Greetings and salutations everyone! Welcome to chapter 13 of An Old Fox's New Trick. Motivation just struck me to write this chapter, as such it has been finished far ahead of what I scheduled. The previous chapter received almost universally rave reviews so I'm glad I decided to stick it out for at least a bit longer. Hopefully we'll make it so that the end of this story comes by conclusion, not by cancellation. For now we are taking a break from Naruto's POV, so don't expect to see too much of it. Naruto's motivations and reasoning have been made known at this point. If I was to press forward with more of Naruto's perspective we'd just be looking at more of the same. For now we will be looking at how our protagonist changes this world with his presence as well as the impact it has on the people around him.
With that being said I have caved to request and made a Pa+treon. I do not expect or encourage anyone to pledge, but I have been asked to make sure I have a consistent upload schedule by multiple people who claimed they were willing to pitch in to make that happen. Thus I, Kamorge0, have a Pa+reon for anyone who wishes to support the work. With that being said let us dive into chapter 13 of OFNT.
Chapter 13
Carelessness' Color
A beautiful day was in the process of blessing Beacon Academy. Many of the students had decided to take their weekend of opportunity to visit Vale. Others were catching up on their homework while enjoying the radiant beams and warm weather. A few had even found the nearest tree to collapse next to for a heat-induced snooze. Unfortunately for the members of CRDL, they found themselves to be in none of the aforementioned categories of students.
Getting all of the CRDL boys to agree on anything was certainly a bit of a challenge. Being teenagers, they all had differing opinions and ways of viewing the world. As such, they often had different opinions on what they should be doing. Even if they managed to agree on an objective, coming to a consensus on the means by which to accomplish that objective was an entirely different can of worms. That just made the fact that Naruto had managed to get them to agree on something all the more impressive. The fact that he had done it within ten minutes was borderline unbelievable.
"Okay, this fricking sucks," Dove said as he slowly walked around the track that all of his teammates were currently on.
"Yeah, I'm with Dove on this. This is a bag of d-"
"Less talking, more walking," Naruto cut Russel off as he leaned back, turning the bleachers he was sitting on into an impromptu recliner. Now, simply walking around a track should have been a vacation for a team of huntsmen-in-training, but obviously they weren't just walking. Shukaku enthusiastically rolled after Sky as he struggled to drag his feet forward, small bits of sand sloughing off his body as he continued to trudge on.
All of the CRDL members were coated in a heavy layer of Shukaku's sand as they continued to do laps. Naruto had chosen this sandy method of weight over any other available choices for very specific reasons. Ideally, he would have just used seal-enforced body weights from the Elemental Nations so he could adjust their weight on the fly. The main problem came with trying to explain away how they worked to the prying eye. Thus he invoked a slightly less optimal, but easily more explainable method.
By using his previously shown manipulation of sand, he could test the limits of the CRDL members' strength and endurance without revealing any other facets of his previous life. A method that was undeniably effective, yet earned numerous complaints from those who were subjected to it.
"I better not find any sand in places I don't want sand," Cardin said with a threat in his tone they both knew was empty. Naruto chuckled as Shukaku increased his load, earning a vengeful gaze from Cardin.
"I have complete control of the sand. Once we are done you have my word you will be sand free," Naruto promised as team CRDL continued to march forward like the dead. As the slow procession of the sand-covered team pressed on, Naruto began to question them. "So what kind of formation do you intend to take in missions?" He started off casually. Russel was the first to answer.
"Doesn't that like, depend on the mission and stuff?" He asked through gritted teeth as he struggled to move forward even an inch. Naruto snapped and the body-armor like sand around the mohawked member of CRDL fell harmlessly to the track.
"That's your limit Russel, take a seat," Russel might have managed to grunt out a rejection of his proclaimed limits if he felt remotely capable of walking another step. As things stood, or sat, considering his collapse to the grassy field in the center of the track, Russel couldn't have managed to move another inch with his sand weights. "Aside from your abysmal stamina, you are completely correct that formation is mission dependent." The backhanded compliment did little for Russel's mood.
"Well, give us a scenario then," Cardin demanded agitatedly as he continued to move forward at a reasonable pace. Out of all of his team, Cardin was easily doing the best with his sand weight, despite bearing about thirty-five pounds more than Dove, who was bearing the next most.
"Alright then, let's make it realistic at least. I ask a question, I chose one of you gives me an answer within five seconds. Then whoever gets picked explains why you chose that answer. After that, I'll tell you what's changed and ask you another question, at which point another will answer until we come full circle." Various vocalizations of disquieted approval could be heard from all the CRDL members.
"Great! So Cardin, you find your team on a seek and destroy mission. There are no civilians you need to worry about on this mission as you've been sent to a hotspot with the sole purpose of thinning the herd. You are airdropped into a flatland and immediately chance upon a pack of beowolves. The pack has six beowolves and a singular alpha who take a two-three-two approach with two beowolves on each flank and the alpha leading the other two straight down the center. What formation do you take?" Naruto asked the team leader after setting up the scenario.
"Dove and I would take the front while Russel and Sky take the back in a box formation," Cardin answered between his continued steps. Naruto gestured for him to continue which prompted his memory that he was forgetting something. "I would do that because it would limit the area that they all could attack from." Cardin rationalized. Naruto shook his head with an expression on his face that almost made Cardin feel as if he was tutting at him.
"I've seen you all in combat class so I know what weapons you use and how you use them. Both you and Sky have large and unwieldy two-handed weapons that would completely fall short in a box formation due to the tight proximity you'd have with your teammates. Russel is also pretty useless if he isn't given room to maneuver with those dust daggers of his. Essentially with your plan the only person who is going to be useful is Dove with his sword." Dove gave a what might have been a shit-eating grin if it wasn't disfigured by the effects of his herculean effort to continue moving a growing amount of sand that Shukaku was caking to his body.
"I'll remember that, give us another one." Cardin ordered with obvious traces of agitation. Now it was Naruto's turn to grow agitated.
"You don't get another one. You made the bed for your team and you better hope they can lie in it comfortably. Because of your awful formation the beowolves are easily able to fan out and surround you entirely, taking your previously vacant back with the alpha bearing down alone from the front and two normal beowolves on each other side. Russel, what's your order?" Naruto's voice rang out sharp and commanding, a shift from his normalcy that's trigger was becoming increasingly obvious.
