Chapter 3

Confrontation

She was panicking.

Her eyes were shaking, her gaze aimed low as the realization of how difficult things were going to be started to truly set in.

Of course, she knew that she had a target painted on her back. How could she not with the number of points she now held? Everyone was going to be gunning for her during the next event, that much was obvious.

Stealing her points meant an instant pass to the next round, after all...

Which meant that, whoever decided to team up with her, would get the exact same treatment.

As such, could she really blame everyone else from moving away from her?

But she still needed a team, there was no way she could do this next event by herself.

What was she supposed to do then?

"What's with that face? You're on first place, Izuki! You should be smiling instead of frowning like a kicked puppy!"

Those words however, followed by the feeling of someone draping their arm over her neck, were enough to take her out of her thoughts, with her gaze moving up instantly, her eyes meeting a pair of blue ones, attached to the grinning face of her best friend.

Her face felt hotter by the second because of the proximity. It was something that she had been slowly growing used to, given Naruto's tendency to not understand what personal space meant, but she was still far from not feeling embarrassed about it.

"I n-need a team..." She blurted out in response to his inquiry, her face going down once more just as quiet mumbles started to leave her lips. "T-time is running out and I don't have a team yet, people are already grouping so that will make things harder, and because of my points no one is going to want to be on my team and-"

"Hey hey, you're doing it again." She only snapped out of it after he started snapping his fingers in front of her face, with even the tip of her ears going red in embarrassment at having to be taken out of one of her rants.

"S-sorry." She couldn't help but to apologize, with the chuckle that left him not helping her current embarrassment levels even for a bit.

"You need to relax!" He suddenly said, almost as if they weren't in the middle of one of the most important events they could have as U.A students. "I mean, how hard can it be to find two more people, really?"

Considering how everyone had treated her after the announcement, she would say pretty hard all things considered-

"Two?" It was only then, however, that his words registered properly in her mind, her wide eyes looking up once more at Naruto, her own expression a mix of incredulity and hope. "Y-you mean...?"

"What? Did you think I was going to let you leave me behind?" He answered her silent question with a grin that had her heart fluttering in a way that she didn't know how to handle at the moment. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not getting rid of me that easily."

His words however, struck her deeply in a way that had her honestly shaking, with her mouth opening and closing as she did the best imitation of a fish that she could muster.

And before she knew it, there were already tears swelling up in her eyes.

"C'mon, really?" He spoked with a roll of his eyes and a small laugh, his hand moving from around her to her back, right before she felt him rubbing circles on it. "I thought we were pass the crybaby thing already!"

"S-Sorry...!" She apologized once more, only that this time it was between sobs. She tried her best to try and stop the tears from coming out, but they just wouldn't stop!

"Baby steps I guess..." Another laugh left Naruto, right before his voice grew louder and full of confidence. "Now let's find ourselves a team, miss first spot!"

And even though it was through watery eyes, she still managed to nod at him, every feeling of anxiety she had before now being nowhere to be seen.

It was time.

He knew it so, which is why he moved from his spot towards the center of the room, the place that had become their base of operation because of the advantages it offered, namely on how close it was to the target and the vantage point it offered.

"Everyone!" He called out, his tone gruff as his eyes swept over those that would be participating in the mission. As both the oldest and most experienced member of the team, it wasn't much of a surprise that he was the one doing the leading.

Of course, there was also the growing concern about certain individual, and given how much notoriety that person's...exploits, had been amassing, there was not chance that him, as the number one Hero of the country, would not try to solve this matter himself.

Especially considering who this individual was.

"We will start the operation in twenty minutes." He declared, mostly as a reminder than anything else. Everyone already knew their roles, after all, so one they all got into position, coordination would not be a problem in the slightest.

It wasn't like he was dealing with amateurs, after all. Everyone here had more than a bit experience in the field. Even his own son, who was probably one of the greenest here present, was still someone he knew he could count.

There was one issue with this team, however. It was something that he had been more than aware when it was formed, of course, and it was also something that he knew needed to be addressed once more before the operation started.

"We all know what our objective today is, so I won't bother with repeating myself." He continued; his tone as serious as he could muster it. "However, we all are also aware of the possible complications that today's mission might carry."

