Chaos. That was the best way to explain what was going on. Lasers zipping past overhead, explosions ripping apart the pavement and various vehicles scattered along the streets. Glass crunched and cracked under a woman's feet as she sprinted across the sidewalk, ducking her head under her arms as she tried to avoid getting pelted by debris. Looking up, she nearly screamed in horror at the sight of the giant flying monster as it flew just a couple blocks away from her, with what looked to be several aliens ziplining down to either the streets below or the side of the buildings themselves.
"Joy get inside, NOW!"
Joy looked over to see her brother, his usually slicked back hair splayed out in a mess, his face scoffed with several bruise marks and a trail of blood leaking down his forehead. Quickly nodding her head, Joy ran towards the building, a Starbucks to be exact, ducking into the doors as she ran past her brother just before he slammed the doors shut. Looking around, Joy saw that everyone in the room was in a state of either panic or disbelief at the events going on outside.
Walking over to her brother, she harshly whispered, "What the hell is going on Ward?!"
The now named Ward slicked back his hair agitatedly, "Do you really think I'd know what's going on?"
"Well what are we supposed to-" Joy was interrupted by the fact that the side of the building exploded in a blast of fire and glass, the force of it blowing Joy and Ward backwards, the two landing on their sides in a heap.
RRRRIINNNNGG
Slowly, Joy raised up her head, her vision swimming as she looked up to see what looked like couple aliens enter the Starbucks, the rifles raised up as they began to fire upon anyone still alive. Blast after blast, pained scream after scream, the aliens executed the people who tried to take shelter. Finally, the aliens pointed their rifles towards Joy and Ward.
"Joy…Joy," Joy heard, the ringing in her ears finally beginning to wane before she finally clearly heard Ward screaming out, "JOY!"
It was then that the alien closest to her suddenly flew forwards, its body lodging itself into the opposite wall. In the alien's place was a man, his leg stretched out from the kick he used to send the creature flying. Lowering his leg, he threw his fist outwards, a visible force leaving his hand that slammed into the second alien which caused it the fly back as well in a sickening crunch. Relaxing his stance, the man looked around. Joy quickly made eye contact with him, unable to look away from the bright blue eyes the man held. Her own brown eyes roaming the man's form, she saw that he wore a simple brown jacket with an orange t-shirt underneath that read, 'WTF: Where's The Food.' She'd have laughed at the absurdity of it if it weren't for the glass lodged in her side. As the man kneeled next to he began to help her sit up, only for her to loudly wince in pain.
"Where does it hurt?" The blonde asked, his voice sounding younger than she expected it too.
Wincing once again, Joy spoke, "My…my side."
Nodding, the blonde's hand was enveloped in a yellow fire. Joy, seeing that he was reaching for her sigh, grabbed him out of instinct. The blonde man smile at her soothingly as he spoke, "Don't worry, this won't hurt you. I promise."
Joy didn't know why; this man was a stranger…emphasis on strange. But…but she felt she could trust this utterly strange man. So, with slight hesitation, she nodded. Seeing that she was giving the go ahead, the blonde man put his hand just above her side. After a moment, she felt a sudden warmness enter he being, only for that to end when the pain of having glass eject from her body over took that warmness.
"Auughh!" She screamed out, blood leaking heavily through her blouse, the glass that was once in her side clinkling to the floor.
"He-hey!" Ward yelled out, "What the hell are you doing to my sister asshole?!" Slowly getting up, he made his way towards the two of them, "Get the hell away from her, now!"
Raising his hands up defensively, the man said, "Alright, alright. I'm backing off." Getting up, the blonde took some steps back, allowing Ward to take his place. Joy looked down, raising her blouse up to look at the wound, only to be shocked to find that the cuts had closed up completely. Ward looked up at the man to see that he was putting in some kind of ear piece, pressing it as he spoke, "Hey Tony, It's me. Yeah…yeah, I'm on 33rd Street. Alright, I'll try and meet up with everyone else."
Looking up, Joy stuttered out, "Ho-how?"
The man shrugged, "I'm…evolved. Or so I've been told." Walking over he looked out the window, "Do you guys have somewhere you can go, somewhere safe?"
"Now wait just a second!" Ward yelled out, getting up as he glared at the mystery blonde, "What the hell is going on?! What is going on out there?!"
The man sighed, "As far as what's going on out there, I have no clue. All I know is that I'm gonna end it."
"Who are you?" Joy asked, still in shock over recent events.
Turning towards Joy the man gave a wide smile, "Usually I'd lie and say my name is Nathan something or other. But today I'm going to just say fuck it." His body then became covered in a fire that had covered his hand, symbols splayed out along his torso and arms, the yellow fire licking out like a snake's tongue, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konohagakure, The Child of Prophesy and the savior of my world." With that introduction, Naruto raised up off the ground, "And now, I shall be the savior of your world as well." Turning around, Naruto blasted off towards the battle, taking out a passing by alien as he did.
Ward looked at Joy, utter confusion on his face, "Did you catch what any of that meant?"
