"Naruto!" The door slams against the wall with enough force to bounce right off it, sending it careering back towards its frame.

Shimura Tenko steps to a side as the threshold swings shut, raking one hand through the shaggy hair atop his head as blood red eyes scan the room. The woman that's slouched across the sofa groans, pulling the blanket up and over her head. Undoubtedly in the vain hope she'll be left alone. It's soon ripped away from her form, held hostage in a three finger and thumb grip as Tenko stares her down.

"Ten, noooo."

"Ten, yes," the teen snaps, flicking the blanket away and folding his arms to stare judgementally down at the woman. Naruto stares right back, a pout to her lips, until it becomes clear Tenko has absolutely no intention of letting this slide.

"I hate getting stuffed into a dress. It's degrading and I can't walk in those heels. Sakura-chan always made it look so easy." As his mentor goes off mumbling to herself once again, Tenko scratches at his neck, lightly and subtly. Depressed with the circumstances or not, Naruto'll kick his ass if she notices. It took her ages to break him of the constant habit that came as a response for anything. Now, it's just a little nervous tick he can beat back. Normally. It pops in for special occasions. Like right now.

"Dabi's graduation ceremony is in an hour. An hour."

"I still don't see why I need a dress on. I rocked up to yours in sweatpants." Tenko's well aware. The photo from his ceremony resides upon the mantle; he's sporting crisp graduation robes, Dabi and Naruto look like they'd rolled out of bed and through a haystack to get there. No, they're going to have a prim, proper photo, even if it kills Tenko to get it. Truth be told, he gets a kick out of forcing Naruto into a formal outfit, given the amount of times she'd stuck her nose in on his own costume's design. The fabric's too loose there. There's not enough support here. There's nowhere to put your kunai (her face had been a picture when Tenko's informed her he didn't plan on carrying any). There's still a hint of defiance in Naruto's face however, so Tenko goes in for the kill.

"You know we'll be the only ones turning up for him, given the bastard's divorced whatever family he had before." He still remembers that night three and a half years ago, the day they'd first met. Naruto'd barged into the apartment, cradling an extra crispy teenager close to her chest with her ridiculous power flaring viciously vivid under a moonless night. She hadn't been able to heal him up perfectly and he'd only gone and made it weirder by getting all those piercings, but Dabi'd never really left after that day (if he'd wanted to was a different matter, Naruto was like a bloodhound when she got something into her head).

As such, the notion of family and togetherness closes like a steel trap over her head now; the redhead whines but submits according, rolling off of the sofa. It's hidden springs rejoice with a wheezing creek, cushions rising like the dawn of a new day. The look his dear mentor shoots it is one of utmost betrayal.

"We need some new furniture," she mutters, lips pursed and Tenko is once again reminded that, for all her worldly wisdom, Naruto is only ten years his senior, had only been seventeen herself when she'd scraped him out of that gutter, dragged him trembling and near hysterical into her arms with a stubborn 'you're safe now' on her lips. It's one of the clearest memories of his life. It'd been the turning point of his life. It'd been a damn miracle that the one person who found him was also the only one could heal the damage his quirk inflicted on her.

"Well, if someone applied for a hero license instead of playing vigilante, maybe you could actually make some more money than what your ramen making clone brings home everyday." Naruto huffs, pulling her ridiculously long red hair up into a single ponytail before taking the time to rub her chin up against her arm. Getting rid of the usual drool, no doubt.

"You know I can't do that, Ten." He's aware. It comes with the whole issue of 'I'm an illegal immigrant from another dimension who doesn't have a quirk but instead a well of energy and oh yeah I can train other people to use it too, please don't let the government make a lab experiment out of me'. No, they've been getting by on Naruto's merger wage (the clone's wage, even) and Tenko had deliberately ignored his elder sister/mother figure sneaking out at night to fight crime. It doesn't matter anymore either way; now that he's got a job, now that Dabi's finally graduating, they'll be able to actually contribute to the household income. Stubborn and childish she may be (and he can't claim to be much better, no matter how much Naruto tries knocking it out of him), this is the woman that's raised him. The woman who took the extra crispy breakdown that was Dabi and teased him out into being an actual human being again. There's little Tenko wouldn't do for her.

