I woke the next morning to Tenzo trying to smother me with a pillow. I shoved the pillow and Tenzo off of me and swiftly got to my feet. Almost immediately I had to duck under Tenzo's foot as he tried to kick me. I aimed a punch at his head but he blocked and swung with his own fist. I moved my head to the side to avoid the punch and grabbed his arm. I turned and threw him into the wall behind me with an audible gasp. I stood straight and watched as Tenzo slowly got back to his feet.
"What the hell are you doing so damn early?" I asked him.
"Just making sure your skills were sharp." He replied. "Don't forget we have initiation today; you need to be ready as quickly as possible."
"That still isn't an excuse for trying to beat me up first thing in the morning."
"It's a great excuse and you know it." Tenzo said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes at his stupidity and looked around. Most of the other students were already gone, presumably getting breakfast, although a few were either still sleeping or looking at Tenzo and me. I can't blame them; who else starts the day fighting? I thought to myself. I made my way to the bathrooms, took a quick shower, dressed myself, and brushed my teeth. I looked in the mirror and tried to tie up my hair. Most of my hair just goes down to my shoulders but I let the back grow out much longer and I keep it tied in a ponytail. I looked back in the mirror and I see a typical Uchiha staring back at me. Black hair and fair skin, the usual traits of the Uchiha clan are easily noticeable. However for some reason I was not born with the normal black eyes of the Uchiha, instead possessing a pair of icy blue eyes. Tenzo always teased me about them, saying how you'd never be able to tell I was an Uchiha if it weren't for the necklace I received from my mother. It was a simple necklace that was a chain ending with a fan where the top was red and the bottom was white; the symbol of the Uchiha. I always found the symbol funny in a way. The fan is reminiscent of an uchiwa which is a fan used to fan flames which fits well since all members of the Uchiha clan have an affinity for Fire-Style jutsu.
I finished up, grabbed my katana, and headed over to the lockers where the rest of my gear was stored. I found my locker quickly and started grabbing the gear I thought I would most likely need; a pouch for shuriken on my left leg, a pouch for kunai on my right, a tantÅ blade strapped vertically on my back, and my katana strapped to my waist. I kept my necklace on underneath my shirt so I wouldn't lose it, and was about to close my locker when Tenzo walked up.
"Yo, got everything you need for today?" He said with a smirk.
"Yes. I don't think it's going to be that bad so I only packed light."
He looked inside my locker. "Not wearing your special armor?" He was referring to the ANBU armor tucked neatly in the corner. It used to belong to Itachi Uchiha and was kept in storage for years in a secret Compartment until I found it years ago. I brought it just in case.
"No, it's not necessary."
"Hey, you should at least wear the crow mask. It looks cool."
I shut the locker door and almost caught Tenzo's fingers in it.
"Jeez, you could have just said no."
Before I could reply the loudspeaker came on and an announcement was made.
"All first-year students report to Beacon cliff for initiation. I repeat, all first-year students report to Beacon cliff for initiation."
"I guess it's time." I said.
"Yep. Let's show these people the skills of the shinobi of the leaf."
"If it's you it's more of a disappointment." I sniped.
Tenzo covered his heart in mock pain, "Ouch, that one really hurt. Why do you have to be so cruel?"
I rolled my eyes and started walking out when I spotted a familiar flash of red. I saw Ruby down the row of lockers with her sister Yang and some blonde guy. The guy was on the ground and Ruby was helping him get on his feet and then they started walking towards the exit. I was about to start towards them when Tenzo threw his arm around me and started dragging me back to my locker.
"So Kageki, care to tell me what this is all about?" he gestured to the large amount of weapons in the locker; it was practically bursting with different types of swords, knives, and other ninja tools. How he managed to open it I didn't question.
"What is there to tell?" I asked, confused. "I brought what I thought was necessary for my time here. Although, seeing all these foreign weapons leads me to believe I may need to upgrade my equipment."
Tenzo's eyebrow twitched. "You are aware that we did not bring that much money with us, are you?" He didn't wait for me to respond before going on. "Did you also know that the people here do not use the same money as us? They use Lien. All we have is Ryo. How do you expect to purchase new supplies if you lose them or repair your weapons if they break?"
"I'll think of something."
Tenzo held his head in his hand and sighed.
"You're an idiot."
"At least I'm an idiot who won't get killed due to lack of equipment."
With that we made our way to the cliff where the other students were standing on stone slabs. Tenzo and I took our places on the far left, and then the headmaster began speaking. As usual I zoned out for some of it but started listening when he mentions partners.
"You will all be given teammates. Today." Ozpin said. "So it is your best interest to be with people you can work well with. That being said the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."
Tenzo and I grinned at each other at that, silently chuckling at the irony and we almost missed the part about a forest temple.
"You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path."
When I heard Ozpin say that I was overjoyed, but I didn't show it of course. I was great at destruction; it was part of my job back in my ANBU missions. I was always the guy they called when they needed a distraction.
Ozpin finished briefing us and to my left I heard the sound of gears turning and I looked to see the guy next to me get launched. I barely had time to prepare before my slab launched me into the air towards the forest. I felt the freeness of falling through the air and I couldn't help but smile at the feeling. Then I saw the incoming trees and I spun mid-air and landed easily in a tree branch. Thankfully for Tenzo and I we're used to traveling by trees so something like this is nothing to us. I jumped down to the ground and started to ponder my next move. I could either head straight for the temple and grab an artifact like we were supposed to, or I could try to locate Tenzo. I decided on the former and left the whole partner thing up to fate. Just as I was about to start moving again I heard a growl behind me. I turned and saw what looked like a large bear wearing a bone mask approaching me. Ahh, these must be those "creatures of Grimm" Tenzo and I heard about. I unsheathed my katana and stared down the large bear.
"And the fun begins." I said with a devilish look on my face.
Author notes (Updated):
Again, just making a few adjustments to the story. Thanks for reading.
