Hunting or Bust
Dust 16: When the Dust Settles
Tons of RWBY news since I last updated. Does anybody else think that all this anticipation and waiting is going to ruin us before the new Volume even comes out? I get butterflies when I hear anything new and giddy watching old episodes now.
I'm pretty sure by the time Volume 3 finally starts my organs are just gonna slip out from joy.
But at least they're tiding us over until then. We have the final episodes of Red vs Blue Season 13. X-Ray and Vav Season 2 Part B. And 11 Little Roosters.
Only time Gavin's ever looked sophisticated as fuck.
My money's on Skintight Suit Meg, Jewish Canadian Assassin's League Mountie Barbara, Crocodile DunGeoff, or Eyepatch Matt Hullum.
Nothing is more corrupt and evil than the darkness of Eyepatch Matt Hullum.
((((((((Hunting))))))))
"Ugh." The ivory-haired heiress let out a tiny moan as she tried to move her arms but felt a wave of soreness encompass her movement. She needed to stop for a moment in the hallway she was trekking through to get accustomed to the tender feeling in her body. Luckily there were not a lot of students moving through the halls at lunchtime so she didn't have to worry about too many people staring at her.
She couldn't remember the last time her whole body was aching and sore like this. She had to wrap gauze and bandages over parts of her arms to help sooth the constant experience. Fortunately her uniform had long sleeves so she was able to hide them fairly well. Unfortunately her uniform only had a skirt so she had to use makeup to cover the bruises over her legs and just ignore the uncomfortable sensation.
She wasn't usually a jealous person but she envied Yang and Ruby at the moment. They always wore stockings with their uniforms so they could hide any bruises or bandages they wanted to at the moment. While she and Blake suffered with the need to keep up appearances and make it seem like they were perfectly normal.
All of them needed to appear like they were just regular people during one of the biggest takedowns of criminal activity in recent Remnant history.
...
She had to admit...despite the aches and pain and the sheer inability to walk any faster than a snail over salt, she had a sense of pride well up in her chest. She had been a part of it. She and her companions took a stand against a fiendish man and came out victorious!
His empire was crumbling. The stolen goods were being returned to their rightful owners. All the crooks and thugs of the underworld that were involved with that underground system of goods was being brought in for processing. And the police and Councils had enough evidence to put them behind bars for a long time.
This is what she dreamt of doing. Of making a difference! This is what it meant to be a Huntress! Foiling monsters and evil so that justice may prevail!
Of course what they did was illegal and unprecedented and dangerous and probably would get them killed if they tried again...
But the one time was enough.
"Holy crap. They found a connection to this big criminal family over in Mistral because of the Wilsk System and the cops arrested them in a few hours." A tall girl noted to her male friend as they passed by the white-haired fencer towards their lockers, "Apparently they've been sentenced to life in prison."
"Geez. They're getting all the big name guys all over the kingdoms because of this black market crap." The boy noted as he joked, "I mean I'm happy these guys are getting put away but what are we gonna do when we graduate? Look after empty streets?"
"Probably hunt and kill Grimm, dimwit. The thing we came here to train for in the first place."
"Oh, right. I forgot."
Weiss turned back around and mulled in her thoughts about the consequences of what they had done. They had essentially set a mark on all the criminals that associated themselves with that horrendous man and had crippled a good part of the underworld. On one hand, that was one of the greatest outcomes that could have happened from taking this risk. On the other hand, she had a gut feeling that since Wilsk was an old partner of the Schnee company and her family, their company would probably come under more fire than they usually were.
Plus, there was the effect of removing so much of the criminal superpower so suddenly. It left a vacuum. An empty corner. And the thing about empty space...it will either be filled up by an existing force or territory for new power to rise. Something new was going to come from this result.
Of course, she didn't know about any of that right now. None of them did.
Yesterday at noon, when her team had finally awoken from the long night of fighting a few hours earlier, they had experienced something they had been all too familiar with in their early days of training.
Complete and utter exhaustion.
Weiss' Aura reserves were still pretty drained from the fight where she used dozens of Glyphs of all sizes to attack and augment her companions' abilities. Her Aura reserve was never the largest to begin with so spreading it out so thin had left her empty and unable to heal her soreness.
Blake seemed tired and exhausted from the intense movements and fighting she had to do to attack Wilsk. She had bags under her eyes, her movements were sluggish, and she seemed even less interested in what was going on around her than usual. Even when she decided to stay in bed and read a book to tide herself over, she cringed when she moved her arms to turn the page.
The moment Yang got out of bed, she and the rest of her team noticed what was wrong with her. With her tank top being tight enough that it revealed part of her midriff, it was very easy to notice the edges of some black marks that formed under her top. The boisterous blonde lifted her shirt up to reveal a series of deep bruises that covered her stomach and back from receiving all of Wilsk's attacks.
