobi's greatest strength. But many dismissed such ideas, they were many in number and while shinobi could certainly punch above their weight there were no significant troop compositions near to threaten them. They were home clear, and the end of the war was in sight.

Ebon was an Atlesian regular that had been in service for 2 years before the outbreak of the war and had served faithfully for the duration of it. His first active battle zone was Sea Country and his second and third on the outskirts of Fire and Earth Countries. Since then he'd stayed in the forested River Country as part of a force dedicated to rooting out the River Daimyo's forces led by shinobi in gruella tactics.

The use of Fire Dust was prevalent in this, and step by step they drove them out of the forests and to the rivers that the country was known for.

The sun was high in the sky and was warm on his face and back, and he enjoyed what was basically a walking through the countryside. It could have been a movie from back home in which the sky darkened suddenly from the metal falling from the sky, hundreds, no thousands of kunai almost literally blotting out the sun.

The large column, caught unawares and with their metaphorical pants down, screamed and yelled in pain as the shinobi trademark pierced bodies and dropped them like flies. Those that survived, scrambled to get into some sort of defensible position as they figured out who was attacking them.

Ebon among them, pushed towards the river, slashing slighting into the surf. Shinobi out in the open were at their weakest, with no aura they could easily be overwhelmed when numbers were against them, which these ones must certainly be. The kunai barrage, as surprising as it had been, hadn't done much damage. It had only alerted them to their presence.

The army split and grouped up in separate squads as kept their eyes on the woods in front of them waiting for the shinobi to show themselves.

As suddenly as the kunai appeared, so did these yellow flashes intermittently appear, horrifyingly among their formations. As soon as one appeared and disappeared, a dozen men would fall, or an explosion would consume a squad.

These were so sudden that a flash could appear and reappear among a different group before the first had began falling. They had never faced something like this throughout the whole war, shinobi were fast yes, but this was different. Before they could fight back, perhaps futility, but they would fight. This was simply a slaughter.

And it terrified him, every flash caused him to flinch, expecting himself to be next. Each new group of screams sent a stab of anticipation down his back as he vainly tried predicting where this mysterious killer would strike next.

Red, the river ran red. That wasn't right, water was blue. The grass was red too, it was meant to be green. Why was everything red!?

He was panicking now, he knew it too, but there was nothing he could do to control himself. A heavy presence had settled on his chest, it felt like a Beowulf was sitting on it, it made it hard to breath.

He dropped his rifle, when had his hands got so numb, not just his hands. He entire body was numb, were his legs shacking? He couldn't tell. He stepped back and stumbled on a hidden hole in the river, tripping and landing chest deep in the water, or was it blood at this point? But it ultimately saved his life as this time the flash appeared and blinded him, when it was gone, his squad, his friends, family were simply floating in the river, throats slit, or hearts pierced. Their blood already adding to the devilish concoction he was sitting in.

A single kunai caught his eye, it was three pronged and slightly longer than the standard one shinobi used. The handle was covered in a paper tag with squiggles on it that glowed slightly, was this it, this the source of their downfall. A simple kunai?

Ebon looked up from the kunai, towards the shore and his breath caught in his throat. The army, some of the finest soldiers Remnant had to offer, was obliterated. Bodies were floating aimlessly in the river, others were scattered on the shore, killed in an all manner of fashions. Some simply by a neat line across the throat, more were pierced by upwards of a dozen of the single blade kunai and shuriken. Had he been another man, he'd have thought this some poignant section in a story, made to tear at the readers heartstrings. But he wasn't and this was very much real, and he was sick. Horrified. Thousands simply dead, not even the grimm had killed so many so swiftly. What kind of monster, kind of demon, was worse than the Grimm? The very being that had a cause a ceasefire during a war because they became too big a problem to ignore.

Then he saw him. It.

He hadn't picked up on him first, thinking him nothing more than a shadow. But the porcelain mask gave it away, it was once white, now it was stained red. Its body was stained red in blood, and it literally dribbled off it's blade as he walked softly through the carnage, inspecting his handy work. Was it out of pride or was it just being thorough?

It paused and Ebon's heart leapt into his mouth, it was eery how it turned towards him without making a sound. But the mask of a fox of all things stared back.

Who are we, to be brought so low, by but a fox? A creature that slinks in the night.

