AN: Hello, my dear readers, and welcome to the chapter that almost killed me. Well, not really, but I caught a nasty flu about a week ago, but I just couldn't stop working on this chapter. As a result, I didn't exactly get any better, but it was well worth it. That aside, just to clear any misunderstandings, this story will not be a harem, it will be strictly NarutoxBlake.
Anyway, on to the next chapter of Naruto: Remnants of the Past.
Chapter four: Players and Pieces
Ozpin and Glynda were both currently overlooking the Emerald Forest, the cool morning breeze rustling their hair and clothing as they watched the cloud of students they had launched into the forest a few minutes prior. Particularly one of them made for a very interesting sight, mainly due to the fact that there were twelve identical clones of him currently descending from high above the forest.
"You did tell me about his rather...peculiar abilities, but actually seeing them is another story," Glynda stated with a look of slight amazement as she watched the clones and the original scatter into the forest, with the latter heading north.
Ozpin seemed unfazed by the sight, contentedly sipping his morning coffee. After all, he had witnessed what Naruto called the Shadow Clone Technique quite a few times already, but even then he had to admit watching a person clone himself ten-fold was rather fascinating...and amusing, seeing as scientists all around Remnant were busting their asses to do just that, while the blonde performed it without breaking a sweat.
Ozpin chuckled slightly at that thought, though it went unnoticed by Glynda, whose brow was furrowed in confusion, even as she brought up the video feed on her Scroll, which showed the various students taking the exam.
"I can't help but wonder, though...why did he create those clones in the first place?" She shifted her glasses slightly, "Using them to fight the Grimm would've been my first guess, but that wouldn't make any sense since all of them scattered into different directions."
The woman's frown deepened, the figurative gears in her head already turning. Suddenly her eyes widened a fraction in realization, "Does he-"
She was cut off by her superior, who chuckled once again as he gazed out into the forest, "Yes, he wants to...evaluate them." The professor took another sip of coffee before continuing, "After all, he will form a team with some of them."
The blonde woman nodded in understanding, but the frown remained on her face, "It does seem a bit arrogant of him though."
Ozpin's smile was replaced with a serious countenance as he turned to his assistant, "Glynda, you know just as well as I do that he is well beyond his peers, and quite possibly even those above him." Once again, he turned to gaze out into the vast, emerald-green forest, "You've noticed it by now as well, haven't you?"
The question was vague, cryptic even, but Glynda knew exactly what he was inquiring of her.
Being veteran hunters, both of them had fought countless battles and trained many Huntsmen and Huntresses themselves. Exactly because of that experience, they had the ability to read people, and judge them by the way they acted...to an extent, at least.
What they could pick up from Naruto was unsettling, to say the least. The blonde Uzumaki was seemingly beyond his age, both physically and mentally. He carried himself with the confidence of a seasoned warrior, confidence unfitting of the sixteen-year-old teen he was on the surface. Yet, despite all the confidence in his step, he wasn't the least bit arrogant, showing that he had every right to said confidence, something that was rather unnerving for Glynda.
Both she and Ozpin were of course very curious as to just what he had experienced in the past, where he came from or what it was that made him leave, but each time either of them would bring up those topics when they talked with him, he would outright refuse to continue the conversation. The two eventually stopped broaching the subject, resigning themselves to the fact that he would reveal more of himself if and when he felt comfortable in doing so.
Glynda sighed, just a hint of frustration marring her features as she watched the blonde subject of their conversation dash through the forest.
With Naruto
"Hunter or not, seems like you're a shinobi after all, kit," Kurama chuckled, the booming sound echoing through his container's mind as he jumped from branch to branch, making his way to the northern part of the forest.
'What better way to find out about their abilities than shadowing them in a forest full of creatures that want to kill them?' Truth be told, he was rather excited to find out more about his peers, and the hunters of Remnant in general. Given, they, and he himself had only just taken the first step to becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses, but the fact that the others were invited to Beacon Academy did speak volumes of their skills, or so he hoped.
With a shrug, he poured more chakra into his legs and continued hopping along the branches of the trees, enjoying the feel of the air rushing against his face and body, 'I'll just have to wait for the clones to dispel...' he thought, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he noticed a malicious presence ahead of him, which originated from a pack of Beowolves, glaring at the blonde as they climbed up the trees.
Any normal person would've probably bolted it in the other direction, but seeing as Naruto was anything but normal, he increased his speed even further, splintering the branches and tree trunks he shot off of.
'Guess a little warm up while I'm waiting wouldn't hurt,' He thought, slipping a kunai out of his sleeve which he caught in a reverse-grip.
"Just don't blow up the forest," the Bijū warned him with just a hint of amusement leaking into this voice, "I don't think they would take too kindly to that."
The blonde nodded as he caught the underlying meaning in the sentence, before clashing with the pack of Grimm.
Emerald Forest
The morning dew was still fresh on the leaves covering the many trees of the Emerald Forest. They swayed lightly as the wind swept through them, and as suggested by the forest's name, it created the image of a beautiful, rippling, emerald-green ocean.
Given, the beauty that it radiated was only out-shined by its deadliness; hidden from view beneath the thick canopy of the trees were the creatures of Grimm, mindless beasts that only waited for foolish wanderer's to enter their den.
Those vile creatures weren't the only beings that inhabited the forest though. No, many other animals lived in the forest alongside the Grimm. A prime example of that was the majestic, black bird that was flying just above the crowns of the trees, unperturbed by what lurked below. In a sense, that bird, however insignificant its life was, represented the duality of the Emerald Forest, demonstrating that it wasn't just a place of death and decay, but also a place where all sorts of life thrived and-
"Birdie, NOOOO!"
With a final shriek, the bird's life came to an abrupt end as a red and black blur shot through it, reducing it to little more than a few feathers. The blur, otherwise known as Ruby Rose, unsheathed her weapon of choice, Crescent Rose, in its rifle form and fired off a few rounds into the forest, slowing down her descent enough so that she could transform her weapon into a scythe and catch a branch with it, allowing her to fall to the ground unharmed.
Uncaring of the fact that she had just murdered a bird, the young girl shot off into the forest. After all, time was of the essence, and she couldn't afford to waste any of it as her goal repeated itself in her mind.
'Gotta' find Yang. Gotta' find Yang, gotta' find Yang. Gotta' find...'
"Yang! Yaaaaang!" She shouted, scanning the forest around her for a familiar mane of blonde hair.
'Oh, this is bad, this is really bad...what if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first?' She thought, the negative thoughts already beginning to creep up her back. She quickly shook her head free of them; now wasn't the time to be negative...this was the day she had been waiting for since her arrival at Beacon.
