Team NNPR and RWBY were worried for their friend, never having seen the blond teen display such anger, though none more so than Ruby and Pyrrha.
Naruto was kind enough to be Ruby's first friend at Beacon and had helped her on several occasions, most recently with the whole drama between her and Weiss. The heiress had confessed that it was the goofy blond who had really driven her to apologize to the younger girl, not only helping Ruby and Weiss, but team RWBY as a whole.
Pyrrha and Naruto had become close in the weeks since team NNPR had formed, something that was clear to anyone who saw the two together, which was quite often. The two were often seen sparring or training together, eating together, and generally looking like a couple, something the gossips of Beacon had taken great pleasure in talking about.
Clearly worried for their friend, the two teams rose and made to look for Naruto, but were stopped the voice of Blake.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Curious about what the brunette meant, Ruby turned and questioned the still seated member of team RWBY, "What do you mean Blake? You saw how angry Naruto looked!"
Arms crossed, Weiss decided to add in her own two cents, "I agree. We shouldn't just let Naruto leave like that."
The silence that ensued following Weiss' statement was near palpable.
Noticing that the group of people had gone completely silent and were all staring at her while Ruby poked her like she was some sort of freak, Weiss swatted Ruby away from her and called out, "What? Why are you all staring at me like that!?"
"Sorry, but we've never heard you call Naruto by his actual name," Ruby sheepishly responded.
The Schnee heiress' brow began to twitch in anger, "I'm not that mean am I!?"
Not wanting to anger the glyph user any more, the others instead opted to turn their attention back to Blake, also choosing to ignore Weiss' indignant cry as no one answered her question.
"What I mean is that, seeing how angry he is, Naruto probably wouldn't like having so many people crowd and interrogate him," Blake continued.
The others remained silent, none having any sort of rebuttal to the distant member of team RWBY. None of them had ever seen Naruto anywhere close to angry and had no idea how he would react to their presence. Weiss was the only one who had seen the blond team leader of NNPR in a mood other than goofy or serious, and that had been a more disappointed Naruto than an angry one.
Finally it was Pyrrha who broke the silence by rising from her seat and beginning to make her way to find Naruto, seeming to ignore Blake's words.
Surprisingly it was Ren who stopped the redhead from continuing her walk, putting his arm out in front of Pyrrha.
"I think we should listen to Blake and leave Naruto be, for now at least."
Pyrrha actually seemed lightly annoyed and it showed in her tone of voice, "I'm sorry but Blake doesn't know Naruto like I do and I think he needs his friends right now."
Lightly shoving her raven haired teammate's arm away from her, Pyrrha made to continue on her way to find her blond friend, but was again interrupted, this time by the ravenette of team RWBY, standing in her way.
"You're right, I don't know Naruto like you do, but I do know that look in his eyes. That wasn't the look of someone who wanted to talk or listen, that was the look of someone who needed to vent their frustrations in a physical manner."
For a moment neither side said anything, both young women staring into the eyes of the other, waiting to see who would concede first. Amber bore into emerald green with a silent and calm intensity, attempting to show its own unwillingness to back down in the contest of wills.
Many would have assumed that Pyrrha's concern for her friend would aid her and fuel her desire to prove Blake wrong, but it was in fact that same concern that caused her to not moments later, sigh and back down from the silent battle.
As much as she proclaimed to know Naruto better than Blake, the red head of team NNPR knew that it wasn't all that true. Sure she knew more of Naruto's past and ambitions than anyone else, as far as she knew, but at the end of the day she was just as clueless as to how Naruto functioned. She knew Naruto as the strong willed and goofy, yet deceivingly strong, warrior. As sad as it was for her to admit, Pyrrha knew only a fraction of Naruto Uzumaki, the person, something that made her all the more saddened.
She of all people knew what it was like when others judged you at face value, never bothering to get to know the person hidden behind the walls and baggage that came with life.
This was something she resolved to fix.
:::
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