The tension in the room grew tighter as soon as those words left his lips, and while bringing the mood down before an operation like this was far from ideal, he still needed to be sure of it...

To be sure that no one would let their emotions regarding certain blonde to cloud their judgement.

"It doesn't matter who we face there today, we have a duty as Heroes to always to bring them to justice, and to not let personal matters interfere with that no matter what." Then, his already sharp eyes turned into a glare as they swept through those gathered once more, his eyes meeting each one of them as he did his best to find any sign that might make things go south if push came to shove.

Luckily, he found none.

Not from his son, his pride and joy, as Shoto simply gave a sharp node back.

Not from the leader of the Pussycats, as Mandalay just gave a solemn nod, obvious sadness in her eyes, but zero amount of doubt.

Not from his fellow Top 10 Hero, as Kamui Woods simply gave an unflinching look, followed by a nod of his own.

Not from Invisigal, for even though he couldn't actually see her, her body language spoke of someone more than ready to accomplish the mission.

And then, his eyes met green.

A pair of emerald orbs showing such a myriad of emotions that, for at least that moment, his heart truly went out for the girl. She knew that, out of everyone, she was the one taking it the hardest.

But even so, he still got a nod in return, and even if Deku broke the staring match right after, he still knew that, as personal as this was for her, he could still trust Deku to act like the Hero she was.

If he was being honest, there was only one person here that had him more than a bit on edge.

"Was I clear, Mirko?" He didn't enjoy calling her out personally, but he also knew she was the wild card of the bunch. It was her relationship with Uzumaki, alongside her erratic temper, that had him considering pulling her out of the entire thing more than once.

However, it was also said relationship the reason itself he had accepted bringing her along. After all, barring Deku herself, she was arguably the one that knew Uzumaki's combat capabilities the most out of everyone present.

"No need to ger your panties in a twist, Endeavor." Of course, he had already expected such a biting response from her, so his expression did not change in the slightest. "Let's just get this shit over with."

Then, Mirko simply gave her back to him in a dismissive manner, causing his eye to twitch slightly in response. It wasn't that he didn't understand her plight completely, for even he had more than a soft spot when it came to that damn blonde.

Most of his family did, in fact.

And if someone knew what it meant having to face the demons of your past in the battlefield, it was him.

"Everyone into position, then." With nothing more else to say, he gave the order out, with he himself more than ready to carry out the plan perfectly.

Of course, all that carefully planning ended up going through a window when, not even five minutes later, a Nomu with a drill on its head suddenly bursted through the side of the building they were going to raid.

"Thank you..." He spoke softly as they walked side by side, with the sun already setting as they finally decided to go back to the dorms. "For coming here today...even though I made you wait outside."

"It's cool, I don't mind." Uzumaki's response was a simple shrug, his tone as laid back as ever. "Not like I had anything to do today, anyway."

He knew that was a lie. It wasn't that he liked to eavesdrop or anything, but Ashido hadn't been exactly subtle about having to re-schedule their 'date', as she had put it.

He didn't bring it up, however, deciding to simply nod in gratitude once more. He didn't want to make things awkward, especially since he was still rather new to the whole...actually having a friend thing.

"How was she though?" Uzumaki's question was full of curiosity. "You said this was the first time you saw your mom in a while, right?"

"It was, yes." There was no shame in his answer, nor attempt at hiding his familiar situation. Uzumaki was already pretty aware of it, after all. "She's... better, it seems. At the very least, she looked better. The doctors said so too, even though they still can't recommend for her to go back home with us."

A humming sound left Uzumaki, and he could see the corner of his mouth turn upwards slightly. Had Uzumaki been worried that his meeting with his mother had gone wrong on any way? It seemed so.

"She also said..." He continued, his tone growing quieter. "That she saw the Sports Festival on T.V... And that she was happy to see me giving it my all..."

"That's why..." He stopped then, prompting Uzumaki to do the same a few seconds later, just as he returned Uzumaki's look of interest with one filled with nothing but steel. "Next year, I won't lose to you again."

