Author's Notes: Enjoy this update, for there won't be another for this story until all my finals are over. The next one will definitely be Bonds of an Uzumaki in December once my beta-reader gets his Internet back up. In other news, I've read some possible spoilers for the new The Last: Naruto the Movie, and while it looks promising, the fact that it's a love story set TWO years after the final battle makes me want to jump off Mount Fuji. It's ridiculous. But enough about that. Enjoy the latest chapter of Shinigami's Devil Huntsmen! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
-Review Responses
Cobalt Striker Gundam – It depends on my mood.
Duanemaster – Tell me about it. I bet Sasuke cheated on Sakura because there's no way that Sakura's the mother with Sarada wearing those glasses like Karin. We barely saw Anko and Kurenai, and the next time they show up, they lost their sexy figures :(
hollowichigo12 – I fear for the "Naruto New Era Opening Project".
GODHAND Gene – Like I said, Naruto is good, but its biggest flaw is that its totally removed from reality. That's why there's fanfiction. Also, if the spoilers I read about The Last: Naruto the Movie are true, you're gonna LOVE it lol.
Hakuryukou79 – Damn straight.
SevenKings – I know about the Devil Arms. It's just that Echidna's gained experience fighting the Sparda clan and is more resilient.
– All being COMPLETELY random.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, RWBY, or the other crossovers that'll appear, including any other crossovers that might appear.
Special credit and thanks to zemryx for letting me use the RWBY-ifyed Red Queen weapon from Devil May Cry 4 he drew on DeviantArt.
(Opening Theme: This Will Be The Day by Casey Lee Williams)
Chapter 05: The New Rookie Nine
(Ruby and Weiss)
"Ruby! I told you this was a terrible idea!"
"You're the one who was complaining about us not making it to the temple in time, and I improvised, so stop whining!"
"I am so NOT whining! More like fearing for my life, and my top coming off thanks to you!"
"Then you're in the wrong profession! If you fear for your life and your outfit, then you have no business becoming a Huntress!"
"I rather fight as a Huntress to live, thank you very much!"
"To live? Not protect everyone else and the world? You should've stayed in Atlas!"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"You're failing to convince me!"
"I'll prove it to you!"
"Then jump! We're below the temple!"
"Are you INSANE?!"
"…"
"Oh, you insufferable little red-!"
(Abandoned Temple)
"Blake, did you hear that? What should we do? Blake?"
Yang turned to see Blake's bow twitching as she pointed up where she saw Ruby was seen falling…
"Heads uuuuuuuup!" Ruby wailed, her arms flapping and flailing.
She was on a crash course for the ground, until Jaune came flying out of nowhere and crashed into her, making them both crash into a tree near Yang and Blake.
"Oohhhh... What was that?" Ruby groaned, dizzy-eyed as stars and Grimm circled around her head until she shook them off.
"Eh-hem!"
Ruby looked up to see Jaune hanged upside down from a tree branch above her.
"Hey Ruby…" he greeted, making Ruby sweatdrop.
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake questioned her dumbstruck partner.
"I…" Yang started, but was interrupted by a whoop from above.
"Yahoo~!"
With Red Queen skewered in Echidna, Naruto poured at his strength into his arms and sword and used them to hammer Echidna to the ground, burying her upper body in the soil. Kicking off her, he pulled Red Queen out, landed on the ground, and flicked Echidna's blood of the blade.
"Well what do you know? Fertilizer for the forest." Naruto mused as he planted Red Queen in the ground and leaned on it, "It suits you."
"Grrrrr…"
"Uh, did Naruto just nail a Greater Demon into the ground?"
"I…"
"YEEEE-HAAAAW!"
Before Yang could attempt to answer her partner again, she was interrupted by several crashing noises in the forest with an Ursa coming out, arms flailing. Then, a pink bolt of energy blasted it in the back, making it collapse to ground and depositing its rider.
"Awwww... It's broken. Eeeeeerrrrrrrruuuuuuu~" Nora said and observed her carcass of her prey as Rin finally caught up to her after jumping through trees and landing on the carcass.
"Nora! Please… Don't ever do that again!" Rin whined and panted, and looked up to find a pink dotted outline of where her partner and groaned when she realized that Nora's run off again, "Nora~"
"Oooohh..." Nora whistled as she was now in the temple, starting at a golden rook relic before swiping it, causing stars and her symbols to appear with a pink backgroundas she dances and singings with the rook piece, "I'm Queen of the Castle! I'm Queen of the Castle!"
"NORA!"
"Hee hee hee! Coming Rin!" Nora called out with a salute and skipped back to her friend and partner with the relic in hand.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"
"I…"
Yang was interrupted once again as a shrill screech as heard, and Pyrrha Nikos ran out of the forest with a Death Stalker scorpion Grimm was on her rear as it uproots loads of trees as it chased her. Pyrrha jumped and dodged its giant claws and continued running for her life.
"Jaune?!" Pyrrha called out for her partner, hoping he fell where she is now.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted back, glad Pyrrha has arrived.
"Woah! A Death Stalker!" Ruby exclaimed before running off the branch and jumping to the ground.
"Ruby!" Jaune whined after her.
"Naruto!" Yang said excitedly as Naruto arrived at the temple.
"Still alive Yang, Blake. Nice!" Naruto greeted as Ruby landed next to him in a roll just as she arrived at the temple, "Hey Rubes!"
"Naruto!" Ruby squealed and hugged him.
"Ruby!"
"Yang!"
