And we back guys. Let me just say thanks to those of you who take those few extra seconds out your day to leave a review and leave ideas. It really does help keep us writers motivated to continue. Anyways I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far and hope you'll like what's to come. Also just to clarify something for you guys, the endgame pairing for the story is Naruto x Sae. You'll get some insight into their situation in this chapter. However along the way you will see him with others such as last chapter with Takemi. Anyways with that cleared up let's get on with the chapter.

Leblanc attic next day

The Phantom Thieves had once again congregated to their leaders room after a long day in Mementos. They had taken the older blonds' advice and headed there for training, though they didn't take on a reaper as their power was still beyond them. They'd spent a good four hours going down floor by floor fighting all the shadows they could find.

"Man I'm beat." Ann groaned as she laid down on Ren's couch, ignoring Ryuji's agitated cry as her foot grazed the top of his head as she did so. "I haven't been this tired since I first awakened my persona. But honestly, don't you think this will take too long?" She asked after she'd gotten comfortable.

Their leader ran a hand through his hair and exhaled in slight frustration. "Sadly we don't have any other choice. We can't fight a reaper so the normal shadows in Mementos will have to do."

"I can understand your frustration, with every palace we visit the shadows seem to be getting more powerful. The guards in Kaneshiro's palace proved that. However Mementos isn't doing much for us in terms of getting stronger either." Makoto added with a tone of disappointment.

Yusuke, who'd been looking out the window turned his attention to the young woman, making a camera out of his thumb and index fingers on both hands and pointed it at her. "So how will we overcome this problem?"

The group stayed silent for a few minutes each thinking of possible solutions. After a brief period of silence Ryuji was the next to speak. "I have an idea." Everybody turned their attention to him, none expecting anything remotely useful to come out of his mouth. "Naruto".

"What about him?" Morgana asked from the windowsill.

"Why don't we ask him to join us? Sure he's a little older than us and it'll be a little weird but he could be the muscle of the team." He pitched.

Unfortunately for him his hopes were shot down as Ren shook his head. "He wouldn't join us. While he does believe in what we're doing he won't risk possibly going to jail and leaving his son alone."

Ann turned onto her side resting her head on an open palm. "Well how about instead of having him join us we try and get him to help us out. He already said he observed us fighting and found flaws. He should have some idea on how we can improve."

Morgana hummed in thought. "That's more of a possibility. He's got well over a decade more experience than us and his power is on another level."

"He did manage to take out a reaper by himself in less than 30 seconds. Not to mention his persona gave off an aura of power like nothing we've felt up until now." Yusuke added.

Ryuji smiled and punched his palm in anticipation. "It's worth a shot. It would really help us out. We don't have another target yet so if we convince him fast enough we can get some training in soon." He said all fired up.

Ren turned to Makoto "What do you think? Will he be willing to help us?" He asked knowing she would have the best guess due to their relation.

"It's possible he'd be willing to help us. What we do helps him in a way as well so we have that going for us. The only issue would be finding time for him to train us." She replied.

"What about after school around the same time as yesterday?" Ann asked finally sitting up right.

Makoto shook her head no. "If his schedule is still the same it won't work. He takes my nephew to school then has business meetings for most of the morning. After that he picks him up and takes him home. In order to train us he'd have to have someone babysit for a few hours and use whatever free time he has on us." She explained. As she spoke she could see her friends loosing hope by the word.

"Damn it! If only he were our age this would be a whole lot easier." Ryuji grumbled.

"Wait!" Makoto said suddenly, startling a few of them. "What day is it?"

Ann pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. "The 11th why?"

"We might be able to get him to help us for a week at least. Every month from the 15-20th my sister gets the days off from work because those are her days with Hajime." She explained.

Yusuke frowned slightly as he took in the information. "I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries by asking but, your sister only gets 6 days a month with her son? That seems a bit…miniscule."

"Yeah, but that was one of the terms they agreed to. I'd rather not give details as it doesn't feel right giving out sensitive information like that." Everyone nodded in understanding, knowing it wasn't really any of their business.

"Of course I apologize for asking." To his relief Makoto wasn't offended by his prodding.

"Alright so we're good then right?" Ryuji asked. The guy had a few days free coming up, it was perfect timing. His good mood was once again brought back down by the leader shaking his head.

"It might not be that simple." He said in his usual soft spoken voice.

"Man what now?" The blond asked in defeat. It seemed like after everything seemed to be looking up something would immediately bring them back down.

Ann having had enough of the delinquents whining leaned over and smacked him upside the head with a frown on her face. "Calm down. Honestly it's to be expected that our schedules wouldn't line up. He's an adult with a job and responsibilities. He can't just go around like we can."

"Why do you believe it won't be simple? Do you know something?" Yusuke asked. As far as he and the others knew there were no other issues that could interfere.

