Naruto: Seishin – The Bond That Binds

The room was silent, bathed in a soft blue glow from the reinforced windows.

At the center, Naruto meditated, eyes closed.

But he wasn't alone.

Tony Stark sat cross-legged a few feet away, holding a metal flask in his hands.

He didn't drink. Not tonight.

Tonight, he needed clarity.

"You know what really gets me?" he said at last. "It's not that he betrayed me. It's that I saw it coming. I watched him slip. And I did nothing."

Naruto opened one eye, saying nothing.

Tony continued.

"Obadiah… he was my mentor. My uncle. Maybe even a father figure, or something close to it. I grew up with his eyes on me. His advice. His voice in my ear at every gala, every decision. And deep down… I always knew he looked down on me. Not for my genius. For my naïveté."

He exhaled.

"He thought I didn't have what it takes. And maybe he was right. I was just a kid with billions and an oversized ego. And him… he believed in control. In strategy. Not in hope. Not in people."

Naruto asked quietly:

"And you? What do you believe in?"

Tony fell silent for a moment, then answered in a lower voice:

"I'm starting to believe in the ones who stay. The ones who don't walk away when you hit rock bottom. Who don't look at you like a tool or a god… but just like… you."

A pause. Then:

"Like her. Pepper."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"You love her."

Tony gave a bitter chuckle.

"Took me ten years to figure that out. And a war in a cave to realize she was the one keeping me alive—even from a distance. The problem is… I've never known how to say it. I build armor. Not bridges."

He stopped.

"You're gonna tell me that's stupid."

Naruto shook his head.

"No. That's human."

Tony fell silent again. Then added:

"I saw the way you looked at her. Natasha. You didn't say a word. But your whole body screamed that you'd protect her with your last breath. I envy that."

A heavy silence.

"But I'm scared. Scared that if I open up… I'll fall again. That I'll lose everything I'm trying to rebuild."

Naruto closed his eyes. Placed a hand on the ground.

"You've already started to change. To open up. That's real courage. Not the armor."

Tony had gone quiet for a long time, eyes lost in the trembling reflections of his tea.

Naruto didn't speak either.

He listened — the way you listen to someone standing at the edge of a cliff. Not pushing. Not pulling. Just… there.

Finally, Stark's voice returned.

"You know… everyone talks about my tower, my billions, my inventions. But no one ever knows what it's like… to have your mentor — your father figure — look you in the eye… and lie."

"Obadiah. He took everything from me. Not the money. Not the armor.

He killed the boy I was the day he truly tried to kill me."

Naruto remained still, arms crossed.

Tony continued, voice rougher now:

"Pepper… she might be the only person who still sees the man I try to be, not just the image I project. But she… she deserves better. Someone stable. Someone who doesn't wear death disguised as gadgets."

He gave a broken laugh.

"And yet when she looks at me… I think I might still have a chance. A small one. To be better."

Naruto looked at him.

"You do have that chance. As long as you don't abandon it yourself."

Tony turned to him, surprised.

"Aren't you supposed to be some mystical ninja cryptic type? Not a life coach?"

Naruto cracked a smile — his first since the start of the exchange.

"We can be both."

A quieter silence settled between them.

Then, in that suspended moment, Naruto felt a gentle vibration deep within his system.

> Notification: Emotional condition stabilized. Receptive psychic unit detected.

System Activation: Hikari no Fukkatsu – Light of Rebirth

Description: Allows the user — in exchange for a massive quantity of vital chakra and a sincere emotional bond to their original world — to locate and restore a fragment of a lost or erased Bijū essence.

Condition: Only one attempt allowed per life cycle.

Do you wish to initiate the "Primordial Resurgence" option?

Naruto remained motionless, his mind already far away.

Something deep inside him… had responded to Tony.

A memory.

A forgotten breath.

The shattered presence of Kurama. Of Gyūki.

Of the others, consumed by the collapse of his world.

Tony was watching him, brow furrowed.

"You just totally disconnected from reality. You good? You coming back?"

Naruto lifted his eyes.

"I think… you just reminded me why I'm here."

Tony tilted his head, confused.

"You mean here-here? Like 'in this warehouse,' or 'on this crazy-ass planet'?"

"Both."

Naruto stood up. And for the first time since their meeting, chakra began to pulse around him — a restrained tide, held back for far too long.

"I'm going to try something. It's risky. But I can't sit idle anymore."

"Is it going to explode?" Tony asked, half-serious.

"I hope not."

And in the silence that followed, Naruto closed his eyes.

He thought of Kurama.

Of his voice's warmth.

His pride.

His fury.

His brutal loyalty.

Then, he whispered to himself:

"I'm going to find you. I promise."