Chapter 10: Spread Your Wings

Naruto snorted softly as the Bullhead lifted off the ground, watching with happy eyes as Ruby and Yang waved goodbye to Taiyang, who was waving at them. He grumbled slightly at the unfairness of the trip; instead of taking the Bullhead directly to Beacon, they had to go to Vale, and from there catch a ride in another air vehicle (of which he forgot the name). They were going to meet all the other students there, and Naruto couldn't deny he was interested to see them. Since Ruby and Yang were both around Genin level, and Ruby was two years younger than Yang, he couldn't wait to see all the other Huntsmen applicants. Besides, Beacon might have some knowledge about Space-Time techniques hidden from the public which could help him get home.

While he mused on this, Yang was busy brushing her hair. Perfection like that didn't come without a lot of work; if she left it to do whatever, it would get all streaky, sort of like her Uncle's.

Ruby was happily eating a chocolate bar, munching away on it as she browsed her weapons magazines, in which was cunningly hidden another book. Her eyes darted across the page, glimmering with unshed tears as she read the poetic glory from within;

"When I saw you there,

With radiant hair and golden eyes

So pure, I felt your hand

Fall down my face, framing

Me with an ethereal grace

Touching more than just

My visage.

You touched my heart,

And purged from it the sewage

Of years of loneliness."

Her eyes misted as she mentally whined; 'Why is this so goooooooood!'

Her eyes darted even faster, the shine of her silver eyes accentuated by the tears yet to fall as she fell into romantic poetry.

Naruto sighed once more, gazing out over the sea as they flew. It would take a while to get to Vale, and now he could appreciate the sea. Honestly, he thought, it would be nice to fly more often.

'I've gotten the ability to fly, but I've never just… flown. Maybe I'll do that later…' he thought, before reaching for his notebook. 'While I'm here, I should work more on my weapon. Maybe use Creation of All Things to make it… Could be Naruto's Treasured Tools! The cloak, the fan, and…' he started to muse about another tool he could make, until he'd make five.

...what? He felt like living up to the Sage. 'Besides, why did the Sage make five tools when he was the Sage of the Six Paths?!' Naruto thought to himself, 'It makes no sense. He'd only need to make one more! Just one! Then he'd have six tools for his six paths!'

After a few minutes, Naruto decided to just make tools when it suited him. 'It wouldn't do to make all six tools now and then never use them later.' he nodded sagely, feeling wise. 'But I do need a weapon, so I'll make the Gunbai that Kurama suggested.'

Slowly itching to the back of the Bullhead, Naruto realized there was nowhere for him to hide while he made it.

'I'll make it in Vale…' he thought with a mental sweatdrop, with the Tailed Beasts lowly taunting him in the back of his mind. He groaned, clutching at his head. This Yang took note of, sidling up next to him.

"You good whiskers?" she asked, causing him to groan even louder. He looked at her, with annoyance clearly clouding his face.

"Yang, don't call me that. Bad… bad memories." he explained, with Yang nodding quickly, misinterpreting his mood as Faunus related racism.

'Can't blame him… I'd be pissed if people called me blondie… or broad. Maybe I should stop giving nicknames… Nah!' she decided then and there that she'd call him Whiskers, and make him like the name. She smiled brightly at him, slinging her arm over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Whiskers! I'll call you by your real name!" Naruto merely groaned in response, leaning back and closing his eyes. By this point they'd nearly travelled halfway there, and Ruby had taken notice of the conversation. Deciding she wanted to be a part of it, she used her Semblance to zip over to them. Landing just opposite of Naruto, she happily munched on her chocolate, tucking her book back into her Shinobi Pouch. Naruto, seeing this, was instantly reminded of Kakashi, and teared up a bit. Quickly wiping them away, Naruto smiled at her.

"What were you reading, Ruby?" her eyes widened imperceptibly, as she struggled to find an answer.

"Ohh, you know, a weapons magazine… It's really really cool!" she answered, the lie obvious to none, least of all Yang who considered weapons to be the focus of Ruby's world. Naruto's eyes brightened as he heard her mention weapons.

"Oh! Could I have a look at it? I'm going to…" he trailed off, realizing that he couldn't very well say he was going to make it when they got to Vale…

"Ohhh! You're designing a weapon?!" she cried out in excitement. While she wasn't as obsessed with weapons as Yang believed (thank the Brothers, it was almost like Yang thought she was Gun Sexual), she still loved them almost as much as cookies.

Naruto nodded, showing her his notebook to her. Ruby's eyes roamed the page, slowly becoming more and more downcast, before she looked at him, the death of her soul evident within her now dull gray eyes.

"What… is this?" she asked, her voice empty and void. Naruto glanced at her with concern.

