So, here's the next chapter, ladies and gentlemen. And we've been working hard on this, just for you all.
Side note, Important side note. LuciusWalker has started a new fic of a Naruto x Inside Job crossover, check it out and support the man, he clearly deserves it.
The (Shadow) Government Assassin by LuciusWalker on both and AO3. Be sure to support him if you're a fan of Inside Job, and also because LW deserves some more attention.
It was cold. Dark. Wet. And there was salt in the air.
Naruto's eyes shot open, before it closed again. His eyes stung, and the air suddenly grew-
Salt. He tasted salt.
He was drowning! Opening his eyes despite how much it protested, he quickly searched for any signs of light, before he swam upwards. His limbs, lungs, and eyes were on fire, but he couldn't afford to care now.
His head finally broke the surface, and he let out a gasp of air, before coughing up some of the salty water.
"Goddamn Kaguya! Where the hell am I now?"
He quickly swam out of the water and stood on its surface, trying to figure out his position. He made a few Shadow Clones to keep an eye out in case she tried to get him from the back.
"Am I back in the Land of Waves?" he wondered out loud.
HONK! HONK!
Almost as if to answer his question, a loud horn rang in the air. He turned and spotted a large cargo ship nearby.
"That's convenient," he muttered, before he ran towards the large ship.
Catching up to the large ship within minutes, he quickly climbed its metal hull. With a small grunt, he made it on board.
*Click*
Naruto looked up to see a man wearing a disguise pointing something to his head.
"Man, you must be one stupid hero to get caught like that," the man chuckled. "Now, get up."
"Who are you-"
"Get up!" The guy barked a second time. "Don't make me repeat that for a third time. Unless you want a hostage to be killed."
Hostage?
Naruto looked down the boat, and saw a group of people, tied up and on their knees, staring at the boy who just arrived at the boat.
"It's a hijacking, kid. So unless you want some dead bodies floating, you better listen."
"Alright, alright, take it easy," he said. A lightning bolt suddenly struck the background, brightly illuminating their spot.
In that split second of blindness, Naruto seized the man's wrist, breaking it without a thought as he slid behind the man, his other arm in a deadly headlock. The man tried to scream, but his jaw was forced shut with a sharp flick of the shinobi's wrist.
"How many of you are here?" his growled into his ear, bloodlust suddenly pouring out
"C-Chill, man!" the man stammed, his body trembling as he struggled to breathe.
"I asked you, how many of you are here?!"
The thug's eyes widened impossibly further as he felt something dig into his neck. He didn't have to look down to know that this...hero(?), had seized his gun, and was digging it into his neck, his finger on the trigger. One wrong move, and he knew his life was forfeit.
"T-There are around forty people on this boat. Five here for display to the heroes and coast guard, the rest at the deck! All of them civilians except for one Pro-Hero who we subdued!"
"Thank you," Naruto growled, before he moved to knock him ou-
POW!
Naruto flinched as a loud noise echoed in the air. He turned towards the source of the noise, and found one of the hostages on the floor. The sack over their head turned crimson as blood began pouring into the deck.
"You better hurry up, heroes! You just lost somebody~"
"What the fu-"
"YAH!"
CRACK!
Naruto cursed as the thug suddenly snapped back his head, destroying his nose. Tasting metal, he staggered backward, and he suddenly felt something hot enter his shoulder.
"FUCK!" he roared as he struggled to yank the knife out of his body, dropping the strange contraption in the process.
Big mistake.
POW!
Another shot rang out, and Naruto blinked as he realized something had just passed through his body. He looked down at his gut and found that a red spot was slowly growing out of it. He looked back up at the criminal-
POW! POW! POW! POW!
Naruto staggered back as he fired that strange weapon over and over again, hot particles shredding his bone and tissue.
Letting out a roar of pain, he dashed towards the man, whose eyes lost its sense of victory. Now filled with fright, he raised his weapon again-
SNLK!
The man stood still for a minute, then gagged as he began choking on his own blood. A kunai was buried deep inside his neck, and he fell onto the wooden floor, dead within seconds.
"*Huff* - *huff* - shit." Naruto bit back a cry of pain as the adrenaline wore off. His body felt like it was stuck with a thousand blades, his wounds hot and sharp.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know. Go check on him!"
Naruto bit his lip as he quickly tossed the dead man overboard, retreating deeper into the ship. He hissed as hot blood poured out of him, mixing in with the rain.
"Maurice, what's going on-URK!"
Naruto wordlessly stabbed another thug with a similar outfit as the previous one in the throat. He fell onto the floor, twitching and clawing at the knife as Naruto closed the door.
"MMMPH! MMM!" He turned and saw a hostage tied to a metal pipe. She was gagged with some tape, which was a little damp with blood.
"Hold on," Naruto said, removing the gag from the lady's mouth.
"Look out!"
BANG!
Blood sprayed against the girl's face as Naruto jerked forward.
SLNK!
Another man met his end as Naruto flung a kunai without looking, nailing him through the eye.
"Motherfucker!" Naruto cried as he cradled his new shoulder wound.
THUD!
The body finally dropped down to the floor, with the lifeless corpse being left alone, Naruto turned his head towards the girl who just witnessed him murder the thug in the most brutal way she'd ever seen.
The body fell like a ragdoll, twitching a little before he expired. Naruto turned his head back to see the girl freaking out even more, obviously not used to death.
The look in her eyes reminded him of the times he was stared at often by people in his village, who, long before the Pain fight, looked at him with fear and mistrust, something he grew accustomed to, something that a shinobi should learn very early on.
