Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else within. It is all a byproduct of my overactive imagination and too many ideas in my head. This tale is written to, hopefully, amuse the many people who have wanted me to write such a story again. With that in mind, would all lawyers please leave me the f—k alone already!

NU: Red-X Redux

Chapter 6: Past and Present Pt. 3

00

(?)

Uchiha Sasuke was not a fan of pain. He didn't mind giving pain to others, but he did not like being in pain. He wouldn't complain about minor wounds, but when he was badly beaten he truly despised the pain. Thankfully, the number of times he was wounded badly enough for it to be an issue were few and far between. Unfortunately, it seemed like Uzumaki Naruto excelled at leaving him in pain…

Most would wonder about the 'Zetsu' arm and why the cells from it weren't healing him as they had 'Tobi'. Plainly put Sasuke wasn't sure, he had many theories though. Chief among them being that one needed Hashirama's chakra as well as his cells for the regeneration to work. That in mind and Sasuke was plainly out of luck. It could also be that the cells in his arm had mutated, but whatever it was he wasn't sure.

He grunted and palmed his wounded abdomen as he made his way back to his, and his allies, hideout. He briefly paused to hide in the shadows as the orange girl flew overhead with a green light in her hand. That the light happened to be one of her explosive balls of energy didn't matter. Sasuke was injured in the extreme, between being set on fire, being trapped in a point blank explosion, and that Rasengan, he was very injured.

'The dobe was never this vicious in the past,' he noted to himself with a grunt. He also admitted it might make things more interesting this time. He admitted if only to himself that Naruto's usual tactics were sorely lacking in ruthlessness. This new Naruto however appeared to have that in spades. Sasuke briefly wondered if this was truly new, or if the blond had just been hiding his ruthless streak for years…

Either way, it was nice to see he wasn't dealing with the same 'dobe'.

He shook his head of such thoughts and looked back up. He watched as the redheaded girl looked for him as carefully as she could. From her vantage she could possibly see him, but he was a Shinobi, he could effortlessly escape. So he did, moving into the dark shadows and slipping off into the night. He stumbled only briefly but didn't make a sound loud enough for her to notice.

He admitted to himself that he didn't want to get into a fight right now. He was only half sure at this point that he could take the girl in a fight in his present condition. Although he could use the Amaterasu on her the powers of the people in this world always muddied things up. If it'd been the leader of the 'Titans' he'd have taken him out without a second thought. But the others weren't so easy to predict how effective his Amaterasu would be.

The hooded girl would simply vanish before he could hit her, the Amaterasu was fast but not quite fast enough to catch a teleporter. The Metal Man was likely immune to fire in general. The green one could transform into an animal that could lose its tail then regenerate to take the damage. He plainly wasn't sure of the orange one, he was fairly certain she had a level of invulnerability though and he wasn't sure to what extreme, as such it was just best not to take unnecessary chances at that moment.

He stumbled through the city, bleeding profusely, and made his way into the sewers. He grimaced in disgust and made his way as far from the JCPD as he could. He had never expected to capture Naruto; the blond was tricky in the extreme even before he'd become violent. Again Sasuke admitted that a Naruto willing to do extreme bodily harm was a rather nice change of pace.

He chuckled to himself as he palmed the wall on his way through the sewers. He was burned, battered, beaten, and bruised, but he didn't care. Sakura could heal that when he got back to their 'hideout'. Back in Konoha Kakashi had felt that sending him and Sakura after the blond was a good idea. They had known him longest, in his words, but he'd also sent several others just in case he decided to fight them.

Sasuke had briefly considered getting his old team Taka together for the mission, but Naruto didn't know them and Kakashi didn't trust him around the blond without supervision. Sasuke admitted, if only to himself, that Kakashi never specified how big of a piece he wanted. The dark haired teen wouldn't kill Naruto of course, but he might chop off a limb or two for the trouble he'd put them through thus far.

Regardless, Naruto's clones made it difficult to fight him with only two or so people, and so of course he had had to send more than a full team after him. Unfortunately they were separated on the actual hunt for the blond. They had split up to search two potential locations for him; one was in Nami no Kuni as he was the nations hero so would be openly welcomed. As it turned out, that was a dud and Naruto wasn't that obvious.

He'd actually hidden himself in a cave beneath a massive tree in the 'Tree Revival Village' on the outskirts of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. Apparently the blond had been there during his training with Jiraiya and used it as a hideaway. From what they had learned he had defeated a wolf demon by the name of 'Kageboshi (Black Shadow)' while he was there and had became the hero of that village as well.

The difference was that he and Sakura didn't know about it, so wouldn't expect it…

'It was a clever move sending a Kage Bunshin towards Nami on foot and then going the other way by tree,' the Uchiha admitted to himself. It had certainly been enough to get rid of half of their team. Unfortunately Sasuke hadn't bought that Naruto would be so obvious. The fight before had shown him that the blond was being extra tricky, so he all but dragged his half of the team elsewhere.

Well most of it, he'd had one person who supported his decision and it wasn't Sakura. It was kind of amusing that the girl thought she knew the blond better than he did. Sasuke admitted he wasn't around Naruto as much, but he had an almost innate understanding of him. He wasn't complicated most of the time, but then again, Sasuke actually appreciated that about Naruto. Complicated people were just annoying.

Sasuke paused his thoughts as he came to a ladder out of the sewers and grunted as he took a breather. He then glanced back at the trail of blood he'd left behind with a frown. 'Can't go back with that following me,' he thought to himself. He then slowly lowered down and sat back against a wall. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered and a clone appeared. He glanced up at it and then leaned back with a grunt.

"Find the others… tell them where to find me," he ordered and then closed his eyes. The clone didn't need to be told twice as it hurried off to find the rest of his team while he waited in the sewers…

00

(JCPD…)

Robin grunted as he pulled a police officer out from under some debris. The man was badly injured but thankfully still breathing. He brushed his wrist across his forehead and turned to Raven. "Alright Raven, I got him," the leader of the Titans stated. Raven gave a minuet nod and allowed the lockers to drop while she formed a black circle under the police officer then lifted him up.

"That's four," she noted. Robin hummed in response and looked to his friend seriously.

"Anyone else nearby?" he questioned. Raven closed her eyes and concentrated and then slowly shook her head.

"Not unless they're," she left hanging. Robin scowled but understood her meaning.

"Get us out of here," he ordered. The violet haired girl nodded and formed a black bird behind her that transported them to the front of the JCPD building. There were already fire crews hard at work trying to put out the fires. The officers they had already been taken to several ambulances. A few had remained solely to look after those with minor wounds while those who were grievously injured were rushed to the hospital.

"We got another one," Robin stated as he and Raven took their latest find to a stretcher. A pair of paramedics quickly picked the man up and rushed him to a nearby ambulance. Robin sighed and palmed his face tiredly; Raven placed a hand on his shoulder in an brief gesture of comfort then turned as BB and Cy hurried out of the building. They saw that Cyborg carried a woman in his arms while BB had taken the form of a rhino and had two men slung over his back.

Robin and Raven briefly glanced at one another with frowns. The JCPD had suffered a serious blow tonight. They'd lost over a dozen officers, with more injured. It would take a lot before they were back to full capacity. Until then, they would have to keep a much closer eye on the city. They already paid a decent amount of attention of course, but now it'd be a much closer watch.

They turned from one another as BB and Cy came by. Cyborg placed the woman onto a gurney while BB halted so a pair of paramedics could collect the men from his back. Once they were taken BB returned to human form while Cyborg looked to Robin with a grim frown. "Couldn't find anyone else," he remarked. Robin inclined his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Same," he admitted. Raven nodded while BB sighed and rubbed his hair.

"Dude this was seriously not something I'm used too from our guys," BB remarked which got a look from Cy. Robin mutely hummed, he knew of more of BB's past than he cared to admit. Background checks worked wonders for that. Besides, Batman had had quite the bit of Info on the Doom Patrol and its members.

"You've seen stuff like this before?" he questioned. BB briefly felt his eye twitch and then silently nodded his head. He recalled said incidents quite clearly, none of which had been pretty…

"No comment," he murmured quietly. Cy decided not to pry and instead looked back to Robin.

"Star not back yet?" the older teen questioned. Robin grunted and shook his head. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as he considered what'd happened tonight. Aside from X popping back up, they also had a nutcase with a sword and the ability to manipulate fire and electricity running around. 'Possible control of friction?' he briefly considered then shook his head as Starfire dropped down from the sky.

"Anything?" he questioned. The redhead shook her head.

"I am regretting to inform that I was not finding anyone. I am believing they moved before I could locate them," she replied. Robin growled to himself in agitation. He wasn't agitated with Starfire; he was agitated with the situation in general. They had a completely unknown player in the city. Whoever he was he was someone with seemingly no concern for human life and a very violent disposition.

Honestly, Robin didn't want another major villain moving into Jump now that Slade was gone.

'We need answers, who was that guy? Where did he get his powers? How are he and X linked? Why were they fighting in the first place? What was X even doing here? Has he always been that fast? What else is he hiding?' the boy wonder internally questioned with a scowl. There were too many other questions and not enough answers. He briefly bit the tip of his thumb while Cyborg grunted.

"Do we at least know what X was doing here?" he questioned. Robin hummed and then shook his head in response. Cy threw his hands into the air and scowled. "Great so tonight's a total bust then?" he questioned darkly. Robin clicked his tongue in response and then pointed to the side. Cy followed his finger to a brown haired police officer with a scruffy beard and a cigarette between his lips.

Cyborg turned from the man and looked to Robin curiously.

"I got some information from him about our new 'friend'," the boy wonder admitted with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. It'd been a long night… "But for now lets all head back to the tower and rest up. I'll fill you all in on what I found out in the morning," he suggested. Cy nodded and then stalked off while BB hurried after his friend. "Coming girls?" Robin asked but Raven glanced at Starfire out of the corner of her eye.

"We'll fly back," she suggested. Robin nodded and then marched to his bike and hopped on. He briefly slipped his helmet on and then shot off like a dart before Cy and BB followed him in the T-Car. Once the boys were away Raven looked to Starfire.

"So…" she began languidly, "did you ever see or hear about that sword guy in the future?" she questioned. Starfire glanced at the girl and then shook her head.

"No friend, I did not," she replied. Raven frowned in response and wondered if this had been a change caused by Starfire altering the past or just something she hadn't learned about ahead of time. "We should return home," Starfire remarked and yawned into her hand tiredly. "I am feeling very much the tired now," she admitted. Raven idly inclined her head in agreement and both girls shot off towards Titans Tower…

00

(Naruto's Apartment…)

Technically outside the apartment is Naruto himself. The blond groaned in pain as he appeared on the roof of his apartment building. He paused briefly to slam his fist against the side of his head as his helmet continued to blare warnings at him. 'Oh sweet Kami-Sama shut the hell up!' he internally pleaded as he gripped both sides of his head with his hands and groaned pitifully.

The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon. He'd literally been up all night and felt like he'd been put through a blender. Given the number of cuts, gashes, stabs, burns, and other miscellaneous injuries and blemishes that now marred him and his suit, that wasn't all that far from what happened. Naruto also thanked Kami for his healing factor, and then remembered to thank Kurama…

Whenever the lazy bag of fur decided to wake up that is.

Regardless, he was exhausted and unfortunately injured pretty badly. He'd been through worse however so knew a night or two of sleep and he'd be back up to full strength. Sasuke on the other hand would be worse for ware and would take extensive healing to recover. 'So I shouldn't have to worry about the Teme for a while,' he noted to himself and then trudged over to the fire escape of his apartment.

He slowly made his way down while blood dripped from his wounds. He made a mental note to pick on the kids for getting in his way later. 'What kind of prank does this shit deserve I wonder?' he briefly considered with an amused chuckle. He then groaned and leaned into the railing of the fire escape as his wounds throbbed and the incessant blaring of sirens in his helmet wouldn't abate.

'Kami-Damn it Giz… next time you build me a super suit, take out the fucking klaxons!' the blond internally snarled. The noise was almost worse than his wounds at this point. He could deal with pain, fairly easily no less, but that noise was honestly starting to drive him insane. He shook his head and continued down the ladder and reached his apartment window. He glanced inside and frowned.

Mammoth was at his fridge, raiding it no less, which he should've expected. The man mountain tended to eat when he wasn't busy with something else. Gizmo was looking around his place, being the nosey little ass he was known to be. Then there was Jinx, who was seated on his couch staring at his tiny TV and worriedly wringing her skirt into knots for some reason or other…

'Oh wait, I did just blow up the roof of the JCPD… I kind of hope they blame that on Sasuke,' the masked blond admitted to himself. He then reached down and slowly lifted his window so he could listen in on the Troika.

"Oi, why does Temp live in this rinky dink apartment?" the tiny terror demanded. Mammoth shrugged as he ate a sub sandwich made from the contents of Naruto's fridge… all of it's contents no less. Jinx noticed this and stood up with a scowl.

