Chapter 1: A New World Comes New Possibilities
Author's Note: Hello everyone. I'm here with a new story, a Naruto/Young Justice crossover. It's loosely based on Pagemaster96's story Land of the Red Dawn, where the premise is Nagato, in Pein's body, is in the DC Universe and decides to bring peace (somewhat take over the world) but through different methods. You can say I adopted the story.
The reason I say loosely is because while the premise will the same (Nagato in the DC Universe), there will be a lot of changes made from the original. For one thing, Nagato will be in his original body. I prefer it that way. Another thing is that he won't be the only shinobi in the DC world. The other person will be appearing with him as support. It's pretty obvious who that person is. Basically two Naruto characters in the DC Universe. One last thing. This fic will be a 'fish out of water' type of story, at least from the beginning.
Anyway, let's start the story.
Gotham City, U.S.A.; September 19th, 2001; 2:20 a.m.
A pair of eyes opens awake, only to be met by the illuminating light shining from a full moon in the night sky. The eyes are colored entirely a uniform shade of purple with the center being a darker shade. The eyes also contains multiple black rings with the pupil at the center. These pair of eyes, ones that contains great power, belongs to a young man in a cloak.
The man appears to be in his early mid-twenties, having pale white skin and straight red hair. The cloak that he's wearing is black on the outside and red in the inside. The black cloak is also decorate in red clouds with white outlines. The man sat up and looked at his surroundings. He's in an alleyway.
"Where… where am I?" he asked. The man attempts to stand up, but his legs wobbles and collapses. His body is not used to them, at least not yet. Suddenly pain strikes his head, causing the man to clutch it and close his eyes. Images began flashing in his mind. He began to see two adults caring for him, a small dog, two children with different hair colors, a man with long white hair, a man with orange hair and piercings on his face, a young blonde teen, and a red cloud in a black background.
"My name… my name is Nagato. Nagato Uzumaki," the newly named man said as the sudden pain went away, opening his eyes once again. He looks around at his surroundings, still unable to recognize them. "That still doesn't tell me where I am."
Nagato notices at the corner of his eyes a form lying on the ground. He didn't know who that form belongs to but decides to go check. Lift himself up, he places a hand on a brick wall to support himself as he walks over to the lying form. He looks over form, surprise that the person is wearing the same cloak as he his.
"This person must have been in the same group as I was," Nagato murmured. He kneels down and turns the form revealing, revealing the person to be a young woman appearing to be a year younger than him. The redhead found the woman's appearance to be stunning but felt that he knew her from somewhere. The woman has short, straight blue hair with a paper flower origami of a lighter shade attached to it. She's wearing lavender eye shadow and a labret piercing.
Suddenly, pain once again strikes Nagato's head. He starts having images of the woman flashing through his head. There are images of him and her as children wearing toad costumes alongside a boy with orange hair. There are images of the three training with the man with long white hair. There were more images, images of the woman being happy, sad, and emotionless. There was one last image of her wearing the cloak she has right now, flying with wings made out of paper.
"Konan," Nagato muttered, now recognizing the person in front of them. He remembered her or at least partially. Nagato holds up the woman's upper body, wondering when she'll awake. The redhead didn't know why either of them are in this strange place, but he knew that he had to protect her at all costs.
Konan's eyes flutters open, revealing them to be amber colored. She lifts her head up to see Nagato staring at her. Their eyes are connected but neither of them notices that their faces are close together. Suddenly, pain strikes her head. Konan clutches her head while Nagato looks on with worry and anticipation.
Images began flashing through Konan head. She began seeing images of them as children, them training with the man with white hair, a young teen boy with orange hair, being held hostage by a man wearing a respirator, the young boy dying, Nagato losing control of himself, a man with orange hair and piercings on his face, a red cloud in a black background, a weak looking Nagato dying, and being killed by a man wearing a spiraled orange mask.
"Nagato?" Konan asked as the pain subsided.
"Yes, Konan?" the redhead responded, only to be suddenly embraced in a hug by the woman. Tears streamed from her eyes as she held onto him tightly. Nagato was surprised by the sudden hug but gently wraps his arms around her.
"I remember you. I remember that your body was weak and frail. Your legs were too injured, taking away your ability to walk," Konan told him.
"It seems that my legs are now fine, though it still hard for me to walk. I guess I need my body to get used to it," Nagato replied.
"I remember that you died," the blue haired woman said.
"I died…," Nagato muttered. "Yes, I did. I did something before I died, but I don't remember what. You didn't die though."
"I did actually, probably after you died. I was murdered by a man wearing an orange mask," Konan explains at her best, still unable to remember all the full details.