His words got Uzumaki to blink confusedly at him for just one second, before his expression turned into a grin, with his blue eyes shining in a way he knew it meant he was approving of what he had just heard.

"Hoh? Is this another declaration of war that I'm hearing from you, Shoto?" His voice had a slight tease to it, which he knew was related to him throwing back the words he had said before the Sports Festival had started.

"Rather than that." He could only shake his head at his past actions. "It's a promise that I'm making not only to myself, but to you as well, Uzumaki."

Then, as he raised his hand, it was immediately met with Uzumaki's own in a firm grip, his own eyes never leaving his blue ones, and even though no words were being said, he just knew Uzumaki understood from where he was coming from.

But as they started to walk once more, away from the hospital in which his mother resided, there was still one more thing he had to say.

"Perhaps, next time, I could introduce you to my mother..."

And at that moment, a part of him felt proud about actually catching Uzumaki by surprise, given the expression in his face, although said expression slowly turned into a smile, a rather soft one compared to his usual grins.

"I would love that!"

There were many things going through his head as they went down on the hole that the Drill Nomu had made.

Most of them had to do with what they were going to face once they reached the bottom of it, after all obviously something had happened if they had just decided to release the Nomu they had in such a way.

A part of him felt bad for Midoriya though, for he could still remember the look of conflict she had sported as his father ordered her to focus on the Nomu, alongside Kamui Woods.

He knew that if someone wanted to be here, as they kept running closer as to where Uzumaki might be, it was Midoriya, and seeing her struggle with herself as to what to do, even if it had been for just a second, honestly made him feel sorry for her.

"Deku and Kamui Woods have already intercepted the Nomu." Those words resounded in his head, courtesy of what he knew was Mandalay's Quirk. Right after, he saw his father, who was leading the charge, simply nod to himself, not stopping even for a moment.

Knowing that Midoriya was more than capable of dealing with this outside, it meant they could focus on what they were about to face.

But even as he steeled himself for what was to come, as they finally reached what seemed to be the bottom of the hole, he still found his eyes widening as the tight tunnel they had been in became an open space, obviously the basement of the building.

His shock wasn't because of that though, but rather what he saw inside.

First, there were the bodies. Not as many as he had expected, but still a fair share of unconscious people, most of them with their limbs bent in pretty unnatural ways, and probably a few cracked skulls given the damage done to the floor too.

Then, there was the second Nomu.

Because apparently, Hagakure had been right about the presence of Nomu, just not the quantity.

Not like this other one would be much of an issue though, given that it was pretty clearly dead.

At least, if the pillar of what seemed to be earth that it had pierced through its chest as the body rested on the floor was an indication of anything.

Then, there were the two individuals still alive and conscious, with one of them crawling back from the other one, and with the info they had received, he knew the one doing the crawling had been the person that had orchestrated this entire reunion on the first place.

As for the one walking towards this person...

Waves of ice erupted from his right side; their path unobstructed as the attack moved closer to the blonde target.

He didn't know if to feel surprised or not that his attack failed however, with the figure barely turning his head around before jumping backwards, leaving a wall of ice between the two men.

His focus was entirely on the blonde one though, his entire body growing tense as he finally turned to regard them.

And when he did, he had expected a plethora of different sights.

Would he see anger in those blue eyes of his? After all, the last time they saw one another, it had been a low point of their friendship, to say the least.

Would he see coldness instead? It would be such a surreal look, but perhaps, justified after what they made him go though?

Would he see nervousness at being caught red-handed in such situation? Maybe, even shame, guilt?

Or would he see nothing but bitterness not only aimed at himself, but at Heroes as a whole for having treated him as a villain?

He got none of that though.

Instead, what he got, alongside Endeavor, Mirko and Hagakure, was a grin, followed by a casual wave of his hand.

It was a reaction that would have brought more than a few fond memories not only for him, except for a key detail.

"Yo! It's been a while!"

That smile did not reach Uzumaki's Naruto eyes.

I promise other characters will get their time and that it won't be a Todoroki fest, I swear.

Time to actually write an action scene for next chapter.

Once again, thank you all for reading this far. Thank you for all your follows, favs and of course, reviews!

Next Chapter: Conflict.