Author Note: there's an idea I'm curious if you would like to see happen and have Summer Rose added to the group reading the story as one last reader. If you would, be sure to add that to your reviews!
"I'll do this one." Minto said, taking the book.
(Last chapter!)
"By the way Naruto, how is it that you're able to pull your weapon out of a plain scroll?"
Sheepishly chuckling Naruto knew he was in for a long chat. Then again all he had to do was pass it off as a sort of by product of his "Semblance"...right?
"Why's that there?" Jaune asked with a blink.
The others shrugged at the recap.
(This chapter!)
"Well that has to do with my Semblance actually," Naruto replied
"Not far from the truth, actually." Minato pointed out, pausing in his reading.
with his goofy grin, attempting to brush of his teammate's inquisitive states.
Still not satisfied with the vague answer given, Pyrrha decided to push the issue, "I remember you mentioning your Semblance in the forest. You also said that your Semblance was what let you shoot out that fireball. What kind of Semblance do you have that it lets you do all of that?"
Naruto groaned. This was going just lovely for his other.
Ren and Nora decided to stay quiet, just as curious as Pyrrha was to find out what exactly their leader's unique Semblance was. After all a Semblance that let you shoot fireballs out of your mouth and store a weapon in a simple scroll was just unheard of.
Naruto's nervously rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled, "Well my Semblance is actually pretty simple, it pretty much lets me control energy in its purest form."
"Simple yet complicated topic, you'll need to explain further." Blake pointed out.
The silent raven haired teen of the group was surprisingly the one to speak up, "That sounds like my Semblance. Mine lets me have almost perfect control over my Aura."
The blond team captain shook his head as he leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, "No mine goes a step further than that and let's me mold my Aura in anyway I want. From there I can either use it in my body or let it out in elemental attacks or whatever else I want it to do."
"Better." The female feline Faunus said.
While it seemed like Naruto was perfectly calm explaining/lying to his teammates,
The Remnent teens all glared at Naruto, making him wince. He did NOT like lying to his friends and/or teammates! When would these half-truths end?! He wanted to be honest with his newfound friends!
inwardly he was sweating up a storm, 'Where the hell is Kurama when I need him the most?'
While Naruto was being questioned by his curious teammates, a certain Kitsune was partaking in one of his favorite pastimes, that of course being napping.
Naruto muttered a few choice words about a "lazy hairball" at that.
Naruto was a big boy and could take care of himself, and the thousands of years old chakra construct was sure that his blond Jinchuuriki could handle anything this new world could throw at him. Besides that, if a situation did arise in which Naruto needed him, Kurama could easily teleport to his container thanks to their connection.
With that in mind Kurama had decided to stay in the room Naruto shared with his new teammates and snooze the day away. Just because the blond had to suffer through those boring lessons didn't mean he, the mightiest of the Bijuu, had to. Such tasks were below a being of his stature and prestige after all.
"Still with an ego problem, I see." Kushina said, being no stranger to Kurama's high-and-mighty attitude.
However the universe seemed to take as much joy in torturing the fox as it did his blond container.
"This won't end well..." Jaune winced.
"FOXY!"
Everyone turned to Yang, who blushed.
The door to team NNPR's room was violently thrown open with enough force to crack the wall it slammed into. With an irritated scowl spreading across his furry face, Kurama saw the ones who had the audacity to interrupt his precious napping.
Standing proudly in the doorway with fists on hips was the blonde bombshell Yang, obviously the one who had opened the door in such a harsh manner. Peeking out from behind the statuesque team member of RWBY was the youngest member and said team's leader, Ruby.
"Aha! You were there too, Rubies!"
"I was most likely trying to stop you!"
"Yang, I don't think Naruto and his team would appreciate having their door torn off its hinges," the red themed teen said.
"Certainly not." Ren said as Naruto and JNPR all glared at Yang.
"Aha! See!? I WAS trying to stop you!" Ruby cried, pointing at her sister.
Poking her head over Yang's shoulder, Blake spoke in her usual monotone, "I'd normally agree but remember this is Naruto and Nora we're talking about."
The three were pushed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs as Weiss shoved her way into the doorway with her arms crossed and her signature holier than thou look on her face.
"I still don't get why you two think that idiot will be able to help us."
Kushina popped her knuckles, looking at the white-themed girl as if wondering which of her limbs to snap off first. She did NOT like the girl calling her son an idiot. Especially after he helped her with her reality check.
As the rest of team RWBY stood to their feet and straightened out their clothes, they all took notice of a very irritated looking fox kit glaring at them almost like it was barely restraining itself from killing them...which wasn't too far off from the truth, not that they knew that.
