Chapter 3: The Start of a Dream

It was at the receiving end of a furious glower that Naruto first met Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby's father. He supposed it was natural that her father would be suspicious, but he'd been glaring for more than an hour! At first, Naruto thought that it was because he had come over without the Patriarchs permission, but after nearly forty-five minutes he'd been dissuaded from that line of thought. Naruto had concluded that Mr. Xiao Long didn't like him because he was a boy near his younger daughter. This actually made Naruto respect him more, since it showed how much he cared about his family.

However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows at this household; he'd concluded that Ruby's mother was dead (but not by asking, by studiously observing the signs around him). As a kind of icebreaker, Naruto had offered to pay for lodging, to which Taiyang had immediately refused, suddenly not glaring at him at all.

"No. You don't need to pay us, Ruby invited you over an it would be inhumanely rude to charge you for basic hospitality." Naruto countered this deftly:

"At least let me help you with chores and things; I lived by myself for nearly fifteen years, I'm sure I can help you, either by washing plates or by helping you cook." Taiyang was at a loss. While he immensely wanted to dislike this boy, and chase him away with a poker (and a shotgun) he didn't appear to have any designs on Ruby. He truly seemed to just be a new friend that she invited over. So, he finally acquiesced, and allowed Naruto to help him cook. About half an hour into the cooking time, Yang returned home. Ruby spared no second, rushing to the door.

"Yang! Yang! Guess what?!" she cried, bursting out the front door as Yang rolled up on her motorbike. Yang dismounts, and turns over to Ruby.

"What is it little sis?"

"I was in Vale today looking at Dust in the Dust shop, and then there was this mean angry guy in a suit, and-" Ruby's cut off by Yang.

"Whoa, Rubes, slow down. Let's go inside; knowing you, you haven't told Dad yet right?" she asks, smirking knowingly. Ruby flushes.

"Weellll…" she trails off. Yang smiles as she rolls her motorbike into her garage.

"How about you tell us both over dinner? I can smell it from here… smells different than the normal noodle wok Dad makes…" she says, perplexed.

"Oh, that's cause Naruto's making something called ramen for us." Ruby says happily, skipping back inside. Yang freezes outside.

'There's a guest over? I've never heard of a Naruto before… meh, must be one of Dad's old school buddies.' she shrugs, before walking in.

"Yo Dad, I'm home!" she calls, taking off her shoes. She notes an odd pair of sandals on the floor where the shoes go, concluding (accurately) that they belong to Naruto.

"Come on in sweety! We have a guest tonight, his name's Naruto!"

"Yeah, Ruby said he was making something called… Ramen?"

"Yeah, and while I don't like to admit it," Taiyang comes out of the kitchen, a pleased smile on his face, "it smells better than wok, and has more ingredients too! I swear, this guy's a real well of knowledge about this dish! Can't wait to see if he knows as much about other foods!" he laughs loudly, taking her coat and throwing it over the banister leading up the stairs before marching down the hall. Yang smiles, a bit confused.

"I don't get it, was he not able to cook this before?" she asks, following Taiyang. Now it's his turn to be a bit confused.

"What do you mean? I've only just met the guy!" he exclaims.

Yang frowns. "Then why's he over here?" she asks, scratching her head.

Taiyang frowns, crossing his arms. "Ruby… invited him over." he scowls. Yang, on the other hand, lights up.

"You mean Ruby invited a boy over?!" she squeals, literally bouncing in place before rushing into the kitchen. Taiyang sighs.

"Yeah… that's what I'm afraid of." he says, depressed. Suddenly he perks up: "Although, the kid can cook, so I guess he's off to a good start. But he'll need to do a lot more" he grumbles.

Yang rushes into the kitchen, and sees Ruby sitting on the backrest of a stool, watching a tall blonde boy with the spikiest hair she's ever seen chop vegetables, and toss noodles furiously into boiling water.

"Ruby! I need that Chili Garlic Sauce five minutes ago!" he cries, with Ruby leaping to attention.

"Aye aye, sir!" she cries, before blasting around the room with her Semblance, grabbing the things he needs as he calls them out, with him then perfectly measuring them before tossing them into the noodle mix, which is still somehow swirling on it's own.

"Man, if I had time I'd make you noodles from scratch, but for now we'll make do with these premade packaged ones!" he says, turning. "Would that be alright, Mr. Xiao Long?"

Taiyang peaks in. "These aren't store bought, brat! I made these myself! Each one, meticulously handcrafted!"

