Chapter 4

"Why is your fur blue?"

"Anybody ever tell you that you look like a cross between a cat and a monkey?"

"I bet all that fur gets in the way when you…Argh"

Beast pricked his needle harshly into Naruto's wrist in pure frustration as he tried to draw some blood out from the unruly boy. He wondered which of the gods he had upset to have to deal with Naruto's insatiable curiosity for his affliction and inability to not sit still for a single minute.

"This is so booring," Naruto exclaimed. His eyes flickered over to the machine that Beast had placed his blood sample in. "I'm in perfectly good health, I don't know why I need a physical."

"Indeed, you are, Naruto," Beast replied, his gaze focused on the results of Naruto's genomic sequencing and full-body scans. "Fascinating, I can't say I've ever seen a body quite like yours."

Naruto deadpanned, "I'm not from around here."

"But you are still human —there have been occasions that mutants from different universes have been detected by Cerebro." Beast's screen changed to one depicting the movement of Naruto's cells, he ran them through his biosim program to see how they responded to stress. "Hmm…So that's your mutation."

"What is it?" He couldn't comprehend what was happening on Beast's computer screen, it just looked circular blobs elongating and sliding around all over the place. He noticed a glowing yellow circle brighten and encapsulate around the blob each time it was attacked by the program.

Beast said, "I had originally thought that your mutation was directly related to this energy of yours, it's not uncommon for an x-gene to be directly affected by one's environment or heritage. However, it would appear that in your case, your mutation seems to be what is enhancing your chakra." He pressed a few buttons and a body scan appeared on the screen; Naruto watched in slight fascination as he could see streams of energy flowing into his body.

"See this—" He pointed to the scan, "I believe your ability to passively absorb ambient energy and convert it to chakra was a result of your time in the Dream Dimension. Similarly, I found several indications that if continual stress is applied to your cells, they will undergo a process of extreme adaptation."

"Huh?" Naruto had no idea what this guy was talking about, seriously, Mizuki was better at explaining things than this guy.

Beast sighed, "Imagine for a moment that someone poisoned you, your body will feel that effects of that poison for a short while before you become completely immune to it."

Naruto frowned, "But I've always had that ability." Kurama certainly made it hard for anything to kill him, there were occasions where he wouldn't even heal because the blasted fox didn't want to help.

"I heard that, Naruto." Kurama growled from the depths of his mind, "But the furry one is right, you have always possessed an overactive regenerative factor, I just enhanced it. Some would even go as far as to say that you Uzumaki are like Cockroaches." Now that was a low blow, he couldn't help but wince at being compared to a pest even though it was somewhat accurate.

"Naruto—Naruto! Are you there?" Hank asked, wondering if he had truly bored him to such a degree. Naruto snapped out of his stupor, he had been so focused on his thoughts that he had completed neglected the man in front of him. Beast chuckled, "Good, I thought I lost you for a moment."

He waited a moment to make sure Naruto wasn't going to zone out before speaking, "As I was saying, whilst your mutation is not as showy as many of the other mutants here, it certainly is a powerful one." Beast smirked when he noticed that he had captured Naruto's full attention, "So to speak, your mutation is the perfect fit for your powers. It's quite astounding really, your reactive adaptation works in tow with your chakra, making you faster and stronger each time you use your chakra to enhance your body."

It certainly did explain why he was so fast and strong without calling upon his chakra, he still was somewhat unsure what the full capabilities of this so-called 'mutation' were but that would come to light in due time. He asked, "Is that all?"

Hank nodded, "Yes there is little else I can do with what little genetic material I have acquired from you." Naruto gave him an appreciative thumbs up as he headed out of the lab, Hank quickly said, "Mr Uzumaki, I will advise you to keep your mutation under wraps for now."

"Why?" Naruto questioned.

