Into the Cosmos!

Sup everyone! I'm so hyped up right now. After all of the news that's been dropping in the past week(s) involving Marvel and DC, well, your all getting a chapter much sooner that I had anticipated. Here's to hoping Spider-Man makes it into the MCU sometime in the future!

Oh! And a big thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, making it the most reviewed one by far.

And a big thanks to Kishinokurobi for working on the fight scenes in this chapter for me. Also for providing details to certain scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, DC, Marvel or their great characters. They all belong to their respective creators and companies.

Naruto resisted the urge to sigh for what felt like the hundredth time as he sat in a tank as it rolled through the sea of flame around him. Cutting edge technology or not, it was still sweltering hot inside of the tank. He wished he had chosen a different route inside.

He thought about their current objective: Invade the castle. Or more precisely the castle owned by one Heinrich Zemo. A Nazi scientist whom had joined the Nazi party fairly early on in his life. He along with another man named Arnim Zola were developing a super-weapon to further the Third Reich' goals of supremacy.

Thus the Howling Commandos were deployed and according to information gathered by Nick Fury, the weapon was some type of death ray. After the area had been surveyed by Fury, he had requested assistance since the area was proving too much for them to handle alone.

Therefore the Invaders had been called in to assist.

The position of the castle was actually very defensible. An array of anti-air guns did much to dissuade bomber strikes and the more versatile mounted machine guns on the ramparts negated ground attacks. The abundance of mines and large chunks of metal buried in the ground made attacking in tanks suicidal.

Problem came from where the base was and knowing something important was going on inside. Had the scientist simply etched themselves deeply in a mountain in the middle of nowhere, then they may have been able to avoid a fight.

However since that wasn't a feasible option, human ingenuity took control and a plan was formulated.

The group had been split apart to cover more ground. His team was the strongest yet the most inexperienced. He wasn't talking about himself or Brunnhilde, no, he was talking about the newest additions to the team; Spitfire and Union Jack.

Or their more common names, Jacqueline and Brian Falsworth.

It had been two months since the incident involving Jacqueline, Baron Blood, and the blood transfer from Jim. It had been during her recovery time that she had exhibited her new gifts which everyone believed to be a combination of her own blood interacting with the mutated blood of the other two.

He knew better.

With his heightened awareness of the body still rising each day, he was able to pinpoint that something dormant had been brought to the surface. He didn't know what it was however, only that whatever it was gave her full use of her powers; super-speed.

Her brother Brian was a bit different.

From what he read on the man's physiology, another form of the super-soldier serum was created and ingested. The story he got was he had met a man, a scientist, in a Nazi prison and the two became friends. When the scientist felt his life slipping away, he had given the serum to Brian and asked him not to let it fall into German hands; Brian had complied.

Jacqueline and her father hadn't known he didn't need rescuing and so the two had traveled to that very prison and tried to free their kin. Problem was, he was already free. Their reunion had been cut short as they fled the country. Brian had been handed the mantle of Union Jack by his father, to which he had accepted.

And now here they were.

He wasn't too comfortable about having Jacqueline outside of the tank but since she was the fastest among them, she was best suited for her job. With no rain for the past week, the grassy fields were as dry as bone and were quite easy to set aflame. Hence why Jacqueline was well suited. All she had to do was run around real fast and the friction would cause a spark.

As he watched the impending inferno created by his teammate got him thinking. Perhaps he should create his own group. He wasn't looking to leave the Invaders, far from it in fact, but there were times when he had his own missions that did not involve them. He already had Brunnhilde whom he knew would follow him at a moments notice and while he did have Sersi, Sui-San, Zinda, Mystique, and Irene, they all had their own goals. No, he needed people who were invested in this war.

The more he seriously thought about this, the more he wanted to see it become reality. In fact, in just a couple of months there was to be a mass gathering between the allied countries to discuss their own alliance and how to proceed with the Axis powers. That meeting would be prime for recruiting.

Hearing the tanks blindly firing into the location that were the castle walls signaled the group inside to prepare. While the others were strapping on their gas masks, he put his regular one on. He had created a small seal on the mask that would act as a filter to the smoke, something he had also done for his teammates.

As the tanks continued to mush on and shrug off the inaccurate hail of bullets and heat with relative ease, they suddenly stopped. The real fight would begin now.

Using the hatch beneath the tank, he and his team crawled out from underneath the mountain of metal and quickly looked around for hostiles. Seeing none, he began to manipulate the wind and began to drive what smoke there was directly into the castle. He stepped to the side to allow way for the team that was tasked with sweeping through the castle to take out any of the choking or disoriented enemies while searching for the scientists.

He and his team on the other hand were tasked with guarding the makeshift entrance while continuing to manipulate the smoke so it spread and not vented out. He normally didn't use very many smoke bombs so he only had a few on hand but thanks to Brian, they had a large abundance.

While he did this, the others were on the lookout for anyone who was going to try and impede his objective. The wind manipulation of the smoke was a very difficult technique to do. While he could manipulate any wind he produced from his chakra, it was another thing to manipulate already pre-existing wind, but he aimed to improve this control as well in the coming future.

