Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author Note: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.

(Five years later)

"I barely walked out of the doors of your school and you have already decided what will be my first mission? Y'know I feel so special, President!"

Naruto plastered on a smile as she took a seat right in front of the woman, who had given her the offer of a lifetime. She knew she should be a little bit more respectful to the President of the Public Safety Commission but respect had never been her thing. There was also the fact she had been ready to race out of the school and head straight to Kazue's house.

She should have known better than to believe that the President would allow her to bask in the delight of graduating early. Her senpai warned her about this but like a naïve little girl, Naruto didn't believe the woman would have found a mission for her to do. I thought I could just relax for a day or two before making my debut. Well it was nice for her to have a job.

Even her own agency was being funded by this woman right in front of her.

"This is a very special mission," The President informed her as she slid a thick brown file towards her. Naruto blinked and the smile on her face faded at this new piece of information coming from the woman. If the higher-up say that this was a special mission then it meant she couldn't make things light and easy. "A couple had their 9-month baby taken away from them inside their highly secured house. Nothing of value was taken except for baby."

This sounds like a rescue mission instead of a combat mission. Naruto furrowed her eyebrows together and flipped open the file. It was not like rescue mission weren't nice but the Public Safety Commission chose her because of her combat ability. With an ability like yours, you will be more popular than me and you are more likely to take the number one spot. That was what her senpai told her when the President introduced them to each other.

While her senpai had been heavily trained for spying and rescuing missions, she had been trained in missions that required combat. Spying was also taught to her alongside seduction but she learnt those things in her time in the Academy. They only watch me as I learnt the forbidden jutsu from the forbidden scroll. She sighed and shook her head before skim-reading through the file.

At first glance, the whole thing seemed like the classic burglary case but what stood out to Naruto was the fact that there had been some expensive items left lying around in the living room. Mum and Dad were locked up in the bedroom alongside their 5-year-old son. Quirks had been used to threaten them or so the police statement in the file told her.

What really interested her was why would someone kidnap a 9-month-old baby.

"Are the police certain that this was an attempted burglary case?" Naruto traced the smiling baby before looking back at the blank-faced President. She tilted her head and stroke her chin as her eyes fixated on the middle-aged woman in front of her. "Are you sure that there couldn't be other motives for this case?"

The woman only pressed her lips into a thin line and lifted only one thin eyebrow at her. What? I can't even question things now? The whole thing feels fishy to me. A baby was taken but not the child who already had their Quirk revealed to the world. Anything expensive hadn't been taken away nor did she any real attempt of something being stolen.

From her knowledge of burglary, an expensive watch that could be worth more than any expensive car that the President owned would be more valuable then an adorable baby girl.

"We have our suspicions that there could be more to the case," The President admitted. Naruto nodded and flipped through the various evidence and notes in the file before fixating her eyes on the woman, who leaned her body forward. "But whether or not that this was more then an attempted burglary, you need to find their daughter."

I know. Naruto bit back the words that threatened to come out of her mouth and instead chose to look back at the file. Details of the incident were written but anything about the parents past was hidden from her. That made things really difficult for her. If this was a normal case where it was just an ordinary break-in then it wouldn't be such a big deal for her.

But there was a missing baby and the 17-year-old knew that the more time passed, the harder and less likely that the baby was alive.

"Do you have any background on the parents?" She flipped through the file as the President kept her eyes locked onto her. Maybe one of the parents had a gambling problem? A frown played on her lips. From her own time in wandering through the streets of Konoha, Naruto knew that certain unsavory figures would take away a child as a way to get the parent to pay back the money owed.

The President thinned her lips. "The mother of the baby is also the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking government official."

The frown on her lips deepened and Naruto squinted her eyes to read the mother's maiden name. Watanabe. That did not sound familiar to her at all but then again she never bothered to learn the names of officials. Why would she? They bored her to death and she was always forced to learn how to control her tongue even if one of them got grabby with her.

"No ransom so far, right?" Naruto questioned. The President bobbed her head and the whiskered teen curled her lips into a very thin line as she processed the information that had been given to her. No ransom was a rather odd thing. Why would someone steal a baby and not ask for ransom? Something just did not make much sense if you asked her.

The fact they gave her such an interesting mission as her debut also didn't make much sense to her. I might have tried hard during my time with them but the fact that the grandfather is a high-ranking guy means I can't fuck up. The whole intelligence thing was more of her senpai specialty then her. The only reason she passed was because she wanted to be a hero before Mirio and Tamaki.

