Annoying Bandits

Someone told me that pat reon can not be written in web novel as it is banned for some reason. I did not know since I am new. Anyway, two chapters just because I am amazing.

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The sun was just about to rise but the lush forest was still dark. While Neo slept soundly, Naruto trained a few feet away from her tent. He quickly drew his sword and a slash mark appeared on a tree that was ten feet away. Naruto sheathed his sword in a smooth motion that wasn't visible to the eye and drew it again.

After an hour of practice, the tree was full of marks. Naruto wiped the sweat off his face and glanced at Neo's tent, 'Looks like she is still sleeping.'

From the start of their journey, they had only stopped in one city and that was to buy Neo new clothes. Since he was not sure who can be an informant for the enemy, he had to be careful. What vexed him the most was their slow speed. If he was alone then he would have been running at top speed towards Haven but Neo was quite slow.

Naruto started practicing again while his thought returned to the past few days. Pyrrha was not comfortable when she heard about Neo traveling with him but he sat her down talked with her. It took some time but Pyrrha also saw that Neo had changed.

He had been teaching Neo sign language because carrying a notebook everywhere was not feasible. Every morning they would spar and he guided her to improve herself. He did not know the power of his enemy, Cinder was powerful and someone she was willing to work for must be more powerful than her. In a confrontation, he would have to shift his entire focus on the enemy so after traveling for a few days, he started showing her what she needed to do and how to fight better.

....

Neo woke up and yawned silently. She rubbed her eyes cutely and prepared herself for another day. When she walked out of the tent she saw practicing on his own. Her eyes opened wide and a pink hue settled on her face.

Naruto had his torso on full display and drops of sweat were rolling down his body. With every moment his muscles expanded and contracted. Naruto was tall and muscular but instead of having a bulky body, he was lean. What mesmerized her the most was the markings on his body. She had seen them a few times and asked but about them but Naruto never answered clearly.

His thoughts were broken when she heard Naruto calling out to her. She shook her head and tried controlling her frantically beating heart. This had been happening for a few days but she did not understand why it was happening.

Soon, they started sparring and like always he kept directing her on what to do. Her style of fighting was based on using the weight of her opponents against them but Naruto was so good at hand to hand combat that she was always at a disadvantage against him.

After another hour of sparring, she was out of breath. Her muscles hurt from the strenuous activity and she slumped against a tree.

Naruto went away to catch some wild animals while Neo cleaned herself. They ate and packed up their things to start traveling again. Like usual, he had a fuinjutsu book in one hand while the other rested on his sword.

Neo was also reading the first part of the book that he had written. He had told her that some things in the book were written from experience which got her interested.

They were walking peacefully when Naruto suddenly stopped and sighed. Neo looked at him curiously and signed, 'More bandits?' Naruto deadpanned at her and Neo smiled knowing how much it annoyed him.

She jumped slightly when Naruto just disappeared from beside her. Neo made a face that showed her irritation, she hated when he did this.

In just a few seconds several cracks could be heard around her and Naruto came back while dragging an unconscious man with broken legs. She laughed when he slapped the man awake.

"You Branwen tribe bandits are so thick-headed that sometimes I want to crack one open and check you guys are made of?" He said lazily.

"W-wh-what do you want?", the bandit finally managed to ask.

"I want to know where your main camp is?" he blasted him with killing intent and the man peed himself, he pointed at a certain direction and Naruto chopped his neck. The poor bandit lost consciousness, he was now at the mercy of dangerous wild animals and Grimm that roamed the forest.

Naruto did not care about the bandits and their fate. He had injured them in such a way that even if they survived they would never be able to terrorize anyone again.

He could feel Neo questioning his actions when he started walking towards the main camp. "We have been surrounded by bandits almost daily since we left the city. The last time I was here I let their leader go since I was in a hurry but this time I'm not going to allow them this chance. How many settlements have we passed that was attacked by bandits? After they left the Grimm destroyed everything. It's my fault that I left this Raven woman do whatever she wanted or these villagers would still be alive."

Neo held his hand, she could tell that Naruto was blaming himself for the destruction they had seen while traveling. She comforted him in her own way.

...

About half a month later Naruto stared at the high walls of the Branwen tribe from afar and then at Neo. She was trying to pull him away before someone saw them but he stood his ground. It was a comical sight to see Neo doing all she could and Naruto laughed.

"Wait Neo, I know you are afraid to face their leader but just listen to me." Neo looked at him with a pout and he patted her head.

"Change into a boy and then we will enter from the front gate, let me do all the heavy lifting and you just watch the show." He said with a grin

Neo was about to reply when Naruto stopped her. She placed a hands on her waist and glared at him angrily.

"Shush! Listen, something is going on!" He directed his eyes towards the camp and both of them heard shouting from inside the camp.

A crack of lightning struck the ground and Naruto ran towards the camp. Neo shook her head and transformed herself into a black-haired non-descript boy. She followed after Naruto and her mouth opened wide enough to fit a small apple.

*Bam!*

Naruto punched the gate and it flew open. He turned to look back at Neo with a grin and laughed. the shocked look on her face the thing he was aiming for.

Naruto walked inside like he owned the place while the bandits readied their weapons. He was counting all the people inside the camp when his gaze landed on two people he was familiar with.

"Wait!" His voice echoed around the camp and Naruto pulled his hood off while staring at Yang and Weiss.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked Yang and Weiss.

"What are you doing here? and did you just blast the gate open?" Yang asked while Weiss tried figuring where she had seen Naruto.

"You were there during the fall of Beacon, right?" Naruto nodded in reply to Weiss and looked around, when his eyes finally settled on the woman that he had met before, "I'm here because on my way to Mistral I met quite a few bandits, it is difficult to reach your destination when you are being constantly ambushed by bandits ya know."

