Disclaimer: We don't own Teen Titans, Naruto, or anything else that might make an appearance in this fic...
Naruto Ultimate 3: Red-X Rising...
Chapter 9: Past and Present: Pt. 1…--
Normal Talking
Normal Thinking
Radio in use
Demon Talking
Demon Thinking
Jutsu in use
Inner Self-Talking
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(Jump City, California…)
X was walking down the street in his civilian clothes, a smirk on his face. His Civvies consisted of a pair of loose blue jeans with a simple red T-shirt, a pair of black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs, a pair of black combat boots, and a black bucket hat to cover his hair and shadow his eye's, leaving only his whiskers which were ever covered by some of his blond hair.
'Ninja lesson one. Never let anyone notice your unusual features if you can help it, makes it easier for those hunting you to track you.' Naruto thought to himself then turned on his heel and walked down a corner while a pair of girls looked at him before blushing and giggling making the thief smirk. 'I love this universe, I don't have to worry about spite from Teme's, I can steal whatever I need so long as no one sees my face, and I can even make some DECENT friends for a change!' Naruto thought to himself as he then found the place he was looking for, a lonely little shop in the city that sold old and rare books… As well as a few more common ones but if you wanted to find an unusual book in the city, this was the place to look.
Kakashi was bored out of his mind; everyone in the store was sitting down and reading, not even buying anything-just reading… Not to mention that cloak wearing girl was back again today he was still bored… Even if she did have almost ghostly tendencies to disappear or reappear out of the shadows… Most Ninja had those tendencies as well anyways so it wasn't that unusual for him…
"Hey Scarecrow!" One of his co-worker's called out making Kakashi twitch at the nickname, which he got for his normal name of Kakashi. "It's time for your break man, I'll take over the counter." The guy, Jeff if Kakashi remembers correctly, says and Kakashi shrugs before walking into the back and grabbing one of the "Erotica" books for his own personal amusement. Thus the gray haired Konoha Nin missed the blond walking into the building to look around for something to read.
While not known to most of those who lived in Konoha, Naruto actually enjoyed reading more than he liked to talk about. His "Dobe" self didn't because the real him had liked to read with his mom, thus gained a slight love for literature as it reminded him of her to read. Walking around Naruto placed a finger on the spines of the books and noted some he might like to read before pulling one out that he hadn't seen before. Opening it and reading a little he walked over to the seats, which lay to one side of the store and sat down in a chair, not even noticing the blue-cloaked girl next to him that had gray skin…
Naruto sat reading quietly, then felt someone staring at him and turned, only to find that none other than Raven of the Teen Titans was sitting next to him… 'What are the fucking odds?' He couldn't help but wonder then frowned towards her. "Any reason your staring?" He questioned and the girl looked at him strangely.
"People don't normally sit near me." She said simply and Naruto glanced around without moving his head, and saw they were giving her a wide berth. Looking back at the girl he could only wonder why, she wasn't hideous, and she certainly didn't look like she'd bite someone's head off for being near her… Maybe they were afraid of her, after all, if you were a normal person and saw someone tossing men made of solid stone with nothing but a wave of the hand, you'd probably be scared stiff too… He wasn't normal however so that wasn't much of a problem, hell Kyuubi gave him a similar ability…
"I'm… Used to hanging around odd girls." Naruto said with a shrug, mostly meaning Hinata, but also Temari, Ino, Tenten, and even Sakura now that he thought of it, they were pretty odd compared to the girls of this world, even Raven… The said girl raised a brow before returning to her book as Naruto did the same, however, the girl would constantly glance at him with a strange expression every now and then. Naruto choose to ignore it and let her try and figure out what he said on her own while reading his book. Time passed at a sedate pace it seemed, Naruto just sitting back and getting into the book, until her heard a familiar voice at least…
"Hey Jeff, time for your break now…" Came the droll voice of Naruto's EX-Sensei making the blond twitch before moving his eyes to the man, which then widened seeing said masked man walking out of the back and to the counter while the other guy headed into the back. 'Oh shit… It's that lazy, no good, and pretty much worthless, ass Kakashi-Baka… Wait… How the hell did he get here? Oh yeah he and the others all followed after me… Ah shit! Does that mean Sasuke-Teme and that bitch Sakura are here too?' He wondered to himself however, Naruto didn't notice as Raven narrowed her eyes, his stray thoughts bringing more questions to her mind about the suspicious blond.
