[When Storms Collide] Chapter 7 (Patreon)

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5/30/25

“You’ve helped me so much, and I just want you to know, as long as you’re here, you’re a part of this family as much as any of us.”

He found himself slowly wrapping his arms around the smaller woman, feeling her warmth.

A warm feeling started to form within his chest, something not even he understood. But for some reason, the faintest part of him, when he was standing there clutching Susan in front of him…

He realized he might not want to let go. 

When Storms Collide - Chapter 7

Six months later…

“Faster!”

The wind rushing through his flames, coursing through him, oxygen burning off his skin, the slow ringing against his ears, almost maddening. The heat coursing off of him, igniting all in its way, brimming to the point of nearly overloading, moving from bottom to the top. Rising, rising, rising… 

As he moved throughout the skies in a deep, burning yellow, watching the city below. 

Flying through hundreds of skyscrapers, some business halls, some apartment buildings, and some just general places where people could congregate. As he saw the street network below, as hundreds of cars moved about, moving about their business, wherever they might be going. Then there were the people, all 8 million of them, they were like ants where he was, just specks he couldn’t quite make out from his altitude. Yet each one is just as important as his own life, each person with their own thoughts, ideals, and fantasies. Each with their own lives, interwoven and connected; the people they knew, the people that knew them, all of them had someone they cared about, all of them had someone they cared about. It was almost too difficult to imagine, yet it stood true. 

“Faster!”

And so, he continued to fly throughout the clouds, moving, soaring through the air, leaving behind only a streak of yellow hot flames in his wake. 

“Faster!!!” he shouted, needing to test his limits, test himself. Test the extraordinary. Because after all, he was extraordinary. Being given his powers all those many years ago, in the wake of the Marvel-1, being exposed to the cosmic storm he was. Not just helping him become who he was, but helping him become more. To ignite himself into fire, and to help people, in a way he never could have before. 

Even now, he needed to test himself, test all he was capable of, because in truth he didn’t know. 

Flying around the skies of New York, a place where all sorts of extraordinary people lived. Heroes like the Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, and even people like Spiderman, or Hell’s Kitchen’s Daredevil, all of which tried to make the city a safer place. 

B-Boom!

Johnny Storm heard a commotion down at a nearby park entrance, right next to a nearby bank, as several fires were started and debris was scattered around everywhere.

“Alright, let’s see what's cooked up for me today?!” Johnny shouted, immediately flying into the action, watching as several people ran from the nameless attacker, who seemed to be inside the vault, robbing the bank for whatever nefarious deeds they might be planning. 

He couldn’t allow that, rushing inside, as several people ran for safety, it would seem The Human Torch was on the scene. 

“Alright, who wants a piece of Johnny Storm!” he shouted in bravado, his body flaming for a challenge. 

“R-R-RAHHHH!!!” It would seem his attacker answered for him, throwing a bank vault door directly at him, Johnny was fast enough to duck out of the way, though just barely.

“Well, hey now, that wasn’t very nice!” he quipped, as he was ready to see the face of the person who threw such an object at him.

As he just then, getting out of the vault, he witnessed the ‘face’ of the man, or more accurately ‘thing’ in front of him was shaped more like a monster’s snout, or a very wide and long jaw, easily able to bite, chomp, and pounce on anything that it came into contact with. With several sharp teeth, red gums, and an entirely black body that resembled almost like a liquid goo. A giant white spider-like symbol on his chest, large white eyes, and a large red tongue within its mouth.

He recognized this beast, as it was one of the deadly alien species known as a simbiote. An alien creature from Klyntar, and this one was particularly dangerous. As he recognized it as the one known as Venom, the same one that had attacked and taken over his longtime friend Spider-Man for a time.

“Come on Eddie, bank vaults, I thought you were better than this!” Johnny smirked, igniting his fist.

“GRRRRRRRRR!!!!” The invite growled, launching itself at him, before Johnny shot a fireball at it, and immediately it grew tendrils at its back. Allowing it to grab onto the nearby ceiling, as it crawled around trying to attack him from a distance. Much like a spider stalking its prey.

“Hey now, who said you could run?!” Johnny smirked, sending a few clusters of flames its way. Though unfortunately, it would seem he missed given the creature’s unusual agility as it crawled along the walls of the bank.

“W-whoa!” Johnny said, dodging out of the way as Venom started launching debris after debris at him, some of which he blasted to smithereens, uplifting dust and smoke right into his face.

It was then that Venom used that opportunity to strike, as immediately he burst forth, launching himself to the ground in front of him at breakneck speeds, his liquid-like body becoming almost like a puddle as he slammed into the floor.

A bestial growl erupts from his lips, loudly “BLEEEEEEHHHH!!” It ground out, catching Johnny off guard. The symbiote's mouth is ready to bite him into shreds. 

“Okay, now that’s just disgusting!” Johnny shouted, dodging as he shot fire through his legs and hands, blasting himself back into the air. 

“Alright, let’s see you try this!” The Human Torch yelled, as he suddenly blasted his body towards the ground, right towards where the symbiote was standing. Unleashing a powerful blast all around him. 

“ARGGHHH!!!” The beast shouted as it was blasted away, right through a wall and outside of the bank. Leaving the pyromaniac the only one standing.

“Alright! Finally got that guy to shut up!!” Johnny grinned in celebration. “Now who’s cooking for more!” He asked in bravado, his blood boiling, and he was itching for another fight. 

“RAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” A new scream sounded, this one surprisingly even louder, more rage-filled and angry than any of the ones that Venom ever gave.

As the flames in the room started to spread, covering all around the area, which included the ‘hole’ that Venom had made, creating an almost wall of flames. From said flames, soon another figure walked out of them, taller than Venom, and more slim. Even his skin color was different, as aside from the usual midnight black across its body, its skin also had a more red pigmentation, almost like the color of blood.

That was because this was Carnage, the offspring of Venom, born from the blood of a serial killer. It was also more heat-resistant than its usual brethren. And far more dangerous. 

“Oh come on, Johnny, you had to ask,” he couldn’t help but say, as the creature’s body sprouted many tendrils around itself, various weapons like axes and swords and the like, each sharp and deadly enough to slice at a person. 

‘Dodge!’ was all Johnny’s instincts said, and he listened to them, as he ducked under a large axe-like tendril that was aimed at his head. 

“Okay, not cool!” The human torch said, as he then sent a few blasts at the angry creature. 

“GRRRRR!!!” Carnage shouted, grabbing a nearby piece of the reinforced bank vault and using it to shield itself as the flames bounced off of it. The heat laced its skin and although it hurt it pressed forward.

“Okay, well you like that? Why don’t you try this!” Johnny shouted, upping his intensity, as he shot a highly concentrated beam of heat Carnage’s way. The beast is using its weapon-like body to reinforce the metal it was holding, nearly merging with it. As the steel door was able to take some of his heat— many of the banks had resorted to stark industry vaults, allowing them to take a beating more easily against superpowered individuals. This also gave them a higher melting point, which coupled with the symbiote it allowed it to take one hell of a beating (even if fire was their inherent weakness).

Hotter. Hotter. He needed to burn hotter, heat coursing off of Johnny in waves, as the temperature in the room rose, by several degrees. Catching fire to any and all things, he fired a concentrated blast at the beast. Hotter! Hotter! Hotter!

