Fame and Shield
Arrival
A grey haired man read through a file as he sat behind a desk, which was set in the middle of a room that was within a large clock tower. The room's window overlooked an academy that seemingly floated among the clouds. Beacon Academy, to be precise. A place that the man seated within the room had put years of effort into to make it more welcoming to all who came.
The man had a lean figure and dressed sharply in a dark suit with a forest green scarf around his neck. A specially crafted cane was set beside him and a mug of an unknown liquid was set nearby. He glanced up at the sound of a tone and arched a brow.
"You need not knock, I believe the message said to enter upon arrival." The man smiled wryly as the door cracked open slightly and Naruto walked in before he came to a stop parallel to the chair, standing at attention. The man looked up at the new entry and gestured to the seat across from him.
"This isn't your father's office, Mr. Ironwood. Have a seat. Would you like some tea?"
The teen flushed lightly as he relaxed and sat, though his posture did little to show his relaxed state. Realizing he'd yet to answer the question, Naruto shook his head. "Thank you, but no sir."
"You don't have to address me so formally, Mr. Ironwood." The man noted as he refilled his mug with a teakettle from below the desk.
"Forgive me, Professor Ozpin, but he speaks very highly of you and I feel the same way." Naruto apologized with an unsure smile. "Was there something you wanted to speak to me about?"
"You could say that," the man, Professor Ozpin, said with a smile as he closed the file in his hands and set it down. He folded his hands together and looked at the teen seated across from him. "I'm rather curious as to why you, son of Atlas' General and headmaster, would rather attend this school instead of your father's. Especially when the new school year begins in a few days? Was this a brash decision?"
"...Professor Ozpin, do I have permission to speak freely?"
"I would certainly hope so." Ozpin countered good-naturedly. When the boy continued to stare at him, Ozpin sighed softly and nodded. "Yes, Mr. Ironwood, you may speak freely."
"Thank you, sir." Naruto visibly relaxed more than he already had, his shoulders slumping. "I, sir, I've been living with my father for seventeen years of my life. I've never...well, I've tried not to disappoint him. I can't say if I ever have. I enrolled in the military at the youngest age possible–"
"Yes, I am familiar with the loophole you found when you entered Basic Training at age twelve," Ozpin said with a mildly forced smile. He recalled the frantic call that he received the day the news broadcasted the event across the world. It was certainly the first time in a long time that Atlas seemed more like a threat than it had been before, and certainly the first time in an equally long time that James had been so unsure of what action to take. Ozpin pushed the thoughts away and gestured to the young man again. "I'm sorry. Please, continue."
"It's alright, sir." Naruto waved off the interruption. "But, even after I graduated from the officer's academy, he wouldn't...he wouldn't treat me like a soldier. He kept treating me like his son. I couldn't go to his school."
"I figured as much." Ozpin smiled lightly. And the general called him soft? Glynda was greatly going to enjoy this. Neither of them thought that James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian army, could ever coddle anyone. He did not show favor to any of his subordinates, nor did he favor any students, and up until this point, it was believed he didn't even favor his own son. Ozpin didn't want to admit it, but even he had thought James was far too set in his ways to show any such favor to the child.
It would seem that, not for the first time, Ozpin was wrong. However, it was the first time that Ozpin had even been glad such a thought was disproven. Who knew that "Heartless" Ironwood had a heart?
"In that case, I would like to cordially welcome you, Captain Naruto Ironwood, to Beacon Academy."
Naruto stared at him for a moment. "...T-That's all?"
"I told you I merely had one inquiry." Ozpin smiled at the blond before he sat back and lifted his file back up. As he began to read the notes made by another, Ozpin continued to speak to the dumbfounded blond. "I'm sure that the airships for the other students will arrive soon. Why not go and make new friends?"
"...Th-thank you, sir." Naruto mumbled, still in slight shock as he stood up and walked out of the room. The door closed and Ozpin reached over to press down on a button near his tea mug.
