Naruto had to admit, sports sucked. Well, the sports themselves didn't really suck but the people he was playing with did, they were all so slow and despite their mass, they lacked the raw power of people like Ē and Chōji.
It actually amused him that the people he had managed to convince to give him the chance had demanded a urine sample under the pretence that he was probably taking steroids. Of course that was bullshit, he just had large quantities of chakra flowing through his system unlike these people.
He had been slightly surprised by the fact that these people possessed the potential for chakra but didn't have any knowledge of how to access it, then again, if it wasn't for the Rikudō sennin then it was unlikely anyone in the elemental nations would know how to access the power.
Still, he knew he would come back as perfectly normal, he had already had a test done to make sure he wouldn't be caught out by things like this before he signed up, at least having the test done privately gave him a chance to… adjust the doctors memories if it came back as being abnormal.
Fortunately that wasn't the case, so he knew he wouldn't have any trouble with that side of things.
That didn't change the fact that sports were too easy for him here, he could probably make a living as a professional athlete without even using 5% of his true strength and speed, yeah he was pretty sure he'd blitz any of these short or long distance runners and a Marathon… he could do that in ten minutes at top speed… without using Senjutsu or Kurama's chakra.
But he wasn't here to humiliate the sports stars, he was here for action, to lead a life filled with thrills and hard knocks. Back home he had become so bored he was almost tempted to learn Edo Tensei just to reresurrect Madara and get a proper fight again. The only things stopping him in the end were his morals forbidding him from taking a life and the possibility of Madara killing people in the crossfire of their fight.
Hopefully here he'd meet someone capable of testing his new limits, after all, he was so much stronger than before it was unreal, hell he may even be capable of fighting against Madara without Kurama's chakra at his current level.
Still, here he was, walking through the corridors on his way to one of his secondary subjects, apparently they were required to take Mathematics if they were studying any form of science and he had soon found that with his patience dramatically increased and his newfound fondness of books and challenge, that learning was now something he actually enjoyed.
"I still don't understand why you enjoy these subjects, you were such an idiot when you were younger I'd have thought you'd avoid them at all costs," came a familiar voice from the back of his mind, earning a smile off the spiky haired teenager.
"I know what you're saying but then again, I've always enjoyed a challenge and fighting stopped being challenging after the 4th shinobi war," Naruto responded silently as he continued to walk through the halls ignoring the glances he was receiving from some of the girls.
"So… are you planning on actually dating now that Sakura isn't a problem anymore?" the kitsune asked him with curiosity lacing its voice as it proceeded to check out the women that were checking out his container.
"Maybe, it depends on whether or not I find the right girl for me," the whiskered blond responded calmly, he'd long since learned that Kurama had decided to take it upon himself to act as a sort of big brother figure after he'd finally let go of his hate and accepted Naruto as a worthy human being.
"You mean one that can go all day and night and still be able to walk afterwards?" the giant fox asked him with a grin as the blond had to force himself not to face palm at the bijū's statement.
"Ero-kitsune," he muttered under his breath as he avoided walking into a redhead that was just turning the corner. Continuing onwards he soon found himself reaching his class with plenty of time to spare, it hadn't taken long for him to memorize the layout of the place, especially with the one hundred or so invisible Kage bunshin walking along the ceiling to help.
"Well, if you're going to sit around in class all day, I'm going to sleep, wake me up when you've finished," and with that the fox proceeded to lay down and get ready for a nap.
"Yeah, yeah, see ya later furball," the whiskered blond responded with a smile that he passed off as being directed at the professor before taking a seat and preparing himself to learn.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto had soon discovered that he had hit a small snag in his plan of becoming a 'superhero' as they called them, he had no way of finding crime unless he stumbled across it. Sure he could follow chakra signatures or even negative emotions but he couldn't use either of those skills to identify the difference between an armed robbery or a family arguing over dinner.
So he would have to find a way to find crime, sure if he could find and place a Hiraishin Seal on that superhero they called 'Batman' he'd be able to follow him there but he had heard that Batman wasn't particularly welcoming of other hero's in his city. Then again he kind of expected it after hearing all the information there was about Batman and using it to narrow down the list of suspects, leaving him with only one that could plausibly be the Bat.
It was actually rather amusing when he thought of how easy it was to figure out who Batman was and the fact that no one had managed to before. Then again he did come from a world where they were taught how to do that sort of stuff before they were ten years old so it shouldn't really have been much of a surprise to him that the criminals here failed so spectacularly.
