"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Yang screamed as she threw Naruto's table, which he quickly caught as he did not want his stuff being broken.
The stuff from that oriental store was expensive and even if he was in a sour mood and just as irate he wasn't going to let his stuff be broken. He liked it. It reminded him of home and that was very hard to find here. He just set it aside and prepared to catch anything else Yang might start throwing.
"What is wrong with your fucking father Weiss?! Does he want his face rearranged because he's asking for it!" Yang was in full semblance mode and her aura was burning around her before it suddenly broke seeing Weiss break down and start to cry. "Wait… No… I didn't mean it like that…"
"I don't know!" Weiss screamed back, still in her dress as everyone was waiting for them to return as the worry was palpable. "He has always done this! I'm just another asset to him, to be used to gather more political power and money! That's all he ever sees things as!"
"That's… I'm sorry." Yang apologized before moving and embracing the distressed Schnee. "I can only begin to imagine… And I just found out how screwed up my mom is just to learn you had it worse."
"Wait what now?" Ruby questioned what her sister just said before pushing that thought aside as Weiss calmed down slightly and the two broke their embrace. "So… Can't you just retransfer though? I thought when you become a legal adult here in May…"
"If only it worked that way, Ruby…" Weiss slid down on a zabuton and looked defeatedly at the floor. "Yes, you are correct I could transfer back my father has more sway and power as a representative of the Remnant council while being on the Atlas council and I can just lose my in-training license for anything that we have done that was even slightly reckless. Even as a Huntress he would still have power over me for the same reason! And then what? Where do I have to go?"
"What other skill do I have that is meaningful elsewhere? He'd leave me no choice but to go back home and fulfill my role as heiress… And take over the business when he is no longer capable which isn't happening any time soon. My mother can't do it any longer... She's a drunken mess and Winter has pursued a military career to free herself from him entirely... I don't have the stomach for such a thing."
Ren, who was sitting by Nora who looked upset by everything going on as she only popped in to come with Ren as she wanted to be with him, sighed heavily. "When I thought he was going to try to get into Naruto's good graces and pull for some political sway… This was not what I had in mind. Devious bastard."
"Fucking right. He had all the cards rigged already to go and I couldn't help but sit there with my two-of-a-kind and watch the royal flush be shoved down my throat." Naruto growled before running his hand through his hair and his ears. "If I had a little time to prepare without everything else going on I might have had something to work with but my God I played..."
He then noticed something that deeply disturbed him as he looked over at his bed and saw Blake looking out the window, watching the rain beat against it.
"Blake?" Naruto was extremely worried as he looked at the stoic and impassive faunus as she sat on his bed, watching the rain pour down outside.
She had been silent since the news broke and quite honestly he thought she'd be the first to explode. Maybe not before Yang as her temper was well documented but her silent rage was right up there and considering who this was about…
But Blake was silent and she was devoid of emotion as she looked out the window. He could hardly feel even sorrow from her though it was most definitely there and the driving force of her current state. It was as if she was nearly a blank slate.
"Blake… I am so sorry…" Weiss sobbed as tears began to build as she looked at her teammate. "I had no idea… This never…"
"It's okay… I don't blame you." Blake broke her silence, her voice seemingly hollow as felt utterly broken. "How could you have possibly known? Even with everything I've seen him do against us faunus for years… I couldn't have predicted this… He played you... He played Naruto… Knowing full well that he has to do something having seen what kind of person he was…"
"I don't know what to feel… I should feel angry… I should feel sad… But I feel empty." Blake finally turned away from the window and looked at her team and Naruto. "I first lost my dream when I realized the White Fang wasn't what I remembered and I lost who I was… I lost my family and show what I had become to them… I lost Adam as he kept changing and becoming more brutal and violent… And now I'm going to lose…"
"No, no…" Yang tried to be the first to comfort Yang as she was trying to keep her teammates together as even Naruto seemed at a loss and trying to deal with everything as well.
"Then let's find a way and fight this!" Snapped Weiss angrily as the tears flowed as she gazed directly into Blake's eyes before up, marching to Blake, and the sound of her slapping the faunus caught everyone off guard. "Wake the fuck up! I don't want this and I don't want to see my friend wallow and self-pity!"
Blake's eyes were wide as held the cheek that Weiss smacked as she looked up into the tearful but fiery eyes of the Schnee. "Together, you, me, Naruto, and everyone else put our heads together, and let's work on this. Something can be done! We just haven't thought of what, okay?!"
Weiss then broke down and embraced Blake, holding her tightly. "Everything will be all right, we will make so."
Blake slowly embraced her back as the emotions began to flood through her once more. The anger. The hatred. The sadness. The pain. But now there was the determination and even if a plan was in motion, she was going to find something to do about it. "You're right… Thank you… Thank you."
Naruto hopped onto his bed as the two slowly disengaged from their embrace and Blake immediately went from his touch, embracing Naruto before casually lifting her and seating her on his lap with her legs laying across.
"Ah…" Nora gave a cute expression of the moment and thought of the two of them at a wedding. "Well, maybe we can, fake the wedding?"
