Hunting or Bust

by Master Attlon

The paths we find ourselves on. Are they predetermined by fate? Or do we really have the power to change our future? Will we stick to the paths we find ourselves on? Or if a chance presented itself, would you take it? This is a new path. A new chance at life. A...did that kid just spew chunks all over the deck? Yes. Yes he did.

25. What We Show the World

Hunting or Bust

Dust 20: What We Show the World

Okay.

Halfway point.

Here we go.

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Some guy called out, "Go Winchester! Show us what you got man!"

Some girl cheered, "You got this Uzumaki!"

Russel cheered for his leader from the stands, "C'mon Cardin! Kick that wannabe's ass!"

Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth as her friends called out as well, "Go Naruto! You can do it!"

Standing below them for everyone in the stands to see were Naruto Uzumaki and Cardin Winchester. The two young men stood across from each other in the center of the dueling stage in the amphitheater. The taller, red-haired student had a very cocky smirk on his face as he bounced the huge mace on his shoulder. Naruto's face slowly turned into a lop-sided smirk as well as he reached up and pulled Stormer out, letting the blade fall to his right side.

They were both pretty happy with the choice for sparring.

Cardin was happy because he got a chance to knock this Uzumaki kid down a few notches. He had been getting a lot of attention among the first-years because of the people he hung out with. He had somehow made friends with Pyrrha Nikos and Weiss Schnee and that weird Rose girl that got moved up a few grades. And because that Uchiha kid could stand up to the champion and was on his team that somehow translated that he was something special too. Just because he got lucky fighting that blonde skank and winning his first match doesn't make him special. He was just another nobody, just like that Jaune Arc kid, standing in a spotlight and somehow thinking he deserved to be there.

Naruto was waiting for this match to happen because he had heard what kind of person Cardin was from his friends. He was a jerk. He ridiculed people that were weaker than him or couldn't do the same things he could with sheer joy. And he had also found a target in Jaune, his friend, to chide and toy with. In his eyes that made him a bully. And Naruto had grown increasingly sick of dealing with bullies as he got older. So now, faced with the chance to deal him a little punishment in return and having it be totally acceptable by the school's standards, he was gonna make sure Cardin would never forgot the whooping he was about to receive. He knew that Jaune probably wanted to be the one that taught this guy a lesson, but at the moment he'd just have to do it on behalf of his goofy friend.

Their profile pictures popped up on the overhead displays and their Aura bars appeared beside them. Glynda walked up between the two boys at the center and looked between them. She inquired with all the reserved grace she kept when teaching a class and mediating these fights, "Are you both ready?"

Cardin scoffed patronizingly and sneered at the shorter teen, "As ready as I'll ever be. How about you?"

Naruto's answer came when he grinned and showed his slightly pronounced canines, "Oh you bet."

Glynda rolled her eyes as she felt the tension and preparation for whatever they wanted to prove emanating from them both. Ugh, young men and their need to prove who's the better fighter.

"On my call." Gylnda stepped over to the far side of the arena, "Ready..."

"Begin!"

The white bandana-wearing boy and the silver armor-clad teen went charging after each other when they heard the call. Naruto dashed forward and held his blade out at his side as Cardin rushed forward, his superior size and weight making an intimidating figure to run at. The ginger-haired man smirked and swung his massive mace out at the whiskered boy's approaching form. But it resulted in a full, empty swing as Naruto dropped and slid down in a crouch beneath the larger student's mace before stopping behind him. He sprung up with a kick and gripped his sword with both hands before swinging to attack.

With surprising speed, Cardin spun around on his heels and parried the rapid swings of the sword in a spray of sparks. The bigger teen continued his counter and spun around and around as his mace clashed against the sword. He finally stopped spinning and lifted his mace high above his head before bringing it down swiftly like a hammer.

*BOOM*

Naruto somersaulted as the mace hit the ground and created a large explosion that decimated the spot he once stood on. He landed in a crouch and pulled one of his short blades out before swiping at the back of the Winchester's knee. Cardin dropped down and looked over in time as Naruto spun up to his feet and struck his shoulder and face with the swords during each rotation.

"URH!" Cardin grunted from the strikes before he raised his mace and blocked the sword with the long handle. He jumped up with surprising mobility and blocked the sword again before spinning around and striking him with a back kick that landed against one of Naruto's forearms. The blond was actually lifted off his feet by the kick and Cardin wasted no time to follow after him.

Naruto rolled back the moment he landed and stopped back on his knees as he held out the hilts of both blades and pulled the triggers, firing several arrows from the secret compartments at the charging bully. Cardin wasn't affected at all by the arrows as he knocked them back as quickly as they came out and brought his mace down again in front of him. A series of large explosions started going down in a line directly towards Naruto before he leaped aside.

Naruto closed his eyes from the gust of wind as the explosions finally started to die down. He stayed lowered to the ground as Cardin stood a few yards away from him while lifting his mace onto his shoulder with an egotistical smile and arrogance exuding off of him. He smirked, "What's wrong man? All you're doing is running. Too scared?"

Kiba roared from the stands, "What are you doing?!"

Tenten called out, "C'mon Naruto! Get on the offensive!"

Yang's voice boomed louder with a fiery passion, "I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU LOSE AND BESMIRCH MY REP, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Her sister gave her some room, "Woah."

If they bothered to look up at the monitors, they'd see that Naruto's quick blunt strikes to Cardin's shoulders and head had knocked his Aura down a few notches. But it was also true that Naruto had been keeping a distance so far. Despite his cocky attitude, he did have size and strength on his side. And he was surprisingly spry with his movement and quick to block with his mace. Plus the mace exploded, and considering Naruto healed from damage and didn't block it entirely, he didn't wanna risk getting blown up if he could.

