Alright then!

Shall we continue? *smirks*

Disclaimer: pain17ification owns nothing

Sackcloth and Ashes

Chapter Five: Initiation

"I'm telling you, Oz," a man spoke up, taking a short swig from a flask before continuing, "you've gotta keep an eye on that kid. He's been hanging around with the wrong sort of people."

A man with silver hair and brown eyes looked to the speaker, a cup of warm coffee in his hands. "And who has he been seen with, exactly?"

"My sister, for starters," came the immediate answer. "And last I checked, Raven wasn't the type to hang around with random people unless they shared her mindset or were useful to her."

"That's concerning, but has he done anything to warrant suspicion other than being seen with Raven? Has he acted out against the public, or harmed anyone?"

"It'll only be a matter of time with Raven involved."

"Qrow, I know that Raven's views on the world aren't exactly…acceptable, but you can't blame her for anything that this boy has yet to do," Ozpin stated, setting his coffee down on his desk to steeple his hands together in his lap.

"I can if she's given him the means to do so," the red-eyed man retorted. "When I saw the kid before Raven talked to him, he had nothing on him in terms of weapons; and everyone with training keeps a weapon on hand wherever they go. Next thing I see, my sister gives him some kind of package and the next day, the guy's got a firearm on hand. That can't be coincidence, Oz."

"I suppose not. However, I can't do anything unless I have solid evidence to support this. While I trust you with many things, I can't just place him under surveillance based on a hunch; which is what this is." He raised a hand to stop Qrow from saying anything. "And you know this, Qrow. Your views on your sister are, regrettably, biased thanks to your past with her."

The man took a breath to steady himself before crossing his arms. "So then…you'll do nothing?"

"I keep an eye on all of my potential students, my friend; especially those who show something noteworthy. Perhaps Mr. Uzumaki will show us something worth keeping an eye on."

The two men shared a look, and Qrow nodded to the man before leaving his office. Ozpin wouldn't let him down.

He never had.

Jolting awake, Naruto hissed in pain and grabbed where his arm connected to metal while his eyes were wide in panic. Looking around, he saw that everyone else was still asleep since it was still pretty early in the morning.

"Dammit…" he cursed softly. "Another nightmare…" Getting out of his bedroll, he grabbed his clothes and moved through the throng of sleeping students to change.

Unknown to him, a pair of mismatching eyes opened as he got up and watched him leave. They narrowed in slight concern before Neo decided to speak with the blonde Uzumaki later. Something was bothering him; she could feel it.

After he got dressed in his new "combat gear", Naruto decided to go for a morning run so that he could clear his head. Running around the campus was sure to do the trick, and he figured that he could finish a couple of laps before the initiation was set to begin.

Passing by the students again as he headed for the door, he moved past someone who should've been familiar to him had he been paying attention. The person's bow twitched and an amber eye cracked open just in time to see him head out the door. The other eye opened as Blake sat up and stared at the door, frowning in confusion at why her fellow Faunus was up so early.

'Who are you?' she thought to herself before she decided to get some more rest.

A couple of laps around the campus later, Naruto returned to the auditorium just in time to see the other potential students up and about. Moving through the sea of people, he made his way to where Cinder and the others had chosen to sleep last night.

Bumping into someone, he turned to them and said, "Sorry."

"Watch where you're going!" a girl with white hair and blue eyes shot back before she continued off to where she had been headed.

"I said sorry," groused the Uzumaki with a roll of his eyes before turning back around. Once he reached the others, he asked, "Any word on where to go?"

"We're supposed to head for the cliffs with our gear and weapons ready," answered Cinder, handing him his things. She was currently out of her signature dress in exchange for her cover gear.

Said gear consisted of a pair of gray pants and boots, a beige leather, sleeveless jacket with light-beige details, brown gloves, a sarashi tied around her chest and another around her hips, and a pauldron on her left shoulder. She also wore a belt around her waist, which had multiple brown pouches attached to it.

