Silent as the

by Monkeybandit2

AU. The final straw and a revelation: a new path is chosen and a dream is left behind. A new future awaits the one that washes his hands of a home he called a prison.

4. Steps to a change, part 2

I do not own Naruto, Teen Titans, nor any other element that may or may not appear in this story!This story is for entertainment purposes only.

To everyone:Mildly surprised that the first question to date is the over the fact only one eye is visible on Naruto...That's all I have to say for I am evil like that.

To Olinn:While I respect your opinion, I will say that I am not removing that part nor altering it.

Silent as the...

Chapter 2: Steps to a change (part 2)

Titans Tower, One-pm

"Damn it, I was hoping something like this wouldn't happen."

Every klaxon, every alarm, and even the alarm clocks for good measure had gone off to alert the residents of the Teen Titans tower be they inside or out. The reason as to what set them off was as simple as it could get for a resident group of heroes who were no strangers to the abnormal. Super-villains on the rampage, armed and hostile robberies, and every now and then—

"Holy... we're going to need a lot of weed killer for that thing..."

Giant monsters. More specifically a giant plant monster ravaging a quarry with no discrimination between the workers, the equipment, and the very ground it was planted in alongside the walls and the earthen ramps. The feature the creature was most akin to was a torso with the appropriate features such as a head and limbs, whether or not it had legs or not could only be answered if it was uprooted from its spot. Yet there were other characteristics to note that kept it as inhumane as it could be outside the more obvious factors such as size, aggression, dark green plant-like skin, and shining ruby eyes with no iris:

Instead of one head there were three, all joined at a base which would be the back of the skull for the middle head. Each head held a colossal eye, or at least an oval orb to represent the visual organ. Each head, with an elongated canine snout, bore pristine teeth of a carnivore in sets of three from what the live video feed could spy when one of the heads swerved with an open maw. The same red orbs that were its eyes, functional or not, also seemed to have grown out of its chest, back, shoulders, and even in the palms of its gnarled root-like hands that were given a darker tone than the rest of the body. Spikes bearing the same color as its skin, each thicker than its own fingers, were present on its shoulders where it formed a protective ring around the joint and a semi circle part way down the arm; both sets of spikes bordered the orb on its respective shoulder. Another ring of the spikes formed a protective wall around the orb in its chest and back, yet was still vulnerable to a more range attack.

"I agree with Beast Boy, we will need much of the killer of weeds."

Though no one actually saw it, Robin's brow twitched in agitation as he struggled between the choices of defending the city and maintaining cover regarding their undercover teammate...

He sighed as he nearly hung his head in defeat as he reached a decision. "Is the copy ready to go Beast Boy?"

"BOO YEAH!" Robin groaned as he screwed his eyes shut.

"You know it is!"

"BOO YEAH! BOO YEAH!" screamed an African-American whose organic remnants were the majority of his face, minus his left eye, cranium, and chin, as well as small bands of flesh sitting in the space between his enlarged shoulders and forearms. Cyborg in his true form, or rather a duplicate and stand in for the real one.

"Will you knock that off?" Robin groaned.

"BOO YEAH!"

Before another button was smashed with childish glee, the hands wrapped around a game station controller were frozen in an orb of black that outlined all that was trapped. "Aw..." A green skinned teenager with fern green hair groaned in disappointment. His ears were pointed and for a his clothing he wore a black jumpsuit with a purple vertical bar that run from beneath his neck and barely touching the edge of his shoulders and ended just past his hips as they crept down to his legs. He had on gray gloves with a light sheen to them with a black stripe on the back of each hand. Boots garbing his feet were in the same purple as his outfit, yet the tongues of his footwear as well as the soles held the same quality as his gloves. The only other feature present on him was a small utility belt with a circle buckle.

"Please friend Beast Boy, there are people in danger," chided an bright orange skinned teenage girl with well kept fiery red hair that slide past her shoulders. The sclera of her eyes were the same green as her companion's skin, her irises however were much darker shade. The eyebrows that would usually be accompanied with any eye were the shape of commas, let alone the appropriate size of such on a humanoid body. The majority of her clothing, being a mini-skirt, tank top that exposed her midriff, and thigh high boots, was in the same type of purple as her companion with the mild exception of her armor plates guarding just below her neck which encompassed her body, her hands save for her fingers and palms, and a small band attached beneath her right shoulder; a small black jewel adorned the armored collar, and the back of each hand. A metallic lining much like her armor plates trimmed her garments.

"Starfire's right, let's move out!"

"Alright, just let me punch in the coordinates—" He had no chance to finish his statement when the clone of Cyborg sprung to life by the commands of the controller that enabled it to move and charged out of the room,straight through a closed door without obstruction or any distinction of such on the copy's part. "BOO YEAH!"

Beast Boy gawked with a gaping jaw before recovering with a hand scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I did not see that coming," he defended himself with a slight chuckle.

None were amused.

XVX

Outside

"BOO YEAH!" That was the only noise to arise after the sudden crashing through yet another door of the tower, the front door to be precise in this case. The two combined was certainly enough to draw the curious gape of Naruto as he sat in the shadow of one of the many crags of the island.