Of course, in this case the eyes belonged to a very frightened person who had the right to be fearful of him. That's why Naruto put away his kunai and raised his hands in surrender.
"It's okay. I'm not with them," Naruto spoke gently, nearly whispering. "I'm here to help."
He swiftly undid her restraints, before backing up.
The girl, although a lot more relaxed, still stared at him cautiously.
"...Just stay safe," he sighed, kicking one of those strange weapons towards her. He then turned and left, his kunai back in his hand.
…
Each gunshot made the heroes wince, cursing the pirates for their brutal nature.
They had demanded a large sum of money for each hostage - a lot more after the hero Sirius was captured alongside Selkie.
Then the drones began recording a lot more gunshots, which made them abandon caution. They thought that something had gone wrong, and that the hostages were being massacred.
Then they saw it. Something - no, someone, was moving with unnatural grace and speed, nearly a blur as he weaved through the pirates. He lured them, tricked them, broke their nerves before slaughtering them, making sure that the hostages were safe before and after.
It made them sick every time one of the pirates fell, gasping for air as they died seconds after, but a part of them knew that it was much better than the hostages being the ones on the blood-soaked planks.
Whoever this...vigilante was, he was a professional. But he was injured. For as much blood as he shed, his own body seemed to suffer more, with more slashes and bullet holes appearing in this body.
"Whoever this guy is, he's losing way too much blood for his own good," Selkie muttered, being sat next to Sirius. "Keep your eyes on whatever you see, Sirius."
The two heroes (well, the second one being a hero in training at the moment), were finally reunited. At some point, he had taken care of the group that held Selkie hostage. He was beat up, bruised, and had several broken bones, but was still alive. Understandably, he was equally horrified at the vigilante's brutal methods, as well as his seemingly suicidal tactics, but he was their only hope of survival and rescue until reinforcements finally arrived.
"Wait, I hear something!"
Speak of the devil. Sirius's ears picked up some radio frequencies that belonged to the heroes. They were on their way!
"C'mon, kid, don't die on us now," Selkie growled, before his body racked into painful coughs, spewing out blood. "God fuck!"
"Selkie-sensei! Please take it easy!" Sirius was at his side, trying to keep him standing.
"Heh, you should be telling that to him," the injured hero chuckled. "Brat's...quite a hero. Would be a shame to lose him so soon."
…
"S-Stay back!" The leader of the pirates, who looked like a twisted version of the stereotypical pirate, demanded. He was standing in front of a storage box, holding a crew member by his throat, his pistol aimed at his temple. "A-Any closer, and I'll- URK!"
The leader's eyes widened as he stiffened up. His body trembled, his fingers trying to squeeze the trigger, but he found that his body was completely paralyzed.
A sword had made its way from above, piercing his brain and spine.
"Headshot." Much to the hostage's confusion, another one of this blond vigilante had appeared from on top of the storage crate they were leaning against.
POOF!
The one standing in front of them disappeared into a puff of smoke, which was quickly snuffed out from the rain.
"...I guess that's all of them." The vigilante let out a sigh of relief, before he fell towards, landing on his face onto the wooden deck.
The last thing he heard was something loud and bright land close to him, its loud roar strong enough to create a small typhoon.
Kitsune stared at Recovery Girl, who was currently healing Midoriya's brutal wounds. He remembered fondly how he first met the female hero who healed him with a couple of kisses. A few soups and sandwiches later, he felt much better, much to everyone's surprise.
As it would turn out, her power (or more accurately, her "quirk") accelerated healing with a kiss, albeit at the cost of the patient's own energy. Of course, most people didn't usually feel ready to run a marathon after RG's treatment, so they were quite interested in why he was able to do so the minute he woke up.
But that's for another time.
The masked hero watched in amusement as everyone stood or scrambled about in a chaotic manner. Some were heading back to the safe zone, some were simply chatting with the others. And others, well, were just hanging around the green-haired boy that managed to make the Omnidroid fly with one punch, sending it a few blocks away. It was still alive, but barely.
"How is he?" Kitsune asked the elderly hero.
The ancient hero raised her head upwards. "The boy's going to be alright, but I'm starting to think that it's his brain that needs real fixing."
"Why so?"
"We saw what he did from the room," she said with a chuckle. "I can already say one thing for sure."
"That being?"
"He made a good impression to some already."
Had his mask been off, everyone would've noticed that his lips were curled into a small smile. He was glad that he wasn't wrong about the boy, and that he gave it his all at the end.
Still, though, he barely passed this test through sheer luck and his quirk. Looks like he'll have to train him harder.
Izuku's unconscious body shivered a little.
His "Anko-moment" was over as he noticed someone limping towards him. It was Tsuyu Asui - the girl that Izuku helped save. A girl with a frog-quirk, she was pinned under the rubble that the Omnidroid flung around. Recovery Girl took care of his sprained leg, which was still aching, but was otherwise fine.
"Is he alright, *ribbit*?"
...Did she just ribbit? That was pretty adorable.
"He'll be alright, Ms. Asui. Nothing some food and some rest won't fix up."
The frog-girl was visibly relieved by this, and moved to sit beside the greenette. She was surrounded by the group that were prepared to save her, who checked on her relentlessly.
…
Izuku awoke to the feeling of his body floating in the air, swaying like a kite during a warm, summer breeze.
"Ah, he's awake!"
He blinked, and he realized that he was on a stretcher.
