"Hello." Naruto sat up quickly as an unknown voiced called.
"Wh-who are you?" He asked bluntly, checking his surroundings. He didn't recognize where he was, and starting panicking.
Oh wait, suddenly all the memories from the night before, and morning, came rushing to his head. Naruto felt drained of practically all his energy. In front of him, stood someone his age picking flowers.
"My name is Haku. What are you doing here?" Naruto blushed, mistaking the dark-haired youth for a girl.
"Oh. My name is Naruto, and I was training!" Haku cocked his head.
"Training for what?" Naruto stood up.
"I'm training to become the no. 1 Hero, and defeat Someone." Naruto looked at the sun, trying to guess what time it was. "What are you doing here, picking flowers?"
"Yes. They're for a certain someone."
"Ooh. Sounds fancy. By the way, do you have a phone on you?" Haku pulled out his phone. He was wearing a soft pink shirt and jeans.
"It's about noon." Naruto's eyes widened.
"Oh crap that late?? He's going to think I just ran away! I gotta go! Hope the lucky likes your flowers!" Naruto started to run.
"Naruto!" Bakugo called and Naruto turned around. "By the way I'm a guy. Just thought you should know." Naruto was frozen to his spot, but Haku left.
"Oh my gosh I just had a crush on a guy for like .2 seconds. At least I didn't kiss him." Memories of the Academy he grew up at came rushing to him, mainly of when someone pushed him into Sasuke's mouth. That was gross.
Suddenly he remembered his fight with Bakugo, and Naruto ran off.
After Deku and Uraraka had left last night, Naruto had gotten the idea to siphon off energy from his other quirk, Demon Cloak, and use it to empower himself. He had managed to get enough energy from one tail form to replace some of what he had lost last night, but he had come dangerously close to two tails, which had scared him. Still, he felt he had sufficient energy to fight the Blonde-haired firecracker.
"Sorry I'm late. I wasn't skipping out or anything I just lost track of time!" Naruto panted as he ran up to the camp, which was completely deserted. The only person left was Denki Kaminari.
"Hey man what's going on? Why is everybody gone? Did I miss my fight with Bakugo?" Denki looked at him with a blank stare.
"Ooohhhh, he's back. EVERYONE HE'S BACK!" Denki yelled, and Naruto looked around.
"Kaminari, there's no one here. Where did everyone go?" Denki had the blank stare again.
"I was supposed to tell you, but a forgot." Naruto sighed. "OH HEY NARUTO I DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE!" Denki practically screamed in Naruto's ear. Naruto remembered something Deku about Denki's quirk. 'When he uses his electrification, he also fries his brain, making him rather dumb.'
"That must've been what happened. Though why did he use his quirk?" Naruto puzzled over what was going on, but the only conclusion he came to was that there must've been some kind of fight, and the students were called to action. How come nobody woke me up? He wondered, slightly put off.
"Hey everybody where are you, come on!" Naruto began to think, but the only place he could think of that would need heroes were the bridge (which was being finished soon) and the bridge builders home. They had visited the home of Tazuna last night, but hadn't gone in due to the fact that there were over 20 people, and the house was pretty tiny.
Naruto decided to go to the bridge builder's home, seeing as everybody would have likely gone to the bridge, leaving the home unprotected. Tazuna had a little grandson, who Naruto saw last night. He had come to watch Naruto train around 2 in the morning, when he most definitely should have been in bed.
"What are you doing?" A small boy, perhaps ten years old, walked up to Naruto trying to walk on the tree.
"I'm training. What did you think I was doing so late?"
"It's early." The kid folded his arms. "What are you training for?"
"I'm training to become the No. 1 Hero, and defeat a certain no-good blonde."
"You know you're blonde too." Naruto squinted at the kid.
"My blonde is better."
"That is a stupid answer." Naruto huffed and folded his arms.
"What's your name anyways kid?"
"Inari. What is yours?"
"Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto said proudly, pointing a finger at his own chest.
"Why do you want to become a hero?" The kid asked.
"I want to become a hero so people will finally respect me, and I can prove that I'm not a monster." Naruto's eyes widened as he realized he had never actually said that out loud. Not to anyone except his best friend, Sasuke, who already knew about Naruto's demon quirk. What was it about kids that made you say things you wouldn't otherwise say?
"Why do they call you a monster?" Inari cocked his head.
"Oh." Naruto laughed to hide the truth that almost slipped out. "No reason." He didn't want to tell the kid about his second quirk, Demon Cloak.
