The still morning fog not yet eschewed by the rising sun concealed in a damp shroud the uneven tattoo of sharp drumbeats, skin and flesh being struck repeatedly. A chime of mammalian grunts accompanied the muted cacophony and fell on the edge of the woods. Shadows danced back and forth in the thick mist, cold flames licking one another in the pre-dawn gloom.
Two forms, two figures congealed with the catalyst of the sun's peak over the horizon. They were the dancing flames competing against each other in the darkness, burning all around them in their attempt to become brighter, consuming what was given and what they could reach. Their glow showing one another the way.
Blond was pitted against raven yet again, in less mortal a situation, but no less profound. Naruto and Sasuke had been awakening well before dawn for near two weeks now to insert their own brand of training into the daily regime already provided by their school. Neither was to deride the wisdom of attendance, but knew that they could not allow their own methods and forms to atrophy. They had agreed since the first that they would irrevocably partners, less their assigned position and more their chance fate.
The homely bridge spanning the calm waters of youth had been broken those weeks ago, at the valley of the end. What they were attempting now, was a goliath project, a suspension bridge being pieced together over raging waters. It would take months and perhaps years, and would never be as attractively innocent as the one they both left far down stream. But it promised to be solid, and to be able to weather years if both states were diligent in maintenance. It was the promise of a better tomorrow for the both of them that maintained their drive and motivated progress, no matter how blind it seemed.
The gains they won were small and hard won, but they each had no reason not to push each other to the very limits of their ability. They each knew that they could not expect the progress that would be possible with a dedicated teacher, but each had the other as a sounding board for ideas and alternative viewpoints.
Experimentation with their home world's techniques became easier upon Naruto's late discovery. They had arrived in this world with few supplies, only the items in their utility pouches. The items that this world's armorers could replicate had been, on the day of their initiation. However, they were both left with a paucity of seal items. Together they had only three explosive tags and a solitary sealing scroll. Neither had even the basics of sealing techniques, but were both well aware of the potential danger of experimenting without prior knowledge, especially when it came to high explosives.
However, it was evident that to keep pace with the weapons possessed by the other students, they would either need to obtain and learn how to utilized the tools produced by the go-to power source in this world: dust. This was still a viable option, should they ever request of Ozpin an operating budget or sourced another way to obtain them. Still, they wished to somehow replicate their familiar armaments, for both ease of use and for their potential element of surprise against an unfamiliar opponent.
Thus, Naruto found his own. Sasuke had suggested Naruto use his clones to test their experimentations, at a goodly safe distance, of course. The first few results had been less than spectacular, fizzling quickly or simply catching flame, or more often than not, doing nothing at all. As they began to hone in on what the critical elements of the sealing matrix were, they thought it more prudent to produce them far away from where they could harm either of the two. So this precluded Sasuke from the process, as Naruto sent his clones out into the forest during the whole process. Eventually the problems were identified and with an army of clones at his disposal, Naruto was more than capable of manufacturing tags enough for the both of them on a daily basis.
Of course, it was not Naruto himself that discovered these problems, but rather his clones. The ability of the clones hidden in plain sight all this time had been their capability to transfer knowledge to the creator after being dispelled, which had been discovered after sending the clones off to do their own experiments with the tags far away from human risk.
And once they both had learned this, the possibilities became endless. Well, as endless as the pertinent sections of the library which had been, minimally speaking, a chore to get Naruto to enter. It had taken all of Sasuke's skill of persuasion spiced with threats of bodily harm, and finally the timely appearance of Goodwitch at one of the physical attempts to manually drag the blond in doors and her subsequent annoyance with the disturbance the both were causing. Sasuke had been mightily annoyed at once again being lumped in with the obtuse boy, but their punishment was, ironically enough, supplementary studying in the library. He would take that as a victory.
So here they were, taking advantage of the morning away from classes and prying eyes in order to hone the hand-to-hand techniques that they had uncovered in some of the library's older sections in books that looked as if they had attempted to blow away the dust, the pages would have gone with it. They were improving, but it was becoming evident that they were reaching a plateau, one that would potentially need another player in order to surmount.
"Achoo!"
Jaune was by no means an early riser. He was used to it, sure. School mandated that he rise at a reasonable hour, and previously sharing a household with seven women meant that he needed to get up early in order to be able to use the bathroom before noon. He had thought he had left this behind him though, when he moved to Beacon. Unfortunately according to Pyrrha, this was to be one of the few times available to Jaune for practice, and was the only time he would catch the two students he sought outside of class.
Once again, being raised with six sisters had yielded certain unanticipated benefits, one of these was humility. Not to say that Jaune didn't possess his own sense of pride. He might have eventually accepted his teammate's offer of supplementary training at night, in fact he still might, but at the same time he felt more of a kindred spirit with the two boys, being, well boys. It might be a little embarrassing, seeing as he was so much older than the two, but he was very much sick of eating humble pie being beaten by Cardin day in and day out.
After witnessing the blond a good head and shoulders smaller than his lanky stature handily take care of the meathead, Jaune had exchanged his hopelessness for conviction, and the rest, they say is history.
So as he plodded his way out to the edge of the forest where the training grounds were situated, he was aware of the sounds of combat and soon came up the two already engaged what Jaune thought of as a fairly heated sparring match.
