A/N: WARNING.

This gets dark in places; there, you've been forewarned.

My team and I had a bitter fight about this; a lot of them want to stop writing for awhile due to the you-know-what virus, but I refused to quit. No, I don't have it. Yes, I'm being careful; because there's a case of it here in my state, but I digress. They've said no one is reading Fanfiction these days due to the all of the madness going on around the world. I beg to differ. I find that tales distract people from the misery of day to day life. As why this is getting posted now, well:

Fine, fine, fine!

Here you go, Gray! I keep me promises!

No more requests this year! I've got shite to update!

AVAST YE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT DEEEAAAAAAAAAD!

In case ya landlubbers can't tell, this be a request from a friend on mine.

One I may have...put on the backburner weeks and forgotten to post due to being busy.

I promised him two stories back in the beginning of January, though that was ages ago now.

In other words, this and Untraveled Road have been written for a month and a half now but I forgot to post it due to life and such.

Surgeons may or may not be poking around in me gray matter soon. Nothing is certain at this point, given that the tests came back negative, yet my head is still on fire. So I'm trying to be whimsical about this...but my thoughts aren't in the best of places right now. Aaaaaaaaaand now I can't stop coughing. WHY ME?! Many of you have been with me since I started way back in the early 2000's. You know how shitty my health has been. But this is different, this is...concerning. Looks like its back to the doctor's for me.

I've written all manner of Naruto variations for this genre. but this one isn't quite so nice. I dare say he has more in common with the bad guys...though he'd never admit it.

This isn't prime Naruto; unlike "Remnant" this one isn't at his peak. This is Post-Pain Sage Mode Naruto; he's in a bit of a bad way at the moment.

One final note, this takes place towards the end of RWBY Volume 2, to prevent any confusion.

You know, that scene where the street opened up beneath Ruby and she fell? Remember that bit? Well hang on.

"Subject was found unconscious in the Grimmlands.

Initial tests suggest he contains an untapped well of power. Fascinating.

He thinks we can help him get back to his world. Utter nonsense. We're playing along. For now.

Subject hasn't proven pliable. Perhaps we ought to toss him in a Grimm Pool. It might make him more susceptible to our goals.

I suspect our Queen will have great use for him...whether he agrees with her or not. Until then, we'll keep him weak. We can't allow him to escape. Watts out."

~Test Log #1.

Get Up

Hate.

I thought I could surpass it. Overcome it, as I'd overcome all things in the past. With the power of friendship and determination, anything is possible, right? The good guys always win, right? Even when the chips are down, a hero always finds a way to triumph, right? To save everyone. No matter the cost. That's how fairy tales end, don't they? With victory. Good triumphs over evil. The hero forgives his defeated enemies and rides off into the sunset. The hero settles down. Marries the girl and lives happily ever after. I thought that was how the story would end. I was wrong.

Stupid.

Naive.

Boy.

How could I forgive Pain for what he did? How could I accept him? How could I possibly understand all he'd said -ALL THAT HE'D DONE!- much less countenance it? He killed Jiraiya. Slaughtered the entire village without a second thought. Stabbed Hinata right in front of me. Every man, woman, and child of the Hidden Leaf is dead because of his actions. Because of him. I fought that madman and all his puppets, butchered his bodies until only a single one remained. I hunted him, beat him down, looked him in those blasted Rinnegan eyes and asked him a single question.

Why? Why do all this?

He didn't even answer me! He just laughed!

He said that there couldn't possibly be peace in this wretched world.

I tried to forgive him. I really did. Let it not be said that I didn't try. But I couldn't. When faced with that answer, something in me snapped. Thousands dead. A village laid to waste. For what? What's your reason?! That's no answer! Yet he kept laughing at me. He said that I was just like him. That I knew pain. That I would be just like him. Perhaps I was. Perhaps I did. Perhaps I am. In the end, I never did get my answers. There was no great epiphany to be had here, no heart-to-heart, no sharing of ideals. I was left with a raving lunatic, his wounded minion, and my own rage.

Tell me, could you forgive such a person?

When you've lost everyone and everything, what would you do?

When someone takes everything away from you, would you forgive them?

When a prattling madman sees fit to eradicate your entire world, would you show them mercy?

