Chapter 4

Hunt

"Surprise!"

When she woke up earlier on the day, she hadn't expected much.

She hadn't really told any of her classmates what today meant for her, after all. The only one that knew, as far as she had been aware, had been Kyoka.

And considering she hadn't seen her for most of the early morning, she had even started wondering if she remembered it.

But even so, she had to admit, being asked out by the boy she had feelings for had definitely been a welcomed surprise, even if it had been just a friendly outing.

To say she hadn't expected this sight however, as they had finally returned to the dorms, would be putting it lightly.

Maybe she should have seen it coming, given how insistent Naruto had been about taking their time before returning to the dorms.

But even if she had seen it coming, even if she hadn't been caught off guard, seeing most of her classmates gathered like this, the first floor of their dorm being decorated like this because of her birthday...

She doubted her reaction would have been any different.

And she had no shame in admitting that it took a lot of composure to not let the tears flow out of her eyes, even as she held her hands over her mouth to hold the gasp that had left her lips.

Growing up as she did, she never really had that many friends, if any, to celebrate her birthday with, let alone what seemed to be a surprise party.

So yes, she was most definitly surprised.

"I hope those are happy tears there, Momo." And to her side, it was Naruto who spoke with a grin, his blue eyes sparkling with barely concealed amusement. "Because if not then this was all Kyoka's idea, I swear."

"As if you could have thought anything better!" She saw Kyoka huff out in indigitation, right before she sent a smile in her direction. "I hope the jackass didn't bore you to death much, we couldn't think of a better way to keep you busy."

"Hey!" And with Naruto's yell, she was not able to hold back the laughter that bubbled up inside of her.

That day became her most memorable birthday.

"Do you think he hates us?"

That simple question was enough to make her feel as if someone had punched her straight in the gut, to the point she almost ended up dropping the tray with the cups of tea she was holding.

It didn't take a genius to know who Tooru was referring to, especially given what had transpired as of late.

That was the reason she was even here in the first place, in Tooru's apartment. Most of their friends had agreed that, even though she had no actual wounds, that Tooru needed to take a few days off to recover from the failed raid.

Of course, she had volunteered to look out for Tooru in the meantime. She might no longer be the Vice-President of their class, but old habits were hard to get rid of, and looking out for her friend's well-being was just something she had grown used to by now.

But even so, she hadn't expected such question from her. Given she couldn't see her expression, it had been hard to know how Tooru was feeling after everything that had happened.

But now, she supposed her suspicious were being proven correct.

After all, she doubted anyone would be feeling well after being knocked out cold by someone they considered a close friend, and in Tooru's case, she knew Naruto had been one of the closest friends she had in U.A

Before everything fell apart, of course.

Throwing a look at the T.V in front of the sofa Tooru was sitting on, she found quickly enough what had probably brought up Tooru's question in the first place, with her eyes showing nothing but defeat as a picture of Naruto appeared on the screen.

That was something the news outlet had been doing the moment the HPSC confirmed his identity as the newly active Vigilante that had been prowling the streets as of late, with their words going from insults that made her blood boil, to praises that made her feel sick.

Either he was a Villain that was trying to take the criminal world for himself now that All For One wasn't here, or he was the only one willing to do the job that the Heroes were unable to do, or at the very least that was how the different news outlet liked to portray him.

Maybe it was to be expected, given how fragile everything still was after the War...

She shook her head at that thought, for now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Instead, her focus went back to Tooru, who she could tell had her eyes glued to the screen, almost as if she was trying to burn Naruto's old image in her brain.

Putting the tray to the side, she slowly sat beside her, her mind trying to come up with the right words to say. On one hand, she wanted to deny her question out of sheer principle, after all the idea of Naruto honestly hating them was more than enough to make her chest tighten in pain.

"I don't know..."

But that would have been an empty answer, one that was more hopeful than realistic, one that might give them both a momentaneous sense of relief, but that would do little to help in the long run.

