Fusion of Forces | Chapter 9

As he and his new partner made their way through the Emerald Forest Pyrrha was the one to strike up a conversation, "I don't remember seeing you at Sanctum, so did you go to Signal?"

"Actually Beacon would be my first official school I'm attending. We had an Academy back in my old village that trained us as well, but it wasn't reputable enough to count so I had to take the battle exam to get into Beacon," Naruto replied.

Pyrrha smiled at the chance to get to know her partner a little more, "Where are you from?"

"It was outside of the kingdoms and was built decades ago by my village's first leader, a man named Hashirama Senju. Because of all the trees that surrounded our village and acted as a natural defense it was called Konohagakure no Sato or the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

The green eyed Huntress in training listened attentively as Naruto spoke with an obvious fondness of his home. Yet still she noticed the bittersweet look in his eyes, almost as if his home held as many bad memories as it did good ones.

"It sounds like you really loved your village," Pyrrha said with a smile.

Naruto nodded his head and let a sad chuckle escape his lips, "It's funny really. When I was younger I used to run around screaming that I was going to become my village's leader someday."

The armor clad redhead giggled at the mental picture of a short blond kid going around yelling that he was the greatest.

"That's still possible. After you graduate from Beacon you can still go back home and become your village's leader right?" Pyrrha offered.

Naruto shook his head, "Sadly that's no longer a possibility. Bout a year or so ago Konoha was attacked by...a horde of Grimm. We tried our best to fight back, but in the end there were too many and we were being overrun. The elders knew this and so they made a call to have anyone under 15 flee the village so they could live. I tried to stay and fight but my old sensei wouldn't let me and, using his Semblance, had me transported far away," Naruto paused to clear the lump in his throat before continuing, "by the time I managed to make my way back to the village it was too late. Konoha was burning and there was no one left alive."

As Naruto had begun his little tale the two had gradually slowed down until eventually, as his story ended, they had come to a full stop. As Naruto held back the very real tears that threatened to fall, Kurama tightened his hold on his container, offering only his presence as a comfort knowing full well that despite what Naruto had said being a partial lie, a chunk of it was also very much so true.

Pyrrha herself was holding back tears. For someone, anyone, to go through that was heart wrenching. Losing your home, your family, your friends, your people all in a single day? It was something she wouldn't wish on anybody. The worst part was then having to watch, helplessly, as it all went up in flames.

While Naruto attempted to recompose himself he was wondering just what in the hell had made him tell Pyrrha all of that. Granted it wasn't the whole truth, it was still close enough to stir up the memories of what had really happened to leave him here on Remnant. Why had he felt comfortable enough with Pyrrha to tell her that? With him sharing this story with her, Pyrrha now knew more about Naruto than anyone else on Remnant.

And oddly enough...he was ok with that. It felt good to get that off his chest. Given he had spent quite a length of time talking about it with Kurama, but that was somehow different. Telling Pyrrha even a fraction of the truth lifted a weight off the blond's shoulders and Kurama seemed to be ok with Naruto's actions, which was a sure sign that Pyrrha was a good person, given that the Kitsune had a general dislike for all of mankind with only a small handful of exceptions.

Feeling Pyrrha's gentle hand on his shoulder he turned and offered the redhead a true smile, "Sorry about dumping all of that on you. Kinda all just came out at once."

Pyrrha just shook her head with her own genuine smile, "It's fine. I can't really blame you as that must have been a difficult part of your life. But now that we're partners know that I'm here for you whenever you need it."

Nodding at each other the two continued on their way through the Emerald Forest, the blond feeling lighter in a manner of speaking while the redhead felt happy knowing that her partner trusted her enough to reveal such an intimate part of his past.

Miles away atop the cliff that the teens had been launched from, a very irritated Glynda Goodwitch poured over the mysterious blond's records, at least what they had on him which was all but nonexistent. Before taking the battle exam to gain entrance to Beacon they had nothing. For all intents and purposes the blond may just have dropped out of the sky, or simply come into existence and they would know no better. The cheerful blond was an enigma and that aggravated Glynda to no end.

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