A/N: I would like to thank everyone that reviewed and added this story to their favorites and follows.

Aizawa could only tightened the grip of his clutches as he stepped into Uzumaki's hospital room. It had been two days since the USJ incident and only now did the doctors declared him free to go and visit his most reckless student. If it had been up to him, he would have visited the girl yesterday when she woke up.

He thinned his lips as his eyes landed on Uzumaki. The blond-haired teen sat on her bed, lips pressed into a scowl as the shinobi in the television screen pulled out their swords and declared that this was a battle to the death. Aizawa snorted at the cheesy lines used and wondered how could he have found those movies to be interesting.

"Glad to see that you are awake, Uzumaki."

His student jerked her head at him and blue eyes swelled up at the sight of him. Tears slowly dribbled down those peach-colour cheeks, raining down the white blankets and Aizawa almost felt his anger wavering at the sight of his student. Just because the girl was crying, doesn't mean he couldn't let her know about the stupidity and recklessness of her actions.

"You're really okay." His student choked out, rubbing her eyes furiously. "But you kinda look like a mummy. Are you sure that you should be walking, Aizawa-sensei?"

"The doctors made it a bigger deal then it actually is." Aizawa took a seat on the far corner of her bed and focused his attention on his fifteen-year-old student. No bruises or scratches decorated her face and the doctors hadn't wrapped any bandages around her arms or legs, which meant his student was probably recovering better than he expected.

It was dumb luck that the girl survived.

"What you did two days ago had to be one of the most reckless, idiotic things that I have ever seen from a student!" He raised his voice and allowed the anger to leak into his usual, calm voice. If things hadn't gone the way they did, he would have to bury a student. His throat burned at the thought. It had been one thing to bury friends and comrades, but to bury someone under his care would hurt.

"Aizawa-sensei—"

"I ordered you to run away!" His student flinched and Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Do you realize how lucky you are to be alive? Did you have a death wish? Being a hero doesn't mean that you recklessly throw your life away."

His student hung her head. "I didn't think—"

"That's your problem isn't it, Uzumaki? You don't think about your actions!" Aizawa inhaled and exhaled as his head pounded at the thought of his student nearly dying. "Help was on the way but you decided that you could act as a hero! Decided to charge in there without a plan and look what it costed you!"

Uzumaki stiffened. "I lost control of myself."

Aizawa paused and observed his student. The blond-haired girl clenched her hands against the blankets, eyes shut as her chest moved up and down rapidly. The rage and worry inside of him slowly faded away like the melted snow as his student kept her eyes fixated on her blankets.

"Uzumaki?"

"I just saw you getting hurt and all I could feel was rage and hate for the villain attacking you," Uzumaki choked out. "I just wanted to make him pay for what he did to you, and I just wanted to protect everyone from them."

The black-haired man took a deep breath. What could he say to his crying student? Becoming even more angry wouldn't do the girl any do and the only thing he could do was comfort her. But Aizawa needed to get through that thick girl's head that her actions had been the last thing anyone wanted. He knew she saved them in the end but what was the cost? What if she died? No one would want that.

"But at the cost of your own life?" He frowned. "Do you think that your life means so little to you that you think dying is better? You only have one life to live so you shouldn't throw it away so carelessly. The world already have one All Might; we don't need a second one."

Uzumaki chewed on her bottom lip. "I never thought anyone would care if I die because who would miss me? There was no one that really tied me to this world. I mean who would miss the orphan kid if she dies? That was what I thought."

"Eri would have missed you," Aizawa reminded her. "If she was here right now, she would have been crying and hugging you like there was no tomorrow."

His blond-haired student blinked and stared at him like he was lying about it. But why would he make something up? Eri always wanted to see Uzumaki. She always looked eagerly at the clock, waiting for the time that Uzumaki would come to play with her. If his student died then his foster child would have been crying tears like there was no tomorrow.

He flickered his eyes to the various cards and gifts. "Those get-well cards and plush toy should tell you that your classmates would have cared if you gotten yourself killed."

