NA: And here we are once again! Welcome back to this fine new episode! Man I can't believe I stayed with the concept of Naruto still being a shinobi instead of something else. But it is fitting and thanks to Overwatch I have renewed my fandom for ninjas and whatnot. But anyways, let's get this show on the road!

~oOo~

Tonight was the night of the party and everyone had come together to enjoy this rare moment of respite. Everyone was enjoying themselves and Blake could not stop laughing as she danced with Sasuke. Even Naruto was enjoying himself with the ever famous Hana song, AKA the MEKA pilot Twitch streamer D-Va. As for Hana it was everything she could have ever imagined, dancing with this prince that she was able to snag for herself.

But all of that was slightly interrupted when all eyes turned to the door. Gasps rang out at the sight of a certain red-haired young woman with green eyes being escorted in by a blond young man.

"Is that Pyrrha?"

"She's beautiful!"

"Who the heck is the guy with him, that lucky bastard!"

Flashback

"What do you mean I'm not wearing the dress? I just bought this!"

Naruto smiled as he placed a package on her bed. "You're wearing this. Trust me, this one is way better."

Pyrrha was slightly hesitant at first but then reached for the package and opened it. Her eyes then widened when she unwrapped it and saw the most beautiful fabric she could have ever seen. "This is…"

It was their grandmother's kimono, a kimono gifted to Kushina's mother as a wedding gift from her husband. It was red with flower patterns all over and had a white frilly under fabric on the swinging sleeves. It was accompanied by a violet obi with crisscrossed patterns that was then formed into a ribbon with a pink flower to secure it. This kimono was worth more than even the Schnee Dust Companies stocks combined. It was even worth far more than the Shodai's necklace that could be used to buy three mountains. This thing should be in a museum, secured carefully as it could be treated as a national treasure. But now it is being given to Pyrrha for her to wear to the dance.

"This is…" Pyrrha's hand went up to her mouth as shock and awe permeated in her entire body. "Obaasama's kimono! Mom has been looking for this! You had it all along?"

"I fished it out of Uzushio's ruins." Naruto explained. "It was kept deep within the treasury. Along with the valuables I grabbed, I kept this as I could not possibly just leave it there. Now I want you to have it as it is your birthright."

"No." Pyrrha shook her head. "I can't, oniisama, this is too much!"

"This is rightfully yours, baby girl." He said as he reached into the package and produced a formal brush… a royal brush. "You are a princess of the Land of the Spiral, it is only proper that you wear this at a formal occasion. You are the hope of our clan."

"But you-"

"I have no desire to become the head of either Uzumaki or Shimada." The older sibling said as he gestured his sister to sit down so that he could fix her hair and ready the ornaments. "I love my freedom far too much and I want to continue to do what I want, something I never got the chance when I was younger. But you… you are destined to lead us to greatness. Now come on, let's get you fixed up, I'll have one of my female ninjas help you. You need to be perfect tonight. Kagura, please help my little sister with the kimono."

"At once Naruto-sama!"

Pyrrha gave her older brother a grateful smile. "Thank you, oniisama."

"Anything for you, watashi no imouto."

End Flashback

Jaune couldn't have been any luckier. Not only did he find out that Pyrrha is an actual princess of a lost nation, but she is now arguably the most beautiful girl he could ever have as a girlfriend. How could he have been so blind? He will never know. But now all eyes were on him and his date and many of them were giving them envious looks.

"Woah…" Was all Yang could say as she watched the couple enter the auditorium. "Just… wow…"

Pyrrha's face flushed prettily. She then remembered to thank that kunoichi once again for helping her with this. With Jaune finally hers and being led into the dance floor, she could not help but think how different it could have been were it not for her older brother making this all possible. Yes, this night was truly perfect.

Hana giggled as she wore her own pink dress with her hair tied into a bun with a beautiful Chinese comb made of pure jade that was given to her by Naruto along with the Shodai's necklace. It certainly made her beautiful as she danced with Naruto, who wore a black outfit with the Shimada clan crest on his back.

