A/N: I want to thank everyone that added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

(Two weeks later)

Naruto blinked when she caught sight of the food on the table.

She forced herself to wake up early in order to prepare breakfast for herself and Jiraiya. Some miso ramen had been the plan for her. Streaming miso ramen always helped to make her whole body relax, but making ramen took time and effort. Not once did she imagine Jiraiya would wake up before her, get his ass off from the spare bed and make breakfast for her.

"You cooked all this?" Naruto's eyes darted to the steamed rice, miso soup and then to the soy beans displayed on her usual seat. Right beside those food was some grilled fish as well as a couple of vegetables, which made Naruto wrinkle her nose. Jiraiya nodded, beaming and puffing up his chest like he was proud of himself.

"Yup," Jiraya bobbed. "Since today is the day of your Sports Festival then it is only natural that you have a healthy breakfast, instead of your usual bowl of ramen and eggs."

Naruto nibbled her bottom lip and took a seat on the chair. When the two of them had been on the road, they stayed in the inns where breakfast was paid for them. Until yesterday, she had been the one cooking food for them and now Jiraiya made breakfast for her. But why? Why did he make food for her instead of waiting for her to cook it for him? She took in a deep breath.

"Why did you cook for me?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Because you need to eat healthy before big events and I know from watching you that you have a habit of making ramen before your big days."

Blue eyes widened and her throat tightened at the gesture made by her mentor. She took several deep breaths, offered him a smile and began to dig in. The fish was a bit overcooked and maybe the rice could have been cooked better, but it was probably one of the most delicious meals Naruto ever had. It would never compare to ramen, but the gesture behind it just made the food even tastier in her eyes.

"So are you nervous for today?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto reached out for her milk.

Naruto stiffened and she withdrew her hand away from the carton of milk. Nervous? About what? The fact that everyone was going to be watching her and her every move. Was she a little bit torn over at the fact that the Elemental Countries were going to be watching her every move? Of course not. Her hands trembled even more and Naruto forced herself to take a deep breath.

"Why would I be nervous?"

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. "You spent the whole night yesterday, practicing for some speech."

"Aizawa-sensei said that because I got the highest score for the Entrance Exam that I need to do some athlete oath," Naruto avoided Jiraiya's knowing eyes and focused on the blank television screen. "There is nothing for me to be nervous about…I am more than capable of winning the whole thing."

She didn't trust him enough to tell him about her worries.

The Toad Sannin pressed his lips into a thin line and regarded her. "You are going to do great, Naruto and I'm not saying this because I trained you…but because you always give it your all in a match."

Naruto forced herself to smile and bobbed her head at him. That wasn't what concern her about today. What should she say in television? So many eyes would be upon her and this was her chance to be remembered. Should she make her usual smile? People would be reassured if she smiled, and there was only one person she needed to reassured, today.

'I don't need you to talk, Naruto.'

"Are you going to be watching me today? Or are you going to attempt to sneak a peek at the bathhouses again?"

Her mentor didn't smile at her joke, instead his eyes seemed fixated on her and the smile playing on her lips. It felt almost like he was seeing through her as if he knew what exactly was bothering her today, but Jiraiya probably didn't know. He probably wouldn't understand what significant for her. Unlike her, he never had people hating him for something out of his control.

He didn't have people that wanted to see him fail.

"I'm going to be cheering you and that Midoriya on," Jiraiya declared. "But between the two of us, I'm going to be cheering harder for you."

She blinked. "Me? But you kept comparing Midoriya to the Fourth Hokage. Wouldn't you want to cheer for him more?"

"I would like to say I'm gambling on you but that would be lying," Jiraiya shrugged his shoulder. "Just because I kept comparing him to the Fourth, doesn't mean I favour him more. I helped train him because you ask me to do it, but I trained you because I chose you."

"Didn't I beg you to train me for the Chunin Exams?"

"I didn't have to agree to your demands."

Naruto smiled at those words and looked at the photo of the Third Hokage. Had it really been nearly three years since Jiraiya trained her in the Chunin Exams? Nearly three years since the man, who she considered to be like her grandfather, was murdered by the man that took away her teammate? The two photos standing side by side was the perfect symbolism of the two worlds that Naruto now lived in.

The past and maybe the future.

"Ero-Sennin, are you disappointed that I chose to disregard the future that I originally wanted for myself? The Third…would he understand?"

She didn't dare ask about her parents, not when Jiraiya didn't know them

"The Third would have understood your reasons." Jiraiya sighed. "The Third always saw the members of Konoha as family and he always cared about their well-being. He would have wanted to see you happy and if you chose this as your path…then he would have supported you."

