Disclaimer: I have no claim to the marvel throne or the Naruto hat. Everything belongs to Marvel comics and Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: Happy New Year everybody! Chapter 4 of An Unorthodox Hero is finally here, which I will simply start calling AUH from now on, the names a mouthful. I just want to say thank you once again for your patience with me, your support and your enthusiasm for this story. I so very much enjoy what I do because of you guys. Really thank you guys.

Anyway, I am sorry this chapter was so late. It was like meant to come out a month ago, really. However between the Festive Season, in which my family pretty much demanded I spend more time with them and my grandmother falling sick, I just haven't had that much time. Recently we also found out my Dad has a bad heart so we are watching him closely.

Anyway, this chapter has a bit more action, be it as part of training. It was originally meant to have been uploaded before New Years as one really huge chapter, but like I said family. Then as I was going over the original version of the chapter before Christmas, I thought that while it was pretty much finished and the various themes were well blended together for such a huge chapter. It had too many different themes packed into one chapter and I was leaving out so much other stuff I wanted to do.

Seriously, it I felt chunky like Batman V Superman, so I decided to cut in half and focus on one main theme with a minor theme or two as extra's. I also added back in a few scenes that I had originally cut out, like the Training exercise with the senior X-men team at the end.

This chapter is heavily focused on training the New X-men and touches a bit on Naruto, Laura and Julian's feelings towards one another. As well as showing Julian and Naruto mature a bit in different ways. To all of you who were left feeling like Naruto was too Gary Stu or biased or even perfect, I want you to know that I don't write perfect characters.

Naruto is human and has opinions. He's more mature due to having to grow up quicker in a more war torn world, and there are just certain topics where he has a very unique point of view that might even be logically sound. However that doesn't mean he is necessarily right or wrong on the matter. The same goes for everyone from the Marvel universe he interacts with. Naruto understands good and evil, he understands basic rights and wrongs and is learning the definition of these things on Earth as opposed to how they are defined in the Elemental Nations.

However problems will continue to show up in which Naruto will come up with a solution based on his life experience from the Elemental Nations and what is acceptable in his culture. He will have complete faith in his solution cause its probably worked well for him in the past, and until shown or offered a better solution, his method will be the one he puts his faith in. It will be "the right" way to do things by his definition but not the only right way to do things cause he doesn't know everything about Earth despite how fast he is at learning new things. In the eyes of people from the Marvel universe, his method or opinion might be seen as anything from wrong to inferior to just not preferable.

For example, Naruto identifies himself as a mutant(X-gene mutant) which he partially is thanks to Laura even if just a small part. Not because of his genes and the belief that mutants are superior, but because he identifies with their suffering. To him Mutants and Humans are the exact same thing, all falling under the larger genetically diverse umbrella of human. Obviously several mutants will think that this line of thinking is wrong but that's how it is back in the Elemental Nations.

Bloodline users aren't considered by the general populace as something completely different from humans, the exception to this rule being the followers of the 4th Mizukage's during his reign and the ensuing Kiri Bloodline purges. Even then this was a view that never took off outside of the Land of Water and was eventually stomped out by the 5th Mizukage. Friends of Humanity and the various other anti-mutant organizations would have a lot to argue about that.

I'm touching on a bunch of different things here but the point I am trying to make is that Naruto for all his time in ROOT, in ANBU, as Jinchuuriki and all the other crap that was thrown his way. He is still very much human and capable of making mistakes or having an alternate opinion to that isn't the best version of what everyone largely defines as right but is still right.

In this chapter you get to see that he has masks he puts on, he has his own logic he operates under, he has opinions, he can make mistakes and he will get things wrong over time. However he will always try to do the best he can do.

Anyway, in the chapter and the upcoming one's you'll see that Naruto has caught the attention of some of the higher beings in the marvel universe and is about to catch lot more attention in the upcoming chapters, all leading to the Quest for Magik arc in the New X-men comics.

Also an update to the Harem. The girls with Naruto will be X-23, Angela, Brunnhilde, Carol Danvers, Jean Grey, Elizabeth Braddock, Kelda Stormrider/Skadii, Future Valeria Richards (Its complicated), Illyana Rasputin (A surprisingly popular request. I'm not the biggest fan though) and one more who will remain unnamed for now. That is about all I can juggle without making things ridiculous and unbelievable(It already is, but I can still work my magic at this level, beyond this...). I only planned for 7 girls but I got a bunch of PM's ultimately bumped it up to 10. I have had to read so many of Magik's comics, lately, my head hurts.

Oh yeah, as for the force with which Naruto can throw Shuriken in this chapter. Please remember that in canon, during Kakashi's first bell test (After he ass-pokes him with "A Thousand Years of Death") Naruto was able to attack Kakashi with two shuriken from underwater. Throwing them with enough force from underwater that not only were they able to breach through to the surface but fly through the air and even curve towards Kakashi. While Naruto was still underwater mind you.

That was him as a genin in canon, not very skilled even compared to Sasuke who was actively training in Shurikenjutsu. This is Naruto as a former ANBU operative, and Commander. He is much more skilled.

bigfan22: Thanks, there is so much more to come. Naruto's has already gotten a lot of attention from some supernatural beings just by existing and he is going to be getting so much more attention very soon. Especially after the next chapter.

Protoxone: I am glad you like it. It is a big universe and a considerable amount of my time when writing each chapter goes to researching its mysteries. Sorry about the grammar though, I'm still learning. English is not my mother tongue.

TypedSomeWords: Thanks for the well wishes. Love your reviews, they are so fun to read but holy crap is hard to reply to some of the things without spoiling too much. Naruto's bias over kekkei genkai will disappear as he comes to understand more about it thanks to Beast and encounters more powerful mutants. However in the next chapter you will see where it comes. I think Orochimaru is the closest thing they have to a super-genius the Elemental Nations has ever had. The guy has delved into everything at this point. Madara's methods seem more like really good guess work and the scientific methodology of hundred years ago.

blob1: I agree with Kaguya being at a planetary level, but Naruto cannot bust planets. He can devastate any civilization on it but we've yet to see him output enough energy in any attack to come anywhere close to being capable of blowing up a planet.

helrio uzugaku: I read this and I just want to say spoilers!

Anyway, I've rambled on for far too long, so on to the story. Please read, review and enjoy!


Chapter 4: Sensei from hell!

"When it comes to being a benevolent individual, few can equal Naruto Uzumaki's kindness and generosity. He experiences emotions on a fundamentally deeper level than other Shinobi or humans and as results loves more passionately, cares about everybody more abundantly and experiences a deeper anger than anyone save Wolverine or the Hulk can ever claim to feel. That said, when it comes down to training his students, Naruto could give Mephisto lessons on sadism and being an evil taskmaster."

Valerie Cooper

oOo

Day 1: Uzumaki school of Ass-kicking erm training!

"You surprised I came."

Naruto gave the smirking form of Julian Keller a blank look as he replied. "Honestly, I am. I figured you of all people would be the least willing to accept me as your instructor, and we both know why."

It was no secret that Hellion did not like Naruto at all, and while the Konoha shinobi had no intention of being antagonistic towards Julian, Naruto had also never gone out of his way to truly be nice to the telekinetic mutant. Hellion hadn't helped matters by frequently attempting to corner Laura and make up with her over the last two days, only for her to continue avoiding him

"I ah...even you've probably heard by now that I've been trying to get Laura alone to talk." Julian said with an embarrassed flush on his face. The whole school pretty much knew about Hellion's recent escapades, and as distant from him as Naruto could be, even he was aware.

"I noticed." Naruto replied in a clipped tone that left no interpretation about how little he liked it. Whenever they had their midnight chats these days, Laura vocalized her displeasure and frustrations with all these (attempts at) ambushes. For her, if it was an enemy then the rules where simple, kill them before they do something worse to you. However what where the rules on being ambushed by friends and comrades? The only answer he'd been able to give her when she asked was, "Its complicated" and it frustrated the hell out of him to not be able to truly help Laura with something.

Hellion winced slightly at the icy response but continued. "See before the Facility where we met you. Laura and I, we had something special together, but something bad happened that night in the Facility and it cost us both that special thing. I'm trying to fix things between us, but I need her to talk to me."

"And she wont." Naruto finished for him before saying. "If this is your way of asking me talk to her so that she would be willing to talk to you then forget it." Julian sounded almost pitiable to Naruto, he understood the situation and he would've perhaps even been willing to help the kid out had Hellion acted even remotely friendly to him, even once since they first met. No one ever said that Naruto was above being petty, especially when someone he cared about was involved.

To Naruto's surprise the kid protested against the very idea of his assistance, saying. "No, I don't need your help for that! I already got her to talk to me, at least for a little while. However not on the topic I wanted to discuss. She said that she would be willing to hear me out on everything I have to say, if I attended your training sessions and took them seriously. So here I am!"

In that moment Naruto found himself reevaluating Hellion as a person, the kid had always been a bundle of potential in Naruto's mind but his attitude and personality also robbed Julian of everything he could potentially be. Now however, he was seeing something different from the arrogant, obnoxious and extremely jealous boy who had done nothing but badmouth him since the beginning of Naruto's stay at the X-mansion. Now the former ANBU Section-Commander was seeing something he could work with. But first...

"I see. But do you really mean that? Taking my training seriously I mean?" Naruto asked, curiously. His full ability to detect lies was deployed, his empathic talents, chakra related skills and ANBU training all ready to suss out any lies in the boys words should he attempt it.

To his pleasant surprise, Julian was completely honest as he solemnly replied. "Its my only shot at fixing things with her, so yeah. I will take this seriously even if its you that's teaching it."

For the first time since they met Naruto smiled genuinely at Hellion, creeping the telekinetic mutant out a little with how friendly it was all things considered, and simply replied. "In that case I am relieved."

"Huh?" The confusion at his words was evident all over Julian's face, making Naruto sigh.

'This will be annoying to explain.' Naruto thought as he said. "Julian, I know you dislike me, and me, I don't particularly like or dislike you. You can hate me and distrust me if you want, cause at the end of the day your opinion on the matter means less to me than the gunk at the bottom of my boots. That said, training is a completely different matter. I don't need your friendship nor do I need you to like me, I don't even need you to really trust me. All I ask of you is your compliance with whatever I tell you to do during the training sessions. That and for you to trust that this training that's been approved by the X-men, is in your best interest as a warrior, regardless of how unusual it may or may not get. I only ask this much and nothing more."

"I already said I will take this seriously." Julian commented darkly, not having enjoyed being told the truth about how little his opinion mattered to Naruto.

"Good, It will be tough, confusing and unpleasant even, but I won't be unfair to you or do anything to you out of spite. And when the day is over you can go back to hating me as much as you like. However, the next time the Purifiers or Nimrod come knocking, I will have gotten you to a level of skill where they will simply be walking to their graves. One way or another I'll make sure of that. That's a promise and I don't go back on my word, ever." Naruto promised.

Julian looked at him searchingly as if trying to spot any lies, not that he would have even if Naruto hadn't been telling the truth. Ninja's took lying and the ability to spot lies to an art form because more often than not, their lives depended on it. Naruto however was being fully truthful, finally after a moment of finding nothing deceitful Hellion asked. "Why don't you hate me Uzumaki?"

Naruto found himself strangely amused by the question, as he replied. "Do you want me to answer that question from a logical or emotional standpoint."

"I want you to take this seriously and answer the damn question. I'm trying steal your girl for crying out loud and you act like you couldn't give a crap." Julian yelled in reply. Naruto frowned t the outburst, apparently his amusement offended Keller.

Sighing, the ninja composed his features and replied. "Firstly, thank you for your honesty, it couldn't have been easy admitting that to me and secondly. Laura is not my girl, and by that I mean, I don't own her. She is free to choose who she wants to love and how she expresses that love."

Julian's face twisted in frustration for a moment before he asked. "And if I win her back? You're not worried about that?"

There was an accusing bite in the telekinetic's tone and his question probably made sense from the point of view of a normal person with a limited lifespan. Unfortunately Naruto, Laura and Logan were not so limited, so he firmly replied. "No."

"Why? Do you not care about her?" Julian screamed at him in frustration. It was exactly the wrong thing to say.

Like a smothering blanket, an all consuming fear descended on Julian Keller as Naruto gave him a dark look. It was a calculated doze of killing intent but enough to silence Hellion and make him freeze where he stood, his heart racing as his every instinct in his body screamed at him that if he so much as even twitched wrong, he would die.

Sighing Naruto reeled it back in, he'd lost his temper again. It didn't happen often but lately his perpetually cool and collected composure had been slipping through the cracks of the mask he often put on when not amongst those he considered friends. Worse yet, it happened most often when Laura was involved somehow.

"It's because I care about her that I am not worried about you." Naruto calmly told him after a minute, though his voice carried a hint of something brimming underneath it. Taking a deep breathe to further calm down, Naruto looked up to the sky, his gaze wandering amongst the wispy clouds for a moment before saying. "You know, I used to have someone I loved dearly. We were going to get married when we turned 20."