"Just get changed already. We're wasting time." A dainty hand slaps at his own and Tenko draws it back from his tender neck with a hiss, trying to ignore how the freshly scratched skin prickles. It's probably red by now; no doubt Naruto had sensed his irritation, a shark scenting blood.

"You know," Naruto grumbles as she stalks over to the bathroom, snatching up the dress he'd produced as she goes, "You used to be a real cute kid. What happened?"

"I had a bad influence." He'd had the best influence. Naruto knows it too; she smiles over her shoulder at him as she disappears.

.

Dabi's graduation falls on March 1st; the weather is mild, the sun cool as clouds lazily drift across the sky. Tenko has found himself a semi-formal suit, one that had been on sale, and. It didn't look too bad on him. As usual, Naruto turns more than a few heads, especially now that she's dressed up to the nines. Tenko makes sure to stick close to her, scowling hard as the eyes that follow her through the crowd. Not one of these bastards deserves to look at her like that, as if she's just there for them to stare at, as if that's all she's good for. Tenko meets the eye of one asshole in particular that's staring far too hard. He lets his last finger fall, holding the back of a chair (for support as the crowd is absolutely bustling) and the wood begins to instantly disintegrate. Fucker doesn't look their way again and Tenko grins, even as the motion pulls at his dried skin. That's another thing they need; moisturiser. More money to throw away. Now that metal-head is getting a job (he better be getting one, or Tenko will be having words) then maybe they'll finally be able to treat Naruto, instead of the other way around.

"Man, these things take ages," whines Naruto, slumping into her chair even as she kicks one leg up to cross over the other. Tenko wants to grunt in acknowledgement, but if he shows even the slightest hint of agreement, Naruto'll think she has an ally to her cause and spend the whole thing vividly describing how they could hurry the ceremony along. Or worse, actually go about speeding the proceedings up herself with the usual brand of mayhem. They cannot afford anyone, especially the great gathering of heroes here, paying them too much attention. If they look just a little too closely at Naruto's face, the might notice those thin whisker-like markings are startlingly similar to the thick lines the vigilante Maelstrom boasts. Then they'll be in deep shit; game over, blank black screen, no lives left. Tenko's in this for the long-haul, he wants to collect all the trophies, gather all the items and score all the points. He can't do that on the run. Because like hell would they manage to keep Naruto in jail.

"Be quiet, it's starting," Tenko hisses as Principal Nezu scurries out onto the stage. His rodent body is adorned with a simple black suit, a small red bowtie decorating his collar, cutting a sharp figure as he leaps atop the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for gathering here to celebrate this momentous occasion…" As the rodent blathers on, Tenko drifts off slightly, keeping an ear out for key words as he flicks through the handout. His hands itch for something more interactive but he forcibly makes-do with the pamphlet. Within, the entirety of the graduates from class A and B of the Heroics Department are listed, a long reel of names descending not alphabetically, but based upon their placement in the final year sources. He almost loses his shit when he spots that lazy-ass' name at the top. 'Uzumaki Dabi' is listed as the top student, representative of the graduating classes. Tenko has been the representative of his own year, so it's not exactly as if he's laughing at Dabi because the ass has proven himself a total nerd. No, he's much more amused by the fact the idiot will have to write his own graduation speech to address the audience with.

As if in cue, Nezu taps a tiny paw against his chest and coughs lightly into the other. Tenko hastily elbows Naruto, forcibly snapping her attention away from the building's many occupants and directing it to the front. Just in time for Dabi to rock up to the podium, graduation robes thrown hazardously on and utterly failing to hide the loose fitting white tee-shirt beneath.

"That absolute slob," hisses Tenko. The idiot has rocked up in his usual getup, not even attempting to hide the casual clothes he's got on underneath. If anything, he's only drawing more attention to it all with his lacklustre slouch and bored face. The artificial lighting catches in Dabi's dyed hair, the black locks trapping the light and refusing to reflect any back out. Which is all well and good, given the shine the multitude of facial piercings give off. A quick pinch to the arm has Tenko swearing under his breath, swatting Naruto's hand away from his vulnerable forearm.

"Dabi didn't bother dressing up."

"I can see. I'll kick his ass later."

.