"I know that now," Uzumaki whispered. "And I'm happy that they care but why do they care so much? Why do they want to take care of me? I just don't understand. We aren't friends."

Aizawa regarded his student. "Must there be a reason for everything? They care about you because you are their classmate. It doesn't matter if you are friends or not, what mattered to them was that you are in the hospital. Can't someone do something because they care for you?"

Uzumaki kept quiet.

Black eyes focused on his trembling student and a realization dawned upon him. Todoroki called Uzumaki an abused child, but even abused children had seen some form of kindness directed towards them. The way his student kept questioning things hinted that no one treated her with kindness from the bottom of his heart. His throat tightened at the thought.

When Uzumaki's Guardian get here, Aizawa was going to question the way he did things because a child should always be treated with kindness.

They should never have to work to earn that kindness.

~X~

Naruto knew it would be a week maximum for Jiraiya to come and bail her out of the hospital, but she really wanted him to get to the hospital quicker. Her classmates resumed their studies so there was no one to talk to. The channels were either showing things she had no interest in, or things that bored her to death. It was getting so bad that Naruto was actually contemplating reading those fashion magazines.

The world must be ending for her to think about it.

"Uzumaki-chan! We're here!"

Naruto snatched her hands back as the hospital door swung open as Nejirou, Amejiki and Togato walked into the room, hands filled with baskets and cards. Three more people? And cards again too? And how did they know she was here? Naruto pushed herself up from the bed and gawked at the smiling teens.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto stuttered out as Nejirou rushed in to give her a hug. It was a tight hug that almost reminded her of the hugs she used to give to her best friend whenever Hinata used to get injured in her missions. But why would Nejirou give her a hug? Naruto hadn't been the nicest person to her.

"I cornered one of your classmates and asked them where you were during lunch time!" Nejirou released Naruto from the hug and bounced in her spot as blue eyes darted to the clock. Did her seniors come immediately from the school to the hospital, just to visit her? That must have happened if their uniforms were of any indication. Her throat tightened at the thought.

She cleared the lump and stared at her seniors. "Thank you for visiting."

"You are really something aren't you, Uzumaki?" Togato tilted his head and frowned. "What were you thinking when you decided to charge right in there to fight the villains? That was really reckless of you."

Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck as Amejiki raised his eyebrow at Togato. It was almost like he expected that the last person to say this was her senior and the blue-eyed girl wondered if there was a story behind them. She tilted her head, eyes fixated at the teen who looked almost like her best friend.

He flickered his eyes at her, head tilted to the side and flushed a bright shade of red. Why did the boy always blush? Was he sick? But he went to school, didn't he? Naruto has never been sick before. She nodded and stared at Nejirou, who smiled brightly at Amejiki.

"Is Amajiki-senpai okay?" Naruto asked. "He looks kinda sick."

Nejirou and Togato glanced at each other, lips curled into a smile as the blond-haired teen moved out of her bed. What was so funny? She wouldn't like it if the boy fainted in her hospital room. If he was sick then he should have gone to the doctor before coming here. She tip-toed and touched his forehead, frowning at the lack of heat coming from his face.

"He doesn't seem sick."

Nejirou laughed. "I think it is because it's kinda hot in here."

Naruto nodded, dropped her hand and took a seat on the bed as Togato patted his friend on the back. Was her room really that hot? She grabbed the remote, lips pressed into a thin line and her eyebrows knitted together when she saw the temperature was in the lower end of the temperature range. Naruto darted her eyes to Amajiki and Togato.

"You seem like you can walk just fine, even though you were operated for a whole day." Nejirou commented, drawing Naruto's attention away from the remote. "Why are you still in the hospital if you can walk and everything?"

"I have to wait for my Guardian to come."

The three teens frowned. "Your guardian? Where are they?"

"No idea." Everyone blinked their eyes and raised their eyebrows at her. Naruto rubbed the back of her neck, uncertain of how to explain Ero-Sennin to them. No way could she tell them that he had a spy network or a bad habit of spying on the hot springs to get inspiration for his books. She wrinkled her nose when she recalled the last book he made.