He had enough getting blown up from his fight with Yang. He didn't need that risk again.

Despite his attitude, Cardin Winchester got into Beacon for a reason. He was good.

But that wasn't gonna stop Naruto from totally whopping his butt.

A more subtle but equally cocky smirk came over the blond's face as he reached behind him again and started fiddling around with his supplies. Cardin arched an eyebrow before Naruto's left hand stretched out to his side again with not one but three short swords gripped between his fingers. The whiskered boy grinned and bounced on his feet before sprinting forward without any hesitation.

Cardin furrowed his eyes before yelling and bringing his mace down to slam on his opponent. But Naruto acted quick and turned his hand to fire arrows in rapid succession that Cardin quickly had to block. Naruto took this chance and thrust Stormer forward through the prongs of the mace and barely skimmed Cardin's cheek. The blond smirked and ran to Cardin's side before vaulting over his head and keeping the blade stuck between the prongs, forcing Cardin's grip to twist at an unnatural angle and making the armor-clad giant turn and kneel before it became hyperextended. Naruto landed on his other side and pulled his sword out before jumping and spinning out to land a kick on Cardin's face that sent him rolling, "AGH!"

Naruto sprinted after his opponent and Cardin finally landed on his butt before lifting up his mace and slamming it down in a line of explosions, "HA!"

Naruto flipped over to the side where the explosions didn't follow and swung his hand out, releasing the short blades tied to his hand by a thin wire and watching as they sailed forward to strike the Winchester boy before he could stand back up. The orange-haired teen grunted in annoyance and swatted the blades away again before jumping to his feet and watched Naruto stand there quietly as the three blades hung from his hand. Cardin clicked his teeth and held his mace with both hands before Naruto gripped the wires tightly and started spinning the blades around at his side so quickly they became silver blurs.

Cardin let his eyes wander over and watch the three blades spiral around like a rotor as he anticipated the next move.

He got his answer as the blond's body flinched and he spiked the three blades forward, giving the wires some slack and letting them extend the full length to reach Cardin. The Winchester boy gripped the handle tightly and swung his mace around weightlessly as he deflected and parried all the short blades that swarmed around him. Through the metal flashes he watched Naruto swing, pull, and extended the wires at different intervals, making it more difficult to predict when which one would strike. And even though he was blocking fairly well Cardin still felt the occasional scrap against his body.

The huge teenager yelled and started charging forward, blocking what he could of the strikes with his forearm guards and mace. He barreled forward, knocking the swords in different directions and leaving Naruto open before Cardin thrust his weapon forward. The blond stepped forward and parried the mace as it scrapped against his sword. But he didn't get a chance to move as Cardin pulled his weapon back and charged forward with his shoulder to tackle into the blond's chest. Naruto let out a pained gasp through his grit teeth and Cardin was certain he had gotten the upper hand before the blond's eyes opened with conviction and he tugged on the wires.

*Thud*Thud*Thud*

Cardin staggered from the triple arrows slamming into his back as the blades came back into Naruto's hands and he landed a spin kick on Cardin's cheek. The Winchester jerked to the side with the kick but growled as he grabbed Naruto's extended leg and lifted him off his feet. He tried to slam him down and cripple his movement before his hand was smacked with the regular sword and inadvertently let Naruto sail through the air. The Winchester composed himself and slammed his mace down to create a line of explosions that enveloped Naruto before he landed.

There were a few gasps and cheers from the bleachers as a content smirk grew on Cardin's face as he believed he had won.

He was proven otherwise when a sudden shadow blocked out the lights over him and he looked up to a shadowed figure with what looked like silver wings coming off its back. He got a better look and saw Naruto jumping at him with all of his short blades tied along the back of his arms with steel wire.

Cardin's eyes widened in shock as Naruto quick stepped in and swung his main sword down as the ten shorter blades followed along the wire and consecutively struck the mace with equal force. Cardin held his ground as best he could but each follow through of Naruto's blades pushed and staggered his stance. He hated to admit it but he couldn't keep holding his guard like this.

As Naruto came in for another strike, Cardin took this chance to drop to his knees and sweep Naruto's leg. The blond saw it coming and lifted his leg before Cardin's could connect but the Winchester took the opportunity to pop back up and strike as Naruto blocked with his swords and flew back. Cardin sprinted forward eagerly and brought his weapon up to bring down on the blond's head to end the match.

But Naruto held his sword up and blocked the mace's descent before it connected. The two teens kept trying to outdo the other in the strength department and gaining the advantage. Cardin summoned as much strength as he could and started pushing down weapon down harder on the sword-

"HA!"

Naruto's leg shot directly up and knocked into the bottom of Cardin's grip, knocking the huge mace out of his hands and high up into the air. Cardin stumbled back, eyes wide in shock, as his hands closed around the weapon that was no longer there. He blinked a few times before looking down to see Naruto smirking and pulling his sword back to hit.

Oh no.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! WRAH!"

Cardin's body went back and forth as Naruto's rapid strikes hit him all over. Disarmed and effectively screwed, Cardin's senses were shot from the continuous strikes as he felt his Aura nosedive. The attacks finally stopped and he stumbled on his feet before Naruto held out his arms, positioned all of his swords around him to open up their hidden compartments, and fire their arrows solely on his enemy.

"HA!"

