Capítulo 20: Path of Righteous Man
Location: Manhattan, New York City, New York
Date: March 24th, 2015
-x-
"What do you mean you let him leave?"
Tony sighed as he leaned back in his chair, running his finger over his temple in mild irritability, "In what scenario of me trying to force a guy like Naruto to stay anywhere work in your or my favor, in any way? The kid does whatever he wants because he can do whatever he wants. I've got a list on my nightstand up stairs full of things I want to see him do, just because I'm surehe could do it." A look of contemplation came to his face, "You know, last I checked, I'm the reason you have your job in the first place, what with your predecessor taking up the Vice President seat. You should be thanking me right now, not jumping my ass for not doing something you never explicitly told me to do."
Secretary Ross huffed with heavy agitation, "Just because you helped shift some things around in the White House after your feud with AIM doesn't mean you're the reason I got my job. I was made the Secretary of State because I'm good at handling people like you and Banner. People like this Uzumaki character." Taking a breath, he straightened out his ruffled tie, looking back, his voice was a subdued one as he said, "I'm trying my best to be patient with you Tony. I've been patient with you. I've been patient with Banner roaming free with little to no surveillance. I've been patient with you allowing Agent Romanoff's lack of respect when it comes to this country's authority. I've been patient with you and Banner's projects, especially considering one of them is to be used to subdue him should he have an episode like he did seven years ago. I've been patient with the fact that you lost a weapon used by the man that lead the invasion of our planet to the very same group that is responsible for the disassembly of our most important intelligence network. But this? This is not something I'm going to look the other way on. The man is a danger to not just our national security, but global security as a whole. From SHIELD's descriptions of his abilities, he could do more damage to the world's governments in an hour than Banner could do in a week. At any moment, he could transform into the president of Russia and order a nuclear strike. He could assassinate any important figure in the world for that matter. Hell, he doesn't need to order a nuclear strike, he has that kind of fire power on his own. He's a dangerous alien. For all we know, he's a scout, and we're about to be invaded by a million more just like him. And you wonder why I'm uncomfortable just letting him wander around?"
"While I appreciate your lackadaisical approach towards me and my team, I can't help but wonder if there's another reason that you want to talk to him." Tony said, "Because let me warn you, Fury tried to put a few things over that kid. And sure, at first, everything was peachy. But eventually, and I mean eventually, he'll find out if you're fucking with him. And I doubt he'll be as nice to you as he was to Fury, and he almost caved the director's head in."
The Secretary shook his head, "If there's anything my 40 years of military service has taught me, it's that one must learn from past mistakes. I've learned to deal with Banner, just like how I've learned to deal with Uzumaki. Don't poke the bear, as some might say."
"Then what do you want with the kid?"
"All I want is to set some ground rules." Ross answered.
Tony raised a curious brow, "Ground rules?"
"I know they're a foreign concept for you Tony, but our government feels that the best way to deal with him is to set in place rules so that neither one of us oversteps our bounds. We don't want him blowing up a city just as much as I doubt he wants to be chased around the globe." The older man explained.
Tony nodded, "Fine, I'll talk to him." Getting up from his seat he continued, "But if he agrees to a meeting, I'm going to be there, along with Captain Rogers as the kid's representation."
"That's fair." Getting up as well, Ross reached over to shake Tony's hand, saying as he did, "You and Rogers will be hearing more about future guidelines anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to sit in on what some of that may pertain to."
"Excuse me?" Tony said with as his had clasped over the other man's.
Ross smiled, "Didn't you hear? I've been pushing for sanctions to be placed on your team since I came into office. With the fall of SHIELD, you lack oversight. While you're officially an independent taskforce, you still operate within our borders. You're viewed as an asset to the United States of America by every other outside nation and group, no matter how much you claim it to be otherwise. That means, that as far as I'm concerned, the Avengers are my responsibility."
"You're acting like we're doing anything but helping people. The only damage done is done by the bad guys, and if weren't for us, there'd be a lot more than just a few buildings getting knocked down."
"I'm sorry to tell you Tony, but one of these days it's going to be more than just a few buildings getting knocked down. Do you really want to be the one held accountable for that?" Ross argued back, "When it comes to work like this, it only takes one screw up. How long before that screw up happens? Tomorrow? Next year, next decade? As far as I'm concerned, the Avengers run on nothing but luck. And luck always finds a way to screw things up. Always."
Tony simply stood there, his eyes serious as he said, "I'll keep that in mind."
"I'm sure you will." Ross said with a nod. Heading towards the open door, he stopped just as he made his way through, "Don't forget Tony, one mistake."
Tony watching as Ross walked into the hall, mumbled to himself, "One mistake." Pulling out his phone he said aloud, "Now how the hell do I get ahold of him?"
-x-
Naruto scrolled through his new phone, something people called a "burner" for whatever reason, entering in the phone numbers he could remember from his previous device. Which were about two. One of which being SHIELD, though thanks to it being shut down it was no longer in service. The other was Natasha's number, but he doubted he'd be calling her anytime soon. Finishing off the third contact in his phone, he nodded in satisfaction after he'd entered Alias Investigations' number, something he guessed was just the woman's personal number considering he hadn't spotted a home or business phone anywhere within her apartment. Next, he'd have to get Tony's number somehow. It was a shame he had no idea where he'd left his last phone at, but at least this one was cheap. That was always a bonus.
Sighing with exaggeration as he leaned back in his, or rather Jessica's, chair, thinking, "So booored." He drawled. Looking over at the still comatose woman in the room next him, he said, "She's like a god damn corpse over there."