"Something on your mind?" Naruto asked his girlfriend as he turned his attention back to her.

Hana simply smiled. "Just happy that this night is perfect."

"It's perfect because you're here."

Once the dance had ended and everyone went on with eating, Naruto decided to step out into the balcony where Jaune was, standing there with a look of disbelief.

"Quite the night, hm?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"You seem to be quite preoccupied, Jaune Arc."

"Uh…" The blond's body tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Naruto's face up close.

"You listen here, Arc." Naruto whispered in a deathly voice. "I don't know what my baby sister sees in you but it's clear that she loves you. You break my baby sister's heart, and I will do more than break you and slice you into a hundred pieces. I will make you wish you were never born and then I will feed you to foxes, do you understand me?"

Jaune nodded his head vigorously as his entire body broke out in cold icy sweat. "Y-Yes sir."

"Good!" Naruto beamed and patted the blond's shoulders. "I'm glad we could have this talk!"

Going back inside with Pyrrha coming out to be at her boyfriend's side, she tilted her head and looked confused as to why Jaune was looking pale. "Jaune, everything okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Jaune said in a slight stutter. "You have a really good older brother, Pyrrha. A REALLY good older brother."

"Huh?"

Overwatch: Heart of the Shinobi

Chapter 9: Respite

Hana's dorm room was quite clean and orderly, contradictory to what a gamer's room stereotypically is. It was filled with quite a few things aside from her computer and game consoles as her real bedroom is of course back in her apartment in Korea. But right now it was far from clean as the things on the table like pencils, textbooks, and notebooks were being forcefully shoved away as Hana sat on it with a certain redhead vigorously kissing her with her arms wrapped around his neck. That was then followed by few growls from the redhead as his lips trailed down to her neck, hotly licking and sucking on her supple skin as his hands rubbed her legs before going deeper into her dress. The party had officially ended but that didn't meant the fun should stop there.

"I didn't think we'd actually end up doing this." Naruto hotly whispered as he spoke through his kisses. "I could definitely get used to this."

"Mmm…." Hana giggled through her moans. "I can't really complain." She then kicked him, sending him towards her bed before going ahead and pouncing on him.

"Nope, no complaints here."

The sounds of clothing being discarded with hands roaming were all that were heard in the room as the compressing of the bed to the sweet silent whispers and moaning of names then permeated the air around them.

~oOo~

Next Day

Before long, the rays of the sun touched their naked slumbering frames and Naruto grunted at the feeling of it touching his face. Opening his eyes, he smiled at the first thing he saw, and that was the ever beautiful Hana snuggling on his chest with her breath tickling his skin. He still couldn't believe his eyes at how beautiful she truly is, and she was all his. Gently separating his body from hers, he quietly got up when he heard the sound of his phone vibrating on the table.

"Yeah?"

"…"

He nodded as he got his clothes and was about to enter the showers. "Yeah… uhuh? Okay, I'll be there."

At the sound of his voice Hana slowly opened his eyes to see the man she gave herself to heading into the bathroom. "Naruto?"

"I just have to wash up and head to the ship, something's come up."

The brunette nodded and rubbed her eyes while getting up, letting the blanket cascade down her lithe frame that only made the redhead smirk at the sight. He definitely like what he was seeing.

"What?"

"Nothing… just enjoying the view."

The MEKA pilot grabbed a pillow and threw at him, eliciting a chuckle from her lover. "Pig!"

"Only for you, love." He walked up to her and grabbed a kiss that she happily returned. Once their lips parted, both of them had smiles on their faces. "I can really get used to this."

Hana giggled before lightly pecking him. "Me too- EEP!" She suddenly felt his arms under her as she was hoisted up and brought into the bathroom. "N-Naruto!"

"So you wanna do this with or without soap?"

