Chapter Six: Peace in the face of war
Naruto was impressed at the size of the ship he was currently standing on. He had seen the blueprints for the thing when he infiltrated SHIELD, but to actually be standing on the deck of the Hellicarrier was something completely different. Steve and Tony were currently standing off to the side with Banner watching as the massive turbines lifted the structure into the air, but Naruto was more interested in the reaction of his girlfriend. That had been Naruto's condition for the retrieval, if there was going to be danger then he wanted Naruko right there where she was best protected.
"It's amazing," she shouted over the sound of the turbines.
"Not as amazing as you!" Naruto shouted back, holding her in his arms as the ship lifted into the air.
"Awwwww, they're so cute!" squealed Tony, his expression one of playfulness, as he elbowed Banner in the side. "Doesn't it just make you sick?"
Rubbing his ribs and giving Tony a dirty look, Banner just sighed and headed to where Natalia was waving for them to follow her. What followed was a long and rather boring explanation of the workings of the Hellicarrier, which Naruto only partially paid attention to. Nick greeted them all when they reached the flight deck, then pointed them towards a set of chairs at a conference table near the back of the room. Naruko ignored the chair she was offered, choosing to sit on Naruto's lap instead. Considering the glare she was aiming at several of the young women on the flight deck, Naruto figured she was marking her territory early. Steve, who was getting as many glances as Naruto was, probably wishing someone would do the same for him. Pretty soon Banner was on his way towards his labs with Tony following after, the two were talking about stuff that Naruto only barely understood based on his reading, but they seemed to be getting along.
Steve and Naruto, with Naruko keeping score, were down in the gym sparing when Coulson came to get them. Loki had been spotted in Germany and they were needed to retrieve him. Naruko gave him a kiss before Naruto and Steve headed to the armory to suit up. Tony had brought his "secret project" with him which turned out to be a modified suit of Iron Man armor for Naruto to wear. The suit, really just a small chest plate, boots, and forearm guards was designed to work off of Naruto's chakra. Tony had engraved storage seals into the forearms based off the ones Naruto used and after Naruto traced them with his blood to activate them, they now contained several thousand kunai each. The boots contained miniature repulsor emitters that could triple the distance Naruto could jump, not to mention they had shock absorbers built in to help cushion his kicks and landings when jumping from extended heights. As for the chest plate, it was more of a shirt of interlinked pieces that allowed Naruto full range of motion, but would allow him to store more weapons in seals on the sides and back. It also had a full range of communication equipment built into it that meant Naruto no longer had to worry about loosing his cell phone while on a mission, something that had already happened to him twice. As a kicker, the pieces were all painted black with an orange strip up the sides, so Naruto figured he could deal with it, for now.
"Loki was just spotted in Germany," Fury informed them as they headed towards the hangars. "Naruto and Steve, you'll be taking a fast mover to the general area, Natalia is your backup. Stark, you're their air support. Stay out of sight unless things look bad. If you think it's needed, maximum force is authorized, but remember we need him alive."
"Yes, sir!" replied Steve, or Captain America considering he had his suit on.
"Whatever, mom," Tony said as he sealed his suit and took off out the open hangar doors.
Naruto just nodded as they boarded the jet. Fury wasn't kidding when he called it a fast mover, because they were on sight in less than half an hour. It was a good thing, too, because Loki was already outside and threatening the bystanders. Natalia got them in low over a nearby building so Naruto and Steve could get out, then she pulled back as they made their move. Naruto stuck to the rooftops, getting behind Loki as fast as he could while Steve jumped down to block Loki from attacking an elderly man. That led to a fight between Loki and Steve, which Steve was not winning.
"You got this, or you want me to?" asked Tony over the open communication channel.
Naruto thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "He's all yours. I'll get the civilians clear, you take him down, hard and fast."
"Just the way I like it," was Tony's reply as he cut into the local speaker systems and AC/DC started playing, distracting Loki.
The fight was fairly quick and far too easily won as far as Naruto was concerned. Loki surrendered then seemed to quit speaking, almost as if he was waiting for something. At least until Naruto walked over to him. Now that got an interesting reaction out of the "god" as the man pulled back with a genuine look of fear in his eyes. He still refused to speak, but now he never took his eyes off Naruto. You could almost feel his emotions as Loki turned pale.
"Don't think he likes you much," Tony said as they watched Loki try to push himself further away from Naruto.
