AND IM BACK! With a new chapter of my story, The protector of mankind!
Sorry for the long disappearance between updates folks. My grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer since summer of 2022, and it's only a few weeks ago that her surgery took place. She's on the mend, thank God and any other Deity who's listening, but I've been pretty despondent since it happened, and my motivation to write was shot enough to banish it to hell just from the weight of the bullets. But she's fine, miserable but fine, and I'm free to write again!
So, last time, Naruto returned from the dead! Or did he? Don't worry, I'll explain it shortly in this chapter or at least I'll try too! And some of you are complaining that this is just Thor from marvel. A question for you then. Of the five chapters, how many have Thor in them? Baring this one, ONE! One chapter of his interaction and talking, and you all assume that this isn't Naruto, but just Thor! You've given me no time for his personality outside of hero work to shine through, and just immediately assumed that he'll behave just like Thor at all times. He won't, trust me.
So on to the next chapter!
"hello"- regular speech
'hello'- regular thoughts
"hello"- phone/ radio calls
'hello'- internal discussion
Disclaimer: I. OWN. NOTHING. Not Naruto, Not BNHA, Not Marvel either.
(U.A. hospital Room. three days after the battle)
"Quirk-Exhaustion the likes of which should kill him, torn and shredded muscles which would prevent toshi himself from moving too much, nutrient and liquid depletion severe enough to warrant an immediate flooding his body of intravenous fluids, and a degree of exhaustion that would, once again, kill anyone else!" shouted Recovery Girl, the resident school nurse, and a fully licensed surgeon and physician. She had just about had it up to her limit with stupid behemoths of heroes not taking care of themselves and throwing their lives and bodies into the fire without thought.
"And when will he wake up, Chiyo?" Questioned Nezu, the eyes of the U.A. principal not leaving the still form of the armored behemoth that is the Thunder God hero, a single I.V. drip hanging from the pole beside him, refilling his depleted nutrients and liquids, the many bags in the bin underneath showing how severe his case of depletion truly was. On the surface alone, Nezu could spot no less than 8 separate bags, and the waste bin was already full. On the other side of his bed, a heartrate monitor droned on, the rhythmic beeping in sync with the patients heartrate. "And why is he still Armored?"
"Humph, if you think you can remove the Uru metal on him, be my guest and try. Damn stuff is near unbreakable and weighs a ton. It won't come off till he chooses to take it off." Dismissed Chiyo, waving away the principals concerns as she turned towards the door, having a host of other patients to take care of while the original 'Big Lug' recovered from his decades long dance with the reaper. "As for a recovery date, if my knowledge of his quirk is still as accurate as I remember it, he should wake up in a couple days' time. His own quirk works too well with my own due to his own healing abilities. The lightning his body is constantly channeling boosts his own healing rate exceptionally, but when my quirks energy is injected into his body, the lightning super-charges it, allowing it to work at, at least, three times the regular rate, and with none of the regular drawbacks. It's an incredibly unique reaction between two different quirks." She finished, before the door to the room slid open and she walked out, grumbling to herself about stupid heroes and inspiring heroism in children a bit too well as the door closed behind her.
As the sound of her needle shaped canes clacking faded away, Nezu continued to stare at the still form of the thunder god hero, his eyes not moving from the resting form of the strongest hero on record.
"She's gone now, your free to move and speak." Nezu spoke, seemingly to the open air of the room.
"…Huh, didn't think anyone would catch on if ol' Chiyo couldn't. I'm impressed, Nezu." Came the rumbling voice of the great guardian, his eyes sliding open with a fluidity and control that a person just waking up would never have. He had evidently been awake for a while. He lowered his hand to the floor, allowing the principal to stand on it as he lifted him to his chest so they could speak more openly and with better eye contact.
"She's a little blinded by her own supposed knowledge on your quirk and a little more by old age. I have no such preconceptions and am in no way reaching old age yet. Still, if it weren't for the too even breathing of an unconscious person, I wouldn't have picked it up." He finished, hopping off his hand to stand on the resting man's chest, his eyes not leaving the face of his own personal inspiration. After all, a man free to help and do as he pleases all over the world? Nothing sounded more freeing and gratifying to the former animal experimentation victim. How he longed for freedom like that. To help the next generation the world over, that sounded ideal to the animal based principal of U.A.
"I suppose she is a bit older than when I went to sleep huh…" he muttered, turning his head to stare out the window beside him, his crimson locks swaying as he did. Shifting over his head like a lions mane of old, the red hair covered his eye from Nezu, hiding his slowly growing tears from the individual in front of him.
"We all are sir. We were forced to grow stronger with your absence, leading to a great many heroes rising up in your image. You and your allies inspired the next generation to rise up against evil and villainy, who in turn inspired even more. You are almost completely responsible for the rise of society today as we know it." Nezu told him, relaying just how important he was to so many people. Pulling out his own phone, he connected it to the large screen on the wall opposite the foot of the bed. Pulling up news articles from all over the world, he turned back to the hero beneath him.
