Just to clear something up from the last chapter, a few of you thought I meant that Naruto owned 53% of Jump City, that's not what I meant. He owns 53% of the Building firms in the City, meaning that they build and repair, but not actually own them. I figured with his clones as workers when he first arrived in Jump and the fact that villains are always destroying buildings, it would be a good way to build up a fortune. He uses normal workers now, but at the start he would have just used clones. But the bottom line is that in this world Naruto is stinking rich, explaining why he can buy books that cost thousands of dollars.
Just one little spoiler here, so if you don't want to don't read.
I know next to nothing about bikes or cars, so if anyone wants to see the one Naruto drives in this chapter look on my profile, I added a link to the closest thing I could find, but black and red.
Enjoy the chapter :)
XXX
Disclaimer- I own nothing :(
XXX
Chapter 10- Don't Purr!
"What do you mean you're going away for a while?"
Letting out a sigh as he picked up a pair of socks and, sniffing then, grimaced before shrugging his shoulders and adding them to the storage scroll with the rest of his clothes, Naruto turned to his four roommates. It had bee a week since Gaara's rampage.
"There is a certain book that I need to acquirer and the owner is not keen to part with it, so I'm meeting them in person to try and...convince them."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Gaara move to stand next to his blonde friend and leaned close so as not to be heard by the others.
"Is this one of your...special, books that would require you to take drastic measures to acquire it?"
"Class 2, possible Class 1"
Eyes widening slightly, Gaara nodded in understanding.
Shortly after he had moved in Naruto had explained about the book that were kept in the Vault, things of such power that they could be extremely dangerous in both the wrong and the right hands. He had even come up with a rating system to gage the fret level of the books, ranging from 1 to 5. Class 5 was barely dangerous, with almost nothing worth mentioning but could still be a problem if not kept in check, books that weren't high up on the list, Class 4 wasn't much better. Class 3 was where it got interesting, these being the books that were dangerous, with spells that could cause a lot of problems if not contained. Class 2 were books that had been around for a long time and were able to influence people that read them, not control exactly, nor actually talking, but kind of like giving the reader the impressions that they should keep reading and use specific spells. Then last but not least was Class 1, books that could talk and control people that read them. The longer a person held them and the more they read the stronger the influence became.
If this had anything to do with a Class 2 or higher it could only mean trouble, which explained why he was going to collect it in person. If news of one of these books had reached Narutos ears, and that it was in someone's possession, it could only mean that said book had latched itself onto someone and was causing trouble.
Stepping back to stand with the other teens, who were still confused as to the importance of some old book, they watched in silence for a moment as the blonde teen continued to seal everything that he would need. Raising an eyebrow as the strange teen add a sledge hammer and a rubber chicken to his ever growing supplies, Jinx let out a sigh of her own.
"Can you at least tell us where you're going?"
Pausing for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face, and wined-up toy mouse in his hand, Naruto shrugged his shoulders before turning back to his packing.
"Some city called Golem, Gatham, something like that anyway."
"GOTHAM!"
Turning to look at the three shocked ex-villains Naruto was forced to stop himself from knocking back Gizmo when the diminutive tee jumped at him, grabbing his collar and planting his feet on the blonde's chest to keep him at the same height.
"Are you fucking NUTS, Gotham is one of the most dangerous cities there is! Two-face, Bane, Riddler, Killer-Croc, Poison-Ivy, The Joker and Harley Quinn! Why the hell would you go there just to get a book?"
Slowly bringing his hand up and flicking the toddler sized genius, sending him flying back into Mammoth with a yell, in the forehead before turning back to his packing.
"It's complicated, now while I'm gone Gaara is in charge. Jinx, keep reading you're book and practicing, and remember to meditate at least an hour a day. Mammoth keep training and if you get hungry between meals eat one of the bars I made for you, there should be enough in stock to last you until I get back. Gizmo, if I find out you blow anything up while I am gone I will make you wear baby cloths while working in the shop for a week, and don't think I can't."
After getting three nods and a shudder, Naruto picked up his scroll and put it in his pocket. He had one more stop before he left.
XXX
Appearing outside the Titan Tower in a flash of light, Naruto quickly straightened his clothes before walking up to the door and ringing the bell. he should only be gone a week, providing all thing went well, but thought it best to let his girlfriend know he was going out of town for a while. Especially when said girlfriend could probably beat him to a pulp, as girls were able to do to any man when angered, when he got back for not telling her.
