Chapter-96

When the sun came up, Izuku in the Midoriya house started his day with push-ups for about thirty minutes. After that, he showered and found his mom making breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning, Izuku," Inko smiled while cooking scrambled eggs with bacon. Izuku, grabbing the newspaper, returned to the dining room.

"Morning, Oka-san," he said, looking at the newspaper. He usually checked the news on his phone, but newspapers were more reliable. Reading the front-page headline, he got upset.

Big problem for Uzumaki Naruto?

Yesterday, a terrorist attacked a construction company led by Isao Toho, almost killing him and leaving his daughter Yumi paralyzed. Uzumaki Naruto, a student at UA, is linked to this attack and the explosion that killed the terrorist Nobu, an international villain.

"..." Izuku sighed, thinking about what he read. Flipping through, he found another headline.

Gang Fight in Kyoto?

Last night at the docks, a gang fight killed members of the German mafia. Authorities warn of a possible new villain similar to 'the hero killer.'

"..." Frowning, Deku closed the paper. "Could these incidents be connected?" he wondered. While lost in thought, his mom set the table.

"Izuku?" Inko looked concerned at her son.

"Oh, sorry, Oka-san. I was just thinking, that's all," Izuku replied, hiding the newspaper to spare his mom from worrying.

….

The hours passed, and now Deku was at UA checking the results of the written exams. He secured the 5th position, not giving it much thought. Glancing at his 'Sensei,' he noticed the teacher placed 21st, seemingly unconcerned about being last.

"Everyone has passed, congrats," Aizawa said lazily, announcing the practical test in an hour. The students chatted happily, while Naruto and Deku, among others, left. Deku followed his teacher, seeking answers.

Naruto walked through UA with a tired look, ignoring everything. "Sensei?" Deku, with a worried expression, asked if everything was okay.

"No," Naruto replied. He climbed the stairs to the roof, annoyed. Deku handed him a newspaper.

"There have been attacks on crime bosses lately," Midoriya explained. Naruto, uninterested, crumpled the paper and tossed it aside.

"..." Naruto sat, watching clouds in the cool autumn day. Deku, frustrated, confronted him. "I know about your workplace incident. I'm sorry. But whatever you're doing, it's not right."

"You're still naive, Midoriya," Naruto laughed dryly, standing. "Your childish hero dreams won't come true. This world is messed up."

"What are you trying to say?" Deku faced Naruto, refusing to back down.

"That your dream won't come true. This world is full of violence, and you can't save everyone," Naruto replied. In a fit of anger, Deku threw a punch, but Naruto barely reacted. "While you wear your green suit, I ensure villains never get up again."

"That's not your decision! Everyone you kill has a family!" Deku shouted. A tense silence followed as they locked eyes. Deku, trembling, challenged Naruto.

"Do you know something, Midoriya?" Naruto approached with a dark look. "While you're playing hero, I make sure those villains never hurt anyone again."

"That doesn't make it right. We can't decide who lives or dies." Deku, defiant, confronted Naruto, hoping to make him reconsider.

"Tell me why?" Naruto shrugged, wanting to end the debate.

"Because everyone has goodness within. Even you have goodness; you don't have to do this," Deku pleaded, trying to reach his troubled friend.

"That's where you're wrong. I've seen it millions of times, people who make the same mistake over and over again. If they kill an innocent person just for money or because they wanted to, they'll do it again. If they rape, they'll do it again. Do you think that people like them should continue making the same mistakes, harming innocent people along the way? No, I would not allow something like that, and I will kill all those who deserve it." Naruto said firmly, taking a sip from his drink and putting the bottle away. With a sigh, he met the green-haired man's gaze.

"What if someone wants to give you what you deserve?" Deku asked cautiously, looking seriously at the blonde. "If anyone thinks you deserve death?"

"Well, I better not fail."