"Was I wrong?" Naruto wondered to himself. His gaze turned to a chasing pair of two other familiar figures of the Titans, Beast Boy and Starfire with the former being given the equivalent of a piggy back ride as the latter flew after their wayward friend. "Friend Beast Boy, please make the copy of friend Cyborg stop before he runs through another door!"

The plea was replied with a cry from the shifter. "I'm trying!"

The former shinobi of the Leaf Village tilted his head as a new conclusion was reached. A double. Clever, it would certainly lower suspicions if the team had to deploy in force. The blue eye of the skull wearing thief however narrowed when a portal raised from the ground to produce Robin on his motorcycle; the mere glance from the teenager was enough for him to draw a hidden remote from his belt and reveal a heavy duty back up door to take the place, and apparently obliterate by crushing, of the ruined door. The blond merely shook his head as he gave his surroundings a final glance before he left the sanctuary that was his hiding place. No worries assailed his psyche, nor in the way he moved at a leisurely pace.

No matter what, even the most well built of forts had more entrances than the front door either by design... or by force if need be.

XVX

GoldStar Quarry, Jump City outskirts, twenty minutes later

Sēji sighed as he nearly melted into his lawn chair out of boredom from a nearby wooded hilltop overlooking the open pit. The only thing worth any amount of interest for him was to watch his creation tear into the now nearly deserted quarry and that had gotten old fast with no real challenge to hamper it from either the fear driven miners or even some kind of law enforcement, let alone his contracted targets.

"Perhaps I choose an ill-suited spot," he idly mused aloud with his fingers forming a steeple in thought.

Ever so feint by the virtue of distance, the sheer volume of what came out of the blue was enough to startled Sēji Muyomora into nearly jumping out of his chair. "BOO YEAH!"

A nerve charged head swiveled to spy the more metallic member of the Teen titans charging along the only road to the quarry with two of his comrades following closely behind with the green skinned one seemingly riding atop his fellow Titan while he mashed a controller for a gaming platform between two thumbs. Even from a distance he could tell they were having some kind of conversation, but the words were lost to him unlike the one they followed, further tailed by a moderately high flying sorceress and a red motorcycle riding biker.

"Seems I was worrying over nothing," Sēji further mused as he settled himself back into his expendable chair and observed his homegrown monstrosity turn its ire to the new comers heralded by a "BOO YEAH!" and a series of attacks between explosive disks and bolts of energy.

XVX

Meanwhile, Refreshing Spring Café, Jump City proper

It seemed that the fates were being kind to her, or at least that was the conclusion drawn in the mind of Tenten as she sipped away at a cup of herbal tea as she sat at a wired table; the drink was too commercial to be particularly good but enough to be acceptable. Her team wasn't made aware of what had happened in the sea bearing half of where there hideout was located and she said not a syllable to hint of such. She was given the day off from the constant albeit subtle hunt for Naruto, years of experience and training gave no inkling she was being followed by anyone from the pursuit team. But the most viable clue to her conclusion came in the form of an abandoned crate.

She had went back to the warehouse, out of boredom or mild curiosity she knew not which. She had stayed close enough during the previous evening to spy on several trucks from the Police force come and took away the Kevlar armor and weaponry that were tucked away in a number of the crates; only with the opening of some of these crates outside the confines of the storage facility made light of this fact. Yet when she had entered the warehouse she had found one crate left behind, neglected under a buildup of cracked wooden planks that only her trained eye could find what lay under the grouping. As to how this crate, filled with adjustable Kevlar armor, came to escape the clutches of the JCPD (Jump City Police Department) she could only guess as neglect from a busy mind or incompetence.

Needless to say she had taken to dressing up in the protective garments for the curiosity of it as well as to entertain a growing notion that refused to be stowed in the back of her mind. She even tested its ability to protect the wearer after making a few tweaks with repair seals. The results were pleasing as far as thrown un-augmented kunai were concerned, but overall it was much like her flak jacket at any given time no matter which body part was being guarded upon other attacks; how well it stood up against bullets and the like have yet to be discovered firsthand.

After spending over three hours in her tests she ultimately had no other task to which she could busy herself with. It was still too early in the day to practice attacks and defense in the shadows of the pier, she had no training regiment to perform in a secluded space which she upheld in peace without risk of being drawn back to the hideout for one reason or another by her own will or another's, and she wasn't terribly obsessed with her new set of armor to go over it till her eyes demanded rest. So she had to rely on the only thing that could matter in such a situation, a wandering pair of feet with no direction. It was due to those feet that she now sipping a cup of tea in a café she had yet to visit before; a café stocked with a T.V. showcasing the latest breaking news.

"No one is sure where it came from nor has anyone or group had claimed the credit for the act, but a colossal creature of plant-like origin seemingly appeared out of nowhere and is currently terrorizing the quarry owned by the GoldStar Corporation. Most of the workers have vacated the premises but close to a quarter remain trapped in the tunnels or what onsite offices that are still standing if nowhere else..."

