Chapter 8:

Both boys charged into the area. They were the youngest here and there were some that did not agree that they should even be there. However, that part did not matter to this small gang of thugs. The boys were challenged with their separate powers and were forced to cooperate in an impromptu cage match against the Explosion Gang known as the Bombers! The two youngest vs the older more experienced menaces.

Really it was kind of unfair…for the Explosion Gang!

They just did not know it.

"MOVE!"

The shout came from Tatewaki as he pulled Naruto away just as a couple of mad thugs jumped and tried to explode them Saibamen style! That was their best move after all. Thankfully the boys were smarter than that and got away in time.

Rumi as Tigerbunny was a ruthless host, but even she was sweating at all the heat she sent her student and his friend.

Naruto dodged another explosion as he kicked Tatewaki away and regrouped.

"It is only a matter of time brats! Those who come in the ring with us, end up dead!" The leader roared in a burst of mad laughter.

Thankfully, neither boy was completely off guard here. They had been observing the many fights and fighters themselves. The Bombers were strong as a group, but not the strongest here. That title belonged to the mad fighter called The Rapper. Someone who openly admitted he wanted to fight Naruto for whatever reason. Then there was the Rubber Man, a guy in a hoodie with a shadowed face, and then some others.

However, Naruto had the perfect idea of how to beat these idiot bombers in one go. Turning to Tatewaki, he said, "They still haven't noticed the effect of your quirk."

"Huh, I barely notice it myself. So, you want to throw me in the middle?" Tatewaki replied as he observed the bomber regrouping in the middle of the arena.

"Yes, actually."

"Bring it on!" Tatewaki replied excitedly before catching the group off guard by jumping in the middle of them and kicking them all away. It was only then that the group of mad bombers began to see that things were far slower around the white-haired boy.

But by then, it was already too late. Naruto's speed, which had been working on regaining, was more than enough to out-speed them all. He was so glad Kakashi had shown him the basics of his signature attack. It was not full-on teaching, which tracked for the man, but it had been something. "Chidori Star Burst!" The young man exclaimed over the many chirping birds that overtook the sound in the stadium. This attack chirped like its namesake as Naruto poked at each Bomber's pressure points with a supercharged taser finger, forcing it to create an effect similar to Sasuke's old Chidori Senbon technique. Only, the effect was a little more brutal as they also acted like lightning rods and kept a chain of lightning around them, keeping the Bombers down.

With a snap of his fingers, the effect stopped, but the men did not get back up. They were all knocked out. However, the entire room was silent as all the fighters stared in shock at the teen and kid. It was pretty intimidating seeing them in the star pattern of the knocked-out Bombers.

With a whistle, Tatewaki said, "That was intense. Remind me never to get on your bad side." And the effects of them being intimidating were immediately gone.

"You never are. Now let's go get something to eat since our fights are done for today." Naruto laughed in reply to a mostly silent arena…well other than Tigerbunny laughing and the groaning from the cooked men. The other fighters were finally starting to understand that the kid was a force to be reckoned with.

As the two walked away from the arena, two of the very people Naruto had observed had watched the whole thing. The big-lipped thug turned to his partner in crime, a man in a hoodie. As lame as it was, no one could see the man's face anyway thanks to his quirk giving him a shadowy appearance. "So…what do you think?" Lips asked.

"I think…I do not care. All for One promised me fights that could kill me. If he wants the kids and anyone else with a strong quirk, then so be it. I will have my ultimate fight." The man with the hoodie grumbled before walking away. Lips just shook his head before paying more attention to the next fight.

XXX

Principal Nezu sat comfortably in his desk chair. It was one of the perks of being head of such a prestigious academy such as UA, the best Hero School in Japan. Another of the perks was the vast wealth he acquired that let him set up this school to be so advanced. Such as the security system that let him monitor how his school was going at any given moment. Sure, he knew he was paranoid, but as the smartest animal alive that had been horribly experimented on, he had a right to be.

Experiments he knew that the HPSC had also performed on their flyboy hero Hawks. While he didn't trust the flying hero as any grounded animal had a right to, he could understand Hawk's plight. In that regard, he had flexed his hacking skills and downloaded all that the Commission had on not only him but Hawks and Lady Nagant as well. As well as the programs they had been inducted into. Of course, he would never just give it to them out of the blue, they would have to ask for this type of blackmail on the Commission. He knew that they knew he had it too. Various ways to take down the corrupt organization, but they had to ask.

And it was through his well-polished hacking skills that he managed to hack into the live feed of Melissa Shield chatting with Mei Hatsume and Denki Kaminari in All Might's hero agency. How could he not monitor the amazing progress of these two girls who could potentially be part of his school in the future? He always had done this type of recruitment. Observe, give concealed opportunities, and point them all in the direction of his amazing cool. This type of campaign might be morally questionable, but who really cared about that? He was having fun finding recruits.

The most fun he has had in years was observing the situation with the world hopper known as Naruto Uzumaki. He too had seen the bizarre display of entry into this world and it further intrigued him the more he watched, making him a true and firm believer in the multiverse theory. The boy was clever, but he also knew to seek advice from those smarter than him. A trait usually found in those much older than 9 years old. And the way the boy moved and fought was much like his well-molded heroes that had graduated from his school.

With this knowledge, because it was indeed power, he observed the boy and his growing circle of friends to be potential high-quality candidates for his school. It was marvelous! And the best way for potential candidates to grow is through experience. His school only accepted the best and having the experience like training your body and quirk before the school did it for you, being an actual notable vigilante regardless of the pointless rules against them, or what Mei was doing, creating advances in technology with her resources, knowledge, and quirk.

Now he just wanted to see how her latest experiment was going.

"Ok!" Mei said after injecting her specially designed nanites into Denki's bloodstream…in the relative safety of All Might and Sir Nighteye's laboratory and under the supervision of both David and Melissa Shield. She had gotten better with not exploding things, so that was progress! Still, nobody wanted Denki to spontaneously combust, that would be bad. he had enough problems with his brain short-circuiting half the time. "The nanites should be working to help calm your quirk down. Now you will be able to focus on…everything. Much like Izuku if you tried."

