Author Notes

Hey guys, quick note, I will be updating this story quite a bit, so look forward to a new story, one that I actually update regularly, like back in the day.

Disclaimer: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, all characters that appear in the aforementioned series, and all techniques that appear in the aforementioned series are property of Masashi Kishimoto and any company, organization, or individual he has chosen to sell the rights to. I, MathewXoX, do not claim ownership of any of the aforementioned intellectual or commercial properties.

RWBY, all characters that appear in RWBY, all fantastical locations that appear in RWBY, and all named weapons that appear in RWBY are the property of Roosterteeth, Monty Oum, and any company, organization, or individual they have chosen to sell the rights to. I, MathewXoX, do not claim ownership of any of the aforementioned intellectual or commercial properties

Prologue Start

The prince of cards

Numb, so very numb. Blue eyes glossed with pain, sharp gasps escaped from his lips. Blood, the iron tasting liquid became an over-zealous flavour in his mouth. Shifting his body, a rigid breath choked its way out, splattering blood across the burnt and broken dirt.

Pain, searing bloody pain replaced the numbness, shifting the boy's breath into a soundless scream. After what seemed like an eternity, the fire in the teen's veins chilled, allowing him to finally take control of his body.

The far off look in the teen's sky blue eyes shifted to that of clarity. Tilting his head to the side, the teen was assaulted with the vision of the just-past. A frown lingering on his brow as he glanced towards his side, taking quick note that there was a hilt of a blade sticking out from the flesh. In one switft moment, the knife was ripped from it's prison of flesh before being tossed to the side.

"Dang" in a rasped shout, the boy held his hand to where the knife had been, glaring down at his body, the remains of a once white t-shirt was stained red with his blood. "W-what the heck." Glaring to his left, his reflected greeted him. Long, spiky, blonde hair was drenched in red, his blood no doubt, six whiskers barely visible by the share amount of red covering his face.

Grunting, the boy tore his gaze from the haunting picture, instead focusing on picking himself up. Muscular legs screamed in pain and defiance, but were ultimately ignored in favour of moving. Standing to his full height of 180cm, just shy of 5 foot 10, the boy could be best described as a living skeleton, his level of malnourishment very clearly nearly in the dangerous zone; the only thing keeping him out of it was his unusual amount of muscle he possessed. However, apart from his unique appearance, the boy possessed one more unique thing, clenched in his right clawed hand was a pack of cards, the fronts of which were blocked by the palm of his hand.

Glancing down, the teen's frown deepened as he looked at the black swirl pattern, a faint flash of anger appearing in his blue's eyes. "Atlas!" A light growl escaped form the teen's bloody lips as memories of the village made their unwelcome visit in his mind, snapping back like a slap to the face. "Whatever." Loosening his grip on the cards, the blonde flipped the top card of the deck.

A smirk lingering on the teen's face when he saw a painting of a waterfall on the flip side of the card. Applying a small amounts worth of power into the card, a light blue glow surrounded the teen before water suddenly burst free from the card, washing away the dirt and blood from the teen, revealing his pale skin to the world, along side all the wounds and kunai stuck inside him. "10." With a quick count, the boy was quick to swipe the ten metal dangers from his legs and chest, winching slightly each time.

"Well, what do we have here, a little bitch all hurt and in pain?" Just in the nick of time, the teen dodged to the left, barely dodging a knife to the back, the assaulter slipping past him on the muddy floor, his knife falling from his gasp and to the ground. "Shit." With a thud, the man dropped to the floor next to his blade.

Pocketing his cards, the now identified blond glared down at the man, his clawed hand tightening as it was brought down onto the man's head. A loud bang echoed through-out the area, followed by a scream of pain.

"Stupid ass." Stepping past the thick tree-line, was the teen, however him seemed highly different from before.

Instead of the skinny blonde, there stood a tall man full of confidence and power, his sheer aura overwhelming power, demanding respect. "It's been 7 years since I left that stupid village, and yet, I still find myself in the presence of idiots." The 14 year old remarked in annoyance before pulling out the deck of cards from his pocket. "Lets see, speed or Teleportation." Shuffling the deck acouple of time, the blond drew out a card from the top, only to scoff when a picture of fire appeared. "Speed it is."

In a flicker of fire, the teen dissipated, leaving a scorched mark on the dirt floor.

Unknown to him however, a muscular man with blonde hair dropped down to the place that Naruto stood a moment ago, a frown masked on his face. "Card capture, I missed you once again, such a pain." Slug on his back, was a fat man, who's face looked like a truck had hit it. "Tsk, time to get you to a hospital."