~oOo~

Angela Ziegler was not at all happy at what she was seeing in front of her. Naruto was sporting a certain grin while Hana's face was in some sort of afterglow. Tracer was squealing and jumping all over the place, screaming 'FINALLY!' over and over again. Mei was clapping her hands and McCree was giving the redhead a thumbs up and whispering 'good job kiddo' to him.

"You two." Angela folded her arms and gave them a disapproving frown. "Do you realize what you both have done?"

"We are very aware." Naruto stated in a 'matter of fact' tone. "And we have no regrets."

Hana nodded in agreement. "No regrets."

"Besides." Naruto added as he gave his uncle and the doctor a grin. "We beat you to it."

Tracer finally lost as she fell of the table and started laughing on the floor. Winston stared at them with his jaw wide open, McCree repeatedly pounding his fist on the wall while trying not to laugh, Mei covered her mouth, and Angela and Genji were as straight as two by fours. "N-Naruto! This is not the time to joke around!"

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Oh lighten up, doc. We got no regrets with what we did. Besides I could die anytime with the kind of work I do."

"I'm in the military." Hana added as she held her boyfriend's hand. "It's the same for me, I mean I'll be out in three months but… yeah…" She kissed Naruto's cheek before hugging his arm and resting her head upon it. "I am absolutely in love with this man happens to be an obnoxious overpowered jerkface."

"You could have done away with the 'obnoxious overpowered jerkface' part." Naruto grumbled, earning another peck on his cheek followed by a giggle.

Tracer cooed at the new couple. "Oh you two are just absolutely adorkable!"

"Anyways!" Naruto decided to get to the main topic at hand as to why he was called here. "What needed me to wake up so early on a weekend of all days?"

Winston cleared his throat and showed him a live footage of a certain man sitting in an interrogation room within the academy. "He specifically requested you and Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes widened. "That's-"

"Naruto!" Sasuke then entered the ship. "What's going on, why were we called?"

The redhead turned to his friend with a frown. "Hoshigake Kisame."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a brief moment before frowning. "Oh."

Moments later, the entire group heard the story of Hoshigake Kisame, also known as the Tailless Tailed Beast, a missing-nin and a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, an elite group of shinobi from Kirigakure no Sato of the Land of Water. Kisame was known to arguably be one of the most dangerous of them all as he wielded the sentient sword Samehada, a sword that does not cut but shred its target with incredibly sharp scales and is considered to be the most terrifying of all the seven blades. But it is also the most demanding of all as it requires a constant flow of chakra from its user, and judging from how long Kisame had it, he had no problems wielding such a terrible weapon.

"What is he doing here?" Sasuke asked. "And why isn't he wearing an Akatsuki cloak?"

Naruto cupped his chin before turning to the Uchiha. "You think he got out of the Akatsuki?"

"I don't know. One does not simply get out of Akatsuki and live, although Orochimaru was one such case."

"So should we talk to him?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment before letting out a sigh. "As much as I think that's a bad idea, that's the only real option we have. He hasn't done any criminal acts here in Remnant, and we need to know why he's here."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he turned to the rest. "We'll entertain his request."

"Are you sure?" Hana aske with uncertainty in her voice. "He's a dangerous man, isn't he?"

Hana's boyfriend kissed her temple and gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine."

~oOo~

Kisame grinned as he patted Samehada. "So you two actually came."

"We did." Naruto said as he folded his arms. This only made the S-Rank missing-nin grin even more at the sight of his katana and tanto.

"And you took up kenjutsu, good for you."

"What are you doing here, Kisame?" Sasuke demanded.

"I left Akatsuki the day Itachi died."

Both younger shinobi raised their brows. "Do you think you can fool us, Kisame?"

The missing-nin snickered before shrugging. "No, that's why I brought this." He reached into a pocket and produced a small scroll and opened it. "No traps, go ahead and read it. Itachi gave me this the day before he fought Sasuke. He told me not to open it until he's dead."

