Naruto Into the Spiderverse
Another day protecting the city.
Naruto swings from the high buildings with his webs, learning the art of web shooting at the young age of 7. On this bright and calm morning, Naruto can't help but find himself lost in his thoughts as he scours the city searching for crime.
A quiet day.. This has been the usual lately. It's been too quiet, after the last battle with Mom and Dad… I wouldn't mind the quiet, but it gives me too much time to think about them, and how much I miss them so much.
The young boy recalls the scene in his head, almost as if it happened yesterday.
The first thing he sees is blood. Lot's of it.
He swings from a building into a dark alleyway. The child wasn't supposed to come, his parents told him to stay home so he wouldn't get hurt. They told him he was not ready to face crime yet, and needed to focus on controlling his venom powers and learning the abilities given to him.
They left. 30 minutes later, he felt a terrible nausea come over him. Something felt... really wrong. The young boy snuck out of the house, eager to find his parents. Using his impeccable senses, he gazed high and low as he swung from the highest buildings in search of them. In just a couple minutes, his senses go off, which led him to the particular dark alleyway in the middle of the night, nausea at its maximum.
He looks around, dark crimson coating the sides of the walls and on the floor. Frightened of what may have happened, he takes a big breath before continuing ahead.
Life drains from the eyes of poor Naruto as he spots his mother and father drenched in blood, pale as the moon above. On the other side, lay the evil his parents had been going after for a long time. Young Naruto leans down next to his parents and checks for a sign of life, tears dripping when he can't feel anything in the bodies of the ones who mean so much to him. He screams out, tears now pouring down his face as he reaches for his mother's phone, calling the number they drilled in his head if anything were to happen.
The police show up in under ten minutes, the child out of sight hiding in a nearby building as he watches his parents get body bagged and transferred away. The public will soon know the identity of the newer spider man and woman, and he couldn't risk himself being found out as well. Another thing they drilled in his head.
As they leave the scene, so does Naruto. He heads to the only place he knows as home: his uncles. He shows up, opening the door and crying his eyes out to the only family he has left, as his uncle pulls him close and rubs his back, attempting to calm the boy down as the tended to the news: Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy were found dead in an alleyway around 1:o'clock this early morning...
Every time it's quiet, his mind goes back to that fateful day. He can't help but wonder what would have happened if he decided to go as well. Would he have died? Would he have saved his parents? Nothing would give him the satisfaction of knowing now. He continues to make his way around the city, spotting something.. purple(?) in the distance.
Naruto curiously swings over to the top of the building, a building which used to belong to the original spiderman, before he passed away as well. His father briefly met him before then, but right at the moment of death. He always looked up to the original spiderman, along with his father, and wished they could have met. The young boy reaches the corner of the building and springs forward to see a large lavender swirled portal. He notes it is a thin portal, with maroon and magenta swirling within the lavender. Curiously he reaches out his hand and…
It happens in an instant. Once his fingers brushed against the portal, he felt his body forced within, pulling him to the otherside in a matter of seconds. He lands against a building on the roof, his back grazing the brick and feeling the impact. His head is pounding, white dots dancing along his vision, as he hears screaming. Suddenly, the young boy feels weightless, feeling his body pulled in the air and unable to do anything to stop it. There's commotion going on, and it feels like eternity before his vision returns, and the sight in front of him…?
Confusion is written all over his face.
"Hey kiddo, you okay there? You just appeared out of nowhere!" A figure, slightly tall and dressed in a red and blue spider costume.
Spiderman? It couldn't be possible. He's been dead for years! Is this a cruel trick from the universe?
Suddenly hands grasp his shoulders as he's shaken out of his thoughts.
"Helloooo earth to child heree"
"Oh sorry! I'm okay but.. Where am I exactly?" Naruto peers to the right of the mysterious man and notices not far in the distance a white spider costume, the same costume his mother used to wear, and was wearing on the disastrous night. The spider woman(?) is fending off a dark purple colored fiend, and thankfully seems to be winning, but Naruto can tell they're struggling.
"Peter, I need some help over here!" Definitely a woman, the young boy notes. It couldn't be his mother though, he shakes the thought out of his mind. She's gone. I think the portal just moved me to maybe another city, and someone saw the cool costume my mom used. That's got to be it. And.. Peter IS a common name.
