Gotham City; August 27th; 6:17PM.
Downtown wasn't the safest place in Gotham City, in fact, some considered it a death sentence to simply drive through the small part of the already dangerous city, however; in this particular warehouse, there was a brawl currently going on where Pain was punched through the air slamming into a row of metal piping.
Batgirl, Robin, Superboy, Kaldur, M'gaan, and Kid Flash were all knocked unconscious covered in some sort of mud-like substance; Artemis weakly fired an arrow that hit the attacker dead-on exploding in his shoulder. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary opponent; this beast was massive standing at an impressive ten feet tall with a bulky figure made completely of a mud/clay like substance. The foe was dubbed Clayface by Robin and Batgirl when the Dynamic Trio took him down a week ago during the Doctor Fate fiasco; after his escape though, the Team was tasked with bringing him in and putting him in a maximum-security cell made specially for him, however; that is something easier said than done.
Clayface turned and extended his semi-solid arm across the room pinning the archer to the wall; "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Pain leapt upwards as a massive orb of flame engulfed the beast and severed his connection to Artemis.
Clayface walked through the flames effortlessly; he approached the shinobi as he prepared for another attack, this was cut short by the glass ceiling above shattering with three shuriken raining down on Clayface's back, freezing his back-side over and causing him to reach upwards where Pain came in with a Rasengan aimed directly at the midsection, the Jutsu warped and twisted the monsters body, however; the beasts clay-like body absorbed the attack and wrapped his arm in his substance.
"Damn!" another shuriken from the shadows severed Pain from his enemy and revealed himself to be none other than the Batman himself.
"I had that!" Pain shouted as Batman swung his arm behind him without even looking hitting the beast in-between the eyes with a sub-zero shuriken detonating and encasing the entire monstrosity in a thick layer of ice. The Bat approached the beast before roundhouse kicking him into a million pieces, "Once he thaws, he'll reform," he stated typing something into his holographic gauntlet, "The League will take it from here."
…
Mount Justice; August 27th; 7:22PM
As they all exited the teleporters covered in mud and gunk, Batman instructed them all accordingly, "I need to speak with Pain; the rest of you hit the showers and head home."
Superboy wiped the mud from his face, "Go home? I already am home," Batman ignored his sly comment and stopped Pain in his tracks.
"Listen," He said as he pulled his helmet off, "I know the Team didn't do so well but, you didn't have to-"
"The Team performed adequately, it was you."
Sasuke scoffed as his Sharingan shifted back into its regular form, "Me? Listen these weights may be slowing me down a bit but-"
"It's not about your body it's about your mind; you're their leader and your head's not in the game," Batman explained folding his arms as Sasuke turned pulling on his hair lightly.
"I've got a lot on my mind alright? Madara, missions, training-"
"Artemis."
Sasuke darted his head back towards Bruce, "I told you a while ago not to spy on me!" He approached the Bat who was far less than intimidated.
"And you really thought I'd listen?"
Sasuke nearly crushed his helmet between his hands, "I've never… had a crush before…" he sighed and turned back around to face away from the Bat, "I've never had any interest in love before!"
Bruce paused for a moment, not being the best with relationships either he simply shrugged, "Take the day off, talk to her, see where it leads; You can split your time between her and the team but, you can't split your mind, either you're here 100% or not at all," the caped-crusader turned around quickly without a second thought.
Sasuke looked down at his helmet and sighed, not knowing what to do, not even in the slightest.
Naruto warped into the main hall of the Mountain with a sigh of relief; his Mangekyou bled slightly but, it was wiped away quickly enough. Sasuke saw this as Naruto approached with a load of scrolls in his arms, "Have you mastered Sage Mode yet?" He asked nonchalantly knowing full well the answer was No.
"Have you become a Junin yet?"
Sasuke turned as Naruto passed him heading towards his room in the cave, "Hey, Naruto, you just came back from our world, right?"
Naruto raised a brow, turning around curiously he answered the question, "Yea, I should be heading back too, I picked up some good techniques we can learn from other clans and I think we need all the help-"
"Take me with you," Sasuke cut him off completely.
"What?"