"He was easy enough to get here," added Steve. "Too easy in fact, but once he saw you it was like he was regretting his choice."
"Yeah, noticed that," agreed Naruto. "Why is that, Loki?"
"You shouldn't be here," replied Loki, fear clear in his eyes. "This isn't your world. No, this isn't even your universe. Why are you here, demon?"
"Haven't heard that one in a long time," mused Naruto, actively ignoring the fact that everyone was not looking at him with questioning eyes. "Honestly, I haven't got a clue why I'm here. Just your luck, I am and you've gotten my attention. You may not like that, especially if your aim is to hurt the people I care about."
"Yeah, he's got a thing about that," commented Tony.
"Where did that come from?" Natalia asked just as the sky filled with lightning, causing Loki to flinch.
"Don't like storms?" asked Tony.
"No, I don't like what comes afterwards," replied Loki, just as something landed on the roof of the jet.
Tony put his helmet back on and lowered the rear access door to check it out. Right as he reached the door, a tall blond with a cape and hammer entered through the door and knocked him back. The fall managed to knock Steve off his feet, but Naruto jumped over them. Before he could react, the man had grabbed Loki and pulled him out the back of the jet. Within moments Tony had followed after them with Steve donning a parachute and jumping out the door even after being warned not to by Natalia.
"I'm the youngest one in the group and still feel like I'm babysitting them somedays," growled Naruto as he checked his weapons and armor. "Turn us around, bring us in low and fast right over their heads."
"Yes, sir," replied the pilot.
"You sure you want to do this?" asked Natalia, a trace of actual concern in her voice.
"That was Thor, the ultimate hothead," replied Naruto with a smirk. "Add Tony's ego and Steve's sense of fair play and you've got a fight waiting to happen. Who the hell else is going to stop them and keep Loki from getting away while they're distracted?"
Natalia nodded, saying, "Good point. Two minutes to contact."
Now Naruto had done a lot of really stupid things in his life. Fought enemies that could crush him in the blink of an eye. Fought battles that should have never happened. Saved reluctant princesses. Pined after a pink haired girl that never saw him as more than an annoying brother. Still, jumping out of a fast moving jet into the middle of a fight between three of the most powerful people on Earth, that one took the cake. As it was he managed to come down right between Steve and Thor right before the Asgardian hit the super soldier's shield with his hammer. Naruto managed to catch the hammer in his hand, that stung, while pushing Steve clear. He then leaned back and kicked Thor in the chest, knocking the man away from him and onto his ass. Oh, he was also still holding Thor's hammer in his hand.
"What do you three think your doing?" he demanded, looking around and seeing Loki watching the whole thing from the top of a rocky outcropping. "While you three morons are trying to figure out which one of you has the bigger dick, Loki's up there laughing his ass off. So, care to explain which one of you was going to make sure he didn't get away?"
Thor, who was staring at Naruto as if he was something out of a bad dream, kept trying to summon his hammer to his hand. Naruto could feel the hammer attempting to respond, so increased the amount of chakra in his body until the hammer seemed to give up. Tony had climbed back to his feet and was staggering over to them, obviously dazed from the battle. As for Steve, he looked ashamed with his head hanging down and shoulders slumped. Naruto just sighed, summoning up several clones to retrieve Loki, all the while wondering why the man hadn't made a run for it. It was almost as if he wanted to be captured.
"When we get back to base, we're having a long conversation about this," growled Naruto as the clones returned with Loki, who was now looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "Especially you two, Thor and Loki, and why you are looking at me like that."
"May I please have Mjolnir back?" asked Thor, almost pleading.
Naruto just glanced at it before tossing it back to the Asgardian. "Sure, but you start acting like a child again and I'll take it away from you. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand," replied the "god" as he looked at the hammer with a look of disbelief.
Leaving the three men and their prisoner to wait for their ride, Naruto stepped far enough away that he was fairly certain he wouldn't be over heard. As soon as he thought it was safe, he contacted Natalia on a secured line and asked to be rerouted to Fury. He didn't have to wait long before the man was on the line.
"Somethings not right here, Nick," he said once the connection was made. "Loki had the perfect chance to make a run for it and he didn't. He just sat there and waited for them to finish their little fight. I don't like it."