"Seems like a lot of work." Denki joked, but those were often lost on the inventor girl. "But you are right, this helps a lot. So what is next?"

"Next, I upgrade them, little by little. Naruto gave me an ingenious idea of something called a Lightning Shield. Given that your quirk will start producing extra bioelectricity to compensate for the nanites messing with it, I thought why not create a way to control them both inside and outside your body? This way, it can create electric shields for you. You did say you wanted to be a hero like your mom, so working for a way to beef up your defense will work wonders." Mei explained with growing manic excitement.

"So I will be pretty safe helping people…awesome!" Denki replied excitedly before a sheepish expression crossed his face. "Mom does get hurt a lot, even with her awesome quirk being her weapon. So, the defense does work, but do you think I should have a way to control it into attacks…like long-range? Because you know, I know my mom is a looker and I would love to not mess that up for myself."

Mei actually snorted at that and did not care it was unladylike…but the ideas were appearing in her brain like a lightning storm! Fitting. "Sure sure. I will help create awesome lightning projectile babies. Your future villains will be cowering under the storm of your pretty boy powers!"

"I can't tell what part of that is a joke." Denki replied cautiously as he backed up a bit from Mei's manic energy.

"Hmm," Mei replied contemplatively. "But the first thing I need to do is upgrade the nanites to help you interact socially as well as intellectually."

Did…did Mei just burn him?

Seeing all this from the monitor, Melissa smiled at her future business partner's ingenuity. Denki's future upgrades will help him be a sword and shield. But with more of her friends going to the Hero Course over the Support Course for UA, it made Melissa worry for the pink-haired girl. Worried that she would be alone in the Support Course.

"Mei, can I ask you something? Melissa asked.

"You just did Future Partner, but go ahead!" Mei exclaimed, prompting Denki and Melissa to give her a deadpan stare for the bad joke.

"Given that Izuku's quirk came in and will definitely be going to the Hero Course now, that will leave you by yourself in the Support Course and you know I am a few years older than you and will most likely stay here at I Island with my father." Melissa started but started to ramble a bit. "The point is, I think you should join the Hero Course as well since Izuku and Momo be there."

Mei gave a sort of wobbly smile that made Melissa and Denki worried for her. "Thanks for the support, but my quirk, Zoom, is really not meant for hero work. I doubt I would be as useful as Izuku's favorite underground hero, Eraserhead."

"Are you sure about that?" Melissa replied coyly. "Mei, you are brilliant and I feel that the world should know that! Know why I, a quirkless genius, partnered with you in the first place!"

"Hmm, that could work." Mei replied as she thought of some ideas on the fly, "But you really think I would make a good hero? I know I can be a bit much. Also, I would need a separate workshop for my own stuff at UA."

"That enthusiasm is what the world needs, Mei." Melissa started. "You good be a great hero much like a pre-quirk comic book hero in Ironman. He showed off his gadgets to his world and I know you can do the same. Zoom is not all you have, you have your brain to create tons of items for you that you can show off to the world and work well with your quirk. Now, we would just need to convince Principal Nezu of this unique opportunity. Wait…why do I hear boss music?"

Suddenly the screen split with Melissa on one side and Nezu himself on the other. He was also chuckling madly to himself as he showed up. "That's right! It's me, Nezu, the one who could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but more importantly…I'm the principal!" He paused to gauge their reactions. Mei and Melissa just looked both unnerved and bemused at his sudden intrusion and Denki looked very pale, muttering something about a hacker and Eldritch God. It just made him laugh all the more, freaking out the poor boy. "You have already convinced me. Something out of the box as this is definitely something I want in my school!"

"Are you serious?!"

"You still have to pass my entrance exam but yes, I will fully accommodate either the class you end up in with a side studio just for you. Consider yourself an experiment as a Class Support Specialist as well as a Hero. Imagine being the pioneer of such a program!" Nezu further elaborated, but he knew where he'd put the girl. Right along with her tight-knit group of friends, he would just have to find the perfect teacher to handle all that energy. He was sure he could convince Eraserhead to finally join his staff, with help from Present Mic and Midnight of course. Humans were rather stubborn and Eraserhead was one of the most stubborn he has had to deal with. He would crack the man, he always did.

"I won't let either of you down, sir!" Mei exclaimed excitedly before taking a notebook out of nowhere, something she learned how to do from Izuku, and started writing down her ideas before she forgot them. These next few years would be very busy! She was just thankful that Sir Nighteye funded her insane ideas most of the time.

Nezu just chuckled as he left the screen. Denki looked between the two girls and said, "Seeing as you are not bothered by the sudden appearance of Nezu of all people, can I ask if this is something regular around here?"

"Yes." Both girls replied without a care in the world.

"Yeah, I am done with super smart people for today." Denki deadpanned. "Thanks for the nanites Mei, but I a going to go hang out to Kyoka now."

"You know she is just going to relentlessly tease you about this when she finds out, right?" Melissa asked with a sardonic smirk while Mei just plain ignored the both of them for her notebook. Denki whined to himself as he left the building.

XXX

"You have some interesting friends outside our little group. It is refreshing in a way." Momo said with a bit of mirth. Naruto and her were at a hospital in Naruhata, watching as the red-haired Soga attended to a girl in a bed. She was weary of the older teen because of his looks, but Naruto reassured her that he was actually a good guy. A street tough looking to be a better person and not give in to the comments about his scary looks. It would also seem that one of Naruto's teachers was giving the boy a chance, which was more than most. As for why Momo was here, she was originally going to just hang out with Naruto today until he got a call about some older friend finally out of a coma. Her coming just added to her experience.

"Hard not to like the kid," Soga commented a bit harshly but tried to dial it back a bit more. "Kid even kicked my ass. You got a good friend in him, girl."

"I would hope so. He is also teaching me how to fight." Momo replied.

