A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! MISS ME GUYS?! I'm sick almost daily and I feel like crap, as to that effect. But nevertheless, despite this pesky little hiccup-I wanted to get word out any way I could, and since for some strange reason the site is being buggy, I wasnt able to work on this anywhere near as much as I would've liked. Still...so many reviews!

I love you guys so much! *Cries*

Now, this chapter might be a bit confusing consider I haven't done something like this in awhile. With good reason! Life and surgeries have once more paid me a nasty little visit, and this idea has been on the backburner for ages since. This was REALLY had to write; exhausting, actually, trying to get a good feel for what Naruto might be like growing up under Darkseid's tyrannical persona. But, I'm proud of it, and I hope you enjoy it as I finally get some rest.

This story was birthed from the fact that I've been rewatching Justice League as well as the Superman series as a whole and it just sort of...popped into my head.

Well...here ya go! =D Sorry if its short! But hey, at least I'm back! And now, I present to you...

...Son of Darkness! Ah, and while we're on the topic, the Furies. Lashina, Gilotina, Mad Hariett, and Stompah. Those are the ones in this particular ficlet. In terms of appearance I'm going with their designs from Batman & Superman: Apocalypse. And Darkseid, in my mind is, as ever, voiced by the impeccable Michael Ironside. Another warning. Naruto is DARK in this. He may change. He may not. Now that I've given thee that last disclaimer...

...away we go! Ar, THAR BE VIOLENCE APLENTY IN THIS CHAPTER! Also, a shout out to the show, Supergirl. Preeeeeetty sure I'm gonna catch come flak for supporting it in the first place, but I for one ENJOYED the show and still do. Melissa Benoist is a marvelous actor and Her fight vs the Red Tornado served as a MAJOR inspiration for one of the scenes that follows...

...and I remind everyone that this Naruto...well...he has his good points...

...and sometimes...well...

...he likes to screw with the good guy's heads. Now, on with the fight!

"I'll say this once. Apologize."

"What?! Why should I do that?"

"For attacking me. Do that, and I'll leave."

"I...you...shut up! I don't have to listen to scum like you!"

"The hard way it is, then."

~the son of Darkseid.

Might Makes Right

Kara-Zor-El was beginning to fear she'd bitten off more than she could chew.

Not only did Supergirl find herself winded, against an unknown alien menace who matched her in strength and speed, but she'd picked a fight with him. To her great shame, he was made of sterner stuff than the villains she was accustomed to, and she hadn't been prepared for that. Worse still-she was alone. Her cousin was nowhere near Metropolis at the moment which left the matter of this new threat her. She couldn't recall the last time she'd faced down an enemy who was her equal-she refused to even consider the possibility that he might be stronger-much less a drawn out battle.

She was also beginning to secretly suspect that said foe was a bit of a pervert, if the damage to her clothes was any indication. He'd already passed up on at least half-a-dozen chances to take her out, but instead, she'd only suffered minimal-albeit humiliating-cosmetic damage to her costume. He seemed to alternate between bouts of perversion and ruthless attacks; honestly she wasn't sure which she feared more.

If anything, he seemed to delight in the chaos caused by her embarassment!

She was not looking forward to continuing this confrontation, but neither could she bring herself to walk away from it. She'd started this, and she was determined to finish it. No matter how many hours it took.

For better or worse.

"Getting tired?" Naruto's voice hummed up at her, snapping the kryptonian out of her daze. When she found him he was below her once more, having alighted on a nearby rooftop. He rolled his shoulders as he gazed up at her airborne form, seemingly unconcerned as she caught her breath. Smug bastard. Entirely too full of himself. "I can give you a breather, if you want." he said. Blue eyes flicked to her sundered skirt and blouse with eerie intent. "I speak from experience when I say women don't like to fight with their clothes in tatters. "Perhaps you'd like a new outfit, too?"

Kara colored to the very roots of her hair. Bastard! He was doing this on purpose!

"Shut up!"

The blond shrugged, caught her punch, sent her spiraling away...

"Have it your way."

...and vanished.

"!"

Kara's eyes slid to the left just in time to see the haymaker slam into her face. The impact ripped her clear out of the air and hurled her backwards several feet, smashing down into one of the many abandoned vehicles that had been forsaken by someone to escape from the brutal blond. Metal bent around her like flimsy tinfoil, folding against her body, pinning her arms to her sides. A dull crunch of that very "tinfoil" reminded her that her attacker wasn't about to rest on his laurels and waist for her to escape her prison.

