Chapter 1: Introducing Beacon's Youngest Professor!
A/N: I'm bored. I own nothing but the plot, of which there really is none. Also, zero editing. No rechecks. Sorry.
Chapter 1 START
It was the last class for the day, and it was the one most anticipated by the majority of the first years. All of the students had changed out of their official attire and into more comfortable clothing to allow for range of motion. They were all headed to one of the largest rooms in the academy: the arena. Inside, a few teams were already seated on bleachers that extended for twenty rows, allowing for plenty of spectators if the occasion allowed for it. It extended in a semicircle above the circular arena, which stood a few feet above the lowest level in the room. There were a few other circular arenas in the room, but it was clear from the get go that the one in the center - the largest one - was the main attraction.
Excited chattering hummed throughout the large room. This was what they really came to this school for. Not for the history lessons, the math talks, or the admittedly delicious food, but for combat. There was a contagious buzz that continued to spread from one student to another.
Team STRQ, with their leader Summer Rose, was seated near the middle of the pack. She was a young teenager with red hair and silver eyes as her most recognizable traits. A short nose, wide-set curious eyes and slightly pudgy cheeks with baby fat adorned her innocent face. Summer was shyly sitting with her legs shut together, and her body was slowly folding in on itself as more and more students walked in to fill the empty spaces. Before long, it was as if a black hole had formed in the pit of her stomach, dragging the rest of her towards it.
A slap on the middle of her back broke her out of her funk momentarily. Looking around, she caught sight of her new teammate, Taiyang, holding his thumb up in his attempt to reassure her that it'll all be fine. She thought of the fellow teammate as brashly confident, but she couldn't help but find his bravado comparable to a bright light that she wished to follow. His smile lit up his entire face, pulling at his cheeks to show slight dimples and merry dark blue eyes. His blond hair framed around the top of his head clearly unkempt, as two strands stuck out at the crown. Despite his rugged looks, she found that teen strangely charismatic, especially with his taller and broader stature. She smiled gratefully, but couldn't help still feeling nervous. However, she would be saved from thinking about any more negative thoughts as a voice boomed from below them all.
"Good evening, students!" All talking ceased as all eyes were drawn to where the voice originated. "I will be your professor for the combat class for this year at Beacon Academy! I see that many of you are dressed for combat...great! I, uh..." blue eyes squinted minutely as the person in the center of the training room tried to formulate his thoughts. A moment later, his warm voice echoed again, "My primary form of combat is hand to hand, and it's actually one of the few things I take pride in." A wide smile that stretched to his cheeks, pulling against skin. The three stripes of thick sharpie one each cheek was only further emphasized by the smile that was brimming with excitement.
"I hope we can be friends and get along!"
A blond man - no, teenager - stood proudly in his black tracksuit outfit. It was fitted well and allowed for breathing room, and was decorated with vertical white lines that starkly contrasted with the blackness of the jacket and sweats. His hands were on his hips and his chest puffed out. A figure of absolute confidence - or absolute ego - stood eagerly as he scanned across each row of students. His ocean blue eyes mirthfully flicked from side to side, his spiky yellow hair shifting softly with each motion.
"Now, I'm sure that you have some questions - "
"Are you really our professor? You're kind of young, no?" a rough voice with a crass tone asked.
The blond instructor glanced over to look at the student that had spoken out of turn. "Yes. I am your professor, Naruto Uzumaki. And I believe I am the same age as you all, so I believe that makes all of you young...no?" he retorted, a teasing smile daring the student to say something back. Nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, hushed murmuring restarted.
"It does say that our instructor for the class is Professor Uzumaki."
"He's so young, though?"
"Did I really come to Beacon and train my ass off for this? This is a joke."
Raven didn't partake in the whispers and glanced over at her brother. Qrow, dressed in grey sweats and a loose-fitting white shirt, gave her a noncommittal shrug. He was thinner than Taiyang, and everything about him seemed sharp. His eyes, narrowly drawn, held inquisition and curiosity, but also disbelief and a lack of care. His nose was long and refined, and jaw was as clearly defined as his straight, thin lips. He looked down at the "professor" and raked his hand through his gelled hair, slicking it further back. One bunch of hair refused to remain, however, and rebounded to the front of his temple. He scoffed derisively.
'Beats me.'
She suppressed a growl and crossed her arms, her right hand tapping against her left bicep. She came to Beacon to learn how to fight against Huntsman. But here they were, making them all sit and listen to someone that was their age. Hardly worthy of her or her brother's trust.
