Greeting and salutations! Welcome to the shortest chapter of OFNT in quite some time. What can I say? Sometimes you just have an awkward amount of content. Next chapter is going to be a doozy though, you have my word. Not too much on the docket for the AN today, but some pretty cool stuff to be sure.
First and foremost Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and that means an obligatory Valentine's one-shot must be written! A poll is being held on my Pa+reon (search kamorge0) for which lovely lady the one-shot will be about. I will be writing it on the thirteenth and posting it on the fourteenth, so if you want to vote you'll need to get in soon.
Secondly I got my first person pointing out the rather obvious 'plot hole' about Naruto in this story. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't get this earlier. "Why didn't Naruto just use shadow clones+transformation to learn things when he came to Remnant?" I can assure you it is not a plot hole, but was intentionally done as such. Since the answer to that question of 'why' is pretty plot central I won't be answering it at this time. The basic answer is fairly inferrable if you think like a paranoid, but a single shadow clone getting clocked a bit too hard could potentially dispel. You could make the argument that Naruto would never let that happen (I don't know how you could considering he basically commits shadow clone genocide in the show) but understand that no risksmall risk.
With that being said let's get to it! I present to you Chapter 20 of An Old Fox's New Trick. See you guys next time.
Chapter 20
Bared Fangs
Discipline. That was the sole word by which James Ironwood defined himself. Any insufficiency, any lack of motivation, any weakness, it didn't matter, anything could be overcome with discipline. He raised both the Atlesian military and academy students on that core ideal. His position as both headmaster of the Atlesian academy and general in the Atlesian military were results he had forcibly wrenched into his grasp due in no small part to his belief in discipline as the highest virtue. At that point in time Ozpin should have been overjoyed that James possessed such discipline.
It was the only thing preventing him from strangling the Beacon headmaster.
"You. Haven't. Investigated. Him?" Ironwood's speech resembled a gear catching every time it attempted to turn.
"Now James, I didn't say that." Ozpin tutted at the Atlesian, causing a vein in Ironwood's forehead to bulge dangerously. The topic of discussion was obviously Naruto Uzumaki.
When they reunited after what had been some time apart they had exchanged the expected hellos and pleasantries. Ozpin had invited him back to his office for coffee, they chatted about the festival, they even reminicised a small amount. The problems arise when James moved to the smaller of the two large issues that needed to be addressed.
Naruto Uzumaki had blown up seemingly overnight in Vale. His rise to fame was such a phenomenon that he'd found out about it from Penny of all people. Apparently the boy was unfathomably strong, possessing aura that put all known measurements not just to shame, but buried them in the dirt without courtesy of a funeral. The aura sensor that was used to detect that was supposed to have been an academic project done primarily for the means of flaunting Atlas technology!
Videos of his spar against Ms. Nikos had circulated on media sharing websites of all kinds. The mechanics of the fight weren't even impressive! The boy showed an above average grasp of grappling and joint manipulation, but there wasn't much else to speak of in the realms of skill. Ms. Nikos had actually been the more impressive of the two, utilizing her shield and weapon to pin her opponent down and force him into a bad situation. So why was it popular?
Because a fighting prodigy renowned for both her fighting acumen and power had her aura mauled down in two blows by someone nobody had ever heard of.
By nobody, James truly meant nobody. He had diverted Atlesian spies to investigate Uzumaki in the past few days for god's sake! Thoroughly frustrated that his top handpicked men could not find a single thing about Uzumaki, Ironwood decided he would just ask Ozpin what he knew and if he considered the boy a threat. His answer had not been useful to say the least.
Ozpin did not say that he hadn't investigated Uzumaki, what he'd said was-
"You attempted to investigate him, discovered nothing, and gave up?" Ironwood growled, thanking his precious discipline more and more each passing second.
"I'm beginning to worry that you may be hard of hearing, James. I said that I investigated him rather fruitlessly until I decided there was no point in doing so any further. The young man has proven to be a valuable huntsmen, as displayed by his incredibly success at the docks, as well as an incredible resource for his peers about the dangers and realistic of working in the field."