She had to move, needed to get loose before-

Too late.

When she next looked up, Naruto had already arrived. The armored blond now stood over her smugly, arms folded across his chest.

"Here. Let me help you with that." In one smooth motion he reached down and grabbed her metal cocoon, hoisting her over his head. Exerting pressure, he wrapped the car around her in a tight sphere. Body and legs both, leaving her head pitifully exposed. Then, he raised an arm. One leg swept back. The other rose of the ground, eerily resemblent of a pitcher's stance. Except this time, she was the ball. And if he threw her as she was...

...ohhhhh this was going to hurt.

"Hmm. I think I rather like this game." Naruto decided, hefting her overhead. "Say, what do you earthlings call the sport? Baseball? Care if I try my hand?"

Supergirl glowered fiercely at her captor, muscles tensing beneath the metal shell. "Hating you so much, right now."

"Now, now, there's no need for harsh words." her captor hummed as he took aim at the Daily Planet. "This'll hardly hurt-aargh!"

Breath gusted out of his lungs as heat lanced from her eyes, searing his visage. A moment of innatention as he clawed at his face. That was all it took. Metal exploded outwards as Kara forcibly ripped herself free from her prison, her entire body bristling with fury. Snatching up one of the larger chunks, she swung down at her fellow blond before he could recover. She never even paused to consider the life-changing consequences of that single, furious action.

All her strength, all her physical power, poured out in one instant. Every cell in her body, united in one instant, one collision.

Hard.

Impossibly, he didn't dodge.

Kara struck straight and true; the dull sound of broken bones and ruptures muscles greeting her enhanced senses as unyielding metal collided with flesh. Naruto's head spun westward with an audible snap. Time slowed to a crawl, recognition dawning in her eyes. Then it sped up again, and she was left holding the blooded rod in her hands. His body folded in on itself like a house of cards, crumpling to the ground immediately. It did not rise again. Kara hung there in the air, frozen.

'What...no!'

Her impromptu weapon dropped from numbed fingers with a cry of sundered steel. Kara barely heard the metal clang at her feet, loud as she was. Her mind clamored that she hadn't done anything wrong, that this was not her fault. It couldn't be, right? Of course it wasn't! Shit. Oh shit shit shitshitshitshitshit! Try as she might to ignore it, the ugly truth was still there, staring back at her from the warrior's dead eyes. Dead by her hand, no less.

Because she'd killed him.

For a terrifying second, Kara found herself rooted. Unable to move.

A few terrified civilians dared to poke their heads out from the wreckage. Others dared peer out of windows. All saw the blond's broken body in the street. All of them were drawn like moths to a flame. Kara saw it, too. Felt their eyes on her, judging. Condemning. It could have been her imagination. Maybe they were really grateful and she was simply overreacting-no. Her eyes strayed back to the corpse at her feet and she felt a fresh knife of guilt slice through her ribcage.

"W-What?" she stammered out. "No...I...I didn't mean to...

Then Naruto twitched.

Oh.

"That...hurt." the words were a growl. "That actually, really hurt."

"What the hell?!" Kara couldn't help herself; she yelped and physically leaped away from the corpse in her haste. The crowd scattered! She barely noticed. Her attention-gaze-remained glued to the spasming body at her feet. No. He couldn't be alive. Not after something like that. It just wasn't possible! Yet clearly it was, for Naruto's trembling arms reached around and took hold of his broken neck. With a savage wrench and a twist, he snapped it back into place...

...and hopped to his feet as though nothing had happened.

Crunch.

"Ow." he grunted, angrily rubbing his jaw and massaging his jugular. "You...you were actually trying to kill me for a moment, there!" to her ears, Naruto sounded almost amazed; he genuinely hadn't expected her to go for a killing blow. She watched his body draw itself up until her seemed to tower over her, cracking with red sparks. Incredulous, she drew backward. Had she tried to kill him? Had she? The very notion that she'd resort to lethal force so easily galled her.

Frightened her.

"N-No I wasn't!" she decried his words, shrieking! "You're lying!"

"Actually, I'm compli-

"SHUT UP!"

