A/N: *Flops onto bed*

Reasons this took so long:

1. School

2. Didn't know what to write

3. Working on my own projects

Hopefully I'll get better at balancing characters as I go on. Anyways, enjoy.

"No! NO! STAY BACK!"

"HEY! CUT THAT OUT!"

"Blake, he's just a dog! He's not gonna do anything!"

*Bark!*

"YOU HEARD IT YOURSELF!"

"I SAID CUT THAT OUT!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as the girl in black- Blake- cowered in the corner and flailed her sword at Akamaru. Really, you'd think Akamaru was a Tailed Beast with the way she freaked out around the dog. Kiba and the blonde girl entirely too similar to Naruto- Yang, and wasn't that ironic- had intervened, but Sasuke didn't see that ending well. The fact that the hyperactive girl- Nora- had inserted herself into the situation to hug and pet Akamaru made it worse.

Kiba had called Blake a cat Faunus, and the redhead- Pyrrha- had said that Faunus had animal features. If the bow pressed flat against Blake's head was any indication, she had a pair of cat ears underneath that bow. Sasuke thought back a few years; he'd thrown out the cat ears, but Nekobaa and Tamaki probably still had the Paw Encyclopedia. He really should visit them more often.

But returning to his original line of thought, there was a loud and energetic blonde girl named Yang, which Naruto had an affinity for, and a quiet and serious black-haired girl who was part cat, which Sasuke had a connection to. It was only two points between dimensions and not nearly enough to create a theory, but Sasuke still had to wonder if there was a deeper connection between them than the voice had implied. If so, did that make Yang and Blake alternate versions of Naruto and himself? Had one of the dimensions influenced the other, either during the formative process or at some point after? Or were they both influenced by another? So many possibilities. He was tempted to pose the question to the screen and see if the voice would answer, but then he'd have to explain his thought process to the room and he didn't particularly feel like doing that at the moment.

(If he were Nora, he'd start thinking about whether being sister-dimensions made the formation of Hunting or Bust, as they'd taken to calling it, the child of lesbian incest on a metaphysical level, but he wasn't, so he remained blissfully unaware.)

Sasuke looked around the room. The hooded girl, Ruby, was excitedly detailing the specifications of her scythe to Tenten, who looked torn between paying attention and helping Kiba. Naruto had struck up a conversation with Pyrrha and the other blond- Jaune- that the white-haired girl- Weiss had been drawn into. The black-haired boy, Ren, was sitting quietly on his bean bag. He met Sasuke's eyes. Understanding passed between them. They were the ones who had to deal with the antics of the people they called friends. The most reasonable. It was their burden to ensure the consequences were addressed.

Ren looked at a remote, then back at Sasuke. He understood the question in Ren's eyes: Should they just start the next episode, regardless of who was watching?

Sasuke nodded. Ren quickly but discretely pressed Play. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the title- it sounded self-explanatory- before the creak and Naruto's voice caught everyone's attention.

"Wait, why is it starting?!"

Everyone who had moved scrambled to get back to their seats- except Blake, who'd scampered off to another corner the moment Akamaru looked away.

"Rewind, rewind!" Nora was frantically mashing the button into the remote, not caring that she was constantly changing the speed every time she did so. The lights dimmed as she reached the beginning.

"You started it without us, didn't you?" Naruto hissed.

"No," Sasuke said honestly.

What's a Landing Strategy?

((((((((Hunting))))))))

The locker door clicked and slowly started to creak open. Inside was the long red scabbard, five smaller scabbards strapped to it with two handles on both sides and hooks similar to Stormer's.

Ruby gasped. "Ooooh…"

Naruto slowly started to grow a malicious grin and pulled his blades out of the locker. He looked them over, "You guys have been getting eager, haven't you?"

The black bandana wearing blond sat down on a bench and started tracing his finger over the scabbards, "That's right boys and girls, we're back in action today. Now I know we've heard all the stories and rumors that this initiation test is supposed to be a hard task not many people can finish. And let's be honest...a few of these guys probably aren't gonna make it. That's right, we've all got eyes on Jaune."

"What?!" Jaune looked at Naruto in alarm. "You think I'm gonna die?!"

Naruto blinked. Honestly, what he'd seen of Jaune in the last episode hadn't been promising, but even Naruto knew that it would be really rude to say it. So he just shrugged. "Who knows?"

Somehow, Jaune didn't seemed reassured.

"I wouldn't put much stock in his opinion, Jaune," Sasuke said. The other ninja looked at him in suspicion. Sasuke didn't go out of his way to reassure-

"He's talking to inanimate objects; his mental faculties are obviously defective."

There was the jab they were expecting.

"Shut up Sasuke! What's wrong with…" Naruto looked back at the screen, where his paused counterpart was smirking at the swords in his lap. "Uh… what's wrong with what I'm doing?" he finished without any real conviction.

"Dude, you're talking to chunks of metal like they can understand you," Kiba said. Akamaru barked in agreement. "What were you saying about not being weird?"

Naruto sank into his seat. "It's not weird."

"I disagree," Weiss cut in. "It's normal to talk to an inanimate object during a fit of emotion, but not to hold a one-sided conversation with it."

Ruby looked back and forth between the ninjas and Weiss. "Wait, what's weird about talking to your weapon? I do it all the time."

"I rest my case."

"But we shouldn't be worried. Not in the least. Because this is a chance to show everyone in Beacon just how awesome you guys are."

"You're still doing it."

Naruto sank further into his seat.

"Naruto-"

"It's been a while since we had to fight Grimms but we haven't forgotten how to do it."

Yang's hand waved in front of his face, "Yoohoo~, Naruto~."

Yang groaned. "Don't tell me we have another weapons geek! One is enough!"

"I'm not a weapons geek," Naruto mumbled. "Tenten's the weapons geek."

Tenten frowned at him.

"Now let's make sure we're all ready." Naruto twisted the hilt and the compartment of Stormer's hilt flipped open to reveal dozens of arrows he had placed inside.

Yang took a step back until she stood near Sasuke and shook her head, "Okay, you were right, he's out of it. So this happens a lot I suppose?"

"Not usually. Only when it's something big and he gets excited. I guess that means he's gonna try and take this seriously so that's a plus." Sasuke looked behind them, "I see you have to deal with something similar."

They both looked towards Ruby as she hummed a catchy tune and sharpened the massive blade of Crescent Rose. Needless to say, it was an odd sight to see such a cute girl happily grind a whetstone against a scythe twice her size.

"It's more common than you think," Ren said.

Sasuke shook his head and attached Vollmond Reflexion to his side. He looked between the two distracted teens, "Should we just leave them until it's time for the test?"

Ruby began to panic. "What?! You guys are gonna ditch us again?!"

"We won't ditch you," Yang said flippantly.

"I probably will."

"Don't worry." Yang cracked her fingers and smirked, "I learned a very special and effective way to bring people like this out of a trance thanks to Ruby."

"What?! Yang, that's not better!"