Everyone's attention was immediately snapped onto Nora for that moment before Ren sighed. "Nora you can't just…"
"Naruto…" Blake questioned as she looked at her boyfriend's face as he a plan had started to come together.
"I'm going to need some time and we got a little bit, fortunately… But Nora you are a genius and welcome to the fucking team." Naruto developed a grin as his prankster mind started to engage.
"Yay! I'm part of another team now!" Nora jumped excitedly as lights and an anime background appeared behind her that spelled out the letters to the new team before she looked confused. "What are we doing?"
"I'll… Explain later." Ren stated as he was a little overwhelmed at what happened but if Naruto had a plan that was a good thing. "Good job Nora."
Nora simply booped him on the nose and sat back down happily.
"So what should I do for now?" Weiss asked as she looked at the couple embracing, feeling slightly jealous but far happier seeing her friend was in a better condition than she was moments before and returning closer to the person she knew.
"I would say we go back to things like normal, but we're not even close to that right now as we have so many other issues going on." Naruto groaned as he could hear Qrow cawing from a little further away, most likely being able to hear what was going on from his vantage point.
He was getting a double dose of spying going on, the jerk.
Naruto shrugged. He was close enough to being on the team anyways. He felt the man would do whatever he could to protect Ruby and Yang in the best fashion he could.
"But as it stands, we've got a lot of work to cover right now. Adam is still alive and we have no idea when the White Fang is going to become more active again and it seems Cinder might have her mitts in that. Not to mention she is just one building down, plotting something." Naruto started to lay out what was going on but had an interruption.
"Oh, and I met my mother last night and she said something about Beacon burning soon and that we were all going to perish in the fire if we didn't run," Yang added, shivering at the recalling and how cold her mother's voice was during that.
And the fact she didn't even mention Ruby once or offer her anything bothered her… It was just for… Her.
That didn't settle well with now as she remembered back on her childhood, remembering the days when she would take Ruby out trying to find her mom… And the particular one where she found Grimm instead…
Qrow's luck was not bad on that day.
"The… What? Anything else? That seems important." Naruto recoiled as everyone looked at Yang with eyes hearing what happened and realized why she didn't show up early this morning and was crashed out until this afternoon.
"Nah, not really. The rest of it is Branwen family stuff. So personal." Yang waved it off as if it was nothing.
"YANG!" Ruby jumped at her and shook her shoulders. "You met your mother! I know how long you've been looking for her! What happened?!"
"I'll tell you later Ruby. As I said, family stuff." Yang pushed her sister back and winked before looking at every. "But yeah, pulled over to take a break. Got attacked by Grimm, bike get messed up. I got pissed, mom showed up. Didn't know it was her as she had a mask on. We fought and killed all the Grimm while fighting each other. Broke her mask, told me I became strong, and then all my friends, my sister, and I were going to burn in Beacon if I didn't run, and then told me to run with her… Then uncle Qrow showed up, shot her in the face and they had a long family discussion."
"Okay… Beacon will burn, got it. Probably something to do with what we're dealing with already I'm guessing." Naruto took a moment to digest Yang's shortened events of the story and shook his head.
"Shot her in the face." Blake had to question that statement as she looked at Yang incredulously. "What is your family Yang?"
"Grazed her with it but yeah, shot at her face." Yang nodded as everyone still looked at her, taking it all in. "And beats me... The Branwen side is a bit crazy."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP BIRD!" Yang screamed at hearing the crow caw outside once more in response to her statement. "I WILL END YOU AFTER YEARS OF DEALING WITH YOUR SHIT! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?!"
"Okay!" Naruto brought the attention away from Yang and everything going on with her and Qrow. "Now knowing that Beacon is not safe… We are going to have to prepare to fight and fight harder than ever before."
"Anything scheduled for tomorrow, cancel it," Naruto commented as he looked over at Nora and Ren while pulling out his scroll. "Inform Pyrrha and Jaune of the same. I'm going to call Velvet and have her tell Coco her team schedule is done for tomorrow…"
"You all are starting mine every Saturday from this point on. I'll give other lessons throughout the week but every Saturday will be our testing day to see where everyone stands…" Naruto had the faintest of grins as he looked at everyone.
"Welcome to Konoha one-o-one."
"This is… Rather irregular I'll have you know." Glynda spoke as she had given Naruto the arena for the time requested. "The fact this time slot belonged to CFVY before means you are rather lucky but the next hour…"
"I see him." Naruto looked up and saw Oz sitting at the desks the students usually would be at, watching with interest.
Seated next to him with a very particular person and a robot waving at Ruby. He did not expect Ironwood to be here, but that did make his job a lot easier. "Interesting… Saves me the trouble of calling…"
Vanishing from beside Glynda, Naruto appeared before Ozpin and Ironwood before giving the general a small bow of respect. "Sorry for the interruption but I need a moment of the general's time."
Ozpin simply raised his eyebrow while Ironwood simply chuckled. "It's quite all right. What can I do for you?"
"I hear that Weiss' sister works under your command, Winter correct?" Naruto plainly asked.
"She does indeed. One of my finest operatives." Ironwood complimented his soldier while answering Naruto's question.
