With the pounding music and flashing lights, and dance-floor packed with writhing bodies, The Club was bouncing and business was booming.
The boss of The Club was a man named Junior. He wore casual business attire, forgoing the jacket for a pair of black gloves and sunglasses.
The man he was talking to is named Roman Torchwick, one of the most proficient crime-bosses in Vale. He had a feminine face with orange hair, topped by a black bowler hat with a red band, along with a long white coat and a cane.
Junior had been standing by the bar, looking over the dance floor when Roman had approached him. "Junior, my good henchman-providing friend, how is business tonight?"
The bearded man twitched at the friendly, condescending tone. "Fine, Torchwick. Is there something you need?"
Roman smirked and tapped his cane on the ground. "Why, yes, there is something I need. Or rather, 'somethings' I need. But first, isn't it polite for the host to offer the guest a drink?"
He rapped his cane on the counter and turned to the bartender. "You-" He was stopped by the man setting his favorite drink, an Atomic Appletini, on the counter. "Ah, good. Thank you."
Roman casually flicked a ten-Lien chip at the bartender and took a sip from his drink. "Ah, delicious. Now, business. I need four men for a job."
Now, Junior wasn't the brightest bulb, but suspicion was natural. "What kind of job?" He asked lowly.
The red-haired man flicked his bangs out of his eyes. "Just some simple over-the-counter burglary. I need someone to carry the goods."
Junior mulled it over for a minute. "How many men?"
"Four." Roman answered, draining the last of his drink.
"Two thousand Lien."
The man smirked and gave Junior a pitying look that didn't match the condescending tone. "Please, that is more than any counter store would have. Eight hundred Lien."
As Junior opened his mouth to complain, Roman patted him on the cheek in a patronizing fashion. "Junior, Junior, Junior." He clucked disapprovingly. "Have I not been a loyal customer? Should I not get a discount?"
Two girls, one wearing a white dress and the other a red one, tensed at the bar, ready to attack the man touching their boss. They didn't like Junior, but he paid them.
The bearded man twitched, trying to contain his anger. "Fine. When and where?"
Roman took a step back and pointed in his face. "Tomorrow, 9 PM, From Dust Till Dawn. Make sure they come early."
The feminine man smirked and left, twirling his cane casually.
Junior slumped at the bar after making the call. The bartender slid a glass of straight whiskey to the man and resumed cleaning a glass. The boss waved the two ladies off and drank deeply. The bartender watched as a young woman, no older than eighteen, sauntered into the bar with a confident gait. Her bright clothes definitely stood out.
She wore a pair of long brown boots, with the right having purple tied around the top and a hint of light orange stocking, or sock. A brown belt held up some sort of pouch and feathery half-skirt combo over a pair of tight black shorts. A brown jacket with yellow piping was worn open, showing a decent view of her cleavage along with a yellow top that had a black emblem that resembled a burning heart on the left breast.
The thing that stood out the most was the mane of messy bright gold hair that went down past her waist, with bangs that covered her forehead and hung near her light purple eyes.
She strode up to the bar and leaned on the counter, directing a charming smile at the bartender. "Strawberry Sunrise, with ice. Ooh, and a cute little umbrella!"
The man behind the counter chuckled and set down the clean glass. "Sure thing. Nice hair." He said with a small grin, directing attention to the yellow-blonde hair atop his head.
"Thanks, you too!" She returned, turning to look at Junior as he scowled at her.
"Aren't you a little young to be in a club?" He asked angrily.
"Aren't you a little old to be called 'Junior'?" The golden-haired woman shot back.
The bartender snickered and coughed as his boss shot an angry look at him. The man stepped away for the ice, keeping an eye on the two as the woman suddenly grabbed Junior's crotch and gripped painfully.
He came back and watched with thinly veiled amusement as his boss squealed like a girl. When the woman let go, Junior marched off, donning his red sunglasses in an attempt to keep up a macho façade.
The bartender heard the woman say, "Don't be mad, let's kiss and make up, okay?"
The blond man shook his head as his boss leaned in for a kiss. "So stupid." He muttered.
And the bartender was probably the only one not taken by surprise when the yellow-themed woman sucker-punched Junior through a glass pillar and into the bar instead of actually kissing him.
The blond man smiled and tipped a bottle on his boss's head.
The bartender watched as she tore up the club, kicking ass with a pair of yellow gauntlets that transformed from a pair of bracelets, which shot out Dust-powered blasts on impact. She could even use the blasts to increase her speed.
It actually resembled his fighting style, in a way.
After she finished kicking the ass of the goon squad, the DJ pulled out an assault rifle and fired on her; the yellow woman dodged the shots and used a pair of blasts from her gauntlets to shoot herself at the man, and proceeded to kick his ass, finishing by slamming his teddy-bear-head hat into the turntables, then hefting him onto her shoulders and shooting him off, where he landed on the empty dance floor, quite unconscious.
"Nice!" The bartender cheered, holding up a scorecard that had a ten on it. The woman winked at him, then looked down as two more opponents made their appearance.
The two bodyguards, the girls in white and red, Melanie and Miltia, respectively, stepped onto the dance floor with weapons ready.
The red twin used a pair of red and black claws attached to her hands, while her twin in white used a pair of white heels with blades along the back.
The two sisters traded banter with one another and attacked as the woman in brown and yellow reloaded her gauntlets and began to rain blasts down on them.
The blond bartender observed as they fought. Melanie and Miltia worked very well together, being twins and all, and they seemed to give their opponent some measure of trouble.
