Chapter 6: Taiyang Xiao Long's First Step
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading to this point, and I hope you've enjoyed the slow ride so far!
By the way, ALL flames will not be responded to and reported. Criticism should be constructive. If you're going to flame, go ahead, but don't expect a response.
I apologize if this chapter seems a bit rough; I was fairly busy over the past week and wanted to update regardless. So here I am. I read through it twice to check for edits, but I might have missed things. Please let me know if I did!
Word Length of Chapter: 10k
Word Length with A/N: 12.5k
Chapter 6 START
Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Let me get this straight. You skipped class because you were upset that you feel useless in that blond kid's class." He threw his hands in the air, unable to gesticulate in an interpretive manner. "NO ONE'S DOING WELL IN THAT CLASS!"
"But I'm doing worse than well! I've always thought - " Taiyang cried, only to be interrupted by the other male teammate in his four-man squad. The blond was sitting in his bed, clothes unprofessionally buttoned up. His pants were rolled up and headphones were wrapped around his neck.
For the first five classes, Taiyang had been present. However, in the final class of the day, Taiyang was strangely absent. The three of them had no clue where he had gone, but Summer was the only one that was really worried about him. The Branwen twins were ready to leave after class and call it a day; Taiyang would show up eventually. Alas, it was not to be. Naruto called the three of them after class to ask them where their fourth teammate had last been seen.
"Class," Raven said shortly. "He probably just ditched."
"But he could've been taken by Grimm!" Summer had been nervous since the start of class, and the panic had only grown over time. "Maybe it's an invisible Grimm?!"
Qrow flopped his hands to his sides, unsure how to progress with this. "I'll...go ahead and look for him in our room. Maybe I'll find an invisible Grimm on the way." He took the nod from Naruto as approval and walked away from whatever mess his team leader was spouting. Genius in combat and tactics, she may be, but perhaps that creativity could use some work.
"Summer, I don't think a Grimm would pop up on campus and no one would notice."
"You wouldn't know, because it's invisible! I'm going to go look for him in the forests!" Summer exclaimed before disappearing, out the door before Qrow had even left.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm going to the dorm room," Qrow finally spoke, weary. "I'm sure he's just listening to music and sitting in bed, ditching class. Or something." And he left.
And he was right on the money. Taiyang was sitting in his bed, listening to music on his headphones with his eyes closed. Except -
he was crying. Bawling, really. Really now, the tears were rolling down without abandon, wetting the bed enough that one would believe just as easily that he had grabbed a cup of water and accidently spilled it on his bed and the blankets. It would be a plausible story except -
he was crying. Bawling, really.
Qrow was not at all equipped to deal with this situation. Summer was definitely the person for the job. He tilted his head up slightly and crinkled his eyes as he slowly turned around with his back hunched, the tips of his toes hardly touching the ground as he slowly stalked back to the door. Somehow, on the very last step to the door, his hand an inch from the handle, the floor creaked. How, he had no clue. He was pretty sure that the entirety of the building did not have a square foot of wood, but it had certainly creaked.
Him and his bad luck.
But, Taiyang had headphones on, so maybe he didn't hear and -
"Hic...Q-Qrow, is...ugh...is that you?"
"...Why me?" He fixed his posture in a split second and coughed roughly and turned around quickly, a smiled plastered on his face like a sloppy print job. "Hey, buddy! I just came in here to see if you were in the room."
Taiyang wiped his eyes, the tears wetting his sleeve. "Why did it look like you were leaving, then?" Qrow crossed his arms hysterically, rejecting that notion as hard as Huntsman-ly possible.
"Me? No, never! I was just...uh...checking why the door handle was all finnicky. See?" He threw a hand behind him and groped for the handle. Then, he brought it up and down a few times, hoping his Semblance would act up again, like it did when he was trying to escape this situation that was out of his work experience.
The handle worked perfectly. It couldn't have been more perfect.
Taiyang looked at the door handle, then slowly up the hand that held it and the arm it belonged to, and finally up to the face Qrow. The black-haired male's eyebrow was twitching fervently, and his smile was starting to shake. The blond started to cry again.
"You were trying to leave me!" he accused, hot tears like a geyser.
Qrow was at his side in the blink of an eye, sitting on the bed - on a dry spot - and a hand on his brethren's shoulder. "No no no! See, I'm here! Brother, I would never ditch you in your time of need, you know that! I'm your pal! Friend, buddy, guy dude, you name it!"
"Yeah, whatever. This...sorry. I'm just having a hard time right now."
"Is it because of combat class?" A nod. "Taiyang, it's only been three weeks."
"Almost four. It's practically been a month," Taiyang pointed out.
Qrow ignored the correction. "Literally, all of us are suffering in his class. There's no reason to feel this bad."
The blond took a sharp intake of air and brought up a pillow to his face. A muffled scream wrought with anger and guilt was deafened by the furniture, but Qrow was still able to hear it. He heard his teammate's garbled scream once more and uncomfortably looked away, out the window where night was creeping upon the land of Remnant.
It's not that he couldn't completely understand where Taiyang was coming from, but that he didn't want to. Naruto was a harsh professor, but he was also one spoke honestly and taught fairly. Forgiving and unforgiving at the same time. If a student made a mistake or said something particularly rude, Naruto would no doubt be on their ass in a second with a look or a new lesson. Usually, the student would come to realize their viewpoint was wrong and would apologize or come to class with a refreshed state of mind.
But this didn't take away from the fact that many first year students were having difficulty keeping up with the curriculum at Beacon with the rigorous combat class in addition to the five other classes that required mental concentration. The idea behind having combat class as the final lesson of the day was so that students could get their body moving and do what felt most natural to them; after all, they've all practically trained to fight their entire lives. Fighting should be second nature to them. That was the idea, according to many of the older students.
Qrow inwardly laughed at the faces at every single student with that opinion. Yeah, that would be the case if the professor wasn't a taskmaster and kick everyone's asses every day. Team STRQ was lucky in the fact they haven't been sore after the weekend. Yet. And they haven't experienced any sprained muscles, unlike a few of the others students in their class. Yet. But that didn't mean they weren't getting dragged through the mud, figuratively, every day with the professor demanding the most out of their body and more.
Every day, they would come back to their dorms, brains a scrambled mess of mush and jumbled nonsense. Dinner was usually a quiet affair, with even Summer's enthusiasm curbed. They were starting to get used to it, so their energy levels by the end of the day were picking up, but it was still rough as all hell.
So yeah, Qrow understood. Didn't mean he accepted it.
"I know this looks like I'm running away, but - "
"That's because you are running away." Taiyang glared at him with teary eyes. He raised his hands defensively. "Woah, don't look at me like that. I mean, I guess you're sitting away from class, but you're still 'away', which is the whole point." Qrow dropped his hands to his thighs. "Let's be honest to ourselves for a second. You think sitting around is going to bring your morale back up? That you'll suddenly find some enlightenment or reason to get stronger and come back to class with all of your might?"