"Oh, you poor soul, that must be intense." Soga replied, not sure how to take that. The kid was a nightmare to fight, but if he was teaching others how to fight…he didn't want to think about it. And he didn't have to because suddenly the girl, whom he was tasked to watch over until Iwao got back, her hand slipped off the bed and her grunt in exertion. It seemed she finally fully woke up. With an annoyed grunt of his own, Soga helped put her arm back on the bed and he was surprisingly gentle about it.

Still did not stop her from looking at him with a startled expression. "You're scary looking." She commented before wincing in pain a bit. The after-effects of having a bloated insect in you and then having it ripped out forcefully. After effect was that the queen bee had also acted as a leech, so she was not in a good way...she had been in a coma for a while but she would live though. "Can't…move my hand. Head hurts. Where's…my dad?"

"He'll be here soon," Naruto said, popping up next to Soga, making him jump a bit, getting a chuckle out of Naruto. "Tamao, right?"

"Who are you two?" Tamao asked, having not even noticed Momo yet.

"I work for your pops, do odd jobs here and there. Most of it was looking for you." Soga volunteered, much to her surprise.

"And your dad is my teacher for fighting and a few other things." Naruto replied.

Tamao stared long and hard at the two before blinking. "Oh, you poor souls."

That seemed to get a snicker out of both Momo and Naruto, finding it funny that Soga said that too not so long ago. While Momo stepped forward to introduce herself and chat a bit, Naruto's mind went to the mark on his palm. The Sun Symbol that the Sage gave him was still there…but so was the random moon symbol on his other hand. Still, the Sun had been silent since the end of the war, and now it was whispering information to him. He could help Tamao a bit like he had with Might Guy and Kakashi. "Tamao, I have a special ability…if you would allow it, I can give some of your mobility back."

"Your Quirk could do that too?" Soga asked, a bit unsure. This kid…his abilities were out there.

Naruto just gave him a noncommittal shrug and a small smile.

"If it can get me out of this bed sooner, then go for it kid." Tamao replied tiredly. She hated feeling this drained. Naruto nodded and put a small hand on her forehead, both Momo and Soga looking on in interest. Even Iwao, who had just arrived and heard what was said, watched with the most interest. It did involve his daughter after all.

For a moment, nothing happened, nothing at all. And as the seconds ticked by, they wondered if the power was even working. Before someone could say anything, Tamao gasped. It was a good gasp because she felt just a bit more invigorated. She did not' feel as atrophied anymore and could move her arms, her head did not hurt as much, and…felt something regrow? Touching her bandaged eye, she felt that it was there now and wanted to cry.

"Well, kid, you are a miracle worker in the field and here," Iwao said, making his presence known with a light smile at seeing his daughter ok. "Glad to see you awake and a bit more refreshed, Tamao."

"Hey…dad." Tamao mumbled a bit uncomfortably. They had not left each other on good terms and she had to admit it was a bit of both of their faults…instead of her just blaming everything on him like she used to.

"'Preciate ya, Soga. I will call ya when I need ya next." Iwao said, dismissing Soga who stretched and got up.

"I figured as much, Grandpa Fist," Soga replied as he stalked out of the room. "Being seeing you as well Naruto….Naruto's friend. Tamao."

"We better be going as well," Naruto replied a smile at the father-daughter duo. "I promised I'd take Momo anywhere she wanted."

"OOH! Can we go to a Karaoke Bar?! Can we bring Kyoka and Denki along?"

"Sure sure." Naruto replied, happy to see her excited.

Iwao actually chuckled to himself as the two bid their farewells and left the building, eagerly chatting. That kid was sure something…but so was his daughter for surviving as long as she did as the Queen Bee's host. "Hey…how are you feeling? I know Naruto gave you some energy, the stuff they are giving you should be the good stuff...you know, since you should not be in pain. Want something to eat?"

Tamao smiled a bit at that. She was not at 100 percent yet, but that blond kid gave her more energy than what she woke up with. "My head still kinda hurts…mostly from the flashes of what that bug did with my body."

"Hopefully, those should go away soon. Get some more sleep, okay? Time's the best medicine, they say." Iwao replied as he helped to make her more comfortable.

It was weird seeing her dad so attentive. Sure, they didn't see eye to eye much before, but this way a bit much. A thought occurred to her as memories began to flood back in. "Where's mom?" Mom had been sick before the Bee, right? It did not help that her dad had a hard but also sad look in his eyes before it went away.

"You just missed her, actually. Can't see her at the moment." Iwao volunteered, but they could both hear a bit of hurt in his voice. Tamao was not sure she wanted to know right now. "But she was so glad to hear you'd come back to us. I'm am really glad the kid pulled that bug out of you."

"So I can't see her now?" Tamao asked with a small voice.

"Not now, no," Iwao replied with a soft smile, urging her to just rest for now. "But it'll be okay, Tamao. No need to worry. I'm here."

XXX

"Naruto is that green-haired kid the same one from the festival." Koichi asked as he sat in a park with Kazuho, Naruto, and Izuku. Since Himiko knew about his vigilante side and he had just introduced Momo to some of his older friends, he thought the next one should be Izuku.

There was also the plan of helping Izuku further build his quirk analysis skill and what better way to help is to introduce him to Koichi's mobility quirk since Iwao mentioned he was going to China really soon to track down the drug ring around Trigger. After Tamao was able to walk again at least. She would have a great support group while he was gone.

"Hey there, you are one of Naruto's older friends, right? I am Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku introduced himself excitedly.

"Heh, you are pretty peppy there aren't you Izuku? The perks of a lightning-based quirk if I remember. Call me Koichi. There here is Kazuho!"

At the sight of Kazuho, Izuku gained an excited starstruck look. "Oh wow! You really do look different than your Pop Step self. Great cover, most won't see the resemblance."

Kazuho stared at Izuku for a moment before handing Naruto a five. "You were right, the kid is smart enough to see the difference. Good eye, kid."

Izuku just beamed before asking for an autograph, much to the delight of both of them. When that was done, Izuku took another look at Koichi before deadpanning. "You don't even hide yourself that much as the Crawler."