Finally, the metal vault to the door melted, a hole forming as what was once solid became nothing but a molten liquid. And with no defense, no jutting off point that the flames could use, they headed straight for their target. A single beam of concentrated fire shot straight at the symbiote, so much so that not even its quick resourcefulness and near-impenetrable body could protect it. 

It died, not from burning, but by merely melting away, as if it were a sculpture of ice, as it fell into a puddle. The symbiote was dying in that moment, its body collapsing, as the alien was no more. 

Johnny stood panting slightly, not fully winded of course, after all, he was the ‘Johnny Storm,’ and sure Peter might struggle with such creatures, it was clear to him that they were going to be no match for him. 

“Man, are there any other space aliens out here that are wanting to challenge the Fantastic Four’s greatest star this evening?”

“I can think of someone…” A dark voice mentioned, as from out of the entrance to the bank stepped a large figure dressed in blue and golden armor. He had purple skin, large muscles with an absolutely ‘hulking’ figure.

Of course, Johnny recognised the figure instantly. Because it was Thanos, probably one of the strongest beings ever to step onto the planet, and a constant threat to the entire team of Avengers. Able to take hits from Hulk, able to throw Thor around like a ragdoll. And here he was. 

“Oh come on, how is that fa—” Johnny didn’t get to finish his sentence, as Thanos was already upon him, his shadow looming over him, as he instantly grabbed Johnny’s shoulder before he could react. 

“Now then, let’s see how far you can fly, shall we?” Thanos asked, uncaring as Johnny’s body was entirely burned, his skin not even having a scratch. 

“Hey, wait just a minute! I—-” Thanos threw him. 

Actually threw him. And not just a small toss, not even a throw like one might throw a common baseball. No, he threw him with such a force that it sent him skidding across the air. He couldn’t even right himself, as he tried for naught to send flames to lessen and adjust his fall. He was just spinning so fast and so far that he was disoriented, unable to right himself as he soared across the sky. 

Going higher and higher, that was, until… he fell. 

And he hit the ground. 

XXX

Crash!

Forming a giant, scorched crater as he landed, uplifting both dirt and debris from the ground, landing in what he could only assume to be some kind of nearby park. 

“Ohhh…” he groaned, his body filled with pain as he tried to recover. His whole body flaring, wincing as he tried to get up.

It was then that he was met with a shadow in his view, as he sighed. “Oh come on, not you!” he said, before he let his head roll down. “Are we really going to do this?” Johnny questioned. 

The figure above him just grinned. “Wanna bet?” Naruto smiled, Johnny smiled back, though not without great effort, as his whole body was strained. 

It was then that Naruto raised his foot and slammed it down harshly, right where Johnny’s head was. As the Human Torch had moved quickly, flaming even hotter as he thrust himself into the sky before Naruto could hit him. 

“Alright then, if you want a fight, I’ll give you a fight!” Johnny shouted, flying low towards Naruto to deliver a high-speed flaming punch towards Naruto’s side, which he dodged; Johnny followed up with a burst of fire as he flew past his fellow blonde. 

Naruto jumped out of the way of Johnny’s blasts, and Naruto pulled out a few kunai to throw at his opponent. Johnny flew out of the way of the wind-enhanced knives, not allowing himself to be caught by them.

His body growing hotter and hotter, as he threw down cluster after cluster onto Naruto, the shinobi had to weave himself out of the way of the shotgun-like blasts, the flames licking onto his clothing slightly, though he was otherwise unharmed. 

“Is that all you’re going to do? Run around!” Naruto challenged.

“Ohoho! You haven’t seen anything yet!” Johnny shouted back, as he flew around, leaving a trail in his wake, and slammed himself into the ground before Naruto, causing a large explosion and forcing the blond to shield himself. The intense uproar of light nearly blinded him, as he did so. This gave Johnny an opportunity, as he threw a flaming punch towards Naruto’s right, which he instinctively dodged.

Naruto went for the counterattack, trying to grab at Johnny’s body. 

“Ahhh!”

However, he didn’t realize the intensity of Johnny’s flames was too intense for him to touch—even with him channeling chakra into his skin to enhance himself. As the blonde instantly recoiled back, Johnny used this opportunity to get the edge over the blonde, who was the more experienced hand-to-hand fighter between the two. 

As the youngest of the Storm siblings grinned, “What? Too hot for you to handle?” he smirked at Naruto before he shouted his signature catchphrase. “Flame on!” as his whole body lit up in flames, causing Naruto to back off from him.

As Johnny launched an absolutely massive fireball his way. “Watch out, you mess with fire, you’re going to get burned!!”

Immediately, Naruto got to work, forming a few hand signs, as he then slammed his hands onto the ground. “Water style: Grand Water wall!” He said, as immediately, a great wall of water rose from the ground with the help of Isobu’s chakra, aiding him. A wall almost so big it could counter Madara’s Great Fire Annihilation, as it collided with Johnny’s flame bursts. Letting loose a large array of steam into the air, and shielding him and giving him some cover. 

As Johnny struggled to pick out where Naruto was in such a cloud, he flew around to try and make out where the blonde shinobi had gone.

“What’s the matter, you’re not scared are you?” Johnny goaded.

To answer his question, he received a giant, glowing blue fireball as a response. Johnny dodged it of course, though he did notice that such a fire burned hotter than his did at the time, if only slightly. 

As the mist faded, leaving Naruto standing there, holding a ball of fire blazing blue, courtesy of the two tails’ chakra. As he hoped that with its chakra and the chakra of the five tails for steam release, he would be able to grasp a hold of Johnny. 

“Not scared, just wondering how much heat you can dish out! Wouldn’t want this to be too easy for me!” He wanted to see how far the man would go, how hot, once he had seen that it was all worth it. 

“Oh-ho! Now it’s on, you want some? Well, I’ll give you some! I can handle a whole lot more than you can take on, yeah!” Johnny shouted. He wouldn’t let this man show him up; it was his thing after all, he was the one who could take just as much as he could dish out. 

He needed to be hotter. Hotter! Hotter! He needed to be faster. As thousands of his particles began to move, bouncing against one another, hitting each other, slamming against each other, faster and faster. Heat, produced in such movements, this metaphorical crashing of particles, producing energy, moving every which way, barely contained. This was how stars were made, this heat, moving of energy, chemicals combusting, coming together.

The star cycle:

First, a nebula, a cold expanse of cosmic gas, brimming to be pulled together, spinning, forming a proto star, as its core reached even hotter. Hydrogen forming into helium, creating pressure gravity not yet seen, stabilizing, becoming something else. As a Red giant or a supergiant could be formed, the gravity compresses its core, heating itself as it swells. Then, finally, the largest of these stars began to burn rapidly, its own body beginning to disintegrate. Fusion stops, as the whole star collapses, burning the hottest it ever could within its lifetime, hotter than anything it had ever seen before. Becoming something else, something grand, massive, the last of its life fading, as it became a…

If Naruto wanted to see all he could do, the hottest he could become he would show it, he would become. 

“SUUUUUUPERNOOOOOVA!!!”

