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

There was no one in the hallways leading into the changing room, a reminder to Naruto that she had been just a little bit too quick in finishing her race. Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the corridor, not just telling her that Todoroki, Bakugou and Midoriya were racing out for second place, but also a constant reminder of just how alone Naruto was in the hallway.

She smoothed out the wrinkles of her gym outfit and darted her eyes throughout the hallway, looking and failing to find Jiraiya. Didn't he give her a signal to follow him so they could talk? She curled her lips into an ugly scowl. He probably found some pretty heroine and decided to hit on her like he always did whenever he catch sight of any pretty girl.

Naruto inhaled and exhaled as her feet dragged itself through the corridors, hoping to find any clues of where the Toad Sanin was. Pink lips curled into a frown as loud, thundering footsteps echoed throughout the hallways. There were a lot of things Naruto would use to describe Jiraiya, but he was not the type to make his footsteps loud.

He was always ready to spring up on her.

Naruto's footsteps slowed down when she caught sight of Todoroki's father. Turquoise eyes flared with rage and annoyance and a pair of mismatch eyes flashed before her eyes. Naruto grinded her teeth together, balled her hands into a fist and took several deep breaths before forcing herself to make a tight, cheerful smile.

Right now, she saw the eerily resemblance between her friend and his father. A resemblance, which Naruto hated because Endeavour acted like Hisashi with the way he constantly looked down on people. He acted like how Gaara described his own father, a man that barely saw his son as a son and saw him nothing but as a weapon.

"I want to have a talk with you, Uzumaki." Turquoise eyes flared with annoyance and stared at her like she was a problem that he wanted to fix. Naruto grinded her teeth and took several deep breaths as words of the past echoed in her ear, reminding her of the very first betrayal that she ever felt from a friend.

'I just wanted to be first again, Naruto. My Dad doesn't like the fact that I keep getting second place now."

Naruto dropped her smile. "If you want me to lose the next round just so Todoroki can win then screw you. I vowed in front of the whole world that I'm going to win this whole thing and nothing in the world will make me change my mind."

'It seems like Midoriya had decided to kick the ground behind him to propel himself to the finishing line!" Only the commentary from Present Mic echoed between them as Naruto hardened her eyes at the Pro-Hero. Turquoise eyes stared at her with begrudging respect, earning a scowl from the blond-haired girl. What was the point of having the respect of an asshole? So what if he was the Number Two? He was a symbolism of all the people that judged her.

All of those geniuses and prodigy that always looked down on her, because of her stupid scores.

"I want your help."

Blue eyes widened as Endeavour grinded his teeth and hands curled into a tight fist. His eyes focused on her for a couple of seconds, before darting to looking at everywhere but at her. The reluctance in his tone spoke volumes to Naruto because people like Endeavour don't want help. She pressed her lips into a thin line.

"My help?"

Endeavour nodded. "You are probably the only one that can convince Shouto to use his left side."

"His left side?" Naruto knitted her eyebrows together and darted her eyes to either sides of the corridor. No one seemed to be coming and the lack of forced movement told her that Todoroki was nowhere to be found. Endeavour scowled and looked down on her, his turquoise eyes focused on hers.

"Has Shouto ever used his left side since he joined Yuuei?"

Tilting her head to the side, Naruto knitted her eyebrows and thought back to the various exercises that All Might and Aizawa made them do. Ice was the only thing, which stood out to her along with the way Todoroki never seemed to listen to what their classmates had to say for his plans

"No," Naruto took a deep breath. "Todoroki has always been using his right side to freeze people, and I don't think anyone has ever seen him use his left side."

She never thought to ask about it, not when it never came up.

Endeavour growled. "That boy refused to listen to me when I tell him to use the fire from his left side, but the fool thinks that he can win and surpass All Might with just his left side."