Yang decided to first try and pull Naruto back to the real world. She stood behind him and waited…

Naruto snapped himself out of his depression. "Wait, what's she gonna-"

*SMACK*

Naruto glared at Yang. She smiled back.

"OW!" Naruto yelped and held the back of his head after Yang harshly punched it with her gauntlet. She waved and gave him a cheeky smile as Naruto hissed at the pain, "Geez, I think you cracked my skull."

"Well you're the guy with the miracle band-aid powers so I'm not all that worried." Yang walked over to Ruby, "Her on the other hand-"

"Nonononono-!"

*SMACK*

"Yang!"

"AHHHHHHH-WHYYYYYYYY?!" Ruby fell off the bench and started clutching her head when she felt the familiar smack resonate through her skull.

Yang placed her hands on her hips and nodded triumphantly, "Well, I think that worked."

Kiba, Tenten, Pyrrha, and Jaune stared at the screen in horror.

"Is that normal?!" Tenten asked.

"Yang, that is abusive and dangerous behavior!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yang, you are several times stronger than the average human," Pyrrha scolded. "A punch that hard from someone like you will take out a noticeable chunk of someone's Aura at best! By hitting Naruto and Ruby so soon before the initiation test, you are putting them at risk of injury or even death!"

"Don't get your bra in a twist, Pyrrha!" Yang shot back. "We handled it just fine last time!"

"Maybe so, but you'll only get stronger as you go on, and the missions will only become more dangerous." Pyrrha refused to back down. "This isn't a habit you can keep if you value the well-being of your team!"

"No one's ever said anything about it!"

"That isn't an excuse!"

Yang crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Whatever!"

Naruto and Sasuke cringed at the sight of the young girl rolling on the floor while grasping the back of her head. She moaned and looked up at her older sister with teary eyes, "Why~?"

"Because I know better than anyone that once you start cleaning Crescent Rose, you go into every nook and cranny. Then you start fiddling with the barrel, and the magazines, the slide, and everything else you find. And when you're finished, the afternoon's gone and your hungry. I just saved you missing out on the test."

Ruby sat up and continued rubbing her head, "There are better ways to do that."

"Your better isn't as effective as my way."

"That is not effective."

Ruby glared up at her big sister before looking over at the two boys watching from the side, "You guys think this is bad, right? Would you treat a sibling like this?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "No idea. Only child."

Sasuke looked off to the side, "Me and my brother didn't usually interact like that."

"Hana might smack me around in a spar if I did something stupid," Kiba said, "but not for no reason like that. Sheesh, I'd hate to think about what you'd do if you actually got mad."

"She blew up a bar and got banned for life one time."

"Ruby!"

The shinobi stared at Yang in concern. Pyrrha resolved to see Professor Goodwitch about signing Yang up for anger management sessions.

Ruby just glared childishly at them before hugging her weapon in its standby mode, "Well it doesn't matter what the rest of you think. Crescent Rose always need my attention to make sure she's in effective condition. My baby likes to show herself off when she's around other people."

Sasuke and Yang looked at Ruby in bewilderment but Naruto nodded his head in understanding, "Yeah, I get that. Sometimes, you just wanna show your weapon off to anyone and everyone you can. Make them jealous." He turned around and brought attention to the sheathes on his back, "I'm using today as a chance to get all these little guys back into play."

Ruby cheered, "Yay! Someone else gets it!"

Ruby looked at Naruto hopefully. Naruto shrugged and went, "Meh."

Ruby's hope at finding another kindred soul shattered into a thousand pieces.

The other two fighters looked between the odd duo before Yang raised an eyebrow. She looked at the bandana wearing blond, "Hey, why do you have those extras?"

Naruto tilted his head, "What?"

"All those extra swords on your back, why do you carry them around?"

"Because they aren't extras." Naruto turned back around, "I use all of these guys in battle when I need to get serious."

Yang blinked in surprise, "How many is that?"

"Well, these all have two small swords in them so that's ten swords. And then there's Stormer so that makes eleven."

"Yeah. So you have ten small swords as backup in case something goes wrong."

"No! I use them all when I need them!"

Yang was starting to get ticked off, "How can you use eleven swords at once? That's not practical!"

"Seriously, how are you going to use eleven swords at once?"

"I don't know. I told you, I don't use swords."

Tenten hummed. "If I had to guess, I'd say you have wires attached to them to use them like a barbed whip." She put a hand to her chin. "Or maybe it's something like B's seven-sword style. You know, where he has a sword underneath each joint."

Ruby had stars in her eyes. "That sounds totally. Awesome."

"Yeah!" Nora shouted. "What if you roll up like a hedgehog and smash into people with your swords?"

"Uh…" Jaune was confused. "Can hedgehogs do that?"

"Who cares! It's awesome!"

Naruto was silent for a moment before he rubbed his chin and hummed. He walked over besides Ruby and asked, "Hey Ruby, why would you have something like a massive scythe with a sniper rifle if it wasn't practical?"

Ruby played along, "Well Naruto, the same reason someone would have eleven blades to use at once." She had a spunky face and looked back at Yang, "Because it's awesome!"

"Mm-hmm! She gets it!" Naruto and Ruby did a quick high five while smiling, content with themselves at proving Yang wrong. They were already smack talking in sync.

"But…" Ruby looked at Naruto. "Crescent Rose is practical. That's why she's such a great weapon."

Naruto huffed. "Ruby, I'm trying to make a point. You're supposed to back me up."

"Oh, uh… sorry."

Yang was fuming and about to burst before she took a deep breath in and out.

Sasuke decided to dissolve the tension, "Okay, now that we're done arguing about weapons, are you guys ready for today?"

Yang's demeanor changed back into her excited, eager self and she started bouncing on her feet, "Oh yeah, I'm ready for anything!" She then turned to Ruby, "Do you have everything?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Yes."

"Extra magazine for your gun?"

"Yes."

"Extra extra magazine just in case?"

"Yes."

"Your hood?"

"I'm wearing it."

"Just checking. Did you eat enough?"

"I ate plenty!" Ruby grumbled in annoyance at Yang's overprotective tendencies, "I ate my pancakes! I drank my milk! I've eaten enough!"

"Oh you could never eat enough." Naruto disagreed, "I think as long as there is space in your stomach, you need to eat something!"

"That's true!" Nora shouted. "I need more food!" She ran to the snack table and microwaved some popcorn.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we know Naruto. You're like a trash compactor when you see food."

Ruby and Yang nodded in agreement. They decided to have breakfast together as one group and the two girls were shocked to see how much the whiskered boy could stuff down his gullet.

"Oh c'mon, I'm not that bad."

"Oh, you're definitely that bad," Kiba said with a smirk. "You guzzle ramen like there's no tomorrow."

"But that's ramen!" Naruto countered as if it explained everything.

"It's still gross."

Ruby looked up at him, "But you ate an entire plate full of pancakes earlier."

Yang added, "You ate an entire second plate of pancakes after that."

Sasuke scowled, "You ate my pancakes!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Don't eat my food."

"If you really wanted them, it's your fault for not stopping me." Naruto crossed his arms and smirked at his logic.

