Chapter 37

Last Time:

"You win this one.." Samui growled. With that, all three of the blondes went to sleep.

Now:

~ Morning ~

Naruto groaned as the sunlight hit his face. 'You damn bastard..' He internally growled as he got up. He looked around to see Samui's bedroom, clean and spotless. "Where is everyone?" He muttered as he headed downstairs. He checked the kitchen, dining room, and living room, but the place was completely empty. "Crap, I need to go to the bathroom.." Naruto thought as he made a dash towards the oval office. As soon as he opened the door, steam poured out and obscured his vision. "What the hell.." Naruto muttered, only to be hit in the face by a large metal pipe.

An angry Yugito quickly knocked him out cold. "What, didn't get a good peepshow, you perv?" She demanded as she stood over him with a towel covered around herself. "Samui!" She yelled. Samui quietly walked out of the nearby guest room. "Yes?" She asked with a Cheshire cat grin on her face. "Why didn't you tell him I was in the bathroom!" Yugito demanded of her fellow blonde. "Must have slipped my mind.." Samui said absent-mindedly. "Finish your shower, I'll take care of Naruto-kun." She said with a teasing tone as she cradled Naruto's head to her chest.

"The hell you will!" Yugito said as she went to get changed. "Looks like someone is a little jealous." Samui mused as she grabbed the unconscious Naruto by the leg and dragged him towards the dining room.

~ Dining Room – 15 Minutes after Naruto Regained Consciousness ~

Naruto groaned as he massaged the large bump on his head. "What did I ever do to you?" Naruto asked Yugito. "Should have knocked.." Yugito replied and she scratched the back of her head. "Yea, yea, yea. Listen guys, I got to get going. I have some things I've got to figure out if I'm going to be attending the Chunin Exams in a few weeks." Naruto said as he headed towards the door. "Breakfast is ready.." A soft voice called out. Naruto turned to see Samui setting up the table for three people and Yugito brandishing a Kunai making slashing motions towards his thighs.

"On second thought, maybe I'll stay.." Naruto said nervously as he sat down at the table. He grabbed an apple and looked at the eggs and bacon before him while Samui ate some oatmeal and Yugito had hash browns and eggs. "So, what do you plan on doing so you won't be recognized?" Yugito asked curiously as she took a bite of her hash browns. "That's a good question.." Samui replied as she turned to Naruto. "You aren't going to change your face, are you?" She asked.

"Nah, I kind of like this ugly mug. I have some ideas, but first I need to see if they're do-able." Naruto replied as he finished his oatmeal and apple. "Like what?" Samui asked, her interest peaked. "That's a secret." Naruto replied, seeing the dejected look on Samui's face. "But I promise that if it works, you guys will be the first ones to know." Naruto added in an attempt to cheer her up. "We better, or else it's your ass." Yugito said with a mock glare. "Damn not even dating and I'm whipped.." Naruto muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Yugito demanded.

"Nothing dear." Naruto replied and finished his breakfast.

~ After Breakfast – Bunker ~

"Easy…" Naruto thought to himself as he slowly opened the door to the bunker. The lights were off and it seemed like every monitor was on standby. "Good, they aren't up yet.." Naruto muttered as he slowly made his way into the base. He closed and locked the door after himself and was two feet from his room when a blue light flashed behind him. "Hmm hmm" A voice behind him coughed. "Um..um.. Health inspector?" Naruto asked with high hopes. "You're an idiot." Natalya's voice said to him.

He slumped his shoulders and turned to see her in a monitor glaring at him. "Not much of a chance I can get you to not call the others?" Naruto asked as all of the monitors began lighting up. "didn't think so. Alright, meet me at the meeting room." Naruto said as he headed towards the meeting room. As soon as he got there, he was greeted to the sight of all of the avengers in their respective monitors. He headed to the coffee maker and set a fresh pot. As soon as he had his coffee, he sat in the middle of the conference room. "Report." Cap said in a loud tone.

"Mission successful. No man left behind. Total kills on my part: one. Information retrieved and delivered." Naruto said as he took a sip of his coffee. "Explain." Tony said as he stepped up. Naruto sighed as he looked at his coffee. This was going to be a long morning.

~ One explanation Later ~

"You.. You're shitting me, right?" Hawkeye asked. "Anyway, after the Anbu were taken care of, I summoned Orfeo to get us out of the hot spot. And when we got to Kumo, we reported our findings to the Raikage." Naruto replied uneasily. "And?" Natalya asked. "And what?" Naruto replied, trying to play dumb. "Don't try that with me brat. I've known you a long time. You think I won't be able to tell when you're lying?" She asked. "..Alright then. A wants me to go to the Chunnin exams in Konoha posing as a genin from Kumo." Naruto said.

"No way. You aren't going back!" Tony shouted, surprising everyone present. "That's not all. Certain circumstances forced my hand and I had to come clean about who I really am to the girls." Naruto finished. "Well, what's the story now?" Jarvis asked. "Well.." Naruto began, "They actually accepted me. Yugito and Samui.. They said that I'm still a part of Kumo and that to them, I'm important. I know they might not have meant it, but it's still nice to hear every once in a while." Naruto said with a sour smile.

