Chapter 7

Bakugo could feel tons of eyes on him. His scowl intensified. Why could he not even enjoy a simple lunch without everyone annoying him? Was that really too much of a problem for these no good extras?

"Hey, ummm, Bakubro? Are you feeling alright? You kinda look like, well, you know... kinda like you're planning the downfall of all society."

What the hell did that even mean? He was in a perfectly good mood, all things considered.

"He's been grumpy all day, so let's not blame our visitor explicitly for Blasty's bad mood, okay guys?" Pinkie was talking like he wasn't even there; it pissed him off. A lot.

"I, uh, think I'm gonna sit somewhere else today?" Pikachu quickly left the table, and Bakugo could breathe a sigh of relief that much had happened. Before much longer, it was just himself, Pinkie, Spiky-Hair, and...

"Kacchan, ummm, I was wanting to talk to you about that text you sent me?" Deku's voice sounded as weak and pathetic as ever.

Great, he could barely manage to endure a normal day surrounded by typical idiots, and now Deku was here. Just looking at the freckled loser sitting across from him made his right arm want to throw a hook. Thinking on it, he supposed he had set himself up for a day of Hell on Earth by planning to have Naruto and Deku around him after school. It would have been nice for the annoyances to wait until after school, but he should have known he was never so damn lucky.

"Thought I was pretty clear." Bakugo said between gritted teeth. "After. School."

Deku pulled out his phone, at least looking a little bit serious. "Well, I wouldn't call it clear. Just some sentence fragments and some... unnecessary language. I think I understood what you were asking, though. I mean..."

"MUTTER AND DIE!" What had he let his life become that he knew ahead of time whenever that damn nerd was about to start muttering.

"Wait," Spiky-Hair said, obviously confused, "Bakubro, what I'm hearing is that you texted Midoriya? That's a little weird for you, something going on?"

Shit, now Kirishima was involved. Talk about something he didn't need. Hard-head was definitely not going to be even slightly helpful and listening to all that bro talk between him and Naruto was not happening. Pinkie was looking at him curiously as well. As if there was any reality where he needed that duo of idiots looking out for him. This was not an annoyance he wanted to add on to what was already sure to be a shitty day.

"If you leave me alone, I might tell you about it later. Now get the hell away from me, both of you," he said toward Pinkie and Spiky-Hair.

Spiky-Hair gave him a reluctant look but Bakugo returned it with a scowl. After another moment, the guy actually left, Pinkie following him with a roll of her eyes. They were definitely going to pester the hell out of him later, but at least later wasn't right now.

"You know Kacchan, they're really good friends. Maybe..."

"Deku, if you think for a second that I care about listening to your damn advice on friendship, then holy shit you're even dumber than I thought."

Deku flinched backwards slightly; Bakugo's scowl deepened. "R-right, of course. A-anyway, what exactly did you want me to do anyway? I don't think I really understand just from your text."

Bakugo's eyes rolled automatically. "Don't waste my time, Deku. Just tell me whatever you found out so this torture ends."

Deku had the gall to look bewildered. "What do you mean whatever I found out? I didn't know I was supposed to be investigating him for you or anything. You could have just told me that Kacchan, you don't need to be so... so... vague."

Not exactly feeling up to getting life advice from a lifelong loser, Bakugo clenched his fists as he sat up straighter in his chair. "Listen here, Deku. I wasn't asking for your damn advice. Naruto is associated with Hokage, and Hokage is a major hero with a mysterious side. I know for a fact that you searched his name as soon as you went home yesterday and probably checked a bunch of old articles for mentions of a sidekick. You're still a damn fanboy. So even if everything was fucking useless, you're better off telling me whatever the hell you found out than trying to lecture me, got it?"

The Nerd had the decency to nod and start looking at his phone. Bakugo simply sat there in silence until Deku spoke. "I was pretty sure that I never heard anything about Hokage having a sidekick so I didn't really bother with that. He introduced himself as Naruto Uzumaki, so obviously it was pretty simple to start by searching that. If, uh, you actually care, I'm not sure why you didn't look it up earlier?"

"He only ever mentioned a last name yesterday, talking to you. Moving on."

