Greeting and salutations! A chapter in under a week? Incredible! I'm trying to get back to writing consistently and this is my recent experiment with that. This chapter of F&C takes some of the focus off Jaune as we delve a little more into the Fox of the story. I'll be trying to update next week as well as I want that mad money that comes with a consistent upload schedule.

'mad money' may be a misnomer.

Watching RWBY season 6 is on my to do list. I've been reading over synopsis to make sure I'm not messing up continuity. Some stuff I like in s6, much more stuff I don't. **S6 spoiler** I feel the Ozma/Salem thing could be seen a mile away. The only thing I was more sure of than that is that Pyrrha comes back to life in some way. **S6 spoiler end** I do hope that when I watch it the season starts to redeem 4 and 5 for me. I don't know if my heart can handle another season 5.

Anywho, off to the races!

Chapter 10

Balance

Improvement was easier to achieve the closer to rock bottom you were when you started. Nothing embodied that quite as well as the personal relationships between the members of Team One. While Jaune had gotten off to a fairly good start with each and every one of his teammates through some divine providence, that hadn't translated over well to the rest of them. Weiss and Pyrrha had gotten off on the wrong foot… that was the phrasing Jaune had decided to use put a positive spin on it, at least. Their interactions, especially from Pyrrha's end, defined the term 'frosty'.

To Jaune's immense relief it turned out that all hope was not lost! One week in, the two finally had their first markedly positive interaction. After Weiss trounced Sky Lark of CRDL in Professor Goodwitch's class, Pyrrha congratulated her. Weiss thanked her in turn. It was incredible!

And while the fact that it was an undeniable improvement between the two was tragic in its own way, Jaune had resolved to think of it positively.

The problem of the hour was that the small exchange was still leaps and bounds better than what Jaune had managed himself. Dragging himself up the stairs towards his seat, he collapsed in his chair where Pyrrha offered him a consolatory pat on the shoulder.

"Nice one!" Nora congratulated him. He would have thought she was joking were it not for the genuine beaming smile she wore as she said it. After being absolutely slaughtered by Cardin Winchester, the only thing worth celebrating was that it was finally over. "You got a good hit on him that time!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! You hit his shoulder. Remember?"

He didn't. Had he managed to get a hit in and just not realized it?

That makes me feel a bit better… I think?

"That wasn't a hit!" Weiss clearly knew what Nora was talking about where he didn't. Her seething annoyance was a neon billboard telling him that any celebration had been entirely misguided. "He tripped and ran his face into Winchester's shoulder!"

Ah… that. Jaune grimaced. That had been anything but intentional. Cardin had swung his giant mace-thing at his face after knocking his shield away. He'd tried so hard to get his shield back into position that he swung out, tripped, and fell forward, miraculously avoiding the hit by accidentally pushing into Cardin and thereby out of his strike zone.

His face had then become closely acquainted with Cardin's pauldron, which was the 'hit' Nora was referring to.

"He ran his face into Cardin," Nora quoted her words back at her. "AKA, he hit Cardin."

"Yea! Go Jaune!" Ruby cheered. Jaune let his head fall flat onto the desk, shame overtaking him.

He immediately lifted his head and dropped it again, feeling that once was not enough.

"You really have improved," Pyrrha assured him with a smile. "You didn't last half as long in your first spar again Cardin."

"I spent twice as long getting my butt kicked. Yay…"

"It's fine," His partner insisted. "Everyone starts somewhere. You shouldn't compare yourself-"

Jaune tuned her out. Not willfully — he'd never do that to Pyrrha or anyone else on his team — but it happened nonetheless as his doubt spoke in his ear. He was the leader of Team One? What a joke. He hadn't managed to shave ten percent off Cardin's aura according to the scoreboard Professor Goodwitch had broadcasting to the entire class. What an embarrassment he must have been to his team. Everyone else on Team One had won every fight they'd been called for in the first week. The only failure — failures — on their team belonged to him.

Their leader.

"Uggggggghhh," Yang's groan pulled attention to her and thankfully dragged Jaune's thoughts out of the muck along with it. "Can someone tell me I've had a lapse of sanity?"

Ruby blinked innocently. "Of course, Yang. You're always crazy."

Yang bit down on her sister's head like a beowolf, holding it in place with her hands while she gnawed on Ruby's scalp. The young team leader immediately covered her mouth with her hands before squealing as she tried to thrash free. Considering this was Professor Goodwitch's class, Jaune thought Ruby's choice to prioritize a quiet imprisonment over a loud escape showed she had her priorities in the right order.

"What I was saying," Yang said after spitting a few strands of Ruby's hair from her mouth after her sister had been thoroughly punished. "Was could someone please tell me that I'm remembering wrong and that our next class will be taught by a hunky blond?"

Blake was the one to answer, though she didn't take her eyes off her book to do so. "I heard some students talking about his class at lunch today. It seems Professor Port has recovered from his sniffles, as has Professor Oobleck."

"Crap!"

