57 Past vs Future

-Stark Industries, Malibu, Los Angeles-

-May 28, 2009, 1320h local-

"Mr. Stane." JARVIS announced.

This statement caused quite a stir from everyone inside the house. In the three months between Tony's announcement and now, Pepper was able to stall Obadiah from visiting the mansion by flooding him with work. This ensured that Obadiah wouldn't be able to hinder Tony's investigation and to distance Morgan to the possible danger. Obadiah visiting now meant something different happened.

Naruto rushed towards the kitchen with Tony behind him, while still carrying Morgan. He was internally scolding himself for forgetting to be ever vigilant even if he was in a relatively secure area.

"Jess, Peps, can you take Morgan upstairs. I'll stay here with Tony to meet Stane..." Naruto said while handing Morgan over to Pepper before turning back to Tony. "I know you're already suspecting Stane, so for the love of God, don't talk too much."

Pepper and Jessica had already left the kitchen and walked towards Morgan's room. They would 'hide' with Morgan their until they were called back.

"I know, I know..." Tony replied with faux-confidence. Being one of the smartest people alive, he could see that the pieces of evidence were pointing to the board members. Add the fact that only Obadiah is in a position to take over Stark Industries if he was gone, and he immediately becomes the primary suspect. Still, his relationship with Obadiah prevents him from fully accepting the theory. "What are you going to do?"

Naruto started walking towards the front door but not before rapidly changing to a black suit right before Tony's eyes. Black shades and an earpiece also appeared on his head, making him look like a secret service agent.

Tony understood Naruto's intention to act as his bodyguard, but it was just too much. There was nothing that could be done about it, though since Obadiah has already been waiting too long outside.

Naruto walked towards the door and opened it, revealing an imposing Obadiah Stane, but he just brushed it off.

"Mr. Stane. I'm Nathan Umber. Mr. Stark's head of independent security under Mr. Hogan." Naruto lied while extending his hand towards the older man. He made sure to use one of his identities so that in the off chance, Stane looks into his identities. He would not fond anything of value.

"Is Tony inside? I need to talk to him." Stane said with well-acted concern. Only Kurama's negative emotion sense tipped him off of Stane's real feelings about Tony.

"Yes, sir. Please follow me." Naruto replied before walking back inside and heading straight towards the kitchen.

Naruto made sure he locked the door and used his Shinigan to check Stane for weapons. His vigilance immediately paid off since he found half a dozen Stark Industries tech in Stane's pockets. He released a small burst of lightning chakra to disable the devices.

Obadiah saw Tony pouring two cups of coffee on top of the kitchen counter. He saw the guard stop just outside the kitchen, giving them privacy while still close enough to respond to any situation. This unforeseeable development prevented him from doing anything drastic. One thing he noticed, though, was the absence of Pepper and his daughter.

"Tony, how are you?" Obadiah asked, trying to start the conversation. Tony slid one of the coffee cups closer towards Obadiah.

"Busy. All the wedding prep is severely cutting into my workshop time..." Tony said dismissively as he took a swig from his coffee. "But you're not here to check in in me. Otherwise, you would have come to visit me earlier. So, what do you need, Obi."

Obadiah released a sigh. Tony was never one for small talk, and it was going to work against him. It would make it a lot harder to talk Tony into doing what he wants, but he can still make do.

"Still can't get anything past you, eh Tony..." Obadiah placated jestingly before turning more serious. "I need you to open up the weapons division..."

"Don't start again, Obi. Until I find out who is selling my stuff on the black market, I don't need to do anything..." Tony interjected forcefully. "Besides, our total income has increased by 8% ever since the weapons division closure. If anything, you should be asking me not to open it." He retorted.

Obadiah, of course, knew about this small fact, but closing down the weapon division practically halted most of his cash flow. Selling weapons on the black market was the sole reason he was able to build up his war chest to what he had initially thought was enough to take over the company. He just wasn't able to factor in one thing, an invisible stakeholder with at least 10% stocks.

Stane was only able to figure it out two weeks back after he 'helped' the accounting department look through the company books. He could see the telltale signs of multiple shell companies owning small shares, all owned by one person. He had no idea who it was, but he was pretty sure that someone high up facilitated it.

"We are Iron Mongers, Tony!" Obadiah shouted, frustrated about how stubborn Tony was being. "Your father built this company to help people by making sure the government could protect them. I will not have you dishonor his legacy by bringing the company down." He added, trying to use Tony's daddy issues against him.

Tony immediately paused mid-sip when he heard Obadiah's statement. Even though he believed that he had already moved on from his trauma, he still freezes up every time that he hears about his parents. Breaking out of his trance isn't much better, since a mix of overwhelming emotions started to fill him.

Obadiah was smirking internally. Knowing Tony for as long as he did, he had picked up some things from his personality. He was just waiting for the inevitable blow-up that would allow him to manipulate Tony, but it looked like fate had other plans in mind.

"Mr. Stark. Ms. Potts is calling. Would you like to answer?" Naruto interjected, causing Tony to snap out of his stupor.