"Being surrounded is a shitshow for us so our best bet would be to try and punch a hole through their encirclement. I'd have Cardin deal with the forward alpha and the left beos by himself while Dove charged the right flank. I'd let him take two fronts because Cardin's big weapon lets him reach further and swing wider, he's also got aura coming out of his ass and ears compared to the rest of us. So if worst comes to worst he'll be a bit banged up, but he'll be fine in the short-term. Dove charging the right beos gives Cardin and Sky more space to work with their big-ass weapons. If I use some of my dust to give my daggers some extra kick then Sky and I can hopefully take out the two beos on the back quick enough that we can fall back and get our shit together." Russel's answer was lengthy, but well thought-out from his seat on the grass. Cardin shot him a withering look as he continued to trudge past him on the track.
"Luckily for you all Russel just managed to yank you from a fire with an impressively well thought out plan. One of the beowolves on the back flank is eliminated and the other is wounded. Cardin has taken some hits, but is currently at about 75% aura while the rest of you are topped off, but thankfully all of the Beowolves are now in front of you due to your quick retreat. What formation do you take Dove?" Naruto directed his gaze towards the light brunette member who had slowed to a snail's pace. Naruto snapped his fingers and the sand lost all form around Dove, falling straight to the ground. "Also you're tapped out, take a seat." Dove plopped unceremoniously to the ground, content with his performance.
"I'd have us split up and take things as they go. Not because I can't think of anything!" Dove added hastily as Naruto's visage soured. "Honestly feels like the best course of action. Russel is best in one on one fights, and Cardin and Sky have huge weapons that don't play nice with others. I'd have us split up so we can each fight at full power without holding back." Dove finished explaining. Naruto couldn't exactly be called enthused, but he didn't look murderous either.
"Sky, the same situation passes to you. Anything you'd do different than Dove on that choice?" Naruto asked the final member of CRDL. Impressively, he was still pushing on at a decent pace despite being the current subject of Shukaku's attention.
"I wouldn't go with a full court press," Sky forced his voice through gritted teeth. Naruto had no idea what the hell that was, but intuited he disagreed with Dove's plan. "I'd have Dove and Cardin press the front while Russel tried to isolate one of the lesser beowolves. Using the reach of my halberd I'd cover Russel to make sure he could keep his one on one with a beowolf until he finished it and could move on to the next, but also cover whatever flank he wasn't on to prevent them from wrapping around on us. Since the mission objective is search and destroy the best thing we can do…" Sky's voice trailed off mid sentence as the physical exertion of his task was obviously getting to him, especially since Shukaku was continually increased his weight steadily.
"The best thing we can do is have Dove and Cardin not worry about defeating the Beowolves, but have them focus on not taking any damage. We don't know how many more grimm we have to kill after this so conserving stamina is much more important than speed." Right as Sky finished a familiar snap signalled the sand weight to drop off his body. What surprised his team was that his reaction to the relief of his burden was an intense rage.
"What the hell!?" Sky bellowed in outrage at a nonplussed Naruto.
"You hit your limits three minutes ago and then you passed them forty seconds ago. If I let you go any longer you're going to injure yourself." The simple and calculated analysis flowed easily from Naruto's lips. Sky was clearly unmoved by the consideration.
"Put the weight back on. I'm not done," Sky seethed at Naruto.
"Dude, relax!" Russel chastised his teammate. "You kicked my ass and you even beat Dove. You've got no reason to flip out."
"I SAID PUT IT BACK ON!" Sky roared, shocking the rest of CRDL into silence. Naruto was the only one of them not surprised. If one was to be frank it would be pretty clear that he didn't experience a modicum of surprise at the outburst. And if one was to look even closer they'd probably see a small trace of joy flitting through his face before it disappeared, as if running its course.
"Sure." Naruto's one syllable reply broke CRD from their stupor.
"Dude! You're gonna kill him!" Russel shouted.
"You are charging straight into self-injury," Dove scolded Sky. Cardin shared his team's mindset on the matter, but stayed silent nonetheless. Instead he brought his consistent pace to a halt and faced Naruto, his eyes demanding explanation. Naruto sighed, realizing there was no way to escape the ire of the concerned teammates without explanation. He launched into a series of questions.
"Dove, what do you think of what Sky is doing right now?"
"I think he is being foolish."
"Partially." Naruto ceded. "But only partially. Why do you think he is doing it Russel?"
"Dumbass must really want to go to the nurse."
"I'm sure he doesn't want to, but has accepted that it will probably happen. Same question to you Cardin." Naruto turned to the CRDL leader who was standing with his arms crossed. Impressively he was holding up his arms with muscle instead of letting his shoulder joints hold the deadweight.
"I think Sky wants to prove something to himself." Cardin's words instantly provoking a shimmer of recognition in Sky's eyes. "Honestly I'm not sure what though." Sky's posture appeared to shrink slightly as he continued to press forward.
"Then how about this Cardin; why do you think he left you for dead?" The entirety of team CRDL tensed as the harsh truth was spoken. Sky had surpassed shivering and seemed to be physically convulsing, though it was possible that was due to forcing himself so far past his limits.
"He knew he couldn't do anything, so why die with me?" Cardin's answer defended his teammate. Naruto wordlessly stood from the bleachers resulting in a small creak from the metal construction and hopped down three rows to the grass beneath. The blonde proceeded to turn his back to them, which the CRDL members didn't particularly understand until they saw him start walking back towards the school. "What the hell!?" Cardin yelled at the shinobi's back.
"You're not going to take this seriously, so why should I waste my time?" Naruto responded plainly. There wasn't anger in his voice, there wasn't disappointment, his voice was colored with the validation of a man who had witnessed exactly what he expected to. The sand fell from Cardin as Shukaku rolled after his jinchuuriki, bouncing slightly as he left the track.
"Hey wait! WAIT!" Cardin shouted as he ran after Naruto, his legs almost giving out and betraying him. Naruto made no effort to maintain his distance from Cardin and thus was quickly caught up to. Cardin grabbed his right shoulder in an effort to stop him from leaving. The instant his hand made contact Cardin felt Naruto's left hand grab his wrist and yank it forward, instantly following up with Naruto's right bracing his forearm as Naruto jerked his upper body forward. The force and momentum flipped the burly ex-bully straight into the air until he was flipped onto his back with a colossal thud.