"Yeah, I know! I called them premade, not synthetic abominations!" Naruto calls over his shoulder. "They'll work fine, but you need special Ramen Noodles with just the right texture for this dish to be perfect." Naruto stops talking to them, focusing wholeheartedly on his ramen. Ruby leans over to Yang.

"Yeah, when Professor Ozpin offered him a place a Beacon, his condition was that ramen would be served there. I really want to know why he demanded it…" Yang is confused.

"Ozpin offered him a position at Beacon, and he had demands?!" she exclaims. Ruby smiles.

"I'll tell you at dinner." Then, Taiyang tells them to set the table, which they rush off to do while Naruto finishes his Divine Dish.

Once the dish is finished, Naruto calls out. "Hey, Mr. Xiao Long? Where do you keep your bowls?!" Taiyang comes into the room, and grabs four bowls from a top shelf before setting them on the kitchen counter.

"Here kid, knock yourself out. Table's set, just give us the word."

Naruto smiles brightly. "Consider the word given, Mr. Xiao Long! This'll be done in less than a minute" He then lifts the boiling ramen pot above himself, before expertly pouring an equal amount in each bowl. He picks them all up, and walks out to the table, where Yang and Ruby wait.

"Here ya go: Ichiraku's Special!" he says happily, plopping their bowls in front of them. He glances at the three empty seats, before waiting for Taiyang to sit. It wouldn't be proper for him to sit before his hosts. Especially if he took his host's seat. After Taiyang sits, Naruto takes an empty chair, of which there are two. He cunningly takes the one that doesn't have MOM stitched into the back of it, he takes the one labeled UNCLE Q. It appears to be a bit beaten up, with obviously broken legs, but nothing a Shinobi couldn't handle with ease. As they all dig into their meals, Naruto observes that they don't thank for the food. He decides that it must be a cultural difference, not an intentional slight. And of course, he was right. After their first sips or bites, Ruby groans in ecstasy.

"Ohhhhhhhh! This. Is. DELICIOUS!" she cries, waving her fork and spoon around her head (for some reason, Taiyang didn't have chopsticks in his house, weird…). Naruto smiles at Ruby.

"Oh hell yeah it is! Ramen is the food of the Gods! Hell, it should revered like the Log!" he declares, before realizing what he said.

'Oops.' he thinks, as everyone looks at him like he's insane.

Yang's the one to break the silence. "What… Log?" she asks carefully. Naruto thinks himself, pondering how to answer.

"Well," he begins, "My people had a pseudo-religion founded on the signature technique created by our Lord First Hokage, who was our village leader. He could swap places… with a log..." he ends stammeringly, realizing his excuse for the Shinobi Religion (which should not be confused with the Shinobi Creed) was tenuous at best. The chances of them believing him was low.

Everyone looks at him in confusion, before Yang breaks the silence. Again.

"I get it! So he could teleport, and a log would appear where he was?" she asks.

"Not quite." Naruto replies, "The Log needs to be there already, in some way shape or form. From the smallest drop of water, to the largest tree. But if he was about to be hit, his attacker would only hit a log." he smiles, proud of the history of his people.

"Huh." Taiyang comments, "Never heard of a Semblance like that. Where was your village located?"

"Outside Mistral and Vacuo." Naruto replied, having heard of the Kingdoms earlier.

"Huh. Did you stop there on your way to Vale?" Ruby asks.

"I didn't, no. I travelled here on foot, and later entered the city of Vale after a few weeks in the wilds."

Taiyang was shocked. "You lived in the forests for a couple weeks?! What about the Grimm? How did you deal with them without a team to take watches?"

Naruto smiled nervously. "I've mastered a power called…" he strives to remember.

'It's not called Sage Power, that's what I am, a Sage. I guess it's called the intake of natural energy, but does it have a proper name? Huh, gonna have to ask the Toads…' he refocuses on his hosts, who are looking at him quizzically.

"Sorry, got lost in thought. Anyways, I can't remember the proper name for the technique, but it bestows upon me Sagehood, which allows me to sense Natural Energy, and take it into my body. I can sense the Grimm with it, and since it makes me one with nature, they ignore me as they would a bush, or a tree. Besides, even if they did sense me, I'd just wake up and thrash them!"

Yang was interested. "So your Semblance allows you to basically hide from the Grimm? Meh, sounds OK. I think mine's better though."

Ruby's bouncing in her seat: "But that's not all you can do! You were making water things earlier! And moving super fast! Ohhhhhh! That reminds me!"