"Is it possible that I was somehow to get into contact with her?" Naruto again asked plainly before he glanced back down briefly at Weiss. "We've come across an issue recently involving… The Schnee family and Weiss and I require someone that is on… The outside of the family to see if they can help us."
For a moment Ironwood looked puzzled before his eyes rolled as he had a thought. "Oh, that man and his political power ploys… I can put you into contact with her but she is scheduled to arrive here in a few weeks. …I will simply assign a few others to her duties and move her schedule up so she will arrive by next week. Will that work?"
"The sooner the better, thank you general." Naruto gave a small bow before he vanished and returned to the arena.
"Trying to play him, Ironwood?" Oz commented on the interaction he witnessed.
"Playing to his strengths and concerns, my dear friend," Ironwood replied simply. "I don't need to play him unlike you. He was born and raised a soldier, he sees the picture in a similar light as I do."
"To a certain degree, you have a point…" Ozpin nodded as he took a sip of his coffee and kept his eyes on the scene below. "But… There is always more than what meets the eye."
"Naruto… What was that about?" Blake asked as Naruto returned and landed before everyone.
"Taking care of business… There is going to be another family reunion shortly!" Naruto grinned as he looked over at Weiss, whose eyes widened in response.
"Wait, she's coming here? Oh… I'm glad… But I'm not ready for that…" Weiss looked thankful but also embarrassed. "God, this situation is the worst…"
"Well, about that…" Naruto sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of his neck before he looked over at everyone, ignoring the annoyed Coco who was not happy. "While a few of you are in the know, I'm going to let the rest of you know now…"
"Starting this Saturday, at this time you will be coming here and will be testing yourselves to the limit against me… Pushing yourself as far and as hard as you can… All at the same time so you can collect these from my right hip." Two jingles were heard as Naruto held out two bells.
"Bells… The fuck are we doing Naruto?" Fox was confused as made sure his weapon, Sharp Retribution, was correction positioned on his arm.
Didn't need the blade cutting him.
"And why are we doing this now?" Coco stated in an annoyed fashion. "The Vytal festival tournament is just around the corner and we need to be working on our teamwork…"
"And this will do just that!" Naruto growled right back at her in annoyance. "Coco, things are happening right now that are a little more serious than the festival… I've been aware of that for long enough and I'm tired of it. So I'm going to make you all aware of it because I see everyone in here as people important to me... And I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you so I'm going make sure you are prepared."
"Ozpin has been in a secret war with the master of the Grimm for quite some time and by just living here at Beacon we've been dragged into it." Naruto unveiled what he learned from Oz to everyone there, Glynda sighing as she didn't think the children should know. "And she has been making moves right now that putting everyone's life in jeopardy and I know they are already targeting someone in this very room right now…"
"So I'm going to need you all buckle up, strap in and get ready because I'm going to be pushing you each and every week. Team training, hand-to-hand for those that have started… Everything is on the table right now… I'm not going to lose any more friends if I have a say in it." Naruto growled as he made Coco back off and looked at everyone, memories of Neji's sacrifice still fresh in his mind.
From above Ironwood nodded in approval while Oz sighed.
"Um… What about breaks?" Jaune asked looking very worried as he remembered everything that happened with Pyrrha and if Naruto was going to be the one running the show.
At this, Naruto took a step back, relaxed and took a breath, and laughed. "I'm not pushing you that hard, no. I'm still going to let you have a daily life, you'll just be worn out and hurting more from the usual time you spent training… It's me that's going to lose that as I am taking over everyone's time."
Blake looked down and shivered, remembering that day in the hospital. She knew this was coming and it still haunted her. He wasn't just going back… He was going above and beyond and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
"Not going to let that happen… No sir!" Yang growled as she cracked her knuckles. "I'll take Ruby's hand-to-hand training. She's my sister and I've already told uncle Qrow I'd take care of it."
"I can help teach tree climbing with CFVY so you don't have to, I've already mastered it and it will take the stress off you," Blake responded as she looked for something to keep off of Naruto's plate. "And anyone that needs agility training on the side I can spot some time to help with that."
"I'll hand any extra Aura training and its usage," Ren commented as he could handle something as well. "That happens to my expertise anyways so helping out others isn't an issue."
"I can take care of anything strength with core and strength building for anyone in need," Yatsu commented as he rolled and popped her shoulders, getting ready.
"I can take on anyone wanting stamina or close-range weapons training, those are my specialties." Pyrrha smiled as she saw everyone coming together for a single cause.
"I know how to blend in and hide my aura, I think I might be able to teach that to others." Velvet added as she wanted to help as well.
"Well, shit if we're all pitching in count me in too! I can throw in a few lessons for everyone on how to fight with only your senses." Fox grinned as no one could fight quite like him.
"Shit I'm down for that." Naruto grinned as that was a lesson he wanted to learn before he looked at his group of friends that he made here at Beacon, his grin becoming a true smile.
These people… Were home. And he treasured them… And he would not let them burn to the ground!
...Beacon, it was fine.
Oz could use a little fire damage though...
Maybe more than a lot... Maybe if the Maiden was in better shape...
