Soft chords of an acoustic guitar echoed around the courtyard. Naruto sat on a bench overlooking the cliff that faced the sunrise, wearing only his pants as fingers of sunlight peeked over the horizon and began to spread across the sky. His song picked up speed but remained melodious and soft as he stared at the horizon, quickly striking the strings, using four fingers to play; making the song sound like it came from more than one guitar.
Naruto suddenly jumped from the bench and spun, hurling a razor-edged throwing card at the person he sensed sneaking up behind him.
Ozpin caught the card easily, using the space between the fingers he was holding a mug in to stop it. He quirked an eyebrow at the blond man. "Is this how you greet everyone in the morning?" He asked evenly, flicking the card back.
Naruto grabbed the card and put it back in his holster. "No, just people who sneak up on me." He sat back down and set his guitar aside. "What's going on?"
The headmaster sat next to him and held out one of the mugs bearing the Beacon Academy crest for Naruto to take. "You be a Hunter as long as I have and you'll find that early mornings become a habit. And yourself?" He replied as Naruto took the cup and sipped.
Naruto blinked in surprise. "This is tea." He said, almost as a question.
Ozpin nodded, sipping his own tea. "Of course. Atlas Morning Black Tea. I find it rather bracing for long days."
The blond shrugged and drank again. "I thought it would be coffee." He commented.
The Headmaster snorted lightly. "As if. You haven't met Bart yet, but suffice to say, he put me off coffee for life."
"It's good." Naruto said.
"Indeed."
A calm silence fell as the two watched the sun itself peep over the edge. "I wake up early sometimes." The blond finally stated. "A song fills my dreams, and it wakes me up. I have to get it out or it just drives me crazy all day.'
Ozpin nodded and sipped his tea.
The two sat on the bench as the sun finally rose and the day began. "Thanks for the tea." Naruto said, standing and grabbing his guitar. "I enjoyed this."
The Headmaster nodded. "Anytime."
The blond man retreated back to the ballroom and began to dress for the day. Looking in the kitchens, he saw no one else awake and shrugged. "Bacon Pancakes it is."
About an hour later, a few other students stumbled into the kitchen drawn by the sound of singing and the smell of both bacon and pancakes.
"Say what you want, but you're not getting through to me; [can you take it, can you take it?] Pray if you want, but you get a piece of me; [can you save this, can you save this?] Don't keep saying I'm afraid of a new day! [Don't you hate that? Really hate that!] So stay if you want, but we'll burn you an effigy! [Separate us, separate us!]"
Naruto flipped a pancake and did spin, catching the breakfast cake on a plate easily and singing again. "'Cause I've been, waiting for something beautiful, [can serve it up for me?]" He slid the plate down the counter to sit with a bunch of others, all stacked high with pancakes.
"But I've been thinking something's wrong with me! [Can you clear it up for me?]" He poured out some batter and dropped two pieces of crispy bacon on it and covered it with rest.
"And I've been, hoping for something meaningful. [Can you serve it up for me?]" Naruto flicked it into the air and caught in the pan and set it back down to cook. "Yeah, I've been, looking for something, to keep me coming back for more!"
The blond became aware of the other people in the kitchen staring at him, jumping in surprise and flinging the last pancake into the air. He panicked and managed to catch it on a plate, setting it next to the twenty other plates. "Uh, hey." Naruto muttered in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head. He caught sight of the other plates stacked high with Bacon Pancakes and gaped. "Whoa. I did not mean to make that many pancakes. I probably used all the flour."
He glanced at the others. A few stared, but more looked to the stacks of fluffy pancakes in hunger. Naruto shrugged. "Breakfast is served, I guess."
He grabbed a plate and laid four pancakes on it and moved into the dining area to eat.
Others followed and bacon pancakes were enjoyed by all, except for the vegetarians, but there were regular pancakes for those sad, sad souls.
Later, Naruto strapped on his left boot and made sure it was tight and did the same with right. Finding it to be satisfactory, he shut the locker and moseyed past Ruby and Yang, waving as he did.
"-I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." A girl with long red-hair replied to a question put forth by Weiss.
Naruto stopped by them. "Somebody say chips? As in, poker chips?"
The red-haired girl turns to him. "Uhm, yeah…it was just a turn of phrase though…sorry."
He waved her apology off, getting the feeling that he would be doing that often. "No problem. I heard 'chips' and got all excited."
Weiss crossed her arms and glared at the blond for interrupting her conversation. "Why would you care about poker chips anyway?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. "Because of this." He pointed down at his crotch. "It's my symbol."
He tapped his belt buckle, which showed four playing cards, all aces, on the bottom right corner, with a poker chip in the center that had 1000 around the edges, and a pair of dice showing snake eyes. "I'm a bit of a gambler." Naruto admitted easily.
"That is inappropriate." Weiss stated snootily.
He shrugged and pulled out a silver poker chip and ran it across his knuckles. "Yeah, but I'm good at it. Lady Luck is on my side…at least when it comes to gambling."
