331Welcome Back everyone for Eminence, another update. As promised this chapter should hem up our foray into Atlas and Mantle for now. I hope you enjoy it.
Let's respond to a review before we continue.
The Review from Omni-Creator Kami of Anime is pretty long so if you want to read it check it out in the review section. I really appreciate the big review though so I will respond as best as I can.
My Response: The last chapter was a bit shorter, this one likely will be as well. I originally once planned the stop in Atlas as a single chapter much like how each of the other little mini arcs were. The arc estate was one, Mistral tourney was one, etc. However I felt like breaking it up into two with the first dealing primarily with the action and interaction with Ironwood and this second one dealing with more of the social aspect. The team really is not fond of the general for a multitude of reasons. The most obvious being that they have effectively been rented to the man like they are objects. They all are pretty agitated with both Ozpin and Ironwood but are not lashing out so much as making it a bit more subtle how they express their displeasure. They also don't really tolerate bullshit and Ironwood is incredibly arrogant due to the perceived might of the Atlesian military.
I definitely have plans for Winter, some folks might not approve but I do have plans.
Naruto's semblance has not been fully revealed. Mostly the secondary abilities have been showcased. There is a reason he isn't especially fond of using it, but it has much greater use than just what I have shown so far. It's not a copy semblance and if anything it is most similar to the semblance I gave to Artoria.
Anyway, if you want to chat with me directly, come hop into AizenTheGoat's discord server. A link can be found below.
Link→ /7x4YFstKcz
Link→ /auc4PQjVtz
Now let's get down to business.
It had been roughly a week and a half since Naruto and the rest of his team had been shuttled off to Atlas. They had done just as planned and acted as guinea pigs for a slew of various new contraptions and weapons for the Atlesian Military.
Today they finally had a break from the various tours and laboratory visits and could take a moment for some down time.
As it was, both Erza and Artoria had gone off in search of something for the four of them to eat while Naruto and Mordred remained and pouted over several blueprints and plans for the AK-100 prototypes. They couldn't get their hands on the currently in use version but in all honesty they found the designs lacking in plenty of ways.
That didn't mean that they didn't see some opportunities to improve their own gear. One of the original concepts for the drones had been to incorporate mechashift designs into the limbs so that they could change from firearms to blades at will. Nothing particularly groundbreaking there, but the mechanisms the development team had wanted to incorporate into the design to allow such function were definitely an original idea.
One that was not patented Naruto and Mordred had subtly managed to learn. They already had a plethora of ideas of how to incorporate the technology into their armor systems. Naruto especially liked the idea of his armor being able to carry Bane before effectively materializing the blade right into his hands.
That would take a lot of work and time, not something they could really put into place while here in Atlas. The thought remained tucked away though as did copies of practically any blueprint or plan that they could get a hold of. Whether the Atlesian leadership was on board with such a thing hadn't really crossed their mind.
Then again what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
At the moment though Mordred and Naruto were discussing other things regarding their current hosts.
"It's just such a waste. All this brilliant work wasted on people with the same creativity as a slug…or some other super bland gross thing." Mordred complained.
Naruto chuckled but didn't reply verbally. His mind focused down on a contraption one Atlesian was in the experimental stages of that could potentially allow a machine to bear aura. It seemed completely theoretical from what he was seeing and honestly he kind of worried about the morality of such a thing. The aura would have to come from somewhere. He wondered if there was a secret program up here to siphon off someone's aura already or if the theorist in this program hadn't thought about where the aura for such a machine would likely come from.
He set that set of plans aside. It opened a lot of interesting and potentially horrifying avenues in his head.
"Hey, you notice the…tenseness that is hanging over the city?" Mordred asked him as she too set aside her handful of blueprints.
"Hard not to. It's like people have their status printed on their foreheads here. They practically don't interact with anyone outside their little groups either." Naruto replied.
"No wonder they have to have so many war machines. Just keeping the Grimm under control when everyone here is practically miserable in one way or another is a hell of a feat." Mordred agreed.