Taiyang's silence spoke volumes. Raven's younger brother shook his head.
"That isn't how it works."
"What do you know?" It was nary a whisper, but it was enough. Qrow's eyes flinched, widening in slight irritation. "You never had your pride crushed in front of everyone. And after that, everyone whispers about how you're the weakest, even though you try your best to show that you aren't. The past four weeks, everyone's been comparing me to that one guy that ran out of class to throw up. It sucks!"
Qrow didn't know how to respond. So he didn't. He didn't know how to tell Taiyang how entitled he was acting. four weeks? Try ten years of the clan looking down on you because of something you can't change: your Semblance. At least one could always change their reputation. He was living proof of that. After all, his reputation had died practically overnight after his bad luck became common knowledge. And lack of conviction and feeling weak...did this guy really not at all consider that his sister was Raven Branwen?
"Qrow?" Taiyang seemed worried.
"I think you should go to Naruto's office hours," he spouted without thinking about anything. He was starting to feel sick. "The guy's harsh, but he's nice. I'm pretty sure he'll listen to your complaints and give you better advice than I ever could." He stood and walked out of the room after saying, "I'm going to get some dinner with the other two. See you later. Oh, and our dear team leader is worried about you in the forests; might want to tell her that you're alive."
The door closed harshly, and Taiyang was left alone to his thoughts again. He couldn't help but think that he had said something wrong to make Qrow leave, but he wasn't sure what.
'Great, something else to mull about.' His expression quickly turned dour. Wiping at his eyes, he removed the excess moisture and brought his hands in front of his eyes to inspect them. They were hands to fight. To prove his strength. To show that he was a capable Huntsman-in-the-making. And yet, his first day at Beacon had only shown him how far he was from his goals. His teammates were also more capable than he. Raven landed a slight hit on the professor, Summer was a tactical genius and prodigy in combat, and Qrow hasn't given up despite how much strife the professor gave him.
In every way, he was inadequate compared to his team. And the other students saw it, and picked him out every time. It only made it worse when he saw Raven improving so rapidly in combat class, with her base speed and strength growing at abnormal rates. She took to the kid's training like a fish in an ocean, suddenly finding itself in a huge world filled with things that it didn't know but wanted to know. She took in everything, learning everything with methodical precision, and training later after class to practice to reaffirm what she learned that day. It was absurd how dedicated she was to improving her skills.
Summer was a different affair. If Raven learned that there was an ocean after joining class, then Summer already knew of its existence and had been quite comfortable in it for some time. But she was never curious about it until she came to Beacon. She was too shy to explore its depths. The professor was slowly egging the girl, coaxing her to break out of her shell. It would only be a matter of time until he succeeded. At least, that's what he thought. In his eyes, the professor had yet to err on his approaches with his students and his lessons.
And Qrow...he complained. The guy complained as much as he did. But he never quit. He would talk crap about all of the professors, about how the lessons were slow or difficult to comprehend, but he never said that the professors were bad or their lessons useless. The days were never useless in his eyes. Like Raven, he came with the intent to learn.
So...what was he doing here? What was he, Taiyang Xiao Long, doing here at Beacon? It was to get strong originally...but seeing so many talented individuals scared him. It was frightening to be the weakest one of the team when he was originally the strongest in his entire school. Maybe he wasn't one of the weaker students in the entire first year class, but it didn't matter. Not to him. He was letting his team down.
And he was only making it worse by skipping class.
Qrow was right. He was running away.
With furrowed eyebrows, Taiyang clenched his fists, mentally assuring himself that he would right things. He pulled out his Scroll, sent a quick message to Summer to tell her that he was alive and safe, and washed his face to remove signs of his recent weeping. Right before he left, he changed into some more comfortable clothing that allowed for mobility. However, he also realized one thing -
"Where...are Professor Naruto's office hours?" He was stumped. His hand was literally inches away from the door handle until his mind came to a screeching halt at the random inquiry that popped up.
The door handle came down and the door opened, and Raven stepped in. Sweaty and looking thoroughly beaten, the older Branwen looked far too pleased for one that looked like she had been sent through the ringer. Her black hair was slick and sticking to her forehead and cheeks, and her red shirt clung to her body in a provocative manner that did little to hide her curves and toned body. Her black shorts that stopped at her upper thigh, exposing her muscled thighs and calves.
She dropped the smile and the light in her eyes disappeared like ashes in the wind at the sight of him. She walked passed him into the room and went to her desk, dropping off her notes and workout gear.
"Did you spar with the professor again?" He was bothered by the silence and the way she ignored his presence. Usually, she wasn't this reserved.
"I did." The answer came tersely. He flinched.
'No! Taiyang Xiao Long, you have to prove that you're here at Beacon for a reason. You have to right this situation!'
He plastered a smile and said, "That's great! See, I also wanted to see the professor to get some tips. Do you know where his office hours are, by any chance?" Raven turned around with a water bottle at her lips, a single eyebrow raised in amusement. She seemed mildly interested. Entertained, almost. "No?"
She took a few sips from her bottle and placed it behind her before leaning back so that her butt was against the top of her desk. "I do," she said after a long pause. "Why?"
His grin widened, a step closer to dealing with his problem. "Great! And I told you already why. I want to get tips." His smile faltered when she crossed her arms, yet her amusement remained. "Is there something wrong with that?"
She shook her head. "Nothing wrong with what you're saying, but your words don't match up with your actions." Her finger tapped against her biceps, noticeably more defined and toned than when she first entered Beacon. He gulped. It was kind of hot. Raven made to speak again before a confliction flashed through her eyes, and her amusement left with it. A new, calmer disposition displayed itself on Raven. "Go to the grassy hill outside of the library. You'll find him there with a couple of other students; they're always there."
"Thanks, Raven." She simply pointed at the door. "Yeah, got it. Just curious though, how'd you know where his office hours were? You've gone to them?"
"Because he told the entire class he has a staff room and he answers any questions there. And no, I haven't actually attended an office hour." Technically, it wasn't false. She was only there for the first time for a few minutes and spoke with Glynda, and then she left. She had asked the professor why he never told the class about the other office hours he held outside of his normal hours, and his response was that the class wouldn't be able to rest and recuperate properly if they joined in on for more training. To him, it was more important that they came to class the next day with a ready body and an open mind; any more information or training would be overloading what they could intake. Perhaps in another month when they had grown accustomed to the pace of the classes, he would inform the class about his other office hours, but he nor she wasn't sure. But, she began to understand why Glynda felt that he worked himself far too much. It was ironic he felt that the class was unable to take any more lessons or physical training, but he took it upon himself to take care of more students' growth and finally train on his own after a late dinner. Which was, of course, after he analyzed the day's progress and footage of the spars during his office hours.
Glynda Goodwitch was a godsend for his lifestyle and his lack of time management when it came to general office work.
"Wait, then why am I going to this other place?" She gave him a pointed look, as if he were a simpleton.
