A/N: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

"So are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?"

Naruto raised her head from her bowl of ramen, blue eyes blinking as Jiraiya took a sip of his sake. His eyes never left hers as various customers looked up from their menu, their eyes eager to catch a glimpse of her mentor. Even though she knew Jiraiya was famous all over the world for his books, it still makes her blink whenever someone wants to see him.

She shook her head. "What elephant? Won't I notice if there is an elephant in here?"

"That might have been cute when you were twelve but we both know that you aren't dumb," Jiraiya took a sip of his sake as Naruto blinked. A small smile almost played on her lips as the girl stared at the man that she probably could consider her savior.

"I thought I could try."

Jiraiya ruffled her hair. "I probably would have fallen for it if your teacher didn't mention that you got the highest score in your entrance exam to your school."

She nibbled her bottom lip as a pair of black eyes focused on her. No emotions shone through them but from the way he kept glancing at the other high school students, Naruto presumed that he had questions for her. She inhaled a deep breath, straightened her back and waited for the barrel of questions that was definitely going to be thrown her way.

"So you decided to become a Hero," Jiraiya kept his tone light and easy as if they were discussing about the weather then the fact she was drifting away from the path of a shinobi. Naruto chewed on the inside of her cheek, pushing her noodles back and forth as black eyes stared at her with concern.

She gulped down her soda. "I don't know."

Jiraiya blinked and Naruto wondered what he expected her to say. Did he think she knew what she was doing? Did he honestly believe she wanted to remain a kunoichi? She nibbled her bottom lip and waited for him to say something. Was he going to try and convince her to stay a kunoichi? Because it had never been her choice. All the things she done was because of acknowledgment, because she wanted to make her dead parents proud.

"Then why did you join?"

"My teacher thought it would be a waste for me to work in a café full time," Naruto admitted. Jiraiya blinked as the blond-haired girl took a sip of her soda, her lips pushing the glass back and forth. "He says I'm a bright child with a bright future ahead of myself. So he suggested I either become a Hero or a Policewoman."

Jiraiya bobbed his head. "But why a hero?"

"More money I guess," Naruto shrugged. "Maybe because I can fight and rescue people? I don't really know but I just know I like it more than the idea of being a kunoichi."

Silence reined between them as black eyes grew large at her admission. She nibbled her bottom lip as her body tensed up for the words that were definitely going to come. It felt like time was slowing down as her teacher opened and closed his mouth, just staring at her like she was insane. Maybe she was insane but she doesn't want to be a kunoichi.

She never wanted to be a kunoichi for the right reasons.

"You can't stop being a kunoichi, Naruto." Jiraiya lowered his voice and flickered his eyes at the various people coming in and out of the ramen stand. "You might be exiled from Konoha but this hasn't evoked your rights as a kunoichi. If the village is ever in trouble then you need—"

"—And I will," Naruto cleared her throat and inhaled. "But I don't have to be a shinobi to protect the village."

Death to traitors.

That was one of the shinobi rules they were forced to memorize as kids and Naruto knew she could never kill someone. How could she allow herself to kill someone? Even if they were traitors. She sucked in a deep breath as Jiraiya stared at her with concern. Her heart clenched and her throat burned as the deceased Yakuza members flashed before her eyes.

They did horrible things and she felt like this.

What if Konoha asked her to murder a friend? To murder Sasuke or Hinata? Her throat burned and her hands began to tremble as Jiraiya stared at her with concern.

"Naruto, what's going through your head? Why are you having doubts about being a kunoichi?" Jiraiya frowned. "Didn't you scream to everyone about how you are going to become Hokage? Why the change of heart?"

"The Hokage must put the village first before their own needs," Jiraiya blinked and Naruto took in a deep breath. "They must be willing to sacrifice their life for the village and make decisions even if it breaks their heart—I can't do it."

Maybe this was her definition of Hokage but Naruto doubt that a Hokage could make decisions based on their feelings. Everyone mentioned she failed as a kunoichi and a shinobi, because of her behaviour. It was true because she couldn't make the same decisions like the other shinobi. Instead of keeping quiet during some of their missions, she chose to be loud and flashy. Naruto grimaced and stared down at her food. That should have been her first indicator that she just wasn't cut out for the job.

