AN: Sorry for the wait, people! Life got in the way once again, and I also wanted to make sure this chapter was up to snuff because of this long wait. A few changes to Canon await you this chapter, but I shan't spoil them or keep you much longer! ONWARDS!
Chapter 4: We Meet Again…
"You know…" Naruto sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose as the airship he was on lurched a bit. "I'm starting to regret bringing you along…"
"Hey, hey!" The person beside him raised his hands in defense. "You were bound to come begging me for help at some point! Can't leave your partner out of the loop here, can you?"
"Blake was my partner. You were her replacement." A headache was now starting to form.
"And I made a damn good replacement, if I do say so myself!"
"I swear to almighty God, Frost…"
"Speaking of Blake…" Frost's demeanor changed minutely from jovial to serious, befitting the topic. "What are we going to do if we find her?"
"Leave her to me. She may not know it yet, but she's to play a part in my plans. So just take a backseat when and if we find her."
"Still can't believe you're actually gonna infiltrate Beacon yourself. I mean, I know that old man accepted you, unknowing of your alias, but still… this is crazy even by my standards."
Yes, both Naruto and Frost were on the way to Beacon via an airship. Naruto had been personally evaluated and invited to attend by Ozpin himself, whereas Frost had applied and was accepted after his not-so-legit file was looked over. Thankfully, his forged documents passed inspection and he was accepted without any difficulty.
Speaking of Frost, he was a man who stood at an equal height to Naruto at 5'10" and was an equal age at 17. Also a snow fox Faunus and a member of the White Fang, most of their fellows considered them brothers, taking into account their similar stature and build… maybe also the fact that Frost had bleach white hair that seemed to be just as spiky as Naruto's, complete with a pair of white fox ears atop his crown. He had slightly pale skin, icy blue eyes, and two scars, a vertical one that ran down his chin and a horizontal one which went across his left cheek towards his chin.
His attire consisted of a simple short-sleeved white muscle shirt, black combat pants, a black leather utility belt which had two holsters on either side, white steel-toed boots that had black soles and laces, black fingerless gloves, a white leather jacket which was zipped up and had an image of a stylized black sabretooth tiger upon its back. Upon both of his ears were a pair of diamond studs and around his neck hung an amulet similar to Naruto's, but instead of a sapphire, a diamond was its centerpiece. Within the two holsters were a pair of silver semi-automatic pistols that, if he were to transform them, would turn into a pair of silver trench knives.
"If it's crazy to you, then I must be doing something right." Naruto shot a smirk over to his best friend.
"You are doing something right. You landed a chick as hot as that Neo girl! Granted, she's a human, but she's hot for a human! Good on you, I say!"
"Meanwhile you're content with a life full of one-night stands and a future full of wondering if you're a Dad?"
"Pffft." Frost scoffed. "Life's way too short for regrets, so I say live it up while you can!"
"I still remember when Blake shot you down that one time…"
"Hey." He shrugged. "I had to give it a shot."
"Speaking of one-night stands…" Naruto began as he spotted a familiar blonde.
"Huh?" Frost followed Naruto's line of sight to where she was standing. "You? And HER?!"
"What? OH! No! Well… I mean, it very nearly did happen, but…" A light blush made its way to Naruto's cheeks to his own dismay.
"And does Neo know about this?"
"Neo was there when it nearly happened."
"…"
"…"
"… Horndog."
"Look who's fucking talking!" Naruto snapped.
"You're so easy to fuck with, bro." Frost smirked.
"M-Minato?!" Yang called out to Naruto in surprise as she all but plowed through a short redhead.
"Yang." Naruto inclined his head in a slight bow. "Fancy seeing you here of all places."
"What are you doing here?! And why did you run out on our dance last week?!"
"Minato? Seriously?" Frost deadpanned. "That's the best you could come up with?"
"I was borderline drunk, cut me some slack!" Naruto snapped at Frost before turning his attention back to Yang. "It seems that last week, I had a bit too much to drink and in my inebriated state, I might or might not have called myself by my Father's name."
"Then… what's your real name?"
"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He extended his hand towards the blonde brawler. "A pleasure to make your re-acquaintance, Yang."
"Pleasure's still all mine, Whiskers." Yang had to stop herself from purring as she shook his hand. "Who's your friend?"
