Injustice: The Path to Hell
Chapter II – The Beginning
Author Notes will be at the bottom.
"Normal Speech."
'Normal Thought.'
"Demon Speech."
'Demon Thought.'
Location/Time
-X- Line Break -X-
Monday 17th, February, 20:15.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
The apartment complex that was home to one Naruto Uzumaki was quiet. It usually was at this time of night. Its inhabitants leaving to enjoy the nightlife of Gotham as soon as the sun went down. Most were poor and had to work over the weekends to afford a night out and sometimes bring home a prostitute off the street.
Coming to a stop outside Naruto's door, Barbara leaned the semi-conscious young man against the wall, one of his arms over her shoulder for support as she struggled to open the door. Just as soon as she managed to get the key she looked to one side to see a particularly obese man walking down the corridor with a prostitute on either arm. He was loud and boisterous as he talked about all the things he would do to them and she struggled to keep the bile from rising up her throat at the mental image he painted.
She had heard similar things aimed at her alter ego, Batgirl from the various thugs, random guys on the streets and even at her school. It had always made her uncomfortable, but she had managed to build up a resistance to such things.
"Alfie!" Naruto groaned out loudly, making the obese man stop at the door and turn to face Naruto who had stood up a bit straighter. If Barbara didn't know any better she would say that he hadn't just gotten released from hospital. But she did, she could see the way he was leaning against the wall slightly for support, his arm around her was tighter and his eyes would twitch as he withheld a grimace of pain at the slightest of movement.
"Naruto, you're out already?" He barked out with a laugh, his fat stomach jiggling as the two prostitutes looked on in disgust at the men they were being paid to sleep with. "Look at you, goddamn nothing seems able to keep you down for long."
"You know me, Alfie." Naruto shrugged his shoulders and turned his grimace into a short smirk as to not show any discomfort. "Just try and keep your noise down a bit, I don't want to know what you're going to be using your dick for, it's an image I could do without."
Alfie smirked as his eyes roamed over Barbara's body clad in her school outfit as if just noticing her for the first time. "Oh I see." His smirk turned lecherous as he looked at Naruto once more. "I'll leave you two kids to it then. Come on ladies, daddies got an itch that needs scratching." With that he continued down the corridor and straight past Naruto and Barbara.
As he was doing so, Barbara opened the door to Naruto's apartment and helped him inside, switching on the main light and leading him to the sofa. "I'm sorry about, Alfie. I've kinda gotten used to him so I forget just how bad he can be."
Barbara shakes her head. "It's alright, Naruto." She sits down and Naruto slowly joins her, his head resting in her lap as he sprawls out over the rest of the sofa. "I could care less about what he has to say, I could just do without the mental image."
"Yea." He snorts, eyes closed as he enjoys the feeling of Barbara's hands running through his hair and massaging his scalp. "Alfie's like that. He's got a very detailed imagination and likes to share it with everyone." A hard look comes over his face, his cerulean eyes opening to reveal them flashing a dangerous dark blue. "I didn't like the way he looked at you though."
"Neither did I." Barbara said, her left hand moving down to stroke his cheeks to help calm him down. The last thing he needed was to make his injuries worse by allowing his anger to get the best of him. "But I know that'd you save me should he try anything." She smiled down at him, trying to ease the tension in Naruto.
"Yea, you're right." Naruto replied. "If he or anyone touched you in a way that you didn't want I'd do more than just make them back off." He muttered darkly, his voice so quiet she almost struggled to hear, but she heard him anyway.
"I know you would." She whispered back and he looked at her in shock, as if surprised she heard him. When he realised that she had, his head looked away in shame at revealing his more darker thoughts to her. "But I don't think we should be thinking about that anymore. How are you feeling?"
"I'm good. In a few more days I should back to normal." A lie. They both knew it, his injuries may have healed, but he would feeling twinges of pain for a couple more months and if he overworked them there was a high chance he could go back to square one again.
"Okay, good." Barbara watched as Naruto's eyes closed, his breath evening out as sleep claimed him.
Her eyes then turned to look out the window. The incident a month ago that put Naruto in the hospital was a mystery to both her, her father and even Batman. All they knew that it was linked to one of the many criminal gangs in Gotham and there too many for answers to be found instantly. That didn't make it any easier for her, especially since Naruto was being very tightlipped about what happened. Not even her father, a man Naruto trusted and loved as if he was his own father could get the blonde to describe his attacker.
Every time the answer was always the same. He entered his apartment, was his hit in the back of the head and then beaten within an inch of his life. The next thing he knew he was waking up in the hospital.
Feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket she pulled it out to see that the caller ID was one, Dick Grayson. "Hey, Dick. What'd you need?" There was gibberish from the other end of the line. "Okay, does Bruce need me there?" She waited once more. "No, that's okay. Ring me if anything comes up that needs my help."