"Darn…" Ruby echoed her sister's disappointment. The two of them weren't the only ones in their group expressing such thoughts on the matter.

Aside from the first day of classes, both History and Grimm Studies had been taught to them by one of Naruto's clones. A rather irate Professor Goodwitch had informed them during first period of their second day that both Professors Oobleck and Port had come down with a bad case of the sniffles. The illness had apparently been so bad that the two were bedridden the rest of the week and the weekend as well if rumors were true.

"His teachings on the grimm were surprisingly well informed," Ren remarked.

"Why's that surprising?" Ruby asked. "Don't most huntsmen know a lot about the grimm? It's like, their job!"

"Most huntsmen don't call nevermores 'big birds'," Weiss dryly pointed out. "Nor do they address grimm as tusky pigs, or black bears-"

"He stopped calling ursa that," Nora interrupted, earning her a sideways glance from Weiss.

"Only because I pointed out to him that black bears are an actual animal."

"And 'big black bears' isn't much better," Blake added with a sigh.

While it was undeniable that Naruto was quickly becoming something of a favorite amongst the student body, the consensus of his complete lack of common sense was easily keeping pace. The worst part was that news of his mentor's unfortunate quirks weren't even the most problematic thing taking Beacon by storm. There was, in Jaune's mind, a far more serious epidemic.

Exhibit A. "Who cares what he calls them? I could listen to him talk for hours..." Yang's voice tapered off as her face was overtaken by a goofy grin.

Weiss didn't have the energy left to look scandalized. She'd been fighting an uphill battle against Yang on the virtues of professionalism since Team Rain's blonde had started talking like this… which was the second day of class. Horrifying to both Weiss and Jaune, Yang was no longer alone in that endeavor.

"H-he's a really good teacher," Ruby squeaked.

"Really good," Yang agreed. "I could listen to him talk about his mushrooms allllll day."

As Weiss rounded on Yang, receiving a deathly glare from Professor Goodwitch in the process, Jaune had to acknowledge that considering their previous lesson, the mischevious blonde could have meant what she said in an entirely innocent way. Did he believe that?

Not even a little bit.

A class of students sprawled out in front of him. Tens of pairs of eyes staring him down. Kurama's tail bounced slightly from the long strides he was taking towards his desk. Naruto reached into a burlap sack sitting atop his desk, rummaged around, and withdrew something from its depths.

"Would you eat this?" Naruto asked his class, holding up a golden-brown mushroom for the entire class to see. The overhead lighting revealed the glistening slimy sheen for the class to see. It had a rounded top and a micro-porous sponge underbelly.

"No chance in hell," Coco Adel answered with a shiver. "That thing looks gross."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Kids. "It isn't. What you're calling gross is something of a mucus this butterball mushroom produces to fight infections. That slime is nature's immune system, and by consequence," Naruto deposited the mushroom into his mouth, giving a more pronounced roll of his eyes towards the few members of his class who retched. "Is completely edible, even raw in some cases."

Naruto was happy to see that not every student had the same reaction as Coco. "Couldn't you cook the mushroom before eating it?" Fox asked.

"Naturally. Cooking fungus is the way to go ninety-nine percent of the time. It takes the risk-factor down to virtually zero. However, if you ever run into a situation where a fire would be too conspicuous or potentially risky in some way, it's good to know you have the option."

Fox nodded. "Are all butterball mushrooms edible raw?"

"Now that's a great question, not to mention what I was just about to get to," Naruto praised Fox as he found another butterball in the sack and pulled it out. "The first thing you want to do with a mushroom is to check the cap and underneath it for any sign of rot. If there's no rot, or if you think there's enough viable mushroom to salvage, cut its stem as far down as you can. Normally, the stem is edible and therefor food that you shouldn't be throwing out."

Naruto pulled a kunai from his waist-satchel and brought it to the stem of the mushroom, shaving about a quarter-inch off.

"After you've made an incision to the stem, check for any holes in it. Holes in the stem means you shouldn't eat it until it's cooked."

Looking at the stem and indeed finding holes, Naruto set the mushroom on his desk.

"Why?" Another student asked.

"Plenty of animals and insects consume fungi. Holes in the stem means something ate its way up the stem and is probably still rummaging around the cap somewhere. Not something you want to eat raw."

"Not something I want to eat at all!" Coco shouted before shivering in her seat. "Especially not if there's bugs in it."

Naruto shrugged. "As long as you're cooking it properly beforehand, most insects are a good protein source. If you have the food supply to be picky then be my guest. This is a lesson for the times when you don't."

The rumblings of conversation that worked their way through the students was something Naruto had expected. He leaned against his desk, partially sitting on it as he waited for the kids to work out their jitters. Soon enough, they had. At least to the point that someone was willing to help push the lesson forward with the obvious question. Or in this case, statement.

"Beacon supplies any extended mission with rations to complete the mission plus thirty percent," A bookish looking student stated a bit too pompously for Naruto's liking. "Securing sufficient rations before the start of any mission is both critical and elementary. Nobody here would or has been caught on an operation where food would be an issue."