"On my way~ stay over to the side and hide, kid." Within a second the original-spiderman-mimic is up and away, joining the fight against the enemy with spider woman. Naruto watches in awe as the two move in a coordinated manner against their target. He even finds himself silently cheerings as they deliver the final knock out. Both heroes use their webs to wrap around the waist of the knocked out opponent, then Peter brings out his phone to alert the authorities. Not even a minute later Peter rushes at Naruto, grabbing him by the waist and swinging from each of the buildings.
"Hey, where are we going?" Naruto asks in a startled voice. It takes him a minute while they're swinging, but he realizes that the normal nausea and pit in his stomach he usually gets when things are bad.. are not here. This helps the young boy relax slightly. It's spiderman.. When has he ever been evil?
"We'll be there soon, it's not too far away~ hope the ride is comfortable, I don't think my pits stink.. Right?" Naruto looks over at Peter the best he can in his position and sees him make a face after his statement. This causes Naruto to let out a small giggle.
"Well.. Here's the party." The spiderman mimic comes through the building from an open window, lightly tossing the young boy onto the maroon leather sofa. All the warm lights make the place seem.. Cozy, but also reminds him of his cozy home with his parents. A few minutes pass when the spider woman comes out of her room, mask still on, and waves hello to Naruto as she takes a seat on a chair across from himself. In return, he gives her a puzzled look. This spider woman seems.. Uncomfortably familiar, especially now that he's been given a chance to look at her nearby. He sits there, lost in his thoughts about the mysterious people, until finally the woman speaks up.
"Hi there. You're probably wondering why you were brought here, and as a young boy are probably also very frightened. We saw you appear out of thin air, and thankfully Peter was here with me or I don't know how I would've saved you then. So we wanted to ask you who you are, and if you remember what happened before you came tumbling into our world."
Wait.. "our world"? What's that supposed to mean? Like.. country?
"Uhm.. I'm a bit confused, miss, what do you mean your world? And just who are you? You look familiar."
Peter and the spider woman give each other a knowing look, then each pull off their masks. Naruto could feel his blood run cold as he gazes at his mother's lookalike. His eyes begin to tear up as he looks for the strength to push it away. It's all.. So much right now. Too much to handle.
The adults give him a concerned look, and the boy suddenly becomes embarrassed for crying in front of strangers. Strangers, right?
"Hey, are you alright? I'm sorry if this is a lot of information for you, but we believe you have come from another universe. You came through a portal right? That's how Peter over here gets here as well. He's from another universe just like you."The lookalike finishes speaking, and gives the boy another concerned look while Peter grins. Naruto could feel his insides about to burst from the amount of confusing information. Could this also be my mom? But she doesn't know me.. And, is he a different version of his Peter Parker?
"I.. think I understand, but by any chance.. Is your name Gwen?" He almost regrets asking. Sometimes, maybe it's better not to know.
"That's me! How did you know that was my name?" This is why he almost didn't ask. The dreaded question of having to explain to his mother-not-mother how she knows who she is. He already thinks about those days every quiet second, but having to say it out loud? He feels like he's going to break.
"I-I well.." Naruto takes a deep breath, "In another "world", you were my mother." Naruto isn't sure why he emphasized "were" so much. Why does he want her to know she's no longer alive in another universe?
He lets out the breath he didn't realize he was still holding as he hesitantly looks at the strangers faces. He sees confusion, shock, stress from Gwen and a little bit of humor from Peter. They cycle through these emotions so quickly, that everyone is silent for what feels like another eternity. Before another moment passes the door gently swings open, revealing a man in a black spider suit, mask off.
If Naruto didn't know any better, he'd think he was dead. With how cold his body feels, he might as well be.
"Hey guys I- wait, what's going on?" Feeling the room, his father's lookalike places his stuff down real quick and takes a seat next to Naruto, on the other side of the couch.
"Anyone going to inform me on what is happening?" Hearing his father's voice brings him to tears once again, and a knowing look on Gwen's face shows she knows who Miles is to him-.
"So Miles honey, I didn't get a chance to inform you but this young boy fell from a portal in the midst of battle. We carried him here to ask where he came from, and it turns out, We were his parents in another timeline" Gwen speaks sweetly to Miles, just as the young boy remembers they would do, and he could see the lights flicker in his eyes as Miles processes the information.
His "father" grasps Naruto excitedly and lifts him in the air, pulling him into a gentle hug. "I can't believe you're our child from another universe! Now that I get a closer look at you, you definitely have our features." Naruto laughs, holding onto the warmth his father always had. It followed him wherever he went, and always chased the nightmares away.
