"Gah! Fuck, this is stupid bullshit! We should be hunting the Ninja Bitch and her cronies, not waiting here with our thumbs up our asses! Fuck!" The fury brewing deep in Bullseye finally reached its boiling point. He couldn't lash out with his preferred method of violence, so he fell back on profanities and anger. If it were in his hands, they'd be pushing their advantage instead of letting their prey come to them.
While wanting to avoid his commander's penchant for violence, the mercenary goon didn't want a loose temper endangering his upcoming paycheck. It was a handsome payday waiting to happen. That's why he put his neck on the line in the face of Bullseye's naked bloodlust. It was money. It was always money. "Sir, but these orders came from-"
Bullseye whipped around on the brave soul that spoke out against him. The foot soldier was saved by the standing orders given to Bullseye. They said he needed to stop killing his own men. Lucky fuck.
"I know what the goddamn boss said, you fucking moron! I'm just saying this is a load of bullshit! Speak out of turn again, and I'll hang you from the fucking roof!" His orders didn't prevent him from glaring so spitefully at his comrade that bloodshot lines began spreading through the whites of his eyes.
The simple gun-for-hire was saved by the timely arrival of their allies. He took the chance to step back. His retreat drew Bullseye's attention over his shoulder. Along with the shift came a sour frown. "Oh great, it's you guys again. What the fuck do you want this time? You have some more dumb ninja proverbs?"
Graceful in the face of the racially-insensitive comment, the ninja bowed respectfully to his ally of circumstance. "Kirigi-sama sent me to inform you that he shall act as our reserve force on the chance you let our enemies escape again."
"Right... just get the job done." A close listen-in on his voice revealed the sound of the sadist's teeth grinding together as he made a conscious effort to hold himself back. What he wouldn't give to stab the man in front of him with something dull.
Showing none of the hostility and doing it on purpose, the ninja warrior bowed once more. With the message delivered, he returned to his station. "Then we're in agreement. Good luck, gentlemen."
Bullseye's poorly put-together expression of comradery shattered beneath the loathing of a glare. Spitting on the floor, he snarled so hard it revealed his teeth. "I hate those assassin wannabes..." As soon as he could, Lester planned on scalping their asses and putting their heads on his mantle. "The Ninja Bitch better hurry up before some accidental friendly fire happens."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
An excitable and deranged look of ecstasy flashed across the villain's lips. There it was, the bell signaling the long-awaited bloodshed he yearned for. "Send squads to the secondary exits. Don't let them pull the same shit on us again." The group around Bullseye saluted and carried out the plan as was practiced earlier in the week.
All that remained was time, and it seemed to stretch on for the black-suited hitman. He tried managing his angst when he took to tapping at his forearms. It was an action that reeked of restlessness.
His hatched plan to move forward came to a skidding halt when the doors slammed open thanks to a body. Lester recognized him as one of his guys with multiple lacerations across his chest. So much so that there was enough blood to make his black look red. Not only that, his dead body was turned into a battering ram. "What the fuck? Who the fuck did-"
"Dynamic Entry!" Bullseye had just enough time to look up in the direction of the shout. But seeing what came next didn't help the man react to it. It wasn't Elektra, but Naruto, who tore through the roof with his foot pointing down. Dust rained down around Naruto, getting in the hitman's eyes as Naruto planted his shoe in the Bullseye's gut.
Naruto added the finishing touch on his borrowed move by releasing a small pulse of chakra from his foot. The additional propulsion slammed Bullseye into the ground so hard it made him spit up blood amidst a pained gasp. Naruto also put a splintering crack in the wooden floor with Bullseye's body.
Leaving the groaning man there as he brushed dust from his hair, Naruto turned over his shoulder and offered some of his thoughts to Elektra. "These floors are a lot thinner than I thought. I think I snapped a stud beam on my way through. Anyways, he's all yours, Elektra. Yours truly has a date with an immortal ninja nightmare."
"What hit me?" Since Naruto left before she could answer him, Elektra had to make do with answering the inquiries of her latest enemy. Seeing Bullseye in a pained state certainly made her more amenable to speaking.
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself, but I have a better chance of finding an answer because you're dying here." She put the exclamation point on her statement when she dropped her weapons of choice into her capable hands.
"Ninja Bitch!" Clutching at his ribs, Bullseye turned ire into motivation when he forced his aching body back to its feet. He'd deal with the blonde asshole once he finished stringing this one up. "You won't scurry away like a rat today!"
"No, I won't. That much we agree on."
