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As soon as the book was set down, Mikoto abruptly stood and bolted into one of the other rooms.
Naruto frowned. Ok...he was getting to the bottom of that. Mikoto was acting weird. Granted, he hadn't known the Uchiha woman, having only seen her in passing when she'd picked up Sasule from the academy when they were both little kids, but one couldn't be a jinchuriki without learning to read people. It was a survival skill. And Mikoto was making it obvious she was being eaten away at by something.
At a look from his mother, he stood and followed Mikoto.
Entering the room Mikoto was occupying, Naruto yelped as he saw the space around her spiraling inwards, holding a senbone needle, and muttering to herself about "better this way".
With a yelp at realizing Mikoto intended to suck herself into her own Kamui then gorge her own eyes out with a needle to strand herself there, Naruto lunged and caught her by the wrist as her head started to get sucked in.
At the grip on her wrist, Mikoto halted sucking herself into her own kamui. But seeing who it was, she jerked away like she had been burned.
"Ok...what reason were you trying to trap youself in your own pocket dimension?!" Naruto demanded,
"I deserve it! After everything...I deserve to be hated, you have that right more than anyone!"
"WHAT?! Why do you want me to hate you so much?! Huh?! What reason would make you want to have me hate you, much less enough to where I'd let you do something like that to yourself?!" Naruto snapped.
Mikoto laughed brokenly, spreading her hands wide, "Given all my abject failings in life, why shouldn't I be hated?! I failed to stop Fugaku-teme from ripping apart Itachi's childhood at four years old; WHAT kind of a father takes his four-year-old son to see a mountain range of corpses and tells him he was suppose to add to lists of deaths because he was expected to like it was a good thing?!
"Wait...WHAT?!" Naruto yelped. Itachi's dad had done WHAT?! Good lord! Just how much of an unfeeling, stick-in-the-ass-sideways bastardhad Itachi and Sauke's father been?!
Mikoto nodded "Imagin how I felt hearing that from Itachi AFTER my eldest was killed! He kept something that horrific bottled up inside him for all that time, I couldn't save my son since it was already too late!...then there was how I did nothing about the Uchiha's attempt at a coup, even though I didn't even WANT it to happen! That resulted in Itachi being forced to slaughter our entire clan...he spared Sasuke because he couldn't bring himself to kill his little brother, but Sasuke became so black-hearted and it just kept getting darker and darker until there was nothing left but an endless abyss of murderous hatred that he became an international criminal just so he could have more people to hate and kill after committing Fratricide! And worst of all; I failed both YOU AND KUSHINA —the life you could have had and the role the Uchiha Clan had in destroying it, how I never even helped you...Kushina Uzumaki was my best friend and more importantly your mother, and I failed by not adopting you and taking care of my best friend's son the one time she really needed me—after she and Minato died and you were orphaned! I didn't even get to see you onceor ever let you know I knew her! I've done nothing but fail the people who truly mattered to me when they needed me most over and over again!"
Naruto winced at that, sympathy and pity reigned supreme among his emotions towards Mikoto after hearing that. Truth be told, he didn't blame or hate her for that. Given Fugaku's plans, as well as the Uchiha's and Kurama's history with one another (a large case in point being that madman Madara's showcasing his Sharingan hypnosis being used on the kitsune way back when during his fight with the First Hokage) it would only have ended poorly in one way or another if she tried giving Naruto a home and family by taking him in. Even if people didn't misinterpret why she would take him in, Kurama would have gone absolutely rabid for the ways the Uchiha Clan wronged him in the past. If that didn't happen, the rest of the Uchiha clan would have wanted to see Naruto become weaponized for them to use. If Mikoto gave Naruto the kind of life he deserved, then he would have developed a sense of attachment to her that the rest of the Uchiha clan would have exploited. Worse case scenario, they would have tried breaking the seal open to use Kurama...
"It's OK Mikoto, it wasn't your fault." Naruto reassured the distressed woman.
Mikoto gave a hollow smile. She was glad that Naruto was forgiving, but that only fueled her guilt. Not her fault?! "I both could and should have acted against Fugaku...developed a counterinsurgency within the Uchiha Clan...sometthing...anything..."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Now you're just torturing yourself by dwelling on what could've been and having it eat away at you the more you do so as a way you can stay in self-loathing. Sure you knew about the coup, but it seems to me that was more along the lines of it being that Itachi was the ONLY one within the clan who COULD to warn about the coup. No one else.
Think about it Mikoto...Itachi was the perfect choice to inform the Hokage. Not only did the clan trusted him completely as the most powerful Uchiha seen since Madara, but he also had the best connections to pass on the information as an ANBU Black Ops Captain, who gets his orders directly from the Hokage. Especially given that since it was the POLICE who were out to take over, they would have been watchful hawks within the system, so they would have used their position to their advantage and silenced anyone the moment they suspected someone was leaking information. What COULD you have gotten away with?"
Mikoto flinched. The truth in that stung. What could she have done to halt the plans of the Uchiha clan? Especally with the poison of Madara's legacy becoming so potant within so many of their members?
"Hey...you have the Mangekyō Sharingan? But you aren't the type for the horrendous atrocities that are usually committed to obtain that level. Your too humane for that." Naruto said, trying to find a topic that wouldn't leave her feeling guilty.
At that, Mikoto's Mangekyō Sharingan, which was in the form of two overlapping trefoils of red on black looked back at Naruto sadly"The Mangekyō Sharingan is triggered by a great emotional surge that accompanies a highly traumatic event. It was between Kushina's death and my own failings to take care of you that gave me this, how couldn't I not get it?" she asked.
Naruto winced at that. That was actually the opposite of what he intended. "I'm so sorry." he apologized, the words tasted ashen, stale, and hollow in his mouth.
Mikoto shook her head. "It's ok, you didn't know. But, about that part about me being too humane, I actually find it funny—if I ever deserved to say I was one in the first place, given how I made so many regrets by playing the obedient housewife, pretending all of the most important things were someone else's problems...I realize now that I gave up all the power to change things willingly."
Naruto shrugged, "Everyone has regrets. Makes mistakes. Besides, you were married to a guy that thought making his son see a mountain range of corpses and telling him he was suppose to add to lists of deaths because he was expected to like it was a good thing, you said that about Fugaku yourself! Tell me, does THAT sound like a guy that wouldn't beat and press the life and willfulness out of the people around him until they forgot what it was like to decide things for themselves?"
Mikoto sighed. That was true...Itachi had changed after that. Blocked nearly everyone else out...she couldn't help him because of that. If she had, then things could and might have gone differently with the history of her clan and the legacy of the Uchiha.
She took a deep breath, looking down at her hands, "Fugaku...he hated your father, you know...said that if people could make such a fuss over Minato, why wasn't any of the Uchiha recognized during the third War, or why didn't anyone nominate HIM for Hokage. Idiot...the Uchiha Clan's bitterness was undeserved for one simple factor: They disregarded Madara's legacy in regards to how the Uchiha Clan was viewed, not in Konoha, but just as, if even not more importantly, the OTHER villages around it. The Third Ninja War was Konoha against Iwagakure, something which played a significant factor in why Fugaku wasn't considered for Hokage.
Madara had, in the past, approached iwa at what was SUPPOSED to be a peace treaty, and declared that despite the alliance between their villages Konoha was to remain the dominant one and anything that Konohagakure requested, Iwagakure was to obey, all while Madara proceeded to use his abilites to demolish their village and kill their people.
Ōnoki, who was a suvivor of Madara's assult on Iwagakure, was the current Tsuchikage during the Third War. Looking at those facts, it would be safe to assume Ōnoki would have seen it as an insult if there was a Hokage from Madara's clan right after Hiruzen had established a policy of reconciliation to bring an end to the fighting with an unprecedented offer to not seek reparations from Iwagakure, and the war would have resumed as soon as Fugaku was sworn in as Hokage and more people would have died."
Naruto sighed. "Guy was a Jonin and a cop...figuring things like that out was part of both his jobs. Yet he was so bitter, he only saw how he wasn't made a Kage? I get not liking feeling slighted, but..." he trailed off, not needing to finish.
Mikoto nodded. "I know. Bound by the past, lost in lust for power, blind to the future...its another of the dangerous flaws of the Uchiha..." she sighed, looking miserable.
"Bound by the past, huh? So how is that any different than how you're being right now?" Naruto questioned bluntly.
Mikoto stared at him.