A flash of intent through their mental connection had Kurama jump off his shoulder perch and onto the stage. Naruto waved his hands lazily and the two large filing cabinets on his desk burst open, sand pouring out from them. Large tendrils of sand followed him as he walked towards the center of the stage, save for one small bit of sand that remained at his desk.

"Imagine you're being dropped into a mission," Naruto started, moving arms as he did so. The sand alive with his chakra took on many shapes, breaking apart and separating itself into the setpieces he wished for. Children responded well to visuals, after all.

The sand at his desk took form into a miniature bullhead and flew through his class. Flying over the students' heads, winding its way through a nonsensical path, it eventually made its way back to the stage. Awaiting it was a small forest made entirely of sand about as tall as his waist.

"Bullheads are fantastic transportation for the average mission. The standard transports used by Beacon are not, as you should always bear in mind, built with the intention to dominate the skies. If you're unlucky…" The sandy bullhead encountered two flying-grimm counterparts that attacked it in the sky, chasing it to the ground. When the sand-bullhead crashed, four stick-figures emerged from it. "You could find that you're going to need to survive in less than optimal conditions."

"Even if that were to happen, we'd still have our supplies on us," The increasingly annoying kid reminded him.

"Indeed you would, if you were following Beacon protocol."

Naruto had perused — alright, he'd made a clone do the perusing — every piece of literature he could get his hands on concerning Beacon rules, regulations, policies, and practices. He wasn't a stickler for the rules by any definition of the term, but you had to know where the lines were before you could color outside them.

That combined with the knowledge of humans as a species made his next guess more of a certainty than anything. "Beacon travel policy states that all mission gear pertinent to your person should be kept on your person. So I'm sure if I was to ask you if you kept your packs on you during any and all transportation then your answer would be 'yes Professor Uzumaki', right?"

The nervous shuffling of the class was answer enough. Naruto didn't really blame them for that. Keeping your hands on a full pack of provisions, weapons, and whatever other mission-pertinent supplies you needed in a vehicle wasn't fun. They bounced around, required constant attention, and there often wasn't space beneath one's seat large enough for a full ruck, meaning it often needed to be held in your lap. It was one of the reasons he'd never used vehicles for missions. Even when they'd become all the rage in the Elemental Nations, he'd stayed an anachronism to the end.

"We could always get them from storage after we crashed…" The kid mumbled shamefacedly.

Naruto's brow twitched. He snapped his finger, drawing the attention of everyone in the class and then pointing it to the bullhead. Flecks of sand were now floating off it. "Your bullhead's engine is on fire. What do you do? Three, two, one, who has an answer?"

A few scattered hands raised throughout the crowd, the brat's among them. "I'd get the supplies and-"

"Boom, your bullhead blew up. You're dead. What part of the engine is on fire did you not understand?" Naruto waved the kid off, ignoring his stammering. "The rest of you who raised your hands; which of you were going to go and get your supplies?"

All of the hands that were up went down.

"Of course not," Naruto's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Alright then; among those who didn't raise their hands, where would you have been? Standing by the bullhead trying to figure out what to do? Boom, you're also dead."

"You can't know that! We could have been fine!" The obnoxious brat cried out.

"You're right. I can't," Naruto agreed, surprising his class. "Maybe the bullhead doesn't explode. Maybe you get your supplies, complete your mission, and evac comes and gets you in a few days. For all I know, you could be fine."

"So hey, let's be generous and say the engine that I told you was on fire only leads to an explosion one in five times. You'd live eighty percent of the time. You need those supplies on that bullhead, after all. Not getting them is basically the same as dying, so you take the risk. Any team I would lead would never do something so stupid. I wouldn't risk sending anyone into a potential explosion because I know my mushrooms. If there are no mushrooms, I know how to hunt. If there's nothing to hunt, I know what berries will sustain me and which ones are poison."

He'd also learned how to sustain himself without food by using a constant drip of nature's energy. Naruto left that detail out, correctly presuming it would lower the impact of the overall lesson.

"I understand you lot have been on missions already and have gotten a feel for how they work," Naruto offered an olive branch. "But so far those missions have been short, sweet, and to the point. The mission reports you've all submitted paint the same picture."

Reading those files was more for his benefit than their own. The second-year students were all eighteen now. Naruto knew — primarily due to being informed so many a time — that his perception of what an eighteen-year-old should be able to accomplish was warped. Going through the reports helped him get a better grasp on what mission level the students were trusted with.

Scaling it down for Remnant capabilities, most of the missions issued were C's and B's. They weren't out there chasing runaway cats, but neither were they heroes. The young huntsmen functioned closer to something like an anti-grimm patrol, being sent wherever a grimm cleanup was needed for whatever work was necessary. Important as that was, it wasn't what Beacon would need for much longer.

It would need heroes.