"Well, James, does that satisfy your curiosity?" Ozpin asked in mild amusement as the holographic form of the well-dressed general flickered to life in front of him. The general gave Ozpin a mild frown as the man sipped his tea from his mug.
"...You still sent him your academy's admission papers, Oz."
"Quite, but as I said before, I had not expected them to be filled out and accepted so quickly. Nor had I expected him to be in Vale so soon." Ozpin looked at the general as he set his tea down. "Did something happen recently between you two?"
"Let me just say that some of my former colleagues are in a lot of trouble," James Ironwood said lowly with a frown.
The hologram flickered and cut out, leaving Ozpin alone within his office.
First the daughter of Summer Rose accepts my invitation and now the son of James Ironwood... Ozpin mused as he turned the page of the file in his hands. He smiled lightly. What an interesting year this will turn out to be.
"This is going to be – Whoa, watch it!" Ruby Rose cried out as someone nearly knocked her to the ground as they rushed past. Her silver eyes cringed and she shook her head, causing her short black and red tinted hair to dance lightly, as the boy that nearly knocked her over doubled over a garbage. Ruby was a girl of average height for her age of fifteen, so knocking her over for something like that was pretty simple. Her battle dress, stockings and boots were black with the secondary color being red, while her prominent hooded cloak was primarily red.
"If you got puke on me again, pal, I'm going to shove that garbage can into your ass!" A girl with long untamed blonde hair and lilac eyes called over her shoulder to the rude guy currently emptying his stomach into the bin. The blonde haired girl wore an orange scarf around her neck, a tan vest over a low cut yellow crop top with a burning heart crest that revealed her impressive cleavage, biker shorts underneath a brown belted asymmetrical pleated skirt. Fingerless black gloves covered her hands while mechanic bracelets were around her wrists and knee high boots with orange socks of mismatched lengths between her skin and the leather.
The buxom blonde girl was Yang Xiao-Long, Ruby's elder sister. Er, half-sister by technicality, but who cared about things like that? Ruby and Yang certainly didn't.
Yang crossed her arms and huffed. "That guy needs to get ahold of his eating disorder. That's disgusting."
"I don't think it's a disorder, Yang." Ruby giggled lightly at the older girl. Something gleamed in the distance and it caught Ruby's silver eyes. She gasped and stopped. Her finger shot out. "Yang! Yang! Look! That guy has a javelin constructed around a thirty-caliber barrel! I wonder if he used a bolt or clip...Oh! That girl has fire dust bullets in her pocket!"
"It's talking that way that makes you a bit of a weirdo, Ruby." Yang chided her sister with a grin. Yang gestured to the people walking across campus or towards the main building. "You have to focus less on the toys and more on the boys!"
"...But boys aren't as interesting."
"And this is why Dad worries about you, Ruby. Uncle Qrow has had way too much of an influence on you."
"How is that bad?" Ruby blinked innocently.
Yang palmed her face and sighed. "Never mind." She gave the younger girl a determined grin and pumped her fist. "What you need to do is go out there and make some friends! Show them how awesome Ruby Rose can be!"
"Friends...right..." Ruby mumbled as she rubbed her arm awkwardly. She gave a hopeful smile to her older sister. "And you'll be there every step of the way, right?"
"About that..." Yang smiled sheepishly as her lilac eyes drifted to the side. "I'll be there with you...in-spirit-because-I-promised-my-friends-we'd-go-explore-the-school-so-we'll-meet-up-later-have-fun-okay-bye!"
Ruby was spun rapidly in place during Yang's speech as a herd of other teens around her sister's age rushed past her. "What? But? Yang? Where? Cookies?"
The red-hooded girl slumped to the ground while her head spun. Unfortunately, she was in the path of a large dolly filled with white boxes and suitcases. The collision had hardly hurt, thank you Aura shielding, but the confrontation with the Schnee heiress and a mysterious girl, who left as quickly as she came, afterwards led to an explosion.
That explosion, by the way, was so not Ruby's fault at all! Stupid Dust sensitivity.