Naruto decided to explain himself upon seeing her expression. "Look, you were in a position where you wanted to help, but there were things that took the choice to be able to out of your hands! You think I don't get that?! All that means is that you're a victim too! Why are you beating yourself up over not being able to help me when I was a kid when it's obvious there were things in the way you couldn't do anything about? I'm thankful you care...but how is your chewing on past regrets going to rewrite time and fix my life?"
Taking a deep breath, Mikoto went silent. She knew Naruto was right. It wouldn't help him...
Naruto reached out and took Mikoto's hands, causing her to look up at him. He smiled. "Never too late to find a way to make things right. You just have to want to make the choice and find a sense of redemption for whatever it is that's hurting your conscience. Just takes things going a step at a time."
Mikoto felt her eyes sting with tears and she grabbed Naruto, pulling him into a hug, clinging to him feircely and the Uchiha woman started bawling, allowing herself to completely break down.
Naruto held the woman as she wept, patting her on the back, "There, there. It's ok...it's going to be ok..." he said in a gentle, soothing tone.
Kushina smiled as she looked at her son and her best friend. She had a feeling that was the case about Mikoto's behavior.
As much as she wanted to help Mikoto, there was only one person that could honestly aid her. She needed to allow herself to feel Naruto had granted her absolution.
Sure it hurt that she couldn't help Mikoto herself, but it was the difference between "want" and "need". Kushina had wanted to help, but Mikoto needed Naruto to help her. And as long as her old friend was able to clear her conscience, Kushina was ok with that.
"I'll read this one."
"WAIT...!" Jaune cried, "We can't start yet! I haven't found anything to tape this with!"
Blake nodded.
"You'il both be too busy laughing to properly record thing while Cardin's publicly made a fool of, guys. Sorry about that." Naruto said.
"Damnit!" The two teams all swore!
"Ladies and gentleman, are you all ready!?"
"YEAH!" The Remnent-born teens all cheered, looking forward to this!
The question that boomed out from the sound system that was built into each of Beacon Academy's arenas was answered by a roar of applause and general noise making. Very few of the people watching took any stake in either of the competitors, only being there to see what would no doubt be an entertaining fight and knowing who was fighting, how could it not be?
"Aim to please!" Naruto said, buffing his knuckles on his shirt.
On one side was Naruto Uzumaki who had begun to make a name for himself at the prestigious academic institution. Many knew him as the carefree and goofy blond who could make a joke out of most anything. There was also a large portion of the male populace, and some of the female students, who envied him for being so close with Pyrrha Nikos.
Both Naruto and Pyrrha went pink in the cheeks at that.
Despite all that though, many also knew the blond was not one to be messed with. It was proven time and time again in the various battle oriented classes that the blond was a surprisingly genius strategist and was more than capable of holding his own against both Grimm and fellow Huntsmen.
The ninjas shrugged. Clashing with enemy ninja and beings like the Tailed Beasts made Grimm and school kid-Huntsmen pretty tame by compairison.
Cardin, while not as seemingly intelligent as his blond opponent,
"That's an understatment!" Yang snorted as RWBY and JNPR all laughed.
was still the captain of his team and such a position was not so easily gained with people like Ozpin and Glynda being the deciding factors on how teams were formed.
That killed the amusment.
Regardless of who won, the ensuing fight was sure to be entertaining.
The announcer, a nondescript older male student who had volunteered for the job, rallied the crowd of teens with another booming call, "I said! Are! You! READY!?"
"Start the fight already!" Nora cried.
"I wanna see Cardin get clobbered!" Jaune snarled vindictivly, agreeing with his hammer-using teammate.
The arena near shook from the volume of the applause and shouting the crowd let loose in response. In the observation deck that looked down on both the audience and the actual battlefield, the professors of Beacon sat, watching as their students let out their inner teenager.
Glynda Goodwitch, the stern woman that she was, held a displeased frown on her face. She had been against Ozpin's decision to turn the young Uzumaki and Winchester's "punishment" into a sporting event, but loathe as she was to admit it, Ozpin was her boss and held final say in all matters regarding Beacon and its students, within reason of course.
"Ugh! What a prudish old bat!" Kushina said, scrunching up her face in disgust.
"I hear ya! Sing it sister!" Yang laughed. Damn...she liked this Kushina woman!
Ozpin himself stood, leaning against his ever present cane, sipping on his mug of coffee. His face betrayed nothing, his silver orbs trained intently on the, as of now, empty field below.
Many of his staff had questioned his decision to allow something like this to take place, none more vocal in their protests than his old friend and vice-principal, Glynda.
"Do not like that old lady..." Naruto grumbled, he hated prudes, and he was still pissed how the woman had stopped his giving Cardin "Sir Asshole" Winchester a well-deserved fist to the face last chapter.
Of course many took this as Ozpin's eccentricities rearing their head, but this was far from the truth.
"Oh?" Kakashi asked, interested.
Ozpin was many things, but foolish was not one of them. He was keenly aware of the delicate situation that had consumed the Faunus people. Personally he would love to see the illogical discrimination against Faunus gone,
Blake perked up at that. So Ozpin was a Faunus-supporter?
but as the head of Beacon and a key player in Vale and her politics, he knew he could not make his opinions vocal. Not with the White Fang being so prominent at least.
Blake deflated at that. Her body shaking and looking down as her eyes stung with the threat of unshead tears. Of all the...DAMNIT! WHY?! The White Fang preventing those who wanted to support Faunus?! Why the hell did the organization her father started as an equal rights movement fall so damned far!?
Damn the way the White Fang began using terrorism to further its newer and older agendas under Sienna Khan's leadership after her dad stepped down!
She jerked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up, she saw Yang giving her a somber, understanding, sympathetic look as she gave her partner's shoulder a comforting squeeze.
Blake had to keep from throwning her arms around Yang's waist and weeping. It was so frustrating!
All changing to fear tatics did was make the Faunus look like rabbid, murderous beasts to both the ones who did and didn't already feel that way! All because the Faunus wanted instantious results!
And those who supported Faunus were unable to do so as long as there were those like Adam and Sienna out there! Damnit! Why was it the status que to feel force and death were to ONLY options to things?!
How come, no matter what, the gap that kept the Faunus from equality just kept widening?!
Seeing Blake's reaction and all of them figuring what was going through her mind, everyone looked at the weeping girl in black with their hearts aching and going out to her. Poor Blake...
Still he was less than happy with one of his students, a bright and strong Huntress to be at that, being treated in such a manner. He was also less than pleased with the manner in which his own staff members handled the situation, but that was a talk for another time.
Hearing that, Blake recomposed herself a bit. It was good for her heart and soul to know there were those that didn't see the fallen, corrupt White Fang as represenitive of the Faunus as a whole and still treated them as people...the ones around her right now were all proof of that.
If he could he would have actually liked to give young Naruto a pat on the back for acting in defense of a fellow student. Unfortunately due to his position he could not do so and so Ozpin decided to settle for the next best thing, giving the blond enigma the chance to finish what Glynda had stopped.
"I can work with that!" Naruto smirked.
In this way not only would he allow those who wished to see Cardin get his comeuppance, himself included, see just that, but it would also make it seem like he didn't condone the young Uzumaki's brash actions without actually having to punish said teen. A win-win situation for all really.
Well except for Cardin, but he deserved what was coming to him so that didn't matter really.
"Any chance I could go to Beacon...This Ozpin guy seriously rocks!" Naruto laughed.
Kakash blinked. Naruto...liked the way this Ozpin guy worked..enough to willingly want to go to a school in order to meet him?!
"First up is Cardin Winchester, captain of team CRDL (Cardinal)!"
At that, the readers all booed and jeered.
The crowd of teens clapped, though there was no real vigor to it, none either liking the smug looking teen or not wanting to reveal their own prejudices against Faunus.
"Ok...the first half of that group that dislikes Cardin, I like. The other half...can I knock their teeth in?" Naruto asked.
"Get in line, Foxy...get in line." Yang responded, cracking her knuckles..
Despite the lack luster greeting, the tall brunette teen managed to look as cocky as was possible, his weapon, a mace, situated on his shoulder. Garbed in armor that looked reminiscent of the kind worn in the days of the Knights, the teen managed to at least look the part of a warrior.
Kushina snorted. "Look the part...yeah right! How much will looking be worth without the spine to back it up with action?!"
Jaune leaned back, resting his hands behind his head, looking a bit cocky at that. Oh...that reminder of Cardin's armor having rust stains between the waist and knees at Forever Fall after Jaune had saved his sorry butt made him feel good when he remembered Cardin blackmailing him.
