Letting out a deep sigh of content, he stuffed his face full of noodles as fast as possible. Naruto's main reason for his appetite was simple, he used his aura, and his family loved to eat. His mother always made noodles, even before the hard times, and she still did.
It came as a surprise that Beacon, apparently having hired cooks from various places, had noodles out. So, with all his combat and a celebration in order, he was going to pork out. Slurping the thin soft hairs of heaven down, sucking the broth right off the noodle as he went.
By him were simple things, Menagerie, after all, shared much of its culture with Mistral. Small bowls of soy sauce, fishcakes, and rice balls. Steaming hot fish, carp had been picked at here and there. Lapis and Lee were eating from the same plates, grabbing items and putting them onto their small saucers.
It was customary in Menagerie that family eat together, that family shares the food, and Naruto viewed Lee and Lapis more than ever as his brothers in arms. Amira, on the other hand, was eating some lamb.
Lapis was the first one to pipe up. "Wow, this almost tastes as good as your mom's cooking Naruto!"
Naruto gave him a thumb's up while slurping down his noodle. Patting his stomach, which had a small bump developing, he leaned back in his seat. Eating a rice ball, he watched as Lee grabbed some carp with his chopsticks and dipped into the sauce before eating in one bite.
"Indeed, this food is delicious, their curry is the some of the best I've ever tasted."
"Only you would love such spicy food, Lee."
"Curry is like life, it burns hot with passionate flavor, and intensity!"
"Then soy sauce is just the bland farmer."
"Farmers are not bland, those who live out of suitcases are bland, farmers nurture the world."
Lapis shrugs in agreement, taking a deep breath as he went back to eating rapidly. They stopped when they heard Naruto loudly belch. "Guess your tank's full?"
Naruto nods, wiping his mouth with a cloth, he gets up and stretches. His food gut now present, he was going to have to run a couple laps around Beacon to make it start on its final journey. Reaching over, he took his strawberry soda, chugging it down with slurps as he coughed little.
Finishing it, he didn't need to look as he tossed it into the garbage can.
Yang was eating rapidly along with Ruby, which Blake paid no mind too, she had just finished earlier than them. Weiss on the other had a slightly disgusted face, only to watch as the fox Faunus got from his table.
"Hey Yang, your friend is leaving." The blonde stopped, she still had her mouth full.
"Eh?" Weiss recoiled a little, "sowwrry…"
She swallowed the chicken down, patting her chest, "now what did you say?"
"Your friend, the fox Faunus, he's leaving," Weiss told Yang, she looked at Ruby who was currently going a genocidal rampage against anything strawberry.
"Oh right, hey Ruby, wanna meet Naruto officially?"
"Will he be weird and flash away again?"
"I don't know, will you?"
"Huh, no, never…"
Yang watched as Ruby got up, she had a dark smile on her face. "Alas, my dear sister, you are about head into a…foxy situation."
Naruto was walking around the walls of Beacon, hearing birds chirping and all. Life was good, he looked around and saw other small animals. Squirrels, lizards, and the likes. He was at the back part of Beacon, in the garden.
Smelling ripe vegetables he walks over to a patch, seeing strawberries his mouth watered. Looking around, he didn't see any sign or dissuasions from eating fresh fruits or vegetables…mainly the strawberries.
He reached down, taking one and examined it and when he found nothing wrong he opened his mouth wide, tossing the berry inside and crunching down. The cool, flavor-filled juices danced along his tongue, pure nirvana.
Taking out his journal from his satchel he began to make additions to the general map of Beacon, which was detailed for the outside parts. He had planned to make a more detailed map inside, so it could help him find classes, but right now, he was adding the gardens to his location journal.
Walking backward, believing no one was there, he leaned up against a tree. Drawing the details in front him, he sketched the peach trees in too and made a note mentally to grab a peach on the way out.
Little did he know he was being watched, by two groups of people.
