Chapter 70 - The Roads We Walk (1/2)

Anger.

”That dirty little mother fuċkɨnġ ċunt! How could somebody related to... that bitch doesn't even deserve to be related to... does she even know how much... grrrrr.”

The second that Momo found her dorm room, Naruto took off the Shrinking Ray 'Shrink Ring' from his wrist and returned to his normal size, before he powered down. Momo, with a fresh change of pȧntɨės on, was just listening to him rant and rave. His face, now that the fur was gone, was blistering red with rage. She couldn't say that she understood what he was going through, she never had siblings herself, and she had never experienced a death in her family that she could remember. Naruto's rage, while she understood why he was feeling it, wasn't something she had personal experience with.

”Do you need to talk about it?” Momo asked him softly.

Her fear from earlier wasn't gone.

”I would feel more comfortable with...” Naruto muttered, thinking about Kirishima. This was the kind of stuff that he talked about with Kirishima, but he couldn't bottle this in, not when he was so close to exploding at any moment. ”... fuċk it... all my life... All my life, I've lived in fear of myself. My Mom went on a rampage when I was born, and killed both of my siblings... but she didn't apparently... I've always thought my Quirk was the Quirk that destroyed my family. But no, not only was my entire LIFE a lie, but my flesh and blood sister is a fuċkɨnġ murderer...” Naruto stomped around, and Momo noticed something about him.

His eyes, his blue eyes, weren't blue. In fact, they hadn't been blue the entire time that he transformed back, they were the same angry red that he had when he used his Quirk, including the slit pupils.

”I understand-”

”No you don't!” Naruto snapped at her for that one. His body jerked to face her, before he looked away in shame, upon realizing that he had snapped at somebody who was trying to help him. ”... Ever since I learned about my parents, I've always been afraid of myself. I knew, that at any moment, I could turn into a monster and kill everyone I love. My uncle, Mina, Kirishima, you... I could cause so much pain and suffering... but I also... I wanted to avenge my parents... and my siblings... I wanted to become a hero that they could be proud of in the afterlife... they died before experiencing life, so I wanted to become a hero who could protect everyone... but...” Naruto had tears of rage in his eyes, falling down his cheeks and onto the carpet.

Momo didn't see a hero standing in front of her at the moment, not the hero that she had come to know and respect. The man who could take all of the burdens of the world, take it with a smile, and ask for more.

She saw Naruto right now.

”Are you going to be okay?” Momo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him so that she was sitting next to her.

”Of course I'm not... all the training, all the effort, all the pain and suffering I've endured... I did it for my family... but... she is my family... I always felt pride, thinking that my siblings were looking down on me, cheering me on... but they were alive... they were killing people, hurting others... everything I was doing to help others, they were doing the opposite. All my life, I've dedicated it all to becoming a hero... but... my reason for becoming a hero... it...” Naruto didn't even have the words to say to what he was feeling. All of the emotions in his head were conflicting, the reasons why he had done everything were lies. ”I... don't know what to do... I've got to stop her... her and Menma... but... can I still be a hero, after everything my family has done? Will I still be a real hero, or will I just be somebody who is cleaning up the messes his family made?” Naruto asked her as he tried to wipe the tears out of his eyes.

Why wouldn't they stop?!

”This isn't like you.” Momo spoke to him as she grabbed his hand, and tried to comfort him.

He rejected her.

”It feels like I don't even know who I am anymore. I became who I am today because of my family inspiring me, but my inspiration was a lie. My life, goals, becoming a hero... that was everything... it was... that... it was all I really had left of my family. My father was a great hero... and my mother wanted to be a hero, but she ended up killing so many people. Now, I learn my siblings are murderers. I thought my mother killing was because she lost control... I never ever thought she was evil... but what if evil blood is in my veins... the voice in my head telling me to kill... it's not my Quirk... what if it's me... what if my Mom didn't lose control... what if she just stopped pretending to be good... will I turn out like them?” Naruto started to reveal the stuff that even he didn't know about. He didn't know he had these thoughts, but as he spoke, more of them were starting to spill out of his lips.

Was he really just a villain, pretending to be a hero, out of a sense of guilt? He didn't know who he was anymore, now that the truth behind the most important part of his very being had been revealed.

”I... you're not evil... you're the most kind, understanding, strong willed, determined... you're my hero. You know why I became a hero? I became a hero because it was expected of me, yes, I wanted to help people with my power. I come from a wealthy family, I had a great childhood, with supportive families, and I always received praise from everyone. I can't even begin to understand what you're feeling, but you know what I do know?” Momo asked with a small, growing smile. She got into U.A. on recommendation just like Naruto and Shoto, but she was so different than both of them. Shoto, who was pushed by his family to be the best, and Naruto, who bore the weight of world on his shoulders by choice.

Naruto looked at her.

”A lot more than me.”