"Why don't you just leave then if your so bored?" Kurama asked, "Go find a woman or something, that'll pass the time. One that isn't a daytime drinker, I've had my fill with this termagant."
"What?"
"Termagant."
Naruto filed through what he knew of the English language, trying to remember if he'd ever come across that word before.
Kurama, feeling the proverbial smoke coming from his container's ears, sighed as he said, "Never mind."
The blonde sighed in relief, "Thank you." Looking over at the woman he thought, "And she's not that bad. Sure, she has the temper of a dragon, but you get used to it."
"You're just saying that because she reminds your teammate."
Shrugging, he thought, "Maybe. Though, I'd say she's more like Tsunade then anyone else, what with the drinking and cursing."
"It doesn't defeat the argument that you're projecting ghosts onto this woman, ghosts she will never be able to live up to. Ever." Kurama warned.
Naruto mulled over his friend's words, trying to come up with an argument against them when a knock came through the door, "Jessica! Jessica are you home?"
Recognizing the voice of the woman from yesterday, the blonde quickly got up out of the chair so he could walk over and open the door. Swinging it open, he had to swing his hands up into in a submissive manner when he saw her reach into her purse in her shock at seeing him, "Woah, woah!" He called out.
Quickly recognizing him, Trish blinked in confusion, "You?" Taking her hand from her purse, she continued, "What're you doing here? Where's Jessica?"
Naruto put on a weak smile as he said, "She's asleep."
"It's two in the afternoon."
"Well, after she helped me out we had a couple celebratory drinks." The ninja admitted.
Trish eyed him suspiciously, "A 'couple drinks?' What did you drink, gasoline? Because that woman's tolerance for alcohol lets her drink all day and keep her wits about her."
Shrugging he said, "I might've played down how much we drank." He admitted, "A couple bottles…each."
She shuffled around awkwardly, "Did you…did you, you know?"
Naruto chuckled, "From what I've seen of from that woman, she'd rip me apart before I even get to first base." Not really, but this woman didn't need to know Jessica's strength was the norm for him after spending so long with his teammate and Hokage.
The blonde woman's eyes widened when he mentioned her friend's secret, "Then why are you here then?" She asked with a slight edge to her voice.
Giving his patented smile, he said, "If you're worried I might've stuck around to abuse the knowledge that your friend's got superpowers, don't. I've met my fair share, and trust me when I say she probably won't be the last. My luck just won't allow it."
"Why then?"
"A woman came over this morning with a job for Ms. Jones. I figured I'd be here when she woke up so I could relay what she said. She's been passed out for a while though. Hell, I had time to go get a new phone and stop by my old apartment to get some stuff I left behind. The only thing I haven't gotten to do is get something to eat." He said the last bit as an afterthought, rubbing the back of his head as he realized he hadn't eaten anything all day yesterday either.
Trish gave a long sigh, "May I?" She asked, motioning with her head towards the inside of the apartment.
Naruto blinked, "Oh, yeah sure. My bad." Stepping aside, a let the pretty blonde into the room.
"Jessica!" Trish yelled as she rolled through the apartment, "Jessica I swear to God, if you don't get up I'm going to throw out all your booze! Don't think I don't know where you keep it stashed."
Jessica, her head buried into her pillow, mumbled out some kind of incoherent gibberish.
"Fine, I'm calling Hogarth. I'd say this calls for a house call." She said flippantly.
Jessica remained quiet for several seconds before the sound of her screaming into her pillow out of pure unadulterated frustration came from he room. Like a zombie rising from its coffin, the woman sat up as she threw her hair out of her face, "What time is it?" She growled.
"2:13." Trish answered as she began to walk out of the bedroom, "I'll be back in an hour. You better be up and at 'em before I get back." She called out as she walked passed Naruto grabbing him at his elbow in order to drag him along with her.
Getting the gist, Naruto pulled his arm back so he could walk on his own, following the woman as Jessica called out in confusion, "Where're you going?"
"Lunch!"
-x-
Naruto held back a sigh as he read through the menu in his hands, "Of course." He thought.
"What?" Kurama drawled.
"There's no ramen on the menu. I wonder if they'll make it if I ask?" He pondered in his head, flipping through the pages as he did.
Kurama fought urge to roll his eyes, though the task proved too difficult as he said, "You're on a date with a beautiful woman, and this is what's coming to mind? If it were possible I'd slap the shit out of you."
Naruto gave a mental shrug, "I've got a hankering, that's all. And this isn't a date. This is lunch."
"I don't understand the difference."
"Well there is one."
Kurama shook his head, "I'll never understand the intricacies of your convoluted mating dance. All you monkeys seem to follow it. It's redundant." He then gave off a warning growl, "And if you ask them to make you ramen I'll make you regret it, I'm not kidding."
"Fine." Naruto relented, looking over at the woman sitting across from him he asked aloud, "Have you been here before?"
"A few times." Trish answered, looking around the average looking diner, she said, "I like to come here by myself most of the time though."
"Why?" He asked.
She smiled hesitantly, "I uh, I don't if I wanna tell you." Shrugging she said, "You're the first person I've met in a while that hasn't figured out who I am after a few minutes."
"Am I supposed to know who you are?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.
"How old are you?" Trish asked curiously.
"24." Naruto answered.
Trish raised a brow of her own, "That's it? You look more around my age."
"And that is?"
Trish raised a brow, "What's that trope about asking a woman her age?"
Naruto smiled, "I'm not asking how old you are, I'm asking how old you thought I was."
