AN: enjoy.

Chapter 12 - Support

"It's the Fox Quirk boy!" someone let out a loud shout and Naruto suddenly found himself surrounded by two dozens of people, all pointing their cameras and microphones at him.

It was the first day he was coming to school after being discharged from the hospital and it looked like the mass media had somehow gotten wind of it. Dozens of reporters had been camping in front of UA High's gates since early morning, waiting for his arrival. Trying to squeeze through the crowd and enter the school unnoticed was impossible because his three fox tails stood out too much. In that morning alone, nearly twenty people had already stopped him while he was walking from home to school, on the streets, asking for an autograph or to shake his hand or take a selfie together with him.

It was not the first time Naruto had become famous. In his past life, he had been recognized as a Hero thanks to how many times he had saved and protected his village. But even at the peak of his popularity in his previous life, he had never experienced anything like in the present. He had never been accosted in the streets, and he had never seen people acting as if they were crazy about taking a photo with them. His current fame was surreal.

"This is Nipon TV channel, tell us your thoughts about UA High!" one of the reporters shouted out loud to make herself heard over the clamour of the crowd.

"Um, thoughts, ugh, I-" Naruto began to say but his mind had suddenly become blank. He had never been interviewed before and he had never experienced interacting with the kind of maniacs that mass-media people could become when they smelled a big scoop.

But his stammering was quickly drowned by other reporters and journalists who also began screaming their questions at the top of their lungs:

"A student had been killed by the League of Villains but UA High decided to still hold the Sports Festival as if nothing had happened! What do you have to say about it?"

"I just got out of the hospital, I don't know-" Naruto answered, gradually starting to regain his wits.

"You were fighting at USJ against that villain as if you were trying to kill him. You have also been involved with the Sludge Villain who ended up dying last year! What is the reason behind your violent actions?"

"Now, listen here, they attacked me, not the other way around! I was fighting for my life-" he began to say but another reporter cut him off:

"So it's okay to kill other people?"

"It was self-defence! What would you have done in my place, jackass?" Naruto snapped back at him, getting angry at how those reporters were trying to make him look as if he was a deranged psychopath.

"The Rabbit Hero expressed her admiration for you in a recent interview. What kind of relationship is there between the two of you?" a reporter from a tabloid magazine asked, her question momentarily throwing him off.

"What-?!"

Naruto himself had watched that interview too. But there was nothing in her words that could be interpreted as the two of them having a thing. The Rabbit Hero merely expressed her appreciation for how tough and brave he had been, saying that if it had not been for Naruto stalling Nomu until she arrived, Mineta Minoru would have not been the only casualty.

"Three of your classmates have already quit the Hero Course. Are you thinking about doing the same?" someone else asked.

"Many Pro Heroes have their eyes on you. Who are you going to join for your internship?"

"Scouts from Hero Agencies from USA, Russia and China had come to Japan over the past few days to watch the UA High Sports Festival. It's safe to say they are here for you. Will you participate?"

"Your Fox Quirk has awakened two times in a row! It's unprecedented! What is your secret?"

The reporters were yelling their questions so fast that he did not have time to answer any of them.

⁂

Ten minutes later, an irate and exhausted Naruto stumbled into the 1-A classroom after running away from the reporters.

'Thank God for the UA Barrier.'

Fortunately, given that he was already late to class and that the professor was inside too (it was an English class) the scene where the people crowded around him did not repeat with his classmates as well. But he still spent the rest of the period with most of them sneaking glances or openly staring at him.

When the bell signalling the end of the class rang, Naruto braced himself for the upcoming onslaught of questions. His expectations were spot on seeing as more than half of his classmates flocked to him. Groaning, he let his head fall on the desk and covered his head with his hands and his tails in defeat. If it was under different circumstances, he would have gladly basked in the attention and awe of his classmates. However, the death of Mineta Minoru had cast a shadow over his heart and his worry for his parents' safety made his anxiety level go off the charts. Playing around and showing off was the last thing on his mind at that moment.