Standing up slowly, and as casually as he could Naruto walked over to where he found the book in his hands and put it up. "Hey?" Kakashi's voice came and Naruto would have cursed had he not known it would be too troublesome and he'd end up caught.
"Eh… Yeah?" Naruto questioned, making his voice slightly deeper to make sure Kakashi didn't recognize him.
"Don't I know you?" He questioned and Naruto twitched slightly before clearing his throat.
"No, I don't think so, I haven't ever been in this particular store before today." Naruto answered while turning around and Kakashi took a thoughtful look before then shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh I see… Sorry, but from behind I almost thought you were a former student of mine." Kakashi said and Raven walked to stand beside of Naruto with a raised brow.
"When were you a teacher?" She questioned while glaring at the book in his hands and Kakashi chuckled nervously.
"Eh… Never mind, Sorry to keep you waiting sir." Kakashi said and Raven rolled her eyes as Naruto then walked out of the building, sighing at the door and Raven placed her book back where she found it. "Not buying anything today Raven?" The man questioned with an Eye-smile and Raven frowned towards him before walking out of the building and after Naruto. "What's eating her?" Kakashi wondered before shrugging and getting back to his stupid little book.
Raven walked passed numerous people on the street quickly, so she wouldn't loose track of the blond she had seen in the store. Something about him was bugging her, and it wasn't the odd thoughts that had prodded her senses earlier, it was some kind of strange feeling she got when he sat next to her, like… It was kinship, like she understood him and he her somehow… Why was that? Finally spotting him Raven sank into the ground as a shadow only to appear in front of the blond who blinked before scratching the bridge of his nose.
"Can I help you?" He asked casually and Raven frowned once more, she still felt that weird feeling of kinship… It was starting to creep her out feeling like you could trust a complete stranger, when normally she trusted no one at all.
"Yes… I was wondering… Have we met before?" She asked, if she knew him from before then that might explain the feeling, if not she wasn't sure why she felt she could trust him.
"Sorry, can't say we have, and no offense, but you'd probably be pretty hard to forget." Naruto said to the girl smoothly and Raven frowned, he was lying, she didn't know how she knew, her senses told her he wasn't lying but… She decided it didn't matter, she lied even to her friends a great deal, calling someone else out on one would make her a hypocrite.
"Then do you have a name?" Raven asked and Naruto raised a brow.
"Uh… Naruto…" He said and the girl blinked.
"That's an unusual name." She said flatly and Naruto chuckled lightly.
"It actually means Maelstrom and is Japanese in decent." He explained and the girl made an O with her mouth before closing it.
"I'm Raven." Raven offered and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Everyone knows that." He said with a smirk and Raven nodded her head to the blond. That was her least favorite part of being a Super-Hero besides the strain on her alone time… The damn Paparazzi… "So… If we're done here I best be on my way." Naruto said and started to walk off only for Raven to make a black field in front of him.
"I never said we were done…" She deadpanned and Naruto blinked before turning around to face the girl with his arms crossed.
"Then would it be too much to ask that we talk somewhere a little more private?" Naruto asked while motioning around seeing as some people had stopped to try and listen in onto the exchange, making Raven twitch in annoyance.
"Fine… When?" She asked and Naruto looked thoughtful.
"I'm free Saturday…" He offered, he was actually free any day, but most normal people his age worked or went to school on weekdays so he was trying not to draw any unwanted attention to himself.