Yang and Ruby were hiding around a corner, while Cardin and his goons hid around the other. Both unaware of the other, their intents very different, with Yang's intent to properly introduce her loveable and adorable sister.
Cardin's intent was much sinister, it involved showing the so-called "Pecking Order" to any Faunus stepping out of line.
Unfortunately for Cardin, he was no Popo and needed his goons to help lecture good nature.
Yang, who watched as Naruto did…a thing was looking at Ruby as her mouth watered when she eyed the strawberries. "Jeez, sis didn't think you were like good old me."
"Wh-what, no, no! I was looking at the strawberry patch, they look ripe…very ripe." Ruby points out, which make Yang take a look and then promptly slap her face. "What?"
"Of course you'd notice the strawberries first." Yang takes a deep breath, looking at Ruby. "Okay, Ruby, listen. When you said you hope it wasn't Naruto who found your necklace…well…"
"Oh…wow…um…" Ruby was a little embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her head. "So, I may owe him an apology?"
"Well, no, he didn't hear you." Yang points out, she looks around the corner, making sure he didn't notice them. "All I'm saying is that you should be friends, and who knows, he may be the guy eh?"
"Okay…" Ruby was a little weirded out. "Yang, I don't think he's…all there you know."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, yeah…he's a good fighter…but…how come he doesn't just, you know, talk."
"Ruby, Naruto's a mute."
"What's a mute?"
Yang pinched her nose, of course, Ruby wouldn't know what a mute was, her uncle practically raised them both. She just had the more social knowledge, wasn't as reclusive as Ruby, and wasn't exactly innocent.
"A mute isn't a bad thing Rubes, it's a condition, and it prevents people from being able to talk. You see, Naruto acted weird because he only trusts a few people probably to be around, and him getting startled by you in the lockers earlier today might've made him use his semblance." Yang then poked her sister's nose playfully, "kind of like you did as a kid."
"Yang, that's not funny." Bemoans Ruby as she childishly crossed her arms and pouted, "I kind of feel like a jerk now…"
"Don't be, besides, I think he's finishing u-hey what the?!" Yang yells as she peaks around the corner, finding Naruto gone, but Cardin's group there.
Seeing Naruto nowhere near them, she walked out with Ruby, playing it off as if they hadn't been spying on him. "Hey, you guys have seen Naruto, right?"
"Naru-who?" Cardin questions, looking around. "You mean the mute fox boy?"
"Well, yeah, but we're just looking to talk him."
"Oh funny that…so were we."
Ruby looks at Cardin and then at Yang. "Um, Yang, you think they could help us find Naruto?"
"Oh sure, we can help the little girl, what do you want us to tell him?" Cardin mockingly asks, though it was lost on Ruby, it was by far picked up by Yang.
Yang stepped in front of Ruby, "okay, no. Just no, hell no, look here. I don't care if he hurt your feelings a little back at Airship when he didn't play your game, Cardin, but leave my sister alone."
"Yang, all he did was offer to help, right?" Ruby looked at Cardin, who smirks a little. 'See, I just think they like playing around with people."
"Ruby, listen, they aren't trying to be friendly, they're bullies." Cardin frowns a little, looking at his goons. "We'll find Naruto on our own thank you very much!"
Cardin shrugs, "good luck covering the ground idiot. Besides, we've got a game we'd like to play when few find him."
"Okay…look, that's fine. If you find him first, do what you want to do, but I can almost tell you he's not flashing away for his own safety. He took down a Cyclops in the field."
"Bullshit."
"Foul language!" Ruby yells inexplicably, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment as everyone turns to her. "S-s-sorry, habit"
"I mean seriously, who lets in a gimp and a little child into Hunter's school." One of Cardin's goons suddenly say, he looked right at Ruby. "You want to know where the gimp left, he left with his tail between his legs when he saw us coming."
Yang balled her fists up. "Don't call him a gimp!"