"Naruto, you know we're your family.." Natalya said as she looked at Naruto. "I know, and you guys should know that family doesn't end with blood. So give me a few months to find out their true motives and how they actually feel, and then we'll decide if I leave or stay, ok?" Naruto asked pleadingly. "Alright, you have 3 months.." Cap hesitantly relented. "But if anything happens, you come here and hole up, no matter what. Got it?" He asked. "Yea, I got it. And guys… thanks for always being there for me. I know I don't say it as often as I should." Naruto said as he left the meeting room and headed to the workshop.

"You think any of them have a hidden agenda?" Tony asked Cap. "The girls, I don't think so. They've shown they genuinely care about him, even before his heritage was made known. If they did, they would have treated him indifferently before all of this." Cap replied. "A's a wild card for now, but he's proven to be trustworthy . We'll just have to trust Naruto's judgment for now." Cap finished. "Haven't we always?" Natalya asked as she joined their chat. "Yea, but we've always had an eye over his shoulder. Now, he's on his own. I can't help but worry." Cap finished.

"We trained him to be on his own. All we can do now is hope he was a good student." Natalya said as she wrapped her arms around Cap. Cap blushed as he was dragged away and Tony sighed. A computer popped up before him and he started surfing what was left of the Internet. "Oh, and don't watch any of those smutty cartoons of yours Tony." Cap called out as he and black widow left. "It's called anime, and it's an art form!" Tony yelled back.

He sat down and sighed when suddenly a red light appeared on his screen reading, "Work bench." "Yea, yea, I'm coming.." Tony muttered as he transferred to that monitor.

~ With Tony and Naruto ~

When Tony appeared on the monitor in the workbench, he saw various tools and circuitry set up and a large motorcycle helmet in the middle of it all. "What's up Naruto?" HE asked as he checked the mess in front of him. "I need your help recreating a portion of your Iron Man suit." Naruto said, shocking Tony. "Naruto, you know that stuff is years away." Tony informed him. "I don't need the weapons, I need something a bit more… diminutive." Naruto said as he got up and went into the Armory. "Go on.." Tony started.

"Well, I can't exactly go into Konoha with any of my face showing." Naruto began as he came back with various goggles. "So, I'm going to modify this.." Naruto said as he pointed to the motorcycle helmet. "With an HUD like your iron man armor. Of course, the ability to find the structural weakness of a tank won't help me much here, so I figured, how can I make this useful.." Naruto began as he set up various pairs of goggles. "I plan on making the visor like an HUD, but capable of using heat vision technology, night vision technology, X-ray technology, and a few other useful features. I need your help to make something of that caliber possible in the time frame I have."

Naruto began. "How long do you have?" Tony asked absent-mindedly as he began thinking about the materials needed to make it possible. "Two weeks, but I have unlimited resources since I'm making the Raikage pay for it." Naruto began. "You know we're going to have to work around the clock to make that possible." Tony said in a serious voice. "I know, but if I can make this happen, the possibilities are endless." Naruto replied. "Alright, you have the basic circuitry needed for all of the functions you want to include." Tony said as he looked at the goggles.

"You're going to need the strongest glass you can find. I'm talking steel tough. If you can't find it, I'll have to show you how to make it." Tony began. "You're also going to need a power saw and something for the interior to cover any excess wires." Tony continued. "A small mic and some thin wiring to help transmit the needed things into the glass. And for the rough basics, that's it." Tony finished. Naruto nodded as he finished taking the notes of what materials he would need.

"While you go get those materials, I'm going to go ahead and start schematics." Tony said as a large workbench appeared in front of him on his monitor and virtual replicas of the goggles appeared. "Oh, and get a small blowtorch and a soldering iron too." Tony called out. Naruto nodded and headed for the door. "Hey Tony." Naruto called. "Yea?" HE asked. "Thanks. I know I don't thank you for all the crap you help me with, so I'm sorry for that." Naruto said. "What's with you?" Tony asked Naruto in a serious voice.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Ever since you came back, you've been thanking everyone here for insignificant things. What happened on that mission?" Tony asked. "Samui.. I almost lost her." Naruto replied. "Well, you got her back." Tony answered. "It's not that.. She could have died, and there were a million things I didn't tell her. I just want to make sure that if anything happens to anyone, they know how much I appreciate them." Naruto replied with a sad smile.

"Naruto, when you work with people in this line of work, you have to face the reality that they might not make it back someday." Tony said sadly. " I know, but while I'm still breathing everyone I care about is going to be safe." Naruto said defiantly. " I'll get stronger than anyone else, even the Yondaime Hokage, A, and Bee, just so that I can take care of my precious people!" Naruto said with a fire in his eyes. "That's the promise of a lifetime, and I plan to keep it." Naruto finished.

Tony smiled. Naruto may have just faced a hard reality of working with loved ones, but he took it in stride and made a resolution based on it. 'You're growing up well Naruto..' Tony thought as he saw Naruto leave the bunker. 'I look forward to seeing what you become.' Tony mused as he got back to working the prototypes.

A/N: And thus, the nindo is born!