Wow. This story did really, really well in just its first day. It's doing better than The Adopted Uchiha, and that story's been up for several weeks. Good Lord.
Never mind, scratch that, etc. This story is doing better after only a day than A Lack of Faith is doing after over a month.
Thank you all for all of the support. Thank you very, very much.
Disclaimer: I don't have enough money to buy rights to Naruto or RWBY.
Chapter 2: The Test
A week, while some may think otherwise, is a very short period of time. Before Naruto knew it, the day of his entrance exam was upon him. Since he had been notified of the date on which it would fall, he had spent his time trying to pull in the strange energy of this world, only to find that it was much more difficult due to both not being in a very natural place, such as Mount Myōboku, as well as how different the energy was here.
To Naruto, it felt more… polluted. He wasn't actually sure how to describe it. Polluted was the best he could come up with. The natural energy that he could feel felt similar to everything else in this world. It felt different, much more electronic and metallic. It like the city had changed it.
He tried going into the woods surrounding the city, and was pleased to find it felt more similar outside of the city to the energy at Mount Myōboku. Even still, the world was different, and its energy reflected this.
But these thoughts were in the back of Naruto's mind, as at the moment he was on an airship with a horde of other people, all of who would be taking the entrance test today. He walked about, trying to find someone to talk to. For some reason, most people he looked at seemed to back away as soon as he did.
There was, however, one girl who didn't. Instead, she walked up to him, as if she wanted to start a conversation. She was somewhat short in stature, standing at only about 5'3". She was dressed in a myriad of colors, every color from the rainbow on her.
She had on a T-shirt that went down the rainbow of colors from orange to green as it went lower, and a pair of form-fitting pants that started with the same shade of green and progressed to a dark indigo color, almost purple. She also had a deep red jacket on, with the sleeves going down to her wrists. She had boots up to her knees that were a purple hue.
Also, she had a massive sword on her back. Like, impractically large. It reminded Naruto of Kubikiribōchō, but without the holes in it.
She seemed very cheerful, as she was beaming up at him. Her smile almost seemed infectious, and Naruto couldn't help but smile back.
"HI!" she all but yelled. Her voice was somewhat high pitched, like a girl still growing. Despite that, Naruto could tell that she was at least his age.
He laughed a little. "Hey," he responded. She seemed overjoyed that he answered her.
"My name is Diana!" she continued, with the same cheerful tone. She was reminding Naruto a lot of Lee, with her energy and loudness. He smiled once again, reminded of Konoha. And then the fact that he wasn't able to find a way back there.
His face fell, still clearly upset by it. Diana didn't seem to notice it, and kept smiling away. Naruto's jovial mood was somewhat ruined now. He didn't really feel like making someone else feel bad on his account, and decided to wander off. He looked behind himself on occasion, and see her following him for a while. It was a little creepy.
Over time, she apparently found someone else to talk to. Naruto, on the other hand, found a corner where he could stew in his own thoughts, and be left to himself. He regretted it, but Konoha kept slipping out of his thoughts.
When he discovered that he couldn't even so much as summon a toad, he had kind of just given up hope. If he couldn't summon a toad, then they couldn't summon him, and he had basically no hope of returning to Konohagakure, unless he could somehow learn the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Raijin Jutsu), a feat no longer possible since this world didn't seem to have even the slightest notion of jutsu.
He sat with his legs crossed, looking down at the floor in front of him, oblivious to everything around him. As such, he failed to notice that buxom blonde walking over to him. She bent down right in front of him, not seeming to care of the gratuitous view of cleavage Naruto would have if he looked up.
"Hey, Blondie," she spoke with a tone that was playful and fun. "What ya looking down for?"
He looked up, expecting her face to be eye level with him, only to find himself staring at two different orbs. His mind went blank for a moment, before blushing heavily and looking up further to look her in the eyes.
She had a playful grin on her face, similar to his own, but with less mischievousness behind it. It was as if she didn't care about the fact that he was getting a view that any pervert would kill for. She was dressed in a very simple manner, with a brown jacket covering a yellow top, and very short black shorts with some kind of brown half-skirt. She had two metal bracelets around her wrists, which matched the shade of her top perfectly.
"Hey, Whiskers?" she spoke up, and until she did Naruto hadn't realized that he had been so lost in thought. "I don't mind the admiration, but you could at least try to be subtle about it."
He frowned, before realized he was staring at her assets once again. While he was trying to form a coherent sentence to apologize, she simply shrugged it off.
"So, what's your name?" he managed. She grinned at him again. "I'm Naruto."
"Yang Xiao Long," she answered. "Punching things extraordinaire."
Naruto was dumbfounded by the people in this world. Back home, everyone seemed so down all the time, with happiness only showing its face every so often. Here, people seemed so cheerful and bright all the time.
"'Punching things extraordinaire'? What?" he asked her. She sat next to him, with a nod of the head.
"That's right, Whiskers. No one punches like I do. Just wait and see!" she told him with confidence. He raised an eyebrow at her.
She responded with faux indignation, "What? You don't believe me?"
He chuckled to himself, shaking his head at her antics. She punched his arm, like they were just two friends joking around. And, to be fair, they kind of were.
"Nope," he answered, straight-faced. "I think you just go out with a…" he paused "Yang." He himself cringed at the bad pun. He waited for another punch to the arm.
But instead, Yang laughed uproariously, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. She was clutching her sides, clearly trying to not fall over.
When she finally stopped, she actually had to wipe away tears in her eyes. "Oh, that was good. And here I thought only I made those jokes. I like you, Whiskers," she choked out between trying to get her breath back.
Naruto could do little more than stare at this strange person next to him. He thought he had hit the peak of weirdness when he met Lee, but this gave weird a whole new definition.
"So," she started, getting Naruto's attention. "Where are you from?"
He paused, not knowing how to answer. The question had caught him off guard, so he ended up just staring at her again.
He eventually decided to just tell her he was from outside the Four Kingdoms. She nodded in understanding.
"It must have been rough out there," she said, pausing briefly. "I wouldn't know, I grew up on an island that has no Grimm on it."
Naruto looked at her again. "I've never actually seen a Grimm before," he muttered. Her jaw actually dropped slightly, and her eyes got really wide.
"NEVER!?" she yelled, once again attracting the attention of everyone nearby. At this point, they probably all thought she was insane. Naruto wasn't sure if he agreed or not.
"Nope, never seen a Grimm," he repeated. She looked shocked. He had learned that Grimm were apparently very common in the wild, but never actually had the displeasure of fighting one.
Getting away from the topic, he asked her a question that had been bothering him for a while now, "So, Yang?"