Ruby and Yang were about to hug when…
"Nora!" Nora shouted excitedly coming between and knocking them off balance.
As Echidna tried to get out of her predicament, the Death Stalker continued to chase Pyrrha around.
"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked, this time a bit amused, due to her partner growling and getting annoyed and irritated with tickmark on her head (with Nora playfully mimicking her) before her Aura erupted in a burst of fire as she eyes turned red.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" Yang yelled in absolute fury.
Naruto checked his watch, counting down to two seconds as Yang cooled down; Rin ran over to the ditzy Nora; and Blake and Ruby looking up.
"Oh boy… Yang? Naruto?" Ruby said, drawing Naruto's attention upward while Yang groaned in exasperation.
Up in the sky, Weiss was hanging on the talon of a giant Nevermore bird Grimm that she and Ruby arrived on with one arm while the other was trying to keep her torn top on and not expose herself.
"How could you leave me?!" she wailed as she hung on for dear life.
"I did say "jump", you idiot!" Ruby countered.
"She's gonna fall." Blake said simply.
"She claims she's leagues better than me, so she'll be fine." Ruby assured them sarcastically.
"Couldn't be further from the truth than that." Naruto snorted as they saw Weiss lost her grip on the talon, "You ruined her outfit for that remark, did you?"
"Yep!"
"Uh guys, she's falling." Rin deadpanned.
Meanwhile, Jaune managed to free himself from the tree and saw Weiss falling. Grinning at his opportunity to impress her, he jumped off the branch with him arms outstretched, and caught her as tree seemed to slow down between them.
"Just…dropping in?" he asked in full Casanova mode as he smiled at her, but Weiss was speechless and looked at him like he was an idiot, with Jaune looking confused at her reaction until they both looked down in horror, "Oh god!"
They hugged each other wide-eyed as gravity finally took hold of them, and they fell down with their weapons flying out and following them to the ground.
"Oh noooooooo~ Oomph!"
Jaune landed facefirst and splayed out into the dirt, with Weiss landing on his back in a seated position as she checked her nails.
"My hero." she said mockingly.
"My back…" Jaune groaned.
Naruto, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Rin, and even Nora sweatdropped until Pyrrha was finally knocked away by the Death Stalker and landed on her side in front of everyone else.
"Having fun?" Naruto asked the redhead mockingly.
"Welp, The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang declared jokingly.
"Oh joy is us…" Rin muttered, not sharing the sentiment.
"Ha! We'll see about that!" Ruby declared and charged at the Death Stalker with a battle cry, "Yaaaaahhhhhh~!"
"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted after her.
Ruby used the recoil of Crescent Rose to boost her charge towards the oncoming Death Stalker. When she was close, the Death Stalker knocked Ruby away with its claw.
"Ruby!" Naruto shouted and ran after her as she landed on the ground.
"D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby called back as she got up and put a hand to her head, feeling blood as she bled from her head.
She jumped when the Death Stalker shrieked at her, and retaliated by shooting it in the skull as she jumped back, using the recoil as a boost to run the opposite way away from the scorpion Grimm and towards Naruto, also using her Speed semblance as she did. It was then that Echidna pulled herself out of the ground and roared, activating her Devil Trigger-like mode once again.
"Ruby! Naruto! Look out!" Yang yelled and ran after Naruto, who was blinded-sided by Echidna.
"Son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled as he flew into the forest and crashed into a tree that broke over him, "Gah!"
"Naruto!" Ruby cried as the Nevermore descended and targeted her.
It flapped its wings and rained down a wave of sharpened feathers with sharp quills that nearly skewered Yang and halted her advance cold while Ruby was pinned down by her cloak, jerking her forward and sending Crescent Rose flying.
The Death Stalker approached Ruby, but Echidna knocked it aside, wanting Ruby for herself to the others horror.
"Your blood will make some delicious nutriment for my children, human!" Echidna said, turning into her serpent form.
"Ruby, get out of here!" Yang screamed at her sister, who struggling with her cloak.
"I'm trying!" Ruby shouted back after unpinning one of the snaps on her cloak and was working on the other one.
Echidna was close to chomping on her until she was knocked aside by a fire bolt from Yang's Ember Celica.
"Don't you touch my sister, you bitch!" Yang shrieked and fired off several one that detonated on impact that forced her body out.
"You little slut!"
As Echidna targeted Yang now and went after her, she was then riddled with gunfire from Rin's StormFlower gun, Blake's Gambol Shroud in Pistol Mode, and Nora's grenade launcher weapon Magnhild, before being pierced by Milóin its Javelin Mode by Pyrrha. Meanwhile, Ruby managed to free herself of her beloved cloak and looked to escape, but failed to notice the Death Stalker flanking her and knocking her back into the feathers, causing her to cry in pain as she was cut with the feathers that tore into her outfit. Cornering its now wounded prey, the Death Stalker raised its golden stinger above Ruby and brought it down in an attempt to pierce her.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed in distress and reached out in vain as a white blur raced past her.
With nowhere to go, Ruby closed her eyes and raised her arms over her head, waiting for the pain…
…yet it never came.
"You and Namikaze are two peas in a pod!"
Ruby opened her eyes to discover the Death Stalker's stinger encased in ice that trapped it where it is struggling to get free, and blinked in surprise at her unexpected savior who had one knee on the ground panted with her rapier stabbed in the ground.
