Naruto In Marvel Universe Chapter 4: The Bourne Treachery

Location: Was.h.i.+ngton D.C.

Date:January 1st 2011

-x-

Beep beep beep

Creaking his eyes open, Naruto looked over at the alarm sitting on the night stand. Groaning, Naruto flipped over onto his stomach, sliding his head under his pillow and attempted to use it to m.u.f.fle out the noise preventing him from his much needed sleep. Next to him in the bed, a figure under the covers turned over to face away from the alarm in a futile attempt to drown out the noise.

Under the covers a woman spoke, "Nathan…alarm."

It took a second for Naruto to remember that that was the name he used when he went out last night. Arching his back as he looked up, Naruto looked over to see a mop of dark brunette hair that covered its owner's face. Groaning once again, Naruto got up as he pressed the snooze b.u.t.ton on the alarm. Giving his arms a few testing stretches and cracking his back with a sound that resembled bubble wrap, Naruto looked around the unfamiliar room he was currently b.u.t.t naked in. It looked rather expensive, with pricey looking furniture littered with coordination around the room. Looking down at the floor, Naruto could see the trail they had made last night, with his and her under ware jumbled at the foot of the bed. Picking it up, Naruto slipped it on before following the clothing trail. One by one, Naruto put on an article of clothing before finding himself fully clothes sans his left sock. Scratching his head, Naruto looked around the room, peeking under furniture, peering between any crevice.

Making his way back to the bedroom, Naruto saw the woman sitting up in her bed, covering modesty with her covers. The woman was rather beautiful, with a healthy tan that looked natural, great cheekbones, and rather full lips, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if she were a model of some kind.

Smiling awkwardly, the woman said, "Happy New Year."

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto gave a stiff smile of his own, "Yeah uh…"

"Her name is Jennifer, you idiot." Kurama muttered in his head.

"-Jennifer, Happy New Year." Looking around the floor once again, Naruto asked, "Hey uhh, have you seen my sock?" Seeing her point up, Naruto looked up and saw that she was pointing at her ceiling fan, and on said ceiling fan was his sock along with Jennifer's panties.

-x-

The sizzling of bacon and eggs could be heard as Jennifer stood behind her stove shuffling the man around to make sure the food was cooked evenly. Naruto, who was sitting behind the kitchen island, watched the woman do her thing as he pieced together what happened last night. He had just returned from another false lead on how to get home when Natasha had suggested he take a break and go to out and enjoy the New Year's celebration. Several drinks later, Naruto eventually met Jennifer, telling her his name was Nathan for simplicity, and before long the two were all over each other in the bar and then her apartment which was half a block away.

"One sip of that drink and you were acting like a f.u.c.king idiot…well, more so than usual anyway."

"I'm not exactly proud of myself here Kurama. I don't even know this woman." Naruto thought.

As Naruto thought this, he couldn't help but take in the woman's form with her tight fitting s.h.i.+rt obviously used for sleeping only, that cut off just above her belly b.u.t.ton. Then there was the fact she wasn't wearing any pants, only a pair of tightly fitting panties that didn't do a very good job covering her a.s.s, giving him a pretty good view. Not that he hadn't gotten an even better one last night.

"I hope you don't mind bacon and eggs, but it's all I could come up with at short notice." Jennifer said apologetically as she looked back at the blonde she'd spent the night with.

"It's fine." Naruto said rea.s.suringly, "This is a lot better than what I usually make for breakfast." Which was usually a bland cereal drenched in a bowl of milk.

The two entered into a somewhat comfortable silence as Jennifer pulled out a pair of plates from the cabinet above her and then bringing out a couple forks from the drawer a few feet to her left. Scooping the food into each plate, Jennifer gave Naruto his before walking around the island so that she could sit down next to him.

"Thank you." Naruto said with a slight head nod before digging in to the food. Not the best food he'd ever eaten, but it was good. Especially so considering it was free.