"Yep?"
"Huntsmen teams are always four people, right?"
"Yeah."
"So what if, say, 17 people make it into Beacon this year? What happens to the extra person?"
"I dunno," answered the blonde girl. He pinched his nose, and sighed. He looked back up at her, amusement written across his face. He was barely suppressing another small laugh.
This place just made him feel so jovial and happy. He didn't know what it was, the people or the world itself.
"What? It's not like I need to know," she said in response to his own.
"No, no. It's not that. This place is just so different from my home," he said.
"What was your home like, anyways? It can't have been all that peaceful outside the Kingdoms," she asked. He shook his head.
"No, it wasn't. We had several wars with other villages around us, and even after those we fought each other a lot," he spoke. "But we were very in tune with the world around us. Not like here, where everything is metal and electronic."
Yang was a little taken aback by the bitterness in his tone. He clearly preferred his home to here.
"Sorry if I brought up any bad memories, Whiskers," she apologized. He shook his head again.
"It's fine," he said. "It's probably all gone now anyways. It was being attacked when I left, I know it."
"But, then, why did you leave? If it was being attacked, you could've helped!" she said very loudly. At this point, no one actually bothered looking around for the noise.
"I was trying to get back to it, but I… got lost along the way. It was called Konohagakure," he said in a low voice.
She cocked her head to the side, never having heard the name before.
As she was about to ask, the same rainbow-colored girl sat down on the other side of him, still smiling wider than anyone he had ever met before.
"Hi again, friend!" she still had the same energy behind all of her words. "I lost you before, but then I found you again over here!"
Yang, having not met Diana yet, was still trying to process her. She was shaped similarly to the buxom blonde bruiser, but she was dressed in a rainbow. Yang blinked several times, and still had trouble getting her brain to restart.
"Yes, hi Diana," Naruto said with humor in his voice, threatening to take the form of a laugh. "Where have you been, anyways?"
"I was meeting a new friend!" she seemed incapable of speaking quieter than a dull roar. Naruto looked at Yang, getting a good laugh at her wide eyes. She punched him in the arm again.
"Hey, Diana? Do you know what happens if say, 19 people pass the entrance exam?"
"Nope!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Yang looked back and forth between the two of them, as they just sat still, staring at one another. "Will you two just say something already?"
Naruto turned back to her, sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that. She just sets me off balance with her… words."
All of a sudden, a prospective student yelled out, "HEY LOOK! IT'S BEACON!"
Diana sprang to her feet and shot off like a rocket to the window, with Naruto and Yang following behind at a more subdued pace.
Beacon was very impressive to Naruto, even after spending a month in this strange world with huge buildings. It was like a cross between a castle and a clock tower.
Out of nowhere, Naruto found himself in a sewer once again. He sighed, "What do you want, ya damn fox?"
Two deep red eyes stared back at him from beyond the bars to the cage.
"We have a problem, Kit," said the centuries old fox. "Remember my joke about you not being human? Well, this world seems to agree with me. If you haven't noticed, you're starting to develop more foxlike traits."
Naruto's eyes shot open, "WHAT?! What do you mean? Like fox ears?" Naruto was sure that if he could, the fox would have shrugged.
"No. Not yet, at least. No telling about later. For now, feel your whiskers. They're much thicker, like when you use my chakra. Also, you seem to be developing night vision. No idea where that came from."
Naruto felt his cheeks, and, sure enough, his whiskers felt much more pronounced. He turned back to the fox, asking, "When did my whiskers change? And why are you so talkative all of a sudden?
"Kit, your whiskers changed before you got on the airship. And, if you must know, I'm talking to you because there is literally nothing else to do. Look around. Do you see any other way for me to amuse myself?"
"Fair enough, I guess," Naruto pulled himself out of his mind, to see Yang staring at him. "What?"
"What's fair enough?" she asked.
Naruto's eyes widened, as he tried to ask, "Did I say that out loud?" Instead, however, he stumbled over his words to the point of the sentence being unrecognizable. Yang let out a small laugh and turned back to look at Beacon.
As impressive as it was from a distance, Naruto felt that Beacon looked best from the landing docks where the airship parked. He stood still, marveling at the sight, before Yang pushed him from behind, telling him to get a move on.
The two blonds walked towards the school, following and getting swept along by the crowd. The instructions were to go to the auditorium, so that they could receive a greeting and further instructions.
Once they were all packed into the auditorium, they were met with the sight of a blond woman, probably in her 40s, walking out onto the stage.
"When your name is called, please proceed to the testing area. Until then, you are to wait in here. Are there any questions?" She ignored the hands that shot up. "Good. Now, will the first three proceed to the testing area?"
"Arc, Jaune." A blond haired boy stood up and walked out of the auditorium.
"Belladonna, Blake." A black haired girl with a bow on her head followed Jaune Arc.
"Drevos, Lily," A blond girl followed the other two.
And so, for the next several hours, the large crowd of people slowly whittled down until it was just three people left. Naruto and Yang sat alone in the auditorium with an orange haired girl, who seemed to be shaking on the spot.
"Uzumaki, Naruto," Naruto stood up, winked at Yang, and started to leave.
"Valkyrie, Nora," The orange haired girl was gone in a flash, whizzing past Naruto.
"And finally, Xiao Long, Yang," Yang got up and followed Naruto.
When he got to the testing area, which was just one of the arenas around the school, he was greeted with a small whiteboard.
'You are required to defeat the opponent provided for you in under 3 minutes,' he read. Seemed easy enough.
Reminding himself to only demonstrate his speed, and to hold off on all jutsu, he entered the room, only to see some kind of giant statue stood still in the middle of the room. He looked around, wondering where his opponent was, when the statue started moving. And picking up its giant sword.
"What. The. Hell." Naruto deadpanned.
His opponent, which Naruto nicknamed the Giant Armor, on account of its appearance, advanced towards him, hefting its sword above its head. At the moment just before the sword hit him, Naruto disappeared, moving behind the robot.
"You're kind of slow. Huh." He didn't realize that it was a machine. He assumed there was someone actually inside the suit of armor. "Oh well."
He pulled out two kunai, and proceeded to strike at every single limb at speeds far too quick for the robot to track. It tried to analyze a pattern, but Naruto was attacking at random, one moment cutting its right shoulder, the next stabbing its right heel.
With the small kunai he was using, it took Naruto almost the full three minutes to defeat the robot. It collapsed to the ground, and a horn of some kind blared, followed by a "Pass," coming from somewhere above him.