Jingling the bells on his waist, Naruto brought the attention back to the objective. "For the rest of our allotted time here your goal is to take these bells from me as I said by any means necessary. The moment you have done so the training for everyone is considered a success but do not think this task will be easy…"
"Come at me with intent to kill if you want any chance of success otherwise you are going to be in for a rude awakening." Naruto finished with his blue eyes giving a serious shine before he reached into his pouch, leaving everyone on guard including Fox who heard the click of its opening.
Only to pull out Ninjas of Love to Blake's horror and began to read it in front of their very eyes. "Huh. Neat. Explains those taunts."
"You… You… But I left that…" Blake was mortified that Naruto went through her things and picked out her special book.
"Thought you wouldn't mind. You're still borrowing Icha Icha and I couldn't use that for today." Naruto commented as he read through the book, ignoring the world around him. "Wouldn't mind trying that."
Blake's blood vessels in her face burst and she was beet red. He had reached that part… And now she was envisioning the two of them…
She needed a shower.
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!" Yang's aura flared to life had enough as she knew what the book was, was tired of waiting and being ignored, and burst toward Naruto first. "I'VE HAD UP TO HERE WITH…"
As Yang reached Naruto and her first punch neared him, his attention never broke from his book but it was clear he noticed the overextension. He simply slid by her, stepping into her momentum to get behind her all the while his free arm slid under her thrown arm and around her neck. He then locked it into a tight guillotine choke as he swept out her legs from below with a single kick, put his hips into her lower back, and lifted her so her toes were just dangling off the ground.
Yang grasped at Naruto's arm with her free arm but it was no use as she felt the air be suffocated her and she could not breathe. And as the tears were forcefully drawn out of her as she choked, she looked ever so slightly back to see he hadn't even bothered to look in her direction.
She could only hear his voice filled with annoyance, exasperation, and a hint of something more… Something she couldn't place. "Lesson one and you still can't get passed it. You let your anger control you and make your movements sloppy. With just a little effort I can crush your windpipe from this position and that means so could our enemies…"
Releasing the hold, Yang fell to her knees and started coughing for breath but she could not count on what happened next. A kick straight to her chest sent her flying and skidding across the arena before she crashed into the wall.
"Okay… I think things are way more serious than I thought guys." Fox said out loud as he listened to what he heard and grimaced and slid into a more ready battle stance as he got ready for a fight.
This was going to be rougher than he thought…
Velvet could only nod as she pulled her box out, trembling as she had never seen Naruto fight and this was not how she had envisioned it. Coco was still a little annoyed as she pulled out her bag but also very worried. "Yeah and if he did that to Yang…"
"Yang!" Ruby cried before she focused entirely on Naruto, withdrew her newly repaired Crescent Rose, and turned to Weiss and Blake. "Weiss, provide cover! Blake come in with me! Let's go!"
"Got it!" Weiss called out as Blake nodded, flanking with Ruby as they rushed toward Naruto while Weiss charged some aura into Myrentenaster, concentrating on her target.
Naruto watched the from the other side of the book charge, interested in the tactic they were using, and smiled at the teamwork on display. Despite the dysfunction, over their time here, they were very coordinated when they came together…
Seemed familiar now that he thought about it.
Naruto unsheathed Dream from his back and parried Crescent Rose before delivering a solid boot to knock Ruby back with ease. He then flipped Dreams in the air, switched hands so he could continue reading Ninjas of Love, caught it, and deflected both of Shroud's strikes as Blake came in with it in its wakizashi form.
Seeing Ruby coming back in, he let go of Dreams and caught Blake by the wrist, and simply tossed her to the side and into Rose as they tumbled into the ground before catching Dreams. He then slid it back into its sheath and grinned. "Oh-ho! I'm starting to see where you get your ideas from Blake!"
"Fuck you!" Blake growled out as she picked herself off Ruby and help the smaller girl to her feet. "All right, let's try something a little different…"
"Right…" Ruby commented, her silver eyes a little wide on how easily Naruto was handling them right now.
And he wasn't even paying attention! The jerk!
What was in that book anyways?! And why did Blake have it?!
And why was she blushing about it?!
Ruby's semblance activated and she shot out to the right as Blake sprinted to the left. But this time there was something more as they separated. Weiss was involved as she found her opening.
She fired Myrentenaster and ice crystals formed around Naruto, taking a small step to avoid them before he found his right foot caught. Looking down he was mildly surprised to find it frozen in the ice. "Frozen solid…"
"Neat."
"Ruby now!" Blake cried seeing the moment to strike and rushed in with Shroud, knowing Naruto well enough that now was the only chance they were going to get.
It seemed Weiss was under the same impression and she had created a glyph under herself and was speeding in for the steal as Ruby came flashing in with a burst of rose petal. And from nowhere Yang burst from the wall, screaming in fury.
"I'm not done yet!"
Being the closest Blake was first and to her horror, Naruto still was able to move and sidestep her strike despite being rooted to the ground. Ruby was there the next second and Crescent Rose sliced in Naruto simply moved his head and the book and pushed the scythe so the strike would hit no part of his body.