"...I blame Yang! Think Kurama'll let the rest of us live if we offer her up as a sacrifice?" Weiss said.
"Hey!"
"We're not sacrificing my sister!" Ruby cried.
'Can't. Kill. Vixens. Can't. Kill. Vixens,' was the mantra Kurama was repeating in his head. The only one allowed to interrupt his naps without good reason was Naruto and even then the blond knew the Kitsune would eventually get him back for it.
"Hey, that's Naruto's pe-," Ruby took note of the fox's growling growing even louder, daring her to call it a pet, "umm...I mean partner, Kurama."
Normally Yang would have already been trying to smother the poor fox to death,
"I would if it didn't involve being mauled right now." Yang said.
but the look it was currently sending towards her and the others said that probably wasn't a good idea, lest she want to test just how strong the small fox really was.
"Smart call." Naruto and his parents all said at the same time.
Weiss raised an eyebrow at the fox and spoke aloud, "That's odd. Isn't he usually with Naruto?"
Blake, as usual, was the voice of reason, "He probably left him here to rest or something, after all it's not like any of our classes call for Naruto needing his help."
Being either the bravest, or dumbest, it was up to debate really, Ruby
"Hey! I'm not dumb!" Ruby cried, pouting.
Weiss snickered. Up to debate, eh? Oh...that was funny!
approached the still less than happy looking fox. At the edge of what she assumed to be Naruto's bed, Ruby crouched and looked the fox straight in the eye, "Do you know where we can find Naruto?"
Kurama raised an eyebrow and lost his angry visage as he surveyed the young female before him, 'Gotta hand it to her, she's almost as stupidly brave as the kit.
"Is that a compliment?" Ruby asked, turning to Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Considering what Kurama's like and how powerful he actually is, it takes a lot of guts to act like that around him."
Of course he confronted me when I was still several stories tall, but still her other teammates are wary of me even in this form.'
"I still don't see how big he could actually be." Jaune said.
"So you want there to be something bad enough to warrent Kurama using his full power to happen?" Naruto asked his fellow blond.
"NO!" Jaune yelped, quickly realizing how that made his question sound. "I just...what exactly can that fox do, is all, is what I mean!"
Naruto nodded. So Arc wanted to see Kurama in action, huh...
With a huff Kurama turned and hopped down off of Naruto's bed before he padded his way over to where Naruto kept his notes and such. Most of them were in their native language or seal arrays and such so no one besides Naruto, himself, and possibly the cat of team RWBY could decipher them. Still Naruto was nothing if not a properly paranoid Shinobi and so most of the notes were of things that were all relatively harmless. The more dangerous seals and other items were kept either on Naruto or locked behind seals that required the blond's blood and chakra to open.
"That IS paranoid." Weiss pointed out.
"Would you leave something especally dangerous just laying around for just some random passer by to mess around with?" Kushina said pointedly.
At that, the heiress had to nod, conceading to that point.
The four teen girls stared in curiosity as they witnessed arguably one of the smartest animals they had ever seen rummage through piles of paper with an almost bored look. They were even more curious when the fox seemed to find what it was looking for, gently placing a particular piece of paper in its jaws before jumping back up on the bed where Ruby sat. Padding its way to the young girl in red, Kurama placed the piece of paper on Ruby's lap before resuming his spot on a pillow and attempting to finish his nap.
Kurama was pleasantly surprised though when Ruby gently patted his head, "Thanks Kurama."
The Kyuubi stared at what he considered to be a rather strange girl before shrugging and curling up into a ball again.
'Kit always attracts the strange ones. Seems that old proverb is as true as ever, 'birds of a feather flock together'
"So the good strange, then." Ruby nodded. She could deal with that easily.
Naruto smiled and nodded. Him and Ruby being similar...he liked that.
...mmmmm...bird sounds pretty good.'
Blake silently agreed. Not as good as fish, but bird was still very tasty.
Ruby joined the rest of her team with paper in hand and was greeted by her grinning sister, "So what's it say little sis?"
Looking at the paper Ruby spoke, "Looks like it's a receipt or something."
Snatching the paper from a protesting Ruby, Weiss scanned it before shrugging, "It's a ticket from the school for a reserved time slot for one of the practice arenas the school has."
"To the practice arenas!" Yang shouted as she performed a rather well executed about face and made to speed off in search of her fellow blonde.
Blake casually grabbed the back of Yang's jacket collar, stopping the hyperactive girl in her steps, "Beacon has quite a few arenas spread out around the campus and we don't know which one Naruto and his team are in. I don't care to spend the better part of my day searching for it either."
The Uzumaki Family all snickered at that. It was a common problem for shinobi. Good to see that issue hadn't changed.
