You're about to see each of the OC's last names. I'll have pronunciation in parentheses.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.
Chapter 3: The Beacon
Naruto could have sworn there was kind of witchcraft taking place. The auditorium, still holding the same amount of people, seemed more crowded now than ever before. All the new students were gathered around, listening to team assignments.
"Russell Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark," Ozpin was saying, as the student's names and faces appeared on the screen above him. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!"
The four students walked of stage, replaced by Naruto, Melissa, Troy, and Diana. Ozpin began once again, "Naruto Uzumaki. Melissa Mikeham (Mike em). Troy Davores (Da vore eh). Diana Grout (Grout). The four of you collected the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work as Team MDNT (Midnight. It's a shade of purple), led by… Melissa Mikeham!"
Diana tackled their new leader off the stage, as Naruto and Troy hopped down after them.
Ozpin waited for a moment for the laughter to die down, then continued, as four more students came up onstage, "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." He paused, as everyone began cheering, and Nora hugged Ren. "Led by… Jaune Arc!"
Jaune was dumbfounded, "Huh? L-Led by?"
Ozpin nodded, "Congratulations, young man."
Everyone was cheering as a grinning Pyrrha gave Jaune a friendly shoulder bump, but, to everyone's amusement, the shoulder bump sent him falling over. As the newly formed Team JNPR cleared the stage, Ozpin started the last team.
"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"
Weiss's eyes widened, but this went unnoticed by everyone, as Yang had practically picked her sister up in a hug of pride.
"I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed.
The students were led to their dorms where they'd be spending the next four years, and left to unpack. Of course, seeing as it was night, almost everyone went to sleep. Naruto, however, heard as one of his teammates left the room. Obviously, he followed.
He found it to be Melissa, who snuck up onto the roof. She sat down on the edge, looking out towards Vale. He was about to ask her what she was doing when he heard something.
It was… crying?
He sat down next to her, concern written across his face. She didn't react to him sitting down.
"Are you okay, Melissa?" he asked, growing worried for his leader, partner, and most importantly, friend. She nodded. She looked at him, and he saw that she wasn't crying out of sadness.
"I just feel so happy about going to school here, meeting friends, all of it," she explained, wiping away the tears. Naruto put his arm around her and sweeping his right hand in front of them, as if he was gesturing to all of Vale.
"We're gonna be here for years to come, Melissa. You better get used to it," he said, half-jokingly. She laughed. He remembered something from the test earlier. "Oh, yeah. How did you float like that, anyways? Earlier when the bridge collapsed?"
A sort of dark look, like anger, crossed her face, as she answered, "It's… well it's my semblance. I can defy gravity. I can't move faster or anything, I just don't have to fall downwards if I don't want to. It's like I can control my own gravity, and move in any direction. But it's pointless. I can only use it one myself, not on anyone else."
Naruto tightened his grip on her shoulder, "What do you mean 'pointless'? Where I'm from, the ability to fly is so rare that the only people who can have perfect control of… Dust." He knew it was a rather lame way of cheering her up, but he didn't want to tell her how they actually flew. "Besides, my semblance just lets me move fast. Big deal. Ruby's faster, and she's had less practice with her semblance, I've no doubt."
Despite his lackluster attempts, Melissa looked a little happier, but in the way someone does when they're about to make a joke, "So, Ruby's faster than you? And Yang was telling me that you're the fastest person she knows…" The innuendo was lost on Naruto, who waved his hand dismissively and scoffed a little.
"Nah, she knows Ruby's much faster than I am," he said, causing Melissa to laugh a little. He didn't get what was so funny, but she was laughing, so it was ok.
"But still…" she said suddenly. "Truth is, Naruto, I've never actually teamed up with anyone before. Back in combat school, everyone saw me as the useless sniper, always missing. So I never made friends with any of them. They always made fun of me for missing, so I practiced relentlessly with my sniper here." She gestured to the gun laid on the roof behind her. "I kept going until I could hit a tiny Nevermore from over 300 yards away, every time."
She sighed and looked down. She seemed like she was about to continue, but, trying to connect with his new friend, Naruto aimed for some common ground, "Back in my village, when I was a kid, everyone picked on me. Not just the kids, but the adults, huntsmen included. No one ever told me why."
Melissa gasped, looking at him in horror, "Did you ever find out why?"
Naruto continued, "Sort of. I was the only" He breathed in sharply. "Faunus is my village, so I had never heard the term."
Melissa waited, but he didn't continue. He turned and looked at her, "But now I'm here, and I know what I am, so I'm not going to let it bother me anymore."
"What did you think you were, Naruto?" Melissa was worried about her teammate. It seemed like he was really upset by whatever it was.
"That's not important," he said, getting up and walking towards the open door. He continued quietly, "It wasn't true."
He walked back to their room, falling asleep very quickly after the events of the day. By the time Melissa got back, he was already asleep.
"This world shall know Pain!"
"NARUTOOO!"
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
"It isn't working… He isn't coming."
"But why? Why did you do this?"
"Of course he abandoned us, damned demon."
"I'm going to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village."
Naruto wished the nightmares would stop. They were barely ever even real memories, just the voices of people he had known. He sat up, rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. He realized that the sun was only just coming up, meaning it had to be only… 7:39, according to the handy clock on the wall.
As he was about to lie down, he was startled by a yell behind him, "YOU'RE AWAKE!"
The voice, which he assumed belonged to Diana, made him jump to point that he fell of his bed.
"Stop! DOING! That!" he complained to his rainbow teammate. Melissa was laughing, and Troy had a slight grin on his face. Diana was obviously just beaming away, oblivious to the fact that she almost gave the blond a heart attack.
"OK!" Naruto just shook his head, laughing, and turned to his other teammates.
"Which one of you put her up to this?"
Still stuck laughing, Melissa raised her hand high above her head. Naruto narrowed his eyes in jest.