"So you didn't give up, you decided to stop trying?"
"Exactly so."
"Damn your semantics Oz!" Ironwood steamed. "Uzumaki could be dangerous!"
"James, do try and have a little faith in me." Ozpin requested. It didn't do much to smooth the issue over with Ironwood, but what little it did had the Atlesian breathing deep, slowly relaxing himself.
"I'm absolutely sure he's dangerous." Ozpin smiled a bit wickedly into his cup of coffee. Ironwood un-relaxed immediately. "To be blunt, it's because he's so dangerous that I decided to stop investigating."
"You? Scared of a child?" Ironwood had seen the boy fight in that video. He was strong, but nowhere near that impressive. Vast aura was impressive, but it could only aid you so much in fights.
"Not in the sense that you might think." Ozpin clarified while managing to explain nothing. A single glare from Ironwood prompted him to continue. "I am not concerned about the possibility that Mr. Uzumaki entered Beacon with the intent to harm anyone. I am similarly nonplussed about knowing nothing about his background."
"That's a bold lie, Oz. You hate being in the dark." Ozpin chuckled at that.
"I suppose I misspoke. I'm not content with the secrets he is keeping, but I will choose to remain ignorant if it provides Mr. Uzumaki even the slightest modicum of gratitude towards me."
Quietness took hold of the air as Ironwood allowed that remark to stew. Ozpin had always been an expert at manipulating people. To hear that he had some sort of grand design for one of his students did not come as a shock to James. What resonated so poorly was the idea that Ozpin would remain willfully ignorant for nothing other than the smallest sense of gratitude.
"For the time being I will trust you on this matter as we have more pressing matters to discuss. Have you considered my proposal about Ms. Ni-"
"No, James. We will continue the previous conversation." Ozpin interrupted him, a foreboding glint in his eyes. "Let me be clear; You are completely and irrevocably forbidden from doing anything that has even the most minute of chances of pushing Mr. Uzumaki away from us. I do not want him investigated, I do not want him interrogated, and if you dare send someone to spy on him you best pray Mr. Uzumaki does not notice. If I am wrong he is a priority on equal standing with our highest."
"You mean if you're right?" Ironwood chuckled, Ozpin merely grimaced.
"No, I spoke correctly. If I'm right that young man will not be a piece to add to the board, but will become the very game itself. If I'm right she might forget about the maidens and the relics entirely in order to win him should he fall into the purview of her sight. I want to be wrong, I pray that I'm wrong, I'm kept up at night hoping that I am wrong…"
"But you don't believe you're wrong." James finished.
"I do not." Ozpin concurred, his entire person possessing the mirth of a funeral dirge. "Ms. Nikos was not bested, she was unequivocably annihilated. A feat which Mr. Uzumaki did not need either of his two semblances to achieve. The huntress we expected to be our strongest candidate, a champion in arena combat, our first and foremost candidate for what lies beneath this school was unable to put up a fight despite the fact that her opponent held back, most likely considerably at that."
"Plenty of huntsmen fight without their semblance." Ironwood waved his mentor off, the tension in the air mounting as if to spite his attempt at diffusing it.
"Glynda thought he was a semblance fighter when he came to this school, as did most students. Aside from usage of basic tools he fought entirely with his semblance. He faced Ms. Nikos in hand-to-hand because Glynda forbade him from using his semblance. She had hoped a fight against such a prodigious fighter without the use of his semblance would force him into a loss, thus making him reconsider the low bar we assumed he had set for his melee combat."
"Though it is clear he is quite strong, you can't say he has much finesse. Attacking her strongest point-"
"Why do you think he did that, James? Hitting exactly where your opponent wants to be hit is the most basic of mistakes a huntsman can make, and he is clearly not a basic huntsman." Ozpin pulled up multiple videos on his monitor all at once. Uzumaki using some type of telekinetic semblance, Uzumaki flying through the air on sand, Uzumaki creating a deathstalker out of sand, and another video of him fighting Ms. Nikos in a practice ring, trouncing her using only his semblance.