"So difficult to get along with, totally unpredictable, and completely hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Weiss said as she recovered and turned to look at Ruby, "And I suppose I can be a bit... anti-social... 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 just looked at her before shaking her head, "Touche, Weiss." she said as she got up and tugged her cloak out of the quill it was pinned on, "Just don't say that you'll be nicer, show it. Until then…" Ruby put her cloak back on and smiled brightly at Weiss, "Thank you…"
"Uh, well…" Weiss stuttered, mesmerized by her partners bright smile as she brushed past her, "Any…time… No one has ever thanked me like that before…"
Walking out of the small forest of feathers, she noticed the Death Stalker still struggling to escape.
"Whoa…" she muttered until she was wrapped in a bone-crushing by her sister from behind, "Urk!"
"So happy you're okay!" Yang squealed as she hugged Ruby close.
"Don't worry, I'm fine…but let up! You're hurting me- Owowowowowow~!"
"Oh, how sickening!" Echidna suddenly roared as she knocked away Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin who had engaged her, "You both can die together!"
"No!" Yang yelled and shielded Ruby with her body while Weiss rushed forward, but several shots rang out and Echidna let out a strangled yell of pain, causing everyone to look to see Echidna sporting holes all over her body with flames and cinders coming out of them.
"No, not again! Not again! I will not be defeated a third tim-!" Echidna ranted before a loud shot interrupted her and caused her to explode that she let out one last scream.
"More like the last time, because I'm sealing you away for good. And by the way…" Naruto said as he stepped out of the forest with Thorn and Petal in its Magnum Revolver Mode out after firing incendiary Dust bullets empowered by the Kyuubi twins' chakra, "What did Uncle Dante say again? Oh yeah: I think that look suits you better… permanently that is!"
Twirling Thorn and Petal on his finger, he split them apart and holstered them as a light green orb float over Echidna's body, just as Yang and Ruby crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.
"Ruby, Yang, I'm fine!" Naruto said as his sisters held onto him tightly.
"Don't scare us like that again, whiskers! It's bad enough you fighting demons like her everyday!" Yang scolded him and hit him on the head.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ruby asked as they got up.
"I said I'm fine, but you're not Ruby!" Naruto said, gesturing to her wounds, "Hold still."
His three-tailed rabbit-eared Aura returned as he put his normal hand on Ruby's shoulder, causing a Aura similar to his to envelop Ruby's body and heal her wounds. Ruby shivered as a strange, warm feeling swam through her body until the process was finished.
"Just what the hell is going on? What was a demon doing here? What's that orb she left behind? What is with your Aura? And what the hell is with your arm?" Weiss demanded, asking each question in rapid order.
"…My job." Naruto said simply, ignoring Weiss' growling as they went to join the others at the temple, "Are you guys okay?"
He directed the question at Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin, who had attempted to hold off Echidna, but were knocked away.
"We're fine." Rin responded, dusting herself off, "So that was a Greater Demon, huh? And you managed killed her. There's more to you than meets the eye, Namikaze."
"How perspective." Naruto muttered, and was weirded out by Nora's continuous happy expression.
"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?" Jaune asked, pointing up at the cawing Nevermore circling around the area.
"Don't worry about the Nevermore, buddy. It isn't your target. The objective is right in front of us." Naruto told them, jerking his thumb at the relics.
"He's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to Beacon Cliff. While I'm all for slaying them, they are not our primary concern right now." Ruby added.
"In other words, there's no sense in fighting those things right now." Weiss said to Jaune directly.
"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind." Jaune agreed with enthusiasm, probably because Weiss actually talked to him.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Yang said, holding up her's and Blake's golden knight piece while Nora's and Rin's golden rook piece was resting on Nora's head.
Ruby and Jaune nodded and went to go retrieve a relic for themselves and their partners.
"You know whiskers, what you did to that demon was pretty hot, if you know what I mean."
"Yang, that pun was way too obvious."
Yang pouted and looked around, "By the way, where's your partner?"
"Don't have one." Naruto shrugged as Ruby returned with a golden knight and Jaune with a golden rook; the same ones taken by Yang, Blake, Nora, and Rin, "I was busy with the She-Viper, so I'm the odd one out."
"Hey Naruto, is your arm glowing?" Jaune asked, pointing at Naruto's Devil Bringer.
"Looking like it. It looks like its reacting to the artifact Ozpin and Goodwitch left for me…"
The Devil Bringer glowed brighter when he reached the temple, and looked around until he found a removable stone stab with his Uzushio crest on it that that was freshly carved. He removed it to find a gauntlet with a blue-green jewel, and was taken aback when the jewel's lid "blinked".
"So, it still exists." Kaguya's voice rang through Naruto's mind, "I thought it was lost in the sands of time."
"Do you know what this is, Kaguya?" Naruto questioned the Rabbit Goddess.
"Something to help you in your fight against the demons. Grab it with your Devil Bringer and it will absorb it like it did with the Evil Legacy you found in Mountain Glenn and that Sephirothic Fruit you found in Forever Fall forest."
Naruto nodded and retrieved the gauntlet from the stone box with this Devil Bringer hand as the others came over looked over his shoulder.
"What is that?" Ruby asked as Naruto stood up and turned to them.
"I don't know. Ozpin said that it was connected to me in some way-"
He was cut off when his Devil Bringer glowed, with the gauntlet in his hands fading into light before being absorbed into his Devil Bringer. Then, the Devil Bringer gained the same orb that gantlet had with the lid that blinked over the orb.
"That's so cool!" Nora said in awe as she hopped around looking at Naruto's Devil Bringer from all angles.