"Fine. Saturday." Raven said and then discreetly nudged over to what looked like a dark little café. Naruto nodded his head slowly and then Raven suddenly faded into the ground and vanished, making Naruto blink before shrugging and calmly walked away. He groaned when numerous people began to try and discreetly wonder what the exchange had been about… 'Today is just not my day man…' He thought to himself as he heard at least five people wonder if they were dating, and some wondering if he was one of the Titans out of costume… He really didn't like Mondays anymore…
--
(??)
Sasuke Uchiha could be called many things, Handsome (By his fangirls only oddly enough), Ambitious (By his sensei only), Hard working (By the Ass kissing Council members), and he is strong, possible the strongest Ninja of Konoha (In his own warped mind and that of his fangirls at least). However, one thing he isn't (Among MANY others…) is patient, Sasuke Uchiha is NOT a patient person… Just as poor Neji Hyuuga was about to find out…
"What the hell are we sitting around for?" Sasuke demanded of Neji as the Hyuuga boy sat down, attempting to meditate just so he wouldn't be tempted to finish off the Uchiha line once and for all himself…
"Because… Kakashi and myself are currently the highest ranking nin on this mission… As such we make the rules, and it would not be a good idea to alert the city to people with our abilities, nor would it be prudent to make enemies of it's protectors." Neji explained for the millionth time today, why did anyone ever say the Uchiha was EVER a fucking genius… All he was good for was blowing things up half the time and rushed headlong into almost any fight without thought of the consequences…
Sasuke gritted his teeth and sneered at Neji, they were supposed to be capturing that damn dobe! Not sitting the fuck around and meditating all fucking day! Sasuke began to sporadically clench his right hand, itching to draw his Chokatou and slice into Neji, then go cutting up this fucking city till the Dobe came out… Shaking his head Sasuke frowned, even he wasn't THAT rash; the Dobe would run if they came, just like the coward he obviously was…
Sasuke then had a thought, in Konoha; they kept a list of everyone in the village and checked often for hideaways… Surely a city this advanced would have better records with their law enforcement agents… Narrowing his eye's Sasuke turned his back on Neji and started walking to the door, only for the Hyuuga to stand in his way. "Where do you think your going?" Neji demanded and Sasuke sneered, how dare this Hyuuga trash make demands of him! The last of the Uchiha!
"I'm going to find the Dobe." He said through gritted teeth and Neji frowned.
"As I said earlier, we are WAITING, we are not to arouse any suspicion to us as we attempt to gather information." Neji stated and Sasuke sneered before quickly unsheathing Chokatou and pointing it at the other boy.
"Out of my way… I won't say it again!" Sasuke said darkly and Neji narrowed his eyes on the prick before rolling his eyes and stepping aside. "That's what I thought." Sasuke said smugly and sheathed Chokatou, Neji inwardly shook his head at the younger boy's arrogance, if it wasn't for the fact he would be beheaded by the council he'd personally knock some sense into the brat…
As Sasuke left the warehouse Neji shook his head and walked over to the center of the room to meditate and focus his Chakra. 'I somewhat hope he gets himself killed out there tonight…At least then we wouldn't have such an arrogant teme to deal with and could focus on finding Naruto-san…' Neji thought to himself while thinking of the Hokage's "Personal" order's to him concerning Sasuke and smirked slightly.
'If the Uchiha shows even the slightest intents of killing Naruto, you are to execute him immediately. Naruto is more valuable to the village than he is, understood Neji?' The woman had ordered and Neji's reply had been simple… 'Understood, Hokage-sama…'
--
(Later…)
Naruto was bored; he'd gone around town for a while just to clear his head, and making sure that no one was following him home. So it wasn't surprising when he didn't get home till it was well passed sunset. Shaking his head, the blond reached up and pulled his white and green striped Bucket hat from his head and stuck it into his pocket. "I can't believe Kakashi-Baka didn't recognize me…" Naruto said with a laugh at Kakashi's expense while approaching his door.
