Chapter 7: For Whom the Bell Tolls 1/2

Disclaimer: Meesah no own this.

Author's Note: Hey guys. So, I got some pretty awesome response from last chapter. I had some haters, which was inevitable since I can't make everyone happy. There were people who said that I'm not following Naruto's personality very well, which confused me. Wouldn't it make sense that his character would be off? He's been thrown into a world that isn't his own in a time when his world needed him most. Then he's got people who are actively hindering his return along with constant distractions keeping him from looking for a way home at all. He's frustrated. He's angry. He is lost both physically and mentally. That and you have to consider his age. He's getting older. He's able to emotionally respond to things that are happening around him like an actual adult. Instead of just immediately forgiving someone for wronging him and becoming their best friend, he's going to respond like a regular human being would. He's gonna be pissed. He's gonna hold a grudge. But he'll forgive, eventually. As for Amora putting him under her spell so easily, Naruto needs a kryptonite. He's just too strong to not have one. I don't know, it just seems like people are wanting this to be one of those God Level, Master of the Universe and Women, All Knowing, Mary Sue-ish Naruto stories. Now, I don't know about you guys, but those kind of characters are super boring and full of shit. A character needs to grow, and develop, and learn. They need to be humanly flawed.

Okay, so I have a question for the class. Pairings! Now, I've said this before but I believe that a character should have multiple relationships because realistically a person is going to be with several people before getting married. So, I'd like to see who you guys want for him to be paired with down the road. Now, just because I've officially said that Naruto will breakup with Natasha, that doesn't mean they won't end up together officially eventually. People break up and get back together all the time. BUT, they must be in the MCU or never possibly be used in the X-Men film series, like ever. That means no Jean Grey, no Storm, no Emma Frost, no Psylocke, and so on and so forth. Last thing, there will be two other story arcs before we get to the Avengers. Alright then, story time people.

-x-

Chapter Seven: For Whom the Bell Tolls

-x-

"Naruto…wake up."

Said blonde man was laying in his bed, arms and legs spread out as he was on his back. Snoring silently, he didn't hear the voice calling his name.

"Naruto. Wake up." The voice said sternly.

This time, Naruto heard the voice. His eyes creaking open stiffly, he looked up to see a blurry figure standing above him. Scrambling up, Naruto reached instinctually for the kunai hidden behind the head board of his bed frame. Spinning it in a reverse grip, Naruto wound his arm back to slit said person's throat if they proved to be hostile. His vision finally cleared, Naruto was shocked to see who was standing beside him.

"Ji-Jiraiya?!" He stuttered, looking into the eyes of his passed mentor.

The man smiled down at his student, "Hello…brat." Sitting down on the bed he looked Naruto up and down, "But I suppose you're much of a brat anymore."

Sitting up straight, Naruto looked around the room and saw that he was in a danky hotel room. The room was rather simple, with an eating and kitchen area, a small lounging couch and coffee table, and the small twin bed he was laying upon, "What's going o-"

"I'm so disappointed in you Naruto."

Looking back at Jiraiya, he was floored to see that he was no longer the same. His usual horned forehead protector was missing, allowing his hair to fall down in front of his eyes, and the rest of his hair was no longer in a ponytail, flailing out like a lion's mane. Blood began to spill everywhere, from the missing left arm, to the holes drilled through his back, to the red life liquid that was openly spilling down his jaw from his mouth. His clothes and face were scoffed, his throat was purple and bruised, and a look of strong disappointment was on his face.

"I'm so disappointed in the man that you have become."

Naruto gasped as his body jerked violently, his breathing heavy as he looked at the dark ceiling above him. Slowly regaining his breath, Naruto looked over at the alarm clock on the night stand beside him to see that it was only 4:37 in the morning. He didn't have to wake up for another couple hours.

Wiping the sweat that had built along his temple with the palm of his hand, he whispered out, "Dammit." Looking over to the other side of the bed, Naruto sighed as he saw that the place Natasha spent most of her nights was empty, the pillow and comforter cold from the lack of her presence. It had been a couple weeks since she went on her special covert mission, the specifics left out of all conversation.

