In a dark room, several people stood in front of a large monitor, the Winter Guard. Red Guardian, Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo, Ursa Major and the missing member, Powersurge.

He used a large containment armor with a 'radioactive' symbol on his both the symbol along with his visor glowed green.

It took a few day for them to return and they've been in base for a day, resting and recovering. It was a tough trip back with their injuries and equipment loss. The Peregrine had done a number on them, their bruises had bruises of their own. But they managed, and although they wouldn't admit it to anybody, the jackets that he enemy had made was essential.

As soon as they had gotten back, Dynamo threw his away in a furnace, Guardian stored his in his closet and Darkstar is still wearing the one she gotten. It was abnormally comfortable and warm, plus after a look in the mirror, she found it to look well in her, with the teeth necklace.

They'd just about finished their report on what occurred, leaving some details unsaid. There was no need to say that they'd gotten their assess handed back to them by a slob of meat.

Needless to say, their superiors weren't 'happy' with their failure. They'd left to discuss the fate of the team and their next move.

''Oy, Darkstar. Why are you still using those things?'' Dynamo asked, finally having enough of looking at the 'eyesore'. ''That guy made it, get rid of it.''

Everytime he looked at the wretched coat, he was reminded of the beating that he took. The clones were especially rough with him, they punted him all around the mountain till his armor broke, then kept on going.

''I like it. I'm keeping it.'' She crossed her arms and the monitor turned on. Uh-oh, he came back fast. This can't be good news.

A old man dressed up in a military outfit appeared on the screen.

''We've come to a common consense that no disciplinary measures are to be adopted. The enemy was unknown and you've done your part.'' He said and the door opened behind them. ''From now on Agent Romanov will be taking over the operation to bring him in, through any means necessary.''

The monitor shut off and a red-haired woman walked into the room.

''You're supposed to bring him in?'' Darkstar scoffed. ''Yea, good luck with that.''

''Come.'' Natasha said, ignoring the woman and turning on her heels.

The Winter Guard looked at each other and followed after Natasha. She led them to a room with a big oval table and took a seat on the tip.

''The directors thought about it, and came to the conclusion that simple brute force won't do the job. Which is why I was chosen. I need to know everything that you know about the subject.'' Natasha said and everybody sans Dynamo and Powersurge took seats.

''We already said everything that we know. He's extremely fast, strong and knew what he was doing. He's most probably an experienced warrior wherever he came from.'' Guardian answered and Powersurge laughed.

''Heh, wish I was there to see it.'' Powersurge spoke for the first time, his voice carrying a strong accent and sounding somewhat robotic.

''You would have gotten your radioactive butt kicked just like us if you were there.'' Ursa grinned, crossing his arms.

''Nah, I would have pulverized him.'' Powersurge said, but none seemed to believe it.

''Of course you would…'' Darkstar rolled her eyes. If he were there then things could have been worse. He made four clones for each of us. If Powersurge were there, then it could have been five.

''That guy… he's on a league of his own. We couldn't even scratch him…'' Guardian clenched his teeth ''He was only playing with us.''I can't understand him. For some reason he wanted us to live, even went through the trouble of hunting food and making jackets so we could make it back. I'm not sure that going after him is a good idea.''

Guardian's fear was something shared by all of his team that fought with the Peregrine. He wasn't trying to kill them, if he were, then they surely wouldn't be alive anymore. Who knew what could happen if they stirred the hornet's nest.

''Hmm… maybe not with brute is why I was chosen.'' Natasha got up. ''Thanks for the information, I'll show you how it's done.''

Darkstar rolled her eyes. She knew very well how Natasha did things, and she knew it wouldn't work, not with him. The only thing she wished was to be there to see her fail, if somebody were to take him in, then it would be her!

-A month later-

Their search hadn't brought many fruits. They placed several agents throughout the nearby villages and cameras, they even resorted to the good old 'wanted' posters and news, but still nothing.

It was like he didn't exist.

How could a one-armed blond guy, with freaking whiskers be so elusive? Clearly somebody should have seen something.

Even Natasha, or as she is called, 'Black Widow' partook in the search for him, village after village, one by one.

Now she's in a small village three-hundred kilometers away from last contact point. She already had given up hope on finding him, there wasn't even any evidence that he was still in Russia. There was talk among the higher ups of canceling the search, for it was proving to be a waste of valuable resources, that could be better spent in other places.

