A/N: Hey, all! I'm back! First off, I wanted to say thank you to all those who have supported me and encouraged me to stick with what I'm doing, and more importantly, to remain on this site. I've decided to buck and, despite the the undue anger and aggression I've been receiving from both sources anonymous and otherwise...I'm going to stick around. Writing has been my passion for all of six years, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

If I stopped writing on this sight I'd just feel...hollow, ya know? So...

...let's burn! Also, just got a new computer-blasted chromebook- and I'm just getting used to it, so please forgive any spelling errors! I'M BACK BABY! And as a note, the title for this chapter is based off a rather amusing Misaka amv called Unlucky Strike. Be sure to check it out! A

As I'm sure some of you are wondering, YES Naruto and Accelerator will clash in this chapter. No arguements please, just enjoy the fight! Its a pivotal moment in the series; because of these two titans going at it this early, some people will live and some people will DIE in later chapters because of it. No going back, now!

Also, I recommend looking up Misaka 9982 on youtube. I believe the video was literally thus from the series: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S - Misaka 9982

Holy crap she's adorable! The level of moe is waay too high! I've altered events slightly, which only makes this even more sad...

"The devil's luck. Yup, that's gotta be it.."

~Misaka.

Unlucky Strike

Lightning.

It too is the spark of life, that very essence that defines existence. Energy, in its purest form. Almost unstoppable, indestructible, capable of vaporizing anything in its path. Few can understand it; even less are accepted by it; this deadly force from on high. Magicians struggle to understand it. Scientists claim to know comprehend it.

They are both wrong.

Like fire, it can destroy...but it can also create. Empower.

Some legends claim that Fire and Lightning are twins immemorial; equal, yet opposing elements that understand one another. They create and destroy. Destroy and create...then, repeat. An endless cycle of destruction and rebirth. They were not gentle like the other elements; often, the few who command them go mad from the burden of wielding such power. Such responsibility.

You know the saying.

After all, you can't have a fire without a spark. And the more sparks the better...

...right?


"Right?"

"Mrmhph." Naruto managed a semi-sentinent grunt, his head dipping slightly as he struggled with consciousness. It was a losing battle. With each passing second he felt the allure of sleep calling him; a sweet, siren of a song, irresistible and compelling. It would be easy just to drift off here on this park bench, the searing rays of summer sunshine shaded by the trees. Yes...so tempting...

"Oi, Naruto?"

Yes, surely she wouldn't mind if he dozed off. It wasn't as if this was a date or anything...

"Earth to blondie!"

Just a few seconds of shut eye...

"NA~RU~TO~!"

"MUWAH?! Who?! What?! When, where, why?! I didn't do it, I swear!" The blond sputtered awake and uprightly, blinked baby blue eyes rapidly, pausing only as an afterthought to nip at his chocolate parfait whilst his brain blearily processed the words. To say that he was exhausted would have been a massive understatement; his reflexes still slow from lack of sleep. Weary didn't even begin to define him. Napalm had been terribly busy last night, and he was feeling every instant of it now.

"Did you even hear what I said?" Misaka Mikoto, the Ace of Tokiwadai, gazed back at him, her eyes mired in thin veiled suspicion. "Wha-did you doze off again?! You've been doing that a lot lately."

"W-What are you talking about?" He sputtered. "I've just had a ton of homework yesterday, is all. Hard to sleep when you have grades like mine."

"Naruto, its a weekend." she deadpanned. How can you have homework."

"I...take extra classes." Naruto was suddenly and intensely aware of the costume he was wearing beneath his school garb; he'd been all but exhausted when he'd woken this morning, and hadn't realized his colossal mistake until it was too late. Now it was too late to rectify it. The light flame retardent material felt uncomfortably hot against his skin in the summer heat beneath his orange blazer, beneath that cold and calculating-penetrating!-stare of hers.

"Really."

"Really." he willed himself not to falter. "And hey, I did hear you before!"

"So then, sleepyhead, what did I say before?" she challenged, grinning.

Truly it was at times like this that he tired of the charade. It would be so much easier to tell her, wouldn't it? But no, though the temptation was there, he resisted.

In the end, as ever, he held his tongue.

