"You know, part of me is surprised, and kinda impressed you're here during school hours," Aaron said from behind the island table in his kitchen. "And another, hypocritical part of me feels obligated to tell you not to skip school."

"I just needed a break, ya'know?" Naruto muttered from his seat on the couch. "And I figured I'd take you up on your offer to teach me how to fight. That is if you have the time?"

"I've got something to do later tonight, but I've got a few hours to burn," Aaron said as he rounded the table, his arms crossed in visible skepticism. "But I gotta ask, why now?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I mean, something obviously happened. You seem tense, on edge. What? Someone take your lunch money?"

"Has that ever happened outside of movies and tv?" Naruto asked, deflecting.

"Well, maybe not so often with your generation, but in my day, you had something I wanted, I'd take it," Aaron announced, proudly making a fist.

Naruto suddenly felt nervous at the potential ambiguity of Aaron's character. He seemed like a nice enough guy. That was despite taking his nephew and his friend out to deface private property.

"Right, about the training?" Naruto pressed in an effort to avoid the subject.

"I'll teach you what I can in the time that I have, and my schedule's a little sporadic these days. Now, if you're okay with that, we can continue. Just know that I won't go easy on ya just because you're a kid or Mile's friend. That's just not the kinda guy I am."

"I don't need you to go easy on me," Naruto said, standing to meet the man's challenging gaze. He was done being looked down on. "I want to know how to fight so that I can protect everyone!"

"Everyone?" Aaron questioned with a quirked brow.

"Friends and family, mostly," Naruto specified, feeling somewhat embarrassed by his sudden proclamation.

"Ah, so you mean your old lady?" Aaron guessed.

"Old lady?" Naruto muttered ponderously. "You mean my mom?"

"Obviously. That is unless you've made progress with the blonde from your class?" Aaron asked with a wiggle of his brows.

"If only," Naruto sighed as his thoughts briefly strayed to Gwen. "And yeah, I mean my mom. Miles too, ya'know."

Though he cringed internally at what would happen if his mother ever discovered he referred to her as anything closely resembling old. She was liable to kick his butt, superpowers or not.

"My man!" Aaron clapped a hand over his back. "A little sappy, but I'm proud!"

Naruto smiled despite his previous mood and overall nervousness. There was something about Aaron's praise that lifted his diminished confidence.

It felt nice having someone who believed in him.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem, kid. Now, I've been practicing a few disciplines over the years. This includes some good ol' fashioned Kung Fu, some Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga, and Boxing. Each fighting style has their own positives and negatives. Of course, I'm by no means an expert in any of them; so, rather than fully devoting myself to one, I've come up with something of my own fighting style using a little of each. We'll start with the basics today and before you leave, I'll give you a training guide I had made up recently in case Miles ever wanted to learn," Aaron said.

Naruto's eyes were shining and his anticipation was only second to his determination to learn.

Maybe he wouldn't be able to help get Gwen and Peni home, as he promised, but he was determined to keep his word to Spider-Man. He would protect his family, and New York as a whole.

"That sounds great! Thanks again, Aaron, you don't know how much this means to me!" Naruto said.

Aaron's smile was tapered this time around as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't mention it, Naruto. It's the least I can do."

"Let's get started!" Naruto exclaimed, eager to learn.

Aaron proved to be patient and surprisingly adept at teaching. Their lessons began with simple punches and kicks. Or so Naruto thought until he was shone there was much more to striking than simply throwing fists or kicking as if he was playing soccer.

"In a street fight, more often than not, the first to swing will be the winner, so long as you hit your mark. People often think they're tougher than they really are; use that to your advantage. One solid punch to the jaw or temple, and you're out. Unfortunately, this goes both ways, so you're gonna have to learn how to dodge. Now, keep those hands up and when I swing with my right hand, you dodge and weave like this," Aaron instructed, demonstrating himself.

Naruto paid close attention and successfully mimicked the action, easily avoiding Aaron's punches.

"Good. Now, I'll start off slow and increase speed as you get more comfortable. Remember, keep your eyes on mine but never take your attention off my hands. You can usually predict how someone'll swing by their stance and movement," Aaron continued.