"Frost Schwarz." Frost introduced himself and mock bowed. "I'm this idiot's long-time friend and also the more handsome of our duo."
"I don't know…" Yang tapped a playful finger against her chin. "Whiskers here's a natural blonde and he has those whisker marks…"
"He's also taken."
"…"
"…"
"… Huh?"
"About that, Frost…" Naruto began, his attention turned to his partner in crime. "Nicole and I are no longer involved." He sent a stare to his fellow Faunus which screamed 'play along'. "We had a pretty big fight recently over which Academy I'd be attending. She wanted to go to Haven while I settled on Beacon. Needless to say, we've gone our separate ways."
"Ah. Damn." Frost feigned disappointment. "You two really did look good together."
"So, you're back on the market, eh?" Yang asked while unconsciously licking her lips.
"I… guess I am." Naruto concluded with a thoughtful look on his face before a short red figure shifted behind Yang. "Uhh… Yang? There's a tiny red blob behind you. Care to explain?"
"This…" Yang began while dragging the redhead out so she was standing in front of her. "Is my baby sister! Ruby, this is Naruto, the handsome blonde I mentioned who ran out on me."
"You're here to become a Huntsman as well?" Ruby asked after a hesitation.
"That's the plan." Naruto confirmed with a nod. "I was handpicked by Ozpin himself to join, whereas Frost here had to put in an application."
"Still pissed about that…" Frost faked anger for the sake of their charade.
"You can't be more than fifteen, Ruby." Naruto noted, opting to ignore his friend. "What did you do to get bumped up two years?"
"I uhh… I kinda stopped a Dust shop from being robbed."
'So, it was her that tore through Roman's men… she's rather unassuming, but for her to get the drop on not only Roman, but Cinder as well… I need to keep a close eye on her.'
"A little girl beat a bunch of grown men?" Frost asked, a laugh tugging at his voice to hide his own shock.
"That's what I said." Yang chimed in. "Though in my sister's own defense, she's anything but ordinary."
Before Naruto could respond, the hologram projectors onboard the airship lit up to reveal the image of a blonde woman who looked like she was into the librarian fetish fuel, though Naruto recognized her as Glynda Goodwitch. The image of the woman opened its mouth to speak, but instead began to flicker in and out a couple times before disappearing completely, causing a wave of murmurs to sound throughout the airship.
In place of the previous image of Glynda came another image of a man who was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with red highlights here and there underneath a deep silver breastplate which also had red highlights, simple black pants were tucked into a pair of deep red knee-high leather boots which were reinforced with silver armor over the knees and shins, black gloves covered his hands and were covered at the wrist and forearm by a pair of silver bracers which shared in the red highlights of the breastplate and reinforced knuckles. Around his waist sat a utility belt which had a silver hourglass as its belt buckle and a polished black steel object hanging from one of the loops by his left hip which looked like the hilt of some weapon, but there was no visible blade attached to it.
But the most striking feature about this man was what he wore over his face to obscure his identity. It was made from a black steel material which held the red highlights of the rest of his armor and it seemed to cover his entire head. It became angular and a bit jagged as it reached the area where his mouth was supposed to be and it continued to angle down to form a pseudo-chin. A straight line of what looked to be reinforced glass made up a visor which no one could see through, as it seemed to be pitch black in color. And this entire ensemble was topped off by a black hooded cloak which was draped over his shoulders and clasped together by a silver chain and he currently had the hood pulled up.
As soon as the image of this man popped into view, the entire airship went quiet as the black-clad man linked his arms behind his back.
"People of Remnant…" The figure began in a deep synthetic voice that was undoubtedly thanks to his mask. "Your Kingdoms have tried to suppress knowledge about me, and they have failed. They don't want you to know about me, about who and what I am. I have always been here, but I choose now to reveal myself to you, the general populace."
"Who is this guy?" Yang asked while giving the figure a once over.
"Naruto, his weapon looks similar to yours…" Ruby noted as she stared at the black hilt and compared it to Naruto's silver variants.
"Because I helped him build it." Naruto answered while staring at the figure in anger… well, it was fake anger, but he had to be convincing.