"I heard ya, I heard ya." he quickly averted his eyes. "Napalm took somebody else down last night-right?" Mikasa nodded somberly at his words, seemingly completely unaware of the steadily melting parfait warming in her hands. Her attention was decidedly elsewhere. Those bright eyes were now locked on a nearby screen in the plaza.

"Yeah, he killed three people this time." she murmured, frowning at the news. "I managed to corner him for a bit, but then he just...left.

Her friend chuckled. "What's your deal with this guy? It sounds like ya expect him to fight you every chance you get."

"Jealous?"

"Nope. he demurred with a smile. "If anything, I feel sorry for him."

Mikasa frowned. "Sorry?"

"Yup. If he has to deal with you a nightly basis, sparky."

Bzzt.

Naruto effortlessly ducked when a tiny trickle of electricity shot overhead. "You'll have do better than that! I may be a level one, but my reflexes are still better than yours!" Misaka tsked softly to herself. They were, too. He had always beaten her whenever they sparred in hand-to-hand combat. It was one of the thing she resolved to best him in, someday.

"You seem to look up to him, though." she muttered, changing the subject.

"What's not to look up to?" He feigned a shrug as he leaned back against the bench, basking in the shade. "The guy's a hero. I mean a Level Five, kicking ass and taking names. Answering to no one but himself? What's not to like? He's a hero to a measly Level One like me." He'd been an ardently fierce supporter of the vigilante's actions ever since the attacks first began last year. Probably because he worked in Judgement? His ability wasn't all that special, he could create heat, make the occasional spark, maybe burn you a little if he really tried.

Nothing like the firestorm she'd faced last night.

She shook her head at the thought. Naruto was an old friend. She'd known him ever since she was little. He was her best friend. He couldn't be Napalm. Besides, she knew for certain that he was a Level One-one who'd been tested countless times. You couldn't fool the System Scan like that just by tamping down your abilities. But Naruto wouldn't do that. If he really was that powerful, surely he'd show it, right?

...right?

"Aaaaaand I'll take a bite of that."

"Oh sure, go ahead-HEY?!"

Frowning, she looked over, just in time to witness Naruto taking a healthy bite out of her own parfait. Indirect kiss! Her cheeks colored with more than just indignation and hurriedly, she snatched it away. Unfortunately, in her haste to preventing him from eating the rest of it, she hurriedly crammed the rest of it into her mouth and swallowed. Too late, Misaka realized what she'd done.

Steam. Steam was coming out of her ears, now!

"Wha?" he grinned innocently at her sputtering blush. "I'm no Kuroko. I'd never take advantage of you."


Some distance away, a pink-haired girl suddenly sneezed. Her braids bobbed violently from the motion, a foot momentarily rising from the prone back of a thugh.

Bright eyes fluttered open and shut.

"Ah. I wonder if Onee-sama is talking about me~?"


"Some friend you are." Misaka huffed, looking away. "Now I'm going to get indigestion." Yup, that was Misaka Mikoto for you. Rarely true with her feelings.

Thankfully, he had a way around that.

Time for my ultimate techinque!

"Oh? And here I was going to give you this, but if we're not friends...guess I can't huh?" Naruto said with an innocent smile as he reached into his pocket, unveiling a familiar keychain. It took his childhood friend all of a single second to see the rare, limited edtion, white Gekota. "And after all the trouble I went to get this for you, my bestest of best friends...

Her eyes lit up like a cat looking at mouse.

Naruto grinned. Gotcha. Don't underestimate me, sparky! We've been best friends for years! I know all your weakness! Here it comes-oh-hey, that's new?! JESUS MOTHA-!

He didn't even have time to balk before she pounced.

"You! Are! Fooorgiiiiiven!" Her delighted squeal was almost childish by comparison as her cheek rubbed against his. While he was distracted, she snatched the keychan out of his hand joyfully and bounced away, batting at her new possession like a kitten with yarn. No amount of moe -nothing on earth!- could possibly hope to compare to the sheer amounts of adorable she was exuding in that moment.

"So, how about some more training?" the question, sudden as it was, nearly caught him flatfooted.

"Wha?" Naruto found himself guffawing,

"I'm a level one! You'll kick my ass!"

"But you said so yourself; you'll never improve if you don't fight strong opponents!" At these words, Naruto blanched even further. Curse him for telling that lie!