"Adaption mutations are incredibly rare and are very useful to certain—unsavoury individuals." Beast replied, "Possessing a mutation like yours might be the key to developing multiple mutations." Naruto sighed at the prospect of having to deal with another Orochimaru, he could imagine just how annoying it would be fighting someone who had all of the X-Men's powers, especially Jean and Xavier's blasted telepathy. He agreed and the two agreed to refer to his mutant ability as the ability to regenerate and manipulate energy in the form of chakra.

Naruto headed to his room for some needed rest, his mind was still somewhat numb from all that information that he had received from his clones. Naruto winced as a series of new memories suddenly popped into his head, he pinched his nose in annoyance, 'For god's sake, can't they go a minute without doing something stupid.' He was already going to have a hard time connecting with the students as it were and he doubted that they would be keen on having him around after his clone threatened one of their own.

"It would do them good to learn that lesson before it is too late," Kurama said. Naruto agreed, but he also realised that the students did not come from a background similar to his own. The majority of mutants lived peacefully as civilians until they manifested their powers and even then, it was certainly easy enough to just continue living as they were.

Naruto let a tired yawn as he plopped himself onto his bed, there was little point pondering about all of this now he would just have to deal with it in the morning.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Morning came and with it arrived the inescapably loud stampede of students rushing to get ready for school, Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly as he found himself abruptly woken up by all of the commotion.

Naruto threw open his bedroom door angrily he would have words with the bastards who had interrupted his beauty sleep. "If I hear one more word—" He stopped himself from speaking when he came face to face with Ororo. Ororo blushed embarrassedly as she stood mere inches away from a practically naked Naruto who was just wearing boxers. She could barely stop her eyes from trailing down his musculature, surprised by just how lean and tight his body was.

She shook herself from her trance and peered at him with annoyance, "Where do you think you are going dressed like that." A gust of air blew Naruto back into his room, "Get dressed and come down for breakfast."

Naruto landed awkwardly against his bedframe as Ororo slammed the door in his face, he chuckled at Ororo's reaction and wondered why he always seemed to attract women who had somewhat violent tendencies. Regardless, if she thought he wasn't going to get her back for that, she was in for a rude awakening but before any of that, he had to meditate once more.

Naruto realised early on that mastery of the Rinnegan was sorely dependant on one's control of oneself, or rather there was a final path that both Nagato and Madara had yet to learn. The Inner Path, the path of enlightenment was said to be the pinnacle of the Rinnegan's power, the ability to control creation itself. Naruto had yet to even find what this path was, he could feel each time he meditated but it was remained out of his grasp.

Kurama muttered, "You're just as annoying as he was…Meditate this, meditate that."

"Shush, Kurama. I need to concentrate." A pure white aura blanketed over him, he could feel the world around him with ever-increasing clarity; the earth's tumultuous rage, the emotions of those in the mansion and beyond. This was different than before, in the dream dimension all he could really feel was himself but here it was as if he had tapped into the world around him.

Kurama watched from the depths of Naruto's mind, he smiled proudly, 'You were right, he truly is the one'. He had always known that his partner would become the one to carry the mantle of his father, no, Kurama truly believed that Naruto would transcend him. The Bijuu had little time to ponder as he felt something dark emanate around his host's body, he growled and slammed his hands together in a show of true strength. "Snap out of it, Naruto!"

Kurama's chakra erupted out and grabbed onto the darkness, Naruto's eyes slowly opened dazed and confused as to what had just happened. A dark cloud danced in front of him, he couldn't see it so to speak but he could sense it with his senjutsu, the cloud frizzled out as soon as it realised that it had been detected.

"What was that?" Kurama asked.

Naruto frowned, "I don't know." But he had a feeling that it was linked to his sage mode. When he had taped into nature, it no longer felt warm as it did back home instead it felt cold and empty. Whatever that cloud was, it was trying to corrupt him like it more than likely did to any other nature user.

He would get answers but right now he had more important matters to handle, namely feeding his growling stomach.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto arrived at the dining room in a flash, surprised that nobody was there besides Ororo, Logan and Charles. "Where are the others?"

Ororo replied, "They're already making their way to school." Naruto let out a sigh of relief, he didn't really feel like having to deal with all the negative emotions that he had sensed before.