Fury grunted, saying, "I agree. Natalia called me right after you jumped. Loki would have had the perfect opportunity to get clear. Based on what we saw him do in Germany, he's got the ability to escape, but he's not. Loki wants to be caught."
"Underneath the underneath," muttered Naruto before speaking up. "He's got a plan and whatever it is, he needs to be in custody for it to work. That means he wants something from SHIELD and to get it he needs to be where it is. Tell me, where would you normally take a prisoner like him?"
"Here to the carrier," answered Fury. "We've got the most secure cell on Earth onboard. It was designed to hold Banner if he ever got out of control."
"And Barton would have known that, so Loki most likely knows that," Naruto thought out loud. "That means whatever they want is on the carrier. It also means we can not allow him to step foot on it."
"I agree, but I've got nowhere else to put him," argued Fury. "He's too powerful to just stick in a county lockup."
"I don't like it, Nick," growled Naruto, "this smells too much like an ambush to me.
"I agree, but there's nothing else we can do at the moment," agreed Fury. "I'll up security, ground all flights in and out, and personally sit on the man if I have to."
"No, I'll sit on him," countered Naruto. "He and Thor don't seem to like me much, so let's use that to our advantage. I'll station a platoon of clones to guard him until we figure out where the Tesseract is."
"And then?" Fury asked.
Naruto turned as he watched the SHIELD jet land. "Then we'll find a more permanent solution."
True to his word, Naruto had twenty clones guarding Loki. Much to the "god's" dislike, Naruto used a modified version of the Violet Flames Battle Encampment barrier that Jiraiya had taught him years ago. This version could be molded to a particular area depending on the number of clones Naruto used. In this case there where sixteen clones, eight on the ground and eight on the ceiling, that were forming and maintaing the barrier around SHIELD's specially designed cell. The other four clones were posted just outside the four access point to the room, preventing anyone from getting inside. With sixteen clones maintaing the barrier, they were spreading out the chakra demand and allowing them to keep it intact for twenty-four hours before dispelling. Naruto realized this wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best he could come up with on short notice. They would just have to be extra careful when the clones dispelled and Naruto replaced them, hence the reason why he had four other clones guarding the doors.
Barely an hour into his confinement, Loki had tried playing mind games with the clones. Imagine his surprise when they didn't even acknowledge him, being deep in meditation to conserve as much chakra as possible. From the way the man was ranting and raving on the muted monitors, Loki was not happy about being ignored. As Thor was telling them a bit about Loki's background, Naruto just watched the man stalk around his cell. At first Thor wanted to head right down and talk to his brother, but Naruto just glared at the "god" and Thor backed down. Loki was going to be spending a lot of time by himself if Naruto had anything to say about it. Eventually they wouldn't need him anymore, then Naruto promised himself that Loki was going to pay and justice would be served.
Naruto woke up the next morning with Naruko in his arms. Though they had separate rooms, she didn't like sleeping alone and to be honest, neither did Naruto. The fact that Loki was onboard and things just seemed to be going too smoothly worried the shinobi. His every instinct told him this was a trap, but what was the purpose of it? There was nothing on board that would make all of this worthwhile. There wasn't a super powerful energy source here, Loki already had that. The only thing that made this place special was that it was one of many SHIELD bases and of course...
"Crap," moaned Naruto as it clicked. "The only thing here worth anything is us, the only people that can stop him. Get up sweetie, we've got to move."
"Don't wanna," whined Naruko as she tried to push her face farther into Naruto's chest. "Sleep now, play later."
Kissing Naruko, rather passionately, Naruto woke her up in the fastest manner possible just happened to be the most pleasurable to boot. "Up and at 'em, hime. We've got trouble brewing and I think it's going to be nasty."
Looking up and seeing Naruto looking about as serious as she had ever seen him before, Naruko rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Naruto would have enjoyed the sight of his naked girlfriend first thing in the morning, but he had other things on his mind. That didn't mean he wasn't going to "play" with her later, but then seeing her naked always put him in that mood. He was male, so sue him. Naruto heard the toilet flush followed by running water before Naruko walked out of the bathroom, still bare as the day she was born, heading for where she had tossed her bag in a corner. Grabbing his things, Naruto took his turn in the bathroom before throwing on his combat gear. His armor was down with Tony's suit and Naruto really hoped he wouldn't need it in a hurry. Naruto quickly tied up his regular combat boots before grabbing his weapon pouches and the wazikashi he had brought back to the room with him, for emergencies.