Naruto looked confused, "But you said you didn't like pancakes."

Nora's head snapped around from the microwave. "What?"

"See Sasuke? I was just making sure you didn't waste anything!"

"I said I didn't think I could eat a full plate of them! And I didn't! Because you ate all of them!"

"Oh, so you're just weak," Nora said.

"What?"

"Yeah!" Nora ran back to her bean bag and began munching on her popcorn. "It's not that you don't like pancakes, you just can't eat a lot of them because you're weak."

Sasuke's eye was twitching dangerously.

"It's nothing against you personally, Sasuke," Ren said. "She just takes her pancakes very seriously."

"Oh sorry, I didn't know you meant it like that." Naruto then just grinned and stretched out, "Oh well, what's done is done! Let's get ready for test! What do you think it's gonna be? Tournament? Puzzle? I really hope it's not anything to do with writing."

Yang and Ruby grimaced, in full agreement that a written test would be the worst way to have a test.

Sasuke sat down on the bench, "I hear there's something about making teams with people."

Ruby groaned and looked off to the side, "Great. More fun with strangers."

Yang looked over to her unenthusiastic little sister, "Oh don't worry, it's not gonna be that bad. Just do the same thing you did yesterday to talk with Naruto and Jaune."

"You mean blow up myself and the heiress of a world renowned company?"

Yang was silent for a moment. She looked off to the side, "Okay, maybe not the exact same way."

"Did you blow yourself up a second time?" Naruto asked.

"No! Weiss did!"

Weiss was scandalized. "I did not!"

"Wait, Weiss blew the two of you up?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, she set the forest on fire when we ran into some Beowolves."

"Only because you charged into the path of my fire Dust and I had to redirect it!"

Naruto chuckled at the sisters' banter before he looked around and noticed one of their new friends was nowhere in sight. He looked a little harder, "Speaking of Jaune, where is he?"

"He said he was gonna look for his locker with all his stuff in it. But that was like half an hour ago."

"Did he get lost or something?"

"He said he didn't remember putting his stuff in a locker with a really high number so he went looking around."

Naruto blinked before he chuckled nervously. Okay, now he really was worried that Jaune was not gonna have it easy during this test.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jaune grumbled.

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Weiss typed the password for her locker and pulled the metal door open. She pulled her holster out before carefully taking out Myrtenaster and placing it at her left side. She locked the rapier into place before humming with a small smile and nod. She shut the door and looked to the girl locking her armor into place, "So, Pyrrha, how are you feeling about the exam?"

Pyrrha made a noise in the back of her throat. She remembered this conversation well.

The red-headed girl strapped on her bronze pieces while sitting on the bench. She clicked them together before looking up at the girl with the small scar near her eye, "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel anxious about taking the exam. But at the same time I'm very eager to see what happens."

"Oh, just what I'd expect from the top ranking student of Sanctum. You're excitement is almost contagious." Weiss sucked up and returned Pyrrha's smile with one of her own. Okay, time to lay the seeds, "Well Pyrrha, what do you think about the idea of making teams during the exam?"

Weiss blushed as she noticed everyone looking at her- except for Pyrrha, who was very deliberately not looking at her. "What? Pyrrha was easily the best person to partner with! Of course I'd try to get into her good graces!"

"But what about me? I'm a good partner, right?"

Weiss immediately realized the faux pas she'd just committed when she saw Ruby's insecure expression. "Yes, you are. But before I realized how good of a partner you could be, I thought Pyrrha would be the best," she recovered.

"I think it's an amazing idea." Pyrrha said with a smile as she opened up her locker and pulled Miló and Akoúo out to secure on her back. She shut the door, "I really want to see what everyone else in the academy can do in the battlefield."

"Oh, I'm sure they're all just amazing. But I doubt many of them could stand up against you." Weiss said with an innocent tone as she fluttered her eyelashes. She feigned realization, "Wouldn't it be great if we were on a team together?"

*Cough*Kissass!*Cough*

Weiss whirled on Nora. "What was that?!"

Yang snickered. "You wanna go wash your face, Weiss? You got a lot of brown on your nose."

"Oh, be quiet!"

"She's got a point," Naruto said. "I mean, sheesh, you're acting like all those girls who threw themselves at Sasuke."

Sasuke made a face. "Don't remind me."

Pyrrha laughed and nodded kindly, "Yes, it would be something. But I doubt we will be able to control the situation we find ourselves in so easily. We might just have to let fate decide for us who we work with."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. But it would be fantastic if we did work together."

Pyrrha looked to the heiress with an honest smile, "Perhaps you will get to work alongside one of the friends you made last night."

"Uhhh… friends?" Yang's voice dripped with skepticism. "That wasn't a friendly conversation."

"Well, you were making a lot of noise," Pyrrha tried to rationalize. "Maybe I thought you were just anxious?"

Pyrrha sank in her seat when she saw the looks on everyone's faces. That was a socially blind moment for her.

"Yeah, maybe I-" Weiss' eyes widened and she looked to Pyrrha in shock, "What?! What friends are you thinking of?!"

"The ones you were talking with last night in the ballroom. When you were with all those boys and girls."

Weiss waved her arms, "Oh no no no no no no no. Those people were not my friends! They were just obnoxious, annoying strangers I had the misfortune of meeting earlier that day! No, in fact, I barely even met two of them, the rest were just people along for the ride!"

"Wow, love you too, Weiss."

"Well!" Weiss threw her hands up in the air. "We didn't make very good first impressions on each other!"

"She's not wrong," Sasuke said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that." Pyrrha patted Weiss' shoulder, "I'm sure today will play out better for you than yesterday did."

"Yes, I'm planning on it." Weiss agreed before she turned to the side and grinned menacingly, rubbing her hands together in success at beginning her master plan. She had the unbelievable luck of sitting on the same ship over to Beacon with the most renowned young fighter of their generation! Weiss had talked to and befriended the powerful amazon on the flight over and had gotten in her good graces.

And now that they were friends, she could use this opportunity to rise in school as the best team in history!

Weiss Schnee, top graded student and the heir to the great Schnee Dust Company. And Pyrrha Nikos, best student and rising star of Remnant. Together, nothing and no one could stand in their way!

Pyrrha cringed, her face heating up. Fortunately, Weiss seemed to be just as uncomfortable with how her other self was acting. "I'm sorry," she mouthed.

Pyrrha smiled back at her.

"Pyrrha!"

Weiss was immediately pulled out of her dark thoughts when she heard a new, eager voice come into play. She turned around just in time to see a new girl with brown hair done up in buns and wearing red pants and a long-sleeved blouse.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Yang hit Rewind. "Weiss, what happened to your eyes there?!"

"What? What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with my eyes."

Yang looked around the room. "Am I the only one who saw that?"

"No, I saw it, too," Sasuke said.

"Saw what?" Naruto asked.

Yang hit Play, then Pause right as Tenten walked onto the screen. Weiss blushed as several people burst into laughter at the way her eyes moved. Yang shrieked. "What the hell is up with that?"