As Johnny’s body too burned away everything, the air, the grass around him, everything that he possibly could, all heated to the point of dying. Even the atmosphere was not safe, as if an actual star, a living star, flashed onto the planet, ready to destroy everything that it could. Burn everything that it could with the little time that remained. That was what he hoped to do. 

Yet Naruto stood, unfazed, as a light trickle of sweat ran down his face as the heat washed upon him. Though, unlike everything else that melted around the man that was the embodiment of cosmic fires, he was able to withstand it. After all, he had been next to the flames of Amaterasu even when he was a little kid, though Johnny’s fire made those flames look like a matchstick in comparison. 

Johnny’s body absolutely burned red, his flames hotter, almost blinding. And you know how he felt? In the height of it all, he felt amazing, absolutely amazing. He felt like he could take on the world. Like he could defeat the Hulk in a one-on-one, like he could beat Ben in a fight. He felt like he could do anything, like he was truly more.

And now, in the height of his flames, he wanted to test his power, and so he did so with the heat of his being.

As he got ready to blast down upon Naruto, such a blast would surely turn Naruto into a scorch along the ground. He’d like to see how Naruto responded to it! “Alright! Get ready to taste my—”

But Naruto didn’t hesitate, as he did several hand signs, faster than Johnny could catch, each carefully coordinated and planned perfectly to get the maximum effect.

Johnny didn’t care; whatever Naruto had planned, he could take it! He felt invincible right now; nothing could stand in his way. He’d like to see Thanos again, give him a taste of his medicine. 

“Great Fire Sealing Method: Ignite!” came Naruto’s cold words. 

And with it, the entire landscape seemed to glow, as hundreds of symbols began forming, and not just on the ground, but on the trees, and even the sky, forming a dome written on an invisible ceiling. Even on Johnny’s arm, applied when Naruto had grabbed him. All of the seals glowed a dangerous red, flickering and activating. 

Subsequently, the room began to cool down immensely, to the point that all of the flames died down, being sealed into an array right below Johnny. This included the flames on his person, as the Human Torch had just been put out, falling right onto the ground. 

“---flames!” Johnny shouted, now in his human form, as he fell flat on his face to the ground.

That was when the whole environment started to melt away, like a dispersing of an illusion, what was once a nice park in the middle of New York moved into a metal building with a dome and several support beams connected to the ceiling at each of the walls, which were littered with thousands of seals to both create such an imaginary landscape, but withstand all the dangers that might house such a place. Both in terms of heat and immense measures of strength, it was even able to create extremely accurate illusion-like creations that were similar to the opponents they were based on.

This room being primarily modeled after the X-Men’s own ‘Danger Room’ which Naruto had heard about and decided to see if he could replicate. Needless to say, it worked out nicely, seeing as he was able to create a room that was able to perfectly replicate enemies and landscapes that were recorded within the Fantastic Four database.

It was even able to withstand the immense heat of Johnny Storm’s ‘Supernova’ form, though if they were being honest, this was the first time he had actually tested such a form in the environment. 

But Naruto was glad that the Fire suppressant seals he had placed in the room were working smoothly; he had even managed to find a way to seal Johnny’s flames, which took a whole other round of experiments. 

But he had managed it, and it would seem Johnny had just found the results of such experiments, rather harshly, he might add.

“Huh… where did my…mmmm…” Johnny, he said, voice still muffled as he was on the ground, almost paralyzed and near exhausted from having his powers ripped from him so suddenly. 

“How’s that for a surprise, Johnny?” Naruto smirked at his fallen friend, as far as he was concerned, this ‘spar’ was over. 

“Seriously, I can’t believe you two!” A new voice shouted, feminine. 

Right on time, too, as it would seem that if he hadn’t ended it where he did, he might have another problem, that being a very angry, very irritated, Susan Storm on his hands.

“Ahhh… Hey Susan…” Naruto voiced, stiffening just slightly.

“Hmmmm!” Johnny announced. 

“Hey to you two!” Susan said, annoyed. “And hey to the fact that I come over after putting Valeria down for a nap, and look what I find, I mean it seemed like you two were trying to kill each other!” Susan shouted. 

“Well, kill is a strong word…” Naruto gulped as Susan’s blue eyes were upon him, he nearly faltered under her gaze right there. After all, Susan was scary when she was angry. 

“What would you call it? Johnny went Supernova after all! You know that form can destroy the whole city if this room couldn’t handle it and burned a hole in the earth’s ozone layer, what then, huh?” She inquired, actually bringing up a good point about the dangers of Johnny’s form. 

“I was confident I could handle it… I think,” Naruto wasn’t 100% on his seals actually being able to work, but he was close to sure, which was good enough for him.

“Right, and you both could have died!” Susan huffed, utterly seeing through him. 

“Well… I suppose you’re right…” Naruto finally admitted. “We both should have told you we were doing such a test, and I’m sorry for not doing it,” he apologized, seeing it as wrong for what they did. 

“I-I…Well… thank you,” Susan said, actually taking his apology. Though she tried her best to be angry, she couldn’t help but warm up to the blonde shinobi that had entered their lives so suddenly. As such her anger turned elsewhere, namely her brother, who was still lying on the floor. 

Said brother was at the moment, crawling—yes, actually crawling away from her—trying to get away from his ‘punishment’. Alas, such actions were in vain, as Susan merely used her powers to lift her brother off the ground, much to his confusion. 

“Oh no, you don’t!” Susan shouted, lifting Johnny off the ground with her force fields, and presenting his face to him. “What were you thinking, going all out in a place like this?”

“Well I-I…” Johnny mumbled, whispering the last part so that she couldn’t hear.

“Huh? Out with it!” she pointed, eyes narrowing. 

“He…”

“Come on, spit it out!” Susan prodded.

“He cheated!” Johnny finally, said, like a kid who had lost his favorite game. “Naruto cheated, with his weird ninja mumbo jumbo! That’s why I lost!”

Susan’s face fell. “Really? That’s what you’re worried about? Losing a fight!” 

She couldn’t believe him right now—could not believe him!

“Well… I didn’t lose…” Johnny grumbled, actually managing to cross his arms in his tired state. “Because he cheated…” 

Susan’s head grew a large, severe headache, one that she knew not even the biggest medical advancements could solve. Sometimes, it felt like she was raising a third kid, one older, and more immature than her other two. And Valeria vomited on her twice this week.

Lucky for her, a new member of the Fantastic Four came onto the scene, as Benjamin Grimm stepped into the danger room.

“Well, well, well, look at what we have ‘ere! Hahaha!” The Thing laughed, and not just a small chuckle, he laughed and he laughed hard. “Looks like the old matchstick has been put out eh? Hehe!” 

“Stop laughing!” Johnny grumbled, not liking the fact that Ben was making fun of him. “It’s not funny!”

“It’s very funny, and when that fake Thanos came, I believe I saw you wet your pants right there! Ahahaha!” Ben laughed, walking up to them. 

“I didn’t! And even if I did, why was there such a realistic Thanos anyways, I thought you set the mode to medium!” Johnny complained. 

Naruto just smirked, “That was a little surprise I put in, but hey, I thought you lived for a challenge, Johnny.”