"I think your stupid." Naruto stood straight up.
"I'm not stupid! Besides what about you? What are you even doing here?"
"I came to watch you." The kid turned his back to Naruto.
"All heroes ever do is say they'll save the day, but in the end they just die because they were so cocky."
"Well however put that thought in your head is stupid! If a hero truly has the drive and power to back it up, they'll never die. At least, they'll live on in people's thoughts and hearts."
"But they still die!" The kid ran off. Naruto thought he saw him wiping his eyes, but it was so dark he couldn't tell.
Yeah. Naruto thought. I'll show that kid what it really means to be a hero. Naruto began running in the direction of Tazuna's house, checking his energy reserves and using just a tiny bit to make the trip go faster.
"Come on kid please be ok. I know you're a punk and all, but I'd never forgive myself if I was too late."
Tsunami, Tazuna the Master Bridge Builder's daughter, opened the door after she heard a loud knock. Two large men stood in the door.
"Hello?" She looked up and immediately tried to close the door again. It was blocked by on the thug's grotesque hands. The man shoved the door open and Tsunami fell to the floor.
"Now, that's no way to treat a guest. We were gonna be polite, but if our hostess isn't, I see no reason to either." The man chuckled evilly, and there was a nastly gleam in his eye. Inari gasped from the kitchen.
"M-mom? What are you doing to my mom?" He screamed. The two men were scary, and looked like they both had quirks. They were both tall, but one was wearing no sleeves while the other had a jacket. The man with no sleeves had tattoos all over his arms, and both he and his partner carried swords.
"Inari, run! Just get away!" Tsunami tried to get up, but the first man pulled out his sword, keeping her on the ground. The two inspected the room, making sure Tsunami and Inari were the only ones home.
"Mom!" Inari yelled again.
"Oh no you don't!" The thug with the jacket grabbed Inari by the collar, and lifted him up. Inari clawed at the man's hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man let go, but Inari was still stuck in the air. "My quirk allows me to freeze anything I touch, whether it's in the air or not. I've only got your scarf frozen, but you don't want to know what happens when I freeze your body, or your heart."
"No please! I'll come with you just don't hurt him! Please!" The two men smiled wickedly at each other.
"Alright lady. But if you try anything we'll kill your kid here." Tsunami nodded.
"Mom!" Inari cried again, struggling to get free of his scarf.
"I'll be ok honey. Just stay safe ok? Promise me you won't come after us, please?" Inari began crying.
"Hurry up lady." The tattooed man pointed his sword at Inari. "Or the kid gets it." Tsunami nodded reluctantly. After the two men and his mother left through the front door, Inari struggled a bit longer. It took a few minutes but he finally managed to get free.
"Mom!" He cried, running out the door, only to find something unexpected.
"Ok I made it to the house." Naruto crouched behind a trash can as two suspicious looking characters walked past him. He didn't know why he did so, but instinct made him not want to be seen.
They're going to Tazuna's house! He realized. This was bad news. What would such two suspicious looking characters want with the nice old man? Naruto inspected the street, making sure there were no more people he should take care of. There were none, and Naruto hurried to the house. He could hear some loud voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
Those men are bad news. I'll go back to my hiding spot and take them by surprise just in case they're doing something bad. Naruto hid behind the trash can.
Sure enough, a few minutes later two men as well as a women, who Naruto recognized as Tazuna's daughter, came out and walked right past Naruto.
"Gack!" The man with the jacket crumpled forward as Naruto attacked him. His attack was so fast and unexpected that they didn't have time to react. However, as soon as his partner fell the ground, Tattoos reacted quickly, pulling Tsunami close to him and wrapping his sword around her neck.
"You're one of those U.A. brats! The boss told me to watch out for you. However, you won't be able to take me out like you did Ken. Make one move and she loses her head." Naruto paused.
"Naruto, it's ok. Look after Inari, make sure he's alright. I'll be ok." Naruto laughed.
"Honestly man, preying on a defenseless woman like that, so uncool. I mean sure you can try, but what kind of hero just lets someone get kidnapped?"
"Are you crazy? Try to attack me and she's dead, and so are you." Naruto rushed at the man, using a new technique he figured out last night. Instead of using the trick of sticking to the tree, he did what failed him so many times, and put extra power into his feet, pushing him forward faster than the man could react.