Chocolate brown eyes swerved to the screen, only taking idle note she was not alone in that matter as other heads turned in time to witness an image of the most recent menace to Jump City's surroundings; from the angle and the movement involved, it was most likely a helicopter that braved the air to gain this scene. They narrowed suspiciously as they saw a gargantuan creature rampaging in one spot while beams of blue ringed with white alongside black fielded objects and bolts, accompanied by green bolts, pelted the creature with an occasional explosion as a result; yet the creature still raged as it snapped, clawed, and howled at its attackers. The newscaster only continued to narrate. "Unfortunately this is the only footage we have so far..." One of the giant's heads managed to pivot itself to stare at the helicopter before its entire body became paralyzed for reasons unknown... till the head that locked onto the helicopter spat out a gelatinous jade green stream from its mouth. "Since," the newscaster continued, "the airspace had been declared a no fly zone since the near miss of cameraman John Smith and copter pilot Herald Don in the Channel Five news copter. All that is confirmed at this moment is that the Teen Titans are on at the scene and are still battling this recent threat."

The image on the screen switched over to a Latino woman in her early twenties whose painted red lips moved on their own accord yet no word was heard. As was the case for the surroundings of Tenten Bell as others commented or continued with their daily life as whatever noise only approached the deaf ears of the kunoichi; a mind let loose in wonder as queries were given, hypotheses were formed, and decisions laid bare.

Was this the work of Muyomora? Possibly, yet this world held host to many others capable of replicating his works through botanical science, such as the acts performed by the more noted persona known as Poison Ivy of Gotham. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one to have been known to use nature itself as a weapon or defense as minor heroes and villains of little importance and skill have proven here and there; scientists backed by underground or even known organizations, often on par with Orochimaru in intellect and cruelty as a whole or a select few, would find it child's play to make a savage creature acting on instinct alone that only needed to be... planted as the case appears to be.

Even if it was the handiwork of Sēji Muyomora who had created this creature for reasons unknown, for the time being at least, then would her team react to it? On one hand she was inclined to say no for that would force them into broad daylight and there was no absolute guarantee that the arms dealer, former or not, was even within a mile of the creature... let alone if he is contact with Naruto in any shape or form. It was certainly not their job to hero because people are in danger. On the other hand there stood the chance of that gamble paying off with the ultimate prize of their target's whereabouts revealed or given a clue... that's if the jonin believe they should deploy and engage with or without her.

The possibility of encountering them was the only reason she remained rooted to her current spot. Her brown eyes gave her surroundings a glance as a part of her tried to motivate and enflame a passion born yesterday in her admittedly one sided fight against the biker gang and Johnny Rancid. A passion, to which even she knew, was fueled with regret of what should have been.

A lone hand balled to a fist.

There was also a question in need of answering in the mind of Tenten Bell...

XVX

"Vault", Titans Tower

A scoff threatened to escape Naruto as he slipped into the room hoarding the motley collection of armaments and mementos of battles and victories past; the air vents were only gave credence of the front door wasn't the only point of entry. An emergency tunnel also saw to that sentiment.

Mechanical sentries were evaded. Cameras were dodged. Traps became detected. Trip wires never sounded the alarm.

It was too easy.

"Of course," as a tempered mind thought, "they have yet to deal with a proper shinobi..."

An idle blue eye took minute note of the gallery of confiscated weaponry, gadgets, and curios as equally idle feet passed them by as they headed to the only logical place to hide what could be the most dangerous item of the standing collection, the back of the entire room. It took under a minute to accomplish the task only to be met with a blank wall that was the room's border. A hand reached forward and brushed away but a panel that blended seamlessly with the wall.

"Identification please," a synthesized woman's voice filtered through a speaker attached to a wall mounted hand and eye scanner. Naruto sighed as he dug into his utility belt and retrieved a disk-like object emblazoned with a solid dark green circle in the middle with a bold G centered in the middle; a finger groped an otherwise hidden switch along its back to force the decoration to flickered to the life of a TV beset by static.

"Huh? Holy-..." Gizmo's voice rang out of the device as his image finally became clear with the background no greater than a blacked out room. The communicator was quickly presented to the current obstacle of an otherwise smooth operation. "Huh... stopped by a crummy voice/hand combo. Let's see what bird boy and that gack-munching friend of his made for a security system." Multiple sharp appendages sprung from the confines of the disk that eagerly sought out the electronic identification system; wires came alive from the confines of the communicator.

XVX

GoldStar Quarry

The horticulture specialist sighed as he dismally observed the failing offensive against his berserk creature. The only real damage his giant suffered was a gaping hole in the right head's set of teeth and the partial maiming of the upper left section of the thorn barricade guarding the crimson orb on the chest, everything else only served to garner its instant wrath.

