Chapter 19:
A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, as well as everyone who has followed and favorited this story.
"So, he'll be arriving while I'm away at the internship?" Naruto asked Haru.
"From what Jiraiya told me, yes." He told the blonde sitting across from him.
"Will I be able to see him before his mission officially begins?" He asked, desperation beginning to seep into his voice.
"I don't know Naruto, it depends on the speed of things, but I do think you will be able to." Haru told him, which brought a small but genuine smile to the blondes face.
For a man that hadn't been battling fellow shinobi in a while, Naruto did have to give him credit. While it seemed that he didn't keep up with his chakra exercises as much, he definitely wasn't rusty with his kenjutsu. Although the more Naruto thought about it, the more it made sense as that is what he used to take down "fake" heroes.
Naruto's first attack did take the man by surprise, and Naruto was able to get the man's shoulder pretty deeply before he moved out of the way and held up his own blades. But it was very obvious to Naruto that his one hand was out of commission as he was shaking as he held his one blade, the other still and steady.
Locking eyes with each other, it seemed to Naruto that neither wanted their true identity revealed to their onlookers. They silently came to the agreement that they would stick strictly to kenjutsu.
Once both came to this agreement, Stain wasted no time taking out two kunai and throwing them at Naruto, who was able to dodge them and ran towards Stain, hoping to engage in more close-range combat.
Despite not being able to use chakra, Naruto was able to make it over there fairly quickly and swung at the man's legs but was blocked by his blade. Stain than tried to use his other hand to slash at Naruto's stomach, but this was stopped by Naruto's other bald as he used the one by Stain's legs to nick his arm before cutting him deeply in the stomach.
Jumping back and hissing at his new injuries, Stain threw another four kunai at Naruto, who was able to dodge all but one that embedded itself in his leg.
"Naruto!" Yelled Midoriya. Up until now, the cries of his classmates had fallen on deaf ears as Naruto focused on his fight with Stain, but the kunai in his leg reminded him that he needed to pay attention to all of his surroundings and not just the man in front of him.
"Leave at kunai in! Don't take it out! His quirk allows him to paralyze you as soon as he licks your blood!" Midoriya continued from where he sat on the floor, his adrenaline rush beginning to wear off as he was no longer the one fighting, the pain in his legs becoming more real to him and preventing him from standing.
"Oh?" Naruto said, mildly interested as he quickly glanced back at his classmate with his eyebrows raised before looking at the Hero Killer. "My, my, what an interesting kekki genkai you have there. You know, I used to hear stories about a clan that had a power like that, but to my knowledge, that clan was whipped out years ago. What was it called again? Ah, yes, blood curdle?" Naruto asked, smirking once again at the man across from him. All the said man did was glare at the blonde, which made him smirk wider and continue talking.
"You know, the rumors of the eight member were always thought to be true. It is said that when picking the seven swordsman, they couldn't figure out who to make the seventh and were stuck between two, so they decided to add an eight member. But, not to long after the group was formed, tensions arrived between the eighth member and everyone else. I heard that the eighth member constantly went off on his own missions and his morals didn't align with the others, so he quickly left the group. Some said that he left the area, but most didn't think this was true as he was never heard from again and didn't seem like the type to just sit quietly. Others thought that he was killed by the other members. Personally, I always thought the latter was true. But, if he did flea to another country, well, that would certainly change things now wouldn't it?"
Growling at the blonde, the man rushed towards him and sloppily tried to attack him with all of his injuries preventing him from moving the way he wanted and his anger clouding his judgement. Naruto, however, not done toying with the man quickly fell into a routine of dodging the blade with his body or blocking with his own blades.
"You know, I did met one of the seven swordsman once. Maybe you'll remember him? He did give me some very useful tips after all. His name was Zabuza Momochi." At this, Naruto was interrupted by a particularly large growl that was emitted from the man, letting him know that Stain and Zabuza definitely did not see eye to eye.
"Oh, did you two not get along? Well he did give me some great tips on where to best hit people on their body. Did you know that if you hit the right artery in a person's neck they quickly bleed out? Of course, they will fall unconscious a couple seconds later and die within a few minutes. But if they are healed quick enough than they should be fine."