Naruto did as he was told, finding it rather easy to predict Aaron's punches, even as they increased in speed and spontaneity.

"You're a natural!" Aaron praised as he continued to swing at him. "I'm gonna come at you harder now, ya ready?"

"Bring it!"

Naruto easily avoided the first couple of strikes before his senses flared and he managed to evade Aaron's continued onslaught. Before he knew it, it felt as if he was no longer training, but defending himself and it was exhilarating!

Suddenly, Aaron performed a spinning jump kick, which he could not dodge, and instinctively blocked.

"Oh shit, sorry!" Aaron immediately apologized. "Didn't mean to do that!"

"It's okay, I'm fine," Naruto said as he shook his left arm; the one he blocked the kick with. It didn't necessarily hurt but his forearm was tingling.

"I might have gotten ahead of myself, but damn, you're good! Like, really, really good! You sure you've never practiced before?" Aaron asked.

"Uh, no. It's just kinda easy, ya'know?" Naruto muttered sheepishly.

"You may want to consider taking up fighting as a profession then. I mean, I was actually trying there for a sec near the end but I just couldn't hit you!" Aaron continued, sounding astonished. "I know I've already said this, but damn, you're a natural!"

Naruto palmed the back of his head with a smile.

Aaron's phone rang and his own smile disappeared after he looked at the screen. "Give me a sec, I have to take this."

Aaron walked into his kitchen and Naruto made a point of approaching the window to look out at the city, pulling out is own phone. He felt his heart jump seeing he had a text from Gwen, but he couldn't bring himself to open it in that moment.

"What is it?"

Naruto tried to ignore the clearly hushed conversation his enhanced hearing was picking up as he sent Miles a text, making up a lie about a sudden upset stomach to justify his absence.

"Are you sure?"

He couldn't help himself on both fronts. He opened Gwen's text in an effort to respect Aaron's privacy.

I'm sorry, Naruto. Please call me when you can. I want to talk to you before I leave.

Naruto panicked, wondering if Gwen's words were indicative that they had somehow found a way home so soon. He almost called her to confirm but something Aaron said caught his attention.

"Three of them, but how? The collider?"

For an instance, he wondered if he'd heard correctly and unfortunately, he had. There was no denying it.

"Fine, I'll find them."

Naruto locked his own phone and found Aaron digging through a shelve. Suddenly he felt on edge and wondered what the odds were that the man had anything to do with the collider. He also couldn't help but feel dread at the mention of three people and the collider.

Gwen, Peni, and Peter B. Parker came to mind.

It was a stretch and he knew it.

"Here!" Aaron said as he tossed something at him.

Naruto caught a tablet in his hands.

"That's the training guide I was talking about earlier. There's a lot of good sources and videos in there. Practice on your own and we'll train more when there's time. Something just came up," Aaron said. He was just as serious as he was when he answered the call.

"Everything alright?"

"If not, I'll make sure it is."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that.

But he had to know.

Against his better judgment, he moved to an empty and adjacent alley and dawned his mask and suit and stuffed his school clothes into his backpack.

He looked about the alley but couldn't find an ideal hiding spot. From above, he heard the sound of an arguing couple, making him look up. That's when the idea came to him.

He climbed the adjacent building's fire escape and began to ascend. He found a level with a chair and a small table with a murky ashtray.

"This can't be fire safety compliant, but it'll do," Naruto said as he looked in the through the window to find a darkened apartment.

After taking a seat, he peered over the edge at Aaron's own apartment and began to wait. After nearly a half an hour, Naruto began to consider what he was doing and whether or not he was jumping to conclusions, and wasting time.

It was getting late in the day and near the time he was supposed to be home was fast approaching. Being the end of the school week, he was given a little more leeway to say goodbye to his friends – friend – and pack his things.

But if he was late, especially after the week he'd had, Naruto feared his mother would hang him by the short string he was already on.

Naruto was about ready to leave but something told him to hold out a little longer. Though the longer he did wait, the more he began to convince himself that it was all likely a coincidence and he was worrying for nothing. After all, he couldn't think of any other reason why Aaron would be connected to the collider, or Gwen, Peni, or Peter. Let alone Kingpin.