"What happened to her or was it a him?" Somehow Hellion managed to recover enough will after enduring Naruto's killing intent to come up with a reply that made fun of the ninja's sexual preferences. His recovery probably having something to do with the fact that Telekinesis had its origins as a Psychic ability, thus allowing him to mentally recover from psychology attacks like killing intent faster than a normal person or mutant would. However...

"Can you go ten seconds without being a complete jackass." Naruto asked as he looked back at Julian with a glare. The boy knew full well that Naruto did not swing that way. Everybody knew or at least suspected he was a heterosexual, not Bi, not Gay, Het. Naruto hadn't yet said anything to outright confirm it but his wandering eyes every time a beautiful woman walked into the room, his body language and the charming way he talked to ladies whenever he was free, were very good indicators. Julian was just being an ass.

"Sorry." Julian apologized, realizing as much. Naruto in turn simply went back to looking up at the sky in silence. It took a few minutes before Naruto broke that silence again and said. "Her name was Hinata, a fellow ninja from my village and one of my teammates when I wasn't doing black ops missions. I mentioned the other day that I was in a Superhuman World War, we called it the Fourth Shinobi World War. It ended on my 17 birthday and Hinata was killed in that war, on the night before it ended. She died right in my arms, asking me to somehow keep going. My bestfriend in the whole world died just like that."

"Why are you telling me this?" Julian asked confused by the story.

"Because I want you to know that I understand how you feel about Laura. I understand why you would go around besmirching my name and reputation when I am not around to defend myself. Why you are always acting so confrontational when it comes to me, then ignore everything else I ever say to you. I understand what its like to be in love, cause I have been in love before." Naruto then turned back and looked Julian straight in the eye saying. "And for the first time since the war, I'm falling in love all over again."

"Is this some convoluted way of telling me to back off?" Julian asked, the aggression returning to his voice.

Shaking his head Naruto replied. "No, I already told you, Laura is free to choose who she loves and how she expresses that love. In other words, its her choice. No! What I am telling you is that, whatever form a relationship between me and Laura will take, in the grand scheme of things you are simply irrelevant."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Hellion yelled enraged, feeling like he'd just been insulted again. Not that either of them had been holding back up to this point.

With the kind of sigh one gives when trying to explain a complex concept to a child and fails, Naruto replied. "You really can be frustratingly dense sometimes, so let me spell it out for you. You will be most likely be dead within a hundred to two hundred years from now, you and most of the people on Earth. Gone like ashes in the wind or a sandcastle washed away by the tide."

The anger that as brimming within Hellion puttered out at Naruto's words and a sombre mood fell over them.

"The gods and demons aside, Me, Laura, Logan and small number of individuals with healing factors or longevity in some form or another are an exception to this rule. We have to watch you grow old and die, to live on with you guys as merely precious memories. And then once you've passed, we will have to do it all over again, and again, and again, and again as we meet more people, get close to them, watch them grow old and then die, the cycle repeats, while we remain unchanged. That is our fate." Looking at him Julian with a sad but resigned smiled Naruto added. "Which is why, I can't afford to just love her for a mere fifty years Hellion, we will both be around for a very very long time. So even if she chose you over me, or someone else entirely different. When you and everyone else is dead of old age and she is in mourning, isn't another immortal the only person capable of comforting her. That is assuming I can find my way back here."

The challenging glare leveled his way when he tried to protest, prevented Julian from giving any kind of defensive reply. Finally he simply settled for saying. "You know Naruto, you're kind of a jerk yourself."

Naruto's glare disappeared as he chuckled at the comment. It had an inkling of truth behind it. In response he said. "Hey, you're the one who brought up this who damn topic, I just decided not to sugarcoat things. Now can we please get to class. I have a lesson I am supposed to be teaching."

"Yeah!" Julian acceded.

In that moment the two of them had come to a sort of unspoken understanding and a very outspoken one. Naruto hadn't intended it to be this way but he had made Julian understand a couple of things clearly and really think about what a relationship with Laura would mean. Naruto on the other hand come to realize that for all his faults, he kind of liked Julian as a person. The kid could be sincere, determined and courageous. Most importantly they truly saw each other as people for the first time since meeting. Flawed, but good people.

VvV

Thock...thock...thock...thock...thock

Their was a steady sound of shuriken hitting the bullseye's of the various target boards in the hall as Laura jumped, rolled and dived, back and forth while throwing them. She was so focused on her efforts that she didn't even notice the smile on her face until Naruto brought it, apparently he rather liked it. Still, she could think about the ninja in question later, for now she needed to master how to throw shuriken "properly" so that she could replicate Naruto's feat from earlier.

Flashback...

"So welcome everybody to Advanced Combat Training. It took a bit of doing but Logan and I have come up with something that will significantly improve your odds of survival out there." Naruto said, his hand motioning around him as if to encompass the world itself. "As you can see there are more of you than just the New X-men."

Looking around the room, aside from the New X-men, five more students were present, as well as Logan and Elizabeth Braddock who both stood in the back to let him have the floor. Victor Borkowski aka Anole, the three clone sisters, Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe better known as the 3 in 1 or the Stepford Cuckoos depending on who you asked, and last but not least Hisako Ichiki aka Armor, were all present and gathered in a group a little ways to the side of the New X-men.

"Anole and Armor are here as representatives for the other students, while I personally requested the presence of Mindee, Phoebe and Celeste. Logan and I have decided that we need a reserve team or at the very least people who will remain in reserve to replace anyone injured or unsuitable for a specific type of mission. For example, if Anole officially joins the team, his powers are particularly well suited for stealth operations. Him, X-23, Mercury, Hellion and one of the 3 in 1 would make a great team of stealth operatives. At least until the rest of you shape up in the stealth department, I'm looking at you Rockslide." Naruto finished with a grin.

While the New X-men knew of Naruto's desire to get Rockslide to break the mold of expectations people generally had in regards to his abilities, it was something completely new to their fellow students. Proven when Anole yelled in disbelief. "W-wait, you want Rockslide to be a stealth operative!"

"Hell yeah! You know how funny it would be, if he of all people was sneaking around silently and taking out all the bad guys out without anyone noticing. Besides, its not like he cant do it, people just have a habit of look at him and assuming all he's good for is his strength and toughness. The Thing and Hulk have set a bad precedence, so I want take advantage of people's ignorance and use it to bite them in the ass." Naruto replied, somewhat confessing the other part of his reasons for wanting Rockslide to learn stealth.

"I admit you have a point." Anole finally said after a moment of thoughtful consideration.

"Anyway, you five will be with Logan and Betsy today. They will walk you through what we have planned so that you can spread the word to the other students. The New X-men minus X-23 and Hellion will be sparring with me. Hellion your specialized training will begin immediately, its waiting outside so I'll be with you in a minute to give you direction. X-23, your training will be indoors for now. We will regroup in 3 hours time." Naruto said before walking up to Laura with a thigh holster and small pouch in his hands.

"What's this?" Laura asked as she received the holster and pouch, then promptly attached them to her right thigh and belt.

"Its for your training. Its thigh holster and shuriken pouch, for holding your kunai and shuriken respectively. I am going to teach you to throw them." Naruto explained.

Laura frowned and replied. "I can already accurately hit a target with a poorly weighted knife at up to 40 feet rage, precisely however I want to."

"Not like this you can't." Naruto insisted, his sheer confidence as he said this making Laura curious. "I am going to teach you "proper" shurikenjutsu technique and then I am going to teach you how to bend it to its limits." Naruto declared almost bragging. He wasn't quite on Sasuke and Itachi's level at Shurikenjutsu, but he knew most of the tricks, he had had to learn them in order to properly use his Rasenshuriken after all.

Wanting to see if their was any merit to his confidence Laura asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Its better if I simply show you." Naruto said with a mischievous smile before drawing six shuriken and an apple he'd prepared before hand. Five of the shuriken were gunmetal gray, the fifth however was a bright and highly visible orange. Turning to Psylocke, who was in the midst of leading the Stepford Cuckoo's, Armor and Anole to the exit with Wolverine, he called out. "Betsy, before you go mind giving me a hand in a demonstration."

The words got the attention of the entire room, more so when Psylocke replied. "Sure."

Throwing the apple at her, Psylocke caught it easily, without any telekinetic assistance before moving to one corner of the room directly behind Naruto and placing it on her head. Naruto, Wolverine and her had already discussed the possible necessity of this little demonstration and numerous others so she already knew what to do.

For her part Psylocke stood perfectly still. Naruto had already demonstrated this technique to her and was even teaching it to her, so she already knew that he wouldn't accidentally miss. With a deep inhale and a single glance backwards to confirm her location Naruto turned to everyone watching with curiosity and said. "Keep your eye on the orange Shuriken."

It was obvious what what he intended to do, to hit the apple on top of Psylocke's head without looking in her direction. However no one present aside from Wolverine and Psylocke was a hundred percent sure he could succeed, nor were they prepared for how Naruto went about doing it. With another breath Naruto flicked his wrist and sent the orange Shuriken flying directly ahead of him.

Ping!

The unmistakable sound of two metal objects colliding against each other rang throughout the room as a second shuriken joined the first. Its trajectory, the speed at which it was thrown and the angle from which it was released from his hand, all driving it into the orange shuriken and forcefully changing the first shuriken's flight path, as well as providing it with a boost in momentum.

Ping!

A 2nd metallic collision was heard as a third shuriken was thrown. The result being that the orange shuriken which had been redirected to Naruto's right was suddenly ricocheted straight upwards by the redhead's latest throwing star.

Ping!

With a 3rd collision, the fourth shuriken crashed into the orange one in such a way that it completely reversed the direction it was headed. Going from forward and then upwards, the orange shuriken was now flying backwards and downwards, somewhere behind Naruto to his far left. It was completely off target. While just the fact that you could redirect Shuriken mid-flight to such a degree was something utterly amazing, it never would have hit the apple. Or at least that would've been the case if Naruto hadn't had one more shuriken left.

Ping!

The final shuriken was thrown almost thoughtlessly directly behind Naruto and smacked into the orange shuriken which was loosing moment from getting knocked all around the room, with enough force to send it spinning directly at the apple. At this point everyone expected the shuriken to ram into the apple and knock it off Betsy's head, it didn't.

Instead it split the apple in half, with the bottom half remaining on Psylocke's head and slammed into the wall behind her with enough force to crack the the concrete and embed itself half way into it. The whole room silently gawked at the display for a moment as they tried to process what the hell they had just seen. Someone gulped loudly and in doing so set of the chain of proclamation of astonishment and exclamations of disbelief as every tried to get a word in edgewise.

"What the actual fuck!" Hisako Ichiko loudly yelled.

Surge nodded her head in agreement with the sentiment before adding. "Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on this one!"

"Heat seeking ninja stars?!" Josh yelled/asked in a slightly crazed tone.

"Did you go to some Ninja academy or something, to learn that bullshit?" Even Hellion sounded a little shaken after what he'd just witnessed. However his question was pretty interesting so Naruto answered it.

"As a matter of fact, I did go to a Ninja academy where I was taught Shurikenjutsu. However it was one of my two bestfriends who taught me how to do this trick. I don't even hold a candle to him or his brother when it comes to this sort of stuff. They could have replicated the same feat with a mere three shuriken instead of the six I used, and yes, even to ninja from my world this is an impressive technique but still completely doable." Naruto explained before turning to Laura and saying. "This is what I mean by teaching you "Proper" shurikenjutsu technique, this is what you will be aiming to achieve. I believe you can do it."

Laura Kinney could only nod silently with dazed look in her eye after that. That had not been what she was expecting. However that dazed look was soon replaced by determination as a fire lit up within her.

Flashback end...

It had nearly been 2 hours since then and Laura had poured her everything into learning how to throw shuriken like a ninja or rather, like Naruto himself. The redhead in question had come by occasionally to observe and correct her technique wherever he felt it necessary, which surprisingly wasn't a lot. He had said, she was on the right track and learning at a remarkable rate, but she didn't feel like this was true. Laura perfectly recalled the way he'd effortlessly performed the whole technique without ever once looking at the orange shuriken he was redirecting or the apple on Psylocke's head.

Even now, every time Naruto walked near the other students they would openly gawk at him in shock at the absurdity of his Shuriken throwing skills. At least they did so until Wolverine caught them and made them do 20 laps around the X-mansion "to help them better concentrate" or something. 'Dad could be a vicious bastard sometimes.'

VvV

"You're paying for that!"

'Naruto was a vicious bastard sometimes.' Julian Keller thought, unknowingly almost echoing exactly Laura's own thoughts, as he was currently slogging through his training. Naruto had taken him far away from everyone else for his training, and given an exercise solely meant to help him in improving his telekinetic abilities. Hellion was hating every second of it.

