54 Stark's in the Know

-Natasha's dance studio, New York-

-February 18, 2009, 2200h local-

The Red Room was a Russian spy program that developed 'super spies.' Their preferred 'recruits' were orphaned girls or females who were sold by impoverished families to the government. They took young girls, five years old being the oldest, and train them in batches. The program itself was one of the projects that originated from the cold war. They aim to create spies that could infiltrate anywhere and get close to anyone.

The girls would be taught everything a spy should know. They were trained in hand to hand, ranged, and unorthodox combat strategies, seduction, information gathering, espionage, and covert operations. All of this was done while they were slowly being brainwashed with subtle suggestions and propaganda to think of the 'motherland' as being above everything else.

One of the cover stories for The Red Room was that they were a Russian ballet troupe that trains prima ballerinas. They were obviously taught ballet to reinforce that story.

Natasha held onto ballet as a hobby, practicing it even after escaping from the Red Room. Although, she doesn't do it as much as she wants. That was why Natasha was touched when Naruto gifted her a private and secured dance studio. It also has an underground shooting range, dojo, and gym.

Natasha had been dancing for almost six hours when the warehouse security system, placed by Naruto, informed her that someone had entered the warehouse. Judging by the lack of red alerts, the visitor must have been Naruto. Although she still retrieved her gun in preparation for the off chance of someone managing to breakthrough Naruto's over the top security system. She also wiped some sweat off to make herself presentable.

When Natasha heard footsteps on the other side of the door, she subtly concealed the gun behind her. This was to give herself the option to surprise her possible opponent. So it was a surprise that it was neither Naruto nor a stranger that walk through the door but rather Jessica.

"Nice place you got here, Nat." Jessica commented confidently, but Natasha could see the underlying tension.

"Yeah. I should've brought you over sooner..." Natasha replied with a smile before placing the gun down with her other stuff. "How'd you get in anyway?" She asked although she was reasonably sure what the answer would be.

"Naruto brought me..." Jessica answered, confirming what Natasha thought. "He basically forced me to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Something about the state of our chakra bothering him or something..." Jessica explained, not remembering Naruto's explanation. "He got home a few hours ago, and he couldn't find us. So in a Naruto-ish fashion, he tracked us both down. I have no idea why he came to me, though."

"Probably because I'm here. This place is more secure than the White House..." Natasha commented. Although she knows that the White House has a laughable security system. Fury occasionally sends her in to test weaknesses, and she always finds at least a dozen gaps. But the analogy still works. "So, where's Naruto anyway?" She asked while stripping off her clothes, not minding that she had an audience, to change into something not drenched in sweat.

Jessica's eyes were glued to the mini strip show that Natasha was performing. Nat had such a high degree of refined sexuality that she has no trouble seducing even straight ladies or gay men.

Jessica snapped out of her stupor when she noticed that Nat had already changed and was now staring at her.

"He said something about getting out of our hair for a while and going back to LA. Apparently, the Starks wants to hire him to protect their kid." Jessica answered

"Huh. Fury should probably know about this..." Natasha said to herself before taking her gym bag and walking towards the underground garage with Jessica following close behind. "But it's not my job to tell him. I'm on vacation." She continued a little too happy.

The pair continued walking towards the garage, not particularly eager to talk with each other. Both Natasha and Jessica understood each other's messages to delay the conversation for as long as possible.

The two walked towards Natasha's black 2008 Aston Martin Vantage V8, customized and upgraded to be a high-performance heavy-duty car. She was reasonably sure that Naruto did something to it as well since it handles better than she expected, but she couldn't find any unusual changes or modifications.

Nat got on the driver's side while tossing her gym bag to the small space behind her seat while Jessica got in on the passenger side. Natasha drove out of the garage after making sure the auto-lock function of the facility activated.

"You want to go anywhere?" Natasha asked, having no real idea where they should go, but Jessica shook her head. "Alright, let's just drive around. See where it leads us." She suggested. Of course, it was not a random decision on her part. It was a calculated move that would prevent Jess from bolting somewhere mid talk.

"Are you serious about what you said earlier?" Jessica blurted out after a few minutes of deafening silence.

"Which part?" Natasha countered.

"All of it..." Jessica replied. "But let's start with the immortality thing first."

"That's true..." Natasha said after releasing a sigh. "I was always taught to kill my emotions. That it was just an occupational hazard since you would drown in guilt if you 'feel' stuff. Naruto was the first person that made me feel something more..." She explained. "Don't get me wrong. I was never 'emotionally dead,' but I was prepared to die without feeling any form of romantic love. The closest person I almost felt something like this for was my work partner, but nothing ever came of it since I figured out that he has a family."