He was waiting for about two minutes when the screen next to the door came on and the image of Cyborg came into view, the sound of explosions and smashing rocks in the background.
"Hey Naruto, what's up man?"
"...What the hell are you doing?"
Pausing for a moment was a small shock wave blow a cloud of dust across the screen; the mechanical teen rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Ever since your little spare with Robin he's been a little intense about training, though I agree more can't hurt he's going a little overboard. So you want me to get Raven or something.
"Yeah"
Turing away from the screen, Cyborg put a hand to his mouth before yelling at the top of his voice to be heard over the noise in the background.
"HEY RAVEN, YOU'RE BOYFRIEND IS AT THE DOOR!"
Not a second later a large piece of rock coated in a black aura smashed into the metal teen , sending him flying away from the screen before it was filled by the image of his girlfriend, her hood drawn up in an attempt to hide the blush on her face.
"I'll unlock the door and meet you in my room in a few minutes, ok?"
"Sure Raven-chan"
Quickly making his way through the Tower, Naruto soon found himself in Ravens room. It was the same as the first time he had seen it, dark walls, with the curtains drawn, odd objects all over the place, the only real difference was the picture at the side of her bed. Walking over and picking it up, a small smile crossed his lips as he thought back to when and where it was taken.
It was a picture of himself sat on a bench in the park, grey sleeveless shirt and tracksuit pants with his customary bucket hat in place, with birds at his feet as he throw them bits of bread with a large smile on his face as he looked to the person taking the picture. It had been taken the week before, on his date with Raven after Gaara's rampage, and despite what had happened before the date he had enjoyed it.
Putting the picture back on the table, he caught sight of something that had been behind it on the table and without thinking reached to pick it up, only to let out small gasp as he felt a small electric shock run up his arm and into his head from where his figures had touched it. Pulling away, unsure what had just happened as a small headache started to form in the back of his head, Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by the arrival of Raven, the sound of the door alerting him to her presence.
Before he could even say a word she walked passed him and sat on the bed, letting out a tired sigh, before turning her eyes on the whiskered blonde.
"Robin asked me to invite you to our training session, so whatever you need to talk about, feel free to take your time."
Chuckling, Naruto sat down on the bed next to the purple haired teen, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her onto a one armed hug.
"Is traffic-light-san's training that bad?"
Levelling a half hearted glare at her boyfriend, the dark Titan pocked him in the chest to emphasise her point.
"He's turned into even more of a slave driver then usual, you have no idea."
"At one point in my training my sensei threw me off the edge of a cliff, believe me when I say your training at the moment is nothing compared to the hell I was forced to go through."
Pausing for a moment to look at his face, checking if he was joking or not, and when she saw the serious face he wore got a shiver down her spin. Before shrugging it off for the time being,
"This is still you're fault, because of the way you beat him Robin is training almost non stop, with the exception of missions of course. That means you should be down in the training area with the rest of us, or you could just join the team."
"We've been over this Raven-chan; I'm not interested in joining the Titans or being a hero."
The grey skinned teen let out a sigh, nothing wrong with trying after all, especially seeing as she was the only one that could ask him without making him angry Raven shrugged.
"Not yet, but I will wear you down eventually, but until then you still don't get off with the training thing, you're coming back down with me even if I have to drag you there with my magic."
Smiling good naturedly at the girl, Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
"Actually I can't, I came to let you know I'd be out of town for a few days on business. It shouldn't take long, a week, two at the most."
Frowning slightly at the last minutes notice, Raven turned to look at her boyfriend.
"What business?"
"Just a book that caught my attention"
"The sought of book that you put on display or the sought that you lock up?"
"Locked with chains around it this time, sorry I can't really say more."
"You know for a guy that says he doesn't want to be a hero, you spend a lot of time finding and hiding these books."
Falling silent for a moment while he tried to think of a retort, Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response."
XXX
When she returned to the training area it was to the sight of Terra sat crossed legged on a rock in a meditative state with her eyes closed and several smaller rocks floating around her in a circle, one of the exorcises she had read about in her book. Beastboy was shifting between large animals and small animals over and over again as fast as he could, while Robin and Cyborg spared with Starfire floating in the air to the side of them watching.
After a few minutes of trading punches with Cyborg, Robin caught sight of Raven out of the corner of his eye and called for a timeout. Walking over to the blue clocked girl, the boy wonder frowned when he saw Naruto hadn't come.