"Yesterday after leaving from his place we went to Leblanc. Sojiro had me give him a hand around the shop and I found out that Naruto knew Dr. Takemi, the one that supplies us with medicine. They chatted for a while and he invited her over for a drink at his place. I had to wash dishes so I don't know what they laughed about after that but she agreed and mentioned something about wanting breakfast in bed in the morning." He said, his cheeks gaining a small pink tint. The others too had similar reactions as they all knew the implications.

Morgana jumped onto the table and spoke "So he has 6 days for himself and he could either spend it with us or with his lady friend. It's not looking good for us."

Makoto fake coughed to get their attention. "Yes well, my ex brother in law's love life aside we should still ask. It's our best chance to get stronger quickly."

Ren nodded in agreement. It wasn't looking good for them but it was worth a shot. "Message him. Ask if we can meet him again. It'll be better to do it in person." Everyone agreed and hovered over Makoto's shoulder as she typed the message and sent. Hopefully he'd get back to them faster than last time.

With Naruto

"….and then grandma got mad and started hitting him in the head." Hajime laughed as he recounted something Jiraiya did to upset Tsunade. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head, they'd been married well over 40 years and the man still hadn't learned apparently.

He was about to take a bite of his food when his phone buzzed. Glancing at the screen he saw it was a message from Makoto. She and her friends wanted to meet with him again soon. He rubbed his chin, quickly going over his schedule for the next few days in his head. A minute later he replied saying he'd be available in 4 days if that worked for them.

Before he even had time to put his phone down after replying the phone buzzed again. They said that was perfect and they'd be at his house at 5. He put the phone down choosing not to reply and finished his meal in peace. Taking the last bite he glanced at the clock and saw he still had an hour or two before it would get dark.

"Alright little guy come on we have to go to the store. Your shoes got ruined in the rain and I won't have you walking around in beat up shoes." He told Hajime as he picked him up.

The little boy smiled. "Can I get the red car ones with the holes in them?" He asked.

"You're not getting crocs." Naruto replied instantly ignoring his child's pout.

4 days later

"You sure you didn't forget anything? We can still go back." Naruto asked the little boy much to said boys annoyance.

"I didn't forget anything dad." He answered for the fourth time in thirty minutes.

The older blond just rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled "Ok just making sure." He said as they stopped in front of a dark brown door and knocked.

After a couple of seconds the sound of footsteps got closer and closer until the door finally opened. "Auntie" Hajime yelled as he saw the young woman.

Makoto smiled at the little boy hugging her leg and kneeled down to give him a proper hug and listen to him ramble on about something that happened at school. Naruto smiled as she nodded along and made small comments to let him know she was listening.

"Hello Makoto. Is Sae in?" Naruto asked.

She stood up straight and patted her skirt down before stepping aside letting him in. "Yes she's just getting dressed. I'll let her know you're here." She said before letting her sister know they were here.

"I'll be right out." She yelled back.

"Would you like something to drink?" Makoto offered. He hummed in thought before agreeing. He took a seat on one of their couches and thanked her as she placed a cup of water on the small coffee table in front of him.

The brown haired girl headed back into the kitchen to do the dishes, and for the next few minutes he simply watched the news on tv. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and turning he saw his child's mom. Rather than the usual black or grey suit she wore she was dressed in a black pullover dress that stopped a little past the knees as well as matching black knee high heeled boots. Though you couldn't see the top of the boots as they were covered by the dress.

Sae smiled as she saw her little boy putting his backpack down and kneeled while calling him over. "Hello sweetie" She hugged the boy and kissed the top of his head and both of his cheeks. "Oh? Are those new shoes?" She asked rhetorically knowing they were.

"Yeah dad bought them for me you like them?" He turned to the left and right so she could get a good look.

"I love them they look real nice." He beamed at her response. "Makoto come get Hajime's backpack and get a fresh set of clothes ready for him." She told her sister.

The young woman was a bit apprehensive about leaving the two along but did as she was told. She took little Hajime by the hand and slung his backpack over her shoulder while talking to him as they headed into the room.

Now alone Sae took a seat in the couch opposite him. "Is there anything I should be aware of?" She asked, her face showing no emotion.

"They're starting basic math at his school and he's having a little trouble. He can count well but the basic subtraction kinda trips him up." He took a breath before continuing. "He has worksheets in his backpack that are due in two days. Make sure you explain to him how to do it but don't solve them for him." He said putting emphasis on the word 'you'.

Sae narrowed her eyes as she caught the jab. "I'm not going to neglect my own child's education. No matter what you may think."

Similarly the blond narrowed his eyes back. "Makoto." He called out loud.

The woman came back out to the living room slightly confused as to why she was being called. "Yes?"

"In the past month what time does Sae leave to work and what time does she come back?" He asked.