Turning off her phone, Barbara put it back in her pocket and slowly leaned back into the sofa. Gotham City was a city filled with crime and crime never rested.
-X- Line Break -X-
Tuesday 18th, February, 11:15.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
The next morning saw Naruto slowly opening his eyes, desperately trying to fall back asleep and resist the shining glare of the Suns ray's upon his face. However, like every morning, the sun could not be denied and with a groan – a mix of pain and tiredness – he rose into a sitting position, slowly rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Morning." Looking to the left, Naruto saw Barbara moving towards him with a smile on her face and a steaming cup of coffee held carefully in both hands. She was dressed in pair of shorts she had left behind a couple of weeks ago and one of his jumpers which was far too big for her.
These moments were the ones he loved most, the sight of her when he woke up. It was no secret to anyone that knew Naruto about his feelings for Barbara except, for the girl herself it seemed. But it was moments like these, where they acted like a mature, older couple that made him want a normal life. Thought with his life how it was, he doubted that would happen for a very long time.
"Morning." He greeted a smile of his own appearing on his face. Reaching forwards, he took the cup of coffee from her hands and lightly blew on it. "How long have you been up?"
Barbara made her way back to the countertop and picked up her own cup of coffee, her fifth already. "Since nine, I was going to wake you up because it's getting late." Naruto looked to clock and saw that it displayed a time of, 11:30.
"Damn." He cursed, he hadn't realised he had been so tired.
"It's to be expected, Naruto." Barbara sat down beside him as Naruto put the News on as it described how Batman, Robin and Batgirl had taken down a large drug cartel in Gotham last night with large amounts of gunfire being heard from docks. "Realistically the doctors said you should spend another week in the hospital just to be safe. You refused and then had to do a lot of walking, which didn't help with your recovery."
Naruto clicked his teeth in annoyance. "Yea, you're right." He said and saw the smug smile coming across Barbara's face. "You're lucky you're holding a cup of coffee in your hands right now because I'd attack you."
"Are you sure it's not just because you're a cripple?" She asked teasingly, making sure to take a loud sip of her coffee to add extra effect to her statement.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, but this only served to make Barbara's smile widen behind her cup. "Don't push it." Laughing, Barbara got to her feet and moved to collect her phone that was on charge as Naruto watched her do so, his mind playing over the events that had happened.
He had always thought that he was strong, that he was wasn't scared of anything. He lived with criminals, men and women that wouldn't hesitate to kill if it meant they got some extra cash. Naruto had always faced them without fear and yet, the moment he had come face to face with Black Mask he had been terrified. It wasn't the first time they had met, but it was the first time that Naruto realised what Black Mask truly was.
Black Mask wasn't an average off the block criminal. He was one of the few criminal bosses that didn't surrender or run when the Batman arrived. No when Batman came, Black Mask would try his hardest to ensure that the caped crusader died.
Naruto had never understood that, he had only known the Black Mask that had taken him off the streets when his parents died. That had given him the means to survive, a man that while cruel was usually distant. Though that hadn't stopped a deep ingrained fear of the man to take hold of Naruto from a young age, something he hadn't realised until that night.
For the first time in his life, Naruto had felt the fear of dying. He knew that Black Mask could have killed him and no one would have been able to stop him, but he hadn't. Naruto had survived because Black Mask deemed it so, he let Naruto live because both knew that his life was in the hands of Black Mask's.
And Naruto hated it.
He hated knowing that everything he had done, everything he had accomplished had only happened because Black Mask deemed him a good source of income. Nothing more, nothing less.
'I refuse to let that continue anymore.' Naruto thought, his hand clenching info fist as he watched Barbara scroll through her phone, humming a small tune. 'I refuse to let Black Mask control my life anymore.' His life would be his own and Barbara would no longer be a tool for Black Mask to keep him in line. 'I'll protect you, I'll protect Jim. Even if that means leaving you and becoming something else.'
Batman.
Robin.
Batgirl.
They weren't heroes.
Heroes were meant to protect people no matter what. They were meant to ensure that guys like Black Mask couldn't force people to do their bidding. Heroes were meant to make sure that people like Black Mask were dealt with. And they hadn't.
They were put in jail for a couple of months and they were back out, free to do what they wanted again.
Well not anymore. Black Mask, Maroni, Falcone. All of them. Every criminal in Gotham City would no longer be given a beating and a slap on the wrist like Batman and the rest of the so called 'heroes' gave them. It was a kill or be killed world and to kill someone, you must first be prepared to be killed in return.
Naruto had already faced death, it was time the criminals of Gotham City did the same. And he would be the one to give it to them.
-X- Line Break -X-
Thursday 27th, February, 23:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
Barbara Gordon hummed a tune to herself quietly as she sat at upon the couch just adding the finishing touches to her assignment due in tomorrow. The only sound besides her humming was the sound of the TV playing in the background and the sound of the shower from bathroom.