However what truly mattered was thinking of a way to get information concerning crimes without resorting to stealing a police radio. What did he currently have at his disposal? How could he keep an eye on the entire city? He probably could use Kage bunshin but the sheer number he would require would be inconvenient when they could be used for training or learning instead. Thinking on the situation for a while he eventually came up with a plan that could potentially work.
XXX XXX XXX
The Professors at Gotham State University couldn't believe the situation they found themselves in, Naruto Uzumaki, their newest student was displaying such an immense talent in the art of Toxicology that he'd already managed to complete the entire first year of the course within the first fortnight of his arrival.
The main problem was that he was starting on the second year resources and was officially storming ahead of the rest, exactly how such a thing was possible eluded them but in the end he was performing at inhuman levels, however it had been confirmed by a blood test that he was completely normal outside of exceptionally long telomeres, in other words he'd be more likely to live longer than normal people but that was it.
However his aptitude was actually rather worrying, they had long since learned that within Gotham's borders exceptional people tended to become… unhinged and they could already see the potential for such a thing with the occasional shifting of his emotions for no reason.
The real question however was whether or not they could find a way to keep an eye on him outside of University without raising suspicion, they needed to make sure that he wasn't going to go off the deep end and turn into another Jonathon Crane or dare they say it? Another Joker.
It was bad enough that he was showing such talent in an area as dangerous as toxicology but to add to that he had already shown himself to be an unparalleled athlete as well, if he ever became a super villain then Gotham would have even more problems than before.
So here they were, having coffee in the staff room while mulling over what they could possibly do with the young man when a series of quiet knocks rapped on the door, prompting one of the professors to head towards the door and open it only to blink in surprise.
"Hello Mr Uzumaki, what can I help you with today," the lecturer asked the spiky haired blond in surprise causing the teen to rub the back of his head in a manner he had always done since he was a child caught throwing a cup of instant ramen on a random Chūnin.
"Sorry for disturbing you professor but I have a couple of questions concerning my education," the whiskered boy told him while looking away in embarrassment, making the full time researcher raise an eyebrow at the boys demeanour.
"What is the problem Mr Uzumaki?"
"Well, I was wondering if there was any way to… slow down my education without decreasing my rate of learning?" Naruto asked the man, earning another raised eyebrow off the man, "you know, like extracurricular studies, work experience, anything like that?"
Immediately the staff room all began to think the same thing before the professor that answered the door informed the blond of the possibility.
"It may be possible and I'm sure it would be beneficial for you to get some real life experience in the subject," the scientist said with a smile.
"Thank you professor, I'll see you tomorrow," and with a polite bow, the blue eyed blond left as the door was closed by a smiling lecturer.
"I have a friend in GCPD, I'll see if they have a place they can keep an eye on him," the man said, earning relieved looks off the rest of the professors, if there was anywhere that another psycho could be caught before going big, it was in the police department itself.
Unknown to them, a single, invisible figure sitting upside down on the ceiling smirked upon hearing the man's statement, it may have taken awhile but a subtle genjutsu to make them suspicious of his 'talent' had worked its magic perfectly.
With its mission complete, the bunshin vanished in a silent burst of invisible smoke.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto definitely had to admit, partying in Gotham was nothing like partying in Konoha. For one, Konoha had a very small variety of alcoholic beverages, most bars tended to cater to ninja so most parties were small groups simply sitting and drinking in toast to something.
In Gotham… well, the music was loud, the number of drinks was in the region of thirty to forty different varieties with countless being what they called cocktails, the number of people dancing on the floor was immense and all in all, the noise was enough to deafen any Inuzuka for life.
It was a good thing he wasn't an Inuzuka.
"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! YYYEEEAAAAHHHH!" Naruto had to admit this was probably one of the liveliest atmospheres he had ever been a part of before… the cocktail wasn't too bad either.
"NEXT!" the spiky haired blond shouted as soon as he finished the jug of extra cheeky Vimto.
"TO OUR NEWEST STAR! THIS SEASON! WE'RE GONNA WIN BIG!" the Quaterback of the football team shouted with enough enthusiasm to remind Naruto of himself back when he was proclaiming he would become Hokage. He had eventually grown out of that phase once he had been acknowledged by everyone, eventually realising that he had never wanted the job in the first place but the respect that came with it.
"YYEAAH!" the rest of the team shouted in response, every one of them certain of the teams victory in the upcoming championship.
Naruto couldn't stop himself from laughing at the situation he was in, strangely enough despite the difference between him and the group he was currently hanging out with, he almost felt like he belonged there, as if he was more suited to this world than his own.