Blue eyes turned completely blank as her mind shut down to process what was just said. Why did it matter if he surpass All Might? Shouldn't he just worry about the Sports Festival? There was nothing about his tone that suggested that this was a concern father. It sounded more like a boss being frustrated with his subordinate. Naruto clenched her hands into a fist and allowed the anger to leak into her eyes.

Was this really what Todoroki had to deal with?

Didn't the bastard think that maybe there was a reason Todoroki refused to use it? She took a couple of deep breaths as her hands continued to tremble with rage. There was always a chance she was wrong and Todoroki's father did know why his son was acting like a stubborn mule.

Because that was what Todoroki was, he was stubborn as soon as he had an idea in his head and would have a lot of reasons to explain his actions…even if some of them didn't require much words or make any sense.

"And why doesn't he use it?"

Endeavour snarled. ""Because the boy is being rebellious! Now help me get him to use it."

Naruto grinded her teeth together, balled her hands into a fist and it took all of her willpower not to scream at the hero. Rebellious? Todoroki? The boy was too oblivious that it was not even funny. Bastard had only broken the rule once, which really didn't make him at all rebellious. Mismatch eyes flashed before her eyes along with the concern and Naruto found her rage slightly withering away.

She inhaled.

"Why me? Why did you come to me?" He insulted her in his home and tried to stop her friendship with his son. Hell their friendship was going to be on the rocks if Todoroki knew that his father came to her. She knew if Todoroki ever learnt that his father came to her then their friendship was over.

Their friendship was already fragile and if she helped Endeavour with his request, then their friendship would shatter to the ground. She just could not risk it even if a part of her felt beyond annoyed that Todoroki would think he could win with just half his power. This was not respecting the amount of hard work given by their classmates and fellow year mates.

She didn't even lower her guard by using that Sexy Jutsu and it would be so cruel of Todoroki to do this to their classmates.

'We aren't friends today.'

'We are competitors trying to win a competition.'

Endeavour really was a fool if he thought she could talk sense to Todoroki. How could she even help him if Todoroki refused to acknowledge their friendship today? Words would never go through him if the bastard refused to acknowledge that they were friends.

There was no way she could force him to use his fire or reason with him, not unless he just calm down. She could not force him to do something he wasn't ready to do, just like Ero-Sennin could not force her to use the Kyuubi's chakra. It would make her the biggest hypocrite and she was not going to become one for Todoroki.

Beside, how could a person help if a friend refused to open up to them? A bitter smile played on her lips as Endeavour stared at her with expectant eyes. Just like Todoroki would not open up to her about the reason he didn't use his left side and his mother, Naruto had never given him even a tiny glimpse into her past.

She took a deep breath.

"I won't force him to do something that he doesn't want to do."

"In fifth place: Shiozaki Ibara!"

Naruto curled her lips into a thin line as Present Mic continued to list out the incoming competitors that were now in the final leg of the race. Midoriya came second, which not only spoke volumes of how far he came with his Quirk but his brains because no one would have decided to use the explosives to propel themselves to second place. In third place had been Todoroki, who was quickly followed behind by Bakugou.

Convince Shouto to use his left side.

She shook her head, took a deep breath and placed her fingers on either side of her face. She dragged the corners of her lips until a smile formed on her face. If Ero-Sennin find her now then it would be even obvious to him that something must have happened to her.

As if her thoughts had performed a summoning jutsu, Jiraiya strolled into the hallway as if he belonged inside a school where security was supposed to be at its max and there were so many heroes crawling here, not just to watch the students but also to protect the school. Not that it seemed like they were doing their job, if Jiraiya had been able to sneak in without much detection.

The Toad Sannin dropped his smile as his dark eyes fixated on her. His lips curled into a frown as he strolled straight towards her, looking at her like he was afraid that she might just fall. She forced the smile to become wider and the white-haired man placed his hands on her arms.

"Are you okay, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled brightly. "Of course, everything is okay."

Jiraiya would not happy if she decided to meddle with her classmate's life, not when the last time she tried to meddle led him deciding that she should travel for a long period of time. She doubt he would even understand why she was contemplating to help him. Naruto puffed her cheeks, blowing a strand of her hair away.

