# Action Pack Issue 8

July 3, 8:10 am-Uzumaki Residence

Naruto yawned as he walked down the stairs in his blue pajamas with his night cap on his head. While childish, it had been one of the only real present Kira had been able to afford for him. He saw his brother also in his night clothes, blue cotton pants and a black shirt as he stood over the stove and the smell of bacon his nose.

"Hmm, something smells good." He commented, and while there was no answer, he still smiled. When he was younger he had taken the silence as Kira being mad at him about something, but then slowly realized that his brother wasn't a morning person and it wasn't him he was angry at.

The blond sat down at the table and noticed the catalogues on the table, Naruto realizing that Kira must have been reading them as he cooked since the blond had put them on the counter yesterday. He looked through the high school one and saw the registration form for the courses he wanted to take.

"Math, Science, P.E, and English? I get the Math and Science, even P.E, but why English?" Naruto questioned, and he honestly couldn't figure out why his brother would want to take a course about a language he already spoke.

Kira didn't answer as he turned off the stove and put the bacon on two plates before setting them onto the table and grabbed the high school courses booklet and showed Naruto the page his English course would be on. He went back to the stove when his brother let out a sound of understanding and poured the grease into a cup and poured themselves some orange juice before putting the pan into the sink and the cups of juice on the table.

Naruto took a sip before flipping the page on his own booklet open. "I met a friend yesterday." He began conversationally, and though Kira didn't respond, he continued on speaking anyway. "Her name's Kitty and she'd going to be going to the same school as me."

Kira took a bite out of his bacon and the last traces of morning crankiness seemed to evaporate from his face. "That's nice, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled as he took another sip of his drink and continued looking through his own catalogue. "We also decided to meet in the park tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

Kira nodded his head as he took a sip of his own drink before answering. "Yes, I trust you to follow the rules." He said before frowning to himself as he wondered how to broach this next subject. "Naruto-kun, have you noticed anything…odd going on?"

Naruto almost choked on his bacon and had to wash it down with his juice and tried to look inconspicuously innocent. "No, I have not." He said neutrally, but a bead of sweat started to form on his brow when he saw Kira's stare right into his eyes and he cringed back. "Okay…maybe a little odd, but its New York apparently; weird stuff always seems to happen here from what Kitty told me."

Kira narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything more on the matter, deciding to wait until after he had more time to ponder how to tell him that there was a bounty on their heads from their former 'home.'

Naruto kept eating his breakfast and watched as his brother finished up his before putting it in the sink and started washing the dishes. "So," he began awkwardly, "when do you start your job?"

Kira didn't answer, and the blond thought this was something his brother wasn't going to say anything until he actually did speak up. "I start today." He muttered, and while Kira's back was to him, Naruto could almost imagine his brother glaring at the wall. "My new manager was willing to give me a shift starting at 1 so I could go in after lunch." He explained.

Naruto nodded, before stopping as he realized Kira couldn't see it. "I see."

"But I thought we could go visit Kaa-chan after we get dressed." Kira said.

Naruto looked up and smiled, but this time he didn't feel embarrassed about his brother not seeing it. "Sure, I'll go do that now." he said finishing up his breakfast and put his dish into the sink and headed up the stairs.

Hotel, 9:30 am

Yugito ate her room service breakfast as she thought about how to test Naruto's strength and got up on her bed to grab her journal and looked through her notes on the research she did before actually confronting Naruto as Iron Maiden.

Her eyes narrowed as she read about the other superhero in New York and how 'Black Fox' seemed to be in some form a teammate to this 'Spider-Man' fellow and how they both took down criminals together. She garnered that this Spider character must mean something to the younger Uzumaki, as she knew that battle could forge bonds of camaraderie.

It also left a weakness to exploit if it was ever learned about.

With her mind made up on how to test Naruto's real strength, Yugito finished up her breakfast and started to check through her supplies to make sure she was prepared for what she was about to do.

Times Square, 1:19 pm

Spider-Man had just been out doing errands for his aunt when this nut job that wore a metallic suit like Joystick just showed up and started going on a rampage for no good reason. Then again, what real reason did these psychos have reasons for doing what they did?