"Nice outfit," Naruto commented offhandedly as he put on his holster pack and holstered his gun. He then strapped the sheathe for his trench knife to his left leg while putting ammo packs for his gun in the pouch opposite to said weapon. "The dress made you stand out too much, if you ask me."

"Yes," agreed Cinder with a smirk as the four of them headed for the cliffs. "I thought so too; and I appreciate the compliment, Naruto."

He shrugged off her thanks as they headed upwards with the other students, being instructed to stand on pads at the top of the cliff that overlooked an expansive forest. Seeing it, the displaced shinobi couldn't help giving a smirk of his own.

"Oh yeah… I'm home," he declared as he stood on his pad, testing the suspension on it. as other students got on their own, he looked between the forest below and the pads as his smirk stayed in place. "This might be fun…"

"What might be?" a familiar voice asked, making him turn to see Pyrrha. With a bright smile and wave, she greeted, "Hello again."

"Hey, yourself," he returned, smiling back to her. "And I was talking about how we're gonna be launched into the forest from these things we're standing on."

She took a moment to observe what he had noted before nodding in understanding. "I see. I guess I can see why it would be fun for you."

He shrugged at that. "I've always liked to have some fun with what I do. Being launched into a forest instead of entering it on our own is different; and I like it."

She only smiled at his honest response. "It does sound like it'll be a nice change of pace. And I hope that we'll become partners, Naruto."

His smile strained a little at that. He would've liked to be her partner too, but he and the others had plans to change things. If those plans were meant to go through, then he, unfortunately, couldn't become her partner.

So, he said nothing and just smiled as best as he could to her as she was launched from her pad into the forest.

"Good luck, young man," a voice he didn't recognize said to him, making him turn to see the man that Cinder and Raven told him was Ozpin. "And remember, who you make eye contact with will be your partner for the foreseeable future."

The two locked eyes with one another, and Naruto felt his pad coil downwards in preparation to launch him. "That's just stupid," he deadpanned as he was launched.

Watching him fly off, Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and replied aloud, "We'll see, Mr. Uzumaki."

Hurtling through the air was nothing new to Naruto, since he had experienced that many times during the war. What made this different was that it wasn't a true warzone he was in, and that it was children that were being tested.

While it was true that before and during the war he could've been referred to as a child, it was still war; something that forces you to grow up.

His eyes flicked side to side as he looked for a good spot to land, absently hearing a familiar voice in the wind cry out, "Birdy, no!"

Despite himself, he couldn't help but chuckle at that, finding Ruby's concern for collateral damage to be adorable. It was something he needed with war memories fresh on his mind. It was a counterbalance that he craved.

Mentally thanking the girl, he finally picked a branch and sent out his grapple hand towards it, spearing the clawed digits into the wood deep enough to anchor him as he had it reel him in from midair. With a jerk of the arm, the hand was freed and clicked back in place as he tucked and rolled on the ground, standing up on his feet without any issue.

"Alright, let's see… Find a partner, find the relics, get back to cliff. Simple enough," he summarized as he breathed in the natural air that the city severely lacked. "I missed this," he noted softly, basking in the feeling of nature and entering Sage Mode for a brief moment; just enough to get a general idea of where the other students were heading.

Once he had it, he released the natural energy gathered and started walking. It'd been too long since he just walked through the woods. He wanted to savor the feeling.

"Seems like Miss Xiao-Long and Miss Belladonna have been partnered up," Glynda Goodwitch, on of Beacon's professors and Ozpin's trusted partner, reported as she kept updates on the students. She swiped through her scroll tablet, checking out other partnerings worth mention. "And the Schnee heiress has been paired with the young Rose girl."

"Interesting partner for Miss Rose," mused the Headmaster, taking a sip from his mug. "They'll have a rocky start, for sure."

Glynda said nothing about that as she continued looking through the students. Her brows furrowed slightly when she came upon another partnering. "…The Fall girl was able to pair up with one of her cohorts."

"…" Ozpin said nothing.

