Kitsune by grumpywolf (NarutoxMHA)

Summary: The boy who the Sludge Villain had tried to possess had not been Katsuki Bakugo. It had been Naruto. As he was suffocating, on the verge of losing his life, a torrent of memories not of his own flooded his mind. Memories of a superhuman being glowing with a red light, an incredibly powerful person who looked just like him. Another him, from another world, from another life.

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14063727/1/Kitsune

Word count:49k

Chapters:13

Chapter 1 - Sludge Villain

"Oy, Kiba! Pass it to me!" a blond-haired boy yelled.

Listening to his call, Kiba kicked the ball at him. It looked like it was going to go out of bounds, it had been kicked way too high up in the air. However, the blond-haired boy crouched and suddenly launched himself in the air. It was as if there was a jetpack attached to his back. He got two times more air time than the world record of the best NBA player in the world from a few generations ago and, to top it all off, he also made an impressive flip in the air before axe-kicking the soccer ball with the heel of his foot, accurately blasting it towards the corner of the opposing team's goal post like a rocket.

It was the exaggerated swagger of a mutant-type quirk user.

The goalkeeper had not even seen the ball coming. Before he knew what happened, not only that the ball flew past his head like a bullet, it even made a hole in the net of the goal post and exploded with a loud boom when it smashed against the outer wall of the school in the back of the soccer field.

The blond boy landed on the ground gracefully and made a victory pose, quite proud of the awesome goal that he had just scored. But the other children on the pitch did not look surprised in the least. Instead, they were annoyed.

"You bastard, always showing off and stealing my thunder!" Kiba yelled but in spite of his words, there was a toothy grin on his face as he came and high-fived him.

Booing sounds came from the opposing team.

"Sensei, it's not fair! Uzumaki used his quirk again!" one of the boys in the opposing team complained.

The P.E. teacher, a burly middle-aged man with a whistle hanging from his neck frowned in thought as he looked at Naruto. He appeared like a rather normal middle-school boy... ...if you ignored the fluffy golden fox ears on his head, the whisker-like birthmarks on his face, and the bushy but silky looking golden-furred tail at his back. Uzumaki Naruto had a rather simple and seemingly banal quirk: a Fox Quirk.

In the early days of the apparition of quirks, animal-type quirks were not seen as very formidable, looking rather tame compared to emitter-type quirks that could create explosions, release electricity, summon tornados and so on so forth. However, as of late, with the emergence of amazing heroes with animal-type quirks, people gained a newfound respect for such simple mutant-type quirks. For example, among the top 10 strongest heroes in Japan, one had a Rabbit Quirk. While rabbits were harmless and skittish creatures normally, the Rabbit Hero, Mirko, could not be any more different than that. She was relentless and violent, a woman that never backed down from a fight. Her explosive power and speed were something to be feared.

Nowadays, over 80% of Japan's population had a quirk. Quirkless people had become increasingly rare with the passing of years. To prevent potential accidents and tragedies, students in public schools were forbidden from using their quirks. However, the lines were rather blurred when it came to heteromorphic-type quirks. Generally, mutant types did not have to activate any sort of power to enhance themselves. They were physically superior by nature; performing superhuman feats was the norm for them.

The P.E. teacher was broken off from his musings when another blond boy - why were all blonds problem-children? - kicked the ball and a mighty explosion propelled it forward not any slower than Uzumaki Naruto's previous shot. The goalkeeper of the opposite team had been too scared to even attempt defending and instead jumped away from the goal post, afraid for his life.

A sharp whistle noise rang and both Naruto and Kiba suddenly crouched and covered their ears with their hands.

"Sensei, stop, it hurts!" they yelled at the same time, their sense of hearing being way more sensitive than that of regular humans.

While Uzumaki Naruto had a Fox Quirk, Kiba, a brown-haired boy, had a mutant-type quirk as well: a Dog Quirk. Similar to Naruto, Kiba also had a pair of pointed dog ears on top of his head. In addition, his teeth and nails were sharper than average and a dog's scraggly tail wagged listlessly at his back. With such similar quirks and matching personalities too - both of them were hyperactive, boisterous, and loud - the two boys had clicked off from the very first moment they had met. Naruto and Kiba were best friends.

