Chapter 44 - Friend??

"You go Yaomomo! You can win!"

"Mina, you're suppose to cheer for me!" Naruto shouted towards the stands. The match wasn't even started yet, and his own girlfriend was cheering for Momo instead of him. It was betrayal in the greatest sense of the word... kind of, but not really. He knew she just didn't want to fight him, which she would have to do if he won the fight against Momo. Momo was calmly watching Naruto, a very tense, serious look splayed on her face.

'His fight with Tsuyu hasn't drained him... I'm going to have to go full on from the beginning. His body is tough, so I'll hit him hard. I should stay far back though, flash grenades... and I should mix in some real grenades. With his tough he is, they shouldn't do a ton of damage.' Momo thought as she started to go over all of the information in her head that related to flash and real grenades. Using her mind, she started to mentally prep what she was going to need for her Quirk to work. 'Cannon... I'll make a cannon too, just in case he powers through the grenades.' Momo thought as she unzipped her shirt, she was going to need a lot of skin revealed, so she unzipped and rolled up her sleeves so that all of her arms were revealed.

Naruto glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You know... we make a super team... kind of makes me wonder which of us is going to win. I want to use my Quirk against you, since you're really strong... but this wouldn't be a test of my current level if I did that." Naruto was honest with her. He wasn't 100% on his chances to win with her, not like he was with Tsuyu or would be with Mina. He put his odds, without his Quirk, closer towards 70% or so when it came to Momo.

She smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment-"

"Fight!"

"-but I don't plan on losing, even to you!" Momo created grenades from her arms. As they fell out of the air, she started to throw them towards Naruto. "I have faith in you to weather this!" Momo shouted as she pulled pins and threw.

The first was the flash.

Then came the boom.

"Well damn, that hurt!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards her with his eyes closed. His shirt was now in tatters, a bloody gash on his ċhėst from the explosion, sharp metal chunks in his skin. Naruto rushed towards the grenades, and he weathered the storm of explosions, but was pushed by a little. He protected his face from the bright lights and the explosions, the ground around him blowing up and taking serious damage. A large chunk of rock hitting him in the head as she continued to lob grenades at him, and he opened one of his eyes with a growing grin.

The cannon formed out of her stomach and hit the ground in front of her, already aimed at Naruto as she yanked on the rope in it. There was a loud explosion, as the cannoball went flying towards Naruto.

She was obsessed with making him stay as far away from her as possible.

"You'll beat me in close range, no doubt, but if I can-"

Naruto caught the cannonball as he dodged it, before he spun around and added more momentum to it. With added power, Naruto flung the ball back at her with more speed and power. It landed right back in the hole it back from, and the cannon exploded. Momo jumped away from her creation as it went off, blasting itself to metal chunks. Forming a shield out of her arm, she knocked away any stray metal chunks that would have hit her. She rolled to her feet, and saw Naruto standing in front of her with a fist pulled back.

"Texas SMASH!" Naruto called out as his fist rammed into her shield, with enough force to dent the metal.

She took a knee.

"Ah!" Momo's pained shout spoke volumes. She glanced at her shoulder, which had been dislocated by the blow. She formed a smoke bomb and let it hit the ground between them, letting it explode and cover them in smoke. She quickly created a fireproof blanket, and ducked down and covered herself with it. Forming a lighter in her hand, she stuck her dislocated arm out of the blanket. "This smoke is laced with isobutane, this is going to be very destructive."

*Click*

"Shit-" Naruto managed to say, before the gas all around them exploded with enough force to shoot him straight up into the air. The tattered remains of his shirt was gone at this point, and his pants were turned into shorts as he curled up into a ball to protect himself from most of the powerful explosion. Spinning in the air, Naruto landed on the ground on his feet as the fire and flames started to vanish.

There was Momo, hiding underneath a blanket, all around her was scorched stage ground, before she uncovered herself and stood back up.

She wasn't smiling.

"I hoped that would have ended it." Momo had wanted to send Naruto to Recovery Girl as soon as possible, since she had actually inflicted some serious wounds on him. His ċhėst had pretty deep gashes, his right arm was completely covered in blood and hanging limply at his side, before he flexed said arm and jerked it back into place. She grabbed her own arm, and snapped her shoulder back into it's proper place. Not without a short shout of pain though.