The two were fast-unbelievably so to the young man. Sasuke had always been the faster of the two, though with their additional sparring sessions and exercises in between, Naruto seemed to be quickly closing this gap. His technique was still less polished than the precision strikes demonstrated by his peer, who was a spider with his lightning strikes and arms that seemed to be everywhere at once to block the blond's rebuttals. Naruto was a storm. He seemed to be everywhere around Sasuke at once, buffeting his sparring partner and tearing him from his position ensconced in his web of reaction. Jaune stood awed, unable to speak.
Eventually the inevitable happened and Naruto dropped his guard. Sasuke sent a shattering hook to Naruto's jaw, and immediately followed it up with kick with his right to the other boy's gut, putting a safe distance between the combatants. Naruto tumbled for a split second but was not dissuaded form the fight as he placed himself seamlessly back on the balls of his feet, and was about to launch himself back into the fray, when he pause seeing Sasuke's hand extended in a request at pause.
He lowered his hand and without removing his gaze from Naruto still crouched in ready stance to reengage, he addressed Jaune. "What do you want?"
Startled perhaps at his own recognition of his presence in the scene, Jaune was left stumbling over numbed words. "I-I-um…" He swallowed, saliva pride and fear. At what, exactly? "I need help." He admitted at last. A derisive scoff from the raven-haired boy was a kick to his prostrate self-image. Naruto watched the exchange without interference. Though Jaune was talking to the both of them, Naruto knew that Sasuke had previously addressed the boy's issues, and wanted to see if this request would prompt any new reaction from his stoic partner.
"Why would we help you?" Sasuke was passively including Naruto in the decision, something he was mildly upset at, being spoken for without asking his position. He held sympathy for the older boy. His awkwardness was not without corollaries in his own life, and he of course was never one to dismiss a potential friend so easily. Still, he held his tongue to give Sasuke the benefit of the doubt.
Jaune didn't have an answer, unfortunately. He had asked himself this answer, as early as the previous night when he had first cogitated on asking the two unknown youths for assistance after Ruby and he had had a heart-to-heart about Jaune's misgivings at being a leader. He was ready to accept his current failings, but was also ready to accept that he needed to expend significant effort to improve for his team's sake.
"I-I don't have much to offer. I'm not strong, I'm not that smart. I'm certainly not rich." Sasuke regarded him coldly, his gaze steeling further at the apparent suggestion that someone like him could be swayed by something as pedestrian as money. "But," Jaune began after a pause. "I need to get stronger. For my sake, for my teams, so that I can protect the people that matter to me. So I'm not…" he clenched his fists at his side, "…so I'm no longer a burden."
This touched Naruto deeply, he too had uttered very similar words not long ago. He shifted his gaze to his still silent friend, wondering how these words so similar to the ones given in a land far away, under a mist of solemnity as thick affected him.
Sasuke had thorough practice at his poker face, and betrayed nothing behind that steely regard.
"Your sword." Indicated the teen.
"Huh?" Jaune blinked at the sudden non-sequitur.
"Your sword," Sasuke reiterated. "Do you know how to use it?"
Jaune's hand went to his side where the blade that had been partner to dozens of generations of Arcs weighted his belt. He clasped the handle and drew the dull silver blade into the gaining day, the storied steel shining in ghostly light in the breaking mist. "It's been in my family for generations. I learned some of the forms before I left, but I never got through them all." Jaune said despondently. "But," He perked back up. "I'm sure I could get my sisters to send them to me here at Beacon."
Nodding, Sasuke seemed moderately satisfied. Naruto had not yet fully grasped the line of questioning, but he could see a deal being formed with the few words exchanged. It seemed that they would have a new sparring partner for the foreseeable future.
This was death, wasn't it? It must be. No, wait, it hurt way too much.
And the frenetic ramblings of Professor, sorry, Doctor Oobleck pounding into his deranged head wasn't helping much. Jaune was already starting to regret asking the two little devils for help improving himself. He hurt in so many places, he was sure they were doing this just to torture him, it couldn't be that this was how they themselves trained. Actually, thinking about the way he had seen Naruto fight Pyrrha the day before, and later the two of them in a 'friendly' spar, he could believe it.
Not that he wanted to contemplate anything other than how many excruciating minutes remained until he could crawl back into bed. Too many.
Naruto and Sasuke didn't seem to be phased at all even though they had done much of the exercises right along with him. At least Naruto had, Sasuke had 'supervised' while sometimes providing 'motivation' in the form of pointy objects thrown their way every time he felt them to be slacking off. Naruto too had his head down, resting his forehead on the table, but that was probably due to Oobleck's lecture and Naruto's inability to concentrate on anything not directly pertaining to fighting. History, even when being recounted at a caffeine-fueled blur, just went way to slowly in his opinion.
"Yes, yes, prior to the Faunus' Rights Revolution, more commonly known as the Faunus War, the humans quite, quite adamant about compartmentalizing the Faunus in Menagerie. Now, while this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day! How many of you in this room have been subject to discrimination because of your Faunus heritage?"
Thought the words had been fired on automatic at the crowd of unsuspecting students, they did defend themselves eventually, a scant few Faunus raising their hands in affirmation, including, Naruto noticed, the girl he had defended from Cardin the other day, after some hesitance. Despite displaying a vacant and unconscious air, Naruto was in fact wide awake and alert, and this particular interjection by Oobleck did not help him to gain any ground on the search for sleep. He was still very much affected by Ozpin's redressing of his actions the other day. He didn't like seeing other people get treated the way he used to, but he couldn't help but wonder how many of those hands raised in this moment were up because of his actions against Cardin.