"What little sis?" Yang asks.

"OK, so today I was at a Dust shop, and then this guy with a bunch of thugs came in and started robbing the place! Then one of them tried robbing me and-" Taiyang interrupts.

"WHAT?! You were robbed?!" he yells, looking at her.

"No dad, I threw him through the window! Then when I went out on the street, all the other guys tried to get me." Taiyang is really nervous now.

"You got into a fight?... are the guys who attacked you OK?"

"Yeah, they should be! I only used the blunt of my scythe on the guys without their Aura activated! Although they might need the hospital… ohhhh I hope they're OK!"

"Get on with the story sis! Or is that it?"

Ruby frantically waves her hands. "No no! OK, then the leader came out to fight! He was really weird, all the other guys wore black suits and red ties with red glasses, but this guy had a big white coat with a bowler. He even had orange hair!" Both Taiyang and Yang are shocked at the same time, but for different reasons. Before Taiyang can comment, Yang interrupts,

"You fought Junior's goons?! I'm gonna get him SO hard when I see him next!" she yells.

Taiyang's next. "That sounds like Roman Torchwick! The biggest criminal in Vale right now! He's supposed to be almost on par with a Huntsman! Are you alright?! What happened?!" he cries.

Ruby giggles sheepishly. "Well, he launched a weird Flame Dust flare at me, but then out of nowhere, Naruto leapt in!" Both Yang and Taiyang look at Naruto gratefully, who's rubbing the back of his head.

"He kicked the flare out of the air and into a nearby building! It was SOOO cool! Hey, I forgot to ask, why didn't your robe get burnt by it?"

Naruto frowns. 'I actually don't know… Any idea, guys?'

Gyuki answers. "Well, it's because you overloaded the Creation of All Things with Chakra. You created a robe like the Sage's Tools, with special powers. From what you've shown, it must be either fireproof, or extraordinarily durable, maybe even capable of blocking swords! It's shaped by intent, so what did you want when you created the cloak?"

Naruto thinks to himself. 'Well, I wanted something that could stop the rain, and something that commemorated Obito, Nagato and Itachi. Oh, and I wanted it to be warm! And not be damaged by kunai…' Naruto remembers when he dropped his kunai on his pants on a mission, they were completely shredded! He had to wrap his jacket around his waist for that mission!

Gyuki sighs. 'No wonder the technique used so much Chakra; he wanted a cloak that did much more than even the Tools… maybe the fireproof comes from him wanting it to be warm? Or from Itachi, he was fond of fire… Whatever the three people he thought of, some power Naruto associates with them will be bonded to this cloak… Gods, I hope he doesn't lose it. Kurama roars in laughter.

'Oh, he'll lose it Gyuki! In fact, he might even give it away to someone on the street!'

Gyuki freezes in fear. 'We can't let that happen.' Kurama stops laughing.

'Just don't tell him, the brat won't lose it if he doesn't think it matters. He only loses things he tries not to lose.' Gyuki looks at Kurama dubiously.

'That... doesn't reassure me.' he groans, getting pats on the back from some of the other Tailed Beasts.

While this conversation is happening, Naruto's answering Ruby.

"Well, that cloak's special. I made it from some really tough material! I met this guy who could make things out of his Aura, and he made that cloak for me. Actually, that's a good point; it's a cloak, not a robe. It goes over my normal clothes, instead of being my normal clothes." Ruby nods wisely, making a note of the distinction, while Yang looks exasperated at another cloak fanatic being found out.

"You were saying about that Torchwick guy, Rubes?" Yang prompts, curious. "That can't be it, you didn't wait just to say you found a new friend."

Ruby nods happily. "Yeah! After that, Naruto fought Torchwick, dodging all his flares! It was amazing, he was as fast as Uncle Qrow! Anyways, Naruto got hit by a barrage of flares, sending him into an adjacent building. Then Torchwick ran up a building, and I chases him."

Taiyang disapproved. "You just left Naruto there, knowing that he might be injured?" he glances at Naruto. "I'm sorry that she left you there, but it looks like you're alright."

Naruto nods, smiling. "It's fine! She sent the old guy to check on me, so don't blame her! She did her duty!"

"Good. Now, continue dear. You said you were chasing Torchwick up onto the roof?"

Ruby nods, enthused beyond belief. "Yeah! Then, when I got to the top, I saw him running away along the rooftop, so I told him to stop-" Yang interrupts, a beatific smile on her face.

