AN: Okay, so here's sort of a blend between my previous works. And this time, I'm not going it alone.
Co-Written by Engineer4Ever
E4E: God, why aren't you here?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Young Justice
Rise of the Titans
2: The Team
October 2010
"That sopping, marsh-headed- He never told me which way to go!" Naruto grumbled under his breath as he hovered above the treetops somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains. At the moment, he was in a conundrum. His sensei let him fly off all awesome like that without telling him where the hell this Gay Harbor was! A rudimentary direction would've been fine, but no. Stupid overgrown-
A sudden beeping at his waist made Naruto look down at the device he was thrown earlier. Curious, he pulled the device from his waist and flipped it open. He held one end with a picture of headphones carved into it to his ear and spoke into what he believed to be the microphone.
"Hello?"
"Sage."
"...Maybe. Who's asking?" Naruto inquired cautiously.
"Batman."
"Oh! Broody Academy Instructor! Yeah, it's me. How can I help you?" Naruto asked in a friendly tone. He leaned back and floated in the air, lounged comfortably. It was something he abused often when he and his sensei would train, just to get on the moss-headed Agent of The Green's nerves.
"I'm locked onto your current location."
Naruto blinked and looked around warily before he replied. "Well, that's not disturbing at all. How'd you manage that?"
"Follow the instructions on the screen of your communicator and we'll meet." The line cut off abruptly.
"And he's just going to ignore me. Rude, but not unexpected from a human. What instructions? " Naruto muttered as he looked around the device before a projected sphere popped up. "Whoa! There they are. Okay, I'm little red dot, I guess." He squinted his eyes, looking at the map curiously as it zoomed into his position. "Huh, where's Gay Harbor? I mean, I see Happy Harbor, but..."
A whisper in the back of his mind drew Naruto's attention inward. Once it was finished speaking, he frowned.
"...Well, that's just stupid. Why use one word but mean a completely different thing? Does everything with these people have to be so difficult?" Naruto asked. He shook his head and followed the coordinates with only a few mistakes on his part. He'd own up to them, technology wasn't really his thing, so to speak. He arrived over a small mountain near a decently sized forest a few hours after the initial contact. The blond landed near the mountain and looked over at the woods. Seeing no-one else around he shrugged and popped down with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap.
A little exercise in meditation never hurt anyone.
Almost an hour later, that Green-suited guy from the day before, Hal, touched down near Naruto. Naruto had felt his presence, but said nothing until he had completely expelled the abundance of Natural Energy within him. He didn't want to accidentally appear hostile or overload his senses.
"Hey." Naruto got to his feet and waved one hand in an effort to be friendly. "That broody guy tell you to pick me up or something?"
"Something like that." Hal's lip quirked upward. He was covered in a green glow similar to Naruto's and he floated a few feet into the air. "Think you can keep up?"
"I think I can try." Naruto grinned back as he followed the man into the air. Despite their terrible first impression, he was starting to like this human. Even if he wore a bit too much spandex for his taste.
"We'll see. Your ring may look like mine, but I'm pretty sure it's a cheap knockoff."
"Says the man in spandex."
"It's a uniform." Hal stressed the word with a frown as they flew towards the city.
"Uh-huh, right. And I'm going to give up ramen." Naruto smiled behind his mask. He was so getting under the man's skin. Then again, that was his superpower if he was to listen to his sensei's words.
"I wanted to go to the nice little café down the block, but Batman wouldn't have it. Sorry kid." Hal waved his hand. "Bats says it was too exposed. Seriously, they have the best cheese fries in the state."
"What are 'cheese fries'?" Naruto asked, his brows furrowed in confusion. Hal looked at him in mild disbelief.
"Dear God, Swamp Thing really had you under a rock, didn't he?"
"I was in a meadow." Naruto sternly corrected. "Which literally had the best napping spot ever."
Shikamaru would have been green with envy. Ha, Green! I'm a riot. Sensei doesn't understand my genius, Naruto thought with a chuckle.