'But did he ever love me like his granddaughter? He didn't congratulate me when I won my match against Kiba.'

Naruto shook her head and inhaled deeply. This was not the time for her to remember those days and begin to have resentment over her past. It was because of these thoughts that Aizawa-sensei believed she had trust issues. She didn't have them. She really didn't have any trust issues, even if a part of her did wonder if Jiraiya was sincere with her.

Even if a part of her wonder if the Third Hokage ever looked past the monster that stole his wife away and saw her as Uzumaki Naruto, the little girl that always wanted some attention.

"You're going to knock 'em dead, Naruto."

Those weren't the words that she wanted to hear but Naruto would accept Jiraiya's words of encouragement.

"Why the hell are you sitting beside me, Whiskers?"

Naruto looked up from her phone and blinked at the sight of a scowling Bakugou. Red eyes gleamed with irritation as he shoved his right hand into his pocket while his other hand gripped his sports bag like it was his weapon. Even though the bag just probably contained their gym outfits and not his costume. Aizawa-sensei made it clear to them that they weren't allowed to wear their costumes. Naruto flickered to her own bag before glancing at their fellow passengers.

All around them, the passengers seemed to be flickering their eyes at them and stared at them like they were some form of celebrities. In a way, they were going to become celebrities. In the next couple of hours, they would be showing their skills to the world and the thought of that made her tremble in both excitement and nerves.

"I didn't even know I was sitting beside you, Explosive Head." Naruto declared. She kept her voice cheerful and made sure to plaster a smile on her face, which served the older boy to scowl even harder at her. He stood up from his seat, red eyes darting to all the seats and even to the barely empty glimpses of handles on the train. Despite being so early in the morning, there were still so many people in the train.

Were all of them going to the Sports Festival?

"Stupid bastards took all of the seats," Bakugou grumbled, dropping down to his seat. He placed his legs on top of the seat in front of him, not bothering to look apologetic when the passenger in front of them swirled his head at him. Bakugou's response? He gave them a scowl and the middle finger before pulling out his phone.

"You shouldn't be rude to them."

Bakugou snorted. "I don't give a fuck about what those people think."

Naruto rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The world seemed to be spinning and loud or maybe it was the way her fellow passengers kept talking to each other with the occasional glance thrown at their direction. Were these people going to bet on her? Or would they bet on Bakugou and the other boys? She curled her lips into a tight smile and clutched her trembling hands, trying and failing to steady them.

Bakugou darted his eyes at her and his eyes seemed focus on her hands. There was a scowl playing on his lips as the boy swirled his head at her. "Stop your damn trembling, Whiskers! It is giving me a damn headache."

"I'm not trembling!" Naruto snapped.

He rolled his eyes. "Didn't picture you as a Scaredy cat."

'Are you afraid…scaredy-cat?'

Naruto grinded her teeth together and narrowed her eyes at the scowling boy. Her breathing grew rapid as people stopped their chatting and swirled their heads at them, their eyes eager to see a fight brewing between the two teens. How dare he call her that? She wasn't scared of anything…well maybe ghosts. Ghosts were terrifying ideas, but she definitely was not scared of some Sports Festival and what it might mean for her. She forced herself to smile at him.

"I'm not fucking scared of some Sports Festival, Explosive Head."

Bakugou snorted. "Scared? Oh I know you ain't terrified, you are fucking nervous for no reason. You have nothing to be worried about."

He looked away from her as a scowl played on his lips. All Naruto could do was just stare at him with knitted eyebrows, trying to make sense of his words. Why the hell would he think she has nothing to worried about? Because she scored higher then him. Naruto furiously shook her head and looked down at her hands. There were just so much for her to be nervous about and it wasn't the idea that she would lose in the Sport Festival.

That part was just impossible.

She came too far for her to be defeated by her classmates, but what if something terrible happen because of her actions? What if Hinata doesn't see that she changed? A toad should have been sent to tell her but Naruto was a coward. She didn't trust Hinata to understand her actions or about her desires. Her best-friend saw her at her worst yet she might just leave her. Hinata might just abandon her if she knew Naruto doesn't plan to come back.

No one could be that understanding to her desire.

"I'm not fucking worried about anything."

Bakugou snorted. "Do you take me for an idiot? My scores for the Entrance Exam should speak volumes. I scored higher than you in the damn written paper."

