Dark Avenger

by King Of Void

What should an immortal Primordial being do when trapped in an era of instability and chaos with no formidable adversaries to battle and no power hungry fools hell-bent on putting the world under an eternal illusion? By using whatever means necessary to entertain himself, of course! Cover Image Belongs To RendyLJoex (On temporary hiatus, concentrating on one story at a time)

1. Chapter 1: Introduction to Avengers

Introduction to Avengers.

Disclaimer: I neither own Avengers Assemble nor do I profit from this story.

AN: Alright, as always there are some things that you need to know before you start reading this story.

This is strictly a Naruto/ Avengers Assemble story. No elements from either Narutoverse or any other will appear unless and until they are included in Avengers Universe, meaning no pairing suggestion from Narutoverse and no inclusion of any other Naruto character.

This Naruto is the same as in Wandering Soul, meaning snappishly rude, blunt, OP, cheerful and a little bit of a pervert.

Remember the name may indicate that the story is a dark one, but actually it's not.

No pairings decided yet so you can make suggestions that are in the Avengers Assemble Universe only. Oh and absolutely no harem! Sorry but that's it!

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Avenger Tower

"All right, I know Tony said to disband the team but looking at the events that happened during the last two days, that decision is turning out to be the incorrect one" a rather young looking blond man dressed in a costume comprised of several bright blue and white colours, started in a stern tone as he stood in front a square table_ most likely used for meetings_ in front of several other individuals.

A humanoid red and yellow robot, sitting in a rather nonchalant manner with his robotic feet over the table and hands folded over his torso, sighed "Cap is right, though I am not sure of my decision being wrong, I mean I am a billionaire genius, so I am always right"

A hulking mass of green muscles and green skin, dressed in simple torn shorts, known as Hulk snorted mockingly "Billionaire moron is more like it"

Ironman simply grinned and slid up the facial piece of his red and yellow armour, revealing a fair skinned man with moustache and beard "I will pretend like I didn't hear that"

Hawkeye, a somewhat young man dressed in a dark purple body suit with his hands exposed, purple sunglasses and what appeared to be a quiver and a folded bow tied to his back, smirked "More like you can't do anything about it, Tony, Greenie over there will go all 'smash' on your robotic hide"

The aforementioned 'Greenie' growled "Call me green again, glasses, and I will eat all your peanut butter and make you watch!"

"Yeah yeah"

A redheaded woman of Russian descent_ a rather beautiful one in fact_ dressed in a provocative skin tight black body suit with yellow gauntlet sort of weapon wrapped around her wrists, simply sat on her chair and watched the proceeding with a dry look on her face

Captain America sighed "Focus every…"

Before he could complete his sentence, the automatic door to the room opened and a black skinned teen, dressed in a red and yellow body armour with only his head exposed, entered the room with a box in his hands. From the looks of his appearance and his ragged breathing, he appeared to have ran up to the room.

Feeling the eyes of all the occupants of the room, the teen raised his hand in greeting with a nervous smile on his face "Hey guys…. Am I late?"

Tony Starrk aka Ironman waved his hand in greeting "Welcome Sam. And no, you are not late, I should know that cause I am always late"

Hawkeye snorted.

Smelling a strange but alluring smell in the room, the aforementioned green mass of muscles known as Hulk stood up from his chair and walked towards the new comer, inhaling the smell all the way as he stood in front of the dark skinned teen "What's in the box?"

Sam, seeing as the green skinned giant was not about to clobber him, recovered from his nervousness and opened the lid of the box with a nervous smile "Oh these are cookies, homemade. My mom made them for me"

Hulk smiled widely and grabbed a handful _ which was a lot considering his hand could hide a tennis ball in its midst with no trouble at all _ and stuffed his mouth with it while Sam looked on with nervousness. He was okay with not eating a single one as long as the green guy was eating the cookies, not him!

Just as Hulk was about to eat the last one, a buzzing hammer to the side of his face sent him flying to the other side of the room. The hammer, surprisingly, returned to the muscular hand of a blond man, dressed in a silver threaded armour and a large red cape with a winged helmet on his head.

"I, Thor son of Odin, shall have that last cookie!" Thor bellowed in a loud voice and caught the cookie in his hand before moving it towards his open mouth. His claim, however turned out to be a false one as a large arrow came shooting towards his hand and caught the cookie in its peak before falling down in the hand of a grinning Hawkeye.

"Sorry, Blondie, but I am eating this since I didn't even get to taste anything because of that Gamma bomb eating every single one!" he stated with a grin and raised the cookie to his mouth.

Captain America groaned in frustration as a purple dart sent the cookie from Hawkeye's hand and into the waiting hand of the aforementioned redheaded woman. He wasn't kidding when he said that the disbanding of the Avengers was one of the most bizarre idea Tony had ever come up with and that was saying something considering the man was filled to the brim with dangerous and outlandish ideas.

In just about two days, he had been kidnapped _ more like man-napped but whatever _ and had almost been killed by being forced to switch bodies with Red Skull _ who had mysteriously survived the plane crash _, Tony had his armour and Arc Reactor ripped away from his body by Modok's Technopathic abilities and mended with Skull's body to give his weakened body an extended life force.

The team had almost been trapped in a dark dimension with no hope of return while their real bodies had been replaced by Phantom Ghosts of the aforementioned dimension! Not to mention, this morning, Thor had been attacked by a troll with a legendary Asgardian weapon which was apparently connected to a legend about Thor himself!

The Asgardian was still sore about bringing up the topic and insisted on immediately finding the weapon before it fell in someone else's hands. He was of the belief that with the revelation of the weapon, the legend that he had heard about during his childhood was distant to pass.

So yes, it was time to reinstate Project Avenger and this time for good!

"Sorry boys, but I am eating this" Natasha stated with a smug smirk as she twirled the cookie in her hand.

The men, except Ironman and Steve Rogers aka Captain America, watched in horror as the redhead chewed on the cookie and walked back to her seat with a tempting smirk on her face. Hulk, especially, didn't take kindly to that bold act and growled before punching Thor in the side to send him flying away as he stumped towards the still smirking Black Widow.

Halfway, a silver armoured hand grabbed his head and knocked it away with a hammer before releasing a loud laugh "Come friend Hulk, let us indulge ourselves in a glorious battle for superiority!"

Hulk smashed his fist together and stumped forward with a sneer on his face "Right behind you, goldilocks"

Throughout the proceedings, Sam Wilson looked on with a perfect goldfish expression on his face. These guys were supposed to be Superheroes, not a bunch of teenagers fighting over a single cookie! Guess, he had to request his mom to bake extra cookies the next time he decided to bring them to the tower.