"Smooth." Trish said with a smile, "29."
"That's it? You look more around my age." Naruto said back with a knowing smile on his face, "So why am I supposed to know you?"
"Well, even though you're younger than I thought you probably still watched it." Seeing his confusion, she sighed in defeat. Giving a quick look around, she leaned forward to say, "It's Patsy?"
"Who?"
Trish blinked, "You really don't know what I'm talking about?"
Naruto shook his head, "Nope. Am I supposed to?"
"You've never heard of It's Patsy? Of Patsy Walker?" She asked in genuine surprise.
"Why should I have?" The blonde asked, growing more confused as the conversation went on.
She leaned forward more as she practically whispered, "It was a TV show in the late nineties? Super popular? You're telling me you've never even heard of it?"
"If it helps I'm not from the U.S." Naruto said, "And I'm gonna guess that you're Patsy?"
"I was Patsy." Trish said, "I don't do that kind of stuff anymore." Shaking her head she said, "I can't believe you haven't even heard of it. I've had men from the Philippines send me fan letters."
"Isn't that a good thing?" He asked, "Not having someone recognize you, for once?"
"Yeah, yeah I suppose. It's just a little weird." She shook her head, "No, weird isn't the right word…"
"Well uh-"
"Novel!"
Naruto blinked, "What?"
Trish had the decency to looked slight abashed, "Sorry, I thought of the word. Novel, it's a novel experience."
"Oh." Naruto said lamely, not really knowing where to go from there.
The two sat in their booth in a new-found silence, an awkward one that resulted in Trish playing with her silverware and Naruto swirling around the iced tea in his glass. Thankfully, the waitress came to their rescue, pulling up to them at a slow pace, her thick Queens accent practically slurring her speech, "Whattcha wan'?"
"Oh, uh, I'll have a deli club, please." Trish said politely as she handed the waitress her menu.
"Side?"
"Fries."
Her eyes shifting over to Naruto she asked, "You?"
"Yeah do you have-" Hearing his partner's aggressive growl echo through his head, he sighed in defeat as he said, "Just a cheese burger and fries, I guess."
If the waitress had a problem with his shift in attitude, she didn't seem to care as she took his menu before walking away towards the kitchen to place the orders.
The two continued where they'd left off for a nearly another minute before Trish finally asked, "So, what do you do?"
Naruto scrolled through the jobs he could think of that made sense before finally shrugging in defeat, "Nothing."
Trish raised a curious eyebrow, "Nothing? Nothing at all?"
"Well, I only just got back, so I haven't really found anything to occupy my time with." Naruto said, "Probably something here in New York. Or maybe not."
"Well what did you do before? You have to have done something to pay Jess."
"Freelance stuff I guess you could say."
"You guess?" She asked in confusion, "Like, freelance photography or something?"
Naruto smiled at that, "Yeah something like that, sure."
Trish nodded, resting her elbows on the table as she said, "Well I know some people over at the Daily Bugle if you're really desperate. I've heard the Publisher is a piece of work but they're always looking for freelance photographers so I'm sure you could get some work. Nothing great, but it'd be something."
"I'll keep that in mind." Naruto answered, "What about you? Have I seen you in anything recently?"
She gave a short laugh, "No, I haven't acted in anything in years. I'm only just now getting back into it with my talk radio segment." Seeing his slightly confused look she went further, "It's like a talk show but on the radio. Like a podcast but with a wider audience of viewers."
"Oh, so you have like celebrities on and stuff? Anybody super famous?"
"A few." She said with a smile, "Though my favorite guests are a little more boring than someone like Simon Williams."
"Like who?" He asked.
"People like Randolph Cherryh, Stan Ori, Mariah Dillard. I really just want to dig into their policies, what makes them right for their positions, put them on the spot for some of their less popular decisions in office. I just don't want the things our politicians do, even the good ones, be swept under the rug. Stuff like that needs to be public domain." Trish explained, the passion she clearly felt for her work seeping through as she went on.
"I don't know." Naruto said with a shake of his head, "Sometimes, ignorance is bliss."
"And sometimes that ignorance comes back to bite us in the ass. Just look at SHIELD. If we'd have known about half the stuff that was going on over there, do you really think Hydra wouldn't have been flushed out quicker?"
"Sometimes, keeping people in the dark is the only option." Naruto said back. After a moment of internal debate, he continued, "There's this village, a long time ago halfway across the globe, that was created out of several once warring clans that all agreed to a unified peace. A peace that lasted nearly a half a century with no issues from any clan. If anything, the village had begun to prosper, with several other clans forming their own villages after them. That is until one of the founding clans decided that they'd lost their standing amongst the village, and that the only way to reclaim it was to overthrow it entirely. When the village leader found out about this, he tried to convince the other side to back down, that a peaceful resolution could be made. But the clan would have none of it. They'd committed to their plan, there was no backing down from it. So in secret, in the dead of night, the village leader had the clan exterminated. Every man, woman, and child was killed in their sleep."
"That's…terrible." Trish choked out.
Naruto nodded, "It was. In one night, he ordered the execution of one hundred and seventy-three people. But in the end, he had saved thousands by avoiding a civil war. Even then, could you imagine the village's reaction had they known what was going on? There'd have been nothing but chaos."
"But that's a rare example. Nothing like that has ever happened here." Trish argued back.
"That you know of."
"So what, we're supposed to just take it? Let them lie to us and keep us in the dark about everything?" She asked incredulously.
"No, you shouldn't. Past experiences in American politics should've shown that even the most outstanding can overstep their bounds. That's just the fact of life. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Naruto said.
