AN: Via requests to both myself and BonesBoy15, the Teams will see a Intro to the show in this chapter. We will not constantly re-type the introduction, but bear in mind that lines that are bracketed like [this] are the introduction to the 'show'.
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY.
Reading: Veritas Aequitas
II: Partners
[Song is "Whispers in the Dark" – by Skillet, specifically the moments of (0:00–0:30) and (1:45-3:21)]
"Huh, cool an actual intro." Yang blinked.
"An interesting piano opening for such a rude boy." Weiss mused sourly
"Shh! I wanna watch it. We missed the intro the first time," Ruby shushed her white-haired teammate. Weiss frowned and looked to Yang, who shrugged. Her sister had some quirks she didn't understand.
[During the piano intro, scenic shot of Beacon is taken that becomes negative upon zooming. The negative coloring corrects itself when the camera flies past Naruto, flipping sharply to zoom in on his hands, clasped tightly around his parents' wedding bands during the song's whispered opening.]
["Despite the lies that you're makin' / Your love is mine for the takin' / My love is just waitin' / To turn your tears to Roses!"]
[A hard guitar riff starts as Naruto's eyes snap open. It continues, flashing by profile shots of Kurama, Haku and Sasuke, before the chorus begins.]
["No / You'll never be alone / When darkness comes, I'll light the night with stars / Hear the whispers in the dark / No / You'll never be alone / When darkness comes, you know I'm never far / Hear the whispers in the dark!"]
[During the chorus, Naruto grins while he and Kurama spar in plain hand-to-hand. He gets hip tossed and Haku offers a hand down to help him up while Sasuke tags him and jumps into the square with the smirking Faunus. His landing dissolves into a kick onto a Beowolf's head, with Haku rushing in from behind to deliver a blow to the stomach. The Beowolf goes flying and changes with another dissolve into Naruto, who slams into a wall and forces himself back to his feet as the chorus comes to a close.]
[An instrumental with a wailing guitar begins and images of scenes flash by, including Naruto and Yang's first meeting/flirting while they grinned at one another; Blake casually brushing past Naruto, Kurama and Sasuke; Weiss and Kurama butting heads while Naruto and Ruby tried to pull them away; Haku putting a hand on Jaune's shoulder while Nora hangs from Sasuke's, Pyrrha and Ren smiling in the background. The screen went black and the instrumental faded before the chorus repeated.]
["No / You'll never be alone / When darkness comes, I'll light the night with stars / Hear the whispers in the dark / No / You'll never be alone / When darkness comes, you know I'm never far / Hear the whispers in the dark!"]
[As the chorus repeats, the four boys are standing shoulder-to-shoulder while they face off against shadowy figures covered with red mushroom clouds. Split-screen face offs were shown next. Sasuke's eyes sparked with black lightning arcing over his body while he glared at a figure that opened white and red eyes with commas in them. Kurama's sunglasses flashed red and he tightened his grip on his staff as a toothy grin was sent to him. Haku's eyes narrowed firmly as he lifted a white mask up towards his face as a beautiful woman's face turned into a frown. Naruto grinned in challenge and his eyes turned gold before the camera goes back to the towering figures, the one across from Naruto gaining purple and rippled eyes.]
[Aura burned around the boys as they leapt at the shadows, with Naruto in the lead, while the song finished on a hard guitar solo.]
"That...Was...Awesome!" Ruby cheered with her fists punching the air as the title card appeared on the screen.
"What was with the strange eyes, though?" Blake asked with a thoughtful frown.
"I think they're not as concerned with the White Fang as we are," Weiss said.
"Oh, goodie, we get the terrorists and monsters to deal with," Jaune said dryly.
"Yes! We win by default!" Nora cheered. She began to do a victory dance in her seat before Ren stopped her as the show began.
"Alright, Nora, we get it. Let's watch now, okay?" Ren asked.
"Right, sorry." Nora laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.
"...Oh yeah...You stir those noodles...You beautiful woman...That lives...In my house..." Naruto mumbled between snores.
"What noodles is he talking about?" Nora scratched the side of her head in thought. "There's so many types!"
"Are there really?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah! There's ravioli – I love that word, ravioli, ravioli, give me some more, jabroni~" Nora began to sing a small song about ravioli as she got lost in thought.
"...I can show you the others later, Jaune," Ren said as he looked around Nora at his team leader.
"Ah, thanks Ren."
He had a dopey grin on his face while he was sprawled out across his sleeping bag. He was a chaotic sleeper.
Kurama, dressed in his regular attire and his eyes hidden once more by his dark wraparound sunglasses, stared down at the unconscious blond with an amused smile on his face. He adjusted his hold on his staff and looked at his annoyed acquaintance.
"So, do you want the honors or will I get to wake him up today?" he asked.
Sasuke's eye twitched and he lifted his right hand.
"Why do I have a sudden chill?" Jaune asked at the imagery of Sasuke's face.
"Well, he did spark in the intro..." Ruby mused.
Naruto had kicked him at least five different times last night. "I'm waking him up. I suggest you vacate the area."
"Ah, this is going to be biblical, isn't it?"