She walked with narrowed, eyes, carefully analyzing everything for anybody with blond hair, or with one arm, or with whiskers. She'd been searching for a few hours now, and staying concentrated was proving to be a chore.

Her stomach growled and she stopped, when was it that she had lunch? Did she have lunch at all?

She looked around and saw a coffee shop at the end of the street. There weren't many people around, it wasn't peak hour.

''Rubel for vodka…'' A mendicant seated on top of cardboard extended his hand to her as she prepared to walk in.

Natasha stopped, took out a coin from a pocket and flicked it to the mendicant, for the honesty, then walked inside. It was a cold night and at least the poor guy was honest about what he wanted.

-Thirty minutes later-

Agent Romanov, be The Peregrine… whatever the heck that means.

If I were that guy, where would I go… she left the shop trying to put herself in his shoes. This is hopeless, I don't know anything about him. I need more information.

Which was the precise reason they were after him on the first place, to get more information. She didn't know where he came from, what he wants nor what he likes. All that she knew was that he called Earth, 'Midgard'...

wait a second… she closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her chin. Icelandic people used to call Earth, Midgard. I wonder if there is a connection.

Now before her mind could go into some really crazy conspiracy and alien theories, she glanced at a group of teenagers. They were a few houses back, laughing about something that one of them probably said.

Natasha blinked and right there, among the teenagers was a tall blond haired guy. He really stood out among them with his orange jumpsuit, a single arm and whiskers.

He was distracted, and she cautiously walked in their direction.

As she walked, a lightpost briefly obstructed her vision, and in that instant, he disappeared. The kids continued to laugh as if nothing was wrong.

What the, he was just there. She thought, still walking to the teenagers. ''Excuse me, have you seen a blond guy around? He only has one arm.''

They stopped laughing and looked at her.

''Nah, ma'am, didn't pass here.'' The tallest one answered and the others looked around.

''Hey look, is it that guy?'' Another kid pointed ahead, at a one-armed blond guy wearing blue jeans and a black jacket. He was walking down the streets and passed by a tree, he never came out of the other side. ''Umm… nevermind.''

''You're imagining things, Bobby. C'mon let's go inside.'' Another kid said and they all entered a house.

No, it wasn't his imagination… Natasha walked in the direction that he was going.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, there were few people on the streets and it was starting to snow.

A soft breeze past by and she shuddered, her legs started moving faster, and she didn't know why, nor where she was going. It was as if the wind was urging her to move, as if she were being called somewhere.

After a minute of walking, she was brought to an alley with an opening, and there he was, seated on top of a wooden bench with his legs crossed in a lazy manner. Something seemed off about the bench, it didn't seem to belong in the alley.

''You're looking for me.'' He patted the spot besides him. ''Sit.''

She looked at the bench then at him, his attire was that of which the Winter Guard reported. He seemed calm, and she didn't want to take a seat, but she knew for a fact that he wasn't making a request.

They stared at each other for a few seconds and she complied.

He knew I was looking for him… for how long? She thought and then figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask. ''How long you've been onto me?''

''Some time, around fifteen moon 're not very observant;'' He answered simply, and extended his fist to her, alarming her. ''by the way, this is yours..''

He opened his hand and dropped a coin on her lap, the coin that she had given to the mendicant.

''Our paths have crossed a lot of times.'' He stopped to think. ''Eh, not going to bother counting.''

''You were following me?'' She pocketed the coin, it was ironic.

''Yep. Ironic isn't it?'' Naruto chuckled. ''You are with the four, right? You work for the same people as them. Among the ones searching for me, you seem like the less incompetent, so I was curious and left some crumbs for you to follow. Eventually I got bored of waiting for you to catch up and here we are.''

Well, while boring him into submission wasn't her initial idea, she'd take it.

''So you'll surrender and come to the base for questions?'' She asked and he chuckled.

His chuckle continued for a few moments and she glared at him.

''What? You really serious?'' He asked and she continued to glare. '' Clearly you jest. I'm not going to surrender to mortals. C'mon, I'd be whipped a new one back home if I did that. Besides, I don't owe anybody anything, unless it is an ass-kicking. That I can deliver.''

