DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto and Marvel.
Chapter 5
There were a billion people in this world. Everyone was just like any other human, limited to what was given to them at birth, the limits that restrict the capabilities of the mere humans.
In the past, war had necessitated brilliant minds to find a way to break through those boundaries. This was a way for them to get an edge over their adversaries. The results of this project was a man, considered as the peak of human conditioning. He was stronger and faster than the regular human. Imagine that, science had given a skinny boy a chance at evolution.
Sadly, this man was lost in the ice as the war was about to be won, in a selfless act of sacrifice.
In the era of peace, earth was visited by people who were literally from out of this world. They were here to snuff out some fugitives who escaped due to their long standing war. One of these beings betrayed her supposed comrades and learned the truth about her origins.
She ultimately decided to leave the planet in favor of watching over the fugitive as they navigate their way home. She promised that the Earth was under her protection, but with the size of the galaxy she patrolled, nobody could tell when she would return. With that, the Earth was without a super once again.
In a surprising turn of events, supers appeared suddenly in contemporary times. Either from reality shattering or through exposure to some substance, it doesn't really matter. But these supers, they stayed under the radar. They never let themselves be known to the wider world. Though, they were shaking the entire criminal underworld to the core.
Now, unbeknownst to the world, another genius is about to take the world by storm.
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA
Tony Stark sat in his garage, his computer showing him his old suit.
"JARVIS, you up?" He asked his AI assistant.
"For you sir, always," JARVIS answered at his master's beckon call.
"I'd like to open a new project file. Index it as Mark II," He said.
He dragged the picture of the hulking suit out of the computer into a table-like surface beside him, bringing up a 3D holographic projection of the picture.
"Shall I store this in the Stark Industries DataBase, sir?" The AI asked.
"Actually, no. I don't know who to trust right now," Tony answered as he stared at the model in front of him.
"Until further notice, why don't we store everything in my private server," He ordered as he began to tinker with the holographic parts, stripping off the extra metal that made the original suit bulky
"Working on a secret project, sir?" JARVIS asked.
"Yes, actually," Tony answered. "I don't want to think of what would happen if this ends up in the wrong hands."
He stared at the remaining parts in the hologram, which consisted of just the straps that kept him secure inside the suit.
The famous genius brain that made him the class valedictorian in MIT started to work. Ideas formed in his head.
Finally he said, "Maybe this one might actually do some good for a change."
NEW YORK
Naruto was happy.
He was left alone when Natasha was sent out for a mission in gods know where. He didn't burn down the house or anything. In that time frame, he managed to learn to cook some food that wasn't ramen for a change, although he had a sneaking suspicion that the food didn't taste as it was supposed to.
Now, his parental figure has returned. He didn't know if he could handle losing another loved one if worst comes to worst.
But she was here now. To top it all off, she even took him and his friends out for ramen when she got back. There was nothing else in the world that could ruin the moment for him.
He lay in bed ready for a night's rest, ready to end the day right.
But things didn't go as planned.
His eyes shot open, but he didn't feel like he was awake. It rather felt like the time when he was pushed off a cliff by his perverted sensei, but the surroundings were brighter and not the sewer-like setting he was used to.
He was about to wander off confusedly, when an old man's voice spoke, "Heed me and listen, young descendant."
"Who are you?" Naruto asked warily, ready to draw a weapon. To add to his surprise, the spirit or whatever this old man spoke in his native tongue.
"Wary be not, young descendant," He once again spoke. "Although, tis quite a precise query for this place, but I am quite uneasy over whether thou shalt be able to connect my name with my actions as a herald."
Naruto stood there speechless. He knew how to speak in his native tongue, but the words he spoke…they sounded like the words were spoken generations beyond his own.
"My words are wasted on this young fletchling," The old man said, seeing the blank expression of the young man trying to comprehend these words. "But this is my mistake, for I am an anachronism. Over the years, I have failed to perceive the passage of time and the change in cultures and traditions that they entail, so perhaps…"
"My name is Otsutsuki Hagoromo, how's it hangin' yo?" He introduced himself.