The week had been relatively simple, almost normal as the two fell back into the routine of things. Naruto for all intents and purposes had become his usual self, sure he still had moments where some of his injuries flared with pain, but they were far and few between. It was a great relief to Barbara, who for the first time had truly been terrified of losing her best friend. Not even any of his older injuries had been this bad, for the first time she had faced the fact that her best friend might die and her heart clenched painfully at the thought.
"In other news, reports have come in from all over the city at the rise of a new vigilante that the people of Gotham are calling, Black Hood." The news reporter, a elderly woman wearing a business outfit informed the populace of Gotham. Beside her, on the screen, a blurred image of what appeared to be the figure of a man wearing all black clothing with a hide pulled obscuring his face from the camera completely. "He was reported to be seen fighting numerous gangsters belonging to the criminal known as Black Mask. This has been the third sighting of him and the police encourage the people Gotham to come forth with any knowledge they might have on this vigilante."
"What they on about?" Barbara turned around to see Naruto leaning against the doorframe in a white muscle shirt and shorts as he looked at the screen in confusion.
He had actually not really been focused upon the TV nor anything really, but Barbara. The blonde had always known that he had feelings for the girl and just seeing her here, in his room, so relaxed and unbothered by the day's events had really driven home how much he cared for her.
How much he wanted to keep her safe.
Yet he knew, that keeping her safe would be much harder than simply hiding her from the world. Gotham wasn't a place for someone as good as her, the city was a place where innocence went to die. The fact that Barbara and people his age was still innocent was a point in Batman and his Bat families favour. But criminals needed to be shown that their actions had consequences and Naruto knew that they would never cross that line.
'Sometimes, the world doesn't need another hero.' He thought back to something the elderly man, Hiruzen that used to live next door to him before passing away, he had been kind and had practically helped Naruto live and had also taught him various martial arts. 'What it needs, is a monster.' He smiled ruefully, becoming a monster to keep the criminals in line isn't exactly something he had planned to be doing, but if no one else was going to do it, then he would, for Barbara.
Always for Barbara.
"What they on about?" Naruto asked, breaking Barbara out of her trance.
"Nothing much, just a new vigilante." Barbara shook her head with a frown as Naruto moved to sit down next to her. "He's been called Black Hood."
"You don't approve?" Naruto questioned with a frown, though it was more of a statement. He knew Barbara, he knew how she thought and knew how to tell what she was thinking by just the faces she pulled.
Barbara shook her head. "He's a murder. He killed them and didn't even give them a chance to face justice." Naruto clicked his teeth in annoyance as Barbara looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"I think this Black Hood guy is doing us all a favour." Barbara looked at him in shock, she had known that he had his moments where he got a little dark, but to accept murder like that was just shocking. "They're criminals, how many people have they killed, robbed, raped?"
Barbara flinched at the last one, having stopped numerous women from being raped and sometimes turning up too late as Batgirl. Each and every time she had to console those crying women and had even received reports that they had killed themselves out of shame and fear that it might happen again.
"That still doesn't make it right." Barbara argued and Naruto barked our a laugh.
"Not right." Naruto shook his head in annoyance. "How the hell is it not right, Barbara? Their criminals. The moments they started to kill and hurt other people they lost their rights. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, the police. They're too soft. All their doing is making criminals smarter and more dangerous."
Barbara narrowed her eyes, angry at Naruto who had unknowingly insulted her actions as Batgirl. "Excuse me. I don't see you doing anything. You talk shit about people like Batman and Batgirl who actually risk their lives and what do you do?!" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You sit at home and go out and fight in illegal fighting rings and when you do nearly get killed, you don't say anything! How do you expect people to help you?"
"How?! By fucking doing something about the criminals in this fucking town!" He shouted and Barbara did not shy away from the Naruto who had gotten to his feet, she too doing the same.
"We have laws, rules." She argued back, keeping her voice quiet, but none the less was heard. "You can't just ignore those or else you become just as bad as the criminals you hunt." She recited the words told to her by Batman when she first started training to become Batgirl.
"Ha! That's complete bullshit." Naruto laughed. "The difference between a guy like Black Hood and the criminals is that he kills to make sure that the criminals understand that there is no getting off with a slap on the wrist. It's a message that tells them if they kill then they better be prepared to be killed in turn."
"Oh really, and that makes it okay does it?"
"Damn right it does!" Barbara was having none of it and step closer to Naruto, who only looked down at her, both their eyes narrowed in anger and annoyance at the others stubbornness.
"And what makes a murderer like Black Hood different to Batman, or Batgirl?" She asked, wanting to know what Naruto actually thought about her alter ego. She had always known that Naruto had problems with her alter ego and her partners, but he had never actually said, always changing the subject or being interrupted.
"I think that underneath all their strength and skill, their actually cowards." He answered and it took everything Barbara had to not let the hurt and sadness show on her face, especially considering Naruto's situation is one of the main reasons she goes out to fight crime. To have that person say that she is a coward is more hurtful than any injury she has suffered before.
