A/N: Guys, you're killing me in the BEST way! ALL THE LOVE. 22 reviews in the less than a month, I am beyond floored and so ecstatic! A HUGE thanks to: Roxycall18, Guest, anlgluiyeen, alxxman, Suzululu4moe, Guest, Guest, Guest, Kosmas, Luna401, Guest, sakuraHU0328, alice, CherryTheRose, nekomichi, TheAbsoluteBest, rednoxia, Guest, hobifam, ansegiel, dragongirl92, and ChubbyBunnE for all your reviews! You are the absolute best!

Ding! Ding! to those who guessed correctly! From their coloring to interactions, Thor and Loki remind Sakura an awful lot of her own boys back home. It will make future interactions veeery interesting. Unfortunately, because this story was originally written as a drabble, the chapters will remain short, so please do not complain about the length. As for pairings, well, we'll see, won't we? Enjoy this chapter! I do not own the MCU, Marvel, or Naruto.

"Buttercup! Look what I've got," shouts Tony, walking into the training facilities. Sakura is there, hitting a punching bag with quick jabs. Turning to look at him, she pushes her hair back with bandaged hands and wipes the sweat off her brow.

"What?" She says to him, nodding to Clint who is also training. He nods at her and reaches out, ruffling her hair. She just grins and walks over to Tony, fixing her bangs that had been mussed.

He hands her a manila envelope as they begin walking.

"What's this?" She asks, squinting at the paper. She flips over to a little book and opens it. Her face is there, along with her name. Sakura Haruno.

"These are documents that will allow you to stay here in the United States. S.H.I.E.L.D. took care of the paperwork for us, now all you have to do is lay low, at least for now. The Invasion is still pretty fresh."

She nods. "It's not like I have any place to go besides here."

Tony almost winces at that, because he knows how badly she wants to go outside, how she itches for it. She's not particularly good at hiding her expressions, and he's always been good at reading most people.

"Tell you what, Buttercup. We'll get you out there exploring, although I don't know if you'll like it much. New York is called the Concrete Jungle for a reason. You just need to have one of us with you, okay? I'll try and clear some space up with Pepper, I'm sure she'll understand…" he trails off, mumbling into his knuckles.

"Buttercup?" She asks, changing the subject. She knows full well that the man next to her will fulfill his promise and she is patient.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Buttercup. You know." From the look on her face, she does not know, and Tony forgets sometimes that she is from an entire planet, with how well she has acclimated.

"Butter. Condensed animal fat in a cup?" She asks him, beginning to look very confused.

Tony laughs. "No, Sakura, it's a flower. It's yellow and kids like to play this game, put it up to their chins and whatnot, something about the color reflecting on their skin means liking butter."

Sakura wrinkles her nose and sticks her tongue out. "I do not think I would like butter by itself."

Tony shakes his head. "No, you probably wouldn't. JARVIS?"

Sakura is still looking confused, and startles into a crouch when his AI speaks.

"Yessir?"

"You have a ghost!" Sakura cries. That causes Tony to guffaw loudly. Ghost? He hasn't heard that one before.

"I assure you, Miss Sakura, that I am no ghost. I am an artificial intelligence that Mr. Stark has invented for various purposes. I have no corporeal form."

Sakura rises from her defensive position, a wary look on her face, and Tony doesn't mention how quick she was to stand in front of him when he had no armor on in the face of supposed danger.

"Play that song for us, please?" He knows he doesn't have to specify which one, sure that JARVIS had been listening and knew what he was talking about. The sound of guitar chords, an upbeat piano and drums fills the living room that they were now occupying.

"Ohhh, why do you build me up! Build me up! Buttercup, baby just to let me down?" Tony sings along to the lead singer, knowing he is not very good but still attempting nonetheless, and Sakura has an amazed look on her expression.

"This is your music?"

Tony nods, beginning to dance in place. "You've never heard of The Foundations?" Of course she hadn't, but it was still fun to tease her.

She laughs loudly. "We have music but nothing like this!"

"I need you!" Tony points to the pink haired woman, continuing, "More than anyone, darlin', you know I have from the start."

Sakura shrieks in delight and starts dancing. It's not like any movement he's seen on Earth, but he takes it in stride and dances along with her.

"Build me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart!" He sings, grabbing her hand and twirling around.

When the music is done and the two of them are still shimmying to an unheard tune, Sakura turns to him and says in a breathless laugh, "That was the best song I've ever heard!"

He takes his glasses off his head and slips them onto her face, as she smiles at him in that dizzying way. "Believe me, there's a lot more music in this world than just that one song, there's Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the whole lot!"

Sakura clutches the papers to her chest, strands of her pink hair coming loose from her high bun. She hums the song, and Tony can't explain the fondness in his chest at the clear sound.

She is unafraid of Bruce. In fact, she is the only one besides Tony who is entirely unafraid of him and Banner has to wonder, because Stark is slightly off the deep end. Why, Bruce is unsure, but he accepts it as it is quickly. Sakura watches as he works in the medical lab in the Tower every few days, staying a far enough distance away from his work, but never where she cannot see what it is he's doing.

After knowing her only in silence, she is suddenly talking and asks him anything and everything under the sun. Her words are slow and careful, punctuated by an unusual accent, much like the Asgardians. The scientist is quick to deduce that not only is the woman is brilliant, as she was forming comprehensible, even complex sentences after only a few short weeks of being immersed in the language and culture, she is a genius in her own right. She tackles each task he gives her and completes it happily. Bruce doesn't mind answering any question she has, aware that this is how she is learning of this world.

One day, she tells him something that few before dared to say.

"You have a duality to you, sensei."

He looks up, alarmed. Does she mean the Other Guy?

She observes him with a tilt of her head, pink hair spilling down her shoulder. "I can sense it. It is you— but not you at the same time."

Bruce is quiet, and returns his eyes to his work, doing his best to remain calm.

"I know someone much like you. Some hated him for it, but most of us knew the truth and loved him anyway," she says flippantly, as though this is a matter-of-fact statement, as though she is not contradicting all he has known.

"What?" He whispers, eyes glued to her.

She grins, showing off her dimples, and it is kind. "We are all broken in some way, so why does it matter? It is part of you, and you are you, sensei. Nothing takes away from that, no matter the beast in your belly."

Bruce stares at her for a moment, wrapping his head around her off phrasing. It is strange, but he understands the sentiment. He looks at her as if she is other-worldly, which he remembers belatedly that she is, wishing he had been recording that so he could listen to it for the rest of his life.

"Thank you," he tells her, and it is the most sincere thing he has ever said in his life.

A/N: Soooo, what do you think? Leave some love, please! If you have any suggestions, I am willing to hear them!

Anbu-chan