"Holy shit, dude! I knew you could fight from our combat training classes but, damn! You and Aizawa-sensei took out like 40 villains without even breaking a sweat! And then, the way you kicked that monster in the air and slammed it head-first into the ground! Argh! So damn cool!" Kirishima said in excitement.

"That thing you did with your knives and your wires was way too awesome! I've never seen anything like it!" Kaminari also said.

"Uzumaki-san, I have a request! Please let me train together with you from now on!" Ojiro also said. Unlike his regular behaviour, the rather plain-looking boy had stars in his eyes. In his mind, he and Naruto were alike - they both had tails and they were skilled in martial arts as well. Naruto's strength and flashiness were a huge inspiration for him.

It wasn't only the guys that were fanboying over him, his female classmates were similarly excited. Kyoka and Uraraka were gushing as they showed him various posts about him on social media and Mina Ashido even went as far as to throw an arm around his neck and mash her cheek against his while taking a selfie with him. Posting that selfie right away on her CrossChat profile, she got several hundred likes in less than two minutes.

To everyone's surprise, Todoroki Shoto also came to Naruto's desk and called out his name:

"Uzumaki."

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he turned to look at him.

"The UA Sports Festival happens every year, it's a national event that all Pro Heroes are watching with attention. In some ways, our future career depends on how well we will perform at the festival." Raising his arm in front of him, he clenched his hand into a fist while saying: "That's the stage where I am going to beat you. That is where I will show everyone that I am the best."

His words shattered the good mood from before.

"That's my line, you half-and-half bastard!" Bakugo suddenly screamed from the other end of the classroom and stomped his feet as he approached Naruto's desk, all the while his palms crackling with tiny explosions. "Don't just go spouting your lame ass declarations of war in front of me. Uzumaki is mine!"

Now turning to glare murderously at Naruto, he said, his eyes almost spewing flames: "The humiliation from the junior high and the defeat during the combat training classes - I will wash them all away at the sports festival. You hear me? I'm gonna crush your face, you smug bastard!"

Naruto let out a sigh as he stood up from his seat.

"You're both gonna be disappointed. I'm not participating in this festival."

Grabbing his backpack, he put his hands in the pockets of his pants and walked towards the door.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU FURRY BASTARD!" Bakugo screamed as he grabbed Naruto by his elbow and got into his face. "Don't you dare run away from me!"

Yanking his arm free from his grasp, Naruto said:

"What I do is none of your business. I'm not just not participating in the festival, I'm also going to transfer to another school. Being a hero... ...I don't care about that anymore. So bugger off."

At his words, the class sank into silence. But then, they all cried out:

"Whaaaat?!"

"You've gotta be joking!"

The one who reacted the worst among everyone was none other than Bakugo.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he screamed and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his uniform with both of his hands.

"The hell is your problem, dude? What's with that overreaction anyway? What does it matter to you what I do?" Naruto said and tried to pry Bakuga's hands off his shirt.

"Are you just gonna run away like a coward? You just gonna scurry away like a scared little bitch? Huh?!" Bakugo yelled.

Naruto suddenly shoved Bakugo away and the boy went flying backwards and slammed into the wall as if he had been hit by a car. Naruto had not intended to push him that hard but he was still not fully aware of how much his strength had increased after his Fox Quirk's two awakenings.

"I beat up dozens of villains into submission and then fought against that creature with my life on the line. You think I'm scared of some villains? Are you stupid?"

"Then why are you running away? Why are you giving up?" Bakugo screamed incensed.

How was he supposed to defeat Naruto if he ran away? He wanted to surpass him fair and square. He wanted to avenge his losses and show everyone that he was the best. He wanted to become the undisputed number 1.

"It's not about giving up, you idiot! Think! Why did the League of Villains attack us? I'll tell you why: it's because of All Might!" Naruto shouted back at him.