-x-
Naruto was flying at top speed through the streets of Manhattan, his Six Paths Sage Mode at full power as he swerved and maneuvered around the city, blasting any chariot riding alien he came across. One of his Truth-Seeking Balls was now in his hand in the form of a bo staffs. Using his staffs, he obliterated anything that came in his path. Using his other hand, Naruto would channel tiny Rasengans into the palm of his hands before firing them off towards an alien too far away for him to bother killing up close.
Seeing a squad of them terrorizing people on the ground, Naruto dropped to the streets below, the pavement cracking under his feet. As one of the aliens tried to impale him with their spears, Naruto easily deflected it with his Truth-Seeking Staff before backhanding it so hard across the face its neck broke with a sickening snap. Turning his attention on the rest, Naruto channeled his Magnet Release, taking ahold of the creatures' armor and forcing them towards him, just as he created a clone who held up a massive Rasengan up, allowing the aliens to fly into their deaths. Jumping over his busy clone, Naruto then pointed his hand out in the form of a crude handgun. The monsters didn't see the air bullets coming, the projectiles made of chakra and wind shredding through them like wet toilet paper. Finally, Naruto spun around, pushing wind chakra out of his hand towards an oncoming squad of invaders, his clone blowing out a stream of fire at the same time, allowing the two attacks to combine into a blazing inferno that swallowed up everything in its path.
Even after his inferno attack, a good handful of them had managed to survive, twenty or so at the least. Giving an exaggerated sigh, Naruto flicked his wrist out, the hidden kunai ejecting into his hand. Grabbing ahold of his, the blond channeled a good amount of Wind Chakra into. Rearing his hand back, Naruto threw the kunai with all his might, the muli-use weapon blasting through four of the creatures like a hot knife through butter. Not done with that kunai, Naruto grabbed ahold of it with his Magnet Release. Quickly changing the throwing knife's direction, Naruto sent it into the backs of three more aliens, before once again having in change trajectory into the direction of another unlucky alien. In the span of five seconds, all twenty-ish of the aliens were dead on the floor, all of the collapsing in a bloody heap.
On the alert, Naruto saw another group of them land just a handful of yards away, and was about to finish them off when an arrow swooped in and stuck the middle one in the group, with the shaft of the arrow ejecting out several other smaller projectiles that killed off the rest. Looking over, Naruto saw Clint perched behind a car, his bow at the ready as he gave his blonde friend a nod, a nod Naruto ignored as he formed a Rasengan in his hand and threw it at the man, the ball of energy passing him by just an inch as it slammed into an alien that had made its way behind the sharp shooter.
"Keep your eyes peeled Hawkeye."
"Yeah…my bad." Clint shouted out, pulling back the string of his bow before letting an arrow fly, hitting one of the passing by chariot riders dead on, "Where've you been man? Nat's been calling you!"
Naruto didn't answer, too busy swatting off more of the cockroach like aliens. Using his staff, Naruto impaled one of the aliens through before shifting the shape at the end of the staff and at the alien's front, keeping it from flying off the end of the staff as Naruto then used him like a makeshift war hammer. Left and right, Naruto used his new hammer to plow through the aliens, tearing the alien he was using apart in his campaign to kill as many of them as he could.
"Where. The hell. Do they. Keep. COMING FROM!" Naruto yelled out, finally letting the poor creature go as his staff reverted to normal. Hearing a growl, Naruto turned to his right to see another alien, only this one was twice as big as any of the others, his hulking size kind of freaking Naruto out. His only warning that it was going to charge at him was the snot ridden snarl it released. Not losing his cool, Naruto rearing his hand back, steam building at his elbow, building a huge amount of pressure before releasing it just as the alien got in his comfort zone, "Boil Release: Erupting Propulsion Fist!" The pressure released, Naruto's fist zooming towards the creature's torso like a rocket, the force of it sending a quick ripple through its body before it exploded in a shower of alien flesh and blue blood, showering Naruto in the liquid.
"Was that really necessary?"
Turning around, Naruto saw Steve Rodgers behind him, wearing a modified…skimpier version of his uniform, "Is that costume really necessary?"
Looking down at himself, Steve used his free hand to pull at his duds, "It's not that bad…is it?"
"No…" Naruto said reassuringly, walking up to him as he patted him on the shoulder, "It's just a little…tight, is all."
"You're telling me." Turning around, Naruto saw Natasha walking over to them, "Why bother asking SHIELD for a phone if you're not going to answer it?" She demanded.
Naruto was about to tell her to fuck off when Kurama said, "Save city now, chew her ass out later Naruto. Remember what's important." Naruto paused before scoffing, turning around so he wasn't facing the woman, much to her confusion.
"Hey, what's the matter-"
Natasha was interrupted by the fact that a field of lightning struck down just a few yards away, wiping out a group of oncoming aliens, followed by the God of Thunder himself landing down just in front of where his lightning had struck. Getting up with a grimace as he held his side, he made his way over to the group as Steve spoke, "What's the story upstairs?"
"The power guarding the cube is impenetrable." The Asgardian explained.
Tony zoomed by, chariot riders on hot pursuit, "Thor's right, we gotta deal with these guys."
"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.
"As a team." The Captain answered.
Naruto smirked at Thor as he slapped him on the shoulder, "This is gonna be awesome."