Speaking of the boy, he was not looking too amused, despite malevolent but furtive glares sent towards the Faunus with hands raised. He had shown up to class with a neck brace, and to the benefit of all the students present, could not talk because of wires having been inserted into his jaw, which would take at least a week to heal. He was, however, making the most of what body parts were still functional and his hands like a dung beetle worked away at a piece of paper shaping it into a projectile.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck continued nonplussed at the bravery of the students admitting to being victimized. "Now! Who can tell me what many scholars believe was the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Weiss, alert and arrogant as always provided the answer. "The Battle at Fortcastle."
"Precisely! And now, can anyone tell me what advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?"
Cardin by this time had finished his parody of a football constructed from a paper whose contents were far forgotten. He had chosen the obvious target of Jaune still very much trying to emulate the dead and sent the paper flying with a flick. It was caught midair well before it even got close to Jaune's vicinity. A single blue eye turned and glared out from the row above Jaune, Naruto's simple stare more than ample deterrence, and enough to turn Cardin sickly green when undiluted rage quickly shifted to abject fear at the iciness the blond regarded him with.
"Yes! Mr. Uzumaki, what is the answer!" Oobleck had seen the alacrity with which the hand had been raised to respond to his question and appreciated the dedication his students seemed to be administering to his class.
"Eh?" Though he had been paying attention to the lecture more or less, his attention had been diverted by Cardin and he had missed the question.
"Ummm….."
Already running at well above the speed limit, Oobleck was not one to entertain stalling and shook his head in disappointment at the lack of a correct response.
"Ms. Belladonna, perhaps you could tell us the right answer?"
"Faunus have excellent night vision. General Lagoon was a fool to launch his main attack during the night, when the Faunus clearly had the advantage."
"Precisely! Mr. Uzumaki, I think you could do with a bit of a review, please stay after class so we can revisit the required reading."
Naruto's head crashed back into the desk with an dejected finality while he swore he could hear his partner seated next to him snickering at his suffering. Figures, every time he tries to do something nice for someone…
Class had continued for what felt like an additional eternity, and by the end Naruto had forgotten about his punishment. He had immediately made a beeline for the door before the speedy instructor summarily caught the escapee and plunked him back down in his seat while the other students filed out, certain members of teams RWBY and JNPR shooting him sympathetic glances during their egress.
The room was void of persons save for the professor and himself, and very soon the tangible weight of the textbook that was deposited in front of him with a resounding thump. Naruto swore he heard the desk crack.
"Pages 44 to 138 Mr. Uzumaki. Summary at the end."
He could have cried, but that would have been showing the book weakness. He could care less what the verdant haired professor thought of him, though he wanted to remain in his good graces for at least the first semester. So, resignation started him on the top of the first assigned page which the book had miraculously enough opened too. It was like all the previous students had only ever gotten to this page before they keeled over in defeat and it just kept being opened to this one spot over and over. Or maybe it was his imagination once again inserting itself into his concentration and mitigating any attempts at study.
It took a full ten minutes to parse out the first page filled with verbiage he was fairly certain could do with a foreign dictionary to translate when the door quietly opened. Oobleck was unsurprised at the visitor and greeted them amicably. "Ah! Ms. Goodwitch. Thank you very much for coming to take over. I really must be getting those records to the Vale Historical Society before they leave for the night. I trust Mr. Uzumaki will not be too much of a handful."
As the greeting continued, so did the oncoming sense of dread in Naruto at the thought of being subject to the intensive scrutiny of Goodwitch. Sure, his opinion may have changed slightly about her, but he was fairly sure he was still not on her list of favorite people, especially if he was being handed to her supervision for his ill attention in class.
"I'm sure we will be just fine, Bartholomew. Uzumaki won't be any trouble, will you?"
He shook his head releasing a rain of sweat like a dog ridding itself of excess dampness.
"Good. Well, until tomorrow, then. Good luck."
But the hyper man was already packed up and out the door by the end of her address. In the remaining silence, Goodwitch and Naruto looked at one another before she released a silent command, taking up Ooobleck's abandoned chair and Naruto returned to his assignment.
He once again tried to concentrate, but found it increasingly difficult with her presence. He couldn't help but wither under what he was sure was her disapproving glance. He swore he could feel her eyes constantly glaring holes through his blond locks into his thick skull, but whenever he chanced glance up at the woman, she was engrossed in one of her many papers that accompanied her into the class. She seemed to be grading, someone else, not present, though.
Naruto sighed and buried his head in the book at frustration, both at situation and his inability to cope with it. This did not go unnoticed by Goodwitch, however and she appraised Naruto from the gold horizons of her glasses.
"Is there something the matter, Mr. Uzumaki?"
'Yeah, you!' Naruto wanted to shout out in anguish, but he knew it was just a vindictive and untrue statement that would do much more harm than good. The crux was a problem that stemmed farther back than his introduction to the blonde woman, farther back even than his entry to this world. Disapproval, derision, seemed to accompany him everywhere like an obstinate wad of gum on his shoe. He couldn't help but interpret teacher's looks at him as contempt or at the very least frustration with his halting progress. He grit his teeth as he glared at the offending pages as if he could burn them away and the assignment along with them.