Sasuke said nothing and held his hand out towards the blissfully snoozing blond. There was a soft crackling as Sasuke's hand became encased in black static.
"He has an electricity semblance?" Pyrrha asked in interest, she wondered how that would affect her own polarity.
"Duh, intro."
"Ruby, that's not an answer for everything." Yang chided her sister.
Kurama wisely took a few steps back until he was a good ten meters away. He ignored some of the odd looks sent his way by other students.
"Oum, be merciful and let Naruto's luck hold strong."
There was a loud boom of thunder followed by a sharp yowl from the once sleeping blond. A beat passed and Kurama looked over at his two friends with a light smile while the rest in the room stared in horrified shock. They must not have expected the giant explosion. Obviously, they hadn't gone to school with Naruto Uzumaki. Those poor, pitiful fools don't know what awaits them.
"Oh please," Nora scoffed, "We blow up the school, like, every other day!"
Kurama chuckled and began to walk back to his friends when he saw Naruto hop up from his place on the ground. His only damage was a bit of singed hair and his skin smoked lightly.
"Wow, he can take some damage," Yang said, impressed with her fellow blond.
"He really is a male you..." Blake mumbled with a hint of concern. Her partner beamed at the thought.
"Oi! I was having a nice dream, Jackass!" Naruto raged loudly as he glared at his friend. "What'd you have to go and ruin it for!?"
"Our 'initiation' is today. We have to be ready. You don't get to sleep in if we don't." Sasuke was stoic as ever at first, but then there was a small smirk on his face. "Plus, retribution."
Naruto huffed and crossed his arms over his chest while he pouted. "I guess I can't be too mad, then. I threw the first punch, after all."
"You kicked me five times..." Sasuke drawled with his annoyance plain to see.
"Oh. We're square then."
"He gets four more shots." Blake pointed out.
"No, he blew him up. That's all he can offered." Yang brushed off the notion.
"Stop defending your not-boyfriend."
"Like you'd want to see Sun take five explosive shots."
"Wha-I...You- Shut up, Yang!"
"Never!"
Naruto nodded before he sent a wave and smile to his ginger haired friend. "Morning, Kurama!"
"Glad to see your idiocy factor saved your ass again." Kurama returned with a smirk.
Naruto hung his head and his shoulders slumped. "My friends are so cruel..."
"Why do I always have locker numbers that add up to nine?" Naruto asked as he grabbed his gauntlets and necklace from his assigned locker. "I mean, in elementary it was nine exactly, then in Kon I had locker two-thirty-four, and now I have locker six-hundred and three."
"Must be your lucky number," Kurama said as he adjusted one of the attached blades on his staff. "So, you hear anything while you were inhaling your breakfast or were you on 'Ramen mode'?"
"Oooh, those noodles." Nora nodded, but shrugged. "I don't see what's so great about them."
"First of all, I'm always on Ramen mode." Naruto corrected sternly as he pulled his bulky left gauntlet on and flipped open the ammo cache to put load it. "Secondly, I think there's going to be teams or something."
"Teams, huh? Any word on how they'll get picked?" Kurama asked.
Naruto clapped his hand onto the ammunition slot to lock the dust bullets in place before he grinned at his friend. "Nope!"
Kurama sighed. He looked up as another idiotic blond boy walked past with his face buried in a sheet of paper. "Morning, PJ, where are you going?"
"Oh come on!" Jaune tossed his arms in the air. That was worse than Puke Boy!
"Huh? Oh, hey Kurama!" Jaune greeted with a smile. He chuckled sheepishly and gestured to his paper. "Well, I don't remember having to count so high to find my locker, but according to this sheet, I was assigned locker six-hundred thirty-six."
"The top brass usually don't make mistakes when it comes to lockers, Puke Boy." Naruto chimed in from where he sat loading his right gauntlet with ammo. He looked up and grinned at his fellow blond while Jaune grimaced.
"Not you, too." He bemoaned.
"Puke Boy?" Kurama asked as his grin widened. "Do I really want to know?"
"No!"
"Please, please, please..." Jaune begged with his hands clasped together.
"Probably." Naruto shrugged. He shut the lid on his right gauntlet and pumped both fists in. A loud click followed and a grin spread across Naruto's face as he slammed his fists together. "Oh yeah! The Storm Breakers are ready to bust some Grimm heads wide open!"
"I love a man with gauntlets." Yang smiled fondly. She idly began tracing her finger on her neighbor's thigh.
"...Yang. You're stroking my leg." Blake sent a look to her partner.
Yang laughed sheepishly and recoiled. "Sorry, got lost in thought."
"Don't let it happen during the tournament," Weiss said.
"Yeah, as if that would happen!"
"Uh, I don't think they'll have us facing Grimm at the get-go...right?" Jaune asked as he looked at Kurama for reassurance. He paled when he noticed the bloodthirsty grin that spread across the sunglasses-wearing teen's face.
"Rikudo is ready to deliver peace to their soulless hearts," Kurama said with a cackle. He twirled his staff and slammed it on the ground, which caused the blades attached to the ring to jingle.
"Do you mind keeping your testosterone levels in-You!"