He shook his head vehemently. "Misaka, no. I'm not going to let you...you...

Misaka held her hands together, her eyes shining almost tearfully as she shuffled her feet uncharacteristically. "Please?" It was a whisper. "I want you to be the best you can be." Well now, that was different! Where on earth had she...why was she...this didn't make any sense! This wasn't like her at all! Was it because he'd gotten her that Gekota? "Or...am I not good enough?" Ouch. Those words stabbed him right in the heart like an irate javelin from on high.

WHERE DID THIS EVEN COME FROM?!

Naruto groaned, feeling the last brick in the wall of his resistance crumble away into dust.

"I...fine." he sighed, deflating beneath her gaze. "Just don't tell Kuroko-

"YOU CALLED, ONEE~SAMA~?!"

Thankfully, he never had to finish that sentence. Because at that very moment a certain teleporter chose to make herself known, literally popping into existence on Misaka's back without pause or the least bit of warning at all. Naruto immediately realized she'd positioned her hands for optimal groping. Just as he realized what was coming next. There was an ominous silence, broken only by the slow flushing of Misaka's face. He counted quietly on his fingers, watching as her eyes became shaded by those auburn locks. Three...two...one...

"KUROKO!"

BAM!

Naruto chuckled as . "Ah, and the pervert returns."

"Onee-sama...who is this...this person speaking to you in such a familiar tone?" Hmm. Nice recovery. There was a pause as she took in his familiar features. "NARUTO?!"

"Osu! What's up, boss? Haven't seen you since we worked together last week!"

"Onee-sama, who is this brute to you?!"

"Hmm? Well, he's my childhood friend and...

Much scowling and finger-pointing followed on the girl's part. "Childhood friend! Guy! You are Kuroko's enemy now, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Kuroko. Hush." It was not a request. The Level Four wisely obeyed. Naruto chose that moment to try and smooth things over with his fellow Judgement member. Wouldn't do to alienate her after all; he couldn't simply brush her off like Napalm would, after all.

"Oi oi now, there's no need for-

That was when he saw him.

A head of white hair amongst the crowd. Blue eyes shrank to to the size of a dime. Him?! What was he doing here?! He saw him only for a moment, meandering almost lazily down the street. For a moment he thought it was merely a case of mistaken identity but no...

A pause.

Time itself seemed to slow as the stranger turned his face-presenting him with a visage that had haunted his darkest dreams. He saw him! Beady eyes glowered at him beneath a mop of shaggy white hair, his mouth an irate, arrogant curve beneath. Naruto felt the parfait slip from his hands and splatter onto the floor, utterly forgotten as he stared into those eerie orbs. From across the street, the boy almost seemed to sneer a thim.

"Heh."

The boy grinned, and that grin was obscured, just a for a moment-then he vanished behind a bus as it passed by. Then he was gone.

All the world ceased to be around him. The image was fleeting, but it was one he knew all too well. That...face! Those azure orbs hardened, becoming angry, sapphire diamonds. Him. Him! HIM?! After all those years of searching, that bastard just came out of nowhere, appeared before him, and vanished again...

He jerked upright just as Kuroko started in with Misaka again.

"Hey, where are you going?!"

"Onee-sama! Don't look at him!" The teleporter wailed. "Look only at me~!"

"GET! OFF!"

Urk.

"Kuroko is shocked!"

When Misaka finally managed to wriggle free and looked again, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.


(Later that night...)

"Oi, where the hell did you go?!"

"Sorry, sorry, something came up. I wasn't expecting it, either." Naruto patiently weathered Misaka's angry diatribe over the phone, stoically enduring her angry rant as her voice raged at him through the speaker. As ever he deflected her with jokes and humor, claiming that he had seen an old friend and needed to speak with them. Needless to say, she wasn't too pleased with his behavior; especially being left to the mercy of Kuroko and her incessant questions anyway.

"Do you have any idea what she asked me?! She think's we're...you know!"

Naruto nearly choked on his own spit.

...are we?"

There was an awkward silence. Finally, she broke it. "I...don't know. I get the feeling you're keeping something from me."

"Ara, what kind of secret could a humble level one keep from you?" Naruto laughed.