Charles said, "Come sit, Naruto." The bald telepath folded his newspaper as he drank some more of his tea, "Hank told me about your mutation. Regeneration and Energy manipulation, it is an intriguing combination, to say the least."

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know the half of anything to do with all this mutation stuff." Logan snorted in agreement at how boring all of this scientific talk was, though it was to be expected when you lived with not one but two world-renowned geniuses. "But I'm sure it's not uncommon to find people with two differing mutations."

Charles hummed in contemplation, "Hank also has a secondary mutation though not as extreme as yours." Naruto let out a mental sigh of relief as the telepath decided not to probe further into his deception. "Perhaps we will encounter more mutants with such abilities in due time."

Naruto asked, "You mentioned something about danger last night. Is there anybody I should be worried about?"

Logan grunted, "Well there's Magneto and his group of lackeys—they call themselves the Brotherhood of mutants. I'd say the only one who's a threat to you is Magneto himself."

"Who is Magneto?"

Charles answered, "An old friend of mine, he and I parted as a result of our differing stances on humanity. He believes that the only way for peace is through fear and intimidation. He's a very powerful mutant that has the ability of magnetism."

Naruto thought, 'Just like Danzo, huh.'

"Let's seek him out, I want to stretch my legs out a little," Kurama replied, the fox was getting somewhat antsy with Naruto's lack of using him.

Naruto snorted, "I'd rather not alert everyone that I have a demon fox inside me." He was sure that some entities were more than likely seeking him out, if Xavier could find him, it was only a matter of time before some other organisation came knocking on this door. He would only use Kurama as a deterrent.

"I'm not giving you any of my chakra." Kurama huffed in annoyance.

"Love you too." Naruto chuckled as he cut off the connection. He turned to the Professor who gave him a knowing look, "If you need someone to deal with him, I'm willing."

Logan growled, "Gonna kill him are ya, bub."

"Like you would?" He questioned, Logan, froze at Naruto's assertion, "Your fighting style is made to either maim or kill."

"You got me there kid." Logan stood up abruptly, "I'm going into the City, I'll be back later." He told Charles as he slinked out of the room, muttering something about having to deal with Sabertooth again.

Ororo sighed, "He always leaves to avoid doing any workaround here. Sometimes I wonder if he's just freeloading." She took a bite out of her apple and stared at Naruto with a heavy expression, "Of course that means you'll have to substitute for him."

Poof

Ororo's eyes widened as she watched a hundred or so clones appear out of the heavy smoke, Naruto waved his hands lazily, "Go clean."

"You heard the boss." One of the clones shouted, they all filed out of the room in a chaotic manner crashing and bumping things over, Naruto facepalmed in exasperation at his clones antics.

"You can make that many?" Ororo asked still surprised, she had seen him create one yesterday but to think that he could create a veritable army it made her feel somewhat inadequate.

Naruto gave her a cheeky smile, "You haven't scratched the surface of what I can do, Princess."

"Call me that again." She dared; a cold breeze whipped around her in a menacing fashion, the table around her slowly began to freeze from the temperature. Lightning crackled in the sky and the skies greyed from Storm's slight anger.

'So that's her true power.' Naruto thought as he felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere. He had originally believed that she simply controlled the individual elements that encompassed weather but it was becoming increasingly more clear that Storm possessed no such ability, instead, she simply changed meteorological events to her whims or rather her temper.

"Ororo," Charles warned. She let her powers dissipate as she simply huffed and exited the room, Naruto looked at the Professor and wondered what he had done to trigger her to such an extent. "I wouldn't worry about it—Ororo has a bad history being called such things. Her powers made her somewhat of a godlike figure back home." Charles explained, Naruto simply nodded and returned his concentration back to his food which was thankfully not frozen.