His editor should have corrected his spelling mistakes.

"Why?" Amajiki frowned and Naruto regarded him. She poked her tongue against her cheek as his dark eyes fixated on hers. Would it be considered a lot of information if she tell them about Ero-Sennin part time job? It didn't really matter. As soon as Ero-Sennin comes through the door then there would be a couple of men asking for his autograph. She grimaced.

"He travels all over the world," Naruto lied. "So he is barely in Japan which means I rarely see him or hear from him."

She avoided their eyes, focusing more on the magazine lying on her bed stand. The models were pretty and had body proportions that would have made Ero-Sennin waggling his tongue like a dog. If her teacher did come then did she also have to play the role of the babysitter? And was he going to rip her off again? She barely reached her old saving before leaving Konoha.

Naruto grimaced.

"But who were you living with this whole time?" Nejirou asked.

The blond-haired girl frowned. "I have been living by myself this whole time, Hadou."

Their eyes grew large as Naruto focused her eyes on the window. Birds flew and the sun shone so brightly, almost making it seem like today was going to be a great day. Maybe it was going to be a great day because Aizawa-sensei was fine now and so many people visited her. She smiled and regarded her three seniors who kept staring at her.

She blinked when Nejirou hugged her, tears streaming down her eyes and the teen just blinked. Snot soaked her hospital clothes and Naruto patted her senior's back, almost uncertain of how to comfort the woman. Sakura never went to her for comfort while Kiba always made sure to comfort Hinata-chan. She chewed on her bottom lip.

"Senpai, why are you crying?"

Nejirou pushed herself up and frown. "Because it must have been so hard for you to take care of yourself. I can't imagine going back to an apartment or house and not have someone there."

"You get used to it."

She doesn't want to tell her that it was lonely to go back to a house and not have someone greet her. Naruto grinned at her senior while her heart ached like it always did whenever she thought of her empty apartment. But Naruto was used to it, so she could never complain it. This had always been her life and maybe she would always live alone in an apartment. She smiled tighter.

Naruto hoped her words would come true.

~X~

"Todoroki, what are you doing here?"

Shouto raised his eyebrow and took a seat on the chair as Uzumaki pushed herself up from the bed. Several teardrops stained the blanket, almost like his friend had been crying again. Who caused her to cry? He pressed his lips into a thin line, let out a sigh and pulled out the homework and notes that his friend missed.

Uzumaki blinked. "What's this?"

"All the work you missed." Uzumaki gawked and then knitted her eyebrows at the various photocopied notes and the homework that their teachers assigned them. His friend flipped through the notes, eyes focused on the homework and then she flickered her eyes to him.

"Thank you, Todoroki!" His classmate didn't offer him a smile, only staring down at lap before blue eyes focused on him. Her bright blue eyes seemed to be searching for something, almost made him feel uncomfortable enough to shift his body away from her. If you asked him, it almost felt like she was seeing through him. His friend cleared her throat. "Are you okay, Todoroki?"

Shouto regarded her, eyes fixated on her cheeks and forehead. No blood decorated them and her hair seemed clean, no longer dirtied by blood but her bruised face still played in front of his eyes. Even now his throat tightened at the memory.

"I'm not okay." Uzumaki blinked and Shouto stared at her eyes. "I didn't like seeing you get hurt and I thought you were going to die. I don't know why I didn't like it but I know that no one wants to see that ever again."

Uzumaki stared, her expression completely blank, and Shouto just tilted his head. Why wasn't she saying anything? Usually she would say something by now but she was just so quiet now. He rubbed the back of his neck and blinked when his friend smiled at him.

He blinked. "Are you okay? You're smiling."

"Yeah because I am kinda happy," Uzumaki admitted and he blinked. Why was she happy? What did he say that make her happy? Shouto scrunched his eyebrows together. "I'm happy because you are worried about me. I didn't think a lot of people would tell me that they were worried for me, especially you Todoroki."

