Underneath the Underneath

by no169

Naruto finds himself in an unfamiliar land, facing unfamiliar monsters. Stripped of most of his power, he'll need to adapt to not only survive but to flourish. Can hard work and skill make up the difference? This is a story about recovering from disaster, overcoming great challenges, and adapting to incredible circumstances. Weiss x Naruto medium-burn. Mature Naruto.

5. Initiation

I forgot to add this to the original author's note, but there's a poll up for Naruto's semblance!

A/N: So here's chapter 5. It's a BIG one. 20,000 words. We've got initiation. We've got fightin. We've got team placements. We've got pairing development. We've even got a little bonus bit at the end that I wasn't expecting to write, yet there it be.

It was all an absolute blast to write, but don't expect chapters to be this big again. I swear I'll have better self-control.

There's a decent amount of combat here. I hope I helped improve Naruto's standing among the nerf-haters, if any of you are still sticking around.

I have a feeling this'll be one of the more contentious chapters for some readers.

xXx

For a brief moment, Naruto felt peace. Given his current situation, it may have been an odd sensation to be feeling. Being several hundred feet in the air with no discernable 'safe' way down was typically not the average person's definition of 'peace.'

But Naruto didn't see it that way. To him, ripping through the atmosphere at breakneck speeds was just an efficient way to travel. The feeling of fresh air on his skin and the weightlessness of freefall were liberating. It was as if the many burdens he'd gained over the past few months had all been left behind on that launch pad.

Speaking of the launch pad, that thing really had some power behind it. It was a good thing he'd had the mind to reinforce his legs with chakra before being sent off; otherwise, there was the very real possibility of it straining his legs.

Naruto enjoyed what little time he had in the air. It was as if he could fly again. Kind of. He wasn't exactly in control, nor was there any measure of stability, but it was still nice. The day itself was quite ideal. The sun was out in force, and a few token clouds dotted the sky. They'd likely burn away by mid-afternoon. It was shaping up to be another warm one, though given the density of the forest beneath them, there'd be plenty of shade to mitigate the heat.

Naruto smiled as he looked around the airspace. He could still see the faint outlines of some of the students sent before him. Each launch pad must have had varying levels of power behind them to avoid sending all the students to the exact same location. Some of the others looked to be pretty far away from him.

Naruto's eyes bulged as a blonde blur zipped past, nearly colliding with him. Was that Yang? The blur subsequently erupted into a fiery explosion, propelling it even further into the distance. A faint cry of 'woo-hoo' just barely managed to reach his ears, followed by several more explosions. Within seconds, the blonde blur had been reduced to a mere spec in the distance, then disappeared entirely.

Huh. That seemed even more efficient.

Eventually, Naruto's momentum could only take him so far, and gravity finally began to reassert itself. He sighed. It was fun while it lasted. Now it was time to decide how he was going to land. In the past, he could have easily just reinforced his body with chakra and crashed through the forest. He could still do that now if he wanted to, but his chakra was a limited resource; there were better ways to spend it. That also ruled out using his shadow clones to interrupt his momentum.

Unfortunately, the most economical landing strategy he could think of would also be the least original. Maybe that was a good thing? Naruto wasn't looking to stand out this time around. Given Ozpin's interest in him, he'd already made a mistake somewhere down the line. He just didn't know where. Yes, it was best to remain as inconspicuous as he could for the time being. Plus, the Headmaster had said so himself; this forest had eyes.

With that in mind, Naruto drew both of his chakra knives, flipping them into a reverse grip. After that, he picked one of the larger trees near his estimated lading zone and made several minor adjustments to his flight path. As he neared his chosen tree, he threw his arms and legs outwards, drastically increasing his profile. The resulting increase in air resistance nearly took him by surprise. His sudden reduction in velocity made his body lurch, but it was better to do this now than to reach the tree at full speed.

As soon as Naruto's blades cut into the tree's bark, he sent a surge of chakra into his arms and shoulders. The force of his momentum almost completely stopping was significant, and Naruto's arms threatened to be wrenched from their sockets. He held on tightly and swung his body as if swinging from a vine. The trench knives carved deep grooves into the tree as he spiralled down the base. Surprisingly, his momentum ran out about halfway down the tree, stopping several dozen meters from the ground.

Naruto hung from the tree awkwardly. He'd been expecting to carve a path all the way down to the forest floor, tuck into a roll, and come up walking away cleanly. Maybe his blades cut a little too deeply into the tree trunk? Naruto placed the soles of his feet on the tree, then applied a thin layer of chakra to them. He supposed he'd have to walk the rest of the way down.

After finally landing on the forest floor, the next step was to gather his bearings. He was supposed to head north, right? Or was it west?

Shit.

It was definitely probably north.

Naruto groaned. So maybe he didn't remember which direction to go; there was no sense in wasting time trying to remember something that wouldn't come back to him. Besides, he had a good feeling about north, which was good, right? It likely meant that he subconsciously heard 'head north' and just forgot. Second-guessing himself now would only make things worse.

Regardless, the more immediate problem was figuring out which way north was. In his youth, he was terrible at reading maps, picking directions, or anything geographical in nature. He'd gotten better during the war, primarily out of necessity. Locating an active battlefield instilled a sense of importance that schoolwork never could.

Before a decision could be reached, Naruto detected a low growling and the rustle of bushes coming from behind him. He smiled while readying his knives. Well, this was a combat test, was it not? Panning his eyes around, he entered a loose combat stance. Beady red eyes glowered at him from various bushes.

He seemed to be surrounded. Interesting. Was he being ambushed, or did he simply land in the center of their pack? This wasn't the first time he was beginning to suspect a higher level of intelligence from the creatures. They were so contradictory sometimes. On the one hand, people swore that they were mindless beasts that only cared for brutal violence. On the other hand, they clearly displayed, at the very least, animal-level intellect. Which was it?

The Grimm emerged from the bushes as one, surprising them with their coordination. They were the boar-type creatures, the aptly named Boarbatusks. Naruto hadn't had the pleasure of fighting this variety yet. It would be good to broaden his horizons. He eyed the beast's tusks and the thicker-than-average armour plates on their heads. Like their natural counterparts, they appeared to be adapted to frontline attacks. Their tusks were their primary weapons, while the front-loaded armour plating was an impressive defence.

Attacking them from the rear, where the armour was weak, would be ideal. Alternatively, their undersides were likely very soft, as was the case with most animals. However, that would be more difficult to execute, as facing off against a large group would make it challenging to capitalize on after flipping one. Naruto would have to be quick if he wanted to go that route.

If only he had a few earth-style jutsu, he could simply send a torrent of spikes up from under the beasts. The Boarbatusks snarled at him, their evil eyes piercingly simple.

The first one to charge was also the first to die. Naruto performed a quick sidestep, his feet deceptively light, like a dancer's. A reactionary swipe left the creature stumbling to the side, its body failing to realize it was already dead.

A second beast, seemingly outraged by the death of its kin, squealed in hatred and readied itself. Digging its feet into the ground, it hunched its front shoulders downward, bowed its head, and performed an odd maneuver. In its strange display, it began to rotate its body, spinning forward like a buzz saw. It was not dissimilar from Naruto's old friend Chōji Akimichi, whenever he would perform his Nikudan Sensha, the human bullet tank technique.

Like his childhood friend, the Grimm weaponized its entire body, and as if released by a switch, it shot toward Naruto at an alarmingly high speed.

Naruto rolled out of the way as the creature ripped past him. He felt the wind pass by his face from the near miss. It was cold and unpleasant. Like a barely dodged shuriken. The beast continued onwards, undeterred by its failure to hit. It maintained its momentum and ricocheted off the large tree in its way. Naruto was surprised that it hadn't simply gone through the evergreen.

With mild alarm, the creature's trajectory was again aimed at him. Naruto barely had enough time to dive out of the way yet again. Was it a lucky bounce or something more? He got his answer as, this time, he was forced to jump over the spinning hog.

It was a strategy.

Its method of attack was much more deliberate than Naruto had initially expected. This was made even more apparent as he noticed the rest of the Boarbatusks, some two dozen in total, were simply eyeing the blond as he bobbed and weaved. It was as if this were a gross mockery of pinball, and he was the pop bumper.

After several more violent passes of the pinwheeling warthog, Naruto felt he had a good enough feel for the creature's movements. Enough to do what he had planned, at least. As the monster made its next pass, Naruto sent a surge of chakra to his leg. He strained his eyes, focusing on the rotation of the beast. Tusks, teeth, and armour plates whirled.

There.

Naruto sent his foot into the proverbial blender. The steel-toe tip of his boot collided with the soft shoulder of the beast, missing its razor-sharp tusks and the hardened armour plate of its leg by millimetres. The Boarbatusk, either not expecting the retaliation or simply unable to defend against it, momentarily folded around the shinobi's foot and went flying like a kickball.

Directly into its friends.

The result was... more than Naruto had been expecting. He had expected some collateral. It was his intention, after all. What he got was much more. The first spectator struck was immediately gored, like someone's hand slipping into a belt sander. The spinning Grimm tore through its fellow, then immediately carved into the one beside it. The surrounding Grimm had been similarly caught unaware, as none seemed inclined to move out of the way. Three more Grimm were taken out similarly to the first until the spinning Boarbatusk finally ran out of momentum.

The impromptu buzz saw wasn't left undamaged, as even though it was the one dishing out the hurt, its unintentional victims were still Boabatusks. The warthog-Grimm had a formidable defence, so with each of its comrades it struck, it was similarly harmed by their protruding tusks and armour plating. The result was five dead Grimm, all from a single kick. Which incidentally, Naruto noticed that his leg felt perfectly fine. He'd timed his kick perfectly. He also suspected that his Aura had played a role in his leg's suspiciously soreness-free state.

The rest of the Gimm stared at him dumbfounded for a moment and, finally, seemed to process that he was a more significant threat than they had anticipated. Instead of retreating, or at the very least regrouping, like a normal animal would have, the beasts began to charge him haphazardly.

They came upon him without rhyme or reason, coming in twos and threes, sometimes solo. It mattered little; the battle lacked any real challenge. Before he knew it, Naruto began to zone out as he went through the motions of combat. A small part of him chastised himself. Overconfidence had already cost him recently; who's to say it wouldn't happen again?

But this wasn't overconfidence, was it?

Well, it was, but not in the same way. This may have been the perfect level of confidence. This attack as a whole was a nuisance, a chore at best. Once their initial tactics had been read, these opponents could hardly improvise or otherwise adjust their strategy. Especially when lacking an alpha.

Naruto drove the blade of his knife into the eye socket of a leaping Boarbatusk, then caught a second charging beast by the tusk with his free hand. With a half-spin, he withdrew his trench knife and hurled the still-living Grimm at a nearby tree. It impacted with a sickening crunch. Naruto didn't stop to see if the creature got back up. It wouldn't matter.

There was something oddly pleasing about fighting an enemy that was so obviously evil. He'd heard stories about The Second and Third Shinobi World Wars from Jiraiya. The memories his mentor recalled were difficult for Naruto to imagine. People fighting and killing other people on such a large scale. It seemed so much more personal. So much crueller. Naruto wasn't sure if he could have participated in something like that. Luckily, the Fourth Shinobi World War was against a similarly evil enemy. The Shinobi Alliance certainly didn't have to de-humanize the White Zetsus. In fact, it would have been challenging not to feel some level of satisfaction. They were just so alien, so soulless.

Of course, when they began taking on the forms of Allied Shinobi members, that changed things a little. Although, at the end of the day, they were still White Zetsu and reverted to their original forms when killed. Even the Edo Tensei'd ghosts from the past were different. In most cases, they had begged to be killed. Well, re-killed.