"This is definitely exciting! Although, you look in your preteens. If your parents are the same age as us in your timeline, that means we had you quite early in our marriage. And.. us here, we aren't exactly sure if we want a child so soon." Gwen walks over and places a hand on Miles's shoulder squeezing gently.
"We talked about this, you would make a great father. There's no one I'd trust more with a child than you, not even Peter."
"Hey!" Peter huffs towards the spider woman, but Naruto could tell it was an act to make his "father" feel better. The young boy wonders what has happened in this universe to cause his father figure to be so undecided.
"I hear you Gwen, I just, don't want them to have to go through what I went through. Losing family, we're always leaving for missions, I mean are we really parent material? For us, it's either give up being heroes and settle down or live without bringing children into this world. I can't see anything in between here.. As much as I wish there was." Miles lets out a deep sigh, this is something that has been on his mind for awhile, Naruto notes.
"Uhm, My name is Naruto, I'm ten years old- not exactly preteen yet, and you both- I mean MY parents, were really amazing with me. They taught me all kinds of tricks and how to keep myself safe while training. They were so brave, right up until the end." He wipes his eyes free of salty tears- He won't cry, not in front of them. He must remain strong.
"Woah" Peter lets out a gasp. "I assumed early maybe but, your parents.. Aren't around anymore are they?" The mimic regrets his question as soon as the first word came spilling out.
"No.. about a couple weeks ago, they passed away. Along with the enemy they were fighting against for a long time. They all killed each other. Ever since, I've been watching the city alone. We had an original Spiderman, but he's been long gone since before my father really picked his hero stuff up. So.. It's just me." Naruto can't hold the tears back any longer as everyone surrounds him and holds him close, in one big group hug. It's so much for a ten year old child to go through, and they're amazed he's come this far, so strong. Gwen was the first to break the comfortable silence.
"It's going to be okay, you may be young but I'm sure you're doing amazing work over there protecting your city. You're our youngest official spiderman." His "mother" gives him a soft smile, and soon the party disperses out the sound of ruckus coming from outside. From the apartment complex they could see cars thrown into the air, and small buildings sliced apart.
"The situation is serious. Looks like we're going to have to finish this after the threat is neutralized. Naruto, stay here while we take care of things. We should be back in no time!" Gwen and the gang haphazardly throw their mask back on and adjust their suits, leaving no time for a response as the throw themselves out the window, swinging wherever the danger is coming from.
Once again, Naruto is all alone. Just like the night I lost them… What if something happens again like in my universe. If I stay, as I did before, will they meet the same fate? Naruto paces around the living room, stuck in his battle between defying their request, or staying put and listening. Every minute he doesn't make a decision causes the panic to well up inside the young boy's chest, each moment feeling wasted and crucial. He's never defied his parents before, better yet anyone. He feels in his heart what he should do, but he's afraid. Recalling his fathers words "If you're ever afraid, remember it's going to be okay. Get up, face it, and show your fear who is boss! Don't let your fear control you and change your path in life."
Naruto closes his eyes, takes a breath, opens them, and full speed glides out the window. He can't watch them die again and blame himself for doing nothing. This time, he'll do something. He'll either save them or die alongside knowing he did his best. And that's enough for him.
Using his spider senses like he did before, he is greeted with a scene below him. Fear courses through his veins as he lowers himself to the floor. It all felt so.. Uncomfortable. Like he was reliving that day again.
Only this time, he finds all three heroes still alive, against an enemy twice their size. Both sides are getting tired and reckless, and soon Miles finds himself about to be crushed with a giant steel boot. Time begins to move to a crawl as Naruto spots the scene, and feels his body run on pure impulse. He approaches the boot of the enemy, slides underneath with Miles, and perfectly performs the move he had never mastered until now- His venom size expander. Growing in size underneath the steel, his body becomes dark as the venom surrounds it, covering his head in black with white facial features. The creature, roughly the same time, becomes startled as Naruto lifts the leg, swinging his body in a circle and releases it in the air. As the opponent remains jumbled up from the throw, Venom grabs Miles and moves him out of fighting range - behind Gwen and Peter protecting them.
As his mastered ability is still new, the young boy shifts back down to normal size, the black retracting from his body and returning within. He falls to the floor as the defense took much of his energy, and Miles quickly jumps up to grab him.