"That's only if I let you get me there!" Stain yelled as he raised his blade with his good arm, his other hanging limply at his side as it had reached it limit and couldn't be moved at the speed, he needed it to at the moment. Taking his own blade, Naruto blocked the one coming down to him and used his other to lightly nick the Hero Killers neck.
"You already have." Naruto whispered in his ear before taking a couple steps back. Stain, upon realizing that he had been cut, brought a hand up to his neck in an attempt to keep his blood from spilling. But blood poured out from in-between the man's fingertips and within a few seconds he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
"Naruto? What did you just do?" Asked Todoroki, wasting no time after the Hero Killer fell to question his classmate.
"I took him down, obviously." Naruto said in a relaxed tone as he turned to face his classmates, who all had looks of horror written onto their faces. Laughing awkwardly, Naruto brought a hand up to the back of his neck and tried to reassure his classmates. "Relax guys, he won't die, he's just unconscious right now."
"Naruto! Are you aware that an ambulance will not be here in time to treat him! I cannot believe you would hit someone in such a vital spot!" This came from Iida, who went back into class rep mode as his hands did their classic robot motions.
"Who said we needed an ambulance?" Naruto asked, smirking at his classmates.
"Just so you know, this is becoming troublesome. I will not be doing this every time you injure someone just to get the fight over with quicker." Shikamaru said, as he kneeled down beside the Hero Killer, his hands encasing themselves in a green glow as he began to heal the villain on the floor.
"Shikamaru?! What are you doing here?" Iida asked. "You are a mere civilian and not even in training! I must ask you to follow the polices instructions and please evacuate the area!" He continued.
"Relax Iida-san, I'm allowed to be here." Shikamaru said lazily as he stood up and walked over to stand next to Naruto.
"Iida, Izuku, good to see you both again. Todoroki, I'm glad you're okay." Shikamaru said as he nodded to each student.
"Naruto…I must ask, how did you know Shikamaru was over here? Or did you not know and go out on a limb?" Todoroki asked, determined to get some answers from his classmate.
"No, I knew he was there, I saw him standing behind the wall when I was fighting Stain." Naruto answered.
"But…how did you know that he would be able to heal Stain?" Izuku asked.
"He used to do it all the time when we would go on missions together." Naruto answered. He was about to tell everyone that they should tie the Hero Killer up but was interrupted by a boot meeting Midoriya in the face.
"G-Gran Torino?! What are you doing here?!" He asked.
"I was sent over with the lazy kid over there." The now dubbed Gran Torino answered as he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to Shikamaru. "But is that the Hero Killer I see over there unconscious? And why are you over here? I told you to stay on the bullet train!" The man yelled in Izuku's face.
"Ah s-sorry about that." Izuku answered as he laughed awkwardly.
"As much as I hate to interrupt this moment, we should probably restrain the Hero Killer and take his weapons before finding the police to take him, as well as an ambulance for Midoriya and Iida. I don't know when he will wake up, and those two have injuries that need to be treated in a hospital." Shikamaru told everyone, who simply nodded. Todoroki and Izuku went about collecting the weapons, while Naruto and Shikamaru tried to find something to restrain Stain with. Iida and Gran Torino went to help the pro hero that was still paralyzed on the ground.
"Oh by the way, Midoriya," Todoroki said, as the group made their way out of the ally way and to a spot where they could call the police and easily be spotted. "How do you know that man?" He asked, as he pointed a finger at Gran Torino.
"Oh, he's the hero I'm interning with, Gran Torino."
Before anything else could be said, they all heard a voice call "It should be around here!" accompanied by the stomping of feet. Turing their heads, everyone saw a group of pro heroes making their way to them.
"Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but…" One said once the group stopped in front of them. His face reminded Naruto of a sock for some reason, and he had to prevent himself from laughing once that thought came to his head.
"Children?" Another asked, his helmet reminding Naruto of Iron Man, who was a fictional hero before quirks came around, but still talked about.
"Those injuries look serious! I'll call an ambulance right away!" Another pro said, this one had a pair of goggles resting on his forehead.
"Huh? Don't tell me…it's the hero killer?" The only female in the group asked, shocked to see the villain being pulled around by a high schooler.
"What?" One of the pros asked, also bringing his eyes to the rope Todoroki was holding and the body attached to it.
