All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
Frustration. That was the word that best described Bakugo's mood. Many times he was on the verge of giving up again. But whenever that happened, he would look at the pendant around his neck and his motivation would resurface like a phoenix.
The pendant had been made by Bakugo, just after the death of the Uchiha clan, with a thread threaded through a Shogi tile bearing the kanji for King. When he looked at it, he remembered his promise to become Hokage, the King, and he also remembered Mikoto, who was the one who had given him the Shogi board, tiles included. The gift she gave him on his eighth birthday, the same day the tragedy that changed everything for Bakugo happened.
Classes were a nightmare for Bakugo, as the worst part wasn't feeling completely useless for not being able to perform the simplest jutsu, but the mockery of his classmates and the helplessness he felt for not being able to make them eat their words. The leader who started the mockery was Kiba Inuzuka. Practically the entire class joined in on the teasing of the ash-blond boy who had stopped inspiring fear a long time ago. And the more Bakugo growled, the more they wanted to mock him. Including the girls.
He was starting to hate them even more than Deku. But the one he hated most of all was Naruto. He hated him for daring to share his goal. He hated him for being the son of the bastard who lied to him about Itachi's motives. And he hated him because, like Deku, he was trying to help him when he'd never asked for such help.
The only classes Bakugo tolerated were Taijutsu. Despite his inability to bend chakra to enhance speed and strength, among other things, he was the fifth most skilled student in Taijutsu, behind only Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata.
His life had become a routine. Get up, shower, breakfast, class, lunch, training, dinner, training, shower, and sleep. On weekends, when there were no classes, his routine only traded classes for more training. Occasionally, he went to Ichiraku's for a free meal, and along the way, he watched Ayame work, who was very clumsy, which made him laugh a bit.
Two years passed, and Bakugo still couldn't use chakra. There were no significant changes in his monotonous life. But there was one very peculiar day in Bakugo's life. Like every day after school, Bakugo went straight to his training area to practice throwing shurikens. But, to his misfortune, a crowd of children were occupying that area to play hide-and-seek. He was tempted to scream and scare them, but decided it would be too much of a bother, so he went in search of another place to train with kunai and shurikens.
Bakugo walked calmly and carefree through the forest with his hands in his pockets. He glanced around occasionally, looking for a suitable log to throw the weapons from. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting numbers. Bakugo's curiosity prompted him to approach the source of the shouts.
—404! 405! ...—shouted a boy with bushy eyebrows and long, black hair tied back in a ponytail, while kicking a tree trunk with his left leg.
"What a strange kid," Bakugo thought, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the sight.
That strange kid seemed to be about the same age as Bakugo. His head was telling him to find a quiet place and train already; he'd wasted enough time. But there was something hypnotic about the kid's repeated kicks against the tree trunk. So he stood there, hidden in a bush, watching. His intention was to train when the kid was done with his training.
—475! 476! —Just as he was about to kick 477, the frowning boy tripped and fell to the ground.
"He's exhausted. The show's over, it's time to train," Bakugo thought. But he soon discovered how wrong he was.
"If I can't do 1,000 push-ups, I'll throw 1,000 punches!" the boy shouted as he did push-ups. "1, 2, 3...!"
"What the fuck? It's sold out!" Bakugo thought, his interest significantly heightened.
"...954,955!" the sweat-soaked boy exclaimed. "956,95...!" but he couldn't stand up any higher to do another push-up.
"Stop acting like an idiot and go home already," Bakugo thought, annoyed with himself for still wasting his time.
"If I can't do 1,000 punches, I'll do 800 jump ropes!" the boy exclaimed, using his belt as a skipping rope. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5...!"
"That big-eyed guy is an idiot! He's in no physical condition to keep going at this pace. He'll die at this rate!" Bakugo thought, clicking his tongue. But despite what he thought of the boy, Bakugo was still standing there, spying from behind a bush.
"...713, 714!" the boy exclaimed, his eyes almost closing, jumping with difficulty. "...715!" He again failed to achieve his goal, unable to land the next punch.
—Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. —Bakugo muttered softly.
"If I can't do 800 jump ropes, I'll do 200 laps around the village!" the boy exclaimed, using his belt as a skipping rope. "1, 2, 3..." he started to jump, but a shout made him stop and turn his head.
—WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BROWS?—Bakugo shouted, coming out of his hiding place and facing the boy with thick eyebrows.
It was already nighttime when the ash-blond boy went out to talk to the dark-haired boy. The boy with the ponytail had been going for over 10 hours without a break, not even to eat or go to the bathroom.
"Training," the boy gasped. He then looked at Bakugo, puzzled by the question and by his presence so late at night.
—I KNOW YOU'RE TRAINING, DUMBASS! —Bakugo exclaimed. —I MEAN WHY DO YOU KEEP TRAINING! YOU'LL DIE IF YOU KEEP UP LIKE THIS!—
"Why do you care about me? Do I know you?" he asked.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, BIG EYEBROWS!" Bakugo replied, a vein popping out of his forehead from his anger. "I don't know you, but it pisses me off to see someone as stupid as you who's only going to get himself killed."
"I'm not stupid! I just have to try harder than everyone else to be a ninja, that's all!" the big-browed man exclaimed.
"Why do you have to try harder, eyebrow?" Bakugo asked.
"You wouldn't understand..." the big-eyebrowed man muttered, looking sadly at the ground.
"Why wouldn't I understand? Do you think I'm an idiot, eyebrow?" Bakugo asked, raising his fist.
—It's not that... it's just that... I can't perform Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. I want to prove that I can be a great ninja, even if I don't have any hidden or illusory techniques! I want to prove it to everyone! And that's why I have to try twice or three times harder than the rest! That way people will stop making fun of me, —said the boy with a sparkle in his eyes.
"I understand you better than you think, eyebrow," Bakugo thought bitterly.
"Hmm, what's your name, eyebrow?" Bakugo asked.
"Rock Lee," the boy replied. "And you?"
"Katsuki Bakugo," she replied, turning her back on him and starting to walk home. When she was 100 meters away from Rock Lee, she turned her head and glared at him intensely. "You better prove what you just said to those extras! If you don't, I'll kick your ass so hard you'll wish you were never born!"
A tear appeared on Lee's face; for the first time, someone believed in him and didn't mock his aspirations.
"I swear I will! It was a pleasure meeting you, Katsuki!" she exclaimed, bowing.
"AND I SWEAR THAT IF YOU CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME AGAIN, I'LL KILL YOU!" Bakugo retorted, without pausing and with a vein popping out in his forehead. He still hadn't gotten used to people calling each other by their first names.
"Sorry!" Lee said, a little scared. But a big smile soon appeared on his face. It was probably the best day of his life.
Back home, Bakugo went straight to bed. He stared up at the ceiling, his gaze lost in memory of Lee's training.
"There's something about that big-eyebrowed guy that tells me he'll be a great ninja," Bakugo said to himself. Then he bared his teeth with the ash-blond's characteristic arrogance. "Heh... Sasuke, the old man's son, the big-eyebrowed one, the dog-faced one, the weird-eyed one... From now on, I'll have to step up my training if I don't want to be left behind."
Pls give me power stones :D