And The Beast Cometh
Chapter 11:
A Game of Shadows
Naruto was dreaming peacefully for the first time in years, and it felt wonderful. He dreamed of pool-sized ramen bowls, he dreamed of beautiful teal eyed blondes with super strength, and he dreamed of being Hokage of Konoha. That particular dream was what caused our blue eyed hero to stir from his slumber. "Man I haven't had that dream since before I even became a shinobi," Naruto said to himself still in a daze from sleeping so well.
"It might be due to her presence," Kurama spoke up, humor clear in his voice, "considering you are currently clutching your mate to your chest."
That statement caused Naruto to open his eyes and look down slightly, and sure enough there was a head of blonde hair, with eye's closed, snoring lightly on top of him. "What the fuck happened last night!" Naruto asked the demon in a panic, hoping Martha and Jonathan hadn't called Clark yet.
"Weeellll," Kurama started off slowly dragging out the word, "after you brought up both bottles, you finally managed to convince her to drink with you. Which after four saucers of sake she was hammered, you at this point had a whole bottle and got more." Naruto face palmed at himself without disturbing the sleeping woman on him, "So you went to go get more sake from the basement. And upon your arrival found her reading the next book in the Icha Icha series. To which you decided you would cut off the T.V, pour her more sake, and make two clones to read the book in male and female voices."
Sighing to himself for the drunken night of stupidity Naruto asked Kurama, "was that everything?"
To which the demon snorted, "Almost. She got tired of listening to the same two read different parts, so your clones closed the book, made more clones. Which proceeded to read the book from memory and act the parts out."
"Please tell me my clones did not have sex with themselves," Naruto pleaded to the demon.
Who only nodded, "when it came to the sex scenes they pantomimed them with sock puppets, which was by far the highlight of my night." At this point Naruto began to thank whatever god above was watching out for him. Sighing, Naruto looked across the living room and saw a blanket folded up on a chair, along with the larger couch pillow he took off when he wanted to sleep. Using Kawarimi, Naruto replaced himself with the pillow before grabbing the blanket and covering Kara with it.
Sighing in relief, he stumbled into the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of them, as well as a prairie oyster each. Grabbing a bowl out from a cabinet Naruto proceeded to find the pancake mix he bought and went through the motions of making pancakes for himself and Kara. It didn't take long to prepare the mix and get it on the burner. Seeing the first batch starting to cook, Naruto headed to the fridge to grab the eggs for his hangover cure, knowing Kara would have one.
Once the egg yolks were dropped into the glasses he went about finding the worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and pepper. After opening the cabinet containing them he felt a hand on his shoulder, and reacting solely on instinct. Turning on a dime, even with his hangover Naruto threw a chakra powered punch into the face of the person who sunk up on him.
Kara woke up to the smell of pancakes wafting through the house, "Mmhh, Ma must be making pancakes today," she happily thought, until her mental excitement brought a resoundingly bad headache on. "Oh dear god, my head," she thought trying to remember when the last time she felt like this was, and couldn't. Opening her eye's Kara realized she wasn't at home, but on Naruto's couch, "dear god in heaven I hope nobody has called Kal!"
Quickly sitting up Kara had to grab her head and steady herself due to the head rush, and further pain. "Ugh! I feel like total crap! Is this what a hangover is," she questioned herself before hovering into the kitchen, not trusting her feet to carry her. It took her longer than she thought due to her moving slow as to not aggravate her hangover, but once she entered she saw the pancakes she smelled along with two glasses with egg yolks in them.
"Guess he is making one for me too," she told herself with a smile remembering his hangover cure. Hovering over to him she placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention and give him a good morning kiss. What she wasn't expecting was a blur of motion followed by him landing a solid punch onto the front of her face, breaking her nose and sending her flying back through his kitchen wall and into the living room.
Staring at the hole in his wall, and outstretched fist, Naruto came to the realization that the person currently laying on his living room floor was not an enemy but instead his girlfriend. "Shit, Kara-chan!" He called out clearing the distance in no time wanting to check up on her. Finding her down on the ground clutching her nose, he carefully help to sit her up, "are you ok?"
"Am I ok? Am I ok!" She said raising her voice, "I wake up with a hangover, then get punched in the face which breaks my nose. Plus it propelled me through a wall! All for trying to give you a good morning kiss! What gives!" Her voice raising to a shout as she finished.
Naruto sighed holding his head, her shouting aggravating his hangover, before speaking while she fixes her nose, "you surprised me and I acted on instinct. The same as when you woke me up that night you had the nightmare."
That caused Kara to take a break in fixing her nose, finally setting it she looked at her boyfriend's face and saw that he was sorry. "But why do you react like that," she hadn't forgotten having a kunai placed to her throat in the dead of night after waking him up, but that on top of this was definitely unsettling.
"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," both turned to face a voice coming from the kitchen.
Naruto already with a kunai in hand ready to throw, "evident of his stance now," Batman says with a gesture to Naruto. Kara turned to look and sure enough saw her boyfriend ready to attack.
Naruto sighed and put the kunai back into it's hiding spot, "what are you doing here?" Naruto questioned already knowing how he got in.
"We need to talk," was all the dark knight said before turning and heading back into Naruto's kitchen.
