Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character.
A/N: I want to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
Uraraka raised her hand. "Me!"
Iida nodded and turned the page of the book before handing the book towards the brown-haired girl. I just have to wonder how we all get to know each other. Naruto curled her lips into a small frown as her eyes darted to the other teens sitting around her. All of them looked to be the same age as her and her fellow rookies.
She shook her head and flickered her eyes to Narumi. The old lady stood right in front of the Hokage and seemed to be ranting about the psychological issues of what child soldiers go through. Either the old lady isn't scared of authority or she really has no fear. Considering she was Bakugou's grandmother, Naruto would presume the former.
"Chapter 2," Uraraka read. The chatter died down and Narumi went back to her original seat with her blue eyes gleaming with irritation. "Ten Months Later."
Naruto hummed. "So if this chapter happens after 10 months from the first chapter then wouldn't it mean that this is around the time Akane stole us from our irrespective places?"
"Yup, it definitely has been 10 months since that incident," Bakugou grunted with a scowl on his face. Right, I forgot that he also became infamous after what that sludge villain tried to do to him. Naruto pressed her lips into a thin line as everyone knitted their eyebrows together into a thin line.
The television screen changed to show an image of Naruto wearing her current work outfit. A large smile was plastered on her lips as the camera panned out to show a couple of males watching her. Her boss stood right in the corner of the screen with a frown playing on her lips.
Laughter and chatter filled the small, bustling café and like the last two and half years, Naruto forced herself to smile and prepare herself for the battle ahead.
Shikamaru frowned and knitted his eyebrows together. "The battle ahead? And why are you forcing yourself to smile?"
"You think it is easy for me to smile like this?" Naruto retorted as she forced herself to put on the smile. The older boy blinked while the other members of her village and Suna stared at her with wide eyes. Bakugou raised a single eyebrow while Midoriya frowned. "And do you think it is easy to work in a café? You wouldn't even last a day."
Shikamaru blinked. "I could last a day."
"You would complain about how troublesome the work is," Naruto stated. The male frowned and then nodded his head while a couple of people raised a single eyebrow at him. The whiskered teen exhaled and regarded him carefully. "You also wouldn't get any tips if people saw that you can't even offer a smile to them."
With a tray of coffee, she glided and weaved through the tables, asking them if they wanted anything else from her. Smiles were directed at her and jokes were made like they were always made. And just like a clockwork, Naruto would make excuses whenever one of the male teens asked for her to sit with them.
Ino and Sakura exchanged glances before swirling their heads at her. You have boys who want you? That was what their eyes told her and the whiskered teen rolled her eyes at them. She looked down at her hands before raising an eyebrow at the two females. It seemed like three years hadn't done much to change their thought process towards her.
"You have men that want you?" Ino demanded with twitching eyebrows. "But you don't wear make-up and you swear like a sailor! How can you get men to notice you? You never had fanboys in the Academy."
"It doesn't mean that I don't know how to flirt," Naruto retorted, rolling her eyes at the girl. Ino and Sakura blinked while Kaminari and Mineta stared at her with curious eyes. The other boys from Konoha exchanged glances while Sasuke stared at her with blank eyes. "If I flirt, offer them a smile and be friendly towards them then I get more tips. It's logic which is something that you obviously don't have."
Sakura clenched her jaws and narrowed her eyes slightly at her. "If you know how to flirt then why haven't we ever seen you flirt? You never do those things during mission or even back at the village."
"If the mission needed me to flirt then I would have done it," Naruto replied, shrugging her shoulders. Bakugou's eyebrows twitched slightly while Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. I don't even understand why those two are irritated. She exhaled and locked her attention on Sakura. "And I don't do it in Konoha for the simple fact that I don't have anyone that I like. Besides, I feel like a floozy if I do it."
Hinata stared at her for the longest time. "Naruto-chan, have you been going on dates?"
"Nope. I have no time for dates and those boys are in love with the fantasy I give them," Naruto answered, shrugging her shoulders. Both Tsunade and Hiruzen exchanged glances while the whiskered teen looked up at the ceiling. No one would want to date the real me. She exhaled and rubbed her shoulders before glancing to her side.
She tilted her head and raised a single eyebrow at Todoroki. The boy only stared at her for the longest time, mismatch eyes searching her for the longest time before looking away from her. Why was he looking at me? There was nothing weird about what she had just said.
Today is going to be one of those days.
"What do you mean by one of those days?" Kakashi asked. His single black eye shone with concern and the whiskered teen's eyebrows twitched. Hinata frowned and fiddled with her fingers while Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows together as the other members of Konoha and Suna stared at her.
The whiskered teen exhaled. "Why the hell should I tell you? You made it clear to me that my problems meant nothing compared to your golden boy or Sakura."
"Naruto, that is not true—"
"Really? Then where the hell were you whenever Sakura insulted me for everything I do?" Naruto snarled. Kakashi blinked as the whiskered teen narrowed her eyes at him. She took a deep breath and allowed the bitterness to seep out. "You fucking critized me while praising Sakura! Did Sakura ever pass the preliminary rounds? Did Sakura ever train her fucking ass off?"
Kakashi frowned. "Naruto, Sakura has low—"
"Then she should have fucking train and get her ass out of that conceited ass of hers!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi blinked while Sakura winced as Sasuke stared at her with slight wide eyes. She heaved and heaved as her eyes narrowed at him. "Everyone has low self-esteem but you didn't see them act like she did? She never fucking tried to train and yet she is the one you praise!"
Sakura frowned. "Naruto, I have changed and I'm training to be a medic—"
"Why? Because you want to show off to Sasuke?" Naruto retorted. Everyone blinked and gawked as the whiskered teen narrowed her eyes at her. I know it is mean but I'm fed up and I'm dealing with too much shit right now. She clenched her jaws together. "Where the hell was that desire after the Wave Mission? Or after the chunin exams? You sat there and did nothing!"
"Why the hell are you acting like—"
"Because I'm fed up with dealing with your bullshit!" Naruto yelled. "I'm fed up that I am the one people blamed whenever we fucked up a mission! I fucked up because I carried your weight sometimes! You just stare at Sasuke and did the bare minimum while I have to pick up your slack!"
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I didn't do the bare minimum and don't blame me for your mistakes!"
"You think I wanted to make mistakes!" Naruto snarled, slamming her hand into the ground. The ground cracked slightly as Sakura gawked at her. Everyone blinked and inched further away as the blue-eyed teen glowered. "Unlike you, I have to pay rent and get my own groceries! I don't have the luxury of missing a pay check like you! You fuck up? It's fine because your parents pay for you rent! Me? I deal with the consequence."
Sakura blinked and slumped her shoulders while Kakashi stared at her with blank eyes. Sasuke grunted and looked away from her while Naruto rubbed her head. Why the hell did Akane bring them in here for? I don't want to see them. She left for Japan for these exact reasons.
There were some days when Naruto could act like she was completely fine and be her old self. Days when she smiled and acted like a ball of sunshine as her boss would like to say whenever Naruto smiled.
"Naruto-chan, are you going through another episode right now?" Hinata asked, curling her lips into a frown. Narumi pressed her lips into a frown and twisted her head around to stare at her. Naruto tore her eyes away from the old woman and looked down at her hands.
She exhaled. "Yes."
"Another episode?" Kaminari asked, knitting his eyebrows together. Kiba bobbed his head while Shino and Shikamaru knitted their eyebrows together before glancing at the whiskered teen. "Are you talking about a depressive episode? With this day and age, it is occurring more often."
Narumi nodded. "It happens more towards abused children and if it is left untreated then the consequence can be very dire. There had been some situations when a person decided to commit suicide but that still happens even with treatment."
Kakashi froze and twisted his head around to stare at her and the whiskered teen looked away from him. I heard about it but I don't think I have it. Depression was supposed to be intense sadness but she didn't feel like it. Anger, emptiness and a lack of self-esteem were things that she felt during these episodes alongside the occasional sadness and tiredness.
Days when Naruto could completely feel all of her emotions with so much strength, allowing her to make outbursts and not controlling her emotions. But there were some days when it was a daily struggle to smile, to pretend that everything was fine.
Everyone turned to look at her and the whiskered teen pressed her lips into a very thin line. Do you honestly think it is easy for me to smile and act like everything is okay? She took a deep breath and tore her eyes away from her former teammates and the other members of her village and Suna.
"Since when did you find it difficult to smile?" Choji asked. He knitted his eyebrows together and tilted his head to the side as everyone continued to focus their eyes on her. "You are always smiling so why are you finding it difficult to smile now? Are you still upset about what happened? It has been three years now so—"
"This isn't because of what happened," Naruto answered. Sasuke twisted his head and raised a single eyebrow at her like he couldn't believe for one moment that her problem wasn't because of him. Her eyebrows twitched and the whiskered teen exhaled. "Unlike a certain someone, I try my hardest not to act like an emo because no one gives a damn about people's problems."
Jirou frowned. "You two have a real amount of anger towards each other."
"You will be angry too if you have a best friend that is an ass," Naruto retorted.
"Don't you have an exam to study for?" Her boss asked when Naruto came to the counter, ready to pick up the next tray of orders. Her boss was a slim young woman with light brown-hair and one of the few people that had warm hazel eyes. "Naruto, didn't I tell you to take the day off before your exam?"
Kiba raised an eyebrow at her and folded his arms against his chest. "Didn't you say that you change? That doesn't look like you changed at all, Naruto!"
"It is probably the practical exam," Naruto retorted, rolling her eyes at him. Everyone from Konoha and Suna blinked at this piece of information before swirling their heads at the other side of the room. Most of the other teens bobbed their head in agreement while the whiskered teen exhaled. "And even if it is the written paper, I don't need to pour all of my time to it."
"Well the acceptance rate is low, Naruto and you aren't exactly good in theoretical aspects," Sakura pointed out. The whiskered teen felt her eyebrows twitched and she clenched and unclenched her hands from her fist. "Even if you helped Hinata with her exams, you still need to study and—"
"I'm not going to hear about putting effort from you," Naruto declared, shaking her head at her. "I put effort into the things that I do while you just sit there and do nothing but daydream about your future family with Sasuke."
Tsunade grimaced and shook her head while the Third Hokage avoided the irritated eyes of Narumi. The old lady seemed ready to throttle someone which would be kind of cool if you asked her. The world will end if a civilian can do some real damage to them. She snorted at the image.
"You still need to study and you should have taken the day off," Narumi informed her.
Naruto sighed. "Why bother? The result will always be the same and I like working instead of being in that apartment. It is actually quite relaxing for me to work instead of being at home."
"You can't be serious!" Ino retorted. "I would be happy if my boss—"
"—You don't count because you work for your parents," Naruto declared. Ino scowled at the reminder while everyone else blinked and swirled their heads at the girl. Oh, right I forgot that most of these people don't know about Ino. She offered her a sweetly smile. "So really your salary is just pocket money in disguise. I mean you don't need to pay for rent or worry about the necessity since you still live with them."
Narumi stared at the Third Hokage and then to the adults before landing her eyes on the teens. "If none of you like her behaviour then you can blame whoever thought it was a good idea to let 6-year-old live by herself."
"Now Akimoto-san, I lived by myself when I was six and—"
"—Are you considered mentally sane and have no issues that could worry people?" Narumi asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Kurenai frowned. "Does reading smut in public and being three hours late considered as an issue?"
"Do you think a mentally stable person would do such actions? Because if that is the case then I'm just going to retire and move back to my home town." Narumi stated dryly.