*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*Thud*

"OUFH!" Cardin was blasted back and bounced off the ground before falling in a heap and lying there. He groaned and tried to lift his head up before falling down with a grunt.

"WOOHOO! GO NARUTO!"

The blond stood in pride amongst the claps and cheers and looked at his defeated opponent before pumping his fist. He won. He was just that good.

"NARUTO MOVE!"

Sasuke's yell caused the blond to flinch and look up in time to see Cardin's mace coming back down on his head. The mace slammed into the top of Naruto's head, ripping through the bandana and breaching the skin as it drew blood. Naruto gasped in pain and reached to hold his head as the mace landed on the ground and fell on its explosive trigger.

*BOOM*

Another explosion rocked the stage and Naruto was engulfed by the smoke cloud before getting knocked back by the shockwave.

"Hey!"

"Naruto!"

"I-is he okay?!"

The audience started to panic and look on in worry as the disheveled blond sat on the ground, covering his head wound as some blood start to seep through his fingers and down his hair. The students all murmured between each other before Glynda flicked the smoke cloud away and announced to the class, "Children, quiet down! I need a moment to check on him!"

The amphitheater immediately went silent as the Huntress kneeled down to check the injured boy. She saw he was breathing heavily, a little sweat accumulating on his brow as he kept his hand firmly placed on the bloody spot where his bandana ripped open. His fingers were red with the blood that seeped through but the flow had stopped now, most likely due to the help of his Aura. Naruto's eyes were constricted and he seemed panicked so Glynda lowered into his view and spoke quietly, "Are you all right?"

His eyes shot up to her and he stayed quiet for a moment before giving a small hum, "Y-yeah. I-I'm okay."

She looked up at the injured area and reached out to remove his hand, "Allow me to look at it."

"N-no." Naruto leaned away from her hand like he was still afraid he might get injured again and winced when he did. He stifled the pain and looked up at his teacher to try and convey he wasn't in a dire state, "I-I'm okay. I-I think I just need to go to the nurse's office or something."

Glynda looked at him strangely before nodding, "Very well. Would you like someone to accompany you-"

"I'll be all right." Naruto responded before she could finish her suggestion as he forced himself up to his feet. He seemed a little shaky but gave her a small nod before walking past her, "I'm sorry for interrupting the class."

The blonde teacher stood up and watched her student head back into the stage exit to go to the locker room as the stands clapped for their classmate's apparent recovery.

"Serves him right for being cocky."

Glynda looked over at Cardin as he picked up his mace and reprimanded the boy for his statement, "Mr. Winchester, please do not talk lightly of another person's injury. Despite how you two might feel about each other we are all on the same side."

Cardin scowled and shook his head as he left through the other exit, "Whatever."

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Ruby leaned over the edge of the railing to catch any sign of Naruto after he had disappeared through the exit but no luck. She stepped back and fell into her seat beside her partner and sister and looked between them in worry, "Do you think he's okay?"

"Yeah, he's gotta be." Yang reassured her little sister, "I mean-like-he took a punch from me! You know how tough he is if he could take one of those and keep walking."

Ruby didn't seemed convinced and Weiss spoke up from the other side, "I'm sure he's fine. You've seen how fast he heals. And you know how much he boasts about it too."

"Yeah, but...it was his head."

Yang shrugged, "Then he should be fine. He is pretty hardheaded."

"..."

They all gave her a pointed look at that one. That was just a bad joke and poor timing.

The blonde bombshell crossed her arms and huffed from the lack of appreciation for her genius. It wasn't easy making puns and jokes off the top of her head! This was an art form!

"Ruby's right." Tenten agreed beside her team and looked at them for support in her worry, "I mean he always does seem a little groggy after getting hit but he looked like he was gonna keel over after that."

"It'll be all right." Kiba said confidently, "I mean remember all that crap he's gotten back up from. Do I have to remind you guys about the time I threw him through two Grimm and he pinned them to a pillar?" Kiba asked rhetorically before simply stating, "He's fine."

"Then why do you look worried?"

"Who's worried? Me? No, you're worried. I'm sure he's gonna be back here any second and then we'll have to deal with him boasting about how he kicked ass and walked away from a broken skull or whatever. So get ready for that." Kiba countered rather quickly, a little uncertainty in his voice.

"He'll be all right." They looked towards the black-haired swordsman of NKTS as he looked between them all, "He probably just needs a little time to get ready again. Knowing him he's probably slapping himself for letting his guard down and not blocking that before it happened." They all still seemed concerned but they relaxed their shoulders at Sasuke's words, "He'll be back after a quick rest and everything will be fine. Okay?"

The students seem to trust the Uchiha's words and turned back to the center stage as they patiently awaited their friend's return.

The only person that didn't look away from where Naruto had left was Blake as she seemed to furrow her eyes in thought. For just a second...it seemed like...

((((((((Hunting))))))))

"*Huff*Huff*Huff*Huff*."

He was breathing so hard he could feel his eyeballs pulse behind his head. Was he breathing or hyperventilating? Considering how fast his heart was beating and how much air he kept cycling, he guessed it was the latter.

What was wrong with him? Why'd he let his guard down?! Everyone knew the moment you let your guard down you can die! But no, he was getting cocky! He knew better than to get cocky! Especially in a fight! Did he just forget or did he just never learn?!

H-his fingers hurt.

Naruto stumbled somewhere into the locker room and went to the far side to go find his locker. He couldn't feel his fingers and bit down on the wire to pull it back and slip his fingers out for freedom, ignoring the blood that painted his palm. The moment they did they clattered to the ground and dragged behind him. He stumbled into the lockers with a thud and tried to keep his balance as his ears started ringing.