"W-What happened?"
"The test is over, kid."
Izuku blinked, then shivered as he realized that it was Kitsune. He was about to jump out of the cot, but a gentle hand from his left stopped him.
"Chill, kid. You did good."
Izuku's eyes turned to the owner of the voice, and saw that it was a strange, hooded girl. He couldn't see much of her face from the shadow her hood provided, save for strands of blonde hair.
"Wait, what?
"You passed, kiddo, don't worry about it." The girl gave him a thumbs up, before she walked another direction.
"...Who was she?" Izuku couldn't help but wonder.
"Tell me why I gotta attend a stupid karate class now?"
BONK!
"Ow, fuck! What the hell-"
"Zip. It." Katsuki clammed up upon hearing his mother's words. It was no secret that he took after his mother greatly, both in appearance and personality (and even quirk). It was also no secret that admittedly, his mother was the only one who had some semblance of authority over him.
That's why when she spoke in that calm, but venomous tone, he knew to shut the hell up for real.
It's been a few days since the U.A. Entrance Exams, with many of the applicants waiting for the end of the week for the school to finish grading, determining whether or not they've passed.
Meanwhile, to break the time, Mitsuki thought it was now the best time to bring her obnoxious son to the offer she was given almost a year ago. She understood that she and her son were rather lucky, given the stories of rejection she heard from her son's friends who she knew were a bad influence on him.
It was quite surprising to learn that his rejection rates were comparable to U.A. High itself.
"We're here."
Standing right now in front of the building, Mitsuki and Katsuki had finally arrived at the Maelstrom Dojo.
"Hmph, doesn't look impressive to me." Katsuki muttered at the sight of the rather medium-sized building. "Looks stupid, let's just go ho-"
BOINK!
"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, HAG?!" Katsuki roared, holding his head.
"SHUT IT, BRAT!" Mitsuki told her son off. "Quit making a scene and let's head inside."
Dragging her son into the Dojo, by his ear, the two blondes didn't know that a few moments earlier, another mother and son pair had entered the Dojo.
…
The dojo was, for the first time, jam packed, consisting of both old and new and potential students, most who were invited upon recommendation by the attending students' invitation.
Izuku was one of them, as he sat beside his mother, tapping his feet together as he awaited nervously while looking down to the floor, trying to not have much eye contact with the already dressed up students.
"Izuku, honey?"
Turning his head up to his mother, the young Midoriya answered to his equally nervous mother.
"Yes, mom?"
"Are you doing okay? You look really nervous."
Izuku let out an audible gulp as he slowly built up the courage to speak.
"Well...I'm not sure if I passed the test," he spoke softly, his mother's special ears the only one able to pick up his words in a sea of voices. "Plus...I'm not sure if I would get accepted here…"
Inko's eyes softened at this.
"Honey…" She leaned in to give him a gentle hug, something that made his face redden a little, but he didn't pull away from it.
"Inko!"
Snapping her head towards the entrance, a smile grew on the greenette's face as she saw her friend enter.
"Mitsuki, you came!"
"You know it, girlfriend!" Mitsuki wrapped Inko in a bear hug. "I think we both know that my boy needs some sense beaten into him anyways."
Meanwhile, Izuku swallowed hard as he hid behind his mother, watching Katsuki's scowl turn into a sneer. He half expected him to start blowing up into his face soon, but he strangely did nothing.
"ATTENTION!"
The crowd quieted down as a loud clap echoed in the room. Everyone turned to see a blond man and a young woman walk into view. Wearing an black t-shirt and gi pants, Naruto and Erica Uzumaki stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of white shirts and pants.
"Good evening, everyone." Naruto greeted the students and their relatives with a bow. His orange, red, and yellow stripes over his right breast seemed to gleam in the bright light.
"Good evening, sensei!" the students replied in unison, save for the newcomers, whose replies were hesitant.
Ending his bow, Naruto first took a glance at the seats, seeing a lot of potential students with their parents, smiling to see one pair of people he wanted to come.
"Looks like the kid came… and his 'friend' too."
Yeah.
"And their mothers-"
Enough.
"Welcome to the newest session, my students," Naruto started. "As you all know, this session will be different because we've got some potentially new students who will be observing and may even be joining our dojo."
Some of the students made glances at the seats, with some even giving quick waves at their friends who they recommended.
Ochako in particular was glad to see the green-haired boy who saved Tsuyu amongst the potential students - a heroic act that she couldn't help but respect, despite the fact that he hospitalized himself in the process.
I just hope that I can live up to sensei's standards, Ochako swallowed, resisting the urge to scratch at the yellow line over her right breast.
Even though she tried to give some of her points after learning about the greenette's lack of progress, a part of her still wondered if she was fit to be a hero, especially since her first reason was mainly monetary.
"I am glad to hear that many of you have participated in the many Pr-Hero school exams, including U.A.'s," Naruto began his monologue, "I hope that many of you will succeed and enter the schools you choose. But even if you fail to enter, there's always room for improvement, so don't blame yourself if you do."
This brought some smiles up, with some of the students having not been able to succeed in their tests or chose to abstain from it for the current year, it was nice to hear that the person who had been tutoring them, had been very supportive and understanding of their choices.
"Now, I want you newbies and your parents to turn around and face each other in the spots I've assigned to you guys. No, you and you, face the one to your right, and you, face the one to your left. Yeah, if everyone could follow those two, that'd be great. You see, part of the dojo involves getting to know one another. Now, tell each other your names, your quirks or lack thereof, and-"
"WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE!"