Naruto looked away from the woman's searching eyes, hands reaching out to take the tray of food. There was no reason for her to take the day off for something as trivial as an exam. The written paper had been a challenge for her with them asking questions that she hadn't prepared for. At one point she nearly had a panic attack, which almost always happened whenever she had to do theoretical exams.
"It must have been a really difficult paper then," Izuku observed. The other members of Rookie Nine blinked and twisted their head around to stare at the green-haired boy. The boy leaned backwards and forwards as the other teens gulped at this piece of information. "I mean Uzumaki-san ranks third when it comes to the exams."
Shino frowned. "Who ranks first?"
"Me!" Bakugou declared, curling his lips into a smirk. Mitsuki and Masaru shook their heads at him but fond, proud smiles played on their lips while Naruto only rolled her eyes at her classmate. The members of the Rookie Nine blinked and then openly gawked at the teen. The older boy scowled. "Why the hell are you guys looking at me?"
"You don't give off the impression that you are smart," Ino retorted.
Bakugou's eyebrows twitched. "And you give off the impression that you would rather do diets and make up then do work that is actually meaningful."
Ino bristled while Shikamaru coughed at those words. We both know that you find his description on Ino to be true. The whiskered teen rubbed her jaws and exhaled while Midoriya shook his head at Bakugou. Mitsuki's eyebrows twitched while Narumi gently whacked the boy on the head.
"Put it in a more gentle way, Katsuki."
"I did."
She never liked theoretical exams, not when most of the time Naruto didn't have many good experience with it.
Narumi hummed and bobbed her head. "Do you always have panic attacks whenever you have a paper exam."
"She does," Bakugou retorted. Naruto swirled her head at the older boy and curled her lips into a frown as the blond-haired boy folded his arms against his chest. "Oh come on, everyone in the year have heard and seen you have a panic attack! The only person that is even worse then you is Deku."
The whiskered teen rolled her eyes. "Sorry I wasn't born with your confidence, Bakugou-sama!"
"You are forgiven, Naruto-hime."
Todoroki pulled Naruto back before she could even scratch Bakugou for that comment. Why the hell did he have to stop me? I'm not a princess and I'm going to teach him a lesson! She glared at the mismatch-haired boy but the teen did not falter, only tilting his head at her.
"You will be wasting more time," Todoroki explained. "And you said that you have an actual job that you need to go back. If you hurt him then you will be wasting time."
Naruto blinked and then scowled before gesturing Uraraka to continue on.
"I will pass the exam, Boss. It will be a piece of cake." Naruto shrugged and forced herself to plaster a confident smile. Her boss pressed her lips into a thin line, hazel eyes searching hers to find any source of doubt. The smile didn't waver but the woman shook her head.
Kirishima sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I wish I have that kind of confidence! I am having nightmares over how this exam is going to run! Not everyone can get into Yuuei High! I mean the practical exam is one thing but that written paper man."
"You are definitely going to get in," Ashido declared, offering the black-haired boy a smile before patting his back. She pushed her tongue against her cheek and let a little sigh escaped. "Now me on the other hand? I'm still worried about whether or not I can get in."
"There are a lot of people who expect you to get in," Kirishima observed. Naruto blinked and glanced at Midoriya and Bakugou, who all looked back at her. Those two go to the same middle school. That was the single thought running through her mind as she stared at those two.
"Naruto, I know this isn't my place but are you avoiding preparing for the exam for any reason to do with your home? Do you want to talk about it? You know I consider all my employees as family."
Hinata blinked and tilted her head at Naruto. "Your boss seems to be a really nice lady, Naruto-chan."
"She was the first person to hire me despite the fact that I was just 13-years-old," Naruto admitted. The Third Hokage nodded and flickered his eyes at the screen while Tsunade regarded her with concern eyes. "She also has a very annoying habit of asking about my love life and personal life. I wouldn't even be here if she didn't want to know if it was another one of those love letters."
Sasuke snorted. "Someone will actually give you a love letter?"
"What? You don't think I'm attractive enough, Sasuke-kun?" The black-haired teen growled and his eyebrows twitched while the whiskered teen folded her arms against her chest. "My boss seems to believe that half of the boys that come into the café is because I'm attractive! Sorry that I don't kiss your ass like a certain someone here!"
Sakura gawked. "I don't kiss—"
"You do," Naruto said, rolling her eyes at her. "Sasuke-kun, your plan is so much better than whatever plan that Naruto-baka has! Oh Sasuke-kun, you are so smart and talented! That is how you sound like whenever Kakashi-sensei makes us have team exercises! It is because you are like a dog to him that no one has to hear what I have to say—"
"—I'm not a dog!" Sakura growled.
Bakugou stared at her. "You sound like one right now."
Naruto nodded, smiling tightly and thanked the woman before grabbing the tray of drinks from the counter. Hazel eyes stared at her with concern, silently begging for her to start talking about her life. Her response? She just smiled and walked away from her boss.
Unconditional kindness was not something Naruto had experienced with, not with the life that she had.
Everyone froze at the comment and twisted their heads to look at her. The Rookie Nine blinked and blinked before gawking at her while the people of Japan just stared at her with widened eyes. Why the hell did I have to say that? She clenched her jaws together and looked away as a pair of mismatch-eyes flashed with understanding.
"What did you experience in your childhood that made you say that?" Narumi asked. Her voice was eerily calm but it brought a shiver of fear down Naruto's spine. She glanced at the Third Hokage, who seemed to inch further away from the woman, before looking at Tsunade. The Slug Sannin frowned and stared at her.
Naruto cleared her throat. "It doesn't matter what I experienced! You are Bakugou's grandmother, not mine! You have no right to wonder what the hell I went through!"
"It doesn't matter?" Narumi asked with a raised eyebrow. "It does matter because every word that is coming out of that book tells me of years and years worth of abuse! My job requires that I treat children like you! I took this job to help children and adults like you! And it doesn't matter that Katsuki is my grandson, you are clearly in pain!"
The Third Hokage cleared his throat. "Akimoto-san—"
"What are you going to tell me? That what I'm reading is natural because I promise you sir that this is not normal!" Narumi snarled, clenching her jaws together. "First you allowed a little girl to live by herself and now I'm hearing about a child that doesn't know when someone is being kind from their heart? Tell me do you have a children? Or a grandchild?"
The Hokage nodded. "Yes, I have a grandson."
"Would you allow your grandson to live by himself?" Narumi asked, folding her arms against her chest. "Would you allow someone to abuse your grandson? To treat him without any kindess? Because if the answer is no then why should she be any different? She is a child like your grandson and that is how you should have treated her!"
Ino leaned closer to Shikamaru and whispered. "Did you notice how she has the same mannerism as Naruto? She even shares the same attitude as her."
"If we weren't certain that Naruto's parents came from Konoha then I would say like grandmother like granddaughter," Shikamaru muttered. You know it can be coincidence. Naruto bit her tongue from saying those words as Shikamaru kept sneaking glances from her to Narumi.
Kindness was earned through good deeds. It was given when she accomplished something that pleased people. A woman like her would never have it.
"Who the hell gave you that impression?" Narumi demanded. Mitsuki pressed her lips into a very thin line while the Third Hokage tugged on the collar of his shirt. I don't understand why this old lady cares so much. The whiskered teen folded her arms against her chest and the older woman's eyebrow twitched. "Who the hell gave you that impression?"
"Everyone in the village gave me the damn impression," Naruto answered. What the hell did this woman do to me? Narumi froze and swirled her head at the people of Konoha. Blue eyes turned absolutely cold and the whiskered teen shivered while everyone from Konoha inched away. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"Grams used her Quirk," Bakugou answered. "It is a pain in the ass when she uses her Quirk."
The old woman bobbed her head before marching her way towards the adults. I think she must have been really terrifying when she had been young. Naruto tilted her head and rubbed her jaws. If that old woman had been a kunoichi then the whiskered teen had no doubts that the woman would make a name for herself.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't use my Quirk to make all of you slap each other," The old woman hissed, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at everyone. "This was a child! A child! I don't give a fuck about you people being child soldiers or any of that nonsense! Even the most cruel soldiers will show some form of kindness! A child should never have to earn kindness!"
The Hokage cleared his throat. "Akimoto-san, the situation is a liitle bit more—"
"Do I look like I give a shit?" Narumi snarled, marching towards the corner of the room. Naruto gawked when the woman ripped a piece of wood from the cabinet before marching her way back to the man. She smacked the wood against her hand and smiled coldly. "Uzumaki might not be my grandchild but I will give you the lesson that her parents will probably want on you!"
"It isn't as easy as you think—"
"Do I look like the type of woman that gives a shit with whatever bullshit that you have to tell me?" Narumi snapped. The Third Hokage closed his mouth, quickly gulped and then shook his head. Bakugou snickered while Naruto just gawked at the woman. "From what Akane told us before she left, you and Tsunade over there are leaders of a village. You have the responsibility of protecting a child from harm and you failed! Tell me: do you allow people to treat your children or grandchildren like this?"
Naruto snorted. "People are too scared to hurt them."
"You aren't helping me," The Third muttered.
The whiskered teen sighed. "You dug yourself into this hole, Old Man."
"You should have put a law and enforce that law when it comes to the protection of children," Narumi snarled, smacking the Third Hokage with a bat. "What kind of asshole do you think you are? You think you did any good for this child? You are the reason that this girl has issues! Because the people will probably treat her differently if you made certain that they can't harm her!"
"Old Crone, I think that we need to continue with the chapter."
Narumi only scowled and glared hard at the Hokage.
She didn't deserve it.
Narumi pressed her lips into a thin line and a little growl escaped from her lips. I think this lady won't be calming down any time soon. Naruto rubbed her jaws and sunk deeper into the couch as several eyes continued to stare at her. She really hated what the book had to say about herself.
"I have half of a mind smack all of you here with this bat," Narumi growled. Naruto sighed and shook her head as Todoroki and the other teens bobbed their heads here. Aizawa rubbed his head and grimaced. "Let me ask all of you this: do you think a baby doesn't deserve kindness?"
Kurenai shook her head. "Well no, why would they deserve kindness? They don't have to do anything to get that kindness because they were born."
You walked into a trap. Naruto curled her lips into a small frown as her blue eyes darted towards Narumi. The older woman had a triumphant look in her face as if she had been hoping that the woman would point that out. The white-haired woman stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
"Then why the hell must she do anything to get that kindness?" Narumi asked, narrowing her eyes at her. "If you think that a baby doesn't need to do anything then the same applies for this young woman! Do you know the issues that you could put on her? Issues that could ruin her when it comes to work and relationships?"
The Hokage grimaced. "Akimoto-san, I understand your point but the whole thing is more complicated then—"
"Do you know what happens to children like her? Or do you want me to spell it out for you, you old coot?" Narumi snarled. Naruto coughed and covered her mouth while everyone from Konoha and Suna stared at the old lady like she was an insane woman. "Children like Naruto get self-esteem issues, depression and will turn to a life of crime because of these things. They will do harmful things to themselves because they have never been treated with love!"
Naruto rubbed the back of her neck and stared at Gaara, who grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. I think we can both agree that was what happened. The blonde exhaled and inhaled while Sasuke stared at her with knowing eyes. The whiskered teen bristled while Hinata narrowed her eyes at Sasuke.
"What exams is the Boss talking about, Uzumaki-san?" One of her co-workers asked, sneaking up on her. Naruto twisted her head around, blue eyes locked on the peering eyes of her customer. Excitement shone through those eyes, no doubt with the knowledge of new gossip. "Have you decided about going to high school?"