And as Weiss slid in and Yang jumped from above Naruto finally made a single-hand seal. Blake's eyes widened as she felt the wind pressure begin to pick up and had felt this before in the hotel… And now she was caught in it.
"Futon: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" Naruto had channeled chakra to his feet as the gale of wind surged all around him, knocking the entirety of RWBY into the air from the gale force wind surge, Blake being the last as she had planted herself to the ground with her aura but the force was too strong and she went up with the rest of her team.
And the bells jingled as each member of RWBY slammed into the roof before falling back to the arena floor, groaning and somehow still conscious to his surprise.
"Huh… Thought that at least take Weiss out…" Naruto commented before he shifted his head to the right as Milo came flying by in javelin form. "Well, this had to happen eventually…"
"Now where was I." Naruto took Ninjas of Love back out as he seemingly discredited Pyrrha's charge despite knowing what she was capable of and knowing Ren and Nora would soon be involved.
Jaune wasn't a factor. He'd probably leave him as the last man standing just to give him some extra training…
Right on cue fire a few shots of suppressing fire, as Pyrrha came in to keep Naruto from reacting while Nora flew in from above… Somehow. He'd guessed she launched herself up to that height or Pyrrha help toss her that high after the climax of his Breakthrough but…
She literally was right above him.
"Drop the hammer!" Nora cried out as she slammed Magnhild at Naruto, full force and charged with dust as Pyrrha ducked to the side, clearly being the feint.
"Good job!" Jaune called out as Naruto realized set this plan of action up and him a round of applause as the blonde knew he wasn't much use here otherwise.
Smashing down onto Naruto, Nora was surprised that she connected only to see a shattered log in his place. She was utterly confused at the site. "Huh? How'd a log get… WOAH!"
Being pulled underground to where only her head remained, Naruto grinned as he dusted himself off and pulled out Ninjas of Love once more, flipping the page. "Nice try. B-plus effort."
"This is so cool!" Nora cried out as she wiggled from underneath, Magnhild lying beside her head. "You've got to teach me how to do this stuff!"
"Not possible Nora, had to modify my exercises just to get them to work for Aura," Naruto commented before he stuck his hand out and grabbed Milo as Pyrrha was trying to call it back. "I'll take this."
"Ren cover me!" Jaune called out as he ran, knowing he couldn't do much but at least he could try and back up Pyrrha who now only had her shield and her semblance.
Pyrrha still went in, thrusting her shield as Naruto found the mechanism that transformed Milo and quickly turned it to his favor as a slashing weapon. Pyrrha's weapons met several times before she was forced to bring up her guard and Naruto slashed at her before he was forced to deflect well-aimed shots from Ren.
Jaune came in hard and fast, slashing his sword that Naruto easily paired and used Jaune's momentum to push him into Pyrrha and tackle her flat. Naruto then transformed Milo into javelin form and threw it straight at Ren forcing him to abandon his shots as he avoided being skewered and rolled out of the way.
Only to find that he rolled right into a conspicuous pair of orange boots. Ren only groaned as he took the kick that launched him and sent him tumbling, knocking over and into Blake as she tried to get up. "Give me a break!"
"Sorry…" Ren groaned as he lay crumpled on top of the faunus.
Milo was quickly summoned before Naruto could grab it this time as Pyrrha drew it back to her, transforming it back to its sword state as she stood before Naruto, her emerald eyes glowing. Naruto flipped the page. "Oh, a redhead! Nice. Firm and supple."
Pyrrha flushed madly and lost her concentration, knowing exactly what kind of book that was.
And it cost her.
"The fuck Naruto! That doesn't happen!" Blake growled as she knew what he was doing at this point, pushing Ren off her. "Pyrrha he's playing you!"
Naruto was behind Pyrrha, kicked her square in the back with enough force to knock the wind out of her, and dropped her to the ground as he transformed Dreams. Slowly turning, she tried to bring Milo and Akuou up to defend herself but both were violently kicked out of her hands and she was forced to look up and into Naruto's eyes as he set down the book.
And fear took hold and Pyrrha froze as he looked at her coldly with his gun pointed at her." Never let your guard down."
"No!" Jaune flew in and tackled Naruto the dust shot fire, just missing Pyrrha.
"Fuck my ribs! Seriously!" Naruto growled as Jaune somehow evaded his senses once more and his shoulder before he grabbed Jaune, pulled him off him, and kicked him in the gut. Jaune was hit with a punk kick and was sent into the distance as he barreled into Yang as she tried to get up.
"Dammit! Go to hell Naruto!" Yang roared as they tumbled to the ground.
"Time to go!" Coco called out, transforming her handbag, Gianduja, and the first time Naruto saw what the weapon was…
And he was glad he wasn't reading. It was a Gatling gun.
"What in the shit?!" Naruto called out as dust shots rained down towards them, forcing him to sprint as she accurately fire at him and tried to fire ahead of him to change his direction.
"All right, how do you afford that many bullets in this economy?! I know I put Roman away and Dust prices are slowly going back down but my god that's an impractical weapon in this climate!" Naruto called out as he weaved in and out her shots, trying to get closer but realizing what the step was. "Oh, hi Fox!"