"Ah shit, I guess he's choosing the hard way," Katsuki's mother groaned, rubbing her temples.
"WHAT THE FUCK YOU MEAN BY LACK THEREOF?! Are you saying that there are some goddamn quirkless students here?!"
This, of course, gained some looks to the boy, be it uncomfortable or straight up glares that he was more than happy to return.
"... Do you have a problem with that?" Naruto's voice was quiet, but sharp enough to cut metal.
"Hell yeah I do! How the fuck am I gonna be a hero when a bunch of nobodies are gonna hold me back?!"
Erica stepped forward, but her sensei raised his hand.
"Hold you back, huh? How arrogant of you."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
"Well, if you are as strong as you say, then I think you'll have no problem defeating me in a fair, 1v1 fight, right? All my teachings and techniques vs your flashy quirk. How does that sound?"
"Fine!" Katsuki's scowl quickly turned into a mad grin as he cracked his knuckles. "This'll be a nice warm up when I finally get to kick in that masked freak in the face."
His mother could do nothing but slowly slumber towards her seat, her face buried in her hands. Inko did her best to try to cheer her up.
As for Izuku, he was totally astonished by what he was seeing. Watching how his childhood friend went on the assault right away.
"DIE!" Katsuki roared as he charged at the leader of the Maelstrom Dojo, his palms sparking with power.
CRACK!
Katsuki blinked, stars winking in and out of existence as he suddenly realized he was flying. What happened? He could've sworn that he just fired his quirk at the blond bastard-
CRASH!
Groaning, the light-haired boy felt the back of his head hit something hard. The ceiling lights suddenly as bright as the sun, he finally realized that he had been knocked back.
No, kicked back, he realized. His body slowly rising like a zombie, he saw that the man he tried to attack was bent back at a perfect 90 degree angle, his right leg the only pillar of support. His other leg was aimed skyward, a perfect split made from the painful kick.
"Are you done?" The teacher slowly moved his leg down, his upper body coming back into view. "You can admit defeat now if you like."
"FUCK YOU!" Katsuki roared as he leapt onto his feet, his palms already outstretched.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He fired his quirk in quick succession, bombarding the dirty cheater with his explosions-
SLAM!
Katsuki's eyes bulged through a cage of fingers as he felt his world turn upside down. His head slammed painfully back onto the floor, making him gasp in shock.
"Had enough?"
His head shrieking like claws on chalkboard, hot needles piercing into his skull. Tears blurring his eyes, his eyes looked down to see that he had been the victim of a very powerful palm strike. Despite his disoriented state, he quickly figured out that his head was shoved into the wooden floor with the palm strike. Not stopping at initial impact, the bastard didn't stop until the back of his head met the floor again.
"Had enough?"
His hand finally left his face, and he suddenly could breathe again.
"B-Bastard-GAH!"
Gritting his teeth, he raised his right hand, aiming point blank at his opponent's chest. Unfortunately, he saw this coming, as evident by how quickly his powerful hands enveloped his wrist, nearly crushing it with its iron grip.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Katsuki roared in pain as he felt something bombard his trapped arm. His other arm moved to try to blow the damned blond's face off, but it too felt the same pain as its right arm.
"Too slow~" the blond tsked as he wagged his bent finger. Its knuckle was a little red, which explained why his arms were screaming in agony.
"So, had enough yet?" The man got off of him, taking a few steps backward.
"YOU- urk!" Katsuki didn't even bother getting up this time, simply raising his hand at the blond. To his horror, nothing came out of his palms. No explosions. No loud pop. Not even a little crackle.
"W-What did you do?" Katsuki asked in horror.
"Simple - I disabled your quirk."
Gasps arose from the audience as they heard his explanation.
"For the next hour or two, your quirk's going to fail you simply because of how I just corrupted its biology. So for the next hour or two, you're going to be just like the friend you bullied - quirkless."
The man stepped forward, and Katsuki found himself crawling backwards.
"So, I'm going to ask you one more time - had enough?"
"..." Katsuki said nothing as his head slumped down, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Naruto stepped forward, and that did the trick.
"Y-Yeah! I'm done! I had enough!"
"Really? Do you admit defeat?"
One of his hands slid out from behind his back, raised into a fist.
"Y-Yeah! I lost! I lost!" For the first time in years, Katsuki pleaded to another man, who just looked down at him in boredom.
"...Hmph." Naruto lowered his fist. "Any questions?"
"Katsuki just turned his eyes away, and responded.
"No... I don't."
"Wasn't talking to you, kiddo."
For the first time today, Katsuki finally turned to look at the others, who began clapping and cheering for the blond man.
"Now, where were we?" Naruto began, grunting in annoyance as his schedule was a bit derailed. "We'll now begin introducing ourselves to each other. C'mon now, don't be shy."
He pointed to the area in front of him, which included the spot where Katsuki laid there defeated. The applicants finally began to step forward, looking both nervous and excited.
"State your name, quirk, likes, dislikes, and future plans," Naruto said, gesturing to the one with the long tail. "We'll start with you."
The blond, young man with a large tail took a moment to steel his nerves, before he got started.
"My name is Mashirao Ojiro, and my Quirk is 'Tail', as you can see. My likes? Well, my friends, family, and the results of my hard work. I dislike it when people get what they want without earning it. I want to be a hero in the future to help and be a supporting pillar to those in need." Ojiro ended his introduction with a bow before stepping back.