"You guys can duck it out right here, I am out of here" Black Widow announced and walked out of the room with a dismissive wave over her shoulder. She had better things to do than sit here all day and watch men fight over silly things. Honestly, it was so man-like to fight over the simplest of things.

Steve and Clint Barton aka Hawkeye mulled over the idea and knew it was the right course of action as they stood up from their chairs and silently walked out of the room just as Hulk sent Thor smashing through a widow.

Ironman sidestepped a flying Thor and grabbed a stupefied Sam by the wrist to drag him out of the room "Let me show you around the tower"

Sam nodded hurriedly, happy to finally walk out of the potentially dangerous room, leaving behind a destroyed room with shouts and growls of fighting men.

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Manhattan, Main Street

"Guys, am I going crazy or is that a gradually increasing snake!?" Hawkeye asked in disbelief as he rubbed his eyes under the purple glasses, causing Black Widow to give him a dry look.

"I would say you are going crazy but that would be incorrect since you are already crazy" she replied in a pointed tone as she drove her black flying car around the serpent to properly know what they were up against.

Captain America shook his head and tried not to let the appearance of the snake disturb him. They had tracked the Asgardian weapon to the mansion of Doctor Victor Van Doom just a few minutes ago and the not-so-good doctor had summoned this green serpent from the core of the earth with the power of the axe.

Thor apparently, much to his chagrin, still believed that it was his destiny to fight the Midgard Serpent and die just as the legend had described even though he and Tony had given the Asgardian several pep talks about legends being nothing but nonsense.

In any case, a threat was a threat and needed to be dealt with immediately.

"Hulk, try to direct the serpent towards the park to avoid casualties" The green gamma radiation enhanced giant grinned widely and jumped after the rampaging snake "Falcon, rescue any civilians from harm. Thor, you, Ironman and I will come up with a plan to defeat the serpent"

Thor shook his head in negative "You do not understand, the legend never turns out wrong and they never shall. It's my destiny to slay the Midgard serpent at the cost of my life"

Ironman gave the Asgardian a dry look

"So we wasted our breath for nothing!" Steve gave the armour-covered man a pointed look, causing said man to sigh in resignation "What I mean is that, legends are nothing but nonsense"

The blond Thunderer sighed melancholically "I do not expect you to understand the significance of this legend"

"Nor are we trying to understand it" Tony retorted snappishly before he sighed behind his armour "Look Thor, just forget the legend and let us deal with this snake"

Without saying anything, Thor twirled his hammer and flew away, a faraway look on his face as he watched his comrades surround the serpent he was destined to slay. How could these mortals not understand that no matter what they tried, it was useless against the Midgard serpent? It was a serpent of legends that had devoured worlds in the blink of an eye, not a mere run of the mill huge snake!

Back with Black Widow and Hawkeye, the two were flying ahead of the serpent and trying to rescue any wayward civilians while Falcon was trying to find Hulk who had been sent flying away by the serpent's precise and strong tail strike.

Clint was shooting explosive arrows at the green serpent's eyes but it seemed as though it had no effect on it whatsoever, while Natasha drove along the road to avoid the snake's attack "This thing is pretty tough for a snake!"

"Of course, it is!" Natasha replied pointedly, as if it was the most obvious thing possible.

As the serpent neared towards the park Steve had pointed out, the mastermind of the incident appeared. Doctor Victor stood in front of the large green overgrown snake, the legendary axe tightly clutched in his hands. Twirling the powerful axe, a large torrent of electrical energy from the head shot towards the serpent and wrapped around its hands like rope.

Ignoring its murderous roars of defiance, the not-so-good doctor jumped atop its scaly head before mercilessly stabbing the axe into its cranium, causing the rampaging beast to roar in pain.

"You obey me now, creature, Doom is your master!" Doctor Victor bellowed in thunderous voice, stubbornly still upon the creature's head as it struggled, trashed, squirmed and tried to shake its daring passenger from its head.

The creature could squirm, trash, roar and increase in size as much as it liked, but in the end it wouldn't do it any good! Nothing escaped Doom's grasp! Nothing!

He was so fixated on actually controlling the massive beast that he downright overlooked its trajectory. The massive beast head-butted a skyscraper with a loud roar, making sure to rain as many boulders and building parts upon its head as possible. Amidst the destructive rain of destroyed building parts, the not-so-good doctor tried to both blast away as many boulders from harming him as possible and maintain his dominant position upon the creature's head.

A particularly large destroyed building steel panel slammed into his back and sent him crashing to the humble ground with a pained grunt. Seeing as its foolish passenger was off its head, the massive creature pinned the downed doctor with its merciless slitted eyes and raised its colossal claw before bringing it down with a loud screech.

The former Russian assassin suddenly stopped her flying car and simply hovered in mid-air. According to the principle of inertia, a physical object puts up resistance when a sudden change appears in its state of motion. Hawkeye experienced the actual effects of that particular fact as soon as Widow stopped the flying car.

The sudden halt of the car's movement sent a standing Clint face first into the front seat, causing him to groan in pain as he heard a sound akin to something breaking. Shaking his head to clear the stars, he rubbed his bruised nose and looked to the front seat towards Widow with an indignant look on his face "Who taught you how to drive!? You almost broke my precious nose!"

Hearing no response from the always prepared woman, the former Circus performer cautiously leaned towards the front seat and directed his eyes towards the woman's face. Seeing the expression on her face, he blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes to see if what he was seeing was truly happening because he had a hard time believing it!

Black Widow was staring at a distant location with her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and jaws almost ready to unhinge from her mandibles! He had never ever seen the famous Black Widow show such an expression! Wide eyes of shock and dropped jaws simply did not suit a woman of her skill and power!

That was not all either!

Ironman, Captain and Thor were also staring at something with wide eyes and open mouths _ he couldn't exactly see if Tony's eyes and jaws were wide or not but he liked to believe that they were _ as they stood or hovered there without saying anything.

"WHY YOU OVER GROWN PIECE OF SNAKE SHIT!" Hearing an incredibly loud and thunderous shout of anger, Clint looked away from his dazed teammates and turned his attention towards the location of the loud yell. The witty one-liner he had thought of in his mind was forgotten as soon as he saw the scene which had transfixed his teammates "YOU JUST DESTROYED MY RAMEN SHOP!"

The scene was of a blond man around the age of 25 to 26 _ dressed in a white chef uniform along with a chef hat and apron _ punching the living daylights out of the overgrown snake with his bare hands.

The sheer force of his fists colliding with the serpent's scaly head were sending destructive shockwaves throughout the city followed by the large creature's roars of agony.

"Odin's beard!" Thor exclaimed in shock as he stared at his fellow blond man capable of relentlessly pounding the serpent of legends without breaking a sweat. How could this be?! The legend was not about a CHEF of all people slaying the serpent but him!