Blocking the punch thrown, surprised it worked similarly to Ember Celica as a round was fired, Naruto withdrew Dream and parried the next, and tried to use the momentum to send him spinning. Fox was prepared and flipped and continued the assault as Velvet joined in and the box opened and a snapshot was taken.
"It's a camera?!" Naruto called out before his eyes widened seeing blue light forming in Velvet's hand and it was an identical copy of Shattered Dreams. "Oh… That is something else…"
Both Velvet and Fox continued their assault, pushing Naruto back as he was forced to put up a little more of an effort against the two swift fighters as he wasn't accustomed to either of their movements in battle. However as he kicked Fox back, he was struggling a lot more with Velvet thanks to her speed… And her moves were very, very similar to him.
"Velvet, how are you copying me?!" Naruto was a little annoyed as he was not home and he didn't see a Sharingan. "I'm not liking anything I'm seeing right now!"
He needed answers!
"It's her semblance man!" Fox grinned as he rushed back in swiping and punching at Naruto while Velvet kept her pace and attacked Naruto forcing him to block and parry their strikes.
Naruto paled. Velvet's… Semblance was allowing her to fight like him? Not copy his strength or speed, but she had a lot of the latter anyways, but allow her to move like him and copy his style?
"You have a weapon that allows you to copy other weapons and your semblance copies people's movements… You are bringing up way too many memories Velvet! Your personality is like that of a former love and you fight like the person that killed me!" Naruto had enough and his words caught her ever so slightly off guard and allowed him to grab Velvet by the wrist, slamming her into Fox like a bludgeoning weapon before throwing her at Coco in the distance before she could lay down suppressing fire now that he was free from cover.
But Yatsu was there to save his teammate and catch Velvet as Coco was able to move a few steps and take aim.
Naruto simply vanished in a swirl of leaves and disappeared from the arena. "What, where did…"
A chop to the back of her neck and Coco dropped to the ground with a groan and Naruto stood behind her. "Yeah, not dealing with a hail of bullets right now."
"You okay, Velvet?" Yatsu stated as he put Velvet down and drew Fulcrum, frowning as he failed in protecting Coco but in the same moment he had stopped her from being hit by Velvet and saved Velvet.
Naruto was simply fast enough to capitalize on the opportunity.
"That hurt but I'm fine…" Velvet said a little woozy from being used as a blunt object and narrowed her eyes seeing Coco was down. "Think we need a little…"
"Go! We've got you covered!" Blake fired Shroud in semi-auto rounds toward Naruto, forcing him back as Ren join in the cover.
Yatsu went in hard with Fulcrum slamming into the ground as Naruto had little place left to back up to, cracking the arena floor. The gunfire kept him from countering and Ren and Blake took turns reloading to keep the pressure on. Yatsu swung hard and fast as he could but Naruto was simply too fast for him to hit and easily managed to step through all of the shots fired and drive his fist into the big guy's stomach and launch him back a few good feet.
Yatsu simply skidded and regained his footing, taking the blow and bringing Fulcrum back in front of him. Then there was a and Naruto knew what it meant. Velvet switched weapons but what did she change to…
"Magnehild! Are you serious?!" Naruto saw Velvet jump over Yatsu with the hammer and was coming down on him was forced.
"TWO FOR ONE!" Nora yelled as she was unearthed and came screaming towards him from Blake and Ren's position, flying in hard and fast in a near identical pose to Velvet.
And with all the dust shots going around him he was pinned down rather well…
Both hammers came down with heavy forces, rock were sent as flying debris as they shattered from impact and dust filled the area.
And a dome of the earth stood slightly shattered and falling apart around Naruto, holding a hand seal. "Doton: Āsusherutā. (Earth Release: Rock Shelter)" *
"So cool!" Nora's eyes shone brightly seeing the dome of earth shield Naruto while Velvet looked utterly shocked.
"You… Can't be serious." Ren from the back looked at the scene with some annoyance as he looked at StormFlower and wondered if he was doing anything.
"He wasn't joking about his stories Ren! This is him without all of that!" Blake transformed Shroud knowing covering wasn't an option for much longer. "Just imagine if he had those powers!"
Naruto grabbed Velvet through the broken dome, pulled her in and slammed her into the other side of it, and threw it. However, something went missing as she rolled out on the other side, bouncing off the wall nearby while the dome collapsed and both Nora and Yatsu rushed in.
A near unconscious Velvet simply muttered realizing what was going to happen. "Don't waste it… Those dust rounds… Expensive…"
"Got it! I'll only use it once!" Naruto responded, not wanting to put a hurt on Velvet's expenses.
And the snap went off and a chain whip knocked both back, sending Nora flying and tripping into Coco as tried to recover and Yatsu into the desks as Naruto grinned, a copy of Shroud wrapping around him as he looked straight at Blake. "May I have this dance, my dear?"
"That's in two weeks!" Blake hissed as stood up to Naruto, her eyes dead focused. "You think you can beat me with my weapon?"