"Bakugo, Red Card! You're out! Team blue gets a free kick!" the P.E. teacher shouted but all the members of the red team started complaining out loud.

"Not fair!"

"Why can Uzumaki use his quirk and Katsuki not?"

"You're biased, it's not fair, sensei!"

The P.E. teacher felt like wanting to pull out his hair due to frustration. How could he explain to the students that mutant-type quirks were different from emitter-type quirks? It was, indeed, unfair, but such was life too. The only way to stop people with mutant-type quirks from using their strength and natural advantages (imagine a four-armed man for a goalkeeper) was to ban them from playing completely - but that would lead to the opening of another can of worms, discrimination, which was even worse. Allowing everyone to use their quirks was not an option either because it would completely side-line quirkless people too. No matter how one went about it, a particular group would be disadvantaged. Banning emitter-type quirk users from using their powers was the most "fair" option there was.

In the end, the match did not get a proper finish as it devolved into a huge argument between students and the teacher, with the principal being forced to intervene in order to put a stop to it.

⁂

"Tch! The soccer championship was cancelled this year too. To heck with that! They should just let everyone use their quirks. We'd still kick everyone's butts!" the fox-like boy said as he walked on the side-walk while juggling skillfully with a soccer ball.

"But of course! We're the strongest in the whole school! Why is the school catering to all these losers with useless quirks?" Kiba said in annoyance.

"Oy, that was mean. Izuku here doesn't have a quirk at all," Naruto said.

The boy in question stammered and waved his hands as if to say he doesn't mind it but Naruto put his hands on his waist and said:

"Listen, man, you gotta have more confidence. You can't let people walk over you like that. Stand up for yourself! If you don't punt dog-breath when he goes out of line, he'll never learn his lesson!"

"What was that, cunt? I'll kick your ass!" Kiba yelled and a growl-like sound came from him.

"E-Easy for you to say that when you have such an amazing quirk," Izuku murmured. He was a short and rather scrawny boy with wavy green hair and a timid-looking freckled face.

Izuku had spoken quietly enough that regular people would not be able to hear his words but the two boys next to him just happened to have an extremely sharp sense of hearing among other things.

"Even if you can't do something by yourself, you should rely on your friends a bit," Naruto said with a grin and threw his arm around Izuku's shoulder. "That's what friends are for. We help each other. I still haven't forgotten how you helped me pass my Maths term exam. If it weren't for you, I would be stuck in cram school now."

The green-haired boy smiled shyly at Naruto's encouragement.

"That's right. You might be quirkless but you're our friend," Kiba said in agreement and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "And if that exploding blond bastard tries to find trouble with you again, just tell me. I will beat the crap out of him every time he tries to bully you!"

"There's no need for that! Katsuki is leaving me alone these days," Izuku said and showed a big smile.

While the three boys were in the same year, Naruto and Kiba were not in the same class as Izuku. Izuku and his bully, Bakugo, were in a different class. After Kiba and Naruto took Izuku under their wings, Bakugo had tried to find trouble with Izuku, for "betraying" their class and siding with the "enemy" - Bakugo had an intense rivalry with the amazing duo of Fox and Dog quirk users from the other class.

In truth, Bakugo could not care less about his class, it was just a pretext he found to mess with Izuku. All that repressed anger and annoyance at not being able to defeat Inuzuka Kiba had to be vented somewhere and what better choice of a target than a quirkless boy that could not defend himself. However, things did not end well for the bully. Once Kiba found out about it, in a fit of anger, he jumped on Bakugo the next time he saw him and proceeded to beat him so badly that even his mother had trouble recognizing his face. That day, Inuzuka Kiba had claimed the position as the top dog in Aldera Junior High.

Kiba got suspended for two weeks for that stunt. Bakugo's mother had even tried to press charges but she dropped the matter soon after because altercations between teenagers with quirks were far too common these days. Seeing as her son had not suffered any lasting trauma from the incident, it would be difficult for her case to find any success in court. Regular teens had always been a volatile mass of emotions, pride, and more energy than they knew what to do with it. Adding superpowers into the mix was a recipe for disaster. For example, only a few days ago, a teen boy had stolen someone's bag and when he was found out and cornered, he went out of control. Transforming into a giant humanoid monster, he started to wreak havoc. The incident made it to the local newspapers.