"I'll call the police too!" The pro that was about to call an ambulance offered. Before walking a couple steps away and brining his phone to his ear.
Another pro stepped up to ask everyone about their injuries. Midoriya explained that his arm might be broken and his legs took some damage as well. Todoroki said that he just had some minor injuries and that Iida was hit the worst out of all of them. Naruto was about to agree with his classmate when the pro asked, "Is that a kunai sticking out of your leg?!"
Looking down, Naruto saw that yes, there was a kunai sticking out of his leg. Naruto originally left it in there so the Hero Killer could not get some of his blood and paralyze him but had forgotten about it once the fight was over. If he was being honest, it barely hurt. And this became apparent to everyone else when he muttered a simple "Oh, I guess it is yeah." And shrugged while continuing to stand.
The pro immediately began to fret over him and told him to not take it out or else he would bleed out and began to search for a bench or other surface to sit on. Naruto merely locked eyes with Shikamaru, who was standing by the pro that was calling an ambulance and rolled his eyes. He hated being babied.
His boyfriend, however, offered no help to get him out of the situation as he sent him a teasing look and turned his attention back to the pro on the phone.
It wasn't long after this that Gran Torino screamed "Get down!" as an injured Nomu with wings came and took Izuku before flying away.
"There's blood, did he escape after being beaten?" The female pro asked out loud. It seemed that everyone was trying to figure out what to do but no one could come up with any ideas as Izuku and the Nomu got farther and farther away. Naruto was going to step in and save his classmate but felt the chakra of Stain come back to life, indicating that the man was no linger unconscious. Glancing back at the man, he saw him lick the blood of the Nomu off of the female pros cheek before using a knife that Izuku and Todoroki failed to take to escape from his bindings.
Honestly interested in what he was planning to do, Naruto stood back as he watched the Nomu fall down and the Hero Killer run towards him, using chakra to get to his destination faster.
"This society is overgrown with fake heroes and the criminals who wave their power around idly…" He announced as he jumped and grabbed Izuku from the Nomu that was still in the air and then stab the Nomu in his head with his knife while holding Izuku away. "…should all be purged." He continued once the Nomu was, indeed, dead.
"This is all to create a more just society." He said as he pulled his knife out of the Nomu's head.
This whole situation caused the pro heroes to scramble for what to do. Most where in shock about what happened and didn't know how to react. They were scared to fight the hero killer and didn't know if he was saving Izuku or trying to take him as a hostage.
"The kid is pure like All Might and is not one of the fakes plaguing this society. I will allow him to live because it would be against my way as a ninja to let him die by the hands of anyone." Stain said, confusing everyone because they did not speak the language he spoke and did not understand what he was saying. Naruto and Shikamaru, on the other hand heard what he said loud and clear and simply nodded to the man as a sign of respect and thanks for saving their comrade.
It was then that Endeavor ran towards the scene and locked eyes with Stain, which immediately set him off. He threw Izuku over to the heroes as he slowly made his way over to the number two hero, going on yet another rant. And of things continued at this pace, Naruto would start to believe that all villains just loved to hear the sound of their own voice.
"You fake, I must make things right…" He said as he slowly began to wake towards the pro, releasing enormous amounts of K.I. as he did, paralyzing everyone with fear. Excluding Naruto and Shikamaru, who had been trained to move through this, but acted like they could not move for the sake of appearances.
"Someone must be dyed in blood! I must take back what it means to be a hero!" He continued. Naruto was about to blow his cover completely to take down the man, but Shikamaru quickly shot him a look that told him he didn't need to be the one to take him down. Naruto sent him a look of confusion but knew that Shikamaru wouldn't tell him to stop if he wasn't sure that everyone would make it out alive. So, he remained where he was.
"Come! Try and get me, you fakes! The only one I'll let kill me is the true hero…All Might!" He finished as he let out even more K.I. if it continued at this rate, Naruto was beginning to fear that someone may pass out from it.
Not even a second after this worry crossed his mind, the K.I. immediately stopped, and Naruto saw that Stain had passed out once again, this time while standing.
