A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
Should I just be predictable and just go for a single punch with Ashido?
Naruto swirled her can of soda, blue eyes fixated on the logo of her drink. In just another fifteen, the first rounds would start and her match was going to be the first one that everyone would see. She took a deep breath and she took another sip of her soda, relishing at its sweet taste. Too much sugar was bad for one's health or so she had been told, but it was the second best thing to destress her.
The first was of course the sweet taste of ramen.
Ashido's Quirk was considered to be dangerous since it had acidic qualities. Naruto nibbled her bottom lip, her eyebrows knitted together. They will think that I'm not capable of anything but clones, strength and transformation…which isn't true. I have got three more jutsu that they don't know about. She stretched her fingers and rubbed her stomach.
The door to the waiting room slid opened and Midoriya stepped in, green eyes flickering through the mostly empty waiting room. Green eyes widened at the sight of her, which made Naruto frown because her classmate should know that it was time for her to prepare herself for the next match.
"I-I'm sorry, Uzumaki…I didn't know you were here." Midoriya reached his hand out to open the door but Naruto released a loud sigh. Her classmate blinked, clicked his heels together before turning his whole body to her. The blond-haired girl forced herself to smile before patting to the empty chair in front of her.
He smiled at her, but there was a slight tremble in his smile telling her that he was nervous about something. Naruto nibbled her lips and knitted her eyebrows together as her hand continued to swirl the can of soda. Midoriya darted his eyes from her drink then to her before looking at the television screen, where the recreational games were still being shown.
"Nervous about your match?"
It was the only explanation that could explain his behavior.
Midoriya furiously nodded. Green eyes focused on the table in front of them, never looking at her and the blond-haired girl placed the can on the table. Her head rested on the table, head tilted to the side as blue eyes focused on the boy that kept shifting in his seat. If he kept shifting side to side then Naruto might just have her eyes rolling out of her face. Honestly, it felt like the whole world was spinning if she just fixated her eyes on him.
"Ojiro-kun told me about Shinshou's Quirk." Midoriya finally said.
Naruto blinked. "His Quirk? Does it have to do with why he refused to fight in the tournament?"
"Yeah," Midoriya pulled out a notebook and flipped to a page and blue eyes widened at the diagrams and annotations made by her classmate. He grimaced. "It's a really powerful Quirk when I think about it and it worries me too."
Naruto held a finger up. "What is his Quirk, Midoriya? You act like I should know it."
The boy flushed a light shade of red and rubbed the back of his neck as a nervous laugh escaped from his lips. Naruto just rolled her eyes, lips curled upwards to a point where she was nearly smiling and then it stopped. As much as she liked Midoriya and cared for him, there was no way Naruto would allow herself to get vulnerable around him. Out of everyone in their class, he was the only one who had seen what she could potentially do.
"Shinshou can brainwash people," Naruto blinked as Midoriya pressed his lips into a thin line. "All he needs is for someone to answer him for him to brainwash them. It was how he got Ojiro, Aoyama and that guy from Class B to work with him. Ojiro only realized what happened when Bakugou brushed against him since it snapped him out of it."
It sounds almost similar to the jutsu that Ino used on Sakura in the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exam. Naruto clasped her hands together as Midoriya gazed down at his book, lips pressed into a tiny frown. She inhaled as her fingers began to trace patterns all around the table, blue eyes looking at the clock as a pair of faded green eyes flashed before her eyes along with the slumped body of a platinum-blond haired girl.
Would Sakura snap out of it if I hadn't kept yelling at her?
She sucked in another breath and forced herself to look at her trembling classmate.
"You realize that you need to be quick with him, don't you Midoriya?" Her classmate blinked and the blond-haired girl leaned forward, blue eyes never wavering away from those emerald eyes. "All that training with Ero-Sennin would mean shit the moment that guy brainwashes you."
Midoriya hunched his shoulder. "I realize that and I don't know what to do if he manages to get me to talk. How do you just suddenly snap yourself out of a Quirk like that? There won't be anyone else in the arena to help me snap out of it nor could someone snap me out of it since it will be illegal. It will be nothing short of a miracle if I am able to snap out of it."
"You just need to be quick, Midoriya."
Her classmate ran his hand through his hair and took several deep breaths. "But what if I'm not quick enough? You and Jiraiya-san might have helped me get a handle of my Quirk but I'm nowhere near mastering it. What if a punch won't be enough for him?"
Naruto sighed and regarded the green-haired boy. His hands seemed to be clenching his pants like it was his lifeline and his voice leaked with so much frustration. She reached her hand out, hovering just above his head before she dropped her hand to her side. He is not Hinata.
Naruto just inhaled again, trying to calm down her clenching heart.
"Then you will need to train harder," Green eyes widened at her response and Naruto looked at her own hands. "Look there is always going to be someone stronger than you and there is always going to be someone smarter than you. But you don't let those thoughts cloud you, you just have to pick yourself up and train your ass off. You need to think of a solution instead of worrying about a problem."