"Hmmm…" Ironwood hummed. His fellow headmaster's manner of acting had unnerved him, Ozpin was not one to act so frantically. His old friend had a point — Uzumaki's semblances were clearly overwhelming, not to mention the fact that they were plural. "It is possible that Uzumaki is just physically strong. Nothing in that fight suggested he possessed much beyond that."
"A possibility," Ozpin admitted in a way indicative that he clearly believed it wasn't, "but I believe it to be something different. There's a clear shift between how Mr. Uzumaki approached the beginning of the fight and right before he decided to finish it." Two videos played in tandem showing the start of the fight where Uzumaki was making a mockery of his opponent and right after he tried to defeat Ms. Nikos' sword.
"Uzumaki switches from a combat style prioritizing lightness and using his opponent's power towards a heavier, stronger one."
"True, and just like you to notice that. There is an aspect that I believe to be far more important than than that though." Ozpin restarted both videos, giving Ironwood a chance to watch them again.
"I don't see anything other than my initial analysis." James stated firmly. "He is disrespecting his opponent in the beginning, but decides to take Ms. Nikos seriously after she made a truly impressive series of attacks that forced him into a dangerous situation. I can't say I approve of the way he's treating this spar."
Ozpin couldn't resist a pained chuckle. "I felt much the same when I first watched it. I've watched this fight many, many times over the past week, hoping it would give me some sort of clue. Over the course of those many viewings it did exactly that." Ozpin played with his keyboard, one of the videos filled the screen at the point where Uzumaki was cornered on the ground by Ms. Nikos' shield. "Watch his face."
Uzumaki was stuck on the ground as the blade came towards him. Without use of his semblance the options would be few, and he opted for one of the more theatrical ones — trying to hit the sword off course with the palm of his hand. From Ironwood's perspective, or at least the perspective of whoever recorded this on their scroll, Uzumaki's timing appeared to be a millisecond off. James dismissed the thought as he carefully studied the boy's face.
Uzumaki appeared annoyed at first, but his face suddenly took a turn towards infuriation. From that point the two hits connected on Ms. Nikos' shield and Glynda called the match. Ironwood didn't believe what he saw.
"Is… is he sad?" James asked disbelievingly.
Ozpin smiled glumly. "It does appear that way, doesn't it? He just defeated one of the most promising huntresses in all of Remnant, yet he seems to be unhappy. For whatever reason he decided to take things more seriously, but as you have pointed out he didn't take them too seriously."
"He attacked her shield…" Ironwood breathed, realization dawning on him. "He decided to reveal his true strength against one of the strongest fighters he had access to, but even then the fight was over in the blink of an eye despite him attacking what should have been Ms. Nikos' strongest defense."
"Not indifferent from how a huntsman might fight one handed against a student to level the field." Ozpin concurred. "More than just sad, Mr. Uzumaki looks apologetic. At the end of the fight Glynda said he complimented Ms. Nikos in earnest for a bout well fought."
"Although Ms. Nikos displayed brilliant strategy in her opening gambit it is clear now that Uzumaki had the ability to end the fight whenever he so wished. So why would he consider that a good fight?"
"I believe that is the simplest question I've had to answer about Mr. Uzumaki to date." Ozpin sipped at his coffee that had long since gone cold. "I believe it probable that it was a good fight by his standards."
Ironwood laughter was barked fast and brief, like he didn't enjoy its taste in his mouth. "You were the one trying to convince me he attacked her strongest defenses intentionally because of an overwhelming difference, now you are trying to tell me that Ms. Nikos pressed him?"
"No, no I am not." Ozpin waved the very notion away. "What I believe is that it was the most difficult fight Mr. Uzumaki had experienced in some time."
"That was not a close fight."
"No it was not."
"You think he is hiding more power than that?!"
"I'm almost certain."
"How strong do you think he is?!"
"Honestly," Ozpin sighed as he threw the rest of his coffee back like he was taking a shot, "That is a question that I don't have an answer to."