"You alright brat?" Kurama asked. The dream had been a recurring theme since the incident with that blasted Amora woman.

Getting up from the bed, Naruto rubbed his scruffy beard as he spoke out loud, "Yeah, I'm good. I thought they would stop after I told Nat about you, but it only stopped for a couple days. It's starting to piss me off."

Kurama nodded, "Yeah it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was long overdue anyway."

Stepping into his bathroom, Naruto calmly turned on the sink as he leaned up against it, looking himself in the mirror. It truly was fascinating that the layer of prosthetic skin covering his whisker marks still allowed him to grow facial hair, with Natasha doing her best to explain it to him. Most of it went over his head. Thinking of Natasha, Naruto couldn't help but think about what she had told him after his little revelation the last night they were together.

"The things she described remind me of Root back at Konoha. Fucking sick." Kurama growled out, "You never did say what you thought about it." The fox said after some thought.

"What's there to say?" Naruto said as he sprayed a palm full of shaving cream into his hand, "The place she was trained took the chance of bearing children away from her. There's nothing I can do. It's terrible. It pisses me off. But that's not something I can heal. It happened over a decade ago."

"I know that idiot. But what does this mean for you two as far as the future goes? You're always droning on and on about having a family. Might be pretty hard when your mate can't have kids."

Naruto's hand froze as it began to spread the cream along his cheek for only a moment before continuing the routine taught to him by Jiraiya, "There's always adoption Kurama."

"That's not the same Naruto." Kurama said softly, "It's a solution sure. But it's not the same."

"I know."

-x-

Location: Manhattan, New York City, New York

Date: December 5, 2011

-x-

Naruto, face clean shaven and wearing an orange long sleeve shirt and weathered light blue jeans, stood next to Nick Fury as they looked through a one-way mirror into what was once an interrogation room, but was now more of a strange class room. With a single desk in the middle of the room, and a large projector resting on the wall, it would look rather strange to an outside eye. Sitting behind the desk was a man, his blonde hair slicked over nice and tight to he left, giving the man a rather dated look. To say the man was muscular was an understatement, the dude was the pinnacle of human fitness. The guy's muscles had muscles. Hunched over the desk, the man wrote down notes vigorously as a thin woman by the projector clicked through slide after slide.

"So how's he doing?" Naruto asked.

Nick sighed, "He's still experiencing some culture shock. But that's to be expected. He's better off then you were, at least he has some things he can go off of. You had to start from scratch."

Naruto nodded, "And what about the Tesseract?" he asked, "How's the search going for that?"

Fury took a moment, "No luck so far. But we're close. I can feel it."

"Naruto...something's off." Kurama warned.

"What is it?" Naruto thought.

"I don't know. I can sense that he's lying, but he's also telling the truth at the same time. It's strange. Be careful brat."

Naruto gave a mental nod, "So, any news on Natasha?"

"You know I can't tell you anything Naruto. She shouldn't have told you as much as she did to begin with."

Naruto sighed before saying, "So why did you call me over here Nick? I'm thankful for telling me about Mr. Rogers, now I know that it won't be long before you find the Tesseract. But if it's a favor you want, I'm sorry to say but it's gonna have to be a no. My schedule is pretty full."

Nick rubbed his goatee, watching Steve as the man lost in time began to take notes on the Bay of Pigs Invasion, "Do you know what makes this man so amazing?"

Shrugging, Naruto said, "His peak human abilities? His skill in throwing a giant Frisbee?"

"What makes him so amazing is that before he ever attained his peak human ability, before he was able to throw 'a giant Frisbee,' he was nothing more than a 90 lb. kid with asthma. He had no family and the only friend he had in the world was going off to a war where the chances of him coming back were incredibly slim. All his life, all he ever wanted to do was serve his country. And when he saw what was going on in Europe, he didn't see a country of foreigners to kill. He saw a bunch of bullies that needed to be stopped. But because of his lack of physical health, he was kept out of the war. No matter how many times he tried, no matter what name he used, that kid was determined to make a difference for his country, no matter how small. And when he got the chance, he took it. And that chance turned him into the man you see before you. A hero."