"Take me back to my world, I want to see my Earth," Sasuke closed his eyes sighing deeply as Naruto tightened his grip on his scrolls.
"It's only going to bum you out; Why would you want to go back at all?" Naruto asked taking a step forward.
"I need closure."
…
Barbara was just getting out of the shower-room in only a bra and panties when Artemis walked in and immediately shielded her eyes, "Sorry, sorry; should I wait for you to-"
"Nonsense," Barbara said quickly throwing on a magenta tank-top over herself, "We're both girls, right? Can I do something for you?"
"I need advice," She said looking away obviously embarrassed to even admit she needed the advice let alone coming to someone for it; she had already showered and changed out of her uniform so she was in her regular attire at this point.
"Sure," Barbara said curiously, "What about?"
"Just… boy stuff…" She covered her eyes with her palm trying to hide her blush but, Barbara only chuckled.
"Well, it's hot as hell in here, lets walk and talk," She headed for the exit to the hall as they approached the control center casually and after a few minutes of talking, Barbara broke the silence, "So, which boy are we talking about here? That's question number one."
"Well," As they entered the control center Sasuke and Naruto joined hands and Naruto activated his Mangekyou, with a single shout the space around them warped and contorted until they vanished completely. Barbara noticed the blush on Artemis' face already deepening; she immediately understood and suddenly felt reluctant to give her any advice.
"Oh," She said turning back to her teammate, "You have a crush on Sasuke?"
"Shhh!" Artemis pushed the girl-wonder back putting a finger to her lips, "If Wally finds out, I'll never hear the end of it," she whispered as they looked around and found no one, they continued the conversation.
"What exactly do you need advice on? I mean your attractive, smart, and a badass with a bow; Why would he have any reason to pass you up?" Barbara sat in the center of the holo-ring as Artemis followed her example.
"Well, it's more like I know he likes me but, I don't know how to confront him about it… or anyone for that matter," She laid flat on her back as Barbara exhaled deeply.
"When Sasuke first came to this dimension I was head over heels for him," She was being honest which was appreciated but, the next part of her sentence seemed slightly envious, "But, it's been brought to my attention through obvious signs that he totally isn't into me."
Artemis propped herself up on her elbows and raised a brow, "So, all hope is lost?"
"For me? Pretty much, he seems to care about me a lot but, not in the way I care about him, if you pick up what I'm putting down," Barbara chuckled for a moment, "Being the daughter of the Chief of Police and protégé to the greatest detective on Earth, I can tell he's your type and you're his," She ended the sentence with great dismay but, didn't lose her smile.
"I'll find someone obviously, I don't wanna dwell over a guy I met four months ago," She continued, "But, you two seem to share the same nihilistic view on the world and you seem to understand that about each other."
Artemis laid back down flat covering her eyes with her hands, "So, why do I feel like I'm not myself around him… I'm used to being my normal cynical self but, when I'm with him..." she trailed off before returning to her train of thought; "I just met him damn it!"
"Maybe you should just take it slow?"
Artemis looked up at her waiting for her to continue, "Ya know, hold hands here and there, maybe eventually kiss… or something, LOOK, my best advice for you with Sasuke is not to fan-girl over him, rushing things will only lead to disaster."
She sat up and looked off into the distance, "Take things slow… no rush… yea, that seems pretty simple."
"If he reciprocates, it'll happen on its own, trust me," Barbara placed a comforting hand on Artemis' shoulder as they both stood.
"Thanks for the advice, even though you had a thing for him… If I'd known I wouldn't have-"
"Ah, don't bother with apologies, we're teammates and I guess we have to deal with things like this, right?"
…
Former Konohagakure; Land of Fire; 10:38PM
Naruto and Sasuke warped into existence on a new plane of reality; he gazed around and recognized he was in the Hokage's main-office, the windows were shattered and the massive desk had been over turned. Papers and scrolls scattered across the floor below his feet crumbled under his step, "I worked in this office for a total of three days," Naruto began walking towards the glassless window and gazing out at Hokage mountain which was all but demolished barely leaving the First and Seconds faces in-tact, the rest were lost completely with craters filling their spots, "For Seventy hours I had accomplished my life goal; I achieved my dream… I never even got my face carved on the stupid mountain."