"Look at this sir. See what your return has done to the world!"
Shifting himself upright, so he could see a little easier, the great hero observed what the media vultures were saying about his return. He expected doubt, calls for questioning if he was real, even papers outright denying his claim to being the Thunder God hero. He was more than used to the mass media demonizing him for his choices and actions, after all. Instead, he had a pleasant surprise waiting for him.
'Return of thunderer marks a resurging strength in heroes the world over!'
'The Thunder God hero lives again!'
'The return of judgement and justice!'
'The return of Thor!'
'Welcome back Thunder God!'
'Death cannot contain Justice!'
"All these titles are from major news outlets around the world sir. Crime has seen a marked drop the world over. There have been parties in the streets all over the world at the return of the worlds hero." Explained Nezu, flipping through more and more stories praising his return to stop the serpent and help, even from the claws of death itself. "Heroes are cheering over your return, celebrating the fact that you live again. Civilians have been screaming online about how they feel safer now then ever with your return. Your loved more than ever sir."
He couldn't stop the tears anymore. The people were openly cheering for him and showering him with love. In his day, he was celebrated and loved by the majority of the populace, but news networks and a not insignificant chunk of the worlds population always questioned everything he did, saying he was "too violent" and "a bad influence on children the world over for his barbaric practices". Someone even tried to start trouble with him taking the name of a 'Pagan God' and how it was an 'affront to Christianity as a whole that he was allowed to operate freely'.
That fool found himself shut down from the upper echelons of his own religion, however, when the pope at the time had made a public statement about his support for the hero, as he had spoken with Thor multiple times about religion, only to learn Thor's own stance on religion was very much in the camp of 'if you believe it, good for you, just don't force it on to me and we'll be fine.' As such the pope declared him 'neutral to the Christian religion', and openly had a positive relationship with the great hero. The smile on Naruto's face didn't leave for a few days after that.
But there was no hatred now. There was only love and joy at the return of the greatest symbol of heroism in the history of quirks.
Tears continued to stream down his face, at the sight that all of his fighting and lost blood, friends and years wasn't for nothing. He was loved, accepted and valued the world over.
All was right for now.
BANG!
…right up until the door slammed open…
"AWAKE THE WHOLE TIME WERE YOU!? I'LL TEACH YOU TO LIE TO ME YOU BIG BASTARD!" shouted Chiyo, waving her cane in the air threateningly while she marched right up to the side of the bed of the currently bone white and terrified hero laid up in bed.
In the background, Nezu quietly slipped down off the bed and snuck out the door, refusing to be involved when recovery girl was this furious, gladly abandoning his hero to the tongue lashing he would no doubt receive.
"I woke up halfway through you shouting my injuries, I swear!" he yelped, cowering behind his hands in preparation for her to swing that cane at him, or worse, use the pointy end on him!
"YOU STILL DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE AWAKE! I have medical tests I need you conscious to do, you over blown fool!" she continued to shout, grabbing him by the ear and pulling it hard, getting a rather pathetic yelp of pain from the hero.
"I'm sorry, Chiyo! Please forgive me!" he whined, before getting bonked on the head with the cane, and crying out before grabbing hold of his head to soothe the pain in his head.
"Hmph, there, your forgiven now." She declared, tilting her nose up at him, before lowering her face and wrapping his head in a hug. "We all missed you, you big oaf."
He returned her hug easily, his enormous form utterly eclipsing the smaller form of Recovery girl. "It's good to see you too, Chiyo. Though I can't say I missed you as much, to me, it's only been a few days." He replied, releasing her and moving back to his laid down position, his eyes glazing over in melancholy as he did.
"About that, any ideas on how your alive? By all common medical practices, you shouldn't be. In fact, you shouldn't even be awake right now. Your quirk can't heal you this fast…" Questioned Chiyo, her brow furrowed as she did, pondering how her old friend was even alive now.
By regular medical standards, even with the rise of quirks, he should be dead. Between the serpents venom, the most toxic natural airborne substance ever recorded, the immense quirk exhaustion, and the fact that his heart fucking stopped, he should not have been able to return to them. Everything points to him needing extremely long recovery time, or intense use of a powerful healing quirk for an extended period of time.
"I have a few ideas, depending on how you lot had me entombed. Was the coffin airtight?" began Naruto, cocking an eyebrow in her direction.
"it was. On the order of the worlds various governments, they wanted you entombed where you fell and a grand monument constructed there, to preserve your body for the next century if possible…" she replied, being one of the few the governments spoke to back in the day about burial proceedings to properly honor him. Most others were to despondent to do so, their grief too fresh.
"that explains a lot… my quirk, as you know, allows me to absorb and manipulate electricity in the air around me. The process is automatic for the healing aspect of it." He began, shifting a little bit in his bed as he began. "When you all put me in an airtight environment, the energy in the air quickly went from a near limitless ocean of energy, to a very limited puddle."