"Cowards?" Barbara whispered, finally looking away from Naruto to the ground.
"Yes." Naruto replied, his own voice quieter having noticed Barbara's current change in attitude. "I remember what the old man, Hiruzen once told me, 'sometimes the world doesn't need another hero. Sometimes what it needs is a monster.' A monster to keep the rest in line, to show them that their actions have consequences and Black Hood is exactly that."
Barbara nodded her head numbly. "I see." She then turned and moved to begin packing up her stuff.
"Barbara?" Naruto called, confused on how everything had gone so south so fast.
"I'm going, Naruto." Barbara replied shortly. "When you actually wake up and start being the Naruto I know, let me know. I just; I can't deal with you when you're like this." She took a deep breath and stood at the door to Naruto's apartment. "I don't know what happened that night, but you haven't been the same since."
"Barbara, wait." Naruto moved forwards, but she stopped him with a raised hand.
"No!" She took another breath. "No, I think we both need time to ourselves to figure out what is going on because I don't know you right now." Naruto flinched slightly, having heard the heartbreak in her voice, but also because of the words she said.
"I-I." Barbara said nothing more as she opened the door as Naruto stumbled over his word. Then the door shut behind her and she walked down the corridor, having just heard Naruto curse, "fuck!"
And as she walked, she wiped her eyes feeling tears gather there. "Idiot." She muttered.
-X- Line Break -X-
Tuesday 18th, March, 22:10.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
The Bowery.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto did a quick check of his current equipment. His outfit consisted of black cargo pants, boots and a hoodie, with a stolen bulletproof vest underneath. All things were in place, with a Bowie knife attached to each of his thighs and a pistol holstered to his left hip.
Tonight was the night he had been planning for a while.
Ever since his argument with Barbara about his alter ego, Black Hood and the mortality of his new job, things had been quiet between the two. He had all but stopped going to school and focused most of his time on training in nearby gyms, already having put on a few pounds and grown two inches in the space of a month.
This meant that he and Barbara barely had anytime to break down the wall that had started to form between the two of them. But Naruto knew that it would take more than just a simple apology to heal some of the open wounds in their friendship.
Yet Naruto didn't have the time and while he would never admit it, he was a little scared that maybe Barbara didn't want him anymore. She had really stuck to her word and had not made any attempts to reach out to him and had left it to him to come to her when he had 'sorted himself out.' But the thing was, Naruto didn't know where to begin, didn't know how he can convince Barbara that this is who he is, who he always was.
She had made it clear that she didn't like who he was becoming and he was terrified that maybe, when she realised that this was he may always be, that she would leave.
'Perhaps that's for the best.' A part of him whispered. 'That way she will never get hurt, never become a target that our enemies will use to hurt us.' And that was also what scared him, the thought of his enemies – which there would be many if he continued down this path – getting to Barbara to get to him.
But it all boiled down to two simple things.
Did he love Barbara enough to let he go and seek a life with someone else – the thought alone made his heart clench – safe and sound without the threat of a supervillain hurting her. Or was he going to be selfish and seek a life with her, knowing that supervillains are out there and could strike at any moment.
The answer was much easier to answer than he had thought. As much as it would pain him to see Barbara with another man, as long as she was happy and safe he would accept it. Her happiness and safety was all that mattered because he would protect those he cared about with a fierce ruthlessness.
"Man, this is so boring." Breaking out of his dark thoughts, Naruto took a peak around the corner and saw two guards sat outside a small warehouse. They weren't very well-dressed, their outfits mired in sweat and grime as they nursed a beer in one hand and the one on the left also nursing his holstered gun. "Don't understand why the boss is getting so scared by this new vigilante. We already have to deal with Batman and this fucker ain't as batshit as the Bat. Ha, see what I did there?"
The man beside him sighed in annoyance. "Yes, I did. Now shut up, your pissing me off."
"Bah, fuck your too." Naruto smirked, that one was obviously drunk and while his partner seemed more alert, there was no doubting his slightly glazed eyes that were clearly seen with the light shining on them from the light above them.
This just made his job easier.
Pulling down his hood, Naruto walked towards the two thugs, a bag slung over his shoulder. "Hey kid, you ain't meant to be here." The more sober of the two said, both of them rising to the feet with the drunkard stumbling slightly.
"I've got my payment." Naruto said calmly, shaking his bag slightly before chucking it at the drunk man who fell on his ass with the bag on his lap. "Tell Black Mask, that Naruto Uzumaki has paid his share."
"Alright, we will do." The second guy replied, his hand slowly moving away from the gun on his side. "Now get out of here kid, you ain't meant to be here."
"Yea, yea I know." Naruto replied as he watched the drunkard open the bag to see it empty.
"Hey!" The drunkard yelled as his partner looked to see what the problem was. "This is empty dickhead." They looked to Naruto to see him holding a gun towards them with a silencer attached to the end.