Sasuke read the contents of the scroll before placing it back on the table. "It's genuine. I can recognize Itachi-nii's penmanship without even looking at it."

"I've been only loyal to Itachi, not Akatsuki." Kisame declared. "With Itachi gone I had no reason to stay so I gave them the slip and wandered the nations before recently finding my way here. I wanted a chance of scenery and this place certainly doesn't disappoint. I mean they got flying ships for Kami's sake!"

"So what are your intentions here?"

Kisame shrugged. "I dunno. I just came here because I wanted a chance in scenery. Maybe I'll be a bounty hunter, I hear that people here make pretty good dough out of doing jobs like hunting these weird creatures they call grimm."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and grinned. Naruto then spoke up as he turned back to the wielder of Samehada. "Hoshigake Kisame, we have a proposition for you."

Kisame grinned as he leaned forward. "I'm listening."

~oOo~

"A fine sword you got there." Kisame, now a member of Overwatch's 'freaky ninja club' as McCree jokingly calls it and the Shimada's shinobi roster, commented as he eyed the blood red blade Akahime. "I've never seen steel like that before."

"Shimada steel is far different from most steel you commonly see."

Kisame nodded as he eyed the blade. The reason he agreed to joining the peacekeeping force was only because it gave him purpose. Not to mention he won't be running out of fights anytime soon due to the growing tensions in Remnant and the ongoing low intensity conflicts in Earth. Not only that, but with him joining the Shimada clan meant that he would be given amnesty by Japan, and that also meant diplomatic protection. But he also had a lot to atone for all the sins he had committed, and fighting the good fight was a start. This was the second chance he had been looking for, and he was not going to waste this chance.

"That's a really freaky sword you got there." Tracer chirped as she eyed the wiggling Samehada. "How is it doing that?"

"Samehada is alive." Naruto explained. "He's even got a mouth and absolutely loves to feed off of chakra."

"Oooh!" Tracer grinned in excitement as stars formed in her eyes. She always loved to see things she had never seen, and a living sword was one such 'things' that she had never seen. "Can he talk?"

"No."

"Oh."

Kisame chuckled as he looked around. "This is definitely a change from Akatsuki, feels a lot more homely that's for sure. I can tell I am going to have lots of fun."

"Just to remind you, Kisame, you are still under evaluation." Winston notified. "If Genji sees you as a good addition then your status will be elevated to a full member."

The shark-faced man nodded in understanding. "I won't let you down, boss."

"For now we continued to provide security for the academy and the city of Vale." Winston continued. "Their council has been quite generous with providing funding for our operations so long as we cooperate with the academy and the local police force."

Kisame shrugged. "So long as I got purpose I don't really mind what kind of job I get. Heck, send me on a few White Fang hunts if you want. Samehada's been itching for a good fight."

"Don't worry." McCree said as he puffed his cigar. "You'll be getting into battles soon enough."

Little did they know that today marked the creation of Overwatch's new Four Swords Division. This marked a new chapter for Overwatch as they now had four ninjas in their roster. The peacekeeping force was growing stronger than ever. Things were really starting to look up for them.

"We also received reports of a break-in in the CCT tower last night during the party. It looks someone took advantage of that fact."

As Naruto listened, he turned his head towards the window and spotted one of his summon foxes who was giving him signals that caused him to narrow his eyes.

They're here.

~oOo~

"So it's confirmed." A brown-haired man with almond-shaped eyes paced around as he spoke to several other of his compatriots. "Uzumaki Naruto is alive."

They had just arrived from the hidden lands today along with other shinobi from other villages. Only these shinobi bore the symbol of the leaf on their forehead protectors. Konoha has finally arrived and they had set their sights on the former blond. Ever since it was confirmed that he was alive he had been declared a missing-nin alongside Sasuke who has been sighted to be with him. Many of the Konoha rookies were confused as to why this was happening and were determined to bring him back. from what they had gathered, they only discovered that he was here with Sasuke, attending Beacon Academy as foreign students.

