Lately I've been on a Marvel kick and this idea came to mind as I was reading several Naruto/X-men fics.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Marvel. I'd like to work for the latter though...I've got some bitchin' ideas.

Evolution of a Hero

The X-Gene

For a fifteen year old genin, Naruto Uzumaki thought himself to be a pretty decent ninja.

He could make thousands of clones and not break a sweat. He was pretty good at on-the-fly thinking and his tactical pranking was respected (yet still frowned upon) by the best of the best in his home village of Konohagakure no Sato, roughly translated to what he would later know as English as 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves'. Two years ago, he had learned that if he really tried, he could crack a boulder with a single punch. He could run forty miles without rest and his stamina was immense, according to his 'Jiji', the Sandaime Hokage.

Sure, there were some things that had to be worked on; his choice of clothing for one. A orange outfit was usually a bad choice for those trying to be stealthy. His bright blonde hair could probably use a trimming here and there for another thing. The short stature he had...who had ever heard of a fifteen year old being only 4' 10"? The damnable whisker marks would be easily recognized if he ever became strong enough to be a concern. Even if he tried to cover them with a genjutsu, someone would sense the chakra and dispel it...not that he could use a genjutsu anyway.

The whiskers themselves was something he wasn't fond of, considering they reminded him of his burden.

On the day of his birth, his home was attacked by a demonic entity known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The village's leader at the time, the Yondaime Hokage (Forth Fire Shadow), was forced to use a sealing technique to lock the damnable creature up within his (Naruto's) gut, seen by the spiraling black mark over his stomach whenever he used chakra. The Yondaime died, and Naruto's life became one of loneliness.

He was an orphan, so he was told, and due to his burden, not one person would adopt him. As he grew up, people ignored him, making him the pariah and treating him like the plague. Children Naruto's age were encouraged to bully him and/or stay away from him. There was a law, however, that kept his burden known only to the generation before his; if anyone were to speak of the Kyuubi's location, they would be sent to death, and the same outcome would be if anyone were to try and inform Naruto or his generation and those to come of his burden.

His former sensei Mizuki was not immune to this law.

The man had hindered Naruto's teaching, purposely failing him again and again before he was tricked into stealing the village's secrets for the silver haired chunin. The man then attacked him and Naruto's other sensei, Umino Iruka, before revealing Naruto's burden. After throwing a large shuriken into Iruka's back and attempting to kill him, Naruto took action. His new technique, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique), had come in handy when he beat the man within an inch of his life.

The ANBU that arrived shortly after the assault mercifully ended the man's life for breaking a village law and attempting treason.

The week that followed caused Naruto to focus on fixing his faults, like cutting his hair for one. With help from his sister-like friend Ichiraku Ayame, the blonde now had what the girl referred to as a 'short shag'...whatever that meant. He still had some of his hair's usual spikes, but other than that, it was now short and easily maintained as opposed to his 'abomination' (Ayame's word for the afro-like hairstyle he had before).

Though why she couldn't look at him anymore and why most girls giggled whenever they looked at him confused the shit out of him.

Back to the point, Naruto's team was one he could do without. His former 'crush', a loose term for the younger girl, and his rival were his teammates. The first, Sakura Haruno, was (like himself and the rest of their graduating class) fifteen years old, and had long pink hair. Her forehead was rather large, but personally Naruto thought it worked for her. Earlier in their school lives, Naruto had asked her out on several occasions, but she had beaten on him whenever he did. This was partially why he dropped his 'crush', with age being the other reason. Her lack of shinobi skill and 'fan-girl' antics was rather disturbing as well...

His other teammate was the survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre several years ago, Sasuke Uchiha. The guy was a prick as far as Naruto was concerned. He had that 'I-am-so-much-better-than-you-it's-funny' smirk whenever Naruto would lose in a spar against him. Well, it was either that smirk or the 'I-hate-you-all' emo glare/scowl he would have on his face...

Other than his sensei, a lazy perverted cyclops known as Kakashi Hatake, Naruto thought Sasuke was the worst person to work with.

He would think about how bad his sensei was...but it wasn't nice to think about the dead.

Which brings us to the present: Two masked men with chains linking horrifying gauntlets on their arms were running at him. A moment ago they had killed his sensei, and now they were racing for him.

Naruto froze as his life flashed before his eyes. He wondered if this was it briefly. Would he die at such a young age?

No!

He didn't want to die...not without seeing his Jiji one more time. He thought about how the old man would often kindly entertain him in the Hokage's office. How he could sit in the man's chair and pretend to be the leader while the secretary looked on with a smile...

What was that flash?

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto whipped his head around and gasped. He was back in the Hokage's Office!

