I've had a ton of great feedback from you guys and I really appreciate it! Though I have gotten some concerns about certain characters being OOC, mostly Naruto and especially Blake. Keep in mind I have a legitimate reason for everything I write, I don't write characters just because I want them to act a certain way.
I take a ridiculous amount of time to carefully research each character to try and attempt to get their character down as best as I can and I have very good reasons as to why Blake acted in the manner that she did. Naruto's actions will be explained throughout the story since he's not the exact Naruto we know from canon. He's very similar but there are some important changes, which once again, will be addressed as the story progresses.
I'm going to take some time here to explain Blake in the Author's Note because of how important it seems. I usually never do this but since it was such a highly contested issue that I received multiple reviews and PM's regarding it that I feel I really need to address it now. Keep in mind I will not be doing this again, I'm only doing this because it's the first chapter and I would rather not lose readers simply because they misinterpret my writing.
Blake is anti-social in the beginning of the series without a doubt, at least to humans. But in all honesty this persona she has doesn't last very long as evidenced with how easily she gets along with Yang in the forest right away and how she seems to be rather pleasant to everyone on team RWBY with little time passing. You also can't chalk this up to her having to communicate with her team as a necessity because if she was truly anti-social that character trait wouldn't just disappear, as exampled by Ren who is the quietest character in the show, even after being on team JNPR for a long time. His quiet nature doesn't disappear after getting to know his team, hence one has to assume that Blake isn't as anti-social since this character trait disappears except for when they first deal with the White Fang, which even that doesn't last very long.
Furthermore to that point, Blake may not be trusting of humans but she seems to be more than willing to be openly friendly with Faunus she had literally just met, as evidenced by her hanging out with Sun after only seeing him being chased and him winking at her. If a character was truly anti-social then she would never hang out with Sun after getting into an argument with her friends, she would opt to be alone. So the logical conclusion is that she is very picky with who she's social with but has no problems being social with people of her own species. This plays into Naruto having a powerful connection with Nature, because at least within the confines of this story, the Faunus have, at least to a higher degree than humans, a strong bond with Nature. This was touched upon in the first chapter and is the primary reason Blake came up to Naruto, she sensed his connection to Nature and wanted to see if he was a Faunus like her. Within this story, which I will explain later, Faunus have the ability to sense people's connection with Nature. It's how Faunus can identify one another without it being obvious from their outward appearances. Example would be Sun knowing that Blake was a Faunus with only a glance even when she was disguising herself.
Again, all of these things would have been explained throughout the story and I hate having to literally write out plot and world devices but I felt that this needed to be addressed. If anyone wants anymore clarifications/disagree/have comments don't be afraid to leave a review or PM me. I prefer to answer these things behind the scenes anyway but again, this was common enough that it warranted a response.
Now, let's get on to the actual story!
Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or RWBY, they belong to their respective owners. I just read a fan theory about Ruby and god damn it makes so much sense and it completely changes my entire perspective on her character. If true, it makes her character 100x better in my opinion, which is impressive since she's already a good character.
(Beacon Academy)
Naruto thought back on the few weeks that had passed as he idly doodled in his notebook while Oobleck went on about an ancient kingdom that he really couldn't find the energy to even give the appearance that he was interested in what the man was saying. Naruto would give the man one thing though, he had a passion for what he did and Naruto could respect that. This stuff bored him to death but if Oobleck enjoyed it then all the more power to him.
On the other hand, Naruto didn't really care about this kind history since in theory, it should have zero impact on his life once he figured out a way home. If everything went according to plan he would find his way home within a month or two. The only problem was that he didn't have the slightest idea where to begin searching.
A blur of motion brought his eyes off of his paper and were redirected into the bifocals of his professor. "Pay attention Naruto! Or would you rather write a ten page essay on how the fall of the Fringe Kingdom led to the beginning of the Faunus Rights Revolution?"
The man didn't wait for an answer as he zipped across the room and continued his lecture. The amount of caffeine that man consumed could not be healthy. Naruto sighed as his eyes landed on the clock and realized the class still had plenty of life left in it. His eyes moved a little bit lower and he averted his gaze nearly instantly and put it back to his notes.
Blake had been staring at him with those fierce amber eyes, again…
It wasn't a nice or friendly kind of stare, it was borderline angry/suspicious and he had absolutely no idea what he had done to incur her wrath. She had been pleasant the first time they had talked but since then she was anything but. She had yet to confront him with whatever was her problem and Naruto was just fine with that. He really didn't want to deal with that at the moment.
Naruto put down his pencil as he felt something soft bounce off his spikey blonde hair. He knew where the ball of paper had come from and almost didn't look up towards where it was thrown. Unfortunately he couldn't really ignore it as another one bounced off his head to which he glared back at what he assumed was Blake throwing them.
To his surprise it came from the girl next to her. Yang Xia Long, the blonde beauty of team RWBY. She was basically the polar opposite of Blake, in more ways than just their color scheme. She was perky, hyper active and just had a shining personality. She radiated confidence in everything she did, even in the things she sucked at, like academics.
Naruto watched as she made an exaggerated motion of unraveling something and he found himself sighing again as he grabbed the first piece of paper that was thrown at him and read the note that was written inside of it.
Meet me outside after class ok?
Naruto looked back over at the girl who had a wide grin on her face. He really had no idea what on earth she could want. He really wasn't close with the girl, or anyone at Beacon to be honest.
