Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

RWBY © Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth

? © Platinum Games

It was dark all around him.

Naruto looked at all of his surroundings. Not a single familiar face made an appearance around him…except for one. That was when he started to panic, running towards her, the blonde-haired girl, and holding her unconscious body to him.

"Yang! Yang!"

He carefully shook her body, hoping she'd wake up. To his relief, her eyes had slowly opened.

"Yes! You're okay-!"

Much to the boy's horror, he realized he spoke too soon, as the right side of the girl's arm showed nothing but a bloody stump.

"No…I'm not…"

He could not control the twitching of his open mouth, seeing the state that Yang was in. The next words out of her mouth didn't help either.

"Why…why didn't you make it on time?"

His eyes widened in horror as her body literally began breaking apart.

"Where were you when I needed you the most?!"

The floor beneath her collapsed, taking Yang with it before Naruto could even catch her, with her pieces about to be grasp by the silhouette of a horned man with red hair as he laughs manically.

He reached out in desperation, despite the futility of it all in the face of this hell.

"Yaaaaang!"

*Gasp*

Naruto breathed heavily from the chair he sat on, looking around and seeing the hallway in the middle of the night. Another nightmare for him to endure. Gazing at the palm of his hand, he clenched it, remembering the time back at Beacon; the night when he didn't make it in time, and she paid the price for it.

Standing up and turning a corner, he peaked into the room behind him. He saw a girl sleeping in the bed; the same girl he loved; the same one he failed: Yang. He looked to the right side of her, where there was only a stump where her elbow should be. It brought out anguish in him: guilt for not making it on time, and anger at the demon that did this to her just to spite their friend.

His thoughts came to a halt at the sound of her voice. He looked to see her breathing heavily, the sweat coming from her skin, and the tears from her eyes. It was another nightmare, and it was looking pretty bad. There was only one thing for him to do: taking the sheets at the end of her bed, he gently placed them over her frame to give her warmth. He then proceeded to bring his chair next to her bed before gently rubbing her left arm with his hand to calm her down.

It frustrated Naruto to no end; not just because Yang must suffer this, but that there wasn't anything he could do to stop her pain…well, there might be one, but he couldn't take that risk right now; not when she was in this kind of torment.

"I'll make things right one day, Yang."

Resigning to himself, Naruto fell back asleep with time, his hand still on Yang's left arm.

The light shining through the window, causing the girl to stir awake. It was a weird night. She remembered her dream vividly. One minute, the man who tried to kill her was coming to finish the job, and she was powerless to do anything about it; the next, a warm, bright light had shined through and had incinerated him like a bat out of hell. Originally, she had been confused, but turning to her left, she found the reason why: her boyfriend, Naruto, asleep with his hand gently placed on her arm, and from the looks of it, had been there through most of the night.

She turned her head away, a mix of guilt, sadness, and shame being displayed on her face as she subtly removed herself from Naruto's hand and made her way to the door of her room before turning to look at him.

"Sleep tight, champ…" Those silent words were all she could utter before she left for the living room.

About an hour had passed by before Naruto woke to the moist licking of his open palm, courtesy of Zwei the corgi. With his eyes slowly cracking open, he saw Zwei giving a sad look on his face. It was clear that the little guy feels sorry for what was going on. After petting the corgi on its head, Naruto had made his way to the stairs to go check on Yang. From the top, he could see her father, Taiyang, opening a package for her, revealing to be a mechanical arm.

Naruto began having conflicting thoughts. On one hand, this arm could help give Yang the stability she lost in her life. On the other, it was a product from Ironwood. He'd rather not trust her well-being to the guy who made this nightmare for her possible, especially since he knows there's no way in hell they could make something that could replicate her strength.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Yang coming back up the stairs. The two paused the moment that they saw each other, the awkward silence looming over them, as they averted their gaze. It was a normal occurrence for them ever since the Vytal incident; never knowing how to deal with their scars.

"So…" Naruto was the one to break the ice. "Did you get a gift?"

"Yeah…the general thought it'd be a nice gesture…" That was about as normal of a conversation she could muster up. "Anyway, I need to go sweep up the leaves on the porch."