Those seven words were the catalyst that kicked the confrontation off. Bullseye went for the pouches hanging off his hips. Or, at least, that was the plan. He was stopped from doing so when a whizzing shuriken came his way. Elektra followed her throw by correctly predicting his dodge and catching her nemesis on the back foot.
Elektra scored first blood in the opening move with simple precision and optimal execution. She threw a feint at Bullseye's injured ribs. That opened a window that cost the man a substantial cut across his collar. Red dripped off the end of her sai's prong as she flourished the deadly tri-blade with a familiarity bred from pure repetition.
A fresh hiss of pain seeped off his lips, reigniting a fury within Lester's stomach. His corresponding strike came but found nothing. Elektra took a half-step back to avoid a sloppy punch. 'Naruto was right. When people fight, most of them can't do it with emotion. It dulls them considerably. Is this how I looked back then? Unacceptable.'
Almost scoffing at the visual in her brain, Elektra took aim at the extended first. She took great pleasure in driving the metal bottom of her sai into the back of Bullseye's hand and creating an audible crack that made the rogue holler his misery.
'Shit! Whoever that punk was really messed me up. He must've kicked the shit out of me. I need to make space!' He might be crazy, but Bullseye knew when something wasn't working. So to generate some breathing room, he pulled out the unexpected.
He spat in his opponent's face, blinding her just long enough to stumble back and separate them. When he finished fishing out a handful of iron balls, Elektra finished clearing her eyes. With some quick thinking on her part, she heaved the dead merc's body up and turned it into a shield against the hail of metal spheres.
"And here I thought you were a master assassin. How can someone call themselves the best when they're a one-trick pony? It's sad." Infesting Bullseye with a time-tested poison known as ridicule, she dropped the dead body, which carried an additional handful of wounds thanks to Bullseye's last assault.
"What did you just say? You didn't-" His outrage never truly built any steam because Elektra cut it off at the knees. She also counted on this making the explosive man angrier by the second.
"Oh, but I did. Yes, you can throw things, and that's all you do. Isn't that right? How disappointing, typical man." As reliable as the sun rising in the morning, Elektra's mocking smile and rueful tone tossed a whole heap of fuel on the fires of Bullseye's outrage.
"That's it!"
'Men and their egos.' Her amusement turned into something ten times uglier upon landing on Bullseye's newest toy. To the untrained eye, the weapon he produced looked plain. However, she recognized the club. Knew it well, in fact.
Licking his lips in a way that wasn't exactly appropriate, Bullseye visibly relished the hatred directed at him. "Look at the hate in your eyes. I love it! You recognize this, don't you? It's your boyfriend's billy club. Ain't it?" As he laughed, he gave his stolen trophy a flashy twirl. "Too bad. It's mine now."
'I'm going to enjoy hurting this fool.' Elektra liked to think she was in control of her emotions when she threw herself weapons first at Bullseye. That her anger sharpened her focus to a new level. That's what she'd tell herself in the future.
This was how both combatants found themselves locked in an even exchange. When one attacked, the other stopped them, be it through a block, parry, or dodge. And for a time, it stayed that way. But as things dragged on, Elektra started landing more blows than Bullseye could stop.
An eye for an eye. She threw a forearm shiver that buckled Bullseye's neck. While he tried to recover, she cut the pouches off the man's utility belt, emasculating the proud projectile-user of his preferred accessories. 'Like father always said... if you can, rob your enemy of their advantages.'
Bullseye tried responding before his sight came back, which was a mistake. Again, Elektra pedaled backward and avoided him. This time, he accidentally released the club, and it bounced harshly off Elektra's bad shoulder in a stroke of luck.
The pain nearly made Elektra drop her sai. It was an opening Bullseye tried pushing, but he misjudged the depth between him and Elektra, throwing a combination of jabs that landed short of their intended target.
Elektra threw a slash.
She didn't miss.
There was a flash of blood.
This time around, Naruto traded the ANBU blade for his fists. And a porcelain mask for a low, drooping hood. He carved a path through his opposition, leaving broken bones and bruised flesh in his wake. But ultimately, that's all the attention Naruto paid to the small fry. His goal was something more substantial.
He was going to kill the unkillable.
His warpath ultimately led him to a completely dark room with rusted chains hanging from the rafters. Naruto saw pillars with plastic drapings and coffins lined against the chamber's back wall. Morbid room dressings aside, Naruto took a step into the room.
A louder than usual creak from one of the chains drew Naruto's attention. Then he ducked as a silent sword cleaved the space above his head and wedged into the pillar behind the crouching blonde's head.
Naruto responded to the attempt on his life by decisively disarming the offending sword arm. He took the arm and broke it in vengeful recompense. Forced to leave his blade in the post, Kirigi grabbed his broken arm and snapped it back into place without a sound.