Naruto was reading Gwen's text over for the umpteenth time with his finger hovering over the green icon to call her. He just didn't know what to say to her if he did; other than to warn her of a danger he wasn't sure was even real. However, the idea of speaking to her one more time before she left was certainly tempting.

Just as he was about cave in and call Gwen, his senses flared to life and he looked down to find the Prowler standing on the fire escape outside of Aaron's apartment. He pressed something on his wrist and down below, the dirty dumpster disappeared into the wall, and in its place, a motorcycle rose.

Naruto slapped his hand over his mouth to keep his breathing muffled and pressed himself against the wall as the Prowler mounted his motorcycle.

Then his phone began to ring, playing an 8-bit version of Spider-Man's theme song.

The eyes of Prowler's mask were white. He knew this because they'd just locked eyes.

Naruto knocked over the chair as he began to run up the steps until he reached the flat roof. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, or even consider the implications of what he'd just witnessed, he heard the metallic clatter of rapidly approaching footsteps.

Not a moment later, the Prowler leapt into view.

Naruto began running across the building and jumped. It was only when he was halfway between two apartment buildings did he realize he had jumped from one to another. And before he could even think to panic, his feet hit the loose gravel on the roof, coming to a sliding stop.

"Holy shit! That actually worked?" Naruto said in disbelief. He almost forgot why he had jumped until his senses flared again and he saw the Prowler standing on the other rooftop, his menacing mask contorted into a dangerous glare.

"Another Spider-Man? Where did you come from?" Prowler asked in a low, robotic voice. His head was tilted, as if confused yet his demeanor remained threatening. That's when he opened his hands to reveal glinting claws.

Naruto's feet slid again as he began to run, this time to a rooftop entrance of the building he was on. It was locked so he tore the door opened and off its hinges. He found himself inside a narrow and spiraling stairway. Above he heard quickly encroaching footsteps, so before his own actions fully registered, he jumped again.

Naruto saw the floor numbers blur by his vision, beginning on the ninth floor, he caught himself on the fourth. Unfortunately, his relief was momentary as the metal guardrail groaned and snapped beneath his weight, sending him falling the last four floors.

He fell on his back with a loud thud and gasped as he felt the air leave his body in one violet exhale. Above, he could see the Prowler glaring down at him. Naruto took that moment to try and catch his breath, knowing he had at least nine stories between them.

That was until the Prowler jumped.

Naruto cursed again as he rolled to his feet, bursting through a rather busy lobby of the apartment, ignoring the gasps from those around as he continued to run as fast as his feet would carry him.

He didn't have to turn around to know he was still being followed by the Prowler. His senses alerted him of the danger coming from behind, prompting him to run even faster, through traffic and by startled passerby's.

He couldn't help but regret his choice to give Gwen her web-shooters back because he really could have used them to make a quick getaway because if his senses could be trusted, the Prowler was quickly gaining on him.

A cacophony of horns and angry curses sounded as Naruto ran down a busy street packed with near standstill traffic, occasionally jumping from rooftop to rooftop of the cars.

"Watch where you're running! I just had this thing cleaned!" An old man with dark blue aviators shouted at him, shaking his fist at him through his open window.

The voice sounded oddly familiar, Naruto thought in passing as he continued to run. Suddenly, he felt his senses stop flaring and he risked a glance over his shoulder, only to find the Prowler nowhere in sight. So, he continued running, jumping onto the side of a moving bus and climbed through an opened window.

"Look mom, Spider-Man just climbed through the window!"

Naruto looked at the little girl wearing a pink Spider-Man mask pointing at him in awe. Beside her, her young mother merely hummed her acknowledgment but didn't look away from her phone.

Naruto quickly looked about the bus to find most people on the bus had their heads down, also on their phones.

Despite this, Naruto had the wherewithal to keep his mask on, just in case anyone had seen him. To his fortune, he was not the only one on the bus wearing a full Spider-Man suit, so blending in became that much more viable in case the Prowler was still somehow following him.

Naruto grabbed his own phone to call and warn Gwen, but found it was cracked and flickering. He managed to find Gwen's number and called.

"Naruto! I – "

"Gwen, meet me at May Parker's house!" Naruto whispered into his phone. "Peni should know where that is."

"What are you – "

"Just do it!"