"We'll try to ease you into society. One major food group at a time," Hal said solemnly.
"O-kay..." Naruto drawled. He looked down and frowned at the city. Cement, hard structures, a good lack of forest. Even Konoha had dirt roads and more foliage around it. "It looks so...quiet."
"Uh, that's a city," Hal said with an amused chuckle. He followed the younger hero's gaze and kept his smile up for any would be sky watchers. "Nothing's ever quiet down in one of those."
"No, that's not what I meant." Naruto shook his head. "The Green. It's practically absent from the area. It's weird to me."
"The Green?" Hal asked, looking at the blond teen in confusion. He looked ahead and frowned. "On second thought, just hold off until we meet back up with Bats."
"Fair enough." Naruto sighed. "So, what's your name...Hal-Man?"
The man stopped abruptly and summoned forth a green hand that wrapped around Naruto's body. He pulled the teen close and glared into his eyes. Or, at least, Naruto assumed he was glaring. The mask over his face obscured his eyes quite well.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Uh, yesterday? When your buddy 'Flash' whispered to you," Naruto said dryly. Hal stared at him, searching him for any sign of deceit before he sighed and willed the construct away. A white-gloved hand reached up and pinched his masked nose.
"Oh, great. You have super hearing," Hal said irritably.
Naruto just shrugged. "I guess. Not seeing the real issue here."
"Listen, kid-"
"Sage."
"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that's not your real name, is it?" Hal asked.
"Um, duh?" Naruto arched a brow. "Why would I tell any of you my real name? We just met."
"Hal is my real name."
"...Well, that's stupid. Why would you use your real name in this sort of business?" Naruto asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
"...You're a cheeky little bastard, aren't you?" Hal asked lowly. Naruto gave him a big grin in place of a verbal response. The man shook his head and pointed at the symbol on his chest, similar to Naruto's, but fully connected and not made up of shapes. "See this? This means I'm a member of the Green Lantern Corps, we're basically the police of the Universe. On Earth, when I'm in my uniform, I go by Green Lantern, or GL if you have to shorten it. Only my friends and fellow Green Lanterns can use my real name."
"...So, you're an Agent of The Green, but you work in space?" Naruto scratched his head. "How does that work? My ring gives out if I go too high off the ground."
That was a day Naruto would never forget. Neither would Swamp Thing, for that matter. After all, it wasn't every day that a blond sixteen year old fell from thirty thousand feet off the ground because his supposedly endless energy suddenly cut out. All Naruto could do from that day forth was thank the heavens and The Green for the soft foliage that surrounded Naruto's meadow.
"No, I-Listen, I'll explain it later after we meet up with Bats," Hal, or rather, Green Lantern said. He turned and began to fly off. He stopped and looked back. "Are you coming or not?"
Naruto blinked and resumed flying with the hero, confusion evident on his face. They flew for several minutes in silence, before Naruto thought of something and decided to indulge himself in query.
"I don't want to sound rude," he said, "but Broody guy sounds kind of like a dick. Do we have to talk with him?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Kid, you want to know what the Green Lantern Corps are, right?"
"...Damn it."
After another five minutes, they finally arrived in a clearing within some woods. Back in the semblance of his comfort zone, Naruto took a deep breath, and then proceeded to choke a little.
"Man, even your parks suck," he said sourly to the Lantern.
"Can you stop acting like a Hippy for five seconds?" Hal asked, a bit fed up with all the negativity towards the modern culture of his homeworld. He'd gotten enough of that on patrol through the rest of his sector. And on Oa.
"I don't even know what that means." Naruto deadpanned.
"It was an insult."
"Oh. Harsh. I thought you were a hero." Naruto frowned at the smirking man and then looked away pointedly. "Well, I'll be sure to remember that."
"Yeah, I'll bet." Hal chuckled as Batman, the blue guy with his undies on the outside and another guy that was dressed similarly to Hal walked out of the woods. The new Green Lantern had darker skin and his uniform looked more like something Naruto might consider wearing. ...No, he wasn't really one for tights. They seemed very uncomfortable, especially in the groin area.
