What Does Family Mean?

An Anchor in a Thrashing Sea

I looked at Tony as he paced trying to figure out how exactly to tell him. I was willing to tell him the whole truth, but not with Steve in here. Tony seemed to pick up on that, and sighed. "Get out of here Spangles, I have a patient to see to." Steve's jaw stiffened, his fist clenching tighter, but after throwing a glare my way, left the room in a huff. Tony sighed, then pulled up a chair in front of me. "Ok kid, tell me where you are from, how you got here, and why you look like something we would find at the bottom of the ocean." I chuckled under my breath, looking him right in the eyes.

"As I told you earlier, my name is (Y/n), (Y/n) Hoshigaki. I come from a completely different universe. my world was being destroyed by a war against a foe no one could beat. As far as I could tell, I was the last one alive on my side, and I was dying, until someone decided to interfere. We called him the Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox demon, and he was not intent on dying. He said I was our last chance out of there, so he did his best to keep me from dying while setting up a seal that would simultaneously get us out of there and seal himself inside of me. He was rather insistent that I dint die, so I guess I have to thank you from sparring me from an entire afterlife of being scolded by the old fox." I stopped to take a breath, and watched for Tony's reaction. If you didn't know what to look for, you would think that he was entirely unfazed, but from what I could see, he was practically vibrating in excitement at my words, while also trying to not look angry at the thought of me having a demon seemingly forcibly sealed inside of me.

"As to my looks, my clan was blessed by a goddess who wished to have more kin. She gave us tough skin with different coloration to camouflage with the ocean, gills, sharp teeth, and a third eyelid should we ever need to flee and live in the ocean. Lot of good that did though, since the only other person I ever knew from my clan was my father, and we didn't know each other for very long. I met the goddess once, at the beginning of the war, when my father died, and she seemed nice enough, but I think she's severely weakened at this point if not completely gone. That's all I know at this point, so I apologize if this didn't sate your curiosity."

Tony was silent for a few moments, slowly digesting all of the information that I had just given him, then sighed. "How old are you kid." I immediately started to avoid his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm 19, sir." I nearly flinched at my own tone, trying to calm myself down so it didn't sound like I was following orders. Tony looked at me sadly. "And how old were you when the war started?"  I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself grounded. I nearly almost launched myself across the room out of instinct when Tony grabbed my hand, but his eyes, coffee brown in color and filled with so much concern and strength at the same time, gently squeezing my hand to reassure me, gave me the anchor that I so desperately needed.

"I was sixteen , but I have been going on missions since I was ten." I responded, keeping my voice relatively level. Tony cursed in a language I didn't recognize and ran his free hand down his face. "So that's all you've ever known." It sounded more like a statement than a question, but I nodded affirmatively. "Where I'm from, many children start to train to become ninja as soon as they have the presence of mind to do so." Tony nodded again, then sighed. 

"Ok Fish Stick, here's what we are going to do. I can forge some documents to get you legal citizenship here, after that's done, you're going to need a job. I'll hire you on as a personal security detail, so you'll be working with a friend of mine. We'll have to claim you're a mutant, but from now on, you're my responsibility, got everything?" I nodded, several questions forming in my head, but I knew better than to ask, and Tony continued. "Great, so you'll be staying with me, I'll provide room and board, so all that's left to do is introduce you to everyone else you'll be staying with." I nodded my head and started to stand up, Tony handing me some clothes.

"Go get changed, I'll be back in five minutes with a little bit of food so you can get something in your stomach before the meet and greet. I nodded, taking the offered clothes, not moving until Tony had exited the room. I took off the flimsy medical gown that I was in, and took a better look at the clothes. They  were both black in color, with little red and gold embellishments. The shirt was loose fitting, made of soft, breathable material that was easy to move around in and comfortable to just exist in. The pants were also a loose fit, but there was a string to tighten it. it was made of a thicker material, but was still very easy to move around in. While it did not provide any armor, it was good clothing to have a friendly spar in or just train in.

I was tying my hair back when Tony came back, smiling amiably at me as another man followed behind him. "Alright Guppy," he clapped his hands together as I smiled at the nickname, different from the last one. "This is Happy, the guy that I mentioned before. He'll show you the ropes once you're settled in." I quickly bowed to Happy, feeling years of training take over. "I'll be in your care Happy, please teach me well." Happy nodded as Tony clapped my shoulder. 

"You're going to do great here (Y/n)."