The impact knocked the wind from Cardin's lungs in an instant, his body struggled to try and force air into the now vacant space in a series of gasps and wheezes. It took Cardin's brain a few moments to realize it was still in communication with his eyes, but when it did he saw Naruto's outstretched hand offering to help him up.
"Sorry, reflex," Naruto apologized succinctly. Cardin shoved the hand away with a grunt and propped himself up. When he tried to stand up his legs gave way, resulting in a graceless backpedal as he struggled to maintain his balance.
"Look, I'm sorry for whatever the hell I did. I'm taking this seriously and I'm not just going to let you walk away like this," Cardin asserted forcefully. Naruto gave a solitary grunt of something resembling a chuckle. The idea of Cardin preventing him from doing anything was nothing short of a joke.
"I don't accept apologies people don't mean," Naruto's cold voice shocked Cardin like being thrust into an ice bath. "And before you double down and say you mean it let me ask you this," Naruto interjected as Cardin was in the process of opening his mouth to speak. "How can you mean an apology when you don't know what you're apologizing for?" Cardin's face took a turn for the grim.
"You're an ass, but you aren't cruel. You only get like this when you think someone did something that endangered others." The look of surprise on Naruto's face was immensely satisfying, but Cardin had more to say. "I'm sorry, because even if I don't know what I did I know it put my team in danger." As Cardin finished the rest of his team had caught up and stood behind their leader, the sand having been released from Sky's body at some point.
Naruto was a little surprised at how harsh he had been, yet more surprising than that was this supposed tell he had. Cardin's read on his motive for walking out was right on the nose. He'd only known the kid for a few weeks and that seemed like a fairly personal motive to be privy too. A quick shake of the head roused him from the thoughts he was starting to sink into.
"Well you're right. I decided to train you lot because Sky meant what he said about changing, and that is something I can respect. But it would be pointless to train all of you if your leader doesn't have the same resolve. So if you don't mind, I'll be on my way n-" Naruto had started to turn but was interrupted by Cardin grabbing the scruff of his shirt. Naruto flinched as he forcibly quashed the instinct to break the hold with a cross-palm strike; the way Cardin's arm was fully extended was really just asking for it. Naruto then resisted the urge to inform his apprehender that he should really bend his elbow a little bit, just in case he had followed his original impulse.
"Look, I'm serious. Just tell me what I did wrong so I can never do it again. If I ever do something similar again I swear on my grandfather's name I won't stop you from walking." Everything from Cardin's voice to his posture were the same; resolute and immovable. Those were two attributes that earned Naruto's respect.
"You lied to spare Sky's feelings," Naruto started, sparking some embarrassed shuffling from the CRDL team. "He just said yesterday that he left you because he was a coward. Sky knows that's what he is and that's why he is ready to break himself to change that. By pretending you don't know the real reason behind his past choices you, as his leader, undermine his justifications for his present resolve. If telling your teammate he made a mistake is too high a price to better your team then I hope you are comfortable with them dying."
It was cruel, it wasn't dressed up, but at that moment it was exactly what CRDL needed to hear. Cardin slowly closed his eyes, as if trying to muster his will before turning his back on Naruto and rounding on Sky.
"Look, Sky. To be honest I don't really give a shit about what you did to me. I don't hold it against you and it honestly doesn't bother me, but that doesn't change the fact that I am your leader. That means regardless of my personal feelings I have to care, because if you pull something like that when it is someone else's life on the line then it's my fault for not stopping it. So you and I are going to keep doing laps until your body breaks. I need to know that you're willing to take pain for this team, and I think you kept going today because you need to know that too." Cardin's voice was filled with command and conviction. The same attributes that had won Naruto over he now looked to use to win his team over. Not as a bully, but as a leader they could respect.
"You're going to send him to the hospital," Russel sounded uncertain as he spoke. The difficulty to reconcile hurting his friend with necessary pain evident on his face.
"And I'll be here to carry him there if I do. I promise to do my best to keep you guys from dying, even if that means having a talk none of us want to have, or putting you through pain none of us want to be in. But when I'm finished doing that, I'm going to be here to help you with whatever you need help with." Sky's face broke into an earnest and watery smile. His face told everyone who looked upon it just how much what Cardin had said meant to him.
"Besides…" Cardin trailed off until a smirk crossed his face. "Team RWBY and team NNVR have been kicking our ass in combat class and that pisses me off. Let's show 'em we birds have talons!" Cardin's voice boomed over his team, sparking some raucous cheers from Dove and Sky while Russel gave a blasting whistle. After they finished psyching themselves up they turned to Naruto.
"What's next?" Dove queried in an at-attention posture, his hands clasped behind his back with his back ramrod straight. Naruto tapped his chin as if thinking until an idea just happened to strike him.
"I believe your leader said 'laps until your bodies break', and I would hate to make plans that usurp your very own leader's authority. So let's add on twenty pounds more than last time and take this from the top!" Naruto shouted with a solitary clap. Team CRDL had never been more in sync as mighty groans left all of their mouths in perfect unison.
Within twenty minutes their muscles hurt so much that they had discovered muscles they didn't even know existed, primarily due to the fact that those muscles now hurt. Each and every member was contemplating if escaping mediocrity was really worth the hell on earth they had knowingly condemned themselves to.
Ren sat on his bed with crossed legs and baggy eyes while he leaned against the wall. Despite the incredibly apparent fatigue, he had not been able to find an ounce of sleep the night prior. Sleep had not even managed to come close to scraping the top of Ren's priority list in the past twenty-four hours.
Since yesterday's incident in the halls Ren had found that not only sleep, but the comfort of meditation had eluded him. The terror that had gripped his heart had been the primal fear a rabbit would feel before a fox combined with all the helplessness of a single krill presented to a whale. In Ren's world two facts were now absolute; that he had to figure out what to do with the knowledge of Naruto's power, and that his leader could kill him and probably anyone else at the slightest whim. In an attempt to put himself at ease Ren had sought out Professor Goodwitch. He had reached out for her aura to reassure himself that if Naruto's intentions were ever inclined towards evil that he could be stopped.
