Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY. This is strictly a piece of fanfiction being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

Author's Notes

Warnings: AU, Powerful, OOC-ish Naruto and other characters from the Naruto universe. Changes to certain characters' family history and/or backstory. No Chakra, but characters that would usually have it will have Aura and a Semblance that will enable them to fight similarly to the way they would in canon.

Pairings: Naruto/Pyrrha. The pairing may grow to include one other female as well, but it's incredibly unlikely as of this story's publication. Any other pairings will likely be canon.

Shield

Chapter 1

"Please tell me that's the last of them."

"That's the last of what's needed for tomorrow, Lord Hokage."

"Good. Any more than that and I'm afraid others would start getting the idea that I'm not quite as lazy as I led them to believe."

"Far be it from me to ruin your evening, but I think some of them might have caught on by now."

"Have they now?" Leaning back in his chair, the silver-haired man smirked softly beneath the skin-tight black cloth that was pulled up to the bridge of his nose to cover his neck and the lower half of his face. Reaching up, he idly fiddled with the black headband tied around his head to cover his left eye. "Maybe I should take tomorrow off to remind them how lazy I can be then. What do you think, Shizune?"

"I don't think that would be a wise idea; the only thing you would accomplish is backing up the amount of work you have to finish the next day." Stepping forward, her high-heeled sandals clacking softly off of the wooden floor, the black-haired woman gathered the stack of papers on the man's desk and stacked them neatly before cradling them against her chest. Pausing, she smiled softly in his direction. "Besides, I believe a certain blond might have a few choice words for you if he catches you slacking off."

"Mmm. You're probably right."

"You wouldn't have chosen me to be your assistant if I was wrong most of the time, Lord Hokage."

"You're correct, I wouldn't have. Still, maybe I should have picked someone who would actually address me by name instead of by title every ten seconds."

Shizune's body shook slightly as she let a laugh escape her. "We both know that the few people who would do that are people you would sooner send away than work with every day."

"…Valid point," the man sighed heavily, letting his one exposed eye drift upwards to meet his assistant's gaze. "You know, despite what you said earlier, I think you've gone and ruined my whole evening now. Thanks for that."

"My apologies," Shizune offered in return, though her smile made it quite obvious that the words weren't entirely genuine. "Will that be all then, Kakashi?"

"Yes, I think I—"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT

Letting his gaze drop down to the large desk set in front of his chair, Kakashi's eye immediately fell upon his buzzing Scroll. Holding up a finger to ask his assistant to wait, he pulled the device over to himself and pressed a button. Almost immediately, the image of a young, brown-haired man dressed in light combat attire popped up on the screen.

"What is it, Izumo?"

"Forgive the intrusion, my lord." Holding his own scroll outward, the man bowed his head respectfully. "There is a visitor here who claims to have an open invitation to enter the village, but his name isn't in the registry."

"I see." Reaching across his desk, Kakashi grabbed a small folder and flipped it open in preparation of needing to go through his personal list of accepted visitors. "Name?"

"Hey, what's your name again?" Izumo turned away from his screen to ask the question, clearly inquiring a response directly from the visitor.

"I'm afraid my name will have little meaning to any registry you may possess," a new, masculine voice cut in from afar. "If I may, would showing my face be an acceptable substitution?"

"He says that hi—"

"I heard him just fine, thank you," Kakashi cut off his underling before he could finish quoting the man's request. "Go ahead and do as he asks."

Nodding, Izumo slowly turned his Scroll to face the other way. As he did, his image disappeared only to be replaced with that of two individuals: a bespectacled woman with wavy blond hair that was pinned into a bun and a bespectacled man with a mop of short, silver hair. They were both clad in rather fine clothing and looked rather clean – a clear sign that they hadn't struggled a great deal to reach the village gates.

"Escort them in," Kakashi ordered as his eye lingered on the image of the man. "Make sure you have them brought straight to me."

"Right away, Lord Hokage." Izumo's image returned just long enough to give an affirmative nod before the image and audio cut out. Kakashi's scroll went black shortly thereafter.

"Shizune," he began after a moment, turning his gaze up to meet her eyes. "After you've taken those papers to your desk, would you be so kind as to brew a pot of coffee?"

"I thought you hated coffee?"

"I do." Kakashi smiled ruefully. "But from what I remember, our newest visitor was always quite fond of it."

Knock Knock Knock

"You may enter."

Standing, Kakashi watched as the door to his office was pushed open. A moment later, the silver-haired man and blonde woman from he had seen earlier stepped in – the former leaning ever so slightly on his cane to support his right side as he walked along. The door to the office was promptly pulled shut after they had passed through the doorway.

"Glynda Goodwitch," Kakashi began, pointedly turning his gaze towards the woman after the duo had stopped before his desk. "It is an honor to welcome you within the walls of Konoha. We have heard a great deal about your prowess in the field as a Huntress."

"Your welcome is appreciated. Thank you."

Nodding curtly, he turned his gaze to the other man in the room. A well of emotions broiled within him, but he revealed nothing through his expression or his voice. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe you go by Ozpin now?" Out of the corner of his eye, he easily detected the surprised look of the blonde Huntress.

"Indeed I do."

"It suits you well enough, I suppose." Reaching forward, Kakashi grabbed the steaming mug that was directly in front of him and moved it to the far side of the desk. "I presume you're still fond of coffee?"

"Quite so," Ozpin admitted, his gaze still staying locked on Kakashi's lone eye as he reached a hand out and snagged the handle. Despite having a firm grasp on it, the mug remained firmly on the desk. "However, I must admit that I'm not quite as thrilled at the prospect of poison; far-fetched as it may sound, it's too bitter even for my rather unique sense of taste."