And that is why he scares me. Ozpin's implication clung thick to the air. James had thought that Uzumaki would be an incredibly anomaly worth studying, yet Ozpin speculated something far more serious. Whichever case it was, there would need to be much more conversation had about it.
So much for relaxing after my flight. James sighed. Sometimes he hated being disciplined. It meant that in situations like these — situations where he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and do nothing more — he was forced to press on or admit defeat.
"In that case," Ironwood bit the bullet, "what should we do about it?"
"We play Ursa Major Mauling! A band or ursa majors sweep through to your supply lines, cutting off the rations you needed to continue your siege of Mantle!"
"Well… shit!" The Russel/Cardin pair swore in unison as the Ruby/Yang pair lorded their imminent victory over them. Dove and Weiss were whispering animatedly to each other.
"Actually, we'll play Emergency Air Bombardment." Dove declared as he placed down a card.
"Thus eliminating the ursa and any threat posed to the Vale supply lines with them." Weiss smiled smugly, turning to the Russel/Cardin pair. "Please continue your righteous assault on the kingdom of Mantle, but remember that you owe us." Ruby collapsed into her arms on the table, crocodile tears streaming from her face.
"This is collusion! Rigged game!" Yang complained loudly. Weiss gave a simpering giggle.
"Tsk tsk Yang, all is fair in love and war." Yang joined her sister, banging her hand on the table in bitter defeat.
Meanwhile, a different battle was waging no more than ten feet away. A battle far more intense than the one for the fate of Remnant.
"I'm so glad you could join us today, Velvet." Pyrrha smiled genially.
"Thank you so much! When Naruto invited me I was glad I had some free time. I haven't been able to spend much time with h- everyone recently." Velvet's smile was just as wide.
"It's just been busy for our teams the past few days. We've been hanging out together pretty regularly, so we haven't had much time for anyon-thing else. I'm sorry that we haven't been able to talk much, you know you're always welcome to-"
"I missed you all, but it hasn't been too lonely. I still have my team," Pyrrha beamed in understanding, "and Naruto had been texting me a lot more recently." Pyrrha's beaming expression suddenly appeared much more brittle.
"Oh really?" Pyrrha asked with voice as sweet as honey. "How thoughtful of him…"
"Absolutely! We stayed up so late messaging that I actually fell asleep with my scroll in hand last night. When I woke up I realized what had happened, but he had just sent me a message guessing what happened and wishing me sweet dreams. I was so embarrassed!" Velvet rapped her head lightly with her knuckles as if to say, 'Teehee! I'm such a clutz!'.
As the two faced each other down with smiles as amiable as could be an even fiercer battle was being waged not five feet from them.
"So before Atlas was formed what was the land known as?" Sky asked his flunky of a pupil.
"Uhhhhhhh…" Sky glared at the usually far superior blonde in complete and total disbelief.
"You've got to be joking."
"Hey! We didn't get out and about much where I came from. Didn't lend itself well to world history, ok!" Naruto complained. Apparently the blonde's grades in Oobleck's class weren't poor somehow. It was a fact that Sky had a hard time believing considering the buffoonery he was having to deal with now. The NNVR leader had explained that he just spent a lot of time on the homework to make sure he got it right. So Sky had taken it upon himself to offer any and all assistance not only because Naruto had done so much for him, but because it furthered their plans.
"Keep interacting with him whenever possible." Yang had told them during their three team meeting. "Make sure you keep those interactions casual and light. You can train with him, work with him, or just mess around, but don't let anything get too heavy."
That was her theory in a nutshell. Naruto felt obligated to help them whenever they needed it, so they just had to avoid needing anything that would throw him over the edge. That compulsion of his made their relationships with him so one sided that he felt the need to recharge by ignoring all of them afterwards. Sky had a few gripes with that analysis, chiefly because he didn't seem to avoid CRDL at all, but then again they weren't exactly trying to be his friends.
That wasn't to say they didn't like the guy or anything. It was more like the whole team already considered him some cross between a friend and a mentor as it was, so there wasn't any need to push the envelope. Apparently the other two teams hadn't had the luck theirs' had, though. So on that line Sky decided that giving back with some teaching would be an easy way to make their relationship more mutual. It quickly became apparent that he should have chosen a different adjective to describe the task that was teaching his teacher.