"You told a criminal to stop running away? Rubes, that's like telling your opponent to stop dodging in a fight! They won't do it!" she cries out, slamming her hand on the table in laughter.

"I know that noooww, Yang!" Ruby pouts, before continuing her story. "Anyways, right when I thought I had him, a Bullhead came up from behind the building! It had a door open, and he climbed inside. Then some metal things hit him in the back, although they didn't do anything because of his Aura. Actually, Naruto, were those the kunai you told me about?" she asks.

"Yes, they were. Although I also used shuriken, which are primarily designed for throwing, and better at it." he replies, "But c'mon Ruby, tell them the rest!" he urges.

"Yeah, so Naruto attacked him, and then he yelled something into the Bullhead as he started firing more flares at us, when a Huntress blocked them all!"

Taiyang is relieved. "Oh, a Huntress arrived. That's good, so they took out Torchwick?"

Ruby shakes her head in the negative. "No, that's when Torchwick's partner came out." she ends solemnly. Naruto frowns, crossing his hands in front of his face.

'While her powers were not particularly noteworthy, she was more powerful than Torchwick.' he muses as Ruby explains how she bombarded them with fireballs, and how Naruto had stopped them all with some water opposite of them! She continues, reaching the part where the stranger shot a lightning bolt at them.

"And then the weird lady shot a lightning bolt at us! It was insane! It was like she had multiple Semblances…" she trails off musingly.

Taiyang's face reflects his fear. 'Oh shit. They fought either an extremely adept user of Dust, on the same level as the Schnee, or they fought a Maiden… both of those are terrible options!' he thinks.

"Anyways, Naruto got me out of the way of the lightning, and then the Bullhead flew away in the distraction." Ruby concludes her Epic Tale, now standing on her chair, arms raised to the heavens. Then she totters, and falls. "Oof!"

Taiyang's more relieved now. "Thank you for saving my daughter, Naruto. If there's any way I can repay you, please let me know." he finishes, sincerely. Yang agrees, nodding.

'Welllll" Ruby says slyly, "You could give him a place to stay for a week." she suggests, causing Taiyang to look at Naruto.

"You don't have a place to stay? No, of course you don't… you said you lived in the woods. Well, if you'd like, you can stay here in Qrow's room until you find a place." he offers, still concerned about a boy sleeping in the same house as his baby girls.

"Why are you only staying a week? D'you think you'll be able to find a place in that timeframe? Unless you work your ass off, you won't be able to afford a place… and it takes a while to find a job here in Vale." she asks, worried.

"Nah, he'll be fine." Ruby blows off, "He's already got a place to stay, he just can't go there for a week..." she trails off, nervous.

"Where will you be going then, Naruto? And why can't you stay there now?" he questions, before reiterating. "Not that I don't want you around! But I'd assume a teenage boy would like to move into his own place?" he ends. 'If he's only staying here cause of Yang and Ruby, I'll break his legs.'

"Well Dad, after the fight we were taken by the Huntress, and then we met someone who offered to house Naruto… and myself."

'WHAT?!" Taiyang roars, outraged. "Who tried to take you away?!"

"Dad, Dad! You're overreacting! The Huntress took us to the police station, and we met Professor Ozpin there! He offered us both positions at Beacon!" she squeaks.

Taiyang calmed down, looking at them both. "Are you sure you want to go?" he asks. "You still have two years at Signal Academy, you aren't ready for Beacon yet."

Ruby huffs. "I can fight Yang, and she's going to Beacon!"

"But you can't beat Yang yet." Taiyang cautions, "Until you do, I don't feel comfortable sending you to Beacon. Maybe next year."

Naruto feels uncomfortable being in this conversation. On one hand, he thinks Ruby should be allowed to go, especially since she's been offered a position. On the other, he understands why Taiyang wanted her to stay: Sakura had complained vigorously about how overprotective her parents were on more than one occasion.

"Fine!" Ruby yelled, tears appearing in her eyes, "I won't go!" she leaves the table, and runs to her room. Silence fills the dining room.

"Well, Dad, I think that you should let her go." Yang starts. However, Taiyang shakes his head.

"I'm sorry Yang, but if she can't fight you on an equal level, then she's not ready for Beacon. Give her some time, then she can go." Naruto fidgets, and strains to not speak. Taiyang notices however, and asks if he has anything to say.

"Well, you're saying that Ruby can't beat Yang, so she can't go to Beacon. What if she beat Yang before the week was up?" he suggests.

Yang muses, considering. 'If I throw the match, then Ruby could go to Beacon… that way she won't be upset. It's a good idea!' She makes her support for the idea known.