"It also tells me just why they are so intent on all these crowd control bots succeeding. How many worker revolts do you think they have regularly? The White Fang protests were one thing but this place feels like a powder keg. I mean they pretty much lock all the poorer folks down in Mantle and ignore them." Naruto said as he pushed up to his feet and stretched. Between the hours spent looking at engineering plans and the thought of such violence right around the corner here, he wanted to move around a bit.
"And we're getting invitations to ritzy parties that probably cost thousands to throw." Mordred frowned.
"Well I don't imagine it's so different from Vale and Mistral. Those places just mesh more because they don't forcefully separate the groups by area like Atlas does."
"Maybe. Like we said though, kind of explains the whole obsession with their military and why practically every student at their academy is pushed into the military." Mordred said.
"It's going to bite them in the ass sooner or later, but as long as it happens after we leave this place, they can do as they please." Naruto replied.
Mordred hummed at that. "I kind of expected you to want to interfere somehow."
"How? This isn't some racists trying to make child soldiers or a pack of Grimm that needs purged. This is an entire continent of people set in their ways. They aren't even our people." Naruto replied.
"We're Hunters. Everyone is supposed to be our people." She pointed out.
"What's supposed to be and what is are practically never the same. What has got you feeling all altruistic?" He asked.
Mordred frowned at his words before also standing and starting to clean up the room ever so slightly.
"Maybe what they keep saying about us on the net is starting to make me want to live up to it, you know?"
Naruto frowned at that. None of them had wanted to be regarded as these superhero like characters. They wanted to help people sure but none of them had any fantasy about saving the world and exterminating the Grimm or anything like that. They hadn't even graduated from Beacon yet.
"This party is gunna be a real shit show." Mordred groaned as she glanced at the time.
Naruto couldn't help but agree. All their distaste for the social structure here in Atlas aside, they would be attending a party hosted by the Schnee family either way. They had been formally invited by both Winter and her father on separate occasions. They had hoped to squirm out of attending but the General had contacted Ozpin on Winter's behalf and now it was unavoidable.
The Knights of Beacon would be making an appearance at the Schnee manor and they had already seen the interest that the Atlesian media was giving them. Polls about who would look best dressed up for the event and who could dance and who couldn't and a hundred other stupid things.
More idiocy to distract the people of Atlas from the score of issues that was slowly eating their society alive.
Not for the first time Naruto briefly wondered about his life if he had simply remained a wanderer in the wilds. He dropped that line of thinking almost immediately as he recalled he would not have Erza, Mordred, Artoria, and even Glynda if he had done that.
Then again he also wouldn't be dreading the inevitability of forcing himself into a suit and trying to play nice with the likes of James Ironwood and Jacques Schnee or Gele, whichever he was. Winter had been insisting on the latter the more they had gotten to know her.
"Ugh enough thinking about this crap. Let's get back onto something worth talking about." Mordred said.
"Like?" Naruto drawled out his question.
"Like our armor systems, duh." She replied.
"Of course. Well I noticed something after our tests with the Atlesian Knights and our spars with Winter and the other specialists." Naruto began.
"The effect of ballistics and dust rounds at close range, right?" She said.
"Exactly." Naruto agreed as he sat beside her and pulled his scroll out to full size and began running through the diagnostics and plans of the armor systems.
"It's the point blank shots that are the highest risk. Especially with dust rounds. The armor isn't designed for a blast right against the plate. It causes it to buckle and the weakened structure is what's making it more vulnerable." Mordred said as her fingers danced across his screen.
"Agreed. We need something that allows the blast to be better absorbed without losing the durability against the normal attacks we face. We'll be facing a lot more beawolves than Atlesian Knights after all." Naruto said as his free hand joined hers in interacting with the plans on the screen.
"Yeah…" Mordred murmured until she realized she was effectively sitting in Naruto's lap and their faces were just inches apart.