"I think I saw that arm and that gauntlet in a story once. How does he have it?" Rin wondered.
"Kaguya, what did I just gain?" Naruto asked slowly, "You better have not have screwed me over…"
"What do you take me for, stupid? Of course I haven't! What you absorbed is the ancient Oni Gauntlet, created by the power of the twelve Oni Gods of old. It's one of the last remaining one that hasn't been swept away by the passage of time. With it, you can absorb demon souls and the essence of Grimm to give your weapons and abilities a boost in power, and you can also use it to store your Devil Arms until you need them. Try it on Echidna's soul. With the Devil Arm ability you gained from Sparda's bloodline, you can turn her into a weapon, as well as enhanced the elemental jutsu of whatever nature she's associates with."
"Huh. Guess it's worth a shot."
Naruto walked over to Echidna's soul and raised his Devil Bringer. The orb on his Devil Bringer activated its absorbing effect and drew Echidna's soul into it. A bright light then surrounded him, making the others shield their eyes. When it dispersed, they saw Naruto holding what appears to be dual scaly chakrams with thorns on the blades. Giving it a few test swings on some nearby trees, he found that the chakrams can turn into whips with the blades separating and the thorns grow and sharpen to the will, and sliced the trees in find logs with style.
"So, I am once again enslaved to a Sparda. What rotten luck." Echidna's voice rang through Naruto's head, "Fine then. I shall assist you to the best of my capabilities whenever you choose to wield me."
"Whoa whoa. Why are you acting so nice all of a sudden?" Naruto asked the She-Devil, "A complete 180 from that you were acting like before"
"It's not a trick if that's what you're thinking. You have bested me in battle, despite the interferences from your friends, which makes you my better; and since you said that you were going to seal me permanently, I have a feeling that we'll be stuck together from now until the end of time. With me you have complete control over my Devil Arm form, your Mokuton is enhanced, and are more attuned with nature. You can also summon and control my Chimera children, if you so desire."
"We'll train together with those new abilities and enhancements later. Until then, welcome aboard. And Echidna?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. And sorry for those insults I hurled your way. It was just battle strategy. I'm sure you're beautiful in you own exotic way."
Echidna was taken aback by Naruto's words. She thought all Sparda were a bunch of assholes, but this one was different. He thanked her, apologized to her, and complemented her; and they were all sincere with no malice. Maybe it won't be so bad being stuck to him after all.
"Uh, thank you. Just let me know if you need anything." Echidna replied and flew through Naruto's mindscape to meet the other residents inside.
Naruto smiled, then frowned when he felt a bump on his shin, knocking him back into the real world, seeing Weiss hop up and down holding her foot, swearing profusely.
"I told you that was a bad idea." Ruby deadpanned.
"Sorry, what did I miss?" Naruto asked while trying not to laugh at Weiss.
When she kicked him, it was like kicking the side of a jagged mountain.
Not fun.
"The Death Stalker's about to get free. It's time we left." Rin told them.
"Right then. Let's move!" Naruto said and waved to the others.
"Right behind you." Ruby declared and followed him with the others.
As the others, even Weiss who ignored the pain in her foot from kicking Naruto, followed after them, Yang stay behind smiling as Blake approached her.
"What is it?"
Yang didn't answer as she stared proudly at Ruby, who leapt on a boulder and motions for the group to keep up the pace.
"Nothing…" Yang answered and raced after the group, with Blake now smiling after her before following.
(Abandoned Ruins)
Naruto, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin ran out of the forest and into a series of ruined structures as the Nevermore tailed them from the air. The group spread out and took cover behind some stone pillars as the Nevermore perched on a high column in front of them and cawed loudly.
"Well, that's just great!" Yang complained.
"It's about to get worse." Naruto stated as the Death Stalker burst from the trees behind the group.
"Ah, man, RUN!" Jaune yelled.
Everyone bolted from their covers as the Nevermore rose up into the air when it saw them scattering.
"Nora, distract it!" Rin said as they moved.
Nora obliged and ran as the Nevermore fired off its feather projectiles. She ducked and leapt over them, bringing out her Magnhild grenade launcher and fired on the Nevermore, heart-topped shells bursting into pink electricity upon impact, causing it to retreat. The Death Stalker came up behind her and attacked, but failed to hit its target as Blake and Rin performed a cross-slash that knocked its claws off course as Naruto and Weiss grabbed Nora and used a glyph to boost themselves away from the Death Stalker that was now chasing Blake and Rin.
"Go, go!" Pyrrha said to Jaune fired upon the Death Stalker as Rin landed next to her and started firing too until Blake leapt forward as the Death Stalker took a swipe at them, but missed as they ran.
The nine Hunters-in-training raced across the bridge until the Nevermore reappeared and rammed into the bridge, shattering it and separating the group; trapping Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha with the Death Stalker and Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, and Jaune cut off from them on the other side of the bridge. Naruto however found himself on the back of the Nevermore hanging on.
"Here we go again." Naruto groaned to himself as he summoned Echidna and wrapped its whip form around the Nevermore neck to control it.
Back on the bridge, the Death Stalker as Pyrrha knocked Blake back and Rin continued to keep it back with gunfire.
"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!" Jaune said, seeing the others struggle with the scorpion Grimm as Nora ran off beside him.
"Let's do this!" she said, readying her Magnhild.
"Yeah, but, uh... I can't make that jump!" Jaune said as he looked down at the abyss below.
