Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto or Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Saviours

Chapter 4: Insult

Ever since he was a boy, he had always had an affinity for machines. He could understand them just as well as any ordinary human. But what many would see as an astonishing gift in their child, William Stryker Senior only saw weakness in his son. Even though it was a weakness of his own doing. In a way it had been Stryker's genetics, but it had been the father's demanding nature, his high standards that pushed his son into becoming something weak. But it was tragedy that released all that pent up frustration and disappointment. Tragedy turned William Stryker junior from a loving father, good man and devoted priest into a murderer that used god and the spirit of his father as a justification for insanity. On the day of Ultimatum, William desperately searched the flooded corridors of his family's apartment complex. As he searched his anger against mutants began to increase, while his devotion to religion slipped into outright obsession.

Finally William had found his family, the lifeless bodies of his wife and son. That day the good man took on the path of an avenger. He called himself a purifier and on his quest for vengeance he came across the X-men, the mutant heroes driven to desperate acts. His men were killed and he was driven into the nearby forest. In that forest William Stryker slipped further and further as his insanity took hold. His obsession with religion dived into madness as he took on acts long forgotten by public worshippers. At the behest of the vision of his father he struck his own body, punished himself for weaknesses and past sins. Yet that was not the worst of it all. William Stryker was now an extremist, willing to do whatever it took to fulfil the task given to him by a person that was no longer alive, an illusion created by his pained mind.

"I do not hate mutants!" he declared to those that had been forced to watch.

Clad in sentinel armour, Stryker stood in Times Square, his fellow Purifiers parking their trucks around him. He stood on a pile of rubble, with many cameras watching him. The bodies of police officers and riot police had been spread out across Times Square and those brave enough had already gathered to watch the reverend speak.

"God taught me to love. To love all of his creations, even the ones that would harm me and my family, even the ones who would destroy this once great country. But what I do hate, with all my being, with all my heart and soul is the sin that made them. The sin of arrogance! The sin of conceit! When man built his tower, reaching high unto the heavens, God looked down and saw what he did and scattered his children to all ends of the earth, and divided them with language…and yet still he builds. Still he builds, always trying to reach that place, always attempting to usurp! To corrupt! To reject the care and comfort of his father to make his own twisted way! We always want what we should not have; we always demand that which we never earned. But god has given me a message to deliver…a message to the kings of this world! He has seen your transgressions; he has seen all that you have done. In your hubris, on your thrones in your castles, you plotted. You said I will make myself like the high! And so you poisoned your own children and you placed your idols inside that temple most sacred. Now, on this day—this day when you stand exposed and shamed, when your wicked plans have been made known to all, today he would judge you for what you have done!"

The purifiers opened their trucks and revealed the chained, caged and imprisoned mutants they had gathered. Mutants they intended to destroy in more ways than one.

Naruto rushed through the sewers, shaking off his outrage. A few minutes ago he had proposed the idea of working together with Kitty. But instead she said no, insulting someone she should have used as an example and not a warning. He remembered the conversation well, he had made his intentions clear and she in turn mocked them.

"Its that simple huh? Punch him in the face and you'll be done with him?" Kitty asked.

"Well it'll probably take a little more than that, some Kage Bushins, some shuriken, a little sage and Kyuubi Chakra," Naruto grinned as he rubbed the back of his head. "And of course the battle wouldn't be over without a RASENGAN!"

"ENOUGH! STOP PLAYING AROUND!" Kitty yelled.

Naruto stepped back slightly as Kitty approached him, brandishing her fist.

"People like you are idiots, you run off straight into a battle thinking your all that, sure maybe you win but does it really make a difference in the grand scheme of things? You beat up one villain, another takes their place and threatens you and your loved ones again, you fight and win but eventually it all gets too much for you, eventually you die and leave behind your loved ones in a world that didn't change with your death. People like us only have one choice and that's to follow a set of simple rules, keep your head down, don't use your powers, don't dress up and try to be a hero because if not you end up being the one buried."

