Pairing: Naruto/harem

Rating: M

Summary: In one life he was the child of prophecy, an accomplished shinobi, a husband, a father and friend to many. Naruto died fulfilled and enjoyed his afterlife for countless eons until it was his time reincarnate. Now he is a mutant with a brilliant but dysfunctional older sister and a powerful but mostly useless mutant ability...or at least that would've been the case if the One-above-All hadn't decided to make things interesting for him. Watch as Naruto turns the Marvel universe upside down with his mysterious abilities. Strong/Smart Naruto, Naru/Multi. AU

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise, the Typemoon franchise or the Marvel comics.

A/N: Apologies for the delay, I planned to upload this fic a week ago but real life kept me surprisingly busy, and that's considering I am currently in Southern Zambia (All my friends and relatives told me not return home so I am stuck here for now). Anyway, I am back with another Naruto/Marvel story to get me into the swing of things so that I can put out the next chapter of An Unorthodox Hero and Born Fire, which I have admittedly left hanging for a while now. Right now my mind is locked into writing Sage of War and To Dance With Stars, which got a truly amazing reception from you guys by the way, so thank you so much for that.

This fic is also a special thanks to my two latest patrons on . Zerak and 808Joker808, your kind donation are really helping me get this and my other stories out, as well as sort out some real life issues I ran into over here (Internet because I spent all my money on electricity, food, rent and a six month visa after I left Malawi). Anyway, thank you guys once again for your support, it means a lot to me.

Now this fic is a three-way crossover between Naruto, Marvel and the Fate franchise aka Nasuverse. However, before I go any further I must point out that while the core idea behind this fic was inspired by Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, FGO and Sword Art Online ironically, James D. Fawkes's excellent "An Essence of Silver and Steel" was also an inspiration in the creation of this fic. Since my whole thing is exploring new avenues of storytelling and trying to do things in cool new ways, I've tried my hardest to keep this fic as unique as possible so that it doesn't seem like a cheap knock off of what someone else did, still there will be similarities here and there, no doubt. Also go read his fic, it's a good read.

In this fic, Naruto has been reincarnated as a mutant. He has the ability to permanently recreate the abilities of anyone in close proximity to him, including learned skills, memories and useful genetic information if given enough time. The closer his proximity to a target, the faster he recreates their powers. Unfortunately, it's a rather slow process, so while he can technically recreate Thor or Hulk's entire power set just by standing next to them, he would have to stand next to them for a few centuries to do so. Which is why a certain someone-above-all made a few modifications to his soul and dumped a couple of Heroic Spirits inside him, and to be clear, these Heroic Spirits at full power with all their abilities and skills from every class and timeline in the Nasuverse, they are not Servant class containers.

The story will explore Naruto living the life of a mutant, with all that that entails, as well as themes of family, heroism and hope. It will also explore or rather exploit certain things, like how any human in the Marvel universe can use magic and that Marvel universe has never left the Age of the gods, unlike the Nasuverse. Naruto will be gaining powers from both sides, but he won't have chakra in this fic. The only thing from the Narutoverse he will keep, will be his personality or rather certain aspects of it like his kindness, friendliness, love of pranks and attention, loyalty, determination and charisma. Though due to how he grows up here, he is a bit more like canon Naruto is as an adult, and a lot smarter.

It begins a little dark, cause well lives of mutants in the Marvel universe quite frankly suck, but don't worry, it gets better. There is a timeskip between his childhood and modern day that I hope isn't too jarring, but I really don't want to spend the next five chapters getting into every aspect of his childhood. Something will be mentioned and something will be shown in the occasional flashback as the story progresses. Naruto has already recreated certain portions of the powers of the Heroic Spirits he has within his soul, but his ability to recreate powers also has a risk to it, so he is not even close to OP. He's just very versatile, but that will change in the future.

I haven't the slightest clue what I am going to do about pairings yet, though it's probably going to be another harem fic, no surprise there. Anyway, let's get on with this story, I need to leave some mysteries for your guys. Please remember to let me know what you think in your reviews at the end.

Chapter 1: A moonlit soul!

"It was a gift from beyond, a power not native to this universe. I didn't understand the significance of this at first, but I knew a day would come when there would be no choice, the day would come when I would have to use this power for the sake of all that I cherished. And sure enough M-day came along and the whole world changed along with it."

— Naruto Uzumaki

oOo

Madripoor, Lowtown...

"My my, look at what we have here boys!"

A head of full of filthy blond hair shot up in panic, as Eight-year-old Naruto looked towards the mouth of the alleyway, where he heard the harsh voice. In light of this new threat, the open trashcan from the nearby restaurant he had been digging through for food, tumbled to the floor, spilling its contents on the cobblestone. Three Asian men were approaching him at a sedate pace, wearing expensive looking dark grey business suits and fancy dress shoes. From the way they carried themselves, Naruto – even as young as he was – could tell that these three meant trouble.

The brilliant blonde child, already found it pretty suspicious that instead of the usual leftover scraps he was prone to finding in restaurant trashcans, there were several nearly untouched meals. It was as if the customers of the Dark Albatross were not hungry anymore, or had perhaps lost their appetites mid-meal for some reason. If not for his own half-starved condition, Naruto would never have touched the food. Unfortunately, living on the streets with no one to take care of him, meant that he never knew where the next meal was coming from. Naruto's choices had been to eat the food that was freely available and survive or starve to death and he chose to survive. Beggars couldn't be choosers and all that.

In hind-sight, it was becoming pretty clear to him that all the extra food had been a trap meant for him. Naruto cursed himself for not picking up on this from the second he saw the extra food. The Chefs and workers of the Dark Albatross always got angry when they caught him digging through their trash for food, often chasing him away with threats of violence and the occasional light beating. The one time they had caught him and he had vocally protested, the Chefs and kitchen staff had screamed somethings at him about the wealthier clients of Madripoor not wanting to associate with street trash. Yet this week, those same chefs and workers that hated him so much had not even said a word to him, blatantly ignoring him even when he stood in full view of them. He thought his luck was finally turning. Naruto should've known better.

From what he could tell at a glance, the figure that had spoken and the two men besides him, were a part of the Kwan syndicate, an up-and-coming gang from Madripoor's rich district, Hightown. They specialized in all forms of trafficking, whether it was drug trafficking, child trafficking, sex trafficking or black market organ trafficking. A popular saying in the crime-ridden areas of Madripoor went, that if it could be trafficked then the Kwan Syndicate were likely involved somehow.

None of this really mattered to Naruto, all he knew and needed to understand really, was that children disappeared around the people from the Kwan Syndicate. Thus, as a child himself, it was imperative he got away from these men as quickly as possible. The Kwan syndicate were well known to the locals in Lowtown Madripoor for making vulnerable children disappear, so a hungry and homeless little boy like Naruto, who had no family to miss him, obviously presented a very tempting target.

Naruto immediately bolted away, not even bothering to looking back at the three men and see if they were chasing him, he already knew that they would. The young blond boy knew better than to stay where he was, and Luckily for him, the alleyway he was in was not a dead end one. The 'pat, pat, pat' sound of his bare feet slapping the wet cobblestone as he tore down the alley, and the thundering of his heartbeat, were loud even to his own ears, only motivating him to further pump his little legs as fast as they would go.

Normally there was no chance in hell that an eight-year-old could outrun a physically fit adult at a full sprint, but Naruto had always been unnaturally athletic. He was unnaturally healthy too, especially since he couldn't remember ever getting sick from whatever he ate out of the trash over the two years he had been on the street. That the knowledge of three grown men pursuing him was great motivator to keep running as fast as he could, went unsaid.

A small smirk grew on his face as he overheard with his sensitive ears, the panicked yelling of one of the gangsters behind, as they realized he had bolted and began to pursue him in earnest. "How the hell is that little shit so fast?"

"I don't know? Just keep running man." One of the other three thugs replied hastily while flat out sprinting after Naruto.

The third voice suddenly asked. "I thought the food was spiked?"

"It is, and we saw him take a bite. The sedative should've knocked him out by now." The second voice replied, his voice already labored. Naruto didn't know what a sedative was, but it didn't sound good, and he'd apparently eaten it.