There was an irony in her words but Naruto just couldn't find them.
The whole world is watching.
"It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" Present Mic cheered, giving the crowds a moment as their cries bounced off the walls of the stadium, forcing the ground beneath her feet to tremble with the volume. "The finals!"
Flames erupted to life from the giant cauldrons on each corner of the arena before her. Naruto's steps hit the grass with even steps as the flames danced in front of her eyes. She stepped away from the tunnel and towards the concrete arena. This is a fight where my emotions won't be in control of me. This is a fight that I must win.
"Starting off our first match, she has a bubbly personality that clashes with her Quirk, we have Ashido Mina from Class 1-A!"
The crowds let out cheers, whistles and shouts thudding in her ear. It was strange, in a way, these people who didn't even know them cheered for them. Was it in excitement? Or were they truly cheering for them? Would they cheer for anyone? It was a wonder what made these people cheer for them.
Ashido appeared in her vision straight across the arena, a wide smile on her lips and her eyes settled into heavy determination. She flexed her fingers and Naruto dropped her smile, straightening her shoulders as each step brought her closer to the ring.
"And in this corner! She smiles like an angel but has tricks in her sleeves that can rival the devil!" Present Mic cheered and she wondered what type of reaction Aizawa was making from right beside him. "Class A's own resident trickster—Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto hoped onto the arena as Ashido skipped towards the other side of the arena. Her classmate offered a smile from the other side before taking a couple of deep breaths. Midnight observed the two of them from her seat beside the ring while Cementoss mold a chair for himself. He took a seat right beside Midnight.
I need to show them that I have improved and that they were wrong about me.
"I'm going to go all out," Ashido declared, lips curled up into a smile. "So prepare yourself, Uzumaki!"
Naruto inhaled and exhaled, hands coming together as Midnight raised her whip. She won't be able to walk tomorrow if I punch her. I still need to be considerate about my strength. But I need to show the world that I have improved. "I will make it your worthwhile."
"This is the first match, so let's make this one to remember!" Present Mic declared.
There were a lot of reasons for her to make this a battle that everyone would remember. A part of her still wanted to show Konoha about how wrong they were about her, and thought to show them that Jiraiya hadn't been lying to them. There were other reasons too but she couldn't recall what they were.
Maybe it will come again in a dream.
"Ready?"
Naruto met Ashido's gaze.
She wants to win just as badly as I do.
"Begin!"
Acid shot out of Ashido's hands, guzzling and flying straight towards Naruto and the blond-haired girl swirled and dodged the attacks like a dancer. Her classmate charged straight towards her, yellow eyes narrowed and a determined smile on her lips. I can't let her acid attacks hit me and have people realize that there is something not right about me.
'Oh? You got the leaf to split in half? Alright I will teach you a C-rank wind jutsu."
Naruto took a deep breath, weaved her hands together and fifty shadow clones appeared right in front of her, almost appearing like a wall. Various people in the crowd leaned forward while Ashido smiled. She charged straight to the clones, shooting acids at them while Naruto grabbed one of her shadow clones. Her clone darted her eyes at her, lips curled into a smile.
Winning this Sports Festival means the world to me.
"I thought you were going to make it harder for me, Uzumaki!" Ashido declared with a frown and Naruto felt a tiny smile curling on her lips. "You have been using so many tricks during the last two obstacles! You can't expect me to believe that you decided on this tactic!"
'You can't always win by just overwhelming people with shadow clones, Naruto!"
The tactic of just overwhelming clones was a tactic that she had always used since she learnt the jutsu. What was the point of making a plan when she could just overwhelm them with clones? It was a lot more harder for them to fight various clones then make some underhanded trick that probably wouldn't work.
She curled her lips into a larger smile as her fingers played with the newly formed shuriken while Ashido continued to dissolved the wall of clones. One of the clones looked back, lips curling into a wild smirk when Naruto parted her hands to the side.
Her clones parted and Naruto immediately tossed the shuriken straight at Ashido. Snake. Ram. Boar. Horse. Bird. Time seemed to have slow down as she made those hand seals before finally Naruto clapped her hands together, producing a powerful gale of wind that propelled the shuriken to greater speeds. Ashido gulped, took a step backwards as the shuriken flew closer to her.
The shuriken transformed and silence reined as the shuriken revealed to be her clone. Her clone grinned and smashed her hands against Ashido's face, sending her flying out of the ring and clashing straight to the walls. The theory that my clones were less stronger than me was just proven wrong. She winced as her classmate slumped down to the ground.
"Replay the tape! I want to see what just happened!" Present Mic declared. Naruto turned her head to the screen, blue eyes growing blank as everyone watched the scene replayed in slow motion for everyone to see. Silence seemed to rein as people processed the speed in which her clone attacked.