Not one to waste an opportunity as both she and Naruto became very aware of one another, Mordred pressed forward and caught his mouth with her and began kissing him.
The scroll clattered to the floor and closed itself down as Mordred turned around in Naruto's arms and their kissing became more heated and passionate.
Just as she began to push her boyfriend back onto the bed, he stopped her short and broke the kiss.
"Are you really sure you want to do it here and now? I mean it's your first time, so I kind of figured you might want something more special." He said hoping she would tell him to shut up and continue.
"You and Erza did it to mess with her dad. I can do it to forget about this stupid gala and have a fun memory of this shit kingdom." Mordred replied.
"Actually, if it got me out of going to that damn thing, I would drop to my knees and swallow you whole." She laughed before slapping the thoughtful looking Naruto on the chest.
"I have to save some moves for later, right?" She asked with a grin.
"Well, that's all good with me." He happily replied before wrapping his arms around her and bringing her back in for another heated kiss.
Soon she was straddling him on top of the bed and slowly working her shirt up while trying not to break contact between their lips as she did so. Rather than take it all the way off she left it hanging like an oversized necklace while quickly removing her bra and slipping her shorts off as efficiently as she could manage in the moment.
It took a lot of rocking her hips and twisting but if anything that just made the situation more pleasurable for Naruto.
"I'm just gunna pull my panties to the side. We have to be quick. Who knows when the others will be back." Mordred said as she pulled her tiny thong over.
Naruto managed to glance at her clean shaven pussy as she shifted above him. With her tits free and her cunt exposed, he felt himself harden fully. She might be considered small compared to Erza and Artoria, but Mordred was no less of a beauty than either of them. Naruto didn't even attempt to hold back as his hand settled onto her hips and he began pressing himself up into her for the first time.
Mordred let out a long groan as she felt her body stretch to accommodate her lover. She shook slightly at the strain but her pussy took all it could greedily. The petite huntress leaned forward and began kissing him, once again moaning with even the tiniest twitches, as both got used to the new sensation of him penetrating her.
Slowly Mordred began moving again. Sliding back and forth on his lap as she began riding his cock. The couple began to pick up speed and get into the rhythm in no time at all. They did have to be quick after all.
"Oh god." She moaned in a brief break of the kiss.
"Yeah? You like it?" Naruto asked as he suddenly thrusted harder intending to catch her by surprise.
The sudden thump of her head against the bottom of the bunk bed above them killed the sexy mood he was aiming for.
"Ow, fuck!" Mordred cried out.
"Shit, sorry. You alright?" He asked as he began to sit up and stop fucking her.
"Yeah, just don't stop!" She said as she tried to push him back into the bed.
"Here, try this." Naruto insisted as he overpowered her and maneuvered them into a new position.
Now both of them were laying on the bed with Naruto just behind Mordred. From behind he slipped his cock back inside her, earning a pleasurable moan from her as he did so. He wasn't finished though as his hands began to slip across her smaller form. One sliding beneath her to begin toying with her nipple and the other crossing over her wrist to her sensitive and now easily accessible clit.
"W-wait." Mordred muttered with a pleasurable shudder as his fingers began playing with her and he returned to his earlier rapid and steady motion of pumping into her pussy.
"What's wrong?" He asked her as he nibbled the lobe of her ear tenderly.
"I'm gonna, I'm gonna-" She stammered as her hands latched onto his and her entire body felt like it was clamping down onto his dick.
"Cum baby. It's okay." He said as she shook ever so slightly and let out a long cracking moan.
As he let her ride out her pleasure, he placed soft kisses along the back of her neck before he felt his own release beginning to build up.
"Mordred, I'm close." He grunted into her hair.
"N-not inside." She managed to get out in a dazed and husky voice.
He grunted but managed to pull out just in time to blow his load across the blanket and up along her thighs and stomach. They both stayed still as they caught their breath from the moment. Sadly the brief peace was ruined as Artoria and Erza both strode back into the room.
Initially both women had smiles on their faces until they caught sight of their partners on the bed and the mess they had made.