Nonplussed by her raven haired teammate's actions, Yang just turned to Weiss and pointed a finger at the Schnee heiress, "Weiss! Hit me with the arena number!"
Rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration Weiss nonetheless read through the paper before shaking her head, "Doesn't say for which arena this is."
Kurama's ears twitched as he listened in on team RWBY attempting to hash out a plan to find Naruto before day's end. An idea popped into his head as he continued to listen. Soon that idea became something that had the fox grinning from ear to ear as his eyes glinted mischievously.
"Uh-oh..." Naruto and Kushina said in unison.
Coming out of his attempted nap the strongest of the Bijuu casually padded to the end of the bed before making a leap and landing softly on Ruby's shoulder, surprising the other members of the team. As far as they knew Naruto was the only one the fox would allow to carry him or even liked to be around.
Using his tail Kurama pointed at the piece of paper he had previously handed to Ruby, then back to himself.
The gesture's meaning wasn't lost on the members of team RWBY. Of course Kurama was more than capable of human speech, even in this form. He is the fearsome and insanely powerful Kyuubi after all. But no one besides his container knew that, and as far as he and said blond Uzumaki were concerned, they were the only ones who needed to know.
"Eh...talking animals seem weird and out of place on Remnent...no offense, Blake!" Naruto said, the last part quickly and directed to the resident Faunus.
"None taken." she said, though she wondered what Naruto's opinion on Faunus was now. Hopefully, that'd be answered soon.
"Are we really gonna let a fox be our GPS system?" Weiss asked incredulously. To most normal people the idea of letting a fox of all things, no matter how intelligent it seemed, lead them was a rather ridiculous idea.
Of course the word normal wasn't exactly in Ruby or Yang's vocabulary and Blake didn't seem too bothered by the idea either.
"No! No! Its a trick! Its a trap! Heed not the deceptive machinations of the fluffy evil!" Naruto cried, attempting to warn the counterparts of his new friends.
"Fluffy evil?" Yang repeated with a raised brow at her fellow blond.
Blake glared at Naruto for that. There were quite a few Faunus that would take offense to that, and quite a few people that'd describe the current White Fang members that way. It was hard for her not to feel offended.
Throwing her hands up in frustration Weiss conceded to letting Kurama lead them as their pseudo navigator. As team RWBY cheered they missed the mischievous smirk that spread across Kurama's snout.
'No one interrupts one of my naps and gets away with it.'
"...Fluffy evil...yeah...I can see it..." Blake gulped.
"So by molding your Aura in certain areas of your body or molding it in a specific way you can do pretty much anything thanks to your Semblance?" Pyrrha inquired.
Shrugging casually, Naruto responded, "Yeah that about sums it up."
The two Remnent teams nodded at that.
"Wait but how does that explain the whole scroll thingy? Is it like a magic trick? Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" Nora paused as a look of realization dawned on her face, "that's it isn't it!? You're a magician!"
Nora turned to Naruto excitedily.
Even Naruto found himself sweat dropping at the oddness that had just come out of his childish teammate's mouth. He had heard and seen some weird stuff, a good chunk of which was thanks to the Snake Mistress of Konoha
"Who?" Ruby asked.
Naruto shuddered and didn't answer.
, but Nora was quickly climbing his list of odd people.
"Uh...no Nora...I'm not a magician…"
"If I was, Kurama would eat all the rabbits until I was broke replacing them." Naruto said, applying what he was starting to think of as "Nora Logic", making Nora nod at that. Made sense to her.
The orange haired hammer wielder pouted impudently like a child who had been told she couldn't get candy or a toy from the store while they shopped.
Ren looked at Nora, he could see that.
Getting over the giggles that had come due to her teammate's previous statement and the mental picture of Naruto in a top hat, Pyrrha added, "Nora is right though, how does your Semblance let you do that?"
Scratching his head Naruto decided that he could trust his team with at least a half lie, "Well actually my Semblance only plays a small part in that. See back in my village we were taught from a young age how to use our Aura and then how to better control it before we were ever taught how to use our Semblance. Because of that some people were able to figure out how to use that control to use our Aura in a different way. Those ways soon branched out and became what we called Ninshu or the Shinobi Sect. What I do with scrolls is a branch of Ninshu called Fuinjutsu or Sealing Techniques.
Weiss looked interested in this and started listening much more closely.
The closest thing I can compare it to is Weiss and her glyphs, but even then that is only a small part of what Fuinjutsu can do."
The intrigue and awe the other members of team NNPR felt as Naruto divulged what could possibly be considered village secrets was clearly visible on each of their faces. Even Nora who could barely sit still for two seconds looked to be enraptured by her blond captain and his lecture.