As soon as Naruto walked into his apartment however, none other than Gizmo tackled him straight to the ground. "Do you have ANY idea how long we've been looking for you Tempest?" Gizmo demanded and Naruto sighed, then pushed the Tiny-Terror off of him and then stood up to wave at Mammoth.
"Hey guys… What's up?" Naruto questioned and Gizmo growled.
"Jinx is fucking missing that's what's up Dick-Head!" Gizmo shouted and Naruto blinked then looked to Mammoth.
"Is it me or is he cursing even more than normal?" He questioned and Mammoth nodded his head. "Okay, thanks for the confirmation now what is this about Jinx going missing?" Naruto said to Mammoth then questioned only to be dragged into his apartment by Gizmo as Mammoth then closed his door so no one would hear.
"Okay, a couple days ago the Headmaster sent Jinx out on a job in town. Well at first we didn't think much of it, it was a routine job you know. Anyways it's been three days and I'm starting to get worried, Mammoth here was worried two days ago but I figured she was just running late and…" Before Gizmo could continue his ramblings his mouth was covered by Naruto's hand, the blond's eyes narrowed.
"What was this mission she went on?" He questioned monotonously and Mammoth answered.
"She went to deliver a message to some of our people on the west side. She was also supposed to bring back some of this months haul but…" Mammoth left off and Naruto frowned angrily.
"Where are these guys?" He questioned angrily and Gizmo pulled his hand off of his mouth.
"What do ya need to know that for?" He asked and Naruto glared at him.
"First things first, I'm going to check these guys out, they might know what happened to Jinx…" Naruto said flatly and Gizmo made an O with his mouth.
"On the west side in an abandoned hotel, I think the guy she went to see was in room 312 or something." He then said and Naruto walked passed Gizmo and to his room. "How the hell are you going to get these guys to talk, half of them aren't even afraid of Mammoth? Do you honestly think their gonna be intimidated by you!?" The Tiny-Terror then questioned and Naruto turned to him and the former Nin smirked.
"I'm a ninja remember… I have my ways…" He said simply before walking into his room to get his Chakra powered X-suit… He was going to find Jinx, and he was going to beat the shit out of anyone who got in his way… Cause no one fucked with his friends as long as HE had anything to say about it…
--
(Jump City, West Side…)
Naruto landed on a building across from the one Jinx had been last. He dressed in his new suit, though the clouds covering the moon prevent him from being seen, according to Gizmo his suit looked somewhat like a "Cyborg-Ninja". The suit also had many new features added to it, but at the moment, Naruto was using his helmets Night Vision mode and Scope mode to allow him to watch the building. Watching Naruto narrowed his eyes, two men were on top of the building, walking around and holding simple handguns.
Tilting his head downward the blond looked to see another guard at the door, tilting to both sides Naruto saw the only other guard was at the left side, leaving only the right free. 'Left has a fire escape… But the right is barren, foolish to leave a side unprotected… Even if it has no strategic value to you, someone else will find a use for it…' Naruto thought to himself and reached over his right shoulder, touching the Handle of his Ninjatou and smirking beneath his mask, a Cyborg-Ninja indeed…
The blond then deactivated his helmets vision functions and pressed the button on the buckle of his belt, reappearing on top of the building, his "stealth-camouflage" online. Looking at the two guards Naruto rolled his eye's before holding his palms towards them both, a brief flash of bright red light was the only warning before static-X's came from his palms and attached to the two men, knocking both unconscious.
Naruto then flipped to the roof and walked over the two unconscious guards and too the door, slowly pulling it open as he then walked down into the building. Finding the client Gizmo had mentioned wouldn't be easy; of course nothing he liked to do was easy for most people, so why should this be any different. Walking down the numerous halls Naruto saw another guard, making him frown as he then silently stalked to the man before grabbing him and putting pressure around his neck to keep him silent. He then punched the man in the skull, laying him out like the others as he then dragged the man down the hall and dumped him into a bathroom stall.