"I called it," he murmured to himself. "No real challenge from a bunch of kids." He leaned back into his chair with heavy eyes and deliberately deaf ears to the sounds of battle bellow. It was all but prophesized that the Teen Titans would lose to his creation given the lack of harm done to even the most vulnerable of spots. What obvious damage that was done came from the fruition of combined assaults in a rescue of their orange-skinned friend when she was entrapped in the right head's maw and a half failed attempt to strike at the center orb decorating its chest; not even the concussive force of the attack, though indirect, proven to be able to harm the flora monster in a significant manner.

It was dull as it was amusing to see them fail against what would be child's play in a land of killers.

"Screee!"

Deigning to look down, Sēji found his creation crippled with the severing of its left arm at the elbow. The blow was enough to cast what little caution it had to the wind as it sought retribution with a brawler's frenzied grace if such a person had a claw for a hand, and every head sought to disjoint themselves in some hope to snap up its assailants. Apart from that however, the botanist's interest was on a new face on the scene bearing gauntlets that glinted brilliantly in the light. Giving his enraged beast a glance, the man snarled as he was forced to remove his monocle to make use of a pair of binoculars to pry what visible knowledge that could be gained; more than one curse was muttered under his breath as he adjusted the settings for a more picturesque view.

Whoever it is that now fought beside the Titans was a hauntingly familiar by way of a memory with no specific face or name to identify it, the feeling was further cemented as this unknown ran along the torso of the enraged flora and weaved between wild strikes from the remaining claw. Admittedly it was closer to a montage of memories similar to one another more than anything in the mind of the arms dealer. Below and seemingly being ignored, the Titans combined their efforts to detach the beastly creature from its rooted place.

What monikers to properly identify the new face were scarce under what appeared to be a unitard protected by tightly strapped in generic looking body armor for the chest, legs, arms, and feet in what appeared to be a kelvar vest, shin guards, vambraces, and boots respectively. The head was garbed in a helmet, most likely of the same quality, that hid away the hair and further augmented with a single panel of goggles. Laying underneath the pair was a plain cloth mask that kept the mouth from prying eyes. The entire ensemble was black, the only color that took the eye away from it was the pair of metallic gloves that formed a pair of hooks starting at both wrists that only shot out when the vigilante was forced to jump off of the gargantuan plant.

His hazel eyes narrowed in suspicious glee when a pair of the hooks melted away to a shield that blocked a glancing blow from a passing claw.

XVX

Two minutes earlier

"Dude! This thing is tough!" Beast Boy cried before forcing himself into a bird to deftly dodge a blood seeking swipe.

"BOO YEAH!"

"At least we know Cyborg's double can stand on its own..."

"Starfire, see if you can distract it long enough for us to take another shot at that core on its chest!"

"Right!" Without another word given, Starfire flew off and skimmed along the skin of its left arm, during which her green skinned teammate retrieved the only means to control the cybernetic copy.

"Now!"

Outlying mining dregs were coated in glowing black cloaks and hurled at ludicrous speeds, disks of an explosive nature whipped towards the crimson centerpiece, and a sonic wave converged on a single point. Unfortunately it was a passing arm as the giant single mindedly pursued its current antagonist that pelted it with green bolts by the dozen.

"Did it even feel that?" Beast Boy questioned a bit heatedly with a lacing of worry. Scowling, Robin ripped his communicator from his belt and brought it to his mouth. "Starfire, get out of there!" That was all he barked before his gaze, focused on the behemoth, swiveled to a figure that instantaneously appeared on the creature's left shoulder and barreled down its limb toward the equivalent of an elbow, and towards Starfire in her own escape.

The figure, garbed in kevlar and brilliantly shining gauntlets, all but flew past the tamaranean yet not so fast as to keep a near invisible nod to follow from being seen by the teenage alien. Between her more trusting nature and the given nature of the situation, she followed without question to the rising and bending limb that tried to box them in for its counter part's hand to follow them.

Jerking to the right, the vigilante clanged both gauntlets together before tossing the left one out. Gelatinous silvery metal sprouted to life and formed a bar with a handle at the end. A notable jerk of the head was enough to confirm the instant suspicion that formed in the mind of the tamaranean; a pair of bright orange hands grabbed the handle of the blade.

The weapon of choice was as simple as came be for its given purpose if the approaching conjunction was an indication, and slightly curious green eyes darted to the blade as a mysterious blue substance now coated the edge of the charging blade. No question was asked as the purpose became hinted when metal met living flora.

There was no resistance.

Two teenagers and an arm fell, the former wasting no time to regroup with the gawking Titans while the giant made its newfound rage known.

"Screee!"

Its remaining hand pounded the ground viciously in a sore attempt to alleviate its anger and pain in one strike. Two strikes. Three... no one kept count as it continued to hammer the ground as all three heads snarled and bellowed; all eye under its command stared in pure hatred at the ones responsible, even the ones whose guilt was by association.

"That thing derives its power from what nutrients are available in the immediate area. Target its stem, I'll go distract it." The feminine, unmasked voice was the only indicator of who was underneath the kevlar... to those unfamiliar with the peculiar design of the gauntlets at least.

"Hey, wait!" Robin called out, but it was too late as the vigilante leapt away, dodged an incoming claw, and quickly scaled the enraged hulk of a plant. Gears quickly shifted from concern to duty.

