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Bending down, Naruto carefully picked up the bladed staff, feeling the energy pulsing in his grasp. It was then that he felt a sudden forceful pull on his subconscious, like how it feels when he enters his mindscape to speak with Kurama. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto allowed himself to be pulled through, immediately finding himself in a strange new place. Looking around, Naruto couldn't help but find himself amazed at the fact that it looked like he was in space, sitting on what looked to be some kind of asteroid. Gazing up into the stars, Naruto found himself transfixed on the vast space above him, watching in wonder as comets flew by and the looming planets softly orbiting overhead. Taking a few steps forward, Naruto found a long column of spiraling stairs leading up to an unknown location. Feeling drawn to them, the Shinobi began the long trek upwards, the scepter in his hand and Kurama oddly quiet.

As Naruto began to finally make his way to his destination, he began to make out what looked to be a massive throne made from stone, the chair fit for a king floating above the ground ominously. Walking calmly over to the throne, his path was stopped when a strange hooded being that blurred into his personal space. The creature was the definition of ugly, its wrinkled grey skin and crooked golden teeth almost causing Naruto to flinch in disgust. It's face covered by a strange looking face mask that reminded him of a football player, with the rest being covered by a billowing hood.

"Where is the Asgardian, mortal? Why is it you are wielding our scepter?!" The creature demanded, his voice a gravelly growl.

Naruto didn't respond, rather looking over the hooded creature's shoulder at the mystery man sitting on the throne, the person obviously not feeling the need to reveal himself. Looking back at the hooded guy, Naruto couldn't help but continue to feel a little disgusted by his gargoyle like looks, "You ever think about wearing a mask that actually covers that disaster you call a face? Cause I'm gonna be honest with you, that whole football mask thing you got going on isn't working."

"You dare mock me, you a pathetic mortal?! Do you not know whose presence you are in? This is the sanctuary of the Dark Lord Thanos, the most powerful being in the universe! Now, tell us who you are, and why you are here and not the Asgardian Loki, or we shall teach you what happens when you disrespect the Mad Titan!" The creature demanded.

Naruto began to walk around, the two of them circling each other as he spoke, "So, I'm assuming you're the one that gave Loki his little army and this scepter thing. Am I right? If so, they weren't that tough."

The creature took a moment, looking Naruto over before he began to chuckle, "So…Loki has failed. Not only that, but to fail to conquer such a…primitive planet such as this, how pitiful. Perhaps we should've sent Nebula or Gamora rather than rely on that week 'god.'" The man stopped his circling, Naruto following suit as the creature continued his thought, "However, from what I've seen, you and your companions are quite formidable. Perhaps Ronan would have been more well suited for such a task. You in particular have proven yourself to be a powerful being to be able to take down our Chitauri Leviathans. But no matter, for this slight, Thanos will plunder your planet to its very core-" The hooded creature's monologue was interrupted by the booming voice that came from the throne.

"Other…that is enough." With that, the throne began to spin around, revealing the being sitting upon it. The man was clad in a glorious gold and purple armor, giving the man a look of both that of a warrior and of a grand ruler. The man himself was massive, about twice the size of Naruto himself but just a head shorter than the Hulk, with obvious muscle mass showing even as it was hidden underneath his armor. The man's skin tone was a light purple, with obvious signs of middle age showing on his face with the thin wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. Speaking of his eyes, the sclera to his eyes were black with his irises reflecting a glowing purple color. To finish off the man's alien appearance, the man seemed to have lines running up his face from his chin to the scalp, the lines disappearing behind the man's battle helmet.

The now named Other immediately bowed his head in obedience, "Of course my master, I'm sorry my master."

"…Leave us." Thanos demanded, his head resting on his chin as he stared down at Naruto, his voice an unwavering boom of power and authority.

Naruto didn't believe it was possible, but Other seemed to bow even deeper, "Of course my master, right away my master." With that, Other blurred over to the stair before descending down the stairs.

Naruto turned to face Thanos, the two of them entering a stare off of sorts, neither one seeming to want to speak first. Finally, Naruto grew tired of the silence, "Why use Loki to get the Tesseract? Why not just come and get it yourself if you're 'the most powerful being in the universe?'"

Thanos simply chuckled, leaning back in his seat as he spoke, "Because I saw an easily manipulatable child that sought the glory of being king, even if it meant dealing with a being he knew could destroy him with a flick of his wrist. All I needed to do was provide him with a small fraction of my army, with my only demands being that he gives me the Space Stone in return." Chuckling again he continued, "To put it simple it was…entertainment."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Mad Titan, "So your invasion of Earth was just for entertainment, with you getting the Space Stone simply being a bonus? Are you truly that arrogant to think that you could get the Stone at any time?"