Jiraiya pressed his lips into a thin line and lowered his voice to the point that she had to stain her ear. "Naruto, I understand where you are coming from but the council won't accept your request. As soon as these six years are up, they will demand that either you come back or they kill you."

Naruto inhaled and exhaled as her jaw clenched at those words. Why must she follow what they want? What about what she wanted? She didn't have the heart of a kunoichi. She cried and still scrubbed her hands with soap every night before she sleep.

"Is there anyway that they would just let me do as I wish?" Naruto closed her eyes.

Jiraiya regarded her. "Tsunade would give it to you with a heartbeat but she isn't the one that you need to convince when our six years are up."

"I have to convince the shinobi council." Jiraiya nodded and pressed his lips into a thin line as Naruto clenched her hands into a fist. Would this have been the scenario if she just simply decided not to be a kunoichi? She grinded her teeth together and clenched her hands into a fist.

Jiraiya grimaced. "The three elders are set in their ways, Naruto and it takes a lot to convince them. When Tsunade requested to leave, Sarutobi-sensei had to remind them that Tsunade had helped them win a lot of wars and provided more medical knowledge than any other medical nin. The least they could do was allow her to grieve in her own way. So if we are going to convince them then you need to do something to that measure."

"Uzumaki-san!"

Naruto blinked and twisted her body around as Togata rushed up to her while a tall man stood behind him. He looked so stoic if you asked her. There wasn't a single smile gracing on his lips nor did his eyes shone with any emotions as Togata rushed towards them with a smile. Jiraiya turned to her, eyebrows raised.

"Friend of yours?"

The blond-haired girl tilted her head, eyebrows scrunched together as she contemplated over what to tell her teacher. He just wanted to get to know me because I can help him with Amajiki's crush. Those words were on the tip of her tongue but then she remembered how he visited her. He didn't have to visit her with Nejire.

So maybe he was a friend?

"Yup."

Jiraiya beamed as Togato slowed down to reach them. The older boy hopped into the seat right beside her as the other tall man sighed and took a seat right beside him. Black eyes flickered between her and her teacher while his tall friend frowned, looking at Jiraiya with a thoughtful look. Probably another fan of Jiraiya and his perverted books.

"Hi Togata-senpai." Naruto offered him a tight smile as the ramen stand owner asked her senior for his meal. The boy beamed at her and flickered his eyes from the five empty bowls of ramen piled right in front of her to her mentor.

"Is this your guardian, Uzumaki?" Togato tilted his head and scrunched his eyebrows as Jiraiya flickered his eyes between them.

Naruto nodded. "Togato-senpai meet Ero-Sennin—"

"—How many times have I told you not to call me that in public?"

"Ero-Sennin meet Togato-senpai." Togato laughed nervously while his tall, weird friend kept flickering his eyes from her to her teacher. For someone that seemed stoic, the man seemed awfully amused by the nickname she gave to her teacher.

Togata laughed. "Why do you call your guardian Ero-Sennin?"

"Because his hobbies are acting like a pervert and—"

Several eyes blinked as Jiraiya covered her mouth with his large hand. Naruto raised her eyebrow, brought her hand up to pull it down but the man insisted to keep his hand on her lips. Togata just blinked while his friend looked at her teacher with disgust. Another closet pervert like Ebisu. She nodded as the man flickered his eyes at them.

"Togata, would you like to introduce me to your junior?"

Her senior laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost like he got his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Sorry Sir, I just got so excited to see Uzumaki."

The man made no comment and just stared at her, his eyes lingered on her bright blond hair and then fell down to her blue eyes. Yellow eyes seemed to grow larger as if a light bulb came out and that worried her. Naruto darted her eyes to Jiraiya, her hand reaching to pull up her hoodie as the man regarded her.

"Sir Nighteye, this is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto blinked as her senior waved his hand at her. "Uzumaki meet Sir Nighteye. I'm doing my internship with him."

Naruto tilted her head. "Internship?"

"Right I forgot that you are a first year," Togata muttered. "You know how the Sports Festival is coming up right? And how it is televised all around the world right?"

Naruto plastered a smile and nodded while Jiraiya pressed his lips into a thin line, eyebrows knitted together and his expression turning completely grim. Why was he making that kind of expression? She nibbled her lips and flickered her eyes to the Toad Sannin.