''If you don't, then you'll remain a fugitive for the rest of your days. You'll spend the rest of your days hiding, and one day we'll capture you.'' She said, filing what he said to think about later.

''Yea, because you've been doing such a good job.'' He rolled his eyes. ''I am not hiding from you, or your people. For me to hide, you'd have to actually be a threat. Besides what do I gain if I were to go along to wherever it is that you wish to take me?''

That was a good question, what would he gain? Natasha didn't know anymore. Would he be interested in what she had to offer? And why is he calling her a mortal?

''If you come with me. You can explain yourself and say your story. Then we may come to an agreement that is beneficial to us both." She said and he got up and cracked his neck.

"Look lady, I'm not going to be repeating myself. I don't owe anybody anything, especially not explications. Your people have nothing that I want or that can benefit me. This chat is starting to annoy me, let's walk." He walked out of the ally and Natasha followed. "Why does it matter so much anyway? Why do your superiors want to know about my origin so badly?''

She thought about it for a few seconds, whether she should be honest or not. "We just want to know more about you."

"Your nose is growing." He smiled and they left the alley, his clothing changing into a more simple outfit composed of a leather jacket, blue jeans and a white shirt. "I've observed that you humans have different signs when you lie. You in particular, your blood flow diverts slightly to your head and nose."

Her aura also flickered whenever she lied, but he didn't feel like she should know that. She wouldn't be able to do anything with the information anyway.

He has me at a disadvantage. This isn't going well. She sighed and skipped ahead of him, blocking his path. ''Okay, you're a threat, the way you handled the Winter Guard is proof of that. They need to know if there are others like you wherever it is that you come from, the technology that you used to bend space to arrive and if there is a chance of an invasion.''

''Hmm, I knew you could be honest, wasn't that hard, right?'' Naruto walked past her and patted her shoulder.

''Wait,'' she turned around and skipped ahead of him once more. ''Why don't you simply just answer those questions.''

''Because I simply don't feel like it. My curiosity of you is over, I have things to do." He walked past her and she skipped ahead again to block him. "Move."

He narrowed his eyes at her. Her mind froze and her heart raced her legs acted on their own and she moved out of his path.

The pressure eased and she regained consciousness of her actions right after. He continued walking and she tried to go after him, but her legs wouldn't obey. "Wait, maybe I can help?!"

He stopped and sighed, then turned around.

''Since you don't want to go to our base, then let me follow you. Allow me to observe you, and follow you and I will tell them to back off.'' She said and he chuckled.

"Listen mortal, you wouldn't be able to follow me if I gave you a map. I'm trying to avoid unnecessary deaths. I was being gentle with your friends, and I'm trying to be patient with you. If you try to follow me, then it will be your death.'' He turned around and disappeared out of existence. One second Natasha was staring at his back, the other she was staring at the streets.

-an Hour later inside a bar-

On the corner of the bar, Natasha stared at a device on her wrist, it showed the map of the region that she was in, and there was a yellow dot blinking all around the map.

It was Naruto. Or at least is supposed to be.

She had placed a tracker on him, to try and keep tabs with his whereabouts, but it turned out to be a pointless. It would seem that the device is broken, had been ever since she turned it on to find him.

She shook her arm but the dot was still going all around the city.

I knew I should have calibrated this thing. She thought and sighed, and the dot stopped. It stopped for all but ten seconds, then began to move at a much slower pace. Wait, maybe it isn't the tracker. What if it's him. He's running around all over the village!

The hairs around her neck went up.

No, this type of speed, it doesn't make sense, and it does at the same time? She furrowed her brows. This is much faster than what was described, but it makes sense that we couldn't find him before.

It also reminded her of what he said, that she wouldn't be able to follow him even if she had a map, she didn't think he was being literal.

She got up, leaving several bills on the table. The pacing that he was going was now at least traceable. At times he would stop, or 'blink' somewhere else.

-Thirty minutes later-

Thankfully for Natasha, after a few minutes, Naruto had stopped moving.

Her search for him had brought her to a street on the edge of the village. He was quite easy to spot, he was leaning against the fence of a house with his eyes closed.

''You took your time. I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it in time.'' Naruto opened his eyes, they seemed bored.

''In time for what?'' She asked, stopping in front of him.