"Hmmm, calm, noble, dignified, and values hard work. Sounds like a good addition to your dojo, kid."
Agreed, he'll fit right in.
He recognized him from the recommendations by Tokoyami, Koda, and Sato, who worked together with him in the U.A. exam. They explained his role in the temporary alliance they formed, which only served to help convince Naruto that he was a worthy addition.
The next boy who stepped forward was very noticeable from the rest of the group, which was thanks to his large, spiky red hair and his shark-toothed grin that got his attention.
"He kind of reminds me of that Inuzuka kid you beat up in the Chunin Exams."
Ah, Kiba. Please don't remind me.
As much as he liked the dog boy, he also had a bit of an awkward relationship with him, especially due to how he beat him during the exam.
But enough focusing on the past. This boy was recommended by Mina, who went to the same school as her. Not only were they friends, but this Kirishima kid also partnered up with Mina and Katsuki, which helped contribute to their overall success.
"The name's Eijiro Kirishima!" he began. "My Quirk is 'Hardening'! My likes are making friends, messing around sometimes, and having fun. My dislikes? Bullies, people who think they're better than anyone else, cause that's just unmanly. And my goal? To be like my idol Crimson Riot and to be a great hero!"
"Yeah! Go, man!" Mina cheered in the background.
"The kid might look like Kiba, but he sure has your energy."
Yeah, I can see why Mina insisted that I take him in. He then turned to the next applicant, which honestly took him by surprise a little.
This new applicant was invisible, save for the clothes she wore, which was currently a school uniform with a skirt.
"My name's Toru Hagakure!" the invisible girl declared cheerfully. "As you can see, or in this case, not see, heh heh, I'm invisible, which is my Quirk! My likes are cute things like animals and I also like shopping, especially with my friends. Dislikes? Perverts. I can't stand them!"
"That's...very confusing." Kurama bluntly stated. How can you peep on someone who you can't see?
"Oh! And my goal? To be honest I don't know precisely, but I'd really like to help people, so that's why I feel really honored that I am joining this dojo." She bowed her head quickly before stepping back.
Next was Bakugou.
"Okay kid, you know what to do." Naruto gave him a sharp glare. "Introduce yourself, and you better not start a fight."
"Whatever, old man."
"Old man?"
Everybody in the room repeated. Seriously, the teacher was old enough to be his brother.
Mitsuki had the urge to facepalm; the kid was just asking for trouble, and it was Inko who had to hold her back from clocking him in the back of the head again.
Seriously, Kacchan, he's old enough to be a sibling of yours, Izuku himself thought.
"I'll let that slide for now," Naruto let out a sigh. "Now speak."
"Fine. My name's Katsuki Bakugou. My Quirk is 'Explosion', so it's quite powerful. I don't like telling what my likes and dislikes are, but let me tell you this: My main goal is to be the best - the best of the best! And I'm willing to go past anything to achieve that!"
Bold, brash, but surprisingly restrained all things considered. Looks like his humiliating beatdown knocked him down a few pegs.
Giving the blond a small nod, he then turned to the last applicant, who was a nervous wreck. Personally recommended by himself, Izuku Midoriya was seen struggling to lift his head up as though it suddenly weighed several tons now that all eyes were on him.
"Damn it, Deku! Start talking-GAH!"
"Silence." Katsuki yelped as his interruption was rewarded with a flick to the nose. "You had your chance to speak, now give him his. Please, continue."
Meanwhile in the background, his mother Inko swallowed hard, hoping her son would do well without her.
"Take a deep breath, kid. It's okay to be nervous," Naruto told him, his calm words making a bit of an effect on the green-haired boy. "Now, breathe out."
Izuku released a weight from his chest.
"Good, now introduce yourself."
"My name...is Izuku Midoriya," the greenette struggled to say. "My quirk...Super Power."
A few people (Naruto included) raised their eyebrows at the rather vague name.
"My likes...my idol All Might...my mother's cooking...and learning more about heroes by taking notes about them. It's...kind of a hobby of mine."
"Damned nerd."
"Hush." Naruto flicked Katsuki in the nose again, before turning back to Izuku. "Go on."
"R-Right, my dislikes?" Izuku took a moment to think before he gave his answer. "People who abuse and look down on those who aren't like the others or who cannot protect themselves...like Quirkless people getting abused…"
More eyes were turned towards him as he spoke of that taboo topic.
"And because of that what I've witnessed," Izuku lifted his head up high, his fist in the air. "My dream is to become the greatest hero the world has ever known, just like my idol, All Might. And to keep everyone smiling to the world."
This line earned him a few looks of skepticism, but also pride and respect.
It's really like looking into a mirror. You found yourself a good successor, Toshinori.
With the introductions now complete, the five then walked back with the rest of the students, joining the others in the back of the line.
"Alright!" Naruto clapped his hands, gaining the attention of the entire room. "Now...it's time to start the 5 hours of hellish training!"
For the next five hours, the parents of both the enrolled and the newest applicants watched in both amazement and shock at the training regime they were just witnessing, not believing their own eyes on what their children volunteered to go through.
The newcomers were forced to do a lot of stretching, pushups, planks. It sounded normal at first, until they saw just how long they were forced to do it. The blond teacher often had to help them stretch, and to make sure to lead them with a good example, he did the exercises and stretches in front of them. Nearly everyone counted to see if Naruto did the exact same exercise he was implementing onto the students, and they saw that he was indeed leading by example.