"You heard her, target the stem!"

XVX

"Vault," Titans Tower

"Only two layers of defense. How stupid are they?" The first line of defense had long since been hacked. Only a vault door, stylized with a skull hovering above a red X, protected the sought after prize. If the schematics were to be believed at least. It only took the finding of and raising of a podium essential to opening the vault to ensure the likewise bypass of what would undoubtedly be another security system.

"Gizmo, what are you doing?" Apparently Jinx entered the same room as the miniature genius.

"Huh?" The communicator came to a brief standstill before returning to the task of hacking the electronic lock. "I'm working here slug-face!"

A smirk played on Naruto's lips as a very audible thunk rang through the link which was quickly followed by an equally loud "ow!"

"Oh, hacking something remotely eh?" Jinx asked for the sake of the question. "Wait a minute..."

Another communicator came rang with life and was retrieved. It was a HIVE communicator styled the standard hexagonal pattern of its make. Jinx's image became present on the diminutive screen, staring blankly at the shinobi.

"You actually managed to break into the Tower without setting off an alarm." No answer was needed for the comment...

"Do you think you could steal one of Robin's masks as a souvenir for me please?" she suddenly asked with a cute smile and adorable puppy eyes.

A moment of awkward silence ensued for both ends of the communicator before a reply finally came. "Bye Jinx." The screen went dead on the HIVE communicator, but Gizmo's proved sufficient enough to catch an indignant "hey!"

And Gizmo's raucous laughter.

XVX

GoldStar Quarry

Even though severely weakened as a result from being uprooted, the one armed monster continued to seek vengeance by crawling on its version of a stomach with its remaining arm at a weakening pace. Each failed swipe expired what remaining strength it did have exponentially. However, despite any sense of self preservation, this did not stop the bloodthirsty weed as it continued to hunt for its prey. Nor did it stop its own seizing of its body, its middle head locked onto a small gathering of its assailants.

None of its targets dared stay in the indicative attack of projectile ooze that only caught dirt and stranded mining equipment. The creature did not so much as grown as it rested on the dirt without an errant twitch to its name to be given. Even the red orbs for eyes seemed to lose luster and deflate by a miniscule margin under the observation of a pair of glass encased chocolate eyes.

"Hey." Though nonaggressive in nature, nor demanding of anything more than to earn her attention, Tenten snapped her head to Robin who offered her a handshake. "Thanks for the assistance. We—"

A sharp whistle cried through the air much to everyone's confusion, save for one at least whose ears were honed by years of experience and even warfare. It was obviously too slow moving to be a bullet, all but the most inhuman of ears couldn't detect the sound of wind resistance on a fast moving object comparable to a bullet from any sort of gun. Besides, she knew thrown weaponry. She was a master of thrown weaponry. That sound, that whistling, was coming from a kunai hurled at the peak of a shinobi's strength and skill. And it wasn't alone.

"DUCK!" A body armored in kevlar tackled the boy wonder to the ground, an act that only ended in embarrassment to find a black dome barrier surrounding them from the possibility of being skewered. It took the deflected bounce of but a handful of kunai however that the vigilante's reason for worry was not unfounded.

Two sets of kunai landed past the Teen Titans. Some landed on the ground at an angle, their grips garbed in several violently swaying pitchers befitting of their transport, and let loose a fine mist of airborne clouds of a dull green mist. A differing set of kunai, armed with miniature compartments in lieu of the diminutive equivalent of open jars, landed in a more horizontal angle on the corpse of the fallen foliage giant. By the will of a spring loaded mechanism their cargo of seeds were launched into the air and through the mist before they landed on the ground with jittery jumps that never ceased beyond the first bounce.

"Crap," Tenten muttered as she got to her feet, Robin following closely after with a little aid from the kunoichi from inside the still erect barrier.

"Huh, I don't see what's so danger-" Beast Boy started. In a rapid succession the seeds grew to thick vines that dug into the ground to pile up upon themselves and form a humanoid figure composed of vines and nothing more with the use of a seed per figure. "Oh..." Even with the barrier in place, the small army of plant-men charged and wailed on the barrier in a futile attempt to force their way through.

They weren't the only threat however.

Thin but flexible vines tore through the earth underneath them, yet only the legs of Tenten Bell were assaulted by a vice grip which then pulled her under with a scream. A few feet away the shocked kunoichi reappeared, still tangled in the confines of the vines, and tossed away to the forests with an audible snap of a whip by a vine creature reminiscent to an onion in shape yet armed with dozens if not hundreds of vines as its means of offense.

Gritting his teeth, Robin held much of the snarl that crept through his orders as he grabbed a collapsible bo-staff. "Starfire, Raven, you go see if she needs help. We'll handle the weeds here!"

Meanwhile, a set of flying hooks ripped into tree bark, the chains attached to them swinging ferociously as their mistress swung herself to a more safe landing atop a branch.

