NITL

Volume One

Arc Three: Class Time

Chapter Twenty-One: WAKE UP!

Snoring was heard as Ichigo and Tsuna both slept like no tomorrow. It was understandable, seeing that just yesterday, the two boys, along with their comrades and partners, traveled far distances and fought many Grimm to get to where they are today. As such, they both felt that they deserved a well-deserved rest.

In the bathroom, the sound of rushing water was heard as well as a familiar whistle of a grotesque song. The sounds continued on for several minutes before the water was stopped and the sound of someone drying oneself is heard. This moment of time is exactly what it looked like, a typically morning of students who are roomed together in a dorm at an average school.

However, this isn't your average school, oh no. This was a Hunter School. The prestigious school of Beacon, to be exact. And as many veteran student and-slash-or graduates would always say:

Everyday always started out with a-

*BANG*

"GOOD MORNING NEW FRIENDS!" Luffy all but screamed, bursting through the door as he began banging a metal ladle against a metal pan.

The effects were immediate as Ichigo jumped out of his bed, grabbing onto the nearest solid object as he did so. Rushing towards Luffy, the straw hat wearing boy yelped before raising his ladle and pan, clashing his makeshift weapon against Ichigo. "What the hell man!?"

"Goddammit, Old ma- oh wait, this isn't home…" Ichigo mumbled as he loosened his tense body. Behind him, Tsuna was nursing his injured nose as the door to the bathroom yanked open, revealing Naruto wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and bandage wrappings around his right arm, shouting,

"What the hell was that!?"

Ignoring the glare he was receiving from Luffy, Ichigo huffed as he placed the broom leaning on the wall. Yawning, Ichigo ruffled his hair, "Nothing, just reflexes."

"Reflexes…" Naruto repeated, a disbelief look on his face.

Ichigo nodded, "Reflexes."

Silence roamed the room as Tsuna yawned, the brunette staggering towards the bathroom with his toothbrush and comb. At that exact moment, the door to the room was knocked. Sighing in disbelief, Naruto dried his hair with a second towel and reached for the door while Ichigo began stretching. Pouting, Luffy scrapped his tools and jumped onto his messy bed.

Opening the door, Naruto was greeted with an angry Weiss, who quickly turned red in embarrassment once noticing that Naruto was nearly naked. Behind her, Ruby quickly hid her face behind her eye mask, Blake blinked while holding a red face, and Yang looked as if she was trying to make a face between being disappointed and aroused. Smiling, the boy payed no attention to the girls' reaction, greeting them with much enthusiasm, "Mornin'! You need something Weiss?"

"I… I… Why, why are you not wearing anything!?"

"Uhh… I was taking a shower?"

"How is that even physically possible!? Each room only has a sink and a toilet! The shower rooms are at the end of the hallway! Do you even know how rude it is to show up naked in front of a lady!?"

"I-…" Yang started before being interrupted by Weiss,

"Shut up, Yang!"

Naruto raised a brow, not having a clue as to why it was rude. However, before the blonde could retort, he was dragged back into the room by Ichigo.

"Put on some clothes, man," The orange head mumbled, tossing Naruto's only pants at his face.

Shrugging to himself, Naruto was about to unwrap his towel around his waist when Ichigo and Weiss yelled, "Do it in the bathroom!"

Startled, Naruto grumbled and trotted back into the bathroom, ignoring the yelp of surprise by Tsuna, who was on the toilet, and closed the door behind him. Yang twitched a brow while Ruby stifled a laugh behind her hands and eye mask, remembering when her sleep-walking father would walk in on her or Yang (and sometimes Uncle Qrow) taking a shower.

Sighing out in frustration, Ichigo looked back at Team RWBY, "Sorry about that. I swear, I think that idiot has no common sense."

"Tch," Weiss clicked her tongue, "Being a Faunus, it should have been obvious."

Behind her, Blake narrowed her eyes while Ichigo narrowed his. Before the raven head even opened her mouth to argue, Ichigo responded, "Don't be quick to judge that Naruto is a Faunus just yet."

Erecting confused looks from the team of girls, Ichigo sighed, "During the initiation, I got confused too. With his whiskers, it's probably easy and simple for anyone to think that Naruto's a Faunus. But when I asked, the guy just laughed it off and said that he had no idea if he's a Faunus or not."

Grunting at the even more confused looks, the orange head continued, "The guy's an orphan. No parents. No history. All he has is the 10 years he's spent living in a village just outside the Walls that took him in."

Looks of pity was now shown on the girls' faces as well as a red-faced Tsuna who finally exited the bathroom.

"Oh…" Weiss mumbled, now feeling a bit ashamed about accusing the blonde.

"Anyway, what'd you come here for?" Ichigo asked.

Blinking, as well as remembering why she came in the first place, the white haired girl glared, "Thank you for reminding me! Just what in the world was that racket earlier!?"