"Mantle! You can't be as strong as you are while having a brain this stupid! I refuse to believe it!"
"Come on man, it takes all sorts."
"Not like this!" Sky hissed, his hardworking and earnest persona completely shattered by the crushing weight of Naruto's ineptitude for history. "Is this some kind of cosmic joke? Did whatever god that exists make your combat stat SS only to decide he needed to balance it out somehow?"
Naruto protested, but Sky unrelentingly laid into him. Nora was asleep at the same table they were, as was Ren. The quietest member of NNVR had joined them when they first started studying for Oobleck's class, but quickly removed himself from the equation as Naruto's failures grew increasingly irksome to Sky.
"Not that I'm letting you out of this," Sky segued, whispering quietly enough so only Naruto could hear, "But are you going to do anything about those two?" He gestured to Velvet and Pyrrha. Naruto regarded him with unadulterated confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I know it's awkward, but you probably shouldn't let them fight like that."
"Fight? They've just been talking about our teams and such, they look pretty happy too. What are you talking about?" Sky wanted to grab one of the question marks that were floating above Naruto's head and bludgeon him with it.
"Not to borrow too heavily from Russel… but holy shit man! Are you really that dense!?" Sky's previous quiet was completely abandoned.
"What the hell man!?"
"Yes." Ren answered at the same time as Naruto, deeming the question important enough to look up from his book. "He really has no idea. It would probably be best if you let him figure it out himself."
Sky facepalmed, proceeding to muss his blue hair in an effort to vent his frustrations. "I get it, I'll leave it at that."
Naruto was not so content to let the matter go as he pressed Sky for what the hell they were talking about. Luckily Sky didn't have to hold out for too long before a distraction saved the day. Another messy haired blonde had entered the library, a bright blue haired companion in tow.
"Hey Blake! 'Sup Naruto?" The blonde greeted them with a roguish grin.
"What do you know? It's the better half of my recent escort mission. The one who actually listens!" Naruto rolled his eyes playfully at Blake. That way of casual teasing about such a serious issue would have surprised Sky if he hadn't been warned in advance.
"I don't think he wants to be any of our superiors. My partner wants to be normal, but doesn't believe he can, at least I think so. He probably doesn't want to dwell on what happened any more than we do, but will choose to if he thinks it will help in some way. If we show him it is unnecessary I believe he will quickly move on."
Two for two, Pyrrha had also been correct. They had coordinated a group message to relay information on anything involving what was quickly becoming an operation. Apparently the food fight and apology plan had both moved forward without a hitch. They had said Naruto seemed to be visibly more relaxed and less averse to spending time with their teams. They had been working away at him for a few days now, and so far so good.
"Hey, cut her some slack. Blake was just doing what she thought was right." When Sun spoke the library went from being all hustle and bustle to being so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Every set of eyes homed in on Sun like multiple pairs of death lazers, even the pair belonging to the previously asleep Nora. The instant change in atmosphere would have been noticeable to anyone, and by the way Sun went from defensive to awkward in no time flat he had felt it too.
"I made a mistake, Sun." Blake said slowly, clearly, making it transparent the statement brokered no argument. "It isn't wrong to try and stop crime, but I was unwilling to think about the risks it posed to you and Naruto when I went in by myself. It was selfish, it was dangerous, and you shouldn't defend me for it."
"We need to change how casually he views violent extremes as a means to solve problems, but I don't think we can do it right now. You don't become so damaged by living an easy life, something breaks you into beliefs like that. His beliefs are probably so ingrained that he is more likely to ignore any argument to the contrary. I don't know if it will work… I've seen it fail before, but if we want any chance of changing his mind he will need to consider us friends. So until that point we cannot — MUST not try and change his beliefs, only minimize their impacts."
"You really threw us a monkey wrench." Yang regained her composure first, the most self satisfied grin Sky had ever seen stretching across her mouth. "Ahhh, puns. It is good to have you back."