Naruto had been observing the conversation, making sure that Obadiah was not going to do anything. That was why he was able to text Pepper to cover for him if he called. Just in time, too, since Tony's negative emotions suddenly skyrocketed, giving him a reason to call Pepper.

"Sure. Let me talk to her now." Tony replied. Naruto then walked towards the counter island and placed his phone on it before sliding it over towards Tony since he still doesn't want to be handled stuff.

Tony recognized Naruto's tactic to break him out of his emotional spiral. Although, his not answering for the sake of it. He really needed to talk to Pepper after the blatant manipulation from Obadiah.

Obadiah, on the other hand, was internally cursing the guard. He wasn't sure if that Umber did it purposefully, but the guard was still a thorn on his side.

Tony picked up the phone and placed it up to his ear, making sure it wasn't on speakers.

"Hey, Peps. Heard you were looking for me? Miss me already?" Tony asked jokingly, trying to lift his spirits.

"Keep dreaming, Tony. We're having some girl time." Pepper replied with a chuckle.

"Alright. I'll pick you up later..." Tony said before closing the phone and leaving him a lot more calm. He turned his attention toward Obadiah. "My father might have built the company, but I made it into what it is today. There's nothing you can tell me that will change my mind." He said with finality.

Obadiah couldn't believe that his plan didn't work and all because of a simple phone call. He knew that there was nothing else he could do to convince Tony otherwise. He released a sigh before drinking all of the coffee and turning towards Stark.

"Ok. Just don't tell me that I didn't warn you..." Obadiah replied. "I should go. The audit is still ongoing, and there's a lot more to do." He added before quickly walking out without even giving Tony a chance to reply.

Naruto followed Stane out of the door, acting as the perfect bodyguard. He walked ahead of Stane and opened the door.

"Have a safe trip, Mr. Stane." Naruto said.

Obadiah stared at the guard for a good while, trying to get a read on the guy that fucked the meeting up.

"Before I go, what's your name again?" Obadiah asked, making sure that he gets the right name for his guys to look into.

"Nathan Umber, sir" Naruto answered without hesitation.

"Good man..." Stane replied while removing the imaginary dust on Naruto's shoulder. "Make sure to look after Tony. He'll need it." He continued ominously before getting on the waiting SUV.

As the car was driving away, Tony approached Naruto from behind.

"So, he's the guy, huh?" Tony let out, referring to the leach inside his company.

"Oh, yeah. Without a doubt. What are you going to do about it?" Naruto replied while simultaneously changing his suit.

"I'll have JARVIS track everything he does. I need something that will link everything I have to him."

"Just make sure you don't do anything stupid. You still have a wedding to get to."

Naruto's statement caused both men to laugh before heading back inside the mansion. Pushing aside thoughts about Stane and just looking forward to Rhodey's interview.

Obadiah, on the other hand, was still seething with how the meeting concluded when he received a call. He retrieved his phone and immediately saw that it was encrypted.

"Stane." Obadiah greeted as soon as he answered.

"It's Raza. I have something you might want to see."

-Triskelion, Washington DC-

-June 3, 2009, 0900h local-

Fury was currently standing inside his office in front of the large window overlooking the Washington skyline. Hill was just behind him, reading out reports from multiple high-level missions.

"... on the other hand, the missions in Taiwan failed though a second team has already been sent." Hill ended.

"Good. At least they aren't that incompetent..." Fury commented. "What's the progress report for Project Olympus?" He asked.

Project Olympus was one of Fury's pet project alongside the Avenger's initiative. Olympus was the codename given for the Helicarrier's design and construction. It was originally a navy project with the goal of creating bases with more stealth and maneuverability compared to regular aircraft carriers. The whole thing was already a decade in the making.

When Fury saw the scrapped designs, he immediately took it and placed the best minds SHIELD had to offer in order to make it their own. He was able to put everything he wanted in there. They were going to hide it by using radar absorbing coats and retroactive panels, making them practically invisible from the sides and below. The only downside was that they would have to stay far away from regular air traffic lanes since the maximum operating height is only around 25000 feet, making the helicarrier well below commercial airplane cruising altitude.

Everything had a price, though, and his dream base certainly didn't come cheap since it had already cost him 30 billion dollars with another estimated 15 billion more needed to make it operational. The Helicarrier was five times pricier than a Nimitz class carrier and three times the Ford-class carrier, which is still in development.

Hill did a few swipes on her tablet before finding what she was looking for.

"The main vessel itself is already at 70%, but there's a problem with turbines..." Hill answered. "Since the turbine engine power was increased by 25% to accommodate for potential engine lost, production has slowed down by 10%..." She explained. "The estimated completion time is around November 2011, sir."

Fury released a grunt that could mean anything, at least for Hill. In reality, Fury was ecstatic about how soon he would get the carrier.

"How about the initiative? What's the latest report on the potential members?" Fury asked, referring to his other pet project.

Hill quickly adopted a displeased look. She had already voiced her displeasure about the whole Avenger's Initiative. She just couldn't see the use of loose cannons in trying to protect the World.

"Dr. Hyde is still in Brazil, working at a bottling plant. Ross is trying to call a ringer from the UK. We're still looking into who he's trying to call..." Hill reported starting with Dr. Banner. "Barton and Romanoff are doing their missions. We have no idea where the fox is..." She continued. "We got a whole bunch of potential candidates from the Index, but I have no idea why you can't just choose from any of them."