How? I was about to die! Did I die? Is this heaven? Hell? Did Kami grant me my last wish? The blonde's thoughts were running miles while the Hokage barked at his ANBU to catch him. The room span and Naruto felt himself falling, being caught by a pair of arms belonging to a cat-masked ANBU with purple hair.

"Neko-neechan..." he whispered before succumbing to unconsciousness.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a good man, so he liked to believe anyway. He took care of his family, village, and his successor/predecessor's son as best he could. At the age of 70, having lived through three wars and earning the title Kami no Shinobi, he had seen everything.

Or so he thought.

One moment he was doing paperwork, grumbling as his teeth clenched on his pipe, and then he heard a very, very familiar 'Vssht' sound. Looking up he saw his surrogate grandson staring at the doors to his office. There was a faint yellow light on him but it vanished in a blink of the eye. Surprised, the Sandaime Hokage could only manage to say, "N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto swiveled around and his eyes widened in equal shock as he gasped. The Hokage's mind saw the signs, but he reacted too late as the boy was already falling.

"CATCH HIM!" Hiruzen barked to his hidden guard. Neko, the purple haired ANBU, appeared behind the young teenager and caught him in her arms. He heard Naruto whisper, but his old hearing couldn't make out the word. Neko quickly adjusted her hold on the boy and stood, looking at the Hokage blankly.

"Take him to the hospital and stay with him," Hiruzen ordered, before looking at the rest of the remaining three ANBU, "Go to Ryu and have him send out a squad to return Team 7! This is a A-rank mission! Go!"

The ANBU nodded briefly before vanishing. Hiruzen sighed and rubbed the temples on his head before calling for his secretary. Once she was in the room, he interlaced his fingers, "Summon my advisors and Danzo. Once they arrive and enter my room, seal it from the outside. Understood?"

"Hai, Sandaime-sama," the woman said with a bow before going to do just that. Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed his pipe from the desk and emptied it into the trash. As he packed it once more, a small smile came over his face.

Minato...Kushina...he's finally awakened it, the Sandaime thought before reaching into a desk drawer and pulling out a small circular object. It was a simple black circle with an X within it over a red background, a badge that Minato had given to him a month before his death. The badge came with an explanation.

"If anything is to happen to me, Hiruzen-sensei, I want you to swear you'll send Kushina and Naruto through the Veil, the shield that hides us from the world. Send them to Xavier in America. Please. He's the only one that could help them if Naruto unlocks my gift."

Through the Veil.

The Veil itself was a secret privy only to the Hokage, his advisors, and the leader of ROOT. In fact, it was a secret that was shared openly by the 'Top Five' villages. All five Kages back before the first war came to an agreement; their gifts were too strong for the world, and the world was not ready for them. They struck up a deal with the underwater people known as Atlantians, who used their technology to keep them hidden.

It was during Minato's time as a Kage-in-training that Xavier appeared. The young man had developed a machine that could locate mutants, and for a place that shouldn't exist, mutant signatures were sending a beacon to the man's machine. The fourth Kage Summit was where Xavier agreed to keep quiet about their land, as well as take one trustworthy person from each nation to his. Minato returned alone, covered in blood, with a wound caused by what Xavier (who was now paralyzed) called a bullet. The Kages agreed that they would remain hidden unless necessary, each disturbed by the news of weapons that would kill so barbarically.

Hiruzen never said he wasn't a hypocrite.

"You called for us, Hiru?" an elder woman's voice asked. Hiruzen looked up and sighed, putting his pipe down and activating his internal seal as the secretary activated the outer one.

Homura, Koharu, and Danzo...his three most trusted friends. The first two, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were his teammates since they were children and have since helped him make the decisions he couldn't do alone. The last was his friendly rival Danzo Shimura, a man who thought might was right and thought Konoha should rule their Island. They had a strained friendship, but a fierce respect for the other.

"...I did summon you," Hiruzen finally said after a tense silence. With a sigh, he spoke again, "Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze is to be sent through the Veil."

The three froze and there was a clatter as Danzo's cane fell. The one armed man nearly fell, but was braced by the glasses wearing elder. Homura lead Danzo to the chair opposite of Hiruzen and sat him down before looking at the Hokage, "And why must we send the Jinchuriki through the Veil? Surely Hatake is training him well..."

"Naruto has awakened the Hirashin."

The sentence caused another tense silence, and Danzo was the one to break it, "How?"

"I'm not sure," Hiruzen admitted with a sigh, "But fifteen minutes ago, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze appeared before me like his father had years ago. If he wishes to maintain control over the Hirashin, we will send him to Xavier-san."

Danzo grunted in disapproval, "As tempted as I am to disagree, we must not have a faulty weapon."

"Refer to Naruto like that again and I will order your death," Hiruzen spat, getting Danzo to jump before he narrowed his eye and nodded once. As power-hungry as he was, not even Danzo Shimura would risk his life by demeaning the boy his rival had come to care for.

