Chapter 7: Ruby vs. Cardin and Learning What to Protect

Author Note: I'm glad you all like what I have written for this story so far. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and the reviews. You are giving your honest opinions and criticisms. I really appreciate this and I am looking forward to what you have to say next. Sorry I took so long to update the real world can be a real pain sometimes.

IMPORTANT WARNING: This story is rated M for a reason. If you can't handle mature themes and language please leave and look up other stories.

This will be a Naruto x Harem story.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO ALL CANON CONTENT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO.

I DO NOT OWN RWBY ALL CANON CONTENT FROM THE SHOWS, MANGAS, AND COMICS BELONGS TO MONTY OUM AND THE OTHERS I CAN'T NAME OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.

IN ADDITION I HAVE WATCHED A LOT OF RWBY FAN MADE VIDEOS, READ A LOT OF RWBY FANFICTION, AND SEEN A LOT OF RWBY FANART.

AS A RESULT IT HAS INSPIRED SOME OF THE IDEAS FOR THIS STORY.

SO IF SOME THINGS IN MY STORY THAT SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM THEN YOU PROBABLY HAVE SEEN THINGS SIMILAR TO MYSELF.

I DO NOT OWN THOSE IDEAS; THEY JUST INSPIRED ME AS I THOUGHT THEY WOULD WORK WELL WITH WHAT I HAVE IN MIND.

Constructive criticism is welcomed.

"Speak" Characters Talking

'Speak' Characters Thinking

Handsigns

"Speak" Grimm Talking

'Speak' Grimm Thinking

Certain Key Terms and Semblances when they are first mentioned

Lets start the story-

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Emerald Forest

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We see Naruto looking around the forest to see if there are any Grimm lurking around the area. Though with Glynda Goodwitch leading them through the forest it should be somewhat safe, but you could never be too careful in an environment like this. Especially since this is a smaller class then usual.

"So what do you think this class will be about?" Ruby asks Naruto. It had been a week since Ruby and Weiss had the incident between them and it seems that everything has been worked out.

"Well considering we are in the forest my guess it involves Grimm killing." Naruto tells her.

Ruby looks happy at the news. "Finally, after all those boring lectures we actually get to fight now."

"I know." Naruto agrees. "They really take a long time to get to the point."

"What I want to know why the class is smaller then usual." Jaune tells his friends. But before either of them could answer Glynda starts talking.

"Today's exercises will be held here, deep within the forest." Glynda begins to explain the lesson. "Your assignment is simple…a herd of Grimm is approaching Vale. You will slay them all." After a pause Glynda continues. "You may have noticed that only the leaders of each team have been called here. Your teams may be small, but you must learn the skills to lead them and in order to do that you need combat experience in the field. You will earn points based on the types of Grimm you slay, so choose your targets carefully. However, do not lose sight of the purpose of this exercise. You may begin!" As Glynda finishes the talking the individuals begin to split up.

"I'll see you two later, good luck." Naruto says to his friends as he quickly jumps through the trees.

"Wow, he's fast." Jaune says.

"Yep." Ruby agrees.

Then Cardin rudely bumps Ruby and Jaune. "You heard her, we're playing for points. Better stay out of my way!"

"Ow!" Ruby says as a result of Cardin's armor hits her.

"Cardin." Jaune says disapprovingly.

"Then again, it's not like you have the skills to keep up!" Cardin mocks Ruby and Jaune as he walks away laughing.

"Jaune." Ruby begins to say as she starts trembling in anger and determination making her hand into a fist. "We're gonna beat him so bad."

"Sure." Jaune says unsurely due to seeing an unusual side of his friend.

After a few minutes later exploring Ruby and Jaune find two Boarbatusks, they each decide to take one to kill. After a minute or so at fighting Ruby kills her Grimm by slashing her scythe upwards to avoid the bone armor.

"How's it going over there, Jaune?" Ruby asks as she turns to see Jaune still fighting his Grimm.

"Huh? I'm doing great! Just gah!" Jaune says turning towards Ruby ignoring the Boarbatusk he is fighting. As a result the Grimm used its spinning/rolling attack and hits Jaune in the back and he gets knocked on the ground.

"Jaune!" Ruby yells as she uses her Semblance to speed up and slash other Grimm. She then turns and runs over to him worrying about her friend. "Are you okay?" Ruby asks as she begins to help Jaune up. "Ugh." Jaune says in pain.

Cardin suddenly shows up. "I thought I saw a pile of trash way out here in the forest. Turns out it was Jaune." He insults Jaune.