It had been like comparing the water you would find traversing the hottest of sand dunes to the ocean itself. Professor Goodwitch was the strongest combatant that Beacon had to offer, yet saying her power paled to Naruto's would have been the understatement of the year. Thus Ren had struggled to find some way to deal with the information he had made himself privy to. So far, what he had came up with could be summed up in one word. Nothing.
What do you do when there is a power so great it could destabilize the world as everyone knows it? Ren didn't have the foggiest idea as to the answer of that question and no amount of pondering seemed to get him any closer to finding it. Normally when you noticed a threat you would inform the people able to deal with it, but there was no one who could come close to dealing with the NNVR leader. If he told Ozpin how powerful Naruto was, he was certain the headmaster would still grossly underestimate just how deep the well of Naruto's power ran.
Then, of course, there was the option of doing nothing. Ren didn't necessarily think Naruto was a bad person. Still, that didn't change the fact that Ren also didn't believe that the power to destroy existence should be trusted to someone which he could only claim was 'probably not a bad person'. If his gauge of Naruto's character turned out to be wrong, Ren knew he would always regret not trying to do something.
To act or not to act, the two choices had torn at Ren's mind the entire night and the entire day. Naruto had left early in the morning without any explanation, most likely assuming that they were all asleep. In reality, Ren had been fully awake and had contemplated cornering Naruto for a conversation about exactly what had happened, but ultimately decided his thoughts there too disorganized to attempt such a serious undertaking.
Ren was so lost in thought that despite having his eyes wide open, he did not notice the energetic carrot top making an approach that could in no way be misconstrued as subtle. It took what Nora would describe as 'a soft tap' on his shoulder, courtesy of her fist, for him to realize she was even there. Ren was fairly confident the only reason the 'soft tap' didn't bruise his shoulder was because of his aura.
"Hellllooooo! Earth to Ren?!" Nora's boisterous voice jolted Ren out of his thoughts like a cacophonous symphony.
"Y-yes Nora. What can I do for you?" Ren stuttered out as he tried to arrange his thoughts into some semblance of order. She patted the small space of bed beside him. Getting the hint, Ren scooted over and turned to face her while she hopped on his bed. Nora took a sort of kneeling position, but chose not to sit on her feet. As a result her feet splayed out to either side of her as she sat on the bed. Her skirt may have been dangerously close to lifting, but Ren knew from experience she always wore spats.
"What's wrong?" Nora cut to the chase. Ren stifled a gulp as he tried to calm himself down.
"Nothing Nora, I'm fine." His voice came out relatively clear.
"You're lying." She said with the same cheer and energy she always had. In her mind, she was just stating a fact; she didn't hold it against him. Ren's expression softened as he realized he never stood a chance at lying to Nora to begin with.
"How can you tell?" He asked, without denying her claim. Nora giggled a little and poked him in between the eyes.
"You have your broodier eyes on," she stated matter-of-factly. When Ren arched an eyebrow in question she added, "Your eyes are usually broody, but when you're worried about something they get broodier." Ren chuckled at her usual off-brand analysis. Nora always seemed to understand him, just not in ways he himself understood.
"Well, in this case it appears I am caught," Ren relented with a sigh. Uncharacteristically, he threw his back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was the type of position he would find too disrespectful to take when anyone else was talking to him, but he knew Nora didn't care for that sort of thing to begin with.
"One time only offer Renny! I'll let you go free if you tell me what's up." Nora extorted him with a giggle. This probing was above and beyond the seriousness threshold she preferred for her day-to-day life, but she could tell Ren was hurting. As such, she decided to put her slightly more serious face on.
"Nothing you can help me solve. I don't know if anyone can," Ren sighed as he twirled his pink lock of hair around his finger.
"Wow Ren… you're so mysterious and edgy," Nora mocked him with a starstruck fan girl voice. Annoyed, Ren uncrossed his right leg and gave her a quick kick in the knee. It was nowhere near hard enough to do any actual harm, but the intent was loud and clear. "Wow, I got under your skin with just that? Must be a reeeeeally tough problem."
"Tough would be one thing, I'm fairly certain this is impossible," Ren mused aloud. Nora just gave him an over dramatic eye roll accompanied by an over dramatic sigh of exasperation.
"Then you're stupid," Nora stated bluntly. Ren would have kicked her again if he had thought it was worth the effort.
"How do you figure?" He asked absently.
"You just said it was impossible, so why worry about it?" Nora reasoned candidly. She turned away from Ren and draped her legs over the side of the bed, kicking her legs back and forth.
"I have to worry about it. If something goes wrong because I did nothing, I'd blame myself." Ren's calm justification apparently did nothing for Nora.
"Pfffft, that's more stupid than you are! Wait… you actually think that… never mind, you are just more stupid than I thought." Ren's zen monk facade broke as he lunged at a giggling Nora. She quickly vaulted off the bed and retreated to her own bed across the room. "Tooooo slow!"
"Nora! This is serious!" Ren seethed at his redhead partner. Nora treated him to another eye roll to hammer home her feelings on the matter.
"That's why you're being a dummy. You always think bigger deals need bigger solutions, but when a problem is impossible it's one size fits all," Nora lectured.
"Enlighten me." Ren's voice dripped with sarcasm. Fairly done with this conversation, and even more so the problem it was about, he threw himself back onto his bed and spread out to fill the space Nora had vacated.
"Fine!" Nora pouted, clearly dissatisfied with how dismissive Ren was being. "If you and I were surrounded by a thousand, no, a million beowolves, and the only way to escape was to fly away, what would you do?" It was Ren's turn to roll his eyes at his partner.
"Since neither of us can fly I imagine it would be time for me to make my peace and accept fate." Ren basically sighed the last two words out. Nora just stared at him with a 'I can't believe you're not getting this' face that was doing a decent job of making Ren feel like an idiot. Nora was generally very playful, but she was by no means stupid. It took a minute due to the sluggish speed Ren's sleep-deprived brain was operating at, but eventually he understood what she was driving at.
"It appears you are saying since this problem is impossible, any stress I culminate worrying about it is fruitless?"
