All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
"TODAY IS THE FUCKING HUG WORLD CUP CUP AND I DIDN'T KNOW?" Bakugo yelled, his eye twitching at how uncomfortable he felt. Then he roughly pushed them away. "Get away from me, you bunch of extras!"
"It's clear no needle hit your tongue," Sasuke said, smiling happily because his partner was okay.
"Back to normal. Never thought I'd say I missed your bad manners," Kakashi said.
"Cut the crap and tell me what happened after you fell unconscious, one-eyed!" Bakugo demanded.
"Gatoh and his men came to take control of the city," Kakashi explained, sitting down at the table. The others followed suit.
"But we came just in time to kick their asses!" Inari said with a smile.
"Inari! Don't say such rude things!" her mother scolded her.
"But Bakugo speaks worse than me!" Inari pouted.
"I never would have said ass! That's for hypocrites, brat!" Bakugo said, then glared at Inari. "So? Did you kick their asses?"
"You bet!" Inari exclaimed, smiling again.
—Heh. The only thing I regret is not being the one to kick their asses, —Bakugo smirked.
"I can never thank you enough, Bakugo," Tazuna said emotionally. "And not just for saving my daughter and grandson's lives. But also for giving us our pride back."
Bakugo remained silent for a few seconds, analyzing Tazuna's words. Inside, he felt an enormous satisfaction that he tried not to show on the outside.
"And it wasn't just the village that helped drive out Gatoh's thugs," Kakashi continued. "Zabuza helped too after hearing Gatoh insult him and Haku. His words were enough to kill Gatoh and scare off the rest of the thugs."
"Did he die?" was the question Bakugo most wanted answered.
"No," Kakashi replied. Bakugo smiled inwardly, longing to face him and Haku again. "Haku regained consciousness and took him away. We don't know his whereabouts."
"And what's this shit about a gift the old lady said?" Bakugo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ahh, that's right. I forgot. Follow me," Kakashi said, heading up the stairs into the house.
Bakugo followed him into the jonin's temporary room (for the duration of their stay in Waveland). In one corner lay Zabuza Momochi's greatsword, Kubikiribōchō.
"Zabuza asked me to tell you that he wants you to have his sword as a thank you for saving his life so he can spend more time with Haku," Kakashi said.
"And I'm not going to keep that monstrosity!" Bakugo exclaimed, pointing at the sword.
"Gifts are meant to be accepted, Bakugo," Kakashi said jokingly. "That's what you get for saving his life."
"Well, I'll give you this thing, one-eyed," Bakugo replied slyly.
Kakashi put on a poker face for a few seconds, thinking of a way to reuse it.
"Um...think about it, Bakugo," Kakashi said, trying to convince the ash-blond. "A ninja has to use the element of surprise. If they see you with your sword, your opponents won't expect that your specialty is throwing explosions with your hands."
—Mmmmm. —Bakugo thought for a moment.
On the one hand, the sword seemed hideous, a monstrosity, and impractical. On the other hand, what Kakashi had said seemed perfectly reasonable.
"Well, it would be impossible for you to master a sword of that size with your strength anyway. Since you gave it to me, I'll have to give it to Sasuke. I only see him capable of mastering it," Kakashi said, using psychology to play with Bakugo's mind.
—No way, one-eyed! I was being sarcastic when I said I was giving it to you! —Bakugo lied. —I'll keep this hideous thing and subdue it with my strength!— He walked over to the sword and tried to lift it with one hand. Seeing that he couldn't, he lifted it, with difficulty, with both hands. —THIS IS A PIECE OF CAKE! —Bakugo lied again, red from the effort of lifting something so heavy.
"Phew, I'm free." Kakashi thought, sighing.
Bakugo put the sword back in the corner, feeling light as a feather no longer bearing its weight.
"Tell me, Kakashi," Bakugo said, getting serious. "Why didn't you kill him?"
"You changed my mind. I might end up regretting it. But..." Kakashi said. "Who knows... Enemies today might become allies tomorrow. You never know what the future will bring, especially for ninjas."