"So tell me..." The kunocihi rose only to crouch in a twirl to face the direction of the sudden speaker. From her original direction upon landing, he was at the seven o' clock position on a higher branch. A fierce growl threatened to escape from the deliberately choked throat of Tenten as the final nail of her suspicions was hammered into place. Above her stood a rather disinterested arms dealer leaning against the tree, both of his gloves were off in favor of taking his time to clean his nails with a nail file. "How many managed to slip through that portal before it closed off? I was under the impression that it was one of those deals where the conjurer had to be present in order to keep it open," he continued; he fanned out his fingers for an inspection, twisting them to and fro for a different point of view.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Even from her position, she saw the surrounding plant-life rise out from their natural camouflaged spots to reveal their mutations; vines arose with barbed thorns ranging from a green more natural to their origin to a poisonous red that even secreted a viscous liquid that darkened the altered flora. Only a handful gathered and stood at the ready while the others were sent to dispatch the approaching figures of Starfire and Raven.

"Normally I would entertain the notion of lengthy banter before a fight," he blew on his fingers to brush away some unseen filth, "but today I believe it would be more prudent to air on the side of caution."Even without turning his head to give her a glance, Tenten could feel Sēji's gaze upon her.

"From the very way you move and the fact you could run along my creature with next to no worry is enough to prove your skills as a kunoichi." A sense of dread and apprehension filled the senses of the young woman beneath the arms dealer's spot as he continued regardless of confirmation or denial alongside the slightly garbled shouts and cries of Tenten's aid as they found themselves beset by the mutated plants. "A kunoichi from Konoha no less considering who was hot on our trail at the time. From the group that pursued us only five of them are women." Sēji nodded to himself in self satisfaction as a wicked grin slowly formed. "Considering you haven't made an effort to punch my pet down there and the fact that you have yet to charge with a punch rules you out as the pink haired one known as Sakura Haruno. Since you failed to see that surprise attack underneath that barrier, that rules you out as the Hyuga heiress as well. Now who does that leave?"

The blur of hand seals and the casting of an air bullet was enough to prompt him into jumping onto a new perch, with his back to her as if, and most likely the exact goal of, to mock her skills. "With the three remaining kunoichi of the pursuit team we have a genutsu master, a Yamanaka..." He turned to look past his shoulder with a deliberate slowness as well as a teeth bearing grin. "And a weapons expert." The kunoichi vanished in a swirl of leaves and reappeared directly above the man with axes in lieu of hands. It was deftly dodged with a sidestep, and a sequential round house kick from Tenten's newly mounted position was dodged with but a jump on the arms dealer's part to which he flipped in the air and landed on yet a higher branch; his grin, bearing down on her from above, never left him.

"Now since genjutsu specialists generally lack a real ability to fight against a limber opponent such as myself and the fact you haven't tried to fool the five basic senses of the body, you're not Kurenai Yuhi. Yamanaka... well," he chuckled slightly at some unknown jab known to only him, "let's say I can spot one a mile away. Now who does that leave?" he asked, though it was rhetorically to everyone's ears.

The axes melted away to the more normal gauntlet appearance as irritated eyes turned to the equally bothersome man. "So I ask you again, Tenten Bell, how many got past just to chase us?" He didn't miss the slight quiver amongst the gelatin bearing slots in the armor. "Or did you all just come after Naruto Uzumaki?" The slight stiffening of his opponent was yet another note he picked up on with ease, yet it gave him a more sinister grin as he one visible eye, normally hidden under his hair, narrowed as it scrutinized the details... and a pair of barbed chains that came at him from beneath his current branch.

The man vanished without a trace yet another kick lashed out all the same to be caught by a now gloved hand. "I have to ask, is it really such a good idea to chase and dragged someone back when it's obvious they don't want to go back?" Sēji asked in a delighted fashion. Tenten kicked off and spun her foot in another kick while her chains vaporized and formed metallic whips that lashed out in their own swing; the vines on standby came to the aid of their master despite the lack of rightfully earned recognition. "You know it's kind of funny when you think about it. Didn't you're Uchiha perform an identical stunt but six years before our dear little friend escaped?"

No reply was given by Tenten, her whips struggling against their organic counterparts as one snaked around the other and the inorganic started to mimic the organic. Her hands were free however.

"Really begs the question: did you come here to bring back Naruto, or bring back a weapon? Or better yet: are you facing me because I'm attacking a quarry, or because I could lead you to a certain blond?" the dealer taunted, his grin never faltering. At least until he spotted a particular T shaped hand seal...

XVX

"Azarath Metrion Zinothos!" Several vines came under the vicious assault of ephemeral blades of shadow and failed to outlive it.

"Graah!" Another set of the weeds were pulverized if not destroyed by starbolts hurled in rapid, anger fueled succession. "What could possibly make Earth's plants so... feral?" Starfire asked in a slight pant while warily eying her surroundings.

"I believe I know why." Starfire twisted her head to her friend, and followed an outstretched hand pointing at a man with oak hair, wearing a green pinstriped suit with both sleeves rolled back to reveal dull bronze arm guards punctuated with holes, landing on the ground in a roll while being pursued by their more recent comrade. Brows were raised when they didn't spot the gauntlets she became more known by.