"Duh!" Ren sighed yet again as he stared at the ceiling, searching for answers.
"What if it has to be worried about? If I can't solve it then it might put a lot of people in danger. It might put you in danger…" Ren's words trailed off as he contemplated a future without Nora. He didn't know just how far he was willing to go to prevent that from happening.
"Uggggh… if you think it is that big a deal then get our fearless leader to help you out," Nora suggested. Ren froze at the mention of their team leader and current source of the entire predicament. A second passed before Ren forced himself to relax, else Nora realize she had struck a nerve.
"I couldn't just dump all this on him. I don't know him." And I'm not sure I trust him either. Ren added as a mental footnote.
"I don't know him either, but that doesn't mean I don't KNOW him." Nora's emphasis on the second 'know' was over the top, much like she had been for the majority of the conversation.
"Explain."
"I mean sure, we don't know the guy, especially since he's been hanging back from us ever since he spilled his guts that one night. But that doesn't mean you can't tell what kind of person he is," Nora finished. The silence stretched for quite some time before Ren gestured for her to continue.
"He didn't take his fight with Cardin seriously; he didn't really take anything seriously. The only time he has ever been anything but an aloof goofball is when he cried his eyes out and when whatever is happening means life or death. Not necessarily in that moment, but somewhere down the road." Ren played with the idea she presented for minutes, his hands tugging and twirling the pink lock.
"So you're saying he feels compelled to save people whenever possible, in any way possible?" Ren asked. Nora nodded.
"He was ready to beat Cardin's face into a pancake when he harassed the bunny girl, but Pyrrha says he still rushed to save the bully. When he had to teach that class yesterday he got more mad the less seriously people took it, especially me. As soon as that was over though, he was back to normal." Ren pulled his hand from his hair and clenched his fingers into a tight fist. His grip grew increasingly forceful in a physical manifestation of his attempt to seize mental control of his emotions.
"So it would seem that he holds a fervent desire to preserve the sanctity of life," Ren surmised, to which Nora shrugged.
"I dunno, that's too fancy for me. I just don't think he likes seeing others hurt."
"To that end he is willing to be the one who does the hurting? I guess scraped knees and bruised egos are better than cracked skulls and dead teammates," Ren proceeded to answer his own question. He didn't fault their leader for having that view, he even agreed with the line of thinking in principal. The question that nipped hot at Ren's heels was just how far Naruto took that concept in real life.
He made team RWBY fight a Deathstalker as a squad of three to hammer home a lesson. In reality, that was a type of grimm RWBY shouldn't have even seen until their second year, yet Naruto expected them to handle it a man down. If he was willing to go that far with people he didn't know, how far would he take it with his own team? Ren's worry intensified when he realized the immense power held by someone with such an 'ends justify the means' type of personality.
"And now you've put on your broodiest eyes, ugggggggghhhhhh!" Nora complained with an expressive groan.
"Look Nora, it is a highly volatile problem with far reaching implications. I don't know what to do about it, but it is something too lar-"
"STOOOOOOOP!" Nora melodiously yelled in a sing-song voice. Ren opened his mouth half-tempted to say something, but closed it upon further considering just how much worse things would get if he argued. "You need help, and I know you aren't going to tell me what you need help with because you would have told me already if you were ever going to in the first place." Nora finished her run-on sentence in a single breath. One mighty inhale later and she started again.
"So you are going to go and talk to our fearless leader and make your problem his problem- A-pah-pah-pah!" She cut off Ren who was clearly preparing to speak. "You will do it, such is my royal decree!"
"Nora… you can't just decree something and expect me to do it," Ren scolded her. Nora's smile took a turn for the devious.
"You know I heard they serve coffee in the cafet-"
"I hear and obey!" Ren fell into his familiar role for Nora's queen fantasy. Naruto was the biggest quandary Ren, possibly all of Remnant had ever tackled. He was still convinced that his decisions regarding it could have world-shattering effects. All in all, he was still largely terrified of what might happen, even more so of confronting Naruto about it.
But it wasn't Nora drinking coffee. That simple realization made the task before him feel more manageable.
"Where have you been?" Pyrrha asked Naruto as he quickly maneuvered his way to his desk. It seemed even Naruto wasn't particularly keen on testing his luck on what would happen if he was late to Professor Goodwitch's class.
"Teaching some punks a lesson," Naruto answered with a grin as he took his seat next to her. Pyrrha noted that his fox companion wasn't with him. Realizing what Naruto had said prompted Pyrrha to then analyze the classroom. It didn't take long for her to realize what was missing.
"Where is Cardin and his team?" Pyrrha asked nervously. Naruto gave a hearty laugh at their mention.
"After what I put them through? Probably struggling to make their way here." Naruto's grin was dashed with a sort of coy glee, but that was something the imperious Pyrrha was to indignant to notice.
"Naruto!" Pyrrha's loud, sharp whisper scolded him. "You can't just hurt people when they do something you don't like!" Naruto's laughs only became increasingly more raucous.
"C'mon Pyr, they were basically asking me for it." Naruto's emphasis on the word asking once again went missed by the simmering spartan. Pyrrha launched into a tirade about leaders upholding the pillars of virtue for their team and all who looked up to them whilst simultaneously addressing the shortcomings of a force-based response to bullies and bad behavior.
What shocked Pyrrha was how liberating the entire experience felt. Her fame and all of the fallout that it brought had reduced her to being shy and timid. The fact that everyone always wanted something from her was what had made Pyrrha so wary over the years. When it came to interacting with others, those who tried to get close to her always had an agenda. What each individual wanted varied from person to person; some wanted to use her fame, others her martial prowess, and many men sought her beauty. Every relationship she'd had for the past four years could be boiled down to one of those three things.
That was what made her so bold as she continued to lecture Naruto. Not only did he not seek anything from her, it seemed like he didn't want anything she had to offer. He didn't recognize her when they first met despite her fame, and he didn't seem to know or care that she was wealthy. As far as beauty went… Naruto gave her no seedy looks, he didn't look at her with any hint of perversion; she had even thought about putting herself in a semi-compromising position once or twice just to see if she could garner a reaction. As far as she could tell, Naruto did not even view her as a girl, but a genderless person who had nothing he need covet.