Weiss balled her hands into fists and waited for the laughter to end. When it took too long, she swiped the remote from Yang and hit Play. She glared at Ruby. "Traitor."

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby said through her giggles. "But it was kinda funny."

"No it wasn't!"

She ran up to the red-head, "How are you feeling today?"

Pyrrha looked towards the other girl, "Ready for just about anything Tenten. How about you?"

Tenten smirked and grabbed her bicep, "Like I could take on a whole army of Grimm!"

"That's great to hear." Pyrrha realized that her two new friends were not yet acquainted with each other and took a moment to introduce them. She turned to the shorter white-haired girl, "Weiss, this is the girl I met yesterday after we got off the ship. She showed me the way to the main presentation hall when I got lost. Her name is Tenten Tamura."

Tenten waved, "Hi. Nice to meet you."

Weiss looked at the newcomer and narrowed her eyes. Strangers were bad enough. Strangers getting chummy with your ticket to success were even worse. She deadpanned, "Weiss Schnee."

Tenten's eyes brightened, "As in the Schnee Company 'Schnee'? Oh wow, I didn't know we had such famous people coming to school this year." Tenten started to grin, "This is so wonderful!"

Tenten groaned. "Why am I being such a fangirl?"

"Didn't Gai-sensei say you were crazy about being the next Tsunade when you were a kid?" Kiba asked.

"I was never this bad."

"Why don't you like fangirls?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't like girls who start screaming the moment they see someone famous. It's just embarrassing for everyone."

Weiss blinked in surprise and flipped her hair with a smirk at the recognition she was receiving. She was glad to know that there were still some people that knew her and didn't take potshots at her family business right off the bat. She smiled, "Well, I'm glad to see some people still have the decency to compliment a person when they meet. But-Tenten right?"

The bun-haired girl nodded.

"Tenten, do you know who this girl is?" She referred to the taller warrior besides them with a proud tone, "She's-"

"Oh, I know! Pyrrha Nikos!" Tenten interrupted while trying to control her giddy joy at being next to one of her heroes, "'The Strongest of The Next Generation', 4 time consecutive winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, she set all time records and achievements no one in the last few years has been able to make! She's-"

Tenten's eye was twitching.

Tenten realized she had caused Weiss to lean back in surprise and even shocked Pyrrha with her quick talking. The hidden weapon users coughed into her hand and fixed her clothes before standing up to look dignified. She looked to the red-head woman, "Um...sorry about that Pyrrha. Old habits."

Pyrrha laughed awkwardly before waving off the other girl's concern, "It's all right. At least you're trying."

Weiss had a small scowl on her face while she looked between the taller girls in front of her. She closed her eyes and calmed her thoughts. Okay. This was fine. No problems. It was all still salvageable. This new girl was just a fan of Pyrrha. Anyone would be. As long as nothing else got in the way, her plan was still in motion.

"Hey there Snow Angel, I thought I saw something beautiful in the corner of my eye."

Weiss and Jaune groaned as people snickered, Weiss in frustration and Jaune in embarrassment.

"You got guts, I'll give you that," Kiba said. "I don't think a lot of guys would be able to look their crush in the face after what happened last episode."

"Jaune, while I appreciate the fact that you have finally stopped hitting on me, I suggest you keep my alternate self's opinion of your alternate self from dropping any lower by leaving her alone."

Jaune ducked his head. "Well, it's not like I can make him stop..."

"IYAAA!" Weiss squealed before jumping into Pyrrha's arms like a scared child.

Yang patted a red-faced Weiss on the back. "There, there, you'll be brave enough to face the big, bad Jaune some day."

A growl was her response.

Meanwhile, Nora had an idea. "Hey Pyrrha, catch me!"

"Wha-oof!"

She looked back to see the same scraggly looking blond boy with armor from yesterday waving at her. Weiss groaned while Pyrrha lowered her to the ground, "Ugh, it's you again. I thought you gave up."

"Sorry, not in my style. I'm just too stubborn to give up on the first try." He said while leaning against the locker, not realizing that his shoulder guard was causing him to slip against the locker and fall flat on his face. The girls watched him pop back up, "I'm good. I am okay."

"Oh man, this is just painful." Despite his words, Kiba didn't look very pained.

"Yeah, I don't even think I was this bad when I was chasing after Sakura," Naruto said.

"You think it's bad for you?" Jaune asked. "At least you aren't making fools of yourselves."

"Speak for yourselves, boys." Yang had a shit-eating grin on her face. "This is the best entertainment I've had all week."

"Stop taking pleasure from my embarrassment!"

The two other girls were confused by this boy's sudden appearance and strange personality as Weiss rubbed her temples. She grumbled, "Okay, listen..."

"Jaune."

"Jaune, right. Listen Jaune, today is a really big day for a lot of us. Exams. Teams. The fate of our futures being set up right in front of us- you know, that whole song and dance."

Jaune's peppiness shrunk a little, "Right."

"Well maybe you should spend a little time preparing yourself for making a team and not talking to random people that obviously aren't that thrilled with talking to you."

"That's a hint, Jaune!" Nora said from Pyrrha's lap.

Pyrrha was a little confused. "I was thrilled you were talking to me."

"Well, I'm willing to give him a chance," Tenten said.

Jaune was silent for a moment as he considered what she said. He then had a suave smile take its place, "How about if we make a team? Then we can talk as much as we want."

"Oh my god it's like talking to a brick wall." Weiss bemoaned as she circled around and away from the rest of the group. They watched her walk and try to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry to say this, Jaune, but I feel like you're being intentionally dense," Tenten said.

"He is!" Weiss shot him a glare. "He was not this bad the first time around."

Jaune scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah, sorry."

"Well…" Pyrrha tried to find a way to put a positive spin on it. "Perseverance is a good thing, isn't it?"

"Can't argue with that," Naruto said. "I made a lot of friends just because I didn't let myself get pushed away."

Pyrrha laughed lightly before looking to the taller boy with a smile, "It seems like she's quite surprised to see someone so determined to talk to her."

"Well Momma Arc didn't raise no quitter." Jaune looked at the two other girls before waving at them, "I'm Jaune Arc, by the way. Sorry if I didn't introduce myself yet."

Tenten chuckled, "I'm Tenten Tamura."

Pyrrha waved her hand, "And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"Tenten, Pyrrha, it's very nice to meet you both." Jaune said kindly to the two ladies before he tried to talk with them, "So are you guys making a team with each other?"

Pyrrha thought it over, "I...don't think that's how it's going to work during the exam."

"Oh. Okay. Well that's good to know." Jaune seemed nervous and immediately asked again, "Do you know what kinda exam we're gonna do anyway? Because I didn't know and if they already mentioned it then I wasn't listening and I don't know so-"

"Breathe." Tenten interrupted when she saw Jaune's face turn light purple, "Just breathe."

"Are you sure you're okay, Jaune?" Tenten asked. "Purple isn't a healthy color."

"I'm fine, I just…" Jaune scratched the back of his neck. "I was really nervous before initiation. I'm doing better now."