After Miltia landed a kick that sent the yellow woman back, she spun back to her feet and dashed at the pair, firing a blast from her gauntlets to speed her up.
For a second, her hair glowed, and the man nodded in appreciation. "Aura."
After the brown-wearing girl separated the twins, she took down Miltia with very little trouble, sending the red twin flying through a glass pillar.
The bartender jumped a little as Junior pulled himself to his feet and reached behind the bar to grab his rocket-launcher/bat combo weapon, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
And after that, Melanie was also taken down with rather easily, the golden-haired woman dancing away from her rapid kicks, waiting for an opening; which she then slammed an elbow into the white twins stomach then spun her around her body and landed a brutal Aura-enhanced guillotine kick right Melanie's face.
"Brutality!" He cheered like a fan at a sport's arena.
Junior stepped up and fired a barrage of rockets at the woman, who dodged the explosions and shot a few rockets out of the air with well-aimed blasts from her gauntlets, creating a thick smoke the boss took advantage of by switching the weapon into a bat and charging in.
He actually landed a few hits on her smacked her into some glass stairs.
When the yellow woman stood back up, her Aura flared, making her hair seem to be lit on fire. She dodged the following rockets and launched a barrage of punches, ending on a right cross that threw Junior back and broke his bat in half, though the bearded man also managed to yank out a lock of her hair in the process. Her eyes went wide before narrowing in rage as her Aura flared and shattered all the glass in the club.
She charged at Junior with a scream of anger and landed one hell of a hook that blasted the man out of a window and onto the street.
The woman jumped out after him as the bartender looked above the counter, taking in the destroyed club. "Well, shit."
He hopped over the counter and marched out of the door, coming on the yellow woman talking to a shorter girl wearing a black coat with a red cloak as Junior lay unconscious on the ground.
"It's a long story," He heard her say to the younger girl as he strode right up to her and pointed at the smoking Club.
"Lady, you just wrecked that club and all the people inside, broke, like, all the glass in the place and kicked my boss' ass!" He yelled at her.
She smirked and put her hands on her hips confidently. "Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?"
The bartender dropped the pointing hand and smiled. "Not a damn thing, that was fucking awesome." He lightly poked the unconscious Junior. "Though, I am going to need a new job."
She smiled and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. It kinda got out of hand, yeah?"
The bartender shrugged. "Eh, it's cool. I was going to quit anyway, he's a shitty boss."
The yellow woman held up a hand and 'surreptitiously' pointed at the younger girl. "Watch the cursing, she's a kid." She stage-whispered.
"Oh, sorry." He waved to the younger girl, who was glaring at the older girl for the 'kid' comment. "By the way, I never got you your drink, so here."
He held out a glass, probably the last remaining one from The Club, with a drink that had a red bottom that faded into orange. "One Strawberry Sunrise." The blond pulled something from his pocket and added it the top of the drink. "With an umbrella."
The woman cheered and took the drink. "Thanks, guy…?"
He grinned and took a short bow. "Naruto. And you are?" He asked, holding out a hand.
She shook his hand and answered, "I'm Yang! And this is my little sister, Ruby!"
"Nice to meet you." He waved to Ruby and kissed the gloved knuckles of her sister. "I'd like to fight you sometime."
Yang grinned challengingly. "Oh, really? You think you could handle this?"
Naruto grinned back. "I don't know. But I'd love to find out." He finished in a flirting tone, visibly winking behind the black sunglasses covering his eyes.
He stepped away and pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket and pointed them at a dark red motorcycle, disabling the alarm. Naruto straddled the motorcycle and made a 'call-me' gesture to Yang, than turned on the bike and did a quick donut before flying down the street like a bat out of hell.
"Naruto, huh?" Yang said to herself. "He seems like fun."
…
…
The next day, the former bartender named Naruto walked down the street, cracking his neck and stretching his arms.
Compared to most people, what he wore would be considered normal, what with the Hunters and Huntresses running around in whatever they could buy.
He wore a vest, like one you'd see under a suit, with a blue back and a burnt orange tie over a white button-up shirt. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up all the way passed his elbows, and a pair of leather gloves covered his hands. They were fingerless with each knuckle colored differently, and stretched from his fingers to mid-way up his forearm with small metal plates going up the top.
He also wore black suit pants and shoes that would be at home on a tap-dancers feet, with longer heels. They served to make him taller, making his 6' seem to be 6'2".
It was late, around nine o'clock, and he was headed for a Dust shop, one that was actually open at that time of night, to buy some more Dust crystals for his depleted stash.
Naruto strode into the shop, unaware of the fact that it was being robbed. He stopped at the counter and waved to the shopkeeper. "Hey, I need…" He trailed off as he realized that Roman Torchwick was staring at him in a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Oh. Well, never mind then."
The orange-haired man pointed his cane at Naruto. "You're the bartender at Junior's little club."
Naruto shrugged. "Not anymore. That place got messed up, and it'll probably be closed for a couple weeks; so I quit."
"Oh." Roman blinked and motioned for the cashier to keep loading Dust crystals into a padded case. "Shame, that."
"Yeah."
"Found any job prospects yet?" The crime lord asked.
Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Nope."
Their pleasant conversation was broken as one of Junior's goons went slammed into a rack of magazines. Roman calmly motioned for another goon to take care of the problem, who ran off, the sound of a gun cocking echoing in the store.
He went flying through the window, dive-tackled by a girl with a long red cape.
The other goons stared out of the window, joined by Roman as the girl stood, a pole in her hands unfolding into a wicked red and black scythe with gleaming silver blade.
