Jean Grey approached Naruto as he leaned casually against the balcony railing, looking out over the mansion grounds. The sky was clear, the soft glow of the sun casting long shadows across the landscape.
She crossed her arms, observing him for a moment before finally voicing the thought that had been lingering in her mind—especially after witnessing Lorna's reaction to him.
"Do you always have to seduce people?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Is this intentional?"
Naruto turned his head toward her, blinking in amusement before a low chuckle escaped his lips.
"Jean, you wound me," he said, placing a hand over his heart in mock offense. "I assure you, seduction is not my intention."
Jean gave him a deadpan look. "Then why does it keep happening?"
Naruto grinned, golden eyes twinkling with mischief. "You have to understand, I'm not exactly normal."
Jean scoffed. "That's an understatement."
"It's not just about looks or charm," Naruto continued, waving a hand vaguely. "I am—literally—the embodiment of humanity's peak."
Jean frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," he said, his smirk widening, "that people will naturally be drawn to me, whether they realize it or not. It's instinct. My very existence embodies good in this universe—hope, strength, resilience. It's not something I consciously project. It's simply what I am."
Jean stared at him for a moment, processing his words. It wasn't arrogance. It wasn't some ploy to boost his own ego.
He was simply stating a fact.
And in a way, she had felt it too.
Naruto had an aura—something beyond just his physical presence. It wasn't about seduction or romance. It was about something deeper.
A pull.
Something primal, something that made people want to be near him, to listen to him, to trust him.
"That sounds unfair," Jean finally muttered.
Naruto laughed. "Tell that to Magneto when he realizes his own daughter is already looking at me differently."
Jean groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're going to cause so much drama."
"Oh, absolutely." Naruto grinned. "And I'm going to enjoy every second of it."
High above Earth, in the cold, vast emptiness of space, Magneto stood with a storm raging in his heart. His fury was an overwhelming force, as powerful as the magnetic fields he commanded.
Naruto had stolen from him—no, robbed him of two powerful mutants. First Evan, now Lorna.
His iron will had always been his greatest weapon, but even that was beginning to feel strained. How could one man, one outsider, repeatedly stand in his way?
Magneto turned his burning gaze toward Pietro, the young man standing before him with his head bowed. His eldest son, his loyal soldier, had failed him.
And failure was unacceptable.
The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the chamber as Magneto's hand struck Pietro's face with enough force to make the young mutant stumble.
"Get out!" Magneto bellowed, his voice shaking the walls. "Come back when you have done something useful!"
Pietro clenched his fists, swallowing the sting of both the slap and his father's words. Without another word, he vanished in a blur of speed, gone before anyone could stop him.
From the side, Wanda Maximoff watched with careful eyes. She knew her father. She knew his temper, his pain, and his pride.
And she also knew that he didn't mean those words.
Not truly.
Pietro had disappointed him, yes. But Magneto's rage was not personal—it was born from frustration, from seeing his carefully laid plans unravel.
Wanda sighed, stepping back from the shadows. "We need to help him somehow…" she mused to herself. "I guess it's time for me to make a move."
With that thought, she turned and silently followed her brother.
Magneto closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. This wasn't the end of his vision—his plan to take over the world's weapons systems had only encountered a setback.
A massive, obnoxious setback in the form of Naruto Uzumaki.
The golden-haired warrior had thrown himself into Magneto's path, blocking his efforts at every turn.
Magneto gritted his teeth. "I have tolerated his meddling for far too long."
The reality was becoming clearer with every passing moment.
The humans would never accept them.
They would never change.
They were parasites, vermin that saw mutants as nothing more than threats—monsters to be feared, hunted, and exterminated.
No matter how many times he tried to offer peace, they spat in his face.
If peace was impossible, then there was only one logical alternative:
Extinction.
His fingers clenched into a fist. "Before that, I must gather every last mutant under my rule."
He had already recruited many, but it was not enough. The Avengers, the X-Men, and now Naruto Uzumaki had proven to be major thorns in his side.
Too many nuisances…
"He should not have messed with us," Magneto thought darkly. His anger burned white-hot, but he would not be reckless. He had fought for too long to allow emotions to cloud his judgment.
This was not a time for passion.
This was a time for strategy.
"Send the Juggernaut," he commanded.
The room fell silent. His subordinates stiffened at his words, knowing exactly what that meant.
Magneto had many weapons at his disposal—but few matched the sheer destructive force of Juggernaut.
And if that failed…
He still had one last ace up his sleeve.
But that one… that one was dangerous. Unpredictable.
It could just as easily turn against him as it could crush his enemies.
Even so, Magneto smiled grimly. "Naruto, let's see how long you can keep standing in my way."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Rogue found herself feeling… off.
Something was missing.
Something important.
She rested her chin against her palm, staring out of her dorm window at the city lights below. It had been days since she last saw Naruto. Too many days.
Of course, she knew he had his wife to keep him company. She wasn't jealous—or at least, that's what she told herself. But deep inside, she wished they wouldn't leave her out so much.
Since the day they met, Rogue had developed a strong bond with Naruto, one that went beyond simple friendship. His presence had become a constant in her life, a force that had shaped her in ways she never expected.
His restless nature had rubbed off on her. And now, sitting in her quiet dorm room with nothing to do, Rogue realized just how much she had taken his energy for granted.
She sighed.