''Time for their awakening.'' He answered simply and got a confused look from her, then pointed at the house behind him with his thumb. ''They are very hard to find when asleep, but I found the ones on this area.''

''What are you talking about?'' She looked at the house then back at him.

''Oh you'll find out soon enough. You see, the people inside this house radiat an awful lot of negative feelings. I think they might be on the middle of a separation, or as I think is the term for you mortals, divorce.'' He chuckled and rolled his eyes, for some reason that Natasha couldn't decipher, it was amusing him. ''Well they should be waking up, right, about… now.''

Screams came out of the house and a blond couple ran out of the house, followed by an explosion and a large fireball broke the rooftop towards sky.

''You might want to move out of the way…'' Naruto took a step to his side, confusing Natasha for a second, before she too mirrored him and took a step aside.

As she did, a strange dark and twisted quadruped with a round mouth filled with several rows of sharp teeth busted out of the house and charged through the fence. After it came two tall and humanoids, one with spikes in it's body, and the other with bat-wings in place of it's arms, very sharp talons and a round face with one large eye.

''So you wanted to come along with me right…'' Naruto glanced at Natasha. ''I'll let you handle them then, have fun.''

A dark-orange light shined inside the quadruped, and it opened it's mouth wide. Naruto disappeared and it shot a fireball at Natasha.

Her eyes widened and she jumped out of the way, the fireball scorching as it passed. The further it travelled, the larger it grew till it exploded on the end of the street.

Shit, this is bad. She thought and looked back at the destruction of the fireball, which thankfully hadn't caught any civilians on the way. I need to get these things out of here.

Electricity sparkled in between the spikes of the tallest, bouncing between its spikes, and it took a step in her direction.

She stepped aside and observed how their attention was focused on her, then shot a few rounds at them with her 'stingers' and ran.

They didn't make an effort to dodge and gave chase. They were fast, and they were gaining on her by the second.

However, thankfully for Natasha, she didn't have to run far, she already was at the edge of the village and just needed to lure them out. But the further she went, the rougher the terrain was and the more snow there was, the more difficult it became to run.

And they didn't seem to share her problem with the snow, the snow melted in front of the fire-spitter and the spiked one plowed through it no difficulty. The winged one was having even less problems with the terrain, due to taking flight when she ran and being airborne.

It swooped down on Natasha with it's talons, intent on piercing her with it's long and sharp claws but she managed to roll away in time to dodge it, and counter by sending more of her 'stingers' at it.

However like before, the creature didn't seem to register her attack, but got stuck on the ground. Natasha took the opportunity and ran to it's back, pulling out a pair of daggers on the way.

She jabbed her leff dagger on it's back and her right on it's arm right shoulder

Now this, it felt. The creature thrashed and tried to pry her off of it's back, but to no success.

Natasha twisted her right knife and yanked out it's arm, making it screech.

She was about to stab it again, when on the corner of her eyes she saw a orange light, which prompted her to pull off her daggers and jump back.

As she did, a very compressed fire ball struck the creature on the chest. The head and remaining limbs were left behind as the chest was blown off.

That was close, but one down land two to go. Natasha looked at the remaining creatures and got into a stance.

Electricity crackled on the spiked creature's spikes and it dashed. Quickly covering the distance between it and Natasha in the span of three seconds.

She took a step back right as it lunged at her, and then stabbed it's arm in between the spikes, but was zapped by a current of electricity and forced to let go of her dagger

The creature capitalised on her mistake and slashed her chest.

She attempted to dodge, but it was too close and too late. The creature's sharp and electric claws tore a large vertical cut on her chest, and she fell to the ground.

It didn't hurt as much as she had anticipated it to. The electricity and adrenaline numbed her chest, a lot of blood dripped from the wound onto the snow below her, tinting it red.

She felt cold and numb, but she knew she couldn't stop, for the other creature was already preparing another fire ball for her.

Grunting, she rolled away, and got up, leaving two beeping disks on the floor where she once stood.

The spiked created lunged itself at her once more, which in the process, it stepped on one of the two disks and they both exploded, splattering the creature and sending Natasha rolling backwards.

Natasha hardly had any time to get up and recover from the explosion, for when she came back to her senses, the first thing she saw was a massive fireball heading towards her.

With the fireball but a meter from her, she felt something wrap around her waist and pull her out of the path. The fireball burning through several trees until it came to a stop on a large boulder.

