Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto Or My Hero Academia

CHAPTER 4

"Man, this is such bullshit," Naruto grumbled as he trudged down the path connecting the Unforeseen Simulation Joint and U.A. High. His spiky blonde hair was even spiker than usual, which suited his foul mood.

Principal Nezu has some nerve making me his errand boy, he thought as he glared at the dirt in front of him. The dog-bear or mouse-dog, Naruto wasn't sure what kind of animal Principal Nezu was, had cornered him before Homeroom ended, and asked that he deliver a stack of important papers to Mr. Aizawa.

As much as Naruto disliked being in General Studies, it wasn't all bad. On his first day of school, he had met someone who understood a little of what his life was like as the son of villains.

(Flashback Start)

"So, you're Quirk is Brainwashing?"

It was Naruto's first day at U.A., and he had a bit of chip on his shoulder from not being in the Hero Course. He had even contemplated not showing up at all. If it weren't for Inojin and Shikadai saying that he could definitely get into the Hero Course by winning the Sports Festival, then he'd still be home in bed.

He wasn't in a talkative mood and ignored the people who tried to talk to him. Not the best way to make friends, but he was angry at where he was. Still, when he heard a few of the other students talking to the purple-haired guy next to him, he couldn't help but listen.

Hitoshi Shinso, the guy with purple hair, was sitting quietly as the people around him talked about his Brainwashing Quirk and how it was perfect for a villain and how they could use it to get out of trouble. They even started suggesting how Hitoshi might have used it, projecting themselves and their desires onto him.

Getting free food...seeing naked girls...having their work done for them...

Naruto didn't care for the rumors at all. He'd heard enough people whispering behind his back to know how hurtful they were to hear. So he cut in, not just to help Hitoshi, but because he was genuinely curious about a Brainwashing Quirk.

"Yes," Hitoshi answered, turning toward him and away from the others. "It's not the best Quirk for a hero to have, but I still want to use it for good."

"You're listening too much into what those idiots are saying," Naruto said, pointing at the others who were walking away from them. "You've got the perfect Quirk for a hero. It'd be so easy for you to stop a villain, and you could do it without causing a single dollar of collateral damage. People would love a hero who could do that."

Hitoshi blinked in surprise. No had ever said anything like that about his Quirk before. He had never thought of it that way either.

"What are you doing in General Studies?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't score enough points during the Entrance Exam," Hitoshi said with a sigh. "My Quirk doesn't work on robots."

Naruto sucked his teeth. "Yeah, that's a bad beat," he said sympathetically. "But hey, you've got a few weeks to train and then another shot at getting into a Hero Class.

"Really?" Hitoshi asked.

"Really," Naruto answered. "If you do well enough at the Sport's Festival, you can get transferred from General Studies to a Hero Class. That's what I'm going to do."

He was lucky Shikadai and Inojin remembered because he had forgotten entirely.

"Transferred to a Hero Class?" Hitoshi repeated, there was a smile on his face. "So, it's not over yet."

"Nope, we've got one more chance," Naruto said, then he grinned. "If you're going to try and get transferred, then you better give it more than your best. I'm not holding back against anyone at the festival, and only the best of the best get transferred. So if that's your goal, then you better take the school motto and memorize. Live it. Breathe it."

Hitoshi looked up at the board where the U.A. motto was written. "Plus Ultra..." he read the words aloud.

"Hah!" Naruto laughed. "You're not going to get into a Hero Class with attitude."

He shoved and his chair back and jumped up onto his desk. His blood was flowing now, and the excitement in him was too much to contain.

"If guys like us, who started from behind since the beginning want to become Pro-heroes, then we have to work and try a thousand times harder than anyone else!" Naruto shouted, punching his fist towards the sky. "We have to go..."

"PLUS ULTRA!"

(Flashback End)

Why couldn't a teacher, or another student take the papers? Why did it have to be him? He'd rather be in class with Hitoshi than running an errand for the people who screw him over.

Naruto grunted and kicked a stone. It was business as usual for his life—wrong place at the right time.

No, that wasn't fair of him to say. Naruto hadn't exactly seen what the students of Class 1-A and 1-B were capable of. He'd only seen them around the lunchroom and occasionally outside when they were leaving or arriving at school.

He'd never seen them use their Quirk's or fight. Students got in serious trouble for doing either outside of Hero Class training.

Maybe there isn't some backroom conspiracy keeping me out of the hero course, Naruto thought as he walked. It wasn't right to discount the students who made it when he didn't even know them. For all he knew, every one of them did better than he did during the Entrance Exam.

"Today, I'll get a chance to see," he said out loud.

Not only was he going to get to see what the inside of the U.S.J. looked like. He was going to have a rare opportunity to check out the competition before the Sport's Festival. As well as confirmation on whether or not he was just being an arrogant, paranoid jerk by assuming he had more of a right to be in a Hero Class than someone who was already there.