Later takes forever to arrive. Once Dabi's address is over (and it's not actually half bad, but both Tenko and Dabi have been exposed to enough of Naruto's motivational speeches to pass any kind of presentation assignment with flying colours), Nezu goes back to rambling on about the achievements of the graduates. The only one Tenko pays any attention to is their pierced idiot, even as Naruto oohs and aahs over each person. She may whine about begin forced to dress up but, at her heart, Naruto's a people person. More so than Tenko or Dabi are (though the former's not even a close call, Tenko's never been great with the whole 'be friendly' thing).

As the ceremony drags on, Tenko relaxes into his seat, eyes trailing across the line-up of heroes that have chosen to attend this shindig. There's Hawks, the asshole that's been racing up the popularity rankings this year despite not having attended U.A., Best Jeanist beside him. That's the guy that's offered Tenko a start by begin a sidekick in his firm, only… Tenko'd turned him down. Perhaps he'd been listening a little too much to Naruto's impassioned rants, but he's got a bit of a dream. He doesn't want to become the best hero. No, he wants to create a team of heroes, an alliance so well rounded and productive that they'll be able to tackle anything. He wants to create a team, to influence society to follow that ideology. He doesn't want to see any other child be in the same position as he once was, waiting desperately for a hero to show up. Tenko'd been lucky. He'd not gotten a hero; he'd gotten something even better. But Naruto wasn't going to live forever. So he needs to make sure her ideals live on instead. Which is why he'd been waiting for Dabi to hurry his ass up and graduate before they really kick off their schemes. Speaking of…

Tenko squints, following Dabi's infuriated stare and pinpointing the target of his fierce blue glare as… Endeavour? A quick check but, nope, that's exactly who Staple-head is glaring at. Well, they both have fire quirks, he reasons, dry lips pursing as he glances between the two. It's funny because there's almost something familiar in the shape of their jaws and the hard slant to their… identical blue eyes. Tenko can feel his jaw loosen, can feel the stupefied expression slipping onto his face no matter how hard he tries to reel it in but he just can't help it. Is, is Dabi related to Endeavour? No, that can't be right, can it? Why the fuck would Dabi have been in the state that Naruto found him in if that were the case? If Dabi were the son of the Number Two hero in Japan, then… Then why the fuck wasn't he off living the high life? Why was he slumming it with Naruto and him? If he's right (and Tenko gets the terrible feeling that he is), then he's missing something. Something obvious. Dabi's whole body is covered in burn scars and the bastard always locks up tighter than Sony's coding. Tenko's not been able to unlock that tragic backstory yet but… but he gets the feeling that Naruto probably has. Hell, she's ventured through the minefield that is his own history. She's probably at the right level to have accessed the cause of Dabi's current form. Whatever mental breakdown had led to that. Tenko doesn't know; he'd always assumed that Dabi's scares were from his own flames; the blue blaze that he'd always struggled to control until Naruto took him under her wing. Paw. Whatever.

"Now who's not paying attention." Hissing a quiet 'fuck' under his breath, Tenko forcibly shakes Naruto's heel from his own sneaker covered foot (hey, he's in a suit, he never proclaimed he'd be wearing the matching dress shoes) and climbs to his feet a few breaths after everybody else. He claps along politely, back cringing in pain and he subtly shifts in an attempt to stretch the muscles out. It could be worse, he supposes. U.A. could opt for a summer graduation when the temperatures are soaring. At least he's not melting into his seat. "Come on," Naruto chirps with far too much cheer, hand clamping down on his wrist, "let's go find him." Before he can get a word in edgeways, the redhead tows his off, bulldozing through the crowd at a rapid rate. Tenko doesn't even attempt to offer up apologies for her brash behaviour; he's already got one full-time job waiting for him, he's got no desire to give it up for another one.

"Naruto?"

"Dabi!" Naruto releases his hand in time to throw herself at Dabi, scooping the lanky teenager up into her arms and easily ignoring the fact he's more than half a foot taller than her. Staple-face hangs limply in her grasp, well aware that there's no point in attempting to escape. She'd just hunt him down anyway. Besides, Tenko's pretty sure the fucker loves her over-the-top affection; he's seen him blush enough times to back up that conclusion. "Top of the class! That's both of you, so that's a full house now!"

"Didn't you scrap through your own graduation by the skin of your teeth?"