Grimm were like White Zetsu: numerous, soulless, and a nuisance in limited numbers. But dangerous when in excess.

Before he knew it, the last of the Grimm had died, the final member of the pack having impaled itself when diving at him. Naruto hadn't even meant to kill it that way; he'd only raised his blades reflexively. Gravity killed the beast. He looked around the carnage. No blood. No guts. Just smoke.

Damn, it was getting smokey. Naruto raised his hand to cover his nose and mouth, coughing into it several times.

It was time to relocate. Speaking of, Naruto still had no clue where north was. Maybe a vantage point would help? With that thought in mind, he jogged over to the tallest tree and began to walk up its length. Halfway up, Naruto realized that his idea had been pointless. He had seen no particular landmarks when they had been launched several hundred feet in the air, so scaling a tree would be met with similar results.

Great.

At least back home, the mountains had indicated north.

He needed time to think. After finding a suitable tree branch, Naruto sat on it heavily. Okay. He could figure something out. Maybe north was in the direction they had been launched? No... that didn't make sense. He hadn't seen any ruins near the base of the cliff.

Ideally, he could find somebody to link up with. Somebody who may have a better sense of direction than he did. That also raised the problem of his pending partnership. It didn't seem fair. To partner up with someone, just to leave after a month. He'd leave them partnerless for the next four years. He'd leave a team one man short for their tenure at the school. It was kind of a messed up thing for Ozpin to do, to be honest. Unless the man was hoping to use that to manipulate Naruto. It wouldn't work.

Hopefully, the Headmaster had something in mind regarding that. Now that he thought about it, there was always the possibility that there weren't an even amount of students to begin with. Maybe the headmaster had factored him in? But that didn't consider the potential failures, fatalities, or dropouts during initiation. Damn, what the hell was Ozpins's system?

Suddenly, a loud screeching could be heard. The screech of a bird. There was a problem there. The shout was far too loud. Whatever was making that noise was large. Very large. Grimmly large.

Great. Naruto still didn't have an effective way to fight airborne Grimm. Maybe if he ducked down and thought happy thoughts, it would go away? He smiled at the notion, mainly because it may actually be effective.

He looked down and to the right. He could detect faint footsteps in the distance. The rustling of grass, bushes and loose leave on the forest floor was detectable to any Konoha shinobi. Two pairs. Light. Girls? Or maybe someone slight of build? He didn't have to wait long, as before he knew it, two familiar girls burst through the foliage. His vantage point certainly gave him a great view of everything beneath him.

It was Ruby and Weiss. So they were partners now? That was going to be interesting. Maybe even a little dangerous to the student body. It looked like they were running. From what? Naruto was under the impression that both girls were relatively accomplished fighters. What could make them run? Should he help them? A booming 'caw' alerted him to an impossibly large shape flying just below the treeline.

Holy shit.

A flying Grimm with a wingspan nearly as wide as Team 7's old training field exploded from the treeline. Thousands of midnight-black feathers covered the beast, and a massive boney mask covered its face, as all Grimm seemed to have. Deep red accents covered the mask, connecting with its burning red eyes. That was one big bird. Grimm. Bird-Grimm. It was called a Nevermore if Naruto remembered correctly. Although, he never knew they could grow so large. The ones he'd seen in his travels certainly hadn't been this big.

And it was chasing the girls.

Was there even a point to helping them? What was he supposed to do to that thing? Maybe a high-powered Rasengan to the thing's back would do the trick... But how the hell was he supposed to get on top of it? If he jumped down to help them, he'd only join them on their desperate sprint. He could even get in the way in a worst-case scenario.

A lightbulb went off.

The Nevermore was slightly below the treeline, and he was halfway up one of the tallest trees around. If he headed to the top, he could jump down to the bird as it passed beneath, assuming he could get the timing right. His earlier kickball session had him feeling pretty good about his timing. Alright, it was a plan. A simple plan. The best kind of plan.

Before he could execute his simple plan, the bird dove for the pair. Its large wingspan pushed aside several of the large trees, cutting through some of the thinner ones unlucky enough to be in its way. How the hell did that thing have the momentum to destroy trees but still stay in the air?

Whatever, that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that the girls were about to be dive-bombed. Much to his relief, the two huntresses seemed well aware of the Nevermore's position, and with an impressive display of reflexes, Ruby managed to launch herself off the nearest tree and land on top of the bird. Looks like great minds think alike?

Weiss was somewhat slower, almost reluctant in her movements. But with an unseen motion, several white glyphs materialized around her, which she used to effortlessly climb like a staircase, dodging the Grimm in the process. She too, landed on the Grimm's back, clinging to its feathers like a lifeline. The Nevermore, sensing its stowaways, began to climb in altitude, perhaps to dissuade the girls from their current path.

It proved useless, however, as the red and white-clad girls held on tighter in defiance. Naruto scratched the back of his head. What was their plan? His eyes widened. Were they going to ride the thing to the northern temple? That was absolutely genius! There was no way he was going to miss out on that.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he was, in fact, going to miss out on that. Dismayed, Naruto watched as the bird's upward ascent rose much too sharply for him to stick to his original plan. In fact, Naruto missed the opportunity so entirely that he could only stare at the Grimm's underside as it passed by his tree.

Damn.

That really sucked.

Maybe he could follow it, at least? Track them from the treetops? The Emerald Forest differed from the forest he had landed in a month ago. The trees were larger and better suited for tree hopping. He could probably make good speed if he put some effort in. He could track them easily if he stayed close to the top of the tree line.

Yeah, that would do.

With a mighty leap, Naruto was once again airborne.

xXx

Traversing the treetops was liberating. Naruto grinned. Cool wind in his hair. A green sea of nature surrounding him, like a tropical jade ocean. There was a peacefulness in his heart, one he rarely felt as of late.

Never mind the fact that Naruto had given up on tracking the massive nevermore carrying his friends. It had become clear early on that the two huntresses in training had not been in control of their ride. How could they be? It was a strange assumption to have made. He had tried following the bird for some time, and even found some level of success. But the Nevermore itself had become erratic in its movements. Violent and unpredictable. It wanted its stowaways off. For whatever reason, the girls had decided to remain steadfast in their desire to stay aboard. And so, Naruto had abandoned his pursuit. They'd be fine. They'd make it off at some point. Probably.

The longer he travelled, the more frequent the sounds of combat became. Gunshots, roars, and metal on bone reverberated throughout the lush forest. The sound travelled easily. It reassured him that he was travelling in the right direction.

Naruto's eyes darted to the forest floor as a deep, menacing roar flooded the airwaves. It was always something. He watched as a bear-like Grimm, an Ursa, tore through the foliage. Like a runaway bulldozer through a busy street. It was angry, as their kind always were. Similar to its airborne brethren, this Grimm also had an unwanted passenger.

What was this? Ride a Grimm to initiation day? Was that a thing? Should he get in on this?

Naruto recognized the girl riding upon its back. Short ginger hair worn in a bob cut, and deep turquoise eyes. She was short, barely passing five feet, yet her build was sturdy and robust. She wore a black collared vest and a white sleeveless t-shirt with a heart-shaped cutout underneath it. On her arms were a pair of white detached sleeves that ended in light pink fingerless gloves. She donned a short pink skirt and white ankle boots on her bottom half. In a rare display, she sported a light silver armour that wrapped around her waist and travelled up and around her shoulders, almost like a chassis.

She rode the Ursa like a small child would ride atop their family dog. It was almost humorous, as the bear-Grimm would sporadically transition from running on all fours to sprinting on two legs.

A desperate attempt to throw the girl off, perhaps.

The pink-clad girl paid the bumpy ride no mind. In fact, she seemed to revel in it, treating it as some sort of game. Whenever the Grimm would change its stance, so too would she, matching it easily. Naruto watched as she seamlessly transitioned between surfing the beast like an ocean wave to riding on its shoulders, one hand on its mane, the other waving in the air. Her joyous cries were almost drowned out by the creature's angry roars.

Almost.

Hot on their tail was another slightly familiar face. A teenage boy was desperately sprinting after the girl and her steed, shouting inaudible words after them. Though too difficult to hear, it wasn't hard to guess what he was saying. He had long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back. In it, there was a magenta streak on the left side. His eyes matched the streak in his hair. Was that intentional? He wore a dark green, long-sleeved tailcoat, which sported black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trim went down the right side of his torso and formed a black collar. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the green top and light-tan pants with black shoes.

Simple. And almost formal too.

Suddenly, Naruto detected a shrill, piercing screech from the distance as it knifed through the valley. This time, it was distinctly human. Naruto knew that sound. It was either a woman's scream, bathed in fear, or the cry of a man injured in his most sensitive place. Naruto chose to believe it was the former. Man, did that woman ever have a set of lungs on her!

How exciting. So much was going on so fast that it was almost difficult to keep track of. Above: Ruby and Weiss surfing the clouds on a giant Nevermore. Below: the pink and green-clad partners drag racing an Ursa in the forest. And off in the distance: the petrifying shriek of a woman in trouble. It was chaos. It was fun. Naruto lived for this shit. The only thing that could make it better would be another initiate riding in on a Deathstalker. Like that would happen...

Maybe he could find one and complete the quadfecta? How hard could it be to find a massive scorpion?

Focus.

Find the temple and finish the initiation.

Naruto still needed to locate the temple and retrieve a relic. Hopefully, he could meet up with some students and still find a partner. Maybe.

The dull roar of the Ursa below had stopped. Not faded into the distance stopped, but stopped. Suddenly. Violently. It seems like it was out of fuel. Naruto silently dropped down to the forest floor. The stealth wasn't necessary; it was just the product of a lifetime of habit. He doubted there was much this test could offer that would truly cause him to need stealth. But in the interest of remaining humble, he'd give it the proper respect. He glided across the forest floor, a silent hunter snaking toward its target.

It just so happened that the target in question wasn't easily defined. But it'd been a while since Naruto got to practice his stealth skills, and so far, the initiation had been fun. Best to keep having fun. He continued to follow the path of destruction left behind by the Ursa.

Deep, clawed footprints, shredded bushes, and mutilated tree trunks made following the trail laughably easy. Following the mindless beast was about as straightforward as it got. After a few minutes of following the wanton ecological destruction, Naruto came upon a large clearing.

There, several dozen meters in front of him, was a dilapidated stone temple. To be honest, calling it a temple was rather generous. It was a single circular stone slab, patterned and raised several steps. Stone pillars reached upwards by roughly a single story, and a crumbling stone wall filled the space between the pillars. There was no roof, the structure being deliberately built without one. Half of the temple was missing as if swept away by a giant hand.

How terribly underwhelming.

Around the stone floor were several small pedestals with what Naruto suspected were the relics. They were small, and he was too far away to properly determine what they were. That didn't matter. What really mattered was what else he could see. People. Thank Kami, he'd found people.

But not just any people, familiar people. Not too far away, Naruto spotted several familiar faces. Yang and Blake stood next to each other, conversing. Partners maybe? The green and pink-clad pair were also standing around. The boy seemed exhausted, while the girl was positively teeming with energy. Perhaps she was siphoning it from him somehow? Oddly enough, Ruby and Jaune were sitting in a tree, the latter hanging upside down. He'd almost missed them, but the bright red and yellow stood out, even from his peripherals.

Did Jaune not have a partner? Maybe he should buddy up with him before it was too late? Naruto was already familiar with the other blond; he wouldn't have been his first choice, but he certainly wasn't his last.

Hmm.

No Weiss? Where had that girl gone off to? Ruby was on the ground now, so surely Weiss was nearby.