"Hatake cannot teach him instead?" Koharu asked, equally unnerved at the idea of sending the Village's Weapon away. That and she liked the boy, he reminded her of happier times.

"He cannot," the Sandaime sighed sadly, "Kakashi is not like Jiraiya. Even he had problems teaching Minato how to control the Hirashin. Only Xavier can train Naruto like he did Minato."

The three advisors nodded in agreement before Homura spoke, "Who will take him?"

"I will. And I will leave the village in your hands, Danzo," Hiruzen said, getting a surprised look from the other man. Hiruzen chuckled, before putting a glare on the man, "You do know that if I return and we are at war...I will order your head?"

"Hai..." Danzo nodded, while silently he seethed. Temporary command over the village would give him a taste. A cruel tease on his rival's part. His time would come though...

"I will set out immediately," Hiruzen informed them, "On the return of Kakashi's team, I suggest you send a more experienced team out with the bridge builder. Naruto's gift wouldn't activate without drastic events."

"Agreed," the one eyed War hawk said with a nod, "Perhaps I'll have some ANBU look into these rumors about a crime lord near our borders."

"Please do," Hiruzen said before smirking, "Oh...and do enjoy the paperwork."

An hour later, one Danzo Shimura would be seriously rethinking his plans for running the village.

Naruto woke up with a groan. Instead of the normal white that was in a hospital room, he saw a blue sky. The ground beneath him rocked and Naruto fought down the urge to puke as he sat up. When did he get on a boat?

"Ah, you're awake, good." Naruto's head swiveled around and he was shocked to come face to face with the Sandaime, dressed in battle armor with a strange buckle on the belt around his waist. It was alternating between black and white, reminding him of a siren that he had seen in a movie long ago.

"Jiji? What-where?" he stopped talking when a loud wind earned his attention. Covering his ears, Naruto looked up through squinted eyes at a large black...thing. Behind him, the Hokage chuckled loudly.

"(Always one for showboating!)" he said in a different language. A large black panel slid open and a bald man rolled up to the edge. He was dressed in an olive jacket and had a black turtleneck sweater on as well as black slacks and brown shoes.

"(I don't know who you're talking about), Hiruzen!" the man called back with a smile. Sarutobi laughed again and carefully stood, bending over to pick Naruto up, before he leapt up to the opening in the black thing. The man in the wheeled chair moved back and the opening behind them slid shut. The high wind noise instantly silenced and Naruto looked around in a bit of fear, only being held in place by his Jiji's hand on his shoulder.

"(So this is) Minato's (son, hm?)" the bald man said, Naruto glaring at him as he assumed the man spoke negatively about him.

"Perhaps we should continue in Japanese, so as not to insult Naruto-kun," Hiruzen suggested, getting a sheepish smile from the bald man.

"Ah, of course," the man said before smiling kindly at the blonde, "Hello Naruto, my name is Professor Charles Xavier."

"How do you know my name?" Naruto demanded, reaching for his kunai holster. A swift smack to his head stopped that and the boy looked up to his 'grandfather's disappointed face.

"We don't assassinate friends, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen chided, getting a apologetic look from the boy.

Naruto looked back at the man and rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah, gomen, Charles-san...I-"

"No, no, you were right to make assumptions when it comes to your safety," Xavier interrupted with a raised hand. Lowering his hands to rest on the arms of his chair, Xavier continued, "There is a reason you're here, Naruto. You are different...and I'm not talking about that."

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked worriedly to the Sandaime, who smiled reassuringly, before looking at the man. Xavier smiled before he continued, "I don't think less of you, Naruto. You are you and that creature is not. The reason you are here is because you are a mutant."

"...Huh?" Naruto asked, tilting his head. Hiruzen turned the boy and gave him a sad look.

"Naruto...I lied to you," Hiruzen admitted, making the boy's blue eyes widen, "I lied to you a lot in fact. You are not an orphan and your name is not only Naruto Uzumaki, but also Namikaze."

"Namikaze...? That's a familiar name but I don't-oh...Oh. OH MY KAMI!" the boy exclaimed before his eyes rolled into his head.

Naruto woke up on a couch and sat up, his head spinning, before his grandfatherly leader offered him a pill and a cup of water. Naruto took both, downing the pill before the water, and then looked at his leader accusingly, "Why?"

"To keep you safe," Hiruzen answered with a heavy sigh, "Your father made many enemies, and your mother was notoriously strong."

"M-My mother?"

"Kushina Uzumaki," the Sandaime answered, "She was known as the Red Hot Blooded Tomato...and she was the second container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"S-Second? Then I'm..." Naruto trailed off as tears came from his eyes, "Do...Is there a..."

