Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or RWBY. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto and RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.
Chapter 2: Black Beast Vs White Fang
Ares Deimon was not having a good day. It had started well enough as his group of White Fang grunts had succeeded in kidnapping the Schnee heiress from her hotel room in the middle of the night where she was staying whilst her father ironed out a new business deal for the large Dust company. The ram Faunus wasn't really sure why she was there and he honestly didn't care. The information he'd managed to acquire was correct and with it he'd pulled off an almost perfect abduction. Sure, a few of his men had been caught during the incident but they didn't know anything important and so he wasn't particularly bothered about what happened to them.
Unfortunately, things had only gotten worse from there. First, there had been trouble getting to their escape point as backup for the guards had arrived quicker than he had anticipated. The horned man had been able to get past them but doing so had cost him another three men and had also provided enough time for a Bullhead to be deployed in pursuit of his own. Whilst they had somehow managed to lose their pursuers, at least for a short while, their evasive flying had cost even more time and one of their engines had been damaged enough for a small trail of smoke to pour out.
It was then that a decision was made to hide out in the forest that lay just beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Vale. No-one would think to look for them there and it would give them time to repair the engine. The forest was said to be the home of countless Grimm but as long as they didn't stray too deep then they should be fine. With this in mind, they'd landed in a small clearing and the redhead had immediately sent his remaining men out to deal with any Grimm that got too close, ignoring the strange feeling of unease that had appeared the moment he'd stepped outside. He'd even had a little fun with the girl after he had her brought outside by explaining exactly where they were and informing her that he had absolutely no qualms about leaving her there if her family didn't play ball.
Whilst the logic behind the decision to hide in the forest had seemed sound at the time, it hadn't taken into consideration the weird hazy Grimm, for he couldn't think of anything else that it could possibly be, that had leapt from the tree line and was currently dealing with his now-terrified men in a frighteningly efficient manner whilst easily avoiding their swords and guns, though the latter had apparently taken it by surprise at first.
Meanwhile, Naruto was starting to get a little bored. After seeing the soldiers' swords, he'd abandoned his spear since it would be of little help against skilled swordsmen and, in his experience, people only carry around weapons that they are particularly skilled at using. Sure, he had the little trick he'd accidentally discovered a month or so after his arrival but it wouldn't make up for his lack of actual skill with the weapon. The fox-like teen had, however, untied the bone spikes and slid them into the cloth around his waist in case he needed projectiles.
After he'd done that, he'd engulfed himself with the thick fog of his chakra since he'd learnt long ago that intimidating your opponent can prove beneficial in combat. He'd also done that because fighting a group of people wearing nothing but a piece of cloth around his waist didn't sound particularly fun. Then there was the potential embarrassment that would follow if said piece of cloth came loose whilst he was fighting. It had been bad enough the first time that had happened and he had only been dealing with one of those large black boars that time.
Once he was satisfied that he was properly obscured, Naruto had leapt out of the tree he was hiding in, aiming to take out the nearest opponent before he knew what was going on. He'd landed on his target, the force of the impact sending the hooded fighter to the ground hard enough to knock him unconscious, and then proceeded to move around the various soldiers, knocking them out whilst avoiding their weapons.
Much to his disappointment, it seemed that none of the identically-dressed individuals were particularly skilled at fighting. Admittedly, they were doing better than most civilians back home did but they simply didn't compare to the other shinobi he'd faced in the past. None of the swordsmen appeared to be even remotely as skilled as Zabuza or Raiga. Even TenTen, who wasn't even really considered a swordswoman due to her jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none attitude regarding weaponry, was far more impressive to go up against. The strange weapons that some of the soldiers were carrying had caught him off guard, since he wasn't expecting them to launch pieces of metal at speeds far exceeding a thrown kunai, and the first one had grazed his side just above his waist, though the wound healed fairly quickly given how much chakra was currently flowing through him. Fortunately, the ones using them didn't seem to be particularly good at aiming at fast targets and their reaction times, whilst somewhat decent, simply didn't compare to a trained shinobi.
If the blond had to compare them to anything, he'd say that the group he was dealing with were similar to the bandit groups that popped up in various places in the Elemental Nations. Whilst they were more skilled than civilians, the only real way they'd win a fight against a shinobi would be through sheer overwhelming numbers and there simply weren't enough of them here to be a threat.
