Chapter 2: Running


The ragged bag swung wildly as it was assaulted with a fury of blows.

Attached to a metal chain that needed oil, its red surface was cracked and flaked with small bits of yellow and black that had scraped off from the boxing gloves hitting it. Wielded by a blonde girl in a yellow sports bra and black hot-pants she panted as her gloved fists flew in a bumblebee blur.

Yang huffed as she swung her fists in a complex sequence of punches that to the layman would have been near imperceptible. To most Beacon students she would have looked like an inexperienced fighter; great in speed and strength but lacking in refinement and technique. To a trained Hunter though, her display was impressive and full of potential, needing only time and a few life-or-death battles to achieve a respectable fighting style that could match most of the world's quality Huntsmen and Huntresses.

After a few more heavy blows on the bag, Yang stopped mid punch.

Sighing, she wiped the sweat off her brow and went to get her towel on a nearby bench. Sitting down, she used the towel to soak up her sweat.

Looking around at the empty exercise room she let a sense of loneliness wash over her.

Not only the training areas, but much of Beacon itself was near empty now.

With the start of the summer break many Beacon students had left the academy for home. Although some teams such as RWBY stayed behind; both for training reasons and home reasons.

For herself and Ruby they had both wanted to spend the time perfecting their skills and working on their coordination as a team. The many run-ins with Torchwick and the White Fang had taught them that they were severely lacking in the skills they needed to stand up to the darker elements of Remnant. Not to mention the Vital Festival tournament would be happening after the summer break. Everyone on the team wanted to put in a good run, but no one more than Yang herself.

Weiss and Blake were staying to train as well, but also because both had said that they didn't have anywhere they wished to return to.

Both the white-haired and the black-haired girls' answers had annoyed Yang greatly.

They were friends, yet still keeping secrets from each other. At least Weiss had opened up a little during the past few months and admitted she simply despised her life back in Atlas; though she refused to go into details.

Blake however…

Truths only came out of her with the use of a crowbar.

Her Faunus heritage, her White Fang past, all of it had only been revealed on accident or when she had no choice in the matter. None of her "reveals" had been voluntary or based on any form of trust in her team… or trust in Yang herself.

It still bothered the blonde boxer.

Especially since the two were close. At least Yang though they were.

Hell, Yang hung around Blake more than she did with Ruby these days! They were far more often together these days then when they had first met. Sitting next to each other in class, walking together whenever possible, going into the city together during their free time, and even stealing a few kisses from each other when no one was around.

The very thought of those moments made Yang's stomach burst into butterflies and her face blush. She loved those moments with Blake. The quiet girl was beautiful, smart, and seductive in way that Yang was often helpless against. Her thoughts were nearly always on the cat-eared girl and if she had been brave enough to ask, maybe the two would actually be dating right now?

It was a fantasy she often thought about at night.

It seemed a stupid one to have though.

Blake was distant no matter what Yang asked or did. Even at the Faunus' best of moods there was a wall between them that Yang knew she would never be able to punch through. They could giggle and kiss each other for hours, but it would all stop when Yang asked the most seemingly innocent of questions.

Anything related to the past, family, relationships, or childhood was a severely off-limits topic for Blake. Yang knew far more about random people that she only considered acquaintances than she did about Blake sometimes.

Yang respected her privacy but was it so wrong to ask something like what Blake's favorite food was as a child?! Or if she had siblings or friends?! Which continent or Kingdom her home was?!

When Yang had brought up questions like that Blake would shut down and literally runaway from her. Sometimes the blonde wouldn't see her for the rest of the day. It hurt Yang like few things ever had before.

She knew Blake didn't have a happy past… but…

Sighing again, Yang stood. Trying not to bring her mood down even lower with thoughts of Blake, she decided training was done for the day.

She wiped down the punching bag and gathered her things before stopping when she heard a strange clanking. It sounded like metal falling near the entrance to the training center. Thinking little of it, she exited the room, rounded a corner to the wider facility and exited the entrance into the blazing sun of Vale. It was a bright blue and clear day, being outside and feeling the hot sun against her skin instantly lifted her mood.

A splash of orange suddenly fell on her from the sky.

She screamed from the sudden bone chilling wetness on her mostly uncovered form as she began frantically wiping the orange sheen from her eyes.

Stepping back, she tripped over an object and landed on her butt hard.

Able to fully see now, she realized she had tripped over a bucket and that she was now sitting in a puddle of freezing orange liquid. Her outfit was practically dyed orange now and she could only pray that her hair was ok.

Obnoxious laughing soon followed.

Yang's wide purple eyes went to the laughing voice. She was only able to make out a small blur that disappeared around a corner heading deeper into Beacon academy's outdoor walkways.

Taking a few moments to process what had happened, Yang slowly stood up as the coldness of the water settled into her system, causing her entire body to start shivering.

"Was I… just pranked or something?" Yang whispered as she looked at the bucket, realizing that it had somehow fallen on her head as she had exited the training building.

Still in shock, her eyes found a small sprung wire that had been tided low to some trees that flanked the entrance of the training facility. She had literally walked right into the trap and sprung it herself, while the maker had simply watched and enjoyed the show before running off, laughing at her.

Her body went from shivering in wet coldness to shaking with fiery rage. The water that soaked her began to steam and evaporate off the exposed parts of her skin.

The young huntress in training broke when a lock of her well-maintained blonde hair came into view before her now red eyes.

Her hair was now an ugly orange.


"SOMEONE'S GOING TO DIE!"

The distant scream barely reached a laughing Naruto's ears as he swiftly maneuvered down the various buildings and walkways of Beacon's campus.