"Would you shut up!" Jinx snarled at Gizmo then glared at Mammoth, "And stop eating him out of house an home!" she growled at the man mountain. Mammoth glanced down at his sandwich and then looked to either side before he took another bite of it. Meanwhile Gizmo rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

"Chill out, we're just exploring a little," the tiny terror remarked. Jinx snorted in response and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No you're being nosey!" she chided and then looked at Mammoth, "And you're eating all his food!" she grumbled. Mammoth just shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his sandwich without a care in the world. Truth be told he wasn't all that worried about Naruto, the blond was able to handle himself. He had managed to beat all three of them in a three on one fight after all.

"Oh c'mon, you can't tell me you aren't curious about Tempest?" Gizmo remarked with an amused grin. Jinx blushed lightly, but it wasn't visible to Naruto as he slowly climbed into the apartment. "I mean the guy never really talked about himself all that much," the tiny terror remarked with a frown. He found that sort of odd actually, given how open and friendly the blond usually seemed…

"Regardless," Jinx began as she placed her hands on her hips. She also thought it strange that despite how seemingly open he was, Naruto never spoke about his past. He talked about his former home, his people's history, abilities, and other general things, but never about his personal history. Still, "Tempest is secretive for a reason, it's not our place to judge or question him, just to understand that he has things he doesn't want to talk about," she stated with a nod.

She neglected to mention that if it were anyone else she'd have busted into his stuff for answers herself.

Gizmo scoffed at that while Mammoth smirked. They all paused however when Naruto chuckled and then turned to the blond. Jinx gave a horrified gasp upon seeing the blond in his injured state while Mammoth and Gizmo gaped. The blond himself blinked his eyes and then groaned as he placed a hand onto his wounded torso then stepped, IE stumbled, toward his couch.

"Thanks for the sentiment Jinx," he remarked then looked at them, "Giz… please turn the noise off in my helmet?" he pleaded with his hands held to his head. Gizmo blinked for a moment and then slowly nodded his head. "Aside from that, you guys go do whatever it is you do," he stated then raised a hand, "I'mma pass out now," he declared then fell onto his couch with a sigh.

"Tempest!" Jinx cried and hurried to the blond's side. Gizmo swore up a storm and leaped over to the blond.

"Holy mother of crap!" the tiny terror exclaimed, "What the fuck did he do to my suit!?" he demanded furiously and Jinx fixed him with a dark look, eyes glowing pink. "Uhhh… I mean oh no, he's hurt," he remarked blandly. Jinx narrowed her eyes and smacked the back of the tiny terrors head. He gave a cry and then swore vengeance while Mammoth approached with a frown.

"He okay?" the man mountain questioned. And in his defense, they'd all seen the blond take some pretty impressive punishment in his time at the academy. The Headmaster had been genuinely curious about how much the blond could take as far as damage after all. The number of random attacks on his person had even been in the triple digits nearing the end of his days at the academy.

"Fuck if I know," Gizmo grumbled as he plugged his backpack into the X-suit and started to check what was going on. He pulled out a keyboard from his back and pulled down his goggles to check what was going on. "The hell?" he muttered as he started to look over the codes while Jinx looked at the masked thief worriedly.

"I-Is something wrong?" the rosette questioned. Gizmo grunted in annoyance as he continued to look over the code. Mammoth just shrugged his shoulders and then went off to find something to occupy his time. He wasn't the guy you went too when you were injured, he was the guy who typically did the injuring. If they wanted someone to look after the injuries they'd have to get someone like Shimmer…

'Might need to call Selinda,' he considered to himself. Shimmer had always been the careful one between them, and of course that meant she took the medical courses back in the academy. Mammoth had even encouraged her to do so; given how he was often in the thick of things, having someone around to patch him up was nice. Not to mention how his girl Leviathan could probably use the medical care as well…

As Mammoth lost himself to his thoughts, Gizmo noticed all the alarms the suit was letting off and slowly raised a brow. He had thought he'd disabled those when he finished the suit, then again he'd been in a hurry at the time. So he started to sift through the code for the alarms and then grimaced. A number of the alerts were warning that several circuits had been cut, normally not a problem, but they were designed to absorb chakra and now had nowhere to go…

"Well that explains why he passed out," he muttered to himself. Jinx leaned towards him.

"What happened?" she questioned. Gizmo crossed his arms with a frown.

"The suit got shredded and he's hemorrhaging chakra," the tiny terror replied with a frown, "When I designed the suit it was built to absorb chakra and use it as a power source. However when he went and got all those cuts it severed several circuits. Problem is I never designed a cut off so it just kept drawing more and more chakra instead of shutting off," he explained. Jinx frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"Why didn't you put in a cut off then?" she questioned with a frown. Gizmo turned and snarled in response.

"I was in a fucking hurry to finish titless wonder!" he shouted at her. She growled and smacked his head again. "Ow!" he exclaimed and rubbed the back of his head, then glared at the rosette furiously. "Dammit stop doing that bitch!" he snarled at her. She narrowed her eyes in response.

"Anyways," she grumbled and crossed her arms, "how do we help Tempest?" she questioned bluntly. Gizmo muttered under his breath and then sighed.

"First we need to get him out of this suit. His chakra normally causes his body to regenerate, but because his suit is causing him to hemorrhage chakra he doesn't have enough of it to heal himself," the tiny terror explained. Upon hearing this Mammoth turned to them from the kitchenette.

"That's all you two, I'm having no part of that," he declared with a resolute nod then turned back to making himself another snack. He liked Tempest, but he wasn't about to undress a guy. Jinx could have first dibs on that and Gizmo kind of owed him. Far as Mammoth was concerned he wasn't getting involved with that shit. Jinx and Gizmo glanced at one another in response.

"Well looks like you're helping," Gizmo noted. He then smirked and looked at the rosette with clear amusement. "Just try not to enjoy it too much," he teased. Jinx frowned and flicked the tiny terror across his nose. He grabbed at his face and then scowled.

"Shut up," she grumbled then had a thought, "maybe I should call someone to look at him first," she muttered. Gizmo blinked and gave her a strange look.

"Bitch this isn't the time to call chicks to check out Tempest in his sleep," he reminded her. Jinx felt her eye twitch and glared at him furiously.

"One, I don't have any girl friends," she growled at the tiny terror. If she had any 'girl friends' she might not hang around them as much as she did… "Second, I meant should we call someone who can check to make sure he's not going to die!" she growled at Gizmo. The tiny terror just snickered to himself as he managed to get Naruto's helmet off, revealing his spiky blond hair and whiskered face.

"Yeah I know that, I was just messing with you," the tiny terror stated with a snicker.

"This is not the time for jokes Gizmo!" she snarled, "Tempest has two holes in him, and a gash that looks fucking deep!" she all but roared with a wave to the blond. Gizmo rolled his eyes then shrugged in response.

"Bitch, I honestly don't care that much," he stated bluntly. Was Naruto his friend, yes, did that mean he cared if he lived? Not really if he were totally honest. Gizmo generally just tolerated the blond and his… quirks… because he actually used his tech. The number of people that used his tech was depressingly low. He figured the X-suit would make a big stir and he'd have people coming to him for his designs for once.

Jinx however scowled and pulled out her H.I.V.E. communicator. She paused and considered her options as she pulled up a list of other students on her communicator. She briefly paused as she looked down the list of names and then considered the many people she knew. The number of people she knew with any legitimate medical training was actually depressingly low…

"Seemore," she considered with a frown. To be honest she had hated the one eyed freak since she found out he was staring at her, and other girls, with his X-Ray vision… "Pass," she growled and moved down the list. As she did Gizmo managed to open the X-Suit and then looked at her with a frown. He saw that she was flicking through her communicator and glared darkly.

"Hey! I told you to help me get him out of this fucking thing!" he snarled. The girl blinked and looked back to the tiny terror curiously.

"How?" she questioned. Gizmo palmed his face, muttered to himself, and then sucked a breath in through his teeth.

"Reach inside the suit and hold him as I pull the god damned thing off" he growled at the girl. Jinx blinked for a moment and then took a breath and reached inside of the suit. She gently maneuvered herself to where she was hugging his chest to her as Gizmo pulled the arms of the suit off of the blond. As she did Gizmo smirked to himself. "Are you enjoying yourself?" he teased, she glared at him in response.

"He's been cut up and is bleeding out all over me," she deadpanned, though with a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks. She wouldn't admit it, even under pain of death, but it was kind of nice to be holding the blond. The whole incident with Blood mind controlling her to pursue 'Stone' had been bad enough on its own. The absolute worst part about it was the fact she'd never got to pursue a relationship with Tempest…

00

[Flashback…]

(H.A.E.Y.P., Jump City…)

Jinx sat in the room of her teammates, Mammoth and Gizmo. She had a bemused expression as she watched Gizmo set up a device at his desk. Meanwhile Mammoth was talking to his little sister, Selinda Flinders, AKA Shimmer. Though admittedly, the first time Jinx saw Selinda she didn't think she was actually Mammoth's sister. Aside from the red hair, they didn't look alike at all.

Mammoth was a tall burly fellow with an auburn mullet with sideburns and a goatee as well as hair all over his tan skinned body, beady eyes, not to mention his severe under bite, which vaguely resembled fangs or tusks. The guy also had an odd style of dress with a sleeveless all black bodysuit with an H or M made of yellow metal over his torso and a yellow metal grafted to the feet of his suit, not to mention his heavy looking wristbands.

Shimmer on the other hand was basically his polar opposite. She was thin, of average height, tanned skin, and had short messy auburn hair, with bright and expressive green eyes. She wore a black tank top with a smaller blue top over it, bicep length fingerless black gloves, tight black pants with a few rips and a studded blue belt looped around her waist, and thigh length black boots with blue kneepad.

She was seated at the couch, one leg propped over the other. She briefly looked at Jinx, then turned away with a bored sigh. Another odd difference between Mammoth and Shimmer was that the Australian born girl was a lot quieter than he was. Not to mention unlike Mammoth, she seemed to have retained her natural accent… assuming you could get her to talk that is.

Jinx honestly liked Shimmer, she was a step above most of her peers, but she was also a very quiet and indirect girl. She didn't attack people head on if she could help it, being more careful than Mammoth ever was. Part of that was to compliment her brother's blunt personality. Another part of it was because her powers were a bit… odd. The ability to alchemically change one substance to another was kind of rare after all.

Jinx had on numerous occasions thought about having Shimmer alchemically create gold or silver or platinum for them. She could do it too and that was the thing, unfortunately Mammoth always vetoed it when she or Gizmo suggested it. He was worried that the younger girl would overextend her powers or hurt herself. Villain or not, Shimmer was Mammoth's little sister, and he wasn't about to let her get hurt.

Still, that begged the question…

"Why is Shimmer here?" she asked curiously. Mammoth glanced at her from his place beside of Shimmer with a frown.

"What's it matter?" he questioned. Jinx internally sighed; she hated it when Mammoth went into overprotective big brother mode. It was like normal Mammoth; only it was even easier to piss him off. The big lug seemed to take offense to anything that could be misconstrued as 'harmful' to his sister in any way. Even if you just went and mocked her name, Selinda, would usually end with a beating from the man mountain.

"I'm curious because usually she's not here," Jinx remarked plainly. Mammoth grunted in response while Gizmo looked up from whatever it was he was putting together.

"I asked Mammoth to bring her," the tiny terror stated. Jinx arched a brow and glanced at Mammoth curiously.

"I thought you didn't trust her around Gizmo," she noted. Though technically it was more like Mammoth didn't trust Gizmo around Shimmer. He was Gizmo's friend, yes, but he didn't trust any guys in the H.A.E.Y.P. where his sister was concerned. Granted it was a school of villains and that made sense. This was especially true given the kind of powers the girl had…

"He asked me to bring her for something," Mammoth admitted then crossed his arms, "I'm not budging so long as she's here," he stated resolutely. Shimmer glanced at him from aside and then rolled her eyes. She understood why her brother was a bit protective of her, but she honestly found it annoying. The few times the worry had been warranted were decidedly rare and often times he just chased people off without provocation.

Gizmo turned, seemingly affronted by his tone, only to pause and consider. He then slowly inclined then nodded his head. "Eh, he's right," the tiny terror admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, "I can't be trusted," he stated with a solemn nod. Jinx snorted and then giggled into her hand while Shimmer smirked and Mammoth looked at him with a bemused smile.

Was it bad that he was being honest about that?

"Yo," Naruto stated from the doorway as he entered. Jinx yelped and fell from her seat as he did then looked at him strangely. The blond teen glanced at her and grinned, then walked to Gizmo and handed him a wakizashi. He paused and considered his words, which caused Jinx to sigh.

"Here you go," she supplied. Naruto blinked and then gave her a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes while Gizmo happily took his sword and put it in a box.