Flashback...

Naruto and Julian were in the woods surrounding part of the property, far away from the sounds and distractions that other humans tended to create. It was the perfect place to begin the first step in Julian's training, which was to control his telekinesis. Beast had been working with Julian in the lower levels of the X-mansion for some weeks now, and while his telekinetic fine control was still a bit of a problem Julian could move big things with ease. Today's training was meant to be a level beyond that.

Naruto pulled out a scroll from one of the pouches strapped to his belt and then unfurled it. There were several symbols indicating different things but Naruto bypassed the first dozen or so till he found what he wanted. Biting his finger hard enough to draw blood and make Hellion wince uncomfortably – 'The Wuss!' – Naruto swiped his bloody finger over the seal he wanted to unlock then turned the scroll away from both of them and flared his chakra into the seal saying. "Release."

There was a violent puff of smoke which was compounded by a large amount of rising dust as something extremely heavy fell to the ground with enough force to shake it. Hellion started to cough as he wondered what the hell Naruto was up to when the Scarlet haired ninja swiped his hand at the air, the force sufficient enough to create a shockwave that cleared the dust and smoke away.

With the object in full view Julian felt rather confused at what he was looking at or rather what the purpose of what he was looking at was. It was a Hexagon, 6 x 6 meters across and 12 centimeters thick. It was made of some kind of heavy metal cause it looked like it weighed well over a ton and Naruto was looking happily between it and him.

Stomping on it hard enough to elicit a metallic clang, Naruto said. "This thing right here is unimaginatively named "The Hex", and from today on-wards, is going to be your mountain. I don't know what its made out of but its supposedly not easy to damage. Beast created it at my request for you, and you will now be responsible for it. You will carry it around with you whenever you are training and leave it in the equipment shed or training hall when you are done. Should it somehow be damaged you will explain why that happened to Beast, am I clear."

Hellion nodded dumbly as he replied. "Yeah, sure, but what am I supposed to do with that hunk of metal?" Silently adding in thought. 'And why do I have to explain myself to Dr. McCoy if its supposed to be durable.'

"You're a telekinetic, you will be rotating 'The Hex' clockwise on its axis like a merry-go-round, 12 degrees per second for now. I want it floating horizontally off the ground and perfectly level. Oh and you are going to be do this without using your hands." Naruto finished as if suddenly remembering something important. The evil smirk on his face said otherwise.

"Without using my hands?" Julian protested. His hands where what gave him such fine control over his telekinesis, to be told he wasn't to use them was just crazy.

"Or feet, or any other body motions for that matter." Naruto listed of additional restrictions.

"B-but that is impossible!" Julian exclaimed gawking at the redhead, and utterly unreasonable he would've been happy to add.

"You're a telekinetic, genius!" Naruto replied as if he was talking down to a child. "Moving an object with your arms or legs is called being normal. You're a mutant, the exact opposite of that remember. You literally can move an object with your mind, its literally the definition of your power, so there is literally no reason for you to be uselessly flailing you limbs around like a child when they can be put to better use doing other things." Naruto said glaring at Hellion and stressing the word Literally every time he said it. He then rapped his knuckles again The Hex adding. "My dear friend, 'The Hex' over here, was literally created to beat that nonsensical way of thinking out of you regardless of your opinion. After all, I did just say it was your mountain didn't I? And I literally meant it."

Julian's eye was twitching and he suddenly had the urge to punch Naruto in the face repeatedly for all the times he stressed the word literally. It was annoying enough training under the ninja, being talked down to like a child was just grating on his nerves. Sighing to calm himself as he realized Naruto would not be moved on this particular issue, Julian accepted his fate and asked. "So all I got to do is move that thing with my mind right?"

With a nod in the affirmative Naruto replied. "At a consistent speed, over a period of time. Let say you can do it for one hour, without any mistakes, then we will move on to the next stage of your training."

Raising a brow Hellion asked. "And that is?"

Giving the telekinetic mutant a cheeky grin Naruto replied. "You will find out when you finish this stage of your training. I expect great things from you Hellion but right now I need to get to my other students. Now get to it, we're burning daylight. Oh, and by the way, The Hex has sensors in it which means if you cheat, Beast will know it and then I will know it and then Wolverine will know it and you wont like that. Good luck!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

"Hey, wai-" Hellion never got to finish his sentence, for a swirl of leaves suddenly took Naruto's place and he vanished. Not wanting to chase down the scarlet haired ninja Julian got to work with his training. 'This couldn't be that hard to master right.'

Flashback end...

Oh how utterly wrong he had been. Hellion had assumed he could and would easily master rotating the Hexagon 12 degrees per seconds for an hour with ease, and unfortunately for him it had looked like he had mastered the task. The key word there being looked. It wasn't easy not using his hands to help control how the Hexagon turned but he'd somehow done it and when Naruto returned to check on him, he'd demanded they move to the next step. Much to Julian's regret, instead of telling him off and to keep practicing Naruto had indulged him.

Apparently the next step of training was picking up one of Scott Summer's prized sports cars and doing the same thing to it for an hour in a crowded garage, right after promising to pay for any damages. And by payment for any damages, Naruto specifically meant the money was coming out of Hellions own pocket. Julian had badly scratched 3 of these cars so far, two of them when Naruto ordered him to spin the the cars in the opposite direction.

"Wanna try Wolverine's Mustang next? You can have Cyclops's motor cycle orbit it like a planet while you rotate it." A feeling of pure dread washed over Julian Keller as Naruto asked this in a tone far too cheerfully for Hellion's liking. Julian was feeling too manly to cry anime tears but in that moment he truly wanted to. 'Maybe a little extra time practicing with 'The Hex' was a good idea after all.'

VvV

A loud but flat sounding smack echoed around the room, as if something solid and immutable crashed into something meaty, only for that particular meaty thing to turn out to be a lot more solid than it appeared. Considering this was the sound that came from Rockslide's attempt at a rocket punch crashing into Naruto face, you'd have expected to hear something more like the crunch of cartilage or the wet, meaty smack of something solid smacking flesh. Instead it all just sounded rather hollow and disappointing.

Disappointment that was echoed on Naruto face as he didn't even flinch from the attack, instead choosing to simply hold on to the right hand that had been fired at him as he mockingly asked. "I wonder what that was that supposed to be Pebble-face? It felt like a bundle of cotton or a feather was trying to tickle me." In response Rockslide fired his other hand, only for Naruto to catch it and throw it back at Rockslide with enough force to bowl over the rocky giant while saying. "I've already got a perfectly good hand, right here. I don't need you volunteering another Vaccarro."

Ducking as a metallic scythe encircled his necked and swept inwards, towards his jugular and carotid sheathe. It was an attempt by the Mutant named after a certain silvery liquid metal or the planet, to behead him him. Winking at Cessily as she was caught off guard by how quickly he ducked her sneak attack, Naruto shoulder checked her away from him hard.

As she stumbled far enough away to give him some breathing room, Chakra strings shot out from his left hand's finger tips and attached themselves to Rockslide right arm, he was still holding. With that done, he swung it around. Whipping it around above his head like a flail at speeds that were down right alarming, he smashed it into Mercury and splattered her head and fluid upper body across the floor before throwing the arm at Dust, at supersonic speeds.

Sooraya who was in a partially transformed state, had been sneaking up behind him, in his presumed blindspot. Unfortunately she was not even able to react to Naruto preemptive strike against her. The sheer impact of getting hit by Rockslide's missing limb, being so explosive it scattered her sand form all over the Danger Room and ironically created a dust cloud. It wouldn't take her too long to pull herself back together though.

Elixir burst through the impromptu smokescreen Naruto had created and tried to touch the scarlet haired shinobi. His intent to numb any area of Naruto's body he touched and either immobilize him or if possible put the ninja to sleep. Unfortunately Naruto without even look at him slapped aside his first few attempts while barking. "Try harder! And use every single bit of skin contact to completely numb that part of my body. Right now I'm not even noticing anything, despite the fact that I know you are trying."

"Your regeneration is bullshit." Elixir rebutted as he obeyed and tried pushing more of his power into putting Naruto to sleep. It still wasn't working but he got a nod of approval.

"That might be true, but you are the one not using enough of your power to put me down. Your goal is to put me to sleep with a touch. Speaking of power." Naruto half turned to his left and lashed out with a kick, his foot connecting with the metallic gauntlets of Noriko Ashida in loud clang, as she blocked his attack in the nick of time. She was still sent flying across the room for her troubles. "Nice block, Surge!"

The blue haired girl with electrical powers grinned at the compliment even as she hit the ground and skid across the floor on her back to a painful stop. That would leave a bruise tomorrow. Thankfully the Bluenette merely rubbed her back where she landed and got back up, saying. "You kick like mule sensei."

"I assure you, that that kick was harder than any mule on this planet could ever hope to manage. Its impressive that you could block it so well, even if I was holding back...a lot. You did well." He boasted with a grin before continuing. "You could work on the landing though, it was a bit poor for my taste! You really need to be back on your feet almost as soon as you hit the ground, cause if this was a real fight I would have attacked you several times while you were still rolling and skidding to a stop. I wonder if the rest of you are any better at recovering after being flung through the air by an enemy attack?"

"..."

At the groups collective silence and nervous glances at each other Naruto grinned and said. " You know what, lets find out. Brace yourselves, I am going attack all of you now, simultaneously"

Naruto was happy to see that Surge, Elixir, Dust, Mercury and Rockslide believed him when he said this and braced themselves as much as they could on short notice. Satisfied with this, he cut loose slightly. A shockwave of chakra shot out from him like a massive wall or better yet a wave, picking up each of the New X-men present and then tossing them across the room.

It was the gentlest method he could manage for this exercise without making it obvious he was babying them. In ANBU, trainees simply had to endure their trainer kicking them 40ft every couple of days to test this skill. Nevertheless, not one of them landed in a manner that could even remotely be called graceful, all of them were sprawled across the floor in awkward positions, groaning in pain.

"Tsk tsk!" Clicking his tongue in disappointment. Taking a step in the direction of Elixir, Naruto launching himself forward at supersonic velocities across the room and then stopping himself with his next step. There was no thunderous crack of the sound barrier being breached to indicate what he had just done, and the distance he had covered in that single step was far larger than should have been possible. It was an ANBU technique based on the idea of a sort of seal-less, smokeless Body Flicker technique.

The smoke that was generated whenever a ninja used the Body Flicker technique, didn't just cover the direction of his escape but filled the vacuum left by him departing at supersonic speeds, effectively canceling or at least dampening the sonic boom he would have created otherwise. The chakra in the technique also kept the smoke in place, rather than letting it trail after the ninja so as to hide the direction in which the ninja traveled. Other types of shunshin had there own gimmicks to them but that was one of the advantages of the smoke variant.

This movement technique did something similar, in that he filled the void left by the displaced air as he moved with pure chakra, at least until it was replaced moments later by slowly returning air. Naruto was using the high level ANBU technique to lazily get from where he previously stood across the room to Elixir in two steps.

Kneeling down to the groaning golden skinned mutant, Naruto simply tapped his shoulder. That single gesture carrying within it enough chakra to completely heal the boy of his scrapes and bruises, as well as give him a burst of energy. With that done he said to Elixir. "Heal your friends. Its good practice for you." Before Elixir could reply in anyway Naruto had stepped back to the middle of the room.

Naruto waited patiently as the Healer got to work healing everyone, it took a few a minutes. Elixir was an Omega class mutant so the rate at which he healed everyone was a little disappointing for Naruto. 'Perhaps I should ask Hank for any medical books so that he can cut down the time he's taking to get everyone back on there feet.'

Satisfied that everyone was sufficiently healed Naruto said. "So today's training was about mixing your powers in with your unarmed combat skills. You all took a few moments to think about how you would go about achieving this before the spar began and you delivered. I am particularly impressed with you Miss Qadir, going into an only partially sand-state and using your lower body mass to augment the size of your arms and produce massive fists, as well as maintain your mobility by flying. That was pretty impressive."

Sooraya preened at his praise making Naruto smile, he was quite fond of the Muslim girl. She had a gentler spirit than the rest, yet when It came down to doing what was necessary, she could be more vicious than any other student here. Laura didn't count, she was in class of her own.

Turning to Surge he said. "Miss Ashida, While your technique is the same as what you used against me in our Training exercise three days ago, you have polished it up significantly and augmented it further. The amount of electricity you can gather around your gauntlets is much greater and more efficient than before, plus you were able to do that while simultaneously increasing your speed. A devastating combo that is only further enhanced by your martial arts skills, well done. Miss Kincaid, you are just beginning to tap into your potential, of everyone here you showed the most diversity with your abilities and are the most suited to combining your abilities with close quarters combat. Nice attempt Mr. Foley, you are taking well to some of those basic Gentle Fist lessons i've been showing you. You will be quite devastating soon."