She doesn't even know why she was even thinking to agree to Endeavour's wish.

The Toad Sannin placed his large hand on her shoulder, knelt down and looked straight into her eyes. "Naruto, you know you can tell me anything. Do you want to talk about what happened in the Obstacle Race?"

Naruto blinked and furiously shook her head as her throat burned like it always did, whenever Mikoto's eyes flashed before her eyes. Mikoto Uchiha hadn't even been her mother. She was Sasuke's mother…but she had been one of the few adults who seemed to love her.

"I'm not going to talk about it." Naruto trusted Jiraiya but she was not going to have another therapy session. One therapist was enough for her and even then the woman hadn't coaxed her to say something. The woman only allowed her to play poker, which didn't mean much.

Jiraiya inhaled. "Naruto, I am not an expert on these things but if you properly read my novels, then you would see how much better people feel when they talk about their problems."

Did he really expect her to believe that he made her read those books to influence her? She knew the man like the back of her hand and he made her correct his books, because she was free and his student. Naruto inhaled and flickered her eyes to the walls, wishing for someone that could save her from this talk.

"Some of your characters are just shady," Naruto reminded him with a scowl playing on her lips. "And you are just describing about how the Old Hag kept rejecting you and how you always handle it."

Jiraiya did not smile at her comment nor did he become angry. Instead, he leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling like he was blaming it for something. Naruto snorted and folded her arms against her lips as a righteous smile played on her lips. If he brought up his book then she would point this out.

It was only fair.

Finally, the man sighed. "Do you think it is easy for me to bare my soul and work to let the world read and criticize me?"

"You write smut," Naruto deadpanned.

"You know very well that not all of it is about smut," Jiraiya puffed his chest and looked almost insulted by her observation, but the blond-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Some of the things that I wrote are true. You think that the main character really enjoyed the attentions of the other females? Or that he enjoyed his first love more? It does hurt to be rejected but I turn my rejections into a book."

She knew that and maybe that was why Naruto did find some joy in his books. The smut was terrible, practically impossible in her mind and the description of the female body was too distasteful. But there were points in his books, where she almost smiled and laughed. It was during those times was when she understood just why so many people enjoy it.

But she could not tell him of what Endeavour asked of her.

"I am fine, really."

"If you were fine then why weren't you happy about winning the obstacle race?" Jiraiya pressed his lips into a thin line as Naruto's smile faltered at his question. Blue eyes grew wide as her fingers began to fiddle together and the desire to deny his words were great. But something else bothered her.

The Toad Sannin had never been observant when it came to her.

"How do you know I wasn't happy?"

"Because you would have been bouncing and declaring to the whole world about how you won the whole thing," Naruto blinked as her teacher rubbed his chin and focused his black eyes on her. A smile played on his lips, telling her that maybe the man found some humor in her question.

"What are you smiling about?" Naruto folded her arms against her chest and tapped her feet against the floor. Distantly, Present Mic's words echoed throughout the corridor as he announced who came in twentieth place.

He laughed. "Do you remember how happy you were to master the Rasengan?"

A smile broke out of Naruto's lips as her blue eyes twinkled with mirth. Tsunade didn't even believe she could master the jutsu in one week, making a bet that she would fail in the jutsu. Her hand reached out to touch the gift Tsunade gave her and her smile faltered slightly as the cold crystal burned her hands.

This necklace had always been a symbol of bad luck for Tsunade, but Naruto could never see it in the same way. All those times where she had been close to death, this necklace had been there and she still survived. Sure, it was due to the Kyuubi but maybe this necklace was her symbol of luck.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Tsunade used to associate the necklace with bad things," Naruto declared as a smile played on her lips. "But it is actually a good thing, isn't it? This thing kinda protect me from all those near death experience."