"What you doing?" the blond questioned. Jinx grimaced to herself. She was trying to teach him English, but thus far all they had to show for it was a moderate improvement. He could clearly understand them now, but he still had an obvious accent and could only speak in broken sentences. Briefly the girl wished the blond was a tamaranean so she could just kiss him and be done with the entire language barrier…

Because that was all she wanted to kiss him for! She didn't have a thing for him! Honest!

"Checking to see exactly what this thing is made out of," he replied. "Mostly cause I want to see if it can be synthetically reproduced," he admitted. He was mostly curious on whether or not Meta-Humans could use the stuff in the same way as Naruto and the rest of his species. If they could he could potentially make weapons powered by the people using them! Jinx raised a brow in response while Naruto scratched his head.

"Why?" the blond questioned. Gizmo grunted then turned to him with a scowl.

"So I can make more of the stuff!" he shouted then crossed his arms, "Duh," he grumbled. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders while Gizmo stared at the blond. He didn't look any different than last time she'd seen him. Though she did admit she was still curious about his arm. "I also need a scan of your chakra," he admitted. Naruto looked at the tiny terror dubiously.

"How?" he questioned. The one word rule had also been working really well for the blond. It'd been her idea on how to help him speed up his replies. Rather than try to word out an entire sentence, shorten it as much as you can, had been her wording. Thus far it'd worked fairly well, although the broken English was a bit off. He'd used some really off phrases on occasion…

"I have a scanner for it," Gizmo admitted only to pause. He then checked the readout on the wakizashi and openly gaped. "The fuck is this thing made out of?" he suddenly demanded. Jinx blinked and then got up, followed by Shimmer and Mammoth. They all looked at the atomic structure of the sword and it caused Jinx to frown. Naruto on the other hand shrugged, he actually wasn't sure what the Samurai made it from.

"That… doesn't look like any metal I know of," she remarked then glanced at Shimmer. Given her powers the girl was an expert on the atomic structure of the many different elements. However at her look Shimmer mutely shook her head with wide eyes. She'd never seen this atomic structure before either. Which was very impressive. Gizmo started to giggle to himself and nodded in agreement.

"No way," he murmured and then reached to the side and brought up the periodic table. He then started to giggle a little louder. Jinx and Shimmer glanced to one another and backed away slowly as he did. "This shit doesn't appear on the periodic table!" he declared and then laughed loudly. "Fuck yes! I've discovered a new element!" he exclaimed joyously. Naruto smirked in response.

"Samurai first," he remarked. Gizmo turned and pointed a finger at the blond.

"Do not fucking ruin this for me asshole! No one on earth aside from us can say that they have seen this atomic structure before!" he snarled. Naruto just smirked cheekily which caused Jinx to giggle and Mammoth and Shimmer to smirk at the tiny terror. With a grunt of annoyance Gizmo sat back down and crossed his arms. "Razza frazzin no good dirty," he started to mutter to himself.

"So what're you going to do now?" Jinx questioned curiously. Gizmo, rather than reply, reached under his desk to produce a large block of steel. He then looked to Shimmer.

"Think you can convert this stuff to match?" he questioned. The girl blinked and then tapped her chin for a moment. She then placed a finger onto the metal and it literally 'shimmered' before it changed color entirely. Gizmo grinned and placed it into his scanner, then started to cackle like a madman. "Ha! It worked!" he declared cheerfully while Mammoth patted his sister on the back.

"Nice work Selinda," he stated as he pulled her into a half hug. She returned the gesture and they walked back to the couch. As they did Jinx shook her head while Naruto looked at the block of metal with a frown.

"Now what?" he questioned. Gizmo paused his cackling to consider that. He then frowned as he realized that he needed to test the stuff… 'That could be a bitch to do,' he admitted to himself. He was smart, a super genius really, but even he had limits on the things he could make. Figuring out how to do with tech what those Samurai had been doing naturally for generations would be quite the project…

"I… have a few ideas," he murmured and clicked his tongue. He also considered the idea of making outlines of the 'seal' things that Naruto could use. If he used the metal and formed them into the shapes of the seals maybe he could use them to absorb the chakra from the blond. If that worked he could have them wired into circuits then used to power something… but what was extremely power intensive that he…

Wait a second… no… no… maybe… oh wait, there it was!

"I've got it!" he declared. Naruto raised a brow.

"Got what?" he questioned. Jinx nodded her head in agreement.

"Simple," the tiny terror replied with a grin then turned to Jinx, "Remember that fucked up suit Robin used to try and trick Slade?" he questioned. The rosette paused and hummed to herself, then nodded her head. "Good, I'm thinking we grab it and see if I can modify it to use Temp's Chakra instead," he replied. Naruto looked at them both curiously while Jinx frowned.

"Why that suit? Why not something more useful?" she questioned. Gizmo rolled his eyes.

"Cause he used fucking xinothium to power the thing," he replied. Jinx paused and then looked at him with wide eyes.

"Xinothium!? Isn't that stuff like super unstable and dangerous?" the girl demanded. She'd heard about the stuff from one of their many 'guest teachers', Professor Chang. Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. He really hated it when he didn't know what they were supposed to be talking about…

"Yeah and that means the suit is fucked up levels of power intensive," he replied. Jinx nodded then looked at him worriedly.

"Okay, but why does that matter?" she questioned. Gizmo pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered under his breath. Sometimes he wondered why it felt like no one else understood how he thought, and then he'd remember that it was because he was literally a super genius. Regardless he grunted and glared at the girl.

"Cause I want to test this shit out and I need something that uses obscene amounts of power to do that!" he replied with a growl. He then pointed at Naruto who had leaned back with a frown as the two talked. "Tempest has an internal power source, this metal can channel the shit, so I wanna see if I can use this shit to convert his chakra to power that damn suit!" he explained with a scowl.

"What can you do if it works?" Shimmer suddenly asked. Naruto, Jinx, and Gizmo looked at her in surprise. Shimmer rarely ever spoke; it was so rare that some members of the H.A.E.Y.P. believed she was mute. Gizmo was so surprised that he just stared for a good while. Naruto idly shook his shoulder and the tiny terror then scratched his head with a frown.

"Uh… well for one thing I could potentially make tech that'd work around Jinx," he admitted. Jinx looked to him in surprise. Her powers went wonky on occasion and she had to isolate herself to prevent them from causing untold destruction to everything around her. Specifically technology as it seemed to explode whenever she went near it. On most days she just had to heavily focus to prevent this, but it wasn't easy…

"Really?" she asked hopefully. Gizmo idly nodded his head and hummed to himself.

"Yeah, if the tech runs on your powers then the runoff wouldn't make it explode," he murmured, "or at least that's my theory," he admitted with a shrug. Shimmer frowned for a moment and idly nodded her head while Jinx glanced at the metal curiously.

"So the suit?" she questioned swiftly. She also sounded much more eager than she wanted too. But in her defense she couldn't carry around most tech unless it was heavily shielded and even then it tended to explode if she got angry… Gizmo nodded and then pulled Naruto close as he got a blueprint for Titans Tower out of his pack.

"Right Temp, this is Titans Tower, and I just bet that the Boy Blunder put that suit in the evidence room on the," Gizmo stared to explain to the blond. Naruto idly nodded his head as he internally memorized the map. He also admitted, if only to himself, that he was going to have some fun with this. This new world was very different, more peaceful, from his old one.

So he might as well bring the prankster king back to play with the 'kids'…

00

(Later…)

Jill Manx, better known as simply 'Jinx' by her friends and peers, looked at a Japanese to English book she'd gotten for her 'friend' Tempest. The boy had recently returned from a trip to Gotham to get some 'Electro-Static-Gauntlets' from the GCPD building for Gizmo. Unfortunately the blond hadn't had much time to practice speaking English as a result, though he did mention he met a 'funny lady' over there.

Jinx wasn't sure why but she had had shivers crawling up her spine after that…

Regardless the rosette believed it'd be good for the blond to have a way to practice speaking English without her. He had the basics down for the most part, the one word rule and short sentences he used were passable now. But she knew he could do better if he just tried. Which was why she'd grabbed the book while she and her team were out, IE, stole it. Although to be honest the Titans had chased her and her team afterwards…

'And then there's the new guy,' she noted to herself with a frown. 'Stone' was an oddity she didn't really know how to deal with. Something about him was very familiar, as if she'd seen him before. But it was just kind of hard to place where. She'd thought he might be an old classmate from Dark-Way Prep, but he hadn't seemed to know what she was talking about.

Gizmo and Mammoth plainly didn't like him. Mammoth cause Stone was just as if not stronger than him, without the mutations. Gizmo hated him cause he was a 'teachers pet' in the tiny terrors opinion. Naruto… actually hadn't met him yet which wasn't all that surprising. Tempest liked to go out and steal stuff for Gizmo; he'd been on a rash of small time burglaries lately, which had included stealing more parts for the suit.

The Troika, the unofficial name for her team, had also gone on quite a few missions but that was where the difference came in. Naruto didn't get noticed or caught; the blond was a master of stealth when the occasion called for it. He could slip into her room at night, and had, without setting off any alarms just to set up a prank, which did in fact get her, but she was too embarrassed by it to admit it…

It'd been an average day; her alarm woke her up and she sat up blearily and rubbed at her eyes. She'd then turned her alarm off and stumbled out of bed. She made her way to the attached bathroom with a yawn. She'd been dressed in a long blue shirt and her panties, her hair was a mess and she'd been half blind from sleep. She palmed her way into the bathroom, only to pause as a cold bucket of water fell on top of her.

This had two effects, the first being that she was now soaked, the second was that she now had a bucket on her head. Jinx was quiet for a moment as she lifted the bucket to see her face in the mirror… as well as a smiling 'whiskered' face drawn onto her bathroom mirror. Her eye twitched and then she started to grind her teeth with a furious snarl across her face.

"You're a dead man Tempest!" the rosette roared as she turned and ran out of her dorm room. No one pranked her! She was the local bad-luck charm and no one dared to pull this kind of shit on her! So great was her anger and righteous was her fury that she didn't notice or care that she was running out of her room in her night clothes. It was pure luck that no one had been out and about at the time.

Instead she'd run to Tempest's dorm room and stomped into the blond boy's room. There she found him waking up, and since the blond wasn't alert she'd lunged and attempted to throttle him. Unfortunately, Jinx underestimated a few factors when she did so. First, Naruto was a warrior, second, he had insane reflexes and speed, third, she was half his weight and much weaker…

As such it was no surprise that it didn't go well for her at all.

She had an advantage against the blond for all of five seconds before he'd snapped to alertness. When he did he briefly managed to get the girl into a hold and then arched a brow at her state of undress. He then glanced down and smirked. "Pink, really?" he quipped with a smirk. Jinx snarled and managed to slam her head back into his chin and caused them both to fall back onto his bed.

After a very brief struggle, Naruto managed to pin the girl beneath him, one hand holding her hands over her head, while the other was pressed into her stomach. She glared at the teen, panting from exertion and flushed red with fury while the blond looked at her with clear amusement. The two turned away from one another as Naruto's door opened to show a concerned Kyd Wykkyd.

Kyd had only entered after he heard the ruckus coming from his roommate's room. But it was quite easy to imagine what he thought was going on given their extremely compromising position. Kyd blinked as he silently stared at them; Jinx and Naruto both blushed furiously. Kyd then slowly backed up and the door closed once he was gone. The two instantly separated from one another, Jinx having turned bright red.

Jinx sat on the blond's bed with her hands pushing her shirt down to cover her panties while Naruto scratched at his hair awkwardly. "So…" he murmured and she glared at him with a frown. "Um… sorry," he offered with a nervous grin. Jinx huffed and turned to look to the side. It was bad enough she was damp and sitting in her friend's room in such a questionable state… it was worse that someone saw her.

Jinx's face turned red at the reminder of what'd happened and she felt her brow twitch in irritation. That had to be the single most embarrassing thing that'd ever happened to her at the school. She'd eventually forgiven the blond for his prank, but not until he'd pranked everyone else in the school as well. She could admit his pranks were pretty funny when they didn't target her. It had ended in so much terror.

The other students of the H.A.E.Y.P. were well and truly terrified of his pranks now.

She also thanked the gods that Kyd was basically a mute and didn't start rumors about her and Naruto. That scene alone would've been enough fuel for a fire to burn through the school for years to come. It was partially why she was nicer to Kyd, and by proxy his girl Angel, now. That and Kyd simply had some of the most useful powers in the entire H. .P.

After all, how many other teleporters were around?

Jinx admitted that before then, she hadn't known either Kyd or Angel all that well. Kyd had just been the quiet teleporter in the background of class most of the time. Angel had been the strange girl who'd gone and burned her old clothes when she got a new pair. 'What was up with that?' Jinx briefly wondered to herself. It'd been random and stuck with her, she'd once asked Angel, but the girl had been silent on the matter.