Nora grinned diabolically at him before knocking him back with Magnhild. She then shifted her weapon from grenade launcher into a giant full-length hammer, and hopped to the edge of the break in the bridge.
"No, wait!" Jaune wailed, seeing what she was about to do, but too late as she slammed Magnhild into the edge of the bridge that catapulted him to the other side screaming, "No, no, no, no, no, NO!"
Without losing her smile, Nora hopped on her hammer and fired it off the collapsing bridge, riding it through the air before slamming it on the head of the Death Stalker's skull as Jaune landed on the ground. The Death Stalker retaliated with its stinger, causing Nora to fire her weapon, using its recoil to avoid it, but accidently bumped into a recovering Blake and making her fall from the edge.
"Your other right, you stupid bird!" Naruto yelled as she steered the Nevermore towards a falling Blake, who fired her Gambol Shroud into the edge of the bridge while using her ribbon to swing away.
Naruto was then forced to ditch the Nevermore as it flew dangerously close under the bridge; jumping off it and onto the bridge with Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Rin as Blake managed to get onto the Nevermore back. She ran across its back, slashing with her blade and sheath, before jumping off and landing on the ruined platform at the top of the columns next to Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.
"It's tougher than it looks!" she told them.
"Then let's hit it with everything we got!" Yang declared as she readied her Ember Celica.
(Cue Battle Theme: Red Like Rose Part II (Episode 8 Mix) by Casey Lee Williams)
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang prepared their weapons' long-range modes as the Nevermore dived towards them, and fired a barrage of beams and bolts at the bird Grimm that barely affected it. It dive-bombed into the columns and platform, throwing chunks of stone everywhere, with the four girls using them to hop off them in various ways; with Ruby jumping off a stone and using the recoil of her Crescent Rose, Weiss using her glyphs to boost herself up, Blake using the ribbon with her Gambol Shroud and running up a pillar, and Yang using the recoil of Ember Celica and punching the stone pieces at the same time to reach the higher bridge above.
"None of this is working!" Weiss complained as Ruby analyzed her surroundings.
She saw Naruto with Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin facing down the Death Stalker; Blake reaching the bridge, and Yang firing round after round at the Nevermore, before grinning at Weiss.
"What?!" Weiss asked, confused before Ruby pulled out a needle and some thread from her pack, "What are you-"
The next thing Weiss knew, Ruby fixed up her outfit so it wouldn't fall apart before grabbing her arm.
"I have a plan! Come on!" she said, grabbing her by her arm and hopped over to the next bridge.
Back with Naruto and the others, the Death Stalker roared at them.
"Let's get it!" Naruto said and rushed at it with the others following.
The Death Stalker attacked with a lunge of its claw, but was deflected by Pyrrha's shield Akoúo and was slashed with Miló. The Grimm reeled back and attacked with its other claw, but Jaune blocked it with Naruto blasting it with a Stinger to its face just as Pyrrha struck it in the face as well. She hopped to the side as Naruto jumped back and unleashed Thorn and Petal on the Death Stalker with Rin running forward and firing upon it. The Death Stalker lashed out with its stinger, with Rin sidestepping it and grabbed onto it, shooting it at the base of its stinger, while Naruto continued peppering the scorpion Grimm with rapid-fire Dust bullets with Nora joining in on the action, firing her grenades at it. Pyrrha hurled Miló in Javelin Mode straight one of its eyes, making its roar in pain as it whipped Rin to the side as she lost her grip.
"Rin!" Nora cried out as Rin hit the stone pillar heard and falls to the ground in a heap, groaning and unmoving.
"Is she okay?!" Jaune asked as Naruto swore.
"Shit…" Naruto muttered and noticed the Death Stalker's stinger hanging limply from its tail, "Pyrrha, tail!"
"Done!" she responded and hurls Akoúo discus-style, slicing the Death Stalker's stinger off that fell and stuck itself into the head of its owner, as Pyrrha's shied returned to her.
"Nora, hammer time!" Naruto commanded, "Pyrrha, boost her!"
"Heads up!" Nora yelled as Pyrrha got into position in front of her.
Nora hopped onto Akoúo, firing onto it as Pyrrha leapt up, giving Nora an extra boost into the air. The Death Stalker stuck at a defenseless Pyrrha, but Naruto got in the way, taking her place and saving her from being "back-clawed".
"Naruto!" Pyrrha yelled as he was sent flying away.
"Oh no, we're doomed!" Jaune wailed.
Meanwhile, Nora sat on the handle of Magnhild's Hammer Mode, smiling and laughed until she reached the maximum height she could reach, before quickly firing her hammer down, using the recoil to speed down and twirl in the air before slamming her hammer down, driving the stinger down into the Death Stalker's head and crushing the bridge beneath it. Pyrrha grabbed Jaune and threw him over the doomed Death Stalker before leaping over it herself. Nora firing away and used the recoil to safely hop away as the rest of the bridge crumbled apart with the scorpion Grimm falling into the abyss.
The Hunters-in-training managed to get away, with Jaune landing backfirst, Nora lands on her rear, Pyrrha lands in a crouched pose reminiscent of a member of Team Blood Gutch, and Rin simply wobbled over to them, panting and groaning until she collapsed into Nora, who shifted herself so she could fall into her lap.
Back with Naruto, he flipped into the air as he ended up in the flight path of the Nevermore as it dodged Yang's blasts as she burned through her ammo. Materializing a crimson-colored glyph, he hopped off it and drove Red Queen into the back of the Nevermore just as it was about to dive-bomb into Yang. It screeched, allowing Yang to jump into its maw and force its beak open as she fired rounds into the bird Grimm's mouth.