And finally, there was Ruby. She didn't seem to realize how bad she was doing because the moment she jumped out of bed, she slipped off her numb legs and landed right on her face. And then she realized she could barely walk for the rest of the day. She was very unhappy about that, and whined for most of the day about wanting to get up and do something, but after a while she just grabbed a notebook and started working on something to occupy her time. Weiss didn't care what it was. She was just glad it was quiet again.
So after spending all of Sunday resting and recovering, they were still sore but now they were capable of minimal movement. And Weiss decided to use the opportunity to catch up on learning about anything that might have happened over the last two days since their raid.
Weiss found a newspaper stand with copies of The Remnant Recollection. She gingerly stretched out her arm and picked up a paper that had already been read and placed to the side. She opened to a random page and saw the articles that riddled the page.
Malcontent Mayhem in Mistral
Probably referring to the crime family those two students were talking about earlier.
Schnee Shadow: A Blissful Victim or Devious Partner in Crime?
The tabloids and press just trying to stir the pot by accusing her family and the company of conspiring with Wilsk. Just libel nonsense that would pass over soon enough. She was used to it.
The Red Death. A Comprehensive Look and Dissection of the Leader that Spurred the White Fang's Renaissance
Ugh. And an article entirely wasted on some figure head of that deplorable terrorist group. Whether it was something she read, something she heard, or something she saw, Weiss felt a sense of nausea fill her stomach when those monsters that terrorize her life were brought up as a topic. She immediately turned the page to escape from reading any more of that useless drivel.
When the heiress turned the page, she arrived at a two-page spread that was filled with paragraphs and pictures. All of them depicting Wilsk during different times of his life. Weiss expected this to be the paper's attempt to delve into the psyche of a so-called criminal mastermind that no one else could get.
But it wasn't what she expected. Not at all. And Weiss realized that the moment she read the title.
"Oh no."
((((((((Hunting))))))))
In Beacon's cafeteria, nearly a hundred students were taking their break to enjoy a meal that would help them through the rest of the day. But one group of friends was not having such a fun time during their lunch...
Tenten slowly moved her arm to grab a few fries from her meal and eat them. She noticed that her meal was a little too bland and needed to add a little flavor. Unfortunately the condiments weren't directly next to her which meant she needed someone to pass it over. She hesitantly asked, "Can someone...pass me the ketchup, please."
The other occupants of the table, her friends that were all just as tired or even worse off than she was, looked at the ketchup bottle with a cold stare. At this moment it was like a far off challenge that they had to suffer to defeat.
The closest person to the bottle right now was Nora, and she was doing her best not to fall asleep on her arms right now. The usually energetic ginger was so tired and lethargic right now that you would of thought she was a different person because of her placid movement. The short girl raised her arm up and unceremoniously smacked the bottle over, getting it to fall over on the table before she lowered her arm again. Everyone just watched silently before she looked up and around at the others, "Does anyone else wanna try now?"
Pyrrha rolled her eyes before she got out of her seat and reached out to hand the bun-haired girl the bottle. She was accustomed to bruises and soreness from years of intense training so she just did everything normally, "Here you go Tenten."
"Thank you." Tenten thanked her friend and started pouring out-
*Plosh*
The ketchup slid out entirely from the bottle and splattered over the plate and part of the table.
...
Kiba groaned, "This is so not worth the peace and harmony."
"Here Tenten, I got it." Naruto quickly sprung out of his seat without any noticeable lag or fatigue as he picked up some napkins. He cleaned up the spilled condiment in no time and beamed a proud grin, "Finished! No need to thank me." He looked around and saw a few of his friends were giving him accusing or dirty looks. His shoulders sagged, "What?"
Yang was the one to ask with an unpleasant scowl on her face, "Can you explain how we're the ones still aching from the little crusade you started while you're still bouncing around like a kid hyped on sugar?"
"Well I'm used to using my Aura passively. I don't get a shield during fighting but I heal faster when it's all done." Naruto smirked and pounded his chest with an echoing thump, "I was pretty much all fixed by the next morning. No chronic fatigue for me."
Naruto could feel the envy at the moment before his dear partner flatly groaned, "Y'know, one of these days it's gonna be you getting sluggish and sitting in the bed with bandages. When that happens I'm gonna point and laugh."
"Yeah and I'll be waiting for it." Naruto quickly responded, "But until then-Ha!" He reveled in the peeved expression on Kiba's face as he chuckled and looked around the table. He saw that while most of them were eating, Nora was on the verge of sleeping, Blake was reading, and Ruby had spent the entire day writing in a notebook. Since only one of those things was different than usual he felt like asking, "Hey Ruby, what are you doing over there?"
Yang looked aside and saw her baby sister totally engrossed by the work she was doing. She decided to ask too, "Yeah little sister, I never see you work this hard on anything. What's got you so eager?"
