"We aren't under the command of that woman anymore." Adam said.
"What happened? She went through so much trouble to attain our help." Lieutenant asked.
"She was defeated by two individuals. What I assume is a shark faunus of some kind and his human partner." He answered.
"A faunus and human working together? Are you sure the faunus wasn't a servant or something?"
"I asked them about their partnership, and they don't seem to care about the difference of who they are." Adam said taking off his mask. "I also invited them to join the Fang."
"A human in the fang?! Have you lost your mind!?" The lieutenant yelled.
"No I haven't. I don't fully trust them, but they're both extremely powerful from the little I've seen of them."
"Then why not just invite the shark faunus?" Lieutenant asked.
"I thought about it, but they looked like a packaged deal." Adam answered once again. "It would be better to have positive or neutral relations with them. When I said they defeated Cinder I meant the human did in the span of seconds."
"That's... that's impossible. Are you sure it wasn't some kind of trick?"
"If it was it was a good one, I didn't even see what happened. They were staring at each other and suddenly she collapsed."
"I can't believe it... Well sir what will we do now?" Lieutenant asked.
"We don't need our men working with that human anymore to steal dust, so we can inform them of the change in situation. After that we will look towards the future. The idea of attacking Beacon still interests me, but for now we need to build our numbers and wait." He answered.
"What exactly will we wait for?"
"We need to see what those two I told you about will do first. If possible I don't want to cross them. They had my fight or flight instincts screaming at me to run." Adam answered looking at his mask.
"Yes sir. I will take my leave now." The lieutenant said before turning around and leaving the room they were in. 'I can't believe someone like you could ever be this scared of a single human. How disgraceful.' He thought as he left.
Adam continued staring at his mask.
"I don't really care what he's called. Faunus, human, or anything else he is my partner, and similar to his answer he's the only one in this world that I'd trust with my life."
"Is it really possible?" He asked quietly. With a sigh he stood up and put his mask back on before leaving the room.
Break
With Itachi and Kisame
(Yes I'm using the English names sue me)
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Two water dragons collided canceling each other out while below them Kisame and Itachi were locked in place pushing against each other. Itachi was using a kunai while Kisame had Samehada. The latter pushing down on the former with a grin on his face.
Suddenly they broke apart and both jumped back.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi yelled shooting a large fireball at his partner.
'A big one.' "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" Kisame yelled creating and riding a huge wave completely overtaking the fireball. The wave seemed to swallow up Itachi, and after a moment the wave settled making a small lake in what was a clearing.
Suddenly Itachi sprung out of the water stabbing Kisame in the back only for the body to turn into water.
"Nice try Itachi." Kisame said from behind putting Samehada against the other man's shoulder and pushing down on it. "This is where you admit defeat."
Itachi slowly turned his head and gave a small sideways smile. "It's not over just yet." It said before exploding throwing Kisame back a few feet.
When he landed, he scanned the water looking for his elusive partner. Without warning he spun around and blocked Itachi's Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Kisame shouted slamming his hand onto the surface of the water creating three shark bombs that rushed Itachi.
Itachi saw the attack and dodged out of the way of each explosion. He had a smile on his face until he saw Kisame's own. "Water Style: Shark Shower." Kisame said.
All the water in the air from the explosions formed into miniature sharks that assaulted Itachi's form. Once the bombardment was over Kisame smirked at the damaged log floating in the water and started searching for his partner again only to find no sign of him. That's when he felt the kunai at his neck. "Checkmate."
He looked over his shoulder to see a somewhat battered Itachi. "How..." It took him a few seconds to figure out what happened, and when he did he just grinned. "That's a dangerous game you just played what would've happened if I saw through it?"
"You didn't notice it because you weren't looking for it." Itachi said putting his kunai away.
"How could you have known that?" He asked.
"Because I know you. You'd expect your opponent to use the substitution after being hit by an attack like that, so when I made that illusion I showed you what you wanted to see." Itachi answered. "But I believe I'm done for today."