"Alright, alright! That's enough!" The blond started cheerfully, as if he hadn't hear any of the disparaging comments. Once again, all eyes returned to him and he crossed his arms against his chest. "I said that I pride myself in hand to hand combat. If any of you can beat me...I'll submit my resignation to the Headmaster by the end of the day!"
Taiyang grinned eagerly at the challenge.
"Then I challenge you!" Taiyang shouted immediately from his spot next to Summer. This was his chance to create a reputation for himself. And it was coming so soon; his first day of learning at Beacon, and an opportunity had already shown itself.
Naruto simply beckoned him forth. The other blond with slightly darker hair with less spiky ends grinned confidently - overconfidently, thought Raven - and jumped down the bleachers and straight into the arena so that they were standing face to face, only a foot apart. "You know," Taiyang said looking down Naruto, "it's funny. I also pride myself on close quarters combat and would love to try my luck against you."
The trusting, unblemished grin remained perfectly in place on Naruto's lips as he looked up at Taiyang, who was easily six inches taller than he.
"Great!" he breathed out. Then, he pulled out his Scroll and began to press some buttons. "You know how this works?" he finally thought to ask.
"Yeah. Taiyang Xiao Long." The professor started to press keys on his Scroll. "Lemme know when you're ready, buddy!"
A few more seconds passed. Suddenly, both of their faces showed on a screen near the ceiling. A bright bar fully filled immediately came into life below their face and names, indicating their aura levels.
"Before we start," Naruto spoke as he put his Scroll away in his pocket, "I want to set some guidelines."
"Whatever you say," Taiyang said good-naturedly. He was confident in himself, and he was especially confident in his fighting prowess. He had always been top of his class in combat, despite a few mishaps and his teacher's warnings about his overconfidence. Beh. A few ground rules wouldn't change anything. Different place, same results.
At least that's what he thought.
Naruto's eyes locked on to Taiyang's good-naturedly.
"Firstly, come at me with the intent to kill."
Defeaning silence.
Taiyang was starting to think that maybe some things didn't remain the same.
"Any other rules?" he asked after a moment of hesistation.
"Nope, that's it!" Naruto answered, popping the 'p' with his eyes closed, curved upwards in the height of amusement. It was as if this was all a huge game to him. "Alright, ready when you are!"
Taiyang wasted no time, rushing forward. Experimentally, he threw two jabs at his opponent's face. When those didn't hit, he tried again with two jabs with his left hand, and then switched to a right straight punch. The first two were casually dodged, and the last was simply flicked away with the back of a hand.
"Woah, woah, seriously? Did you just tap my punch away?" Taiyang asked with a bewildered smile as he continued his assault. Realizing that the so-called professor might actually have more skill than he gave him credit for, Taiyang sped up and incorporated kicks and spinning attacks. When that didn't result in any landed hits, he channeled his Aura throughout his body to further empower his muscles and speed up his strikes more.
'There!'
In his offensive blitz, Taiyang spotted a hole in the defense of his opponent. Feinting with left punch to the side of the head, he switched suddenly into a spinning kick straight to the ribs.
"A bit gullible, no?"
Taiyang's leg was caught in an enclosed hand wrapped around his ankle. The blond jumped up suddenly, and kicked Taiyang's chin, sending him careening through the air. Grunting loudly from the impact both from the kick and the floor, the student rolled and recovered quickly onto his feet, sliding with the momentum until it died and he stood at the edge of the arena.
"Seriously, you think that's gonna stop me?" Taiyang goaded, rubbing his chin with the back of a hand. Naruto simply flicked his eyes up. Following his gaze, Taiyang widened his eyes.
His aura...it was hit for over half of his capacity.
'That can't be right. There's no way that that simple kick had hit me for that much...wait, how much did I do to him? I know that I haven't hit him, but blocking has to cost him something right?'
To his chagrin, he realized that there wasn't a blip on his opponent's bar. Nothing changed from the start of the fight, as Naruto's Aura level remained untouched.
"I believe that concludes our spar. As you are now in the yellow, I deem you unable to continue combat and ask you to return to your seat. If you want pointers, feel free to come to my office hours."
Shocked, Taiyang blankly nodded and turned around without saying anything further. A minute later, he silently took his spot next to his team leader, his eyes still glazed over slightly in shock. Not a single hit, really? What had gone wrong?
A smack to his back shook him out of his thoughts. Looking over to his team leader, he saw her shyly giving him a shaky smile and a jittery thumbs up. His eyes softened, deciding to think about it later.