Ruby looked up from her notebook and looked over at her sister. The red and black-haired girl sat up in her chair with pride as she tried to let out a subtle and cool laugh. She puffed out her chest, "Oho~, you guys wanna peek under the hood, huh? Look into the pure genius I'm creating?" Ruby crossed her arms and held her nose up, "Well there's a chance you guys just can't comprehend what I've got cooking up just yet-"
"Okay. Nevermind." Yang stopped the conversation with a shrug as she turned back around to the others, "So does anybody have some notes I can borrow cause I totally zoned out last class-"
"Wait!" They turned back around to the hooded girl at she pouted at her big sister, "I was gonna show you guys...I just wanted to have my moment is all." Yang patted Ruby's head before the young girl picked up her notebook and held it up with excitement, "Tada!"
The others looked at her handiwork and saw it was a bunch of scribbles and bad drawings. Some of the little stick figures had scythes. Some had hammers. Others had swords. It looked like an unintelligible mess without any context.
Pyrrha asked with uncertainty, "Uhhh...what is it?"
"It looks like those ink-blot tests crazy people look at." Kiba stated.
Sasuke shook his head, "It looks like a bunch of people frolicking through a field of rocks."
Jaune tilted his head, "If you look at it from the side and squint yours eyes it looks like a potato."
A few of them tilted their heads and hummed in agreement.
"It's not an ink test! It's not a painting! And it's not a potato!" Ruby corrected, "I was just thinking yesterday about how awesome we were taking down Wilsk-"
"Shhh!" They all hushed the girl before she could say anything else, "Ruby, what about secret operation don't you get?"
"Oh-sorry." Ruby back-tracked, "When we were doing that super secret thing and being totally awesome about it-"
This girl needed a serious crash course in tact and subtlety.
"I thought we were especially awesome when we teamed up and fought together in groups!" She pointed at Yang and Sasuke, "You guys went off and fought a bunch of guards when we weren't looking! And Tenten, Nora, and Jaune all beat an army of robots too! That's the coolest thing ever! Even Weiss proved it was cool when she made your ammo even stronger with her Glyphs!" She then looked at the red-haired amazon and the whiskered blond, "Naruto! Pyrrha! We shot you guys out of massive slingshots! You can't tell me that wasn't totally amazing!"
Pyrrha seemed embarrassed by the sudden attention as she rolled a strand of hair around her finger. She gave a small laugh, "Well, I would be lying if I said it wasn't exciting at the time."
"I got shot like a bullet!" Naruto spoke with animated glee at the exhilarating memory, "I wouldn't mind doing that a little more often! Y'know when we aren't fighting for our lives."
"Yeah! So I came up with these!" Ruby referenced her notebook again, "A few ideas about how some of us might pair off and fight together to use our strengths to the best ability!"
The others looked between each other in pleasant surprise at the youngest girl's suggestion. Sasuke nodded, "That's amazing Ruby. In a critical moment like that you were able to spot the way we worked together and built our strengths off one another." Ruby seemed honored by the recognition she received from her friends as the swordsman asked, "So what do you have so far? Strategies about how we might be able to use our skills to their best advantage? Attack formations?"
"Pfft! That boring stuff can wait til later!" Ruby responded and flipped to the next page to see a bunch of different words over the paper, "I'm making team names right now!"
...
...
...
"What?"
"Team names. Stuff we can call ourselves and yell out when we want to attack. The cool stuff. Oh!" She flipped through a few pages, "I already came up with one that might be good! Hey Blake."
The bow-wearing girl took a moment to close her eyes as she knew her relatively peaceful moment of reading had finally come to a halt. She saved her page and turned to her exuberant leader, "Okay Blake, so I came up with this idea of putting us into groups and coming up with names-"
"I know." Blake stopped her, "It didn't look like it but I was paying attention. It sounded like a really good idea until you brought up team names."
"Yeah, so I thought about us. We're two girls. We're cool. We're sly. We make people jealous about how aloof we are." The others really wanted to point out some serious self-image issues this girl had with herself, "We're Red and Black. And I thought of the best name for us!"
"Checkerboard!"
...
They all just turned to Blake to see the utter lack of change or interest on her face. If anything she seemed even less impressed than she was a second ago.
Ruby shrugged, "Okay, we'll think about it."
"..."
She compromised under Blake scrupulous stare, "W-we'll put a pin in it?"
"..."
Ruby sighed, "I'll just cross that one off the list."
"Good idea."
The others had to admire how Blake could argue and point out all of the flaws with that name without saying a single word. Now that was a skill that took years to master.
Ruby beamed another smile, "But that's okay because I made a ton of more names for us! Like here's one for Team RWBY...Sunburn Penguin! Because penguins are black and white and they have yellow beaks! And when they get sunburn they turn red too! It's perfect!"
...
Jaune tilted his head, "How did you come up with a name as cool as Crescent Rose?"
Ruby blushed, "Shut up! It takes a lot of trial and error to make this stuff perfect! Get off my back!"
Naruto rubbed his face, "You're like my dad when it comes to naming crap."
Their conversation threatened to continue before they noticed the last member of their group of friends come back from picking up the paper. Ruby seemed to get some hope back in her eyes when she saw her partner, "Weiss! I know you'll love this because you enjoy labeling stuff and making it organized! I made some names for us when we fight."
Ren: "Blushing Snowman?"
