Due his mutant powers, X-Man Black Widow.
After learning X-Men Jubilee in order to get Wolverine to find the prized carbonadium synthesizer, a machine that produces a mutated form of adamantium. In Berlin, Wolverine meets with Black Widow who informs him of the synthesizer's real location and sympathizes with Logan's goal of saving Jubilee's life, ing when Logan tried doing the same for her years ago.
In this issue by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon, Wolverine re meeting the young Natalia on an old fashioned locomotive which is attacked mid-transit. While others outside and onboard are slaughtered, Logan and the girl wait in closed doors until the girls father, the infamous spy Taras Romanov whom his enemies were aiming to hurt by kidnapping his daughter. Knowing Logan's identity as a marked man, Taras orchestrated the attack to give the impression that they were both killed during the attack and tells the future Wolverine that he has much to learn.
As Wolverine spends the next two years learning the essentials about espionage from one of the best, Logan also spends nights training Taras' daughter, who referred to Logan as her "Little Uncle", in proper combat. During these fights, Wolverine knows that Natalia won't reach her dreams of being a ballerina because the world, especially her father's world had different plans for her and he believed she should be ready. With time, Wolverine came to regard Natalia more as the daughter he never had but this simplistic paradise, if one could call it that, would eventually come to an end.
One night, Logan discovered that Natalia had been kidnapped but the circumstances and his instincts deduced that this was another trap. Armed and naturally shirtless, Logan took to the woods where he was confronted with a free and armed Natalia. She revealed that not only was Taras not her father but that she also had been sent for training like Logan with his execution meant to be her final test. To match her honesty, Logan revealed he had been sent to see what information Taras knew and to kill him if it had been too much. Knowing this would mean he'd have to kill Natalia as well, Logan takes her necklace with Taras' family ring attached as proof of her death. Knowing how much Logan truly cared for her to do such a thing, a tearful Natalia promises that one day she'll pay back the great debt she owes him.
Looking back on it, one can understand the question if this story should be considered cannon regarding Black Widow's backstory. This story seems more in line with her original backstory where she was raised to be a Russian spy by her surrogate father and was saved as a child by Captain American and a young Logan from Nazi soldiers. The revised backstory which has also one of those false memories Natasha would but then discover it was a lie.
Back in the present, we discover Natasha attempted to pay her old debt to Wolverine by misinforming SHIELD of his location so they'd attack and subdue Omega Red instead of Logan. While sweet, that plan put Jubilee's life in jeopardy so Logan had no choice but to turn himself in. Although SHIELD would most likely never discover Black Widow's involvement, it was still a grand gesture toward someone who tried saving her from this lifestyle. Although this story may not be canon with either character's histories, this Marvel coming of age tale shows how important of a character Wolverine has become and how his presence has become woven into the very tapestry that is the Marvel Comics universe. In the end, considering what we've seen, one can only imagine if Wolverine challenged Black Widow to a sparring session, for old time's sake. Bets, anybody?
