Here we go with another story. I know I was gone for a loooooong time and I probably lost a lot of followers for that and I certainly deserve it. There were lots of reasons for my absence but the idea for this story came to me after I became pretty disenchanted with anime and fanfiction in general. Then I stumbled upon RWBY and I binged the entire series in two days. Then this idea of a story came to me about halfway through the series and I just had to write. RWBY without a doubt has inspired me to work on my fanfictions again and the fire is now back. Both my other stories are about halfway done with the next chapter and another story is like 1/3 of the way done for the intro. After a long time, I'm back!

Disclaimer: Rights for the two series go to Kishimoto and the late Monty Oum, rest in peace and thank you for the great series you started and that Rooster Teeth are finishing.

(PS: The soundtrack for RWBY is amazing, probably one of my favorite things about the series.)

A Different Kind of Hunter

Chapter 1: A Grimm Reality

(Vale Airspace)

"Ozpin, are you sure this is a good use of our time? We have the initiation of this year's new students to prepare for. We only have a few weeks before they arrive."

The man in question, a middle aged man with a mess of gray hair, green tinted glasses, and was wearing a black suit with a green undershirt, took his eyes off of the path in front of him and looked at the woman seated to his left. She was a woman in her late 20's with fair skin and light blonde hair. Her outfit consisted of a white blouse and a black dress that stopped just below her bust as well as a purple cape that fluttered behind her.

"Glynda, the preparations are nearly complete for the initiation, all that remains is to wait for our bright eyed students to arrive." Usually the man's demeanor was on the side of playfully upbeat but being the leader of Vale's most prestigious hunter/huntress training school wasn't for nothing, he could turn serious at the drop of a hat and the man that had decades of experience on the battle field would come to the forefront.

Now was one of those times as the happy tone vanished and a more somber tone came from the level headed man's voice. "And you saw what was in James's report. The details are… concerning to say the least."

Glynda scoffed at the mention of their 'friend'. James Ironwood was a man that Glynda just found off putting. The Headmaster of the Atlas school of hunters/huntresses was a very straightforward man that spoke his mind on most matters. Being the General of Atlas's military force as well as the Headmaster of one of the four kingdom's top schools gave him just about as much pull through global powers as one could imagine. But even with all of his notoriety he still often requested the council of Vale's Headmaster Ozpin. It was a combination of respect that Ironwood held for Ozpin's knowledge and wisdom as well as experience that made Ironwood consult Ozpin. Another factor could be because of the fact that they were at peace after a historically long and bloody war. It would not do that peace justice for a foreign military power to operate within the borders of another sovereign nation.

The problem that Glynda had with Ironwood was not his motivation, she never doubted his intentions in the slightest. It was his methods she hated. He was a military commander at heart, to him there wasn't a problem that he couldn't solve through the use of his military might. Unfortunately, not every problem could be solved through the use of force. "I read the report. I'm still surprised he didn't send in his new mechanized army to completely level the area and be done with it."

A soft patronizing sound came from Ozpin as he chided Glynda for her personal feelings overcoming her rational judgments. "Now, now Glynda. Despite your personal dislike of James, he isn't the brute you make him out to be. He understands that something as strange as this must be handled carefully. And it's not like he could send in an armed force to level the Northern Vale Forest, even if he might want to."

Glynda let out a sigh as a way to concede Ozpin's point. He was right, like he always was. Still, the report was frightening. An explosion large enough to be picked up from a patrolling aircraft from Atlas could only be caused by a ridiculous amount of dust being activated all at once. But since the area was devoid of human life or even mining operations such a thing should not have been possible. Even more disturbing was the noted mass migration of Grimm to the location of the reported explosion. Over one thousand Grimm had converged at that spot in the short 24 hours that had expired. Such an activity was rare among Grimm and warranted investigation.

"What do you suppose is the cause of all this commotion Ozpin?"

Ozpin went back to staring out the window of the aircraft he was piloting as he narrowed his eyes on the forest they were sent out to investigate. "In all my years I've never seen a series of events such as this. I haven't a clue what is going on. I pray it isn't as bad as James believes it to be."

(Northern Vale Forest)

Naruto cursed to himself as he back flipped to narrowly avoid the razor sharp claws of the black humanoid wolf that had lunged at him. Bringing his foot up higher than needed to complete the motion, the top of his foot connected with the underside of the creature's jaw and it quickly crumbled over and died from the force of the strike. Naruto only took a spare second to make sure the monster's body began dissolving into nothingness, the only sign that he had seen that showed the creature was dead.

Naruto moved onto the next target that threw itself at him, either unware of his fellow monster's swift death or simply not caring. Letting his anger guide his movements, Naruto spun on his heel and brought his fist down on the top of the creature's skull, caving it in and dropping the black beast in one fell swoop.

Naruto grunted as he felt the comforting power of nature leave his system once again, his eyes reverting to ocean blue from the golden toad eyes that signified his mastery over nature. The exhaustion hit him all at once and Naruto dropped to one knee as he took deep breathes. Looking around himself, he was still surrounded. These monsters, there was no end to them. Giant black bears, wolf like creatures, massive boars, even the birds had the black feathers with bone white armor covering certain spots. They were relentless in their pursuit for him and it didn't matter how many of them he killed they just kept coming, it was almost as if they were mindless.

In the beginning Naruto was more than happy with killing these monsters. They attacked him and he was angry, so very angry. His rage had blinded him in the beginning and he blew through countless creatures after quickly realizing he had to put them down for good to get them to stop coming after him. As a result he had gone a bit overpower and spent too much chakra overkilling many of the weaker monsters.

After killing a few hundred his rage was replaced with a cautious weariness. He had killed so many yet they just kept coming, they were truly endless. Not even the Zetsu army was endless in the way these creatures seemed to be, and he had killed more than his fair share of the Zetsus during the war.