''Not bad, but l told you that you would die if you followed me." She heard from above and saw Naruto. He'd use his ponytail to pull her out. "Although next time, don't try going hand to hand with something covered in electricity, that's bad for your health."

''I'll keep that in mind.'' Natasha said as his hair retracted. ''I did get two of them.''

''Hmm… did you?'' Naruto asked and pointed back at the remains of the winged creature with his thumb.

Her eyes widened.

The head, arms and legs of of the creature were regenerating individually, there were now four half-formed copies of them, and from what they could see, the regenerated parts seemed sturdier. The same could be said for the spiked one that she blew up, every different piece was regenerating and forming completely separate entities.

It also seemed that the more they regenerated, the quicker they did.

''Cutting and exploding them aren't good options, unless you make sure there is nothing left. you're supposed to immobilize them otherwise.'' Naruto extended his hand and helped her get on her feet. ''I've been hunting these things since I got here, but these are among the weakest I've found. I was hoping that they didn't regenerate like them. But it seems that it is a standard for them regardless of their''

''What are these things?'' She asked and the Spitter prepared another shot.

''They are mutated spirits that have obtained physical from. Now let me see if there is something I can do about those cuts and burns…" he inspected her injuries.

"There's no time, it is going to attack!" Natasha prepared to run and dodge, but he grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

She winced and his hand shined, the pain faded and the burns beneath her clothing receded.

Meanwhile the Spitter shot a fireball at the two. As the previous, it grew as it travelled and was massive by the time it reached them. Natasha tried to pry his hand off since he didn't seem to care about dodging, but his grip was too strong.

The wind picked up around Naruto and Natasha and compressed itself into a small bullet, which then shot itself at the center of the blazing fire-ball, and ite pierced straight through, dispersing it completely.

''You do know that they are poisonous, right?'' Naruto asked while moving his hand to the slash on her chest. ''I'm kidding, these guys aren't. Luckily for you and your planet, very few of them are.''

''Not the time for jokes!'' Natasha glared at him and looked around at the creatures, some of which were already done regenerating.

''You're so stressed, you need to learn to relax, among other things." He chuckled and continued to heal her wounds, the slash had stopped bleeding and the numbness receded.

The winged creatures had just about finished reforming, they were different now, having a bat-like visage, spikes and were larger. They all took off into the air together and launched themselves at Naruto.

Wind gathered around him and Natasha forming a distorted ring which then ignited. The snow around them evaporated, but Natasha couldn't feel any heat or anything at all from it.

The bat-like creatures were much faster than before and didn't take long to reach them, but as soon as they did, small yellow bullets shot out of the ring. Each bullet completely disintegrating whatever piece of their body that was hit, until there nothing was left.

It all took but five seconds, for him to create the ring, the creatures to reach him and disappear.

He didn't seem tired or even interested on them, he never took his eyes from her wound, which was almost fading away. It was strange, the reports didn't say anything about control over elements or mystical powers. There was something on healing powers, but nothing on wind and fire manipulation.

''That takes care of it…'' The wound closed and Naruto turned to the remaining monsters, the ring of fire disappearing. The spiked creatures were still reforming and the Spitter was growling. ''I probably should name these things by type, you got any ideas?''

''You don't take anything seriously, do you?'' Natasha asked him and he shrugged, then pointed his palm at it.

''These little things? Doggies and Sparkies? These guys aren't the problem.'' Golden objects shot out of his palm at

the 'Doggy' and the dozen of regenerating 'Sparkies'. ''These are infants. I've got not no more time to spend on them.''

The golden objects were rods, and golden chains sprouted from them, coiling around their limbs and necks. They struggled to break free, but the more they struggled, the tighter the chains got. After a few seconds they were all reduced to harmless dark balls with golden chains.

Natasha was stumped, he made dealing with them seem easy, which to him it probably was. This guy, he's on a completely different league. No wonder the Winter Guard couldn't capture him.

The chains shined and the creatures dispersed as black mist. Naruto pulled a golden compass from his pocket, shook it a few times then stored it away. ''I've spent too much time in here. We need to go.''

''We?'' Natasha asked and he turned around.

''That is what I said. Feel free to stay behind if you plan on slowing me down.'' He began walking away leaving her behind, for a few moments until she decided to go along.