A new chapter, new story, gonna continue it from here, without further ado, let's go
Red
"This end now naruto ... for all of our fight"
Bleeding, dying, tired, he felt all of those and more, his knees buckled, threaten to fall over
but he stood, he has nothing more than willpower ... and chakra, his chakra, whatever he has left
"I can't let you betray konoha sasuke ... no matter how much it hurt"
he did his signature move, the rasengan, the air spiraling around his palm, a familiar blue orb that expand overtime
this is it, his last offense or defense, the fox chakra are no more, it's just him now
sasuke, by the looks of him, he too on his last rope, he did a series of handseal, lightning sparks around his left hand, a chirping noise
how many times sasuke had stab those on him ... ten to fifteen times now?
they have fought for a week, he didn't know why reinforcement aren't here already, by this time, there should be someone from konoha already
in his fight against sasuke, he fail to take in the account that the battle have move them far away, from valley of the end, they kept trading blow for blow, leaving destruction in their wake
Now they at the end of the road, nowhere to go except through each other, one hit to finish it all
They both jump at each other, jutsu clashing with a force that vaporate everything around them, naruto's right hand begin to feel burning, his skin peel off from its flesh
but he push on, he got nowhere to go except foward
sasuke also under the same effect, driven by his need for revenge, he too put more chakra to his attack despite the skin peeling off
and without they even realizing, their attack change into a huge black dome that envelope them both
when the dome disappeared, their both were nowhere to be seen
He open his eyes when he felt his cheek kept getting poked
"Native" he chuckled, watching the woman who codename was "feral", he wasn't exactly sure what's her real name is beside her codename, he dug up whatever he can find about her past but so far, nothing came up
she also in the same category like wolverine, got bone claw, experiment on by the weapon x, hunted by the same organization
those guy never learn, do they
"toyo ... here ... mi-s-shion" unlike wolverine, who was lucky enough to stumble upon a kind couple, heather and mac, the leader of the alpha flight
native?, not so much, she spent most of her lives in the woods after escaping weapon x, it is understandable that her vocabulary is limited
he still working on that, now she take regular bath, when he first took her in, she absolutely despise it, she ate cooked food and not raw, her animalistic tendency are still there but slowly and surely, she grown out of it
her broken english is something he still struggle with, he is no teacher after all
He stood up and look outside the window, he can see tokyo down there.
... it's still fascinating how his world tokyo and this world are vastly different, if he could only go back with a picture and show them what it's look like in the future
... that's also mean he be dead by the time tokyo back home have advance this much ... quite a depressing thought
"stay here while i finish this" looking back, feral just sat crossed leg, looking at him with a tilted head "and don't mess with the control"
opening the hatch, he stretch his arm before jumping down, he arch his body, diving to one particular building
taking out his FN40-GL, he shot a shell down, ahead of him, between the building, it exploded and sprang out a net, each wires hook on the concrete wall
he tucked his feet to his chest, falling on the net, it stretch down for a minute before it bounce him into the air
heading toward a building, he immediately latch on, using chakra to walk up walls
"You late" aaaand there she is, standing at the age of the rooftop to greet him, elektra, dress in her usual outfit, her stoic face in place, which could also be her game face "you suppose to be here six minutes ago"
"a miscalculation on my part, i kept forgetting the world doesn't share the same time" he said sarcastically, taking her hand, she pull him up "now, why do you call me all the way from new york?"
