章節 35: Chance for a New Life
-RAF Base Hospital, Alconbury, UK-
-April 9, 2007, 1350h local-
Naruto is walking down the hallway with a hop in his step. He could confidently say that he's currently living a happy life and at the forefront of all that is Natasha. The Black Widow herself.
The good thing about having an immortal beast made of chakra is that he can make sure that her feelings are at least real without doing anything drastic. Although Kurama is all for having Natasha as a 'mate,' he still monitored her emotions on Gyuuki, Chomei, and Matatabi's urging. He completely understands their motivation since it's Natasha's job to make others fall for her and making them do her bidding.
Their second date was awesome. It took them a while to find an available date since Fury gave Nat a surveillance job, but when she finally finished it, they were able to tinker with her bike collection. He hasn't introduced her to chakra metal yet, so he wasn't able to make her bike monsters, but with his knowledge, they were able to make it significantly more powerful.
Speaking of knowledge, he was finally able to learn some things from Tony. He's an unorthodox teacher that gets distracted a lot and focused mostly on a hands-on approach. He was even able to help Tony with the problem of his.
~Flashback Start~
"Maybe I should just do the rail gun project. That would be a whole lot easier." Naruto heard Tony say while they are both working on some projects on the computer. Naruto is currently trying to figure out how to integrate a jet engine on his bike.
"What are you working on anyway? You've been mulling over it for almost a month now." Naruto asked before walking over towards Tony's station.
"Rhodey brought over a problem for me..." Tony answered while rubbing his forehead. "Some general decided that he wants a horizontal explosion missile."
"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked, seriously confused.
"Well the guy doesn't want a circular explosion. He wants a missile that can wipe out guerilla troops across a whole mountain range. You know, like the mountain ranges in Afghanistan." Tony explained.
"What's the problem you're running into?"
"I can't just make a missile that can bomb the whole mountain range. It would cost a lot just for the explosive alone, don't even get me started on the delivery device."
"Then why don't he just fire multiple rockets."
"Because it would cost too much." Tony answered with a groan.
"How about smaller missiles or a mobile battery?"
"The range isn't enough. I want a full size missile that can act as a mobile battery."
"Hmmm. Why don't just stuff a bunch of smaller missiles inside a larger rocket. Kind of like a cluster bomb with individual rockets. You can launch the large one carrying the smaller missile and when it's in range, they just launch. That way you can make any shape of explosion you want." Naruto suggested with a shrug. His suggestion came from his vast experience of using Shadow Clone Explosion technique.
Tony sat there on his desk, thinking about Naruto said. He's running the numbers; blast radius, production cost, and travel radius. Each missile would be 10% cheaper than other weapon systems with comparable damage output while possibly extending the range.
"Motherfucker..." Tony whispered to himself. He's has been trying not to use curse words since Morgan was born, but he just seems to be an appropriate time to use one. "I could just kiss you right now." He said.
"Please don't. I have enough trauma with that." Naruto replied while distancing himself from Tony. He can't help but shiver when he remembered his first kiss.
"Jarvis! Run bring up the specs of the RGM-84 Harpoon. We could probably use that as the base."
"Certainly, sir. Bringing it up now." Jarvis answered.
~Flashback End~
Tony estimated that he could make a prototype by the end of the year and a finished product the next. There's just too much on his plate to finish everything in under a year.
As Naruto was musing about Tony's new pert project, he finally reached his destination. He looked at the clock at the end of the hallway before going in.
Inside is a 70's style bedroom complete with an attached bathroom. Balloons, gifts, greeting cards, and flowers are placed around the room. The medical equipment is presumably hidden inside the walls, which makes the room unique as it gives the studio a homey feel.
Lying down on the bed is an eighty-six year old, British woman. Margaret Elizabeth Carter, or Peggy for short, is the woman that started it all. Born in 1921, she first joined the Royal Army before being recruited into MI5 as a cryptographer. Being one of their best recruits, she was loaned to the Strategic Scientific Reserve or SSR, the predecessor of SHIELD, as a liaison and advisor.
She was one of the heads of Project Rebirth, a secret program by the US army to create super soldiers, which eventually resulted in creating Captain America, the only recorded success of the program. An unexpected romance bloomed between Rogers and Carter even before Rebirth, and it continued to grow until the abrupt end when The Captain crashed the plane into the Arctic.
Fueled by her loss, she started to honor Roger's legacy by creating SHIELD from the husk of SSR with the help of Howard Stark. She became it's the first director and continued protecting the world, just like Roger would've done. But her success in her professional life was balanced out by her inability to get over her love. She tried to move on, even going as far as almost marrying, but the love she has for Steve is just too much ever to let go.
Now, she's just waiting for her to be reunited with him, but she just has no idea they will meet again when she's still alive.