What she didn't know was that a clone had been quietly watching over her the entire time.
University life was… different.
For the first time in a long while, Rogue felt like she could actually breathe.
Here, she could forget about her insecurities, about the fear of hurting people with a single touch.
But even in this new environment, the stigma of being a mutant never truly faded.
The way people looked at her… it was subtle, but she could feel it.
It was like when someone with a gun walked into a room—everyone noticed.
Even if they weren't outright hostile, they watched.
Like a threat waiting to go off.
And for Rogue, that attention was even worse. Unlike many other mutants, her powers were not just dangerous—they were deadly.
One wrong move.
One accident.
And someone dies.
But lately… something had changed.
The university itself seemed to have shifted in tone. There was more awareness, more understanding about mutants.
There were still stares, still whispers—but now, there were also conversations, real discussions about what it meant to be a mutant.
If Rogue didn't know Naruto, she might have thought it was just natural progress.
But she did know him.
And that meant one thing—he had something to do with it.
Maybe he had convinced the dean to educate the students properly.
Maybe he had forced him to.
Either way… it made Rogue smile.
"Figures," she muttered under her breath. "Always meddlin' in stuff, ain't ya?"
But she didn't mind.
Not one bit.
Despite everything, the restlessness in her chest wouldn't fade.
She needed to move.
To do something.
She glanced at her X-Men uniform, folded neatly in her closet. It would let her act as a hero, but… it wasn't right for what she wanted to do.
No, she needed something that wouldn't reveal her face.
Her eyes landed on something else—the Anbu uniform Naruto had given her.
A small smirk tugged at her lips.
"Now that's more like it."
In minutes, she was suited up, her masked face concealed in the shadows of the night.
Standing at the edge of the rooftop, Rogue stretched her limbs, feeling the power coursing through her body.
She could feel the energy left behind by Naruto's training, the enhancements she had gained from their sparring sessions.
A single step.
And then—boom.
She was gone, moving through the night at Mach 3.
It was exhilarating.
It was liberating.
This was her power. Her freedom.
And for the first time in a long while, Rogue felt alive.
As she ran, faster than she ever thought possible, a bizarre thought crept into her mind.
"If I had more time… if I had more power… what would happen?"
She pictured herself moving so fast that the world burned around her.
Cities crumbling in her wake.
Buildings reduced to ash.
And deep inside… it didn't feel wrong.
It felt… curious.
Like a distant possibility, one she had never dared to entertain before.
Was this Naruto's influence?
Or had this dark thought been lurking inside her all along?
Rogue wasn't sure.
But as she raced through the night, she couldn't deny one simple fact.
She loved this feeling.
Peter Parker had been thinking.
A lot.
More than usual.
And that was saying something.
The superhero business had always been hard, but lately, it felt impossible.
First, there was Naruto.
Peter had met the blond enigma and, for a moment, thought life as a superhero was over. How was he supposed to compare to someone who was, quite literally, cheating at life?
Then came Quicksilver—and that fight had been humiliating.
Not only had the speedster wrecked him, but Peter hadn't even managed a comeback.
At all.
Quicksilver moved too fast. Peter could barely see him, let alone land a solid hit. He had no chance without the right tech or backup from the Avengers.
'Man, I miss Naruto. Why can't I have a partner like him?'
He sighed, staring down at the latest problem.
And this one?
This one was big.
The Rhino was causing havoc—again.
A massive, muscular brute with armored skin and the IQ of a potato, Rhino wasn't exactly a mastermind.
But what he lacked in intelligence, he made up for in pure, brute force.
And once again, he was tearing through the city without a care in the world.
Peter groaned.
"Didn't I already take care of this guy? Like… three days ago?"
Seriously, what was the point of sending these guys to prison if they just walked right back out?
The worst part? Rhino wasn't even here for some grand evil plan.
No.
This was just a kidnapping job.
John Jameson, Jonah's son, had been the target.
And Peter, being the genius that he was, had already sent Rhino packing once by using his superior intellect.
Rhino might have been strong, but he was also stupid.
Too linear.
Too predictable.
Peter had outmaneuvered him, outsmarted him, and webbed him up.
That should have been the end of it.
But nope.
Here he was again, stomping through the city like an oversized battering ram.
And just when Peter was about to step in—
Something new happened.
One moment, it was just Rhino.
The next?
Something—or someone—came crashing down from above and slammed into him with enough force to send the brute flying into a nearby building.
Peter blinked.
Hard.
He could see that the intruder was a woman—from her body shape, if nothing else.
But… who the heck was she?
She wasn't part of the usual lineup.
And she definitely didn't move like an amateur.
Peter barely had time to process before the debris exploded outward, and an enraged Rhino came charging straight for her.
"DODGE!" Peter yelled instinctively.
Rhino's horn was no joke—it was durable enough to pierce through concrete, steel, and even some of Tony Stark's weaker suits.
If she got hit, she was going to feel it.
But…
She didn't move like someone worried about getting hit.
In fact, she moved like she was having fun.
With a simple step forward, she dodged the horn with ease, twisting her body with graceful precision.
Then—
BOOM.
One chakra-enhanced elbow to the jaw.
The result?
Rhino's teeth shattered instantly.
His jaw unhinged from the sheer force.
The massive brute screamed in agony as he staggered backward.
Peter?
He just stared.
"Cool."
The woman—whoever she was—muttered to herself, a grin spreading across her face.