"Are you okay?" Naruto shrugs, causing Miles to continue, "That was incredible! We knew you had spider powers, but venom? That's insane."
"I've had it since I was young, my parents were never sure why exactly. Maybe breeding spiders made venom?" He finds himself giggling as he recalls the teasing his parents use to delve out about his special venom powers. "Although, I had never been able to perfect them or do it on command.. Until now." The boy is still awestruck from how he briefly paralized their enemy, recalling the emotions he felt which caused the sudden change to happen.
Bravery, courage, the will to succeed and not accept failure.
Feeling brave like my parents gave me the strength to save my other father. I always felt so scared in my heart, and dad knew it was holding me back, but I couldn't let it go! I finally did.. And I know he would be so proud of me..
Naruto sits up, moving to the right of Miles and briefly brushing against his side.
"You know.." The older spider begins "Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be such a bad thing after all to have a child. Especially if they grow to become as brave and strong as you." He ruffles the younger boy's hair. "But this is something for later. Come on, let's help Gwen and Peter take care of our nuisance. Don't think I forgot about what we told you.. But I think just this once we can let you help." Miles winks and takes Naruto's hand, pulling him into battle as the other spider's attempt to drop the enemy onto the floor again- almost successful. The steel-type creature may be large, but everyone has a weakness if you look out for it.
"Hey little man, come help us with your webs. We need all four of us to wrap them around two buildings, creating a thick material to trip them! Once we do so, we all surround the enemy on the floor and wrap our webbing around the body, so it can't move. After that, they'll be down for the count since they're already weakened." Peter calls out across the fighting range, and instantly Naruto's body is once again on autopilot, attaching his webbing to the corner of one building and swinging at high speed to the other side. He attaches the webbing to the other corner and waits on the roof as the other heroes follow suit. The creature tramples forward, appearing confident in destroying said material, and grazes the webbing as it continues forward. For a moment, it appears the plan would fail as some of the webbing breaks apart from the continued movement. The steel creature appears tired, and loses its balance, falling over the webbing onto the other side, hitting the ground face first. In a flash, all four heroes wrap the sticky webbing around its body multiple times, the white material tightening around said creature. The giant struggles against the webbing in order to break free, but to no avail as it had exhausted its energy from the battle.
Like last time, Naruto watches as this time Miles makes a call to the police to lock the ravenous creature away from raising anymore havoc. All heroes come together and breathe, exhausted from the fight, before preparing their trip back home before the police show up. Miles grabs ahold of a tired Gwen and Peter grabs the young boy and makes their way back home.
"You were amazing out there kiddo. You trying to put me to shame here?" Peter lets out a light chuckle, attempting to clear the tension in the air as they make their way home.
"To be fair, I didn't know I could do that yet! But I'll gladly take your place as best spiderman~" Naruto gently pokes the older spider in the side and feels a smile creep on his face. This is the happiest he has been in a long time.
"Hey now, you still have a long time until you're as good as me! Keep going the route you're going and maybe you'll reach my level~" He smiles, entering the window and once again lightly tossing Naruto onto the couch. The springs in the leather couch cause him to gently bounce back up, almost hitting Peter in the face.
Not too long afterwards, Gwen and Miles fling through the window and on the other side of the couch, Gwen resting her energy next to the young boy. This was his first true mission, and all he can do is think about how his other father would have been killed without him.
Everything happened so fast. My first mission.. I'm so panicky, stressed, and so thankful everyone is okay. I feel even worse knowing I could have saved my parents if I disobeyed them and mastered my venom powers a lot sooner.. It seems not matter what happens, the self destructive thoughts manage to make their way back into his head. All the "what ifs" the "could haves", so many ways things could have gone, both in the past and in the battle not too long ago.
Naruto can find one positive out of all the negative thoughts: if he's alongside his heroes, then they'll never lose. He'll never let them leave without him again. No longer would he be afraid, and he'll take down anyone who threatens his friends.
"That was one hell of a battle. Seems like little Naruto doesn't listen to staying put, just like someone else I know~" Peter throws a teasing look towards Miles, who returns it by scrunching his face. He almost seems... proud of the young boy?
"Speaking of such, I've been thinking." Miles moves beside Gwen causing her to sit up, and he looks her in the eyes with a passion. "Maybe, we can do right if we have a child. In another universe, we had Naruto, and if our child in this one is anything like him, then I think everything will be okay. But.. we have to raise him and make sure he's prepared for the real world, spider powers or not."