"I! Hope! You're! Hung-! -Gry!" she screamed as she fired a round with each syllable.
Looking behind her, she jumps back into the ruin while Naruto used a Rasengan on the back of the Nevermore, boosting himself off and used his Chakra Chains to reel himself up on the cliff above, causing the Nevermore to crash into the wall of the cliff. The bird Grimm recovered quickly and screeched as Yang smirked and retreated, passing Weiss as she glided forward. The Nevermore tried to take flight, but Weiss jumped forward and stabbed the tip of Myrtenaster into its tail, freezing it on place and preventing the flapping Nevermore from getting away. Weiss then backflip into her snowflake symbol glyph and lands back to the group.
From the cliff, Naruto observed the girls' enacting Ruby's plan. On a pillar, Blake fired Gambol Shroud in Pistol Mode over to the adjacent pillar where Yang caught it and stabbed it into her pillar. With Blake still holding on to the ribbon, the two partners tightened it between the columns as Ruby jumped onto it while sitting on Crescent Rose the same way Nora sat on Magnhild in the air, and bend the ribbon back next to Weiss, who had a white glyph that turned black when Ruby jumped into it.
"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss said.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked, not taking her eyes off the struggling Nevermore.
"Hmm! Can I?" Weiss countered confidently.
"…"
Ruby just looked at her with a deadpan expression, tapping her finger on Crescent Rose and not looking to entertain Weiss' overconfident response, something that Weiss was able to sense when Ruby didn't respond for a few seconds.
"Okay, I can, I can! Stop looking at me like that!" Weiss relented irritably, making Ruby smile at her and look back at the Nevermore.
As Weiss release Ruby, Ruby pulled Crescent Rose's trigger, launching her with such speed that it cracked the ground with rose petals flying from her ascent. Ruby continued shooting, using the recoil to boost herself towards the trapped Nevermore, until the blade caught into the Nevermore's neck and they both slammed into the cliff wall. Weiss then raised Myrtenaster and materialized a line of glyphs up the wall, which Ruby used to stick to the wall and run along the wall by firing all the way up while yelling.
Naruto, Yang, Blake, Weiss (who was exhausted), Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin watched in amazement as she wall-ran up the cliff with the Nevermore still caught in Crescent Rose's blade until she reached the cliff. Circling up, she fired one last shot, and cleaved the Nevermore's head clean off its shoulder in a shower of rose petals. Ruby flipped in the air and landed in Naruto's arms as the bird Grimm's severed head crashed next to them.
"Off with its head." Naruto said, looking at the severed head and then at Ruby, "Nice one Ruby."
(Battle music fade out)
"Thanks Naruto, but it wasn't just me." Ruby said as Naruto put her down and watched the Nevermore's headless body crashed into the ground below, "I have you, Yang, Blake, and Weiss to thank. I admit, even I would've had trouble fighting that Nevermore by myself. Now I know why we're given partners at Beacon."
"Glad you figured it out in this battle, Ruby. Seems like I won't have to worry about you soloing anytime soon." Naruto commented as rose petals flew around them.
"Going solo is the furthest from my mind right now…" Ruby thought as she blushed at Naruto, "Especially when you're by my side…"
A little while later, all nine Hunters-in-training met at the entrance to the ruins.
"That was incredible, Ruby." Jaune praised while inwardly vowing to get at her level.
"Well…that was a thing." Yang commented, making Naruto and Ruby sweatdrop.
"A thing? What does that even mean?" Weiss asked, "Never mind; don't answer that. More useless banter, I guess."
"Hard for you to be happy about anything, even a win, right?" Blake asked in amusement.
"What do you expect? She's one cold princess." Naruto said, shrugging.
"More like…" Yang started before putting on her aviators, "Weiss cold."
"YEEEEAAAAAAAAHH!" Nora suddenly added loudly.
Everyone sniggered, even Blake and Rin, while Weiss did not look amused by the pun made at her expense.
"Well, I guess we better head back. We got what we needed." Pyrrha stated.
"You guys go on ahead. I have some unfinished business to take care off." Naruto said and walked away from the group.
"'Unfinished business'? Like what, whiskers?" Yang asked.
"You remember Echidna's a Greater Demon, right? She came from a Hell Gate that here in Emerald Forest, its needs demolishing before anyone surprises comes through it." Naruto replied with a hand wave before speeding away
"A Hell Gate, here?!" Weiss asked in shock.
"Now this I gotta see!" Ruby declared and went after Naruto
"Wait up, I wanna see too!" Nora squealed in excitement and took off after Naruto and Ruby.
"Nora, wait!" Rin shouted before groaning and took off after her, "Mou!"
"Guy, we don't have time for this! We need to get back." Weiss shouted after them.
"Then we make time. You can stay if you want." Blake said before she and Yang took off too.
"I can escort you back if you want, Snow Angel." Jaune offered to Weiss, who growled.
"I'll take my chances." she said before sprinting off to the others.
Jaune moaned before Pyrrha hoisted him up on her shoulder before taking off after the others.
(Hell Gate)
"Well, look who's still alive and kicking? We thought you were a goner when that demon lady took you for a ride." the cobalt-colored armored guy said as Naruto appeared from the trees.
"She was tougher than I expected, so bite me Church." Naruto countered, "Are all the small fry dealt with?"
"More or less. Just need for you to destroy the Hell Gate since you have the power to accomplish such a task." Washington said.