"It doesn't matter because I am not worried about anything! Also, I beat you in the Practical Exam!" She folded her arms against her chest as a righteous smirk played on her lips. The blond-haired boy scowled, red eyes narrowed and Naruto knew it was petty for her to remind him that he scored lower than her. Unlike her, Bakugou didn't have any experience with fighting. The fact he scored so high with just battle points, spoke volumes of his talent as a fighter.

"I will beat you in the damn Sports Festival," Bakugou clicked his tongue. "And what happened in the Practical Exams was just a fluke. If I had fucking known that they were testing for the rescue points then—"

"Heroes also rescue," Naruto deadpanned. "It shoulda been obvious for a genius like you."

The blond-haired boy scowled. "On a job but not on a damn exam. Why the hell should I rescue them? Heroes need to defeat the damn villains in order to save people. Villains are the damn reason that people need to be save; get rid of them and you fix the damn problem."

Naruto regarded her scowling classmate and stared out at the passing scenery. The streets of the city were beautiful if one liked artificial things but not every beautiful thing was a good thing. Gardens were beautiful too but there were weeds that needed to be snip or else it ruined the beauty of them. You could always cut the weeds, but you could never get rid of them. It was the same for Villains. Bakugou could defeat as many villains as he could, but he could never get rid of them.

Villains would always exist because no one knew what caused them. What was a villain? And what was a hero? Maybe heroes were heroes but to villains, heroes were the villains of their narrative. Naruto nibbled her bottom lip and shook her head. Why the hell was she thinking about this? She needed to focus on the damn Sport Festival.

She needed to focus on making a name for herself.

Her entire class was already dressed in their gym uniforms and were now gathered in the waiting room before the festival was supposed to start. Everyone seemed to be either relaxing, chatting or trying to calm down their own nerves. Naruto was just in her own world with her eyes fixated on the speech that she prepared herself for. She flickered her eyes to Todoroki and frowned when she saw the furrowed eyebrows and intense eyes.

Her friend had been acting strange for the last week. He had been avoiding eating her and seemed more fixated on returning home to do his training then talking to her. It probably was nothing for her to fret about but Naruto also knew this wasn't his behaviour. He always asked about her well-being and always checked up on her.

"Todoroki, is everything okay?"

The mismatch boy barely acknowledged her and just fixated his eyes on Midoriya. Anger and resentment shone through those mismatch eyes, almost reminding her of their first week in Yuuei. Naruto chewed on her bottom lip, took a deep breath and crumbled up the speech that she prepared for today. What was the point of practicing a speech when Todoroki looked like he was going to start a fight soon?

She was the type to start fights, not Todoroki.

"Todoroki, what is bothering—"

"We aren't friends today," Naruto blinked as everyone swirled their heads at them. Blue eyes hardened as mismatch eyes showed her nothing but anger and hatred. But did he hate her? Or was he looking through her and seeing someone else? She clenched her hands into a fist. "We are competitors trying to win a competition."

This wasn't Todoroki talking to her because Todoroki was a nice, oblivious boy that always seemed to give a shit about her. Naruto had been rude to him, intentionally insulted him and even goaded him but not once had Todoroki acted like an asshole to her. She grinded her teeth and narrowed her blue eyes at him while everyone glanced at them with confusion.

Naruto dropped all smiles. "You know Todoroki, I expected this kind of shitty behavior from Bakugou but not from you."

Izuku stood up from his seat and walked over to her. His hands reached out to her, but Naruto moved out of his way and charged straight at her stone-faced friend. Everybody glanced at each other in silence as the cheerful atmosphere shifted to an atmosphere that was so tense, a knife could cut through it.

"Uzumaki…"

Naruto forced herself to smile at him and yanked him by the collar so that his mismatch eyes could see her. A month ago, she probably would never give a shit about him because she thought she had Todoroki all figured out. But the asshole kept coming back with his constant checking up on her. He kept digging his way under her skin to the point that Naruto couldn't get rid of him. When the asshole decided to become her friend then he needed to understand what the hell he was getting himself into.

She was going to make it clear to him.

"Listen to me, asshole." She kept her voice low and a tight smile played on her lips as everyone shifted in their seats. "You think I don't know a fucking thing about you? Something has been bothering you for the past week and I haven't asked you shit, because I put it down as stress for the damn Sports Festival. But clearly something has been bothering you and eating you alive, because this isn't you."

Todoroki avoided her eyes and Naruto felt the temptation to pull her hair out. Why was he acting like this? If he considered them to be friends then he would tell her things. She took a deep breath and locked her bright blue eyes on the avoiding eyes of her friend. Her hands itched to make him look at her and the words seemed stuck on her throat.

She didn't like what was happening between them and Naruto always lashed out when she was angry.