Naruto took the chance to snag a few of the crystals in Roman's case for himself, tossing the old shopkeeper their worth Lien and few extra for the damages.
He stepped through the door as a goon came flying into the shop through the broken window, catching the girl he recognized as Ruby from the previous night spinning and smacking another goon into the air with the blunt end of her scythe.
She came out of her spin and slammed the blunt part down on another guy and cocked a lever before dashing around the street, avoiding the bullets fired from the last conscious burglar. She kicked him into the air, stabbed the tip of her blade into the ground and used the length of the pole and her momentum to fling herself into the air, where Ruby batted him back down to the ground in front of Roman.
"You were worth every cent, truly you were." He commented to himself in irritation.
"What did you expect?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "You paid eight hundred Lien."
The criminal acquiesced to the fact. "True." He stepped forward and pulled the cigar from his mouth and stamped it out with the end of his cane. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around," He pointed the end of the cane at Ruby, and a reticule popped up from the end, revealing a barrel. "I'm afraid this, is where we part ways."
He fired a blast that whistled shrilly at Ruby, who leapt into the air to avoid it.
The man turned to Naruto and tipped his hat, grabbing a case full of Dust Crystals and running off.
Ruby came down from her jump and looked around, only seeing Naruto. Naruto pointed at the building behind her, at Roman as the man rapidly scaled a ladder.
The shopkeeper came out of his store, and Ruby glanced at him. "You okay if I go after him?"
He nodded, and the young girl dashed off, firing a round into the pavement to launch herself onto the roof.
Naruto waved to the old man and followed, jumping and firing the guns in the heels of his shoes to boost him up. He flipped over the lip of the building as a Bullhead airship came up over the other side.
Roman jumped into an opening side door, turning around and pulling a red Dust Crystal from the case. "End of line, Red!" He shouted over the engines, chucking the crystal at Ruby's feet and taking aim.
Naruto swore to himself and sprinted across the distance just as Roman fired a shot, detonating the crystal just as the blond managed to wrap his arms around Ruby and turn his back to the explosion.
Instead of searing heat, Naruto only felt a brief flash as he heard Roman cheer. He let go of Ruby and turned to see a woman in a long black skirt with light blonde hair tied into a bun with a black cape and a purple inside standing in front of them, a shield of spinning purple runes having guarded them from the blast.
The woman scoffed and waved what looked to be a riding crop, releasing several tendrils of purple energy at the ship and making it swerve. Roman retreated from the hatch and the ship tried to bolt, only for the blonde woman to shoot another tendril into the sky over the Bullhead, with a swipe of her crop creating a rain of sharp ice that pelted the ship.
A woman in a red dress stepped out into the hatch, only her long pale legs and the bottom of a red dress visible, with the exception of her glowing orange eyes. Fiery runes lit up her arms as she fired a blast of fire at the blonde woman, who defended herself with a smaller purple shield, the embers scattering around her.
The woman in red lifted her hand up and the roof lit up underneath their feet. Naruto dodged to the side as did Ruby while the woman cart-wheeled back. The roof exploded, but the blond woman waved her riding crop, stopping the debris from scattering, then gathered them into a long spear, which she hurled at the ship with a flick of her hand.
The woman in red fired a flurry of shots, briefly scattering the rocky debris before they reformed into a spear and were thrown at the cockpit. The pilot managed to tilt the ship so that the spear deflected off the top.
The blonde woman hummed and sharply swung her riding crop, turning the scattered debris into three sharp arrows ready to pierce the ship.
The woman in red stumbled at the sudden movements of the Bullhead, and, realizing the danger the debris presented, was briefly lit up by several rings made up of fiery runes, before she released a wave of fire that incinerated the wreckage.
Ruby finally got over her awe at seeing two high-level opponents duke it out and collapsed her scythe into a sniper, unloading several rounds at the woman in the Bullhead.
Naruto shrugged and clenched his fists, the blue knuckle lighting up on both gloves as punched the air, shooting balls of ice at the ship.
The woman with the fiery runes blocked each shot effortlessly and swiped a hand in front of her body, melting the ice and creating several blazing circles around the trio's feet.
The blonde woman telekinetically shoved Ruby away from the blast site and turned to do the same to Naruto, but he had already back-flipped away. She jumped back as the ground exploded in fountains of fire, looking up once the smoke faded to see the hatch close and the Bullhead flying away.
She sighed shortly and glanced at Ruby, who was looking up at her with an awe-struck face. "You're a Huntress!" The young girl said with hero-worship in her voice. "Can I have your autograph?"
…
And that was how Naruto and Ruby ended up in a window-less concrete room in the local VPD building.
The blond male had his legs kicked up on the table and was shuffling a deck of cards that had brown backs with silver lining. Ruby, on the other hand was cradling her head in her hands, mumbling to herself about being arrested and going to jail forever, working herself up into a right tizzy.
Naruto reached out and tapped the panicking girl on the shoulder. "Hey, relax. It was just a mild case vigilantism, and you were threatened first, so if they do decide to charge you, which I really doubt they will, it won't stick."
She sighed, before pointing a finger in his face. "Hey, you just sat there and watched! Why didn't you help me?"
He sighed and shrugged, shuffling the cards in his hands. "With what, the four goons you beat down in seconds? Please, I would just gotten in the way." He tilted his sunglasses up and winked at her with one bright blue eye. "I won't lie, I was also admiring your skills. You're very powerful for someone who hasn't even graduated from a starter academy."
Ruby blushed a little and smiled shyly. "Thanks." An interested look crossed her face before she leaned in close and looked at the gloves on his hands. "What are these? I saw you shoot Dust Ice at that fiery lady, are they like Yang's gauntlets?"
