Edited: 2/3/14

A/N: I've put a link to my photobucket on my profile where I put up pictures of Isane and some characters in this story. Mad Bobert actually asked an important question in a review of chapter 9 about which DC elements I'll follow and I'm actually happy to say that I will include the Justice League, Young Justice, and Teen Titans. I might also incorporate a bit of Man of Steel, but only a bit. Keep in mind though that I'll be using the cartoon versions, and occasionally the comics.

Chapter 10: Gotham's Elite

"Did you get that?" asked Bruce, now clad in his batman suit, as they emerged out of the tumbler at the docs.

"…no. I couldn't understand a thing you were saying." confessed Isane as she fiddled with her orange mask.

"Really Isane? This is important." said a frustrated Bruce.

"Well sorry, but you sounded like you were gargling marbles. No offense." she huffed.

"No I don't!" he protested, "…do I?"

"All I'm saying is that you don't have to take it to the extreme, you'll damage your throat if you keep on doing that." she said as she put on her mask, "All you have to do is lower your voice a bit, you don't have to go all overboard."

"Says the woman posing as a man and wearing a mask." he commented dryly.

Isane chose to change the subject at that, "There's no time for this man! These guys will get away if we keep chitchatting!"

Bruce just shook his head and exited the tumbler after her.

They made their way to the smuggler's location silently, looking out for any lone men. They eventually spotted one and Isane hid herself inside a metal shipping crate while Bruce positioned himself upside down from a crane. He did always have a flair for the dramatic.

The man approached her hiding spot slowly, making her want to just yell at him to hurry the hell up; she'd placed a shadow clone to watch over Falcone and she'd been pleased to find out that the damn corrupt cop that was going to try to kill Rachel was there. Like hell she'd just let him leave. She readied herself as the man was finally within her reach and wasted no time in pulling him inside the dark crate, giving him a blow to the head in order to knock him out.

"One of them got away; he's probably reached the others by now." Bruce informed her as she approached him.

"There's also that cop, Detective Arnold Flass, that's working for Falcone." said Isane, "He seems like the kind of asshole that would be the first one to leave."

"We'll have to split up." reasoned Bruce.

"Sure, I'll get the cop. He pisses me off." said Isane before using jumping on top of a crate and sneaking away as Bruce went after the other men.

She could hear the gunshots and screams almost instantly.

She spotted the cop getting in his car and landed right next to the driver's door, using her chakra enhanced strength to rip it off of the car. The man gave a strangled yell at her sudden appearance, and he started to reach for his gun in an attempt to damage her. It was pathetic really, so she settled for scaring the shit out of him by flipping the car over. Bruce seemed to be handling things quite well on his side either way.

"Wh-who are you!?" yelled the corrupt cop as he crawled out of the car and tried to get away.

She groaned at that, would she have to introduce herself to every villain she fought here? "I'm Fire Shadow, and you're lucky that Batman asked me not to kill."

She was about to start beating the shit out of him but a thought suddenly popped into her head 'What would Batman do?' and so she head-butted him to knock him out.

Needless to say, she laughed her ass off when she found out that Bruce had done that to Falcone as well.

"I must confess, I didn't think you had it in you Bats." said Isane as they made their way to the tumbler in order to rescue Rachel.

"We've been sparring together for a while now and you don't think I'm capable of taking out some third-rate thugs?" asked Bruce.

"Oh no, not that. I just can't believe that you actually came up with the idea to tie up Falcone to resemble a bat; that was actually pretty good coming from you Mr. Broody." she clarified.

He chuckled at that, "I have my moments."

Isane watched in amusement as Batman beat the shit out of a guy right behind an oblivious Rachel. They'd gotten to the train station just in time, and Bruce had wasted none of it in getting the job done.

"AH!" screamed Rachel as she spotted them, immediately pulling out her taser and firing it at them.

Isane ducked to the side while Bruce merely let it hit him head on, knowing that it wouldn't do anything.

"What the hell!" yelled Isane, "You could've hit me with that thing!"

"Falcone sent them to kill you." Bruce informed Rachel as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Psst, Bruce." whispered Isane, "Lower your voice a bit."

"Why?" Rachel asked, looking oddly at the masked Isane who huffed at getting those looks even in her masked persona.

"You rattled his cage." he answered as he threw an envelope full of incriminating pictures at a spot next to the woman.

By that point Isane had no interest in the conversation whatsoever, so she zoned out.

"Where did he go?" Isane heard Rachel ask after a while.

Puzzled by this, the kunoichi gave the place a quick look and muttered a "Shit!" before using the body flicker to get to the tumbler.

"I can't believe you left me there!" she complained to Bruce.

"Serves you right for getting distracted." he told her as he started driving.