"You can't be tired already we've only been sparring for a few hours." Kisame said with a grin.
"I don't have the same stamina or chakra that you do." Itachi said flatly.
"I can't help with chakra, but we can work on your stamina." Kisame offered with a grin.
Itachi couldn't help but shudder at that. "Your last attempt to help me with my stamina didn't bode well for either of us."
"I think it went rather well." Kisame said laughing.
"You're the only one who thinks that." Itachi said flatly stretching for a moment before looking back to his partner. "Besides I believe it's time we checked in on our little spectator."
"We should I can't wait to see her reaction to a few jutsu." He said with a smirk.
While they didn't plan on Ruby watching them during their spar they weren't really surprised when they noticed her following them. Said red reaper was awestruck. She didn't even notice the two walk over to where she was hiding and call out to her.
"You know Itachi I think we broke her." Kisame said looking at the girl inquisitively.
"Give it a second." Itachi said walking over to her and snapping in front of her face a few times.
"That... was.... AWESOME!" She screamed jumping into the air. "You were all like Whoosh and he was like Wahhh and..." (For anyone who didn't assume it she continues her... whatever that is.)
Kisame couldn't help himself he burst out laughing as she poorly re-described what she just witnessed happen. Itachi was in a similar state, but he was controlling his laughter far better.
"... and then you were like SURPRISE! And that was sooooo COOOOLLL!" She finally finished jumping up and down.
"It should probably go without saying, but you will need to keep quiet about the things you saw us doing." Itachi said seriously.
"I know I know." She sighed. "If you didn't want people seeing you do that stuff then why'd you let me watch? You had to know I was here obviously." She asked.
"We thought we owed you one since this was the spot you recommended to us, and it was you. Anyone else wouldn't have seen anything." Kisame answered.
"Ha ha... you mean they'd never see anything ever again don't you?" She asked nervously rubbing the back of her head.
"Hey she is learning." Kisame said to Itachi who just shook his head.
"You aren't the most helpful when it comes to this kind of thing are you?" He said to his partner who just shook his head the grin never leaving his face.
"I still don't get how you guys are so... unattached when it comes to killing." She said shaking her head.
"It's how we were raised nothing to do but make the most of it." Itachi said with a shrug before looking down at the reaper. "What'd you think? Was it what you imagined?"
"The fight?" She asked.
He nodded.
"I never could've imagined anything like that! You were both so cool and had so many cool abilities! I thought you were actually killing each other, but you were both smiling the whole time. Then he turned into water and you exploded! What on Remnant was that stuff?!" She asked excitedly.
"Just some simple sparing. If you remember right we started with taijutsu then moved up to ninjutsu as time went on." Kisame said before seeing her confused look. "I forgot you don't know what that means do you?"
She shook her head 'no' making him sigh and look to Itachi for help.
Itachi looked between his partner and Ruby. "We fought with and without abilities." He said simply, and that must've been enough for the girl because she had a look of realization on her face.
"Can you teach me how to do that stuff!?" She asked excitedly.
"We might be willing to teach you some of the hand-to-hand combat, but as for our 'abilities' as you like to call them I'm afraid you can't learn those." Itachi said making her visibly deflate.
She looked positively adorable when she was pouting, and it reminded Itachi of someone he hadn't seen in a long time, so he motioned for her to come to him. She smiled and ran over only to be flicked in the head. "Ow!" She said pouting.
"Sorry Ruby, but without chakra you can't do what we did." He said with an apologetic smile before continuing. "But you did say yourself that you aren't any good at fighting without your scythe, so why don't we change that a bit?" He asked making her chuckle nervously before sighing.
"I just can't fight hand-to-hand both Yang and dad tried to teach me, and I could never get it." She said sadly.
"Where did Yang learn to fight?" Itachi asked.
"Umm from our dad." She answered confused.
"So she fights like your old man?" Kisame asked.