"Eh-he-he...sorry?" Ruby apologized to the smoke and Dust covered Weiss Schnee.
"...I'm leaving. Do not speak to me." Weiss turned on a dime and stormed off while Ruby hung her head in shame.
"Way to go, Ruby. Making friends...all around," Ruby said with a sigh. She looked up as a hand appeared in front of her.
"You look like you could use a hand." The owner of the appendage gave her a small smile.
Ruby quickly gave him a once over. He was a tall teen, nearing six feet at least, with short blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a brown leather jacket that had two white stars on either shoulder over a blue shirt with what she assumed to be a silver star, and over the leather was a silver belt with pouches that went around his waist and over his left shoulder. His left arm had a silver bracer on it, with a white star in the dead center of his forearm. Grey cargos tucked into dark navy blue puttees that passed over grey, nearly silver, boots.
Ruby thought he looked like an old Atlas soldier from the history films, but with a brown jacket instead of silver.
Realizing she hadn't yet taken him up on his offer, Ruby flushed lightly and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah. Thanks."
"Not a problem, miss." The teen nodded as he hefted her to her feet. He gave her a grin once their hands released and pointed at his chest with his thumb. "Name's Naruto. Nice to meet you."
"Ruby. Ruby Rose." Ruby introduced herself with a small smile.
Naruto looked towards where Weiss' things had fallen, thankfully picked up by the help Weiss had brought with her, and tisked. "You know, I'd have thought that a Schnee would know better than to shake a vial of Dust around like that."
Ruby beamed. Yes! Someone on her side. "Right? I said I was sorry, too!"
"Well, maybe she's having an off morning." Naruto shrugged. "I doubt it can be easy dealing with all the newscasts and controversy around her family."
"...Controversy?" Ruby asked. She furrowed her brow and then her face lit up as she recalled what the girl in black had said. "Oh, the whole Faunus thing, right? And the shady businesses."
Naruto frowned momentarily before he nodded. "Yeah, shady...Well, enough about politics. You're a first year, right?"
"Yep!" Ruby chimed happily as they started to walk towards the main campus of Beacon. Her expression fell a bit. "I mean, I guess...I don't know if I'm ready for it, though."
"Well, Professor Ozpin wouldn't have accepted your application if you weren't," Naruto said. He looked down at the girl and noticed her frown. "Or...did you sneak in?"
"Huh? No! No-no-no, nothing like that. See, I was in a Dust shop one night minding my own business..." Ruby began to tell the story of how she nearly stopped Roman Torchwick, the most wanted criminal in all of Vale. She slipped in several exaggerated reenactments of her 'kung fu' attacks, which brought a laugh from her new companion's lips. Ruby's story carried on for several minutes while they walked around a building.
"Well, that's impressive." Naruto said with a chuckle. "No wonder Professor Ozpin had invited you to Beacon. Any headmaster would've done the same after that kind of display."
Ruby blushed lightly. "You think so?"
"I know so." He nodded with his small smile still intact. A quaint and peaceful silence overcame them.
Unable to handle the silence, Ruby pulled out her weapon and expanded it to its true form. Easily twice Ruby's height, the high-caliber sniper-scythe's blade slammed into the concrete ground due to its weight. The scythe has the same color scheme as Ruby does, red and black. "So...I've got this."
"...Hate to be a Grimm." Naruto muttered as he stared at the scythe.
Ruby grinned sheepishly as she met Naruto's gaze. "Yeah, Crescent Rose gets that a lot. She's my pride and joy, but when I made her I kind of went overboard."
"You made tha-er, her?"
Ruby beamed proudly and hugged her creation tightly. "Yep! Back at Signal, everyone is required to make their weapon in the first year. My uncle helped with the basic design when he let me look at his variant."
"I see..." Naruto mused while he looked Crescent Rose over.
"Yeah, the trickiest part was deciding how long I wanted the barrel to be in rifle mode," Ruby said before she stopped herself before she went into total weapon nerd mode. She gave Naruto a nervous chuckle. "So...What do you have?"