Shit.

He turned around and leaned back against someone's locker to keep him standing as he took a deep breath. Carefully, he pulled one of his hands off his head and looked down at it as his arms started to shake slightly.

A faint orange glow started to come over it.

And it was becoming brighter.

Naruto shut his eyes and repeated under his breath, "Control. Control. You're in control. Control. Control. Breathe." His nerves started to calm and he exhaled quietly before finishing the mantra, "You're in control."

...

He opened his eyes again and looked down to see the color around his arm had vanished. He opened and closed his fist a few times to make sure he was fine before sighing in disappointment.

This was becoming a problem.

He hadn't had a close call like this in years but now he had three in two months!

First Yang. Then Wilsk. And now Cardin was causing him trouble!

He loved being a student at this school but it was causing him so much stress his hair might start falling out soon.

He looked down at his weapons that he had dragged beside him and clicked his teeth in self-depreciation. He bent down and picked them back up before returning them into their sheathes where they belonged. He moved over to his locker and opened it up before placing them in their locks and closing the door.

"Hmm." Naruto gently prodded his head to see what the damage was and felt the gaping hole in his bandana. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Damn, and I like this one." Now it was ruined with blood stains and a big hole forever. Ugh...whatever. Should go get a replacement before coming back.

With one hand covering the area he was hit Naruto quickly walked out of the locker room and made his way through the halls. There were classes going on at the moment so not many people were wandering the halls. But there were still enough people hanging out that he garnered quite a few looks and whispers as the students asked who the guy with the bloody face and whiskers was.

Pfft. Now this was a story to tell the others when he got back.

He finally reached his team's room and swiped his Scroll to unlock the door. The moment it opened he pushed past it and gave it a quick flick to close but didn't hear it connect. He walked over to his bed, carefully untying the knot in the back before pulling the ruined fabric off his hair. He inspected it, seeing the tear and blood stains that colored the hole deep red before groaning, "Woah. That looks worse than I thought it did."

Wait. Wasn't his face and hair covered in blood or something?

Deciding not to take the chance, the blond unzipped his vest and tossed it to the side with a reluctant sigh before heading into the bathroom. He stepped over and turned the shower on, giving it a moment to warm up before dunking his head beneath the flowing water. He firmly rubbed his hair and watched as some flakes and drops of blood flowed with the water down the drain.

He turned it off and flicked his hair back before giving it a quick brush. There. Much better.

He grabbed a towel and stepped over to the sink to dry his face and make sure there wasn't anymore plasma covering his features. He gave a delightful sigh after he finished cleaning and looked himself in the mirror and grinned. He started counting off his functions to make sure he didn't risk a brain injury, "Eyes." Yep. "Nose." Yep. "Ears." Yep.

"Ears."

He looked up in the mirror at the two fluffy yellow ears with white fur at the tips popping out of his hair. He watched them twitch a little before laying up and down on his head.

"Yep."

Naruto smiled and finished cleaning himself before cleaning out both sets of ears to make sure they didn't have any blood in them. Plus the top ones were itchy from lying on his hair all day.

"So that's what they look like."

Naruto shot up immediately when the new voice interrupted the silence of the room. He turned around in a panic and with alarm in his eyes.

Only to catch the sight of Blake Belladonna standing aside from the door frame with a neutral look on her face.

The tension in Naruto's shoulders immediately slacked when he realized it was her standing in their room and they stood there in silence. His ears twitched a few times and the NKTS leader shuffled around a little before greeting her rather lackadaisically, "Uh...hey."

"Hi." Blake motioned to the front door, "You left your door open."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Naruto threw the towel into their hamper before raising an eyebrow to the bow-wearing girl, "Wait, why are you here?"

"I asked Goodwitch if I could be excused to go to the bathroom." Blake crossed her arms and looked around the room, "It was actually to calm Ruby and the others down by saying I'd go check on you. They were really worried about you."

Naruto frowned at the idea that he made his friends worry about him before tilting his head, "Wait. Then why aren't you looking in the infirmary?"

"Why are you not in the infirmary?" Blake retorted, getting Naruto to give a small shrug of his shoulders at her point. She continued, "I was heading that way before I heard all the talk about some guy covered in blood walking through the halls. I just assumed and found you here."

Naruto laughed and scoffed, "Pfft, 'covered in blood'. They make it sound like I just came out of a slasher flick."

"Well there was a fair amount of blood." Blake pointed out.

"Just on my hands." Naruto argued before he thought and looked at the beauty in front of him, "Can you look at my hair and check there isn't any left? I wanna make sure I got it all."

Blake gave him an incredulous look but he paid it no mind as he leaned down with his head facing toward her. She sighed before giving his hair a quick look over, noticing his yellow ears wriggle before nodding, "You're clean."

He popped back up with a smile, "Cool." He walked past her and over to his bed before kneeling down and pulling out a small box beneath it. He opened it up to reveal a myriad of bandanas with different designs and colors to them. He had a surplus of bandanas? Well, he did wear a different one every day.

Should she try getting some bows in different colors too?

No. She liked the black one.

Naruto looked over his choices before his fox ears twitched and he sat up in realization. He sent her a quick look before noting, "You don't seem that surprised to find out I'm a Faunus?" He raised an eyebrow, "Is it because you're just not that flappable or..."