"Naruto you're not – "

His phone shut off before anything further could be said and it did not come on again despite his efforts.

"Shit," Naruto muttered and slumped into his seat as his subsiding adrenaline, and the weight of his discovery, began to weigh on him.

Miles' uncle Aaron was the Prowler.

Naruto decided to go back to May's house knowing if anyone could help him, it was her.

By the time he made it to May Parker's home, the day was coming to its end and he chose to willfully ignore the trouble he was going to be in by the time he made it back to his own home. However, the safety of Gwen and Peni were his top priority in that moment.

His fist hovered over the door, ready to knock, but something was keeping him from doing so.

It was doubt.

Once again and despite his best efforts, Naruto found himself feeling unsure and alone in the chill of the evening. Spider-Man seemed to believe in him, for however briefly he knew him, but no one else did. Not Gwen, Peni, or even Mary Jane herself.

After his encounter with the Prowler, in where all he could do was run in fear, he was no longer certain either. After all, how was he supposed to take on the Kingpin if all he could do was cower.

"You just gonna stand there?"

Naruto blinked to find May Parker standing in the doorway with a warm and welcoming smile.

"I…"

"You seem troubled, Naruto. Why don't you come in and we'll talk about it?" May said, standing aside and motioning him in.

He could feel the warmth radiating from within the home, both physically and metaphorically. Naruto wanted nothing more than to embrace the feeling, but couldn't shake his inner turmoil.

"Why?" Naruto asked as he looked directly into her steely blue eyes. "Why do you believe in me?"

She had, after all, offered to help him.

Her smile was somehow both patient and understanding, and just what he needed. "Come in and I'll tell you."

Naruto followed her inside, taking off his mask.

"You remind me a lot of my Peter, you know. He was about your age when he first got his powers," May said as she picked up a picture frame to show him.

It was one he failed to see earlier. In the picture was a younger May and an equally kind looking man, with a teenaged Peter standing happily between them. They looked like the perfect picture of a happy family.

"My Peter was too nervous to tell me anything. Thought he had to take on the world by himself. He was more like my husband than he would ever realize in that they were both stubborn," May said with a ruthful chuckle. She continued to stare at the picture. "Do you know how I found out he was Spider-Man?"

"How?" Naruto asked. He was enthralled and always willing to learn more about his hero.

"After a close encounter with Rhino, he was hurt; badly," May began, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "Of course, he couldn't go to the hospital and once upon a time, I was a nurse. I nearly lost him that night."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Naruto said, leaning forward, he took a hold of May's hands. "He was very lucky to have such an amazing person like you in his life."

"Thank you, Naruto. That means more to me than you know," May said, patting his cheek affectionately. "Anyways, once I was aware, he couldn't get rid of me. And now neither can you."

Naruto leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "I… thank you for your support, but I still don't understand why you believe I can actually be Spider-Man? I'm not very brave and I can't fight. Not to mention I'm not very good with heights. I mean, how can a Spider-Man be afraid of heights?"

"My Peter was the biggest wimp when he was a boy," May giggled. "He confided in me his doubts when he first became Spider-Man. They were the same as yours are now, you know. Give or take some girl trouble."

Naruto almost agreed to having said troubles, until he realized that neither Gwen or Peni were remote possibilities for various reasons.

Then he wondered why Peni came to mind in the same thought as Gwen.

"How did he deal with them?" Naruto asked, taking his mind off of such unwanted thoughts.

"The same way you will. Earlier, you asked why I believe in you. Well, I believe in you because when you promised to protect both myself and Mary Jane, you believed in yourself," May said with another heartwarming smile. "Now, I don't know what's happened to make you doubt yourself so much, but just know that my son believed in you. I believe in you. You can be the next Spider-Man; you just have to believe it."

Naruto felt a sudden surge of inspiration stemming from May's words and stood to his feet. "I can be Spider-Man?"

"Of course, you can!" May encouraged.

"Yes, I can do it!" Naruto announced and that time, he really did believe it. "Thank you, May."

"Please, call me Aunt May," she requested, standing to her feet with open arms. "That is, if that's okay with you?"

"Sure thing, Aunt May," Naruto said, finding the words come easy, as well as the hug.