"Naruto turned down the invitation then?"
That was one of the things that had change after their little fight; Robin had been less of a pain when it came to Naruto. He didn't push her for details on whenever she got back from hanging out with him anymore, which was a relief.
"Not exactly, he came to let me know he'd be out of town for a few days, but said he'd stop by when he got back."
Nodding, the masked teen turned back to continue his fight.
Raven moved to stand to the side and watch, placing a hand to her head as a headache started to form.
XXX
It took Naruto about five hours to drive to Gotham, the scroll with his stuff in it strapped tightly to his belt, and the only sound being the roar coming from the engine of his bike. He had tried driving a car, several in fact, but they all made him a little claustrophobic. He was used to moving at great speeds under his own power, the wind rushing passed him as he went and the world left bare. That's how he ended up with a motorbike.
It wasn't exactly the same, but it was the closed he could find and he like it. The bike itself was black with red highlights, custom made; being rich had its advantages. He wore a thick leather jacket with the same colour scheme as the bike over his usual clothes to help protect him from the wind, not that it actually bothered him but he didn't want to attract unneeded attention and normal people needed to cover up from the cold wind, with similar pants and fingerless gloves. The thing that stood out the most about him though was the helmet.
Again custom made, it was designed in the shape and colour of a blood red fox's head, with the screen set inside its open mouth and with red slighted eyes glaring at anyone that looked at it. The helmet was a bit conspicuous compared to the rest of it, but it also had the effect of unnerving people so that they left him alone.
Despite the fact that it was the afternoon the part of the city that he was currently driving through was dark, the dilapidated warehouses casting shadows on the street below, giving it an ominous atmosphere. It was an older part of Gotham, one that had been left behind as it was expanding and was now full of junkies and gangs that took advantage of the unused buildings.
The sight of it made Naruto shake his head in disappointment, it was places like this that made it so easy for villains to hide in Gotham, not to mention the waste of space that could have been used for something else instead of just being left to rot because it was cheaper to just dig up new land outside the ever growing city instead of knocking down the unused warehouses.
Before long he moved out of the older part of Gotham and into the newer, cleaner part. It was like stepping out of one world and into another. The buildings and towers were all new and shinny, the streets were packed with people of all ages and ethnicities, the road was full of cars, it was the complete opposite of were he had just been.
Naruto didn't miss the looks he was getting form the people that saw him either. Mostly they would look at him for a moment before quickly walking away, some frowned, and a few even looked jealous. He just ignored them all, not bothering to give them the time of day and just continued on his way.
Eventually he came to his destination, the Gotham Luxury Hotel. Like most of the buildings in Gotham it was a large skyscraper, stretching high into the sky to such a degree that it was all but impossible to see the top when stood in front of it, with white marble steps leading to the front door.
Without saying a word the blonde pulled up in front of the hotel, not missing the raised eyebrow the valet gave him, and after paying the man to take his bike made his way toward the lobby. The front lobby was big, a lot bigger then it would ever actually need to be that was for sure, with marble floors and crystal chandeliers that looked pointlessly expensive in Narutos opinion. The front desk was set at the back of the room, right next to several elevators that had a guard stood next to each.
He had barely stepped through the door when one of said guards walked towards him, a thin man with brown hair and dressed in a pure white uniform next to him, and when the two men had got closer to him Naruto was able to see a badge proclaiming him as the manager on his chest.
"Whoever you are you need to leave, I will not have someone like you dirtying this hotel, and you are upsetting the guests."
Raising an eyebrow at the man's words, taking a moment to look around and notice that everyone in the Lobby had stopped what they were doing to stare at him, Naruto frowned.
"Someone like me?"
"Yes, someone like you, we don't need thugs in this hotel."
Smirking, Naruto moved his hand towards his belt, not missing the way everyone in the room stiffened at the action, or the way the large guard next to the manager moved his own hand to the clearly visible gun on his own belt, the blonde teen pulled out his wallet. He started flipping through the pockets, thinking aloud to himself as he did.
"A thug you say, well I see what you mean, can't have a thug dirtying you're hotel..."
Finally finding what he was looking for, Naruto pulled out his ID and handed it to the manager, whose face suddenly went very pale as his eyes flicked from the ID to the whiskered teen in front of him several time, his hands shaking. His smirk growing, Naruto put one hand in his pocket in a lazy way, showing that he was completely at ease.