Pyrrha loved and hated every second of it. Naruto as a person didn't just let her cut loose and be herself. He brought who she truly was forward; a version of herself that she didn't recognize, but felt so much more genuine than the Pyrrha she knew. That was what made lecturing him, even while he continued to laugh, so wonderful.
What she hated was how worthless she felt. Pyrrha was the four time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, a combat prodigy, wealthy, the beauteous goddess of victory. All of the those accomplishments, so great that they had ruined every friendship she'd had while tainting any friendship she could have hoped to develop, meant absolutely nothing to him. She had known how to read a combatant from a very young age. As such, Pyrrha knew that when she threw everything she had at Naruto in their spar he had simply been playing around.
His eyes had laughed at her attempts to find what felt like a nonexistent opening. The praise he had lavished on her for her ingenuity and technique was exactly what she had heard a thousand times over, but hearing them as she was repeatedly blown back by his raw power felt absolutely humiliating. Her semblance was nothing before his. Her talent in weaponry and strategy were absolutely inadequate before the dominance of his polarity. The crushing ineptitude the experience left her with was both intoxicating and infuriating at the same time.
"That is why you should always try to be merciful, even to those who do not deserve it," Pyrrha concluded. "Do you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah. Loud and clear," Naruto waved her off dismissively. Pyrrha took his admission, however forced, as a promise she would remind him of should he ever break it.
"And you're not going hurt CRDL any more?" She pressed further. Naruto's mirthful chuckle returned.
"Pretty sure I will hurt them again within the week," Naruto admitted. "When someone is just asking for it and they really need it… C'mon, I just have to give it to them." Naruto's voice sounded more cheeky than adamant, but Pyrrha was on a crusade and too engrossed to notice that. Just as she was about to set upon him yet again with another lecture on how no bully needed violence, Professor Goodwitch's voice pierced through the entire class.
"Everyone take your seats, class has begun." Her calm, domineering voice silenced the class in an instant. A quick perimeter check revealed to Pyrrha that CRDL had still yet to show up. She was just starting to worry about them when they all collectively burst through the door. Upon re-examination the term 'burst' may not have been completely appropriate. The volume of the doors slamming open certainly matched the verb, but the disheveled state in which they hobbled in most certainly did not.
The blue haired one, Sky, she thought his name was, had his right arm draped around Cardin's shoulder in what appeared to be a means to support himself as he walked. The one with the mohawk was similarly positioned with his left arm around the final teammate. The team wordlessly made their way to their desks in an attempt to avoid Professor Goodwitch's ire. Whether they choose poorly or just that their quest was doomed from the start was impossible to know, but Pyrrha had a strong inclination that it was the latter.
"You. Are. Late." Professor Goodwitch projected those three terse syllables with a tone that screamed murder.
"Sorry Professor, we've been training for the past two and a half hours. Getting here was more of a struggle than we thought it would be," Cardin admitted. His two teammates that were currently being propped up looked immensely embarrassed at their apparent inability to walk.
"Then you all should have been more prudent," She chastised the team. "Since you were tardy Mr. Winchester, you have earned yourself first spar of the day against Ms. Nikos." Pyrrha flinched at the prospect of fighting Cardin as he was now. She could clearly tell that he wasn't in any fighting condition after whatever Naruto did to them and she didn't appreciate being used as Professor Goodwitch's instrument of punishment.
"I really don't think I can f-"
"Come down to the arena now Mr. Winchester, Ms. Nikos." Professor Goodwitch overrode Cardin with her commanding voice. Cardin mumbled something under his breath as he dropped his teammate off at his desk before making his way down to the stage. Pyrrha rose from her seat and scooted past Naruto to make it into the aisle. When her legs accidentally brushed up against his own she could swear her heart skipped a beat.
"Combatants, please place your scrolls in the machine," Professor Goodwitch ordered. Pyrrha quickly complied and inserted her scroll into the apparatus. Her picture appeared next to the green bar representing her aura. It took a few seconds for Cardin to dig his scroll out of his pocket, but soon he too had placed it in the apparatus. His face appeared just like Pyrrha's had, but instead of a full bar of green there was a full bar of black. Immediately upon inserting his scroll, warnings started flashing indicating they were not cleared for combat.
Professor Goodwitch leveled Cardin with an intense stare. "It was an incredibly hard workout." He explained in an attempt to absolve himself. As far as attempts go it was incredibly weak, yet Pyrrha sincerely doubted that a strong showing would have garnered him better results.
"You are expected to be prepared when you enter this class Mr. Winchester. I will let you off with a warning this time, but understand that if this happens again you shall receive a failing grade for the day. Please return to your seat." Pyrrha could hear Naruto snickering from his seat. Very quickly it became apparent that Professor Goodwitch was able to hear it as well.
"Mr. Uzumaki, would you please make your way down to be Ms. Nikos' opponent," Professor Goodwitch called out to him. Naruto gave a showboating groan loud enough for the entire class to hear.
"Can you just get me a desk down there? You call me down every class anyways, it would save me a lot of stairs," Naruto begged Professor Goodwitch. The class started to break down into various laughs, giggles, tutting and other noises of amused approval mixed with some disdain for the zoo he constantly degenerated the class into. As far as what category Professor Goodwitch fell into… well, it was fairly obvious.
"Mr. Uzumaki, you will also not be allowed to use your semblance for this bout," Naruto threw up his hands in exasperation as he made his way down to the stage. Apparently, he had decided that discretion was the better part of valor as he made no move to backtalk the professor any further. Naruto stuck his scroll into the machine and turned to face Pyrrha.
"Besides the additional rule that Mr. Uzumaki is not allowed to use his semblance, this shall be a standard match. Are you ready Ms. Nikos?" Pyrrha nodded to the professor.
Then the match shall begin in three, two-"
"I don't get a ready check," Naruto grumbled with a pout.
"One, begin!" Glynda finished her countdown as Pyrrha readied her stance. Normally Pyrrha loved to charge in immediately after a match had started, but in this case she held back. Naruto's posture was completely lax and he seemed entirely disinterested in the spar. Instead of looking at Pyrrha he was staring at the ground, mumbling things she couldn't completely hear. She managed to make out the words 'unfair', 'favoritism', and some disparaging comments about blonde women.