The three boys turned to face the outraged white clad Schnee heiress while she glared daggers at Naruto.
Naruto frowned and pointed at her. "How'd you get the tape off without leaving a mark?"
"I have my ways," Weiss said stiffly, crossing her arms as she glared at Naruto.
"...You know he's not real, right?" Jaune asked.
"That's not the point!"
"As if I'd tell you! You could have killed me with that stunt!" The girl snapped. Jaune stepped between the two before Naruto could argue that none of his pranks were life-threatening. Socially devastating, sure, but never life threatening.
"Like that's better!" the heiress shouted.
"I thought it was funny."
"Yang!"
"Easy, there Snow Angel. My friend here didn't mean any harm," Jaune said confidently.
"Embarrassment was the goal, actually." Naruto chimed in.
"Dude, you're not helping." Jaune hissed.
"Oh no, let him 'help'." Weiss said sickeningly sweet.
Jaune leaned over to Pyrrha. "...Has she always been like this?"
"You're often too love-struck to see it."
"Ohh..."
"Why would you go out of your way to embarrass someone?" A new girl asked.
Naruto blinked and grinned at her. "Hey, it's the hot redhead from the airship. You look even better up close."
The redheaded girl flushed lightly and rubbed her arm. "Ah, um, thank you?"
Pyrrha looked down and started to twiddle her thumbs while he cheeks burned. He was so forward...
"Don't thank him, he's the enemy!" The white clad heiress snapped quickly with her glare still locked on the whiskered blond. "And you, stop flirting with my teammate."
"Not teammates," Pyrrha reminded Weiss, who pouted.
"Teams haven't been decided yet, Schnee," Kurama said pointedly. His grip on his weapon, Rikudo, was so tight that his knuckles had become the same shade as the girl's hair.
"It doesn't hurt to make new friends," the heiress returned. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Kurama. A quick once over and her attention landed on a certain fuzzy accessory. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, now it makes sense why you're so quick to jump to his defense, Faunus."
"Oh, we so do not need this." Ruby rubbed her eyes while Blake frowned to Weiss.
"Hey, I get better." The heiress reminded her friend.
Kurama let out a low growl as the fuzzy belt unwrapped itself from his waist and flicked in the air. "You got a problem with Faunus – oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that the Schnee family only sees Faunus as slaves."
"That's a dirty lie, but it seems you would only know dirt since you dig around in the ground so much." The Schnee returned.
"…Oh snap." Nora said with a hand over her mouth. "It done got reel up in herr."
"...Nora...we've talked about this."
"What, Ren?"
"No. J-Just no."
"O-kay..."
Juane looked between the two nervously before he looked at the girl. "Hey, c'mon, Weiss. He didn't mean it-"
"I never say anything unless I mean it, Arc." Kurama cut in.
Weiss huffed. "It seems someone's mother never told him to not say anything at all if he didn't have anything nice to say."
Kurama snarled. "You wanna take shots at parents, Schnee? Two can play at that game!"
"Yo momma jokes be real." Ruby whispered.
"Never again," Weiss warned her partner.
"Kurama, that's enough!" Naruto cut in as he stood up from his seat on the bench and glared at the fox Faunus. He tightened his hand into a fist when Kurama turned and growled at him. There was a tense and heavy stare down between the two before Kurama scoffed and turned towards the exit.
"Like she's worth it..." Kurama muttered as he stormed off.
Naruto waited until he was gone until he sighed and put his gauntleted hand on his head. "Great, that'll be fun to deal with."
"He certainly doesn't show that Faunus are similar to us-" Weiss was cut off as Naruto snapped a look at her. His eyes were intense and determined, and it was potent enough to make the heiress pause.
"…He shut up Weiss with a look," Ruby awed. "I want to be able to do that!"
"Well, if we had one of our own..."
"No, Yang." Weiss and Blake shot down Yang's hopes.
"Aww..."
"Don't act all high and mighty, you were just as bad as he was." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "Look, right now it doesn't matter if you're a Faunus or Human, if you're an Arc or Schnee or...uh..."
"Pyrrha Nikos."
"Or if you're Pyrrha Nikos," Naruto said with a grateful nod to the redheaded girl. Now he knew her name, bonus. "We're all students of Beacon now, and we've all got the same goal: to become Hunters of Remnant, to protect our home from the Grimm and criminals alike."
"That was truly moving," Pyrrha said, clapping her hands, while everyone else did the same.
It was also nice for him to say she was just like everyone else.
There was a small silence among the group before a yellow gauntleted hand punched Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked to his left and grinned when he saw Yang smiling back at him.
"Nice speech there, Whisker Boy."
Naruto chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "You think so? I just made it up on the spot."
"It was very impressive." Pyrrha agreed with a nod. "And accurate. We're all equal, despite our aesthetic differences."
"Aw, you girls really know how to make a guy feel special." Naruto grinned as he let his hands intertwine behind his head. He looked at Pyrrha. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki, by the way."
"Hey," Yang frowned and crossed her arms under her bust to accent them. "The eye candy is over the other way."
"Are you…jealous?" Pyrrha blinked in surprise. Yang's lilac eyes rolled.