Naruto and Xavier sat in silence as they finished their respective breakfast, Naruto enjoyed eating the fluffy pancakes whilst he inscribed a few sealing arrays on a throwaway piece of paper, the design of any singular seal required intensive testing and an even more exhaustive process of trial and error. It was the reason why most Shinobi never truly bothered with learning the art, unlike the other shinobi art, mastering Fuinjutsu in its entirety was a lifelong endeavour and even then, one would usually only be able to master certain subsets. The only exception was the Uzumaki who had over generations cultivated a gargantuan library of knowledge about fuinjutsu, which added to their prodigious talent made it all the easier for them to learn and expound on certain topics.

Sadly, Naruto had to self-teach him everything, it was painful and very dangerous, he remembered at some point almost losing his limbs as a result of trying to create a warp seal that was similar to Kamui. He grinned triumphantly as he looked at the completed array, 'Perfect.' He thought.

The Professor asked, "What are you working on?"

"It's a seal for Rogue," Naruto explained, Charles looked at him quizzically wondering why Rogue would need a seal. "From what I have gathered, Rogue's powers are passively active. She absorbs whatever she touches." The Professor nodded curious to see what Naruto had designed, "This is a limiter seal, it will cover her skin with an invisible barrier so that she can touch people without well…hurting them."

"And what about when she needs to use her powers."

"All she needs a code word; the seal will recognise it and will deactivate itself," Naruto said triumphantly.

"Beast and I were getting worried that there was no way to circumvent her powers, your seal is a great relief. I will send her to you as soon as she returns back home." Charles said, he pressed a chair on his wheelchair and began to drive off to his study, "In the meantime, I advise that you spend the rest of the day devising a lesson plan for your Danger Room session with the students."

Naruto looked at the messy table and realised that both Ororo and Xavier had sneakily left him to do all the dishes. He sighed in annoyance as he broadcasted his thoughts, 'I expect to be paid for this, old man.'

Xavier chuckled in his head, 'I'll pay you when I see you doing work.' Naruto already knew that the Professor was the type to pay with rewards instead of with actual money. Little did he know that Naruto was an expert in matters of personal finance, and he would have compensation for having to do such menial labour.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto had spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon cleaning and preparing for his danger room lesson with Ororo's assistance, the technology in the room was incredibly useful and several orders of magnitude more complicated than anything that was in Konoha but it was surprisingly easy to pick up. The room could literally create life-like simulations of any scenario and environment so long as it was given the necessary constraints.

"I think we should split them into different teams," Naruto said as he watched the recording of their fight from last night.

Ororo disagreed, "If we do that then they will never learn to work together."

"I'm not saying we need to split them up, some of them require very different methods of training." He studied the list of mutants in front of him, each mutant's powers were comprehensively detailed alongside videos of their runs in the danger room. He expanded a simulation run that the Logan had done with Kitty, Evan and Cyclops. Ororo and Naruto watched as the students all failed to complete Logan's simulation due to their bad hand to hand combat ability. "Do you see what I mean?"

Ororo nodded, it wasn't easy to spot but analysing their habits made it all the more clearer, "They are all fighting the same way."

"They need to learn a fighting style that is complementary to their abilities otherwise they aren't going to improve," Naruto concluded, he watched as Ororo swiped her hand, moving the holographic list away and conjuring some sort of timetable.

She proposed, "Perhaps instead of splitting them up, we can each take an individual class. Logan will teach hand to hand combat whilst you and I focus on them learning to control their powers." Naruto agreed, they didn't have many students at the moment and splitting them at the moment might lead to even more hostility.

There was a brief rap on the door, both Ororo and Naruto turned to see Rogue entering the room. "The professor said to meet you here." She said annoyedly, he guessed that she was still angry about what his clone did last night.

"Ororo, if you please," Naruto asked. Ororo nodded realising that this was a private matter between the two of them, she gave Rogue a pointed look as she left.

The girl simply huffed whilst she lent against the metal wall, coolly gazing at Naruto. "What do you want? I have things to do."

Naruto teased, "You have something more important than getting your touchback."

Rogue's eyes widened at what Naruto had just said, her lips quivered slightly at the possibility that she could once more feel human contact without hurting anybody. "You can really do that?" She asked hopefully. "You can take away mah powers."