The blond flipped the chip through the air and caught it, somehow making it disappear. He held out hand to the girl with long red hair. "Hi, I'm Naruto."
"Pyrrha." She replied with a small smile.
Weiss noticed a lack of alarm in Naruto's eyes and decided to question it. "Do you know who this is?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
Naruto quirked in eyebrow. Is this a trick question? She just introduced herself. "…Pyrrha?"
"Hello!"
"She graduated top of her class at Sanctum?" The white-haired girl offered, looking at Naruto like he was 'special'.
Naruto blinked a few times. "Is that supposed to mean something?" He asked blankly.
The incredulous look on Weiss' face was hilarious, Naruto admitted to himself. "She's won the Mistral Tournament four years in a row! A new record!"
The blond shook his head. "I don't understand. Are-are you hungry? Weiss, are you hungry? Are you cold?"
Weiss blinked at the sudden turn in the conversation. "W-what? No!"
"Do you need a blanket? Weiss, do you want some hot dogs and a blanket?" Naruto asked in fatherly voice.
The Schnee heiress had a rather impressive vein throbbing on her forehead. Pyrrha smiled and decided to mercy-kill the conversation before the other girl had an aneurism. "I think she means that I'm, uh, kind of, well, well-known. I was a model on a cereal box."
Naruto snapped his fingers as he made the connection. "Ah, I wondered why I was so interested in you." He said to himself, not seeing the light blush color Pyrrha's cheeks. "Pumpkin Pete's…something flakes, right?"
She nodded cheerfully. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."
"I wouldn't know, I don't really eat cereal." Naruto replied. "I thought I was focusing on you because of your red hair."
Pyrrha blinked. "…My hair?" She asked in confusion.
"Yeah," He nodded, pointing at her waist-length crimson hair. "Red hair is awesome."
The girl blushed and started stroking her hair.
"You don't eat cereal?" Weiss finally got back into the conversation as it ended.
Naruto glanced at her. "That's all you got from this conversation? Yes, I don't eat cereal. I am man. I eat pancakes. Bacon pancakes. And sometimes just bacon."
"That doesn't sound healthy." Pyrrha commented.
He shrugged. "Well, I try to balance it out." He looked down at his watch. "Oh, we should get going. I mean, I'm going to get going. I want to be early for initiation. You can come with me if you want, I mean, you don't have to, but…"
Naruto shut his mouth after babbling. "I'm going to leave now."
He turned on his heel and marched off. He always got flustered around girls with red hair for some reason. The exact reason eluded him, but it was annoying.
Naruto walked to the cliffs where the initiation was taking place, finding that maybe four people were there as well. One was the girl with bow, reading a book, another was a guy with long black hair and a pretty cool green tailcoat with an excitable girl chattering at him.
He took the pad on the far end and pulled out small stick with white being the predominant color and an orange tip. He pressed a button and the end lit up after he stuck it in his mouth.
"Those things will kill you, ya'know?" Yang commented, taking a spot next to her sister. "And you have to be eighteen to buy those."
Naruto snorted. "Yang, smoking will definitely not be the thing that kills me in this line of work, and you're one to talk, Ms. Strawberry Sunrise." He exhaled and pointed at the cloud. "Also, this isn't smoke, it's water vapor. This is electronic. And I'm eighteen."
The guy on the pad next to Yang looked at him condescendingly. "You're eighteen? What, did you get held back a year at Signal or something?"
Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the orange-haired man. "Okay, one: I never went to Signal or Sanctum or the others. I work for living. And two: shut up, who asked for your opinion? Not me."
The guy opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a sudden guitar solo.
"It's all over, rock and roll is dead! Aaaoow! Rock is dead, rock is dead, rock is dead, rock is dead! Get that freight train outta my head, because a rock'n'roll is-a fuckin' dead!"
"Oh, that's me." Naruto said, bringing up his left glove, one of the metal plates blinking. He tapped it and his scroll opened, showing a picture of a girl with green hair and green eyes with the name 'Christine' underneath. "Ah, it's Chris"
He tapped a green button and the screen was replaced with a live video feed of the same girl, this time with messy hair and bags under her eyes. "Naruto!" The girl yelled. "Dammit, why didn't you tell me you were going to Beacon?! I had to find out from the story about you posing in your underwear with a bunch of girls on the morning news!"
"It was a spontaneous thing, Chris, I would've called you, but…I was tired, so I didn't." He shrugged at the girl, unaware of the looks he was garnering.
The girl sighed and palmed her face. "Naruto, I'm your Publicist, how I am supposed to deal with the public when you don't tell me anything? I mean, I know you like your music career, and running off do to get random jobs, but come on! School?!" The girl called Chris shouted at the end. "How are you supposed to run a company from school?!"
Weiss marched up to Naruto to tell him to quiet down and caught the 'run a company' bit. "You, run a company?"
He glanced up at her and the girl on the screen quirked an eyebrow. "Who's that?" She asked.
"Weiss Schnee." He replied, blowing out more vapor.
"The Schnee Heiress?" Chris asked incredulously. "Really? And…and she doesn't know who you are?" She collapsed back in her chair, guffawing loudly.