Naruto had nodded in understanding. He wanted to help, but he knew it would sting Yang's pride, so he offered something else. "Well, the mail probably made it here. Would you like me to go get it?"

Hearing that, Yang gave him a grateful smile. "Yeah. That'd be great."

Content with the answer, Naruto made his way down stairs.

Yang, meanwhile, took to sweeping the patio with her left arm. It was a lot harder to handle after her…amputation…not that complaining about it will change anything.

Looking down, she looked at Naruto getting the mail for her. She had known him ever since they first enrolled in Beacon; when they first fought; when they fell in love with each other; when they cherished every moment they had to freely enjoy Vale together. But now, after Vytal, it felt like their lives had come to an abrupt halt, and he was the only one trying to push them forward. Sometimes, she thought it'd be best if he took his teammates' advice to go home after they separated.

She turned away with a heavy sigh. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

After finishing cleaning the porch, and making her way down the stairs, Yang looked to see her father at the couch looking at the mail. From the way they were stacked, either he or Naruto must've organized them based on who they're addressed to. Looking to her left, she saw that Naruto was in the kitchen, working on cleaning the dishes.

Maybe it was time to offer help, so she walked up to him. "Hey…mind if I lend a hand?"

Turning to see that Yang had offered to help, Naruto was initially shocked. But, realizing that she appears to be trying to get back on her feet, he smiled. "Thanks. I'd like that."

It took a few minutes, and they had already put away the clean dishes, and had already finished with half of the dirty. It almost felt cathartic for Naruto…doing a few menial things like this with Yang…it wasn't bad…

Unfortunately, these pleasant feelings didn't last long.

On her way to the dishwasher, the glass she had been carrying had slipped from her hands, shattering to pieces on the floor. That's when it triggered: the image of the man who cut her arm off, causing an erratic gasp to come from her. Naruto's attention to the dishes died altogether.

She stepped back in horror; the image of that man terrified her to know end, and it didn't seem to be stopping.

"Yang! Yang!" Came Naruto's worried voice. He gently gripped her shoulders as he tried to calm her down. "It's okay. It's okay, it's okay." He hugged her close to him, steadily calming her down. "It's okay. It was just a glass dropping. No real danger."

The girl had fully calmed down, her breathing steady, but the look of fright was still plastered on her face, even with her boyfriend's calming hands. She turned around and stood herself back up and went back to the dishes.

"Yang…are you ok-?"

"Yes, Naruto, I'm fine."

Her sudden response shocked him a little, but kept calm. "Are you sure? You were looking pretty-"

"I said I'm fine!"

SMACK

A red hand mark showed itself on Naruto's right cheek as his eyes widened from the shock of Yang's small burst of anger.

Yang's face shared the same expression, as she covered her mouth at what she had just done to her boyfriend.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-!"

Naruto, however, suddenly moved to the cupboards and took out a plastic cup. Filling it with water, he set it down gently on the table for Yang.

"I'm sorry for getting pushy and rattling you up," he told his girlfriend somberly, as he cleaned up the broken glass. He disposed of them before continuing. "Hopefully, the water will help you calm your nerves. I'll go get some firewood for you and your dad in the meantime."

Yang watched as he left through the door into the back yard. She wanted to go after him, and stop him, but she couldn't move her legs, whether it is from the anxiety or guilt. Gripping her hand in frustration, Yang let the tears roll from her eyes.

Her father could only watch in melancholy over everything that just happened.

A good trek into the forest and Naruto finally stopped in his tracks. He paused himself, taking in the scenery around him, including the large trees…

…

"RAAAH!" He snapped. In a huge leap, he kicked the thick branch off one tree, before moving onto the next tree, and punching through the next branch. He continued onto the next sequence of trees, letting out all of his frustration, his rage, and his sorrows. Branch after branch, he could still remember that night when he had been separated from Yang; when Blake had brought her back in a mutilated state during all the carnage that had happened around him; his desperate calls for help never being answered, and the anguish she had to go through because he could not make it. The slap on the face he received from her served as a cruel reminder.