Thor threw Naruto's hand off his shoulder, "I have unfinished business with Loki."
"Oh yeah?" Clint asked as he prepared an arrow, "Get in line."
Naruto was about to speak when the Captain said harshly, "Save it." Walking over he continued, "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need." He was about to start issuing orders when Naruto interrupted.
"Hey uh…who's the dork on the bike?" He spoke as he lazily pointed at the disheveled looking man that rode in on a motorcycle that seemed to have been found in a junk yard.
Said dork got off the bike, walking towards them as the group made their way over to him, he looked Naruto up and down, "Who's the new guy?"
"A friend." Captain answered for him, Naruto giving Bruce a meaningless glare as the man looked around.
"So…this all seems horrible."
Naruto shrugged, "I've seen worse. When a single guy turns an entire city into a crater, call me."
"Stark, we've got him." Steve said as he pressed his earpiece.
"Banner?" Tony asked.
Rogers nodded, "Just like you said."
"Tell him to suit up…I'm bringing the party to you." It was then that Tony zoomed past a building, only to be followed by the massive flying whale with armor on. Tony dived down closer to the ground, the whale following after him as they came flying towards the group.
Naruto grinned, "Now that is what I'm talking about."
The ragged man then began to slowly walk towards the incoming monster, calm in the face of the massive beast. Steve stepped forward saying, "Doctor Banner…now might be a good time to get angry."
Turning around, Bruce calmly smiled as he spoke, "That's my secret Captain. I'm always angry." Turning around, his form began to grow, his muscles protruding outwards and his pasty skin tone turning into an angry green. Eventually his size became too much for his own clothes, as his shirt and shoes ripped off his being. Rearing his arm back, Banner swung his fist at the flying whale just as it was about to reach the group. The force of the punch was magnificent in Naruto's eyes, the green rage monster hitting the alien whale so hard its very armor peeled off, and its sudden loss of momentum flung the back of its tale forward, causing the creature to become vertical with the ground.
"Got it!" Naruto and Tony yelled out, the blonde flinging his arms out as chakra arms sprouted from his body, grabbing ahold of the creature to keep it in place as Tony released a hail of miniature rockets at it, causing the whale to explode in a blast of fire, flesh, and blood.
"Holy shit!" Naruto yelled out as his chakra arms slunk back into his body, then turning around to look at the green hulking monster in front of him, stars in his eyes as he cried out, "That was awesome! Why didn't anybody tell me this guy was the Hulk?!"
The Hulk didn't get to react to Naruto's fanboyish reaction, too busy with the fact that the army of aliens were now booing at them in a strange chorus of growls and shrieks. Realizing the fight had yet to be won, the seven of them circled up, each one with their game faces on. Naruto summoned the rest of his Truth-Seeking Balls, Hulk gave off a massive roar towards the crying aliens, Clint notched back an arrow, Thor began to twirl his trusty hammer Mjolnir, Natasha quickly reloaded her pistol, the Captain secured his symbolic shield, and Tony finishing the ensemble as he landed down to complete the circle.
A subtle thoom could be heard coming from the portal, causing the team to look up and see even more of the whale like creatures coming down to play along with dozens more of the chariot riders, prompting Tony to say, "Call it Captain."
Steve took that in stride as he began giving out commands, "Alright listen up, until we can close that portal our priority is containment." Pointing up he said, "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything more than three blocks out you turn it back or turn it to ash."
"Get a lift?" Hawkeye asked.
"Right." Stark nodded, grabbing the dead eye he quipped, "Clench up Legolas." With that, Tony and Clint went flying towards the building Steve directed them to head to.
Turning towards Thor and Naruto, Rogers said, "Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow em down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up." Thor nodded as he spun his hammer around in a windmill motion before flying off, "Naruto, do you think you can take on the big guys?" Captain asked, referencing the massive alien…whatevers, flying across Manhattan tearing apart any building they came across.
Naruto nodded, "I got just the thing." Bending his knees, the Jinchuriki jumped up into the air, the Shinobi locking on to his targets as he headed towards them at top speed. Zooming past building after building, the blonde having to kill the occasional alien that got too close, Naruto placed his hands into a cross like hand sign, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He thought. In a puff, eight identical Naruto appeared, each wearing the Six Paths Cloak minus the Truth-Seeking Balls. Coming to a stop, the nine Naruto's raised their arms up above their heads, each channeling a different Biju's chakra. Before long, each Naruto was holding a Rasenshuriken over their head, all nine varying in shape and appearance, from a sand, blue flames, steam, lava, water, scale powder, ink and finally wind.
"Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken!"
BOOOOM!
Simultaneous explosion went off one after another, each rocking the flying whale that it hit, blowing its head and torso to pieces, forcing it to crash land down in the streets below. Looking over, Naruto saw that there were three other monsters for him to take down. Hearing a boom spilt across the city, Naruto looked up to see Thor let loose a wave of lightning at the portal, keeping anymore of the freaky alien monsters from flying through. Looking over, Naruto saw Hulk smashing his way through building after building, tearing apart any aliens that crossed his path.