"Uzumaki, it make sense that—"

"Really? Or did something happen at home for you to act like a shitty person, Shouto-kun?" Mismatch eyes flared with annoyance and anger as everyone gulped at the argument brewing between the two friends. "Did Daddy dearest say something again? Is that it? And you decide to take it out on me?"

"Uzumaki, this isn't about it."

"Then fucking talk about it!" She yelled. "I'm not a damn mind-reader and friends talk about their problems, but how the hell can I help you if you don't talk about it? None of us are your punching bag today, so get your head out of your ass and start telling me about what the hell is bothering you."

Todoroki pressed his lips into a thin line, mismatch eyes flared with anger and Naruto dropped her hands. She clicked her heels together and resumed her seat on the chair, kicking her legs back onto the chair as Todoroki went to the other side of the room. Everyone parted ways, their eyes shone with concern at the sight of the two friends not sitting with each other.

Naruto ignored her fretting classmates and focused her blue eyes on the streaming rage that was Todoroki.

She knew now what she was going to say to the cameras now and had another goal for the Sports Festival. Winning the whole thing wasn't important to her, not when her friend seemed to be hurt over something. No, Naruto was not going to allow him to wallow in his anger and hatred during this Sports Festival.

She was going to find out what the hell was bothering him.

"Your student representative is from Class 1A: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Whispers broke out as Naruto made her way through the parted path made by her fellow students. Her blue eyes focused on the podium right in front of her, occasionally glancing at Todoroki. The mismatch boy didn't say anything, only focusing his mismatch eyes on her back and Naruto was going to give him a good yelling when they were done with the Sports Festival. Shitty father or not, this type of behavior was not excusable.

It was almost excusable as saying that it was okay to murder someone because you hated them and the world around them.

Midnight offered her a bright smile and Naruto returned the smile, before clicking her heels together. She turned to the cheering crowds in front of her, blue eyes scanning for any familiar faces in the crowds. There was a red-haired man sitting beside a man with hawk wings and across them seemed to be Todoroki's Dad. His eyes seemed fixated at her, almost like daring her to say something reckless. Her eyes went upwards and widened at the sight of Jiraiya.

The Toad Sannin was standing in the stadium, lips curled into a smile and Naruto forced herself to relax.

"I know I should be saying some bullshit about how I promise we are going to respect and follow the rules," Naruto began. Silence reined as everyone shifted in their seats, almost looking uncertain of what she was about to say. She focused her eyes on the camera and forced herself to smile widely. "But I ain't going to talk about that shit."

Whispers broke out as Naruto took a deep breath and she focused her attention on Todoroki. Maybe it was stupid of her but even though he annoyed the shit out of her with his rude behavior, she could find some courage when she focused her attention on him. It was probably due to the fact he kept trying to be her friend, even though she acted nasty to him.

Maybe it was because he showed that he cared about her.

"Everyone that has come to this school, came here because we have a dream that we think Yuuei can help us achieve," Naruto shifted her eyes to everyone. "Not everyone here is in the hero course, but they worked their asses off to get here…because getting here isn't easy. We are lucky to be gifted with teachers that care about our mental well-being and physical well-being. They have faith in us when we lost faith in our abilities and capabilities."

She took a deep breath as everyone stared at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know everyone in my year but the people that I do know…they worked so hard for the Sports Festival," she smiled. "And I'm certain that the same can be said to everyone here. If you ask me, anyone is capable of winning this whole thing but what makes Yuuei great is the support that they give us. But it is the support of our friends and families that makes us want to win, because everyone here has something to prove."

'Just talk to me!"

Naruto cleared her throat and focused her eyes on the camera.

"Hinata-chan, I don't know if you are watching this but I just want to say that I know I disappointed the shit out of you. But I heard you, loud and clear that day." Everyone blinked and Naruto knew it was stupid and reckless of her to do this, but the guilt was eating her alive. From across her, Jiraiya was blinking and crossing his hands together at her but Naruto ignored it. "And I'm sorry for being a shitty friend to you, but I'm okay now and I'm going to win the whole damn thing."

Groans could be echoed throughout the stadium as several eyes glared at her, but only three sets of eyes stood out to Naruto.

Todoroki almost had a smirk playing on his lips, and Bakugou scowled at her. But amusement and excitement almost shone through his eyes at her declaration of her desire to win the Sports Festival. The last set of eyes were Midoriya. The boy looked excited and nervous about her announcement as he balled his hands into a tight ball.

Naruto couldn't wait for the Sports Festival to begin.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter. What do you think of the characters so far? What do you think should be improved about this fic?