Before Ruby could ask who the figure was, she got her answer when the hologram spoke up once again. "My name is irrelevant, but if you must label me, you all may call me Specter. I am that which has been in the shadows, I am that which is the cause of everything that has occurred in recent times. I am the puppeteer pulling the strings and recently, there have been efforts to try and cut my strings. So, I come here before you all today, in the flesh, with a warning and a promise. I first warn the Kingdoms to stay out of my way, lest there be consequences for their actions. And my promise goes to the Hunter Academies of the world. Independence will be yours. Independence will be everyone's."
"Independence?" Queried Frost in fake confusion. "Independence from what? This guy's off his rocker."
"Independence from a corrupt system that has outlived is purpose. The Kingdoms will fall and be rebuilt from the ground up. That is my promise and my warning." Specter continued. "All that's left to be seen is if my warnings will go unheeded. For the sake of Remnant, let us hope that they don't. My name is Specter… and this has been a message to the people of Remnant."
With that, the hologram of Specter disappeared from the screen, which went blank and powered down.
"Great." Yang scoffed. "We get a pep talk from some crazy terrorist on our first day. Totally looking forward to this year already."
"He's not wrong." Naruto admitted, gaining two confused stares from the sisters. "I can sympathize with what he said… because of these." He then motioned to his fox ears and a look of realization found its way onto Yang and Ruby's faces. "If you blame me for wanting change, then all I have to say is try living with these things for one day and then tell me it doesn't change you."
"Yeah…" Yang began after clearing her throat. "I can see why. It's just that with the way that Specter guy was talking, he might just make things worse while trying to make it better."
"So, there's really a brain underneath all that blonde fuzz?" Naruto amusedly asked.
"Shut up." She returned with a playful punch to the arm.
"Well, well… look what the Beowolf dragged in." Called out another voice just as the airship lurched, signaling its landing.
"Merc!" Naruto greeted him with a fist bump. "You and Em actually made it!"
"Please, for the love of Dust…" Emerald began with a faceplam. "Don't you two start up…"
"Other friends of yours, Whiskers?" Yang asked.
"Yep. Yang, meet Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Merc, Em, this is Yang Xiao Long and her sister Ruby Rose. Be careful of the short one, she stopped a Dust robbery." Naruto finished his sentence with subtle emphasis and a light glare.
"I heard about that." Mercury started with a smirk. "I also heard it was Roman Torchwick who got owned. Nice job, shorty."
"I am NOT short!" Ruby pouted as the group of six began to disembark from the airship together.
"But you're not tall, either." Frost added to the conversation.
"Therefore, you're short." Naruto concluded.
"Keep drinking your milk, Rubes. You'll grow up someday." Yang decided to tease her sister with a couple of pats to the head.
"I'll be taller than you all one day!" Ruby declared dramatically. "I swear it!" She decided to finish her dramatic declaration with an equally dramatic spin… only she ended up running into someone's luggage, which resulted in a rainbow of colors to erupt from just one suitcase.
"Watch where you're going!" The owner of the luggage admonished the young Rose.
"I'm sorry!" Ruby immediately apologized as she stood up straight into a cloud of lingering Dust.
"Yang, you're sister's about to explode." Naruto deadpanned as he turned to find Yang missing.
"She has the right idea, Naruto…" Mercury said as he began walking away.
"Cheese it!" Frost declared as he shot off in the direction of the amphitheater, followed closely by Mercury, Naruto and lastly Emerald.
A muffled explosion then resounded throughout the courtyard, which made the four teens cringe a bit as they arrived in the amphitheater.
"Poor girl." Emerald shook her head. "Getting involved like she did."
"Shame, too. She seemed pretty nice." Mercury then shrugged. "Ah well, what can you do?"
"Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll die during whatever our Initiation will be." Frost offered. "Save one of us the trouble of offing her."
"One thing at a time." Naruto counseled his group. "Either way, she'll be of use to us… although it is true she'd be of more use to us as a corpse."
"I'll make it quick." Emerald declared.
"No." Naruto then adopted a thinking pose. "Let her live for now. She foiled Roman, which has piqued my interest in her. Cinder may want her dead, but I'm belaying whatever order she's sure to have given you two."
"I know that look, Naru." Frost said. "You have a plan, don't you?"
"A reckless one, as it all depends on the Initiation as a whole. If things go the way I think they will, it's checkmate for me in this instance."
"And as for the overall game?" Emerald asked.
"If I achieve checkmate here, then in the overall game… I've just moved up one of my pawns. It will slightly further our plans, but it's a necessary throw away move which will either set future events up for me or be a sacrifice."