Without knowing what else to say, Izuku could only lower his head. All this talk was too much for him; it was impossible to understand someone like Uzumaki Naruto without living firsthand through everything that happened. As the minutes passed, an arid silence formed in the place, broken by the shinobi who spoke again.

"One last piece of advice... You are just one step away from being what you hate and fear the most. Do you think that 'villains' only come out of nowhere? No, some of them have lost things; this world has even taken everything from them. If you have nothing, why would you care to follow the rules that society imposes?" He asked seriously, watching the brat tremble like a leaf caught in the wind. "You're just one bad day away... where you can lose your friends, your loved ones, your family, to be like me, sooner or later. Everyone ends up like me..." Now turning his back on Deku, the shinobi walked to stand at the edge of the building to look down.

In silence, Midoriya used his sleeve to wipe away his tears. Turning around, he ran off the roof, leaving the shinobi 'alone.' Only to see that behind one of the ducts that protruded from the ceilings, a person came out.

This was Ibara, who was wearing her school uniform and carrying her Bible in her hands. With an annoyed look, she squeezed her holy book, focusing her eyes on the back of the blonde who was at the edge of the building. "That wasn't necessary," she spoke for the first time. She had been observing the shinobi for a few weeks now.

"Look who deigned to talk to me." With a frown, Naruto turned around to cross his arms and look directly at the vine-haired girl. "To what do I owe this honor?" he asked sarcastically, dropping to sit on the edge of the building to pull his bottle of liquor out of his jacket and take a big sip.

"I come here in my free time to read." With a softer look, the girl noticed the small circles under the blonde teenager's eyes and his tired appearance, which gave him the appearance of not having slept for a long time. "I... I'm sorry for ignoring you. These days, it's just me."

"I'm not interested." Interrupting the girl, Naruto took off his jacket to throw it along with his tie. He didn't even flinch before the hurt look of one of the few people who was interested in him. "I'm not interested in what you or others think. Other than that, I'm tired of playing 'heroes' with you and wasting time." Growling, he turned around to turn his back on the vine-haired teenager.

"I knew what happened to... your boss and his daughter. I'm really sorry-"

"I'm already sick of hearing that damn phrase! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Naruto shouted unexpectedly, making Ibara jump and take a few steps back. "I always hate it when people apologize for things they don't understand, only doing it out of pity, wanting to make the poor devils who cross their paths feel better." Leaving the edge of the building, he headed for the door to leave.

"You're an idiot!" That scream coming from the Christian girl made Naruto stop at the door and close it slowly. This didn't matter to Ibara, who was furious. "I'm tired of your attitude! You're rude, distant, you crush hopes of others, you are violent and a complete idiot! Don't you see the people who care about you want to help you?!" Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the shinobi to take him by the shoulder and make him look at her face to face. "But you push them away like you don't care in the slightest! You don't understand; we just want-!"

"You're the one who doesn't understand." Returning the gaze, the Uzumaki kept his cold gaze but with a frown. "Did I ask them to approach me? Pretend we're friends? Ibara Shiozashi... I remind you that you're just a brat who believes in your invisible self that doesn't even exist. You think you see the light in people who are already lost in the darkness. You are just a little girl praying for a better tomorrow that will never come." Losing his composure, the blonde took a step forward, making the girl who was struggling not to cry step back. "..." Looking away, the shinobi avoided seeing how the teenager was trembling. "If that's all, I'm leaving."

"No!" Naruto turning around saw how a wall of those green vines surrounded him and trapped him to push him against a wall. "I'm sorry for everything that's happening to you! But that doesn't give you the right to be a cretin who despises people who care about you!" Ibara shouted, unable to contain the tears that fell down her cheeks. She was fed up with this wall that separated them both. Looking up, she saw how the strands of her hair were cut by dozens of rays that were born from the blonde teenager who was freed from his hair restraints. "Please just tell me what's happening..." This time the girl tried to approach the shinobi peacefully, but he only gave her an annoyed look.