Shattered World
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Cardinal led by Cardin Winchester." Applause rang out in the hall as Team CRDL walked off stage and Naruto's group walked up.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos." His team stood at attending before the headmaster "The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Nirvana, led by Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto nodded his consent while Pyrrha smiled and punched him in the arm good-naturedly as Nora clinged on to Ren. Team NRVN moved off the stage as Ruby's team came up behind them.
"And finally Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you recovered the White Knight pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team Ruby led by Ruby Rose."
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin said as the crowd began clapping for the newly instated Team RWBY.
000
Naruto sat on his new bed as he watched his team organize the stuff in their room. His bad was on the far left next to Pyrrha's while Ren and Nora claimed the other half of the room. He had pretty much given Pyrrha ownership of his quarter of the room to do with as she please as everything he owned was sealed up somewhere on his body.
"So you really carry all your stuff under your skin?" Nora asked as she bounced on her bed.
"No, my storage seals are like a window to an artificially created pocket-space. I put stuff in and it stays there until I take them out." Naruto explained to her.
"And they look like those cool tattoos?" Nora asked as she pointed at a few designs on his bare arms. His seals were in clear view having taken off his coat and armor in favor of the black tank-top he wore underneath for comfort.
Glancing at his arms and the numerous seals that danced along with his many scars from years of service to Konoha he gave a simple nod. "Essentially, each seal does something different but they do need to be written. Either on a surface, skin, clothes or sometimes even in the air if you can project your aura enough."
"So if we combine your sealy-thingies, your super win dagger of awesomeness and those things, you can pretty much counter anyone right?" Nora asked as she pointed at the two devices resting on his night stand.
They were his answer for how he could use jutsu. Dust launchers, they worked in a way similar to Weiss' rapier in that it holds multiple dust varieties and can shoot out a spray of powdered dust.
He just made up a little lie that his aura was special in that it could directly manipulate powdered dust into attacks and he had a cover story for any elemental jutsu he may need to use.
"In theory yes." In truth Naruto didn't really need any of that, his Truth-seeking balls would be more than any human currently alive could overcome but the Grimm were another story. He knew they were made of corrupted nature chakra and while diluted the nevermore's quills still managed to dent his truth-shield even if it couldn't pierce it.
A strong enough hit from a powerful Grimm might be enough permanently damage or outright destroy one of his truth-seeking balls and that would really annoying since he only has and will only ever have, nine.
He was suddenly drawn from his thoughts as Nora asked him something else "Sorry what was that?"
"I was asking if I could have some of those sealy-thingies." She pleaded with a puppy dog look.
"For what reason?" He didn't really mind, theoretically she should be able to use a seal as Aura was a diluted version of Yang chakra and Semblance its Yin counterpart. If she managed to combine them it's possible for her to simulate chakra.
"Weeeeell..."
"She wanted to use them to store extra pancakes inside..." Ren said in a tone that he was far too used to her shenanigans.
Naruto shook his head "Sorry Nora, food and other perishables do still expire within a seal. You'll just have a bunch of moldy bread."
"Wait, how would it mold? I thought you said that your seals artificially create a space, how could they possibly be contaminated that quickly?" Pyrrha asked.
"Well I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure there are gems and pollen and all that stuff in the air regardless and it gets on the stuff while its outside of the seal then while in it's in the seal it can basically multiply to its hearts content since its a sealed environment." Naruto said with a shrug "Don't quote me on any of that though, I honestly don't know, all I know is that I lost a lot of good ramen that way."
"Well that's a downer. Cant you just make a seal that makes your other seal work like a refridgerator?" Nora suggested causing Naruto to blink.
"Technically... yes? Possibly. I suppose it's possible if I integrated ice dust into the fridge seal... hmmm I'll have to get back to you on that Nora, but I'll definitely give it some thought." Naruto spoke as he began mentally designing the seal.
Nora saluted "Gotcha boss!" that was good enough for now, if he managed it then she could carry all the delicious pancakes she could ever want on her person and if not, well then there's always Ren.
Pyrrha glanced over at Naruto as he laid on his bed too deep in thought to notice anything else. She found that she liked this pensive Naruto, he looked rather cute. A blush formed on her cheeks and she quickly looked away to get in under control.
She couldn't deny that Naruto was handsome, clearly skilled and more importantly he was her first friend here simply because he wanted to be not because she was 'The Invincible Girl.'