Naruto could feel his heart pounding through his chest. A child, would it look and be like me? Would it also have venom powers?
Peering over at Gwen, he could see the twinkles of light in her eyes as they shine with excitement. He swears if the room was completely silent, he could also hear her heart pounding.
"I, I'm so happy you feel this way! I'm a little uncertain of having a child at the moment, but maybe in the near future?" His "mother" throws her arms around Miles, delivering a kiss to the left of his cheek. This causes Peter to clap excessively, Naruto joining in with the biggest smile across his face.
"Little Miles and Gwen yesss. You think the baby would look exactly like Naruto?"
"Well, things are slightly different in this universe, but who knows? I assume we looked the same in the other universe judging by the expressions Naruto made when he first got here. But if they are twins.. Then we have to name him or her something different, but unique." Gwen speaks softly, still gathering her energy from the news and the battle not only an hour ago.
"I don't know about having it so soon! But I think I definitely want a child now. Maybe in the near future? Let's see where we are in a couple months."
"I'm almost scared. If it's a venom baby like little man over here? Good luck, they're gonna be a pain in the ASS. And when you can't take it anymore, i'm not crossing paths to babysit!" Peter places his hands on his waists, almost in a sassy lady attitude. This causes Naruto to giggle and the older spider winks at him. How he loved making the little one laugh and seeing him in high spirits.
Naruto clears his throat. "I really enjoyed spending time with you, and I wish I didn't have to yet, but my uncle is waiting for me back at home. How can I make it back to my universe?"
"Peter can help you out. Typically there's a device that can activate a wormhole, similar to the wormhole you went in to get here. However, this can only be accessed from Peter's roof top. Every world has a wormhole somewhere, but only the device Peter has can close them off or make them reappear. We need to bring you to his roof top." Gwen and Miles shed a tear at the thought of the young boy departing, feeling a piece of their heart drift away as if Naruto was their own child. In a sense, he kind of was.
"If you're ready to head out, we should get going, it's getting dark outside." Naruto gathers his strength as the others begin to stand up hesitantly. The tension in the air is maddening, and it makes him want to change his mind and stay with them forever. But he can't… he's got a town and an uncle to protect back at home. They need him, and he needs them.
One by one, they leave through the usual window, turning left only a short distance of buildings until they reach a rundown brick building. This kind of building stands out from the rest, and Naruto can only imagine this must be their Peter's house. After all he did seem.. Messier.
One at a time they swing up to the edge of the rooftop, with Naruto joining last.
"This is it man, we're going to miss you. I know we can visit, but it won't be for awhile. We also have people and a city to protect, just like you do." Peter feels the tears fall down his cheeks one by one, slowly becoming a river at the thought of his new friend leaving.
"Yes.. whenever we have our child, we will bring them to meet you. You're such a strong, brave boy, I can't believe you're only ten!" Gwen's face heats up as she uses her strength to hold back her own tears. She's always been the tough one of the group.
"I can't wait. I bet the child will be just like you, but Gwen says there will be some differences. We'll definitely come visit once I win the bet." Miles grins widely, but this causes the tears to flow down his cheeks as well, dripping onto his clothing.
Naruto, like the others, can no longer hold them back as he tears flow like a waterfall down his cheeks, dropplets touching the ground. He's going to miss his other family, and so badly wants to stay. But for his real parents, he has to remain strong, and fight in their place. Besides, this isn't goodbye forever, he reminds himself. This notion helps the tears drop at a slower rate, turning from waterfall to sprinkles as he runs up to Peter, gripping him tightly. Peter holds him close as Miles and Gwen move towards the two for a group hug. Everyone squeezes tightly, and even though he feels like he's being crushed, he doesn't mind. It's warm, it's like home. But it has to end for now.
Naruto breaks off from the group as Peter activates the lavender portal. It looks the exact same as the one back home, and he wonders if they're all the same across universes. As the boy steps closer to the portal, he turns around and smiles, giving a slight wave. The heroes wave back, and he reaches out a hand, slowly returning back to the building he came from - on top of the deceased Peter Parker's household.
A year goes by, and in the other universe, Gwen gives birth to a young boy. They name him "Sasuke" and notice the venom briefly wraps around the child. They look over and grin happily, eagerly awaiting their new life.