It was later when everyone was being put onto an ambulance that Shikamaru was able to explain to Naruto was happened, discreetly using the ANBU hand signals that they had been taught. He explained to his boyfriend that when he was healing his neck, he also looked over the rest of his body to make sure nothing else would kill him, which is when he noticed the broken ribs. After seeing the moves he pulled to save Izuku and the adrenaline he was running off of, Shikamaru concluded that he was not paying attention to his body and all they had to do was wait for the rib to move into the right place, which was inevitable due to his movements.
"Were you able to sleep, Midoriya?" These were the words that began to pull Naruto unwillingly from his sleep. Despite his classmates being able to fall asleep almost immediately after the hospital staff left them alone, Naruto was up into the early hours of the morning just waiting for sleep to claim him. Not only was he not looking forward to the inevitable conversation with his classmates today, he also couldn't help but wonder how many other missing nin were here in Japan. Of course, they has always suspected that Stain was from the Elemental Countries, but now that it was confirmed that fact was hitting Naruto in the face. Did all of their 'villains' flee to this part of the world? And if so, how many had made it here and where were they now? Would they be able to catch them?
It was these thoughts that kept Naruto up all night, so he wanted nothing more than to tell his classmates to shut the fuck up and let him sleep. That, however, was not going to happen. Naruto knew that once he was awake, he was awake and wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. So, he simply opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling in hopes that listening to the others in the room would help him wake up some more.
"No, not really." Izuku responded, sighing as he did so.
"I didn't think so." Todoroki bluntly told his classmate. "I didn't sleep either." He continued, in what Naruto believed to be his way of comfort.
"I don't think Naruto got any sleep, considering how he's still sleep." Izuku pointed out to the others in the room. "Should we wake him up?" He asked them.
"No need." Naruto said, letting everyone in the room know that he was awake as he sat up. "I'm up."
"Oh, Naruto, did you at least sleep well?" Todoroki asked.
"No, I probably only got three hours, but it will have to last me through the day." Naruto told everyone.
The four boys feel into a comforting silence before Izuku spoke up. "Thinking about it now, we did something amazing, huh?" He asked them.
"Yeah." Todoroki agreed.
"Seeing an ending like that really makes you feel like it's a miracle we're alive. With my leg like this, he probably could've killed us if he wanted to." Izuku continued.
"Yeah. We were obviously left alive on purpose. You're amazing to have been able to face him after all the murderous intent directed at you." Todoroki said, the latter part of his statement directed at Iida as he looked over at the class rep.
"No, that's not it. I…just couldn't see anything through my anger, so it didn't effect me." He told his classmates.
"But…it is thrilling is it not?" Naruto asked his classmates.
"What do you mean Naruto?" Asked Izuku, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"I fail to see what is so thrilling about our experience." Todoroki said, his eyebrows drawn together as he tried to figure out what his classmate meant.
"Not knowing if you're going to live. The thrill of being in a battle and not knowing if you or your enemy will be the one to die. Being on deaths doorstep and evading it at the last second…it's that feeling that keeps me alive. The adrenaline rushes are something else in those moments. It's moments like that that make me miss my village, my home. It's that feeling that pushes me to become a hero so I can come closer to feeling something like that again." Naruto explained to his classmates, eyes closed as he tilted his head up towards the ceiling and took a deep breath in through his nose, as if he could smell the feeling and was recalling upon what he felt last night.
Before anyone could respond to what their classmate said, the door to their room opened up. "Oh, are you wounded kids awake?" Asked Gran Torino, as he, Manual, and Shikamaru all stepped into the room.
"Kid, I've got a lot of complaints for you." Gran Torino told Izuku, who immediately became flustered by the statement.
"Oh! S-Sorr-" Izuku began, before he was interrupted by Gran Torino once again.
"But before that, you've got a visitor." He said, to the confusion of all of the students in the room.
Whoever was standing outside took this as their cue, as a man wearing a suit with a dogs face stepped into the room.
"This is Hosu's chief of police, Tsuragamae Kenji." Gran Torino told everyone.
Hearing this, everyone began to stand up out of a sign of respect to their elder. Well, everyone aside from Naruto, who stayed sitting in his bed. People earned his respect, age meant nothing to him, or really anyone other shinobi.
"Oh, you can stay seated, woof." The chief of police said. 'I will stay seated, but really, woof? Does he do that on purpose or is it some sort of reflex because of his quirk?' Naruto thought to himself.