Naruto took a deep breath as the familiar power of nature returned to him, small though it may be. Within the span of two seconds Naruto lashed out with a flurry of punches and kicks, each one fatal to the ten wolf like creatures that lunged at him at once. The creatures never came close to him as his natural attacking range was dramatically increased due to the natural enhancement.

This time Naruto dropped to both knees and took gasping breathes and had to close his left eye as a wound above his left eye reopened and began to gush blood. He had only gathered enough nature chakra for one short burst of power before he ran out again. The relentless nature of these monsters proving to be far more effective in battle than almost any foe he had fought before.

A part of him wanted to laugh. He had fought some of the most powerful people from his world. S-rank shinobi that had the power to level entire cities at a whim and he had come out the better for each encounter. Now he was going to be overwhelmed by a seemingly endless supply of mindless monsters that only wanted to kill him. Of course it didn't help that he was thrown into this entire mess during a battle with one of the most powerful shinobi alive.

Going from that into a twenty four hour gauntlet of none stop fighting for his life burned away his seemingly limitless supply of energy and chakra. For the first time in his life, he literally had nothing left to give.

Naruto saw a few of the large bear monsters push the wolves out of the way as the shambled over to him, stalking the wounded prey as they moved in for the kill.

Naruto was about to try and force his body into movement once more but was stopped by a large circular sealing array that appeared directly beneath him. The next thing he knew the earth around him lifted up and formed a protective barrier. Now blind, Naruto could do nothing but listen as the monsters seemed to turn their attention to something else.

The sounds of battle echoed throughout the clearing followed by the screeches of the monsters as they were slain one by one. A few minutes passed before the wall that had protected and blinded him fell to the wayside revealing a pair of humans, a rarity for Naruto to see in this strange place that he had been thrust into.

A rather tall and stunning woman with a riding crop in her hand and a no nonsense look on her face surveyed the field for any more potential foes. Next to her was a man that was slightly taller than the woman next to him. His attention was fully focused on Naruto however and he had a smile on his face. Naruto watched as the man started walking towards him. He was saying something, that Naruto knew but he couldn't make it out as his vision started to swim. The next thing he knew he was falling face first towards the ground as his body finally gave out.

(Beacon Academy)

Ozpin looked through the window of the medical wing at the young blond fellow they had found in the middle of the commotion at the forest. He still had no idea what happened to cause the event but he was sure that the boy was the key to understanding. It was precisely the reason he had called a meeting of some of his most trusted professors at Beacon Academy.

Ozpin turned away from the window and walked back to the round table that had been set up. He took his seat next to Glynda who had an unreadable expression on her face.

To his left sat a rather tall and plump man in his later years. He wore a brown/burgundy military uniform with black pants. He had a thick moustache and eyebrows and hair that was combed to the both sides from the top of his head, all grayed with his age.

Across the table from Ozpin sat a slender man with dirty green hair and pale skin. He had a very professor like appearance while wearing a button up white shirt, a loose blue tie around his neck and black dress pants. His eyes were covered by a pair of glasses that gave off a remarkable glare if light hit them at the right angle. He cradled a thermos in his hand that he often took quick sips from as he waited for the meeting to begin.

Ozpin put on a pleasant smile as he took his seat and greeted the two professors. "Thank you both for dropping your preparations so quickly to meet here. We have a situation that needs to be addressed immediately."

The larger man spoke up first with his gruff sounding voice. "Would it have anything to do with the strapping young lad in that bed over there?"

Ozpin nodded at the question and elaborated. "You would be correct Peter. We found him in the Northern Vale Forest surrounded by Grimm. Right where the reported incident took place."

"Interesting, interesting. And he was the only person in the entire area?"

Glynda answered the wired up professor before Ozpin could. "From what we could gather Oobleck. Though we didn't have much of a chance to investigate. The boy needed medical attention and there were hundreds of Grimm still moving on his location."

The academic hunter put a hand to his chin as he pondered the possibilities. "Hmm, the Grimm are attracted to negative emotions as you all as well familiar with and that portion of Vale has been devoid of Grimm due to lack of human presence there. I find it strange that one person would be able to attract over a thousand Grimm in such a short amount of time, regardless of the emotions he was feeling. Very, very, very strange indeed."

For those that were not used to Bartholomew's fast paced talking habits it would be difficult to keep up with his thought process but all of those gathered around the table were very familiar with the intelligent man's quirks.

Ozpin hummed in agreement with Oobleck's observation. "I would have to agree with you professor-

"Ah, ah, ah. Doctor."

Ozpin took the interruption with an amused smile before continuing. "Of course, I would have to agree. I've never seen strong enough emotions to cause such a migration. But we won't be able to find out what exactly happened until he wakes up. But one thing is certain, he is a more than capable of fighter, certainly at the level of an experienced hunter, even in the exhausted state we found him in."

At this Peter Port jumped back into the conversation, fighting was always he forte when it came to hunter activity. "Ah, so he has the spirit of a true hunter then. Good to hear. What kind of weapon does he use?"

Glynda shook her head at his enthusiasm over the violent aspect of their job. "He didn't have one, at least not by the time we got to him. Though his fighting style was unusual. His aura was powerful, one of the strongest I've ever seen. He crushed Beowolves with his bare hands like they were nothing. He didn't even have to fully touch them to kill them, his aura seemed to give him an added range to his physical attacks."

Ozpin had to agree, it was certainly an oddity in the terms of fighting. "It was very strange indeed. Though I feel like I've seen something akin to that before. I just can't put my finger on it."

Peter shifted in his seat as he tried to get comfortable. "Oh ho, that sounds marvelous. I assume you captured some of the fight on video?"

Ozpin merely nodded to the question and hit a button and a 3D recording of when they arrived popped onto the table. It showed Naruto dispatching the Beowolves with ease before collapsing and then seemingly catching a second wind and nearly instantly destroyed ten more of the creatures in a display of power and speed.