"I do need to work on that…wait, you said my name right!?" Koichi replied, shocked.

"Well, that is your name," Izuku replied with a shrug. "Though I think people misname you because you are not an official hero yet, so they downplay you and subconsciously choose not to call you by your real hero name."

"Huh, I hadn't thought of that."

"HA! Of course, you would not, but they sure remember an entertainer!" Kazuho replied cheekily.

"Entertainment she says," Koichi replied with a bit of snark of his own with a good-natured smile, something Kazuho matched.

While they were having a moment, Izuku turned back to Naruto with a look of understanding. "So, this is what you do when you are not with us. Gain real-life hero experience as Akatsuki?! Brilliant! Out of all of us, you are the most capable. We are getting there though."

"I agree. We are going all be monster teammates when we get into UA, especially if we all get into the same class and that includes Mei." Naruto replied.

"It is exciting that Melissa convinced Mei to go for the hero track. Oh, I fear for her villains." Izuku said excitedly before paling a bit. "I fear for us too."

"Heh, I wouldn't worry too much, but let's get back to why you are here," Naruto stated. "With our mentor stepping back to take care of his daughter…and probably going overseas to take care of a few loose ends, I was hoping to use this opportunity to expand your quirk analysis abilities for Mobility Quirks and help Koichi out a bit."

Static sparked around Izuku, catching the attention of Koichi and Kazuho. At his wired look, they looked a bit nervous, but Naruto had a sardonic smirk on his face, having seen Izuku like that before. "From the various videos I have seen of your exploits and with a new understanding of Quirks from Mirai, I can safely say that in some ways, you are holding yourself back. I now understand why Naruto took us to this park specifically."

"I was wondering that. I thought this was a kid's park at first." Kazuho said, looking around. There were not just kids here but adults and teens here too. They all had one thing in common. They were all using their quirks out in the open.

"This is a Quirk Park," Naruto explained. "Apparently, All Might proposed an idea a while back to help bring people together. A park especially designed for people to let go, relax, and use their quirks freely. Of course, while the Commission hated it, the Government loved the idea. In the end, it was released quietly since the Commission really did not like the idea."

"I…did not know that at all. Weird how this was suppressed." Koichi commented.

"It was about Quirk Control." Izuku offered, having researched this a bit in the past. "The funny thing about All Might's idea though was that he got it from seeing two parks in America. A skate park and a dog park." Izuku paused for e moment before his smile returned and it grew larger as more static raced across his body. "Now, I want to see all you can do up close and personal. I want to see what I am working with!"

"Kid…I don't know who is scarier. Your manic obsession with quirks or Naruto's scary strong fighting ability." Kiochi commented before he was shooed along by both boys to use his quirk while Kazuho laughed in the background. "But Captain Celebrity did give me grief about calling him and the other Pros too much when there is a villain I cannot handle. So, this could be good in a way to better self-defense and maybe even some attacking moves."

XXX

When seasons change, the means the rest of the world has to accommodate. Even Hero Society because in this case, so do villains. The Garaki Brothers had fun altering victims of their special Trigger formula. Most notably the Eel Boy they had their Queen Bee kidnap, his body was more monstrous now and would most likely be treated like most people with mutant-based quirks. Another was done secretly a while back on a person with a mantis-type quirk. That one would have a hard time reintegrating into society since he was not a kid and a bit of an idiot like his brothers...even if they provided some black market material.

All this fueled Kyudai's future plans to make the ultimate quirk weapon. He took what he learned from the Instant Villains and kept their transformations permanent in the creatures that the public called Next Level Villains. It was an adequate name, but maybe he could think up something better for future versions.

That being said, Kyudai had been working with his brother on his project. They were one of All for One's somewhat failed projects for a new body should his ever fail, which almost nearly happened in his last battle with All Might. This one was designated as Number 6.

Even with a small brain injury, 6 was useful to his brother. In addition to the brain injury, that project was able to take multiple quirks at once without going completely insane. Now, if that was due to the brain injury, that was still up for debate, but it helped either way. It kept the subject compliant.

Looking at the screens showing all the biologics of Number 6, he suggested, "For more combat-oriented quirks, let's add the Bomber Cells we acquired from that group we took from the fighting rings that our agents abducted."

"Good idea brother, he will be needing it after today." The other Garaki brother chuckled to himself as he looked at another screen. This one showed what the bodycam saw on Number Six as he moved around.

Kyudai deadpanned at his brother. "Why are you saying it like that?"

"Oh, I tipped off the police about a supply chain of Trigger we no longer need." The man replied nonchalantly.

Kyudai stared at his brother a moment before sighing. "Orochimaru, sometimes I wonder about you then I remember the business we are in. Setting up challenges like this is up your alley, let's just hope this subject doesn't just end up dead like that medical doctor did."

"Number 6 is capable of taking care of himself when a situation presents itself. I just wanted to see it in action!" Orochimaru replied excitedly. "As for Project Lazarus, he did not completely die. Sure, his mind cracked, but it gave him a new direction to go in. I loved it so much; that I released him into the wild. He knows to keep a low profile until the time is right and we have a great twisted ally. He might even recruit others to his cause."

"Hmm, don't believe I have seen many other quirks like his, great craftsmanship!" Kyudai laughed. "Now let's see how Number 6 fairs."

XXX

"You know, when Izuku said to practice the Wall Cling move, I did not expect you to cling to a speeding bullet train." Naruto yelled over the roaring winds with an amused grin. They were heading to Osaka today with Kazuho for some idol event and he decided to tag along.

"I had to catch up somehow!" Koichi screamed over the roaring winds. "I missed the train while buying bento boxes for us! But how are you just standing on the train like it is nothing for you?!"

"Just one of my abilities," Naruto replied causally while helping the older boy into the speeding train.

"Naruto, your abilities are all over the place." Koichi panted out once they were inside.

"So, I have been told."

