A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! I noticed some concerns about Isane having some trouble fighting Bruce and I just want to clarify that I'm taking a version of Bruce that didn't just spend five years being a thug; he actually traveled around the world learning from masters. Also, I'm glad that koryandrs noticed the blatant reference to Spiderman, my Beta and I had a good time using that. And fear not! The real Man Bat may make an appearance later on, I just thought that Bruce wasn't ready to face him given that he hadn't faced his fear of bats in the League of Shadows(remember Nolanverse).
The Ages as of now are as follows:
Isane Uzumaki: 24
Bruce Wayne: 28(Age Changed from Nolanverse)
Dick Grayson: 12
Edited: 3-25-14
Chapter 7:Batman Begins
ARC I: BATMAN BEGINS
3 years later
Wayne Manor, Gotham
"Dear Sir, this tea has been brewed to perfection," stated a redhead, "My complements to your staff."
"Why my lady," spoke an older male, "'twas freshly brewed by yours truly, and I must thank you humbly for your praise"
"….Hahahaha, I can't do this anymore Alfred" The redhead laughed.
"Of course you can, you just aren't putting enough effort into it." Alfred admonished, "You're one of the wealthiest people in Gotham now, therefore you must learn how to act like a lady."
"You're right. What the hell would I do without you old man?" asked the woman.
"You'd probably have killed yourself with all those noodles. Goodness knows you needed some real food in that body of yours." He responded with a fond smile, the redhead had started visiting him ever since she delivered the letter from Bruce, and hadn't failed to visit him at least once a week since then.
He'd been curious and a bit apprehensive at her visits; after all she did own a large portion of Wayne Enterprises and might just have been looking to trick him. Yet she proved to be a dependable friend, and when asked about her insistence on visiting the old man she just responded with a "You looked like you needed some company and your cooking sure beats anything I've eaten in a while."
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Isane began, "you're finally gonna get to meet the Graysons since the Haley Circus will come to Gotham in a few months. I know that the little Robin can't wait to meet you."
"Finally," he said, "I was starting to think that you didn't want us to meet and exchange embarrassing stories about you."
"You better not tell them about my driving lesson failure!" she warned.
"We'll see."
Their banter was cut short by the ringing of the phone, upon which Alfred got up to his seat in order to answer it. Meanwhile, Isane got started in the clean-up process since she practically lived in the manor nowadays.
"He's back." Muttered a flabbergasted Alfred.
"Who?" she asked.
"Master Wayne," he explained, "I just got a call from him in which he asked me to pick him up."
"Whoa," spoke Isane, "Well why don't you go and get him? I'll get everything ready for him here and have Lu cover for me at work."
"I couldn't impose," he protested.
"Alfred, I basically live here, "she stated, "If anything, I'm the one imposing."
He gave her a smile at this; she had moved some of her clothes to a guest bedroom since she often crashed in the manor during the weekends. She used the excuse that she didn't want him to feel too lonely with all that empty space, but she actually slept better knowing that she could come to his aid if anyone got the idea to break in once more; she'd beaten the shit out of the last burglars.
"Alright then," he agreed, "I'll leave the manor in your care."
Alfred and Bruce had taken a longer time than expected so she'd busied herself by messing around with the party supplies that she'd bought. So far she'd managed to set up a pressure plate near the entrance that would shoot off a bunch of confetti poppers and let the "Welcome Home" banner down.
Not only that but she'd also finished dinner and baked a cake. That and she'd sent her clones to do some chores around the house. What the hell was taking them so long?
She ended up falling asleep on a sofa, which proved to be a bad idea since she fell off the couch at the sound of the poppers going off. She sweat dropped at her stupidity and tried to inconspicuously put away the kunai she'd whipped out. No harm no foul, right?
"Welcome Home Bruce!" she greeted with a smile which turned smug as she noticed that he too had assumed a defensive position in front of Alfred.
"That's right," he said while straightening up, "Alfred did mention that you'd been crashing in for a while."
"Crashing is such a strong word," she corrected, "I prefer the term sleepover."
"With Alfred?"
"…I like to keep things interesting."
"Now, now"Alfred interjected, "Let's not start any fights so soon. I'd like to get through dinner first."
"Ah! That's right. You're gonna love dinner, I tried out that spaghetti recipe you taught me." She told Alfred.
"You can cook?" asked Bruce.
"Why do you sound so surprised?" she huffed, "I can do anything if I try hard enough, right Alfred?"
"Very much so Ms. Uzumaki." Agreed the butler.
"Did you steal my butler away from me while I was away?" inquired an amused Bruce.
"You took too long!" Isane exclaimed, already making her way into the dining room.
All that Alfred could do was chuckle. It was nice to have Bruce back.
Unfortunately for Isane, the next day was a work day.
Which was why she found herself in the main conference room of Wayne Enterprises listening to William Earle go on and on about how they should start manufacturing weapons.
"I don't think that Thomas Wayne would've viewed heavy arms manufacturing as a suitable cornerstone for our business." Fredericks stated.