A look of recognition dawned on Naruto's face followed by a look of shock that left his mouth hanging wide open.
"My, my, 'tis young fletchling still fails to comprehend me…"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Naruto waved his hands in front of him when the old man reverted to the old tongue of the Elemental Nations. "I finally understood you! I was just shocked because your words don't match your dignified looks, ya know!" Naruto tried to explain.
"I see, so perhaps this way of speaking is much more to your liking?" His speaking style once again changed.
Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. "Finally, I can understand you. So anyway, you said your name was Otsutsuki Hagoromo? I feel like I should know your name from somewhere."
"I don't know about 'should', because my story is not one usually taught in your shinobi history, and I am sure your more recent predecessors have no knowledge of me, except for those that have read what they now have dubbed, the 'Uchiha Stone Tablet'.
"Predecessors? Uchiha?" Naruto asked, getting only more confused at the monk's words. "I think we're having a misunderstanding here. I am no Uchiha."
"No, there is no misunderstanding," Hagoromo shook his head. "I sense you have inherited Indra's blood strongly."
"Okay, okay," Naruto crossed his arms in front of him. "Back up. Can we back up for just one second? Who is Indra and what does he have to do with me and the Uchiha Clan?"
"I have watched your childhood, young descendant," Hagoromo sadly said. "It saddens me to think of the burden you have endured. They have kept your heritage from you. No matter, that is a story for another time. All will be revealed in time."
"So if you can't tell me anything, what did you bring me here for?"
"Tell me, young man, why do you fight?" The old man asked.
"What's that have to do with anything?" Naruto impatiently answered with a question.
"You have immersed yourself in jutsu and training, risen through the shinobi ranks, but for what reason?" The old man patiently answered.
"I fight to prove them wrong," Naruto answered, with irritation in his voice. "I proved that they were wrong to ignore me. If they won't respect me, they will fear me."
"Your efforts are admirable, but your current repertoire is nothing more than a means of slaughtering another," The man said. "This is not the direction I have intended for Ninshu."
"Ninjutsu?" Naruto questioned.
"Do presume the Ninja Creed and Ninjutsu are the same!" The old man snapped, frightening Naruto.
Noticing this, the old man cleared his throat and regained his composure, "I apologize, young fletchling. But through the years, my creation has been bastardized and turned into a tool of war."
"Huh?" Was all Naruto could say.
"In time, you will come to know the truth," Hagoromo said. "You will come to learn what it truly means to be strong. Now, wake."
Naruto woke just in time to see his door opening.
It was his mother again. It was been almost a week since she came home from SHIELD's search for Tony Stark. Now, he dreaded whatever news she would say to him. Normally, she won't enter his room like this if there wasn't anything to say. As a shinobi of Konoha, he understood. These were among the duties and responsibilities of an agent loyal to his or her organization.
But, that doesn't mean he had to be left alone.
"Naruto, are you awake?" Natasha spoke.
"Urk– huh–" the blonde groaned. His mind may be awake, but his body is still trying to get some more sleep.
"Naruto? Are you awake?" The Russian Agent asked.
"I'm up," Naruto groggily replied.
Being alone for most of his life, Naruto had become adept at reading people. He knew that look on his mother's face. It was the same look she had when she had to leave to look for Tony Stark. It pained her to do this again, but she had to.
"You have to leave again, huh?" He said.
"I'm sorry, kid," Natasha said, sadly. "Duty calls."
What surprised the spy was Naruto's mischievous expression.
"Say, mom, what if you know, I could come with you on one of these missions," he asked with a gleam in his eye.
Natasha sighed, "Look Naruto. The mission is on the other side of the United States. Plus, you are a child. I cannot, in good conscience, involve you in a mission."
"Mom, you've seen my test results," Naruto argued. "I aced every test SHIELD had given me. I can do much better."