"How would you handle it then?"
The blonde man smiled sheepishly, "I'm just an average guy as far as this goes. I wouldn't know how to fix any of it, just bitch about it. The sad thing is that that's how most of everyone else is."
"Here you go."
Their conversation found an intruder in the waitress as she placed Trish's food on the table. Setting Naruto's down after with a resounding clink, she walked off without another word, allowing the two to lean back in their seats and ponder their food.
Sighing, Trish reached for the bottle of ketchup that was at the end of the table as she said, "This conversation got a little heavy, didn't it?" Sighing in exasperation she continued, "Honestly, after Black Widow released all of SHIELD's and Hydra's files, all I've done for the past year is talk about the stuff that wasn't encrypted. I can only imagine how messed up that is. So, this is the last thing I want to talk about on my day off."
"We can go to a lighter topic if you want." Naruto offered, "How long have you known Jessica?"
"Most of my life." Trish answered, "She's my adopted sister."
"Really?" Naruto asked curiously, "I'd have never thought that. You're nothing alike, at all."
"Well we're not blood related." Trish said before she took a bite of her sandwich.
The blonde rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. I just mean that you'd think being quasi-siblings you'd have a few shared quirks or something." He said before taking a bite of his own.
"Like what?"
"The drinking for one."
"Well," Trish started with a laugh, "I'll admit to drinking a glass of wine every few nights-"
"Or the cursing."
"Do you want me to curse?" She asked with another laugh.
"Or the heavy amount of contempt she carries for the overall populace of the world."
"Well that's just Jessica." A look of melancholy reached her face, "She's actually gotten a little better after-" Her mouth then snapped shut midsentence, her face now filled with regret.
"After what?" Naruto asked, wondering why she'd stopped talking so suddenly.
Trish shook her head, "I shouldn't say. It's Jessica's business to share, not mine. I just got caught up in the conversation."
The blonde ninja eyed her for a while before saying, "She lost someone, didn't she?"
The woman's face shifted into shock, "What?"
"She's got the same look in her eyes as a friend of mine once had." He said as he thought, "A look I've had." Shaking his mind clear he continued to say, "I've seen it enough times to know what it means." Smiling disarmingly, he finished, "Well, let's change the subject huh? No point going over something neither one of us should be talking about, right?"
Trish couldn't help but smile back, finding the man's attitude infectious, "Alright."
-x-
Naruto and Trish walked at a calm pace towards Jessica's apartment, heading through the building's halls as they talked, "I can't believe you know Krav Maga." Naruto said in disbelief, "That's some brutal shit."
Trish shrugged, "If someone's attacking me am I supposed to use something weak?"
The man shook his head, "No, you just don't come across as the kind of person willing to snap someone's arm." He said with a laugh.
She laughed back, "Well, I'm not that good. Yet." Giving him a side glance she said, "I could probably kick your ass though."
"Oh really?" Naruto shot back, "Are you challenging me to a spar, Cobra Kai?"
"If anyone's the karate kid in this scenario, it's me." Trish challenged, "And that's if you can even fight."
"That was a very Cobra Kai thing to say."
"You two seem pretty chummy."
Trish jumped at the sound of Jessica's voice behind them while Naruto simply turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "Sup?" He asked.
Seeing that Jessica either hadn't heard the blonde or, the more likely of the two, had ignored him, Trish asked, "What're you doing?"
Jessica raised up the cup of coffee in her hand as she grumbled, "Morning coffee."
"It's three o'clock." Trish deadpanned.
"The shower wasn't enough to wake me up." Jessica said, "This was."
"Well it's you own damn fault for drinking so much. You're lucky Naruto was there with you, who knows where'd you be right now." Motioning with her head to Naruto she asked, "What do you say?"
The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes, "He's the reason I drank so much in the first place." Though when Trish's look didn't go away, she sighed in annoyance, "Thanks Whiskers."
Naruto's eye twitched at Jessica's nickname, "Real original."
"I'll come up with one better if you want. I'm sure I'll think of something."
"You act like we're going to be spending more time with each other." Naruto said, smiling while feeling slight confusion over the woman's words.
Reaching her door, the woman began to unlock it as she said, "I saw that you got me a job while I was asleep, a job I'd have refused otherwise. So, because you felt the need to stick your nose in this, you're going to help me deal with this woman. I've never met her, and I'd rather avoid the awkwardness of me having been unconscious while she was here, with you as a buffer."
"Huh." Naruto said, "You gonna pay me?"
"I'll pay for lunch." She said with a fake smile.
"I already ate lunch."
"The cab fare then." She haggled.
The blonde shrugged, "Fine. I wasn't really doing a whole lot anyway."
"Jessica." Trish said with what Naruto would call a mix between a smile and pointed look, "Mind if I talk to you in the bedroom for a second?"
Jessica groaned, "Do I have too?"
"Yes."
Groaning again, she pointed at Naruto, "We're leaving in two minutes, don't go anywhere."
Dragging the other woman in the room, Trish said in a hushed tone, "What's going on?"
"What?" Jessica asked in confusion.
"Why are you bringing him?" Trish clarified, "You've never done anything like this. What's the angle?"
"There's no angl-"
"There's always an angle with you." Trish insisted, "Anytime you do anything you normally don't, there's some kind of angle to it. I know you Jessica."
Jessica put on her sweet voice as she said with clear sarcasm, "Well did you ever stop and think that maybe I have a crush on him?"
"Jessica." Trish ground out, "Seriously."
The woman shrugged nonchalantly, "If I swear that I don't have anything planned, will you drop it?"