Oobleck took a large drink from his thermos before he spoke up. "It is only a theory but upon seeing this. I am 97.65435% sure you have never seen this type of combat before Headmaster. This looks remarkably similar to an ancient form of fighting that was employed by the Faunus. They take in the aura of the living beings in the area and use it as if it were their own. It was a much feared type of fighting style but was rarely used due to the dangerous nature of learning it. One wrong step in managing nature's many auras could lead to instant death. The practice of even learning how to use this fighting style fell out of fashion centuries ago, even among the most extreme Faunus groups."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at his colleague before leaning back in his chair. "Are you saying that the boy is a Faunus? He doesn't appear to be one by appearance."

Oobleck pushed up his glances before clarifying. "Not exactly. Why even more rare than the Faunus, humans have been documented trying to use this form of Aura manipulation but for them most part have been unsuccessful. The Faunus simply had an affinity for Nature Aura Manipulation. Which means that if this boy was using that forbidden technique, he could be human but most historical evidence points to the fact that he is a Faunus. But that still leaves the question as to how he became so adept at using it, he seemed quite skilled at it."

It was Glynda that offered a possible explanation to the question. "Could he be a part of the White Fang? The group has become more and more extreme as of late. Maybe using ancient techniques for combat to gain an advantage is the natural next step?"

It was an uncomfortable thought to digest. At one point in time the White Fang held respect in certain human circles for their struggle against the oppression of the Faunus. Now however, their peaceful tactics have been left to the wayside and replaced with acts of terrorism all over the globe. If they were now resorting to ancient and dangerous forms of combat then there was no telling what else they might be willing to do to push their agenda.

Taking another sip from his thermos, Oobleck voiced his thoughts. "All very troubling ideas I'm sure we can all agree. But there is little value in stressing over things we have no true way of knowing, we can only plan for them in a calm fashion. Headmaster, what are you plans for this boy? Accounting for what we learn about him later of course."

Ozpin laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them as he thought. So many different scenarios could play out simply based on the boy's answers when he woke up. As for now though, a basic answer would suffice until he knew more. "If he's hostile then we will detain him and work with Atlas to determine the appropriate course of action."

Out of the corner of his eye Ozpin noticed the blond stirring in his bed. Up in only twelve hours after such a traumatic experience? The boy certainly was tough. "It seems I have an opportunity to acquire some answers right now, if you all will excuse me."

Ozpin pushed back his chair and moved himself towards the door to the other room before the voice of his colleague and longtime friend stopped him. "And what if we determine he isn't a hostile?"

Ozpin turned his head and gave the blonde woman a smile. "Well Glynda, he's already proven combat ready. If he isn't a threat, then I do believe the new semester is starting in a few short weeks."

(Medical Wing)

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and winced as his entire body ached from the past day's events. As his eyes gained focus he found himself in the confines of a makeshift hospital. Though it wasn't the battlefield medical tents he had come to hate over the years of war with the Akatsuki. Nor did it have the sterile smell of a normal hospital. If anything it looked akin to a nurse's office at some school.

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh as nothing was making sense to him. All he knew for certain was he had been baited into a trap by the masked man, using Sasuke's presence as a sure fire way to lure Naruto into the open. Naruto had known the chances of it being a trap was large, but damn it all he was willing to take the risk if he could get his hands on Sasuke. If there was one thing Naruto would do before he died it would be strangling the life out of that man. He had done so many things that Naruto could and had overlooked but what Sasuke did in the war… Naruto could never forgive that.

The fight with the masked man was quick and brutal. Exchanges of high level techniques in quick succession decimated the landscape before Naruto was enveloped in a blindly light and woke up in that forest. He was angry when he woke up, a level of rage that he had only reached a few times during the height of the war and it didn't take long for those creatures to begin swarming him.

Looking back on it, he had to give those things props for persistence. They just kept coming for over twenty four hours. Just non-stop waves of monsters, one after another. If he hadn't blown through most of his natural reserves in the first two hours mindlessly killing the hordes of beasts he probably wouldn't have been as wounded as he was.

The biggest problem however came from the fact he could no longer communicate with the Nine Tails. He could feel the ball of hate in the pit of his stomach but it seemed blocked by something. He couldn't even forcefully call on the demon's power. In the heat of battle he didn't have a chance to go into his inner world to find out what exactly was the problem but he would have to do so soon. As loathe as he was to admit it, Naruto had become slightly dependent on the beast's power during the war. First thing first though, he had to figure out where he was and who those people that saved him were.

Speaking of which, one of those people just walked into the room and made his way over towards Naruto. It was the man with shaggy gray hair. He walked with a specially outfitted cane and had a disarming smile on his face. Naruto watched as the man pulled over a chair and took a seat next to Naruto.

With a pleasant smile and tone, the man extended his hand for a handshake. "My name is Ozpin, I am the Headmaster here at Beacon. What is your name young man?"

Naruto stared at the man in front of him with thinly disguised confusion. He couldn't understand a thing that the middle aged man was saying. Naruto in response tilted his head to the side and let his confusion show. "What?"

Now the man showed the same confusion that Naruto had. A clear language barrier presented itself between the two and neither was quite sure how to go about communicating. Again the man tried as he pointed at himself and spoke deliberately slow. "Ozpin".

Naruto had heard the same word before when the man spoke and put two and two together. The man's name was Ozpin. Sadly that did next to nothing for the current situation. But still, Naruto was more than willing to try to communicate as well. It wouldn't do any good to not be able to talk with his saviors/captors.

Pointing at himself much like Ozpin had just done, Naruto copied the deliberately slow speech that Ozpin had used. "Naruto".

Ozpin for his part nodded and gave Naruto a smile before it quickly faded. There wasn't going to be an easy way to go about this since he had never heard anything remotely close to the language that this Naruto apparently spoke. "This is quite the little problem, isn't it Naruto?"