"You are a child," Natasha countered. "You should not be involved in such things. You should be enjoying your childhood."
'I want to give you the life that I couldn't have…' she quickly followed in her inner thoughts.
"But—"
"Naruto, no. End of discussion," she said with finality. "Now, get dressed. You have school to attend."
He expected that response. He remembered that conversation with the bald man in an eyepatch. These strange new lands were indeed vastly different from his own. No matter, he was among the elite of the shinobi ranks. It wouldn't be the first time he would have to infiltrate a mission such as this.
He got into his usual routine. Egg and Toast for breakfast, quick shower, get changed and go to school.
After getting ready, he found his mother waiting for him at the door.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. Perhaps when you're older, you can join the missions," The SHIELD agent apologized.
"I understand, mom," Naruto said, accepting the embrace from his mother. "Take care out there, will you?"
"You know I always do," she said.
They soon separated. He watched his mother's car drive off into another mission. When the car was out of sight, Naruto's lips curled into a mischievous smirked.
The package had been planted.
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA
Tony Stark is a genius.
His secret project was now complete, and he had already started to make it known to the world, especially to the Ten Rings, when he raided a village being pillaged by the said group. Heck, even the Air Force had been made aware of this when they intercepted his suit on the way back. But now, the whole world would get to know about it.
It all started when his father's long time business partner ambushed him in his own home after letting his guard down.
He lay on the floor of his living room. He could feel the shrapnel in his chest starting to squeeze their way into his heart. He began to think how in the hell he had not seen this coming. He had trusted this man. He guided him through his leadership after he took over the company after his father's untimely death.
'Oh wait…Now I see it…'
It was painfully obvious now that he thought about it. He was probably the one who filed that injunction against him. Figures…
But if there was one silver lining among all of the shit that's happening now, it's that Pepper saved his very first iteration of the Arc Reactor. Bless her heart for having seen the sentimental value of that piece of junk.
He crawled his way down to his machine shop, and looked for the specific package. He fell short of his goal. He was so close to the Lucite-enclosed heart, but he just about ran out of fumes before he could reach it.
The inventor sank to the floor. He cursed himself for falling to reach the damn thing. Now he was going to succumb to the injuries he sustained from that little trip to the Middle East. He contemplated his life up to this point. He wouldn't call it good exactly. There were things he regretted doing, and things that he wished he could have done.
Just as he was about to resign to his fate, the dummy robot, the robot arm who had been a pain to him as he built the suit, the same robot that he placed the cone hat with the word "DUNCE" written on it, reached for the spare reactor and handed it to his boss.
"Hmmm, perhaps there's some hope for you after all," Tony said as he glanced at the robot arm. Despite his situation, Tony's snark manages to come out. "Thank you though."
He slammed the casing into the floor, free the Arc Reactor from its confines. He managed one more surge of energy to pick up what he needed and snap it into place. With his electromagnet functioning again, he was once again on his feet. There was no more time to spare. He had to suit up.
STARK INDUSTRIES
Natasha couldn't believe it. She had read the reports on Tony's progress on his little project, but it was still different seeing it in person. The other one, though, the bigger and bulkier suit was impressive. Tony was able build that thing in a cave with a bunch of scraps, and yet here it was, in all its hulking glory.
The Quinn Jet hovered over Stark Industries watching the scene. Agent Coulson and his team were down on the ground battered and bruised from trying to engage on the Iron Monger Suit. She was their only back-up, but what could she do against something of that caliber?
Sighing to herself, she had made her decision. She was about to land the plane, when she spotted a streak of silver free falling towards the carnage.
From where she was, she could make-out black clothing illuminated by the lights of San Francisco around him, a grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and gloves. He wore sandals with spikes, three ninja pouches on his back-waist and a signature spiral tattoo on his shoulder.
Whoever this person was, she had to admit, he had balls. Not many would willingly engage in combat in this situation, especially since two men in robot suits were duking it out on the streets of San Francisco.