"You can thank our resident straw hat for that one…" Ichigo mumbled, turning back to glare at Luffy who was munching on a slab of meat he got from who knows where.

Feeling the gaze from his teammates and acquaintances, Luffy looked back at the group. Shrugging, the boy went back to eating his… breakfast. Wait a minute.

"Holy shit, we're missing breakfast," Naruto suddenly quipped, walking out of the bathroom with no shirt or shoes. His right arm still wrapped in bandage wrappings, the boy went over to grab the school uniform set he and his team were given. Taking one long look over the uniform, the boy frowned.

"Nope."

"What do you mean 'nope'?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm not wearing that."

"You're going to have to," Blake responded, ignoring Weiss and Yang as the two raced back into their rooms to reach the bathroom first. Ignoring the cheer from Yang and the wail from Weiss, the bow wearing girl continued, "It's required for students to wear them."

"But it's only been a day since we've been at Bacon!"

"Technically two days," Tsuna corrected, buttoning up his white shirt. Ignoring the blue vest, the boy grabbed onto the outer suit of the uniform. "And it's called Beacon, not bacon."

"Naruto, put on the damn uniform. Look, even Luffy's wearing it!"

Immediately, all eyes turned back to the straw hat wearing boy, who was now trying to fit a large watermelon that was somehow pealed and not cut into pieces into his mouth. The boy, while not exactly dressed for worst, wasn't exactly wearing the required school uniform either. Dissing off the suit and vest, Luffy wore simply the white shirt that isn't even fully buttoned up with the sleeves rolled and the tie being incorrectly worn loosely. His pants were rolled up and rather than shoes, the straw hat wearing boy wore his sandals. Taking a huge bite out of the watermelon, Luffy paid little to no attention to the audience he was given. Looking physically grossed out – Ruby let out a small "Eww…" – Naruto continued to shake his head.

"Ichigo, that outfit tells me that whoever wears that is gonna be obnoxious, snotty, stuck up and bland!"

"Seriously…?" Ichigo growled out.

"Seriously!"

Ichigo sighed, not willing to deal with such a predicament so early in the morning. Waving his hands into the air, the boy drawled out, "Fine, whatever. Don't blame me when Goodwitch decides to give you detention for ignoring rules."

"Naruto, as the Team Leader, you're expected to abide by the rules," Tsuna tried to play the middle man. "You set the example for all of us, since you're the face of our Team. If you don't upkeep the rules, then not only will you look unfit and unsuited as Leader, but you'll also make our Team as a whole look unprepared and unfit to face the challenges ahead of us."

Naruto simply blinked back. "I… have no idea what that means."

"Wow, and I thought Ruby was gullible," Yang joked as her sister wailed in shock and denial.

"Simply put, Naruto," Ichigo continued, "If you look bad, you make all of us look bad."

"What!? That sucks…" Naruto mumbled as Tsuna took a look at his two friends. Mildly ignoring his orange haired teammate entering the bathroom, the brunette blinked, having noticed something.

"Ruby, where's your cape?"

Almost immediately, Ruby sulked, "Weiss forbade me from wearing it… something about it being out of regulations…"

Tsuna sighed, mumbling about how Weiss is too strict for her own good, before smiling. "Don't worry, I'll go find out if there's some sort of loophole for you to wear your cape."

The youngest girl in Beacon smiled, "Thanks Tsuna."

"Alright! Now that we're all ready, how'z about we head out for breakfast!?" Naruto suddenly declared, deciding to wear his everyday outfit of orange khakis and hoodie. Behind him, Ichigo could only shake his head while wearing the required Beacon uniform.

"Who placed you in charge?" Weiss asked, having finished brushing and doing her hair. Regardless, the group of eight finished getting ready and followed Luffy, who was rushing ahead of the others, cheering for more food. He was soon joined with Nora who also cheered about pancakes or another.

Joining the group behind them were the remainder of Team JNPR as they greeted mornings and turned to the next corner and towards the cafeteria.

A heavy sigh was heard as a figure reached in to grab his flask of liquor and began drinking. Another sigh, this time a satisfied one, was heard before an arm wiped across the mouth. Cracking his neck, the figure stood up and watched as an Atlesian airship floated down to his location. Groaning, the man would have preferred to have contacted Vale's own military forces, but time was of essence and the man didn't have many choices.

Settling with the fact that whatever will happen next will determine the faith of the future, the man straightened up and cracked his back. Grunting and obviously drunk, the raven head took one look at the brunette girl laying peacefully on the makeshift bed he made and sighed.

"Looks like dark times are up ahead…"

A/N:

VOLUME 4

VOL

UME

FOUR

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Why am I yelling!?

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ENJOY THE NEXT ARC OF NITL!

VOLUME 4

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