While being quite popular due to her skill most boys seemed too intimidated to speak to her or far more concerned trying to impress her for her to take any interest in them but Naruto wasn't like that at all... he was just Naruto. A grinning, mildly sarcastic but genuinely nice person.
She also never really had any guy flirt with her like Naruto had this morning while they were on his fan. It was... nice, to just act like a normal seventeen year old girl for once. Naruto easily disregarded most pretenses of formality and just seemed to do whatever amused him, it was actually pretty refreshing being next to someone who could be so casual with her.
Having gotten control over her thoughts and cheeks once more she chanced a last glance over at Naruto before they went to sleep. It seems as though he dozed off sometime during his thoughts. She thought as she made herself comfortable and closed her eyes.
000
Naruto awoke relatively early, glancing over at the clock it was six in the morning. His teammates were all still dozing away so he decided not to bother them changed into a black jumpsuit so he can take a quick morning jog.
"Hmmm?" Pyrrha moaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Naruto?"
"Sorry for waking you Pyrrha, just going out for a jog go back to sleep. I'll wake you guys in an hour." Naruto
"Wait." She called out softly drawing his attention "I'll join you in a minute, just allow me to get ready first."
Naruto gave her a nod and waited outside until she came out again in sweat pants and a jacket. "Normally people choose sleep when the option is given to them." He said with a smile.
Pyrrha smiled back and followed him down the hall "I was already awake, I would not have been able to fall back asleep."
"Well I guess it will be nice to have some company for a change." Naruto said as they reached the gates of the school. She followed him in a comfortable silence as they jogged through the school yard and we're nearing the school's harbor. "I was planning on jogging down to the docks and back up."
Pyrrha blinked "Isn't the way down to the docks a long flight of stairs?"
"Yup." She never noticed the grin on his face.
"I... see." She suddenly got a bad feeling Perhaps I should have chosen sleep.
000
An hour later Naruto was calmly walking through the school's halls as Pyrrha dragged herself along behind him. "That was a fun jog, we should make it longer next time."
I believe Naruto is trying to kill me. Pyrrha thought with a grimace as she held her aching side, if she never sat a set of stairs again it would be too soon.
Naruto caught the slight whimper come from her at the thought of doing that again, he was glad that she was behind him and couldn't see the mischievous foxy smile on his face. He put her through a chuunin-level pace and she did fairly well though her stamina could do with some work.
The problem with someone stomping on competition so quickly being that they weren't used to long drawn out conflicts. He'll have to work on her stamina when he began putting his team through the paces.
Even if he didn't take any of this seriously, he'll be damned if his team is second-place to anyone.
Opening the door to their room he walked in just in time to catch Ren waking up. "Morning Ren, we got an hour until breakfast and another until first class in case you want to wake Nora or let her sleep for a while longer."
"Nora will wake up when she wants to, trying to wake her ends up with a fist landing somewhere uncomfortable." Ren grumbled as he got up.
"Good to know." Naruto said as he sat down on his bed just as Pyrrha entered the room with a groan and promptly fell on the bed.
Ren raised an eyebrow "What's wrong with her?"
Naruto grinned mischievously "I'm pretty sure Pyrrha developed an intense loathing for stairs today."
"Okay...?" Naruto didn't seem like he was going to elaborate so Ren settled for getting his uniform ready.
"Well I'm going to go take a shower, I'll be back in a few." Ren nodded at his captain as he glanced worried towards Pyrrha. For whatever reason he felt as though he too would soon develop a hatred of stairs.
"Hopefuly not." Ren murmured as he picked up a towel and went to go take a shower himself.
000
Team NRVN eventually made it to breakfast, though Pyrrha wouldn't stop scowling at Naruto who simply smiled and took her anger in stride. "I feel like pancakes today, what about you Nora?"
"Pancakes!" Nora agreed with a cheer, bless her hyperactive one-track mind.
Naruto followed after the hammer wielder as she began subtly stealing stacks of pancakes from other sections of the table and set them in a place big enough for all four of them.
"So we have classes today until four-thirty. I was think we spend an hour afterwards working on whatever work they may give us then hit the training rooms and learn a bit more about each other's fighting styles so we can better work as a team." If there was one thing... well really the only thing Kakashi taught them, it was teamwork.