"I thought we had something special…" she sniffed as she looked away from him.

"Not even Alfred would fall for that." said Bruce.

Isane still wouldn't budge though, forcing him to give in "Would you stop if I told you that I have some upgrades that I would like for you to work on for the batsuit?"

"Okay, and you were right," agreed Isane, "Not even Alfred falls for that."

"Bats are nocturnal." complained Bruce on the next morning as Alfred opened the curtains in his room.

"And so are ninjas." muttered Isane.

That caused Alfred to stop in his tracks, directing his gaze to the bundle next to Bruce, "Is that you Isane?"

"No dammit! I'm the Rokudaime!" she mumbled sleepily.

"Yes! Now I don't have to set them up anymore." Alfred said to himself.

"We must've fallen asleep while discussing the upgrades yesterday." said Bruce, pulling the blankets away from his face.

"Darn!" muttered Alfred as he handed Bruce a newspaper. "Anyways, your theatrics made an impression."

Isane and Bruce got up at that and started reading from the paper.

"If those are to be the first of many injuries to come," said Alfred, "It would be wise to find a suitable excuse."

"Don't worry Alfred," reassured Isane as she got up from the bed and approached Bruce, "I can fix him right up!"

She placed her hand on his bicep, using her healing chakra to make the bruise go away while Bruce drank his energy shake, "Done!"

"Nice!" commented Bruce as he inspected the injury.

"Indeed." added Alfred as he inspected the area himself, "Though we still do need to come up with an alternate persona to make Bruce Wayne as unlike Batman as possible."

"Like what?" asked Bruce as he dropped to the floor and started doing pushups.

"A playboy!" exclaimed Isane as she sat on Bruce's back.

"Exactly!" agreed Alfred.

Bruce gave them a look at their enthusiasm "And what would a person like that do?"

"Drive sports cars, date movie stars, buy things that are not for sale…" listed Alfred, "Who knows Master Wayne, you start pretending to have fun and you might even start to have a little by accident."

"Ooh, burn!" shouted Isane, "High-five Alfred!"

Bruce got up at that point though, dropping her unceremoniously off his back.

"Oops!" he exclaimed.

"Now that was just mean," complained Isane from her spot on the floor.

The young billionaire just smirked at her as she dusted herself off and flipped him the bird when Alfred's back was turned.

She left to her room in order to get ready after that. She was planning to work on the modifications to Bruce's batsuit but she needed to get Lucius' input on the adjustments as well. There had also been some interesting reports coming in from her shadow clone spies about a Dr. Crane performing some sort of illegal experiments on his patients, not to mention that he'd also been spotted hanging out with Falcone a few days back. The man was all too involved with the shit that was going on.

She got dressed in her white long sleeve dress shirt colored blue at the rims and the collar with a red tie that reached her belt. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of black shorts that were held up by a white belt with a gold buckle. It was all complimented with the addition of thick black tights and a pair of black boots, as well as her favorite lab coat which Lucius gave her as a gift when she began hounding him for one.

"Ah, are you going to work today Isane?" asked Alfred as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yep." she answered him, taking a seat at the counter where he'd served breakfast.

"She'll be working on some adjustments to the batsuit." said Bruce as he walked in and sat down next to her.

"Just remember that you have to attend that event at the hotel tonight." reminded Alfred.

"…I-uh can't Alfred, I've got to work on some…stuff." she mumbled.

"Nonsense." said Alfred firmly, "Even Master Wayne is taking the night off to make an appearance; it will do you some good to get acquainted with Gotham's elite."

She gave Alfred a defeated look and said as a last resort, "But I don't even have a plus one Alfred, even Bruce will have one."

"Don't worry about that, maybe you'll even find yourself a suitor tonight." smiled Alfred.

Bruce twitched at this, finding it hard to imagine someone with Isane. It wasn't that she wasn't good-looking, quite the opposite, he often found himself staring at her slender frame with her fiery red hair and her deep blue eyes. She was like a child though, and while he liked her playfulness he also knew that other men their age would be looking to form more serious relationships.

"I'll try," she said dryly, "But remember what happened last time."

"What happened last time?" asked Bruce as he watched Alfred pale at Isane's words.

"She ended up being proposed to by Lex Luthor." said Alfred as he shook his head.

Bruce did a double take at that, "Really? I just can't see it."

Isane got offended by that, "Why the hell not!?"

"I mean, Luthor is a serious man, a man of business. How did you two even come across each other?"

"Well I do own a part of the Daily Planet and Wayne enterprises." she pointed out, "It caught people's attention and I was invited to one of those high-class events during one of my trips to Metropolis."

"So you met him there." concluded Bruce.