Regardless, she walked into Naruto and Kyd's shared dorm and paused. Kyd was seated at their couch with his girl Angel. Jinx honestly didn't know much about the girl beyond rumor and here say. She'd arrived around the time the Gordanians briefly invaded the city and she'd basically been glued to Kyd ever since. Jinx thought it was kind of strange, Naruto just thought they were…

"Adorable," said blond stated as he walked out of his room with a grin. He was pointing at Kyd and Angel, both of whom blinked, then looked from him to her and then returned to their snuggling. Jinx just rolled her eyes, but also had to wonder how it was that some guys didn't know that Angel was taken… it was pretty obvious with all the hand holding she and Kyd did after all.

Jinx looked at the other teens with a bemused expression on her face. Kyd and Angel weren't exactly the subtlest couple in the H.A.E.Y.P. Sure they only held hands for the most part, but they were also basically joined at the hip outside of class. If you saw one of them in the halls, it was a pretty safe bet the other was nearby. With a shake of her head she walked over to Naruto to hand him the book.

"I thought this could help, Temp," she stated. Naruto took the book and flipped through it with a hum. He idly tilted his head to the side and then looked up with a thumbs up. Jinx rolled her eyes and smiled slightly. 'All right Jill, this time for sure,' she thought as she inhaled a breath. "So anyways Temp, has Giz still got you going all over the place for parts?" she questioned. The blond hummed and shook his head in response.

Truth be told he'd finished gathering parts a few days earlier.

"That's good, um, so um… are you doing anything," Jinx murmured. She'd noticed she felt nervous around the blond lately. This was because she'd considered actually asking the blond on a date. Unfortunately, every time she tried to work up the nerve to do so she'd chickened out. It didn't help that both Gizmo and Mammoth had decided to make fun of her for always chickening out.

Naruto idly raised a brow then slowly shook his head in response. Though he also had to wonder what was up with the girl. 'She's acting strange again,' he briefly noted to himself.

"So," she mumbled and then looked down at her boots. "Tempest," she continued and then looked up to the ceiling. Naruto tilted his head with a raised brow, wondering why she was being so strange. "Um, you need me for anything?" she asked lamely. Naruto blinked and then slowly shook his head. "Right," Jinx stated with a nod. Kyd and Angel looked at the both of them, then to one another and shook their heads with visible smirks.

They found it kind of funny how Jinx was skirting around asking the blond out. It was so clear to them that she liked him it was almost painful. But neither of them bothered to tell the rosette, and they certainly wouldn't tell Naruto. Kyd because he was afraid of what Jinx might do to him, and Angel because she didn't like Jinx that much. She barely knew the rosette after all, even if they did talk more now.

"Anyways," Jinx suddenly stated. She then toed the floor while Naruto scratched his head. Was it just him or was she acting really weird… not Hinata weird either… he knew how to deal with Hinata weird. This was a whole other level of weird that he didn't know how to deal with. Admittedly Jinx was weird on most days but usually the weirdness was a lot subtler than this.

"So the Headmaster said he needed to talk to me," the girl noted with a nod over her shoulder. Naruto nodded slowly as she backed up and then waved. "I guess I'll see you later," she stated as she left the room. Naruto arched a brow and then looked to Kyd and Angel with a confused expression. 'Clueless,' both Angel and Kyd thought with amused smiles as they turned from the blond.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' Jinx thought as she brought her hand to her face multiple times. She then sighed and made her way to the headmaster's office. She'd made the same mistake several times in the passed month. She tried to ask the blond out, choked, and then completely lost her nerve. She'd run off with her proverbial tail between her legs almost a dozen times now… and she felt more pathetic after each time.

'Ugh, all I have to do is ask him out, it doesn't even take that much effort,' she thought to herself with a hand to her face. Given the amount of time they'd spent around one another with him learning English, it wasn't like it would be out of the blue either. If it were anyone else she was reasonably sure she wouldn't be having this much trouble either, but something about the blond just…

She paused her thoughts and shook her head as she approached the headmasters office. She sighed and stopped in front of the door. However before she could knock she heard the man's voice, "Enter," he stated. Jinx blinked and then silently walked inside and folded her hands behind her back. She saw the man sitting behind his desk; he was looking at a folder, and then glanced up as she cleared her throat.

"You wanted to see me headmaster," she remarked. The grey haired man nodded his head with a smirk.

"Ah yes, Miss Jinx," the man began, "Do tell me dear, how goes mister Tempest's lessons?" the man questioned. The rosette smiled in response.

"He's doing well, while he has some hiccups here and there he's made a lot of progress," she replied. Brother Blood nodded his head with a hum. He then steppled his fingers together and narrowed his eyes.

"Yes quite," he replied dismissively. He'd read the reports from the bond's teachers about his progress. Unfortunately that didn't include just how dangerous he was. They knew he had energy-based abilities, but he so rarely needed to use them that the full scope of those abilities was unclear. He could have clearly defined limits or no limits, they just didn't know…

To be honest, Brother Blood hated unknowns. He'd tried everything in his power to learn the full range of abilities the blond had at his disposal. From attempts to 'draft' him into the more elite courses, to sending his best and brightest to attack him at random, he'd even tried to read his mind. They all ended in failure, especially the latter as the blond's mind had disturbingly effective protections.

Whatever secrets the blond had hidden in his mind, they were too well hidden for the moment. Besides that, Brother Blood had noticed a few things about the 'teen' named Stone that interested him. While Naruto was clearly a more long-term project, he believed that Stone would be a better short-term one. It was clear to the man that the teen wasn't nearly as complicated as Naruto, and far easier to read.

"Now dear, another question if you'll allow it," the man began. Jinx nodded and the man smirked. He had a few ideas for how to keep Stone off his guard, "I'd like to know what you think of mister Stone?" the man questioned. Jinx blinked in confusion at the question… then felt as her mind seem to almost… dull…

[End Flashback…]

00

(Naruto's apartment…)

"Alright we're done," Gizmo stated as he finished pulling the suit off of Naruto. Once it was off he then went to the side to start working on the suit with a scowl. Jinx shook her head as she came out of her memories and looked to the injured blond worriedly. "Bitch if you want Temp's DNA, get it the old fashioned way," Gizmo snidely commented. Jinx felt confused until Mammoth spoke up from the kitchen.

"He means let him go since your covered in blood," the man mountain deadpanned. Jinx blinked then released the blond with a yelp. She then stood up and worriedly bit her lip, concerned for her friend's health. She then recalled Angel and Kyd. Specifically, that Angel had taken medical courses while they were in the H.A.E.Y.P. That in mind she fished her communicator back out and then swiftly looked for the name she wanted.

"Right, I'm calling Angel," she stated. Gizmo paused from where he was working on the suit and grimaced.

"Why?" he questioned of the rosette warily. Jinx blinked and looked at him askance.

"I thought you liked Angel," she noted. Gizmo grunted in response.

"I did until I found out what a fascist she is," he replied bluntly. Jinx arched a brow then looked to Mammoth for an explanation. The man mountain grunted in response and leaned back with his arms crossed.

"She helped Giz make the X-suit, she took offense to some of his design choices," the man mountain offered in explanation. Jinx looked surprised then turned to Gizmo.

"You needed help to build the suit?" she questioned. Gizmo snorted in response.

"Fuck no, Angel knows biology better than I do, so she helped with a few other problems," the tiny terror responded. Mammoth made a noise of acknowledgement.

"The batteries for the suit didn't work with Temp's 'chakra' at first among quite a few other little problems, Angel helped fix 'em," the Australian born teen replied. Jinx made an oh with her mouth. That made more sense to her than Gizmo needing help with the actual suit. Angel was smart, sure, but she wasn't anywhere near as tech savvy as the tiny terror. Regardless she pressed a button on her communicator to get in touch with the girl.

She waited impatiently while Gizmo worked on the suit and Mammoth hung around in the kitchen. Jinx had started to pace across the floor as she waited for the winged girl to pick up her communicator. 'How long does it take her to answer?' the rosette wondered with an internal scowl. She then exhaled a breath when she heard Angel answer. "Angel it's Jinx," she began and idly sat down.

"Look I know we don't talk much but Temp got really banged up," she stated worriedly with a glance at the unconscious blond. She then paused and listened to Angel while Gizmo started to mutter to himself. "Err… yeah, that did happen," Jinx admitted and then frowned. "Wait you told Gizmo to put a cut off in?" she questioned with a look at her tiny friend, he simply grunted.

"Tell 'er I said to fuck off!" Gizmo sneered and returned to the suit. Jinx arched a brow and then turned her attention back to Naruto.

"Yes he's still rude, but look Temp's also lost a lot of blood and he passed out a while ago," Jinx admitted worriedly. She idly started to toy with her skirt with her free hand then paused. "Gizmo said that the suit ate too much chakra for him to regenerate," she replied and heard a groan from the other end. "Wait, you warned him about that and the armor too?" the rosette demanded and glared at Gizmo. The tiny terror just scoffed.

"I was in a hurry!" he shouted. Jinx just glared at him a moment longer then pinched the bridge of her nose. She then paused as she heard Angel hang up.

"She hung up on me," she breathed then looked to the side as a black portal formed. From out of it stepped Kyd Wykkyd, Naruto's roommate and friend. The silent teen glanced from her to the others and inclined his head. "Hi," Jinx offered in surprise and Kyd held a hand to the black portal. Instantly a hand reached out of it as a familiar girl with wings stepped into the apartment.

"Angel?" Jinx questioned in surprise. The white-winged girl looked different, not physically, but her outfit had radically changed. She now wore a dark-blue halter style dress that reached mid-thigh, a pair of bicep length dark-blue gloves with silver manacles and trimming, an odd buckler shield on her left forearm, a pair of knee high dark-blue boots with silver trimming, and a silver belt with a pouch at the back of her hip.

Under her left arm was a silver helmet that had sharper features than her old one, with yellow lenses where her eyes would be. The girl wasted no time with words as she marched forward and knelt down in front of Tempest's couch. She then placed her ear on his chest and hummed to herself. She then reached into her pouch and withdrew a few bandages and started to dress the blond's wounds.

As she did Jinx sidled over to Gizmo with a questioning gaze.

"Is… is that really Angel?" she questioned. The tiny terror snorted and then nodded his head with a scowl. Jinx looked back at the girl and couldn't help but notice that he wings seemed bigger too, not to mention she seemed to have put on some muscle. "Wow…" she murmured quietly. Angel had always been 'pretty' but it seemed a lot more apparent now, though that was probably just her current lack of the helmet.

"The Thanagarian really shows huh," he noted with a frown. Jinx blinked at that and raised a brow in question.

"Thanagarian?" she asked and Gizmo nodded. As they discussed her Angel plainly ignored the both of them. Instead she focused on her friend and occasionally glanced at Kyd. Her boyfriend of some time looked at his friend worriedly as his girlfriend dressed his many wounds. As she did the mindless task, Angel allowed her mind to drift back to when she first came to earth and met Kyd…

00

[Flashback…]

Her name was Aung Ha'rell. She was a Thanagarian from the planet Thanagar. She was also a prisoner of war before she arrived on Earth. The transport that brought Starfire to Earth had not simply had the lone Tamaranean on it. Aung had been on board as well, as a prisoner. Thanagar had been at war with the Gordanians and the Citadel for as long as she could remember.

She was a simple girl, though with an unusual appearance. Unlike the others, her hair and feathers were white as snow, her skin was fair, and her eyes were a bright yellow gold. She was always different to others; her coloration was 'rare' but nothing more than a physical difference. She was young when she first enlisted in the medical corps. She graduated with top marks, and was assigned to a high profile mission soon after.

As far as missions went, it should've been simple. A simple retrieval mission of a derelict ship, the catch, it was lost deep in enemy territory. She was sent with a relatively new unit, their commanding officer was a decorated veteran. The mission went without a hitch at first. They found the ship in an asteroid field and went in to get what they needed. Aung had been curious about what they were actually retrieving…

It turned out to be Nth metal, a lot of Nth metal, more Nth metal than she'd ever seen in one place before.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when the Gordanians attacked them. They were looking to capture all that Nth metal, take it for their own. The resulting conflict was harrowing, the vet and the others with her had the superior tactics, but the Gordanians had come at them with sheer numbers. In the end the vet and the others had decided to make a tactical retreat, leaving bombs to destroy the derelict and everything on it…

On the way out she was captured… no one came to her rescue…

Aung had known that it was a possibility, but she'd thought her 'comrades' would come to get her. They never did. The Gordanians only left her alive and 'unspoiled' because they thought she might have useful tactical information. She didn't of course, she was a medic, a fresh one too, expendable, what would she know of value? She didn't tell them that of course, for fear of what they'd do if she had no use.

Regardless, they stripped her of everything… literally, save her underwear; they then bound her wings, and left her to hang on the wall of one of their cells. She was but one of many prisoners on the ship at the time. The Tamaranean was 'special'. She'd only recently come of age and a high-ranking official of the Citadel was chomping at the bit to claim her as a 'prize'. Aung had never seen the girl, nor vice-versa, just knew she existed.