Naruto looked down at his left arm and jostled it. The bracer unfolded out into a circular silver and blue shield. Ruby waited for him to draw a sword or gun or something from the weapon, but nothing else came.
"Is-?"
"This it?" Naruto finished with a wry grin. Ruby flushed and he chuckled. "Yeah, this is it. Libertas Steel. Nothing special, but...she does her duty."
"...And you don't have an offensive weapon?" Ruby asked nervously. She really didn't want to offend her friend, but, most with shields also have swords or spears.
Naruto arched a brow. "A shield isn't offensive?"
"Well, no, but, I mean...Grimm have claws, armor and all sorts of things..." Ruby mumbled nervously.
"Indeed they do." Naruto agreed with a smile. He looked around for a moment before he spotted a nearby lamppost. He nodded. "That should work."
"What should work?" Ruby asked as she tried to follow his gaze.
"Just watch," Naruto said as he took a few steps away from her. Ruby looked back at him just as he began to bring his arm back. Naruto narrowed his eyes and his smile spread slightly before his arm flung forward and the shield flew off. Ruby followed Libertas Steel as it flew at a high speed towards the lamp post.
The shield bounced off the post and ricocheted off the wall of a building. Then it rebounded off another lamppost in the distance, nearly ten feet from the first and three times that from the building, before it flew back to the first lamppost. The shield sliced through the hanging light and flew back at them. Naruto caught Libertas Steel in his right hand before he clipped it back on his left arm. The light rocked for a moment before it fell to the ground and shattered.
"...Whoa. That. Was. Awesome!" Ruby gushed. She looked at the shield with newfound awe. "It is a ranged weapon!"
"Ranged, defensive and offensive," Naruto said with a fond smile aimed at the shield on his arm. Ruby collapsed her scythe and looked at it curiously before she looked at Naruto.
"...Can I hold it?"
"I don't see why not," Naruto said with a shrug. Libertas Steel was unclipped from his left arm and he held it out to Ruby. The red-themed girl took the weapon carefully, as though it were a relic.
"It's so light..." Ruby fawned over the circular weapon. "Lighter than Crescent Rose, that's for sure. But how'd it withstand all those ricochets?"
"It's a blend of rare metals found in the Atlas mines," Naruto said as he flicked the rim of the shield. "Unlike most metals, it absorbs kinesthetic energy."
He plucked the weapon from Ruby's hands and then quickly flung it at a nearby concrete post that lined the walkway. The shield was imbedded in the post nearly halfway, stopped by the metal base within.
"But, it's also very deadly when necessary." Naruto finished as he walked over to Libertas Steel and pulled it from the post. He looked back at Ruby with a grin. "I think I'll be safe, don't you?"
"...Yeah...Simple, but elegant." Ruby beamed at him. She furrowed her brow. "How come it didn't bounce off the post that time?"
"That, Ruby Rose, is a lesson for another time." Naruto clipped Libertas Steel onto his left arm, where it collapsed into the bracer it was before. He turned and began to walk towards the auditorium. "There's an introduction speech I think we should be present for."
"What? When? Where!?"
"A speech, in about five minutes, and this way." Naruto pointed in the direction of the auditorium. Ruby raced past him as soon as he finished, a look of panic on her face.
"Oh no, we're going to be late!"
Naruto chuckled as he leisurely followed the excitable fifteen-year-old. "I don't think so."
"Yes! Made it with time to spare!" Ruby cheered as she burst into the auditorium.
"I told you we wouldn't be late," Naruto said as he smiled at the shorter girl. He stood with great posture and stepped out of the way as a girl with pink hair and a silver left arm walked by him. He arched a brow at the sight, but was pulled from his thoughts when Ruby literally pulled his arm.
"C'mon, my sister saved us a spot."
"I can walk on my own, Ruby." Naruto chuckled as the shorter girl pulled him through the crowd. They made it to Yang, whose eyes brightened at the sight of Ruby, but sparkled when they landed on Naruto.