As the three boys walked home together, they kept talking and joking around happily. Eventually, they had to disband their merry little group seeing as they lived in different areas of the district.

⁂

As Naruto walked home, he continued to play with his soccer ball. Sometimes, he would run at the passers-by coming from the opposite direction, startling them, only to do a rainbow soccer trick, kicking the ball with his heel, from the back, over his and his opponent's heads before rushing past them. Sometimes, people would get annoyed with him but most of them would usually just smile helplessly at him. After years of witnessing his shenanigans, most of the people on that street had become familiar with the energetic fox-like boy.

Right as he passed by a playground, the younger kids that saw him with the ball quickly rushed out and crowded around him.

"Naruto-nii-san! Show us some cool tricks!" they all yelled enthused.

As per usual, Naruto did not ignore their pleas. He loved showing off his soccer skills.

"Alright, alright, just gimme some space, yo," he said and entered the playground with his ball.

With the kids moving a bit back and making a circle around him, Naruto grinned at them and put his foot on top of the ball. Suddenly, he rolled the ball towards him and lifted it in the air with the tip of his foot, right above his head. Before the ball could fall to the ground, he stepped in and bent down a bit, the ball landing right on the back of his neck. So far, so good. It was nothing amazing, just a neck stall; any other soccer enthusiast could probably do that. It was what followed that made the kids all break into loud cheers. In an impressive display of dexterity and body-eye coordination, Naruto used his knees, feet, and even his fluffy tail to juggle the ball spectacularly.

All good things come to an end, however, and accompanied by a chorus of disappointed whines from the kids, Naruto left the playground and started heading home once again. Suddenly, an obnoxious baby laughter ringtone rang and Naruto groaned. It was his cellphone. Flipping it open and answering the call, he was forced to distance the phone from his sensitive hearing as a woman's loud voice blasted into his eardrums.

"Naruto! What are you doing, you delinquent? School finished 40 minutes ago, get home already!"

"Alright, alright, sheesh, I'm on my way, why are you yelling?" he yelled back.

"Don't you raise your voice at me, young man! Just wait till you get home-"

Naruto snorted and shut the flip of his phone closed, effectively ending the call. He did not really care about his mother's retaliation and threats in the least. All she or his father could do was yell at him. And that was a common issue for many parents nowadays. When children had quirks so powerful that they would not look out of place in a superhero comic book, their parents were often at a loss in how to deal with them when they acted rebelliously.

"What's her problem anyway? Not like I'm doing any illegal shit. I'm not even smoking like the cool kids, and I'm not doing drugs either like punks who skip classes. All she does is bitch about my grades and for coming home late every day."

Picking up his ball in his hands, he started walking home, not even in the mood to play around anymore.

"What do I even need good grades for anyway?" he grumbled and kicked a piece of rock on the sidewalk in frustration.

He was not oblivious in regards to how amazing his quirk was. While a Fox Quirk seemed nothing special compared to some emitter quirks out there, Naruto had yet to meet anyone who could beat him in a one-on-one fight. Even someone with an overpowered quirk like Bakugo Katsuki from his school couldn't beat him. After all, Naruto was a tiny bit stronger than Kiba and the Dog Quirk user had mopped the floor with Bakugo. Furthermore, besides his enhanced dexterity and physical capabilities, Naruto's Fox Quirk granted him a powerful sense of smell, very sensitive hearing, and excellent eyesight and night vision too. His career paths were promising: even if he didn't become a hero (which was doubtful), he could easily join the police special forces - the anti-drug department would do anything short of killing to get someone like him in their ranks.

It was while he was having these thoughts that something had all of a sudden slammed into the crown of his head and he toppled over, the sight in front of his eyes darkening.

So disoriented and shocked he was that he didn't even register the pain for a moment, he didn't understand what was happening. But two seconds later, pain exploded from his head. It was as if someone had cracked his skull open with an axe as a mind-splitting headache made him break out in cries of pain as he held his head. The wet and sticky feeling on his hands let him know that he was bleeding and bleeding profusely at that.