The Dark Lord smirked, "I have fought beings more powerful than you could possibly imagine boy. You and your band of 'avengers' are mere playthings to me. If I felt the need, I could have simply taken the Stone the moment I felt its energy burst from across the cosmos. Be glad you haven't pushed me so far that I would feel the need to retrieve the Stone myself. If it were to ever come to that, I would crush this solar system under the heel of my power."

"Well then…looks like I've found a new purpose."

"And what would that be boy?"

Naruto simply smirked as he rested Loki's staff on his shoulder, "Stopping you of course."

Thanos smirked a bloodthirsty smile, "I await your challenge…Naruto Uzumaki."

With that, Naruto felt his subconscious get pulled back to the real world, his eyes blasting open to see that he was back outside of Stark Tower, the battle still going on around him, "-ruto! NARUTO!" Looking over next to him, Naruto saw Natasha standing there, a worried look on her face as she screamed out his name. The woman looked worse for wear, blood running down her lip and forehead, with scoff marks all over her person.

"Naruto, we need the scepter to close the portal!" Natasha yelled out.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, not really seeming to be paying attention to what she was saying, simply overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of betrayal he felt over the woman he loved, "Naruto, where the fuck have you been?! I've been trying to get through to you for like five minutes you goddamn brat!"

"I'll tell you later Kurama." Naruto thought, "Here." Naruto said dully as he handed the scepter off to Natasha, said woman looking at him strangely for his off behavior.

"Naruto…are you alright? You're scaring me." Natasha said, worry clear in her voice.

Naruto turned away from her walking up the stairs towards the roof as he spoke, "We should finish this."

The red head nodded slowly before following after him, the two of them making it to the roof where Erik Selvig was waiting for them. Having just finished his preparations, the man pointed at the device holding the cube, the spherical energy field protecting it with a loud buzz, "At the crown!" Selvig shouted out his instruction, pointing at the crown of the sphere, showing where he wanted Natasha to shove the scepter at. Naruto watched in interest as Romanoff shoved the blade of the scepter into the sphere, the forcefield doing its best to fight her off, but Natasha held strong, pushing the blade closer and closer till it was just inches away from the cube.

"I can close it, can anyone copy?!" She asked frantically, "I can shut the portal down!"

Steve could be heard over the radio, "DO IT!" He commanded.

"No wait!" Tony interrupted.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" said the Captain.

"I gotta nuke coming in, and it's gonna blow in less than a minute." Stark clarified.

Naruto looked over where he last saw Tony fly off, "Who the hell ordered a nuclear launch?!"

"The Security Counsel ordered the strike."

Naruto immediately recognized the voice belonging to Fury's, "And you didn't do anything to stop it?! There are millions of civilians still in the city!" Naruto shouted out.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Fury harshly demanded, "I did my best to deter them, but they went over my head. There's nothing to be done but stop it."

"Yeah well, I know just where to put it."

"Stark…you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said, letting his comrade know there was no going back. It was too late however, as Tony was forced to push the rocket up at a sharp turn, forcing the missile to change its trajectory to vertical, just skimming A Tower and the machine powering and protecting the Tesseract.

Zooming by them, Naruto could only look on and watch as a man he considered a friend sacrificed himself for the greater good. As he disappeared through the portal, a thought entered Naruto's mind, the blonde unknowingly mumbling out loud, "The true measure of a Shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life but what they did before dying that proves their worth."

"Naruto," Natasha said, "Did you say something."

Naruto didn't bother looking at her, his eyes on the portal above as the missile exploded, the ball of fire looking like a miniature sun. All around them, the remaining Chitauri and Leviathans fell to the ground uselessly as though they had been shut off.

"Close it." They heard Steve say, regret in his voice as he made the call.

Natasha nodded, shoving the blade of the scepter into the cube, shutting down the machine with the beam of light flickering away into nothingness. Soon, the portal began to close in on itself, the hole in the sky finally disappearing, but not before a tiny speck that resembled a person fell through it just in the nick of time.

"Son of a gun." Steve laughed out, the lot of them realizing it was Tony free falling back towards Earth.

