Chapter 8: Thank You for Playing

It was a week after the big battle and Naruto was looking out his window at the destruction around Stark Tower. They were still trying to remove the bodies of the gigantic flying whale things. The smell was damned ripe, meaning they were heading back to the west coast tonight. That was fine with Naruto considering the number of repairs that needed to be done on the Tower. Bruce had done a number on Naruto and Naruko's apartment, not on purpose, slamming a demi-god into the floor above had caved in most of the ceiling. The recording Jarvis made of the Hulk saying, "Puny God" had been worth the mess. Even Bruce had to laugh once he heard it and the story behind it.

There was just one thing to deal with here before they left. Thor was going to be taking Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard today. The consensus was the Tesseract was just not something that needed to be in the hands of mortals, and with it back in Asgard they would have enough power to rebuild the Bifrost Bridge. Thor was trying to act as if that wasn't a big issue for him, but everyone knew he had a mortal girlfriend he wanted to return to, something he would be unable to do without the bridge. Loki on the other hand was not as happy about returning as his brother was, but screw that little bitch. Naruto had tried talking to him one more time after his defeat, but Loki was still a bit messed up. Okay, Loki was bughouse nuts, but that wasn't Naruto's fault.

Oh, Thor explained the whole being able to carry his hammer thing. Odin had enchanted Mjolnir so that only people worthy or wielding it would be able to even lift it. To prove his point he challenged everyone to attempt lifting it. Tony couldn't budge it even wearing his most powerful armor yet, a fact that had him running back to his workshop. Natalia tried next, but Naruto could tell that she didn't really try, probably not really wanting to know whether she was worthy or not. Up next was Clint Barton who thought he would get smart and push the handle to the side in an attempt to get his fingers under it. Luckily he failed because Naruto was pretty sure he wouldn't have fingers if he had managed to get them under the thing. With permission from Thor, Bruce took two turns. First he tried it as himself, then with Naruto standing nearby to keep him calm, he willingly changed into the Hulk and tried it again. Naruto was the one to explain it to the beast like side of Bruce's personality and told him to give it his all. Hulk actually grinned as he tried it, at least until he failed to lift it. He tried for a full minute, getting angrier and angrier, until Naruto calmed him down and offered to arm wrestle with him instead. Thankfully Naruko stepped in at that point and stopped them both before they could wreck anything. The fact that she was no longer afraid of the Hulk and told him in no uncertain terms that there would be no arm wrestling, but she had chocolate chip cookies for him if he behaved had everyone looking at her as if she were the bravest woman in the world. It took six dozen cookies and three gallons of milk before the Hulk finally had his fill and dozed off sucking his thumb, reverting to Bruce who continued napping through the final two tests. Naruto had the pictures to prove it.

The final two tests, were fairly quick, though the last one had a few people looking at Steve in a new light. It started with Naruto picking the hammer up as easy as you please, but then he tossed it to Steve who caught it with a stunned look on his face. Everyone just stared at Steve as he held the weapon of the gods in his hands, stammering about not being worthy until Naruto told him to shut up and give Thor back his toy. Finally Naruko relented and allowed them to arm wrestl, seeing as how Thor wanted to see just how strong Naruto was in comparison to the Odinson. Imagine Thor's surprise when his hand was pinned to the table faster than he could blink. Twenty-five rematches later and he was convinced, Naruto was stronger than him. Tony just laughed, admitting that he had suspected it all along based on the fact Naruto could shred his armor with his bare hands. That lead to a second test of strength, which led to another, before Naruko called them all to lunch stating they had "proven they had dicks" enough for one day.

The next morning was the send off for Thor and Loki. Fury had warned them to keep it low key as they had attracted a bit too much attention during their battle. Naruto provided a distraction by sending several sets of clones disguised as his fellow teammates to various sites all over the city. While the clones distracted everyone, the Avengers made their way to central park where Thor inserted the Tesseract into a specially crafted device for transporting himself and Loki back to Asgard. After several warm goodbyes, and Naruko kissing the blushing Thor on the cheek, the device engaged and Thor was gone.