"Hey, you're going too far..." Sero said.

"How is it fair to blame it on All Might? It had nothing to do with him!" Tenya Iida said, the wild gestures he was making with his hands showing how indignant he was.

"Oh, really now? What did the villains do when they couldn't find All Might? They took their anger and frustration on us!" Turning towards Bakugo, he continued: "Say that I become strong in the future. Say I become the no 1 Hero, an invincible fighter. But what about my parents? What if, just like it had happened with us at the USJ, knowing that they can't do anything to me, the villains attacked my family?"

When he said that, his murmuring classmates became silent. Even Bakugo did not know what to say at that.

"Mineta was killed only a week ago and Tsuyu was mauled by a shark Villain. Even though she recuperated, her psychologist still hasn't cleared her to come to school yet... now imagine if something like that happened to your family."

Although a week had already passed since Mineta Minoru's death, when he brought it up, his classmates' faces became downcast at the mention of it.

"Maybe you don't care if your parents get killed or if your siblings end up handicapped after a villain attack. Maybe you're just a selfish shithead who only thinks about becoming the no1 Hero. Well, good for you. Godspeed. But don't expect me to be like you all. My family is everything to me."

Most teenagers were seldom that open about their feelings and even more rarely admitted that they loved their parents. At that age, boys especially would be too embarrassed to say anything like that. But Naruto was not exactly a teenager mentally. Furthermore, after living in his past life as an orphan and knowing how much it hurt to be lonely and not have a family, his mother and father in his current life had become the most important thing in the world for him.

Now that Bakugo no longer tried to stop him, he adjusted the straps of his backpack and walked out of the classroom. But an unexpected voice stopped him in his tracks.

"For how mature you seem to be, you are surprisingly naive, Uzumaki-san."

It was Momo Yaoyorozu.

"Even if you want to give up on becoming a Pro Hero, you can never go back to being a normal person. It's too late for you to do that."

Seeing that Naruto did not retort with anything right away, she continued:

"Among the villains that attacked us at USJ, one of them had a Quirk that allows him to create video cameras on any part of his body. He was brought along not to fight but to film the scene of All Might's death first-hand. The League of Villains wanted to show the world how they killed the Symbol of Peace. But, instead of that, that video ended up showing how powerful the Rabbit Hero was and how formidable a mere teenager with a simple Fox Quirk could be. The villain showed that video to the police as proof that he was innocent, that he had not attacked anyone at all. So he got away with only some charges of trespassing private propriety instead of being charged with attempted murder and battery."

"...What's your point?" Naruto said.

"It's unknown how it had gotten leaked to the public but, as of now, that video has already gotten over 100 million views and it's been only a little over a week. I'm sure it'll pass the 1 billion mark by the end of the year, easily. You've become incredibly famous. It's not just Japan, even the foreigners, the whole world knows about you. Whether you like it or not, in everyone's eyes, you're a hero. You risked your life against that bio-engineered creature and kept it busy. As the Rabbit Hero said, if it hadn't been for you, that thing would've probably gone after the rest of us. Mineta wouldn't have been the only casualty, to say the least."

As she was speaking, her voice became more and more confident.

"Even if you give up on becoming a Pro, you will never stop being a target for the villains. Even if you want to live a normal life, it's impossible for you because you've become too well-known, too famous. People won't stop talking about you, even 20 years later because when your Quirk awakened two times in a row, you created history. A few years from now, children will even learn in school about you and your Quirk," she said, triumph settling on her face when she saw the way Naruto's expression changed as realization dawned on him.

So distracted he was by Momo Yaoyorozu's words that Naruto did not even remember how he had gotten home that day. He did not remember what he ate for dinner and he did not remember his mom's worried face when she saw how distraught he appeared to be. That night, he looked at the ceiling and the walls of his room for hours, unable to fall asleep due to the intense feelings of anxiety eating at him.