"the hand is on the move again" she walk to the other part of the roof "i had a lead two days ago, they have been moving something around tokyo"
"any idea what it could be?" the hand, of course, ninja ... he almost laugh at it, this world version of ninja are so strange sometimes, it's a cult, worshipping suppose beast
"Could be corpses, one of my ... associate, told me they were planning to rebuild their ranks after what wolverine and i did" Given elektra stoic nature, it's very easy to discern the fondness in her pause
"and this associate wouldn't happen to be daredevil, wouldn't it?" Taking out his binocular, he take a look at the building they staking out
"Since when you shown interest in my love life, boss?" there's a distinctively tone of amusement in her voice
"since i heard you been going on and off with the guy" he didn't mean to know of course, his proximity alert show him what's going around in new york and that includes his former subordinate "for god sakes, if you wanna bang the guy, just bang him, don't give him mixed messages"
"you giving tips on how to do relationship now" if her face was blank before, now it's just full blown smirk "i mean of course, if anyone know anything of relationship, it should be you, who else can claim dating three girls at the same time and they didn't even protest about it"
"for the last time, i ain't dating anyone" it was bad enough wade kept ribbing him for it, he didn't need elektra to join in the fun "and our payload is here"
Roxxon, of course roxxon in the cahoots with the hand, he zoom in on the three truck parked on roxxon loading dock, body bag after body bag being hurled onto a cart
"There's a opening on the roof but it would be heavily guarded by a sentry, we could use the loading bay, stopping the process?" Elektra laid out the plan she make
"No, i go knocking on the front door while you push in by the side of the building" he check his equipment "radio stay on, I be the distraction while you go rounding up those bodies"
"how do you plan on knocking, boss?"
"with a sledgehammer"
"FOR THIS INSULT ON THE HAND, YOU WILL PAY WITH YOU'RE LI-HUAGH"
A very much expected response from a ninja that is very loyal to it's clan ... and a very much expected retaliated answer from him, which is a bullet to the throat
his distraction is pretty much working, a M72 LAW rocket to the second floor window would make anyone scurrying the hell out of the building, including hand ninja
he kept his range at first, his ability as marksmen is top notch, every bullet hit their target, a machine gun nest across the street, firing a M60 at every ninja that came at him
when he first came to this world, he stick to kunai and shuriken but later on, he found guns are much more interesting to use
what was the word he said, oh yes, what is something more dangerous than a shinobi?
Shinobi with Guns
which make him snorted at the thought, it's funny how the hand opted to use kunai, shuriken and katana while he use modern weapon, not that he didn't use kunai anymore, he still does, he just find guns much more fun to shoot
Some manage to deflect his bullets with a katana but he make a quick fix on that, he threw a kunai with his left hand to kill anyone who delfect his bullet while he shooting with his right hand
managing the recoil never been a problem with his super strength
when he ran out of bullet, he decide to get up and close, pulling out his sword, he hack and slash every hand ninja that was on his way
they have number while he has strength, on any other man, it might overwhelmed them but not him, not today
when they upped their number, he thin it out, pressing a button on his belt, the mines he planted on the street exploded, killing a dozen of them
fortunately, the civilian already leave the premises when the shooting start
"I got the package, let's move"
Elektra did her part, keeping a distance, he is surrounded ...
... by dead ninja, there's a irony in that
"love to play more ... but i have a business to run" throwing a ball on the ground, it exploded into smoke, covering the whole block
... he got away by using the walls of the building, sticking to shadows, he didn't even use any shunshin jutsu
just for that, he could say he is the better ninja than the hand
"Anything major with your update?"
It was a quick job, get in, play with the hand for a moment and get out
doesn't mean it wasn't bloody, fortunately, his plane has shower in it
"Not much, most of these bodies were reported missing from their grave about a month ago" elektra was examining the bodies, determining the origin
"we sent those body back to where it's belong" seriously, grave robber, he had enough of those back home "i inform silver samurai what's up"
"That's not all boss" he raise a brow, what else is new? "it's just not bodies they try to bring back"
Curious, he went closer to see what she been looking at, his eyes widen for a moment before chuckling
"Well, well" Taking a piece of rock in his hand, a very familiar face sculpture on it "you look good tomi, what's you're secret"
Tomi shishido aka the gorgon, one of the poor bastard who have try to control wolverine, only to end up like the rest of the s.o.b who test their luck with weapon x
"What should we do about him, boss?" Elektra, of course is no fan of tomi, who once try to control her too, he would kill the bastard first if it wasn't because of wolverine got to sink his claw on the gorgon
"grind the rest of this piece of shit to dust and pour it all into sulfur acid" casually throwing the piece away, he wipe his hand "if you up for it, napalm this asshole to oblivion, don't give even for a slightest chance for the hand to resurrect this thing"
"who said anything about giving a chance?"