As the seconds ticked by and the operation came closer and closer to completion, Naruto felt a small shift in the wind flow he was using. The shift came from behind them where the others were fighting a battle of attrition. Channeling chakra to his ears, he heard the faint sounds of bodies dropping to the ground. Whether it was their enemies or allies he didn't know, he just knew it was coming towards them.

"Someone's coming." He warned his team as he cut off the air flow; the mission was almost over anyways. They all took defensive positions around him.

As the presence came closer and closer, they could all hear the blood curling screams of men who were being torn to shreds. After a tense minute of waiting something appeared before them. It was a man.

But this wasn't just any regular man. His skin was as pale as the moon, his eyes as dark as the night around them, and eyes as red as rubies. He was tall, much taller than Brunnhilde, and his physique was similar to that of Naruto's but with a bit more bulk.

All in all, it looked like they were staring at royalty of some kind. However, his regal stature was diminished by the fact that blood was splattered all across him. He didn't seem to mind it though.

Naruto along with Brunnhilde were frowning. He didn't know if his partner knew who this man was but he didn't like the way he was staring at Jacqueline. There was a hunger in his eyes.

As he kept looking at the man, he noticed another pair of eyes hidden in shadow but they were not focused on him or his teammates but on the man in front of them. There was a hate and loathing in them.

The blonde refocused on the man, using the gifts death had given him and his frown grew. His eyes narrowed dangerously. The man in front of him felt similar to that of Baron Blood, but comparing the Baron to this man was like comparing a hill to a mountain. The difference in power was staggering.

"What business do you have here, Dracula!?" hissed Brunnhilde, her shield and sword at the ready. She could barely see his deathglow and his resembled that of another vampire she had met, a Raizo Kodo. After that altercation she had studied up on vampire's and Vlad Tepes was a name that came up numerous times.

Now that drew both Naruto's and Brian' attention, Brian' more so since he had heard what had almost happened to his sister at the hands of their uncle. Naruto had heard the name Dracula before in many of the mythological books he had read, the man in front of them was the Lord of Vampires.

"Oh, you know of me and since you know of me, then you know of my kind." said the man in a smooth voice, turning away from Jacqueline to her. "You are an Asgardian, but the protection of Asgard is thin on you." he pointed out as he smiled, revealing his elongated canines. "I've never had the chance to sample Asgardian blood before. I'm sure it's just divine." he stated looking directly into her eyes.

Brunnhilde grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes in anger. "Do not take me for some weak willed woman to fall for your tricks!" she cried out in defiance. She had felt the hypnotic pull on her mind but shook it off with willpower. She had briefed a glance at Jacqueline and saw she was fine.

"I'm going to have fun breaking you as I sample and savor your blood. All women eventually submit to me." He shivered in excitement.

He bypassed Brian and then looked to Naruto, he frowned. He had a familiar scent mixed in with his own. He breathed in deeper to discern the scent and found himself scowling, he fixed the blond a glare.

"Tell me boy." he started. "Why do I smell the stench of En Sabah Nur on you? What did that vile abomination of a mutant want with you?" His question came in loud and clear as he and Naruto stared at one another, ignoring all those around them.

Naruto didn't answer right away since he didn't know who this person was.

"I can see by your confused expression that you have no clue of whom I speak?"

He tilted his head slightly forward in a nod.

"You know him by the name of Apocalypse." hissed Dracula with venom in his words as he scoffed. To call oneself the end of days was laughable. That title was reserved for him!

Now he knew who he was talking about. Naruto's Mangekyō activated when he heard that name and his own eyes narrowed.

"And just how do you know him?"

Dracula had seen the shift in his eyes and was slightly intrigued by this before returning back to the situation at hand.

"That...creature..." he was gritting his teeth as he said this. "Is one of the only beings alive who has bested me in combat and lived. Once I transcend into Godhood." That statement was noted by Naruto and it caught Brunnhilde off guard and she tensed. "I will take his head from his shoulders and mount it on the wall of my manor."

Naruto had heard it all but he had noticed the tensing of his friend. "Brunnhilde...what's the matter?" he questioned, his eyes never leaving the vampire.

"We cannot allow him to ascend. The All-Father once spoke to me of a menace he fought personally, a vampire named Varnae who had transcended into Godhood, it was one of the most difficult battles he had ever fought."

"Oh, you know of my predecessor?"

Everyone looked at him.

"He was the one who passed the mantle of Kings down to me. I have most of his power flowing through me." Dracula remembered having to drink that foul tasting blood that day but it was well worth it. Even after 500 hundred years, he was still trying to adjust to the power intake.

Brunnhilde' eyes widened at his proclamation and turned to her teammates. "It is imperative we kill him here and now." She had not known what happened to the other vampire and if the claims of the one in front of them are true, then they have to kill him.

Naruto and the others nodded. "Why are you even here then?" questioned the blonde. So far, the vampire had just shown up and started killing. If he had wanted to ascend the ladder into Godhood, then doing so in secret would have a better option, not openly.

"I detest these Nazi scum as they believed they could take my castle from me, hence why I killed so many of them. But I am here personally for a different reason." replied the vampire.

"And that is?"

