SWNOVELXO Chapter 24: ch 24
Five Days Later
Five days.
Five days of tense silence.
Of intertwined nights.
Of glances shared and unspoken truths that weighed more than any words.
Since the Brooklyn operation, Naruto and Natasha had been holed up in the safehouse — like ghosts between two worlds.
Far from S.H.I.E.L.D., far from the public eye.
But not far from him.
Tony Stark.
He hadn't made a move yet. No attacks. No summons.
But... he was watching.
Naruto could feel it — like a background hum, a presence circling their lives like a hungry satellite.
— "He'll come eventually," Natasha said calmly, emotionless.
— "He's already here, somewhere. Just waiting… for an opening," Naruto replied, leaning against the window ledge, eyes closed.
Since he'd activated the Seishin no Musubi, he'd been sensing subtle echoes in Natasha's chakra: her tension, her fears, the nervous pulses when doubt struck.
And in his own body, he felt a floating warmth he could no longer identify.
Not entirely his. Not entirely hers either.
They were bound now.
Body, spirit… and something in between.
— "Do you hate him?"
— "Tony? No." He paused.
— "I fear him. A little. Because he's what I could've become… if I'd let anger destroy everything."
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✦ 09:18 AM – Abandoned Industrial Zone, New Jersey
Tony Stark stood in the ruins of the hangar, peering through the polarized lens of his partially disassembled Mark II prototype.
A crumbling building, isolated, yet pulsing with active thermal signatures — the kind no military database could explain.
But more than that…
A red energy trail, erratic blotches glowing faintly along the ground.
— "You were here. I know it," he murmured, pressing his hand to a faint footprint.
Invisible to the naked eye.
But still warm in the infrared layers.
The video replayed in his mind. That boy. That aura.
Tony had seen alien tech. Forbidden military prototypes.
But never… this.
He wasn't afraid. But he wasn't comfortable either.
He walked to the center of the hangar. Set a probe drone on the floor.
Then spoke out loud — no comms activated:
— "I know you're watching too. So come on. We can play hide and seek, or we can talk. I've got whiskey, algorithms, and zero patience."
A whisper answered.
No wind.
Just a shift in the air.
And a voice.
— "I'm here."
Tony turned slowly. And saw him.
Naruto.
Simple.
Clad in a dark, closed coat, hands in his pockets.
No thermal signature. No visible weapons.
But a presence… dense.
Like the air around him was charged.
Tony paused.
He hadn't expected him to feel this… calm.
— "I was expecting something more dramatic. Lightning. Fire. Maybe a ghost dragon."
— "I can do that.
But you haven't earned it yet."
A flicker of amusement passed over Tony's face.
— "Charming. And intimidating. I like it."
Naruto didn't move.
— "You've been following us. Why?"
Tony raised one hand, open-palmed.
— "Because I saw you heal a woman who should have died. And nothing — in this world or in my science — explains how you did it."
He pulled a small holographic disk from his pocket, activated it:
The video played. Natasha, bloodied.
Naruto touching her. Golden chains. Red light.
— "Not medicine. Not a prosthetic. Not an electromagnetic field.
You manipulated… something."
Naruto stepped forward. Slowly.
Studied the disk.
Then said simply:
— "Chakra."
Tony frowned.
— "That's not an explanation. That's a name."
— "You're not looking for understanding. You're looking for replication."
Tony stiffened slightly.
— "I call it learning.
You can call it desperation."
Naruto tilted his head slightly.
— "And if you do understand… what then?
Will you sell it?
Optimize it?
Install it in an army?"
A hard silence fell.
Tony sighed.
Then sat on a rusted crate.
— "No.
I'll keep it.
For the moments when I can't build.
For the people I can't save… with metal."
A pause.
Naruto looked at him.
Long. Quiet.
Then, for the first time, he said something human:
— "Then come.
But you won't come alone.
You'll learn to listen before you tinker."
And Tony smiled.
— "Deal."
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