"If we died, then how are we still alive?" the redhead asked.
"I… I don't know. It's so strange," the blunette replied. She couldn't remember anything up to this point but only small fragments of information.
"This is getting more and more confusing. I believe that we should investigate," Nagato stated as he struggles to stand up. Konan helps him up as she stands, receiving a nod of thanks from the redhead.
"Do you know where we are?" the blunette asks.
"No idea," the redhead answered. The two of them walked out of the alleyway towards a city street. As they are getting closer, the pair notices dozens of machines passing back and forth at high speeds. The two were able to get good looks at them but couldn't recognize them. The machines, known as cars, are foreign and strange to them.
As they now stood on the sidewalks, cars began screeching and stopping which caught their attention. People began getting out of their cars and ran past the two. Looking at the direction the people were running from, Nagato and Konan found what was causing people to panic.
On a rampage is a monstrous, crocodile mutant. The creature's scaly skin is dark green with the underbelly being a lighter shade. The monster's head looks more human yet retains a reptilian feature. The monster lifts up a car and threw it at a building, letting out a loud animalistic roar afterwards.
"Konan… you said that we died right?" Nagato asked, staring at the rampaging crocodile monster.
"Yes," Konan confirmed, also staring at the rampaging crocodile monster.
"I think we're in Hell," the redhead stated. "Even though we can't remember most of our past, I doubt we ever encountered something like a giant crocodile monster."
"We should stop the creature," the blunette declared.
"However, I do remember that we once trained with someone but I'm not sure how we could fight that thing," Nagato told her. Before Konan could reply, a loud noise can be heard. The source of the sound came from an incoming vehicle, one that is larger than the other cars that they recently seen. The new car is entirely black with a dark blue windshield and white headlights. The black car suddenly stops at a good distance from the giant crocodile and opens up. Leaping from the vehicle is what appears to be a demonic looking, bat shaped figure.
"I think you were right about us being in Hell," Konan whispered as the two watches the newcomer. As the figure landed on the ground, the two were able to get a better look at the person.
The newcomer appears to be a well-built human male wearing a bat shaped costume. The costume is dark grey with the symbol of a bat spread over the chest. He's wearing black trunks, black gloves with fins on the outer side, black boots, and a black cape with a unique pattern at the end. The man also wears a black cowl designed with bat ears and lenses that makes his eyes appear white. Along with the costume is a yellow utility belt worn around his waist.
"Batman," the large crocodile monster growled.
"Killer Croc," the now named newcomer replied. "I'm taking you back to Arkham. I won't let you cause anymore havoc."
"You won't take me back to that zoo of an asylum! I won't allow it!" the reptilian creature yelled. He charges at Batman, who quickly front flips over the incoming villain when he got close and lands behind him. Nagato notices a bat shaped shuriken lodged into Killer Croc's hide. The shuriken gave a few beeping noises before exploding, causing the reptilian monster to roar in pain.
"Go, now!" Batman ordered the two, having noticed them since his appearance. Konan gave a nod as she tried to help Nagato move away from the situation. However, his legs kept them from moving far.
"Batman!" Killer Croc roars as he swipes his claws at the human being. The vigilante moves out of the way and gives a hard kick to one of the creature's knees, causing him to hiss and kneel. Taking advantage, Batman gives a swift spin kick to the monster's jaw. It momentarily put the monster down but not enough to keep him down completely. As the vigilante came close, Killer Croc grabs him by one of his legs and throws him into a window.
"Batman!" Nagato and Konan both called out with worry. Their voices caught the attention of Croc, who roars and charges towards them. Seeing the incoming danger, the redhead knew that he has to fight. He couldn't let him and Konan be killed by some monster. Nagato forces his legs to stand up straight and raises his right hand at Killer Croc. The redhead didn't know what he was doing, but he wasn't going to allow any harm come towards him and his childhood friend.
Suddenly, Nagato felt something strange inside his hand. It was a familiar feeling, but something that he couldn't describe. As soon as he drew near, Killer Croc was met with an unseen force coming from Nagato. The creature was sent crashing into a nearby building, with pieces of rubble falling on him. Both Konan and the redhead are surprised at what just happened.
"Did… Did I just do that?" Nagato asked as he stared at his hands. Konan was speechless at the feat her childhood friend performed but suddenly regains her senses.
"Nagato, behind you!" the blunette warns him. The redhead turns around to see Killer Croc stomping towards him. Nagato raises his hand right at the creature, intending to use the same power again. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. The redhead tries activating the ability, thrusting his forward but was unable to use it. Croc gives him a strong backhand, sending the redhead crashing through a building wall.