"I'll give a three second head start, missy," he joked. She just floated up to the ceiling. "Fair enough."
Troy spoke up, "Shall we unpack now, or after classes?"
His question was answered by Diana dumping out her bag onto the floor.
Naruto looked from the pile of things to Troy, and said sarcastically, "Does that answer your question?"
He nodded. Melissa, while they were unpacking, or in Naruto's case, helping them unpack, asked him why he slept in the clothes he'd worn all day, minus the haori.
"I don't actually own anything else," he explained. No sooner had he then they got a knock on the door. Naruto opened it, but didn't see anyone. He looked down, and saw four uniforms sat in plastic bags outside their door.
He picked them up, and tossed them to his friends. He joked a little, "Never mind. I now own exactly one other set of clothes."
Troy pointed out that they should shower before classes. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the bathroom down the hall. Melissa came back a moment later and told them that the bathroom was split in two parts, one for guys and one for girls, as expected from a school.
Half an hour later, and ignoring the sounds of drills from Team RWBY's room, they were all finishing unpacking.
"I like these uniforms!" Diana suddenly said. Troy nodded in agreement, but seeing as how he just casually wore a suit, it was expected. Naruto disagreed.
"It doesn't feel flexible enough," he complained, tugging at the collar. "I feel like I would choke myself in the middle of a fight. How do you fight in these things, Troy?"
Troy stared at him for a moment, before explaining the biggest mystery of all time: How someone fights in a suit, "The fabric it's made from is woven with dust, so it's more durable and flexible."
Naruto had no response other than a simple, "Huh."
Melissa walked up next to Naruto, and put her elbow on his shoulder while leaning on him, "Says the guy who fights in an overcoat."
He stared back at her, "This coming from the girl with the trench coat?"
She put her hand on her chest with faux hurt, "Naruto, how could you?"
She turned to the rest of the team, giving them their schedule of classes for the day, "Well, first up we have Professor Port at nine, so we should probably get there soon, since it's…" she checked the clock and said, "8:45."
They all nodded in agreement, instead of just walking out the door in mutual understanding. After nodding, they walked out of the door, intent on not being late on the first day.
When they were just outside the classroom, they heard loud footsteps barreling down the hallway behind them. Parting to either side of the hallway, Team RWBY and Team JNPR came rushing past them, into the class.
"Seems like they wanted to get to class even more than we did," Naruto joked.
As it turned out, whatever Port's class was supposed to be, it ended up just being several hours of listening to Port brag about the Grimm he had fought. Naruto was fairly certain that the class was called Grimm studies, but he nicknamed it Port's Story Time.
He heard snickering in front of him, and saw Ruby holding up a paper to her team. Professor Port cleared his throat to get their attentions'.
He continued his tale, "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"
He bowed, and scattered applause sounded throughout the room. He finished, "The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
Almost immediately, Weiss's hand shot up. She called out, "I do, sir!"
Port praised her on her bravery, "Well then, let's find out! Come forward, and face your opponent!"
Naruto could have sworn she had been wearing a school uniform a moment ago, but when she stood on the classroom floor, she was wearing her normal outfit. She held her rapier out in front of herself, ready for combat against her Grimm opponent.
Team RWBY was cheering on their friend, with Yang yelling out, "GOOO WEISS!"
Blake somehow got her hands on a flag with the word RWBY on it, "Fight well!"
Ruby was somewhat more enthusiastic, "YEAH, REPRESENT TEEEEEAM RWBY!"
Weiss glared at her leader, clearly angry, "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"
Ruby looked down a little, sheepishly, "Oh… Um, sorry."
Weiss turned back to the cage, as Professor Port brought out his ax, "Let the match… BEGIN!" HE smashed the lock to bits with his ax, and a boar-like Grimm burst out. It growled, glancing around just a bit before charging at Weiss, who deflected its blow lightly and rolled to the side. The Grimm stopped and turned once it realized its opponent wasn't in front of it.
"Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port called out.
Ruby cheered on her partner again, "Hang in there, Weiss!"
The boar and Weiss both charged at each other, with Weiss attempting to skewer it with her rapier. It was deflected by the armor and caught in the boar's tusks. Weiss attempted to dislodge it, only to be flung about by the struggling Grimm.
"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port enjoyed fighting Grimm far too much.
Ruby offered her support once more, "Come on, Weiss! Show it who's boss!
Weiss glared at her once again. In her moment of distraction, however, the boar ripped her weapon from her hands, sending it across the room.
Port taunted, "Oh-ho! What will you do now without your weapon?"
The boar charged once again, but Weiss rolled out of the way, causing the boar to slam into a desk. She retrieved her rapier, and turned to face the boar. Once again, Ruby offered support.
"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath!"
Weiss snapped at the young girl, "Stop telling me what to do!"
The boar charged again, and Weiss stopped it with one of her runes, before leaping up onto a rune behind her, and springing off of it to stab the underbelly of the boar. It fell dead, and Weiss fell back, exhausted.
Professor Port praised her once again on her victory, "Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Weiss got up as the bell rang. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and… stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"
Weiss stormed from the classroom. Naruto walked down to Ruby, wondering what had happened, "What was that all about?"
Yang was the one to respond, as Ruby just followed after Weiss, "I don't know, but she seemed a little... Weiss-y."
Naruto groaned at her terrible pun, as she looked to Blake and him for laughs, "Eh? EH?"
Melissa came up behind Naruto, "So, we don't have class for the rest of the day. What now?"
Yang brought up sparring for fun, but Naruto wanted to go to Vale, to the weapons shop Ruby had mentioned. But then, he realized he didn't know what it was called or where it was. He decided to go and find her, since it would probably cheer her up anyway. He found her in a doorway, staring out of it at the balcony.
"Hey Ruby." She turned.