"Alright, who's next? And again, the one and only rule is come at me with the intent to kill!"
Raven Branwen, decided then and there, that there was something odd about the combat instructor.
It's not that he was weak. In fact, far from it. From what she could tell, their combat instructor for the year had shown enough promise that she would allow herself to listen to him and to take his advice. After all, she came here to learn how to protect the tribe from Huntsman, and this would be as good a starting point as any other.
It couldn't be that he was a strange person, either. There were plenty of people that had quirks, especially in risky businesses. Huntsman were no different in this category, and the culpability all lied in the fact that they could die any day. One day, they would be bright as the sun's rays on a clear day, and the next, they'd be ebbing embers on a misty night that would transition into rain. That said, telling his students to come with the 'intent to kill', was definitely one of the stranger, yet acceptable advice she had heard today.
Her eyebrow rose, and her right index finger began tapping thoughtfully against her right bicep again.
Currently, their blond combat instructor was in a mock battle against one of the students. Much like the previous skirmishes, the blond was taking the defensive for the majority of the time, casually and smoothly ducking, weaving, and guiding blows away from his body. Everything he did was calm and composed, as if he could tell where the next blow was coming before the student even began to wind up to attack. She seriously began to question how far ahead the blond could see when even she thought one of the students would attack with an overhead kick, only to realize it was a feint to reveal a stomach blow with her fist. And yet, the blond had already placed his hands in position to defend his midsection and his palms parried the blow perfectly.
If there was a way to describe his defense, it would be efficient.
The instruct would be carefully eyeing his student and calling things out if he felt there was an egregious misstep on the part of the student. After three such mistakes, however, he would suddenly flip onto the offensive, and the efficient defender transformed into an equally efficient assailant.
Almost a third of the girl's aura was out in ten seconds, and skirmish was forced to end then. The girl shakily got up, ignoring the blond's proffered hand. Then, scoffing in her hubris, she turned around and walked up to her seat, refusing to say anything further.
It confused Raven. The professor - she had yet to realize she had already placed that title on him - had clearly proven his strength. Eighteen students later, and he had yet to take a single grazing touch to his body. The only connection made during combat was when the professor redirected blows away from his body, unbalancing his opponent or creating glaring openings for himself, or when he struck decisively, generally ending the fight ten seconds after the first strike.
What...an interesting individual.
"Anyone else?" the professor looked up, his hands once again at his hips. His breathing was completely in control, as if he hadn't taken down eighteen trained students back to back without a single breather. Each of them had thrown themselves at him with gusto after realizing from the first spar that he was not to be taken lightly. Each of them wanted to be the one to take him down. This goal slowly shifted into wanted to be the first one to land a hit.
However, no matter what each student threw at him, nothing stuck. Every student he had faced was well-versed in their own style of hand to hand, something they had trained in their previous school and possibly with their families, but it all amounted to 'nothing but air' against the sole figure in the center of the arena.
Looking around, Raven realized no one else was raising her hand. All of the gusto had gone with that last girl, who she recognized as one of the more talented recruits to Beacon. Apparently, said girl had won a few competitions in Mistral in a fighting competition, enough to the point that even the majority of the other students recognized her. She only knew through hearsay.
"If that's the case - "
She raised her hand. "I would like to challenge you," she spoke out. The instructor paused, his eyes raising until it set upon hers. She felt naked under his gaze, as if he were carefully picking her apart, scrutinizing her as if she were data, and devouring that informing like a Beowulf. Suddenly, the pressure disappeared as he smiled, and she wondered where that uncomfortable encroaching feeling had even come from.
"Come on down then, please," he called for her, pulling out his scroll in preparation. "What's your name?"
She walked down to the bottom of the viewing area and leaped off, landing at the edge of the arena. "Raven Branwen." He heeded her by tapping against his Scroll again. Soon, a humming above her confirmed that her face, name, and Aura gauge were set on a screen. Looking up, she saw his tantalizing aura gauge still at full. She smirked; a challenge for sure.
"You know the rules, right?" the blond asked as he set aside his Scroll in his pocket. "Come at me - "
"With the intent to kill, right?" she asked from behind him, her body already in motion to strike the back of his head. Who cares if he hadn't said start yet; he never had beforehand. Every student had given him time to prepare, even though they knew that he wouldn't say start and, scarily enough, that he was the same age and bested every single one without a single strike affecting his person. The way she saw it, he was purposely giving them a free advantage to get a jump start. Preemptive strikes sometimes can decide a fight, right from the very beginning. It wasn't uncommon for a single, decisive blow knocking out an unsuspecting individual, effectively ending a fight before it began in one-on-one duels. After all, Aura can only help so much, especially if caught unaware.