"Well," Naruto said standing and offering a hand to Kara who took it, "guess we should go see what he wants." Kara sighed, her head pounding even more, but nodded. Both walked through the door and into the kitchen to see Batman finishing the prairie oysters Naruto was making.
"Here," he said handing each one a glass and mentioning for them to sit down, "I was surprised to see the defenses around your house were down this morning."
Downing the glass Naruto nodded, while Kara winced when her's went down not use to the gross taste or the funky texture. Both taking a seat after finishing the drink, "I forgot to set them up last night, got a little too drunk." Batman nodded, slightly surprised Naruto knew he had been testing his defenses, "though I am surprised to see you here this morning, you usually don't try and test the defenses until night time."
"Do I even want to know how you know I have been testing them," Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow, having finished cooking the pancakes for Naruto and began putting them on a plate. He then poured more batter into the pan and began to make more.
Naruto sighed figuring it would be fine to tell him how he knew, but not how it worked, "my defenses record a person's energy signature for matching up later. So if someone tries to break in when I am not home, then tries again when I am, I get an alert."
Batman nodded finishing the second set of pancakes, placing them on another plate and serving the food to both of them, and joining them at the table. "So," Naruto began cutting into his breakfast and taking a bite, "what did you want to talk about?" Kara was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Batman, the scariest man on the face of the earth, finished making pancakes for Naruto and her. And was now sitting at the table. In full uniform.
"Am I the only one uncomfortable with the fact that Batman finished making the pancakes and is now sitting at the table," Kara asked, to which Naruto just munched on his bite while Batman glared at her, "ok just me then," she said before taking a bite.
"As to the reason I am here, it's to drop off this," Batman said pulling a dossier out of his cape and setting it on the table.
Naruto glanced up from his food to look at it before going back to eating. "Where the hell was that in your cape? And I take it that is your dossier on Slade," he asked between bites to which Bruce nodded ignoring the first part of Naruto's question.
"Everything Nightwing and I have compiled. My old sidekick has tangled with him enough to gather information on how he might come at you. Plus he recently stole a bunch of technology and bio-weapons to help even the playing field."
"Why is he targeting me though," Naruto asked already figuring Slade was going to target him, but picked up the dossier and began to read it. He was surprised to see it had all the information on the recent stuff Slade stole, as well as written transcript of what he told Cadmus' head when they caught one of his robots. Naruto glanced up at the dark knight with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the information in front of him. "Is this because of the incident in the desert and that company or whatever that hired him wants me removed? Or is this personal?"
"We believe it to be personal," Batman said standing up and preparing to leave, "Slade cancelled his contract with Cadmus and his past M.O would indicate his targeting you as something personal."
He began walking to the door but was stopped by Kara's question, "why is he personally targeting Naruto though? I mean I don't know much about the guy, but Naruto and him haven't met except for the nanite incident when we went out the other night."
"We can't be sure, but we believe he wants Naruto to succeed him in his role," he said before finally stepping out the door and leaving the two alone.
"Why would he want you to succeed him," Kara asked while looking over to the blonde who was currently reading the dossier on Slade.
"From what I can gather," Naruto said after a quick skimming, "he has been looking for someone like me to succeed him for awhile. Apparently he believes himself to be a balance keeper of some kind. He plays both sides, no loyalty to anyone but himself. My guess is after viewing my memories he believes me to be like him. However, he misinterpreted what he saw and that will be his downfall."
"Who else has he tried," Kara asked curious to how the league knows what he is after.
"Looks like Batman's old sidekick Robin, now called Nightwing. As well as someone named Terra, she was a lost metahuman looking for help. He tried to twist and turn her; but the Titans were able to set her straight, and in the end she gave her life to save theirs."
"Wow," Kara said, finishing her breakfast. Turning her head back to her boyfriend she saw that he was done and decided to talk to him about what happened before Batman's arrival. "Naruto, look at me please," she said getting his attention. Truthfully he had been trying to avoid looking at her since Batman had mentioned his PTSD.
"Yeah," he questioned knowing he probably wasn't going to like this talk.
"What did Batman mean by you having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Is that the reason you are always so tense around others? Why you reacted the way you did that night and this morning?"
Sighing Naruto nodded, figuring there was no way out of it. "Yeah Kara-chan," he began, "most shinobi develop it at some point and we all know the signs so we can self diagnose if need be. We react in different ways, me personally, I'm always jumpy around large crowds and new people. Part of that is because of what I went through as a kid, the other part is because of what I use to do. When you are a direct combat shinobi in enemy territory everyone is a potential enemy."
"But can't you sense people? And I know you said that aliens give off a different signature but can't you sense us as well," Kara asked still trying to figure out why he reacted the way he did.
"Yes I can, but only if I actively have my sensor net up. I don't keep it up in the house because of those seals you saw down in the basement that one morning."
"So I surprised you and your first instinct is to attack me? Even knowing I was in the house," Kara asked still not getting what Naruto was saying. "It's not about you Kara-chan! I was trained that if somebody managed to get the drop on me that it's more about stab first ask questions after they are dead! Waiting to ascertain a threat could mean death in my old world," he said starting to get aggravated that she wasn't getting the point.
"But you're not in your old world! You're here! It's different here," she shot back hoping he would see why she was upset about being attacked twice.
