Chapter 76 - The Perfect Monster

Class was different.

It was kind of awkward for everyone, knowing that two of their classmates had actually become pro heroes and gone on some super secret mission that they were refusing to talk about. Momo flinched, actually flinched, when she had been asked what had happened on the mission. Cool, calm, and collected Momo flinched, a show of fear and emotion so strong that it created a physical reaction in her body. She was the one that had, during the tournament, actually damaged to do the most damage to Naruto, and had gotten an up close and personal view of a bloody body that she herself caused. The trauma that she must have faced, and the fact she had was going to be taking off her final class at the end of every day to go and meet a pro hero to help her deal with this mental issue was frightening.

Naruto, who handled trauma his entire life, was handling this... about the same as what he usually did.

Bottle it up.

'He was the direct cause of his sister's death... and she had been placed in connection with the destruction of that city overseas... her Quirk and involvement was kept a secret to protect Naruto's future... but all his life he believed that his mother killed them... and... and now he's the killer he thought her to be.' Toshinori couldn't even imagine how bad Naruto must feel, just the knowledge that Naruto was in this cycle of pain was unbelievable. He felt bad that both children had such horrible stuff happen on that horrible mission, but he was also kind of glad.

They were bad in school with their friends now, more experienced because of what they went through, and a step closer to truly being ready.

Momo was a step closer to mental maturity.

Naruto was a step closer to humanity.

It was his own fault that Naruto was this way, when Naruto first spat out his Tama and started to awaken his Quirk... he had made sure that Naruto could become a hero and groomed him for that. He never took the time to help his nephew grow as a human being, he had only ever tried to make Naruto become a hero, in order for him to be able to live a life outside of hate and discrimination for a Quirk he couldn't help but he born with.

Naruto was already a hero.

He wasn't human though, not yet, but he was getting closer.

Toshinori smiled as he watched Naruto going through training with the other students once more, today was a semi-field training, the last of this type of training before the students all took their final tests of the semester. Naruto and Momo were both exempt from the tests, having just come back from something horrible like that wouldn't help them during the tests.

He and Naruto locked eyes as Naruto carried the "injured" Izuku over to Recovery Girl, who was so kindly helping with the simulation.

"Good! Now, Midoriya-kun, why don't you go and get Asui-chan and you two practice together! I wish to speak with Naruto... Uzumaki-kun for a second!" Toshinori shouted out, forgetting that he needed to be as impartial to Naruto during class as he could, but remembering at the last second.

Both as a teacher, and as a family member, he needed to check and make sure that Naruto was okay.

"O-okay?!"

Naruto knew what this was instantly.

"I'm fine... you heard what she was like, I did the world..." Naruto couldn't even finish the sentence without pausing, and gripping his fist.

What Naruko did didn't matter.

She was his sister, a sister he never got to know, and their lives could have turned out so differently. If he had been taken away and raised as a villain, he could have been in her shoes. She and he were just the same, but they just chose different paths. She sacrificed her humanity, in order to sink into the bloodlust inside herself, and become a villain. She was a monster, through and through, with not a speck of goodness left in her heart.

He was the same.

He had sacrificed his humanity, in order not to become a bloodthirsty monster, and become a hero and protect everyone. Being a good person didn't mean that he was any less of a monster than she was. Where she had a weak will and gave into her bloodlust, his will was too strong, and he surpassed all things that stood in his way. She was the perpetual failure, never succeeding in overcoming personal challenge... he was a perpetual success, never failing to overcome himself and surpass his limits.

Because they were both monsters, he could see where she could have been different, he didn't mourn her loss. She was better off dead, but the fact that he himself killed her via his actions... no... he shattered her Tama... he killed her with his own two hands. One monster killed another monster, but he understood her, he could understand why she was the way she was. She was his sister, his flesh and blood, and if she was alive... so was Menma.

"... a favor? Naruto, villain, hero, or civilian... she was your sister, and you're allowed to mourn her. We don't chose our family." Toshinori spoke so that nobody but Naruto would hear him.

...