Naruto was an oddity in the school with being the first ever solo man team. People talked and rumors spread like wild fire as to why it happened yet no one had come up and asked him. It wasn't as if he knew the answer himself but it was pretty annoying regardless. Literally being the odd man out in this situation kind of isolated Naruto from the rest of the student body.
One thing Naruto had figured out rather quickly was that this school was very cliquey. Once teams were formed you ended up spending most of your time with your team, very rarely had Naruto seen anyone interacting with people outside of their team except for a few of the upperclassmen. As a result, Naruto was left to his own devices.
With maybe the exception of the teams RWBY and JNPR, Naruto didn't think he had actually spoke with anyone from the other squads. Not that it particularly bothered Naruto, he had made a point to not reach out to anyone for obvious reasons, it was simply an observation he had made.
Looking back at the girl, Naruto grumbled to himself as he wrote back a response. Even though he hadn't gone out of his way to talk with anyone, there was little value in being completely anti-social.
When and where?
Naruto crumpled up the paper into a similar ball that had hit him in the head and quickly tossed the paper back at the bright eyed girl. Unfortunately, in their professor's caffeinated frenzy he managed to zip in between the aisles and snatch the piece of paper out of the air. "And what do we have here? Passing notes during class? What could be so important that you have to communicate it during such a pivotal part of Remnant's history? Let's find out shall we?"
Naruto put his head on his desk as Oobleck opened the note and cleared his throat to begin reading it. He briefly noticed Yang's embarrassed look on her face at being caught and the questioning looks that she was receiving from her fellow teammates.
"Ah hem, question: Meet me after class ok? Response: When and where? Answer, this classroom immediately once class finishes. Am I understood, Yang? Naruto?"
"Yes professor" they said in unison, which elicited the predictable response from the man as he yelled back doctor at the two of them before continuing his lecture.
Naruto sighed at having to waste more time in Oobleck's classroom. He didn't mind the man but being stuck in the class room wouldn't fix any of his problems. First and foremost, before he could even start searching for a way home he needed to establish his place in this world.
Naruto wasn't a fool, he couldn't just up and start searching across the globe for a potential way home. He was relatively alone in a relatively unknown world. To even have a chance at finding his way home he needed connections, resources and some semblance of trust with people with the aforementioned things. He also needed a better understanding of how the world worked around him. Knowing the political climate, Grimm and acceptable social behavior and stigmas were a necessity.
Sadly that meant Naruto had to spend an unfortunate amount of time in an academy. Time was the key to everything right now. Building trust wasn't something that could be done overnight, even more so when his back story was one of a former member of Remnant's worst terrorist organization. Ozpin seemed to like him but that didn't mean the man trusted him and at this point, being on Ozpin's good side was his best chance at making the connections he needed to successfully search not only Vale but the rest of Remnant.
Looking back over to the person that put him on Oobleck's temporary shit list, Naruto took some satisfaction in the fact that Yang had an adorable pout on her face while her younger sister Ruby was poking the back of her head.
Somehow Yang must have noticed him looking at her and in turn gave him a sheepish smile and a thumbs up. Her smile must have been contagious as he ended up giving her a genuine grin before quickly going back to his notes.
Class continued to drag on but it eventually came to a close as someone pointed out that Oobleck had gone over time once again in his zeal to provide his young students with information. The students filtered out one by one as they packed up their things, none of them even acknowledging Naruto as they left, all of them except one. Blake stopped momentarily as she passed him. She seemed indecisive about something before she turned away from him and continued on her way out into the hall.
Soon it was only Naruto, Yang and Oobleck left in the room. The man tried to muster as threatening as a figure as he could but sadly the intellectual wasn't up to the task of being intimidating. "Now for whatever reason the two of you have made it painfully obvious that you care very little about the subject material being presented today. May I inquire as to why?"
Neither Yang nor Naruto could give the professor a straight answer as they both looked away to avoid attention. Sadly with them being the only two in the room, there wasn't much else to take attention away from them.
The esteemed doctor sighed to himself as he took another swig from his thermos. "I am quite aware that my classes do not always cover the most interesting of subjects for my students but they are imperative for your success in the field. You may not realize it now but the lessons you learn here will one day be applied in real world situations, you may never know when such an opportunity will arise where this knowledge will become vital to your success."
At his explanation Yang let out a laugh which garnered her a deathly stare from the professor. "I'm sorry but how will knowing who fought who and what caused what in a war that happened hundreds of years ago? I don't think knowing the general of a Faunus army is going to help me punch some Grimm."
Naruto, while not wanting to say it himself, completely agreed with the girl's words. History was great for those that liked it but as far as what they did in the field, this was pretty pointless.
Oobleck did not agree however. "An interesting point you make. Imagine this for instance. Open warfare breaks out between the White Fang and the Vale Kingdom. The war is long and many lives are lost on both sides with absolutely no end in sight. You are the commander of our forces and an unexpected glimmer of hope appears, the White Fang offer negotiations to end the war. What do you do?"
Yang looked puzzled by the question briefly before stating the obvious answer. "We make peace, duh."
At this Oobleck made an affirmative noise and began pacing, his arm bending and his finger pointing at the ceiling as he walked. "That would seem to be the logical choice. Then, as negotiations are moving along, a snag occurs. You offend one of the White Fang leadership due to your lack of knowledge of their culture and historical struggle. As a result, negotiations are broken apart and the war continues with even more vigor, and more lives are lost. In a desperate attempt to reach peace before more of innocent Vale lives are lost, you try and reach out to the White Fang to reopen negotiations. They respond with they will continue talks if you can acknowledge the real reason this war is being fought. What is your reply?"