However, the thing that caught her attention more was the fact he told him to attack him with the intent to kill. Was he stating that he was so far above their level that an unchecked ferocity and aggression would be the only way to even approach threshold and breach his defenses?
If so, she would take up on his advice; she would not hesitate and go for every strike with a letahl manner. She was trained to survive, after all, and death was no stranger to her.
Her smirk slipped away when her punch struck air, the blond's body already leaning to the left and turning towards her. She wouldn't give him the chance. She kicked low, trying to prevent him from turning and cutting off his mobility. Yet, her hopes were dashed as he jumped, as if he had eyes on the back of his head or an incredible sixth sense.
Now, they were face to face, and her preemptive strike advantage had been shredded. The smirk on the blond's face told her that he knew exactly what she had tried to do. But the expression didn't seem condescending in anyway, other than beckoning her to come forth and give it her all. She felt a tug in her gut; he wanted her to succeed?
"Fine, if that's what you want!" she shouted, her eyes narrowing with exertion as she used her Aura to fuel her body and speed up her strikes. Her fists blurred, and then her body lined across the arena as she circled around the arena, striking at every angle that she thought there was a momentary lapse in defense.
Yet, every time she struck, the blond was prepared. Every punch he allowed to whiff by with the barest of margins, every kick was blocked with ease. He had yet to go on the offensive.
'With the intent to kill, right?'
After trying to attack from his back, she crouched when Naruto threw a punch for the first time. She had made three mistakes, at least according to him. She frowned and backflipped away to make some distance, creating space between the two within a second. Skidding on the ground, she bent her knees and placed all of her force into the soles of her feet.
Raven went straight for the front, now that Naruto had turned to face her, blitzing forward with all the momentum she could. She placed all of her intent behind this punch, aiming straight at his face. His hands were already in place to block her strike. Right before her fist ended up slamming into his palms and rendering her offense a moot point, she retracted her arm and tucked in her body, twisting on her right foot and turning so that her left foot shot out like a bullet towards his stomach.
She felt something that felt like skin and looked over her shoulder in shock, only to meet the eyes of her opponent, who was looking at her with slightly widened eyes. She looked down and saw that - I failed - her foot had been caught by his left palm right at the heel, killing off all of the force. Raven wanted to curse aloud. She pulled her leg away and jumped back, creating some distance from the instructor and preparing to strike again.
However, when Naruto's surprised expression refused to slide away, she allowed herself a single quirked eyebrow.
"You..." he started, a strange inflection as he spoke to her. He paused, a gap in the air as muted shock filled the air. "You have potential," he told her decidedly.
She dropped her arms and straightened her back instinctively. Immediately after, she shook her head and growled. "The hell do you mean?"
"Look up," was his simple instruction.
Slowly, she did, and she found why the blond was so stupefied. She was equally shocked.
There, right below her name, her Aura level was nearing the red from how much she had forced her body to its limits. But next to her name was Naruto's, and under his name was his Aura level: 99.8%.
A feeling of accomplishment strangely bloomed in her chest. She knew it was something that seemed incredibly off-putting and would generally be seen as insufficient. Before this class, she would have agreed that taking 0.2% off someone's Aura was something ridiculous. Not at all something to be proud of.
But that was then, and this was now. The person in front of her was an absolute monster at close quarters. Untouched in all nineteen fights before hers, but now slightly affected by her advances.
Zero-point-two percent.
She smirked, her pride forcing her to stand tall.
"You like that?" she prompted, her eyes filling with challenge. Naruto shook himself out of his stupor, tossing the cobwebs in his head into the mental trash and flashed her the brightest smile she had seen.
"Good job!" he praised her. And it was completely heartfelt; she could tell. Another feeling that blossomed from her chest spread across her body, slightly thawing her icy cold exterior. Apparently, he very much liked that she was able to surprise him, even if it were only for that fleeting moment.
Maybe that's what was so strange about this kid. Everything he did was genuine, and done with the other person's interests in heart and mind. Usually, she would deem someone like that weak; but she couldn't call this person weak. Not when he was simply so much farther in combat prowess than anyone she knew.
"Alright, I'll end our spar there for now. Feel free to join your teammates and allow me to get on to lecturing the rest of the numbskulls, dattebayo. If you ever feel like sparring again or getting some tips, again, come to my office hours!"
She idly nodded. What an odd instructor.