"Why are you giving me such an important case to me?" The President raised her eyebrow and the 17-year-old furrowed her eyebrows together as her finger traced the photo of the smiling baby. "Keigo-senpai is way better suited for this kind of mission."

The middle-aged woman thinned her lips at the mention of Keigo. Her turquoise eyes did not look one bit happy at the fact that she mentioned the actual name of her senpai and Naruto dug her nails against the palm of her hand. This was what they signed up for. A world where their names would be erased from the system and where no one would ever know their name. This was the life she chose for herself.

"Remember the rules that we put in place, you—"

"—I know the rules," Naruto declared with a fake cheer to her tone. She plastered on a smile as her eyes darted to the window, where she could see the beaming faces of the civilians, before looking back at the woman. "The moment I stepped into your special school, my name is no longer Uzumaki Naruto. You and my fellow heroes will only know me by the hero name that you chose for me. But Keigo and me? We are still human."

We aren't tools for you to use and discard. She exhaled and looked down at the file in her hands before looking back at the grim-faced woman in front of her. The impulsive part of her wanted to scream it at her but Naruto knew better than to do this. Her career rested in this woman's hands and until she had the support of the public, she would have to play by her rules.

"I'm giving you this as your debut mission because it will look impressive for the public and will help you make a name for yourself," The President informed her. Naruto nodded and tucked the file underneath her arm as the blond-haired woman fixated on her. "If you can solve this case and bring that baby back to her parents then this will help kick-jump your career. You are the one that will take over if All Might retires."

Naruto only allowed a smile to play on her lips as the President locked her eyes on her. A good replacement for All Might for when he retires.

They didn't even know if the man would retire but the commission believed that it would be soon. The fact that the man decided to be a teacher in Yuuei High didn't help lessen their belief that it would be time for All Might to hand the title to someone else.

They wanted her to take over but the whiskered teen had no plans of becoming the same type of Hero as All Might.

I haven't seen Kazue-ojisan since the Public Safety Commission picked me up from here.

Naruto shifted left and right as her blue eyes flickered from the door to her luggage. Before she officially left for the private academy, Kazue informed her that she always had a home with him and Mirio. That she could come back at any time but that was around five years ago. Things were different now. Maybe the man thought differently after not seeing her in five years.

She exhaled and steadied her trembling arms. I will just ask him to let me stay with him until I have enough money to get my own place. The Commission told her that it would look very weird if she had been given money without making her debut. They told her that she could always ask Keigo for a place to stay but the whiskered teen knew that it would bring questions.

Her senpai had already risen through the ranks quite quickly during the years that he graduated.

Taking another deep breath, Naruto plastered on a confident smile and pressed the doorbell right beside her. If I do enough jobs then I will definitely become a hero that is loved by the public. She had the meeting with the police tomorrow to make sure that would happen. All they had to do was redo the questioning of the parents and then she would know where to begin.

If she managed to locate the baby then her hero name would be splashed through the papers and then more jobs could be coming her way. Finding that baby is almost like a test. It was just like the test from the Academy except this time around, she was not going to mess it time she would direct all of her energy to locate the child.

The door clicked open and Naruto straightened her back as the door slowly opened. It was actually happening. She was actually going to meet the man who took her in when he didn't have to take her in. Was it supposed to be this nerve-wrecking? She hadn't felt her heart raced like this until the day the Public Safety Commission gave her, her hero liscense.

"Who is…Naruto!"

The whiskered teen squeaked and blinked as Kazue swoop her in for a hug. Of all the reactions she expected to get from him, the last thing she expected was the man hugging her so tightly that her lungs burned from the lack of air. She expected him not to recognize her since it had been five years since she left his household to become a hero.

"Kazue-ojisan, I miss you too but I need to breath!" Naruto wheezed. She clutched her chest and took in several deep breaths as the black-haired man offered her an apologetic look. This only made the whiskered teen beamed at the man. It was not like she didn't enjoy getting hugged by the man but it was the first time that someone would hug her like this.

She thought with the limited time that they spent together that the man would simply treat her like another person in the street. But that wide smile on his lips alongside the sigh of relief from his throat told her that Kazue had been worried about her during the five years that she was gone. I wish I contacted him more. But training had been pain in the neck and the limited free time that she did have, were spent on her bed.

