[The Fox and the Hare] Chapter 25 - Training Camp (Patreon)

Chapter 25 - Training Camp

"What? There are people in Class A taking extra classes? Does that mean you had people who failed the finals?"

"What? Isn't that weird? Isn't that weird? Even though class A is supposed to be way better than class B?"

Just hearing that voice made Naruto want to punch him in the face. Thankfully, he had passed his finals, but it was by the skin of his teeth. Monoma's mockery hit too close to home.

"How can that beee?" Monoma continued rattling while getting into their faces.

But just as Naruto raised his hand to smack the crap out of him, someone grabbed his arm from behind.

"Let me go, you-" he began to say, but his eyes widened in surprise at who was the one who stopped him. "Izuku?! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hehe, after the finals, I got transferred into the Hero Course!" Izuku said and made a victory sign.

"You prick, you didn't tell me anything all this time?" Naruto berated him, but his grinning face didn't fool anyone.

He knew that Izuku was planning on transferring to the Hero Course, but he thought that would not happen until the start of the 3rd semester.

"I told you I'd catch up to you!" Izuku also said with a laugh, and the two boys clasped their hands in a handshake that looked as if they were arm-wrestling in the air.

"Yo, long time no see!" Kirishima also came and said.

"You're in the hero course now! But I thought you didn't have a quirk, though?" Mashirao Ojiro said.

"Haha. I thought so too, for the longest time. It was All Might who found out what my quirk was after he saw me at the Sports Festival," Izuku said shyly while scratching the back of his head.

Catching on to what he was doing, Naruto spoke up to support his claims:

"Yep, it turns out that him going beyond his limits to access his hysterical strength wasn't that simple. That was actually his quirk."

It was the solution that the two of them had come up with to explain his quirk after Izuku told everyone at the Sports Festival that he was quirkless.

At that moment, Professor Aizawa also came together with another boy and said:

"Starting with the second semester, you will have two new classmates: Hitoshi Shinso and Midoriya Izuku. Seeing as they passed both their written exams and practical exams, it was decided for them to be together with you in this training camp as well."

"Hello. I'm Hitoshi Shinso, and I have transferred from the General Studies Course. My quirk is Brainwashing. I look forward to working together with you."

"I'm Midoriya Izuku. I was also in the General Studies Course at first. My quirk is super strength. It's nice to meet you all," Izuku also introduced himself to the class and bowed.

The unexpected addition of two new classmates hyped everyone in class A.

"Whoa, he's kinda cute," Ochaco unknowingly muttered out loud.

"Oh?! Who do you like?" Mina jumped at her right away with a shit-eating grin.

"F-Forget what I said!" Ochaco said, her face suddenly turning as red as a tomato.

"Haha! Too late! Tell me, tell me, who is it? The gloomy, smart-looking guy? Or the shy boy with green hair and big muscles?"

"Noo! Stop it!" Ochaco cried out and hid behind Kyoka Jiro's back, much to Mina's amusement.

Their rucks unwittingly attracted the boys' attention, and they all turned their heads at them.

"Oh, look, it's the girl you like. Smile, you idiot," Naruto said with a grin, elbowing Izuku in the ribs.

"Shut up!" Izuku said flustered and quickly averted his eyes from them. "Who said I liked anyone?"

"Ooh! He has a crush on one of our girls?" Kirishima said with a laugh and put an arm around Izuku's neck. "So, who is it? Is it Yaoyorozu? Everyone likes her."

"No, don't listen to him. He's always making fun of me!" Izuku said in annoyance.

"Then? If it's Mina, she's crushing badly on Naruto now, so I don't think you have any chance. Or maybe it's Uraraka? Or-"

"It's Kyoka," Naruto said, sniggering.

"So your type is the punk, rocker girl? I see you're a man of culture as well," Kaminari said with a hand on his chin and the look of a connoisseur on his face.

"Alright, pipe down everyone and get in the bus. It's time to leave," Eraserhead said, saving Izuku from being teased any further.

⁂

"Lock on with these sparkling gazes!"

"Stingingly cute and catlike!"

"Wild, Wild, Pussycats!"

Watching the two 30-something-year-old women make idol-like poses and chant such corny lines, Naruto felt a shiver go down his back. He was getting second-hand embarrassment just from looking at them.