"Well I've got to admit, I haven't seen you have this much fun since you fought the Jūbi," Kurama said out of nowhere, making the blond chuckle externally, not that anyone was sober enough to notice.
"Yeah, I could definitely get used to this," the whiskered boy admitted to his lifelong partner.
"So have you noticed?" the giant fox asked from within his head.
"What?" Naruto really didn't know what the fox was talking about, there wasn't a lot that had stood out for him and given that his Uzumaki healing factor was breaking down the alcohol almost as quickly as he was consuming it he was for the most part sober.
"Over there, at the bar, the cute redhead," the bijū stated, only to receive an eye roll off his container.
"You want me to pay attention to some random girl? Do you want to become a godfather or something?" the blue eyed shinobi asked the fox seriously, earning a grumble off the fox before it gave its reason.
"Don't you remember nearly getting knocked over by her last week?" Kurama asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Why would I bother remembering something like that?" the blond retorted.
"Because she's cute," came the kitsune's simple response.
"Ero-kitsune," Naruto muttered to himself before taking another jug of extra cheeky vimto and starting to down it much to the delight of the rest of the group.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto definitely had to admit, Commissioner Gordon was interesting. He looked like a serious old man with a neatly groomed head of grey hair, a bushy moustache and a pair of large square glasses. He wore a white button up shirt with a black tie, beige trousers and a brown overcoat that reminded him somewhat of 'the crazy snake lady' back home.
"So, I've heard you're quite the genius," the significantly older man stated calmly as he observed the blond, the professor that had asked for the placement had already informed him that the boy appeared to be slightly unhinged already, regularly displaying sudden and unexplained changes on the emotional spectrum.
Of course that meant that keeping an eye on the boy was a midlevel priority, Gotham already had an overabundance of nut jobs so keeping an eye on those that displayed any deviation from sanity were supposed to be monitored if possible.
"I prefer to think that I'm a hard worker," Naruto responded with a smile, it wasn't a lie, he did put a lot of work into getting to the point he was currently at… several thousand kage bunshin hours of work that is.
"That is a good attitude to have, we tend to work long hours here," Gordon informed the blond with a small smile, "just remember that while working here you will be on call and expected to come by at a moment's notice. We'll avoid calling for you while you are fulfilling your obligations to the University but expect to be called in the middle of the night."
"Yes sir," the whiskered blond responded with a confident smile before they arrived at the labs.
"Dr Evans, this is the new assistant I told you about," the older cop stated as soon as they entered the room, attracting the attention of a middle aged man with short blond hair wearing a lab coat.
"I see, put on a coat and come over," the scientist said with barely concealed contempt, Naruto wasn't sure why the man seemed annoyed right now but he knew he'd find out sooner or later.
"Well then Mr Uzumaki, I'll leave you in the capable hands of Dr Evans," and without further ado, the grey haired man left.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto had to admit, Dr Evans wasn't as bad as he thought he'd be, it appeared that the man's problem was the belief that he'd be getting an incompetent kid with no experience working in an uncontrolled environment.
However Naruto had quickly proven to the man that he was more than capable of adjusting to any problems that had appeared during their time together, even if every problem was caused by the man and wouldn't prove even remotely dangerous. Because of that Naruto was certain the man was just testing his ability to adapt and he honestly couldn't blame the man.
One of the main points that caught his attention though was the police radio that was located in the lab, according to Dr Evans it was there so that the forensics team could attend a scene as soon as possible.
And speaking of forensics, Naruto was pretty sure he would aim for a flat out degree in that subject after his experience in an actual forensics lab.
Beyond that though, he had finally gotten his hands on what he needed, a portable police radio. He had managed to convince Gordon to give him one with a bit of help from a subtle genjutsu that simply made people more agreeable, so the police knew he had one and he wouldn't be arrested for stealing.
"Honestly, how can you find anything like that fun?" Kurama said in his head once again.
"Well I have changed a lot since I was a kid," Naruto admitted calmly as he flopped onto his small leather sofa and turned his TV on, "besides, it'll help with my 'other work' when I finally get around to making my debut."
"And when are you planning on making your superhero debut?" the giant kitsune asked as he started to watch the Television through his hosts eyes.
"The next time a crime is called in on the radio," Naruto admitted calmly as the duo proceeded to flip through the channels looking for something decent to watch.
Hours passed as the pair simply sat back and watched an action movie with a can of beer in hand.
Eventually the radio buzzed to life concerning a supposed drug deal that would be going down at the docks, making Naruto grin before making a Kage Bunshin to 'act as himself' while he placed a single finger on a seal he had placed on his wrist, instantly trading his civilian clothes for something more practical.