"Oh, hey Naruto," she seemed much more happy than in the classroom before.
"So… You mention a weapons shop-" He was cut off by a squeal of delight, as Ruby sped over to give him a tackling hug.
"Are we going now? What kind of weapon do you use? Have you ever been to a weapon store before? Do you want to spar after you get a weapon?" She shot off questions in rapid succession.
"Woah, Woah. Slow down, Ruby. Yes, we can go now, I use kunai and shuriken primarily, not for a while, and possibly," He counted off the questions, checking his fingers to make sure he got them all. The small girl seemed like she was going to pass out from excitement, as Naruto saw her eyes start to glaze over.
"Hey, Ruby, snap out of it!" Too late. She fell backwards, unconscious. He stood up, and Yang came by, attracted by the yelling. She took one look at her sister, glanced at Naruto trying figure out what had happened, and started laughing at the circumstances.
"You know, Naruto, I've only ever seen Ruby pass out from her excitement once before. What did you say to her?" Naruto looked at her, mouth agape, trying to talk.
"Something about weapons," he got out. "The weapons store she wanted to go to."
Yang nodded in understanding, "Yeah, that'll do it."
Beacon was nice, and the classes and people were interesting. But Naruto found himself becoming nostalgic for his days in the Academy all the time. So to let his memory run wild, he took up meditating over top of the door on the roof, looking out at the Kingdom of Vale, like the first night with Melissa.
It let him stay, undisturbed, for hours on end, just feeling the world around him as he thought back to Konoha. It wasn't always great, of course, since not all of his memories of Konoha were, but he still enjoyed it, quickly incorporating it into his daily schedule. After classes, he would always come up here first.
Only a week or two had passed, in which time he had visited the weapons store, Bangs and Bombs, with Ruby. Other than that, he found that he rather enjoyed the classes offered at Beacon. They were basically the same as back home, but the history was new to Naruto.
Now, however, Naruto found himself and his team eating lunch together. The lunchroom was huge, roughly the size of a small village. Ruby mentioned that she wanted to see how long it would take to get from one end to the other at her highest speed. Naruto was waiting in line for his lunch, not having eaten any ramen for several days.
He got his ramen, and started to look around for his team when he was shoved aside by someone, causing him to spill a large portion of his ramen.
Now, to some, ramen was just a food. But Naruto viewed spilling ramen as blasphemy of the highest degree. He turned, outraged, to the large man who had caused him to spill it.
"OI! YOU!" He yelled at the guy. He turned, revealing, unsurprisingly, that he was Cardin Winchester. He looked around in mock confusion, turning to his friend.
"I could have sworn I heard some kind of animal cry out," he clearly directed it as a taunt towards Naruto, and it sort of worked. Naruto wasn't about to let some wannabe warrior insult him. He'd put up with more than enough back in Konoha; he was done with it.
He put his hand on Cardin's shoulder, forcibly spinning him to face the blond, "You made me spill my ramen, you ass."
Cardin, not being terribly smart, decided to keep making fun of the ninja, "Oh, wow. Look guys, I didn't even know they let such filthy creatures in this building."
Naruto had had enough. He was about ready to send Cardin flying across the cafeteria, suspicious or not, when the boy went limp. The racist fell forward, almost crushing Naruto beneath the weight of both him and his armor, but for the fact that Naruto stepped to the side.
Behind Cardin, a very angry Melissa was holding a bō staff that matched the color of her sniper perfectly, with the black pole capped with pink metal. Cardin's teammate, not as idiotic as his leader, turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Melissa looked at Naruto with sympathy, "Are you ok, Naruto?" He nodded, and as he did, noticed Yang sitting down at her table and deactivating her gauntlets. He felt a rush of affection towards the blonde and his leader, that they would so readily come to his defense.
"I need to get more ramen, though," he said, eyeing the mess on the floor. Halfway through lunch, some of the school nurses came in and hauled Cardin out, saying something about a 'nasty concussion.'
The next several days went by without incident, except for when Ruby tried to cross the cafeteria at 'top speed' and ended up slamming into a wall. She wasn't injured, thankfully, but everyone, including her, got a good laugh out of it.
In combat class, they had begun to spar daily. One of the first matches had been Jaune, who was rather ineffective in combat, against Cardin, who had a giant mace. The match was terrible to watch, as Jaune wildly attacked time and again, only to be rebuked by Cardin every time.
Cardin kept taunting Jaune throughout the fight, much to the building anger of all of Jaune's friends, Naruto included. Cardin was an ass, no way around it. By the end of the match, the larger boy was about to slam his mace down onto Jaune when Goodwitch stepped in, halting the match.
"Cardin, that's enough!" Relenting, he walked away as she came onto the stage, tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Glynda looked at Jaune disdainfully, criticizing him on the battle, "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"
Cardin, not even trying to hide it, scoffed and said, "Speak for yourself."
Professor Goodwitch, ignoring him, turned to the rest of the class, "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."
She walked off, as Jaune lay on the floor, shamed by his defeat.
Ever since the incident with Cardin a few weeks back, Team MDNT had spent more and more time with Team RWBY, and now sat with them and Team JNPR while eating in the cafeteria.
Nora was telling some kind of story, while Ren kept correcting the details.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now," he finished. Pyrrha turned to Jaune.
"Are you ok?" she asked her leader. He dismissively answered yes, asking why.
Ruby spoke up, "Well, it's just that you seem a little… not ok."
Jaune tried to lie his way out of the concern, haphazardly, "Guys, I'm fi-"
Naruto cut him off, "Don't you dare say you're perfectly fine, Jaune. It's not exactly a secret what's bothering you."
To prove his point, Naruto gestured towards a nearby table, where once more, apparently not having learned his lesson when Melissa smacked him in the back of the head with a heavy metal pole, Cardin was picking on another Faunus, and with his friends backing him up this time.