"Spider-man is a menace, swinging around, web this and that, his fight are destroying the street, you wanna know why, because he get mone-"
He tune out the shrill voice of jonah, if he have a gold everytime that man accuse spider-man for every little thing, he would be rich by now and he wouldn't even be a assassin
okay, that was a lie, he would still be doing assassin work, it's just who he is, always on the battlefield
after dropping off elektra at hell kitchen, no doubt wanting to mess with hornhead, he immediately went back home, a nice place in harlem
which also used to be the thunderbolt headquarters but since the team break up, it's just him
or how it should be when it he got home
"You know, if you wanna be sneaky, don't leave your shoes at the front door"
"I wasn't trying to"
He raise a brow when a woman came around a corner, wearing a tan trench coat and shades, he took a closer look
"you the woman who i save before, jessica jones?"
"that's me" she started nervously, fidgeting in her place "i just ... want to properly thank you for saving me"
"i wasn't" that sound rude "but you just so happen to be there so i figure why not"
They stood there, looking at each other, !naruto just wait for her to say something else while she struggling to find something to start a conversation
"I-i thought we could ... talk?" she started hesitantly
He look at the woman, she seem frazzled, worry but far more better than when he first saw her "sure, let's talk"
Jessica sat on a couch, it was not luxurious, just a simple settee
"latte" he said, putting down a cup of steaming coffee, he change his clothes, wearing a simple turtleneck and jeans
"thank you" she took a sip of it and immediately felt a little better
they both sat for a minute, taking in the atmosphere, she was a bit anxious and was wondering how he can do that effortlessly, to remain calm and collected
it was then she realized he was waiting, for her to say the reason she here "i-i'm can thank you enough for saving me and more, i can't express my gratitude enough for you to share luke whereabout"
"it was not a big deal" he said calmly, drinking his latte
well, it was to her
"i don't know if you know this ... but i'm a bit out of loop" she twiddle with her finger, it was rare for her to get nervous but she is, she could feel this whole thing with fury are big "what did fury do?"
He hummed, he considering her questions, she can tell by how his eyes went slightly blank for a minute
she patiently wait for his answer, which didn't take long
"do you know who is lucia von bardas?" she nodded, she isn't interested in politics much but when it come to latveria, it's kinda "need-to-know" news about who's running the place, it had doom as a ruler after all "well, latveria have been using money that the u.s been funding them, they been equipping b-list villain with high tech"
well, that's new for her
"uncle sam, of course want keep things civil, by that, i mean diplomatically" He close his eyes, as if considering something "fury became desperate and immediately went to recruit, wolverine, spider-man, captain america, daredevil and luke cage"
he pause, probably to let her sink this all in, which she gratefully take, so her boyfriend went on secret mission for fury in latveria, that would explain why he didn't told her what he did those month ago
"To keep story simple, fury did something in latveria, presumably kill lucia and the rest were probably mad at him, he use something to make everyone who join his secret war to forget the event" he shake his head "but of course, fury didn't finish the job, some time pass and here we are, lucia attack us and you know the rest"
"so that's why they hide what happen" she whisper, feeling a little dizzy "that's why the media didn't cover anything about it, they didn't know what really happen, something that big ... it could lead to war"
"yup" he look at his radio "that's why jonah currently frothing about Spider-Man and not about what exactly happen that day, they understand when shield want them to look away, they look away"
"this shit is so fuck up" she cover her face with her hand "fury fuck our lives over"
"welcome to our world, miss Jessica" he smile sardonically "it's a cold game we play, there's no back you can count on, once you did ... colder yet, it's the grave"
She took a deep breath, in and our, it took her a solid ten minutes for her to console herself, fury just put a massive target on their back, if anyone else would to find out about this ...
"T-thank you, for telling me this" she stood up, she need time to process everything, once again, her life took a turn for the worse "i need ... some time to think"
"it is no problem" he walk with her to the door "beside, i'm telling you because i spite fury" he gave a smile "anyway, how did you find my place?"