Black eyes flashed with concern and thoughtfulness as his eyes seemed fixated on her. Why was he giving her that look? What was he concern about? It was just some Sport event that the school threw. Even the middle schools did it except it had never been televised on television before.

Did she even remember about it?

Naruto nibbled her lips as she recalled how some of her fellow waiters seemed to have known the name of her seniors, even though it had been their first time in the café. Naruto poked her tongue against her cheek. Okay, so there were certain things that she didn't pay much attention to when it came to socializing with them.

"Well not only does the Sport Festival allows you to show your skills off to the world but it is a chance to impress a hero," Togata bobbed his head. "You need to show everything off if you wanna get an internship offer or else the school will provide for you."

"If I do an internship then I will be doing Hero's work?"

Sir Nighteye shook his head. "It doesn't exactly work like that, Uzumaki-san. Since you are in your very first year of school, you will be given duties that requires you to shadow your hero or help them with duties that won't put you in danger like helping them with rescue operations."

Naruto hummed. "So I will just see what a hero can do, right?"

"That is the point of your internship, yes."

Maybe she would have a better idea of whether or not she wanted to actually become a hero, if she did this whole internship thing.

(Next day)

"Uzumaki, you are back!"

"Are you sure that you should be coming back to school after what happened last week?"

Naruto closed her eyes and forced herself to smile as her classmates hovered over her. Ashido kept glancing at her face while Yaoyorozu kept telling her about how she should take some time off. The boys seemed to be hanging to the side, nodding their heads in agreement as the school bell rang to signal the start of homeroom.

"Everyone go back to your seats!" Iida stood up from his seat and swirled his head at them. "It is improper for us to be outside of our seats when homeroom is about to begin!"

She let out a sigh of relief as her classmates shuffled back to their seats, their heads always turning back to look at her. Naruto offered them a large smile before slumping back to her seat, eyes focused on the door before darting back to Todoroki. Her friend stared at her, head tilted to the side and eyes fixated on her empty desk.

"Your Guardian came?"

Naruto bobbed her head. "Yesterday."

Todoroki regarded her, his eyes fixated on her eyes before moving down to her lips. He bobbed his head as if something about her face confirmed his suspicions, which would be strange because she was still acting the same girl. Maybe not as distant and mistrustful hopefully, but definitely the same.

"You're happy to be out of the hospital."

She snorted. "Would anyone be happy to stay in a hospital for a week? All I could do was watch some boring movie or read some magazines or do homework."

Todoroki nodded. "Did my notes help?"

"You were my savior." Naruto bobbed her head as her brain tried to think of how to thank her friend for saving her the trouble of catching up. Soba noodles would be a way to thank him, wouldn't it? Naruto nodded deeply. Yup it would be her best idea for her friend, although she might need to do some experimenting with it.

"I didn't save you."

Naruto felt her lips twitched as a laugh bubbled its way up her throat. She gulped it down, only offering the boy a tiny smile. "You saved me the headache of trying to catch up with everyone."

Todoroki tilted his head, eyebrows knitted together and finally nodded. He flickered his eyes to her face, lips pressed into a thin line and the smile on Naruto's face faded as a realization dawn upon her. He couldn't possibly still blame himself for what happened, could he? She shook her head.

The door to their homeroom slid open and Naruto tilted her head, eyes flashing with joy at the sight of Aizawa. Compared to yesterday, Aizawa seemed to look a lot better. The dark circles under his eyes seemed less and the bandages that covered his head yesterday, seemed to have completely disappeared.

The only hint of what happened in USJ was the scar peeking through his right eye.

"Good morning." Aizawa made his way to the podium and clicked his heels together. "Now that everyone is here, we can start talking about your next challenge."

"Challenge?" Bakugou grumbled.

"Are we fighting villains?" Mineta cried.

Aizawa shook his head.

"The Yuuei Sport Festival is drawing near!"

The anxious atmosphere changed into excitement as screams and cheers erupted throughout the whole classroom. Naruto flickered her eyes to the window as her mind wandered back to the conversation from yesterday. If she did well then she would get offers to do internship, meaning she might have an idea of whether or not she wanted to be a Hero.

She nibbled her bottom lip as her hands reached for her pockets, where Jiraiya's latest book rested. It was one of the unreleased copies of his books, the one that he wanted her to correct before handing it to his editor. Even if she didn't become a hero or a kunoichi, she could just always be Jiraiya's editor.