Even as his eyes were tightly shut as he tried to cope with the insane amount of pain, his sensitive fox ears picked up the sound of liquid flowing close by. His eyes opened in shock when he felt his body getting engulfed by a wet and disgusting feeling.

"W-What the-" he cried out but the green mass of mud and goo that had suddenly entrapped him took that chance to cover his mouth and nose, muffling his yells of fear.

Instincts took over and the boy started fighting desperately for his life. His nails lengthened into claws and his body began spasming and squirming as he kicked and scratched at the mass of goo with everything he had. However, his struggle accomplished nothing except making him burn oxygen faster. With the green sludge covering his mouth and nose, he could not breathe. His movement slowed down to a stop and his arms fell down lifelessly. He was moments away from dying from asphyxiation.

'Help! Somebody! Help me!' Naruto cried out in his mind.

But there was nobody around. He was attacked in a less frequented alley where people did not pass by too often. To top it off, his attacker had muffled his cries and subdued him too quickly for anyone to hear his struggle.

His sight went pitch dark as his eyes rolled in the back of his head. He lost consciousness. In a minute or two, he would die.

⁂

It is said that moments before dying, people see their lives flash before their eyes. But what played at the front of Naruto's mind were not memories of his life. They were the memories of a different person.

An orphan and a lonely boy who pulled all kinds of pranks and annoyed the hell out of everyone just for them to notice his existence. A boy who could make clones of himself. Someone whose creed was to never give up and never go back on his word. Someone who fought against a god-like man who had annihilated an entire military city by himself. Someone who had even become strong to fight on equal grounds against a goddess.

That someone looked eerily similar to him. He had no fox ears and no tails either but everything else was too similar for it to be a coincidence. The same blond hair, the same baby-blue eyes, the same three pairs of whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks... ...they even had the same name. It was him. An incredibly powerful version of Naruto Uzumaki from another life, from another world.

⁂

The Sludge Villain chortled to himself.

"Lucky, Lucky! Sooo lucky!"

He had never expected to escape after All Might had defeated him and sealed him in a plastic bottle. And, not only that he had escaped, but the bottle he had been sealed into also happened to crash into the head of a passing-by boy with a Fox Quirk. Disoriented and wobbly from the powerful hit, the boy had been knocked down, unaware of his surroundings for a moment - the fact that he had not been knocked out cold was a testament to his toughness. But with him momentarily out of it, the Sludge Villain had to spend next to no effort in capturing the boy.

"Hm, a Fox Quirk. Not the best, but not bad either," the villain hummed in glee as the mud his body consisted of started to flow through the boy's mouth. He was going to take over him, to possess him.

Suddenly, a shrill scream of agony erupted from the Sludge Villain as a glowing chain of light burst from the boy's spine and impaled the green goo around him.

"What's happening?!" the villain screamed in incomprehension.

His mud-like body offered him a degree of resistance against physical attacks that almost bordered immunity. He could not be harmed even by bullets, much less by some pointed chain. However, his train of thought ceased when another golden chain burst from the boy's back and stabbed into the mud, making the villain scream himself hoarse from the pain once more.

Terror engulfed the Sludge Villain's mind and the shadow of death crept into his heart. He had to get away! He didn't understand how could he be wounded so severely by some chains but he had a feeling that if another one or two of those chains impaled him, he would perish.

But right as the mass of green goo crawled out of the boy's body and tried to scurry away, two more golden chains burst out of the still unconscious boy's back and rose high up in the air. A dome of golden light had suddenly come into existence and when the Sludge Villain tried to pass through it, much to his shock, the mud making up his body dried up and solidified on contact. He lost control over his body and that portion of solidified mud broke away from him.

Further thought regarding that anomaly ended, however, as the sharp and pointed ends of the four golden chains that created the chain dome had suddenly stabbed into his body.

The Sludge Villain could not even find the strength to voice out his frustration and unwillingness to die. Even as the last portion of his body dried up and broke into pieces, his last thought was one of disbelief, unable to accept or understand how after escaping from the hands of the number 1 strongest hero, he would die at the hands of some nameless 14-year-old boy.

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14063727/1/Kitsune