Kara didn't even recall physically grabbing the oil tanker off the street-it was suddenly in her hands, and she was bringing it down on him. Ten thousand pounds of polished blue-and-yellow metal crashed into the blond as he raised his arms in a feeble defense. THOOM! Metal and fire rained across Supergirl's vision as the fuel detonated in a massive explosion, fiery shrapnel slashing her cheeks and opening the bridge of her nose. Red slashed across her vision as she struggled to see into the blaze.

What she saw chilled her to the bone.

Naruto rose like a wraith amongst the inferno, his armor scorched and pitted. What was left of his cape fluttered away from his shoulders as he shrugged off the shattered bulk of the tanker, disintegrating in the breeze. Face singed and hair smoldering, he stomped towards Kara.

"That wasn't very nice." the words rumbled ominously as he spoke, like two boulders grinding together over an avalanche. "I do believe you killed my cape. I liked that cape."

Kara twitched, unable to move as he raised those arms.

"Th-This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

Azure orbs flashed with fire. No...

...wait.

They actually were glowing!

Just when she was sure he would smash her halfway across town, however, Naruto paused.

"That depends." he asked, frowning. "Are you prepared to apologize for attacking me, unprovoked?"

Was that what this was all about? Because she'd struck him first? Seemed a stupid reason to start a fight. A thorn of pride, stubborn, foolish pride, pricked her and held her back. Why did she have to apologize?! He had started this mess by coming here in the first place! This was HIS fault! Not hers! HIS! He'd come here to start trouble, and she was protecting Metropolis! From him! What did it matter if he hadn't struck that first blow?! No, it was a lie!

Villains always lied!

"Like hell!" she cried!

"THEN WE CONTINUE!"

WHAM!

Getting hit by those fists was like taking a hit from her own cousin. In short, it hurt.

A lot.

Just one punch hammered her into downtown; she could already feel the bruises forming as she flew. Hypersonic speed brought her back to him in an instant, and she had the sweet satisfaction of seeing Naruto's bright blue eyes bulge as her counterattack launched him into the clouds. Yes! It felt good to land another solid hit on the walking tank, to see his calm facade crumble.

Alas, his ascent was a short-lived one.

He'd barely ascended more than a meter into the air before he flung out his arms, steadying himself. Blue eyes burnished red as he hung there, awaiting her.

"Try harder, damnit!" Was it just her, or did his voice sound different? Darker? Hoarser, somehow? "This isn't enough!"

Ignoring her rising dread, Kara raced up to meet him.

"Ohhhhh, you are so dead!"

Heat lanced from her eyes, a searing red line cutting across the expanse between them. Naruto scoffed and slapped it away with the back of a gloved hand. There was no mirth in those eerie eyes now. Only anger, and what might have been disappointment. He paused, glanced down at his smoldering palm. There wasn't even a burn! What was that armor made of?! There had to be some way to penetrate it, to hurt him! It was either that, or keep aiming for the face-

"Pay attention!"

Naruto was suddenly on her again; he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the clouds with one hand. Kara's feet dangled in the air as fingers that felt like bands of steel wrapped around her throat. A strangled gasp escaped her lips. Wildly, she kicked out at him, her feet bouncing harmlessly across the fox-emblem engraved into his chest.

"Is this a game to you?" his voice was a whisper, flat and unamused as she struggled for breath. "Do you enjoy playing the hero?!"

"QUIET!"

Her gloved fist plowed forward, denting his face.

She barely moved him.

Naruto's scarred visage turned back to her, and it was then that she realized her mistake.

"Was the supposed to hurt?" he struck back before she could finish, sending her spinning away. Kara's follow-up kick breezed past his head and he grabbed her by her tattered cape, hauled her face into a boot. "You're not even trying anymore. Get angry!" Another strike, clenched knuckles smashing into her kidney. "Hit me!" his head snapped forward-the headbutt sending stars spangling across her vision. "I want you to hit me! HIT! ME! Kill me! Fight with everything you have!"

"Gah!"

Hell rained down around Kara with abandon now; a wild, cruel offense that offered no pause, no preamble, only attack. Attack, attack, ATTACK! There was no flow to the blows. No pretense, no set or stance, only a fury she couldn't comprehend. A storm of vicious strikes deisgned for one purpose and one purpose only.

To kill.