Erza simply sighed as Artroria began to scowl.
"You should have at least waited until we weren't on mission anymore." Erza said to Mordred.
"Right, like you?" The more petite girl fired back causing Erza to shut her mouth with a click. She couldn't argue that point.
"I don't care that you two fucked but you jumped turn order." Artoria complained from beside them.
"Turn order? Oh shut up, you are just pissed because I bagged him before you. Get your shit together and tug his pants down. He won't say no." Mordred replied.
"I'm right here, you know that right?" Naruto weakly said only to be completely ignored.
"We were supposed to wait till we were all back in Vale then we were going to take turns on dates and do it at a hotel." Artoria argued.
"When did you all decide on this?" Naruto asked starting to feel a bit annoyed they were deciding all this for him.
"Did you want input on which hotel we let you fuck us at or…" Artoria asked as she glared at him.
"I'm just gunna go use the mirror in the bathroom to help me tie my tie." He said.
"I knew there was a brain in that head of yours somewhere. You on the other hand… seriously the door wasn't even locked. What if one of those camera carrying shitheads barged in or gods forbid the damn specialists." Artoria said as she turned back to face her sister.
All three of the girls were damp and dressed in nothing more than towels as they tried to get ready for the gala at the Schnee manor. A sight Naruto was a bit sad to leave behind but he was not hanging around long enough for the argument to somehow blow in his direction.
"I don't give a shit. Practically all of Remnant knows we're together anyway. What does it matter?" Mordred argued as she brushed her hair as best as she could.
"Mordred, there is a difference between knowing we are having sex and seeing pictures or videos of us getting painted by Naruto." Erza said. She was already done with the argument. She was only a bit mad that Naruto and Mordred weren't being more careful about when and where they did it, not that they did it.
Artoria didn't even really care about that, she was just pissed off that she was going to be the last one of the team to do it. More specifically that somehow her 'little' sister beat her in this of all things.
"Can we focus on the shit at hand please?" Mordred asked, getting the taller girls to roll their eyes. They knew the argument was pointless though and decided to drop it.
The three of them continued to get ready in relative silence. Naruto had clearly made himself scarce so they had to help one another with the finishing touches anyway.
"Tonight is going to really suck. You both know that right?" Mordred stated as they finished adjusting their dresses.
Artoria narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to make some snide remark toward her sister.
"No, stop it. Both of you. We get through this party without any problems and it's over. The transport is already getting our luggage loaded. We leave straight for the airship after the party and change on board." Erza pointed out.
"Good, then we can leave this shit hole behind." Artoria said.
"Too bad Naruto is going with his uncle-dad to Patch." Mordred chimed in.
"It'll just be a couple days. Then we will all be back together, back at home, and we can finally relax for a little bit...hopefully." Erza said.
Naruto had been dumbstruck by his three girlfriends when they had met up to head toward the Schnee estate. Each of them suddenly felt a little better about attending the party. An infinitely tiny bit better, but better all the same. Who didn't like looking sexy for their significant other after all? Even Naruto was enjoying the way the girls kept laying their hands on him as they enjoyed the appearance of him in a tailor made suit.
Once they reached the manner though, any actually good mood they had drained away quickly. Just as they had expected, they were accosted by fans and sycophants the moment they stepped in the door. They endured through every uncomfortable situation, from old men and oddly enough, old women, making entirely inappropriate comments toward their looks and easily a hundred different rich and wealthy citizens of Atlas treating them more like interesting new toys rather than people, or gods forbid, Hunters.
Each of them almost missed being in such situations such as fighting the Heldrake or taking on the members of the Purebred. At least it wasn't here, surrounded by so many rats and snakes, being eyed up like meat.
Thankfully their rescue did eventually come. Its form was just not one that they had expected in the slightest.
"Welcome, all of you." Winter Schnee greeted them, clad in an even more clean and crisp uniform than the one that they had met her in.
"Hello again." Erza politely replied, with nods from the other three.