"You both are insane; you know that right?!" Kazuho screamed out in shock as she hugged them both. She checked them over and saw no injuries but Koichi was certainly out of breath. However, like its namesake, the bullet train got to their next destination quickly and they made their way out as Koichi explained what happened and the new technique he used to stay close. Kazuho just shook her head.

As they walked and talked about the list of new techniques Izuku had provided to Koichi, who was excited to eventually use, they came across a small scuffle. This one was between a very small-time thug and a large and rotund hero who went by the name of Fat Gum. Apparently in the middle of a criminal act, he had also spilled Fat Gum's Takoyankee box to the ground, spilling his food. So, the man was doubly pissed off.

Before Fat Gum could go any further, Koichi had scooped the food back into the box and gave it back to the man. "Your Takoyaki are safe."

"Huh, seems I went a bit overboard in my haste." Fat Gum replied nervously before apologizing to the now knocked-out thug. Now feeling bad, he placed the knocked out against a building and pinned a note to his face telling him to do better. He did not want to arrest the man because was actually on his way to a job. "Appreciate the help, kids. Are you folks tourists? Where are you headed?"

"Uh, the SS Mall in Super Minami" Kazuho offered.

"You do not say? I am making my way there now." Fat Gum replied thoughtfully before freezing a bit. "Actually, that is supposed to be a secret. Forget I said anything. Just take this street, and you can't miss it. Watch yourselves out there, kids."

Fat Gum watched them trek their way down the street until they were out of sight, all the while munching on his Takoyaki and walking slowly. Soon a shadow overtook him and a familiar voice rang out, "Hey there Punching Bag, I see you still have your temper when it comes to food."

"Hmm? Rumi? Have not seen you in a while. Usually, you travel all over the place." Fat Gum replied pleasantly but was only slightly annoyed at the old nickname she had given him ever since they met on the field in a spar between rival schools. Rumi could not beat him in the usual ways, so she had to get creative. It kicked off a friendly rivalry.

"Yeah, I took up a student at a friend's request. You remember Kaina?" Rumi replied, walking in step with Fat Gum now.

Taishiro grinned at that. "How can I forget someone who is on the news with All Might all the time? Still, I am glad she seems happy. I heard she kind of just disappeared and it made me a little worried about one of your friends."

Rumi smiled sadly. "Yeah, the commission made her do some dark shit, but thanks to Naruto, the little blond boy from that group, she was able to escape that life. I help out with his self-defense and have grown attached to him. It is why I am here in secret." Although, he probably knew she was here. Naruto's sensory abilities were out there. "So, what is this I hear about a job you had to keep secret from kids? Want some help?"

"What? Is THE Rumi actually offering help? I thought you hated team-ups?"

"Come on, you know I love to fight and if I teamed up, I wouldn't get that full adrenaline rush!" Rumi defended.

"Sure sure, Tigerbunny, whatever you say. But at least I know you have our backs when shit goes down." Fat replied good-naturedly. Despite being rivals, they still hung out on occasion. As they chatted, he just asked her to stick around in the event the job went sideways and she had an excited grin the whole time.

XXX

"Whoa, look at all these weirdos." Koichi replied happily once they got to the Idol Event in the mall. He received a few dirty looks but otherwise was ignored. Naruto just snickered to himself.

"Do not call people weirdos!" Kazuho raged.

"Heya! Thanks for coming all this way! You are Pop Step, yeah? From Marukane in Tokyo?" A young woman asked while approaching them. With her robes of red and black, it went along well with her crab motif. Her hair was even done up in crab pincers for the ponytails and strands of hair were sticking up and back to look like crab legs. She was very… on-brand.

"Ah. Hi there." Kazuho nervously before looking around a bit more. She still kept her Pop Step persona from her parents and when she was ever just herself and someone called her by her Idol/Vigilante name, she had to be on the lookout for just in case. Thankfully with Koichi on one side and Naruto on the other, she felt safe.

"Snip snip, clip clip! HEIKE CRAB!" The girl said excitedly but was also a little intimidating, "I'm your girl, Monika Kaniyashiki. Official idol for the Kanedoge chain. Good to be working with ya, but please just call me Kaniko!"

Ah, crab vendors, VERY on-brand. Still, it just left the three laughing nervously.

"You Tokyo folks…no sense of humor…" The crab idol replied deflating a bit before sticking her tongue out with a smirk and making a cutting motion with her fingers, "How about a snip you good?!" A pause for little reaction. Her eyes narrowed a bit on the youngest of the group. Naruto was snickering a bit. "Wait, I heard about you kid. It is nice to see a kid like you taking an interest in your friend's activities. You could be an idol yourself if you were a chick because male idols don't make it long…especially if you don't have a Shtick like mine…heh."

Naruto smirked before rubbing the back of his head a bit. "I kind of figured that would be the case. But there is something I could do to catch people's attention. I will say I used to use it to oust perverts in my old village?"

Koichi stared long and hard at his little friend before shivering as a sense of foreboding overtook him. Naruto's abilities were far out there and he suspected it was part of a very versatile quirk or he gained abilities from old anime and other sources. There was a lot the kid could do.

However, the Crab Idol too the bait; hook, line, and sinker. "OH? This I gotta see, kid!"

Naruto gained a mischievous aura that made Koichi and Kazuho take a step back from him. "Male or female version?"

"Do not know how you could do a female version and I am kind of afraid to know. So the male is fine."

"Alright, you asked for it," Naruto replied cheekily and he noticed that by now, a good portion of the room's idols were looking on in interest. "Sexy Jutsu: Reverse Harem!" Naruto's eyes went Rinnegan and his body shifted into its illusion-based fox form before going up in a cloud of smoke. And when it cleared…

"Reverse wh-OH MY GOODNESS!" The crab idol shouted amongst the room's loud participants and they all had a collective nosebleed. The reason? The Reverse Harem created nearly nude versions of Naruto's old friends. They would probably kill him if they ever found out, but it worked on Kaguya and it was working on this room.

"Naruto…please tell me this is a joke." Kazuho replied stone-faced but with a nosebleed of her own. Meanwhile, Koichi was banging on a nearby wall while laughing too hard.