"Eh?!" Naruto peels herself back and away from Dabi, holding him at an arm's length to inspect his smug face with a frown of her own. "No! You're not allowed to comment on that! Besides, I failed and got through on a technicality so it doesn't count," she mumbles the last bit to herself, scowling but never releasing Dabi from her arms. It's round about this time that Tenko decides it's time to make himself known, elbowing his way past his idiot of a mentor to flick the dark-haired idiot on the forehead. Not the jaw because chances are good he'd end up hitting some kind of metal and just do himself an injury.

"Congratulations, Staple-face. Top of the class. Are you ready to step out into the real world now?" Dabi huffs, raking own hand through his hair. It's irritating that Tenko can't figure out if that action was something Dabi picked up from him, or something he picked up from Dabi. It's a gesture they're both well practiced in, however; clear evidence of just how intertwined with one another they are now. His partner in crime, so to speak. Well, not crime, but revolution of the hero industry. Tenko is in this to make everything more efficient, to ensure there's always team of heroes ready to tackle everything, so that no one is ever left behind in this society. Dabi… as far as Tenko's aware, Dabi is in this to prove what it means to be a true hero. Not someone in it for the money, the popularity, the prestige. But someone who genuinely wants to help people, to save others. Nothing more, nothing less. Tenko has no idea of the technicalities, but Dabi as set as a rock with this mindset. And, well, it meshes well with Tenko's desires. Naruto… Naruto's so proud of them already that it makes his head spin. She'll be proud of them no matter what they achieve. Tenko's going to strive to be the best, to redefine heroism and its workings within civilisation anyway.

Azure eyes straying over to the Flame Hero once more, Dabi clenches his jaw and then meets Tenko's hard stare.

"Fuck yeah."

.

.

"Well, Uzumaki-san is certainly a character," Shota mutters, face half buried in his capture tape. He's not had the pleasure of teaching this year's graduating class seeing as he joined up in the last semester of term, but he's talked with the other staff. Uzumaki Dabi (a false name but the boy'd closed up like a clam when prodded for the truth so they'd left it alone for now) is riddled with scars and has more piercing than Shota'd know what to do with. But his quirk is strong (perhaps he's even got the strongest fire quirk in the world right now, Shota can't say for certain unless he went head to head with Endeavour).

"Mmm, Dabi-kun has certainly improved since his first year; that's 'round about the time he managed to get around the drawback of his quirk. I'm not quite sure what it is, he never told me how it affects him, but, well, it's not an issue now, I guess." Shota hums in agreement, watching the year's best student get lifted off his feet by a redhead woman. Clearly, it's a regular occurrence given the boy just goes limp and takes it like a champ. Poor kid.

"I was unaware that Uzumaki-san lived with Shimura-kun though."

There's a hacking cough and the scent of blood taints the air, Shota spinning around to find the source. It's the blond man Nezu had invited, half-hunched over with red dripping between his skeletal fingers. And he does mean skeletal; Shota's too many anorexic cases in his line of work, people who have fallen and not been able to find the energy to run from a major incident. But, it's not the typical case, not here. There's some muscle to this man, to Nezu's guest, who stares at the principal with brilliant blue eyes.

"Shimura?" Nezu hums, the noise animalistic compared to his usual range as he bobs his head.

"Shimura Tenko graduated at the top of his class last year. I had a feeling he knew Uzumaki-san given how similar they both move, but it appears they are closer than I first anticipated." The blond man glances back at the trio, the woman and the two teenagers, and there's a strange kind of desperation to his face. Shota's seen it before; it's the expression of a person that daren't allow a hope to catch, that's hesitant to even consider a thought because if it's wrong than it'll cut deeper than the sharpest knife. He doesn't get much more time to think on it, however, for Nezu commands Shota's attention once again as he addresses his mysterious guest. "Well, Toshinori. Have any of them caught your eye?" There's a pregnant pause, this 'Toshinori' struggling to remove his eyes from the trio in order to return his attention to the principal.

"I… no. None of the graduates have really…" he trails off, as if realising it'd be rude to claim none have stood out. Instead, another awkward silence stews and Shota decides he's had quite enough of it. He's got planning for the new year to focus on, after all.

.

I guess this is so I can work in my usual safe zone (female Naruto or female Harry) while getting to grips with writing BNHA, which I ma caught up with :)

So, if you're into that, enjoy?

Tsume
xxx