Kirigi came in hard with a crossing punch that was blocked. However, Naruto got forced back when he saw the timeless assassin's hand be consumed with fire. He may have avoided being burnt, but it came at the cost of his cloak, which lay smoking on the floor.
There's an impressed look sketched across his whiskered face as Naruto shook out his arm. Naruto paid the man respect in the only way he knew how. With a back-handed compliment. "I guess there really is something to the idea of old man strength that I hear about. For real, I think I felt my bones twitch from just one punch!"
In return for his troubles, Naruto was met with silence. He stared at Kirigi, waiting until his brow creased in annoyance. Maybe if he tried again, the immortal would crack?
"What? Some vow of silence? How troublesome." Was some pre-fight banter too much to ask for? He held better conversations with the stone faces of the Hokages!
Kirigi didn't speak; he acted. The red assassin turned his bulky body into a battering ram when he bull-rushed the younger ninja. Naruto ripped the blade free, even driving the sword into Kirigi's shoulder. The steel cleaved true but not deep enough to stop the ancient man's charge. Instead, Kirigi powered through the blow and right into Naruto's chest.
Kirigi sent Naruto flying backward, right into one of the room's numerous posts. The whiskered sage rebounded off the metal with a grunt. He tried rolling back to his feet, but the plastic laid over him kept Naruto hemmed in. And thanks to Kirigi's sword going through the plastic, he was pinned to the ground. The sudden inclusion of light in the previously dark room spoke of incoming danger.
The big bastard planned on melting Naruto under a sheet of molten plastic. Not on his watch! "Futon: Tsubame no Sakebi! (Wind Release: Screaming Swallow!)" A herd of invisible wind crescents exploded from Naruto's body, shredding the plastic tomb wrapped around Naruto. Some of the elemental blades continued on to cut the immortal ninja. [1]
Ignoring the few grunts, one wouldn't know Kirigi was bleeding into his uniform if they went solely off his reactions to being struck. The man hardly even flinched.
'Okay, this dude is just like Hidan, just a less dirty mouth.' It was a comparison that excited Naruto. He'd been searching for a reason to cut loose. Immortal or not, there were tiers to things like this, and Naruto was ready to show that he stood head and shoulders above his competition.
During the bout of introspection, Kirigi attempted flaming up once more. This time Kirigi focused the fires around the steel blade. Naruto wouldn't allow it. He snuffed out the flames by releasing so much chakra the chains wailed in distress. Soon the entire room carried a blue glow, with Naruto becoming the focal point.
From there, the entire building shook like it was subject to an earthquake. The red swordsman finally showed some hesitation when stepping away from Naruto. The blonde saw this and jumped on Kirigi's moment of weakness.
"That's fear. You're afraid of me. Good, when you see me, you should see your end. You've avoided your demise long enough, old man." Being called out by a child of all people dealt a blow to Kirigi's honor. Unable to not answer the challenge, the silent man charged again. But this time, Naruto was ready for him.
'Lightning isn't really my style, but...' Naruto sprinted through an elaborate chain of one-handed seals that ended with his fingers extended in Kirigi's direction.
"Raiton: Hikari no Yari! (Lightning Release: Spear of Light!)" The dead air crackled with energy moments prior to a rectangular extension of sparking, blue energy jutting off Naruto's hand. Kirigi didn't avoid it. He willingly impaled himself on the sizzling spear, taking it through the heart but foraging onward.
The Hand Clan killer clenched his hands around the chakra spear, searing his flesh as he tried pulling it out of his chest. Kirigi didn't get far before Naruto laid into him with a pump kick. The attack drove Kirigi back the way he came and off the spear until he crashed into a stack of empty coffins. Lingering jolts of electricity raced through Kirigi, paralyzing his immortal flesh for the time being.
"I've known many people- too many, who cursed themselves with immortality. They take it under the guise of a blessing, but they are wrong. Blessings don't fall to the greedy." Naruto slammed a second spear through the coffin over Kirigi. The numbness faded just long enough for Kirigi to feel the pain of the secondary attack.
"You feel pain, so you must still be alive under that decrepit flesh. We shall remedy that." His voice dropped to a sinister pitch. The blue of Naruto's eyes turned black, and the whites of his eyes radiated with the same white power that whipped off the corners of Naruto's eyes.
Something formed over the blonde's clothing. They were frayed robes made of pure energy, and it came with a pointed hood. It might have obscured Naruto's eyes but not the ominous glow they generated.
And his transformation came with a new weapon, a scythe. The half-staff of the deadly polearm fit perfectly in Naruto's left hand. The shaft was a simple black going up into a silver-kissed metal edge with an ever-shifting sequence of symbols that spanned the curved blade head.