As he was doing that, Naruko was Pulling out a pair of black shorts and a matching black shirt. Naruto recognized the material they were made out of as the same stuff his combat gear was made from. They had figured out fairly quickly that when Naruko transformed her clothing normally couldn't handle it unless she was wearing something very loose fitting, or extremely stretchy. This, along with Pepper's subtle prodding, had led Tony to make a set of clothes that could be used by Naruko that would worn by the young woman to offer her at least some modesty when she partially transformed. The shorts even had a hidden flap in the back, normally held closed by velcro, that would allow her tails to easily emerge, saving hr the necessity of constantly running around looking for something to cover herself with after a partial transformation. So far nothing stood up to a full transformation, but Tony was working on that. The last thing she grabbed from her bag was a pair of black slippers, just cheap canvas, that she could easily kick off when needed.
Turning around and looking at her boyfriend, Naruko rested one hand on her hip, leaning back on that leg and slightly bending the other one in a fashion that Naruto thought was damned sexy. "Well, how do I look?"
Naruto let out a low whistle before answering with, "Hot as hell and dangerous to boot. Let's go."
Hand in hand they ran out of the room and headed for Tony and Banner's lab. They were almost there when they heard the first sounds of arguing coming from inside. As they entered the room, Naruto was forced to separate Tony and Steve, both men looking like they were going to start swinging at any moment. He also noticed a heavy feeling in the air, like there was a weight pushing down on his mind. It reminded him of the times when Kurama had tried to take control, like his body was tensing for battle. Considering none of those attempts had ever worked, this one didn't either. Still, the sight of Banner holding Loki's staff did not bode well. He was just about to say something when the first explosion hit, rocking the entire ship. Naruto was knocked off his feet, hitting his head against the doorframe so that by the time he cleared his head, everyone was scrambling. What worried him was that Naruko was nowhere in sight, the same being said for Banner and Natalia.
"Number three turbine is down," Agent Hill was shouting over the earpieces. "We loose one more and we're going down!"
"Stark, you copy that!" shouted Fury.
Tony was already gone, probably heading for his suit in the armory, but replied over the open channel. "I'm on it."
"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section, then get to the armory," Fury ordered as he helped Naruto to his feet. "Romanova?"
"Where's Naruko?" asked Naruto, to which Fury just pointed out the shattered window.
"We're ok," was Natalia's reply over the radio.
Naruto created several clones, ordering them to go with Fury as he leapt out the damaged window. He landed a moment later and found Naruko attempting to free Natalia's leg from a pile of damaged pipes. Banner was laying face down a little ways from them and looked like he was fighting to get up. The amount of chakra that was pouring off the man was amazing, even by Naruto's standards. It was obvious what was about to happen, and in this confined area it wouldn't be good unless Banner could maintain some control over it.
"Banner!" shouted Naruto, "change already and get over here and help us!"
Naruto suddenly got three sets of eyes looking at him like he was crazy, with Natalia summing it up perfectly. "Are you out of your fucking mind!"
Naruto just smiled, maintaining an air of absolute calm as he spoke. "Fighting the change is not going to work this time, so aim it, Bruce. Let it out and help me to protect these people."
Whether his words reached Bruce's mind was up for debate, but he suddenly stopped fighting against the transformation and seemed to find some peace. Naruto was impressed by Bruce's transformation, though it looked like it hurt. Natalia and Naruko were freaking out, but Naruto just smiled at them and motioned for them to calm down. When the transformation was complete, the Hulk sat there for a moment, looking slightly confused until Naruto walked over to him as calmly as could be and offered the mammoth man a hand up off the floor.
"You with me, Bruce?" he asked, watching the man's eyes for any sign of aggression. "We've got work to do if you are up for it."
"Help," growled Bruce, ignoring Naruto's hand and standing up on his own.
"Good, first we need to get this pipe off Natalia's leg," Naruto said, turning his back on Bruce and walking over to where the ladies were currently looking like they were about to piss themselves. "Naruko, pull Natalia out once the pipe is..."
Bruce, or the Hulk if you like, grunted before he reached down and picked the pipe up, cutting Naruto's instructions short. With a flip of his wrist, the beast tossed the piped across the room and burying it in the opposite wall. Naruto just chuckled as Naruko and Natalia backed away from the Hulk, which seemed to aggravate the giant. Pointing up to the window they had come from, Naruto walked over and picked the ladies up, one in each arm. Looking over at the Hulk, Naruto smiled.