TONY VS OBADIAH
He had expected this much. This was not the same suit he had built in the caves of his prison. Obadiah had made some upgrades. And with the addition of the size of that thing, he struggled to keep up with the bigger iron suit.
He didn't know if it was luck or something, but a boy landed right next to him. He was dressed in some sort of armor, armor he had never seen in any part of the world. He should know, he had been around the world already almost thrice. The boy had black hair, but his face was covered by a mask.
"Who are you supposed to be, kid?" Tony asked the newcomer. "This is no place to be playing cosplay."
"Okay, so we're not talking," Tony said after getting no response.
Their exchange was halted when his business partner decided to butt in.
"Mwahahaha, you have poor choice in back-up," Obadiah's hatch opened for him to gawk at his opponents. "I thought you were better than this Tony, bringing children into your problem. Now I have to eliminate you both."
The masked man was unfazed. Instead, he drew his Tanto from the sheath on his back and got into a stance, ready to fight.
"You have a whole life ahead of you, kid," Obadiah said, closing his hatch. "I'm sorry I have to cut it short."
The masked man shot forward, sword trained at giant mech suit. Obadiah's eyes widened. He lost track of the boy. He was more surprised when his suit lurched backwards as if something with the force of a bullet train rammed into him, followed by him getting sent into the road.
"JARVIS, did you record the speed the kid went?" Tony asked his trusty AI.
"I'm sorry sir. He was too quick for our trackers," JARVIS apologized.
Tony was about to say another smart quip when he saw a car get launched at the blonde, the family inside in tow. He aimed his repulsor at the car to detonate in an attempt to save the boy. But his eyes bugged out of their sockets when Naruto twisted out of the way and sliced the door open, spilling the family out. He landed on his feet and caught them, bringing them to safety afterwards.
With a sigh of relief, he focused on the Iron Monger. A small hatch opened on his forearm revealing a miniature missile.
He fired it at Obadiah as he was distracted chucking cars at a kid.
The missile's explosion caught the big guy off guard.
The masked man used the opportunity to get into close range. The smoke from the explosion cleared around the Iron Monger suit, revealing the masked man with his hands ready for a punch. The force of the punch shocked the shield agents watching, Pepper who had recently ascended to the battle, and especially Tony Stark, an engineer who had everything he knew in Physics thrown out the window.
"Jarvis, what's the force of that punch?" was all the genius billionaire could say.
"The force could have easily reached 300 GPa, sir." The AI answered.
"Shit, is the kid even human?"
"My initial scans conclude he is essentially human, sir."
"No, no, no," Obadiah begged as the masked man who was way smaller than him dragged him out of the big dent that exposed him to the outside world.
The man was silent, never answering to his pleas. He threw Obadiah to the side who then cowered away in a corner.
"S-s-stay away from m-me," He trembled. "Y-y-you monster…."
Tony walked over to the pair. He was relieved that everything was over now. There was one thing left to do: Confront his father figure. He took off his headpiece and asked the very question he wanted to ask ever since Pepper informed him of it.
"Why?" Tony queried. "Why would you have me kidnapped?"
"Because the company should have gone to me!" He roared, the fear he felt temporarily leaving his system. "Your father and I…We built this company from the ground up. You knew nothing of the hardships. You were out there going to frat parties as we grew the business. When your father died, the reins were given to me, but I knew that once you graduated college, the company was yours."
"You said it yourself. We could have been partners," Tony lamented. "I looked up to you, you know? I never thought you would turn on me this way."
"YOU ARE NAIVE!" he bellowed. "YOU DID NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DO WHAT IS BEST FOR THE COMPANY!"
"And the best for the company is selling our weapons to terrorists?" Tony maintained composure despite the outburst. "My father made weapons to protect people, not to cause young boys to cower in fear."
Obadiah tried to grab Tony, but the masked man caught his hand and knocked him out, effectively putting the conversation to a halt.