"How you can be the only one in the world that can destroy this big ol' black slab and not a bunch of ol' fashion explosives is beyond me." the gruff red-armored guy grumbled.
"Shocking, considering it's you, Sarge. Then again, not shocking at all." Naruto replied, "Grif still alive? And Caboose?"
"I'm still blinded!"
Naruto sighed as he saw the blue-armored guy that was Caboose walking around like a ghost with his hands.
"Sadly, both of them continue to breath along us." Sarge said.
"Don't worry, sir. There's always a next time." a maroon-armored guy assured him.
"Up yours, Simmons." Grif countered.
"Just another day at the office, as you can see for yourself, young Padawan." Tucker said, with Naruto rolling his eyes.
"Whatever…" he said, before walking to the Hell Gate as his fellow Hunters arrived.
"Holy crap. A bunch of hot babes at 12 o' clock! How do I look?" Tucker asked quickly, trying to look cool.
"Como un idiota, te pedófilo." a brown-armored guy said sarcastically.
"Woah, hold on! I ain't no pedophile, Lopez. I know they're from Beacon." Tucker said.
"Oh please. You know young girls these days have boobies the size of cantaloupes. Maybe even watermelons." Church scoffed.
"Not the best way to make an impression you guys, talking about women's breasts." Washington muttered as the Hunters came up to them.
"Omigosh, it's Team Blood Gulch! Can I have your autographs?! Please please please please please please please please~" Ruby squealed as she bounced around them chibified.
"All right, calm down little red hiding hood. Simmons! Get my pad and pen!" Sarge ordered.
"Yessir!" Simmon compiled and rummaged around his bag for said items.
"Kiss ass." Grif muttered under his breath.
"Idiots…" Weiss agreed under her breath as well, though she included Grif in the mix too.
"Is Carolina with you?" Pyrrha suddenly asked.
"Nope. She actually left early. Girl stuff probably." Church replied, "Why?"
"It's just been a while since I saw my cousin." Pyrrha admitted, surprising everyone, especially Team Blood Gulch.
As some of Team Blood Gulch started hounding Pyrrha with question about their teammate, Naruto arrived at the Hell Gate, gave it a once over, and noticed a bright orb floating on a panel in front of him.
"It's a organic Devil Arm. It's made of organic devilish metal." Echidna informed her new master.
"Let me guess… It powers the Hell Gate." Kurami piped up.
"Which means that with each Hell Gate I destroy, I get some new toys." Naruto said and reached out and grabbed the orb with his upgraded Devil Bringer, "One down…"
In Naruto's demonic hand, the orb glowed and enveloped him, drawing everyone attention to his direction.
"Argh! What's that idiot doing now?" Weiss complained, making Ruby step on her foot.
"Could it be another Devil Arm?" Rin wondered over Weiss' yelping as the light died down.
Naruto was still there, wearing his new organic steel Devil Arms that consisted of a set of gauntlets, greaves with buzzsaws on the soles, a mask, and back armor in the shape of butterfly wings, with the veins between the metal constantly changing from red to violet and violet to red. Flicking his arms, a set of small stinger drills with thrusters popped out of the gauntlets as the name of the Devil Arm came into his mind.
"Gilgamesh…" he thought, grinning under the mask as the stingers retreated back into his gauntlets as he turned around, "Sweet!"
"Let me guess. You're going to destroy this Hell Gate in the most stylish way. Like your Uncle Dante before you." Kaguya guessed sarcastically.
"Maybe, maybe not. Why you really care that badly, Kaguya?" Naruto asked darkly.
"It's best that you don't…show off that much, and you should be your own person instead of being like your devilish ancestors." Kaguya admitted, making Naruto scowl.
"You're my ancestor too, ya know." Naruto reminded her, "Are you telling me to be more like you and less like Grandpa Sparda? You still think of me an idiot, don't you?"
"No! I just…"
"We'll talk later." Naruto growled, cutting the connection and clenching his fist, "I thought we were past this, Kaguya. It's like you don't believe in me. What more must I do to gain your damn approval and prove I'm not like the other power hungry, arrogant humans?!"
Had he kept the connection open, she would've heard the Bijuu hitting Kaguya on the head, earning her multiple lumps.
Opening his palm, he created a large crimson-colored Rasengan that radiated his anger before plunging it into the Hell Gate. The others watched in amazement as the Rasengan traveled up to the Hell Gate like a vine while becoming unstable until it engulfed the Hell Gate and shattered it into pieces. Drawing back his leg, he kicked a long piece of slab into the air that skewered all of the other pieces until it came back down from the weight. Now drawing back his fist, he unleashed a devastating uppercut that turned the pieces of the Hell Gate into powder that left behind several different colored orbs that were then absorbed into the new jewel of Naruto's Devil Bringer.
"Anyway, two to go." Naruto said to himself and stored Gilgamesh into his Devil Bringer, "Mmm, wonder if Kaguya's still on her eternal period though?"
"I AM NOT!" Kaguya shrieked after forcibly reopening the connection, "Sorry for being a bitch, happy?!"
"A little, since you still believe little in me. And just for that…"
"…Okay Naruto, not funny. You can stop now- OWW!"
"Was trapping her a field of mousetrap necessary Naruto-kun?" Kiyomi said until he threw her a mental look, "Shutting up now."
"That was amazing Naruto!" Yang said as everyone came up to him.
"Any way you can mass produce those Devil Arm thingies? Think of the mass destruction and mayhem we can unleash on those Grimm and demons." Sarge commented.