"Clearly this brat comes from hardy stock. He's exactly what we need." The boss said much to Naruto's annoyance, before falling silent as they continued to chase the boy.

Steadily the gap between him and the three adults was increasing, and now all he needed to do now was make it to the street and lose them in some shady establishment or the sewers or down another alley. Really, there were quite a few options available to him, and Naruto was not only familiar with the neighborhood but quite adept at escaping pursuers. He had to be, when he was always being chased by angry chefs for stealing their left overs. 'Those Kwan idiots should have blocked off both ends of the alley if they wanted to corner me.' He thought.

After Naruto ditched these guys, he would need to find another restaurant through whose trash he could riffle for food, clearly he couldn't go back to the Dark Albatross...at least for a while. He was almost out the other end of the rather long alleyway, with just ten more meters before he would hit the sidewalk and one meter after that until the street.

However, the next words from the leader of the trio behind him nearly made Naruto's heart stop and trip over his own feet, as his smirk disappear, when he heard. "Fuck this, we don't need the kid alive. Just try not to hit anything vital." His sensitive ears picked up the sound of several guns cocking, before...

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The report of multiple gunshots, fired from the weapon wielding gangsters, sent his Adrenaline through the roof. The loud gunfire echoed off the walls of the conjoined building structures, even as Naruto zigzagged, ignoring the feeling of hot wind against his skin from where several bullets brushed past him, mere millimeters away from touching the surface of his skin. However, inevitably there was an explosion of pain in his left shoulder when a bullet successfully clipped him, just as he exited the alleyway and was about to turn down the street and out of sight. 'They had guns! I did not know they had guns!' His panicked mind screeched, even through the intense pain.

Despite only being an eight year old, Naruto knew exactly what guns were and what they could do, after all, he had witnessed firsthand as countless people were shot in Madripoor, two of whom included his own biological parents two years ago. Naruto came crashing down onto the sidewalk in a bloody heap, the agonizing pain of his injury nearly making him black out, yet he fought through it, albeit just barely. His body hurt too much for him to do anything but crawl into the fetal position.

At this time of the night, the roads were largely empty except for other gangsters, hookers, and the type of people that any sane person knew better than to piss off...or approach. Even as he lay there bleeding, Naruto knew that despite over a dozen people watching him, not one of these people would move to lend him a hand and stop what was about to happen to him. Madripoor, Lowtown was simply the kind of place were anything went, no matter how evil, as long as the price was right. The Kwan Syndicate knew this too and had come prepared.

The three gangsters behind him, put away their guns as they caught up to him and surrounded him in a semicircle. They had no need to waste any more bullets with Naruto on the ground and bleeding. It even impressed their leader that he was somehow managing to not cry like any normal child would've in that situation, though the beginnings of tears were clearly visible in the corners of Naruto's eyes. As a last act of defiance, Naruto scowled and snarled at the approaching gangsters, his eyes daring them to get any closer. They did…

"Check out this little punk. It's like he's trying to scare us? Jin, show him what you think of his efforts." The leader said in an amused tone, as his cold eyes glared down at Naruto's prone form.

The one named Jin, simply responded by picking up an empty beer bottle lying on the side of the alley, and smashing it against a brick wall, before approaching Naruto threateningly. There was a maddened look in Jin's eyes, and his mouth was contorted into a sadistic smirk, as he said. "You see punk, if you hadn't made us chase after you, this would've been nice and quick. A single bullet to the head and it would be over in an instant. But you got my shoes dirty, and now I am going to drag this out as long and as painfully as I can."

"Geez Jin! Pull out a knife or something, we are not barbarians." The boss said, his silky voice sounding more amused than upset about his comrade's choice of weapon. Meanwhile turning to the third member of their group, he added. "And Freddy go pay off the audience, we don't want them getting in the way."

Handing over a large wad of cash, to Freddy, the young man who seemed the sanest of the bunch left to do as the boss had instructed. Meanwhile, Jin with a disapproving grumble, threw away his improvised weapon before pulling out a switchblade.

"The fucker made me run, and I hate running." Jin snarled, before roughly grabbing Naruto's left leg ignoring the boys kicking and snarling, even as he asked the boss. "How are we going to do this Lee?"

Lee, the boss casually replied. "We will drag the kid back into the shadows, slit his throat and bleed him out. Freddy can get the coldbox and the other containers from the car to store his parts. Once we've extracted all the valuable organs, we can leave the body to the dogs. I am sure they will appreciate it, no one else feeds them."

"That works for me." Jin replied with a toothy grin, showing off his pearly white teeth, before kicking Naruto in the face stunning him near senseless. Jin then proceeded to drag Naruto on his back, deep into the alley and away from anyone's sight.

"Hngh!" Naruto groaned in pain, as his wounded shoulder was continually jostled, snapping him out of his daze. He tried to struggle after hearing all of that. Despite the all-consuming pain and the slight blood loss that left him lightheaded, he had heard every single word they had spoken, and was now very desperate not to die and have his remains become dog food. Even his young mind understood what a horrible end that would be for him.

So it was in that moment where a mix of fear and desperation had come together to create the perfect storm, that a dormant gene deep within Naruto suddenly awakened, changing his entire physiology ever so slightly and allowing for a very peculiar power to awaken within him. This power was not destructive in its nature, but rather one that was meant to observe others and then make adaptations to Naruto's physiology based on observations made. A power meant for the betterment of himself.

Theoretically it was an Omega class mutant power, that would have eventually allowed him to permanently adapt the powers and natural abilities of anyone he wanted for himself, including aliens, demons or gods given enough time. Unfortunately, it was far too slow at doing this to be useful, leaving his incredibly ability next to useless…or that would've been the case if not for the machinations of the One-above-All. Not that the young blond child knew this.

Time suddenly froze as his mutant ability activated, and Naruto subconsciously reached out with it, reaching to a place he never should have been able to go in the first place. A-Place-beyond-All! Many multiversal and cosmic beings witnessed this, their reactions ranging from mildly curious at best, to outright hostility towards this mortal that dared tread in a realm so far above his own station. Unfortunately, he was also protected by a power even they knew better than to mess with.

To most of those beings, his actions were simply a little surprising and a minor interruption to their daily schedule, so they quickly returned to what they were doing. The Living Tribunal itself, dismissed Naruto's actions as uninteresting and utterly unimportant. The One above All, on the other hand simply smiled sadly at the desperate actions of the child from another universe he had sent to help mankind and mutantkind down a better path.

"It's time for your life to truly begin my favored child. Allow me to connect you to them and give you the means for your own grand adventure to finally kick off." The One-above-All said in a solemn voice, before snapping his/her/its fingers. In the next instant, Naruto's newly activated mutant power stretched, twisted, exploded outward and then snapped back into place as it was modified from what it was meant to be, into what the One-above-All wanted it to become. Then it shot off towards a specific section of the Omniverse, where it forged a connection. "My work is done. The rest is up to you and humanity, favored child. Go live your life as you have always lived your life, in every universe you are born into."

Back on Earth, time resumed and then before anyone could hope to even react, let alone realize what was happening, the air ionized as blasts of arcing crimson lightning began to shoot out of Naruto's body in every direction around him. Jin and his boss Lee, immediately ducked away, reeling backwards from the exotic energy that was licking at everything in its range. Unfortunately, Freddy who was returning from his task was not fast enough, he was caught in one of the blasts and sent flying into the back wall of building with enough force to dent the bricks. His clothes where a pile of smoking rags, and his body was a charred mess, covered in deep electrical burns before he even hit the floor.

"Oh fuck, he's a mutant." Jin yelled in complete shock even as the flaring lightning tampered off.

Meanwhile, Naruto could feel his body losing its strength. It had all lasted, but a few seconds before it was over, and Naruto found himself too exhausted to even move. His body succumbing to the pain from the gunshot wound in his shoulder and the blood loss, but in that moment his powers were active, he had felt so powerful. His eyes began too droop as he blacked out, regardless of the fact that the other two gangsters were already recovering from where they had fled to. Mentally he cried. 'I have to stay awake!' His efforts were futile though, and he fell unconscious shortly afterwards.