"Nooooooooooo!" Ruby cried, banging her tiny fists on the table in a tantrum. "My vacation, my promised land, my heaven! Why do bad things happen to good people?!"
The RWBY team quickly dove back into animated discussion, forcibly dragging Sun and his attaché down to their table as they introduced themselves. It was like watching a live demonstration of a white blood cell encapsulating a potentially harmful bacteria in order to neutralize it.
"Have you thought at all about the Vytal Festival, Naruto?" Velvet asked as both she and Pyrrha joined them at the table. The change of topic was very much an intentional one. The bunny was somewhat in the know, mainly due to Ren's recommendation. She didn't know what had happened after the docks, but was more or less up to speed on what they were doing. With eleven people assuring her this was to help Naruto she quickly joined the fold. Sky wondered whether or not that was the reason she was able to stomach being around his team, the team that had bullied her.
"That big tournament thing that's coming up? Isn't that a while away?"
"It's more than just a tournament," Pyrrha corrected him, "the whole event is about fostering unity between the four nations and their respective huntsmen academies."
"Lots of events, food stands, and other things get thrown into the mix. Never been to one, but I've heard they're pretty impressive." Sky supplemented.
Naruto shrugged casually. "I haven't put much thought into it past winning the tournament."
Sky couldn't help but notice Velvet's bunny ears twitch. "You mean entering the tournament?" Naruto gave a more played out shrug, his upturned palms accentuating the gesture.
"Entering, winning, same thing. If Nevermore enters the tournament then we'll win it, so I haven't really bothered thinking about it much." He sighed in agitation. "I'd love to fight someone strong, but I'd rather not have all the attention that comes with winning. I've actually been pretty torn about whether or not to enter."
"We gotta enter!" Nora burst into their conversation. "We can't fight if we don't enter!"
"That is, in fact, the trade-off I'm looking at." Naruto chuckled. Velvet's eyes narrowed as she looked at her obviously desired paramour.
"You don't want to enter… because you think you'll win?"
"No no no! Of course not! I love winning." Naruto assured her. Velvet's eyes returned to a normal shape. "I just don't want the attention that comes with it. Being in the spotlight sucks."
"I couldn't agree more."
"It isn't my cup of tea, at least."
"You guys are sticks in the mud!" The majority of NNVR agreed with their leader, the vocal protest from the 'V' of their team going largely ignored.
"Even if you enter you might not win, you know?" Velvet reminded them a bit pointedly. The reactions were mixed, but all along the same line.
Pyrrha didn't outright laugh, but the amusement on her face was so abundant her eyes sparkled with mirth. Nora and Naruto did just outright laugh. Naruto leaned back in his chair and slapped his knee while Nora banged her fist on the table repeatedly, hammering the abundance of humor that statement held into the table before she burst from trying to contain it. Even Ren found the statement laughable, a whole two syllable laugh escaping his lips before he could stop it.
Velvet was not amused.
"To be fair," Ren started to explain, "I don't think that we are the most well balanced team in terms of ability. Knowing our leader I am confident in saying that he could enter the tournament alone and still win."
"I could, but I wouldn't." Naruto agreed with a nod of his head and a mature expression on his face. Velvet looked hopeful — she had no right to be, of course — but she hadn't been on the receiving end of this gag yet. NNVR knew, and were struggling to keep their composure as he started his speech.
"The Vytal Festival is about teamwork and unity! The most important of virtues for both fledgling and veteraned teams alike are the pillars of the event-"
"Which you didn't know until Pyrrha told you like a minute ago." Nora added quietly enough to not interrupt, but loud enough to hear.
"As such, I will demand the best out of my team and myself as we strive to demonstrate our superior teamwork and aptitude to all of the adoring public-"
"We have teamwork? We've done something as a team since initiation?" Pyrrha interjected with a mix of pointedness and playfulness, but was completely ignored by her leader as he forged on.
"So we will work together, forge bonds, and demonstrate the strength that comes from unity for all of Remnant to see-"
"And the punchline is…" Ren started.