After reaching that conclusion, Naruto had wished that he had kept his spear. If he had limited himself to fighting purely with the makeshift weapon then it may have been more of a challenge. As it was, he easily moved from soldier to soldier, knocking them all out with just one or two strikes, though a couple had fallen to their own comrades' bad aim with their unfamiliar projectile weapons.
As he nervously watched the strange Grimm pick apart his group with such ease, Ares quickly signalled for his remaining grunts to retreat back into the Bullhead with the intention of shutting the beast out. However, it seemed that the misty creature understood his intention as, with a single swing of a limb, a white blur shot forwards and impaled the chest of the one holding the heiress' rope, with another taking out the person next to him. A closer look revealed that the fatal projectiles were bone spikes and that just raised more questions for the confused ram Faunus.
Nobody had ever heard of a Grimm showing such intelligence in combat, it was more reminiscent of a trained martial artist than a wild beast, and no known species of the creatures of destruction was capable of launching bone spikes as a weapon; the closest was the ability of the Nevermore to shoot feathers from its wings.
Seeing as retreat was no longer an option and the beast was shooting anyone that got close to the aircraft's ramp, Ares reached into his coat and pulled out his own weapon, confident that he could kill the damn thing since he was far superior in combat to the grunts. Once the device was out, a quick twitch of the wrist caused it to shift into its initial combat form. Soon, the redhead was holding a two-handed battle axe with a noticeably larger than average head and two similarly sized blades. The shaft of the axe was a sleek silver, as were the pair of wicked-looking blades, whilst the handle and the head were a dark crimson. There was a small grille on either side of the axe head, through which came small puffs of smoke as the weapon transformed, and a small circular opening was present between the blades opposite the shaft.
Now that he was properly armed, the ram Faunus charged at the Grimm, determined to kill it before it could take out any of his few remaining men. The beast seemed to recognise him as a credible threat as it kicked the nearest grunt away before turning to face the running redhead. Raising his axe high, Ares attempted to cleave the creature in front of him in half but it leapt back just in time to avoid the strike. He was about to try again when another bone spike shot through the air towards him, forcing him to deflect it.
The redhead shot forwards again, noting with great confusion that the Grimm had picked up one of his men's swords from where it lay on the ground. The creatures of darkness never used human weapons; they simply lacked the intelligence to utilise them effectively. A loud clang echoed through the clearing as axe met sword, quickly followed by a crack as the stronger axe sliced clean through the weaker blade. The beast used the force of the impact to slide backwards just enough to avoid any significant injury, only receiving a small cut from the descending red and silver weapon, before it rolled to the side and grabbed another sword.
Expecting the same thing to happen again, the White Fang member was more than a little surprised when, instead of shattering like the first had, the sword managed to survive his strike, regardless of how impossible such as thing should be. The blades of his axe were far sharper than the mass produced weapons that the grunts carried and were made of much sturdier metals. The axe head was also significantly heavier than one would believe upon seeing the weapon, something that made his swings even more dangerous. The only thing that was different than the creature's previous failed attempt at blocking was that the mist that covered its body had spread down the length of the cheap sabre.
Despite himself, Ares couldn't help but grin at the challenge his current opponent was proving to be. The fog-covered beast was agile enough to evade most of his strikes and it was somehow capable of using a blade to block those that it could not dodge, albeit rather clumsily. As their weapons locked, he first thought that he would be capable of simply outmuscling his foe but, after a few seconds, the Grimm proved that it could even match his fierce strength. A quick flick of the wrist nudged the hazy blade out of the way enough for the ram Faunus to knock it aside but the obscure being slid sideways before he could hit it.
Another small movement had the axe's shaft extending several feet until the whole weapon was almost as long as the redhead was tall, with a small trigger popping out on the crimson handle that was currently two feet up from the base of the pole, and a thin nozzle slid out of the circular opening at the other end, both actions being accompanied by puffs of smoke from the grilles on the head. This was the other form of his weapon. The longer staff allowed his blows to hit with more momentum and also served to increase his reach. However, this was not the primary purpose of this form, as was demonstrated when a burst of intense fire shot out of the nozzle at the surprised Grimm in response to a quick press of the trigger.