"Because that's where he is." She turned away and sat down at her desk, already a book in her face. Taiyang took this as her way to saying that the conversation was over and opened the door and walked out after a moment of hesitation.
Raven stayed still for a few moments, the book untouched and the words unseen by her eyes.
She had been at Beacon for almost a month, and she was still not completely used to the schedule. Mentally, she may be. Physically, her body was not adjusted for the expectations that Naruto had for her and every other student. It was progressing to the point that thirty minutes of stretching before she went to sleep would find her comfortable and nimble, but still slightly sore. Add that she trained with Naruto after class every other day until she ran out of Aura, she felt quite lucky to have only been sore.
Plenty of other students have thrown up during class. Signs of a weak constitution and bad eating habits, clearly. If they took care of their bodies, slept early, and had eaten healthy and at a proper time to allow themselves to digest the food, they most likely would not have succumbed to the hour long training sets Naruto had dished out.
She closed the book and leaned back with a sigh so that her head was tilted up towards the ceiling. She was exhausted, but in a refreshingly content way. Training took everything out of her, but it filled her with a sense of fulfillment. Even if to her, the progress wasn't particularly noticeable, the professors seemed to notice. Not only was Professor Naruto complimenting her growth, but even some of the other professors had taken it upon themselves to notice her dedication and compliment her when she was leaving class. For what reason? She had no clue.
It was...different.
Different from her life back at the tribe. A far cry from the way she used to live with her brother. Compliments weren't handed out; a grunt of acceptance was the equivalent of saying "you've done a fantastic job," except the tribesmen never used the word 'fantastic' ever. And Kami forbid that they directly tell you that you've done a good job. They may as well have bowed down and worshipped her. A simple "you're alive" was considered fairly amicable.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, I'm saying 'Kami' now because of that professor. Who is that?"
She closed her eyes with a sigh, letting the day's toll escape with her breath. She'd need to take a shower and stretch, and then have dinner. Maybe Summer would join her if she made it back from the forest in time. She wanted to get her mind off the blond idiot on her team that skipped class; what a fool. Raven simply couldn't imagine giving up a day of training from such a source; Professor Naruto was simply too valuable as a resource. She had half a mind to not tell Taiyang where Naruto would be, but decided against it knowing that the professor would want to help and would probably get involved if she didn't say anything.
That'd be even more of a hassle.
"What a frustrating professor."
Her voice was not at all harsh.
It took a bit of time, but Taiyang did find where Naruto was holding his second office hours. In a clearing that basked in the glow of dusk, the blond professor and his students were seen like silhouettes, some meditating and sparring. He shoved down his hesitation and marched forward.
"Taiyang. Good of you to join us today. How may I help you?" Taiyang recoiled inwardly. The professor hadn't even turned to look in his direction! How did he notice him?
"I, uh...wanted some advice." He sounded unsure. It wasn't supposed to come out weak and feebly spoken, but it just did. Naruto turned to face him, and his eyes were calm and steady.
"I am perfectly content with giving advice to a student. However, I would like to ask about your absence from class this evening. Was there something that happened?"
Taiyang knew he couldn't lie. The professor was staring straight through him, as if his soul was in plain view of him. He looked away and scratched his cheek with a finger. "No...no, nothing happened. I skipped class and spent the time in my room. I apologize, professor." And he meant it. Standing here, in front of the professor, the guilt ate away at his conscious like nothing else. Not even getting caught by his mom with his hand in the cookie jar was comparable to this.
The calm disposition lifted and a smile stretched the younger teen's cheeks. "That's alright. I'm glad that you apologized. You have a good soul, Taiyang."
Taiyang raised his eyes and an eyebrow. That was the first time he received a compliment of that kind. Good-looking. Strong. Built. Aesthetic. Those were compliment he had all received. Never before had he been given a praise that lauded his inner works.
"Let's sit down; the young soldiers will be sparring for a while, and Glynda will be watching them as well, so they'll bother her if they have any questions or want feedback."
"Oh, no." Taiyang raised his hands in a cross. He looked over and did see Glynda writing down notes on her Scroll as she analyzed the spar from her vantage point. She was wearing a casual black T-shirt with purple gym sports. Her hair was done in a ponytail, and it looked mesmerizing. He forced his head to creak back to face Naruto, and he smiled shakily. "I don't mean to intrude; if there's a better time, I'll ask then."
"This is the best time, Taiyang." The professor's grin softened. "Besides, I'll get a recording of the fight, too, so I can send feedback after reviewing the footage, so don't worry about me taking the time to answer any questions."
The blond student began to realize why Raven was rather comfortable around this professor in particular. In front of every other professor, she was frigid and had a stone exterior. But this one brought her out of her shell and was capable of making her act on whims from her emotions, and it was starting to make sense. He was able to placate his worries and assuage all of his discomfort in a single sentence with superb ease. His shoulders lost its tension as he released a breath he didn't know he held in vexation.
"Alright. I'll sit with you, professor." So he sat cross legged next to the professor that was already making himself comfortable on the grass.
"Naruto is fine. We're not in official class hours, and I don't particularly care for most cases of decorum unless absolutely necessary. Besides, I'm technically younger than you are."
Taiyang felt unsure, but decided to accept the proposal. "Naruto, then." A nod and a smile, confirming that was the right decision. "I want to ask what I should do to become stronger."
Naruto closed his eyes and leaned back so that his head was tilted up. One leg was propped up with the other bent and low against the ground. "I suppose the first step would be to come to class, Taiyang. I don't teach frivolous affairs; I teach combat that will assist you in the real world of Huntsman." Taiyang flinched, but Naruto continued to prevent the blond from speaking out and breaking his flow. "The second step would be to apply what I teach and train. Train wherever and whatever you can, and do it so often that it becomes your lifestyle. It becomes ingrained in your daily life to the point that no one questions whether you are a true Huntsman or not.
"But probably the most important thing is the 'why' of the training. Why go through all of this training and put yourself through this kind of lifestyle day after day to become strong?"
Taiyang didn't have an answer to Naruto's question. He knew he wasn't meant to answer it, but he couldn't help but try. He only drew blanks.
"Tell me, do you like your team?"
He thought about the off-angle question. He enjoyed his time with Summer and Qrow when they played board games, and Raven would watch from the side. He liked eating dinner with them, despite how little they spoke due to their exhaustion by the end of the day. And he saw the benefits of their team. Summer and Raven were strong for their year, and Qrow was no pushover himself. In fact, he was the only one that felt lacking in comparison to his team.
"I do." He stared across the field and watched his seniors spar. It was beautiful to watch Huntsman fight with a skill that he didn't know existed. "I feel like I'm the one holding them back, though."
"And how does skipping class help that?"
Taiyang held back a snark out of instinct. This professor really knew how to press the right buttons. "It doesn't. I know that."
