Author's note at end.
"Ero-senin?"
"Hm?" The toad sage who was resting on a hammock, replied to his blonde student's call.
"Why am I so weak?" Came the question.
If Jiraya was caught by surprise, he didn't show it. Instead, he released a sigh and sat up from his lying position on the hammock.
"I'm so useless, ya know. Always dragging everyone down. I couldn't even bring Sasuke back. I'm too much of an idiot to learn anything."
A chuckle from Jiraya's side, irked Naruto.
"Oi, I'm pourin' out my heart here and you're laughing?!"
The chuckles escalated into a boisterous laugh. "Ya see Naruto, you're right."
Naruto pouted.
"You are an idiot alright but so am I, Sasuke, your whole team, hell even the Hokage is an idiot too."
"Okay I think you're going too far Ero-senin, ya know." Naruto said consciously.
"My point is that humans are all idiots in general; the fact that we live in a shitty world like this and yet we still go about our daily lives knowing that we'll continue like that the next day is pretty stupid. It's like putting a rat in a snake hole and hoping it'll have a chance at survival."
"This world uses little or no effort to fuck people up on the daily basis but there are some gargantuan idiots like yourself who push against the woes of this world and keep living. So Naruto, don't go crying because you're an idiot, just keep trying like every idiot does. Because, it's my Ninja way, to never give up."
Blue eyes opened to view green leaves of a tree. Though they were shaded from the sun, his lids shut to protect them from the flooding light. Naruto added an arm to shield his eyes as he sat up and yawned. He had no memory of coming outside but one thing was adamant on his mind;
Why did I dream about that?
"Oh, you're awake, young Naruto."
The blonde Ninja hero turned to see Toshinori by his side, a small smile on his aging face. In his hand was something Naruto was quite familiar with.
"Is that a popsicle, Toshinori-ojichan?"
Toshinori's small smile grew into a grin as he went ahead to split the popsicle so Naruto could have one. The blonde gladly accepted it, putting it into his mouth immediately with childish mirth and as the sweet flavours of the cold snack flooded his taste buds, so did some memories.
Hey, Naruto. Here eat one, you're gonna love it I tell ya...
"Young Naruto, is something the matter?"
Something definitely was, the scene, the setting everything looked the same.
"Nothing's wrong, old man." Naruto responded quickly with a smile that morphed slowly into a frown. "I just... remembered something is all, y'know."
"Could it be someone you had lost?"
Naruto sighed and watched the popsicle slowly melt. "Yeah, my master used to get these for me and he'd always share. Just like you do now." He smiled, a sad one. "If I could, I'd turn back time so we could keep eating popsicles together, y'know and maybe I would've saved him that day so he could stay alive to see how far I've come." He stopped when he felt Toshinori's hand on his. He hasn't realised that his hands were shaking and that he'd started crying.
"You remind me of him a lot, y'know and I'm grateful" he directed a full beam at Toshinori. "I'm grateful for you, old man."
Toshinori, a bit taken aback by this chuckled moments later. "I'm grateful for you too, young Naruto. Because of you, Young Midoriya will still have a role model."
"You talk like you're irrelevant or something, old man. Izuku still looks up to you."
"I'd rather him follow you from now on. I don't have much time left."
"Oi, don't say that old man. Don't think for one second of dying on us."
Toshinori to Naruto's shock let out a boisterous laugh. "But death is inevitable isn't it, especially at my current state but still. I would never die like a weakling. Never."
Naruto snapped awake with a start. Cold sweat dripped down his neck while his heart raced like stampeding horses. He felt quite shocked not to lie, as to why he would dream of that.
"What the hell..."
He did his morning exercises before leaving for school. He responded normally to greetings but only those close to him knew something was amiss. Izuku for one.
He'd come to his desk during lunchtime. "Hey Naruto." When sapphire flitted up to emerald, they widened a fraction.
When did his eyes get so sharp, Naruto silently wondered.
"You...okay?" Izuku asked with a tilt of his head.
Naruto blinked for a moment before sighing leaning his head in his palm whilst covering his face. "I'm fine just a little tired, y'know."
"Are you having withdrawal symptoms?" He heard Izuku ask in a teasing tone. Removing his fingers to meet Izuku's badgering expression, arms crossed and all.
Naruto managed a chuckle; Katsuki had gotten fed up with his ramen intake and cut him off access to it with Iida as his support. He'd vehemently used irritation as a guise for his actions when he was simply worried about Naruto's health.
"Yeah you could say that, y'know. I haven't had some good ramen in a week thanks to boom boy."
