Itachi is Izuku fic...let the fun begin.
If this was death, then he was okay with that. It was safe, it was warm, and it seemed to come with a nice little place that occasionally made odd sounds but otherwise didn't bother him much.
He only realized his error (to some trauma) when his newborn body was shoved out of the birthing canal of his new mother. The ten seconds it took for that to register, and to realize he had been given a second chance at life, Itachi began to protest as strongly as his infant body could since he had absolutely no clue what the local language was.
As if being born wasn't traumatizing enough, his new mother insisted on breast feeding him. Having someone change his diapers with regularity was humiliating. Having no control over his bodily functions...at least for now...more so.
His new mother Inko was delighted over what a 'little genius' her son was. Izuku was an odd choice of name, but he could learn to live with it. Even if he did look like a fluffy bunny when he finally saw what his new appearance looked like.
For the first four years, his life wasn't too bad. Sure the over-idolization of kekkei genkai was annoying, but from what he could tell it was far too spread out and varied to be breed into a single distinctive trait like before. And instead of an obsession with ninjas, it seemed to be centered more around 'heroes' and 'villains'.
It hadn't taken much to put this new world into more familiar mental filters, though there were the oddities that always cropped up.
Case in point, Uzumaki Naruto from his last life. There was no way that kid was normal. And that was before the Kyuubi was brought into the mix.
For four years, Izuku tried to behave like a civilian...though he discreetly went out of his way to get back to what he considered "acceptable" physical standards. It was strange, having to push back years of training as a ninja and being on edge against death at every turn...to an almost completely civilian lifestyle.
While he enjoyed having a loving parent who wasn't trying to push him to ridiculous extremes of having to prove himself for the sake of the clan.
And then, he gets what most would have considered a devastating blow against the society he lived in.
His mother, concerned he hadn't shown any sign of a kekkei genkai...or "quirk" as they called them...had taken him to the doctor who declared that he had no such fancy ability. That he was as 'civilian' as they came, and would never become a hero as most kids his age wanted.
Izuku could care less about being a hero. He only wanted to protect what was his. Seeing how devastated his mother was at the news he wouldn't inherit some fancy trick made his blood boil. He wasn't sure if he was leaking killing intent, but he was definitely making the doctor very nervous.
"I don't care if I have a quirk or not. I'll prove you wrong and be a hero without a fancy trick," said Izuku almost growling.
He really didn't care if he had no quirk...he was a ninja, and there were plenty of deadly shinobi who weren't born with a fancy ability or acquired one later.
This desire was only cemented when Bakugo, a child he was stuck spending time with because of their parents, took the fact he had no special ability as an excuse to harass him.
It was annoying, and only spurred Izuku further to prove everyone wrong.
He was an S-class shinobi in his last life. He knew perfectly well how to show these idiots what real power looked like.
Izuku looked at the mask in his hands. If he did this, then he couldn't go back. At least not to the 'civilian' lifestyle he had lived for the past nine years.
To be honest, he was bored out of his mind. He never thought being a civilian could be so...dull. And for an 'ex' shinobi, this sort of placid lifestyle was like hell to him. The only reason he hadn't done anything sooner was because he had to get his body up to what he considered acceptable standards...which from what he could tell, meant he was above most adults in this world. Without the constant threat of death and war, the adults who were in charge of protecting the peace allowed themselves to become ridiculously soft.
Izuku contemplated the mask, which was a stylized weasel. It felt somewhat fitting that he don his old ANBU codename as his "Vigilante" name.
But he needed information, and there was no way he was going to get it by playing the 'good boy' (which inwardly made him shudder at the reminder of that bastard Madara playing as Tobi).
Izuku put on the mask, and in his place "Kamaitachi" was born.
Within a week he had gained a great deal of infamy among the underworld as someone who "got things done", with next to no questions asked. He made it clear he wouldn't target children or pregnant women, but other than that he really didn't care about the job.
It was a good thing he could still use shadow clones, because otherwise it would be awkward as hell trying to explain his long absences to his mother all the time.
It took less than a month for "Kamaitachi" or simply "Itachi" to become a known player in the underworld.