Naruto shrugged. "To be fair, I haven't told except the Headmaster the full name." He looked at Weiss and held out his right hand. "Hello, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet you."
Weiss took his hand and shook slowly before her eyes shot open. "Uzumaki?! You're the Naruto Uzumaki?!"
Said man named Naruto Uzumaki bowed slightly. "Yes, yes I am."
The white-haired girl pointed in his face, ignoring the loud laughter coming from his scroll. "You're the CEO of Uzu Combat Industrials?"
"Indeed." Naruto said. "And Vale Weekly's Sexiest Man of the Year, two years running."
"Wait!" Ruby called, interrupting the conversation. "Uzu Combat Industrials?"
"Yeah." The blond man replied. "We're an up-and-coming Arms and Armor Creator and Supplier based out of the Atlas kingdom. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of us yet. Yet. We've only just started putting out feelers into Vale."
"Aha! So that's where I recognized you!" Yang shouted, pointing a finger into the air.
Naruto blinked. "Wait, really? You have some kind of spy network?"
The blonde shook her head. "No! Vale's Sexiest Man! I thought I recognized that tattoo! And those abs."
The blond let out a barking laugh. "Ah, yeah. I saw the competition going on and thought I'd submit a couple photos. They liked them so much that I won. And they didn't bother last year either, just named me the winner." He tapped his chin. "It might be because I slept with editor…"
"Really?" Chris asked incredulously.
Naruto glared at his publicist. "You know me better than that, I was joking."
Weiss gaped at him before finding her speech again. "How come I didn't recognize you? I read a story about you while we were on the airship!"
He quirked an eyebrow at her and set his sunglasses on his face. "It's kinda crazy how a pair of sunglasses makes me nearly unrecognizable." And then he shrugged. "I'm not complaining, though."
A beeping came from the video feed and Chris sighed. "Look, that's probably another one of our angry shareholders, I gotta deal with this. You need to release a statement or something, 'cause our backers are going crazy, Naruto. Call me back."
The video died and Naruto's scroll closed. "Huh." He said to himself. "They went crazy when I made a band too, you'd think they'd have more faith in me."
Yang asked, "You're in a band?" He nodded. "Which one?"
"Undertow." Naruto answered simply. "We're on hiatus right now. Our drummer's mom is sick and bassist is getting married."
The blonde gaped at him as Ruby scratched at her head. "'Combat' Industrials? You make weapons?"
Naruto nodded and tapped his glove. "Yeah. I made these. I'm a Prototyper, I think of new ideas for weapons and then go about making them. These and Staccato Blitz are actually version eight of the first weapons I ever made."
Weiss pointed a finger in his face. "Your company isn't better than the Schnee Dust Company." It came out as less angry and more rehearsed than anything.
The blond waved her hand away and inhaled from his stick. "According to our stocks and the business journals, yes we are. We have higher quality products for a reasonable price without the controversial labor. Plus, our Compression Technology is far superior."
"O-oh yeah?" The white-themed girl stammered. "Your gloves are weapons, right? Why aren't they compressed, Mister CEO?"
He sighed and tapped a plate on the gloves. The leather separated, revealed to be brown-colored metal, and folded up, as did the plates on the back of the glove, until it became nothing more than simple pair of fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back. "I like them decompressed. And this is only the simplest of our tech, Weiss." He said, flipping his silver chip.
"Ahem," Someone cleared their throat.
Everyone looked to the source and found Ozpin and Glynda waiting. Weiss scooted back to her pad and the Headmaster began to speak.
"For years, you have trained to be warriors." His eyes flickered over the students. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Glynda took over. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin stated.
Ruby groaned in dismay. Naruto nudged her and winked.
"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.
"Whaaat?!" The red-wearing girl cried.
Ozpin drank from his mug. "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."
"Troublesome." Naruto muttered and stuck his hands in his pockets, exhaling a white cloud.
"You will be monitored," He pointed at the scroll in Glynda's arms, "and graded through your 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. You will guard them, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
No one said a word. "Good! Now, take your positions."
Everyone dropped into a pose. Naruto slipped the stick into his belt, cracked his knuckles and then his neck and crouched slightly.
Starting at the far end, the prospective Huntsmen and Huntresses where launched by off the cliff by the pad they were standing on.
Yang slipped on a pair of blue aviators and winked at her sister, flying off with a cheer. Ruby was then launched, and Naruto followed.
…
Flying through the air, Naruto spread his arms and let the wind carry him over the treetops.
Suddenly, the wind shifted and the blond began to dive-bomb at the trees.
He flipped, pointing his feet at the ground and rapidly fired the guns on the bottom of his shoes, each shot slowing him down just a bit more.
Naruto ran out of ammo and bounced off the first branch he could find, skipping over the treetops and flipping to convert his velocity to inertia.
He spotted a flash of red as he passed by a tree and flipped to the ground, planting his feet into the earth and finally skidding to a stop. The clips for his Staccato Blitz shot out of the sides of his boots, empty and steaming. Naruto caught the clips and stored them away and reloaded, tapping the heels together to make sure the rounds were the chambered and ready for use.