"I can't just unlearn what I have done for my whole life! It doesn't work that way," Naruto said hoping to end the argument.
Kara sighed before standing and heading for the door and opening it, "I am going back home I'll talk to you later."
And with her goodbye she slammed the door shut before flying off and back to the Kent farm. Sighing Naruto got up and began to clean his kitchen, however the second he started to head from the table with dishes in hand his body began to ache. All his joints felt like they were on fire, and his chakra network was sending random bursts out causing his body to spasm. Trying to struggle through it, Naruto almost made it to the sink, but collapsed before he could reach it dropping the dishes with a resounding crash.
The noise aggravating his hangover further, causing him to clutch his head. "Hang in there kid, it should pass shortly," Kurama said trying to comfort his container, knowing that his current pain was his fault. Ever since the yin chakra had been returned to Kurama it caused Naruto great pain when he passed the cloak form, even with him using natural chakra the human body was never meant to fully use the power of the bijuu.
"Well it can't pass soon enough," Naruto said back to Kurama waiting for the pain to subside.
"I know kid, but you know this is what happens now when you go past the cloak. My complete chakra is too acidic, that was the main reason you father sealed the yin chakra into himself. Your mother was never able to go past the cloak and he didn't want to limit you, and the natural chakra helps prevent this, but it doesn't stop it," Kurama said, but Naruto already knew that. The toads of Mount Myoboku warned him of this prior to his father giving up Kurama's yin chakra. Finally after what seemed like hours the pain lessened and Naruto was able to sit up. Sighing Naruto stood slowly and headed to the closet to grab a broom to sweep up the broken dishes.
Naruto dumped the broken dishes into his trash can before heading outside. Once outside he created one clone to work on the harvester while he went to go work on increasing his natural chakra stores, to hopefully counteract his chakra poisoning, and stop it from happening again.
It didn't take Kara long to arrive back home and sure enough sitting at the table was Martha Kent with a little smirk on her face. "So," she began taking a sip of her tea, "should I be expecting any grand-nieces or nephews?"
"No Ma." Kara said before heading up to her room after giving her adoptive aunt a hung.
"Wonder what happened with them," Martha asked herself before shrugging her shoulders and cleaning the kitchen. Figuring they would work it out soon, she had been with Jonathan for forty five years and had her fair share of fights with him. It was only a matter of time until the two worked it out.
Once Kara reached her room she sighed before hitting her bed, "ugh! What's his deal! Not everyone is out to kill him!" She liked Naruto, that much was definite, but he could be so infuriating sometimes. And right now was one of those times, "I just don't get it!"
"Probably because you haven't lived it," a voice spoke up from her window and Kara looked to see who it was.
"Barbara? What are you doing here? When did you get here," Kara asked her friend who was conveniently sitting on her window seal, in civilian attire.
"Same time as Batman," she said hopping off the window seal and into Kara's room. "I figured I hadn't seen you in awhile and should drop by with him. But when I came over Mrs. Kent said you were over at Naruto's, and that you stayed the night! Details!"
"Yeah I did," Kara said looking away from Barbara not wanting to talk about what happened.
However Barbara already had the scoop, "Batman stopped by before he left and let me know what happened this morning. You shouldn't blame him Kara," she told her blonde friend who turned to face her.
"And why not," Kara asked turning back to face the red head, "it's not like the world is coming after him."
"One, he is use to the world coming after him. You told me about his past, while abbreviated I got the hint that he went through some shit as a kid, plus he fought in a war! Two, the world might be coming after him soon," Barbara argued back for the blonde she met only once, when he was taking refuge in the Batcave from an angry Kara.
"What do you mean the world might be coming after him," Kara asked confused by Barbara's statement.
"Aside from Slade gunning for him now," Barbara began, "there's a lot of the goons in Gotham that are wanting to test their mettle against him. The word in Arkham is that everyone from Bane to the Joker wants in. Plus I heard the tail end of a conversation between Batman and Wonder Woman about something called Project Cadmus."
"What is Project Cadmus," Kara asked with a raised eyebrow, this being the first time she has heard about it.
"Not really sure myself," Barbara said with a shrug, "but Batman thinks they are bad news. Mainly because they are gunning for capes."
"Seriously," Kara asked stunned, "is it an organization for supervillains and metahumans or something?"
Barbara shook her head no, "from what I was able to overhear and pilfer from the batcomputer, Project Cadmus is a government operation for the defense of the U.S against the Justice League."
That sent Kara through a loop, "what is going on? Do they really fear us? All we are trying to do is help."
"And I thought being a hero was easy," Barbara said with a sigh before grabbing Kara's hand and dragging her from her room. "In the meantime let us go drown our sorrows in ice cream!" Kara giggled while being dragged down stairs, and out the front door. "
You brought your car," Kara asked Barbara seeing the black and pink Dodge Dart in front of the house.
"Yup," Barbara said letting go of her hand and digging her keys out, "glad you came in from the back instead of the front so you didn't ruin the surprise."
Shaking her head Kara got into the now unlocked car, ready to take her mind off everything for the moment. "How long you are staying for," Kara asked her redheaded friend as they drove into town.
Sighing Barbara answered, "not as long as I would like but long enough."
