Once Shinobi, Now Hero

Chapter 4: Truth of A "Hero"

Ryukyu knew what she was doing wasn't allowed. Illegal, in fact. It could very well result in her getting her license taken away, even though she was a top hero. She was risking her very title and prestige. Her livelihood. Her passion.

All to just get a feel for Kakashi. Her adopted son.

She'd tried once already. Tried to somehow connect with him so that she could learn his past, his hurt that she could clearly see behind that black orb. She knew that she was supposed to keep him away from things that would draw on his assumed PTSD but he seemed strong minded that she felt that this one time could be an exception. She needed to see what his eye would show seeing a sight like that.

And regardless of the result, she would be there.

"A hero killer?"

Kakashi asked slowly, the words coming out more as a question. Clearly, he hadn't know about such a monster. At least, his thoughts weren't on such a thing, a relieving thought. Hopefully he wouldn't gain interest from what he was about to see. She would hate that.

She nodded.

"Yes. A man calling himself Stain has been going around killing heroes indiscriminately, hence the name."

Kakashi crossed his arms, pointing something obvious out.

"A criminal was killed. Is that a break in pattern or is this by another killer?"

Ryukyu spoke as she went back onto her computer, going through the Hero Network and gaining access to the files that were currently on the Hero Killer. Seemed she had access to stage 2 information, Kakashi filed that in his mind for later. Reports on all his confirmed and unconfirmed kills showed that while he killed more heroes than anything else, criminals, villains, and even a couple of civilians were part of his kill count.

"Not quite. As you can see he's killed in variety before. Heroes are his main target, however. It's why the Hero Killer is in his name."

"And we're going after him?"

Her answer was quick.

"No. We're only investigating. There's been no surviving victim that could describe his quirk. This could be our chance to do so, report it and let the heroes in Hosu deal with them."

She felt Kakashi's eyes land on hers. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. Sometimes she couldn't read his eyes.

"What would we do if we were to come across him?"

She didn't know why, but a creeping feeling settled deep in her stomach. She gripped her arm tightly, and the next words that came out of her mouth came from her heart.

"We'd run."

X

It didn't take long to reach their target, even if it were far away. To Kakashi, these cars were more handy than any ninja or horse could run. They were fast and hadn't the need to pull from any source besides smelly liquid called gasoline. No stamina needed and no stopping to rest or for food. Other than being a bit too boxed in for his liking, it was convenient.

They'd stop a small ways away from their target, walking the rest of the distance through alleyways to avoid crowds that would recognize Ryukyu. Bring a hero was more troublesome than what it was worth, if crowds were going to follow you around. When he said as much, she said that one could be an underground hero and be less known throughout the public. One could receive less attention, but on covert missions that was what was needed.

If Kakashi had been striving to be a hero, he would've chosen that path, but the only thing he could think about was the new problem this revelation posed. And that was that underground heroes worked secretly in the underground of all these cities, hiding among criminals. If they saw a child running throughout there and then saw him as Ryukyu's child, it would cause unnecessary problems.