"Uhh, she usually leaves early in the morning and gets home after the sun sets." She replied slowly wondering where this was going. Though from the atmosphere in the room and the look on her older sisters face she could tell it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Uhu." Naruto nodded "Do you have breakfast here every morning?" he asked.

"No. I buy something at school." She replied starting to feel a little uncomfortable at the faux interrogation.

"Dinner?" Makoto replied that she cooked for both women. "Does she ever make some time for you? Listen to any problems you may be having in school or in your personal life? Lend an ear or give you advice?"

Shit. She knew where this was going. She stayed silent refusing to answer, she didn't know if that was the right move or not as she could feel her sisters piercing stare on her.

"I'd like to ask a favor of you." That made her look back up. "I don't want you babysitting Hajime these next few days he's here."

"Alright that's enough!" Sae finally snapped. "I'm not going to pawn off the responsibility of raising my son to someone else."

Naruto scoffed "I wouldn't put it passed you. If I recall correctly one call from work is all it takes." He shot back. Sae looked down at her lap, her hands gripping the edges of her dress. The room was silent for the next minute or so before she spoke.

"Leave" She whispered though with how quiet it was she might as well have spoken normally. Luckily at that moment their son walked out, fresh set of clothing on and was holding a crayon and telling Makoto he'd be right back.

The mans face immediately changed upon seeing the boy and a smile was put in place. "Alright little man you be good alright? I'll see you in a few days." The boy nodded but like always he looked slightly sad that he was leaving. He pulled him into a quick hug and ruffled his hair before saying goodbye to the women only one of which responded.

Once he left the apartment complex he ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck that was a low blow." He said to himself feeling slightly bad about what had gone down. He shook his head and headed home, he needed a drink.

An hour later

After that little spat with Sae he'd completely forgotten that he was supposed to have company today. When they knocked on his door he answered a little more aggressively than he should have. "I'm sorry, please come in." He said having taken a deep breath.

The group of students and cat followed him through his home, no one saying anything until Yusuke spoke. "Excuse me but is everything alright? You seem a bit…" He trailed off not knowing exactly what word to use.

Naruto smiled at them as he sat down. "I apologize. I had a conversation with my ex wife earlier that could've been handled a lot better and it got me a little moody. I didn't mean to snap at you kids." He looked to Makoto who decided to look down when he explained himself. "And I'm sorry for getting you involved in our argument, I shouldn't have done that."

"It's alright. Sis got over it pretty quickly after you left. They're actually at the movies right now watching a movie. She promised him they'd go the next time they were together." She told him.

He nodded. "So what can I do for you? I thought we had resolved everything last time we met?"

Ren cleared his throat and began to speak. "We need your help." The blond raised an eyebrow. "We need to get stronger but we don't seem to have much time. Mementos shadows are too weak but the reapers are too powerful. That only leaves us with one option."

Makoto took over from there "We're hoping you could train us."

"Train you?" He asked

Morgana jumped out of Ren's backpack and sat in front of the man. "We know that these next few days your son is with his mom and you might have better things to do than to help some kids. But think about it, what we're doing works to your favor. We target the same kind of people only we take it a step further. We can help you make a better world for your son." He pitched.

Naruto leaned back and closed his eyes. "They do have a point. If they're stronger they could be of some use to me."

"Also you owe me for today." Makoto added interrupting his thoughts. His eyes widened before they closed and he laughed silently to himself much to the groups confusion.

"Yeah I guess I do. Alright, I have a deal that can help everyone." Those sitting down leaned forward, curious as to what he was going to propose. "First let me ask this, how do you guys choose your targets?" They explain to him about the phan site and how the users leave names of people who need a change of heart.

"After that we just choose the biggest name." Ryuji finished.

Naruto nodded "I'll train you, in exchange I ask that you look into certain people for me every now and then."

"You want us to work for you?" Yusuke asked glancing at his team to gauge their reactions.

"Only occasionally. Plus I happen to know some people in the SIU, the group that's looking into you, with some pretty dirty laundry. If the heat gets too high I'll have a buddy of mine send a couple anonymous letters from the phantom thieves letting them know that you know their secrets. They should back off for a little while after that."

The group looked to Ren who had his hands clasped together in front of him as he thought about it. While it wasn't exactly what they were here for it could work in their favor. Especially if he did know secrets about the SIU.

"So how about it? I'd say it's a pretty good deal."

And that's it for this chapter. In case some were wondering no he's not going to be a phantom thief. He will be more of a guide/mentor who will help them out every now and then. Next chapter you'll see some action as their training begins. And if you didn't read the AN at the top i'll reiterate that the main pairing will be Naruto x Sae even though it may not look the best right now. Anyways if you guys have suggestions or comments feel free to leave them in a review or PM me.