Now fully under the influence of his characteristic battle frenzy, Ares cackled madly as he repeatedly swung his poleaxe, each swipe being punctuated by another stream of flames and typically gauging the earth as well. Each strike was closer to hitting the Grimm than the previous and the steadily building blaze was proving difficult for it to deal with. His laughter reached its peak at a particularly potent stream of fire hit the hazy creature, engulfing it in an inferno. The guffawing, however, died in Ares' throat when the flames died down to reveal, not the cooked corpse of the Grimm that he was expecting, but a badly charred stump of wood.
Finally, Naruto was enjoying himself. The horned redhead was proving to be a much better opponent for him that the others. The skill he was showing with his weapon was impressive, especially when it had started spewing flames, and the strength behind each blow was nothing to scoff at either. The blond had been a little surprised when the sword in his hand had broken so easily after being hit by the axe but he figured that the simple blades were not made all that well. They seemed to favour quantity rather than quality. With than in mind, he had had to augment the next sword with his chakra, strengthening it considerably.
This was what he had accidentally discovered a little over a month after his arrival. If he sent a decent amount of his chakra into an object then that object would become much stronger, greatly surpassing what could be done with simple chakra enhancement back home, and take on the distinctive hazy appearance that he himself possessed. Unfortunately, this newfound ability was not without its downsides as, when he cut the chakra flow, the object would be much more brittle than it was before he laid hands on it, usually breaking apart at the slightest touch. All in all, it temporarily toughened the object in exchange for weakening it in the long run. It was also the reason that the spear he had arrived with was in fact the twenty-ninth one he had made during his time in the forest, needless to say that he had gotten quite good at fashioning homemade weapons from branches and bone spikes.
Unfortunately, even with an augmented weapon, he simply didn't have the skill to utilise it effectively as a sword and, as such, was reduced to using it as a club to deflect each incoming blow, though he had had to transform his arm to provide enough raw strength. The axe's transformation had been a surprise to him, particularly when it revealed itself as a flamethrower, and the redhead had started overpowering him with the heavier swings.
Soon enough, Naruto had been hit by a jet of flame but he avoided it by replacing himself with a nearby fallen branch, thankful that he could still use that technique without much trouble. Since he had appeared in the forest, his chakra seemed to be somewhat reluctant to be utilised outside of his own body. He could still use all of his old abilities like Shadow Clones and the Rasengan but it took more concentration than it used to and he was still practicing with them to get back to the point of being able to use them on the fly in combat again.
The vulpine blond couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself when he saw the look of complete bewilderment on his opponent's face. It would seem that the people of this world were not capable of anything resembling the Substitution Technique that every ninja was taught before being allowed to graduate. The former Jinchuriki pulled out one of the last two bone spikes that remained tucked inside his clothing and, after enhancing it with his chakra, threw it straight at the horned redhead's chest. The impromptu projectile was easily parried and he was disgruntled when he noticed that, even strengthened as it was, the bone proved incapable of denting the polearm, much less damaging it. He had to quickly dive out of the way when a jet of flame was shot out at him, presumably due to the redhead having tracked the path of the bone back to him.
With ranged attacks being completely ineffective, Naruto had no choice but to get in close again if he wanted to help the white-haired girl who was currently watching the fight even after having retreated back up the ramp to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. He dashed out of the undergrowth, grabbing and strengthening another sword with his free hand as he did so, and charged the horned axe wielder. Transforming his legs to bolster his strength, the blond leapt over the incoming fireball and swung both his blades down towards his target, the force of his attack amplified by the added momentum of his jump.
The redhead barely managed to get his staff up in time to intercept the potentially fatal blows. All of a sudden, the air around the ram-like man heated up considerably and the outline of his body started to blur, similar to a desert mirage. The sudden addition of such hot air caused the haze surrounding Naruto's body to flicker slightly but it did not hinder him in any way. The blades of the horned man's axe started to glow, a sign they there were being heated as well, but they retained their shape and didn't look like they were anywhere close to melting. With a single almighty shove, he threw Naruto off of him, sending him flying across the clearing as the claws on his feet gouged the earth where he landed.