Now he was no means a master at sensing people with his aura, but there was no mistaking it's presence on the field. It was suffocating, it reeked a foul odour of pure murder and bloodlust. Was it a demon after all, was any man capable of such destruction without balking? A demon employed or enslaved by the barbarians to unleash on their enemies, without hesitation or remorse.

The 'Bloody Fox'.

The words came to mind and it was suddenly all he could think about.

He blinked and it was gone, just vanished. Alive he may be, but nearly 10,000 others didn't share his fate. The fox had spared him for a reason, and he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was leaving, he was done with war if this was the outcome.

Shakily he got to his feet and set about looking for survivors. See if any others were as lucky as he to have survived being face to face with a literal demon.

News had spread around the camp of Naruto's mission, and the panic that had encompassed it for days had burned out into a cold nervousness.

Word had also reached them of two more armies advancing into the Land of Rivers, their numbers were unknown, but Naruto said he'd deal with them in a similar manner. That was a week ago, nearly two weeks now since the first breach. Now however, a toad had been sent ahead, the armies in Rivers had been thrown into a complete rout, and Naruto was returning.

The 5 Kage had gathered at the entrance to the camp, patiently awaiting his return. Jiraiya and Kakashi had also requested to be present to check on the condition of their mutual student. Several dozen other shinobi loitered behind them, pretending to be busy while still being nosey.

Half an hour they waited before a figure appeared at the entrance to the camp, they waited with bated breath as the figure slowly revealed himself to be a black clad Naruto. 'Black clad' was a stretch, the clothing was seeped in so much blood is seemed permanently dyed a slight red, as did his mask, the pattern barely visible underneath the caked blood.

His was slumped forward and appeared to be almost sleep walking as he dragged his body through the camp, his ninjato hung loosely in his grip, half broken.

He stopped in front of the 5 kages and knelt, almost toppling over in the process. "Mission Accomplished Kage-Sama's. Enemy forces in full retreat after two more defeats." He reported in a small voice.

Tsunade nodded slowly, "And these defeats, how many did they number?" She asked gently.

Naruto was silent for a moment, "18,000 and 24,000. In total 52,000 losses for Remnent forces." He replied finally, so quiet in fact the 5 Kages in front of him barely heard him. But they did, and they were quite frankly, horrified.

A young man, not even into his 20's yet, had slaughtered a minor village's worth of people.

Tsunade walked forward and crouched down to Naruto's level, gently reaching up to remove his mask. Some blood had made it past his mask and was dried on his face, black bags sat underneath his eyes and his eyes…were just dead. The once vibrant pools of blue were darkened and lifeless, even his whisker marks on his cheeks seemed duller.

"Oh Naruto…" She whispered and raised a manicured hand to his cheek.

"Permission to be relieved for some time Hokage-Sama?" He asked, his eyes pleading with her.

Tsunade nodded with a mournful smile, "Granted Naruto-Kun, go get some rest. You of all people deserve it."

The shinobi retrieved his mask and disappeared in a 'Shunshin' without another word.

The female Hokage stood and turned to her counterparts. "Commander Kitsune is relieved of his command for a period yet to be determined. Kakashi, you shall take his place until further notice." The cyclops nodded. "And someone…" She faltered slightly, "Find Inoichi, we may have need of his services. If at least to judge his mental state." She ordered heavily.

The depths of his mindscape had always been slightly repulsive, being a sewer, it was kind of a given, even more so when he learned of his prisoner. The large metal bars loomed above and into the darkness, the large seal just waiting to be removed.

But he ignored it, and the large red eyes staring at him through the bars. He simply floated about in the water present in the base of the sewer, numb.

52,000.

The number floated around in his head much like he did. The mechanics of the 'Hiraishin' slowed down the user perception of time during the 'flash', it allowed them to process and react to everything around the tag in fractions of fraction of a second. It meant that he saw and compiled every face of those 52,000. 51,890 actually. But what difference did that make?

His other kills from before and during the war made up the rest of the that number and likely far exceeded it. His status as a Jinchuriki meant he was always on hand when a 'hammer' was needed. As the jailer of the Kyuubi, he was their largest one after receiving training from Bee himself.

While learning and refining the 'Hiraishin' for his own use, he had wondered what was going through his father's mind when using the template from the Nidaime Hokage – Tobirama Senju to create the Jutsu, and then using to wipe out an Iwa assault in the Third Shinobi War.

Was it like what he was feeling now? Who knew, his mother probably, maybe Jiraiya too. But one has long been dead and the other was…just not the person to talk to one's feelings about.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" The fox spoke form behind the bars.