Naruto, for the first time since they sat down, opened his eyes and looked at him. "I don't think you really do know what it means. If you know, then you would take responsibility for your efforts, rather than for your lack thereof. You apologized, and I accepted, so that is enough for me. But I know it won't satisfy you until you take the action to appease your own conscious. After all, saying something and doing what needs to be done are two separate matters that cannot be compared.
"It's easy to say you want to be strong. But no student of mine should ever look at his teammates and come to the conclusion that skipping class is the correct answer to their dilemma. No friend of mine, since we are speaking in familiar terms, should be like that either. Take responsibility and train. Train like your life depends on it, and that theirs depends on your strength as well.
"Because someday, the delicate balance of life may be tipped in one way or the other, and you may be the factor in the scales."
A slow breeze brushed by the campus, and it carried with it a silence that muted everything it touched. All around the two, nothing else was heard but the sound of their breathing. When the zephyr passed through and was gone with the wind, the noise of life resumed and the day continued.
"That is the reason that the 'why' of becoming strong is so important. No one will put themselves through the grind of training every single day and aspire strength to the point of breaking their body down if they don't have the reason to do so. My reason to is to protect. It's a broad reason and is bound by the limits of what one is willing to do, but it's beautiful to me. To protect my students, to protect this campus and the happiness it provides, to protect the kingdom of Vale so that they may only complain about their mundane lives and never know anything outside of normalcy. That is why I train."
Taiyang watched as Naruto turned away from his eyes and shifted his focus to the fourth years, and he began to understand how much Naruto loved his students. The way he watched them, it was more like a father than a professor. It reminded him of the way his own dad would look at him in pride when he thought he wasn't looking, especially after he informed his family that he had been accepted into Beacon.
A sense of comfort and discomfort both grew, the dichotomy raging in his chest as they both vied for superiority. Naruto was younger than he was, but he was stronger... so much more powerful to the point that the staff of Beacon had unanimously accepted him as a professor for combat. And he was so calm and patient with every student, imparting lessons for the past month as effectively as he could, never raising his voice and dropping his smile. In comparison, he felt despondent. He wanted Naruto to look at him with those same eyes of warmth and pride, but he didn't want to disappoint him, either.
He was afraid. He was afraid of failing and not meeting the expectations of the professor, his team, his family, and especially his own expectations marked by himself. That was his biggest fear.
"These hands would never have been able to protect them all if I never took my first step. Taiyang Xiao Long, I believe it's time you took yours, don't you think?"
Metaphorical chains crumbled into dust as Naruto looked at him with the eyes that caressed his soul tenderly and carefully.
Why should he be afraid of failure when his professor wouldn't let him accept failure as the end? Why should he be worried about not meeting expectations if he never even tried to start? What good would it be to worry when the professor would do all the worrying for him?
Somehow, he could feel the thoughts conveyed from that single moment, but it was enough for him. There was no excuse.
"I want to be able to be useful to my team."
Naruto nodded, already understanding the intent behind the words he spoke.
"Then, I suppose that thou hast to hasten to begin."
'What?'
"Why do you sound so old?" Taiyang couldn't helped it. He laughed awkwardly at the unexpected change in tonality. As simple as that, the professor had completely broken the mood and lightened the atmosphere, matching it to the lightness of the air and the comfortableness of the fall night. Naruto chuckled along with him, humor clear as rain. It was the laugh of a person who had seen much yet still found something to be grateful for in the world. It truly did sound like one that had seen many years in life.
"Maybe because I am older. Or just more mature," the younger blond suggested, a joking inflection clear. The elder blond, yet the student, coughed.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to go with neither." Naruto let out a breath of amusement, snorting.
"Who knows? Time is relative."
"What does that even mean?"
"Ask a scientist."
"Aren't you a professor? A professor explains things, no?"
"It's not quite the same thing."
"Bah. So not only you're a prodigy that became the youngest professor at Beacon, but you're also wicked smart to the point you understand whatever a scientist would spout about. I was never any good at that; I just punched things. And you're the one telling me not to compare myself to others and feel bad about it?" A hand weighed down on his shoulder. Comforting and calm.
"It's because it's me that I think I can tell you not to compare to anyone. Don't think that I was always like this. Not even close. And there's a difference between wisdom and knowledge. I'm lucky to come into this world with both, but many people only have one asset for quite a long time. The just and the powerful don't always travel in a package. I want you to understand that." Naruto turned his head and stared at the clouds above. "There's a lot of bad out there in the world. I think that if you can at least not contribute to that bad, you've done more than enough. If you can make one bad turn into a good, you've created a miracle."
"...So what should I do?"
Naruto kept his eyes on the nimbus clouds. "Simple. You have to become strong enough to create a miracle every day. If you have a goal for every single day, then you won't think about the end of the week. The end of the year doesn't matter. Five years down the road isn't even on your mind, and whatever you imagine as the difference between your strength and however you perceive your teammates won't matter. There's no other way, really. I knew someone that was handicapped, you know? Born without a working Semblance, pretty much. He was ridiculed for even trying, and he was born unlucky. So weak that any student could've beaten him in grade school. But he was the hardest worker I've ever known. By the time he was old enough to enter any of the Academies, he was strong enough to beat almost every fourth year student. Eventually, he became fast enough that most trained fighters wouldn't be able to keep up with his speed. An inspiration, really." He looked at his students sparring, totally concentrated on beating each other in today's brawl. He smiled in reminiscence. "He was truly my Rock in life for a long time, the beautiful beast of an idiot."
Taiyang stared for a few seconds, stunned into silence. Gradually, something in his chest bubbled and frothed up to his lips, and then laughter shot out. It came like a geyser, abrupt and powerful, and the student kept laughing in bursts. He'd laugh until he had trouble breathing, and then he'd convulse as he tried to regain control over his lungs. Eventually, he ended up lying on his back, finding comfort in the grass and the light zephyr that smoothly floated across the land.
"You make it sound so easy; trust to try my hardest every day. To not care about whatever anyone else has to think about me. To ignore if people do have something to say. Work hard every day and become this speed monster, just like that?"
Naruto shook his head. "Working hard every day, if you have a goal in mind and want it as much as you want to breathe, is easy. To ignore what people think about you and what they say about you...it depends. It'll always sting. But if it doesn't even exist, why think about it? No one has been talking about you; everyone is struggling in their own ways and are focused on their own faults. And everyone has their role in life. You simply ended up as the tank for your team. That's simply how it is."
"Even for a talentless person like me?"
Naruto ripped his gaze away from his fourth year students and directly eyed Taiyang, who noticed the shift in his professor's presence. "Never say you are talentless. That's an insult to those that have tried and could not make it." Self-pity was not welcome. The professor's eyes softened quickly after he spoke, and Taiyang relaxed, not even realizing that his body tensed when the cerulean eyes latched onto his form. "Do not lie to yourself, Taiyang. Many students have wanted to come to Beacon and have worked at it harder than you have in the past three and some weeks, and yet they failed after years of trying."