Jennifer smiled, "You're welcome." Taking a few bites Jennifer looked at Naruto as she swallowed her food, "So Nathan…I never did ask you what you do, for a living I mean."

"Bodyguard." Naruto said after not being able to come up with anything better.

The brunette raised an eyebrow, "Really? Did you ever work for anyone famous?"

"Yeah uhh, Tony Stark every so often." Naruto said with a shrug.

That got Jennifer's attention, "You protected Tony Stark, as in 'Iron Man' Tony Stark? Seems kind of redundant don't you think?"

"Yeah, it was mostly to keep his girlfriend off his back I'm pretty sure." Naruto said with a shrug, remembering how worried Pepper would get over Tony's safety, "So what do you do?"

"I'm a lawyer." Jennifer said, "I actually live in L.A., I'm only here in D.C. for a long term case."

Naruto nodded, "So what kind of case would drag you all the way to D.C. from Los Angeles?"

Jennifer smiled, wagging her finger in front of her face, "Attorney-client privilege, couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." She said teasingly.

Naruto was about to respond when his phone went off. Reaching into his pocket, he saw a picture of Natasha on the screen. Looking up at Jennifer he said, "I'm sorry, I have to take this." He said apologetically. Getting up from his seat, Naruto walked into the hallway, "What?"

"I thought I said to take a break, not let off some steam. There's a clear difference." He heard Natasha say over the phone.

Naruto sighed as he rubbed the side of his face in agitation, "Why does that matter, exactly?"

"There are multiple reasons for why it matters. For all you know this woman could be a Hydra spy. You're not exactly their favorite person right now."

"We both know you did a background check the moment she sat down next to me in that bar."

Natasha was silent over the phone for several seconds before speaking, "…Jennifer Walters, attended UCLA, she is currently a lawyer working for the law firm Ryu, Barber, Zucker & Scott. She's clean." Natasha said after a moment.

"So what's the problem here exactly?" Naruto asked in slight annoyance at his part time partner's prying.

"The problem is her cousin, Bruce Banner."

Naruto almost dropped his phone at hearing that, "Are you serious?" He asked in shock.

"We can talk about this later. Meet me outside, I have a mission I need your help with." Natasha said before hanging up the phone.

"Dammit." Naruto cursed under his breath as he stuffed his hand in his pocket. Walking over to Jennifer, he saw that she was was.h.i.+ng off the dishes they used, "Hey Jennifer, I don't mean to eat and go, but that was my boss that called. Apparently we got some new client that's a big deal or something." Naruto said, making sure to sound regretful as he made his way to the door.

Jennifer quickly washed her hands before making her way over to the leaving Naruto, "Hey, wait." As she caught up to the now waiting blonde, she reached into her purse that was sitting on the coffee table and pulled out a white card. Reaching him she handed him the card as she leaned up and pecked him on the lips, "Call me."

Looking down at her and then the card in his hand, he saw that it was her business card that had both her work and personal phone number etched in black under her name. Looking back at her, he forced a smile, "Okay."

-x-

Naruto stepped out of the apartment building, pulling the collar to his coat up to help guard against the cold air. His feet scrunched along the snow covered sidewalk, looking out for what he dubbed the 'Widow-mobile.' Almost on que, a black Corvette pulled up in front of him, the window facing him rolling down to reveal Natasha, wearing a red parka and wool stocking cap over her now chin length red hair.

"You getting in or what?" She asked with a smirk.

Naruto opened the door before plopping into the pa.s.senger's seat, "So, what's this mission that 'Black Widow' couldn't handle by herself?"

"It's not seducing a middle aged lawyer, that's for sure." Natasha quipped.

"That was a solid burn brat." Kurama added.

Naruto scoffed, "She wasn't middle aged. She's 30, at most."

"And you're 20." Natasha said, "Which leads to the question of how exactly you got into a bar to begin with."