"Of course, it is a joke technique I invented." Naruto replied with a shrug as he poofed back to normal and blatantly ignored Kazuho's bleeding nose. "It only has very few uses, like a distraction, but it is good for ousting perverts like I mentioned."

"You mentioned a female version…why?" Kazuho asked calmly and it caught Koichi's attention that he began to grow nervous and then realization dawned on him and he grew pale.

"In my old village, there were a lot of older guys and I wanted to prank them. I also noticed that the more power the person is, the greater effect it has on them. The old leader probably almost had a heart attack from it, now that I think about it."

"Never use it please." It wasn't a request and both boys now noticed the aura of menace around her.

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto eeped out.

"Hmm, maybe we can use this as part of your shtick." Koichi joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'd rather not."

XXX

After the embarrassing anti-pervert technique, people recovered and gave the unassuming blond kid nervous looks while some gave him the stink eye. But it did not matter and the event went on as scheduled with the idols all having fun showing off and advertising their brands. Once Kazuho was done, the trio decided to pal around the mall a bit. See the sights.

"Sure are a ton of souvenir stalls." Koichi commented.

"This whole event was started to promote local specialties and the mascot idol thing got tacked on." Kazuho, still in her Pop Step attire, offered an explanation. "Hmm…maybe I should come up with a special product too?"

"That could be neat. I would say a replica of your special microphone since with it, you kept everyone calm when the power went out at the festival. You saved the day with it and people would really want it." Naruto replied with a grin.

"Oh wow, I didn't think of that!" Kazuho replied excitedly but did wonder what her fan club would do with that.

"Hey, Pop! Over here!" Kaniko shouted from in the crowd of people. The crab idol was not hard to point out. She was piloting a large crab mech in from the Kanidoge crab store!

"What the heck is that?!" Koichi laughed but was excited to see.

"Awesome, ain't it?"

"We remodeled the industrial arms into a walking advertisement! It is usually a machine we use for our warehouse in back." the owner of the stone explained…probably for the umpteenth that day. He was standing next to his crab idol and looked tired but happy.

"Heh, costumes are the real spice to this event!" Kaniko replied excitedly.

"Did not think that was part of her costume, but it works!" Naruto said, thinking it could be used for other events and probably pranks too. It was then he felt some dark emotions in the area. Like someone wanted to attack someone and it was coming from the warehouse the crab manager mentioned. Kaniko had a sudden stomach ache and bolted for the bathroom.

Naruto excused himself as well, saying he needed to pick up an item he saw that he really wanted. Naturally, both of his older friends trusted him to be able to take care of himself if anything should arise. When he was almost out of sight, he looked back and saw Kazuho get suckered into the mech by the crab shop owner. They would be fine and so would he since he felt that Rumi was indeed there, watching over him. It made him smile.

XXX

"Oh good, I made it in time." Fat Gum announced as he walked into the room where Detective Tsukauchi and a few other cops had set up surveillance equipment.

"Hey, Fat Gum. Thank you for this. We can always count on you I hear for these types of jobs." The detective replied. Honestly, he'd rather have a hero work with the force full-time, especially after befriending All Might.

"Happy to have you. Tsukauchi…was it? From up in Tokyo?"

"That's right." Tsukauchi confirmed before explaining the camera feeds on the monitors. "We are getting live feeds from security cameras all over the facility."

"Still…drug deals, though? At a mascot event? Those baddies got some strange ways of thinking." Fat Gum stated.

"True, but it'd be especially easy to sneak in their more exclusive products at a free event like this." The detective said with a frown. "Still, this cell is rather strange from what I have learned. It could be nothing of value to us and then something big. It all just seems erratic, like whatever this cell is, is either testing our detective work or their men's abilities to think on their feet. Either way, I don't like it and while I am confident in our undercover agent for this event, I am glad we called in some hero backup."

"Hmm, speaking of backup, I ran into a friend and rival on the way here. If things go sideways, I can always count on her too since she is still in the area." Fat Gum replied with a cheeky grin. He kind of hoped things would go a little off the rails so see he could see her in action again. They made a great team then and probably now as well.

"Oh? Who?"

"Mirko."

"Heh…then we have this in the bag, but I hope it does not go that far. She is pretty destructive in her fights." Tsukauchi replied nervously. Do not get him wrong, he liked Mirko, but she was a bit much. Not that All Might was not more often than he cared to admit but that was not the point.

Then he noticed his agent interact with a certain group and the group of cops and heroes grew deathly silent as they saw the illusion. Only Fat Gum snickered while everyone was stone-faced. No one else said a word for a while but the good detective wondered if Kaina and Toshinori knew about that particular technique.

A few moments passed and he grew a bit more worried. All Might's kid was here with Pop Step. Naruto, he knew to be in the Naruhata Vigilantes, mostly thanks to All Might asking him to keep an eye out for the boy if he ever got into something he could not handle. But that was a moot point as the kid was very capable.

The others, he just wanted to know about so he could extend that aura of protection. Still, with both Naruto and Pop Step here, he felt that there was more going on here…unless they had no idea and just had the dumb luck to run into an event like this with something else brewing.

Half an hour later, their undercover agent was able to get away from the activities and contact them. It was of course Kaniko and she was gearing up for the potential takedown. "You are doing great so far, Kaniko." Fat Gum commented.

"I know I am, but hey Fat-yan, if I finish this job real quick, can I get back on stage?" Kaniko replied over the radio.

"Really, Kaniko?" Fatgum grumbled into the mic.

"Because the honest truth is that I make a better idol than a cop. I love this attention!"

"Nah, you ain't suited to either." Fat Gum deadpanned.

"I mean, don't you worry." Kaniko replied, unbothered by the hero not taking in her jokes. "My hilarious gags make me the perfect undercover idol beauty. Not like I could just choose one job or the other. "

Fat Gum snickered over the line. He had dealt with her a lot before and was used to her antics, but it did get old sometimes. "That is going kind of far. Undercover work is about the only kind you can do…little miss look at me I am an actor!"