"Even though I could just blow everyone off the arena the instant the fight started. It just wouldn't be sporting."
"Here." Ren finished, a small yet satisfied smile tugging at his lips. The team laughed as Naruto bowed, clearly proud of yet another performance.
"I hate you all." Sky grumbled. "I can't even disagree, and it only makes me hate you more. How is having the Invincible Girl and Naruto on a team together fair?!"
"Meh," Naruto shrugged, "I could make any team win, even yours. I'm just that good."
"Nope! You're stuck with us!" Nora latched onto his arm, effectively ensnaring him. If his arm being tugged between her bounties bothered Naruto, he didn't show it.
"Kami help me." Naruto prayed, earning himself a punch in the shoulder from his partner. "We do need to get some practice in. Even if we could just wing it and be fine it would probably make our opponents pretty unhappy. Are you guys alright with a little team practice some time before the tournament starts?"
Sky didn't think there was anything Naruto could have said that made his team happier. Pyrrha looked overjoyed at the thought whereas Nora was a bundle of excitement. Ren looked relieved, but even that was palpable. He looked like a man who had just pondered setting down a heavy and cumbersome weight for the first time.
"I think we could manage that." Ren agreed.
"Our first team training! I've got the work out clothes ready and everything!"
"I think it would be wonderful" Pyrrha beamed radiantly.
"Not to interrupt or anything..." Velvet metaphorically elbowed her way back into the conversation.
Now that is an unhappy looking bunny. Sky intelligently kept that thought to himself.
"But you are first years. Do you really think you'll be able to beat everyone in the tournament? You know the tournament isn't just open to first years, right?"
"Wouldn't matter either way." Naruto answered. Sky understood what Velvet was thinking right now. She probably thought he was being arrogant or childish, naive in some way. She probably thought he had been a big fish from some small pond of a town who had gotten a bit too big for his britches.
He wasn't, and anyone who had ever fought him knew that. Sky wasn't sure how much the other students at Beacon had caught on, but Naruto was not at their level. He'd say Naruto was as strong as the professors if he didn't suspect that would be heavily undercutting his capability. Naruto made his demon racoon into a deathstalker with his sand semblance just to help them train. Their entire team couldn't make a dent on an amalgamation of Naruto's semblance he didn't even bother using in combat normally. Velvet probably thought Naruto's claim to victory was presumptuous, but Sky sure as hell didn't. If the gods came down from the sky and handed Naruto the Mandate of Heaven he'd be more shocked about the prior than the latter.
Velvet was expectedly unenthused by Naruto's attitude and the two banetered back and forth. It didn't have the spite that he'd grown to expect from arguments throughout his life. Then again, nothing at Beacon was really like he'd expected it to be. As his team and RWBY finished their game they too joined the conversation. The whole gathering was raucous and disorganized, even downright silly at times, but there was nowhere he'd rather be.
In their first week at Beacon he thought that his life with CRDL would be like the rest of the life he'd lived up to that point. Sky had been scared, cowardly, and more than happy to go along with Cardin's dickishness as long as it meant that lense wasn't focused on him. He had wanted to avoid being the bullied so much he was willing to pay the cost of becoming the bully. He regretted that way of thinking now.
But that was only possible because Naruto had smashed everything down around him. After abandoning Cardin at Forever Fall he made it impossible for Sky to avoid who he was — Naruto forced that acceptance on him. The NNVR leader didn't stop there, he didn't just break things and run away. When Sky's person was broken, Naruto was there to help him rebuild. It was because of Naruto that he was able to sit around and enjoy spending time with friends and acquaintances he never thought he'd get to have.
He didn't really agree with this whole vendetta on Naruto's way of teaching. Sure, it was rough and ugly, hell it was downright extreme at times, but so was life. That way of teaching was why he didn't feel like a piece of shit every waking moment. That way of teaching was why he was able to finally give his all again. He wasn't doing this to change Naruto, at least not like everyone else.
He just wanted the man to be happy.