Unaware of the young man's thoughts beside him, Hal grinned at the three heroes. "Hey, Bats, how'd you manage to get here so fast?"
"I was here before you were. Surveying the area and ensuring that we'd be ready for anything." Batman replied coldly. Naruto arched a brow. For a moment, the hero sounded like a jonin. Not Kakashi-sensei, nobody was as cool as he was, but like some of the others he'd overheard. Maybe like Yamato-taichou. The caped crusader turned to the blond and narrowed his eyes behind his cowl. "I have questions for you, Sage."
Naruto crossed his arms in a show of annoyance. "Yeah, nice to see you again, too, Mr. Bat."
"Pleasantries can come later," Batman said firmly.
"...You must be terrible at fancy dinners. Like, way worse than I am."
"He's got a bit of a mouth on him." Hal confessed with a quirked lip. Batman merely grunted in response.
The man in blue smiled and stepped forward, offering a hand. "We haven't had the pleasure. I'm Superman."
"Sage." Naruto greeted him with a cordial handshake. When he crossed his arms again, he tilted his head to the side. "...Why is your underwear on the outside?"
"Uh...I…" Superman faltered while Hal coughed into a fist to cover his laughter. The other Lantern guy frowned at Naruto. Batman remained impassive.
"Hey, it's cool. I don't judge." Naruto shrugged. "Just curious."
"You need to show some respect, kid. You're a Green Lantern, I'd thought Kilowag would've beat that into you first." The other Green Lantern stepped forward.
"I'm not a Green Lantern." "He's not a Green Lantern." Naruto and Batman simultaneously replied. Naruto sent the Gotham hero another small look of annoyance, but he was ignored. Again.
"Uh, Bats? I think I'd know a member of the Corps when I see one." The Green Lantern looked at Batman with a frown.
"He's got a ring, a green suit, and glowing constructs?" Hal listed off on his fingers. "Sounds like a Green Lantern to me."
"It's similiar, but he's an Agent of The Green. The very embodiment of nature itself." Batman lifted his arm and tapped into his gauntlet a few times. A holographic image appeared between them, one of Naruto's sensei, The Swamp Thing. "Currently, the only known Agent of The Green on our quote-unquote side is Dr. Alec Holland. He was a pioneer in the botany field over a hundred years ago, but after a tragic accident, he became the Swamp Thing, and has been defending the Green in Louisiana and around the world for the last century."
"Swamp Thing?" Hal frowned as the hologram disappeared. "Who in God's name would pick a name like that?"
"He's like something out of a lagoon. He said it was a movie, or picture show." Naruto looked around with narrowed eyes. He leaned in and whispered behind his hand, "He's little weird."
"Oh? Just a little?" Hal asked.
"Says the man in green tights." Naruto shot back with a hidden smirk, though the amusement was plain to see in his eyes.
"For the last time it's my uniform, you little-!" Hal looked ready to strangle the teen.
"Let it go, Hal. He's just a punk," the other Green Lantern said.
"I'm not just a punk. I'm the punk!" Naruto corrected proudly. He then leaned over to Superman and whispered. "What's a punk? That's a good thing, right?"
"Not in this sense," Superman said with a wry smile.
"...I stand by my claim!" Naruto decided. He'd been called a lot of things and if 'punk' was going to be added to that list, it wasn't the worst.
"Are you finished?" Batman asked.
"I'm good." Naruto grinned, giving the broody man a thumbs up.
"You and Flash can never meet." Hal muttered while he rubbed his temples.
"Well, technically, we already did." Naruto cheekily pointed out.
"...I gotta get out of here before I do something I'll regret." Hal grumbled as he was enveloped in a light green outline before he rose off the ground. Before he left, he pointed at the other Lantern. "Don't forget to check in on Guy, John."