"And here's the man of the hour." Mercury sarcastically stated as Ozpin and Glynda took their positions on stage.
(Beacon Ballroom: Some time later)
"Would you three stop trying to impress the girls?" Emerald sighed in exasperation.
There before her were Naruto, Mercury and Frost dressed in their pajamas. Naruto was wearing a rust orange tank top that had the Uzumaki clan swirl sewed in the center of the front and some black lounge pants, Mercury was sporting a black tank top and some gray lounge shorts and Frost had on a white t-shirt and some simple black pants.
"We could say the same about you, Em." Mercury shot back.
"You're practically screaming 'Hey, I'm single and desperate!' with what you have on right now." Frost added to the teasing, then let out a wolf whistle.
Emerald was wearing a frame fitting green tank top which was hugging her rather impressive frame perfectly and dark gray lounge shorts which were slightly baggy.
"I swear, if either of you three start staring at my tits…" She warned in a deadpan tone.
"Well… they're kinda out there, Em." Naruto reasoned and was rewarded with a pillow being thrown at his face.
"S-Shut up!" She fired back at him with a light blush dusting her cheeks.
"Oh!" Frost exclaimed. "Merc and I can't stare, but he can?!"
"Neo's gonna love this…" Merc snickered.
"Great. First Em starts checking me out and now Yang…" Naruto sighed in fake exasperation as he noticed Yang's not so subtle eyes roaming over him once again. "What is a man to do when he has garnered the attention of multiple girls? Woe is me for not having a solution…" He then mock stretched, which in turn made his tank top ride up a bit, exposing just a teasing glance of his six pack underneath.
In one instant, it seemed like over a dozen thunks were heard and those dozen thunks were the dozen or so girls who had fainted from just a tiny glimpse, though Yang had fared well enough. But Emerald?
"Holy shit!" Frost exclaimed. "Em! Em, you good?!"
"What the hell?" Naruto asked in bewilderment as he rounded upon Em to see her slumped against the wall she was previously sitting against with a thin trail of blood streaming out of her right nostril and a glazed, far off look in her eyes.
"The fuck happened?!" Mercury asked as he bent down to check her over around the time that Frost's stunned face morphed into one of barely contained laughter.
"Naru!" He managed to bite out. "Naru, sniff at the air!"
Hesitantly doing as he was told, Naruto tilted his head up slightly and took in one solid sniff of the air and his eyes widened considerably upon recognizing the scent… of a woman's arousal.
"She… just…" Was all he was able to say before a crippling smile spread across his face and he joined Frost in uncontrollable laughter.
"The hell you two laughing about?!" Mercury barked at them.
"She… She…!" Frost tried to still his laughter, but failed.
"She creamed herself into shock!" Naruto finished for his friend as he, too, began laughing again.
"UGH!" Mercury exclaimed in disgust as it clicked with him. "Em, really?! Having a shock inducing orgasm because of a sneak peek you'll never see again?! Damn!"
His statement only served to throw Naruto and Frost into another bout of uncontrolled laughter as Em's 'problem' had now been utterly screamed to the entire ballroom.
"What's all the commotion out here?" Asked a particular raven haired beauty as she stepped back into the ballroom from the bathroom.
Blake, try as she may, couldn't get a good view of whatever was happening, so with a shrug, she took her place at her sleeping bag once again and cracked open the book she was previously reading.
'A man with two souls… no matter how many times I read that statement, I always think of…' Her inner muse began. 'No. I can't think about him. I left him behind; I severed all ties with him. He's gone, Blake, so you'd best forget about him… but, then again… how can someone easily forget their first love?'
Shaking herself free of her inner musings, she immersed herself into the book once again, failing to notice a pair of blue and black eyes land on her form as he had finally recovered from his laughing fit.
(Next Morning: Beacon Cliffs)
"These things are totally catapults." Frost stated as he hopped up and down on the platform. "A hundred Lien says I fly the farthest! Open challenge!" He then declared to the rest of the group.
"I'll take that bet!" Naruto declared from somewhere near the end of the row.
"Same here!" Yang intoned.
"Ditto!" Mercury volunteered himself for the bet.
"If you all are quite finished?" Glynda snapped and all fell silent. "Thank you." She huffed.