Winter seemed to grin ever so slightly at the somewhat rigid greeting from Erza and her team.
"It seems I'm not the only one that detests the type of people that frequent things like this." The Schnee woman said as she steered the group to an area that was, thankfully, a bit out of the way from the majority of the guests.
"So, you aren't fond of all this sort of thing either?" Mordred asked.
"Not even slightly. I have never liked crowds or being in the spotlight. When my father removed me from the position of heiress, it was a relief I assure you." Winter said as she signaled one of the waiting staff to give the group each a coupe glass filled with some sort of sweet wine.
"That, kind of surprises me. You really seem focused on you duty and just kind of fit the role." Naruto chimed in before downing the drink like a shot.
Winter eyed his now empty glass for a moment before sighing. "I like things all in order, but there is nothing remotely orderly about the SDC, or the circus of politics my father enjoys so much. My sister is a far better fit for running the company anyway. She has the patience I lack."
"We met her once actually." Erza said.
"Oh, yes, after that Heldrake incident. You four were practically all she would talk about for weeks afterward. She still gushes about how amazing and heroic you all were if anyone makes the mistake of asking." Winter said with a soft smile.
"You almost sound jealous." Artoria said before yelping softly as Erza kicked her foot.
"Maybe a little." She let the jab slide. "I actually should apologize. I am the one that convinced the General to pull strings and made sure you all had to come tonight."
The group of Beacon students glanced at one another. That wasn't expected. At least not entirely. They assumed the General wanted them there to show off his connections with the Knights of Beacon or perhaps Jacques wanted the Knights of Beacon to be seen attending one of his parties.
"Wait, so you manipulated the General into getting us to attend because your sister is a fan of ours?" Naruto asked in a bit of admiration.
"Let me introduce you to her and it would all be worth it." Winter said, causing Naruto to share amused glances with the rest of the team.
With that, Eminence began to open up a bit more to the Specialist. She might have been a bit too rigid for their own tastes but she had her moments and before long, the lot of them had fallen into casual and comfortable conversation, sequestered away from the droves of the sickening socialites that Atlesian high society was so chock full of.
They even apologized for going out of their way to antagonize her during their stay, though she did silently note they refused to apologize for doing the same for General Ironwood. The four Beacon students clearly had grown a healthy dislike for the Atlesian Headmaster, and were beginning to birth the same disdain for their own from what Winter could tell.
Before long, Winter apologized and sadly said she must do her duty and introduce them to her parents. So after taking a last drink to steel themselves for the circus once more, they ventured back out into the party together. Thankfully by now, most of the guests had found specific people they wanted to pester for one thing or another.
Most of them. Their designated targets of conversation stood almost bereft of anyone but attending staff and bodyguards nearby. Clearly, besides the image that it created by hosting the event, neither Jacques nor Willow Schnee actually wanted to be present.
"Ah, Winter, I see you have been growing acquainted with the esteemed Knights of Beacon." Jacques cheerfully greeted. A clear departure from the man they had met outside the ruined mine in the past.
"Yes, mother, father, this is Team Eminence of Beacon. I'm sure you already know their names by now. Eminence, this is my mother, Willow and my father, Jacques." Winter stiffly introduced. Despite clearly sounding far more rigid and fake compared to when she was speaking in private with the team earlier, Winter still managed to pull off a naturally cold and calm demeanor flawlessly.
"A great pleasure to meet you all once again. You've done Remnant and by extension my family a great many services with your work. Come, we must get some photos to remember your time here." Jacques insisted, not even bothering to actually talk with them as his staff hurriedly snapped dozens of photos that would, no doubt, be in the media within moments.
Afterward the man gave a swift polite goodbye before slipping away into the crowds and passing between various important looking politicians and businessmen with a wide smile and a warm handshake as he went.
"Thank you all for humoring him. Sometimes it's best to simply let small things like that go his way so that he doesn't make a problem." Winter said before taking her mother's hand.