"Right. So, at first I figured I might not get any results when I searched him online. Naruto could have been an alias or something, it's not really a normal name huh? But the first result was pretty simple. You remember the Chunin Tournament, right Kaachan?"

"Vaguely."

"Huh? How can you say that! We used to always say we were going to enter..."

"What does any of this have to do with anything, Deku!" Seriously, damn Nerd needed to find a point and stick to it.

"I... was getting to that." And now why did the green-eyed loser sound so damn dejected? Stupid Deku wouldn't have even been allowed to enter the Chunin Tournament without revealing that quirk of his anyway. "You remember how the Chunin Tournament was a quirks-allowed sparring exhibition for kids ten to sixteen, right?"

Deku talked to him like he was still four years old. It couldn't piss him off more. "Spare me the history lesson."

"But you said..."

"Just get to some kind of point Nerd!"

"Someone posted a video of his last fight in the Tournament; it was actually the last complete fight in Chunin history, though, since the next competitor severely injured a lot of spectators and even a few heroes."

"Shitshow tournament was dying anyway." Participation had been going down, larger networks stopped covering it due to ten year olds getting curb stomped. The national spotlight was dead; he hadn't even been planning to enter it anymore by the time it was finally canceled.

Deku just looked at him in a confused way before standing up briefly and walking around the table to take a seat beside him. Despite Bakugo's growling and definite size advantage, Deku did not appear particularly intimidated. Even so, he obviously knew better than to say anything and simply held out the phone as the video began playing. Bakugo looked at the title; 'Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga, Chunin Tournament Final Bracket Round 1 Fight 3.'

Apparently the short pipsqueak in a crazy orange and blue jacket with green goggles was Naruto. Pretty much immediately, it was obvious that his opponent was a better fighter. As in, before the fight had even started because they seemed to be talking. Other guy had a crisp fighting stance, while that blond moron just stood around. After a few moments, the fight finally started. Naruto clumsily charged in, trying a few punches before immediately getting his ass kicked by a few finger touches that must have been related to the other guy's quirk.

Bakugo started to think he really had completely wasted his time and that the moron was completely worthless after all, those brief moments of seeming competence merely some sort of illusion. It was apparent that the other fighter was simply very good in close quarters and Naruto didn't have any long range attacks in his arsenal. That fact, combined with Naruto's total lack of actual technique, made the conclusion seem obvious. But then, with a very familiar trick, Naruto suddenly gained a numbers advantage over his opponent.

The fight turned out to not be so boring after all. Even though his opponent was a superior fighter, somehow, Naruto kept going with just enough intensity to make it seem like he had a chance. Pulling out trick after trick, doing anything in his power to pull out a victory even against those odds. However, eventually, that damn idiot finally took one too many hits and was down for the count, lying in the dirt that made up the large outdoor arena. For whatever reason, Bakugo could not help but feel the slightest bit disappointed.

"Wow, what an amazing fight, huh Kacchan? I think I figured it out - that Neji guy has a quirk that allows him to completely shut off nerve points with just a touch from his fingers. Naruto, though, I don't know what his could be..."

"Deku, shut the..." Bakugo was interrupted by a loud stir from the crowd in the video. They both looked back down, just in time to see the Naruto that had been lying down in obvious defeat disappear in smoke as the real deal jumped out of the ground and delivered a vicious uppercut. The surprise of the attack was enough to knock his opponent unconscious and, just like that, that blond moron had somehow defeated an opponent that was clearly superior.

"Oh, look at that! Kamui Woods and Mount Lady are at it again! It's amazing how much they've moved up the rankings, and in such a short time too! It seems like just yesterday that Mount Lady made her debut and she's already done so much more than a lot of heroes ever do."

This whole thing was already getting on his nerves, and they had only just gotten to Musutafu. His plan had been that Deku would ask Naruto a bunch of questions and that Naruto would let out more information, but so far, whatever nonsensical bullshit the two had talked about had been completely pointless drivel. And now that moronic Deku was distracted by a wall of TV screens at the front of a store.

"You really know a lot about heroes, don't you Midoriya?"

Nothing Deku said was especially informative; he himself didn't give a shit about Mount Lady and could have probably said similar gibberish if he wanted.