Deciding to replace the negative thoughts with more positive ones, she thought about potential teammates aside from her sister. They all popped up in her mind depicted as crudely drawn doodles.
'There's always Jaune,' she thought, the corners of her mouth twitching up into a smile as she pictured herself and the blonde teen in her mind, both laughing about something, 'He's nice. He's funny!'
However, being funny didn't exactly count for much in this death trap of a forest. '...I don't think he's very good in a fight, though.' Sure enough, the image of Jaune was attacked by a pack of Beowolves, and, as expected, the blonde didn't last long and ended up as Beowolf food.
'Ooh! What about Blake?!' Another image popped up in her mind, this time that of Blake, in all her doodly glory. 'So mysterious, so calm...Plus, she likes books! She frowned, 'Then again, I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her...' True to her thoughts, Doodle-Blake was quickly fed up with Ruby's rambling and slowly inched away from her.
Soon after, the third and last picture popped up in her mind, this time that of a certain black-clad blonde. 'Hm...there's also Naruto!' But then, I don't know anything about him either...'
Without warning, a good dozen Ursai, doodles, mind you, surrounded the Naruto she pictured in her mind. But, much to her surprise, the blonde quickly took care of them all, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood in the middle of all the carnage he had caused. Ruby sweat-dropped at that, '...he does look like he can fight though.' Shaking her head free of the images, the scythe-wielder continued on through the forest.
'Okay...Who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake, Naruto, aaaand...'
As if one cue, a familiar person appeared in her field of view, causing the girl to slam on the brakes and skid to a halt lest she ram into them. As she slowly came to a stop, Ruby looked up just in time to see the person turn to face her.
Icy blue eyes met silver one's as Weiss and Ruby regarded each other, the latter with a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.
Apparently though, the feeling of joy wasn't mutual, evident by the Schnee heiress turning on her heel and walking off on her 'partner'.
Ruby's smile was wiped off her face as she followed her a few steps, "Wait! Where are you going?!" Her question, however rhetorical it was, went ignored by Weiss, causing the young girl to kick the ground in dejection, "We're supposed to be teammates..."
Neither of the two teens noticed the dark figure above them, perched upon the branch of a tree and leaning against its trunk as he watched the scene unfold. With a sigh, the clone shook his head, 'Breaking the rules five minutes into the exam...boss'll be disappointed.'
Meanwhile, Weiss was making her way through the thick foliage of a bush, struggling with a branch that had caught on her shoe. She pulled herself free with a small grunt of exertion and smacked a few hanging vines out of her face, sighing in relief, before she heard a voice from above her.
Looking up, she noticed a certain blonde, who was pinned to the trunk of a tree by a red and golden spear, Pyrrha's weapon, Miló, if she wasn't mistaken. Oddly enough, the red-haired amazoness was nowhere to be seen.
"Come on, come on! Stupid...!" Jaune groaned as he fruitlessly tried to pull out said spear.
With a sigh of defeat, he gave up, and looked down, only to curse his luck as Weiss, upon making eye-contact, promptly turned around and walked back where she came from, leaving the blonde to groan in dejection and let his head hang.
"By no means does this make us friends," Weiss quipped, now back with Ruby as she grabbed said girl's hood and pulled her along. If Ruby took offence to the rather cold comment, she didn't show it, instead joyfully exclaiming, "You came back!"
Later...
"What's the hurry?" Ruby asked her partner as she stomped through the forest, apparently still miffed about the fact that they were now partners. She wasn't exactly Ruby's first choice either, but it wasn't the end of the world for the young girl. Well, that, and rules were rules.
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-" she was cut off as Ruby appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye, smiling at the the heiress, whose face lit up in amazement, if just a slight bit.
"What the...?"
"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!" The scythe-wielder exclaimed.
The heiress was still trying to figure out how her partner had seemingly teleported from one place to another, looking back and forth between the two. "When did...?"
"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people, doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters." In an instance, she was at her partner's side, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool...and I wanna' be her friend.'"
With that, she disappeared in a whirlwind of red rose petals, leaving a coughing Weiss as she tried to get rid of said petals. Cocking her hip to the side, she rested one hand on it and called out, "You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!" Her call was met with an eerie silence, until it was broken by the rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs, and if that wasn't enough to send her alarm bells ringing, then the darkness that slowly began to leak into the small clearing certainly was.
"Ruby?" She asked somewhat meekly.
Much to her surprise, the creature that emerged from the bushes was not Ruby, but rather a vicious looking Beowolf, glaring at her with its burning eyes. That was until it released its tell-tale roar, which had the desired effect on the heiress as she screamed.
"RUBY!"
With Yang
Yang had just walked into a small clearing, making her way north like the rest of the students and idly searching for her sister, or anything else that would catch her interest. So far, this whole initiation was proving to be rather boring. Hell, she hadn't even encountered a single Grimm yet. But, all that aside, for some reason, she could shake the odd feeling of being watched.
With a shrug, she called out, "Hellooooo?"
Nothing. The only sounds in the clearing were the chirping of birds and that of her own voice. "Is anyone out there?"
She raised her arms in defeat, "I'm getting bored here!"
This time, instead of silence, she heard the rustling of leaves coming from a few bushes behind her. "Is someone there?" She turned, hoping that Ruby had finally found her.
Upon receiving no answer, the blonde decided to walk over to the bushes, pushing the leaves aside and peaking in. "Ruby, is that you?" She asked with a small smile, which quickly turned into a blank expression as she looked up, coming face-to-face with a rather hungry looking Ursa.
"...Nope."
The blonde rolled to the side just in time to dodge the Ursa's swipe as it charged out of the bushes, her Ember Celica already activating and extending over her forearms and wrists as she slipped into her combat stance and observed her surroundings, only to leap to the side once again as another Ursa charged out of the foliage.
Without wasting any time, the first Ursa charged at her again, but was sent flying back as Yang rammed her fist into its body, the strength of which greatly enhanced by the blast of raw kinetic energy from her Ember Celica. Taking that as its cue to attack, the second of the large, bear-like Grimm came at her, but was also thrown back, this time with a hard right hook followed by a high-kick.
"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?" She asked jokingly while the two Ursai were in the process of shaking themselves out their daze. The blonde received her answer shortly after they recovered, though unfortunately she didn't speak 'Ursai'.
"You could've just said 'no'," she grinned, before narrowly dodging two swipes in quick succession from one of the Ursai with a backwards flip.
"Jeez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a ba-..." she began as she landed a few feet away from them, though quickly trailed off from her taunting as she, and unbeknownst to her, Naruto's clone watched a single strand of blonde hair slowly fall to the ground before her.