But what concerned them was that the sighting of a beautiful brown-haired young woman wearing the Shodai's necklace.

"Who the heck is this chick?" Inuzuka Kiba asked as he eyed the picture of the young woman wearing the necklace. "Did Naruto give it to her?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Looks like it."

The Inuzuka heir snorted at the thought of Naruto having a girlfriend

"Didn't think the idiot had it in him."

"Look here." Yamato showed them more sets of pictures they got from a scout. It showed them a picture of Naruto with several shinobi bowing before him. "These shinobi bear the Shimada clan crests. And Naruto has it as well."

"Why the heck are they bowing to him?"

"It seems that Shimada Hanzo formally adopted him."

Shikamaru frowned. "This is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. This means that Naruto has been living in Japan for who knows how long. And that country doesn't simply extradite their citizens unless there's good reason."

"So Naruto not only got out but defected?" Kiba asked with anger in his voice that was mimicked by his ninken Akamaru. "That asshole!"

"So simply asking him to come back won't do." The Nara heir muttered. "It's clear where his loyalties lie."

"So why the heck did he leave!?" Kiba snarled.

"You already know that answer, Kiba."

The feral-looking young man scoffed. "So the village hated him for what he had, so what! He belongs in Konoha!"

"Good luck convincing him, then."

"He just needs a good ass-kicking!" Kiba boasted as he slammed a fist into the palm of his left hand.

"Remember." Yamato said as he turned to the two young men as other Leaf shinobi walked up to them. "We're here as guests. So that means no unnecessary actions. Don't act rash when if you make contact with Uzumaki-san, hey may not be the same one you once knew. Exercise caution at all times, we are in foreign territory after all."

As they prepared for their entrance into the academy, Yamato eyed the picture of the young woman wearing the Shodai's necklace and became worried. He would need to come up with something in order to convince Naruto to come back to Konoha. But he feared that this may resort to violence as he knew he would not come quietly. With the Uzumaki's affiliation with the Shimada clan of Japan things only got more complicated. Then there is this other girl… the red-haired girl that seems close to Naruto, she looked very much like the famed Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.

Yamato narrowed his eyes at the girl. Another Uzumaki perhaps? I'll need to keep a closer eye.

~oOo~

"So the four schools will be working together and shadowing huntsmen?"

Ozpin nodded to the genetically engineered gorilla. "It is imperative that we let the people know that Remnant is still a united world. With the Vytal festival just around the corner the thought of unity must remain in the people's minds."

Winston nodded at that logic. "While I do not doubt the children's skills in combat, is sending them out on the field necessary?"

"They have trained their whole lives for this." Ozpin said as he drank his cup of coffee. "But they will steer clear of the south-east area. It has been confirmed that the White Fang are operating in the destroyed expansion town of Mountain Glenn… its underground caverns became the world's largest tomb."

Winston furrowed his brows as he had read the history as to what had happened to the town and its inhabitants. It was a shame that so many lives were lost in such a tragic event, but Mountain Glenn did not have the natural barriers that Vale had, and thus the grimm attacks became far more frequent, forcing the inhabitants to develop a settlement beneath the ground within the tram system that brought people in and out of the kingdom. But an explosion within one of the tunnels caused more grimm to come on, slaughtering anything in their path. Vale was then forced to seal off any access into Mountain Glenn, cutting the rest of as it was far too risky to wait for any more as it meant the chance of grimm coming into Vale.

"I will have agents head to the south-east area immediately. Whatever the White Fang is up to, we will put a stop to it."

"I appreciate what Overwatch is doing, I really do." The headmaster said as he sipped his coffee. "But I worry that direct action may have dire consequences."

"Do can discretion." Winston pointed out. "Being discreet is good, but you can't be discreet all the time. The reason why we are doing this is so the children training to become huntsman won't have to go to war. Overwatch is a military organization whose goal is to provide peacekeeping operations. While I do agree with some of your points, I also do agree with some of General Ironwood's as well."