That was little comfort to a cold, filthy, practically naked Thanagarian once medic hanging on a wall in a Citadel controlled ship. Aung didn't know how long she just hung there, the rare few times she saw anyone was when a Gordanian fed her… it wasn't a pleasant experience. The food was foul and the company even fouler. She plainly didn't want to think about what had been dubbed as 'waste disposal'…

Aung had been half asleep when she heard the screaming roars. She had awoken when the ship suddenly lurched to the side. The Tamaranian girl started screaming obscenities so foul and promising pain so great she could hardly imagine what kind of 'girl' could talk like that. Aung had just hung there listening to it before her cell door was smashed open by a Gordanian body. She blinked and stared down at him as he turned to ash…

Gordanian soldiers were fitted with a self-destruct chip. It was designed to prevent the soldier or officer from being taken captive. Thus it was a security measure, if their soldiers and officers couldn't be taken, then no information of value could be lost. It was why it was so hard to figure out what the Gordanians would do next, they literally had no way to find out their plans…

She shook her head and looked back to the pile of ash that had once been a Gordanian.

She then looked to her restraints, then back to the now open door. Aung was tired, she was hungry, and she was filthy, but she could still fight for her freedom! She placed her feet on the wall and then pulled on her restraints. She had been weak, but somehow she found the strength to yank her bonds from the wall. She then smashed the cuffs on her wings; she gave a cry as she felt one break from the impact.

She ignored that to focus on escape, so dropped down and hurried to the ashes of the Gordanian and started to sift through it with her toes. Eventually she found a key and used it to free her hands. She rubbed at her wrists briefly and then peered out of her cell. The guards were busy trying to recapture the Tamaranian. They would be too busy to notice her make her own escape… but it never hurt to be too careful.

Aung limped her way down the corridor to a large console and started opening up random cells all over the ship. She didn't care what monstrosities she set loose so long as they managed to occupy the Gordanians just a little longer. Once she was finished she hurried to find her things. Getting clean could wait, among her things was medical equipment and she was sure she'd need that after her recent ordeals.

Not to mention her rations, she was starving for something other than the foul slop the Gordanians tried to feed her. She was fairly certain whatever it was; it was almost assuredly toxic to Thanagarians. Aung searched the depths of the ship hoping to find her things and that the Gordanians hadn't simply gotten rid of them. For once luck was on her side as she found her clothes relatively intact in a side room.

She'd felt such relief at that simple discovery, but had then noticed the 'symbol' on her belt and felt burning rage. The emblem was the symbol for the military of her people, the same people that left her to die or worse. While she understood sacrifices had to be made they hadn't made so much as a token attempt to help her. Instead they had basically ran away and left her at the 'mercy' of the Gordanians.

She'd all but torn the symbol off and hurled it to parts unknown. She had also decided she would burn her old uniform at the earliest convenience. While it was probably a silly idea to burn the clothes, it'd at the very least make her feel better. She couldn't harm the ones who left her behind, but she could have a petty bit of satisfaction. She'd then hurried out as the Tamaranian and other aliens couldn't keep the Gordanians busy forever.

Miraculously nothing seemed to notice her, or perhaps it was sheer luck, partially assisted by the mass of other aliens roaming the ship. Some of the Gordanians were preoccupied fighting the aliens, while some were being torn apart limb from bloody limb. She'd seen at least one manage to do so on her way out anyways. She admitted if only to herself a bit of grim pleasure at the sight of the Gordanians grizzly death.

It had only been the fact it might come after her next that kept her from watching more.

She found and commandeered a small ship in the hangar and managed to set a course for the nearest planet. As she did she shot out of the ship and into the cold vacuum of space she saw a green streak shoot from the Gordanian ship. She didn't care. Not at all. Aung Ha'rell was too tired to care about anything, and for the first time in what felt like months she allowed sleep to truly claim her.

Her arrival was not without a hitch of course given her landing was a crash landing. The humans have a saying about any landing you can walk away from, well to be honest she wasn't able to walk away from her's. Kyd Wykkyd, by another stroke of luck had been sent out on a mission for the H.A.E.Y.P. Instead he'd found her and decided she was more important than his mission.

She recalled being half awake when he found her. She recalled seeing his face, it was bright red from a blush at her… err… pitiable state. She recalled the sight of the stars in the sky behind him, and she recalled as he picked her up. Despite his practically noodle thin arms the boy was remarkably strong. Needless to say he carried her back to the H.A.E.Y.P. and abandoned his mission entirely.

The H.I.V.E. Headmistress had been both perturbed by and angry about this decision. In the end she left Aung in Kyd's care, wanting nothing to do with her. Despite what many might think the shadowy-teen had cared for her. In a bit of irony given she was a medic; he'd nursed her back to health. As time went on and her strength slowly returned, Aung admitted she came to care for the boy… which led to the two of them dating.

And the rest, as they say, is history…

[End Flashback…]

00

(Present…)

Aung Ha'rell looked down at her friend worriedly as she finished dressing his wounds. She also turned and narrowed her yellow-gold eyes on Gizmo. She'd told Gizmo his design was going to potentially get the blond killed. In response the Tiny Terror zipped over to hide behind Mammoth who shook his head. As that happened Jinx placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Is Tempest going to be okay?" she questioned worriedly. Aung idly looked at the rosette and then nodded her head.

"Getting the suit off of him has allowed his chakra to settle, it's rejuvenating him as we speak," she replied. Albeit he was now very weak, she could imagine he'd be asleep for quite a while due to this. It was clear that the tiny terror knew very little about what Chakra actually was. 'Just another reason why Gizmo should not be allowed to build things for Tempest,' she noted to herself as she stood up.

She of course had thoroughly examined Naruto's chakra and how his body produced it. If she was going to be a 'medic' for him and Kyd she needed to know how their bodies worked. Kyd was a fairly standard human for the most part, with an oddity here or there like his lack of vocal cords. Naruto on the other hand… well she could probably write a book about how different he was compared to a human.

She shook such thoughts from her head and glanced around for a moment and then clicked her tongue and idly nodded her head. Brother Blood was preoccupied with some kind of ocean base last she and Kyd had checked. That in mind, it was likely he wasn't watching Naruto anymore and he could finally ditch this place. His only reason for staying in such a rat hole had been because Blood watched him like a hawk.

It had mostly been to divert attention away from what Kyd and Aung were up too as Blood had been so focused on Naruto he hadn't really noticed when they had vanished from his newest school entirely. Aung and Kyd had, as such, been allowed to put the base that Naruto had secured for their use back together. The blond planned to live their too of course, but not until Blood stopped watching him…

It seemed to her that the time was finally right.

"Kyd," she stated suddenly. The shadowy teen stood and looked to her curiously, "He's safe to move, we're taking him to the base to recuperate," she stated. Kyd nodded his head and the two of them picked the blond up by his ankles and shoulders. However before they could leave Jinx decided to voice her displeasure.

"Wait, hold on, what are you talking about?" Jinx demanded. Aung glanced at her and then sighed.

"We're taking him to our base," she stated bluntly. Jinx's brow twitched and she narrowed her eye on the winged girl dangerously. She was so not letting these two take her friend to who knew where without her!

"You're not taking Tempest anywhere without us!" Jinx declared firmly. Both Gizmo and Mammoth stared at the rosette strangely. They then glanced at one another with Gizmo scowling and Mammoth scratching his head in confusion.

"Wait, when the fuck did we volunteer for this?" the tiny terror demanded. However at a fierce look from Jinx, the tiny terror was suddenly all smiles. "I mean yeah! We're totally not letting you take Temp without us!" he declared with a nervous grin. Mammoth just palmed his face with a shake of his head. Kyd arched a brow and glanced at Angel. She sighed and then nodded her head.

With that, Kyd whipped his cape around the lot and they vanished in a swirl of black…

00

[Flashback…]

Aung Ha'rell was now better known, as simply 'Angel' in the H.A.E.Y.P. She'd been a 'member' since the day Kyd brought her in. In that time she'd made no waves, kept herself dead-middle in the school-wide scores, and had openly expressed disinterest in everything the faculty tried to teach them. The only exception to the rule was in mad-science class, and when she had volunteered for the Medical-Courses.

Aside from that she was Kyd Wykkyd's 'Girlfriend'… although apparently some people didn't know that…

"It's not fucking funny jackass!" Gizmo snarled furiously. Naruto and Mammoth were leaning against one another, nearly crying from laughter. Aung mutely rolled her eyes; she sat beside of Kyd with a frown. The shadowy-teen in question glanced at her curiously and she smiled pleasantly and leaned her head against his shoulder. As she did she held up her data-pad, which was plugged into the exo-frame of the X-suit…

"It's kind of funny," Mammoth remarked. Naruto just continued to laugh and pound on the floor. Aung rolled her eyes at the childish display. She was not someone who enjoyed watching people act like idiots. She liked Naruto though, he was a warrior and they had had a few discussions about the differences between their cultures. They were surprisingly similar, although Thanagarians were much 'harsher' than his own people.

"Fuck you and everything you love!" Gizmo snarled at the man mountain. Aung briefly glanced at the tiny terror then rolled her eyes… again. Apparently by some bazaar twist of fate Gizmo hadn't realized she and Kyd were together. How that was possible when they were almost always holding hands or kissing was beyond her. Sure they didn't 'make out' as openly as other couples did but…

"How did you not know that they were together?" Naruto questioned once he finally calmed down. Aung was happy to note that the blond had officially gotten English down pat. He wasn't fluent quite yet, but at least people could understand the gist of what he was trying to tell them now. It was certainly better than the short sentences Jinx got him to use for so long.

"I thought they were relatives or something!" the tiny terror replied. Aung arched a brow and glanced at Kyd. The shadowy teen snickered to himself while the winged girl shook her head derisively. It was clear to her that Gizmo hadn't paid all that much attention to her, aside from her looks. It wasn't even the first time someone had ignored the fact she was with Kyd to hit on her…

"Dude no siblings hold hands that much," Mammoth remarked bluntly. Aung felt that given he was a sibling; he'd be the authority on that. Aung had no siblings, only her parents and her father hadn't been the nicest fellow. Especially because he'd always hated how she'd joined the medical corps. She'd never really understood why that was, still didn't actually, and genuinely didn't care by this point.

"Shut up!" Gizmo snarled at his large friend. Aung rolled her eyes and sat up. Kyd was momentarily displeased until she kissed his cheek. He was suddenly all smiles and Aung smirked to herself. She practically had the boy wrapped around her little finger, though he did have a similar effect on her as well. She cleared her throat to draw the attention of the other boys and they turned to her as she held up her data-pad.

"I've made an assessment of your… suit," she paused to glance at the Exoskeletal frame for the X-suit once more. It was made of an extremely thin malleable material that was meant to give whoever wore it great mobility at the cost of durability. Aung personally disliked the design; it was too generic in her opinion, but that wasn't the point. "I've located numerous bugs in the OS and have to question the ludicrous power requirements," she remarked.

Gizmo snorted and smirked.

"Blame Robin for that, it's his design and his OS," the tiny terror remarked. Aung hummed at that and inclined her head. She wasn't a fan of the 'Teen Titans' she had nothing against Starfire and personally respected her. If for no other reason then for her being the direct cause for her escape from the Gordanians. The others however, she had zero respect for. Most of them were quite literally children in her eyes.

It was a sentiment shared by Naruto, another reason she liked him.

"Aside from that I've found that the armor is too weak, the circuitry needs a cut off on the off chance it's severed, and the weapon systems still need further refining," she remarked with a hum. Gizmo grunted in response and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's just a prototype!" he grumbled. Aung frowned in response and narrowed her eyes on the tiny terror. She was acutely aware that Naruto would be the one wearing and testing the suit. Second to Kyd, out of everyone in the H.A.E.Y.P. she liked him the most. There weren't that many students at the school who could genuinely say that they knew what war was like, she was one, he was the other.

"The design needs to be reworked," she stated bluntly, Gizmo scoffed.

"It'll take me too long and I've still got to help work on the class project," the tiny terror replied with a wave of his hand. Aung scowled but didn't comment further as Naruto glanced at his bald 'friend' curiously. Aung was of the opinion that Naruto was too friendly with the little gnome. This was because she was certain that Gizmo would have no qualms if the blond ceased beyond the loss of a guinea pig.

"What about dance?" Naruto questioned. Mammoth looked over curiously as well.

"Yeah, you gonna ask someone else?" the man mountain questioned. Gizmo grunted in response, eyes narrowed on his friends.