VvV

As soon as she heard the gunshots, Tessa understood what was going on. The mutant known as Sage, a follower of Professor Charles Xavier and his vision for mutant-kind, was quickly able to piece together with her brilliant mind, what was occurring, from sound alone. A young boy, of about 7-9 years of age, was running at an unusually quick pace. He was being pursued by three adults in a full out sprint, yet was quickly outpacing them. Then they started shooting at him.

None of this would've been enough for her to lift a finger to help the boy, as she walked down the street, towards her target. Tessa didn't feel the need to since the boy was clearly outpacing the adults. Not to mention she had paid Madame Joy, a hefty sum to find the address of her target in Lowtown, and she needed to get to him before he became aware of her presence and disappeared forever. What was happening now, was just more human on human violence, it happened every day in Lowtown, and intervention would not change a thing. Worse yet it would alert her target, to the fact that she was here tracking him, and if he escaped now, then she might never get another chance at finding him ever again. 'Paranoid bastard.'

Everything changed however, when the boy stepped out the ally. No, more like crumbled to the floor on the sidewalk, after a bullet ripped through his right shoulder. Using her training from her time with X-men, and her childhood when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, she found a shadowy spot and blended in. Her hooded winter coat and the form fitting body suit she wore underneath for combat operation, both being black, helped a lot with this during the night.

The boy's pursuers quickly caught up, and dragged him back, further into the alley, while one of them paid off all the witnesses to look the other way. Then their leader went on a spiel that to her surprise, sent anger flooding through her veins. Sage knew better than most how heartless this world could be, but between everything the two men had said and the third member of their party, paying off everyone else on the street to not get involved with a few dollars, it ignited something in her.

What was happening to the child, had absolutely nothing to do with her current mission. In fact, it directly jeopardized Sage's chances of ever finding out about her long lost family and her real name from her target. However, there was a big difference between knowing in her head that a child was in danger and witnessing it firsthand. At that exact moment she suddenly wondered, how she could really call herself one of Xavier's followers, if she just stood by and watched a child be murdered in cold blood. Especially when it was Xavier's vision for mankind and mutantkind to coexist in this world. Ignoring a human child in danger, just because they were human was something Magneto would do, and it sickened Tessa to think that that was exactly what she was about to do. A sudden guilt fell over her as she considered how willing she had been a few seconds ago to let the child die, and she decided to do something about it, regardless of how great the personal cost of acting now would be.

Before she even realized it, she shifted from her spot, hand resting on a combat knife as she followed the one called Freddy back into the alley without drawing anyone's eye. She didn't even know what she going to do, only that the boy would come out of this alive, one way or the other.

Then up ahead, the kid let out one last snarl of desperation, and to her amazement a blast of crimson lightning shot out of his body before slamming into Freddy, nearly killing him. She swiftly ducked away from the arcing electricity and hid in another shadowy corner, but she kept her eyes trained on the boy. This time activating her genetic sight, a secondary or perhaps tertiary mutant ability she possessed, along with her super computer-like mind and psychic talents.

The boy's very body – all the way down to the genetic level – became an open book to her, and to her amazement, it turned out he was a mutant. Tessa felt even more guilt and shame for the fact that she had almost left a mutant to such a horrid fate, but suppressed it in favor of keeping track of the other two criminals. Freddy's breathing was shallow and erratic; Tessa could already see that he wouldn't make it through the night without immediate medical attention. She felt no sympathy for him.

"Well this just got interesting." The leader of the trio of gangsters said, as he pulled out a cellphone before adding. "I better call the big boss, and find out if he still wants us to gut the little fucker and take his organs. Most clients would demand reimbursement if they learned the product was faulty... or a mutant." He finished as if the very word was a curse. "Besides it might be a good idea to have a mutant under our control, once we've drugged and tamed the little bitch, and lucky for us this one is still very young and impressionable."

Revulsion for the two criminals flooded her veins, as the other criminal laughed in response, and said. "Agreed. Though it would be interesting to see whether a human could develop mutant powers after an organ transplant, or several."

"You're a sick fuck Jin, you know that right?" The leader said with wide smile.

To which Jin merely shrugged and replied. "It takes one to no one, Mr. Lee Chang."

Laughing at his colleague's response, Mr. Chang turned to where Freddy was laying on the ground moaning weakly, his body still giving the occasional involuntary twitch, while the air smelled like cooked meat. He was a mess, his skin blackened to a charcoal consistency in many places, while blood leaked from his ears, mouth and nose. Frowning Mr. Chang said. "Okay, go help Freddy over there or put him out of his misery, whichever is easier. He was only with us tonight because his connections to a few corrupt cops in Hightown, made him useful to the big boss. This was supposed to be his initiation into the Syndicate. What an unlucky bastard."

Jin moved to obey, pulling out a fancy silver plated Desert Eagle from his pants, while Mr. Change began dialing their boss' number, but Sage moved in. She couldn't let him finish or someone would come to investigate the mess she would leave. Stepping out of the Shadows, while taking off her heavy winter cloak to reveal her nubile figure, the form fitting body suit highlighting her curves and breasts, she said in her most sensual voice. "Oh, how heartless of you."

Mr. Chang immediately stopped dialing his 'big boss' and turned to her, taking in her form with his eyes which immediately gained a lustful look. It was easy to guess what he was thinking, even if she hadn't noticed the growing bulge in both his and Jin's pants. A tiny adjustment to her posture, the slightest inflection of desire in her voice, a mischievous and cocksure smile and a look in her eyes that promised a good night. All of it were deliberate actions she took in order to sell the illusion that she was someone looking for a good time.

"And who might you be milady? You look positively delicious." Mr. Chang said in a voice that made her feel like she needed a shower or twenty. She immediately suppressed that instinct.

Instead she smiled beatifically, her body language carefully hiding the anger she felt, as she replied. "I'm Sage, but my real name is Tessa." She then added a little extra sway to her hips as she slowly walked up to them. Her form fitting combat suit emphasizing her amazing figure, as she stepped into arm's length of the criminal, as if ready to embrace him, before adding. "Though the only people who know that little secret are either my friends, or more often than not, the dead. Of which the latter category you will soon be joining."

Before Mr. Chang could even comprehend what she was saying. She drew her KM-2000 combat knife hidden behind her back in the reverse grip and slit his throat open, before stabbing him through the heart, all in one fluid and well-practiced motion. Realizing what was happening, Jin began to draw his weapon on Sage, but she pushed Mr. Chang's still dying body into the other criminal's arms as he was mid draw, knocking his aim aside. She then almost casually threw her knife, straight into the Jin's widening left eye, piercing his brain and killing him instantly.

Quickly retrieving her knife from Jin's still warm corpse, Sage was startled when she heard a sound and turned to find herself pinned by the gaze of the child she had just rescued. He was a tiny thing, malnourished and absolutely filthy, yet his eyes were filled with wonder. The sight of those eyes genuinely surprised her, he should've felt horror or fear, after witnessing her just kill two men in front of him in cold blood, yet he stared at her in clearly undisguised wonder.

For a moment she did not know what to say, before fully turning to him and simply asking. "What is your name child?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." He hesitantly responded, clearly a little nervous.

Smiling at him, she felt a sudden almost alien urge within her to do something she never thought she would ever consider doing, and giving into it, said. "Well Naruto! How would you like to leave this place with me? I can't promise you much more than a roof to sleep under, a bed, clothes, food, school and safety, but you won't be cold and hungry anymore, and I won't let anyone hurt you like this ever again." As she finished she offered her hand to him, knowing that if he accepted, this would completely change her life in ways that even she couldn't predict despite her supercomputer-like mind. Not that she minded, Sage already knew that her target was aware of her presence now had fled, leaving along with her only chance learn about her past and family. Sergei was now untraceable and wouldn't survive to see the next summer, taking her answer to the grave with him.

Naruto's only response to her question, after a single moment of hesitation, was to take her hand in his own and nod in acceptance. She smiled before picking the boy straight off the floor and carrying, she needed to get him treatment, even though she noticed he wasn't bleeding as badly as she expected him to. On that day Tessa lost all connection to her old family but gained a new family member in Naruto, a first step in changing the very fate of the world.

VvV

Salem Woods Neighborhood Park, Virginia Beach, VA, USA/ 11 years later...

"You must be Sage's little brother, Naruto Uzumaki right?" A deep almost gravelly voice spoke.