"Good," May said after parting. "Now, if you don't mind my asking, what had you so worked up earlier?"

"Oh," and just like that, Naruto felt his enthusiasm fall away with concern taking its place. "I just found out that my best friend's uncle is the Prowler."

May became just as serious as he. "How do you know this?"

"I was at his place earlier. He was teaching me how to fight because… well, he was just teaching me when he got a call. With my new and enhanced hearing, I was able to hear as he spoke with someone about three people and a collider. It was too much of a coincidence to ignore. The mentions of a collider were enough to make me suspicious, and I couldn't ignore the mentions of three other people. I was sure he was talking about Gwen, Peni, and Pe – " Naruto stopped himself before he said the name.

"Peter?" Aunt May finished uncertainly.

He couldn't bring himself to lie to her, if even for her own sake.

"We never really got to talk about it earlier, but Peni Parker, my friend from earlier, she isn't from this universe. It has something to do with the collider and she isn't the only one," Naruto began.

"I don't think I follow," Aunt May said slowly, sounding nervous.

"I don't exactly know the specifics, but when Peter, your Peter, came into contact with the collider, I think it sent some sort of signal to other universes. Universies? Anyway, this pulled in others with similar genetics, powers, maybe? I don't know the specifics, just what Gwen, Peni, and I've theorized," Naruto said.

Aunt May sat down again, looking confused. "You're saying there are other Spider-Men here? Another Peter?"

"Spider-People. Peni has a psychic link with her spider and mech. Gwen was the one who was bitten by a radioactive spider in her own universe. As for Peter B. Parker, well, I don't know much about him because they all kinda ditched me, but they should be coming here soon," Naruto finished.

Aunt May looked up at him. "Really, here?"

"They should be. My phone's broken, but after learning about the Prowler, I managed to call Gwen. They should be here soon. Also, there are two other spider-people that might be with them for five in total. One's dressed in all black and seems straight out of the fifties, or whatever era that was. The other… well, I'll let you see for yourself," Naruto said.

"I see. That is a lot to take in," Aunt May said. She took a deep breath before standing to her feet again with a smile. "While we wait, why don't we get you outfitted with a proper suit?"

"Proper suit?" Naruto asked.

"No offence, dear, but you can't necessarily be a proper Spider-Man wearing that, now can you?" Aunt May asked with a teasing smile.

Naruto looked down to his semi-dirty suit. A part of him didn't want to get rid of it because of who gave it to him, but the idea of having a suit of his own was something of a childhood dream.

He was confused when Aunt May led him outside to the shed, which turned out to be an elevator, leading to what could only be classified as an underground lair.

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed, awestruck at what he was looking at.

He was in a large room with seemingly endless space as, with what looked like spider-webs shimmering in the dark. In the same space there were elevated platforms. Some held massive weights, while another had a Spider-Man themed jeep and motorcycle. Lining one of the walls was a large, multi-screened computer. Opposite that were at least twelve spider-suits, each incased in individual pods.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Aunt May asked with a smirk.

"Yeah! But how? I thought being a super-hero doesn't really pay?" Naruto asked.

"Normally it doesn't, but Peter was a smart business man. Through Shield, he was able to license his image, which of course paid for all of this," Aunt May explained as she took a seat at the computer.

"What's Shield?" Naruto asked.

"Don't you worry about that now. Let's get you outfitted first," Aunt May said as she began typing away on the computer. Off to the side, a door seemed to materialize from a wall. Inside was a small white room with a single mirror. "Step inside and strip down to your briefs. Your spider-suit needs to be special made, otherwise you'll find web-swinging and other such maneuvers hard to accomplish."

"Actually I wear boxers," Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly after having realized what he'd just said, "but you probably didn't need to know that."

He made his way into the changing room, glancing nervously at Aunt May.

"Don't worry, I won't peek," she said humorously.

The door shut behind him and he set his backpack down. He began to unclothe, removing his top and then the undershirt he wore beneath it. He neatly folded and placed it within his backpack and when he looked up, he saw himself in the mirror for the first time since bitten.

He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. His mother said he looked taller and his tight clothing proved as much, but he had muscles! Naruto ran his hands over his biceps, and then his pectorals, and finally his abdomen. All of which had been flat before, were now pronounced.