"Wow, Ruby, when I said make a friend, I expected someone like the Puke Boy or a girl." Yang mused with a smile as her eyes washed over Naruto's body. "Didn't see you aiming for the tall, blond and handsome type."
"I-That's beside the point! You ditched me!" Ruby accused quickly with a frown aimed at her sister. "And since then, it's been nothing but yelling and explosions and-"
"I don't recall blowing you up." Naruto added wryly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Or yelling at you, for that matter."
"Okay, well, it wasn't anything but yelling and blowing up until I met Naruto." Ruby amended with an apologetic smile aimed at her new friend. She leveled a glare back at Yang.
"Usually that comes after you meet a guy like him," Yang said with a smirk.
Ruby and Naruto stared at her blankly before they both chimed. "I don't get it."
Yang blinked. "Ruby, I understand, you...not at all."
"The feeling is mutual." Naruto shrugged. Most girls he dealt with were either focused on rising in the ranks, doing their duty, or acted just plain weird around him. Ruby was pretty much the only normal girl he's met thus far, but her sister was slowly falling into the third category with all the strange looks she's giving him and the odd joke she gave.
"We could always fix that," Yang said slyly. Her lips spread into a smile. "I've been waiting for a guy like you for Xiao-Long."
"...Oh, because its your name and-I get it." Naruto nodded with a chuckle. His chuckle died down and he frowned. "Wait, no I don't."
"Yang, focus," Ruby said with a small frown aimed at her bewildered and stumped older sister. "I'm mad at you."
"What? Why?" Yang asked with genuine confusion. "I left you alone and you ran into possibly the best person you could've."
"You ditched me!"
"And you found him!"
"That doesn't mean anything!"
Naruto's head bounced back and forth between the two sisters as they started to bicker before he turned to someone beside him as they scoffed in annoyance.
A young man about his age but an inch or so shorter watched the interaction with annoyance. He had darker skin and cat-like eyes that widened when they looked at Naruto's face. Naruto caught movement out of the corner of his eyes and looked up to see two black cat-like ears above the boy's wild brown hair. The boy had a golden necklace with golden medallion of a cat head hanging from it, a black leather jacket on that was partially unzipped to reveal a netting-like undershirt, dark combat pants and what looked like toe-less military boots. His finger and toe nails were almost claw like.
"I-Ironwood." He mumbled.
"Yes?" Naruto asked curiously as he arched a brow. "What's up?"
"...Nothing, I just...figured you would be at Atlas." The Faunus shook his head and offered his hand. "Kiba Black. Sorry, but, news about what you did at Stanley's yesterday spread fast."
Naruto smiled and took the teen's hand in his own. "It's a pleasure. Naruto Ironwood."
"Yeah, I already knew that." Kiba chuckled lowly as he took his hand back. "Sorry if I seem awed, but I've not...ever really seen a Human so willing to step up for Faunus."
"That's wrong." Naruto shook his head. "Faunus, Human, it doesn't matter to me. We're all sentient, we all learn, feel, and grow around the same pace. We should all be free."
"I wish more Humans could see it that way." Kiba looked back at the squabbling siblings and winced when he spotted a newcomer approaching them. "Hey, I'm gonna slip away. But, if you want to meet up and talk later, I'm all for it."
"Always nice to have a new friend," Naruto said with a smile as he watched Kiba back into the crowd and disappear. "Hm, nice guy. I wonder why he-?"
"You!"
"Oh no, it's happening again!"
"I should've guessed it was you that was making so much noise!"
Naruto turned back to see Ruby in her sister's arms while the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company glared at her. He arched a brow lightly and laughed when Yang spoke.
"You really did blow up."
Weiss scowled at the two and then glared at the one who laughed. Her glare fell into a look of shock and her face blossomed into a bright crimson red.
"N-N-Naruto I-Ironwood?" She squeaked. Weiss sent a glare to Ruby, once more on her own feet, and hissed at her. "You knew Naruto Ironwood was behind me and didn't say anything!?"
"Naruto who-now?" Ruby and Yang asked, both equally confused.