"I guessed you were one awhile back." Blake answered, getting a look of surprise off Naruto's face that conveyed he had no idea. She merely shrugged off his shock, "I deducted from the way you ate so much food like you were always famished. And how you spotted us sitting in the dark waiting for you to return after you had an argument with the rest of your team." She then nodded towards his ears, "But I confirmed it when I caught you falling out of the window during our raid on the Relief building. Your bandanna slipped off and I spotted your ears for just a moment. Fox, right?"

Naruto gave her a flat stare. Geez, did she have to be so smart?

Blake folded her arms and responded with her own question, "You didn't seem that surprised that I found out you're a Faunus? You looked panicked for a moment but when you saw it was me you seemed to relax."

"Oh." Naruto thought for a moment before he gave a small smile and shrugged, "Well that's because you're a Faunus too, right?"

Blake's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the way he so casually revealed her secret as her bow twitched.

Her eyes were clearly prodding into him and he raised his hands defensively, "Sorry, I just sorta noticed something too. Like how you're always eating tuna salads, and how you can read so well without a light, and your bow twitches sometimes when something unexpected happens." The black-haired girl immediately went rigid as her hands went up to her bow to stop it from twitching.

Stupid tic. All these years and that still happened sometimes.

Naruto looked up at her intently as he hummed in thought, "Let's see...keep to yourself. You like things quiet. Eat salads..." The blond Faunus was getting quieter and quieter trying to figure out what she was before he snapped his fingers, "You're a turtle!"

Blake gave him a mix of accusing, incredulous, angry, and exasperated all rolled up into one scowl/glare/pout she could consider her masterpiece. She got the immediate result of Naruto's smile dropping and his ears laid on top his head before she sighed, "I'm a cat Faunus."

"Cat. That explains all the fish." Naruto repeated under his breath, disappointed he didn't go with his second choice. He sighed before he tied his black bandana over his head. He popped up on his feet with a smile and looked at the girl expectantly, "Tada! How do I look?"

Blake looked up at his bandana, her stoic mask not changing in the least before nodding, "You look the same."

His shoulders slumped in disappointment, "Well aren't you a flatterer."

"I don't know what you were expecting." Blake pointed out before she walked past him and through the door, "Come on. Everyone is waiting for us back in the amphitheater."

"Yeah but...you could say it looks cool or something." He mumbled as he followed behind while picking up his orange vest.

Maybe Ruby should have been the one to come and check on him. They could both go on and on about the cool things they do and bounce off each other with compliments.

Naruto closed the door behind him, making sure the lock actually clicked this time before stepping up beside the black-haired Faunus before she walked too far away. Him and Blake started walking alongside each other down the halls before he asked, "Were any of the others going in to fight after I left?"

Blake shook her head negatively, "No. The last I saw before leaving was two other people getting called on to spar. And even that was hard to hear when everyone was talking to me to make sure I checked if you were hurt or not." Blake stated very evenly and sparing him a look, "Everyone was very worried about you."

Naruto felt a weird mix of emotions fill his stomach hearing Blake confirm that again. He felt bad that he made his friends panic and worry about him because of his stupid mistake. There were probably not a lot of people in this school that were used to seeing someone bleed like that when their Aura usually protected them. So seeing him get that hurt probably caused a lot of worry for his friends. But at the same time he felt kinda happy that there were people worrying about him. He felt crappy thinking that but still...there was a bit of joy in his heart that he had met so many people that were genuinely concerned about him.

He gave a small chuckle before asking her earnestly, "Why do you think that is? I mean maybe I'm just not familiar with having so many friends at once but I didn't think they'd get so worried about me so fast."

She couldn't entirely answer that question herself. This was the first time in her life she had bonded with so many people she would call friends and acquaintances. So this was all a very new experience for her as well. But if he was looking for a reason why they would be so worried so quickly then she believed she had an answer, "Maybe it's because we've all fought together for so long and so closely now that they're worried when one of us gets hurt. After going through initiation and capturing that man Wilsk, our groups have become very trusting with each other."

He never thought that in just a short period of time he would make more friends and comrades to stand with than he could even imagine. And he never believed they would go so far to help him. They were his friends at first but after hearing about what he and Sasuke's did under Wilsk's employ...he firmly believed they would wipe their hands of them forever. But they did the thing he never believed they would do...they trusted and helped them fix their past. They didn't need to. They could have just abandoned them and he was expecting them to. But they helped and because of that...

He would do whatever he could to help them in the future if they asked him to.

"I still can't believe you all did that for us." He said quietly beneath his breath as a smile came over his face. He saw Blake turn her head to give him her attention as he gave her a quick nod, "Thanks again for helping us...I don't know if I'll ever be able to say that enough."

"I don't know how many more times I can hear it." Blake responded, getting a nervous but light chuckle out of Naruto despite the words. She understood his gratitude. Maybe the others would revel in his appreciation for a while longer but for her once was enough and each time after that felt gratuitous. Someone they knew was in a bind and they decided to help him. It wasn't a very complicated process to read through. Well...at least now it isn't...

Not too long ago before she came here she probably wouldn't have had that same mindset. She would have thought that someone who made a mistake had to face their demons and handle it themselves. But now...maybe she could better empathize with how they felt. How scary and chilling it must be to be faced with a bad choice from your past. And how overwhelming it must feel to have people side with you and help despite knowing. She wondered...before quickly shaking her head and banishing the thought before it burrowed into her head. That was behind her. She didn't want to dwell in that past right now.

Blake tentatively spared a look up at Naruto's bandana and a question left her lips before she could even mull it over, "Does your team know? About you being a Faunus?"