Jaune nodded and took a deep breath in and out before he felt his head start to clear. He nodded to the bun wearing girl, "Thanks I...I needed that." He sighed, "Yeah, I tried to keep my cool but when I heard all that stuff about teams and futures and paths being set today I...kinda almost lost it."

Tenten rolled her eyes, "Yeah. 'Almost' being the term to define."

Pyrrha smiled, "Don't worry Jaune, I'm sure you will do fine today. Just trust in whoever you're teamed up with and have each other's back."

"Right. Okay yeah, that's good advice." Jaune nodded and took a deep breath through his nose before looking at the two women, "So what about you girls? Ready for the exam?"

"Well, I'm prepared for everything." Tenten said, "And I'm sure Pyrrha will be fine because...well, she does stuff like this all the time."

Jaune looked at the red-head, "Oh, you do? What, was it like a prep school where you take tests and stuff?"

Pyrrha looked mildly surprised while Tenten was utterly shocked by his lack of knowledge about the celebrity. She motioned to the armor clad woman, "Pyrrha Nikos? The Pyrrha Nikos? Have you not heard of her?"

Jaune shook his head, "No, I've heard of her. She said her name a minute ago and now you've said it a few times too."

Pyrrha giggled at his simple answer.

"Wait, how famous are you, Pyrrha?" Tenten asked. "I thought you were just a local hero, but my other self is making it sound like you're a celebrity."

Nora wrenched Pyrrha's head forward. "She is! Everyone who's anyone knows who she is!"

Kiba snorted. "Everyone except Jaune, apparently."

"Well, I came from a small town," Jaune explained. "A lot of news doesn't make it out there."

"Nora, can you please let go of my neck?"

"Oh! Sorry!"

Tenten tried to jog his memory, "Champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament?"

Jaune tilted his head, "What's that?"

"'The Next Great Warrior of Our Generation?'"

Jaune shook his head, "Not ringing any bells."

Tenten was flabbergasted, "But...but she won the cover spread of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box because of all that stuff."

Jaune gasped and nearly lost the feeling in his legs as he pointed at Pyrrha, "I thought I had seen you before! That's my favorite cereal! I eat it all the time! I got my first cavities off that stuff!"

Pyrrha looked conflicted, "Oh...um...sorry about that."

"You're on a cereal box?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but… I wouldn't advise eating it. It's terrible for you."

Jaune waved off her concern, "Ah, don't sweat it. I'm sure those babies would've gone bad anyway."

She laughed again, "Well that's good to know."

Weiss came back over to the group with a displeased look on her face, "Okay, I think I'm feeling better now."

Jaune tried once more to be smooth, "You feeling better about the idea of us working on a team?"

Weiss fell back against the couch and groaned.

"No. Just needed to spend a moment staving off an aneurysm." Weiss took her hands off her temples and looked back at the other girls, "I'm leaving."

"M-maybe I'll see you during the test."

"Maybe. But just to make sure I don't get too anxious with the idea that you're following me..." Weiss pulled out her rapier and swung it as the ground lit up at their feet before disappearing. Jaune blinked before looking down to see ice had formed up his legs all the way to his thighs.

"Wow. Talk about ice cold." Yang noticed the glares she was getting and raised her hands in defense. "Hey, that wasn't even intentional!"

"Well, I mean, at least she didn't pin me to the pillar."

"I'm sorry about that."

Weiss buried her face in her hands at the looks she was getting from the ninja.

Weiss walked away, Tenten following not long after while waving to the partially frozen blond.

"Wait, I don't even help him?"

Pyrrha walked by his side and gave an apologetic look, "I'm really sorry about this Jaune."

Jaune sheepishly smiled, "Ah, it's all right. This isn't that bad so you don't need to worry. Good luck with the exam."

Pyrrha was hesitant as she decided to trust his confidence and waved him goodbye before she was out of sight.

"You really shouldn't have believed him, Pyrrha," Yang said.

"I know. I'm sorry."

Jaune then proceeded to try and pull his legs out of the ice by leaning, punching the ice, and the very unlikely possibility that he could fly away. He hung his head, "Darn it."

He heard a few footsteps make their way to him and looked up. Naruto, Ruby, Sasuke, and Yang all standing in front of him with varying degrees of amusement on their faces. Naruto smiled and tried to speak without laughing, "H-how...how in the world did you get yourself into this?"

Jaune avoided their eyes, "I...tried talking to Weiss again."

"Yeah, that would do it."

Ruby walked up to his side and reached up to pat his shoulder, "It's okay. So far, we're both being completely ignored at our attempts at talking with that girl."

Jaune held her shoulder in return, "I now think I understand your pain."

"Yeah." Yang gave a quirky smile, "Looks like you got put on Weiss."

…

Yang looked around and grinned. "Get it?"

No one responded.

"Does she do that a lot?" Kiba asked.

Ruby groaned. "She does it all the time. It suuuucks."

"Hey! My puns are great!"

Everyone just stared at her as Ruby gave her a thumbs-down, "Booooo~."

Yang turned her head, "Whatever. That was funny."

"Um..." Jaune got their attention and looked down at the ice that encased him, "Can you guys help me out here? I'm stuck...and cold."

"I've got it." Sasuke cocked the fore-end at the bottom of his sheathe and the flap opened up to reveal his shotgun. He aimed it at Jaune's feet before advising the trapped blond, "You might want to lean back."

"Wait, what?!" Jaune looked at Sasuke in horror. "You're gonna shoot me?"

"Do you want to get out of there or not?"

"I wanna live!"

"W-wait! Wait! Let's think about this-"

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Blake closed her locker door after grabbing Gambol Shroud and locking it onto the latch on her back. She started making her way out of the locker room and spotted the sight of several boy and girls making their way out. Some were stern and focused while a few were nearly jumping off the walls and full of energy (especially that girl bothering that boy with the pink highlight in his hair).

"Hey look! It's me!"

Blake was feeling-

*Bang*

"GYAKKKAAAAAA-WHYYYYYYY?!"

Jaune groaned.

...

Blake was doing her best not to draw attention and keep calm. No one was staring at her. No one could tell who she was. She was safe here. And as long as she could avoid attention, everything would work out.

"Krrrwaaaaa! Krrrwaaaaa!"

Ren sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Honestly Nora, I don't think that's the noise a sloth makes. In fact, I don't think sloths make noise in the first place."

"You don't know that! What if they just stay silent when people are looking at them? Maybe they have sophisticated conversations when we aren't around! Oh~, maybe they wear top hats!"

"I really doubt that."

Naruto gave Ren and Nora a look. "Why were you talking about sloths?"

"Cuz how else were we supposed to find each other during initiation?"

"She was concerned that we would be partnered with strangers if we couldn't find each other in the forest, so she wanted to have a signal that only we would recognize," Ren explained.

Naruto stared for a few more seconds before shrugging. "Makes sense, I guess…"

Nora cheered at the validation.

Blake listened to the odd but amusing conversation happening between two other students. She let a sense of relief and serenity develop inside her as she walked the hall.

This is where she let past mistakes be buried.

