One More Chance - Naruto X RWBY

Family Reunion

"She's here."

Itachi was cut off from the conversation he was having with Ruby by Weiss' strained and almost trembling voice. It rang several alarm bells as he turned to his girlfriend from his wheelchair, his eyes straining to find the cause of her ire. Faded skies met ones of baby blue, and even Itachi could see the trepidation and anxiety written all over the shorter girl's face.

After their fight, Team RWBIY had joined back together in the stands to watch the next few bouts. Team JNPR had easily dispatched their opponents, Team BRNZ from Vacuo. It had been a decent fight, but no amount of strategy had saved the other team from the force of Nora's hammer. Team SSSN had also faced Team NDGO, a close battle that had dragged on until the latter just managed to scrape by with a win.

After a quick congratulations and a short exploration of the colosseum, it was announced that it was time for all students to return to Beacon for the day- where Itachi had thought that the day's stresses would end.

But it would seem that simply wasn't the case.

"Who's she?" He asked gently, a small frown on his face as the others also gave Weiss curious looks. As the group boarded the bullhead which would take them back to Beacon, Weiss suppressed a shaky breath and began playing with her dress idly.

"My... my sister. I saw her bullhead up above, she's heading to Beacon." The heiress breathed out those words laced in uncertainty and discomfort, and in that instant Itachi immediately understood. He recalled what Weiss had told him about her sister.

Winter Schnee was an... interesting character, from what Itachi understood. According to his girlfriend, her sister was cold and didn't show emotion or concern. They had once been close, very close- playing almost every day either in the garden, their rooms, the library, the yard; anywhere they could go, they would.

But as Winter grew older, she grew disillusioned with the world around her, specifically Atlas and especially her father- most especially after their mother's death at the hands of the White Fang. Not wanting to live as her father's pawn, she had abandoned the title as heiress and ran off to join the military, leaving Weiss behind with the title as heiress.

From there, they had grown... apart. Winter had called less and less, visited less and less, seemed to care less and less. Weiss had explained that her sister had grown to loathe her, criticizing and demeaning her at every turn. She had explained to Itachi that Winter made her feel like a failure, like she was useless, like she wasn't good enough. That she hadn't hugged her or comforted her in years, that she had lost the love they had shared all that time ago.

Normally, Itachi would recognize the bias that Weiss held, and would have wanted to get Winter's side of the story... but the fact that the older sister hadn't called or visited during her younger sister's coma... it made Itachi hesitate to trust anything the older woman might say.

However...

He would not discard her so easily. He knew first hand the absolute soul crushing pain that was being hated by your younger sister. A pain unbearable, a pain that ate away at your insides until you were nothing more than a dead man walking. He had lived for Sasuke, he had died for Sasuke. Everything had been for Sasuke. He hadn't a clue about Winter, but a part of him wanted to believe that she was like him- not as heinous, of course- but someone who wanted to protect their sibling, just in ways in which they could not understand. Nevertheless, he sensed that there was more to this situation than met the eye.

He didn't want to be the one to solve this situation. It wasn't his place, and he had already proven that his ability to create bonds between older and younger siblings was... questionable, at best.