"His opponent tonight is Naruto Uzumaki, leader of team NNPR!"
"Here we go!" Naruto grinned.
As the blond teen calmly walked out from the shadows of the competitors hall, the stadium erupted into cheers.
"Oh hell yeah! Welcome fit for the entrince of a hero!" Nora cheered.
"I'm no hero." Naruto said.
"That's up to the people around you, and they've decided: you're the hero. Seeing as you wanting to protect an innocent person is what lead to all this, seems to fit they recognize you that way!" Ruby said happily, stars in her eyes.
Minato, Kushina and Kakashi all laughed in agreement with the pair of Huntresses-in-training.
Even amongst the wall of noise that slammed into him, Naruto was easily able to make out the sounds of Yang, Ruby, Nora, and even Pyrrha cheering him on. With his enhanced hearing he was able to pinpoint where it came from and lo and behold there they sat, right at the first row of seats opposite the entrance he had come through.
"Front row view of the entrince of our friend." Ruby smiled..
"Not to mention with Cardin coming through the entrince you guys are over, you could harrass him, too." Kushina supplied. She never did like bullies and was known for beating them to bloody pulps bare-handed when she was still in the Academy.
Blake, Yang and Nora all slapped a hand to their foreheads D'oh! They had passed that up!
Ruby, Yang, and Nora, being the more boisterous of his group of friends, were proudly and loudly cheering whilst waving a rather large banner that stated in bright orange letters, "Kick some butt Naruto!"
"You know it, guys!" Naruto promised with a laugh.
Locking eyes with them, Naruto chuckled at their exuberance and waved to them. His eyes trailed over Weiss who was trying to look as uninterested as she could, though it was clear from the smirk on her face that she had all the confidence that Naruto could defeat Cardin.
The Schnee girl nodded with a flip of her hair to draw added effect.
He shared a silent nod with Blake, the feline Faunus offering a smile and a wave of a little flag that bore the signature Uzumaki spiral on it.
"Where did you get that?" Kushina asked, amused, finding the small, hand-held pennant flag with the Uzumaki spiral cute as the way Blake's counterpart was showing her support for her son.
His eyes then traveled to meet with his only male friend, Ren, who only nodded at him in acknowledgement.
Finally his eyes locked with the bright green eyes of Pyrrha who was wildly waving about her own little flag.
Kushina burst into a small giggle fit at that.
"Look like you're having fun in the stands, Pyrrha." Yang teased.
"Yang, lay off. Naruto's a good guy. Why shouldn't his friends be supportive?" Ruby said.
Pyrrha smiled. Ruby wasn't wrong about that.
The red head offered a smile and mouthed the words, "You can do it," to him. In return Naruto smiled and nodded before giving her a cheesy thumbs up, causing her to giggle at his carefree behavior.
Minato and Kushina smiled at one another, nostalgic. Kushina had acted that way when Minato was in the third part of the Chunin exams...
What surprised him though was when he saw that team CFVY was seated not too far from his friends, cheering him on in their own way. The sunglasses wearing leader of the team used a finger to lower said shades down just far enough to offer him a flirtatious wink, something quite a few people noticed, his own team included.
Naruto blushed.
The bunny eared Faunus of the team smiled demurely at him and clapped loudly to show her support
Everyone smiled at Velet's actions, Naruto mentally compairing the long-eared Faunus to Hinata.
while the male members of the team quietly nodded at him, obviously not being ones for many words.
"You ready to lose blondie?" Cardin called out from across the arena.
"Famous last words..." Kakashi said with a smile under his mask.
Naruto decided that if his opponent wanted to try trash talk this early, he was going to begin his own little mind games as well, and who better to do that then one of the students of Kakashi Hatake?
Kakashi blinked at that. Then smiled at Naruto. Feeling proud of this moment. Now alkthe former Copy Ninja had to worry about was Naruto's other self using that move with Kushina watching this fight.
Taking a page out of his sensei's book Naruto slackened his posture and casually slipped his hands into his pants' pockets, closing his eyes and offering a lazy smile to top it all off, "Hmm? Did you say something?"
Everyone either giggled or chuckled at that, Kakashi looking at the impersonation critically. "Not too bad so far." he admitted.
'Now if only I knew how Kakashi-sensei did that weird eye thing,' Naruto thought to himself.
Blake studdied Kakashi's face. "Looks like a fish that has lazy eyes." she deduced.
"I do not!" Kakashi replied.
"When you're lazy, you do." Blake rebuttled.
To his credit Cardin only looked annoyed by Naruto's antics, "Tch, whatever. The faster I kick your ass the faster I can finish my stupid punishment."
"Let the show begin!" Yang smirked.
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly in response, having been underestimated for a vast majority of his life he was used to it now. A few years ago he would have answered back to Cardin's insult by trying to show the "teme" just how strong he really was. Now? He could care less what someone like Cardin thought of him.
In the end it also benefitted him. Cardin thinking so little of him would give Naruto that much more of an advantage. It would also give the blond the satisfaction of humiliating Cardin in front of a huge chunk of Beacon's student body.
"Gonna enjoy that." Naruto confessed.
Seeing that the two males were ready to go and would more than likely start the fight soon regardless of if he started the match, the portly Professor Port stepped between Naruto and Cardin and spoke in a voice that boomed throughout the stadium, "This will be a match between Cardin Winchester and Naruto Uzumaki. The terms of the match have been set before this and these two young lads have already agreed to them. The Aura shields are up so feel free to let loose, but I will intervene if I feel it is getting out of hand."
"Oh, so the rules of the Chunin Exams, eh?" Naruto blinked.
Naruto and Cardin nodded at the rules of the fight, having already heard from both Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin about the rules earlier that morning.
"Ready?...Begin!"
"Finally!"
With speed belying his body shape and size, Professor Port jumped away from what would no doubt become a miniature warzone.
Cardin was quick to rush in, speeding towards Naruto with his mace poised to strike. Naruto seemed to be unfazed by this and stood there, looking as lazy as was possible.
Naruto nodded. "Wait for it..." he muttered.
With a heave, Cardin gave a mighty horizontal swing of his weapon, intent on slamming it into Naruto's ribs which, even with the shields up, would no doubt crack some bones if it hit.
And Naruto may have an abnormally fast healing factor thanks to his mother,
Kushina smirked at that.
but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain. He just had a higher tolerance for it than most.
Still with that same lazy posture the blond ducked underneath the swing. With the balance and agility that came with being a trained shinobi, Naruto answered back with a swift side kick, throwing Cardin's feet out from under him and putting said teen flat on his ass with a surprised expression on his face.
RWBY and JNPR both laughed at the expression on Cardin's face.
Naruto simply hopped away, creating space between himself and the still dazed Cardin. Deciding to add insult to injury, the blond Jinchuuriki let out a yawn, causing the crowd to erupt into laughs at the dumbstruck look on Cardin's face.
"I feel so proud." Kakashi admitted plesently.
Clearly getting progressively angrier due to his opponent not taking him seriously and with the sounds of derisive laughter aimed at him not helping that, Cardin leapt to his feet and was racing towards Naruto yet again.
Our blond protagonist
"More poking at the Fourth Wall!" Yang laughed.
for his part looked as carefree as if he was taking a stroll through the park. When Cardin raised his mace high into the air, making it very clear that he planned to pummel Naruto into the ground, the Jinchuuriki kept the same bland look on his face.
When the weapon was inches away from slamming into the blond's cranium, Naruto's friends began to worry. When Cardin's weapon smashed into the ground and a cloud of dust was kicked up, they really began to worry, and even Professor Port was ready to rush back to the field to see if the young Uzumaki was still alive after a blow like that.
Naruto, Kakashi, Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto couldn't help but all scoff at that. What kind of decent shinobi would let such a blaringly obvious blow hit? Naruto's other self wasn't going to just stand there and take it as if he were a wall!
What happened next simultaneously had people laughing and teams RWBY and NNPR on the verge of a heart attack.
"You really shouldn't let your opponents get behind you."
Kakashi snickered. He remembered telling Naruto that.
The next thing Cardin knew, he had a mouth full of dirt.
Up in the stands three very confused members of team RWBY applauded while attempting to figure just how in the world Naruto not only got behind Cardin without anyone in the stands noticing, but how he had managed to trip the brunette from so far away as well.
Deciding that he
"He?" Jaune asked.