Tony turned to his temporary partner. "I gotta thank you for coming to my aid there, kid.
"The pleasure is mine," The masked man spoke for the first time that night.
It was at this moment that Pepper took the opportunity to run towards Tony and wrap him in a warm embrace, something that was hard for her to do, given the bulk of the Mark III suit.
Right on her tail were the SHIELD Agents who came for the interview just this morning.
"That was quite the fight," The lead agent praised. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. We could use a guy like you."
"Uh, me?" The masked man asked sheepishly.
"Yes, we watched the whole thing," The SHIELD Agent nodded. "We all agreed that we need you in the boss' master plan."
"Oh…I don't know…" The young man said, unsure of what to answer.
"You don't have to answer, right away," Phil cut in. "Take this while you decide."
The masked man reluctantly took the card that was offered.
"This is nice and all, but what do we do about the aftermath?" Tony asked.
PRESS CONFERENCE
"Ouch,"
Tony winced in pain as Pepper cleaned his wound. Obadiah did a number on his wounds last night.
But that wasn't at the end of this fiasco. The next day, the media was all over Stark Industries. Somehow, they had caught wind of the events of last night's events. Naturally, they had to address this somehow.
Everyone involved was there. Col. Rhodes was there giving the preliminary speech to butter up the crowd before Tony gave his speech. The SHIELD Agents were there to keep the peace and watch out for the same organization that abducted Tony, if they would show.
The cleaning of the wound was now done.
The CEO closed the newspaper he was holding and put on his coat.
"You know, they may be onto something here," Tony said as he looked at the cover page one more time. "Iron Man…hmmm….though, it's not technically accurate as the suit is made out of a gold-titanium alloy, but I kinda like it."
Agent Coulson walked towards him and handed him a card.
"Here's your alibi," He said.
"I never got to ask, what is it that you do again?" Tony asked.
"We maintain national and global security," Phil answered.
"Let me rephrase that," Tony frowned, not satisfied with his answer. "What do you do that's different from the FBI or CIA?"
"Ow!"
He once again screamed in pain as Pepper forcefully ripped the bandage from his face.
"What was that for?"
"Focus," Pepper scolded.
"Fine," He rolled his eyes. "I have one more question, then, has anyone seen Wonder Boy from last night? He has every right and responsibility to be here as well."
"Technically, he has no obligation to be here since the cover story does not bear his name in any way," Phil answered. "And he mysteriously disappeared before we could offer him a place to stay for the night."
"Understandable, but I have one teency bit of problem with the cover story," he pleaded with as much puppy dog eyes as he could muster. "Could we change it even just a little bit?"
Tony sighed. They didn't even ask for his opinion in making the story, which he found to be very stupid. I mean, a bodyguard for crying out loud?
Shrugging it off, he decided to go with the script.
"So, there have been some speculations that I have been involved in the freeway and the parking lot of my company…"
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark," Christine Everheart interrupted the speech. "Do you honestly think that we would believe your story about a bodyguard that conveniently showed up despite the fact that you were half-way around the world in a party."
There it is. He knew that the alibi was stupid. Who in the right mind would believe this made up story?
"I know this one is hard to believe, but that is the truth, sometimes strange and hard to believe. I mean, it would be outlandish to assume that I would disregard my own safety and pilot a prototype suit and play superhero with a kid."
"I never said anything about playing a superhero. And what is this about some kid?" Eyebrows were raised with his statement.
'That's good, because me? Play a superhero? Pshh, that would be preposterous. And a kid? What are you talking about? There was no kid at all at Stark Industries last night."
Tony sputtered out a response trying to take control of the situation. His best friend right beside him whispered into his ear, calming him down.
He sighed once again. He was ready to read the card, but a mischievous thought entered his mind.
"You want to know the truth about last night? The truth is…"
He took a deep breath before he trekked the path no superhero before him had ever trekked.
"...I am Iron Man."