"If this is the way you treat you're guest's maybe I should go somewhere else, after all I wouldn't want to 'dirty' you're hotel with my presence..."
If it was possible the mans face went even more pale, confusing the people that had stopped to watch what was happening before he handed to ID back and gave a low bow to the blonde.
"I am very sorry Mr Uzumaki; I did not know it was you, please forgive me!"
Sighing, Naruto walked passed the man, making his way towards the front desk with a bored expression on his face.
"Whatever"
Inside, he was laughing.
Before he had left Jump city Naruto had called the hotel to book a room, hiding the fact that he was rich was pointless now seeing as the media had found out, and book the penthouse suet. The man's face, along with everyone else's reactions, had been priceless. So was the one that the receptionist gave when he told her who he was, apparently his name had been giving to the staff because he had booked the most expensive room in the hotel.
XXX
Naruto spent the rest of the daylight hours in his room, which considering the size, wasn't that hard. It was bigger then most apartments, with lush red carpets, a king sized bed, a mini bar and several other things that he didn't even bother looking at. But the thing that he liked the most about this room was the fact it had a large balcony that looked out over a large part of Gotham, the side that didn't have all the old and abandoned warehouses. Because he was in the penthouse he was on the top floor, which meant he could see over several of the other skyscrapers.
This was where he was stood now, a cigarette in his had and a serious expression on his face, as he contemplated how he was going to find the book. In most cases it wasn't actually that hard to find a class 3 or above, he would just have to follow the destruction, but this time it was going to be a lot harder. This time he was in Gotham city, one of if not the most dangerous place in this world and filled with some of the worst criminal that had ever been born.
Before coming here he had spent hours researching every known villain that call this place home, learning about their habits and behaviour, just in case he ran into any of them while here, he had even done his homework on Batman and Batgirl. Most of them he wasn't too worried about, he was all but immune to all poisons because of his healing factor, so the Jokers gas wasn't a problem, he was almost positive he was stronger then Bane and if not definitely faster. Batman, if he was anything like Robin, would be a pain in the ass to deal with, along with Batgirl but for the most part he wasn't worried about either of them.
The only one in Gotham that he was worried about was Poison-Ivy.
With his more...animal like instincts he got from having the fox sealed inside him, Naruto was more at risk from the woman's pheromones then 'normal' people, the response his body would have if exposed to such a thing being unpredictable. Add in the fact that because of his training with the toads making him more in tune with nature, he didn't want to even think about the possible chaos that could ensue. But the chances of him running into the self proclaimed 'Mother Nature', was small, Gotham was a big city after all, so he didn't spend too much time worrying about it.
Letting out a sigh the whiskered teen finished his
cigarette, take one more look out over the city, before walking back inside his room and grabbing the scroll he had left on his bed when entering the room.
XXX
Naruto slowly made his way down the street, his hood pulled up to cover the top half of his face from view, and humming absentmindedly to himself as he went. He was back in one of the older parts of Gotham, meaning it was full of muggers and gangs, and was trying to make himself took like the perfect target for one of the men he could feel hiding in the side alleys waiting for someone to mug.
He didn't have to wait long.
As he passed between two broken streetlights, making it was darker then the rest of the street, the whiskered teen was pulled into an alley by two large men, one with a hat and the other with a large scar over his left eye, and was slammed hard against a wall, causing his hood to fall off in the process. Without missing a beat, the thug with a scar pulled out a switchblade and pressed it into his throat.
"Make a sound and I'll bleed you like a pig, give us your wallet and anything else you got on you."
The confident sneers on both men's faces was almost enough to make Naruto laugh, they had no idea of who they were threatening. What was worse was the fact that even if he did scream the knife wasn't even in the right place to do any major damage, this guy didn't even know what he was doing with the little scrap of metal the people of this world called a knife.
He was about to brake the scard thugs arm, forcing him to drop the knife in the process when suddenly the one with the hat jerked backwards and hit the opposite wall. Deciding to think about it later the blonde ex-nin used the distraction and grabbed his attackers arm, put just enough pressure on it to hurt but not break, and in a move too quick for the human eye to follow, twisted it into the thugs back and slammed him face first into the wall, the knife now in his hand and pressed against the mans jugular.
"What was it you said? Make a sound and I'll bleed you like a pig?"
He heard a small whimper escape the mans throat, the panic making his pulse increase making the vain he had the knife pressed to jump, drawing a small amount of blood when it grazed the skin. But before he could say anything else Naruto was interrupted by a stern, female voice behind him.