As Naruto listened to Nick, he couldn't help but see the similarities between himself and the man he was looking at. Both grew up with no family, hardly any friends, and weak. Both tried their best to serve the place they lived, but due to physical difficulties were kept from doing so, no matter how hard they tried. With Steve it was because of his sickly body, for Naruto it was because of the Biju trapped in his body keeping him from using the Clone Jutsu, one of the things required to know for graduation. When he was a kid, he didn't care how strong someone was, or how influential of a person they were, if they were a bully, if they did wrong, he'd put a stop to it. Zabuza, Gato, Neji, Gaara, Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, Madara…Sasuke. He went out of his way to stop them.

"From what you've told me, you and Steve were pretty similar. But when I see you now, all I see is a man experiencing tunnel vision. All you care about is going home, that's the only thing you seem to focus on anymore. Lead after lead, disappointment after disappointment, it gets worse each time." Fury said, "If it weren't for Natasha, I fear you'd have lost yourself completely by now."

Naruto suddenly start to feel a defensive frustration, "And what the hell would you know about it?!" He turned towards Fury fully, grabbing his collar as he said, "I'm sorry that I'm not acting like some kind of generic hero, who just let's things slide, who just goes with the flow, but I'm not! Did you ever think that maybe I'm tired of thinking about everyone but myself, that I'm sick of always having to be the good guy?! Why can't I be angry? Why can't I just go home!"

"And go home to what? You've been gone for nearly four years! If your even find a way back to your world, that evil goddess you told me about will have laid waste to your planet! I know you know this, so this isn't about going home! No, this is just some sick desire, a twisted fantasy!" Nick grabbed ahold of Naruto's collar, "And for what?! To make sure your friends are dead? No, that's not it. Oh no. It's because you want them to be alive. You want them to have won the good fight, so they can give you the warm welcome you've wanted for the last four years."

"Shut up. Just…just SHUT UP!" Naruto shouted as his eyes flashed orange, a surge of power pressing down on the room for a split second, causing the two-way mirror to crack from the pressure, "That's not it at all!"

"What about Natasha?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, "What?"

Nick narrowed his eyes, "What was gonna happen with Natasha if you found a way home? Were you just going to say, 'it's been fun' and leave? Or will you take her with you to your planet that might have been eradicated of all life?"

His grip on Fury's collar loosening, Naruto stammered, "I-I…we would've figured something out."

Fury threw Naruto's hand off of him, "If your so determined to go home, then you might as well end it now. Don't drag it out and make it harder for everyone. She deserves better than that." Nick let go of Naruto, "No if you'll excuse me, I'm busy."

Naruto huffed angrily through his nose as he looked at Nick's back, "Fine." He said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

-x-

Location: Anian, Symkaria

-x-

Naruto, floating in the air as he looked down at the city bellow him, scowled as the memories of his clone's conversation with Fury entered his mind. The cold air didn't seem to bother him, his coat flapping in the wind. His eyes were the orange associated to him using Six Paths Sage Mode, with the blonde using the ability of Magnet Release granted to him by Shukaku. Naruto, while having a group of clones train, had discovered that he still had the abilities given to him by the other Biju. For now, Magnet and Lava Release were the only ones he had mastered. But there was only so much a group of clones could do before the destruction they caused got someone's attention. Using his recent mastery of Magnet Release, Naruto was able to use it to connect himself to the magnetic field of the planet itself, enabling flight even without using the full cloak offered by the Six Paths Sage Mode. Thank this world's God for Shadow Clones.

"Naruto…perhaps he has a point."