Peggy heard the door open, revealing a tall blonde man wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black jacket over an orange shirt. He walked over to a chair at the corner of the room and carried it by the bedside positioning
In the old days, she would've immediately been wary of a stranger coming into her room, but her age allowed her to be more relaxed, or just more accepting of what might happen next.
The two just kept staring at each other when the man finally spoke.
"Would you mind if I ear here while I wait for Sharon? It would be easier for me just to introduce myself to you two at the same time." The man asked while somehow pulling out a large ceramic bowl of ramen from nowhere.
"Sure, go ahead." Peggy replied with a small smile, although from the inside, she's trying to solve the mystery of the man.
They were sitting silently with only the sound of eating from the man when the door opened, revealing a 5'8, blonde woman with dark brown eyes wearing a blue suit ensemble.
She's Sharon Carter. The great-niece of Peggy Carter herself. Her idolization of her Aunt Peggy led her to join SHIELD at the age of 18. To prevent biases or other forms of inequality in the workplace due to her relationship with the first Director of SHIELD, she doesn't use her last name. She would typically just go by as Sharon or Agent 13.
The reason she's visiting her Aunt Peggy today is that it's her aunt's birthday today. So imagine her surprise when she saw an unknown man sitting by her aunt's bedside eating ramen. The hospital has stringent security protocols to make sure no one unwanted would get in. So, either the man is well connected, or he is just that good that he can just waltz in a secure hospital, and right now, she's leaning towards the latter.
Sharon immediately drew her gun and pointed it at the man, but it didn't faze him at all.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Sharon asked in a threatening tone.
"I'm the guy who's about to finish his ramen and I'm obviously here for a visit..." The man answered with a sarcastic tone. "Rude." He added with a whisper.
"To be fair, you entered the room without knocking." Peggy interjected.
"We're talking about your niece here, not me..." He said before drinking the rest of the ramen. He placed it on the bedside table and look at Sharon, utterly apathetic to the gun pointing at his face. "Pull up a chair. It's too tiring to talk while you're still standing up..." Sharon thought about it for a moment before reluctantly pulling a chair facing the man, but still not moving the gun away. "Ugh. Really? Can't you remove the gun?" Sharon just glared at him. "Before I leave today, we're all going to be buddies..." The man placed his hand on to the side acted like he was pushing something, but then suddenly a cube precisely a meter wide appeared, surprising both women. "I'll even bet this thing."
"Is that?" Peggy hesitantly asked. Even though she's quite old, she would never forget anything about Steve, even what material his Shield was made of.
"A large cube of Vibranium? Yup. Definitely is..." The man confirmed with a grin. "Apparently, this thing is worth around 4 billion dollars."
The answer floored Peggy and Sharon. According to Howard, the metal he used on Steve's Shield is one of a kind. Virtually indestructible and versatile. The perfect metal he called it. But now, some guy out of nowhere is strutting around with a massive piece of Vibranium and willing to bet it away like it's nothing. Four billion dollars worth of nothing.
"Who are you?" Sharon weakly asked after recovering enough from her shock.
"Me? Haven't I introduced myself yet?" He asked, but he received no reply. "Anyway, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, but most people call me Nine-Tails."
The pair was shocked to learn who they are talking to. In the two years that he's been active, the Nine-Tails quickly became the boogeyman of the criminal world. The information he sells is always top class, and the payment is cheap compared to the value of the info. This led to multiple law enforcement agencies and militaries being able to take down criminals or terrorist groups. His mercenary business, on the other hand, is what strikes fear to everyone. It always ends badly for the opposite side. As in no one would recognize you badly. All of this happened without anyone knowing what he looks like, and now, the guy in front of them is claiming he's Nine-Tails.
Sharon discreetly started to reach for his phone and call in an emergency alert to SHIELD when the man, now known as Naruto spoke.
"I wouldn't try calling Fury if I were you..." Sharon's hands immediately recoiled when she heard his voice. "You're going to want to listen to what I say, but if the one-eyed try hard interrupts this meeting, I'm out..." He warned. Sharon was curious enough to listen to the guy, so she distances her hand from her phone, but the gun is still aimed towards Naruto. "To make things easier for all of us, I'm going to let you both ask one question each that I'm going to answer."
Peggy immediately grab on to the offer and asked,
"How did you get that much Vibranium?"
"The father of my friend gave me some." Naruto answered. Of course, that's not the whole truth.
When Naruto asked for a piece of pure Vibranium to destroy, it's not for the sake of destroying it. It's for him to be able to study a pure piece of Vibranium enough so that he can use the Creation of All Things to create Vibranium since when he decided to produce Vibranium before, it always comes up a little different. Now that he has studied pure Vibranium enough, he can make as much as he wants. As for burning the sphere into ash, that's just a form of misdirection since if he takes it home whole, it might cause the Wakandans to place him into scrutiny.
Sharon decided to use her question to learn more about the supposed Nine-Tails.
"Where are you hiding?"