"Well, that sucks..." Jessica commented. "But that still doesn't answer why. I still don't believe that it's just because you feel sorry for him." She said, changing Natasha's previous reason to the crudest way possible, which slightly irked Nat.

Natasha took a few moments to think of an answer that would encapsulate at least half of the reason why she would be willing to do something as stupid as Immortality.

"Have you ever had a single moment where you wanted it to last forever just to preserve that feeling for as long as you can?" Natasha asked.

Of course, Jessica answered yes to the question. She was thinking of the last thanksgiving she had before her family died, although there was some small part of her nagging about some moments with Nat and Naruto

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do..." Natasha said with conviction. "It may sound cliche, especially since it's coming from me, but Naruto is my forever... literally." She added.

"So, where am I suppose to fit in all this?" Jessica asked.

"Wherever you want..." Natasha replied plainly. "With Naruto's unique condition, there is a high percentage chance that he will eventually practice polygamy. All I'm doing is dealing with it now and at the same time making sure that it's at least someone who won't take advantage of him..." She explained. "He might look tough and all that, but deep inside, he's just a puppy."

"Are you expecting me to do the same as you?" Jessica inquired, referring to Natasha's choice of immortality.

"No, but I got to say that I would like you to do it. I heard eternity can be pretty boring." Natasha answered half-jokingly.

Nat had been driving for a while, and Jess noticed that they were on the freeway headed somewhere she was not expecting.

"Why are we headed to DC?" Jessica asked.

"All this talk about the future reminded me that I need to file for three months of leave..." Natasha said before turning back the subject. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just need more time." Jessica confessed, causing a few moments of silence between the two.

-Stark Mansion, Malibu, Los Angeles-

-February 18, 2009, 1900h local-

The Stark family just got home a few minutes ago. Pepper had already put Morgan to bed since she had a very active day, the same as any other day with Naruto.

The couple themselves were exhausted as well, especially since Tony just got back from Afghanistan and was still severely jetlagged. That was why Tony decided to heat up some leftovers while Pepper was putting Morgan to sleep. He couldn't wait to get some sleep, but it looked like it just wasn't meant to be.

"Don't bother heating that up. I brought some ramen..." Tony suddenly heard Naruto say from the dining room. "You should probably get some sleep soon." Naruto advised.

"I know. I know. Pepper already told me..." Tony said, exasperated. He took a bowl and a pair of chopsticks from Naruto and sat on the chair. "What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were going back to your girlfriend." He asked before noticing Pepper walking towards them silently, trying to making sure that Naruto would not detect her.

"I was. But my girlfriend and our roommate had some kind of misunderstanding. So I gave them some time to work things out..." Naruto explained. "I could also start answering some questions you guys wanted to ask..." He said before placing another bowl of ramen on the table in front of an empty seat beside Tony. "Ain't that right, Peps?"

"I thought I could get by you this time..." Pepper replied with a groan before sitting in the seat beside Tony. "Thanks for the food, by the way."

The trio ate in silence, just enjoying the meal. When they were done, Naruto just picked up the bowls before promptly making them disappear. This didn't surprise the couple anymore due to how many times that they had already seen Naruto do it but that just reminded Pepper of her agenda.

"You already know what we want to know before officially 'hiring' you, right?" Pepper asked while emphasizing the word hiring. She knew how loaded Naruto was since she was the one who handled his portfolio, and that was just the assets that she knew about. Who knows what else Naruto owns.

"Yup. You want to know my real background, and what the hell SHIELD is, right?" Naruto asked to be sure. Pepper nodded her head while Tony was just sitting in one corner, trying to act disinterested. "What do you want to know first?"

"Let's start with what SHIELD is and why they're so interested in Tony." Pepper replied. She saw Naruto pull out a video camera and point it at Tony, which obviously earned curious stares from the couple.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Oh. This? Just trying to record your reaction. It's going to be awesome..." Naruto said with a grin. This obviously caused Tony to be a little disconcerted. "So SHIELD... A little disclaimer, though, I can only tell you what I know, and I can't tell you stuff that could immediately cause you both to either be incarcerated indefinitely or terminated..." He added, which further increased Tony and Pepper's anxiety, but Naruto pushed forward with the topic. "The Strategic Homeland, Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division or SHIELD is a US-based international spy agency, but You already know that. Forty percent of their funding comes from the US, twenty percent from private ventures, and the rest comes from the UN. Any questions about anything that I've said so far?" Pepper shook herself no while Tony just stared straight towards Naruto. "SHIELD is the derivative of the Strategic Scientific Reserve or SSR..." He continued before looking towards Tony. "You know that one, right?"