When he realized that he had just gotten into Beacon, he let out a cheer of delight, falling back to catch his breath. He had been going at near his top speed for three minutes straight, so it was to be expected. He sprang back up, and walked out, back to the airship.
Along the way, he met Yang. Before he could ask, she gave him a big smile and a thumbs up. He smiled back, glad he would at least be going to Beacon with one person he knew.
By now, the sun was starting to set. They were meant to go back to the airship so they could go home and pack to come back to Beacon two days later. Naruto, however, had nothing to pack. He was amazed, though.
His haori was still in perfect condition, even after that test.
At Yang's request, against his better judgement, Naruto was spending his next two days at her house. She had looked at him with pity after he explained he didn't actually live anywhere, and invited him until Beacon started.
That was how Naruto found himself on an airship for the third time that day, this time headed for an island just off the coast. She said the island was called Patch. She also seemed very excited.
"Oh, I can't wait for you to meet my baby sister! She'll be so excited to meet someone who has enough speed to match her!" This time, they were the only ones on the airship, so there was no one to stare at the loud blonde.
"Yes, Yang, I get it. She's fast, like me," the other blond sat back in his seat, having had to put up with her excited mood for hours now. Patch was much further away than he had thought. "So, is your sister this... high-energy?"
"You have nooo idea,"
He sighed, and decided to sleep as much as he could. He felt like he would need all the energy he could muster for Yang's family.
He cracked his eyes open, and noticed he was moving. His eyes snapped open, and he saw that Yang was carrying him. He rolled out of her arms and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch.
"Yang, what the hell?" The busty blonde shrugged.
"You said you wanted to sleep. I tried to let you," She said it innocently enough, but she was clearly trying her hardest not to laugh at his reaction.
"Where are we, anyways?" he looked around, but only saw a number of trees. Yang pointed behind him. He turned, seeing a house at the end of the pathway they were on. It appeared to be made mostly of logs.
"Oh. I'm guessing that's your house?" Naruto asked, turning to his friend. She nodded. "Huh. I was expecting something… louder."
"What's that supposed to mean, Whiskers?" She asked with more fake indignation. He gave her a stare that spoke one word: 'Really?' She walked past him.
Despite being in sight, the house was actually rather far away. It took a good half hour for the two blonds to reach it.
"I should've brought Bumblebee with me," Yang complained slightly, hunched over with her arms dangling.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, "Bumblebee?"
"Yeah. It's my motorcycle," She went on to describe it in detail, but Naruto was trying to figure out what a motorcycle was.
When they arrived, Naruto, who had been walking slightly behind Yang, found himself suddenly pinned to the ground by another blonde.
'Aaaaand the weirdness begins. Wonderful,' the blond Jinchūriki.
"Who are you and what are you doing with my daughter?!" yelled the man. Naruto turned his face to the side to avoid being showered with saliva.
"Dad, relax. He's a friend. I invited him here because he's homeless. He's going to Beacon with me," explained the man's daughter. In a flash, the man was off of Naruto and praising Yang for her generosity and success for getting into Beacon. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. His name's Naruto, by the way."
Naruto stood up slowly, like he was being cautious. He kept his eye on the blond man the entire time, just in case. Yang had told him that her family was weird, and he was sure her parents would probably be very proud to know she was very honest.
At any rate, though he wasn't tired, the sky was lit up only by stars. As he looked up at them, he realized that they were completely different than his home, confirming, once more, he wasn't on the same planet, if not the same universe.
He barely had time to dodge out of the way of a speeding black-and-red bullet as it flew into the older blond's arms. They both fell to the ground due to the bullet's- revealed to be a small girl- velocity.
"DAD! I stopped a robbery, and then this woman showed up, and she attacked me, and then another woman showed up, and she beat the first woman, and then I got taken to a police station, and then Professor Ozpin showed up, and then he said-" she paused to breathe. "I CAN GO TO BEACON THIS YEAR!"
Naruto could only stare with eyes that would put dinner plates to shame as this strange 5 foot tall girl spoke. With how fast she moved a moment ago, she was either drinking far too much coffee, or she was Yang's sister. Or both.
Obviously used to things like this, their father hugged the girl, congratulating her profusely. Then, much like the rest of her family, the small girl moved very quickly to having her weapon, a giant red scythe, point right at Naruto's neck.
All the while, Naruto was still trying to catch up to what was going on.
"Uh… Kit? Why is it empty in here?"
Naruto shook his head, and noticed the girl, who looked very angry, pointing a large gardening tool at him.
"WHO ARE YOU?" She screamed. Naruto was starting to think it was both.
"Ohhh," The girl, Ruby Rose, who for some reason unknown to Naruto didn't share a last name with her father and sister. "So you're broke without a house. That makes more sense."
The four of them sat at and around the table in the kitchen inside the house. Naruto had the strange, small, silver-eyed girl to his right, with Taiyang leaning against the counter and Yang sat at his feet, back to the cabinets.
"Yeah," Naruto said. "But also, I've got nothing to do for the next two days. I don't own anything except these clothes and my kunai."
Ruby's head perked up, "Kunai? Aren't those the little dagger things?"
Naruto was surprised that she knew what they were, "Yeah, but how did you know that? I would think they would be too simple for this-" he caught himself about to slip up. "Area."
Ruby shook her head vigorously, "Nope. In fact, in one of my favorite weapon shops, they've got this whole section with basic weapons like kunai, shuriken, knives, swords, tantos, daggers-"
Naruto turned and raised an eyebrow at Yang, silently asking her if Ruby was always like this.
"And darts," Ruby finished. "Hey, Naruto? Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure, Ruby. What is it?"
"Are you a Faunus?" she blurted out. Taiyang smacked his face, not in a disapproving way, but an amused one.
"Uh- yeah," answered the blond ninja, remembering what the Kyūbi told him.
"Can- can I pet your whiskers?" Asked the small girl sheepishly. Naruto was a little surprised by the question. "Sorry, never mind. Dumb question." She looked away, blushing slightly.
"I mean, I guess, if you want to," He didn't want to upset her by denying her. She was like a little kid in a toy store, always jumping from thing to thing.
She bounced in her seat, clearly happy about him letting her pet his cheek.
As she ran her hand down the whiskers, Naruto let out a small purr, not dissimilar to a cat. His hands shot to his mouth, but it was too late. Everyone in the room was already laughing their asses off. Yang was holding onto the cabinet's handle so that she wouldn't fall over. Ruby was not so lucky. She was on the floor, holding her sides. Even Taiyang let out a hearty chuckle.
Naruto heard the from door open, and in an instant felt a gust of wind as Ruby bolted to whomever it was. He heard Ruby's yelling from the other room.