"That's a great idea, Dad!"

Taiyang considers, before speaking. "You aren't wrong… Fine. If Ruby can defeat Yang before Initiation, then I'll let her go. Yang, go tell Ruby about this." Yang nods, and leaves Naruto and Taiyang together. Taiyang looks at Naruto, before sighing.

"Kid, I get it. You want your friend to go to Beacon with you, but Ruby's two whole years behind Yang. She can't beat her, even if she trained from dawn till dusk every day. I'm afraid you'll be going on this journey alone." Naruto frowns.

"With respect, Mr. Xiao Long, I will be training Ruby during the week." Taiyang is shocked.

"What makes you think that I can't train her?" he growls.

"Other than the fact that I don't want you to sabotage her to make her stay, I also can tell you're a hand to hand combatant, like Yang. Ruby isn't, and your training method wouldn't help her. Unless you got her Uncle here, she won't improve. So I'll be teaching her some things before the week is done." Naruto declares. "And if I can't get her on Yang's level before the week is up, then I won't go to Beacon. I'll teach her until no one can say she can't go!"

Taiyang is shocked, before he smiles. "Good luck then." Naruto reciprocates his smile.

"I won't need it."

The Next Day

Ruby rushes out from her house, scythe in hand, and ready to train. She's got less than a week to train and beat Yang, and she's gonna start now! Before she can move across the yard however, a shadow looms in front of her. Turning, she sees Naruto sitting on the roof, looking at her. With a backflip, he leaps from the house, landing in front of her, the wind moving his cloak slowly.

"Yo, you won't believe what I found in your Uncle's room-" he says, greeting her.

"No time to talk Naruto, I've gotta go practice to beat Yang!" she says urgently.

"I know. I suggested the idea, and I'm gonna help you." he replies, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?" she asks, distractedly. "You're… gonna teach me stuff?"

"Yep!" he says proudly, popping the p.

"No offense," she questions, "But what can you teach me? You're strong, but you seemed to be a Semblance based fighter."

Naruto smiles proudly, puffing out his chest. "I've only taught one person before you. They ended up defeating the… body, of an S-Class Huntsman."

Ruby's shocked. "So… what did you teach this person?"

Naruto ruffles her hair. "How to manipulate their energy… their Aura, into this!" he holds out his hand, and concentrating, is shocked when a green Rasengan appears in his hand.

'Why's it green? Usually they're blue…" he thinks to himself.

Ruby is also shocked. "You mean… that's pure Aura Manipulation?!" she cries.

"Yes!" Naruto smiles. "And I think you could learn it too!"

Ruby is stunned, before smiling brilliantly. "Well, what does it do? I mean, it's pretty, but is it an attack, a defensive technique, or something that's going to boost my Aura Control?"

Naruto considers. Since he inherited the Sage's inherent knowledge of Chakra, he knew how to teach the Rasengan to someone without half of their own Chakra, even though it wouldn't be as strong, they should be able to. "Well, it will increase how well you can control your Aura, but this is what it's primarily designed for." He walks over to a large boulder, before turning. "Is this rock important for anything?" he asks, sheepishly.

Ruby shakes her head in the negative, and Naruto turns. He reaches back, smashing the Rasengan into the boulder, almost completely eviscerating it.

'That… was a lot more powerful than normal. What's going on?' he thinks, before creating a Shadow Clone in the debris where Ruby couldn't see it.

"Go find out what's going on." the clone nods, before flickering away.

Naruto leaves the dust cloud, and sees Ruby staring at him in awe.

"That's what I hope you can learn. Of course, you won't master it before the week is over, so we'll also be studying something I doubt you've learned, considering how you fought last night."

Ruby looks at him with eager eyes. "What? What?!" she squeals, excited.

Naruto smirks, raising a single finger. "Deception!" he declares proudly.

Ruby tumbles over, before rising up. "What? Why would I need to learn to lie? Lying's wrong!"

Naruto bops her head. "You fool!" 'Heh, this is kinda fun!' "I mean deceiving your opponent in combat! Now come on, I don't want Yang watching you train and thinking of ways to fight."

Ruby follows Naruto into the woods, a little skip in her step.

She's gonna win.

She's going to Beacon.

And not even the Gods will be able to stop her.

After 5 Days of Training

Naruto gazed at Ruby as she ran around the clearing. He didn't want to train her speed much, because she already had that covered, but it helped boost her confidence.