"If I wanted you dead, I'm not foolish enough to believe that you would fall for a poisoned beverage of all things." Restraining the urge to sigh, Kakashi allowed himself to sink back down into his chair. "Your intelligence is one of the few things about you that even I would never question."

Nodding, Ozpin finally lifted the mug off of the desk and allowed himself to sink into one of the two seats provided for visitors. Turning his head, he nodded to Glynda; a moment later, she took the seat at his side.

"I must thank you both for coming here on such short notice. I hadn't expected you for several weeks at the earliest."

"Your timing was rather fortuitous," Ozpin began as he took a sip of his coffee. "My schedule is usually somewhat clear during this time of the year in order to interview potential students who never attended a regulation combat academy."

"I had presumed as much."

"Did you now?" Ozpin's brow arced above the upper rim of his spectacles. "What little bird informed you of that particular detail, I wonder?"

"Little bird?" Kakashi chortled lightly, but it was clearly forced. "It's hardly a secret that you interview potential students around this time of year. Besides, I assure you I wouldn't be working with birds of all things; I'm afraid I've grown to rather dislike the things. You see, there's this pesky little crow that likes to caw around my home at all hours of the night. It's quite aggravating, really."

"I can sympathize; I have a rather similar problem in Beacon. I haven't an inkling as to why, but there is one odd-looking bird in particular who is overly fond of flying in areas where it is most unwelcome. Perhaps we might mutually benefit by putting our heads together to solve our respective dilemmas?"

"I believe that would be a rather desirable outcome."

"As do I."

"We will discuss that matter later then. For the time being, I think we should move on to the reason I've invited you here in the first place."

"Agreed." Ozpin took another sip of coffee before continuing. "I must say, I was rather astonished to hear the news you forwarded regarding Mister Uzumaki."

"No more than I was, I can assure you." Sighing, Kakashi felt the weight of his office settling upon his shoulders. It felt wrong discussing this with a third party, but it needed to be done. "With how much he always went on about leading it one day, I never thought I would see the day where he willingly left the White Fang."

"That's certainly understandable. I may not know him personally, but I have listened to the speeches he gave that have made their way to various public forums; he always sounded extremely passionate about the cause of the organization." Ozpin paused, but upon getting only a grunt of acknowledgement, he pushed on. "If I might be so bold, what exactly caused him to leave?"

"You will have to get that information from his own mouth, I'm afraid. It's rather personal, so I wouldn't feel right divulging it without his permission."

"I shall make it my endeavor to speak with him on the matter, then." Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. "Perhaps you can answer this: if he is as skilled as you claim, why haven't you added him to Konoha's ranks?"

Silence reigned in the room as Kakashi's lone eye locked onto Ozpin's gaze. The air in the room suddenly grew thick with tension as they stared one another down. After a few moments, the feeling vanished just as promptly as it arrived when Kakashi suddenly stood up and turned around to overlook Konoha from the windows in his office. Though it didn't compare to any of the capital cities, the village was quite large; a tall, thick wall of smooth stone ran around the perimeter and the thick forestation of the area provided a natural barrier against any threats. The lights of countless buildings – some multiple stories tall – contrasted harshly with the night sky.

"I'm not opposed to the idea; if it was a realistic possibility, then I would have done so in a heartbeat. However, this matter is not solely my decision to make. Welcoming someone who has lived outside of the village for so long into our ranks is a matter that must always be approved by the Council. Unfortunately, despite the many scenarios I have gone over with my advisors, there is no realistic possibility that Naruto will receive enough votes from the members of the Council to be accepted into the village permanently."

"Truly?" Ozpin's brow arced over his spectacles. "I assume there is a reason that they would turn down an individual with such high combat potential?"

"Naturally." Kakashi chuckled humorlessly.

"I also assume that you're going to inform me as to what that reason is if you want me to truly consider him as a potential student."

"You assume correctly. I'm merely trying to think of the best way to approach the situation," the Hokage explained, pausing briefly. "I wouldn't want to trip and fall over my own words."

Noticing Glynda tense slightly out of the corner of his eye after she processed the man's words, Ozpin quickly raised a hand and let it rest upon her forearm. The simple touch calmed her significantly.

"Even when we were children, I distinctly remember you possessing the natural grace of a cat. Personally, I wouldn't be overly concerned about a single fall when you still have all nine of your lives left to squander." Taking a sip of his coffee, Ozpin let silence reign over the room before he spoke up again. "Speaking of superstitious beliefs, I've always been rather curious regarding what your favorite fairy tale is."

"My favorite fairy tale, huh?" Slowly turning back around, Kakashi met his gaze evenly. "I suppose I would have to say my personal favorite is the story of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"Ah, I had suspected as much; unfortunately, though I've heard the tale, I'm rather oblivious to its finer details. If it isn't too much trouble, perhaps you would be willing to tell the story in full?"

"I suppose I would be willing to indulge you." Reaching down to his desk, Kakashi picked up a folder and held it forward. "For the right price, of course."

Taking the offered folder, Ozpin laid it on his lap and flipped it open. His eyes immediately fell upon the small picture of a grinning, spiky haired blond that was printed into the upper-left corner of the paper. The toothy grin the boy wore in the image prompted a small smile to pull at his own lips.

"Nothing in this world is ever truly free, hm?" Glancing back up, Ozpin took another sip of his beverage. "Very well then, let us hear your price."

End