Trish nodded confidently, "Swear to it then."
"I swear."
"What?"
Rolling her eyes, she continued, "I swear I don't have any kind of angle or scheme planned for him in any way, shape, or form. If I break this oath, may I be struck down by the power that be. Happy?"
"Not really."
Jessica began to walk out of the room, "Just do what I do then."
"Not everyone can afford to drink no matter the time of day Jess."
"That's not what I'm saying." Jessica said as she began to walk out the room, spotting the blonde man leaning against the apartment's doorway. Noticing what looked like white smoke dissipating around him, she shook it off as she walked over to him, "Let's go blondie."
-x-
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
-x-
Naruto sighed as he thought, "How pissed do you think she's gonna get when she finds out I'm not actually there?"
"Going off her stunning personality, I'd say quite a bit." Kurama answered.
The blonde man shrugged, "She'll get over it. I think she'll be more put off that I can make clones of myself than pissed at said fact."
"Fair enough." The fox said before he sighed, "How long are we gonna have to wait here?"
Walking through the garden of Kamar Taj, Naruto thought, "It is a little weird to not see anyone walking around. This place was always bustling when I was here." It was as he walked towards one of the several dojos that he heard a commotion going on through the paper walls.
Sliding the door open, Naruto found himself in the middle of what looked like a spar. At least that what it sounded like, going off the sound of flesh smacking against flesh. This proved hard to see however considering the massive crowd of people that filled the dojo. Wading through the sea of students, Naruto elbowed his way to the front of the mob. Squeezing passed the last of the throng, he blinked when he saw Illyana get hit in the face by a vicious palm strike. As the blonde woman stumbled back, the man that hit her shook his hand in clear pain. Taking in his appearance, Naruto could see he was wearing the standard Kamar Taj training uniform of grey robes. His black hair was a little shaggy, with specks of white wisping along his temple, and a rugged beard sitting on the underside of his face.
Finally shaking off the sting from his hand, the man slid back into his stance, waiting for Illyana as she spat out a glob of blood. Narrowing her eyes at the man, she charged at him with a tornado kick to the face, only for him to duck down underneath and back off to give himself some space. The woman dubbed Magik tried to close that space, but he was doing an admirable job keeping the distance. Naruto could tell Illyana was getting frustrated, the sweat building along her brow as she sent jab after jab at the man opposite her, all of them blocked and deflected as he kept on the back foot. Finally, she let her exhaustion take hold as she let her form slip for just a moment. That moment was all the man needed as he grabbed her extended arm before using her forward momentum to help him flip her over his shoulder, the woman landing on her back with a hard thump.
Pressing his body weight on Illyana's neck with his knee, he quickly raised his hands up to show he was about to throw a jab as he said, "Yield."
Illyana choked for breath as she looked up defiantly at the man, coughing out, "Fuck off, Strange."
The man named Strange narrowed his eyes, ready to bring down some punishment when a voice cut through the room, "Enough."
Looking up, Naruto saw that Mordo had stepped up, a stern look on his face as he waited for the two to separate. Getting up off her, Strange reached out with a helping hand. Glaring up at him for a second, she finally conceded as she took his hand, allowing him to help her up. Now on her feet, she stepped away from him as she waited for Mordo to speak.
Mordo however waved his hand with a sweeping gesture at the two, giving a silent signal as he waited on them to comply. Knowing what he wanted the two students turned to each other before giving the other a deep bow. As they stood straight, the Master looked around the room, "Return to your duties. The show is over." As the crowd dispersed, all that remained was the four of them.
When they realized someone had decided to stay despite Mordo's command, the two students turned to look at the dawdler to see who dared ignore the word of a master. At seeing Naruto, the man could tell she wanted to speak to him, but seemed to know better as Mordo began to speak, "Both of you have improved in your technique tremendously. However, I think we can all agree you have much to learn. Rasputin, you wasted your energy on your frustrations, allowing yourself to fall to exhaustion much sooner than you should have. Strange, you're too focused on your hands. Stop allowing their brittleness control your fighting style. Stop fearing the pain, but rather move passed it. Understand?"
"Yes, Master Mordo." The two students chorused out, though Strange's came out a little more forced than Illyana's did.
His eyes moved to Naruto, his face shifting from serious to relaxed as he said, "Now, how may I help you, Uzumaki?"
Naruto stepped forward, "What's the matter Mordo? Don't tell me I'm not allowed to visit a few friends?" He asked with his classic smile at play.
"I'm sorry." Naruto turned to the man dubbed Strange, "But, who are you?"
Naruto looked the man up and down for a second before saying, "Where I'm from, it's common courtesy to state your name before demanding someone else's."
Strange scoffed, "And where I'm from, common courtesy is for the mentally stagnant."
Laughing, Naruto said, "Well, well Mordo. Your student's got a mouth on him. I'm surprised you haven't beaten it out of him yet."
Mordo sighed, "Here at Kamar Taj we do not beat insubordination out of our students. We are to mold the mind and body, not break it." Gesturing toward said student he said, "This, is Mr. Stephen Strange. He has been studying under the Ancient One for over a year now."
"It's Doctor Stephen Strange." Stephen corrected, turning his attention to Naruto he asked again, "And forgive me for being curious, but I can't help but wonder what an Avenger is doing here at Kamar Taj."
"So, you do know who I am." Naruto said.
"I know of you. Who you are still remains a mystery."
"My name's Naruto." The blonde introduced himself, "And I'm not an Avenger. I just joined in on the fun."
