"So..." Ruby started awkwardly, suddenly at a loss for what to talk about. The ice was broken but she had no idea where to go from there. This was so much easier with her friends from school! They'd been her friends since conversations consisted of "Let's go play!" so actually coming up with meaningful things to talk about with someone new was... Well, it was something she'd never had to do before.
There was one thing she really wanted to ask about she thought, as her eyes drifted upward to his ears. Specifically the second set.
"You can ask, ya know." Naruto told her having caught her staring. "I won't mind."
"Really?" she checked, embarrassed at being caught.
"I can tell the difference between suspicion and curiosity." he answered with a grin that reached his eyes, lifting them in a vulpine fashion. "You don't much deal with faunus?"
"I don't think there are any on Patch. Oh, that's where I grew up." she clarified. "So... What's it like?"
The blond gave her a blank look. "What's what like?"
"Being a faunus."
Naruto felt his lip curl unpleasantly before suppressing the reaction. She didn't know but wanted to know, to understand. So pushing down the instinct to lash out against someone poking the proverbial bear, he did a quick ten count in his head, loosed a deep, vocal sigh through his nose and answered, expressionless.
"We're considered criminal by default, even if proven otherwise. It's near impossible to get paying work. Even if we do they can still refuse to pay us and get away with it because "they're just faunus". We are denied any housing even if we can pay – of course, because we're faunus, the money must be stolen – so we have to build our own homes. Which law enforcement will declare condemned and have destroyed on a whim. The best existence for a faunus is one where we stay hidden from humans. If we're discovered, best case scenario it's law enforcement who will punish us for 'vagrancy' and any other crimes real or imagined. Worst case is the SDC come to drag us off to 'volunteer' to work in one of their dust mines as slave labour."
"At least," Naruto paused, his face one of consideration. "That's how it was in Atlas. It's... better, here. Not as much as I'd like, but at least we can live here, not just survive, ya know?" he said, finishing in a question as he looked back at Ruby, proud of himself for not going off on her.
That was, until he saw the girl's expression. Like the shards of the moon had fallen on Remnant and killed her dog, like the world was more pointlessly cruel than she could ever conceive before the revelation.
"U-um..." Ruby's mouth had gone dry. The words stuck in her throat so she forced them out in a croak. "I meant... What's it like having the cool extra ears."
The small girl stared at the fox faunus unblinking as she waited for his response.
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"Pff..."
The response she got wasn't what she was expecting.
"Pffhahahaha!" Naruto laughed, a deep laugh. One that seemed to come from the depths of his soul, one that he really needed more than he ever realised.
Ruby continued to watch him with a quizzical expression, not sure whether he was laughing at her or something else.
Naruto's laughter died down, his hands went from his knees to wiping at his watering eyes. "Oh, man! I had no idea how much I needed that." he said, lifting his head to look at the girl again, a satisfied smirk crossing his face.
The girl in red remained confused. "Glad I could help? … I think." Seeing him then, she decided she preferred him this way. The doom and gloom didn't suit him at all. Without the dour attitude he was actually kind of handsome and that smirk kind of reminded her of Uncle Qrow...
Having those two thoughts back to back was terrible and she vowed to never let it happen again.
They remained true, though. The fox faunus just had a look and air about him that was kind of like Qrow's. Like he didn't have all the answers but didn't care and would just keep moving forward.
She suddenly noticed, at some point she had begun smiling too.
-(-)-
"And oh, man! They itch sometimes, ya know?! For no reason!"
Ruby giggled at her new friend's commentary on the ins and outs of faunus ears as the two of them entered Beacon's auditorium.
"Seriously, no reason. One asshat asked if I had fleas when I started at Signal. One douchebag comment followed me the whole freakin' year. Huh. There he is." Naruto noded as he spotted and pointed out a weasel looking boy with a green mohawk. He was talking with some redheaded guy with fancy armour. "Got him back for it though. That was a good day." the fox finished with a satisfied smile.
The scythe-wielding girl nodded along as she observed all the new students filling the room, all of them seemingly taller than her. As she made a mental note to increase her milk intake, she spotted a mane of vivid blonde hair. "Oh! There's my sister!" she exclaimed before looking back at the fox faunus. "Umm, it was nice meeting you and-and-and talking to you and, umm, we'll hang out after initiation, okay?!"
Naruto nodded politely. "It's a date."
The girl's eyes widened as she stammered out a response. "Ahh, ahh, ahh, sure! Yes! Sure! Gotta go!", she babbled as she walked backwards away from him, her cheeks turning a vivid red. "Going now!" She turned and walked briskly in the direction of the blonde girl, mumbling to herself as she went.
'Nice girl', Naruto thought as she wandered off.
Meanwhile, Ruby was quickly working herself into a panic. "What did I just do! Why did he say- Did I agree to- YANG!" she ended her mumblings in a shout as she got within speaking distance of her sister.
"Oh, hey! How's your first day goin', little sister?" Yang asked, still facing the stage, looking aside at said sister.
"Oh! Well! It's going great, Yang! After you ditched me, I fell into some prissy girl's luggage, she yelled at me, then some guy came and saved me and we talked and he's kind of intense sometimes and did I mention he's a faunus but he's really nice and he's handsome when he smiles but then I think he asked me out on a date and then I think I said yes!"
Yang blinked as her sister gasped for air, having neglected to breathe during her tirade. "Wow. When I said you should try and make friends you just dove in head-first, huh?"