Naruto emerged from the tree line, approaching the group from the side. He stopped beside Yang, a few paces behind her. The blonde brawler didn't notice him. Neither did Blake. No one seemed to notice his arrival, as all of their eyes were glued to something else.

Yang seemed to be in a state of confusion. Naruto could practically hear the clocks turning, and he could definitely see her frustration building. Blake mumbled something that sounded like a question, though he couldn't determine what it was.

Naruto finally turned his gaze to where the group was looking, and his eyes widened marginally. Only now did he notice the eerie chittering of the Deathstalker that was currently trying to bat the redheaded spartan, Pyrrha, out of the air. Crap. Did he miss the part where she rode the creature like a runaway bull?

The creature was massive, far larger than the ones he saw on his journey to Vale. It was also more heavily armoured. A sign of its age? That was both good and bad. The older the Grimm, the more dangerous. According to his studies, the longer a Grimm survived, the more powerful it became. Larger, stronger, and more intelligent.

Relatively speaking, in terms of intelligence.

The upside was that the monster would pose more of a challenge. It would provide more opportunities to test himself and have fun. Naruto smiled. It had been a while since he could fully submerge himself in the addictive embrace of adrenaline. The last time was when? Sparring with Qrow? This was all under the assumption that the Grimm didn't pose too much of a challenge, but Naruto was confident in his and his future classmate's abilities. There were eight of them present. Nine if Weiss decided to show up.

Besides, this initiation was meant to test them. Despite what Ozpin said about dying, Naruto doubted anything in this forest was truly meant to seriously endanger their lives.

It appeared the Deathstalker had drawn Ruby's attention as she quickly composed herself and jumped from the tree.

"Ruby!" cried Jaune.

The girl in question hit the ground, rolling to disperse the force of her landing. She quickly made to stand beside her sister.

"Ruby?" Yang stepped back in surprise.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, raising her hands in the air. Perhaps looking for a double high-five? A high-ten?

"Nora!" yelled the pink-clad girl as she sprung up between the two sisters, both of which jumped back in shock.

Blake herself took a step back from the commotion, and her amber eyes caught Naruto's own. Liquid gold stared into ethereal blue, and she blinked.

"Naruto?" Blake questioned.

Yang jumped back, startled for the third time in mere seconds. "Gah!" she shouted. "Naruto? What the hell? When did you..."

She was beginning to shake.

"You snuck up on us," Blake mumbled with a curious look.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He did, didn't he? That wasn't really his intention, but everyone seemed so preoccupied; he didn't want to interrupt. Oh well. May as well roll with it.

"It wasn't that hard. I'm a shinobi," the blond replied with equal parts pride and humour.

Ruby seemed confused. She was unfamiliar with the term. Nora gazed at him with a broad smile on her face. The word meant nothing to her. Yang may as well not have heard him; she was still trembling. The only noteworthy response was from Blake. She arched a delicate eyebrow, "You? A shinobi? The orange shirt and blond hair kind of stick out. You're not exactly invisible, you know?"

Naruto grinned, "being a shinobi isn't about being invisible. It's about being where no one's looking."

The black-clad girl seemed to consider his words.

Naruto's grin turned smug. "Besides, I snuck up on everyone here, didn't I?"

To that, Blake had no rebuttal.

The dark-haired boy with the magenta streek chose that moment to make his presence known. He jogged up to the group, exhausted and out of breath. "Actually, I saw you when you came out of the tree line." The teen barely managed to get his words out before he dissolved into a series of wheezing breaths.

Huh. Naruto had to admit, he'd lost track of the guy in the confusion. Whatever, the unnamed student probably just got lucky.

A loud crash shook the ground. The group looked to the Deathstalker. The creature had evidently failed again to snatch the redhead out of the air, its pincer landing heavily on the ground. Blake shook her head, coming back to reality and scoffed. "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"

Nora made several cooing sounds, her eyes darting around and knees wobbling in place. Was she looking for more hidden shinobi? Naruto could only dream.

Naruto looked at Yang. The blonde brawler had been oddly quiet up until now.

Uh oh.

Ultimately, Yang could only take so much chaos, and her shaking reached its apex. She released a strangled growl, "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" Her cry was desperate. Angry.

Were her eyes red? Naruto could have sworn they were purple just a moment ago. How familiar. The only thing they were missing were slitted pupils.

Five whole seconds passed until Ruby timidly called for her older sister's attention, "Uhm, Yang?" the younger girl tapped her sister twice on the shoulder, then pointed upwards. Yang simply dropped her head in defeat.

Naruto looked upward. What exactly was he looking for here?

"How could you leave me?" came the distant cry of Weiss.

Oh.

Oh...

There she was. Naruto's eyes creased into thin slits. The girl was really high up there, clinging to the large talon of the Nevermore from earlier. Her grip certainly wasn't stable.

Everyone's eyes were now glued to the heiress as she held on for dear life. Ruby spread her arms out. Part guilt, part exasperation clouded her features. "I said jump," she muttered. Her voice was small. Smart. Even she knew it wouldn't be good for the white-clad huntress to hear those words.

"She's gonna fall," came Blake's monotone comment.

Ruby shook her head. "She'll be fine..." Ruby replied weakly. Her tone betrayed her true thoughts.

The second the words left Ruby's lips, Weiss' grip slipped, and she began an uncontrolled freefall to the forest floor.

"She's falling," the only other male with feet on the ground commented flatly.

Naruto frowned. Weiss should be fine, theoretically. He assumed that the girl had landed fine on her own when she was first launched into the forest; she should also be okay this time. However, there was a slight complication this time around in that her current descent was utterly uncontrolled. When the initiates had been launched into the forest, it had been done in a way so that everyone had the opportunity to be in control of their fall.

The heiress would be okay if she could right herself, and gain some mid-air balance. But it wasn't an easy thing to do, to push back against air resistance, momentum, and one's own initial panic.

Naruto grew tense. Should... he do something about this? He looked around. No one else was moving to act. Would Weiss even appreciate it if he stepped in to help? Could her Aura protect her from such a massive fall? Naruto didn't think his own Aura could fully shield him from such an impact. Being who he was, he'd probably be fine, but it'd take a decent amount of chakra reinforcement to mitigate the damage, and he'd still probably have a bruise or two. But Weiss was different. She could easily die if her Aura couldn't fully absorb the impact. Then again, maybe her Aura was significantly stronger than his? It probably was. He could be worrying over nothing.

Before Naruto could decide whether to act, he spied from the corner of his eye, Jaune, still in a tree, gathering his bearings. The blond knight took notice of Weiss' descent, and a wide smile erupted across his face.

Naruto smiled. Perfect. Jaune could take care of things here. He seemed to have the right idea. He seemed like a capable guy.

The tall blond quickly rushed down the tree branch, his footfalls landing heavily. He stumbled slightly as the branch narrowed near its tip but caught himself before a full-blown trip could occur. Naruto's smile wavered slightly. It was okay; a little stumble never hurt anyone.

As Naruto took in the scene, his smile quickly dropped to a frown. Jaune was coming in a little harder than he needed to. If he kept up his pace, he'd be...

The knight leapt from the tree, his arms outstretched to catch the falling girl.

A falling girl who he'd never reach. Naruto groaned. Jaune had jumped too early. Way too early. He wasn't going to catch her at all. He was going to miss her by a lot.

Seriously?

Maybe Weiss would still be okay? It looked like her fall wasn't so uncontrolled anymore. In fact, it appeared that she had levelled out entirely and was falling bottom first. A brief glance at the girl revealed that she had closed her eyes and had seemingly given up.

Of course.

Fine.

Naruto only had a few seconds to act. How to go about it? It'd be nice to just create a few Kage Bunshin, launch himself off a few, and use them to disrupt his momentum on the way down. But he really didn't want to play that card right now, given there were so many eyes on him. The last thing he needed was to further pique Ozpin's interest. Maybe he could subtly use some of his wind manipulation to cushion his fall. Combined with his Aura and chakra, that would be more than enough.

Naruto looked at Nora. Turquoise eyes stared at him, burning a hole at the space behind his eyes. Had she been staring at him this whole time?

Whatever. Time to see if she was as strong as she looked.

"Nora!" he shouted.

If possible, the girl's eyes focused harder on him, becoming even more intense.

"Launch me," came Naruto's simple two-worded command.

The ginger-haired girl's eyes narrowed, and a look of intense focus overcame her face. She nodded wordlessly, turned to face him, dropped to a knee, and cupped her hands into a makeshift foothold. The rest of the party seemed surprised at his sudden outburst.

Yang was the first to recover. "Naruto, what are you-"

Heedless of the other blonde's words, Naruto took five explosive strides toward the pink-clad girl and landed one foot into her hands. In a beautiful display of coordination, Nora exploded upwards. In that moment, she was born to do this.

Naruto was propelled upwards, shooting off like a missile. His singular purpose: beak through the atmosphere and establish a geosynchronous orbit around the planet.

Wait.

That wasn't right.

He was supposed to catch Weiss, wasn't he? Then why the hell had Nora launched him with so much force? How had she? Naruto could barely make out the small white outline of the girl he was supposed to intercept as his eyes stung fiercely against the wind. He was moving much faster than when he was first launched into the forest. He should probably call out to the girl lest he hit her while she was unaware, possibly resulting in a severe injury.

"Eyes open, snowflake!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. He hoped the girl could hear him; he could barely hear himself over the rushing wind.

Weiss' eyes snapped open, and she looked down toward his voice. Several emotions passed through her eyes. Fear. Confusion. Relief. And a few others that Naruto couldn't identify. He had given just enough warning for her to tense in anticipation of the impact.

Within seconds, they made contact. The petite girl fit surprisingly well into Naruto's outstretched arms. It would have been romantic, had they not collided at such a dangerous speed.

Naruto couldn't suppress the loud 'oof' as he crashed into the young woman. Weiss was no better as she released a strangled sound reminiscent of a cross between a cough and a sneeze. Luckily, their Aura's absorbed the impact surprisingly well, and they were no worse for wear.

For now.

The result caused their momentum to change entirely. The speed of Naruto's upwards ascent had been far greater than the terminal velocity Weiss had been falling at, resulting in them travelling back upwards after their initial impact. That wasn't good. They needed to be going down, not up.

Naruto would have to worry about that later. It was Weiss' turn to speak now.

"Snowflake? Seriously?" came the girl's surprisingly calm voice.

Despite her words, there was a light dusting of red across the bridge of her nose.

Naruto recoiled in mock offence. "What? It's fitting," he replied with a head tilt to the hem of her dress, which, sure enough, had been stitched to resemble snowflakes.

"It's unoriginal," she deadpanned.

"I think it's pretty good, actually. With your outfit and hair, it really is like you're a little snowflake falling from the sky," Naruto replied in a teasing voice.

Weiss frowned. "You're mocking me," came her measured response. Despite this, her blush deepened.

Naruto shrugged, then smiled. He was. But only partially. She really did remind him of a snowflake. It would probably be best to omit that he found her about as beautiful as the ice crystals. The comment would probably be a bit too much for the girl. Naruto fought his own blush. It was an embarrassing thought, but there was no point in avoiding it. He had already come to terms with the fact that he found the girl attractive. He'd already experienced several intrusive thoughts on the topic and even complimented her to her face the previous night.

Yup. Best to neatly avoid that topic for now.

After receiving no verbal response from him, Weiss fixed him with a critical eye. Ice-blue eyes met his oceanic-blue orbs. There was a lot of emotion behind there. Naruto blinked. Weiss didn't.

What was this?

"Uh. Weiss?" Naruto questioned, somewhat uncomfortably. He hoped his hanging question would prompt the girl to say something. After a few seconds, she did.

"You're late," came her prompt response.