"I would like nothing more if everything I taught you in this class was completely pointless. I wish for your sakes that every mission you are on for the rest of your life goes to plan. But since I don't believe that and neither do you, it's important to be prepared for the many things that can and eventually will go sideways. Thinking that missions will keep on going the way they've been going is a great way to get yourself into more trouble than you can handle."

The bell tolled and announced the end of class. While Naruto hadn't even remotely timed things out intentionally, he did know how to capitalize on the momentum. "That'll be all for today. One of my clones will be passing out worksheets on various mushrooms, their edibility, and how to identify them at the door. Familiarize yourself with their contents as there will be a quiz sometime in the next week."

The various groans his words solicited had Naruto mentally bumping up the test's date. He'd intended to give it Friday… but tomorrow would work too.

"My boy!" Port's voice boomed as Naruto walked into the staff lounge.

"Professor Port," Naruto responded with a nod before taking and flipping open a binder containing last weeks coursework. Grading papers was a fairly unglamorous part of teaching that still required a relatively full attention. The more you slacked off on grading the more students would assume you were the professor whose coursework they could skip.

And while he could task his clones to do it, they were even more bitter about the task than he was. Getting hammered with concentrated annoyance whenever he dispelled them after a job like that wasn't normally worth assigning it to them in the first place. If the situation demanded it, of course he'd do it, but it was simply a matter of comfort this time around. And so it was Naruto's thought that surrounding himself with his fellow educators would help him remain focused on the task at hand.

It proved to be the type of idea that sounded much better in theory than it worked in practice.

"Any questions for your senior professor?" Port asked, his mustache wiggling as he did so.

"Hmmmm…" Naruto immediately began to tune him out. That was, at least, until he realized he did actually have a question. "What do we do with the second-year students and up?"

"Pertaining to?" Professor Oobleck joined the conversation as he too entered the staffroom.

Naruto rummaged through his binder, missing the familiar weight of his companion on his shoulders. It wasn't that odd for Kurama to wander under normal circumstances, but usually when they were around people the two of them stuck together.

Finding what he'd been looking for, Naruto pulled out something of a syllabus that Ozpin had provided for him. It didn't directly give the details of any of their classes, rather it was a list of Beacon field trips, assignments, missions and the like for students of each year. While the first years had several missions planned out well in advance, the second years and above were more concerning.

Finding what he was looking for, he held out the paper for them and pointed to a particular item. "It seems like after the first year we're just throwing our second year students along on mid-rank missions. The worse teams consistently get assigned C's while the more skilled are sent on B's."

"Primarily B's," Professor Oobleck corrected before collapsing into his own personal armchair that was pushed up against the wall. "While we do try and keep those teams who aren't prepared to relatively low-risk missions, teams that distinguish themselves might be sent on A-rank missions as soon as their second year."

Naruto nodded. That much was something he could accept. "But what about the third and fourth years? They're both doubling up on B's and A's."

"Of course they are! What would you have us do, lad? Send academy students on our most difficult missions? Any of our special missions are assigned only to graduated huntsmen who have proven themselves. They are far too dangerous for mere students."

"I thought we'd have something similar to the first years, only scaled up. S rank missions supervised by staff." Something to get them prepared for a real fight.

Professor Oobleck tilted his spectacles down and looked at him. The hot mug of coffee he'd procured himself steamed his lenses. "What staff?"

"Or graduates of the school," Naruto immediately ceded the point. What staff indeed. Apparently, almost all of them would be heading the first year missions near the beginning of the second semester. With the minimal teaching staff they had, that meant most classes would grind to a halt at that point.

"That's a tall order you're asking for Naruto-"

"Professor Uzumaki," Naruto quickly corrected him.

"It's difficult enough to find enough skilled huntsmen required for such dangerous missions," Port continued unphased. "But you want us to find huntsmen capable of babysitting our students while they do it? It's too risky for anything but the highest quality huntsman. I myself would happily volunteer but I imagine there'd be few other takers."

Naruto clicked his tongue. "I'm not denying that there's some risk to the idea. I am of the mind that there are threats too great for total caution. If we have to make a gamble, I'd want it to be on the next generation."

"And while I know we all agree with you on that," A voice came from Naruto's six. He resisted the compulsion to spin around and assess what had snuck up on him. The voice, the complete lack of presence it belonged to... both were becoming familiar to him. "Peter doesn't speak out of turn. There is a very real issue of manpower to consider."

"When it comes to war you won't win with numbers, Ozpin. That's a battle humanity lost when they got corralled onto twenty percent of Remnant's habitable land, leaving the rest for grimm to spawn. Your best hope — only hope — is to win by quality," Determined amber eyes glinted in Naruto's memory. "And even that will be difficult."

As Ozpin took the seat directly across from him at the table, Oobleck set down his mug and sighed. "It isn't as if I don't understand your position, Professor Uzumaki. We belong to a rather unfortunate occupation. Our funding is primarily from two revenue sources; donations and a budget assigned by the Vale Council. As the council is elected, they are obligated to represent the people. While we might see that a storm is brewing close on the horizon, the people do not."