This is where all the insecurities and bad decisions were fixed.

This is where she started anew.

She wasn't going to let anyone change that.

Blake grimaced at the looks she was getting from the ninja while her classmates fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Hey, whatever you did, it's in the past," Naruto said. "It's never too late to start over. I mean just look at me and Sasuke! We were a couple of thieves, and now we're hanging with you guys."

"Don't think my alternate self will ignore all the crimes your alternate selves committed. They stole millions from my family's company, and you will be held accountable."

Naruto laughed nervously at Weiss's brutal shutdown. Blake turned to him. "Um… thank you."

((((((((Hunting))))))))

"Welcome students. Today is the day of your final exam to gain entry into Beacon." Ozpin said with a cup of coffee in his hand and Glynda by his side working with a Scroll. All of the new First Year students were lined up in front of them while standing on platforms built into the ground. He looked between all of them, "You have been training for years to develop yourselves as warriors. Be it power. Skill. Technique. Strategy. Or any other strengths you have built over time, today is the day where it all comes into play in the Emerald Forest."

Nora was vibrating in her beanbag. "This is it, this is it…" Nora started shaking Pyrrha. "This is it, Pyrrha!" She scrambled from Pyrrha's lap and started shaking Ren. "Ren, this is it!" She turned her attention to Kiba and Akamaru. "This is it!"

"Sheesh, we get it!"

Ruby wasn't much better. "We're gonna partner up and make our teams and kill tons of Grimm and-"

"Shhhh!"

"Oh, sorry."

Naruto took a deep breath and looked between him to see he was positioned right between Jaune and Ruby. With Jaune being at the end of the line and Ruby standing right next to her big sister. Naruto leaned forward to see Sasuke somewhere down the row standing besides a huge guy in armor and another boy with a pink highlight in his hair.

Jaune, Naruto, and Ruby looked between each other with a nervous grin as Glynda continued the introduction, "Now there have been some rumors spreading between the students that you will be placed into teams this year. Allow me to shine some light on this situation. Today, you will be assigned with other students as teammates."

Some of the teenagers made small gulping sounds but they steeled themselves for the situation.

Ozpin added, "And the team you are assigned to will be the team you shall work with for the rest of your time here at Beacon."

The First Years were still surprised but they knew as long as they kept their cool-

"And your teams will be made with the first person you make contact with inside the Emerald Forest."

…

"Wait, seriously?" Kiba asked. "They just put you on a team with the first people you see?"

"Just your partners," Pyrrha said. "Teams are made based on which chess piece you take."

"That still sounds like you're leaving the creation of teams entirely to chance," Tenten said. "At the academy, teams are made based on how well you do on the graduation exam. The person who scored the best is placed on a team with the person who scored the worst to help them out."

Yang shrugged. "Meh. This stuff works out pretty well."

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a glance. It did.

The students all looked between each other with varying degrees of surprise and uncertainty.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..."

And Ruby made the most pathetic whimper of her entire life when the natural, antisocial introvert inside of her curled into a ball and cried.

"Once you have made a team, make your way to the northern edge of the forest. But be on your guard...this forest is teeming with dangers that will not hesitate to attack you. If you falter, you may lose your neck."

"Anyone else getting flashbacks to our genin tests?" Kiba asked.

"Oh yeah."

"Mhm."

"No."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba shot Tenten a look.

"I had Gai-sensei," she said. "I don't know what Kakashi and Kurenai told you guys, but for me it was a lot of, 'SHOW ME THE FLAMES OF YOUR YOUTH!'"

Naruto and Kiba shuddered, and Sasuke grimaced just a bit.

"Uh… 'flames of youth?'" Yang asked with a snicker.

"Don't ask."

Jaune gulped.

"In the northern edge of the forest is a site holding several relics. Each team is to take one relic and find their way back to this cliff. From the time you arrive in the forest until you come back here, we will be evaluating you and your efforts." Ozpin looked at all the new students, "Are there any questions you might have about the test?"

Several students raised their ha-

"Good. Then let's begin. Take your positions and prepare your landing strategies."

"That is… not a good teaching policy," Pyrrha said. Jaune nodded.

"So you guys are basically screwed, huh?" Kiba asked.

"Nah, we're good."

Nora pumped her fists. "We're gonna kick ass!"

The students all bent their knees, some of them taking out their weapons and making stances while others just braced themselves for the jump. Jaune was confused, "Wait, our what?"

"Your landing strategy, Mr. Arc."

Jaune didn't even seem to notice as the platforms they were standing on started propelling students down the line through the air and into the forest.

"Yeah, but I don't know what that means."

Jaune put his head in his hands and wished for his onscreen self to stop talking.

Sasuke gripped his sheathe as he was hurdled into the sky and flew over the trees.

"It's your individual way for landing on the ground and moving through the forest."

Yang took out some aviator glasses she had clipped on her collar before seeing Naruto and Ruby looking towards her. She grinned and saluted them before she was catapulted off the cliff.

"But why would we be landing?"

"Jaune, your lack of situational awareness is alarming," Weiss said. "You need to work on being aware of everything around you."

"I know…"

"But that looks like a lot of fun," Naruto cut in. "I wanna try it!"

"You can easily jump higher than that," Sasuke said. "There's no point to a catapult."

Kiba snorted. "So what? Just get a really big catapult." Akamaru barked.

"Because otherwise you might sustain injury if you don't brace yourself."

Ruby smirked and was shot off like a bullet through the sky. Naruto watched her fly before he reached back and tightened his bandana with a smirk.

"But why would I-"

Naruto whistled and caught Jaune's attention before the whiskered blond waved goodbye. His platform shot out from the ground and he flew off while laughing at the top of his lungs.

Jaune was the last one left on the cliff. He looked down at the platform he was standing on and whimpered, "Can I take the stairs?"

"No."

"Ohh-WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

Ozpin and Glynda watched Jaune launch and could see all the students glide through the air. It was out of their hands now.

It was now up to them.

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. His other self had said Jaune would probably die. He was joking, but as Naruto watched Jaune tumble through the air, he had to wonder.

((((((((Hunting))))))))

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto laughed like a madman as he kept a hand clamped on his bandana so it didn't fly off. The other students either landed already or were out of his sight but he was still soaring over the treetops. It wasn't everyday you got to experience something like flying. Or in this case, falling with style.

Speaking of style.

"Spin! Twirl! Airplane! And~ a front flip for style! Hahaha!"

"Alright, that's pretty cool. I definitely have to try that out when I go flying."

Ren perked up. "You can fly?"

"Yeah! I just learned how, so I haven't done it much, but it's awesome!"

"You can fly?" Yang asked. "Oh, you gotta show me that later!"

Naruto's fun had to take a backseat as he felt his arc reached its apex and he started falling towards the trees. Both of his hands reached into the pack on his tailbone and pulled out a long strip of steel wire.

He held the wire in his mouth before reaching back and pulling two of the smaller blades out of their sheathe. He locked the wire together around the hooks of the blades before kicking one of them sharply at the top of a tree.

The small sword was imbedded into the wood and Naruto immediately came swinging towards it before he gave a quick yank and the sword was pulled out. He continued using the sword and wire combo to swing from tree to tree and ease his way through the forest. When he finally started to see the ground, he pulled both swords back to his hands and vaulted off a lower branch.

He spun through the air several times before landing perfectly on the ground like a gymnast. He held his swords over his head before he laughed, "All right! 10/10!"

He heard some rustling and looked back to see several trees and branches start falling to the ground after he had accidentally cut through them.

He shrugged his shoulders before sheathing his swords again, "Meh. 9.5."

"Nope! Ten!"

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Ruby jumped from branch to branch before landing on the grass in a crouch. She looked back up as her hair settled around her face before she sprinted at unbelievable speeds through the forest.

Her eyes looked focused and ready for anything.

Ruby pumped her fists. "I can do this!"

Her thoughts on the other hand...

'Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! What kinda test is this?!'

"Are you sure about that?" Naruto asked.

Ruby did not look sure anymore. "Well, I did it the first time…"

"You got this, Rubes," Yang reassured. "I bet you'll get Weiss again. You'll be fine."

'I'm stuck with the first person I see for the next four years! I don't know people! I can't handle conversation! Okay, breathe Ruby, just breathe. Just look for somebody you know you can work with. How about Jaune? Yeah, Jaune's a good choice. He's nice. He's funny. He's...a bit slow when it comes to dangerous situations. Okay, maybe not Jaune.'

"Sorry Jaune."

Jaune sighed. "I get it."

'How about Naruto? Yeah, yeah Naruto's a great partner! He's confident! He can hold his own! He might start a fight at the drop of a-okay, Naruto will be a backup choice.'

"Uhhh, no I wouldn't."

"He's kind of a spazz, but I don't think he'd start a fight," Jaune said.

Naruto frowned. "A spazz?"

'Maybe Sasuke?...'

"That's a bad idea."

'I don't know anything about him. Crud, this sucks! Oh, what about Blake! She was so cool yesterday, I bet she'd make a great partner. But she spoke less than me when I tried talking to her. And I think she wanted me to leave.'

"Oh." Blake looked at her team. "Was I that obvious the first time?"

Yang and Ruby nodded.

"Well, you weren't leaving, so I thought I wasn't."

'Ugh, why can't I make up my mind? Besides Yang, who else do I know that'd make a good partner? Who else? Who-'

Ruby's thoughts were cut short when she ran through a bush and met with a certain girl with long white hair.

"Yes!"

Naruto snickered. "Wow. The goofball social reject gets stuck with the uptight heir who thinks they're better than everyone. Sound familiar, Sasuke?"

"Let's hope they can work together better than we did."

"Excuse me!" Weiss yelled. "I don't think I'm better than everyone!"

"Not even in the beginning?" Yang asked.

Weiss crossed her arms and grumbled.

The heiress with the scar along her eye was pushing her way through the foliage when Ruby had come running through the thick trees. They were both silent and just blinked while looking at each other. Ruby was the first to make a move and waved to the white clad girl.

Weiss just ignored her and walked away as Ruby hung her head in shame.

Yang frowned. "Wait, Weiss, you can't do that."

"Just wait a minute."

No. No way. She was not going to stick with that little brat for the rest of her education. Somebody else. Anybody else would do.

"Hello~? Anyone~?"

Weiss stopped and looked up to see Jaune hanging from a tree by a red spear lodged in his hood. The blond young man looked down to see Weiss looking up at him and he waved to her.

Several people laughed at the image. Jaune groaned.

"What happened to you?" Yang asked.

"Pyrrha happened."

The girl in question made an embarrassed noise. "His landing strategy left much to be desired, so…"

"You told him to just hang around until you found him?" Yang finished.

That cut off any laughter that hadn't finished.

"Stop doing that," Sasuke snapped.

She turned around again and walked rough the bushes until she saw Ruby standing there in the same place. She grabbed the red girl's hood and dragged her along, "You are the lesser of two evils."

"I knew you cared!"

"Oh, that's why you turned around?"

"Yes. I'd already found Ruby, so I couldn't be partners with you."

Nobody believed that.

Jaune listened as the two girls' voices disappeared and he was left pinned to a tree several feet off the ground. He sighed and drummed his fingers along the bark.

"I always seem to find you in some kind of strange predicament."

Jaune perked up a little and looked down to see Pyrrha standing by the base of the tree with her hands on her hips. She waved up at him with a smile.

He sulked and crossed his arms, "I'd prefer if this wasn't made into a habit." After a moment he looked down at the red-head and smiled, "But thanks for the save."

"No problem. Here, let me get you down." She pulled Akoúo off her back and tossed it hard enough to dislodge the spear from the tree and Jaune's hood. Unfortunately, Jaune didn't see this coming...

"AHHHHH-OOF!"

Jaune and Pyrrha winced as they watched him hit the ground. That looked as painful as it had felt.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jaune whimpered. "At least you got me down."

Pyrrha covered her mouth in horror as she looked at the boy lying at her feet. She spoke up, "I'm sorry."

He wheezed, "It's cool."

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Naruto slowly made his way through the forest while keeping his guard up at all times. There was a stiff, chilling sensation in the air around him. Something that told him to stay on his toes or else he would regret it later.

Ozpin was right, this place was crawling with Grimm.

Naruto had fought Grimm before. Hell, if you had a weapon and called yourself a fighter anywhere in Remnant then you would have had to fight a Grimm at least once. It was like a rite of passage.

Naruto heard the sound of movement rustling the bushes behind him. He stopped moving and started looking around his shoulders as he slowly reached up to grab his sword's hilt.

The thing hiding in the bushes jumped out and Naruto pulled his sword out to stop an attack. He was met with a barrel at the end of a tonfa being aimed right between his eyes.

The tip of Naruto's blade was only a few inches away from the boy with the wild brown hair. In return, his mechanical tonfa had extended a machine gun barrel from its tip and aimed at Naruto's face for instant retaliation.

Naruto and Kiba stared at the faceoff between their counterparts for several seconds. Kiba groaned. "Great, I'm stuck with you for the next four years."

"Hey, at least you got me as a partner," Naruto countered. "I got you."

"I think you mean you got me as a partner." Kiba groaned again and leaned back. "Why can't I have Akamaru as a partner? Every Inuzuka has a dog at their side!"

"But you guys are friends, right?" Ruby asked. "You'll get along just fine!"

"Well, yeah, but…" Naruto gestured aimlessly. "Couldn't I have gotten Sasuke? Or Tenten?"

"I still don't get why I can't be with Akamaru!"

*Bark!*

"They're too similar, Ruby," Tenten said. "They can work together just fine, but put them in the same room and chances are they'll rile each other up."

"Yeah, that."

Naruto spoke first, "Lower the weapon."

"Hell no."

"You first."

"Nuh-uh!"

"I don't like a machine gun pointed at my face."

"Well I don't like a sword pointed at mine."

"You're the one that came jumping out first. I was just protecting myself."