The blond man nodded. "Yeah, sort of. I call them 'Asura Fists'. Depending on how I make a fist, the Dust used is different, like this."
He held out his hands, palm down and fingers splayed, and curled one hand into fist, pinky first. "See, pinky is Ice, ring finger is Lightning, middle finger is Fire, fore finger is Force and thumb is Air." He opened and closed his hands several times, showing the younger girl the knuckles on his gloves lighting up in response. "And since I have two hands, I can combine the effects when I use both at the same time."
"Cool!" Ruby stated, grabbing one of his hands and closely examining the gloves.
Before Naruto could tease the girl on weapon focus, the door slammed open, showing them the blonde woman from before. Turns out that her name was Glynda Goodwitch, and she was a famous Huntress, apparently.
The former bartender had to admit, she had the whole 'sexy librarian/witch' thing down to pat, and the riding crop did not help, main weapon or not.
"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, both of you." She emphasizes her point by pointing her crop at the two of them and pushing Naruto's shoes of the table. "You put yourself and others in great danger."
"They started it!" Ruby protested, looking ashamed at the scolding she was receiving.
Glynda stopped across the table from them. "If it was up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…" The red-hooded girl smiled while Naruto shrugged. Honestly, he had only started throwing Ice at the Bullhead because the others were doing so and he felt a little left out. "And a slap on the wrist!" The blonde woman finished, slapping her crop on the table, getting a squeak of fear from Ruby.
She narrowed her eyes on Naruto, who was looking relaxed despite the atmosphere. "And moreso of the latter for you."
He shrugged. "Yeah, I can see that."
Glynda sighed and adjusted her glasses. "But…there is someone here who would like to meet you."
She moved away from the door, showing the duo inside the room a man holding a mug and a plate of cookies. He had messy silver hair, narrow light brown eyes and pale skin. He wore a green scarf around his neck with a silver cross pinned to the center, a very dark green jacket and a vest with golden buttons and similar pants with a pair of small glasses resting on his nose.
"Ruby Rose…" The man begins, before leaning in with a strange look on his face. "You…have silver eyes." He comments, almost distantly.
Ruby tried to be subtle in leaning back from his intense gaze as Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "So! Where did you learn how to do this?" The man began again, gesturing to the scroll Glynda held in her hands, which was playing a video of Ruby fighting the thugs.
"S-Signal Academy?" She put out tentatively.
A confused look crossed the silver-haired man's face. "They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"
"Well, one teacher in particular." Ruby said, gaining a little more confidence.
"I see," The man said, mostly to himself as he set the plate of cookies on the table.
Ruby reached out and snagged one hesitantly before shoving the whole thing in her mouth. When she realized that the man was lost in thought and didn't seem to care, she started shoveling cookies into her mouth rapidly. Naruto snorted a chuckle as her cheeks began to puff out from the volume with which she was consuming the treats.
"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before." The man started, looking off to side in recollection. "A dusty old crow…"
Ruby perked up. "Oh, that my uncle!" She mumbled around a mouthful of baked goods, the last one in her hand. She blushed lightly and swallowed heavily, wiping her mouth with a now empty hand. "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like-hey!" She whined, looking at Naruto as he took a bite of the last cookie he swiped from her hand when she wasn't paying attention.
He grinned smugly at her and winked behind his sunglasses.
"So…I've noticed." The man says slowly, carefully watching the by-play between the two. "Anyway, what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"
"Well," She said hesitantly, "I want to be a Huntress."
"You want to slay monsters?" The sliver-haired man asked.
"Yeah." Ruby started, her voice getting the most serious Naruto had heard so far. "I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" Her voice picked up in speed. "You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help people, so I thought, 'Hey, I might as well make a career out of it!'"
She giggled sort of crazily. "I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and cool and really, gosh, you know?" Ruby finishes her fit with a wide smile.
Naruto leaned back from her just a little bit while the man and Glynda traded looks. "Do you know who I am?" He asks, leaning forward and clasping his hands together.
Ruby's smile shrunk to a less-crazy level. "You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon."
Ozpin gave her a small, amused smile. "Hello."
She nodded back. "Nice to meet you."
He set his hands on the table and looked her in the eyes. "You want to come to my school?" He asked seriously.
"More than anything." Ruby returned in longing tone of voice.
Ozpin looks up at Glynda questioningly. She hmph'ed and rolled her eyes, clearly disapproving. "Well, okay."
Ruby's eyes go wide and her smile grew. "Glynda here will give you directions to the ship that leads to my school. You are on the roster, Ruby Rose." He says, amused by the pole-axed expression on her face.
The blonde Huntress dragged the younger girl away, and is stopped when Ruby drags her heels and turns around. "Wait, what about…?" She trailed off, gesturing in Naruto's direction.
The blond man tilted his glasses down and gave her a kind smile. "Don't worry about me, Ruby. I'll see you later."
She nods hesitantly and is lead away by the Goodwitch while the door swings closed.
Ozpin turns his gaze onto the blond left in the room, folding his hands once more. "And what will we do with you?" He asks. "You are not someone I've heard of, yet, you show up in the middle of a robbery and have a pleasant chat with a well-known criminal, and then you fire on his ship with what seems to be pure Dust Manipulation. Who are you?"
Naruto pulled off his sunglasses and set them on the table. "I am Naruto." He announces without fanfare. "I am just a simple guy between jobs. I work for my pay, and those jobs usually involve fighting, which has developed my skills as a fighter. I can hold my own with my gloves that shoot various Dust powers."