That video from the USJ had blown up too much, it had become too big. His popularity had grown too much and it was only going to get even bigger. He could see the truth in Yaoyorozu's words: even if he wanted to go back to living a normal life, it was too late now. In the first place, his appearance was simply too eye-catching: a pair of fox ears on his head and three very large golden fox tails at his back. There was no real way for him to disguise himself.

It was in the wee hours of the morning that he finally fell asleep. Still, even in his sleep, Naruto could not find peace. Bad dreams were haunting him.

⁂

"Naruto-chan! Wake up! Wake up, you're running late!" came Kushina's voice.

Although he did not wake up right away, the way that his fox ears flinched and moved towards the noise betrayed the fact that he had heard her. Kushina involuntarily smiled at the sight. Her son was simply too adorable! She sat down on the edge of the bed and put her hand on his head, caressing his hair and gently scratching at the base of his fluffy ears. Seeing as he still refused to wake up, she started to get annoyed.

"Wake up already, you lazy bum!" she said as she stretched his cheeks with her fingers. "It's the day of the UA Sports Festival! You ought to get to school on time! Your friend, Izuku-kun, is waiting for you in the living room."

Sitting up with difficulty, Naruto buried his face in his palms. His stress and anxiety had kept him awake all night, he had barely slept three hours.

"Do I really have to go?" he whined like a little kid.

"You're such a baby sometimes, I swear to god..." Kushina complained but she did not really mean it.

"But I'm serious, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna participate in this festival."

Kushina took his hand in hers and asked:

"Why? What happened?"

He was her son, nobody else knew him better than her. His face was like an open book for her. She could see that something was weighing heavily on his mind.

"I... ...don't want to be a hero anymore. But I can't walk away from it either. I don't know what to do." Naruto began to say and, under his mother's gentle gaze, he started getting off everything from chest. His fear for her and his father's safety, his desire to keep them safe, Momo Yaoyorozu's words about him having become too famous to ever go back to being a regular person and so on and so forth.

"That classmate of yours was right. For how mature you're trying to act, you're such a dummy sometimes," she said and ruffled his spiky hair with her hand. "Do you think we haven't thought about the risks when we decided to support you in becoming a Pro Hero?"

Naruto's eyes widened at her words.

"Sure, we haven't expected you to become so popular so quickly but I've never had a shred of doubt in mind that you would become a Pro Hero after graduating from UA High. Your father and I have long since made peace with the idea that your profession will come along with risks."

His fox ears sagged and he looked at his lap as he said:

"But I don't want to put you in danger... I don't care about some stupid Pro Hero career if you get hurt. I don't care about being famous. None of that matters if you and dad are not here."

Taking off her slippers, Kushina climbed into bed and sat down next to him before wrapping her arms around him. Naruto was more than happy to reciprocate, hugging her back and burying his face into her long red hair. Under other circumstances, she would have teased him a little about being such a mama's boy but she understood that all that he needed at that moment was his mother's support and affection.

They spent a few moments in silence, with her gently caressing the back of his head as she embraced him. Eventually, Kushina broke the hug and said:

"I'm happy you care about your family that much. But you don't need to worry about your parents, Naruto."

As she said those words, four golden chains slithered out from underneath her sweater and wiggled slowly around them.

"Unlike a certain dumbass in this room, I won't hesitate to use my Quirk to defend myself should a villain attack me. Besides, did you forget who taught you how to fight? Young man, you're underestimating your parents a little too much. You must've forgotten, I'm a super mom," Kushina said half-seriously half-jokingly. (1)

"Mom, that was so corny."

"S-Shut up!" Kushina said, a hint of red appearing in her cheeks. Retrieving her golden chains into her body, she fake-coughed into her fist before saying: "But I'm serious. If push comes to shove, I'll show no mercy to any villain that tried to attack us. I am more than capable of protecting myself and your father too."

"But wasn't your Quirk supposed to be secret? Aren't you afraid that your old enemy will find out about it?"