"Oh, what will you do about it!" Another of Cardin's goons shouted until he looked over the girls' shoulders and saw Naruto walking back towards them. "Hey, speak of the devil."
The blonde was in his own little world, looking at his journal while listening to his music, he had a change of clothes. Out of his hunter's gear, he wore a baggy pair of black cargo pants, with a long-sleeved blue shirt.
Tied to his side was a small chisel and hammer he borrowed from a maintenance guy just near the entrance. Opening his eyes, he looked at the group of people, seeing Yang's fist balled up he sighs. Turning around, he was going to start walking away.
"I thought…they were better than that kind of people…" Naruto muses mentally.
Yang looked right at Cardin, realizing why he was leaving. "Hey Naruto, Naruto!" Yang calls out.
Naruto turned back around, looking at her, seeing Ruby standing beside gave him a small blush. "Where are you going, weren't walking this way for something?"
Naruto shrugs in response, playing it off.
"Hey…these guys bothering you or something." Yang points at them with her thumb.
Naruto shook his head, using his free hand to dust his shoulders off. Which made Yang light up a little bit, he paid no fool his time. "Hey, come on, I think you should actually meet my sister instead of hiding things in her shoes!"
Cardin's group laughed a little, looking at Naruto. "Hey, gimpy didn't know you liked weird stuff."
"Will you all just piss off!" Yang turns around yelling, her eyes flared red as she glares them down, which made them slowly back away.
Cardin was the first one to voice their words. "Y-yeah, we'll just leave here with the freak boy then!"
They took off walking away, which made huff her chest. "Frigging cowards, you make them flinch and they run away!"
Naruto lightly stepped over towards her, he looked around nervously, not facing Ruby. Though he did raise his free hand up to lightly greet them.
"Oh, wow, I know we met before in test…but…you have really fluffy ears." Naruto's surprised look only made him blush a little bit more present, his ears fluttered in the response, he dropped the greeting as rubbed the back of his head.
He pointed at his neck, indicating his necklace, then pointed at Ruby's with a questioning look as he gave them a thumb's up. Yang and Ruby looked at him for a moment, but Yang managed to catch on first.
"He's asking you if you're okay." Yang nudged her sister, and Ruby looked at Naruto with a smile as she rubbed the back of her head as well. "Oh no, they're the exact same…well, minus the shyness part on Naruto's end. I can't wait to send pictures to dad…on second thought…well…"
"Eh, that's probably not a good idea." Yang imagined her father foaming at the mouth, strangling Naruto, demanding to know his intentions with Ruby.
Truth be told, Yang herself would've been a skeptic of Naruto if it wasn't for the way he seemed to carry himself, there was honesty to actions. He didn't seem like the lying type, which was a score in her book, earning him brownie points.
"So, what are you doing back here…um, you can understand me right?"
Naruto nods at Ruby's question and then turns his location journal around to where she can see it.
"Oh, wow, that's cool…look at this Yang, he perfectly sketched the garden."
Yang looked at the picture he drew, along with the writing he put beside it and then noticed how many pages in his journal there was already done. "Got any more?"
Naruto nods excitingly, he turns a few pages backward in the journal, coming to where he explored the forests of Menagerie. They were stunned at the lists of various small animals, the sketches, along with the detail of each anima's area and with it a small map of Menagerie pointed to where and what region they belonged to.
"Ibex, Tree Leopards, Flamingoes, Sand Runners, Coral Horned Fish, and what is that cute thing?!" Ruby nearly screams as she noticed an animal that looked like a cross between a fox and a cat.
The thing had a foxlike tail, a foxlike snout, but with catlike eyes and claws. It also had catlike teeth and the general body shape. She looked at the page, looking for the name, and found it. "A…Cax?"
Naruto nods, Caxs were small foxlike cats, they didn't exactly belong in the Feline family nor where they in the Vulpes family either.
They were in the small family of Vulfeles (Vol-FE-Les.) and they were naturally solitary creatures, also very smart and crafty.