Turning to Rockslide he sighed and said. "Mr. Viccarro, your situation is the most complicated cause there isn't a whole lot you can improve with your power set, unless another facet of your mutation reveals itself. That said, I believe that its your martial arts skills and other skills that you might pick up, that will truly make you a powerhouse. As for your suggestion of exploding your feet off, let me and Beast work out if that is a possibility or advantages in anyway and then we will get back to you. For now lets call it a day."

VvV

Beast frowned as he looked at Naruto who had a rather complicated expression on his face as opposed to his usual calm, yet relaxed look. He seemed to be very deep in thought so Hank took a few minutes to simply observe his student. He had been tutoring Naruto for the past week and a half on everything related to Earth that wasn't classified, and boy could the kid pick up things scary fast.

Still after Naruto spent a whole minute without so much as twitching Hank got worried and broke the silence by asking. "Naruto, are you okay?"

The boy who had been lost in thought startled when he realized he was being addressed, before his mind caught up with the question and he responded. "Ah, yeah! I'm, I am fine."

Chuckling at his student Hank pulled an office chair out and patted it for Naruto sit down while saying. "Okay, you're a ninja who lies for a living and I've been around long enough to tell that that lie was just pitiful, even by my standards and I am not much of a liar. So, what's wrong with you my boy?"

Sighing as the man who had become something of a mentor to him lately leveled him with a kind but firm look that all but said 'Spill or I am not letting you out of this room', Naruto responded. "Its just something Julian brought up today."

Beast frowned as he thought of the boy in question. A good kid, by most mutant standards with a lot of potential. However when it came to Naruto or more specifically Naruto and Laura's weird relationship, the Hellion became – to put it bluntly – a pain in the ass. He didn't blame Julian for his feelings and Beast believed Youth's should fight for their love. However that didn't mean cause problems for everybody else, particularly the older folk. "What kind of trouble is that boy stirring up now. I've heard a bunch of unsettling rumors lately. Do you want me to go have a word with him?"

"No! No, thank you but I think I can handle myself sensei." Naruto quickly replied, using the tittle of sensei to show his respect for Hank.

Beast didn't think he deserved it, considering he'd only pointed Naruto in the right direction and gave him access to the internet and the main library and his personal library when he saw how enthusiastic Naruto was to learn new things. It wasn't anything special and Naruto himself was the remarkable one for being able to process so much information so quickly. Still, he humored the boy and treated the tittle as something of a nickname, it was growing on him.

"Hellion didn't say anything bad but rather forced me to realize something." Naruto continued speaking, his body language more honest and nervous than Hank had ever seen in the boy. Struggling with the words he wanted for a second, Naruto eventually just gave up and said. "And I don't know how to handle it."

The kid looked so vulnerable and open. Beast knew that seeing this side of Naruto was something of a privilege, Naruto would only ever allow himself to relax this much and show his insecurities in front of a handful of people. The redhead normally carried himself with a such confidence and surety, which when combined with his charisma, his good looks and the regal aura surrounding him made it easy to believe in him or look up to him.

Part of it had been his training as a Section-Commander in ANBU, his Nation's ninja black ops program but Beast believed their was more to it than just that. He heard stories from Naruto about how he had changed a ton of coldblooded killers with little more than a few honest words. The names Zabuza, Haku, Gaara, Pein and Obito came to mind. Of course he also claimed he hadn't been able to do anything like that since the 4th Shinobi World War, when Hinata died. After losing his previous lover, he'd lost a bit of that light that allowed him to do things like that. It was still their but as little more than a tiny flicker, instead of a roaring flame.

Dr. Henry McCoy felt humbled at the sheer amount of trust Naruto was showing him by simply letting his guard down around him like this. He knew for a fact that Naruto was specifically trained not to do so ever unless with family and close friends. It made him want to help the poor kid out, so much more than he was already doing.

Stroking his furry chin Beast replied. "I see. So what would be this problem you are having trouble handling. Could it have something to do with Laura Kinney?" He teased lightheartedly, even though Hank already knew that it could only be about Laura Kinney. It was after all one of the few things that Julian and Naruto had in common and made for some interesting drama.

"Tch! Don't you old people have something better to do than gossip about us youngsters." Naruto growled. The kid was extremely perceptive and had probably figured out a while back that all the Senior X-men knew about his and Laura's strange relationship. As well as the fact that they were literally gossiping with each other about the two in private.

Stroking his well groomed blue beard some more Beast pouted as he replied. "I am not that old and even scientists have to get out of the lab and talk to their friends every now and then. Besides, this not-quite love triangle you have going on, is about the worst kept secret on the school grounds."

"True." Naruto acknowledged with a chuckle before confessing. "Its about her but also not. I am falling for Laura and I haven't felt this way about anyone since Hinata died. However I am also leaving in a few weeks, and I am feeling hesitant to go. This has bothered me since Dr. Richards told me he could find my universe and safely get me home, however at the time I was sure I could handle it. I was positive I could put my responsibility to my home above my growing love for Earth and its wonders, above her. But now I am not so sure and its tearing me apart. Every day, I am here, with every single new thing I learn about Earth, I feel like I want to stay just a little bit longer and at the center of all of that is Laura."

"But you already knew this, what changed today?" Beast replied as he nodded his head in acknowledgment of the kids dilemma, even if he couldn't 100% relate. This was nothing new, Naruto had admitted to him his feelings for Laura days ago and was fully aware that these feelings would grow and clash with his desire to go home. The kid had amazing foresight like that, yet something had clearly changed.

"I realized, she is functionally immortal and I'm falling in love with her. I'm also pretty much immortal, yet I intend to leave her. However where I am going, there are only around ten beings that can be considered immortal and nine of them are genderless masses of sentient energy, while the final one is a guy. Julian made me realize that I don't want to be alone for eternity Sensei, and that Laura is like a miracle solution to my problem, yet I'm almost too willing to throw that miracle away. I swore an Oath to protect humanity, to be the protector of the Elemental Nations and to guard the world from all threats. I always keep my promises Sensei, but this, this is just unfair." Naruto said, his voice cracking as he openly showed his distress.

Beast finally understood what was tearing apart the boy. He was the type to keep his promises no matter what, and what else was an oath but a promise. He was willing to give his all to protect the Elemental Nations, to even lay down his own life to protect it, and because he had sworn to do it he felt he had no choice but to follow through with his oath no matter what. However, now that he had found Laura and was falling in love with her, feelings Hank felt she was more than happy to reciprocate, every thing was different.

It was true that Naruto's lifespan was indefinite, and that both he and Laura would live for far far longer than it would take for 99% of current Humanity and their grandchildren's, great grandchildren's grandchildren to physically turn to dust in their graves. It was equally true that the future was unknown and their was a real chance however small that if he left for his universe he might never be able to return, making his concerns legitimate. However that didn't change the fact that Naruto was currently ignoring one important but simple fact, and was perhaps acting his age cause that simple foolish oversight.

"Life often is unfair my boy!" Beast began in an almost grandfatherly manner, not that he was old enough to be a grandfather. "But before you give in to despair you foolish child, why don't you just ask her to go with you when you return home and see what she thinks." Life was full of surprises and Laura could easily say yes.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment as he realized he had never considered that, still he had reply on his tongue faster than Beast could say 'oh my stars and garters'. "Because I love my people, for all the horror and pain they have wrought in my life and the lives of many others, I love them. So as much as I am beginning to love this world, compared to the idea of never seeing them again. I don't think I could ever bear the thought of not ever seeing them again. Which is why, if Laura feels about Earth even a tenth the way I do about the Elemental Nations, then how could I ever ask her to give it all up for me. Besides, we aren't even dating or anything."

Naruto's reply while it made a ton of sense from his perspective did not take into account the feelings of the other party on the matter. It was almost amazing to Dr. Hank McCoy, that his student could be so wise one minute and such an idiot the next, and then every now and then – much like he was behaving right now – a bizarre mix of both. So Beast decided that instead of trying to lecture the stubborn boy on the matter, he would simply show him the truth or rather point him in him in the right direction, saying. "Then why don't you start there, ask her out on date. Life is unpredictable and for as many powers as you have and as wise as you can sometimes be, even you do not have all the answers."

"True, but I don't think you know what you are suggesting sensei." Naruto replied, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as if he knew something Hank didn't. "Ninja's have their own style when it comes to dating and I don't think you government will appreciate it."

Hank was relieved that Naruto hadn't just tossed the idea aside. It seemed his sway over the boy as his mentor was strong enough for him to take his words seriously. "Yet you and Laura just might."

VvV

Day 4 of Training

It was three days later that Naruto changed up their training a bit saying. "I wanna start by welcoming Lao, Pixie and Blindfold to this training session. Today is going to be different. One of the fundamental activities all ninja perform on a near daily basis is running. We run to entirely different countries at a full sprint, all the time, and while I will not require you to try and replicate this, I think your agility could use some serious improvement. More so for you mutants with alternate forms and none standard physiology. As such, X-23, start running as fast as you can around the property, push yourself as much as you can. On lap five we will join you."

"Acknowledged!" Was Laura's only response before she took of towards the borderline of the property at an impressive sprint and then started circling.

Turning back to the rest Naruto said. "Rockslide, Anole, Mercury and the Cuckoo's in diamond form, you will be Group A in this exercise. On X-23's fifth lap, you will join her and keep up with her. For every time X-23 laps you, I will add ten more laps around the property to your regimen as punishment and Wolverine will enforce it. The rest of you as Group B will fall in behind them and for every time a member of Group A lap's you, you'll get six extra laps but you wont be punished if Laura laps you."

"What? Why do we get ten and they get six." Anole protested looking extremely indignant at the suggestion.

Naruto gave him a bland look and replied. "Life isn't fair, and you lot in Group A can actually move faster than you think. Now get out there or I will make it eleven and seven, Laura's already on Lap number 3. Blindfold you are with me, I got something different for you."

With that dismissal the New X-men and their fellow students filed out towards where Logan was standing before joining Laura running. None of them had remembered to ask how many laps they were supposed to do. They would regret it, not that he intended for them to run for anything less than 3 hours even if they had bothered to ask. This was an endurance exercise after all and he expected them all to fall below his predictions.

VvV

"Yes. Thank you Naruto!"

They were in Beast's lab where Naruto had moved to a corner in which a lot of prototype weapons and idea's for the New X-men's gear where being developed by him, Beast and Forge. Well, it was more like he told the inventor and the super-genius what he wanted and then Forge and Beast developed it. Their were many different things ranging from bulletproof, stealth gear that mimicked the environment, contact lenses with micro-camera's and Heads-Up-Displays embedded in them and a Wing-suit system to more personalized gadgets for each team member.

Elixir was getting a PDW and a pistol that fired balls of electro-static gel like paintballs that broke upon skin contact and delivered 1200 - 250000 volts with an adjustable amperage. Surge's gloves were being modified so that they could turn off whenever needed and allow her to freely drain the electricity in the area. The ability to turn of the enemies power and cause black outs at will would be tactically invaluable during night ops or missions where it was necessary to short out the enemies power for one reason or another. Surge was also getting boots through which she could channel her electrical powers when she threw kicks. They were developing several prototypes for stun batons, energy swords and electrical staffs in case any of those weapons fit Prodigy's tastes and many more projects.

However that was not what Ruth Aldine was talking about or what he'd brought her here for. His interest lay solely on a sealing formula he had been working on for the last couple of days. Something he was suspecting the girl knew about through her abilities. Still indulging her asked. "Heh? I haven't done anything yet?"

"Please. You developed a way for me to see." She declared all but confirming his suspicions. However he wasn't finished with the seal, the final product was meant to give her a form of vision comparable to what he had with the Byakugan or what he'd heard from Wolverine, Daredevils Radio-vision was supposedly like. In its current form however, it was sadly lacking in every aspect and he suspected it would be fuzzy. Not bad for a few days of work but still a far cry from what he wanted. That said...

"Right, you can see the future and all that huh! Does it work? I've never tested the seal and I took you aside for that very purpose. I am sure we can rapidly improve it with you here." Naruto quickly questioned. If he could get her to use her precognition to point out flaws in comparison to his future work he could overcome weeks of work in mere minutes. He'd have to play it safe and double check everything but the fully functional artificial pathways of his right hand was proof of exactly what kind of advantages Blindfold's precognition brought to the table.

Had she not pointed out the mistake he had made in the Omni-matrix seal he would have had to spend weeks trying to figure it out, especially for such a minor error. Now however he could weave hand-seals again and access some of his more esoteric jutsu, things he hadn't had access to in 2 years.

"Thank you. In the future I can see with your seal, its very interesting. But..." She paused as if surprised by what she is seeing and saddened.

"But what?" Naruto asked both curious and worried.

"Yes. Naruto will be receiving a call from Dr. Richards soon. Naruto says he's going home and the seal needs Naruto to power it." Ruth declared in her own odd way.