"UNCLE QROW! I GOT INVITED TO BEACON!" A rather tall man walked through the door, sideways for some reason. When he got all the way through the door, it was revealed that Ruby was hanging off of his right arm.
He spoke with a somewhat deep and scruffy voice, "Good job, Kiddo." Despite his outward attitude, Naruto could tell that he was very proud of his niece. Then the man, Qrow, Ruby called him, turned and saw Naruto staring at him. Qrow raised an eyebrow at him.
"Never seen a fox Faunus before," he remarked. "Didn't think whiskers were a Faunus trait."
Naruto felt eyes on the back of his head, and turned to see Yang gaping at him.
"You're a Faunus, Whiskers?" She had genuine disbelief in her voice.
Naruto felt a drop of sweat run down the side of his face, "Wait. You mean it wasn't obvious? Also, didn't Ruby just ask that?"
She closed her mouth, and raised her finger in argument, holding it up for a moment before letting it drop, "Fair enough."
Naruto turned back to Qrow, who looked like he was trying to keep from laughing. He looked back at one of the many blonds in the room, Naruto, and asked, "So, kid, what are you doing here?"
Sighing a little, Naruto went over the events of that day- by now, yesterday- once again. As he did, Ruby got up off the floor, where she landed when Qrow lowered his arm. Once he was done, she spoke up, "I like your cloak, Naruto, but I feel like it would look good with a hood."
He looked down at himself, and remembered that his clothes hadn't been washed in over a month. He had only just taken a shower earlier that day on the airship to Beacon. No doubt his clothes smelled worse than Baa-chan's office whenever she started drinking.
"Well, first, Ruby, it's a haori. They don't have hoods. And second, can I get these washed anywhere here? Like I said, I don't' have anything else, and I've been wearing them for over a month now."
Taiyang directed him to the 'laundry room', as he called it, and showed him the settings before handing him a spare set of clothes from the older blond's own closet. So, until his clothes came out of the strange machine, he would end up looking like a smaller version of Taiyang.
He walked back into the kitchen, where he found Qrow laughing.
"Like a cat? Oh speak of the devil!" He said upon seeing Naruto. "Hm. You look just like Tai used to when we went to Beacon."
"You two are Huntsmen?" Naruto didn't really have trouble believing that, but it was still a small shock to know he was in the presence of this world's equivalent of a soldier.
"Not just any Huntsmen, either. Damned good ones," Qrow bragged slightly. Naruto didn't know how he didn't smell it before, but he could tell Qrow had been drinking. The whiskey on the table helped with his deduction.
"How good?" Naruto asked the drunk. Qrow smirked a little.
"You wanna spar and find out?"
Naruto stepped back, surprised by the challenge, before accepting, "Anytime, old man."
Taiyang smacked his forehead again, this time laughing as he did. This Faunus fit right in with his friends and family.
Naruto and Qrow, both serious about the challenge, went outside, to the spacious yard. Taiyang followed swiftly, so he could keep Naruto from getting too injured. He hadn't actually realized the kid was dumb enough to fight Qrow.
"You ready to lose, kid?" Qrow cracked at the boy.
"Are you?" Naruto retorted. Qrow grinned. He liked this kid.
"Tai, you referee. Keep me from killin' the kid," Qrow called to his friend.
"Alright. GO!" Taiyang yelled.
"BEAT HIS BUTT, UNCLE QROW!" Ruby cheered.
Naruto and Qrow both stood still for a moment, before charging forward at one another at nearly identical speeds. 'He's fast' thought the blond. The black haired Huntsmen was having a similar thought, but with a little praise. Naruto saw Qrow reach to his side, and instinctively ducked. He was glad he did, since a giant sword swung over him. He could tell Qrow wasn't messing around. A strike like that would have killed him.
Naruto made a jab a Qrow's midsection, only to have to use his sword has a springboard when Qrow swung it back around. When he put his hand on the sword to bounce off, however, it slipped a little, just enough to get Naruto to lose his balance. 'Clumsy,' he thought to himself. He corrected his error by straightening out in midair, and jumping back when he hit the ground, out of the sword's reach. He moved in again to land a hit, but Qrow bent backwards when Naruto tried to hit his neck.
From his bent-back position, Qrow moved onto his hands and set himself upright by jumping off of them with a vertical slash. Naruto dodged to the side, avoiding the blade entirely. When he did, he slipped in some mud and fell over. Before he could recover, he found Qrow's blade pointed at his neck.
"I win, kid," Qrow offered him a hand, and helped him up. "Not bad thought; about what I'd expect from someone who can get into Beacon. Just letting you know though, next time I'm going to fight seriously."
Naruto grinned. 'So will I,' he thought to himself. That being said, he didn't think he could do much more other than throw around some fancy jutsu. Even then, he would only be able to use two different techniques, since he wasn't allowed, for good reason, to use his strongest jutsu, and he had never mastered Sage Mode in his own world, let alone this strange one.
"Oi! Watch the cocky looks, kid," Qrow said to him. Naruto realized he had a smirk on his face. But why not mess around a little?
"Nah," Naruto was disappointed with Qrow's reaction. He just shrugged and walked back inside. Naruto followed suit, only to find Ruby praising Qrow.
"That was great, Uncle Qrow! Especially the part where you swung your sword around like-"
"So, Whiskers? Where'd you learn to fight?" Yang asked sliding next to Naruto. "Never seen someone last as many seconds as you did against Uncle Qrow."
"I learned to fight in my own village. They taught a lot of kids how to."
Yang grinned, "You're still not as good at punching things as me."
"I could take you any day of the week, blondie," Naruto could see that they were about to get into a contest of trash talk, and excused himself to check on his clothes.
To his surprise, this machine worked much faster than the rivers back home. His clothes were already out and dry, and it had only been 20 minutes or so. Dressing in just his pants and fishnet undershirt, he went to ask where he was supposed to sleep.
Yang took one look at him, and let out a laugh, "What is that?"
She was pointing at his chest. Naruto looked down, and realized what she was asking about, "It's an undershirt. So?"
"Never mind." Yang said, laughter petering out.
"So, where do I sleep?" he asked. Yang got this strange look on her face, one Naruto couldn't quite decipher.
"You could sleep with me, Whiskers," she said in an equally strange tone.
Ruby was still praising Qrow, but heard Yang, "EWWWW, Yang. Gross, Gross, Gross."
Yang laughed, ruffling Ruby's hair, "Kidding, Rubes. Just a joke. We have a couch, I guess."
"Thanks again, Yang," Naruto wandered off to find this couch, and lay down on it, falling asleep instantly. Not having a good place to sleep for a month will do that to you.