"I know a Guy." Naruto mused, ignoring the look of confusion that struck the two lanterns. "Guy-sensei likes to wear green tights, too. I think you'd all hit it off."
"...On second thought, I'll go check in with Guy, John. You have fun with the kid." Hal decided before he shot off in a streak of green light. Naruto looked up and watched him go before he shrugged. He could only imagine what had bothered the Lantern so much. Pushing those thoughts aside, he returned his attention to Batman.
"Why were you out of Swamp Thing's domain?" Batman asked.
Naruto arched a brow. "We both work for The Green. Our domain is all of nature. So you'll have to be more specific."
"The bayou in Louisiana."
"Swamp Thing said I had to come here." Naruto crossed his arms and locked eyes with Batman. "'Act in the name of The Green' he said. You know, give nature that voice you humans like to ignore."
"We've gotten better about protecting the environment." Superman interjected.
"Oh yeah, sure. That's why you have fences around trees, or cut branches down to ensure they don't interfere with power lines," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. He pointed at the ground they stood on. "You think this park is showing The Green that you care? Sorry to break it to you, but it's not. I can hardly hear The Green, it's so quiet. Heck, even The Red has a louder voice, and I'm only connected to that by a technicality!"
"Red?" The other Green Lantern, John, asked with narrowed eyes. He uncrossed his arms and stepped forward. "You're connected to the Red Lanterns!?"
"Lantern!" Batman cut in firmly. His cowled eyes narrowed as the Lantern stepped back.
"For the last time, I'm not a Green Lantern or a Red Lantern or a freaking Pink Lantern!" Naruto groaned. He rubbed his face. "I'm talking about The Red! You know? The connection to all animal life?"
"...Bats?" John Lantern looked at Batman.
"Do you remember when we fought Queen Bee in '07?" Batman asked. The Lantern nodded. "B'wana Beast, the hero that assisted us, has a similar connection."
"So there is some force that connects animals? What is this, the Circle of Life?" The Green Lantern grunted.
"Aren't you the powered by the color of Willpower?" Batman shot back.
"...Alright, point taken." John Lantern grunted in defeat.
"The 'Color of Willpower'?" Naruto repeated dubiously. He snorted. "C'mon, you can't be serious."
"Oh really? And why is that?" The Green Lantern asked, a tad more than annoyed.
"Because although Green is cool..." Naruto trailed off as his outfit all-but vanished, save for the mask around the lower part of his face, leaving him in his orange and brown rags. "Orange is the color of the gods."
"And the Color of Avarice."
"...What'd you just say?" Naruto narrowed his now blue eyes.
"Orange, in the Emotional Color Spectrum, represents the emotion of Avarice." When Naruto blinked in confusion, John Lantern sighed. "Greed."
"Okay! Who fucked that up!?" Naruto demanded, his eyes flashing red for the briefest of seconds. "I'll rip his and/or her throats out!"
No one messed with orange on Naruto Uzumaki's watch!
"Just the way things are, punk." John Lantern informed him.
"I demand a revote! Make Avarice, I dunno, purple!"
"That's Compassion."
"Pink?"
"Love."
"Okay, should've seen that coming...Blue?"
"Hope."
"Fucking-! Okay, what about yellow?"
"That's the Light of Fear."
"...What the Hell is wrong with this universe!?" Naruto asked furiously. He then paused and recalled his father's moniker, the reason for it, and rubbed his chin. "On second thought... What's Red?"
"Rage," the Lantern said.
"...Okay, well...Maybe it's not all wrong," Naruto said softly and very reluctantly. Still, why did his beloved orange have to suffer? Being called the Color of Avarice, the unrighteousness of it all. Great, now he needed comfort ramen.
"Ahem," Superman said with an awkward cough that brought attention to him. "Well, with that debacle out of the way. Can we continue?"
"I guess," a notably more somber Naruto said. He clenched his left hand and re-donned his full Sage attire with a simple flash of Green. He arched a brow when they looked at him oddly. "What?"