Wanting to hear even more the red head of the team voiced her curiosity, "What do you mean? What else could this fun...foo...fuin?" Taking note of Naruto's nod at her proper pronunciation of the foreign word Pyrrha continued, "What else can it do?"
The blond Uzumaki let out a sigh as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling that stretched above him, "Fuinjutsu is actually unique, because unlike the other branches of Ninshu that have some sort of set of requirements, anyone can learn Fuinjutsu. It just takes patience, perfect handwriting, and imagination. Because of this Fuinjutsu is both the most accessible and most varied and powerful branch of Ninshu. A master of Fuinjutsu could do anything from simply sealing away a weapon to distorting time and space itself. The possibilities are pretty much endless."
Weiss looked awed. Ok...she was comparing notes on this Fuinjutsu stuff with the Konoha group! This she swore!
Pyrrha couldn't help herself and blurted out the first thought that had popped into her mind, "Are you a master?"
Naruto laughed, not only at Pyrrha's curiosity, but also at the dumbfounded looks that both Nora and even the normally stoic Ren wore.
"Sadly no. I never got to fully finish my apprenticeship, but I am only about two levels away from being able to call myself a master."
Weiss let out a disapointed tsk at that, she was eager to compair her glyphs to a master! Blast it!
Getting up and stretching Naruto grinned at his teammates, "So I think we've wasted enough time sitting around. One more little spar and we call it a day?"
Nora was the first to her feet, having leapt up into the air and cheered, "Yay!"
Ren was the opposite to his friend and calmly rose, showing all of the grace he possibly could in such a simple action. Gathering his twin pistols that Naruto now knew were called Stormflower, the calm raven haired teen nodded at his fellow male teammate.
Pyrrha gathered her own weapons and strapped her shield on to her back before offering Naruto a smile and confident nod.
Feeling a little more comfortable around his team after his explanation on one of his specialties, Naruto decided to show off a little bit by performing a perfect backflip over the railing of the stands, landing perfectly on his feet. Nora, the ever hyper teen she was, happily followed suit by leaping over the railing, Magnahild sitting on her shoulder and a cry of excitement escaping her lips.
"Heh...you're a pretty fun guy, Captain Whisters!" Nora said.
Jaune gaped, looking hurt at what his teammate had just said to Naruto.
Seeing the smiles and laughs that Naruto and Nora were having down below, Pyrhha decided to join in on the little bit of fun by performing a single handed handstand on the railing, tilting her body in such a way that soon after she was gracefully falling to the ground below, feet first.
With her ponytail fluttering in the wind and spear in hand, Pyrrha managed to look simultaneously beautiful and deadly, a thought that had Naruto blushing. As the red headed beauty landed in a crouch, both fists on the ground and her head held down, it gave Pyrrha the look of not a teen girl still training but of a full fledged warrior ready for battle.
Kushina whistled, impressed with her junior redhead. Not at all a bad image.
Pyhrra blushed.
While Pyhrra rose to her feet, Ren leapt down to meet with his teammates in a much more subdued manner, merely vaulting over the railing of the stands and landing without a sound.
Nodding at the raven haired teen, Naruto addressed his fellow teammates, "Well I guess the only combination left for us to try out is me and Nora against you two."
Pyhrra and Ren both paled.
While Naruto smirked at being paired up with his fellow hyperactive team member, both Ren and Pyrrha looked noticeably put out by the inevitable matchup.
Honestly the blond couldn't blame them. Nothing against Pyrrha and Ren as warriors, but them winning was just not all that likely. Both Nora and Naruto operated on the same principal and style of fighting - go in and fuck shit up.
Nora cackled, clapping happily.
Naruto had added more to his repertoire and was much more careful with his planning and such since Kurama had been helping to train him, but he was still very much so a frontlines heavy hitter, even without the use of his signature jutsu. Nora was much the same, admittedly with a much smaller arsenal.
The two had much more stamina than most and were also extremely unpredictable. Ren and Pyrrha relied too heavily on a more rigid style of fighting than Nora and Naruto, and that would be a detriment to them.
"Need to take note of that." Ren said with a nod to himself.
Still Naruto knew that neither Ren or Pyrrha would simply give up. No the two were going to try and make their hyperactive teammates work for their victory.
Scratching his head, Naruto raised a question that had been bugging him for awhile, "Hey Pyrrha!"
The redhead in question turned to silently acknowledge her captain's call.
"I know Ren and Nora's weapon names, but what's yours?"
Smiling at what she knew to be her blond captain's curious face, marked by Naruto squinting his eyes and crossing his arms, Pyrrha answered, "My shield is named Akoúo and my main weapon is Miló."