"Damn Nerd's been a hero fanboy his entire life."

Deku had the decency to look embarrassed. "I just spent a lot of time studying heroes since I always wanted to be one. Guess it's not really a switch I can turn off; it's just so amazing how much they risk themselves to save others, ya know?"

Bakugo's eyes rolled instinctively at the typical repetitive hero talk coming from Deku.

Naruto chuckled. "Man, studying? What kind of future hero wants to study other heroes. You should've been out practicing. I know it must have caused some damage with that quirk of yours, but after that Sports Festival performance I think a little more training would have done wonders for you!"

Bakugo clearly remembered saying that Deku hadn't used a quirk until high school back in Konoha. And judging by Naruto's reaction at that time, it hardly seemed like something that would be quickly forgotten, even by him.

"Well, ummm, yeah, it was dangerous, ya know? Hey Kacchan, where are we heading anyway?"

He hadn't thought much about it but he knew the direction that his feet were carrying him. One of the places that helped him survive all those annoying parasites from middle-school. Or at least helped them survive him.

"Arcade."

"Oh okay, that's right down the street!" Deku said, uselessly.

"An... arcade? Huh, ya know, I've never actually been to one of those. I'm in!"

Arcades were the only decent form of entertainment to be found in the hell-hole known as Musutafu. Everywhere else was a haven for the insignificant losers of the world to try to feel better about themselves. Nobody goes to an arcade to try to lose themselves in a different world or any of that shit. There were only two purposes: destroying the opponent's scores or defeating them head-to-head in a game of skill.

Deku looked confused. "Really? Never? Where did you and your friends like to go then?"

"Oh, actually, well I wasn't really all that popular as a kid. And it's not like orphans are..." Naruto paused then, eyes widening slightly. It lasted only a split second, just long enough for Bakugo to take notice. He was sure Deku noticed too. Of course, Deku would think the pause was due to Naruto not wanting to talk about being an orphan. The reality was that Naruto had slipped again. The only problem was that he couldn't think of any particular reason that the blond being an orphan should be important.

Moron continued. "Well, they're not exactly known for having a bunch of money, ya know?"

"Oh geez, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything like that up!" Deku quickly apologized, though it was met only by Naruto laughing loudly and shrugging it off.

It wasn't long after that they entered the Mohoshi Family Arcade. Most arcades were dumps where the kids would make a mess of everything they could get their grimy hands on. Old Man Mohoshi, on the other hand, was a tough old bastard that would run out any kid that dared to leave their gum anywhere but the trash and kept the place clean.

Bakugo glanced over at Naruto, who was wearing a look of genuine awe at the sight of all the games. Looks like the blond hadn't been lying after all. Why the hell anyone would lie about going to an arcade, he didn't know, but at this point he wouldn't put it past the guy.

They exchanged a few thousand yen a piece for some coins, and Bakugo immediately knew the best game to play. Was it the best because it would help him figure out what the hell was up with Naruto quicker than any other game? Hell no; it was the best because All-Might's Super Smashdown Revisited was obviously superior to every other machine in the place, and he'd absolutely be willing to fight anyone on that subject. It was an old game that had been in the arcade for as long as he'd been alive, but it damn sure had better fighting mechanics than any of the newer ones. Plus, All-Might wasn't made a total weakling just to match up with all the other heroes like he always was in newer fighting games.

"Which of you losers dies first?" It had been a while since he had been to the arcade but he knew he was still more than capable of wiping the floor with either of them.

"Midoriya gets to be your first victim, Bakkun. I'll get a look at how things work so I can take you down after!"

"M-me? Well, it's actually been a while since I've been to an arcade. I've been so busy with school and..."

"You think I haven't been, Deku?!" Seriously, as if he was spending his time making random arcade visits instead of focusing on his own work or training. How the hell did that nerd always manage to make him so angry?

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant Kacchan! Really!"

He rolled his eyes, before glancing back over his shoulder and realizing that Naruto had already vanished. Somewhat curious, he looked around and saw the blond staring down a row of crane machines. So much for learning the game... seriously, how could that guy be so easily distracted?

"Whatever Deku." He placed his coins in the machine, bringing up the character select screen as Deku did the same.

