37 I love you?

-Natasha's Safe House, New York-

-September 9, 2007, 0900h local-

Naruto and Natasha are currently making breakfast in the kitchen while Jessica was still sleeping on the bed. Ever since Jessica decided to join their weird partnership, Natasha was able to wake up a lot earlier after a night of sex.

When Naruto came back an hour after his abrupt disappearance, Natasha had to talk him into accepting the new arrangement, which in Natasha and Jessica's opinion, really weird. What guy doesn't run head straight into a threesome when it's their girlfriend who suggested it?

It took Natasha almost two hours to convince Naruto even to consider the arrangement, and after that, he would only decide after knowing more about Jessica, which means they had to go to a date. Jessica almost backed out of the arrangement since, as she put it, 'I didn't sign up for all of this emotional shit,' but as always, Natasha had talked her into saying yes.

Now, a lot of other women would probably throw a fit when their boyfriend insisted on going on a date with another woman. Still, everyone else doesn't have an admittedly overpowered superhuman boyfriend that can be classified as an alien that works as the world's most feared information broker and mercenary.

One of the things she figured out about Naruto is that he's an emotional individual and hiding it in a mask of cheeriness. Natasha surmised that he must have an extremely rough childhood, a lot more than he was letting on. Another quality of his is loyalty. It's hard to gain his 'true' loyalty, but when you got it, you have it forever. She could tell that he would follow her through hell, the same as she will do for him, although no one said it to each other.

Those two qualities are why Natasha already expected the date from a mile away. Naruto wouldn't just have sex with anyone. He would form some sort of emotional attachment first before doing something intimate as he considers lovemaking a personal experience.

Natasha thought for a moment that choosing Jessica, an emotionally distant individual, as a potential partner would be stupid, but they have a lot more in common. And if Jessica remained emotionally distant after that, Naruto's magnetic personality would win her. If Jessica manages to worm their way into their hearts in the future, well, that's just a problem for the future.

Naruto and Jessica decided it was best for their date to happen the next day. When Jessica left, Naruto tried to question Natasha if the whole thing is some kind of trick, but another round of reassurance and Naruto believed that no traps or tricks are involved. The only condition she set was Naruto would tell her what he can about happened during the date since she knows that he would try to respect Jessica's privacy.

~Flashback Start~

Naruto knocked on Jessica's door, still confused about the whole thing, but willing to just ride the waves. He's wearing a striped black and white shirt covered by a black leather jacket, a burnt orange pants, and black slip-on shoes.

Natasha joined him going out of the apartment. She's going to the SHIELD New York field office to get a report that she needs to bring back to Washington DC when she returns. Before they separate, Natasha gave him a final encouragement. Naruto briefly considered that he was trapped in an Infinite Tsukiyomi before Kurama reminded him that he has the Shinigan making every illusion useless.

Naruto was still contemplating the mess he's been thrown in when Jessica opened the door. She's wearing a dark brown leather jacket and a black scarf over a pepper gray shirt, light gray jeans, and black high heeled boots. She has her hands in her pockets, head slightly bowed down, and her hair partially covering her face. Naruto could clearly see her insecurities. Her desire to be anywhere away from people. Weirdly enough, her behavior reminds him of how Tsu-baachan was before she became the Hokage. That thought gave him a great idea and changed the whole date

"So, want to get out of here?" Naruto asked cheerily.

"Sure, Whatever..." Jessica answered disinterestedly before walking out of her apartment and locking it. Naruto extended his hand towards Jessica and motioned for her to grab it. She just stared at it incredulously. "What the hell is that? We're not going to do all the couple shit."

"Ugh. We got no time for this..." Naruto mumbled before grabbing her shoulder. This caused Jessica to defend herself. She grabbed Naruto's hand and twisted it. She was going to break his joint, but a feeling of disorientation assaulted her senses, and their surrounding changed. "Ow. Ow. Ow. You can let me go now!" He shouted.

Jessica released her grip and observed her surroundings. They're on a side road surrounded by trees. It's colder but not too much compared to New York. She can also hear cars not too far away from them. She looked back at Naruto, who's rotating her arms.

"Where are we?" Jessica asked.

"Somewhere in Northern Moscow." Naruto replied.

"Russia! What the hell are we doing in Russia!?"

Naruto gave her a stare like she's stupid before answering.

"For our date, of course!" Naruto stepped aside, suddenly revealing Raijin with two helmets on top of it behind him. He walked towards the bike and wore his helmet before tossing the other one towards Jessica, who promptly caught it. "Come on!" He said energetically while riding the bike.

"This is a bad idea." Jessica whispered to herself. When huge racing bikes appear out of nowhere, you know something crazy is about to happen.

"It's not a bad idea if we had fun!" Naruto replied to her self musing. Jessica got on the bike hesitantly, opting not to hold onto Naruto. "You should grab on to something..." When Jessica didn't answer, Naruto continued. "Ok. Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

Naruto did one last rev of the bike before quickly shooting off. Jessica had no choice but to loop her arms around Naruto's abdomen, or she would fall off.

The pair quickly reached the highway, and Naruto just kept on zooming past the cars until they reached Moscow. The adrenaline surging through her body due to the bike ride caused her to be looser and more eager as they continued.

Naruto continued to go through the city until they reached a small bar. Jessica could see that it's at least fifty years old. Naruto parked the bike at the alleyway behind it before motioning for her to get off. They removed their helmets, and Naruto locked both of them on his motorcycle.

"When we get inside, let me do all the talking first until I tell you you can loosen up." Naruto instructed while retrieving something from his jacket pocket.

"Sure. Sure. Cause everybody speaks Russian." Jessica sarcastically replied.

"Don't worry. I made this for you..." Naruto said while showing her a black choker. "This thing would make sure you understand everything they say, and they hear everything you say in any language they would understand. Don't question how it works cause I'm not gonna say." He explained.

Jessica pulled down her scarf before taking the choker. It's a black leather band with silver characters engraved on it.

"Thank you." Jessica shyly said.

"You're welcome." Naruto replied.

The pair walked towards the front of the bar and entered it. When they got inside, Jessica saw a stereotypical dilapidated bar. Wobbly tables, creaky floorboards, all the shebang. Overall, it's a bar even she won't go to.

Naruto approached the bartender. The bartender is a 5'9 older man with balding white hair and brown eyes. He's wearing an old brown sweater over a white shirt.

"Gregovsky! Got any available seats?" Naruto asked with a wide smile.

"Ah! Mr. Vasiliev. Of course, we always have a seat for you." The now named Gregovsky greeted. "I see you finally brought a woman, eh." He said while nodding towards Jessica.

"No. Not like that. We're still getting to know each other..." Naruto replied. "Can you give me six bottles of your strongest drink?"

"Sure thing..." Gregovsky answered. He reached under the bar and placed six bottles of clear alcohol on the bar. Each of them are only labeled with the name 'Spirytus.' "Now, be sure not to drink this as it is."

Naruto picked up the bottles while passing one of them towards Jessica. He looked back at Gregovsky and placed a roll of roubles on the table.

"Thanks! I'll see you before leaving." Naruto said before walking behind the bar and going down the trap door.

Jessica followed Naruto through a series of corridors below the bar in silent contemplation. She knows they are speaking in Russian, but for some reason, she can understand it, even the subtle inflections, and all of it is because of the choker she's wearing.

She can't help but open the bottle and taking a swig out of it, but that proved to be a bad idea because she started coughing after only having a sip.

"Uhmm. I should've warned you. That's 95% alcohol." Naruto warned although a little too late. Jessica just gave him a hard glare.

They continued down a maze of corridors with Naruto confident in his step until they reached a large metal door. Naruto knocked twice, and a peephole opened. A man opened the door and checked them out before closing it again. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a man that is more than likely the twin of the bartender. The difference is he's wearing a suit.

"Mr. Vasiliev. Welcome back. Are you going to participate or spectate?" The man asked.

"Gregory! Good to be here too..." Naruto greeted. "I'm just spectating, but this lady here is going to participate." He said while pointing at Jessica.

"Are you sure?" Gregory asked.

"Oh yeah. She can handle herself." Naruto replied confidently.

"Very well, then." Gregory turned around and walked inside the room.

Jessica finally regained her presence of mind and tugged Naruto's arm to get his attention.

"What did you just sign me up to?" Jessica said through gritted teeth.

"Here's the rundown. This place is a criminal paradise. A lot of the world's most wanted come through here at one point or another, and you're going to fight against every mean asshole in there. All of them are bad guys in every sense of the word. The lowest of the low..." Naruto explained. "You'll fight them in a no holds barred fight. The fight can only stop through surrender or death."

Jessica finally figured out Naruto's date plan, and she had to admit she likes it.

"What are we waiting for? Come on!" Jessica shouted as she pulled Naruto down the hallway.

~Flashback End~

The pair came back to New York, already getting along. Natasha can't help but laugh when remembering the story of how Jessica took down Serbian commanders, African Warlords, Chinese Triads, and other pieces of shit. When Natasha asked about the location of the place was that it's in Moscow. Apparently, he uses it to mine information on the criminal underbelly.