Naruto just continued to look confused at the man, only recognizing his own name when the man spoke. At least these people didn't seem to be enemies, not yet anyway.

(Beacon Academy: Several Weeks Later)

Naruto sat across from the eccentric professor as they were going over another set of flash cards of vocabulary. In a true school like fashion the staff at Beacon had developed a way to convert Naruto's unknown language into their own basic tongue.

The beginning was grueling to say the least. But they had made a break through when they started comparing basic objects and writing down the words and comparing the symbols. Oobleck, in the caffeinated frenzy that seemed to be perpetual for the man, took off with the very basic comparisons and within a week had made a rough translation between the two very different alphabets and from there things went relatively smoothly.

While Naruto hated anything to do with school and learning things not related to combat, the necessity of learning this new language was painfully apparent. He was still at square one as far as learning about anything relevant to this world and how he might have arrived here. On the plus side, with the aid of his shadow clones, something Oobleck was very much intrigued with, Naruto was able to exponentially increase the rate at which he absorbed the information. He was at the point in which he considered himself fluent in the language, and it only took a few weeks.

"Naruto! Pay attention, stop daydreaming!"

Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts as the energetic man slammed his fist on the table. Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he leaned back on the chair. "Look professor-

"Doctor!" Bartholomew corrected forcefully.

"Right, doctor, anyways. Look isn't this a little pointless to keep cramming the basics like this? I'm pretty sure I've got the language down."

Before Oobleck could go into a small tirade about how it was never a waste of time to go over the basics of anything another voice interjected. "Well then perhaps we can have the conversation that we've been skirting around the last three weeks, hmmm Naruto?"

Naruto and Oobleck turned to see the academy's infamous Headmaster walking towards them. With a small shifting of his hand, he silently dismissed Oobleck before taking the man's seat. Ozpin gave Naruto a pleasant smile that seemed to be stuck on the man's face.

Not once had Naruto seen the man even so much as frown. No one could always be in such a good mood. Still, the man hadn't given Naruto a reason to distrust him. No one at Beacon had actually so much as given him a bad vibe. If anything he owed these people for saving his life against those monsters that they called Grimm.

Even with all of that Naruto still didn't trust them. In his line of work that kind of trust could sometimes turn fatal. Not to mention with what happened last month, he wasn't about to trust anyone for a long time.

Naruto's bored demeanor changed rapidly into a more serious one when he realized the conversation that Ozpin wanted to have. It surprised Naruto that it had taken this long for Ozpin to confront him. Perhaps he felt it that Naruto needed to have a fully realized understanding of their language to get what he wanted. Maybe he had some other reason for putting off the conversation. Either way, none of that mattered as Ozpin opened up the dialogue.

"Do you remember anything from three weeks ago? The night we found you in the Northern Vale Forest?"

Naruto squinted his eyes as he tried to recall that night. To be completely honest when you fight for over twenty four hours straight things tend to blend together. The events from that day were hazy to say the least. "Honestly not really. I was fighting a man in a white mask. It was a trap that I realized far too late. Then there was a blinding light and I woke up in those woods surrounded by Grimm. From that point I just fought. Time seemed to disappear as more and more of those things swarmed me. I have no idea how long I was out there, over a day for sure though. I was running on my last legs when you showed up."

Ozpin nodded to himself as he wrote a few things down. Naruto had his first suspicions that he wasn't anywhere near home when he was first being swarmed by the Grimm but he hadn't realized that he was in an entirely different world until after they were well on their way to destroying the language barrier. Since this was a place of learning the books he was given to read to help him practice were history books about the world of Remnant.

It was a shock to the system when he realized just how far away from home he really was. He had no idea how it happened but somehow the Masked Man had transported him to a different dimension. Naruto knew the man had the ability to jump between dimensions but he never imagined that it extended to this level.

It was then that Naruto decided to keep that little fact under wraps. He could barely keep it together when he found out with all the evidence hitting him in the face. How would these people act if he started spewing nonsense like multiple dimensions? He had no intention of being locked away in a crazy house thank you very much.

"So you don't know how you arrived in the Northern Vale Forest? Fair enough. Then can you tell me who this man in a white mask was?"

Truth be told, Naruto actually couldn't. Even after a full year of war between the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Akatsuki the Masked Man had been able to keep his identity under wraps. "No. All I know is that he's the leader of a terrorist group and incredibly dangerous. I couldn't even touch him."

Was Naruto being misleading? Yes but with good reason. Remnant had a terrorist problem all over the globe. The White Fang were progressively becoming a bigger issue than the mindless Grimm, which given the history of Remnant was certainly saying something. It just so happened that the sign of the White Fang uniform was that of a white Grimm mask and the Masked Man leading the Akatsuki had recently adorned a new, white mask. Coincidence? Certainly. Was Naruto going to abuse it? Absolutely.

Ozpin scratched a few more notes down on his paper before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper and sliding across the table. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Naruto reached out and grabbed the paper and frowned on the outside while inwardly smirking. It was a picture of the head of a large cat with three slashes going through it, the entire thing was red, the symbol of the White Fang.

With as somber a tone as Naruto could fake, he replied. "The White Fang."

Ozpin nodded before he took the picture back and put it away. "From your voice I take it you're no stranger with dealing with the White Fang. How long have you been a member?"

Naruto looked away and tried to convey discomfort with the entire subject. Naruto had read quite a bit about the White Fang and the Faunus discrimination problem in general. It was fascinating how similar the people of this world were like compared to those in the Elemental Nations. A history of slavery, abuse and discrimination simply because they were slightly different in appearance. The similarities between the Faunus and how Jinchūriki of his world were treated sent a chill down his spine.