"I'm hot!" Naruto all but shouted, and then immediately blushed realizing what he had just said. He only hoped Aunt May hadn't heard him. He quickly pulled of his spider-suit bottoms and pants after.

"What now?"

There was no answer.

"Aunt May?" Naruto called out.

"Who are you?"

Her voice was faint but sounded surprised, almost scared.

"Aunt May! What's going… on?"

Without thinking twice, Naruto rushed out to find Gwen, Peni, Peter B. Parker, the dark Spider-Man, and Spider-Ham.

"Hello again, son," the dark Spider-Man greeted him with a two-finger salute.

"We found the one's you were talking about!" Spider-Ham said, waving at him excitedly. "Good news, I'm pretty sure they don't hate you! At least not the girls here."

Peter was hugging Aunt May while Gwen and Peni both stared at him, wide eyed and blushing. Behind them, SP/ /dr was waving at him with a smile displayed.

"You guys are finally here," Naruto said, taking a moment to wave back at the mech.

"I…" Gwen trailed as her eyes roamed him.

"We…" Peni muttered, doing the same.

Both of their faces were red.

"Woah, why're you naked in my aunt's place?" Peter asked.

"Your aunt? She's my aunt!" Naruto shot back.

"Since when?" Peter asked, approaching him.

"Since like, twenty-six minutes ago!" Naruto said, moving to meet him.

"That's oddly specific!"

"I'm an oddly specific guy!"

They were almost face to face, with Peter just being taller by half a head.

May stepped in between the two. "Boys, please! Peter, settle down. I'm getting Naruto fitted for a suit. Naruto, please go back to the fitting booth; you're going to make the poor girls faint."

"Whatever," Peter huffed, turning away with his arms crossed and a scowl.

"Why would I make them… oh?" Naruto looked down when he felt a breeze strangely coming from the dark Spider-Man and realized he was shirtless and without pants. "Oh."

Gwen and Peni were both still staring at him. Gwen's cheeks were much darker than usual, he now noticed, and he could have almost sworn to see a small trickle of blood from Peni's nose.

"Back in the booth, Naruto," Aunt may said with a knowing grin, gently urging him away. "Your suit should be done within the hour once scanned. Any requests?"

"He likes orange," Gwen muttered in something of a semi-trance.

"Hot," Peni droned. Behind her, SP/ /dr looked confused.

"Right, I'm naked," Naruto muttered calmly before not so calmly sprinting back to the booth with his own blush. "Oh, and orange's good!"

After a few scans, he was clothed once again, but reluctant to face the others. Not for his exposure, though that certainly played a role in it.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto exited the room to find Peter and Aunt May, speaking amongst themselves off in the corner. Peni was seated crossed legged atop SP/ /dr. Speaking with the dark Spider-Man and Spider-Ham.

Gwen seemed to be waiting for him near the door. "Hey," she began nervously.

"Hey," Naruto repeated as evenly as he could. "I called you here because I just learned that my friend's uncle is the Prowler, and it sounds like he's after you all."

"Yeah, May filled us in while you were in there," Gwen said.

"Good," Naruto said.

Naruto was finding it hard to maintain eye contact with Gwen.

"You understand why I did, what I did, right?" Gwen asked.

Naruto crossed his arms and sighed. He knew the conversation was coming. "Yeah, I do."

"So," Gwen trailed.

"So what?" Naruto asked.

Gwen looked down. "Do you forgive me?"

"Look, Gwen. There isn't anything to forgive. You guys don't think I can do this, and I can understand why. But that's not going to stop me from being Spider-Man," Naruto said, looking her in the eyes with the conviction Aunt May's belief in him fueled.

"It's not that I don't believe in you, Naruto. Or that I don't think you can't be Spider-Man. It's just that… " Gwen seemed to have trouble finding the words she was looking for.

"It doesn't matter. You'll all be gone soon enough anyways; I won't bother you anymore," Naruto said, walking past her, feeling his resolve to remain indignant waver.

"Naruto," Gwen called after him but he continued.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to know what we're going to do next?" Naruto asked.

"Woah now, what's this we, business? I thought we've already decided you're not going to help us," Peter said.