"That's enough, let him go."
Tearing his eyes way from the back of the mans head, being sure not to release the pressure he had on his arm or move the knife from his throat, Naruto looked at the person stood next to the other thug that was on the ground, his hands tied behind his back.
She looked to be in her late teens and was dressed in a grey bodysuit that clung to her form like a second skin, revealing a very well developed body, with black gloves and boots. She had a yellow belt with too many pockets to count and a yellow bat symbol on her chest. Despite the black bat shaped mask she wore over the top half of her face Naruto could still see the long red hair flowing down her to the middle of her back and the pair of stony blue eyes that were fixed on him. he also make a mental note of her scent, lavender, honey and for some strange reason a damp smell that he usually smelt on animals that lived in caves.
If it wasn't for the fact that Raven could beat the crap out of him, Naruto would have wolf whistled.
Smirking, the blonde turned back to the man he was pinning against the wall, before chuckling.
"As much as I would love to, I'm afraid that I still have a few questions I need to ask my new friend here, so I can't. But I'll tell you what; I'll give you what's left of him when I'm done."
Even though he wasn't looking, Naruto could practically feel the frown that crossed Batgirls face at his words. Before she could interrupt him again he turned his attention back to the thug that had tried to mug him, putting a little more pressure onto the arm he was holding behind the mans back, making him let out a small scream of pain.
"I'm looking for a man with a large, leather bond book, with an erratic personality. Tell me where I can find him or I'll do something you will regret."
The man's panic seemed to intensify at the threat, causing him to start shaking and if Naruto's nose was correct, piss himself. For the sake of the Sage of Six Paths he wasn't even using KI, just how pathetic could you get!
"I don't know anything!"
"I don't believe you..."
"I don't know anything!"
Sighing, Naruto pressed the knife a little harder into the thug's throat.
"Tell me what you know"
"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
Before he could go any further, a black gloved hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled the hand with the knife away from the back of the know crying mans neck. He didn't resist it, though he could if he wanted to, and after the knife was knocked out of his hands Naruto turned his eyes back to the frowning face of Batgirl.
"Can I help you?"
Her response was little more then a growl.
"I said that's enough! I don't know who you are but I'm taking you to the police for questioning."
Pulling himself out of her grip, getting surprised look from the masked girl at his strength, Naruto stepped away from the thug and let him slump to the ground having fainted. Brushing imaginary dust off his shoulders and straightening his shirt, the ex-nin couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips when he saw that Batgirl had moved into a fighting stance.
"You're almost as annoying as Traffic-light-san, though I guess it's understandable what with you having the same teacher. I have to wonder if the bat finds people like you of turns you into what you are."
Getting a confused look on her face at the strange teen's words, Batgirl was about to ask what he meant before the blonde just shrugged, gave her a little wave, before disappearing in a flash of yellow light that left her momentarily blind.
XXX
It took four more mugging that night before Naruto was able to get any kind of lead on the owner of the book, then again the fact that he didn't have either a name or description of the owner made things a lot more complicated and had lad him into several drug dens. Apparently there were quite a few people in Gotham with erratic personalities, who knew?
But finally, after using enough KI to almost give a gang of teens that had been trying to show off to each other by attacking him heart attacks, he was directed to one of the many empty warehouses that belonged to Gotham. Apparently some crazy guy with powers had been collecting followers over the last few weeks, for what they didn't know, and had set up a sort of church inside.
This didn't surprise Naruto, several time in the past when he had collected class 2 and 1 books he would have to deal with some kind of cult. When a book latched itself onto a person they tended to attracted people that weren't very stable, the powers the books grated its user making them almost seem like a god to their followers. Needless to say it was a giant pain in the ass to deal with.
After using a few clones, transformed to look like random homeless people so as not to be noticed, to check the area the blonde teen decided to return to his hotel room for the rest of the night. He would spend a few days watching, memorising the people that he saw going in and out of the 'church' and their routine, before finally making his move.
The other reason he was taking his time was that he needed to keep up appearances while in the city. Which was why, after spending time going around Gotham to se the sights like a good little tourist, he was going to a ball later in the day too meet with the rich and important of Gotham. It was supposed to be a fundraiser to help 'The Homeless of Gotham'. The fact that he had now been revealed as being rich meaning that an invitation had been left on his pillow of the hotel room when he had first arrived.