"It seems like that while Ashido was attacking the clones, Uzumaki decided to make her clone transform into a shuriken," Present Mic's voice got louder as the chair squeaked, hinting that the man was about to be out of his seat. "And then she did a couple of hand seals that made a huge gale of wind that allowed her to push her clone-shuriken to move faster. Either way: Uzumaki is the winner!"
Midnight glared at the press box. "Ashido is out of bounds and Uzumaki advances to the next round!"
Cheers erupted along the stands and Naruto stared at the cheering people, blue eyes fixated on her smiling mentor. Pride leaked through his eyes almost making her smile but then the cheers of the crowd stopped her, reminding her that most of these people didn't know her.
Only Jiraya was truly cheering for her.
I know I should go and watch Kendou's match but it won't start for another ten minutes. Naruto pressed her hands against her pockets as the scent of sweat tickled her nostrils along with the bright lights that seemed ready to blind her. She took a deep breath, fingers fiddling with her necklace as her legs dragged her to god knows where.
Hopefully to a place where she could get another soda.
"You disgrace me, Shouto."
Naruto froze when the echoes of Endeavour's voice drummed against her ears. Shouldn't he be proud that his own son kept being in the top three? She clenched her hands into a fist, almost tempted to a punch a damn wall but her hands stayed frozen by her side. Naruto took another deep breath, forcing herself to smile.
"You could have crushed both the obstacle course and the cavalry battle if you used your left side!" Endeavour growled.
Is he still trying to force Todoroki to do something that he doesn't want to do? Naruto grinded her teeth together as she strode down the hallway. Endeavour's loud voice guided her to them as Todoroki's pained voice echoed in her ear, reminding her of just how much pain he must have been enduring throughout his life. Her hands balled into a fist.
"You should grow up Shouto and stop rebelling like you are some petulant child!" Endeavour snarled. "You have no time to think of relationships. Your duty is to surpass All Might! You are different from your brothers and sister. You are my greatest creation!"
"He is your son! Not some fucked up tool that you can use!"
Turquoise eyes turned to her, startled at her presence while Todoroki fixed his eyes on her. Naruto's throat dried up at the complete blankness in his mismatch eyes. He must be in a world of pain. She clenched her hands into a fist, ready to punch Endeavour for putting her friend through such a shitty situation. If someone kept talking to their child like that…then of course they would never use that side of them.
"Uzumaki, this is not your business." Endeavour snarled. His eyes flared with anger and distaste as he looked at her, almost reminding her of another sets of eyes that used to look at her in that way. She took several deep breaths as Todoroki's eyes flickered to her with concern.
"It is my business!" Todoroki blinked while Endeavour growled as the blond-haired girl stride forward. "You asked me to convince my friend to use a part of his Quirk that he doesn't want to use."
A pair of mismatch eyes flared with irritation and anger, earning a sigh from Naruto. She swirled her head at him, narrowing her eyes at him. Honestly did he actually believe she would do what his father wanted? Just because it had been a curiosity to know what his left side did, it doesn't mean she wanted him to do something that he felt uncomfortable with doing.
"I refused your father's request, Todoroki," her friend blinked and his mismatch eyes revealed no emotions. "But this is my business because Todoroki is my friend. Endeavour means never to give up. It means to try hard to achieve something and if that was your initial intentions when you became a Hero…then I respect that. But no one will ever respect you if they knew of the things that you are saying to your own son!"
"Uzumaki…"
"For a man with such a great hero name, I see a loser that just gave up." Naruto closed her eyes, took several deep breaths as she thought of Hinata. She proved everyone wrong about her when she fought Neji. "You know I don't know much about heroes but I think heroes are people that pick themselves up and continue to fight for their goals."
"I-I can still fight!"
Pale eyes filled with determination flashed before her and Naruto picked up the courage to continue grilling the man. Hinata used to say I inspired her to get stronger and have more confidence. She took another deep breath and fixated her bright blue eyes at Endeavour.
"You just gave up and ended up hurting the people around you!" She grinded her teeth together. "Do you ever think that your actions to your own family is the reason that Todoroki refuse to use his left side? Because everything that is bad to him is what he associates with you!"
Endeavour kept quiet as Todoroki flickered his eyes to her with wide eyes. She stared back at him with her smile dropped and blue eyes focused on the burned mark on his left side. She told me she couldn't stand the sight of my left side. With a father like that, who constantly thought of himself then Naruto couldn't imagine the level of abuse Todoroki's mother endured.
"If Todoroki surpass All Might then it would be Todoroki that did it," Naruto kept her eyes fixated on her friend. "Because it was him that did it, not you. Todoroki is his own person, not some copy of you. He is Todoroki Shouto…not Todoroki whatever your first name is."
Just like she was not the Kyuubi, Todoroki Shouto was not his father.
A/N: Please tell me what you think about this chapter and of the interaction between Naruto and Izuku.