"Like who?" he demanded angrily, "Last time I checked all the girls already had dates!" he all but roared. Naruto however hummed and tapped his chin in thought. Meanwhile Aung went over her mental list. Jinx was going with that 'Stone' fellow. Leviathan was of course going with Mammoth. She and Kyd were most assuredly going together. She believed that Shimmer had asked Naruto to escort her…

Somehow Mammoth hadn't ripped the blond in half for that…

However she did know a few female students that were still free for one reason or another. The first was Bumblebee, who'd basically hidden whenever someone tried to ask her out. Second was Chitin, the odd girl who was in the stealth courses yet tended to sleep in class due to binge gaming. Then came Sickle, one half of the Russian exchange students. And finally was Tuppence Terror, one half of the 'Terror-Twins'.

"Bumblebee's free," Mammoth remarked. Aung knew that Bumblebee was simply not interested in dating. She was also a very likely candidate for being a spy. This was due to the fact she was a 'teachers pet' and paid special attention to any 'plans' that the class made. Most of said plans tended to end in failure. Aung didn't care, nor did she tell anyone of her suspicions, she didn't like the H.A.E.Y.P., she'd much rather run off with Kyd if she were honest but they had nowhere else to go…

"Fuck that, she's hot but she's also a teachers pet and Jinx's rival!" Gizmo grumbled. Aung hummed and then nodded her head.

"Sickle," she suggested. The suggestion got looks from both Gizmo and Mammoth, while Naruto scratched his head.

"Sickle?" the blond questioned in confusion. Mammoth narrowed his eyes.

"One of the ruskies," he responded, "the one with a brother who has a huge fucking hammer," he noted. Aung arched a brow then nodded. "One half of the Terror-Twins rivals," he noted. Again she nodded her head. Mammoth then crossed his arms with a scowl, "The bitch who tried to seduce Giz just to jack his tech for 'Mother Rusia'," he responded bluntly. Aung blinked at that and hummed.

Well the animosity made more sense now…

"I was not aware of this," she admitted. She then glanced back at her datapad and made a waving motion with her free hand as she leaned against Kyd again. "Carry on," she stated and started to sift through data. She was going to fix the OS, if for no other reason then to make a token attempt for Naruto to survive wearing this fucked up suit. If she had the tech and the time and the resources she'd like to give it a full overhaul… but that was unlikely.

"Right…" Mammoth murmured and Naruto grinned.

"Chitin!" he suggested. However Gizmo reared back with a disgusted shiver.

"The slug girl!?" he demanded. Naruto's eye twitched at the name but he nodded. "First, fuck no, second, hell no, third, what the fuck are you thinking?!" the tiny terror demanded. Naruto frowned and scratched his head in confusion. Aung was equally confused, yes Chitin was strange but that was no reason for the hostility. She also admitted her powers were… well they weren't that useful to be honest.

Being able to grow armor was useful, but Chitin's armor had to adhere to conservation of mass, IE, she couldn't simply create the stuff without having the 'ingredients' stockpiled inside her body. She got said ingredients by eating, this caused her armor to burn through calories as she created it, and additionally her metabolism was supercharged. This meant she never gained a pound despite her colossal intake but also had next to no stamina.

Aung shook her head of such thoughts and glanced back at the others curiously.

"Giz chill," Mammoth ordered. He looked just as confused by Gizmo's behavior as the rest of them felt. "What's with the hostility?" the man mountain questioned. Gizmo crossed his arms and then started to mutter to himself. "What was that?" Mammoth questioned bluntly. Gizmo seemed to shrink and then looked to the side.

"I… I might've gotten a bit grabby with her once," he admitted. The others rolled their eyes in response. They could all believe that. There was a reason that Mammoth didn't trust the tiny terror around his sister.

"And?" Naruto questioned. Gizmo grunted in response.

"She threatened my junk with knives she grew out of her fist," he responded. The boys winced while Aung smirked, genuinely impressed. She hadn't thought the somewhat lazy girl would have it in her to threaten someone like that.

"Yikes," Naruto murmured and Mammoth nodded his head. Neither had thought the girl could be that violent… then again she did willingly go to the H.A.E.Y.P. for a reason so it probably shouldn't of been so surprising. They also had to admit she had to have been accepted to the school for a reason as well… huh… they'd actually kind of forgotten that part with how she acted. Finally Mammoth shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Well that's about all the girls I know of who are dateless," the man mountain admitted. Naruto nodded his head in agreement. Most of them were somewhat aware of Tuppence but not sure if she was going with someone or not. The school rumor mill had talked about the other girls at length. Aung hummed in response and then glanced up from her datapad at Gizmo.

"I need Tempest to temporarily power the suit," she noted. The tiny terror frowned in response.

"Why?" he questioned bluntly. Aung idly glanced back at her datapad with a hum.

"A bit of a hunch," she replied. Gizmo grunted in response and then looked to Naruto himself. The blond boy shrugged and walked over to the suit. Gizmo put his hand into one of the gauntlets.

"Okay do whatever," Gizmo stated flippantly. Naruto smirked then channeled chakra to the arm covered by the gauntlet. As he did Aung looked over the data that appeared on her datapad and clicked her tongue.

"Stop," she ordered. Naruto raised a brow then cut his chakra. Aung watched the readout and then hummed softly. "I thought so," she murmured. Gizmo looked at her curiously.

"What?" he demanded. If there was a problem with his suit then he wanted to know about it dammit! Instead of answering him directly, Aung showed him the readout on her datapad, which in turn caused him to grimace. "Oh well fuck, that's bad," he remarked. Mammoth and Naruto glanced at one another and then turned to Gizmo curiously.

"What's up?" the man mountain questioned. Gizmo growled and crossed his arms.

"The power-cells I rigged up don't work right, Temp can power them but they don't hold a charge," he replied with a frown. Aung nodded her head and then hummed. The batteries the tiny terror used were basic; unfortunately they weren't capable of holding a charge from Chakra. Chakra was an 'organic' energy source that could, in theory, power just about anything. However the type of battery would need to be able to hold a charge.

"Perhaps we could modify the suit to use bio-electric power-cells derived from tempest's cells. Since he naturally generates chakra his cells should, in theory, be able to hold a charge from it if we made a battery from them," she suggested. Gizmo looked at her and sighed with a goofy expression. Aung internally frowned and then glanced at her datapad.

"Uh… will that hurt?" Naruto questioned. Aung and Gizmo both looked at him with deadpan expressions. Aung liked Naruto, but she did admit that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Gizmo sort of liked him, but he also thought he was a fucking idiot…

"No dumbass!" Gizmo snarled. Aung rolled her eyes and then looked at Naruto gently.

"We'll just need a blood sample, which we'll then experiment with to see if we can create a battery capable of holding a charge with your chakra," the thanagarian lass replied. Naruto made an Oh with his mouth and nodded his head. Mammoth then glanced at Gizmo curiously.

"So what about the dance then?" he questioned. Gizmo grunted in response.

"Fuck it! I can't get this shit done and worry about that," he grumbled. Mammoth looked at him with concern for a moment before a thought occurred to him.

"What about Jinx?" he questioned bluntly. Gizmo narrowed his eyes.

"What about the titless wonder?" he grumbled irritably. Mammoth crossed his arms with a frown.

"Giz we both know she isn't acting normal," he stated. Aung idly nodded her head in agreement. Jinx was being too… friendly… with Stone considering their first meeting. She'd been more hostile towards Naruto after he beat their team than she had with Stone. She had also clearly had a crush on Naruto, which had all but vanished once Stone came around… not impossible, but highly unlikely.

Gizmo waved him off and glared at the X-suit.

"Maybe, don't mean I have to give a fuck," he replied. Naruto hummed in response and then tapped the side of his head. "What's that supposed to mean?" the tiny terror demanded and Aung nodded her head.

"I think he's suggesting Blood got into her head," Aung remarked. The boys looked from her to Naruto and then grimaced. They were aware of Blood's 'mind control' power of course. They just hadn't figured out a way to block it yet. Gizmo had been working on it since the Headmistress disappeared but it was slow going. Mammoth narrowed his eyes and then looked at Gizmo sternly.

"Giz, I think you should focus on those neural-block things," he remarked with a frown. He especially wanted some for Shimmer, as well as his girlfriend Leviathan, he wouldn't feel safe for them until they didn't have the possibility of a madman taking over their brains. Baran was a villain, a criminal, a mercenary, but the mind was something sacred, even he knew that!

"Oi I've got enough on my plate without adding more Baran!" Gizmo snarled. Aung hummed in response and then nodded her head.

"I believe I can make something for this," she remarked. All the boys' heads snapped to her and she blinked. "My people have encountered psychic species a few times, not to mention we've had other… incidents… in history with such creatures. We have ways to block them," she explained. Gizmo and Mammoth glanced at one another and then looked at the white winged girl seriously.

"How long?" they asked. Aung hummed and considered.

"With the right equipment, materials, and parts, roughly a week," she replied. Gizmo breathed a sigh and slowly nodded his head.

"Right…" he murmured with a nod, then glanced at Mammoth. The man mountain narrowed his eyes on Gizmo and the tiny terror pointed at her. "Fine, you can use my lab, just get that shit done and fast!" the tiny terror ordered then crossed his arms, "I like my fucking thoughts to be my own," he stated bluntly. Aung glared at him for that and then looked to Kyd. He shrugged his shoulders in response and the white haired girl sighed.

"Very well, I'll need to collect some things first before I start," she admitted as she walked over to Kyd. He waved his cape around them and they reappeared in her room. She idly started to move about the room to collect a few random parts of what she'd need for the neural-blocks. She paused when she found one of the key ingredients, Nth metal, a block roughly twice the size and diameter of her fist.

The ball of Nth metal had been on the Gordanian ship. They had likely taken it before her former comrades destroyed the rest alongside the ship it'd been on. Aung had no love for her former people anymore, but she hated the Gordanians more than she did them. So of course she'd taken the ball with her when she escaped. Now it gathered dust in her room for the most part, though she had a few ideas for it…

00

(Night of the dance…)

It seemed like hardly any time had passed since then. Gizmo had started to work on the X-suit with gusto, going well beyond the call of duty. Aung had decided to assist him with whatever she was able, if for no other reason then so Gizmo didn't blow up Naruto with his asinine ideas. While she was only trained as a medic she was Thanagarian, and the base level of tech for her people was well beyond the human norm.

She'd also been vital to preparing the nueral-blocks that they all now wore. Aung was not someone who wanted to chance Brother Blood sifting through her mind. She had secrets of her own after all, like that last chunk of Nth metal she was still trying to find something to use it on. It wasn't like she needed it after all; she already had a shield made of the stuff.

'I could use it on Tempests suit, that would make that 'Raven' girl's powers useless,' she noted to herself. The properties of Nth Metal against magic would certainly be a boon against magical heroes. Against warriors like Wonder Woman or even aliens like Superman though he would still be lacking, but at least Doctor Fate couldn't hurt him if she used it for armor. 'But that takes time,' she admitted to herself with a frown.

Time was a factor none of them really had, Blood was always watching after all.

But now was not a time for such thoughts, no, today was the day of the 'dance'. Aung could admit to herself she was somewhat excited for it. The number of times she got to go out on actual dates with Kyd was exceedingly rare. Part of it was just the way they looked; her wings and Kid's eyes were a bit obvious. Yet tonight she got to be out with her favorite boy, and she got to enjoy herself for once.

Aung was dressed in a slim white dress; her snow-white hair was pulled into a high ponytail while her bangs hung at the right side of her face. She had applied light amounts of makeup and wore silver bracelets and white high-heeled shoes. She idly looked herself over in the body-length mirror in Naruto's room. The blond had graciously allowed her to borrow his room, and mirror, so that she could get ready for the dance.

Meanwhile Mammoth had already gone to collect Shimmer and Leviathan. From what she could see Naruto had dressed up in a tuxedo, but only on threats of pain eternal from Mammoth… granted though, Mammoth couldn't take him in a straight fight, so Aung believed Naruto just did it to shut him up. Kyd on the other hand had decided to go with a red tie around his neck, which she thought was cute.

She idly smoothed out her dress in the mirror and noticed something odd. By the mirror, technically behind it, was a backpack. She glanced at the door to the room and then knelt down by the backpack. Within she found a mess of bombs, bombs jury-rigged with timers of some sort, which caused her to frown. Aside from the bombs was a set of blueprints, which she idly pulled out.

She unrolled the blueprints and hummed when she saw that they were for the school itself. She raised a hand and cupped her chin as she looked over several marked areas on the map with interest. Her golden eyes scanned the plans deliberately. She internally noted that the bombs couldn't destroy the school if placed at the positions on the blueprints. Instead they might… wait…

'He plans on stealing the entire school,' Aung realized and then blinked in surprise. That made far too much sense not to be the case. The areas Naruto had planned to put the bombs would make for several worrying explosions, cause a few minor tremors, but the structural integrity of the school wouldn't be compromised. It might collapse a couple rooms and hallways, but those could easily be dug back out if needed.