“I do, but not for Thanos!” Johnny shouted. He was overconfident, but not stupid; he knew he could never match up to Thanos in a regular fight, much less when he had the Infinity Stones. And even if he did, it would hurt, and it would hurt alot. And he wasn’t nearly as stupid as to try to face him alone.

“What’s the matter, Johnny? I thought you liked flying?” Ben mocked, happy that the shoe was on the other foot this time around. It used to be that it was Johnny making fun of him when it came to his powers, now look how things have changed. 

Johnny just grumbled about stupid seals and Naruto’s magic, though he didn’t voice everything on the matter. 

And despite everything, Sue couldn’t help but form a small smile, looking at the scene before them, realizing it wasn’t so long ago that they hadn’t been able to do such a thing. To be able to talk things out like this, to be a family, to make fun of and tease each other, to berate and care for each other. 

As she turned to the one person who had made this possible, looking at Naruto, seeing the smile he held as he watched the scene of Ben and Johnny bickering. It was because of Naruto that this had been possible, that they had been able to recover after her husband's death. And it was he who allowed them to heal. 

She didn’t know what exactly had done it, but it was something about Naruto that made people… just want to open themselves up to him. If that were the right word, she didn’t quite understand it herself. But that was just how things were, Naruto was like a member of their family now, an irreplaceable part, and she couldn’t imagine him not being here. 

Even someone like Ben, who was as stubborn as he was durable, was able to warm up to the blonde. 

She wondered just how he had done it. 

Though she did recall that their relationship began to change after Naruto and Ben talked sometime ago. She wondered what they had said then, what they did.

XXX

Flashback: A Few Months Ago.

“Hey, blondie, do you think I can talk to you for a second?” came Ben’s gruff voice, just catching the blonde as he was walking to his lab with Susan, telling her a joke or a story, which caused her to laugh, interrupting the two. 

As Naruto then spotted the rocky man waiting in the hallway, leaning against the wall, he wondered why he was there. “Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” Nevertheless, he wasn’t one to turn down a simple chat, as he then turned to Susan. “Yeah, I don’t mind.” He merely told him, both wondering what the rocky man would say.

But surprisingly, it wasn’t Susan that responded, but Benjamin himself, “Uhh, actually I—uhhh… I wanted it to be more of a private affair between the two of us, if that’s alright?” he pointed out, just wanting this to be a talk between the two of them more than anything.

Naruto thought about it, before shrugging, “I mean that shouldn’t be a problem I don’t think, if you’re okay with that Sue?” he asked, not wanting to be rude and have Ben’s presence overshadow her own. 

He rather liked talking to Susan, and didn’t want that to end because of a slight miscommunication or anything—not that he thought that Sue was the woman to do that, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Susan was a little surprised by the gesture, widening her eyes a little as the two’s gazes fell on her. “Well, I don’t think it will be— err… I mean, I think it will be wonderful, if you two talk to each other, don’t mind me. I suppose I can go and check on Valeria to see how she and H.E.R.B.I.E. are doing?”  

Naruto nodded, “Alright, take care,” he smiled. Before turning to Benjamin, “Why don’t you and I step into my lab, this place is a little stuffy for a talk, no?”

.

.

.

As Ben nodded, the two headed inside Naruto’s Laboratory, which was filled with all sorts of items and Kanji scripts lying about. Most notable was the teleporter script, which, to Benjamin, looked like a whole bunch of nonsense. But he did notice the fact that it did appear a lot smaller than the one he had seen in the giant cave, and from the looks of it, Naruto had made significant progress in getting such a seal accomplished. Though it seemed clear that it would be some time before he actually had such a seal ready. 

“So what did you want to talk about?” Naruto inquired, looking at Benjamin with his full attention.

As Benjamin felt the weight under his gaze, a gaze which, in no small part, had stood up to gods, and men alike, monsters in human form, people who entire nations feared and yet Naruto had stood up to them. The man didn’t know it, but it was a look that was unwavering through hardship, as he had stood alone in the face of his enemies. 

Of course, he had seen his own fair share of scuffles in his time on the Fantastic Four, but for some reason, that didn’t make looking at the blonde any easier. And a small part of him, felt like backing down on the matter.

Though he brushed that part away, after all, he knew he needed to do this.

“I just…” The Thing took a deep breath, something that looked rather strange given his outward rocky appearance. “Truth be told I wanted to apologize,” he told him honestly. 

This caused Naruto to look at him in surprise, not understanding what he meant. “Huh? Apologize, but for what?” 

“I-I… well,” Grimm paused, “For everything, I suppose.”

“I don’t follow,” He told him, not fully understanding what the rocky man meant.

“Look, what I’m meanin’ to tell you is…” Ben struggled to find the words, fiddling with his rock-like fingers. “I mean, I guess I haven’t been the best person to ya, despite all you’ve done. I mean, I know you’ve grown warm on Sue and Johnny and the youngsters. I guess I haven’t been that warm to ya because I didn’t want you to warm on me,” he admitted. 

“And, well… What I mean by that is… well… truth be told, Reed was always my best friend, and even though he’s been gone for a while, it seems like he just passed away if you know what I mean. And, well… Reed was always the one with the brain y’know, he was always, the one with the plan, and he was always able to help us through everythin’, if ya know what I mean,” he paused.

“I guess with him dead things are gonna have to be different, I mean we can’t rely on him anymore, and I just thought I was gonna be the one to pick up the slack,” he paused. “But I’m not sure if I’m able to do all he could do. I mean, nowadays it seems like I’ve only been good fer clobberin’ and even now it seems like I… I’m just so…” Ben struggled to find the words. 

“So powerless?” Naruto finished for him, as he stared at the man.

“Yeah… powerless, I suppose. I mean, I’m supposed to be the strong one, ain’t I, yet I don’t even feel like I’m able to do that. And with things changing too fast, well I didn’t want things to change. You know what I’m meanin’?” Thing asked.

As Naruto was deep in thought, “... I see.” was all he said, taking in all of the man’s words, and thinking about them.

“That's all?” Ben asked, a little surprised. “Well, I guess I am kinda pathetic, aren’t I?” He asked, still feeling down in the dumps a bit, even after his fight with Thor and Hulk that evening. 

Though, surprisingly, the blonde merely shook his own head. “Why don’t you come over here for a second?” he asked, seemingly changing the subject.

As Naruto led the Thing to a corner of his laboratory, specifically a spot where a strange block-like object was suspended from the ceiling. Benjamin didn’t quite know what to make of it; but he did see there were a bunch of those strange symbols scribbled onto it.

“This right here is something that I’m testing, durability seals, you know. Something that’ll make even the weakest of items reinforced times a thousand,” Naruto explained. This was something that he would put on buildings, or structures to make them withstand stronger attacks. But in doing so, he needed to make sure he got the formula right, which meant a whole lot of trial and error. “Go on, why don’t you try it out?” he asked, and to emphasize his point, Naruto walked up to the object and held it like a punching bag to steady it for him.

Ben shrugged, not necessarily seeing the point, but if the blonde wanted him to break the object, he wasn’t going to feel bad if he cried after he broke it. 

“Hmp. Well okay then,” he told him, bringing his fist back, he decided to throw a decently strong haymaker, not his full strength, certainly by a mile, but if it were any type of normal cinderblock, it would certainly be crushed to smithereens. 