"Almighty PUSH!"
The already destroyed streets of the village were torn up in a hailstorm of chakra and rubble. So many people, people who might have been saved, could be heard screaming in pain and fear as they died. The village was reduced to a crater, as the man left.
Naruto was left powerless, as his home was destroyed. He couldn't move from the spot he was on, on the wall surrounding the village. He couldn't even make a noise. The man appeared suddenly in front of him, but he still couldn't move.
He saw some kind of giant monster with ten tails ravaging the world, before it turned into a tree. An eye appeared on the moon, and everyone stopped fighting, falling into a deep slumber.
Naruto sat bolt upright, not even fully awake. He woke with a dramatic exhale, realizing it was morning. He rubbed his eyes, and got off the couch he had slept on.
He put his jacket and haori back on, looking around the room he had slept in, not really having done so the previous night. There was one of those television things mounted on the wall. There were some chairs and a table right next to him, but beyond those there wasn't a terrific amount of furniture in the room.
He walked to the kitchen, wondering what time it was. He was greeted by the sight of Yang putting Ruby in a headlock and rubbing her head.
"YANG! STOP!" Ruby managed. Naruto, never having had a family, was lost on what was happening. But, since neither of them seemed to have any malice towards the other, he supposed this was a family thing.
He laughed at the strange goings-on before him, drawing Yang's attention.
"What? You want some, too?"
"You think you can take me?" Naruto challenged.
Yang was quick to retort, "Anytime, Whiskers."
Naruto and Yang were unable to keep straight faces, and started cracking up. Ruby looked back and forth between them, confused. "Huh?" she asked to no one in particular.
Two days went by very quickly. It helped that the first day was spent just getting back to the house. Before Naruto knew it, he, Yang, and Ruby were all on the airship ferrying them over to Beacon.
While he was at their house, Naruto had learned three things. The first was that Beacon only allowed a number of people to take the entrance exam that was a multiple of four, and that every one of them were passed. The third was that Ruby wanted to take him to a weapon shop, to get him a weapon that wasn't a small throwing weapon.
He tried to decline, but she didn't let up, especially not after she learned that he shared a 'Semblance' with her. So instead, he promised that he would go to Vale with her, to the weapon shop, once they got situated at Beacon. She had let out a cheer of glee.
But now, they were on the way to Beacon. Naruto was stood with Yang and Ruby when, apparently, Yang was simply overcome with joy and crushed Ruby into a bear hug.
"Ooh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" she didn't realize that said baby sister was having the life pressed out of her.
Ruby was barely able to get out, with the last of her breath, "Please stop."
Naruto laughed. Yang looked at him with narrowed eyes, "What? You think something's funny?"
Naruto could barely stop laughing at the sister's antics long enough to answer, "Yeah: you two."
Before Yang had the chance to respond, they were beset upon by a familiar voice, "MY FRIEND!" Naruto was hugged from behind by someone. Now Yang was laughing. Naruto managed to turn around, only to see a rainbow head of hair. He rolled his eyes.
"Of course it's you. How ya doin'?" he asked Diana. She stepped back with another wide smile on her face.
"I'm doing wonderful! I was so happy to be allowed into Beacon!" Naruto still couldn't get used to her energy. She would put both Lee and Guy to shame, and at the same time.
Ruby, who had never met the rainbow woman, simply stared, trying to ask a question of some kind.
"Who-? What-? When-? Huh?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh. These people were so different to what he was used to. It was as if everyone was like Lee or Guy.
A news broadcast came on nearby, but none of them paid attention.
"Hello new girl! I'm Diana!" The cheerful girl introduced herself to Ruby, who still seemed out of it.
A noise over the PA system caught all of their attentions'. The woman from the entrance test appeared on each window.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon," She chimed.
"Who's that?" asked Yang.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch," she continued.
"Oh."
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world," she disappeared, leaving a clear view out of the windows.
Ruby ran over to the one closest to them, staring out in amazement, "OH, WOW! Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far away after all."
Naruto decided to look, "Uh, Ruby? You know that we've had this view the entire time, right?"
She blushed a little, then turned away and said something like, "Meanie…"
They all got a laugh out of it. Then a blond boy, the one from the entrance exam named Jaune ran past, holding his mouth.
Yang raised an eyebrow as he passed, "Well… I guess the view isn't for everyone."
Then Ruby looked down, and saw something on Yang's boot.
Naruto, after getting off the airship, wandered off a bit, figuring that Ruby and Yang would find their way to the orientation together. He looked around the campus, marveling still at the size of it. The area devoted to Beacon Academy was easily as large as the entirety of Konoha.
Getting an idea, he sat down and started to meditate. As he hoped, he could feel that the natural energy here was the same as he had felt in the forest outside of the city, not the strange perversion of natural energy he had felt on top of the skyscraper. He decided to just sit and keep meditating, reminding himself of home, of all the times he had had in Konoha. He smiled without realizing it. Before he knew it, a voice rang out nearby.
"Naruto? What are you doing?" He sighed, and opened his eyes to see Ruby walking with that guy, Jaune.
"I was just sitting here," he was a little upset he was brought out of his memories. Ruby just shrugged, and asked Jaune if he knew where they were supposed to be going. He didn't.
The auditorium seemed to get larger every time that Naruto went to it. Even though he knew that the same amount of people were in it, except for Ruby, it seemed like it was so much less crowded. He stood by the door, deciding he would probably want to be able to pay attention to the orientation, something he for some reason doubted he would be able to do if he stood with Ruby and Yang. Jaune had walked off after Ruby went over to her sister, which left the blond alone.
He was fine with that though, as it meant he could retreat back into his thoughts. That is, until a man with gray hair and Glynda Goodwitch took the stage, instantly silencing the room with their presence.
The gray haired man spoke, "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
He left, and Glynda stepped up to the microphone, telling them to gather in the ballroom for the night, and that their initiation will begin. To them, it just sounded like yet another test.
As it turned out, the ballroom was very large, as one might expect from a ballroom. Of course, Naruto had never even heard of a ball before. He thought that Glynda was directing them to a room full of round objects. All across the floor, mattresses were spread out.
Naruto, having all the energy he did, decided to sit in a corner for a while, meditating once again. It was so refreshing, feeling the nature energy. It was so easy to fall back into his thoughts, his trip down memory lane. He was getting nostalgic for the academy back home thanks to Beacon.
Eventually, he heard candles be lit on the other side of the column he was sitting against. Cracking his eye open, he also saw Yang coming over to whoever lit the candles, dragging an unwilling Ruby with her.