Ozpin read the discomfort Naruto was showing and tried to reassure Naruto of his safety. "I know that a human is probably the last person you would want to talk with about this kind of thing but rest assured, you are safe here. I'm aware of the price one has to pay to leave that organization. It was brave of you to try and leave even with the possibility of death."

Almost there. Naruto needed Ozpin on his side. If he could avoid being turned over to the authorities as a terrorist then he might be able to get out of here and start searching for how the hell he was going to get home. "I couldn't be a part of that group. Their tactics were targeting the wrong people. I won't murder innocent people."

Naruto let his longer bangs shadow his eyes. Once again, he had yet to say a single lie. Though within the context of this conversation his answers implied something radically different then what they actually meant. But Ozpin seemed to buy it as he stopped taking notes and put a hand on his shoulder.

"The White Fang can't reach you here, not at Beacon. But I'm not sure where else you can go. From what I can glean, you've been with the White Fang for as well as you can remember. I know this is sudden, but if you wish, you can stay here at Beacon. The new semester is starting and you can join the freshmen class. You can become a Hunter, start over fresh."

That… was not what Naruto wanted. But on the other hand it wasn't the worst thing that the Headmaster could have said. Though it seemed very strange that he would allow someone that was in his mind, a member of the world's most notorious terrorist group, join one of the most prestigious schools in the world. "You would accept me, just like that? I'm sorry but I find that too good to be true."

At this Ozpin gave Naruto a genuine smile. "I have a different sort of acceptance policy than most schools. Your past only matters to me in regards to how it shaped the person I see in front of me. The strength of character of the individual matters to me much more than past mistakes. And someone willing to risk their life instead doing something that they believe is wrong speaks volumes about their character, don't you agree? Welcome to Beacon Naruto."

With that the man raised himself from his chair and walked out of the room, only stopping at the door to give one last thought for Naruto to entertain. "I know that this is a big shock to you. I hope that one day soon you'll be able to trust us enough to fully open up. Oh, one last thing. There are a few Faunus that attend Beacon, one in particular that might be interesting to you. You two have a…similar past. A freshman named Blake Belladonna. You may want to find her."

With that Ozpin left the room and left Naruto to his own devices. Ozpin walked towards his office as he navigated the series of halls that made up Beacon Academy. Unsurprising to the Headmaster, his colleague Glynda was waiting for him in his office.

She gave him a questioning gaze as he started working through the countless papers on his desk. "Well?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

Stopping as he finished organizing a particularly large stack of papers, he focused his vision on the young Huntress. "He is an interesting character. Quite dishonest though."

At that Glynda raised an eyebrow as she waited for her superior to continue. Seeing her expression, he decided to elaborate. "He's certainly foreign and I believe he is genuine when he told me that he doesn't know how he ended up in the Northern Vale Forest. Though he's claiming that he was in a fight with a leader of the White Fang before he ended up there. He claims he was ambushed."

The White Fang's tactics have become more and more known throughout the years and such an ambush would never be used on some no name teenager unless they were a deserter. The White Fang did not take kindly to betrayal. "The boy was a member of the White Fang?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses before he answered. "Hmmm, so he claims. Though I don't believe him to be completely honest in that regard. He's clever, throughout the entire conversation he told me half-truths. I believe it was his intention to mislead through contextual clues. He was good at it, if it was anyone else I'm sure they would never have even realized he was leading the conversation the entire time."

Glynda bit her lower lip at hearing this. The boy was clearly skilled in combat and with this new revelation, it all but screamed a skilled infiltration attempt. But the question was who was trying to infiltrate them? "I don't like this Ozpin, he's too much of an unknown, and we should send him to Ironwood and let him deal with the boy."

At that Ozpin actually let out a chuckle. "My, my, so quick to get rid of the boy are we? No, under all of the bluster and half-truths I saw something. He's afraid, he's alone and scared in an unfamiliar environment. The more we learn about him the more I'm starting to believe Bartholomew's outlandish theory. Tell me, did he finish his more in depth study of the boy's mystery language?"

Glynda frowned as she pulled out a small folder and handed it to the Headmaster. "Yes, and it makes this situation all the more confusing. Oobleck was very careful to check over every single known language throughout the history of Remnant, from all four kingdoms and all the way out to the uncharted territories. Nothing even remotely comes close to the language the boy developed, it doesn't make any sense."

Looking over the results, Ozpin gave the rather uptight Goodwitch a quick laugh before he responded. "No sense unless you believe Oobleck's theory."

Glynda did not like being mocked and let it show as she all but growled at Ozpin. "Do you seriously want me to believe that this boy somehow came from another dimension!?"

A smirk came to Ozpin's face as he got a rise out of Glynda. "No, I do not. What I do want from you however is to have an open mind about this. We live in a world where different dust particulars allow us to control the elements, where monsters that have no soul indiscriminately kill us for a reason we cannot conceive. Is this so out of the bounds of reason?"

Glynda had an unsure look on her face but conceded his point. It wasn't as if he was stating it as a fact, merely a possibility. A possibility that was so absurd that she would normally laugh at the person proposing it but a possibility nonetheless. "Regardless of his origins, do you believe he is dangerous?"

Ozpin stroked his chin lightly has he contemplated the question. "Dangerous? I don't believe he's an enemy if that's what you mean. Secretive certainly, but I do believe he is a good person, if not a little jaded. This of course does rely on the assumption that he isn't native to Remnant. The blood work that was done on him came back with little reassurance. A mixture of human and Faunus DNA. Similar to both but not quite a match to either. I do say that we have never come across such an individual such as young Naruto."

Glynda wasn't nearly as amused by this as Ozpin. Unknowns were dangerous in their line of work. With rumors spreading of a possible global war and terrorism at the highest it's been since the Faunus Rights Revolution, unknowns were the last thing that Glynda wanted to deal with. "And what pray tell are we to do with him, assuming he isn't a sleeper agent?"