Ozpin pulled out his scroll and opened it, showing Naruto firing blasts of ice at the Bullhead. "While your gloves help you shape the Dust, you still manipulate it by yourself. That shows skill, and a discipline rarely seen outside of veteran Hunters. Definitely not a 'simple guy'." He finishes with narrowed eyes.
Naruto leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. "What can I say? I know how to fight."
"Talent like yours should be developed, shaped and given direction." The headmaster says seriously, a hard gaze locked onto the blond's eyes. "Not used as a Bouncer for clubs."
The other man shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, you can say that. I mean, what's to stop me from going out and knocking over a mom'n'pop shop with my Dust and my skills? It's not like I have a…school…to go to."
He looked at the Headmaster with a challenging gleam in his eyes. A corner of Ozpin's mouth lifts in a small smirk as he held his hand out to shake. "Welcome to Beacon Academy, Mr…"
Naruto leaned forward, grabbing his hand and shaking it. "Uzumaki. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."
"Well. Welcome to Beacon Academy, Mr. Uzumaki."
…
A little less than a day later, Naruto strode aboard a high-class airship wearing a dark blue trench coat with a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder and headphones secured on his ears.
He yawned as he passed by multitudes of people, finding a seat in one of the more quiet areas on a bench, next to a slender girl wearing mostly white. "Hey, is this seat taken?" He asked tiredly, and then didn't even wait for her answer before plopping down within three feet of her space. "Cool, thanks."
Naruto set his bag on the ground and propped his feet up on the other bench, leaning his head back and pulling his deck of cards from a leather holster on his belt.
A pair yellow eyes peek over the top of a book as the girl in white fusses up a storm at the unresponsive Naruto, gain a disinterested look and goes back to the book.
Sitting at one of the tables is an odd pair; one is a girl wearing a collared and armored black vest that ends at her waist with a sleeveless white shirt underneath that has a small heart cut out between her cleavage and her collarbone, along with a pink skirt, pink fingerless gloves and white boots with pink insides and pink laces. She had short orange hair and bright turquoise eyes. She seemed to be chewing something if the puffed cheeks and rapid movement of her jaw was anything to go by. It also could've been the rapid bouncing she was doing in her seat.
The guy sitting across from her was nearly the opposite. He had long black hair tied into a ponytail that ends midway down his back with a single streak of magenta that matched his eyes; and wore a dark-green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs.
He sat calmly with his eyes closed and his hands folded inside of his sleeves, ignoring the waving girl in front of him. She huffed silently, and decided to start flicking peanuts at the quietly card-spinning Naruto.
The blond didn't even look as the cards danced in his hands. The white-haired girl huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that supposed to impress me?" She asked snarkily.
When he didn't answer and a peanut bounced off of the side of his head, she started to fume. She reached over and poked him on the arm. Getting no response again, she started poking him harder.
After a minute, the black-haired boy sighed. "He's probably trying to sleep." He stated, opening his eyes to glance at the girl in white.
"No one asked you!" She shot back.
The girl giggled around the food in her mouth and flicked another peanut at Naruto's head. He stiffened and suddenly flicked a card.
The card flashed through the cabin, through the peanut and impaled the wall next to the girl's head. The other occupants froze and looked from the card stabbed into the wall at the still silent Naruto as the two halves of the peanut hit the floor.
He flicked a finger and the card came sailing back to be shuffled with the others once more.
The girl in white narrowed her eyes on him and reached over, slowly pulling off his sunglasses to reveal his tightly closed eyes. "He's asleep!" She announced, mostly to herself. The girl pulled off his earphones and sucked in a breath. "Wake u-!"
Naruto jumped at the sudden sound, the handful of cards in his right hand flying up and stabbing into the ceiling. He turned wide eyes on the white girl. "What?!" He yelled in surprise, subconsciously pulling the cards back to his hand with a twitch of his fingers.
"Are you going to move?!" She shouted at him angrily.
He blinked twice before shaking his head. "No, I'm good here." He put his headphones back on along with his sunglasses and leaned back again.
The white-haired girl growled and sat in her seat, arms tightly wrapped around herself like a straight-jacket.
A few minutes later, Naruto cursed and pulled his head back up. "Dammit, now I can't sleep." He reached down and pulled a red guitar with a white V on the body out of his duffel bag, along with a small amp, neither of which should've fit inside the bag.
He hooked up the guitar to the amp and tested the chords, nodding when they didn't need to be tuned. He tried to jack his headphones in but didn't notice that he missed and started strumming with his feet tapping on the floor.
It started out with a low beat and an eerie backing with the drumming of his feet, then moved into a higher cord. "I…Have wondered 'bout you…Where will you be…when this is through?" Naruto sang lowly. He was singing under his breath, but it was easily audible in the silence of the cabin. "If all…If all goes as planned…Will you redeem…My life again…My life again…"
He started playing louder and harder, tapping his heels in a heavier beat. "Fire the fields, the wind is sown…Water down you empty soul…Wake the sea of silent hope…Water down you empty soul…"
Naruto's finger flowed over the neck as the melodious sound filled the cabin. The beat picked up as he sang lowly. "Fight your foes, You're not alone…Holy war is on the phone…Asking to please stay on hold…Bleeding loss of blood runs cold..."
He started bopping his head in rhythm. "And I need you to recover…Because I can't make it on my own…And I need you to recover…Because I can't make it on my own…"
A low hum backed the main chords as he strummed away. His soft voice filled the room and drew attention from a few passer-bys. He played for another five minutes, singing quietly, the almost mournful tone oddly going along with the high-energy chords.