"Pssh, I got the beauty part nailed down!"

"Hard to tell when you are joking." Sighed Fat Gum.

"How rude! I was not joking!" Kaniko growl out, breaking a bit.

XXX

"Oh, so this is where you went off to. Something told me there was more to you, especially with the way you reacted to my technique. So you are going after drugs?" Naruto's voice suddenly rang out above her.

"WHAT THE?!" Kaniko loudly got out at seeing the blond kid from earlier…walking on the ceiling. "Kid, what are you doing here and stop following me! I got official business to deal with and I cannot be babysitting."

"Hey, I can handle myself just fine. It is you I am worried about." Naruto comment.

"Oh great, a kid is doubting me." Kaniko grumbled and her mood went further down when Fat Gum grumbled over the line that he was doubting her now too.

"Your undercover side is safe with me, I can promise you that." Naruto offered, "But I sense some dark emotions where you are headed, be careful."

"Officer Kaniyashiki, I would take what he says to heart and be more cautious." The detective said over the line, shocking both Kaniko and Fat Gum. However, Tsukauchi was cursing his luck. This kid was far smarter than he let on. "The kid is someone I know to have a good sense for this stuff. Tell him to stick to the shadows or else his parents will know about his activities here."

Naruto paled at that but just saluted to a camera.

"Kid, I don't know who you know or what you got going for you….but thank you. I can handle it and stick to the shadows like we said."

XXX

Once inside the docking area of the crab joint, Kaniko walked the area with little issue. But there was one worker she had never seen before. She would keep that info close to her chest for now. She didn't remember anyone getting hired recently. This might be one of the people they were after, which meant she would find something for sure.

Looking for Naruto on the ceiling, she nodded to herself before interacting with a few of her undercover persona's coworkers. "Heya heya, working hard, huh?"

"What's going on, Kaniko?" One of the workers asked while the other scuttled around in the same mech that Kaniko piloted when in front of the shop.

"The books just weren't adding up, over in the market. So they told me to come over and verify the merchandise real quick." Kaniko explained.

"Eh? Out of the blue?" Another asked.

"Can we keep unloading?" The first man asked.

"Yep, keep doing what your doing and I'll just do my own thing!" Kaniko cheerfully said. She was glad she was more than just the idol advertisement; she actually had a desk job here and had some authority. This made her job so much easier! They trusted her! "Oh! Lend me that tablet, ok?" The man just shrugged and walked off.

With access to the tablet, she was able to quickly access the contents of the shipment and determine which boxes to look through.

"Management's in charge of slapping on these bar codes so even if there is some nasty stuff mixed in, nobody would ever know. AH...no bar code, lucky find!" Kaniko said quietly to herself but someone did hear her. That was fine, she could handle it. "This is supposed to be 'Deluxe D,' is it? Too bad they have only got Deluxe A, B, and C in the catalog and on the website. Meaning, what we have here are premium goods for a special sort of customer!"

Once the box was open though, she deflated just a bit. "Huh? Just a boring old crab? And no false bottom either. Plenty of ice packs…in two different sizes? Weird" She muttered aloud, further catching the new employee's attention. That was a red flag as well as the 'ice' packs.

"So Kaniko, you figure out the issue? HUH? You went and opened up the box? Now it's not fit for sale. Shame." The employee grumbled.

"Nag, nag, nag…I am busy over here." Kaniko said rudely while subtly reaching for her gun and she quickly looked up to see Naruto pointing at the guy with a serious look. "But actually, who are you?"

"Eh? I took this delivery job part-time…"

"Liar. I know all the part-timers and their mugs." Kaniko replied in a serious manner, throwing the guy off, especially when she pointed a gun at him. She would have remembered someone with a scar on his face too, those are pretty memorable in her opinion. "Kaniyashiki here, reporting a suspicious character. Found some of the goods too. Almost did not notice they were disguised as ice packs. The delivery destinations are actually on the tablet as well! Far as I can see it, that's snip, clip mission accomplished."

"Roger that. Standby team is moving in."

Naruto got ready as the part-timer straightened up and gained a sardonic smirk and a shadow was cast over his face. The man congratulated her on finding him out, but what really got his attention was the fact he was far faster than he should be. For any normal person, it seemed like he was there one moment and halfway to the getaway truck with Kaniko's gun, the tablet, and the evidence. But Naruto saw it all thanks to him being able to follow high speeds for a while now. Then he aimed a kunai right at the gun, knocking it away from the man right before he returned to normal speed.

"What the heck, you should not have been able to see me, kid!" The thief growled out, his eyes tracing Naruto's current position, which was on the truck now.

"Oh please, you were going slow to me." Naruto cheekily replied in his half-fox form as Kaniko radioed for backup. Not even five seconds later, Fat Gum crashed through a nearby wall, ready for action. Immediately after, police came huffing and puffing in. "So, what is this really about Scarface?"

"Oh nothing much, I only came here to dismantle this route actually." The man replied as he messed with the tablet he stole, setting off alarms on the mechs the crew used until the machines were out of their control. Naturally that freaked them out. "Careful, those are set to my control now. What are you and the cop going to do now kid?"

"Oh I don't know, watch as Fat Gum tanks their hits as Mirko and Kaniko take the pilots out safely so he can demolish them. Still, I should have suspected Kaniko had some sort of cutting quirk."

"Wait what?!" The man shouted in shock that two pro heroes were there on this job along with capable cops. "That's not good for me."

"No, it is not. But to people like me who have dealt with your kind of speed before, you are kind of a joke." Naruto replied, crouching behind him. "So much so that I have the perfect strategy for you. One Thousand Years of Death!"

"Seriously kid? Prank attacks?" Kaniko said in the dead silence that followed as the guy soared to the ceiling.

"OH, I AM ALREADY DONE WITH YOU BRAT!" The man shouted in rage before jumping up his speed again, pressing another button on the tablet to make the mechs all explode when they were in his range, and sending speedy punches aimed for Naruto's head.