Branches snapped behind him, and Naruto turned to face whatever it may be, ready for battle…and then Pyrrha stepped out, wielding a red and gold spear and a bronze shield. "Hello again!" She greeted cheerfully.
Naruto dropped out of his stance and waved. "Hey there." He tilted his glasses up and placed them on his forehead, looking the red-haired girl in the eye. "Looks like we're partners."
She smiled and moved forward. "Seems like it. Ready to go?"
He nodded and turned north. "Yup. Let's get going."
They walked through the forest, enjoying the quiet and the company. "So, Naruto, do you know who to use your Aura?" Pyrrha asked.
Naruto nodded and stopped. "Yeah. Look." He exhaled and was covered by thin layer of orange-ish-red energy that wafted off of him like thin flames.
"Wow…" The spear wielder murmured. "You have a lot of it."
Naruto's aura faded and he sighed. "Yeah. Thankfully it doesn't take a lot to make a shield or speed up, otherwise I'd be screwed."
Pyrrha giggled behind her hand. They came upon a cave that had scratches on the right side of the entrance, seemingly depicting a battle between a bunch of people and a giant scorpion. "Think this is it?" Naruto asked, trying to see inside the cave and failing to pierce through the inky blackness.
"I don't know…" His partner said quietly. "The Headmaster did say we would find the relics in a temple."
He shrugged and waved for her to follow him. "Well, it's not like temples haven't been built in caves before."
They stopped before entering the mouth of the cave. "We should probably light a torch or something." Naruto said to himself. He was slightly startled as Pyrrha ripped a branch off of a tree and offered it to him. "Thanks."
He wrapped the top in old cloth and used his left glove to light it, and they descended into the cave.
After a few minutes of walking, they were starting to get discouraged. "I don't think this is the right way, sorry." Pyrrha said with sigh.
Naruto sighed as well. "Yeah, I don't think so. Let's keep walking a bit more, and if we find nothing, we'll just go back."
As he stepped over a rock and a puddle, the torch sputtered and died. "Great."
"Do you feel that?" Pyrrha asked quietly.
Naruto stood still and concentrated. "Is it…warm in here?"
A golden glow appeared a few feet in front of them. "Hey, do you think that's the relic?" Naruto asked, slightly excited.
"Could be!" She replied, sounding happy as well. "Wait…there's only one…the Headmaster said 'relics'…"
Suddenly, eight red eyes opened, glowing in the darkness along with red markings that would only be found on a Grimm.
Naruto sighed. "Lady Luck, you dirty little tease…" It was said with what amounted to fondness, despite the situation.
"Running time?" Pyrrha asked calmly.
"Yep!" He replied as the Death Stalker began to chitter threateningly, "Definitely running time!"
The two turned tail and fled back the way they came, stumbling in the darkness as the Grimm screeched angrily behind them.
They exited, back out into sunlight and turned around, readying their weapons. "Alright, we're in the open now, let's take this thing-!" Naruto started to say, before the Grimm slammed through the entrance of the cave, leaving a hole three times as wide as the previous entrance, revealing the Grimm to be giant Death Stalker. "Wuh oh!"
The duo rolled away as the stinger pierced the air between them. Pyrrha came out of it and knelt under a snapping pincer, turning her javelin into a rifle and firing at the Death Stalker's face.
Naruto back-flipped over a claw and landed on the white appendage, throwing fireballs at the sinisterly glowing red eyes. The Dust-powered projectiles splashed harmlessly off the thick armor of the Death Stalker and only irritated it.
The blond Huntsman hopped from one claw to the other as the Grimm swiped at both of them with Pyrrha cart-wheeling back, switching her rifle back to a javelin and hurled it at the eyes.
The Death Stalker tilted and the spear was deflected off before it stopped and zipped back into her hand.
Naruto switched tactics and threw a ball of ice. It hit the side of the scorpion's face and quickly spread to cover four of its' eyes.
The giant Grimm screeched in anger and flicked its claws, sending Naruto into the air. The blond flipped mid air, fists drawn back to fire again, when he saw the golden glowing stinger heading straight for his face.
Naruto brought his hands in front of his face and formed a shield at the last second; the stinger impacted into his shield and hurled him through the air, over the trees and out of sight. "Son of a biii…!"
Pyrrha watched his progress in dismay until his body disappeared over the trees. She turned back to the Death Stalker and smiled nervously. It replied by releasing a chittering roar and smashing the ice off of its' eyes.
The red-haired Huntress dashed away in a spray of green leaves, and the Grimm followed after her, smashing through everything in its path.
…
Yang stepped out of the embrace of the forest into a clearing, the middle of it taken up by the ruins of some sort of old temple with numerous pedestals. "Think this it?" She asked her partner.
The black-haired girl gave her an incredulous look and began to head down the hill, with Yang following. They trod across the stone floor to the pedestals and examined the relics, which were gold and black chess pieces.