Two bullets exited the barrels quicker than they could react and hit them both in the chest where they dropped to the ground, dead. "Really, what a surprise." He snarked, moving forwards and picking up the body of the taller of the two and moving towards the door. From what he had learnt of this warehouse it was the armoury of Black Mask's operation
Lots of guns, ammunition and even explosives.
Perfect for him to expand his horizons in attacking Black Mask's operational structure. He had learnt a lot about Black Mask since he was a kid and one of those things was that he was very methodical in the way he ran his criminal empire. The thugs that worked for him had rotational shifts, one week a group of thugs would be on the streets dealing in either drugs, prostitutes, guns or collecting tax. The next, that same group would be working in one of the bases.
Each thug was assigned to only one base and that way, should they be arrested then they couldn't give away the inner workings about Black Mask's operations. Smart, simple and effective.
Yet it also had one downside.
Naruto in his tenure as Black Hood had been killing Black Mask's thugs in the street and therefore, reducing the number of people defending hideouts of the crime lords empire. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the minor criminals that Black Mask could have hired to fill in the gaps, knew that Black Hood – a hero that now killed, a terrifying thought to them all – had beef with Black Mask. Therefore, no one wanted to work for him, not even the desperate.
Then there was the fact that Naruto knew that Black Mask was a very prideful individual and would never, not even if it meant saving his life, go begging to any of the other crime families for help.
This worked in Naruto's favour as it meant that this armoury, once defended by twenty men each week, now had a defensive force less than ten. Two of which were already dead at his feet, well one was, the other was held in his grasp.
He may not be a person known or praised for his patience, but Naruto was a very determined individual. Taking out Black Mask was not going to be an instant thing, it would take time and careful planning.
The past few weeks had been filled with Naruto taking out Black Mask's thugs and weakening his manpower. Then it was taking out the armoury, leaving Black Mask and his goons extremely short supplied on firepower, while increasing his own. After that, it was a matter of waiting for Black Mask to make the next move and if Naruto knew him as well as he thought he did, then that would involve running to a more secure location.
Pressing a buzzer on the door, Naruto leaned the body against the door just enough to make it seem like the guard was closing his eyes while waiting. Meanwhile, moving the dead body of the drunkard to the base of the door. Thankfully, he managed to get that done just in time and move to hide on the opposite side of the door before a hatch opened on the door and another thug peeked through.
"What you want, Jonny? Your shift ain't done yet." The man asked, but there was silence. Obviously cautious by this, he looked around and Naruto pressed himself further against the wall as to not be seen. "Jonny, what the fuck is going on?" It was then that, Naruto kicked the thugs legs and the dead body fell to the ground. "What the fuck?!"
There was a buzzing sound and the door opened. A cry of shock escaped the thugs mouth as he tripped over the body of the second guard, and cursed as he spotted Naruto. Yet that was all he could do as Naruto fired off another round into the man's head.
Not saying anything, Naruto pushed the body of one of the thugs into the closing door, keeping it from locking and moved to rummage through the two bodies. After he had done, he tucked the two new guns into his pants and moved into the warehouse.
It was quiet, for most of the journey, obviously the lack of manpower, meant that patrolling the armoury was much more difficult with far more holes in their defence. Well, that was his thoughts until he heard the sound of jeering and shouting.
Pulling up to a stop of an open doorway, he took a peek around the corner and saw five men sat around a poker table, with a sixth seat empty. 'Seven rounds left in my Glock, with two clips remaining. Another Glock, no silencer and one clip. A Smith and Wesson M&P, ten round clip and no silencer.' He recounted mentally before taking another peek. 'Okay, only two are carrying guns, rest are just knives. I think.'
"Hey!" Naruto froze and looked at the man standing across from him, his hands clenched by his side. Reacting quickly, Naruto turned his silenced Glock on the man and fired a headshot before performing a flawless, diving roll into the now silenced room, just as the wall he was stood behind was riddled with bullet holes.
"Shit! It's the Black Hood!" One man shouted, just as Naruto got to his feet and fired two bullets, one to the chest and then to the head of the closest thug.
"Kill him!"
Naruto took a moment to take stock of the situation. He had killed the closest guy, holding a knife. One more was charging towards him, also holding a knife. The remaining three were stood behind the table, two holding their pistols and one having an AK-47 that must have been hidden from his sight.
Reacting quickly, Naruto did not fire his gun and instead counter-charged the thug holding a knife and body slammed into him. This was done just as gunfire erupted once more, however Naruto was now hidden behind the body of one of enemies.
Blood splashed into the air as the three firing goons tried to break through Naruto's human shield and kill him. However, those bullets that did manage to get through were so slow that they harmlessly collided with bulletproof armour and didn't even stall him as Naruto continued his charge, using the dead body as a shield.