"So, this Naruto guy is really interesting isn't he? He must be, if you want to know more about him."

"Nothing but a damn pest." The two of them selected All-Might, meaning the fight was going to be a mirror match.

"I think he's hiding something but you probably have a better idea about that than me."

"Not a high bar to clear, clueless Nerd."

"If I'm so clueless, why'd you invite me?"

"Deku, the entire fucking reason you're here is that he forgets to stay in-character because you are so damn clueless! Don't get the wrong idea just because being naive as all hell happened to be useful for once."

The match began, and there was a blissful silence. It had been a long time since he played and that damn Deku surprisingly went on the offensive, basically just button-mashing like a total idiot at the beginning of the fight and causing him to lose a ton of health. Even when he finally got used to the game again, his health was already low and Deku was also remembering how to do a few of the harder to block combos. Taking the offensive, he managed to make things close before Deku landed a Delaware Smash which definitely only hit because of a bug where All-Might's hit box expanded two pixels during certain animations.

The fights were a best-of-3 series. Bakugo stood up straight with a scowl on his face; there was absolutely no way he was about to lose to Deku again. Hell, it wasn't even fair to call that a loss! It was just luck! This time, as the fight started, he was already at his absolute best. Deku didn't get nearly as many lucky hits this time and, even if that damn Nerd knew how to exploit the openings in certain combo sequences, he managed to win with over half his health. Looking over, he could see Deku completely focused. It made his scowl deepen even further.

The third fight was an all-out battle. While there were a lot of smaller hits, both of them were doing everything they could to avoid getting hit by the heavy combos which did a lot more damage than standard attacks. By the end, both of their faces were inches away from the screen. With both their health low, it made sense to play it safe. Instead of being a total coward, Bakugo decided to go for a final Delaware Smash. He couldn't believe it when Deku did the same thing at the same time and could only watch as the two All-Mights went down.

"Draw!" The machine said, clearly with a death-wish. Such bullshit! If Deku hadn't gotten so damn lucky in that first fight then it wouldn't have ever come down to that! And that meant the series as a whole was a draw, which was stupid as hell since there should obviously be some kind of sudden death round but the developers apparently had one brain cell split between the whole group and never thought of it.

"Wow, that was fun Kacchan!" Bakugo turned toward the green-haired brat, seething, about ready to end him once and for all.

"Sheesh Bakkun, I don't have any idea what all that was, but I'm ready to give it a go!"

Bakugo looked behind him, and in a moment his seething rage was overtaken by confusion. Naruto was there, smiling super brightly. "What the..."

"Umm... what's that, Naruto?" Deku was also confused. With good reason.

Naruto only smiled wider, before holding an extremely large stuffed frog above his head. "Behold! The great Toad Chief, Gamabunta!"

"Hah, what the hell is that thing! Seriously, who would ever want such a ridiculous frog!" Honestly, what a ridiculous sight! Then he looked over, and saw that damn Deku staring at him wide-eyed. "What the hell, Deku? Don't tell me you'd want that stupid frog too!"

Naruto shoved the nerd out of the way before he could answer. "He is not a frog, Bakkun! He is THE Toad Chief, and I'm gonna make sure you treat him with proper respect. Can you hold him for me Midoriya?"

"... Sure thing." Bakugo couldn't help but laugh as he saw that gigantic frog in the pipsqueak's arms, easily blocking out the Nerd's entire body from the eyes down to the waist. "How, umm, how did you get this? I know there's nothing like this in the crane machines..."

"Oh, after I won a few things from those, I hit the jackpot twice on one of those other games since I was still waiting on you two. And that's how I managed to get him from the top shelf at the prize store! Mohoshi-san said that it's been there for years, just waiting for a customer like me."

"Yeah, just waiting for an absolute idiot with no damn taste." Even though those people roamed the streets of this city in ridiculous abundance, apparently none of them had ever managed to afford such a ludicrous prize. The two of them put their coins in, taking them to the character select screen. Bakugo glanced over, seeing a look of bewilderment on Naruto's face.

"No Hokage?" Naruto asked.

Deku answered quickly. "No, he's not officially ranked and they didn't really want to make a moveset for him." What a fanboy.