"That's a good idea, Nora and I know plenty about how the other fights but we know nothing about either of you other than what we saw in the forest." Ren spoke as he began pouring some syrup on his pancakes.
"So Pyrrha why are you mad at the boss?" Nora asked between bites.
Her scowl intensified and Naruto could almost feel the heat from her glare on the side of his head. "Pyrrha volunteered to join me on a light jog this morning." Naruto answered with a serene smile before beginning on his own stack of pancakes.
Pyrrha huffed and turned towards her own food "If you call that light I would rather not see what you consider a hard workout."
"Oh you'll see soon enough my dear team," Naruto told them with an eye-smile that even Nora instinctively recognized as 'Not good' "There are ten teams this year and I intend for us to be the best amongst them."
"Why does that not give me a good feeling?" Ren asked with a fearful look.
Naruto's eyes cracked open a sliver and his team shivered at the look he was giving them, "You'll learn to ignore the pain eventually."
Nora looked like she was about to cry, Ren gulped and Pyrrha zoned out murmuring 'no more stairs, no more stairs.'
Oh yes, the next few weeks were going to be hell for his team.
000
Two lights shone over the competitors, one orange haired and the other blonde. They had been at this school for close to two months now and they were finally starting on Duels.
Cardin narrowed his eyes at his opponent, he only held a small knife but he was too quick to land a solid blow on. Meanwhile Naruto nodded to himself, he had seen enough and would know how Cardin would attack.
While he could have just curb-stomped him if he wanted he decided to limit his skill to around a chuunin-level seeing as that was a high-average around here. He subtly cloned his dagger using the chakra rod metal and hid the second up his left sleeve.
Cardin charged with a yell and an overhead strike. Heh, predictable.
Naruto blocked the large mace with his truth-dagger, the weapon biting deeply into Cardin's lesser quality weapon. Everyone seemed amazed that he could even hold the much larger weapon back with just his small dagger but this was trivial to him.
He suddenly parried the weapon back with force that staggered Cardin and slipped his left dagger into his hand, slashing across Winchester's chest plate enough to cut through it and leave a small red line across his chest.
Using the momentum he spun and smashed his right elbow into Cardin's unprotected gut. "Gah!" The orange haired teen grunted as he was thrown off his feet and landed on his back.
Suddenly the lights turned on and Glynda walked to the middle of the stage. "That will be enough, winner Naruto Uzumaki." The screens above showed Cardin in the red while Naruto's aura bar was still full.
Team NRVN clapped for their captain as Glynda explained how the Aura system works in tournament style duels. "Remember everyone, the Vital festival is only a few months away. It wont be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."
The bell rang just as Naruto joined his team and team RWBY who were stood next to them. "Awesome job boss, you smashed him like a pancake!"
"Yeah! You totally kicked his butt!" Ruby cheered.
"Well done, Naruto." Pyrrha congratulated with a smile.
"Thanks everyone, now let's get to lunch I'm pretty hungry today." Naruto said as he led the groups out to the eating area.
000
"So there we were..." Nora began "In the middle of the night."
"It was day." Ren corrected.
"We were surround by Ursai-" Yang seemed enraptured by the start of the story.
"They were beowolves."
"Dozens of them!" Nora proclaimed as she stood up dramatically.
"Two of em."
"But they were no match! And in the end Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling ursa skinned rugs." Nora finished with a grin.
Ren sighed "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
Naruto wasn't paying much attention as he was more focused on Cardin and his goons. They were messing with a faunus girl with bunny ears and he seemed extra obnoxious today, likely to make himself feel better after getting his ass handed to him.
His eyes narrowed when the orange-haired teen went to grab the girl's ears and his truth-dagger was flying through the air before he knew it. Cardin yelped as the blade sunk into his armguard deep enough to reach the skin underneath.
Silvery activated seals littered the weapon restricting it's ability to disintegrate and turning into nothing more than an almost indestructible and incredibly sharp blade.
"Ah! Shit!" Cardin grit his teeth and pulled out the weapon, seeing a bit of blood on the tip.
"Oh I'm sorry Cardin, my hand slipped." Naruto said as he picked up his dagger "Though you really shouldn't pick on girls like that, makes you look like an even bigger waste of space than you really are."
"What did you say punk?" Cardin growled as he stood up along with his cronies.
Naruto gently guided the bunny girl out of the way and stood face to face with Cardin. "I said that you're a pathetic excuse for human life and should do everyone a favor and bury yourself in an eight-foot hole."