Yang was holding her head as if it were about to explode with a confused look on her face. Maybe she should have paid a little more attention in class? "I, umm… because they are discriminated against or something?"
Oobleck shook his head at her lackluster answer, though not surprised in the slightest. "And communications are once again slashed and the war continues as the death toll raises."
This time Yang jumped out of her seat and slammed her fists on the desk. "Oh come on! That's not fair! I'm not dumb, the Faunus have been discriminated against since forever, and it's why all those battles were fought and why the White Fang exists today. Why is my answer wrong here?"
Oobleck gave her a sharp look but was at least happy that she was engaged in the mental exercise, he had half expected her to give up right away. "Because you lack clarity in the issue. You do not understand their perspective and it shows. The Fringe Rebellion was due to the enslavement of the Faunus and their desire to be treated like regular people and not property. Once they won that they were meant to be free but the world was not what they thought it would be. They were returned to a role of servitude under a new legal definition known as indentured servitude. This slightly weaker form of slavery led to the Faunus Rights Revolution and many lives were lost. But even still the Faunus are discriminated against to this day. Most Faunus live in poverty and rarely can live normal lives without the threat of being beaten, robbed, harassed and even killed. This is the cause for the creation of the White Fang who continue to fight for this cause, though their methods make it hard to support them. This is not the same life that you and I live where our mere species doesn't determine what opportunities and what we can expect from this world is. As humans, we cannot fully understand what they go through, though we may be able to glean insight from the past that could help us understand some of the context."
Oobleck gave Naruto and Yang a few moments to absorb his words before he asked Yang is a quieter voice then what they were used to hearing in his lectures. "Tell me Yang, what do the Faunus feel from this discrimination that would cause them to go to war and lose their lives and kill? What compels them to do this?"
Yang had lost the fire she had previously as she slumped back in her seat. The depth of this question wasn't something she was prepared to answer. How could she? Luckily for her, she wasn't the one to answer, it was Naruto.
"The pain of being outcast. The ridicule, the murmurs, the looks of distrust. The feeling of being hated for nothing, the emotional torture of being told you aren't human. It builds in you, day in, day out. You aren't one of them, you aren't important. Your life matters less because you're a lesser being. You can't be anything more than a monster, a killer, a tool…"
Naruto wasn't looking at either Oobleck or Yang as he talked. He wasn't even talking about the Faunus. His life before he had truly established himself as a shinobi was anything but kind. Created as a weapon out of necessity and left to the cruelties of the ignorant masses left a hateful ball in the pit of his stomach that he had tried to bury but could never fully extinguish.
"It builds in you until there is nothing left but hatred and rage. You either bow your head or lash out at those that wronged you. It's a suffocating feelings, like you're underwater and no matter how hard you try, you simply can't get above the water. The hate is too strong."
And for Naruto it was nearly impossible. If not a very small select people in his life he would have given into the hate and rage. So many times he had been on the brink only to be pulled back by his most precious people.
Yang looked over at Naruto with a confused look on her face with a bit of worry. The way he spoke, the emotion that was held in his voice, it was almost like he was speaking from experience. But that was impossible wasn't it? He was human just like her, just like almost everyone here at Beacon.
Oobleck pushed up his glasses and mentally stored away Naruto's response for later. Either Naruto was truly the world's most skilled actor or he was the real McCoy in this sense. You couldn't fake emotion or such an in depth understanding of the Faunus situation if you tried. "Yes, that is the type of understanding that would be key in attempting to negotiate with the leaders of the White Fang. While combat is the primary focus of being a Hunter/Huntress, it is not the only facet of you job. Please keep in mind that your job is as a peacekeeper above all else. If you can avoid battle between people then you should do so at all costs. Does this make sense to you Yang?"
Yang gave Oobleck a quieted nod to which he acknowledged. "Good, now hopefully you both will take these classes more seriously since neither of you have been doing particularly well. You more so then anyone Naruto. I've never seen anyone get 70% so consistently before. You are more than capable of excelling in this course, I do hope you take this more seriously in the future. As a way for both of you to improve, I will be assigning an extra five page essay on the struggle of the Faunus during the time of the Fringe Rebellion and how it connects to the Faunus Rights Revolution due in the next week. Now you are free to meet up in any teenage romantic encounter or whatever you two were about to engage in."
Naruto and Yang went from being outraged at the added workload to being embarrassed in the span of seconds. Oobleck on the other hand didn't entertain them anymore at that point as he left the room.
Naruto looked over at Yang and averted his eyes. There was no way that was why she threw him that note, could there? He had only been here a few weeks and this was literally the first time they had even directly communicated with her, it made zero logical sense.
With Naruto lost in his mind over what Oobleck said, he failed to notice Yang plop down next to him. Clearly still out of it, Yang started waving her hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Hellooooo, earth to Naruto, you in there?"
Naruto all but jumped out of his seat at the sound of her voice, he really must have been out of it if he didn't notice her approach. "Oh, right, sorry Yang."
Yang saw the tint of his cheeks and her smile grew as she moved only the slightest bit closer, which was rather close since she was already in the seat next to him. "And just what were you thinking about so intently?"