"You..." the blonde closed her eyes, and soon, the clearing was permeated with a sense of dread, reminding Naruto of the feeling he felt when harnessing his tenant's chakra, given, the two were nowhere near the same level of intensity. No, this was simply the feeling every female, regardless of species, could generate when adequately pissed off.
Naruto's clone cocked an eyebrow as the teen opened her eyes, revealing the usual lilac colour to be replaced with a fierce crimson.
"You monsters!" She roared, her fury seemingly being reflected by the air around her as it erupted into blazing hot flames, creating a red-orange aura around her as she charged towards one of the Ursai, launching it into the air with a burning punch, before blasting herself forward with her Ember Celica and unleashing a brutal combination of blazing kicks and punches which sent the poor creature on the receiving end of her wrath flying into a tree, breaking it in the process, along with the four behind it. Inevitably, the trees the Ursa had broken during its flight proceeded to crash down on it.
Yang, still livid, turned to the creature's companion, who could only stare as one of its own was reduced to dust by the teen. "What?! You want some too?!"
The being reared up on its hind-legs, getting ready to charge at her once again, but before it could do so, a whirling noise was heard behind it, followed by the sound of metal piercing flesh. The creature stumbled and fell over, dead before it even hit the ground.
Behind it stood Blake, her Gambol Shroud having pierced a vital point in the Ursa's body. With a pull, she dislodged it from the dead creature's body, catching it and sheathing the blade behind her back, before turning to a panting Yang with a smirk gracing her features.
Said blonde shrugged as she caught her breath, finally having calmed down,"I could've taken him."
Up above in the trees, Naruto's clone nodded in approval, before disappearing from sight.
With Weiss
'Remember your training, Weiss,' the heiress thought to herself as she was pushed back from a Beowolf's strike, finding herself surrounded by the beasts.
'Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! - slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and...' She raised Myrtenaster, its revolver spinning as she shot forward, ready to kill the Beowolf.
However, before the Beowolf could be reduced to ashes, Ruby appeared in the line of her attack, triumphantly exclaiming, 'Gotcha'!' as she slashed at the Grimm.
Weiss, for her part, widened her eyes and diverted her attack in the nick of time, preventing Ruby from being burnt to a crisp. The same couldn't be said for the tree which Weiss' attack collided with though, the stream of fire which shot out of her rapier already licking up the trunk of the tree and setting it ablaze.
The heiress' failed attack distracted Ruby, allowing one of the Beowolves surrounding them to capitalize on that and lash at her scythe, which pushed her back into Weiss.
"Hey, watch it!" The scythe wielder called, turning her attention back to the Grimm.
Weiss glared at her, "Excuse me! You attacked out of turn! I could have killed you!"
Ruby rolled her eyes in response, "You'll have to try a lot harder than that..."
The two readied their weapons, but before they could follow up with a counterattack, the fire from Weiss' attack began to spread, enclosing the two teens and the Beowolves in a ring of fire. Said creatures began to howl as the flames reached them, but Ruby didn't seem to care about that as she readied herself for another attack.
Luckily for them and their continued well being, Weiss wasn't as brave/stupid as her partner, and grabbed her arm as a burning tree fell down next to them.
"We have to go!" With that, the two began to retreat, one more willingly than the other.
A few minutes later, the two found themselves on top of a small hill, with Weiss leaning against a tree as she caught her breath, while Ruby turned around to look at the smoke rising over the trees where they had just been.
"What was that?! That should've been easy!" She shouted at Weiss.
Her answer came in form of a glare, "Well, perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Emphasizing her point, the heiress pointed at the rising plume of smoke.
The scythe-wielder scoffed at that, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!"
"Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own!"
"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo!" Finished on her part, the heiress spun on her heel and began to walk off into the woods. Ruby, who finally snapped, let out a frustrated shriek before unfolding her scythe and slashing at a tree next to her, cleanly slicing it in half as she proceeded to follow her 'partner', neither noticing the rather over-sized black feather lazily floating to the ground behind them.
Beacon Cliffs
"Our last pair has been formed, sir," Glynda stated, watching the video feed on her Scroll, her normally stoic face betraying that she was slightly impressed with what she was seeing. The woman had just witnessed the end of a fight between a King Taijitu and one of the students, Lie ren, with the latter emerging victorious. Shortly after, another student, Nora Valkyrie, made eye-contact with him, effectively forming the last pair.
"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy...I can't possibly imagine those two getting along." With another few taps, the video on the display changed to that of Naruto Uzumaki, currently engaged in a fight against several Ursai, who didn't stand much of a chance as the blonde tore through their ranks, killing them with practiced swiftness and accuracy.
"That leaves Naruto Uzumaki as the odd one out...though I suppose you predicted as much."
Ozpin simply hummed in reply, his focus currently on the Scroll in his hands, which was streaming the video of a certain pair of bickering teens who had just set part of the forest ablaze.
"Well, he's still better off than miss Nikos though," she stated as she watched Jaune and Pyrrha walking along a small path, with the latter leading. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat." With that, she deactivated her Scroll and walked back a bit.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough though. At their current pace, the rest of them should reach the temple within just a few minutes." The woman stated.
Ozpin either didn't bother to respond or was simply so absorbed in the video feed that he didn't even register his assistant's voice.
"Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?"
Once again, she received no indication that he was even listening to her, prompting her to turn around.
"Professor Ozpin?"
With Weiss and Ruby
Ruby was not having a good day. After all the trouble she had the day before, she expected the exam to be the perfect way to prove that she was just as capable a warrior as the rest of the students. The young girl was currently sitting on the ground of a small clearing, picking up a few stray leaves as her 'partner' paced back and forth in front of her, trying to figure out just where they were headed.
"It's definitely this way," the heiress stated, though her voice betrayed that she had absolutely no idea as to where the temple was, or where they themselves were for that matter. A few seconds of musing later, she turned and walked in the other direction, "I mean...this way! It's definitely this way."
She stopped pacing around, "Alright, it's official. We passed it."
Ruby stood up, thoroughly annoyed by her, "Weiss, why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?"
"Because I know exactly where we're going! We're going...to...the forest temple!"
Were it any other situation, she would've deadpanned at that, but as it was, she sighed in frustration.
"Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are, either!"
"Well, at least I'm not pretending like I know everything!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked incredulously, her hands resting on her hips.
"It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby snapped.
As the two continued arguing with each other, a barely audible sigh was heard from up above in the trees, the source of which was Naruto, or rather his clone, who had a huge drop of sweat hanging down the side of his head. It was so large that the clone was having a hard time balancing himself on the branch he was perched on.
"Dear Kami, I don't get paid enough for this shit."