"I understand."

The gorilla gave the man a grateful nod. "I will be sending a team as soon as we're given the go ahead."

Ever since Winston had recalled every Overwatch agent that had gone into hiding, many of them, even basic agents had answered the call and travelled to Remnant, some of them did so through unconventional means. Several agents, former army, navy, air force, and special forces had come out of hiding to fight the good fight. And though Earth still brands them criminals, they were welcomed in Remnant with open arms. At least they can make a difference in this world by helping those that need it. They were now a hundred strong with old mothballed transports being used to get them to Remnant so that they could be used for the organization. Overwatch was finally going back to the good old days.

"Ah, Mister Shigure." Ozpin smiled at the Japanese ambassador who just entered the room. "Thank you for coming."

The ambassador bowed to the headmaster. "I hope our talks bear fruit."

"As do I."

~oOo~

Naruto frowned at the holographic map of Mountain Glenn. He was briefed of the history as to what happened, in fact they all were. The dead town is a tactical nightmare, they all understood how the grimm got in so easily. With the lack of natural barriers the entire area has become a breeding ground for grimm.

"At this moment, anywhere is a good insertion point."

Sasuke grunted in agreement. "With the tunnels sealed off, we can forget about entering through the underground railway."

"Brute force is out of the question." Naruto added. "It'll only attract unwanted attention and alert them that they've been had. I suggest an airdrop insertion while deploying a spy drone. Speed is key here."

"That means I'm out." Hana groaned as she really wanted to go, but her mech would create noise and she was not trained to do stealth missions. She then felt lips on her temple and smiled at the warm feeling.

"Don't worry babe, I'll be back before dinner."

"You better."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at how lovey-dovey these two can be, but then again he can't exactly voice that out since he loved spending time with Blake. "Who else is coming?"

"Uncle Genji won't be coming since he is needed here to lead the newcomers. So it's just us two who will be going in." Giving Hana another kiss, on her cheek this time, he flashed her an assuring smile. "We'll be fine. We're trained for this."

The pink-loving brunette pouted cutely. "Nothing wrong in worrying about you, you know?"

Sasuke stifled a chuckle as he returned his gaze to the holomap. "I would say we could take Blake with us but she has her own mission with her team."

"I can tag along." A certain gunslinger said as he walked in. "I wanna see how you guys do. Besides, been a while since I've been on an infiltration mission."

Naruto nodded. "That's right, you were once with Blackwatch."

'Ah yes…' Kurama's voice had a tone of remembrance. 'The black ops division of Overwatch. Isn't it because of them that Overwatch was disbanded in the first place?'

'It was more than that, Kurama. Reyes, AKA Reaper, is the one truly responsible for what happened. I can't wait to sink my blade through his black heart.'

Kurama chuckled at the redhead's words. 'My thoughts exactly, kit. Killing the infamous Reaper will sow fear into the hearts of your enemies! GYAHAHAHAHAHA!'

Naruto rolled his eyes although inwardly chuckled at his tenant's enthusiasm when it came to killing. Although Kurama was no longer the angry furball he once was, but he still enjoyed he quotes: 'a good killing' every now and then. Looking at the gunslinger, he nodded. "Alright, you're in."

McCree grinned as he took a whiff of his cigar. "You won't regret it, kid."

"So now we wait." Naruto said as he looked at the map with narrowed eyes. "Winston said that we'll be going in as soon as we're given the all green. We have a bureaucratic wall stopping our way."

"Typical." McCree spat. "It's always politics that stopped us from doing our job."

"But we're in a different world." Sasuke reminded him. "We're the guests and as such we have to follow their rules."

The gunslinger sighed. "Yeah, I know that already." Shrugging, he made his way for the door. "Lemme know when our mission is up, I'm going to get myself a drink."

"Oy, Kisame!" Naruto turned to the dark corner of the ship. "I know you're there, you want in or not?"