Illyana scoffed, "And by fun you mean an alien invasion."
Stephen nodded, "You were all over the news. The Mystery Avenger they called you. You had quite the fan club. But unlike the rest of the Avengers, you never popped back up again. Even the guy with the hammer showed up in London two years ago."
"Once again, not an Avenger."
"Then what are you?" Strange asked.
"Just a guy that wants to talk to your master." Turning to Mordo he asked, "She around?"
Mordo nodded, "Always. Follow me."
-x-
Naruto grunted in annoyance as he was shoved up against the alley wall. Sighing he said, "You know, if you wanted to have your way with me, this seedy alleyway next to your apartment really isn't the best place for it."
Jessica only pressed harder, giving her usual glare as she said, "Shut your mouth Tod, I know what you are."
The blonde blinked, "…Tod?"
"Fox and the Hound." Jessica answered quickly, "Don't dodge the accusation!"
Scoffing, Naruto said, "That's really the best you could come up with? Kinda patheti-"
"Shut up!" The woman yelled, "Just shut up, for once in your fucking life."
Naruto paused at that, giving the woman a moment to take a calming breath, "What am I then?" He asked.
She shook her head, "You're not just like me, or the other freaks wondering around this god forsaken city. You're not even like the Avengers. You're him." Jessica answered, "The Mystery Avenger, the Man of Fire. You're the goddamn Maelstrom."
Laughing, he said, "You looked me up, didn't you?"
"I'm a PI." The raven-haired woman said with a roll of her eyes, "Looking you up took almost no effort at all. You're all over the internet. Pictures, sightings, stories from the people you've saved, descriptions of your abilities. While you and the Avengers fought throughout Manhattan, you had hundreds of doppelgangers saving civilians from the destruction they caused."
"Whatever happened with there not being an angle to you bringing me along?" Naruto asked rhetorically, "And I suppose you knowing about that ability will make the news easier to break."
"What news?" Jessica asked, only for it to then quickly dawn on her, her eyes growing dull as she said, "You're a doppelganger, aren't you?"
"I prefer clone." The Naruto clone corrected, "And don't get too pissed at the boss. He's a little busy today, I'm not the only clone he's got wandering about. Hell, he's got hundreds of us going to each country's major cities to place a Hiraishin marker there-"
The clone was cut off by Jessica's fist slamming into his jaw, the clone popping in a puff of smoke. Said woman stood in shock as she swatted away at the lingering smoke, "The hell?" She asked aloud. Now alone she scoffed as she looked around for the man, wondering if this was one of his tricks. When he failed to reappear, she cursed, "Well shit."
She jumped when another Naruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a scowl on his face, "Don't do that. The boss made another clone, and I'm a bit tougher than the last one, but if you hit like you did him I'll pop for sure. If you pop me, you don't get another one."
Jessica rolled her eyes, "That was a love tap."
"If I were anyone else you'd have caved my skull in." The clone shot back, "You seriously need to learn how to control your strength. What's the point of having it if you're constantly having to worry whether or not you might accidently kill someone."
"I have control." Jessica argued, "I've made sure of that after..." As she spoke, her cold mask began to crack as her face began to tick. Taking a few steps back, she began to take several calming breaths as she muttered, "Birch Street, Higgins Drive, Cobalt Lane. Birch Street, Higgins Drive, Cobalt Lane. Birch Street, Higgins Drive, Cobalt Lane." She repeated this over and over again, like a mantra as she tried to calm herself down.
The Naruto walked up to her, concern on her face as he walked up to her, resting his hands on her shoulders, "Jessica, Jessica are you alright?"
After taking a few more breaths, she seemed to have calmed herself enough to brush the man off, walking passed him as she said, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Let's go, we're late."
Watching as the woman walked out the alley, Naruto sighed as he said, "This is gonna be a long ass day."
-x-
Location: Washington D.C.
-x-
Another Naruto clone sighed as he felt the memories of a dispelled clone come flooding in, "And another one bites the dust. I wonder if boss will send in another clone to babysit that woman."
Walking down a wide side walk, the clone trekked through the park as he scanned row after row of gravestones, trying though not yet succeeding at finding the one he was looking for. The clone kept looking for nearly fifteen more minutes before finally spotting the one he wanted. Looking down at the bouquet of flowers in his hand, he then walked up to the stone, kneeling into a catcher's stance as he looked it over as he set down the bundle of flowers. It was a rather plain looking headstone, the face reading, "Col. Nicholas Fury. 1948-2014."
Reading aloud he said, "The path of the righteous man-"
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. Ezekiel 25:17."
Naruto didn't bother turning around when the voice spoke up behind him, rather closing his eyes as he sighed out, "I knew it." Standing up, he asked, "Kinda hard to believe this meeting is a coincidence."
Fury smirked down at the blonde, "I've been waiting for a moment where you were alone, but you were always walking in a crowded area or were galivanting around with Ms. Jones. Then I got a tip you were wondering around Washington. It wasn't too hard to put two and two together." Laughing he continued, "And I figured you wouldn't believe it. Did anyone give it away?" The man wore rather plain clothes consisting of a dark brow hoodie and a ball cap over his bald head, aviator sun glasses covering his eyes.
"Steve. Sage bless the man, but he's nowhere near as good of a liar as Maria or Natasha." Flinching at his own words, he looked up at the man, "I didn't take you for a religious man, Director. Or did 'death' open your eyes to it?"