"Suuppossed to be the word "the", but the "T" is missing." Mikoto said, studying the way the sentince was set up.
best person to ask was Pyrrha, someone he was known to spar with often, Ruby spoke, "Hey Pyrrha! How did Naruto manage to do all of that without anyone noticing?"
Keeping her eyes glued to the match below, Pyrrha replied, "Naruto is fast, amazingly so. I don't know exactly how fast, but I've seen him just disappear. As for tripping Cardin, look closely."
Deciding to listen, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss peered closely at Naruto and Cardin. As Naruto casually dodged yet another swing from Cardin, the light reflected off of something, causing them to scratch their heads.
Before they could ask what it was, Blake spoke aloud, "Ninja wire. So thin it's almost impossible to see, but strong enough to cut through skin."
"Whoa..." Ruby said.
Pyrrha nodded, "Correct. He usually keeps a spool of it in the pouch on his hip."
Naruto nodded.
The three members of RWBY turned to their raven haired teammate quizzically, "How did you know that Blake?"
Just as focused on the match as team NNPR, the teen Faunus answered without looking at her teammates, "Because that's where I got the idea for my ribbons."
Blake nodded and the group of shinobi all grinned at her. They had a feeling that was the case.
Seeing Naruto dodge out of the way of yet another of Cardin's swings only for her to pull on the thin wires causing the mace wielder to trip and fall again, team RWBY could see how Blake got the idea for her ribbons.
Blake gave Naruto a small grin, nodding at his ability with the ninja wire.
However there was a difference in the style in which Blake and Naruto used their chosen materials. Blake used them in tandem with her main weapon, making it all that much more deadly. Naruto was using it as his only weapon, showing just how good he was at using them and how much more skilled he was than Cardin in general.
To the spectators this meant that Naruto must have trained extensively in the use of ninja wire.
"As if! Nice guess, though, fokes!" Naruto smirked.
Of course that was from the truth. Naruto had just always liked using the stuff to help him in his pranks.
"Really?" Ruby asked.
Naruto nodded.
He was also far and away from being a master at using the ninja tool. The only master he had encountered had been a rogue nin by the name of Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sands). Said rogue was a deadly threat not only because of his talent with ninja wire and its chakra equivalent, Chakra Strings, but because of how he used them to control hundreds of deadly human puppets,
"Human puppets?" Yang asked, then looked at Naruto, "You find puppets creepy?"
"...Guy was known for making poison-and-weapon-rigged puppets out of the dead bodies of people he killed..." Naruto shuddered.
The two Remnent teams looked horrified at that. Ok...that was just goulish and twisted!
commanding them with the slightest twitches of his fingers.
That and Cardin was just wildly swinging about in hopes of hitting him. Honestly how poorly had the rest of this guy's team done for him to be named captain?
"I don't even wanna know." Minato winced.
"Grimm must have seen them as too pathetic to eat." Kushina summed up.
At first Naruto thought it was simply because he had been trained as a Shinobi, but that went out the window quickly. Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren, and even Nora put up far more of a fight than this guy did so it wasn't that there was that huge of a gap between shinobi and Huntsmen.
The mentioned teens all smiled, pleased at the praise.
Tripping Cardin again by pulling on the ninja wire wrapped around his ankles, Naruto sighed before using a small burst of Fuuton (Wind Release) Chakra to cut the thin wires, freeing Cardin from their coils.
"Ugh...he's so pathetic that I'm having to get ready to end this already?" Naruto moaned, "What a waste of time!"
Naruto had thought there would be more fun in messing with Cardin, but now it was just getting boring. If he was free to use his Jutsu then he would have been free to really pull off some funny and humiliating pranks, but with Ozpin and half the school watching so closely, that wouldn't be the smartest of ideas.
Jaune muttered about being cheated at that.
Shrugging the blond Jinchuuriki decided to humiliate Cardin some other time where he would really be able to put his prankster skills to work.
Everyone smirked at that.
As Cardin blindly rushed him, yet again, Naruto decided that he had wasted enough time and energy. Right as Cardin was inches from him, Naruto moved to the side, his arm held straight out. Before Cardin realized what happened, he was gasping for air while hung over his opponent's outstretched arm.
"Moron!" Naruto scowled. He hated this, it was too easy! He felt like a bully just watching and hearing this.
"Cardin is pathetic." Minato said with a frown.
Moving his arm out from under Cardin, who now looked like an upside down U, Naruto slammed his elbow into brunette's spine with devastating force. Many had no doubt that had the Aura barriers not been up, Cardin would have possibly been paralyzed with as powerful as Naruto had hit him.
"Yikes..." Yang and Nora both winced.
Even still the Aura shields could only do so much and the leader of CRDL would no doubt have a nasty bruise on his back by the end of the day.
"You know for a guy that talked so much trash about me, I'd thought you'd put up a better fight. Guess I was wrong," Naruto shrugged.
Naruto nodded along with his other at that.
As he taunted his downed opponent, Naruto now understood why some of his opponents liked to do it so much. It really was pretty fun to mess with your opponents. Then again they ended up getting their asses handed to them, because they had underestimated him. If anything he had been overestimating Cardin though.
As said teen rose to his feet, an angry snarl on his face, Naruto had to give it to the guy, he could take a hit. The clothesline alone would have put a lesser opponent down for a few minutes. Cardin had tanked not only that but the elbow drop as well and was still getting up.
Still not having learned his lesson, Cardin bum rushed Naruto one last time. Naruto raised an eyebrow before shrugging. Prepared to end the fight with one last decisive blow, the blond teen decided at the last minute to go out with a bang.
"Uh oh," Pyrrha said as she saw the look now on Naruto's face.
Weiss, along with the others, was curious to know why Pyrhha suddenly seemed so worried, "What? Blondie's got this one in the bag, so why 'Uh oh'?"
"Because whenever Naruto has that look on his face, it means someone is about to be embarrassed. I just feel bad for Cardin."
"Why?!" Jaune asked his partner.
Pyrrha shrugged.
Near leaping from her seat, Yang cheered loudly, "I don't! Cough him up like a hairball Foxy!"
"I hope you know I find that offensive." Blake said giving her partner a dull glare.
Yang chuckled nervously.
Those near the exuberant blonde of team RWBY put palm to face at the less than funny attempt at humor.
"Ibiki would like her jokes." Naruto said.
"The head of the torture and interagation corps? That man's a sadist! Why would...oh." Kakashi said.
Yang pouted "My jokes and puns are not a sadistic form of torture!"
The others all shook their heads in disagreement to Yang's claim. They could vouch otherwise.
As Cardin swung and missed, again, Naruto disappeared from sight.
"Like I said, don't let your opponents get behind you. Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennin Goroshi!"
Kakashi paled. CRAP! He did it! He used that move with Kushina watching! Was Naruto TRYING to get him killed?!
No sound was made. In fact it seemed as if the entirety of Beacon had gone eerily still. Even the wildlife had stopped moving, as if knowing that some great disturbance in nature had occurred.
The first sound to be made was the muffled voice of Blake echoing throughout the arena, "Hidden Leaf Village Secret Finger Technique, One Thousands Years of Death...you can't be serious..."
As Cardin was blasted into the air via poking of the booty hole, the crowd erupted into uproarious laughter, most crying or holding their stomachs in an attempt to gather some breath.
The readers all did likewise,
"Well you did say Kakashi reads porn in front of children in public before sticking his fingers up their butt! He did that to you." Weiss smirked, seeing an oppertunity to make a pervert suffer.
At that, everything froze as Kushina abruptly stopped laughing and went rigid. Her right eye gained a heavy twitch, almost violent really, and she turned to Kakashi.
"...Exceuse me...? You...did that...to my boy...?" she said. her bangs shadowing her eyes, which had started glowing and shining a malevolent, luminous, sulfuric yellow as the Uzumaki woman's hair rise up like a halo of flames.
Kakashi paled and tried bolting, but Kushina grabbed him and hauled him into one of the other rooms, slamming the door shut behind her.
"...There goes a good man..." Minato said.
"He will be missed." Naruto voiced.
Ren nodded.
Jaune salluted, leaning back and hummung a furneral martch.
"He going to be all right?" Weiss asked.
"Knowing Kushina...no. And best we don't even think of trying a rescue." Mikoto said before turning back to the book.
Yang was literally rolling on the floor, holding her sides in laughter.
"I would!" Yang agreed.
Ruby had covered her mouth in a poor attempt to quell the laughter, but she soon joined her sister on the floor.
Ruby giggled nervously at that.