The fact was that although he was know for collecting rear books, Naruto didn't want people to know about certain books that he collected, which meant he needed a cover story as to why he was in Gotham. The ball had been an unexpected advantage in this sense. He had been planning to arrange a meeting with the Mayor in order to buy several plots of land, namely in the old part of the city that had been left to rot, for several reasons. Now he would have the chance to talk to the man himself at the fundraiser.
So after returning to his room, showering and getting a goodnight's sleep, Naruto did exactly what he had planned. He spent several hours wandering around the city, visiting all the touristy spots and even a few book stores, Naruto found himself wondering around the Gotham Zoo.
He never like zoos, he understood that they served a purpose in protecting animals from going extinct and other things along those lines, and that it was necessary to charge people to come and gawk at the animals to keep them going, but the look in the animals eyes was not something he enjoyed. Animals were meant to be free, not locked away in a cage, and he could never get use to the almost dead look that a lot of them developed after being in a zoo for several years.
It was while he reading a sign that proclaimed a group of foxes inside the cage it was attached to as being a rear breed that was all but extinct in the wild, that the sound of something banging against metal reached his ears. Turning towards the sound, Naruto was met with a strange sight.
At the hyena exhibit a few cages down was a woman dressed in a skin tight black and red leotard, with a matching jester hat. Her faces was painted white, with the exception of her black lipstick and the black painted around her eyes to look like a mask, and had bright blue eyes and the largest grin he had ever seen stretched across her lips. In her hands was an oversized sledgehammer, which the woman was using to bash the cage in front of her into pieces.
He recognised her immediately, as did the other people around them that had started to run away, as Harley-Quinn.
It didn't take the deranged woman long to break though the metal bars that surround the pen, creating a bridge with the twisted metal for the two hyenas to run out of the pen. The moment they were out the to deadly animals started rubbing themselves against Harley in affection, making a giggling like sound that was matched perfectly by the insane clown girl. It took her about two minutes before she realised hat all but one of the people that had been walking around the zoo had fled. Grinning, Harley skipped towards that blonde teen with the bucket hat on his head that seemed to be ignoring her in favour of reading the sign with information on foxes and coming up behind him, leaned over his shoulder as if reading the sign herself.
"What-cha yah reading?"
"I was just reading about how only 57 of this particular breed of fox are left in the wild and the rest are bread in captivity."
Frowning for a moment when he didn't even turn to look at her, Harley quickly returned her usual grin to its rightful place before draping one of her arms over the teens shoulder and resting her head on the other.
"That sounds boring, why the hell would-yah wants to read something like that when the world is full of cartoons?"
"I like reading"
Pouting, the clown like girl decided to get to the point.
"Yah do know who I am, right?"
"Harley-Quinn, what's you're point"
Giggling into her hand, Harley leaned in closer so that she was only an inch away from the teen's ear, before talking in a sexy voice that had made more then a few men fly back with a nose bleed, right into his ear.
"Aren't yah scared of little old me?"
Finally turning to look her in the face, his expression one of complete and total neutrality, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the now wide eyes clown girl.
"Should I be?"
For a moment nothing happened, Harley seeming frozen in place as her wide blue eyes wondered his face, lingering on his checks a little longer then the rest. Then, without any warning, she let out a high pitched squeal, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek against his own.
"CUTE!"
After a few minutes of her strangling Naruto, whose face had started to turn purple, before letting him go and started rubbing his checks instead. At this point there was only one thing going through the blondes head.
'In the name of the Sage, don't purr!'
Unfortunately for Naruto his body wasn't listening to his brain and a small pure escaped his lips, making the over excited clown girl squeal and pull him into another hug, smothering his face into her breasts.
"You're so cute; I think I'll keep you! From now on I'll call you foxy, cuz of your whiskers and the fact you were looking at the foxes!"
He couldn't help but the sweat drop that formed on the back of his head at Harley's words, what were the bloody chances of her picking that name! Finally having enough, Naruto pulled himself out of her surprisingly strong grip, and after taking a few deep breaths after almost being suffocated straightened his clothes.
"You're a very strange woman, you know that, right?"
Putting on a large, innocent smile Harley just nodded her head happily.
"If I try and run your just going to chance me, aren't you?"
Again she nodded.
Letting out a deep sigh, Naruto rubbed the back of his head in exasperation, taking a moment to think before nodding to himself.