"More than money, we lack people," Ozpin added. "While it might be possible to increase our teaching staff, one must ask to what end? Our curriculum is not what you or I find insufficient. It is the lack of practical experience that is most problematic. Huntsmen skilled enough to head such dangerous expeditions are in low supply. From that short list of names, I would then need to decide which could be pulled from the critical functions they already serve to train the next generation. To prepare for the future in that way would be to lower our defenses now."

"So we're stuck up a creek with no money to buy a paddle and no one who knows how to use the damned thing even if we did," Port finished. "I tried to convince old Oz to do the same thing when I first became a teacher here. I said that we needed more and better than what we had. He threw the same reasons in my face then that we're rattling off now."

"It's tragic, but necessary," Professor Oobleck concluded.

Naruto's long life had taught him many lessons. Pertinent to how he felt right now was one; sometimes the mind understands but the heart doesn't give in. He knew they were right. Their resources and capabilities were limited. Those factors meant that tough choices had to be made. There was only so much they could do. They were only human.

They weren't gods.

"You're probably right," Naruto forced himself to agree as he rose from his seat. "There's only so much we can do with what we have."

"Chin up, Naruto!" Port hollered after him as he left the staffroom behind him at a brusque pace. "Ahhh… to be young again. So full of passion, vim, and vigor," Port paused for a minute and then cleared his throat. "Not that I'm lacking in any of those, obviously."

"He takes his position as a professor seriously. To have such foresight into critical issues of the academy so quickly... I believe that Ozpin has found us a diamond to add to our ranks."

Ozpin smiled knowingly. "He convinced me of such during our interview. To say I have high expectations of him would be overly modest."

"He's a good lad. Maybe a bit young if you ask me."

Ozpin chuckled. "I can assure you that won't be a problem, Peter."

"Speaking of names, Peter," Oobleck turned towards his heavyset friend. "Why do you insist on referring to him as you do?"

"Naruto?" Peter asked like the very question was ludicrous. "Do you want me to address a man who drank me under the table as 'professor'? That man is now a brother-in-arms! Any man who can almost send me to the gates of hell with booze is a friend and I shan't let even the man himself tell me otherwise!"

"Hmm?" A feminine voice hummed. "What was that I heard? I could have sworn someone just confessed that their recent ailment was, in fact, self inflicted by a lack of restraint."

Port swallowed audibly. "G-glynda! You must have misheard me. I was merely saying…"

"Yes? No, please do continue, Peter. If you don't say anything more I may have to dig the rest of your grave myself," Goodwitch's eyes flashed steel towards her coworker.

"It really was Naruto's fault. It was he who challenged me. As a man of honor I had no choice but to accept!"

"Ahhhh…" Goodwitch exhaled, her body relaxing as she did so. "That's better. It's plenty deep now."

Peter's eyes darted back and forth between Oobleck and Ozpin, looking for a savior in either of them. Both shrugged, averted their eyes, and returned to their coffee. And as mad as he wanted to be at them, it was hard to place blame.

He wouldn't jump in front of a raging Glynda either.

There were good and bad types of attention. Getting recognized because you were crazy strong, fought like you were born to do it, and were everything every huntsman and huntress aspired to be? Jaune thought that was pretty good attention that Pyrrha got.

Getting noticed because you were pathetically weak? Because you somehow ended up the leader of people head and shoulders above you? The type of attention that drew bullies your way all the time? That was his type of attention. Jaune hated that type of attention.

It was kind of weird how much he'd began to hate being weak. Of course he was going to be weak. It wasn't like he'd trained his whole life like Pyrrha had. Weiss and Blake probably worked hard too. One look at how they fought in class and he knew they'd been preparing to be huntressess just like Pyrrha. He was the only one who wasn't prepared.

And that's why he went to Naruto every single day. Weiss and Pyrrha had been mentioning team practices more and more with each passing day. Now that Team One was starting to act like a team — something he was genuinely happy about — Jaune had lost his primary defense as to why he didn't want to do team practice. His current excuse being that he wanted to ease into the curriculum.

With an entire week of school now over, that excuse held less water with Weiss than ever. She had actually started working with Pyrrha to try and corner him into practice today! Between the two of them Jaune knew there was no way he could get himself out of it.

Yet here he was, training on the edges of the Emerald Forest without his team. How'd he manage that? He'd gotten attention that he couldn't tell was good or bad. The type of attention that had hopped onto his shoulders, claimed him, and dared anyone on his team to dispute that claim.

It really showed how smart his team was that they'd let him go without a fight.

Your form is terrible. Kurama commented dryly as Jaune's sword hacked into tree, cutting maybe half an inch in before getting stuck. You're relying on your shoulders too much to generate power. Create strength with your arms and the torque of your body.

Jaune listened… or would obeyed be a more accurate description? Either way, when he swung at the tree this time Crocea Mors managed to sink itself a whole inch into the mighty oak.

Better.

Jaune wrenched his blade from the oak once more. The impact from striking something so solid left his hands feeling a little numb. Not that he was complaining! It was… surprising, really. This felt an awful lot like training to fight.