' so that's how that part works…' thought Chiyo, mentally taking notes as she did. She needed to write this down for her own personal records after all.
"As best I can assume, my quirk was forced to make do with the tiny amount of energy available to it, and forcefully evolved itself to work with the tiny amount while being strong enough to counter the venoms lethality." Summarized Naruto, explaining how he had lasted as long as he did with the venom in his system. "Next question, during the fight Toshinori had with… All For One, did either of them jostle or impact the tomb?"
"They did in fact, toshi fell on top of your tomb when AFO threw him at your monument. And they both launched off from there, each with a small shockwave from their launch." Supplied Chiyo, beginning to piece together the story for herself now.
"Then that was the lynch pin. Without that, I likely would have died to the venom soon. When they knocked off the lid, new air and new energy were let in, letting my puddle of energy grow back to an ocean. With its newfound limitless energy supply, my quirk eradicated the venom in me in it's entirety. After that, it only had to repair the damage from my 40 years of wasting away, a minor concern compared to the venom, and also why you've no doubt had to pump me past the gills with intravenous fluids." Finished Naruto, coughing lightly when he finished from the strain of talking so much.
Chiyo quickly handed him the jug of cold water nearby, telling him to take slow sips and light drinks. Even with him following advice and going slow, he finished the 2L jug off in less then 5 minutes, the first touch of fluid seeming to wake up his stomach and make it demand sustenance, rumbling more equivalent to a roll of thunder emerging from his stomach area.
With a quick glance of sheepish embarrassment, he rubbed the back of his head with one hand while smiling at Chiyo. "Say Chiyo, think I might be able to get some actual food to quell the monster that is my stomach? I'm starting to feel what 40 years of hunger feels like…"
"Fine, I'll go and get you a light meal to shut the beast up for a little while." Agreed Chiyo, walking towards the door as she did.
"Your version of a light meal or mine?" he questioned, only slightly serious when asking that. "And if you see Sorahiko, send him my way would you? We have matters to discuss."
"Your version, I remember how much you can eat in a single sitting, mister 'I drank an ocean on a dare'." She sassed, a small grin on her lips as she did. "And I'll send Sorahiko your way if he's up for it."
"Thank you Chiyo." Accepted Naruto, settling back into bed as he did.
After about five minutes of silence, he heard a series of knocks on his door in a very specific pattern. Knowing their old system off his heart, he quickly belted of the return question to the specific knocking pattern.
"What is the music of life?" called Naruto, staring at the door as he did.
"Silence, my brother." Came an older scratchy voice, that even different from what he last remembered, he recognized it immediately.
"Come in, Sorahiko." He called out staring at the upper part of the door for his old friend, but when it opened and he wasn't there, Naruto's face grew visibly confused.
"Down here, you big lug." Came the same voice, just from a position closer to the floor.
Looking a bit lower, he found a man just a bit under 4 feet tall standing there in his friends old uniform. He looked like Sorahiko, he spoke like Sorahiko but…
"Ain't no way in hell you got that short, you quick little fucker." He spoke, throwing out a gauntlet that only the real Sorahiko would pick up.
Which he did, in the form of flying up into the air and crashing down HARD into Naruto's midsection.
"And there isn't a snowballs chance in hell you came back, but here we are you huge bastard!" Sorahiko threw back at him, a huge grin on his face as he did.
"Hahhh, you bastard! That fucking hurt you know!" Naruto shouted, his own grin starting to cover his face. When they stopped shouting, they grabbed each other in a perfect bro hug. Did it look absolutely ridiculous with the size difference between the two? Most assuredly. Did either of them give a fuck? Nope!
(This is a transcript from the department of fucks to give. We can assure you there was not a fuck to give between them.)
"Good to see you Sorahiko." Spoke Naruto, a small content smile on his face.
"Good to see you to Naruto." Returned Gran Torino, an equally content smile on his face.
The two of them just sat still and silent for a good five minutes, Sorahiko adjusting to the fact that his best friend was alive again, while Naruto came to terms with the fact that his one of his best friends and closest allies was now an old man.
"Sora…" Began Naruto, causing him to glance at the returned hero, only to lightly flinch at the stare coming from the strongest man in the world.
"Tell me everything…"
AND SCENE! A bit shorter then I normally like to do, but the juices are trying to start flowing again. And if it needs to be shorter then normal in order to get them moving and grooving, then so be it.
Anyway, in other news imma shamelessly plug myself now. I recently started streaming on twitch! My name there is hadradajust, if you got a twitch account and feel like supporting me, drop a follow and hop into stream every now and then to chill. I mostly play single player survival games and story driven games, due to mediocre internet right now, but I hope to play some multiplayer survival soon if I can get a better I.S.P. thanks for your time!
So, if you liked the story, leave a comment! It always helps me to read some positive reviews and constructive criticisms are always helpful. Any flamers will be used to cook well-done steaks for the hunters of Bherna village, the Soaratorium, Astera, Seliana, Kamura village and Elgado outpost. Keep your stamina up folks!