"I had informed my agent back in Britain that I was on my way there since he had procured a pure blood virgin for the ritual for me. I however did not account for interference from outside forces." he stated.

The gears in Naruto's head were working when it clicked for him. The agent had been Baron Blood and the sacrifice was Jacqueline. He was here for her. Too bad for him she was no longer pure blooded.

"You're here for Jacqueline."

"Correct." he said. Then looked at his prize. "I can't wait until I have your ample body with me in my chambers as I trace my tongue over your entire body before I dig in." He looked at Brunnhilde. "You as well my dear."

"I'd rather die!"

"That can be arranged."

Brunnhilde whirled around, as did Brian and Jacqueline, when a voice was heard behind her. It was not a single vampire there but three. Two resembled Dracula in style of clothes but appeared to be much older while the last just resembled a monster; a half-bat half-human hybrid.

His eyes were trained on Dracula as he heard Brunnhilde' war cry and felt her launch herself off from her position towards the monster looking vampire. Brian went for the older looking male vampire while his sister went for the only female looking one.

Before Dracula could react, Naruto unsealed a small vial of red liquid and whipped it all over the vampire.

"Is this...wine?" Dracula had tasted the substance. He looked to the blonde. "You do know this won't kill me, right?"

'Shit!' Naruto cursed. He had read about wine representing the blood of Christ and thought it would have somewhat hindered the vampire. It seems he was wrong. And he had been saving that for something, now it was all gone, just wasted.

Naruto was carefully watching the drenched vampire and waiting for him to make his move when he felt pain enter through his back and pop out the front. It was an arm.

"A pity. I was expecting so much more." muttered Dracula.

Naruto watched as the vampire in front of him turned into a swarm of bats before smirking at the vampire.

"As was I."

The Lord of the Damned saw the smirk and then felt a burning sensation all around his arm.

BOOM!

Naruto had exploded and sent splinters of wood everywhere.

Dracula had reformed and held his arm tenderly, waiting for it to heal. He had spotted the wooden splinters laying about when he realized what had been done to him.

'It was an illusion!'

His nostrils flared in anger at being deceived and for being burned so badly by whatever wood the mortal man used.

Naruto had also noted how his wood clone burned the vampire before it exploded. Mokuton was life given form, it was the anti-thesis to undead flesh. A plan was slowly starting to formulate.

'Okay then, staking him through the heart is a start.' He knew simply plunging a wooden stake through the heart wouldn't kill the vampire, most of the time. He needed to apply other methods to make sure the one in front of him didn't come back, or at least not for a long time.

As the two combatants stared at one another, neither betraying anything, Naruto felt the sudden pull on his mind.

'Matatabi!'

'On it!'

Unlike Brunnhilde or Jacqueline who had to use their willpower to break the allure, he had someone to help him. He couldn't afford to split his mind right now, everything needed to be focused on the man in front of him. He did note however the strained voice of the giant Bijū, something he would need to look into later.

Naruto watched Dracula reach inside of his coat and grip a handle. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the stance the vampire had taken and what technique he planned; Battōjutsu. He had seen Mifune use the same stance once to defeat multiple opponents.

It really shouldn't have come to that much of a shock to him now that he thought about it. The vampire in front of him was immortal and obviously well traveled.

He watched Dracula take off from his spot and he summoned his own blade forth from his skin. It was instantaneous when he felt something hit his eyes when the blade erupted from it's sheath and the force behind the blow as his own bone blade met the other. His sight had eventually cleared but not before he misjudged the distance and felt a bone breaking body blow, sending him back a few yards.

Had he been a normal man, that blow would have shattered his skeletal system and he would have eventually died. Luckily for him, he was anything but normal and could already feel the bones in his body mending.

Watching the vampire warily from afar, he quickly began to gather his chakra. Dracula had summoned a small ball of fire which was steadily growing as it fed on the oxygen.

"Take this!"

Dracula launched his large ball of fire.

Naruto calmly watched the ball coming towards him and inhaled a deep breath, kneading the chakra he had already gathered, giving it shape and form.

"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku(Great Fire Annihilation)!"

He exhaled mightily, expelling all the chakra he'd been storing in his lungs. The fireball found itself snuffed out; easily getting extinguished by a much larger inferno. The Lord of the Damned was stunned to see a human create fire on his own and then overpower his own flame right back at him.

Too late did Dracula realize his folly of seeing such a sight that the giant blaze of fire overtook his position, swallowing him whole.

After a few seconds, Naruto had cut the flow of chakra and looked around carefully to try and find a burned corpse. Not finding anything, he momentarily shifted his gaze over to his squad and could see that only Brian was having the most difficult time.

Naruto vanished via body flicker as a semi burned hand had slashed downwards to try and split him in half. He had stumbled forward and realized he had not been fast enough and a gash was on his back.

The look of satisfaction on Dracula's face was replaced with pain as he felt something penetrate his torso. Looking down he found a part of his chest was was missing and he glared hatefully at the blonde who was smirking.

"You bastard."

Naruto had known the fire wasn't enough so he had created a clone and had it set up with a good sight of this fight with a sniper rifle. Normally, he wouldn't have even been carrying such a thing, but since this was a mission of a different kind, he had no choice in the matter. The only other piece of weaponry he had on him were two CZ-52 pistols with custom bayonets attached on them.