Naruto smirked as he watched the green rage machine plow his way towards a building that was in the path of one of the alien whales, jumping out the window and keeping it from smashing into the building, pulling its head down and to the side, steering it away from the civilians. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Naruto blasted over towards Hulk and the whale, landing on the tail as Hulk made his way up the head. Looking around, Naruto saw that the aliens had noticed he had hitched a ride, the lot of them heading towards him and the angry Banner. Not deterred, Naruto formed two Truth-Seeking Balls into two bo staffs, twirling them around before cracking a couple of the aliens in the skull, obliterating their heads on contact. Keeping his stride, Naruto used his Truth-Seeking Staffs to keep away anything that came in too close, while at the same time using his left-over orbs to fend off anything from a distance, using his ability to control the orb's shape to form them into pointed cone like projectiles.
Looking over, Naruto saw that Thor had landed on the creature as well, assisting the Hulk in fending off the aliens in near perfect unison. The Shinobi watched as the Hulk ripped off a piece of the whale's armor only to then shove the now blade like piece of metal back into the creature. Thor then channeled lightning to his hammer before bringing it down on the piece of scrap metal like a hammer to a nail, slamming the blade deep into the monster along with a large surplus of pure lightning. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Naruto jumped up over the two of them, forming the Truth-Seeking Balls together to form a drill like cone underneath him as he spun at a rapid speed down on the nailed in piece of armor, further driving it in as Naruto blasted through the monster's skull completely. Finding himself ejected from the monster and free falling to the ground, Naruto tucked his body into a cannonball, forming a sphere made of his dark purple orbs, landing directly on top of a squad of aliens as they made their way through the streets.
Pulling himself out of the crater he created, Naruto looked up over at Sta Tower…well now it was A Tower after watching Loki get blasted by what he assumed was one of Hawkeye's trick arrows. Smirking, Naruto was about to blast off towards the tower when a laser blast slammed into his torso, sending him tumbling back before he landed in a crouch. Looking up, Naruto saw that he was surrounded by several of the more hulking alien creatures, the lot of them seeing that he was one of the more heavy hitters of the group. Sighing, Naruto channel into his Truth-Seeking Balls, forcing them out towards the aliens surrounding him, each one expanding outwards, swallowing everything it touched. As the orbs retracted back to their normal size and made their place back at his backside, Naruto could see that his orbs had completely obliterated anything it touched, even those not completely swallowed by the attack were still effected seeing as the areas that were touched had now vanished.
Turning towards the tower once again, Naruto flew up to the observation deck, peaking his head into what looked like some kind of lounging area. In the middle of the room stood the Hulk. Underneath him, Loki. Upon further inspection, Naruto could see that it looked like Loki had just been slammed into the ground multiple times by the green rage machine. Walking over, his hands in his pockets, Naruto kneeled down in a catcher's stance next to the brutally beaten 'god.' Looking him over, he saw that Loki didn't seem to notice his presence, to busy giving out a pained whine.
Poking him with one of his Truth-Seeking Staffs, Naruto said, "I think you broke him…" He finished his sentence by looking up at Hulk, who scoffed as he began to walk away.
"Puny god." He growled out before turning around fully and jumping back out into the battle outside.
Chuckling, Naruto looked around the room, seeing that it had gotten the shit kicked out of it due to the battle going on. It was as Naruto was looking at the shattered glass window that he assumed the Hulk threw Loki through that he felt the massive source of energy sitting just outside on the patio. Getting up, the blonde ninja walked through the hole in the glass, his eyes scanning the area for the power source. As a glow hit the corner of his eye, Naruto looked to his right to see Loki's Scepter laying on the ground just a few feet away from him, the gem that seemed to power the weapon glowing a bright blue.
Bending down, Naruto carefully picked up the bladed staff, feeling the energy pulsing in his grasp. It was then that he felt a sudden forceful pull on his subconscious, like how it feels when he enters his mindscape to speak with Kurama. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto allowed himself to be pulled through, immediately finding himself in a strange new place. Looking around, Naruto couldn't help but find himself amazed at the fact that it looked like he was in space, sitting on what looked to be some kind of asteroid. Gazing up into the stars, Naruto found himself transfixed on the vast space above him, watching in wonder as comets flew by and the looming planets softly orbiting overhead. Taking a few steps forward, Naruto found a long column of spiraling stairs leading up to an unknown location. Feeling drawn to them, the Shinobi began the long trek upwards, the scepter in his hand and Kurama oddly quiet.
As Naruto began to finally make his way to his destination, he began to make out what looked to be a massive throne made from stone, the chair fit for a king floating above the ground ominously. Walking calmly over to the throne, his path was stopped when a strange hooded being that blurred into his personal space. The creature was the definition of ugly, its wrinkled grey skin and crooked golden teeth almost causing Naruto to flinch in disgust. It's face covered by a strange looking face mask that reminded him of a football player, with the rest being covered by a billowing hood.
"Where is the Asgardian, mortal? Why is it you are wielding our scepter?!" The creature demanded, his voice a gravelly growl.
Naruto didn't respond, rather looking over the hooded creature's shoulder at the mystery man sitting on the throne, the person obviously not feeling the need to reveal himself. Looking back at the hooded guy, Naruto couldn't help but continue to feel a little disgusted by his gargoyle like looks, "You ever think about wearing a mask that actually covers that disaster you call a face? Cause I'm gonna be honest with you, that whole football mask thing you got going on isn't working."