Jiraiya did not say anything instead he focused his eyes on the necklace displayed proudly on her chest. His lips curled into a smile and he ruffled her hair like he always did whenever he found some joy in her words. Whenever the Toad Sannin did it or whenever he gave her a proud smile…well Naruto wonder if her parents would have done the same thing.

"Or maybe you have more luck than Tsunade ever hope to have." Naruto snorted at those words because she only had luck when it came to gambling. The Fifth Hokage had been blessed with a teammate that cared for her and was probably treated as royalty growing up.

It would be just pure irony for the jinchuuriki to have some form of luck, a luck better than the woman that was not just known as the best medic in the whole world but also the granddaughter of the First Hokage. Most of the time, the children and descendants of Kage seemed to always be treated well.

Gaara was the only exception to this.

She shook her head and stared at Jiraiya. He was here to support her and it seemed like he was able to read her moods really well, so it made sense that he wanted to know her lack of happiness. The man was just concern that she might have another breakdown.

It seemed like she really did have to do the whole opening up thing.

"I don't know why I'm not happy about winning the first round," Naruto admitted. "I just keep thinking why were these people so happy to see me win? When I battle against Neji, no one cheered for me. They expected me to lose because I'm not some kind of genius like him, or come from some famous clan like him. I always worked so hard for the damn village to acknowledge me and nothing ever seemed good enough for them."

She took in a deep breath and tried to swallow down her lump as Jiraiya reached out to hold her. Naruto shook her head and rubbed her eyes, cursing herself for allowing herself to cry.

"They only chanted my name after I won." She grinded her teeth. "The only person who had faith in my abilities was Hinata-chan. His own cousin knew that I had a chance to win, but the asshole kept calling me a loser. He kept saying all that bullshit about Hinata-chan and I lost control of myself."

Maybe if she used her head more then maybe she would have been a chunin in that exam.

"Naruto, you won't ever fully live your life if you think of the past," Jiraya knelt down and stared at her. "And you don't need the village to acknowledge you and your strength. The fact is that the villagers don't understand just how lucky they were to have you."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well despite the fact that they isolated you and made you feel like an outsider, you didn't go crazy from the loneliness." Jiraiya took a deep breath. "That friend of yours…Gaara? Didn't he go insane from the loneliness and decided to kill so many people? I remember you telling me that when we search for Tsunade."

Naruto nibbled her bottom lip and took a deep breath. "But I was very close, Ero-Sennin. If they thought I was a monster then why don't I become one? If the Third Hokage never saved me from the cold streets then I would have done it."

'Why do you care, Old Man?'

It had been the warmth in his eyes and the sympathy that stopped her from becoming the very thing that the villagers claimed her to be.

'Because you are a child of Konoha.'

It had been the Hokage's hug that eased her ache of loneliness and gave her hope that maybe if she just try to be kind and nice, then maybe the people would treat her good. She smiled bitterly. That didn't exactly worked in her favor because they still treated her like crap.

A pebble hit the wall and the two shinobi glanced at each other with frowns playing on their lips. Jiraiya held his hand up before strolling down the hallway, his eyebrows knitted together. Naruto chewed on her bottom lip as she flickered her eyes around the corridor. Who would possibly listen on their conversation? She stiffened her shoulder as the Toad Sannin looked left and right.

His eyes seemed to linger on the right and Naruto took a step forward, only for Jiraiya to hold his hand up at her. She folded her arms against her chest with her legs now stuck to the ground like her teacher requested. The white-haired man swirled his head, offered her a large smile and gave her a thumbs up.

"No one is here, Naruto."

It should make her feel relieved but there were footsteps fading away, one leg heavier than the other. She chewed on her bottom lip as her brain pulled out an image of Todoroki. Out of everyone in their class, only Todoroki had that type of footsteps. Midoriya was quieter and Bakugou's footsteps were just loud, always hurting her ears.

But Todoroki was not the type to listen in on people's conversation, especially now when he was just so self-obsessed with himself.

A/N: What do you think of this chapter? I would like to hear your thoughts about this chapter.