The fact he had zero qualms going against heroes didn't hurt either.
He hoped that hot headed asshole he humiliated enjoyed the Naruto-level pranks he put him through. He didn't know why the hero felt the need to have his beard constantly on fire, but Itachi could recognize a dick when he saw one.
He had enough employers like them while in the Akatsuki after all.
In a nondescript location...
Itachi kept his quiet persona as he listened to the 'rules' or as much as you could expect to have of them in the arena. Anyone could join so long as they paid the fee to enter the building. It was a pain in the ass getting access to this little fight club, because they had to be extra secretive to keep the cops and more importantly the pro heroes from crashing the party.
To quote a certain movie, the first rule of fight club is that you didn't talk about fight club.
Itachi was waiting for the perfect time to 'introduce' himself as it were. He could already overhear certain vigilantes or proto-villains talking about him. He hadn't exactly bothered to be discreet after all.
Finally he made his grand appearance...and promptly trounced the girl who could be a terrifying infiltration specialist. Her penchant for blood didn't faze him...he was used to far worse and at least she didn't go on and on about some deranged god that demanded live human sacrifices and openly masochistic tendencies.
Though really he should have expected to gain a very weird stalker after he embarrassed her like that. To be fair, few people would be able to react to someone deliberately pulling their pants down without any warning in a fight like that without giving a very obvious opening.
Honestly, she should be glad Itachi had figured out almost immediately she wasn't wearing a thong or something too revealing.
"Come on, 'tachi-chan... Let me cut you a little!" said Touga.
"No. Go away Touga," said Itachi annoyed.
Touga giggled and lounged on him like a weird cat. There was something positively magnetic about the mysterious Itachi, and it wasn't just because he beat her.
The way he nonchalantly accepted her weird habits and the terrifying nature of her quirk made him interesting. Even her sorta-friend Dabi liked him...though that had more to do with the way Itachi had openly humiliated Endeavor to the point he was still being mocked about it behind his back.
Itachi blocked yet another attempt by the unhinged girl to cut him. Since no one knew what he looked like under the mask or even what his real age was (which gave him even more notoriety, oddly enough), her quirk could easily reveal the truth.
Touga pouted.
"You're a meanie, 'tachi-chan!"
Itachi rolled his eyes at her. He had to switch with his clone soon, mostly because of the physical assessments that were due tomorrow. While it was unlikely his clone would fail them, there was always a chance his so-called 'rival' Bakugo would accidentally cause one to disperse.
Itachi made a switch with an amused Dabi, who bore it with 'quiet' dignity. If by that one knew that Itachi would end up bribing his unofficial friend for acting as his unwilling replacement.
Itachi liked Dabi's sense of humor, and fully understood his hatred of Endeavor. The man was a bastard through and through and made some unpleasant parallels with the father he had in his last life.
Much like Fugaku, this Endeavor had apparently pushed Dabi too far that his quirk backfired spectacularly. When it became clear his 'quirk' wouldn't be what Endeavor wanted, he dropped his son like a hot potato in favor of his youngest.
After Dabi had revealed that much to him, the first thing Itachi did was steal the best damn liquor he could find and share it with him. The sheer level of empathy he had for the man was overwhelming, except Dabi didn't harbor a deep love for his younger siblings due to Endeavor's nonsense.
The physical assessments were a joke, and it was ridiculously easy to rile up the hotheaded Bakugo by calmly informing the spoiled brat he "wasn't worth wasting his quirk on him".
The sheer level of pissed off energy that came off the blond made it totally worth it. Nothing angered hot heads like Bakugo who had an overinflated ego than pretending they were nothing but air. It was rather amusing and Izuku's favorite source of dark entertainment.
He went home and spent some time with his mother. It was one thing he rather enjoyed, and Inko clearly loved her son. Though she also had the annoying habit of falling into the same line of thinking that only someone with a quirk could become a hero.
Still...he was so bored though!
Izuku was walking home when he heard the commotion. He only needed to see Bakugo encased in a slime-like substance before he moved to act. His well-trained senses clearly told him what was going on.