He tried to go back to his meditation, but he was distracted by the sound of their conversation. He tuned into it once he realized it was pointless.
"Does it have a name?" Ruby was asking.
Naruto heard a silky smooth voice speak from the other side of the column, "Well, i- it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."
Naruto laughed inwardly, asking his only link to his old life a question mentally, "Hey, Kyūbi. Remind you of anyone?"
"It just reminds me of the fact that I'll be escaping eventually," the ancient Kitsune answered, half-jokingly.
"Oh? You don't sound convinced," Naruto picked up on the joke.
"Only a little. This world would be boring to destroy. I still need you around to find a way back to that damned ninja village, so I can kill all of them for imprisoning me for almost a century."
Naruto's face lost all humor. He said, in the most serious voice the fox had ever heard him produce, "You won't lay a FINGER on my friends,"
Naruto couldn't see into the darkness beyond the bars, but the fox held his hands up, "Calm yourself down, Kit. You're lucky your eyes are closed in the real world. Otherwise, the vixens would have seen your eyes turn red. And, Kit? I wasn't going to actually destroy the village. Just anyone who attacks me."
Naruto managed to calm himself down, and pulled himself back to the real world in time to see some girl with white hair walk over to a very strange sight. Ruby was holding Yang's leg up in the air, while the blonde tried to free herself.
The white haired girl seemed angry, "What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"
Then she and Yang both looked at each other, and seemed to recognize each other.
"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!" They both yelled in sync.
"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Ruby said in an agitated whisper.
The girl with white hair seemed even angrier, "Oh, now you're on my side!"
"I was always on your side!" Ruby complained indignantly.
Yang decided to chime in, "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"
The angry girl's anger didn't subside in the slightest, "She's a hazard to my health!"
Naruto was starting to not like this girl, courtesy of both the friendship he built up with Ruby and Yang, as well as the fact that she reminded him of Sasuke. Before he could say anything, all the light in the room went out at once, including the candles, signaling they were supposed to go to sleep.
The next morning, before initiation, the future students were directed towards the same locker room as yesterday, to get their weapons and clothing. Naruto, who still only had the clothes on his back and the weapons in his pouch, didn't have anything to get from his locker but his weapons pouch. Even then, it only had three kunai, four shuriken, and one explosive tag inside. He hadn't expected to need to pack for a long trip when he left for his Sage training, but lo and behold.
He walked over to Ruby and Yang, ignoring the high energy girl from the entrance exam and the guy she was following. The girl was rambling on about not being 'together together', or something like that.
"So, you two ready for today?" he asked the two sisters.
"You bet!" Yang punched one hand with her other.
"Yep," Ruby, for once, was much less enthusiastic than her sister. Naruto frowned.
"What's wrong Ruby?" he asked. Yang seemed to have a similar question.
"Oh, nothing. Just a little nervous about not being on a team with someone I actually know," explained the silver-eyed girl.
"Oh, you'll be fine. I've been put on teams with people I absolutely despised and eventually ended up befriending those people," Naruto assured her. Yang looked confused.
"Wait, Whiskers. I thought you said you were from some village somewhere? What do you mean about being put on teams with people?" She asked.
Naruto answered with a small half-truth, "Oh, you know, just for spars and stuff."
Yang just answered with, "Ohhh. Never mind."
Behind him, Naruto heard the sound of something metal impacting a wall. He turned around to see Jaune stuck to a wall by a spear of some kind. He heard Yang say from behind him that they should head for the cliff side where initiation would be taking place. As they passed Jaune, now on the floor, Ruby helped him up and, for whatever reason, supported him with his arm around her shoulder.
On the cliff side, they were instructed to stand on metal platforms, before the headmaster, Ozpin, Ruby had told him, stepped forward to give a little speech.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," he said, turning his head as he did to look at each of them.
Professor Goodwitch stepped forward, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams.' Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."
Naruto heard Ruby to his side, "What? Ohhh..."
Ozpin continued, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Naruto heard Ruby groan a little.
Ozpin finished, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Naruto could have sworn he heard glass shatter next to him, as Ruby leaned forward, "WHAAAAT!?"
Ozpin looked stoic, took a sip from his coffee, and explained the test to them, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die," He paused. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune, to Naruto's right, raised his hand, "Yeah, um, sir?
Ozpin ignored him, "Good! Now, take your positions!"
Everyone started making some kind of pose, leaving Naruto a little confused. Then that white haired girl from last night, Weiss, was launched into the woods by her platform.
Naruto let out an "Ohhh," of understanding. Jaune had kept his hand raised.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" he asked. Ozpin looked at him.
"No. You will be falling," he said, not really answering Jaune's question. Meanwhile, more people were being launch into the woods.
Jaune asked another question, "Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"
"No," Ozpin said. "You will be using your own landing strategy."
Jaune just asked another question, missing that the platforms were almost to him, "Uh-huh, yeah," He paused for a moment, as Yang and Ruby were sent off, one after the other. Naruto barely had time to hear him start his next sentence. All he heard was: "So what exactly-" before being launched by the platform beneath him.
But this wasn't the first time Naruto had fallen from way up high. He sent chakra into his legs, ensuring they wouldn't break on impact. Then, almost as soon as he did, he hit a tree at full speed, making a sizable dent in it. He looked around for other people still landing, but only saw Yang blazing into the distance and Jaune get saved by the same spear that had stuck him to a wall earlier.
He jumped down from his tree, landing with a soft noise as he went from the top of the tall tree to the ground. Instantly he was off, covering ground even faster than he had moved through the air. He almost ran into a girl in pink and black as he ran, but stopped just short of her.
He looked up from the ground, studying her as he did. She had black boots on that went about halfway up to her knee, and hot pink jeans on above those. She also wore a hot pink tank top, and over top all of it, she had on a black trench coat that went down to just above her ankles. She had pitch-black hair that went down just past her shoulders. There was a gun of some kind slung over her shoulder. It had a very long barrel and a scope attached to it. It wasn't like any gun he'd seen before.
Their eyes met, and Naruto got a grin on his face, "Hey friend. So, you and me?"
Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed his hand and pulled him along, not even giving an answer. Naruto was a little surprised. All the same, he laughed and started to walk alongside her.
"So, I'm Naruto. What about you?" he asked her. She looked at him with eyes that matched her hair perfectly.
She spoke with a soft voice, one that reminded Naruto of water flowing down a river, but also that was clearly excited, "Melissa."
"So, Melissa, any idea where we're supposed to go?" he asked his now-partner. She pointed in the direction they were headed, away from the cliff they had just come from.