The shark man grinned as he shouldered Samehada. "Of course I'm, who the heck do you think I am?"

~oOo~

"So not only have our associates lost a large number of members here, we lost Torchwick as well?"

The green-haired girl nodded to her leader. "From what reports say, the one who captured him burned the skin of his legs off with some kind of attack before going into finish him off. If Goodwitch hadn't intervened he would been dead."

Cinder frowned and folded her arms. "This is not what I had planned. With Torchwick effectively out of the play we have lost a major supplier for Dust. We have no choice but to speed up our plans."

"Is that wise, ma'am?"

"I'm actually not sure anymore." The fire user said. "But we have no choice in the matter since we have an extremely small window. We must fan the flames if we are to succeed. Send a message to those in the south-east, tell them to speed things up."

The green-haired girl nodded before making her way out the door.

Cinder frowned as she sat on the bed with a scroll in her hands. Naruto Shimada and Sasuke Uchiha were definitely on the list… but the problems was that the number of allies they have were growing by the minute. This peacekeeping military organization called Overwatch was now more than a hundred strong, far more than she wants.

And the problem was that the number kept on growing as more and more of their agents were coming here.

If this keeps up then her plans for Vale won't come to fruition.

~oOo~

"Most unexpected circumstances." Shino stated in a tone, though neutral, held mild surprise. "Naruto and Sasuke are all as Kiba states 'buddy-buddy' now."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he sat on the branch of the tree. "This is going to be a lot harder for us. The organization they're working for has grown in number. We have to wait a little longer if we are going to find a way to get them."

"And that woman he was with seems to be very romantically involved with him."

The Nara clan heir nodded. "We're going to have to be careful. From what I gathered, she's with a different military."

The bug user cupped his chin. "How many countries do you think are involved in this? We cannot face them all. We are most fortunate that Kiba-san is not here. Was he here then we would have had an incident on our hands."

As of late, the hidden lands had been quiet despite growing tensions. The great villages had banded together to form an alliance against the group but their plans had been delayed ever since none of them could face the Hachibi Jinchuruki and the fact that Naruto was nowhere in sight until now. But even then they were having difficulty tracking the Akatsuki's whereabouts ever since Amegakure had closed off its borders. All they know was that their numbers had thinned.

"Tch." Shikamaru cursed to himself when he saw a familiar figure. "Hoshigaki Kisame… they recruited him too? Yamato-taichou is not going to be happy about this."

The Aburame clan heir hummed. "How do you propose we go about this? We now have three S-Class missing-nin on our hands."

Shikamaru turned his head to look at the devastated area of the Emerald Forest. From the news he read, Naruto and Sasuke did that. That in itself was not a good sign as it meant that both of them were now S-Class ninjas. He tried getting videos of it but all of them were simply distance shots. Everything else was stored in Beacon's administration office and that was something he could not get in, no matter how hard he tried. The technology used here was far more superior to that of the hidden lands, which meant that he had no knowledge as to how to utilize them. What was more was that they had no idea how to gauge his skill since all guest students and participants were housed in a separate facility with their own training grounds. Sure they were allowed to interact with each other but that was it.

And that in itself is the problem. So how do they approach them without causing a scene?

"Let's head back." The pineapple-headed jonin said. "Yamato-taichou needs to know about this."

Another problem that they will have to tackle was that the kages of the Shinobi Alliance will be coming for the Vytal Festival, and that meant a dangerous encounter with not only Naruto and Sasuke, but with the S-Class missing-nin Hoshigaki Kisame.

"What a drag…" The Nara heir muttered as he went into the building with Kiba and Akamaru. "What a total drag…"

Unknown to them, a small bundle of yellow fur followed them inside.

~oOo~

Naruto's eyes turned towards the two figures coming back into the school building as a small yellow fox followed them. He did not frown or narrow them and simply hummed. Sasuke saw this as well and so did Kisame. This meant that Konoha shinobi and possibly other shinobi were here in the academy.