"What do you mean? This is…" and looking at the page, he realized that his list of weapon ideas were still on it. Next to them were random scribbles that he'd drawn, barely realizing that he'd drawn things he'd seen with the Sharingan. Most notably was the picture of the seal on Obito's stash in the Kamui Dimension, which covered lots of the page.

"Ohhh, those are just random doodles! Nothing important about them!" he said, smiling a little too wide as he covered the image of Kaguya leering at him with his hand. Ruby nodded slowly, before looking at the list.

"Well, honestly, I'm really confused. Who's Shark Face?" she asked, and Naruto had to really think about it.

"Well… he was a dude who looked like… was a shark Faunus." he said, "And he had a big sword called Sharkskin, which could drain.. Aura when it hit you." Ruby nodded, before throwing in her two cents.

"Well, I don't know how you'd do that. We have no way of taking Aura without a Semblance, so it was probably his Semblance and not his sword that did that…" she mumbled, thinking to herself. Naruto decided it was time to point out that he'd already decided.

"I already have the weapon, it's waiting in Vale," he lied, "I'm just thinking about attachments or upgrades I could give it."

Ruby nodded, before asking the important question. "And you chose the lightning sword right?" Naruto looked at her like she was insane.

"Hell no! Lightning's like the worst thing for me to use! All my best moves stop it easily!" he exclaimed, before pointing at the Gunbai entrance on the list. "I've got that!" he declared.

Ruby sighed loudly. "Madara's Weird Guitar Shaped Thingy? What does that even mean?!" she cried out, exasperated. Naruto quickly waved his hands in front of his face, attempting to diffuse the situation the way you would a fire. By flapping your hands as fast as your mouth.

"It's a war fan! It blows blasts of wind out of it! Look, you can see it when we get to Vale, OK?" he said, trying to calm her. Ruby agreed, but had a warning.

"I swear that if this is a guitar I'm not going to be impressed. Even if you can play it. Even if it sounds really good… even if…" she trailed off, imagining Naruto playing a guitar before shaking the ridiculous image from her head. She can't picture him playing the guitar. Scratch that, she can't picture ANY thin blond boy playing the guitar, ever. Naruto smiled though.

"Nah, I can't play the guitar. But it does have some tricks that you'll find most useful, someday." he winked. Right as he snapped his notebook shut, effectively closing the conversation, the Bullhead touched down in Vale, with the doors opening a few seconds later. Naruto and Yang both hopped up and walked out, and Ruby waited a few seconds before shaking her head.

'Come on Rubes, don't think about the tricks… don't think about the tricks…' she recited in her head as she darted from the Bullhead. As they left the Bullhead loading area, they moved quickly to the Airship loading area, zeroing in on the Airship that flies to Beacon. Naruto glanced about, looking at all the passengers that travelled across Vale. He could see so many different people, and a few Faunus too! Honestly it was awesome! He could scarcely understand all the mechanics and technology that must've gone into building this place! However, he wasn't so stunned as to forget his mission. Clearing his throat loudly, Ruby glanced at him as Yang lugged her heavy bags across the ground, stopping for breaks every couple of steps.

"I just need to pick up my weapon, I'll be back in like… 10 minutes? Tops? If I'm not, just go down that alley there." he pointed one out on the other side of the airfield. "That's where I'm picking it up. If I'm not there… please explain what happened to Ozpin as best you can." Ruby nodded, before asking him if he wanted her to go with him.

"Heh, no that's fine. I shouldn't take long, I'm only saying this just in case." she nodded, worried but willing to trust him with this. And with that, he ran across the airfield, zipping into the alleyway after narrowly avoiding the people unloading large white containers with a snowflake on them. Sitting down, he lowered his hands and began to focus.

'OK, so you guys said that my intent shapes what I create… what should I focus on?' he asked. The clamour however proved too much for him, and Naruto closed his eyes in pain before yelling into his mindscape, his mental voice echoing like the roar of the Ten Tails.

'Quiet! I can't even think when you're all yelling!' The Tailed Beasts quieted down, and Naruto mused aloud, his voice amused and at the same time, filled with childish glee.

"OK, so I think to keep suspicion down I won't give it any special properties. This time I'll make it completely normal." he decided, his voice firm despite his desire to create the greatest weapon ever. Closing his eyes, he breathed out slowly, channeling the power of the Tailed Beasts as it coalesced into a shimmering blue cloud. Glowering down at it, Naruto began to channel Nature Energy into the mix, creating a deep green effect. The shape grew more pronounced as he struggled to not allow too much Chakra into the Gunbai.


Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto moaned aloud as he rose to his feet.

"Did I pass out again?..." he asked, glancing at the sun. Fortunately, it was roughly in the same place as before, so less than thirty minutes had passed, leaving him with more than enough time to get to the Airship. However, a voice answered him, causing his thoughts to halt and double back.