"You did all these yourself, wow…just…this is awesome!" Ruby looked through several more pages. "Are you from Menagerie?"
Naruto nods, holding up two fingers in a peace sign, then making the gesture for one and walking.
"Oh, Ruby, he's a First Step student." Yang points out, "that means he had to prove himself before coming in."
Naruto nodded once again, shifting his satchel around to where he could place the journal back in. He got out a notepad he recently got from Ozpin when he walked in from his test, he also took out a pencil. He began to write down quickly, very clearly as well, his penmanship was amazingly detailed and quick.
He noticed that they had some difficulty understanding him.
"Sorry for walking away earlier."
"Why?"
"Thought you were with them."
"Cardin's group?"
"If that's his name, yes."
Ruby and Yang looked at one another, with Ruby speaking up. "No, we're not with them, I don't like them…why did they call you a gimp?"
Yang smacked her face, expecting Naruto to just throw the notepad down, only for him to start writing to her surprise.
"Ignorance." Was what the notepad read, bolded as well.
Naruto began to write down some more words on another piece of paper as he flipped the notepad. "I'm not concerned with them, they don't bother me."
"I like this one already Ruby." Yang stated as she pats the younger blonde's shoulder, "don't sweat them. They're cowards, they backed down as soon as I told to go away."
Naruto nodded, writing down some more. "They backed away from me when I made it known I would fight."
"Oh, quick question, why are you blushing for…you sick?" Ruby asks as Yang stifled her laugh.
Naruto blinked for a moment, blushing a little bit more now, he then sighs. Flipping the notepad, he began to write a few words on the next paper in line.
"Cute eyes." Was all the paper read when Naruto held it up, looking away a little bit in shyness.
"Aww~" Yang coos, looking at Ruby as she was slightly taken aback, but in a good way as she blushed a little bit. "Ruby's got herself a little bit of a crusher over here."
"Yang!" Ruby whined a little, hiding her blush by turning towards her sister.
Friendliness aside, Naruto found him making the motions of laughing. If he was audibly trying to do it, it would sound like he was choking due to his injuries.
"So, Naruto, we better get going. I and Ruby wanna meet up with our new friends. You wanna come along." Naruto looks at them, he then sighs, shaking his head a little bit.
"Oh, why not?" Ruby asks she was scared they'd had scared him in a little in some way.
Naruto wrote on a piece of paper from the notepad, he smiles a little bit as he continued to write. When finished he handed it to Ruby, with a smaller blush once again forming.
"I have to do a thing, my scroll number is 010-125-0710, if you want to be friends. Yang, Ruby." Ruby and Yang read off the paper, smiling as they both pulled out their scrolls, and began to type in his number while sending a text with names in it so he could save their number.
"Not a problem Naruto, do your thing, don't forget we've got Team Placement in a couple hours. Hopefully, you end up a good team!" Ruby states as she gets dragged away by Yang while watching Naruto smile with his ears fluttering.
Students have all gathered around in The Auditorium once more, with Ozpin standing up on a podium, handing students their updated scrolls so they could enter into rooms. "Will Zelda de Hyrule, Link Verdant, Fu Aka, and Han Tashima come to the podium please."
A teenager with long blonde hair in an ornate ponytail, wearing regal clothing, and having brought green eyes walked up towards the podium. Behind her, a blonde-haired teen with blue eyes, wearing green explorers clothing, with brown trousers and a sword on his back approached the podium behind her.
A green haired with orange eyes, wearing white clothing that exposed her stomach walked forwards. She carried a large tube on her back. While a tall teenager wearing full red body armor and a tan facemask walked behind her.
She seemed very excited, while the taller teen seemed stoic at best.
"Zelda." Ozpin handed the ornate blonde her scroll.
"Link." Ozpin handed the explorer his scroll, with a small smile on his face.
"Fu." Ozpin winced a little when the girl gripped his hands hard, bouncing up and down with giddy.