Naruto leaned back slightly as she started inching herself closer as she batted her eye lashes. Oh Kami he wasn't ready for this. Of all the things that she might have wanted this did not even enter his mind. His mind blanked as he tried to form a sentence to off put the situation. "I, uh, umm…"
Yang moved closer still as her lilac colored eyes stared intently into Naruto's ocean blue. "Were you by chance thinking of little ol' me?"
Naruto gulped and kept leaning back as they were nearly touching now. Right before contact, Naruto's hand slipped on his desk stool and sent him crashing to the floor as the amount of force he was putting on it suddenly vanished. While the crash was loud and Naruto cursed to himself it was all but drowned out as Yang's laughter rang out throughout the classroom.
Naruto grumbled to himself as he finally sorted himself out and noticed a hand in front of his face. With a moment's hesitation, Naruto reached out and clasped the hand and pulled himself up to a standing position.
Yang was doing all she could to stop herself from laughing relentlessly at Naruto's reaction but was failing horribly. "Haha- I'm sorry its jus-hahaha oh my god your fac-hahaha."
Naruto just stared at her with an unamused look on his face as she controlled herself. He was no stranger to the occasional prank and he could without a doubt say she had got him good. He never even saw it coming it was so good. He could respect the well-executed prank but come hell or high water he would get the last laugh. "Are you done?"
Yang let a few more giggles slip out of her throat before she straightened herself up. "Yeah, I'm done."
Naruto sighed as he hopped up and sat on the row of desks behind him, his legs swinging freely beneath him as he looked at the mischievous girl. "Seriously though, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Surprisingly for Naruto, Yang actually responded with a serious answer. "To be honest Oobleck wasn't that far off, he just had the wrong girl. I'm going to put it bluntly, I think Blake likes you!"
Naruto gave her a deadpan expression when he realized that she meant what she said. Naruto knew that Yang wasn't the smartest girl in the school but this was a little sad. Blake felt anything but affection for him, that much he was certain of. "Are we thinking of the same Blake? Black hair, pretty but fierce amber eyes? Takes to staring at people instead of talking to them?"
Yang grinned at Naruto's description of her teammate as she managed to latch onto only one thing. "So you think she's pretty huh?"
Naruto felt like face palming but refrained from it and decided to explain himself instead. "That's not what you should be focusing on. There is zero chance that she likes me. The only interaction that I've had with her is her staring at me angrily. I highly doubt that that is a sign that she likes me."
This time Yang got up from her stool and jumped up to sit with Naruto on the desk and wrap an arm around his shoulder. "Yes but I know things you do not, privilege of being on her team. Out of everyone at Beacon you are the only one she's ever asked about. And you're the only person that makes her hesitate to talk to. Trust me, I know these things. She definitely likes you."
Naruto raised a speculative eyebrow at the girl while trying to keep his blush down at the close proximity with the busty blonde girl. Even with all 17 years of his life he still hadn't had much pleasant contact with the fairer sex. "I think you're jumping to some farfetched conclusions here Yang, I don't think she likes me."
This time Yang gave Naruto a predatory like grin while gaining a glint in her eyes. "Hmm, maybe. But if you don't go ask her out today I'm going to tell her you like her."
Naruto all but fell over again at Yang's statement. This woman was pure evil from a prankster perspective. How could she even joke about something like that! "That is not true! I've said nothing of the sort!"
Naruto saw the shit eating grin Yang had on her face as she let Naruto go of her grip and jumped off the desk. "You said she was pretty, good enough for me. Remember, end of the day."
Naruto tried to call out to her to stop but she had already made it out of the room. "But I didn't even say that…" It came out as a whisper that no one could hear except Naruto himself. With a few minutes to himself Naruto reran the conversation in his head and screamed in frustration. How did this even happened? He let out an audible growl as he marched out of the room, this wouldn't be the end of this Yang Xiao Long.
(Beacon Academy: Cafeteria)
Naruto walked through the cafeteria in his standard workout clothes that he had been allotted by Ozpin. After lunch he was scheduled to report to Goodwitch's combat class, something that he hated going to since he had absolutely no interest in learning how to fight according to their mock battle rules.
Scanning the room, he saw Yang and Blake walking together as they moved through the crowd. He really hated Yang today but he also didn't want any more rumors starting thanks to a little blonde trickster. If he was going to make his move he would have to do it now before they got into their full group. Hopefully he could just get things cleared up with Blake and get Yang off his back.
Quickening his pace, Naruto easily caught up to the two girls who noticed him right away. Blake gave Naruto a surprised look while Yang's teasing grin came out full force. "Oh Naruto, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"
Naruto gave her a stare that could melt steel with its intensity before he stopped himself from saying a smart remark in her direction. Now wasn't the time or place. "Umm, nothing really. I was hoping that Blake would come and talk with me for a bit. Do you mind?"
Blake gave Naruto a suspicious look before shaking her head no. "I don't think so. We need to meet our teammates for a meeting."
Ouch, that was cold but completely expected by Naruto. Unfortunately for the blond shinobi, Yang would not be deterred so easily. "Oh come on Blake, don't be like that. It isn't every day that a cute boy asks you out. Don't be like Weiss, go have some fun. I'll cover for you with Ruby and Weiss."
Before Blake could turn down her partner as well, Yang whispered in her ear. "If you don't go with him for at least lunch I'm going to show Ruby and Weiss that book you keep in your bottom shelf."
Blake's eyes widened momentarily before she turned back to Naruto reluctantly. When had Yang even found that…? "I suppose I'm free for a little bit, where did you want to go?"
