Summary: When Death tolls, the bell is answered. It's inevitable. Naruto is called on by Death to become their champion and is sent to a universe of heroes and rogues. Too bad for them, Naruto has no plans on conforming to the way they do business. It's time someone shakes things up. Get ready, Uzumaki Naruto is here and change, like death is inevitable. [Mixing of the comics & MCU]
Three years ago, Uzumaki Naruto would've laughed off the idea of becoming a civilian. At his core, Naruto was a fighter. A trait passed down to him by his parents, no doubt. The life of a non-combatant felt too tame for his tastes. Conflict followed in his shadow.
Naruto knew that better than anyone. Or at least, that's what he thought. Time had a way of proving a person wrong.
When thrust into another schooling system of all things, Naruto felt his world ending. Like the old academy, most of what high school taught him bored Naruto to tears. Going from a worldwide to geometry would do that to a guy.
However, Naruto did manage to find something that interested him. That was world history. The idea of various cultures and beliefs coming into their own in a single place fascinated the shinobi.
Naturally, the whiskered ninja transplant gravitated toward Japan. It felt like a more in-depth reflection of the history Naruto knew from back home.
He also took a secondary interest in India's culture along the way. The more he discovered, the more Naruto questioned how these detailed stories came to be. Sure, he didn't have any proof, but he had an idea.
Gods, Goddesses, and maybe something even greater. Though seemingly unbelievable, it made the most sense.
'With how I ended up here, it's not so unbelievable that Gods and Goddesses spent time on Earth at some point. I mean, look at Thor and Loki. If two Asgardians are of flesh and blood, why can't others?' If what Naruto thought was true, then the possibilities were literally endless.
But did Naruto want to meet these beings if they really did exist? Past experience with those considered divine hadn't left a positive experience on the whiskered teenager.
Naruto shook his head; he was getting ahead of himself.
Happy to laugh at himself and his overactive imagination, Naruto stopped in the middle of the path and looked at the clouds. "What am I doing? What am I thinking about? This isn't the time for what-ifs. Those kinds of thoughts can wait until after I enjoy a nice, hot bowl of ramen." A different dimension didn't lessen Uzumaki Naruto's love for the broth-filled noodle dish.
Naruto continued down the bend in the path, taking it to a more isolated section of the park trail. That's where the blue-eyed blonde stumbled upon a confrontation that instantly put a frown on his face.
A pair of guys stopped a young woman from continuing down the path. 'She looks kind of familiar. Really familiar, actually.'
"Look, I told you and your buddy that I'm not interested. Take the hint and buzz off!" She was tired of repeating herself to these dunces. They hadn't tried anything funny yet, but she was a few seconds away from kicking one of them in the balls. It'd make her feel better and prove a point.
Felicia Hardy wasn't some wallflower to be pushed around!
The reiterated denials thrown at him caused the older man to snort and fold his arms. "I don't see what the problem is. You come to our party, show off a little, and get free drinks. It's a win for everyone."
Felicia rolled her eyes. This persistence thing was getting old. "First of all, I'm not twenty-one yet. And second, you're what? Twenty-five? Sorry, but that's a little too old for me. So why don't you take your offer and find someone else?"
"Hey, you don't have to be a frigid bitch about it. We're trying to do you a favor!" The frustration on the second man's face was becoming rapidly apparent. There was also the way his finger tapped irritably against his bicep.
Felicia's equally biting response was shelved. Because this was when Naruto cleared his throat. Without uttering a word, Naruto redirected the attention onto him. However, now it was Felicia's turn to interrupt Naruto.
"Naruto!" The timely appearance of a high school acquaintance gave Felicia an idea. She brushed past the two dunces and took a surprised Naruto by the arm.
The fog that kept Naruto from remembering Miss Hardy's name vanished when he saw her face. Putting that confusion into the inflection of his voice, Naruto replied, "Felicia?"
While they were from the same class of graduates, Naruto never got to know Felicia Hardy. They existed on opposite ends of the social spectrum. She was the popular one, while he was the quiet one who kept to himself.