"You must be the U.A. students who brought down the Hero Killer, right?" He asked the students in the room. 'No,' Naruto sarcastically thought to himself. 'We are just four U.A. students who all happened to get injured at the same time and put in the same hospital despite only one of us interning in Hosu.'
"Yes." Todoroki answered the dog-man.
"regarding the Hero Killer we arrested…he had fairly serious injuries with burns and broken bones, and is receiving treatment under strict guard, woof." The man started. 'Do. Not. Laugh.' Naruto thought, trying so hard to maintain his emotionless mask as he listened to the man speak.
"Since you are U.A. students, I'm sure you already know that when superpowers were still becoming the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards and made sure quirks were not used as weapons. And then, the profession of 'hero' emerged to fill that gap, woof." He continued. 'Seriously if he doesn't stop saying woof, I will burst out laughing. This is like you saying yip after every sentence Kurama.'
'I swear to god kit, this is important. Stop focusing on the woof and listen to what the dog is saying.' Kurama told Naruto.
'You just called him a dog!' Naruto pointed out in exasperation.
'Because he has the face of one. Now shut up and listen.' Kurama said, ending the conversation.
"For an individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others-actions that normally would be appropriate to denounce-to be accepted officially, is thanks to early heroes who followed the ethics and riles of the profession, woof. Even up against the Hero Killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their quirks without specific instruction from their guardians or supervisors is a clear violation of these rules. The three of you, and the pro heroes Endeavor, Manual, and Gran Torino must receive strict punishment." Well that explained why Shikamaru was there, he was probably here on behalf of Endeavor.
"Wait a minute." Surprisingly, it was Todoroki who spoke up, and with a flame in his eyes. "If Iida hadn't done anything, Native would've been killed. If Midoriya hadn't come, the two of them would've been killed." Todoroki's angry rant was interrupted by Iida's soft spoken, "Todoroki…" But it fell on deaf ears.
"No one realized that the Hero Killer had appeared. Are you saying we should've followed the rules and watched people get killed?" Todoroki asked as he began to walk towards the chief of police in anger.
"W-W-Wait!" Izuku said, hands out in front of him to try in calm his classmate down, but his attempts were in vain.
Naruto on the other hand, made no move to stop his classmate as he was speaking what they were all feeling. While normally socially awkward and not knowing how to pick up on social ques, he really just said 'fuck the system' to the Hosu chief of police. A true Gen Z kid if Naruto ever saw one.
"Are you saying that as long as it turns out all right, it's okay to bend the rules?" The dog man asked, a dangerous tone to his voice. Seeing as this just made his classmate angrier, Naruto decided to speak up.
"Not always, it definitely should be something looked at case-by-case. But, in this instance, yes, I think that it was okay to bend the rules. What you are essentially asking us to do is ignore a dying pro hero and an injured classmate just so the rules are followed. And if we hadn't stopped the hero killer that night, what would've happened? How many more would he have killed because he wasn't stopped. It's not like we could contact any pro heroes, they were all occupied with the Nomu's, and it's not like they could leave doing that to take down the Hero Killer, leaving behind innocent civilians and havoc-causing villains behind. How much worse would the situation be if we hadn't been there to stop him? And how much worse would media coverage be if they found out students let a hero die just because laws prevented them from using their quirk? I also think the police force is being hypocritical in this situation. You team up with vigilantes all the time to take down villains, right? And in exchange for information you let the vigilante walk away right? Is that not bending the rules right there?" Naruto asked the chief of police, an equally frustrated and threatening tone in his voice.
"Besides, isn't it a hero's job to save people?" Todoroki asked.
"That is why you are not a full-fledged hero yet." The dog-man told them. "Goodness, what are you being taught by U.A. and Endeavor, woof?"
"You dog!" Todoroki growled as he continued his walk up to the chief of police.
"Stop it. He is absolutely right." Iida told him.
"Hang on a minute. Hear him out until the end." Gran Torino said, preventing Todoroki from walking any closer to the chief of police.