"Yes." She answered.
...
Itachi and Kisame just looked at each other. "I think I know why neither of them could teach you anything." Kisame started.
"Why?" She asked curiously.
"They both have the same fighting style that from what I've seen is run straight at your opponent and hit hard. That doesn't fit your style or your build." Itachi answered.
"So I'm not just garbage at hand-to-hand?" Ruby asked hopeful again.
"No you're garbage at it right now." Kisame said getting a disappointed 'aw' from Ruby. "But with a little help you might become a better fighter than your sister."
"What?! No way! Yang is way stronger than I am." Ruby said waving her arms around.
"I didn't say you'd be stronger than her I said you'd fight better than her. It's up to you to try and learn. If all goes well then give it a shot and see who's better at hand-to-hand." Kisame reasoned making the young girl nod.
"Alright. So you guys are willing to teach me?" She asked hopefully.
"We don't have anything else to do at the moment, so we might be able to start something now." Itachi offered. Kisame's grin started looking feral, and she started wondering if this was actually a good idea.
"...Sure...?" She said hesitantly.
"Good now the first thing that you should learn is how to effectively dodge. Kisame if you would." Itachi said stepping back
Without another word Kisame jumped forward. Ruby screamed a little and dashed away.
'This might be more fun than I thought.' Itachi thought with a smile.
With WBY
The rest of team RWBY were slowly waking up to their own terms rather than someone else's. Well that's how it started until the resident ice queen was rudely woken by her blonde teammate's yelling.
"RUUUUBYYYY!" the brawler bellowed. In her hand was a scrap of paper and with a harsh glare Weiss sat up pinning Yang with her gaze.
"What could possibly have you so loud!" Weiss yelled stretching her still sore body.
"Ruby's gone and all she left was a damn note!" Yang continued.
Out of the bathroom came Blake having just finished getting dressed. "Is this the first time she's done this?" Blake asked calmly.
"Er... well no, but she usually leaves a note saying she's going hunting or at least saying where she'll be, but just look at it!" Yang said handing the note to Blake.
"Going out for a bit be back later. Don't wait up for me signed your fearless leader." Blake read aloud before raising an eyebrow. "What's she usually disappear for again?"
"Most of the time she goes to the forests around our house and hunts." Yang answered.
"If that isn't the most reckless- no wait she's done worse." Weiss said with a thoughtful look before slowly getting out of bed.
"Guys this is serious." Yang said getting a sigh from the heiress.
"Have you at least tried calling her?" She asked.
Yang nodded. "No answer."
With that said the other two shared a look and nodded. "Alright after I get dressed let's go find that troublemaker." Weiss said grabbing some clothes and heading into the bathroom.
After a few minutes the heiress reappeared dressed and ready. The three then quickly grabbed their weapons just in case and made their way out of the room bumping into JNPR.
"Hey guys what're you all up to?" Jaune asked seeing their weapons.
"We were just-" Weiss began before Yang cut her off.
"We're looking for Ruby have you seen her?"
Jaune turned to the rest of his team who just shook their heads 'no' "Sorry we haven't seen her today. Do you guys need any help?" He asked after seeing the brawler deflate a bit.
"There's no need to worry about it we can find her." Weiss said politely trying her best to hurry this along.
"Are you sure? We'd be happy to help you find your leader." Pyrrha said getting nods from the rest of her team and a loud 'yea' from the hammer maiden.
Yang nodded with a smile. "Thanks guys."
Now with JNPR with them the group decided to split up and search the grounds and nearby woods.
It's safe to say they weren't going to find her that easily.
Unknown Location
"Are you sure about this?"
"No, but what else are we supposed to do she still hasn't woken up."
"You're right. I guess we have to make that call."