"I'm guessing that you did what you promised to Mirio and Tamaki and graduated early?" Kazue asked. The whiskered teen bobbed her head and blinked when the man proceeded to drag her inside of his house. It still feels slightly strange. Even though she knew he missed her, she still wasn't used to the knowledge that an adult could care about her.

The people in the Public Safety Commission cared about her but not like Kazue. Like Keigo-senpai would tell me, the moment they see no use for either of us then they would throw us under the bus. She didn't like the idea but she would figure out what to do for when that day came. Maybe she would open a ramen stand or try to pursue a degree in psychology.

She did have the best scores when it came to that subject after all.

"When I make a promise then you can bet your ass that I will work hard to accomplish that promise," Naruto replied, throwing a smile at the black-haired man as they stood in the living room. The middle-aged man laughed while the whiskered teen made her way to the fireplace mantel. There were so many pictures but the ones that stood out to her were the graduation photo of Tamaki and Mirio.

Naruto smiled at the wide-smile on Mirio's face and laughed slightly at the nervous eyes of Tamaki. Is he still jittery? She hoped the older boy still had the habit of getting nervous. It was probably one of the most adorable traits that the boy had if you asked her but things could change. She changed slightly and maybe the same could be said about the two boys.

Her blue eyes fixated on the nervous smile on Tamaki's face and Naruto quirked her lips into a smile. You will be an amazing hero. It might have been five years but those words gave her a lot of courage and hope whenever things got difficult for her during the time that the Public Safety Commission trained her.

The boy didn't know it but he reminded her that even though she failed at becoming a kunoichi, she couldn't fail in becoming a hero.

"They missed you a lot," Kazue commented from behind her. Naruto twisted her head around and raised a single eyebrow at the knowing smile that played on the man's lips. "Even though you called them whenever you could, they still wanted to see you. Tamaki especially worried about whether or not you were doing fine."

The blonde raised a single eyebrow at the way the man stressed her friend's name. Why does he act like it is a big deal? Tamaki always worries about me and Mirio. It doesn't mean anything. That was a fact but her heart did skip a little at the knowledge that the older boy was constantly worried about her. But then again, this was also pretty normal too.

Just because she liked the fact Tamaki worried about her, didn't mean anything.

"I keep telling them that I was fine," Naruto retorted. Kazue hummed and bobbed his head but that sharp glint in his eyes told her that he wasn't totally fooled by her words. I'm fine. Nothing in the way she trained had been harsh when she thought about it. The Public Safety Commission didn't try to make her hide her emotions and she made friends during her time there. "I don't know why Tamaki didn't believe me."

Kazue eyed her. "Tamaki has always been perceptive when it comes to you, which is something that Mirio fails to do."

"You know he also overthink things and Mirio is just excited that I might become a hero before he could even graduate from high school," she pointed out with puffed cheeks. Tamaki tends to let things get into his head and that makes him get flustered. She poked her tongue against her cheek and looked to the photo of Mirio and Tamaki during their Sports Festival.

Every time she would think that Tamaki would be that close to winning the Sports Festival and then she would see him getting defeated near the quarter-finals or the finals. I know Mirio and him can do something amazing. They were great people with amazing Quirks but something always seemed to be holding them back.

Kazue hummed and tilted his head. "Now that you have graduated, what are your plans? Have you been working with anyone while you were studying to be a hero?"

"I worked with Hawks for a bit," Naruto admitted. Blue eyes widened at her admission and the whiskered teen quirked her lips into a smile as she recalled the various things that her senior would make her do. God, I didn't know whether I was being his sidekick or if he was using me as an excuse to get coffee breaks. "But I'm going to open up my own agency and I already have got a mission to do."

"That quickly?" Kazue asked, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. The whiskered teen bobbed her head and offered him a smile. It was probably rare for someone without much money and not being a well-known sidekick to jump start their career but the Public Safety Commission made things easier for her.

There was no need for her to save up money to open up an agency when they provided the funds that she needed. She was her own boss up to a point but that was better than nothing when Naruto thought about it. There were missions that they would give her and then there were so many missions that she could pick for herself.

It was not like she lacked complete control over her actions and they couldn't always control her.