"If you keep dismissing me like this, I'm not going to treat you anymore."

"I'll get you a lifetime supply of Gekota~!" he sang.

"Deal! I'll meet you tomorrow near the pachinko machine! Don't be late!"

"Hai~!"

The line clicked off.

"Game set and match." Naruto chuckled, tugging up his mask as the call ended. "Sorry, Misaka-chan, but you might not see me for awhile after this." It hurt him to admit it, but this was one battle he might not be able to walk away from in once piece. For the first time since he'd began his career as the crime-killer vigilante known as Napalm, he found himself walking into a fight that could very well kill him.

In the end it didn't matter, anymore.

He had finally found him.

Accelerator, the strongest level five in Academy City, an insurmountable obstacle no esper could ever hope to surpass without significant outside aid. A mystery, wreathed in violence and blood, someone seldom seen in the city. He'd found him. Tracked him down to the docks. By contrast, he was almost painfully easy to find this time. Now that he knew what he was looking for.

You just had to follow the vectors. Those subtle traces he left from using his ability could be tracked if you had the proper equipment, and Naruto had stolen from the best. Flames were useful that way; enough heat had not only the power to burn through locks and create deadly flames, but when you got inventive, you could do all sorts of things. Enough heat in the atmosphere itself could provide a dense fog when it was cold, just as a tight microwave beam could fry cameras and scramble any facial-recognition systems.

But tonight, it felt easy, too easy.

The night was still young as he roared across the sky, the cool breeze soft on his burning face as he pondered his opponent's position. He had to be prepared. Going off half cocked only meant death; and a messy one at the hands of this guy.

He'd even brought his mother's blade for the occasion; a great honking cleaver Kubikirihoucho she claimed to have used during her "mage-hunting days" before he'd been born. More ludicrous still was the claim that it'd been given to her by a demon named Zabuza. To this day, she wasn't sure if that was a metaphor, or this Zabuza persona really was a demon.

Hopefully it would be enough.

Slaughtering disgusting rapists, murderers and thugs who dared to commit crimes had been a mere warmup, compared to this. Here was a foe who was not only likely his equal, but likely stronger than him. He had little expectation of winning tonight; if anything, he suspected he might very well lose. But in that same vein, he couldn't just let the bastard get away with that he done. So he ran, and he readied himself, preparing his traps and making his preparations for the fight as he neared his objective.

Yes, that day, the day everything had changed...

One way or another, it ended tonight.

And then he saw Misaka.

Only, it wasn't her...

...not at all.


(Meanwhile...)

Misaka 9982 knew she was going to die.

She had accepted this from the beginning, fought hard, tried her best. She really had. She'd obeyed the director's orders and tried her hardest in the experiment. She really, truly had. But of course, she, like the others who had gone before her, was no match for him. Every trick, technique, and trap were executed flawlessly. Yet in the end, it didn't even matter. He simply turned it all back on her with that sinister smile, laughing back at her for her foolishness.

And yet...

"Aw man, this is boring." That same eerie, terrifying voice drawled over her. "I've had enough of this."

Her life flashed before her eyes in an instant as her opponent prepared to drop the rail car on her. Not much of a life, in retrospect. She remembered waking up, crying. Someone rubbing her head with a towel. And only a short time later she was here. Living. Fighting. Dying. Here, bleeding from a wound to her face, barely able to squint through all the blood.

She was only three days old.

Yet even so, at death's door, she felt...something. Fear. She didn't want to die. No. 'Misaka doesn't want to...

The car fell.

"Danzai!" (Condemnation!)

But there was no pain.

She dared to open her eyes, wondering why she was alive. Why she was still moving. Misaka did not understand. She should be dead. Her body was not strong enough to resist being crushed. And yet, when she looked up, she beheld a black cloak, billowing from a broad back. A sizzling sword superheated to an almost molten edge. The smoldering halves of the abandoned train car-a car, that by all rights, should have crushed her flat like a pancake-lay on opposite sides of her; its bifurcated edges still smoldering from the high friction blade swinging through them.

Willing to look closer, she found herself staring at a masked face. Mismatching eyes, one blue, the other red, stared down at her in confusion.

"What the fuck?" An unfamiliar face drawled beneath the mask. "You...you're not Misaka."