"We don't get paid in the first place, so stop complaining and keep observing." The clone's 'brother' stated, leaning against the trunk above him as he did just what he was tasked with, keeping his eyes on the two arguing teens as he spoke again, "What would you even do with the money?"
His answer came in form of a shrug, "I don't know, go get some ramen, I guess."
The clone looked down at his brother, blinking a few times before both of them shared a smirk, and spoke in unison, "We should get boss to pay us."
With Yang and Blake
Yang and Blake had just stepped out of the treeline, and happened upon what for all the world looked to be the temple Ozpin had spoken about. It certainly was abandoned, evident by the moss and flora growing over the structure, which consisted mostly of broken pillars, with the few that were still intact supporting part of the stone ring resting atop.
"Think this is it?" Yang asked her partner.
Her response came in form of a deadpan, after which the raven-haired girl made her way down the small hill, Yang following close behind. As they reached the temple, the two of them noticed a handful of small pedestals aligned in a circular pattern in the middle of the structure.
Blake walked over to one of them, intent on more closely examining what was resting on top, which turned out to be a chess piece.
"...Chess pieces?" She asked aloud, inspecting a black king with a confused look on her face; chess pieces weren't exactly high up on the list of relics she'd expect to find in an abandoned temple in the middle of a forest full of Grimm.
"Some of them are missing; looks like we weren't the first ones here," Yang called as she noticed just that.
Blake took her attention off the relic, and turned to her partner, "Well, I guess we should pick one."
"How about a cute little pony?" Yang asked as she picked up a golden 'pony', or a knight.
Her partner rolled her eyes at the description, but gave her a smirk nonetheless, "Sure."
Suddenly, they heard the distinct roar of an Ursa in large amounts of pain, and sure enough, said creature was launched out of the treeline, but oddly enough, it was spiraling around as if it had been thrown off a carousel.
Its corpse landed on the ground and skidded to a halt in front of the two, allowing both of them to get a closer look at the sphere shaped wound in its chest.
"Looks like that was the last of them," Naruto stated as he walked into the clearing, noticing with no small amount of relief that he had finally reached the temple. 'About damn time,' he thought to himself with annoyance; if it weren't for the fact that he had been attacked by packs of Ursai and Beowolves every two minutes on his way here, he would've reached the temple half an hour ago.
"Hey, Naruto!"
"Hm?" The blonde looked up to see that he wasn't the first person to make it to the temple. Yang waved at him with a smile on her face, her partner standing next to her and examining the Ursa he had killed a moment ago.
Naruto waved back at his fellow blonde, walking towards the stone temple as he observed what were probably the relics they had to obtain, "Had any trouble getting here?" Of course, he already knew all about their trek to the temple as his clones had dispelled a while ago, but appearances had to be kept.
Yang scoffed, a smirk gracing her features. "'Course not, Foxy, though I guess the same could be said for you," she replied, pointing at the corpse of the Ursa which was beginning to evaporate, a small grin of approval on her face.
The blonde Uzumaki began to remove his hood, "It's not like this exam is that di-"
He was rudely cut off by a loud, distinctly feminine scream that rang through the clearing, and judging by the volume, likely also through the rest of the forest. Both he and Yang turned to the source, the latter with a worried expression marring her face, "Some girl's in trouble! Did you hear that Blake?"
The blonde Uzumaki couldn't fault her for believing the scream to be of female origin, after all, not everyone had the improved sense of hearing which he possessed.
"If I'm not mistaken, that was Jaune."
Yang gave him an incredulous look, "Uh...you're kidding, right?"
"As much as I'd like to deny it, for his sake...no, that was definitely Jaune."
"Well, we should still do something," Yang replied, looking back into the direction the scream originated from.
The blonde shrugged; last he knew from the clone shadowing Jaune, he was paired with the red-haired amazoness, who seemed to be very capable, so he didn't worry about him...too much.
Deciding the push those thoughts to the side for the moment, the blonde noticed that Blake was somewhat intently staring into the sky, a slight frown on her face.
"What're you..."
He was cut off as she pointed up. The blonde raised an eyebrow, but simply looked up seeing as she wasn't about to elaborate.
Both his and his tenant's eyes widened a fraction, the latter beginning to bellow loudly, "Brat," the demon fox started, "I think you just got out-Naruto'd." The blonde nodded absently, his gaze still fixed on the sky; up above, beyond the few clouds dotting the sky, was a gigantic Nevermore.
That in and of itself wasn't that odd though, seeing as this was Vale's equivalent of the Forest of Death. What both Blake and Naruto were looking at though, were the two, almost unnoticeable dots sticking to the bird's body, one white and the other a red-black colour.
Yang, blissfully unaware of the fact that her sister was riding a Nevermore, was still turned away from her companions. With worry still evident in her voice, she asked, "Guys, what should we do?"
Her question was met with silence.
The blonde finally turned around, an annoyed frown on her face as she noticed both of them ignoring her in favour of cloud gazing.
"What is wrong with y-" Before she could finish her sentence, both of the two pointed up at the sky, not once taking their eyes off whatever was up there. Her annoyance replaced with confusion, and she looked up to see a black...something. She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look at the thing, which was revealed to be...
"Ruby?!"
Said girl was frantically flailing around with her arms as she continued to fall towards the group, her scream getting progressively louder as she neared them, "HEADS UUUUP!"
As if that wasn't weird enough, another blur proceeded to slam into her, this time a blonde one. Both of them were sent sailing into the trees beyond the clearing.
Blake crossed her arms under her chest, shaking her head while Yang was still in the process of wrapping her head around just what the hell had happened.
"How the hell did they even manage to get on that thing?" A confused Naruto muttered to himself, receiving the answer a few moments later as the memories of the clones he had shadow the two rushed to his mind, also indicating that they had completed their task.
"...Ah."
He decided to go over the details later as Blake asked in her usual monotone, "Did her sister just fall from the sky?"
"Apparently," the blonde replied flatly.
It took a few seconds for Yang's cognitive function to return to her, and as they did she began to speak, "I-"
Before she could formulate her sentence, several loud tremors and the sound of trees being smashed were heard, causing the two blondes and Blake to turn to the source with raised eyebrows. An Ursa stormed out of the tree line, apparently very angry judging by its roars and how it was swiping its claws. The creature was silenced with a blast of pink energy that struck its back, followed by an overly cheerful, "YEEEEE-HAAAAW!"
As the creature fell into the clearing, an orange-haired girl rolled off its back, seemingly having ridden the Grimm into said clearing before its demise.
"Aww...it's broken," she pouted as if her favourite toy had just broken.
'What the hell...?' were the collective thoughts of the three as they watched the eccentric girl appear on the Ursa's neck in a blur of motion, mimicking an airplane. Soon after, another person emerged from behind the carcass, presumably her partner.