Maybe you could; maybe you're a better person than me. Maybe someone else would have found a way. But me?

NO.

I saw red and there was only hatred.

HatehatehatehatehatehateHATE!

My hands tore Nagato out of that stupid contraption, wrestled him to the ground, and started punching. Over and over and over again. He wounded me. I remember him shouting. I remember my arms going numb as the world vanished around me in a corona of white light. I remember the pain. I'm not even aware of what happened. Damnit, I don't know if I managed to kill that rotten bastard or not. They've even denied me the satisfaction of knowing. I hate it. I hate him. Its all their fault. His fault. I hate Pain. I hate those wretched eyes of his. I hate this rotten world that he stranded me in. I hate the fate that took my friends and family from me. I can't do anything but hate.

What's fair about this? Is this what humanity is like? Then maybe humanity should die.

In the end, I'm left here; left to choke on my own anger, my wrath, my fury.

I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. I'm losing blood.

I still see them. All the dead. I still hear their voices.

I can't do it. I can't. Its too much. I...can't...

(.0.0.0.)

Ruby Rose was many things.

Determined? Check.

Fearless? Check.

Strong? Nope!

Never had that become more apparent than in this moment, when she was about to fall to her death. With each passing second, the aspiring huntress-in-training felt her grip slipping against her will, calloused fingers sliding across broken asphalt as she struggled for a purchase that simply wasn't there. She couldn't hold on. All the while the abyss yawned wide below her, ready to swallow her whole the moment she let go. No! Bad Ruby! Think light thoughts! Thin legs kicked frantically, trying to propel her small body upright, to no avail. She just couldn't make it. As much as she might wanted to, though her pale face reddened with exertion, she simply lacked the strength to pull herself up. Dangit, she didn't even have Crescent Rose to slow her fall!

It was right there too...just out of reach...!

A frustrated whine leaped from her lips. "Why is this happening?! Why me~?!"

No one to hear her.

No one to save her from falling.

Only poor Zwei, frantically tugging at her sleeve with all his might. Bless his little heart. It almost gave her the strength to pull herself to safety. Almost. Brute force had never been her forte to begin with; Yang's was the one who punched people and bench-pressed Grimm for sport. Not her. She wasn't cut out for this! Her grip slipped again and for a furtive instant she accidentally stole a glance over her shoulder. Big mistake. It only made the fear that much worse than before. Negative emotions like that would attract Grimm, sooner or latter. Mountain Glenn was crawling with them.

Vertigo still made her stomach spin.

Was there even a bottom? Would she just keep falling forever-Gah! Stoooop!

She wriggled and kicked her legs again, trying to use her Semblance to pull herself up. Think light thoughts!

Such as falling to her imminent doom? Leaving a red stain upon the ground-THOSE WERE NOT LIGHT THOUGHTS! NOT AT ALL!

In a fit of pique she kicked her legs again and tried to use her Semblance use. Without any traction for her feet to grasp, she couldn't even build up the speed needed to slip away from her own weight. It only taxed more of her Aura, which probably wasn't going to shield her from a fall like this-

And gravity would not be denied any longer.

Ruby keened in frustration.

"Nononono!"

Her fingers slid the last little inch, fingertips slipping until finally, there was nothing she could grasp. Zwei lost his grip and tumbled backward, bounding upright again with a frantic whine. Ruby pitched back, flailing at empty air with a yelp. Her eyes snapped shut in instinctive dread and thus didn't see the small corgi perk up as she fell out of sight. She wouldn't even know why.

Until someone caught her.

Ruby knew it at once, if only because her momentum came to an abrupt halt and she nearly wrenched her shoulder out of its socket. Left dangling over the pit, she daren't open her eyes at first. Who had saved her? Zwei? Unlikely. Aura or no, Poor pupper just didn't have that kind of raw strength. So who, then? Had Yang found her? Weiss? Blake? Well, if it was Yang, surely her sister would've made a pun by now, a painfully bad pun.

It wasn't any of them.

"Bloody hell, why are you so heavy?!"

As first impressions go? This weren't the best. "Excuuuuse me?!"