"Chess pieces?" Yang's partner, Blake, asked.
"Huh, some of them are missing." Yang observed, looking at the empty pedestals.
Blake looked at the pieces. "I guess we should pick one."
The cheerful blonde examined one of the golden knight pieces before picking it up. "How about a cute little pony?"
Blake gave a small smirk. "Sure."
They reunited in the center of the temple and traded low high-fives. "That wasn't too hard." Yang commented cheerfully, tossing the piece into the air.
"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake said, sharing a smile with Yang.
A loud explosion echoed distantly. "Well, someone's in trouble." The blonde said. "Should we help?"
Her partner didn't answer, her eye fixed on something above them. "What's that noise?" Yang wondered, finally realizing that Blake was pointing skyward.
The blonde began to panic as she saw her sister plummeting straight towards the ground, screaming, "Heeaads Uuuup!"
"Don't worry, little sis! I got-" Yang started before something flew over their heads.
"-iiitch!" Naruto impacted into Ruby, his momentum carrying both of them into a nearby tree.
"…you." The blond sister finished distantly.
Blake blinked in confusion. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?" she asked slowly.
Ruby stood up, staggering dizzily. "Ooooh…what was that?"
Branches snapped as Naruto landed on the thick limb she was standing on. "Hey, Ruby. Did you know that scorpions are dicks?" He said rather casually despite sucking wind to regain his breath.
"Naruto?" Ruby asked confusedly. "How did you hit me mid-air?"
"Because scorpions are dicks, Ruby."
A sudden crashing drew their attention to the temple as the Death Stalker smashed through the trees chasing Pyrrha. The red-haired girl leaped and rolled, narrowly dodging a swipe that would've bisected her otherwise. "Naruto!" She called worriedly.
"Whoa!" Ruby said, before running and jumping off the branch.
"Yeah, just leave me here…I'm just going to catch my breath." Naruto wheezed, pulling himself onto the branch. Slamming into a branch at just below terminal-velocity was not fun, especially after just hitting another person mid-air.
The red-cloaked girl hit the ground and looked up as yellow began to fill her vision. "Ruby!" Yang called joyfully.
"Yang!" Her sister cried back, arms spread for a hug…
"Nora!" The orange-haired girl shouted, popping in-between the two sisters and throwing them off balance.
Pyrrha sprinted in their direction, just barely keeping ahead of the swiping pincers of the Death Stalker. "Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked lowly.
Yang couldn't take it anymore. What with people flying through the air, that orange-haired chick riding in on an Ursa and the giant Scorpion Grimm, Yang lost it. "I can't take it anymore!" She yelled, eyes flashing red as a burst of fire wafts off of her hair. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
Ren finally caught up with Nora as the blonde took two seconds to cool down. "Umm, Yang?" Ruby tugged on her sister's puffy sleeve and pointed at the sky, where a hanging Weiss was holding onto a bone-white talon the size of her entire body.
That talon belonged to a Grimm called a 'Nevermore', a giant black bird with multiple eyes that can grow to be the size of a small air-ship.
"How could you leave me?!" The Schnee Heiress called angrily from her spot.
"She's gonna fall." Blake stated, amber eyes on the white girl.
Ruby waved it off nervously. "She'll be fine."
Ren watched as Weiss lost her grip and began to plummet to earth. "She's falling."
Naruto, finally catching his breath, looked up at the sound of a girlish scream and saw Weiss falling through the air. He sighed and walked along the branch to the trunk and assumed a sprinter's position. He waited two seconds then sprinted along the limb until he came to end, where he jumped and fired the guns in his boots.
Naruto sailed through the air with his arms outstretched. Weiss landed in a perfect bridal-style carry as he flipped and hit the ground. "Just dropping in?" He said and set her down.
The Heiress gaped at him, unable to form a coherent sentence. "I-you-I-what-?"
He winked at her from behind his sunglasses. "No need to thank me, Snow Princess."
Pyrrha leaped away from the Grimm chasing her and landed in front of the group. "Great!" Yang cheered sarcastically. "That gang's all here! Now we can die together!"
Ruby narrowed her eyes and dashed at the Death Stalker. "Not if I can help it!" She declared, shouting a battle-cry.
"Ruby, wait!" Her sister called, to no avail.
Naruto paled as he saw the red cloak fluttering in the wind. "Oh, no! Bad idea, don't do it!" He shouted, running after the younger girl.
Ruby fired her scythe and used the momentum to close the distance with the Death Stalker, blade raised high. As they met, the scorpion simply batted her aside.
The red-cloaked girl stood up slowly, a hand clutching her side. "Do-don't worry!" She called to the stunned group. "I'm completely okay!"
The blade of her Crescent Rose folded in as she fired several shots at the Grimm Scorpion's face, the high-powered rounds simply glancing off of its' thick armor. It stopped and focused on the paling Ruby, who collapsed her weapon and began to run away.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted in worry as the Nevermore swooped from the sky.
Naruto cursed as the bird snapped its' wings and threw several spear-like feathers at the retreating Huntress, pining her to the ground when a feather pierced her cape.