"Naruto?" Pyrrha asked slowly, attempting to provoke some form of acknowledgement. Her blonde leader continued to stare at the ground, mumbling complaints.
"Ms. Nikos, I would recommend attacking him," Professor Goodwitch advised her. For being the professor in charge of supervising the safety of their spar she seemed to be far too interested in the idea of Naruto being attacked. Pyrrha internally groaned at the position she found herself in.
"Here I come, Naruto," she warned her leader. Naruto failed to acknowledge her in any way, seemingly content to continue mumbling nothings into the floor. With growing aggravation Pyrrha morphed Miló into its javelin form and threw it at Naruto's head. To be more precise she intentionally aimed just to the right of his head, only leaving six inches of space between the javelin and his face. Her weapon imbedded itself harmlessly in the ground behind Naruto.
Pyrrha didn't know if Naruto was able to tell she had aimed to miss, or if he truly wasn't paying attention, but as Miló sped past his face Naruto didn't move a muscle besides the ones in his mouth as he continued to mumble at the floor. The man who had so thoroughly bested her in combat continued to show a complete lack of regard towards her as an opponent.
It took Pyrrha a few seconds to recognize that she was presently playing the fool. It wasn't a role she was accustomed to playing, thus recognizing it took several seconds of flabbergasted wonder. When she came to the conclusion that she was being mocked her competitive nature flared. Naruto's semblance had bested her in their spar entirely on its own, yet now he presumed her unworthy of his attention despite being forbidden from using the very thing that defeated her?
Pyrrha could have easily used her semblance to summon her weapon back into her hands. Tactically it was the right decision, but she didn't like to use her semblance in such flashy and overt ways. The subtle manipulation of the battlefield with her semblance was what had earned her the title of 'invincible girl'. Testing the waters, she decided to walk straight past Naruto and to her weapon. As she suspected he did not move to intercept her in any way. Deciding to once again test the rules of whatever game Naruto was playing she swung Miló at his head in a striking arc.
Naruto dropped down onto the floor cross-legged, the javelin flying harmlessly over his head, kissing his hair. As Pyrrha reset her stance he remained sitting, continuing to disregard her. At this point Pyrrha realized the motivations behind these antics were synonymous with how he had approached Cardin the weeks prior. Naruto didn't recognize her as an opponent, he thought he was playing some sort of farcical game.
Pyrrha was mellow-mannered, kind, and thoughtful as a general rule, but seeing the combat prowess she had worked her entire life to develop being mocked lit a darker competitive fire inside her. She didn't want to hurt him, but she would make him recognize her as an equal or superior in martial combat.
Pyrrha morphed Miló into its sword form and slashed down upon her stationary leader. Naruto dodged by falling to the right, as if he was a statue that had been pushed to the side. His body remained in the exact same position it had originally been in, just laying on the ground shifted ninety degrees to Pyrrha's left.
Pyrrha spun so that she was facing the same direction as Naruto and attacked again, bringing down the bottom of her shield to bisect his midsection. The motion left her elbow at a near perfect right angle. Naruto exploited that by using the superior length of his right arm to catch her upper arm, stopping Akoúo̱ before she had built up any momentum.
Naruto finally made an aggressive move. In an unbelievable showing of core strength he twisted his body to create enough force to spin on the floor. In addition, he uncrossed his legs, sticking out his right leg to catch Pyrrha's own. Then, with a forceful yank he pulled on her captured upper arm, forcing her to trip herself over his extended leg. With a terrific thud Pyrrha collapsed on the ground adjacent to Naruto using Akoúo̱ to brace her fall.
"You know, it is surprisingly comfortable down here," Naruto joked with playfully fake earnestness. Pyrrha's normally alacritous brain was experiencing immense difficulty with trying to process what had just happened.
Did he just knock me down… while not taking me seriously? Pyrrha mulled the impossible thought over in her head. It was his semblance that had bested her, wasn't it? Naruto could not be her superior in martial combat, that was an immutable fact.
"If you do not resume combat you will both receive failing grades for the day," Glynda's icy voice snapped Pyrrha out of her stupor.
"I have managed to subdue my opponent to the ground! You can't fail me for that!" Naruto complained, prompting a familiar laughter from the classroom.
"You are also on the ground Mr. Uzumaki." Professor Goodwitch reminded him while bending her riding crop at an angle that rightly should have made it snap.
"But I am here by choice!" Naruto declared proudly, prompting louder and more derisive laughter from the entire class. A fight with Pyrrha Nikos, the champion prize fighter, was being reduced to a mere circus. At long last Pyrrha had found the challenge she had spent most of her life looking for. Pyrrha came to the conclusion that Naruto could handle her, handle everything about her. As she rose from the ground she made a decision she had not made in years.
It was time for her to go all out.
Using Akoúo̱ to guard her body, she thrust her sword atop her shield into Naruto. As to her prediction he merely rolled out of the way. Not wanting to give him any time to reset, she declined to pull back Miló and reset her own stance, instead choosing to spin so that she could launch her shield like a discus. Naruto once again remained stationary, but this time it was by Pyrrha's design. Akoúo̱ was embedded in the ground to cut off his path of retreat.
Using the momentum of her spin she went for another sweeping strike. When you combined the factors of his laying position preventing movement on the x axis, an obstacle sealing his ability to roll down the y axis, and a sweeping attack to cover a large area in order to prevent any small scale maneuver to narrowly dodge the attack you left no options for your opponent. Pyrrha was confident her attack would connect.
A flash of recognition burned in Naruto's eyes. He snaked his arm under the arc of the oncoming sword while flattening his body as much as he could. Right when the sword passed over his outstretched arm he slapped his palm upward, throwing the blade off course. At first Pyrrha thought that her attack had been entirely thwarted, but something didn't feel right. She had grown incredibly accustomed to the sensation of cutting her blade through someone's aura over the years. That experience told her with absolute certainty that although she was cutting something, it wasn't aura.
"Yeowch!" Naruto gave something of a pained noise as he quickly took to his feet and retreated past the shield, clutching his hand. Despite his efforts, he could not staunch the crimson flow that leaked through the dam he attempted to create with his hand. Through her shock Pyrrha noticed that he didn't seem overly concerned with the fact that he was bleeding. If anything, Pyrrha thought she saw some sort of manic glee glinting in his eyes.