"You dare mock me, you a pathetic mortal?! Do you not know whose presence you are in? This is the sanctuary of the Dark Lord Thanos, the most powerful being in the universe! Now, tell us who you are, and why you are here and not the Asgardian Loki, or we shall teach you what happens when you disrespect the Mad Titan!" The creature demanded.
Naruto began to walk around, the two of them circling each other as he spoke, "So, I'm assuming you're the one that gave Loki his little army and this scepter thing. Am I right? If so, they weren't that tough."
The creature took a moment, looking Naruto over before he began to chuckle, "So…Loki has failed. Not only that, but to fail to conquer such a…primitive planet such as this, how pitiful. Perhaps we should've sent Nebula or Gamora rather than rely on that week 'god.'" The man stopped his circling, Naruto following suit as the creature continued his thought, "However, from what I've seen, you and your companions are quite formidable. Perhaps Ronan would have been more well suited for such a task. You in particular have proven yourself to be a powerful being to be able to take down our Chitauri Leviathans. But no matter, for this slight, Thanos will plunder your planet to its very core-" The hooded creature's monologue was interrupted by the booming voice that came from the throne.
"Other…that is enough." With that, the throne began to spin around, revealing the being sitting upon it. The man was clad in a glorious gold and purple armor, giving the man a look of both that of a warrior and of a grand ruler. The man himself was massive, about twice the size of Naruto himself but just a head shorter than the Hulk, with obvious muscle mass showing even as it was hidden underneath his armor. The man's skin tone was a light purple, with obvious signs of middle age showing on his face with the thin wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. Speaking of his eyes, the sclera to his eyes were black with his irises reflecting a glowing purple color. To finish off the man's alien appearance, the man seemed to have lines running up his face from his chin to the scalp, the lines disappearing behind the man's battle helmet.
The now named Other immediately bowed his head in obedience, "Of course my master, I'm sorry my master."
"…Leave us." Thanos demanded, his head resting on his chin as he stared down at Naruto, his voice an unwavering boom of power and authority.
Naruto didn't believe it was possible, but Other seemed to bow even deeper, "Of course my master, right away my master." With that, Other blurred over to the stair before descending down the stairs.
Naruto turned to face Thanos, the two of them entering a stare off of sorts, neither one seeming to want to speak first. Finally, Naruto grew tired of the silence, "Why use Loki to get the Tesseract? Why not just come and get it yourself if you're 'the most powerful being in the universe?'"
Thanos simply chuckled, leaning back in his seat as he spoke, "Because I saw an easily manipulatable child that sought the glory of being king, even if it meant dealing with a being he knew could destroy him with a flick of his wrist. All I needed to do was provide him with a small fraction of my army, with my only demands being that he gives me the Space Stone in return." Chuckling again he continued, "To put it simple it was…entertainment."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Mad Titan, "So your invasion of Earth was just for entertainment, with you getting the Space Stone simply being a bonus? Are you truly that arrogant to think that you could get the Stone at any time?"
The Dark Lord smirked, "I have fought beings more powerful than you could possibly imagine boy. You and your band of 'avengers' are mere playthings to me. If I felt the need, I could have simply taken the Stone the moment I felt its energy burst from across the cosmos. Be glad you haven't pushed me so far that I would feel the need to retrieve the Stone myself. If it were to ever come to that, I would crushthis solar system under the heel of my power."
"Well then…looks like I've found a new purpose."
"And what would that be boy?"
Naruto simply smirked as he rested Loki's staff on his shoulder, "Stopping you of course."
Thanos smirked a bloodthirsty smile, "I await your challenge…Naruto Uzumaki."
With that, Naruto felt his subconscious get pulled back to the real world, his eyes blasting open to see that he was back outside of Stark Tower, the battle still going on around him, "-ruto! NARUTO!" Looking over next to him, Naruto saw Natasha standing there, a worried look on her face as she screamed out his name. The woman looked worse for wear, blood running down her lip and forehead, with scoff marks all over her person.
"Naruto, we need the scepter to close the portal!" Natasha yelled out.
Naruto looked at her for a moment, not really seeming to be paying attention to what she was saying, simply overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of betrayal he felt over the woman he loved, "Naruto, where the fuck have you been?! I've been trying to get through to you for like five minutes you goddamn brat!"
"I'll tell you later Kurama." Naruto thought, "Here." Naruto said dully as he handed the scepter off to Natasha, said woman looking at him strangely for his off behavior.
"Naruto…are you alright? You're scaring me." Natasha said, worry clear in her voice.
Naruto turned away from her walking up the stairs towards the roof as he spoke, "We should finish this."
The red head nodded slowly before following after him, the two of them making it to the roof where Erik Selvig was waiting for them. Having just finished his preparations, the man pointed at the device holding the cube, the spherical energy field protecting it with a loud buzz, "At the crown!" Selvig shouted out his instruction, pointing at the crown of the sphere, showing where he wanted Natasha to shove the scepter at. Naruto watched in interest as Romanoff shoved the blade of the scepter into the sphere, the forcefield doing its best to fight her off, but Natasha held strong, pushing the blade closer and closer till it was just inches away from the cube.