“Hnnnngg–HAAA!!” he grunted, thrusting his fist forward.

Slam!

As Ben’s fist hit the box Naruto had been testing, a few things happened, for starters, the box seemed to only take a minimal amount of damage, a few cracks, a few scrapes, but otherwise fine. Naruto’s arms recoiled slightly from the blow, not by much, considering the seals had reduced the impact. This all led to Benjamin Grimm being slightly confused. 

“Crazy, right?” Naruto smiled. “And to think this thing was only a block of concrete before I put the seals in place,” he informed, shocking the man.

“You mean I…” he tried to say, but even that failed him. He failed to destroy one lousy piece of concrete, as Ben’s self-esteem lowered to an all-time low. 

“Alright, you think you can spot me?” Naruto asked, breaking Ben out of his musings and slight depression.

“Well, I—Uhh… sure.” As The Thing swapped places with Naruto, leaving him to take hold of the newly revealed concrete structure. 

As Naruto gave a few jabs towards it, unleashing a few grunts in the process. “Truth is, I don’t think you’re pathetic,” he said in the midst of his assault, which shocked him a little.

“Yeah, well yer just sayin’ that,” Thing said in doubt. 

“No, I’m not,” Naruto affirmed, throwing a kick in as well. “GRahhh!...After all, I know what it’s like to feel powerless,” he admitted. 

Kick after kick, punch after punch, the rock withstood it. “I know what it’s like…” Naruto sent a knee into the object. “To feel like you can’t do anything. To try and try, and turn out—for the lack of a better word—rather shitty.” Another punch, and then another. 

“I know what it’s like to keep on getting up, over and over,” A roundhouse kick. “And you fail!”

“It’s not about faillin’ it’s about not being able!” Ben argued. 

“Sure it is!” Naruto said in the midst of his attacks. “After all, you never know if you can actually do something if you give up!---RAHHH!”

Booom!

Naruto continued to hit the reinforced object, sometimes with great exertion, until finally… it shattered. 

The cracks piled against one another until finally one of them gave way, the pebbles and debris scattering to the floor, yet Naruto was unperterbed, deciding he would have a clone clean that up later, of course. 

“You know, I still feel like I’m there, sometimes…” Naruto admitted, seemingly changing the subject once again as he looked into Ben’s eyes. 

“Huh?” He didn’t know what to say, not sure what he was referring to.

“The negative zone,” Naruto clarified, lowering his fighting stance, though it wasn’t without great effort. “I haven’t told Sue, of course, I don’t want her to worry. But sometimes, when I wake up, or when I’m about to fall asleep, I still can’t help but forget what it was like in that place.”

“After all, I was there for what? Nearly half a decade, alone, without anyone—besides Kurama of course. With a hope and a prayer of making it back, that’s all I had. It was that dream that caused me to keep moving. But sometimes I still think I’m in that place, that fight, like it hasn’t left me,” he told him. “I mean, do you know what kind of food there is there? Bugs, I mean that’s pretty much it. And not the good kinds of bugs, I’ve had those, and I would’ve traded things for that in a heartbeat. But the kinds of bugs that would much rather eat you than allow you to prepare them for your next meal. I still have the taste in my mouth sometimes.”

“All the fighting… all the isolation… all the lost hope…” It was then that Naruto’s hand began to shake a little, before he grabbed his wrist, and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It didn’t fully work. And that was when Ben got a small glimpse into the vulnerabilities of the man in front of him. 

“So I know how it feels, and so I’d say I’m a pretty good judge to feel like you’re inadequate, that means I’m also the perfect person to decide whether your doubts are warranted, and I can assure you they’re not,” the shinobi said with absolute seriousness.

“I don’t understand, why are you tellin’ me all this?” Ben questioned, even Suzzie hadn’t heard such vulnerabilities yet—though he did not doubt that she would suspect them.

This time it was Naruto’s turn to shrug, “ I don’t know. Maybe it was something you needed to hear, and maybe it was something I needed to say…” he spoke. 

“Hmmm…” Ben hummed

Before Naruto looked down, right at the stones on the floor, “You know, I don’t think your place needs to change, in the Fantastic Four—your family that is. I think it’s what it has always needed to be,” he mused, drawing his attention.

“I mean you’re—for lack of a better term—the rock,” he smiled, a small pun in the midst of things. “You’re the person that’s there, that can be strong for everyone else, to be unyielding, because that’s just the kind of person you are, that’s what your family needs. I don’t think it’s genius or smarts that you need that can keep your family together, but stability.”

Looking down at the defensive seals Naruto had been testing, he was reminded of the man before him. After all, Ben was like the concrete, in the whole situation. Even though it was shattered, that was the point, as it had withstood all it could before being torn to pieces. It was the rock in the situation that gave the seals strength, as without a base to place them on they were nothing but a bit of ink. 

So the concrete wasn’t a failure, it had done its job perfectly, even if it was broken now it had withstood the pressure it could take. And in the future could be fixed, all it required was a bit of strength and will. 

“Look, I’m not trying to replace anyone,” Naruto admitted, as while he seemed to be making a place in this little family he had come to live with over the past few months, he wasn’t trying to fill a void. “I’m not trying to fill anyone’s shoes. I mean I can tell Reed Richards was a beloved individual, and clearly had to be to make such an impression on all of you, even after his passing. So I’m not trying to replace him, I’m just trying to be the best me I can be, and try to help the people who are helping me now,” he said.

As Ben thought about Naruto’s words, thinking about all he said and all he had admitted. 

Truth be told a part of him had been angry, when Johnny and Sue had gotten close to Naruto, after all, hadn’t their family been enough? It had always been the four of them; Johnny, Susan, Ben, and Reed. They're against the world. And now, navigating things with an empty spot, he snapped when some new guy decided to join up with them, at least that was what it felt like. 

But he hadn’t been fair to Naruto, too, that hadn’t been right for him, despite what he had done. 

He needed to think on this more, and maybe, just maybe, he would begin a new worldview from now on. After all, he supposed he could be the rock of the group, once again. 

“Maybe you’re right, about a lot of things…” he muttered, more to himself than anything. 

“Who knows,” Naruto wasn’t going to say he was some sort of wise mystic sage or anything. He just spoke his mind, that was all. And ironically, that was what so many people were attracted to him for. 

It had worked on Gaara, on Neji, on so many people, even when he wasn’t trying. He just hoped Ben would get through things, for his family’s sake.

A silence was found between the two of them, not necessarily awkward, but not exactly comforting either. After all, the two had barely spoken in his time here, though that wasn’t to say that they disliked each other; they just had some problems that seemed to need to be dealt with. 

“Sooo… I still have like 50 more of these concrete structures, all of various durabilities, some even stronger than this. Want to help me test them out?” Naruto drew.

A small smile began to form on the rocky man’s face, as he began to realize that maybe he could begin to learn to like this guy. 

“You know, blondie, I was wonderin’ if you had anything worthwhile in that head of yours, seems like that ninja mambo-jumbo might not be so bad after all,” he smirked.

As the two got to work testing things and breaking things, what more stress relief could a person ask for?