"You were so cool!" Summer shouted, absolutely beaming. The team leader was all excitement, like a dog that had spotted its owner holding some prime chicken.
Raven squashed the instinctive desire to clutch her ears; she had long regained her composure. "It was nothing. I barely forced him to do anything, even with my best efforts."
The shorter girl pulled back and marched forwards a bit and then turned around and began to walk backwards so that she was facing Raven. "Aw, don't be like that. You saw how insane he was! Maybe he's just a god at hand to hand and isn't as proficient with weapons. Ohhh, maybe that's when we can shine, huh!"
"Maybe..." Taiyang grumbled. Qrow chose not to say anything to comfort the other male in the team, still miffed about the prank Taiyang had pulled on him prior, telling him that the school's skirt was a kilt and a combat outfit at that. Prick. See if he cared...
"I'm sure you'll get him next time, Taiyang. You almost had him!" Summer cheered him on.
'I was gonna say that!' Qrow cried mentally. (Narrator: he really wasn't).
Taiyang lifted his eyes from the ground at his shuffling feet to his team leader and barely managed to give her a weak smile. He had always been good at close quarter combat, and yet there was another blond shorter than he, not only better than he was at it by a significant margin, but also a professor at the esteemed Beacon Academy.
"Maybe...I don't know. Beating a professor seems like a ridiculous prospect."
"Ah - "
Silence quickly descended, and the four walked like that the rest of the way to the dorms. Despite how easily he had dealt with every student, Naruto still had yet to get the approval of the first year student body as a professor. Sure, they acknowledged his strength, but accepting him as an official staff member, and a professor at that, seemed to be too warped for some people's minds.
Raven couldn't understand the logic of the students here. The strong survive, and the weak die. That's how the world worked. Their instructor was obviously not weak, placing him in the former category. She didn't know many Huntsman, but she did know that she was not weak. She had trained from a young age to obtain strength, and it wasn't simply by choice. That was her lifestyle. It formed who she was. Something like accepting that Naruto was strong as a fact was as simple as breathing to her.
Stupid students. The fact he was young was looking like an unsurmountable obstacle for the blond. That...and the three sharpie lines he had drawn on each cheek. She didn't care much for it, but perhaps the Faunus and the Faunus-haters would. If Naruto was a Faunus, then the Faunus-haters would bash on him. If he weren't, then the Faunus would question why he would draw lines on his cheeks like that of a fox.
She shut her mind off; it was only the first day.
Raven Branwen contented herself in the forced silence of the group as they walked by a garden, then a walkway made of cobblestones and pebbles fused with cement, and into the halls of the dorms. As they approached their door, the day's exhaustion seemed to finally seep in and weigh down on their shoulders. The moment their dorm room door was supposed, they filed through and crashed on their respective beds.
"I'm beat," Qrow grumbled. Taiyang gave him the stink-eye.
"You didn't even try to fight. I got literally beaten. That kick to the chin was crazy." The ashen-blond rubbed the bottom of his chin, making sure it was all intact.
"That's your problem," Qrow retorted. Taiyang rolled his eyes.
"I want cookies," Summer interjected, completely derailing the conversation. "Beat milk and sugar and all that good stuff, and then - yeah...some cookies will bring me back to life."
"..."
"Maybe I'll go to the kitchen..." she yawned. "...later."
No one else spoke, and before long, Qrow, Taiyang, and Summer had all fallen asleep, completely forgetting about her original plan to eat sweets.
Raven remained awake, looking out into the sunset as the sun slowly faded away to hide beyond the horizon, and the night soon to come to replace it with its blanket of stars. She entered a trance as she thought of her clan. They told her to come here, to Beacon, to learn how to fight Huntsman. Ridiculous, she had thought. Not so much now. Naruto had proven her wrong.
"Everything starts from hand to hand. Until you understand how your body works, how can you extend that into a weapon?"
She had no doubts that he was well versed in whatever weapon he chose to specialize in. There was so much to learn.
Her eyes narrowed, the red in them shimmering in the dark. There was so much to learn here.
Professor Uzumaki did say he had office hours.
Chapter End.
A/N: I'm just writing stuff for the fun of it. There's no real direction. Sorry. I know that some people might ask me to write on my older stories, but I hella suck at writing now. I don't want to ruin my older stories by going back and writing like crap, so I'll just do random ish.
That being said, if someone would like to beta this work and give ideas (feel free to do this in comments as well), please do. I would love feedback, and would like to improve in my writing so that I can possibly finish, at least, The Dark Flash. Someday. Maybe in fifty more years.