Weiss looked horrified, but was at the same time guffawing behind her hand.
Weiss looked scandalized, her cheeks flushed.
Blake still had her palm planted firmly on her face, though a blush could be seen stretching across her cheeks.
Blake shook her head, well...she couldn't say Cardin didn't deserve that.
Nora was holding onto Ren so that she didn't end up like Ruby and Yang. Said raven haired male was meanwhile trying his hardest to not laugh, and instead ended up looking slightly constipated.
Renburied his face in his hands as Nora laughed at the expression of his other. Constipated?! He looked...?! "Need to learn to express myself more." he muttered.
Pyrrha was shaking her head and laughing at the same time, thinking, 'Only you would do something like this Naruto.'
"When he's mother's done with Kakashi, he will be." Minato shuddered.
In the Professor's booth there were many looks of pure surprise and some even trying as hard as they could to not burst out into laughter like their students. The blonde deputy Headmistress of Beacon however was not with her colleagues and had no problems in voicing her opinion on Naruto's "attack", "The...audacity! I have never seen something so appalling, and to have the sheer shameless bravado to call that an attack!"
"I think it was fitting," came the voice of Ozpin as he sipped on his coffee.
"Nailing the ass in the ass...nice!" Jaune agreed.
While everyone around him had reacted in some form to Naruto's...technique, Ozpin stood as calmly and stoically as was his norm. There was not even so much as a raise in either of his eyebrows. The silver haired headmaster had taken Naruto's finisher as seriously as any other move he had seen.
"...Ok...now I wanna hear the kinds of crazy stuff Ozpinn's seen to where he doesn't react to that!" Yang said.
And Glynda was surprised by this. Taking a minute to think about it though, she really shouldn't be all that surprised by Ozpin's acceptance of the situation. He had always taken even the most out of the ordinary situations in stride. It was what had made him such a fierce and powerful Huntsmen and the reason he was trusted to run Beacon in the first place.
The members of the two Remnent teams hummed thoughtfully, storing that away as something they would need to keep in mind to become successful Hunters and Huntresses.
As Cardin lay in the appropriately named "Face down, ass up" position, unconscious from either shame or pain, Professor Port coughed into his hand, "Uh...yes...well, the victor of this match is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"No kidding!" Yang smirked "Foxy...I knew I was gonna like you!"
Those who had recovered from their bout of laughter cheered, while those who hadn't, attempted to cheer as well, but only ended up choking in the process.
The medics soon arrived to cart Cardin away, none of them too eager to treat such an odd case.
"Don't blame them." Blake snickered.
How exactly did one go about healing an injury to the anus anyways?
"Best left unsaid." Ren said.
The days after the "fight" between Naruto and Cardin had seen a return to the somewhat normal. Team NNPR was back to taking care of their classes and training when their schedules allowed them the time and Naruto had become somewhat of a feared opponent in the battle classes.
Everyone snickered at that.
Of course he was only one among a few others who had earned the top spots. In fact both teams RWBY and NNPR had become known for their above average prowess on the battlefield and many of their fellow freshman class dreaded being pitted against any of the members from either team.
"Oh yeah! We bad!" Yang cheered as her teammates all looked pleased by this.
As for Cardin, well he wasn't seen for two days and when he finally did start going back to class, nobody, not even some of the Professors, could look at the leader of team CRDL without chuckling. It didn't help that he had to sit on a specially shaped pillow so as to avoid causing pain to his injured backside.
The present readers all laughed at that.
Naruto had also been sought out by team CFVY, something which his friends were curious about.
"Not really, you defended their friend and teammate, then made a show of publicly humiliating the one who did it. Can understand that." Blake smiled.
Of course that curiosity stemmed from the interactions between their blond friend and the brazen leader of CFVY. The older teen seemed to have no qualms with openly flirting with and teasing Naruto,
"...Ok, I stand corrected." Blake blinked at that.
something which seemed to bother Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang.
"...Say what?!" Blake and Pyrrha both yelped.
Of course Pyrrha's reason for being bothered by Naruto's relationship with the older female was, while unknown to her, obvious to most others. Nobody knew why Blake seemed to not like the team leader of CFVY and she didn't know why either.
Everyone turned to the two girls in question.
"Shame on the both of you! Shame, shame, shame! Yang said, frowning.
Yang however openly admitted that she didn't like the older girl, because she felt that only she should be able to flirt with and tease her fellow blond.
Ruby moaned. Her new friend had been marked! This was horrible! Worst of all was Ruby couldn't save Naruto!
This seemed to be more of a case of two such bold and strong personalities butting heads.
Naruto, being the still somewhat oblivious blond he was,
"Hey!" Naruto snapped.
didn't pick up on any of this and happily made friends with team CFVY which lead to him actually learning their names.
The girl he had previously likened to Anko, he found, was Coco, a name he found aptly fit her. The bunny eared Faunus he had defended before was named Velvet Scarlatina. The two silent male teammates were Fox,
"You're joking!" Naruto gawked.
the skinnier red haired one which Naruto and Kurama had a good laugh at
"That would be funny to me and Kurama." Naruto admitted with a snicker at the irony.
, and Yatsuhashi.
Thanks to his befriending the elder team, Naruto was able to learn a little bit more about how Beacon functioned and prepared their students for the field. Sadly first year students were restricted from taking part in missions, which brought Naruto to tears.
"Hate that! Especially with how different training in controlled envormets I than actually being out in the feild." Naruto moaned.
Everyone else looked at him in surprise, then all nodded. That was indeed true.
On the other hand he was happy to find out that the lowest missions they could take were assisting the local police force, a far cry from the D rank missions he had done with his Genin team.
"Phew...that's good news, at least." Naruto muttered, relieved.
"Basically doing chores for civillians...yard work, babysitting, litter pick-up, pet handeling...things like that." Minato explained.
The Remnent natives all looked at one another, imagining all the time and effort they put into developing their abilities as Hunters and Huntress, only to be stuck with a so-called "mission" like that...
"HATE 'EM!" RWBY and JNPR all cried.
However the level of missions they could take depended on their performance in their first year, at the end of which they would receive a rank as an individual and as a team.
In Naruto's mind all this amounted to was, "First year is going to be boring."
Seeing the mopey look on Naruto's whiskered face, Velvet felt bad and revealed to him a little known fact that not many students used, they were free to leave Beacon's grounds as long as they were either done with their classes or had none.
"Thank you, Velvet!" Naruto cheered.
The blond jinchuuriki was quick to exploit this and had boarded one of the various transport ships that ferried students between Vale and Beacon. He had tried to convince the others to tag along, but they all had work to do for one class or another. Of course he had already finished his work thanks to a certain jutsu of his.
And so we find our whiskered protagonist strolling through the streets of Vale's market district with Kurama wrapped around his neck.
"How does his place not have any damn ramen stands!?" Naruto cried to the heavens.
Naruto went pale at that.
Beacon's ramen was, while not the best he had ever had, decent, but he figured that an actual ramen stand would have a far better tasting menu seeing as how they made it from scratch.
The Remnent teens shared a confused look. People actually made ramen from scratch?
'Seventeen years together and I still don't understand how you can eat so much of that slop,' Kurama commented.
Glaring heatedly at his furry companion Naruto retorted, 'It is the food of the Kami and you will show it the respect it deserves!'
"What is it with you and that stuff, anyway?" Jaune asked.
Putting paw to snout the chibi-fied Kyuubi sighed, 'Were it not for me and your Uzumaki blood you would have probably died from a blood clot with how you inhale the stuff. Even worse if not for that big chested woman you call a Godmother you would have stayed a midget for the rest of your life.'
"Again, mirroring one of Ruby's problems! Only with her, it's sweets rather than ramen!" Yang sinckered.
"YANG!" Ruby cried in outrage.
Naruto seemingly ignored his Bijuu and instead pondered on something else, 'Hmm, death by ramen...yup, definitely how I want to go out.'
'My hatred of you and your family knows no bounds.'
'Love ya too buddy.'
'Kurama?'
'Why can't you leave me in peace?'
'When did we end up in Vale's red light district?'
'Probably around the time I was contemplating strangling you with my tails.'
'So, what, five minutes or so ago?'
'Roughly.'
"I find it disturbing how casual you and Kurama are about that." Jaune said.
Naruto stared in mild curiosity as he looked upon what had to be one of the nicest looking clubs he had seen in a red light district, and he had been in a lot of red light districts, more than any seventeen year old had any business in visiting. Albeit most of the time it was, because he had to drag Jiraiya's shit faced butt out of some brothel or strip joint.