"You just unmasked in front of us." Superman pointed out.
"...Ah, crap!" Naruto began to curse himself while Batman narrowed his eyes.
"How old are you?" The Caped Crusader asked the blond.
"What's it matter to you?" Naruto asked, looking up from his self scolding. Batman took another step forward and crossed his arms.
"It matters because we need to know if you're even mature enough to be in this line of work."
Naruto narrowed his eyes and growled. "Yeah, because the runt in the stoplight outfit is? Try again."
"While most of us agree that Robin is maybe too young for this line of work, I can assure you that he's very mature for his age and doesn't let that get in the way of what needs to be done," Superman said.
"Don't try that reverse psycho-what-its on me." Naruto jutted a finger at the blue spandex wearing man. "I've had to deal with a giant moss man for the past two years and only yesterday have I really felt like I had the slightest bit of fun."
"This isn't about having fun. It's about saving lives," John Lantern said firmly.
"Yeah, I get that. Really, but your priorities and my priorities vary," Naruto said. He pointed at the glowing symbol on his headband. "See this? This means I'm an Agent of the Green. I have a duty to protect the planet, your planet, from danger. Not your people."
"So you'd let innocent lives end?" Batman asked.
"No! Kami, why is this so hard? Oh, I know! Because I've been living with a moss-man for the past two years!" Naruto shouted, glaring at the cowled hero. "I don't prioritize like you do, no I won't let innocent people die, but I have to put my duties first. Like, you, John, right?"
"Green Lantern." John Lantern corrected him sternly.
"Yes. That." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Hal said something about having a sector to patrol. I'm guessing he means in space, right?"
"Yeah."
"So he can't always be here on Earth, even when the situation may call for it?"
"At times, yes."
"Same for me," Naruto said. He took a deep breath and calmed down, connecting instantly with The Green. His eyes, now Toad yellow, opened and then he gestured to the park. "This? All this land, dedicated to 'preserving' nature, is nothing. Every day, there's thousands of miles of natural habitats that are being destroyed to make way for the surplus of humanity that is ever expanding. That isn't to say that I don't care about humanity. Where I'm from-"
"And that would be?" Batman insisted. Naruto glared at him and the air suddenly became thin.
"First all, rude. Secondly, that's hardly any of your business, Bat-Jerk." The Sage grit out.
"I beg to differ."
"Batman." Superman cut in. Shame he did, too, because Naruto was looking for any excuse to deck the man who was filled to the brim with withheld negative emotions. The guy was so full of angst and anger that it made Sasuke pale in comparison. Why he was considered 'good', Naruto had yet to see.
"Fine." Batman stepped back and nodded cordially. "Continue, Sage."
"Thank you, your Highness." Naruto gave a small curtsy and looked away from the hero. Ah, it was the small things in life. Naruto coughed into his fist and let Sage Mode escape him, again. The longer he was in it, his emotions were being influenced by the others he felt. Blue eyes looked back at Superman. "Anyway, like I was saying, where I'm from, we managed to keep our civilizations and nature intertwined."
"Sounds like a great place." Superman smiled. Naruto returned it with a smaller and slightly melancholy one of his own. Though that was thankfully hidden by his mask.
"Yeah, it wasn't so bad. Nearly died on my first venture out of the village, but...Er, I'm getting off point." Naruto shook his head, missing the looks of bewilderment that crossed The Green (John) Lantern's and Superman's faces whereas Batman's eyes merely narrowed before relaxing. Naruto rested his hands behind his back. "Point of the matter is, I want to help people, you wanted to talk to me about something, so what was it?"
"Well, initially, it was to learn why you were leaving the Swamp Thing's domain." Superman shrugged. "For the League, that is. I, however, wanted to see what you were about and, hearing that, have an offer for you."
"...I'm listening."
A redheaded, freckled youth lounged within the recreation room on a lazy-boy reclining chair. He had a big bowl of potato chips in his lap and his right arm was in a cast. His green eyes glanced over to the two boys seated on the couch, their thumbs tapping away at the buttons on the controllers in their hands.