Silver eyes burst open with an indignant start to glimpse a tan hand clasped tight within hers. Said hand was attached to a bronzed arm, which, coincidentally was also connected to a shoulder clad in the tattered remnants of an orange jacket. All corded muscle and lean strength, it held onto her hand for dear life. The owner of said hand had nearly flung himself into the abyss after her; half his body lay pitched into the void. She glimpsed a pair of whiskered cheeks framed by blue eyes, and blond hair nearly gone white. But the face wasn't lined with age; it was young, within years of her own. More aptly, it was the face of her savior.

Then that stern face creased with effort and quite suddenly, she found herself flying into the air.

"Whee~?!"

Not the most eloquent reply, but that was the sound she made as she soared up out of the pit, over his back and into the ground. She landed in a controlled tumble, snatched up Crescent Rose's collapsed form and spun it out behind her back in a single liquid movement just in case there were any Grimm nearby seeking to take advantage of her distraction. There was no need. No attack came. Reluctantly, she turned away from the empty street to face her unlikely ally.

Said ally had Zwei in his arms. She should've been concerned about that. Zwei wasn't; nope, the little corgi panted pleasantly as a calloused hand stroked him behind the ears, completely at ease.

"There's a good dog." the newcomer hummed softly as he continued his ministrations. "You're just a big softie, aren't you?"

Zwei barked in disagreement and that blond head bobbed. "I'm sure you can be quite fierce when you want to be."

...were they talking?

Ruby kept closer to them, sizing the newcomer up as one might a large Beowulf. Well. He really was wearing orange rags, what might have and oh wow you could grind meat on those abs-No! Bad Ruby! Pay attention! Focus! Steering her gaze away from his scarred chest, she willed herself to raise her gaze and meet his own. When he refused to look at her, she coughed. Once. Twice. Thrice. When that didn't produce the results she wanted, she tapped her foot. Finally, those peerless sapphire orbs met hers.

He turned his body toward her and she froze, wondering if this was a good idea.

"H-Hey." she choked out. "Thanks for the save back there."

Her erstwhile ally grunted wordlessly. "No problem."

"Soooo," she ventured. "My names Ruby...

He still didn't look at her. "Naruto."

"Do you live here?" she asked.

"'Course. This is my home."

A heartbeat later, he seemed to realized just what he'd done; that she was speaking to him, because those baby blue eyes widened when they finally found hers. His gaze flitted to Crescent Rose and his mouth formed a thin line of displeasure. Zwei took that chance to wriggle free from his grasp and skitter back towards her. Ruby flicked a nervous glance after her Corgi. only took her eyes off the stranger for a moment. Just a second. A blink. It was more than enough for him to make his escape. Zwei had only just bounded over to her when he moved.

An orange blur shot past Ruby, leaving her spinning like a top in its wake.

When she looked down, Crescent Rose was gone from her grasp.

Her eyes widened. My baby!

"Wait!"

Without thought she turned to pursue, pausing just long enough to snap a sharp command at Zwei:

"Go!" she cried. "Find Yang and the others!"

Then she gave chase.

Even then she nearly didn't catch up with him in time; were it not for the faintest motion of movement in the corner of her eye, she wouldn't have seen the stranger at all, let alone known which was to go. But Ruby Rose was nothing it not determined. She glimpsed a shock of blond hair in the corner of her eye; then she was off like a bloodhound on the hunt. She certainly made enough noise. Didn't matter! Her weapon would be avenged! An angry keening noise pushed itself past her teeth as she chased him down.

"Stop right there, criminal scum! Hey! Listen! I said come back here you...you...sneak thief!"

A shout was the sole response. "You'll never take me alive!"

Red and orange blurs twined with one another as twin streaks shot through the ruined city, vaulting over obstacles, weaving through dilapidated buildings, dodging the odd Grimm that inevitably tried to devour them. Had she been in her right mind, Ruby would've realized dodging a pack like this was a bad idea; she was bound to draw more and more of them down on her head the long she ran. But she didn't care. She wanted her weapon back, and she was going to use it to bash that bastards head in!

Whomever he was he was fast. But not fast enough.

When an Ursa reared up out of an alleyway to bar his path, the blond slowed. Just a touch, just a hair to adjust his aim. Then he snapped forward, bifurcating the beast down the middle in a single spinning slide. Somehow the side only made Ruby angrier. No one used her weapon but her! This was heresy! Blasphemy! Dishonor of the highest degree! She said as much of course. Shouted it at his back when he she chased him into a building teeming with more of the big bastards. But most importantly!