"Sorry about that, but even Sasuke agreed that it's for your own good."
"I don't give a damn what that bastard thinks, y'know." He said with an ironically bright smile. It had Izuku laughing but it didn't take too long before he stopped.
"Okay what's really wrong with you?"
Wow he's good.
"Uh..." He opted playing dumb. "What're you talking about?"
"I'm talking about your sucky mood. You look like you survived a whole hour of watching Iida dance."
"Okay, where is this attitude coming from. Am I still talking to Izuku Midoriya?" Naruto in all honesty just thought he'd been spending too much time with Bakugo since they talked more nowadays.
"Just tell me, Naruto-kun."
Sigh.
"Fine, I just had a premonition that something bad might happen soon."
Izuku's expression fell into a serious tone. "Bad, like what?"
"It's..." Naruto hesitated. "Look i-"
"Yo Naruto, Midoriya." Kirishima just entered the classroom. "You comin' for lunch or what?"
"We're coming, y'know." Naruto took this chance to duck out of the conversation, leaving his seat to follow Kirishima out the door. "You coming?" He turned to ask Izuku and from the look on the greenet's face they were far from done talking.
Naruto groaned in his head, he'd have to tell Izuku either way.
Dabi strolled lazily through the dimly lit halls, footsteps echoing as he made his way towards the door at the very end. On getting there, he propped up his leg and used his foot to push the door open not bothering to knock.
"You got anything for me, doctor?" He asked straight away not wishing to waste anytime in this lab. The sight of all the quirk experiments brought a sick feeling to his gut believe it or not.
Meanwhile, the doctor was happily humming and doing whatever crazed scientist do. "You should have made an appointment earlier Dabi, what if I didn't have what you might need."
Screw that...he thought. "Just give me the best one you got there. The deal is I test it out for you so you can see your progress and I get a job well done on my assignment."
"Yes that was it." Doctor Ujiko replied while a tube opened right after, gases leaking out, clouding Dabi's vision for a few moments before revealing the monstrosity.
"This is the best I've got, make it worth the while, okay?"
"No problem, I'm sure they'll both enjoy it." Dabi smirked.
Endeavor had taken the offer to join Hawks to exterminate the Nomu in Kyushu. He followed the winged hero through town, observing how familiar he seemed to be with his fans whereas people were quite intimidated by the mere sight of him. It was different from other times because now he seemed bothered by it. He wanted to be the very man he'd promised Shoto, assured Allmight and wanted to prove to Sasuke that he could be.
They stopped at a restaurant so they could discuss the League of Villains frequent movements since All For One's capture.
"So what exact proof do you have to back up your claims on sighting Nomu's here?" Endeavor asked getting down to business at the drop of a hat.
"Wow, we haven't even started eating yet." Hawks said taken by surprise. "I did tell you they were rumors."
"What?!" The sound of Endeavor's heavy fist slamming on the table wasn't what caught Hawks' attention but something else, something related to their discussion. "Look, the rumors aren't just in Kyushu but they're pretty much everywhere." He said rather calmly.
"I want you, Endeavor to verify the rumors and put everyone at ease, why?" He goes ahead to take drink. "Because you're number one now." He smiles at Endeavor's deepened scowl and there it is again. It doesn't miss his eyes.
He's quite sure Endeavor wants to ask questions but he would need to take care of this first.
"Get down!" He is already shielding the waitress with his wings when a Nomu suddenly makes an appearance, crashing in through the glass window.
"There...any...one...strong here?" The Nomu asks in a computerized manner.
"Hawks, evacuate the area immediately!" He ordered Hawks then added quietly to himself. "Perfect timing, Nomu."
He then proceeded to punch the Nomu back outside with Jet burn. It crashes into the ground but still comes out nonetheless while undergoing regeneration and muttering that he wants to fight someone strong.
"Why Endeavor-san, you can fly now?" Hawks asked in fascination.
"No I'm simply stopping myself from falling." Endeavor corrected and went back to face the Nomu. "You want someone strong? I'm here, Japan's Number one hero. Come fight me you creature!"
At this the Nomu stood at full attention. His stance showed how hungry he was for a fight. "Then...make...it...more challenging." He spoke in that robotic manner again but Endeavor had an inkling that this Nomu could mean everything it said.
This one was different.
"So...you ready to talk?"
Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that day as he leaned against the railing of the roof. "I had a... really wierd dream. It wasn't making any sense at first but then, something happened."
Deku kept quiet as he listened to Naruto continue.
"Old man Toshinori was there, we were talking and then he said he was gonna die soon."