"Oh heavens no…" Naruto grinned just got wider as he incensed Blake and the two Shrouds started to whip around, cutting the arena as the two danced in an elegant dual as they clashed against one another. "I don't plan on beating you with your weapon…"
"I look on improving it!" Naruto's grin became as wide as possible as Blake's eyes widened at the realization as jumped further away, took his attention off of her, and made another few seals.
And then blew a stream of fire in the shape of a ball rushed straight towards the roof. "Katon: Gōkakyū! (Fire Release: Great Fireball)"
The blaze caught the roof on fire but sprinkles did their job and water began to sprinkle to try and put the inferno out. And everyone below was caught in the downpour of water as Naruto grinned and Blake's eyes shimmered, remembering their little dance at Rainbow Hotel.
Transforming Shroud into the sheath form, she looked around to see who was available. "Pyrrha get over what is going on and help us! Ren with me! Ruby, cause as many distractions as you can but don't get hit and Weiss do what you can to freeze this water! We can't let him get started!"
"Okay…" Ruby groaned as she got back onto her feet, hating the feeling of being soaked before sprinting towards Naruto.
"Freeze it?" Weiss coughed as she was finally becoming more aware of her surroundings and looked around. "I'll try my best."
"I take it you've seen this before…" Ren commented as the water drenched everyone as the inferno above was slowly being put out. "Or more likely a part of it… Let's do this."
Ruby went in first and the water began to coalesce around the hard light Shroud's head as Naruto danced and swung the blade down, Ruby's crying out as she just jumped to the side. "Too many powers! Yang is right!"
"Fuck yeah I am!" Yang groaned as she finally threw Jaune off her and was trying to make it back to her feet. "Keep moving!"
"Oh my god!" Ruby screamed as she activated her semblance and dashed away as the blade grew large and slashed outwards towards her from the spot. "Ren watch out!"
Ren could see the blade becoming what looked like a scorpion tail as he and Blake sprinted in and it was coming down straight for them, Blake using her Shadow Clone to bail out of the situation. Ren simply cursed. "Dammit!"
A shield flew in and blocked it, knocking the tail away from the intended target before it was pulled back towards Pyrrha as she rushed in, her emerald eyes glowing. "I've got you! Let's go!"
"I'm coming in too!" Fox rushed in as he wasn't being left out as the last standing member of CFVY, listening to the sounds and dodging through the slices of the hard light Shroud.
"FROM THE HEAVENS!" Ruby bounced off the clean spot on the roof, activating her semblance, and charged in recklessly seeing the opportunity to strike as she came in hard with Crescent Rose.
Naruto sensed she was coming in first and went to strike but suddenly ice crystals from and caught the head, sticking the light copy of Shroud to the ground.
"Get him, Ruby!" Weiss called out seeing Ruby descend upon him with Fox, Ren, and Blake close behind.
Naruto only grinned as he dropped the light weapon, and stepped to the side of Ruby's slice in just the nick of time before driving his knee into her stomach and sending her through Fox and the two of them tumbling. His eyes widened as he felt the bells ever so jingle and he grabbed Blake's hand and tossed her into Ren.
Pyrrha was next as she came in, slashing hard and throwing her shield as a warrior possessed. "Okay, I get I might have gone a little far last time but I was making a point!"
The Mistral warrior continued her assault, slicing as she tried to get to Naruto as he ducked under her strikes before he finally kicked her shield and forced her off him. He then threw a few shurikens to force her to swipe them out of the air with Milo but the distraction worked as he got into her guard, flipped her over his shoulder, and stomped on her chest.
Twisting her arm and forcing her to release Milo with just the right amount of force but not breaking her arm, Naruto jumped over as she tried to use her shield to knock him off before he landed a double stomp on her sternum, knocking the wind out of her.
Stepping back as Pyrrha heavily coughed, he kicked her aside knowing she was done for a while before letting out a sigh in relief. "That was getting close…"
"I am so done with this!" Yang flew in and Naruto was caught, blasted square in the face and Ember went off and he was launched into the wall, exploding from the impact. "Yeah, how do you like… Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"No!" Naruto grinned as he landed on his feet, his skin starting to redden as he activated his semblance for the first time. "Let's get to this, shall we Yang!"
"Fine by me!" Yang cried back as Naruto burst from the wall and she tried to punch Naruto but her eyes widened as the ground cracked beneath them. "Just how fucking strong are you?"
Holding her fist even after Ember burned his hand with a shot, Naruto gave a painful grin as his feral eyes met her aura burnt red. "Strong enough!"
Naruto wasn't going to admit that hurt way more than he anticipated and he might have snapped his arm catching it but the point still stood…
Next time he'd just use Sage State to be sure…
Yang had been absorbing a lot of punishment.
Naruto struck first and knocked Yang back with a clawing swipe, Yang countered with a straight right but swept in and locked up and threw several knees into her guts before tossing the dragoness to the ground. "Dammit, Yang! It isn't just a fistfight! You've got to remember about kicks!"
"Shut up! I know that!" Yang growled as she picked herself off the ground and started back in, being the last left up at this point all four teams as a few were still struggling to get back up.
Naruto blocked and pushed aside her strikes, weaving into them as she did a good enough job avoiding his punches but she would flinch back every time turned his body and threw a knee or kick in to stagger her. "Really! Because you can't stop one! How the hell are you going to teach Ruby anything if you can't do it yourself!"