He clung to the wall of a building and launched a web line at the debris the woman had grabbed and was about to throw. He pulled it back and when she looked up, he just wagged his finger like an adult scolding a child. "Now, don't you know you know it's a crime to be going on senseless rampages?" he asked, completely the image of a scolding parent with condescension lacing his voice.

The woman didn't freak out like the crooks he took down normally, just smirked and Spider-Man felt a chill go down his spine. "Oh, I know it's wrong, but how else was I supposed to get one of you superheroes out here?" she questioned and her hands flashed through odd shapes that reminded him of what Black Fox did. "Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration!" she yelled and electricity seemed to begin dancing along her metallic suit and she raised her hands before firing bolts of electricity at him.

Spider-Man dodged as he swung over her and knew better than to try and go hand to hand with the woman as if she could do what Fox could, then he wasn't about to risk it until he was sure he had a chance to land a punch. The costumed hero sent another web line at her and let the webbing keep flying as he swung around her and it pinned her arms to the side. "Had enough?"

The woman grinned as she ripped through the webbing. "Please, who do think you are?" she sneered and shot more electrical bolts at him before jumping up at him, tossing out several shuriken at him.

Spider-Man quickly swung out of the way and saw the shuriken embed themselves into the granite and the woman cling to the wall as well. "Someone who's obviously in over his head." He replied trying to keep his bravado up, but traces of nervousness started creeping into his voice.

"You have no idea." The woman replied and in a burst of speed, she appeared in front of him and hit Spider-Man on the skull with enough force to send him plummeting toward the ground and hit a car that 'cushioned' his landing, his eyes growing weaker and blurrier as he saw the woman's silhouette get closer and closer.

New York General, 10: 04 am

While Kushina had been bored of having to sit around in her hospital, seeing her boys coming into the room made her day just a that much brighter. She wouldn't deny that knowing she'd never see Minato come through that door to see her still hit her hard, but she had gradually started to accept the reality she was in.

Her boys were still alive, that was all that mattered at the moment.

"How are you two today?" she asked as Naruto took his seat on her bed and Kira sat on the chair beside it.

"We're fine Kaa-chan, but yesterday Kira was going through his human phrase." Naruto answered bluntly.

Kushina looked over at Kira, who was determinedly not looking at her. "You do realize that this doesn't make me think any less of you, right? I was after all the one who kept watch over you when you were younger and had been going through this." She answered softly.

Kira looked up briefly. "I know Kaa-chan, it's just I thought I wouldn't still fall asleep for the whole day." He muttered.

"It's in your physiology to be tired once a month." Kushina answered and while Kira didn't look interested, Naruto looked it for the both of them. "Ku-Kyuubi told me about half-demons and their biological structure when you were born. He said that your bodies needed time to heal up from the contamination of your demon half, the once a month thing being like a detox of sorts."

"You make it sound like there all poisoned." Naruto said scrunching his brow.

"We are poisoned." Kira muttered and Naruto looked over at him. "I know I never let you see it, but just like if you use Kyuubi's chakra, you'll feel the effects; and while I won't get sick, it's during the one day a month that I really feel how much of a cost it is."

"Well, being nearly catatonic really does sound like a rotten repercussion." Naruto replied and his eyes widened a little. "Sorry Kaa-chan, I…uh…"

"It's okay." Kushina answered quietly as she ran her fingers through Naruto's hair. "The only thing I regret is not waking up sooner."

Kira's expression was blank, though he did start to feel off again. How pathetic was it that he couldn't even talk to his own mother since he wasn't used to hearing a reply, not to mention how she'd react to how he acted once she was out of the hospital.

"Kira-chan, Fishcake," Kira grimaced at the name and Naruto snickered, "I've been wondering; where did you two grow up?" Kushina questioned and saw both of their faces go neutral and felt a knot form in her stomach. "Who took care of you?"

Naruto didn't reply and Kira decided to take the reins for this one. "Naruto-kun, I think I saw a vending machine just down the hall." He said and Naruto practically flickered out of the room. Kira looked at his mother and while he always took some joy in saying how awful Konoha is, he wasn't going to this time. "Kaa-chan, you are aware of how I was never very popular with any in that place, right?"