Taiyang realized that Nauto was right. He was looking at this all the wrong way. He was talented and faced his first roadblock, and now he was stuck. He was lost and complaining. He realized that perhaps that was what had upset Qrow; his lack of understanding and perspective. He had been upset at a few weeks of difficulty, but some students had given it their best and still faced failure in the face with no outs given. He was talented. He just never really realized it until Naruto shoved it directly in his face at this moment.
"...I'm sorry." To both Naruto and to Qrow.
"As long as you learn, it's fine!" A bright grin that shined like the sun, ever so blinding in the dark that was slowly pervading the land. "Also, people that try hard and say they are talentless are also wrong; I believe that hard work is a talent as well."
Taiyang's heart throbbed, hoping for a chance at a possibility. "Do you think I can train as hard as he did?"
"...No. I don't recommend it," Naruto denied, a quizzical frown on his lips. "Not saying that you can't, because you are more than welcome to give the training regimen a shot, but I don't think it's possible when you have to deal with schoolwork and classes at the same time."
Taiyang felt a sinking despair gnawing at his throat, preventing him from speaking. He grappled in indecision and shoved it aside to reconcile with his image of himself in his mind. His perception of himself was his alone; he'd have to fix it by himself, step by step. And the first step in this goal of his was to ask.
"Alright, I'm the tank. What should I do?"
There was a momentary silence where Naruto pondered, and a slow smile spread across his lips uncomfortably. Somehow, Taiyang really, really wished he never asked that question. Because for some really impossible reason, it was as if Naruto knew he was going to come ask for help from him today and was prepared to offer him his advice. And his advice came in the form of - "Those are weights." Naruto was holding up two metal weights, one in each hand, directly in front of him with ease. Except, those weren't like the weights that were wrapped around the ankle and the students were able to exercise with a bit of struggle.
Naruto grinned. The fact that it was full of dedication to his student and goodwill actually frightened him more, because it meant that Naruto meant the best for him. Even if the best for him implied pain on pain on pain.
"Just because I said you can't train as hard as he did, doesn't mean you can't train like he did. These are special; I made them myself for the sole purpose of training my strength, my stamina, and my speed. They may look like they weigh about ten pounds together, but you'll be carrying about ten times that on each leg."
Taiyang gagged. "One h-hundred pounds?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, confused and why Taiyang was hyperventilating. A glint shone as he came to a conclusion.
"Oh, you're scared because it's a different standard of measurement! It's about forty-five kilograms per leg."
"FORTY-FIVE KILOGRAMS!"
"...Yes? Would you prefer it in nanograms?"
"Please, professor. Just stop." Taiyang was in the same position for a few moments, staring oddly at the contraption that the blond held in his hands with relative ease. Two hundred pounds in the air with bent arms directly in front of the blond, but the professor hardly seemed to notice. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? He steeled his resolve. He said he would work on his deficiencies, and his most glaring one was speed. If the weights would help him, then he would do it. "I'll take those."
He reached out for the weights with one hand for each. When Naruto let go of them, Taiyang's arms went straight to the ground and the weights smashed against the grass, toppling the student with them. Adjusting to the difficulty of the task at hand, Taiyang used both hands to put on the weights, and then stood up.
"I'll...do my best with these, Naruto. Thank you." He then nodded and began to walk away.
"Taiyang." Something about the way the professor said his name made the student curious as to what the professor had to say. He spun slowly, the weights dragging him down. But he faced his professor nonetheless, waiting. The professor was smiling at him; Taiyang could've have sworn he saw an innocent smile.
He was wrong.
"Catch."
Huntsman are trained from a young age to hone their instincts. They're able to tell when something is hostile or amicable. It's an ability that is necessary for survival, and it never goes away, no matter how many years Huntsman take away from the missions and the battlefield. Taiyang was still young; he had yet to become a fully fledged Huntsman, but his intuition was as good as any other. Being the case, his primal senses screeched to flee, and he listened. His body broke his limiters as he poured Aura throughout his body to strengthen it as he jumped away hard enough to negate the effects of the weights.
Thud.
Two additional weights landed where he was standing, a small crater where the metal bands landed. He stared at the marred earth that the weights had dented, then slowly shifted his gaze up to his professor with a gobsmacked expression. Naruto was looking at him expectantly, as if he wanted him to pick it up and wear them. There's no way, right?
"Those are for your arms."
"...No, those really aren't."
In the end, he put them on as well. It was only when he was actually leaving that Naruto informed him that the weights had a lock system and that there was no way to take it off without a key.
An exhausted, defeated, and crushed Taiyang slowly dragged his body across the hallways, his feet barely lifting off the floor with each step taken. Plenty of students caught sight of him and starting laughing.
Somehow, it didn't bother him as much as it normally would. It may be due to the fact that he heard whispers from a few students he passed saying it was another one of Naruto's crazy training schemes. The group of students weren't quiet about it, cackling with manic laughter in memory of having done it themselves. Taiyang recognized those four; they were one of the strongest fourth-year teams in Beacon!
"Oh man, that kid's making him do it also? That's hilarious!"
He ignored the pitying looks from his peers and accepted the ones that laughed at his plight because they understood why he was even in his current situation. Namely, only the fourth years recognized what training he had just started, and all of them had emotions of amusement and encouragement.
"Good luck, kid! You're going to need it to survive!"
"Thanks!" He groaned out, roughly. He probably should have focused on breathing only; talking took out more from him than he expected.
Regardless, he was in front of his room in a few minutes. With great effort, he raised his arm to slap his hand against the door handle and unlock the door and pushed it, giving him access to his safe space.
Raven, Summer, and Qrow all stare at him from their spots in the room.
Summer rushed up to him, eyes roaming him like a doting mother. "Are you alright? Did you get bullied? Did an invisible Grimm find you and take you away? What happened?"
'What the? Invisible Grimm?' He looked over to the other two, but they shook their head in unison to tell him not to ask.
He tried to raise his arms to give a placating gesture, but he completely forgot about the weights tying his wrists down. He strained at the movement and quickly gave up, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. "I'm fine; no invisible Grimm, thankfully." This seemed to calm his team leader a bit. "I just needed some time to myself and spent some time with the professor after classes."
Summer made a circle with her mouth. "Oh! So that's what happened!" She smiled at him, a grin full of teeth. "Are those where you got these gadgets? What are those?" She was pointing at the four weight attached to his limbs.
"My suffering," he answered sourly. "In the form of three hundred pounds of locked weights." He met his gaze with Qrow and nodded. "But I'll be fine."
Qrow grunted and rolled over in his bed so that his back was to Taiyang. "Good for you, buddy. Now shower and get some sleep, because you're screwed for tomorrow."
"He means you're glad you're alright," Summer said, regaining his attention. "He was worried about you, you know? Even thought about messaging the professor to reduce your punishment." Taiyang blanched, suddenly recognizing a specific detail he had yet to think of. Summer raised her eyebrows and brought a finger to her lips. "What? You didn't know that there was a consequence for skipping class, Mr. Law Breaker? You've violated the law. You have to pay a fine or serve a sentence, you know?"