Naruto opened his blue eyes and looked to the side from where he was seated on a park bench to see a short wild looking man who seemed to be in his thirties, accompanied by a teenaged girl, both staring at him. The man wore a black biker jacket, blue jeans with an obnoxiously huge buckle and cowboy boots. 5'3"ft tall man had dark brown eyes, his dark hair was wild and unkempt, and he was built like a tank. Just the sight of his mug and the sound of his deep voice seemed to scream at Naruto, that this man had seen some real hardcore shit, the kind of stuff that made veteran soldiers whimper in fear after midnight.

In comparison, the younger lady beside the man was a far prettier sight to behold. She was in her mid to late teens and an inch or two taller than the man. She had striking black hair, green eyes and heavily tanned skin as if she performed a lot of outdoor activity. The girl was wearing black leather pants, combat boots and a white T-shirt with a black jacket of her own, to top it off. Her face however, while beautiful was an emotionless mask and yet she also seemed to radiate the same aura of having seen a tremendous amount of hardcore shit in her life that the older man did, although to a lesser degree. Somehow this all made Naruto feel more at ease around the two of them.

"I am." Naruto finally responded as he refocused his attention on the man, already figuring out his identity. "And based on your appearance, as well as the extremely limited number of individuals that my sister would trust with the knowledge of my very existence, you can only be Wolverine. Though I have no idea who your companion is." Naruto finished with a gesture to the girl.

Wolverine simply grunted in confirmation, giving a slight nod before promptly turning on his heel and beginning to head out of the park. Naruto got up from his seat and silently followed the man as he led them away, the girl falling into step besides him without a word. The legendary Wolverine without even looking back, hummed in approval before saying. "Call me Logan kid, and that young lady beside you is my little sister, Laura Kinney. I was just coming back from picking her up when your sister called me and informed me that you were in the area. She asked me real nicely to give you a ride since we had enough fuel in the jet and plenty of time, so we swung by."

Naruto smiled at the man, before saying. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, and thank you for accepting my sister's request. All she told me when I called her to inform her I was in the country, was "stay put, someone will come and get you", and I have been waiting here ever since." Naruto explained with a casual smile, quickly catching up to Wolverine with several lengthy strides. With a smirk he then added. "I have no doubt that Sage would've blackmailed you into picking me up, if you had refused to do so." Making the feral mutant chuckle knowingly.

"I suppose she would." He responded with a grin, his beady eyes alight with mirth. "Heaven knows Sage has secrets. Her secrets have secrets, and she has dirt on everybody." Logan didn't seem bothered at all by this.

Naruto merely nodded, not refuting his words because he knew that they were completely true. The trio quickly crossed the road, and silently made their way to a more abandoned area. Naruto did not question why they went this way; he could already guess. Tessa had regaled him with many stories when he was younger, about the X-men and their fancy stealth jets. It was only logical in his opinion, to assume that Logan would've parked the one they came in, in an abandoned area.

Sure enough, half an hour of walking in silence later, and they came to an abandoned industrial zone with a big enough and private enough area for them to have parked the X-men's private Blackbird SR-79 Hypersonic stealth jet. Sage had once shared a rumor with him, about Beast and Forge having connections to a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works division, and that they had somehow cut a deal to gain access to the stripped down airframes of several Lockheed Martin SR-71's which they then modified and upgraded with alien technology into the current form that the famous VTOL capable X-jet had taken.

Some kind of sensors onboard the jet must have detected their approach and recognized Wolverine specifically, because the Blackbird de-cloaked before their very eyes and a boarding ramp extend from an open door near the cockpit. Naruto looked around excitedly as he boarded the technological wonder that was the X-jet. He had never been inside an aircraft as fast as the Blackbird, and quickly took the copilot seat, not that Laura or Wolverine seemed to mind, in Logan's case it was provided he didn't touch anything. Before long, Logan had them in the air, and speeding towards the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Finally, after five whole minutes in the air, Logan decided to break the silence and ask. "So where have you been hiding this whole time? The since the very first time I met Sage, she's never once mentioned she even had a brother."

"And whenever she mentioned you, Sage never said anything about you have a little sister either." Naruto replied, giving Logan a pointed look.

"Touché. Everybody's got secrets." The older man admitted easily with a slightly nod. "I noticed you didn't have any luggage, did you come from Tokyo with only the clothes on your back?"

"Don't worry about my luggage. It will turn up once we get to the mansion." Naruto replied with a mischievous grin.

Logan frowned before simply saying. "I see. On that note, since you're coming to live with us at the mansion, I take it you are a mutant?" At Naruto's nodded of confirmation, he asked. "So what are you powers?"

"You know…I'm not sure where to begin answering that, I got a couple of powers already, and I will develop more later." Naruto groaned, as he thought of the best way to explain his powers. "I guess my actual mutant power is that I can permanently recreate the powers of the closest none-cosmic level being within range, provided I spend a sufficient amount time in close proximity to them. This also includes memories, any skills that the person has learned and aspects of their genetic code that are useful to me regardless of whether they are alien, divine or demonic beings, spiritual or corporeal. Whatever makes me better my power will simply work to recreate, I guess you could say that my power is all about adapting and overcoming. Anyway, my mutant power will automatically latch onto whoever is closest to me, and the closer their proximity, the faster I recreate their abilities, and anything I manage to recreate is also permanent as far as I know." Naruto explained.

"Is that so? Then you are currently copying my healing factor, right?" Logan asked in interest.

Naruto smiled but shook his head as he replied. "As far as my power is concerned, you are not the closest person to me proximity wise. The thing is, I already have a bunch of super-powered spiritual entities residing within my soul, and as far as my powers are concerned – along with most of the world for that matter – nothing is closer to a man than their own soul. Thus my mutant powers are constantly trying to recreate the abilities of these spiritual entities "possessing" me, for lack of a better term. That said, even if this wasn't the case, it still takes a considerable amount of time for me to recreate the powers of other being, unless they are literally skin to skin with me for large amounts of time. Only being inside of me physically or metaphysically in the case of the beings within my soul, is considered a faster way to recreate abilities than prolonged skin to skin contact.

"So basically, a few hours in a plane would speed up my natural rate of healing by a week at best, if I was actually copying. There is also a matter of the complexity of whatever being I am trying to copy, even if I was joined at the hip with someone like Thor or the Hulk every day, it would take a couple of centuries to even begin to generate that level power because of how complex their genetics are. That is, unless they spent several years living inside my soul of course, in which case that time frame would be significantly cut down to about a decade or two." He finished explaining, only to note Logan looking somewhat bored.

"That's all very interesting." Logan said, in a tone that completely lacked any sincerity. "Now, since you got a bunch of demons, gods or whatever in your soul, what can you do with the abilities you've learned from them?" He asked.

Naruto frowned at the question. Heroic Spirits where neither true demons nor full gods, from what little he could tell, having never directly contacted the beings in his soul. However, he didn't see a point in correcting Wolverine on this, especially since the man was clearly more interested in what he could do with his acquired powers, rather than how and why he could use it. So Naruto merely replied. "I can shoot lightning, move at incredible speeds, hit pretty hard and take a hit, I know several swords styles as well as how to use other archaic weaponry, and I can also skillfully drive, pilot or ride pretty much anything short of an alien spaceship, even if I have never seen the inside of one before."

"Drive anything? You mean, you can even pilot the Blackbird." Logan interrupted.

"Yes." Naruto simply replied with a nod. The Riding skill granted to him by a couple of his Heroic Spirits was such an overpowered thing. "I've never seen the inside of the cockpit of any aerial vehicle, but if I was to take the wheel right now so to speak, my instincts would immediately kick in and allow me to skillfully pilot this Blackbird like I had been flying it all my life. Furthermore, the more I fly or drive things with my Riding power activated, the better I will get at flying, riding, driving and piloting everything. Of course it could be argued that pretty much all living beings get better at doing stuff by practicing and learning from their mistakes. However, in my case, it's the sheer speed at which my skill in piloting, driving or riding stuff, that increases at an exponential rate. Furthermore, that skill carries over to every other vehicle or mount that I will ever use, regardless of whether I have used them in the past or not.