He dodged the feathery projectiles as he ran towards Ruby, but the Nevermore flapped its' wings again, creating a breeze that knocked Naruto off his feet.
"Ruby, get out of there!" The blonde sister called, the feathers preventing her from advancing.
"I'm trying!" Ruby shouted back, tugging on her cloak. She froze as the Death Stalker loomed above her, golden stinger drawn back to strike. She covered her head and huddled down in preparation for the pain.
The pain never came. Ruby looked up and saw Weiss standing above her with her rapier raised and a wall of ice spreading from the tip. "You are so childish!" The Schnee Heiress stated, yanking Myrtenaster from the iceberg.
"Weiss…?" The scythe-wielder asked tentatively.
"And dim-witted, and hyper-active, and don't even get me started on your fighting style!" She berated the younger girl, eyes wide and angry. "And…I suppose I can be a bit…difficult." She sighs, anger fading. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if you quit trying to show off, I'll be…nicer."
Ruby looked down. "I'm not trying to show off." She said quietly. "I just want you too know I can do this."
Weiss gave her a stern look. "You're fine." And walked away.
The red-cloaked girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Normal knees," she whispered gratefully, before looking up and seeing the Death Stalker's stinger a few feet away. "Whoa!"
"Ruby!" Yang cheered, wrapping her sister in a fierce hug. "I'm so happy you're okay!"
"Nevermore's coming back!" Naruto shouted as he jumped over the two sisters and landed on top of the iceberg, pointing at the giant bird dive-bombing at them.
He pulled his hands back and launched a pair of lightning strikes at the Nevermore, but the Grimm shrugged them off.
Naruto huffed and held his hands open. Lightning crackled over his gloves as he brought them together and fired a concentrated beam at the Nevermore's face.
The blue beam slammed into the Grimm Bird's face, causing it to screech in pain and aborted the dive.
The blond released the energy and grunted, taking a stance with his arms slightly spread. Lightning built up around the palms of his hands, so much that a persistent screech began to ring around him.
Naruto roared as he spread his arms, releasing a blinding barrage of blue lightning that engulfed the Nevermore as thunder boomed from the air being split.
The light faded, and the Nevermore, slightly more crispy than before, cawed angrily and flew away.
The blond stepped off the iceberg and strode back to the group, who had watched in awe at the lightshow, joined by Ruby and Yang.
As Naruto walked, he flicked his wrists and the metal plates on the back of Asura Fist popped open and ejected a pair of thin, very light blue crystals that faded into dust before hitting the ground. He slotted another pair inside and the plates closed.
"Alright, we need to come up with plan." He said seriously, "Do we run or fight?"
Weiss turned and looked at the pedestals and the chess pieces resting there. "There's no need. Our objective is right here."
Ruby nodded resolutely. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Alright." Naruto nodded. "Grab it and run. Sound like a plan?"
Everyone agreed as Ruby and the blond moved forward into the temple. The red-cloaked girl grabbed the golden knight piece while Naruto laid claim to the golden castle piece. They smiled at each other and, at the same time, took the pieces from their pedestals.
A crack sounded out as the Death Stalker pulled at the iceberg encompassing its stinger. "Time we left!" Ren said, calmly but urgently.
"Yup!" Nora agreed cheerily.
The group took off, following behind Ruby and Naruto as they led them up a path that was lined with stone pillars, coming upon a series of ruins that spanned between the next cliff and seemingly bottomless canyon.
"Let's move! That bridge won't support the Death Stalker's weight!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the thin stone bridge leading to a crumpled spire.
As they began to cross the bridge, a loud screech drew their attention to the returning Nevermore as it dived at them, one wing cutting through bridge easily, separating them into two groups; Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Nora still on a path to the ruins; and Naruto, Ren, Pyrrha and Blake on the other, with the Death Stalker skittering towards them.
Naruto skidded to a stop as the bridge crumbled in front of him; Blake slid on the stone and nearly fell off the edge before the blond seized her around the waist and hopped back as the chunk of stone they had been standing on broke off and disappeared into the mists at the bottom of the canyon.
The group turned around and faced the Death Stalker as it waited at the foot of the bridge. "Guys, I have plan." Naruto announced, cracking his knuckles and eyeing the golden stinger hovering threateningly over the scorpion's head. "It's crazy and we might die, but that's kind of a given in this situation."
"What do we need to do?" Blake asked firmly.
Naruto glanced at her and pointed at the stinger. "None of our weapons are heavy enough to pierce the Death Stalker's armor, but I know from experience that stinger packs a punch. We need to separate it from the Grimm!"
"I need you guys to occupy the claws!" He shouted, "I'll get it to strike with the stinger! Go!"
Blake, Pyrrha and Ren dashed forward, firing at the Grimm's face while staying just out of range of the claws.
Naruto ran forward, firing lances of lightning from his palms at the Death Stalker's face. "Come on, you unhappy son-of-a-bitch!" He taunted, getting within the middle of the Scorpion's claws and unleashing a streaming of lightning at its eyes.