"Him!" Weiss pointed at Naruto, who waved at them with a small smile. "Son of the Atlesian General James Ironwood? He graduated with full honors from the Officer's Academy of Atlas at age thirteen and became the youngest enlisted officer in the Atlesian Armed Forces in the same year! Then he reached the rank of captain at age fifteen and has stopped no less than fifteen White Fang terrorist acts in the past two years. Last week he had effortlessly put down a White Fang plot to bomb and derail one of the Schnee Dust Company's transit trains." Weiss gave the modest blond a shy glance before she looked away. "...And he's been voted the Hottest Boy Alive in Atlas Teen Magazine...according to one of my friends!"
Yang arched a brow in disbelief. "Right..."
"...Who are you talking about?" Ruby asked, her head spun from the spew of information that was just dumped on her.
"She's talking about me, Ruby," Naruto said with an amused chuckle. It would appear that Weiss Schnee would also fall into the 'weird' category of girls he's met. He only did that cover shoot because he was dared to by his friend Ten-Ten Dugan.
Needless to say, Ten-Ten was another girl that fell under the 'weird' category, but that was attributed for her near obscene love of weapons. Like Ruby, Ten-Ten appreciated the construction and development of a Huntsman or Huntress' weapons, but unlike Ruby, Ten-Ten was sexually attracted to the inanimate objects. Yeah...weird.
"Ohh..." Ruby nodded. "Got it." She blinked and frowned at her new friend. "Wait, you're a captain?"
Naruto smiled at her as he was torn from his thoughts. "That's what they tell me."
"And Hottest Boy Alive. Quite the pedigree," Yang said as she crossed her arms under her bust. She frowned slightly when she realized that Naruto's eyes didn't drift in the slightest. How was she supposed to tease him if he didn't look? Better question, how the hell was he not looking?
Don't look at Yang's boobs. Don't look at Yang's boobs. Don't look at Yang's boobs. The mantra repeated in Naruto's head while he kept his hormones at bay. He was still a seventeen – nearly eighteen – year old teenager, despite how much older and taller he appeared. That was at the fault of his semblance, which activated while he was still in Boot.
"Y-Yes, very impressive, so, uh, forgive me for acting in such a way?" Weiss apologized – at least, Naruto thought it was supposed to be an apology – to him.
Naruto nodded with a small smile. "Of course, Ms. Schnee. But, I believe Ruby also deserves an apology."
"Wh-what?" Weiss gaped while Ruby stuck her tongue out victoriously at the white-themed girl.
"Well, she was already sorry for getting in your way and had tried to apologize before you began to shake the Dust in your hand. The stray particles drifted up into Ruby's nose and she reacted in a way that was bound to happen," Naruto said with a shrug. "In a way, that explosion was more-so your fault than it was hers, since you should've known better. So, yelling at her about something that was both of your faults is kind of inconsiderate and mean."
Weiss blinked once, twice, and a third time while she contemplated his words. With a reluctant sigh and a small frown on her face, Weiss turned to Ruby.
"Fine. I'm sorry I yelled at you...But that doesn't make us friends!" She added quickly.
"It's okay, I'm really sorry that I knocked your stuff down." Ruby apologized again. She poked her fingers together. "Are you sure you don't want to be friends?"
"Very." Weiss huffed.
Ruby opened her mouth to say more, but cut herself off when Glynda Goodwitch's voice came through the microphone. Eyes went to the stage and Naruto smiled slightly as his gaze landed on the headmaster. The introduction speech was brief as Ozpin said it would be, and the headmaster left the stage as soon as he appeared on it. The children were then told to return to the ballroom to rest for the initiation the next day.
AN: Yes, you read right. Kiba is cat-based instead of dog, like the Road to Ninja illusion world Kiba, but not as intense in his love for cats, obviously. He's also partially based off of T'Challa aka The Black Panther, another Avenger – who is bound to have a film or short soon, rumors say.
But, all that aside, tell me your thoughts!
REVIEW!