"Master Wilson," Wintergreen started looking at his boss who was currently laying on a medical table with run into different parts of his body as well as machines hooked up to read his vital signs. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Slade responded turning his head to look at the british man next time him before righting it once more, "now throw the switch Wintergreen!" With a nod the aging british man through the switch, and seconds later a golden fluid began rushing into the I.V tubes hooked up to Slade.
There were two tubes in each arm, one in the upper arm and one in the lower arm. Two tubes were all placed into each leg, upper and lower as well. There were four tubes placed into his stomach and chest area, and six tubes along his spin. As the golden fluid began to enter his body Slade bit back a cry of pain for the first time in years.
"This better do what I need it to," he thought, tightening his hands into fists to hold back a shout. His body was on fire, and he would swear he could feel every cell changing as the nanites changed his cellular structure with the use of the combined Venom and Miraclo formula. Wintergreen knew that his master would be under for the next eight hours and excused himself from the medical lab, to leave his master in relative privacy.
Shutting the door, he began making his way to the main room of Wilson Manor when he heard an ear shattering scream from the lab. "Master Wilson," he said talking to himself, his original destination unchanged, "I hope this is all worth it."
Once in the main room Wintergreen began looking of the pictures in the mansion he was responsible for the upkeep of. "These halls have of seen many horrors sir. And your original goal seems so far away now," he began speaking to himself once more looking at the picture of Slade and his wife Adeline. "What would you think of your husband now mistress Adeline? Would you still love him as a father and husband? Or would you look down on him for failing to save you, driving mistress Rose halfway insane and becoming the villain Ravager; and driving young master Grant to become the Master Thief RedX?"
Sighing to himself Wintergreen went about cleaning the unused manson of dust and dirt; trying to block out the screams of his oldest friend, and employer.
"So what is it you are trying to do exactly," Kurama asked the blonde who just finished meditating and was rounding up his shinobi gear.
"Batman believes that Slade is trying to turn me to his "side" in the struggle between "good" and "evil" here in this world," Naruto responded placing the last of his gear on.
"And you don't think so do you," Kurama asked, but Naruto knew it was more of a statement than a question.
"Look underneath the underneath Kurama," Naruto said sealing up his house before starting to run at chakra enhanced speed westward. "Batman forgets how much information his dossier contains on Slade. When Slade was discharged from the military for breaking orders to save his friend he began to fight crime back in the late 70s early 80s. That is, until his wife was killed by a villain named the Jackal. She was taken hostage and used against him. Most would say this is what broke him; however instead of just becoming a Batman that kills he started to work with villains. This was also when he turned his military skills against the world to become one of the best mercenaries ever."
"You're right, that doesn't add up," Kurama said surprised that Batman would be focusing on just Slade's recent activities and not his whole life. "That might be how Slade was able to use his knowledge to his advantage and get the Martian into your head. But it still doesn't explain why he is targeting you, or Batman's thoughts of him trying to turn you to his side don't make any sense. You have already killed once in this world, and while I would prefer you to kill again. You however wish to maintain the policies of the league," Kurama said to which Naruto sent a mental nod.
"Correct," Naruto said back to the demon within, "I will still kill if I have to, but I am done staining my hands with unnecessary bloodshed. But he knows that, he got that information from the people who hired him, and I doubt he want's me to work with him. He's too like Batman, a lone wolf type. I need more information." With the conversation over Kurama did wonder what Slade indeed had planned for Naruto, and with his container keeping quiet about what he thought there was not much to do but wait.
"So settled down enough to go talk with Naruto, smooth things over," the redhead quired her blonde counterpart as the two were finishing their ice cream.
Kara sighed and nodded to her friend, "yeah, I messed up and need to apologise. Hoping he will too, cause even though I know why and he has a valid reason, he was still in the wrong!" Crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
Barbara laughed but nodded, "Come on, let's get going Kara." The two of them stood up and headed for Barbara's car. Getting in they drove off to Naruto's place to see the man of the hour. "What are you gonna do if he doesn't apologize," Barbara asked the blonde next to her.
"Forgive the jerk anyway," she responded with a sigh, "I understand why he did it. Doesn't have to mean I like it, but I do understand."
"Good, for a minute I thought you were gonna be as stubborn as your cousin," Barbara said with a laugh, and the two made the rest of the drive in relative peace. It didn't take much longer for the two to arrive at Naruto's place.
Stepping out of the car both headed to the front door. "Naruto," Kara called out while knocking on the door, but with no answer from within.
"Is he out back maybe," Barbara asked Kara, who tilted her head and used her super hearing.
"I hear nothing, inside or outside. Let me check with x-ray vision," she said before switching her vision type and trying to scan the inside of his house. Sighing she shook her head, "figures, I can't see into his house," she said before pulling out her Justice League communicator. "J'onn, Kara here. Did you guys need Naruto prior to his rotation starting up? He doesn't seem to be home and I needed to talk with him," She asked the unofficial dispatcher of the league.
"No Supergirl, we haven't," J'onn said before typing away at his keyboard, "his communicator's signal is coming from within his house, I take it by your call that he is missing then?"
Kara could tell there was worry in J'onn's voice. In the short time he has been with the league, Naruto had made quick friends with J'onn, regularly speaking with him when on duty. "Yeah J'onn," Kara said with a sigh, "but could you not notify anyone about it? I doubt it's anything really, I was just checking to see if you guys might have needed him."