"We're going to have to be discreet." Sasuke said as his red-haired friend nodded in agreement.

"They won't try anything." Naruto added. "They know it will be far too risky for them to do so. But we will have to be on high alert once we leave for Mountain Glenn. I'll increase the guard we have on team JNPR team, Hana, and Blake."

"I can handle myself, Naruto." The MEKA pilot stated while letting out a cute pout.

"I know that, but I'm not taking any chances."

Kisame nodded at the redhead's logic. "Shinobi are known to be crafty and use underhanded tactics. If they really want to get to us they will go after their loved ones. That means that they'll go after you, his sister, and the cat girl."

Sasuke frowned at the prospect of HIS woman getting kidnapped. He turned to Naruto and nodded to him in gratitude. "Thanks for this, Naruto."

Naruto returned the gesture. "No problem." Letting out a sigh as he straightened himself, he gave them all a smile. "Right then, meeting concluded."

Kisame chuckled as he turned away and went out the door. "This is going to be fun."

Sasuke shrugged as he did the same. "I'll be at the library with Blake."

Seeing as Hana and Naruto were left, the latter turned to his lover with an endearing smile. "And then there were two."

Hana blushed as she felt strong arms around her waist before giggling as she brought her hands up to his chest while staring at his mesmerizing blue eyes. Closing her eyes, she felt his lips capture hers in a loving kiss. She felt his emotions coarse through her veins as fireworks magically popped into her mind. Yes… this man kissing her is the one for her, the one she wants to spend the rest of her life with. But they were still young and they have all the time in the world to think things through. Latching onto his arms they made their way out and strolled around the academy's courtyard, getting sighs from the many female students that loved to coo at 'Beacon's Hottest and Cutest Couple' as many of them liked to call.

"This is nice." Hana said as they walked around the courtyard arm in arm. "Just the two of us, walking."

"You're making us sound like we're some old married couple."

The MEKA pilot blushed at the thought as she began to think of little red and brown haired children with violet eyes. Oh yeah… she was already thinking that. "I was just saying, Naruto."

He chuckled softly and planted a kiss on her head that smelled wonderful to him. Vanilla… he loved vanilla… almost as much as he loved ramen. But right now he loves vanilla more than ramen. "Kami-sama, I love you, I really do."

She turned to face him and captured his lips with hers, getting squeals from several girls that witnessed this. "I love you too, my noble ninja."

The redhead raised an eyebrow at the two contradicting words. "The words noble and ninja rarely go good together, love."

"But it fits you." The brunette whispered. "Because that's what you are."

"And here we go with the cheesy romance lines."

Hana playfully slapped his chest and lightly glared at him. "They're not cheesy, you're cheesy!"

All the redhead did was laugh as he pulled her close so that he could steal another kiss.

~oOo~

Angela frowned at the medical records before her. She was having a little trouble in how to create the perfect prosthetics for Genji so that he could look more human without sacrificing his strengths. It was strange at how determined she was, going all the way just for him. But she smiled at the thought of seeing her boyfriend smile more, even giggling at how radiant his smile could be. She then gasped when arms snake around her waist to see a certain ninja clad in white armor hugging her from behind.

"G-Genji!"

"It seems that my angel is hard at work once more."

The blonde squirmed at the feeling of his cybernetic arms grabbing hold of her. "G-Genji, let m-me w-work!"

"All work and no play, Tenshi…"

She could have rolled her eyes at that but she was far too flustered at his actions as his lips found her neck, nipping and caressing her skin. She let out an involuntary moan at the tender feeling but then froze when she spotted a slender figure at the door.

Tracer giggled at the sight with a hand up to her mouth. But even the blonde could see her massive face-splitting grin. Before anything could be said she immediately blinked out of the way as her squealing echoed out into the hallway.

NA: I think this might turn into a running gag with Mercy and Genji getting walked into by their friends. Hope you enjoyed this!