Using the distracted state of the vampire, he blurred through some more hand-seals.

'Mokuton: Mōkūsei Kasui no Jutsu(Wooden Spike Technique)'

A wooden spike erupted from the ground behind the vampire king and pierced his chest yet again, this time where his heart resided.

A howl of agonizing pain halted the combat of the other three groups before they began once more.

"You whelp! How dare you attack me from behind!"

"So...What do I care what a soon to be dead again vampire has to say to be about the rules of fighting in a life or death battle."

With a piece of his chest missing and how another piercing to go alongside it, Naruto knew this was his best opportunity to get rid of Dracula. Unfortunately, so did someone else.

The vampire fighting against Union Jack backhanded his opponent and vanished only to reappear by the side of the downed Dracula.

"Mark my words human, you have not seen the last of me!" proclaimed Dracula as he and the other vampire vanished. But before he vanished he sent upon hordes of his undead minions upon him and his team.

The disappearance of the two vampires in front of him was simultaneous with the reveal of another whom he had taken note of earlier. It was a woman.

Her very feminine features were bathed by the moonlight in the night sky which only made her all the more alluring. He knew she was a vampire the moment he laid eyes on her but there was something more to this one. While she was indeed pale like the others, she had a bit more color as well. Her skin tone reflected well with her raven hair, full lips, and curvacious body.

He tensed when she had approached Jacqueline and the vampire woman she was fighting only to raise his brows in surprise. The enemy vampire must have sensed her and turned around to attack her only for the other woman to sidestep the attack and then backhand her, knocking her head clean off the shoulders.

She had locked eyes with him, avoiding Jacqueline, and made her way over to him.

Naruto had watched the whole thing while he cut a bloody swath through the undead like a whirlwind of blades. Using bone, wind, fire, and the Mangekyō in a deadly harmony to sever any limb or weapon that came near him. His teammates, Jacqueline and Brian, were faring better with these opponents than their earlier ones.

"Where's Dracula!?" she demanded, finally reaching him.

"Gone." he replied.

Naruto could see the anger within her once he said those two words. He readied himself just in case she attacked. She did, but it was not him nor was it any of his teammates. It was the last remaining vampire that Brunnhilde was fighting.

The Norse Goddess had hacked away one of the creature' combination arm/wing and would have done more but was interrupted when black mist appeared behind her opponent.

They all watched as this new vampire sunk her teeth deeply into the neck of the other, pushing past the fur and skin, directly into the veins. She sucked his blood and then tore out his throat in anger.

All of them watched as the vampire hybrid began to spasm and then went still.

'Huh...I guess vampire's can kill other vampires.' He looked at the female vampire with interest now. The gears in his mind working on a way to take advantage of this revelation. He watched as the rest of the team finished off the undead as he walked over to the female vampire.

"I'm to take you killing the other two and not harming my squad as a sign that you are not here to attack us, right?" he asked.

Wiping the foul tasting blood away from her lips, she turned to him with a scowl still in place. "That's right. My sole purpose here was to kill Dracula. Now I must leave to track his whereabouts once more."

Naruto knew this was his chance to begin his team and what better way than to have a vampire of his own on his side. If Dracula was going to make good on his threat, then another vampire to kill him would be good to have.

"Perhaps I can save you the trouble of searching." he stated.

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Let's me and you have a talk."

Naruto walked back with the female vampire next to him as his team trailed after them. All of them made their way to the castle as the sounds of fighting had halted.

Naruto sighed as he prowled castle Zemo. The fight had been over for more than an hour and he had been given an order to search any place others may have missed. He sent his clones to do this job but went along with them. He didn't want to deal with the questioning from the others as to why the smokescreen was dropped at a critical moment during the mission.

Frankly, he didn't want to explain the incident and would rather let Jacqueline or Brian explain it for him to the Howling Commandos and the other Invaders.

While his team had made it through their perilous fights with the supernatural, the Howling Commandos had ended up getting blindsided in a lab and lost three men. Both Zemo and Zola had escaped capture but not without injury. He had heard from Captain America how Nick Fury and Zemo went at one another but how the man was covered in Adhesive X, some type of chemical created by Zemo for the war. The mask the man wore was now permanently fixated on his face for life.

Shaking his head of that, he began to think of all the information he had been given by his newest recruit, Lilith Drake. The daughter of Dracula. She had been chasing him throughout the years as it was her life's goal to kill him, though she cannot do so directly. It was why she had waited until he was down on the ground to make her move.

He had informed her that her father had made a vow to take his life in the future and should she join his budding team, she would get the chance to kill him one day. She had hesitated at first but had eventually agreed to join. Her best opportunity lay with him as he could best her father in single combat.

Brunnhilde had said nothing on her joining, as long as she didn't try and attack him or her comrades then she was fine with it. Plus, it helped she hated Dracula as much as she and that she was a very rare anomaly for vampires. She was a day-walker, half vampire half human. That was a boon to their group.