With a grunt he pushed the much lighter body over the top and into the three guns who had to put a hold on their firing as to avoid the body of their dead comrade. One however, was not so lucky and was sent to the ground as the body collided with his face.
This allows Naruto to train his gun on one goon and fire two bullets into him. Just as he went to turn his gun on the second, the thug that had fallen on the floor kicked the table into Naruto. This didn't hurt, be he was distracted enough that his aim went off track, the bullet colliding harmless into the wall.
Stepping back, Naruto ejected the clip and went to pull out a second clip when he had to duck behind the table as the thug holding the AK-47 managed to start firing once more.
Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long as the man had to stop to reload.
With one hand braced on the top of the table, Naruto jumped over the table while simultaneously lashing out with a kick that knocked the AK to one side. Landing on the ground he spun round and sent a spinning, back kick into the stomach of the thug who kicked the table and had just gotten to his feet, who collided against the wall before he could start firing his pistol.
"Ahhh!" The man that had held the AK charged forward in a mad frenzy, but Naruto parried the punch to one side and slammed a chop to the man's neck. Meanwhile, his other hand moved down and smoothly pulled out one of his Bowie knives and drove it up straight into the man's head through his jaw.
Pulling the blade free and wiping the blood off on his sleeve, Naruto turned to look at the only remaining thug who had dropped to his knees in surrender. "Please man, I surrender." The man dropped his gun and pushed it towards Naruto's feet, who looked at it and then the man. "I'm done, I swear. I won't kill anyone, hell I'll turn myself in. Just please, don't kill me."
Naruto stood silently, allowing the man to continue begging for his life pathetically. "Okay." The man sighed with relief, almost collapsing to the ground with relief.
"Thank you." The man shook, the adrenaline leaving his body weak. "Thank you."
"But you will go to Black Mask and tell him what happened here." The man froze in shock and fear. "Tell him that Black Hood was someone who he created and that I'm coming for him next." There was no movement from the thug as he stared up at Naruto in shock and fear. "Go on."
"Please! He'll kill me, let me do anything but that!" That man cried out in fear, knowing that even going to Black Mask to report failure would mean his death.
"If you don't go." Naruto pulled out a gun and pointed it at the man. "Then I'll kill you now. Your choice."
Tears streamed down the man's face as he shakily got to his feet and moved to leave.
"Oh, if you think of trying to hide and not do as I ask." Naruto, fully embracing his Black Hood persona calmly broke the silence, the lighting of the room ensuring that not even a single feature could be seen. "Then I will find you and finish off what I started."
Nodding his head, the man rushed out the armoury and Naruto watched him go with a clam expression. It was a baseless threat, there was nothing stopping the man from running away because it would make the man extremely unlucky run into Black Hood again. But it didn't matter, while Naruto hated killing and threatening people, Black Hood required him to be a force of nature, a monster that will kill without hesitation.
'Man.' Naruto thought as he looked up at the ceiling in thought. 'This doesn't get any easier.' Not even now, after having done this for just shy of a month. Killing was something that while on the outside, came easy to him. On the inside it filled him with sadness and self-loathing at what his life had become. 'This is who I am now, I'm doing this to protect Barbara, to protect Jim.'
Clenching his fist, Naruto moved to the front and took the bag he had left there and moved towards the various crates scattered in each room. Making sure to fill it to the brim. It was heavy, extremely so.
But the choices he had made, the consequences of his actions were heavier and he would continue to bare them alone.
-X- Line Break -X-
Friday 21st, March, 13:25.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Unknown Location.
Black Mask, formerly known as Roman Sionis. He came from a rich family, with his parents never really caring for him and focusing on expanding their wealth and fortune. After his parents had died he had taken over as head of his families company only to drive into bankruptcy, quite quickly.
He had been driven to actually hide his face behind a wooden mask carved from his fathers coffin, only for that to burned onto his skin in his first fight against Batman.
His appearance coupled with his keen intellect had allowed Black Mask to carve out quite a large criminal empire for himself, nowhere near as big as his rivals, the Carmine and Falcone families. But still, very large and successful.
With running a criminal empire came many obstacles and downfalls that would have driven many men to extreme anger and madness. Roman Sionis on the other hand, was not a normal man. He saw these pitfalls and obstacles as simple annoyances that he would eventually overcome.
However, recently things had changed.
His criminal empire was crumbling around him, like taking bricks out of a wall. At first, this vigilante, the Black Hood had simply focused on killing his henchmen and that was fine. They were replaceable and was nothing more than an inconvenience. Hardly anything to worry about.
That had changed after the attack on his armoury, a week ago.
Black Mask had been too focused on Batman and the other crime families encroaching on his territory to see how badly things had become. People no longer wanted to work for him simply because of Black Hoods willingness to kill and now, every time one of his men was killed it was like taking bricks out of a crumbling wall. Each time one was removed huge sections of it crumbled to the ground in a heap.