"Oh, I think I will have a viable upgrade to replace the current seal by then." Naruto said with a grin. True he was going to leave, but by the time he did he fully intended to give this girl a set of eyes, one way or another. Turning to his friend he said. "Okay Ruthie. Use your telepathy to connect to my visual sense's and take a look at the current seal, then compare it to the one you see in the future and point out differences."

"No. Rodger that." She happily replied happily, not even bothered by how much her reply contradicted itself.

VvV

Day 6 of Training

"So what's got you down today Alleyne." David Alleyne aka Prodigy, the only former mutant still being trained like one, was scowling at the Video game console as he was gunned down in the online multiplayer mode by someone called FireShadow23 in Call of duty. That day's training, at least for the next three hours was playing video games to allegedly improve their threat recognition and response times. Most of the New X-men were also getting slaughtered online by the veteran Gamers out there. On a side note, Naruto was remarkably good at fighting and shooter video games.

Sighing David replied. "It's this whole training thing. It's not working for me. I mean why me? I don't have any special abilities and all the training I am getting, everyone else is also getting, on top of them having their mutant abilities. I am several steps behind at every stage."

Naruto frowned at the kid and asked. "So you are saying you feel its pointless without any powers of your own."

Frustrated with his powerlessness, David replied. "Yes."

He had been going at it as hard as the other students. Giving his all physically to every exercise but ever since Wolverine had included him in the whole program despite his lack of powers David had felt like it was all ultimately pointless for him. He no longer had his powers and anything he could do, everyone else would be able to do in addition to have their own unique powers. He had only hang on this long for the sake of his girlfriend, Noriko Ashida, but now felt justified if he quit Naruto's training. Feelings that Naruto apparently did not share.

"I am kind of disappointed in you, after hearing you say that." Naruto told him with a frown that managed to convey the feeling.

Caught off guard by the words David could only ask. "What?"

"I honestly thought you and I were kind of alike for a bit, but it seems I was mistaken." Naruto replied in a dismissive tone.

The way that it felt as if he was being looked down upon and called a failure, irked David and ignited something within him. Glaring at Naruto, David demanded. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Smirking back at him in a manner that could only be called "superior" Naruto replied. "Wasn't I clear? Then let me spell it out 'Pro-di-gy'. I was under the impression that not only where you one of the smartest students in this facility but that you weren't a quitter."

"Who are you calling a quitter?!" David roared, the desire to punch Naruto in the face felt overwhelming strong. So much so that David couldn't remember ever feeling like this in the past.

That feeling of something within him awakening began to grow and rage as Naruto mockingly replied. "You of course. I already knew that you powers gave you an easy way out by allowing you to learn everything quickly, but I didn't think you would give up just because you now had to learn things at a more human pace. Hell, I thought you were bright enough figure out a way to relearn all the skills you once knew. I figured that was the reason Logan had even bothered to invite you to these sessions, he seems to believe you can do it and I took one look at you and trusted his judgment. But after hearing the rubbish that just came spewing out of your mouth, I think Logan made a big mistake. How pathetic."

"I am not a quitter you redheaded bastard." David snapped as he gave a suddenly smirking Naruto a death-glare before adding. "And I know what you are trying to do, I know you are trying to force me to see these other potential paths but its not that easy. You're a genius! What would you know about the struggle of learning new things?"

Naruto instantly lost that superior smirk and mocking tone, only to be replaced by one of slight amusement and relief. These expressions however where genuine. Naruto didn't answer right away, a nostalgic look adorned his face as he thought of what words to use before finally saying. "I wasn't always called a genius, ya know. I had to learn so much through pure guts and determination, constantly making mistakes along the way and learning from them. Its just that the odds I faced were more stacked against me than anything you've faced here, and I had to learn quickly or die. Death is a hell of a motivator, Alleyne. If I didn't have regenerative powers, I would have shown you all my scars, from all of my many many mistakes. I am not perfect you know."

"You seem to enjoy pretending to be." David darkly commented.

Instead of getting annoyed like David expected the ninja smiled and said. "Well let's be honest here, who doesn't? Besides, you can't be a powerful ninja without developing a certain amount of ego, we are just better choosing when to show it, as well as use it in ways that benefit us and those around us. More importantly, as a leader, how can your followers have faith in you when you don't look like you have all the answers. This is doubly important when you come from a society like mine where the strongest ninja is the leader more often than not."

Deciding to be a bit more open with the doubts plaguing him since Naruto was being pretty open himself, David asked. "So you've probably seen a lot of powerful people then? You would know if I could be a worthwhile part of this team right?"

Snorting in amusement Naruto simply replied. "Kid, I was a Section-Commander of ANBU black ops, who were basically the equivalent of the US military's, Seal Team 6 or Delta Force. My home countries most powerful badasses were mine to command and I personally trained a bunch of them. So yeah, I am pretty sure you can be a worthwhile part of this team, if you commit to the training."

David felt giddy inside upon hearing this and looked a lot less stressed out than before. Finally he said. "Thank you, for believing in me."

"I didn't. Logan did, I trust him, he has good instincts." Naruto explained before adding. "Oh and, if you are interested in learning some stick fighting. I will be practicing in the Danger Room at midnight."

VvV

Day 8/Night

"You don't need to still do this you know. I can sleep just fine on my own." Cessily Kincaid whispered seemingly to Laura who was snuggled next her in her bed. The lights were off and Laura had her eyes closed but wasn't asleep, merely putting on show for the O.N.E Sentinels when they periodically scanned the mansion to make sure everyone was in their beds.

However Mercury wasn't talking to her but rather the third individual in the room. Sitting in the chair besides Cessily's bed completely invisible to any form of scanning O.N.E currently had access to, was Naruto Uzumaki or rather a clone of Naruto Uzumaki.

"You are not getting rid of me that easily. Especially when you secretly want me right here." Naruto joked. The original Naruto had sent a clone because the X-gene itself in the real Naruto could be tracked somewhat, which would lead to O.N.E wondering what a teenage male mutant was doing in a girls room each and every night, or more importantly why there were two of him if a visual search brought up the decoy clone he would've left in his room.

This way, even with one of them acting the part of the Invisible Man, Cessily got to sleep with the comfort of knowing that her friends were there and would protect her from anything. Including the nightmares she got on daily basis.

Whenever she had nightmares of the Facility, Laura's job was to simply hug her and not let go while the clone connected his chakra to her and not quite entered her dream but helped to make it better. His spiritual chakra had a warmth to it that was completely at odds with the nightmares, especially when said nightmare suddenly became filled with feelings of comfort, love, joy and hope. It made her dreams of her traumatic experiences at the Facility a lot more bearable. Combined with the physical comfort of being hugged by Laura, Mercury found that she could sleep all the way through to the morning.

The two had yet to talk about their own experience in the Facility with her, nor did they ask about it or judge her for what she went through being so much less than the weeks and years they had had to endure. They simply gave her looks of understanding, showed her patience and made her feel welcome around them. When she was ready to speak about what had happened, they would be there to listen but until then the two assassins she called friends would simply be there for her.

VvV

Day 10/Night

"So are we going to talk? You wanted to talk over a week ago, yet have been avoiding me like the plague since day one of training." Laura pointed out.

Julian had indeed been avoiding Laura since that day with Naruto. He had needed time to sort out his feelings and thoughts in regards to Laura and his love life in general. Naruto had opened his eyes to something he had never ever considered and probably never should have had to consider at such a young age. The fragility and shortness of human life.

Sighing Julian began. "I talked to Naruto on day 1, he was surprised I showed up for training, after all we don't exactly like each other. It felt like the hardest thing I've ever had to do but it opened my eyes to some things I was ignorant about before."

"What did you talk about?" Laura asked curiosity brimming in her eyes. Even though they both knew that Laura was aware that a conversation between them had taken place, Naruto had apparently been tight lipped even to her about that conversation, even to her.

"You of course." He replied bluntly. When she looked at him questioningly Julian continued. "I don't like him, he goes around grinning like nothing in the world can hurt him, he pretends to know everything, he's too confident in his power and looks down on me and some of the others like we are just children. However I've also never tried to understand him, that day he showed me that there is more to him than that stupid smirk and his pretty-boy looks. He looks around at the world in a way that is down right abnormal, someone our age should never have to see the world like that. Yet he does, and so do you."

"Julian?" Laura sounded concerned...no alarmed as she quietly said his name.

"Let me say this before I change my mind." Julian said while raising his hand to stop her from interrupting. "I get why you like him Laura, I do. He is patient where I am not, smarter and more experienced than any of us, adequate in the looks department and kind. Not to mention that he actually gets you."

"..." Laura respectfully remained silent so he could air his thoughts and opinions.

Julian began pacing back forth as he continued. "The first time I saw you shoot someone in cold blood, it was horrific and terrifying to witness. I still do not agree with many of the actions you took that night, but just like with Naruto I judged you and didn't try to understand you back then. It was only later that night when I came across Mercury who was little more than a puddle at the time, moaning in agonizing pain, unable to even take human shape that I began to understand. She was there for one night but you had endured that hell for years, yet I've never heard you even complain about that injustice. And I don't even know what Naruto's been through to make him the way he is, but whenever he looks at you, I can see it as plain as day. He understands you in a way I could never hope to, and god just saying that hurts, but its the truth."

Laura actually winced at him as he admitted that. A part of him, his ego, raged at the indignity of having to admit this to a girl he liked. The rest of him felt relief, ever since Naruto had stepped into Laura's life, she had laughed more, smiled more, become more expressive and overall more human than she had ever been, and she hadn't even noticed this. Yet he had, which was why had to do this.

"What are you saying Julian?" Laura wasn't even trying to hide her alarm any more

Swallowing his pride Julian replied. "That I'm sorry for the way i've treated you and that I want to go back to just being your friend."

"You've never stopped being my friend Julian. You merely started acting like the idiot you were when I first met you." She once again bluntly pointed out.

Nodding in acknowledgment of his faults he replied. "That's fair, but that's not the only thing I am here to say."

"Julian?" She looked at him with a look that said 'whatever you are planning to do, you don't have to do', yet he knew full well that he did. If he ever truly care about her then he would see this through.

"I know you like him Laura, and that he likes you. I know he's good for you and you've been happier in the last couple of days around him than I have ever seen you. I know that I can only every care about you for the length of a mortal life, while he literally can love you for all eternity. And I know that if you don't snatch him up soon, you might not get your chance for a while." He finished.

"What do you mean?" Clearly that had gotten her attention more than anything else he said.

"This! The way things currently are, it wont last Laura. Naruto wants to return to his home dimension, he made that very clear. However he is also reluctant to do so because he likes you. That said, I still think regardless of his feelings for you he will still leave and I also think he wont ask you out. I want you to be happy and I would rather not make you wait a century before you get that chance, so you need to make him yours now." Hellion explained.

"Why would I have to wait wait a century." She asked puzzled by the question despite feeling happy that Julian was going back to being the person she enjoyed calling her friend, instead of the hostile, edgy, whiner he'd become so recently.

"Its just a guess based on snippets of information I have gathered from all over but Naruto wishes to return to protect his world as a duty, and on top of that he is immortal. However I think this duty is to the people currently living their and not for all eternity. I think he will probably wait for everyone to which he is bound by duty to die before returning here for you. That might take a century, he let it slip earlier." That was a bold faced lie, Emma Frost had been the one to let it slip but Laura was so invested that she forgot to use her multitude of enhanced senses to pick apart Julian for lies.

In stead she asked. "He would come back for me?"

Julian shrugged and replied. "Well, I am not sure what else and I quote "When you and everyone else is dead of old age and she is in mourning, isn't another immortal the only person capable of comforting her. That is assuming I can find my way back here" end quote, is supposed to mean. We were talking about immortality by the way."

"He really thinks of me like that." Laura sounded almost lost in thought as she whispered this.

"Probably. But I think you should snag him soon though. Word has it that he's been growing very close to Psylocke lately and I don't want to see you lose to Ms. Braddock." He replied.

Laura frowned before rounding on him asking in an accusing tone. "Why are you pushing for me to go after him?"

Unfortunately it seemed that he had pushed too hard and she had noticed. Sighing Julian Keller said to Laura Kinney. "Because Naruto isn't the only one who loves you. He's just capable of loving you for longer. Have a good night Laura."

With that he walked off to his room, on the way he heard whispered into his mind. 'I'm so proud of you Julian. Will you be alright?'

'Not for a while, but this isn't about me. Its about what's good for her.' He thought back to his Mentor Emma Frost. He knew she hadn't been listening in but then she was the one he had gone to for advice with his feelings and encouraged him to do this. Sighing he whispered. "Maybe I can try calling Sophia again."

VvV

Day 12/Night

"Nice job Betsy." Naruto said after he smacked away a Giant Shuriken she had curved back towards him. He had dodged the original Shuriken attack and the second one that had been hidden in its shadow thanks to Laura's growing skills but hen Betsy used her telekinesis to redirect it. Turning to Laura, who had thrown both giant shuriken using the Shadow Shuriken technique he added. "You too Laura. You are really getting good at shurikenjutsu."