"..."
Qrow was the first to react, cracking up and howling with laughter, his arms wrapped around his stomach. He had turned around and caught sight of Taiyang twitching slowly, the blond student realizing the peril he was in.
The last student that had ditched Naruto's class had openly said he did it to take a day off and visit Vale. No excuses or anything. Haughtily and bravely in front of the entire class halfway through the session. He did little to earn the pity of his peers, therefore, when he was forced to do everything the class was doing, but with something Naruto said would make the workout 'a little harder.' When everything was breathing lightly after five minutes for warmup, he was passed out on the ground, eyes closed and gasping for air as his lungs couldn't keep up with his body's demands.
A little harder, their ass.
"I wish you luck, cowardly soldier. May you survive tomorrow yet." Raven smirked. "And take a shower. You've been rolling in the grass and it's getting on the floor."
Summer zipped behind him and started to push him to the bathrooms, only to stop when she caught something taped to his back.
"Hello, Team STRQ. On this paper, I have clipped on a key to Taiyang's weights to remove them. In no circumstance are you to give this item to Taiyang himself; one of the other three must have it in their possession at all times and must only allow him to take it off for when he sleeps, uses the restroom, or in dire circumstance. Otherwise, have it on your possession and work as a team to succeed in this mission."
- Blond Professor with Spiky Hair.
Summer couldn't help it. She started to giggle. It was slow, then it built up to the point that she was full-out laughing. This professor was really something.
When she read it aloud for the other three, Taiyang's face only became paler when he realized that his teammates would actually follow the professor's instruction to the letter. No questions asked.
"Oh fu - "
"Language, mister!" Summer calmed herself, but she still had the vestiges of humor in her body as she shook minutely occasionally. "You must serve your sentence. You must listen to the Queen of the Kingdom."
Suddenly, the mood of the two boys fell through the ground as haunted memories came to the forefront of their minds.
"...I'm going to bed." Qrow was already throwing the blankets over himself and fluffing up his pillow. "She thinks herself a Queen. Funny joke." He was not laughing. "Well, I don't respect this Queen. She's too harsh against me. Always kills me first."
Summer sputtered, confused as she frantically swapped her focus between Taiyang and Qrow like a lost lamb. "B-but what did I do?"
"You enjoyed killing me last every time, Summer." Taiyang grumbled from in front of her. "Always gave us hope, only to tear us down all the same. So cruel. You're worse than Naruto."
The leader floundered. "No! I am not cruel! Don't compare me to our professor, either! I don't make you guys do two-hundred pushups with weights on your back!"
"Still cruel." Taiyang called out to Qrow. "Brother, please take the key away from this tyrannical team leader."
Qrow didn't even turn around. "Of course, Brother. I'll even walk with you to the bathrooms and take off the key when you are ready to release."
Summer's face reddened deeply, the responsibility she felt placed on her slipping from her fingers. "I'll walk with you to the bathrooms, too! I'm responsible! You'll see!"
"..."
"..."
The two guys didn't know what to say. So they remained silent, as Summer's cheeks flushed like a volcano.
"...Good, you guys finally shut up. Please, keep your mundane stupidity to a minimum when I'm trying to sleep," Raven spoke, breaking the shocked silence.
"Raven, it's kind of hot when you're harsh to me."
"Brother, I will stab you in your sleep."
"Yes, Brother. Understood. I'll shut up and take a shower. Please, dictator, take me away."
"Dictator?!" She was appalled. Distraught. Wrongly accused.
"Dictator of the Kingdom, please take the shackles off of our Law Breaker so he may take a shower and fall into a slumber. Thank you, Dictator." Qrow then turned over in his blankets again and fake-snored. No one bought the act other than Summer.
Summer cried about the cruelty of the world as she unlocked the weights from Taiyang. She continued to mumble that the world was unfair, and unforgiving and harsh, its denizens rough and callous. Even after Taiyang finished his shower, she was still sputtering quietly.
"Good night, Summer?"
"If the equator had the density of a black hole, even that would not be able to consume the harsh reality that we live in and end our unive - "
The rest of team STRQ managed to somehow get a full night of rest bar Summer, who woke up with light panda eyes.
To her, however, it was her victory. She still had the key.
One week.
One week of absolute torture. Painful, detestable, horrid training. Everything Naruto told them to do, Taiyang cursed as he was forced to do it with the three hundred pounds weighing him down. It was everything short of impossible, because he wouldn't let himself say so. When his lungs swore at him for not letting them breathe for two hours, and his thighs and arms started to crumple and his form drooped and became sluggish, he refused to fall to the ground. He would not fail.
And he didn't. Not once did he touch the ground with his back flush against the ground unless it a break was called for.
All of the teams in the first year class had noticed his new setup and had given him odd and interested looks, but he ignored them. They weren't important. His success was. The other professors in his class simply saw him and continued their lecture; it dawned on him that he really wasn't the only student to undergo this kind of training. The fact that none of them questioned it spoke volumes to him. They must have known how effective the training style was in order for them to not speak up against the nearly torturous style of training.
So he remained silent, not once complaining. The only times he complained was when Summer actually followed through with her promise and followed him to the men's bathroom, key in hand. He wanted to see if she would actually follow through with her words. His answer was her actions.
In a roundabout way, this cemented the idea that doers were the ones that pushed forward and lead the way in the world. When turbulent winds pushed them back, the ones that took action would drive forward without question. Without hesitation. With fear, but courage as well. It culminated in a resolve that burned in lukewarm embers that rose to great flames whenever Naruto would nod at him in class when all of the other students were in conversation with each other, not looking.
On the fifth week of classes on Friday, Naruto pulled him aside and said words that gave him great joy and pain.
"For the spars today, you can take off your weights. But they're getting locked right back afterwards."
Taiyang gave the professor a mixed grin. Half of his face seemed to be frowning, whereas the other seemed elated. "Understood, Naruto."
Naruto laughed and slapped him on the back. "Decide on how to feel! Alright, let's get this started with you going to the seats, yes?"
A few minutes later, and class began.
Except with something new.
An overpowering smell of coffee invaded everyone's senses first. When the students looked over to the open door, a man stepped in, the black dress shoes echoing in the now silent room. A black overcoat with a dark olive button-up tucked inside of his black, sleek pants. Messy black hair - with hints of gray already coming in - stopped a few inches short of the green scarf that wrapped around the neck of the man. A set of intelligent eyes behind a pair of narrow-rimmed glasses peered at the class in a kind of stare that made everyone feel naked in his gaze.
It was then that many of the students realized the difference that the way one looked at another could give a completely different impression. When Naruto looked at them, they felt that their soul and thoughts were open to his scrutinizing stare. But the intention was always to help them improve and to become better people.
"Headmaster Ozpin, welcome to combat training for newbies and how to get a six pack. How may I help you today?"