Naruto had no idea what Yang had whispered to Blake but it was obvious that the girl was blackmailing her. Even so, Naruto didn't actually think it would get this far. "I umm, there's a bench and table over in the courtyard that's pretty empty, we can go there."
Blake begrudgingly agreed and started to walk with Naruto while shooting Yang a hate filled glare over her shoulder. They walked in relative awkward silence the entire time. They finally decided to stop at an empty table that was fairly secluded from the rest of the student body. Naruto sat down and watched as Blake did the same, adjusting her black and white combat clothes as she sat down.
Naruto didn't really know how to start the conversation as he really didn't even want to be here to begin with. It didn't help at all that Blake's overall demeanor screamed leave her alone. So instead of talking the two merely ate in silence.
Minutes passed and nothing was said and it was starting to wear on both of their nerves. Blake was the first to snap as he put down her fork with a little more force than necessary and looked Naruto dead in the eye. "If you aren't even going to talk then why did you bother to call me out here?"
Naruto put down his own food in response and sighed. Yep, that was basically how he figured this would go. Well, he really didn't have a reason other than what Yang had told him so he would have to go with that. "Honestly? I only did it because Yang told me that you liked me."
Naruto could all but hear the gears grinding to a halt in Blake's head as her eyes flashed through a range of emotions, most of them negative. While it was amusing to see the girl freak out internally, Naruto wasn't exactly sure she was ok. "Umm, Blake? You ok?"
The sound of Naruto's voice broke Blake out of her thoughts and shook her head and stood up quickly and grabbed her lunch. "I'm sorry to tell you that Yang was misinformed, I don't feel that way in the slightest. I'm sorry."
Naruto felt relief as he saw her prepare to go. He was free but something was still nagging him in the back of his mind. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and this entire awkward situation would be over. Too bad he just couldn't help himself and opened his mouth. "Wait, now that you're here I have to ask, why do you suddenly hate me? When we first talked you seemed so nice and now you only glare at me, what gives?"
Blake set her lunch back down on the table but remained standing as she contemplated her answer. Eventually she settled her cat like eyes on Naruto and spoke. "What did you think would happen after you said what you did? I'm not from Vale, I haven't met anyone besides the Head Master up to that point and then you say I'm not what you expected me to be. You obviously knew me before I came up to you. How do you know me!?"
And everything became crystal clear to Naruto. That one little slip up apparently hadn't gone unnoticed. She was far more attentive than he gave her credit for. With Ozpin's little hint, Naruto had deduced that Blake was a Faunus but had also been a part of the White Fang. Of course she would be suspicious if he said he knew her.
To be fair, it wasn't only Ozpin's hint. Naruto had done some digging in the student files to read up on some of the more interesting people he had met the first day. Was it an invasion of privacy? Probably but only if he let them know about it. After going through all of them Blake's was certainly the most interesting.
Former member of the White Fang, far enough up the ladder that she was doing missions for the leaders of the White Fang personally. She had left for personal disagreement with some of their more violent tactics and hadn't heard from them since.
With that kind of background Naruto could understand the instant distrust.
Now Naruto could easily clear this up by explaining that Ozpin had told him that they had similar pasts. On the other hand he could have some fun with the girl and mess with her a little bit. He didn't know what compelled him to pick the second option, maybe it was Yang awakening his inner prankster but whatever the reason, Naruto decided to act on his desire. "Let me answer with a different question. How long has it been since you left the White Fang?"
Naruto gave her a cocky smirk as shock washed over her face. Blake on the other hand read the smirk in a completely different way and her eyes narrowed into a determined fierceness that Naruto had only seen on shinobi back in the war.
With a motion so quick it caught Naruto off guard, Blake stomped on the edge of the table and then kicked the top of the table as hard as she could at Naruto. Regaining his balance nearly instantly, Naruto braced his shoulder against the back of the table and planted his feet into the ground but still slid across the ground due to the amount of force that Blake had kicked it with.
With barely a second to process what had happened, Naruto had to quickly move his head to the side as the only warning he had of an attack was the tip of Blake's sword splintering the wood of the table as she plunged it through. Like a hot knife through butter, Blake's sword went straight through the wood, mere inches from Naruto's face.
Sensing another attack coming, Naruto began jumping backwards to avoid what was to come. Not to disappoint, another attack did come as Blake brought her large sword upwards, shattering the table while she had used the cover of the table to unsheathe her hidden blade and brought it up in a slashing motion as she spun through the first attack.
Naruto just barely managed to avoid the hidden blade as it managed to take a few strands of his bangs from his head. Naruto moved backwards quickly to gain as much distance between him and the insanely quick female that was hell bent on eviscerating him. Those attacks weren't of the same set that he had seen Blake use during those mock battles taught in Goodwitch's class. Those strikes were precise and meant to do only one thing, kill.
Naruto carefully examined the girl as she stood at her full height with both of her blades in her hands. Naruto felt really stupid right about now. He had forgot that the only true way to leave the White Fang was through death and while Blake had managed to skip that portion while leaving, he should have known that the fear of someone coming to finish the job would always be present in her mind. He really didn't want to fight her in a death battle. "Wait Blake, it's not what you think!"
Either the girl didn't hear Naruto or didn't believe him as her stance remained rigid. "I thought that he wasn't going to come after me. After everything we had together, I truly thought he would leave me alone. But to attack me all the way at Beacon, I never thought he would be so bold. I can't believe he sent someone else to do it, I thought I meant more to you Adam!"