"For years you have trained to become warriors…" Ozpin began, eyeing Naruto, then Frost and lastly Blake. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
"Your dream come true, Em!" Mercury blurted out. "Naruto's finally gonna dive into your bush!"
"Shut up, asshole!" Emerald barked at him from somewhere near the front of the line.
'No… it's impossible!' Blake began to mentally panic upon hearing Naruto's name. 'He can't have tracked me here! But… what if he has?! What if he's really here?!'
"Hey!" Frost added. "She daydreamed that shit last night and lost a good pair of panties!"
"Doesn't mean it won't really happen! Like right now!" Mercury returned with a laugh.
"Don't worry, Em! I'll be gentle with your bush!" Naruto finally chided as he began to laugh as well.
'He's here… no mistaking that voice! He's here!' A sudden chill then ran through Blake's spine as her imagination began to race through each and every likely scenario that could unfold once they were launched into the forest.
Before long, Ozpin had finished his speech and one by one, the hopefuls were shot off into the forest below. Mercury was the first one from Naruto's group to be launched, then Frost, then Emerald and lastly Naruto himself was launched.
Once airborne, Naruto let out a whoop and performed a series of aerobatics just to show off for the people who were still flying through the air. Slowly but surely, he was beginning to drift downwards into the trees, but with his Aura, the many small branches merely snapped as he passed through them… until he came upon a rather large branch jutting into his flightpath.
With a smirk, Naruto took hold of the polished silver hilt-like object upon his right hip with his right hand and detached it from its magnetized slot. Mere feet from impact, his smirk spread as a snap-hissing sound filled the air and a red blade of condensed Energy Dust sprang forth from the emitter and with one fluid swing, the branch had been cut and Naruto continued on with his weapon still in hand. After gracefully leaping off of a couple more tree branches to regain his bearings, Naruto's instincts as a Shinobi took over and he tree hopped his way through the forest.
"You're feeling nostalgic, kit." Kurama's voice rumbled in Naruto's head.
'Yeah… I haven't done this in a long time, Kurama. I think I've found my favorite place in this world. The Emerald Forest… bah, this is turning me soft.'
"Heads up… or down, in this case. Below you, kit."
"I know." Naruto outwardly acknowledged his Bijuu's warning and as soon as he landed on the branch in front of him, he shot downward towards the rapidly approaching ground at breakneck speed until at the last second, he righted himself in the air and swung down with his crimson blade, landing in a crouch after effectively bisecting a rather nasty Alpha Ursa from head to toe. With a flourish of his blade, Naruto deactivated it and the crimson glow dissipated as its source returned into the hilt, and with a turn…
"Hello, Blake…" Naruto calmly said as he turned and their eyes locked for the first time in a little over a few months. "Fancy meeting you here."
"N-Naruto…" Blake hesitated, her visibly shaking hand lifting up to caress the hilt of Gambol Shroud.
"I guess this makes us partners, huh?" He asked, a teasing smirk marring his features. "Just like old times."
"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to hide the tremble of both her voice and hand.
"Just stopped by to see how you were doing is all. Oh, and I may or may not be attending Beacon now." He shrugged. "You seem to be right as rain. That's good, Blake, it's good that you've been taking care of yourself."
"Stop joking…" She began to growl. "There's no way Ozpin would let someone like you into his Academy!"
"Someone like me?" Naruto queried as he took a single step towards her, a motion she mirrored, though as a step back. "What do you mean by that, Blake?"
"A murderer. A sociopathic killer who could give less than a damn about who or what he pulls the trigger on."
"I seem to recall your ledger dripping with blood as well, Blake." Naruto countered as he took another step. "We're in the same boat, yet Ozpin let you in. By your logic, he should have thrown us both to the Beowolves. Or does he not know of the things you've done for the White Fang? Because he sure knew about my past."
"Your true past? Or the past you allowed him to see?" She then began to unsheathe Gambol Shroud as he took yet another step. "Stay away!"
"You're terrified." Naruto noted in slight amusement with a chuckle. "You think I've been sent here to kill you."
"That's the only reason why you'd be here!" She barked. "Adam wants me dead, so he sent you, his best agent, to take care of the loose ends! Or maybe you volunteered because you felt like it was your duty to hunt me down as I was your partner, therefore your responsibility!"