"Well that's simple. He will enroll here at Beacon as a freshman and we'll see what happens. I am most curious to see how he will turn out."

If the outrage of that suggestion wasn't written all over Glynda's face then her angry outburst was more than enough to convey her feelings about that decision. "Are you insane Ozpin!? Having him at the academy while the students are on break was one thing but you actually want to have him enroll here? Live and learn among the students? That's taking too great a risk, even for you. You must be joking."

Ozpin frowned at the usually level headed woman and handed her a piece of paper he had been writing on. "I am not joking about this. Here is his acceptance form. It will be your responsibility to find him a room and any necessary supplies that he will need for the following year. Your concerns are noted but my decision is firm on this. We have a great opportunity here Glynda. If we nurture the potential we witnessed a few weeks ago and have him form a favorable opinion of us then he could become invaluable. Worst case scenario, we have over a dozen highly trained hunters/huntresses at the academy at any given time. He would be a fool to try anything here, and from I can tell, he is no fool."

Anger built in her eyes but Glynda said nothing as she took the form. When it came down to it, he outranked her and she would have to follow his orders, whether she wanted to or not. She would have to trust him on this and pray it didn't bite them in the ass later.

(Beacon Academy)

Naruto walked in line behind the blonde huntress that he had seen by the Headmaster's side from time to time, Glynda was her name if memory served. She had given him some basic supplies, toiletries and a few changes of clothing. Nothing fancy, just some black workout shirts/shorts, and a standard black and burgundy male school uniform for class. Sadly his combat clothes he arrived in were beyond repair and he hadn't had a chance to venture out into town to buy a suitable replacement, not like he had any money to spend anyway.

Usually Naruto would try to start at least small talk with whatever hunter/huntress he was with but Glynda's mood radiated anger and he wanted nothing to do with that. He just silently followed her through the corridors until they reached a large set of doors that she opened with ease.

What was inside was not what Naruto was expecting. It was a large room filled with teenagers of both sexes that seemed to all be getting ready for the largest sleepover Naruto had ever seen. Well he had never technically been to a sleepover so that wasn't hard to beat but still, he didn't think that this many people was the norm.

He looked at the woman he had been following expectantly to which she just let out a sigh and pointed towards the room. "All the freshmen are sleeping here tonight since the teams haven't been assigned as of yet. Once the teams have been assembled then you will be assigned a dorm with your team."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gulped a little bit as he warded off her icy glare. He had no idea what he had done but she really didn't like him. This woman was stone cold, at least to him. "Right, thanks. I guess I'll just go find a corner to crawl into."

Glynda made an indignant sound before she turned on her heel to leave. "You do that. Oh and Naruto. Stay out of trouble or you'll have to report to me. I take punishment very seriously."

The way she ended that sentence before she walked off made Naruto shiver a bit. What was it with strong women always threatening him for things he hadn't even done yet? There had only been one girl that had been just outright nice to him for the sake of being nice. She never assumed the worst in him like almost every other girl he had ever met. And now she was…

Naruto's demeanor nearly instantly became somber as his thoughts strayed to a corner of his mind he wanted to deeply bury. Dwelling on those memories would only bring him pain. She was gone now, nothing could change that fact.

Naruto made his way through the crowd of undistinguishable faces until he found a small corner of the room that wasn't occupied and put his borrowed belongings on the floor. He dropped down next to his supplies and rested his back against the wall and looked at what was supposed to be his classmates.

Only a few stood out among the crowd, a girl with a red hood and a slightly older girl with blonde hair that was talking to a skinny blond guy. A red headed girl with long braided hair that wore armor instead of regular clothing. A girl with short orange hair and green eyes that was talking to a boy with messy black hair and strangely purple eyes. And lastly a girl with snow white hair that resembled something more akin to a porcelain doll than a person who had a comparatively large set up with a number of amenities that Naruto could only assume were expensive luxuries.

"Hey. Why are you in the corner away from everyone else?"

Naruto's observations were brought to a grinding halt as a girl with long flowing black hair with a black bow on top of her head made her presence known by standing right in front of him. She was wearing a mixture of a white and black button up shirt with coattails flowing behind her. Her legs were covered by black stockings that slowly faded purple as they reached her high heeled boots.

The most stunning thing about this girl however were her eyes. Naruto had never seen such fierce amber colored eyes, they seemed almost animalistic. Realizing he was staring at the girl in front of him, Naruto quickly started scratching the back of his head and said the first thing that came into his head. "Oh me? I just didn't want to be in the way. I don't really know anyone here."

The girl took his answer for what is was and decided to sit down next to him for a moment. Naruto noticed a lack of belongings and assumed she had set up camp somewhere else. "I can relate to that. I… haven't had the best of luck meeting any new friends since I arrived in Vale."

Naruto smiled at the girl. She seemed nice and it didn't hurt that she was gorgeous. "Well I'll be your friend. The name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

The girl giggled at Naruto's mannerisms. "You really aren't from around here are you? I haven't heard of anyone inverting their name before. The name's Blake, Blake Belladonna."

That name sounded familiar, he could have sworn he heard that name before. Then it hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. This was the girl that Ozpin said shared a similar past with him. That meant she was a Faunus, which at least explained her unusual eyes. Naruto actually chuckled to himself, he didn't think he would find her so quickly. He didn't even know if he was going to seek her out but low and behold, she came to him.

Blake gave Naruto an adorable pout before she puffed out her cheeks and asked. "What's so funny huh?

"Hehe, nothing. It's just you aren't exactly what I pictured you to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't this. Pleasantly surprised to say the least. A pleasure to meet you Blake."

Blake's eyes contorted in confusion as she processed his words. What did he mean by what he was expecting? How did he know her at all? She had never seen him before. "And what do you mean by I'm not what you we-"

Blake was cut off as the blonde girl with the ample chest appeared in front of them with a bright smile on her face. Naruto looked at her in surprise before he hesitantly asked her a question. "Umm, can we help you?"