"What are you talking about?" Jaune was tried to deflect the accusation, earning even more concern from Pyrrha and Ruby.
Pyrrha spoke up first, "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school."
Jaune, failing once more, attempted to deny it, "Oh, please, name one time-"
"The books," Naruto answered.
"The shield in the doorframe," Ruby added.
"The rocket locker," Troy finished.
Naruto looked over at Cardin, still bullying Velvet, the rabbit Faunus, and noticed Melissa was holding her staff again. Before he could stop her, she bounded over the table towards him, staff held over her head, ready to be brought down on Cardin's own.
This time, however, Cardin's friend had been keeping an eye on her. One of them thrust at her with his sword, trying to stop her. But, much to everyone's amazement but Naruto's, she went right over the sword, right to Cardin, hitting him hard enough for the resulting crack to resonate across the room. Naruto actually winced; the noise was so loud.
In the blink of an eye, Troy was pulling Melissa off of Cardin. The nurses showed up shortly afterwards, realizing that it was Cardin Winchester once again.
Pyrrha spoke up a few minutes later, "I can't stand people like him."
Blake concurred, "He's not the only one."
Yang, leaning over a little, added her thoughts, "It must be hard to be a Faunus."
Naruto looked up, "Why are you all looking at me?"
Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck's classes were somewhat polarizing. Either you really enjoyed it, or you'd heard all of it before or found it pointless to begin with. Naruto, not being from this world, found learning the history- a history that went back more than just 80 years- enthralling.
Oobleck was talking about the Faunus Civil Rights Revolution, "This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" He zoomed right up to the front of the class and the map behind his desk. "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He pointed at the map of Remnant with his stick, indicating Menagerie, then zoomed off to the side for a sip of his coffee before he reappeared in front of the desk.
"Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He zipped from one spot to the next, speaking to the entire class. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"
Considering for a moment, Naruto raised his hand after seeing others do the same. Oobleck looked on with pity. Maybe. Naruto couldn't really tell, since he had sunglasses on.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He took another sip of his coffee. "I mean- I mean- I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War? Yes?"
Weiss answered with some kind of pride in her voice, possibly because she knew the answer, "The Battle at Fort Castle."
Oobleck seemed a little impressed, "Precisely! And who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"
Suddenly Jaune called out, "HEY!"
Oobleck zoomed right over to him immediately, "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"
"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... of the Faunus..." He looked past Oobleck's focused face at Pyrrha, who was doing everything she could to give him the answer, "had over that guy's stuff... Uhh... Binoculars!"
He raised his finger triumphantly, as the entire class laughed. Cardin actually pounded on his desk a few times.
Oobleck didn't find it as funny, "Very funny, Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject?"
Naruto got ready. Cardin, not even sitting up, replied, "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."
And Naruto held down Melissa so that she wouldn't fly off at him. Thankfully, Pyrrha responded in her place, "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you Cardin?"
He turned to her, "What? You got a problem?"
She turned forwards, almost with an air of cockiness, like she was ready to piss off Cardin. Naruto sat forward in anticipation. "No," she said. "I have the answer. It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark.
Naruto heard the fox inside of his head, "Ohhh. That's where."
Blake chimed in, "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." She turned to Cardin, ready to taunt him. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."
Cardin stood, fist clenched, when Oobleck intervened, "Mr. Winchester, please take your seat." Jaune laughed a little at his bully's embarrassment, as Doctor Oobleck zoomed up to him, "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."
Naruto was sat on the roof again, thinking about the Land of Waves, when he heard the door beneath him open. Looking down, he saw Jaune and Pyrrha involved in some sort on conversation.
Pyrrha was offering help to Jaune, but he declined it, saying that he didn't belong at Beacon.
Pyrrha seemed taken aback, "That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!"
Jaune shook his head, and walked to the edge, "NO, I DON'T! I wasn't really accepted into Beacon…" He trailed off. Pyrrha, as seemed to have become the norm, had a look of concern on her face.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"
Pyrrha had a look of near-horror on her face, "What? But... why?"
"Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" He turned away from her. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."
"Then let me help you!" She cried out.
Jaune, suddenly turning to her with anger, yelled, "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"
Pyrrha backed away a little, "Jaune, I-"
"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own" He paused, taking a deep breath. "Then what good am I?"
Pyrrha tried to reach out to console him, but he leaned away from her.
"Just... leave me alone. Okay?"
Pyrrha began to walk away, "If that's what you think is best."
Once she was gone, Jaune sighed and started pacing a little. Naruto decided, 'Ya know what? It would probably be best if he didn't know I heard all that,' and decided to wait for him to leave.
Both Naruto and Jaune jumped a little upon hearing a familiar laugh. A very unwelcome face, Cardin's, appeared over the ledge as he climbed up.
"Oh, Jaune..." he began.
Jaune panicked a little, "Cardin!"
Cardin began to mock Jaune, "I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!"
Jaune begged him, "Please, Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!"
"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!" Cardin said in a tone of fake understanding.
Jaune didn't pick up on it, "A- a friend?"
Cardin laughed a little, "Of course!" He got Jaune in a headlock under his arm. "We're friends now, Jaune-y boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." He let go of Jaune, who gasped for air on the ground. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He leaned over to rub Jaune's hair and got up with a grin. "That's what I thought. Don't worry, Jaune. Your secret's safe with me."
He hung back over the edge, and presumably climbed back into his dorm room, though Naruto couldn't help but hope that he fell off. For now though…
"You ok, Jaune?" Naruto asked his friend. Jaune actually, physically jumped this time. But he saw it was just Naruto, and relaxed immensely.
"No," he said reluctantly. "I hurt Pyrrha's feelings, and then that happening with Cardin… Why did I have to reject her help? It would have been so easy, especially since I obviously need the help…"
Naruto sat against the wall next to him, "You know what you need to do, Jaune? You need to go to Pyrrha, right now, and apologize. Accept her help. If you won't because of whatever stupid idea you've got in your head that you have to get better on your own… then ignore that idea. I would've never gotten to where I am today without my friends.