Naruto just sighed. "Oh well. Guess I'll pick All-Might too then. Might as well make sure this is a fair match!"

"Oh, forget that," Bakugo said, with a devilish sneer, "this is definitely not gonna be a fair match. I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!"

The first fight went exactly how he expected it would. A complete and total beatdown as Naruto tried to learn the controls. It was now obvious that the moron had told the truth about never going to an arcade. Bakugo, of course, took no mercy on his opponent, more than willing to exploit Naruto's total lack of gaming experience. The only thing that surprised him, as he won the fight without taking any damage, was that at no point did Naruto ask him to take it easy. Glancing over, he saw the blond looking over the controls again with a very serious look on his face.

The second fight started out mostly the same, even if Naruto had already vastly improved in his control of the game. There was still a massive skill difference between the two of them, so Bakugo didn't really care that a few of his combos were being blocked and Naruto could land a few hits. In no time at all, Naruto was at the brink of defeat while Bakugo still had most of his health. That was when he suddenly got slammed into from the side, with enough force to make him take a step away from the machine. For a second, he didn't know how to react. And that second was all it took for Naruto to throw a celebratory fist in the air.

"Hah, I won a fight!"

"You damn cheater! What the hell was that!?" Seriously, the guy had bumped him while they were playing? And not just some light contact; that shit could have knocked someone out cold if they were in worse shape!

Naruto wore a challenging smirk. "Aww, I'm sorry if that hurt Bakkun!"

Getting back into position, Bakugo planted his feet firmly on the ground as the countdown started for the third fight of the series. A stupid surprise attack like that was definitely not going to work twice, he would make sure of that. And if that idiot thought it wasn't going to be repaid, then he was in for a reckoning.

The third fight started with Naruto immediately taking the offensive, only for Bakugo to block and take the momentum his way. This was met with another bump from Naruto, except this time, Bakugo was prepared for it and not rattled at all.

"You damn cheat!" He said, pushing back with force. The two of them evened out, shoulder to shoulder, swaying only slightly left or right as the sound of the game and rapid button pressing filled the air. Mixed in with a bit of growling from Bakugo. Next thing Bakugo knew, there was a hand in front of his eyes! Reacting quickly, he elbowed the offender roughly, causing Naruto to draw his arm back from the momentary wince, an action that only briefly surprised him. The guy had actually used his other hand to press the buttons while his elbow 'controlled' movement. There was only a slight reprieve before the physical shoving match resumed.

Both their health bars low, Bakugo managed to land one of All-Might's more powerful combos to draw the match to an end.

"HAHAHA, eat shit and die you loser!" Naruto's head hung low in shame from the defeat, while Bakugo felt good about overcoming all those silly tricks. There was no doubt that Naruto was a quick learner but, just like that Chunin fight he had seen earlier, the idiot thought that he would overcome their skill gap by being devious. No way Bakugo was going to let that happen.

"Kacchan... I haven't heard you laugh like this since we were kids..."

And his good mood was gone.

Fucking Deku. Bakugo had worked his entire life to become the Number One Hero, he had trained his quirk since he was four years old. What the hell gave Deku any right to tell him how to live! He was going to be the best, and he was damn serious about it, not like some useless little twerp who hadn't even bothered to work out a day in his life until high school. He didn't have time to waste if he was going to stay ahead; even this damn arcade trip was a part of his journey to the top.

All he could see of Deku were those ridiculous green eyes that wanted to lie and say 'I don't know what I just said, Kacchan, but I'm sorry!' As if he hadn't heard those things before. Bakugo's teeth grit together. Deku always treated him like someone that needed to be saved! Always! Why did everyone always try to act like he needed to change and be a damn moron all the time?

"Kacchan, I'm..."

"Just shut the hell up!" He could not possibly stand to hear any sort of apology; leave it to that Nerd to ruin one of the few places he hadn't hated in this forsaken city. He didn't bother saying anything else and just walked out of the building; it was clearly pointless and he didn't need Deku around anymore. Hadn't really needed him in the first place; just made everything slightly more convenient. Clearly not worth it.