Lilith had explained to him other things aside from the king of the damned. Like the other vampires who had shown up out of nowhere. She had told him those other three followed another very powerful vampire named Deacon Frost. Very powerful and very influential was this one, so much so that he had gathered large amounts of vampires, however weak, without attracting undue notice.

Seeing as no further information was to be given on this vampire, the three of them began to search inside of the castle. Right now, Lilith was using one of her powers to hide herself within his shadow since her appearance would cause quite a stir with the other soldiers.

As he, Brunnhilde, Lilith, and his clones continued to scour the castle and it's many rooms, they found their way down to the laboratory.

The first thing to hit him was the smell from all the chemicals in all the tubes and beakers. The next of his senses to be assaulted was his vision; carcasses were strewn about. Tables were stacked high with bodies. He felt like he was back in Auschwitz in that liberated concentration camp all over again.

"Humanity as a species is the only race I've seen that is so self destructing." commented Lilith, a disgusted look on her face as she passed the corpses.

"Agreed."

Lilith was surprised to find that the human she was now following agreed so easily with her stance on his species. She got over her surprise and nodded her head, approving of his choice. He was different from most humans she had met over the years, plus, his blood smelt absolutely delicious.

Naruto didn't see her approval as he was paying attention to anything out of the ordinary. That was when they all heard the gasping sounds.

"Split up, find where that came from." he ordered.

The trio searched every inch but found nothing that would indicate where the noise came from.

"What about below us?" suggested Lilith.

Taking the her fellow warrior' suggestion to heart, Brunnhilde began on one end of the room and started to use her enormous strength on the stones beneath her. Each stone shook violently under her boot and soon Lilith began to mimic her doing the same with her own strength.

Naruto watched the two women who couldn't look or act more different from one another as they continued their stomping. Finally, after a few minutes, they had struck solid.

"Ah."

He tilted his head to the side and could see one of the stones upturned by the foot of the Norse Goddess. He motioned for Lilith to remove the stone. As the stone was removed, he dropped down beneath the laboratory and found many things below it. Numerous amounts of mechanical limbs, heads, and bodies littered the room. A few completed robots off in the corners resembled boxes more than men. He also found one particular scientist.

"Well, well, well...Look what we have here." said Naruto. He was looking right at the man who had escaped the battle; Arnim Zola. It seemed the man had made a fool of those who were above ground.

But he did find it something odd, the man wasn't blinking. Using his power to study the man's body left him frowning. He was dead. Had been for a few minutes.

Letting the ability fade, he walked right up to the body and could see the trail of blood leaking down his arm. Seems the man had taken a stray bullet and couldn't stop the bleeding nor get it out in time. That must have been what they heard, it was him gasping as his life was coming to an end. He did find it strange that while he didn't have time to remove the bullet, he did have enough time to strap some weird device atop his head which was connected to another strange device.

Both devices were smoking and sparkling periodically, obviously not working. Same with all of the others he laid eyes on.

He would have liked to have known what some of the machines down in the bunker Zola hid in were but with the war and everything else, he just didn't have the time. He knew technology and science were the future and once the war was over he would invest his time in it.

"Doesn't seem like we're going to gain anything insightful down here with him dead." he sighed. He ordered the two women behind him to clear out while he lit the place ablaze.

~Meanwhile~

News of their latest defeat at the hands of the allies had reached the ears of Hitler and the Red Skull. Neither man was to pleased by the outcome of the battle of castle Zemo and losing Zola just added more fuel to the fire that was their rage.

Johann heard his Führer curse lowly and mutter something about killing the next man who failed him, he watched the man leave in a huff. He shook his head, it seemed his esteemed leader was beginning to unravel at the seems and it wouldn't be long until he brought everyone around him down with him and the allies overtook them.

'NO!'

He would not let that happen. If they couldn't win this war with using the blood of men and everything they had already been throwing at their enemies, then perhaps it was time they resorted to using the occult.

His gloved fingers lightly traced over a tome covered in skin. Had to hunt and kill a band of traveling gypsies for the words carved into their backs at birth, all so he could read what was inside of it. If this didn't work, then their chances of winning this war were dwindling.

"The Book of Skadi." Johann read the now legible title aloud.

– A few months later –

May, 1943

Five months had passed since the previous year had come to a close and they had welcomed the new one. Naruto was walking amongst the other soldiers who were apart of the alliance. The time for the mass meeting between nations was here. There was the United States, Britain, USSR, France, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Atlantis, and Yugoslavia.

All different branches of military were interacting with one another civilly as they had united under one banner for one common enemy. A large field was the most neutral place the other country leaders felt comfortable meeting in to discuss two things; their own alliance and the offer for their surrender they had received.

Naruto had not been invited inside of the building housing these talks and he was glad. While he could handle politics with the best of them, he wasn't in charge of a country nor did he want to deal with the headache of doing so. Winston currently had his own cabinet along with Mystique masquerading as one of the few soldiers who were chosen to protect their dignitary's.

Steve Rogers had been apart of that small group. They were mostly inside as shows of power while getting to listen in on the talks of the treaty for peace that the Axis powers had sent them.

He had already scouted out what he could from a few of the smaller countries but did not find anything substantial with the few soldiers he had spoken to.