Naruto and Minato both moaned at the memories of habing to do that.
How that pervert of a man had managed to train both Naruto and his father into respectably strong and capable shinobi was a wonder in and of of itself.
The father and son both nodded while rubbing their temples at that.
Back to the matter at hand, Naruto was wondering if Vale's police force were either that terrible or the owner had deep enough pockets to pay off some higher ups. The place almost literally screamed, "Many illegal things go on inside me!"
"Hey! That's Junior's place!" Yang laughed. Oh...this'd be good!
Shrugging Naruto decided that if he couldn't get his hands on any ramen he might as well enjoy some saki. Thanks to the gift/curse of being both a Jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki, Naruto lacked the ability to get drunk. His body naturally purged itself of anything it considered toxic or poisonous before it could take affect, so the only way to possible get him drunk was to either seal off his link to Kurama or guzzle enough hard liquor to kill several dozen fully grown men.
"Naruto...!" Mikoto said, shocked as she stopped reading to look at him. Sake! Seriously?! Idily, she also noticed it was mispelled in the book, being spelled S-a-k-e in actuality, but that wasn't important to the fact that her best friend's child was ordering the alcoholic rice wine made by fermenting rice that had been polished to remove the bran.
"One, I can't get drunk, two, I was in the Fourth Ninja War. Three, alternate self."
"Fourth Ninja...?!" Mikoto sputtered.
"Everyone in the world against Madara's ideals and legacy..." the blond Uzumaki explained shortly.
Mikoto went pale at that. Ok...so he was allowed to try and drink to forget. Madara had been completely insane.
Waltzing into the rather large club, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the DJ who had a bear head on as he blasted some tune or another. The blond had never really invested too much interest in music and so he cared little for it and saw it as nothing but background noise.
Stepping up to the bar portion of the club, Naruto noticed the odd looks he was getting from the employees, no doubt due to his age. Of course he shrugged them off with ease. Most of the shinobi villages operated on the "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink" policy which meant as soon as you got a headband you were by all rights a legal adult in the eyes of the village.
"Sweet!" Yang smirked. Not the killing part, but being allowed into places like that regardless of actual age.
Regardless of his age though, the bartender strode over to him and asked, "What can I get ya?"
"Chilled saki, please," Naruto replied.
Nodding the bartender wandered off to retrieve said drink and the saucers needed, leaving Naruto and who the blond assumed to be either the manager or owner of the club judging by how the various employees looked to him for orders and such.
"Aren't you a little too young to be hanging out in a place like this, kid?" The well dressed man asked.
Naruto turned his head slightly and shrugged, "I'm a paying customer, so does it really matter?"
The older male grinned, "Haha good point, kid. Just don't expect any special treatment here."
"One of those all-money/no-morals types I see." Mikoto paused, pursing her lips. As the Uchiha had been in charge of the police, she'd gotten good at recognizing the profiles of those who cimmitted illigal activities, especally since the last police cheif they'd had was who she'd been married to.
Weiss shifted in her seat, that line about the type that cared only for money and had no sense of morality reminded her of her father.
That said the man walked off to do whatever he needed to, leaving Naruto alone. Seeing as how his drink still hadn't arrived, the blond took the time to survey the crowd of people. The dance floor was surprisingly packed, a writhing mass of bodies moving in time with the pulsing beat of the music while the lights performed their own number.
Naruto was none too surprised to see some rather wealthy looking people mixed in among those who made their living through underhanded means. All too often those with too much money liked to think that said funds made them more protected and so they felt more daring, wanting to see the "fringes of society" as it were.
Weiss flinched at that.
What did catch his eye were too outlandishly dressed twins who looked to be about his age. One of the twin girls was dressed in a mostly red lolita themed outfit with her counterpart in an all white version of the dress.
"Those two?!" Yang growled, recalling Junor's real muscle.
The two drew attention mostly because of how far removed they looked. They didn't look to be in the club as patrons, nor did they look to be employees as they were in their own little section of the club. If Naruto had to guess they either worked directly for the club owner, or this place catered to certain people's "needs" and the girls were the ones responsible for entertaining those guests.
Naruto was more inclined to believe the former seeing the weapons they had hidden on them and the amount of Aura he could feel from them. Hell one of them alone had more than the guy who had just talked to them. No doubt they made a deadly pair.
Minato narrowed his eyes at that. What really caught his attention was the alternate of his son saying he could sense aura comming off of the two. That seemed important for some reasin. As a sage, able to detect chakra, but he could sense the energies of people from Remnent, too...he had a feeling that would be revisited later in some way or another.
Seeing the bartender finally come back with a bucket and a saucer, Naruto shrugged off those thoughts and decided to indulge himself. Just because he couldn't get drunk, didn't mean he didn't enjoy the taste and feel of alcoholic drinks.
Right as the saucer hit his lips, Kurama spoke through their mental link, 'Kit, incoming. Two heavily negative presences are about to walk in and one feels eerily similar to that snake Orochimaru.'
Naruto, Minato, and Mikoto all looked shocked and uneasy at that.
It was times like these that Naruto both hated and was grateful for Kurama's Negative Emotion Sensing ability. It had saved their skin several times and it was also nice to figure out who were the "bad guys" so to speak.
"That sounds so cool!" Ruby said with stars in her eyes.
"Certainly sounds useful..." Weiss agreed with her team leader.
On the other hand it was usually only triggered at times like this, when Naruto really didn't want to get involved with something.
The fact that one of the people was apparently so full of negativity that Kurama had compared them to one of the most vile humans they ever had the displeasure of meeting was terrible icing on an already terrible cake.
"Just how bad is this guy, then?" Nora asked.
Naruto grimaced..
'Why do I have the feeling that one way or another, I'm going to end up fighting one of them right now?' Naruto grumbled.
'Because you and Lady Luck have a love/hate relationship,' Kurama replied back with a grin.
Walking in through the doors was a rather effeminate looking man who wore a bowler hat over his deep orange hair. He walked with a cane that looked like it was more for show than anything. The smirk on his face made Naruto's skin crawl and the way he held himself just screamed egomaniac.
"That's Roman Torchwick!" Ruby exclaimed. She hated that guy!
Walking next to him was a petite girl with half her hair a bright pink and the other half a light brown. She carried an umbrella with her and bore an odd smile that normally would have made her look all the more cuter, but for some reason put Naruto on edge. Either she wasn't right in the head or she knew exactly what she was doing to get such a reaction.
Yang glared, eyes going red at the sight of the girl who beat her senesless on the train during the Breach. Damn twirp hadn't gotten a single hit of her while she'd used Yang to smile the walls, floor, and celing of that train car!
Strutting in behind the man and his companion was a woman in high heels and a maroon colored dress with gold accents. In other circumstances Naruto would have admitted that she was a beauty with her raven locks and searing gaze. Shoot despite her petite figure, Naruto had no doubt that Jiraiya would have been all over her in seconds, rest his perverted soul.
"May he rot in hell, amen." Weiss prayed along with the other girls. Naruto didn't look at all annoyed by the views on his late godfather. The girls, being females, had the right to hate perverts. And there was nobody more perverted then Jiraiya.
However right now he didn't see her as a random woman walking into a bar looking for a good time. No he saw her as a potential enemy and seeing the way she carried herself, rightfully so. This was a woman who had power in spades and knew how to use it. She was trained, she was powerful, she was deadly, and she knew it.
Ruby frowned. Why did that lady in red look familiar...?
In a boisterous voice that just made Naruto want to smash his fist into his face, the effeminate man spoke aloud, "Jr.!
"Hmm...that's annoying, its abriviated." Mikoto frowned.
I knew you would do anything for money, but allowing a minor to sit at your bar and drink? How sad to see how corrupt our world has become to allow such a thing."
The now named Jr., the guy who had spoken to Naruto beforehand, seemed as equally put off by the man as Naruto, "Torchwick. Getting that kind of talk from you of all people doesn't have the same effect."
"I take it these two are friwnds..." Minato said, fists clenching and eyes narrowed.
Yang blinked at that. "Hang on… Don't tell me that… There's no way…"
"What are you going on about, now?" Weiss asked with a raised brow.
"Before I came to Beacon, I went to see Junior to ask him a few questions. I'm not sure if it was Roman, but he might've been leaving as I showed up to that club!"
"WHAT?!" The cry of the two teams rang out at that.