In a final lash, he brought both of his hands crashing onto the ground, creating a massive crater. His hands shook for a while, before he finally got ahold of himself, slowing his breath and calmed down, finally finished venting.

"So, you done throwing a hissy fit?"

A voice had called out to him. Even before he turned around, he knew exactly who it was. Gazing upon him, it was an exact image of himself. The only difference was the red eye-color and slit pupils. Right now, they were giving Naruto a stern look.

"What do you want?" Naruto had bluntly asked.

"Oh, it's not what I want. It's what you need," The image responded. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"I already got what I needed." He looked at his bloody hands at this. "Right now, it's about what Yang needs."

"Yeah, I agree. Which is why I'm baffled that you're still here keeping up this monotony when you should be helping her."

"Hey, I'm doing everything I can."

"Oh, come on! We both know that's a load of crap! We've known what to do even before Ruby left, remember?"

Flashback

Naruto was walking down the stairs after helping Yang recover from another episode, needing to go to the bathroom. When he reached the end, he noticed that the lights were on, and, with curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to sneak a peek at what was going on: Taiyang was conversing with Qrow, Yang's uncle.

"Are you sure she was looking for them?" Taiyang first questioned.

"Yeah. She came very close to the relic in Beacon's vault, but she's been unsuccessful so far," Qrow had explained. "We're all gonna have to watch our backs, from now on. We can't run the risk of any of them with the relics."

"Yeah…It's scary to think about what they'd do. It'd bad enough if she got the Relic of Choice. If she gets the other maidens' powers, she's guaranteed for Knowledge, Destruction, and Creation in her grasp."

Naruto's eyes had perked up a little at the mention of that terms they spoke. Relic? More importantly, Creation? That could imply a lot of things. With how much of a big deal they're making of it, it sounds like it literally lives up to its namesake. Did that mean there's hope for her? And this talk about the maidens…why did that look familiar? Turning around, he looked at the bookshelf he had been leaning against…one particular book made his eyes widen.

"Speaking of which, how are they doing?"

"…Well, Yang's still coping, and having Naruto around has helped a little. Not so sure about his emotional state, though," Taiyang gave his honest response. "I haven't told them yet."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way," Qrow firmly stated. "There'll be hell on Earth in the future, and we can't risk Naruto jumping in with his current state of mind."

As Taiyang nodded his head in agreement, Naruto made his way out of there before any of them would notice him and went to the bathroom; but not without taking a book from Taiyang's shelf: Remnants and Legends. Flipping through the pages, he found the chapter that may give him the clues he sought: The Relics of the Gods.

Flashback end.

"You know that's gonna be our only chance to give Yang a new arm. Are you just gonna give up on that?

"I'm not giving up anything," Naruto retorted to his hallucination. "…Yang already lost so much, and she's already going through hell. I can't risk hurting her over a possibility of a legend being true."

"Oh, and you think acting as an emotionally jumbled rabbit is helping?" the image harshly replied. "While you're here beating yourself up and giving her pats on the back, not only are we missing opportunities to really help Yang, but her friends and her sister will be in serious trouble, and the ones who did this to her are still out there, and they may as well be planning to target our home, too. Hell, sooner or later, she will get caught in the crossfires and be killed. Are you just gonna let that slide because of your guilt? When the hell did you become such a coward?!"

Naruto didn't say anything…he wanted to tell the hallucination to shove off…to tell it that he doesn't know a damn thing about him…but he knows that's not true.

"…Anyway, I already said my piece…I'll be around if you ever decide to regain your backbone…"

There was no more voice after that. Naruto had known he had resided back into his subconscious, and now he had to finish with the firewood. Walking over to pick up the firewood he made, he was surprised to see Taiyang coming in to carry a load in his arms.

"I figured you could use a helping hand," He wisely remarked, looking around the site. "Quite a mess you made, huh?"