Jaune smiled weakly at him, and brought up the other issue, "But what about the fake transcripts, and Cardin?"
Naruto stared at him almost incredulously, "Do you really think the school did absolutely no research? They probably know that your transcripts were faked, and let you in because they know how good you could be, not how good you are." He paused, mulling over a joke. "And hey, if it turns out they don't know, I think all of Cardin's brain damage from Melissa will probably make him forget."
As it turned out, the joke was well worth it, as Jaune let out an actual laugh, not like the ones he had faked in the cafeteria.
For the first time, all four of the members of Team MDNT were spending time together outside of Beacon. They didn't have classes for the next few days, so, as leader, Melissa suggested they spend the time together.
So, for the weekend, they decided to head down to Vale, and just hang around places. Naruto, spotting a building that seemed interesting, turned to his team with a suggestion.
"Well, I've never been bowling before. What about you guys?"
Melissa looked over to the bowling lane and nodded, "Yeah, but it's been a while."
Troy responded with a grunt, indicating he had.
Diana, who for whatever reason was walking around on her hands, sprung onto her feet and shook her head, "Nope!"
Turning back around, Naruto raised his finger dramatically, and cried out, "TO BOWLING!"
Walking in, they could see that the place didn't get a lot of business. There was only one group of people bowling at the moment, and one that was eating. They walked up to the counter, ready to pay for a few games.
The woman at the counter, who appeared to be rather disinterested, looked at each of them. Her eyes fell on Naruto, and she scowled.
"We don't let animals in here," her voice came out raspy and dry. Behind her, as Melissa started to get this look on her face, a door opened, and a man who was presumably her boss came out.
"How many damn times do I have to tell you: Stop insulting the Faunus who want to bowl here!" he yelled at her. He turned to Naruto.
"Sorry about that, lad. Tell ya what: have a free game!" Naruto and his teammates thanked the man, and hurried off to their lane.
As it turned out, years of practice as a ninja made Naruto pretty accurate. He also had more than enough power to send the ball flying into the pins, getting a strike every time he went up. He ended the game, predictably, with a perfect 300. Diana, on the other hand, for some reason intentionally rolled her ball into the gutter each time she went up. As they started to walk out, his stomach growled rather obnoxiously, earning him a look from Melissa.
"Well, they have pizza here," she suggested. "And the manager was nice enough to give us a free game…"
For a place that didn't get much business, they sure had some damn good pizza. In the middle of the meal, Naruto looked up from his slice for a moment, "Does anyone remember what this place is called? I think I'm in love."
Melissa tried to think back to the front of the building, before just looking over Naruto. "Blazing Lanes," she answered, reading it off of the wall. "What a strange name."
"So now what?" Vale had a surprising lack of things to do, beyond bowling then eating surprisingly good pizza. Naruto turned to Melissa.
She thought for a moment, "We could always just go back to Beacon and spar with each other for a while."
For two reasons, Naruto rejected this. The first, and the one he told Melissa, was that they would end up doing that anyways at some point. The second, which he kept to himself, was that he still didn't know how his Aura would be gauged on a scroll.
Diana was the one to offer the next suggestion, "Ooh! We could go find a bakery! They have delicious, enticing, wonderful…" She began to trail off, drooling a little at the thought of whatever baked good she was describing.
Naruto watched her for a bit, wondering how in the hell she had convinced Troy of all people to be her friend. They were just… so different. It made no sense whatsoever. He had heard the old saying 'opposites attract' but this was ridiculous.
Said suit-wearing student spoke up next, "We could always go to the park they have in Vale. It is very nice this time of year."
Melissa seemed to be reminded of something, "Oh! That reminds me, I need to get more Dust."
Troy waved her idea off, "Good luck with that. Torchwick's robberies have Dust prices through the roof right now."
Melissa stared at him, "You do realize one of our friends is the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, right? And has an overabundance of Dust?"
"And you think she'd just hand it out?"
"Well, it's worth a shot."
"Sooo…" Naruto started. "To the park, then?"
Combat was not one of Naruto's weak points, by any means, but he still tried to get out of sparring as much as possible. Today, however, he was not so lucky.
"Today, our first match will be decided by Miss Rose. Miss Rose, please choose your opponent," Professor Goodwitch asked of the small girl, who seemed startled from being put on the spot.
"Oh- Uh, ok… I pick… Naruto!" she called out, much to the boy's dismay. Ruby had been hounding him for a race for several weeks now, ever since she had found out about his 'Semblance.'
He groaned, and stood to make his way down to the arena floor. Since they were all expected to fight in this class, they all wore their casual clothing, meaning the fight could start right away.
Professor Goodwitch seemed to be having trouble with something, "Mr. Uzumaki, might you be able to explain why your Aura doesn't register with the scanner?"
Naruto shrugged, passing it off, "Maybe it's just faulty."
It didn't really seem to appease the teacher, but she accepted it nonetheless, "Very well. I shall stop the match when I deem one of you can't go on."
Goodwitch looked back and forth between them, with Ruby holding her massive scythe and Naruto holding a tiny knife, and began the fight, "Begin."
Ruby charged him immediately, using her speed to hit him. He wasn't expecting such a reckless first move, and wasn't prepared to dodge the blunt end of her scythe. He slid back several feet from the force of the impact, losing his balance slightly.
Having gotten a good estimate for her speed, Naruto readied himself, and took off, using mostly his fists and feet to strike at Ruby. He sped all around her, getting in several hits, though she was able to block a surprising amount.