Naruto only knew who she was because the two of them had three classes together in their senior year. He didn't have bad things to say about Felicia, but nothing overly complimentary either.
That's why he was as confused as anyone by the sudden contact.
Felicia pouted at the genuinely confused man on her arm. She placed more pressure on his arm when she squeezed it tightly to her chest. "What took you so long? I started to think you were going to stand me up."
Naruto didn't get the chance to call Felicia out on her lie. Not with one of her two suitors forcing his way back into the conversation.
The anointed dunce broke free of his surprised stupor. And he couldn't keep his envy to himself. "Hey, loser, we have some business with this one. Why don't you take a hike or something?"
"I agree; come on, Naruto. We're late for our lunch reservations." Felicia played up their relationship further by leaning into Naruto's body. This earned the confused blonde a glare from the other blockhead. Clearly, he was jealous too.
"Seriously? This is your boyfriend? Dude looks like a flake." That particular piece of unsolicited judgment destroyed whatever patience Naruto might have had.
With one eyebrow twitching dangerously, Naruto repeated the word in his brain. Flake, huh? He'd show them a flake. It was time to break out an old ninja trick on these fools.
Killing intent would've done the job, but Naruto didn't want to stop their hearts, so he settled for the next best thing. He dropped the physical weight of his chakra on the fools. "Did you say something?"
It was equivalent to having an ocean's worth of water dropped on top of them, and it showed.
Naruto took a vindictive pleasure in seeing both men sweat like pigs as they backed away from him instinctively. "Ah... N-Nah! Let's go, Bryce."
His prevailing satisfaction turned into a chuckle. Naruto's laughter trailed the two men as they scampered away fearfully. The only reason he stopped laughing was Felicia poking him in the chest. "You say something?"
The lack of attention on her put a pout on Felicia's lips. She cocked her hip to the side, put a hand on that hip, and repeated herself for Naruto's benefit. "I said thank you for the help. They were getting on my nerves."
Curious like a cat, the young Hardy wanted to say more. She questioned how Naruto made her unwanted tagalongs panic like he did but kept those inquiries to herself for now. Besides, she got to savor how they scurried off like ants. 'Serves them right.'
"Oh, don't worry about it. Then again, you didn't leave me with much choice. Did you?" It was here Naruto dropped a playfully pointed look on his fellow blonde.
There wasn't any remorse in Felicia. What she gave Naruto his troubles was a cheeky smile. That ended up becoming Felicia sticking her tongue out at Naruto. "Sometimes a girl has to do what a girl's gotta do!"
Naruto conceded to Felicia's point. If people were harassing him, he'd do whatever it took to shake them. Shrugging off the harmless way she manipulated him, Naruto left Felicia with a friendly smile. "At least I could help. Have a good day, yeah?"
He made it all of three steps before Felica barred his path by moving in front of him. Ironic. "Hold on a second. Where do you think you're going? Hmm?"
Blinking at the young woman, he pointed past her shoulder and down the path. "I planned on going that way. So if you don't mind..."
"Actually, I do mind! Whether you wanted to or not, the fact is you helped me out. That means I owe you one, and Felicia Hardy doesn't do debts. So as my way of paying you back, we're going out for lunch. Understood?" Her serious tone hinted Naruto had little choice in this matter as well. However, Naruto wouldn't be him without some stubbornness.
Raising his eyebrow also helped Naruto match the expression on Felicia's face. His response came with the start of a smirk. "What if I already have plans?"
His contrarian response earned him another three jabs to the chest from the stunning woman. Either Felicia knew him better than he thought, or she had skills at seeing through bullshit. "You're telling me you'd turn down a date with Felicia Hardy? Makes a girl wonder..."
Unlike most in similar circumstances, the blonde Uzumaki laughed off the poorly veiled questioning of his sexual preferences. A younger him would've definitely exploded from such a comment. "Funny, I don't remember anyone saying anything about a date. I could've sworn I heard the word lunch."