In response to his opponent's apparent heat-related ability, the blond sent even more chakra through his body and into the swords in his hands. This caused the fog around both him and the weapons to become even thicker and the blades themselves to start creaking as they were enhanced far more than they could tolerate. Naruto barely paid any attention to the slight pain that he felt in his elbows, knees and shoulders as well as along his spine. His now faintly-glowing red eyes locked onto the axe wielder and he charged again, now even faster than before and cracking the ground with each step, intent on dealing with him.
Again and again, fog-coated swords and searing axe met in a furious clash of sparks, each being deflected by another with varying levels of finesse, until one of the swords happened to get caught between the axe shaft and one of its blades. A flick of the blond's wrist sent the red and silver weapon flying out of its owner's hands as the sword that caused the disarming shattered from the force. Now unarmed, the redhead simply couldn't cope with Naruto's assault and, despite his best efforts, was soon knocked out by a rather powerful blow to the head. A quick glance around revealed that the various soldiers were either still unconscious or were huddled against the trees after having retreated to the edges of the clearing in an attempt to stay as far away from him as possible without actually going into the forest proper.
Seeing that there were no more threats, Naruto tossed his remaining sword onto the ground, the impact causing it to break into several pieces, and immediately cut the flow of chakra through his body, knowing that it would take a while for his transformation to reverse itself given how long it had been present. He then looked over at the girl in the aircraft, idly noting that she had freed her hands and removed her collar at some point, but flinched when he saw the intense terror that she was looking at him with.
The blond supposed that it was only natural. She had just seen him fight against a large group of soldiers and win, even killing a few of them that got too close to her. Considering that she couldn't actually see him clearly due to the fog, she probably thought he was some kind of monster similar to the beasts that inhabited the forest. Deciding to set her straight, as well as try and calm her down, he opened his mouth to shout something at her, since he didn't want to get too close whilst she was still afraid of him, but snapped it shut again when, instead of words, a deep growl came out from his throat.
Sighing to himself in annoyance when he saw that she was now even more afraid of him than before if her hiding behind the side of the aircraft's opening was any indication, Naruto plopped down onto the ground and ran the back of his hand over his neck to try and figure out why he couldn't speak. He soon had his answer when, instead of soft human skin, he found a thin layer of coarse fur. It would seem that he had unknowingly transformed more than just his limbs during the fight.
Shuffling behind the side of the Bullhead's open entrance after hearing the vicious snarling, Weiss Schnee regarded the strange Grimm with more than a little fear and confusion. She had seen it take out a good majority of the White Fang goons and it had had a fight with their leader that would have been considered impressive if it had been a human let alone a mindless beast.
So, why was it just waiting there? Why hadn't it come in to kill her yet? It was a well known fact that the creatures of destruction were hell-bent on destroying humans and their creations yet this one was just sat on the ground.
The young heiress was also confused as to what type of Grimm it was. Even though the various different species was a topic that was not covered in any significant detail until Beacon Academy, she still knew enough to confidently say that the beast outside was not one that had been documented before. No Grimm was known to be able to fire bone spikes or make use of human weaponry, yet this one did both. There was also the fact that it was alone. From what she knew, most Grimm tended to stay together in groups to hunt since there was strength in numbers.
Suddenly, without any warning, the creature swung its arm in her direction and something shot by her, missing her head by mere inches. Though she would never admit it later, Weiss screamed at the sudden attack that almost killed her. She immediately ducked inside the Bullhead, reluctantly taking her eyes off the beast, so that it didn't have the opportunity for a second attempt, only to freeze when she saw exactly where the spike had impacted. Lying on the ground just behind where she had previously been standing was another uniformed White Fang Faunus with a gun in his hand and the spike buried deep in his chest.
This sight only served to raise more questions for the already tired and confused girl. The White Fang goon was probably going to take advantage of her back being turned to attack her, thus it followed that the spike was fired to stop him from doing so. But that would mean that the Grimm was protecting her and they didn't protect anything, not even each other. Thinking back on the events since the creature appeared, the white-haired girl realised that at no point had it ever actually attacked her. In fact, it had killed the guy holding her leash as well as the one that tried to grab it afterwards. Even now, when she was completely defenceless, it simply sat outside keeping an eye on everything.