"That was the official opinion of the police. And the punishment and such would only happen if this were all made public, woof. If this were made public, you would probably be applauded by the public, but you would not be able to escape punishment. On the other hand, this is a bit underhanded, but if it is not made public, the hero killer's burn scars would support Endeavor being the hero who saved the day, and it would end there, woof. Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This violation could be crushed here, woof. But this would also mean no one would know about your good judgement or achievements. Which do you prefer?" The chief of police asked them.
The four boys shared a look, and they all quickly came to the same agreement.
"Personally, I don't want to be the one to find fault with promising young ones because of one mistake, woof." The dog-man continued, sticking out his tongue and giving everyone a thumbs up.
"Either way, we will need to take responsibility for being negligent in out supervisory duties." Manual said as Iida walked up to him and bowed.
"I am truly sorry." He told the pro.
Said pro lightly chopped him on the head. "All right. You'll cause trouble for others! If you understand, then don't do it again!" He reprimanded.
"I-I'm sorry." Izuku was the next to speak up and apologize for his actions, also bowing to the others in the room
"Please take care of it." Todoroki muttered, doing the same as the previous two and bowing as well.
All eyes than turned to Naruto, who was still sitting on his bed and was the only one who hadn't spoken up about the situation yet.
"Don't expect an 'I'm sorry' from me because it won't happen. If I could go back in time, I would do the same thing every time. However, taking responsibility for what happened would be troublesome for Shikamaru, and I don't want to listen to him complain every day, so please, do what you need to do to make sure that doesn't happen." Naruto told the chief of police.
Sighing, Shikamaru spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. "How did I know you were going to say that?" He asked as he lightly chuckled and shook his head from side to side.
"You're not even going to scold him a little bit?" Manual asked, unimpressed with the way Shikamaru was handling the situation.
"No, if there's one thing I know about Naruto it is that he is one of the most stubborn people you will ever meet when it comes to morals and beliefs. No amount of convincing could ever make him say sorry. As for Todoroki, he was merely sharing the opinion that he is entitled to, I see no reason to punish that. As for their actions last night, it is up to Endeavor to decided what to do to them." Shikamaru explained to the pro hero. Once the pro hero nodded to him in understanding, the police chief spoke up once again.
"Because of the unfairness of adults, you will not be able to receive the praise you would probably have gotten, but at least, as someone who also protects the peace, I can say thank you." The chief said as he bowed to the four students.
"Please start with that next time." Todoroki bashfully said as he looked to the side of the room.
"The three villains arrested and restrained during Hosu City's riots are all men with unknown addresses and identities. Based on their distinctive appearance and the presence of two people NHA TV filmed by chance, there are those saying they are connected to the League of Villains that attacked U.A. high school last month." The male news anchor said, before the female sitting beside him began to speak up.
"The Hero Killer, Stain, has killed more people on his own since the appearance of All Might than any other individual criminal. With his arrest, everyone around Japan can rest a little easier. He is currently receiving medical treatment at a hospital and is under police guard. The police are waiting for the recovery of the victims to investigate further into the motive behind the crime. This villain will certainly leave his mark in the history of crim Japan, or rather the world. Why did he keep committing crimes? What is he after? Hopefully, we will have these answers soon."
Sasuke got up from the booth he was eating at, threw the money he owed on the table, and walked out of the restaurant. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began walking down the busy streets as he smirked to himself. It was almost time for him to begin making serious leaps with his mission.
"Oh, Iida, just now, Uraraka said…" Izuku began, but trailed off once he noticed the somber air in the room.
"Midoriya." Todoroki began. "Iida just finished getting examined." He continued, trailing off to let his classmate finish the explanation.
"My left hand might have long-term damage." Iida said, not meeting Izuku in the eye.
"Long-term…damage…?!" Izuku asked, not believing what he heard.
"Both of my arms were pretty beat up, but it looks like the damage to my left arm was especially severe. There was damage to my brachial plexus. But it just means that I'll have trouble moving my hand and fingers and experience some numbness. Apparently, there's a possibility that it can be healed with nerve transplant surgery. When I found the Hero Killer, I stopped being able to think. The first thing I should've sone was tell Manual. But I forgot myself in my anger. I hate him, but he spoke the truth. That's why, until I become a true hero, I think I want to leave my left hand as it is." Iida explained, shocking everyone in the room.