A stiffly hovering Ironman slid up the facial piece of his armour with a surprised look on his face "So does this mean we don't have to prepare the oven for a snake?"

Captain America, the ever stoical and serious man, shook his head and stared at the scene with narrow calculating eyes "No time for jokes, Tony"

What kind of man would be able to fight the serpent and not even give it time to raise its head for a counterattack!? What kind of man _except Thor and Hulk _ would be able to create shockwaves from the simple collision of his fists with an object?

Whoever this man was, he was dangerous and needed to be watched.

The voluptuous Black Widow couldn't help but stare at the man who was too busy punching the life out of the snake, with a rare look of surprise on her beautiful face. His clothing and appearance suggested that he was a chef _ he practically shouted that to the whole city when he attacked the snake _ yet his power and physical strength surpassed even Hulk's.

She couldn't believe someone this powerful had escaped her attention, not to mention that he had been actually living in the same city she has been working in! People like him simply did not stay hidden no matter how much they tried!

After this was over, she would need to do a little background check on him to see who he truly was.

Hawkeye rubbed his eyes under the glasses and blinked "Did that guy just attack an overgrown snake … am I getting this right … because it destroyed his shop?!"

"Yup!" Tony quipped in with a cheerful grin on his face.

"I am going to need an appointment with a Psychiatric" he stated in a dry tone and rubbed the edges of his temple. Seriously they had been fighting it for several hours with no stops, yet a chef _ of all people! _ comes and punches the ever living daylights out of the overgrown serpent with his bare hands!

What was next? Would the chef suddenly announce that he was a primordial being who has been roaming the world for millenniums to keep its safe and balanced?!

"I will gladly get you that appointment" Natasha announced with a smug smirk as she lowered her flying car to the ground. There was no doubt that she was as surprised as the rest of the team but she was just more adapt at controlling her emotions.

"AND STAY THERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

The loud shout of anger was followed by a tremendously destructive shockwave, no doubt emitted from the force of the chef's punch hitting the serpent's head and embedding it deep into the ground.

The bruised and disgustingly deformed serpent roared one last time and disappeared into the earth through a red portal. Unknown to the dazed Avengers, a certain Ambassador of Latveria stuck to the belly of the colossal beast, jumped into the portal before it was closed shut.

The Avengers, now joined by Hulk and Falcon, cautiously approached the fuming chef with wary expressions. Well the rest of the Avengers were wary while Hulk was growling in anger. It had been his opponent to smash!

The blond man's back was to them so they couldn't exactly see his face, all they could see were muscularly broad shoulders and the back on his head.

Hearing a number of footsteps behind him, the chef turned around and for the first time in her life, the legendary spy known as Black Widow was captivated by his deep and alluring blue eyes. The two orbs staring at them resembled sapphire diamonds that seemed to gleam with an unnatural light, filled to the brim with genuine curiosity and joy

"Hey guys!"

Now that he was turned to them, they could clearly see a tall and handsome blond man, around 6ft, 6inches, hair tied to a low pony tail reaching the middle of spine with two thin bangs hanging in front of either sides of his handsome face.

Even dressed in the unflattering uniform of a chef, the way it was strained around his arms and chest suggested a muscular body underneath "The name is Naruto, nice to meet you!"

The ever 'composed' Hulk stepped forward with a growl and poked him in the chest, ignoring the warning signals Steve was sending at him "Hey Blondie, never get in the way of my smashing!"

Naruto grinned widely, not the least bit disturbed by the hostile gesture "So you call being sent flying away by a snake as smashing?"

"What did you say?!"

"I said it sent your green ass flying away with just a tail strike" Naruto retorted snappishly.

"HULK SMASH!"

"Oh yeah! NARUTO DOUBLE SMASH!"

Just as the situation was about to escalate, Captain America stepped forward with a shocked look on his face "Naruto!"

The blond stopped his growling contest with Hulk and turned to the oddly dressed Avenger, his eyes widened in a pleasant surprise as he saw who exactly it was "Flagman!"

Steve palmed his face in embarrassment when the rest of the team, except Widow, turned towards him with wide eyes "Its Captain America, Naruto, how many time do I have to tell you that?"

"Sorry Cap, force of habit" the blond answered sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Cap, you know this guy?" Ironman asked in surprise. He really needed to learn something from this guy since he was able to even embarrass the stoic Captain!

Without giving the Super Soldier much time to explain, Naruto dashed forward and draped his muscular arm around the blond with a wide grin on his handsome face "Yeah, I and Flagman go way back"

The stoic Captain didn't say anything or reacted much to his nickname but picked up on Naruto's hidden meaning, which admittedly only Widow noticed while the rest remained oblivious "Alright Avengers, let take this conversation somewhere more private"

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized something "Hell no! I ain't going anywhere until and unless that overgrown broom stick repairs my shop!"

"Broom stick? Really?" the brown haired archer asked pointedly but stopped when Natasha elbowed him in the ribs before lightly glaring at him.

Ironman stepped forward and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder "Don't worry about your shop, I will provide you with the money to repair it!"

"Thanks Irondude" the blond announced gratefully.

"Ironman!" Tony corrected dryly.

"Whatever!"

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Avengers Tower

The team consisting of Hulk, Thor, Ironman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon and Captain America sat around a circular table in the meeting room with different expressions on their faces.

Sitting at the end of the table was their new guest who was busy crying over his destroyed shop. Comically massive drops of tears seemed to drip down his eyes and actually VANISH before even reaching the ground.

Tony was at least thankful for that. If the tears had remained there, he was sure Avengers Tower would have been flooded by now considering that Naruto was in no mood to actually stop any time soon!

Thor was still staring at the chef with wide eyes, a heavy frown on his face. He couldn't believe someone this … eccentric defeated the Midgard Serpent with his bare hands! It was supposed to be a creature of legends capable of surviving any attack except attacks from his hammer, Mjolnir!

What kind of power did this guy possessed to be able to defeat a creature of legend?

Hulk was still sore about being back-talked to by a puny chief and was itching to start a brawl with Naruto. He didn't care who he was or what he did, all he cared about was proving that he was the strongest!

Hawkeye and Falcon seemed content enough to simply let the guy do as he wished since they didn't want to get into a fight with a man who had no trouble defeating a serpent even Thor feared! Captain America had his face covered by his palm as he tried to ignore the comical sobs of the blond man while Ironman was typing away in his IPad without a care in the world.

The voluptuous Black Widow on the other hand, was eyeing the comically crying man with clear amusement in her eyes and a large smirk on her face. She had seen many weak men try to appear strong in order to impress someone and hide their own weaknesses or strong men try to appear even stronger to maintain their positions of dominance, yet never in her entire life had she seen a strong man try to appear weak in front of others.