What? Late? Late for what? Naruto wasn't late, was he? No. Maybe? What the hell was Weiss talking about? Try as he might, Naruto couldn't determine what he was supposedly late for. Perhaps his timing could have been better when catching her, but that wasn't his fault. Nora was just too powerful.

"If you're talking about the timing of the catch, I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault. Nora -" He was cut off by Weiss' interruption.

"No, you dolt, I mean-" her voice stopped short as if coming to a sudden realization. Weiss' eyes widened, and her blush deepened. Naruto could swear he felt her pulse quicken.

Within a second, Weiss' demeanour shifted. "It's not important."

"But-" Naruto tried.

"Not. Important." the heiress placed extra emphasis on her words, her face still red in embarrassment.

Naruto shrugged. All right then, she could keep her secrets.

The while-clad girl released a deep sigh. "Did you have a plan on actually getting us down, or are we both just going to fall to our deaths?" Her words lacked their previous tension. It seemed that she had mostly overcome her embarrassment. It was a shame; they had some pretty good banter going on.

Naruto laughed nervously. "I was planning on improvising," he answered with creased eyes. He fought the urge to let go of the girl and scratch his head. Speaking of which, they were falling now, and had been for some time.

Weiss sighed while eyeing the approaching ground. "Of course you were." Her tone was almost candid. It was as if she already knew the answer. She probably did. "I guess it's up to me then," she added dismissively.

She leaned into the crook of Naruto's neck and whispered lightly, "Watch your step," then pulled away quickly. Her fight to contain her blush was admirable. Naruto almost didn't notice it. He certainly didn't do as good a job as her.

Without warning, a purplish-blue sigil appeared underneath the pair. Naruto had just barely enough time to brace himself for it. They were still falling pretty damn fast, so when his feet first touched the sigil's surface, he was surprised to find it had minor elastic qualities. It was like stepping onto a trampoline that was just a little too taut.

Naruto sprung off the surface and landed directly on an identical sigil, several feet below the first. Like a magical staircase, Naruto bounded over several more platforms, each taking the pair closer to the ground.

To be honest, Naruto had no idea what was happening. Pure instinct and momentum guided him, and with each step, he feared that the next glowing platform would either fail him or refuse to appear. He knew they were something Weiss could do, but he'd only seen her use them as stepping stones once.

Eventually, they reached the planet's surface once again, and Naruto's thundering heartbeat was better off for it. He had just enough sense to gently deposit Weiss back onto the ground. "What the hell?" he asked out loud, not particularly expecting an answer.

Weiss answered him regardless, "Part of my semblance. Glyphs," she explained. "There's a lot more to it. I can explain later."

Maybe he'd take her up on that.

Naruto looked around. The assembled students had mainly remained in the same place he remembered them being in. The only difference was the addition of Jaune, who was currently lying face-first on the ground. "My chance..." he bemoaned.

What was he talking about? What chance?

A loud thud reverberated throughout the clearing. Something heavy impacting metal. Everyone watched as Pyrrha was launched into the air by the Deathstalker. The massive scorpion had finally landed a hit, but it had been absorbed by the redhead's well-placed shield. Pyrrha crashed to the ground before them, landing on her shoulder.

"Great, the gangs all here. Now we can die together!" came Yang's cheery voice. She seemed to have perked up quite a bit.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby declared confidently. With her interpretation of a mighty battle cry, the red reaper charged toward the Deathstalker.

Yang called out to her sister in protest, likely able to properly assess the danger of their situation.

Ruby paid her older sister no mind, instead using the high-calibre shot of her weapon to propel her even further toward the great beast. Naruto tensed. The girl should know better than to charge such a giant beast, let alone in an open field.

The black and red-themed girl mistimed her attack, and her scythe's blade crashed heavily into the Deathstalker's claw. It batted her away easily with an uncomfortably loud thud.

"Don't - don't worry!" she shouted to her audience. "Totally fine," she added, almost as an afterthought. Naruto was worried. A brief look around confirmed that the rest of the assembled students shared his sentiment. Even Weiss, if he looked closely.

Ruby fired another high-impact shot at the Grimm, the bullet bouncing uselessly off. Not even a scratch. That was problematic. Ruby recognized the problem herself and began a hasty retreat. The Deathstalker pursued her after barely a moment's hesitation.

Witnessing that, Yang bolted after her younger sister, intent on meeting her halfway across the vast field between them. "Ruby!" she cried.

Naruto's legs tensed. Ruby had travelled quite a distance. Her speed was unlike anything he had seen since coming to this world. It must have had something to do with her semblance. He shot Weiss an expectant look, one that said, 'She's your partner.'

It didn't take the ashen-haired girl much time to make a decision. Despite the annoyance in her eyes, she shot after the blonde brawler. Naruto made to follow, but something in his gut screamed at him not to. It was perplexing. How could his instincts be so against his conscious mind? Naruto struggled to reconcile the feeling. Whatever it was, he felt that Weiss needed to do this on her own. It would be good for her and Ruby's partnership.

So Naruto did the one thing he was never really any good at.

He waited.

Naruto's resolve almost broke the second the giant Nevermore swung back around and began launching its feathers, of all things. The massive projectiles were easily larger than a grown man, and as they pierced the earth, burying themselves several feet deep, it was evident that this was a highly unique form of attack. Likely developed over millennia of evolution, making an already deadly Grimm even more dangerous.

Naruto tensed. Everything in his body was screaming at him to intervene. He felt an intense burning in his chest. It spread to his neck. His jaw. His fists clenched, and his legs trembled, yearning to spring to action. Yet he pushed the feeling back, stuffed it into a box, and chose to trust his peers. It hurt, but it wasn't the first time he'd forced himself to stand by while others fought.

The last few feathers to land managed to pierce Ruby's cape, pinning her in place. They also had the unfortunate side effect of blocking Yang from reaching her sister. As the Deathstalker closed the gap to its immobilized target, Naruto's resolve would have failed entirely had he not had a complete overview of the battlefield. He knew Weiss was only seconds away from reaching the sisters. Despite never seeing her in combat, despite only having a surface-level understanding of the petite girl, for whatever reason, he trusted her.

Weiss dashed in, her speed enhanced several times over with the assistance of her glyphs. She propelled herself over them as if gliding on a pair of rollerskates. Naruto's curiosity bubbled at the sight. He'd definitely need to get an explanation on them later.

Weiss pointed the tip of her blade toward the approaching Deathstalker, and with a few motions, a large glyph formed between Ruby and the beast. Similar to their first meeting, a titanic bulwark of ice sprouted from the girl's semblance. The Deathstalker's tail was caught within the ice, the cool blue crystal wall growing around the appendage, continuing upwards until the creature was almost completely blocked from sight. Naruto managed to relax slightly at the scene. It also appeared that the Nevermore was taking the long way around as he had lost track of it in the sky.

The two partners appeared to be engaged in a conversation yet again, one that Naruto was glad not to be a part of. It seemed personal. It definitely wasn't any of his business.

Naruto surveyed the rest of the group. Oddly enough, Blake seemed to be in a similar state as himself, forcing herself not to join her partner. Good on her. She and Yang had only really just met, and she still displayed an instinctive loyalty. It reminded Naruto of the relationship between the Allied Shinobi forces during the war. Strangers fighting shoulder to shoulder, despite knowing next to nothing about their comrades. An unspoken bond strengthened by the simple fact that they were all in this together.

Pyrrha was currently helping Jaune up from the ground. She wore a lopsided smile on her face. Jaune must have said something humourous as she struggled to reconcile her amusement and the worry she must have felt given the situation. Damn. Did that mean she and Jaune were partners?

Oh well.

Nora was currently buzzing around her own partner, the boy in green. Naruto smiled crookedly. Weren't they polar opposites? Two sides to a coin. While Nora's energy seemed limitless, her partner displayed a saintly amount of serene patience. It was beyond impressive. He appeared to be the cool, calm, and collected individual. Similar to Sasuke, though, this boy seemed to lack the arrogance. At least, that was the vibe Naruto got based solely on the fact that the teen had spoken of his own volition earlier. Was the bar really that low? On the bright side, from listening to Nora's ramblings, Natuto could now put a name to the face. Ren. A simple enough name.

Naruto was startled out of his musings as three sets of footsteps approached from the side. Yang and Weiss had finished their small rescue operation, and all three huntresses-in-training had returned to the main group.

Before a plan could be established, a booming roar filled the skies. It was guttural and hateful. The very essence of a Grimm. Jaune spoke the words everyone had already been thinking. "Guys, that thing's circling back." He emphasized his statement with an outstretched finger pointing toward the sky. "What are we gonna do?" he questioned desperately.

Weiss was the first to respond. "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Her tone was confident. Assured. Despite her words, she spared a glance in Naruto's direction.

Well, she was right. Part of the evaluation may very well include their ability to strategize. Ignoring their objective to pick unnecessary fights wasn't very strategic. Naruto nodded to Weiss.

It seemed Ruby was in agreement. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." She nodded at her partner. "There's no point in fighting these things."

Weiss' minor swell of satisfaction went largely unnoticed, but Naruto could see it easily. Having two people immediately agree with her words, despite his being non-verbal, fed something in her. It must have been that aristocratic pride.

Jaune nodded as though relieved. "Run and live? That is an idea I can get behind."

Despite lamenting that he couldn't test his combat abilities against a more impressive foe, Naruto knew it was the right call. He, Ruby, and Jaune all approached the pedestals holding the relics. Naruto frowned at the items before him. Chess pieces? Seriously? He was vaguely familiar with the game. During their travels, he and Jiraiya had come across a few odd villages that preferred the game over the much more common Shogi.

Were the pieces supposed to be symbolic? Naruto certainly hoped the Headmaster didn't view his students as chess pieces. He was probably overthinking things. He examined all the available pieces, noting that there really wasn't that many left. They must have been relatively late to the party. Several pawns and a single pair of bishops. Naruto didn't particularly see himself as a bishop. But he certainly didn't consider himself a pawn. He'd struggled against that stigma throughout most of his life.

Kami, he was definitely overthinking it.

Besides, after the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.

Discarding the unnecessary thoughts, Naruto pocketed the golden bishop from its pedestal.

With one last alert from Ren, the group of nine began a brisk jog toward the cliffside. Naruto was the last to leave the relic area. Despite the clear objective, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling in his stomach. He stared at the other golden bishop on the pedestal across from him. The counterpart to his own piece. It wasn't difficult to figure out how the teams would be determined. One set of partners per chess piece, two chess pieces per set. Whether the group knew it or not, the teams had already been decided. But where did that leave him? He still had no partner, nor did there seem to be anyone else coming to grab the other bishop. Should he nick the piece before someone else came to claim it, thereby preventing himself from being teamed up with a group of strangers? Or would that screw him over in the long run? There wasn't much chance it would affect his enrollment in the school, seeing as how Ozpin practically had to beg him to attend the academy.

He was broken from his deliberation by a shout from Yang. "Naruto! Come on, let's go!"

Naruto turned to find both Yang and Blake staring at him expectantly. Yang wore a look of optimism tinged with confusion, while Blake was near-inscrutable. A loud cracking sound coming from the Deathstalker helped put things into perspective. The ice was about to give.

"R-right," Naruto mumbled.

He quickly jogged to the two girls. Upon reaching them, they turned in the direction of the other six students and shot off. Naruto matched their stride quickly.

"You okay?" Yang questioned him. "You seemed pretty distracted there."

Naruto shot her a disarming smile. "Just overthinking things. I still don't have a partner, so I was wondering how that would factor into team placements."