"Wow. That's a stupid question..." Naruto retorted, causing Sharon to flinch involuntarily. "I'm not hiding. You don't need to hide if no one knows who you are or the ones that do know don't tell anyone else."
Peggy and Sharon understood the last part of Naruto's assertion. Somebody knows who he is but decided not to disclose the information. The only one they could both think that will do that is Fury. They just have no solid idea why.
"Now we're done with that part, let's continue to why I came here..." Naruto said before facing Peggy. "I'm here to offer you to extend your life by making you physically younger..." His statement caused the Carters to freeze, but Naruto just continued. "I can make you as young as when you were 21 as well as counteract the early stages of your Alzheimer's."
"What!? When are you going to tell me about that, Aunt Peggy!?" Sharon exclaimed since it's the first time she's bearing about it. Peggy gave Naruto a hard glare.
"Hey! I didn't know she doesn't know." Naruto defended himself.
"You! Shut up!" Sharon shouted towards Naruto before facing her Aunt Peggy again. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Peggy released a deep sigh, preparing herself.
"Because I didn't want you to worry." She answered.
"I'll always worry, Aunt Peggy. That's my job." Sharon replied.
"Uh-hmm..." Naruto cleared his throat to get the pair's attention. Sharon gave him a scowl for interrupting. "As much as I want you to continue, I still need to hear Peggy's answer. Will you accept it or not?"
"No, I won't." Was Peggy's immediate reply. There's nothing to think about. She's more than ready to join Steve wherever he might be.
"You know. You won't find him in the afterlife." Naruto said with sincerity.
"What are you talking about?" Peggy asked with a dangerous tone.
"Before I answer that, how much do you trust Sharon..." Sharon, of course, took it as an offense. "Because I'm dropping two bombs on you, and these pieces of information would change everything for you."
"I trust her with my life." Peggy answered quickly.
"How about the fate of the world?"
Peggy was taken aback by the question, but she answered quickly after recovering.
"I trust her with that too." She answered.
Sharon was touched by her Aunt's faith in her, but Naruto's questions made her curious.
"First of all, Hydra isn't gone. They are in SHIELD. Growing and waiting for the time to strike." Naruto said with no preamble.
"How?" Peggy asked feebly.
"As far as I can tell, SHIELD's recruitment of ex-Hydra agents backfired, but I'm not sure." Naruto answered with a shrug.
"There are Hydra inside SHIELD, and you think I might be one of them?" Sharon asked.
"Nope. I know you're clean. I just want to know how much your aunt trusts you." Naruto answered.
"Do Fury know about this?" Peggy inquired.
"Oh yeah. Gave it to him more than two months ago. I think he's planning some sort of counteroffensive."
Peggy felt tragic that the agency she built to honor Steve's legacy was used by his enemy to grow. She was contemplating about the development when Naruto spoke again.
"The second thing is, the Captain is still alive."
Peggy almost had a panic attack when she heard him. Tears started to fall down her eyes. Sharon immediately clasps her Aunt's hand to comfort her.
"How do you know?" Sharon asked the question Peggy can't ask right now.
"This is going to sound weird, but I can contact the dead." Naruto replied.
"So what?" Naruto's answer didn't faze Sharon. She's been working with SHIELD for almost a decade, so she knows there's quite a lot of weird stuff out there.
"I contacted a lot of famous people's souls to chat with; Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Einstein. All of them responded, but when I try to call on people who are still alive, all I receive are static. That's what happened with the Captain." Naruto explained.
"Steve. His name was... is Steve." Peggy corrected him through her sobs. "Oh my god, he might still be frozen." She realized.
"That's what I thought of too. Coulson is already looking into it..." Naruto added. Peggy finally understood why Phil has been visiting her more frequently recently. It's not just idle curiosity. It's information gathering. "So, the question is. Would you accept my offer?"
"Why are you doing this?" Peggy asked, wary of what might be the catch.
"Can't I be doing this just out of the kindness from my heart?"
"No. I'm good at reading people, and I can see there's a personal reason for this." Peggy countered.
Naruto let out a sigh before answering.
"I need a weak test subject for the final tests of my experiment." Naruto admitted.
"What is this experiment for?" Peggy questioned, ignoring the ethical problem of his admission since they basically did the same to Steve.
"Mostly regeneration, but it would also make someone something like a super-soldier..." Naruto's admission took Sharon aback. If he's already in the final stages, then he already knows that it would mostly work. It could change the whole playing field. "I'm tweaking the last parts of the process to make sure it would work for anyone, so I decided to offer you the chance. I would like to warn you that you still may die."
Peggy thought long and hard about the offer, but in the end, there's no other real answer. If Steve is still alive, they can't be together in the short time she has left. Extending her life and increasing her vitality would make sure that when Steve is found, they can finally have their happily ever after. After 5 minutes of silence, Peggy finally asked.
"What do you need from me?"
"I need you to die."
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