As he watched the three (and a half) teams causing way too much noise for any library in existence... Sky had hope. If they kept this up, if they tried their hardest, if they did everything they could then maybe Naruto wouldn't look so damn empty on the inside.
"Never got the chance to go to a fancy pants school like this. Maybe I'll get the chance to break a few hearts."
"You should give it a shot. Maybe I'll get lucky and one of them will break your neck in the process."
"Awwww Em, you know it's cute how jealous you get, but you're smothering me. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment yet. It's not you, it's- actually no, it's you."
"Please die, Mercury."
Cinder was oblivious to their squabble. Normally she would have demanded their silence so that she could think, however she was already so lost in thought that such mundanities failed to catch her attention. She was running over every variable, every contingency, anything and everything that would, could or even had the most meager of possibilities of affecting her plans. She had done this more than enough to be certain of every aspect, save one that she'd not had the time to account for.
Naruto Uzumaki wasn't flitting around her mind so much as rampaging wantonly. The man had inspired fear enough in Roman as to produce flippancy in the man. Roman had learned to fear her almost as soon as she had deigned to meet him, yet this Naruto almost undid that work in a singular scuffle. She reminded herself that he was just one variable, one piece, and it calmed her down.
Still, that didn't mean she could afford to be careless. After dealing with Roman she had spent the majority of her time researching the mysterious Beacon freshman. Other than a single video of him fighting the Nikos girl the drought of information was as real as Roman had claimed. No matter who she contacted there was nothing to be found. Her paranoia of unknowns almost drove her to contacting Watts for assistance, but she swallowed the vile impulse as soon as it struck her. This mission was to be her accomplishment, no others would encroach upon it.
The ability to engross herself so deeply in her thoughts turned out to have minor consequences. They had made it into Beacon and were making their way through its halls when a small yet speedy girl barreled into her, bouncing harmlessly to the ground.
"Woah, sorry." The black and red missile apologized stupidly. At the very least Cinder found it to be stupid, annoyed as she was.
"A leader doesn't run in front of their troops shortstack." A blonde male appeared around the same corner as the small girl, an orange scarf draped around his neck.
"What does that even mean?!"
"If your team sees you panic, they are more likely to panic. If you're freaking out about leaving your board game in the library… kami your first mission is going to be a disaster." The blonde sighed as he massaged his brow. "Sorry about that, she excites easy."
"That's not a problem." Cinder replied, not believing her words but not wishing to draw attention to herself. "We all get a little excited from time to time."
The blonde smiled diplomatically. "Thanks for understanding. Sorry for bothering the three of you. Let's go walk and get that board game, Ruby." The blonde held out his hand like he would to a small child. It would have looked more out of place if the girl wasn't both so small and youthful. She declined it and stood on her own, proving his unstated point about her childishness as she blew a raspberry in protest as they began to walk past her.
There was something about the way he moved... She wasn't sure if it was his long and deliberate gait, his statured upright posture, or his slow and measured pace, but the whole procession seemed to be rather odd. It was a posture not dissimilar to her own, a posture of a tried leader.
"I'm sorry," Cinder apologized for nothing in particular, successfully causing the two of them to stop, "We're actually from Haven and were wondering if you might know where our room is." Cinder pulled out a numbered room keycard and showed it to him. She was fully aware of where her room was, but it proved an apt excuse.
"You're a little bit down the hall and a few rooms left." The blonde responded to her, pointing in the direction they'd already been heading.
"Thank you, it's always a challenge finding yourself with so few familiar places." The blonde gave an understanding smile and once again motioned to leave. As he passed she noticed that what she believed to have been an orange scarf was actually an orange fox draped around his shoulders. She noticed that the fox seemed to be eyeing her with an almost human interest.
It appeared the fox's interest made its way to the blonde on which it sat, for he turned around once more. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."
Cinder did not fail to notice how he did not offer his. "Cinder Fall." She extended a hand in greetings, a hand the blonde then took.
"Uzumaki, Naruto." The blonde identified himself with a grin. Cinder found herself staring at an identical grin from the fox that had laid docile on his shoulders. It was a grin that had a singular, simple intention.
To bare their fangs.