He started up the small hill leading up to the U.S.J. About halfway up, he suddenly heard the sound of engines. Is the class already over? Naruto wondered as he hurried to the top of the hill.

"Whoa! Lookout!" he gasped, diving to the side.

A student from Class 1-A blasted past him. Tenya Iida. Naruto recognized him as the class rep for 1-A. It was easy to remember people who had distinct Quirks, like engines in their calves.

"I'm very sorry!" Tenya shouted back at him. "Villains are attacking! I must find help!"

Naruto watched him run for a moment before the dust trail became to thick to see through.

"Villains? Attacking the U.S.J.'?" he gasped, looking back at where Class 1-A must be trapped if only one student was running to get help.

Shit, I've got to help! Naruto crouched down like a rabbit, and then he was blasting off like a bottle rocket, leaving a trail of black and red lighting in his wake.

Naruto kept running until he reached the U.S.J. building. Then he slid to a quick stop, nearly slamming into the closed doors.

"I can't just rush straight in, even if there are villains in there," Naruto fumed, letting his leg muscles uncoil. He would have loved to bust through the door like a real hero, but unfortunately, that wasn't a viable option.

"If Tenya is running to get help, then that means the Pro-heroes inside are losing," he muttered, closing his eyes and using Search to scan inside.

74, villains. Nineteen students. Two heroes. Naruto opened his eyes. He had never tried to monitor so many people at once. There were so many Quirk's, and he didn't have time just to sit here and go through them one by one. His fellow students were spread apart in groups, as were the villains. Aizawa-sensei and the Pro-hero thirteen had been separated.

Aizawa-sensei's weakness caught his attention over all the others. He's really hurt, Naruto grit his teeth. Whoever Aizawa-sensei was fighting had massive base strength. Not many people without an enhancement Quirk could crush bones.

He needed to get inside and do something. Sucking in his stomach, he opened his mouth wide and spat out the ectoplasm.

The white viscous substance spilled out onto the ground in a wave before breaking off to form clones.

One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight!

Naruto dropped to his knees clutching his stomach.

"Hey, you okay, boss?" asked one of the clones.

"I'm...fine," Naruto heaved. "Just got a little stomach ache is all."

Gah, this freakin hurts! he shouted in his head. How the hell could Ectoplasm make thirty clones? He could barely make eight!

"Boss?"

"I said I was fine," Naruto snapped and pushed himself to his feet. He looked at his clones. "You guys know the plan?"

His clones nodded. "We burrow underneath the building using Earth Flow and Cement and split up."

"Good, then let's get to it..." Naruto said, panting as sweat dripped off his face. Pushing past the limit of how many clones he could make had tired him out.

I'll have to let them handle things until I catch my breath, he thought as he and his clones sank down into the holes that opened up in the ground.

CHAPTER 5

"You all know how the story goes," Naruto sang out as he popped out of the ground. "The hero arrives in the nick of time and turns the enemy into dust!"

He used the moment of stunned silence his arrival caused to survey the battlefield. Three of his peers were in the water at the edge of the lake. Aizawa-sensei was face down on the ground as a giant horrifying monster twisted his arm like it was a bendy straw.

What the hell is that thing? Naruto stared at the creature that had taken down Eraser Head. It was a giant, black humanoid monster with a very muscular body that was covered in scars. On top of its head, above its beak-like mouth, there was no scalp. Naruto could see its brain.

"Hey, hey, who are you?"

Naruto looked at the villain who spoke. He was creepy too, with all the hands covering his body, but it wasn't as intimidating as the big bird monster.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto announced, jabbing himself in the chest with a thumb. "A student from General Studies here to deliver a message to Aizawa-sensei."

"Oh? General Studies?"

Naruto could see the hand villains face, yet he felt almost positive behind the hand covering the man's face; there was a condescending look. Because, of course, a villain would look down on a student from the General Studies class.

That's fine with me. I'll take any advantage I can get. Naruto thought as the bird monster released Aizawa-sensei's arm. It stood up to its full height and let out an unnatural screeching noise.

"The message...?" hand villain asked. "What is it?"

"All Might is on his way," Naruto lied. The real message was the exact opposite of that.

He couldn't tell the villains that, though. They came here to kill All Might. Saying the Number One Hero was on his way would buy them time. Who knew what they would do if they found out All Might wasn't coming at all.

I don't know how this is all going to end, but I need to get Aizawa-sensei out of there. Naruto dropped to one knee, flicking his fingers through signs he had practiced for hundreds of hours.

He clasped his hands together, lacing his fingers to form his Serpent sign before slamming his palms down on the ground.

"Earth Flow: Super Beast Imitation!" he cried out. The ground in front of him shifted and molded itself together until three bodies had been created.

A tiger, a lion, and a dragon.

They charged forward at the bird-monster who didn't even try to dodge. It let them bite and claw, gouging out its flesh. The assault only lasted a few seconds until the hand villain, who Naruto assumed was the leader spoke.

"Nomu..."