Once he finished, the final chords echoing, Naruto sighed and leaned back, resting his head on the back of the bench, and started snoring quietly.
…
When the ship finally landed at Beacon Academy, Naruto was one of the first ones out the door, thought he stepped out of the way, next to a garbage can, to let loose a jaw-cracking yawn that lasted a full minute.
Once he came out of the after-yawn stupor, Naruto looked down the stone pat to see that most everyone had already started towards the Academy.
A sudden explosion pulled his attention to two figures, both girls. One, in white, was his bench-buddy, and was also yelling at the slumped figure of Ruby. He began to walk towards them as they were joined by another girl, this one wearing predominantly black and white, with a rather large bow on her head.
After trading a few words he couldn't hear, the girl in white stomped off, and the girl in black slunk away soon after, leaving Ruby to slide to her knees by herself.
Naruto strode up to her. "Hey Ruby, fancy seeing you here." He quipped, holding a hand out for her to take.
Ruby grabbed his hand with a grateful smile and let him her to her feet. "Thanks. It's good to see a…friendly…face?" She turned it into a question at the end.
He chuckled and grinned at her. "Sure, I'll be your friend Ruby. I don't have any issues with that. Do you?"
Ruby shook her head and a wide smile broke out on her face. "I don't! But, uh, how did you get here? Are you a visitor or something?"
"No," Naruto replied, "I'm a student. I convinced Ozpin to enroll me and here I am! Ready to stride forth and acquire knowledge and skills!" He announced grandly, sweeping an arm in front of him, taking the in whole of Beacon.
The red-hooded girl giggled. "Well, let's learn together, okay?" She sticks out a hand, the other rubbing at the back of her neck sheepishly. "I know Yang told you my name, but I never introduced myself. I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose."
Naruto took her hand and kissed the back like gentleman. "Well, Ruby Rose, I am Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, at your service." He tilted his head at the school. "Shall we walk?"
Ruby repressed her blush and smiled. "Sure!"
They walked around the grounds, chatting. Eventually it turned to weapons. "I'm mean, they're just so cool! And there are so many different weapons here, it's like, amazing!" She said excitedly. "It's really cool, I can't wait to see what they do!"
Naruto chuckled at her enthusiasm. "You really like weapons, huh? I meant to ask earlier, but, where did you get your scythe? I don't think I've seen anything like it in the shops I've been in."
Ruby pulled the rectangular block off of her back, and it unfolded into her large scythe. "This is Crescent Rose, and I built her!" The blade collapsed and a barrel with a scope formed on the other end. "It's also a high-impact sniper rifle."
"Nice." He said with an appreciative nod. "It's a very powerful weapon."
She blushed and looked away in embarrassment. "Well…I may have gone overboard when I designed it…"
Naruto shrugged and waved a hand. "Nah, I think it fits. I showed you my Asura Gloves, but I didn't show you these."
He pulled the legs of his pants up to show her the boots on his feet. They were black leather and extended half-way up his shin, like a mixture of cowboy boots and tap shoes. "They're called 'Staccato Blitz'. The heels are pistols and the palm shoots blasts of Dust. Watch!"
He stepped off of the concrete and onto the grass before performing a few tap steps that were followed by sharp retorts of guns firing, and left behind scorched grass. He finished off by kicking his foot at a nearby tree. A bullet shot out of his heel and ripped a chunk out of the bark. "They're not as impressive as your Crescent Rose, but they work for me."
Ruby folded her scythe up and gave him a smile. "I think they're interesting."
He winked at her with a small grin. "Thanks."
A short silence fell before she asked, "Do you know where we are?"
Naruto shrugged. "Nope. I thought you knew where were supposed to go."
Ruby blanched. "Uh, no, I don't."
He shrugged again. "Maybe we can find a directory, or a landmark or something."
…
After several more minutes of searching, they finally came across the Main Hall. "Oh, hey! I gotta go, see you after the ceremony!" Ruby said, running to a waving Yang.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Okay."
He turned and strode through the crowd, eventually just stopping somewhere random, which also happened to be within earshot of Ruby, Yang, and the girl in white.
"-I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded! And then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" Ruby rapidly explained to her sister, sounding near tears at the end.
"You!" The white girl yelled from behind the red-hooded girl.
Ruby jumped into her sister's arms in a panic. "Oh god, it's happening again!" She lamented.
"You're lucky we didn't get blown off the side of the cliff!" The white girl barked angrily.
Yang looked at her sister, mouth agape in shock. "Oh, my god, you really exploded." She said in shock.
"It was an accident!" Ruby told her sister before jumping out of her arms and facing the white girl. "It was accident!"
Said white girl shoved a pamphlet in her face. "What's this?" She asked in confusion.
The girl began to list off what sounded like disclaimer; to Naruto, it really just sounded like gibberish. And judging by the look on Ruby's face, that's what it sounded like to her as well. "Uh…?"
"You really want to start making things up to me?" The white girl asked, "Then read this and don't ever speak to me again."
"Look, uh," Yang started, scratching the back of her head. "It sounds like you two just…got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"
"Yeah, great idea sis!" Ruby said excitedly, before clearing her throat and holding her hand out to the other girl. "Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby. Do you want to hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies?"
Weiss, as that was the white girl's name, waved her arms sarcastically. "Yeah, and we could paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, dark and sleepy over there." She said, jacking her thumb over her shoulder at Naruto.