Eventually, she took off, using the walls as springboards to bounce back and forth across the room, with Naruto at the center of it all. He started dodging her, not really able to pinpoint her location for long enough to land a blow. He had much more stamina than she did, meaning that after a few minutes, she fell to the ground, exhausted and out of breath. He leaned over her.
"I'm guessing that's all?" He said in jest, just joking around.
She nodded amongst her ragged breath.
Professor Goodwitch stepped forward, "Well, that was an interesting match. Young Miss Rose has demonstrated a wonderful point, however: Conserve your stamina. If you run out too quickly, you will be left as prey for the Grimm. Now, for our next match…"
Naruto carried Ruby up to the seats, setting her down next to Yang, who grinned and thanked him.
Somehow, Grimm Studies, despite amounting to listening to Port ramble the entire time, had attached to it work that trailed for miles. And so, to finish all of his work, Naruto found himself in the library one day, having not been able to focus in his dorm with Diana going on and on about her sword, Papa Chop.
He sat down at a table, ready to start working, when he noticed a mane of black hair a little ways away.
'Ah, to hell with it. I work better in a group anyways,' Naruto thought to himself.
"Kit, we both know that's a lie," snickered the fox.
'Shut up, you.'
"Hey, Blake," said the fox Faunus, sitting down next to the absolutely definitely without-a-doubt human girl.
"Hello, Naruto," She seemed a little awkward when she was around him. It made sense, since they hadn't ever really spoken to each other. "What are you doing here?"
Naruto chuckled a little, remembering what his dorm had been like when he left, "Diana."
Blake nodded in understanding, "Ruby. She keeps talking about that spar you two had today."
"You know, I don't have a hard time believing that," He said, thinking back to the time he had spent at their house. She had rambled then, she'll ramble now. "Are you sure she's-" He stopped, and frowned a little.
Blake watched him with her eyebrow raised. He started sniffing the air lightly, like he was smelling for food.
He eventually explained, kind of, "Do you smell that? It's like there's something here that shouldn't be."
Blake was a little nervous, but answered, "No. Like what?"
He frowned further, and started looking around, "I don't know… It brings up bad memories of a mission I used to have to do a lot."
It was Blake's turn to frown, "Mission? What do you mean? What mission?"
He turned to face her, "In my old home, we would do some 'missions' that basically just meant running errands for people who couldn't or wouldn't do them themselves. The one I'm thinking of…"
He trailed off, leaving Blake wondering which mission. She looked at him expectantly, asking, "What mission?"
He refocused, "What? Oh, right. It was this one that everyone hated, because it just happened so often. This one escape artist cat would run away from her owner, and her owner would pay to bring her back. Tora the Demon Cat, that's what we called her. The amount of times that cat scratched me…" He shuddered. "I actually ended up hating cats for a while because of that thing. Evil little devils."
He looked at Blake, finishing his story, only to find her looking down, like he had offended her somehow. Forgetting completely about the smell from before, he cocked his head a little bit, "Did I say something?"
She stood, and turned around, "No, nothing at all." She walked out of the library, not turning around to look at him.
'Well, that was strange. Kyūbi, that was strange, right?'
The centuries old demon fox had to agree, "Just a little, Kit. Maybe she really likes cats or something, even owns one. That could be where the smell came from."
'Huh. Hey, Kyūbi?'
"What do you want, Kit?"
'Your name isn't Kyūbi, right?'
"No, it isn't. But I'm not telling a brat my name."
'So, will you tell me?'
"Very funny."
'I know.'
'He hates cats, huh? Well maybe I hate… whatever he is,' Blake wasn't terrifically happy that the only friend of hers who was a Faunus just happened to hate cats. She sighed, 'Of course he does. Why wouldn't he? I guess black cats really are unlucky…' She raised her hand to her bow. Another sigh.
"Hey, Blake!" The girl turned to see Yang walking towards her. The blonde frowned a little, then perked up again. "What do you look so down for?" she asked her friend.
"Oh nothing, just walking around to find a place to read," Blake lied.
Yang pointed towards the library, "Why not the book room?"
"Uh, no I- I'd rather not. Maybe somewhere else."
Yang looked at her curiously, "Why not?"
Blake felt herself getting cornered, "Oh- um, no reason, really."
Yang grabbed Blake's hand and practically dragged her back to the library, "Well, then, come on!"
Blake groaned, "Ohhh…"
Naruto looked up, seeing Blake get dragged back into the library by Yang. He stared, not sure what to say when Yang spotted him and came over, Blake in tow. He noticed the scent of cats again.
'It's got to be Blake. I guess she owns a cat or something, like Kyūbi said,' He thought to himself, as the fox grunted in agreement.
"Hey Yang, hey Blake."
"Hell-ooo," Yang replied, as Blake looked around nervously.
Naruto saw her distress, and turned to Yang, "Uh… Yang? I don't think Blake wants to be here. I think I hurt her feelings before when I said I used to not like cats, because of something back home."
A look of surprise flashed across Blake's face. She felt like smacking herself
'USED to. Good lord, I'm a moron.'
Blake stopped looking around, and looked to Naruto, "No, it's fine. I misunderstood you earlier."
Naruto smiled at her, "Oh, good. I'm glad. I don't like offending people, especially not my close friends."
Blake smiled back. Yang looked back and forth, "Could someone tell me what just happened?"
After Naruto filled her in, she nodded in understanding, and walked off to do whatever it was she came to the library for. Blake sat down next to Naruto.
"Hey, Blake?" He asked, turning to her from his work. She glanced at him. "Why do you smell like cats? Do you have a pet cat?"
She silently gulped, answering with well-hidden nerves, "Yeah, we have two cats at my house."
Naruto nodded, "Oh, ok. That makes sense."
Blake had never heard of a Faunus with such a strong sense of smell before, one strong enough to smell something like the kind of Faunus someone else was. She asked him about it.
"My sense of smell? As far as I know, I've always had it. Side effect of being part fox, I guess."