"It's show time," and with Haku's mask firmly attached to his face, he vanished in a swirl of wind, forsaking the leaves that normally formed a part of the effect.
XXX XXX XXX
"Hurry up, you never know when the Bat'll get here and bust our asses," a man wearing a white suit said quietly, earning several nods of agreement from the others on his side of the deal. On one side the men were all dressed in suits and carrying MP5's while the other side wore much more casual attire and carried AK47's.
"Don't worry, we've brought dogs, he can't hide from their noses," the leader of the more casual side stated with an almost vicious grin plastering his face.
"Yeah but that only works when they actually tell you someone's there," came an unfamiliar voice as an arm flung itself over his shoulder.
Almost immediately all guns were turned on the stranger that had appeared out of nowhere with the dealers noting the dark cloak and strange mask of the individual, however what truly shocked them was seeing the dogs that were supposed to be on look out completely ignoring the stranger.
"And just who the hell do you think you are?" the apparent leader of the dealers asked with venom clear in his voice.
"Who am I? I am just a shadow," and with that statement the strange masked man vanished right in front of their eyes before a cry of pain occurred behind them.
The scene that they turned towards shocked the group, to see all of the suited thugs laying in an unconscious pile while the masked stranger simple sat on the group of gun wielding gangsters.
"Well that was disappointing, I was expecting these guys to put up a bit more fight than that," Naruto said with a tone of boredom layering his voice.
"Kill the bastard!" the leader of the AK wielding group yelled only for the stranger to wave his arm before a strange wind picked up and the gang's gun suddenly fell to pieces with several clean cuts rendering the guns scrap.
"Now that isn't very nice, you should know that you can't kill a shadow," the hooded blond stated while wagging his finger at the group.
"Well it would appear the police are nearly here so I suppose I should end this now," before any of the dealers could even put their guard up, the masked man had vanished and they all found their stomachs being compacted by immense blows that knocked them out almost instantly.
"Well that was boring wouldn't you say Batsy?" Naruto said loudly while looking towards a crate, displaying no surprise when a large man wearing a grey spandex suit and a large black cape that extended into a mask with two protruding, ear like structures erupting from the top walked out from behind the object.
Batman was definitely suspicious, he had never heard of this person before and they had literally just taken out nearly twenty armed thugs without a hint of fear or a shot getting pulled off, however what truly surprised him was the fact that this man had literally just vanished into thin air and several thugs had almost instantly fallen, combined with the strange cutting wind that appeared to have been created by the stranger and he was certain that this man could quite possibly be incredibly dangerous if ever provoked.
Fortunately this supposed shadow hadn't killed a single thug, instead simply knocking them out quicker than his eyes could follow. So that made it unlikely that he was a member of the league of shadows, they tended to kill their enemies as opposed to simply knock them out.
Naruto had to admit that Batman was being rather annoying, the police were getting closer and the bat hadn't done anything but try and stare him down, not that the man's glare bothered him, Madara's glare lacked the hostility that the caped crusaders possessed however that was because it possessed an almost derogatory feel to it because he simply didn't consider you worth his time. The worst part of that was that he had the power to back up his stare unlike the man in front of him.
So it didn't take a lot to simply ignore the crime fighters pointed glare as he decided he'd wasted enough time as it was.
"Well, sorry to cut your little stare down short but I'd rather not be around when the cops arrive so until next time, arrivederci Batsy," and with that he vanished just as the police arrived on the scene to see a glaring Batman surrounded by unconscious thugs.
XXX XXX XXX
'New Vigilante On The Prowl'
'Last night a masked assailant with the power to vanish broke up a major drug deal at the docks before the arrival of police, according to witness statements this new hero calls himself 'Shadow'. Police are investigating the scene for any evidence concerning the event though nothing has turned up so far.'
Naruto had to admit that the newspaper article amused him, to think that they thought his 'vanishing act' was a superpower. The reality of the matter was that it was simply raw speed. Kaimon enhanced raw speed but raw speed none the less.
He had to admit though, it felt good to stop a crime against armed thugs, even if guns were nowhere near as dangerous as some of the attacks he'd faced, hell Lee's punches always created a sonic boom by the time he had left the elemental nations and he'd had no problems dodging them so bullets were nothing special as far as he was concerned.
It did slightly annoy him that the newspaper had taken his statement out of context and assumed that he was calling himself Shadow, instead of acknowledging that he was calling him 'a' shadow. Then again it wasn't like he was going to hold a press conference and start explaining his statement to them, so they could call him whatever they wanted.
He had more important matters to deal with anyway… like getting to class on time.