"Come on, Kaldur! I got my chips on you, dude."
"Wally, quiet." The Atlantean teen hushed his friend as his eyes narrowed. "I'm concentrating."
"Concentrate all you want, Kaldur, because it won't do you any good." Superboy smirked as he mashed away on his controller. "I've been practicing."
"On easy mode?" The Atlantean quirked a brow and gained a smirk of his own when he delivered a devastating combo that put Superboy's character in the red. The cloned Kryptonian's smirk fell into a scowl.
"Lucky shot." Superboy grumbled.
"Luck had nothing to do with that, my friend." Kaldur'ahm chuckled. Their game came to an abrupt halt when the large television screen they were playing on fritzed out and an exclamation point appeared on screen.
"Designation, Zero-One: Superman. Designation, Zero-Two: Batman. Designation, Alpha-Clearance: Guest."
"...I think we have company." Wally said, eating a handful of chips.
Superboy dumped his controller and got to his feet. "Come on, if both of them are here, you know it's important. Somehow."
The three boys met up with the rest of The Team on the way to the Zeta Tubes. Wally immediately sauntered up to Miss Martian's side, while a sunglasses and casually dressed Robin stood beside an equally amused, yet costumed, Artemis.
"So, how much you want to bet Wally flirts all the way to the Zeta Tubes?" Robin asked. His question earned a small grunt of annoyance from Superboy.
"No bet." Artemis replied, keeping her cowl firmly in place.
"Any reason for the costume?"
"Just got in from patrol over in a small city called Jump."
"Oh," Robin said with a nod. The seven members of The Team eventually came to their destination and were slightly surprised by who the 'Designated: Guest' was. Seeing the young Green Lantern alongside Superman and Batman caused excited murmurs to break out between them.
"What's he doing here?" Superboy asked the unofficial leader. Kaldur cracked a small smile.
"I believe our little clubhouse just got a new member."
"This is a pretty well lit cave. Your summer home, Batty?" The Lantern asked, smirking at the Caped Crusader.
"...He's got balls of steel." Wally mumbled. The redheaded hero looked back at the cloned hero. "Any relation?"
"Not that I'm aware of. Also, I'm not the only one here with super hearing," Superboy said, slightly annoyed at seeing his 'father' who evaded him on a regular basis.
Wally noticed Superman looking at him with a small smirk. "Er, no offense to the Man of Steel of course. I'm sure they are equally, steely. And I am just going to stop talking."
"I like this new guy already." Artemis grinned at Wally. "He makes the Wall-Man fumble."
"Please, I only fumble when I want to."
"So all the time?"
"Okay, I'm not that familiar with what counts as a victory in verbal warfare on this planet, but I'm pretty sure that's a point to her," The Lantern said with a laugh as he crossed his arms. Superman shook his head in amusement while both Miss Martian and Superboy perked up at hearing he wasn't from the world.
"Oh, who asked you?" The speedster scowled.
"No one, but your bruised pride is really easy to see."
"Really liking this guy. Plus, he's not so bad on the eyes." Artemis said, looking the new guy up and down with half-lidded eyes.
The Lantern audibly choked on his tongue and looked away as his face heated up. "Er, uh, thanks?"
"Who was the bruised one, again?" Wally asked, grinning cheekily.
"I've been living with a swamp guy for two years, cut me some slack." The Lantern frowned behind his mask.
"Wow, how did you survive?" Wally asked.
"Believe it or not, I have no idea." The Lantern shrugged.
"Are you done?" Batman asked dryly.
"Yeah, unless they have something else to say, I'm good."
"Good." Batman turned his attention to the gathered teens and stepped forward. "Team, listen up. Yesterday, when you faced the Injustice League, this individual and his ...teacher acted without any request by the League to aid you. From today forth, Sage will be part of your team and will assist you on missions."
"Partially." The Lantern, Sage, said pointedly. "I'm also going to be reintegrating myself with society so, uh...Yeah. That's a thing."