"Why are you training me?" Jaune asked the fox who had perched itself atop a tree stump. "I thought Naruto didn't want me practicing like this until I was stronger."

Have I taken human form and grown blonde hair? Naruto is Naruto. I am myself. The two of us do not always see eye to eye on everything.

Jaune had a pretty mixed opinion on that. His parents hadn't always agreed on everything, but they were still a team. In that way it made sense. Did that mean he was betraying Naruto by learning from Kurama right now? That he was less on board with. "But why now? I've been keeping at my conditioning for weeks now and you haven't said anything."

Kurama snorted. I hadn't seen you fight until recently.

Jaune was expecting him to have more to say. After a minute passed and Kurama pointed his nose back towards the tree, it was clear that the fox thought what he said was enough. Did that mean Kurama had seen him fight?

If so, then that pretty much explained everything.

Half an hour was how long Jaune spent trying to fell the oak before Kurama said something more than a critique. You aren't weak.

Of all the most surprising things the fox could have said, that was pretty darn high on Jaune's list. "What… what do you mean I'm not weak?" He panted. Swinging a sword for thirty minutes straight was not as easy as he thought it'd be.

I mean that you aren't weak. Kurama repeated. The look in his eye told Jaune he wasn't to ask again. Apparently his face had enough confusion on display that the annoyed fox sighed and relented. You are inept, not incapable.

"Errr… thanks?"

It means you have no excuse to be this pathetic. Kurama glared at him. With that being said, the fox jumped off its perch on the tree stump and plodded over to him. Despite the fact that Kurama had been in a helpful mood so far, the sight of the orange-red fox slowly plodding towards him was not a comforting one.

Jaune needn't have worried. When the fox arrived at his feat it placed it's right paw on his leg and closed his eyes. The humans of Remnant are weaker than we expected. Your chakra — or whatever your people call it here — is far stronger than most of your kind. Yet instead of harnessing it like you should, it sits there idle and purposeless.

"It's not like I'm not using my aura on purpose… I just don't really know how to use it."

I watched you use it on the day of your test. You saved the cat.

"Cat?" Jaune asked. He had no idea what cat Kurama was talking about but there was only one person he even remotely saved that day. "Do you mean Blake?"

Mmmm…

Kurama had a point. There was no way he was strong enough to lift a tree that huge normally, so it had to have been aura that gave him the strength to do it. "It kinda just happened there… I knew I needed to use it, knew it was possible, and then bam, it was there! I've tried since then," Jaune flexed his hand in the vain hope that he'd feel his aura's strength coursing through it. There was nothing. "I haven't been able to."

Your chakra lacks purpose because you do not will it to. Kurama exhaled a heavy breath. Would a cart move uphill were it not pulled? Using my chakra is as natural to me as breathing. It is part of me. To you, it is foreign. Like an unruly pup, it will never heed your call unless you make it. When it knows its master it shall serve you absolutely.

Jaune frowned. "You make it sound like something I have to conquer. Weiss told me aura was the manifestation of my soul — a part of me. Why do I need to be so… aggressive?"

Humans are ignorant as a species and you are no exception. Kurama's red eyes looked up to him. What should have felt insulting didn't carry the same bite from the fox as it would someone like Cardin. It felt like he was stating a fact without any malice behind it. You ask why you would need to conquer yourself while questioning your worth in the same breath. If you believe yourself worthless and incapable, why would your soul obey?

Cardin had given Jaune a fair deal of experience with being struck. The deathstalker had hit him ten times harder. Yet Jaune felt that Kurama's blow hurt the worst. "I know that confidence is important, but what do I have to be confident about?! I AM weak! My partner backflipped off of someone's shield yesterday while I can't even block properly without falling over myself!"

And?

And? And?! What the heck did he mean by 'and'?!

What? Did you come to Beacon without training, instinct, or upbringing and expect to be kami's gift to huntsmen? You did not. You don't have the confidence necessary for such foolishness. If you expected to do poorly and are now living up to that expectation, I fail to see what could possibly irk you.

Jaune finally found himself pushed over the precipice of his timidity. "I know! I knew I wasn't going to be good before I came here! I knew I'd be a joke! What I didn't expect was to be on a team of girls so strong they're basically superheroes while I'm stuck here getting lessons on how to swing a sword! And then fate goes and decides it'd be funny to make me the leader of this team? What kind of sick joke is that?!"

When Kurama's nostrils flared, Jaune wasn't sure what to make of it. The sharp inhale and exhale of breath, the shaking of the fox's body. He didn't know what any of it meant until he saw the flash in the brights of Kurama's eyes.

He was laughing.

"Is this some joke to you?!"

It is amusing. Kurama admitted candidly, his body still racked by laughter. If only because it proves you are a boy who does not learn his lessons easily. I know your kind well.