"Han." Ozpin merely handed the young man his scroll, afraid of the brute strength the man may accidentally inflict.
"I hereby declare you all Team Z.L.A.T, Zinnwaldite Brown in color. Your dorm number will be Dorm Two-Zero-Six. Zelda will lead you all into battle, she will set the precedent for scholarly performance, and motivation. She carries a heavy burden, a burden that you will all share in." Ozpin smiles, "go forth, Hunters in training."
The class claps, resoundingly so as the four left the stage.
"Next up, I would like Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long to come up to the podium," Ozpin instructed as he saw the girls move.
Ruby and Yang were bouncing for joy at the prospect of being on the same team, while Blake and Weiss glared at each other as they walked up to the podium. Each getting handed their scrolls and standing in order.
"I hereby declare you all…Team R.W.B.Y, Ruby in color and in name ironically. Your dorm number will be Dorm Two-Zero-Eight. Ruby Rose the youngest student in Beacon currently will be leading you, she will carry a heavy burden, but I see that she has a loving sister. As some of you judge her, wondering if a younger woman such as herself belongs here…" Ozpin looked right into the crowd and smiles. "She's proven herself worthy."
Ruby cheers a little as she and Yang celebrate, while Blake nods in approval, but Weiss glares hard.
Leaving the podium, Ozpin watched as Yang gave Ruby a piggyback ride and began a victory lap around the room. Chuckling at the display he moved on to the next team, he looked over at his staff, all of them so far agreed with his choices.
"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, please come forward." Ozpin looked right at Jaune as the blonde boy walked down nervously, he smirks as the teen walks up.
They all get their scrolls, with everyone looking at one another.
"I hereby declare you all Team J.N.P.R, Juniper in color. Your dorm number will be Dorm Two-One-Eight. Jaune Arc shall be named your team leader, he shall carry a heavy burden, but I expect that he shall grow from it." Ozpin saw the mortified look Jaune's face, smiling as he turned around to the crowd.
There, he saw Glynda and his staff look at him, apparently, he was going slightly off script.
Jaune was talking to Pyrrha as he leaves the stage, sweating bullets, and now came time for the final team to be called up. Ozpin looked at the crowd, finding the doors opening, and seeing a late Naruto coming in.
He saw the tools on his beltline, smiling a little bit. "Gaians…loyalty is tradition, tradition is loyalty…which is why I'm about to flip the script a little…"
"Will…Naruto Namikaze, Amira Mirabella, Lapis Lazuli, and Rock Lee please come to the podium." Ozpin calls them up, with everyone looking as Naruto and his friends walk towards the podium.
They get their scrolls from them, but when Naruto goes for his, he feels Ozpin grab his hand gently. Pulling him close, he smiled as he whispered into Naruto's ear. "Don't let what is wrong with you define you, you define yourself."
Naruto's eyes widened, his eyes filled with some tears as he stepped away from Ozpin. The blonde watched as Ozpin turned around, but didn't do so until he shot him a warm smile. Taking a deep breath Ozpin spoke, smiling.
"I hereby declare you Team N.A.L.L, Naples Yellow in color. Your dorm number will be Dorm Two-Zero-Nine. Naruto Namikaze shall lead you all into battle, he shall set the bar for you all, and if he shall struggle then you shall help him up, because I believe from I've seen he'll stand in front of the horde for you all." Ozpin slammed his fist into a podium, and looked at the crowd, drawing murmurs from the crowd.
"You are only as strong as you all believe yourselves to be, push forwards, do not stop! Even if the world tells you something is impossible I expect you all to push beyond that, you set your own limits, and you don't stop unless you want to." Ozpin continued, mostly looking at his staff.
"If you made it pass the tests, you belong here, understand?" Ozpin turns to Naruto, who had a wide eye as he felt his heart thumping.
Naruto nods, looking at the others, he was ready to set the bar. The bar in question, and where it was going to be set, it was simple.
He was going to set that bar as close to the sky as possible.