"Not happening, if it is possible." Naruto replied with a glare before saying loudly, "And if anyone attempts to force me, then it simply means that I get to try out some new tricks I learned from the lunatic psycho of a teacher!"
Naruto fellow Hunter trainees were confused by who he meant, but Team Blood Gulch wasn't, as they knew the same person he was referring to was on their team as well, which is why they all flinched.
"Uh, on second thought, this ol' trusty shotgun of mine will do quite nicely." Sage relented.
"Yeah, unless you get a huge box of explosives for Christmas." Grif muttered under his breath.
"Tell me about it." Church agreed.
Two shotgun blasts went off, followed by a simultaneous, "Son of a bitch!"
"No wonder my family never hired them." Weiss mused while Naruto scoffed, knowing other multiple reasons why as faint sounds of an audience clapping are heard.
"Among other things."
(Beacon Academy, Amphitheater, nighttime)
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by... Cardin Winchester!"
The Beacon Academy Initiation is over, and everyone is gathered to see which first year pairs are going to team up with each other. After a few teams were formed, almost everyone figured out that the pairs that chose the same color pieces would be together.
The audience clapped some more as the newly christened Team CRDL departed the stage as four more students walked onto the stage and took their places in front of Ozpin as their faces filled the screen above them.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)." Ozpin declared.
As the audience clapped, Nora laughs and gives a startled Rin a hug.
"Led by... Jaune Arc!"
"Huh? L-Led by...?" Jaune repeated in shock.
"Congratulations, young man. I know you will do great, and make a fine leader." Ozpin praised him with a smile.
Jaune stuttered until a grinning Pyrrha accidently knocked him down with a friendly shoulder bump. He landed on his rear with the audience laughing until Pyrrha helped him up and they left the stage with their new fellow teammates, as final five students arrived on stage.
"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. Now due to an odd numbers of student this year, you four will have an extra teammate, and that teammate is…Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."
Ruby and Yang looked as if Christmas and their birthdays all came at once, while Weiss had a look of horror on her face, and Blake had a smirk on her face as Naruto joined them on the stage.
"From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWUBY (Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose!"
As every applauded, Weiss looked at her partner surprised, while Ruby was in shock, not knowing what to think.
"Nice going, Ruby! You'll do great." Naruto said as he put his arm around her for a one-armed hug while Yang hugged her completely.
"I'm so proud of you!" she cried, hugging her close.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."
(Unknown Location)
In a large, empty, abandoned warehouse where his operations were currently held, Roman Torchwick ended a conversation on his scroll cell and slammed it down on the table, sighing. He lit a cigar and smoked it as a man in a gray mask and black hood came with a cart. Roman then pulls out some Lien and placed it on the table for the maked man of the White Fang to take.
"Open it." he requested.
The masked man complied and opened the box with a crowbar, revealing a large amount of Dust crystals of varying colors such as red, yellow, blue, orange, green, cyan, white, gold, and more. Roman picked one up and throws it up and down.
"We're gonna need more men..." he noted as he turned to a map above the desk showing Vale and various districts and areas of crossed-out locations, all leading into a specially-circled place: Beacon.
"And more men you will have."
Roman looked over his shoulder at the speaker whom the masked man then gave a short bow to. He is a tall man with brown hair dyed with red streaks and spiked upwards, with his face covered by his white mask with red markings, and wearing a long-sleeved black trench coat with a rose design on the back over a red top; black gloves, a black belt with domino marks, long black pants and black shoes with red on the soles.
"Mr. Adam Taurus. Pray tell what news to you bring?" Roman asked while eying the sheathed sword in Adam's hand, "Did that trip of your go well?"
"The whole of Elementia has been subjugated, but the mist still remains, and its new leader is looking to open dialogue with us. It would appear that our common enemy might become a future ally should we play our cards right with them." Adam informed him.
"Do tell. So, what, or who, do they want?"
"They want Namikaze. We bring him to them, they work their little magic on him, and the success of your mistress' plan will be nothing but a foregone conclusion."
"Now why would they want him of all people? Sure he may be a Devil Hunter, but surely someone more valuable-"
"It would seem that Namikaze holds something interesting in his body. A force of nature only his body can contain that they claim belong to them. The new leader of Elmentia assured us that he can be controlled through their…jutsu they call it. He'll be nothing more than puppet for all of us to use."
"Is that so? Mmm, that does sound…interesting."
Roman and Adam looked over towards the new feminine voice and saw her burning golden eyes glowing and her two teammates flanked behind her.
"If it is true, then in the end, Naruto will be the one who'll be our personal puppet, not the other way around."
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
Next time – Chapter 06: Sour then Sweet (tentative title)
-It's the first day of classes at Beacon Academy, and everyone's excited. Porlbem is, a certain Schnee decides to be a lemon, not realizing that she's the one making Naruto and Ruby hazards to her health. Can some words of wisdom get through to her in time?
After-chapter notes: After Volume 2, I still have no idea what Cinder, her team, and the White Fang are up to. I'm leaning towards taking over the kingdoms, but can't be as simple as that, since I've seen more elaborate plans enacted. What they have planned will influence how Elementia baddies will be involved. Personally, I hope the plan will be a good one instead of some petty clichéd plan (not on the creator's part I mean). Also, for once looking for other Naruto characters to show up, they won't appear until the events of Volume 2.
REFERENCES
The Oni Gauntlet is from the Onimusha video games series from Capcom.
Released: Wednesday, November 26, 2014