"Yes. I found you asleep here after hearing a loud humming." he heard a voice say, obviously female by the sound. Glancing around, he saw a wavy black haired girl with a bow atop her head, and amber eyes barely looking at him as she asked the question with her voice quite obviously bored. Naruto was honestly unsure how to proceed. However, his Master had instructed him in the art of first impressions, and so far he had yet to lead him wrong (except for when it came to peeking, but that was unavoidable).

"Why hello there! You can write me love letters later! I'm Naruto, nice ta meet'cha!" he said, already regretting it when she finally looked at him, disgust evident on her face. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was wearing stained sweatpants and a large white hoodie with a yellow smiley face on it, which still had ramen noodles stuck to it, or maybe Jiraiya wasn't a suave as he'd been told (by Jiraiya, of course).

It was probably Jiraiya. No one could resist ramen. No one. Smiling at her, Naruto hopped to his feet, and she slowly backed away, before turning and running out of the alley.

"See ya!" Naruto called after her, before looking down at his newest creation (besides his reputation with the girl that is). His eyes widened to almost comical proportions.

"Awwww yeah! This is so coool!" he cried out, reaching down and picking it up. The shaft was simple, and covered in white wrappings, while the actual fan part was a deep burnt orange colour, bordering on red. At each rounded point at the tip of the fan rested three black tomoe, which he wasn't too fond of but he supposed that it was fitting. However, the part that made him really happy was that black accents along the edges, and the black fabric wrapped around the middle of the Gunbai, which had the Uzumaki spiral emblazoned proudly on the center on both sides of the Gunbai. Twirling it experimentally in his hands, Naruto was satisfied with the fan as he twisted it into a shield, before swinging it like a blade. Naruto smiled with the results as a small slice of wind extended from it, carving a slight groove into the herringbone patterned ground.

'If it did that when I wasn't even trying, I wonder what it'll do when I am?' he thought, before quickly sealing the Gunbai into his storage seal in his Shinobi Pouch.

'That's the last one… I should get some more, or at least learn how to make them while I'm here… Maybe Obito could get me some supplies…" he thought to himself as he left the alley, maneuvering towards the Beacon Airship. Leaping up the stairs three at a time, he entered the viewing area, and looked around for Ruby and Yang.

'Let's see… Yang's easier to spot cause she's… Yang. Where is she?' looking about, he noticed a tall person with blonde hair. Swerving through the crowd (who all looked at him with disgust, though he didn't notice it) he neared Yang. However, after getting past a tall guy with orange hair (sooo coool, he thought to himself), he discovered it wasn't Yang, just a blonde guy in some armour who looked like he was about to puke.

...aaaaaand he did. Great.

AN:

Well, I'm not dead. The COVID has yet to fell me. Here's a short chapter, I didn't feel like writing this because I'm dealing with a lot of annoying school stuff (like most people) but I felt like you all might need something during these horrible times. So here's a really short chapter, just to maybe perk some people up. Naruto has his weapon, and he's finally on his way to Beacon. Next chapter will be the whole ballroom scene, and pre initiation, introducing Jaune (who, just here, I'm going to say I don't think gets airsick. I think he was overwhelmingly nervous about his transcripts being discovered, since he doesn't show it anywhere else, until Atlas in 'As Above, So Below', where I think he was nervous because they were going to fight a literal army of Grimm, and the airship they were in was attacked by something flying).

Anyways, enough with that rant! Thank you all for your support, especially with answering my question from last time! Glad to hear I didn't break any rules!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Wind Dragon Master. Your comments are always insightful, constructive and helpful; I'm sincerely glad you're reading my story, and appreciate all the work and time you spend on writing your comments.

Another person I'd like to thank is TheSlySage. You've been reading my story since it's inception, and always have said kind and thoughtful things to me. So you have my sincerest thanks, and gratitude.

But of course, it wouldn't be an Author's Note without some clarification for issues people had with the last chapter! So here we go;

I read a few complaints about Naruto ignoring the Tailed Beasts warnings about giving Chakra. I think I should point out that Naruto is completely mistaken about Aura. He doesn't have any idea what it is, and is simply imposing his current world view on what he THINKS it is. He didn't give Ruby Chakra, or awaken her own Chakra system (because she doesn't have one). This may or may not turn into a major plot point in the future, but as of now, Naruto in fact didn't do anything beyond infuse her with his own Chakra, thereby granting it's natural regenerative properties to her for a short time, jumpstarting whatever the HELL powers Silver Eyes.

Also, I've had a few PMs about how Naruto should be more up in arms about the White Fang.

Whatever. I personally feel like they're an overdone plot piece, and one that's not actually a big deal. Naruto wouldn't care about them, at least not yet.

Anyways, thanks for reading the latest chapter, and peace out! I'll be starting a new story soon that I'm not sure will do well, but it'll be a RWBY only fic. Please tell me how you like my poem, I think I should have put more work into it but hey, I'm a lazy son of a bitch.

-Pad