Ruby groans in annoyance at the bully's presence. 'What a jerk.' Ruby thinks to herself.

SSSSSSSS

All three students hear the sound below the hill they were on and they see a Death Stalker below them. However, this Grimm was about a third of the size of the one Ruby and Jaune fought at the initiation.

"Hey, that's a Death Stalker. Later Jaune. That one's mine." Cardin begins to talk arrogantly. "Maybe you and little red riding hood should just head back home!"

"You…" Ruby says trembling in anger, but avoid swearing.

"He might be right." Jaune begins to say. "I'm not cut out for all this Grimm stuff."

"What are you talking about?! We'll do great, you'll see!" Ruby begins to encourage Jaune. "Lets go, we can't let him get more points then us!" Ruby tells Jaune.

Jaune laughs a bit. "You're right." Jaune says.

BEEP BEEP

"Hm?" Jaune says as his Scroll begins to make a sound. "Ruby wait!" Jaune yells to stop Ruby. "I just got an update on my Scroll, another herd of Grimm is approaching the city!"

"What about the Death Stalker?" Ruby asks.

"Forget about the points!" Jaune says as he begins to run in a new direction.

Ruby thinks about what is the right thing to do until she remembers that Professor Goodwitch told everyone 'Do not lose sight of the purpose of this exercise'. Then the answer became clear to her as she quickly catches up with Jaune. "Lead the way Jaune!" Ruby tells him.

"There they are!" Ruby says as she and Jaune made it to the clearing encountering a flock of eight Nevermore, but Jaune is showing a bit more exhaustion then Ruby. The upside is that this flock is about the size of a hawk, which is far smaller, then the one they encountered at the initiation.

"A flock of Nevermore." Ruby begins to say. "They're not bad individually. Maybe we can…" Ruby continues to say as an idea forms in her head. "Jaune, shield!" Ruby quickly tells him.

"R-Ready!" Jaune says holding out his shield as Ruby jumps on it. Then Jaune throws Ruby towards the flock while and falling on his butt as a result. With a combination of using her Semblance and the gunshots to increase her speed she easily cleaved the flock in one fell swoop. "She really is something." Jaune says in amazement.

"Jaune, you okay?" Ruby asks her friend whom she helps up.

"I'm fine, and thanks." Jaune replies back as gets up.

Then a few moments later Glynda appeared to talk to the duo. "The purpose of this exercise was to learn your priorities as a Hunter."

"And knowing what to protect, right?" Ruby interrupts her.

"Don't worry, I think we've got it." Jaune comments back as well.

"Quite right you two, best not forget this lesson." Glynda tells them.

"Yes Professor Goodwitch." Ruby and Jaune say at the same time.

"That being said, have either of you two seen mister Uzumaki?" Glynda asks her students.

"We saw him at the beginning of the class, but he just went off on his own." Jaune tells the professor.

Glynda was about to press for more details when her Scroll suddenly beeps alerting her to something. She opens the Scroll to see a troubling image. "This is…" Glynda says out loud before closing the Scroll.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ruby asks.

"You two have done enough for today." Glynda begins to instruct the students. "Meet back with the other leaders. I have something to take care of." She says as she walks away.

Naruto

It had been some time since Naruto parted ways with Ruby and Jaune to go his own way. Along his path he encountered a few Beowolves and Boarbatusks that he had easily taken care of. Under normal circumstances Naruto would be aiming to fight more often then not, however, since he was alone Naruto has to prioritize a very important Mission that he was given.

"Where is it?" Naruto asks out loud in in frustration while running through another part of the forest. He then sees a sign on a few trees that say "Keep Out" and "Restricted Area" on them. Naruto smirks at this discovery. "That looks like a good place to hide the Grimm Pool." Naruto says as he runs into the forbidden area not knowing that he was being watched.

After a few minutes of running Naruto suddenly gets a headache and stops moving for a few moments knowing what's going to happen next as the his black slit pupils suddenly turn yellow. 'Destroy. Maim. Kill. Rip to shreds.' The dark voice in Naruto's head keeps repeating until Naruto stops hearing it.

Naruto takes a few deep breaths as his pupils turn back to their original black color. "If I hear it's voice then I must be close." Naruto says as he continues running letting his instincts guide him until he sees some dead trees. 'I finally found it!' Naruto thinks as he finds a pool with a black tar-like substance in the middle of this dead forest. This is a Grimm Pool, a place Grimm are capable of spawning almost endlessly.