Naruto wasn't sure who Adam was but right now it really didn't matter as Blake put the sheath blade on her back and her sword quickly transformed into some pistol-scythe connected to a really long ribbon. Without any more talk Blake charged Naruto, leading with her bladed pistol as she whipped it at him.
Reacting on instinct, Naruto leapt to the side to avoid the initial attack only to curse to himself and drop to the ground as the gun went off, sending a bullet in his direction before the pistol-scythe whipped back to her and she launched it at him again.
Not having any of his weapons due to losing them when he first arrived, Naruto was at an extreme disadvantaged in this fight. Blake was fast, even by shinobi standards and her skill with her strange weapon was top notch. The combination of having to dodge the bladed weapon followed by needing to immediately change direction to avoid her projectile was nearly impossible as her pattern of attack continuously changed.
Leaping back once more, Naruto prepared himself as another assault of attacks came his way by the enraged Faunus. Naruto idly noticed that Blake's attacks were as swift as they were deadly as he narrowly dodged another flurry of attacks that Blake executed mid-air when she flipped over him.
Naruto counted at least five different whipped attacks in that one motion and grunted as he nursed a cut on his arm from one of the bullets that grazed him. She was skilled and in her mind, fighting for her life. If they stayed in the open for too long she was going to either overwhelm him or force him to return her deadly force in kind.
He needed to limit her ability to attack from all directions with that stupid whip-scythe-gun contraption, he needed to lure her into an enclosed area.
Back flipping away from another barrage of attacks, Naruto formed a sealess shadow clone which instantly transformed into a windmill shuriken. Naruto grabbed onto the center of the quad bladed weapon and threw it as hard has he could at the feline Huntress in training.
Finally seeing a counter attack, Blake brought her weapon back to her hand and rattled off several shots at the fast moving projectile. The bullets didn't seem to even bother it as its direction remained unchanged. Realizing it was futile, Blake swiftly grabbed her sheath on her back and sliced through the giant shuriken. But instead of splintered metal like she was expecting, the weapon exploded into white smoke.
Blake coughed as she tried to dissipate the smoke as clearly as possible. Fear gripped her when the smoke cleared and Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw a shimmer of movement headed towards the forest. Her eyes narrowed on the spot and she took off in a dead sprint, determined to not let him escape her.
She had worked too hard and gotten too far to let everything slip away from her in a few minutes because Adam had finally decided to finish her off for her betrayal. She would not let him escape.
Blake all but flew into the forest and landed in a small clearing of trees and took in her surroundings. This part of the forest was thick with foliage and trees. If she tried to use her weapon in here it would just get tangled in with the branches and vines. He had lured her here on purpose to limit her fighting ability.
She cursed herself for her lack of judgement but brushed it off. There was nothing she could do about it now except adjust her fighting style to the surroundings. Her gun-scythe quickly unfolded itself and returned to its sword form as Blake reached onto her back and grabbed ahold of her sheathe blade.
"Where are you?! Come out and fight me!" Blake yelled into the seemingly empty forest.
"Why would I do that? You seem to want to kill me."
Blake looked to her right where she heard the voice but saw nothing, great he was throwing his voice around.
"I really don't want to fight you, can't we just talk this over?"
This time it came from her left and Blake cursed, what an annoying opponent. "The White Fang doesn't talk, not anymore. Now come out!"
Her commanding tone did little to persuade Naruto as his voice came from above her. "You aren't the only one that doesn't like what the White Fang is doing. I left too!"
That gave Blake pause as her bravado slipped away from her for the briefest of moments before she regained it. "You're lying! The White Fang doesn't let you just walk away!"
"I guess we can't talk until I prove it to you, maybe after you put down those swords we can talk some."
Blake tensed at his words as Naruto rushed her. But it wasn't only one Naruto, from the left, right and even above her Naruto came at her. More than a dozen clones rushed the girl simultaneously. Blake had no idea what was happening, she only reacted to how she normally would when outnumbered.
In a blur of motion, Blake exterminated each and every single clone that Naruto had sent at her, their deaths being signified by a white plume of smoke. Blake took a quick breath before she sensed the next attack. Though it was a little too late as Naruto was already inside her defense with his fist extended.
At least he would have been in her defense if it wasn't for her semblance. Naruto's fist felt like it connected with her cheek but just as it did Blake appeared above him, an ice replica with his fist incased in her head appeared in her stead. Unable to move due to the fist being trapped in the ice, Blake was able to capitalize on a truly vulnerable Naruto.
Blake didn't let the chance pass her by and brought her leg up and delivered a ruthless roundhouse kick to his chin. The force of the attack sent Naruto flying, shattering his ice prison in the process.
Naruto rolled with the attack until he came to a stop several feet later. Slowly getting to his feet, he wiped the blood that was now leaking from his busted lip away and glared at the mysterious Faunus. That ability… it must have been her semblance that he had read about. What a useful ability.
Still, that kick would have knocked him out if he hadn't entered Sage Mode while his clones had kept her busy. To think that she still rattled his brain even after the added defense that Sage Mode offered was scary, Blake wasn't like some of the other students at Beacon, she was the real deal.
Blake smirked at Naruto as he rubbed his jaw. "Looks like our semblances are similar. To think that someone else could create shadows of themselves. Though mine seem to be a bit better."