"I can close it, can anyone copy?!" She asked frantically, "I can shut the portal down!"
Steve could be heard over the radio, "DO IT!" He commanded.
"No wait!" Tony interrupted.
"Stark, these things are still coming!" said the Captain.
"I gotta nuke coming in, and it's gonna blow in less than a minute." Stark clarified.
Naruto looked over where he last saw Tony fly off, "Who the hell ordered a nuclear launch?!"
"The Security Counsel ordered the strike."
Naruto immediately recognized the voice belonging to Fury's, "And you didn't do anything to stop it?! There are millions of civilians still in the city!" Naruto shouted out.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Fury harshly demanded, "I did my best to deter them, but they went over my head. There's nothing to be done but stop it."
"Yeah well, I know just where to put it."
"Stark…you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said, letting his comrade know there was no going back. It was too late however, as Tony was forced to push the rocket up at a sharp turn, forcing the missile to change its trajectory to vertical, just skimming A Tower and the machine powering and protecting the Tesseract.
Zooming by them, Naruto could only look on and watch as a man he considered a friend sacrificed himself for the greater good. As he disappeared through the portal, a thought entered Naruto's mind, the blonde unknowingly mumbling out loud, "The true measure of a Shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life but what they did before dying that proves their worth."
"Naruto," Natasha said, "Did you say something."
Naruto didn't bother looking at her, his eyes on the portal above as the missile exploded, the ball of fire looking like a miniature sun. All around them, the remaining Chitauri and Leviathans fell to the ground uselessly as though they had been shut off.
"Close it." They heard Steve say, regret in his voice as he made the call.
Natasha nodded, shoving the blade of the scepter into the cube, shutting down the machine with the beam of light flickering away into nothingness. Soon, the portal began to close in on itself, the hole in the sky finally disappearing, but not before a tiny speck that resembled a person fell through it just in the nick of time.
"Son of a gun." Steve laughed out, the lot of them realizing it was Tony free falling back towards Earth.
Naruto, realizing Tony was unconscious, was about to jump and catch the man before he went splat all over the pavement, only to be beaten to it by the Hulk. Said rage machine caught the man with a single arm, the two of them flying into a building, with the Hulk using the side of it to slow his decent down to the grown below. Landing on his back, Tony laying in his grasp, the Hulk threw Stark off of him half hazardly. Naruto quickly flew down next to them, with Thor and Rodgers sprinting up to make sure the playboy was alive. Turning Tony over, Thor tore off the front part of his Iron Man helmet, revealing Stark's face to the world. Steve quickly ducked his head down to check if he was breathing, only to raise himself back up with a look of remorse on his face. Naruto was about to see what he could do when the Hulk once again beat him to the punch, letting loose a mighty roar, startling the Iron Man back to the world of the living.
"Dude, seriously?!" Naruto yelled out agitatedly, picking his still humming ear after having the rage monster scream right into it. The Hulk didn't seem to care, pumping his chest with his fists like a gorilla.
"What the hell?" Tony demanded, "What just happened…please tell me no one kissed me." He practically begged.
Steve, still trying to catch his breath after the battle they had all just fought breathed out rather pathetically, "We won."
Giving a sigh of relief, Tony rested his head down on the pavement. Lazily razing his arm up in a victory pump, he tiredly said, "Alright yaaaay…good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow, let's just take a day." Looking over at Naruto he said, "You ever had Shawarma? There's a Shawarma place like two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it."
Naruto smirked, allowing his Six Paths Sage Mode to recede as he collapsed on his butt, resting his hands behind his back and allowing his legs to rest out in front of him, "If they sell ramen, I'm down. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had some goodramen?"
"There's such a thing as good ramen?" Tony asked.
Before Naruto could argue over the merits of ramen he was interrupted, "We are not finished yet." Thor said, looking up at A Tower.
Tony looked around, "Then Shawarma after, right?"
-x-
Naruto watched as the group supposedly calling themselves the Avengers circled around inside the helicarrier, the lot of them celebrating a job well done. With Loki now safely imprisoned, the god's scepter being kept safely away from, and the Tesseract now in Thor's possession, the lot of them could now relax, if only for just a moment. The blonde ninja had decided not to participate in the fun, rather hanging back to watch. Feeling a strong hand clasp down on his shoulder, Naruto looked over to see Thor standing just behind him, two glasses of beer in his hand. Handing one over to Naruto, Thor took a long swig of his own before speaking, wiping his mouth of the foamy suds as he did, "Why do you not join in the celebrations my friend? You were a part of the triumphant battle as well!" Thor finished by clapping his hand down hard on Naruto shoulder once again.
Naruto shrugged, taking a small sip of his beer before speaking, "Just…a lot on my mind." He said this while looking over at Natasha and Clint, the two of them chatting it up over at the table. Looking over at Thor he said, "So you're planning on taking the Tesseract to Asgard?"
Thor nodded, "There it can be kept safe from the likes of Loki."
"And what of the people that helped Loki?" Naruto asked.
Thor laughed nonchalantly, "Should they show their faces, we of Asgard shall smite them down."