Not paying heed to his wisecrack, Naruto simply picked himself back up and went to collect the scraps. "Thank you, Mr. Xiao Long…"

The two simply gathered as much of the busted-up logs as they could, with Naruto remaining silent through the whole ordeal. All he gave were subtle nods and gestures whenever things like going after the same log occurred. With all of them picked up, Naruto wasted no time to start heading back to the house with his load.

"Hey," Taiyang's voice had halted him in place. "It wasn't your fault…you know that, right?"

Those words struck a chord in Naruto's head, making grip his hands tighter. "Was it really not his fault?" "Would being able to make it to her in time have really made a difference?" What difference did asking those kinds of questions make? It won't do her any good.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud noise, as if something had made a huge collision. That wasn't the startling part. What really startled him was that it was pretty close to the house. Thinking of nothing else, he ran as fast as he could. He needed to see if Yang was okay.

When he got back, he stopped at the sight of Yang walking back to the house. Setting down the wood, he jogged on over to her.

"Yang, I heard a large boom!" Naruto said as he walked to her. "Did something happen?"

Looking down at her left hand, he noticed some slight bruises. Before he could inspect it further

"Nothing important," Yang replied. "I just needed to blow off some steam."

She retreated inside, leaving Naruto confused and causing him to turn back to the site of the woods she came from. What was she really doing while he was getting firewood?

…

Well, that had to wait for now.

It had been a good ten minutes for Naruto to gather all the firewood he had dropped and brought them all to the fireplace. He would've been done quicker, but he had to tend to the wounds Yang had on her knuckles. He could not help but think about what she was doing to simply "blow off steam". If it injured her hand like that, he had to see for himself sooner or later.

However, before he could do any of that, Yang had walked into the room, carrying his backpack with her and laying it down in the middle. Taking a seat in the living room, she called to Naruto. "Hey, do you have a minute?"

Stopping what he was doing, Naruto walked over to the couch adjacent from where Yang was sitting. "What is it, Yang?"

"…Why are you doing this?"

Her question gave Naruto a perplexed look on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"This: staying at my house; helping me with my chores; taking in my load like you're my nanny; what are you trying to accomplish?"

"…What are you talking about? You're hurt, and I want to help you. That's more than enough reason!"

"But what has any of this accomplished?!" Naruto backed up a little when Yang raised her voice. "Just more heartache and self-inflicted wounds?!"

Yang took her time to steady her breathing after yelling all of that out. Once she had collected herself, she continued.

"When you said you'd stay when I was framed, it meant so much. When you stayed after the fall of Beacon, I had a small moment of relief; but month after month, you just have to realize that it doesn't amount to much. I lost a part of me."

"…I know. Losing your arm isn't something anyone would want for themselves, but that doesn't mean-"

"You know that's not what I meant."

Shock covered the boy's face when she uttered those words. He swore he could have seen Yang bite her lips trying to hold back her anguish.

"Whatever you saw in that girl…it's not there anymore…nothing we do is going to change that…I know it's not what you want to hear, but there isn't anything you can do right now."

Using her remaining arm, she pushed the backpack closer to Naruto. It was just not that he noticed that there was an envelope with the words "ticket money" on it.

"You shouldn't be wasting your time with someone like me. Please…go home and pull yourself together. If not for yourself…then at least do it for me."

For once in his life, Naruto was speechless. For all his efforts trying to lift his girlfriend's spirits, she instead asks him to go home and forget about her…but, maybe he should have expected that one coming.

Without saying a word, he picks up the backpack and the envelope she gave him and walks toward the door. As soon as he made his way and opened the door, he looked back to Yang as if he wanted to say something. Alas, nothing came out, and Naruto left the compound, closing the door behind him.

Silence filled where Yang sat, only broken when her father entered the room. You could tell by the look on his face that he had heard enough.

"He really cared about you, Yang."

As if on cue, tears began to fall from his daughter's eyes. Raising her hand, she covered her crying eyes as if trying to stop the flood.

"I know." *sniff* "I just couldn't stand being a burden to him anymore!"

She tried to stop herself from crying, but the onslaught of tears just kept pouring. Her father walked towards her and knelt, hugging his daughter to give her a shoulder to cry on.