He was looking for those who would make an immediate impact on any mission the group took or for people with a particular set of skills he would be in need of. All that remained of the countries he had yet to search in were: USSR, Canada, China, Atlantis, and the United States.

Naruto walked over to the only place he felt a familiar signature: Canada.

As he walked amongst the Canadian armed forces, he was searching for a particular feisty midget.

"Ya better move that stub of a finger outta my face bub."

'Ah, there he is.' Naruto recognized that growling threat anywhere.

Weaving in through the crowd of men and some women, he came to the forefront of the altercation as it took place. His friend Logan was clearly the superior fighter as he proved this by beating his comrade black and blue.

Deciding that the man had had enough, he interrupted. "Logan! Hey buddy, long time no see!" he waved at him.

Logan heard his name and the familiar voice. "Namikaze. What are ya doing over here with us grunts? Shouldn't ya be with the big wigs?" The berserk Canadian forgot about the pummeling he was dishing out and walked over to one of his few friends.

"Nah, didn't get invited. Was just walking around looking for a few specific soldiers."

"What for?" asked Logan suspiciously. The last time he had heard this was when the Invaders were being formed.

Naruto looked at his friend seriously. "Not gonna lie here Logan. I'm looking for specific soldiers to join my own black-ops team."

Now it was Logan who was confused. "Isn't that what the Invaders are for?"

"Yes and no." replied the blonde. "While that team does somewhat work in the shadows, they almost always have back up with them. My team is only going to take the seriously dangerous missions were threat of death is an everyday occurrence."

"What...like some Suicide Squad." joked Logan.

Naruto hummed at that. They would be taking the most dangerous missions others deemed suicidal, all to help end this war quicker. The name was fitting.

"Well, that isn't out of the realm of possibility. Including myself, I've already got two other members."

"Anyone I know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"So how's this operation going to work? And am I the first person aside from the other two you've talked to?"

"That's right. Your the first of what I hope are many. And it's going to work exactly like the Invaders. We gather together when the mission requires all of us but I'm going to try and pull some strings so those who join will be together the majority of the time. Unlike the other team, this one is going to consist mostly of soldiers whose sole purpose is to fight in this war and have no other obligations. We fight in the shadows and get our hands dirty so others don't have to."

The Canadian nodded his head as he heard this. To him, this was something much more in line with what he did best. He was a soldier, not some type of hero in a costume. This group was being created to specifically stop this war.

"I'm in."

The blonde nodded his head and the duo shook on it.

"So..." started Logan. "Who else you looking at?"

The blonde ninja explained his plan to the man as the duo left the presence of the Canadian army and walked to their next destination.

Naruto was standing in front of eight people who were chosen specifically by him for this Suicide Squad, as the others had dubbed it. He was in charge. Brunnhilde was his right hand, she knew him best and had plenty of experience in leading others. She was to take over should he ever fall.

Logan had been designated as the third in command should Brunnhilde suffer the same fate. He looked to the remaining members of his new team and figured the next in line to lead should Logan die as well would be determined in a trial by fire. Their first mission together as a team would show him how well they acted under pressure.

The blonde avoided Lilith and focused on the remaining five recruits. Four of them were woman whom he felt were better than the men who held ranks higher than them. Two of them had drawn him to them because of what they held in their blood while the remaining two were things he needed.

Adriana Soria, a woman who first joined the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps before getting drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. His heightened awareness of the human body gave him insight as to why she was so special, she held a variant of the super-soldier serum in her blood. The variation had a negative effect on her and it had mutated her genes to that of an insect/human hybrid. And to her credit, she did not freak out when he told her. In fact, she almost seemed pleased.

The woman standing next to Adriana was named Monica Chang. A woman of Chinese and American descent who like the woman next to her had also taken a similar variation of the serum and had her genes changed to that of an insect.

It looked like he had chosen well so far since both embraced this news and were not distraught.

Next in line to be recruited was a woman named Valentina Vostok, a skilled Soviet Air Force pilot. She was the only person on the team who did not have anything done to them, she was as human as they came.

Naruto had recruited her since he couldn't find Zinda Blake and he needed someone who wasn't afraid to fly in the air while being fired upon. That was the primary reason he had taken her but the other reason was so he could help her defect her home country when the war ended. Valentina no longer wanted to serve her country and he had talked her out of defecting during the war. She would have been hunted down mercilessly by her countrymen had she done that.

While he had been recruiting Valentina, he had seen two men who had piqued his interest as well. Two half-brothers from the USSR. A Sergei Kravinoff and a Dmitri Smerdyakov, but as he watched the two men interact with each other, the less he wanted them. Sergei was being abusive towards his younger brother while said younger brother did nothing about it and even looked to try and please his brother by doing asinine activities to gain some form of acceptance. He could see it all in the younger man's eyes. He left soon after that.

Having gotten someone who could fly them to different places, he then realized he needed someone who could fight in water. Hence why he had went to the Atlantean group. Having figured that both Namor and Anna had been inside with the world leaders, he instead began a conversation with another woman whom had somehow recognized him.