He leaned against the corpse, catching his breath and speaking in between pants, "Nora...please...don't ever do that again."
Unfortunately for him, his plea fell on deaf ears as Nora was already gone.
Naruto, Yang and Blake stared at the orange-haired girl as she appeared in the middle of the temple, eyeing a golden rook with wide eyes, obviously fascinated by the shiny thing. Naruto sweat-dropped as she grabbed the piece and began to chant, "I'm queen of the cas~tle, I'm queen of the cas~tle!"
"NORA!" her partner shouted, prompting the girl to cease with her singing and dancing as she dropped the chess piece balanced on her head into her hand, and happily skipped over to the raven-haired teen.
"Coming, Ren!"
Naruto, Yang and Blake simply observed the...peculiar scene, before the raven-haired girl turned to Naruto once again, "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"
"Looks like it."
"I-" Yang opened her mouth, but much to her chagrin, she was rudely interrupted once again. Pyrrha, the red-haired amazoness ran into the clearing, looking for all the world like someone had set hell loose on her heels.
Naruto quickly found that to be true, as hell, which was a gigantic, scorpion-like Grimm in this case, emerged from the tree line behind her, uprooting entire trees as it chased what it had probably deemed to be lunch.
The girl jumped between his pincer in a great display of acrobatics as it took a swipe at her, before continuing to run for her life.
Their attention was once again diverted as Ruby jumped down into the clearing, apparently having recovered from her collision with the tree.
"Ruby!" Yang called.
"Yang!" She called back, throwing her arms up to hug her sister, but before they could commence their sisterly bonding, the orange-haired girl appeared between them, "Nora!"
Naruto and Blake ignored that, their attention still focused on the fleeing amazoness and the Death Stalker hot on her heels.
"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?"
Naruto turned to the raven-haired girl with a deadpan, "You sure like questioning the obvious, don't you?"
Before Blake could reply, Yang decided that she had enough of all the interruptions and exploded...quite literally, "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
Ren and Nora joined the group, while Naruto raised a hand, counting down two seconds before pointing up at the sky, "You really shouldn't have said that." Looking up, the rest of the group noticed a very large Nevermore flying above them, though that wasn't the center of their attention, but rather the girl holding onto its talon for her dear life.
"How could you leave me?!" She called down over the howling winds.
The group stared at Ruby, who grinned sheepishly and shrugged, "I said 'jump'."
"She's gonna' fall," Blake stated the obvious once again.
"She'll be fiiine," Ruby said, though whether she was convinced by that or not was a different matter.
"She's falling," Ren stated.
'Kami, what have I gotten myself into?' Naruto asked himself as he observed the falling form of Weiss. The blonde was about to dash off to catch her, but surprisingly enough, he was beaten to it, and by none other than Jaune at that.
The blonde leapt from the branch he was standing on, catching the heiress with a smug smile, "Just...dropping in?"
Naruto had to give him some credit for that...well, until the two realized that they were still in mid-air, and gravity wasn't about to make an exception for them as they continued falling down to the earth, the blonde screaming, "Oh, noooooo!"
The group flinched slightly as Jaune landed face-first on the ground, and flinched even harder as Weiss landed on top of him with an audible crunch.
The heiress didn't seem to mind in the least though as she examined her nails and mockingly said, "My hero."
"My...back..." Jaune groaned in response.
Behind the two, the Death Stalker was still rampaging in pursuit of its prey, before smacking her to the side with its pincer, as if the girl was little more than an annoying bug.
The red-head was thrown over to the rest of the group, landing at their feet. "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully, causing Naruto to sigh in defeat.
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby shouted, followed by a battle cry as she rushed towards the scorpion-like Grimm, prompting Naruto to facepalm; of all the times to prove that she was able to hold her own in a fight, she just had to pick this particular moment.
"Ruby, wait!" Her sister called out, which fell on the deaf ears as Ruby continued towards the over-sized scorpion.
Using her weapon's recoil, the young girl propelled herself forwards, closing the distance between herself and the Grimm in a few seconds flat. She brought up her scythe, ready to strike...only to be thrown back with a swipe of the Death Stalker's pincer.
Naruto, who watched the 'fight' unfold, shook his head.
'Kurama, be honest with me...was I that bad?'
"Sometimes the truth is better left unspoken, kit."
With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the battle between Ruby and the Death Stalker, if one could even call it that.
"D-D-Don't worry! Totally fine!" She called in a strained voice, her vision swimming slightly from the creature's blow. With no small amount of effort, she managed to stand up, only for her eyes to widen in fear as the Death Stalker was now right behind her, having closed the distance between them during her daze.
Before the creature could take a bite out of her, she unloaded a shot into its face, which only served to irritate the beast as it screeched loudly. Ruby used this chance to retreat, running back to the temple as fast as possible.
That was when Yang rushed forward as well, "Ruby!"
Naruto, who didn't think that it could get any worse at this point, was proven wrong as the Nevermore appeared behind the Deathstalker and Ruby, intent on assisting its fellow Grimm.
With a mighty flap of its wings, it launched a volley of sharpened, black feathers which rained down upon Ruby and Yang, pinning the former to the ground and preventing the latter from advancing.
'Talk about a recipe for disaster...' the blonde Uzumaki thought.
Yang, trapped by the feathers, shouted to her sister, "Ruby, get out of there!"
"I'm trying!" She called, frantically trying to pull her cape free. With a horrified expression, she looked up to see the Deathstalker looming over her, jaws clicking and stinger already preparing to strike.
"RUBY!" Yang shouted, barely registering the two blurs that raced past her.
Ruby clenched her eyes shut as the creature's stinger reared back. The young girl brought her arms up on pure instinct, but she knew it was futile. Her mind went blank as she heard the appendage sail through the air, but, strangely enough, she heard something else too. A voice...deep and commanding, whispering and booming at the same time...
"Kongō Fūsa." (1)
Moments passed, and nothing happened. Was she dead? No, she never felt the stinger pierce her. Cautiously, she cracked an eye open, only to reel back in surprise as she saw the tip of the Death Stalker's golden stinger mere inches from her face. Upon re-focusing her sight, she noticed with wide eyes that the creature was immobilized, pinned down to ground.
Orange, almost ethereal-looking chains were wrapped around the entirety of its body. They sprouted from the ground, crisscrossed over the Grimm, and embedded themselves back into the ground.
"Now that that's out of the way..."
She was shaken out of her awe-induced daze as she heard the voice of...Naruto?
The blonde was standing in front of the Grimm, and Ruby noticed the same chains that were binding the creature seemingly flowing out of his palm and into the ground. Her attention was brought back to him as he spoke.