"Hey," Naruto replied, glowering under his glasses. "I may be sleepy, just today," He lifted up his sunglasses and directed a glare at Weiss, "But at least I don't have an icicle shoved somewhere obviously uncomfortable."
The girl in white glared at him while Ruby tried to smother a nervous giggle and Yang openly chuckled. She turned back to the scythe-wielder and stomped her foot. "I was kidding!"
She crossed her arms and turned away with a huff. Naruto winked at the two sisters as a microphone was tapped.
"Ahem. I'll…keep this brief." Ozpin started. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan dedicate your life to the protection of the people."
His light brown eyes scanned over the crowd, seemingly boring into the mind of every gaze he met. "But, I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this…but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far."
He adjusted his cane. "It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin left without another word, a cane in his hand.
Glynda took up the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
Naruto thought to himself as he walked up to the familiar faces. It's like he was distracted…like he wasn't all here. Odd.
"I'm not sleepy all the time, you know." Naruto said to Weiss, yawning.
…
Hours later, when night had fallen and the sleeping bags that would serve as their beds for the night were rolled out, Naruto found himself in a conundrum.
"Whatcha thinking 'bout?" Yang asked teasingly.
"Well, I usually sleep in my underwear." He told her without shame. "But I don't think anyone here would appreciate that."
The blonde obviously scanned his body. His shirt was unbuttoned, showing his abs and an odd tattoo that disappeared underneath his belt. "Are you sure about that?"
He grinned at her and shucked his shirt off. "You're right, everyone here is an adult, who cares?" Naruto hopped out of his boots and pulled his pants down, hanging them up in the locker he had laid claim to, leaving the man in his crimson silk boxers.
"Ooh, crimson!" Yang said teasingly, closing her locker and showing the orange tank top and shorts she wore as pajamas. "How racy! Are they red because you like my sister?"
Even out of his boots, Naruto was still taller than Yang, and heavily muscled despite the slim appearance his clothes granted him. Seeing her gaze, he jokingly posed with his arms curled. "Oh yeah, ladies, make a line. I have enough ab for everyone." He said in a deep, accented voice, flexing his abdominals. "I'll have you know that I've always like red, even before I met your sister."
Out of sight of both of them, a woman with waist-length red hair looked around her locker with interest in her bright green eyes.
The two blondes exited the locker room into the ballroom. Naruto stopped when noticed the stares he was getting. Not only for the amount of skin he was showing, but also the scars decorating his body. "Yes," He said imperiously, "Be in awe of me and my muscles. Hwa." And flexed again.
Yang giggled and flopped down next to her sister, who was writing on a piece of paper. "It's like a big slumber party!" She announced, leaning on a hand.
Ruby glanced at her sister and went back to writing. "I don't think dad would approve of the boys, though."
"I know I do!" Yang said, looking over the shirtless forms of several boys.
The sound of a camera shuttering drew their attention to the spot behind Yang. Naruto was lying on his sleep bag, one hand propping up his head and the other on his hip with a leg bent. Several girls were around him taking turns posing with him as the others took pictures.
The sisters traded looks as the last one took a rather risqué pose in a black silk nightie. She had their chests pressed together with her hands around his back, looking over her shoulder at the cameras with a lascivious look on her face.
After the picture was snapped, she stumbled to her feet with a heavy blush. "W-when I get a physical picture, w-will, I mean, c-could you a-a-autograph it?" The girl managed to stutter out.
"Sure!" Naruto said, winking at the girls. "Bring them to me and I'll sign 'em."
The group of girls tittered and walked off, giggling and whispering to each other. The blond sighed in relief and rolled over, finding two questioning looks directed his way. "What?"
"'What?'" Yang said incredulously. "What do you mean, 'What?'? They were treating you like a celebrity!"
Naruto shrugged. "Eh, I'm just eye-catching, I guess."
The blonde shook her head and turned back to her sister. "So, what are you doing?"
Ruby scratched out another sentence. "Oh, just writing a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aww," Yang cooed teasingly, "That's so Cute~!"
Ruby twisted and threw her pillow at her sisters' face. "Shut up!" She whined, "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school!" She looked down at her journal. "It's weird not knowing anyone here."
Naruto peeked out from behind Yang's head. "What am I, chopped liver?"
Ruby blushed and looked away sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just…I know two people, and one is my sister…it's not what I expected my first day to be like."
"Well, you have muscles over here. That's plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!" Yang said encouragingly.
The younger sister slumped on her pillow. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero…"
The blonde sister scoffed. "Oh please, there's no such thing as 'negative' friends! You just made one friend and one enemy!"
Ruby's second pillow slapped her in the face. Once it slid of, Yang spoke again. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Naruto commented, lying on his back with his hands behind his head.
The two sisters are drawn to a candelabra being lit by a girl with black hair tied up with a big black bow, in grey sleeping clothes.
"That girl…" Ruby muttered to herself.
Yang, picking up on her sister's look, also glanced at the girl reading her book. "You know her?"
The younger sister sighed and shook her head. "Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."
The blonde sister perked up and pulled her sister to her feet. "Well, now's your chance!" And dragged her sister off to try and make a friend.
Naruto shook his head and pulled on his left glove. He always hid his gloves under his pillow, just in case someone tried something at night. He tapped on a metal plate and a screen popped up, showing a news report.
"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."
The mugshot of Roman changed to a woman with white hair and yellow eyes wearing a purple shirt under a black suit jacket. Next to her head was picture of animal-eared people with signs reading, "WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!"
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has become a violent militia, disrupting Human and Faunus events, causing large amounts of damage."
The photo changed to a red Beowolf head with three scratch marks behind it, circled by red on a white background.