Ozpin seemed very much the same, a warm visage and a light smile tipping his lips upward with a slight lift. His cane and mug of coffee gave him an air of casual comfort and relaxation. This man also wanted the best for the students, and it appeared to be for similar reasons that the blond professor had.
Raven couldn't help but feel that there was an underlying discordance between the two, however. Somewhere in between the two smiles of the professor and the headmaster, there was an intent that, if she were skilled enough, would be able to pinpoint the difference and recognize what it meant. Alas, she couldn't.
No one could.
After all, how could a student recognize the machinations of a man that had lived for thousands of years. Only a fraction of that time would be necessary to be able to hide one's intents and expressions behind a mask of warm indifference. Any position of responsibility would be a trifling matter to copy and slip into if one could make the right expressions and speak the correct words, as long as the intelligence and knowledge was there.
Which was why Raven wondered why Naruto looked at Headmaster Ozpin with a smile that was oddly off kilter.
"Why is the professor smiling like that?" Summer asked. "It's like he knows what Ozpin knows, but Ozpin knows that he knows, and he knows that Ozpin knows that he knows, so they both stay silent."
"..."
Not what she exactly had in mind, but it was close enough.
"Greetings, students." Ozpin's voice was clear and powerful, but also soft and resonant. "I hope that I am not impeding my visiting your class. I've heard a great many rumors about this class and it's improvements and wished to see it with my own eyes." Muted whispers broke out, but quickly flatlined when the headmaster spoke again. "I was lucky enough to have an open slot for the time of this class and would like to stay and watch, if that is alright with you all."
The students all looked excited. An electric energy, much like the first time they were allowed to use weapons in spars, filled the air and the whispers quickly grew into a cacophony of conversations. Raven and Summer watched as Naruto's smile never even flinched, even as the noise became louder. Usually, he would tell the students to quiet down with a look, but he ignored the noise in favor of maintaining eye contact with the headmaster with the same facetious grin he held for a minute. After all, it's not as if he could deny the headmaster a visit.
"Of course. Allow me to show you how much one of the students improved, Headmaster." The professor looked up to the stands, and silence in anticipation hushed the crowd. Many palms began to sweat, and hearts beat faster. The students wanted to be picked, but also didn't want to make a fool of themselves on the stage. No one wanted to be first. But they wanted to win and show themselves in a good light in front of the headmaster.
The professor took the possibility of a volunteer away from them by making eye contact with one particular student and calling out his name.
"Taiyang Xiao Long, come down to the arena!"
Chapter End
A/N:
First time doing a cliffhanger. More Adorkable Summer, Quippy Qrow, and Rough Raven. Sorry Summer, you're stuck with adorkable for now. Taiyang...I don't know. Anyone?
Thank you for reading! Please, leave a review and your thoughts. I love to read your reviews. It reminds me that this story is anticipated and that I got to work hard. To the reviewers that have left a comment on every single chapter, you have my special thanks. Absolutely makes my day to see familiar names in my review box.
That said, HERE WE GO!
Review Responses:
AsianZangWang: Thank you for your kind words. I've finished the majority of my assignments for the rest of the semester and was able to update this chapter. Now I just got finals and work, so it's pretty chill! Hope you are well!
Lokyloco: Yup! That's pretty much our girl! I decided this was going to be her personality, and I think it fits rather well. And wow, you really just predicted the Taiyang inadequacy arc. Maybe you'll be able to guess the next arc!
redlox2: Salem and Naruto is kind of difficult. I'm still thinking about it, honestly! As for the Fall Maiden...I don't know. I'll probably have to ask the Fandom or something. Wish me luck, haha. Thank you for the review and reminding me I need to do these things!
RadityaAreputra2403: Because wholesomeness is BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for the kind review and I hope this is keeping up!
Guardian of the Inheritance: Woah, he said GREAT. I'll take that very thankfully.
Slyfox9: Not bad, yourself.
daggercloak000: I feel so bad that you have to wait yet another chapter to find anything out about Naruto. He's probably the last person I'm going to reveal in this story, if anything.
AK-103: Cheers right back to you, mate! Thank you for the review and I'm glad you enjoy the interactions! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
jossblue13: Haha, I'm so happy that you like Summer! She's adorkable and amazing in the same bundle of awesome! I can definitely see Summer and Glynda both falling for Naruto, but I don't know how go about that kind of stuff. But we aren't even close to there yet, so we'll leave that stuff alone for a bit longer. And yeah, Kakashi and Sasuke is a pretty good comparison to what is happening between Naruto and Raven. Slight differences, but the similarities are there. Naruto teaches everyone, and that's a pretty stark contrast already, though.
Guest: Oof, I can't say anything because that's spoilers!
Paradoxity: You know, that's honestly one of my favorite compliments. Hearing that I nailed characters in a story is pretty much the highest praise, in my opinion. The interaction compliment is just icing on the cake! Haha, I totally get what you mean. Toxic relationships are like that, too. Man, I don't know if I could write a toxic relationship; that's just so rough. Also, I won't judge if you do drugs. 4/20 is the entirety of April now with the legalization of weed. Go crazy, but responsibly crazy. Thank you again. It was really nice to read your review.
R-king 93: Thank you! You're awesome, too, for leaving a review!
Roboticautumn: Woah another GlyndaXnaruto shipper. There's quite a few.
808Joker808: Hope the fleshing out is working! And yup, here's your 10k chapter, and may you live on and survive to the next week to see another! As for the girls, they'll get to know each other. Don't worry about that, haha. It's only a matter of time.
eniox27: Honestly, that's pretty much what Summer is. Ooooh, he caught Lavender. Nice! And yea, little details thrown like bread crumbs. There's one more in this chapter, but it's super obvious. You probably got it right away!
Dreams of NoBody: you know, that description of a bunny makes me recall Monty Python. Frightening bunny. Deadly bunster. And that's a good question that I think I can clarify. He lost 1% in a fight, so it does regenerate, but in that specific fight, she was able to dent him for 1%. Thanks for the question!
zaboi: Bless you and your review. Yeah, I guess it's compliment other writers without knocking down yourself. Thank you, again, and here's your chapter 6!
Home of the Brave: I'm glad you're enjoying the interactions between characters! I love writing that stuff, so happy to hear it's working out. As for Canon storyline, probably not. It's like...twenty years down the line? Again, I'm not too sure, but I don't think I should, simply because that means Naruto had no impact in the world.
TheSlySage: True, I do have the ultimate power, which is that whatever I want, I could make a reality in my story. You have some pretty nice guesses for his Semblance. Going to give you a hint: you're rather warm.
Guilty of Sloth: It's all about the character motives and their clashing personalities. Friction drives plots. I love that kind of stuff, and I also love your analysis. Team STRQ all suffered as a result of Ozpin's machinations, but I want to show what could happen in four years before they graduate so they experience a different outcome. Perhaps they will still fail, but the consequences would be different.
As for pairings, I am starting to become unsure. Raven is simply the main focus of this story, so I will keep the perspective mainly on her. Otherwise, however, the pairings are rather open, to be honest.