Only, Naruto caught them all with a cheeky smirk. As the explosion went off and Fat Gum shielded his comrade, Naruto sent one punch back at the guy, sending him into the side of the truck. Embedding him in it. "That was almost too easy!"

"Oh shit! There is one mech back in the mall!" Kaniko shouted in horror at just remembering that fact.

"Well, kid? What is it going to be? Take me to the cops or go save all those innocent people? You have the speed to do it." The man asked with a snide smirk, knowing what the answer would be.

It was times like this that Naruto hated he could not make his shadow clones en masse or else he would have infinite vision and infinite nausea. "Tsk, this isn't over."

"It very much is kid." The man replied cheekily before injecting himself with Trigger in a burst of speed and sucker punched the blond kid away from him. Seeing his escape, he knocked out all the cops and high-tailed it out of there. He came here to dismantle a route and he succeeded, but he had to use the product to get away. His employers were not going to be happy about this.

Naruto used the momentum from the punch to speed back in the direction of the inner mall, where he left his friends in that crowd. A crowd he could already hear panicking. Once he got out there, he was proud to see Koichi handling it just well with the college kid having found an All Might hoodie so he could be a hero in disguise…somewhat.

Koichi rushed over, with his Slide and Glide Quirk it made the job so much easier, to the scuttling mech that still had his best friend strapped to it. With a mighty jump, he attached himself to the back of the mech with ease, but then he also had no way to get her out of the mech. He wasn't much of a fighter, he knew that, but he had to do something!

Then a thought popped into his head. Use one of the untested ideas Izuku gave him!

"Pop! I am going to try something new!"

"Are you crazy, you only practiced the wall cling ability!" Pop Step cried as the mech nearly ran someone over.

"It is either let me try this or let a hero eventually deal with it. Either way, I ain't losing you to this mech!" Koichi roared as he reached over and hovered a hand over one of the metal shoulder straps of the mech, keeping her in place. He concentrated with all his might at that moment. Willed the force he manipulated to slide and glide all over the place to leave his hand. It was sluggish and weak, but the force left him and broke the strap. However, it left him more than a little drained. Pop was right, this may not have been a good idea, but Izuku's projectile idea was sound.

"Care for a hand?" Naruto said as he jumped on the other side of the mech. At the shocked looks of his friend, he shifted a hand into a cutter of sorts and sliced right through the strap holding Pop Step in place. The next moment, Naruto and Koichi grabbed Pop and leaped away from the metal death trap. However, Naruto may have used a bit more force to kick it into a nearby wall, embedding it there.

That was when the mech shuttered and started acting like the other mechs that exploded before. Fat Gum saw this as he rushed onto the scene but grew panicked. "Ah shit, I am not going to make it over there in time!"

"Sure you will, just hold on tight and clench your butt checks, it will be light old times!" Mirko said as she took hold of him in a run towards the embedded machine and then chucked him like a bowling ball. He rolled into the mech just as it exploded, but because of his Fat Absorption quirk, no harm came to him or the surrounding area. It also kicked him to his muscular skinny form.

"Ugh…just like old times." Fat Gum grumbled as he rolled onto his back.

"What are you complaining about, you totally saved the day!" Mirko cheered as she pulled him into a one-armed hug, something which wasn't hard at all thanks to his skinny form. She also watched as Kaniko came rushing up to Naruto and his friends to make sure they were ok and actually hugged the blond ninja from another world, glad he was ok. Of course he was, she taught him how to fight better.

But that speedy sucker punch from that villain was something else. Even she did not see it coming!

"Sorry about the mess Fat Gum, here, try this." Naruto said as he walked over to them, producing one of his food pills

"What the…I heard about these. They are almost on the market, but how do you have them?" Fat Gum asked incredulously.

"Well, he is the inventor." Rumi supplied, much to his shock before a grin overtook him. If Mirko vouched for the kid, it was safe to eat one of these miracle food pills, something people like him needed in their line of work. A moment later, he was not fully back to normal but that was fine. He looked healthy enough. Rumi found herself totally fine with both forms of her friend. Plus, it felt like she was hugging a teddy bear, she liked that.

Rumi then snickered as Naruto made his way back to his friends and they hightailed it back home. They were not precisely licensed heroes yet and they could get in trouble…not that she would let that happen. Still, she was proud of the work they did today. They not only saved each other but the mall too. Even helped in a drug bust despite losing one of the perps.

"Say, you wanna go for a drink later?" Rumi asked.

XXX

Kyudai watched his brother's silent and contemplative look. Number 6 performed…fine given the circumstances. Not even he considered using Trigger on an experiment. Then there was the boy who showed up out of nowhere, causing a headache for his brother.

"That was fairly entertaining. I expected Number Six to win, but this brings in new variables. I wonder how we can modify him further." Orochimaru commented.

"Trigger seemed to actually benefit him in some way. He kept his mental faculties despite his brain's condition." Kyudai offered. "But I am curious about your reaction to the blond boy, whom I know to frequent the underground street fights."

"The headache was nothing," Orochimaru said, waving his brother's concern away. "It has happened before with some of my old experiments…like I have met them before or something. All it gave me were ideas on how to…improve them."

"Ah yes, your bodyguards." Kyudai said, rolling his eyes. "Not that you need them."

"Perhaps not, but they provide endless entertainment despite what I have done to them. I broke them and they still have developed on their own." Orochimaru replied with a giddy expression. "But this boy, I feel no real pull to him like the others. In fact, something tells me to avoid him….bah. If I ever run into him I will just kill him…I'll have to take our employer's offer of a combat quirk. I know just the one I want even if it is not with him already."

"Speaking of combat quirks," Kyudai replied, bringing the conversation full circle, "I think we could enhance the Quirk Overclock to that of Trigger levels or even more. Not to mention the other quirks we have in store for him."

"Yes, I want to use a copy of a quirk from one of my sicklier experiments."

"It depends on which one, but I am sure it could work. A few of them are almost dead anyway, might as well use what is left." Kyudai replied with a shrug.

A/N: Please Support Me On patreon.com/The_Alchemyst