Walking out Naruto looked to one of the doors and frowned seeing the number 512, meaning he was a good two floors above the guy he was supposed to be capturing. Growling in his throat Naruto stalked to the stairs only to halt seeing someone wearing a black ski mask with a J between the eyes walking up the stairs, before stopping to sneeze. "Dammit… I caught a cold again…" The man whined and Naruto stepped aside allowing the man to walk passed him, only for him to suddenly stop… "Uh oh… Not again!" The man said before he stiffened then shifted and run down the hall towards the bathroom with his hands on his ass…
'Who the hell was he?' Naruto wondered to himself then walked downstairs, shaking his head after seeing the odd man. Soon coming down to the next floor Naruto leaned back into a wall and looked down the hall to see no one around, the stairs to the next floor laying somewhere on this floor. Naruto silently walked down the hall only to stop as a door opened, a man walking out and yawning slightly, Naruto rolled his eye's and then lunged forward, quickly placing a Static-X onto the man to knock him out. Grabbing the man he then dragged him back to the room he had come from and closed the door.
Walking back down the hall quietly Naruto came to a simple turn, but he leaned against the wall and then tilted himself over to look in any case, only to grimace seeing five guards. Grumbling Naruto looked around and then walked over to a door and opened it, walking out he headed to a window and then opened it. Jumping out Naruto placed his hands and feet along the wall and began "Wall-Crawling" along it and noted idly it was harder to focus Chakra to single fingers than it was to his palm. Ignoring that thought he slowly crawled down the wall to the third floor and looked for an open window, only to scowl seeing there was none.
Crawling to one Naruto focused Chakra to his fingers and then cut through one, only to reach inside and open the window. 'Man, I really must have been going crazy to use the suits functions over Chakra and Jutsu… Though this Stealth-Camo is fucking handy…' Naruto thought remembering almost two hundred times in the past he would have loved to vanish without a trace like he could now. Stopping these thoughts, Naruto silently walked out of the room and checked the number.
'320… Eight doors down…' Naruto thought to himself and slowly crept down the hall, then saw a guard in front of the door he was heading towards. Narrowing his eye's Naruto watched the man, then looked down a second hall to his right and cursed seeing another guard heading his way. Growling in his throat Naruto held a Hand towards each of the men and fired a Static-X from each, the two weapons sailing through the air to hit both men and knock them out like the ones before.
Leaving these guys to lie out Naruto walked towards the door where the guy was supposed to be. However he raised a brow, there wasn't a door… In fact the numbers seemed to skip 312… Narrowing his eye's Naruto then placed his ear onto the door, though his helmet covered his ears it had very sensitive microphones in it. He heard someone walking around and thus stood up and deactivated his camo before reaching back and unsheathing his Ninjatou.
The blond haired thief then sliced into the wall and literally carved out a new door, causing the man beyond to look towards the door in shock and fear. Naruto then tossed an X-Shuriken at the light of the room, turning it off and activated his thermal vision, thus making the eyes of his helmet glow a fearsome red color… Naruto saw the man and watched as he screamed and ran to an adjacent room, making the thief narrow his eyes and sheath his sword. Walking towards the room Naruto used his chakra to form numerous blades of wind around him, which began to spin rapidly.
This was an advanced Wind Jutsu he made to replace his "Makyou Kaiten", though he had only finished it recently. It was basically hundreds of Wind Scythes spinning around his body and tearing anything that came towards him into pieces. And seeing the numerous bullets heading his way, he was glad he had. Hearing the click of an empty gun Naruto lunged forward and lifted the man up by the throat, glaring at him with glowing red eye's.
"Where is my friend?" Naruto demanded of the man angrily, his vocal synthesizer sounding different than his Old X-Suits, giving him a raspy metallic voice like Red had. The man in his hand just shouted that he wouldn't get away with this, nor would he talk and X grinned behind his mask… "Oh really now?" He questioned darkly then walked over to a window and kicked it out while his thermal vision deactivated to allow him to see normally. "Lets see if we can't loosen up that tongue of yours!" Naruto then declared as he jumped out of the building and teleported to a much taller building a short ways from the first building.