"Who...are you? Misaka asks in confusion." she said. "Misaka does not undersand."

"You...you talk strangely. And I asked you first!"

"Misaka is Misaka 9982."

Those eerie eyes widened. "Wait a minute...that number...

"Misaka 9982 is one of many sisters, Misaka explains the situation to the strangers. It does not matter if she dies-

"Don't say that!"

His shout startled her, causing her to cringe.

...you don't get to say that." He muttered, stalking forwards. "Not with her face. Just stay there. You're not going to die tonight."

"Misaka insists that Misaka is not afraid-

A single blue eye reappeared over his shoulder, rooting her where she lay.

"Then why are you crying?"

Her hand rose tremulously, suddenly aware of the moisture on her cheeks. What? Indeed. A small, tremulous sob leaped from her lips, unbidden. She scrubbed furiously at her face, trying to stop the tears, but they had no intention of listening to her. Nor did her body. She didn't understand. She wasn't sad. If anything, she was a little happy. So why then, why was she...?

"Misaka...Misaka does not understand...

"You don't have to understand. Its only natural that a person would want to live."

It was the first time someone had called her a "person" rather than an "it", she realized. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Who...are you, Misaka asks?" her lower lip quivered slightly as a hand descended, mussing her hair.

The youth smiled at her, tugging up his mask once more.

"I'm the one that's going to save you."

Then he kept right on walking.


"OI, ACCELERATOR!"

Accelerator wasn't sure if he was pissed or pleased by this point.

On one point, someone had stepped in and ruined the experiment. On the other hand this wacko had just sliced through several tons of solid steel as though it were butter. That took some strength; or barring that, he'd bet it required some serious skill. Wait a minute. He did recognize this guy; the mask, that outfit, those blazing emerald flames, shining like jade lights behind him...

Napalm.

The city's last, and possibly most dangerous rogue level five. Huh. He'd thought he was a myth. It seemed almost too cliche to be real, someone who went around killing criminals with fire.

"The hell're you doing here?"

...I'm wondering the same thing about you, murderer." A tiny ember scrawled in the air between them, a furious spark ready to erupt at a moments notice.

"Hey, that's rude, asshole! Don't make me sound like a psychopath or something." he spread his arms, indicating the prone "sister" as he called them. "It's an experiment, an experiment! You get it, right? I'm not killing humans at all! These things are just emotionless dolls people can create at the push of a button! It's not like they f-

"Ennetsu Jigoku." (Flames of Hell)

Accelerator flashed out of existence as a column of fire erupted from the ground beneath him. Scarce had he landed then another towering pillar of flame closed on him. And another. And another. No matter how many times he moved it seemed another fiery burst was only seconds behind. Not enough to hurt him certainly, but just enough to force him to keep moving. "Oi oi oi oi?! What the hell is this?! Don't tell me ya expect to hit me with something like th-

-at?"

Those words ended in an annoyed frown as a burst of furious flame exploded before his eyes, vision swelling from green to outragerous orange and gold. "Che. More fire, huh?! That means nothing to me!" Scoffing, he swatted the heat away with an afterthought, altering its vector and sending it caroming back towards the blond. A hand snapped up and interposed itself between the blast-catching the fiery sphere and extinguishing it with ease. The fires only burned brighter in response.

"You...you're killing these just because of that?" words, growled through gritted teeth. "To become stronger?!"

"And why the hell not?! Its not like they're hum-

Another blast of fire. Another reversal.

"WILL YOU FUCKING LET ME FINISH?!"

Once more, the effect repeated itself.

"Nice try. My element doesn't affect me; it only makes me stronger. Deflect it at your own peril. Oi, now," Napalm cocked his head aside, sneering furiously beneath the mask. "Yoi know, its funny. I thought I hated you before, but now...now...

"Ah?"

...now I despise you."

"Haaaah?" His fellow level drawled, scowling as they spun away from one another. "You got another beef with me, too? Just say it."

Naruto felt his face twitch beneath the mask, a spark snarling through clenched teeth.