Both girls grinned at his praise puffing out their chests in pride, a motion that Naruto followed with his eyes for half a second before refocusing on what mattered. The two girls were growing in skill at exponential rate due to their secret training sessions with him every night. However Naruto couldn't help but sense an uneasy tension between them, nothing major, but something that was definitely present.

He chalked it up to some kind of rivalry like he and Sasuke used to have. It was pretty evident that they were both throwing themselves into learning the various technique's he threw their way. He also wasn't oblivious to the fact that they were pretty competitive with one another, always trying to one up each other in everything. Even more so nowadays.

Ever since Naruto had fought the New X-men 15 days ago, Elizabeth Braddock and Laura Kinney had been gathering with him from 2100 hrs to 2300 hrs every day to train. Together the trio sparred, compared notes and ideologies behind the different schools of thought their assassination techniques where based on and generally helped each other get better at what ever they were doing.

Naruto was mostly the one dishing out advise and technique's, but he was also learning things from Psylocke and X-23 that he had never learned or could not learn back in the Elemental Nations. Things like gun safety and firearm usage for example, both ladies where quite capable with using firearms but simply preferred their natural powers. That said, Laura was the superior marksman of the two. All three of them were assassins but only Laura was trained to be an expert sharpshooter amongst them.

Where she got over a hundred firearms of differing types and their requisite ammunition in a single night was anyone's guess, but then she had near Jounin level's of stealth. She was also very skilled at creating IED's and defusing any kind of bomb you could care to name all the way up to Nuke's.

Psylocke on the other hand was good at chemistry and was teaching him all about poisons and the dangers of chemical warfare. Naruto knew a bit more of these things, even back in the Elemental Nations they had them, however he had personally never really delved into them. That said, like with most other things on Earth, there was far greater abundance of everything that could be found in Elemental Nations, this included types of poisons. He didn't even want to think of something as horrifying as viral or biological warfare.

Betsy was also good for sharpening his skills with a Katana, say what you want about her dressing but she had beautiful swordsmanship. Naruto was decently skilled with any kind of bladed weapon including katana's, it was a requirement for every ANBU operative, however he personally favored the Short Staff as his weapon of choice.

Laura had taken to combining the Capoeira and Teakkyeon martial arts styles and then incorporating them into her own fighting style with her claws. Naruto had grown fond of Wing Chun, Taekwondo, and Tai Chi. Elizabeth mixed the practicality of Krav Maga, with a modern form of Pankration and Jujitsu. All in all they were each developing their own potent fighting styles.

Laura's enhanced her natural fighting style to turn her into a whirlwind of razor sharp blades, with high maneuverability. Betsy's style was for when she didn't have a katana, knife or access to her powers. It was brutal, efficient and got the job done quickly. Naruto style was mostly reactionary, with his speed giving him a devastating advantage when it came to countering enemy attacks. He could see what his opponent did and pick out an appropriate counter.

The whole purpose of these daily meetings was to improve their abilities as fighters, survivors and most importantly killers. Here their was no need to pretend to be things that they were not. Each of the Trio knew they were killers, and when this group was formed with Scott Summer's permission, it was with the knowledge that Betsy and Laura would likely need to do so again. These were sessions in which they trained to keep their skills sharp, in case they ever needed to kill again. With the decimation of mutant kind the world had a lot of people and things that needed killing to protect what was left of them.

VvV

"He sure looks delicious like that doesn't he." Elizabeth Braddock whispered to Laura Kinney as the younger mutant helped her through a series of cool down stretches after their last activity ended. Her bruises and welts had thankfully been healed by Naruto but her hair and clothes were still a mess from that little spar. Laura didn't need any stretches or healing for any marks left over from their spars, the benefits of regenerative healing factor. That said, even X-23 was left in awe of the beating Naruto could dish out when he took things seriously. Not that that had anything to do with the current situation.

Naruto was a little ways off to the side, covered in seals that restricted movement by massively increasing atmospheric pressure to consistency of swamp mud in a localized area around his body. He was busy performing one handed upside down push ups, while balancing two small boulders at the base of each of his feet. The fact that he was naked from the waist up and glistening due a light sheen sweat that had formed while he worked his way through the exercise, no doubt fueled Psylocke's comment.

"..." Laura did not reply but her eyes narrowed at Psylocke who smirked back at her. This was a strange turn of events in Psylocke and Laura's relationship. Laura admired Psylocke, looking up to her more than any other X-man other than Logan. The two got along quite well and Betsy would often act as a sort of mentor figure to Laura, until quite recently. Now they simply got along in every matter except when it came to Naruto.

Whenever Naruto's attention was on the line, the mostly quiet and introverted Laura Kinney became a ferocious dragon and tried everything in her power to win Naruto's approval by outdoing Psylocke. Betsy had yet to really let Laura succeed, mostly due to her greater experience and being better at seduction, but damn if Laura didn't make her work for it.

She wasn't really trying to win Naruto's attention herself, or at least that had originally been the case, until 2 days ago when Laura came to training with a dangerous fire in her eyes. Rather this unspoken competition for Naruto's attention had been the result of Betsy not liking the fact that Laura was trying One-up her at every turn, especially since Laura was so much younger than her. Thus Betsy, escalated things and tried to capture Naruto's attention in more and more varied ways, with Laura following suit.

Soon they were both pouring their hearts and souls into everything Naruto taught them, as well as trying to teach him stuff that he simply didn't know in hopes of impressing him. Somewhere along the line something had changed for Elizabeth Braddock and it worried her that she felt jealous of Laura.

"You like him. You know that, he knows that and everybody else does too. It makes sense, what girl in their right mind wouldn't want a piece of that magnificent arse!" She said jokingly but with a hint of longing. "So the real question is why you haven't gone after him yet?" She asked, before adding. "Oh, and don't worry about him overhearing. I've put up a telekinetic field that is keeping all the sound in."

With a relieved look Laura replied accusingly. "You like him too. Why haven't you gone after him?"

Chuckling as her own question was more or less thrown back at her, Betsy repeated. "Why haven't I gone after him indeed?"

Glaring at Psylocke Laura bluntly said. "I can tell he arouses you and I can see the lust in your eyes, even though you try to hide it at times."

"While I wouldn't have put it like that, I do find that boy to be incredibly attractive. However it wasn't always this way, in fact its only been in the past two weeks that I've even considered him in any romantic light, and the last couple days that I've even thought of him as worth pursuing. Before that he was just another person passing through, someone who wasn't even staying for long. But then one day it was like he was just there all of a sudden, and then during dinner he started flirting with me and I thought to myself, what's really stopping me from going after him. He's not a student and he's legally an adult where he comes from and here. We are also both ninja's, I'm also not exactly ugly or he wouldn't have bothered undressing me with his eyes...probably." Psylocke spoke.

Initially Naruto had just been a person she had been asked by Cyclops to babysit for a while but that had all changed over the last two weeks. Then two days ago when Laura came in and started pinning for Naruto's attention, she felt something deep and primordial within her say 'I want that too', before she knew it she was competing with a teenager.

"Yet you only started trying to fully capture his attention after I started." Laura icily accused.

It was true and Betsy would not deny, Naruto had been attractive and charming the whole time she had met him. Now though, he was down right sexy and she felt a ridiculous amount of attraction to him. If not for the fact that she had had Emma confirm she was not under the influence of another telepath, she would've been extremely worried.

These feelings were definitely hers but they also felt like they had developed too quickly. "Yeah, that was never meant to escalate to this point. To be honest, I feel confused about my feelings for him. I know I like Naruto as person and as man, but I also feel as if I can't go after him right now."

"Why?" Laura asked as she looked at Betsy in confusion. They had clearly become rivals but Elizabeth was also saying she couldn't pursue Naruto for some reason.

"I feel like if I did so right now I would be trampling all over something special." Her eyes briefly flickered between Laura and Naruto who was still working out before she chuckled and said. "You should ask him out?"

Laura confidence and cold apathy evaporated in the face of that response. A blush adorned her face as she whispered. "W-what?"

Betsy grinned like the cat that ate canary, enjoying how nervous she could make Laura as she said. "Go ahead before I get over my hesitation and ask him myself. He looks like a fun tumble in the in the sack."

Laura's face took on a complicated expression upon hearing that comment before she replied. "Sex is not as important to me. I, ah...I just don't want to lose him to any one."

Elizabeth frowned at the sincerity in Laura's voice. The young clone of Wolverine was, well it was love but Laura was on the right path to truly falling in love with Naruto. Psylocke, they had a friendship that was deepening day by day and lust. Lots and lots of lustful feelings towards one another that they merely controlled with an iron will. They were a long way from anything like love, which was why she couldn't bring herself to intrude in this budding romance between her fellow assassins.

"That's not something I believe you can loose sister." Betsy said to which Laura looked up in confusion and she replied. "I believe, that Naruto is just as emotionally invested in you as you are in him. But that doesn't mean I am giving up on him, I am just willing to stand aside for now."

With that they went back to stretching and watching Naruto work out in silence. The Ninja in question never even fathoming that the competitiveness of the last few days had been about him or that the girls were just from talking about him. Laura smiled slightly at the side of Naruto before saying. "You're right, he does have a magnificent arse."

VvV

Day 14: Not training!

"So what's this about!" Naruto asked the gathered New X-men and all the other students that had been recruited to be part of the reserve team. He already had an inkling of suspicion on why they had specifically called him out to this isolated boathouse on the shore Breakstone lake, where the X-men couldn't listen in. It was something he had been expecting for a while and was surprised they had persevered this long.

"We're done." Surge announced as she stood before the group, clearly acting as their spokesperson and designated leader. Even so, Naruto could feel great reluctance coming from her and several of the kids.

"Done?" Naruto asked in a low dangerous tone, with a raised eyebrow. He already knew that they meant they were quitting and he had been expecting this, but a performance needed to be put on so as not give himself away. Not to mention he found the way every single student in the boathouse simultaneously stepped back from him upon hearing his tone, to be amusing. It didn't show on his face or in his body language though.

Sooraya gathering her courage – Allah bless her soul – spoke up saying. "With all due respect Naruto, while you've helped us a lot and shown us all kinds of valuable things that will allow us to better control our powers, we feel that we did not come here for this."

Cocking his head sideways before opening his left hand and sweeping it in front of him as he asked. "And what do you mean by, this?"

Not one to mince words Surge replied. "She means these stupid, random exercises you keep shoving down our throats each and every day sensei. The only consistent things you have had us do in the past two weeks is run for hours on end and spar with you, which is basically your excuse to kick our asses. The rest of the time you have us do random and increasingly different things each day. None of it is ever related to each other or consistent, except for the running and sparring. As our teacher you don't seem to have any grand plan behind this training so we've decided collectively that we are done with this training, at least until you give us something more thought and useful than this. We came here to learn and to become X-men, but we are not even sure what we are learning anymore and the X-men have taken a back seat, leaving you in charge."

"I see." Naruto said as he nodded in a sagely manner, despite Surge's conflicted feelings on the matter she felt a lot of passion and frustration on this issue. "So judging by that passionate speach you are all thinking that the different random tasks I've been giving you were pointless? And dished out without much thought right?"

Everyone looked around at each other in a way that even if he couldn't sense their emotions, Naruto would have been able to tell that not all of them believed this. Naruto already knew that that Laura unquestionably believed in him, she was awesome like that. Keller was also surprisingly quiet but then he was improving the fastest out of everyone. Foley also looked like he wanted to protest but also was too loyal to his team leader to do so. Blindfold simply wasn't regarded in high opinion even if she wanted to protest, David Alleyn also didn't agree with this.

The rest were equally divided. Some disagreed with his teaching methods but believed he could do better and wanted to continue once he had a better plan. Others just felt it was all pointless and wanted to quit. However, no one voiced their opinion, everyone just waited for someone else to take the spotlight and speak up for them all. In the end it was Megan Gwynn of all people who gathered the confidence to simply reply to his face. "Yes."

The silence that followed was tense and everyone in the room got the chills as they all felt as if something bad was about to happen. Suddenly, Naruto chuckled completely subverting those expectations and blowing away all the tension as he said. "Hmmm, I didn't expect you lot to take this damn long to call me out on this issue."

"So it was all pointless!" Anole actually growled at him.

But Naruto shook his head, mirth clearly visible in his eyes as he replied. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I mean, there was a method to all that madness, I just chose to teach it to you in a way you didn't understand. I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it all out, some of you were even beginning to do so."

"Enough with the cryptic BS sensei. What the hell are you talking about?" Surge demanded. Bling was nodding right behind her.