Naruto reeked of Death, but the dreadful sensation embraced the young man warmly. The same courtesy wasn't extended to Kirigi, who had forgotten how to breathe in the aftermath of Naruto's new transformation.
"We have not been formally introduced, Kirigi of the Hand Clan. Allow me to introduce myself before your time here comes to its long-overdue end. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Through me, Death speaks; I am its arbiter. And Death has come for you." As he spoke, Naruto ran his finger along the pointed edge of his scythe. An action he came out of unharmed.
Naruto drove the point of his scythe through the coffin and kept going until he felt the resistance of Kirigi's body being pierced. This time, the stoic man screamed as a pain unlike any other ravaged his body.
"This tool of mine is unique among its kind. Yes, it can cause bodily harm. However, it can also damage the soul, the essence hiding under your expired flesh. With this, you will be delivered to Death. You will perish." At first, Kirigi felt cold, but then he felt nothing. Before the man realized what had happened, his heart stopped. Most of the symbols on his scythe were buried in the coffin, but those that weren't flashed white.
The immortal was immortal no longer.
When the struggling stopped, Naruto dropped his transformation with a long sigh. "I'm still not used to that."
One blink later, Naruto found himself in front of a lonely campfire. Everything else around him and the fire was so dark it was impossible to see past the fire light's reach. "This, however, is a little more familiar."
It wasn't long after Naruto plopped himself down on a stump that he was joined by a woman with wavy, black locks. Her caramel-shaded skin is flawless, apart from a single beauty mark under her left eye. The last thing about her wasn't physical; it was a soul-chilling presence, which had Naruto's instincts going haywire.
"I see you picked out another new form for yourself, Death." Naruto realized Death had no plans of harming him. That fact helped Naruto keep his instinctual fight or flight response in check as she spoke with the cosmic entity known as Death.
The first time the two met, Naruto spoke with an abstract mass of formless smoke. Then Death became a skeleton straight out of the nightmares of those who feared their ultimate end. Now she was a woman, a beautiful one at that.
Death peered down on her form with a frown. Unprompted, she ran her hands in appraising fashion along her curvy body until she directed her inquisitive stare on her blonde companion. "Is this form not to your liking, Naruto? I thought you'd be pleased to have a more intimate connection with me. It's no less than what I believe you deserve."
As soon as Naruto realized what Death's touch was doing to her generous curvature, he averted his eyes lest he got caught in the enamoring visual before him. "Death..."
"No, not that. Call me... Freyja." The soft tenor of her airy voice didn't stress how much the name meant to her. However, the shimmer in her dark eyes told Naruto how important this was to the dark one. [2]
"Alright, Freya..." Frejya touted a blinding smile at the sound of her name coming off Naruto's lips. "I think you look beautiful." And though Naruto's words didn't have much in the way of intimacy, just speaking them put a content glow around the all-powerful being.
Lady Death scampered toward her chosen one with a warm smile. She sat with her knees and inner thighs kissing the ground of the soulscape. Freyja looked up at the young man imploringly, taking Naruto's hands into hers. "Say that again."
"You're beautiful, Freyja." Naruto employed years of emotional conditioning to refrain from shivering under Freyja's cold touch. Her skin was as frigid as one could expect, even with her toning down her presence considerably.
Death carried a truly peaceful smile upon receiving Naruto's compliment. It came across so genuinely that Naruto couldn't help but smile back. There's a tiny part of his soul resonating strongly with Freyja's joy. If Naruto didn't know better, he might've mistaken her feelings for his own.
Naruto's curious blues bore into Freya's gaze with their natural sharpness after shaking off the influential feelings building in his gut. His innate intensity was a trait forged during a life of fighting enemies, both physical and political. "Why bring me here? Why now?"
Freyja bit down on her black-painted lip before dropping a chastising stare on Naruto. But not a mean one, never that. "You underestimate my influence without meaning it. When you send someone to face my judgment, I will feel it no matter how far apart we are."
Rising from the ground, she elegantly stepped around Naruto and lingered behind the sage's back. That's when she placed a pair of tender hands on his firm shoulders. "And naturally, I deem it necessary to visit my beloved avatar when he serves my name so dutifully."
"Avatar? I thought I was your champion?" Naruto's eyes drifted close in contentment. Freyja and her gentle, massaging touch found and erased fatigue Naruto didn't know he had. His body wanted to lean into the comfort provided by her hands, and his brain didn't object.
"No, that term is for those creatures who call themselves gods. You are more than a simple title meant to glorify me. Uzumaki Naruto is an extension of myself and nothing less." As she spoke, her fingers played with the defiant spikiness of Naruto's golden hair. Being able to touch Naruto like this and share a moment with him was all Freyja needed.
"While your praise is truly flattering..." Freyja hummed happily but said nothing knowing Naruto himself had more to say. "I know you are here for more than just me." Death was always busy. So was the nature of her existence.
"Of that, you are correct. There is news I must share with you, Naruto." Naruto couldn't see it, but Freyja's eyes held a newfound seriousness as they gazed into the fire in front of the pair.
"Share as it pleases you." A twinge of a frown pulled on Naruto's lips. He might not have seen it per se, but the young shinobi most certainly felt Freyja's well-contained anger through their connection.
"Clear your mind." Naruto did as he was asked. Using the same trick he did for meditating, he ejected every thought from his mind until he was a blank slate, untainted by any pre-existing notions. Freyja put the tips of her pointer and middle fingers on both of Naruto's temples and let the information flow.
Through Death, Naruto felt flashes of the future playing in his head. He saw as the Avengers scrambled to fix their failures. He watched on as Tony Stark jousted with his present and the dangers of being a superhero. There was a time machine, Infinity Stones, and a grand battle...
But a single premonition stood out among all the rest. It was this vision that etched a furious frown on Naruto's face. "Thanos..." His irate hiss sent a delighted shiver down Freyja's spine. "You're telling me the Mad Titan will live once more?"
"These are the consequences of time travel. Good intentions or not." Naruto's reaction warmed her heart because it let her know that Naruto was on her side. But there was still the lingering shadow of spite sitting in her voice as she attempted to remain impartial.
"What will you have me do?" Naruto was more than ready to do whatever it took to stop Thanos' deranged hunt for balance. There would be no genocidal foundation this time.
"What do you wish to do, Naruto?" She knew what Naruto could and would do without having to ask. And she believed that he'd find success where others failed because Uzumaki Naruto always accomplished what he set his mind to.
"If you know me, then you also have my answer." It was finally here; the opportunity Naruto lamented missing when he first arrived in this universe. He got his second chance and was determined to make it count, not only for himself but for the trillions of lives Thanos ruined in his quest for the Stones.
Freyja laughed as she granted Naruto her permission. They both understood Naruto didn't need permission, but this was more of a ceremonial gesture and a token of her belief in him. "Then go forth with my favor. When you cross paths with the fool, Thanos, show him your full might. Show him the full strength of our union, Naruto."
Standing up and turning around, Freyja's heart pumped faster in her chest as she basked in the handsome look of determination on her chosen one's face. "You have my word, Freyja."
"Then it is already done." Offering him one last smile, Freyja used her powers to send Naruto from their soulscape and back into the waking world.
Freyja had seen scenes like these hundreds of times throughout Naruto's life as a shinobi. However, hearing the blonde make a promise to her surpassed them all. Even after he left, Freyja could feel her heart beating in her ears. The smile on her face wouldn't be removed. Placing a hand over her heart, she closed her eyes and said goodbye. "Farewell for now, my soulmate. Bring your unshakable will to those who would oppose you. Show them all why there is no one like Uzumaki Naruto."
There were hundreds of people throughout time that sought her affection. They included the likes of Thanos and Deadpool, but in the end, Freyja turned them all away for one reason or the other. Most were willing to change for her, and fewer wanted to change her. And in brief instances, these suitors managed to catch her interest, but that spark always died out, and Freyja continued with her eternal life.
For the longest time, Freyja believed her destiny was to be alone. That looming belief is why she spent millennia detaching herself from the world as a whole. If she didn't form connections, she couldn't be disappointed when someone inevitably showed their true colors.
Things changed one day when something returned to her. A piece of herself she didn't realize was gone.
When Freya reconnected with a part of herself linked to a child from another dimension, she was engrossed. She saw Naruto's life through his eyes. Together they basked in his triumphs. And together, they hurt when Naruto suffered setbacks.
He never asked for power. He never searched for it, but it was drawn to his magnetic personality, as were the people in his life. That's when Freyja knew she fell for the blonde savior of the shinobi world. To Freyja, the seal blessed by her powers was proof of her commitment to Naruto. Kurama might be gone, but Freyja was determined to stay by Naruto's side, even if he didn't feel the same depth of emotions for her as she did for him.
This was unconditional love, a first for Death. It was a difficult concept to describe to those who hadn't had the good fortune of experiencing it themselves. She held out hope that Naruto would return her feelings one day. However, if Naruto didn't, then that was okay too. So long as her beloved maelstrom was happy, Freyja was happy.