Naruto gave Natasha a deadpan look, "Do you really think I wouldn't be able to get my hands on a fake ID?" Naruto out the window at the pa.s.sing buildings, "What's your deal Natasha, it's not like you to stick your nose in my business."

Natasha didn't say anything at first, simply watching the road. Giving him a quick sideways glance she said, "I don't want to pry, but you've been spiraling Naruto. If you're not turning over every rock on the green earth, you're looking for said rocks. And now you're having one night stands, drinking. We're worried for you, that's all."

"One thousand and three."

Stopped at a stop light, Natasha could now look fully at Naruto as she said, "What?"

Naruto didn't stop looking outside, "One thousand and three. That's how many days I've been stuck on this planet. That's how long I've been away from my home. From my friends." Naruto then looked back at the red head, "I realized a while ago that my friends are more than likely dead. Without me, there was no way to defeat Kaguya, no way to seal her away for good. Without me, there's no chance that my friends are alive right now. It was too late the moment I entered Earth's atmosphere." The entire time he spoke, his voice was flat, dead.

"Naruto…"

"Then why are you still looking for a way back? Why not just give up, live as normal a life as you can?" Natasha asked him.

Naruto turned his head forward, "I just do Natasha."

HONK

Looking forward, Natasha saw that the light had turned green, spurring her to drive forward.

-x-

At the Triskelion Helipad

-x-

Naruto stood next to Natasha as they waited for their Quinjet to get prepped and ready. Natasha had her arms folded across her chest as she said, "Last week, the NATO. anti-terrorist cell Omega Strike were sent on a mission to recover a terrorist hijacked plane. The squad was killed, with the only survivor being a man named James Bourne. Later intel suggests that Bourne had betrayed his squadron, along with killing the terrorist that hijacked the plane along with the pa.s.sengers of said plane."

Naruto looked at Natasha, "Why would he betray his teammates, only to turn around and kill the terrorists he betrayed them too?" He asked.

"That's where things get interesting. According to our intel, Bourne was setting up his own terrorist cell in West Germany. It's our belief he was killing two birds with one stone by taking out his team and killing a rival group while he's at it."

"Even still, this isn't s.h.i.+ELD business. NATO should be the one taking care of this considering it was their man that went turncoat." Naruto said.

"And that's where things get interestinger. The agents of Omega Strike were all implanted with cybernetic chips directly to the brain, linking them to their adrenal glands. Those that survived were given the ability of mild teleportation." Natasha said as the door to their Quinjet opened up, allowing the two to walk in.

Naruto walked over to his equipment locker, pulling out a pair of combats pants and boots, a tight black s.h.i.+rt, and a grey leather coat jacket with black highlights along the zipper and collar. Taking his clothes off as Natasha got behind the wheel, Naruto said, "So how mild is his teleportation?"

"He can jump short distances in a frequent pace and is able to jump up to several miles but is incapable of doing so simultaneously due to fatigue." Natasha explained, "It's kind of like your Body Flicker technique."

Naruto nodded, "So, I'm a.s.suming he's been spotted. s.h.i.+ELD doesn't do wild goose chases."

Natasha nodded back, "He's been spotted in Queens, visiting his childhood home." Natasha said, "Novice mistake for someone on the run."

Naruto zipped the jacket up, finis.h.i.+ng his ensemble, "You think there might be more to it?"

Natasha shrugged, "Why would a man wanted for treason and terrorism go back to his neighborhood home, in a city that is one of the most vigilant and thorough terrorist surveillant cities in the world? Why the obvious risk?"

"There could be something there he needs, something he couldn't get anywhere else." Naruto suggested.

Natasha nodded, "Or, he doesn't know he's a wanted man."

Naruto walked toward the c.o.c.kpit, sitting down in the copilot's chair, "That's a pretty big claim Natasha."

Natasha shrugged as she pulled the Quinjet up, the jet rocketing forward in the direction of NYC, "NATO had been in the middle of investigating another member of Omega Strike named Gabriel Gant for possible treason himself before his death by Bourne's hands."

"Well that's suspicious." Naruto said. Looking into the bright blue sky and the clouds pa.s.sed them by and parted around them.

"Exactly."

-x-

In Queens, New York City, New York

-x-

Naruto and Natasha stood in the frigid Queens air, Naruto using Transformation technique to cover his mission wear for a more civilian outfit consisting of a thick black coat and average form fitting jeans. Across the street from them was a small two story home that was white in color and a light blue in trim, James Bourne's childhood home.

"It's a nice neighborhood." Natasha observed.

"There's a drug deal going on a block away." Naruto said matter of factly, using several of his clones to scout out the area. Every few moments, a clone would make a clone of themselves before dispelling, giving him the things they encountered. The next street over, six kids were playing a pickup game of basketball. Another block away, a woman having s.e.x with a man inside a car. And three houses over, a father was laying into his son with a belt. This neighborhood may have been a nice place to live, a nice place to grow up, once. But it wasn't anymore.

"Show off." Natasha said, "Just tell me if Bourne's here."

"He is." Naruto said nodding, "My clone could see him in the kitchen window."

Natasha began a brisk walk forward, "Let's go then. You take the front; I'll take the back."

Nodding, the blonde walked towards the front door. Walking up the steps as he dropped his transformation, Naruto made sure to extend his senses out to make sure no one was behind the door before Spartan kicking it open. The wooden door flew off the hinges, breaking apart into four uneven pieces as they flew to the floor. Hearing a scream, Naruto could see that a woman that appeared to be in her late 60's jumping to her feet in absolute shock, her hands covering her cowering face.

Placing his hands in a hand sign, Naruto said, "Sleep." With a quick Genjutsu, Naruto put the woman to sleep, her limp body falling back into the chair.

Storming into the kitchen, Naruto leaned his head back to avoid getting his head decapitated as a man jumped from behind the kitchen doorway, holding a sharp kitchen knife in his hand. Taking another step back, Naruto dodged a downward slash then horizontal slash. Seeing that the man matched James Bourne's description of reddish brown hair and deep brown eyes along with a rather handsome appearance of an almost super hero level jaw line, Naruto got into a fighting stance.

"What the h.e.l.l did you do to her?!" Bourne yelled, flipping the knife into a reverse grip before lunging at the blonde. Dodging and sidestepping every swipe, Naruto finally grew tired of it by jabbing at Bourne's elbow mid swing, stopping it in time to open up his guard enough for Naruto to give two quick jabs at the man's jaw and sternum. Flipping into him, Naruto grabbed the knife hand with one hand and backhanded Bourne in the nose with the next. The red head stumbled back, letting go of his weapon as he did.

Grabbing ahold of the knife after it slipped out of Bourne's hand, Naruto threw it behind him so that it stuck into the living room wall, "All I did was put her to sleep, Jason Bourne."

Holding his now b.l.o.o.d.y nose, Bourne m.u.f.fled out, "Its James jacka.s.s." Charging towards him, launching a left handed jab at Naruto's face that was easily parried before sending two righted handed strikes towards his ribs and sternum. Naruto saw the punches coming a mile away, slapping away the first before blocking the next, using his hand to lift his arm up enough for Naruto to send two jabs of his own at Bourne's elbow and tricep. James' guards down, Naruto then slammed his open palm into the man's upper stomach.

Seeing James take a few stumbling steps back, Naruto smirked, "I know."

James looked at Naruto in confusion before he felt a pair of legs wrap around his neck and torso in a double-leg grapple. Said legs flipped him forward onto his back, with him eventually looking up to see a hot red head looking down at him just as she drove her fist into his jaw.

Taking the blow like a champ, Bourne shoved Natasha off of him as a yellow portal opened up underneath him, swallowing him before closing up. A portal then opened up next to Bourne's unconscious mother, before he jumped out, grabbed her, and then opened another portal and disappearing.

"Aaand he's gone." Naruto said as he looked around at the mess they made, "We probably could've been a bit quieter on our approach."

Natasha straightened up, "Not really considering what he can do, besides," pulling out her phone to show it had a city grid on the screen, with a yellow dot blimping in the center of said grid, "No he's not."

Naruto smirked, "Putting a tracking beacon on him in the middle of a take down. Nice."

"Of course, look at who you're talking to."

-x-

Bourne silently skulked towards his hotel room. Slowly opening the door, he peaked inside before checking behind the door. Walking towards the small closet, he slid the door open to reveal a body suit with a green color scheme hanging on a single hook. Under the suit were a pair of large suitcases. Pulling them out, James heaved them towards the bed. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a key and unlocked the two briefcases. Clicking open the latches, Bourne threw them open to reveal that they were stocked to the teeth with guns. Glocks, AK's, M1911's, MP5's, G3's, FAL's. Bourne looked over his small a.r.s.enal before turning around towards his body suit, only to see Naruto and Natasha standing next to the closet.

"Green really isn't your color." Natasha said.

Bourne didn't bother answering, instead reaching for his Glock behind him. Just as he was able to reach it however, a ma.s.sive yellow hand grabbed ahold of him before slamming him into the ceiling. Looking over, James's face was filled with shock at the sight of Naruto's extended arm being covered in a yellow flame, with a fiery arm extended out and holding him. His gun hand free, he pointed his weapon of death and destruction at the blonde before opening fire. The flames quickly covered Naruto's entire form, just in time to prevent the bullets from piercing his skin.

Seeing that the bullets weren't doing anything to Naruto, and his gun now clicking from being empty, James lowered his gun as he gazed at Naruto and Natasha in fear and wonder, "I didn't know Gant had an Inhuman working for him."

"We don't work for Gant, Bourne. And even if we did, how exactly does one for a dead man?" Natasha asked as the chakra shroud around Naruto receded back to just his arm and hand.

Naruto however couldn't help but ask, "Wait…Inhuman? What the h.e.l.l is that?"

Bourne raised an eyebrow, "Wait…so you're not one of them? But your powers…"

"Are all natural." Naruto said.

James now looked at Naruto in a new light, "Amazing."

"This guy has an eye for awesome s.h.i.+t I see." Kurama chuckled.

"Let's get back to what important boys." Natasha said, giving Naruto a pointed look, "We're here because you Mr. Bourne are currently wanted for treason against your country and terrorism."

Bourne looked at her in bewilderment, "What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?! I was betrayed by that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Gant! We went on that mission to stop those terrorists, only for them to turn around and kill everyone one that plane, terrorist, civilian, the rest of our team. Then he teleports away like a coward after I nearly beat him to death!" He finished with a gruesome snarl.

"Then why did you run?" Natasha asked, her theory starting to prove correct.

Bourne closed his eyes as he gained his composure before opening them again his face taking on a calmer façade, "I had to make sure my mother was safe from him. She'd have been the first one he'd go after, to use her as bate against me."

Natasha looked at Naruto, the man knowing what she wanted, "He's telling the truth." Kurama said.

"He's telling the truth." Naruto repeated as his chakra hand let Bourne go, "Looks like your theory was pretty spot on, Agent Romanoff."

Bourne gave Natasha an appraising look, "So you're the infamous Black Widow of s.h.i.+ELD? I thought you'd be taller." He then closed and locked his weapons cases before going over to his suit, folding it as he said, "So, now that my name's been cleared, I can take care of my business."

Naruto put his hand on Bourne's shoulder, "We're more than influential enough at s.h.i.+ELD to convince our higher ups of your innocence off this encounter alone. But NATO is a whole other issue. They're not gonna believe the word of a one-time KGB agent and her handsome sidekick that one of their men isn't actually the traitor or terrorist they believe."

Bourne brushed his hand off his shoulder, "Then don't tell them. I don't care what people think of me. All I care about is getting that b.a.s.t.a.r.d back." He then went towards the door.

"You can at least tell me what the h.e.l.l you meant by Inhumans." Naruto said.

Bourne turned from the door, "The Inhumans are a society of superhumans, kind of like those mutants you read about in those comic books, only these guy aren't known to the public. Supposedly they're holed up somewhere in Asia.

Naruto and Natasha looked at each other, before Natasha spoke, "And why is it we've never heard of this secret society of superheroes before? Seems like something s.h.i.+ELD would know about."

Bourne sighed, "Because they're as high up on the secret food chain as it goes. h.e.l.l, one of the only things higher is where it is they live exactly. The only reason I know about them is because their leader, a man named Black Bolt, came to NATO for some kind of conference. We were a part of the protection detail in case things got violent. Supposedly the guy's whistle can cause concrete to split open." Bourne then turned the door handle, about to open the door, "You guys may be influential in s.h.i.+ELD, but I'd imagine that only your Director knows of them, and I doubt he'd ever tell you, even if you brought it up." With that he opened the door, both suitcases now in hand, backpack on his shoulder, and then walked away, leaving the door wide open.

"We're gonna capture him, right?" Naruto asked as he let the man get a head start.

"Of course."

-x-

Back at the Triskelion, In Director Fury's Office

-x-

"Congratulations on your recovery of James Bourne, Agent Romanoff." Fury said behind his desk, hands folded in front of him as he leaned back in his chair, "NATO now has him in their custody. It has also come to their attention that the body of Gabriel Gant was never found anywhere near the scene of the plane crash. They currently have a new investigator on the case, one who is going to be much more thorough."

"Yeah…not like I did anything." Naruto said, arms folded across his chest, looking at Fury with fake annoyance. s.h.i.+fting gears, Naruto's face grew more stern, "There's something I need to speak with you about Nick. Something important."

Natasha got the hint, giving a nod towards her boss before walking out of his office. Seeing they were alone, Fury leaned forward resting his elbows onto his desk, "Go ahead."

"When Natasha and I cornered Bourne in his hotel room, I used my shroud to restrain him. He then asked if I was an Inhuman. After more questioning, Bourne told me about them, the fact that they're a secret superhuman society hidden away in the Himalayas. So, my question for you is, why didn't you bring it up when I asked you about possible ways home. One of these people could have the power to send me home Nick! The f.u.c.k were you thinking?!" Naruto's voice was slowly raising before he finally ended at a firm yell, his eyes wide with rage at Fury's need to know basis mentality.

"Naruto…calm down." Kurama's warning was ignored by Naruto as Fury spoke

"I was thinking that the last thing I need is an Omega Level being, who at the time I'd only known for a short time, coming into contact with the Inhuman society, a Presidential Cla.s.s Secret. I don't know about you, but knowing a person for only three years on this planet may be long enough to get say engaged, but it sure as h.e.l.l isn't long enough for someone to tell someone else something that would label them as a traitor of not just their country, but everything they believe in!"

"I thought we were friends Nick. I thought we'd learned to trust each other by now." Naruto growled out in a low voice.

Nick turned around in his chair, looking out the window, looking out into the countries capital, "Sometimes it's not just about trust or friends.h.i.+p. Sometimes, it's about what's best."

-x-

"Where're you going Naruto?" Natasha asked as she sped walked behind the now determined Naruto, "What the h.e.l.l did you say to Fury? What the h.e.l.l did hesay to you?" The two were now in his apartment building. Natasha having driven him home, the blonde not saying a word, seething the entire time.

Naruto came up to his door, driving his apartment key into the door lock, "Don't worry about it Nat."