It was at this point that Weiss, determined to understand the mystery in front of her, decided to do something potentially quite dangerous and approach the Grimm currently sat outside. It was incredibly risky and could easily end with it killing her since there was every chance that the conclusions she had reached about it were wrong but, if things did go wrong, she could always run back to the relative safety of the Bullhead. She could move quite quickly if she wanted to, especially when she used her glyphs, and whilst she was fully rested the Grimm had just gone through a rather longwinded fight and was bound to be at least somewhat exhausted.
Having decided on her course of action, Weiss peered outside to confirm that the Grimm was indeed still there and, picking up the gun near her feet as a precautionary measure, walked partway down the ramp. Now standing a bit closer, she looked the beast over to try and get a better understanding of it. Though its body was hidden by that black cloud which seemed smaller than it had been, the heiress was able to make out a vaguely humanoid shape inside it that was watching something in the sky with faint red eyes. She cocked the gun in her hands, mainly as a way of reassuring herself that she could fight back if needed, before clearing her throat to get its attention.
"Can you understand me?" she called out, feeling more than a little stupid. Whoever heard of a Grimm actually understanding human language? Admittedly, no-one was generally stupid enough to try and talk to one as it would immediately try and kill them. She was very surprised, therefore, when the hazy monster seemed to nod in response to her question.
Unfortunately, before she could go any further with her very weird conversation, she was deafened by the sound of an approaching Bullhead that she had previously not noticed due to her strange thoughts concerning the creature in front of her. Said Bullhead then opened fire on her unlikely saviour, causing it to flee into the undergrowth to avoid being hit. Now feeling frustrated that she was being denied her answers, Weiss took a proper look at the incoming aircraft and saw, much to her relief, that it carried the snowflake logo of the Schnee Dust Company, meaning that it was almost certainly there to rescue her. She stayed inside her current hiding place though, just in case the aircraft was something that had been stolen by the White Fang, since theft from her grandfather's company was by no means unheard of. The Bullhead struggled to fit into the clearing since there was barely enough room for two and the first had not been positioned with a second in mind.
As soon as the craft was firmly on the ground, the side door swung open to reveal the group of guards who were assigned to protect her back at the hotel. The crowd quickly spread out to ensure that nothing tried to attack, something that Weiss thought to be rather pointless since there had been more White Fang members and they had all been taken care of by a single, albeit possibly unique, Grimm. Once the perimeter had been established, another figure came out of the door, one that Weiss immediately recognised and ran over to.
"Father!" the sixteen-year-old cried as she tackled the man. He had the same white hair as his daughter, though it was kept far shorter, and his skin was not quite as pale. He was currently wearing a smart dark grey suit and it seemed that he hadn't quite decided whether to be pleased that his daughter had been found and was safe or angry that the White Fang had kidnapped her in the first place. Deciding to be angry later, he gave his daughter a quick onceover to check for injuries. Aside from some minor rope burn on her wrists and around her neck and slightly bruised feet, she seemed fine though he made a note to have her checked out as soon as they returned to the city. A single hand gesture had the guards return to the Bullhead as he led Weiss inside.
"What about the White Fang, sir?" one of the guards asked.
"Just leave them. They have a damaged engine so they won't be able to bother us again," the white-haired man replied, clearly not caring what happened to the group that kidnapped his daughter. A couple of the guards seemed hesitant about following that command, since it was essentially leaving the Faunus to die, but they soon boarded.
Once everyone was inside, the aircraft rose up into the sky and flew off back to the city whilst the teenager informed her father of the events during and after her capture. The Grimm she spoke of was more than a little confusing but ultimately not important since it would probably never be seen again. Unknown to all onboard, a figure clung to the outside of the large flying machine, perched on top of a wing as its long coat fluttered in the wind.
Naruto decided quite quickly that he did not like air travel. The blond was currently sat on top of the vehicle that had arrived to rescue the white-haired girl and it was taking almost all of his concentration to stop himself from vomiting. What little attention he could spare was being used to stick himself to the metal underneath with chakra so that he was not blown off. Soon after takeoff, he had made the mistake of looking over the side to get a better idea of the area but the view had very nearly caused him to empty his stomach.