"Sir, why is it that you've let that girl and her allies join the school? It's obvious that they're more than their transcripts say they are, considering the reports Qrow gave us."

"There's a saying, Glynda. Keep your friends close…"

He didn't need to finish, and she knew it. "And what of the other two seen with them? Qrow never mentioned anything about them."

"He spoke to me about the boy early this morning. He's convinced that we need to keep a closer eye on him than Miss Fall."

"He's that much of a threat?" Glynda asked in surprise, not having expected that.

"Qrow believes that; though I'm willing to give the boy the benefit of the doubt for now. He hasn't done anything more than get in touch with the wrong people. And even then, there's nothing he's done to warrant suspicion."

Glynda hummed thoughtfully at that, turning to the video feed of the blonde in question. She studied him through the feed, brows creasing faintly. "He walks as if he's trying to commit a simple walk to memory. Perhaps this is connected to why he's got a false arm?"

"Perhaps, but it isn't our place to speculate; not at the present time. For now, we will watch over him like we do for all of our students."

"Yes, sir."

Having a blonde teammate was something Pyrrha was hoping for. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one in question. Still, from her interactions earlier with Jaune, she had a feeling that she still found a nice teammate.

Though, while he was a nice teammate, that wasn't to say that he was a…functional one. For starters, she had to help him unlock his Aura; something that should've been unlocked years ago. He held his weapons – and himself – with low confidence, which was concerning.

And currently, he had led the two of them into a dark cavern, found a "relic" which turned out to be an egg of sorts, and was flung away by a Death Stalker that had chased them outside of the cave and was now after her.

…Part of her believed her luck wouldn't have been this bad with the right blonde.

'I'm sorry,' she mentally apologized to Jaune, feeling guilty for belittling him; even if it was in her mind.

Arms cradling the back of his head as he walked, Naruto only rose a brow when he saw a hyperactive girl with orange hair – something he subconsciously found himself jealous of – tear through dozens of trees while joyriding on the back of a pissed off Ursa. A part of him wondered if this was what Kakashi felt like whenever a "black cat" crossed his path.

…

…

Nah, the man was obviously full of shit about that. After all, he even confessed why he was always late to the blonde Uzumaki months before the war. He wanted time to talk with those he lost whose names were on the Memorial Stone in the village.

Blinking, he suddenly found himself wondering if he should make his own memorial before he savagely destroyed that thought. 'They aren't dead,' he reminded himself. 'Until you know for sure that they're dead, don't ever think that again, Uzumaki!'

Nodding to himself in agreement to that promise, he absently noted that a young man dressed in green with magenta eyes ran after the Ursa-riding girl. "Nora! Wait up!" he called out to her, voice full of concern.

It was understandable since the girl was riding something that wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

He was about to follow before his senses picked up something above him. Turning his gaze upward, he locked eyes with Neo, who was floating down, almost casually, with her umbrella. She smirked at him as she landed, making him shake his head in amusement.

"Took you long enough to land," he joked.

Shrugging, she closed her umbrella and grabbed it at the center before doing a handspring and settling herself on his shoulders. Bending forward so that she looked at him upside down, she gave him another smirk that he chuckled at.

"Off we go, then," he stated, still in a joking manner as he followed after the two from before. "Glad to have you as my partner, Neo-chan."

"Same," was all she said.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked after said girl was saved from a harsh landing by Jaune flying into her and sending them both into a tree.

"I-" Yang tried to say.

She was cut off by an Ursa – the one that Nora had been riding – crashed through some trees and collapsed after Nora shot it with one of her grenades.

"Aww…" she whined sadly. "It's broken…"

Not far behind her, an out of breath Ren stopped to rest, using the downed Ursa for support. "Nora," he began, taking a few deep breaths before finishing, "please…don't ever do that again."

"Look, Ren!" she called out to him, making everyone see that she was somehow yards away from where she once was and was holding up a gold Rook chess piece. "I'm Queen of the Castle~!" she sang eagerly before skipping over to him.