XXX

(Present)

She didn’t know what had happened when they talked, but both Ben and Naruto seemed happier because of it, closer in a sense. Ben learned that Naruto was a good guy, and Naruto learned what Ben had been going through. 

Truthfully, she didn’t care. Naruto had worked his magic. And anything that needed to be said would be told to her in time.

Right now she supposed that she could enjoy the moment, and not let anything stop the four of them from having their fun. 

“I mean what’s the big deal, I’m sure it's only temporary. So Johnny quit yer whining,” Ben said, holding Johnny by his collar.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the paralysis will only last… about an hour, I think,” Naruto interjected.

“Right, isn’t that nice…” Johnny rolled his eyes, not exactly mad, but not exactly thrilled at the fact that his body was unable to move or produce any fire for some time. All due to Naruto’s seal, which he had placed on him, during the fight. 

You know if he had known about Naruto planning such a countermeasure, he might not’ve even agreed to test Naruto’s new Danger room… probably—okay, he still would’ve. He probably would’ve tried to see how much heat the seal could handle if he were being honest.

He did have the decency to laugh at the situation, Ben laughed, and so did Naruto. All of them could see the humor in it.

While the three were having their moment, Susan couldn’t help but think on the matter, something seemingly bothering her, something she couldn’t quite place.

As Susan walked up to Naruto to question her theory. “Naruto, how were you able to seal Johnny’s powers like that? Surely such a thing isn’t supposed to be standard for what you usually do, is it?” she asked. 

That’s what had been bothering her. The fact that Naruto had been able to seal Johnny’s powers so suddenly, something tied to his natural biology, gifted to him through the cosmic rays. Hell, even Reed hadn’t been able to undo such a thing, nor Doctor Steven Strange the Sorcerer Supreme. So what made Naruto’s method so different?

“Huh? Oh that,” Naruto blinked, not quite understanding the question. Before he thought about it, remembering the process and jumped at the chance to explain it. He then went over to the wall with a bit of ink and a brush.

“Well, first I came to question how exactly Johnny’s powers work. I mean, I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff in my day, some really weird Kekkei Genkai, but igniting oneself on fire was a new one. I mean I’ve seen people coating their skin in Lava, steam, and stuff. Plus I remember there was one woman who got reanimated back in the war who was able to control fire like it was an extension of her body. Scorch release is what they called it which was the mix of Fire and Wind chakras which is what she used. But anyway, I haven’t encountered anyone able to actually set themselves on fire, plus Johnny’s resistance to it was second to none. And if I didn’t understand how he was able to do it, I wouldn’t be able to contain it in a way that would actually suppress the process of how he did it. I mean I probably could create seals able to withstand high intensities but where is the fun in that? I mean I know you folks have access to materials and alloys that can practically do the same.

I wanted to do something different, which included actually creating a seal that could contain all of Johnny’s flames at the source.”

“So I needed to find a way to actually see what was going on inside of Johnny’s body. And with that, I took a look at the Fantastic Four’s records of Johnny’s physiology. Reed was very extensive in his records so it was quite interesting. I also took some of my own blood samples, and looked at it with your—micro-seeing thing, sorry—- to see if I could search for anything different and—”

“Hey wait, where did you get a hold of my blood!” Johnny shouted, not remembering him asking for a sample recently.

“That part was pretty easy, I mean Johnny you’re actually a pretty heavy sleeper and I’m a ninja, so…” Naruto brushed him off as if he were talking about the weather. Johnny didn’t know how to see or feel about Naruto admitting to quite possibly violating him within his sleep.

“Anyways; now I’m no biologist, and definitely not a medical ninja, that was more of Sakura’s line of work. But I know differences when I can see them, and I was able to observe with your database that Johnny’s blood and DNA are able to produce a unique chemical reaction that allows his body to combust in a way that does not burn him. But produce a monumental amount of energy without the use of mass to create it. Almost like… what do you people call it?” 

“Nuclear Fusion?” Susan asked, thinking about all that Naruto said. She realized they fell into similar lines to what Reed had talked about when he researched them.

“Yes! That! But it’s not that, because after all Johnny’s body isn’t the right chemical composition and he doesn’t lose pieces of him each time he ignites. And it’s not like the body naturally produces something like nitroglycerin as a form of sweat or anything, not that that would work mind you,” he joked a little bit, being reminded of a certain piece of media where he saw something similar.

“So anyways, I started to wonder what produced such a chemical process and I found that it was actually produced by some kind of energy. Something that started the chemical process, but I wanted to know what was starting such a monumental change in his body. So I turned to how he got his powers, or the source…”

“The cosmic rays…” Susan mentioned the storm out in the cosmos that they had encountered in space; and what had made them the way they were.

“Yes! That!” Naruto nodded, the records as far as Reed knew didn’t have a lot of definite answers as to what happened to them that day. Just theories, but lucky for him he had some of his own. “Now at first I started to theorize that your bodies produced this energy sort of like a chakra, so I began to wonder if this ‘cosmic energy’ jumpstarts the chemical process and allows for Johnny’s nuclear reactions to occur. So I began to wonder if these cosmic energies were linked to either the physical energies of the body or the spiritual energies of the mind.” 

“And?” Susan prodded.

“They weren’t! As far as I could tell they were so different you couldn’t even imagine!” Even though he was saying grave news, Naruto actually ended up laughing at that moment. They weren’t quite sure why.

“I mean, physical energy strengthens and alters the body, whereas spiritual energy enhances and is focused by the mind. Yet the energy produced wasn’t like this at all!” He explained.

“So what then, how did your seal work then?” Susan asked.

“Well, there are different levels to physical and spiritual energy, which is…” It was then that Naruto actually ended up writing something. Two Kanji. “Yin release and Yang release. The purest of spiritual energy and the purest of physical energy, now from what I could tell this energy wasn’t like either of those either, but the combining of the two, well that’s something else.”

“Back in my world, the Sage of Six Paths was able to create wondrous things. Orbs that were able to destroy matter, weapons of unimaginable power from nothing. Life. Hell, with the power I was able to create a new eyeball. Just like that! Can you believe it?” Naruto got giddy.

“So I started to wonder if this power was similar, because after all Yin Yang chakra, as well as the six paths chakra, their origin was always mysterious. Almost mystical… primordial…”

“Cosmic?” Johnny finished, actually getting into this explanation.

“Maybe,” Naruto shrugged, not quite knowing the origin himself.

“But I found that, while the energy of the cosmic rays might be similar to Yin-Yang energy. It’s also similar to Natural energy, that is the energy of nature. But that isn’t quite it either.

My theory is that cosmic energy is almost a strange mix of Yin/Yang energy, Natural energy, and…” he paused.

“And?” They all questioned.

“I don’t know…” Naruto admitted that he wasn’t a genius, just really good with unknown energies like this. On a major level, he understood them, but he couldn’t quite explain it. 

It was like when he explained the Rasengan to Konohamaru. It was a ‘Gaaah!’ And then a ‘Baaaam!!’. He didn't know how to explain it all but that's just how things were. It was how he was able to master Sage mode at a speed that nobody else could.

His sensei Jiraiya wasn’t able to do the same thing and he had decades. His father hadn’t been able to master it and he was a prodigy among prodigies, greater than Itachi Uchiha. Yet how could he?