Naruto walked through the woods aimlessly. The talk with Yang had given him so much to think about: whether him being there had any real impact; had what he read in that book was worth seeing if it was real; but most of all, is the Yang he knew really gone?

He doesn't want to believe that. He can't believe that. What's there left to do? Where can he go from here? Where…

Looking up, he realized he didn't know where he was. He really was wandering aimlessly. Amid trying to find his way back on the right path, something caught his attention.

A large tree had a large gaping hole in it. As he took a closer look at it, there were o real jagged splinters poking out; it was all a perfectly clean hit, and that's not even counting the evidence of heat. Hell, the tree he can see through the hole had also taken the brunt of whatever did this. From the small heat emitting off it, he could tell this was all done recently. So, who could have-

"I just needed to blow off some steam."

The words rung in Naruto's head helped him realize: Yang did this. That explains the noise from the afternoon and why her hand was wounded. While he was out preparing firewood, she must have exhausted her distress in the one way she was known for: her fist.

He slowly moved his hand at the edge of the hole in the tree. Despite the tears sliding down his face, he was smiling; the first genuine smile he had in months.

'You ARE still there.'

He knew that spirit was still within Yang. This hole was proof that it was trying to find his way back out. Hope had filled Naruto's heart as he began whipping away the tears of joy.

When he had finally composed himself, he can feel his subconscious manifesting itself again. This time, however, he was the first one to speak.

"I know what I need to do now."

There was a short pause, then the subconscious responded.

"Hmph. About damn time!"

And with those words, the subconscious faded away, leaving Naruto to himself.

He couldn't do anything for Yang here, but somewhere out there is something that will help him keep his promise.

-A Week Later-

Yang walked down the stairs after the company of Professor Ports and Doctor Oobleck have left their house. She had overheard what her dad had told them; how he was so focused on taking care of Yang he can't be out there to look for her sister, Ruby.

This hit her big. Here she was moping about, while her sister was out there somewhere risking her life to travel to Haven Academy. She could have at least asked Naruto-

…

Oh, God. Naruto. It had been a while since she made him leave. She told herself it was for the best; to allow the both of them time to collect themselves; but, really, that was just wishful thinking. The nightmares have gotten worse without him around, and it only added more to the anxiety of her little sister somewhere in harm's way.

She wanted to do something, and maybe Ironwood's gift could help, but with the way she is now, how could she?

Having made her way down the stairs to see her father standing in the doorway, looking closely at an envelope in his hand.

"Hey, Dad," She spoke to get his attention. "Did the mail come in early?"

"Yeah…" Taiyang responded, giving his daughter the envelope. "It's addressed to you."

"Me?" Yang took the envelope and saw what her dad had stared so intensely at. It was indeed addressed to her, but what caught her attention most was the character underneath the address: "望"

This character means a lot of things, but Yang took an educated guess of what it was supposed to mean.

"Hope?"

Moving to the couch, she set the envelope on the side table to open it with her remaining hand, revealing a small electronic card within.

Socked, both father and daughter glanced at each other, surprised to see what came out of the envelope. Both were familiar with what kind of card it was: something to send video messages. After the tower had fallen, it was impossible to instantly send messages wirelessly, so everyone had to make due with letters and video cards. Question is: Why does this feel so important?

Taking the card, Yang slid it into the living room TV set before grabbing the remote and playing the file on the card.

The video opens up with Naruto setting his scroll up for the recording before sitting down in front of a familiar looking tree.

"Naruto?"

It was then he begins to talk.

"Hi, Yang. If you're watching this, then I'm already miles away from Patch and Konoha right now. I wasn't sure how you'd feel on what I'm about to tell you, but you at least deserve to know."

Those words made the father and daughter anticipate what he has to say, for better or worse.

Naruto stared at the ground before continuing.

"I've been thinking hard about what you said, about how there wasn't anything I can do…and you're right. I can't ease your pain; I can't regrow your arm; I can't get your friends back; I can't even make you smile. I was useless to you. I don't deserve you. I can't help you…"

At that instance, his head looked back up to the camera, with a look no one had seen in him since the Vytal incident: determination.