"Kurama, just…not right now." Looking down at the city bellow, he watched as a fire fight began to break out in the streets. From the research he found, the country of Symkaria was currently undergoing a revolution against the rule of the current king. Looking passed the city itself, Naruto saw that the building he was looking for was surprisingly still intact. Dropping down with a slow grace to the ground, Naruto began to make his way towards the apartment building. The distant echoing pop of gun fire filled the city, with the stench of smoke and rotting corpses hanging in the air.

"Are you not going to do anything about these revolutionists? From what we've seen on TV, they're known for their indiscriminant killing of soldier and civilian, man or woman…children."

"Kurama…Magik will only be here for a couple days, at most. She's still jumping around after last time and this has been the first time I've actually gotten a pin on her since. Besides, SHIELD will eventually deal with it."

"And how many innocent people will die until they 'deal with it?'" Kurama asked.

Before Naruto could argue further, a man suddenly dashed out of the alleyway in front of him. Holding his blood oozing shoulder in pain, the man looked behind him in his frantic sprint away from whoever was chasing him. The sound of clanking guns and battle gear echoed out from the alley, followed by two men dressed in military garbs holding standard assault rifles in their hands.

One of the men shouted out in Symkarian, "Stop or we will shoot you!"

The wounded man tripped over himself causing him to tumble to the rubble filled street. Turing on his back, he looked up waving his good arm frantically, "Plea-please! I don't speak Symkarian! Please understand me! I-I have a family!" The man pleaded in clear English, the man speaking with a thick British accent.

The two men pointed their guns down at the wounded Brit, "What did he say?" The first one asked.

The second one scoffed, "How would I know? I don't speak British or whatever it's called."

"He said he doesn't speak Symkarian."

The two soldiers turned their attention on Naruto, who was standing behind them with his hands raised calmly, "Civilian get down on your knees, now!"

"He also said he has a family. He's probably telling the truth. I don't have my way of knowing active so I couldn't tell you for sur-"

"Shut up! On your knees, hands locked behind your head! NOW!" The second soldier screamed.

Naruto sighed, "Look, just let us go guys. I really don't wanna have to do this."

The men raised their guns up, fingers pressed against the trigger, "To do what?" The first asked mockingly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "This." Raising his hands up, Naruto used his Magnetic Release to attract the rifles in the two soldier's hands towards his own. The men weren't prepared for their guns to jump out of their hands, and were even more surprised to see them fly into the grasp of the mystery man. The guns now in his hands, Naruto used his Lava Release to melt the guns into red hot molten. Dropping the now dripping guns to the ground, Naruto stuffed his hands back into his pockets.

The two men looked back and forth from each other and Naruto in shock. Taking several steps in fear, the two eventually made a run for it back into the alley they came from.

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto walked towards the still downed man. Kneeling down next to him, Naruto covered his hand in Six Paths Chakra, before making to place it on the man's shoulder, only for him to try and move back in shock and fear.

"Wa-wait! Who are you? What are you?!"

Naruto smiled his signature smile, "Name's Nathan Ulrickson, and I'd like to think I'm somewhat human."

"Somewhat?" The man asked.

"It was a joke."

"You're so full of shit."

"Then…how can you do all of…that?"

"You ever read an X-Men comic?" Seeing the man nod, he continued, "Well it's kinda like that."

"So you're a Mutant?" The man asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Eh, that seems a little obnoxious. I like to call myself 'Gifted' if anything."

"Isn't that a little obnoxious also?"

Naruto chuckled as he got up, his hand no longer glowing, "Well what would you call someone like me?"

The man shrugged, "Evolved I suppose." Looking down at his shoulder, he was surprised to see his shoulder was healed, "When…how?"

Naruto put his hands in his pockets, "One of my many gifts. And I did it while you were distracted." Turning around, he made his way to the building he knew Magik to be, "I'd advise staying indoors until things calm down."

The man got up, "Wait! Where are you going?"

Naruto didn't bother turning around, "Sykani Hotel."

"Wa-wait! That's where I'm staying!"

Naruto stopped. Looking over at the man as he began to walk towards him, "Oh really?"