"But what if these people are more than you guys can handle?"
Thor looked at Naruto with a look of suspicion on his face, "What are you saying my friend?"
Naruto sighed, "I…I might have met the guy that gave Loki his army, and he's no joke. His lackey called him the 'most powerful being in the universe.'"
"And you believe this 'lackey's' words? That is quite the claim to make." Thor said.
"Trust me Thor," Naruto said, "This guy is bad news. The power he was giving off was crazy high, a kind of power I haven't felt in a long time." As Naruto said this, an image of Madara Uchiha popped in his mind.
"Then what would you suggest?" Thor asked.
Naruto took a moment before saying, "I think it would be safer in the hands of a single person, someone that can keep the Stone safe, out of sight out of mind, and can fight against anyone this guy sends their way."
The Asgardian looked Naruto up and down, "And who would you suggest?"
"…me."
"My friend, surely you jest."
"Better in my hands then off in some vault that can be broken into at any time." Naruto said, remembering the story told to him by Thor not long ago of what happened with him and Loki on Asgard.
"And what would you do with the Stone, other than send yourself home with it." Thor accused.
"…you're right when you say I plan to use it to get home. But that's just to see for my own two eyes what's happened there. When I'm done, I will make it my mission to find the rest of the stones, and make sure that they are in safe hands, and if not I'll put them in my own."
"And when this man comes for you, and he will if you go through with these cockamamie schemes of yours, what will you do then?" Thor asked.
"If I can't handle it on my own?" Naruto asked. Seeing Thor's nod, Naruto looked around at the celebrating team, a small smile on his face, "Then I know just who to call for help."
Thor looked at Naruto for a long time, his once relaxed face now one of utter concentration, the man truly weighing the ups and downs of allowing Naruto to protect the Tesseract. Finally, he said, "I have your word you will protect it with your life?"
Naruto gave a hard nod, his eyes filled with steely determination, "You have my word."
"Then you have my word that I will come to your aid in you quest, should you require it." Thor said, raising his hand for a handshake, something that Naruto quickly grabbed, the two hands squeezing the other with nearly all their might. Letting go of his hand, Thor then extended his glass out, "To Colson."
Naruto smiled a sad smile, still finding it hard to believe that his friend had died while trying to stop Loki. Had Naruto known of that, he doubted he'd have allowed the God of Mischief to live. Raising his glass up, Naruto sullenly toasted, "To Phil." With a clink of their glasses, the two blonde men swung back their drinks, each one finishing it off in no time, with Naruto setting the now empty glass off to his side. Thor then pulled Naruto into a quick bear hug before departing over to the group, the massive Asgardian pulling Bruce into a one-armed hug of his own.
"So…your leaving."
Turning around, Naruto came face to face with Nick Fury.
Seeing Naruto wasn't about to respond, Nick began to speak, "I hope I can trust that you'll retur-" His sentence was thrown off by Naruto driving his fist into his face, sending the leader of SHIELD to the floor.
Looming over Fury, Naruto calmly said, "That was for lying about the Tesseract." Kneeling down, Naruto grabbed him with by the collar of his trench coat. Bringing him up so that they were face to face, Naruto whispered out, "Why?" Naruto demanded, "Why would you lie about that, when you knew what was happening on my planet? I might have been able to do something, I'd only been gone for a week. But you had to lie, you had to make sure I was trustworthy, even if it meant that my people had to die." Tears were now rolling down his face, the party that had been going on before had stopped, with Steve making to possibly try and break it up, only for Tony and Bruce to hold him back, "And then…and then, you…you made Natasha spy on me…get close to me. You had her make me think she loved me, all so that I could be kept it line. Was I truly that untrustworthy, was I truly that much of a threat? After all I did to help you and your organization, all the people I've killed for you. Were any of the friendships I'd formed here genuine? Natasha? Clint?...Phil? Did any of them actually consider themselves my friend, or were they simply ordered by you to stay close to me?" Looking over at Clint he shouted, "HUH?!"
Clint looked Naruto in the eye, his face as serious as ever as he spoke, "Of course you're my friend. The same goes for Colson."
The small feeling of happiness that was felt when Naruto heard that was overwhelmed by the feeling he got at seeing the look of guilt he could clearly see on Natasha's face. Not bearing to look at her any longer, Naruto looked back at Fury. Taking a calming breath, Naruto whispered out, "I'm down with you."
Dropping Fury to the floor, he walked out of the room.
-x-
Naruto was standing in the small research room, looking down at the Tesseract that was now in his hands. Naruto could feel the power that the Tesseract was holding, the stone in the center pulsing at Naruto's touch.
"I'm thinking it's a container for the actual Stone, you'll probably have to break it open." Kurama suggested.
Naruto nodded, and was about to enter his Six Paths Sage Mode once again when he felt an all too familiar presence at the other side of the doorway. With a swoosh, the doors slid open, Natasha stepping in slowly. Her walk at a turtle's pace, Natasha stopped just a foot away from Naruto, the woman starring at her lover's back.
For what felt like ages, the two of them stayed in a silence with enough tension that it was nearly palpable. Finally, Natasha spoke, "Naruto…Naruto I am so-"
"Don't." Naruto said firmly. Turning around, he said, "Was any of it real?"