"Yup," Naruto finally replied as she took a seat on the couch. She clasped her hands together and focused her eyes on the ceiling as Kazue continued to regard her with concern eyes. I will need to look over the files again and see what the Police missed. If she used her clones then it would be done in a matter of minutes. "But the downside is that even though I have my building ready, I need to do recruiting as well as find a place to live so…"

"You know I always told you that you have a home here," Kazue reminded her. Naruto smiled slightly as the black-haired man placed both of his hands on his knees and locked eyes with her. "I haven't changed my mind about that even if you rarely contacted me doing the time that you were there."

The whiskered teen felt her lower lip wobbled as those blue eyes continued to offer her a reassuring look. I hoped to hear those words but it feels different to actually hear them again. People weren't always nice and there were always going to be terrible people out there, but Kazue reminded her again and again that there were decent people out there.

"So where is Mirio?" Naruto asked. Tamaki was on the tip of her tongue too but the whiskered teen knew if she asked about the boy again then Kazue would tease her about it. This was not an exaggeration because that twinkle in his eyes suggested that the man knew who was the other boy in her mind. There was nothing special about the bond between her and Tamaki.

They were friends just like how she was friends with Mirio.

"Unlike you, Mirio and Tamaki are still in school and today is their first day of school," Kazue reminded her. Naruto only offered a shrug as she picked up the apple in the bowl. School? Yeah, she should have realized that school started again today. The only good thing about graduating early was the fact she didn't have to deal with the horror called school.

Well school hadn't been too bad when she thought about it. No one taunted her about not being able to read properly and the people of the Public Safety Commission helped her overcome the reading difficulty that the teachers in the Academy never bothered to correct. The only pain in the neck was that they always made the question way too difficult. Her brain always became dead with their questions.

"It's their final year, right?"

Kazue bobbed his head. "Yeah, time flies doesn't it? Just a few years ago, they found you in the alley and now here the three of you are. You are going to be having your debut and the boys are in their final year of high school."

The blonde smiled and chewed on her apple as the man continued to talk about how much time passed. Five whole years passed but it hadn't been that quick for her. It had been agonizing for her. Every day she would count down the days for when she could escape from there and be with her friends again. It might have been her choice and she didn't regret it, but…she wanted to see her friends every once in a while.

Well she couldn't whine over spill milk now and she could always see them after they were done with school.

"So has Naruto contacted you?"

Tamaki jerked his head away from the ground and swirled his head at Mirio. The school day was over and since neither him, Mirio or even Nejire had any work to do, the three of them decided to go over to Mirio's favorite ramen stand to celebrate the start of their final year. The three of them were supposed to talk about how weird it was for them to be in different classes, not whether or not Naruto contacted him.

He didn't want to think of how strange it was for the blonde not to call him. Most of the time, the whiskered teen would talk to him for at least ten minutes before telling him that she had homework to do. Video calls weren't allowed which was really terrible. He could only picture how the blonde looked like now that she was seventeen.

Even though they talked in the phone, it still wasn't the same of actually talking her face-to-face.

"N-No." He finally replied. Mirio blinked but did not look very surprised to know that Naruto hadn't contacted him, only offering him a smile and patting him in the back. If his best-friend was trying to reassure him then he didn't need to do it. They knew if the blonde couldn't contact either of them then it meant she was busy with that school of hers.

She promised to graduate early. Tamaki pressed his lips into a thin line and fiddled with the straps of his bag pack. If it had been anyone else, he would have doubts about their capabilities but Naruto was fully confident that she could do it. It was hard for him to have doubts when the girl smiled so brightly and looked like she had full belief that she could do it.

One of these days, he wouldn't be surprised if the girl fainted from working herself to the ground. She always takes things too far. He liked Naruto worked hard but he did wish the blonde would slow down once in a while.

"I keep hearing about her but who is Naruto?" Nejire asked. Tamaki blinked and twisted his head around to look at his smiling classmate, whose eyes gleamed with an intense, burning curiosity. If he had to guess from the bounce in her steps, the girl was going to question them until she got an answer. "Is she the girl that Tamaki whispers whenever he falls asleep in class? Because he calls out her name a lot!"

Tamaki felt his cheeks burned as Mirio gave him with a knowing look. I-I didn't call her name a lot or anything. But that gleam in his friend's eyes told him that nothing he would say would stop his friend from jumping whatever silly conclusion that he had. It was normal for someone to call out a friend's name whenever they had a silly dream.