The chipper girl nearly bounced up and down as she nodded. "Yep! Well not you but she can. My sister says she knows you and I wanted to meet you. The name's Yang, come on!"

Without waiting for an answer, Yang all but lifted Blake off the ground and dragged her away to where her sister was panicking with the white haired girl.

"Hey wait, I wasn't done talking with h-"

Naruto could hear Blake trying to resist the surprisingly strong girl as her voice slowly died the farther the girl got away from Naruto. Well that sure was interesting but now all he wanted to do was go to bed and get some rest, he didn't know what this orientation was but it didn't sound too boring. He should be probably be awake for it.

"Hey man, you know that black haired chick? Nice dude." Naruto turned to the new voice and saw the blond haired guy that was talking with the hooded girl a few moments ago was now in front of him. Great, now he was doing this.

Naruto gave a shrug as he responded to the question. "Uh, not really. I actually just met her when she came over here to talk to me."

The unnamed teen dropped to the floor next to Naruto and let out a long whistle. "Damn, you gotta teach me your secret man. You just have hot chicks walking right up to you. Pffft, I can't even get them to look at me when I talk to them, except Ruby, but she's not really my type."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the bluntness this guy was displaying. While it was refreshing to meet someone else who shared in his blunt conversation skills, he really didn't like where this particular conversation was going. Women were one of the last things on his mind. "I've got no secret. I just sat down here and tried to keep to myself. I had nothing to do with it."

"Man, that's what I'm talking about! You got that mysterious stranger vibe going on. The bad boy that doesn't want to deal with anyone around him. Chicks dig that dude!"

Naruto sweat dropped as he listened to this guy ramble about his woes with women. A part of this guy reminded of himself when he was younger and it was kind of endearing in a way. "Well if I figure anything out I'll be sure to let you know…uh…"

Realizing his mistake, the blond introduced himself properly. "Oh right, my bad. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet ya."

Naruto extended his fist in the way Bee had taught him, the odd ninja's way of greeting people had worn off on Naruto the more time he had spent with him. "Naruto Uzumaki. Same."

Jaune looked at the gesture before he extended his own fist and bumped it with Naruto's. "Uzumaki huh, what a strange name. Anyway, good meeting you. I'm going to hit the hay, we've got an early day tomorrow. Cya 'round Naruto."

Naruto gave Jaune a short salute as the guy walked away. What interesting people attended this school. Perhaps it wouldn't be as horrible as he thought it would be hanging around this place while he looked for a way home.

(Orientation Field)

"-And the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner that will help form your team. Any questions?"

Naruto looked down and examined the platform that he was standing on before looking around the group at the other students that seemed to be hyping themselves up for what was about to come.

What an odd little game the Headmaster had devised to test them and make teams. If he was honest with himself it kind of reminded himself of the bell test Kakashi had given his team back in the day.

"Ah yea, I have a question. Do we have a landing strategy?"

Naruto looked at Jaune who was standing next to him with a smirk. The guy seemed perplexed and worried at the same time as he watched the other students in front of him be launched into the forest.

"The landing strategy is whatever you plan, the choice is up to you."

Jaune did not seem at ease with the answer Ozpin gave him and tried to ask a quick follow up. "And what if you don't have a lan-!"

And there he went, poor bastard, didn't even get to finish his sentence. Naruto braced himself as his platform vaulted him into the air as well. Wind whipped past his hair as he soared. He briefly noticed that Jaune had been snagged by a spear from one of the students mid-air and was about to pin him to the tree. Looks like he made a friend.

Naruto tucked his legs under him and rolled through the dense canopy of trees. His body bashed through the assortment of leaves and branches until he broke through the initial forest ceiling. Unraveling himself from his ball form, Naruto slammed into the ground with his knees bent.

Standing up from his spot, Naruto rubbed his knees from the rather rough landing. Alright, time to move. He wanted to get this test out of the way as soon as possible, he didn't particularly care for the partner aspect however.

Though before Naruto could even take off running, a large Ursa Grimm walked up behind him. The creature was easily three times as big as Naruto and had an assortment of scars covering its body.

Naruto turned to the beast who simply roared at him as it charged him. "Well that didn't take long…" Naruto muttered under his breath as the beast brought down one of its massive claws on him.

Naruto saw the attack coming a mile away and moved his body to the side slightly and let the limb slam harmlessly in front of his face, cracking the ground as it did so. "Well aren't you a big fella huh?"

Whether the mindless creature registered the taunt or not, Naruto saw the creature's other massive claw coming at him from the side. With a blur of motion Naruto vanished from his spot much to the Ursa's confusion.

"Big but slow, and dumb. Don't forget dumb." Naruto grinned from his spot on top of the Ursa's shoulders. He probably shouldn't be having as much fun toying with this Grimm but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't so much as lifted a weight in the last month. He needed a little blood pumping action.

Before the Ursa could try and shake Naruto off of its back, Naruto formed a regular sized rasengan and slammed it down into the base of the beast's neck. "Rasengan!"

While small, the attacks destructive force was not to be underestimated as it easily passed through the creature's thick hide and destroyed the upper part of the monster's spine, crumbling the Ursa within seconds.

Naruto watched as the Ursa he was still standing on slowly started to vanish. It was freaky how these things just disappeared when you killed them. He didn't think he would ever get used to that.

The rustle of a few leaves alerted Naruto to the fact that he wasn't alone and in another blur of motion he was out of sight.

"What!? Where did he go? How could he disappear right in front of my eyes?" Pyrrha whispered to herself as she lost track of the person she was stalking. She didn't have any ill intentions for him, she was merely interested in how he fought.

Her thoughts of where her target had gone vanished as she felt a finger on the base of the back of her neck. A small trickle of sweat formed on her brow as she couldn't believe she had given up her back in such a way.