It appeared that his best friend had a completely different opinion, though.

"Wild, Wild, Pussycats! They're a four-person hero team that set up a joint agency! They're a veteran team that specialises in mountain rescues! This year will be their twelfth year working together-" Izuku started geeking out in excitement, only for the blonde one among the two women to suddenly shout at him:

"I'm 18 at heart! EIGHTEEN! You hear that?"

[...]

Once their introductions were over, Mandalay explained:

"We own this whole stretch of land here. You will all be staying at the foot of the mountain for the duration of this training camp."

"Don't tell me…" Tsuyu said when she realised why the bus had parked on the side of the road and everyone got down when they were still so far away from their destination.

When the others also caught on to what was about to happen, Pixie-Bob unexpectedly appeared behind the group and put her hands on the ground. A massive landslide was triggered out of nowhere, and all the students of class 1-A were hurled over the cliff into the forest below.

All of them, except for one… at the very last moment, Naruto used a kunai and his wires as a grappling hook, anchoring himself to the street rail.

"As expected of the USJ hero! You're something entirely different aren't you?" the blonde Pro Hero said in excitement as she started hopping around him and looking at him from all angles. "Ah this is amazing! I can't wait to see what you'll look like in 3-4 years! Ahh!"

Creeped out by her thirsty-ass vibes, Naruto didn't wait for any explanations from Mandalay or Erasershead. Once he collected his kunai and metallic wire, he jumped off the cliff right away.

⁂ A few days later ⁂

"Sorry to say this, sensei, but I didn't come to this training camp to do dance moves and play pretend fighting."

Aizawa had a deep look on his face as he alternated between looking at Naruto and the other physical-type students that were training together with the muscular member of the Wild, Wild, Pussycats.

Taking Eraserhead's pensive look as disagreement, Naruto explained:

"The training I do on my own every day is far more intense than this. I came to the training camp to improve my quirk and get stronger. If that's all I'm going to do here, I might as well go back home and train on my own. I don't have time to waste doing things I could do even when I was in kindergarten."

In truth, it was not only Aizawa who noticed Naruto's lack of interest, the other Pro Heroes did too. But it was hard to rebuke him for it because Uzumaki Naruto's usage of his quirk's strengths, his fighting prowess, and his maturity put him in a completely different league from most of his classmates.

"As for hand-to-hand sparring with the others… nobody here is on my level."

Aizawa and Tiger's eyes started twitching in annoyance at his arrogant words but the worst part was that they couldn't refute them. Aizawa had seen it with his own eyes how strong he was in hand-to-hand combat, beating up dozens of villains to a pulp at USJ. Tiger too could barely hold his own against Naruto when they spared the previous day and anyone with a knowledgeable eye could see the fox boy went easy on him.

"Walk with me," Aizawa said and took Naruto to the side so the others would not eavesdrop on them.

As they started walking on a beaten path through the woods, Eraserhead said:

"Uzumaki, I trust you are mature enough to not get a big head if I tell you this, so I'm going to be direct and honest with you: when it comes to the way you use your quirk, your battle experience, and your behaviour in serious situations, you're already at the level of a Pro Hero. Truthfully, among the physical type Pro Heroes, I think only someone like All Might or Mirko would be able to push you beyond your limits."

"Then, why is All Might not here?" Naruto asked bummed out.

He had been looking forward to the training camp and even studied his ass out to not fail his finals in fear of missing out on it. He had thought it was going to be a great opportunity to become stronger.

"USJ and the League of Villians, and now the Hero Killer. Two of your classmates lost their lives because of the villains. At this point, it's safe to assume that they are targeting UA High and All Might. Therefore, we had to split the teachers and take only a few people in order to keep our location secret."

Naruto let out a heavy sigh.

"So what am I supposed to do now?"

"I'm sorry this camp isn't enough to challenge you. You have my permission to do the training you would normally do on your own."

⁂

It was the third night at the training camp and most of the students were exhausted but also filled with excitement and joy overall.

The training during the day was tough and pushed them beyond their limits but they were gratified knowing that their quirks would improve as a result.

Furthermore, what boosted everyone's mood, even more, was the fact that when night came, once they were done cooking their dinner and cleaning up after themselves, all sorts of fun activities were going to be held.

"This is my chance!" Mina said all pumped up. "The perfect opportunity! I call dibs on Naruto! Don't you dare get in my way!"