He distantly heard Pyrrha shout, "Sorry!" but focused on zapping the white face in front of him. With both pincers occupied, the Death Stalker pulled its tail back and plunged it forward, looking to spear the annoyance that kept shocking its eyes.
Naruto rolled away as the stinger pierced the ground before rolling right back and grabbing it and holding it down. "Ren!" He called.
Ren dashed behind him and slashed across the closest joint on the tail with both of his bladed guns, then grabbed onto the other side. "Pyrrha!"
The red-haired Huntress dodged away from her claw and ran at the two with her red and gold javelin held like a sword. She brought the blade back and swung mightily, rending the stinger from the tail in one stroke.
The Death Stalker screeched in pain as Naruto hefted the stinger over his head and tossed it into the air. Ren dashed into the air off of Naruto's back and kicked the airborne stinger with both legs, making it stab into the Grimm Scorpion's carapace.
"That wasn't deep enough!" Naruto shouted. He looked around, noting Ren, Pyrrha and…Nora? Where did Blake go? The blond also noticed the large silver hammer she was swinging. "Nora!"
The orange-haired girl looked at him, then at the stinger he was pointing at, and got the idea. She boosted off of Pyrrha's shield and flipped, and fired her hammer/grenade launcher combo, shooting her down. The silver head of her hammer impacted on the stinger and drove it deep it the Death Stalker's brain.
The giant scorpion gave a high-pitched scream and stumbled forward slowly in a death-haze; the group jumped over the Death Stalker as it slowly slid off the cliff, giving one final cry before it disappeared into the mists.
Naruto laughed in relief and slapped a panting Ren on the back. "Yeah! Go team!" He bumped fists with Pyrrha and got a high-five from Nora.
Just then, they noticed the Nevermore flying towards the cliff face with Yang firing rounds down its throat while holding the beak open. The blonde girl jumped as it slammed into the cliff and landed in a run as Weiss dashed past her and froze the rising Grimms' tail to a rock.
Blake shot her ribbon at Yang and the two tighten it around a pair of columns as Ruby pulled it back and mounted Crescent Rose as the make-shift sling was caught by a black sigil.
Naruto and the others arrived as Weiss shouted, "Of course I can!"
Ruby pumped her scythe and the Schnee Heiress turned the black sigil red and launched the red-cloaked girl with enough force to crack the ground.
They watched as Ruby fired Crescent Rose and hooked the Nevermore's neck with the blade, dragging them to the cliff face.
Weiss waved her rapier and created a line of white glyphs going up the cliff face that allowed Ruby to run up the wall, pulling the giant Grimm behind her, firing the rifle part of Crescent Rose to increase her speed even more.
As she reached the top of the cliff, the scythe-wielding Huntress shouted and pulled with all her strength, separating the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a spray of what seemed to be crimson rose petals.
Naruto set his hands on his hips and sighed. "What a day," He said to himself. "And to think, this is only the beginning."
As the group celebrated, Blake looked over the blond with a critical eye. Why are you so familiar? She wondered. Where have I met you before?
Unconsciously, her mind went back to her first sighting of the man.
Blake watched as the news report detailed a robbery, followed by an attack by the White Fang on a Faunus rally, scowling softly. The report was interrupted by a hologram of Glynda.
The black-haired girl glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a scoff, finding a tall blond man wearing sunglasses standing a bit behind her. "Peace is a lie," She heard him mumble as he walked off, shaking his head.
Where have I heard that? She thought, trying to search her memories. Her amber eyes were fixed on Naruto as they began to march back towards the cliff they had been fired from. You are a mystery, Naruto. Blake thought, unconsciously smiling and licking her lips. This is just like one of my books.
…
…
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin listed as four pictures of the students he mentioned lined up on the screen above an applauding crowd. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester!"
The crowd clapped again as the group of guys walked off the stage and were replaced by Naruto, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren. "Naruto Uzumaki. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team NNRV, led by Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Pyrrha slapped him on the back. "Dammit…"
Ozpin smirked slightly at the dismayed blond as he was led off the stage. "And finally. Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by…Ruby Rose!"
The red-cloaked girl was in shock as Weiss gaped in surprise and Yang pulled her sister into a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Whoo! Go Ruby!" Naruto cheered, clapping loudly.
The headmaster smiled to himself. "Looks like this is shaping up to be an…interesting year."
…
Far, far away from Beacon, a train traveled in the night, the tracks light sporadically by lights.
The train had never been full of people; it was a cargo train. The cargo: Dust. Crystals and powders. It was empty of the people who had loaded it onto the train, as well as the conductor and the guards. All had been killed and thrown off of the tracks.
A pair of White Fang troops were loading heavy silver cases with a white snowflake on the sides onto a trolley near the front of the train. "Well, one thing you can say about the Schnee bastards is that they don't skip on the padding." One grunted out as he placed another crate on the stack, dog-ears drooping from exhaustion. "Just about the only good thing you can say about them."