"I will do my best," J'onn said and she knew that if something happened, he would let the league know of Naruto's absence. Part of the requirement for all league members was to keep their communicators on them at all times incase of emergency deployment.
"Thanks J'onn," Kara said before placing her communicator back into the pocket, "well that was a bust. What do you think?"
Barbara shrugged her shoulders, "I got nothing. You know him better than even Batman, you tell me."
Kara sighed glancing back at his house, "I wish I could Barbara, I like him alot, but he does keep a lot private. Let's head home and hope he turns up soon." Barbara nodded heading back to the car, while Kara glanced behind one last time, "whatever you are doing, wherever you are, stay safe Naruto."
"Ugh," Raven shouted entering her room in Titian's Tower, "those two! One day they will push me too far!" Sighing she removed her cloak and placed it on a hanger. Placing it into her closet she used her telekinesis to retrieve a book off her night stand, grabbing it out of mid air she opened it to the desired page and began reading.
"Cute power," a voice called out from the darkness of her room. Looking up in surprise she saw a blonde haired man sitting on her roof, defying all laws of gravity, "and a fantastically good choice in reading material," the man commented to the orange covered book currently in her hand.
"Who are you," she asked closing the book, and eye's narrowing and taking on a white hue with black sparkling around the outsides.
"A member of the Justice League," he said dropping to the ground in front of her, "name's Shinobi."
Raven let her power die down slightly, but kept her glare up, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for information on someone you all have had an encounter with," Naruto said throwing a picture he took out of the dossier her way and sitting down on the floor, "a lot of encounters actually."
Raven caught it with her telekinesis and almost dropped it once she saw who it was, "Nightwing would be better to talk with about Slade. We only fought him, Nightwing was obsessed with him."
"I am more interested in his alliance and subsequent betrayal of your father," Naruto said which cause him to gather all of Raven's attention.
"What about my father and him," Raven asked with a slight tone of agitation. The subject of what happened to her, and the world itself still a sore stop with the dark Titan.
"With Trigon being an interdimensional being, he needs keys to open portals to the worlds he wishes to conquer," Naruto said, Raven already knowing this, as it was her destiny to be one of his keys.
"But he can't cross dimensional lines without the key," Naruto continued but Raven had enough of him beating around the bush.
"What is your question? All you are doing is telling me everything I know and trying my patience."
"How did Slade come into his service," Naruto asked finally.
Raven raised an eyebrow at that question, "I honestly do not know why he chose to serve my father. It wasn't something we truly worried about at the time."
Naruto sighed before speaking again, "while the why is important to what I am trying to figure out it is not what I asked. I asked HOW. How did Slade become a slave to your father if he can only cross dimensional barriers with you or another one of his children as a key?"
Raven took a second before answering, because not even she was sure how. "You are correct in that, but there are churches that worship my father the leading one being the Church of Blood," Raven began, "we have had encounters with a man by the name of Brother Blood who was a high priest for the church at one point. My father had given him a small margin of power even before I was sent here by the monks of Azarath to spare their world from my father's wrath. I would question him mainly because Slade has had some dealings with his school for villains, and he may have been key to Slade serving my father."
"There is a school for villains," Naruto asked with a deadpanned tone and a raised eyebrow at the ridiculousness of there being a school that taught villainy.
Raven shrugged her shoulders, "Blood started it as a means to create his own personal army, and then hires out the students to various villains. He takes in metahuman teens with issues and trains them to be evil."
"How long has this school been around? Cause that might explain why your enemies tend to mono-long and act retarded when confronted," Naruto asked.
Raven chuckled but answered, "the school hasn't been around that long," she said, "but most villains are just insane. They want the attention for the most part." Nodding Naruto stood up and headed for the window.
Raven watched as he opened her window and disappeared into the night. Using her telekinesis she shut the window before opening the book once more, "he is hotter than I thought he'd be. Surprising he writes these books, Supergirl is one lucky hero."
Naruto was sitting on a skyscraper in Jump City eating a bowl of ramen trying to piece everything together, "you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain," Naruto said aloud before sighing. "It just doesn't make sense! And I am missing too much of the puzzle to figure it all out. Ugh, I hate not having reliable information."
Kurama chuckled inside his mind, "I thought the information Batman gave you was reliable."
Naruto sent a mental nod, "The dossier is reliable, but the motivation is not. And that stops me from being able to figure out how he is gonna come at me."
"Kara is trying to keep your absence unknown, but I thought you might come here. Still surprised you didn't tell her you were leaving," the voice of Batman broke through Naruto's internal conversation.
"She is working through her own stuff with my PTSD right now, I didn't figure it was worth bothering her with," Naruto said before taking a bite to eat. Batman nodded walking forward and sitting next to Naruto, "you don't believe he is trying to turn you do you?"
"No," Naruto said placing the finished bowl down next to him pulling his mask back up. "What do you believe then," Bruce asked the blonde shinobi who was in the process of standing. "Not sure yet, need to run down some more information on him before I can come to an answer. Figured I start with Brother Blood and see what he says and go from there," Naruto said turning away from the dark knight.