"Naruto Ironwood, what an interesting guy."

~~~~~x~Prologue end~x~~~~~

"Hello, my name is Naruto Ironwood, its a pleasure to meet you all." Standing before a class of 30, stood a tall young male with spiky blond hair combed down as far as it could, dressed in a bland school uniform, with his red tie left undone, a emotionless look on his face.

Glancing at the student, the teacher of the home room frowned slightly, the kid was way to passive for his likings. "Right, please take a seat that's available." The man remarked, watching the boy as he took a seat right at the back of the class. "Now, seeing as today is a Friday, we'll be training in combat today, however, because we have a new student today, your sparing partners will be changed." The man remarked, brushing his graying black, spiky hair to the side. "Ruby, seeing as you don't have a partner, you'll be matched with young Ironwood."

A young, silver-eyed girl dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, completed by a red, hooded cloak, jumped slightly hearing her name, glancing up at the teacher. "Er?"

Ignoring the un-lady-like grunt, the teacher pointed towards the blond setted next to the dark haired girl with a limb finger, making said blond frown. "As I was saying, we'll be going over the basic rules for combat training, once again, before going to the training ground, so please shut up for five minuets." the man remarked, glaring at the whispering teens in his class, oh how he hated their poor attempts to talk to their friends silently. "Now, we have three basic rules when it comes to training and sparing; rule number 1, no bullets or aura enhanced blades are permitted in the training grounds." Seeing the a hand shot upwards, Qrow narrowed his eyes at the blonde holding up his right hand lazily. "Yes, Naruto?"

"When you say no bullets, does that include rubber point ones, or hollowed plastic rounds?"

Blinking in surprise, the man of 39 frowned in thought, in his 5 years of teaching he'd never been asked that. "Well, as-long as the hollowed rounds don't contain dangerous elements, like shrapnel or poison, you're well in your right to use them." Getting a nod in response, the teacher waited for the rest of the students to ask questions, only to see no hands going up. "Now, numero dos, if someone says enough, or is unable to fight, stop combat immediately, we don't need accidents happening." Glancing to see everyone understood, the man nodded, glad the students understood. "And finally, never, and I mean never, go for kill shots, without exception."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto made a small "tsk" sound with his tongue, of course this school would be pg, nothing like a shit school to have a shitty rule. Hearing the chair next to him slid on the floor, the blond glanced sideways only to see an the nervous face of a girl with black hair with a slight red tint to it. "Yes?" Without missing a bit, the girl smiled, her nervousness mostly hidden away.

"Hi, I'm Ruby Rose, its nice to meet you." The girl remarked, holding a hand out to the blond, only to get a blank stare in return. "Er, right, well." The girl continued, stumbling around with her words. "Uncle Qrow said we're partners now, so its up to me to show you to the changing rooms, and stuff." Ruby remarked, pointing to the door behind her with her thumb.

Staring blankly at the nervous teen, Naruto tilted his head to see past her, only to catch a passing glance of the teacher's waving hand. "Right, fine." Pushing back his chair with a silent slide, the blond to his turn to offer his hand, ignoring the confused face of the girl before him. "Its a hand, you shake it." He remarked, making Ruby sputter in shock, getting a groan from the new student. "Well whatever, names Naruto by the way, I don't really care what you call me." Pocketing his right hand, the teen brushed the hair out of his eyes, boy his hair was long when combed.

Smiling slightly, Ruby took a full look at the blond's face, quick to notice the fox like whiskers on his face, a playful smirk replacing her nervous smile."What about whiskers?" Unfortunately, her humour wasn't taken well, if the glare on Naruto's face was anything to go by. "I m-mean Naruto, cool name!" Quickly correcting herself, Ruby swivelled around, facing towards the door. "well, let go, we wouldn't want to miss class." The teen of 14 said with a chuckle, a nervous one at that, before rushing out the open door, leaving a bewildered Naruto by himself.

"Kami, why am I always stuck with the weird ones." Grabbing the school on his desk, Naruto gave chance, not really wanting to get in trouble on the first day.

XXXXXXXXXX 10 minuets later XXXXXXXXXXX

After finally catching up with the surprising fast student, the blond teen had been quick to chance into his battle gear; a simple yet combat effective designed six-button double-breasted tailcoat with fitted armour inside, a black undercoat, black trousers, a black shirt, a orange necktie, a slick blade military officer cap, and black gloves holding a symbol of a orange fox with nine tails located on the backhand side. All readied up, the blonde had grabbed his weapons of choice, two custom tomahawks wrapped in cloth, that is made from a steel wire alloy woven with carbon nano fibers, all the way to the blades.