"Of all the people that have to know about my decision, it has to be that co-worker!" Naruto grumbled, shaking her head. Everyone blinked and raised their eyebrows at the blonde. "She and everyone else in the café seems like they want to know my personal business! Does it matter whether or not I change my mind?"
Bakugou rolled his eyes. "If someone here was a little bit open and a little bit less closed off then no one would pester you about your change of heart."
"The day I listen to you is the day where you say what your action really mean," Naruto retorted. Everyone flickered their eyes between them and Midoriya shook his head at them. "And you think even if I open up to them, they won't pester me about my life? They like to know everything about each other."
Kakashi hummed and stared at her. "Well if you are going to work together then—"
"—I'm not listening to the man that told us practically nothing when he introduced himself to us," Naruto said flatly. He blinked and the whiskered teen hummed. "Didn't you tell us that you have no desire to tell us what you and dislike and that you have a lot of hobbies. So you are not the one to talk about opening up because you never really opened up to me."
Aizawa frowned. "You wanted your student to introduce themselves but you didn't do the same? You do realize that if one of your students were smart then they could have done the same thing to you and that would have defeated the point of the exercise."
Kakashi hummed. "But they didn't do—"
"I did it," Naruto admitted. Sasuke snorted and then smirked in triumphant as if she had just confirmed his suspicion while Kakashi regarded her with thoughtful eyes. Sakura only stared at her with disbelief. "If you couldn't be honest and open with me then why the hell did I have to do the same? The only thing I was honest was about my dream."
Aizawa stared at him. "And that is my point."
Kakashi's eyebrows twitched and the silver-haired man turned to stare at Naruto. "Now Naruto-chan—"
"Don't call me that," Naruto said flatly. "And don't try to say that I have to be opened because let us be honest here, Sakura-chan didn't want to get to know me and my hobbies or even my dream. Sasuke is a boy that is so self-absorbed that he doesn't care about other people."
Sasuke grunted. "Like you should talk, Dead Last! You told me to stop moping when my parents and clan members got massacred! You told me that I wasn't the first orphan!"
"I was trying to tell you that you have to live life because Mikoto-obaachan wouldn't want to see you being closed off!" Naruto snarled. Narumi shot her a disapproving look and the whiskered teen flinched slightly before continuing on. "You were acting like the world revolves around you but there are people out there that have it worst then you!"
"Naruto—"
"—You don't talk you little piece of shit," Naruto snarled at Sakura. The pink-haired teen flinched as blue eyes turned absolutely cold. "You called me lucky for not having any parents to boss me around when I should be the one telling you that you are fucking lucky that your parents loved you."
Sakura frowned and turned to Sasuke. "You told her!"
"I was there," Naruto barked. Sakura turned pale while Kakashi froze before swirling his head around to stare disapprovingly at Sakura. This is the face of the person that you call kind. She clenched her jaws together. "And I didn't say shit because Sasuke told you off about that. But if anyone should have been complaining then it should have been me. You are lucky that I didn't smack you for that comment."
Mitsuki stared at the pink-haired girl with twitching eyebrows. "You said what now?"
"Wow and Whiskers calls me the ass," Bakugou retorted. "You are a cold-hearted bitch."
"I was twelve!"
Narumi eyed her. "Then it speaks volumes of how your parents raised you if you think a child in that situation is lucky."
Her co-workers really did like to gossip.
"She applied for Yuuei High," her boss called out from across the café. All the chatter died down at the announcement. Customers dropped their forks, their eyes growing wide at the sight of her but only one group of table seemed overjoyed about the announcement.
The screen zoomed into the table and Naruto grimaced at the sight of the familiar trio that seemed to be smiling at the announcement. A boy looking very similar to her former teammate alongside a muscular, blond-haired boy with bright blue eyes and a light lavender-haired girl who had her hair in curls.
"Naruto-chan, do you know them?" Hinata asked, tilting her head slightly. Curiosity burned through her eyes as everyone turned to look at her and the whiskered teen bobbed her head. How could she not know them? They were the table that she liked to avoid the most.
She exhaled. "I don't personally know them but they have been coming to the café everyday for the past year."
"They are the strongest students in Yuuei and the ones with the most potential to get to the top 10," Aizawa answered. Naruto blinked and jerked her head at the man, who eyed the three students on the screen. "Togata has shown the most improvement since his first year but Amejiki still needs to get over his nerves. Hadou is a little bit loud but she is a kind girl."
Ashido hummed and eyed the boy that looked like Sasuke before looking back at her. "I think he has a crush on you, Uzumaki."
"Doubt it," Naruto commented as Sasuke stiffened. She raised a single eyebrow at her former teammate but he only offered her a scowl before looking away from her. Sakura's eyebrows twitched while Narumi flickered her eyes between the three of them. "We never interacted."
"Doesn't mean he can't be interested," Sero observed. "Why would they keep coming if one of them doesn't have a crush? Two of them looks way too confident, not to ask their crush out while the other guy seems not to have the confidence to ask someone out."
Kiba eyed the guy. "Naruto wouldn't go out with him. She wouldn't go for someone that lacks confidence and they certainly wouldn't last because of her personality."
"Naruto is a little bit too loud," Shikamaru agreed. "And even outside of a fight, she won't be—"
"Well sorry that I don't follow the rules and expectations set by our sexist society!" Naruto snarled. The two boys withered as Narumi and Mitsuki alongside several other females narrowing their eyes at him. "Why the hell should I be gentle to you two asses outside of work! If you guys fucked up or are demotivated as hell then I'm going to smack some sense into you!"
Narumi narrowed her eyes. "Do you think a female should bow down to your every will? That you should do all the work and that we need to stay at home and just look pretty! That is the kind of thinking that made me decide to dump my eldest child's father and returned to Mitsuki's father!"
"We are not saying that but we don't need to be nagged every single—"
"—Nagging?" Mitsuki snarled. "Young man, you want a female to obey your every wish because you think that you are right and we are wrong? Let me tell you, who brought you into this world? Your father or is it your mother? Who the hell do you think make sure that you don't do anything—"
"—Can you please continue the story?" Shikamaru barked.
Uraraka smiled sweetly and shook her head. "I believe you boys need to learn a lesson that a woman can be and should act however they want to act."
"For people that are supposed to be a shinobi, you are more sexist then even the most sexist guy that I know!" Hagakure growled.
"If you think a man should be respected then the same goes for a woman," Bakugou retorted.
Naruto blinked. "You are the last person I would imagine to have that opinion."
"You just saw my grandmother and Mom," Bakugou retorted.
He has a point. Naruto closed her eyes as Narumi and Mitsuki went off on a lecture about the importance of woman being who they want to be and not what a man wanted them to be. She peaked a single eye when the Hokage kept flickering his eyes from Narumi to her while Tsunade vigorously bobbed her head in agreement with the two women.
Naruto always tried her hardest to avoid that group of students, which consisted of a blond-haired boy, indigo-haired boy and a girl with lavender blue hair. Those smiles and laughs always made her heart ached. They made her think of Konoha, the last place she wanted to remember.
Iida frowned. "Uzumaki-san, what happened? Why wouldn't you want to think about your origin?"
"…Have you seen how I was treated by almost all of my former classmates and teammates?" Naruto asked. "Not like I was treated like I meant something special to them. I'm like a pile of garbage that they just want to toss away."
The teen frowned. "That is very crude way of putting it."
"That's Naruto-chan being polite," Hinata informed him. "If she wanted to be more crude then Naruto-chan would have used more crude words to describe how everyone took her for granted."
Sakura frowned. "I didn't take—"
"Naruto-chan picked up your slack," Hinata said dryly, narrowing her eyes at her. I think Hinata-chan wants to give a rant and since I'm too tired, I'm not going to bother with stopping her from yelling at Sakura. Naruto hummed as pale, lavender eyes grew very cold. "You cried and begged for her to bring back Sasuke, saying that you couldn't stop him. You put the burden on her even though you claim to love Sasuke."
Sakura frowned. "What could have I—"
"I don't know tell me beforehand that Sasuke was going to do something dangerous," Naruto retorted. "If you couldn't even be bother to smack some sense into him then I would have done it. I would have gone to Kakashi or even Tsunade then this idiot over there wouldn't be with Orochimaru."
Sasuke stared at her. "I'm the idiot! You are the one that couldn't take no for an answer and understand that I needed to get—"
"—You are the idiot because you forgot that your brother became stronger inside the village!" Naruto snarled. "Kakashi-sensei told us that we can't do things alone and I fucking offered to do the job with you! But no, you think that you have to be the one to do things!"
"And what do you understand—"
"—A hell lot more then you," Naruto barked.
This really was a bad idea.
"You might become our cute little junior!" Naruto blinked when the girl charged at her, eyes beaming with excitement as both her colleagues and co-workers sweat-dropped at the speed the girl charged towards her. "What is your Quirk? Are those whiskers real? They make you look so pretty! Why are you working today? And why do you always avoid our table? Tamaki…"
Ino stared at Naruto and then looked at the screen. "Does she actually call you pretty? You are not that—"
"Uzumaki is pretty," Todoroki pointed out. Naruto blinked and twisted her head around to stare at the mismatch-haired boy. His eyes looked completely serious as several of the boys bobbed their head. "And Bakugou pointed out that Uzumaki has a lot of fanboys."
Naruto blinked and then knitted her eyebrows together. "I don't have any fanboys."
"You do," Midoriya and Bakugou said in unison. The two boys exchanged glances and Midoriya offered the boy a sheepish smile while the blond-haired boy scowled. I don't think I'm that popular like those two exaggerate. She rubbed her jaws as Sakura and Ino continued to stare at her with wide eyes.
Ashido bobbed her head and then rubbed her jaws before fixating her eyes on her whisker. "But our future senpai asked a good question, are you whisker marks real? And if they are real then why don't they twitch?"
"They are birthmarks," Naruto scowled, rubbing the marks on her cheek. Well I think they are birthmarks. She knitted her eyebrows as Gaara raised his non-existent eyebrows at her. If she had some baby photos of her coming out of the hospital then it would be obvious.
Todoroki frowned. "Why do you avoid their table?"
"Have you met my kind and wonderful teammate?" Naruto asked sarcastically.
Seconds passed before Todoroki said. "I see your point."
Words circled around her and Naruto felt herself growing dizzy at the questions being asked. Was this how celebrities felt whenever those reports asks questions? Because she understood why some of them just went crazy. The endless questions would make anyone go crazy.
Masaru sighed. "Celebrities are very much a pain to work with."
"The paparazzi is also a pain in the neck," Todoroki muttered, shaking his head. Everyone blinked and twisted their head to stare at the stoic boy but he only gave them a blank look. I guess if he is here then we are going to find out later. Naruto sighed and bobbed her head before looking straight ahead.
Naruto stole a glance to her colleagues. Smiles decorated their faces and their eyes flashed with pity, but if they really felt pity then they would stop the girl from asking so many questions.
Hinata sighed. "Naruto-chan, I love you but from the audio alone, I doubt that even I wanted to save you from her."
"Hinata-chan, I can't believe that you wouldn't rescue your dearest and closest friend from an interrogation," Naruto said, throwing her hands in the air. Hinata's lips twitched while Mitsuki snorted and Narumi stared at her with a frown playing on her lips. "My future me needs a buffer and compared to the bastard, you are a better buffer."