This man was just doing it so well, it was funny. Judging from the looks on the Avengers' faces, except Steve, they were predictably enough, buying his act.

Captain America, she could certainly understand not buying his act since the man seemed to have some sort of history with him, but she was even more disappointed in Clint and Sam for not noticing what the man was trying to accomplish considering they were former S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

"Alright, I have cried enough for one day, let us get down to business!" Naruto suddenly announced in a cheerful tone as he stood up, no trace of tears or grief evident on his face which was surprising.

"Flagman over there already know me, so I will introduce myself to you guys" Naruto started in a cheerful tone but then noticed Natasha's dry look "and gals … and those in between"

Hawkeye could've sworn the blond chef gave him a glance when he said 'in-between' and if Natasha's amused smirk was any indication, then he was right. The nerve of that guy!

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a humble ramen shop owner … which the overgrown lizard mercilessly destroyed today!" Naruto introduced dryly and shed a few more tears of 'pain' when he mentioned his shop before turning to Black Widow "I have a question though, why do they call you Black Window?"

Clint Barton bit back a snort at the name. Black Window?! He was so going to remember that for future arguments!

"Its Black Widow, smartass" the redhead corrected with a dry look, though inwardly she was quite amused at his attempt to rile her up. Even though he was trying to appear naïve and confused, there was a certain amount of amusement dancing in his sapphire eyes that betrayed the true meaning of his nature.

"I knew there was something wrong with your name" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly "Anyway, the one in the red and yellow robot suit is called Irondude, right?"

"It's Ironman!"

Naruto blissfully ignored his indignant shout and pointed at a still contemplating Thor "That Blondie over there is called Thor the Tenderer"

The brown haired archer blinked repeatedly "Is it just me or is he purposely pronouncing our names the wrong way?"

"That much is obvious" the redheaded spy retorted with a smirk.

Thor simply nodded thoughtfully, not the least bit bothered by the fact that his nickname was pronounced the wrong way. He had much more pressing matters to think about, like the failure of the legend.

The blond chef sighed inwardly when he didn't get a response from the blond Asgardian. The Viking-looking man took all the fun out of it! Not dwelling on the depressing thoughts any longer, he pointed to a growling Hulk "The Incredible Green … the one with the bow and arrows is known as Four Eyes and last but certainly not the least, Falcon. Did I get all the names right?"

"Yup!" Tony retorted sarcastically before he turned serious and turned to Captain America "Alright Cap, tell us how you know Mr Blunt over there"

Naruto sprang into action and pointed an accusing finger at Stark "Don't change the subject, you promised to rebuild my shop, so call your cashier and lets get started!"

The Tech genius sighed and rubbed his temple with his robotic fingers "We will get to that in a few minutes, just…"

The ever stoical and perceptive Steve instantly understood what Naruto meant and stood up from his chair "We will talk about that later, all of you get some rest, it's been a long day"

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Later that Night, Avengers Tower

"I can't believe this!" Ironman exclaimed in shock.

"By Odin's beard!"

"You can say that again!" Clint stated in disbelief.

"By Odin's beard!"

The brown haired archer gave the Asgardian a dry look "I didn't mean for you to actually say that again, Thor!"

Thor ignored his indignant exclamation and slammed his hammer with a loud laugh "At long last, someone worthy of being my rival has emerged, our battle shall be glorious!"

Naruto had gone back to his destroyed shop a few hours ago after having a brief chat with Steve Rogers. Said Captain had just told them how Naruto had been his teacher in combat and a powerful ally in the last World War.

It was not only hard to picture the naïve and cheerful blond as the brave Captain's teacher but outright preposterous to picture him fighting in a war and yet still be alive till this, looking the same as he had been back then.

Captain America sighed "Thor, I don't think that's such a good idea"

The beautiful redheaded spy gave him a curious look "Why not?"

"During one of our raid on a Hydra base to rescue someone Naruto had close relation with, I discovered that the target of our raid was actually a 4 year old orphan boy, who Naruto had found on the streets and raised him as his son. When we entered the base which I had to admit was the biggest Hydra base I had ever seen, much to our shock and horror, the boy had already been killed to agonize Naruto and force him to excuse himself from the war" Captain America narrated in a somewhat detached tone.

Even Hulk winced at the mental picture of a 4 year old boy being killed simply to force some else to withdraw from a war. And they called him a monster!

Hawkeye, Ironman and Falcon simply lowered their heads in sadness while Thor gripped the handle of Mjolnir harder until his knuckle turned white.

Black Widow didn't react much, simply nodding her head in understanding. It may sound harsh and outright cruel of her to say this but she had seen much worse than the death of a child to be saddened by it. Yes, she sympathized with the cheerful man but death do not distinguish between child, men or women during war.

"I will never forget the devastated expression on his face when we heard the news, nor will I ever forget his anger. Naruto ordered me to evacuate the base as soon as possible, which I had no choice but comply since he was my teacher. I will never forget what happened next!"

"Come on, don't leave us hanging!" Clint whined childishly.

"I was far away when I witnessed Naruto lifting the entire base from the earth and slamming it back into the ground, shaking the very earth itself from the impact! Trust me when I say, even Hulk in his strongest state of rage wouldn't have been able to lift that base, yet he did it with just one hand"

"The entire base?!" Falcon asked in shock. Was that even possible!

"By Odin's beard! He is even mightier than I imagined" Thor shouted in joy and slammed his hammer against the table, causing the others, except Hulk, to give him a dry look.

"What part of 'do not fight him' do you not understand, Thor?" Ironman asked seriously "If this guy as strong as Cap says he is, then we need to stay clear of his path at all costs"

"Or we could recruit him into the Avengers" the redhead spy added with a smirk. Someone that strong on their team would prove beneficial and interesting. Plus, she really needed to know more about him! Her curious personality was practically forcing her to skip this meeting and observe the blond!

Captain America smiled widely.

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One Day later, Avengers Tower

Each and every single member of the Avengers stood in the Training Room _ except Black Widow who was out on a S.H.E.I.L.D assigned mission _ starting from Captain America to Falcon as they waited for their newest member.

Thor and Hulk couldn't keep the wide anticipatory grins from appearing on their faces as the door to the room slid open and a changed Naruto walked in.

He was dressed in a long sleeveless black coat leaving his muscular arms bare, red hakama, a red rope coming from his right shoulder, running across his chest and under his left arm, black combat boots and black metal gloves up to his forearm.

His long blond mane was tied to a low ponytail with two bangs hanging on either side of his face.

