S.H.I.E.L.D. — Level 4 — Red Tier Observation Room
The screens played the same sequences on a loop.
Naruto, shirtless, training in the gym.
Naruto, lying on the rooftop.
Naruto, asleep in a shared bed with Natasha Romanoff.
A junior agent hesitated.
— "We're still recording? Even the private zones?"
The senior analyst didn't even look up.
— "Protocol 17-D. He's classified as a planet-level extinction risk. We want every blink."
Silence.
Then Maria Hill's voice, cold and sharp, came through the comm:
— "If he ever notices you watching… pray he takes it well."
Phil Coulson wasn't sleeping much anymore.
Ever since Stark disappeared in Afghanistan, he sensed a fracture in the world's fragile balance.
And now that Natasha Romanoff had bonded with someone like Naruto Uzumaki, he knew they were toying with forces far beyond human control.
He read the field reports.
Naruto's biometric levels hadn't dropped in a month.
If anything… they'd grown.
His chakra was expanding.
Like a living entity.
— "This isn't human," he muttered in his empty office.
— "And yet… he smiles like one."
He closed the file. And glanced up at the surveillance feed.
There, at the center of the image... Natasha had just rested her head on Naruto's shoulder. And he… had closed his eyes.
— "Romanoff… what are you doing?"
---
That evening, something felt… off.
Naruto sensed it.
So did Natasha.
Something in the air. In the way agents looked at them during missions. In the silence that weighed too heavily during briefings. In the way Hill avoided their gaze.
They weren't just being monitored anymore.
They were being targeted.
Not as enemies.
But as problems to be solved.
Training Room – 5:28 PM
Natasha was training harder than usual.
Too hard.
Too sharp.
Naruto watched from across the room.
She moved fast. Hit too low. Her strikes were wild.
He approached silently, catching her wrist mid-swing.
— "You wanna talk, or do you want help breaking everything in here?"
She wiped sweat from her brow.
— "They look at me like I've betrayed something. Like sleeping with you makes me a liability."
— "You could walk away. I wouldn't blame you."
She glared at him.
— "Don't. Ever. Say that."
Silence. Then, softer:
— "You think this is just about sex?"
He stared at her. Deeply.
— "I think this is more than I ever thought I'd be lucky enough to have."
She smiled. Bitterly. Then leaned her forehead against his chest.
— "Me too."
Naruto, alone, meditating.
Something stirred within him.
Not chakra.
Not rage.
Not even the distant memory of Kurama.
But something new.
Unknown.
Tied to this world.
As if the Earth itself… responded to his presence.
Vibrational echoes. Ancient pulses. A primal instinct.
> "This world recognizes me. Or fears me. Maybe both."
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
He opened his eyes.
And saw his reflection in the glass window…
His eyes had changed.
Just for a moment.
Black rings. A slit pupil.
Then everything returned to normal.
But he knew.
Something else still slumbered inside him.
And it would awaken soon.
Conference Room – 10:41 PM
Coulson entered, file in hand.
Natasha sat waiting, legs crossed, gaze sharp as a blade.
— "Do you love him?" he asked, bluntly.
She didn't flinch.
— "Why? Want me to sign a waiver?"
He placed the file on the table.
— "I want to know if you're still capable of acting if… he loses control."
She clenched her jaw.
— "I'm the only one who can stop him from losing it."
— "What if you are his weakness?"
She stood up.
Slowly.
— "Then I'd rather die weak… than live empty."
She walked out.
Coulson stayed behind.
And for the first time in a long time… he felt fear.
Not of Naruto.
But of what they might become… together.