"I knew that."
This caught him by surprise. He turned to Izuku sharply. "What?"
"All might told me once that he was eventually gonna die one day and I would take the reins but..." He smiled softly. "I promised him that I'd change that no matter what. I did cry a lot that day..." He raised a brow and shot a look at Naruto to which he avoided. "Were you worried I'd cry?"
"Yeah I was, I mean you are a crybaby and all."
"Hey I don't cry so much anymore." Izuku smirked proudly. "I'm pretty sure I've grown past that." However, Naruto snickered.
"Aw, so cute, y'know. You sound like a little kid trying to convince his parents that he's potty trained."
"I do not!"
"Yeah you do, y'know."
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
Izuku growled and went ahead to try and roundhouse kick Naruto but was swatted away. Both laughed it off eventually, Izuku drew out his fist.
"Look, no more hiding things, we're in this together so promise me we'll save everyone together."
Naruto smiled at this and bumped his fist on Izuku's. "Just don't go crying when things get tough okay."
"I won't." Izuku replied with a pout.
The fight between Endeavor and the Nomu raged on. It was so intense that the town was forced to evacuate that entire vicinity.
Hood Nomu seemed to be putting up a good fight, so much that Endeavor was feeling challenged on his end whereas the Nomu was excited for more thrill. He transformed his arms and grabbed Endeavor with an elastic grasp and crashed him into the restaurant building. Then he immediately pushed Endeavor all the way through the entire building, sending him to the other side of it.
Endeavor fought back releasing a great flare of fire that incinerated Hood Nomu's arm, causing the creature to release him but Hood quickly overwhelmed him by regenerating his lost limb and transforming it into tentacles to wrap Endeavor up from the sides. He then proceeds to fling Endeavor through the entire building, cutting several of the top floors.
"You're so annoying!" Endeavor used his Quirk to break free of the Nomu's grip once again and avoided crashing into nearby buildings, keeping himself up in midair to continue the fighting.
He had to admit as he was severely injured that Hood Nomu was stronger and faster than him and it was so damn aggravating to admit.
"Sorry, I haven't been coming over, mom."
Rei smiled tiredly at Natsuo's apologetic countenance. "It's alright dear, I understand college keeps you busy."
"College? No, ever since he got a girlfriend he's been like this." Fuyumi blurted much to Natsuo's embarrassment.
"F-fuyumi, what about you and pro hero Hawks, I know what I hear!"
He hit the target because her cheeks flared. "W-well at least I keep time for family."
Rei chuckled at this. "I'm so glad you're both doing well."
"What about you, mom how've you been?" Natsuo asked with a concerned gaze that morphed into a soured expression. "I heard..."
"Natsuo!" Fuyumi hissed shooting him a warning gaze.
Rei on the other hand smiled softly, and stared serenely at the flower on her window sill. It was then that her children recognized it, that was her favorite flower but how did she get it when there was only one person who knew she liked this flower.
"So it's true..." Natsuo's voice turned dark with bitterness. "He has been visiting."
"To be honest, I haven't seen him face to face but," Rei placed a palm over her heart as a small tint of red coloured her cheeks."He makes sure to change the flowers every three days, he hasn't missed a beat."
"When did this start?"
"Natsuo!" Fuyumi warned him again on hearing his heated tone. She knew it wasn't wrong for him to be overprotective but he had to consider their mother's feelings.
"I know that Enji truly wants to change." They heard their mother say quietly. She shouldn't be forgiving him, she knows but what can she do, when it was Enji's fire that melted her once frozen heart.
Hawks himself joined in the fight and launched several feathers at Hood which successfully struck his arm giving Endeavor an opening to attack again with a more powerful version of his Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider. With this, he struck the High-End Nomu with multiple fire streams that sliced it's body into bits.
"Wow, could that be your strongest attack?" Hawks wondered as he stared at the sliced up Nomu watching it smoke up.
"It's not even close." Endeavor replied, catching his breath, he was about to say another thing when Hood began to speak again.
"This fight...is...fun...you are...strong..."
He looked down and lo and behold, the Nomu's body began to regrow and attach themselves.
"What the actual hell?" Hawks muttered.
While Hood continues his regeneration, he complained about Hawks being there. Said he was interfering with his fight and that he had to get lost. He proceeds to spawn several low-level white Nomu to attack the Pro Heroes around and civilians, forcing Hawks to have to help them, leaving Endeavor alone to face him.