Tony quickly ran through his memory, searching and compiling everything he had on the SSR.

"SSR was a top-secret advanced science division created to counter Nazi tech..." Tony recited the essential details before stating the most significant and annoying fact. "They were also the guys that helped the military finish Project Rebirth."

"Project Rebirth?" Pepper interjected.

"It's the top-secret project that created Captain America..." Tony replied with a bit more resentment coming through than he wanted. He still hadn't gotten over his jealousy that his father put more importance in a dead guy from his past than his own son. He reeled his emotions back in before adopting his easy-going persona again. "Some guy must have wanted their name to spell SHIELD so bad. I feel sorry for the guy who had to come up with the name." He commented with a chuckle.

"Oooh. You're definitely not going to like what I'm going to say next." Naruto retorted after hearing Tony's commentary.

Tony's mind quickly understood what Naruto was implying, causing him to turn a shade paler and adopting a dubious expression.

"No. Just no." Tony said in denial.

Pepper was seriously concerned with Tony's actions since she still hadn't figured out why he was acting this way. Good thing Naruto didn't make her wait long.

"Yup. SHIELD was cofounded by your dad, Howard Stark, and Cap's flame, Peggy Carter..." Naruto blurted out, confirming Tony's suspicion, and Pepper finally understood Tony's sudden outburst. "Hell, your dad provided most of the startup money that Peggy needed..." He added. "As for why they are so interested in you, Howard pushed forward a clause that you should not be introduced to the chaotic world that SHIELD is situated in. Peggy also mandated that SHIELD would watch over you from the shadows, to make sure you didn't suddenly die, or at least that's what my girlfriend told me."

Tony and Pepper sat in silence, absorbing what Naruto told them. The whole thing was so farfetched, but based on everything they knew, it might just be real.

Tony was still reeling from the revelation when Pepper remembered something.

"So, the surveillance outside the house when you first moved in?"

"Yup. SHIELD the lot of them..." Naruto replied. "They're still trying to watch you guys. Though I made sure they would have as hard of a time as possible."

"What are they going to do now?" Pepper asked.

"Nothing. They'll continue what they're doing..." Naruto answered with a shrug. "I know for a fact that they're already making contingency plans if something happened to Morgan." He added while pulling out a tablet and sliding it over to Pepper.

Pepper was about to take it, but Tony grabbed it first. He unlocked it and quickly scrolled through the dozens of files with different scenario labels.

"Alien invasion? Zombie apocalypse? What the hell!?" Tony exclaimed.

"Oh yeah. Very real. They already have an Alien on ice, and I already met a zombie." Naruto replied nonchalantly. The alien he was referring to was the blue guy that Fury tried to hide off the books. He only managed to find out about it after he accidentally heard Fury ask Coulson about project TAHITI. As for the Zombie, the impure world resurrection technique technically created those.

"What!?" Pepper shouted while simultaneously standing up. Tony would've mirrored Pepper's reaction if he wasn't frozen in shock. "All the surprises end here. Who the hell are you!" She exclaimed.

Naruto internally snickered, thoroughly enjoying the pair's reaction. It was kind of comforting that he could still surprise the couple and prank them even though he was telling them the truth.

"What do you want to know?"

Pepper pulled out her phone and opened a note file. She had been compiling questions she would ask Naruto if she ever had the chance, and now was as good a time as any. She already organized the list based on how important the question was.

"Who are you? We know your background story is all on paper only, and removing that, you don't exist anywhere." Pepper asked, going straight to the thing that has been bugging her the most. Unbeknownst to Tony, Pepper hired a team of private investigators to dig into Naruto's life, and all of them agreed on two things. Naruto was not a regular guy, and all his papers are fake.

Tony just hung back, letting Pepper run the show. He recognized that she would be able to ask more pertinent questions.

"Well, the question should be What rather than Who, but I guess I'll answer either way..." Naruto mused before taking a deep breath. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a former shinobi of the hidden leaf village. My girlfriend has had the best description that I've ever heard..." He started before pausing for dramatic effect. "She called me an immortal dimension-hopping god."

Pepper sat frozen in shock, not expecting such a far-fetched answer. Tony, on the other hand, decided to go the other direction and release a full-bellied laugh.