Logan looked at him incredulously, before saying. "So you're basically telling me that if you became an extremely skilled horseback ride, then your power will allow you to pilot an F-22 Raptor, even without ever having entered one."

"Yes." Naruto's replied. "It also goes the other way. I can learn to ride horses well, by flying a jet or helicopter skillfully."

Wolverine snorted, before replying. "That's insane! That ability of yours is total bullshit."

"Oh I know." Naruto grinned. "It's not even the craziest power I recreated. One of them actively allows me to skillfully use any weapon I hold as if I have used it my whole life; another is pretty much teaching me Scandinavian runic magic, while a third blocks out all mental pollution which should even include stuff like illusions and telepathy. These aren't even my nuclear options when it comes to my powers, though admittedly those are a bit of a double edged sword." Naruto finished, his excitement tampering off into a grimace as he thought of the Noble Phantasms of most of his Heroic Spirits, and what it took to use one without being given access to it by the Heroic Spirit it belongs to.

"Those nuclear options must truly be something for you to be so obviously wary of them." Logan said jokingly, but his eyes were dead serious and watching Naruto carefully. He had obviously noted Naruto's grimace and his sudden lack of enthusiasm.

The feral X-man and Avenger, further did not feel very assured when Naruto somberly replied. "You have no idea. If I used any one of them at full power, I would probably be able to fight most gods without a problem and stand a good chance of winning. However, doing so requires me to directly channel the power of the supernatural entities living within my soul, entities whose metaphysical existence's are so obscenely powerful that they could easily overwrite my very soul and personality with their own and snuff me out of existence. All you would have left would be a bunch of godlike entities powering my still living body, without my soul or mind to govern it. Now add to this the knowledge that each of these entities have their own sense of right and wrong, and who knows what they would do if they took over my body. Put simply, my nuclear options are a double edged sword."

"You are right kid, that is a hell of double edged sword, but you can control it right?" Logan asked, feeling a little concerned about Naruto, and wondering if he was dealing with a ticking time-bomb.

Naruto nodded and replied. "As long I don't directly channel too much of their power; I will adapt to it faster than it can alter me so I will be fine. They can however influence my physical looks and even given me a few personality quirks, but not directly control me, much less possess me. Of course, if I suddenly decided to recklessly channel an enormous amount of their power, then it would be a problem. Hell, the only upside to doing channeling that kind of power directly, is that it significantly speeds up the development of my minor powers like my Riding ability, and gives me a permanent power boost, making my body a more capable of holding their full might each time I do it."

"…"

At the glare from Wolverine Naruto quickly raised his hands in a surrendering motion and said. "Relax, I am not that reckless and stupid. I'm cool with even these minor powers that I get passively, and like I said, the more I practice with them, the stronger they get. Besides, it's not like I want my soul to get erased from existence just for a little power, I am not stupid you know."

"I just want to know one thing though." Logan asked, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion towards Naruto. "Why are you being so open about this to me?" It was a question Naruto had been expecting for a while now. Had it been anyone else but Wolverine, Naruto would not have said everything he had just said about his abilities, no matter how diluted the information he had given had been.

Naruto merely smirked as he said. "Tessa really cares about me, and she would have my head if she ever learned that I suggested this. However, she lacks the conviction to do what's necessary in the event of the worst coming to pass. This isn't something that I should be asking from someone I just met, I know that, however Sage trusts you and the other X-men. Furthermore, I was more than likely born on Madripoor, which is where my sister first found me before adopting me. Your moniker, the Wolverine is still whispered in the streets of both Lowtown and Hightown. It shouldn't surprise you that when Sage first mentioned to me that you were a part of the X-men, I took an interest in you Logan, and despite never having seen you before, I have heard lots of stories about you from my sister. She trusts you so I know that I can trust you. Which is why I am going to have to ask you to be the one to kill me if I ever get completely possessed and turn into a threat against humanity and mutantkind."

"W-wow, kid should you be talking like that? And you are right about your sister being pissed if she ever hears about what you just said. I don't want Sage mad at me." Logan snapped.

"Logan, it doesn't take a genius to see that one day I might lose control of my powers and become a threat to everyone I care about, as well as many more people. So I won't beat around the bush here; if such a thing where to ever happen, then I need someone to kill me because Sage lacks both the ability and the heart to do so. We of course have contingency plans in place to make sure that I don't lose control, however those are preventative measures and we don't have anything planned for if I were to completely be subsumed by the beings residing in my soul and my body taken over by a supernatural entity willing to put others at risk for its own reasons. If that were ever to happen, then I want someone who is both capable putting me down and willing, furthermore, you are one of the few people with the potential to survive the fight that would break out when you try to kill me." Naruto said seriously. This was all a big gamble on his part, and Naruto already knew it was a very unfair request to make, but his instincts told him that not only could he trust this man but it was important to introduce the idea to him now, regardless of whether he accepts or rejects it.

"Why are you so sure that this might be necessary?" Logan asked neutrally. His face not indicated his opinion on the matter in anyway whatsoever.

"The entities within my soul are largely altruistic, Heroic even. However, they have aspects to them, sides that can be considered evil or insane even. It all depends on what part of them I am channeling and how much. I am wary that one of the evil or insane aspects of these entities, might take over my body, and if that's the case then I definitely want to know that someone will be there to kill me. Even so, this is just a countermeasure for a very unlikely scenario, a just in case we need it. I would feel more comfortable knowing that I could count on you for this if everything went to hell." Naruto said, his eyes never looking away from the feral mutant's own the whole time he spoke.

Logan was hesitant for a moment as he considered what to say, but eventually he said. "If it ever comes to it, then I will consider it at least. However, this is not a promise, and I have several very powerful friends. I will exhaust my available resources first, before resorting to any permanent measures." Logan said. It wasn't a promise or anything but neither was it an outright refusal either. It left Naruto feeling a bit more relaxed.

Naruto smiled, his instincts kept telling him that Logan was the right person to trust with such a request, and that the man would understand what he was asking for, in a way none of the others could. Naruto wasn't suicidal, he just understood the risk that he himself posed to everyone he knew and loved – which wasn't many people – if he was swallowed up and erased thanks to the sheer metaphysical weight of a channeling a Heroic Spirit. With a bit of respect in his tone, he said. "Thank you Logan."

Nothing more was said between the two, nothing needed to be said, and they fell into a companionable silence for the rest of the flight to the X-mansion. Naruto on some level, sensed that he had also gained a bit of respect from Logan as well. Neither of them noticed that Laura Kinney was looking at their interaction with great interest, and a tiny bit of jealousy.

VvV

Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester, New York…

Wolverine had skillfully pilot the X-jet into a hidden tunnel in the side of cliff wall, before parking it in an underground hanger. He had then lead the two teens out of one of several exits leading to the surface where they popped out behind the X-mansion, before leading them around the neo-classical building to the front entrance. When asked, he said something about it being tradition to bring mutant who had come to the school for the first time through the front door. Wolverine had also changed into his classic yellow, black and blue X-men uniform, with its iconic cowl, making Naruto smile when he saw it for the first time.

As they walked, Naruto easily spotted four massive humanoid robots standing taller than the trees of the nearby woods in the distance – sentinels he mentally corrected himself. They were machine's designed for the sole purpose of killing mutants and for some reason charged with protecting what was left of mutant-kind. Having them surround the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, was in rather bad taste Naruto quickly decided as he followed behind Logan. If he remembered correctly from Sage's debrief, before calling him to come to America, these models were manned, and they were being managed by the Office of National Emergency or O.N.E for short. There were also supposed to be more O.N.E sentinels out there, lurking on the property, but for now they were out of sight. Even so, it couldn't have been easy for mutants to live here with the feeling of being surrounded by the things every second of every day. The massacre on Genosha had already driven an intense hatred and fear of these things into just about every mutant alive, and none of them wanted a repeat of that event.

Logan quickly led him and Laura to the front door, not even giving them time to really observe the surrounding much. Only for them to hear the beginnings of some kind of scuffle coming from inside, as they got close. Logan seemed to understand what it was about because he growled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like. "Those two are at it again."