"Not so much religion as the wonders of cinema." Fury answered, now standing next to the man, "For a while, every time I watched that movie, it always tickled me to think that it applied to me, that I was the shepherd. I took in the misfits, the freaks, sheltered them from the outside world's prejudice and evil, and led them to greatness. Tony, Rogers, Hill, Clint, Banner…Romanoff, just to name a few. I put them on the path that they're on now." Sighing he took his shades off, looking Naruto with his one good eye as he continued, "I realize now that I am not the shepherd, and no matter what you might think, I'm not the tyranny of evil men either. I am the weak. And no matter how hard I tried, I could never be the thing I knew I needed to be. Call it destiny, the hand of God, or just plain bad luck, but you and I both know what it was. It was weakness, plain and simple. That weakness allowed Hydra to fester within SHIELD. It allowed me to consider using the Tesseract as a weapon. It pushed me to make Natasha spy on you, to betray you. And whether it really mattered in the end, it convinced me that keeping you here was more important than telling you the truth and allowing you to go home." A pause came when he took an almost shaky breath, almost, "For that, I'm sorry."
Naruto sighed, calming himself as he said, "What...what did she really-" He hesitated, trying to form the correct set of words, "Was there ever a moment where she didn't want to? Did she ever hesitate?"
"All the time." Nick answered immediately, "One of the few times she ever did. That's why I tried to convince you to break it off. She'd been compromised. For the first time since she came to work for SHIELD, I questioned her loyalty. And that scared me."
Laughing, he said, "So, if you're as weak as you say, if you represent or are a part of the weakness of humanity, what does that make me? The shepherd?"
"No." Fury said, shaking his head, "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee. That's the second half of the 'passage.'"
"And you think that's me?"
"No, but it's something you can become." Fury offered offhandedly.
"Then what?" Naruto asked.
Smiling, Fury answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "The righteous man of course." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a plain looking flash drive that had the words, 'Secret Stuff' written on it, "I hope you consider this my first step towards redemption." He said, offering it to the blonde.
Eying the flash drive in a moment of hesitation, he slowly reached out and took it gingerly in his hand, looking it up and down as he said, "I'll keep that in mind."
Placing his hands in his pockets, he began to turn away, "That flash drive contains all of SHIELD's encrypted information and files, minus the encrypted part." Walking away he waved lazily as he said as an afterthought, "And give Natasha a second chance, will you? You'll need as many friends as you can get. Call it intuition."
Placing the flash drive in his pocket, he thought, "What a day." Then, another flash of memories began to flood into his mind, causing him to flinch at recalling the clone's death. Processing the information for a second, he sighed once more before flashing away towards his master, "Yep, what a fucking day."
-x-
Sliding off his shoes in front of the door, Naruto entered the Ancient One's meditation room, his entourage of sorcerers following after him. Behind him he could hear Illyana whisper to Strange, "Why are you even here? You don't even know Naruto. In fact, you were trying to provoke a fight out of him not five minutes ago."
"I wasn't trying to 'provoke a fight.'" Stephen defended himself with a whisper of his own, "And excuse me for being curious why a total stranger wants to talk to the Master. Don't you think it's a little odd?"
"How is it odd?" Spoke up the Ancient One, clearly hearing the sorcerer in training, "It's been nearly seven years since we brought him here to Kamar Taj. We made quite the impression during his stay here, so it is only natural that we're overjoyed when he comes to visit. Isn't that right Master Mordo?"
Mordo nodded, "He certainly isn't a stranger. And, it was Uzumaki that sponsored Ms. Rasputin's apprenticeship here at Kamar Taj." Looking to the two students in the room, Mordo nodded his head towards the door, "Come, I'm sure that they have much to discuss."
Both Illyana and Stephen looked ready to argue, but the blonde woman calmed down after receiving a reassuring look from Naruto. Seeing Strange's hesitance to leave, the ninja said, "Perhaps your time would be best spent working on controlling your fear, Doctor Strange, rather than hovering over a conversation you're not privy to."
Strange narrowed his eyes in confusion, "And what fear would that be? Pain?"
Naruto gave him one of his patented megawatt smiles, "Maybe one of these days I'll tell you."
With that, Mordo pushed Stephen out of the room before softly shutting the door behind him though the two could hear the Master reprimanding his student through the thin walls.
Smiling softly, "You have me curious, Naruto, as to what you believe his fear to be."
The man shrugged, "I've got the ability to detect negative emotions, fear being one of them. If I really concentrate, I can pick up on what is driving that sense of fear." Smirking he said, "Even yours."
Her surprised look faded as soon as it appeared, "So, what have you picked up from my latest student?"
"He fears the same thing as me." Naruto answered, "Failure."
"How poignant." The Ancient One said, "Now then, what is it I can do for you?"
"Is this really a good idea brat? Considering the fact that what you're going to ask her revolves around her fear, I'd say this could go bad fairly quickly." Kurama warned.
Naruto ignored the voice in his head, powering through as he said, "I came here because I'd encountered something strange during my fight with Desak."
"And that would be?" The Ancient One asked, sipping at her tea.
"Death."
The sound of her sipping ceased as soon as the word left his lips, her eyes widening a margin before she collected herself, lowering the cup as she said, "Excuse me but, I must have misheard yo-"
"I met the physical manifestation of death. It wasn't a dream, or a hallucination. She was as real as you and me." Naruto interrupted.
"She?"
Naruto nodded, "I was just curious if you'd ever heard of anything like that before."
"I can't say I have." The Ancient One answered slowly, "I've seen and experienced many things, but to meet death itself is beyond even my scope of understanding. What was it like, exactly?"