The other girls chuckled awkwardly at her but knew better than to try to fight her over it. By then, everyone knew that Mina was crushing on him.

But when Mina started looking for him, she realized that he wasn't there with them.

"If you're looking for Naruto, he said he'd rather train alone," Kirishima said when he saw her.

"Goddamnit! What's with him? Is he a training maniac or what?!" she yelled in frustration.

⁂

"Are you not going to participate with us in the Test of Courage?" Izuku asked.

"Sorry-," Naruto said while panting for air, "I don't have time to waste on stuff like that."

Looking at the blond who was doing one-handed pull-ups by hanging from a tree branch, Izuku let out a helpless sigh.

"It wouldn't hurt to take some rest once in a while," Izuku said. "Your classmates would like to spend more time with you."

Finally reaching muscle failure, Naruto let himself fall to the ground and massaged his exhausted forearm with the other hand.

"Man, you know as well as I do that All Might's days as a hero are numbered. What do you think it's going to happen once he loses his power completely and retires?" Naruto said seriously, and Izuku's face became solemn. "Let's be real. Endeavour is nowhere near All Might's level. It's already super chaotic as of late but once All Might retires, all these villains that are standing still in fear of All Might now will have a field day."

"I think you're underestimating Endeavour a little," Izuku said. "If we're looking strictly at the number of villain arrests and cases solved, he surpasses All Might in this regard."

"Mineta was killed by villains three months ago. Iida was killed by Stain two months ago too. Heroes die in the line of duty, Izuku. To be honest, I can't understand these guys. How can they be so relaxed and easygoing only a few months later? Especially when they're all so-... Ah, whatever."

Naruto said and gave up explaining. Although he didn't continue his words, Izuku knew what he meant to say - that his classmates were weak. But Izuku didn't think that way. It wasn't that they were weak. Naruto was the one who was abnormally strong compared to the rest.

"I'm going for a run now. Have fun at the test of courage," Naruto said, leaving Izuku behind.

A minute after Naruto's silhouette disappeared in the forest, Izuku was still rooted in his spot, thinking about his words. On one hand, on a rational level, he agreed with Naruto. But on the other hand, things were going too well in his life at the moment for him to feel a sense of urgency.

After such a long and bitter struggle, not only had he been admitted into the Hero Course, but he had even gotten the legendary quirk of his idol, All Might. And, as the icing on the cake, maybe due to his close friendship with Naruto or maybe because of his well-built body and his decent looks, his new classmates warmed up to him right away and they quickly became friends.

For the first time in his life, Izuku felt like he was on cloud 9. The prospect of being paired up with the cute rocker girl during the test of courage was the last nail that sealed his decision to go back to the rest of the class instead of following Naruto's example and continuing to train.

Izuku was not like Naruto, who had memories of a previous life and had experienced the horrors of war and the pain of losing his loved ones. On a fundamental level, their mentality was completely different.

At the end of the day, Izuku was just a regular teenage boy that had yet to experience the bitterness of life. He wanted to enjoy those moments with his friends and classmates and have fun pursuing the girl that he liked.

⁂

'This isn't enough!' Naruto thought as he shinobi-jumped through the trees at the fastest speed he was capable of.

He was taking dangerous and risky leaps in order to make his heart quake and manipulate his body into starting to secrete adrenaline, but it wasn't going the way he wanted because it was not easy for him to get anxious or scared just from something like that.

'The other solution would be pain.'

But inflicting pain on himself wasn't a smart thing to do. A small level of pain wasn't going to trigger adrenaline so if he had to stab himself in the thigh in order to make his body trigger the creation of adrenaline, then it wasn't worth it.

Therefore, he persisted in pushing his body beyond its limits. An hour later, gasping for air and with his clothes soaked with sweat, Naruto finally reached the end of his stamina. But that was only the case for his legs. Four golden chains slithered out from under his t-shirt like snakes, and, in the next moment, he started using his second quirk to swing from one tree to another in a manner reminiscent of a certain doctor villain from a comic book.

He smiled as he felt the burn in his back and core muscles. Swinging with the chains coming from his back was much harder than it looked. His entire torso was burning from the strenuous effort he had to put in to maintain his balance in the air. In addition, he also had to focus on controlling his Adamantine Sealing Chains properly and making them wrap around the tree branches instead of stabbing through them and destroying the trees.