Tenten: "Red Light Flake?"
Nora: "Oh! How about Redness then Whiteness?"
Ruby: "Stop teasing!"
Nora: "Who's teasing?! My name is awesome!"
Instead of humoring the girl and then pointing out how bad the idea was, the heiress stepped up to the table and immediately asked, "Where were you all last night?"
The eleven students were all rather confused and caught off guard by her question. They looked between their teams before Yang joked, "I don't know about everyone else but I was sleeping like a baby. Sucking my thumb and everything."
Weiss furrowed her eyes and her blonde teammate ceased to smile, "Take this seriously. Where was everyone last night?"
They looked at the pale girl and then between each other again before Jaune quietly answered, "Well I-um-went to bed. I could barely get out of bed yesterday so I just sorta stayed in the whole time. And then it got late and I just went to bed again."
Weiss didn't seem to change with that answer and shook her head, "Well then we don't have a witness to where everyone else was during that time you were napping, do we?"
Ruby seemed worried by her partner's stern and accusing voice, "Weiss, what is this about?"
Weiss held up the newspaper before she tossed it on the table for everyone to see, "That."
The Rise, The Fall, and The End of the Criminal Monarch: The Baffling Case of The Execution of The Underworld Kingpin
Naruto's eyes widened and he snatched the paper before anyone else could take it. His eyes darted over the pages as they skimmed faster than they could properly read. But he did noticed the real key words, "Wilsk was killed?"
"Last night." Weiss answered for everyone to know, "Somehow he was broken out of prison without the police aware of it, escaped before he could get caught, and then killed in the industrial district. A head wound that left him bleeding out in a matter of minutes."
Blake looked over at the paper and shook her head, "Who could break him out of custody?"
"And who'd risk it just to kill him somewhere else?"
"That's why I asked..." Weiss crossed her arms, "Do we know for certain where each of us were last night?"
It took a moment to register what the girl with the scar was insinuating with that statement. Jaune looked up at her, "Wait do you think..." He stopped and looked around to see there wasn't anyone paying them any attention but still said the next part quietly, "Do you think one of us did this?"
"It's possible. If he testified and revealed that we were responsible for attacking him, we would have come under heavy fire from officials and law enforcement. Our lives here would practically have been ruined if he did. We had a reason to do it...some of us more than others."
Naruto could practically feel those words being directed at him and possibly Sasuke too. He stood up, putting the paper down and shook his head, making sure he didn't raise his voice, "I didn't do it. Me and Sasuke didn't-we stole stuff. That's it. That's all we ever did and we told you the truth about that." Weiss kept her stern expression as the blond just scoffed and shook his head at her attitude. He pointed at her, "He stole from you guys for years. How would you feel if I just started accusing you?"
"I didn't do it. But I could have." Naruto blinked in surprise at how Weiss worded her response as she kept her firm look, "He stole and betrayed the Schnee family for decades, and I'm certain that my family will be under questioning for this as well." She looked around at everyone, "I don't want to accuse anyone but we need to be certain...that no one would think of doing it."
Ruby looked up at her partner, "Weiss, you know we wouldn't do something like that, right?" She asked her partner earnestly and looked around at the others, "Fighting people is one thing but killing them is-is just wrong. You can't-"
"Ruby."
The girl was silenced as she looked around and saw most of them had conflicted looks on their faces. They had to admit that Weiss had some logic behind what she said. It wasn't an outright accusation but a plea for them to say they didn't think about going the next step and snuffing that horrible man out of the world.
Tenten hesitated for a moment before she raised her hand and got their attention, "I was the last one to go to bed last night. After midnight. Everyone else on my team was asleep by then."
Ren nodded as well, "I was up until 1 reading a book. I was the last one to fall asleep by then."
"I woke up to go the bathroom." Yang confessed and scratched her head, "It was late. Like super late. And you guys were all out like babies." She pointed at the paper on the table, "I'm pretty sure that was when our guy got 86'd."
"And he was in league with a number of unsavory people that we incriminated with revealing the underground system." Pyrrha theorized, "Any one of them would have taken measures to ensure that Wilsk didn't incriminate them any further with testimonies or confessions."
Jaune had a horrified expression on his face the whole time and looked up at the redhead, "Yeah but did we...did we get this guy killed?"
That sentence stuck with them. They might not have killed him directly but getting him arrested and incarcerated was their doing. They put him in a kill box. The perfect position to be executed.
"That wasn't us." Sasuke reassured them, "He had been making enemies for longer than any of us had even been alive. And he hurt and manipulated people to get his way. If we didn't stop him, someone else would have." The swordsman furrowed his eyes, "I'm certain...whatever happened in those last few moments, he got himself killed by his own hand."
The Uchiha's statement was followed by a stiff silence. Weiss sighed and sat down beside a Ruby before apologizing, "I'm sorry for bringing this topic up. I just needed to make certain none of us did it." She folded her arms and looked aside, "And I wasn't accusing you-just so you know."