"Since when did you need a buffer?" Sasuke retorted. "I was the one that needed a buffer but you left me alone—"
"—I value my ears, sanity and most of all my life," Naruto retorted. "And if I wasn't your buffer before then I'm definitely not going to be your fucking buffer now, you ass. So if Sakura now wants to grope you then I ain't going to do shit. If anything I'm going to eat my popcorn and just watch you suffer."
"I wanted to break our bond, I didn't want you to do this!" Sasuke growled.
Naruto smiled sweetly. "Oh Sasuke-kun, don't you know? It is our bond that made me act like your bodyguard but maybe I should have given you and Sakura-chan even more free time. Maybe I should have even stole your underwear and sell it to Ino or maybe even Ami."
Mineta leaned closer to Kaminari and whispered. "I don't know whether to be terrified of her, worship her or be aroused by her!"
"Do anything, you little pervert and I will cut your balls off!" Naruto hissed.
Mineta and Kaminari paled. "But how the hell—"
"Naruto has really sensitive hearing!" Kiba retorted.
"I'm sorry about Nejire, Uzumaki-san," one of the customers answered, grabbing hold of the excited teen. Naruto blinked when the blond-haired boy offered her a bright cheerful smile, his hands pressing the excited teen down as their indigo friend popped right beside them. "My name is Togata Mirio, the excited girl is Hado Nejire and our friend here is Amajiki Tamaki. If you pass your exams tomorrow then we will become your senpai."
Naruto hummed and stared at the teens on the screen. Now I know which one is Amajiki. She stared at the boy who looked so much like her teammate before looking away from the screen and fixating her gaze on the wall right beside her. It was unprofessional of her not to work their table but it was difficult for her.
"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked. Naruto blinked and twisted her head around to look at the impassive boy, who had his eyes fixated on her. She stared at him for a while, blue eyes inspecting the teen for the longest time before forcing a smile to play on her lips. He doesn't actually want to get to know me. She knew his type.
She worked with his type.
"I'm fine."
Joy and warmth leaked out of his voice but Naruto could only just avoid his eyes, never glancing at his friend Amajiki. Why did you always avoid our table? The answer was simple. Their friend looked like her teammate…her best-friend. The sight of him always brought a heaviness to her chest that she just wanted to avoid.
Everyone kept quiet at those words and turned to Sasuke. The black-haired boy showed no emotion but Naruto knew from the way he couldn't exactly meet her eye that he did feel a little bit guilt. But just because he feels guilt, doesn't mean he regret what he did to me. She clenched her jaws together.
"Naruto-chan, are you—"
"I'm doing better than from the first days that I left the village," Naruto answered. The Third Hokage frowned and flickered his eyes between her and Sasuke. The blonde only grunted while Sasuke scowled. Narumi frowned and darted her eyes between them. "Now I know it is hard to believe Hinata-chan but now I am into work instead over it."
Hinata doesn't smile while Aizawa pressed his lips into a thin line. The other members of the room blinked and knitted their eyebrows together. Bakugou snorted and the whiskered teen sighed. Great, only Bakugou understood the joke. She sighed and pinched her nose.
Narumi stared at her. "Do you use humor to avoid the problem?"
"Well whining and crying doesn't help the problem either," Naruto retorted.
It was the main reason that Naruto avoided them. The smiles she made were easy to create to her customers, but one glance at the boy and she recalled of what happened nearly three years ago. The walls she created would break, cracked and Naruto would find herself in the same state again.
Hinata closed her eyes and clenched her jaws together before throwing a glare at Sasuke. Kiba and Shino pulled the blue-haired girl while the black-haired teen only grunted. For once in my life, I'm glad that those two held Hinata back from hurting Sasuke. Naruto closed her eyes and exhaled.
It was never pretty whenever Hinata got angry.
"What the hell do they mean by the same state again?" Shikamaru asked, knitting his eyebrows together. Gaara and his siblings frowned while Hinata clenched her jaws together. His black eyes darted between them. "Oi Naruto, is there something that you aren't telling us—"
"Or maybe you would know my fucking state if you bothered to man up and visit me in the hospital?" Naruto asked sweetly. Shikamaru flinched and opened his mouth, only to gulp when blue eyes turned cold. "But then again to visit your subordinate would be too troublesome for you, wouldn't it?"
Ino frowned and narrowed her eyes at her. "Oi Naruto, it wasn't easy—"
"It wasn't easy for me either!" Naruto snarled at Ino. The blond-haired girl opened her mouth to protest but the whiskered teen curled her lips into a scowl. "Before you defend your teammate, let me paint you a picture and you tell me. Between everyone in this room, who was the one that fought Sasuke? Who was the one that was the closest to him here?"
"Naruto, even though you are close to Sasuke-kun, you can't talk—"
"Don't talk like you know anything about me, Sakura because you are the bitch that kept my best friend's hickey hidden from me in the last moment! You didn't paint a clear picture to me!" Naruto yelled. Sakura gulped as blue eyes turned red before reverting back to their original blue color. The whiskered teen glared at Ino. "If Choji was the one that did what Sasuke did, would you say that it would be easy for him? If it was Sakura?"
Ino kept quiet and Naruto laughed. When I point out another person in this scenario then you can understand? How shallow are you? She clenched her jaws together and folded her arms against her chest as everyone turned around to look at her. Red eyes and green eyes fixated at her with concern and the whiskered teen grunted.
No way was she going to tell those two about what happened.
"Can someone tell me what on Earth happened?" The Third Hokage barked.
Tsunade eyed her. "I think the book will tell us, Sarutobi-sensei. I don't think Naruto want any one of us here to tell what happened between her and Sasuke."
She didn't want to be in that state…
You are the idiot that thought he cared about you.
Naruto closed her eyes and clenched her jaws together as black eyes regarded her. You are happy, asshole? You made me just as bitter as you. She inhaled and exhaled as a pair of mismatch eyes continued to regard her with concern. She didn't know why Todoroki kept looking at her like that.
They didn't know each other.
"Those things I did before—"
"Don't talk to me, Uchiha!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke clenched his jaws together as everyone flickered their eyes between them. Her blue eyes darkened and she took a deep breath. "Don't try and tell me that the things you did leading up to and just before you left were things done because you give a shit! Because congratulations…you finally did it! You did what you finally wanted to do it for the last 7 years of our life!"
Hinata stared at her for the longest time. We both know that it isn't true. That was what her friend's eyes told her and the whiskered teen exhaled. It might not be true because of that sick need of hers to be attached to him but he didn't need to know that. She wanted him to feel the same pain he put her through.
Naruto shoved the thought away, forced herself to smile at the customers and blinked when Amajiki flushed a light shade of red. A weirdo. The guy is a complete weirdo. His friend laughed, shaking his head while Nejire opened her mouth to say something.
"He has a crush on you!" The girls screamed.
Naruto furrowed her eyebrows together and stared at them. "No, he doesn't have one. Why would he have a crush on me? He doesn't know me at all and we have never interacted, so he can't have a crush on me."
"Naruto-chan, Ino and Sakura have never really interacted with Sasuke during our time in the Academy but they have a crush on him," Hinata explained. Gentleness leaked out of her tone and her pale, lavender eyes looked so hopeful like she wanted that crush to be true. Even if it was true, I don't need or deserve love. She exhaled and shook her head. "It is possible to have a crush on s—"
"It makes absolutely no sense," Naruto retorted. "What on Earth would he be attracted by? And we shouldn't use Ino and Sakura as examples because they don't really like S—"
"I like Sasuke!" Sakura retorted.
Naruto stared at her. "Fine…maybe now but what about when we were 10? Did you really like Sasuke then or did you think if you manage to date Sasuke then you are finally going to be secure about yourself? That you are finally better than Ino? Because he is everything that you are not?"
Hinata hummed and bobbed her head as everyone looked at Naruto with wide eyes. What? You think I don't understand shit? Love was definitely not her forte and maybe she was never going to know what love was, but she did know that much. It was probably why she didn't take Sakura's feelings towards Sasuke seriously.
"You can't even answer why you like Sasuke in the first place," Naruto muttered, shaking her head. "Look if Amajiki likes me in that way then it makes no sense. The girl that he sees in the café is the mask I put to get some tips and make an honest living for myself."
She needed to escape from them. Drinks needed to be served, customers needed to be charmed so that she could get some more tips. No time for her to think about the strange boy and his eerily resemblance to Sasuke. She bowed before dashing through the tables, handing them their drinks and making so much small talk.
Naruto pretended not to notice their eyes followed her with confusion.
"You can't keep running away from your problem," Narumi commented. Naruto blinked and twisted her head around to look at the white-haired woman with the same blue eyes. The white-haired woman stared at her before flickering her eyes at Sasuke and Sakura. "I don't know what happened between you two but running away…that doesn't help you."
Naruto shrugged. "It works for me."
"Is it really helping you?" Narumi asked, looking at the blond-haired teen with raised eyebrows. No judgement leaked out of her tone but the whiskered teen knew what was going through her head. "Because the way you are now avoiding my eyes and the way you talked tells me that you know it isn't helping you. You are not actually living your life."
Naruto shrugged. "What is living your life? My heart still beats and I can still eat so I'm still living my life."
"I think that you need to—"
"—No, thank you," Naruto retorted. "My life story? No one wants to hear that bullshit. If I ever talked about my life then princess over there and banshee will just tell me that my life wasn't all that difficult. They will tell me that the pain I endure is nothing compared to theirs so why the fuck do I want to do that? I don't want a pity party for myself!"
Todoroki nodded. "It isn't right that she has to talk about her problems to everyone here when she doesn't know us."
"But she is going to know us or none of us will be here!" Uraraka pointed out. "She can tell us why she feels that way and then everyone here can—"
"Then everyone can…what? Pity her? Whiskers hates pity and I fucking hate it too," Bakugou barked. Naruto relaxed her shoulders as her fellow blonde stared at her before looking at the other people in the room. "Pitying her make it seem like you think she is a weakling and Whiskers isn't weak."
Naruto stared at him. "Did Mr. I-am-better-than-everyone-else compliment me?"
"Don't try and get compliments from me, Whiskers! I still don't like you!"
"Don't worry, I am starting to tolerate you too."
She continued to pretend her heart was not hollow anymore and if there was one thing Naruto had always been good at, it was lying to herself about her feelings and hiding her pain.
Ino frowned. "Since when were you in pain? You are always smiling, Naruto! You are only acting like this because even what happened with Sasuke could make you crack and even then you are taking things too far."
"People wear masks," Narumi commented. Ino blinked and twisted her head around to look at the old woman. The white-haired woman pressed her lips into a frown and stared at Naruto with concern eyes. "People like Naruto hide their emotional pain through smiles and other positive emotions because they are scared to show vulnerability or believe no one cares if they are honest about their feelings."
Naruto froze and then cleared her throat. "Or maybe I only cracked now."
"If you have been my patient then I would be deeply scared for you," Narumi informed her. Naruto blinked while everyone from Konoha stared at the woman with wide eyes. "Because you have the most dangerous type of depression. You had smiling depression from what they just informed me. The book doesn't help either."
Kakashi blinked. "Smiling depression?"
"It is a term to describe someone for living with depression on the inside," Narumi explained, pointing to her heart. Aizawa grimaced as Sakura and the other members of Konoha and Suna stared at her with wide eyes. "On the outside, they look perfectly happy like nothing can bring them down. You think these people are normal but they are in a lot of pain."
Sakura frowned. "And how would you—"
"The Old Crone is a psychologist," Bakugou retorted. "Why the hell do you think she is getting so pissed off? She is not only angry because Whiskers is going through shit but because she sees a potential patient suffering through this. Grams does a lot of work with people like Whiskers."