Kitty spoke with a hint of passion that overcame her rage. But Naruto could hear the sadness in her voice and actually saw the shine in her eyes. He lowered his head slightly, the shadow of his fringe obscuring his eyes as he loosened his fists back into hands again.

"Do you get it now, the only thing we can do is survive."

Naruto raised his head, looking at Kitty with a solemn gaze. His eyes actually took her by surprise. She didn't see the hyperactive-knuckled head ninja that they first met, but the eyes of a person trying to understand another. Kitty saw a certain wisdom in those eyes, wisdom that had been gained by suffering.

"One of your friends died right?" he asked.

"Yeah, one of our greatest friends," Kitty whispered.

Bobby and Johnny lowered their heads, remembering Peter's heroic death. Naruto stepped closer towards Kitty, looking her in the eyes.

"The way you just spoke to me, it told me that you didn't respect or love your friend," Naruto growled.

The boy's widened their eyes as Kitty swung her fist at Naruto. Rogue cringed as the fist made contact, releasing a boom that shook the tunnel. But much to everyone's shock, Naruto stood still, pushing his forehead into Kitty's fist. Sasuke recalled the times Naruto had taken punches from Sakura and knew that Kitty had done something that really outraged him. Naruto would only be this serious and strong if he felt truly passionate about something.

"So instead of his death inspiring you, you use it as an excuse to not take action!"

He seemed to growl, the pupils of his eyes forming slits as he glared at Kitty.

"You think, "I don't want to die like he did", so you hide from the world's problems. But worst of all you hang him up, this great friend of yours, you hang him up as an example and say; "we're going to end up like this if we choose to do what's right", instead of honouring his example we need to become like the selfish pricks he spent his life fighting," Naruto explained, drawing his face closer and closer to Kitty's.

Kitty stepped back, stopping as she struck the wall.

"God, doing that to someone who was your friend, doing that to your hero its so, so, so wrong!" Naruto shook his head. "My sensei once told me that those who break the rules are considered scum, but those that would abandon even one of their friends are worse than scum. I agree with him completely but I also began thinking of something else too; abandoning people in need makes you scum as well, its different when you cant do something to help but when you can its your moral obligation to help, one might say that its your responsibility!"

"With great power comes great responsibility!"

The words struck Kitty like a bullet and she simply lowered her head. Naruto walked past her, walking alone towards the tunnel exit.

"I'm going to help them and whether I succeed or not I'll know that I did the right thing, not just for them or me but for the pervy sage, old man hokage and my parents. If being a hero means being an idiot then I'll gladly be an idiot, as opposed to a selfish prick that abandons the ideals their friends die for," Naruto explained as he walked deeper and deeper into the darkness.

The walking eventually turned into running and eventually Naruto created several Kage Bushin. These Bushin headed out in separate directions of the tunnel as the real Naruto returned to where they had encountered the Nimrod sentinels. He changed into a policeman and crossed over the crime scene line. Searching the scene, Naruto grinned as he found his headband. He then ran to an alleyway as his mimicked form popped into smoke, revealing his real form. Naruto tied his head band around his forehead and ran up the wall, towards the rooftop.

"I'll show you guys, that even one fight can make a difference," Naruto said.

His other clones began carrying out their assigned tasks. One of the clones retreated into a secluded part of the sewers and sat with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and linked his hands into a classic ninja symbol. There he stayed, still and unmoving as if he was a statue. The other Naruto's created more copies as reached the place called Times Square. They changed into civilians trying to get a look at what Stryker was doing, while some of the other clones remained underground, looking at the ceiling and closing their eyes, feeling the slight hint of Chakra that was present in all living things.

"They say we should trust them! They say they know what is best, these so called "leader"". Stryker continued his rant, unaware that amongst some of the civilians were Naruto's Kage Bushin.

Naruto ran faster and faster across the rooftops, ignoring the news helicopters that spotted him. He needed to reach Times Square fast and he needed to do it as publicly as possible. Even an idiotic hero could have a plan, and Naruto was going to make sure that even if it meant dying, he would in some way inspire others.