Before Naruto could ask or even really think too much about it, Logan stepped forward and opened the door, where they could clearly see a confrontation of some sort going on between two teens. One was an Asian girl with blue hair and brown eyes, wearing cargo pants and tank top while bolts of arcing blue electricity jumping between the splayed fingers of her massive metal gauntlets. The other was a Caucasian boy, with black hair and blue eyes, who was visibly glowing with a green aura while he floated 3ft off the ground. They both looked like they were about to tear each other's throats out.

'If not for the fact that I didn't really give a damn, I'd rate this as quite possible the worst first impression they could create for someone newly introduced to the mutant world, specifically the X-men side of things. Aren't these guys supposed to be training to be X-men.' He thought to himself with a frown, not particularly impressed with the two teenagers or the large group that had surrounded them in anticipation of a fight. It never once occurred to Naruto that purpose this was actually what teenagers were like, never having had a proper childhood himself.

As far as he could tell, all the mutants present were teenagers. Naruto spotted a mutant with gold skin and blond hair, then another with green skin and lizard-like features, then a redheaded boy in the back with angel-like wings who stood next to a living rock golem. There were two completely human looking, black teenaged boys in the back, one with dreadlocks while the other had his hair cut short. A girl further in the back even had skin that looked like living mercury, while a different girl was covered in red tribal tattoos. They were all looking pretty lively too…...at least until Wolverine interrupted them all.

"Is there a problem here?" He simply asked, and the way each of the teens stilled at Logan's cold tone nearly had Naruto cracking up in laughter. He could somewhat understand the reaction though, even with how little he knew of the grizzly mutant. The guy was the ultimate endurance fighter, and even Naruto with all his abilities didn't not want to put that to the test by pissing him off. "No? Good! This is Laura, my sister. She's a genetic clone created from my DNA and…...you know what? It doesn't matter. The bottom line is, she has my claws, and yes, she could kill you if she wanted to. So don't make her want to. Consider yourselves introduced" He finished before he began walking towards the stairs, only stopping to add over his shoulder. "And for the record, I'd put my money on Nori." Who was apparently the girl with the metal gauntlets if her smirk was anything to go by.

With his piece said, Logan simply disappeared to somewhere upstairs, leaving Naruto and Laura with their fellow teens, all of whom quickly zeroed in on Naruto who hadn't been introduced. The guy who had been ready to fight Nori, turned to him and rudely asked. "And who the hell are you prettyboy? Another clone?"

Naruto already understood that he was acting this way because of a bruised ego, but he didn't have time for this, and he wasn't exactly happy that Logan had just abandoned him and Laura in the foyer without a word. It didn't mean he was about to tolerate it. Several arcs of pure white magical lightning flared from his shoulders and flickered through the area directly in front of him like vicious snakes, forcing the arrogant ass backwards in order to give Naruto some room.

The lightning then dissipated allowing Naruto to glare at the teen and say. "I don't have time for your macho bullshit, so listen up, I'll only say this once! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I have business with Sage. If one of you would care to point me in her direction, I will be happy to leave you all to your...whatever the hell it was you were doing before we interrupted." Naruto said, gesturing vaguely with his hand to the whole situation they had stumbled into when Wolverine opened the front door. When no one seemed to respond, not really knowing what to say to a stranger, Naruto sighed and muttered. "Okay, clearly none of you seem to have any idea of where she is. I guess I will just have to find her myself." With that he walked right past everyone, only bothering look over his shoulder and wave at Laura while saying. "See you around Laura. It was a pleasure meeting you and Logan."

Her response was a slight nod, but he smiled warmly before disappearing into the guts of the mansion. He had a missing older sister to find.

VvV

Emma Frost's office…

As soon as he came within a mile of the X-mansion, Emma Frost was aware that Logan had brought more than just his supposed clone along. Subtle perusal of the feral mutant's surface thoughts revealed that Logan was thinking of the boy seated next to him in the copilot's chair, rather than his clone or his secret journey. A boy whose mind Emma was surprised that she couldn't simply read, despite the closing distance between them.

It was moments worth of effort to get past the first level of X-23's mental defenses. They were good, but Emma was the former White Queen of the Hellfire club for a reason and ultimately X-23 was not a telepath. There she managed see some of the clone's recent memories, particularly the conversation that Logan and this Naruto had had, and boy was it revealing.

'What was Sage thinking when she decided bringing the boy to the school was a good idea.' Emma mentally snarled, releasing a curse under her breathe. Naruto himself had admitted to Wolverine that he was being possessed by powerful supernatural entities that could potentially take over his body. Only one thing matching that description really came to mind. Demons.

Naruto himself seemed to realize that he was threat, even going as far as to ask Logan to kill him if he ever became fully possessed. A noble gesture if nothing else, but it would still be better if the boy was as far away from the handful of remaining mutants in the world, as possible. Emma certainly wasn't prepared risk anything when the fate of mutantkind was at stake. She needed to make sure for herself that this boy, whoever he was, was not a threat to them. And if he was, she need to find some kind of proof that would convince Scott to agree with her and send the boy away from the school, perhaps to some other property belong to the X-men. To do this Emma decided to take a subtle peak into his mind, Emma would deal with X-23 later. Her first attempt had been a gentle and very subtle affair which was why she despite sensing his mind being present, she couldn't read it. This time Emma was going to use a more brute force approach, still subtle enough to remain undetected, but one guaranteed to allow her to enter the boy's mind. It was a choice that Emma Frost would soon come to regret.

VvV

It took Naruto a bit longer than he would've liked to find his sister, which translated to all of five minutes. A momentary headache being the only thing that slowed him down as he proceeded through the underground restricted hallways of the X-mansion, using his Presence Concealment skill to keep himself hidden from detection via the multi-spectrum advanced sensor array monitoring those same halls. It wasn't that he was invisible while Presence Concealment was active, but rather he went unnoticed to everything around, including high-tech monitoring systems. It was more akin to everything in reality suddenly being convinced regardless of whether it was tech base or biological, that Naruto simply wasn't there, even when they were looking straight at him. All things considered, it was a pretty awesome ability for sneaking around undetected, and a Skill Naruto had rigorously practiced with to improve its strength.

Fairly quickly Naruto found Sage in one of the underground restricted sections of the facility, or rather he tracked down her position using runic magic. Of course, the moment Naruto released his Presence Concealment directly in front of the lab door Sage was currently working in, all hell broke loose. The sensor array immediately picked up his presence in the hallway and set off a silent intruder alert. He only knew it was silent because his sister, Sage, burst through the lab door with some kind of energy pistol in one hand a combat knife in the other, ready for battle. Only to be met with a sheepishly grinning Naruto.

Thankfully she cancelled the alarm seconds later and explained to the other X-men that it was just him, before inviting him into the lab. It was a large metal room, with lots of advance computer related tech that even Naruto having lived with Sage for eleven years could not make heads or tails of. Meanwhile Sage went back to work, finishing up whatever she had been typing. Naruto sat in silence waiting, knowing that she was just trying to get her work out of the way so that they could spend a little time catching up. It had been over a year since they last saw each other, though they regularly communicated with each other via secured online video chats.

Finishing the last keystroke on whatever report she had been typing, Tessa turned to him and said in the driest tone she could manage. "You know, you could've just asked one of the senior X-men to bring you directly to me, instead of entering a restricted area and setting off the alarms, Naruto."

"And you could've met me at the front door or in the underground hanger and avoided all this trouble in the first place, Tess." Naruto promptly replied with a blank face.

The two stared off at each other in silence for a few seconds, before they both broke into grins, and Sage muttered. "Brat!"

"Jerk!" Naruto promptly replied with a toothy grin, before walking over to her and hugging his sister as he mumbled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Naru." She said as her arms wrapped around him, and she rubbed she patted her blonde haired little brother's back. "You've grown. It's gonna be difficult calling you my little brother now that you are nearly six feet tall, and wall of muscle. Your powers must be working you hard." She observed, her brother who was already four inches taller than her, when they had been the same height the last time they saw each other.

"Benefits of having a bunch of Heroic Spirit's use my soul as their personal vacation spot." Naruto joked to which his sister grinned, and they just spent a few moments in silence, basking in each other's presence. Eventually Naruto pulled back from the hug and said seriously. "On a more serious note Tess, I've been wondering why you asked me to come all the way to America, to your home away from home? I don't mind the trip, but this is also completely unlike you so I was curious about why you ask me to come out here? And why you chose to do so now, after all this time?"