Thunderbolt Headquarter aren't exactly a hidden base, the exterior design didn't stand out from his neighbors design and that's what he's been aiming for, to blend in among other, of couse he has a base, just not up here
"i'm a private investigator, it's kinda like my job to find things like these ... kinda pathetic isn't it ... i can find this place and not luke" she had a bitter smile, probably admonishing herself at some point "and i have ... had a apartment in harlem, so it help"
He smile, opening the door "well, miss jones, it has been a pleasure"
she nodded, putting on her shades back, she went out while had a air of wariness, probably still thinking hydra on her, he close the door
deciding to close up for the day, he went to his room on the second floor and lay down the futon, even with all the money he get from doing mercenary work, he never bought a bed
he never found it comfortable to sleep in it
he sigh, taking off his shirt, lay down and close his eyes, tommorow, the world can throw anything they want at him and he would face them as always
...
...
...
RING
Well, at least he get six minutes of shut eyes ...
looking at the id caller, he answer "Hello?"
"..."
"..."
It was silent but he know who is the caller, she just need some time to find her word
" ..."
"..."
" ... Naruto"
"Laura"
The line went silent for a moment again
"I ... need help"
"Where?"
He could hear a gasp and he smile, guess she didn't expect him to said that quick
" ... mutant town"
"i've on my way"
Laura watch as you stood over a corpse, the rain makes it look imposing, a man who call himself zebra daddy, her pimp
laura felt nothing about the man, he shelter her but he also use her, she have no emotional attachment to the man
"why do you kill him?"
and still, she had to ask, as someone who's born in a lab and struggle with what's normal and not normal, killing zebra was not really necessary
He turn his head on her, his helmet, orange and black helmet look ... funny "he was kidnapping young girls and make them prostitute" his voice was ... detached, make her wonder if he also part of weapon x program like her ... a weapon "you free now"
"free?" she whisper the word, thinking about it, she never really thought herself as a prisoner, until now, she have been wandering around aimlessly
He stare at her, she didn't know why, when her approach her, she didn't back away, her enhance senses told her he mean her no harm
"what's your name" this time, his voice are soft, gentle
" ... laura ... my name is laura kinney"
Mutant town, a part of new york that hold most of mutant that awaken their power there
it was also the ugly side of new york, with the high rate of crime, drug use, gang war
it was also the first time he met laura
he parked his bike outside of wannabees, a mutant theme club, figure someone would make a profit out of that
he spot a figure on the rooftop, smiling, he went to an a alleyway and ran all the way up
"Naruto" She haven't change much since he last saw her, her hair have grown longer, what's more funny is the outfit she pick
The fang, a costume that wolverine once wore
"Nice choice" she didn't give him any word regarding her choice of attire, except for a small blush on her cheeks "what's the problem?"
"i had a ... friend" she confessed, which a first to him, apparently she have a second friend now, with him being the first "his name is matthew, the bacchae has him"
"What's so special about this matthew guy that a criminal organization want a piece of him?"
"matthew is dating the current daughter of don parisi, jade parisi" a drama, this night turning to be more and more like tv show "i suspect the bacchae want to expand their territory"
"and use matthew as a bargaining chip" a hostage situation "what of jade?"
"she fine, i took her someplace safe"
"and the bacchae is in the club i assume or at least a group of them?"
her nod confirm it
"well, you get ready to track them, i'm gonna have a talk with them"
Without a word, she leap across the building, moving to the backdoor, he Chuckled, that girl knew him too well by what he mean by talk
"DEATHSTROKE IS HERE, KILL HIM"
it didn't take much effort for them to notice him, one glance at his helmet and they knew who he is
... or at least couldn't take the chance to not attack the real him, he is quite famous among gangster after all
"Ladies-" He let out a grunt when the said ladies let the guns talk, instead of bullets, the gun shoot energy beam
His armor can absorb it, the beam was not strong enough to pierce through nth metal
"-let's have a talk shall we?" taking out another gun, it was a stun gun, it make a whirring sound as it charge up before shooting a bolt out
"AAARGH"
and it make contact as three ladies got hit in the armor, normal metal armor ...