He couldn't believe how easy it had been to prank one of these supposed "amazing students." Beacon was supposed to be home to the "best of the best" but clearly, he was better than them! That blonde human chick didn't stand a chance against a stupid bucket trap!

"Please… just stop… running… oh dust… I can't breathe…"

"You're gonna get it when we catch you! Don't you wanna meet my hammer you little brat!"

Naruto looked behind himself to see two of the Beacon students who had greeted him and rest of the kids, when the airship had landed, running after him.

The older blonde boy was already out a breath and seemed near collapse, while the orange haired girl was running around with a War-hammer after him. Both were slower than his grandma which Naruto didn't even think was possible for a Beacon student.

The blonde Faunus stuck his tongue out at both of them and continued his exploration and pranking of the academy, easily losing the two teens with a few quick turns.

After pranking the blonde girl in the gym, he filled a coffee pot in a teachers' lounge with hot sauce, put itching powder in several laundry machines, and wrote "Naruto was here :p" with black marker on several of the school's statues and announcement posters.

He laughed after his successful series of pranks, as he now climbed up a small building and landed on an open balcony. Looking around with excited blue eyes at the expansive overview of the academy he burned the various paths and trails into his mind. He quickly developed a mental layout over most the school and looked for a place that would be a good target for more trip wires and buckets.

"Ok that's enough little boy! You're fast but no one is faster than me!"

Gasping, Naruto turned around and saw a girl only a little taller than himself standing behind him suddenly. She wore a black and red dress, and smiled at him triumphantly. A gust of wind-carried roses hit him in the face as her crimson cape flapped in the breeze.

"This is the first time Ren has asked for my help, so consider yourself caught! I'm the older one here so you must listen to me! Hahaha!" The girl smiled widely, and Naruto got the feeling she wasn't used to being the older one in a situation.

He reached into one of his many pockets and threw a small black ball on the ground. It exploded in a cloud of black smoke. He swiftly jumped off the rooftop as the red-capped girl was left coughing.

Landing with a roll he darted off and headed towards a small tree covered grove that he hoped would conceal him and help him lose his new apparent pursuer.

"Stop right there you troublemaker!" A new voice yelled.

Instincts were the only thing that saved him as suddenly the walkway beneath him was frozen in a sheet of slick ice.

He fell but was able to reach into a side pouch on his hip and throw a kunai tided wire that wrapped around a tree limp from the nearby grove. Directing his skidding fall he was able to fling himself into the dense bushes and trees.

Landing in a haphazard pile of dirt and leaves, he looked back at what had made the ice.

A girl with her rapier in hand was standing at the epicenter of the ice. Blue eyes looked around in confusion and shock, seeming to have lost sight of where he went. White side-ponytail whipping around her ballerina like form, she started jogging towards the direction of the grove with a worried look on her elegant features.

Naruto stood and paused for a moment as he looked at the older girl. His face blushed looking at her before he shook his head and darted off deeper into the green grove.

It was thicker than he had expected, but he was able to weave around to the other side of the forested area swiftly. As he was just about to clear the area, he paused when he saw a black shadow out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly a wire wrapped around his ankles, and he was pulled up several feet into the tree line.

Instinctively he reached for something in his pouches or pockets to cut the wire with, but before he could another wire wrapped around his arms and tightly trapped them against his sides. He wiggled and struggled, but the wires were tight and hanging upside was not helping his leverage.

He heard a figure land behind him and slowly walk towards him.

"I heard my friend's yell from across the campus. For your sake I hope you didn't mess up her hair. You're just a pranking kid but I don't think Yang is going… to…"

The quiet voice from behind paused as Naruto continued to thrash and struggle against the wires. He growled over the voice and tried to bend his waist to bite at the wires.

The young Faunus boy had never been trapped before like this. Caught yes, but never tied and strung up in a trap much like the ones he himself made for pranks. Anger filled his small body as he yelled at the voice behind him.

"Oi let me go! I won't be caught in this shabby trap! Mine are way better than this! Just you wait when I get out of here! I'm Naruto Belladonna and you better remember it! Believe it!"

Naruto yelled, not caring, or paying attention to the voice behind him as he growled and bit at the wires holding him again.

"This… can't be happening…" The figure from behind whispered in shock and took several steps back.

Naruto paused his biting to swing and twist his way around to face the direction of the person who had trapped him. However, when his eyes landed on the spot where the person should have been, all he saw were a few falling leaves that soon settled silently on the grove's dark leaf covered ground.


A few minutes later, Naruto was still hanging and now surrounded by four teenagers looking up at him with mixed faces of anger and annoyance. The red-caped girl, the pretty white-haired girl, the fumbling blonde boy, and the War-hammer wielding girl.

Calm now, he smiled down at them.

"Hehehe… I'm sorry? Please don't call my grandparents?"


Hello again. I was surprised by how popular this story has been right out the gate. It is very nice to see and certainly encourages me to continue doing the best I can to write the story.

I've done a long term RWBY fic before and several small commissions for the series, however I have never even touched the Naruto series until now. I have thought of doing a pure Naruto series centered fanfic for a long time. I read dozens of fanfics for Naruto years ago and its the series that got me into reading fanfic in the first place. Although I feel its a little hard these days to make a truly new fanfic for it as its so popular and has been around for so long now. Though I might give it some more thought maybe.

I did want to say thank to the people who have reviewed the story!

DecoyM9, TeraelinII, Akakiru, Hellkeaper, A Guest, Highcat, TheSlySage, Jaune Emiya, Jaa, Eaglezaruma, Another Guest, jonathandeleondelossantos, Luis Arturo, Joseph Deluca, and Riko.

And of course thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed the story!