By the time he was finally done with his training, the moon was shining brightly in the sky. As he came closer to their accommodation, his sensitive hearing could faintly pick up the screams and the laughter of his classmates from the distance, no doubt having fun with the Test of Courage.

After taking a shower and drying his fox tails with a handheld drying machine, Naruto finally let his exhausted body fall on the bed. He fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

However, right before that happened, the rather familiar feeling of itchiness on the length of his lower spine made him smile in satisfaction. His last thought as he was falling asleep was-

'My Fox Quirk might awaken again soon.'

⁂ Back to Musutafu City ⁂

"Honey, you forgot your laptop," Kushina said as she came out of the bedroom carrying a brown leather laptop bag in her hands.

"You saved me again! What would I ever do without you?" Minato said and took his wife in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.

Kushina giggled at his antics and tidied up his appearance when he let her down, fixing the collar of his white shirt and tightening his suit tie.

"Before leaving, can I get a kiss from my little princess too?" Minato said as he squatted down and opened his arms wide.

Little Eri laughed too as she hugged him and pecked him on the cheek.

"Being sent off by the two prettiest girls I've ever seen - I must be the luckiest man in the world!"

"Get going already, you goofball or you'll lose your train at this rate!" Kushina chastised him.

"Alright, alright, I'm going now. Be a good girl and listen to your mom, okay?" Minato said and gently rubbed Eri's head.

"Yes!"

"And give your best when training your quirk. If you do well, you might get a big surprise when I come back!"

"A big surprise?"

"Yes, something that you've always wanted."

"Really?"

"I promise."

"Then I will do my best!" Eri shouted as she clenched her little fist in excitement.

A little over two months passed since the Uzumaki adopted Eri into their family and the little girl was unrecognizable from the timid and traumatized vagabond she had once been. Kushina, Minato, and Naruto's love and care had made her bloom like a lotus. The girl who had never even smiled before was now laughing every day, happiness radiating in her big and innocent eyes.

⁂

"Now, it's only the two of us, girls," Kushina said.

Minato went on a business trip to the headquarters of the company he was working for, in Tokyo, and Naruto left four days ago on a training camp organized by UA High together with his classmates.

"When is Naruto-nii-san coming back?" Eri asked.

"There are still three days left."

"Oh," Eri said bummed out.

"No time for mopping around!" Kushina said, and she put her hands on her hips. "Remember what dad promised you?"

"The big surprise?"

"Yes, the big surprise. What do you think the big surprise will be?"

When the little girl seemed unsure, Kushina said:

"Hmm, let me give you a hint: It's big, it's fluffy, and-"

"A DOG? ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO BUY ME A DOG? REALLY? REALLY??" Eri yelled, unable to contain her excitement.

Kushina burst into laughter at her exuberance.

For the past two months, Eri had been training under Kushina's watchful eyes for one single purpose: to not cause any accidents with her quirk anymore. The main reason for that? Minato and Kushina promised her that the moment they became satisfied with her control over her quirk, they would buy her a dog.

"Can we go right now?"

"Oh, my! You really are hyped about it, aren't you?"

"I can't wait for dad to come back!" Eri said. "Is he really going to bring home a dog?"

"If you do well, maybe~" Kushina said teasingly.

"A big dog with fluffy fur?"

"We'll get a dog big enough for you to ride on its back."

"Can I really do that?" Eri said, stars shining in her eyes.

Mother and daughter giggled as they went hand-in-hand into the backyard of their home.

After Eri healed that boy at the playground, Kushina and Minato decided it was time for her to start practising on more complex living beings. Whereas before Eri had been practising mostly on bugs and small lizards, after that incident at the playground, she started training her quirk on chickens.

But while Kushina was watching her daughter use her Rewind quirk with great attention, ready to step in with her Adamantine Sealing Chains right away, a purple portal appeared in front of the Uzumaki's home's entrance door.

Once the purple portal grew to 2 metres in height, an inhuman being stepped out of it. It was the same individual that had facilitated the League of Villains' infiltration in the USJ, Kurogiri.

⁂⁂⁂

AN: In case you have forgotten, Izuku got to meet Kirishima and Ojiro in chapter 19 when they all went to the gym together with Naruto.