Cardin smiled maliciously and after a moment he swung his fist only for it to be caught in Naruto's iron grip. Winchester flinched as the pressure on his fist began increasing "Ah!" and he was being forced back down from the pain.
"Settle down Cardin," His sharp glare turned to the other three sitting across the table "You too." The other members of CRDN did as they were told and sat back down with a quickness.
"Ah, ah, ah" Carding yelped as he kneeled on the ground.
"Now Cardin, I don't know why you're a bully. Maybe daddy never hugged you or mommy didn't love you enough? Quite frankly I don't care, but your shit stops now or I'm going to start bullying you and trust me when I say-"
"AH!" The others winced as they heard some popping coming from Cardin's hand.
"I'm a lot stronger than you." Naruto finished and let go of the teen's fist and walked back to his own group.
"Um th-thank you for helping me." A timid voice spoke from behind him after he sat down. Turning around his blue eyes met the bunny girl's brown ones which quickly looked away and watched curiously as her cheeks reddened and her arms linked together in front of her. Pale skin covered in a blush, closed off stance, shy demeanor.
Oh my god, It's Hinata! He mentally exclaimed. "No problem." Naruto said after his brain mentally rebooted a moment later. "Winchester was being an even bigger toolbag than usual today because of me and you shouldn't have to suffer for it."
"I- I see, well th-thank you nonetheless." With that her head and ears flopped down in a form of bow before taking off, her blush seeming to have calm down but traces of it could still be seen.
"Hmm," Naruto hummed to himself as his team and Ruby's watched him "She reminds me of an old friend of mine." He said offhandedly as he took a baby carrot from Pyrrha's salad and popped it in his mouth.
"Who?" Pyrrha asked.
Naruto was about to answer but thought better of it and shook his head "You wouldn't know her." He said with a tone of finality. Everyone I once knew has been dead for hundreds of years... damn.
Ren watched as his captain went into one of those moods again, like he was recalling something sad from long ago. The team had learned that when Naruto entered this state he would become lost in his thoughts for quite some time. "Well anyway we should probably finish eating, we have Professor Oobleck's class in twenty minutes."
Everyone agreed while Pyrrha looked at Naruto with a concerned expression. He had been zoning out a lot more lately and it was starting to worry her. "Naruto?"
"Hmmm?" Came the usual reply when he was in this state, like he was just on autopilot.
"Are you alright?" She tried asking.
"Yes." She was sure she wouldn't get anything more out of him than that so instead went back to finishing her lunch.
"What up with him?" Yang asked as she watched Naruto eat with robotic efficiency. "It's kinda creepy."
"Oh, we have reason to believe that the boss is actually a robot and every once in awhile his personally chip fries out and he goes into his robo-mode where he looks like that." Nora answered with a grin. "He usually falls asleep afterwards and reboots as normal Naruto."
"No one but you has reason to believe that Nora." Ren added.
Ruby's eyes widened "But what if he was a robot?"
Weiss facepalmed.
Naruto's eyes unblurred as he looked around the table at the smiling friends, reminding him of an age long past.
Yang reminded him of Kiba. Loud and brash but loyal to a fault.
Blake was like Shino, always calm and composed and seeking out the shadows.
Weiss and Ino would probably be good friends if they ever met.
Ren was much like Neji after he kicked that stick out of his ass.
The ever excitable and friendly Nora was much like Lee.
Pyrrha was like a mix of Sakura, Hinata and Tenten. Strong like Sakura, kind like Hinata and skilled like Tenten.
Then Ruby, the little kid who wanted to desperately prove herself to her peers. She reminded him of himself. She hid it well but he could see the crushing loneliness behind that smile, one he often wore in his youth.
So then, who was he? He could no longer claim to truly be Naruto Uzumaki, he died long ago with all of his friends. These new people they... they weren't truly his friends. How could they be when everything he's told them has been one lie after another.
No, he was simply here for his mission. Earth called him here for a reason but he sorely doubted it was to make friends. With a sigh he stood up, these thoughts had been plaguing him more and more recently and with having met the bunny-Hinata earlier it only kickstarted them back again and to make matters worse his best friend had yet to awaken from his own slumber.
"Naruto?" Pyrrha asked as she watched him stand up.
"I'll meet you guys at Oobleck's." Was all he said as he left the hall.