"Hey Angel, you coming or what?" Naruto called. Aung briefly glanced at the door and then back to the blueprints. Aung had long wanted to leave the H.A.E.Y.P., but with nowhere to go that was a futile endeavor. She had no family, no past, no money, nothing to link her to earth. Kyd didn't have those problems, but he did have the unfortunate skin tone he did which stood out like a sore thumb…

But if Naruto stole the school, they wouldn't need to go anywhere to get away from the H.I.V.E…

"Tempest, I'd like a word with you and Kyd," she replied. She idly hummed as she made a few notes of other positions that'd make for a decent blast zone without damaging anything of use. She heard a grumble and then waited. When the boys entered she held out the blueprints and watched Naruto's eyes shift from side to side.

"I can totally explain that," he began and Aung smirked.

"You plan to steal the school," she stated bluntly. Kyd blinked for a moment then looked at Naruto in shocked awe. Naruto himself grunted and crossed his arms petulantly.

"Prove it," he growled. Aung rolled her eyes.

"The bombs positions are wrong if you want to blow the school up," she replied bluntly. Naruto winced while Aung held open the blueprints. "In any case I made some modifications to get the most out of your limited number of bombs. The new layout will allow for maximum coverage and decrease the likelihood of anyone realizing what you're actually doing," the girl noted. Naruto blinked and then frowned deeply.

"You're helping me?" he questioned. Aung glanced at him with a bemused expression.

"I only stay here because I have nowhere else to go," she remarked and opened one of her white wings. "These don't exactly scream 'Human'," she remarked with a smirk. Naruto inclined his head in understanding. The Thanagarian then noticed how Kyd's face fell a bit and smiled gently. "I also refuse to leave Kyd behind," she added and saw Kyd perk up in response, a smile on his face. Naruto snorted and grinned.

"You two are still adorable!" he declared with a laugh. Aung blushed and fixed the blond with an annoyed glare. However he ignored her and wiped a mock tear from his eye. That done he focused on the Thanagarian Medic and Shadowy-Teen. "So I'mma guess you want to hang here after I get rid of everyone," Naruto remarked then crossed his arms, "but the question is why should I let you?" he questioned with a rub of his chin.

Aung rolled her eyes in response.

"We could tell the headmaster what your doing," she deadpanned with a finger raised, "I'm a medic, you need one," she added with another finger, "Kyd is a more reliable teleporter than Gizmo's suit," she added with yet another finger, "Someone needs to make sure all the students leave," she added with yet another finger, "I doubt you'd like to clean this place after you detonate all the bombs," she continued and Naruto raised his wrists and sighed dramatically.

"Alright alright that's enough, I get it already," he called out and rubbed his head. "Jeez, twist my arm why don't you," he grumbled under his breath. The blond haired ex-shinobi then approached Aung and looked at the modified blueprints with a frown. He turned them around a few times then focused on Aung with squinted eyes. "You and Kyd won't mind that I'm going to lay low after this right?" he questioned.

Aung raised a brow and then shook her head. She hadn't been aware of that part of his plan but it did make sense. She'd thought what he was doing with the demolitions class was more than a bit suspicious, so it stood to reason that someone else might as well. That someone would likely be the Headmaster, especially since he couldn't seem to get into Naruto's head for some reason.

"Good to know, I can't clear this place and I don't want to tip off Blood that this place 'll still be standing," Naruto remarked with a frown. All three paused when they hears a knock and the blond chuckled lightly. "That's probably Mammoth with the girls," he noted and then made a t shaped seal with his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he stated and in a plume of smoke a second Naruto appeared.

"Useful," Aung remarked bluntly. She'd seen a similar ability from Billy Numerous; unfortunately the Texan had the intelligence of a gnat. He was occasionally crafty but never when they could really use his help. Naruto didn't seem to care as he spoke with the clone at length; he did so in Japanese which Aung felt was cheating.

"Right then, I'll get it done boss!" the clone stated and grabbed the blueprints. It then collected the bombs and hopped into a vent at the back of the room. Once the clone was gone Naruto readjusted his tie with a smirk on his face.

"Well then, with that set how about we head to the dance," he suggested. Aung smirked and then nodded her head. She walked over to Kyd then gave him a kiss on his cheek; the shadowy-teen swooned with a sigh. Naruto snickered and muttered another 'adorable' as the three of them went to meet with Mammoth and the others…

00

(Later…)

The school was empty. Most of the students had been given assignments by Brother Blood that took them from the school. Those few stragglers that remained wandered the halls. Brother Blood had said he sent the other students away for their final exams, but Naruto thought differently. Especially since the Troika and Stone were still around, not to mention that he had the other stragglers patrolling the halls.

'He's expecting something to go down today,' the blond mused to himself. He was now dressed in his X-suit, which Gizmo had finished a day earlier, and had cleared out his dorm room. He was perched on the ceiling of training room six. He was upside down and had his eyes trained on those down below intently. The Troika, Gizmo Mammoth and Jinx, stood behind Brother Blood who had 'Stone' at his side.

Naruto idly clicked his tongue as he watched them.

With the Neural blocks on himself, Gizmo, Mammoth, Angel, and Kyd they had decided to free Jinx as well. Naruto had snuck into the training room for that purpose only and Giz and Mammoth were both aware of that fact. What they didn't know was that Naruto had Kyd and Angel ready to 'evacuate' the remaining stragglers when he set off his bombs around the school.

Once everyone was out and believed the place had collapsed, Angel and Kyd would return with his shadow powers and start to clear away the debris so they could use the place for their own purposes. Naruto however would keep away as Blood would likely notice something was amiss. It was unknown of Blood would believe the school collapsed due to structural damage, or if he'd actually believe it was foul play, but it never hurt to be careful.

For now, he intently watched what happened down below.

Then his eyes darted away as The Teen Titans showed up. Starfire, the cute redhead, Raven, the dark bird, Beast Boy, the mouthy shape shifter, Cyborg, the titanium-plated titan, and of course Robin, the 'leader' of the group. 'Oooh looks like the kiddies are all here,' he thought with an amused grin. He'd seen the Titans in recordings of course, but he'd never seen any of them in person.

'Huh… somehow recordings don't due the cutie justice,' he thought to himself as he admired the green-eyed redhead. He then noticed something was off about the 'Cyborg' with the Titans. When they and the Troika, with Stone, began to fight he knew that something was very wrong. Not only was Cyborg completely useless in this fight he was acting out of character screaming 'Booyah!' every other second.

Naruto watched and he waited until he noticed the fake-cyborg create a dust cloud. With cover now available he lunged from his perch towards Jinx. While he was going to be leaving soon, he wanted to at least leave with Jinx in her right mind. He dropped down behind the girl and ducked beneath a punch from the girl and slipped behind her. He then pressed the neural block to the back of her neck and activated it.

Jinx gasped and stumbled forward then shook her head with a groan.

"W-what?" she questioned as she opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she questioned with a confused expression across her face. Her eyes briefly flashed from red to pink then settled in their usual color while Naruto chuckled and patted her shoulder.

"Glad to have you back, ol Blood decided to poke around in your skull for a while," he explained to the girl, then glanced to the side as 'Cyborg' was revealed to be a robot and 'Stone' revealed to be Cyborg. 'Honestly not too surprised by that,' Naruto admitted to himself with a frown. As he did Jinx placed a hand to the side of her head and shook the cobwebs free.

"What have… what have I been doing?" she questioned. She then blushed and palmed her face with a groan. "Oh god I was acting like a lovesick schoolgirl," she muttered to herself. Naruto idly nodded his head in agreement, and then glanced around as the dust began to dissipate. 'It's time to book,' he decided. With that he pressed his belt buckle. He reappeared elsewhere in the room behind cover and watched the show.

He watched as Cyborg was exposed as a spy, as Blood admitted he knew, revealed their 'Class Project' then gave it to Cyborg to use against the other Titans. He then watched as Cyborg proceeded to let out a loud 'Cyke' and shot a blast up towards the roof. As he did Naruto pulled out a remote detonator and pressed down on the trigger. Instantly his bombs around the school began to explode.

The masked blond knew he could count on Kyd and Angel for the rest. While they weren't exactly the best students in the H.A.E.Y.P. they always got the job done. Angel was strict and no nonsense, she'd certainly keep a slacker like Kyd in line. It didn't matter anyways as Blood and the Titans escaped from the collapsing school. As they did the masked blond escaped as well…

'Mission Complete,' he thought as he vanished in a static flash…

[End Flashback…]

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There is good, and there is evil, but the line between them can be almost impossible to find.

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Although he'd told his friends they needed to rest. The boy wonder himself had not gone to sleep. Instead he'd journeyed back into the city and started to search. He'd eventually found a blood trail that led him into the sewers. He followed it for a while but ultimately scowled, as all he found was a large pool of dried blood in the sewers. He'd swiftly searched but had found no other clues to who it had been or where they went…

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Does one good deed make him a hero?

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Robin returned home with a scowl and marched to the evidence room. He narrowed his eyes as he laid them upon the original X-suit. It lay upon a table, blank lenses staring at him silently. He sucked a breath in through his teeth and collected the suit. He then approached a familiar safe and put it away. He then stowed the belt away in a separate compartment and locked it away as well…

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Am I to blame for all of it because of a single mistake?

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Robin eventually left the evidence room and climbed up through the tower to the roof. It was too early to sleep, the sun was just starting to rise on the horizon and so the boy wonder went out to greet it. He stood at the edge of the tower and looked across the sea to the rising sun. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as the warmth of its golden rays enveloped him…

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In the end, all I really know is that the answers don't come easy.

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The boy wonder, after some time in the sun, finally started back inside. He traveled down passed the Ops Center as the rest of his team finally started to wake up. The dark haired teen eventually entered his room and all but slumped onto his bed. He paused for a moment and then reached into his bedside drawer. He pulled out a book with several phone numbers and his cell phone, then narrowed his eyes on two names in particular…

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It's supposed to be simple, but its not…

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(Jump-City, California…)

A white car moves through Jump City. At the wheel is an elderly gentleman with balding black hair and a pristine white suit with a black button down shirt and white tie. The gentleman silently maneuvers the vehicle through the city, till he pulls towards an old 'hole in the ground' in a literal sense. He parks the car and silently exits and walks around to the other side where he opens the car door.

He holds out a hand, which is then grabbed by a slender hand. Out of the car stepped a girl; her hair is long and silvery white in color. Her skin is pale and flawless, while she wears a simple blue t-shirt with a skull on the front, a black leather jacket, black leather boots, and blue jean skirt. She bears a strong physique from extensive training with the barest hints of abs visible against the slip of stomach visible between her shirt and skirt.

She silently looks out across the place, a single cold blue-grey eye regarding it all.

"So this is the place then," the girl remarked. The gentleman gave a silent nod while the girl marched forward, hands in the pockets of her jacket. She marches into the depths of the hole in the ground followed by the old gentleman. She slides only once but easily regains her footing. The gentleman offers a hand but she narrowed her eye and continued down into the cave without his aide.

As she entered into the cave proper, she noticed what appeared to be a statue of a girl. Her arms were stretched at her sides and she was dressed in an odd kind of armor with semi-visible bandages here and there. The white haired girl mutely sneered towards the stone girl and then schooled her features once more. She moved silently through the cave and down towards the floor below.

She paused at a chasm and arched a slender brow.

'Simple enough,' she decided as she hopped forward. She dropped a good ten to fifteen feet then landed solidly on her feet without any repercussions. Her gentleman companion however remained above as she continued ever onwards. She glanced here and there for a moment before she came to a stop at a sudden sound. She glanced down to see her boot had connected with something metal.

She knelt down and idly brushed some dirt away to see the signs of copper. With her eye now narrowed the girl reared an arm back and then slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked before she reared her arm back once more and slammed it into the ground yet again. She rubbed her fist briefly then looked to the dirt and cracked stone. Beneath it was revealed a familiar half copper mask.

The girl gently pulled the mask free and lightly brushed its surface free of dirt. She fixed her one eyed gaze onto the one eyed mask then stood up. She turned on her heel and made her way back to where she'd entered the trench. She noticed a rope waiting for her and swiftly started to climb back up to meet with her gentleman companion. The man looked at her with a raised brow as she lifted the half-copper mask.

"Seems father underestimated them after all," she remarked coldly. She then flipped the mask in her hand to glance at its empty gaze. She then turned her eye from the mask to the old gentleman instead. "Do the Titans still have father's 'bugged' mask in their possession?" she questioned. The man nodded his head.

"Indeed ma'am as per your father's instructions," the old man replied crisply. "It is also equipped with a highly potent fear toxin," the man admitted. The girl hummed in reply while she also poked the single eyehole of the mask in her hand.

"I see," she murmured, then glanced at him, "Care to set a proximity trigger so we can remotely activate it?" she questioned. The man bowed at the waist and nodded his head.

"It would be my honor," he replied. The girl hummed in response and then glanced back at the mask with a smirk.