"Slade has an old hideout in the area, that might have some information left over in it but I doubt it," Batman said standing as well causing Naruto to turn back to him, handing Naruto a piece of paper with an address written down on it.
Taking it, Naruto made the rest of the walk to the edge of the roof, "looks like I have a lead for after I check in with Blood. Later."
Batman watched as the blonde jumped off the roof before shooting his grappe and leaving the roof as well.
"Master Wilson," Wintergreen spoke as he slowly entered the lab. He survived to see if his friend had damaged anything and was glad to see him still on the bed. His breathing was labored and his eye was struggling to stay open, "sir, the process is over." Wintergreen said going through the motions of removing all of the I.V tubes and monitors from his employer.
"We will test my new limitations tomorrow," Slade said as he was helped off the lab bed by Wintergreen. "Understood sir," he said as he lead Slade down the hallway and into his room. Assisting his friend to his bed, Wintergreen left the recovering man, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.
Entering Jump City's prison was easier than Naruto thought it would be, "No wonder super villains escape prison so easy. Getting in here undetected was simpler than painting the Hokage monument in broad daylight." Sighing, Naruto began checking the cell records for Brother Blood's cell number and smiled in delight when he found it. It didn't take him long to reach the cell containing the mad priest, and Naruto was surprised to see that not only did he have strange cuffs cover both of his hands completely. But he also had a metal band with a lock on it going around his eyes.
Carefully sneaking into the cell Naruto made his presence known by speaking, "Brother Blood I should presume based off of prison records."
Raising a non visible eyebrow Blood questioned the voice he heard, "you would presume correctly. But who might you be to visit me in prison? I do not recognize your voice so you are not one of my students. And I have doubts of other villains attempting to break me out of prison."
"Correct," Naruto responded to the dark priest, "I need information about someone you might have had contact with."
Blood nods, but smirks, "And what do I get out of this deal? I am not going to snitch without good reason? If you snuck in here, you can sneak me out. Deal?"
Naruto was quiet for a moment before drawing a kunai from his holster and placing it against Blood's throat. "How about you talk, and I won't chop off body parts," he threatened with a growl.
Blood smirked, "I have gone up against Batman before. You are going to have to do bett-AH!" Blood didn't get to finish as Naruto drove the kunai into his shoulder, leaving it there so his target didn't bleed out.
"That wasn't a threat, it was a promise."
Breathing heavily and Blood nodded, "Alright, alright. Who do you want information on."
"Slade Wilson," was all Naruto said.
And if Blood's eyes weren't covered Naruto would have seen them become as big as saucers. "Wa! De-De-Deathstroke? He'll kill me if I talk about him!"
Naruto twisted the kunai in Blood's shoulder and let out a growl, "I will kill you now if you don't tell me!"
"AH!" The dark priest cried out in pain, "Fine! Just stop twisting whatever you have in my shoulder!" Naruto stopped, but once more left the knife in there to help keep his prey from dieing.
"Has he had more contact with you than just hiring your students," the blonde haired shinobi asked to which Blood nodded.
"Yeah about twenty years ago he came to us to raise his fallen wife," Blood said, "but rituals using Trigon's powers aren't an exact science. Things tend to go in his favor than in your own."
"What happened? What went wrong," Naruto asked Blood hoping to get the answer's he was seeking, and from the tone of this conversation he was almost sure of it.
"What normally goes wrong, Trigon didn't want to bring back the dead woman. But Slade's soul was already bound to Trigon; the bonding happens prior to the ritual. And once that happens one must serve our lord till his use runs out."
Naruto nodded, not that blood could see, and stepped out of the cell before throwing the alarm next to it. "The guards will be down soon to remove the kunai, thank you for your cooperation," Naruto said before disappearing from the jail in a poof of smoke.
Naruto stopped pilfering through Slade's old base for a moment to think on the memories he received from his clone. "That explains why he went after the Titans so much, even after failing to gain Nightwing or Terra. Still doesn't tell me what he wants with me," Naruto thought going over more of Slade's paper files, still not good enough with the computer to actively look through it.
"But you're starting to get a better idea of what he is after though right," Kurama asked, "or are you just trying to avoid seeing the girl?"
"A bit of both if I am to be honest with myself. And you I guess," Naruto responded cheekily before sighing and throwing the folder he was reading over his shoulder. "ARG! What is he after!" Naruto shouted, and his voice caused the massive computer system next to him to turn on. He saw the man who bumped into him the night of his and Kara's date.
"I see you are trying to gain insight to my master's plans Mr. Uzumaki," he heard the man speak in the same british accent.
"You would be correct," Naruto said standing, hand going to a kunai in case there were other traps, "care to fill me in Wintergreen?"
Wintergreen smiled at Naruto for knowing his name, "I do believe you are doing just fine on your own. That much is evident by you being in his old base and knowing my name."
Naruto raised an eyebrow but continued the conversation anyway, "so why did you come on screen then?" Naruto was wondering why the man would present himself to the blonde if he had no intention of spilling the beans.
"Simple really, the base's sound alarm went off. I felt it must have been one of master Wilson's colleagues from Jump City needing assistance."
Naruto nodded, and smirked unseen under his mask, "good coverup. You've been trained not to give away too much in an interrogation, but the signs of a lie are still present for those who know what to look for."