"True, that you were and still are my responsibility..." Naruto conceded that point. "But I haven't been sent here to kill you. If I were…"
Suddenly, in the literal blink of an eye, Naruto was standing before her with a hilt in his left hand this time, a silver blade protruding from the hilt… and piercing right through a Beowolf which had snuck upon her while she was distracted.
"I would have let this monstrosity do my job for me." Naruto finished as he tore the energy blade out of the Grimm and deactivated the blade. "Trust me now?" He leveled his gaze at her.
"… What happened?" She asked. "Something must have happened for you to just up and leave. What was it?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Shortly after you left, a woman came to us proposing a partnership." Naruto recited the tale. "Adam and I both refused her on the spot. A few days later, she returns and attacks our camp, bringing with her briefcases full of Dust, Lien and an ultimatum: Join or die. Adam chose to join while I had to fight my way out of there. I was betrayed, Blake. Betrayed by the very person I had considered a brother and by the group I thought of as an extended family. I didn't know where else to turn, and I was lost for a time before I eventually found Frost. He and I then eventually came to a decision: Apply to a Hunter Academy."
"And Ozpin accepted you both after hearing of what you two went through." Blake concluded.
"We offered our knowledge of the inner workings of the White Fang in return for the opportunity to become Huntsmen ourselves." Naruto nodded.
Upon seeing Blake go into deep thought, Naruto had to suppress a smirk as she seemed to buy into his fake story. Amber eyes caught blue and black one more time and the edginess of those yellow orbs was lost in favor of acceptance and a genuine smile spread across Blake's face.
"Good to be your partner again, Naruto." She beamed.
"Hey, I didn't even know you were attending until last night, so I—" He was interrupted by his new/old partner tackling him into a hug. A very intimate hug, at that.
"Thank you." She breathed. "Thank you for realizing you were being played."
"Hey…" He cooed as he returned the hug. "I promised you once that I'd never change. Sure, I slipped off of my path once, but getting shafted by Adam opened my eyes. Second best thing to ever happen to me."
"And what's the first?" She asked in genuine curiosity as she pulled away from the hug to look at him.
"Having you for a partner." He smiled, and almost laughed when he saw a heated blush settle upon her cheeks and her bow twitch slightly. "Hey, I can still make you blush! Good to know I haven't lost my touch."
"S-Shut up, you jerk…"
"OI!" A voice ruined the moment. "Outta the way, lovebirds!"
"Frost!" Came Emerald's voice. "Frost! GODDAMN IT! Kill the thing already!"
Out of the brush came an abnormally large Boarbatusk and riding atop it was Frost, who seemed to be having a field day.
"Naru!" Frost called out to the blonde. "Stop this asshole! Flip it!"
"One roadblock coming right up!" Naruto declared as he focused a bit of his Chakra into his right fist and promptly slammed it into the ground, creating a crater in the ground which the Boarbatusk fell into. As Frost leaped off of its back, he gave its rear end a good kick so it would land in the crater upside down, which it did.
After the Grimm landed inside of the crater, Blake snapped into action and drew Gambol Shroud, then dove into the crater and impaled the beast through just as Frost came down with his pistols in their trench knife modes and damn near decapitated the thing.
"Nice moves as always, Kitty!" Frost beamed as he holstered his weapons and stood from his crouched position. "Good to see you again!"
"Frost…" Blake groaned as she pulled Gambol Shroud free and sheathed it upon her back. "I told you… never call me Kitty."
"Shot down once again!" Intoned Naruto from the lip of the crater.
"Fuck you, Naru!" Frost then flipped his friend off as Blake clambered out of the crater.
"Frost!" Emerald raged as she finally emerged from another bush. "What part of that clicked in that undersized brain of yours as a good idea?!"
"Why walk when you can get a ride?" Frost merely shrugged as he leaped out of the crater and joined his other three companions.
"WHY?!" Emerald declared to the heavens with a shaking fist. "Why did he have to be my partner?!"
"Get used to it, Em." Naruto consoled her with a pat to the shoulder. "You get used to it, trust me."
"Who's the girl, Naruto?" Blake asked in a wary tone, oblivious to the fact that she had taken an unconscious step closer to the blonde.
"Blake, this is Emerald Sustrai. Em, meet Blake Belladonna." Naruto introduced the pair. "Now that introductions are out of the way, we have some Relics to find." He then cut off the two girls mid-stare, knowing that a rivalry was about to form and he would have none of it.