Konan watched in horror as she saw her friend become unconscious, sending a fierce glare at Killer Croc. The mutant creature was a bit surprised at the glare he received but growled as the blunette stood in a fighting stance. He raised an arm to swipe his claws, and Konan stood ready.
Suddenly, Killer Croc roared in pain as electricity surged throughout his body. The giant creature collapsed to the ground, his body still twitching. Standing behind the unconscious mutant is Batman, who is holding a taser that's connected to Croc's back.
"Go get your friend. I'll take him to the medical attention that he needs," Batman told Konan. The blunette nodded and went to retrieve Nagato's unconscious body.
Nagato is standing on a rocky terrain next to a young teen with spiky orange hair. The land is raining, and the two are staring at a large group of people standing on a small cliff. One group on the right is composed of men wearing small respirators. Another group on the left is composed of men wearing white masks.
In the middle is a man with long blonde hair and is wearing a helmet with a large respirator attached to it. The man is holding a teenage Konan tied up with his right hand and is holding a kunai with his left. He appears to be the leader of the group, known as Hanzo the Salamander.
"Your organization is a hindrance to me," Hanzo declared, pointing his kunai at the orange haired teen. "Yahiko, as the leader, I will have you die here. If you try to oppose me, this woman is dead." He raises the kunai close to Konan's neck. She gives him a glare.
Yahiko, the orange haired teen, scowls at Hanzo in anger. The blonde leader watches in anticipation, waiting for the young teen to make his decision. Hanzo throws the kunai at the ground in front of the two boys.
"You, with the red hair," Hanzo calls out to Nagato. "Use that to kill Yahiko. If you do that, I'll let you and the woman live." The redhead stares at the kunai then at Hanzo, quivering.
"Don't do it Nagato! Don't worry about me! You two just get out of here!" Konan pleaded. The redhead just stared, unable to do anything.
"Nagato," Yahiko said, gaining his attention. "Kill me." Nagato gasps, shocked at the demand his best friend is telling him. The redhead remembered a goal that he gave himself as a child, wanting to protect Konan and Yahiko no matter the pain and suffering that it brings. "Nagato!"
"Don't do it!" Konan cried out.
"Hurry it up!" Hanzo demanded. "Or would you let this woman die?!" Nagato started hyperventilating, feeling conflicted over his choices. He slowly walks towards the kunai and picks it up, his body controlling itself. The redhead stares at the kunai and at everyone else.
"Konan…" Nagato muttered. "Yahi-" He immediately felt the impact of Yahiko's body as his best friend drove his body to the kunai blade. The Yahiko's head rested on his friend's shoulder as his body began to turn limp, blood coming from his mouth. Nagato's eyes widen as he felt blood covering his hand.
"Keep on living… together with Konan… You are… the savior of this world… I know you can… do it…," Yahiko stated in his dying breath as his body fell off and collapses onto the ground. Nagato stared aimlessly in shock while Konan cried out Yahiko's name.
Nagato jolted up awake and panted for air. His mind was racing but began to calm down as he realized it was just a dream. The redhead found it to feel so real though, as if it actually happened. He notices that he's shirtless but is wearing bandages around his chest. He raises his left hand and feels another set of bandages wrapped around his head.
"Nagato!" a female voice called out. The redhead turned to see the source of the voice but is met with a hug. He realizes that it's Konan and returns her hug. Still silent from the dream he had, Nagato held onto her close.
"It's good to see you awake, Mr. Uzumaki," a male voice addressed him, causing the two to split apart. The voice turns out to belong to Batman, who's now walking towards them. Nagato looks at his surroundings and stares in awe. Despite the three being in a cave, there are a lot of spectacles in here that he has never seen before.
"Where am I?" the redhead asks.
"You're in the Batcave," Batman answered. "And I, Mr. Uzumaki, have some questions for you."
Author's Note: That's it for this chapter, folks. As you have already read, Nagato and Konan do have a case of amnesia after coming back from the dead. Think of it as a side effect. Don't worry, they will regain their full memories in a matter of time. They will relearn their abilities as they regain their memory but it will take a time to do so. Luckily, it seems they'll have someone to help them out.
As you can tell, Batman hasn't adopted Dick Grayson yet. This chapter takes place before Bruce adopted the boy wonder and before the Justice League has formed. According to the Young Justice timeline, Bruce began operating as Batman in 1999 when he was 21. Right now, it's 2001 with Bruce being 23. Nagato and Konan has been de-aged to their early to mid-twenties, with them being 24 and 23 respectively. It helps with the story.
Anyway, tell me what you think. See you all at the next chapter.