"My grandson couldn't put it better," Narumi said as her eyes fixated on Naruto. "I'm sure that once you experience signs like lethargy and have doubts of self-worth that you don't want to show it to the world, because you think it makes you weak. It doesn't make you feel weak—"
"—You think if I vocalize my feelings to everyone from my village that they give a shit?" Naruto yelled. "I went to a doctor and he told me that I needed to suck it up because I was wasting his time! Kakashi-sensei? He only gives a shit about Sasuke and the same goes for Sakura. I mean nothing to them!"
Kakashi frowned. "Naruto, that is not—"
"When Sakura calls me an idiot, you did nothing to stop her!" Naruto yelled. "And if Sasuke expresses a single hint of childlessness then you don't mind but the moment I show that I want a better mission then you act like I'm the problem! When I came for you for help, you put me with Ebisu! Fucking Ebisu!"
"Sasuke was going against Gaara and you had a problem with the basics—"
"If I had a problem then why the fuck didn't you tell me during the months leading up to the Chunin Exams!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi blinked and slowly backed up as blue eyes continued to glow with rage. "Oh and don't you dare use Gaara as an excuse because I want you to consider this probability: if Gaara killed Sasuke and I won against Neji, who was next in the chopping board!"
Kakashi frowned. "But that did not—"
"By fucking luck!" Naruto snarled. "But then for that to happen would mean that you never thought I had a chance of winning against Neji! Maybe if Sakura had been the one to pass then you would have trained her because you constantly praise her for her fucking textbook skills! If you actually gave a shit about me then you would have trained me in my problem before the exam!"
"Naruto—"
"I'm fucking done with this bullshit!" Naruto snarled. "Oi Uraraka, continue reading before I actually consider walking away or smashing my fist against his face! I hate liars!"
Next day
Naruto stared wide-eyed at the entrance of Yuuei High, her hands tucked deeply in her jacket as the people around her strolled with confidence to the hall. A quick glance to her side made her realize, she was the only one marvelling at the structure of the building. Was it too late for her to turn her back? She furiously shook her head. No, she was not scared of anything.
The television screen changed the image to show the rather large building of Yuuei. Her future self wore her middle-school uniform and had her eyes fixated on the school. The modern building was designed and build like the shape of the letter H and if Naruto had to guess the reason then it was because H stood for the English word for Heroes.
No one spoke as they glanced at Naruto and the whiskered teen only folded her arms against her chest. Just because I'm furious with Kakashi-sensei doesn't mean I won't allow anyone to talk. She just snapped and there was no explanation on why on earth that she allowed herself to get angry.
"It sounds like you are pretty terrified," Bakugou retorted.
Naruto snorted. "I'm not terrified of anything!"
"Your monologue says different," Todoroki observed.
The whiskered teen only scowled at him.
I think you have a good shot of getting into Yuuei High.
Her teacher's words echoed in her ear, forcing Naruto to look ahead and take one step forward. She pushed her hoodie up, ignoring the whispers thrown in her direction. Blue eyes glanced rapidly at her fellow examinees. Excitement rolled off them in waves as some of the fellow examinees (most likely they came from the same middle school) wrapped their arms around each other, whispers being exchanged.
"Whiskers."
Naruto groaned and rubbed the sides of her head. "I don't understand why you call me that nickname or even when it started! When are you ever going to call me by my name?"
"Never," Bakugou retorted. "I can't even be bother to remember your name."
"Why? Because you can clearly see that I'm not a side character," Naruto grumbled. Midoriya sighed and shook his head at them while everyone else just raised their eyebrow at her. I'm not going to explain things. They were all going to find out what kind of person that her classmate was.
Bakugou eyed her. "That may be true but I still haven't decided whether to respect you or not."
"Kacchan, I think we all know that you like Uzumaki," Midoriya commented. Naruto raised a single eyebrow while the blond-haired boy scowled. "You usually give people insulting nicknames and Whiskers isn't the worst nickname that you have given somone."
Mitsuki nodded. "And you have come back home complaining about her."
"If I didn't know that you take after Mitsuki then I would think you have a crush on her," Masaru commented. Narumi hummed and regarded her with careful eyes while Mitsuki pressed her lips into a thin line. "But of course the way you treat Naruto is the way I think your mother treated her brother."
Mitsuki grimaced. "Well we wouldn't know since Oniichan went missing when I was four."
"If I ever see that bastard ever again then I'm going to hit him where it hurts," Narumi grumbled under her breath as her eyes darkened. "That bastard abandoned him for six whole years and the moment that his new wife couldn't become pregnant, he tries to take my kid."
Naruto halted at the explosive voice directed at her. Her ears rang as Bakugou stood by her side, red eyes flared with irritation at the sight of her here. Flashes of all the cold eyes directed at her flashed before her eyes, making Naruto feel like a small child again.
"The two of you seem to have a really good relationship," Hinata commented. Naruto raised her eyebrows as her best friend flickered her eyes between them. "So what on Earth happened for the both of you to behave this way to each other? Why are you so irritated with her?"
Bakugou grunted. "Isn't it obvious? I thought that I was the only one taking the exam and now there is a chance that she is going to get in the heroic department and that will ruin my dream of saying that I'm the only one from that shitty school to get in Yuuei Heroic Department."
"We don't even know if I'm going to get in," Naruto grumbled. "I can pass the practical exam but what about the theoretical paper? I'm sure that I wouldn't get enough points—"
"If you don't get in then I will stop swearing for a year."
Masaru clasped his hands together. "For the love of god, please don't let her pass."
"Masaru!" Mitsuki yelled, whacking her husband's shoulder as Naruto scowled at the man. The brown-haired man offered her an apologetic smile while the blond-haired woman shook her head at the man. "Just because you are fed up with Katsuki's bad habit, doesn't mean that you want the poor girl to ruin her future."
"…If you give me 1,000,000 yen then I might consider it," Naruto declared.
Todoroki stared at her. "You are willing to throw away a chance of being a hero for money?"
"Money makes the world go round," Naruto retorted. "But you probably wouldn't understand, Pretty Boy."
Everyone froze and stared at her with wide eyes. What? You can't tell me that you don't think that he isn't a pretty boy. She offered them a scowl and looked away as black eyes grew irritated and mismatch eyes widened. It meant nothing and the use of her habit of giving nicknames just came out.
"The end of the world has come if you just called a boy that!" Ino cried. "Dear god, the impossible has—"
"Uraraka please continue before Drama Queen makes it a bigger deal then it is!"
I am fifteen now, not that five-year-old girl. She chanted those words to herself and pasted a smile on her face. She was no longer a naïve child. Naruto knew better now what those eyes meant. People with those eyes should be treated with a distance, never getting so close to them. Ignore those eyesand maybe things would get better. She took another deep breath.
"What happened when you were five?" Kaminari asked.
Naruto shrugged. "It is nothing important."
"But the fact that you are reminding yourself of your age show us that something significant happened to you which made you walk a path where you hid your emotions through a façade," Kaminari observed. Everyone bobbed their heads and the whiskered teen stared at him with blank eyes.
"I thought you were an idiot but that was surprisingly insightful."
Kirishima grinned. "So are you gonna tell—"
"I said he was insightful, I never said I would talk about my life story."
"What the fuck are you doing here? First it was Deku, now you!" Bakugou snarled. His red eyes glared at her, daring her to back down from the exam. Students stopped walking, their eyes growing wide at the exchange taking place right in front of them.
Naruto sighed and shook her head. "Midoriya, do you feel the love pouring out of that sentence? I think my heart nearly stopped from the love and adoration that Bakugou is giving us!"
"Uzumaki, I feel as much love from those words as you feel about your former friends," Midoriya retorted.
Bakugou's eyebrows twitched. "What part did you feel love?"
"Your acknowledgement of my existence," Naruto replied sweetly.
Gaara regarded them. "Naruto, you and Bakugou act very similar—"
"Am I an asshole?"
Gaara shook his head.
"Am I arrogant?"
"Yes…you declared that you were going to win the whole Chunin Exams."
The whiskered teen scowled as Bakugou shot her a look of triumphant. And here I was thinking that I would have Gaara's backing in this matter. She might have been a little bit arrogant but she wasn't being arrogant for no reason. There had been a reason behind her behaviour.
Naruto just smiled and ignored the question asked.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He repeated himself. "Why the fuck did you decide to become a damn Hero?"
The whiskered teen sighed. "Well you know the reason now so in the future, I have no need to—"
"Oh hell no, you are going to answer that question Whiskers!" Bakugou retorted. "Sensei might have convinced you but he couldn't force you to do something that you don't wanna do. We all know that you are stubborn so why would you—"
"I did it for the money," Naruto retorted. "Oh come on, I don't even know why I'm doing it! Being a waitress is decent but there is only so much money that I can get! And maybe getting some acknowledgment is good and if I'm not a soldier then what can I be?"
Todoroki hummed. "That is surprisingly very deep."
"Are you implying that I can't be deep?" Naruto challenged.
He shook his head. "I didn't think you will vocalize that level of deepness."
"And you are the most talkative guy that I know!"
Todoroki blinked. "I am?"
He is dense! I'm talking to a boy who can't understand sarcasm! Naruto covered her face and held back the groan that threatened to come out. She did not know whether to laugh at this knowledge or pity the boy for not knowing the wonders that was sarcasm.
Because I don't know what I want to do with my life. All those plans she made in her childhood crashed nearly three years ago. She always dreamt big for herself. She longed for the job of being a kunoichi that Naruto never considered a plan B. Plan B meant she doubted of getting the occupation, meant she didn't believe in herself.
"You know I don't understand why you don't think of a plan B," Ino commented, shaking her head at Naruto. "You were always weird for wanting to become Hokage and you were even weirder for claiming that you never liked Sasuke in that way."
Naruto stared at her. "Do you like Shikamaru and Choji like how you like—"
"Oi, they are different!" Ino protested. "Shikamaru is demotivated and Choji eats too much! I mean if they were cool—"
"Why should I be any different? I find things about Sasuke that makes it impossible for me to be attracted to him," Naruto retorted. Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line and flickered her eyes to Sasuke. The boy grunted and looked away from her, which made the whiskered teen roll her eyes. "And unlike some people, I won't let society dictate what I can and should be like. Besides, the Old Hag is the Hokage."
Tsunade stared at her. "The only reason that the council gave it to me is because Jiraiya refused to take the hat. I'm sure those two old man argued when Jiraiya suggested me! Koharu might have agreed even though she dislikes me because she was always advocating for equality between kunoichi and shinobi."
"She hasn't butted heads with you, has she?" Sarutobi asked.
Tsunade grimaced and flickered her eyes at Naruto before bobbing her head. What the hell did they argue over about when it comes to me? She shook her head and decided that they needed to go back to the topic at hand.
"Doesn't matter! At least you got the hat and proved that a female can become Hokage!" Naruto retorted. "The percentage of females becoming jounin is still less the number of men becoming jounin! No one even encourage us to dream big because think of your children and who is going to raise them if you are working! And you are going to get pregnant and—"
"That's sexist!" Uraraka cried. "Just because we can have kids, means we have to slow down our careers! No way!"
"I'm not slowing down for a possible child!"
"We have day-care for a reason!"
"It takes two to have children!"
She could never tell him this, so Naruto went with the half-truth.