Against such an onslaught, Supergirl could only do so much. For all her strength, all of her speed, she was no Superman. She didn't quite have the same iron resolve as her cousin-she lacked that indomitable drive that drove him ever onwards. She was breaking. Each blow sapped more and more of her strength. Her body began to shudder as she hunkered down, stubbornly weathering the storm; a rock against the tide. But the rock-her resolve-was splintering in the face of the hurricane.

Anger took over.

"DAMNIT!"

A lucky blow slipped through, clipping his shoulder. Naruto recoiled, just a bit, and she seized the gap, hurling herself across the street. Incredibly the battered blond didn't follow her, but if the stream of curses was any indication, he wouldn't be still for long.

One chance.

Hit him.

Hard.

Finish him!

Once more, heat built behind her eyes, but this time, it burned brighter. Hotter. Like a small sun cooking behind her gaze she felt the pressure begin to build. 'Okay, Kara. Focus. Just like Kal taught you. You can do this, you can do this!' She drew herself up and grit her teeth, glowering fiercely at her fallen foe. Naruto paused as well, taking stock of this new phenomenon. This change. Kara watched him in turn. For a moment, neither moved. In the distance, one of the overturned cars exploded, bathing the sky in flame. The invader turned, regarding the sudden burst of orange with some surprise-

-and Kara hit him.

Anger blasted forth from her eyes in a vicious blue beam of light; a horizontal line that arrowed straight into the blond's chest and staggered him. But instead of extinguishing, the sapphire light drove onward, smashing into her adversary, boring through like a lance. Driven to a knee he slumped, buckling against the sudden flare of energy. His entire body seemed to glow as though lit from within, tongues of blue fire licking across that armored chest.

Then, incredibly, he stood.

A small smile graced Naruto's whiskered cheeks, a wry grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Just a smile. Then, he started forward. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed. Kara blanched veins spiderwebbing at the corner of her eyes, her vision tunnelling. It should have done something more than this! Anything! He shouldn't have been able to move! But the armored entity was doing just that.

He was moving.

One step.

Two.

Time screeched to a halt again.

How many steps before he reached her? How many before he ripped her apart.

Something broke.

Not like this.

NOT!

LIKE!

THIS!

Kara screamed, her voice turning shrill, unable to hide her emotions.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

All of her rage, all of her anger, all her despair; every fiber of her being, channeled into one blinding, soul-searing shout. Naruto slowed in the face of this new onslaught, his once-inexorable advanced slamming to a halt as the beam intensified, piercing his defenses. Metal liquified and hissed at his chest, his armor dripping away like water. But Naruto...he didn't go down. Kara couldn't believe it. She was burning him-scorching him-yet even so he refused to falter. Something had to give. Either her reserves or his endurance, one of them was bound to falter.

Eventually, one of them did.

"Shit!" Naruto swore suddenly, jerking to the left, howling in pain. Deprived of their target, the twin beams arced harmlessly past to immolate a nearby building. Supergirl barely noticed it when he fell, crumpling to the ground in a snarling heap of agony and misery.

She wasn't far behind.

Kara slumped to the street moments later, drained, the last of her energy slipping away despite her best efforts to retain. The heat sputtered and died in her eyes, exhausted. Whatever new power that had been, those eerie blue beams, they'd drained her. Almost completely. But she'd won. Hadn't she? Naruto-or whatever he called himself-was down. She dared to turn her head and confirm it for herself.

A mistake.

Through bleary blue orbs, she watched her foe stumble to his feet. No. That wasn't possible...

"Look at what you did." a note of genuine annoyance crept into his voice. "You maimed me!"

And she had.

Her improved heat vision had finally broken through, mangling her adversary.

But even then, it wasn't enough.

Despite losing his arm, shoulder, and a good portion of his collarbone, the blond got back up. Steam sputtered from the sundered wound, an ugly divot in his right side. Yet his steps were swift, his stride sure, and with each passing moment, the distance between them shrank. Visibly out of breath, he paused, lingering mere yards away.

"How...

She was too tired to even take credit for the blond's pained expression.

"The training is nothing." words issued forth through gritted teeth. "The will is everything. The will to act. Now...

...this ends."