Hiruzen smiled understandingly and gave the boy a photo of his father and mother; his father stood proudly behind his mother, who was obviously pregnant. Naruto held the photo like it was glass and stared.

And stared.

Then the dam broke.

"Why'd he do it!" Naruto demanded through his tears as the elder held him, "Why ME? WHY!"

Hiruzen waited patiently until Naruto quieted down and spoke softly, "Would you ask another parent, Naruto-kun? Could you ask them to sacrifice what you could not?"

Naruto sniffled and hiccupped before he shook his head, "N-No..."

"Naruto," The blonde turned to see the Professor looking at him with a smile, "Your father wanted only for you to be strong. He gave his life to put an entity of pure energy inside you. He wanted you to be able to protect yourself. He didn't do the sealing for the village, because if he did, he would have used an inanimate object."

"T-Then...why me?" Naruto countered with a sniffle as he rubbed his eyes.

"He did it out of love, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi supplied, rubbing the boy's back. Naruto sniffled before holding his head.

"...What's a mutant?"

"Now Naruto, you know you can't change the subject," the professor's voice echoed. Naruto's head snapped up and he looked at the immobile man in shock. Professor Xavier gave a smirk, "Yes, I did just read your mind. And now I'm talking to you through a mental link. Telepathy is my mutation, my evolution."

"Then...what's mine?" Naruto asked curiously. The Hokage looked to the Professor and nodded.

Professor Xavier interlaced his fingers in front of him, "We are currently inside my mansion, in a land far from your home. I want you to look at the windowsill behind me. Focus on it."

Naruto shrugged and did as he was requested, focusing on the windowsill before asking, "Why am I doing this? I mean I-"

~Vssht~ "Don't see...the...point..." Naruto's voice became very quiet as he found himself in the air about fifty feet beyond the windowsill. Weight caught up to him and he began to fall. With a frightened yelp, Naruto looked at the Professor for help.

~Vssht~ "AHH-OOF!" Naruto landed face-first on the floor of the Professor's office. The blonde groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. The Hokage chortled while Xavier chuckled in amusement.

"Are you ok?" Xavier asked the blonde. Naruto groaned again and rubbed his face, getting a chuckle from the man, "I guess so. That, Naruto, was your mutation. Instantaneous transportation through the control over one's molecules."

"Instant-huh?" the blonde asked with a frown before the man chuckled again.

"Teleportation, Naruto. Teleportation," Xavier answered before interlacing his fingers, "I asked you to focus on the windowsill, and you did. Had you stayed focused on that you wouldn't have appeared outside. We will work on that and your English first."

"Huh?" Naruto asked with a blink. Hiruzen shook his head.

"Naruto-kun, you are going to train under Professor Xavier," Hiruzen said sternly. As the boy opened his mouth to complain, the man continued, "This is not negotiable. In fact, consider this your very first S-rank mission."

"S-S-S-Rank?" Naruto repeated loudly in shock before he punched the air, "HA! TAKE THAT, SASUKE-TEME!"

"Let me finish, Naruto," Hiruzen said, getting the blonde to look at him with a blink, "You will not have contact with the village for a long, long time. You may not return at all, but the choice is yours. You can stay and train, or return home with me. However, if you chose the latter, I will...have to remove your memories and relieve you of your rank. You will become a administrative shinobi."

"W-What?" the blonde repeated, his eyes wide, "What! Why? Jiji-"

"I am not your grandfather, Genin Namikaze," the man sternly stated, his eyes narrowing, "I am your Kage. You have only two choices. CHOOSE."

Naruto blinked back the tears before swallowing heavily. If he had to choose, he would choose the one where he had the possibility to remain a shinobi. No doubt!

"...I will remain with Professor Xavier, Hokage-sama," he repeated, growling at the man he saw as a grandfather. He couldn't help it. He was hurt, and the one who did it stood before him.

"...I wish you luck, Namikaze," Hiruzen said as he went to the door, "You will always be welcome back home when your mission is complete."

"Hai," Naruto spat, his eyes boring into the back of the Kage's head. Though he couldn't see it, Hiruzen had a look of sorrow on his face.

"He wouldn't have agreed unless I had intervened, Charles..." Hiruzen thought, getting a solemn response from his friend.

"I'm sorry you had to," Charles sent back as he began filling out Naruto's information for his enrollment to Xavier's Institute and Bayville High.

When the door shut, Naruto fell to his hands and knees and sobbed, Professor X leaving his head bowed as he regretfully searched the boy's mind for the information he needed.

AN: Wow...I didn't think I had it in me to make them all act so out of character. Oh well, that's why it's called Fanfiction. Now, the Sandaime acted the way he did because he knows only Xavier can help Naruto. But then again, you're all welcome to have your own opinions on it.

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