Sighing at the outburst he muttered something about 'impatient little brats', Naruto said. "I'm talking about your bodies. If I told you up front what I was going to do to you, you would've hesitated and tried to think things through. You'd weigh the pros and the cons before coming to the conclusion that the pros outweigh the cons by a lot, and then you would do what I wanted anyway. I simply chose to skip all that nonsense and use all of that time to improve your abilities. For example, I made you run hard enough that those of you without unique physiology tore apart your own ligaments, then I healed Elixir and had him in turn heal each of you. In the process he began familiarizing himself with your unique bodies and how best to treat you in an emergency, increasing his usefulness as a battlefield medic."

Everyone was shocked into silence by this explanation, never having expected that kind of reasoning to be behind why Elixir was always the one healing them when Naruto could heal people as well. Especially when the primary purpose was for Josh was to learn how their bodies functioned rather than to actually heal them.

Naruto however wasn't done, not by a long shot. Pointing at Laura he said. "I had X-23 set a grueling pace as she sprinted around the property and gave Rockslide, Anole, Mercury and the Cuckoo's an extra 10 laps for every time Laura lapped them, which was a lot in the early days. It eventually made you desperate enough to let go of those self imposed limitations you bore in your mind on exactly how fast or slow you can move. Five of you do not even have ligaments and muscles to tear and your bodies are far too durable to damage by most conventional means, so running well past the human limit should easily be achievable if you stopped thinking you were limited to that silly human speed limit. Anole on the hand regenerates tougher and stronger each time he is injured and simply grew faster and stronger."

"..."

No one said a word, yet Naruto still had more to say. "As for the rest of you, this period was simply a form of intensive fitness training to get you into proper shape for what comes next. To that end Beast has been adding a special nutrient cocktail to your food to not only give your bodies everything they need to grow, but to slightly speed up the physical development of all the muscles you've been working out so much. How the hell do you think you got those ripped six packs in such a short time frame huh?"

They had each noted that they were more physically toned than before. Every major muscle group had significantly gained in mass and strength over the past two weeks as they trained with Naruto. And while the students had always trained and thus always looked fit, now they looked like professional athletes in the junior Olympics.

"And its not like I haven't taught you things directly. Julian doesn't really need his hands to lift things telekinetically anymore, Josh can knock a fully grown man out with a touch and has been learning to shoot, David is quickly reacquiring many of his previous skills and couple of new ones, Laura can throw stars like a ninja from my homeland, even Ruth can now participate cause she can see things, in her own special way." Naruto pointed out.

Ruth Aldine was at the bottom of the class, but that was because he hadn't gotten the seal fully functional until a few days ago. For now it was tethered to his chakra and it didn't function by translating visible light into electrical signals for her to see, so watching TV's and screens just didn't work. Rather it gave her a form of visual echo-location, allowing her to see her entire surrounding for 30 meters in all directions within her own mind. That said, she was putting everything into catching up with the rest.

"Yeah but you took all of them aside and taught them those things, that's special treatment. The rest of us barely got an upgrade in our skill-sets compared to that." Megan chimed.

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears." Was Naruto's sagely response.

"You're quoting Lion King?" Bling asked in disbelief.

"Its appropriate for the situation." Naruto said with a grin before adding seriously. "Look, I don't like Julian nearly enough to show him any kind of special treatment, but he wants to get stronger and to learn in a way that you simply don't. Of everyone here he had the most drive to learn, and it would be disrespectful of me to ignore such commitment, thus I have to do my best to make him as strong as I possibly for as long as he maintains that drive and work ethic. It's the same for the others, I've given them the appropriate treatment based on their dedication, not special treatment. They were simply ready to learn more from me and when you are ready, I will teach you something special in the same way."

"So you're basically saying they are better than us." Anole grumbled.

Naruto shook his head and replied. "I'm saying that they are more willing than you to learn from me at the moment, we wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case. They've found a reason to gain true strength and they put their trust in me and my random pointless tasks to show them the way. They do not complain no matter how hard I drive them or stupid the task is and then they grasped what I have to offer with both hands. You on the other hand, I kept it nice and simple for you. I've given you pointers and taught some basic stuff, but I've also kept you fighting me while trying out new things. Because of this, you've haven't fought each other since before I got here so you've never noticed the difference in your current abilities compared to your past abilities. Which is why we are gathered here to debate my capabilities as a teacher. Isn't it?"

"I...you must be disappointed in us." Surge said as any other words failed the Japanese girl after hearing Naruto's explanation. She had initially started out the most respectful of all his students but she was also Julian's rival and seeing him excel under Naruto's tutelage in what she had misinterpreted as special treatment had grated on her nerves and brought out a distrust in his abilities. Otherwise as the leader of the New X-men, she would have shut this whole meeting down before it even started.

Learning the truth about what Naruto was doing left her feeling a great amount of shame for her recent attitude towards Naruto and allowing things to come this far. Shame that Naruto could sense with his empathy and decided to dispel right away before it became problematic.

"Not at all." Naruto replied, and at their looks of disbelief he elaborated. "I am a Commander in a military organization back home. Most of the people who sign up to be in the military know what they are getting into and have a goal they are committed to achieving. But there are always those who don't. In which case its simply standard operating procedure that before a recruit can truly begin their training, they must find something to truly drive them. Until then our expectations as Officers is that that they will become uncooperative. Not that this is the military or anything but you are training to become X-men."

"What are you saying exactly?" Elixir asked.

"That this was all part of the plan. And now that you know there is a bigger plan in play that goes way above your head, yet is doing things specifically for your benefit, you now need to ask yourselves something." Naruto said with a solemn look before continuing. "Will you trust in your teachers to know what they are doing and help shape you into the heroes and warriors that can and will stand up to the enemies of mutant-kind. Or do you want to take it easy and be the protected. Neither choice is wrong, and no one has the right to pass judgment on you, if you choose to take the less bitter path. Being a warrior and hero is the same as choosing to constantly face hardship and pain, make no mistake about that! I would even venture to say that only a fool would take this path."

"Then by your own words you must be a fool." Rockslide interjected, making Naruto smile instead of get angry as everyone expected.

"I'm probably the biggest one you will ever meet." Naruto then proceeded to walk towards the exit only stopping in the door way to say. "Make your choice guys, training will resume tomorrow and anyone who shows up better be ready, I'll be bringing the thunder and lightning this time. Because going forward from tomorrow, you are all trainees and not recruits."

VvV

Day 15: New X-men Trainees!

Naruto gave everyone gathered a satisfied look as he assessed them all. All the New X-men where present, along with the Stepford Cuckoo's, Prodigy, Loa, Anole, Armor and Blindfold. They where all that remained of what had been the entire student body the previous day, save those in the special requirements classes of course.

Those who had walked away were not to be looked down upon for their choice. They were either just not suited for the life of a warrior or had things they needed to do before they were willing to commit to it. They were also normal teenagers in Naruto's opinion. However those that were currently present had committed to training under him and were now his to mold into whatever shape he wished.

If they suffered a bit and they no doubt would, both psychological and physically, it was a small price to pay for the power, skill and knowledge he would impart on them. By the time he was done, he would grant them a skill-set that would make the Purifiers think twice about coming after them again.

"As you can see, many of you classmates chose not to return for more lessons. They are not to be judged for that, from a certain point of view, it could even be called the smarter choice. However you've chosen to endure through this time refinement, chosen to put up with whatever training and torment I throw you way, chosen to willingly walk the path of the warrior and hero. And as I told you yesterday, its a path chock full of hardships and pain. That said, its also a path of nobility and honor, and that is something that is absolutely priceless, something that you will carry within you for the rest of the days of your life. Now let's get down to the real training." Naruto said noting how everyone stood just a bit straighter at his words.

From the very beginning this was what he was looking for and everything he had done up to this point was to weed out the recruits from the trainees. He wouldn't go easy on these guys cause this was now a path they had chosen for themselves and they had goals they wanted to achieve and reasons for putting themselves through this. Naruto respected that and would do his best to help them.

Walking towards one side of the room, Naruto grabbed a mop that was in a bucket of white paint and then crossed to the other side of the room, all the while drawing a line on the floor with the mop. It was an incredibly straight line for such an unwieldy instrument yet he managed all the same, making it look easy while he was at it.

Finally coming to a stop Naruto said. "Now, today's exercise will be different from the usual stuff we do. I think you are physically fit enough to move on from the basics to more specialized technique's, and I am teaching most of you something special anyway. First things first though, I want you all to do something for me."

"What's that?" Surge asked on behalf of everyone.

"Step up to the line i've just drawn, side by side, and when you are all in one line, then I want you to walk to the other side of the room and touch that wall." Naruto said with a smirk as pointed at the far wall of the room, enjoying their gawking expressions for a moment before saying. "Yes, I know what I just said sounds ridiculous but trust me, this wont be as easy as it seems. Prove to me your determination by touching that wall. You've all shown me you have committed to this path in some way or another but this test will prove that you have the Iron will to see your convictions through."

"Just touching the wall." Loa asked feeling unsure of herself.

Naruto nodded and replied. "Yes. Fainting while attempt to reach that wall is also acceptable. If the spirit is willing but the body is weak, I will accept that, it basically means I will need to put you through a bit more physical and psychological conditioning. What I wont accept is outright quitting."

Everyone looked at each other as they stood across from each other in one line before Surge as their leader took the first step and the rest of the mutants followed suit, towards the wall. Ahead of the group by two steps, Surge only managed to take her seventh steps when it hit them. The omnipresent like feeling of Naruto's killing intent came crashing down on them like a wet and heavy blanket as he manifested his will to kill.

Breath fled their lungs, every instinct in their bodies froze up in terror and their knees began to quake as they felt the shadow of the Reaper pressing up against their bodies. To call what they all felt complete and utter terror would've been insulting to the very concept of terror, this was several tiers above that. Even so, somehow none of them had passed out...yet. Something that made Naruto smile.

Even so Loa was breathing hard as sweat gathered across her brow, Anole was swaying dizzily, Blindfold had fallen to her knees but continued to crawl forward. Hellion was using his telekinesis to keep himself moving but his face was set in a scowl of concentration, even Rockslide the supposed sturdiest of the group looked like he was one poke away from tipping over. In fact the only person who looked like they had a hope of making it to the far end was Surge whose face all but screamed how determined she was to succeed. Though Naruto didn't miss how her eyes every now and then wondered over to Prodigy in concern.

"Endure it!" His bellow was loud enough that they felt it as much as heard it. "You proclaim yourselves future X-men, you call yourselves heroes, you declare yourselves the defenders of the weak and the innocent. Well my dear trainees, the X-man are strong."

It was simple thing to say yet an absolute truth. The X-men were strong, and those words got everyone despite their condition to get their shit together and listen to what he was saying. Mercury whose cohesiveness was deteriorating pulled herself together enough to face him. Blindfold using the seal he had developed looked in his direction. The Stepford Cuckoo's were physically shivering seeing as he blasted them with a much more concentrated doze of killing intent due to their psychic abilities giving them a bit of defense, but they still turned to him along with everyone else in the room.

"In the face of a mental domination by an outside factor, they do not give up, cause their will is tougher than diamonds. In the face of unyielding physical force, they do not give up even when their bodies break, cause the lives of others depend on it. In the face of overwhelming odds, when the darkness encroaches on their lives and the future is at its bleakest, they do not give up, cause they are the embodiment of a dream and hope that all mutants and humans can look towards as a guiding light. And those X-men you admire so much have chosen you to be the New X-men, but the question remains, are you worthy? If you are keep going, endure it, prove it, touch that damn wall even if it kills you." Naruto yelled, his charisma stirring up a fire in each of the New X-men and giving them the determination to keep going.

One by one they rose back to their feet or like Blindfold simply crawled forward. Their determination shining in their eyes as they pushed through psychological attack even if he continually ramped up the killing intent with each step they made. 'Good, keep going and take your first baby steps into the path of the warrior. It will never be easy but it might worth it in the end.'

VvV

Day 16!

"He's here." Betsy whispered, not that anyone needed to hear her say this to know it. They could all sense his presence nearby in one form or another. Naruto was zigzagging back and forth, too fast for Wolverine's sense lockdown or Nightcrawler to pinpoint from the trees where he had been scouting from. However his general direction had been conveyed through hand signals.

In response to his speed the X-men sans Nightcrawler huddled together, back to back as one organism, trusting each other to react to the threat of the super fast, super strong ninja. They all knew what Naruto could do, and even if he was limiting himself to his physically augmenting abilities like speed and strength, as well as his usage of ninja tools for this training exercise, he was very formidable opponent. They all thought they were ready for him, they were far from it.

The sound of wood creaking echoed through the small woodland bordering the Xavier Institute property, before turning into a loud groan and then a mighty roar as an old pine tree fell over. It was the first and only warning the X-men got, that things where about to go very badly for them. No one knew exactly why the tree had suddenly fallen over, they only suspected it had something to do with Naruto. Paranoia that was proven correct when just as the tree was about to hit the ground it stopped in the air, remaining perfectly horizontal above the ground.