"I got it." Naruto responded as he sat down again and kept an eye on the paper. The atmosphere for their lunch had completely changed now that this topic had been brought up. And it left another blaring question up for guessing.
Who was it that killed the kingpin?
((((((((Hunting))))))))
Naruto finished restocking Gatling Stormer with compact arrows as he started making his was back to his room. Since lunchtime his thoughts had been preoccupied with the news that Wilsk had met his demise. It really shook him more than he thought it would. He was a formidable enemy and a powerful force that had a ton of power and pawns in his hands.
He was a constant source of torment and pressure that had been hanging over his and Sasuke's necks for the last two years.
And now he was just gone.
The whiskered teen hadn't realized yet just how much weight that idea had behind it. What that meant to him.
He was free now. Like really free. He didn't have to hide that part of his past anymore. Keep it close to his chest and make sure no one ever found out about it. His friends knew now and despite how it started out, they accepted him with open arms. He wasn't burdened by that stuff anymore.
Well...he knew that wasn't true.
But now that the threat of getting caught like that is gone, he could truly pursue the Huntsmen lifestyle without worry now. He didn't think of it as an ultimatum anymore. It wasn't an alternative or temporary choice.
This was what he wanted to do. He wanted to train. To fight. To protect the world from all the evils that it could face. And he was only able to have this feeling of relief...
Because Wilsk was dead now...because of him.
Naruto was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the approaching figure who was also too preoccupied to look up from his work. The shorter blond accidentally knocked into the other man's shoulder and they both stumbled back. Naruto was startled out of his thought before apologizing, "I'm sorry! I-I wasn't paying attention-ah!"
He felt extremely conscious about what he was doing when he realized the person he had run into was the headmaster of his school. The silver-haired man made sure his Scroll was still functioning and on the screen he was looking through being bumped into. Ozpin realized he had collided with the familiar blond he had accepted into his school and greeted him, "Well, hello Naruto. I haven't seen you in quite a while." He gave a small smile towards the boy, "Something important must have happened considering you're so preoccupied in your thoughts."
"Y-yeah." Naruto chuckled and scratched his chin, "Big things in my little noggin'."
"I've heard." Naruto looked up in confusion at the composed older man as he placed his Scroll under his armpit, "Some of the teachers have noticed you have been rather absent in attention and effort in class last week. Glynda even told me that you and Sasuke didn't show up for your sparring classes on Monday." The older man jested, "She wasn't quite pleased with that. In case you didn't know, she is very adamant on wanting our students to follow the rules. I certainly hope whatever was wrong can be handled."
"Oh yeah. In fact it's already taken care of." Naruto reassured with a nervous chuckle, remembering the way he acted in his classes for the entirety of last week. He might as well have just put a mannequin in a seat to let it handle his learning. He shrugged his shoulders, "Last week I was just a little distracted with some stuff that came to mind. Plus I was having trouble sleeping and-"
"It must have been especially tough considering Ruby and your friends discovered your secret, am I correct?"
Naruto's eyes widened for a moment and he looked up at the headmaster as Ozpin just had a calm look on his face. He nodded, "Ruby came and confronted me about it when she found out. She was very nervous and shaken by the news, but she was adamant in believing you and Sasuke had a reason for doing it. She was certain that you two were good people and the others obviously believed it too because they wanted to yell at me when they first arrived but were silent in thought by the end. Ruby decided to ask me about why I accepted you here in the first place. I said only good things, in case you're wondering."
Naruto was silent, awe and surprise covering his face and the news that his friends had confronted the headmaster about him being a former criminal. Ozpin spoke up again, "I told Ruby to trust her instinct and gut on deciding what to do. About having faith in people you believe you can trust. If a girl that could see the best in people like her could see the true you, then I'm certain they would have figured out how to handle this properly." He raised an eyebrow, "Was it handled properly?"
Naruto waited for a moment as he still seemed surprised by what Ozpin said. He felt a warmth start to fill up in his stomach and a familiar sensation start to tingle behind his eyes. He closed his eyes, stopping anything from coming out before a small smile grew on his face.
"Yeah. It all worked out."
"That's good to hear." Ozpin nodded before he pulled out his Scroll again, "Then do you mind helping me out with something? I was working on something earlier and I was so engrossed by it that I didn't notice you coming."
Naruto nodded and stepped to his side to look at the screen, "Sure, what is it?"
The student's throat clammed up when he saw it was a police report with pictures of distinctive bullet casings, stray collapsible arrows, and remains from where Dust had been used haphazardly to attack. Ozpin noted, "Unfortunately there was intense concentrations of heat and fire that destroyed most of the evidence on the scene. However after some searching we found some arrows, sniper and shotgun casings, a few scattered rose petals, and strangely enough some burnt fabric in the penthouse bathroom. The police could only find partial fingerprints and even when they broadened their search none of the evidence pointed to people with known criminal records." Ozpin looked down at the younger man, "What do you make of this?"
Naruto was sweating and he seemed to let out an awkward laugh as he avoided Ozpin's piercing eyes.