Sage suddenly looked reluctant to answer, and Naruto knew right away that there was something bothering his sister. Eventually she replied. "Because it's safer here."

Raising an eyebrow at her reply, he responded. "We both know that that is not true Tess. You're the one who taught me to see threats coming, long before they even arrive. You know as well as I do that this place and every person in it, has a massive target on their backs now, and that every mutant hating radical group in this country will be mobilizing soon to come and finish what M-Day started. If you truly wanted to keep me safe, then the smart thing would've been to leave me in Tokyo where I can blend into the shadows, like I have been doing for the last eleven years. This is the opposite of that." Naruto called her out. Pausing momentarily, as he gathered his thoughts, his mind quickly dissecting his sister's actions at a blistering pace, before he said. "You're a genius, so you already know a confrontation is coming. A more likely scenario would be that you asked me to come here because you have some kind of a plan, and you want me to be here to enact it. Or am I wrong?" He challenged.

"…" His big sister did not reply to his accusation, but the guilty look on her face as she looked away from him was all the answer he needed to confirm his suspicions.

Sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, Naruto said tiredly. "Tess, you already know that I will follow you into hell if you ask. You're my mentor, my hero and most importantly, my lovely older sister who was willing to open up her heart to a brat like me and give him a home when no one else would. You don't have to shoulder your burdens alone, I have your back and I am pretty sure the X-men, your friends here, do too. All I'm trying to do is understand your reasoning behind asking me to come to the X-mansion now of all times, especially since you've been against the idea for so many years?"

"It seems I can't even hide anything from my brother anymore." She eventually relented with a sigh, before squaring her shoulders and saying. "I guess I will just have to tell you why I asked you to come, but not everything."

"You can blame yourself for that, you taught me half of everything I know. The rest I picked up from the guys hanging out in my soul." Naruto replied with a smirk.

Shaking her in amusement, Sage finally said. "I called you here because you are exactly right about everything you just said." Sage began scowling as she looked upwards as if staring at something distant that only her eyes could see. "This place will be attacked very soon. It's already been attacked once this past week by Apocalypse, so another attack will definitely come and I have no doubt that a bunch of kids will die in the process. Which is why I believe that it's safer for them if you are here to protect them."

That was not what Naruto expected here. "Wow, wow! Wait just one minute Tess! Back up a bit." Naruto raised his arms and made the time out gesture before asking. "You want to put me in active danger, in order to protect someone else?" He asked while looking at her as if she'd just grown another head. "Damn, I honestly wasn't expecting to hear those words come out of your mouth...like ever. Though I can't deny it's a nice change for once." He muttered. Naruto wasn't too bothered by the prospect, just weirded out by the idea because it was so very unlike his sister.

"So you are not upset about my decision." Tessa asked.

Naruto merely shrugged and responded. "Not really. Besides, if it's my reliable older sister asking for my help on a matter, how can I really refuse?" He joked. "Besides, you will talk to me about why you feel so guilt laden when the time comes right. I know it's not just because you want to put me in danger."

"…" Once more she looked away in shame without saying a single thing. It was literally the first time Sage had ever done something like this, and Naruto had already made up his mind to help her. With his sister finally deciding to rely on him, for the first time since he'd come into her life, Naruto really wanted to make sure plan succeeded. However, he had hoped that while she was willing trust him and put him in danger, she would also stop hiding things from him.

'Baby steps I suppose.' He thought with a soft smile

Sage upon noting that he was willing to not push the matter, said. "Thank you Naruto. I know that I can get a little overprotective and crazy when it comes to you."

"That's an understatement." Naruto muttered with a snort of amusement, which Tessa pointedly ignored, a slight flush on her cheeks. It was only around him that she ever let her guard down so thoroughly. Naruto smiled warmly at his sister. 'She so vulnerable around me.' He thought to himself, no one else really got to see this side of Sage, all they ever so was the woman whose personality and logic was colder than titanium nails in the arctic, and twice as tough.

Feeling embarrassed she quickly decided to change the subject by asking, she asked. "How have your abilities been developing since we last saw each other?"

"Quite well actually, though I've mostly only got minor abilities through my skills like Presence Concealment which I used to sneak down here, Riding, Swordsmanship, Archery, Bravery and couple of other things. Some skills are a bit more useful than others." Naruto said with a grin.

"If I remember correctly, in order to make your skills more powerful, you need to either train with them or directly channel the power of a Heroic Spirit who carries the accompanying skill you are using." Tessa paused, her eyes narrowing at Naruto as she added. "Which I hope you have not been doing?"

"Nope" Naruto popped the "P" sound, knowing full well that his sister was observing every micro-expression he made, all signs of perspiration, changes in his skin pallor, breathing rate and unconscious body language to show any signs that he was lying. She wouldn't find anything. "I didn't want the attention that directly tapping into a Heroic Spirit's power would bring down on me. Hell, I haven't even been using my Mana Burst (Lightning) unless the situation was dire enough that not doing so would put me at risk. Besides, low level criminals like no-name street gangs, petty thugs and even the Yakuza made for excellent practice with my Skills, as long as I didn't stir things up too much within the upper levels of the Yakuza. If I suddenly started firing off bolts of lightning and magical runes, they'd probably hire a supervillain to take me out, or worse, the Hand, and those assholes come with an entire army. Relax Tessa, I was careful just like you taught me to be." Naruto assured his worried sister.

Sage maintained her glare for a few more seconds, unnerving her little brother in that way only a parent or responsible elder sibling could manage when dealing with their responsible child or younger sibling. Finally, she relented with a loud sigh, and said. "I see. Well since you are here now, there is no point in worrying about what you did or did not do back in Tokyo." With a smirk, she tilted her head and single bang of her hair swayed in front her high tech glasses as she said. "It's been a while since we last saw each other in person. I'd like to see for myself exactly how much better you've become in combat, or if you been wasting away during the time I wasn't around to whip you into shape."

Naruto merely smirked at her and asked in a tone that might've been misinterpreted as conceited if one did not know about his and his adopted older sister's shared past. "So you want to spar against me? You do remember that you haven't been able to beat me since I turned 13, right?"

It wasn't exactly something Sage was particularly fond of recalling, but it was true, Naruto had long since grown better than her as a fighter, even without relying on the boost he got from his powers. She had spent years teaching him various fighting disciplines she had picked up all over the world, both armed and unarmed. Krav Maga, Wing Chun, Aikido, Judo, Capoeira, Tae Kwan Do, Bojutsu, Kenjutsu, Kali stick fighting and more. Naruto had also been taught to use firearms, specifically to use any type of standard semiautomatic pistol, a MP7 Personal Defense Weapons and a Dragunov sniper riffle that Sage owned from back in the day. She had never explained why she had it when asked.

Sage had also taught Naruto tracking, camping, survival training, mountain climbing, skydiving/paragliding, swimming, SCUBA diving, basic computer programming, cooking and many other skills that she believed would be useful to Naruto on top of the standard education he got at his high school. From an outside perspective, one might have even accused Sage of weaponizing her younger brother, but the Heroic Spirits within Naruto were already doing that. Sage was merely doing her best to give him the skills and drive to survive the changes and new abilities his powers where constantly giving him. That they both treasured every single moment that they got to spend with each other, whenever she came home after doing something or another for Xavier, the X-men or the Hellfire club, was an added bonus.

With a smile that seemed positively diabolical, Sage looked up into Naruto's eyes and responded. "I never said that I was the one you would be fighting little brother."

"Oh crap! What did you do Tess?" He accused with narrowed eyes. It was just like his sister to set up some kind of exercise to push him to his limits and test his abilities.

"You'll see." She smirked.

VvV

Scott Summers' Office…

It was like a thick wet blanket that had been smothering her was suddenly lifted from her face when she came to. Emma Frost gasped loudly as her eyes flew open and she sat up from where she was lying on the couch within her boyfriend and co-headmaster, Scott Summer's office. She had no clue how she got here and her head felt like it had been placed in the middle of an industrial press and then dipped in acid.