Mitsuki herself was surprised to see her son cooperating very well, although his groans of pain and complaints still leaked from his mouth. Inko, on the other hand, felt a mix of amazement and terror as she watched her son eventually get into sparring matches.
It was nothing too extreme, of course, since it was just some basic counters to some basic, street-level assaults. Still, even though they all protective gear and even though the teachers themselves wore boxing gloves to minimize the impact, they could see that they still weren't pulling that much of a punch.
WHAM!
Izuku fell backwards, landing just outside the boundary line.
"Too much power in your punch," Naruto explained as he helped his student up. "Also, mind your footing, else you become that much more easy to manipulate in combat, as you can see."
Izuku nodded as he seemed to be taking a lot of mental notes.
Katsuki, on the other hand, seemed to be having a lot more issues himself. Now that he was forced to work without a quirk, he was suddenly a lot less competent fighting-wise, throwing equally wild haymakers and kicks like Izuku. He realized this himself, much to his frustration, and looked visibly strained as he tried to improve himself.
But the one who was making the most impression on Naruto was Ochako Uraraka.
WACK! TACK! CLING!
The newest Apprentice of the dojo was currently sparring against the blonde Maestro. The brunette was visibly struggling against the blonde girl as indicated by how much she was sweating. Erica, meanwhile, looked calm and collected as she effortlessly dodged and countered her blows while keeping her hands in her pockets.
Erica sent a high kick against the gravity girl, who barely dodged it by a hair. Erica blew some hair out of her face and gave her opponent a grin.
"I see you're not as rusty as I thought."
Ochako allowed her to smile as she positioned herself for her next move.
"Just because I've been gone for a while, doesn't mean I've been slacking off."
"Good," Erica grinned. "'Cause I'm not going easy on you."
Naruto, who had been watching from the sidelines alongside the other students, took a glance at the timer.
"Thirty seconds remain!"
The two disappeared from view. As fast as the wind, they began exchanging blows in a blur, sounds of flesh and metal hitting each other in a vain attempt to land a serious blow.
"Ten seconds!"
WHAM!
The match swiftly ended as one of the girls fell onto her rear. It was Ochako who was knocked to the ground, courtesy of Erica's surprise palm strike to the chest.
"Winner of the match is Erica!" Naruto announced, ending the session for today. "Now please, shake hands and bow to each other in respect."
Erica grabbed Ochako's hand and pulled her up. Ochako looked slightly tapped out, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
"Good work," Erica grinned. "Looks like you do deserve that uniform after all.
Ochako let out a small huff of pride.
A hour later
"Good night, everyone!" Naruto said to the last students leaving as the hall was getting empty. "See you all in the next session!"
"Bye sensei!" The last students left through the front door, waving him goodbye as they left for home. The only ones left in the Dojo hall was Ochako doing her stretches, with Mina helping her out.
Ochako grunted as her face grew damp with sweat. She was attempting to do the splits, her legs and derriere trembling as she struggled to push her body to its limits.
"Come on, ten more seconds!"
"Ugh…"
"Annnnnnnd…...release!"
"Ah!" Ochako let out a gasp of relief as she fell onto her back. Her strength drained, she fell right onto Mina's lap, causing them to laugh.
Naruto smiled and then went on to close down the binders of the dojo windows.
"Mina, just so you know Erica's out for tonight and so is Himiko," Naruto stated. "That means the front door's going to be locked."
"Um, actually, I wanted to ask you something," Mina nervously began. "Ochako and I decided to go out for tonight, so-"
"You're going to leave me here alone? How dare you?" Naruto smirked, before letting out a chuckle. "It's fine, you two have some fun. Just stay safe."
"Really? Thanks!" Mina shouted happily and ran for the back. "Let me get my coat!"
As she disappeared into the private back rooms, Ochako was left sitting there alone with her sensei. She let out a gulp, her face turning a bit red as she asked, "Sensei, are you really planning to stay here alone?"
"Yeah, I got some private business to take care of, taxes and stuff like that," Naruto told her while closing his establishment down. He also planned on continuing to write his next novel he planned on releasing soon. "Why do you ask?"
"It's the weekend," Ochako brought up quietly, the tips of her index fingers poking together. "I thought you would've had plans with friends…"
Hearing this brought a sad smile onto his face - something she thankfully couldn't see from behind - as he was reminded of that one girl in his life who he lost.
Concerned, shyish, but always a help…the Hyuga princess he grew to miss.
Just like Hinata, a gem of a girl. Naruto turned around to face her, an assuring smile replacing his one full of sorrow.
"You don't need to worry, Ochako. I need a little time for myself anyways. Go have fun and enjoy life a bit, you earned it."
"Let's GO!"
Before Ochako could respond properly to her master/secret crush, she got dragged by Mina at superhuman speeds as they headed out the door.
"We'll be meeting up with friends at a karaoke bar!" Mina shouted. "Our phones will be available if you need something!"
Naruto chuckled. "Sure, just stay out of trouble!"
"Later!"
"Bye!" Ochako waved off before she got pulled out like a doll from the door, and the two girls were seen walking down the street, leaving Naruto by himself as he waved them off.
Alone, he walked over to the entrance to the private quarters, and held his hand over the light switch.
Switching the light off, the dojo hall was left in the darkness.
Naruto sat alone at the dinner table, which was scattered with folders, papers, books, and pencils. One pile was his taxes ranging from property to water which he got done.