"Because I believe that the people that thwarted Velton Wilsk's operation were some eccentric characters." He turned off the Scroll and stood up with a shrug, "Oh well. I suppose we'll never truly know the people that stopped one of the largest criminal operations in history." He gave the bandana-wearing teen a subtle smile, "Then again, doesn't a story like that seem so much more interesting when the heroes are unknown. It might just inspire future generations to stand up against crime and put an end to it, don't you agree?"
Naruto just stared silently at the man as he just let the truth go even though he clearly figured it out in an instant. Weeks after having met the man and Naruto could not put his finger on how the guy operated.
"But there is the matter of what happened last night. With his execution." Naruto tensed at the topic brought up as Ozpin cupped his chin, "The authorities and media are pointing to the same people that attacked the Peril Relief Building the night before. Stating that they broke him out so they could finish the job they started."
Naruto hesitated for a moment, "Listen-"
"But I know that isn't true."
Naruto shut up instantly, "Huh?"
"If that was the truth then the infiltrators would have finished the job and killed Wilsk while they had a chance. Instead, they were far more focused on revealing the entrances to the sub-basement and inventory. Plus, beside some broken bones and bruised mental health, no one on guard was attacked with lethal force." The headmaster deduced as he put the Scroll under his arm, "I believe this was the work of someone else. Someone that wanted to send a message or take control of the remaining power under Wilsk's heel. But I'm certain this isn't the work of the people that brought him down in the first place."
Naruto needed to know, "How do you know that?"
"Because I've seen the work of men looking for pure revenge and the results they yield. They are far more chaotic and uncaring of the consequences. I know the handiwork of someone that wants to do good by themselves instead of just ruining a man for kicks." Ozpin then faced the younger boy directly, "And I'm certain if I looked one of the infiltrators in the eye right now, I'd see nothing like the guilt or darkness from taking a life like that."
...
Naruto looked down for a moment before he asked, "Professor, do you think it was their fault Wilsk got killed like that?"
Ozpin shook his head, "Naruto, we all make mistakes in our lives. And when we do, we try to make up and fix them. But some people...just ignore them and put them aside. Out of fear. Out of disinterest. Out of arrogance. But just pushing them aside will cause them to fester...and when that happens, they will come back to affect us even worse than when those mistakes first appeared." The grey-haired man fixed his glasses up his nose, "I believe that Wilsk made a mistake somewhere along his path, and that mistake came to bite him for it. Whatever led him to that industrial yard, I believe it was something he caused himself. If anything, this should be a cautionary tale for us..."
"What caution?"
"Always face your mistakes when you can. Otherwise...they will come back to hurt you."
...
Naruto was left silent as Ozpin started making his way to the elevator.
"Hey Professor."
The old man looked back again and saw Naruto look aside for a moment before speaking, "I didn't get a chance to say this to you before...because I was so unsure and frightened about what it would be like to come here and do something like this. But I want to say thank you." He looked up at the man, "Thank you for bringing me here."
Ozpin shook his head, "You shouldn't thank me just yet. You still have over three years of hardship to work through before this is over. By the end of it you might have something different to say to me than 'thank you'."
"Sorry but that's not possible."
Ozpin looked over at him again as the whiskered boy had a content and subtle smile on his face. He thanked the old teacher, "I was hesitant to come here at first because it just seemed impossible. It just...seemed too good. Like a dream I might wake up from at any moment." His little smile grew into a grin, "For years I thought I had abandoned my dream of coming to a place like this and being a Huntsmen. But you gave me a chance...and it was the greatest chance in the whole world."
Ozpin turned back to the boy and tilted his head in surprise, "Have you always wanted to be a Huntsmen?"
"Yep, since I was a kid."
"I see." A more noticeable smile grew on Ozpin's face and he nodded to the boy, "Then I'm glad to see that both of us are happy with the decision you made." He turned back around and walked back down the hallway, "Good night, Mr. Uzumaki."
"Night, Professor." Naruto responded as he headed back to his room after the long conversation he had with the headmaster.
The boy arrived at his room and opened it up to first spot Kiba and Tenten talking between each other from their beds. Kiba sat up, "Hey, you took your sweet time. Weren't you just gonna fill up the arrows?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Naruto said as he plopped down in his bed and lounged back in a relaxing position, "I just had a talk with someone about some stuff that's been bothering me."
Tenten asked, "Did any of it help?"
Naruto grinned and nodded, "Oh yeah. It helped a lot."
His head felt so much clearer and he didn't have a pit in his stomach anymore. Ozpin's words and advice had convinced him to just keep moving forward and embrace the life he had chosen now. He was going to do just that...after a quick nap.
...
...
*THUMP*
"AHHH!" Naruto yelped in pain when a heavy weight was dropped in the center of his lap. He groaned in pain before looking down at what rested on his legs now. Several textbooks. Dictionaries. A guide to leading. Study books. He blinked in stunned silence, "What-"
"There you go." Tenten said as she clapped her hands and smiled down at her leader, "Good luck studying. We're counting on you boss!"