"Duh, he's a keeper. Especially after that speech." The blonde grinned lightly. "That's some worldly wisdom right there."
Pyrrha hummed at that.
"I'm Jaune Arc!" Juane was quick to throw in.
Pyrrha smiled at them and gave a small wave. "Hello, Jaune, Naruto. Pleasure to meet you."
"Believe me, beautiful, the pleasure is mine." Jaune grinned at the redhead.
Naruto and Yang snorted. "Cheesy!"
"Shut up, who asked you?" Jaune pouted at his fellow blondes. He grinned when he spotted a familiar face hiding slightly behind the two. "Hey Ruby!"
"Uh, hi, Jaune." Ruby waved timidly as Weiss' eyes narrowed on her. "Um-"
"If you'll excuse me, I need to go prepare my dust somewhere I know I won't blow up," Weiss said coldly before she walked off.
Pyrrha looked at the girl with an arched brow. "Odd, she seemed nice when we first spoke."
"Oh, I don't doubt that once you get to know her she's a Weiss girl." Naruto smiled and held his hand out. Yang snickered and slapped it while Ruby groaned.
"Nice one."
Weiss just looked indignant at this. "Yang is so biased!"
"He may be hot, but he's punny. You're not, Weiss." Yang shrugged.
"Why I never-!"
"Can we please...?" Blake groaned at their argument. It was always the start.
"Dear Oum, there really are two of you." The group of five turned as Sasuke walked up with a pained and terrified look on his face. He gave Naruto a stern glare. "If we are going to continue being friends, for my sanity, you must promise never to procreate with her."
Yang leaned an arm on Naruto's shoulder and gave him a grin with half-lidded lilac eyes. "Well, what if we let you join in handsome?"
"Wah, Yang, that's too much!" Ruby whined, covering her eyes.
"There is never too much!" Yang declared proudly.
"No." Both Naruto and Sasuke denied her with flat looks on their faces.
Yang shrugged and crossed her arms over her impressive bust. "Worth a shot."
"All first year students are required to meet at Beacon Cliff." A woman's voice asked over the speaker. "Repeat. All first year students are required to meet at Beacon Cliff."
"Guess its show time." Naruto mused as an excited gleam appeared in his eye. He and Sasuke exchanged a quick glance before they gave their respective grins to one another.
This was going to be...
"Painful." Jaune summed up.
Interesting.
"Or, you know, that…" Jaune amended his previous statement sheepishly.
Naruto looked down at the pad that he stood on and bounced on it a few times. Spring loaded, this was going to be fun. He turned to his right to look at Kurama, who was still a bit steamed from his interaction with Weiss, and then to his left to look at the black-haired girl wearing the green yakuta. She had the aptly named 'game face' on, so Naruto decided to not bother her.
Instead, Naruto looked forward as the headmaster – whose name he always forgot, Ollie-something – and Goodwitch walked past. They came to a stop at the end of the line, near where PJ and Ruby stood. Mr. O took a sip from his coffee mug and then addressed the group.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors," he said. "Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Bet there's Grimm in there. Naruto thought as a grin spread across his face. Oh, he just couldn't wait to unleash the energy brimming inside him. What to do first? Smash? Blast? So many options...
"And so little time, I totally agree with you." Nora nodded sadly. She blew into a hanky that Ren handed her and then gave it back, with Ren staring at it for a moment before he sighed.
"Thank you, Nora."
"Anytime, Ren!"
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard the rumor of the assignment of teams." Goodwitch's comment brought Naruto back down to reality from his Grimm slaying fantasy. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...Today."
"So dramatic, get on with it already..." Kurama mumbled as his tail flicked slightly from where it was wrapped around his waist. Naruto heard Sasuke mutter something back, but he couldn't make out the words so he focused on the teacher.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Mr. O said. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
Kurama grunted. "Crap. There's only three of us. One of us is going to get stuck with an outsider."
"Shun the nonbeliever!" Jaune declared.
"Shuuun!" Nora cheered. She was bopped on the head by her friend. "Ow!"
"Jaune, what have I said about getting her started on a mob's perspective?" Ren asked with a frown.
"Not to..." Jaune sighed.
"Why?"
"Because she can be her own mob...Sorry."
Ren nodded.
"Don't worry about it, Kurama. I'll stay away from the Sneeze chick." Naruto returned.
"Please do." Weiss tersely agreed.
Kurama merely nodded his head as the headmaster continued. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"...Oh, crap-baskets...It just got real up in here," Naruto said with a blink while his friends tensed. That was some high stakes. It also raised the question of how the teachers would even know.
"Cameras…They're everywhere." Blake sighed. She had seen a few of the hidden just by walking around the campus.
"Even in the bathroom. Right in the toilets." Nora smirked as the girls paled rapidly. She burst into giggles. "Got ya! Man, pranks are fun!"
"...It's too late to stop, isn't it?" Ren asked while the girls relaxed and/or glared at Nora for the poor joke.
"We are a little sucked in..." Pyrrha, whose complexion was quick to return, sighed.