"You have it bad for Naruto," Mirio sang. Nejire giggled while the indigo-haired boy felt his cheeks burned. He tried to find the words to defend himself but the words were stuck inside of his mouth, not ready for him to spill. Actually he wanted to squirm because talking about his feelings in front of a girl made his heart raced against his chest. "You should have seen him whenever Naruto is near him. He gets even more jittery."

The periwrinkle-haired girl giggled while Tamaki threw a feeble glare at his friend. It was hard for him not to have his palms moistening or to have his heart raced against his chest. Whenever the blond-haired girl smiled, it felt like there was a whole beam of sunlight being directed at him. Her blue eyes would sparkle too and then it made his stomach flip.

Nejire leaned forward and the boy flickered his eyes to the bushes. Could he just hide? How did they go from talking about whether or not Naruto contacted him to about his feelings towards the blonde? They should just change the subject to something more interesting like whether or not they were going to pass their exams this year.

Were they even going to get jobs? Fatgum seemed to like him but the man enjoyed torturing him, always making some comment about him having a girlfriend. The man also seemed to have gotten into his head that he might be in love. I don't know where he got the idea. Tamaki fiddled with his hands and cleared his throat.

"I-I don't have it bad for Naruto," Tamaki lowered his head and exhaled as his heart raced against his chest. Bright blue eyes flashed before him alongside the warm smile of the whiskered girl. You guys have amazing Quirks. Her cheerful words echoed in his ears and the boy exhaled again. "And we are o-only friends."

"A friend that you have a big crush on," Nejire sang with a huge smile playing on her lips. Mirio vigorously nodded his head in agreement while Tamaki felt his heart pounded against his chest. A crush was not what he felt for Naruto. He liked her as a friend and maybe he might have tried to wiggle the address of where Naruto's school was from Kazue, but Mirio did the same thing.

He didn't understand why he had to be the one to get ganged up on.

"And you work yourself to the ground because of Naruto," Mirio pointed out with a sly smile. Tamaki felt his throat dried up at the reminder while Nejire clapped her hands together at this piece of information. I didn't work so hard only because of Naruto. She had been one of his motivations but that didn't mean anything if you asked him.

He paused and looked up at the bright blue sky before flickering his eyes to the three students walking ahead of him. If Naruto was here, I bet she would be singing about how that boy is developing a crush on that girl. With the way that green-haired boy flushed a deep shade of red as that brown-haired girl smiled at him, he could practically see Naruto laughing over their interactions.

"If w-we are going to be heroes then we need to work hard," Tamaki finally said.

"Really now?" Mirio raised a single eyebrow at him and bounced in his feet as his blue eyes flickered around them like he was trying to find someone. Everyone was here so Tamaki didn't know who on Earth was Mirio searching for, nor did he care. The boy smiled wider. "You basically made it your mission to help her once we graduate."

Tamaki stopped in his steps and looked down at the ground, trying his hardest not to blush even more at those words. Yeah, he wanted to help her but only because he could already hear how tired the blonde was. She sounds exhausted whenever we talk. The blonde would try to be upbeat but he could sense that something changed in Naruto.

He didn't like the change but if they did well enough then maybe he could lessen the burden on her.

"So how long has Tamaki have been in love with her?" Nejire asked. Tamaki felt his throat dried up while Mirio hummed and rubbed his chin like he was actually trying to pinpoint his feelings. We might have talked over the phone but it has been years since we actually saw her. It was hard for either of them to declare that he was in love with her.

His friend finally snapped his finger. "It was love at first sight for Tamaki!"

Tamaki spluttered while Nejire giggled. Love at first sight? Now his best friend was trying to make up a love story that wasn't there. Just because I called her an angel when we first saw her, doesn't mean anything. The blonde appeared out of nowhere when they saw her in that alley but her hair had been so golden that he thought she came from the sky above.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that our dear Tamaki was growing up?" A voice called out from above them.

The indigo-haired boy froze at the husky voice that he had only heard in the phone and time seemed to slow down as he looked up at the trees. His heart jumped and flipped at the sight above him. Five years. It had been a whole five years since they last saw each other. He constantly fretted over whether or not the girl would eat properly. The blonde declared she would graduate early and she…did it.

Bright blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and Tamaki only had one thought running through his head.

She still looks pretty.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter.