Some Assembly Required

By: Belcris

Summary: Naruto won! Whoops! Guess I spoke too soon because he's about to die in the middle of the battlefield when Kurama interferes. Now in a world unlike any he's ever seen before, Naruto will strive to be better. Avengers! Assemble!

Naruto created by: Masashi Kishimoto

The Avengers, associated characters, and damn near the world is owned by Marvel & Disney. (Please, don't sue me, Micky!)

I do not own these characters and I do not seek to profit from this story.

However, in a dark and twisted future I may own it, but I will instantly be killed by a mutant rabbit named Francis, who will then go on to return all the rights to the original owners.

Damn you, Francis!

WARNING: This story contains scenes of fantasy based violence, a hint of gender bending, Tony flirting with anything and everything in a skirt (including one guy named Trixie), an uptight Steve, moody Bruce, and Natalia looking hot as hell in a skin tight battle suit. You have been warned.

Category: AU. Adventure. Romance.

Prologue: Kurama's choice

The war was over and the final enemy defeated, but the cost was heavy. The dead could be counted in the thousands, entire villages having burned and been wiped from existence. Everyone had paid the price for the dreams of a madman, but some had paid more than others. In the center of a battlefield lay the badly injured body of a young man. His golden hair only partly visible thanks to all the blood that was currently covering it. It was only when a lone figure arrived at the scene and rolled him over that you could see almost half his head was missing.

"No!" screamed the figure, doing everything in her power to save the life of the man she loved. "You can't give up on me now! NARUTO!"

Deep inside what was left of the young man's mind a figure was working frantically to save his host. Normally the figure would have been able to heal his host from almost any injury, but their final battle together had taxed even his massive reserves of chakra. As frustrating as it was, they were dying and there seemed no way to stop it. It was only by sheer willpower alone that he was able to keep the boy's heart beating and blood regenerating, but eventually even that would fail. There was a way, a slim chance, but it would require a sacrifice to accomplish and the fox was afraid of what it would cost him.

"Naruto!" bellowed Kurama as he watched the sewers around him crumble. "We can't die like this!"

They had defeated their greatest enemy, but the final attack had destroyed the entire right side of Naruto's head. The physical injuries could be repaired, that was not an issue for Kurama, but the massive amounts of chakra needed to do it, all the while keeping Naruto alive with so much of his brain missing would require Kurama sacrificing part of himself. The very chakra that he was made from could be used to heal his host, but he would never regain it and would be diminished by the sacrifice. Was he really willing to give up that much of himself for the young man? They had been enemies, unwilling allies, and finally partners and friends. Not since the Sage of the Six Paths had Kurama respected anyone as much as he now respected his host. So, yes, he would make the sacrifice if it meant Naruto Uzumaki would live, but there were some problems to overcome.

The first problem, maybe the simplest one to deal with, would be making sure that Naruto came back as the same person he was before. Kurama could do it, he just had to use his own memories of Naruto's life to rebuild the kid's memories. However that led to the second problem, the fact that Naruto had experienced some very traumatic things over the last few months and Kurama feared that his own memories of the events would change Naruto for the worse. He thought it might be best if Naruto did not remember those things, at least not right away. Naruto could always learn of them later, from people that could better explain it to him rather than learn it from a jaded old fox who admittedly could care less half the time. Yes, better that Naruto forget those things for now, a head injury was a perfect excuse for not remembering a few months of your life.

The third problem, and maybe the worst of the lot, was the simple fact that using that much of his chakra to save Naruto was probably going to cause some major issues for the young man. Not only would Naruto never be "normal" again, he would be more than human after this was all over, he might very well end up becoming a half demon or possibly something completely different. Let's not even mention the fact that Kurama could detect there were several strange seals all over the surrounding area and while he could not see them, he could tell they were still active. He had no way of knowing what would happen when they were exposed to his chakra in such high quantities.

"Not that it fucking matters," growled the fox. "I either do it, or we're both dead. Not really a choice."

Outside of Naruto's mind, a young woman worked franticly to save the young man from dying. She had been forcing her chakra into his head wound for a while now, thankful that his heart was still beating, but she was exhausted and time was against her. She was loosing him, the man she loved, and she could not imagine a world without him. Looking around she realized there was no other living being near them, no one she could ask for help from. As she felt the last of her useable chakra fade, leaving her on the verge of passing out, she decided that it was better to die with her love than to live without him. So, gently laying his head in her lap, she pulled a kunai from the pouch on her thigh and prepared to join Naruto in death. The tip of the blade held over her heart, waiting for the instant his breathing stopped so they would travel together, she was surprised when Naruto's hand shot up and pulled the blade away from her chest.

"Please, don't do that," said a voice so deep, so malevolent, that she shuddered as she watched Naruto's remaining eye open to reveal that it was red and slitted like a cats. "If you do that, he's not going to be very happy when he wakes up."

"Kyubi?" asked the young woman, terrified that the demon had finally taken control of the man she loved. "Please, don't take him away from me."

"I don't intend to, girl," replied the fox through Naruto's lips. "In fact, I'm going to do everything in my power to bring him back."

"Why?"

Kyubi seemed to think about that for a moment before answering, "I have only ever respected two people. Naruto and one other. It was not within my power to save the other, but it is within my power to save the kit. So, I will."

"And what do you get out of it?" she asked, afraid of what the cost of Naruto's life might be.