The ease on Naruto's face quickly changed to conflict and trepidation. He looked aside before shaking his head, "No. I haven't told them yet." The guilt at keeping that secret from his friends was evident in his voice before he spared her a quick look, "What about you?"

Blake shook her head, "I couldn't. I mean if you haven't noticed...I have Weiss Schnee on my team."

"Oh." It quickly dawned on Naruto what she meant when he remembered the controversy and rumors surrounding the Schnee family. He wanted to remind her that Weiss was only a teenager and probably had nothing to do with the company's actual business, let alone its workforce care. But he knew that was probably just pining for a silver lining in a very big, very dense, dark cloud. Still, she couldn't be blamed for that, "Well-I mean-has she said anything bad about Faunus before? Like she was angry or something?"

Blake shook her head, "No, she doesn't talk about them. And I mean that like she mostly avoids getting into conversations about Faunus in general. Plus if I did show myself to them, I can't take that back." Blake's eyes took on a modicum of sadness at the prospect of revealing herself and her team rejecting her completely. She didn't feel like they would but she had assumed things before and if she was wrong..., "I can't imagine how well our teamwork would continue if I told them what I was and Weiss refused to work alongside me ever again."

"Well, you never know. You might be surprised." Naruto optimistically stated with a shrug, "I mean me and Sasuke are best friends and I'm sure that's pretty crazy if you think about it. He knows I'm a Faunus and he keeps my secret too."

Blake's eyes narrowed just slightly as she looked aside in thought. She never would have thought that when she arrived at Beacon she would be in the same year as a descendent of the Uchiha family. It was no secret what the Uchiha did under the orders of the old Kingdoms. In fact they used to be depicted as heroes before those stories were deemed too offensive and controversial for general telling. And there are Faunus that still treat them like boogeymen. If some Faunus met him today they'd probably be scared, angry, or try and hurt him out of retaliation. And if they knew...

...

When Blake first crossed paths with him the day they arrived at Beacon, she felt a strange chill run up her back before looking behind her to see the red and white fan insignia she had heard so much about. She was worried and believed the worst for a moment...before he just silently walked away to head into the main building. And ever since then she had just instinctively kept him at arm's length.

When Yang introduced them at the relic site she barely even acknowledged his presence before walking away. They worked alongside each other to detain and distract the Alpha Wolf on the cliffside platform but they never discussed strategy. Their teams were extremely close and met with each other almost every day, yet she couldn't remember a single time in the last two months where she talked with the swordsman.

She hated it. She hated feeling this fear and uncertainty each time she spotted him. And she couldn't even blame it on him because he had personally done nothing to earn this ire. It was like it was genetic. Like it was formed inside her. And that made her feel even worse, like she was dirty or tainted.

She hated believing this was a baseless fear and anxiety or hatred. It made her feel like the horrible monsters and degenerates that she condemned for hating the Faunus for no other reason than they were different. She had always stated that those people were wrong. That they needed to open their eyes and realize the world had changed around them but she was no different. Or maybe she was different...and this insecurity formed for a whole different reason...

Maybe she was so uncomfortable around Sasuke because if these were like ancient times...if he had to do what his family did...and she was punished for what she did...

Then they would undoubtedly be facing each other with the intent to kill.

...

"I owe him a lot."

Blake came out of her thought process and looked over at Naruto after he had finally spoken, no doubt realizing what she was thinking due to her abrupt silence after talking about Sasuke. He smiled while remembering his old memories with his best friend, "I didn't really like him at all when I first met him, sorta thought he was a stick in the mud. And God he was so weird, always going to bed early and waking up before the sun even came up. I couldn't sleep properly around him at all. He hadn't even played a video game before he met me! I thought he was so annoying." Naruto bemoaned before he chuckled, "But after a while he started lighting up. I showed him some movies and shows we could watch that he really liked. He started talking more and I got to know more about him. I even bought a game system for our hideouts so we could fight each other when we were bored."

Blake saw a glum light fill his eyes for a moment as his tone grew somber, "And some of the jobs Wilsk made us do for him...they were hard and dangerous. At any moment during those two years we could be ordered to steal from other criminals or gangs or even cops and the government. I thought I would die more than once when I was going into those places blind. But he saved my life way more than I could count. He pointed out some flaws I made and even trained with me to help hone Gatling Stormer when I was starting out with them." A smile returned to Naruto's face, "At a point where I thought I was alone and wanted to disappear away from everything else...I got a brother to stand by my side no matter what." Him and Blake hadn't noticed they stopped in the hallway while talking before he inquired, "Do you hate Weiss? Even knowing everything about the Schnee family do you hate being around her?"

Blake thought intently for a moment before speaking quietly, "I wasn't comfortable with it when we were first appointed teams. And I thought she was kind of annoying when I met her...but now..." Blake was silent for a moment before shaking her head, "No. I don't hate her. And I don't hate being around her." Blake seemed to hesitate as her face took on a very faint pink hue, "She's...I consider her my friend."

Naruto had a small grin hearing her admit that in such a shy and quiet voice. He could relate, remembering how strange it felt when he first realized he and Sasuke became friends. It was strange making your first real friendship with someone you never expected to. But then again friendship was sorta weird that way. He never would have thought he would make two new best friends out of the dork who was vomiting in a trash can after landing and a spaz who had caused an explosion by sneezing Dust on an heiress but he did. He shrugged, "Then maybe the time you can tell her who you really are isn't that far off."

...

"Why did you decide to wear a bandana?"