Hands in his pockets, eyes focused forward with an angry snarl on his face, Bakugo was half a block away by the time he noticed footsteps beside him. He looked over to see an altogether too familiar idiot, holding on to a giant frog that was on his back with two legs over his shoulders like some kind of backpack.

"Ya know Bakkun, when I saw Midoriya here, I figured I would try to figure something out. Little strange trying to use an outing with a friend to do something like that, huh?"

"What more could you possibly want to know about that annoying Nerd? Just a fanboy who thinks he's better than everyone else, nothing more to it."

"You were grumbling, but you mentioned before, back in Konoha, that Midoriya was quirkless until high school. Doesn't that seem impossible to you, Bakkun?"

"Of course! That's why he hid his quirk the whole time, so everyone would treat him like he was quirkless and then he could lord it over our heads when he revealed his big secret. As if some actual quirkless loser would think he could get into UA!"

"I don't think you really believe that." Bakugo froze in his steps. What the hell was Naruto trying to say? "One of the things a prior Hokage wrote about was a villain with an extremely unique quirk. A quirk that made it possible to take someone's quirk, and give it to someone else."

A quirk really existed that could do something like that? Of course it made some sense; there were infinite varieties of quirks. But to think there was one that could just take a quirk away... and then even manage to give it to someone else... that was a ridiculous amount of power for someone to have. It was actually possible for a quirk from one person to be given to someone else?

"What happened to him?"

"Unfortunately, we don't really know. I thought that, maybe, it was possible that Midoriya had come into contact with that villain or a villain with a similar power. That'd help explain how he hadn't learned to use it without hurting himself at that Sports Festival; he didn't have time to, because it was new to him."

He almost laughed. He may have not been able to stand that damn Nerd with any fiber of his being, but the idea that Deku would be collaborating with villains was beyond insane. If All-Might so much as said 'Please, stop!' then Deku would give up every villain he'd ever met in the blink of an eye, alongside a notebook detailing each of their strengths and weaknesses, possibly alongside an illustration.

"If I know that damn Nerd there's no way he would ever work with a villain."

"Hokage and I knew nothing about him, besides the fact that he has a too familiar quirk amid some less-than-usual circumstances, and that he asked a lot of questions. Now sure, it seems pretty clear now that something else must be going on, but you can understand why Hokage would be worried about the possibility of a villain like that making a comeback."

"Whatever; it was a stupid idea. This whole day's been a waste, so now you should go back to Hokage and let him know you wasted your time."

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was wasted." Naruto's voice was somber, a strange thing to hear. "This is the first time I've just hung out and had fun with a friend in years." Then there was some kind of awkward laugh. "And, well, that prior friend kinda almost killed me. I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that, by the way."

"Guess you were wrong about your taste in friends."

Naruto only looked sadder; this was seriously starting to feel weird. "Things are going to get really bad if I was."

"I'm so sick of this mysterious bullshit! What is that supposed to mean!?"

Naruto finally perked up a bit, ending that whole sad charade he had going on. "Don't worry so much, Bakkun. If we're going to take down Akatsuki, then you'll get the full run-down eventually. But you still have a lot of school left; Finals will be here before you know it!"

Yeah, Finals were coming up soon. And he was going to make absolutely certain that he blew Deku and Half-and-Half out of the water. He remembered the offer from the day before that Hokage was still willing to train him.

"I'll train in Konoha on Saturdays," he said, gritting his teeth. He could do that much. "Better not be some convoluted route anymore." Someday, when he's the Number One Hero, all this hell he's endured will have been worth it.

Naruto smiled, ear-to-ear, making Bakugo regret his decision already. "Alright, you got it!"

beta read by: the road I know

A/N: The longest chapter of the story so far; I'll try to make sure that it stays that way. I typically limit myself to 5k for everything outside A/N, but went just a tad over in order to write everything that I felt was necessary. I particularly hope everyone enjoyed the arcade scene as I've had that in my head since before I started actually writing the fic and had a ton of fun with it.

I also hope you enjoy the confirmation of several more Naruto characters, although I will state for clarity that, yes, this chapter means there will be no Summoning. I don't quite find it fitting within the MHA universe, and the workaround to make it fit is really not worth it relative to story impact.

Thank you all for reading. Please feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review.