Nodding his head and with his curiosity satiated, Naruto made to make his way to where Nora was already getting ready for the spar. However Pyrrha decided to ask a question of her own, "What about your weapon Naruto?"
Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared at his staff for a scant few seconds, seemingly lost in his own memories, before snapping out of it and twirling the shakujo casually as he answered, "Hi no Ishi."
The Konoha residents all smiled foldly at that.
Knowing that names played a significant role in Naruto's home, Pyrrha was curious to know the meaning of the staff's name and voiced as much.
The blond gave one last reminiscent smile at his weapon before answering, "It means 'The Will of Fire'."
Still curious as to the significance of such a name and why Naruto seemed so attached to it, Pyrrha decided to wait until she could get Naruto alone, knowing how secretive the blond could be.
Besides that, it looked like Nora was growing even more impatient by the second, noted by her increased fidgeting. An impatient Nora was a hilariously dangerous Nora.
Everyone from Beacon nodded, Ren was espically vigerous at that.
Finally, as each pair stared the other down from opposite sides of the field, the air of battle began to permeate the air. Of course the feel of it was far different from the battles Naruto had gone through. Those battles where each side wagered not money or an imaginary point, but instead bet their very lives, pride, and convictions.
This was not even comparable. Sure the other members of team NNPR had no doubt seen death already, living in a world where humans were forced into settlements where the fear of death by the creatures of Grimm were very much so a reality.
Ren and Nora both tensed again at that.
But there was a key difference. When it came down to it, it was easy for the people of Remnant to peg the Grimm as naught, but mindless beasts of murder, which wasn't too far from the truth. As such killing them was simply a task, like hunting for food.
Naruto however was different. He had seen and lived through war. He knew the difference in battle when your enemy was not some beast or some other quarry, but a human, a human with emotions, feelings, dreams, and aspirations just like you.
"Ok...I call bull to that!" Jaune cried.
The next instant, Naruto was holding him up by his shirt, glaring at him.
"Believe me, Arc...I WISH that was the truth!" The blond Uzumaki snarled. Then he shoved Jaune back down and stomped over and sat back down in his previous spot.
"Long, bad story...not here, ok?" Kakashi winced, seeing the Beacon students' stares.
They all nodded. Not the time or place to ask.
This spar was not even close to that feeling of knowing that with the slightest misstep your very existence would cease to be.
And for that Naruto smiled. As he felt his chakra begin to course through his body in that familiar warmth, as he heard Nora yell in excitement, Naruto smiled.
'Maybe coming here wasn't a bad thing after all.'
Sharing a look with Nora, Naruto's smile went from being just that, a simple smile, and instead became the cocky grin he was known for back in his youth.
"Let's do this -ttebayo!"
All of team NNPR sighed in relief as they turned down the hallway that housed their room, all members - even the stamina monster Naruto - were tired and bruised all over and could not wait to embrace the soft comfort of their beds.
Of course their relief became raised eyebrows as they entered the room and saw that the wall behind the door bore slight cracks in the dry wall as if someone had slammed the door open in a fit of fury.
Yang smiled and chuckled with a sheepish expression "Uh...sorry...?" she said.
"...Kurama had better make you pay through the nose with what he's making you go through, Yang..." Naruto deadpanned.
Shrugging off the oddity of the cracked wall, the four teens decided that their fatigue and need for a shower far outweighed any curiosity they held about said mystery.
Despite it being just a few minutes into sundown, the team had managed to cram as much as they could into the the two hour slot that Naruto had reserved for them. Thanks to the intense pace Naruto had set for them, the team was able to get a better handle on how to not only work as a group of four, but also pairs.
The pairing of Nora and Nauto, aptly nicknamed Disaster,
Everyone looked at Naruto, then Nora, and shuddered. They could EASILY see why that name would fit a little TOO perfectly!
was obviously the frontlines duo responsible for either taking out numerous enemies or providing a distraction for the backup pair of Pyrrha and Ren which was named Rose.
What surprised the rest of team NNPR was how devastating of a combo Ren and Naruto made. The two male teens could work perfectly as a stealth unit, what with Naruto's shinobi training and Ren's own grace and agility, or a quick strike unit capable of unleashing untold amounts of destruction before disappearing. Thanks to this the duo were nicknamed Bolt Flower.
Ren looked interested at that.
The two females of NNPR were the backup to Bolt Flower and worked as a solid all around unit by themselves, capable of either fighting on the frontlines or providing covering fire. That in mind, the two girls had decided to name their formation simply, Queen.
Pyrrha and Nora shared a smile at that.