Naruto opened his eyes and saw the questioning look on the black-haired girl's face. His smile quickly faded and he avoided her amber eyes as quickly as possible, "I have my reasons. Just like you probably have ones for wearing a bow." He seemed more reserved to talk about this subject than she had expected as he asked in return, "Why did you decide to wear your bow?"

It was fairly simple. He probably wore a bandana for the same effect. The reason why she wore her bow was because she wanted people to see her for who she was, not what she was. She didn't want others to focus on her being a Faunus, and believed the only way to avoid that issue was to just hide them away from the peering eye. It was an old trick that had been used by Faunus for years, all the way back when they hid their features so they could find sanctuary in the Kingdom walls.

But that wasn't what he asked. And that's not what she alluded to either. She was wondering why someone who seemed so chipper and carefree refused to reveal his heritage to his teammates when he seemed like the kind of person who would.

He asked why she decided to wear something that hid her Faunus side from the open in the first place. And just like him, she had to have a moment in the past that made her decide to hide herself like this. Her reason...

The memories of a shrinking red-haired man in a white mask staring at her as they grew farther away flashed in her mind.

Blake didn't answer, and instead looked away from him just like he did from her a moment ago.

Naruto relaxed his shoulders and scratched his cheek in the uncomfortable silence that settled between them. He coughed to get her attention again and nervously stated when she turned back to him, "I have reasons I wear this on my head. And when I think about it, I sorta just-um-clam up I guess. It's...not a fun story. And I'm guessin' from how you just looked away, it wasn't for you either." Blake avoided meeting his gaze as she felt her eyes softened in reluctant agreement, "So if you really wanna know why I wear mine, I tell you..."

He hesitated before finally finishing, "If you tell me why you wear yours too."

...

It suddenly became a silent, heavy staring contest between the two Faunus as Blake was either stunned or looking at him blankly after his statement. Naruto felt a lot more visual with his nervousness as he was cracking under the cat girl's look.

After a moment Blake closed her eyes and let out a small sigh as Naruto relaxed his shoulders in relief. Blake let out a small laugh, either out of derision or amusement before she kept walking down the hallway and saying over her shoulders, "Sure. Let's do that sometime."

She either meant that in a sarcastic, never-gonna-happen manner or an earnest, yet cautious tone for the future. He couldn't tell. It was hard to discern with her.

After that awkward silence had ended between them he followed after her to walk beside her in another, more bearable silence. As they rounded the corner and saw the amphitheater in sight, Blake broke the silence again and asked something that had been on her mind, "What did you and Yang talk about after you finished your sparring in that first week?"

He looked down at her in confusion and wondered, "Where did that come from?"

"I just remembered something Yang and I were talking about after the class had ended." Blake answered in a calm voice, "Something about keeping secrets and how they can affect you and the ones around you. She seemed pretty conflicted with the idea at the time, and I don't remember anyone else asking her something about it when we sat together. So I thought you and her might have talked about it when you were coming back up to the seats." She inquired, "What secret was she talking about?"

Naruto's face twisted in annoyance and reluctance as he looked at their surroundings to see no one else in earshot. He took a sharp breath in through his nose before roughly answering, "We were talking about my Semblance."

Blake's interest piqued at the topic as she quickly gave word to the thought, "Regeneration is a basic function of Aura, even if it is minimal or temporary. The only type of Semblance I can imagine Regeneration being a part of is High-Speed Regeneration, like the restoration of organs and limbs, and I'm not even sure if that type of skill exists. And yours is just faster than most but not that fast."

Geez she was observant. And too smart for his good. He sighed reluctantly before admitting, "It's a side-effect."

Side-effect. She slightly tilted her head, "Your Semblance has side-effects?"

"That's what I call them." He shrugged, "My Aura doesn't protect me instinctively and instead travels immediately to my injuries the moment I get hurt. So I built my fighting style around that, avoiding injury as much as possible and minimizing Aura consumption."

Blake was perplexed by this harmful and self-suffering method the blond's Semblance was manifesting itself. She thought for a moment before realizing he was still only referring to the side-effects, "What does your Semblance do?"

"Doesn't matter." Naruto quickly and pointedly answered.

Blake furrowed her eyes a little at his indignant answer. Of course it mattered! Did he not realize how many situations he had gotten into recently where his body would have broken completely if not for his healing? Being dropped through several stories of a building. Punched into a wall. His head nearly split open a few minutes ago!

"It's nothing good." Blake came out of her thoughts when she heard him mutter those words under his breath, "I can't use my Semblance to do anything or help anyone, so I don't use it."

"Some would say denying your Semblance is forsaking a part of yourself."

"Well you are yourself your biggest critic." Blake looked at him with surprise at that insightful statement as he looked up in thought, "Wilsk said that to me once. He was a psychotic asshole but I guess he could be wise sometimes, when he wasn't totally demeaning us." He gave her a quick look and shrugged, "I wouldn't mind having a Semblance like yours actually. Making clones of yourself sounds like it would be really cool. Unless you go through with that whole being your biggest critic idea with your clones." He joked, "I don't think I could stand hearing several of me telling me what I do wrong all the time."

He laughed and was hoping to get a giggle or even a slight scoff out of the more serious girl but to no avail. He opened his eyes again to see the girl looking down at the ground in thought with her eyes a shade softer. Her thoughts drifted to self-deprecation for a moment before shaking her head and looking at the blond, "You're too earnest and willing to face your problems. I doubt a Semblance like mine would suit you."

That...honestly sounded like she was criticizing herself more than it was she was complimenting him.