He was now working on his Menma novels, having moved on to the Chunin Exam part of his life. This was going to take some time since he had to really travel down memory lane, picking out names from the dusty corners of his mind, jutsus used, etc.
He also had to work hard to describe the characters in his story, which included former comrades and former enemies, including Gaara.
He had to confess that he felt guilty for writing his old friend down as this psychotic, unstable killer, even if he was like that before. On the other hand, he had no intention of trying to whitewash his tragic and dark past, which meant that he needed to write about him as honestly as he should.
"Gaara, just so you know, even when I'm writing this. I'll make sure your character will be remembered as what you are: a misunderstood, but good person."
Naruto had to remind himself several times to not include too much of her personal past just yet. He needed to focus on making the fight scene between Mena and Gaara as impactful as it was in real life.
*Clink!*
That small noise caused him to slowly raise his head. He stood up, his ears telling him the sound was coming from the dojo hall, which was still dark.
Whoever's breaking in here is a moron.
"Legally, they're breaking in, but I doubt they're here to steal anything."
Wait, you know who they are?
"I sensed their auras a mile ago, but I ain't going to spoil the fun. Go and greet your guests."
You old bastard.
"Kukukuku…"
Naruto could only shake his head as he closed his notebook, putting it away into a nearby drawer. Even though he had a good guess on who it could be, he still would prefer to avoid any potential spoilers for his readers, as well as to prevent anyone from finding out his identity.
Once it was safely hidden, he walked into the dark hallway, the darkness consuming his figure.
"Okay…"
Just as he was about to reach the light switch, his arm quickly shot forwards.
GRAB!
Naruto caught a foot midair that was aimed for his head. His fingers sank into its large, hairy paw that could only belong to one person.
The lights finally switched back on, it was just the person he expected to come unannounced. It was a tanned, muscular woman with a rabbit quirk that would make many men, including his deceased sensei, simp for her.
Her leg stretched out, Rumi "Mirko" Usagiyama, one of the Top 10 Heroes of Japan, invited herself in like it was her own home.
"Naruto, let's fight!"
"Nice to see you too, Mirko-chan," Naruto smiled wearily, as this was a regular thing at this point. Every time she saw or visited him she wanted to fight, but he had to decline for the most part.
"Normally I hate rabbits, but I'll make an exception for her," Kurama huffed.
"Rumi, you honestly need to stop coming in like this."
The third voice came from the entrance of the dojo, with the doors somehow being unlocked. Two women who he knew came in, with one of them being a blonde woman in a red dress and a claw-like accessory that covered one of her eyes, sharp teeth, and a voluptuous body. The other one was a light-blue haired girl with a sailor outfit who was actually the first hero that he met.
"Ah, Ryuko, Sirius," Naruto welcomed them after releasing Mirko's foot. "You all doing alright?"
Sirius nodded and answered quickly. "Yes! Thanks for asking!"
"Never the better!" Mirko exclaimed, showing some moves. "We had a bit of a busy week, but nothing that's enough for us!"
"It's good, thank you," Ryuko Tatsuma, another one of Japan's best heroes, gave a more reserved reply but looked equally happy to see him again. "We were around the block and wanted to pay a visit."
Naruto shrugged and accepted this explanation. "Sure, come in, I'll make some tea."
Warm tea steaming from their cups, Naruto and his female visitors sat around the dinner table, which was now free from clutter. Sirius had apparently brought some sweets like muffins and cake with her - something one of them definitely liked.
"Hmmm!" Mirko smiled as she had taken a bite from her blueberry muffin - something that went well with her tea. "Tastes good! Sirius, where did you get these?"
"Oh, just some bakers close by the harbor where I'm stationed at," Sirius waved her hands innocently. "It's nothing special; I got them at a good price for saving a shipment once at the docks."
"Still, these are some good sweets. Give us the address if you can," Ryuko insisted, before taking a sip from her cup of tea.
"Sure, does anyone have some paper?"
"I'll get you something to write on later, thanks," Naruto smiled, taking a muffin for himself as he set some more napkins and cubes of sugar onto the table.
"It's no problem." Sirius smiled, holding the tint on her cheeks back, she went on to take another sip of her cup of tea to hide the color.
"So, Naruto, I heard you got some new students recently," Mirko asked with a smirk. "Care to tell us who your new victims are?"
"They're mostly some friends of my students, with most of them trying for U.A.," Naruto answered. "I'm also glad to announce that Ochako Uraraka has returned."
"You mean that brown-haired gravity girl who was gone for months?" Ryuko asked, her interesting spiking. She had watched a few sessions herself and had her eye on that particular girl a few times. "I thought she quit."
"No, she just went on a hiatus due to her financial problems," Naruto explained, before letting out a smile. "I offered her the Maestro position. Full pay, personal living quarters, and every basic need taken care of."
Hearing this earned him some heartfelt reactions from the heroines. They all came to know him for his good deeds over the past year and couldn't help but feel respect and admiration for the dojo leader who helped those in need.
"You're a really good person, you know that?" Ryuko smiled.
"I do my best to help out my students," Naruto said simply. While some might've seen his close relationship to his students as being inappropriate, the ones who knew him like the three women knew that he was a father figure to his students, who came to him for not just training, but for their personal problems as well.
Ryuko had a personal reason to feel invested. She had a nephew who was born without a quirk who she sent to Naruto's classes after being approached by him during...one bad day. Naruto had helped him overcome his troubles, and ever since then she visited the dojo to pick him up.
She would be forever grateful to Naruto for saving her cousin from becoming a statistic, which was part of the reason why she visited him often.