"Come on, big guy, we've got some smashing to do," he said as he channeled chakra to his muscles and leapt up to the window with the green man following a second later. "Fury, where do you need us? I've got the girls and Bruce with me, but I'm thinking he's going to need more room than the hallways provide, can we go through the roof here?"
Fury was quiet for a moment, then in a strained voice replied, "If you are telling me that Banner is currently big, mean, and green I'm going to shoot you."
"Yep, that's what I'm telling you," replied Naruto with an overly cheerful tone of voice.
Fury's reply was cut off by the sounds of explosions and gunfire. The Hulk, who was still looking a bit confused, was getting anxious thanks to the noise in the distance. Naruto placed a hand on the beasts arm to get his attention, then smiled at him which seemed to calm the beast slightly. Looking over at Natalia, Naruto pointed at the roof with an unasked question. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then nodded. Naruto smiled again, then looked at Naruko and mouthed, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she whispered with a smile.
Tuning back to Banner, Naruto pointed at the ceiling. "Going up, big guy. Mind making a path for us?"
The Hulk smiled, he actually smiled, before he crouched down for a moment then launched himself up through the ceiling and the deck above it, while Naruto spoke to Natalia. "You keep her safe, or you'll answer to me. Got it?"
"Got it," she answered, then turned and pulled Naruko out of the room.
Naruto sighed, praying to whatever God might listen to him that Naruko would remain safe. With that out of the way, he leapt up through the hole to follow Banner. The beast was currently waiting for him on the flight deck of the immense airborne carrier. Naruto pointed towards the nearest freight elevator, taking off with the Hulk following behind him. It was a strange sight to see, a young man leading the Hulk like someone would lead a child in a game of tag, but it seemed to work. They were almost there when they heard the distinctive sound of another of the engines shutting down. The fact that Naruto couldn't hear anything over his earpiece thanks to the sound of jets and tankers crashing into each other left him at a disadvantage.
"Two of the most powerful people in the world, sitting on top of a gigantic air carrier that's falling out of the air," groaned Naruto, turning to the Hulk. "Sounds like a really bad joke, doesn't it?"
The Hulk just cocked his head to one side, much like a dog will when it's thinking you are crazy, which made Naruto chuckle. "I want you to get out of here, Bruce. This isn't a battle you can fight, not like this, so get out of here."
"No," growled the beast, surprising Naruto as the massive man put a hand on his shoulder.
Naruto just nodded, not wanting to turn away the help. It was just then that he felt his clones that were holding up the barrier around Loki dispel. The last memory he got from them was Thor talking to someone they couldn't see, then slamming his hammer into the barrier, shattering it and releasing Loki. The resulting backlash had dispelled the clones, Naruto could only speculate that the four guards had been dispelled in the original explosion and he had not noticed because he was only half aware at that time. He was just heading towards an elevator shaft when he heard the number three engine engage, stabilizing the ship.
"We need to stop Loki," explained Naruto as he rushed towards the elevators.
In a show of his own rather impressive strength, Naruto channeled a massive amount of chakra and grabbed one side of the elevator doors, watching as the Hulk did the same with the other side. Both doors, about two tons each of heavily reinforced steel was ripped free by the two figures, before the tossed the doors over their shoulders. The resulting explosion had Naruto looking back at the sight of a now burning transport jet that had been anchored to the deck. Shrugging, Naruto jumped into the empty shaft with the Hulk following him. The landed on the top of the already damaged elevator car, crushing it even further, before the Hulk ripped the doors open. Naruto led the way deeper into the ship, the hallways just barely big enough for the Hulk to follow.
They finally reached the detention section just in time to see Coulson blast Loki through the wall. Naruto looked over and realized Loki had already vanished, so he turned to check on Coulson. The man was a mess, it was obvious he was dying from the amount of blood that was pooling around his body as he leaned up against the wall. Naruto glanced around the room, looking for some sign of who had done this and for Thor, whom he was personally going to beat the shit out of for freeing Loki. Coulson was actually looking a bit surprised to see the Hulk standing behind Naruto, but given his current condition there was nothing he could do about it.
"Loki, he tricked Thor into the cell," rasped Coulson. "Dropped him just a minute ago. Said he wanted to see if the fall would kill him. Turns out I was talking to an illusion and got a spear in the back for it."