Sure, he had his shadow clone method. But that only sped up the learning process. And even with years Jiraiya hadn’t been able to do what he did.

He was just good with these kinds of things.

It was why Hagoromo had blessed him with his six path energies. Because he would be able to utilize it. More than anyone could. Even if he couldn’t put it into words he could make them malleable. He could push them in ways never thought possible.

“But the point is, I don’t have to know what energy is or how it’s made. If I can understand how it reacts and what it does, my seals can work. I mean after all my clan was able to use seals to seal a metaphorical god in a mask, or tailed beasts into people.” As Naruto began to write a number of symbols they didn’t quite understand. “So it took some time, but I managed to suppress and contain the energy that jumpstarts Johnny’s metabolic chemical reaction.”

He began writing more and more kanji and symbols and metaphorical sealing matrixes. All the while he began to mumble about what each of them seemed to do. Losing both Johnny and Ben. Even Susan didn’t quite understand it all, even though she had spent the most time around him working on seals—-apart from Franklin of course.

“So see, isn’t that simple?” Naruto said, as he looked at the group, that he had completely filled up the wall with symbols they couldn’t quite read.

“So you mean to tell me you found a way to seal off the energy that our bodies produce that gives us our powers?” Susan summed up, realizing what that meant.

“Well, didn’t I just say that?” Naruto said, though he realized he rambled quite a bit, sometimes talking to himself rather than anyone during the explanation. That was just something he did from time to time, too used to being on his own and it was a habit he hadn’t quite managed to whittle down yet. 

“No, don’t you understand… you found a way to suppress the energy that gave us our powers,” Susan said, pushing past him and towards his drawing.

“I mean, yeah?” Naruto blinked, not quite sure what she was getting at.

“Does that mean you might be able to take away this energy, from someone who may be constantly producing such energy, maybe even reverse the chemical reactions?!” Susan said, wide-eyed.

As Johnny began to realize what his sister was getting at, he too was becoming surprised.

“Ummm, well that… maybe?” Naruto said, after all, it might be theoretically possible. He had tried to do similar things before. 

“So that means…” Johnny began to put the puzzles together.

“Eeeeee!” Susan yelled, excited, as she rushed to hug Naruto, something that greatly surprised the other blonde but it wasn’t unpleasant. 

“You hear that, Ben? Naruto might have finally found a way to suppress your powers!” She yelled, actually excited.

Sure, Reed had theories, and even tried reversing the process altogether. But he hadn’t tried manipulating the cosmic rays, something he didn’t fully understand. If Naruto understood them, and could actually manipulate them through the use of his seals then…

“Is that true? We might finally have a way to get rid of this body of mine?” Ben said, coming to terms with the fact.

“Well I-I…” Naruto too began to realize the implications. He had been too busy researching Johnny for the Danger-room; he had neglected to think about any other implications for any other members of the F-4.

As he began to think about how Ben’s body might come into the equation. “I mean if his body were to be consistently producing the stuff for a constant stream of chain reactions like Johnny things would be easier. But I—- well if it were a matter of reversing… hmmm, then that’s… I mean…” Naruto looked at them finally. “I might be able to do it… should be able to do it. No, I will do it,” he told him, as Susan smiled. He smiled too.

“Well hey now, let’s not go makin’ promises or anything,” Ben interjected, throwing one arm over Naruto’s shoulder. “I mean, Blondie, it’s not that I don’t believe in you, or anything. But Big-Brain has tried numerous times and failed, so I don’t want it to be the end of the world if you do end up disappointed,” he told him, as though he still felt like his powers were a burden. He wanted to remain strong, and not let Naruto get discouraged just because he might not be able to help him.

As Naruto and Ben shared a look, being reminded of their talk a few months back. A silent message was understood.

‘Don’t beat yourself up’ Ben tried to say.

But even if he failed, Naruto still wanted to try. Especially for Ben and Susan.

As Sue was just too excited, “I can’t believe we might finally have a solution Ben, why don’t I make dinner for all of us to celebrate? Even Alicia can come along!” She suggested.

“Oh please, if you’re cooking Ben’s gonna need his impenetrable body to survive what you give him,” Johnny joked, still paralyzed but he was almost feeling a connection in his neck now.

“Oh I’m sorry, Ben, it would seem I might need your help, you know lifting pretty heavy objects. Would you mind dropping what you’re doing and coming to help me?” Susan asked with an ever-so-sweet tone and look to her, batting her eyelashes.

Ben looked back at Johnny on his arm, and at Susan again, as he smirked.

“You know Suzzie, I couldn’t be happier to help,” he said, putting Johnny down as he began to realize what they were doing.

“Hey wait a minute!” He said.

“You know I think I have to go check on my lab, though I’ll be sure to make it to dinner Susan,” Naruto told them.

“You'd better, I’m counting on you to be there especially,” Susan told him with a smile.

As all three began to leave the Danger-room, leaving Johnny on the floor.

“Wait, you can’t leave me like this! Wait!” He shouted into deaf ears.

“Can’t right now… it’s dinner time Johnny,” Ben said with a chuckle.

As all three left the room.

XXX

(At Dinner)

As they all gathered around the dinner table, Shich was extended out with the use of Reed’s old technology. 

With one end having Ben, Alicia, and Johnny (who’s paralyzation has worn off), with the other end having Susan, Valeria, and Naruto—who was not present at the table. With Franklin on one end, and H.E.R.B.I.E. on the other end. The robot had made the food, especially after Johnny’s constant teasing at the fact that Susan was a terrible cook.

As he had prepared a nice dinner, which consisted of an Italian-style meal such as a nice multi-layer lasagna, with a side of herb-roasted chicken with rosemary and lemon. A platter of slow-roasted grilled vegetables, with an arugula salad with shaved Parmesan. And for the adults a nice red wine to pair with the meal (though Franklin just had a grape soda). A majority of which was Kosher and lacked pork so that Ben and Alicia could eat it.

The whole group was waiting to eat, even though the food was right in front of them, and that was all because of one reason.

“Wait, where’s Naruto?” Franklin questioned, looking around for his older brother figure. Though of course, he wasn’t there.

“I suppose Franklin’s right, he should be here by now?” Susan noted.

“You did tell him dinner was ready, right?” Johnny asked, though Naruto usually had this strange thing about him, like he always knew what was going on even if he wasn’t there with them. It was strange, but they all just chalked it up to Naruto’s weirdness. Naruto hadn’t ever missed a dinner, especially because it fell in line with his promise to Sue to take care of himself more.

So what was the holdup? Was the question.

“I should go check on him,” Susan said, getting up.

But before she was able to leave the room they all noticed Naruto running into the room from the hallway. 

“H-Hey guys, sorry about everything, I guess I kind of lost track of time in the lab,” Naruto told them, moving to his seat, as he commented on the food looking good. 

“Heh, I know we’ve heard that one before,” Ben laughed, seeing as it was a bit of a common excuse Reed had made from time to time. 

Naruto nodded, greeting Alicia and as the two had become quite friendly with one another after Naruto had started to get along with Ben. The shinobi began to sit next to Sue, though she couldn’t help but stare at him. She noticed that something seemed off about the blonde, but she couldn’t quite make it out, not knowing what it was that was quite different. He just seemed more chipper, more ecstatic, like something good happened to him.