"We'll have to ask him once we find him again." She continued then, the bare hints of a smile forming on her lips as she saw Tooru nod in response without hesitation. "And if he does...I bet we can bribe him with a bit of ramen."

The light giggle that escaped Tooru was more than worth the lame joke.

"You could have asked for something else, you know?" He said as a chuckle left him. "I told you to ask for anything within reason and yet you ask for something we already do."

"But it's been a while since came here together, old man!" And after slurping what was most definitely by now not a healthy number of noodles, Naruto answered back with a grin. "Besides, there's nothing better than this anyway, so as long as you're paying for it, I'm good!"

Then he saw Naruto simply return his attention to the bowl in front of with enough gusto that he worried for a second, he would choke on them, but as another small laugh left him, he signaled to the chef to keep the food coming.

The young man to his side had just officially finished his first year at U.A, after all, so he supposed he could let him indulge that much today even if he still didn't understand how he could work on such a diet.

Then again, Naruto wasn't the only one of his students present here that had done just that...

"I still think katsudon is better..." And to Naruto's left, he heard the soft voice of young Midoriya mutter in protest.

Of course, nothing but amusement danced in his eyes as he saw Naruto suddenly stop eating, just to then give young Midoriya the most offended look he had ever seen on his face.

"You take that back!"

"S-Stop that!"

"I will after you take those words back!"

Then seeing him pull on her cheeks was enough to have him grinning in nothing but amusement at such a sight.

For so long he had been worried about the future, especially now that One For All wasn't withing him anymore, but seeing the young man he had pretty much adopted, and the young woman that had inherited his powers like this... it brought calmness to his heart.

Something told him things would be all right.

"I... didn't expect to see you so soon, All Might." He truly didn't, for the last thing he had expected today was for his former rival to have been waiting for him by the entrance of his home.

"Sorry to intrude like this." All Might's tone was apologetic, even as the two of them simply stood shoulder to shoulder outside of his home.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" He asked once more with a frown. "Rei won't mind, really."

"It's fine." But the answer he got was a headshake. "This won't take long anyway..."

"It's about Uzumaki then, I assume?" He spoke in a tired tone, knowing that if All Might was here, it had to be about his confrontation with Uzumaki.

The nod he got only served as confirmation.

"The HPSC..." All Might started, his tone a mix of worry and trepidation. "What are they going to do about all of this? I assume they aren't just going to remain idle, and they're obviously not trying to hide it..."

"They already told me and other Heroes of the Top 10 that finding Uzumaki had to be our top priority." He confirmed in annoyance. He had just come from that meeting, after all, and being told what to do by the HPSC still left a sour taste in his mouth, even if the new administration was far less problematic than the previous one. "Some of them think that Uzumaki has just gone rogue, and that his actions are just helping undermine how the public sees Heroes nowadays."

"And the others?" He could sense All Might's growing anger as he asked that, for which he couldn't blame him. He would probably have the same reaction if he knew they were badmouthing someone like Shoto behind his back.

"You saw the news." He bit his lips in frustration, remembering what he had been told. "They are still those that think he was working with All For One-"

He was stopped abruptly by the sound of All Might slamming his cane on the ground with a surprising amount of force. He could see his body shake in what was obviously anger, especially given the look he saw in his sunken eyes.

"Sorry, I..." All Might started just as deep breaths left him.

"I understand." He did, as even he couldn't ignore the feeling of shame that grew inside of him.

"In that case then...?" He received a raised eyebrow from him in return, to which he could only nod.

"If I find anything, you'll be the first to know." He promised just as he closed his eyes. "I, no, my whole family still owes Uzumaki a lot. I don't know why he's doing this, All Might, but I do want to help him before things get even worse."

To his words, he got a pointed look from him, and he could just tell that his words were being judged right there on the spot. He said nothing however, not blaming him even a bit for such level of wariness when it came to matters regarding Uzumaki.

"Thank you, Endeavor." But in the end, it seemed that All Might had deemed him trustable enough, given the honesty and gratitude that was dripping through his tired voice.

And to that, he could only nod wordlessly.

"How did he..." But then, just a second later, he spoke once more, his voice barely above a whisper. "How did my boy look, Endeavor?"

It was now that he could see that it as clearly as possible, that in this moment it wasn't All Might, the former Symbol of Peace, that had asked that question, but rather just a man worried sick and in desperate needs of any answer he could find.

And as much as he wanted to give him a comforting answer, the only thing he could offer was a shake of his head.

"His eyes were different." He said, remembering the words his own son had used to describe the encounter. "I don't know what happened, All Might, but it was as if we were dealing with a completely different person..."

Nothing but silence followed what he said, and with the way All Might hung his head, it was hard to see what kind of expression he had.

"Thank you, Endeavor." He said so once more, right before he turned away from him. "I won't take more of your time then."

"What are you going to do now?" He asked as he saw him moving towards his car.

"You said the HPSC talked with other Top 10 Heroes, right? Guess I'll be knocking a few more doors then, hoping that this old sack of bones still has some pulls with today's youth." Such was the answer he got, with All Might not stopping his walk as he spoke. "I already failed that boy, but if I can help in anyway like this then...I refuse to fail him again."

They were fucked.

That was the only way to describe it, plain and simple.

How had they been found it, he didn't know, for as far as he knew, All For One had made sure no one could trace them back here.

This was supposed to be a pretty secure place, all things considered, with the Heroes not even having an idea that it existed.

And yet, here they were, all of them beaten by a single blonde bastard in the form of Uzumaki Naruto.

Then again, maybe beaten wasn't the right term. That would imply they had actually put up a fight, but Uzumaki hadn't even given them enough time for even that, and instead had just appeared from what had seemed out of nowhere right before attacking with a speed that he didn't even know Uzumaki had.

The result? He was now hanging upside down, with the only thing that was keeping him up being the weird tentacle like crimson thing that was part of Uzumaki's Quirk and that right now was wrapped around his torso with such strength that he was sure he felt a few bones popping already.

For better or worse though, he wasn't the only one in such position, as both Toga and Compress where on the exact same predicament as he was.

"I will only ask this once." Uzumaki's voice came out as nothing short of a growl and with his eyes now red and his ratter ragged look, he would begrudgingly admit that it was an imposing sight. "Tell me where Shigaraki and All For One are, now!"

And as if to make sure they understood the situation, he could feel the tendril currently holding become even tighter around him. He even hissed as he felt as if the thing was burning his scales.

"A-As if we would talk..." It was Compress who shot back first, only followed by a cry of pain as the thing holding Compress suddenly slammed him against the floor.

Of course, he started struggling even more as soon as that happened, but the only thing that got was Uzumaki throwing him a glare and bared teeth. It was almost as if they were dealing with a wild animal right now, especially considering how more visible those marks in his cheeks were looking now.

An animal that looked more than ready to rip them apart limb by limb.

And while he knew that a part of it was Uzumaki's Quirk, right now the oppressing feeling coming down on him would have been enough to have him struggling for breath, even without his Quirk squeezing him to such degree.

He hated to admit it, but he was kind of jealous of Toga, who was simply unconscious.

"I'll give youe one chance, Spinner." Uzumaki declared, those red eyes of making a whole through his own gaze. "Be the smart one here and talk."

Did Uzumaki really think he was going to betray Tomura like that?

After everything they had done and accomplished, and now that they were so close to their goal, did Uzumaki think so little of their loyalty to this cause?

His only response was to spat on the ground, which, even though he didn't think was possible, made Uzumaki look even more pissed off than before.

Now he looked ready to kill.

"Now now, Naruto, empty threats are not the way to get others to listen to you."

And then, barely a few seconds later, they were all tossed aside quite literally by Uzumaki, their bodies slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Which only happened because of All For One's sudden appearance, as the man that had started it all simply walked through a black portal.

Of course, as soon as his body landed on the floor, he did his best to stand up as fast as he could, more than ready to help in taking down Uzumaki, and he could see Compress preparing to do the same.