Jaune bit his tongue. Literally. It was the only way to stop his rather small temper from getting the better of him. It really did feel like Kurama knew what buttons to press to get a rise out of him. It wasn't long before the mirth of the fox lessened. It hadn't died, this Jaune knew. His long tail whisked through the air in a smooth and somewhat entrancing motion, the glint in Kurama's eyes still there.

I do believe my partner once told you to focus on what you could do. Surprisingly sound advice from him, though not without its hypocrisy. So tell me; what do you think you can do?

What could he do? If he knew what he could do then he wouldn't be so stuck! It wasn't like he could magic his way into being a fighter like Pyrrha. No way he could become as precise and skilled as Weiss. Blake's agility and cunning were beyond him too! They'd spent their lives preparing for this and all he'd done was decide one day to pursue his dream! He needed more-

"Time," The word fell dumbly from Jaune's mouth. "If I'm going to be better, I'm going to need more time."

Good. Kurama said, his lips peeling up to expose a toothy smile. But you can't make time, can you?

"No… I can't. Can I?" Jaune's mind raced to try and answer the question he'd posed more for his own benefit than Kurama's.

Was there a way to cheat time? They both knew he didn't have a lifetime to become a huntsman. He needed to do it now. His team needed him to do it now. But what could he do? There was no time-chamber he could train in like in his morning cartoons. He couldn't cheat time like that.

It's impressive, isn't it? Kurama asked him with an obvious smugness as he walked the few paces necessary to arrive at the base of the tree Jaune had been training on. He stood on his hind legs and touched the gash of his sword strikes with his claw. Your blade cuts far deeper now than it did when we started.

Kurama's message hit Jaune like a ton of bricks. It wasn't really that impressive considering the fox had basically thrown the answer in his face. "I stopped relying on my shoulders like you told me to."

Indeed. While there are many important lessons one can only learn on their own, there are some that are much more quickly processed by being taught. Humans have a long history of compensating for their weakness through theft. Stealing the inventions of those smarter than them, the techniques of those stronger. The ability to take from others and make it their own is the only reason your species has lasted as long as it has. Deplorable as it is, denying your human nature will only slow you down.

"Steal? What do you mean steal? You taught me."

Kurama rolled his eyes. You humans are always so literal. A nation with resources is at an advantage only so long as they are able to utilize them effectively. It matters not how large an advantage one human has over the other if they lack the means by which to use it.

Jaune's thoughts clicked as he realized what Kurama was saying. "My aura. You said it was larger than most people's."

By a considerable amount. Kurama added, pawing his way back over to Jaune. But idiot that you are, you don't know how to use it. You don't have the skill with your blade or the command of your energy to do anything with your advantage. So you should-

"Steal," Jaune finished for him.

Kurama's teeth bared themselves into a grin. Steal everything as a human would. Steal all the knowledge, the techniques, and anything else that you can. It is through the theft of other's ideas that humans can thwart time. By passing on their knowledge from one generation to the next humans have grown greater than nature ever intended.

It all made sense. The way Kurama said it was a bit weird, but Jaune basically understood what he meant. There was no point in trying to maintain his pride as a leader because he didn't have any to begin with. He knew he was going to suck at this whole huntsman thing in the beginning. Being made his team's leader hadn't miraculously changed that.

If he wanted to get better then he needed to accept all the help he could get.

"Thank, Kurama. That was actually really helpful."

The fox glared at him. Those fiery red orbs felt like they were piercing through his body. Actually? Did you expect my advice to not be helpful?

"What? No! That wasn't what I meant at-"

The fox lept at him and Jaune flinched. Definitely not the reaction you wanted to have to danger when you were at a school made to train heroes. While he couldn't see, Jaune felt his neck enveloped by warmth as something wrapped around him. When he opened his eyes the orange-red hue of Kurama occupied both sides of his peripheral vision.

Since you seem to be undecided on the merits of my instruction, it seems necessary to work you even harder. You should prepare to work until the results of my efforts are undeniable.

Jaune's groan quickly transformed into a whimper when Kurama shot him a look that clearly said it was in his best interest to shut up and accept things. Wearily picking up his sword, Jaune approached the tree with Kurama resting on his shoulders.

I will monitor your form from here. Kurama explained. Should you allow it to deteriorate… The fox dug its claws into his shoulders.

"Ow!"

That was a warning.

"Warning?!" Jaune cried incredulously. "I didn't even do anything wrong yet."

And I would advise you continue to make sure that is the case.

Too threatened by his trainer to even grumble, Jaune held up his sword and shield and readied himself to swing. Between school and the training he'd done already, Jaune already felt spent.

Hadn't he? He could have sworn he felt more tired a minute ago. Maybe he was remembering wrong because when Jaune swung his sword his body felt surprisingly light. He felt good!

That was until claws pierced their way through his skin.

Your shield arm dropped when you swung. That's why you get hit so much, baka. Again!

Kurama didn't even leave him a chance to reply before demanding he continue. Filled with newfound determination, Jaune was ready to oblige him. He pulled Crocea Mors from the tree and swung it again. For a second, Jaune considered that maybe he was more tired than he felt.

He could have sworn he saw an orange glow coming off his hand.