Glynda could palpably feel the boy's distress. She had had to constantly revise her own opinion on the boy, several times since the two of them had appeared from the sky that fateful day not a month hence. Most recently, she had appraised the boy after both his spar in her class, and his infamous lunchroom incident. While she did not approve of his hotheaded response to Cardin, she had empathized with his frustrations and appreciated his intent to do what was morally just.
He also displayed admirable skill and restraint with his battle with Pyrrha Nikos. He could have used weapons to deadly effect, but forwent that option in favor of bare hands. He also could have taken full advantage of her distraction to land a powerful blow at the end, but he chose not to, seeing he had the advantage of surprise.
He was loud, boisterous, uncouth, rambunctious and more. But he was also kind, thoughtful, and a person of great fortitude and integrity.
To the extent that she could admit herself an age and disposition to be such, she would admit a kindling feeling of maternal affection for the boy. It was obvious that he was misplaced in their world, and she doubted if he had yet to find his place in his own. He was at that age, perhaps younger than he might have been had he been raised in Vale, but it was undoubtable that he was experiencing an existential crisis, only compounded by his sudden translation here. She could have no idea what that must feel like.
She had little matronly practice as well, so rather than attempt to reach the boy through such means, she decided to play to her strengths.
She would be stalwart in her desire to teach him.
Gentle as a breeze she stood from the chair previously occupied by her colleague and drifted to Naruto still mired in consternation. He was genuinely startled when her hand gently gripped his shoulder, and the look he gave her was an expression becoming of a rabbit Faunus, not one deigned for Naruto Uzumaki. It melted her heart and it dripped down into her stomach. It was so wrong.
"Are you alright, Naruto?" It was not really these words, but the ones behind them he responded to.
"I-" he really didn't know what to say, to do, with this woman he had so recently kept well outside of arm's reach. His inherent colander for sifting out the best qualities of people rattled and shook him under the compassionate look she bequeathed him, and the toxic pit that had been buried was exposed at last.
"I-"
He could feel the moister collecting in the corners of his eyes, turning the pages still in front of him into a kaleidoscope of color. His hand threatening to tear the corners of the book came up to cast off the tears not yet shed. He didn't want to cry in front of her. He didn't even know himself why this anguish manifested itself now like a sudden rain shower.
Glynda knew. Naruto was up against a wall with his learning. He was trapped and lacked the means to continue.
"Can-can you help me?" His eyes were a hesitant question though his words betrayed nothing.
"Yes, Naruto, I do believe I can."
Sasuke was in an abnormally good mood, by the barometer of the stoic teen, of course. He had enjoyed the rest of his morning and afternoon in uninterrupted solitude. Naruto had been less grating on his nerves as of late, but he was still grateful for the afternoon of absence. Of course, without his ever-energetic companion, he was devoid of a sparring partner this afternoon.
Deciding that doing nothing during this period free of duties and classes would be an inexcusable waste, however, he retraced his morning's trail back to the training ground most removed from the campus proper. It was, he supposed, no great shock that three persons had already taken up occupancy when he finally arrived. Naruto and he had only ever used this particular field in the wee hours of the morning, the afternoon normally reserved for scholastic study or research.
He was not deterred from approaching the congregation, however, because he recognized the distinct profile of team JNPR, minus Jaune, who presumably was recovering after their, what he considered, 'light' morning workout.
The assembled group did not at first notice his approach, his black shirt and earth tone shorts doing an admirable job of concealing his smaller form in the shadows of the tree-lined path, growing ever thicker in the descending afternoon sun.
Pyrrha, ever alert and with an added advantage of height over her two teammates, was the first to catch on to his presence.
"Hello, Sasuke!"
The jovial greeting was replied with a simple nod as he came within the radar of the rest of the members who both had their backs facing his approach. Ren reciprocated the nod. He was one of the more compatible people Sasuke had met at their academy, however interactions with the older boy were curbed by his neurotic avatar, who upon noticing Sasuke began to frantically wave.
"Duck-Butt!"
Sasuke was well on his way to developing a nervous tick. Naruto had absently let slip that particular insult in her presence and Nora had taken to it, well, like a duck to water. Yang had also been endeared to the apropos nonmonic, but refused to settle for that alone, constantly rebuilding Lego-bricks of endless derision and stupidity until she found one that would truly drive the young man into senselessness.
Nora was close.
Deciding that any sort of reaction would only encourage the young woman, Sasuke remained petulantly silent, hands shoved in his pockets in an ingrained and aloof slouch.
"It is good to see you, Sasuke. We were going to have a team spar now, but apparently thanks to you and Naruto, we are short a member. Perhaps you could assume Jaune's place?" Pyrrha cheerily suggested. It was not an unbearable suggestion to the shinobi, who had intended on doing some practice of his own. A spar against opponents was a far better gauge of his improvement, and he had not until now had much of a chance to fight against skilled opponents, other than his fellow ninja. He reiterated his silent reply.
Sasuke and Ren stood at either end of the field, mirrored by the two girls of team JNPR. It was a wordless division that had precipitated this arrangement, Ren tacitly following Sasuke as he separated from the rest.
They each stood lax, but invariably ready to move at a moment's notice, Pyrrha and Nora the only ones visibly excited by the prospective spar. The moment came through unspoken accord without a particular trigger, but Ren and Sasuke were on the same wavelength as one threw a handful of shuriken and the other a small volley of dust-rounds in between the two women opposite. Though they had never fought, either opposed or together, Sasuke and Ren knew each other's fighting style, and deemed it the most reasonable course of action that they try and separate Pyrrha and Nora. Sasuke would be the only one capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Amazonian, and Ren knew Nora's fighting style as well as his own.