Felicia's blue eyes twinkled, showing how much she appreciated the back and forth banter between her and Naruto. Felicia liked to think of herself as a free spirit. Her interests lay in men who weren't trying too hard to look cool.
Not to mention the trick Naruto used to scare off those two idiots. Interesting indeed...
"It was likely a slip of the tongue. I definitely meant a date, and as a gentleman, you shouldn't actively work against my expectations." The cheshire grin indicated how serious she was taking this whole thing, but neither teen cared all that much.
"Fine..." Naruto's inevitable relenting got a big smile from Felicia. "But I want it written down that I'm only doing this because I have an empty stomach! You got that?"
"Your extraordinary circumstances have been noted~ Now get that rear in gear! I'm feeling peckish." Bumping Naruto with her hip, Felicia took the lead, leaving Naruto to shake his head in good humor.
The walk that followed was best described as comfortable. There wasn't a word spoken between Naruto and Felicia because they didn't feel the need to talk. It was a peaceful walk with good company, and that's all it had to be.
Eventually, the pair found a nice, little burger place that Felicia was more than happy to recommend. The conversation picked up once again when the two were seated in their booth.
Fresh off a sip of her lemonade, Felicia started things off. "Now that you're done with school, what's next?" She asked and answered this question a hundred times, but she was interested in hearing Naruto's answer.
"You'll be the first to know once I have an answer. I suppose I spent too much time in the present to think about my future." What Felicia and the others didn't know was the reasoning behind that. Try coming to an entirely different dimension at sixteen. See how worried you were about life after high school. It took more than three years to adapt, even for a shinobi.
Putting her chin on the top of her palm, Felicia offered one route forward. It was the same thing one of the school's academic counselors advised Naruto to do. "Have you thought about going to a college? I'm going to the university upstate."
"Yeah, I thought about it, but I don't know what I'd study. Maybe I'll do some traveling first. I have more than enough money saved away, luckily." More like Naruto had a casino's worth of cash after using a Henge to clean out a nearby gambling establishment.
"International heart breaker, Naruto Uzumaki~!"
Naruto chose not to correct her western way of pronouncing his name. Instead, he turned the question game back on Felicia. "Okay, how about you? Is there anything you regret not doing now that we're out of high school?"
"Ooh, that's a good one! Let me think..." Felicia's eyes went up while her finely-kept fingernails tapped at the gentle point of her chin. "If I had to pick one, I'd say it was the people I hung out with."
The sunshine blonde raised a brow in response. "The people?" He asked tentatively, curious as to what she meant.
Felicia moved her eyes down into the top of her drink for the time being. Focusing her attention on a single thing helped clarify her thoughts. "Yeah... the people I called friends weren't good for me as a person. Most guys liked me for my looks, and the girls wanted my popularity when I look back at it."
Naruto's wince went unnoticed. Unsure of what he could add but needing to say something, he chimed in. "Can't say I know much about that. I had maybe five friends total."
His admission got Felicia to look up, and that's when she saw a sheepish Naruto rubbing at his head. The bashful expression on what she thought was a handsome face made her smile warmly. Thoughts of her bad friend choices already behind her.
"I think you'd make a pretty good friend, whiskers."
Naruto silently thanked her for using the pet name. It helped distract him from the genuine praise that would've probably made him blush. "A nickname? Someone's getting bold..."
When their meals reached the booth, the pair had breezed past the getting to know you questions and engaged each other in a more natural, free flowing way. They looked like a pair of old friends with chemistry to match.
"Wait... so what did you do with the note?" Engrossed in his story, Felicia all but forgot about the fresh fries on her plate.
Naruto's grin stretched around a chuckle as the memories of this particular tale left him feeling amused. "Nothing. The teacher saw the note. He made me stand up in front of the class, but since I hadn't read it, I had to make up some bullshit. When I finally did see what it said, the girl was so embarrassed she couldn't stop apologizing."
Felicia put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep her giggling at a manageable level. "Wow! I can't believe you got caught with a note asking you out. That never happens! So what happened next?"