"Wait what?!" Naruto held some of the books up, "W-what is this?! What's going on?!"
"Well we totally understand the former thief thing. And that you want to stay here and keeping fighting with us. And we'll stick by you through the whole thing. But that also means that you have got some serious catching up to do, buddy." Kiba said with a smirk as he pointed at the books, "We got Ren and Blake to recommend some books that should help you catch up to us on the curriculum level. That's about several years of training school education on your lap." He gave his partner a thumbs up, "Good luck!"
"What?! You're making me study now?!" Naruto looked down at the tons of books forced on him before he pointed across the room, "What about Sasuke?! He doesn't know any of this stuff either?!"
They scoffed before Naruto looked at the bed on the other wall to see Sasuke was diligently reading and taking notes. He had several books open at the same time and he was rushing over the pages in a matter of seconds.
Naruto pleaded, "B-but I'm the leader! I should be the one assigning this stuff to you guys!"
"And you will." Tenten assured him, "Once you catch up with your grades, your studies, and your homework. You've been slacking off recently mister, and we expect more from our awesome leader."
"B-but...but..."
Kiba and Tenten just keep their dreamy smiles up in contrast to his panic and confusion.
...
"Shit." Naruto groaned before he put the books beside his bed and opened one in his lap. Ughhhh, it was like a giant wall of text assaulting his eyes.
He dreamed of being a Huntsmen...but nothing was worth reading this much crap!
He shook his head before looking at the others, "I can't concentrate in bed. Can I at least do it on the desks?"
"..."
Naruto realized that his room no longer had desks, "Oh. Right. Dammit."
"By the way, where did you put our desks? And how did you get them out of the room?"
Naruto looked up at Tenten, contemplating telling her how he did it...but then remembered how they forced this sucky reading assignment on him.
He smirked, "Trade secret."
Tenten pouted, "That's not funny."
"It's kinda funny."
((((((((Hunting))))))))
Done
Okay, are you guys ready because I'm going to ask you for help again. This will be the second time I'm opening part of this story up for your assistance. This time...
What should the team names be?
Of course, I'm talking about the shipping names that became canon for team maneuvers and combinations. And who better to ask for help than the people that made them in the first place?
Some of them are fantastic: White Rose, Monochrome, Bumblebee, Freezerburn, etc.
Others, not so much for fighting: Death by Snusnu, Vomit Boy, etc.
Now I've come up with some of my own: Cold Front, Eerie Storm, Tamer, Red Moon, Eclipse, Shadeux, Blondes are Dumb, Blondes have Fun, Nova, etc.
But I know you guys have some creative muscles to stretch and I want to hear some of them. There are some color themes that I can leave you guys to help with the naming:
RWBY: Red, White, Black, Yellow (Obviously)
JNPR: Yellow, Pink, Red, Magenta (Not so obviously)
NKTS: Orange, Green, Silver, Purple
The personality traits I'll leave up to you guys to look back over some chapters and future chapters to come and pick ones you think could click. There is no definite date or limit these need to get in by.
If you have any name ideas whatsoever, write them in a review for a chapter and mention who they are between. That's the most important part.
As thanks for making you guys do this...I'm about to do something stupid.
Let me warn you right away:
WARNING: This is not a definite shipping statement. This is not canon. This is a joke. I want to do this because I thought it was funny and I want you guys to laugh too. Please please please please please don't drop this story because of it.
Okay...here we go.
((((((((Slow-Mo Blondes))))))))
Yang was walking alongside an aisle in the library while looking for a specific book for history. She looked down at the paper she received in class that specified which book she would need to write her essay. The bubbly blonde spotted the book on the top shelf and sighed. She pocketed the paper and grumbled to herself, "Can't believe we actually need the book to finish the paper. Shouldn't there be notes or something?"
The tallest member of Team RWBY reached up for the tome but it was just out of her reach. She stood on her toes and waved her hand around to grab it as she strained, "Stupid Blake, saying I can't use the Internet. That's the point of the Internet nowadays stupid."
She realized she was no closer to grabbing the book she needed and lowered herself back on her feet again. She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in frustration. She prepared a more...resolute answer to her problem as she cracked her knuckles.
But her plan was interrupted as a familiar figure jumped off a chair with a kick and picked the book out of the shelf lighting fast. Yang stepped back as Naruto landed beside her and waved the book she wanted at her with a grin. She crossed her arms and stared down the whiskered boy, "I was gonna get it myself before you joined in."
"Yeah but you gotta admit it was cool how I did that." He smirked and let the book sway in his hands, "I did grab it while you were having trouble doing it."
"I could jump up and get it if I wanted to." Yang argued, "I just didn't want to."
"Sure~." Naruto smiled, "C'mon, admit it was cool how I did that and I'll let you have the book."
Yang offered back, "How about I punch you in the gut and take it myself?"
He nonchalantly shrugged, "Yeah you could do that but it wouldn't be as nice as you saying I was cool."
Yang rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine, okay, you win. That was cool how you jumped up to get that. You're as light and spry as a feather."