Naruto watched everyone head off to their own destinations, just standing there with Naruko and smiling. Bruce was going to be working with Tony at Stark, the charges against him having been completely dropped. Meanwhile, Steve had asked for and been given permission to take a road trip around the country in the hopes of coming to better terms with this new country. Barton and Romanova were going back to work at SHIELD, but Naruto knew they were also just glad to be back on the same side. AS for Naruto and Naruko, well they had plans for a trip to Japan to look into Naruko's family and see if any members of the family still lived there. All in all, it was a good ending to a fantastic adventure even if Fury wanted them all to be on call all the time.

"Naruto," Naruko said as they walked through the park, "I was thinking. How does May sound for out wedding?"

Naruto shrugged, not really caring one way or the other so long as Naruko was happy. "It's up to you. I still remember Granny Tsunade telling me that weddings are about the bride, not the groom. So you pick the time and place and I'll be there. All that matters to me is that when it's all over, you and I are together for the rest of our lives."

Standing on her toes to kiss his cheek, Naruko smiled, saying, "Then we make sure we are back by the first of May, then we can finalize the preparations and be married and on our honeymoon before anything can go wrong."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Naruto. "We get married in May, but I don't think we'll have to worry about anything going wrong."

"Never say never," whispered Naruko as they walked off into the distance.

The End... For Now.

Final PoV's

(This point of view inspired by "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri.)

She watched from the shadows as Naruto and the bitch on his arm walked away. It was a perversion that Naruto should end up with some living version of that twisted technique of his. That was fin though because very soon she would make the little tramp pay, pay with her life. No one would take her Naruto from her! NO ONE!

(This point of view inspired by "Cinderella Man" by Eminem.)

Fury was standing looking over his crew as they worked their asses off to get the Carrier back up to snuff again. Naruto had been kind enough to loan him several hundred clones that were currently working on removing debris. Yes, Shield might be down, but they were not out and as God was his witness they would rise from the ashes. With the Avengers and Naruto, SHIELD would be there long after Nick Fury was gone and they would protect the country he loved so much.

"Hill!" he shouted at his second in command. "Get us back in the air as soon as possible!"

"Yes, sir!"

Turning and walking back out of the control center, Fury actually let a small smile grace his lips. Yeah, things were a mess now, but they were getting better by the moment. Soon they would be back up to full strength and then watch out anyone that wanted to try and harm the country and people that Fury cared about. He would protect them and give his life if need be. It would be a sacrifice that he would hate to make, but he would make it all the same if that was what was needed to keep everyone safe. However, before it came to that, he had a lot more to do and getting the Hellicarrier in the air was only the first step. Not to mention it might not be such a sacrifice.

Looking at the door in front of him, Furry grunted, "I'm not thrilled with the idea, but maybe it will be something I need to work on, again."

Glaring at the door, Fury just grunted as he turned and walked away. In moments he was gone, leaving the doorway behind him unopened. The lights in the hallway were still damaged and flickering here, but they revealed three large letters on the scorched door. This door had been sealed since the contents of laboratory behind it had been transferred here from their previous location. Those that knew about what was beyond the door either thought it a waste that the research had been stopped, or they wished it had never been started. Either way you looked at it, both sides had valid reasons for how they felt about it, but both agreed that the project should never be restarted now that it had been shutdown. So, sealed in one of the deepest portions of the massive carrier stood a door that waited to be opened with only three visible letters on it.

L.M.D.

AN: I know, I'm a jerk for making you wait this long, but in my defense I was trying to get a few more clues about the next Iron Man movie before calling this one to a close. Unfortunately, I never got the details I was really wanted, so it's time to just call in a wash and close this story so I can focus on other stories and projects. That leaves me with a quick and dirty ending and two PoV's that hint at what is still to come.

Oh, by the way, the whole damned chapter is a giant cliffhanger for a sequel. I felt the whole end of the Avengers movie was a cliffhanger, so the same has to be true for this story. We won't see the wedding, figure out who the mystery stalker is, or find out what an LMD (come on, you all have to remember them) until the second story.

Yep, I'm evil.

Still, it was a fun run and I can't wait to see where we go with the rest of it after the break. So, see you after May when the new Iron Man movie comes out.

Till then,

Chris :)