Blake couldn't help but ask, "Did… Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"

Once again, Yang tried to say something. "I-"

But again, she was cut off by more trees falling as a Death Stalker chased Pyrrha and she was only able to keep herself inches from being taken out by its claws. "A little help, please!" she called out, sounding very winded from the continuous sprint she was forced to maintain.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?"

Blake once again felt the need to ask the obvious; though she was honestly amused at how often her partner was being cut off.

That amusement grew when Yang growled and then, almost literally, exploded. "I can't take it anymore!" Her eyes were red, a sign of her anger. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

'Ah, classic,' Blake mused, fighting a laugh.

Ruby was looking up with a worried face, and she gently nudged her sister. "Um… Yang?"

Said blonde slumped in defeat.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!" they all heard Weiss scream over the wind as she held onto a Nevermore's talon for dear life.

"I said jump…" Ruby mumbled.

"She's gonna fall," Blake noted.

"She'll be fine," the young Rose waved off, though she herself didn't sound all too sure.

The sound of her scream shattered that notion as she began to descend at rapid speed.

"She's falling," Ren stated.

What followed was Jaune jumping from the tree he was in so that he could catch Weiss. While he succeeded, he forgot to remember that gravity always won. And win it did as the two fell to the ground, with Weiss landing on top of the swordsman; and in a painful way for said Arc.

To finish things off, Pyrrha finally couldn't take the maintained speed anymore and was sent flying by the Death Stalker, landing with an exhausted huff before Ruby and the others. Yang saw this as the perfect time to summarize their situation.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now, we can die together!" she exclaimed with false cheer.

The Death Stalker turned to them and prepared to engage while the Nevermore was circling around for another round. Seeing no sense in staying, Ruby quickly grabbed a golden Knight, unknowingly matching the one Yang grabbed before, while Jaune grabbed the other golden Rook.

Left alone in the ruins were two black Queens. One of which was grabbed by a slender hand that belonged to Cinder. "Fitting," she mused, smirking in amusement.

"I'll say," Emerald agreed, taking notice of the other eight at the two Grimm in range of them. "Think we should help?"

"I'd rather not, but we can't ignore an opportunity to remove any suspicion from us," Cinder answered, forming a ball of fire and sending it hurtling into the Death Stalker's face, making it roar in surprise and pain.

"What the-?" Yang asked before turning to see two girls moving over to stand beside them.

"So sorry," the amber-eyed one apologized, holding another fireball. "I hope you don't mind if we cut in."

"By all means," Weiss answered.

The Nevermore decided to make its presence known as it dived down at them all. Wings tucked, it shot down at high speed for an intentional crash landing that was cut off by an orange and pink blur slamming into it, striking the side of its face and throwing off its aim so that it hit some trees off to the side.

Landing behind them all, having used the recoil to propel them, was Naruto and Neo, with the girl having used her umbrella as a makeshift ram that was enhanced by Naruto's chakra.

"Did we miss the ass-kicking?" Naruto asked, smirking at them with Neo.

"Naruto!" Pyrrha, Ruby, and Yang exclaimed happily while Blake looked pleased to see him as well.

"Took your time, Blondie," Emerald teased, reading her weapons in their gun forms.

Shrugging, he replied, "Sorry. I got lost on the Road of Life."

Silence greeted him before it was broken by Yang snickering. "Classic!"

Neo took this time to leap off the blonde and grab the last black Queen piece. Turning to Cinder, she saw the woman smirk and nod, making her return it. She then moved over to her partner as he faced the two damaged Grimm. "Fight?"

"That's the plan," he answered with a grin before he charged at the Death Stalker, who looked the most recovered out of the two. "Finish off the Nevermore and get out of here!" he ordered the others as he, Neo, Cinder, and Emerald all took on the Death Stalker.

"Right!" Ruby replied, shooting for the birdlike Grimm with reckless abandon.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang called out, only for it to be too late since the Nevermore screeched and stuck outwards with its wings, hitting Ruby and sending her tumbling back.