Her name was Aquaria Neptunia or as her kin more commonly referred to her, Namora. She is the half-cousin of Namor and Anna. He had been informed by the Atlantean that she was to join him as per orders of her cousin. She had informed him that Namor felt he would have created another group to do what the Invaders usually didn't always do; kill.

Naruto was surprised that his friend had figured him out to such an extent but it was welcome. More bonds were created between him and the kingdom of Atlantis. Almost made him think Namor had some type of ulterior motive.

The last person of his group was the only other male aside from himself and Logan. The man was incredibly well built and by far the tallest person of their group, Isaiah Bradley. To Naruto's eyes, this man had a variation of the super-soldier serum that was closest to that of Captain America and when Naruto brought it up to him, the man had stated he had been designated as the original Captain America but was then deemed a failure by his government and eventually scrapped.

Naruto knew such information would cause dissension among the ranks of the military branches should it leak but was reassured by the man. Isaiah had informed him he wanted nothing of the sort to happen and just wanted this war over so he could go back home and make love to his woman.

He coughed, grabbing all of their attention.

"Okay people." He looked at each and everyone of them. "You all know me and the people who are standing next to you." They had been given time to talk amongst themselves. "These men and women are going to be your future brothers and sisters for the duration of this war until it's end. You watch their backs, they watch yours. Am I understood?!"

"Yes sir!" they hollered back.

"Good." he nodded. "I know we've only been a team for a few hours since it's creation but we already have our first mission." He got some surprised looks. "Don't be so shocked. This quick of a mission assignment should tell you how much the allies believe in you and just how dire the situation is." He let that info sink in for a moment. "We recently learned of a Nazi cell setting up shop in Antarctica over a few months ago. Our mission is to find out why and then eliminate them." he stated.

Adriana stepped forward. "Permission to speak?" she asked.

"Look guys, while this is indeed a joint effort by the allies, you don't need to follow the strict protocol of your branches while in this group. You can refer to me or any other by first name. The only time I need you to act like soldiers and follow my orders and the chain of command is when we ship out and are in enemy territory. Other than that, you can act normally since none of us know when our time is coming. Got it?"

"Yes." she replied. "But back to my question. Why didn't they send the Invaders for something like this?"

"Because the group isn't together right now. While I'm sure Namor and Anna would help with this, they also have duties to their people. Jim and Toro are on another assignment. Steve is with the big wigs playing bodyguard while myself and Brunnhilde are here. We are the only option." he answered.

Adriana stepped back into line with a nod.

"Alright. While on missions, we each go by codename. No sense in revealing our true name. You may all refer to me as Kagebōshi." He turned to the Norse Goddess next.

"For the duration of our time together you may call me Valkyrie." she said, as Logan was next in line.

"Just Logan." he grunted.

Naruto shook his head. "That's not much of a codename." he commented before he got an idea. "How about we call you Wolverine."

"Why?"

"Aren't wolverines native to Canada?" Naruto got a nod. "Well, they're really ferocious when in fights and very furry; just like you." he said, comparing the small furry creature to his friend.

Logan was growling, knowing when he was being made fun of. "Wolverine it is." stated Valkyrie with a smirk of her own.

"Whatever..." muttered Logan with a tiny smirk of his own. If the hot blonde wanted to call him that then who was he to argue.

Everyone looked to the day-walker. "Just Lilith."

Naruto shrugged. Nobody, aside from their group, even knew she existed or was a vampire, so he doubted others would even question her. He looked to the only Soviet.

"Same for me. Just continue calling me Valentina or Val if you want." Naruto nodded to her decision as she to was another who wouldn't be seen as much.

"What type of genes did you say ours mutated into?" asked Monica, who already had some semblance of a name. She just needed to be sure.

"Spiders." answered Naruto.

"Hmm...Spiders huh...yes, this could work. You guys can call me, the Black Widow." Naruto liked the name but could see Adriana didn't.

"You can't pick that name." she growled out. "I was going to." Adriana poked a finger into Monica' chest while Monica herself didn't seem to care.

"So, I said it first which means I get first dibs." replied the Chinese woman. "But if you really want the name, then you can be Black Widow II. My understudy." Monica grinned at the fuming Adriana when she said that.

The blonde ninja shook his head at their childishness and stepped in between them before it came to blows.

"Adriana, I'm sorry but she spoke first and as is only right has first claim. Choose a different name.

"Hmph." Adriana pouted before a large cheshire like grin appeared on her face. "Fine then. You can have that name." she said, looking right at Monica. "You can refer to me as the Spider-Queen. Ha! Take that!" Adriana was looking directly at her counterpart. "Your beneath me, my servant, my bitch, my-"

"Enough!" interrupted Naruto.

He looked at Monica and could see she wasn't too happy about this, especially the last part. But he had to agree with Adriana on some level. As queen, she was indeed higher than the Black Widow spider.

"What about you Isaiah?" he asked, keeping an eye on the two bickering women.

The man remained silent for a minute before replying to his leader. "How about Black Captain America?" he offered.

"As much as like the name, we're trying to be inconspicuous and naming yourself after Steve isn't doing that." replied Naruto. "How about we call you the Patriot. I don't want you to be tied to Rogers, I want you to be your own man, have your own legacy." stated the blonde.

