"Katsuki!" Mikoto screamed, her body covered in blood. "Save meeee!"
Bakugo ran toward her, but with every step he took, he became further away. Uncomprehending, he watched as Itachi approached him, but with every step he took, he grew a meter taller. By the time he reached Bakugo's height, he was a giant, more than 20 meters tall.
—You're nothing here, Bakugo. You're nobody. You're just a scared kid. —said the voice
—MMMMMM! Bakugo tried to swear, but he couldn't speak. He noticed something strange, since he couldn't even open it. He felt his face and realized he had no mouth. —MMMMMMMM! —Frightened, he took a few steps back until he crashed into a wall.
"Please, Katsuki! Help me!" he heard Mikoto's voice in the distance.
This caused him to lose focus for a second, and he stopped looking at the giant Itachi to locate where the voice was coming from. When he returned his gaze to the giant's, he had already disappeared, replaced by a large full moon. A moon that was turning orange, until after a few seconds it was completely orange with a crater in the upper right corner. Uneven dark spots appeared on the moon. The image reminded him of something, but he wasn't sure what. Suddenly, the orange moon transformed back into Itachi, running toward him with a katana in hand.
"Goodbye, Katsuki Bakugo," Itachi whispered into his ear, piercing his heart.
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Bakugo jolted awake from his hospital bed, drenched in sweat. It had been a nightmare. Though the reality was almost as terrifying as the nightmare. He remembered everything: the lights going out, the man in the orange mask, the corpses in the street, the wreckage... and also the lifeless bodies of Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. But what he remembered most vividly were those intimidating red eyes with three black pupils belonging to Itachi Uchiha.
—Mikoto... —Bakugo thought with glassy eyes.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a nurse, the Hokage, and an old man with half his face bandaged. The nurse left after bowing.
"Bakugo, how are you feeling?" the Hokage asked with concern.
—Fine... —Bakugo replied dryly, he wanted to be left alone.
"What were you doing at the Uchiha clan leader's mansion?" the old stranger asked. Though he seemed more like interrogating him than asking.
"What Danzo meant..." Minato said, looking harshly at the old man, "...is whether you remember anything about what happened yesterday."
"I saw Itachi plunge his katana into Mikoto's heart," Bakugo said absently, staring off into space. "Then, I don't know how, but he knocked me out."
"Anything else? Do you remember why you were there?" Minato asked.
"I was walking around and saw the lights in the Uchiha neighborhood were off. Then I saw..." Bakugo said.
But he paused for a moment because of the trembling he felt. When he was about to continue and say what he was saying about the man in the orange mask, he looked at the two adults. They were hiding something. Not just the mysterious old man. The Hokage was hiding something too. Something didn't add up. Why would Itachi kill his parents? His first impression of Fugaku Uchiha came back to him all at once; it was the impression of a man hiding a horrible secret. He let it go because of Mikoto, but he knew something was wrong. And he suspected that both the Hokage and the mysterious old man knew that secret. And his instinct told him it had something to do with Itachi's behavior.
"Why did he kill them?" Bakugo asked. Danzo and Minato looked at each other, and Bakugo could see the guilt in Minato's eyes.
"We don't know," Minato said. "We were hoping you or Sasuke could clear it up for us."
—He's lying. Why is he lying? Maybe because he thinks I'm only 8? No, there's something else. He feels guilty. The masked guy, Itachi, Fugaku's secret... It's all connected. —Bakugo thought analytically.
The good impression Minato had left on her was completely gone. Now she felt resentment toward the ninja who held the highest title in the village. She felt resentment because she felt he could have done something to save Mikoto, but he didn't. The question remained: Why?
"So what did you see?" Danzo urged.
—I saw... I saw kunais and shurikens lying everywhere. So I went straight to Mikoto's house—said Bakugo.
"Why did you go straight to her house? What's your relationship with Mikoto?" Danzo asked.
—Don't they know he was about to adopt me? Should I tell them? No. Fuck them. I'll lie to them. If the Hokage and the mummy want to lie to me, let them. I can play that game too. I shouldn't reveal about the masked guy or the adoption. —Bakugo thought.
"I liked her. I liked beating her at shogi," Bakugo lied, as coldly as he could muster.
"Didn't you see anything else, Bakugo?" Minato asked.
"Nothing else." Bakugo lied again.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me," Minato said sadly.
"I will," Bakugo said, narrowing his eyes, unable to fully hide the resentment he felt toward the Hokage.