If they were being honest, they didn't know everything about this strange, young man. Heck, for the most part they assumed he was quirkless since he never showed any particular set of powers, with his strength seemingly coming from pure technique. Regardless, they all respected him and his work, Pro-Heroes, police officers, and local members of the community alike. For someone who had only lived here for a year, he had gained quite a reputation.
"Well then!" Mirko, being her boisterous self, stood up with a cup of tea raised in her hand. "Let's make a toast to the new students, shall we? I get the feeling that this will be an interesting new year."
"I'll say," Sirius nodded. "I heard the new exam eliminated half the applicants this year - a new record."
"It's true," Ryuko confirmed. "My source also told me that a few of those students are yours, right?"
"And I can't be more proud of them." Naruto then stood up with his cup in the air. "To the future."
"TO THE FUTURE!"
CLING!
The four glasses clanged each other hard enough to chip as indeed a new year with new potential was about to face the new challenges of the future, with Naruto Uzumaki being the ones to lead the way.
Monday
Today was a big day. Today was the day that many students were headed to their new schools to make a step forward towards their future.
This was especially true to those going to U.A. High - the place where many legends were made. The mere thought of attending Japan's number one hero school was mind blowing even to those that received their letters of approval.
It was especially a big day for a certain newly employed teacher as well, who sat in an empty classroom preparing sheets of paper for each table for each of his new students.
Kitsune sat in his usual uniform and gear, his eyes shifting from the paperwork to the clock. It was still an hour away from his first class, and he could hardly wait.
The former-vigilante's hands trembled a bit, before his close friend said some encouraging words to soothe his anxiety.
"You'll do great, kid. You're already a great teacher in your dojo, so you'll do fine here as well. Never imagined you would become a teacher I'll admit, considering how much of a shithead you were during the academy."
"Thanks for the words of encouragement, Kurama," Naruto chuckled. He looked towards the window and saw that there were a few early birds already passing through the gates.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto stood up from his seat.
"Show time."
- End of Chapter 6 -
Omake - Why North Koreans?
"So why North Koreans?" Mirko asked.
It was a question that was brought up out of the blue during the meeting regarding the new proposed exam. They were all done with their paperwork and the meeting was over, which left behind a group of U.A. High staff members just hanging around.
"Well, it was a pick out of a variety of choices, to be fair." Kitsune answered. "Mr. Walker's first go to were the Nazis, but Mr. Light figured it was too stereotypical and wanted something more unique."
"So why not the Russians during the Cold War?" All Might asked.
"Oh, they were mentioned too, but there were others on the list," Kitsune began to list off. "We got Somali Pirates, Middle Eastern terrorists-"
"Is that why we got some angry letters?" Midnight huffed. "That's just ridiculous if you ask me. I mean, why are they pissed that we're using actual historic and modern-day bad guys to represent the bad guys in the exam?"
"Maybe it's because deep down they admire them and see them as an accurate representation of those kinds of people?" Ryuko scoffed. "Which, by the way, speaks volumes about their characters and not ours."
"It is pretty sus to be on the bad guy's side, especially when they have little to no redeemable qualities," Present Mic agreed.
"On top of that, Mr. Walker himself is actually Korean, so he himself was okay with the idea of North Koreans being replaced by Nazis," Aizawa added. "Mr. Light himself is part Turkish and Moroccan, so it's not like the alternative choices were pulled out of nowhere."
"The Armenian Genocide," Recovery Girl muttered under her breath.
"...I'll admit that the Japanese Imperial Army from WW2 was on the list as well," Kitsune added. "But in the end they settled for the North Koreans. Looking back on it, I sort of wish the Imperial Army was used. You know, just to really hit the lesson home about what people can be."
"So in conclusion, can we agree that anyone who got salty over the choice to use North Koreans as the bad guys are pretty sus themselves," Present Mic asked.
"Aye," everyone agreed.
"Oh yeah, but what about the part about you hating communists?" All Might suddenly threw in. "Some of the letters did include that bit."
"Oh? Am I not allowed to have personal opinions of my own?" Kitsune shrugged. "I mean, people talk smack about capitalists all the time, so why are communists not okay to hate? Besides, historically speaking, every society eventually comes back to capitalism anyways, so it's not like it's something that can be avoided. I mean, ask North Korea, China, and Russia."
"It is pretty odd how the Chinese government calls themselves communists when there's plenty of capitalism going on," Recovery Girl added as she drank from a cup that clearly read, "Made in China."
"Not to mention where the fat pig of a dictator Kim's getting his food and weapons," Kitsune scoffed. "His people starve, yet he somehow figures out where to get all the weapons, funding for nuclear weapons, and more food for himself and his loyal circle."
"Let's not forget how he's China's bitch," Present Mic grinned. "Without China's support, they're literally one fuck up away from finally losing the Cold War, so when Pooh Bear says shut up, he'll hush up."
All Might sighs after hearing all of this. "Let's just hope nobody's going to make stupid assumptions about Mr. Light and Mr. Walker."
"You know that there will be morons who'll accuse them of being some sort of Alt-right morons," Kitsune stated, remembering the PM messages Mr. Light got from some people. "Funny how they're both pretty far away from that side of the political spectrum."
"I believe we've made it very clear now." Sirius stated, hoping to calm things down now. "Let's just all leave it to this now because we're just ranting now."
"True."
"Yeah."
TBC
Hope you all enjoyed it, and we wish you all a good day.