Considering his tall height, muscularly imposing stature and black garb, Thor almost suspected he was an ancient warrior's statue who had come to life to once again reclaim his lost glory.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted pleasantly and strode forward with a wide grin on his face. The cheerful grin slipped from his face when he witnessed their surprised expressions "What are you looking at?!"

Hawkeye pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose "And he calls himself a ramen chef! The guy looks an ancient warrior"

Falcon nodded dumbly as Naruto rubbed the back of his head in confusion "I second that"

Captain America stepped forward with a smile on his face and extended his hand in greeting as Naruto approached him. He didn't show it but he was quite pleased to have his old teacher on his team "Welcome to the Avengers"

"Yeah sure, whatever" Naruto retorted with a teasing grin and took the ID card that Steve gave him before putting it in his coat "So where is my room?"

Hulk stepped forward with a wide smirk on his green face and smashed his fists together "You can see your room later, now we fight!"

He had been waiting for this!

Thor, seeing what Hulk had in mind, joined the green Gamma bomb and hoisted his hammer over his shoulder "Indeed, you my friend have shown strength in the face of crisis. Allow me and Hulk to properly welcome you to the Avengers, in a glorious battle between comrades!"

Steve Rogers palmed his face and groaned, Ironman patted the depressed Super Soldier on the back and walked out of the room with a chuckle. He had told the two specifically to not engage Naruto in a fight considering the blond's immeasurable strength, yet it seems the two didn't know the meaning of caution!

Falcon and Clint Barton had already sneaked out of the room after witnessing what was about to happen, which the frustrated Captain realized was the proper course of action. He cautiously walked out of the room as the sounds of the green Gamma Reactor 'Hulk Smash!' and Thor's cries of 'By Odin's beard' filled the room.

Even though he knew Hulk and Thor were probably the strongest physical fighters in the world, he knew without a doubt that Naruto was the strongest among them. He had seen the blond walk through showers of bullets, missiles, rockets, grenades and energy blasts without a care in the world.

Fighting against two powerhouses like Hulk and Thor would be like a walk in the park for him.

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An Hour Later

A widely grinning Naruto stopped his strength contest with a growling Hulk when alarms went off in the tower. Turning his piercing gaze away from the alarms barrelling through the large room, the blond powerhouse punched the green beast and sent him flying away at a speeding Thor before walking out of the room to see what was going on.

He arrived at the central room of the tower just in time to witness Captain America, Ironman and Hawkeye fighting a dozen of masked figures, with one unmistakably resembling a woman.

Without waiting for anything, Naruto grabbed the head of a nearby masked creature and slammed him to the ground without much effort, causing him to disperse into black mist. He raised an eyebrow at the occurrence but grinned when the only woman of the group jumped up the shoulder of her comrade and attempted to kick his face.

Naruto grabbed the flying kick and flung her towards the right wall of the room. Remarkably enough, the masked woman composed herself with incredible agility and landed on her feet before propelling herself towards him in high speed. The blond sidestepped the high speed kick and grabbed her by the foot before reaching for her mask.

'Vampires'

He hummed in thought when he saw the familiar face of Black Widow, except with red eyes and large canines jutting out of her upper lip, not to mention a bit mark on her neck. Gazing into her eyes, normally warm his blue orbs gleamed a crimson red and caused the redheaded spy-turned Vampire to freeze in place and relax in his arms.

"Hey Irondude, does this tower of yours have UV light emitters build into them?"

Ironman blasted a Vampire with his Repulsor Ray and reached for a lever on the far side of the room before pulling it down "I will let the name slide at the moment!"

Just as the room was illuminated by a violet light, all the Vampire soldier turned to black mist and disappeared. The previously limp Black Widow screamed in pain as the rays hit her face, jumping away from Naruto's arms to hide in a corner.

Before she could reach the safety of a dark corner, Naruto yanked her back into his chest and covered her by his muscular arms before nodding to Ironman, who pushed the lever back up.

Feeling movement in his arms, Naruto looked down at the redheaded spy and saw _ much to his irritation and anger _ her face twisted in pain and silent scream, neck frantically turning around in every direction as an ominous voice came out of her throat without her using her mouth.

"As you can see, I have this woman's life in my hands, comply with my wishes or she dies!"

The blond Avenger raised an eyebrow and turned to Steve "This is no doubt Dracula's handy work"

Captain America nodded in affirmative "Yes, he must want something in return for Widow's life"

"Dracula?" Hawkeye asked in surprise "The Vampire Dracula? You gotta be kidding me!"

The rest of the team ignored him and turned to Steve, seeing as Naruto was busy with carrying Black Widow to the Quinn-jet, he was the second 'Vampire expert' of the team, thus he knew more about what was needed of them "Get to the Jet, we are going to Transylvania"

"Avengers Assemble!"

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Dracula's Palace

Deep within the dark palace underneath the eternal night sky of Transylvania, the dark lord of the blood sucking creatures known as Vampires sat upon his throne in a contemplating posture. The room was ominously dark, with the only source of light being the flames flickering in the fireplace behind Dracula's throne.

He hadn't anticipated the arrival of the man known as Naruto Uzumaki, the only man to have ever ignited a shred of fear in his detached and cold heart … the only man to have ever brought him, the King of Darkness, to his knees and … the only man immune to the might of his dark forces.

He had fought side by side with him and Captain America during the last war and thus he knew the kind of power he possessed. The man was a true immortal and a true warrior of ancient times with powers yet to be surpassed. Normally, he wouldn't even think about crossing paths with the ancient warrior, but at the moment he was feeling quite daring!

The sudden and unexpected piece of opportunity had presented itself when he had received an invitation from a former enemy, Red Skull, to join his little group of misfits. While he had his doubts about the validity of such an organization, the proposal Skull had presented had proven too tempting to ignore.

By falsely providing information about himself, Red Skull had lured a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, known as Black Widow _ who also happened to be a part of the Avengers _ to his country and thus provided him with the opportunity to take the blood of the Super Soldier he so desired.

By taking the blood of Steve Rogers, the enhancing effects of the drug circulating in Captain America's veins would cure him of his only weakness, vulnerability to sunlight.

He would once again be able to walk upon the earth without the fear of being burned by the sun! He would once again be able to spread fear among the humans and take his rightful place as the King of this planet!

He had sent the redhead spy to deliver the message that he wanted to deliver, however he hadn't expected to see the sharp eyes of the famous and ancient warrior known as Naruto staring at his then-temporary vessel!

While he had of course thought of sucking his blood, he had never been provided with the opportunity to do so, since Naruto had always been a cautious and perceptive man despite giving the impression of a naïve fool. He had only turned to Steve Rogers because he knew the chances of actually sucking away Naruto's blood was less than zero!