"We do chose our family, you chose to take me in as your nephew, and I chose to accept you as my uncle. We're family. I chose to rescue Eri, and become her family... and she chose to see me like a father-figure... which is what I will become. We're family now." Naruto didn't agree with Toshinori in the slightest. Their private talk did draw some attention, but the other students were far enough away that they wouldn't hear what was being said.

Toshinori felt his heart hurt for Naruto, but there was pride there too.

Those words were accurate, and deep.

"Still... take a few days off school, properly mourn your sister. You're the only person who will mourn her, criminal or not, she was your blood." Toshinori knew he was asking a lot from Naruto.

Naruto looked at him.

"... I can't honestly mourn her, I'm not ready yet."

"... Mom killed a lot of people when she rampaged, and Dad killed Mom... Naruko killed tons of people, and I killed her... Dad was killed by Mom... Mom didn't lose control though, she was forced... she didn't kill Naruko or Menma, they were taken... I could have been taken like them... I could have been like Naruko..." Naruto turned to look at Toshinori with eyes that were blood red, as if he were using his Quirk. "I'm a monster, just like her, I'm a monster that the world has labeled a hero. Until the day I stop being like her, I shouldn't mourn her." Naruto told his uncle with his eyes becoming blue again.

"You're not a monster, you're a-"

"Not even you see me as a human being."

Toshinori stopped talking, stunned by those words.

"My classmates don't see me as a human being anymore either. Look at me, look at how strong I've gotten in such a short period of time. If I fought them, all of them at the same time, would I even need to use my Quirk to win?" Naruto asked as he looked at his fellow students training together to rescue the injured.

Bakugo had been right.

During the tournament, Naruto had heard what Bakugo said in anger, about how none of them were even on his radar. Bakugo had said it perfectly, he had gone into that tournament without his Quirk to test himself, but he hadn't been pushed that hard. It was nothing he couldn't handle, and he surpassed that test with ease, his classmates weren't on his radar anymore.

"... that isn't a fair comparison, you could fight a pro hero on even grounds, you've trained with Ryukyu for so-"

"If I honestly fought Ryukyu, one of the strongest heroes in the world... would I defeat her?" Naruto asked Toshinori in a tone that showed him the answer.

In these short months, his power had grown, he was stronger than even some of the top heroes. Students, and even most pro heroes, weren't even a challenge for him anymore. Every day, he was becoming less and less of a human when it came to strength.

"The others-"

"To them, I'm perfect... whatever imperfections I had at the start of school, they have personally watched as I destroyed them. Humans aren't suppose to be perfect, the only one who doesn't see me that way anymore is Momo... because she's seen me at my weakest." Naruto sighed, letting out a breath that contained so much emotion in it that it almost choked Toshinori.

He wasn't wrong.

He was to blame for Naruto being this way. He had pushed Naruto all his life to be the way he was now, to become a perfect hero that would surpass even him. Naruto had just finally come to terms with the fact that he stood on a different level than his peers.

"I'm sorry."

"... but... becoming a hero isn't my goal anymore." Naruto admitted, with Toshinori freezing. "... I'm already a hero, now my goal is different. I'm a hero who can save lives with my body, and hearts with my smile. Now though, now I'm going to work to regain my humanity... for my friends, for you, for Eri... for Naruko." Naruto spoke with a smile.

Toshinori was surprised.

"For her?" He asked, not quite sure why Naruto was doing it for her.

"We're monsters, if I can become human... then that means Naruko could have become human too. I can mourn her, not as a monster, but I can mourn the person that Naruko could have been." Naruto smiled at his uncle, who smiled back at him.

He felt something stronger, watching Naruto for the first time truly grow as a person enough to admit that he lacked something everyone else had. Unlike most people who gave up their humanity, Naruto was the first person that Toshinori had ever seen try and get it back, not for himself, but for those that needed him to be perfect.

The school's alarms started to go off, showing that somebody was breaking into the school, and within moments of the alarms going off the gate around the school came crumbling down, shattered by a powerful attack that knocked most of the students off their feet by the power of it.

Villains.