Kushina nodded. "Yes, I remember this, but what…oh." She said faintly.

"Yeah," Kira said blandly, "Naruto got off better, as most just tried to ignore him, but there were still…isolated incidences."

Kushina clenched the sheet of her bed in her fists. "And where was your caretaker in all this?"

Seeing his mother's rage on their behalf made this just a little easier for Kira to explain how their lives turned out. "We didn't have one; many clan heads were willing to adopt Naruto-kun when they learned he was dad's son, but once I said that we were a package deal, the offers stopped. So I raised Naruto-kun myself."

Kushina stared at him with wide eyes before reaching over and pulling Kira into a hug. "You shouldn't have had to do it on your own." She said softly.

"In a way, I didn't." Kira replied. "I was only able to take care of Naruto-kun because of what you and dad taught me about childcare. And though I've never told Naruto-kun this, one of the reasons I took care of him in the first place was because I was scared. I wasn't scared of him of course, but because I was terrified of losing the only part of my family that I still had left at the time." He didn't know why he was doing this, but maybe it had something to do with the fact after so long he was back in his mother's arms.

It brought a strange feeling to his chest that he only got with Naruto. He felt happy.

Kushina ran her fingers through Kira's hair, but her eyes had grown darker, not because of Kira, but because of Konoha and what she could imagine the village put them through for being different. As Kyuubi's former Jinchuuriki, she was no stranger to the cruelty others had for 'oddities.'

"We're here," she said slowly, "in New York, but what made you want to come here in the first place? What happened?"

Kira reluctantly pulled back, as he needed her to see how severe this was. "Kaa-chan, do you think that we were the only ones they hated?" he asked quietly and Kushina's eyes showed recognition. "I got a notice from the Hokage that you were to be taken off life support; I brought you here so that wouldn't happen."

Kushina started shaking. "They hurt my children, and then they try to kill me," she said in a deceptively calm voice, "When I get out of here, we're going to go have a little talk with them."

"I'll look forward to it when the time comes." Kira replied deadpanning, though he genuinely was looking forward to seeing the looks on the faces of the Konoha council when they see Kushina awake and walking around, or more importantly, awake and angry at them.

Kushina's anger faded slightly before patting Kira on the shoulder. "Now go get your brother, I wanna hear about how you two have been settling in here in New York."

New York Mall, 12:50 pm

Kira walked down the mall hallway through the crowds of people toward his new job. He wasn't sure what exactly had possessed him to try and get a job at a clothing store, but he'd like the commission he'd get if he sold clothing along with the pay he'd receive for working.

The brunet arrived at the store and found the manager folding sweaters and went over to her. "Lara King, it's me, Kira Uzumaki reporting for my first day."

The woman looked up at him momentarily before gesturing for another girl to come over, this one having long wavy white hair and cat-like eyes. "Kira, this is Sharon, she'll show you around." Lara said as the girl nodded and smiled at him, the beginnings of canine teeth sticking out over her lip.

Kira sniffed and frowned at the smell, the girl also frowning momentarily when he saw her sniff, but grew surprisingly brighter while he found the smell suspicious. It was the scent of a cat, and he wondered what he had just gotten himself into before the girl grabbed his arm and started pulling him around.

As per anyone who grabbed him other than Naruto, Kira pulled his arm out of her grip, but she didn't seem deterred as Sharon started listing off what was what. "So we like change the mannequins after several day intervals to get people interested in the clothing and lucky for you we just got in a bunch of new stuff we get to sort through!"

Kira had a different opinion of what he considered 'lucky' but he also knew better than to say anything bad about this, as it did serve a purpose. "Is it possible to store clothes away to buy at a later date?"

"You mean layaway?" Sharon questioned, and assuming that this is what the term was called, Kira nodded. "Oh, it is; you thinking of getting something for your girlfriend?"

Kira grimaced. "I don't have a girlfriend." He replied quietly and wondered why she would automatically assume that. "I was asking in case I see something that my brother would like."