"If this is something you feel the need to do Iida than please, feel free to do so." Naruto said as he looked at his classmate. "But please, promise me one thing?" He asked, and upon seeing the class rep nod, he continued. "Get the surgery before you become a pro. That won't happen until three years, so you do have time to figure out the kind of hero you want to be. But I do feel this is something that needs to be fixed before you become a pro. On missions, the nerve damage in your hand could be fatal to both you and others, so it is better to get it fixed before you end up in a situation like that." Naruto told him.
"Of course I will, Naruto." Iida told him as he nodded in gratitude.
"Iida, I feel the same way." Izuku spoke. "Let's become stronger….together." He said, holding his fist out to Iida.
"I feel kind of bad." Todoroki spoke up, ruining the moment between the two classmates.
"About what?" Izuku asked.
"I feel like if I get involved…other people mess up their hands…" He explained as he starred at his own hands.
"But Todoroki…you didn't mess up my hands." Naruto spoke up before things could get out of control with his classmate.
"But I did burn your hand the other day when we were sparing." He explained, looking at Naruto as if to ask how he could have forgotten about that.
"But it already healed. See?" Naruto said, smiling at his classmate and bringing his hands up to show no scaring or burn marks.
"Nonetheless your hands were still hurt…is it a curse?" He asked as soon as the other three boys heard this, they all burst out laughing.
"Todoroki, I didn't know you could make jokes!" Izuku exclaimed.
"No. I'm not joking. I'm like 'The Hand Crusher' or something." He tried to explain to his classmates, but this just made them laugh harder.
"'The Hand Crusher'!" The other three boys yelled in unison as they continued to laugh at the duel-haired boy.
It didn't take long after the three boys had calmed down from laughing for the mood to turn somber again. "Naruto…I think you owe us an explanation for everything that happened yesterday with Stain." Iida said.
"Oh Kami, the amount of times I have to explain this to my classmates is unbelievable." Naruto muttered to his himself before he turned to his three classmates and sighed. But before he could begin his explanation, Todoroki spoke up for him.
"Naruto used to be in the military at his village." Todoroki bluntly told his classmates.
"What?!" The other two boys cried out in shock.
"That isn't exactly the way to tell someone that Todoroki." Naruto told the duel-haired boy, with a small genuine smile on his face showing that he was amused by what just happened.
"Oh, sorry, I was trying to tell it to them so you didn't have to." He tried to explain.
"It's perfectly fine, Todoroki. Anyway, remember when I told you I didn't go to high school because I had to support myself?" Naruto asked his classmates. Once he got nods from them, he continued his explanation. "Well, the one job that I wanted and that would help me support myself was to join the military, so that's exactly what I did. Remember where I come from doesn't really have any heroes, so joining the military isn't that uncommon and we are often praise for our service to our village. I was in it for two years before Jiraiya found me and brought me over here to live out my childhood dream of becoming a hero. Shikamaru came not long after because he said he would always support me-no matter where I was or what I was doing." Naruto explained to his classmates.
"Now, before you begin asking questions," He said, cutting Izuku off who had his mouth open in preparation to ask a question. "let me explain everything that happened with Stain. Now, Obviously the country that I lived in had multiple villages. I came from what was known as the Leaf village and served my village. Stain came from what is known as the Mist village. They are known for having what is known as the seven swordsmen. They are a group apart of Mist's military and they are the seven best swordsmen that the village has to offer. Sometimes they travel together to go on missions while other times they are sent on individual missions, it just depends on what the village needs and what the mission is. They are an infamous group throughout the country and are replaced with each new generation. So yes, everyone from my country has heard the rumors of Stain. And no, I don't know exactly what he did to get kicked out, but I'm sure you have an idea seeing what he has done here." It was here that Naruto paused to collect his thoughts once more before continuing with his explanation.
"I did meet one of the seven for a short period of time, his name was Zabuza. My team and he, along with his apprentice, teamed up for a short period of time to defeat a common enemy. So yes, being in the military is more dangerous than being in the military here. I do not come from a peaceful place. I come from a place where children know violence and war from a young age. So to answer the question I know you are all going to ask, yes, I did kill in my time with the military. Do I regret killing for my village? No, I don't. Every kill that I made meant that another innocent person got to live to see the next day. Do the kills I made haunt me? Of course, but I would never spare a life I took. When I took a life, I always made sure that the person deserved it. And even then, I preferred to capture and let the person due time over killing them. But there are some people who are slippy and get out of prison and go back to hurting innocent people for their own gain. These are the kinds of people that I would kill. And no, I do not know if the school knows about this. Being in the military should be on my record, so I'm sure they can put two and two together, but I can't know for sure." Naruto said, finishing up his explanation and opening up the floor for his classmates to ask questions.