"Crap," barked Naruto, before he turned to the Hulk. "Could you find him?"
The Hulk looked confused by the question, causing Naruto to sigh. "Okay, don't worry about it, Bruce. We'll figure it out later. Thor's too stubborn to let something like this kill him."
Turning back to Coulson, Naruto tried to think of anything that might save the man. Unfortunately, one of the few things he had no experience with was the healing arts, at least his journal had made no mention of him ever learning them. If Tsunade or Sakura had been there, Naruto was sure they would have been able to safe the man, but it was beyond anything he was capable of. It was so damned frustrating, to have all this power, but no way of using it to help someone when they really needed it. He had worked with Coulson a few times. Usually while Naruto was retrieving the target, Coulson was acting as his eye in the sky, sometimes literally. They had developed something of a friendship, though Coulson's fascination with female classical musicians and Captain America memorabilia sometimes really confused the younger man. Still, he didn't deserve to die alone, no one did. So, knowing the time was coming for his friend, Naruto sat down in front of him.
"Been a fun ride, hasn't it?" asked Naruto as he kept eye contact with his friend.
Coulson nodded with a grin. "It was never dull once you showed up. You act tough, but you're a good man, Naruto."
"I try. Anything you need me to do for you?"
"Guide them," replied the dying man. "Cap will lead them, but you will guide them. You're the heart of them. They'll need you now. This will drive them, the Avengers."
Those were his last words and as he said them, Phil Coulson died. There was a moment of relative silence, before Naruto and the Hulk both leaned their heads back and let forth roars of rage and loss. That was how Fury found them, morning the loss of a good man. Banner was changing back, till he collapsed to the ground next to Naruto, still roaring until he ran out of air. Naruto stood up, bowing formally to his now dead friend before turning and offering a hand to help Banner up. With a last glance at the body of his friend, Naruto helped Bruce towards the door.
Looking back over his shoulder at Fury, Naruto growled. "I find him and I'll kill him. Nowhere is safe for Loki now."
There were several happy reunions when Naruto reached the flight deck with Bruce in tow. They had stopped by Bruce's quarters to grab the man some clothes, taking only long enough for him to slip on his pants and a shirt before they were moving again. Naruto was happy to see Naruko there waiting for him, and the kiss he got from her showed she was equally happy to see him. Naruko explained that Natalia's friend Clint Barton had been rescued and that the redhead was currently making sure he was free of Loki's control. He was just about to ask her how that came about when Nick's voice came over the PA, announcing Coulson's death. Even Naruko, who had only me the man a few times, was devastated by the news. She held on to Naruto as if she was afraid to ever let him go, something he felt as well as he held her tightly in his arms.
"The other guy trusted you," Bruce said after a moment. "I don't remember much, but I remember that. He trusted you because you are strong and weren't afraid of him. I felt it when he was trying to change back, he knew I might be able to save Coulson, but he didn't know how to let the anger go."
"He's you, Bruce," replied Naruto, looking over Naruko's head at the man. "No matter what you think, he's still you. I knew you wouldn't hurt me and you didn't. Even when I told you to go, you stayed with me. That tells me all I need to know about you, whether you are pink and flabby or green and snarling, you are a good man at heart. We'll work on changing back later, but I know a mortal wound when I see one and there is nothing you could have done to save him. Don't torment yourself by thinking otherwise."
"I'm not flabby," complained Bruce, causing Naruko to giggle and Naruto to snort.
"Yes, you are," countered Naruto, "but we're going to fix that. Just wait."
AN: Sorry, but Phil was right, they did need a push to become the Avengers. It wouldn't work with anyone else getting killed, save maybe Naruko. Problem with her dying is that Naruto would have gone ape shit and destroyed Loki, the planet, Asgard, and a good chunk of the galaxy.
Sorry, no PoV, but I've saved the long awaited Tony one for the next chapter.
Oh, so you don't think the Hulk would act this way around anyone? Not true. Go read up on the history of the Hulk, more than once in various versions he had been a gentle giant around people that he feels safe with. Can you think of anyone that he would feel safer around than Naruto?
Two more chapters to go before the end of this little story. Hope you won't be disappointed.
Reviews are welcome, but flames will be handed over to my lawyer. He needs something to warm his cold dead heard, the bastard.
Later!
Chris :)