"Shoulder-Mounted Jets, Transforming Arms, Muscle Augmentation, Power, Super Regeneration, and now he has just shown to own one more Quirk; Storage." Endeavor mused before clicking his tongue. "That makes six Quirks and he's not ruling out the possibility of having more." This Nomu was really different. He grunted in pain from the heat eating at his body. If this continued, his body will overheat and suffer huge damage.
On the ground, a pair of white Nomu prepare to attack a group of defenseless civilians, but Hawks uses his long feathers as a blade and cuts through the creatures down, saving the civilians in the process, whom he immediately drives away using his smallest feathers and tells everyone to keep evacuating. Taking out another feather blade to dual wield, he smirks. "Power types aren't really my thing anyway."
"What's wrong...hero... can't use...your heat...ray again?" Hood taunts Endeavor as they battled mid air. Though it irked him to think so, Endeavor admitted Hood was right. The continuous release of his ultimate move caused major drawbacks and if he persisted with it, it could be fatal but he wasn't going to back down on this strong opponent.
He intensifies his flames, excited by the challenge while Hood creates several arms and extends them to attack Endeavor, saying he wants to test out his new power on him.
"Oi, Nomu I'll burn you until there's nothing left, you hear!" Endeavor declared confidently. "Your regeneration abilities won't be enough for it." With a loud roar, he ignites his flames viciously and releases a powerful fire blast, burning Nomu's body to ash. "PROMINENCE BURN!"
Everyone quietly stares in wonder, the media had arrived and the fight was now being broadcasted on all stations on TV. Rei, Natsuo and Fuyumi were watching and also, UA wasn't an exception.
Aizawa rushed in to say something about this but Shouto already had his eyes glued to the screen, unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fist in worry.
The High-End appeared to have been defeated, however, Endeavor realized too late he wasn't able to disintegrate the whole Nomu because Hood detached his own head from his body before getting hit, allowing it to regenerate completely.
"Stupid...hero...dumb...hero...you... couldn't defeat me...anyway." In a flash he transformed his arms into elastic blades to slash Endeavor's torso and gash him in the face, potentially destroying his left eye, giving him a scar.
Everyone, from the civilians who are there and the viewers who are watching the fight on television, can see the new Number one hero being overwhelmed by the Nomu.
"There...any...stronger...heroes?"
Naruto and Izuku walk in just in time to see Shouto's devastated look. Allmight also fisted at his chest, feeling pitiful as he could not go and help.
"Endeavor..."
Rei expresses pure worry as she watches her husband lay unconscious on the ground. Enji, stand up...
"No way..." Ochako looked horrified. "That Nomu is too strong."
A huff came from the back of the room. "And so what?"
"Sasuke." Everyone turned to see Sasuke enter the common room looking rather smug.
"So what if, the Nomu's overpowered, Enji is too much of a stubborn bastard to let that thing beat him."
Bakugo looked shocked for a second but snickered. "Sasuke's spot on there, right icy hot?"
To everyone's surprise, Shouto mustered a smile to which he sent towards his work study mates. "Yeah, my old man's pretty stubborn."
Meanwhile, Hawks finishes off the two Nomu that Hood released, thankful that they weren't too strong. The wreckage caused by the battle between High-End and Endeavor catches his attention and he wonders if Endeavor is okay.
"What...a...boring fight...who...can...make this...more...interesting?" Hood asked robotically as he began to saunter away from Endeavor's unconscious body.
Stand up, Enji!
Suddenly, a barely conscious Endeavor gets back up and thrusts himself at Nomu using his flames as a boost. He tries to burn off Hood's head with a flaming blast, but the Nomu dodges the attack and counters him with his transforming arms.
"Too...slow." he goads before flinging Endeavor into a building. After getting rid of Endeavor, Hood goes in search of another opponent who wants to fight him.
The panic is unleashed among the citizens, who desperately try to escape from the monster, which threateningly heads toward the evacuation area. Despite badly injured and his sight blurred, Endeavor refuses to give up and propels himself to chases him through the air.
"So...determined...can you...regenerate too?" Hood asked in wonder, surprised by Endeavor's determination.
My body is at its very limit now but something...or someone keeps telling me to stand up and keep fighting. Whoever you are, you have my thanks, I don't feel like giving up anytime soon!
Hood attacks him, stabbing his body. Endeavor grunts in pain but keeps moving forward. Thankfully this pain is keeping me conscious!
As it stands, I won't be able to capture him alive, since I'll have to destroy his head completely to keep it from regenerating again.
"Oi Nomu, I'm not going down until I turn your ugly mug to ash!" He tells Hood as both of them duel in the sky, raising his heat high enough to surpass Nomu in order to kill him.