Natasha looked at him in wild bewilderment, "Don't worry? Don't worry?! You look like you're about to walk on a war path!" Following the blonde as he flung his door open, she continued, "If you go to war with s.h.i.+ELD, we won't be able to help you! We'll be your enemies dammit!"

Turning towards Natasha, Naruto towered over her, "There wouldn't be a war if it came down to it. I would obliterate that stupid base, and I would sink that flying boat of yours, both in a single move. So, if I ever 'go to war with s.h.i.+ELD' you'd f.u.c.king no it!" Taking a breath, Naruto put his hands on Natasha's shoulders, "Bourne was right, Fury knew about these Inhumans all along. He knew of people that might be able to send me home. I have to find them Natasha. I have to."

"But why?" Natasha asked, "If there's nothing back home for you, why are you still trying so hard to go back there?"

Naruto looked Natasha in the eye an internal struggle occupying his mind as Kurama said, "Tell her Naruto."

Letting go of Natasha, the blond plopped down on his couch, he leaned forward as he spoke, "The reason…the reason I'm trying so hard is because I have to know for sure. To know if I failed. To know that everyone one I've ever loved, everyone I've ever known, is gone. If I don't, I won't be able to live with myself."

Natasha looked at Naruto for a moment, before slowly sat down next to him, placing her hand on his leg in comfort, "I understand."

Looking at her with skepticism, "How could you?"

Natasha smiled sadly, "The reason I left the KGB was because they killed my mother and father after I failed a very important mission. They couldn't afford to kill me, because I was too valuable to them as an a.s.set for them to simply kill off over a botched mission. So…they killed them, to teach me a lesson of what happens to those that bring the shame of failure to the home country. All I did however was push me into the arms of s.h.i.+ELD after an olive branch was given to me through Clint. But even after my betrayal, I had to make see my family for one last time. So, against Clint's order's I returned to my home, much like Bourne did, and went to the morgue they were being kept at so I could say my good byes." Pausing for a moment, Natasha closed her eyes to calm herself, "No matter how stupid it was, I needed to do it. I needed the closure of seeing them that it would bring me." She moved her hand from his leg to his face, her palms touching his cheek, "So trust me when I say, I understand."

Naruto and Natasha's eyes met, his blue meeting her green. It was then that Naruto truly realized how beautiful this woman was. To most men, her beauty was nothing more than a trap, something to watch out for or else they'd be drawn into the Black Widow's deadly web. But to him, her beauty wasn't an omen, it wasn't something to be afraid of. It was something to embrace. To hold. Feeling a magnetic pull towards the woman sitting next to him, Naruto's face drew closer to Natasha's, and Natasha's drew closer to Naruto's. Eventually, it became inevitable before their lips touched, melding together perfectly.

-x-

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry…for yelling at you earlier." Naruto apologized.

Natasha sighed, "It's fine." She looked up at him, "We both got a little heated."

"No s.h.i.+t." Naruto laughed.

The blonde was laying down on the floor of his living room, in the middle of catching his breath. His left arm folded behind his head, looked over at Natasha, who was laying on top of his other arm comfortably, the woman trying to catch her breath also. Looking over at her, Naruto couldn't help but admire her form, from her smooth porcelain skin, to her long athletic legs and backside, to her heaving b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Wrapping her leg around his own, Natasha said, "So…is this gonna be another one night stand like it was with Jennifer Walters?" She asked, her voice a teasing tone, hiding the sincerity of the question.

Looking up at his apartment's ceiling, Naruto spoke, "I don't know…do you want it to be?" He asked.

"…what if I don't?" Natasha asked, her voice less confident than usual, "What would you say then?"

Naruto looked Natasha in the eye, "If you don't mind, I don't." He said with a smirk, before moving his head forward so that his lips met hers again.

Lips separating, Natasha smirked as she said, "I don't mind." She then moved on top of Naruto, her pelvis sitting on his abdomen, "Ready for round two?"