But fortunately there seems to be a cool down time before any more Grimm can spawn from these pools. Naruto moves towards the Grimm Pool, but before he could do anything to the pool he jumps upward on a tree to avoid getting hit by another Beowolf. But this Beowolf is different than the others.

While possessing the same black-and-white color scheme with burning red eyes and hulking monstrous figure as usual, it possesses far more armor than even an Alpha Beowolf, including rib bones protruding from its torso, clusters of spines emerging from its shoulders, thighs, and forearms, a long sword-like spike coming out of each wrist, thick horns growing from its mask around the top of its snout and sides where its ears should be, and large bottom fangs. Strangely, one of the places that does not have this is its back along the spine, which is where the largest rows of ridges usually are seen in common and Alpha Beowolves, instead being replaced by a simple line of white.

"That is an Omega Beowolf." Naruto begins to say. "And is most likely the guardian of this place." He continues knowing that he has to fight and seeing that pool is starting to bubble up he is now against the clock and jumps down the tree to begin the fight.

The Grimm tries to slash and bite Naruto multiple times until Naruto kicks it back. Naruto shots at the Omega damaging it more until the Grimm goes for a stabbing motion and seemingly stabs Naruto through the gut. But in reality Naruto grabbed the Omega's arm and punches it towards the Grimm Pool. Then Naruto jumps up and charges a Silver Rasengan and strikes the Grimm downwards into the pool while the silver energy expanded on contact hitting the Grimm and the pool. As a result the Grimm disappeared and the Grim Pool turned to stone, with Naruto landing on it.

"Grimm Pool sealing complete." Naruto says with a sigh as he walks back from a successful Mission. "Good thing that the Omega didn't have a special gimmick or that fight could have been dragged out longer then I would have liked." As he exits the area into a more forest like setting he suddenly feels like he isn't moving anymore. "What the hell is this!?" Naruto yells as he sees Professor Goodwitch in the distance holding her riding crop. "Hey professor, nice weather we are having." Naruto tries to break the ice with Glynda hoping to not get hit.

"I hope you realize that you are in a lot of trouble mister Uzumaki." Glynda says in a no nonsense tone.

"Why? I prioritized my goal as a Hunter, I don't see a problem." Naruto comments.

"There are reasons why some places are restricted from access. Just because you want to be a Hunter doesn't mean you can do whatever you want." Glynda berates her student.

Naruto suddenly got a thought that should have stayed in his mind but… "Are you mad because a student was able to do a job you teachers couldn't do?" Naruto says without restraint.

Glynda's eye twitched a bit before taking a breath. "We are going back to the group." She tells him as she walks with Naruto who is still floating.

"So when are you going to let me down?" Naruto asks Glynda.

"This is part of your punishment, as it seem I can't let you wonder around." Glynda tells him.

"Come on, let me down already damn it!" Naruto yells at the professor who is not listening to him. Once they got back to the group they went back to Beacon.

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Dining Hall

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At the lunchroom we see Team NFSS eating their lunch, which was burgers.

"So you finally got chewed out by Professor Goodwitch." Sasuke tells Naruto.

"Piss off." Naruto begins to say. "I did the job I don't get why she is so uptight."

"Maybe it's because you broke the rules and questioned authority." Sai says as Naruto shrugs.

"At least you got to fight." Fū begins to say. "All we did was get lectured by Professor Peach.

"She's the Plant Science teacher, right?" Naruto asks.

"It's so boring! The worst part is that we didn't even learn about anything useful, she just lectured on aloe." Fū complains.

CRASH

But before the conversation could a crashing sound. They turn to see Cardin harassing Jaune and Team RWBY.

"That jerk again!" Naruto growls as he begins to stand up until Sasuke pulls him back down. "Let me go." Naruto says with anger.

"You are in enough trouble already, don't make it worse." Sasuke tells Naruto, then he sees Glynda walking over to Team RWBY, Jaune, and Cardin. "Besides it looks like Professor Goodwitch has it taken care of."

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Amphitheater

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"At least I thought she did." Sasuke takes back his previous statement seeing the crowd around the "sanctioned" fight between Ruby and Cardin in front of a bunch of students. The both students have their weapons out and on a screen that shows their Aura levels to be green indicating a full Aura capacity.

"This should be interesting at the very least." Sai comments on the fight.

"Hey Fū do you or Yang know what's going on with Ruby? She seems nervous." Naruto asks worrying about his friend who looks really antsy right now and he hears her talking out loud.