Although it wasn't all that fun when the lines were corny.

"Are you okay, Uzumaki?"

Naruto tilted her head and flickered her eyes to Todoroki. "Todoroki, why did you decide to become a Hero?"

Todoroki blinked and tilted his head at her. His eyebrows scrunched together as if this was the first time someone asked him about his reason to be a hero. Maybe it was the first time someone asked him because Naruto doubt his father gave him much choice. He frowned.

"I don't remember."

Naruto blinked. "Your asshole of a father didn't force you to become a hero?"

Todoroki shook his head, knitted his eyebrows together and then regarded her. "Why? Are you having doubts about being a hero?"

"I don't know if I want to be a Hero from the bottom of my heart or if I'm just here for the ride," she admitted, leaning closer to him. Mismatch eyes didn't show any emotions which made her feel warm and grateful, because the thought of him or anyone judging her made her want to frown.

A white scarf zipped through the various students, wrapped itself around Naruto and jerked her back to her seat. She blinked when the scarf loosened to reveal her teacher pressing his lips into a frown, while their various classmates flickered their eyes between her and Todoroki.

"Pay attention you two!" Aizawa barked. "As I was saying, you will gain valuable experience and will gain popularity if a famous hero picks you."

Naruto blinked and frowned, realizing that she missed most of his speech. She darted her eyes to Midoriya, making a mental note to corner her classmate and question him about the speech that Aizawa had given them.

Their teacher straightened his back. "You don't have much time to show those Heroes, your determination and your skills. All of you need to work hard and not mess things up—this event only happens once a year."

If she impressed all the heroes then she would have a whole list to choose, right? That meant she would have a better chance of knowing whether or not she wanted to be a Hero.

"It is important that you show your skills, Shouto!"

Shouto clenched and unclenched his fist as Enji stood in front of his bedroom door, hands folded against his chest and eyes blazing with determination. Had it been too much for him to hope that the asshole wouldn't talk about it again? Shouto took several deep breaths, calming down his boiling blood.

"I won't use my fire side."

His father didn't growl nor did he ask him why, instead he just narrowed his eyes and looked at him like he was a fool. Shouto clenched his jaw. Nothing in the world would make him use that side of him. He could defeat his opponents by just using his mother's Quirk; not his father's blasted Quirk.

"You won't ever reach the top if you just use one side of your Quirk." Enji took several deep breaths and flickered his eyes around the room. His sapphire eyes avoided him, which suited Shouto just fine because he didn't even want to look at those eyes. He hated those eyes just as much as he despised his own eye.

"Watch me," he narrowed his eyes. "I won't use my fire side."

Enji grinded his teeth. "You won't ever surpass All Might with just your ice."

Todoroki, why did you decide to become a hero?

The question floated in his head, nudging him as a pair of eyes flashed before him. Shouto grinded his teeth while the Number Two Hero stared at him like he was somekind of punk. The bastard didn't even try to understand why he doesn't want to use it. He grinded his teeth as his mother's words floated in his ear.

'He is starting to look more like him."

He would never use the fire side that belonged to his father.

Enji pressed his lips into a thin line, sapphire eyes turning completely blank as he regarded the second batch of photocopied notes on his table. It had been his plan to hand the notes to Uzumaki yesterday but the bastard cornered him, telling him that they needed to go through some training for the Sports Festival.

"Has your friend been released from the hospital?"

Shouto narrowed his eyes as a sense of dread build upon him. His shitty old man never asked about Uzumaki, always cursed her and blamed her for his behavior which was stupid since Uzumaki didn't affect him in that way. He grinded his teeth, waiting for his father to make some stupid comment.

"Yes."

Enji nodded as his sapphire eyes turned calculating and cold, almost reminding Shouto of the days when the man pushed Touya too far. His father wouldn't plan something underhanded, would he? No, he would never do something like this. Sweat build up around his palms as Shouto prayed that his father wouldn't involve Uzumaki in his scheme.

If he wanted him to surpass All Might then he just needed to beat All Might's child and his father would just leave him and Uzumaki alone.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter. What do you think of Jiraiya and Naruto's relationship so far? What do you think of the rewrite? Does the pace and the storyline seemed to flow more smoothly? And the development of the relationships between characters?