After a moment of thought he said, "Cold, devoid of anything except for my senses. It was like floating in a survivable pocket of space, where its vacuum couldn't touch me. Then she was there, and it was like I'd known her my entire life, but I just hadn't seen her for a long, long time. She made it sound like she was connected to me, more so than usual."
"Did she elaborate on the source of that connection?"
He shrugged, "Something about my seal."
Nodding she asked, "Perhaps then you need to explore the inner workings of you seal. You say that it's like a tunnel system, have you ever tried exploring it? Moving passed Kurama?"
Naruto shook his head, "I'd never seen the point." Scratching his chin, he said, "It's worth a try I suppose."
Returning to her tea she said, "Well, I believe Ms. Rasputin wishes to speak with you. I think I've kept you long enough, hmm?"
Eyeing the woman up and down, he nodded as he said, "Well, thanks for the advice. I owe you one..." Pausing, "I'm gonna have to figure out your real name, calling you Ancient One to your face always seemed really weird." He said offhandedly.
Giving a respectful bow, he walked out of the room, missing the woman's calm façade begin to break as she looked down at her now shaking hand, gripping it in a tight fist as she tried to calm her nerves.
-x-
Illyana looked up from her couch as she felt another presence enter her apartment, quickly spotting Naruto, the man looking around as he said, "Nice place, I didn't know Kamar Taj let students come and go as they please."
Shrugging, she said, "My abilities make any complaints about where I live a moot point."
"Fair enough." Naruto answered, "What was up with that Strange guy?"
She rolled her eyes, "He's just got a chip on his shoulder thanks to his hands." Illyana answered. Seeing Naruto's confusion, she elaborated, "He messed them up really badly about three years ago. Apparently, he was a world-renowned surgeon but because of his injury he was forced on medical leave. After throwing away all his money on surgeries he came to Kamar Taj penniless about a few months before I showed up. He's the latest prodigy in magic, the last one since Kaecilius."
Recognizing the name, the blonde asked, "Isn't that one of the Masters of Kamar Taj?"
"Former Master." Illyana corrected, "He went rogue a year before I joined. People still talk about him though. Not surprising, since he killed the Librarian the day he defected."
"Damn." Naruto said, remembering the Librarian as a nice, if strict man. He'd have to keep an eye out for this Kaecillius guy.
Illyana raised an eyebrow at the man, "Is this why you came here? To grill me about Strange and traitors I don't even know?"
Chuckling, Naruto answered, "No, no I'm here because I have a proposition for you."
She blinked in mild surprise, a variety of thoughts flying through her head before she asked, "Proposition? Like what?" Scowling, "You better not ask if you can stay here. I don't mind, it's just this place isn't exactly made for two." She finished with a tinge of a blush on her face, something Naruto ignored.
Sitting next to her on the couch, he sighed as he tried to come up with what he wanted to say, "You know why I was gone for so long, right? About my deal with Thor of Asgard?"
Illyana nodded, "You're looking for those gem things."
"Infinity Stones." Naruto corrected, "During the fight in New York, I met the guy behind it, and he's fucking fierce. He's dead set on causing as much damage to the universe as he can, and he's looking for these Stones to help him do it. I've managed to get my hands on two of them, and I know that two more are here on Earth. But the last of them are out there somewhere for him to get whenever he wants, and he only needs one to do an unspeakable amount of damage."
"But if you have two yourself, you can fight him off, right?" Illyana asked.
"I could, but I can't say for sure if I'd survive. And even if I did, we'd cause a lot of damage wherever we were. I almost destroyed a planet with one of these Stones, and I wasn't meaning to." Naruto sighed, "But it doesn't matter that I have two of my own, because I don't have full control of their power. I mostly just use it to bolster my own abilities and use a bit of the power they provide. But this guy has a weapon that gives him full control of the Stones. Something he calls the Infinity Gauntlet."
"What does all this have to do with me, Naruto? All of this is going a little over my head." Magik admitted.
Naruto nodded, "When I was out there, I learned that I'm not a fan of working on my own. And now, after my last fight, I've realized that there are people out there that I'm not gonna be able to take on by myself. I need a team."
Realization dawned on Illyana, "And you want me on this team? Does it have a name?"
The Uzumaki smirked, "I was thinking of something like, Infinity Watch. Something badass like that." Leaning towards the woman he asked, "So, thoughts?"
Illyana seemed to be thinking it over when the two felt another presence invade the room. Looking over to the bedroom they saw another Naruto walking into the living room. The clone gave a lazy salute as it said, "How's it going boss?"
"I'm kinda of in the middle of my sales pitch here." Naruto said in annoyance, "What was so important you couldn't have just popped to tell me?"
The clone reached into his pocket, "You were right that Fury was looking for you. He came with this." Pulling out a flash drive from his pocket he tossed it to the original, "That's all of SHIELD's unencrypted files."
Naruto blinked in surprise, "Wow. That's helpful." He turned to Illyana, "You gotta laptop?" The woman nodded before getting up to retrieve her computer from her bedroom. When he saw the clone was still there he said, "Anything else?"
The clone nodded, "One of my globe-trotting clones got popped before he could place a seal in the capital of the country it was in."
"Okay?" The original asked in confusion, wondering how that was important.
"He was popped in a third world country while fighting a group of women wearing red and silver armor. None of its kunai could pierce their armor, not even when it was applied with wind chakra. But they weren't the ones to kill it." The clone explained, "It was a man dressed in an all-black body armor. It caught the clone by surprise."
This got Naruto's attention, "What kind of third world country has stuff like that?"
"A place called Wakanda."
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