The two females however, were not as ignorant as Nora presented herself. Pyrrha, ignoring the volley brought her shield in defense of the both of them, the other diminutive girl easily being concealed behind Pyrrha's intimidating form. They were both well aware of the prudent action the two boys had adopted, and aimed to do the reciprocal, the two of them would blitz Sasuke and incapacitate what was assumed to be the larger, and generally unknown threat before dealing with the other boy.
Undeterred by their coordinated defense, Sasuke and Ren knowingly played into their adversaries plan, and commenced a simultaneous approach on either side of Pyrrha's guard. Attempting to abort the pincer maneuver as the two began surrounding and constricting their target, Nora, back supported by the larger woman lobbed a clutch of grenades at the spot where the other pair would converge.
Speed as a forte proved reliable for the intended targets, and their sudden acceleration when crossing caused the rounds to fall short of both, and Sasuke had already been prepared with a counter move of his own, and released a Great Fireball at the defenders, necessitating they dodge, and in accordance with the initial plan, they did so in either direction, Nora lunging off to the right of the fireball, and Pyrrha pirouetting to the left, so that Sasuke faced her now alone.
He drew a kunai to each hand, in preparation for close combat with the girl's spear and shield. He knew the nature of her semblance, it was he who had alerted Naruto to its nature before the spar. It meant little to the other boy, who was perfectly content to use non-lethal hand combat against a friendly opponent. Sasuke could have gone this course as well, forgoing the blades in favor of using his superior speed to overcome the other's weapons, but he wanted to probe her strength. She had so far been very conservative in the use of her semblance, choosing to use subtle nudges to both her own and her adversary's weapons to put them where she wanted them. Sasuke wanted to test the limits of this, though.
He began his furious attack, overwhelming her with his superior speed. She could keep up well enough with Naruto, who admittedly had improved in the few short weeks, but Sasuke was still on another level.
Twin cobras, fangs bared lunged at Pyrrha from either and soon every side as Sasuke gradually increased the pace of the dance they were engaged in. She had been able to keep up moderately well at first, blocking the strikes and throwing the odd counter at even a half-second's pause. Seconds into the exchange she felt like a novice ballerina trying not to step on her own feet as she backpedaled and dodged the knives' whistling barbs.
A strike that would have given her a deep nick had it not been for her Aura enshrouding her pushed her past her self-imposed abstinence and she began to use her semblance to repel the onslaught.
This was precisely what Sasuke was waiting for, however. A flechette of a strike aimed at her face and too fast to dodge caught her off-guard and she used a greater amount of her semblance than she had in all fights previous in an effort to divert the blade. The blade itself went flying as Sasuke purposefully let it go, he hand and arm continuing on their trajectory to the woman.
He grabbed on to the top of her breastplate, gaining a solid handhold, and brought his rear knee up as he pulled the woman into the close-range strike. Pyrrha reaffirmed her adroitness in Sasuke's eyes as she rolled with the unexpected move and moved in cohesion with his pull to bring her armored forehead into a vicious headbutt that sent Sasuke sprawling. His eyes tearing up at his very nearly shattered nose, and idly wondered if she hadn't been spying on their early morning spars and had taken a page from his partner's book of tricks.
He was quick to recover, and rolled back onto his feet, another volley of shuriken already in his grip, and he released them towards the woman still appreciating the effect of her counter. She was forced once again to lean on her semblance as she was not balanced enough to affect a dodge. The Shuriken parted like a wave on either side of her, as anticipated.
One of the shuriken amidst the school swimming around the redhead was laced with a strand of ninja-wire, which Sasuke maneuvered with his Chakra into an arc which would double back and encircle the Athenian. Finally gaining some breathing room, and unable to predict the thrown weapon's unprecedented behavior, Pyrrha had brought herself into a defensive posture, shield raised towards the retreated shinobi and spear arm cocked behind.
Her peripheral vision caught the return of the shuriken, in time enough to start to duck under its noose. Sasuke had finished his sequence of seals by this time, and had already sent a fireball down the length of the wire towards the unaware warrior. Had he been fighting another shinobi, he would have been fairly confident at the move's effectiveness, given no obvious object with which to affect a replacement. He was aware, however, that fighting this breed of warrior meant pushing past their protective Aura, so he refused to drop his guard as his adversary was all but consumed by the blaze.
He was not disappointed nor unprepared as a salvo of shot emerged from the dying flames. Rather than retreat, where he would become little more than a squirrely rat fleeing her aim, he once again pressed the attack.
He was cut short, as a rather heavy body collided with his own, sending the both of them into a pretzel of tangled limbs. He had forgotten about his partner in this fight and his opposite number. Fighting exclusively with Naruto was making him complacent.
It was his turn to be forced on the defensive as a shadowy eclipse preluded an Olympian hammer from very likely crushing his skull. He had detached himself from Ren and was between several rocks being ejected from the impact, and a very hard place, or rather shield intercepting him from the other side.
It was time to kick it up a notch. He had no desire to use any of his deadlier techniques in a friendly spar, less for the damage they might inflict, and more so that they would remain an ace in his sleeve should he need it. He was not remiss about swallowing his pride if it meant that in a life or death he might walk away. Still, he didn't like to lose.