Break
With Itachi, Kisame, and Ruby
Ruby was laid out flat on her back panting heavily as she looked up at the man in front of her. She was covered in slowly healing cuts from shrapnel and a few other things. For whatever reason, while she was trying to avoid the shark who smelled blood, his partner decided to add his own contribution in the training in the form of throwing shuriken and kunai from different directions. Of course he wasn't aiming to kill, but she still did well to avoid them. Most of them.
"I'm... starting to see... why... others might think you're... scary..." She said between breaths.
"Oh you wound me." Kisame said having enjoyed himself as shown by a grin bigger than his usual one.
"Itachi... what... was I supposed... to get... out of that exactly?" She asked.
Said ninja dropped from the tree he had been in and walked over to the two. "You never know how many enemies there might be hiding in the woodwork, so it's important to always pay attention to your surroundings."
"I thought this was just about dodging." Ruby said finally catching up on her breathing.
"It was and you did pretty well." Itachi said.
"But you still came out worse for wear, so it could've been better." Kisame added enjoying the glare the young girl shot at him.
"It's hard to dodge your annoyingly strong attacks, the resulting splintering trees" she gestured to the thoroughly destroyed area, "and keep avoiding those sharp blades!" She pouted getting a laugh from Kisame.
"Itachi said it himself you gotta pay attention to your surroundings. He wasn't just talking about enemies, but the terrain too." Kisame said.
"I know I know Uncle Qrow said something similar during my training." Ruby said letting out a sigh.
Itachi helped the girl up then ruffled her hair. "Regardless good job you did well." He said with a genuine smile making Ruby smile and ignore her coloring cheeks. "I would say now would be a good time to work on your offense, but it looks like quite a bit of time has passed.
Ruby looked up and saw it was already past noon then gulped. "Uh oh." She said pulling her scroll from a hidden pocket in her cloak and seeing the messages from her friends and teammates. Hesitantly she clicked on Yang's number and put it on speaker. The call was picked up almost instantly.
"RUBY WHERE ARE YOU!" Came Yang's frantic voice.
"Calm down Yang I left a note." She said somewhat annoyed. She did this pretty often and didn't know why her sister seemed so frantic this time.
"Your notes usually say where you'll be, but you didn't write anything, so we've been looking for you all morning." Yang said finally calming down a bit much to the delight of her teammates.
"That's because I didn't know where I would be going, I just had a gut feeling, and followed it." Ruby said shrugging before realizing that her sister couldn't see it. Itachi and Kisame exchanged a look of confusion before Ruby held a finger up saying to wait a second. "Anyways Yang there's nothing to worry about I'll see you back at the school." Ruby said hanging up midway through her question.
With WBY
"Wait Ruby where are you?!" She asked quickly only to hear the line beep causing her to grin strangely.
"Are you... okay Yang?" Blake asked having heard bits of the conversation.
Yang's scroll snapped in her hand. "She is grounded forever when she gets back." She said with her eye twitching.
"Yang what have you done! They just gave us those scrolls when we got here how'd you already break it?" Weiss asked with a scowl on her face.
Whatever evil menacing look she had on her face was quickly replaced with a nervous one as the resident ice queen gave her a withering glare.
"W-well you s-see-" She started before getting cut off.
"Not another word." Weiss said firmly. "We know Ruby's alright, and we can find out where she was later, so now we are going to get your scroll replaced, and you can explain to Professor Goodwitch just why your scroll that's made specifically for huntsmen and huntresses is in pieces." She ended with a cold glare making Yang go pale at the thought of the good witch.
Back With the Ninja
"You came all the way out here and happened to find us on a gut feeling?" Itachi asked intrigued.
Ruby hesitantly nodded making Kisame hum aloud. "You really are a strange kid." He said getting a defiant 'Hey!' and a weak punch to the gut.
'That is interesting. Could it have been luck or happenstance? Maybe the crow I left with her? Or could it just be something else?' Itachi wondered to himself. Like a majority of the Akatsuki Kisame and Itachi had always been good about getting away from prying eyes, but Ruby just happened to follow her gut and found them. It was interesting to say the least. "Ruby." He said drawing her attention. "Your sister made it sound like you disappearing leaving nothing but a note is somewhat normal. What is it you usually do when you go off?"