Not rising to the bait, Naruto carefully analyzed the extent of her ability. So she could create a clone of herself that acted like a substitute for any attack she would normally take. Annoying but not impossible to work around.
Without warning, Naruto raised his hands in his signature hand sign and two dozen clones sprang to life, all of them charging the Faunus hoping to create an opening. Blake let an annoyed look cross her face before she too charged the small horde of blonds.
In a beautiful display of skill and agility, Blake cut through the droves of clones that came at her relentlessly. Their numbers were impressive but they lacked any semblance of durability as with every stroke of her sword another clone disappeared in a plume of smoke. "Do you really think you can overcome me by sheer numbers!? Adam must not have told you anything about me!"
Well neither had Ozpin and right now Naruto was definitely regretting not asking the man for some more details about the girl. Still, Naruto had watched her long enough to begin to see a pattern in her movements, there were plenty of openings if he just timed this right.
As Blake cut down another of Naruto's clones, another blond dropped down from above her, his fist cocked back as he aimed for the back of her head.
Much like the cat she resembled, her reflexes were more than up to the task in allowing her to spin around swiftly and impale the falling blond. But to her surprise this Naruto exploded in a mess of smoke like the others. She was sure that had been the real Naruto.
Unfortunately she had guessed wrong and was left wide open for the real Naruto to attack her from behind. Seeing him just before it was too late, Blake spun on her heel and brought both of her blades across his chest in a horizontal motion.
Naruto groaned as he saw the attack coming. He had really hoped that she would have been distracted long enough to miss his real attack but she was far too quick. But for all her strength, skill and speed she just wasn't at his level. Before she had caught him off guard with her speed and ferocity but with the gained clarity of Sage Mode she may as well have been moving in slow motion at this range.
Naruto reached out with both his hands and grabbed a hold of both of her swords, his fingers clamping down on the flat parts of the weapons. Wide eyed and fear returning to her features, Blake tried to wrench her weapons from Naruto's death grip but failed. Naruto on the other hand had little trouble ridding the girl of her grip and spun on his heel, spinning the girl in a circle until she lost her grip and was sent flying.
Naruto didn't waste a moment and dropped both the swords to the ground and leapt after the falling girl. As soon as she hit the ground he was on top of her, his feet firmly planted on her hands while he sat on the center of her stomach, removing any ability for her to gather strength from her core muscles.
Naruto didn't say anything as the Faunus struggled beneath his weight. He needed her calm if she was going to listen to him and right now she resembled something more akin to a trapped animal than a rational person. After a few minutes Blake's struggles stopped and was replaced by heavy breathing as her physical limits finally caught up to her now that she stopped moving. "Are you done?"
Blake glared up at her captor angrily while still panting. Her eyes locked with Naruto's now animal like eyes and things became clearer to her. She thought he was a Faunus the first time she saw him. He was so good at hiding it though that over the last few weeks she almost doubted her own intuition. But now, looking at his animal like eyes, eyes that so closely resemble her own, there wasn't a doubt in her mind. "I'm done. Go ahead and finish me off. Just be sure to tell Adam that he can go to hell, I don't feel anything for that bastard anymore."
Naruto still didn't know who Adam was but he could only assume it was someone in the hierarchy of the organization. Someone that Blake was quite close to before she left. But even though she said she hated him it was clear as day to Naruto that she was lying. It was hard to tell through the tears of frustration but telling people's true emotions was something he had picked up over the years, more so than ever after he had gained control of the Nine-Tails' power.
Seeing Blake with her eyes closed and tears silently falling from her face put a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and he slowly lifted himself off of her and extended his hand to help her up. No longer feeling Naruto's crushing weight on top of her, Blake risked a look and cracked one of her eyes open to find Naruto holding out a hand with an apologetic smile on her face.
Disbelief rested on her face as she stared at the appendage, not understanding quite what was happening. "What?"
Naruto smiled at the downed girl while keeping his hand out. "I told you, I didn't want to fight you, I left the White Fang too."
Still not fully believing Naruto, Blake hesitantly reached out and clasped onto Naruto's hand and was quickly pulled to her feet. "But I don't understand. Someone with your skills, there's no way that they would just let you go."
Naruto walked towards Blake's fallen weapons and picked them up before examining them and quickly sheathing the smaller blade within the large one. "And they didn't. After a few of the people they sent after me never came back they must have figured it wasn't worth it anymore."
Blake still wasn't convinced however. "But I've been a member of the White Fang since I was born, I definitely wouldn't have missed someone like you within the organization."
Naruto sighed as he turned around to face the cat Faunus before he responded. "I wasn't one to make myself stand out back then but when you left, Adam started searching for someone to replace you in the field. He ran across me and thought I had what it took to do your job."
Naruto was taking a chance here. There was no going back if he fully committed to the back story of being a high risk terrorist. Unfortunately he had little choice in the matter because if he changed his story now then Ozpin would probably never trust him. Hopefully his consistency didn't come back to bite him in the ass one day.
Blake delicately took her weapons from Naruto's outstretched hand and put them back in their rightful place on her back. "Then why did you leave? I knew there were a lot of people that were jealous of my position and would have killed for it. Why give it up?"