His armor in tatters, Naruto flung himself at the frightened girl. Kara suddenly found herself retreating, feet shuffling backwards even as her eyes trained on the armored adversary hurtling towards her. She knew that she could resort to her flawless form of attack and continue the fight, but her mind was inexplicably filled with fear as she looked into the hate-filled eyes of her opponent. He was too close to dodge and she had not a second to spare. All she could do was lunge forward as well, her left arm stretched out in an attempt to grab and hurl him into the street. If she could retreat into the safety of the skies for just a moment then perhaps-

"Nice try."

Uzumaki Naruto buzzed into view in a sonorous hiss, his body blocking the blonde's escape route, his eyes glaring out coldly from behind the frightening cloak. With a sibilant snarl, he swung his hand backwards, a black and red claw rocketing out from the tip of his fingers; simultaneously incinerating every non-living entity within the dark energy and slapping her assault away as though she were a flailing child. Agony flared in her right arm as she staggered out of the ensuing explosion, disbelief visible in her eyes, her forehead bloodied.

"Up." a single word followed and her entire world shifted.

That was all she heard before his fist drove itself up under her chin. Blue sky whistled past her vision then clouds, then stars, her mind distantly registering her departure from the streets of Metropolis and into the upper atmosphere. Kara's golden hair spooled out around her, freed from velocity's constraints at last. Any further and she suspected she'd escape Earth's gravity entirely.

For a sliver of eternity she hung there, gazing at the stars.

Beautiful.

Then a red and black streak passed overhead. One moment she was up...

...the next, she was down.

Kara swore a black and condemnatory oath as she fell, sinking like a sinking stone. Laughter filled the air above her as Naruto's cloaked figure flew past, clearly intent to witness her demise. She had no excuse really. She'd been hanging over this very view, in this very sky, moments before. Except now that view was growing...larger. Rapidly. Kara couldn't barely bring herself to turn, knowing that the ground waited to meet her back, rushing up to to catch her. Weakened as she was, she realized the painful truth. It was going to be a short, fiery, thoroughly unpleasant descent to earth.

And she had no way of slowing her fall.

Kara had even less time to realize this as the ground filled all her vision and even less to react. She flung her hands out. A thin wedge of forced between her and death. Then she plunged into the earth. Her outstretched hands did nothing to slow her fall, but the wedge of protected her and drove her under the soil's skin like a splinter. The street erupted an instant after she hit-water mains rupturing as the impact slapped her as brutally as if a giant had clapped his hands together over the whole of her body...

Kara slammed into the ground with a thump. There was a white-hot flash of pain as she'd expected; concrete met kryptonian and both yielded; the street cratering beneath her return to earth. Somehow she'd survived the impact but only just. Just enough to wish she hadn't. Gasping, she rolled over, choking on the smoke and dust.

Naruto was already there, fist poised, ready to deliver the kill...!

Something broke inside of Kara.

"Okay, okay, stop stop stop!"

Desperate, she flung out her hands-what little strength she had left in them-interposing her palms between herself and the onrushing fist. Terror gripped her heart in a vice; she didn't know what else to do, what to say or try. Nothing left but one sincere, earnest wish:

"I don't want to die!"

Her foe didn't respond.

"Please!"

Knuckles brushed her nose.

For a frozen eternity nothing happened; he simply stood there, poised overhead ready to deliver the death-blow she so feared. When it didn't come, she dared to open an eye. Why? What was he waiting for? He'd taken her best and endured. Faced the beast inside and bitten off its head. She was finished. Drained. She could barely see straight-much less lift a finger against him. By all rights this was the perfect opportunity to demolish her. And yet, he didn't finish it. Was he...

...was he actually going to listen?

Then, slowly, almost painfully, his fist drew back.

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"That you were wrong." Naruto's voice was flat, almost emotionless. "Apologize."

"Just like that?" Kara rasped.

"There's no fun in thrashing a helpless opponent." came the reply.

"I give." she gasped, hissing as her broke ribs protested. "I'm sorry."

"Forgiven." pearly white teeth flashed in a disarming grin. "You gave me a fair workout, for what it's worth. Any more of that horseplay in this state and my life would've really been in danger. Well done! I haven't faced someone with this kind of fire in a long time!" He seemed almost...happy. It was a stark contrast from the serious, intense young man she'd encountered in the streets. Was this another act? Or, was she seeing his true face beneath the mask at last?

Not to mention other questions.

'This state?' What did he mean by that? The strange cloak he'd utilized before? Perhaps something else? The idea that he might've been holding back during their brawl was a...uncomfortable thought. As was the idea that she'd just begged for her life from someone she presumed was a villain.