He stuck his foot to the ground and lowered his center of gravity as the live battering ram made contact. He intercepted the shield and stuck to that as well, as he aimed to throw both woman and accoutrements over his hip. It was satisfyingly effective, as Pyrrha herself has visually blind form behind her shield, she couldn't much anticipate the maneuver, and would not recover as quickly as desired as she was sent into the re-engaging Nora.
The smaller girl was forced to abort the attack and catch her teammate, only to let out a squeak of surprise as her own usual partner resumed his position next to Sasuke and proceeded to empty the remainder of his clips at the two preoccupied girls.
Though he was remiss at the thought of using his Chidori, he would borrow its form in his next move. As his partner's guns clicked empty and before the dust from the hailstorm settled, Sasuke had one hand gripped in the other, a blunted arrow without the electric blade that he then loosed. He moved far faster than any of the older students had yet to see him move, and was aimed strait for the still flummoxed Pyrrha.
She was not totally defenseless, but had only barely raised her shield in between herself and the human ballista. Sasuke's hand, steadied by the other knocked the hastily rendered defense to the side and plunged deep into her gut. Her breath was stolen by the surprising velocity of the attack, and she was sent into one of the many trees encircling the training ground.
Not far behind, Sasuke resumed his attack sans auxiliary weapon. Pyrrha had dropped her shield at the previous strike, and had hardly appreciated his proximity when the fists started raining on her. She still had the advantage of reach that she intended to milk as long as she could, stabbing and slashing with her recently transformed Miló. Sasuke with admirable endurance, did not dilute his assault. He kept being pushed back in effort to dodge the razor-sharp blade, only to weave in and out among his own strikes that oscillated between connecting and falling short.
One connected to her chin and sent her back into retreat against the corner she had not yet escaped. In a desperate bid, she summoned the last of her energy and semblance to thrust at Sasuke who looked to be preparing a finished strike. She was horrified as he did not stop his advance and ran himself onto her blade.
There was a half-beat as Sasuke seemed to register that he should no longer be able to move and eyes widened in realization of mortality. This was quickly ended, however when he disappeared in an increasingly familiar puff of smoke, only for the clink of metal against metal to ring out throughout the unprecedented silence of the field, and her shield, previously forgotten, dropped out from the dispersing cloud.
A matte steel blade hovered over her throat held by an arm extended out to her right.
"Yield."
Mind catching up on events, Pyrrha blinked away the surprise and swallowed the defeat whole, showing no signs of its bitterness and smiled.
"I do."
Their own match concluded, they looked over to see their two companions equally bedraggled and panting, seemingly at a standstill. Nora and Ren had noticed the sudden stillness of the arena, and looked to see Sasuke in a position to end their mutual teammate. He dropped his armed limb when they recognized that the spar had concluded, the two of them in not much of a position to continue, and rather than push the other boy to bring up the realities included with a hostage, they let the throws of combat slump off of their tensed shoulders.
Pyrrha had righted herself from leaning on the tree, and with her other two cohorts coming over to converse about the match, she extended her hand to the victor.
"That was a fun match Sasuke, I am very impressed. I had not expected you to be so fast. It seems I have a habit of underestimating the two of you. I will not make that mistake again."
Sasuke fully believed this statement. He vowed to get stronger without revealing his trump card, so the next time he would not be defeated by the renewed conviction of the older girl. It was refreshing, actually, to have an opponent, other than Naruto, motivated whole-heartedly by the fight and thrill of having a competent adversary. He took her hand in acceptance of the proffered olive-branch and found himself actually looking forward to the proposed rematch.
"So, Naruto," Glynda had rounded the desk and had taken a seat next to the boy awkwardly eschewing his gaze. "what is it that is giving you trouble?" He spoke a mouthful of words to his shoulder.
Glynda blinked. "Naruto, if I am to help you, you need to be able to talk to me. Could you repeat that, please?"
Naruto sighed in resignation at the fate his moment of weakness had occasioned. "I, can't really read that well." Goodwitch blinked in her fixated stare at the side of the boy's head, silently waiting for elaboration. "Where I, where we, came from, I was an orphan, and the teachers didn't really want to help me, so I had to learn to read by myself. I still have a lot of trouble reading and writing."
This was the laminated truth, aged Formica over the fact that it had taken him years before he could get through even children's books because no one was willing to sit down and explain to him how certain words were pronounced and what they meant. His own chicken-scratch writing had been hard learned through solitary practice and had evolved into something of a private cryptogram that only he could decipher.
This deficit had been causing him no small amount of personal trauma over his lifetime, and seemed to be festering once again after being healed when he became a ninja and believed that he would not have to deal with reading and writing again in his career. He had purposefully ignored the fact that he constantly saw the Sadaime immersed in a deluge of paper. Now, it was manifesting itself with the blemish of assignments not completed for the classes he was forced to attend, which he could honestly care less about under circumstances. However, it was also inhibiting his growth in combat, and he knew it.
Sealing techniques required absolute precision and immaculate penmanship, lest the results turn disastrous. So far, he had been able to imitate the few examples the two had arrived with, but this was only through much trial and even more error. Error, which could not be afforded should he ever wish to experiment with his own creations. There were volumes enough in the library, not necessarily pertaining to their own form of seals, but to glyphs which shared much of the shared structure and concepts. It was a mathematics which followed the same rules and was no less effective, just written in a foreign language. This didn't help Naruto, however, who was totally illiterate when it came to math and was now truly feeling the adversity he faced because he couldn't properly read or write. He was ashamed, really, because he knew that it was he who was holding the two of them back when it came to progress in this field.