"These same men who created this these same men whose sin caused all this. The fruits of their evil killed millions, right here where we stand! And now? Now they say we should put them in camps! Spend billions feeding them and caring for them while our own people die cold in the streets!"

Kitty looked at the scene-taking place with Bobby's I-pad. The former X-men, Johnny, Jimmy and Sasuke all watched it in their own way. Rogue sat on one of the ruined chairs, her eyes closed as she listened and contemplated her part to play.

"I know your up to something," Sasuke said, looking down at Rogue.

"Of course I am, I have to save those people," Rogue said.

"Oh, did god tell you to do this?" the Uchiha asked.

"Its better than being ready to kill a whole village because a guy in a mask told you to," Rogue glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke furrowed his brow at Rogue, fighting the urge to draw his sword.

"My brother sacrificed everything for the village's safety, my generation lived in ignorant peace as the elders painted my brother up as the villain, when in actuality the village owed him," Sasuke explained.

Kitty heard the confrontation and watched as Sasuke moved to one of the other rooms. She then turned her attention back to the I-pad.

"Oh my god," Kitty muttered, seeing all of the gathered people, yet still no Naruto.

"This is bad, maybe he didn't make it in time," Bobby said, thinking about the orange ninja.

"We cant wait for him to make his move, I'm going, are you guys coming or not?" Jimmy asked, appearing from one of the bedrooms, wearing full combat gear.

"Wow, he heals fast," Bobby said.

"We're in!"

"No!" Kitty snapped at Jonny.

"Are you serious?" Johnny asked.

"Are you?"

"Kitty it looks like he's got about a hundred mutants in those trucks, he's gonna kill them…"

"And that's awful, I know it is Bobby but there's nothing we can do about it."

"What do you mean there's nothing we can do about it? We can kick his…"

Kitty turned to Johnny, looking him in the eyes.

"No! No, we cant! Or hey, maybe we can with this one, but not the next one, or the one after that. Bottom line, eventually this stupid game where we pretend the hero always wins and everyone gets to walk away? It ends, and when it does we have to bury someone."

She turned her back and said six words that filled Johnny with a fiery anger.

"Just like we did with Peter!" she said.

"Sorry, "we"?" Johnny asked, his voice as low as a whisper but just load enough for Kitty to hear.

"What did you just say?" Kitty asked.

"Johnny easy…"

"No Bobby, I am sick to death of getting lectured by her like she's the only one who cares he's gone…"

"Oh please Johnny, like I didn't notice how you guys were acting while we were getting those Sentinels off Rogue? Goofing around and acting like…"

"Acting like he wasn't gone? Yeah you know what you're right, because that what he would want us to…"

"He'd want us to stay alive, end of story!" Kitty growled, emphasizing the words.

"Oh really?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny come on man don't do this," Bobby said, trying to be the voice of reason for once.

"No…I wanna hear this, it's a question I've been meaning to ask her since the day it happened after all. What exactly do you know about Peter's death Kitty?" Flames began to spark around Johnny as he approached Kitty.

His eyes gaze off sparks, while Kitty lowered her head.

"I mean, I remember fighting Osborn that night with him, I remember the truck exploding, knocking Peter onto his front lawn. I remember checking his pulse, sitting with May as she cradled him, hearing Gwen yelling for someone to help, seeing the tears in Mary Jane's eyes and the look on Bobby's face when he regained consciousness. I remember us being there, but tell me Kitty…"

Suddenly, Johnny's body burst into flames as he yelled at Kitty:

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!"

"Why? Why must this happen? So that one day they cal tell us again that what they are is normal! That we should accept them? That we can trust them? That's what they want, and they won't stop until we haven't just accepted them, they wont stop until we become them! Until our minds are so twisted by their perversions that we cant even tell the difference."