"Ditto." Isane agreed from her seat, earning herself a glare from Earle.
"That's 20 years ago Fredericks," Earle argued, "I think after 20 years we can allow ourselves to stop thinking about what Thomas Wayne would've done. Thomas would probably not have taken that company public, but that is what we as responsible managers are going to do."
He then tried to call his secretary only to be met with nothing.
Can't say I blame her,Isane thought as she leaned back on her seat, I would ignore that old bastard too if I were her. But then again, I would've gotten fired ages ago if I were her.
"Why is no one answering the phone?" he asked as he opened the doors and revealed his secretary playing golf with none other than Bruce.
"It's Wayne Enterprises Mr. Earle," Bruce responded, "I'm sure they'll call back."
Isane couldn't help but to burst out laughing at the look of disbelief that appeared in Earle's face. It did earn her some funny looks but then again most of them already though that she was nuts, they just couldn't prove it.
Bruce sent an amused glance her way as he was led away to Earle's office by said man himself. Leave it to him to make that kind of entrance and just shrug it off.
"Well, I guess we're dismissed then." Isane said as she rose from her seat. "See ya!"
She reckoned she was due for a visit to Applied Sciences. She did owe Lu a thank you for covering for her yesterday.
The had developed a number of weapons and armors together over the years. Her favorite was an exact replica of Madara's Gunbai, complete with the chain and sickle. Three pronged kunai and the basic ninja equipment such as wire, senbon, and shuriken were made as well. So now she had no shortage of weapons and, as far as Earle knew, Applied Sciences was as dead as ever; she did pay for her toys with her money after all.
Speaking of which, she was now filthy rich. Bruce's suggestion to invest in the Daily Planet was genius and earned her a lot of money, not to mention the money that she'd obtained from cashing in her ryo and writing the Icha, Icha series. She didn't let it go to her head though since she'd never been one for luxuries. Her apartment was simple (even though she owned the building) and she mostly just spent her money in side projects she undertook with Lu.
She did keep her promise to keep in contact with the Graysons; she'd even gone to Dick's first show. Her little brother sure had skills. He'd kept on practicing his Martial Arts with her help, and he'd gotten pretty skilled at it; he was now ranked low chunnin. He was very bright too, if it hadn't been for the fact that she'd sent her clones to study all over the world she would've had trouble keeping up with him. David and Kate were pretty proud of him, they'd even let her hire private tutors for him after some prodding.
"Good Morning Isane." Lucius Fox greeted her with a smile.
"Morning Lu," Isane replied, "Thanks for taking over yesterday, I swear I wasn't just ditching you."
"I know," he said, "Alfred gave me a call."
"Humph," she huffed, "don't you trust me?"
"You do tend to disappear a lot." He reasoned.
"Can't argue with that. I'll be working on my baby." She said as she turned on the numerous lights.
The Tumbler had been one of their most challenging projects since it had never been fully finished. She was working on that though, and she'd even started adding more features like a smoke screen and a built in computer; she had big plans for her baby.
She spent some time working on it after changing from her business suit to one of the spare outfits she kept in there. She stopped working though when she heard someone opening one of the containers that were kept around the division.
It turned out that Bruce had decided to pay a visit and was getting a tour from Lucius. Curious, the redhead approached them to find out what they were doing.
"So, what's your interest in it Mr. Wayne?" asked Lucius.
"Yeah, I'd like to know too." chimed in Isane, deciding to make her appearance known.
"I didn't know you worked here." said Bruce.
"I like to take on projects with Lu here." explained Isane, "He's my right hand man and he's also been my representative in Wayne Enterprises since I bought a large part of it."
"It keeps Earle from firing me." added Lucius.
"But don't dodge the question, why do you want all this stuff anyways?" she asked.
"I want to borrow it for, uh…spelunking." He answered.
At his answer, Lucius and Isane looked at each other with a "he's got to be fucking kidding me look" before looking back at Bruce.
"Spelunking."Lucius stated, his face completely blank.
"Yeah, you know. Cave diving." Explained Bruce, knowing that neither one of them bought his excuse.
"Are you expecting to run into much gunfire in these caves?" asked Lucius incredulously.
"You'd be surprised." Isane muttered , earning looks from both men which made her raise her hands in defense, "It's a dangerous world out there!"
"Look, I'd rather Mr. Earle didn't know about me borrowing-"Bruce stated, only to be interrupted by Lucius.
"Mr. Wayne," spoke the older man, "The way I see it all this stuff is yours anyways."
"Hey! What am I? The next door neighbor!?" Isane shouted indignatly.
"Right, you get the Tumbler." amended Lucius.
"Hmm fine, knock yourself out Bruce" she agreed. "I'll deliver your stuff to Wayne Manor later."
A/N: How was that? I just started rewatching Batman Begins today and I was wondering if anyone ever noticed how Rachel backhands anything that comes her way. I swear she slaps this thug, turns her back to him, and expects him to stay down till she tazes the other one. I laughed my ass off during that scene.