"What?!" Naruto peered down the line towards the source of the terrified voice. He wondered who the poor bastard was. He hoped he or she wouldn't be his partner. His partner needed to be optimistic!
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." Mr. O continued despite the few murmurs that had broken out amongst the students. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."
"...He said it, not me! Y'all are witnesses!" Naruto crowed with an excited grin plastered across his face.
"I just got a chill down my spine." Ruby whimpered.
"We are so connected," Nora whispered as she felt kinship with Naruto.
Ren grimaced and Yang frowned at her.
"Oh, you too?"
"Nah, he'd be like a brother or something."
"Ah, okay."
Kurama and Sasuke groaned while the others gave him amused, annoyed, or indifferent glances. The headmaster seemed to fall into the first category while Goodwitch fell into the second.
"Say goodbye to the Emerald Forest." Kurama mumbled.
"It looked nice from up here." Sasuke nodded.
"Well it seems one of you is rather confident..." The headmaster noted with a small smile before he continued with his instructions. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene."
"...It just keeps getting better and better!" Naruto nearly squealed.
"We need matching tee-shirts!" Nora declared. She patted Ren on the shoulder. "We're so going to besties with him, Ren!"
"Mm-hm." Ren nodded with a light sigh.
Kurama leaned over to Sasuke. "Not gonna lie, I kind of hope I end up teaming up with you. He'd just keep asking for more aura."
"And being the good friend you are, you'd supply it," Sasuke said.
Kurama nodded.
"Find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, then return to the top of the cliff," Mr. O said over the three friends' voices. "You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we grade you appropriately. Now...Are there any questions?"
"Yes!" Naruto's hand shot up as he beamed at the grey haired professor. "Is it the tenth? Because I feel like it's my birthday!"
"No, stupid." Kurama answered for the headmaster.
"...It's an early birthday present then!"
"He is way too chaotically happy." Ruby frowned.
Yang scoffed and paused the show for a moment to give a rebuttal. "Please, Nora's the same but we treat her no different."
"Boom!" Nora exclaimed, startling everyone with the sudden loud shout. The orange haired girl giggled diabolically.
"…" Ruby just stared at her sister in disbelief. Yang ignored her and pressed play.
"Yeah, um, sir?" the faint voice belonging to one Jaune Arc barely reached Naruto's ears while he anticipated being released into the Emerald Forest.
"Good! Then take your positions," Mr. O said. He must've been ignoring Jaune.
"…Hurtful." The blond boy admitted.
Naruto was as well, but his eyes were focused on the forest as he crouched down like a frog. "Gonna get me some mad air..."
Kurama shook his head and crouched slightly while Sasuke did the same.
"Find me, I won't move or open my eyes until you reach my position." Sasuke whispered lowly to Kurama, who nodded in return. Was it a dick move to abuse Kurama's Semblance like this? Yes, but Sasuke was not going to let the already monstrous reserves of Naruto Uzumaki be backed by Kurama's own near endless supply. That would just spell doom for anyone that tried to hire Naruto and his partner down the line.
"Wait, they have that much Aura?" Pyrrha asked in mild surprise.
"They can't be that big." Weiss rolled her eyes, only to make Yang grin.
"I beg to differ."
Weiss turned pink and glared at the lilac-eyed girl. "Oh, you pervert!"
"Wow, Weiss, mind to the gutter much? Who knew you had it in you."
The Heiress looked ready to strangle the blonde, if Ruby wasn't holding her back.
Naruto tensed only momentarily before his spring pad sent him flying. At the last moment, he pushed off with his feet and rocketed into the air, further than the recommended height. The whoop that left his mouth was loud and boisterous, much like the boy himself.
"...Pray for the forest," Kurama said before he was launched.
Sasuke shook his head and sighed. "May the mighty Oum save some of it."
"And everything burned…the end!" Nora narrated happily. Jaune just laughed awkwardly and looked at Ren nervously, who remained impassive to the chaotic girl beside him. Jaune leaned over to Pyrrha.
"If she snaps, I want you to carry me while we run."
"...Okay." Pyrrha smiled happily at her friend.
Naruto passed through clouds before he started to descend, and on doing so, he brought his right fist back. His aura charged around him and made his skin give off a golden glow.
This was his Semblance, or at least, a small portion of it. His Semblance, dubbed the Will of Fire by an elder back in his home town, boosted his strength, stamina, and endurance by at least five times that of the average huntsman's already impressive aura supplement. It is always active and can only be increased, hence why Naruto came out practically unscathed when he was woken earlier that morning.
"Wow, we're so made to be…" Yang smiled widely at this.
"...I need to give Dad a head's up." Ruby mumbled.
Though he's never used it to it's full potential, Naruto has been told that the boost was supposedly twenty times that of a normal human. No one knew for sure though, because the last person to have a semblance similar to his was his great-great-great-great maternal grandfather. Most of those documents were gone, lost to time.
These thoughts came to an abrupt end as Naruto began to pass through the tops of trees without trouble, and then was unaffected by the branches that smacked against his face. The trees, however, could not say the same as they lost the brief battle against the force Naruto struck them with. The whole time he descended towards the Emerald Forest's floor, he had not broken his pose.