Sasuke closed his eyes and turned back towards the exit as Naruto stared out at the devastated village below his view, "I spent weeks looking for survivors but, I only found bodies."
"Have you traveled to different Lands? You told me there was a chance that," Sasuke stopped midsentence, "That maybe someone…"
"I lied," Naruto placed his hands down on the window-pane and closed his eyes, "I wanted you to come back and see for yourself but, once I saw how happy you were over there… with actual friends, I even saw you smile."
Sasuke sighed, "I get the picture; where did you burry them?"
Naruto opened his eyes and turned to him suddenly, "I never told you that I-"
"I know you, you're my other-half; so, where did you burry them?"
Naruto extended his arm and allowed Sasuke to grip it tightly; his Mangekyou spun as they were warped through space arriving at the head of a massive mountain with ruptured faces carved into it.
Sasuke looked around for a moment without losing his grim expression, "You're way better at the Kamui than Kakashi was; must be Hagaromo's blessing."
Naruto stayed silent as they walked through nearly a foot of ash and their mere footsteps caused small structures left standing to collapse, "Here they are," Naruto turned and looked up at the Moon as Sasuke activated his Sharingan to better see the gravestones in the darkness of the night.
There were eight tombstones but, above them all hung loosely a sign carved in wood that read in Japanese, 'They fought till the end,' Sasuke was stoic as usual, not saying or doing anything as he read off the names to himself.
"Kakashi, Tsunade, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and lastly, Lee," He only whispered to himself the names but, he simply closed his eyes; the curse of his Kekki Genkai allowed him to view their decomposing corpses buried beneath the ground and soot.
"They did everything they could; Lee even activated all Eight Gates…"
Silence and sorrow filled the area completely, making it impossible for Naruto to lie any longer, he sighed loudly without looking into his friend's eyes, "I told you I never found her body," he stated as he looked back up at Sasuke with a tear in his eye, "I lied about that too…"
They walked across the mountain side, pushing their feet through ash as if it were snow during the winter, "I made a shrine special for her; she deserved it, she was the closest thing I had to a sister."
Sasuke said nothing and knelt down at her grave, "I'm sorry…" he whispered as a drop of liquid dripped onto the ash lightly covering the gravestone that read, 'In Loving Memory of Sakura Haruno.' Her picture was singed and burnt slightly at the edges but, it was plastered and laminated to the gravestone.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here…" Sasuke tightened his grip on the ground at the foot of her grave, "If I had just been here… IF I HAD JUST BEEN HERE!" Suddenly a massive purple fist made completely of chakra slammed into the mountain side causing it to shake violently before a hand gripped the Uchiha's shoulder tightly.
"I spent a lot of days crying here; staring at her burnt-picture, wondering where she was when it happened or if she even saw it coming," Naruto wiped a tear from his own eye and smiled down at Sasuke, "But, I eventually realized that she would kick my ass across Konoha if she knew I was wallowing like that; so, instead I vowed to fight for her and every single person Madara slaughtered."
"He's too strong, I can't kill him alone."
"You're not alone, we can fight him together," Naruto assured as Sasuke looked back up at him with tears streaming down his Mangekyou and Rinnegan.
"We'll lose," he deadpanned.
Naruto smiled grabbing Sasuke's other shoulder and pulling him closer, "Than we'll do that together too…"
Sasuke turned back to Sakura's grave, with her smiling picture decorating it, "I never got to tell her how I felt; I was too caught up in my past, I…"
"You never got closure," Naruto blatantly stated.
Sasuke stood up and grabbed his head, "And now all of these emotions with Artemis and everything… How am I supposed to even attempt a relationship when I never even told Sakura that I loved her, not once?"
"That's just it," Naruto answered, "You can't; you can't tell her you love her, you can't hold her or profess love of any kind… But under these circumstances, Sakura wouldn't want you held up on all of this…"
"The dead don't want anything," Sasuke cut him off.