"I felt a presence moving behind the bushes and I acted. Ozpin said that this place would be full of things trying to attack us. I just wanted to make the first strike."

"..."

"..."

"You don't have a partner, do you?"

"No. You?"

Kiba groaned a third time. "Dammit."

Both boys were silent for a moment before they lowered their weapons with a dissatisfied sigh. Naruto sheathed his sword, "Name's Naruto."

The wild looking teenager hooked his tonfa away, "Kiba."

"Well Kiba, I guess we're partners now."

Kiba nodded his head but looked off to the side, "Yeah, I guess so."

The two strangers were quiet as an awkward atmosphere settled between them. Now that they were experiencing it, it was pretty unnerving to know the first person you met in the forest was going to have your back for the next four years.

"So that's it?" Naruto asked. "We're partners now?"

"This is pretty underwhelming."

Weiss gave them a look. "Were you expecting grand speeches and flawless teamwork in the midst of sudden battle?"

"I mean…" Naruto shrugged. "Kinda?"

Weiss shook her head. "That doesn't happen in the real world."

"It does in ours."

Naruto clapped his hands, "Well, we aren't gonna get anywhere just standing here. Let's get moving." He started leading the way, "C'mon, the cliff is directly behind us so if we keep heading straight we should reach the sight they were talking about."

Kiba stood there and watched Naruto walk through the bushes.

"Kiba why aren't you following me?"

"Cuz you're probably going the wrong way."

"No I'm not!"

A moment passed before he reemerged with a stoic look on his face and he looked at the brown-haired man, "Why aren't you coming?"

"Because that's not the right way."

"See?"

"You don't know that."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Do you think when he said north he meant directly that way? This forest is huge! North is a big general direction to move in." Kiba looked around for reference, "No, they must have put the site somewhere that would be more difficult to reach."

Naruto crossed his arms, "Okay, then what do you think we should do?"

Kiba pointed in one direction, "I caught the scent of something earlier before we jumped each other. I bet that's the path they took to get to the site."

Naruto looked at the boy with the tattoos on his face in confusion and slight disgust, "You caught a scent?"

"Yeah! I'm an Inuzuka!"

"Yeah. It's a skill. Y'know, something we're supposed to be testing in this exam."

Naruto looked at him incredulously, "And how do you know it's the right path to the site?"

"Because the scent of perfume and milk was filling my nose." Kiba looked back at Naruto like he wasn't pleased with the idea of his abilities being questioned, "Ms. Goodwitch was wearing a hint of something while we were on the cliff and what do you put in coffee?"

He asked Naruto who just stood there with a stone-faced expression.

Kiba and Naruto glared at each other with the exact same expressions.

"Milk. Which means Ozpin must have been down here too." He pointed in the direction again, "I know if we head this way we'll reach the site in no time."

Naruto was silent for a moment before he asked, "So did you get a good whiff of everyone or are you just interested in knowing what Ms. Goodwitch smells like?"

"Great joke dumbass." Kiba started leaving, "C'mon, follow me."

Naruto stood there for a moment before he sighed and started following after Kiba.

If they were gonna be a team together then this was going to be a long four years.

((((((((Hunting))))))))

Weiss stood up and headed for the bathroom the moment the lights came back. The others looked around awkwardly; quite a few things had come up this episode that needed addressing.

Naruto took the initiative. "Alright, guess I'll start: Jaune, I think you're screwed."

"Yeah, I gotta wonder about that, too," Yang added. "I wasn't paying attention the first time, but you really don't know what you're doing."

Pyrrha frowned. "Not everyone had the same preparation we did, Yang. You and I had the benefit of going to a preparatory school, but for the most part, Jaune had to figure things out by himself."

"Uh… yeah. I didn't have anyone to teach me about Aura or swordsmanship." Jaune ducked his head. "I just picked up Crocea Mors and started swinging it."

"And you still got in? Talk about lucky."

"That's another thing," Tenten cut in. "Am I the only one who's noticed all the barbs being thrown around? I mean, Jaune got pinned to a tree dozens of feet in the air, and we mostly just laughed."

"We could all be a little nicer to each other," Blake said. She gestured to her fellow students. "We know each other fairly well," she gestured to the ninja, "and you know each other fairly well, but I think more than a few tempers have been raised just now." She looked at Naruto. "You called Ruby a social reject and Weiss arrogant."

"Well I was a social reject, too! And Sasuke was so much worse than Weiss when he was a kid."

"It still hurt," Ruby mumbled.

"Uh-huh." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well then, sorry I said that."

"Yang," Pyrrha said pointedly.

Yang gave her a flat look. "What?"

"You need to stop hitting people."

"Ughhhh, fine! If you're gonna be this anal about it…" She muttered the last part under her breath.

Tenten turned to Sasuke. "You could be less callous too, you know."

"Hm?"

"You shot Jaune."

"Yeah, that would've been really painful."

"Was there any other way to get him out of there?" Sasuke asked. "Really, what else could I have done, besides waiting for the ice to melt?"

Silence.

"He has a point," Ren conceded.

The bathroom door opened just then, and a tired-looking Weiss walked out. She stood behind Pyrrha's couch and sighed when everyone looked at her. "I realize that I did not give the best showing of myself. Both my alternate self and I were… unnecessarily spiteful. I apologize for that. Reliving my first few days at Beacon has made me remember how aggravating I found Ruby, Yang, and Jaune, and I fell back into old habits. So… I will do better from here on out."

Naruto looked around with a smile on his face. "Well guys? I know it wasn't much, but I think we've aired our grievances."

Ruby burst into a cloud of rose petals and tackled Weiss to the ground. "I love you too, Weiss!"

"Get off of me!"

"Oh, yeah, totally," Tenten said flatly as Nora joined the impromptu group hug. "We're all better now."

A/N: As I was writing this, I realized that I was assuming that everyone was as comfortable with each other as they are in the latest chapter of Hunting or Bust. They aren't. It takes a while to build the kind of trust needed to casually insult each other without actually being insulting. So bumi chan, don't worry, they won't be spilling their life stories right out the gate. They will get there eventually, because they're going to be seeing a lot of each other, but it's a ways off. Some things, like Kurama, can be explained so easily because the RWBy kids have no context for it. They don't know the terror and hatred that Kurama inspired, so they won't feel any differently about Naruto. However, my Spanish isn't that great, so I don't know what you were saying about Toneri.

I also realized that I haven't had any comments from Kurama aside from the very first chapter. I'll try to change that, but they won't be anything that the others can hear.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and stuck with the story even after a six-month wait. I'll try to keep that as my record for longest wait.

I'm thinking each character will get at least one intro scene from their perspective. I had the idea as I was writing Sasuke's point of view and liked it.

Also, should I do the trailers Master Attlon has for NKTS? He said it was my call, but I want other opinions.

And if you're wondering what Yang was talking about with Weiss's eyes, rewatch Season 1, Episode 4, and pause at 3:16. I was wondering just how bad Jaune was in that scene and saw a comment about it. It'll be the story image for a while.

I probably forgot something, but oh well. See you next time.