"Yes! Can…can you help me get there? I can't pay you…but I can let you stay with my family, free of charge!"

"And how do you know I haven't been staying there for a while now?" Naruto asked.

The man shrugged, "My family has been stuck there for several months now, and we've met everyone there that hasn't died or somehow gotten out of town before the blockades went up. Which means you're either moving from where your hiding out, or you somehow snuck in the city and are looking for a place of refuge."

"And how do you know I'm not here for…nefarious reasons?"

"If you were…would you have bothered saving me?"

"Probably not." Naruto said with a sigh, "So…who are you exactly?"

The man made his way in front of Naruto, "My name is Charles Valid." Reaching his hand out for a handshake he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Nathan."

"The pleasure is mine."

-x-

Naruto stood behind Charles as they waited for the door he had just knocked on to open. After several seconds, Naruto could hear someone walk up to the door. The two could see someone look into the eye hole for a second before Naruto heard the sound of three locks unlatch one after the other. The door opened to reveal a pretty woman with curly red hair and fair complexion.

"Charles!" She grabbed him in a tight embrace. Taking a step back, the woman saw that there was blood all over Charles's shirt, "You're bleeding!"

Charles stroked the woman's cheek soothingly, "No no I'm fine Gabrielle. This man healed me."

"He…he healed you? How is that possible?!" Gabrielle asked Charles as she looked at Naruto in bewilderment.

Naruto took a small step forward, "Yeah…can we take this inside? Prying eyes and ears and stuff."

Charles, seeing Gabrielle's reluctance, held her face with his hands softly, "This man saved me Gabby. We can trust him."

Gabrielle took a second of thought before saying, "Okay."

With that, the three entered the hotel room. The room itself was rather nice, from what he could see it was a two bedroom, not including the separate kitchen, dining area and living room. In the living room sat a fairly large flat screen television, the local news playing with English subtitles rolling underneath. Sitting in the love seat across the TV was a boy that looked to be around five or six years old. The boy had short yet curly reddish brown hair, with his face resembling his father's sans the similar freckles he had to his mother. The boy wore an Adventure Time t-shirt, with brown jeans and child Sketchers on his feet.

The boy looked up to see his father walking into the room, the boy looked at Naruto quizzically, "Dad, who's that?" He asked Charles.

Charles smiled down at his son, walking up to and sitting down next to him, giving him a tight hug. Letting him go, he motioned towards Naruto, "This is my friend, Nathan Ulrickson." Looking at Naruto, Charles said, "Naruto I'd like you to meet my son, Herald."

Naruto nodded towards Herald, "Nice to meet you kid."

"Charlie." Gabrielle said, "Can we talk…alone?"

"Uh, yeah. Right." Getting up from the couch, Charles walked towards his wife as she made towards one of the bedrooms, "We'll just be a second." He said to Naruto.

Seeing the two walk into the kitchen before the sound of hushed whispering could be heard. Sighing, Naruto walked over to the recliner next to the love seat before sitting down. Looking at the TV, Naruto could see them covering the fire fight that had occurred not long ago. Looking at Herald, Naruto could see that the kid was watching, his eyes moving with the rolling subtitles.

"Are you actually reading that?" Naruto asked. When Herald nodded, he said, "Impressive." The two sat in an awkward silence for several seconds before Naruto sighed, "Do you think it's a good idea for a kid your age to be watching this kind of stuff? I bet this place picks up cartoons or something."

"What's your name?" Herald asked, looking Naruto in the eye as he spoke.

"Nathan." Naruto said in confusion.

The boy took a weirdly long time to respond, "No it's not."

Naruto wasn't able to respond, as Charles and Gabrielle walked out of their bedroom, Charles sporting a different shirt than before, "Sorry about that Nathan. Can we offer you a glass of water?" Charles asked.

Naruto looked back at Herald before shaking his head, looking at the still skeptic Gabrielle, "I'm sure you guys have some questions."

Gabrielle nodded, "I-We do. First of all, we'd like to know what you're doing in Aniana? It's no secret that the revolution is going on to the outside world, so why would you risk coming here, no matter how powerful you may be."