"Yang, is Ruby still…" Fū begins to ask before a look of shock appears on Yang's face.

"I forgot that she gets nervous in front of big crowds." Yang admits.

"How could you forget!? You're her sister!" Weiss berates Yang.

Ruby

"What do I do, What do I do, What do I do?" A nervous begins talking out loud. "Everybody's watching and Cardin is glaring at me! How'd this happen?! Why am I fighting him again?! Why is it me, where's Jaune?!"

Ruby then notices Cardin's choice of weapon a large, black mace, with ten flat titanium flanges being extended farther outward than a regular mace would and a red Dust crystal placed at the center, kept in place by four claws. "That looks like it will hurt. What kind of gimmick does it have?" Ruby talks out loud again.

"HEY!" Cardin yells. "Stop freaking out already and lets get started."

"HUH! Yeah sure sorry." Ruby says still not processing the situation yet.

"Begin!" Glynda announced starting the fight.

Cardin made the first move going forward and swinging the mace downward. but Ruby moved backwards to avoid it. Then swinging the mace upward Cardin continues the attack with Ruby still avoiding the mace. Cardin still continues attacking while Ruby is still evading and this goes on for almost two minutes. Then Ruby lost her footing for a moment and that's when Cardin's weapon finally made contact. Though Ruby guarded with her scythe to lessen the blow the impact still threw her a few feet away and lowered her Aura to the yellow.

"Check it out, the leader of Team RWBY is all show!" Cardin mocks Ruby.

The Stand

"This is disgusting." Naruto says with an edge in his voice. "Ruby is too nervous to fight back, but Cardin is just keeps on going."

"This isn't a fight, Cardin is just using his strength to bully Ruby." Sasuke says.

"I want to go down there and kick his butt." Fū says getting angry that her friend is being bullied.

Sasuke notices then notices that Naruto's pupils and Fū's eyes are starting to get a tint of yellow in them. 'Shit! If Ruby doesn't start fighting back soon things will get more complicated.' Sasuke thinks until an unlikely voice began talking.

"You're going to be a Huntress aren't you Ruby?!" Weiss begins calling out. "You're Team RWBY's leader aren't you?!

'Well I'll be damned. Looks like Weiss has changed a bit.' Sasuke thinks.

Ruby

'That's right.' Ruby begins to think as Weiss's voice snapped her back into reality. Suddenly everything around her goes silent as she focuses on the opponent in front of her who seems a lot less intimidating now. 'I can do this.'

Cardin charges forward swinging down his mace he attempted to defeat Ruby in one attack. The mace seemingly misses as it hits the ground, but at the moment of contact the Dust crystal activated causing an explosion to occur. Cardin gets a smug look thinking he had won until Ruby's scythe swung upward hitting Cardin back a couple of steps and lowering his Aura.

"Crap!" Cardin says as he is starting to lose control of the situation. He tries to swing his mace down on Ruby again. However, this time Ruby counters by using the Scythe's gun function and recoil to speed up her weapons swing.

CLANK

When the weapons clashed Ruby was able to knock Cardin off balance and get him standing on one foot while she went airborne, this knocks Cardin's Aura into the yellow. Finally Ruby uses her semblance to spin downwards and to attach Cardin.

"Ahh!" Was all Cardin could yell in his current situation unable to attack or defend.

Ruby slashes at Cardin multiple times as he drops his mace, his Aura now being in the red, and him now on his back.

"This fight is over Ruby Rose is the victor." Glynda announces as Ruby smiles with new confidence in herself as she turns to see Yang and Fū cheering; Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, and Blake clapping; and Weiss not showing any external reaction, but that was fine with Ruby. Though Yang and Fū went an extra step jumping down from the stands to give her a hug.

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Beacon Academy Statue

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Some time after the fight we find Ruby sitting on a large statue featuring a male and a female, standing on a rock outcropping a Beowolf below them. Ruby sighs with a bit of exhaustion. "You okay Ruby?"

She turns her head to see Naruto walking up to her. "Just a bit tired is all." Ruby admits jumping down from the statue.

"Yeah, Fū and Yang really were showering you with praise." Naruto comments.

Ruby sighs again. "They did that at Signal too it."

"Do you not like it?" Naruto asks.

"I like the praise. But they can get excessive at times." Ruby says.

"I guess that makes sense. But you really did well in that fight." Naruto tells her.

"Thanks Naruto." Ruby says as they begin to walk back towards the dorms.

"So you don't like big crowds?" Naruto asks Ruby.

