Chapter 25: ch 25
09:42 AM – Still in the Hangar
They stayed there for a while.
Naruto stood with arms crossed. Tony sat on a rusted crate, idly tapping the edge of his small holographic disc.
The silence was almost comfortable.
Almost.
"You know…" Tony finally said, looking up, "for a guy who can summon mystical chains and heal internal bleeding with his bare hands, you're… remarkably boring."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is one. If you were as spectacular in conversation as you are in combat, I'd feel completely useless. As it stands, you're just… intimidating. Not unbearable."
Naruto smiled. Just a little. Not out of politeness—but because, despite himself, he was starting to like him.
"Do you say that to everyone you track down?"
Tony raised his hands.
"Only when I'm trying to buy them a drink afterward."
"And do you often do that with people who could slice you in half with a breath?"
Tony paused. Thought about it.
"Yeah. Actually, yeah."
Naruto exhaled through his nose. A light chuckle. His first genuine laugh in… a long time.
"You're either incredibly brave… or desperately stupid."
Tony straightened up, adjusting a module on his exo-suit.
"Both. One never goes without the other. Welcome to Earth."
A silence followed. Lighter this time.
Naruto slowly walked around the room, eyes scanning the marks left behind from the previous battle. Then he stopped beside Tony.
"You want to understand. I can see it. It's eating at you."
Tony didn't deny it.
"I built my heart—literally. Out of metal. With my own hands. So when I see someone healing another with just energy, or willpower, or... what you call 'chakra', it fascinates me. And it humiliates me."
"Humiliates?"
"Yeah. Because I thought I'd seen everything. And then you show up... kneel beside a dying woman, extend your hand, and death backs off."
Naruto stayed silent.
Then:
"I didn't save Natasha out of heroism. I did it because… I couldn't bear to lose her."
Tony looked at him. With less sarcasm. With more respect.
"I know. And that's why I'm here. Because I saw something more than your power. I saw you."
Naruto turned his gaze away.
Something inside him still resisted. The reflex to push back. The instinct of solitude. The fear that trust would only lead to betrayal.
But another part… wanted to try.
"Natasha showed me I could be more than a weapon. More than a ghost."
"She showed me the same."
Naruto frowned.
"She saved you?"
"More than once. By reminding me I wasn't alone. Even when I did everything to be."
A sigh. Not sad. Just honest.
Tony pointed at a portable console beside him.
"That's what I do when I'm lost: I build. I analyze. I make stuff no one understands."
He turned his head to Naruto.
"And you? What do you do... when you're lost?"
Naruto took a long breath.
Then:
"I eat ramen."
Tony blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
"Ramen. Salty broth. Noodles. Soft-boiled egg. If I'm really depressed: extra pork and seaweed."
Tony burst out laughing.
"That's your meditation technique?"
"That's my survival technique," Naruto replied, this time with a more open smile.
"Alright. I'm sold. Next time you want to meditate, I'll bring the sake."
A silence.
Then Naruto:
"I'm starting to think you wouldn't be such a bad teammate."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Wait a minute… was that… your first compliment?"
Naruto raised a finger dramatically.
"Don't get used to it."
They laughed.
Two men from opposite worlds. Two survivors. Two broken souls—still standing.
And in that shared laugh, Naruto understood something simple:
Maybe trusting someone wasn't a weakness.
Maybe, to build a new world… he had to start by letting someone in.