The man ducked to the left, his arm bent horizontally with the guard facing downward, to avoid a chain following a blade as well as a mix of kunai and shuriken from above that hit nothing save for spores being deposited below. The pinstriped man jumped to incredible heights to a tree branch, followed by the kevlar wearing kunoichi, whipped around to let loose a kunai, and jumped out of sight. The spores, upon landing, encouraged life to take root in rapidly growing leafy vines that congregated into three identical copies of the creature the Titans faced before, minus the extra heads and any form of an eye.

"Let's go!" Starfire nodded and followed Raven in her charge, only to deviate to fly low and introduce a passing fist to the miniature copies of their earlier foe. All three failed to defend themselves let alone withstand the more freakish strength of the passing alien.

Ahead by a slight margin, Tenten relentlessly chased after Muyomora with an outstretched scroll in one hand and a raised gauntlet. "Does he have eyes in the back of his head?" she growled in the recesses of her mind. Her clone fared no better where she had failed. The man ducked and weaved between each projectile aimed at him while making use of what cover he could take advantage off in his flight; no blow from Tenten's clone had yet to land on the moving target and was forced to give the man space lest the spores he left behind him possess or grow vines to attack the clone when she wasn't looking let alone hinder said clone.

A glance behind her confirmed what she suspected, the Titans, or at least two of them, were in hot pursuit as well only to be stalled with the forced clean up of the spores that given life in the form of some kind of soldier or an attack plant.

"This is going nowhere..." she grumbled to herself as she stowed her scroll away in a hidden pocket, augmented with its own storage seals.

The sentiment seemed mutual to Raven as well with the conjuring of a shell surrounding the man in one of his mid-flight escapades. Tenten's clone however met a more ill fate by colliding with the ball of energy and dropping to the ground below. Starfire, being good natured as she is, swooped in and saved the clone before it hit the ground.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Raven coldly asked, having reached eye level with Sēji as he felt around his newfound prison with a displeased frown. To her confusion, the botanist slowly adopted a grin as he turned to the darker Titan with a hand a hand slipping into the folds of his suit to retrieve a note of some kind. Tenten paled as she recognized the kanji and the red bordering of the paper clutching between two fingers and a thumb.

The edge was set ablaze with a sudden influx of chakra and began to smolder. All that mattered now, in the face of the unknown that was Raven's strength regarding her barrier against a destructive force like an exploding tag, was the act. With a body colliding against her own, Raven's concentration broke and the man, still grinning as he held the note, fell to the ground below only for the bomb to go off in a blaze of glory.

Two sets of eyes gaped in horror, unbelieving of the fact that someone would rather choose death rather than life. The tamaranean even failed to notice the dispersal of the clone in her grasp as her mind filtered what had happened. Another set stared in their own disbelief, though the reasoning differed than the previous two.

It didn't make sense. Though he had the skills of a shinobi, Sēji Muyomora was a merchant through and through. In other words an ideal merchant doesn't favor sides nor particular actions, at least not the ones without some kind of benefit to them...

"Wait... he has skills as a shinobi..." Tenten stated to herself as her mind went from there. Shinobi in general always had a host of skills and most skills were directly related to chakra. If she were in Sēji's position...

She leapt to the projected area of the blast to hunt for evidence to her new formed theory. While bombs of any kind could indeed destroy just about everything that was caught in the blast radius, there was always some evidence of what was obliterated left behind. A foot bearing shinobi-style sandal sticking out of a bush was exactly, or at least close to, what she was looking for. Grabbing the sole of the sandal, the kunoichi twisted the article around to observe the severed foot itself.

"I knew it," she murmured the second she spotted slightly charred vines where muscle and bone should have been. As much as she wanted to, she knew that trying to chase Muyomora through a wooded area by herself was more of a task than fighting him thanks to Kakashi. If he had time to have prepare an emergency plant clone than who was to say he did not have the surrounding wood memorized like the back of his hand? Other than shadow clones, no clone consisting of a material body was formed in an instant that could take the place of the original without anyone noticing till the dust had settled. At the very least it indicated he had an escape route in mind before he was chased; if he was being chased at least and she hand't been fighting a clone the entire time.

She shook her head in weary defeat as she half-heartedly tossed away the severed appendage. The sailing foot was caught by a orange hand.

"I don't know what 'the beef' is between you and this..." Starfire paused as she glances at the angled shoe in her clutch while struggling to find the right words. "Man," she continued, "but surely he is deserving of more respect." However minutely, Tenten did tilt her head at the emphasis and the slight alteration of the idiom.

"What you're holding there isn't the remnants of a human being, but the remnants of a plant sculpted to look like one to act in its master's stead. Take a look inside the sandal if you are not convinced." Tenten stretched out her arms and gave each an individual roll as her mind drifted to the future, or rather what to do in the coming days. The small gasp from the tamaranean didn't escape her however, nor the question from the Titan's companion.