Wintergreen let out a low soft chuckle at Naruto's statement and began nodding, "Right you are Mr. Uzumaki. I wished merely to converse with the man who is currently about to bring my oldest friend's plan to fruition."
"And you're not going to tell me what that is right," Naruto asked back, smirk still hidden under his mask.
"Correct," Wintergreen responded, "but that doesn't mean we still can't converse does it?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "depends," he said before picking up more files to route through and sitting back down, "what did you want to speak about?"
"Your past Mr. Uzumaki, and how it helped shape you into the man you are today," Wintergreen said calmly picking up an antique tea pot and pouring himself a glass.
"I am surprised Slade has an antique teapot with such flowery decorations on it," Naruto said after casting a glance to the screens to see what the liquid sound was. "
This was a gift from mistress Adeline before she passed from this world," he said placing the pot down and taking a sip of his tea.
Nodding his head Naruto gestured for Wintergreen to begin speaking. "As you are aware, we targeted you during your date to steal your memories. During the viewing I was moved by what your sensei told you the purpose of being a shinobi was. I must ask have you ever regretted the taking of a life?"
Naruto shook his head no, "I have never regretted the lives I have taken as they were in service to my village."
Wintergreen nodded his head knowing the feeling from the wars he fought in for Britain, "I understand having no regrets for taking enemy combatants lives. But what about innocent lives? Lives of people who couldn't defend themselves against you?"
"In the end their deaths would have happened anyway," Naruto said quietly. "If someone was willing to pay our village to kill them, then they would be willing to pay another to do the same. The most I could offer the few innocent lives I had taken was a quick death."
Wintergreen looked on at the tired young man before him and smiled, "How is it you are untainted by all the death you have seen and dealt? Even my master has felt the lives of the innocents he has taken corrupt him."
"Because I chose not to take that path anymore," Naruto said grabbing a new folder and flipping through it. "When I came to this world I actually wanted to live in peace. No more fighting, no more death. But after my initial run in with Superman, and not wanting to cause problems I joined the Justice League to help them save innocents. In a way I guess it is to pay my dues for the lives I have taken."
"But you still plan on killing if the information we have on you is correct," Wintergreen argued back, "that much is evident with the death of the Supergirl clone Galatea."
Naruto sighed turning to face Wintergreen the last folder only having information pertaining to the titans, "It is my belief that sometimes to save lives you must kill. There is an old saying from my world, kill one save a thousand. Galatea was a loose cannon, a mad dog that needed to be put down, most living weapons are. They tend to lose their emotions, and only revel in the fight. I gave two of them a second chance, one used his wisely and died for his village. The other released a monster that destroyed the world, I won't let that happen again."
"So," Wintergreen said taking a sip of his tea, "if you ran into the Joker, Poison Ivy, Bane, Sinestro, Black Mask, Lex Luthor before he became squeaky clean, or Black Manta; just to list a few. You wouldn't hesitate to kill them?"
Naruto nodded from his spot on the ground, "Correct. All of them as well as others have had their fair chances in jail and correctional facilities. And all of them have wasted those chances. All of them with the exception of Bane, Ivy, and Luthor killed for the sole purpose of killing. The Joker stands apart from the rest for his constant mass murderers in Gotham, but in the end they are the same."
"How do Ivy, Luthor, and Bane stand apart Mr. Uzumaki," Wintergreen questioned, and it was a valid one for the shinobi.
As those three have little regard for human life when wreaking havoc. "From the files I have read up on them via the league database, Ivy kills because she believes in helping the earth. While she holds little favor for humanity she is not driven solely by wanting to kill. Bane is a mercenary and prior to becoming one, killed very few people. He still should be dealt with in a final manner but shouldn't be lumped in with people such as the Joker. Luthor the same, he is a greedy, power hungry bastard; but once more is driven by something aside from death."
"A very astute observation for one who has never met them." Wintergreen said surprised that Naruto was able to gleam such information simply by reading up on them.
"The sages of my world once said "Know yourself, know your enemy, and you need not fear a thousand battles"."
"Sun Tzu is credited with those words in this world," Wintergreen said with an approving nod. "Well Mr. Uzumaki I have enjoyed this conversation very much, and I look forward to seeing your fight with master Wilson."
Wintergreen's final statement caught Naruto by complete surprise, "How," Naruto began, "how could you be looking forward to it? You know I will not let him live. You know I probably have him classified in the same category as Bane at the very least. Most likely higher on my list of people I would kill should I engage them."
Naruto's question and following statment cause Wintergreen to smile, which caused Naruto to become even more confused. "I do not know my master's plans for you Mr. Uzumaki, so I can not tell you what he is planning. But I do know his end goal, it is something he feels he needs, and only you can give it to him."
"What is that," Naruto asked eyebrow raised.
Smiling again Wintergreen spoke one last time before cutting off the video link, "Master Wilson was the first super soldier in Project Cadmus. They not only imbued him with enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes. They gave him a healing factor that would cause him to live through any injury. I have seen him come back from the worst in just a few days; and it has caused him to stop aging. What I will tell you about his plans going forward is he just increased his power to even new heights. To make what is to come even grander than he had hoped. Do not disappoint him or me Mr. Uzumaki."