However, all that was in the past. Now he had all the pieces he needed to get his one desire, his one desperate wish. If there was one thing he knew about the blond warrior, it was that he never ever let innocent people die in vain or at all.

By using Black Widow, he could blackmail the blond into giving him his blood!

With the blood of a specimen that magnificent running through his veins, nothing would be able to stand in his way! Armies and entire continents would tremble at the simple utterance of his name! He would rule the world with his dark forces laying waste to the entire population!

Some of the more aware Vampires inside the throne room stepped back in fear when a large grin appeared on their master's dark features

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Transylvania

Naruto and the rest of the Avengers stepped outside of the Quinn-jet into the eternally dark atmosphere of the grim country, hidden away from the bright clutches of sunlight. Naruto was carrying the beautiful redheaded spy in his arms as he walked up to the front yard of the palace, which was predictably, a graveyard.

The team warily looked around the dark graveyard, weapons gripped tightly in their hands, obviously affected by the grim atmosphere of the place. Trees were nothing but a mere shell of their no doubt green former self, devoid of any leaves or hints of growth. Chilly winds blew across the graveyard, giving it an even greater scary and unsettling air.

Everyone, except Steve and Naruto, jumped slightly when a dark chuckle reverberated throughout the graveyard, followed by the accumulation of a dark mist swirling around the front gate of the palace. From within the dark embrace of the purple mist, Dracula, dressed in his dark and red outfit, stepped out with a large grin on his pale demonic face.

"Welcome Avengers and Naruto, I suppose you received my invitation?" he asked in an amused tone as he gazed at the wary Avengers.

Offhandedly, he noticed with a certain amount of jealousy and irritation that the proud warrior seemed as young and as powerful as before. Not a hint of ageing on his features, not a hint of fragility and not an ounce of powerlessness in his stature!

"Hey there… umm … sorry but I forgot your name, spooky" Naruto started with a sheepish grin and would've rubbed the back of his head if his arms weren't occupied with carrying Black Widow.

Ironman chuckled at the man antics. Captain America had told him that this guy liked to be purposely rude and naïve to annoy people and to not be fooled. Honestly, he didn't care either way. If this was the way he acted, he was more than welcomed to join the team since the rest of the Avengers couldn't even take a joke.

Joke with Hulk and you may find yourself halfway across the continent before you know it. Crack a joke at Thor and you may very well find yourself on the receiving end of a Lightening hammer followed by swearing akin to 'Odin's beard'. Honestly, he would never be able to figure out why the Asgardian seemed so obsessed with his father's beard!

Similarly, Falcon was too awkward a guy to joke with. If by any remote chance you did, you would be laughing by yourself for a few minutes before the dark skinned teen figures it out. Hawkeye was always pissed off by one thing or another to joke with and if he wasn't, he was always shooting arrows at dummies which always seemed to resemble Hulk.

He didn't even want to think about joking with Black Widow since she would just give him her trademark smirk or pointed look before walking away.

Captain America was too uptight and too serious to even know what a joke was. Though he couldn't help but wonder how Steve turned out to be such an uptight guy when someone like Naruto was his teacher?

So yeah, he was the most ecstatic about the blond joining in!

"It's quite amusing to see you try to fool me with your antics, Naruto Uzumaki, in case you've forgotten, I have fought beside you during the war" Dracula retorted with a vulpine grin, all the while eyeing the limp form the redheaded spy he had turned into a vampire "But I digress, let us cut short this meaningless chatter and get right down to business"

"What do you want, Dracula?" Captain America asked firmly and tightly gripped his shield, knowing he couldn't underestimate someone like Dracula. He knew better than to trust the dark lord, considering his history with said lord.

The dark Lord of the Undead grinned widely "I had originally planned to take your blood in return for the woman's life, but fortune seemed to be smiling upon me today. Why settle for your blood when I can get the blood of this magnificent warrior!"

"You think I am magnificent? Cool!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully.

Falcon leaned towards Clint with a confused look on his face "Even Dracula knows Naruto? It seems he is pretty famous"

Hawkeye discreetly loaded an arrow _ a wooden one he had craved in the Jet on his way here _ and pointed at Dracula with a frown on his face "Who cares?"

Before he could fire the arrow he had prepared so beautifully, a sideway glance from the newest blond member stopped him. Honestly, he didn't know why but the gaze was sharp enough to cause him to relent. Guess, Cap was on to something when he said that there was more to the blond enigma than meet the eyes.

If his eyes could not see it, then there was no way in hell that anyone in the team except the Captain would be able to see it, considering the fact that he was called Hawkeye for a reason.

Dracula growled in anger "We trifle time, either comply with my wishes or the woman dies!"

Steve stepped forward with a frown, ready to sacrifice his life for Widow. He stopped midway when Naruto laughed cheerfully and walked towards the dark lord before stopping mid-step as he turned to the team with a wide grin on his face

"Hey guys, you stay here and enjoy the scenery. Spooky over there is inviting me to his palace. We are likely to eat some dinner but I will be sure to skip dessert because I seriously don't want to keep you waiting for long, alright?"

Captain America nodded in understanding and held the shield in front of his torso as Naruto entered the palace after a menacingly laughing Dracula 'By enjoying the scenery… he must mean keeping a watch on the graves, this is Dracula's country after all'

"Be on guard, guys, Dracula is not the kind of person who keeps his promises"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a large number of vampires surrounded the team, hissing and growling angrily as they prepared for fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside the Palace

Dracula and Naruto walked through the dark corridors of the palace towards the throne room, followed by a large number of vampires walking behind Naruto to make sure he would not either attack their master or make an escape.

The blond, while outwardly grinning widely, was quite irritated on the inside when he witnessed the way the vampires seemed to eye him and Natasha.

Countless fools had tried and tried again to take him down over the countless eons of his existence and all of those fools had met a tragic end, Dracula was no exception to that fact. The blond Avenger was actually quite amused that the dark lord seemed to think that he was powerless simply because he had Black Widow under his control.

He could think of countless ways to kill the vampire before he even knew it but what was the point of that. If he was to destroy his enemies from the get-go, there would be no enemies left for him to destroy! It would ruin all the fun!

Joining the Avengers had been on his agenda ever since he came to Manhattan. He had nothing exciting to do and so he thought joining the team would provide him with the necessary entertainment to evade his boredom. By simply witnessing their antics during the last few days, he knew he would enjoy his interactions with them.

Thor and Hulk made the perfect entertaining duo as they seemed to fight over the simplest of things, always wanting to one-up each other in contests of strength, speed and even food. Plus, having a contest of strength and power against the supposedly strongest powerhouses on the face of the planet would prove quite fun!