"W-what are you going to do?" The man in his grasp stuttered and Naruto walked over to the side of the building and looked down, the man seemed to go wide eyed at this and gulped. "Are you one of the Batman's students or something?" He questioned and Naruto shook his head no, making the man sigh in relief… At least until Naruto held him out over the edge of the building… "What the hell do you want!?" The man demanded and Naruto narrowed his eyes behind his mask.
"My friend Jinx… Where is she?" Naruto demanded and the man shook his head from side to side rapidly.
"I don't know!" The man shouted and Naruto let out a sigh.
"Too bad…" he then stated and dropped the man down the building before then pressing his teleport button to appear on the side of the building and grab the man by his leg.
"Alright! A a couple days ago that pink haired chick came by, b-but we didn't have what we were supposed to give her! S-so we called a cop who owed us and had him come and arrest her!" The man admitted and Naruto wanted to drop the guy for doing that to his friend… Fortunately for the prick he wasn't a killer…
"You are so lucky I'm not an assassin…" Naruto growled before then dodging as a red and yellow birdarang came at him from nowhere and cut into the mans pants, before then holding them to the wall… "Great… The kids are here…" Naruto mutters under his breath as he sees Robin on a nearby streetlight, the thief growls before then releasing the man in his grasp and watched as Raven came out of the shadows to catch him. Naruto narrowed his eyes at this as then he heard a screech of tires and turned to see the infamous T-Car slide to a stop nearby and Starfire flying down… How the hell do these kids always manage to get in the way?
Flipping off the side off the building Naruto landed on the ground and then turned to glare at Robin as he and the other Titans came together. "I don't know who you think you are pal, but I don't like your style…" Robin said angrily to the thief who simply looked at the Titans with a frown.
"I don't rightly care kid… I've got more important matter's to attend to other than being your babysitter for the night…" Naruto said and stood up to his full height only to unsheathe his sword. "So stay out of my way… Or else I'll have to beat you into the ground…" Naruto growled as he finally stepped into the light to reveal himself, ironically getting a gasp from Starfire once more and gaping jaws from the others…
The figure standing before them was Red-X, however, he had changed, his mask was different, the skull was still white with a Red-X over the right eye, but the two "teeth" on the outside looked like fangs while the two inner ones were normal, and it's eye's were a dark gray, making the sockets look almost empty while the rest of it was black with an almost metallic look to it. A pitch black, single edged short sword rested in his right hand, the light from the T-car's lights glinting along its length.
The suit he wore was black as midnight, with a large jagged Red-X over the chest, a ash gray belt synched around his waist identical to his old one save the circular buckle with the red X on it, a Kunai Case was strapped to his right thigh, gray material forming the band around his leg. Gray gloves covered his hands, but had black fingers and a red X on the palm, black Vambrace's covered his forearms and the backs of his hands, a red X placed on the back of the fist. Over his feet were black boots, with thin gray soles and gray around the toes and heels, black greaves covering his shins, knees, and the tops of his feet. On his shoulder was a pair of black shoulder pads, with smaller pads coming down from them over his biceps, with several straps crossing over his back making an X, allowing the shoulder gear to hold on tightly and also allowing him to synch his Swords sheath to his back.
Looking at the shocked looks of the Titans, Naruto grinned beneath his mask, only to frown when he remembered why he was even out. Swinging his sword he rested the blunt side of the blade against his shoulders and clenched his left fist, small spikes coming from the knuckles of his left vambrace to spark with electricity… "What's the matter kid?" X questioned of Robin darkly then lowered his voice, making his synthesizer do the same… "You look like you've just seen a ghost…"
--
TBC…
--
By:
26 Lord Pain…
And
Master XIII…