"Wait for it...wait for it..." Naruto told himself as he neared the ground. He grinned widely as he threw his fist forward. "Now!"
Naruto's fist met the ground for naught a millisecond before the ground caved in. A crater that was obscenely large was created around Naruto's landing spot and for a moment, all he could see was dust.
"Remind me never to box with that guy." Jaune thumbed to Naruto while talking to Ren. He could only think Yang with her Semblance could fight that monster. Or Pyrrha to a certain degree.
"Will do," The other boy agreed with a small smile. Ren didn't want to think what would happen if the blond and Nora fought against each other.
"Boxing sounds fun..." Nora mused thoughtfully.
The dust was cleared by a gust of wind and Naruto stood up, without a scratch on his body. He beamed as he took in his landing's effect.
"Aw, yeah! That was awesome! I wanna do it again!"
"...Hm, that must've been the Uzumaki boy," the headmaster said nonchalantly as a cloud of dust shot up over a massive area of the Emerald Forest. He took a sip of his coffee mug's contents. "Very impressive. I think that's at least a mile in diameter."
"Oh man," Nora slumped her shoulders. "He beat my record!"
Ren smiled lightly and pat her on the shoulders.
"Maybe if I-!"
"No, Nora."
"But-!"
"No."
"Aww..."
Glynda Goodwitch sighed and shook her head as she looked at her scroll. "More like problematic in the future. His file did say he had a penchant for destruction."
"Yes. It also said he never left a project or minor job halfway finished." The headmaster let a smile cross his face, and the man turned to his longtime friend. "I believe this year is going to be very interesting, Glynda."
Glynda sighed and adjusted her glasses. "You say that every year, Professor Ozpin."
"This time, I mean it."
"Hear that? We're awesome," Yang beamed while the others agreed.
"There you are."
Sasuke looked up and smirked at the familiar Faunus he'd come to sort of befriend. "Your Aura Sense never fails you, does it?"
"He has an aura radar?" Blake blinked. "That sounds…incredibly useful."
Kurama smirked as he adjusted the hold on his staff slightly and lowered his sunglasses. "Don't flatter me, Uchiha. You just want me nearby so that my Aura Transfer can boost your Kirin."
"And he can transfer it," Yang added while cracking a grin, "Like a battery or something, totally awesome."
"Wanna toss in a tubular there?"
"…Shut up, Ruby."
"Well, that and to ensure Naruto doesn't have access to it."
They shivered at the thought.
"Speaking of the idiot, did you feel the ground shake?" Kurama asked.
Sasuke chuckled and let his hand rest on the hilt of his sword. "The ground? I'm pretty sure he moved the planet with that stunt of his."
"Oh, so we should prepare for bizarre weather, then."
Ruby lifted her hood and gave a thumbs-up. "I'm all set!"
The rest of Team RWBY shook their heads and chuckled at their leader.
"Probably." Sasuke nodded. He looked around before he looked back at Kurama. "So...North then?"
"I retract my previous accusation. You only want me to be your compass." Kurama chuckled and began to walk away. "This way, Uchiha. I can get us to Ozpin's little relics with relative ease."
Sasuke blinked for a moment before he followed his new partner. "You do know you probably jinxed us, right?"
"Eh, what's the worst that could happen?"
"I take it back, now you jinxed us."
"Foolish fool." Ruby sighed. "You never jinx up something 'easy'."
"You would know."
"Oh, come on, Weiss it was one...Two times tops!"
"It was seven." Yang smirked.
Naruto let his hands rest behind his head as he walked through the forest without a care in the world. "I wonder who the first person I run into will be... I mean, I could work with Kurama easily. His Transfer and my Will of Fire would be unstoppable! However, on the off chance that I don't run into him before someone else does, I need to keep thinking about my options."
Naruto missed the snarl that came from behind him and the consequential leap that a shadowy figure made at him. It stopped and fell midair as a large glowing needle stuck from the side of its neck.
"I-Is he really that lacking of his surroundings?" Weiss asked.
"While, he is walking armor…so…" Pyrrha held up her hands haplessly.
"That is so unfair..." Jaune mumbled. He wished he didn't have to worry about getting wailed on.
"I mean, Sasuke wouldn't be that bad. He could cover my distance problem. But he likes to be close up, too. Not to mention he's an asshole like eighty percent of the time."
Another shadowy figure tried to pounce on Naruto, but like the last a glowing needle to the head took it out.
"Okay, who's doing that?" Weiss frowned, who used needles?
"Maybe it's the girly boy?" Ruby suggested.
"Haku? Hm, I don't see him as a needle guy." Yang tilted her head.
"Yeah, then kind of guy is he?" Ruby asked. Her sister shrugged.
"Bazooka?"
"…No." Blake bluntly said.
"Meh, just my opinion." The blonde bombshell shrugged.
"Oh, what if I run into Yang? She'd be fun to team with. Plus, we could plan pranks together!"
"And more, much more." Yang rubbed her hands together. "Like makin' the Grimm with two backs..."
"Yang!" Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss chided the blonde while Ruby furrowed her brows.