How did he do that without shouting in pain?!

Naruto just smiled.

"Grenades use not only flames, but sharp metal chunks to hurt people, and the gas explosion would have killed most people." Naruto pointed out with a growing grin.

This girl.

"Anything less than lethal force will be wasted on you. I have too much respect for your strength and durability, to not attack you with enough power to seriously harm a person. If you were using your Quirk, you could have attacked me before I even had the time to use my Quirk." Momo pointed out as she formed a long rod of metal, and took it into her hands. She wasn't without her close combat ability, though it wasn't her forte. If she used a weapon, she might be able to cover for her weakness while she thought of something else to use against Naruto.

She had originally hoped that the cannonball would have knocked him out of the ring, but it would seem that type of weapon could be used against her too easily.

"You're taking advantage of how strong my body is... you're using my strength as a weapon against me... I like it." Naruto thought it was a little poetic. The only reason she was able to do this, was because he was her opponent. She could use lethal weapons that she would never dream of using against another human, because they were being used against him. "The second I hit you though..."

"... it's over for me." Momo knew, after taking that shielded punch, that if he scored a direct hit, she would be too stunned to be able to block a second or third hit. She would have to play some serious defense until she could come up with another counter against him.

Naruto grabbed a rock from the ground, which had been knocked loose from her explosions, and he threw it at her full speed. The second he threw it, he rushed towards her with both of his arms low to the ground. She didn't block the rock, instead, she wisely chose to run towards Naruto and duck underneath. Shoving her rod into the ground, she jumped into the air high above him as he came in under her.

-In the Stands-

"Wow... Yaororozu is really strong! She did some real damage to Naruto of all people!" Izuku was just shocked when he saw that Naruto had been hurt by one of their classmates. He had thought that it wasn't possible, not once had somebody in their class really held a candle to Naruto yet.

Kirishima frowned, and Mina was a little pale.

"Hah! Take that you bastard!" Bakugo shouted as he pointed down at Naruto. He was the only one cheering against Naruto though, most of them weren't taking any sides. Naruto's heavy wounds weren't something they could cheer to continue.

"You heard them... it's because she is fighting Naruto, that she is able to use her Quirk like this... I can't imagine how much this is hurting both of them. Naruto's being hurt physically, while it must be killing Yaororozu to inflict those injuries on him." Tenya added with a critical eye. He didn't like how far she was willing to do with this, but because it was Naruto she was fighting, this must was needed... it was required that she do this much to hope to win.

Naruto hadn't expected his friend, Momo, to threw live grenades at him, or use highly explosive gas against him, so she had been able to get in a few free hits on him, surprise attacks to say.

-On the Stage-

'Gotta keep up the defense!' Momo thought as her rod was snapped in half when she tried to block a punch from Naruto. She tossed her broken weapon aside, and she formed a shorter version of it for one hand. In her other hand was a shield, but this time, the shield was made out of a stronger metal. She was forced on the defensive completely, with Naruto not allowing her to get anymore range on him. Her advantage, long range, was now useless against him as he pushed close to her. She didn't take any blows full force, she used her shield whenever possible to divert the damage as much as she could.

Naruto grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up into the air, before he threw her behind him, away from the edge of the ring.

"You almost walked out of the ring, you need to pay attention... This is a pretty good match, and I don't want you to ring out. Come on, lets see what else that pretty head of yours can come up with." Naruto turned around and rushed towards her.

Momo's eyes widened.

"I... almost walked off the edge..." Momo would have lost, right then and there if Naruto hadn't rescued her from her own mistake. She looked back to where she was standing, and saw that she really had almost walked off the edge. She raised her weapon and swung it at Naruto, hitting him in the ribs. Naruto lowered his arm and trapped her weapon though, before he grabbed her by the arm. Raising her shield up, Naruto twisted her wrist and flung her entire body to the side without letting go of her arm. "Guh!" Like that, her arm was jerked out of it's socket again, and she dropped her weapon and shield.