Yang's eyes widened in realization. "You're right!" she shouted. A hard look of concentration overcame her face. She was on the verge of an idea. After a few seconds, she spoke up, "You know..." she began tentatively. "If you don't find one, a partner that is, by the end of this, you're more than welcome to partner up with Blake and me. If that's allowed." Yang shot her partner a look.

For her part, Blake only appeared mildly annoyed. "You can't just make an offer like that without consulting me, you know that, right?"

The black-clad girl had a point. Naruto's chest tightened. Even though she hadn't said 'no,' her words still stung. They felt like a rejection. Naruto didn't handle rejection all that well. He scowled lightly to himself. What was his problem? They had no obligation to take him on, and he wasn't planning to stay at the school for long. It would probably be better if he didn't have a partner. Kami, he wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin had deliberately set the initiation up so that he wouldn't have to worry about teams and partners. As a failsafe, in the event he couldn't convince Naruto to stay. Smart man.

"Come on," Yang dragged the words out. Her tone was playful, and maybe a little childish. "You and Naruto get along, don't you? What's the problem?" she ended her question with a fierce wiggling of her eyebrows.

Blake merely smirked and shook her head. "Fine. I wouldn't have said no." The tightness in Naruto's chest slackened. "But I did want to make it clear that you can't make big decisions that affect the both of us on your own," Blake gently chastised.

"Yeah yeah, I hear you. I figured you'd say yes," Yang laughed. "Don't forget, you approached him first last night. That's quite something, coming from little miss aloof," added Yang with a wink.

Blake simply rolled her eyes, completely unperturbed. It seemed she was much harder to tease than Yang had been hoping. Naruto smiled; they made a good pair.

The conversation lasted minutes at the most, and in that time, the three had caught up to the rest of the group as they entered a previously unseen section of the ruins.

Naruto eyed the stone remains with interest. Now these seemed like proper ruins. On either side of the group were pillar-lined walkways. The pillars were evenly spaced out and connected by stone rooftops. They stretched for several hundred meters and almost appeared ceremonial in nature. The walkways ended in a sheer drop-off into a deep canyon. A dilapidated stone bridge connected one side of the area to the other, and opposite the canyon was a multi-story tower with what may have been the remains of an ancient aqueduct attached.

Definitely ceremonial.

The oversized Nevermore screeched overhead, passing the group and beginning a wide arc to circle around.

The group of nine broke into pairs, finding cover behind several pillars. Naruto joined Jaune and Pyrrha, and the three crashed shoulder-first into the solid stone. The Nevermore had evidently been tracking them closely, for as soon as they broke vision from the beast, it ended its wide arc and circled around quickly. It landed on the stone temple and released a loud battle cry.

Naruto frowned. "That thing's going to be a problem," he noted. His words quickly grabbed the attention of Jaune and Pyrrha.

Jaune laughed nervously. "Don't suppose we can sneak by it?"

Naruto offered him a tight smile and shook his head. Pyrrha added words to Naruto's gesture, "Sorry, Jaune. It knows exactly where we are." Her tone was apologetic.

Jaune hung his head, "right. Yeah. didn't think so." Despite his words, he had clearly hoped.

A loud crash from the treeline behind them informed the group that the Deathstalker had not only escaped its icy prison but had managed to catch up to them.

"Oh man, run!" Jaune shouted before breaking cover and moving to sprint across the open field. Naruto and Pyrrha were hot on his heels. It was obvious that they needed to regroup with everyone and make a plan. With one massive Grimm at their front and another at their heels, things were starting to get disorganized.

The airborne Grimm took full advantage of their lack of cover, sending dozens of lethal projectiles their way. Being near the head of the group, Naruto didn't have to worry about them himself, as the feathers were aimed near the back of their formation. He glanced behind him and noted Nora dodge several projectiles with ease. She reached behind her back and brought out her weapon, which was of an unfamiliar design. She took aim and sent three well-aimed shots at the hovering Grimm. The projectiles were slow and easy to track. Naruto had no idea what they were or what they were meant to do.

The first shot hit directly against the faceplate of the Nevermore and exploded with a surprising amount of force. Damn. Whatever it was, it had the strength of an explosive tag. Naruto almost felt the impact as much as he could see and hear it. The other two shots missed, detonating mid-air behind the beast.

Amid her focus, Nora failed to notice the Deathstalker as it rounded on her from behind. Naruto, Blake, and Ren dropped back to intercept the beast on her behalf. Eventually, Nora did see the beast and flinched reflexively as it bore down on her. Before the creature could capitalize on its prey's momentary lapse in judgment, Ren and Blake lept from either side, each deflecting a stinger with the edge of their blades.

The Deathstalker, perhaps enraged by this, made one last attempt at killing the pink-clad girl, which came in the form of a downward thrust of its stinger. The tail was blocked by Naruto's crossed tench knives, the force of the blow enough to drive him to one knee and crack the ground beneath him.

Damn.

Naruto really should have deflected the attack like Ren and Blake had. Blocking had resulted in him taking the full force of the swing. Yet it was the easier option. Deflecting a thrust was a lot more difficult than deflecting a swipe. Naruto noted the telltale whirl of Weiss' glyphs from behind him and knew it was time to move. With a surge of strength, he exploded from his kneeled position and pushed upwards. The Deathstalker was momentarily forced backwards, giving him enough room to retreat with Blake and Ren.

Reaching the relatively thin stone bridge, Pyrrha provided the three with ranged support, her sword shifting into a long-barrelled rifle. She sent several shots downrange toward the approaching Deathstalker; however, her calibre of bullets was significantly smaller than Ruby's rifle. Thus, the shots bounced harmlessly off the creature's carapace.

Between the three of them, Ren was the first onto the bridge. Once next to Pyrrha, he stopped, turned around, and unleashed a hail of small-calibre shots into the beast. The results were predictable. While capable of spitting out a large number of projectiles, Ren's weapons were better suited for smaller, less armoured Grimm. Better suited for hoards.

Naruo had caught up to Blake, and as she made an impressive leap forward, he could practically feel the creature breathing down his neck. They needed to do something about it. Do some damage, or at the very least, slow it down. Naruto eyed one of the decorative pillars at the mouth of the bridge, and an idea began to form.

Naruto lept toward it, landing at the quarter-way point, and used his charka to stick to the surface. He channelled as much wind chakra into his right blade as possible, coating it and extending its reach. He focused and sharpened the edge to a level that would suit his needs. He swiped once at the pillar's base, cutting through it cleanly. On the backswing, he loosened his control over the wind chakra, intentionally widening the invisible layer of energy. The blade was still disgustingly sharp, able to slice through flesh easily, but he needed it to be a little more 'blunt,' so to speak. As his blade passed through the same spot he had previously bisected, a large chunk of stone was blown away. The stone slab immediately tilted on its weak side, like a tree being felled by a lumberjack. His actions took only seconds, barely enough time for the Deathstalker to stop in surprise as one of its targets changed course so drastically. The beast reared back, turning to face Naruto completely. Exposing itself.

Perfect.

Naruto began to run up the pillar. When he reached the end, he effortlessly flipped himself so that he was now standing at the very top, like he himself was on a pedestal on display. From there, he allowed gravity to do the rest of the work. He adjusted his balance as the pillar slowly began to topple onto the exposed head of the Deathstalker. The beast didn't even have the opportunity to shield itself from the falling column.

The stones landed heavily upon it with a loud crash, stunning it momentarily. Its pained cries were music to the blond's ears, and as he landed on the creature's back, he was pleasantly surprised to see that his plan was even more fruitful than he had been hoping for. A deep dent was on the creature's armoured carapace between its eyes. A spiderweb of cracks framing it.

That looked exploitable.

Before any exploiting could be done, a loud explosion rang out from the bridge, and Nora came in flying. Her hammer crashed heavily into the Deathstalker's face, directly on the dent between its upper eyes, fracturing it further. Where the hell had she gotten a hammer? Was it the melee version of her explosive launcher? The strike snapped the Grimm out of its daze, and its stinger readied itself to impale Naruto and Nora in a single swing.

Nora sent Naruto a playful wink, then pressed the trigger of her hammer. A loud explosion confirmed his earlier suspicions, and Nora was launched backwards. The Grimm lurched, ejecting Naruto forward out of his passenger seat.

Naruto collided headfirst with Blake, sending the two over the broken bridge into the chasm below.

When the hell did the bridge break?

As the two fell, Naruo spotted what appeared to be Blake's weapon falling alongside him. A quick glance at the girl confirmed that she had been disarmed during their impact and was currently searching for it. Naruto grabbed her weapon and shouted for her attention. Amber eyes snapped to him, and he could see a brief flash of relief pass through them. Naruto hurled the weapon at her, which she caught easily. A fraction of a second later, the girl re-tied what seemed to be the end of a ribbon to the base of her gun. The other end of which was wrapped up and around her right arm.

Blake hurled her weapon at the side of the chasm, the weapon embedding itself to the hilt of its blade. After a few more seconds of falling, the ribbon snapped tautly and carried her in a graceful arc toward him. She stretched out her free hand, clasping Naruto's arm at the forearm. He applied a thin layer of chakra to the palm of his hand, just in case. As Naruto's weight was applied to the ribbon, both of their arms snapped straight, threatening to tear out of their sockets. Blake winced, but her Aura prevented a complete dislocation. They rode the momentum, which carried them up and out of the chasm.

At the apex of their swing, Blake transferred as much of their inertia as she could to Naruto, launching him towards the passing Nevermore.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. They hadn't agreed on that. As Naruto closed the distance, he begrudgingly accepted that he was now, in fact, doing this.

He drew his blades and swiped at the Grimm's wings as he passed. The monster's large wingspan made it an easy target. Metal cut through flesh, and the bird screeched angrily. Unfortunately, Naruto hadn't thought to apply chakra to his blades this time around, resulting in a rather lacklustre amount of damage. As it stood, the Grimm may as well have been only slightly inconvenienced at the strike. He frowned at the missed opportunity.

Naruto's upward arc reached its crest, and he landed gracefully on the bird's back. He ran a hand over the large coarse feathers, marvelling at their seemingly innocent nature. He wondered how many of the projectiles could be fired before the bird's ability to fly would be compromised.

Naruto shook his head. It didn't matter. There were more than enough for the Grimm to wage a prolonged fight using feathers alone. The blond eyed his surroundings. Being this high up, away from prying eyes, gave him another option.

Naruto smiled as he stretched his hand outward. He took a fraction of a second to calm his mind, then began to focus his chakra. The life energy swirled into existence in his palm. Waves of azure energy coalesced into a sphere. It felt good. To experience a fraction of his power again. He missed it.

Naruto didn't want to admit it, but his current state of existence was beginning to eat away at him. How many times had he thought about things he used to be able to do that were no longer a possibility? How many times could a situation have been avoided or resolved if he could only access a fraction of his former strength? So much time spent training, so much blood, sweat, and tears. Wasted. He hated it. He was weak.

The Grimm cawed and shifted laboriously, nearly throwing Naruto from its back. Only a lightning-fast application of chakra to his feet prevented him from being flung off. Naruto scowled; now wasn't the time. He needed to focus. Subdue the emotion. Dust himself off, proceed. He'd get it all back when he made it home. While he was here, he wouldn't make any more mistakes. He couldn't afford to. He'd do what he could. He was still alive.

Naruto let out a frustrated yell, then shoved the Rasengan into the joint of the Nevermore's right wing. The Grimm screeched in surprise. He was still unsure if the creature could feel pain, but they could feel other things. Surprise. Anger. Distress. The beast below him felt all of these. The bird redoubled its efforts to dislodge him, shaking and rotating desperately to free itself of its attacker. The blond shinobi pressed down harder, grinding the rotating sphere deeper into the Grimm's skeletal structure. He could feel it. The joint was going to give. Avian species were known to have light bones in order to maintain the ability to fly. The same seemed to be true for their Grimm counterparts.