*Clap*Clap*

Blake looked over in time to see Naruto patting his cheeks and give a quick shake over his body. He gave a content sigh before patting his belly, "Well I'm starving. Fixing my head and having crazy long talks does that to me." He subtly motioned to the amphitheater, "You think we can sneak off to the cafeteria without getting noticed by the professor."

A small, ghost of a smile came to Blake's face before she shook her head, "You might but I was just excused to go to the bathroom. If I'm taking this long just to go on a bathroom break people are going to start thinking I'm in the midst of my...time of the month." The Faunus girl wanted to kick herself for letting slip something so stupid and personal in front of someone before she looked over at the confused expression on Naruto's face. He tilted his head in befuddlement and she sighed in relief at the his cluelessness before motioning back to the dueling stages, "The others are going to be worried if they don't know immediately that you're okay."

He popped back up in realization, "Oh crap, that's right! We've been taking forever getting here and they're still worrying." Naruto seemed antsy for a moment before asking the bow-wearing girl, "Did they say anything about when I get back?"

"Your partner was annoyed because he thought you'd stroll in with a smile and boast about winning your fight and recovering from a broken skull."

A cheeky grin came to Naruto's face and a chortle escaped between his teeth, "Oh~? Well, I'd hate to disappoint." He made sure his bandana was secured tightly before speeding off to make his return. He called over his shoulder, "Thanks Blake! Now c'mon, let's go mess with them!"

Blake just rolled her eyes exhaustively before following at a much slower pace. She was good like this.

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Ruby didn't like this at all. There was an awesome fight with big explosions happening in front of her and she couldn't even concentrate on it. One of her friends was in the infirmary, and her teammate was taking super long to give them an update! Worry crept into the hooded-girl's head again as she gave another quick glance back at the stairwell where she hoped her friends would be arriving at any moment.

"You're still looking." Weiss pointed out.

"Huh?"

Weiss turned to give a critical look at her partner that caused the younger girl to shrink in her seat, "You've been looking back at the stairs this whole time. You aren't doing yourself any favors constantly worrying like that."

"But this is taking forever!" Ruby whined as she tried to rationalize her worry to the heiress, "Blake said she was going to check on him real quick and come back! But it's been like hours-"

"Twenty-five minutes."

"-and nothing!" Ruby said in distress, "Blake said she was just going to the bathroom but I don't think the professor is going to believe it took her this long to pee! Unless she was really, really holding it in."

Ruby's anxiety shook when Yang suddenly patted her back and tried to reassure her, "Maybe Blake really did just have to go to the bathroom. She might be taking this long because it's a bad flow or something."

...

Weiss slapped the blonde's hand and she pulled back in defense, "Oh unclench, it's a joke."

Ruby was going to offer to go check on them as well before she finally noticed the color orange come into her peripheral. She leaned over, causing the others to turn and look as well as Naruto appeared at the top of the stairs and waved at them with cheer, "Hey! Guess who kicked ass and survived a broken skull!"

Kiba palmed his face, "Oh my god. How did I call that?"

He came over their way and gave Yang and Nora a quick high five before sitting down with his team. The blonde brawler looked back at him and inquired, "And where is my partner exactly?"

"She's catching up. She was right behind me I swear." He sat back and relaxed in his spot, "So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Fighting and punching and beating!" Nora responded with her regular brand of exuberance as she turned to look back at him excitedly, "What did the nurse say?! Did they have to give you a procedure?! Were you operated on?"

Did he go through a surgical procedure in the last half-hour since he left?

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Oh yeah, it was nasty. There was blood everywhere. There was squelching and rubbing and a bunch of other nasty noises while they were putting the bone back in place."

"*Huergh*"

They all looked over to see Jaune with a clammy face and covering his mouth in fear of barfing. He saw their stares and tried to settle his stomach, "I-I'm fine. Please continue with your story of setting bone and skull-*huergh*."

Blake finally made it up the stairs to see the rest of her team and their group of friends listening to Naruto as he playful forged a tale of what happened. She silently made her way back to the front row and sat beside her partner while watching the stage for the last fight. Goodwitch sent a quick look their way to see what all the noise was about and saw she and Naruto had returned. Blake, being the only one looking forward at the stage, got her attention to show she had returned as the teacher gave a small nod.

"So~..." The black-haired girl turned to see her partner had addressed her with that carefree smile on her face, "Anything cool happen while you were gone?"

Blake sent a quick look back to see Naruto was still telling some fantastical story to entertain their friends as he smiled. A quick thought went back into everything they had discussed on the way here...

She turned back to Yang and shook her head, "Nothing important."

Yang groaned, "Oh my god Blake. You and I really need to have a conversation about making up interesting stories. I'm gonna stick you in a room with Ruby so she can teach you how to make a boring trip into some awesome, emotional tale of intrigue."

Blake's eyes went dull, "Oh yay. I can't wait."

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Done

Coco was awesome. Yatsuhashi was awesome. Mercury was awesome. Emerald was awesome. Qrow was awesome. Winter was awesome. Flynt was awesome. Neon was awesome. Penny is more awesome. Weiss is more awesome. Yang is more awesome.

This volume. Just-just awesome.

So, I totally blanked on this the last time I updated but if there are still any team names you want to offer I'm still open.

So, that's the end of Day-to-Day Hunter Arc. The next arc start with the next chapter and hopefully I can update those fairly fast so we can get though them to the cool stuff I have ready.

Hope you enjoyed this little discussion between Blake and Naruto on their stroll back. I totally don't have follow ups to this chapter already set for the future. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

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