"Nothing," replied the fox as his chakra started to leak from Naruto's wounds. "In fact, I'm the one paying the price for this. When this is over, I'll be a shadow of my former self, while he will be something more than he was before. He'll still be him, I can't do anything about that, but physically he will be changed."

Now she was worried and asked, "How will you change him? Haven't you done enough to him?"

"I wanted to be free," replied the beast, his temper rising. "Was that really so much to ask for, to be free and to live a life as I saw fit rather than being caged? Can you honestly say you would not have fought against your jailer if you were in the same position as I?"

Hanging her head, hating what her answer had to be, she nodded. "Yes, I would have fought back."

"Then you can understand that what I'm doing now I do of my own free will, sacrificing part of myself to give Naruto back what I have taken from him in the past," said the fox, closing Naruto's eye. "Now, let me do what I need to. I suggest you get away from here, as far as you can, because this is going to be dangerous to be near."

"Promise me that you'll return him to me?"

Opening his eye once again, Kyubi looked up at the beautiful young woman. "I promise that I won't give up, just like he wouldn't. Now I ask a promise of you. Should I fail, you will not give up either. You will live your life and be happy, because even if I fail, he will be watching over you and waiting for you after you've lived a long and happy life. Promise me this, for his sake."

"I promise," she whispered, leaning down and kissing Naruto's bloody cheek before slipping out from underneath him and turning to run. "Don't you dare give up!"

With that, she turned and ran. She ran as fast as she could, which was not as fast as normal because she had already used up all the chakra she could possibly spare. It was a fight, a constant battle, to keep her legs moving until finally she could fight no more and stumbling, she crashed to the ground. Looking over her shoulder she was surprised at how far she had traveled, almost five hundred yards if her guess was right. She hoped it would be far enough, but as the darkness claimed her and she slipped into unconsciousness, she prayed to Kami above to return her love to her.

Anyone that was watching from a distance would have seen the sudden ball of red demonic chakra that appeared around the body of Naruto Uzumaki. What they also would have seen were seven seals suddenly glow white and form a second shroud around Naruto's body. It lasted for several minutes before the blinding white light faded, leaving nothing behind. Naruto was gone, as was a large section of the ground around him. All that remained was a crater, roughly one hundred yards across and fifty yards deep, but with no trace of Naruto anywhere to been seen. Several hundred yards away from the crater a young woman slept, she would not wake up for a full day, but she would dream.

She dreamed of a boy with sapphire blue eyes and golden hair laughing and smiling in a world unlike their own. In that world he was a hero, just as he had been in this one. He would find comrades to fight at his side and a woman to love that saw him for who he really was. In the dream he fought against terrible armies and lone madmen, but always he fought to protect those he considered precious to him. Over time the dream showed him coming to consider the entire world precious. The one thing it did not show her was the young man ever giving up.

When she awoke the next day, she found the crater where Naruto had been and weeped for what might have been, but remembered her promise. She carried the news of Naruto's victory over his enemies back to their village, telling everyone he had died that they all might live. Some took it harder than others, but everyone felt the world was a little colder and darker without Naruto there to brighten if for them. She told everyone that asked about Kyubi's attempt to save him and how it had failed, making sure they all realized that in the end the so called monster had laid its life down attempting to return Naruto to them.

It was several weeks later when several young women were sorting through Naruto's thing when they found the Toad Summoning Contract hidden under his bed. They took it to the new Hokage and asked what was to be done with it. The Hokage decided that in the interest of the village's security, a new Toad Summoner should be selected. At first the decision was met with some rather heated arguments, but eventually a young genin was selected. He reminded many people of the previous two summoners as he was the dead last of his class, but showed remarkable potential. When the Hokage opened the scroll to allow the boy to sign, there was a gasp from several of the people present at what they saw. Naruto's name, which should have turned black upon his death, was still red, though it seemed faded. The boy chosen to select to sign the contract was urged to hurry up and do just that, so they might ask the toads what this meant.

It took weeks before the boy was able to summon anything other than a tadpole, but when he did the Hokage instantly asked that the small toad carry a message back to Mount Myoboku that they needed to speak with one of the Elder Toads. It took a while, and a large amount of candy, but eventually the Elders were summoned. They refused to speak at first, insisting that their new summoner be tested first, a test he thankfully passed, before they would speak of what they knew. What they had to say would shock many and give hope to others.

"The boy is not dead," Pa said with a smile. "He's too far away for us to reach him, but he's still alive. Where he might be, I have no idea as it is beyond anywhere we can reach. Still, if I know him, he's fighting the good fight even now."

"Can you bring him back?" asked the Hokage and several other people all at once.

Pa just shook his head with a frown. "No, we can no longer reach him. Don't you worry about the boy, the Great Toad Sage says he is where he needs to be and that his time here is done."

That night, one young woman sat on the roof of her home looking up at the stars with a smile on her face. Although she was saddened that she would never see him again, she was happy that Naruto was still alive out there, somewhere. She only hoped that wherever he was, he was happy and living a good life. As she drifted off to sleep that night under the stars, she dreamed of Naruto and his adventures. She watched him become the man she always knew he could be and she smiled knowing that he would never give up.

True to her promise, she also never gave up.

AN: I leave it up to you to figure out who the young woman was. I already know, but she won't play a role in this story, so imagine to your heart's content.

This story is already completed, so don't bother giving ideas or suggestions for pairings as this prologue was the last thing written.

Hope you enjoy, hold on for what I hope will be an enjoyable ride.

Chris :)