"Yeah, and he apparently liked what he dubbed my 'spitfire' personality." droned Isane, "I went on a couple of dates with him at Alfred's insistence and he apparently liked me enough to propose."

Alfred looked apologetic at this, "It was not one of my brightest ideas; the man was relentless in his pursuit."

"It couldn't have been that bad; I mean the man is reasonable, to an extent." said Bruce.

"Well he might've been, but the media wasn't, they kept on asking me if I was going to be the next Mrs. Luthor and if I was pregnant with his bastard child." said an annoyed Isane, "Don't be surprised if people look at me funny tonight, I literally told the press to get the hell out of your property since I'd holed myself in here and I even hosed them out; though I did use more colorful language."

"That's why she is taking lessons on how to behave in high society." finished Alfred.

Isane sighed at this, "Well, I'll see you at the dinner Bruce; Kami knows that Earle will keep me close if only to save the company's reputation."

"Dress nicely!" called out Alfred, "And no motorcycles!"

The paparazzi were eagerly photographing all of the recently arrived members of Gotham's upper crust. Bruce had decided to go through with the whole playboy façade and invited two models to accompany him to the event; they were currently sharing the passenger seat of his Murcielago Roadster as he pulled into the drop-off zone to give his keys to the valet.

"Nice car." complemented the valet.

"You should see my other one." muttered Bruce as he waited for his companions to be helped out of the car. His eyes widened, however, when he spotted a familiar redhead driving a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster.

He was surprised that she let the valet open the door for her, never seeing her as the type to follow etiquette. As she emerged from the vehicle he saw that she was wearing a simple white summer dress with black trimming that tied at the neck and black heels, with the only accessories being a black hairclip to part her hair to the left and a black ribbon that she'd tied on her wrist. It gave him an odd feeling to see her like this, as if every movement she made was soft and special.

"'Sup Bruce?" she greeted as she approached him.

And the spell was broken.

"What's up with that?" he asked her as he motioned towards the car.

"Oh, that? I like to indulge myself by buying fast cars and motorcycles." she smirked as she realized that she'd one-upped him in the vehicle department this time around, "I am filthy rich ya know."

"Are we going Bruce?" called the women that he'd brought to the party, he'd forgotten their names a while back. Not that it mattered since they'd probably end up drunk anyways. He'd picked them for a reason.

"Good luck with that." said Isane as she went inside the hotel, intent on ending the evening as soon as possible.

Bruce just watched her go as he slipped back into his playboy persona, putting a hand around each woman's waist.

Isane, for her part, was as bored as ever. As soon as she'd come in Earle had pounced on her and dragged her to his table. It wouldn't do for her to make a fool of herself and the man went to great lengths in order to prevent her from doing so. Bruce joined them moments later with his models, taking a spot next to her and chuckling when he realized that she was playing Mario on her modified smartphone instead of engaging in the conversation.

"He's done something the police have never done." said a blonde woman at their table, Isane couldn't really recall her name. She was too busy trying to dodge Bowser's flame balls.

"You can't take the law into your own hands." argued the man next to the blonde. Isane had almost beaten Bowser now, the monster only had a bit of health left.

"At least he's getting something done." countered the woman.

"Bruce, help me out here." said the man.

"Well, the guy dresses up like a bat, he clearly has issues. What do you think Isane?" he asked with a smirk, knowing that the kunoichi was too engrossed in her game.

"Shit!" yelled Isane as she was killed because of his distraction, "He's a real asshole alright."

If the others were surprised by her outburst they didn't show it, but she did get a mean glare from Earle.

"You suck!" she whispered harshly to Bruce as the others continued their conversation.

"It's not that bad." smiled Bruce, "Your princess is in another castle anyways."

She groaned at that, "What happened to your princesses anyways?"

"Beats me, at least I can take a breather now." he shrugged.

"That's what you get for being a playboy." she smirked.

"At least I'm getting some." he retaliated, effectively shutting her up.

The hotel manager arrived then, looking a bit peeved "Sir, the pool is for decoration only and your friends do not have swimwear."

They all turned to look behind them, realizing that the two women had entered the pool in their drunken state.

"Well…they're European." said Bruce as he pulled out his checkbook and started writing a check.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." continued the manager, struggling to keep his polite demeanor, "It is not a question of money."

Bruce got up and put the check in the guy's suit pocket. "See, I'm buying this hotel and setting some new rules about the pool area."

Isane groaned as she watched him leave and got up as well.

"I'll take care of this, just have the owner contact this number in the morning." said Isane as she exchanged her card with the check, "By the way, are you single?"

"I'm gay." answered the stunned man.

"Damn!" she muttered as she made her way to the pool, shaking her head as she saw that Bruce had gotten in as well.