Just a few more seconds...

Naruto fought against gravity as the Nevermore tilted on its side and made to crush him against the side of the cliff. He scowled at the disruption. He cut the chakra flow to his hand, letting the Rasengan fizzle out, and dropped from the bird seconds before it struck the cliff.

The damn thing was crazy.

The fall was relative short, so Naruto managed to grip the ledge of a nearby stone tower and pull himself to its top. He barely had enough time to jump to a nearby stone platform before the body of the Nevermore came crashing down into the cavern's depths, demolishing his previous platform for good measure. The Grimm cast a hateful screech on its way down until it eventually faded into silence.

"Holy crap! What did you do to that thing?" shouted Yang from a distant platform. "Is it dead?" came her echoing call.

Naruto considered her second question. Dead? Maybe. Probably not.

The five students carefully lept across several broken platforms and columns, regrouping next to the prominent central spire. Ruby was the first to break the silence.

"Knowing our luck, there's no way that thing's gone for good. We need to get ready."

Blake made to speak, "What do you have in mind?" she asked curiously.

Ruby's face screwed up in concentration. Her eyes creased, and her tongue poked out unconsciously. It looked like she was really trying.

After a few moments, Yang flexed both her arms, then kissed her right fist. "Not to worry, guys. I've got these babies ready to go!" she shouted boisterously.

Ruby's concentration began to falter, and she looked ready to give up. "I mean, we could just keep hitting it until it dies?" came her lame response.

Yang looked pleased with her words, while Weiss and Blake were decidedly unimpressed.

Naruto shook his head. It was apparent the young scythe wielder had the beginnings of a plan, but the input of her older sister had broken her concentration and, perhaps, her confidence.

"No, Ruby. Think. The mind is as dangerous as any weapon. Use it," he advised her. This was her opportunity to prove her worth. Being younger than the enrollment age, she was already at a disadvantage. She needed this.

Naruto's words seemed to do the trick as the reaper's eyes hardened in resolve.

"Right," she nodded.

Naruto could see as her frenzied mind began to work in earnest. If it were him, immobilizing the Grimm should be their top priority. It was what he had been trying to do before the beast threw him off. Oddly enough, the Nevermore also had a ranged advantage over them. Especially him, as he had zero ranged options, period. The rest of the girls had range, but they had thus far proven ineffective, the Nevermore's hide proving too thick to penetrate. Weiss' elemental techniques would likely be their best bet.

Without prompt, Ruby perked up, seemingly figuring out an attack plan. So long as there was some degree of flexibility in her plan, Naruto would trust it.

A low primordial growl echoed from deep within the chasm's depths. Looks like it was ready for round two. Naruto could hear the heavy beat of Grimm's wings. He looked to Ruby, prepared to receive his instructions.

The red-clad girl nodded, "Okay, the first thing we need to do is-"

Her words were cut off harshly as their target in question let out an deafening scream. It was as if the beast didn't want them talking. But they weren't that intelligent, right?

Suddenly, the Nevermore shot upwards, rising out from the abyss. Naruto's eyes widened as the bird tucked in its wings and shot towards the central spire like a javelin.

"Oh shit," he managed to mutter before the Grimm impacted the structure. The Nevermore pierced the stone, tunnelling through it with ease. Upon exiting, the beast unfurled its wings, expanding them to their full length. The result was the total destruction of the spire and most of the surrounding pillars.

All five of them had the ground they stood on swept out from under them. Naruto experienced momentary weightlessness as he began his initial plummet. He looked at the rest of the girls and noted that they had their own methods of moment. Ruby was fast enough to leap from falling piece of debris to falling piece of debris. Yang, with the assistance of her explosive gauntlets, was able to easily propel herself back up. Weiss had her glyphs. Enough said. And Blake was able to use a combination of acrobatics and her ribbon-bound weapon to manoeuvre herself from platform to platform.

With a sudden moment of panic, Naruto looked around and realized that the falling debris next to him was far too small for him to leapfrog his way upward. Ruby's situational awareness made itself known as she seemed to notice his dilemma.

"Blake!" She shouted.

Naruto stretched out his hand as the black-clad huntress flung her weapon toward him. It was centimetres from his grip when a large avian feather speared through the space between him and his lifeline, deflecting it away and nearly taking off his hand. Naruto cursed.

"Weiss!" Came Ruby's desperate shout.

Naruto eyed the glowing glyph that sprung to life below him, and he braced his legs for impact. Ah, good old reliable glyphs. He was already beginning to appreciate the immense potential of the heiress' semblance.

That was until another feather shot past him, lancing through the glyph and shattering it.

"Oh come on!" Naruto shouted in frustration. The damn chicken was fucking with him now, wasn't it?

The Nevermore released a pained screech as several gunshots rang above him. There was too much falling debris for him to properly see what was happening, but by the sound of the shots, Ruby and Yang had not appreciated the Grimm's interference and were letting the creature know in the best way they knew how.

Another glowing glyph sprung to life, this time almost at eye level. Its position was awkward. Possibly due to Weiss' casting range reaching its limit. Naruto had just enough time to grab onto the edge of the makeshift platform. Unfortunately, the angle of his grip and the momentum of his fall made it impossible for him to hold on completely. Almost as quickly as he had gripped the sigil, his grip was broken, and he was once again falling.

Naruto grinned. It was fine. The glyph did serve an important function in that it slightly altered the direction of his fall, enough so that he was now falling close enough to the chasm's wall to reach out and touch it.

With that knowledge, Naruto drew his trench knives and plunged them into the rock face. He made a point not to apply chakra to his blades; he didn't want to carve his way all the way to the bottom. He needed to stop before that.

It was the right call, as even without chakra enhancing his blades, they carved a deep groove into the wall. Naruto was surprised. He just kept going. Through the layer of mist and deeper into the gorge. Was the rock softer than usual? Perhaps he was passing through a batch of sedimentary rock. Though he didn't see any striations that would indicate so. Maybe his blades were just that sharp?

Fortunately, his momentum could only carry him so far until it eventually dissipated. Naruto looked down and was both shocked and frustrated at what he saw. Several dozen meters below him was what was clearly the bottom of the canyon. That explained his frustration. What shocked him were the several hundred Grimm growling at him.

Naruto had a rudimentary knowledge of this type of Grimm. Creeps. His understanding of the creatures basically amounted to the fact that they were known to be exclusively subterranean, only surfacing to hunt humans or Faunus.

Their name certainly befit their appearance. They were by far the most alien Grimm Naruto had encountered thus far, having no known animal counterpart. At least, as far as he was aware. They were almost reptilian in nature, but he was unaware of any subterranean reptiles.

What the hell?

Why the hell were there this many just... waiting here? While he didn't know much about them, Naruto highly doubted this constituted typical Grimm behaviour.

Did... Did the Nevermore lay a trap for him? Is that why it seemed so adamant that he fell to the bottom of the chasm? The thought was troubling. And spoke of several implications that he hadn't considered before. It was indicative of a much higher level of intelligence than previously believed. As well as a higher sophistication of communication between sub-species of Grimm. Also, why him? Was it because he had damaged the creature the most, or was it something more?

Maybe he'd bring it up to Ozpin later.

For now, it was probably best to leave this area. Naruto doubted the Nevermore, let alone the Creeps, could anticipate that he could literally walk his way out of the situation. There was no glory to be had here. No bragging rights to claim, not that he was supposed to be bragging. The group had just discussed the pointlessness of picking unnecessary battles. It was obvious that there was no benefit in fighting these things. And after all, sometimes the obvious choice is obvious because it's best.

And yet...

Naruto didn't want to make the right call. He wanted to vent some of his frustrations. There were hundreds of Grimm down here. They were burrowers too, so it wasn't like they were trapped. Every Grimm killed here was one less out there that could take the life of an innocent. At least, that's how Naruto tried to justify his thoughts. It was unlikely that Ozpin had any eyes this far down the canyon anyway.

With that thought in mind, Naruto dropped onto the chasm's floor.

xXx

Naruto's chest heaved as he continued his ascent up and out of the canyon. Sweat dripped down his brow, and his limbs ached in protest. The fight against the hoard of creeps had been exhausting. Not difficult, but exhausting. He hadn't killed all of them, but he'd killed enough. There had been close to 300 of the little bastards down there. Looking back now, there couldn't have been any more than half of them left.

Naruto knew he couldn't spend a lot of time down below; there were still important fights happening above him, so he had allowed himself only five minutes of unrestrained freedom. He'd felt confident that he wouldn't have to worry about prying eyes, so he hadn't bothered placing any restrictions on himself. He'd brought his full fighting capacity to bear. Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, and the few low-level wind jutsu he was comfortable using. Even the little things, like Shunshins and Kawarimi, he used in excess. Just to prove to himself that he still could. The dull ache in his arms and legs let him know that he may have gone overboard in the amount of chakra enhancement he'd imbued himself with.

Thank Kami Grimm didn't bleed. Being on a schedule, Naruto hadn't bothered with much technique this time around, mostly relying on speed and ferociousness. If any of his friends from Konoha had seen him, they likely would have assumed he'd been tapping into some of Kurama's unfiltered chakra.

The sounds of combat continued to ring out above him. Gunshots, explosions, and blasts of elemental abilities could be heard in staccato. Naruto picked up his pace and began to run up the wall as quickly as he was able. If there was a chance that his presence could have a positive impact on the fight, then he needed to join the others as soon as possible.

Naruto failed to realize just how far he had fallen. It must have been at least a kilometre. It was not a very far distance for him, but it was made worse because he was travelling entirely vertically. He couldn't exactly sprint up the wall at full speed; if both feet left the surface, his balance would be ruined, and he'd risk falling back down. Damn physics.

Eventually, after nearly two minutes of continuous running, Naruto broke through the thin layer of mist separating the seemingly endless abyss from the rest of the world. From there, it was only a few dozen meters until he was back on solid ground.

Naruto leapt out of the gorge and landed on the smooth surface of the stone bridge. His legs still burned from his earlier fight, but he beat back the fatigue as best he could. The blond shinobi looked around. He was back on the original side of the canyon that the group had started out on. He surveyed the area and came face to face with Jaune, Pyrrfa, Nora, and Ren, who were all staring at him with varying degrees of surprise. Behind them were the dissipating remains of the Deathstalker, a large red and bronze spear still buried in its skull. Right where he had cracked the surface earlier.

Nice.

Jaune and Nora were staring at him with a look of wonder. Naruto didn't know whether that was from confusion at his sudden appearance, surprise at his apparent survival, or something else. Pyrrha and Ren were more subdued in their looks. Happiness, bordering on relief.

Pyrrha was the first to greet him. "Glad to see you made your way back. Everyone was worried when you went over the edge," she said with a bright smile.

It felt nice. To be worried over.

"Yeah, that Grimm really had it out for you, huh?" Jaune followed up with a nervous chuckle.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and replied, "Yeah, it sure felt that way."

The blond knight had no idea. Naruto glanced back at the dissipating scorpion. Pyrrha had gone over to retrieve her spear before it could clatter to the ground.

Ren followed his line of sight, then smiled. "Dropping that column on the Deathstalker really helped out," he said with a nod of his head. "It created a weak point we were able to exploit."

Nora approached him excitedly. "It was awesome! We kept hitting it, but it only made it angrier! Then it threw Ren like a ragdoll, so I was like 'oh hell no,' but then it smacked me away too! Then Jaune noticed the crack in the armour so he told Pyrrha to throw her spear so she threw her spear and it got stuck in its face and then Jauney told me to smash so I came up and smacked the spear like a baseball and it went crunch!"