Wally grinned and sped towards the new guy, putting his good arm around Sage's shoulder. "Don't worry, man. We got the best education of modern society you can ask for. A one-hundred sixty inch, high-definition television with over a thousand channels. Plus Netflix."
"...I have no idea what the hell you just said." Sage deadpanned. Wally patted his shoulder consolingly.
"There, there. We'll make it all better soon."
"...When did you break your arm?" Sage asked. He pointed at the cast and arched a brow. "Did you get that when you tripped on that root?"
"...I think I hate you."
"We just met, how can you hate me?"
"Because you make them smile!" Wally glowered at the grinning Artemis and Robin.
"Uh-huh," Sage said with a slow nod. He looked at Superman. "I thought you said these guys were trained?"
"I also said they were probably your age," Superman said with a small smirk.
"...I believe that's a point to you, Underoos." Sage deadpanned.
"Okay, hold up, you know what Underoos are but not what an high def television is?" Wally asked. He distanced himself from the newcomer and looked at the blond teen strangely. "What planet are you from?"
"Well, we called it Earth, but since that's not here, I'm guessing there's another self-named Earth out there." Sage muttered.
"So, what, you're from Earth-2?" Wally asked with a snort of disbelief.
"Let's not get into that." Superman objected after he and Batman shared a quick look. One that was not missed by Superboy. The Man of Steel coughed into his fist and smiled at Sage. "It's been nice meeting you, Sage, and I hope you settle in well."
"Sure, nice meeting you, too, Superman." Sage nodded and shook hands with the Man of Steel. The green-clad teen then looked at Batman and gave a brief nod, getting one in return.
"Choose a room to settle in. You'll be evaluated tomorrow on skills by the Team's Mother of the week." Batman informed. The two members of the Justice League walked back into the Zeta Tubes, their departure announced by the computer.
"Finally." Sage sighed as soon as they were gone and held his ring-bearing hand up. A flash of green light later and Sage was back to what could be called civilian clothes. A whiskered face beamed a smile at the dumbfounded teens and Sage gave a small wave. "Now that they're gone, I can chill. Name's Naruto Uzumaki. How's it goin'?"
"Uh, good to know, I guess. Why didn't you say anything in front of Superman or Batman?" Wally asked.
"Because I don't trust Batman." Naruto admitted while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "The guy's making every 'emo'-sense I have go off. Nearly as bad as or worse than this guy I know."
"...You know he's got the whole mountain bugged, right?" Robin asked, grinning.
"And I should care about insects...why?"
"Balls of Nth metal." Robin awed.
"I think he is unfamiliar with our terminology, Robin," Kaldur said with a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He stepped forward and offered his hand. "Kaldur'ahm, otherwise known as Aqualad, but my friends call me Kaldur."
Naruto took the offered hand and shook it with a grin. "Nice to meet you, Kal. What'd you mean by technology? Like, a computer or radio or something?"
"How familiar are you with nano-tech?" Robin asked. He put a thumb on his chest. "Robin, by the way."
"Batman won't let him reveal his identity," Wally said with a snicker.
"Shut up, Wallace." Robin smirked
"Aw, dude!"
"And filing that away for future prank-er, notice," Naruto said with a grin as he shook Robin's hand. Putting his hands in his pockets, he shrugged. "I'll flat out admit it and just say I know diddly-squat."
"Well, I think we should introduce you to the internet." The Boy Wonder grinned broadly.
"...Why do we need to get into a net?" Naruto asked. He blinked and looked over at the two females when the girls snickered. "What? Was it something I said?"
"Okay, yeah, I'm so staying over tonight," Artemis said. She pulled her mask off and smiled at the newcomer. "Artemis. I'm the team's archer and Green Arrow's niece."
"Nice to meet you." Naruto smiled back and took her hand. As they shook hands, he blinked and leaned in to get a better look at her eyes. "Wow! You got really pretty eyes. Forest green, good color."