As the winds started to get colder, the foxy teen pulled the slightly-too-big coat he was wearing tighter around his body. Normally, he wouldn't have taken the horned redhead's coat but he doubted he would get a good reception in civilisation with nothing more than a scrap of orange cloth around his waist, especially since said scrap of cloth had been damaged even more than it already was during his fight and was now barely large enough to actually conceal anything.
In an attempt to distract himself from the altitude that he was currently travelling at, Naruto instead decided to focus on what little he had managed to glean about the world he was now in. Clearly, there were those here who possessed animal attributes, the guy with the ram horns being a good example, though he was unsure whether these people were a minority or the norm. This meant that there was at least one group of individuals that he could fit in with considering his relatively new additions. Then there was the white-haired girl and the people who had come to save her. None of them seemed to possess animal features which suggested that there were some normal humans here, but they didn't seem to get along with the others. This was understandable considering that they had apparently abducted her but he had overheard the new group talking and had picked out a few words that he was sure were derogatory, the most prominent being the term 'faunus' that seemed to apply to all those with animal features. If this sort of attitude was normal then it seemed that, yet again, the blond would be treated as something less than human due to things outside his control. First, it had been because he was a Jinchuriki and now because he had developed animalistic features, though at least there would hopefully be some people that would accept him this time.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the nauseous shinobi, the barren landscape gave way to large buildings as the craft entered a coastal village that was similar in size to Konoha if not bigger. Despite wanting to have a proper look at the structures, Naruto stopped himself as he knew it would be the final straw for his poor stomach. Unfortunately for him, the flying machine showed no signs of stopping in the settlement as it carried on flying past. It did start to slow down, however, as it approached a large castle-like mansion overlooking a small cliff that was separated from the town by a decently-sized forest, much smaller than the one he lived in. As the craft gently lowered itself onto a marked area of concrete that was probably specifically for landing and taking off, the former Jinchuriki stood up and stretched to get the feeling back in his body after travelling for several hours.
There were a few people waiting on the landing space and, as soon as the vehicle had stopped moving and powered down, a lady in a white lab coat walked straight to the opening door. The girl he had encountered in the forest was quickly ushered to the presumed doctor by her father, despite her protests that she was fine, and caught sight of the blond standing on the roof as the sun happened to be behind him, silhouetting him and making his long ears stand out more than they already did.
"Faunus!" the girl cried out, pointing at Naruto. This action immediately caused the guards that had disembarked to raise their strange projectile-firing weapons and point them at the stiff teen. A quick command from the girl's father had the group open fire without even bothering to try and talk to him and Naruto reflexively flattened himself against the metal underfoot to avoid the approaching storm of potential death.
The vulpine young man soon came to the conclusion that these people were much more skilled with their weapons that the other lot in the forest had been, they fired a lot more frequently as well, and quickly decided that he would be better off running away since it did not seem that they were willing to talk things over. The incoming fire soon died down, though he wasn't sure if it was due to them running out of ammunition or they were waiting for him to pop up again, and he leapt to the ground quicker than most could follow, heading straight for the cliff.
"You people really need to learn how to express gratitude properly. Still, thanks for the lift." His somewhat sarcastic parting shot delivered, the Genin transformed his arms in preparation, not noticing the girl's shocked expression as she saw the accompanying mist nor the faint tinge or red that appeared on her cheeks when she caught sight of his exposed body, and flipped off the cliff, plummeting towards the waters below. As soon as he was out of sight, he rammed his claws into the cliff face, dislodging several pieces of rock in the process, and used the resistance to slow his descent. Once he had slowed down enough, Naruto simply planted his feet on the vertical surface and stuck himself to it with chakra. With that done, the blond glanced up to see if anyone had seen him but noticed that the very top of the cliff stuck out a little further than the rest and he was hidden from view by the outcrop. Seeing this, he gouged out a few large pieces of rock and let them fall into the waters below; the splashes would make anyone looking think he had fallen all of the way and thus he would be free to escape.
Just before he entered the large village he had seen from above, Naruto placed his hands together in a ram sign and focused his chakra. A small black cloud then coalesced around his body before fading away again to reveal that the blond had used the Transformation Technique to form a simple pair of black trousers and a black undershirt to avoid any potential questions about wandering around whilst practically naked.