Hawkeye was someone he would enjoy bugging the life out of since the guy was always complaining about one thing or another! Couldn't the guy just accept that life was not fair and man up!? Despite all those girly qualities, the man was quite skilled with a bow.

Falcon was a good enough guy, so he would treat him a little bit well than Clint. Ironman was the perfect man for having a battle of wits against!

The curvaceous Black Widow, was well quite interesting to say the least, not to mention beautiful. She was headstrong, perceptive and had a teasing personality which made her all the more interesting. He was not going to admit that her skin tight black suit was also a point of interest to him 'cause that would be bad for his health!

He would have loved to know more about her but Dracula interfered before he could, which didn't sit well with him. He didn't like people interrupting in something he had an interest in!

Two vampires opened a set of large gates to a darkly lit room with a large fire place behind a spikey throne and a pool of blood in the centre of the room, no doubt used for communication and survey of his kingdom.

The dark lord stepped into the dark room and walked up to his throne before slumping himself in it with a wide grin on his face, clearly happy with the direction of the meeting. He would give him some semblance of victory before crushing it with overwhelming force, it was more fun that way.

"So Spooky, where is the meal? I don't see it anywhere" Naruto stated in a confused tone as he looked around the dark room with Widow in his arms.

Dracula released a dark chuckle "Oh the meal is on its way … except you won't be receiving it"

"I won't!? What the hell!?" the blond exclaimed in mock indignation "You invited me to your dingy palace, which stinks by the way, and now you say I won't be getting any food?!"

A dark gleam appeared in Dracula's eyes as he pointed to the unconscious form of Widow. Said redhead suddenly sprung up from Naruto's arms and jumped away to stand next to the throne without any hint of fatigue.

Naruto mockingly recomposed himself and accusingly pointed his finger at an amused Dracula "What the hell? Was she pretending to be unconscious so that I would carry her all the way here? Not that I minded it, what with her tight black suit and all but I mean come on! That was a low blow!"

"Cut the foolish antics and let's settle this! Your life in exchange for hers'? Choose!" the dark lord asked snappishly and crossed his feet over one another.

"No way dude, I came here for the food, not to be turned into food myself!" Naruto exclaimed loudly and backed away from the throne.

Dracula's eyes widened in shock "You do not care for the woman's life?"

"Hey, in this situation, it's every man for himself or in her case, for herself" he retorted snappishly "I ain't risking my ass for her even if I like hers'!"

The dark lord composed himself and stood up with a frown on his dimly illuminated face "You have changed, Naruto Uzumaki, truly your former self would've sacrificed himself to save another human"

Naruto snorted dismissively "Look dude, I don't know you so kindly shut your yap and tell those cronies of yours behind me to bark at some tree outside. I came here for food, not to hear you talk about yourself, by the way you should buy some breath mint!"

Dracula growled angrily and turned to Black Widow, knowing the man was playing on his emotions. But he knew the blond well enough to know that he would never sit back and watch an innocent human die. Summoning a yellow sword in his glove-covered hand, Dracula give Naruto a smug grin and swung without any remorse, waiting for the familiar face of the blond man to appear and take the blow.

The swung sword cleanly cut through Black Widow's flesh as she dropped to the floor in a meaty thud.

His eyes widened when Naruto didn't appear in front of Black Widow to take the sword strike which the former blond would have. He hadn't meant for the woman to die … at least not before he got Naruto's blood! But now that she was dead, he lost the only thing keeping Naruto from attacking him without holding back!

He cautiously turned around and saw much to his growing surprise that Naruto was sleeping on the floor with a bit of a drool flowing from his own mouth, not the least bit bothered by the fact that he was surrounded by a pissed off Lord of Darkness and his vengeful army.

Gritting his teeth in anger at being dismissed like a weakling, Dracula gestured for his underlings to kill the blond in his sleep. He could always suck the blood from his bleeding corpse! His eyes widened when his underlings were sent flying by a sleepy kick from the still sleeping blond as he lowered his foot and rubbed his nose before drifting off again.

"This humiliation will not stand!" Dracula shouted in anger and pointed his sword at Naruto before jumping from his throne to stab the sleeping blond. Before he could proceed with his attack, Naruto rolled over in his sleep and raised his foot to rub his knee which in turn connected with Dracula's face and sent him flying away.

A dazed Vampire King strode out of the rubble and stared at the still sleeping blond with clear anger and fury blazing in his red demonic eyes. How could this be! He was the King of Darkness! He could not be defeated so easily! The blond hadn't even tried to wake up during the fight, if it could be even called one.

His jaws dropped to the floor in shock when the blond sneezed in his sleep and sent an enormous fireball flying at him from out of nowhere. He had no time to dodge or even block as the fireball engulfed him, burning away his cape and armour. He gritted his teeth in anger and pain as he tried to resist the searing pain of the fire burning his flesh, which had surprisingly refused to turn to ashes.

The fire eventually stopped and revealed a badly burned Dracula kneeling on the ground as he panted and grunted in anger. His anger heightened even more when he saw none of his underlings around the sleeping blond, meaning he must have taken them out as well.

This was not how he had imagined the meeting would go! He should have first researched about the man before proceeding with his plan!

His eyes glowed a darker shade of red when Naruto rose from the floor and yawned before rubbing his sleepy eyes as he looked around the room in confusion "Mom, school is off today, why are trying to wake me up?"

Growling in anger at the unintended insult, he vanished in a purple mist and reappeared behind a still drowsy Naruto as he swung his sword. Imagine his surprise when the sleepy blond rubbed his eyes a few times and went back to sleep, thus unintentionally dodging his sword attack.

As if remembering something important, Naruto immediately raised his head … which collided with Dracula's face who had been in the middle of his attack, and sent him staggering away with wide eyes before he spited out a tooth "E-enough of this foolishness, are you too much of a coward to fight me seriously?"

All traces of drowsiness and naivety vanished from the blond's face as he stood up, calmly dusting his long black coat as he looked at Dracula with a calm look on his face "You should know better than to challenge me, Dracula"

"Do not assume I am the same as I was before!" Dracula retorted with an angry frown "I have grown much stronger since the war!"

Naruto shook his head in mock sorrow "Arrogance was and still is your greatest flaw. You instantly assumed I would comply with your wishes without even taking into account my personality. Look behind you, Dracula, and tell me if that corpse you left there resembles the woman you claim to have killed"

Blinking in surprise, Dracula cautiously looked behind him in confusion, only for his eyes to widen when he saw one of his own subordinate lying motionless beside the throne "H-how?"