"I am not a part of you. Don't you dare say that."
'Shut it, Kyūbi.'
"It's just, I've never heard of a Faunus with such a strong sense of smell before, so-"
Naruto cut her off, apparently deciding something, "Blake, you don't actually own any cats, do you?"
She stopped cold, staring at him like he just killed someone, trying to deflect the question, "Uh- Um… I- You…" She turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about, Naruto."
"Blake," She heard behind her. "Did you really think I would judge you for it? Me, of all people?"
Her shoulder slumped. He had a point. If anyone wouldn't think less of her for it…
"Alright, Naruto, I'll tell you. But you need to promise not to say anything about it to anyone, not even your closest friend." She answered, turning back to meet his cerulean gaze. "And also, I'd like to not do it here, if that's ok."
He nodded, and stood, indicating to follow him.
He led her to the roof, with a wonderful view of Vale.
"So, it all-" she was cut off by Naruto raising his hand.
"One second, Blake." For some reason, he leaned over the edge, looking down. He turned back to her. "Go on."
"Ok… It all started a few years ago, when the leader of the White Fang stepped down, and-" she was cut off again by Naruto.
"Woah, Woah, Woah. I feel like you're starting in the middle of the story. First off, why?"
"That's what I'm explaining, Naruto." She reached up, and started to undo her bow. "When the new leader took his place, the ideals were changed as well. Before long, the White Fang became the terrorist organization you would find today."
"I've met a few of them," Naruto said, looking off. "They seemed alright."
Blake nodded, "Well, maybe to you. But you're a Faunus, so of course they would've been nice. To humans, we were and are viewed as filthy animals, and so that's what we played the part of. The White Fang started attacking businesses that wouldn't serve us, businesses that used Faunus labor loopholes, even some people who hadn't done anything wrong, just to send a message: We won't take it." She sighed deeply.
"And unfortunately, it worked. People started to respect the Faunus, but not out of kindness. It was fear. Fear that they might be next, fear that one of their family members could be next, even."
Naruto cut in, "I still don't get it. How does this relate to you hiding who you are?"
She pulled off her bow, revealing to black cat ears on top of her head, "I was a part of the White Fang until just before Beacon started this year. I hide who I am, because who I am is an ex-terrorist."
She sat against a wall, holding her hands to her face. Making her jump, Naruto sat right next to her and pulled her into a warm hug, one that was meant to comfort her.
"No, Blake," She looked up at him, actual tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "That's not who you are. That's who you were. And you changed who you were, because you knew it was wrong. Who you are is Blake Belladonna, member of Team RWBY and an overall great person. Not some terrorist hurting her people's good name."
He had such a way with words that Blake began to change, after just a few minutes' worth of conversation, what she had been stewing over for months, if not years. She leaned into the hug he was still giving her.
He began a tale of his own, "In my home… I was the only Faunus. And the village I lived in had suffered horribly at the hands of wild animals. So for all of my childhood, almost everyone in the village singled me out as the source of all of their problems. Until I was 6, I was sent to orphanage after orphanage, but they all kept kicking me out. When I was five, I spent almost four months living on the streets, scrounging up barely enough food to keep me alive, let alone healthy."
Blake's mouth fell open, concern washing over her for her newfound friend. He wasn't done, however, "All through my life, I had never even seen another Faunus, let alone heard the term. So I had no idea what I was. I assumed, for a long time, even after I had heard of what a Faunus was, that I was what they called me."
His voice broke, and Blake could feel him tense up, as she looked up at his face. It was getting dark, and she couldn't make out all the details, but she could see a little light reflecting off of his cheeks, in lines running downwards.
"Naruto… What did they call you? Animal?"
He shook his head, "No. They weren't as nice as that. I lived my entire childhood thinking that I was a demon, Blake."
Blake felt a small tear fall from the corner of her eye. To think that he had gone through all of that… but still…
"What about your parents? Didn't they help you through it?"
He turned away, not wanting her to see his face, "They died only an hour after I was born. I don't remember them at all."
Another tear. Hearing his story… It was unlike anything Blake had heard before. Faunus tended to stick together, to support each other. To live alone through all of that, and as a child, no less…
"It wasn't all bad, though," he continued, a small smile forming on his face. "The leader of our village did everything he could to lighten the burden on me, even going so far as to outlaw talk of demon foxes, and setting the best huntsmen in our village to protect me. There were two people, a man and his daughter, who would get me free ramen from their stand whenever I was starving."
Blake smiled a little as well, "And that's why you like ramen so much?"
He nodded, "Yeah. That, and it's the best damn food in the world."
She laughed a little at his tone. He spoke of ramen with such praise. Then, she felt a hand behind her cat ears. Naruto stroked her ears lightly. Without realizing it, Blake started to purr. She pulled away when she realized it, eyes wide as saucers.
Naruto was laughing, "So that IS a Faunus thing."
Blake covered her ears with her hands, face painted red, sputtering out some kind of anger, "Why you- the nerve- I can't believe you! Wait, what do you mean a 'Faunus thing'?
Naruto told her the story of Ruby petting his whiskers. Blake laughed at it, never having known a fox could purr.
"Yeah, well. She's a little awkward. I'm sure you would know better than me, right?" Naruto finished. Blake nodded in well-deserved agreement. She and Naruto stayed up there for a while longer, just talking and joking around.
The next morning, Naruto was rubbing his temples while his team was getting ready.
"Ohhh… I need more sleep…" He complained. Melissa glared at him.
"Well, then, maybe you should have come back to the dorm sooner and slept."
"Hey, I was hanging out with Blake!" he complained further. Melissa raised her eyebrow.
"Oooh, Naruto, do tell." He cocked his head.
"What? What do you mean?" he asked.
Troy, ever the logical one, answered for her, "She's assuming you two are getting involved romantically."