Naruto grabbed the back of her open shirt, before he pulled it over her head and covered her eyes with it. Grabbing her head with both of his hands, he pulled her down and kneed her in the stomach. When she was lifted off of her feet, he wrapped his arms around her torso tossed her up into the air. He grabbed onto her feet, and swung her down.

Instead of hitting the cement, Momo created a cushion for herself to land on... which only softened the rough landing a little.

'She's not fighting as hard... it's like the confidence she had at the beginning of the match is fading...' Naruto frowned as he flipped her over and grabbed onto her face. The look on her face was a lot different than before.

'He's got a hold on me, what do I make to...' Momo started to think of anything that could get her out of this. Naruto straddled her, sitting on her thɨġhs as he took firm grip on her. She wasn't able to move her legs, and Naruto grabbed her arms and pushed them above her head with his other hand. 'I'm going to lose!'

...

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked her, surprising her, despite how he was holding her down. Despite how bloody and injured he was, he was looking down at her with such care. Her eyes widened in shock for a second.

They were fighting, he wasn't suppose to show concern for her right now. He should be taking his fist, and using it to pound her face in (not that she wanted that to be honest). Even in their fight, he was taking her mental health into consideration. Tears started to form at the edges of her eyes, and she looked at the wounds that she had put on his body. He had large gashes on his ċhėst, his right arm was in horrible condition, his shins had massive burns on them, and he was bleeding from the forehead. All she had wrong with her was maybe some small bruises, and a dislocated arm.

"I took advantage of how tough you are..." Momo whispered to him.

The audience didn't hear her, she was so quiet.

"Yeah, it was a super smart strategy, you really fuċkėd me up with that first attack, and that gas explosion was genius-"

"... I took advantage of how tough you are, so that I could hurt you this much. You're my friend, even if you would survive... I shouldn't have done this much to you. I went too far against you, fight or no fight. I inflicted these horrible wounds on you... and here you are, taking care of me even in our fight." Momo couldn't stop the shame she was feeling. She had used her brain to come up with the best strategy to try and beat Naruto, but it didn't beat him. All she did was seriously injure him, and instead of becoming worried about him like a good friend, she thought about ways she could win the match. "I'm sorry Naruto... I didn't mean..." The tears started to flow more freely when she saw chunks of metal sticking out of his ċhėst.

Naruto sighed, before he smiled down at her.

He softly bopped her on the head, much to her shock.

"Don't be a dummy, this hurts like a bastard, but I'll be fine. Now, lets finish this match, kay?" Naruto stood up off of her, and helped her to her feet. She rubbed her eyes, before she blushed.

This was all on national TV, and as the two of them started to walk away from each other, she glanced back at him.

She smiled as the two of them turned to face off again.

"Time to finish this... and I have just the perfect thing!" Momo declared as she formed a cannon again, only this time, it had a surprise. Naruto took up a stance she recognized as what he used against Tsuyu earlier. "That will really hurt if it hits..." She spoke under her breath.

Naruto grinned.

The next thing Momo knew, was what Naruto's fist looked like up close.

"Aaaaaaah... My head hurts..." Momo mȯȧnėd as her eyes started to open.

What happened, did she win?

"Don't move enough too much, Naruto really gave you a good lick to the cheek there." Recovery Girl stated as she finished wrapping up Naruto's arm, his ċhėst already wrapped up. He didn't accept her healing, he just wanted her to take the metal fragments out, and that was it. Momo sat up and looked in the mirror, and she saw her right cheek was swollen up. Her arm was in a sling, and she had a large square bandage on her head.

Naruto stood up and pat the top of Momo's head.

"You did really awesome out there! Your not great at close combat, but if you ever want some tips, feel free to come to me for help! That was a really fun match, I'm looking forward to doing this against with you." Naruto smiled at her. She blinked in surprise, before she nodded her head with a slowly growing smile of her own. She was half-excepting her to hold a grudge for what she did to his body.

Nope, it seemed that he wasn't that type of guy.

"Next time, I'll make a strategy that can beat you... I might have lost this time, but next time, I'll win for sure." Momo gave him her more dead serious look she could manage with a swollen cheek.

He just grinned and leaned down so that their faces were inches apart.

"I'm looking forward to-"

The unspeakable happened.