"Didn't see death coming, did you old man," she taunted the mask and then brushed her white hair from her left eye. As she did she revealed a snow-white eye patch where her eye should've been, the edges of a nasty scar still visible beneath it. As she did she made her way back out of the cave and to her limo, the older gentleman ever at her side. As they approached the limo the older gentleman glanced at her.

"So what is to be done in the meantime mistress Rose?" the gentleman questioned. The now named 'Rose' hummed briefly and tapped her chin. She then slipped back into the back of the limo as a smirk crossed her lips.

"Next, Wintergreen," she began, then narrowed her gold blue-grey eye, "The Titans have defeated my father," she remarked and then smirked as only her single eye became visible in the darkness, "So now it's my turn to play," she whispered in a cold calculative tone… just like her father.

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TBC

AN:

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A familiar girl appears once more. This time she has slicked back deep crimson hair, a monocle clipped to her left ear, a black choker collar, a white suit-jacket buttoned up as a shirt with seemingly nothing else, a by now familiar brown backpack, white kid gloves, a black miniskirt, fishnet stockings, and black high-heeled boots. She's seated on her desk, and with a number of plans and documents scattered across its surface.

"'Ello, I'm the doctor," the girl stated with a slight British accent then paused. "Whoops, that is definitely not me," she noted aloud, still with the same accent as before. She then re-crossed her legs, as she got comfortable. "Now 'en you lot, I'm Duela The Penguin's Daughter!" she declared with her arms outstretched. She then smirked as she idly adjusted her monocle, her other eye closed.

"I'm sure you're all thinking 'at's crazy, but recall 'at Dad used to hang 'round a couple a bimbos back in the day, least in de Arkham Games," she noted and leaned back with a frown. "Bloody hell, 'en ya got de one from Batman TAS who had a bleeding nightclub filled wit 'em, an 'en at one from The Batman who had a pair of ninja hench wenches," the redhead noted mostly to herself, a finger pressed to her chin.

She then shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms in her lap. "Well anyways, 'ats not why I'm 'ere now is it?" the currently cockney girl remarked. She then leaned forward with a smirk. "First of all my lovelies, the author wanted me to tell ya all 'at he's sorry it took 'em so long to get 'is chapter out for ya," she stated. She then idly removed her monocle and then cleaned it on her jacket.

"Now I went an' tol' the git he didn't need ta go ta de trouble, but does 'e listen to me? Nooo," she remarked with a roll of her eyes. She replaced her monocle and then stretched her arms over her head. "Any case, 'e also wanted me to say 'at we'll be going back ta de future timeline after 'is fer a little while, 'en finally move on ta me asylum!" the crimson haired girl remarked, then grinned widely.

"Anyways," she began and reached to the side. She took hold of an umbrella with a penguin head for the handle and then leaned forward. She landed on her feet and leaned onto the umbrella like a cane. She then reached a hand up to brush her hair back and then flipped her umbrella up and leaned it against her shoulder. "Now its time for de Q and A portion of our chapter!" she declared with a hand outstretched to the side.

"First of all, Cerulean Knight, no he can't, de intangibility of ghosts is part of deir biology. Naruto can teach Dani techniques because de way dey use energy is similar enough fer it," the redhead stated as she twirled her umbrella at her side then hummed and tapped her cheek. "De force of his clone's explosion depends on the amount of chakra he uses," she noted and clicked her tongue.

"Ta be honest it's near impossible ta measure de full force of de explosion Naruto creates with a Bunshin Daibakuha. De reason for 'is is 'at each Shadow-Clone is made up of 'alf 'is chakra when first formed. Each Daibakuha is stronger or weaker based on 'ow much chakra is in it at any given time. As such I can't really measure, at its strongest it'd be powered by the Six-Paths-Sage-Mode combined with Kurama's chakra," the girl noted.

She paused to imagine what an explosion from a clone like that would be like…

She twitched and then shuddered. "While at it's absolute weakest it'd be equivalent to a bit of TNT. At the absolute strongest, it'd basically be like someone went and dropped Tsar Bomba if he ever really did it," she stated worriedly. She also made a note to prevent that from happening by any means necessary. She did not want to have to explain why they had a massive crater where Jump City used to be…

"Next!" she stated swiftly. "DarkLord98 as I told Cerulean Knight, intangibility is a biological function of ghosts. Dey 'ave a natural ability to do so, as well as fly, turn invisible, and overshadow people. Tobi 'ad de ability ta turn intangible due to 'is 'pocket dimension' but dat isn't de same as actually turning intangible like a ghost, who 'ave no bloody limit on it," the redhead explained.

"Bijuu aren't actually 'at similar. A Bijuu is a complex construct made up entirely of chakra, and purposefully animated and given sentience by de Six Paths Sage. Most ghosts are a combination of pure Ectoplasm given life by de obsessions of certain people carrying on even after deir deaths while others are concepts so widely believed in dat dey are given life after dey are somehow exposed ta ectoplasm," the girl explained as she idly rubbed her monocle on her jacket and then put it back in her eye.

"Hootyman," Duela paused and snorted then giggled into her hand, "If ye say so mate, 'ough de author wanted me ta warn ye, dat my next appearance," Duela paused and then frowned as a worried frown crossed her lips. "Might not be funny, or patient, or nice, or entirely… sane," she noted and looked around worriedly. "I'm not sure if I'm exactly comfortable wit' what I'm 'earing 'ere," she mumbled worriedly then cleared her throat.

"Actually VampireJaws, 'is section is completely unique to 'is version of de story, but de author did 'ave an incident in de original story where Naruto started singing at Robin's birthday," the redhead explained then tapped her chin, "Although I don't think de author 'ad 'im sing 'When your evil' 'ough," the girl noted and then shrugged her shoulders. "Moving on," she noted as she pulled her phone out and looked at it.

"Gawain-Knight of the Sun," she began, "e's considerin' a rewrite for it 'at'd take place during Big Boss's time instead of Solid Snake's," the redhead replied then glanced at her phone with a hum. "Oh, you meant one a dem DocSlendy," she murmured and glanced at a box to the side that was shaking. "Dat explains de package I got," she murmured and then opened the box as a baby Ursa climbed out and into her arms…

"Aww!" she declared and nuzzled the Ursa's head with her cheek. "Thanks mate!" she chirped and then carried the baby Ursa off screen. A few minutes pass before the redhead walked back out, her umbrella twirling around on her right hand. She paused when she was back in front of the camera and grinned widely. "TotallyNotAxco…" she paused and then narrowed her eyes.

"Seriously mate, don' try an' get me in some ones suit like dat," she stated with a shake of her head. "I have me own ways of doing dat for meself," the girl noted with a nod of her head and then glanced at the rest of the review. "We'll log de missions 'en, but ye might want to describe who it is we're going ta be dealin' with," the redhead noted with a slow nod of her head.

"DannyPhantom619, yes dere'll be a small arc in Amity, we'll also have ghosts like Masquerade show up to give Naruto a work out until he actually gets some Ghost Gloves an' a Specter-Deflector," the redhead noted and then brushed a hand through her deep crimson hair. "carl9390, aside from Road to Ninja, mission in de land of snow and de Movie with Demon Country he doesn't really consider 'em cannon," the girl explained.

"Noir117, de only real limit ye need ta consider fer any missions ya submit ta me is not trying to make something 'at'd affect de main plot or progression of de story. Part of 'at means please don' put in any big name 'eroes or villains in ya mission. Also, please don't put in any tech 'at de team might try ta take for 'emselves," the redhead explained. She then flicked the screen of her phone to the next review.

"Devilscreed, we alredy 'ave one in Willow, AKA Chitin, and Masquerade will show back up, as will Two-Bit, dough we're not sure when. We're not sure if anymore of 'em will show up or not, an' we're fine if ye make links ta videogame characters, de author finds it kind of funny ta see 'ow similar de are ta what 'e made," the redheaded girl replied as she buffed her knuckles on her jacket.

"D N Walker, no problem mate, as for de Billy thing it all depends on what ye reviewers want, if all of ya want ta see Billy an' Mandy tagether, we'll 'ave her show up at some point. We jus' don' want ta put something in 'ere dat'd be too silly, but we 'ave had a few requests for it. But like I said, ya reviewers all jus' 'ave ta ask an' de author will consider it," the redhead replied and moved on.

"Well Soulbow109 the reason for dat is cause he got most of it out of 'is system in de first story, where he did make him kind of stupid an' insane," the girl noted then hummed to herself, "Not really, deir bodies are made of ectoplasm, not to mention dey aren't actual souls, so spiritual stuff don't really effect 'em like ye might think," the redhead replied and then hummed softly and tapped her chin.

"Vongola Ninja, part of de purpose of dis story was ta change de way de author went about de first version. He felt dat he made it a bit too dramatic. We can also assure ya dat de team 'll be different 'is time roun', an' dat Hinata 'll not make an appearance, de author is of de opinion dat she and Naruto are literally done to death," the girl stated with a nod. "As for any other pairings, d'oughs 'll come in time," she stated with a nod of her head.

"Well Narutofan8762, you'll jus' 'ave ta wait an' see," the girl stated cheekily then moved to the next review, "As I said before, we'll move back to the future with de next few chapters Snipa, as for Sasuke's team, wait an' see," the girl continued. "'Ello again OBSERVER01! An' of course I plan ta troll de titans! Not sure when, but I will!" the girl declared with a grin.

"Actually Nightmaster000, de author intends for Tartarus to leave Jump City and become more well known. As you saw in de future, Tartarus eventually becomes a company dats well known 'round de world," she replied and flicked her phone. "Yes Cant Catch This, yes it was, cause de Author loves 'at game," she replied with a bright smile, then flicked her phone again.

"Well Kid Coheed, as stated in dis chapter Kakashi didn't rightly trust Sasuke to go out tracking Naruto on his own with his team," the girl remarked and then frowned, "an' if ye tink about it, dat really makes sense, Sasuke has almost killed Naruto in every fight dey've been in," she noted then shrugged, "Plus if Karin 'ad been around dey could've found Naruto in literally five seconds," she noted with a giggle.

"Aw it's no problem Toa Naruto, I like talking to ya blokes!" the redhead declared with a wide smile. "Oh I won' spoil it, but dye'll be seein' quite a few of the YJ cast showing up in de next six or so chapters," the girl replied with a grin then moved on and looked at her phone with a bemused expression. She slowly shook her head and then sat back down on her desk.

"I hafta agree with ya on Sasuke, de author used ta like 'im before he became a total twat after de timeskip. And ta answer ye question Serf, all me clothes an' other outfits are custom made by me," the girl stated with a thumb pointed to her chest. She then grinned as she leaned towards the camera with a twinkle in her eye. "I've gotten really good at making 'em if I do say so meself!" she declared happily then moved on.

"Yeah LL, lots of stuff got glossed over fer some reason. Not gonna lie, it felt kind of annoying," she admitted with a shake of her head. "Regardless, Naruto in dis story is more based on the 'Naruto' from the 'Naruto: Ultimate Ninja' games in dat he learned a lot of random jutsu from people 'round de village. Why? Cause de author liked dose games an' de fillers in 'em," she noted then grinned cheekily.

"In one a dem Naruto became 'Hokage for a day' an' Tsunade went to de spa while our favorite blond was stuck with paperwork. Part of why he doesn't want to be Hokage is cause a dat," she stated with a snicker, "Plus in de fourth game Naruto killed a wolf demon and saved another village, it's mentioned by Sasuke as the place Naruto went too when he wanted to get away," the girl explained then glanced at her phone and snorted.

She then started to snicker and smiled widely.

"Ah PugTheMagician, nice ta see ya 'gain luv! Though Catwoman isn't me mum, I can say that for certain. Also I can imagine any kind of mission with gamer-gear involved might end up with only Dani and Gizmo goin' solo as Naruto 'as no interest in Videogames. He does like ta watch DBZ Abridged though… take from 'at what ya will. Also why would I need ta play a videogame with cheats, I have real life cheat codes!" the girl declared with a giggle and then exhaled a breath.

"Don't be too surprised Kiue-Jin, de author got his annoyance wit' Sasuke out of 'is system a long time ago. He can now focus on making de story better by making him into a more interesting character. An' you'll be 'appy ta know dat de author 'as Shadowrun on 'is tablet, specifically Shadowrun-Returns, an he really likes de game. Jus' give us a name an' a place an ya job 'll be on de books when Tartarus officially forms," she remarked with a wink then moved on with a hum.

"Well Iceman1228, ye'll be 'appy ta know me own asylum is kind of what we're going for wit' de arkham thing from the first story. Modified of course but it'll certainly be a fun ride!" she declared and then leaned towards the camera. "For me assuredly, not so much for any of the Titans or Tartarus who get involved," she admitted and then snickered into her hand.

"Anyways my lovelies, I tink dats all fer dis chapter, so I'll see ya next time!" the redhead declared with a wave as the picture faded into static…

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