Naruto looked Gabrielle in the eye, "I'm here looking for a certain woman. She's going by the name Illyana Rasputin; some people call her Magik…with a k."

"And why are you looking for Illyana?" Gabrielle asked.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "She is in this building. Good to know. As for why I'm looking for her, I need her help for a…personal reason."

"Do you swear you're not going to hurt her?" Gabrielle asked.

Naruto nodded, his face serious, "I swear."

Gabrielle sighed, "Alright…I'll tell you where she is, after you answer my questions." When Naruto nodded, she asked, "My husband told me you are 'Gifted,' where did you learn how to control your powers? Are there…others?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I taught myself how to use my powers. Why?"

Gabrielle looked at Charles for a second before saying, "No reason."

"Is that all?" Naruto asked.

Charles spoke, "Is there any way you can help us escape?" Seeing Naruto's confusion, he clarified, "We came here just a couple days before the Revolution started. You see, my colleagues and I had been invited by the Aniana Scientific Research Facility for their Research Convention for our help in their research of gamma radiation. The convention was only supposed to last a couple weeks, but then the revolt occurred and we weren't able to escape before the blockades were built up, and the revolutionists began their guerrilla warfare twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. We've been stuck here in the hotel ever sense."

"Then why were you out in the city?" Naruto asked.

Charles rubbed his once wounded shoulder, "I had heard that some of my colleagues were holed up in one of the buildings a couple blocks over. I just had to make contact with them. It wasn't long after I made it to them that that scuffle happened. When the smoke cleared, all my coworkers were dead, with me only getting a bullet to the shoulder. I made a run for it but those two guys ran after me. I'd have died if it weren't for you." He said to Naruto.

Naruto absorbed Charles's story before turning back to Gabrielle, "I'll do my best to get you out of here. But only after I find where Illyana is."

Gabrielle nodded, "She's one floor below us. I thought she managed to escape when the revolution started up, but I saw her leave her room yesterday morning." She began to run her fingers through her hair nervously, "She's in room 6B."

Naruto nodded, "She more than likely left after everything went south, but must of come back for some reason. Maybe she left something here she needed?" He thought. Getting up from his seat Naruto said, "I'll be back. I'm gonna go talk to her."

The other two adults got up as well, "Do you want one of us to go with you?" Gabrielle asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No I'm good."

"I have one more question." The red head said, "What is it that you do, exactly?"

"I suppose you could say I'm ex-military." Naruto said with a shrug, "What do you do?"

"I'm a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford." Gabrielle said, "We're on winter vacation right now, this was supposed to be a small getaway."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at hearing what the woman in front of him said, "Alright," he said as he made his way to the door, "I'll be back in a few minutes, thank you for the hospitality." The last part was an afterthought, closing the door behind him as he gave a sigh of agitation.

"That boy…you felt it didn't you?"

"Yeah." Naruto thought as he made his way to the elevator. Pressing the down button, Naruto waited, "He invaded my mind. The brat's a psychic."

"A powerful one at that. After you loosened your seal, I've put up a powerful barrier in your mind scape to keep you from falling for illusions or mind control. Even the Uchiha slayer would have trouble getting in. It only took the little shit a couple seconds to slip in and see that you were lying about your name."

With a ding, the elevator door opened up with a hushed swish, revealing the small compartment for him to stand. Naruto stepped inside, pressing the closing button as he took off his winter coat, revealing a black jacket underneath. The jacket was zipped all the way up, the high collar tight against his neck. Unbuttoning the end of each sleeve, Naruto began to roll them up calmly, "Well it's not like it matters. Magik should be here, and when I get a hold of her, I doubt I'll see the Valids ever again."

"Right, and how exactly are you going to keep her from escaping like last time?" Kurama asked.

Drawing from the fountain of power granted to him by Shukaku, Naruto extended his hand out as strange markings began to spread along his hand, "Like this."

"…That didn't explain anything."