Suddenly, Hawks surprise attacks Hood by shooting his feathers at his head but they barely do any damage.
He clicks his tongue a bit annoyed but follows them as he is even with their speed. "Don't worry I'm right by your side, Endeavor-san!" He said with a grin.
"You...again." Hood tries to get rid of him, succeeding in striking him, but not before he managed to send a few of his feathers to boost the new Endeavor's speed. The feathers catch Endeavor's flames alight and burn, making Endeavor look similar to a phoenix.
Hawks' feathers propel Endeavor with enough speed and strength to strike the Nomu, shattering his teeth with his flame fist. With his hand inside the Nomu's mouth, Endeavor begins to burn him from the inside out. Hood, however, bites Endeavor's arm while he keeps regenerating all of the damage he is causing. This causes Endeavor to feel a bit smug.
"Ho, the intelligent Nomu is now acting like a wild animal." Hood propels with his jets with the intention of smashing Endeavor into a building but Endeavor fights back with his out propulsion.
Hawks looks on worriedly as Endeavor takes the Nomu higher and higher.
My feathers are burning and that Nomu seems to keep regenerating. But I know you ain't giving up at all, right Number one?
Holding on tight to the monster's head, Endeavor propels them higher with the help of more of Hawks' feathers. High enough that he won't end up killing the inhabitants of Kyushu.
"You resemble my old self." He told Hood as they rocketed into the stratosphere. "But now, I will burn you, old me and lay you to rest." He clicks his tongue in irritation. I've always hated that school's motto...but...
"PLUS ULTRA PROMINENCE BURN!!!."
I'm a new man now!
Witnesses and spectators stare in shock at the intense fireball impressed until Endeavor and High-End fall from it. Some Pro Heroes attempts to catch Endeavor on his way down, but cannot make it in time, and hero and creature slams into the ground with a fiery impact, generating a dense smoke that prevents seeing the final result of the fight.
Everyone waits in suspense, until the dust disperses, revealing Hood's charred corpse on the ground, and a wounded but triumphant Endeavor standing up with one arm held high, striking a victorious pose, causing everyone to either scream victoriously or sigh in relief.
"I knew, you could do it, Enji." Rei said softly but to her two children's hearing.
Class 1A all cheered while Shouto sighed in relief.
"Enji," Sasuke smirked. "So you actually did it, you old asshole."
Hawks runs over to Endeavor and supports him up.
"Look at you." He said with a smirk. "Using the same Allmight pose."
"Shut up, brat I used the opposite hand."
"Thanks for winning, though." Hawks gives Endeavor a towel, a sincere smile on his face. "You did great."
"I didn't do that good, the fight had a sloppy start." Endeavor disputed as Hawks chuckled.
"But think about it, this is a huge step in the right direction for hero society."
Instead of replying to that, Endeavor grunts in pain so Hawks requests for an ambulance. While they think all is calm, someone approaches them with a fiery entrence.
"It's been a while...Endeavor." Endeavor hears the man speak and immediately recognizes the League of Villains member from his fight with Snatch. Dabi surrounds them all in a wall of blue flames. Hawks tells Endeavor to rest and tries to buy some time despite losing all his feathers.
"I'd love to stay and chat but I really have to get back that Nomu." Dabi says smugly before attacking the two weakened heroes but Mirko appears and uses her stomping Quirk to keep Dabi back.
"Don't run away now, shitty villain!" She says with a feral grin. Dabi clicks his tongue in disappointment as he begins to disappear with black liquid.
"Oi, Enji Todoroki." Endeavor's eyes snap towards Dabi's that look similar to his. "You better not die until we meet again."
Mirko tries to kick him, but Dabi disappears completely. The media announces that Endeavor and Hawks are victorious and says the public appreciates what the heroes have done but Class 1A had seen it all.
Sasuke sent a knowing look towards Shouto who nodded and clenched his fists. It was close, Dabi was making his move.
So to make things clear for those who haven't read the prequel and aren't planning to read it;
Dabi had challenged Shouto to a fight in Sasuke's presence which is why Sasuke gave Shouto that look. Bakugo was also present at that time. And since Sasuke has an experience in dealing with older brothers, he's taken it upon himself to guide Shouto.
Thank you guys for your patience and reviews, they motivated me a bunch. I have a lot of high hopes for this book cuz I freakin' love crossovers. I will soon be adapting to that manga where the anime hasn't reached so I'll alert you
on spoilers if there will be.
Thanks again for reading!