Naruto watched the supposed "holy man" preach to the crowd of bigots and extremists. His clones all grit their teeth together in disgust, trying to see something of this man that they could sympathise with. Naruto remembered Nagato's preaching of pain and how love would lead to pain and suffering. He remembered the extreme methods Pain had used. But for all of their similarities, Naruto never remembered Pain quoting scripture or saying that he was fighting for a form of purity.

'This guy,' Naruto growled. 'Why cant I understand him, is he misunderstood, or just insane?' he wondered.

He remembered Shikamaru's recall of Hidan, the immortal Akatsuki member that had killed Asuma. The man preached of a god, Jashin or Jajin (Naruto could never remember). Yet he was the most bloodthirsty of Akatsuki. That kind of thing disgusted Naruto even more than if someone had used friendship to justify murder.

"Put them in camps?" Stryker asked the crowd. "I say, bring them to me!"

Naruto slid to the edge of the roof overlooking all of Times Square. He narrowed his eyes at Stryker as one of the Purifier's dragged a bandaged man towards Stryker. The man's bandages hid his brown, scaly skin. Naruto squeezed his hands into fists as the man begged for Stryker's mercy, but Stryker merely grinned. Then, much to everyone's shock, Stryker touched the man and in a flash of light, the man's scaled began to fall off. Some marvelled, while others stared in horror as the scales fell and revealed bald, pink skin.

"My skin, what did you do to my skin?" the man asked, looking at his skin in shock.

"Made your body clean," Stryker said.

"What have you done to me?"

Stryker frowned at the man, sliding a blade out of his wrist.

"Oh god…no," the helpless civilian said.

"And now this is what troubles me," Stryker said. "For a man to be able to look at his skin with his own two eyes and yet…STILL HE DOES NOT REPENT!"

The mutant crowd gasped as Stryker swung his blade at the "cured" mutant.

"STOP THIS!" Naruto screamed.

Suddenly, the lone clone that had meditated disappeared and passed on the sage chakra it had gathered onto Naruto. As Naruto's eyes changed to their sage mode, the other clones began to move. Several clones burst out of the ground, with one taking a slash from Stryker's blade, pushing the innocent man out of the way. The others knocked back the Purifiers they had been hiding under and threw their shuriken at the other Purifiers. Naruto jumped off of the roof, with all eyes on him, whilst the clones in the crowd popped into smoke, allowing Naruto to absorb their knowledge. He heard the people that agreed with Stryker and they in turn angered him. But he also heard those that were disgusted by this event and it filled Naruto with hope.

"What is this?" Stryker asked, looking at Naruto as he landed.

Naruto raised his head, glaring at Stryker. The other Naruto clones jumped at the surrounding Purifier's, engaging them with Taijutsu. Four of the clones jumped at a heavy set Purifier, kicking him in the gut. Two more grabbed a Purifier by the arms and threw him into the crowd. The real Naruto broke off into a run towards Stryker.

"Kage Bushin No Jutsu," Naruto created a single clone, that jumped and grabbed the "cured" mutant.

The clone then jumped far away from Stryker as the real Naruto came in close.

"It doesn't matter how hard a life you've lived," Naruto said as he dodged a swipe from Stryker's sword.

Stryker thrust his hand at Naruto, firing a blast that the ninja easily avoided. Naruto moved his fist to punch Stryker, but quickly jumped over the man as he fired a blast from his chest.

'Why, why cant I shut down his disease, why cant I purify him?' Stryker wondered.

A look of panic crossed Stryker's face as he barely dodged Naruto's punch. The ninja remembered, his recall from the dispelled was complete. This man, William Stryker had lost his family during the Ultimatum wave. But instead of living his life and devoting himself to god in their memory, he chose to kill people, even peopled that had kids themselves.

"Anyone who kills innocent people, for any reason earns my wrath! BELIEVE IT!"

Naruto slammed his fist into Stryker's face, sending him bouncing across the floor. The armour covering Stryker's face shattered, exposing the circuitry of his cybernetic eye.

"No, who are you? What are you?" Stryker asked.

"You mean you don't know?"