"I take it you were tricked like this before?" Still stretching, Tenten craned her head to look at the titan and give her a curt nod.

"BOO YEAH!"

Tenten stifled a gasp as she jerked her body in an unnatural angle in a mid-stretch while two heads whipped towards a blurred white and blue figure that crashed through the surrounding brush only to disappear again in the same moment with Beast Boy following soon after to find Raven and Starfire staring at him, the former in mild annoyance while the latter in a more dazed fashion, and the kevlar wearing vigilante was staring at him from a tree branch; Starfire turned to where the kunoichi was only to jump slightly from her sudden disappearance. "Huh... Hi?" he offered with a toothy yet embarrassed grin.

"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked after crashing into the scene in a similar fashion as the previous two. His masked eyes focused on and narrowed upon the sighting of the severed foot. "Don't worry! It is not a foot! It is a plant made to look like a foot!" Starfire cheerily chimed as she waved the appendage look-alike in the air.

"Aw sweet! I want to see!" In a near flash of a run that was in actuality a leap, Beast Boy was already next to Starfire to stare at the organic replica in pure fascination. Meanwhile, a look from Raven was enough to ignite the Boy Wonder's curiosity where the 'foot' failed in comparison.

XVX

Rooftops, Jump City Proper, two-twenty-six pm

A boot lazily swung by itself while its unmasked owner dully stared at the world below. It was a common street beneath Naruto lined with stores to and from each corner, half of which catered to electronic-based shoppers. That was not what his gaze fell upon however.

He was people watching now that he had nothing better to do given that he had proven his own time table of seven days. Five to six days were to be spent to observe the Teen Titans and their environment to develop a effective route to sneak in, out, with any at all contingency paths to be used in the event he was discovered. Five to six days were to learn of attack patterns and battle orientated equipment not showcased by a known recording of the Teen Titans. Five to six days spent to not worry about stalkers trying to abduct him in his sleep or when he rounded a corner.

All those plans were obviously out the window between the diversion and calling for technical support by Gizmo; it took one day to have the suit bundled up in a scroll situated in a scroll case on his belt. What was he to do with the rest of the day?

"I take it you already had what fun you could derive from them," he stated aloud without averting his gaze from the people below who were blissfully ignorant of the shinobi above.

"You could say that," Sēji hummed while emerging from the shadows of a roof access.

Only silence ensued between the two despite the sounds punctuating it by common life in a city.

"Six months and you're still just a chatterbox. You must talk the ears off everyone you meet now don't you?" he jested as he leisurely strolled to the edge of the roof to enjoy the same sights and sounds as the first occupant of the roof.

"You know," he started suddenly, "I learned a fairly interesting fact today." He turned to an unenthusiastic blond whom he noted was staring at one couple as they held hands during their walk. "We are not alone," he finally said as he held up the Vulcan hand sign. Naruto didn't bat an eye towards him.

"Tough crowd, tough crowd," Sēji grumbled as his hand returned to his side. He stared at the "talkative" shinobi before releasing a sigh in defeat as he went with the choice guaranteed to get a rise from his companion of the roof. "Your dear friend Tenten Bell came to the aid of the Teen Titans." The normal grin of the arms dealer returned to him when a bewildered blue eye snapped to his direction.

"And I must say, she's certainly taking a page or two out of your book."

XVX

Undisclosed location

It was a dimly lit room where the only source of light came from the numerous television screens depicting the Teen Titans in battles long since passed, and the center screen depicted the most recent battle to date between them and a colossal bloodthirsty weed.

"Earl Gray, madam," an aged man, shadowed by the one way light, announced respectfully as he poured a small amount of the beverage into a tea cup sitting on a stand.

Sitting next to it in an unmoving throne of blockish design, yet made of polished black marble, sat a young teenage woman whose colors were washed away by the blinding light. From the features made available one could tell she had an athletic build and wore casual yet elegant clothing suited for the rich. Possibly made of silk. They are simple straight legged pants, currently being creased as one leg sat comfortably on the other and a sleeveless tank top. Loafers, or at least in design, garbed her feet. Her hair, neatly combed, ran to her shoulders and covered her left eye.

She said nothing as she hooked a finger around the tea cup and brought the beverage to her lips. "Thank you," she quietly replied at last after a sip, all the while continuing to stare at nothing but the screens. More specifically, she stared at the Teen Titans during their struggles and victories.

"Seems like they cannot handle the likes of Mister Muyomora," she noted.

Her good eye flicked over to a live feed of the man as a stone faced acquaintance of his just left. "And here I thought you weren't a mercenary," she idly commented in rhetoric.

A/N:To those who don't get it, the vulcan hand sign (Which belongs to the minds of Star Trek and usually associated with "Live long and prosper") was more of a double entendre than anything for the use of the word alien which in its older definition meant outsiders, foreigner, etc where it's essentially an apt description (in my view at least given that none of the Naruto cast are US citizens let alone from the same world) to everyone from the Naruto-verse.

An attempt to be clever on my part really...hoped you enjoyed it!

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention!No refunds!