Naruto, realizing Tony was unconscious, was about to jump and catch the man before he went splat all over the pavement, only to be beaten to it by the Hulk. Said rage machine caught the man with a single arm, the two of them flying into a building, with the Hulk using the side of it to slow his decent down to the grown below. Landing on his back, Tony laying in his grasp, the Hulk threw Stark off of him half hazardly. Naruto quickly flew down next to them, with Thor and Rodgers sprinting up to make sure the playboy was alive. Turning Tony over, Thor tore off the front part of his Iron Man helmet, revealing Stark's face to the world. Steve quickly ducked his head down to check if he was breathing, only to raise himself back up with a look of remorse on his face. Naruto was about to see what he could do when the Hulk once again beat him to the punch, letting loose a mighty roar, startling the Iron Man back to the world of the living.

"Dude, seriously?!" Naruto yelled out agitatedly, picking his still humming ear after having the rage monster scream right into it. The Hulk didn't seem to care, pumping his chest with his fists like a gorilla.

"What the hell?" Tony demanded, "What just happened…please tell me no one kissed me." He practically begged.

Steve, still trying to catch his breath after the battle they had all just fought breathed out rather pathetically, "We won."

Giving a sigh of relief, Tony rested his head down on the pavement. Lazily razing his arm up in a victory pump, he tiredly said, "Alright yaaaay…good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow, let's just take a day." Looking over at Naruto he said, "You ever had Shawarma? There's a Shawarma place like two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it."

Naruto smirked, allowing his Six Paths Sage Mode to recede as he collapsed on his butt, resting his hands behind his back and allowing his legs to rest out in front of him, "If they sell ramen, I'm down. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had some good ramen?"

"There's such a thing as good ramen?" Tony asked.

Before Naruto could argue over the merits of ramen he was interrupted, "We are not finished yet." Thor said, looking up at A Tower.

Tony looked around, "Then Shawarma after, right?"

-x-

Naruto watched as the group supposedly calling themselves the Avengers circled around inside the helicarrier, the lot of them celebrating a job well done. With Loki now safely imprisoned, the god's scepter being kept safely away from, and the Tesseract now in Thor's possession, the lot of them could now relax, if only for just a moment. The blonde ninja had decided not to participate in the fun, rather hanging back to watch. Feeling a strong hand clasp down on his shoulder, Naruto looked over to see Thor standing just behind him, two glasses of beer in his hand. Handing one over to Naruto, Thor took a long swig of his own before speaking, wiping his mouth of the foamy suds as he did, "Why do you not join in the celebrations my friend? You were a part of the triumphant battle as well!" Thor finished by clapping his hand down hard on Naruto shoulder once again.

Naruto shrugged, taking a small sip of his beer before speaking, "Just…a lot on my mind." He said this while looking over at Natasha and Clint, the two of them chatting it up over at the table. Looking over at Thor he said, "So you're planning on taking the Tesseract to Asgard?"

Thor nodded, "There it can be kept safe from the likes of Loki."

"And what of the people that helped Loki?" Naruto asked.

Thor laughed nonchalantly, "Should they show their faces, we of Asgard shall smite them down."

"But what if these people are more than you guys can handle?"

Thor looked at Naruto with a look of suspicion on his face, "What are you saying my friend?"

Naruto sighed, "I…I might have met the guy that gave Loki his army, and he's no joke. His lackey called him the 'most powerful being in the universe.'"

"And you believe this 'lackey's' words? That is quite the claim to make." Thor said.

"Trust me Thor," Naruto said, "This guy is bad news. The power he was giving off was crazy high, a kind of power I haven't felt in a long time." As Naruto said this, an image of Madara Uchiha popped in his mind.

"Then what would you suggest?" Thor asked.

Naruto took a moment before saying, "I think it would be safer in the hands of a single person, someone that can keep the Stone safe, out of sight out of mind, and can fight against anyone this guy sends their way."

The Asgardian looked Naruto up and down, "And who would you suggest?"

"…me."

"My friend, surely you jest."

"Better in my hands then off in some vault that can be broken into at any time." Naruto said, remembering the story told to him by Thor not long ago of what happened with him and Loki on Asgard.

"And what would you do with the Stone, other than send yourself home with it." Thor accused.

"…you're right when you say I plan to use it to get home. But that's just to see for my own two eyes what's happened there. When I'm done, I will make it my mission to find the rest of the stones, and make sure that they are in safe hands, and if not I'll put them in my own."

"And when this man comes for you, and he will if you go through with these cockamamie schemes of yours, what will you do then?" Thor asked.