Psylocke and the rest of the X-men all noticed a figure standing right next to the tree, three hundred meters away, it was Naruto. He had one hand on the trunk and was holding the whole tree horizontally off the ground. Betsy reacted first reaching out with her telekinesis to grab Naruto and hold him in place long enough for the other X-men to finish off. Unfortunately the tree trunk had been swung around to face their group and she had a bad feeling about it.

Betsy's danger senses flared to life and she abandoned her attack and blindly redirected her powers from capturing him to directly in front of her. Despite the sheer desperation of her sudden action, it was proven very much warranted when the entire tree shot towards them fast enough to break the sound barrier and set every single one of its leaves on it fire. It was just in the nick of time that Psylocke managed to catch the improvised 40 ft tall projectile on pure instinct alone, right before it flattened all of them.

But that wasn't even the biggest surprise for everyone. No, that honor went to Naruto who was calmly standing on the floating tree trunk, 8ft away, as if he hadn't just thrown the damn thing at them. That is, Naruto and the thousand or so sealing tags adorning each of the fallen tree's many branches and trunk. Then he smiled and gave them a little wave.

Psylocke's eyes widened in horror as every tag activated, already knowing what even one sealing tag could do to a person and the various effects they generated. These effects ranging from, fiery explosions, restraint, gravity manipulation, time alteration, eye searing flashes of light, deafening cacophonies and so much more. It was all she could do to simply yell. "Kurt! Up and close your eyes."

Even as she spoke, he figured out by her tone what she wanted and Nightcrawler instantly teleported himself a mile vertical and closed his eyes. Meanwhile Psylocke created a telekinetic dome around them so powerful it glowed a vibrant purple. Everyone having heard her command to Kurt, followed his example and shut their eyes with Betsy herself following suit shortly after. Desperately hoping that her telekinetic dome would protect them from whatever exotic effect Naruto's tag had in store for them, she pushed more power into it. Unfortunately it did not.

A thunderous screech capable of waking the dead and flash of light so bright it must have been visible from orbit blinded every single one of the X-men despite having their eyes closed. Betsy successfully kept most of the sound out, but the eye searing brightness of the attack was something that would permanently blind anyone looking directly at it. It was all Psylocke could do to keep her dome up while feeling for Nightcrawler's location above with her telekinesis. Wolverine whose senses recovered first due to his regeneration would be their guard if Naruto somehow got through her telekinetic dome while the team was down.

For the moment, the entire team was crippled and in a bad place with this one move from Naruto, a testament to just what kind of threat Naruto could be when he decided to take things serious. It was just one of the things she admired about him so much despite the fact he was so much younger than her. Still, the team was down not out.

Wolverine growled as his vision cleared enough to use it and Iceman quickly followed suit. His mutation helping recover faster or he would give himself snow blindness every time he used his powers. It took a moment for Bobby to adjust to seeing the world, time that Betsy decided to use well, even if she couldn't see shit. With a burst of psychic power Psylocke heaved and her telekinetic dome expanded, shooting outwards and away from her in a shockwave of telekinetic energy that tore everything in its path to pieces.

"Bobby! Wall." Scott barked. Due to the nature of Cyclops's own mutation and his visor things like Flashbangs and other types of blinding attacks were ineffective.

"Rodger." The living ice sculpture replied, understanding the strategy in play. A wall of ice immediately sprung up all around them from the moisture in the air, thick and powerful in the wake of Psylocke's devastating shockwave. It rapidly rose to form a protective dome around them, the hole in the top growing smaller and smaller with each second.

Through the quickly closing hole at the top Psylocke reached up to Kurt who had been in free fall for the last fifteen seconds and then pulled him straight down and through the hole before the dome sealed itself. The ice barrier then thickened and became transparent as it did so, enabling them to see outside and prepare for whatever trick Naruto pulled next. No one was looking forward to that.

It was a solid enough defense that even another tree hitting it directly wouldn't destroy it and Betsy knew that Naruto wouldn't use anything that could, like a couple hundred explosive tags. Shattering the barrier through such a brute force method would cause shards of ice to go flying and hurt Scott, herself and Kurt. That didn't mean the scarlet haired ninja didn't have other methods of getting at them.

His response was swift and decisive. A dozen smoke bombs and explosive tags surrounded the ground around the ice barrier, before exploding in unison and drawing the X-men attention outward even as the ground shook beneath them. Betsy realized too late that the explosive tags and the rumbling they caused to the ground where a disguise to cover Naruto's real attack, which was coming from underground.

In an obscene display of power and speed, Naruto dug his way through thick rock and solid soil faster than most Olympic swimmers could move through water.

"Piotr!" Psylocke's cry came too late, as the ground split open in a spray of rocks and dirt and one meaty uppercut that caught Colossus in the chin and sent him smashing into the ceiling of the ice dome. Like lightning 20 acupuncture needles embedded themselves in Betsy's arms and legs where they released a seal within her body that completely locked her limbs in place. Because of the way she had been standing off balance, the end result was that Betsy fell over and onto her back, frozen like a tipped over statue.

Naruto wasn't done however. Violently twisting into a butterfly flip to avoid the ruby colored laser-like beam of Cyclops' concussion blasts, he snatched up some dirt and threw it into Wolverine's eyes, who had been charging him. Logan stopped his charge mid track to get the dirt out of his eyes. A movement that took a mere second, yet Naruto capitalized on it viciously.

With his feet back under him, Naruto cocked his hand back just as Colossus fell from the ice ceiling and then punched the metal Titan a second time, hard. The power behind the blow was enough to make the metal mutant wince in pain as he was accelerated towards Iceman hard enough to bawl Bobby over and then still retain enough force punch through the far wall of the ice dome.

Nightcrawler tried to surprise Naruto by popping in behind him and got a punch to the throat for his troubles before Naruto casually sidestepped another ruby blast from Cyclops. A kunai already released from his hand towards the mutant in retaliation. Cyclops moved to duck it but was surprised when a second Kunai caught up to the first and ricocheted towards Cyclops's new position forcing him to dive in a completely different direction to avoid it.

Unfortunately this also meant that he completely took his eyes off Naruto, a big mistake. In a burst of speed the Scarlet haired ninja appeared right besides Cyclops, and before the mutant could realize what was going on he simply ripped off his visor. Cyclops immediately closed his eyes so that he didn't accidentally blast everyone with the full power of his concussion blasts now that he had nothing to help him manage his powers.

Naruto then sweep-kicked him to the floor and then side-stepped Wolverine who dived at him with all six claws extended, clearly intending to impale him. Naruto own right hand extended just as Logan shot past him and he grabbed hold of the mutant's ankle before whipping him around and then slamming him down on top of Cyclops who audibly groaned in pain. No doubt due to Wolverine's adamantium skeleton.

Just then Nightstalker "Bamfed" into position behind him. Naruto attempted to elbow the demonic mutant but was surprised when instead Colossus strong arms wrapped around him in a bear hug. It surprised him that Colossus was actually exerting enough pressure to hurt him in his base form.

Stomping on the metal titans foot hard enough to drive it into the soil, Colossus stumbled forward slightly, of balance as he tried to pull his foot back. It was at that moment that Naruto leaned forward and then swung his head backwards, driving the back of his skull into Colossus forehead. The force was great enough that when combined with the fact that Colossus' foot was still stuck in the ground and that he was completely caught by surprise, it nearly knocked the metal giant of man over.

However while it failed to fully do so, it did succeed in loosening Piotr's arms enough for Naruto to slip through and duck just as Iceman fired a thick blast of ice at him. Grabbing Wolverine again he slapped an explosive tag to his back and threw him straight at Iceman before jumping and unleashing a devastating reverse roundhouse kick to Colossus face which sent him sprawling to the ground. A loud explosion and Logan's cursing in the background signifying that Iceman had also been taken out for now.

It was at that moment that his luck seemingly ended, as he suddenly froze in mid air. His whole body from the neck down unable to move. Looking around Naruto spotted a smug Psylocke who was being held in Nightcrawler's hands and now facing him. Telekinesis.

The whole point of this exercise was to give the New X-men something to aspire to. A demonstration of what they could become if they put in the requisite time, training and dedication. It was being recorded live by 3 dozen camera drones Beast had created and transmitted to the Danger Room where Beast, Emma and the New X-men where currently watching.

Naruto's objective for the exercise was to capture Psylocke and he had failed. Now that Psylocke could see him as she made herself float using her telekinesis to maneuver, she could simply keep him frozen in mid air with a thought. With so many handicaps, Naruto was already at a disadvantage against the team. Especially when he was here to capture and retrieve a target, particularly one with telekinetic abilities.

Telekinesis and Telepathy were two utterly unfair abilities in the world of superpowers, and against a user of either, you needed to attack before they even realized what was going on. Naruto understood this principle well and kept moving too fast for anyone to pin point his location, as well as attacked in unconventional ways and directions. As brilliant as he was fierce.

But the moment she had eyes on him it was game over. Without her team, even in this state where Naruto was holding back by a lot and purposely giving himself handicaps, she would not have won against him. He was too unpredictable and thus your worst enemy when he was on the offensive. Unfortunately for him, she did have a team to back her.

"Surrender Uzumaki!" Scott barked. Nightcrawler, like the ever helpful person he was had retrieved his visor for him.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" In response Naruto began laughing, as if this whole thing was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen. Betsy had a bad feeling about that.

"What are you chuckling at bub? We got you!" Logan growled as he got back to his feet and growled at Naruto. His uniform was mostly burnt away from the Explosive tag that had literally blown him up but he was in a surprisingly good mood.

In response to this Naruto asked in an amused tone. "Have you now? Looks to me like, you are all trapped in a dome with me."

"Is that supposed to be a threat. Cause last I checked, you can't move and using your own rules she just needs hold you still 30 seconds to win. Which is basically 10 more seconds." Scott interjected.

"You misunderstand. You are all trapped in a dome, with me drawing your attention to myself rather than where it should be." With that Naruto gave a meaningful glance to the ground beneath him.

Wolverine must have picked up something with his enhanced senses because his eyes widened in horror and he yelled. "Son of a-"

Their was a loud thump, followed by a roar as the ground beneath their feet was thrown six feet straight up into the air where it crumbled apart revealing a deep dark maw below them, quickly being filled with water, for them to fall into. In the chaos, Betsy lost focus and accidentally freed Naruto who put another senbon into her flesh. This one covered in some kind of fast acting sleep agent cause she blacked out a second later. Last thing she recalled where two warm strong arms wrapping around and scarlet hair and the words.

"This was always the plan. I win."

VvV

Limbo Dimension

"My Lords and Masters, you've summoned me." Belasco ruler of Limbo and servant of the exiled Elder Gods asked his masters as he communed with them in deepest recesses of his sanctuary. After defeating Amanda Sefton and reclaiming his rightful place as Ruler of Limbo, he began investigating an anomaly in magic. He found evidence that his precious apprentice Illyana Rasputin had some how come back to life but then disappeared again shortly after.

Using his own powers to try and ressurect her he was only able to bring to life pale immitation calling itself Darkchylde. Disgusted by it, he banished it to the edge of his kingdom and sought to drag the X-men into Limbo so as to give him answers on the location and circumstances of Magik's brief appearance on Earth, as well as anything else to do with her. However, the Elder gods commanded him to wait.

From out of the nothingness, like a thousand layered voices of different genders, ethnicity's and ages they replied. "The time draws near for our return to the universe Belasco and we are pleased that you have held off on your latest ambitions."

Belasco had not been happy with that order. He felt something close to love for Illyana, though it was more like obsession. The point being that he was almost desperate to get her back and it was only the fact that he desired the power of the Elder gods even more than his beloved Illyana that had given him the strength to obey.

"Your will is my command my Gods. You commanded I stay my hand from the X-men and so I have." He responded

"Your loyalty is noted and will be rewarded." They declared with a finality. A small consolation for his patience at least

Bowing he replied. "You are most generous my Masters."

"We have yet to even begin to truly show you our generosity, however we will only do so after Gaia's latest pet has been captured and the ritual performed. With his sacrifice not only will we fully return to lower planes of existence but we will dominate. We will drag Earth into Limbo and tear our sister apart for the humiliation she forced on us billions of years ago. And when we are done with her, when she is sufficiently tortured, broken and shown her place, we will let you have your way with the Great Elder Goddess Gaea and her precious Earth, while we plunder the universe itself." They said with a dark chuckle that sent shivers of terror and excitement up Belasco's spine.

'Yes, if I am patient a little longer. It will all be mine.' He thought.

TBC...


There we have it folks. Once again, thank you for your patience and support, sorry for the late chapter. Next time we will see who else has an eye on Naruto, Gaea's point of view in her feud with her Elder god brothers, and meet a certain Kree-Human hybrid whose into punching grandma's and looking grungy on the Big Screen (MCU).

Scarlet out