Naruto collapsed on his bed, his mind buzzing with thoughts. For most of his life he'd been more of a doer than a thinker. There'd always been people smarter than him and he'd been okay with that.

For the first leg of his journey he'd had Shikamaru to keep him straight. Then, funnily enough, the mantle passed through the family to Shikadai. He'd passed on the mantle of Hokage at that point but as an important figure in the shinobi world he'd still found need of counsel.

As time had passed the circle of trusted friends and advisors shrunk. That was natural, Naruto supposed. As his existence became more of an anachronism there were obviously fewer people who understood his way of life. It took a long while for that number to fall to the point where he could no longer stand it.

But it did.

The sound of his door being pushed open put Naruto on alert for a second until he realized who it was. "I was wondering where you wandered off to."

What a pointless way to pass your time.

Naruto chuckled. No matter how time had changed things there had always been one constant in his life.

"Should I be brave enough to ask what you were up to?"

Amusing myself. Kurama replied as he jumped on the bed and curled up in Naruto's lap. Same as you should have been doing.

Naruto ran his hand through Kurama's fur. The action calmed him. Grounded him. Feeling something that would always be there. Something he couldn't accidentally break.

"I'll have to try harder to have some fun," Naruto agreed. His partner snorted, rolling his eyes before returning his head to rest on his own tail.

Kurama's skepticism was deserved. The entire point of coming to Remnant was to escape. They'd left behind the world where Naruto Uzumaki held any more meaning than the name of a man, yet Naruto couldn't deny he was finding it hard to adjust to that. He'd expected lifting a burden that had been on his shoulders for centuries to feel more liberating, like Lee whenever he'd take off those ridiculous weights. It seemed that what weighed him down was not so easily removed.

You should invest yourself. Kurama advised. Find a pet you like and take care of it.

"Why? I've already got the cutest fo-" Naruto whipped his hand away from Kurama's gaping maw before it could snap down on his fingers. "Alright, maybe I deserved that."

You did. Take what I say seriously.

Naruto sighed. "A pet?"

A figure of speech. You seemed more lively when you were nurturing your pet here. Why not take up another one?

Naruto glowered at his companion. "Was that rhetorical? Our last 'pet' turned out to have sharper claws than we thought. This isn't our world and we shouldn't meddle. We're here to relax and find some peace."

So says the teacher of this world's warriors.

"An attempt to rebalance the scales, which you well know."

Kurama grunted. His partner was as tired of having this conversation as he was yet they kept coming back to it. Such was the nature of immortal partners. Arguments didn't really go away until they were solved when you had all the time in the world to dwell on them.

Naruto didn't feel in the mood to dwell anymore. As such, he changed the topic. "So, you've taken up a pet?"

An amusing one at that. Kurama smiled. Hopeless as he is now, I'll forge him into something stronger. Consider it my contribution to restoring the balance of power.

It didn't take a psychic to guess who Kurama meant and Naruto knew his partner far better than any psychic. "Try not to break him. I like that kid."

He's my toy. Kurama joked with playful petulance. Find your own.

Naruto chuckled, returning his hand to Kurama's fur, slowly stroking it as he closed his eyes and let time pass him by. Allowing his mind to wander, Naruto had to admit his friend had a point. Whether or not he should have been notwithstanding, he had been enjoying himself with their 'pet'.

Maybe he has a point. Naruto ceded the argument. It wouldn't be the worst thing to find someone else to nurture. He knew it would be good for him. Those months past had been the first time Naruto had felt like himself in a very long time, after all. The teasing, playing, and poking fun as he helped someone… he'd missed that more than he thought he would. The only question was whether or not it was fair for Remnant. He'd not come here to play god.

Naruto decided to go along with Kurama's suggestion. Logically, he knew that he'd never feel at peace in Remnant if he didn't put down at least a few roots. As much as part of him continued to fret that he was a whale swimming in a fish's pond, it was also true that he'd already mucked up the waters. Mucking things in the opposite direction would hopefully be enough to balance things out…

Though knowing her, Naruto had his doubts.

My friend and I often wonder what percentage of people get the obvious hints. I feel like I'm bludgeoning people with things sometimes, yet I release a character reveal and people are like "Where did this come from?!". Naruto's lack of clone use in OFNT springs to mind as an example. The number of people who messaged or reviewed something like 'reread the whole story for continuity, can't believe I missed that' was funnily high.

Setting up Naruto's backstory as we go. I find that beating the audience with fifty pages of backstory to set things up is often a dull and unenjoyable way to take a story. This chapter put some meat on Naruto's bones, that's for sure.

If you wish to support or wish to get the patron rewards and poll options, check out [p a treon . com (slash) Faulkner]. I've finally started writing "Fake it 'till you make it", the Velvet oneshot. That'll be released for those guys exclusively as it was a very, VERY old campaign promise. As a general rule, I don't do exclusive stuff and won't do anymore in the future. I merely interact with patrons more as they help keep these series going and I appreciate their contributions.