Naruto stared down at the red headed girl who went rigid the moment he had touched her. She was skilled, he almost didn't find her in these bushes. If it wasn't for the slightest of rustling she made when she hid in them he wouldn't have even known she was tailing him. Either he was getting rusty or she was simply exceptional. For the sake his pride he would assume the latter. "It's not very nice to spy on people."

The gladiator styled girl didn't move as she responded to Naruto. "I did not mean to offend. I was simply curious. You have a very unique fighting style. I've never seen Aura formed and utilized in such a way."

Ah, Aura. The natural extension of one's very soul that could be used in the middle of combat to enhance one's defensive and combative techniques. It reminded him of chakra to a certain extent but he really didn't' know enough about it to make that call. "Well I'm a pretty unique individual."

Naruto removed his hand from the back of her neck and took a few steps back to let the girl have some room. She took the invitation and stood up but didn't turn around to face him. "I can see that. I never caught your name."

Naruto found it strange that she didn't turn around but still answered her question. "Naruto Uzumaki. Yours?"

Surprise entered her voice as she still kept her back to him. "You mean you don't know who I am?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders at her question. "Should I? I'm not really from around here so I don't know anyone."

Naruto couldn't quite tell but she seemed almost, dare he say happy, that he didn't know who she was? She even giggled slightly at his response. "No, that makes me glad. My name is Pyrrha Nikos. A pleasure."

"Well it would be nice to meet you if I could see your face. Why don't you turn around so I can stop talking to the back of your head?"

Pyrrha shook her head in the negative as she answered Naruto. "I'm sorry. It's nothing personal. It's just the first person we make eye contact with will be our partner for the rest of the year and I had a different partner in mind. I'm sorry."

Naruto let out a small laugh as he started walking away. "Don't worry about it. I didn't really want a partner anyway. I'll see ya around, yea?"

Pyrrha smiled to herself as she heard the rustle of leaves she had heard before she had lost sight of Naruto. She turned around and sure enough, he was nowhere to be seen, only a swirl of leaves to signify his departure. It appeared there would be a lot of strong fighters in this year's class. Good, Pyrrha liked the competition.

(Relic Chamber)

Naruto landed in a crouch in the middle of several pillars, each with a chess piece sitting on top of each pillar. None of them were taken so he must have found this place first. Not really a shocker to the blond shinobi as his trip here had been rather uneventful after his run in with Pyrrha.

He had seen multiple of the other students as they found their partners and found countless Grimm, all of which he decided to outpace instead of stand and fight. As far as he was concerned, all he needed to do was find a relic and get to the extraction point, everything else was secondary.

Looking around at all the different pieces he noticed they all had a matching piece. Black Bishop, White Bishop and so on. All of them except one. Sitting on the center pillar was a lone piece, the King. Walking up to it, Naruto only hesitated for a moment before he picked it up. Looking at the piece for a moment, Naruto scoffed at the irony of having to collect game pieces as if everyone here was simply a game piece for the Headmaster.

Naruto paused on that train of thought. In a way they were. He was training them to be viable warriors that he would in turn command to complete certain objectives later. In a cynical point of view they were just simply pawns.

Crushing that train of thought. Naruto pocketed the 'relic' and made his way to the extraction point. Mission complete.

(Beacon Academy)

"Team RWBY will be led by Ruby! Congratulations."

A round of applause followed the end of Ozpin's' speech. Naruto looked around him and noticed that everyone had been accounted for and been put into teams of four, everyone except for him. While there was a little feeling of being isolated once again, it was probably better if he didn't get a team.

"And for the first time in the history of Beacon Academy. Let me introduce Beacon's first single man team. Team N led by Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto tried to put on a smile as he walked out on stage but only managed an awkward smile and a half wave as he was met with a mass of whispers and questions instead of the resounding applause everyone else had received. Great, that was how he wanted to make his first impression.

Ozpin watched with a smile as Naruto quickly made his way off stage and blended in with the crowd. "And that concludes the Freshmen Orientation Ceremony. Classes will begin tomorrow. Good luck hunting!"

Ozpin smiled as another round of applause broke out and people started leaving the auditorium. Unfortunately not everyone was happy as Glynda was all but drilling a hole into the side of his head with her stare. "Care to explain Ozpin?"

Not needing any clarification on her question, Ozpin elaborated. "Naruto is a unique case that needs to be handled different than most. We don't know the full ramifications of his presence yet and nothing is definitive. I feel it would be best if we put him by himself for now. Have him tag along with other teams when missions roll around while keeping his independence. Also, something tells me that he would prefer to be alone, at least right now."

Glynda scoffed at the vagueness of his explanation but wasn't willing to argue with him at the moment, she had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. She needed her sleep.

Ozpin didn't stop her as she left, he merely watched as the students continued to file out of the room. A few heads sticking out to him. Team RWBY, JNPR, and then finally he rested on Naruto's head. This year was going to be certainly interesting.

Bam, done. Oh man, I can't tell you guys how good it feels to be back into the writing swing of things. I'm so happy to be back and for those of you who are still with me I hope you're as excited as I am.

Now that the fire is back I plan to update far more regularly. Keep in mind I'm finishing my last semester of University so I'm still fairly busy but I think I finally have my life sorted out in a way that I can manage a fairly consistent schedule. Expect another update sometime this weekend for my main story and then regular bi to tri weekly updates from that point onward.

As for this story in particular. I love the plans I have for this story and I love the RWBY series in general. I literally wrote this entire chapter within the span of 48 hours because of how excited I was to write it. I'm still on the fence as to give Naruto a customizable weapon or not. If anyone has any ideas put them down in a review and I'll look at them. Maybe you'll see your idea later in the story!

As always, leave a review! I read them all and if you have any questions/criticisms don't be afraid to write it down. I read all the reviews and respond to each one that warrants a response. I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it!