"I-I'm okay!" she called out, sounding dazed.

The Nevermore took to the air and turned, sending forth a rain of feathers with sharpened quills that were mean to skewer her. The young Rose was able to evade them for the most part, but one of them pinned her down by her cloak, leaving her trapped.

"Ruby!" Yang called out again, racing towards her sister with Blake and the others in tow.

More feathers rained down towards the trapped girl, and they would've killed her if a thick wall of ice hadn't been formed just in the nick of time to intercept and capture them. "What…?" Ruby asked, looking surprised.

"I swear, you are so childish," she heard Weiss admonish. "And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style."

Ruby cringed at every put-down.

"But," the next thing made Ruby perk up, "I suppose I could be a bit…difficult. So, if we're going to do this, we need to do it together. If you quit trying to show off," she took a moment to make sure the Nevermore was kept occupied by the others, "I'll try to be a bit…nicer."

"I wasn't trying to show off," Ruby replied softly, sounding slightly ashamed. "I just wanted you to know that I can do this."

Weiss rose a brow at that before giving a faint smile. "You're fine." Ruby smiled back and was helped to her feet by the heiress. "Now c'mon, the others need our help."

Left alone, Ruby took a moment to compose herself before she rushed after her partner, ready to do her part.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Naruto," commented Cinder as she and said blonde teamed up and kept the pincers of the Grimm at bay. She was using her fire to form twin swords of black glass that she used almost expertly.

He himself was using his new arm to hold back the other pincer while Emerald and Neo fired at will on the Grimm's face. "Just been a while since I had a fight. I'm a bit," he stopped to grab the pincer, digging his clawed fingers into it while pulling out his Desert Eagle and firing of a few rounds, "on edge, y'know." He then holstered the gun once again and tugged the Grimm hard, pulling it closer to him so that he could boot it with a chakra enhanced foot to its face, sending it flying while his cable extended, keeping the Grimm within range. "I need to get myself back under control before I get stir crazy."

"I understand. Then, would you like to take this Grimm on alone?" she suggested, using her fire to change the swords into a bow and some black arrows, firing a few of them with deadly accuracy.

With a grunt, Naruto jerked his arm and tugged the cable, pulling the Grimm back and releasing his hand from its pincer. "I'd appreciate it," he said calmly before ducking and spinning, getting low enough to be under the airborne Grimm so that he could kick it upwards from its belly.

With it catching more air, he ran forward a few feet before hitting a backflip, jumping high enough to be over the Grimm while his left hand pulled out his trench knife and enhanced it with Wind Style chakra.

"Do we help him?" Emerald asked, stepping up to Cinder alongside Neo.

The woman held them back with an outstretched arm, never looking away from the fight. "No. Let's see what he's capable of."

Neo smirked at that, having a good idea what he was going to do and simply waited for it to happen. Absently, she never noticed her tongue poke out and lick her lips in excitement.

Back with Naruto, he was right above the Grimm, looking it in the eye with his belly to the sky. "I want you to send a message to your master," he stated before twisting in the air and shooting down, extending the wind blade of his weapon to an incredible length that cleaved the Grimm in half like a hot knife through butter. When he landed, he cut the flow of chakra and watched the Grimm disintegrate, never moving his gaze away from its red eyes. "Tell them…I want to talk…"

"…face to face."

That was what the person seated on a throne in a dark chamber heard as she felt one of her Grimm die. Her black eyes, enhanced by the red irises within, looked intrigued at the message sent to her. A smirk formed on her paled lips as she connected the speaker to the intense life energy spike she felt a few weeks ago.

"A talk, you say?" she mused aloud, standing up from her throne and moving towards one of the windows within the chamber, letting the outside light reveal herself to the world.

She was a woman with skin that was a deathly pallor, covered with tortuous, deep red and purple veins that run up her arms and face. The woman gave off an heir of dark regality, dressed in a very long black robe with red designs that resembled eyes, a ring resembling an insect on her right index finger, and pure white hair that was formed into a bun with six offshoots from which ornaments were suspended; making it resemble an arachnoid of sorts.