Yang's aura burned brighter and Naruto flinched back as their heads met, the ground breaking under their feet from the contact. "Fucking hell! Your head is harder than mine!"
He then was forced to block a roundhouse kick Yang through and that threw him entirely off his defensive measures against her. "Okay… Progress!"
"Yeah! I'm learning the lesson you asshole!" Yang screamed as she came in and tried to land another blow but her aura faded as she felt Naruto beside her, his fist planted firmly in her sternum.
"But you still leave yourself way too open and your aura is limited." Naruto sighed as Yang crumbled and fell unconscious as her aura burnt out from the last blow delivered.
Naruto's eyes widened as the bells jingled once more and he grabbed Jaune and lifted him and looked him dead in the eyes. He gave him a stern look before smiling. "I'll give you that one… I don't know what is but you can sneak around me."
"Probably because you don't consider him a threat…" Blake growled as she got up to her knees and looked at the carnage to see everyone was either downed, unconscious or staggering to get back up. "And you only used your semblance for this?"
"Just there to fend off Yang… Her power build-up is dangerous after she takes enough hits." Naruto put Jaune onto his feet pulled out Dreams and motioned for him to come. "Let's see what Pyrrha's been teaching you… But your stance is a little wide, going to make it easy for me to throw you."
"Oh come on, you too!" Jaune complained as he realized this had now turned into a training session before tightening his footing. "Better?"
"A little… Going to need a lot more practice, now come." Naruto commented and let Jaune come in.
Deflecting his first swing and Jaune went further than he intended, Naruto tagged his shield with Dreams to stumble back and onto a knee. "Careful, don't overextend. With the deflection, I could have just as easily put my blade into the back of your neck. Don't allow your strength to carry you through the attack, you use a smaller weapon. That only works on something like Yatsu's."
"He's right." Yatsu groaned as he made it up to one knee and was using Fulcrum to get to a standing position.
"That's enough for today," Glynda called out, the timer nearly hitting the designated time before she started to repair the damage with her semblance. "Now can anyone tell me what they were doing wrong?"
"We were supposed to be learning through that ass beating?" Fox groaned as he and Ruby were disengaged and making their way onto their feet. "Learned that Naruto story was entirely factual… So god damn."
"Yes, you were," Glynda stated as if it was obvious. "He could have done a slightly better job at stating what he was picking apart as he was doing it, but there was little time to operate so it hard to do in the middle of combat."
"I need to work my stamina…" Blake breathed deeply as she looked at everyone around her. "Strength isn't going to do me a whole lot of good for how I fight but some core muscle strength wouldn't hurt either for hand-to-hand if I get disarmed."
"Very good, that is what I'm looking for," Glynda stated as she looked at everyone for Naruto did a good job of only bruising everyone, leaving only one unconscious and that one he was teaching the lesson directly.
"I can't take a hit… Still winded… Oh, Yang, your stupid puns are contagious…" Weiss began before realizing she was starting a pun and growled at the unconscious dragoness. "So I guess stamina and core strength for me to…"
"Really could use some agility…" Yatsu commented as he was a straightforward attacker when he came to it.
"Aura control is something you could learn to better on," Glynda commented as she stated factually. "Ren was the only one using his aura to shield himself."
"It felt like it did nothing…" Ren commented blandly as he lay on the ground. "That's probably because Naruto was the one hitting me... Pyrrha, what is stamina training going to look like… Cause I don't want this feeling again."
"I think that's going to be unfortunate fact of life for a while…" Pyrrha groaned and breathed heavily as Naruto attacked her lungs. "I'll figure something out as I think I'm going to have a few more than I thought… And I need to work on agility myself."
'I'm… joining… going… to stay… here for… a while…" Velvet spoke from her spot, still hardly having moved and not used to being thrown through solid objects.
"Everything hurts! Make it stop!" Ruby complained as stood up and used Crescent Rose as a crutch. "Why are you so cruel to me?!"
Naruto looked at her as his ears twitched before he simply gestured to an unconscious Yang. Ruby gave a pained-filled chuckle as she realized the obvious. "Oh… Fair enough I guess."
"I just want to learn cool techniques!" Nora commented as she was still as hyper as ever, despite the training.
"Nora… Not happening. Said that multiple times." Ren groaned at Nora's seemingly boundless energy.
"Seems like everyone has an idea of what we need to work on… Let me get everyone to the infirmary so we can get treated and enjoy the rest of our day." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and created his clones to help everyone out.
From above, Ironwood was watching in fascination at the scene while Oz simply looked on, glad they were figuring out what needed to be done. He, however, knew that sheen in the general's eyes and had to sigh. "I know that look, please refrain from doing anything… Over ambitious while you enjoy your stay here in Vale."
"Wouldn't want to cause another incident." Ozpin chastised his fellow academy headmaster before gazing down at his students and the Huntsman he put amongst them. "And just friendly advice…"
"Another player has joined this game now… And we're now forced to adapt and pray we won't be swept away."
* - Used Google Translate. Wasn't a translation I could find.