"Aw." Sharon cooed and Kira felt the need to step back from this girl.

Kira once again thought about what on earth made him take this job; the discount, the money, or the hours? He really didn't know. The brunet looked around and furrowed his brow lightly. "Am…am I the only guy working here?"

#8 "A Friend in Need"

Uzumaki Residence, 2:10 pm

Naruto was looking over his catalogue as his clones were out in the back finishing up the tunneling technique and the ice disk one. The blond heard the door knock and got up to walk over to it and when he answered, he saw Aunt May standing there, a worried look on her face. "Um, hello Mrs. Parker, is there something you needed?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you've seen Peter, I asked him to go get groceries, but he hasn't come back yet." Aunt May replied.

Naruto blinked as he started to get a sinking suspicion. Iron Maiden knew who he was, and could have easily found him, what if she took Peter upon seeing that he was his neighbour? The 'redhead' could be overreacting, but he wasn't about to let someone get hurt because of the fact this woman was after him and his brother. "Don't worry; I'm sure he'll be back. In fact, I'll even go and look for him myself." He offered.

Aunt May smiled slightly. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"No, really, it's okay." Naruto replied and 10 minutes later he was in the city after taking a taxi and looking around, feeling somewhat foolish for not having the faintest clue about where to start looking.

He briefly thought about looking for Peter as Black Fox, but that would raise many questions if he did find him. He didn't think like a normal preteen, nor did Kira think like a normal teenager, so he had no reference to where Peter might have gone to.

He looked up at a convenient store sign and shrugged, thinking this would be a starting point. He looked around the isles as he tried to see if any of the patrons were Peter, but accidently bumped into a blond woman as she was at the check-out line. "Oh, sorry miss."

"That's…alright." The woman said pausing for a short moment between words and picked up her bags before walking out the door, Yugito looking back at the 'redhead' for a moment as her eyes narrowed.

Naruto walked down another aisle and frowned as he decided that Peter wasn't here and walked out, only to hear the screaming from down the street and ran to see what was going on. He saw that Iron Maiden was back and doing what she had done yesterday: making senseless destruction.

Naruto knew that this was for him, but he couldn't very well pass up a chance to find where Peter was. He ducked into an alley and transformed his clothing back into his suit and dropped the henge over his features before running up onto the wall and landed on the roof before sprinting toward where Iron Maiden was.

"Alright, you got my attention, now stop this." He said landed on a ledge as he refused to get any closer to her, knowing that he couldn't beat her in hand-to-hand combat.

"Don't you wanna know where your friend the Spider is though?" Iron Maiden questioned sardonically.

Naruto froze at this. She had Spider-Man? Well, even if the person she had wasn't who he was looking for, Spidey was still his friend too. Even if the biggest reservation the guy had about him was only his age. He could go back to looking for Pete after he got Spidey away from this psycho. "Where is he?"

"As we speak he's slowly being held in a tube filled with water in the warehouse district, unit seven." Iron Maiden replied throwing a car at him and Naruto jumped to avoid getting hit. "You have a choice, go save your friend, or you can let him die while letting me go."

Naruto gritted his teeth. He couldn't let her escape, but he couldn't let his friend die either. "I'll get you." He said coldly.

Iron Maiden smirked. "We'll see." She replied and put on a look of vague concern. "Oh, and you only have 15 minutes to get there before he drowns, good luck." She sang mockingly as Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped back onto the roof and made a run for it.

Naruto only knew where the warehouse district was because of a map he'd bought at the mall in case he ever got lost or something. The blond wanted to punch Iron Maiden in her smug face for doing this to Spidey, it also made him think of her doing this to anyone else he cared about.

That's why he needed to stop her.

Naruto started growing angrier and he subconsciously drew on some of Kyuubi's power to make him move faster, only realizing what he was doing when he was almost there. Naruto tried to calm down enough to cut the power off, thought because of the line of thought he was thinking about it made it hard to do at first.

The blond landed on the ground, no trace of demonic chakra on him, and felt winded. He knew it was because of Kyuubi's chakra that this happened and he went looking for unit 7. He looked around the doors, only to find it at the end with a padlock on it.