"Thank you... I'm sorry I didn't catch your name. Are you one of the students that came to our house the other day?" Naruto smiled and helped her up and out of the unconscious man's grip.
"I'm Naruto, and yes. Everyone else is probably at the bridge, so I figured I would come back here and check on you guys and make sure you were ok. Turns out I was right!" Naruto smiled and put his hands on the back of his head.
"Well now that that's ov-"
"Mom!!" Naruto looked over as Inari came running out of the house.
"Mom I got out of the scarf to save you! I'm sorry I wasn't any help! Are you ok?" Naruto raised his eyebrow at the kid.
"Hey, you wanted to save your mom, right? And you were willing to lose your life if that's what it took." Naruto leaned down and looked the kid in his eyes. "Despite all that, you were willing to come out and save your mother."
"Y-yes. I was cause she's important to me." Inari nodded as Naruto studied him.
"Well, that was a pretty heroic move for someone who doesn't care to be one. Heroes are willing to do what you just did, except they do it everyday. True heroes become one because they care about everyone and want to save everyone." Inari's eyes teared up.
"Like dad?" He asked. Tsunami wrapped him in a big hug.
"Yes. Exactly like dad. You're my little Hero Inari." The kind woman comforted her son and Naruto beamed, knowing that they could do this now because of him.
"I'm going to check on everyone else at the bridge, see you later!" Naruto waved to them as he ran.
"I really hope we see him again." Tsunami whispered, but Inari heard her.
"Don't worry. He's not allowed to die." Tsunami gave a tear-filled laugh.
"And why not little Hero?"
"Because he's going to become No. 1! I just know he is." Inari waved back to Naruto and smiled for the first time in a while.
"Agh, that idiot. Running away like he's got something better to do." Bakugo trudged through the woods, not realizing he had slept through the morning. Bakugo was now on his way to kick Naruto's butt, after finally perfecting the Sparkler.
"Huh?" Bakugo had finally made it to camp, only to find Kaminari wandering around aimlessly, or maybe looking for something. His eyes alighted on Bakugo.
"Oh Naruto I was supposed to say, everyone is at the bridge, helping Tazuna fight against the gang, I think Gato was the leader or the name or something. Anyways they're all at the bridge and Kakashi wanted you to join as soon as you woke up." Bakugo bristled in anger.
"I'M NOT NARUTO YOU BLIND IDIOT! And-" Bakugo clenched his fist. "HOW COME NOBODY WOKE ME UP?" Denki backed off, not wanted to be at the mercy of Bakugo's explosions.
Bakugo ran towards the almost-finished bridge, wanting to get there before the fighting finished. After sleeping till after noon, he had gotten back much of the energy he used last night, though he was still a little sore.
"Hey! It's one of those U.A. brats heading towards the bridge! The boss said if we take one out we get extra pay!" Bakugo smiled in excitement when he heard the none-too-quiet thug declare war.
"Sorry kid, but we got orders from the boss." There were three of them, but their quirks were weak. Compared to the rest of the island they were strong, but after facing quirks from the city Bakugo confidently took the three on easily.
"I guess I should test out this new trick I've been working on." Bakugo got his hand ready and prepared three Sparklers. "NOW DIE!" Each man fell as they felt intense pain in their guts.
"Wh-what?" One said in confusion. None of them even had time to use their quirks before they were all on the ground.
"Honestly, never let your guard down you idiots. Haha you're no match for the next No. 1 Hero!" Bakugo took off again towards the bridge.
"Alright Fishface I'm coming for you, YOU HEAR ME!"
"Loud and clear."
"Huh?" Bakugo looked around and found Naruto running beneath him.
"Hah. Just my luck, let's fight, right hear and now!" Naruto shook his head.
"I have a new idea. Since we're almost to the bridge, whoever takes out the most Bad Guys wins. By the way, I already have two." Bakugo smiled.
"I accept, and by the way, I already have three." Bakugo put up an extra burst of speed and raced to the bridge.
"Wh-hey no fair!" Naruto put on an extra just as well. They ended up arriving at the bridge at the same time.
The Villians outnumbered the Heroes 3:1, and they were much more skilled than the mindless thugs from either the Bus attack or the ones Naruto and Bakugo fought. They must've been bought over from a city or Hidden Village, otherwise they wouldn't be so good. Naruto figured.
"Alright. Let's do this." Naruto smiled as Bakugo held out his fist.
"Yeah." They bumped fists, officially starting their match.