"Since I felt terrible about the whole thing, I agreed to take her on a date. We ended up going on three of them. By the third, we realized there wasn't that romantic spark. Though, the two of us stayed friends." Naruto admitted with a content smile. He was happy he tried to make things work.
His current date listened in silence until the very end. That's when Felicia said something that caught Naruto totally off guard. "Sounds like I need three more dates with you if I want to be number one." The sly smile on her face only enhanced her statement of intent.
Naruto's surprise turned into a cough. When he got himself back under control, Felicia's smile had grown. "Did this become a competition when I wasn't looking?"
There was a determination creeping into Felicia's clear eyes. It told Naruto all he needed to know, almost more than the words following it. "If I'm in the field, then I want to be the best. Doesn't matter if it's a sport or as a date."
The spiky-haired teenager looked at her in silence before smiling. "I can respect that."
When their waitress arrived with the bill, it put a momentary break in the festivities. "Man, I don't even remember finishing my food. Time really does fly when you're having a good time." Felicia stopped herself upon seeing Naruto reach for his wallet. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Paying for my food?" Naruto's bewilderment turned what should've been a statement into a question.
"No, you're not," Felicia responded so quickly it caused Naruto to pause.
"Yes, I am."
Trying again didn't help Naruto any. If anything, repeating himself caused Felicia to shut Naruto down faster than before. "Nope!"
Before Naruto could hope to stop her, the assertive woman handed the waitress the money they owed and sent her off. This left Naruto at the table with a deeply furrowed brow.
Felicia laughed at him.
"Don't sit there with a sour look on your face. The staff needs to clean our table. Come on, chop-chop!" Her good-spirited taunts pulled another chain of grumbling complaints from the blonde man that Felicia guided out of the restaurant.
Naruto felt his mood lift as he stepped into the sun. She might have outfoxed him back in the restaurant, but he had something in mind. "Since you paid for lunch, why don't you let me walk you home?"
Blue eyes spent a good while searching Naruto for something before Felicia agreed with a smile. "I think I'd like that." From there, both young people lapsed into a companionable silence, arm in arm.
With Felicia providing directions as needed, it wasn't long before the pair arrived at the small apartment that Felicia called home for the summer.
Felicia untangled herself from her date and turned to face Naruto properly. That's when the smile and kind words came. "Thanks for a great time, Naruto. I really enjoyed it, truthfully."
Something in the back of her mind questioned if Naruto would try anything like her past dates. Would he overstep, and how would she react if he did?
Her worries turned out to be unnecessary.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a bright grin. "I'm glad. Despite what I said, I didn't want you to have an awful time." Naruto was actually relieved to hear her opinion on their unplanned date.
Credit to her, Felicia realized Naruto didn't plan on doing anything to officially end their date. This meant she had to make a choice. "Give me your phone for a second?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!" Naruto fumbled with his phone for a moment before placing it into Felicia's outstretched hand. A minute later she returned the smartphone with a grin.
"There, now you have my number. I'll be in touch, whiskers." With a parting wink, she vanished into the apartment, leaving a surprised Uzumaki standing there in silence.
Naruto checked his messages. He saw a text Felicia sent on his behalf. What he read made Naruto laugh. She sure had a sense of humor.
Thank you for giving me your number. I appreciate it and your beauty, Naruto.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Naruto shook his head with a small smile as he went down the concrete staircase. "What an afternoon..."
Lingering out in nature was standard for Naruto. That's why he found himself out on the banks of the Hudson River. He enjoyed going out of his way to take in the beauty of nature. It was a hobby of his that predated becoming the latest toad sage. Naruto savored the beauty. He basked in the freedom that only the outdoors provided.
"This feels like as good a spot as any for some meditation. I certainly know I could use the practice after going so long without it." He got comfortable watching the river flow to the south. From there, it wasn't long until his breathing and his body went still.
That's when Naruto found his center of balance. Despite having gone a few months without meditating, the young Uzumaki didn't need long to capture what he was searching for.