Glynda regarded the boy, parsing out his words, and coupling them with the tone which bore them knew that despite their already admitted plight, there was a far more tragic tale which had yet to be elaborated. It was not her place to push him to reveal this, however. She was here to teach him, and as long as whatever he was restricting from her didn't interfere with his learning, she could accept it.
"Well, why don't you try reading the pages out loud, and I can help you when you come across a difficult word?" This seemed and acceptable proposition, and so Naruto began at the first page of the assigned reading.
And so it progressed, slowly for hours. Although, certainly for the boy, and perhaps even for the elder woman the time seemed to fly as her proverbial hand guided him through his stumbling. His elation with the increase in proficiency and confidence each correction brought infectiously radiated to her so that by the time Naruto had reached the end of the assigned reading, he was not aware of it, so completely immersed in the plebian and homely feeling of having the matronly woman hovering over his shoulder. Her reformed demeanor reminded him longingly of Iruka, so far away now, and yet was so much more intimate. It was so easy, yet he bitterly refrained from thinking of the blonde woman as a mother-figure. A surrogate, for his own and for his preciously won corollary whose only permanent reminder in this world was the aquamarine crystal necklace tucked under his white shirt.
The dream was fluid, and though it made little sense to a conscious Naruto, this one flowed with the sequence and the two of them moved onto penmanship. She gently corrected his grip and position with the instrument, and once or twice guided his hand with her own forming more complex symbols and the beginnings of words bordering on calligraphy.
Before either of them realized it, the book of the day had closed, and it was dark outside the classroom's windows. Naruto awoke to his mortal body and registered his hunger for the first time. The night was firmly ensconced, and he realized that he had missed lunch, and hoped that he had not missed the chance of dinner as well. He was not remiss at missing the chance to talk with his classmates, the opportunity being substituted for the one that was chance presented to him. He did, however, need to eat something, or he would be well and truly diminished come morning.
He helped Glynda tidy up both his and her own papers, long since forgotten on the borrowed desk. She felt a twinge of regret at the thought that she had yet to grade a single one of the papers she promised to have finished by the morrow. Oh well, for once she could let it slide.
She had made an exceptional breakthrough with the boy. Not only was his literary skills markedly improved after only one session, but he had showed himself to be an thoroughly motivated and adept student. Once again she was forced to reassess her image of the young boy. He was still easily distracted, true, his limitless energy being a detriment in that respect. However, he did not let the impediment hold him from completing what he was set out to do. It was all a matter of motivation, it seemed.
As they concluded and before they parted ways, they arranged to have further meetings whenever the two could manage. Goodwitch had her own job to administer, and so it would only occasionally be that they would have time for a one on one. Still, this should be enough for the boy who had already shown vast improvement. He would meet her in her office for the next time, at the same hour that he and Sasuke normally perused the library for additional information. When he was not with her, he would be there, and so would continue to practice his proficiency and challenge his increased fluency on his own.
As he abjured the growing feeling of hunger, his elation at events began to turn slightly sour, as they competed with the memories he still held dear of his home unimaginably far away. He was slightly ashamed that he seemed to be forgetting his original bonds, and promises still not kept. This, in comparison to the world he now found himself resident. The world in which he was finally matriculating from crawling to walking, admittedly not without stumbling, was growing on him. He had friends now, bonds that in his integrity could not be broken.
How could he hold the two bundles of connections, across that great expanse? Would it tear him apart to even try?
OMAKE!
Sasuke was unamused. That much was more than evident despite the minimal light cast by the sole source of illumination in the dorm room: a flashlight being held by yang angled so that it cast dramatic shadows on her normally flawless face. The drama was necessary, she said, to cast the proper mood for telling ghost stories. Honestly though, even with the pretention of drama, who was scared of ghost stories?
Oh yeah…
Ruby and Naruto were both shivering in abject fear under a layered bastion of blanks and Ruby's cloak, each clutching the other as their only anchor to prevent any wayward spirits from whisking them away. Yang would have ordinarily teased the two youths mercilessly for their slightly awkward position, but she was having much too much fun instilling fear in them.
How did he get roped into this again?
Oh yeah.
See above idiot. Sasuke was enjoying one of the seldom obtained moments of peace and quiet in his shared dorm, with the other occupant being absent for the majority of the afternoon and evening. Sasuke wouldn't be bothered enough to be worried about the blond-haired boy, he probably needed some time to himself as well, to sort things out.
So, in what would have been a setting considered 'cozy' by anyone else, he lay there in his own bed, a single reading light in place and a good book, for once not one pertaining to the shinobi arts, Sasuke would settle for being 'content'.
Until that is, the king of discontent came bursting through the door and spirited the unprepared and unguarded Sasuke out the door with an explanation lost in the hurricane that yanked him out the door and down the hall clad in nothing more than a t-shirt and boxer-shorts. The smallest consolation was that they had moved at such a pace that he had hardly time enough to feel exposed do to his state of undress, before they reentered and almost identical dorm down the hall, whose occupants, while of the female variety normally more than capable of tearing a man apart with contemptuous comments on his choice of apparel, were in an equally underdressed state.