"Of course it was-"
"Don't lie to me!" Naruto shouted out, slamming his fist onto the table next to them. Taking a calming breath, Naruto looked at Natasha for a moment before continuing, his voice once again devoid of emotion, "I know that it was a mission, Clint told Loki while he was under his spell. And don't try and pull the 'Loki could be lying' bull crap because I know for a fact that he wasn't."
Natasha's face was a look of desperation as she grabbed ahold of Naruto's jacket, "Naruto please-"
Resting his hands on her shoulders, he gently pried her off him, "Just tell me, was any of it true?"
The agent known as Black Widow seemed to fight with herself for a moment before slowly saying, "Yes. But…at first…at first it was an order. Fury gave it to me so that I could gain your trust, so that I could report to him if you started showing any kind hostile tendencies towards us…and to give you a reason not to betray us. But…but after a while, things became…different. I started…to feel things…for you." Tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks, a look of utter shame on her face as she continued, looking him in the eye as she spoke, "My feelings for you are genuine, I swearto you. I haven't loved anyone like I love you, please understand."
"Did you still report to Fury about me…after that night?"
"…"
"I see." Naruto said, his eyes dead as he continued in a whisper, "Did you tell him about Kurama, about what I am?"
"…"
"I see."
"Naruto please, you have to understand, they were ord-"
"I'm going to say the same thing I said to Fury" Naruto said, now not only his voice, but his face as well had zero emotion, as though he were no longer human, but some kind of machine, "I'm done with you." Naruto then walked past her, the Tesseract in hand as he made his way out the room.
"Naruto, please!"
Naruto didn't respond, his path set before him as he left the helicarrier, flying out into the sunset with his destination in mind.
-x-
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
-x-
Naruto stood over the very mountain region he had crash landed, looking down at the crater his body had created, the hole in the ground now having begun to grown grass and other foliage around it. Sighing, Naruto looked at the Tesseract in his hand, the blue glow radiating from the cube lighting up the night sky around him.
"Naruto…are you alright?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah Kurama…I'm fine." Naruto said out loud, seeing no point in not doing it seeing as how he was alone at the moment.
Kurama stayed quiet for a moment, "No you're not."
"Yeah Kurama…I know."
Activating his Six Paths Chakra Cloak, Naruto squeezed down on the Tesseract, feeling the cube crack and break under the pressure of his strength. Light began to emit from the cracks, the energy the Stone was giving off humming loudly as more and more cracks webbed around the cubic container. Finally, the Tesseract shattered, the shining blue Space Stone floating in the palm of his hand for several moments before collapsing into it. A bright blue glow began to mix in with the yellow flames that accompanied his cloak, flickering at the tips of the flames. The sclera of his eyes was now a matching blue, with his eyes remaining their usual gold. Grinning, Naruto could feel the power the Space Stone gave him. Closing his eyes, Naruto began to picture in his head the Hokage Rock, something he did every day. He pictured the faces of all the past Hokage, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, Oldman Sarutobi, his father Minato, and finally Granny Tsunade, all of their stone visages he could picture in his mind as clear as day. Naruto then felt a sudden pull, before a loud whoosh could be heard to his right.
Opening his eyes, Naruto could see that a portal had opened up next to him, similar to the portal that had been opened during the Battle for New York. Looking inside, Naruto felt an overwhelming sensation of happiness as he found the thing he'd been looking for. Tears began to build along the corner of his eyes as he laid upon the stone faces of the people he looked up to the most, as he looked at the place he that gave him meaning.
As he looked at home.
-x-
Chapter Complete
-x-
Author's Note: For those that are probably concerned, this is NOWERE NEAR the end of the story. This is simply the end of Phase One. This story is not even half way over, and to help reassure you of that here are the names for the upcoming sagas that I've planned out after Naruto's visit to his planet: the 1,000 Years War Saga, the Five Fugitives Saga, the Rolling Stone Saga, the Week of Ultron Saga, and finally the Sympathy for the Devil Saga. Some if not most of you can guess what the plot will be revolving around these Sagas, cough Ultron, cough Devil, some of the others though you might need to put your thinking caps on for. Now, if that's about it for me, if you have any questions please PM me, but if you feel the need to let me know you're dropping this story, bury that feeling deep down into your esophagus and remember these words, I don't care. So yeah, please REVIEW! I'd love to break 500 reviews! Please FAVORITE, I'd love to break 1,000 favorites! And finally please FOLLOW, I'd love to break 1,500 followers! You guys are awesome, love me dammit!
-x-
Post Credit Scene
-x-
"So…the boy has left Earth."
Standing before his master, the Other bowed his head as he answered, "Yes my lord, though we do not know where he has gone."
Thanos simply chuckled, "The boy has power…I will give him that. I honestly don't know how a fight between us would end."
"Is he truly that powerful…my lord?" the Other asked.
"Perhaps a…testing, is in order." Thanos said, resting his chin on his fist in thought.
The Other looked up at his master, "But who could challenge him?"
The Mad Lord's smirk grew, his blood lust practically palpable, "I think I have someone in mind.
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