Now, he realised his mistake. Black Hood had been smart, very smart in what he had done and that made Black Mask angry. First building up a reputation that would stop people from accepting Romans job offers, then going for the vital areas of Black Masks empire once his manpower had been significantly drained.
And now what was he left with. A couple of millions of dollars, two safe houses and twenty men left. But he had a plan.
Black Mask always had a plan and it required one simple thing.
Bait.
Black Mask chuckled sinisterly, his shoulder shaking. Today, he would rid himself of this annoying pest once and for all. Now just a matter of setting it all up.
-X- Line Break -X-
Friday 21st, March, 19:45.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.
Naruto sat back calmly looking out of the alleyway and onto the busy roads of Gotham Heights. Well, busy was a relative term. It was not quite rush hour, but there was definitely a lot of cars on the road.
He was dressed in his Black Hood gear and in front of him, was a motorcycle helmet painted black in colour – might as well go all into his persona as Black Hood – resting on top of his Yamaha YZF-R3. A 'gift' kindly given to by Black Hood.
"Right, where leaving the base, moving to Safe House Two, keep eyes peeled and inform us if you catch sight of Black Hood or Batman." A man ordered over the radio. It was something he confiscated off one of Black Masks bases and was still wired into their radio frequency. It was a shock to him that this had happened, but something he was going to use to his advantage.
"Sloppy." Naruto shook his head in amusement as he attached his Heckler and Koch MP5K to his back before leaning down and reviving his bike engine.
Today was the day Black Mask would die. It was just his luck that Black Mask was running to a new, more defensible location and therefore needing to leave his safe house. It would be difficult and extremely problematic if Black Mask did escape to his safe house, but not impossible.
Catching him on the open road was just much easier and simpler.
He waited another five minutes before three identical black SUVs blurred past the alleyway he was stationed in. With a grin, Naruto revved his engine, flicked on his light before racing off, temporarily doing a wheelie.
He zoomed on to the street, skidding slightly before moving down the road quickly weaving in and out lanes. Despite this though, his eyes trained on the three SUVs moving down the roads like a convoy. Reaching round, he grabbed hold of submachine gun and opened fire on the back convoy. A few hit the glass, but did not shatter it letting him know that it was bulletproof, but most were aimed towards the wheels.
His aim was true and with a pop the back wheels burst and the car drove off course and collided into a street lamp. Thus, taking it out of commission.
But at this point, the men had realised something was wrong and their speed increased.
Not sparing it a glance he increased his speed in response and pulled up alongside the side of the middle car, no doubt holding Black Mask. He went to aim at the front car, but quickly swung his gun round and fired into the passenger seat as the window rolled down enough to let the passenger open fire on him. Naruto was quicker on the draw and fired riddling the man with bullets and he must have hit the driver as the car swerved off course and smashed into a shop.
Seeing this and hearing the screams of fright from the people, Naruto once again fired upon the front car and took out its tires, before spinning round and driving towards the car holding Black Mask. After all, wouldn't want someone interfering.
As soon as he pulled up, he jumped off his bike and rushed into the shop as people rushed away from the scene. "Come on out, Black Mask!" Naruto called out, his feet crunching upon broken glass and debris. His gun trained upon the door as his eyes flickered around the room looking any sign of a surprise attack. "It's over!"
The door opened and Naruto riddled the man with bullets before he could even aim his gun or surrender.
"There's nowhere to run!" Naruto continued. "So just save us both the trouble and come out and I'll make your death quick." He moved forwards and looked inside to see that Black Mask was slumped against his chair, blood pooling into his lap and onto the floor from a wound to his neck. "Tch." He didn't know how, but obviously one of his bullets must have hit the crime lord without him realising.
He froze when he heard the sound of cars coming to a stop and numerous guns clicking and no doubt aimed at him. "I must say." Naruto growled in anger as he heard the voice of Black Mask sound from behind the barricade of cars and goons. "You don't look as intimidating as my men make you out to be. Nor as smart. You fell for my trap quite easily."
It took everything Naruto had to not scream and rage at his arrogance. Of course, Black Mask wouldn't be as stupid or careless as to leave his communications on an open channel that could be listened to by anyone who knew how to change a radio frequency.
Raising to his full height, Naruto turned to face Black Mask and what must be fifteen guns aimed right at him. All assault rifles and each man wearing a mask of some sort to hide their faces.
"Shit!" He cursed silently.
A/N: So there we are, another chapter finished and I apologise for how long it took me. Not exactly proud with this chapter, but please let me know what you think and please give me constructive criticism and not flames. If you want to say my fic is shit, then don't because those types of opinions don't matter to me and are just pathetic. So save us all the bother and just stop reading and go elsewhere.