"Very well then," she continued, still smirking as she stared at the expanse of her world that was teeming with Grimm. "I look forward to our…talk, newcomer."

"Ruby Rose," Ozpin was heard saying, having been naming the new Teams that would become a part of Beacon, "Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. Together, the four of you gathered the White Knight pieces, and are henceforth named Team RWBY…led by Ruby Rose."

Both the new leader and the heiress looked shocked at that while everyone else applauded the young woman respectfully. "Way to go, Red," echoed Naruto's voice as he gave the girl a supportive thumbs-up; one that made her smile back.

"Next, we have Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. The four of you gathered the White Rook pieces, and are henceforth named Team JNPR…led by Jaune Arc."

Said blonde looked like he might be ill at that, never expecting himself to be given such a responsibility. Pyrrha gave him a supportive pat on the back, but it was a bit too strong and he fell in a heap, earning a few laughs and an apology from her as she helped him back up.

'He needs to get his act together, fast; or he won't last long out there,' Naruto thought with a frown as he and his obvious teammates walked onto the stage.

"Lastly, having retrieved the Black Queen pieces, we have Cinder Fall, Naruto Uzumaki, Neopolitan, and Emerald Sustrai." He took a moment to regard them all, earning a faint smirk from Cinder that he didn't react to. "Due to having a Team CMNN (Carmine) already in commission, they will be named team FUNS (Funhaus (1))…led by Cinder Fall."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto mused, 'Of course it is.'

The newest team faced the crowd and a few people gave the only male member a smile that he returned with a faint grin. Noticing this, Cinder felt her brows furrow slightly and she knew that these connections being formed by the Uzumaki would get in the way of her plans.

She had to do something before he got too attached.

Far from the school, yet still aware of what was going on, a red eyed ravenette smirked at the last team to be announced. "Good work," she praised aloud. She pocketed her listening equipment and added, "Keep it up, Naruto."

A crow's caw made her pause in her exit, and she turned to look at it with restrained annoyance.

"Still spying on your little sister, Qrow?" she asked the bird, making it caw before it flashed black and became a man she had known since her birth. "What do you want?"

"I was gonna ask you the same question," he retorted. "Only, I would've also asked this: What's your goal with the blonde brat that's with the enemy?"

"Oh… The enemy, huh? Funny, I don't see her as a real enemy of mine; only her master," quipped Raven, crossing her arms.

"Quit playing games," Qrow stated, crossing his own and locking his red eyes with his sister's own. "What's your interest in him?"

"None of your concern," she immediately shot down. "Who I speak with and who I associate with are not for you to get involved in. You cut yourself out of my life when you turned your back on the tribe, big brother."

He said nothing, only narrowing his eyes at her.

"At any rate, he knows what's at stake and I've warned him about your enemy," she added, air quoting the last word. "I've warned him about Ozpin too."

"Ozpin isn't-"

"Don't talk to me about what that man is and isn't," she cut off, hair flickering red for an instant before she calmed herself. "I know what he's capable of, what he hides, and what he wants to do." She smirked as a portal took shape behind her and she began to back-step into it. "I just hope that whoever he picks is ready for the sacrifice they will have to make for his selfish desires," she finished before the portal closed and Qrow was left alone.

He stood in silence for a moment before taking out his flask and taking a good gulp of it. "Dammit…" he cursed softly before a crow took flight and headed off into the horizon.

1~ Funhaus is something associated with Rooster Teeth, so I wanted the team that Naruto was on (Team FUNS) to pay homage to it.

And there you are! I have successfully given you all an update of this story within a day of the Characters Reading version of it! A few of you complained that I wasn't focused enough on this, so I wanted to prove you all wrong.

Selfish? Yes, yes it is.

Did I deliver? I'd say "yes" again! *grinning*

Anyway, I hope you all review and give me some excellent feedback for this chapter! Stay tuned for more, okay?

Until next time!

~pain17ification~