"However, the mysterious vigilante know as the 'Shadow Grimm' has appeared once more, defending innocent lives and knocking several attacking White Fang members unconscious. Amateur footage, taken by one of the protestor's scroll, has been submitted. This video is violent, and viewer discretion is advised."
The newscast was replaced by a shaky video. Shots were fired into the air as various Faunus, all wearing white armor and white Grimm masks that left only the mouth uncovered, shoved and shouted at the protesters. Suddenly, what seemed to be a cloud of black smoke engulfed one of the White Fang, and he disappeared, only to reappear above two others, crashing into them and falling to the ground in a pile.
The other White Fang members began to panic, weapons shaking in their hands as they pointed them all around. A group of five stood above the person shooting the video, who, from the angle, was lying on the ground.
A cloud of black exploded in front of the member in the middle, a boot striking his face, knocking the white mask off and knocking him unconscious.
The others turned and fired as the cloud vanished, leaving behind a haze of gray smoke.
The shadowy figure appeared behind a Faunus farthest to the left, kneeing him in the back, spinning him around and slapping the gun out of his hand. The figure followed up by slamming the White Fang troop in the stomach with his knee and chopping the back of his neck.
The figure vanished and appeared behind another Faunus and punched her in the back of her head, sending her sprawling to the ground unconscious.
The last soldier started firing wildly, nearly hitting several protestors. The black cloud came back, joined by a flash of silver that cut the gun in half. The sound of metal striking bone sounded out as the figure smacked the soldier across the face with the flat of a silver ninjato.
The soldier stumbled back, clutching their face in pain, but froze when they felt sharpened steel nicking their neck.
The figure without the black cloud around its' body was revealed to be either male or a heavily armored female. It was holding a silver ninjato to the troopers' neck while pulling out another from somewhere on its' body.
Using the other blade, it took the tip and stabbed into the soldier's chest and drew the blade down, creating a diagonal line over his heart.
The protestor taking the film was close enough to hear a short exchange between the two parties.
"This…is a warning. This is your second chance…your only second chance…" The figure said in a deep voice that was obviously modified to by deeper and electronic sounding. "Leave the White Fang. If I find you doing this again…if you…cross…me again…I'll cross you again. And then you'll die."
The figure drew his blades back and struck the soldier on the back of his neck with the blunt side of one of his ninjato.
The Faunus crumpled to the ground, and the figure moved to the other unconscious figures and cut them over the heart as well.
As if suddenly aware of it being filmed, the figure spun around, and the picture froze on the mask.
It was shaped similar to the Grimm Masks that the White Fang wore with a smaller piece that covered the mouth and chin. It was black with white slits and white smoke-like designs traveling up the mask.
"The vigilante known as the Shadow Grimm is wanted for questioning. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call your local police department. I am Lisa Lavender, and this has been Vale News at 11."
Naruto closed the scroll and sighed. And next morning, I'll be on the news. Great. I'd hoped I could spend more than a day here without being recognized, but I didn't even make it through the night.
He looked over as Ruby and Yang came back and shuffled into their sleeping bags, looking rather mussed up.
Naruto got in his own sleeping bag and zipped it up. "I hope you guys don't mind if I sing. I can't really sleep without music. I'll quiet, don't worry."
Yang quirked an eyebrow at him and nodded. "Sure I don't mind."
He laid back and stared up at the ceiling, humming to himself.
"Take a photograph; It'll be the last…
Not a dollar or a crowd could ever keep me here.
I don't have a past, I just have a chance.
Not a family or honest plea remains to say:
Rain, rain, go away; come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun…
Is it you I want;
Or just the notion of a heart to wrap around so I can find my way around?
Safe to say from here;
You're getting closer now.
We are never sad 'cause we are not allowed to be.
Rain, rain, go away; come again another day.
All the world is waiting for the sun…
Rain, rain, go away; come again another day.
All the world is waiting for the sun.
To lie here, under you, is all that I could ever do,
To lie here, under you, is all that I could ever do,
To lie here, under you, is all…
To lie here, under you, is all that I could ever do,
To lie here, under you, is all…
Rain, rain, go away; come again another day.
All the world is waiting for the sun…
Rain, rain, go away; come again another day.
All the world is waiting for the sun…
All the world is waiting for the sun…
All the world is waiting for the…sun…
…
…
A/N: Sooo, yeah.
First things first; this is not a song-fic. These are just songs I really like, and they'll be happening at other times in the story as well. Not a bunch though, just where it fits.
Alright, I feel I should point this out, cause some people just don't understand some things: Naruto is replacing Jaune. Not because I don't like Jaune, in fact the only ting I dislike about him his is voice and that's it.
No, Naruto replaces Jaune because it's easier for me. That's all.
No Naruto-verse elements will appear besides a few mentions and the Rasengan in a Dust form, and that is it. In fact, you could say that Naruto is an OC in RWBY with Naruto's name, though his dream is similar.
A RWBY crossover will get more attention, however.
Songs:
M4 Part II, By Faunts.
Rain, Acoustic Version, By Breaking Benjamin.
And that's all I got for you today, folks. The next chapter of JotWE is almost done, and the next chapter of Hero is just starting.
I've been on an RWBY kick recently and this idea wouldn't leave me alone. It will follow canon with a few changes for a while and then diverge.
Find me at Soleneus . blogspot . com!
Stay Awesome!
~Soleneus
P.S.: My computer is starting to crap out on me. Considering that it's from 2003, it's a freaking miracle that it still works.
Stay Awesome Some More and Review!
~still Soleneus