The natural energy going through New York wasn't as prevalent as in places like Konoha or Mt. Myoboku... but it felt richer? Naruto still had difficulties describing the differences in a way that made sense.
In...
Out...
In...
Out...
Without movement plaguing him, Naruto opened himself up to the world around him. He created a bond between his body and the land by mixing his chakra with natural energy. But he didn't keep it for himself. No, Naruto released the combination back into the atmosphere, stronger and more resilient than before.
White markings were forming beneath his eyes as the blonde found the point of optimal balance. As Naruto entered Sage Mode, a pod of whales moving through the river breached with a happy crooning sound. It was like the animals were calling out to the young man on the shore.
While he and nature continued to intermingle, Naruto's thoughts strayed toward something that troubled him. Someone who bothered him. This is how it always ended when Naruto found himself with a quiet moment to think. It all came back to...
Thanos, the Mad Titan, and collector of the Infinity Stones.
Everyone living on Earth knew about the alien that came to their world and changed the course of universal history. With a single snap of his fingers, Thanos collapsed governments. He divided families and erased existences in a misguided search for balance.
They called it 'The Snap,' and thanks to the Infinity Stones, Thanos got what we wanted. Half of all life... gone. But there was no grateful universe. Only pain.
Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of Nagato and his twisted hunt for the nine Biju. But this was much, much worse than the Akatsuki. Thanos didn't destroy one planet; the Mad Titan ruined every world out there with his semi-genocidal plan.
Oh, people tried to fight. They stood up in the face of his madness, but none of the Earth's many defenders could match the power of five Infinity Stones. They lost their battle to keep the sixth out of Thanos' grasp. They lost.
But what if?
Was it his pride talking? Naruto didn't think so. He genuinely believed if he'd been on the planet during the conflict, he'd have made a difference. Unfortunately, Naruto hadn't arrived on Earth until a month after Thanos' victory.
But by then, it was far too late to do anything, not that Naruto didn't try his best. He poured through every viable source of information he could get his hands on with the help of his clones. Tens of thousands of hours were spent looking for a solution, but they all turned out to be dead ends.
Did the planet's energy affect him? Or did his unwavering desire to help people burn brighter than ever because of his thoughts? Whatever the answer, Naruto suddenly felt something pushing him toward making a vow.
'It doesn't matter who you are or what comes next. Anyone that comes looking for trouble will have to go through Uzumaki Naruto! And that's a promise!'
His inner monologue was broken up by a spray of water that landed on top of the seated sage. Naruto's facial markings disappeared as he opened his eyes once more.
Looking at his soaked clothing, Naruto smiled at the whales happily splashing about. "Sorry, boys and girls. I don't have time to play with you today; I have to head home." If his sun reading skills were still up to snuff, he spent three-ish hours out by the river. Putting it somewhere around four o'clock.
Naruto took a moment to check his surroundings but didn't see anyone. He shrugged it off after a second. Weird, he felt like someone was watching for a moment. It must have been his imagination... or his shinobi paranoia.
Hidden Hideout
Running an organization of any level takes a lot of effort and foresight. Having to manage a coalition of trained ninjas was a step beyond that. This is the lesson Elektra Natchios was learning firsthand.
The absurd amount of delegation and written reports she went through in a single day was mind-numbing. But when she got used to her new role, Elektra found a good rhythm, and the clan as a whole benefited from her decisive way of doing business.
Not that it was difficult for a clever woman like Elektra to consolidate a group of warriors who lost their way because of Thanos snapping away their leadership. With the assistance of her newfound ninja minions, Elektra felt herself getting closer to finishing off the group that ordered her father's death.
How dare they use her to get closer to her father? The Hand Clan would pay in blood for their treachery.
Her plan was simple and sweet. Use the Hand Clan to destroy them and earn revenge for her deceased father. Elektra already killed the crooked cop who took her dad. So the Hand Clan was the next logical step.
However, an issue arose, a problem that needed handling as soon as possible. A sect from the original Hand Clan found out about her activities and started working against her.