Oh.

Naruto wasn't exactly sure what to say to that, but he got the gist of it. "I'm... glad to have been able to help," he replied weakly.

Nora grinned manically, her eyes twinkling in pure unadulterated joy. She delivered a brutal punch to his shoulder in what Naruto suspected was supposed to be a gesture of camaraderie. "We're not the only ones you helped," she said as she pointed toward to cliff.

Naruto turned around just in time to see the massive Nevermore release one last death screech as Ruby's comically large scythe bisected the Grimm from shoulder to hip. The sweeping strike had started right where his Rasengan had drilled into the monster's joint and carved messily through the Grimm's torso.

Nice.

Naruto was pleased to see that his actions had made both fights at least a little easier. While he had no doubt that the others could have won their battles without him, making a difference, no matter how minor, was always worth it.

Naruto turned back to the assembled students. "Come on. We've still got a ways to go."

The group nodded in turn. They had some climbing to do.

xXx

Naruto's foot tapped restlessly against the auditorium's ceramic tiles. They were in the midst of the team naming ceremony, and he was feeling oddly anxious. Around him were dozens of other successful first-year candidates, as well as a wide array of upperclassmen who had come by to watch.

Naruto was currently standing alongside the group of eight he had been present with throughout the initiation. They were the final batch of students yet to be christened by the Headmaster, though it was obvious to everyone at this point what the teams would be. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang had collected the golden Knights, while Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren had collected the golden Rooks. That was it; those were the teams.

So what to do with him?

Naruto's hand passed over his pants pocket. The featherlight touch ghosted over the empty pouch where the golden Bishop was once stored. There was no corresponding pair of students with the other Bishop, even though he had chosen not to take the other piece. It seemed it didn't matter. Nor was there a single straggler who had also failed to find a partner. Glancing around the room, Naruto realized there were noticeably fewer students than the previous night.

Dead or failed?

It looked like the initiation was more than just ceremonial. All the same, Naruto himself had technically failed the assigned parameters of the mission. The very first one, in fact. Find a partner. And yet, when he turned in his chess piece to Ozpin at the top of the cliff, the man had simply congratulated him on passing.

Passing.

Naruto had been confused at first. He hadn't been pulled aside and asked to leave. He hadn't been informed of the protocol regarding his unique circumstance. If Ozpin hadn't explicitly said he'd passed, Naruto wouldn't have bothered attending the ceremony. But he was here now. And now he was more nervous than he was confused. Would they attach him to Ruby's team? What about Pyrrha's team? He'd assisted both groups equally during their battles; it was a toss-up. Would that be okay? To be part of the only five-man team at the academy? Would it paint a target on their backs? Make them stand out?

How frustrating.

Maybe Ozpin would assign him as the only single-man team. Naruto's stomach twisted at the thought. For some reason, he really didn't want that. Being alone, even if only on paper, brought about several unpleasant, ugly emotions from deep inside.

Yet even the very thought of feeling this way confused him. Why was he stressing over this so much? His tenure at the school was always going to be short-lived. Why bother worrying? Naruto ran a hand across his face roughly. He barely noticed the slight tremor in the appendage. He rubbed at his eyes, then his forehead. He was sweating.

A gentle touch to the back of his arm snapped him from his thoughts. Lithe fingers brushed along his tricep, then retreated quickly, sending a shiver down his spine.

Naruto glanced down at the person beside him. Crystal-blue eyes peered up at him. He could see his reflection in those eyes. He looked almost as bad as he felt.

"Relax," came Weiss' soft command. "It'll be fine," she added matter-of-factly.

Some of the tension bled away.

A hard slap to the middle of his back almost knocked him off balance, earning a slight scowl from Weiss.

"Yeah! Don't you worry your pretty little face. We've got your back," Yang grinned widely. Her tone was filled with confidence and bravado. "Remember what I said earlier? There's always room on team Yang!"

Ruby's head poked from around the side of Yang's torso. "I think what my sister means, is that if you're not put on one of our teams," she gestured to Jaune and his future teammates, "we'll petition Ozpin so that you can join one of us."

Jaune simply offered a bright smile and a thumbs up.

That was... reassuring. Especially since he hadn't needed to ask. For Ruby and Jaune to make such an offer had further endeared all eight students to Naruto. It was as if they had fulfilled one of his old repressed dreams from his early childhood: being included in a social circle.

How sad was that?

Naruto sensed movement close to his side, and Weiss' snow-white hair began to move in tandem with her voice.

"Yes, well. It would do your sister good to discuss these matters with everyone before making the offer," came her haughty voice. "Blake, control your partner."

"Oh, come on!" Yang protested. "We already had this conversation. I've learned my lesson," Yang added with a broad smile, placing her right hand over her chest and crossing her index and middle fingers. "Besides, just like Blakey, no one would have said no. Especially you, ice queen."

Weiss bristled at the nickname before her face contorted in confusion. "And what do you mean by that, exactly?" Weiss crossed her arms as she posed her query.

Her question was equal parts anger and genuine confusion.

Now it was Yang's turn to be perplexed. "Seriously? You've clearly got a soft spot for him," Yang stated while pointing at Naruto.

Uh oh. What the hell was going on here? Naruto didn't want any of this smoke.

"Excuse me? I do not have a soft spot for anyone," Weiss stated incredulously.

Naruto winced. The words were meant to exonerate her of any bias, but in reality, they came off as rather mean-spirited. He couldn't help but feel he was being put in the middle of something he shouldn't be.

Yang scoffed. "I'm not the only one who's noticed. You're not exactly subtle, princess. Right guys?" She turned to her peers for support.

Everyone, including Ruby and Blake, had turned their backs on the argument, smartly deciding to stay out of it. In Jaune's case, he was facing a wall.

"Whatever," Yang mumbled. "I'm still right."

Weiss scowled at her. "You most certainly are not right," she refuted while further narrowing her eyes.

"Oh really?" There was a hint of mischief in Yang's tone. It made Naruto uncomfortable. "Then why are you standing so close to him?" she questioned the heiress with a grand sweep of her arm. As if it were the smoking gun of her argument.

Come to think of it, the blonde did have a point. Since they had regrouped at the top of the cliff, Weiss had been unusually close to him in proximity. While by no means had she been clingy, she had made a point, whether unconscious or not, to stand and walk beside him whenever she could.

Naruto hadn't thought anything of it at the time. Her attitude and treatment of him hadn't changed. At most, he figured it was her way of expressing relief over him being okay after he fell into the canyon.

Naruto had been touched; apparently, everyone had been worried when they failed to catch him. Ruby had babbled several apologies that he simply waved away. His casual dismissal seemed to have calmed her significantly. Blake had vocalized her relief in just a few words, which Naruto had come to understand was simply her nature. Yang was the most casual about it, merely clapping him on the back. She treated the situation like a friend discovering their drinking buddy hungover, but alive, after a long night of bar-hopping. Weiss hadn't said anything to him, but Naruto had assumed that her close proximity was simply her non-verbal way of expressing relief.

Weiss simply stared at Yang. Her scowling visage unchanging. She didn't move to step away from him.

Oh Kami.

The tension around the group was palpable; everyone was on edge.

The thick atmosphere was cut as Ozpin's voice reverberated throughout the room, "Jaune Arc," came the call.

"Oh thank god," the blond knight muttered in relief. "C'mon guys, it's our turn." The self-proclaimed ladies' man and the rest of his teammates quickly scrambled away. Like overboard sailors swimming for shore.

Weiss released a long breath, calming herself. "You are such a child," she said while shaking her head wearily.

"I know what I see," Yang responded passively. The teasing in her tone was put away for now.

"You really don't."

Yang wisely chose not to respond, letting the argument die.

Naruto blinked

...

What the hell was that?

Naruto wasn't nearly as dense as people made him out to be. He knew exactly what Yang had been implying. Why the hell did she have to say anything?

...

It was fine.

Just more emotions to put away. Now wasn't the time.

Naruto focused on Ozpin's voice, "-team Juniper," the letters J-N-P-R were highlighted under their portraits, which were displayed on a large screen. "Led by," the Headmaster paused for effect, "Jaune Arc."

The boy in question appeared just as surprised as Naruto felt, though Naruto was able to hide it much better. Interesting. Jaune must have displayed excellent leadership qualities throughout the initiation. Nora probably undersold the battle against the Deathstalker. Good for Jaune. Hopefully, he'd be able to grow into the role with time.

As the amphitheatre continued to shower the newly christened team with applause, Pyrrha sent a congratulatory jab to her partner and leader's shoulder. Jaune was subsequently sent careening back and stumbled onto his butt. Naruto chose to give the boy the benefit of the doubt, believing that the redhead had simply misjudged her own strength. Her strength, supposedly, was prodigious.

"And finally," Ozpin turned to face the student body one last time. "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xio Long," the four girls began their ascent to the stage.

Ruby shot Naruto a look of concern. He choked down the surge of discomfort that rose from his stomach, sending the girl a disarming smile.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces," came the Headmaster's clear and confident statement.

Naruto sighed. So he was running it solo, eh? At least until Ruby could speak with the Headmaster in private. Assuming Ozpin would be agreeable to her request.

...

Was it even a good idea to try and attach himself to another team? It'd only hurt everyone involved when it was time for him to leave. Regardless of what Naruto actually wanted, he should focus on what was best.

All thoughts were made irrelevant as Ozpin turned to face him. "Naruto Uzumaki, please step forward."

Despite his surprise, Naruto followed the man's direction. Heat rose to his cheeks as all eyes in the room focused on him. He really didn't care for the attention. He noticed the odd hushed whispers, but other than that, the perpetual applause filling the room didn't waver.

"You retrieved the white Bishop piece," Ozpin spoke, mainly for the rest of the room's benefit. "Due to several circumstances, you were unable to locate a partner. Nor were there enough students to form another team for you to join."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat.

"However, throughout your time in the Emerald Forest, you demonstrated feats of bravery, critical thinking, and teamwork." The man paused, then added, "And you more than proved yourself capable in combat."

Naruto listened intently with bated breath.

"Therefore, you are left in a somewhat unique circumstance. While not unheard of, you will be given a choice."

Not unheard of, huh? Naruto was unaware of any other incident when a student didn't have a team, but then again, he hadn't spent much time looking into Beacon's policies and procedures.

"You may join the team before you, seeing as how it was they who you worked most closely with," Ozpin gestured to Ruby and her team, "so long as they agree, of course. Or you may proceed into the next four years without a team," Ozpin revealed with an inscrutable gaze.

Naruto frowned. So that's how it would be.

"Think carefully, young man. There is no wrong decision; each path has benefits and disadvantages. The choice is yours."

Naruto stared into the grey-haired professor's eyes, even though he distinctly heard Ruby's enthusiastic cheer. A cry of celebration that quickly dwindled as he failed to respond immediately.

Naruto cursed the Headmaster in his mind. The bastard was manipulating him. Giving him the choice. Testing him. The old man may as well have said: 'Are you really going to leave in a month? Choose now.'

If he chose to go solo, he risked alienating his newfound friends. And yes, they were undoubtedly friends at this point. Naruto had made lifelong connections that started from weaker encounters than this. But it would also make things more manageable when it was time to leave. Besides, who was to say he couldn't maintain his friendships while also choosing to be a one-man team? He'd be able to explain things. These people weren't unreasonable.

On the other hand, joining Ruby's team would be pretty damn fun. It was something he wanted to do. There really wasn't much more to say than that. Not a lot of logical arguments to make. At least, none that he could think of on the spot.