"Dammit, you interfered with the catfight!" Frost dejectedly whined.
Even though Naruto had dragged Blake away from the impending rivalry, that didn't stop the girls from sharing a heated stare down as they strode through the forest. Figurative lightning seemed to connect their gazes, lightning that wasn't broken until Naruto spoke up.
"Blake? Hellooooo~!" He waved a hand in front of her face, which snapped her out of her reverie.
"Huh?"
"Which Relic do you want to take? Frost and I can't decide, Em's not paying attention and I'd rather ask you instead of anyone else."
"Uhh… how about the black king piece? You love to play chess and black's always been your favorite color besides orange."
"I was thinking that as well." He nodded as he stepped up and took a black king piece, an action which Blake mirrored.
"Em!" Frost called out to her. "Pick up the damn king already!"
"Fine, fine!" Emerald muttered as she joined Frost in picking up the last two black king pieces.
"Well, shall we escape this valley?" Naruto asked and just at that moment, a Nevermore flew overhead with an agitated squawk. "Post-haste, if we could." He added.
"I feel bad for the poor sods that have to take that thing on." Frost chuckled as he followed his companions out of the clearing and back into the forest.
Eventually, Naruto and company had found a way out of the valley, and once they did, something seemed to click in Emerald's head.
"Where's Mercury?" She asked.
"Probably got stuck in a tree or something." Frost shrugged.
"Hopefully, he found a compatible partner." Naruto said.
"Another hundred Lien says it was that Yang chick."
"You're on!" Naruto took Frost's second bet.
(Beacon Academy: After Initiation)
"Mercury Black, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long, your four retrieved the white knight pieces." Ozpin began.
"Refund that hundred Lien, asshole!" Frost whispered to Naruto with a snicker.
"Hey, I did end up getting the farthest!" Naruto shot back as he forked over a hundred Lien to his friend.
"From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." He finished as a round of applause erupted from the crowd.
"Shorty's got some serious skill, it seems." Frost muttered to Naruto, who nodded his agreement.
"And finally, Naruto Uzumaki, Blake Belladonna, Frost Schwarz, and Emerald Sustrai, you four retrieved the black king pieces." Ozpin began once again, pausing only to take a sip of his coffee. "From this day onward, you four will be working together as Team NBSE (Nebulose), led by Naruto Uzumaki."
"Hell yeah!" Naruto declared with a fist pump.
"Congratulations, Naruto." Blake congratulated him with a smile and a small giggle.
"We're doomed." Emerald faked a depressed sigh that was belied by a smile of her own.
"Drinks are on me tonight!" Frost exclaimed. "Celebration time!"
"Alright, Team NBSE!" Naruto clapped his hands together. "Forward! Towards a party somewhere!"
Even though Naruto was truly happy he got named Team Leader, he was even happier because of one overarching reason…
'Checkmate against you, Ozpin. Things worked out perfectly, even better than I imagined. You've unknowingly jumpstarted my plans, and for that, I thank you. Specter is now known throughout Remnant and I now have an inside tract within Beacon itself. Now to just play both sides of the field and move my pieces… I foresee another checkmate.'
"You alright, Naruto?" Blake asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Blake." He smiled at her. "Just fine…"
AN: So, what do you guys think? First and foremost, the change to Team RWBY. I think it's a good move to put Mercury in to replace Blake. Albeit, it's an evil reason considering Episode 9, but that's just another reason to do it. Also, I'm well aware that Team NBSE being pronounced "nebulose" is a stretch, but I'm sticking with it.
And what about Specter? Obviously, Specter is Naruto's alias and the person Remnant knows him most as. Ozpin only knows that he's ex-White Fang, hence why he's been let into Beacon, but what do you guys think? It was something I've been planning on doing, but I want some feedback!
Also, for those who are keeping up with Foxes and Rose Petals, I hope Frost's appearance in this one is a welcome sight, as I wanted to do more with him and this was a prime opportunity. Now, onto the pairing issue. Neo will be staying in, and I'm most likely gonna add Blake in. My question for you all is this: If I were to add a third girl, who should it be? Right now, I'm leaning towards Pyrrha, but something could be said for Weiss, considering she knows Naruto as Specter and not as Naruto Uzumaki, so he could worm his way into her good graces eventually. Or should I just keep it strictly Naru x Neo x Blake? Give me some solid reasons for your choice!
This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!