"D-does anyone else know about this?" Izuku asked.
"Aside from you guys and my family? Ochako, Ashido, Asui, Shoji, and Sero know. I said something to them during the USJ and they asked me about it, which is when I explained my past to them." Naruto told them.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Iida asked next, after taking a moment to process all of the information.
"Do you go around telling anyone your entire past? Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with anyone knowing because I don't regret what I did, but it is something that is kind of hard to bring up in casual conversation, and I don't feel close enough with the entire class to sit them all down and have a serious conversation with them. With that being said, can you not tell anyone else about this? I would rather they find out from me than from rumors. If you want to talk to the others that know about this than that's fine, but please do not tell anyone that doesn't already know." Naruto requested.
"Of course Naruto." Todoroki told him, nodding in his direction to let him know that he had his back.
Nodding back to Todoroki in thanks, Naruto stood up and his way to the door. "I can tell you all need a minute a process all of this, so I'll be out somewhere in the hospital. Someone come get me when you all are ready for me to be in here again. And if you wish to cut ties and not be my friend anymore, I will completely understand." Naruto said before walking out the door and closing it behind him.
As per the request of Shikamaru, Sasuke was currently at his and Naruto's apartment. He barely had time to open the door before he was being dragged into the kitchen and shoved into a kitchen chair. Before he had the chance to ask any questions, Shikamaru left the room and returned not a moment later with a laptop. Wasting not time, Shikamaru sat across from him and opened his laptop, pressing play on a video and then turning his laptop so Sasuke could see it.
The video was nothing special, just something else about the Hero Killer, but this one had his true identity attached to it, as well as his backstory. The Hero Killer was temporarily enrolled in a high school to become a hero before coming appalled by what the school taught. He apparently preached in the streets like church pastors did trying to call upon heroes that were from when the profession first started to become a thing. No one listened to him, so he thought he would show the world through actions rather than words and then being to train himself to kill the 'fakes'.
'As if he didn't already know how to kill.' Sasuke thought to himself. There was also apart from the video that showed the Hero Killer from the night he had been arrested. It was of him saying that All Might was the only 'true' hero and the only one that he would allow to kill him, and then the video ended.
"I know this video doesn't seem like anything special with all the talk about Stain currently, but it has already been taken down and put back online multiple times. It is the first source that came out and told everyone Stain's true identity, as well as his past and gave an explanation for his crimes." Shikamaru told Sasuke.
"He may not have a way with words like Naruto does," He continued. "But his actions and pure belief in his cause at the very end have spoken to a lot of people, and many are beginning to agree with Stain. And everyone is starting to make the connection between the Hero Killer and the League of Villains. I do trust you know what this means?"
"Yeah, it means my time here is finally being put to good use." Sasuke said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair. He would definitely have an interesting next couple of days.
A/N: And here is another chapter for you guys! As promised, this chapter is longer than the previous two, this is actually the longest chapter I have written so far lol. And it's also the third I've released this week, so go me! How did everyone like this chapter? What did you think about Stain being a shinobi and his fight with Naruto? That was my first time writing a battle scene with nothing to go off of, considering that in the anime he does indeed pass out on the ice, so I hope it wasn't too bad. What did you guys think about the conversation between Naruto, Iida, Todoroki, and Izuku? What about the various statements that Naruto made throughout the chapter. I do understand that Naruto is a bit OOC in this chapter but do let me know if you think I am going overboard with that. But also keep in mind that Naruto has a different backstory in this fic, and that Naruto did slip into ANBU mode during this chapter. Being put on such high alert like that and having a personality change is something that will take him time to get out of, so what everyone saw in this chapter was a darker side to Naruto. I promise that the loveable knucklehead is not completely gone. And Sasuke finally made an appearance in this chapter! Are you guys excited for Sasuke to be here, as well as more to be written about the LoV? Let me know!