"I can't believe you're just...stopping."

"When you base your expectations only on what you see," Naruto scoffed, "You blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality. Nature is constantly changing. Like the wind. And this." Muscle and bone bounced back like rubber, his ruinated side slowly stitching itself back together before her very eyes. Skin flowed over muscle like milk as she looked on; within minutes his body was as good as new. "You kept pressing the issue," he continued, "Anyway. Really wasn't interested in fighting you, before. However...

...however?" Supergirl swallowed. She had a bad feeling about this..

"That was then! Now, I think I'll keep you, kyrptonian!" he boomed! "You've got spirit!"

"Glad its not spattered over the ground-wait, did you say keep me?! HEY! I'm nobody's pet, buster!"

He surprised her again, then.

Because Naruto laughed.

"Whoever said anything about wanting a pet?"

A hand pressed itself to her temple.

"Sleep."

Blackness followed.

(Later that Evening...)

Clark Kent wasn't happy.

Which of course meant, that Superman wasn't happy.

Night had draped itself across Metropolis, an opaque curtain that only served to solidify his own lingering doubts and regrets. Kara. He should have been there! Why hadn't he been there?! Disaster often called him away from the great city he called home. He'd never once had to fear for the city's safety then. There'd never been any need; he'd trusted her to handle things in his stead whenever he was away. Now...

Two words summed up his feelings quite nicely.

Nuclear.

Anger.

Boiling simmering, rage teeming just under the surface, ready to erupt. Words couldn't give depth to the magnitude of emotion he was experiencing here, at this moment. A red curtain seemed to drape itself across his very vision, like a dark shroud, growing bleaker with each passing second-eternity-that carried him towards his destination. To the one responsible. The one who hurt Kara. For what might have been the first time in his tenure as Superman, Clark was actually considering killing someone else. The notion of it should have galled him, but the words of his foe haunted him.

The mere act of crossing the hall to the door was almost enough to make him lose control. By the time he finally reached the rooftop itself he was trembling; pulse pounding in his ears like the drums of a great hunt out for his blood. The message had been clear and blunt. Meet him atop the Daily Planet or he'd never see his cousin again. Even so, he hadn't once paused to consider that this might be a trap of some sort. Instead he had rushed in without thinking.

Who knew what horrors awaited beyond-

"Superman."

Clark spun, suddenly aware of the shadow behind him.

...!"

He peered at him.

He was colorful all right; from his form-fitting black and red armor to the artful cape he had introduced to the ensemble. He wore a weapon of alien origin on each hip, carried a bandolier of what looked disturbingly like knives wrapped round his chest, and clutched a strange, staff-like apparatus in his right hand. Only he knew what else he'd secreted in the inner compartments of that deadly mail. He could be armed to the teeth, some of those weapons might even be responsible for taking down Kara.

The only sign of injury on his part was the shattered right side, exposing a bare arm.

"I've heard many great things about you." the young man continued with a smile as he strode forwards, arms spread wide, the chained gauntlet on his right limb clanking softly. "Kal-El. The Man of Steel. The Last Son of Krypton. Funny, though." With a smart flourish of that eerie cape, he came to a halt, mere feet away. "I always thought you'd be...taller. What? Nothing to say?" That helmeted head tilted, regarding him curiously. "I would think that you'd have more to speak considering-urk!"

Clark had him by the throat before he could finish, ripping away the man's helmet and sending it clattering away off the rooftop. His armored adversary didn't even resist. What he saw there threatened to make him lose his grip entirely and send the contents of his last meal spilling out onto the pavement. His face! What kind of burns were those-no, wait. Questions later.

"Who are you?!Where is she?"

"Well, that was uncalled for." The once man didn't so much as bat an eyelash. "I wasn't going to attack you."

"Where. Is! She?!"

"Hands. Off."

A red pulse burst from his body, flinging them apart.

"My purpose here was to scout." the blond continued amicably, dusting himself off. "She stared the fight. I just finished it."

"I won't ask again-

Pearly whites flashed in the dark.

"No. You won't."

Breath gusted out of his lungs as a blisteringly fast fist slammed into his stomach, doubling him over. An elbow to the back of his head followed, smashing him down into the roof. The sheer suddenness of the blows all but stunned him; it was like being smashed by a tank. Somewhere overhead, he heard a loud crack of thunder, the sound of a boom tube opening.