"Professor Ozpin said to head for the northern end of the forest. The cliff is on the south side of the forest," she explained. "Besides, it can't be easy to miss a big ol' temple."
"Fair enough."
They kept walking for a while, before Naruto heard a roar nearby. His hand moved to his weapon pouch, middle and index finger going through the bottoms of two kunai. Melissa gripped the gun, now in her hands.
A black wolf-like creature broke through the bush next to them, and lunged at Naruto. He ducked to the side, and covered his ears after a huge bang rang out next to him, and the wolf fell to the ground, dead.
"What is this thing?" Naruto asked, as the wolf started to dissolve into dust. Melissa looked at him with a brow raised.
"You've never seen a Beowolf before?" she asked incredulously.
"I've never seen a Grimm before, let alone a Beowolf," he responded. She stared at him with disbelief.
"Never? Not once? Where did you live all your life? Inside Vale?" She genuinely looked distressed at his never having seen a Grimm.
"In a village outside the Four Kingdoms," he gave her the same answer he had given Yang.
"Really? And you never saw a single Grimm? Ever?"
"Nope," Naruto wanted to move on.
"Wow. Your village must have had some great defenses, and really good huntsmen guarding it," said his partner.
As they walked, they could hear the sounds of fighting off in the distance, all throughout the woods. However, no more Grimm attacked them for the entire time they walked. Eventually, they came across an old temple with chess pieces situated on pedestals inside of it.
"Looks like we're the first to arrive," announced Melissa.
"How can you tell?" Naruto, being a little clueless, asked. She pointed at the chess pieces.
"See how they're all still here? I think those are the relics we're supposed-"
Naruto was sure she would have finished explaining, had it not been for the arrival of Yang and a black haired girl from the other side of the temple.
The new black haired girl, who he presumed to be Yang's partner, was dressed in black and white, with purple at the end of her leggings. Above those, she had on a black buttoned vest. Underneath that was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt, and white form-fitting shorts.
Yang gave Naruto a cheerful wave, while her partner studied Melissa, then Naruto. Naruto waved back to Yang and her partner. Meanwhile, Melissa picked up one of the white bishop pieces behind him.
"Hey, Yang! Who's your partner?" Naruto called out to his friend.
"Her name's Blake!" she called back, much closer.
Once they got to the temple, Blake looked around, and asked, "So I'm guessing we just take one of these-"
For the second time since Naruto and Melissa got to the temple, someone was interrupted by the arrival of someone else. From seemingly nowhere, Naruto got tackled from behind. All three people who were not on the ground reached for their weapons immediately, before Yang realized who it was.
"Hey, Naruto, check out who it is. She just follows you everywhere!"
Naruto groaned a little, knowing exactly who it was. He got her off of him, and turned to see, once again, a rainbow colored girl in front of him.
"FRIEND!" She yelled out. Blake was covering her ears, and Melissa was still laughing from when Diana tackled Naruto.
"Diana, I told you my name was Naruto, right?" Naruto asked, genuinely unsure.
Diana blushed a little, "Oh. I forgot!" It was as though she had as much energy as Naruto did chakra.
Looking around her, Naruto saw a guy wearing a full suit, all of it bright green. The dress shirt underneath was bright purple, and the tie was also green. And on his forehead, there was a red bandanna tied like Naruto's hitai-ate. On his hips were two small knives, which glowed red slightly. He was holding one of the relics.
"Hello!" Naruto called out to him. The other guy nodded in greeting. Diana looked back and forth between the two of them, then cheered out.
"OH, I'M SO HAPPY YOU TWO ARE BECOMING FRIENDS!" Naruto, as he was starting to get used to, just stared at her.
"So, what's your name? I'm Naruto," Naruto said as he saw the other guy coming closer.
"Troy," He had a somewhat deep voice, one that reminded Naruto of Shino's. Naruto waited a moment. And another. But Troy didn't continue.
"Right, well anyways, let's get back to-" It was to be expected, but yet again something interrupted the conversation.
"HEADS UUUUUUP!" Naruto heard a familiar voice. He looked around, and saw Blake pointing upwards. He looked up to see Ruby falling towards them. Then, from the side, Jaune came flying it and collided with her, sending both of them into a tree.
Blake voiced the question they were all thinking, "Did your sister just fall from the sky?"
Yang tried to reply, "I-"
This time, the hyperactive girl, Nora, rode in on the back of an Ursa, which died as soon as it appeared. Her partner clambered over its corpse, asking her to not do that again, ever. But she had sped off, and picked up one of the relics, singing something.
Although, everyone was still trying to focus on one specific thing, so no one really heard it.
Blake asked, once again, a very good question, "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"
Yang failed to be able to respond once again, "I-"
Then, once more, from the woods there was a giant scorpion Grimm that emerged, chasing a redheaded girl.
Ruby emerged from the tree she and Jaune were in, looking around and seeing Yang, who had seen her at the same time.
"Ruby!"
"Yang!"
"Nora!" yelled the energetic orange-haired girl, popping up between the sisters.
Blake, at this point, was just stating the obvious, "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"
As if she was expecting to be interrupted again, Yang got really angry, and burst into a small pillar of fire, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!"
Naruto looked away because of all the heat, covering his face with his hand, palm facing Yang. He looked back to see Ruby and Blake looking up, and Yang breathing heavily.
Ruby tugged on her sister's sleeve, "Umm... Yang?" Yang just sighed and looked down, defeated. Naruto looked up again. Up above, he saw Weiss hanging on a talon the size of her entire body, belonging to a giant bird.
Somehow Naruto heard her as she called down, "How could you leave me?!"
Ruby shouted up at Weiss, also somehow hearing her, "I said jump!"
Blake chimed in, "She's gonna fall."
Ruby waved her off, "She'll be fine."
Ren disagreed, "She's falling."
Then, all of them saw Jaune jump out of his tree and catch Weiss. It looked like he said something to her, before they both looked down and held onto each other as they fell. Jaune landed first, with Weiss landing on his back with a sickening crack. At the same time, the redheaded girl came flying in from the side.
Yang seemed to be feeling sarcastic again, "Great! The Gang's all here! Now we can die together!"
Diana, whom Naruto forgot was there, yelled out again, "NO! WE'RE NOT GONNA DIE!"
Even saying that, she seemed so damn happy. But, as if set off by her, Ruby dashed out in front, turned her massive scythe around, and once again, Naruto covered his ears as a loud bang rang out. He assumed that it was the sound of a gun firing, since a large flash appeared at the end of Ruby's scythe.
She flew forward, propelled by her own speed and her scythe, towards the Deathstalker, which just smacked her aside with its tail and began to chase after the petite girl.