Ruby shivers a bit. "Please don't remind me. I was freaked out enough as it was without the crowd." She complains.

"Well from what I have heard once the Vytal Festival starts people will show up from all over Remnant to watch the next generation of Hunters fight." Naruto tells her.

Ruby tenses up hearing that. "Oh, right…I haven't thought about that." She admits. "What am I going to do?" Ruby's voice increases slightly in panic. But before she can panic she hears her fox friend talk.

"Do you want some advise?" Naruto asks her.

"Yes please." Ruby says quickly.

"Can you tell me how you felt during your fight with Cardin?"

Ruby raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Is that really important?" She asks the Fox Faunus and he nods his head. "Well I was terrified most of the fight." Ruby began talking. "The crowd was one thing, but for some odd reason Cardin seemed scary and before I knew it I was losing. But then I heard Weiss talking and that snapped me out of it. I stopped paying attention to the crowd and Cardin became the regular not scary bully again. That's when things turned my way and I finally won."

Naruto smirks at Ruby's explanation of the fight. "Sounds like you have a solution already Ruby." He tells her.

"How so?" Ruby questions not getting it.

"First you need more confidence in yourself. That confidence will eventually turn into determination when fighting opponents and it will make you stronger and more focused." Naruto tells her.

Ruby's eyes widen at this now understanding what Naruto is talking about. "I never thought of it like that." Ruby says in realization.

Naruto then puts a hand on her head and ruffles her hair. "You have a lot to offer Ruby just give it time."

"Knock it off." Ruby says getting out of his grip. Though she is now blushing from either the praise or the embarrassment of being treated like a kid, however, it could be from both. "Don't treat me like a kid."

Naruto laughs. "Sorry, Didn't mean to offend. It's a force of habit I suppose from working with those younger then me."

"I see." Ruby says no longer blushing and understanding Naruto's intentions.

As they approach their dorms for the night they see Jaune. "Hey Jaune." Naruto and Ruby say to their friend.

"Hey Naruto and congratulations on the fight Ruby." Jaune says.

"Thanks Jaune." Ruby says. "So why out here instead of inside?"

Jaune then gets a bit nervous. "You know just thinking about classes." He says unconvincingly.

"Did you lock yourself out?" Naruto asks.

Jaune hangs his head down. "Yes."

"Don't worry Jaune things like that happen from time to time." Naruto tells Jaune.

"I guess." Jaune says as Pyrrha opens the door and all the teams said goodnight to each other.

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Team RWBY Dorm

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Ruby enters to see Yang waiting for her with a smirk. 'Oh no what is it this time?' Ruby wonders. "Hey Yang how are you doing?" Ruby asks.

"I'm doing good. But it seems you had a good evening." Yang comments.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asks.

"Oh don't so modest. You sent quite a lot of time with your foxy "friend" tonight." Yang says air-quoting friend.

Ruby blushes at the implications. "It's not like that! Naruto and I are friends. We were just talking." Ruby explains.

"So you two were just talking until 9:00 PM?" Yang says still smirking.

"What's wrong with that?" Ruby argues still blushing.

"Aww, you're blushing." Yang says while giving her sister a tight hug. "So you're finally interested in boys now." Yang comments.

"It's not like that!" Ruby tries to tell her sister.

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Team NFSS Dorm

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Naruto then sees Sasuke but no sign of Sai or Fū. "Were are the others?" Naruto asks.

"Fū is taking a shower and Sai will be back eventually." Sasuke tells Naruto. "So how did it go?" Sasuke asks.

"I was able to find a Grimm Pool and seal it up." Naruto tells Sasuke.

"Good. That's one less Grimm spawning place to deal with." Sasuke tells Naruto.

"I take it you have something else to say." Naruto comments.

"Your pupils and Fū's eyes had a bit of yellow in them today." Sasuke tells him.

Naruto's eyes widen. "Shit. I didn't even notice it."

"You two need to be more careful with your emotions." Sasuke tells Naruto.

"I know." Naruto says as he yawns. "I'm going to sleep." Naruto says as he falls asleep.

End of Chapter.

What did you think? Was it good, bad in between?

My goal for this chapter was to show some growth of Ruby's character, increasing her bond with Naruto, and showing her mentality and fighting abilities. I also wanted to show some more uses of the Silver Eyes.

1. The Omega Beowolf I wrote here appears in Mark Zhang's "Linen" Trailer. I do NOT own this.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter.

Next Chapter: No name yet.

STAY SAFE EVERYONE.