Of course all of the battle strategy that they had spent the past two hours going over was the furthest thing from any of the teen's mind instead being replaced by thoughts of food, showers, and sleep.
As an unspoken agreement, Naruto, Ren, and Nora collapsed onto their beds while Pyrrha took the first shower.
As the sounds of the shower being turned on became the only background noise in the room, Nora having already decided to take a nap and Ren quietly being...Ren, Naruto rolled over and sat up, scratching his head as he realized that a certain Kitsune was oddly absent.
The blond Uzumaki wasn't particularly worried about Kurama himself, being more concerned for anybody with the unfortunate luck of being stuck with the troublesome Bijuu (Tailed Beast). After having spent the literal entirety of his seventeen years of life with the fox, Naruto knew that wherever the Kitsune was, trouble was not too far off, if the sentient chakra construct was already causing it.
"Oh, NOW he tells us!" Weiss cried, throwing her hands into the air.
"He did try to, what with that "fluffy evil" comment." Blake pointed out, though she was still worried for the welbeing of her and her friends' other selves.
Shrugging it off Naruto decided that food would be a good idea to have when his team was showered and ready to either finish whatever homework they had or sleep like he planned.
That in mind the blond rolled off his bed and decided to venture off to the cafeteria to see what was available. Hopefully Remnant's advanced technology extended into the food area as well and he could just simply grab his teammate's favorite foods without any fuss. Having ramen would just be a huge plus really.
Much to the blond's relief the cafeteria was just as technologically advanced as every other area of Beacon which meant not only could he get his teammate's favorite food, but he could also indulge himself in the sweet sweet food of the gods, ramen.
"Food of the gods, huh?" Ruby said.
"Long story, tell you later." Naruto promised the scythe-user.
Ruby smiled at that.
But now came the had part,
"Missing a 'r' for it to be the right word if it's suppossed to be "hard"." Blake frowned. She didn't mean to act like a grammer nazi, but as a lover of literature, it was hard for her to keep from such comments.
carrying all the food. Normally the solution to such a situation would be easily solved by the quick use of a jutsu that he had abused as a preteen.
"Gotta love Kage Bushin." Naruto smiled, the other four shinobi nodding in agreement with him.
However seeing two of the same people walking the halls would be weird and would raise questions Naruto didn't want to answer.
If Naruto were in the right state of mind he would realize that he had plenty of other jutsu to help to keep his identity as a shinobi hidden. However said blond was far from the right state of mind. Tired, hungry, and with the worry that his precious ramen was getting colder with each passing second, Naruto's higher thinking faculties were otherwise preoccupied.
None of the other students who occupied the cafeteria thought to mention to the blond staring heatedly at the plates of food in front of him that there was an even simpler solution to his conundrum in the form of the food carts that sat not feet away. Really though it wasn't their fault as said students really had no clue as to what Naruto's problem even was in the first place and instead just passed him off as another one of the many oddballs who called Beacon home.
"WE'RE NOT ODDBALLS!" RWBY and JNPR shouted, offended.
The importance of this was to not only illustrate the level of Naruto's fatigue and love of ramen, but to also allow for the perfect timing of a certain Kitsune to come bursting through the doors of the cafeteria with a less than happy looking team RWBY hot on his tail.
"Our torment was bad enough to leave a noodle incident..." Blake twitched.
Each of the girls had leaves and twigs littering their hair with small tears and cuts on their clothing. All in all it looked like they had gotten into a fight with a tree and lost.
"...Is it wrong part of me wants to know, but the other doesn't?" Ruby asked.
"I blame Yang!" Weiss declaired.
At that, the red, white, and black-themed members of the all-girl team rounded and glared at the yellow brawler, who looked sheepish.
Even still it wasn't the commotion that was caused by Kurama and team RWBY's less than quiet entrance that snapped Naruto out of his almost meditative state of mind, but the feeling of a familiar weight settling around his shoulders.
Coming back to the waking world, Naruto turned his head and saw Kurama had taken his usual perch on the blond's shoulders and was grinning like he had just finished eating the tastiest rabbit ever.
Naruto's attention was finally drawn to the four disheveled and angry females standing behind him. Even in his current state of mind, it was ridiculously easy for the Uzumaki to connect the dots, leading to him giving Kurama a deadpan stare.
"Do I need to put you back in the cage?"
"What good would that do?" Yang asked.
Team RWBY wondered what a simple cage would do to a less than normal fox, but if the fearful look that crossed the Kitsune's face was anything to by then said punishment was probably the worst thing that the troublesome fox could experience. Of course while the girls thought Naruto meant a normal cage, Kurama knew full well that his container was talking about putting his furry ass back inside the seal that had kept him behind bars for sixteen years.
Weiss looked interested again.