... That's look painful
"retreat" The boss lady, he assume, throw a flashbang, it explode into a massive light show, he just stand there, unfaze as the bacchae grab their wounded and move to the back
"You on the move?" pressing his earpiece, he wait for laura
" ... yes"
Good, laura had wolverine nose, she can track the bacchae, meanwhile ...
his turn around and there he is, still sporting a mohawk, wearing suits and what not
the man gave him a grin before disappeared among the crowd, Naruto just shake his head
He make his way outside the club, using the alleyway, though his stroll was cut short when he notice a shadow cast over him
he did a barrel rolled just in time when a tall figure smash the pavement where he was standing, a mutant, by the way the man dress, he probably a henchman
"Evening" The man smile as if he wasn't trying to crush deathstroke under his foot earlier "the name geech, i work for don parisi" the now name geech lean foward, trying to intimidate "the don daughter is missing, you wouldn't happen to know where she is?"
Too bad he mess with the wrong assassin
"Let's talk"
Laura wasn't even even surprise when she came upon a sight of naruto, sitting on some man back, the said man were laying on the ground, knock unconscious
"w-who's that?" her good friend, Matthew, who sometime sneak her food when she was out In the street, ask while sticking close to her
"a friend" he is much more than that to her but matthew didn't need to know that, she asked the important question "who is he?"
"Geech, work for parisi, apparently, the don think we the one who kidnapped his daughter" he casually knock the henchman head, making the "muscle" man groan "had to knock some sense to him"
"matthew" a beautiful blonde lady cried out when his clones jump down from a rooftop, he stood up as jade hug her boyfriend "oh thank god, you alright"
"miss, you gonna be the death of me" geech groan, picking himself up "i told you to not wander outside the mansion without me"
"so you can pull me away from my boyfriend?" jade angrily point her finger at her bodyguard "it's bad enough daddy want to keep his eyes everywhere, you been threatening my boyfriend?"
"case closed, let's go laura" already seeing a drama coming up, he grab her hand and lead her away, she didn't resist, matthew said his thanks as his girlfriend rip her bodyguard a new one
once they were far enough, he take a good look at her "ya know, you look kinda good in that outfit, you thinking of joining them?"
Laura gave him a look, one that he knew too well, it make him sigh "laura, what do you want me to do?"
"take me in" wow, it's like she been waiting to say that the moment he gave her a chance to do so
"laura" he pause, he really didn't know what to do with this girl "you do know the thunderbolt is no more right?"
she fidget in her spot, it was the first time he saw her do so, 'Is that a blush?' wow, she never flustered before
"i ... didn't mean the thunderbolt" is this the same laura or a clone of a clone, her arms behind her back, one hand gripping the other bicep, her foot lightly scrap the floor, she look very much like a blushing school girl "i mean ... i wanna live with you"
his eyes widened slightly behind his helmet, that's new "you ... want to live with me?"
She didn't say anything but the slightest nod of her head confirm it, he mused about her request, he didn't mind another roomates
the other one was feral but the woman like her private space too much these days
"sure" her smile was so wide, it's look beautiful on her face, she should smile more "i park my bike at the club, can you drive it here while i double check everything"
Laura nodded, taking the keys, she walk ahead to do just that
once she out of earshot, he leap from the ground and onto a rooftop
"perspective as always boss"
"Daken"
The biological son of wolverine smirk, brushing back his mohawk "What are you doing here boss?"
"I could ask the same to you" Daken was always the manipulative type but his presence are somewhat a question "Looking after your sister?"