"Doesn't make these damn things any lighter." His companion, a goat Faunus with little brown horns griped, wiping sweat from his brow. "At least the wind helps." He muttered, gesturing to the open train door with trees whipping by.
The dog-eared troop sighed. "Alright, just one more-"
"Here you go."
The Faunus jumped a little at the case held in front of him but took the box with a nod. "Thanks."
The goat Faunus frowned. "Who're you talking to?"
The dog Faunus paused and turned around, freezing in terror.
Standing over him like a specter, his cloak seemingly sucking in the shadows, the white slits and smoke-like designs stood out in horrifying detail. "Hey." The Shadow Grimm greeted easily; and then struck like lightning, an armored black fist crossing the distance in a blink and met the Faunus' throat with a crunch.
As he fell to his knees gasping for the air, the Shadow leapt over the stack of crates and kicked the goat Faunus in the chest and sent him out of the train door, where he disappeared with a short scream.
"What was that?" A radio crackled in the choking Faunus' ear.
The Shadow moved behind the dog-eared man and quickly snapped his neck, ending his life. He picked out the radio and tapped his throat. "Hello, hello, hello." He muttered, his voice changing to match the dog Faunus' voice. Once he was satisfied, he opened the radio channel. "We just found another human. He was hiding in a crate, begging us not to kill him. So we…let him off with a warning."
"Heh, what a coward. Hurry up and get those cases down here, we don't want any visitors."
"On it." The Shadow replied, then dropped the radio and crushed under an armored boot.
He strode through the compartment and entered another, this one with three Faunus pushing a loaded trolley.
Twin silver blades flashed as he leapt forward, slicing through the throat of the first and kicking another against the wall. He spun and hamstringed the last before stabbing through her heart.
"He's here!" One of the Faunus yelled into his radio before the Shadow quickly stomped on his neck.
In the next compartment, three Faunus waited with guns trained on the door as another quickly shoved a trolley down the hallway.
They waited silently for a minute, nervously sweating.
"Hmmph!" One tried to scream as a black armored hand closed over his mouth and he disappeared with a soft, airy sucking sound.
The others turned on his spot and fired wildly, hitting nothing but the wall as a distant scream came from outside of the train. A black cloud appeared behind another Faunus as the Shadow kneed her in the spine and swept his cape across the face of the other, bent her backwards and broke her neck, then spun and stabbed the last White Fang in the heart.
The Shadow began to run down the compartments, as they were empty and the doors were open.
"Faster!" Someone shouted in panic as he sprinted.
He arrived at the last compartment as they loaded a cart full of silver cases onto a Bullhead. A White Fang lieutenant with a full face mask that was colored by red markings looked up as the figure enshrouded in black came ever closer. "Pull up!" He shouted to the pilot.
The Bullhead lifted up, away from the train as the Shadow made to the last car. "Say goodbye," The lieutenant muttered, flicking a detonator open and depressing the red button, activating the charges placed.
The last car exploded, flames consuming the metal husk, throwing it from the tracks to tumble into the forest.
The White Fang lieutenant scoffed to himself in satisfaction, then growled as the smoke faded, revealing the Grimm Shadow standing on the new last train car, glaring up at him through his black mask.
The Shadow watched as the Faunus lifted his left hand and gave him the finger. His hand flicked out and streak of silver shot across the distance, the knife imbedding into the lieutenants' hand.
He heard the shout of pain even through the rushing wind and watched dispassionately as the Bullhead pulled away and shot into the night.
His mask slid up, blue eyes watching the fading light of the ships' engines. He huffed and pressed a finger to his ear and activated the radio. "Control, this is Shadow." He reported calmly. "They got away, but with only half the shipment and without eight men."
"Good, that's better than what we were hoping for." Control replied. "You should get back to Beacon, Naruto. You'll need your sleep."
Naruto sighed. "Roger that, Control."
He gazed up at the scattered moon as the train passed over a bridge. His mask slid home and he dived off the side, shooting towards the water and spread his cape, the black material catching the air, letting him glide over the water.
He flew over the bay until he, like the sun, disappeared into the night.
…
…
A/N: So, I'm just going to come out and say it: This Naruto is based on both Batman and Iron Man, with more of the former and a little less of the latter. He is the rich owner of weapons and armor company that uses his technology to fight crime, without Batman's dumbass 'No killing' rule.
As for the songs, I like them, therefore they will be here. I know it's 'cheezey', but I honestly don't care. I haven't done it before, and I'm doing it now. As I said before, where they fit.
Speaking of, first song on the guitar is Ewan Dobson, called 'Best Friend'. Take that as you will. Second song is by Seether, called 'Effigy'. A rather high-energy song, I like it and I play during the mornings. The second is called "Rock is Dead" By Tenacious D, also a really good song that is far too short.
Read, Review and Enjoy!
Stay Awesome.
~Soleneus
P.S.: If you're going to leave a question, do it with a profile so I can reply. I don't believe in taking up a thousand words to reply to every review at the start of every chapter, because that's stupid. You know who you are.
Also, if you have songs that you think I might like, add it to a review.
Stay Awesome Some More.
~still Soleneus.