Isaiah hummed at the sounding of the name and the reasoning behind it. It did have a nice ring to it. And if he was honest with himself, he frankly didn't care what he was called. He just wanted this war over.

"Patriot huh...I like it."

"Good." Naruto looked at them all once more. "Now that this piece of business is done with, I want you to gear up. Grab what you need and be ready to leave in two hours."

"Yes sir!" All of them, aside from Brunnhilde and Lilith, scattered to suit up and grab any and all gear they would need for this mission.

– Two months later –

July, 1943

Hitler was mad. No, scratch that. He was beyond mad, he was livid. The past two months for his country and their allies had been terrible. The allies had not only rejected their treaty for peace but declared they would no longer hold talks of such dealings with the Axis powers.

Then came the mission in Antarctica. Some unknown group had caught the Thule Society by surprise and killed them without mercy. Whatever had landed over there surely had been lost or captured by the unknowns.

And then came the straw that broke the camels back. One of his own personal hero's, Benito Mussolini, a man he had come to idolize and was the inspiration for him to move into power in his own country, had been ousted and captured by the Allies. This news broke only a few hours ago and he was still very upset about this. The next person who so much as looked at him funny was dead.

Baron von Strucker walked in to talk with his Führer. He was going to explain the details of his next plan that would surely put Germany as the super power of the world.

"Greetings, Herr Führer!"

Hitler rounded on the unlucky soul and tore into him.

"Strucker! How many chances have I given you and yet each time you have failed me miserably!?"

The man in the manacle had no time to reply.

"Too many times! That's how many! I'm tired of your failures." Hitler left the shell shocked man and went over to his office phone and put in an order.

Johann had just happened to walk in when his leader had started to tear into the Nazi agent with fervor. He silently watched the proceedings as Hitler put the phone down and began once more.

"Enjoy your last day on earth Strucker. Come tomorrow you are to die!" Hitler screamed in his face before leaving. No caring one bit of how he just ordered the death of one of his men in anger.

The Skull didn't care for Strucker but still saw the use the man could provide him.

"Strucker, my good man." The man turned to him. "I saw the whole thing and it's a misfortune that you walked in when you did. But how would you like to be useful to me before your terminated? To prove how useful you are."

Strucker did not reply immediately, his anger was beginning to rise as he continued to stare at the spot Hitler had just been standing at.

Johann took his silence as admittance. "I want you to take a portion of my Thule Society to Japan and investigate this organization that has caught my interest. I want you to subvert them into my soldiers so we can be ready to conquer the fart east."

The manacled man was about to respond angrily but held himself in check. This was an opportunity for him. If he was set to die, then he would do this mission and never come back.

"Of course Herr Skull." complied Strucker. "What is the name of this organization in Japan?"

"They call themselves, Hydra."

"Very well." stated the Baron. "What will you be doing while I do this?"

"I've found another source of power that may help us win this war. I'm on my way to Tibet, China to locate it."

– One month later –

August, 1943

Naruto, Brunnhilde, Sersi, Sui-San, Captain America, and Bucky were currently on a plane heading to Tibet. Once they had learned of the Skull and the Nazi's heading over to the country, they shipped out immediately and only this group of people could make it on such short notice.

"Do any of you know why the Red Skull would go to Tibet for?" asked Rogers.

Naruto could see that of those present, none either wanted to answer or didn't know. He would have liked to have brought his other team but he and Steve would have butted heads over who was to give commands to them when they would only listen to him.

So he felt it best they stay put and get some down time since their last mission had them in the cold of Antarctica. While they had ended up killing all of the Nazi's they had found, they had found nothing of substantial in terms of info or what they were doing there. They did however find a very large monster which Brunnhilde knew as a Snow Wyrm, something she said belonged in Jötunheimr and had been summoned to the mortal plane. They killed it but it took great effort. They left the icy plains with more questions than answers.

Brunnhilde finally chose to answer Steve's question. "China, like all other countries, is seeped with magical lore. There is no shadow of a doubt that what the Red Skull is here for is something mystical." she stated, hoping he didn't find it in the month head start he had on them.

"Like what?" asked Naruto. The last time he and the others had dealt with something mystical, he was on the receiving end of a mighty hammer to his body.

She looked at her fellow blonde. "There are many mystical items in the world and in Tibet, but there is only one that comes to my mind."

He looked over to Sersi and Sui-San. If Brunnhilde who was an age old Norse Goddess knew this then the two of them had to as well, and judging by the looks on their faces they did.

"And that is?" he questioned.

"The Eye of Agamotto."

End of Chapter 6

AN:

So...lots of stuff happened. Naruto's got a new crew who will be making more appearances later on as the story goes. Was anyone surprised by seeing a vampire so early? Or it being Dracula no less? Or even the mention of Deacon Frost?(Whom I know personally because of the kickass Blade movie in the late 90's).

Next chapter will be a pretty big one since I have something planned that will show lots or potentially lots of foreshadowing into the future. Even in this chapter, some events have already been set into motion for the future. You should know which if you read comics.

What did you guys and gals think of the selection of people I chose for the group?

Any questions? Then leave'em in the reviews or send me a PM.

REVIEW!