Stryker raised his head, looking to the new arrivals. Iceman stood on one of his ice slides, smirking with Johnny. The Human Torch floated in the air, his fiery form illuminating the night. Rogue stood wearing a blue short sleeve suit, with her midriff covered by a white scarf while a pair of long yellow gloves covered her arms. Jimmy Hudson was crouched on the floor, brandishing his claws in a feral stance.

"He's the Maelstrom Ninja," Bobby said.

"Maelstrom ninja?" Johnny asked.

"Working on it," the Iceman whispered.

Stryker coughed and forced a smile onto his face as he got up off the floor.

"Well, look at that, you finally came back to me. And here I was beginning to worry, have to say though I am disappointed. Thought you'd bring more with you," Stryker said weakly.

"More, ha Naruto was all I needed, hell I can take you out all by myself," Jimmy said.

"I wasn't talking about you?" Stryker grinned as he looked at Rogue.

Naruto raised his head and widened his eyes as he looked at Rogue. She crossed her arms together and lowered her head, closing her eyes to hide the shame. Naruto had seen that look before, it was the look Sasuke had only once during their first battle at the valley of end. Rogue slipped her gloves off as she approached Bobby.

"Um, what's he talking ab…"

"I'm sorry," Rogue said before she touched Bobby's shoulder.

Queens

The graveyard was clear and despite what the papers had said, people hadn't protected the grave. He was disappointed actually, all this talk of the boy being a great hero and yet he wasn't shown the respect he deserved. The flowers were dead and the stone itself was already beginning to crumble.

"People can be so pathetic sometimes, they revere others and mourn their deaths and yet when enough time has passed they become relaxed. They forget the heroism and the example, as well as what kind of man the person that died was," he explained, as if talking to the gravestone.

He raised his hand to his hood, carrying out a habit he often constantly performed. The habit itself went unseen by the people watching him. Once he realised he was being watched, he grinned and knelt down by the grave. He dragged his hand across the stone, wiping away the moss and dirt to reveal the name.

"Peter Parker, beloved son, brother and hero, one should have added what you taught to this grave stone, perhaps it would have pushed those supposed leaders to use their power responsibly, or to at least take their power to the next level and silence the ignorance bigots," his smirk deepened as he heard the click of a gun's safety.

Fury narrowed his eye at the intruder in utter anger.

"I've been in this business long enough to know that when a shady person like you starts hanging around a dead hero's grave its never good," Fury.

He stood up, pressing his glasses up his nose, his constant habit. Lifting off his hood he looked at Fury and smirked.

"A face like this? Come on you can't be afraid of some nerdy silver haired guy," he said.

"I got where I was by regarding everyone with suspicion," Fury said.

"Don't lie to an expert on deception, I've made a living off of it since I was a child squinting at the clock, we both know or I at least suspect that you've done a lot more than that to get where you are today. I wonder could Peter Parker have been a victim of that ambition?" he looked at the grave and hummed with intrigue.

"What do you want?" Fury asked.

"You look like a man with a problem Fury and though I'm not as powerful as I used to be I still retain the knowledge of my world's expert on all things, in this world I am "the man who knows everything" and that allows me to cross certain lines that I know your willing to cross if it puts S.H.I.E.L.D. back on the map," the man explained.

"My duty is to protect the world no matter what the cost," Fury said.

"Say that to yourself in the mirror if it makes you feel better, anyway I'm not standing here at the boys grave just to discuss ethics. I'm here because I have a proposition for you."

"What is this proposition?" Fury asked.

"You need an army of super heroes, I can give it to you," the man smirked.

"And what should I be calling S.H.I.E.L.D's saviour?"

"Kabuto Yakushi, nice to meet you General Fury!"

Next Chapter 5: Betrayal

The plot thickens, Kabuto has arrived and intends to carry on his experiments. Because of the government cut backs, Fury may just be desparate enough to make a deal. Next time Rogue reveals her betrayal and Kitty and Sasuke confront one another abotu the ways they honour their loved ones.