"I don't get it."
Yet another figure tried to surprise attack the blond, only to be felled by yet another needle.
"Then there's her sister Ruby. She's cute, but she seems to have some confidence issues. Not to mention she's a bit on the short side. That's gotta be it."
"Yeah, sure." Ruby dryly said, "And I'm not short!"
"Yeah, your just fun sized." Weiss smirked, getting a pink faced Ruby as her reward.
A figure fell to a needle.
"Or Fem-Sasuke...Eh, probably not. She's probably as antisocial as Sasuke used to be."
Blake simmered.
Needle to monster neck.
"How is he missing this?" Weiss tossed her hands up. "Is he that blind? Really?"
"Jaune...No. Any guy that can't keep his stomach calm or wears footie pajamas I can't partner with. Even I'm not cool enough to cover for him."
"Going to need some aloe for that." Jaune painfully confessed. Pyrrha patted him on the shoulder.
Another needle imbedded itself in another shadow.
"There's Pyrrha. She's hot, strong, confident, and not to mention she has red hair. Always a plus in my book.
"Oh, uh, um…" Pyrrha blushed pink at this. Once again, that straightforwardness of his caught him off guard.
I wonder what type of fighter she is, though..."
A bear-like shadow fell to the mysterious needle. Like the others before it, it turned into a shadowy wisp before it faded away to nothing.
"At least I know one thing," Naruto stopped walking and crossed his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes in thought. "I don't want that Sneeze girl as my partner."
"The feeling is mutual, you dim cur!" Weiss huffed.
He opened his eyes and turned around when a rabbit hopped out of a bush. Naruto chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Man, I must be tense. Freaking out over a rabbit..."
Naruto tensed and brought his fists up as something dropped from the treetops. He relaxed when he saw it was the girl from before, who had started on the cliff on his left. She looked up at him with a small smile.
"It seems that we are partners." She gave a slight bow. "I hope I don't let you down."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Don't worry about it er, partner?"
"I am Haku Yuki." The girl offered her hand. Naruto took it in his own and gave her a firm shake.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" he replied with a grin. He retracted his hand and intertwined it with the other behind his head. "Man, Sasuke and Kurama are gonna be so jealous that my partner is a babe."
"And here it comes, three, two…" Yang counted off.
Haku twitched for a moment and then shuddered. Naruto stared at her for a moment before she relaxed and smiled at him.
"One!"
"Actually, I'm a boy."
There was nothing but silence.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"...Huh, you're one pretty boy, Haku."
"And he is completely at peace with his sexuality saying that. Though rare, it's always nice to see in a guy." Yang nodded sagely.
"So I've been told."
Another moment of silence passed.
"So...Do you know which way north is?"
Haku nodded and pointed to her-his left. "This way."
"Cool. You wanna lead or should I?"
"You don't seem to take too much damage, it would only make sense for you to take the lead."
"He is the perfect meat shield." Weiss smirked haughtily.
"I'll bet. Look at them buns of steel!" Yang declared.
"Yang!"
"...So you want to use me as a human shield?"
Haku laughed lightly. "A crude, but an unfortunately accurate simile."
Naruto let out his own chuckle as he started to lead the way. "It's fine. Gotta protect that pretty face of yours, I know how it is."
"...I'll be getting a lot of flak for my appearance, won't I?"
"He has no idea," Jaune said. It was criminal to look that good after all. He would know.
Naruto let out another chuckle. "Oh, you have no idea."
"Poor pretty boy," Nora giggled.
"Hey! You two! Wait up!"
Kurama and Sasuke stopped and turned around as two teens burst through the brush on their right. The first was a tall, broad shouldered teen with burnt orange hair and clad in grey and gold trimmed armor. The other was a teen more around their height with a Mohawk of green hair and a shaved head.
"Oh boy, them…" Jaune drawled.
Blake smirked, "I think I know what's going to happen."
"Oh? Do tell." Weiss asked.
"Nope, just wait and see." The Faunus grinned, hopeful of the coming scene.
"You guys seem to know where you're going," the armored teen said as he brought out a large mace. "Maybe we should stick together."
"...There is safety in numbers," Sasuke said after a moment.
Kurama tilted his head in thought while his tail loosened for the briefest of moments. "Perhaps-"
"Dude, your belt's falling off." The other teen pointed at Kurama's waist.
"Mind of its own, I swear," Kurama said after he looked down and chuckled. He allowed his tail to fully unwind and looked at the two. "I hope you don't mind-"
"Wow, you poor bastard." The tall teen looked at Sasuke. "Got partnered with an animal, huh?"
"Oh yeah, this is going to be good." Blake said, a vicious smile on her face.
"Yang, Blake is scaring me." Ruby whispered to her sister.
"I know. It's awesome," Yang smiled, it was nice to see her partner display such emotion so openly.
"That's gotta suck. Has he stopped to mark his territory?" The other asked with a chuckle.
Whatever pleasant thoughts that either Sasuke or Kurama may have had about their two new companions vanished without any chance of return. Sasuke looked between the two before he looked back at Kurama.
"Would you like the honors?"
"I've already started." Kurama growled.