"Hmm" Naruto smiled calmly "Do you actually expect me to reveal you my secrets? How insulting"

Dracula gritted his teeth in anger. This was not possible! No matter how small the details were, he should've easily known something was wrong. Yet here he was staring at the place where he had supposedly killed Black Widow when in actuality he had killed one of his own underling.

Spit flew from his mouth when a strong fist embedded itself in his stomach and another punch found its home upon his jaw, sending him skidding away from the middle of the room to a wall as debris and smoke flew around from the impact "Never take your eyes off of me"

He wasn't given much time when Naruto appeared in front of him with a dark energy blast dangerously pointed to his chest, an impassive look on his face "Y-you will r-regret this, N-naruto Uzumaki!"

"You are not the only one to have issued such threats, Dracula" Naruto retorted impassively and blasted his body to dust.

It would not kill him but leave him crippled for a long time. Before walking out of the room, he sent numerous blasts of energy at the pillars of the room and throne to truly hurt Dracula and deliver a message to the rest of the so called Cabal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Avengers Tower, Infirmary

Tired eyes opened slowly as it tried to take notice of its surrounding. Black Widow slowly regained her consciousness and tiredly looked around the room, taking every single small and large detail into account should the need arise.

Judging from the smell of different chemicals and detergents swirling around in the room, she guessed she was in a hospital or a room used for clinical purposes.

That at least relaxed her enough to know that she wasn't held in a dungeon of sorts, considering it wouldn't be the only time she would find herself in such situations. That kind of risks came with being a spy.

Relief washed over her features as she spotted the familiar symbol of Stark Industries on a computer screen on the far side of the room, meaning she was in the infirmary of the Avengers Tower. Weakly forcing her feet and hands to move, she cautiously sat up with a soft groan and skimmed through the content of the room once again to make sure she was in friendly territory.

Next to the clinical bed she was laying on, her weapons were placed innocently on a stand along with her utility belt.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted the familiar form of the newest member of the team, simply floating in the centre of the room in a meditative pose, eyes closed, muscular hands placed in his lap in the shape of a circle, his admittedly handsome face devoid of any disturbance, his expression etched into the perfect picture of peace and harmony.

'So he can fly' she mused in slight surprise, storing the new detail into the back of her mind for later uses.

A dim glow of dark red light surrounded his muscular form, giving him an eerie feeling of power and strength as his moderately long blond hair fluttered softly in a non-existent wind. An aura of peace and calmness oozed off of his floating form, covering the whole room in its warm embrace.

"Glad to see you are awake"

She snapped out of her thoughts and realized with a small sheepish smirk of concealed embarrassment that she was caught staring at the blond, if his knowing smile was any indication. He was acting differently compared to the way he had been acting with the rest of the team. Everything about him screamed different, from his posture to his expression.

Instead of an air of naivety surrounding him, he now oozed off an aura of wisdom and knowledge! Instead of a wide cheerful and teasing grin, his mouth was now stretched into a soft lopsided smile that seemed to warm the entire room with its calmness.

"H-how long was I out?" she asked in coarse tone, oddly feeling thirsty as she looked around the room. She turned around to face Naruto, only to slide backwards in surprise when she saw him floating in his meditative pose in front of her with a glass of water in his hand.

"You have been unconscious for about 3 hours, 55 minutes and 4 second, not counting the two hours you spent on trying to kill us" Naruto responded in soft tone, smiling a little when she gave him one of her trademark dry look at the 'killing us' remark.

Even though she was a little miffed at him for bringing something like that to the surface, it was true nonetheless. She had been following a lead on Red Skull to Transylvania when she was ambushed by Dracula's vampire forces. Even though she had tried to fight back, she had proven quite powerless compared to his undead army.

The only thing she remembered after that was Dracula was biting her … her eyes widened when realization struck her like a thousand bolts of lightning from Thor's hammer! "Am I a Vampire!?"

Naruto raised his hand to calm the frantic woman and placed it on her shoulder, a soft smile on his face "Relax, Miss Romanoff, your team made sure to rescue you before Dracula could turn you into a vampire… permanently"

"I see" she stated in relief and leaned back in the bed when something clicked in her mind as she gazed at the blond Avenger's face "while my memories of being a vampire are hazy, I still remember being carried to this room while the team went to Transylvania and I know for a fact that there was someone with me in this room the entire time … which I now know was you"

Naruto raised an eyebrow of amusement at the perceptive woman "And?"

"The question is … how did you knew the team rescued me when neither I nor you have left the tower in the first place?" she asked with a confused but interested tone.

The blond Avenger chuckled softly "How perceptive of you!"

She smirked in return "I try"

"You will have to pardon me for not telling you everything about me right off the bat, but I will explain it in simple terms" Naruto voiced out with a soft teasing smile "I used an … illusion to fool both Dracula and, unfortunately, the team and sent a clone of myself to Transylvania to fight against Dracula while I remained here to cure you of your… vampirism"

"Why fool the team? Do you not trust them?" she asked with slightly narrow eyes. The ability to use illusions? Clones? Was that even possible!?

"Nothing of the sort, Miss Romanoff, I had the means to heal you of your condition, thus the only purpose of the trek to Dracula's castle was to remind him that the Avengers were not to be underestimated" the blond replied calmly.

Fooling individuals, no matter how strong, was just so easy in this era. Fooling the Avengers, no matter how traitorous it felt, into believing that he was carrying Widow in his arms, when in actuality he was carrying nothing, had been laughingly easy.

It was the same with Dracula. Using the illusionary Widow as bargaining chip, Dracula tried to entice him into surrendering his blood and never realized he was cutting his subordinate in half instead of the redheaded spy when he refused to comply.

Black Widow relaxed considerably and leaned back on the bed with a sigh "Where are they now?"

"On their way, they should arrive in about three minutes" Naruto replied softly and released his feet to stand instead of floating in the air "Well, it was nice chatting with you, Miss Romanoff, I am pleased to see that my method of a cure worked"

With that said and done, Naruto smiled one last time and walked towards the door without saying anything. Before he could reach the door, Black Widow's soft voice stopped him. He glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of a softly smiling redhead "Thank you for curing me and please … call me Natasha"

"It was my pleasure, Natasha " Naruto smiled back "Oh and you should smile more often … it suits you"

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AN: I know some of you guys may be wondering why I started another story when I have other stories that are still incomplete. Well, the answer is, I don't know myself! I recently watched an episode of Avengers Assemble and this idea came to my mind. It had merit, so I decided to write it.

Another thing you guys should know about me, I never ever abandon my work!

Naruto's outfit? Picture Kaname Tosen's Arrancar uniform with the aforementioned colour changes

Review, follow and favourite dear readers! The more reviews, the more motivation for me to write more quickly. Just press that little button at the bottom and write your opinion on the fic!

Flamers, get a job, will ya?