"That's why I'm going to find someone who can."

That statement shocked Yang while she continued to hear where he was going with this.

"I've overheard your dad talking to Qrow about these things called relics…researching more into it, I found out they were guarded their powers over the laws of nature itself; how there are these people called the maidens who can access their chambers."

'What?!' Taiyang was shocked to hear this. Turning to Summer's bookshelf on the side of his living room, he scoured the books see one of them, Remnants and Legends, tucked in at a different angle. He knows, because no one had touched it in years. He looked to find a small, barely noticeable slip of paper sticking out of the book. Taking the book out, he opened it to the page that the paper sat, revealing the pages that contained the information about the relics. Tai's worries were confirmed. 'He knows!'

He turned back to see Yang's attention caught in the video, and rejoined her in seeing how Naruto's message will play out.

"It gave me some hope that I could get your arm back, but I was too scared of leaving your side to see for myself. Just the thought of making you feel even more abandoned – hurting you like that – scared me. But, I guess you thought it was better for you to face this on your own. I personally don't agree, but I understand, and now I have more motivation to try this.

I can probably guess what you're thinking: this is stupid, dangerous, and it may cost me more than I think…and you're probably right…But, you're wrong about one thing: you never lost a part of yourself."

He points behind him, showing the hole in the tree that she made.

"This is what you made with one punch…more than a burst of frustration; this was a strike of someone who gave it his all; it's proof of that spirit that's still inside you; that's trying to make itself heard; that's keeping you going. I can see it: even with all those walls around your heart, even with all the tears you've cried, you're still fighting; you're still that same brave girl I fell in love with."

Yang's eyes widened; amazed to hear such praise, even after what she had said to him. Did he really mean that?

"That's why I have to do this. If there's any way to help you, no matter what it costs me, even if there's a one in a million chance it will work, I'm going to take it. You're worth it."

That struck a chord with her. It filled her with emotions she didn't know she still had, and right now, she didn't know how to deal with it.

"I don't know how long this will take me, and I don't know what the end result of this will be, but it won't be my only stop. I'll have more to do besides this journey. I promise you this: I'm going to make things right, Yang. Wait for me."

With that, he moved his hand to the scroll to stop the video.

Both Yang and her father were left stunned at the end of the video. It was such a big revelation that they could not even move for a whole thirty seconds. Well, Taiyang at least managed to break out of his stupor first in order to see the plethora of emotions on his daughter's face. Walking towards her he began to speak up.

"Yang-"

He was immediately cut off by his daughter standing up and hugging him, letting out a massive flood of tears onto his chest.

"He doesn't deserve me?!" Yang cried out, unable to contain her emotions any longer. "I'm the one who doesn't deserve him!"

She continued to cry, as if it was the only thing she could really do in this moment. Her dad, pained to see his daughter in such anguish, hugged her back and patted her head to ease her pain.

"I'm so sorry, pumpkin," Tai said, sincerely. "If I knew what he knew-"

"No! It's all my fault!" Yang responded, feeling ashamed. "He cared so much! He just wanted to help me; wanted to help me smile again…! And I yelled at him, Dad. I slapped him! *sniff* And I sent him out to God knows where!"

"Yang…"

"I'm lost, Dad..." Yang confessed. "Blake left…Ruby's putting herself in danger…and now, the guy who means everything to me is risking his life trying to do something that's supposed to be impossible for me…and I don't know what to do!"

Yang continued to pour her tears out through the night, while her father shed some of his own, wishing he knew what to do himself.

-2 Weeks later-

With everything that had happened, Yang knew what she had to do. With her dad's help, she had to get back in shape, and get used to the robotic arm Ironwood had given her. She wouldn't be able to find her sister and boyfriend if she left immediately. She had to be prepared.

At the moment, she was taking a break. She thought she'd take some time to give her arm a personal flavor. Whether or not Naruto would stay true to his word and find the relics, she doubted she'll be getting her arm back any time soon, so she'll have to make the most of it.