"Peter," Aunt May warned.

"I don't care what you have to say and I don't need your permission. This is my city. Once you're all gone, it'll only be me. Now, I promised Spider-Man I would look after his family, and I promised myself I'd protect my city. I also promised I'd get Gwen and Peni home, and I always keep my promises," Naruto said, meeting the man's eyes all the while.

"Oh yeah? And how do you plan on doing that?" Peter asked, sounding much less confident and condescending that time.

"I've already offered Naruto my help," Aunt May said, moving to stand beside Naruto, crossing her arms. "I'm going to give him a suit and some web-shooters. My Peter had a litany of training programs in his computer that are now at his disposal, as per my permission."

Peter looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't in the end. "Fine."

"Well now with that out of the way, and that you're all here, I believe introductions are in order," Aunt May said, pushing both Naruto and Peter where the others were.

Peni waved at him, shyly this time, and Naruto offered her a small smile and returned her wave. He had known her for less than Gwen, if only by a couple of days. Though she had, in passing, offered her own help, it wasn't to the same extent. She had also saved his skin by covering his absence at Vision, as she promised.

Though by now, his mother was likely looking for him, but Naruto decided not to think about that.

Peni's beaming smile was rewarding.

Gwen's anger was confusing.

"Oh! Me first! Me first!" Spider-Ham exclaimed as he waved his hand.

"Go ahead," Aunt May said, sounding somewhat nervous by the talking animal.

As Spider-Ham introduced himself, and his origins, Gwen moved to stand beside him.

"So, you're okay with short-stuff there, but you're still mad at me?" She asked in a harsh whisper.

"I'm not mad at you, Gwen. And she didn't promise to train me, only to ditch me," Naruto responded evenly.

"I guess I'll go next," the Dark Spider-Man began.

"It was for your own good!" Gwen continued in a harsh whisper. "Naruto, you've only just gotten your powers and we're running out of time. I'm sorry, okay, but don't pretend you don't understand. You're smarter than that."

Naruto felt his face warm at what he wasn't sure was her praise. "I just wanted to help you."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and call you Spider-Noir," Peter chimed in. "Because I'm Spider-Man and with your getup, it fits, you know?"

"That's fine," Spider-Noir said with an uncaring shrug of his shoulders. "But what's a noir?"

After a brief and mostly unsuccessful attempt to explain himself from Peter, Peni was next in her introduction.

Beside him, Gwen sighed. "So, what, that's it? You're not going to forgive me?"

Naruto looked at her and felt his heart wrench at her saddened expression. "There's nothing… I'm not…"

He didn't know why it was so hard to find the proper way to prove he really wasn't angry at her. He never was. He was only trying to avoid the inevitable.

"Well since the kiddies are having a lover's quarrel, I'll go ahead and go next," Peter announced rather loudly.

Gwen stepped away from him, leaving Naruto knowing he'd made a mistake in the way he was behaving.

Once Peter's rather lackluster introduction was done, they all looked to Gwen for hers.

"I'm Gwen."

The group was silent as they waited for her to continue, but she never did. She only crossed her arms with a remaining frown aimed off to the side.

"Uh, is that it?" Peter asked.

"Stacey."

"Ah, so we know her last name now, I feel informed," Peter said sarcastically.

"Like yours was any better?" Gwen bit back.

"Okay," Aunt May elongated the word awkwardly. "You're up, Naruto."

"My name's Naruto Namikaze. My likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future are – " He paused and shook his head. "No wait, wrong introduction. Uh yeah, ya'know; I was bitten by a radioactive spider a couple of days ago and now I'm just here, trying to do my best. Even if you guys don't want my help, I'll do what I can to get you all home."

"Yeah, how do you plan on doing that?" Peter asked skeptically. "We went to Doc Ock's to get the blueprints to the collider so that I could find a way to reverse it and get us home."

"You mean so that I could find a way to reverse it and get us home," Peni butted in.

"Point is, we're good. We're going to find that collider, plug this here goober in the machine once I fix it – "

"Once I fix it," Peni once again intruded. "Which I wouldn't need to do if you hadn't dropped the first one in your soda!"

"Once Peni fixes it," Peter continued undeterred. "Then we'll all be going home. We don't need your help."