"Help meeeee!" Ruby rasped, her begging expression showing just how out of her depth she had found herself.
Yang sighed as she ran her younger sister's ramble through her head. It was something she had a lot of practice doing. "Okay. So you met a boy."
"Yes." Ruby answered, nodding sharply.
"And you like this boy and think he's handsome." Yang continued.
"W-well, we only met like a half hour ago..." Ruby dodged, her cheeks flushing again slightly.
"But what you saw, you liked." Yang pressed.
"... Maybe." the younger sister admitted, hiding as much as she could in her cloak.
Yang immediately wrapped her sister in a crushing hug! "Aww, you're so adorable! My baby sister is growing up!"
"Yang!" the smaller girl exclaimed, trying to slap-push her sisters arms away. "This is serious!"
"Oh, no no, I get it!" Yang said, releasing her sister. "Just got caught up in the moment, that's all. So you think he asked you on a date."
"Well, I said we'd hang out after initiation and he said 'It's a date'", Ruby quoted in a passable imitation of the speaker's slight rasping voice.
"Oh. Well, just because he said 'date' doesn't mean it's a date date." Yang tried explaining before something caught her attention. "Wait, was that you doing an impression just now? And you said he was a faunus... Don't tell me you're talking about-"
/_"I'll... Keep this brief."_\
A voice relayed through the auditorium speakers cut Yang's question off before it could form. The attention of all was suddenly rooted to the man on stage, seemingly appearing there without anyone noticing.
/_"You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people... But I look amongst you... And all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose. Direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."_\
The enigmatic speech from the headmaster was met with no applause. Not even a confused murmur. Just a sea of expressions ranging from quizzical to outright confused. As Headmaster Ozpin vacated the stage, the Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone. /_"You will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."_\
-(-)-
"Nghhhhhh..." Naruto grumbled as daylight crept in through the floor-to-ceiling windows glare shining directly into his face. Squeezing his eyes closed even more tightly trying to fight it away, he tried to curl himself into the wall next to him.
It might have worked if someone hadn't decided to thump him in his very exposed back.
"Ng'morning." a female voice slurred from next to him, obviously the one that hit him.
"M'why'd you hi' me... L'me sleep..." he grumbled.
"I don' get to hid in the corner... I suffer..." the voice trailed off into a yawn, "you suffer."
"You suck, Topaz." Naruto said, finally submitting to wakefulness and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
The girl, Topaz, yawned again. "Sweet talker."
-(-)-
"For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." the Headmaster explained, standing before the entire freshman class of Beacon Academy. All of them were standing on small metal pedestals, seemingly arranged like the starting line of a race.
Naruto was only half listening to the Headmaster, distracted by those to his sides. On his left, Topaz – in what seemed to be an enormous amalgamation of heavy armour and hazmat suit of brown and red colouring – was blowing him a kiss. On his right, Weiss Schnee was willing him to freeze solid with her glare alone.
He decided he was just not ready for today. Granted, he wasn't ready for any day where he was expected to wake at the crack of dawn, but also today in particular.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours of the assignment of teams." Goodwitch continued, her short cape fluttering in the wind of the clifftop. "Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates." she stated, pausing for effect. "Today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin picked up. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
Naruto faintly heard a girl squeaking in discomfort.
"That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." the headmaster finished.
There was a brief surge of muttered conversation at that pronouncement, before Naruto noticed Topaz awkwardly trying to make a heart symbol with her hands' limited range of movement.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah. Um, sir?" one boy said, raising his hand awkwardly.
"Good! Now, take your positions." the headmaster ordered.
Naruto watched as everyone got into what looked like a ready fighting position, apparently knowing what was coming. This was new to him so he just did the same, unsheathing his claws and taking the opening stance of his own fighting style.
As he glanced down the line he saw the students to the far left start launching forwards into the air, one by one. Someone was saying something but he couldn't really pay much attention with his heart beat pulsing in his ears. This was some hardcore stuff they were doing on the first day!
One by one they were launched. It creeping ever closer to being Naruto's turn. He fully turned to look at Topaz when it came to her.
…
… Nothing happened.
Ozpin's conversation with whomever seemed to pause as everyone looked at Topaz, wondering why it stopped.
As the awkwardness built, Naruto started to hear a low, groaning sound. Like the straining of metal as it was stressed beyond its limits before the groan became an ear-piercing screech followed by a mechanical clunk.
Another awkward silence ensued, everyone continued to stare at Topaz in her enormous armoured bulk. Slowly she raised her hand. "Uhh, I should just... Go, then? I guess?" she hazarded, looking at the headmaster. He gave her a slow, hurrying nod. "Yeah." she said as she started to walk to the cliff edge before dropping off it, feet first.
Safe to say, the tension was broken, and Naruto wasn't given chance to worry again before his own pad launched him into the air.
-(-)-
A/N: Alright. This took more time than I'd like. I got stuck on bits of it but I think it was worth it in the end. Naruto probably comes off as a bit more mature than he is in his source material. That's because he is. He's had too much responsibility to still be acting like a mouthy little twerp. Basically, think of his character as being closer to what it was after the final battle. Or if you must, as similar to that godawful Naruto the Last movie.
Also, since this chapter probably seems pretty ship-heavy, feel free to suggest ship names. I'm curious what people might come up with.
That's all I got for now. Fandom Flux youtube channel is a thing that exists and should be enjoyed by the masses. Check out our New Years episode of the podcast this weekend where we talk about how rubbish 2016 has been.
Thanks for reading.