"GIMME MY SCYTHE BACK!"

A red blur shot at her.

"Have it then!"

Ruby didn't expected him to collapse her weapon and fling it over shoulder. In an instant all thoughts of the chase were forgotten and she leaped up to catch her baby. Unfortunately in doing so, she found herself forced to stop her chase for a moment. Only a moment, but it was enough for the Grimm to close on her and as she fought them off, her enemy turned tail and booked it. Ruby almost considered letting him get away. She had her weapon back. Why bother? She had nothing more to gain from racing after this madman, right? There was no point, right? Now she'd just chasing him out of revenge. Surely she was above that.

With a blood-curdling shriek, she flew at him again. "Your head is miiiiiiine~!"

Nope!

After what felt like an eternity of cat and mouse, Naruto took a wrong turn and crashed headlong into a wall.

Unprepared for this sudden deceleration, Ruby crashed into his back and bounced off. What was this guy made of?! Pure metal or something?!

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" the young man hissed, clutching at his head as she stalked after him. "Why did I do that?! Now they'll find me again!" he paused, cocking his head. "No, Sasuke." he growled to himself. "We're not going to kill her. That'd be wrong. Listen to Jiraiya. On second thought-OW!"

"Meanie!" Ruby kicked him in the shin, sending him stumbling forward. "Why did you take my scythe?! Who are you talking to?!"

Frantic blue eyes snapped over his shoulder.

"My friends, of course." He said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Can't you see them? They're all around you."

Ruby looked left.

Ruby looked right.

Ruby saw no one and nothing.

Only empty streets and stoic silence awaited her.

"Okaaaaaaay." her hands came up and she took a tentative step backwards. "Just gonna walk away from the crazy guy."

She watched him chatter on to himself, and her heart plummeted.

Well.

That settled it.

This guy was nuts.

Was he even sane anymore?

"Oh, are you leaving already?" the blond remarked idly as she stepped away. "That's alright. Everyone leaves."

Ruby's heart began to pound wildly in her chest, beating frantically against her breast like some frantic beast trying to escape its cage. Every second was sheer agony, as if time itself had slowed to a crawl. Her thoughts ceased to have any meaning, and so too did they betray her in their infamy.

She couldn't just leave him here. Even if he was a no good scythe-stealer.

In that moment, Ruby knew she'd been had. There could be no escape for her now -she couldn't just leave him behind, could she?- now that she had unwittingly stumbled upon this lost soul. Naruto had unthinkingly found the perfect weapon to use against her, one she was utterly and wholly powerless against. One glance at his pitiful expression peeking out at her from behind the safety of his hand and her fate was sealed. Her mouth gave a final traitorous twitch as her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Alright, alright." she sighed. "Don't give me that look. C'mon. You can't stay here."

"Why?" he tilted his head at her. "Its nice here. Quiet, you know?"

"Mountain Glenn is infested with Grimm!" she cried.

"And?"

Ruby wanted to shake him. Hard. "It MEANS that you can't stay...here...

The ground began to quake underfoot.

It began as a small tremor, one she nearly missed in her anger and confusion. She dismissed it initially as nerves or her own anxiety. It was only when her teeth started chattering in her skull that Ruby realized what was happening. No. That wasn't possible. Surely her luck couldn't be that bad. Right? Her eyes widened as the tremor became a quake; howling followed soon thereafter. She didn't want to look. She really, truly didn't.

Dread compelled her to turn.

"Oh, no."

Initially, she didn't see anything in the distance; the street opposite them looked as dead and dull and lifeless and gray as it always had been. Ruby almost dared to hope that it was her imagination. Nothing more. But not for long. Within moments a black wave of Grimm came boiling around the corner. There were hordes of them; dozens of Ursa and Beowulf and other Grimm beyond counting. Angry slavering maws gaped wide for them, a tide of claws and teeth eager to rip and tear and rend until nothing more remained.

"Wha-where did they come from?!"

She knew the answer of course; they'd run past countless Grimm during their chase. And now they'd had the time to catch up. It was her own fault of course; she'd been so consumed with taking down the thief that she'd not thought to stop and think of what might happen afterward. The Grimm had no such compunction. They didn't need to think. They surged forward in a roaring wave, thinking only one thing.