"Ruby, what you did just now...was beyond stupid." The blonde turned to the girl, his voice stern, but not cold, almost like a parent scolding their child, "Do you think acting as recklessly as you just did will make people treat you like an adult?"
She stared wide-eyed at the blonde in front of her, before lowering her head as he continued.
"Charging into battle headfirst against an opponent you know you cannot defeat on your own will not only get you killed, but will also endanger the lives of your teammates. Is that what you imagine an adult would act like?"
Naruto shifted his gaze.
"And you,"
Ruby looked up to see the blonde looking over her shoulder. As she turned her head, she noticed her partner, Weiss, standing a few feet behind her, Myrtenaster raised in her right hand.
"You've been nothing but a spoiled and arrogant child until now. You treat the people around you like they're little more than nuisances, never even trying to understand or get along with them."
The heiress seemed to want to protest, but Naruto silenced her with a single glare that clearly said, 'no room for discussion'.
"The attitude you've been putting up from the moment I met you is just as likely to get you killed on the battlefield as what she just did."
Following the end of his small rant, an almost palpable silence laid itself upon the three, with both Weiss and Ruby looking down at their feet. A good sign, as far as Naruto was concerned; they were honestly giving what he had told them some thought.
"I'd be laughing at the irony of this whole situation if it weren't so serious."
'Someone had to say it, for their sake.'
Still, the blonde Uzumaki allowed a small smirk to play across his lips. 'Guess you weren't as cold as I thought you were, Snowflake...just a tad too slow though,' he thought amusedly, looking at the rapier she was clutching in her right hand.
Naruto decided to break the silence, "Now, anything you have to say to each other?"
Weiss looked up before turning to Ruby, sighing as she began, "Listen...I know I can be a bit...difficult, at times, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if you quit trying to show off," she seemed to have a slightly difficult time with the next part, but managed to bring it out nonetheless, "I'll be...nicer."
Ruby sighed, "I-I'm not trying to show off...I just want you to know I can do this."
"You're fine."
With that, she began to make her way back to the group, though not before throwing a glance back at Naruto and the immobilized Grimm next to him.
The scythe-wielder breathed a deep sigh of relief before whispering, "Normal knees..." She stood up just in time to see her sister racing towards her, wrapping her up in hug and exclaiming in relief, "So happy you're okay!"
"Glad we've got that sorted out," Naruto said before swinging his arm to the side. The action caused the chains to quickly flow out of his palm until the spiked ends appeared and anchored themselves deeply into the ground.
He turned back to the two sisters, "Come on you two, let's get back to the others," he jerked his thumb at the over-sized scorpion behind him, "My chains won't hold him forever."
The two agreed, and started to make their way back to the temple in relative silence. That silence was shattered into a million pieces as they reached the others, who were staring at him with varying emotion, the most prominent being curiosity as they bombarded him with questions, particularly an orange-haired girl.
"Was that your semblance?! Chains?! That's sooooo cool!" Nora exclaimed as she watched the Death Stalker struggle with its binds.
'Chains' probably weren't that common a semblance, or one at all if they're reactions were anything to go by. "Yes, I suppose you could call it that," the blonde replied as he flexed his hand; he'd never actually used this technique outside of his training, simply because he never needed it, but the moment before was as good as any.
Before the blonde Uzumaki could be bombarded with any more questions, a loud roar resounded above them, the source of which being the Nevermore that was currently in the process of circling back around.
"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna' do?" Jaune asked, visibly nervous.
Weiss was the one to reply, "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." The group turned to look at the relics resting on the pedestals in the temple.
"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs...There's no point in fighting these things." Ruby gave her partner a nod, which the latter returned. The blonde Uzumaki gave them a small smile of approval which only they caught.
"Run and live, that's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Naruto, "Let's just go with 'tactical retreat'."
With that, the one's who hadn't already done so went to grab a relic...all of them except for Naruto, who had noticed something odd as he examined the relics a bit more closely. First off, there were two of each piece and colour, meaning that they obviously had something to with how the teams would be made up, in that pairs with the same pieces would very likely be put together.
Now that he thought about it, Ozpin did tell him that the teams would consist of four people, so it only made sense that they would determine the teams that way.
He looked over his shoulder to the group teens, all having picked and artifact by now. Jaune and Pyrrha had opted for a golden rook, as did Nora and Ren, while the other two teams had taken the golden knights.
And, lo and behold, resting on the two pedestals in front of him was a gleaming, golden knight and an equally shiny, golden rook.
"You're going to regret your choice either way, just pick one," Kurama chuckled in his mind.
Ignoring his tenant, the blonde grabbed one of the relics, rejoining the group after.
"Time we left," Ren said, to which Ruby replied, "Yeah!"
Naruto nodded, dashing off with Ruby while the rest of the group followed close behind. Yang, however, stayed behind, something that Blake noticed as she turned around, "What is it?"
Yang smiled as she watched her sister and Naruto lead the group forward. Blake followed her gaze to the two, and allowed a small smile to grace her features as well.
"Let's go," she said, jerking her thumb at the Death Stalker who had already managed to loosen the grip some of the chains had on it, "From the look of it, those chains won't last much longer."
Both of them nodded, and dashed off after the group, bringing up the rear as they all high-tailed it in the direction of the cliffs, underneath which were ruins similar to those at the temple.
Between the two was a long path, flanked with ruins as well, along with pieces of debris and rubble. Before they could reach the cliff, however, the Nevermore flew past them, casting a shadow down at them as it reached the ruins and perched itself on top of a stone pillar.
The group was forced to split and quickly took cover behind the rubble on either side of the path, watching the Nevermore caw loudly from their hiding places. Naruto had taken the right with Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, while Jaune took the left with Ren, Pyrrha and Nora.
"Well, that's great," Yang said, annoyance evident in her voice.
And as if the fact that the Nevermore hindering their progress wasn't enough, the Deathstalker emerged from the trees behind them, snapping its pincers in agitation as it looked for its lunch that had managed to evade it until now.
"Oh man, run!" Jaune shouted, but before any of them could move, Naruto called, "No! We'll fight!"
Some of them seemed more reluctant than others, but they stayed nonetheless. Naruto took a deep breath, shutting out the Nevermore's cawing and the clicking of the Death Stalker's jaws as he closed his eyes. Memories of his clones once again popped up in his mind, allowing Naruto to scan through them quickly, getting a rough idea of the capabilities of his peers.
When he opened his eyes again, there was something...different about him, something the group couldn't quite place their finger on.
"Jaune!" The blonde shouted across the path, shaking the blonde teen out of his fear-induced daze, "Your team'll take care of that guy," he jerked his head to the direction of the Death Stalker, "We'll take the Nevermore. Think you can manage?"