"If I can't handle it on my own?" Naruto asked. Seeing Thor's nod, Naruto looked around at the celebrating team, a small smile on his face, "Then I know just who to call for help."

Thor looked at Naruto for a long time, his once relaxed face now one of utter concentration, the man truly weighing the ups and downs of allowing Naruto to protect the Tesseract. Finally, he said, "I have your word you will protect it with your life?"

Naruto gave a hard nod, his eyes filled with steely determination, "You have my word."

"Then you have my word that I will come to your aid in you quest, should you require it." Thor said, raising his hand for a handshake, something that Naruto quickly grabbed, the two hands squeezing the other with nearly all their might. Letting go of his hand, Thor then extended his glass out, "To Colson."

Naruto smiled a sad smile, still finding it hard to believe that his friend had died while trying to stop Loki. Had Naruto known of that, he doubted he'd have allowed the God of Mischief to live. Raising his glass up, Naruto sullenly toasted, "To Phil." With a clink of their glasses, the two blonde men swung back their drinks, each one finishing it off in no time, with Naruto setting the now empty glass off to his side. Thor then pulled Naruto into a quick bear hug before departing over to the group, the massive Asgardian pulling Bruce into a one-armed hug of his own.

"So…your leaving."

Turning around, Naruto came face to face with Nick Fury.

Seeing Naruto wasn't about to respond, Nick began to speak, "I hope I can trust that you'll retur-" His sentence was thrown off by Naruto driving his fist into his face, sending the leader of SHIELD to the floor.

Looming over Fury, Naruto calmly said, "That was for lying about the Tesseract." Kneeling down, Naruto grabbed him with by the collar of his trench coat. Bringing him up so that they were face to face, Naruto whispered out, "Why?" Naruto demanded, "Why would you lie about that, when you knew what was happening on my planet? I might have been able to do something, I'd only been gone for a week. But you had to lie, you had to make sure I was trustworthy, even if it meant that my people had to die." Tears were now rolling down his face, the party that had been going on before had stopped, with Steve making to possibly try and break it up, only for Tony and Bruce to hold him back, "And then…and then, you…you made Natasha spy on me…get close to me. You had her make me think she loved me, all so that I could be kept it line. Was I truly that untrustworthy, was I truly that much of a threat? After all I did to help you and your organization, all the people I've killed for you. Were any of the friendships I'd formed here genuine? Natasha? Clint?...Phil? Did any of them actually consider themselves my friend, or were they simply ordered by you to stay close to me?" Looking over at Clint he shouted, "HUH?!"

Clint looked Naruto in the eye, his face as serious as ever as he spoke, "Of course you're my friend. The same goes for Colson."

The small feeling of happiness that was felt when Naruto heard that was overwhelmed by the feeling he got at seeing the look of guilt he could clearly see on Natasha's face. Not bearing to look at her any longer, Naruto looked back at Fury. Taking a calming breath, Naruto whispered out, "I'm down with you."

Dropping Fury to the floor, he walked out of the room.

-x-

Naruto was standing in the small research room, looking down at the Tesseract that was now in his hands. Naruto could feel the power that the Tesseract was holding, the stone in the center pulsing at Naruto's touch.

"I'm thinking it's a container for the actual Stone, you'll probably have to break it open." Kurama suggested.

Naruto nodded, and was about to enter his Six Paths Sage Mode once again when he felt an all too familiar presence at the other side of the doorway. With a swoosh, the doors slid open, Natasha stepping in slowly. Her walk at a turtle's pace, Natasha stopped just a foot away from Naruto, the woman starring at her lover's back.

For what felt like ages, the two of them stayed in a silence with enough tension that it was nearly palpable. Finally, Natasha spoke, "Naruto…Naruto I am so-"

"Don't." Naruto said firmly. Turning around, he said, "Was any of it real?"

"Of course it was-"

"Don't lie to me!" Naruto shouted out, slamming his fist onto the table next to them. Taking a calming breath, Naruto looked at Natasha for a moment before continuing, his voice once again devoid of emotion, "I know that it was a mission, Clint told Loki while he was under his spell. And don't try and pull the 'Loki could be lying' bull crap because I know for a fact that he wasn't."

Natasha's face was a look of desperation as she grabbed ahold of Naruto's jacket, "Naruto please-"

Resting his hands on her shoulders, he gently pried her off him, "Just tell me, was any of it true?"