Naruto looked back to a giggling Melissa, eyes widening, face going red. Out of nowhere, Diana came up behind him, jumping forward and swinging her feet up a little, arm around his shoulder.
"Tell us about it, Naruto! What's she like?"
"No, Diana, it's not like that at all. We were spending time together as friends, doing work together," he lied. They were just spending time as friends, but they weren't doing work, by any means.
Melissa got herself to stop laughing, "Oh, whatever. Let's just get to class already. Port's gonna make us listen to his story twice if we're late."
They all shuddered at the thought. It was as is the portly teacher knew his stories made the students suffer. When someone missed part of his story, he would make them stay after to hear the entire thing again. He was a truly sadistic man.
Luckily, and conveniently, for Team MDNT, they weren't late to the man's class. Ruby glared a little at Naruto when he walked in, and he raised his hands in question. She must have been a little upset about losing yesterday, but she was the one who decided to be a pinball. He winked at Blake, who blushed a deep red. He didn't get why.
When the lesson finally ended- which always seemed to take longer than every other class- Team MDNT all left the class together, laughing at the joke Naruto had heard in his travels with Jiraiya. Now, for various reasons, Naruto had had to mutter the joke to them under his breath, ensuring that no one else would hear it.
Melissa pulled herself out of her laughter for a minute, catching her breath, "And- wait, you learned… that where?
With a grin on his face, Naruto answered, "When I traveled with my godfather. He was a self-proclaimed 'Super Pervert.' Oh, the times we had. He even taught me a few tricks with my Aura."
Troy raised an eyebrow in interest, "Like what?"
Naruto sort-of answered, "Just a few ways to control it better, nothing special."
Troy didn't look convinced, but let it drop anyways.
"Hey, so, where are we going?" Melissa asked. They stopped. Except Diana, who was so engrossed in laughing still that she walked a good twenty feet before turning around, still laughing. She seemed easily amused.
"That, my dear leader," Naruto said. "Is a very good question."
"Let's go fight!" Diana passionately called out. Naruto vigorously shook his head. As it turned out, Diana was actually scarily good with her sword. Even without that little detail, there was the issue of getting his chakra to register as Aura.
Apparently, Aura was the physical representation of one's soul. If so, it sounded like a watered-down version of chakra. The Kyūbi was lost as to how to get chakra to appear as Aura, and the fox was much, much older and wiser than Naruto, so if he couldn't get it, the Naruto had no chance.
"Kit! I have an idea. This world seems to correct things it views as 'wrong,' like when it aligned you further to a Faunus then you already were. So-"
For the first time he could remember, Naruto cut the fox off, "It would have already changed it. I don't think it can or will."
"Hmph."
That was roughly the way the conversation had gone. Since then, the fox had refused to speak to Naruto.
Seeing someone he wanted to talk to, Naruto left his team to wonder, and walked over to Ruby.
"Hey, Ruby." She turned towards his voice, still looking hurt.
"I can't believe I lost to you!" She said in a somewhat loud voice. She didn't really seem that upset. "You admit I'm still faster, right?"
Naruto had to agree, "Oh, yeah. I wasn't able to land a single blow with how fast you were moving." That seemed to cheer her up. "You're faster than I could ever hope to be."
She waved him off, "Nah! I saw how quickly you moved. You got me confused for a moment with how fast you went." She got a light in her eyes. "It was so cool how you went from the one side to the other and then back again so quickly! Is that why you use little knives? So that you can fight like that?"
He nodded, "That's how a lot of people back home fought. Even without a speed semblance, in fact. They were just really fast after years of practice."
He sighed, "I miss it. It was such a nice place to live."
She looked at him with wonder, like he had just spoken a different language. Which, now he thought about it, was a distinctive possibility.
"Hey, could I borrow Naruto for a minute, Ruby?" Blake walked up to them. The cheery girl nodded, and Naruto and Blake started walking together.
"Thank you, Naruto, for the help last night. It meant a lot to me that you were willing to see past my past," she said, looking at the floor as they walked.
"Blake, if I judged people on their past actions, I would have been the one to destroy my home," he joked. "So, does that mean you're going to stop hiding it?"
She looked at him, shocked, "NO!" She quieted herself, "You might be willing to understand, but others wouldn't. Maybe the other Faunus would, but most of them would look at me and only see the ex-terrorist that I thought I was."
Naruto nodded solemnly, "Ok. It's your choice, so that's fine. But, Blake? Your team is made of good people. Yang and Ruby wouldn't care, and Weiss… well, I don't actually know about her, but she seems to get along with guys alright, so she can't be that bad."
He turned, and looked directly at her. "Don't hide who you are, Blake," he advised. "Not from your friends."
As he walked away, the fox spoke to him.
"You know, Kit, you might want to heed your own advice."
Naruto laughed at the idea. 'Yeah, telling them I come from a different planet and have a giant mass of an energy called chakra in me? What could possibly go wrong?'
You know, I liked that chapter. It definitely focused on Cardin too much, but then, so did the anime for those few chapters.
So, the OC's kind of took a backseat in this chapter. I actually added in that bowling scene just so they didn't have nothing to do but complain about Port all chapter. I think I'm going to focus more on them next chapter. Funnily enough, I only realized I made basically another Ren-Nora relationship halfway through this chapter.
Also, part of the reason the OC's were so lightly touched upon was my fear of rushing their own backstories. If you haven't noticed from my other stories, I have a tendency to speed through things rather quickly. I've been trying to slow down scenes by having more detail and dialogue, and I think it's working. What do you all think?
On the topic of you all, at the time of my posting this chapter, there are roughly 100 follows and 70 favorites for this story, and 16 reviews as well. This may not seem like a lot to some of you, but for me, this amount of support is incredible, especially considering it's only been up for a measly four days. Really kind of an ego-stroker.
Until Chapter 4: The Discovery!