After she finished spray painting her arm into a gold and black color scheme, she looked at the envelope that the video card came in; specifically, the kanji for hope. Was that what Naruto was trying to give her when he sent it? She wasn't naïve. She doesn't know if she can hope for a new arm, but maybe…just maybe…she can hope for things to get better.

That's probably what's driving Naruto right now, and what he's holding onto for dear life. And now, it's time for her to give it a try.

Taking a brush and dipping it in red ink, Yang motioned to the back of the arm's golden hand and began to slowly paint on the kanji.

-Meanwhile-

Naruto sat at the end of a dark lit bar, carving something into a new metal forehead protector.

He had stumbled upon this bar not too long ago, hoping to find someone who knew the whereabouts of the winter maiden. To his surprise, the bartender did have the answers he was looking for, but he insisted to wait for a bit while he makes a weapon for him.

Really, this raised more questions in the blonde's head. This guy was giving him a new set of weapons to help him, and he couldn't pin down what was in it for him. Then again, he shouldn't kick a gift horse in the mouth. He has no time to be sceptic.

"They're all ready, kid," Naruto heard the voice of the bar tender call him just as soon as he finished his carving. Turning his head, he came face to face with a large, dark-skinned bald man wearing sun-glasses and giving off an intimidating presence. The kimono he's wearing does nothing to hide the impression that he is ripped. The bar tender sat the bundle down before breaking the silence. "Ya know, I get a lot of passers out here, and I never met any one crazy enough to do what you're doing."

"Well, it's not like I meet bar tenders who apparently double as weapon smiths. You're even willing to help me without telling me what's in it for you," Naruto responded as he grabbed the bundle. "You're gonna say it was something like destiny?"

"Eh. Destiny, Generosity, Coincidence; whatever kills my boredom," The bar tender responded as he held his cigar.

Naruto decided to stop wasting time as he opened the bundle. What he saw was a set of orange and red kote ninja gauntlets, each holding a compartment for a short blade on the side and a firearm on the top. As he put the gauntlets on, Naruto began to feel something fill him up inside, as if the gauntlets were becoming a part of him. Whatever kind of weapon smith he met, the guy was very unorthodox to say the least.

"Feels good, don't it?" The bar tender commented before getting serious. "But, don't let it get to your head. The road you're going on isn't one where hope has much chance of staying intact. You might not even succeed."

"…Maybe not, but I have to try; for both my sake and hers," Naruto responded, gaining resolution in his quest. Picking up his head-protector, Naruto bowed to the man. "Thank you for all your help. I really appreciate it."

He began to walk away, heading towards the exit, but the bar tender's voice stopped him right in front of it.

"You're not the only one looking for the relics, ya know?" The man reminded him. "The mother of all grim is out there, and her forces are growing. Hell, those white fang punks are practically under the palm of her hand. This could get so big the gods might get involved in this fight. What will you do if they get in your way, kid?"

Naruto breathed in, as he spoke those words. Taking out his new head-protector, he looked at what he recently carved in: the kanji of hope. The man had practically told him that hope was a fragile thing; that this quest might shatter it in front of him. However, that's all the more reason he had to fight. To keep hope alive, Naruto gave his response.

"All I can say is this…"

Naruto began tying the protector around his head.

"…grab some snacks…"

He tightened the knot.

"…get a good seat…"

He turned his gaze back to the bar tender one last time.

"…and watch the hell I'm gonna raise."

Having said everything he needed to say, Naruto left the shop, continuing his quest to fulfil his promise.

As Naruto fully left, the bar tender gave himself a moment to let out a deep chuckle, as if he was impressed by the kid's response. Bringing up his right hand, he snapped his fingers to conjure what appears to be a purple flame from his thumb. He used it to light his cigar before shaking it out and taking a puff. He then sat down and leaned back behind his counter, satisfied.

"Raise all the hell you can, little Ashura."

Author's note: Oh, man, I finally finished. It might be a volume overdue, but I'm glad I was able to finish this one shot. Personally, I don't like the current direction RWBY is going in, but it did give me a good idea for a one-shot like this. I hope you all enjoyed it.