Naruto blinked, and his creations were gone. They had been completely obliterated. He hadn't even seen Nomu move. Two beady eyes locked onto his.

Before he was even aware of it, his body moved on its own. His fingers flashed through another set of signs. His palms were pressed against the earth when Nomu vanished.

"Earth Flow: Earth Wall!"

A large wall spouted between him and the villains. Then a large hand slammed straight through it, grasping Naruto's throat in a crushing grip. He was dragged through the wall and held in the air.

"You can manipulate the ground," hand villain said, "That's wonderful, but it's nothing impressive. In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be Quirkless."

Naruto kicked at Nomu's head. He aimed for the brain, hoping it would do something, anything. Nomu didn't so much as flinch.

A dark fog-swirled into existence next to the villain in charge. "Tomura Shigaraki," the fog spoke.

"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?" Tomura asked.

"I put Thirteen out of action, but there were students that I was unable to disperse, one of them was able to escape," Kurogiri explained, his yellow eyes staring at Naruto. "This one came from outside and interfered."

Naruto stuck his tongue out as the villains turned to him. "Maybe if you guys didn't suck, you wouldn't be beaten by kids."

"Nomu...kill him." Tomura ordered.

Naruto grunted as he was smashed into the ground. Nomu held him down with one hand and reared the other back. He was right in front of Aizawa-sensei, who was looking at him in horror.

(Flashback Start)

Principal Nezu closed the white folder on his desk and looked at the teacher standing before him, wearing a large cloth scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Naruto Uzumaki..."

The photo attached to the file showed the face of a still-young boy. The eyes that stared back at Nezu, however, contained a strength that belied their owner's age.

"All involved assert that the school has never before witnessed such power. He completed the Entrance Exam with the highest amount of points ever recorded. It should have been obvious that he be put in the Hero Course."

His gaze still on the file, Nezu listened to the excessive annoyance Eraser Head was expressing, and a smile crossed his muzzle. "The decision was made above my head. It was hard even getting him into the General Studies course."

"The Sports Festival?"

Nezu hopped down from his chair. As the Principal of U.A., he carried the burden of crushing so many hopeful heroes' dreams. Being a Pro-hero was not a safe or secure career, so he had to pick and choose carefully when deciding who would be trained to become one.

The burden that he carried wasn't light, and so Nezu hated it when the humans who funded the school went over his head. Whether through recommendations that were never run by him first or when a student was barred from attending the school because of anything other than their potential to be a hero.

Ten years from now, twenty years from now...it might not be All Might's successor who was the Number One Hero. One for All was an amazing Quirk, and as the ninth user, Izuku Midoryia had the potential to grow even stronger than All Might.

Nezu turned his gaze to the world visible beyond the window of his office. Naruto Uzumaki has the same potential. Possibly even more.

With his Copy Quirk, he could become a hero who was helpful in any situation.

"U.A. will lose its credibility as the best hero school in Japan if we are seen wasting such potential..."

Aizawa nodded, agreeing with the assessment. It was irrational to keep Naruto out of the Hero Course. He had everything U.A. looked for in potential students.

"Aizawa? Tomorrow, when your class goes to U.S.J. for Rescue training, I'm going to send Naruto a few minutes after you." Nezu said. As the principal, he couldn't show such favoritism to one student by allowing Naruto to sit in on Hero Course classes.

However, if there happened to be a few papers, he needed Aizawa to sign and sent them with a student...?

"Are you sure?" Aizawa asked.

"Mr. Uzumaki seems to have a knack for controlling multiple Quirks. Other than training him, this is the best way to help him."

Nezu was taking a risk. If Naruto ever did turn to villainy, he could lose his job as principal. Perhaps it was a bit naive of him, but he liked to think that even if Naruto had villainous intentions, showing him the way to being a hero was a better choice than ignoring him.

(Flashback End)

"This is my fault," Aizawa whispered, staring at the student who would have been safe at school if not for him.

"It's fine," Naruto said with a wink.

Nomu brought his fist down, popping Naruto's head like a grape killing him in a spray of white.

AN: Pairing is undecided. There are a few girls who line up with where the story is going, so leave a review, and whichever name I see the most, I'll write her in. I might put a poll up to make things easier. The pairing won't be a huge part of the story. Just a few tidbits here and there.

TBM10: Nice guess on why Naruto didn't get into the Hero Course!

Wolfking0811: I feel weird posting short chapters, so I put two in one to make them longer. IDK why it just really bugs me posting chapters less than 1000 words.

Nacholoco: Hope this explains how Naruto didn't end up in the Hero Course!

Zoomerfish: Thank you for the awesome review, and glad you caught the similarities! I was going to put in a more direct reference with him thinking about the "Ninja Story" he is writing, and how his life was mimicking the story. In the end, I took it out, so I'm really happy that you readers got what I was going for and that I'm not just juicing Naruto up with Quirks for the hell of it.

Thanks for all the reviews!

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