Sasuke nodded and looked at the confused duo. "May I have your names?"
"Er, yeah, I'm Cardin Winchester and this is my partner, Russell Thrush." The tall teen, Cardin, introduced himself. "Why?"
Sasuke smiled lightly. "I wished to know the names I'll have to write down for the search party."
Cardin frowned. "What's that supposed to-?"
"Hey, Cardin...I-I don't feel so hot..." Russell groaned as he stumbled back. His skin had lost some color and he slumped against a tree. "I think...I think I'm gonna sit down for-for a bi..."
Russell conked out mid word and fell to the ground.
Cardin looked at his fallen partner with worry and then looked at the other two. "Hey! Hey, what just happened?" His eyes started to droop. "Why...Why are...why's everything...getting...fuzzy?"
"Don't worry about it, Cardin Winchester." Kurama walked over to the taller boy and pressed the ring of his staff against the teen's head. "You'll only sleep for an hour or so...whether or not you become a Grimm's meal is not my concern."
"…He's draining and leaving them?" Jaune gulped. "Okay, I don't like Cardin, but that was a bit much, right?"
"It's fitting." Blake retorted.
"It's a bit, ruthless." Pyrrha confessed.
"It's ballsy." Yang countered.
"It's arrogant." Weiss huffed.
"It's pancakes!" Nora declared.
"...Well, you heard it here. It's officially pancakes. Your argument is invalid." Ren said to Jaune, who laughed.
Before Cardin could reply, Kurama pushed him back with his staff, and the knight-like teen fell to the forest floor, just as unconscious as his partner.
Sasuke stared at the downed duo for a moment before he looked at his partner. "You alright?"
Kurama sighed. "It's times like this I wish more idiots were like Naruto."
"...That's a terrifying thought."
"I know."
"If only more people could be like that." Blake admitted. So optimistic and open about stuff, not afraid to speak their true feelings so freely in a judgmental world...
Naruto stopped and held a hand up. "Did you hear that?"
Haku nodded. "It sounded like a girl was in trouble."
"I think that was a girl..." Naruto mused with a smirk. "But, I could be wrong."
Haku sighed. "I cannot help that my genetics made me appear more feminine than masculine, Naruto."
"I know, I just like ragging on you." Naruto grinned. He turned around and began to walk backwards. "You know, I got a good feeling about all this. You've got the needle gun–"
"Snowfall." Haku corrected with a light smile as he looked down at his unique weapon. Dust crystals were shaped into needle-points that protruded from the back and made reloading and keeping track of his ammo simple.
Blake smirked while Yang whined.
"Fine, you were right. I was wrong," the blonde said sourly.
"Good girl."
"Do I get a treat?"
"No."
"Aw, you tease!"
"Shut up, Yang."
"Right, that. While I have my badass Storm Breakers to take something out up close!" Naruto beamed as he looked at his gauntleted covered hands. "We're like a perfect yin-yang combo! You're all cool, quiet, and distant while I'm more 'in your face', loud and awesome!"
Haku smiled a bit more before he stopped walking and gained a concerned look. "Uh, Naruto?"
"I mean, even I know I can be loud, but I can't help it! It's way too fun to be loud!" Naruto laughed as he continued to walk backwards. "Not to mention I love being in the spotlight. Heck, if this Huntsman thing doesn't work out, I'm fully prepared to break off into a rock band or something!"
"I'd groupie to that band," Yang laughed. She beamed widely. "He just keeps speaking my language again and again!"
Haku gained a strained smile. "Yes, that's nice, but Naruto?"
"Doubt that'll happen though, because once I start something, I never give it up. You can count on that, because if there's one thing Naruto Uzumaki doesn't do, is give up!" Naruto grinned before he stopped walking and frowned. "Hey, what's up, why'd you stop walking, Haku?
"Um...Because of that." Haku pointed behind Naruto.
Naruto turned around and stared into soulless red eyes, most notably seen on a Grimm. He took a second to realize that he was in fact face to snout with a large bull-like Grimm, the white boney mask and armor that protected the creature's hide and head were littered with scars, at least a hundred in total. Two sharp horns protruded out of either side of the Grimm's head, both long enough to easily skewer three people each and still have room for more.
The ancient Grimm snorted and the foul breath blew right into Naruto's face.
"...Oh, crap-baskets."
"Run you handsome idiot!" Yang yelled at the screen. It was too early for her potential love interest to die! She gasped when the credits and song began to roll. "What!? No!"
"Wow, cliffhanger second episode in. That's kind of arrogant, isn't it?" Jaune asked.
Blake shook her head. "It's like a book. Each episode is a different chapter, so ending it on a cliffhanger will make you want to keep reading, or in our case, watching."
"Next one, next one!" Yang urged as she shook her sister, who'd taken the remote. "Hurry, Ruby, hurry!"
"I can't do anything when you're shaking me!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "And you said I was unbearable with Anatomy."
"Well, we are in this show," Ren pointed out.
"Details..."
Such a quick update?! Yeah, I'm awesome to you guys. By the by, loved ep one of season three!
Now enjoy you fools! Laugh and giggle!
Review!