Death.

Unbidden, Ruby felt her boot slide back half a step before she mastered herself. Alright, Ruby. She shook her head and readied her weapon, even as her instincts screamed at her to flee. Stop. Breathe. She had Crescent Rose with her. She could fight them. All of them. Even if she had a civilian to protect. Even if she was by herself and oh gods, that was a LOT of Grimm...

"Move."

Ruby jolted as the harmless "civilian" shouldered past her.

"What're you doing?!"

Blue eyes blazed gold. "We are fighting."

Quite suddenly, there were two of him. Now three.

Rising from twin plumes of smoke, they stood beside him and snapped their hands together as Ruby looked on in mute disbelief. Something blue and white and so very very loud burned in their each of their shared grasp; a terrible tearing shriek that grew louder with each passing moment. When the original raised his right hand, his brothers mirrored him; wind whipping at their tattered jackets. What the heck was this? Some Semblance or something? Ruby didn't know. Didn't care. She only knew that the Grimm were nearly upon them. Her eyes began to itch, burning in her skull as her heightened emotions raged Then, as one, the trio threw their arms forward.

Three separate spheres flew from their hands.

"Rasenshuriken." was all she heard.

And the world erupted.

In hindsight, Ruby realized she might have been too close to the blast; if only because she found herself forced to shelter her sight behind an arm. She never truly saw the explosion, forced as she was to squeeze her eyes shut against it. But she did hear the shriek. It built and built, rising and swelling in an endless crescendo until finally...silence. As if all the world were holding its breath for fear of another blast. Ruby didn't blame it. After that, her ears were ringing. No one uttered a word. At long last however, she dared to look up and see why.

Somewhere out of sight, Naruto hummed appreciatively to himself.

Ruby soon saw why; there were no Grimm remaining.

There wasn't even a street anymore.

In place of what had once been a dilapidated street, only a crater reminded. No, calling it a crater was tame. It looked like a meteor had fallen out of the sky and split everything apart. What little remained of the Grimm tide was even now dissolving, wasting away on the breeze like ash. Her mind rebooted as she blinked, silver eyes fluttering shut and open in quiet disbelief. This guy didn't even need a weapon to kill Grimm. He talked to himself in a way that suggested he was clearly broken, physically or otherwise, and he could nuke Grimm. Nuke. Grimm.

Well. That made things simple.

In the end, only four words came to Ruby's frazzled mind.

She latched onto Naruto's arm with all her might. "CAN I KEEP YOU?!"

A/N: There.

Ruby really is too pure.

Lets see if she can help our boy...or break him further.

Heavily hinted that Naruto's suffering from all kinds of crap here, multiple personalities -some of which are personifications of his teammates- and all that.

Broken!Naruto, one who was briefly held captive by Salem before escaping. Of course he escaped. It only cost him his sanity. His code. His morals. Naruto might be a mess at the moment, but he'll get better. Hopefully. As of now? He's got a long road to recovery. Poor guy, hearing the voices of his dead friends. But no matter how bleak things may seem, there's always a chance for it to be better. Its always darkest before the dawn. And the dawn is coming.

I'd like to believe the same can be said for my health.. Gives an old man hope, ya know?

Oh, and on another note?

Unlike the other counterparts of Naruto I've written for this genre, this one isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Loyal he may well be...but he protects his friends. If you're a threat? You die. Simple as that. This one's going to be a bit more...visceral. In every way. Hence the rating.

This story is already written out; and its direction will surprise you.

So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly?

And enjoy the previews!

BE PREPARED~!

(Preview!)

...this kid stopped a train. With his bare hands.

That about tore it. Torchwick raised his hands. "I surrender?"

A fist crashed into the side of his head and laid him out. "NOW you do."

"Get out of my head!"

"He's a walking beacon for Grimm!"

"I don't care! He's my friend!"

"Ruby! You just met him!"

She still clung on tight.

"Don't care! Mine~!"

"Dreams are meant to be caught. And friends can never be bought."

Yang groaned into her palm. "Oh god, he's faster than Ruby...

"You could always try sparring with him?" she offered.

Yang's measured retreat turned into a full rout.

R&R~!