"Usually I just go to hunt." She said simply.
"Alone?" He asked getting a nod. "You're out hunting Grimm I assume?" He asked getting another nod. "If they're as dangerous as you say they are then why would you try and go off to hunt them on your own?"
"It's just part of what I was taught by my uncle. Before Beacon I was still at Signal and there weren't any teams there just classes, and so I usually trained alone or with him. He had told me that when I got to Beacon I would be placed on a team with others and that they could help, but teams don't always work out or stick together. When I asked him what he meant he'd just give an almost sad laugh and say just look what happened to his team." She said pausing as she looked down. "Out of the four of them he's the only one still working as a huntsman while the others aren't, and he usually works alone... I guess he just wanted me to be prepared just in case something like that happens with my team." She finished seeming rather sad.
"He's right as far as people go everyone has their own goals or reasons for doing something, and while they may line up for a time it doesn't mean it will stay that way." Kisame said with a faraway look. Something that Ruby hadn't really seen from the blue-skinned man before now.
Itachi understood what was going through his partner's head, or at least parts of it. He knew bits and pieces of Kisame's past, and they both knew that no one in the Akatsuki was in it for the exact same purpose.
"Time will continue to march on. Personal loss such as a team's dispersal, or in worse cases a team's death will not stop time. It is up to those who remain to keep moving forward or be swallowed up in the rushing sands." Itachi said somewhat cryptically.
"It's times like these that make me forget that you're younger than me." Kisame muttered coming back to the present.
"Sorry if I dampened the mood guys." Ruby said looking down.
"Don't worry about it kid we've all got skeletons in our closet." Kisame said his grin slowly coming back as he ruffled her hair a tad rougher than when Itachi had done it.
"I don't have any skeletons in my closet!" Ruby yelled out making Itachi put his head into his hand.
"Not literal skeletons Ruby he was using a metaphor." He said.
"Ohhhhh." Ruby said slowly. "Oops."
With a laugh Kisame brought them back to what they were talking about before. "Back to your training I think it might be better for Itachi to teach you rather than I. My style isn't quite your sister's, but it still relies on strength."
Itachi nodded before thinking. "Right now, could you punch my hand as hard as you can?" He asked holding up his hand.
"Umm sure?" She said bringing her fist back before punching his hand as hard as she could.
Itachi was unimpressed as I'm sure you can imagine. "Alright then... your aura can it be channeled into a certain part of your body?" He asked.
"I'm not really good at it compared to my uncle, but yea."
"Alright then try using your aura to punch harder than what you just did." He said.
"It might not be like chakra." Kisame said watching.
Doing as she was asked, she started channeling her aura into her hand and punched again. Itachi could actually feel some power behind the strike and he smiled. "I can work with that." He said making Ruby smile.
"Does this mean you have an idea?" She asked excitedly.
"I might have something. First thing we need to do is work on your stance. Fighting with a weapon and fighting barehanded usually means a change in stance with exceptions like your sister." Itachi said as she got into her usual stance, but it felt weird without her baby. "It feels different doesn't it?" He asked.
"Yea it doesn't feel the same." Ruby said.
"You don't have your scythe out right now. Your current stance takes in its weight, and is balanced when the weight is there, but now you're throwing yourself off-balance." Itachi said.
"This sounds like it'll be hard." Ruby said trying to find a more natural stance.
"It'll take time since you don't have eyes like mine, but if you work on it then maybe you'll become a formidable opponent." Itachi said.
"There's no maybe I will do this!" Ruby said pumping her fist.
"Good to see you're determined." Kisame said with a grin.
With that they spent the rest of the day working on her technique. Much to the displeasure of her worried sister. By the time she had returned night had already settled upon Vale.
"RUBY ROSE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"