Yang yelled out to her, "RUBY!"
Ruby got up, yelled back that she was fine, shot the Deathstalker once, and started running away. But the odds were against her, and the giant bird that she had ridden in on came back around and shot a huge volley of feathers at her, one of which struck into her cape and pinned her to the ground.
"RUBY, GET OUT OF THERE!" Yang yelled to her sister. She had tried to run to her, but the feathers had impacted all the way to them and kept her from getting closer.
Ruby yelled back, "I'M TRYING!"
The Deathstalker neared Ruby, and raised its stinger up, ready to strike. As it did, Naruto was about to sprint out to help, and he could see Tony ready to go, but before either of them could make a move, they felt wind blow into them as a white blur raced past the both of them.
A wall of ice formed between Ruby and the Deathstalker, starting where Weiss had stabbed her rapier into the ground to save the younger girl.
"You are SO childish," Weiss said to her partner.
"Weiss?" Ruby questioned.
"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit… difficult… 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," Weiss looked at Ruby, who was in shock that her ice-cold, stuck-up partner had helped her.
As it turned out, running away from two giant demon animals that could sense negative emotions wasn't easy. The Deathstalker and Nevermore had chased them all the way to a part of the temple that dropped off into a ravine with a single bridge spanning the gap to the other side and a large building.
Yang, Nora, and Diana wanted to fight them head-on, Naruto thought that this group of twelve they had could take them easily using sneaky tactics, and the rest of them felt that it was better to run away, and avoid an unnecessary battle.
But now it was looking like they would have to, as the two Grimm were closing in on them. They spread out, hiding behind different stone pillars. The Nevermore flew over them, landing on the temple over the ravine. Naruto vaguely heard Yang make some snarky comment, before seeing the Deathstalker burst out of the forest.
"Ah, man, run!" Jaune complained. All of them ran out towards the cliff, as the Nevermore rose off of the temple and dove towards them.
Ren called out, "Nora, distract it!"
The hammer-wielder ran out from her cover, transforming said hammer into a grenade launcher and firing off several rounds at the giant bird. The ensuing explosions of electricity caused the Nevermore to fly away briefly. Melissa also fired off several rounds at it while it did, each one hitting its mark, but not doing much damage to it.
But behind her, the Deathstalker was about to impale her when Blake, Ren, Naruto attacked it simultaneously, leaping over and around it as they made small strikes, distracting the scorpion for long enough for Weiss to land next to Nora and Melissa, and pull them both away from the immediate threat.
Pyrrha now helped out the two 'ninja' and the ninja by firing her rifle at the Deathstalker, trying to keep it from attacking them as they retreated. The twelve of them began to run across the bridge, not really noticing the bird fly through and destroy the bridge they were running across, forcing them to pick a side. Naruto, Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha ended up on the side with the Deathstalker, while everyone else managed to get across, except for Melissa, who fell briefly before simply floating back upwards onto the bridge.
'I should ask about that later,' Naruto decided. For now, he needed to focus on the battle at hand.
Across the chasm, there was a loud crash, as Jaune off of the bridge like a catapult, and Nora, Diana, Troy, and Melissa made their way across in various ways, to help against the Deathstalker.
In dramatic fashion, Nora came over the heads of Blake and Ren, slamming her hammer into the Grimm and firing off another round to propel herself backwards off of it, as it swiped at her with its stinger. With the backlash from her own weapon, she slid backwards into Blake, knocking her into the ravine.
Troy, Melissa, and Diana landed next to Naruto, ready to attack the giant scorpion. Contrary to what Naruto had expected, Diana wielded her sword as if it was as light as a kunai.
"Ready to go?" Melissa was stood next to Naruto, strange gun held in front of her. "You take it up close, I'll fight it from back here."
Naruto nodded, and went straight for it. Melissa turned to the other two, "Think you guys can get back across? They might need help."
Diana smiled widely, and jumped right across. Troy was more subdued, but followed his partner. Melissa turned back to the Deathstalker, which admittedly was being handled rather well without her.
Naruto and Ren were riding it, striking at exposed flesh, as Pyrrha threw her shield through the scorpion's tail and cut it off. Naruto and Ren jumped off backwards, followed closely by Pyrrha and Jaune. Melissa looked around, but couldn't see Nora anywhere.
She heard a loud bang from above, and looked up to see Nora flying down towards the Deathstalker. Eyes widening, Melissa quickly leaped off the bridge onto solid ground, running past the Grimm. As she did, Nora's hammer hit it with full force, collapsing the bridge beneath it.
The Deathstalker fell to its doom, and the six of them landed safely, some of them with a fancy pose. They turned to see the Nevermore flying about, seemingly ignoring all the explosions as Yang shot at it multiple times. She leapt up, latching on to its maw, and forcing the beak wide as she fired again and again into its mouth.
Yang yelled out emphatically, "I! Hope! You're! Hung-! ...-gry!" As the Nevermore realized she was there, she looked behind her and jumped back from its mouth onto a ruin, causing the creature to crash into the cliffs.
Despite Yang's attempts, the Nevermore recovered quickly, but, turning around, Yang grins as she saw the other five mounted at various positions. Weiss came flying forwards her as Troy fired off his small pistols at the recovering bird. Yang ran past Weiss as the heiress raised he rapier, jumping up towards the Nevermore and freezing its tail to the temple.
Yang caught Blake's weapon as she threw it to her, tying it around the stone column she had landed on. Ruby flew into the ribbon, drawing it taught as Weiss made a rune of some kind that kept her still. She released the glyph as Ruby fired her weapon, propelling herself forward even faster and further. She hit the bird's neck with the blade of her scythe, trapping it to the cliff side as Weiss made a number of runes trailing all the way up the wall. Ruby ran upwards, dragging the bird by its neck, screaming all the while.
She hit the top and her velocity kept her going, even after her scythe decapitated the Nevermore completely. She landed with her scythe across her shoulders, rose petals fluttering behind her.
Troy leaned over to Diana, "Do you feel like we really didn't need to be here?"
DEAR. CHRIST.
SORRY TO ANY RELIGIOUS FOLK.
First off, the support on this story has been incredible. It's doing so much better than my other two stories after just, I want to say, three days.
Thank you all very much. Very much indeed.
Second, I know a large part of this chapter read largely like the anime's first few chapters. I want to explain now: This will not be the case going forward, barring anytime that they meet during a canon scene.
Third, if you couldn't tell, Naruto's team has three OC's on it. I'm planning on fleshing them out over time, making them feel like an actual part of the world they live in.
Until Chapter 3: The Beacon!