Yes, he did have "beef" with this insufferable brat. A pain etched into his very soul, an agony that defined his very existence. The reason he'd become Napalm in the first place, the motivations for his callous slaughter of men and women who did evil. It seemed like such a stupid, petty thing. His mother. The "accident" that had taken her life. Not an accident at all. He remembered that face, that grin, that laugh even then, reverberating in his ears.

Not an accident. A hit by Aleister, meant to make an example of someone in the Uzumaki family. And it had. Just not in the way he'd expected.

He'd been training himself in secret, beating his body bloody, working himself into the ground for this very moment...! The one person he wanted to kill more than Aleister Crowley! The one responsible for the ruin of his family, the reason he'd lost his mom, his unborn sister, and then years later, his father, dead at his own hand. Unbidden his own rose, ripping his mask free, exposing his face.

"Kushina. Nazumi. They had names...!"

He wasn't prepared for the laugh.

"Seriously? You're upset about that? I don't even...ha!" It started softly at first, a snicker snaking through his opponent's teeth. Then his head fell back and words dissolved into full-throated laughter."HAHAHAHAHAHA! Why would I care about a bunch of shitheads that got in my way that day while I was crossing the street?! It was their own damn fault!"

"...what...?"

Naruto felt his heart drop into his stomach. An accident? No, no, it couldn't be, because if it was, then his purpose, everything he'd-no. To think that way was to plummet into a neverending spiral of depression, just like his old man. He refused to think that way! He refused to let his family's deaths be demeaned in that way!

Accelerator only snickered.

"You no good shit hole," he drawled, still bemused. "I was expecting some idiot to come after me for something here, but you?" Now his head cocked aside, like a dog listening to a new sound. "That snot-nosed kid from the wreck way back when? I don't even remember your name! And just because you're stronger doesn't mean I'm any weaker, idiot!"

In all his life, Naruto had never felt cold. Until now.

Until now, the raging fire of his hate had always been inside him, a constant flame pushing him to be better, to strive harder. Now that flame froze, becoming a lake of frigid ice in his heart, a nuclear wasteland of death and lifelessness. A hand extended slowly, fingers clenching into a fist. Black fire gathered around his arm, swirling like a thing alive. Perhaps it was.

"Maybe, but I've been studying you. Can you deflect something that isn't there?"

A flicker of confusion flashed in those maddened eyes. "Eh?"

"Aw, what's wrong? Is the big bad Accelerator afraid to attack?!"

His hand shot out-

-but the blond was already gone.

"Devil's Step." Grinning, he flashed into existence behind the baffled boy, his feet still flickering with flames. "I would explain the principles of it to you, but I think I'll just keep it secret for now. Like I said, ya can't," he popped out of existence again when the whitehead lunged, "Affect," Pop, "What you can't touch!" Another fade and he was gone once again-long before his adversary could find him. "And I know better than to fight you at close range!"

A final flicker, and they were apart once more. The whitehead growled, glaring down at his slightly singed shirt. Tch! He hadn't calculated fast enough.

"You know," he snarled, "I'm going to enjoy wrecking your shit after that.

A hand raised slowly, beckoning. "Bring it on! I'll make you work for it"

"Gladly!"

Then they collided in a storm of vectors and fire.

A/N: And there we have it! I've been dying to make another forray into the worlds of both A Certain Magical Index and Railgun, and, I've finally found a way to do it, as suggested by Agurra of the Darkness. Hope ya'll enjoyed it! Vigilante Naruto for the win! Next chapter will be lighter and have some much needed humor. I'm sure ya'll can appreciate that after a silly, sad, chapter like this, but it was neccessary to get the ball rolling. Hope you like my take on this true, down to earth Naruto, with a little darkness in him...

So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would Ya Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview! Sorry, there be only one this time!

(Preview)

"Okay. Supernova. Point blank. Baaad." Naruto blew a ring of smoke and stood slowly amidst the wreckage, dusting himself off. "Very bad." His mask lay in tatters around his face, ripped to pieces by the explosion. He'd actually burned himself, such was the heat and even though those burns were healing, he wasn't certain if his enemy was still kicking. Even after an attack like that, he wasn't entirely certain-

"Naruto...?"

His head whipped around so fast he nearly got whiplash. And then he saw who was standing there. It wasn't Accelarator. He almost wished it where.

Oh, balls.

He was looking at the real Misaka.

R&R! =D