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it," Kushina said simply. "Let me ask you a question: are you afraid of villains?"

"I'm not. But you and dad-"

"Stop right there," Kushina cut him off. "So you aren't afraid of fighting against villains, right?"

"Of course I'm not!" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why would I be? Getting to beat up people and even getting paid for it? Hell yeah!"

"Oi, what kind of hero says such words?"

Mother and son burst into laughter. But Kushina soon became serious again and said:

"You don't know how it was around 20 years ago, you weren't even born back then... but I do. Hero Agencies existed at that time as well but villains didn't seem to care. Store and highway robberies took place every day, beatings, killings, kidnappings... it was a dark period for our country. That was the case... ...until All Might came around."

She had a faraway look in her eyes as she reminisced about the past.

"Think about how much he had sacrificed for this country, for us to live in a period of peace. And not only him but all the Pro Heroes that risk their lives every day to fight crime and protect the innocent. Our comfortable lives are possible only thanks to their sacrifices."

"Most of them do it for the money though..." Naruto mumbled.

"Does it matter what their motivation is? Why does it matter that someone is saving people from a burning house because they want money? I don't know about you, but whether it is for money or fame, I don't care what reasons they have. At the end of the day, what matters is that they are keeping people safe."

She took his hand in hers again as she said:

"If you truly don't want to become a hero, your dad and I will not force you. We have told you before: no matter what path you choose, we will support you. You are our only son. But if you still want to become a Pro, don't give up just because of your fear for our safety. While you are away, I will keep myself and your dad safe. Becoming a Pro Hero is one of the noblest aspirations to have."

Naruto did not reply to her right away, appearing to be lost in thought.

"I... Okay... But I want to think about it a little more. Still, I think it's better if I don't participate in the sports festival this year."

"Are you sure? From what I understand, all Pro Hero Agencies in the country are focused on this event. It's one of your only three chances to catch their eyes. It could influence your future career a lot-"

"What more could I do to impress anyone after USJ?" he said with a deadpan.

She blinked at him for a moment before saying:

"Oh."

He chuckled at her reaction.

"Besides, it's not safe for me to fight now. I haven't had the chance to test my limits, I don't know my own strength anymore," he said as he thought back to the incident from the previous day when he had accidentally sent Bakugo flying with just a light shove. "I'm not at my best right now. These two new tails have messed with my sense of balance and I'm still feeling tired after my Quirk's double awakening."

He added after making a small pause: "Anyway, it's alright. I've gotten enough recognition already as it is. Some reporters told me that there are even scouts from foreign Hero Agencies that have come to Japan to scout me. I don't think job opportunities will ever be a problem for me. I'll let other people have their chance at shining and impressing the Pros in this festival."

"Look at you, acting all magnanimously and big-hearted, caring for your classmates like that," Kushina said sarcastically.

They chuckled together at her words. As they were laughing, a knock was heard and Minato poked his head from behind the door. But when he saw Kushina and Naruto sitting comfortably in bed and laughing, he came inside and put his hands on his hips.

"Naruto, your classmate has already left, saying he was running late. Aren't you going to school today? It's the sports festival!" But, before Naruto could reply, he continued: "More importantly, Kushina, what are you doing? What have I said about hogging Naruto all to yourself?! We are going to have a big, big problem!"

Saying that, Minato jumped and dived into the bed on top of them. Naruto let out an "oof" sound, Kushina squealed, and the bed groaned as the weight of a full-grown man crashed into them. Soon, the family of three burst into yells and laughter as Minato initiated a tug-of-war with his wife, with Naruto being stuck in the middle.

AN:

(1) In case you have forgotten, it is mentioned in the earlier chapters that Kushina had been a martial arts instructor at a dojo before becoming pregnant with Naruto and that she still practised martial arts as a hobby in her free time. It is because of her martial arts pedigree that Naruto had started training in martial arts from a very young age in this life.