"Because they're inefficient..." Fury replied like it answers everything. "Add another one on the list."

"Who?"

"Tony Stark. I heard he built something new." He answered.

Hill was, of course, surprised with Fury's order. Tony Stark was one of the few guys with a standing do not interact order, and Fury wanted to invite him to his power rangers. Although she still obeyed Fury's order.

Fury would further inquire about the Avenger's Initiative, but a headache decided to show himself.

"Hey! Cyclops! What the hell, man!? What's taking you so long!?" Naruto shouted as soon as he appeared right in front if Fury with his back facing Maria.

Fury's eyebrow started to twitch, but he kept his calm. Hill, on the other hand, followed her instincts and quickly drew her gun and pointed it at Naruto. She only holstered gun when Fury's gun remained untouched.

"You need to give me more than that." Fury responded with false calm. He already connected Naruto as the harbinger of headaches.

"The Bug Blue! America's Ass! The most patriotic guy in existence! The Captain! Why haven't you guys found him yet!?" Naruto replied.

One might question why Naruto was acting like this over the fact that the Captain was still in the ice. However, everything could be explained with one word, Peggy.

That's right. Peggy had been continuously asking Naruto about Shield's progress on finding the Captain. The last time he was in Switzerland, which was 5 minutes ago, he had enough with all the asking. Don't get him wrong. He wasn't annoyed with Peggy but rather with SHIELD. The SHIELD survey party was like only 10 km away from the Captain before moving to another quadrant.

"It's simple. Coulson just hasn't found him. I can't exactly throw large amounts of resources even if it's to find the Captain." Fury retorted.

"Wait a second." Naruto said before suddenly disappearing.

"Uhmm. Who was that, sir?" Hill asked. She was pretty sure who that wad, but it was better to be sure.

"Right. You still haven't met the asshole personally..." Fury mused. "That' was the nine tails or the fox. You might know the guy as Romanoff's boyfriend."

"Huh. He really has quite a personality on him. I thought all of you were just exaggerating." Hill replied before Naruto appeared again.

Naruto didn't show up alone this time since a disoriented Coulson was with him. It looked like Naruto had just pulled Coulson out of the bed since his suit is slightly disordered.

"Wake up, Coulson. You are going to want to be awake for this." Naruto said while patting Coulson on the back.

"I'm awake. Don't worry..." Coulson replied with a little less energy than usual. "Now, what's the reason you pulled me out of bed and brought me in front of my boss."

Naruto reached behind him and pulled out a map with a lot of writing. Coulson recognized it as his survey map. Hill walked over beside Fury to get a better look at what was happening.

"Recognize this?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. That's my copy of the crew's survey map that's looking for the Captain. I'm not even going to ask how you found that." Coulson replied, a lot more alert. He was reasonably sure that he was going to learn something new. Preferably the Captain's location.

"Exactly..." Naruto commented with a smile before pointing at the SHIELD survey crew's current position. "Your guys are currently here..." He then moved his finger to another place on the map. "They were here before. Do you know what's 10km North of that position?"

"I'm not going to like the answer, am I?" Coulson replied.

"Depending on how you look at it..." Naruto retorted with a grin. "You still want to find the Captain, right?"

-Northern Afghanistan-

-June 5, 2009, 2200h local-

"Mr. Stane. A pleasure to finally meet you in person." Raza greeted Stane while extending his hand.

"A loyal customer, eh..." Stane replied while shaking Raza's hand. "Now, what is it you want to show me?" He asked, trying to move the conversation forward. He doesn't want to stay in the middle of nowhere.

Raza walked towards the huge table inside the room.

"This was made by Stark during their escape. The thing that will change warfare as we know it..." Raza said theatrically before pulling the cover off, revealing a metal suit of armor. "The modern reincarnation of the Knight..." He added. "The scary thing is, he has already perfected it."

Stane was immediately mesmerized by the suit of armor. He already knew that Tony was a genius, but this just brings it to another level.

"Amazing..." Stane mused in awe before noticing the gap in the middle of the chest plate. "What's missing here?"

"The doctor placed an electromagnet in his chest to prevent shrapnel from damaging his heart. My men say that something was glowing at the center of his chest. That might be what powers it." Raza answered.

"Hmmm..." Stane let out while pulling something out from his pocket and placing it on his ear. "What do you want for me to take this?"

"Two more Jericho missiles and one of..." Raza tried to answer before he suddenly felt paralyzed.

"You see this?" Stane asked while showing a small device. "This is one of SI's prototypes. A neural overload device. It releases a series of high-frequency sounds and electromagnetic waves that essentially give you epilepsy. This right here..." Pointing to a device behind his ear. "Counteracts the EM waves..." Raza was glaring hatefully at Stane. "Thank you for the gift..." He added before walking outside and looking towards his guards. "Clean everything up and pack up the armor inside." He ordered.

Stane's 'guards' acknowledged his order and started to shoot everyone in the camp. Stane just pushed everything out of his mind and got inside the car.