'And the Sage knows that everyone needs a confidence booster in training.'

As Ruby ground to a halt, Naruto sighed, her face becoming downcast.

"Ruby, you need to be able to stop immediately, not slow down before stopping. Otherwise you can't use your Semblance in active combat, just as an escape." he admonished.

"Yeah, I know, but it's just so hard to stop moving!" she protests, raising her arms. "Now, let's try again!"

Naruto looks up at the sun. "Bad idea, you have your match with Yang in a couple hours. Better get some rest, or at least eat something. It's bad to fight on an empty stomach."

Ruby nods, then looks at Naruto hopefully. "Cookies?" she asks, engaging the dreaded Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu!

Naruto flinches, before acquiescing. "Fine. We'll get some cookies, but you're also going to eat some power bars first."

Ruby groans. The power bars were so gross! They weren't actually power bars, they were a type of Food Pill that Gyuki knew about from the Hidden Cloud. It turned out being the Tailed Beast inside the Raikage's brother lead to him learning some useful things!

They both walk back to the house. Naruto looks at Ruby, full of pride. While it wasn't the first time he taught a student, he felt that Konohamaru was less a student and more of a boy he taught a cool trick to. Ruby, on the other hand, he'd taught more than a single Jutsu. He'd taught her how to fight like a Shinobi, which would serve her greatly in the fights against people. Not so well on Grimm, but hey, they sucked anyways.

As they approached the house, they saw Yang stretching in front. She turned, waving at them.

"Hey guys! How's it going?!" she called out.

"Pretty good!" Naruto replied, gratefully. They'd let him stay here for a couple of days, which he was super grateful for. While he could have easily lived out in the woods, living with people was always nicer.

"Great sis! Soon I'll beat you!" Ruby cried proudly, pointing imperiously at Yang, who feigned fear.

"Oh my! Such ferocity! I'm doooooomed!" she wailed, falling to her knees. "I can't stand before such martial prowess!" Naruto squinted, looking at Yang closely.

'It almost seems as though she wants to…' his eyes widened slightly, as he glanced at Ruby. 'Of course. Let's just see how this goes…'

Ruby smiled brightly hugging Yang, who notices the change in Ruby's wardrobe. Instead of wearing extra sniper rounds on her belt, she now had three round-ish pouches. The pouches were black, with red highlights that matched the rest of her gear. She was also wearing something on her forehead, but Yang couldn't quite make out what it was under Ruby's hair.

Yang rubbed Ruby's head, before pushing her away.

"Hey Rubes, why don't we have the match now? Then we can back our bags for Beacon!" she suggests, winking.

Ruby smiles, and nods. "Get Dad? I… want to thank Naruto."

Yang grins. "Sure." she heads up into the house, yelling boisterously.

Ruby turns towards Naruto, who's looking up at the sun.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Hmmm?" he turns, looking at her, the sun framing his head.

"Thanks for teaching me. I'm way tougher than I was before, and it's all thanks to you. I'd… like to pay you back."

Naruto shakes his head. "Nah, you guys gave me a place to stay. It was the least I could do."

"Still, when we have time, I'd like to help you build a weapon for yourself."

Naruto's eyes widen imperceptibly. 'Oh. Do I really need one? Meh, better to conserve my Jutsu. At the very least, it'll mislead people into thinking I'm a weapons based fighter.'

"Thanks Ruby! I'll take you up on that at Beacon!" he beams.

Ruby nearly glows with the praise. 'He… really believes I can beat Yang. I won't let him down!' They both hear steps leaving the house, and see Yang walking out, confused. She approaches them.

"Dad said to give him a few minutes to get ready." Ruby shrugs, nodding. Naruto however, frowns, with Yang catching it. She looks at him, and scowls back. She nods, scowling as well. Naruto sighs, reaching behind his head.

'Well, what can you do?' After a few minutes, they hear heavy stomping coming from the house, before Taiyang comes out. But he's in full battle garb, however it appears that he doesn't have a weapon on him.

Naruto glares at Taiyang as Ruby calls out to him.

"Hey Dad, why're you in your combat gear? You going somewhere? Ohhh, are Yang and I fighting away from the house?" Taiyang shakes his head as he crosses the yard.

"Sorry, dear, but you aren't fighting Yang." Ruby tenses. "You… will be fighting me."

Author'sNote::

Well, how is it? I think it was pretty obvious, but hey, I'm new at this. Sue me.

Please review plot guesses! If you get it right, I'll PM you a tidbit of information you might want!

-Pad