By now they could clearly tell that Willow Schnee was at the very least doped up and well on her way through her second glass of wine since they had been introduced. Winter practically had to carry her toward a seat near the side of the room.
"You mentioned your younger sister earlier. Is she here?" Erza asked. She didn't want to crush the younger girl's hopes of seeing them before they all left, but they hoped that they could slip out and head home if they met with her sooner rather than later.
"My father has lined her up as tonight's entertainment. She'll be up there in a few moments afterwards if you wouldn't mind speaking with her even for just a moment, I know it would mean the world to her." Winter said.
"Right." Artoria awkwardly agreed for them.
"Entertainment?" Mordred asked.
"Oh that's right, Weiss Schnee has a couple of singles out, she's actually a pretty talented singer." Erza said as she recalled listening to one of the younger girl's songs before.
"Well if it's something to fit this…party, I don't think it will really be my kind of music." Mordred sighed.
"Maybe, either way it won't kill us to meet with the girl. Imagine living with Jacques and Willow and tell me you couldn't use something to lift your spirits." Erza pressed.
"I imagine I would cry myself to sleep every night and wipe my eyes dry with spare five hundred lien cards." Artoria replied blandly, but still she didn't make any attempt to leave.
"Well at least we won't have to wait long. She's already taking the stage." Naruto pointed out.
The stage itself was less of an actual stage and more the top of the massive ornate staircase at the center of the room. Like Mordred had suspected, Weiss started with several traditional songs from Atlas, though they were a bit surprised by the inclusion of older songs from Mantle dating back before Atlas became the heart of the Northern Kingdom. As she continued to sing and perform, the music gradually shifted to more modern and pop stylings. Many of which were original songs from Weiss herself.
As she not only sang but danced at the top of the stairs, the four hunters in training easily recognized the beginnings of a huntress' training in her movements. Clearly the girl was taking more after her elder sister than either of her parents. It endeared her even more to the four of them, as they caught her frequently glancing directly at them and trying to gauge whether or not they were enjoying her performance.
They most definitely were too, which seemed to push the girl onward into putting more passion and heart into her show. As the music winded down and she finished her set, she looked genuinely happy, and the nearby Winter looked almost as pleased.
Unfortunately, Willow was clearly too out of it to even understand that it was her daughter performing and Jacques seemed more interested in a heated discussion with General Ironwood and several politicians along the far wall, to pay attention to her performance. The man never even glanced toward Weiss as she sang and danced. Not that it seemed to bother Weiss at all. She looked completely used to both of her parent's behaviors.
After she finished her songs, she quickly made her way to Winter, graciously accepting the applause and well wishes from her audience as she went. The sisters hugged one another lightly as they met near where the team still stood before Winter led Weiss over toward them.
"Weiss, I know you've met them once before but these are the Knights of Beacon." Winter introduced.
Weiss curtseyed deeply trying to control the nervous smile on her face. It was honestly cute how innocent and polite the girl was compared to the rest of her family. Clearly Winter had worked hard to shield her as best as she could from the reality of the Schnee family. Though the girl that they had all met previously seemed perfectly aware of the issues that plagued her family and remained a reasonably decent person despite that.
"Forgive me for being so excited. I just didn't expect Winter to pull something off like this for my birthday. When father told me I had to perform tonight I assumed that he had forgotten entirely." Weiss excitedly greeted them all.
The entire team winced internally but managed to barely keep the smiling facades up for the young girl.
"Well, I have to say it's all on Winter. She pulled all this off for you." Artoria managed to recover first.
"I'm glad you performed tonight. You're amazing." Erza praised causing Weiss to blush faintly and Winter to mouth 'thank you' to the team from behind her sister.
"If I'm not mistaken, I saw some moves that remind me of a certain Atlesian huntress I know." Naruto cheekily pointed out causing the girl to blush even more heavily.
"Don't tell anyone please. My father wouldn't approve of me becoming a huntress." Weiss said quietly.