The weapons and armour were a late "gift" from his adopted guardian, both were made to be the strongest for him and his fighting style, each item have a purpose; even the cap he wore could be used in combat. Speaking of his guardian, the man was a monster, a cold man that believed military prowess and strength was far more important than compassion.

Said man was known as the headmaster of Atlas Academy, a General in the Atlesian military, and a holder of two seats on the Atlesian Council. This man was James Ironwood, a seasoned general who spent years as a huntsman, his "father".

Naruto took all the ten years of living under the cold man like a true trooper, never letting his cold military attitude effect or corrupt him, not to say he didn't pick up certain traits. Much like his old man, Naruto had a hard time opening up to people, his mask of indifference was a near constant addition to his face.

Now, it took quite alot to actually get past that mask, but the sheer look of awe and wonder in his partner's eyes made him slip slightly, a small smile appeared on his face as the girl checked out his weapons. "Ruby." Calling to the girl, Naruto waved his weapon beside his head, watching as the girl's eyes followed the bladed gun. "Red!"

Hearing the amused call, Ruby tore her eyes from the awesome sight that was bladed tomahawks. "Sorry, sorry." Stopping her hands from reaching out, the girl of 14 looked to her blond partner. "As I was saying, for the rest of the year, we'll be practising with each other, so lets do our best." Bowing slightly, the weapon lover drew out her own weapon, a custom red scythe sniper, from behind her back.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Qrow, finally having enough of the talking going on in the sparing platform, snapped his fingers, gaining the attention of the students around him. "Now listen up, I want this match to be clean, no going over the top Ruby, I need to assess Naruto's ability, got that?" Seeing the red-head nod, the teacher held up three fingers. "As soon as I say go, I want you to go full out Naruto, understood." Another nod, the man held back his smirk, the blond could fake his emotions all he wanted, but there was no fouling a huntsman, the boy was quite overconfident. "Ready," Both the teen's crouched low, each taking a stand of speed. "Set," The sound of tightening grips was audible to all in the quite room. "Go!"

In a surprising burst of speed, the two shot at one enough with the blades held high, both ready to end the fight in one go. "Too slow," Disappearing in mid jump, Ruby used her overwhelming speed to get behind Naruto, her blade descending towards the blonde.

"Funny." Much to the shock of the red-head, Naruto flipped his blades around, easily blocking the larger blade. "My turn." Spinning on the heel of his right black boots, Naruto slammed his left heel into Ruby's air born form, only with enough force to kick her to the other side of the field.

Ruby's eyebrows went behind her fringe as she slid back, only her uncle Qrow had caught her off guard like that. "Wow, you're good." Smirking her surprise anyway, the scythe looked towards her uncle in a silent ask of permission, getting a nod from the man. "But how good." As soon as she finished the girl disappeared again, her speed atleast tripled. "Got ya!"

Naruto couldn't help but let his battle born body move on its own, dropping down mere moments before Ruby's blade came at him. "Fast," Before he could continue, the blond was force to hand spring backwards in order to dodge another attempt to hit him, only for her weapon to skim his face, leaving a little tiny mark on his cheek. "You're good..." the blond trailed off, pocketing one of his weapons, much to the confusion of his opponent. "You're Semblance is speed, that much I can tell." Seeing the widening of her silver eyes, Naruto knew he'd hit Ruby straight on the head with that one. "Good, because if it wasn't, I'd be worried." In one quick motion, the blonde drew a card from his pocket.

Seeing a simple card in Naruto's hand, Ruby frowned slightly, were they somehow combat cards, or some kind of experiment, see knew not.

"I'm guessing you're wondering what these cards do, right." Snapping her head to the side, Ruby was shocked to see Naruto standing beside her, instead of infront of her. "Well, let me give you a hint." Before the red head could even blink, a card with a picture of lightning on it was trust into her face, causing her to dodge.

However, a simple tilt was not was needed, because out of the card, flashed Naruto, his now weapon-less right hand already in contact with Ruby's left side. Hearing the gasp of shock and pain, Naruto flashed infront of the red head, flicking the girl in the head with a thunder infused flick.

"W-what was that." Quick to recover, the red head jumped back, making distance between her and Naruto.

"That, my dear partner, was my semblance." Drawing another card from his card holder pocket, Naruto smirked when he saw a water on the card. "Don't blink, you'll miss it." Throwing the card, Naruto held his right hand out towards the girl, before tightening it into a fist.