Naruto remained silent.

"So, you killed a few thousand meat bags, what's there to get work up at? If anything, you should be celebrating, the weak die and the strong live. You eliminated the weak and have cemented yourself at the top of the food chain. You'd almost have my respect if you weren't so pathetic yourself." He continued unperturbed.

Naruto grunted, "Pathetic? Maybe. I used to think that I could waltz through my shinobi life without taking lives, my early Genin career consisted of me talking to people." He chuckled slightly, "The 'talk no Jutsu' they called it. Look at me now, 'The Bloody Fox' they called me. Appropriate." He murmured.

The fox behind the bars shifted slightly, and a large furred head appeared closer to and into the light. "You are not arguing?" He mused.

"How can I?" Naruto responded.

"Because you are you, and one of the most stubborn meat bags I have had the displeasure of knowing. But that is worthy of its own brand of strength and respect, stand tall brat, you always have and always shall."

Naruto's eyes shot opened and he darted up in his cot with a sharp intake of breath. The Kyuubi's words ringing in his ears.

'Hey, what did you mean? What was that whole inspirational speech there?!' He asked in his mind, but no answer came.

He huffed and closed his eyes again but knew that no sleep would come for him, it was trouble enough getting himself calm enough to moderately meditate. He swung his legs round on the cot and opened his eyes, looking intently at his calloused hands. Logically there wasn't a single drop of blood on them, but he saw it. They were drenched, and there was nothing he could do to cleanse it.

He shook his head and crossed the room to a water basin in the corner and splashed his face, blood again. He growled, why couldn't he get rid of it!

With a frustrated swat at the water he stalked back to his coat and sat down, throwing his head into his hands with a defeated sigh.

"Naruto? May I come in?" A voice called from his tent flap.

"Are you going to come in even if I say no?" Naruto replied after a beat.

"…probably." It replied.

"Then save me the trouble." He allowed, moving his head so it was resting on his bridged hands instead. He watched as the tent flaps opened admitting an Iwa Jonin, still a bit dirty from her last mission.

"I heard what happened." She said at last. "It wasn't-"

"It wasn't what? My fault?" Naruto interrupted. "51,890 people would say otherwise Kurotsuchi." He snapped.

The woman in question frowned and stepped closer to sit on the cot beside the blond. "Ok," She sighed, "Perhaps that was a poor choice of words, but what do you want me to say? Thanks to your actions, the entirety of River Country is now free from Remnant's armies, reports are already saying the assaults around the whole continent have halted. Naruto, you may have single-handedly just won us the war! You're a hero for Kami's sake." She burst out.

"A hero?!" Naruto questioned incredulously. "No, hero's don't simply slaughter people because-"

"-they can?" It was Naruto's turn to be interrupted this time, "Naruto, think of how many live you saved because those armies who stopped right there and then. Because of you. You volunteered to do something no one else could do because you could. The amount of lives you saved, is so many more times greater!" Kurotsuchi implored.

Naruto bowed and shook his head, "Then why, why is this haunting me? If all you say is true, then why am I sick of what I have done!" He doubted.

Kurotsuchi grasped his chin and forced him to look into her eyes, "Because that's who you are, you are a wonderful man with a heart bigger than this world. A world that will never truly deserve it."

Naruto pulled himself free and returned to staring a hole into the opposite wall, clearly not believing her words.

Seeing her failure, she sighed and stood to leave, but a hand grabbed her wrist as she did. She turned back to Naruto, but he continued staring at the wall, not saying anything. She got the idea though and sat back down.

"Ok, I'll stay." She understood, locking fingers with him.

(End)

*Que evil laughter* This isn't the chapter you wanted! It's me, filler! But seriously, yes this is a filler, why you may ask, so offended, because I haven't finished the other one yet. That's why. I'm having issues with the flow of the fight because I want to make sure it casts a good picture for you guys without out being too wordy, and then too short when I summarize too often. It's rather a bastard to write but you hopefully get the idea and forgive me.

In other news, it's 2020 now and I'm wondering what's waiting for me in the future, but Happy New Decade and hope you guys had a good Christmas if that's what you celebrate, if not, I hope you had a lovely Wednesday.

I left my old job which gave me time to bang this out, but I'm getting (hopefully) a new one next week if I get the interview, if I don't then the next chapter might be out quicker, if not, you'll have to content yourself with waiting. Patiently of course.

Hope the next decade is good to you all.

-Red