A few more 'outings' similar to that, and Naruto was finally comfortable enough to try the whole thing. The first time it happened though has a lot of awkward moments, but as the night went on, it got a whole lot better.

"Hey. You got a safe house you don't use? Preferably a place only you know?" Naruto suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Why?" Natasha asked. She's already used to Naruto's shenanigans, but it's always best to ask him what he's his doing since he tends to spiral out of control.

"I got a surprise for everyone, but it would take 3 to 5 years to prepare. I need an isolated place to prepare." Naruto explained.

"People tend to have a mini panic attack every time you give a surprise." Natasha deadpanned.

"Don't worry about this one. Everyone's going to love it." Naruto reassured with that mischievous grin that she loves to hate.

Natasha released a deep sigh and walked over to a stack of pen and paper near the phone. She wrote down an address and gave it to Naruto.

"That's a house outside a medium-sized town in Switzerland. It's far enough from the town that no one accidentally goes to it, but near enough that you can make a day of buying stuff from the town..." Natasha explained. "Tell me when you're done with it. I still want us to use it." She finished.

"Thank you!" Naruto said while hugging her. He let go of her and picked up his jacket from the couch. "I gotta go! Don't wait up for me. I love you!" He kissed her before disappearing.

Natasha stood in the middle of the kitchen frozen. That's the first time either one of them said the L-word, and she doesn't know how to react to it. As weird as it sounds, she never heard it from anyone. Being in a top-secret training facility to produce high-level assassins doesn't precisely foster personal relationships. Her closest confidants are Barton, Coulson, and Fury in that order, and everyone would agree that they would not tell her that. She usually would talk about the new experience to Naruto, but it just won't work for this particular case. She must've been standing there for a long time since Jessica was the one who snapped her out of it.

"Tasha? Hey. Are you all alright?" Jessica asked while shaking her gently.

"He told me he loves me." Natasha whispered.

"What?"

"He told me he loves me." Natasha said a little louder.

"Are you telling me you guys pushed forward a threesome before you said the L-word to each other?" Jessica asked incredulously. Natasha just nodded, still in a daze. "You guys are weird."

-RAF Base Hospital, Alconbury, UK-

-September 9, 2007, 1500h local-

Naruto arrived in Peggy's room, not realizing what he said to Natasha. The bijuus inside him would have told him what he's done, but they decided to let him work it out himself.

Inside the locked room is Peggy and Sharon, who's visibly more relaxed compared to their previous meeting.

~Flashback Start~

"I need you to die."

Sharon quickly reacted and pulled the trigger into Naruto's face. A loud gunshot reverberated in the room. Naruto's head jerked back. Peggy was shocked by the development and about to press the button that would call for help if the gunshot itself doesn't call for the guards. But before she could press the button, he heard a groaning sound coming from Naruto. His head slowly straightened up, revealing an unmarred face. He started moving something from inside his mouth until the Carters finally saw what it was. It's the bullet Sharon shot. Undeformed.

"You're a step down from Clint's reaction, but still not cool." Naruto said calmly after spitting out the bullet.

"What are you?" Sharon let out partially recovering from the surprise.

Naruto just looks towards Peggy.

"Is she always this rude..." Naruto asked seriously. "Anyways. Set your affairs in order. I'll come by in five months..." He instructed before looking back to Sharon. "Come or don't come. I don't care but make sure not to shoot me again. It's such a pain to silence the room that quickly."

Peggy and Sharon just nodded, still in a daze about what happened. Sure SHIELD handles the weird stuff of the world, but surviving a bullet to the head is on a whole other level. How can SHIELD deal with a problem like that? It's even worse than the Hulk problem since you can easily find an eight feet green monster running around, but someone like Naruto walking around would just be a bitch to deal with.

"Alright. I'll see you later..." Naruto said with a wave. "I'll just bring this with me..." He said while touching the cube of Vibranium. "And don't tell Fury about any of this or the deals off." He finished before him, and the block of Vibranium disappeared, leaving a stunned set of Carters in the room.

~Flashback End~

"Before we leave, I need you to leave your phone here. Don't worry. You'll get it back. I don't want anyone finding out about your Aunt here." Naruto said towards Sharon, who hesitantly left her phone on the bedside table. Naruto then took hold of Sharon and Peggy's hand before disappearing.

As soon as they were gone, two reinforced Naruto clones showed up in the room and henged into Peggy and Sharon. 'Peggy' went to bed and laid down while 'Sharon' took the phone and left the room.