"Emma!" Scott's voice came from her left as he quickly approached. The note of concern present in his voice was comforting but also far too loud for her like as he asked. "Are you alright?"

Of course she wasn't alright, not after what she had just been through. However, when she moved to answer the words that tumbled out of her mouth were not what she expected. With a charming smile, she replied to Scott. "Yeah! I am fine my love. I sensed something on the Astral plane and left my body behind to investigate. I was attacked, but I handled it." Emma mentally froze, that had not been what she intended to say. 'Why did I say that?' She wondered to herself

This wasn't mental domination, at least not any kind she was familiar with, she could feel the presence of anything influencing her mind, and she felt like she was in complete control off her own body and mind. So why had she just lied to her boyfriend, and what a lie it was. Somehow, saying those words seemed to make more sense than telling him about…she couldn't remember. There was something she had seen inside someone's head, but she couldn't remember who.

She didn't really put too much thought into it, once she saw the visible relief rolling off of Scott after she finished her explanation, and smiled softly. Secretly enjoying the feeling of Scott pulling her into a hug as he said. "One of the students found you passed out on the floor, in your office. I was so worried"

"I'm fine love. Really." She whispered into his ear, as she enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. Emma wasn't very used to hearing this level of fear in Scott's voice, but it left her secretly happy to know that he cared so much about her. Scott Summers would never forget Jean Grey, but what Emma and he had now, whatever it was, she felt confident that it was something real and meaningful. Emma suddenly felt very secure in her relationship with Scott.

In the back of her mind, something was bothering and for a moment she remembered something.

Flashback…

Her world was suddenly nothing but pain. Emma Frost, the one-time White Queen of the Hellfire Club was spasming on the floor of some unknown mental plane within Naruto's mind. If she wasn't currently in too much pain to even look around, Emma would have noted that she was lying on the floor in front of a great stairway leading into the air, where massive golden palace that looked simultaneously medieval and futuristic, floated in complete defiance of gravity.

The Palace itself, was not just one building but rather several interconnected buildings, with their own smaller stair cases and energy bridges leading in and out of the main palace like the branches of some great tree. These other buildings that were floating at different elevations around the main palace, were all of different architectural influences from different time periods on Earth, each representing its own unique culture and era. Also everything seemed to made of gold and covered in expensive jewels, the kind of place even the gods would envy for its excessive wealth.

The palace itself was floated above a mountain, with seven faces carved into it, and surrounded by a forest that went up to a shore further below. The Mountain was on a massive island, though it did not look volcanic, and an endless crystal clear blue ocean surrounded it. The sky was filled with two distant suns and a much closer moon. While endless white orbs of energy floated and flickered about like shooting stars. Not that Emma Frost was even aware of any of this in her current state, or anything for that matter. She could neither see anything, nor comprehend anything.

No, the first moment when she actually became aware of something other than her own pain, was when she heard the sound of a rich, silky smooth feminine voice coldly say. "How pathetic! You gleefully trespass within the minds of others, yet flail on the ground like a fish out of water as soon as you come across you betters. This is far too disappointing for words." There was no doubt whoever was speaking, was speaking about her, but all other senses aside from sound and the pain she was feeling were suppressed.

"On the contrary, her face kissing the floor is the appropriate position for one of such low standing to take when in the presence of Kings and demigods. Do not begrudge her this O Fair Queen of the Shadows." An arrogant but charismatic voice spoke in amusement, his words sounding so confident that they might as well have been a fundamental law of the universe.

Another voice suddenly spoke up, one that was equally charismatic and best described as Heroic in every sense of the word. It also carried a note of pity in its voice that it directed towards her as it said. "This woman should not have attempted to breach our host's mind; she was not prepared for the consequences of such an action. Her fate must now be determined; however, I would plead leniency in our judgement. What say you King of Destruction?"

"Bad civilization." Was the only response from this so called King of Destruction, though what that meant was beyond Emma. All Emma knew was that the voice belonged to a woman, and was near emotionless, almost robotic.

There was a loud chuckle before yet another person spoke up, though Emma had trouble determining the gender. "Talk about a bad outcome for blondie over there. She's already managed to piss off two Kings, a Queen and a bunch of demigods just by showing up here. Nevertheless, I doubt Naruto would approve of us to flaying her mind and soul for this intrusion. It might even create problems for him, not that I care if he gets into a fight. They only make him stronger." The peppy and excitable voice spoke, though it sounded filtered.

"Tch! That's because the host continues to draw on your pathetic power for some inexplicable reason. Not to mention, you surprised me spawn of the King of Knights. I never suspected you had enough brains to see the value in not cutting down an enemy like a barbarian. Perhaps the King of Knights underestimated you." The arrogant voice spoke up once again, mocking the excitable voice who growled at him but said nothing. Having had his fun, h the arrogant voice then spoke directly to her. "Rejoice mongrel, for I am not without mercy! Normally I would simply end you here and now for invading our chosen one's mind, but doing so would likely cause problems for our host. Not that I am feeling particularly generous towards the fool at the moment. Nevertheless, a price must be paid for your brazen intrusion into this King's domain, uninvited. I will allow my fellow kings, demigods and heroes to decide your fate." And with that the presence of the arrogant voice completely vanished from her perception and Emma got the feeling that he was no longer around.

The Heroic voice seemed to pick up where the Arrogant one left off, saying. "Her actions were an unforgivable violation of our hosts privacy. I say her penance should be to help our host realize his full potential."

"Kind of light for a penance don't you think?" The excitable one asked.

The Heroic voice replied. "True, unfortunately we've watched our host for nearly twenty years grow into his power, and his progress so far is unsatisfactory. To face the trials which have been placed in his way, he will need strength, strength he currently lacks. I believe this woman can help."

"I agree, we just need to make sure she is willing to go along with it, and will help Naruto." The one with a silky voice said.

"Then we will leave ensuring her compliance to you, godslayer." A new voice spoke. A woman's voice, but one authoritative and majestic.

"So be it." The godslayer replied.

What happened next was unclear to her, but before she knew it Emma was being banished from that strange realm, and her memories of the strange event sealed away.

Flashback End…...

There was a spike of pain in the back of her head and whatever had just flashed in her mind seemed to disappear again just as quickly. She couldn't remember it, and she didn't feel inclined to remember it. All she cared about was the man who was in her arms.

It was already nightfall, so she smiled at her boyfriend and said. "Let's get something to eat and then turn in early hon."

Scott sighed tiredly as he looked at his desk filled with a large amount of unsigned paperwork and said. "I got quite a bit of work I still need t-"

"I'm sure I can make it worth your while." She interrupted in a seductive tone, which made Scott suddenly grin, knowing exactly what that tone meant.

With a smile, smile he said. "I suppose I can pick up my workload in the morning." And with that, he led his lover by the arm, out of the office. Neither of them noting the runic array marking her scalp as they went.

TBC….

And done. So yeah, I am fairly sure that I have left enough clues to figure out some of the Heroic Spirits currently residing inside Naruto's soul, and there are quite a bit more who never said a word or even revealed themselves when Emma entered Naruto's mind. Emma Frost got mind-whammied, and is now being used as a means to influence Naruto's growth by the Heroic Spirits, they have their own agenda's. Next chapter will have some action as Naruto goes through Sage's test, and yes his sister is a mutant named Sage. It's a coincidence, not because I'm writing Sage of War or Naruto himself being a Sage in canon, I just felt she was the right kind of dysfunctional to pair with a version of Naruto that had spent two years surviving on the streets of Madripoor. Also I think Tessa's abilities are underutilized in the comics, she's a fairly powerful telepath, is a super-genius with a flawless memory and has pretty much all of Taskmaster's ability without the negative side effects and she can activate secondary mutations within mutants. Why she isn't used more is literally beyond me.

Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave me your reviews because your opinions will shape the direction this and my other stories will go. Also if you feel like donating, my Pa treon account is ww (slash)ScarletAesir058, your kindness really helps me, allowing me to keep writing stories and slowly add variety to everything I am doing, but only do so if you can. My slow update rate is partially because I only have enough money for the cheapest internet service provider available, it sucks. I'm hoping to get that changed and to branch out right crossovers with other franchises.

Anyway have a good day, please remember to keep safe during this Covid19 crisis.

Scarlet out….