"Gonna need to watch Junior and his place of business then..." Ren said.
Hearing the name of the girly man,
Hearing Naruto considered someone as bad as Torchwick girly, RWBY and JNPR couldn't help but laugh.
Naruto tensed and narrowed his eyes. He had heard the name on various news stations. Wanted for several robberies and a whole lot of other less than legal stuff, the guy was on top of Vale's most wanted list.
Ruby nodded, recalling the robbery of the Dust shop she'd stopped that lead to her meeting Ozpin and Goodwitch for the first time.
"Oh come now Jr., my old friend! You say that like I'm some low life criminal or something. You and I both know I'm more into high crimes and enjoying the finer things in life," Torchwick replied with that same sickening grin.
"Well, that answers that...those two are friends. And I'm already looking forward to punching that guy's teeth down his throat." Naruto said, glaring at Totchwick's image on screen.
Waving off the eccentric man and no doubt wanting to get rid of him as fast as possible, Jr. spoke, "Whatever. What do you want this time, Torchwick?"
Torchwick seemed ready to reply with another "witty" remark, but was cut off by the woman who stood next to him, "Enough Torchwick. Get what we came for aSenju's nd let's go."
Clearly upset at being cut off, Torchwick grumbled to himself, "Alright alright, geez. You heard the boss lady. The usual."
Jr. shrugged, "Fine. Fifty men it is. You know the fee."
Eyes turning to Naruto, Torchwick smirked and made his way over to the bar, slinging am arm around Naruto's shoulders,
Naruto clenched the fist of his bandaged, "white Zetsu arm" created from Hashirama's cells and made a fist. "Is it wrong I wanna tear that arm off?" he asked.
"Seeing as it's Torchwick...no." Weiss scowled.
"How 'bout you huh? Looking for some work? It pays good money."
It was only thanks to Torchwick's experience and the pronounced growling that he was able to move away from Naruto fast enough to avoid becoming Kurama's chew toy.
"Dammit!" Naruto and the Remnent teens cursed.
Suffice to say he and the others who were watching in interest were shocked to see what they had thought to be a scarf turn out to actually be a living breathing creature, a fox no less.
It was clearly evident though that the fox was not happy with Torchwick touching Naruto, showing by its displeasure with the man by glaring heatedly at him and snarling loud enough to be heard over the music.
The blond seemed unaffected by his fox attacking Torchwick, taking another sip of his saki before speaking, "Sorry buddy, not interested. Besides, I don't swing that way."
Everyone laughed at that!
"Foxy...you sir, very much rule!" Yang hooted.
Jr. laughed at the thinly veiled jab at Torchwick's sexuality, and it seemed even the man's boss or accomplice found it funny if her smirk was anything to go by.
Torchwick huffed and adjusted his head, "I'd get a muzzle for that thing kid before it bites the wrong person and gets you into a lot of trouble."
Naruto grinned and turned around to fully face Torchwick, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Kurama knows how to tell slimeballs like you apart from everyone else."
The wanted man was now clearly growing tired of the blond's less than subtle jabs at him, "I'd watch it kid, you're messing with the wrong person."
Naruto tsked with a smirk, throughly amused. "Is he kidding me with that? Please! I've faced WAY worse than some two-bit crook like him!"
As Naruto stated down Torchwick with the utmost confidence, the DJ seemed to have an excellent sense of timing and changed up the song choice.
"Battle themeing...nice." Yang and Nora both nodded.
Snapping his fingers, Torchwick huffed, "Neo! Handle this kid."
"Grow some balls and fight your own battles, Torch-prick!" Naruto snapped, he hated those types.
"Nice one! Gotta remember that!" the members of team RWBY all snickered. Seeing as they kept running into and clashing with the bowler hat man, it was a good insullt.
The umbrella toting girl smiled and nodded, not once making any sound. Turning she winked at Naruto before bowing at the waist and taking an oddly relaxed stance with her umbrella laying against her shoulder.
Standing across from her, Naruto reached to his side and grabbed the scroll that housed Hi no Ishi, and with a quick swipe of a bloodied digit, the shakujo was held in his right hand, garnering many raised eyebrows at the odd sight of not just the weapon, but the means of retrieving it as well.
"Great, you're one of those silent types, always so annoying to fight," Naruto commented with a grin.
"Nothing wrong with witty banter in a fight." Naruto shrugged with a smirk, the Remnent group nodding in agreement.
He had been looking for a good fight, and while fighting his teammates was fun, he couldn't really unwind for fear of revealing something or hurting them in some way. Here, where no one knew him and where he had no qualms about causing collateral damage, he could finally let loose a bit.
"Oh god...he's just like Yang!" Ruby moaned.
"Actually, Kushina was that way all the time. Her way of viewing things was, if you didn't want to get hit, you wouldn't be near a fight. No regard for crossfire or collateral damage. Especially when she was mad." Mikoto supplied, amused.
Yang gaped. Hot damn! Kushina was looking more and more like the most awesome role model ever in the blond brawler's eyes! Nice!
It also helped that most of the club's patrons had long since left out of fear, something Jr. didn't look too happy about.
'Been awhile since we let loose eh, Kit? Show that buffoon who he's messing with!' Kurama said with a grin stretching across his face.
'I swear I was never this battle hungry,' Naruto commented.
'You're an Uzumaki and my Jinchuuriki. You live for this!'
Twirling his shakujo Naruto grinned, "Let's see if I still got it."
"Round one...Fight!" Jaune cried.
The music paused at the right time, Naruto tensing and his short opponent staring him down with that same smile.
The music surged back to life, hitting like a wall of sound and in that same instance Naruto was gone from sight, surprising everyone with how fast he had moved.
The diminutive girl was only barely able to bring her umbrella up, blocking Naruto's swing of his shakujo. Spinning her umbrella, Neo attempted to knock the staff out of the blond's hands, only to get a stomach full of Naruto's foot, sending her skidding backwards and onto the dance floor.
"Good kick." Ren commented.
Frowning, Neo blinked, changing her eye color at the same time, something which Naruto found only slightly odd.
Mikoto looked interested in hearing that. So that Neo girl had the ability to shift thecolor of her eyes simililar to her clan's use of the sharingan...?
Shrugging the blond Jinchuuriki sped off towards Neo, only to have his horizontal swipe blocked by the shorter girl's oddly sturdy umbrella.
"Most likely a staff sword-type weapon, too..." Ruby frowned thoughtfully, her eyes narrowed on the silent girl's unbrella. Everyone looked at her.
"...Swear Tenten would be her best friend in less than a minute..." Naruto muttered, then his eyes lit up as he thought of something.
That idea might just work...
The ice cream themed girl smiled mockingly at her opponent. She was however thrown off guard though when instead of looking shocked, Naruto just grinned right back.
Nodding his head behind her, Neo allowed her gaze to flicker to see what he was looking at, only to be shocked when she saw a second grinning blond rushing at her from behind.
Blake's jaw dropped. What the?! That was like her Semblance! Naruto could replicate himself too?!
"So that's what that "many people" joke last chapter was about..." she said.
Taking advantage of her smaller size, Neo used her other hand to lean on Naruto's shoulder, and with a shove she back flipped over the second blond slamming her heel into its head on her way back down to the floor. Instead of the second Naruto being knocked unconscious or being sent to the floor like many expected, it went up in a poof of smoke, obscuring Neo from vision.
"Not bad at all..." Naruto said critically of Neo's maneuver. Girl was good.
This seemed to play into Naruto's plan perfectly as he was quick to rush blindly into the smoke.
With the white cloud still obscuring their vision, the spectators could only hear the sounds of metal hitting metal and accompanied by the occasional shadow being seen through the smoke.
"Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"
The spectators were forced to quickly grab onto something as a mighty gale of wind suddenly swept through the club with enough force to send anything not nailed down flying.
Neo, weighing very little, was hurled through the air and slammed into one of the club's walls with the heavy force of the winds keeping the diminutive girl pinned there.
Naruto wasn't finished though as he flashed through a chain of unknown hand gestures so quickly that his hands looked to be little more than blurs. Landing on the last of the odd gestures, the blond inhaled deeply, "Katon: Ryūka no jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Flame technique)!"
"Naruto...you...your alternate wouldn't!" Mikoto and Minato both cried in alarm.
Exhaling, Naruto unleashed a stream of flames from his mouth in a manner similar to the mythic beast the technique was named for. To the spectator's further surprise, instead of what remained of the winds consuming the flames, they instead seemed to feed and give it direction, aiming the infernal stream towards the still dazed Neo.