Afterwards, both the Hokage and Danzo left the patient room. As soon as he was discharged, Bakugo headed towards the Uchiha clan quarters. It was pouring with rain. He wasn't surprised to see Sasuke standing in front of his house, unaware that the rain was soaking him. Bakugo approached him.
—Sasuke.. —Sasuke finally realized that Bakugo was next to him. —I...I'm sorry. —Bakugo said, his voice breaking.
"I thought you never apologized," Sasuke said, annoyed by the blond's presence. Bakugo said nothing and waited for Sasuke to vent. "And why are you sorry?" Sasuke asked, not deigning to look at Bakugo. "You said it yourself, you didn't want anything to do with us. You said kaasan wasn't your mother. That we weren't your family. Why would you be sorry?"
—Well, because...—Bakugo decided not to say anything about Mikoto and his reconciliation, fearing that it could do more harm than good if he misinterpreted it. —Because I could have prevented it—he said, clenching his fists in rage.
"What are you talking about, Bakugo?" Sasuke asked angrily, looking at him for the first time in the conversation.
"I was there when it happened," Bakugo gasped, clutching his chest in anxiety. "If I had gotten there a minute earlier..."
—DON'T YOU EVEN THINK IT'S YOUR FAULT, BAKUGO! —Sasuke shouted, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. —ITACHI LEFT YOU ALIVE BECAUSE YOU'RE NO THREAT TO HIM! YOU'RE NOTHING! A WORTHLESS GUY WHO CAN'T DO THE SIMPLEST JUTSUS! —Sasuke shoved Bakugo to the ground, covering himself with mud. —THIS IS MY BUSINESS AND MINE ALONE! I WILL PROVE ITACHI THAT HE WAS WRONG BY LEAVING ME ALIVE! Keep feeling sorry for yourself if you want, but don't get in my way! —
Sasuke walked past, leaving Bakugo on the ground, thoughtful.
—The dwarf is right. Ever since I've been here, I've done nothing but complain about not being able to use my Quirk. I'm not so weak as to rely solely on my Quirk. Even Deku would have shown more courage than me if he were in my place. —Bakugo thought. —I have to know why last night happened. I need to do it. And the easiest way to do it is…—
—To know the truth, either I kick Itachi's ass and force him to tell me, or... —Bakugo said out loud.
Never in his life had Bakugo been so determined to do something. Not even being the number one hero in his other life.
Soaked and covered in mud, he went straight to the Hokage building. The guards at the door didn't stop him and stepped back when they saw the little boy's gaze. He had an intensity in his gaze that would frighten even the largest of beasts. He entered, flinging open the door.
—Bakugo... is everything okay? —Minato asked, stopping his writing pen.
"You said before that if I needed anything, I should tell you," Bakugo said with a confidence and a fierceness that even scared the largest of the Leaf village's ninjas.
"That's right," Minato said.
"Well, I want you to enroll me in the Konoha ninja academy." It wasn't a suggestion or a request. It was an order.
Minato seeing the boy's determination could not refuse or postpone it due to the boy's traumatic experience.
"Okay, Bakugo. But can you tell me why? I thought you didn't want to be a ninja," Minato said.
Why don't you go to the ninja academy? I don't want to be a ninja, that's for losers!
He remembered Itachi's question and his answer as if it were yesterday. It was true that he thought that. It's true that he still thinks it. But Bakugo didn't have a goal before. Now he did. Now he was going to discover the truth no matter what. He owed it to Mikoto. He owed it to his mother.
If it meant giving up his ideals of being a hero, so be it. He'd already given up on turning his world around.
If that meant becoming a ninja, so be it.
So what if he can't use chakra? He still had his wits and his combat experience. He just had to train 10 times harder than the rest. Until his body broke. A Because Bakugo didn't want to become an ordinary ninja. An ordinary ninja wouldn't have access to the truth. The only one who knew all the village's secrets was the one who held the highest title among the ninjas.
"Because I'm going to be the Fifth Hokage!" Bakugo exclaimed in such a way that it seemed like an announcement to the world of what was going to happen in the future.
Without waiting for Minato's reply, Bakugo headed back through the storm, which didn't matter when he headed for the mountain of the Hokage heads instead of the orphanage. He began climbing it with his bare hands, despite the danger of the rocks being slippery from the rain. When he reached the top, panting and with bloody hands, he roared like a wolf. A wolf that had lost its mother.
His journey began today. The path would be difficult and dangerous. But Bakugo swore to himself that the only thing that would prevent him from becoming the Yondaime, and thus from discovering the truth, would be his death.