Naruto moved over to a large log sitting on the forest floor and took a seat on it to which Blake follow suit. "I joined the White Fang because I was sick of the feeling of being hated by the humans. The hatred, the stares, the abuse, everything. It wasn't fair. It ate at me until I felt the need to do something about it. But then I started doing raids with Adam. He was ruthless, taking down anyone, guilty or innocent, it didn't matter as long as they were human. I joined the White Fang to fight against those that did us wrong, not to kill innocents that were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Naruto wasn't a Faunus but he could relate to them. The feeling of being less than human due to the circumstances of one's birth was something he was all too familiar with. And he certainly could understand fighting for his side of a conflict and questioning his actions. The war had made him do things he never thought he would be forced to do.
One event in particular had come to the forefront of his mind. The Akatsuki had captured a small fishing town near the Hidden Mist village and since he was stationed there at the time, he was ordered to wipe it out. It had become known relatively early in the war that they were using living sacrifices to bring back powerful dead shinobi. To prevent the small village of 100 to become dangerous enemies, Naruto was ordered to wipe out everyone there with a Tail Beast Bomb. In the end he did it and no one survived, enemy or friendly alike. It was the first time in the war that he questioned what they were truly fighting for.
He hated himself for weeks for what he had to do. Every justification that was given to him couldn't weigh down the guilt of massacring the non-combatants in that village. And it much applied to what the White Fang were doing today. Naruto had no delusion that if he was born in this world he would have sided with the White Fang over Faunus rights but their methods made his stomach churn. The killing of innocents was never acceptable in his eyes.
So even if his words weren't completely the truth, the emotion that he spoke with were real. That was something that Blake picked up on and her eyes softened in understanding. The pain in his eyes was real. He really was like her. Unsure of herself, Blake tentatively put a hand on his shoulder to try and give some level of comfort, even if she wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. "I know how you feel. It was the same reason that I ended up leaving. And I'm sorry for attacking you so suddenly but I think you know why I was so jumpy."
Naruto looked at her hand before he moved to her face. It was kind, much like the one he had seen the first day he had met her. He felt the protective power of nature leave his body as he was sure that he no longer needed its power. "Don't worry about it, I probably shouldn't have tried to mess with you over something so sensitive. It was my fault."
Naruto's chuckled ended up getting a giggle out of the girl next to him before he noticed the changing of his eye color. "Why do you do that? Why do you hide your eyes from everyone?"
Naruto smiled as he reached over and carefully pinched one of the two knobs poking out of Blake's head. "The same reason why you hide these cute little cat ears of yours."
Blake blushed furiously as Naruto touched her exposed ears. She quickly jumped up and started looking around the field frantically in search for her bow. "I didn't even notice that it had fallen off! Where is it? Where is it?"
Naruto laughed at the girl until she finally found it and promptly put it back on her head. She turned around and glared at Naruto but lacked the hate she had for him only an hour ago. "Not. One. Word."
Naruto had to stifle a laugh before taking a deep breath to calm down. "You know, we should probably get back, we've been gone for a while. I really don't want Yang to start spreading more rumors."
Blake groaned and put a hand in her face at the thought of her partner. She was going to have some choice words with her when she got back to Beacon. There were some pranks that went too far, this one constituted as too far. "Yeah, we should go."
Alright, I decided to end the chapter here because the next thing I had planned for this story would be too long and the chapter would probably end up being like 15k words or something like that.
Now I know that I had said that I was going to update my other two stories over the weekend/this week and while I did work on them, my mind forced me to keep working on this story when I had time. I just have so many ideas for this story I want to get them out, but rest assured my other stories will be updated in due time. I have no intention of leaving them.
Also on a side note about pairings since many of you have asked. The pairings are undecided but this will not be a harem. Harems to me just aren't realistic except in very limited circumstances. That being said, this also isn't going to be a one and done kind of deal where Naruto finds his dream girl and they stay together for the entirety of the story. People develop crushes, people date, people break up, and people make mistakes. That's how life is and that's what I'm going for in this story.
Leave a review and tell me what you all thought of the chapter. Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that this story will be epic in length, so don't expect insanely fast plot movement or all the big events to happen right away. Things will follow a timeline and certain plot points need to build and even the smallest of details will have future consequences. Just so you all know. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, peace!
Quick edit here due to people's issue with the Naruto Blake Fight scene. As always if you have an issue shoot me a PM or leave a review with an account that is logged in as I would be happy to answer your question as long as it isn't a silly flame.
Now for the fight scene, people think that I've made Naruto way too weak and Blake way too strong. I hear you and I apologize for any misunderstanding. Blake may be stronger than what some of you may perceive and I'll admit, I may be buffing the RWBY universe as a whole slightly to make things at least somewhat interesting but I'm not making the characters too much stronger and Blake is certainly not S-rank or even A-rank in the Naruto world.
The fight can be explained as so. Naruto did not want to hurt Blake in any way. That was not his intent and he held back massively as to not hurt her. He didn't attack the girl once throughout the entire fight and to beat someone like that shows that they are an order of magnitude stronger than the person they beat. Blake also got one clean blow on Naruto the entire fight and at best it was a superficial wound. Getting one hit on someone does not make them S-rank so to all those that said as much, take a chill pill and calm down lol.
As for Sage mode, I'm not giving too much away on that front as this is a major plot point. Sage mode is weakened due to influencing forces in Remnant. That's all I'm going to say on that front, so no, Blake didn't break Sage mode with her kick by itself. Calm down everyone lol.
That's all I have to say on that so hopefully it clears the room for anyone reading the story. If you have any thoughts on it or disagree/want clarification, like always, leave a review or send me a PM. I have no problems answering questions, hell, I like them!