With that done, the teen reluctantly set off in search of a library or something similar so that he could learn more about the world he was now in. Even though it was something he deemed necessary, the thought of sitting down for any length of time to read books was still unpleasant. Though if it got too boring, he could always create a few clones to make the process go quicker as long as he was discrete about it. He wasn't sure if clones were something that the people here could do and, if they weren't, he really did not want to draw attention to himself.
Eventually, Naruto managed to find out where the library was, though he had to ask several people for directions since most dismissed him as soon as they saw his ears with varying levels of politeness ranging from a simple but still somewhat rude dismissal to a woman hitting him with her bag for 'bothering' her. The only person who had given him the time of day had been a rather polite, and somewhat uncomfortable-looking, man with very prominent sideburns who apparently owned a bookstore a few roads over. The man, Tukson, had even given him the address of his shop in case he couldn't find what he was looking for in the library.
On his way to the library, the blond came across a small rundown-looking bar. He would have simply carried on past it but at that exact moment, the door burst open and a pair of men dressed head-to-toe in black with ski masks over their faces ran out. One of the two had a large sack slung over his shoulder whilst the other was drinking from a glass bottle. The duo were obviously robbers if the clichéd attire was any indication and this was confirmed moments later when a slightly rotund man wearing a ruffled suit appeared in the doorway, somewhat out of breath and repeatedly screaming 'Thieves' at the top of his voice. The commotion had attracted a bit of attention but the majority of people had ignored it after spotting the sandy canine ears hidden amidst the similarly coloured hair. Without even hesitating, Naruto picked up a couple of pebbles from the ground and threw them at the thieves. They both hit their respective targets, the back of the head, and the pathetic crooks collapsed to the ground, the bottle shattering when it landed.
"This is yours, right?" the blond asked the round man after he had retrieved the sack.
"Yes, yes it is. Thank you," he replied, still amazed at how easily the robbers had been stopped. He only snapped out of his stupor when he noticed that the foxy teen had turned to walk off. "Wait! Where are my manners? My name is Rinus Mujina and this is my bar," he gestured up to the sign hanging above the door that boasted the words 'Tanuki Tavern' in large letters. "Please, come in for a drink on the house. It's the least I can do for you."
Not wanting to be rude, the blond accepted the man's offer and entered the establishment, though he did keep his guard up just in case. After that, he wasn't entirely sure how it had occurred but, a few hours later, a somewhat tipsy Naruto stumbled into in the spare room of the apartment above the pub that Rinus had allowed him to use after finding out that he was currently homeless and collapsed onto the bed, his transformation finally failing as he did. The teen had also somehow ended up with a job keeping an eye on things in the tavern to prevent any future thefts, since apparently being a Faunus-run establishment made it a frequent target, whilst also helping out at the bar as and when needed.
A/N: That's Chapter 2 done and more of Naruto's new abilities are revealed. This is probably going to end up being fairly long Author's Note so I'll apologise in advance but there are several things I want to say.
First, I want to thank everyone who's read/followed/favourite this story. When I uploaded it, I had no idea it would be anywhere near as popular as it is so thank you for your support.
Second, this chapter has the first real fight scene that I've ever written and I would really appreciate feedback on said scene (Did you like it or not? Did it flow properly? Was it too descriptive? Etc.) so that I can make better fight scenes in the future, both for this story and any others I may end up writing.
The third thing is about pairings. There have been a few people asking or suggesting particular pairings (mostly harems). At the moment, I'm leaning more towards a single pairing for this rather than a harem, though I'm still not decided on who. This is not because I have anything against harem stories, indeed many of my favourite stories on here are harems, but because I doubt that I'd be able to write a believable harem story since romance is most definitely not my strong suit. Of course, this may well change in the future.
The fourth, and final, thing is a bit of bad news. The next chapter for this could take a while as the current plan is for it to cover Naruto's arrival at Beacon and the initiation all the way up to team assignments. The reason for the delay is because there is certain information that has yet to be revealed in canon (but should be released sometime in Volume 2) that is needed before I write the initiation and I'd rather not make it up since the canon version will undoubtedly be much more impressive. I will, however, be using the time to iron out more details for the plot.