"Wha-Wait!" But that idea was thrown out of the window when more portals started appearing, right below their feat. He knew this was Kurogiri's Quirk of course, which meant they were all being pretty much kicked out of this place.

The last thing he saw was Uzumaki, still on all fours, lunging at All For One.

Moving stealthy through every alley he could find was far easier said than done.

His Quirk made him quite distinctive, after all, and even if these were the slums where Heroes were hardly liked, he still knew he couldn't risk it. It would only take one idiot trying to play snitch for everything to come crumbling down.

And with how on edge everyone seemed to be as of late, the risk was even greater.

So whenever he moved it was slowly and carefully, with a brown cloak covering up his body. He had been forced to ditch his sword back in his apartment to avoid standing out even more, which just made him feel even more vulnerable.

Specially with Uzumaki Naruto seemingly doing stuff off the law now.

Because that was exactly what he needed in his life now, having to fear being found by the bastard that has ruined everything they had tried to accomplish.

But perhaps not everything was lost, or at the very least he certainly hoped it so. Hell, that was the only reason he had even gone out in the first place.

That was also the only reason he had called one of his former allies.

There was no way he could simply just sit still if Uzumaki was out there doing shit like that.

So when he finally reached the abandoned warehouse he had been aiming for, with the moon high in the sky, it was a sigh of relief that left him as soon as his eyes landed on the one waiting for him.

"Compress!" He called as he rushed towards him, simply making him tip his hat in return.

"You have had better days, my friend." Their hands met in a handshake as he got closer, and it honestly took a lot of willpower to not just hug the hell out of Compress right now. It had been almost a year since the last time they saw one another, after all.

"Well, what did you expect? We all can't have an easy time hiding in plain sight." He said with a bit of heat, knowing that his appearance only made him having to become a recluse.

"I apologize." His anger washed away by Compress's honest words. It wasn't his fault anyway, and he had plenty of others to blame for it. "Are you sure you weren't followed?"

"Unless Uzumaki can turn into trashcans, no." He said, remembering how careful he had been on his way here. His words made Compress tense, which he couldn't fault him for given who he had brought up. "We need to contact Tomura."

"That...won't be easy."

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do? Wait until we're picked off one by one by that guy?" He snarled, his body shaking in anger. Dabi was in Tartarus, Toga was still missing after all these years and Tomura had just been radio silence for a while now.

Was this truly what the League of Villains had ended up as?

He refused to go down without a fight, crazy Uzumaki or not.

They needed to help Tomura with whatever he was planning.

"You know how to contact them, don't you?" He said, already knowing the answer even as Compress remained silent. "Dude, if this isn't an emergency then I don't know what it is-"

He shut his mouth immediately before finishing as a sudden sound ringed around him, that of metal suddenly meting the floor in their feet.

"You said you weren't followed!" And without missing a beat they were both back-to-back, his eyes trying to find whatever had made that noise, and he could only assume Compress was also trying to accomplish the same.

"I wasn't!" He knew Uzumaki could be stealthy, but even that had to have a limit, right? They had been caught by surprise by him before already, but he had made sure this time!

It couldn't be Uzumaki, right?

The answer he got came in the form of a shadow falling right above them, and it was only out of sheer reflexes that he was able to jump out of the way.

'Shit!' Not that it ended up mattering much though, for the next thing he knew he was slammed to a wall by a crimson claw, the thing holding him also burning him to the point he couldn't hold the hiss of pain that left him.

It didn't take him long to send a glare to the one responsible, with that bastard sitting on the back of Compress' body, and even from here he could see the dagger that was being pressed at his neck.

"It has been a while, you two." Uzumaki's tone was a leisure one, almost as if he hadn't just trapped them both. "I don't have the time to reminiscence today though, so I'll only ask this once, and this time I am expecting an answer."

And even though right now, Uzumaki looked far more composed that the last time he had seen him, for some reason he felt as if he was staring at a much more dangerous animal than before.

"Where is Shigaraki Tomura?"

Thank you all for having read this far! And for your favs, follows and reviews!

Next Chapter: Trace.