"Huh," Artemis smirked and gave Wally a look. "Not even five minutes here and he already can hit on a girl better than you."
"Er, uh, I wasn't...I mean, not that you're not pretty but I was just, er...What I want to say is-I think I'm just going to stop talking now." Naruto laughed nervously as his face heated up. Why was he stuck in the woods for years with his antisocial, mostly anti-human, teacher? Talking to pretty girls was never this difficult!
"Psh, naw, that's like a five, or a six out of ten flirt at best," Wally said with a scoff.
"I'm with Artemis. Way better than your moves, dude." Robin nodded with crossed arms. Kaldur rubbed his neck while Superboy nodded in agreement.
"You guys are the worst friends." Wally deadpanned.
Artemis' smirked turned into a wide grin. "Well, I think he's kinda cute. He's got a real down to earth vibe to him."
"Heh, I see what you did there," Naruto said with a laugh. He focused on the joke to ignore the embarrassment that came from being complimented.
"Yeah, and simple enough too." Wally huffed. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the teen.
"I'll remember that, Banana Peel." He muttered while he crossed his arms over his chest. He tilted his head. "...I think I hear water trickling."
"That's probably Wolf," Superboy said as he came forward. The two shook hands and Superboy cracked a small grin. "So, Green Lantern, huh?"
"For the love of - Why does everyone keep thinking I'm like Hal?" Naruto wondered with a groan. He rubbed his face. "It's...I'll explain it later…?"
"Superboy." The clone introduced himself. He nodded over at the last member of The Team when she floated over to land beside her secret boyfriend. "And this is Miss Martian."
"Actually, my name is M'gann, but you can call me Megan." Megan smiled and took the offered hand.
"Okay, I have to ask: Is every superhero girl super pretty? Because I can get behind that, 'ttebayo." Naruto grinned as he shook Megan's hand. He noticed Superboy's eyes narrow slightly and his smile wiped into a frown.
Now, although not up to par with his social skills of the past, Naruto was gifted in the way that could read a face and determine someone's mood. Something super important to have when a former teammate communicated in grunts, scowls, smirks, and sneers. So, he could tell that
"Er, not that I'm hitting on you or something. Not that you shouldn't get it, but-Ugh, god, it was so much easier talking to trees." Naruto bemoaned and dropped his face into his hands.
Superboy's smile returned when Megan giggled. Robin laughed and Kaldur shook his head. Wally looked at Artemis smugly.
"Yeah, he's so much better at flirting than me," the speedster said sarcastically.
Artemis returned the smug look. "A girl likes a guy who can tie his tongue."
"...What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Wally asked, dumbfounded. He looked at Robin when the boy fell onto his knees and started to laugh harder. "What? What?"
"Dude...I...You...I…"
"Robin try to pull yourself together," Kaldur said with a chuckle. He nodded at the distancing trio of Superboy, Megan and Naruto, who were talking animatedly about being roommates. Well, to be fair, Megan and Naruto were talking. "We've got a teammate to move in."
"Yeah, okay..." Robin sighed and wiped a tear from his eye as he got back to his feet. He caught up to Artemis, who followed if only to change into her spare set of clothes she kept in the Mountain, and grinned at her. "That was great."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Artemis said as she shared a fist-bump with the younger hero.
"...Since when are they so chummy!?" Wally asked indignantly before he raced off to catch up with the group. Kaldur shook his head and simply smiled as he followed his teammates.
It was never boring as a hero.
AN: Man, nearly 100 reviews after one chapter? You guys were really stoked!
E4E: What can we say? They love us.
You make it seem like this brain baby was your idea - yes, you helped write it, but I came up with the Swampy-twist!
E4E: Indeed, but I did help flesh things out. Especially with the later parts~!
SHH! Spoilers!
Next Time: The Team grows even further and a certain city on a certain coast hosts a cataclysmic threat in the form of a prepubescent girl.
Be afraid.
Be VERY afraid.
REVIEWSYS!