A growl rumbled over it all. Naruto's voice, he realized.

"Know this Superman, I am not-nor will I ever be-your friend. I obey my own whims. The next time we meet, we WILL be enemies. And you will fall."

"Never!"

"As you say." a hand rose, almost lazily. "Tell me, have you ever seen a solar flare up close?"

"What?"

The light, when it came, was blinding. Searing.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Naruto's voice emanated within the light. "I picked it up...well, I suppose its not important now."

"Where are you?!"

"She hurt me, you know. Your cousin." he sounded almost amused, a rare note of genuine amazement trickling into voice. "Burned my face pretty damn bad. I'm still healing. Still, she's safe. That's all you need to know for the time being." A hand swatted him firmly on the shoulder. "Until next time. Oh...

...and my father sends his regards."

By the time Superman finally recovered his sight.

...the blond was long gone.

So was any hope of finding Kara.

A/N: And so there you have it! Naruto raised on Apokolips...oh, this can't end well. One can only guess how he's going to turn out. Will he become an evil tyrant like his "Father?" or will he find some solace on the side of good with others?

Only time will tell!

Pairing is wholly up in the air! Tbh, I'm leaning towards Lashina, but I'm open to suggestions. This is a SMALLxharem fic, two or three girls at most. EDIT: I won't accept any flames on the matter by a certain reviewer DoomMarine54, so that guy can go sod off. Remember guys, I write these stories to entertain the masses and because it is FUN; I like weaving these long yarns, not just for feedback, but because it is a true pleasure to excerise my talents for free when I'm not PUBLISHING books.

Of course, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! =D

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

...Review, Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview! Thar be TWO this time! Proof the story isn't dead! Try and guess what happened!

(Preview!(s)

Metropolis, Naruto thought, was a bit of a disappointment.

Even disguising himself as a weak human did little to aleiviate the boredome

Merely by speaking with Kara -a truly foreign notion in and of itself- he'd learned a great deal about this supposed jewel of city and its infastructure. And what he had discovered was utterly baffling. All his life he had fought to survive. Merely eking out an existence was not enough-you had to dominate, or you would be dominated. Assassination attempts were his daily fare; there was no room for mercy on Apokolips. Death was a certainty, whether his own or that of anothers. The idea, the very inkling that anyone would do otherwise baffled him.

Thus, the disappointment.

Villains like Parasite, Metallo and Livewire were very real threats to the Man of Steel. Even Lex Luthor, powerless though he might be, was a threat if only because of his mind. They were, all of them, threats. Like that insipid Toyman. Dead. An easy kill. Yet Superman condemned him for it.

And yet he would have them locked away so they could escape again!

MADNESS!

Did he not understand?! You HAD to kill your enemies!

A dead enemy could never attack you again. Never hurt you. Never betray you.

His fist tightened at the memory.

So focused was he on the past, that the Son of Darkseid nearly missed the blue bolt in his peripherals. He did NOT however, fail to notice the sudden charge in the air. In the next instant his face was one with the street in all its dusty glory, nose grinding painfully against the asphalt. The numbness was temporary, however, and he soon recovered. Slowly, deliberately, he climbed back to his feet, turning his head in the direction from whence the attack had come.

Slim hands clapped slowly.

"Wow, not bad, pal! That was supposed to kill you!"

A flash of bright blue hair registered in his peripherals. Ah. He recognized this description...

"Livewire, I presume?"

"Yup!"

Blue eyes tightened into slits.

"I wish you hadn't done that."

"This world is unworthy of your protection, Kara-Zor El."

"What?"

"Your potential is wasted here." her patron's gravelly voice intoned. "You protect those who would shun you. You seek to defend yourself, but they cast you ought. Even your cousin deems you a monster after what you have done. What purpose do you have here?"

Her expression turned downcast.

"I...that's not...

Naruto bristled.

"Father, there is no need for-

"Enough."

For all that she'd seen of him, Kara had never seen someone silence Naruto so utterly. The whiskered warrior clammed up almost immediately, and though his red eyes roared high with the flames of defiance, he held his tongue and did not speak out against...well...whoever this was.

Darkseid extended a hand.

"Come with us."

Kara glanced down at the large hand offered to her.

"I...

R&R! =D