"Even with eyes like yours, you don't see?" Naruto stepped behind her gravestone and placed a hand on it, "It's not about her death, it's not about any of their deaths; it's about her life and what she would have wanted for us."
Sasuke and Naruto were silent as the Uzumaki caressed her gravestone with a gentle smile, "Don't mourn her death; celebrate her life," these words rang through Sasuke's ears like sirens, "Focus all your anger, frustration and sorrow into putting Madara down once and for all."
Sasuke smiled, gaining his stoic composure, he sighed and wiped the tear from his eye, "I'm going to kill that stupid son of a bitch if it's the last thing I do; consider that my shinobi-way."
He turned from her grave and walked away slowly as Naruto followed quickly behind him, "Hey, don't take my motto, jerk!"
…
Gotham City; August 27th; 11:06PM.
After arriving home from her brief chat with Barbara, Artemis wasted no time on turning the TV on, laying out all of her arrows and weapons, and breaking out her sharpening-kit from underneath the living room arm-chair. Her apartment was meek and small, it had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchenette, and a living room with one 30" television and basic cable. Even though the day hadn't been the best and she didn't exactly have a mansion to come home to, sharpening her arrows and tuning her bow with a little late-night TV was one of the simplest pleasures she could enjoy without any stress of romance or villains trying to kill her.
Suddenly, from behind her the TV shut off and she turned to face a woman in her late 30s sitting in an old wheel-chair holding an envelope in her lap, "Why'd you-"
"This came in the mail for you!" She sounded excited as she swung her arm out with the envelope in hand.
Artemis scoffed grabbing the paper from her hand, "You opened it? Mom!" she looked the paper over as her mother rolled her eyes.
"Just read it," her mother stated happily.
Artemis' eyes turned curiously to the paper, reading it over as her eyes widened until she finished the text, "I've been awarded a full scholarship by the Wayne Foundation to the reopened Gotham Academy? But, I didn't apply," she questioned lowering the letter to her lap.
Her mother rolled forwards in her wheel-chair, "It's not that kind of scholarship; either you qualify or you don't, this is an amazing opportunity, you should be thrilled!" her mother practically shouted with a wide grin on her face.
Artemis crumbled the award up in her hands and tossed it onto the small coffee table beside her, "Yea, I'm not switching schools, all my friends are at Gotham North," she turned around and grabbed an arrow to sharpen.
The woman grabbed the award and uncrumpled it staring deeply at it; she wheeled forwards and grabbed the arrow from her hands quickly, "You're going. Or you give up your extra-curriculars."
Artemis stood up and put her hands on her hips, "Mom," she stated as she grabbed the arrow back with a coy smile, "Don't make threats you can't enforce…" she turned around but, didn't get far before she heard her Mother slam her fists down on the arm-rests of her chair.
"Artemis!" She reached out and grabbed her wrist, "This is a chance to better your life! To follow in footsteps that lead as far away from here as possible," she looked down as a tear slipped down her cheek and landed on the award letter.
The blonde archer's expression softened quickly, "A chance I never had…" the mother continued as her daughter knelt down in front of her grabbing the letter and rereading it once before looking back at her.
"Okay, mom, I'll go. I'll go for you," she placed her hand on her mother's as they smiled at one another and hugged it out; after what she had inadvertently done to her mother, she should try her best to honor her wishes.
…
Naruto and Sasuke warped into existence grasping each-other's arms atop a massive statue of Madara Uchiha from ages earlier; directly across from that statue was a replica of the one they were standing on carved into the shape of the First Hokage himself.
"Ironic," Sasuke muttered, "That this place would be the last standing structure in the entire world after Madara burns it all to the ground."
Naruto moved to sit atop the edge of Madara's head, "Maybe he's got a sentimental side?"
Sasuke looked out into the distance, viewing the destroyed world from nearly 200-feet up; everything seemed so bleak. Two Mangekyou Sharingan and he still didn't notice the figure watching them from across the river atop Hashirama's statue.
"It's surprising to find you two here," They turned on a dime prepared to attack when they faced none other than Madara Uchiha himself; the mad-man sat atop Hashirama's Ninja Headband, glaring out into the sky, "Coincidence or fate?"