GamerX568: Thank you for the clarification. It was redacted and fixed!
mahouka9: Haha, I want to have Naruto go with Raven somewhere alone, but that probably won't happen at all for a long time. I do have a few possibilities planned, but those are also in quite a while. Maybe in about ten to twenty chapters? Hope you're still here by then!
YeTianshi: Yikes, the eggs are breeding? Might want to check how that's possible if they are breeding before they even hatch. Yeah, I made Summer into a child prodigy with lower self-confidence. Similar to Ruby, but with a slightly different worldview and a bit more mature. And weirder. And nope, it's not weird at all that you pair Naruto and Raven. There's plenty, although the majority seem to be in camp Glynda, and a few in even Summer's camp. I'm afraid if I introduce any women now, a new camp will be born. Frightening prospects.
Kanciano: Dude, it makes sense, haha. That's really all that matters. I still see if I do go that route, but if I do, it's definitely one of the more plausible solutions for when people go 'WHYYY NOT GLYNDA?!' And yes, NZ is amazing.
Nice theories. There was a huge bone of a hint given, so pretty sure you caught it and have some new theories to go with it. I wish you luck in guessing it!
Dasgun: T_T
Riba Nyabom: Summer is Op Op.
And yes, Naruto is still connected to the Narutoverse in a way, so I suppose then he is still Naruto. Woo! Thank you, haha!
Threatz2001: I think Naruto would understand Raven more, but I think RWBY hasn't really delved into Team STRQ enough at all for us to get an idea of why they even married. It's kind of rough, so at this point, anything goes! I don't know if Naruto would leave Beacon Academy and stop teaching his students. I think if something really drastic happened, then it's possible. I can't see it happening otherwise. But thank you for the idea!
Naruto x sister the best XD: I think it's more that Summer is...recognized? Slight crushing? But it's a tossup between those three at the moment!
Hirameki Kitsune: Absolutely, I want to differentiate Summer and Ruby. They're definitely similar, but I want Summer to be the leader of Team STRQ. They will have somewhat similar struggles, but personalities will be a bit different. Only a bit, though. Also, you have some really solid guesses. The readers are honestly kind of close. No comment, otherwise!
RamenMeister: The students have to know life isn't sunshine all the time, if ever, so there's reality. And don't worry! No tragic backstory for Naruto. It'll be fine, haha. No scarring, I promise! And good guess. Really good guess.
Summer is adorkable all the time! Bask in her glory!
It's possible that Raven goes back and trains her tribe, but that's so far down the line that I'd have to consider how to get to that point in the first place.
I just hope more people write their ideas and give their stories a chance to be uploaded. So many gems unpresented because they didn't want to take the step to show their works.
Naruto/Hina/Weiss honestly seems pretty reasonable if they had a pairing, not gonna lie. But again, dont' get your hopes up. If this story goes at the pace it's going, that might be years down the line, and life isn't linear. I might be working more or something, so chapters come out slower.
Haha, doing the stuff with Raven and Glynda. Interesting. I mean, it's possible, not saying it isn't. It just...is kind of hard to imagine right now. But like you said, four years down the line, so we're looking waaaay further down in chapter numbers! Again, thank you for your review and I really appreciate that you reviewed every chapter so far!
Slyfox9: Okay, you have five reviews. First off, thank you for reviewing on every single chapter! I really appreciate that, and am really glad that you gave this story a chance. I do think I should edit the first chapter so that it's more fleshed out. It was originally supposed to be a random idea, but it gained traction within the community, so I gave it a chance. I'm glad that I did, because it gave readers something to digest and you ended up giving it a chance. I think that's beautiful.
That said, pairings are all open at the moment and I'm not sure, so they're going to stay open! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that I keep seeing you around!
Guest: I can definitely see why people think reincarnation as well. Kek. I'm the author. And wow, that's high praise. That's really high praise to say I got character personalities spot on. Thank you so much!
WeedLovers: And goodbye again. Adieu until next chapter.
Parallel Demise: True, Naruto isn't the hardest worker early on. Rock Lee is probably a better example. But Naruto did work hard, and he had plenty of talent to push him to greatness. And I don't really want to compare Sasuke to Kakashi, Itachi, and the like. Especially not Boruto, haha. It's about relativity, I think. True, if you put Sasuke in the age of the Third Great Shinobi War, Sasuke would probably be not as impressive, but he also would have grown up in a society that lived in a time of war. He might be far stronger than he was in canon. This is all conjecture, but you're right. That said, I think it's hard to say 'but this person is more talented' because...well...they're still talented. Honestly, though, I'd love to have a discussion with you about this.
AnimeA55Kicker: Talk no Jutsu is a broken ability that has no failing capability. True story.
KakeruPB: Nope, nothing wrong with more Summer! Plenty of people have said as much, so I will eventually deliver! Don't worry, Adorkable Summer will come to the rescue!
AdriftinLight: ...I'm going to go edit the chapter so that the other team is BRGR now. What is it? Burgundy? Is it Burger? I don't know. Kekeke.
Artem-abramov-2004: wait, can you elaborate on Momoshiki and how he fits in? I just need to make sure we're on the same page here.
Jack the Sparrow: xD Naruto and Raven with Yang as a blond...blondshell...keke. And woah, a redhead Yang. Honestly...that's kind of hot to think about. Good idea. Really good idea.
Elmoslayer569: Only if you slay more Elmos.
Naruto Rose: Haha, I'm glad you gave this story a chance and I hope that you give Raven a chance in this story, too! A lot of people so far like Glynda. I'm not surprised, but the general support for her character is pretty amazing!
jjasonbornn: My life is kind of straightening out, so here is chapter 6. Hope you still enjoyed it!
Guest: PURE GOLD! THAT'S SOME RICH RICH COMING FROM THIS PERSON'S MOUTH! HERE'S A CHAPTER TO THIS GOOD PERSON, RIGHT HERE!
Raven: That WILL happen eventually, but I think it'll be quite a few chapters away because I still need to flesh out Team STRQ. Eventually, it'll come! Thank you for assuring me, though, that a flashback with Glynda is something readers would want. Have a good one!
TranquilPanda: It's a concept I feel that isn't explored much, which saddens me because I really like Raven's character. She's flawed, but in a way that is understandable. Thank you for the kind words and I hope you enjoyed the story!
Guest: Ahhhh another Glynda X Naruto connoisseur. You are one in many that love that pairing, and I shall add you to the rest of the camp. For real, though, so many people seem to like the two of them together. And I definitely see what you mean; you got to have balance in a good relationship. Thank you!
Guest: You're fantastic for leaving a review! Thank you!
Empyrean Asura: MORE ADORKABLE SUMMER! HERE TAKE MORE!
RandoFox: I hope it still looks to be a good story! And glad you like the way Naruto is acting, as well. Character interactions and portrayals dictate so much of story driven motives and the way it flows that if readers feel that I'm doing a good job with it, I'm supremely happy. So thank you!