"Let's go home Bruce" she said, "I'm tired of this shit."

"Nah, why don't you come in for a dip instead." he answered as he pulled her in as well.

She debated between being extremely pissed or just going with the flow. She decided in the latter though, she was too tired from all the work that she'd done in order to improve the batsuit and to get ready for the dinner. And people said that salons were supposed to be relaxing.

"…I thought I was supposed to be the irresponsible one." she chided from her spot on his chest.

He smiled fondly at that "We can take turns."

Many of the guests stared at them as they got out of the pool and were handed robes by the staff.

"I called a cab for your girls." Isane informed him, "There's no way in hell I'm getting my car wet, and I definitely won't be sitting on their laps either."

"Too bad, that would've been hot." teased Bruce, receiving a shove from Isane in response, "But are you just going to leave your car here?"

"I'll have a shadow clone take it home." she told him, perking up when she spotted Rachel.

"Hey Bruce, look who's there." she whispered to him.

He looked back and called out to her, "Rachel!"

"I heard you were back, what were you doing?" she asked as she noticed that he was drenched.

"Uhh, just swimming." He mumbled, "Wow! It is good to see you."

"You were gone a long time." she said,

"Hello, my name is Rachel Dawes, I'm the assistant district attorney here in Gotham." she introduced herself as she spotted Isane.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm-"

"Isane Uzumaki." interrupted Rachel, "Your help in fighting home abuse and poverty has been extremely essential in keeping Gotham afloat."

"Thanks, I try." she said bashfully at Rachel's respectful tone but turned defensive when she saw the incredulous look that Bruce was giving her, "What!? I'm filthy rich, remember? I might as well help out instead of letting that money gather dust."

"How are things?" Bruce asked Rachel as he ignored the redhead's rant.

Rachel looked a bit down at that. "The same, the job's getting worse"

"Can't change the world on your own" said Bruce.

"What choice do I have? You're too busy swimming" Isane cringed at that; she could see where this was going.

Bruce's smile fell, "Rachel all of-all this- it's not me. Inside I really am more."

"Come on Bruce!" called the girls as they were being ushered inside a taxi, most likely too drunk to realize that they weren't going to be joined by Bruce.

"Bruce, deep down you may still be that same kid you used to be but it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you." Rachel said morosely as she started to leave.

"That was harsh." Isane muttered as she looked at Bruce, "Don't look so down. I'll tell you what; we're going to have fun tonight!"

"I'm not feeling up to it Isane." he said tiredly, "I just want to go home."

"I don't think so; you owe me." she argued, "So we'll go to my house and have a damn good time even if it kills you. I can't let you lock yourself up in your room when you look like somebody just kicked your puppy and set fire to it for good measure."

He eventually gave up, as seemed to be the dynamic in their relationship, and they made it to her apartment in record time since Bruce drove like a maniac; not that she could complain since she drove that way as well.

"I imagined something more…" Bruce trailed off as he tried to find the right word.

"Traditional?" said Isane in mock hurt, "Wow Bruce, I didn't take you for a racist."

"I was about to say messy." he deadpanned.

"Do I look like a messy person?" she asked as she headed to her bedroom, "Never mind, don't answer that."

He took his time looking over her room. Spotting a plasma TV and a stand with every videogame system to date as well as a shelve full of games. She also had shelves with manga and others with anime dvds and a huge collection of movies. He walked closer to the shelves, past the huge black couch, and realized that she had an entire shelve full of fantasy novels, but that was nothing compared to her kitchen fully stocked with snacks and ramen ingredients and the minibar in the living room, "You know, in hindsight, the only surprising thing about your apartment is its' neatness."

"Meh, you should see my workshop. It's divine." she bragged as she handed him a bundle of clothes. "Those pajamas should fit you; the bathroom's down the hall."

He raised a brow at that, "Why do you have male clothing here?"

"I don't know; I keep all kinds of stuff in here." she shrugged.

He went to change into the black pajama pants and the white t-shirt that she gave him, and he saw that she'd changed into a pair of dark blue flannel pajamas. She was putting on a dvd and she had some snacks and a bottle of liquor with two shot glasses on the coffee table in front of the TV.

"Ok, so I thought that it'd be fun to watch the Walking Dead and take shots." she stated proudly.

"I don't drink." protested Bruce.

"Awww come on. I'll heal your hangover tomorrow." she pleaded.

"What if there's an emergency?" he asked.

She smiled in triumph when he said that, "I have shadow clones on the lookout. Just take a night off and relax man. You really need it."

"What are we taking shots for?" he said as he picked up a shot glass.

"Every time Rick's hat gets a close-up." she smirked.

"We'll die from alcohol poisoning."