Elektra knew the trained Hand Clan fighters were of better quality than her foot soldiers, loathed as she was to admit it. The number of bodies she lost was starting to pile up. She needed an ace, a difference-maker.
"Get in here! I have a task for you!" The door quickly swung open, and a slender woman in all red kneeled in front of Elektra. Her head pointed toward the ground as a sign of respect.
"You're to go into the city and scout for people based on combat effectiveness. Starting tomorrow, I want a list of people who can serve our cause! Don't fail me."
"Yes, Mistress!"
Disappearing as quickly as she entered, the assassin woman vacated the room. Alone again, Elektra sighed as she pulled out her sai from beneath the desk. "Oh Matthew, what I wouldn't give for your help right now."
When his phone went off, it broke the silence of an otherwise quiet walk. It also brought a chuckle out of Naruto. "It's good to know a bunch of playful whales didn't wreck my phone. That'd be a tough one to explain."
Because he was preoccupied imagining telling such a story, Naruto was more than a little distracted. His shinobi senses told him to get out of the way, but his body couldn't move quick enough. He ended up running into someone with a broad and rock-hard body.
Literally
"Sorry about that, kid." A massive hand made entirely of orange rocks dropped into Naruto's field of view. After using a second to reorient himself, the blonde happily allowed himself to be hoisted back onto his feet.
"No, it's my fault for not paying attention to where I was going." Naruto and the man shared a respectful nod before heading their separate ways. However, Naruto did stop and look over his shoulder curiously. "Orange rocks? You're alright in my book, rock dude."
Putting the accidental meeting behind him, Naruto continued home. Thankfully there weren't any other delays on his way there. And after some cleaning and a nice shower, it was time for the blonde to finish making his dinner. "Good thing I left the meat cooking in the crockpot all day."
He needed his pot roast tender!
Struck by an idea that was more fun than necessary, Naruto gathered up the carrots and potatoes and put them on two different cutting boards. "This is definitely a reckless waste of chakra, but I'm an Uzumaki! So I say fuck it!"
A shroud made entirely of chakra built up around Naruto, creating a blue outline. He turned that into the infamous Uzumaki chakra chains. Reducing the number of chains down to one, Naruto began chopping away at the vegetables.
"Hah! If kaa-chan saw me now, she'd either be laughing her ass off or scolding me for being so dumb. But I like to think she'd be laughing, verbal tick and all." That warm thought helped Naruto make it through another lonely night of cooking for himself, by himself.
Naruto could have all the confidence in the world. Wear an easy smile every second of the day, but no matter how far he went, Naruto couldn't shake the yearning for a family. It followed him around like a second shadow.
It's what every orphan wanted for themselves at some point in their life. The thought left Naruto with a whimsical smile. "Maybe someday..." A house filled with memories and love was the stuff of Naruto's dreams.
Moving to the sink to wash his hands, the sunny-haired teenager found his kitchen filled with the sounds of his ringing phone. He cursed to himself and quickly wiped his hands on his pants.
Hurrying over to the vibrating cell phone, Naruto answered the call without looking at the id. "Hello?"
"You answer the phone but can't open a text? Even girls have an ego, whiskers!"
Naruto didn't need to be a mensa-level genius to figure out who called him. "Felicia? It was you who sent that text?"
"Come on, try to keep up~! Yes, it was me. You would've known that if you actually opened it up."
Oof. She had a point. Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was a little busy when the text came in, and then it kind of slipped my mind."
"Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. So I have a favor to ask you."
"A favor?" Naruto repeated after her as he set one of his elbows on the marble countertop.
"Mhm. I want to start at the gym until I go away to school. And I figure it'll be easier to get my butt up in the morning if I have a partner. So... what do you say?"
Naruto's personal training routine was ten times more intense than any gym, but going with Felicia would kill time. So... "Sure, why not? When and where?"
"Thank God! You're a lifesaver, Naruto. Meet me at my place, say six-thirty in the morning? There's a gym two blocks from here."
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye!"
"Goodbye."