They stayed in the Land of Waves for a few more weeks until the bridge was finished. During that time, the genin trained their chakra control. Bakugo, in addition, spent a few hours a day slashing at tree trunks with his greatsword. With each passing day, the more swings he could perform without exhaustion, and the more comfortable he became with the weight of the sword.
Due to the sword's large size—he was the same size as the ash-blond—Bakugo had trouble carrying it. This problem was solved with a belt that Tsunami sewed for him. He wore the belt across his chest and was large enough to also fit around the sword. So, he kept the sword attached to his sword with that belt. The belt also had a button that, when pressed, unfastened the belt and allowed him to deploy his sword.
A/N: A picture is worth a thousand words. Think of Suigetsu and how he carries Zabuza's sword. Well, that's how Bakugo carries it.
Finally, the day of farewells arrived.
"Thank you so much for everything, Kakashi. Thanks to you and your students, we have hope that things will get better," Tazuna said, shaking Kakashi's hand.
"It's been a pleasure accepting this assignment," Kakashi replied, smiling with his free eye.
"Bakugo..." Inari said, on the verge of tears.
"Huh? Don't tell me you're going to cry over this? I'm not dead, brat!" Bakugo exclaimed.
—It's just that... I don't know if I'll feel strong enough to defend the town without you being here. Without you being here...—
"Listen to me, brat! From future number 1 hero to future hero!" Bakugo said, placing his hands on the little boy's shoulders. "Winning and saving. Those should be your priorities from now on. Train yourself so you can win against anyone and be able to save the people who need you. That's what's expected of a hero. That's what I expect of you."
Inari's eyes widened, excited by Bakugo's words.
"I'll do my best!" Inari said confidently.
"Heh. That's how you talk," Bakugo said. "And if things get too bad, you can always find me in Konoha. I never get bored of kicking ass."
After a few more minutes of crying and hugging from the villagers, the ninjas headed back to Konoha. After more than half a day of traveling, something interesting happened in the Land of Waves.
"Tazuna! We forgot to name our bridge!" said a friend, alarmed by the oversight.
"You're right. What else could you call it?" Tazuna said. The first thing that came to mind was Bakugo. "How about Katsuki Bakugo's Great Bridge?"
"No way!" Inari responded immediately. "If Bakugo found out we used his name for the bridge, he'd kill us," Inari added.
"So what do you propose, Inari?" Tazuna asked his grandson.
—The Bridge of the Saiko no Hero. (N/A: It's in Japanese, it would be The Bridge of the Hero No. 1, but it sounds better to me in Japanese) —Inari answered, with conviction.
"Well, now we have a name," Tazuna said, ruffling his grandson's hair. "We've finished building the Saiko no Hero Bridge."
Clarifications:
1-I've always put the clarifications at the beginning of the chapter. But if I put them at the beginning, I'd give away the surprise of the sword, so I'm putting them here.
2-The weight of Zabuza's sword (I have read it on the wiki) is 66 pounds, which in kilograms is 29.93. Rounding up, the sword weighs 30 kilos. The weight didn't seem like much to me, so I have also informed myself about the heaviest real swords. And the heaviest that has existed in history is a Claymore model greatsword that measured 2.24 meters and weighs around 10 kilos, manufactured between the 15th and 18th centuries. That is to say, although 30 kilos may seem little, it is triple the weight of the heaviest sword in history. Bakugo weighs 50 kilos at this point in the story.
3-The sword's length will be shorter than it actually is. The wiki doesn't say so, but it should be close to Zabuza's height (1.83 meters). In my story, it's 1.50 meters, which is 5 centimeters shorter than Bakugo's height (1.55 cm).
4- Bakugo is 1.55 cm tall and weighs 50 kilos. These are measurements because I've based them on Sasuke's real height and weight. On the wiki, Sasuke initially measures 1.51 and weighs 42.2 kilos. And Bakugo, who is 15 years old, is 1.72 on the wiki, and they don't mention his weight. He's quite tall for a 15-year-old Japanese man, so it makes sense that he's 5 centimeters taller than Sasuke. I made him weigh 50 kilos to make it at least believable that he could carry a 30-kilo sword, and because it makes sense that, being more muscular and taller than Sasuke, he could weigh 8 kilos more than the dark-haired man.
Greetings and comment on what you thought of the chapter.