"Then it's a good thing that the guy dressed as a bat behind you is about to tie you up."
Getting a confused look on her face, Harley had just enough time to turn her head before it was met with a black glove fist. She fell to the ground, unconscious, which left him an unobserved view of the man behind her. He was tall, almost a full head taller them him, with a grey body suit, yellow belt, and a mask covering the top half of his face from view with a long black cap, with a bat symbol on his chest. He could smell the same dampness that had clung to Batgirl on the man, along with the scent of sweat and metal.
They looked at each other for a moment, neither saying a word as they sized the other up, before Naruto put a small smile on his face and pointed to something behind the dark crime fighter.
"Thanks, but you forgot about the hyenas."
Eyes widening behind his mask, Batman was suddenly hit in the back by one of the giggling hyenas. They rolled around on the ground, the hyena trying to latch its jaws into the man's body as they went. Naruto just stood to one side, watching was the dark night wrested with a hyena, wondering what the hell was going on, before the sound of giggling brought his attention to the second hyena on his left.
They stared at each other for about a minute before Naruto let out a small amount of KI, making the hyena let out a small whine before running off towards the downed form of Harley, picking her up by the back of her collar, before disappearing out of the front gate, the other hyena not a second behind.
Turning back to Batman, who was just laying on the ground, Naruto casually walked towards him before nudging him with his foot.
"You're not dead, right?"
Groaning, Batman slowly got to his feet before looking around with a small frown on his face. Seeing this, Naruto let a small smile cross his face before pointing towards the gate.
"The hyenas ran off that way with the crazy clown girl."
Nodding, Batman took a moment to look at the strange blonde teen, before running off in the direction he was pointing.
XXX
An hour later Bruce let out a tired sigh as he sat down in front of the computer in the Batcave, his hood pulled down, and after taking a moment to think started typing. He had lost Harley and the hyenas after chasing them across half of Gotham, much to his annoyance, but for now there was nothing he could do about it, he would just have to wait until she or the Joker next showed their faces.
Speaking of face, for some reason he couldn't get the whiskered teens out of his head, he couldn't put his finger on it but Bruce was positive he had seen him before. But he just couldn't place it, like an itch in the back of his mind he just couldn't reach.
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, the dark hero turned to look at the elevator door as the sound of them opening reached his ears, revealing Barbra Gordon, AKA batgirl, AKA the seventeen year old daughter of the commissioner. He hadn't seen her since yesterday, them both having taken different sections of the city to patrol and her having gone straight home after she was finished.
When he saw the small frown on her face, all traces of tiredness vanished from Bruce's face instantly.
"What happened?"
Walking over and leaning on the desk next to him, the red headed teen yet out a sigh before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. Without saying a word she handed him the paper to show him a ruff sketch of a boy, maybe in his teens, wearing a hoodie and jeans with a bucket hat on his head. Then he noticed something off about the picture.
"Why no face?"
"The alley was too dark for me to get a good look at the guy, but I thought you should know about him just encase."
Frowning slightly, the itch in the back of his head retuning before he brushed it off, Bruce turned back to the computer and started typing.
"What happened?"
"I was making my way through the West side of Gotham when I spotted to thugs dragging teenager into and alley and pressing a knife to his throat, didn't take much brain work to figure out he was being mugged, so I intervened and took out the thug without a knife was quick as possible. But before I could move onto the next the teenager grabbed the guys arm, snatched the knife out of his hand and had him pinned against the wall face first faster then I could follow. Then he held the knife to the guy's jugular vain and started interrogating him."
Stopping his typing for a moment, Bruce looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Let me guess, he wanted to know about a man with 'a large, leather bond book, with an erratic personality'?"
Raising an eyebrow, Barbra nodded, waiting for him to explain.
"I came across several thugs and gangs last night saying they had been beaten by some kid in a bucket hat, what else happened when you saw him."
"Well when it got to the point I thought he was actually going to cut the guy throat I grabbed his arm and knocked the knife out of his hand, I was about to take him to the police for questioning when he broke my grip on his arm. Oh and I think he knows Robin, he talked about a Traffic-Light-san and how I was just like him because he have the same teacher, then he just disappeared in a flash of light."
Frowning, Bruce thought over everything she had told him and understood why she as worried. They were always on the lookout for the next villain to show up, and this guy was sending up red flags. He spent several minutes thinking over his next move before slumping a little in his seat and letting out a sigh, something that didn't go unnoticed by the red headed teen stood next to him.