However, his lack of concern was incredibly short-lived. Almost immediately after she had seen the blood she heard a sharp hissing. Her brain immediately tied the sound to some sort of steam, but was quickly dismissed because of the complete lack of sense it made. At least it was, until she noticed the small stream of steam leaking from the covered wound.
"Mr. Uzumaki, are you alright?" Professor Goodwitch asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah, no problems here," Naruto replied. Professor Goodwitch appeared to be unconvinced.
"You sustained a cut on your hand. If your aura is not prot-"
"The cut is already gone, aura took care it of it," Naruto interrupted gruffly, showing a slightly bloodied hand to the Professor. When Pyrrha adjusted her position to inspect it herself she couldn't believe what she saw. Nothing. If the professor was surprised she kept it well concealed. She approached Naruto and held out her open hand. Naruto grumbled, but complied by putting his own hand palm up in hers. After a few moments of inspection, Professor Goodwitch walked back to her previous position.
"The match shall resume as Mr. Uzumaki is still combat capable," she announced vaguely, and Pyrrha understood why. The class probably just assumed the injury he had taken was glancing, making it possible for Naruto to continue in spite of it. In reality there was no injury for him to continue in spite of.
"I'm sorry Pyrrha, but I'm going to have to finish this quickly." Naruto's voice came out low and quiet. Unlike everything he had done before, this was a message meant just for her. Pyrrha couldn't sense aura, no one could, but she felt the essence of Naruto shift dramatically before her.
Gone was any hint of his joking nature, absent were any signs of enjoyment. What had taken its place was a warrior who eyed her with a sober gaze. The Naruto before her was going to take her seriously, that she knew as a fact.
"Here I come." Naruto extended the very warning she had initially given him. Pyrrha dislodged her shield from the ground and readied herself. She made the conscious decision to shift her weight to her back foot, for she knew she was about to be on the defensive. She was immediately proven right as Naruto dashed in, quickly closing the distance.
Naruto led off with a simple telephone punch. Pyrrha subconsciously moved her shield to intercept the bare-handed blow. Before her conscious mind could even ask the question of why he was willing to challenge steel with flesh it was answered. Pyrrha was blown back, her feet skidding on the arena as the muscles in her left arm screamed in agony. Naruto set upon her once more while she was still being knocked back by the force of the first blow.
Seemingly content to rinse and repeat, Naruto once again prepared an overly telegraphed punch. Pyrrha knew that taking another one of those would easily push her out of the ring, and instead of blocking again, sidestepped the punch left while slashing her sword down to where his arm would soon be. Naruto lowered the trajectory of his right fist to increase the time it would take for her sword to connect with his arm. With the tenth of a second he bought himself he torqued his body into a rightward spin, forcibly dragging his arm out of Miló's path.
Utilizing the momentum of the turn he barreled his fist into Akoúo̱ once more. Pyrrha felt her very bones creak as the force of the blow slid her across the floor. Her previously screaming muscles felt as if they were dying. The sheer power of his blows was so great that her aura could not do enough to mitigate them entirely, instead being forced to heal the damage that it could not outright prevent.
Pyrrha cast Akoúo̱ down to the floor. At this time her trusted shield felt like nothing more than a giant target that Naruto was exploiting. His fighting style was so incredibly simple, much unlike the tactical prowess he had shown in taking down the nevermore at their initiation. It was the simplicity of the tactic and the message it implied that set Pyrrha's heart ablaze.
Naruto was challenging her in the most direct way possible with complete confidence. The way in which he attacked her spoke volumes on his thought process. 'I will throw the might of my body against your own and emerge the victor', he seemed to say. Pyrrha had trained to be a warrior her entire life; no one her age was her equal in the way of the sword. Her body itself was a trained, toned weapon used to execute the countless combat maneuvers and techniques that had been drilled into her since she was a little girl.
That didn't stop Naruto from charging her head on with full confidence that he was her physical superior. It was that self-assuredness combined with his previously displayed intense desire to protect that had her very being blazing hot. With a feral grin of pure joy she morphed Miló into its javelin form and took it in both hands. Spear in hand, the primitive part of her nature was ready to hunt a quarry she did not know if she could fell.
"This combat is concluded. Mr. Uzumaki is the winner." Professor Goodwitch's voice washed over Pyrrha like an ice bath. She rounded on the Professor fully prepared to contest the call when she saw it. The screen that displayed their auras showed Naruto's as completely full while Pyrrha's own was blinking in the red.
He… he only punched me twice. Pyrrha's thoughts protested the idea that a mere two punches could do the damage clearly displayed before her. She continued to stand there in stark disbelief until a hand cupped her shoulder from behind.
"It was a good fight Pyrrha. You're even better than I thought you were." Naruto's praise was spoken softly from behind, a private message meant only for her. When she turned to face him she saw pride – just not in the way she might have expected. Any person should have felt proud to best her in combat. No one her age had been able to best her for years; even some full fledged huntsmen had failed to match her.
What made it unbelievable was that the pride Naruto displayed was not directed at himself, but at her. He was genuinely impressed that she had done as well as she had against him, it was shown so clearly on his face. He had never possessed the slightest bit of concern that he might lose to her, just as he had not against Cardin. She might have been miles above Winchester, but in Naruto's eyes they both had the same chance of beating him. None.
So strong… Pyrrha stared at him in unabashed wonder. Her entire life had been spent trying to become the best warrior she could be. Even though she had not been bested for many years, she still maintained a diligent regimen of physical training, weapon forms, and combat strategy. In defiance of her every attempt to continue moving forward, she could not help but admit that over the years the flame of her warrior passion had burned progressively dimmer with each passing day. She had struggled with trying to find a reason to continue pushing forward when all it did was further alienate her from all those around her.
Before her was not the answer to that question, but its invalidation. Pyrrha's warrior spirit once again burned with the hot fire it had in her youth. No longer did she need to worry about isolating herself from everyone if she continued to walk down her warrior path. Instead, she had something to work towards, someone to compete with. It was readily apparent that Naruto did not view her as an equal in the ring, but she was ready to pour her being into proving him wrong.