"You are also going to Mistral?" Weiss asked and he nodded.

"You sound familiar..." Raven said silently but Naruto caught her words, "Of course I sound familiar or have you forgotten that I held the lives of your man a year ago?"

Yang and Weiss were caught by surprise, someone challenged Raven and got away. Most people know not to mess with her.

"You were going to kill my mom's tribe?" Yang yelled which got both Naruto and Neo's attention. he looked back and forth between mother and daughter before laughing out loud.

"She's your mom?" He said in between laughing trying to catch his breath.

"Yang, do you know this man?" Raven asked while her eyebrow twitched, "He saved me and Blake from Adam Tauras, carried us to safety and trained me."

Raven sighed and looked at her daughter, the man that infuriated her and the Schnee girl. "You three! In my tent. Now!" She said with authority.

"Why?" Yang inquired.

"If you're really going after your sister, then you need to know the truth." with that she turned and went back inside her large tent.

The people dispersed after their leader settled the situation and Weiss jumped to hug Yang. Naruto smiled seeing the friends reunite once again and allowed them some privacy. He signaled Neo to stay out and keep watch before following Yang and Weiss inside.

...

The atmosphere was tense on the table, Naruto could tell that Yang was holding herself back. When Raven sent the girl away that poured tea for all of them and Yang asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"So what's the truth?"

"You know, it's better when it's hot." Raven said while sipping on tea.

"You know, you're really obnoxious." Weiss countered.

"Pfftt..." Naruto laughed silently, trying to stop himself from bursting. he grabbed his cup and started drinking while everyone stared at him. Weiss, however, looked proud when she saw that she got Raven's nerves.

After a few seconds, Raven started talking. She told how people joined the huntsman academy for power, fame, and money. He already knew those things but then she told them how she and Qrow joined Beacon. They wanted to learn how to kill huntsmen who were their major problem when raiding villages and hunting them down.

Weiss and Yang gasped in shock.

Raven continued, Ozpin was keeping an eye on them. She thought it was because they were bandits but no, he had his eyes on team STRQ

His interest was peaked when the topic changed to Ozpin's past. Headmaster Ozpin, the youngest headmaster had designed those schools that trained huntsman. He had followers in every academy that are only loyal to him.

"That doesn't make any sense." Yang shook her head in confusion, "How could he have... No! Why would someone even do that?"

"Because old man Oz, had a great and terrible secret. One that could spread fear across the world. One that he eventually entrusted to our team and once I knew there was no going back. I needed to know more but with every new discovery I made." She paused, "The more horrifying the world became."

"Okay, then tell us!" Yang questioned. "What's the big secret that none of us know?"

"The creatures of Grimm, have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with and she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet."

"What!?" Weiss exclaimed.

Naruto clenched the cup in his hand. He had been monitoring Raven's emotions and all that she said was the truth. Yang was about to fight his mom again when Naruto voiced.

"She's telling the truth." He stopped and both girls turned towards him.

"I.. I am an Empath. I have the ability to read emotions. I can tell when a person is lying, when they are scared or when they are happy. No emotion is hidden from me and all this time." He nodded towards Raven, "She has been telling the truth."

However, everything went to hell in seconds. Raven started ridiculing Qrow and Tai for following Ozpin and Yang stood up. She blasted the table away and her eyes turned red.

"You need to calm down." the girl who was serving tea to them stated while pointing her weapon at Yang.

"And you need to lower that weapon." Naruto said while pressing his blade at her throat.

"Yang, please." Weiss pleaded to Yang, trying to pull her away.

Raven smirked, "Listen to your friend Yang, they have never let you down before."

"You don't know the first thing about my teammates! About me! You were never there, you left us!" She glared at her mom in anger and then her shoulders fell, eyes full of sadness she asked, "Why?"

"I know more than you realize, not just about you and not just what I have been told but things I have seen, with my own eyes."

"I know that the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real.. And I can prove it!"

"You said, Tai told you everything about my semblance." She said while walking out of the tent, "Well, I doubt he told you what Oz did to my brother and me."

She left the tent and Naruto looked at Yang and Weiss, "Let's go, we need to see this."

They followed her out but Raven was nowhere to be seen. Yang called out to her but no one replied.

"Was she really telling the truth?" Yang asked him and Naruto could only shrug in response, "Yes."

"I mean, we have dust and semblances. Magic isn't too farfetched." Weiss said and Naruto nodded, He had seen things that can be considered magic to the residents of Remnant.

A raven croaked and got everyone's attention. Yang mentioned how she had seen this crow and Weiss said that maybe it was her mother's but Naruto thought differently. He could feel the bird had the same aura as Raven and his theory was proven correct.

It transformed and landed in front of them but this time it was Raven herself.

'So.. She can change herself into a bird.' Naruto thought It was nothing big. he could transform into anything he wanted with his chakra.

"How? did you do that?" Yang asked while Weiss was too shocked to say anything.

"Well, I could explain to you.." she said and slashed her sword in thin air, "Or you could ask your uncle." A red portal opened up and Naruto stared at it in interest.

'Now this is something I want to do with my semblance.' He decided.

Naruto was not interested in listening to more of Raven's bullshit and just like him neither was Yang. She did not want a fresh start with her mom instead, she was dedicated to helping Ruby.

Naruto called Neo back and Yang got on her bike with Weiss. He let them go first before turning towards Raven.

"You know, I can also tell when someone is afraid by sensing their emotions. You did not leave Ozpin because he gave you the ability to turn into a bird, you left because you are too afraid to fight."

With these last words, he held Neo's hand and entered the portal.