He tilted his head. "Why me?"

"Because you usually don't show your emotions," Uzumaki replied. "So it kinda makes me happy because that means you must have been really worried about me. I guess you really think of me as your friend because friends worry about each other."

"What does that have to do of why I didn't like to see you hurt?" Shouto knitted his eyebrows and tilted his head. Uzumaki sighed, head shaking as her eyes fixated at him. There was some amusement in her eyes as if she found something amusing about the way he asked her.

Uzumaki smiled. "Because friends worry for each other especially if said friend was close to death."

Shouto nodded, regarded his smiling friend and stared at the television screen where two friends seemed to be discussing their life problems to each other. So would those two friends had the same feeling he felt? That reassured him in some way. He pressed his lips into a thin line and regarded his smiling friend.

"Why did you do it?" Shouto inhaled and exhaled. "That villain mauled Aizawa-sensei and it was obvious that it would be willing to kill you so why the hell did you do it?"

Uzumaki sighed, tilted his head and took a deep breath as her eyes focused on him. She hung her head down, avoiding his eyes but he could make out the tiny peaks of a bitter smile playing on her lips. After a couple of minutes, her head came up and landed on the top of her knees. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"I just saw Aizawa-sensei getting hurt and lost it," she inhaled and exhaled. "I know it was really reckless of me but I just wanted to protect him and…I guess everyone too."

Shouto pressed his lips into a thin line as Uzumaki flashed him a smile. Reckless? Everyone had been so terrified to see her in that state. Was that all she could say? Could she explain herself better? Did she not think of just how scared they were? He took a deep breath, pressed his hands against his forehead and locked his mismatch eyes at his smiling friend.

"If you rush in there then who would have your back? Did you stop to think about it?" He took several deep breaths. "We thought you were going to die and all you can say that was reckless?"

Uzumaki frowned and looked at him. She tilted her head, rubbed her chin and regarded him for a couple of minutes. What was going through her mind? Sometimes it was easy for him to understand but when she looked at him with no emotions, then Shouto found it difficult to read her. He sighed, looking at the clock before returning his attention back to her.

"You aren't just pissed off because I did something reckless and stupid, are you?" Uzumaki pressed her lips into a thin line. "What's the real problem?"

Shouto raised his eyebrow. "There is no problem."

"You're avoiding the problem," she said dryly. "If you think you're going to hurt my feelings then don't worry, 'cuz I am a big girl."

Shouto pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away from her searching eyes. What made her think there was a problem? He grinded his teeth together, took a deep breath and looked at those blue eyes. They gazed at him with concern, wrinkles on her forehead and he knew his friend didn't have a quirk that could read minds.

Being honest was what friends do, right? And he did consider Uzumaki to be his friends.

"You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I never got close to you," Uzumaki blinked and Shouto looked down at his hands. "I always seemed to hurt people and what happened in USJ—"

"It wasn't your fault, Todoroki." He blinked and the blond-haired girl stared at him. "You think just because we became friends, that this happened? I got hurt in USJ because I was a reckless idiot who didn't think what her actions would make everyone feel. It isn't your fault so please don't blame yourself."

It was a lot easier said than done. All he could ever think about was that the moment Uzumaki acknowledged him as a friend, she got herself hurt. His mother got hurt, then Touya and now it was his friend. Maybe none of this would have happened if he just continued with his self-imposed rule.

He shook his head. "If I had just—"

"Todoroki, I do a lot of stupid things so you wouldn't have change anything." Uzumaki smiled. " This isn't a Todoroki curse thing— it is an Uzumaki curse thing. So you aren't cursed."

"I really do think that I'm cursed, Uzumaki! It is a Todoroki curse."

"No way in hell am I calling what happened the Todoroki curse! I'm the one that got hurt so it is going to be called the Uzumaki curse!"

~X~

A/N: Please tell me your thoughts about this chapter and what could be improved about the chapters and the story in general. What do you think of the development of the story so far? Of the relationships between the characters?