"Holy...!" Yang cried. That was overkill!
None seemed to be more intrigued by the unique attacks of the boy than the mysterious raven haired woman.
'This boy...there's no way this could be Dust manipulation. I've never seen someone control the elements with such ease. The only answer is that this is his Semblance or he's the end result of some inhumane experiment involving Dust.'
"If he were from Atlas, I'd believe that second one."
"What?!" Weiss cried.
Blake shrugged "Atlas is all about military advancement. As long as they can make better weapons, they wouldn't care about crossing a few moral lines."
Allowing himself to relax, Naruto sighed and raked a hand through his blond locks, 'I will never enjoy killing.'
'Good, that means that you are still capable of emotions. When you stop feeling guilty, then that is a cause for worry,' Kurama spoke sagely.
Grinning Naruto began to scratch behind Kurama's rabbit like ears, 'Never thought I'd hear something like that from you.'
"No kidding...especally considering the attack when Naruto was born...kept attacking and killing even after he was freed of the mind control he was put under..." Minato muttered.
Despite the pleasure he felt at the scratching, the Bijuu grumbled, 'Please I am nothing like that idiot Shukaku. The only time I've ever killed en masse was when - DODGE!'
'Wha-'
Naruto was painfully pulled from his thoughts when he felt a foot slam into his abdomen, causing him to bend over said limb. The follow up that was just a painful, the blond getting a heel to the face which sent him sliding across the floor like a hockey puck.
"Ow..." Naruto mutteded with a wince.
'Dumbass, that's what you get for letting your guard down.'
'The hell was I supposed to know she would survive a Fūton powered Ryūka to the face!?'
The husband as well as the best friend of Kushina both nodded. There weren't many people who could do that.
"Wait...she...I didn't...phew!" Naruto looked releved. Sure, Neo was going to be pissed, but he deserved that. He was just happy she was alive!
'You're a shinobi moron!' You're supposed to be prepared for everything!'
'If you hadn't noticed, THERE ARE NO OTHER SHINOBI AROUND!'
'Yea well if you don't get up and move, there won't be any shinobi PERIOD.'
Rolling to the side, Naruto was able to avoid being skewered by an umbrella of all things. Looking up he could see a less than pleased Neo frowning at him. The edges of her clothes were either cut up or slightly singed while her umbrella was heavily burned and looked to be on the verge of breaking.
"Yeah...she's as pissed as I figured. Deserve it, too..." Naruto said, being lit on fire would do that to a person.
Standing up straight, Naruto could already feel his chakra start to repair the damage he had taken. For such a small thing, she managed to pack quite the wallop. With her first kick she had managed to bruise some of his ribs and knock them out of place while her heel kick had broken his jaw and slightly cracked his skull.
Yang winced. No wonder the little mute had ragdolled her so easily.
As Naruto rubbed his sore jaw, he pondered to himself, 'Maybe I should look into that whole using your chakra/aura as a shield thing afterall.'
While Naruto dodged another kick from Neo, Kurama spoke, 'It would be pointless. Anything short of someone ripping out your heart or cutting your head off would just be healed anyways.'
"...Ok, that is terrifyingly specific." Weiss gapped.
With an outstretched hand, Naruto caught the next of Neo's kicks, keeping her literally on her toes. Shoving said limb to the side to throw her off her balance, Naruto went for a palm strike to the chest. Instead of stumbling, Neo spun and whipped up her parasol, smacking Naruto's hand away.
Twirling Hi no Ishi, the blond aimed a swing at the shorter girl's legs. The staff was stopped short by Neo's umbrella. Naruto in turn aimed a punch at the shorter girl's face only to have it stopped by the diminutive girl's own hand.
With both of their hands occupied the two combatants took a minute to stare the other down, cerulean orbs peering into what were now heterochromic eyes, one a dark brown and the other a light, almost white, pink.
"Neo would make a fun sparring partner. She's good. Seriously!" Naruto smiled.
Naruto grinned his trademark foxy grin and Neo frowned before smiling her own odd smirk, blinking in the process which changed the colors of her eyes.
Mikoto again took special notice of that. She wondered what the full range of colors Neo could change her eyes to was.
"Kurama."
Neo turned wide eyes to see the vulpine grin of her opponent's fox. Opening his maw, Kurama began channeling his own chakra, creating a miniature orb of concentrated red Bijū chakra. While downright tiny when compared to the full size Kurama could use when in his true Kyuubi form, this was still the devastating trademark attack of the Nine Tailed Beasts and their Jinchuuriki, the Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Ball).
"MOVE!" Naruto yelped, terrified for any and everyone that could be caught in THAT attack!
"The attack is basically an aura nuke when its used at full power..." Minato said.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" The remnent-born half of the reading group all cried! What the hell was that fox thinking using something like THAT in a populated area!?
Not wanting to see what such a menacing looking attack could do, Neo acted quickly, grabbing Naruto's wrist and, leaning her weight on to her umbrella, put her feet on Naruto's abdomen, making her parallel to the ground. With a shove, Neo kicked off and sent herself shooting away from her blond opponent and his fox.
Just in time as well, Kurama unleashing the pent up chakra in a single condensed ball which flew just above Neo. With the ball being no bigger than a baseball, many didn't expect much of it. Of course that notion flew out the window when the tiny ball impacted with the wall above the entrance. The doors, along with almost the entirety wall, were decimated in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a few pebbles of building materials behind as the only sign that there had once been a wall there.
The sound of the explosion and the concussive blast of air that followed were just as devastating. The sound took a second to catch up and when it did, it hit as a physical force, the invisible waves hitting everyone and everything near the impact with enough force as to actually feel like a solid wall. The winds that kicked up due to the attack hit just as hard, destroying even more of the club.
"That's the miniture version?!" the two teams all cried at the destruction.
It was at this time that Vale's police force, no doubt backed by some Huntsmen, decided to get involved, the sounds of sirens blaring in the distance.
Not wanting to deal with said law enforcement, Torchwick called out, "Neo! Time to go!"
The odd girl curtsied at Naruto before running to join her already escaping accomplices.
Deciding that leaving the scene would be a good idea for him as well, Naruto turned towards the gaping form of Jr., "Sorry bout the wall!"
"Well...at least he's polite about it...?" Pyrrha said in a meek, lame tone, still stunned.
'I'm not. Been awhile since we've destroyed some stuff.'
'Not now Kurama.'
In a blur of speed Naruto was gone, leaping across the rooftops to distance himself from the scene of destruction.
Standing alone in the midst of what had once been a well built and well kept club, Jr. could do nothing but stare in shock at what was left of his establishment.
"NO MORE BLOND'S IN MY CLUB!"
"Not my fault! I didn't start that fight!" Naruto protested.
"Unlike Yang." Ruby said. She'd heard about what had happened at Junior's place.
As Naruto sped across the rooftops, laughing all the way, a set of piercing amber eyes stared at his retreating form.
'Hmm. He could be useful to me, far more useful than this buffoon Torchwick. Now to find out just who you are and what motivates you. This'll be fun.'
"Goodie...a target on my back again..." Naruto grumbled.
With a smirk the mysterious raven haired woman sauntered her way to the car that one of Torchwick's men was driving.
The effeminate man himself was near grinding his teeth in anger, "Damned blond! I swear the next time I see that mug of his I'm gonna kill him myself."
"No you will not."
Turning to look at his "boss" Torchwick was clearly not happy about being told no, "Why not!? He could easily derail all of our plans!"
In response the woman just smirked, her eyes beginning to glow, resembling fire itself, "Do not worry about him Torchwick. I will personally...handle the situation."
"I don't like the sound of that..." Naruto muttered.
The crime boss huffed before pulling out a cigar and lighting it, "Driver, get us back to base."
'Kurama, you know what I forgot to do?' Naruto thought as he sat on the ship back to Beacon.
Stirring from his "nap", Kurama replied, 'Actually kill the creep who will no doubt be a source of problems for us later on?'
Stroking his chin in thought, the blond shook his head, 'Well yeah that, but something even more important than that!'
'Oh kami don't-'
'Ramen!'
"Are you serious?" Weiss asked him.
Naruto shrugged "Not my fauit combat can get you hungry and tired."
'...kit.'
'Yeah?'
'I loathe you.'
'Love you too Kurama, love you too.'
"Well...that settles that. Come on...let's see about gathering up whatever's left of Kakashi by now." Mikoto said, closing the book.