"Parents can often be incredibly selfish." Naruto said softly, causing her to stare at him. "Follow your own desires. You are obviously talented enough to do anything that you set your mind to."
His teammates smiled though Artoria rolled her eyes at him. Weiss however blushed nearly scarlet, but nodded her head as her voice failed her.
"I know you four were hoping to leave soon. The journey back to Vale isn't short even on the Academy transports. Lets get some pictures before you go though, if you don't mind." Winter suggested.
They easily agreed. They didn't really imagine Weiss was going to be spreading the pictures she got around like her father planned to do.
Afterward they continued to chat for a while, Weiss tried to be as polite as possible but was just a bit too excited to hear stories from them that she couldn't help herself from asking to hear more. They didn't mind though. Telling a prospective huntress about their time spent on missions or in training was a definite improvement from the normal interviews they suffered through.
Eventually the party began to wind down and EMNA bid their goodbyes to Weiss and Winter. Technically to Willow as well, but the woman was busy sucking on a bottle of bubbly like it was a toddler's sippy cup, so they didn't think she really even knew they were there. They left the estate and took a car to the airdocks. Something that felt a bit odd because they were all still dressed for a high class outing.
Before they climbed aboard their airship though, just as he had promised, Qrow seemed to appear from thin air and scared the life out of the three girl's on Naruto's team.
"Girls, this is Qrow, my asshole dad." Naruto introduced, trying to act angry that the man had scared them by suddenly appearing from the darkness. He wasn't quite successful though, as the sight of the older Branwen's grin had Naruto already grinning as well.
"No wonder you forget to call me sometimes. I would forget to call me too." Qrow said as he looked the girls over, causing each of them to frown.
"Relax, I'm kidding. Well not really. You all are actually pretty hot. Well done kid." He said turning to Naruto who only sighed.
"Are you sure about going with him? I-is he drunk?" Erza asked, a bit worried for her partner.
"It will be fine. You guys she get aboard, I'm sure your feet hurt from those shoes or whatever. I'll be back at Beacon to see you all before long anyway, just cover for me with Ozpin please." Naruto reassured them.
"Ah, no worries there. I talked to him myself. Me and Glynda. You're all getting a little bit of a break finally. You probably need it after spending a few weeks here with all the Atlesian stuffed shirts. I know I would." Qrow said as he waved at the girls and pivoted to head toward the craft he and Naruto would take to Patch.
"Okay, I kinda like him a bit more after that last part, still your dad is…" Mordred trailed off.
"Trust me, he's better than he makes himself out to be." Naruto weakly defended the man.
"Just make sure you actually get to where you're going and come back to the academy in one piece." Erza said.
"Yes Captain." Naruto chuckled.
After a series of goodbye kisses he rushed to catch up with Qrow who was all smiles as he ribbed Naruto about the girls he was dating.
"It's good to see you for real kid. I mean it." Qrow said a bit more seriously.
"Same to you." Naruto said as they boarded Qrow's ship.
"And you are sure you are ready for this? They are both a lot different from the girls you used to know. They're thirteen now. Teenagers. Think they know it all. Just like their big brother."
"It's been too long already. I can't keep avoiding them. Hate me or love me, they deserve me to at least face them." Naruto replied.
"If you're sure. Just remember what I said, and think about this piece of painful knowledge. Hate and love are not mutually exclusive. If anything they feed off of one another." Qrow said before he left Naruto to head into the on board bathroom to shower and change out of his suit into more casual clothing.
Naruto frowned at that but knew his adoptive father well enough not to ignore such advice. Even if it made him start to feel even more anxious about the upcoming meeting.
And that is that. I hope you enjoyed. Like I said before next chapter is on Patch. I do want to say that the canon generation of characters will all be different than what we recall from the series. I think you have already seen the slight difference with Weiss. She is far less like Jacques than in canon, though we will have to see what she is like by the time her turn at Beacon comes along.
Ruby and Yang will also be different. I won't say how till you meet them in the story but just know they will have different personalities.
Anyway
Till Next Time