Apprehension began to show on his face as he looked at the ever-advancing Death Stalker.
"Jaune."
The blonde turned around as he felt a hand on his shoulder, belonging to his partner, Pyrrha, who was giving him a reassuring smile, the determination in her emerald eyes serving to calm his racing heart. "You can do this."
He received a similar look from Ren, while Nora was already taking her combat stance, "Awaiting orders, sir!" She gave him a goofy salute.
With his resolve steeled, the blonde turned back to Naruto, "Got it!" As quickly as they could, the group started to devise a plan of action, while Naruto addressed his own team.
"Ready to take that bird down?"
"You bet!" Yang smirked, her Ember Celica extending over her wrists.
"Of course," Weiss huffed, raising Myrtenaster into the air as the revolver began to spin.
"Let's do this!" Ruby exclaimed, a fire igniting in her eyes as she rammed the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground.
"What's the plan?" Blake asked with a small smirk gracing her lips as she retrieved Gambol Shroud from its sheathe.
Naruto smirked as he regarded the four teens, 'Well, this takes me back.'
Deciding that this wasn't the time for reminiscing, he pushed those thoughts aside for the time-being and spoke, "We need to cross that bridge and get to the ruins, I'll tell you the plan as we move."
Upon receiving an affirmative from them, he called out to Jaune and the others, "You guys ready?"
"Yeah!" His fellow blonde called, unsheathing his sword, Crocea Mors, as he and the others slipped into their respective combat stances, also unsheathing their respective weapons.
"Go! We'll cover you!" He shouted back, after which the four bolted out of their cover, heading straight towards the Death Stalker with each shouting their own battle-cry. This hardly went unnoticed by the Nevermore as it took flight once again, intent on skewering the teens with its feathers.
"Let's go!" Naruto called, rushing out from behind the piece of rubble with the rest of the team close behind, "Yang, Blake, shoot at it with whatever you've got! Weiss, Ruby, lightning bolt!"
The latter two looked at each other with slight confusion, before realizing what the blonde meant, sharing a nod with a smirk gracing their features.
As Yang and Blake cocked their respective weapons, Weiss swung Myrtenaster in front of her, quickly calling upon her semblance. Soon enough, a series of glyphs appeared, each an electric blue in colour with small arcs of lightning racing across them.
Twirling her scythe, Ruby dropped down to one knee before burying the blade's tip into the ground behind her, so as to lessen the recoil. She produced a red magazine with a black markings from a pouch on her hip, jamming it into the sniper-scythe before cocking the rifle and taking aim at the bird.
Naruto, not exactly having much in regards to weapons, slipped two kunai out of the sleeves of his jacket, which earned him an incredulous look from Blake, "Think that'll be enough?"
"Of course not," Naruto replied with a smirk, which Blake returned as she rolled her eyes. They didn't have any time to continue their banter as the Nevermore flapped its wings, causing the group to tense as it unleashed a veritable hailstorm of sharpened, black feathers. With that, they opened fire, "But this should do!"
The blonde hurled the two kunai into the the black cloud of feathers, swiftly flashing through a set of handseals after.
"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (2)
Much to his team's surprise, the two kunai, which seemed to be all but useless against the onslaught of feathery projectiles, turned into a thousand, effectively tipping the scales in their favour as they violently clashed with the deadly cloud of black plumage.
But his attack wasn't the only one that caused some serious damage; while his kunai knocked some feathers off-course and shredded others, Weiss and Ruby's 'Lightning Bolts' tore through them like wet paper, disintegrating the one's they passed as the arcs of lightning jumped from feather to feather. Their combination attack also made up for what Blake and Yang's weapons lacked in firepower and accuracy respectively.
The sounds of thunder cracks and metal clashing against metal resounded through the chasm between the cliff and the group of teens, with no end in sight. But, just as they emptied the last of their ammo hail of black feathers, the onslaught slowly came to an end, with the Nevermore veering off to the side to avoid the attacks that managed to pass through its rain of feathers.
Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake took a moment to catch their breaths, and couldn't help but widen their eyes as they saw just how much damage the clashing attacks had caused; hundreds of feathers lay scattered across the ground before them, some still in one piece while others were charred, shredded or snapped.
Noticing that the Nevermore was no longer blocking their path, Yang called "Now's our chance!" With that, they set out in a dead-sprint across the bridge, intent on crossing it before the Nevermore circled back. Unfortunately for them, the bird-like Grimm wasn't as primitive as some of its brethren, and quickly circled back as it noticed what they were trying to do, intent on smashing the bridge along with the teens.
Were it more intelligent, it would've probably been surprised as two of the five stopped dead in their tracks halfway across the bridge, while the other three, namely Ruby, Yang and Weiss, continued racing across the stone structure. As it was though, the Nevermore simply continued soaring towards them, beak already wide open and intent on devouring the two teens standing on the bridge.
"Are you sure this will work?" Blake asked in a deadpan, somewhat unsure of the blonde's haphazard plan.
"Not really," said blonde replied with a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, causing Blake to sweat-drop as the whiskered teen shrugged, "Only one way to find out though."
That was when Kurama decided to throw in his own two cents, "And you were the one reprimanding that girl about being reckless, what, ten minutes ago?"
Naruto watched the Nevermore heading right towards them, 'Are you,' he crouched low, every muscle in his body a coiled spring, 'telling me,' he shot off the bridge and high into the air, with Blake following as the Nevermore crashed into the structure, 'you've got a better plan?' The two flipped mid-air and landed on the Nevermore's back, debris of the what was once a bridge showering down upon and around them.
Kurama chuckled as the two teens successfully mounted the Grimm, "Several, but I suppose this will show just how far you've come...It's been a while since you've had a...decent opponent."
'This thing counts as 'decent'?' Naruto asked his tenant, raising an eyebrow at the black plumage underneath his feet.
"Hmph, you could kill this insect on your own without breaking a sweat."
'Where's the fun in that, though?' He smirked, before cutting the mental link with his inner demon for the time-being. With a nod that the raven-haired teen next to him returned, both of them ran along the bird's back until they reached its neck. Blake proceeded to swing Gambol Shroud around the Nevermore's throat, allowing Naruto to catch the pistol from where he was standing.
Meanwhile, Weiss, Ruby and Yang had safely reached the ruins, the heiress staring at the Nevermore and its passengers as it took off into the sky with wide eyes, while the other shook her head, one hand resting on her hip.
"So much for all that talk about 'not being reckless'," Weiss huffed, crossing her arms underneath her chest.
Ruby, shaken out of her daze, turned to her partner, "Well...it did work, didn't it?"