Naruto shook his head, "I can't remove your powers so to speak." Her expression became somewhat downtrodden, "But I can do the next best thing, I can stop your powers from activating when they touch you."

"How?"

He popped out a scroll from his pocket, Rogue watched as he unfurled it revealing what appeared to be a complicated array surrounded with scribbles in a language she couldn't comprehend. "Since your powers function through touch, I can create an intangible barrier around your skin that will protect others from your powers at least until you can master them…That is of course if you want it."

Rogue nodded rapidly and without any thought, she would do anything to get rid of these powers. "Can you do it now?" She asked.

Naruto gazed firmly at Rogue, "Don't become overly dependent on my seal, you still need to work on learning to control your powers." He knew what Rogue was feeling, he had been intimately familiar with it, that crushing feeling with being burdened with a power that felt more like a curse than a blessing. But had it not been for that power, Naruto doubted that he would have survived this long, seeing that she understood he began his preparations for the ritual. He pointed to the middle of the room, "Please sit and roll up your sleeves."

Rogue did as she was told watching curiously as Naruto channelled his chakra, the writing on the scroll glowed an ethereal blue, he lay the scroll onto her arms and muttered, "Transcription Seal: Release." The ink rose from the page and spread across her skin as if it were alive, the seal transcribed itself onto her until her entire body was covered in ink. She couldn't see anything; her vision was covered by darkness and she felt as if she was on fire. Naruto asked, "Rogue can you hear me?"

"Ah can hear you." She said breathlessly.

"I need you to think of an activation word, it will allow you to transition between activating and deactivation your powers." She thought of the one thing that mattered to her at the moment, she felt her body lightened and the ink settled under her skin until it was no longer visible. "Done."

"Was that all?" She asked, besides the initial discomfort during the ritual she didn't feel any different than before. No loss of sensations, heck she felt slightly more sensitive the cold air than before.

Naruto nodded, "You can touch over people now—Here." His hand hovered over her own, Rogue reluctantly did as he wanted. She reached out and gently grasped his hand, her eyes widened when she no longer felt the powerful pull of her powers. Tears welled in her eyes and Naruto was suddenly felt enveloped in a powerful hug.

Ororo peaked through the door with a smile as she watched as the two embraced, he had done what nobody else could have done and for that, she was truly thankful.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Why is teach meditating?" Evan asked as he entered the Danger Room. "I hope this isn't one of those find your inner focus lessons."

Scott snorted, "He's obviously not in the right state of mind." He was tempted to fire one of his optic beams at Naruto but realised that the bastard would probably sense it coming regardless.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "You're just angry about what happened last night." She looked over at Naruto who sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. "He's genuinely a good person."

Kitty cast her dubious look, she muttered, "Biased much."

Rogue turned to her roommate with an angry expression, "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

Jean tried to act as the peacekeeper, "Calm down, Naruto already apologised for what his clones did."

Evan grinned, "If Auntie O can vouch for him, he's all good in my book." Besides if what the Professor said about Naruto was true, he could not wait to learn some cool ninja tricks.

Ororo strode into the room carrying an annoyed Kurt with her wind, the blue furry devil shouted, "I was in the middle of a game."

She said, "You can play your game later." She made sure that everyone was accounted for before she began the lesson. "Alright, there will be no simulation today. Instead, we will be focusing on your close-quarter combat."

Kitty raised her hand, "Uh…Doesn't like Logan teach us that already."

"Logan will be in charge of your group simulations from now on." Ororo addressed, the students all groaned at having to undergo Wolverine's torturous runs. She looked down at Naruto and whispered, "Your turn."

"Alright, I want everybody to partner up." He put them all into groups, Jean was partnered up with Rogue, Kitty with Kurt and Evan with Scott. "Let's do some group stretches." The class began with a series of stretches and partner exercises where Naruto taught them some basic grapples and Katas, he was surprised by how quickly Kitty had picked them up, despite the girl appearing quite vain, she possessed a very sharp mind. He smiled slightly as he remembered who she reminded him off.