Instead of a simple card coming at her, Ruby was shocked when the card transformed into a large water jet, giving her little chance to recover. Jumping to the left, the girl was unprepared for a second jet of water to come her way, forcing her to use her semblance to dodge. Panting, the girl's head shot up when the sound of cards cutting the air echoed in her ears.

"Gotta ya!" In a shout of power, Naruto held his next card in the palm of his hand, a picture of a blue fist on it. "Dodge this," Without warning, or much sound, a large fist of water slammed into the poor girl, knocking her out of the ring, and onto the wall.

However, the girl was anything but helpless, using the wall as a spring, the red-head shot forwards, aiming her scythe for her blond opponent, a large smirk etched on her face. "Got you!" Smacking the blond in the stomach, the girl was satisfied when the sound of grunting left Naruto's throat. "What, too fast for you?!"

Her victory was short lived, because from the cloud of dust sprung Naruto, his two blades in hand.

The two meet with a crash, the blades locking in a fight for dominance, with Naruto pushing down the red-head. Not to be outdone, Ruby swept the teen's feet from underneath him, forcing them to drop their weapons. Using her flexibility, Ruby wrapped her legs around Naruto neck and around, using her shocking strength to put the teen into an armbar. "Give up!"

Qrow, seeing the lock on Naruto, went to call the match, to get out of an armbar like that took some serious strength, even more so seeing as Ruby was the one doing it, her legs were made of steel. However, before his very eyes, he watched the impossible happen.

Naruto, seeing the move he was locked in, growled in frustration, his more animalistic side coming into play. Using the adrenalin pumping through his body as energy, the blond used his right arm to flip himself, and Ruby, to his feet, ignoring the strain on his left arm. Glaring towards the shocked girl, Naruto roared as he brought the girl up, using her armbar as his own grip. "Go down!" Throw his arm down, the blond slammed his arm, with Ruby, to the hard floor, instantly making the girl let go in pain, her eyes glossed over, before he grabbed the closest weapon near him.

Ruby, after finally pushing the pain to one side, widened her eyes when the barrel of her weapon, crescent rose, came into view. "Wow..." Panting out, the girl took note that Naruto was panting to, it seems that both of them were forced to go all out. "I give."

"Winner, Naruto Ironwood!" Qrow shouted out, the fight had brought some excitement out; something that he hadn't felt in over 15 years. "Well done, you two. Grab your weapons and make your exit to the stands." Masking his tone for that of a emotionless one, the man signalled for the teen to come down. "The next two up is Monco and James, please make your way up to the battle ground."

After gaining control of his breathing, Naruto helped Ruby down from the stage, the fight had really took alot out of the two. "Sorry if I went a bit ruff back then." The blond suddenly remarked, he really didn't know how to hold back, something he blamed Ironwood for.

"No harm done." Ruby remarked, a smile on her face and a look of awe in her eyes. "You're like super strong, and your semblance is awesome!" she continued, sighing happily went she sat down. "You got to show me how to do that."

"You to." Chuckling lightly, Naruto smiled, surprising himself, how long had it been since he last smiled. "You're quite strong, that weapon you carry around it super heavy, yet you swing it like a stick." the blond admitted, the weapon was truly heavy, if he had to guess, it weigh nearly 20 pounds.

"I practice alot!" The girl admitted with a chuckle, winching slight when pain shot from her left side. "Ow, that stings." Putting her hand to her side, the red head was surprised when the hand was pushed aside lightly, only to sigh in relief when cold water was pushed against it. "Thanks."

Naruto, who was using his power to produce the cold water, grunted as he to placed cold water on his right shoulder, the girl's armbar was seriously strong. "Don't mention it."

"Well well well, what do we have here, my niece and the new guy being all lovey dovey, how cute." Despite how playful the words wear, Qrow's blank voice and gaze only made the two freeze, a flush appeared on both their faces. "Chill guys, I was joking."

"Whatever,"

Grinning at Naruto's response, Qrow looked at the two, it was quite the sight, a sight he'd seen before. "You know, you two remind me of some special people I once knew, the only difference here is the height." The man said with a true smile, his eyelids close to hid the pain in them. "And if you're anything like them, you'll be together in no time." The man remarked, laughing loudly as he walked away, leaving the two blushing teens.

Ruby, being the more embarrassed of the two, rushed after the man, screaming his name in embarrassment and anger, chasing the teacher, who ran away laughing.

Xxxxx-End Chapter-xxxxX