But, as soon as she went to question him on it, Ben beat her to speaking.

“Well hey now; the gang’s all here, why don’t we eat somethin’?” Ben announced, and they all agreed.

As they all said their gratitude and began eating, the room was filled with a number of good things to say about the meal courtesy of H.E.R.B.I.E., as a number of fellowships were had. Alicia was talking to Ben, though the woman also gave a few small comments to Susan, who was helping with Valeria. Johnny was meanwhile cheering up and talking to his nephew, Franklin as they seemed to have a rather lively and boisterous conversation. 

It was a nice feeling, and a real family dinner, with a nice mix of the old times, with of course a bit of the new. A perfect reflection of how things were now for the Fantastic Four, the Marvelous, world’s first super family. Because after all, they were people who pressed on, who had stood up for what’s right and done all they could for their world.

They were… content. So to speak, like things were finally reacting to a whole new normal.

Meanwhile, Naruto talked where he could, though at times he had a bit of a faraway look.

Finally he just outright said what was bothering his mind. 

“I think I have something to announce,” Naruto started.

 As they all turned to him, the whiskered blonde finally had the attention of the room. Not knowing exactly what to say at that moment. But he never let that stop him before.

“I did some last-minute checks on my lab, trying to see what the clones I left in there accomplished and their progress on everything…” he paused, trying to think of how to word it exactly. “And to put it simply, one of them had a breakthrough…”

“A breakthrough?” Sue questioned, wondering what he meant.

“Yeah, one of them has an idea, and that idea spiraled between the other clones, piling the ideas up. And that… that causes me or the clones a way to learn faster and eventually think of new ideas I wouldn’t have thought of on my own,” he explained. “One of them found a way to ridiculously compact the seals I had been working on, making it so the work I thought I would have to do has been massively sped up by my estimate.”

“And what seal is that?” Johnny asked.

That was when Naruto smiled, “Why, the seal that got me here of course. I mean originally, I thought it would take me longer to produce, but with the space I have in my lab and the resources it seems that’s not necessary,” he informed.

“So I can finally head to my home,” he revealed, letting the truth sink in.

“I see…” Susan said, taking this news in, all of them.

Even though it seemed that Naruto had been with them forever, he hadn’t actually been with them for that long. He’d been here what? Seven months? They had thought they would have had more time with him, so for each of them it was a lot to take in.

“So, Blondie, how do you plan to be here?” Ben asked, the first to respond.

“Well, I still want to at least try and work on the project we talked about earlier, Ben,” not wanting to give away what they were doing to get Alicia’s hopes up. “Plus I need to do last-minute checks and fine-tuning of the seal. But from my estimate… about a month, give or take, that’s how long I think I need to finish all of my arrangements,” Naruto told them all, being 100% transparent about it.

After all, this was only supposed to be a temporary thing between them, just as long as he could create his seal to get back to his home dimension. 

But he at least wanted to see if he could help Ben if he could. As much as the Fantastic Four had been there for him.

“Wow that’s… we all expected you to be here a bit longer,” Johnny couldn’t help but say. Alicia remained silent seeing as this wasn’t her place to say anything.

Naruto nodded, “I did too, but the seal I built was pretty much a prototype, made with all the ink and blood I could spare. It’s easy to think I’d be able to build this next one a lot better with all I have now.”

After all, Johnny had become his friend, with the blonde growing a respect for the Human Torch and what he had done. That had been partially why he made the Danger Room. A place where he could test his limits without holding back, coming stronger and stronger without any need to worry. It would serve him well, and Naruto knew he would help quite a few people when they needed it.

“Sue?” Naruto asked, looking towards the woman, the last of the Four to mention anything. Since he revealed his plans she grew silent.

The woman had set her fork and food down, looking straight at the blonde in almost a daze. It was clear that the news had shocked her, having not expected it whatsoever.

“Huh? Oh, right…” Susan said in a daze. “I-I think it’s great… you finally have a way back to your home,” she told him.

Naruto nodded, honestly, if she had opposed him, said she wanted him here a bit longer, he would consider doing so. After all, he and Susan had become especially close during his time here, probably closer than anyone in this dimension. And he wanted her approval and to know that she would be okay before he left.

That was good, as long as he had let everyone know they could prepare, a month was still a long time. And he hoped nothing unpleasant would occur during that time.

He did really enjoy his time with the Fantastic Four, and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Of course, there was another person who had a stake in the matter, and who had not said something about the subject.

“What?!” Came the shocked voice of Franklin, who was staring at everyone wide-eyed, especially Naruto.

“But you can’t leave! You can’t! I need you! Mom needs you! I won’t let you go! Why?!” His shrill voice came.

“Franklin…” Immediately Naruto’s eyes softened, realizing how hard it would be on the boy. Of course, he would react in such a way, after they had grown so close, and the death of his father.

“I won’t let you go! You can’t! Why do you need to go back to your home? Why do you have to leave! Mom—”

“Franklin, enough!” One of them shouted, and it was Susan.

As Franklin immediately did a double-take, his mother had rarely ever yelled at him before, and not since his dad hadn’t returned from the Negative Zone.

They all saw Susan and witnessed the pointed and stern look she was giving her son at that moment.

“Now look, Naruto has done a lot for this family, so much. And if he wants to leave we should support it,” Susan told her son.

But it would seem that wasn’t enough for her son.  “No! I won’t accept it! If you go I’ll never forgive you Naruto!” 

“That is enough Franklin!” Susan yelled. “Go to your room!” 

As the young boy widened his eyes, “B-but…”

“I said go!” Susan reiterated, letting her son know there wasn’t going to be a discussion.

The young boy gave one final look at Naruto, “I’ll hate you if you leave!” Franklin yelled, as the young boy ran off.

Leaving the shinobi thinking of his words. 

As he took a deep breath and looked at Susan. “I’ll… I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Naruto told her, as she nodded. Giving one final look around to the others at the table, who were also surprised by Franklin's outburst.

The dinner table began to ease from the tension, though the aura of calmness didn’t return with such information.

Naruto was leaving.

That much was clear.

Sooner than anyone thought.

Susan, most of all, couldn't believe it. But she had to wonder, what she told Franklin, had she been trying to tell him… or herself?

One thing was for certain though, as Johnny saw Susan’s hands and skin begin to flash invisible for a few seconds several times during the dinner. Evidence of her trying to suppress herself during the dinner, even if she didn’t know the cause.

End Chapter. 

An: There we go. Still on vacation, should be back soon!

A nice dinner table, a not so nice round in the F-4’s very own Danger-room. One Thanos included.

A bit of hope added for Ben m, and we saw Naruto bond with him a little bit within a flashback.

Susan also has grown quite a bit with Naruto’s help as we saw, a bit of a timeskip having been issued.

With it, we had dinner… and the chaos that followed. Especially with Naruto being able to leave sooner than expected, leaving people baffled.

Though, it seems Susan is happy for him, above all else (and was about to maybe get the belt for Franklin, who had his own reaction.)

So what will happen? Will Naruto leave his new found family in such a short time? Or will he choose to stay? I suppose that’s for you guys to find out.

See ya!

Please leave me Lots and Lots of NICE reviews.

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