Her answer came in form of a glare, to which she smiled sheepishly, before Yang interrupted them,"Come on, let's get into position." With that, the three dashed up to the higher levels of the temple, using their semblances and weapons to quickly climb up the stone pillars.
Back on board of Nevermore airlines, Naruto was just about to call out to his partner before something caught his eye; below them, he saw the battle between Jaune's group and the Death Stalker raging on, and from the look of it, they were winning. Pyrrha had just managed to sever the stinger from its tail, after which Nora got ready to hammer it into its skull. All the while, Jaune was coordinating the team like a natural-born leader...and Ren was passed out on the ground.
The blonde shrugged, 'Guess they aren't too bad after all.' Bringing his attention back to the task at hand, the blonde called over to Blake, "Ready?" His grip tightened around the gun as the raven-haired teen gave him an affirmative. With that, both of them proceeded to pull the black ribbon to the left, using it as a pair of reins to force the bird Grimm to change course. It was now headed straight towards the cliff-face, but however hard it tried to divert, both teens had an iron grip on the ribbon around its neck, forcing it to slam straight into the cliff while the two ran its length and leapt from its tail.
Blake used her Gambol Shroud to safely touch down on the ground, while Naruto simply hopped along the pillars and ruins below, using his chakra to stick to the surfaces of them. Both of them landed next to Ruby and Weiss, while the Nevermore roared in anger and fought to shake its daze away.
As it did, it immediately removed itself from the cliff and flew straight towards the four teens, breaking right through the pillars and structures in its wake. That however, proved to be great mistake; in its anger, it failed to notice the large, blue glyph on the ground, courtesy of a slightly exhausted Weiss. Almost immediately upon entering said glyph, it was suspended in mid air, trying to flap its wings to escape from the prison, but to no avail.
Wasting no time, Yang appeared above the Grimm, crying out as she descended upon it and rammed her fist into its skull, creating a shock-wave that rippled the air above the point of impact. With the glyph gone, the Nevermore fell to stone ground, dazed by the punch. It wasn't granted any time to recover though as Naruto stood right in front of its face, cracking his knuckles with an almost vicious grin on his face before delivering a chakra-enhanced uppercut that sent the massive bird flying into the air, testament to the strength behind the punch.
Again, without wasting any time, the onslaught continued, this time by Blake, who used the ribbon of her weapon to swing herself towards the Nevermore, who was trying to use the upward momentum from the blonde's punch to escape. That notion was all but lost as Blake extended the blade of Gambol Shroud, turning it into a katana before cleanly slicing through a vital spot in the bend of its wing.
The Nevermore once again shrieked in pain, barely able to hover over the ruins. Taking advantage of this, Ruby and Weiss launched another combined attack at the creature. Instead of lightning bolts though, this time, chunks of ice were sent flying at the Grimm, encasing its body further and further in an icy prison with each shot.
By the time Ruby had completely emptied her magazine, the Nevermore was little more than a block of ice, which proceeded to fall down into the ruins.
Before it could do so, however, Naruto appeared under it, raising one hand with a victorious smirk plastered across his face as the ethereal orange chains shot out from his palm, spiraling their way upward and drilling into the chunk of ice that was the Nevermore.
Time seemed to slow down as cracks spider-webbed across the surface of the ice encasing the bird.
Suddenly though, the ice prison exploded along with the creature inside, the aftermath of which could only be described as morbidly beautiful; snowflakes, some black, some red and some pure white began to fall, raining down upon the ruins below the cliff and being carried away by the gusts of wind above the chasm.
One thought was going through the minds of everyone present as they stared at the spectacle with looks of pure amazement on their faces.
'Wow.'
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." The voice of professor Ozpin echoed through the auditorium, along with the cheering and clapping of the audience. Profiles of the aforementioned students appeared on the two screens, with the four teens lined up in front of the headmaster. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by...Cardin Winchester!"
The audience gave a wave of ovation to the four teens, who then vacated the podium as the second team walked up to it.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR."
Nora giggled happily as she jumped her childhood friend, hugging him as he smiled slightly. Once again, the crowd applauded the newly formed team before Ozpin continued, announcing the leader of team JNPR, "Led by...Jaune Arc!"
Said person's eyes widened in surprise at that, "Huh? L-Led by...?" He trailed off as Ozpin offered him a small smile, "Congratulations, young man."
The blonde looked down to see Naruto giving him a small grin, followed by a quick nod.
Before he could respond to that, Pyrrha offered him a wide grin and a friendly punch to the shoulder, which threw the blonde flat on his rear and earned him a round of laughter from the audience. Team JNPR then also left the stage, allowing the last team that passed the initiation to take their place.
"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Naruto Uzumaki." The professor gave them a slightly mischievous smile before continuing, "The five of you retrieved the white knight pieces, and due to...special circumstances, you will form a team of five." The smile left his face as it returned to its fairly neutral expression, "From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBYN. (3) Led by...Ruby Rose!"
The crowd erupted in applause one last time while Yang wrapped her sister up in a hug, happily exclaiming, "I'm so proud of you!" Weiss seemed surprised by the fact that Ruby was granted the position of leader, while Blake simply took the revelation with her usual stoic expression.
As for Naruto, he wasn't all that surprised; Ruby did have potential as a leader, though logic still would've dictated him to be assigned that position, seeing as he was far more experienced than his peers. But, then again, the man in front of him wasn't exactly known for his outstanding sense of logic, as far as Naruto was concerned, at least.
The blonde pushed those thoughts aside, offering the young scythe-wielder next to him a short congratulation along with a smile, which she returned.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year," Ozpin muttered amidst the last round of applause, before addressing a certain blonde, "Ah, Mr. Uzumaki," Naruto, who was just walking down the podium, turned around with a raised eyebrow, absently motioning for his team to continue on.
"If you wouldn't mind, a word in my office, please."
'Why do I have the feeling that I'll have to join him whether I do or don't mind?'
"Because that's exactly the case."
'...Kami damn it.'
AN:
(1): Adamantine Sealing Chains. Yes, he's able to use them in this fic.
(2): Kunai Shadow Clone Technique
(3): RWBYN = Rubin, which is German for, you guessed it, 'ruby'. It's pronounced ru-been.
Well, that was a long-ass chapter. Let me know what you thought about team RWBYN's battle against the Nevermore. Was by far the most difficult battle I've ever written, seeing as it involved a gigantic bird and five people, all of which had to be incorporated into the fight in one way or another, without dividing the action unevenly or just copying the original fight with some alterations. Also, I still have to decide on a weapon for Naruto, so feel free to drop a suggestion in the reviews section.
Looking forward to reading the feedback.
Haine out.