"And it's cool how you're grounded and heavy like a tank." Naruto joked back as the two laughed between each other. The boy with the bandana passed the book back to the girl with the messy curtain of gold hair...
And then the music played.
The two blondes looked up from the book and their eyes met with each other. Yang with her bright lilac eyes, like an expanding field of flowers that enticed him not to look away. Naruto's luxurious blue eyes that were like a pond a clear water that reflected everything she was.
His lean face made her heart beat.
Her pillowy lips called to him.
He gulped.
She licked her lips.
Yang took the book from his hands and dropped it to the floor as she took his face and brought him in for a deep kiss.
Naruto followed through and wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her lower body in closer. She took a hard grip of his head and pulled him in a close as possible to increase their intimacy. She moaned as he cupped a hand under her thigh and lifted it up to press against his hip.
Yang pulled them back until her back slammed into the stack of books and shook the whole shelf with the force. They smiled at each other before molding their lips together once more in a session of pleasure and-
"G-guys?"
Naruto and Yang quickly separated from each other when Jaune walked up to them with a shocked and uncomfortable look. Naruto fixed his bandana and shirt while Yang fixed her long sock and the riding up of her shorts. Naruto coughed into his fist, "Y-yeah Jaune, what's up?"
Jaune felt uncomfortable for walking in on two of his friends swapping spit like that. And if the way they were touching indicated anything then they were about to get into much more risky dealings if he didn't come in on time. He avoided meeting their eyes and asked, "So-uhhhhh-how long has this-"
"Fairly recently, actually." Yang said as she fixed her clothes and looked back at the boy she just got hit with, "Though it seems like the fun was just starting. Anyway, what's up Jaune?"
"I was just looking for the book I need for the essay. Didn't mean to...interrupt." Jaune was about to leave before he noticed the book by his foot. He picked it up, "Who's book is that?"
"Oh, that's mine." Yang stepped up and grabbed the book, "Thanks for..."
And then the music played.
Jaune finally noticed just how much of a hottie Yang was this close up. She had a sweet perfume of fresh flame and lavender. Yang took a moment to appreciate the innocuous look in Jaune's eyes. And she did like guys taller than her.
Jaune tightened his hand.
Yang took a step forward.
Jaune gave a small smile.
Yang smirked.
Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion.
The other blondes tossed the book aside as they embraced each other and started making out in front of a flabbergasted Naruto.
Jaune reached down and cupped her supple butt as Yang ran a hand through his scraggly hair. They had to separate to breath as their hands roamed over each other before resuming to their deep kissing. The blondes-
"What the hell?!" Naruto yelled as he got in between the two kissers and separated them from each other before things could go any further. He looked at Yang with absolute bewilderment, "What the hell's gotten into you?! Why'd you kiss Jaune?! You were kissing me a second ago!"
Yang blinked her clouded eyes and rubbed her head, "What happened?"
"And Jaune, when the hell did you grow a pair?!" He pointed at the dozy blonde girl that was trying to collect her bearings, "Since when did you become a ladies' man?!"
"I-I don't know! I don't know what's going on here at all!" Jaune shrieked back in confusion, "I just came to get my book and you two were making out! Then I was kissing Yang and now I don't know what's going on!"
"I wanna know why you just start swapping spit with her when we just finished kissing man!" Naruto asked as he faced his friend, "You gotta-"
And then the music played.
Blond hair. Blue eyes. Lean face.
Doofy look on Jaune's face.
Whiskers on Naruto's.
Jaune raised an eyebrow in question.
Naruto raised both as an answer.
Yang stared in shock and horror.
Naruto and Jaune embraced and shared a passionate kiss. Yang looked on in horror as butts were cupped and legs were rubbed. And for some reason she couldn't look away from it. It was like a tragic accident, it was terrible...but in no way was she looking away.
"Woah! Woah! Stop!" Naruto pushed Jaune away and started wiping his own mouth to get the multiple tastes out of his mouth. Clarity came to their minds as the music played in the background, "W-we just need to take a minute and figure this out.
...
"RUBY! TURN OFF THE DAMN MUSIC!"
They looked over to see the young girl sitting at a table with a speaker for her Scroll. She stopped the song and waved at them, "Sorry guys. But it's a catchy song, right? Pretty cool."
...
Naruto just walked away before anyone could say anything. Yang grabbed her book and decided to walk back to their room. Jaune stood there silently and then went off to look for the book for his assignment.
...
"Hey Ruby!" Nora came running out to the red girl from behind another shelf with her shirt and skirt ruffled and unkempt.
"Hey Nora. Are you and Ren done looking for your books-"
"Yeah, in a sec! Hey is that the thing that played the song?" Nora didn't even wait for a reply as she pressed the play button before the music resumed and she hurried off to continue what they started behind the bookshelf.
Ruby decided that day...no more music in the library.
((((((((Hunting))))))))
Done
Based off Slow-Mo Love. That video is hilarious.
Send in your suggestions for team names.
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Thank You and Bye