"...you're gong to call him, aren't you?"
Without answering Bruce pulled his mask on, Barbra quickly doing the same, before typing on the computer again. A minute later the large screen was filled with the image a surprise looking Robin, but the surprise was quickly replaced with indifference
"Why are you calling me?"
Ignoring the stab of sadness that hit them both at the boy cold reaction, Bruce held up the drawing of the teen with a bucket hat without a face.
"Do you have any idea who this might be?"
Even without a face Robin was able to recognise the image of Naruto without any problem. The two dark heroes watched in confusion as the boy wonder let out a tired sigh before pulling out a communicator from his pocket.
"Raven, you better come to the common room quick, it's about Naruto."
Putting the device away again, Robin tuned back to the screen.
"His name is Naruto Uzumaki; he lives here in Jump city"
Leaning forward slightly, Batgirl raised an eyebrow at his strange behaviour.
"Is he a part of your team?"
"...no"
"Is he a Villain?"
"...no"
Having enough of the short answers, Batman frowned.
"Then who is he?"
"My boyfriend."
Both Batman and Batgirl looked to the side of the screen to see a girl in a blue cloak with purple hair and a stoic expression on her face walking into the room. She moved to stand next to Robin, before looking at the two famous heroes.
"What did he do?"
"He's going around Gotham interrogating thugs looking for someone, we don't know why or who it is, but his methods are extreme."
They both watched as both Robin and Raven frowned before sharing a look, Robin asking her a question in a voice that they could barely hear.
"Is this about a...book?"
After seeing her nod in confirmation before she turned and walked away, Robin turned back to the screen.
"You should leave him alone, don't get in his way or interfere; he'll be back here in a few days."
Getting a confused look at the slight edge of fear she could hear in his voice, Batgirl crossed her arms over her chest.
"Just who is this guy and why are you scared of him?"
Quickly looking around to make sure Raven had gone Robin let out a sigh.
"Several reason; one if anything happenes to him Raven will kick my ass, two, even though I can't tell you why he's in Gotham I will say that its important he finds what he's looking for as soon as possible. The third reason his that even though I don't know much about him, what I do know is that you can't beat him in a fight, he's too powerful."
His frown deepening even more, Bruce sat back in his chair with his hands gripping the sides tightly.
"What do you mean we can't beat him?"
"I don't know everything he can do; he's even more secretive then you are, but what I have seen is enough to make me weary. Super speed, super strength, transportation, control over wind and fire, regeneration/healing, something I can't actually explain when he gets pissed off that is apparently called Killing Intent, combat skills, the ability to run up vertical surfaces, some kind of sound manipulation and possible increased intelligence. These are the one we know about, although Raven might know more I'm not sure."
Eyes widening slightly at the list of known abilities the blonde apparently had, Barbra let out a whistle.
"If he's so powerful, and dating one of your team, why haven't you got him to join you yet."
Both saw the uncomfortable look on his face and before he could answer, Bruce spoke.
"He refused"
"...Pretty much, yeah. He doesn't want to be a hero."
"What else can you tell us about him?"
"Not much, not even Raven knows everything, though I'm positive sure she knows more then she's telling us, and the only one that dose know him wouldn't talk. He moved here about three years ago from Japan, I checked his papers and although they are good it's obvious they are fake, he is the richest man in Jump city, donates to a lot of charities, runs a book store and lives in a small flat behind it. For the most part he's laidback, but has serious moments and when he gets pissed off...I really don't know how to explain it but its bad. He recently paid bail for three of our regular villains and has them fixing his store, which they broke, and I don't know what he did but they are living with him and the guy I mentioned before and haven't committed a crime since."
They spent several minutes in silence, thinking over everything Robin had told them, before Batman nodded.
"Can you send us a picture of him?"
"I already did, I sent you a file a few weeks ago with the information I had on him at the time to ask you to look into him."
Nodding, Bruce was about to say something else before he was cut off.
"Robin-"
"I've got to go, talk to you another time."
Without another word the boy wonder cut the connection and the screen in front of them went black.
Letting out a sigh, feeling the hand Barbra lay on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, Bruce brought up the file Robin had sent him a few weeks ago, his eyes widening slightly when he saw the photo. It was the blonde teen he had seen at the zoo earlier in the day, the one that Harley had taken a shine to.
XXX
Well here you go, this chapter is finished, hope you enjoyed it :)
R&R:)