Not only was the space behind said bars small, but Naruto's mindscape hadn't changed in the slightest and was still the dimly lit, damp sewer it had always been.
Everyone turned to look at Naruto. That...didn't sound too good.
"That's honestly revolting." the Schee said, scrunching her nose up.
"Blame him and his decision-making skills!" Naruto informed, pointing at his dad, who sqwaked.
"Excuse me?!"
"Well, what did you THINK my life was going to leave me with, a feild of dasies?! If a person's mindscape reflects their mental state, and their mental state is likewise reflects their life experences, what did you think my life would be like after what you did when I was a newborn, dad?!" Naruto snapped.
Kushina growled, cracking her knuckled and glaring at her husband, who gulped, paled and whimpered at her expression. Whenever his wife's hair started to rise up like nine fox tails the way it was now, he knew he was in deep shit!
"Not my failt!" he yelped. It wasn't like he wanted things to go so wrong that night!
Admittedly it was far better than the seal his previous container, Naruto's own mother, had used, Kurama had very much so grown used to having a vast majority of his freedom back. The past year was the first in near a hundred years that the fox was able to freely roam and stretch.
He had been stuck inside his first Jinchuuriki, Mito Uzumaki, for close to a hundred years where said Uzumaki had kept him immobile with the use of seals. That wasn't so bad, but she didn't even let him scratch any itches that popped up and that shit is not fun.
Then there was Naruto's mother, Kushina, who had kept him chained to a massive fucking slab of rock with her chakra chains. Not only was he still unable to scratch any itches, she had the nerve to crucify him, pinning his limbs and tails down to the slab and there he had stayed for almost twenty years.
"Hey, I wasn't who designed that seal!" Kushina defended.
While severely pissed when he found himself sealed into yet another Uzumaki, Kurama was grateful that at least Naruto's seal let him scratch any itches he had and didn't involve having sharp pointing things stabbed into his body.
But Kurama was nothing if not vain and as such he took pride in his lustrous fur. The moisture in the sewer that was Naruto's mind was hell on his fur and it had taken months to remedy the damage done to it.
There was no way in hell Kurama was voluntarily going back in that cramped hellhole.
Naruto knew all of this and enjoyed using the threat of the seal on the normally high and mighty Kitsune.
However team RWBY had gone through things they didn't want to discuss in pursuit of the fox and so were not satisfied with just scaring Kurama.
"Bet not." Ren said.
Stalking over to her fellow blond, Yang invaded Naruto's personal space bubble and vehemently spoke, "Foxy, if you know what's good for you you'll hand over that evil ball of fur. Right. Now."
Naruto looked between the angry visage of Yang and Kurama trying to be as cute as was possible and weighed his options. On one hand Kurama was an important part of his life and had grown to become something of a close friend within the past year or so. On the other hand Yang was a girl he had known for only a few days. However if there was one thing Naruto had learned in his seventeen years of life it was this; when a girl is angry and you have a way to make her happy or appease that anger, you better damn well do it if you want to live.
"Smart man..." everyone nodded; the females in satisfaction, the males in aggrement with Naruto's survival instincts.
Shrugging Naruto spoke, "Sorry buddy, Yang scares me more than you do."
Grabbing Kurama by the scruff of his neck, Naruto tossed the crying fox to a maliciously grinning Ruby and Weiss. Yang's once angry face became her usual cheeky grin and she addressed Naruto, "Aww, you know just what to say to a girl."
The buxom blonde offered Naruto a flirtatious wink before walking off to join the rest of her team in exacting revenge.
Naruto offered a quick prayer to Kami, asking that Kurama retain his sanity and the will power to survive the wrath of four angry teen females.
Naruto, Ren, Minato, and Jaune all leaned back and salluted, humming a fruneral march for the fox's sake. Poor Kurama.
The blond male was surprised when he turned around to see Pyrrha standing just behind him with a curious look on her face. No doubt she had just seen the last of the exchange between Naruto and team RWBY and was wondering what had happened to lead up to the odd scene she had walked in on.
"I would..." Pyrrha said.
Naruto just shook his head and patted the red head on her shoulder, "It's best if you don't know."
That only raised more questions in Pyrrha's mind, but looking at the way the normally stoic Blake was grinning like the cat who had caught the canary as she and the others left, the deadly beauty of team NNPR agreed that maybe it was best she didn't know.
Pyrrha nodded, she also agreed with her other self about that.
Switching topics, Naruto decided to ask the question of why Pyrrha was in the cafeteria as well.
The red head smiled and replied, "Well Ren said you had come to get us some food, but that was a half hour ago so I figured you might need some help carrying up all the food."