Never having been much of a socialite when he was younger, Sasuke had no concept of this activity Weiss had taken the pity of informing him was called a "slumber party". Originally it was supposed to be solely for the members of team RWBY, but seeing as Blake turned up in the midst of preparation with a pointedly lost Naruto, the other girls (minus Weiss), decided to go with the flow and make the most of it.
Seeing Naruto's reaction to the promise of ghost stories was enough to erase any misgivings the rest of them had about including the young males in their activities.
"…And so, the two children had lost their trail in the woods and were wandering aimlessly for hours, growing hungrier and colder by the hour. Soon the wind picked up and whistled through the trees, and they both heard a shrill cry on the wind 'Help me….'" Yang was a having a ball, admiring the results of her admittedly not very original tale, the two targeted victims looked entirely pathetic, more children, and less proud warriors; sniveling being taken quite literally as bits of snot ran down their noses unbeknown to both.
"What's that? The boy asked, his finger going numb from the cold when he felt a ghostly hand slowly creep-"
*DING*
A Pavlovian response as any overcame the formerly shell-shocked girl as she immediately brightened up, pale skin regaining some of its glow and pendulum of mucus disappearing back up her proboscis.
"Cookies are done!"
Faster than any of the rest could see, the girl darted across the room to the surprisingly sturdy looking oven which had been requisitioned, quite how was unknown, for this event. Naruto was left alone under the covers, still recovering and registering what had prompted the sudden exaltation from his fellow fraidy-cat.
The lights were now on, the mood killed more completely and anticlimactically than what was to transpire in Yang's story. Ruby whipped the oven door open and produced three full racks of still steaming confections. All looked on in awe as a heavenly glow seemed to radiate from them, the xenoliths of chocolate chips and other divine bits of flavor exploding in their vision like an optically opposite black hole. A torrent of drool poured down from all observers.
"Behold!" Ruby stood there, trays in gloved hands as she announced her sermon as if reading holy writ. "These are the singly most delicious cookies you will ever taste! Oatmeal Raisin so sweet and thick it is likely that even a single one will clog your arteries and you will die in bliss! We have White Chocolate Macadamia so exotic you will change genders several times before you finish them! We have quintuple Chocolate Chip, blacker than a Grimm's Butthole! We have Snickerdoodles so awe-inspiring that you will die laughing!"
Despite the less than flattering descriptions delivered by the power/sugar high girl, the group ate the words up in their entirety as readily an aperitif as a glass of water cleansing their pallet before the culinary bliss.
"And at last, we have… huh? I thought I made those this time. I remember wanting to try the recipe after I found it in the library. Oh well, guess I forgot…"
"Who cares Ruby! Just give us those cookies!"
Blake was practically foaming at the mouth in anticipation, she had barely been able to restrain herself while they were still baking. With the acuity of her nose she was in agony for hours while the perfect creations rose to the occasion.
Weiss had a secret sweet tooth that she was sure as hell not going to let anyone else find out about. But proprieties aside, she was going to devour as many of those treats as she could fit into her mouth in a single bite.
Yang had known her sister's infamous cravings and had helped foster her skill for Yang's own benefit. She would eventually probably rue this decision if her sister was ever declared diabetic, but right now concerns were eschewed in favor of undiluted gastronomic lust.
Naruto was, well he simply couldn't believe there was something that smelled almost as good as Ramen.
Sasuke…. Well, he didn't like sweets but maybe one or two wouldn't hurt.
The dozens upon dozens of sweets were no match for the ravenous herd and they disappeared with a surge preempted by Ruby attempting to flee, and falling back on her butt. There was a mad scramble and a group grappling session of epic proportions devolved into a semblance and chakra-infused pillow fight that brought the wrath of Goodwitch down on them when a pillow went through one of the walls and knocked a startled Jaune unconscious instantaneously after the crash awoke him.
And, thirty minutes after the last cookie had been devoured and the rest of the sugar in their collective blood had completely metabolized, they had succumbed to the mother of all sugar-crashes and fell asleep in various slumps all around the room, some making it to the comfort of a mattress, but far more falling asleep where they lay, the last of their energy being diverted to dragging a stray blanket, or failing that a warm body, over there collapsed form.
All was quiet very soon after, save the obnoxious snoring of Naruto and Yang and the dainty snorts of Weiss as she lay half-on half-off Blake's suspended bed. When all was quiet, Sasuke who was perhaps the most gathered in his encampment at the foot of Yang's bed, silently cracked an eye open, scanning the room and making sure that everyone was indeed asleep.
From under the blanket he had located by brail minutes earlier, we withdrew one of the girl's t-shirts he had borrowed, and unwrapped the carefully folded garment to reveal a half-dozen reddish-hued cookies, unmolested by the horde. He brought one up to his face, drew a deep breath to reassure himself that it was indeed what he had first surmised. There was no mistaking the luxurious and tangy scent. It might be a horrible travesty, but how was he to know if he didn't try the temptations of a sweet tomato-basil ricotta cookie?
How did Ruby even know? He was very careful to keep his personal craving under tight scrutiny, varying his diet so that even the attentive would be hard-pressed to find a pattern, a commonality. He had even taken to lifting V-8 juices from the kitchen supply, so that they wouldn't see him chugging it down in the adjacent boy's bathroom.
He might have to kill her, lest she make this weakness public knowledge.
*Nibble*
….Ok, she could live.