Ruby's timid voice broke this train of thought. "Naruto?" She sounded small. Confused. Cautious.

What would it be? To do what made sense or do what he wanted?

The Headmaster shot him a knowing look as if saying he knew precisely what Naruto was thinking. Maybe he did. He also likely already knew Naruto's answer.

Naruto hung his head. Well, it was better to know you're being played than to be played without knowing it, was it not?

Naruto released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and made his decision.

xXx

A heavy sigh cut through the otherwise silent air. Naruto stared over the ledge of the cliff Beacon was situated on, his legs dangling freely. While the school was to his back, the city of Vale in front of him offered a picturesque view from his perch. The sun had set only an hour ago, so the pale glow of the broken moon cast long shadows across the campus.

Not Vale, though.

The city itself was awash with bright lights and a multicolour glow. Naruto had come here to help clear his mind. The team placement ceremony had concluded several hours ago, and he still didn't know if he had made the right decision.

Naruto's mind wandered to other topics of interest. He fought desperately to suppress his anxiety as another thought of home surfaced. How everyone was doing, the condition of his world, the - no. He needed to stop with that. Worry would do him no good. It had already been a month. Whatever damage had been done due to his absence was done. He'd be there to pick up the pieces upon his return. For better or worse.

Naruto shook his head and tried to think about the here and now. He smiled lightly as he realized he was finally using his Kage Bunshin their utmost potential. Right now, one of them was debriefing with Ozpin in his office.

Shortly after the teams had been decided, Naruto informed Ozpin about the strange occurrence with the Nevermore and the Creeps during initiation. He'd omitted his battle with the hoard of creatures. Ozpin didn't need to know all the details. Yet the man had stopped him before he could say much. Instead, he had been invited to the Headmaster's office in the evening to discuss the matter.

That was a job best suited for a clone. And Naruto really didn't want to hear any more of the man's cryptic speech. He could always filter out those memories when the time came.

Naruto was much more looking forward to what came after the debrief. He had imprinted specific instructions to his clone to search the Headmaster's office after their meeting once the man turned in for the night. As far as he knew, that search could be happening this very second. He wasn't really expecting to find anything, but he would take anything that could give him a leg up on the stoic Headmaster. He was tired of being on the back foot when dealing with the man.

Naruto noted footsteps gradually increase in proximity. Someone was coming.

"There you are!" A cheerful voice called out to him. Naruto smiled. He knew that voice. Knew those footsteps. "I've been looking all over for you since the ceremony!"

Naruto turned around and was greeted by chocolate-brown eyes, matching hair, and mocha skin. "Hey, Amber," Naruto called back with a tight smile. "Was wondering when we'd see each other again. Knew it wouldn't be long once Ozpin got his claws on me. I didn't realize you were at the team placements."

"Yeah, so much for Mr. 'I'm not attending Beacon,'" she replied playfully.

Naruto waved her off and smiled. "Yeah, yeah. You're, like, the third person who's said that in the last two days."

Amber laughed lightly. "Yeah, well, like you said, the old man sure has a way of pulling you in, doesn't he?"

Naruto hummed in confirmation.

"So how'd he getcha? Fortune? Glory? Babes?" The older girl elbowed his shoulder as she sat on the ground beside him, her legs dangling over the edge of the cliff.

Naruto smiled. "Access to Beacon's resources. Its library. The implication that he could help me get home," he finished wistfully.

"Yeesh. Just an implication? I would have gotten a promise out of him," the brunette sighed.

If only it was that easy.

"Well, it's only for a month. Then I'm free to leave if I want," Naruto defended quickly.

Was she judging him?

Amber laughed at his defensiveness. "If you want, huh?" after a moment of silence, she added, "You sure it wasn't for the babes? Some of those girls on stage with you were..."

Naruto glanced at the older girl as her statement was left hanging. He regretted it immediately upon seeing the look on her face. Her gaze was focused. Penetrating. Her head was tilted, eyebrows sculpted, and lips formed into a teasing smirk.

Was this... was this supposed to be the smoulder?

Naruto burst out laughing. "Stop whatever that is," he nudged her on the shoulder. "It wasn't for the girls," he could barely get the words out between peels of laughter.

Amber hummed happily. "If you say so," she replied while looking towards Vale. Distant lights cast iridescent reflections in her eyes.

"Must be important, then. To get home," she prodded neutrally.

Naruto's smile slowly faded. "I've... got a lot of unfinished business," he answered softly. "What about you?" he asked, hoping to change directions. "You sticking around?"

Amber's neutrality faded into a resigned acceptance. "Looks like it. Things are brewing out there. My wanderlust is on an indefinite hiatus until further notice."

Naruto considered her words.

"Well, look on the bright side," he offered.

The girl tilted her head in curiosity.

"Without Qrow breathing down my neck and with you around for a while, maybe we can have that spar we talked about, remember? And I can finally kick your ass," Naruto's grin was teasing. Unburdened.

There was no doubt she didn't remember. Qrow had made it his mission to prevent the two from sparring for whatever reason. It had been frustrating.

Amber threw her head back and laughed, "Oh, please! You couldn't handle me on my worst day!"

Naruto's grin widened, exposing his canines. "I guess we'll have to see, won't we?"

The girl beside him shook her head, cutting his growing enthusiasm short. "No, we won't. I won't say what; I want it to be a surprise, but I'm taking on a temporary teaching role here. So that means no fighting," she said teasingly.

"Combat instructor," Naruto stated with confidence.

Amber's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. "W-what? H-how? Did Ozpin say something?"

Naruto took great pleasure in her floundering response. "Nope. But it's pretty obvious. You seem like you're only capable of hitting things real good."

That was a lie.

Naruto had based his guess on her age and her general distaste for being anchored to one place. If Amber was teaching something, it would be best to put her in a non-specialized role in the event that she up and left. And since all of Beacon's staff were either retired or active huntsmen, theoretically, any one of them could fill in as a combat instructor.

But it was much more entertaining to tease the girl.

And it worked.

"Want me to hit you real good right now?" Amber raised her fist in mock anger.

Naruto scootched away slightly, "you wouldn't hurt one of your precious students, would you?" he laughed nervously for extra effect.

The brunette lowered her fist. "Just keep it up, and we'll see," she breathed out, a hint of humour still in her voice.

They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, each of them enjoying the view, the cool night air, and each others presence.

In that time, Naruto felt the moment his clone dissipated from Ozpin's office. He smiled internally while reviewing the memories of his duplicate. As soon as their business concluded, the moment Ozpin looked away, likely under the assumption that the blond was safely inside the elevator, was all the time the clone had needed to shunshin back into the room and stealthily hide behind one of the room's pillars. From there, most of the clone's existence was spent waiting for the Headmaster to finish his business and leave his office for the night.

Interestingly, Ozpin seemed to have relayed the results of Naruto's experience with the Nevermore and Creeps to several unknown contacts via his scroll. That was something Naruto hadn't expected. Maybe it had been worth noting?

After the Headmaster left his office for the night, the clone had spent several minutes rifling through the man's desk. The results were... disappointing. Naruto frowned. The only thing to note from the office was the man's desk. But the desk itself had no noteworthy items. A few pieces of memorabilia, several folders with student's profiles - were those really Jaune's transcripts? - and a drawer full of mugs. Seriously?

The man was clean of anything truly interesting. Or, more likely, he kept anything that was really exciting away from his semi-public office.

Oh well. It was worth a shot.

Naruto briefly considered the feasibility of breaking into the Headmaster's personal quarters.

...

"Hey, Naruto?" several snaps went off in his face. Amber was fixing him with a curious look, hand retracting when she noticed his eyes focus on her. "You good there? You looked pretty out of it."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. It had been a while since he last zoned out while reviewing a clone's memories. It wasn't something he did too often, and he was particularly out of practice as of late.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," he chuckled.

Amber eyed him with a speculative look.

"I was just going over a conversation I had with Ozpin earlier," he added honestly. Sometimes, being forthcoming with some things was a good way to obscure other things.

Amber seemed satisfied with his response, then added her own opinion on the matter. "As much as he frustrates me, I love him like an uncle. But take my advice. Try to take what that old scarecrow says with a grain of salt. He'll talk you in circles, all without telling a lie. He likes his word games."

Old scarecrow, huh? Now why did that evoke feelings of nostalgia? If Qrow had been reminiscent of Kakashi in that he was a victim of his vices, then Ozpin reminded Naruto of Kakashi's aloofness and never faltering coolness. But only if it had been ramped up by several magnitudes.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

Naruto meant it. It was good advice.

"Don't mention it," a pregnant pause passed. "Say, shouldn't you be with your team right now?" Amber questioned him with a raised brow.

He supposed he should, shouldn't he? Naruto thought about his current team, Team Ribbon. Weiss had been peeved when Ruby was named its leader and even more so when she realized that the 'W' in RYBWN was technically unnecessary when pronouncing the name phonetically.

Naruto just found it funny.

He had promised Ruby he wouldn't be out too late, as they had classes tomorrow morning. And Naruto wasn't about to break such an easily keepable word. It was already getting late.

"Yeah, I guess I should be getting back to my room. I promised Ruby I'd stop by and say goodnight," Naruto admitted while gazing toward the dormitories.

Naruto was relieved that Ozpin had provided a spare room for him to use, being only one door down from the rest of team RYBWN. Naruto didn't want to think about the logistics behind his sleeping arrangements if he had to share a single room with the rest of the girls. The downside was that his room could essentially sleep four people. And he had that all to himself. He hated the wasted space.

Naruto pulled himself up from his seated position, stretching out his stiff joints. He offered a hand to Amber, which she gratefully accepted. He pulled her to her feet and the older girl began a similar series of stretches.

Amber placed a hand on his shoulder as he was turning to leave. "Wait, before you go, you've got a scroll now, right?"

He did. Why?

At his silent nod, Amber held out her hand. "Give it here," she commanded.

Naruto reluctantly did as she asked. With lighting fast fingers, she began to type away in his device. After a mere few seconds, she handed his scroll back to him.

"There. Congratulations. A girl just gave you her number," Amber smiled smugly.

Sure enough, under his contacts, he noticed a new addition.

Oh. Why did she say it like that? Was this some sort of cultural joke that he wasn't privy to?

At least now he could communicate with her at his leisure.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Amber," he said earnestly. He paid her no mind as she appeared slightly disappointed at his simple response. He supposed it was indeed some sort of joke.

Naruto began walking toward the school's dormitories. He tossed a loose wave in Amber's direction and offered her a relaxed goodbye.

Amber simply smiled and rolled her eyes, offering a short farewell of her own, "Right. See you in class," her voice lilted upwards.

Their conversation had been exactly what he needed, Naruto realized. He'd needed something light like that.

With that, Naruto left to check in on his team.

xXx

A/N: So. Lots to digest there. I'll address the elephant in the room. Team RYBWN. Yeah, Naruto's in a five-man team. I know a lot of you were probably hoping he'd have a partner, lead a team, or maybe even run it solo. This just happens to be how things went. I love all of RWBY's characters, so I couldn't bear to write one of them out. People seem to like getting rid of Jaune in other Fanfics, probably because it's pretty easy and convenient to do so, but I'm a big fan of his character, so he stays. I'm sorry to say that I simply don't have it in me to write three OCs. There are already so many characters to write and keep track of, I wouldn't have done them justice. Besides, Amber's basically an OC and I'm already struggling enough as is with her. And Naruto running it solo just seems... sad. I don't want to write that. I hope my in-universe explanation made enough sense. It was a purely emotional decision for Naruto, and he knows it.

To anyone who dislikes my decision, all I have to say is this:

:^)

Cast your votes for Naruto's semblance, poll is up!