Naruto chuckled nervously only now realizing how long he had been standing there "concentrating".
"Whoops?"
Pyrhha giggled at her friend and captain before gesturing at the carts that sat in the corner, "It's fine, but let's grab a cart and head up to the room. I don't think Nora can go any longer without her pancakes."
Knowing that denying Nora her pancakes was like denying him his ramen,
"Ahh...so that's how it is, eh?" Nora said with a thoughtful nod. She understood Naruto's oppinion of ramen perfectly now.
Naruto agreed and grabbed a cart before helping Pyrrha to pile the food on top of it.
As the two teens made their way back to their room, Pyrrha decided to sate her curiosity over Naruto and his weapon.
"Hey Naruto?"
Hearing his name, the blond turned and acknowledged Pyrrha with a nod, wondering what she was going to ask him now. Part of him already knew she was going to ask him some question that had to due
"Sorry for being nit picky, but why does it have D-U-E when it should be D-O." Blake asked.
with his past or something with how frequently they had those kind of conversations.
It wasn't a bad thing really and they often talked about other random things on the way to class or during their down time, but anytime Pyrrha saw him fight or he vaguely mentioned something about his home, the red head would eventually come to him with questions.
Not that he minded at all. It felt good to talk about Konoha and his friends with someone who was genuinely interested in him and what he had to say.
"Well I know you said that names meant a lot back in your home village so I was wondering why you named your weapon The Will of Fire."
The five Konoha ninja all sighed with nostalga at that.
Naruto smiled as he almost immediately lost himself in memories at hearing the phrase that had shaped and given birth to his childhood dream, a dream he had before he even truly understood what it meant.
"In my home village we had this...philosophy that each of our warriors fought and died for, the belief that their sacrifices were not in vain. Our leader, the Hokage, was supposed to be the epitome of this, they were to see the entire village as one big family - their family. Growing up an oprhan
The Uzumaki family and Mikoto all cringed.
"...I HATE that "O"-word...!" Natuto shuddered.
, well the one thing I always wanted was a family and what better family could you have than your entire home village?"
Ruby sniffed. That...that was beautiful!
Pyrrha couldn't help, but to grow even more respect for Naruto. He had aspired to become the leader of his home, not out of an attempt for more power or authority, but because he wanted to have a family, he wanted to have a reason to fight.
Pyrrha nodded along with her other self. That was deeply respectable. She admired it.
Of course it was hard to miss the almost factual manner in which Naruto admitted to his having grown up an oprhan.
"Could you please stop using THAT WORD already?!" Naruto said.
It seemed that because of this Will of Fire, Naruto understood what it meant to be a great and compassionate leader.
She was surprised though when Naruto continued further, delving deeper into his past.
"But my godfather taught me a different part to the Will of Fire. He believed that not only could it make Konoha a safe and amazing place for all people, but that by spreading the Will of Fire, through loving each other, peace would be possible."
The group from Remnent all gasped in sheer awe at that. THAT was Naruto's goal?!
In a flurry of rose petals, Naruto suddenly found himself being glomped by a very emotional, deeply touched Ruby as she wept in sheer adoration for what the ideals that made up the Will of Fire meant.
It was this statement that made Pyrrha pause in her steps, shocked at not just what her blond friend said, but also the conviction with which he said it. Turning to look at Naruto, Pyrhha was awed by not only the sheer belief Naruto put into those words, but also at her own thoughts that maybe this young man - who was brash, unpredictable, and most often a goofball - could pull it off.
"I appreciate the faith, Pyrrha." Naruto smiled at her.
Peace was something that almost all Hunters and Huntresses strode for, in some small capacity, whether that peace be peace with one's self or with those around you. Pyrhha was no different. However it was clear that Naruto wasn't aiming for something like that. No he was aiming for something on a much larger scale.
And some small part of her actually believed Naruto was fully capable of achieving that.
Coming back to her senses, Pyrrha realized that they had managed to make it back to their room without anything odd occuring.
"Really? Huh...that's weird considering our group..." Jaune said.
"Well, Kurama is taking a bullet...maybe that has something to do with it?" Kakashi drawled.
She giggled though when she saw how childishly excited Naruto looked as he hurriedly opened the door and plopped himself down with his several bowls of ramen. It was amazing how quickly the blond could go from speaking with the charisma and passion of a leader who fully believed in their cause to being the goofball he usually was.
Grabbing her own plate of food, Pyrrha joined the rest of her team as they chatted, a smile on her face as she allowed her mind to have one last thought on the topic, 'And I wouldn't want it any other way.'
"That's it for this chapter. Anyone up for a break?" Minato asked, closing the book.
Everyone nodded as they stood and stretched.