"Fate!" Naruto shouted as his Honored Sage Mode activated in an instant with his Mangekyou already strained from multiple teleportation's, it was about as useless as a regular kunai but, this didn't hinder him as he formed two Rasenshuriken in either of his palms. He leapt with super-strength, flying across the river and aiming both of his attacks directly for his enemy's skull; Madara smiled in response and without worry, he gestured his hand in Naruto's direction.
"Almighty Push," he mumbled, "Really, young jinchuriki, when will you learn?"
Naruto flew back first into Madara's face or at least his statues face; his body implanted in the concrete, "I'm not a Jinchuriki anymore! You took that away from me!"
Madara chuckled as Sasuke stood passively without a word, "I'd give it back but, that would increase your chances of stopping me and I can't have that."
The ancient shinobi leapt from Hashirama's head at super-speeds appearing atop the water below walking along-side the river.
"Madara," Sasuke announced for the first time, "I need to tell you something," the ninja sped down to the water mere feet from Madara's face, his approach alone intimidated him enough to activate his own Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Sasuke was quiet at first but, his expression didn't waver, "I wanted to make you a promise…"
"Is that so?"
Sasuke's expression was blank and stoic as he approached the elder Uchiha, neither showing any form of intimidation or fear, "You will not take over my world and I will kill you myself, I promise."
They were silent, clearly with just their Mangekyou activated they were equals but, that was far from their full power; Madara brushed his long black hair from his face, "Don't keep promises you can't keep, son."
"Don't call me that," Sasuke snapped, "Now just leave; I can't stop you now and I'm sure you have your own business to attend to."
"Right you are," Madara turned just as Naruto pulled himself from the rubble of the statue, "Much like you I wanted to visit this place to reminisce before destroying it; I was given a device by my new pals, what was it they called it, 'Thermo-Nuclear'?"
Sasuke and Naruto widened their eyes as they glanced at one another as they glanced back Madara had vanished; Naruto quickly warped himself to Sasuke; his Mangekyou now bleeding profusely, he grabbed Sasuke's shoulder as he took one last look at the Valley of the End before the detonation began. The warping began before the shockwave hit them and then, they were gone.
…
Naruto and Sasuke warped into existence behind, the not at all startled Bat whom typed away on his computer; "So, is the decision made?"
Naruto turned immediately, using the Kamui in such succession made him week; he's need three days bed rest bare minimum, however, it was worth it for Sasuke to work out those pent up emotions.
Sasuke stepped forwards with his usual stoic expression, "Decision made; I'm here 100%."
"All team members meet in the control center; mission briefing in 5," As if he were a drill sergeant, Batman called upon his covert team whom immediately began suiting up.
Artemis nervously approached Sasuke as they sat in wait for the team's arrival, she was full costume but, pulled back her cowl whilst the others weren't looking, "Look, I know we just met like two weeks ago and we don't know too much about each-other but, I was wondering if you'd want to get to know me? A-And vice versa, duh," she closed her eyes calmly waiting for rejection, she had hoped for the best but, Sasuke was certainly a hard rock to crack but, what she didn't expect was his answer.
"Sure," he responded nonchalantly, "Let's get coffee sometime; after the Doctor Fate night, I think we have a few things to discuss," he turned and for the briefest moment he smiled back at her.
Batman addressed them promptly, "You two are just in time for your next mission," the rest of the team including Batgirl, Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Miss Martian all lined up in the center of the room where Artemis flipped her cowl back on and Sasuke summoned his Pain armor.
"Where's Kaldur?" Wally asked.
"Aquaman has informed me that there was a major attack on Atlantis and Kaldur is assisting; he's excused from this mission."
Batman cut straight to the point, "The Watchtower detected an immense power-surge in the center of the Bialiyan Desert…" he trailed off as Sasuke's thoughts focused more on gathering Nature Energy.
These missions may help in his training but, in his eyes that's all they're good for, if he can train while this blither the Batman speaks then so be it. Regardless his Sharingan can read lips anyways.
…
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Hope you enjoyed!
This one was ore closure than anything else; dont fret, the next few chapters will be worth your wild.