"I had no plans of applying for high school but Sensei wasn't happy with my desire," Naruto clicked her heels together and began to walk away from the short-tempered teen, blue eyes focused on the large building ahead of them. "He wasn't going to accept the fact I am content to not apply to high school or that I have no idea about my future. He suggested I apply here for the Hero Course since it is a better future than working in a café. He thinks I will be wasting my time there."
Narumi nodded. "You are wasting your time especially if you had such big goals from childhood. You can always make something for yourself but staying there…that won't help you."
"I know but I'm going to miss the free food," Naruto sighed.
Naruto doubt the man would suggested Yuuei High if she didn't have excellent grades. With Bakugou and Izuku ranked in the top five in their year, Naruto came third with her grades. There was something about the schooling that made her want to actually try and focus all her energy at it.
"Like what?" Sakura asked, raising a single eyebrow at her. "What is the difference between now and before?"
"Let me see, I don't have dicks for teachers," Naruto retorted, holding her hands up. "The system is with me. I have no one being bias to me and sending me out of class if I even make the slightest sound. None of the girls try to make my life hell and the teachers understand me."
Aizawa stared at her. "Did your teacher talk about your problems?"
"He was an alcoholic that likes to make the school look good," Naruto retorted. "I didn't say he wanted to be my father because I'm too old for that nonsense."
Narumi eyed her. "Your teachers were unprofessionals?"
"Yup."
Shikamaru frowned. "Iruka-sensei was good to you and he wasn't a dick."
"Now," Naruto retorted. "But when we were in the Academy? He was an absolute asshole to me! I did perfectly fine in all the other areas but he failed me when it came to the ninjutsu portion! He allowed Lee to pass and sorry Midoriya…but he was like Midoriya! How the fuck was he not a dick?"
Shino hummed. "Naruto has a point because Naruto could do all the other jutsu without a problem. Her only problem was the clone jutsu and none of us use it that much."
"Damn, bug boy is on my side."
Maybe it was because the teachers weren't dicks to her.
Kakashi winced.
"You would have wasted your fucking time, Whiskers." Naruto blinked and the smile on her face wavered at the sudden kind words coming from her hot-headed classmate. She eyed him suspiciously. What was he planning? If he planned to make her give up by using such strange supportive words then Bakugou was a fool. "Why the hell are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you sound like a nice guy and that means the world is probably ending."
Bakugou's eyebrows twitched. "I can be fucking nice! Oi Deku, tell Whiskers that I can be—"
"Uzumaki has a point," Izuku pointed out. "You are kind of a dick."
Naruto crackled. "Even your best friend agrees with me!"
"He isn't my best friend!"
"And I'm in love with Pretty Boy," Naruto retorted.
Bakugou folded his arms, lips pressed into a scowl and barked. "What the fuck does that mean? I can be fucking nice, Whiskers!"
"People like you can't ever be fucking nice; that's a fact of life," Naruto declared calmly. He gawked, opening and closing his mouth as the girl brushed passed him. Blue eyes hardened and the plastic smile almost broke as thoughts circled around her head, threatening to consume her.
Narumi eyed her. "You still want to pretend that you are a perfectly healthy person for saying that kind of comment."
"Are you going to pretend that you know everything about me?" Naruto retorted.
Narumi rolled her eyes. "I am only pointing out things that the book points out but you are right about Katsuki. He can't ever be nice with that kind of behaviour."
"I learnt it from you and Mom!" Bakugou growled.
Mitsuki stared at him. "Then learn how to be nice from your father, Katsuki! And don't you even dare use your Quirk on me, Katsuki!"
He can never be nice…just like I can never really be a hero. The childish voice whispered as Naruto forced her trembling legs to take a step forward to the future. Heroes were good, honest people that helped people. They opened themselves to people, smiling and giving them hope.
Hinata frowned. "I think you can be a hero, Naruto-chan! You are good and honest and you like helping people."
"Just because I like helping people doesn't mean I should be a hero."
Kirishima frowned. "That's true but you are better than Mr. Angry over there or that brooding ex-teammate of yours! And it sounds like you will smile to make sure that no one worries and that makes you a good hero."
"C'mon Kirishima let us be fair on everyone here," Naruto said. Kirishima blinked as everyone raised their eyebrows at the girl. "Anyone would be a better hero than Blasty and the Bastard over there! Even Sakura will be a better hero and she punches the people that help her!"
"Naruto!"
"What? I'm only telling the truth!"
They trusted people and Naruto couldn't bring herself to even trust the sincerest of smiles.
"Right maybe once this book is over, I will have you come over to get some—"
"I ain't crazy!" Naruto retorted. "And there is nothing wrong with me! How the fuck can you trust someone like that? And even if I do have issues, I'm not going to talk about them because I'm doing fine!"
The Third Hokage frowned. "Naruto-chan, maybe you should take her up on her—"
"You can't force me!"
"Good morning, Kacchan! Naruto-san!"
The two teens clicked their heels together, twisting their whole body around to see Midoriya standing behind them. A nervous smile played on his lips, only to be replaced with a flinch when Bakugou growled at him. Blue eyes narrowed at the rude behaviour that was only a slight improvement from ten months ago.
Mitsuki sighed and lightly whacked Bakugou on the head. "Do you really have to treat Izuku-kun like this? He has been your best friend since you are three! You know your behaviour makes it difficult for me to see Inko!"
"I didn't tell you not to see her! And this is between me and Deku!" Bakugou retorted.
Naruto hummed. "Well how the hell can she see her best friend if her son is being a dick to her best friend's son?"
"I'm not a dick."
"Okay…you are an ass then."
"Seriously!"
Ino frowned and leaned closer to Shikamaru before whispering. "Don't you find it weird that they are arguing like siblings and that they kind of look a like? You don't think one of her parents is related to them, do you?"
"Unless we have more proof, the answer is no," Shikamaru answered. "It can be coincidence that Naruto and Bakugou look alike and share similar traits."
Thank you Shikamaru for pointing out the obvious. Naruto sighed and shook her head as Narumi continued to inspect her and Bakugou. The old lady had a frown playing on her lips and her eyebrows were knitted together like she was actually deeply considering what Ino thought.
"I'm going ahead." Bakugou declared, storming passed them.
Blue eyes watched blankly at the boy's fading back, pink lips pressed into a thin line. Naruto slipped her hands into her pockets and glanced at Midoriya, who knitted his eyebrows together. It never escaped her notice how much more quieter Bakugou became. He still lashed out against Midoriya but the punches and the furious words faded away.
"That is Bakugou being quiet?" Sakura asked with raised eyebrows.
Naruto nodded. "Hard to believe right?"
Was this because Midoriya saved his ungrateful ass?
Bakugou's eyebrows twitched. "He didn't save me!"
"Okay let me try to correct you: he tried to save you," Naruto said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon Bakugou, you never even thanked him for risking his life to rescue you even though you made Middle School a living hell for him. None of the heroes tried to rescue you."
"What is his problem?"
Naruto blinked and flickered her eyes to find a cute brown-haired girl looking at Midorya and with curiosity. The girl had her body tilted towards them, barely brushing against her classmate. Brown eyes flashed with curiosity at what just happened. She shrugged while her green-haired classmate stiffened, his cheeks growing redder by the minute.
"I'm actually in this chapter!" Uraraka cheered, pumping her hand up in the air. Izuku stared at the screen and then flushed a light shade of red as if only realizing that his future self was close to a female. Ino blinked and flickered her eyes between them. "But why is Midoriya blushing?"
Naruto sighed. "Midoriya is clueless when it comes to girls."
"He has no problem with you," Ino and Sakura pointed out.
The whiskered teen shrugged. "You should have seen him with me when I first started Middle School. He acted very weird whenever I defended him from Bakugou and everyone else in our year."
"I wasn't that weird—"
"—You would mumbled, bowed down and ran as fast as your scrawny legs will take you," Naruto deadpanned. The green-haired boy flushed a light shade of red while everyone else in the room snickered at this piece of information. "That was weird."
"He is an ass."
That was the only explanation Naruto needed to explain Bakugou.
"It is an accurate description," Kaminari agreed, bobbing his head. "He has the asshole type personality and that won't make him very popular with the people!"
Bakugou growled and waved his hand at him. "Pikachu, I dare you to say that again!"
"Bakugou, Kaminari is wrong," Naruto said. Bakugou swirled his head at the whiskered teen and her blue eyes flickered to Ino and Sakura before glancing at Hinata and Sasuke. "The asshole type personality will make you popular to one demographic: naïve girls. Those girls love a bad boy."
Her fellow blonde scowled. "Whiskers!"
"You, Sasuke and Pretty Boy over there fall in the same category," Naruto said sweetly. "Midoriya over there is going to be loved by children, mothers and even a grandma. Kaminari might get some fangirls and the same goes for the other males. The only exception is Mineta."
Mineta frowned. "Why wouldn't I—"
"You are a pervert," all the girls declared.
"I know everyone is nervous but it doesn't mean he has an excuse to be an ass," the girl declared hotly. Naruto smiled politely, blue eyes darting at her stone-faced classmate and the brown-haired girl got the silent message that Naruto wanted to be left alone. "Well, alright then! Good luck with the exam today."
The girl waved and dashed off, leaving Naruto to deal with a frozen Midoriya.
"Why is he stuck like that?" Todoroki asked, knitting his eyebrows together.
Naruto sighed. "Because Midoriya is growing up."
"Uzumaki-san!"
"Okay, I will reword it…he finally developed hormones."
Both Uraraka and Midoriya flushed a light shade of red while Bakugou snorted. Todoroki frowned and rubbed his jaws as if he was deeply contemplating her words. What is there to think about? I gave you the best description. She exhaled and raised her eyebrow at the teen.
"Why didn't he develop hormones around you?" Todoroki asked. "You are very attractive as well."
Naruto blinked and blinked before gawking at the boy. The whole room became frozen as the people of Konoha gawked at the 15-year-old boy. Most of the males darted their eyes to Sasuke before glancing at each other. Why the hell are they looking at Sasuke? She cleared her throat.
"Probably because I'm not feminine enough?"
Midoriya frowned. "That's not why. I mean I liked you in our first year in Middle School but Mom and Narumi-obaachan pointed out that it was almost another form of hero worship."
"Wait a second, you fucking like Whiskers!" Bakugou roared.
Naruto frowned. "And why does it matter to you if he liked me or not? You aren't attracted to me and you aren't my brother or any member of my family! Whoever likes me is none of your business!"
Shaking her head, Naruto lightly whacked the boy on the head.
"Ow! What was that for, Naruto-san?"
"Oh, to check if you were alive."
Sakura frowned. "Naruto, you could have done a better way of snapping him out of it."
"Like what? Screaming at him like you would have done to me if I have been in that scenario?" Naruto retorted. Sakura clenched her jaws together while everyone darted their eyes between them. "Or do you want me to slap his cheeks like how TenTen did to Lee? This was a better way to do things."
"Are you really going to hold our time together as a team against me?" Sakura barked. "I was 12, Naruto! 12! I am 15 now and I'm completely different from our time as Team Seven."
Naruto stared at her. "You think I don't know you aren't 12? But you hurt me in every terrible way that a person can think of. You think I am going to be like my 12-year-old self who forgave you? No! I refuse to do that! Maybe you changed or maybe this is all a façade because people don't change."
"I'm serious now about my—"
"For how long?" Naruto retorted. "You only got serious because Sasuke left and that speaks volumes of your drive. Do you remember why you decided to enrol in the Academy? Because I can remember your reason but it seems like you forgot yours."