Now the poll is closed and I've decided on four possible pairings and these are:
1. Naruto and Barbara – If this story is going to be a single pairing then this is going to be the only pairing. Now this doesn't mean that their pairing will be perfect the moment they get together, in fact far from it. Naruto will have relationships with other women in the story. These two will be torn apart by their conflicting ideas on what to do with criminals, but will eventually end up together in the end. So if you want a single pairing then let me know as Barbara will be the only person to be paired with Naruto at the end of story if it's just a single pairing.
2. Naruto and Barbara and Kara (Supergirl) – Same again with Barbara, her and Naruto will be back and forth and one of the girls Naruto will have a relationship with at some point is Kara (in the case of a single pairing – meaning Barbara at the end – Kara will have an intimate relationship with Naruto at some point that might last a couple of Arcs before they break up and just stay as friends). But if you really want Naruto to be with more than one woman then it is one possible choice.
3. Naruto and Barbara and Koriand'r (Starfire) – Same again with Barbara, her and Naruto will be back and forth and one of the girls Naruto will have a relationship with at some point is Koriand'r (in the case of a single pairing – meaning Barbara at the end – Korinad'r will have an intimate relationship with Naruto at some point that might last a couple of Arcs before they break up and just stay as friends). But if you really want Naruto to be with more than one woman then it is one possible choice.
4. Naruto and Barbara and Kara and Koriand'r - Don't think I need to explain what I mean by this.
Now a new poll is being posted on my page where you can choose two of the four possible options. So please go do that once you have read this.
Overall, each of the women above will have a intimate relationship at one point, but it depends on whether just Barbara will end up with him and Kara/Koriand'r stay friends with him after they break up, or if other stuff happens. But either way, each will have a relationship with him at one point, it's just a matter of which is permanent and which isn't.
Now for your questions or doubts about my story:
Heavenly Gods: I can understand that, but when Naruto first started out he was extremely weak. Power didn't come instantly, but it came over the course of many years. I'm not going to do what some authors do and have Naruto instantly become OP as fuck by unlocking the Sharingan or some shit like that. No, in these early chapters Naruto is been thrown right into the deep end and doesn't know how to swim, so to speak.
He's going to get his ass kicked over and over again, but like we saw in the anime. Every time Naruto gets beaten down he comes back stronger. That's a key part of Naruto's character. Yea, right now he is weak as fuck. The guys he's fought so far are basic thugs, against people like Batman and whatnot, he's extremely weak and will lose a fight easily.
But that will change eventually, just bare with me and the story as it progresses. Because eventually Naruto will become, extremely powerful.
Vizard890: To be completely honest, I'm still undecided. I know for a fact that if I pull a reincarnation act a lot of people will be pissed and to be honest, I don't want to be lazy like that. But I am thinking of using Kurama, well not exactly Kurama himself, but more the idea of it. You know the different forms and transformation he has. But it won't be linked to Kurama himself and will in fact be Naruto's Metahuman ability if you know what I mean. I'm also thinking of using something like the Eight Gate or Sage Mode or all three.
Not all at once, but having Kurama's Chakra as his Metahuman ability and Eight Gates/Sage Mode being something taught to him. Might even have him learn magic cause that way he can recreate some of his old dimensions techniques.
Ejammer: At first he will be human much like Batman and the Bat family. Not super strong or fast, but still able to contend with best or worse (depending on how you look at it) of them and then becoming a Metahuman to give him that extra power to contend with the OP characters of the DC universe (*cough* Doomsday *cough*).
The1whoknox: Yes, Naruto will have powers eventually. If you want to know my reasoning on that look at my response to Ejammer and Vizard890. That should explain slightly what I have or am still deciding to do with Naruto and how he will progress in the story.
xSean: Yep, first person to point that out. Just a little throw in to Naruto's childhood in Konoha. And as to how far I'm planning to go, as far as I can really. Not every comic or characters is going to be involved. To get an idea of what type of story I'm going to try and create, go read Vimesenthusiast's A Third Path to the Future FanFic, that is a Harry Potter and Marvel crossover. And I mean a serious Marvel crossover that doesn't just focus on X-Men or Avengers, but every major villain of the Marvel Comics. I'm trying to recreate something similar with a Naruto and DC crossover.
Abcvoltage: No, I've tried to make a realistic portrayal of Naruto born and raised in Gotham and we all know how fucked up the people in Gotham can be. Most of his traits, his desire to protect his precious people, his determination to achieve his goals and other parts of his personality will be seen. You just have to look closely. Just because my Naruto doesn't run around in orange screaming he's gonna be Hokage and his love for ramen doesn't mean he isn't Naruto.
People change, look at Naruto when he finally does become Hokage. He's mature, serious and nothing like his younger self in terms of temperament. Not only that, but Naruto had his parents with him till he was seven and they died. He actually knew his parents before they died and that can change people, even more so in a city where people like the Joker are on the loose. Expecting Naruto to be carbon copy of who he was in the anime isn't possible. So I've tried to make a realistic portrayal with links to his anime self.
Hope this clears up any confusion and or questions. If not please let me know in a review so I can answer your queries.