"She is not my sister" daken frowned, looking down at the street, specifically at laura "and i was just having a good time"
"good time ... right" two people related to wolverine are in the same club, sure "where's reine, usually you two are inseparable"
"at home, binging lost since yesterday" he lean foward, taking a closer look at laura who was heading their way "i heard you and elektra were doing some op in japan"
"the hand"
"oh" make sense, elektra always had some beef with the hand "does this me-"
"i know what you gonna ask daken and the answer is always no" it's getting exhausting lately with the question "the thunderbolt is disbanded, it's not gonna come back"
"for now maybe" daken turn around with a grin, lest he want laura to catch his scent "i heard the avengers was assembling back together"
"no it's not" naruto shake his head, sometimes his former subordinate like to compete themselves with the avenger "we not getting back together, not since ..."
daken could see his boss struggle to keep the anger in, figure the assassin didn't let go that incident "what happen, happen boss, you can't blame yourself for it, it's not fair and you know it"
"regardless, he was one of ours daken" he scowled "hulk had issues to deal with, sure but all of us have one, we work it out just fine, fury had no right to do that"
Daken sigh, it's a pointless argument with the boss, he may be all professional and all that but it doesn't mean he is heartless
"Well, here's hoping for the team get back together" daken offer his hand "if you need anything ..."
"i know" shaking his hand, naruto watch as daken jump from rooftop to rooftop, just as laura call for him, he jump down to meet with her
time to go home
Yawning, he finally got his rest, laura got a room across from him, which is also feral room
the two met not too long ago and already bunk bed like they best friend ... which they probably are
is it because some girl power to get along well or they related to wolverine?
either way, laura is right at home and he can take the night off
Laying down, he closed his eyes, before he went to sleep, he always say something that probably ruin his next day
but it is a some sort of tradition for him
'I hope for a better day tommorow'
"They are going to kill her, all the rest, xavier, all the avengers, all the x-men, they are meeting right now in new york, i was just there"
Genosha, a place where mutant once live in prosperity, one corner in the world where human can't hurt them now just a husk of its former glory
it held a remainder of what disaster have fallen upon mutant ... this place just left a bitter memory for magneto and he feel history gonna repeat itself
wanda, his daughter, he have fail her before, use her, abandon her but right now, in her time of need, he won't
her power are getting out of control and he fear the worst
"They are agreeing to kill her, why else they would meet, there are going to decide there is no other way, and they are going to come here and kill her" Pietro, his son, like any good brother, have come to protect his sister "MY SISTER, YOUR OWN DAUGHTER"
"What would you have me do?"
it was a question with no clear answer, it was cruel, magneto knew this but he had to make his son understand
"They're going to kill her"
"WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?"
there's no solution to this, no answer, no fix
In despair, he saw his son fall to his knee, clutching magneto knee, he take a look at wanda to make sure she still sleeping
she didn't show any sign of waking up, at this moment of weakness, he finally let his emotion take over
tears pooled around his eyes, perhaps this is karma for what he has done in the past
Sins of the father they say
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
he brought his fist down, smashing the poor clock to pieces
yawning, he immediately wash his face down and brush his teeth, took a shower, heading down to make some breakfast, the usual routine
"girls, food ready" sitting down, he took a sip of his latte, turning on the radio, he browse through his phone for some contract
Stilt-man?, haven't heard about that guy for month, 300k alive, taskmaster?, too much of a hassle
"Good morning new york, on today hot topics, the famous actor, simon williams will make a appearance in alison star show, tune in for more at channel 3"
Huh, weird, there's no word going around for fury, guess the case is closed for now
"and remember folk, this weekend, the house of Magnus will hold a charity gala, all world leaders will be present there, it's a one of a kind event so don't miss out and stay tune to this channel"
... what?
He look at his radio as if it just spew out some alien, house of magnus?
what the fuck is house of magnus?
" ... Girls?" He had a bad feeling about this, he rush toward their room "GIRLS?"
He slam the door open, it's empty, no bed, wardrobe, just dust and cobwebs
"LAURA?" He search everywhere, the bathroom, basement, sub-basement "FERAL?"
Desperate, he went for the main door and stumble outside ... and was dumbfounded by what he saw
a parade, giant helium balloons, spider man balloons, sentinel balloons and most of all, there's not a single human he see on the streets
... just mutant
Oh boy, he really jinx himself last night
Okay, so for those who wondering what suit he wore, it's Deathstroke new 52 version, the story is a bit mix up, i use x-men #450, which is before fury secret war for those who was wondering and now we in house of m