As her luck would have it, Naruto found her seats to be right next to Midoriya and Bakugou. Her green-haired classmate stared wide-eyed, opening and closing his mouth while Bakugou scowled at her. Slumping in her chair, Naruto pushed her hoodie even lower as Izuku snuck a glance at her. He looked at her with his eyebrows knitted together.
"Why are you wearing a hoodie on the most important day of your life?" Iida asked, waving his hand at her. "This is a day that you should dress respectably! And what was with that posture?"
Naruto stared at him. "It seemed cold and I didn't want to waste my energy socializing."
"No one can sit still or straight," Kaminari protested. "And if you look at the amount of people in the room then you can see that no one in their right mind won't fret over it! Just staring at the screen is giving me the nerves!"
She didn't bother to answer his silent question and only glanced at her classmate's sheet. Her lips curled into a frown at the sight of the different letter in his registration card.
Midoriya had B while she had C.
"What is the significance of that?" Shikamaru asked, tilting his head. He glanced at her and the whiskered teen only shrugged her shoulders. The exam was only a few days away for her and so it was difficult for them to know. She could guess but she was never right.
Aizawa sighed. "The different arenas."
"Did you purposely split everyone up from the same middle school?" Naruto asked, knitting her eyebrows together as the black-haired man stared at the screen. "Because that isn't very fair."
"We want the best heroes and the exam is already unfair from the very beginning," Aizawa answered.
She darted her eyes to the people around her, noticing how people from the same school were seated together and directed her attention to the empty podium. The backdoor opened and a blond-haired man stepped in with a bounce in his steps; his eyes danced with excitement.
"For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today!" His loud voice boomed through the hall. Students slammed their hands together and eyes shut tightly at the loud voice. "Can everybody say hey!"
Midoriya squealed and clapped his hands together while Naruto, Kiba and Kakashi winced as the loud audio screamed through the speakers. Ino and the other chunin rubbed their ears while Sasuke only stared blankly at the screen. Not a single one of them did as the voice requested.
"Must he be loud?" Kakashi asked, rubbing his ear.
Aizawa sighed. "We chose him to be the presenter because of the fact that he is loud. Hizashi was actually the best choice that we have but he might have been too excited. Actually…he is always excited."
"You know Present Mic!" Izuku gawked. "Wait, of course you would know him because you are collegues. It wouldn't be hard to presume that working together made you develop—"
"—He is my classmate from high school and my best friend," Aizawa retorted as Bakugou clapped Midoriya's mouth. Naruto blinked while everyone turned around to look at him with raised eyebrows. "If I'm the demotivated one then I need someone to be the life of the party."
Naruto blinked. "I think that is the only time you will say this to us."
Aizawa snorted.
The only response was silence as students glanced at each other, daring one of them to finally respond to the Hero.
"What a refined response," Present Mic shrugged and acted like he wasn't bothered by the lack of response from the students. He grinned at them. "Then I will quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam! Are you ready?"
Kaminari bobbed. "Well at least we will now be prepared for the practical exam! Now I know what to do when it comes, unless Aizawa-san plans to tell the school to change it."
"I tried to have them change the exam layout even before then and everyone knows how the practical exam will go about," Aizawa grunted, shaking his head. Naruto hummed and then raised her eyebrow at the man. "And Nedzu won't change it because hiring people to act as Villains is too dangerous."
Naruto frowned. "Why do you want to hire people?"
"The exam should be more inclusive," Aizawa explained. "There are people out there with amazing Quirks that can be used for heroics but because of the system, they never had a chance of becoming a hero. It is kind of like what you talked about the system being against you."
Naruto hummed and then accepted the response.
The room remained silence as the students refused to engaged with the excited man.
Silence broke when Izuku flushed a bright shade of red, green eyes growing wide with joy at the sight. He pressed his hands together in excitement. It looked kind of cute… if her classmate had been a girl. As a teenage boy, it was just plain weird or maybe Naruto just was not used to it.
"No, it was plain old weird," Bakugou retorted.
Kaminari hummed and then offered her a smile. "But I bet you look cute if you blush, Uzumaki!"
"If anyone of you can make Naruto blush then the world must be ending," Kiba declared. "Naruto doesn't blush and she certainly doesn't giggle."
Kaminari eyed him. "Do you want to make a bet that I can make her blush?"
"I'm right here!" Naruto growled. "And if either of you do such a thing then I won't be afraid to use my fist and remind Kiba here on why I was called the head bitch in charge."
The two males gulped and bobbed their heads.
The only experience she had was Sakura and Ino, even then they hadn't looked cute whenever they gushed over Sasuke.
"It wasn't that bad—"
"I will need years and years of therapy," Naruto deadpanned. "I will also need to get some hearing-aid and anything that remotely looks pink or purple will give me nightmares."
Ashido frowned. "Wait, I am—"
"You are an exception and you are not the definition of a fangirl," Naruto declared.
"It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic! Wow!" Izuku squealed, hyperventilating at the sight of the hero. "I listened to him every week on the radio. I'm so moved. All the teachers at Yuuei are Professional Heroes!"
"That's the definition of a fangirl."
Izuku blushed. "It isn't that bad, Uzumaki."
"You are going to rant till the end of the damn speech if no one stops you," Bakugou grunted. "And you are hyperventilating like you always do whenever you are knee-deep of being a hero otaku."
"Shut up, Deku!" Bakugou snapped; he didn't tear his eyes away from Present Mic. The boy quickly shut up, flinching at his childhood friend's rude words. Naruto flickered her eyes at the blond-haired boy, narrowing her eyes at the harshness of his tone.
"Do you have a better way of getting him to shut up?" Bakugou retorted.
Naruto scowled. "No but did you really have to call him, Deku!"
"Don't you call Sasuke over there Bastard?" Bakugou demanded. Naruto pressed her lips into a thin line and curled her lips into a deep scowl. Fine, I see your point. It was not fair for her to judge her classmate when she did the same thing with Sasuke.
Bakugou gave Naruto the middle finger and jerked his head at the podium, signalling her to focus on the exam.
"Naruto-san, are you okay? You have been covering your ears whenever Present Mic talked." Izuku whispered. Green eyes stared at her with concern as he lowered his head to look at her. Naruto forced herself to smile, removing her hands from her ears. I am always going to be fine. Nothing can bring me down. Izuku smiled and as soon as his head turned away from her, Naruto dropped her smile.
"Well considering the fact that she has sensitive hearing then yeah of course she would cover her ear!" Kiba grumbled. "How the fuck haven't you lost your hearing by now?"
"I asked that very same question every day when Bakugou screams and uses his Kekkei Genkei," Naruto retorted.
Hinata frowned. "Naruto-chan, you know it is okay to be nervous."
"I have no reason to be nervous," Naruto informed her. "Don't let those words fool you! I'm perfectly fine, Hinata-chan!"
She missed the stolen glance from Bakugou.
"Does someone care about me?" Naruto asked, raising a single eyebrow at the boy.
Bakugou scowled. "Who the hell would care about you?"
"I care about you too."
The boy's eyebrows twitched. "Don't put meaning into my words!"
The screen behind Present Mic came to life, images of robots appeared and a quick glance at her sheet showed that the robots was the same as the flyer. "Alright, my examinees! Let me tell you about how this test will go!"
The bored atmosphere turned to excitement and tension as students gripped their flyers, their eyes flashed with excitement. Naruto could only just stare blankly, almost tempted to pull out her phone and listened to some music. Would it be rude? Yes. Did she care? Not really. There weren't many things that Naruto actually cared about.
Narumi frowned. "Nothing at all?"
"I care about Hinata-chan and I care about money," Naruto answered. If I'm honest with those two things then this annoying old woman will stop trying to act like a therapist to me. She exhaled as the white-haired woman pressed her lips into a frown. "What? You think I'm living a meaningless existence for only loving money and my best friend?"
"I think you are stubborn and in denial."
She used to care a lot for the people around her, but people were cruel and hurtful little things.
Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line and took a deep breath. "Look Naruto, I know what I did was wrong but you shouldn't judge—"
"You have such a big ego if you think that opinion came because of you," Naruto grumbled. Everyone blinked and the whiskered teen shoved her hands into her skirt pocket. "You know I had a life before Team Seven but of course everyone forgets that."
The Hokage grimaced. "Naruto, are you having another—"
"Doesn't matter if I am having one!" Naruto grumbled. "I had that opinion even before thing happens."
"All of you will experience a 10-minute mock urban battles after this," The man swirled his whole body to the right side of the auditorium, his eyes making sure that the students paid attention. "You can bring whatever you want with you."
"If you have the permission form," Aoyamma said.
Naruto blinked. "We need what now?"
"Mademoiselle, did you not read the application form?" Aoyama asked, swiping his hair to the left.
The whiskered teen stared at him. "Would I be asking if I read it?"
The screen lit up and several different boxes lit labelled from A to G appeared on the screen. Judging by the letters assigned to her and Midoriya, she guessed the two of them would be in different battle areas. Was it going to be the same for Bakugou too? It would make life easier for everyone if they were all in different battle areas.
If Midoriya and Bakugou were in the same field, then Naruto was certain that neither of them would pass.
"What the hell does that mean?" Bakugou demanded.
Naruto stared at him. "It would be a bloodbath because you will try and kill Midoriya. That would ruin your chances of becoming a Hero."
"After the presentation, you will head to the specified battle centres, okay?" Silence reined as students from the same school glanced at each other's cards. Izuku stole a glance at her, a small frown playing on his lips at the assigned battle centre for her, and then glanced at Bakugou's card.
"Oi Whiskers, what battle centre do you have?" Bakugou demanded after taking a peak at Izuku's registration card.
Naruto blinked and answered. "I got C, why?"
"Because I want to figure out the damn pattern," Bakugou grumbled. "Why else do you think I ask?"
"So you know whether you can murder me or not?"
Bakugou's eyebrow twitched. "Keep being a smartass and I will murder you here!"
"Katsuki!"
Bakugou darted his eyes at Izuku, who gulped at the ferocity that was his best-friend's eyes. "Because it means that they won't let students work with their friends. We got assigned different battle centres. "
Naruto blinked. "Did you just say that you consider me your friend? Has the world come to an end and Bakugou Katsuki has decided to admit that he has friends and not lackeys?"
"I didn't say that I think of you as my friend!" Bakugou barked.
Narumi eyed him. "Your wording implies that you think Uzumaki is your friend and that even though you are being a dick to Izuku that you still consider him your friend."
"Don't analyse me, you Old Crone!"
"You are right," Midoriya stuttered, he glanced again at the two student's cards. A small frown decorated his lips. "Even though our examinee numbers are sequential, we are assigned to different battle centres."
Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Damn, now I can't crush either of you."
"Wow, you have got a big head if you think that you can beat me," Naruto retorted. Her classmate smirked and the whiskered teen felt her eyebrows twitched. One of these days, I'm going to beat that smugness out of you. She was definitely stronger than Bakugou.
Bakugou smirked. "You wanna bet who is going to get the higher score on the practical exam?"
"Don't come crying to your Mom if I beat your score!" Naruto retorted.
Midoriya gulped and Naruto scowled at the boy for making the comment. The temptation to mock him about his skills was huge, but the knowledge Bakugou would be happy to see her explode was enough for her to hold her tongue. Only the asshole would make her want to lash out.
It was like he made it a habit to make her angry.
"Yeah because I have never seen you explode before," Bakugou retorted. "You never react to anything and that is god damn annoying."
Naruto eyed him. "Then you must be loving the book so far!"
"Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle centre," Present Mic continued once all the students finished talking to each other. The screen changed to show three figures not so different from the robots in the student's pamphlets. "You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty."
The robots faded, only to be replaced by an image of a miniature version of Present Mic attacking them. "Our goal, dear listeners, is to use your Quirks to earn points by restraining the fake villains."
"If you don't use people because of injuries then why are you using a robot?" Hagakure asked.
Aizawa eyed her. "I ask Nedzu the same question and he just tells me that using a robot was easier."
"But it isn't cost effective," Yaoyorozu pointed out.
But what about rescuing people? Isn't the main role of a hero to save people? Naruto nibbled on her bottom lip, eyebrows knitted together as the people behind her whisper about how easy this exam was going to be. She probably was the last person to think like this. It should please her, she had a chance to pass this exam with flying colours.
"If we had your experience then yeah we would be confident like you!" Mineta declared, arm reaching out towards her. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the male and Mineta quickly withdrew his hand. "What about someone like me? How am I supposed to pass?"
Aizawa eyed him. "I'm sure the pamphlet had told you of another way to deactivate the robot and you don't need a flashy Quirk to enter…but it will help."
"What about a decent personality?" Naruto grumbled.
"…Not a requirement, unfortunately."
Weren't they going to be tested on how well they save people? What if someone had a good heart, willing to save anyone, but weren't capable of using their Quirk properly? What do they do then? They couldn't just toss the person away.
"It is taken into account," Aizawa commented. "But you don't need to point out something that is obvious."
Kaminari gawked at him. "It isn't that obvious!'
"You want to be a hero right?" Aizawa asked. "Then that means you also have to rescue people."
It wasn't fair.
"Life isn't fair," Narumi agreed.
Present Mic swung his arm and pointed his finger at them. "Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited!"
"Guess that means you can't kill your opponent, Explosive Head." Bakugou grunted and folded his arms against his chest, almost reminiscent of a cute little child. Well maybe cute little child wasn't the word Naruto would use to describe the angry boy.
A cute, angry kitten maybe.
Bakugou glowered and narrowed his eyes at her. "Take those words back!"
"Say the word please and I will think about it."
"No fucking way I'm saying the word please to you!"
Naruto shrugged. "Then I won't ever change my mind about how to describe an angry Bakugou to people."
"Excuse me sir, I have a question!"
Naruto moaned and slumped in her seat, silently eyeing the clock on the wall. There were going to be behind schedule because of that asshole. She didn't want to be late for her shift, today. Bills needed to be paid and every single penny was worth it.
Iida swirled his head at Naruto and said. "Asshole! Uzumaki, I am no asshole but this is—"
"I believe you were wasting my time in the future," Naruto explained. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the screen before staring back at the neck. "I didn't want to go to work late because that affects my salary. I like to pay my bills on the time."
He winced. "I apologize for—"
"As long as you understand my situation then we are fine," Naruto informed him.
"Okay!" Present Mic pointed to the boy, who stood several meters ahead of them, and a spotlight sudden appeared at him. Nerd was the first thing that came to Naruto's mind when she had a better look at the teen. Nothing really stood out about him, except for those old-style glasses and the fact he looked like he could be someone's Dad.
"That is actually a very good description on Iida's description," Kaminari commented. "He does look like he can be somebody's Dad."
Iida frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What part of me—"
"Your clothes, posture and your appearance," Naruto answered, holding her fingers up at him. He gawked at her and the whiskered teen shrugged. You asked and I decided to answer. The blonde exhaled as Todoroki bobbed his head in agreement with her.
The rigidi posture spoke volumes of just how straight-laced the boy was. Guys like those were kill-joys; they used to ruin her pranks in the Academy.
Shino stared at her. "I didn't ruin your pranks."
"I never said you," Naruto commented with a fake smile playing on her lips. Everyone blinked and tilted their head at her as if they couldn't believe a single word from her mouth.
Kiba rolled his eyes. "We all know that Shino was the killjoy of your pranks. He didn't let anyone have their fun."
"You wanted to perv on—"
Kiba immediately covered Shino's mouth with the hood of his jacket and Naruto raised her eyebrows at the two males. Who the hell was Kiba going to perv on? Sakura? Ino? Oh god, please don't tell me Hinata-chan. She grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck before throwing a glare at Kiba.
"On the printout, I see there are four types of Villains." The boy announced. He held up the printout for everyone to see, pointing at the Villain figure they hadn't seen in the video. "If that is a misprint, then Yuuei, the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be shaped into model heroes."
"You are so serious, man!" Kaminari observed. He folded his arms against his neck and stared at everyone before looking back at Iida.
Iida frowned. "I want to become a good hero!"
"But you need to relax once in a while," Naruto observed.
Narumi frowned. "If you know that then why are you working so hard? You also need to think about yourself and your own needs, Uzumaki. If you can be considerate for him then what about yourself?"
"Work relaxes me."
A sense of shame washed over Naruto at the boy's speech. Most of these people desired to become amazing heroes while she was just wandering around, not knowing what to do with herself. Everyday, she woke up doing the same thing: wake up, go to school, go to work, do homework and train.
She always tried to avoid sleep.
"Do you have nightmares?"
"Well I'm not avoiding sleep because my dreams are wonderful, am I?" Naruto retorted. Sasuke scowled and looked at her like it was her fault for having those nightmares while Sakura winced. Don't act like you care. Her teammate showed her true face a long time ago.
"In addition, you over there with the curly hair—" Midoriya pointed at himself, green eyes growing wide with fear as the boy stilted his eyes at him. "You have been muttering this entire time, stop it. It is distracting! If you are here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!"
Naruto's eyebrows twitched and she swirled her head at Iida. "Pleasure trip? Isn't it clear that he is fucking nervous about the whole exam?"
"Well now I know he is nervous but Midoriya is quite distracting!" Iida explained himself. "I cannot tolerate anyone that distracts me from my goal!'"
Sakura stared at him. "But you are distracting everyone by pointing him out from the crowd."
Midoriya squeaked, covered his mouth and mumbled, "I am sorry."
Not my business. Naruto stood up from her seat, earning frowns from the people around her as Midoriya stared at her with confusion. She was an idiot. This wasn't her fight. The boy was her classmate, nothing else. There was no reason for her to yell at him.
"Still the same old Naruto-chan," Hinata commented, shaking her head. Naruto grunted and folded her arms against her chest as everyone stared at her with confusion. "You are going to scold him, aren't you?"
Naruto folded her arms against her chest. "You heard my future self; I have no reason to yell."
"You never like it when someone feels hurt," Hinata observed. "And you are trying to convince yourself not to help him. We know that you are going to do the right thing."
The blonde only scowled and looked away from the knowing eyes of her best friend.
But her classmate looked so sad and hurt at that comment; she couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
"Told you so," Hinata said, curling her lips into a wider smile.
Naruto grunted. "Doesn't mean anything."
"Maybe he is distracting you because you put your mind with him," Naruto said slowly. "He is nervous about this damn exam. Be fucking considerate of other people too, don't just fucking think about yourself. The people behind me didn't have a problem with his behaviour, didn't even tell him to shut up. So deal with it."
Midoriya blinked like he always did whenever she defended him. He opened his mouth, maybe to say an apology but Naruto waved him off. Everyone else broke out in whispers as the boy pushed his glasses against his nose, irritated at her calling him out.
"You know it is ironic that you say that, Naruto," Sakura commented, curling her lips into a frown. "You always made things about yourself because you wee always annoying Sasuke. You never seemed to notice his problems."
Naruto stared at her for the longest time before curling her lips into a cold smile. "I never fucking demanded for a date from him and you never noticed my problems. You were always asking me ways of getting Sasuke's attention so you can't talk."
It was Midoriya's fault for calling out her protective instincts.
Midoriya blinked and stared at her with wide eyes. "I do?"
"That book is a book full of lies because I have never helped you because of that."
Bakugou coughed. "Someone is in denial."
"Calm down you two," Present Mic said, waving both his hands at them. He gave a thumbs-up to the boy. "Examinee number 7111, thanks for the great message. The fourth type of villain is worth zero points. That guy is an obstacle, so to speak. There is one in every battle centre—an obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. "
The students frowned.
The students paled and jerked their head at Aizawa and the man only shrugged his shoulders. You don't think that there is anything wrong with what happened. Naruto sighed and leaned against the couch as Todoroki regarded her with curious eyes.
"You aren't terrified?"
Naruto shook her head. "I doubt that it can cause actual damage to me."
"It is not impossible to defeat, but there is no reason for you to defeat it, either." Present Mic explained. He flashed them a smile and swung his arm up in the air. "I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it."
Naruto raised her eyebrows, lips pressed into a thin line as she stared at the handout. Avoid a Villain? Weren't Heroes supposed to charge after any kind of villains? It shouldn't even matter if it had points or not. She might not be the best example of what a hero should be, but Naruto knew what a hero was.
A true Hero would attack even if the villain might not bring any benefit, might be difficult because Villains were always dangerous. They hurt people, ruined them to the point that they didn't know what was right and wrong and because people's lives needed to be saved. This was the reason people like them were considered Heroes.
"That is a very strict view on what heroes and villains are," Gaara commented. He blinked and regarded her carefully before looking out at the screen. "And you are going to be irresponsible Naruto and you are going to get yourself hurt if you plan to do what I think you are going to do."
Naruto shrugged. "I'm not going to do anything reckless."
"Last words," Sasuke declared.
They trusted the village too and saw all of its beauty in people.
The Third Hokage frowned and stared at her with a frown playing on his lips. "Naruto, do you hate Konoha? Whatever happened to you was bad and the way you grew up was terrible but the people—"
"They will accept me? They will love me?" Naruto snorted. "Old Man, I'm not a naïve 12-year-old anymore! I pretended to be something that I was not and look what it got me! When I fucking failed my mission! I got blamed! Sakura? People pitied her. Shikamaru and the others too!"
The Third Hokage frowned. "Naruto, I know that things are difficult but you can't just—"
"I have every right to be furious and don't try and tell me that I should continue trying with them," Naruto growled and the Third Hokage frowned. She exhaled and clenched her jaws together. "You asked me why the hell that I keep pretending to be something that I am not and that is because of them! If I'm dumb then they like me and treat me better!"
The Hokage frowned. "Naruto, I told you that was not the right—"
"There is no right way, Old Man!" Naruto barked, folding her arms against her chest. "Being nice and helpful didn't help me and being dumb just made people take advantage of me! So don't you dare tell me that I'm wrong! Konoha is my nightmare! The village did nothing for me!"
All Naruto could ever see was just how cruel and evil people can be, and this was the reason she could never truly become a Hero.
"Or maybe you could be a good hero," Narumi suggested. "You probably know that the world is not black and white."
She was just too broken for the job, but it wasn't like she had anything better to do.
"No one is broken," Narumi commented. "People are meant to be broken but that makes a person grow. If you want to grow then you need to learn the accept the demons inside of you."
Naruto kept quiet and rubbed the back of her neck as everyone became quiet at those words. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck while Uraraka stared at the book before looking at everyone else. Well now the whole thing is quiet and sad. The whiskered teen exhaled.
"That was the end of chapter 2," Uraraka said. "Who wants to read the next chapter?"
Sero raised his hand. "I will do the next chapter."
A/N: Please review and do tell me what you think of this chapter. What do you think of the interactions between the characters? And how would you feel if Kushina and Minato appear? And how will Narumi when she sees the childhood memories?