The agent known as Black Widow seemed to fight with herself for a moment before slowly saying, "Yes. But…at first…at first it was an order. Fury gave it to me so that I could gain your trust, so that I could report to him if you started showing any kind hostile tendencies towards us…and to give you a reason not to betray us. But…but after a while, things became…different. I started…to feel things…for you." Tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks, a look of utter shame on her face as she continued, looking him in the eye as she spoke, "My feelings for you are genuine, I swear to you. I haven't loved anyone like I love you, please understand."

"Did you still report to Fury about me…after that night?"

"…"

"I see." Naruto said, his eyes dead as he continued in a whisper, "Did you tell him about Kurama, about what I am?"

"…"

"I see."

"Naruto please, you have to understand, they were ord-"

"I'm going to say the same thing I said to Fury" Naruto said, now not only his voice, but his face as well had zero emotion, as though he were no longer human, but some kind of machine, "I'm done with you." Naruto then walked past her, the Tesseract in hand as he made his way out the room.

"Naruto, please!"

Naruto didn't respond, his path set before him as he left the helicarrier, flying out into the sunset with his destination in mind.

-x-

Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

-x-

Naruto stood over the very mountain region he had crash landed, looking down at the crater his body had created, the hole in the ground now having begun to grown grass and other foliage around it. Sighing, Naruto looked at the Tesseract in his hand, the blue glow radiating from the cube lighting up the night sky around him.

"Naruto…are you alright?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah Kurama…I'm fine." Naruto said out loud, seeing no point in not doing it seeing as how he was alone at the moment.

Kurama stayed quiet for a moment, "No you're not."

"Yeah Kurama…I know."

Activating his Six Paths Chakra Cloak, Naruto squeezed down on the Tesseract, feeling the cube crack and break under the pressure of his strength. Light began to emit from the cracks, the energy the Stone was giving off humming loudly as more and more cracks webbed around the cubic container. Finally, the Tesseract shattered, the shining blue Space Stone floating in the palm of his hand for several moments before collapsing into it. A bright blue glow began to mix in with the yellow flames that accompanied his cloak, flickering at the tips of the flames. The sclera of his eyes was now a matching blue, with his eyes remaining their usual gold. Grinning, Naruto could feel the power the Space Stone gave him. Closing his eyes, Naruto began to picture in his head the Hokage Rock, something he did every day. He pictured the faces of all the past Hokage, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, Oldman Sarutobi, his father Minato, and finally Granny Tsunade, all of their stone visages he could picture in his mind as clear as day. Naruto then felt a sudden pull, before a loud whoosh could be heard to his right.

Opening his eyes, Naruto could see that a portal had opened up next to him, similar to the portal that had been opened during the Battle for New York. Looking inside, Naruto felt an overwhelming sensation of happiness as he found the thing he'd been looking for. Tears began to build along the corner of his eyes as he laid upon the stone faces of the people he looked up to the most, as he looked at the place he that gave him meaning.

As he looked at home.

-x-

Chapter Complete

-x-

Author's Note: For those that are probably concerned, this is NOWERE NEAR the end of the story. This is simply the end of Phase One. This story is not even half way over, and to help reassure you of that here are the names for the upcoming sagas that I've planned out after Naruto's visit to his planet: the 1,000 Years War Saga, the Five Fugitives Saga, the Rolling Stone Saga, the Week of Ultron Saga, and finally the Sympathy for the Devil Saga. Some if not most of you can guess what the plot will be revolving around these Sagas, cough Ultron, cough Devil, some of the others though you might need to put your thinking caps on for. Now, if that's about it for me, if you have any questions please PM me, but if you feel the need to let me know you're dropping this story, bury that feeling deep down into your esophagus and remember these words, I don't care. So yeah, please REVIEW! I'd love to break 500 reviews! Please FAVORITE, I'd love to break 1,000 favorites! And finally please FOLLOW, I'd love to break 1,500 followers! You guys are awesome, love me dammit!

-x-

Post Credit Scene

-x-

"So…the boy has left Earth."

Standing before his master, the Other bowed his head as he answered, "Yes my lord, though we do not know where he has gone."

Thanos simply chuckled, "The boy has power…I will give him that. I honestly don't know how a fight between us would end."

"Is he truly that powerful…my lord?" the Other asked.

"Perhaps a…testing, is in order." Thanos said, resting his chin on his fist in thought.

The Other looked up at his master, "But who could challenge him?"

The Mad Lord's smirk grew, his blood lust practically palpable, "I think I have someone in mind."

-x-

End