"Peter," Aunt May began in warning.

"What? It's true! Or are we all supposed to pretend a short speech and a costume's all it's going to take? The kid's in way over his head here. These are real life bad guys we're dealing with here, and trust me when I say they won't hesitate to kill him when he inevitably screws up!" Peter finished harshly.

"You don't have to be such an asshole!" Peni shouted from atop her equally angry SP/ /dr.

Naruto felt his ears burning from both embarrassment and anger at being presented the harsh truth. All he wanted to do in that moment was disappear.

"Woah, where'd the kid go?" Spider-Noir asked.

Everyone was looking for him as if he wasn't there. Naruto was about to curse at their unnecessary cruelness, but then realized he could see through his own hands.

He was invisible.

"I'll be back for my suit when it's ready, Aunt May," Naruto announced as he stalked over to the elevator, feeling that despite the new discovery of yet another power, he needed to cool off.

"Naruto," Aunt May called after him softly.

As did Peni but he continued on.

Peter wasn't entirely wrong in his criticism and yet, Naruto had no intention of giving up despite his biting words. On that same end, neither was he willing to force things or grovel. He would come back when they were gone.

Naruto stepped out of the shed, only to stop in his tracks seeing Mary Jane standing in the yard.

They stared at one another and she looked angry.

"Mrs. Parker, I didn't mean to trespass, I swear. Aunt – erm, May, I mean, Mrs. Parker, the other Mrs. Parker, invited me over to – "

"I'm sorry."

Naruto was not expecting an apology.

"W-What?"

"I'm sorry for everything I said earlier, Naruto. I should have never doubted you. Especially after offering to do something so selfless as protecting May and I. It just, it hurts, you know?" Mary Jane continued as she slowly approached him.

"I do," Naruto admitted.

"Will you help me then? Will you please help me put an end to the suffering Kingpin invokes on everyone?" Mary Jane asked as she looked up at him. "Will you please help me stop him?"

Naruto looked into her teary eyes and suddenly, the world came crashing down around him. Along with it a calming sense of clarity at the reminder of what was really important beyond his fractured ego and his capricious need to prove himself to others.

His promise to Spider-Man, and his responsibility to his own powers.

"I will."

Mary Jane surprised him with a sudden hug.

"Thank you."

Naruto hugged her back.

After a few moments, Mary Jane pulled back and wiped her eyes. "Sorry," she meekly apologized.

"No need," Naruto said.

"Do you mind if we go inside? It's kind of cold out here and there's a few things I'd like to discuss with you," Mary Jane said. "It's about the Kingpin. I've been doing some research and I think I may have an idea on just how we can stop him."

"Sure," Naruto agreed.

Down below, Gwen was fuming.

"Well, got to give it to the kid, he's got spirit," Spider-Noir said as they all stared at the large monitor showing the interaction between Naruto and Mary Jane. "Given time, I think he'll make a damn fine hero."

"Yeah," Peni agreed airily and with an oddly pleasant smile as she drew lazy circles on a confused SP/ /dr's face.

That frustrated Gwen further and she couldn't understand why.

Why was Naruto being so stubborn? Why didn't he forgive her and understand that she was just trying to keep him safe?

Why did her chest hurt whenever he smiled at Peni, or hugged Mary Jane?

"MJ," Peter muttered softly.

"Why don't we go over our plan to get to that collider?" May said, turning off the monitor just as both Naruto and Mary Jane entered her home.

Gwen barely listened to the ongoing conversation as she looked at her phone; at her wallpaper with a small smile she couldn't contain despite her mood. It was the picture she had taken of Naruto wearing that dumb fox mask she had gotten him.

Her own eyes were focused on those dumb pair of blue eyes that pierced through the mask, and through her when they were angry at her.

Again, she asked herself why he had so much of an effect on her? For better or worse.

Why did she like seeing his goofy smile spread those whiskered cheeks?

Why did he make her laugh at the most mundane of things?

Why, since first losing her best friend, did simply being next to him brighten her day?

Why didn't they have more time to make things right.

Most importantly, why did she have to leave him?

Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long to update. A lot has been going on lately, some bad, but most good. Everything should be settling down now, given me more time to write!