Naruto let out a scream of frustration before he concentrated on the molecules in the air and it formed a transparent disk. He let the sunlight shine through it and due to pin point precision, the light formed a laser like blast that shot the padlock off the door.

Naruto didn't have time to smirk as he went into the warehouse and found Spider-Man banging on the tube he was in as the water was almost to his neck. "Spidey, hang on, I'm gonna get out you of there!"

"Can you hurry up with that?" Spider-Man questioned as his voice rose in panic when the water came up to his mouth and he had to keep his masked face up toward the roof of the tube.

Naruto pounded his fist experimentally on the see through wall before his brow furrowed and all the attacks he knew would either shatter the glass and hit Spidey, or… "I need you to hold your breath and go to the bottom of the tank!"

"What? Are you crazy?" Spider-Man shouted.

"Please, I need you to trust me." Naruto said earnestly.

Spider-Man paused as the space with the only breathing air was running out. "Fine, you better not let me die though." He said before taking a deep breath and sank down to the bottom of the tank.

Naruto flashed through several hand seals. "Wind Release: Air Bullets!" he shouted before sucking in a breath and letting several 'bullets' fly from his mouth and hit the tank with rapid force and went through the tank at the top an through the other side, the water starting to follow through the holes.

Spider-Man stood back up as he took a new breath of air from the top. "Fresh air!" he said dramatically and sucked in several breaths of air. "Wait, how are you going to get me out without the glass hurting either of us?"

Naruto smiled. "Like this." He said as he flashed through several more hand seals. "Earth Release: Tunneling Technique!" he yelled and dove toward the ground as he burrowed through the ground and made a hold underneath the tank and sent gravel flying from coming up into the tank. "Now come on." He said ducking back down and Spider-Man shrugged before jumping in and following after the blond. 'Wow, Kira-nii was right, this technique did end up helping me.' Naruto thought as he jumped out of the hole.

"Hey Fox, thanks for saving me, I really appreciate it." Spider-Man said sincerely.

Naruto tried not to cringe as he was the reason that Spidey had been captured. "No problem Spidey…" he trailed off as he noticed the camera in the corner and glared. "Looks like we were being watched this whole time." He said coldly.

"Psycho lady is just sick in the head." Spider-Man said shaking his head.

"I couldn't agree more; all she does is cause destruction and doesn't care about if people get hurt." Naruto agreed and took out a kunai. "Well know this Iron Maiden, I'm gonna get you." He said throwing the weapon and it hit the camera dead on.

"We're going to get her; I'm not letting you face that whacko alone." Spider-Man said sternly.

Naruto stared at him, about to rebuke this declaration before he realized that maybe together, they could beat Iron Maiden. "Yeah, we're going to get her." He repeated nodding.

Uzumaki Residence, 3:15 pm

Naruto walked sullenly down the street toward his house as he thought about his search being a bust as he couldn't find Peter. He sure hoped the guy was okay and Iron Maiden hadn't also taken him hostage like she had with Spider-Man.

And then there was how he eventually had to tell Kira about the whole bounty thing on them.

"Hey kid, why the long face?"

Naruto blinked as he saw Peter himself walking up beside him. "I was out looking for you, your aunt came by and said that you hadn't come home; you really shouldn't worry her like that." He admonished.

A look of guilt creased Peter's forehead as he looked down. "I know; it's just…something came up and I couldn't call her."

"Don't worry, you're alright, and that's all that matters." Naruto pointed out and his eyes narrowed when he saw that Peter's hair was matted down and wet, but decided not to say anything about it. "Well, later man." He said instead and the 'redhead' made his way into his own home and his thoughts whirled.

The matted wet hair could just be a coincidence, what are the odds that Peter could have gone swimming when Spider-Man was in the tank? It's not Peter was Spider-Man…right?

(# Action Pack Issue 9: As Kushina begins her physical therapy, Kira begins to find out strange things about Sharon. Meanwhile, Iron Maiden's arc comes full circle as she makes one last stand against Spider-Man and Black Fox.)

Author Notes: This story can expect to have characters integrated from other Marvel comics as the plot progresses.