The class continued for another half-hour until they reached the final exercise, Naruto wanted them to spar their partners as a way to assess their progress and to adjust his teaching plan for each of them. "Don't use your powers, the aim of the exercise is to either submit your opponent or to take them off the mat—Rogue and Jean, if you will," Naruto asked.

Jean and Rogue stood in front of each other, they bowed genially but it was easy to see that neither girl particularly fancied the other. "Begin." Jean shot her legs forward as she attempted a roundhouse kick towards Rogue's midsection. Naruto grinned as he watched Rogue simply lean back and deflect the kick towards the side, leaving her exposed to a spinning back kick that hit Jean straight in the stomach. Jean fell onto the ground, gasping slightly as her breathing was disrupted. Naruto blew his whistle, "Jean is out of bounds, the winner is Rogue."

Rogue gave Jean a triumphant smile as she walked away, Naruto sighed at the hostility between the two of them, he offered Jean his arm and helped her up. "Next, Scott and Evan."

Both of the boys gave each other a fist bump before they moved to either side of the mat. Once the fight had started, they dashed towards each other with no particular style in mind than to simply pummel the other. Scott had the upper hand in technique whilst Evan possessed much greater natural strength and durability. Scott learnt that immediately when Evan blocked when one of his punches, he winced in slight pain as he felt his knuckles crack from the hardness of Evan's bones. He gritted his teeth, Scott moved despite the pain, he dodged Evan's punch and delivered a powerful uppercut to the boy's chin, his right hand was definitely broken now. Evan stumbled back but controlled himself in time to dodge a shove from Scott, he punched Scott's face.

Crack

Scott was blown back by Evan's sheer strength, but he would not lose, he held himself on and continued marching towards him. Evan raised his hands when he saw Scott's bleeding knuckles and swollen cheek, "Look, man, I don't want to continue, it's cool teach I resign."

Naruto nodded grateful that he didn't have to stop the fight, he looked at Scott who growled at Evan. He had severely misjudged the Summer's boy, the boy certainly didn't possess any sort of tactical mastery or notable charisma but he was the leader of this team solely because of his conviction. What it was, he had no idea, but it was enough for him to fight through all that pain.

"That's enough class for today," Naruto said, they all gave their thanks and began to file out of the room. He watched as Scott gave a castaway look towards his Yang seal before grimacing and walking away. Naruto sighed, that boy was too proud to admit that he wanted him to heal him. "Is this what Baa-Chan always felt…I need a drink."

Ororo muttered, "I'll go check on him." Naruto broadcasted his thoughts telling the Professor that he was going out.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Exploring New York City in the dead of the night was a completely different experience than it was in the day, it seemed like that was when all the wrong kinds of people decided it was time to venture out. He found himself in the middle of Chinatown, a place that reminded him very slightly of home. He stopped in front of a Japanese bar, the familiar scent of Dango and Ramen attracted him.

"How can I help you." An old Japanese woman asked gently.

"Can I have some Ramen." Naruto asked, "And a bottle of Sake." The woman bowed and disappeared into the back to cook his food. Naruto looked around the room and saw dozens of couples conversing and eating, he wondered how they could be so blissfully ignorant with all the crimes and villains terrorising the city. He heard the brief screeching of the chair beside him as a woman sat beside him.

"Mind if I join you."

And that's the end of the fourth chapter.

I hope this clarified some of the mutation stuff, I gave him 'adaption' powers because it's probably the least OP power that would make sense for Naruto to have and also it's something I need for his character in later chapters. Some of you questioned the realism of such a situation, there have been a few occasions where alien or even outer-dimensional entities have registered as mutants. I remember on issue where a writer said the Beyonder was a mutant/inhuman.

As for pairing, all I've really narrowed down to is that it will probably Naruto x three or four at the most. I haven't really decided on how I should pair with him so if you guys have any suggestions, leave a review or a PM.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try and update more frequently.