A villain was trying to kill Bakugo, or close enough. The heroes present were too skittish about doing something when their quirks had no apparent use against the villain. There was a crowd that would delay any new heroes from getting to the victim by precious seconds.
He didn't need to think too hard about it. The real issue was freeing Bakugo from the slime without actually killing him in the process.
Izuku ducked past the barricade with ridiculous ease, before doing a perfect spin-kick that caused Bakugo to be launched out of the slime itself. He retracted his leg too quickly for the slime to overtake him instead...not that it could. Izuku was too quick and the slime was caught off guard by the sudden interference.
Bakugo threw up whatever it was the slime was trying to force him to ingest. Before he could started to rant, Izuku had grabbed him and pulled him out of the estimated range of the slime.
He barely managed to grab something sturdy to hold onto when a massive gust of wind came out of nowhere. He managed to catch a good look at what caused it though. Who knew All Might was nearby?
After the villain was properly arrested (and put into a rather humiliating container) Izuku promptly ignored the bitch fest the heroes gave him for interfering.
Kamui Wood was less than amused by this.
"Do you have anything you have to say for yourself?" he demanded.
"I share a class with him," deadpanned Izuku flatly. "And none of you were even remotely attempting to save him. It was obvious that he was about to choke to death. I'm not going to have the death of my classmate and most prominent rival on my conscience because you were too cowardly to act."
Mostly because he didn't want to deal with hearing Bakugo's mother cry over the preventable death of her son.
"Shitty Deku, I didn't need your help!" snarled Bakugo.
Izuku gave him a flat look.
"Our mothers are friends, and from what I saw that slime was preventing your sweat from being used. The last thing I want to deal with is hearing her cry over your death," deadpanned Izuku. "Besides, how am I supposed to show you up at UA if you're dead?"
That pissed Bakugo off, but at the same time he was discreetly glad. The heroes certainly hadn't done anything to save him.
Unnoticed, All Might was observing their interaction with interest. Well, unnoticed by everyone but Izuku anyway.
A few days later...
Izuku noticed he was being stalked. However it was by a complete amateur who clearly didn't know that he was dealing with a professional. He made a point to alert his friends, or the closest he had in this world, that he wouldn't be around for another week until he found out who was stalking him and why.
He knew it had to be someone from the Slime Incident, because he recognized the odd energy signature from that day.
Finally the source revealed himself. Izuku recognized the man was likely on his last legs, but was determined not to showcase that fact.
"You're a sharp one. You knew I was following you since that villain attack."
"You're not exactly discreet," admitted Izuku. "People with such gaunt features stand out pretty good, especially when they have such bright sunny hair."
What Izuku didn't mention was that he took one look at "spiky blond hair/blue eyes" and immediately started having Naruto flashbacks back when he was stuck watching over the kid. Any ANBU on that detail had developed an instinct towards being wary of blonds, particularly since the majority of people who had that particular hair color also happened to be part of the Yamanaka clan.
Mostly it was the "Naruto-watch" though.
Izuku listened to Toshinori's request, and agreed it sounded fine. However he did have a request of his own.
"You want to pass the UA practicals before you accept the quirk?" said Toshinori surprised.
"I want to prove a point, and it would be ridiculous for me to adjust to a new quirk in such a short time period. Particularly since I only have one real chance to pass the practicals," said Izuku.
Toshinori blinked.
"I can hardly refute that, and since I plan to teach there it shouldn't be an issue. I have another person under consideration for my quirk, but I liked the fact you took initiative when everyone else stood by more," said Toshinori. "That reminds me, what is your quirk?"
"I don't have one," said Izuku promptly.
"Eh?"
"The entire reason I want to be a hero is to prove a point that you don't need a quirk to be one. Besides, it pissed me off that my mother was beside herself with tears over something as minor as a random genetic ability. And since quirk use is generally forbidden, no one even realizes I don't have one," said Izuku smugly. "Hence why I want to wait before I accept yours...I want to prove quirkless is far from helpless if you put the effort in."
Toshinori was openly dumbfounded...mostly because he never expected that.