Naruto was left in the dark silence of the old base of Slade. Wintergreen's final cryptic message pointing him down a road he was finding hard to believe. "Kakuzu!" Naruto mentally shouted in his mind, finally working out what Slade wanted. Why he had done everything he had in the past up till now..
"I don't follow kid," Kurama said to Naruto who was on the move back to Smallville.
Naruto began to explain to Kurama what he thought Slade was after, "Kakuzu was betrayed by his village and in anger stole the Jiongu to become even more powerful after his defeat by the Shodiame Hokage. Once he mastered it he began to hunt bounties, as a means of testing himself and his skills to hopefully redeem himself. As time past he grew fed up with the world as a whole and the people he fought. Over time he saw no challenge in it, nothing to make him feel alive again like when he fought the Shodai Hokage. And in the end simply wanted death." Kurama nodded, he remembered Naruto's fight with Kakuzu very well and at the end of it remembered barely hearing the zombie like man say "finally" before he was hit with the Rasenshuriken.
"Ok, I know that much,"Kurama said with a sigh, "but what does that have to do with Slade?"
"He feels like he betrayed his wife by letting her die. Even more so when he tried to resurrect her and failed; becoming bound to Trigon. He was looking for someone who could kill him so he could pay back his service to Trigon. That is why he went after Nightwing and then Terra. Nightwing had the skills to kill him, all he needed was the push. While Terra had the power. But after his death at Terra's hands, he stole his soul back and continued down the path of a mercenary never choosing sides. He doesn't want to keep balance between good and evil, he wants to find someone strong enough to kill him."
Kurama nodded following along, "And he stole the stuff Batman informed you about this morning to make it a fight worthy to you?"
Naruto mentally nodded to the demon, "Yes. He lives for battle now, he can only feel alive when fighting. That is what Wintergreen meant by him being tainted from the lives he has taken. He wants to fall in battle, when he feels most alive, as penance for his wife.
"How would that redeem him in her eyes," Kurama asked.
"Because she was one of his combat trainers prior to him becoming the first soldier for Project Cadmus. He most likely believes that he should only die in violence as tribute to her," Naruto answered back to the demon who nodded.
"This is a man I could like almost as much as you kid," Kurama said with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Nah you like me way too much!"
It took Naruto till the next morning to reach his house from Jump City. Unsealing the property Naruto quickly stepped in and began heading for his basement, "little early to be getting drunk? Shouldn't you be sleeping maybe?"
Naruto sighed before responding, "I'm not getting drunk asshole. I am getting soldier pills."
Kurama raised a fuzzy eyebrow within Naruto's mindscape as to why his container was getting soldier pills. "Do I even want to know why?" Kurama asked his host curious as to his plans.
"Slade will be testing his limits soon," Naruto said grabbing the pill container from the shelves and a large sealing scroll, "and currently all I have at my disposal is my techniques and sage techniques. Coupled with the random muscle spasms from using too much of your chakra, I need to be ready."
"Ok then the soldier pills make sense," Kurama began but still asked, "what do you need THAT for?" Naruto just smiled before flashing some information that he got out of the dossier Batman gave him. "This is gonna be good," Kurama finished with a devilish grin plastered on his face.
Naruto smiled a bit on the outside, "Even though I wanted a peaceful life, I can't help but agree."
Kara and Barbara woke up as the morning shined through her window, both girls having share the bed last night. Kara was the first to sit up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a sigh before nudging Barbara, "wanna see if he's home yet?"
Barbara decided to roll over and mumble, "he's not my boyfriend. I wanna sleep."
"Yeah but I need you to stop me from doing something stupid," Kara said and all she got from the redhead was a grunt. "Fine I will go myself," Kara said with a slight smile, humor evident in her tone. Seeing Barbara barely nodded her head she giggled before standing and stretching. With one final glance to her friend Kara opened her window and made the short fly to Naruto's farm.
Landing at the back door she figured she would try that one first and knocked on it before waiting a second. "Please be home," she slightly hoped waiting for any kind of motion. And that was when she heard a voice with her super hearing to wait just a minute. With a smile she backed away from the back door and leaned against his porch railing. "Glad you're home Naruto," she thought with a smile before her face switched to a look of worry, "but what were you doing?"
Finally after a few minutes Naruto opened the door stepping out, and shutting it behind him. "Hey Kara-chan," Naruto said, his eyes going up into eye smiles like his old sensei.
"Hey Naruto," she said with a smile, before raising her eyebrow at the fact that he was in full gear. "Why are you in full gear? And where were you yesterday?"
Naruto sighed before placing the huge scroll against his wall and grabbing a set in the rocking chair next to his back door. "I went out to gather more information on Slade," he said to which she nodded.
"Makes sense you want to get a leg up on him?"
Naruto shook his head no which cause her to give him a questioning look that he answered. "The information Batman dropped off in the dossier didn't add up to what he thought Slade's goals were. I wanted to find out why he was targeting me directly, and I was able to figure it out."
"And," Kara asked with a worried tone. Slade was someone Batman fear, and he didn't even fear her cousin. A being who attacked the earth and almost single handedly handed it over to Darkseid.
Naruto looked away before answering her, not wanting to see her reaction to his information, "He is targeting me not to pull him to his side, but to kill him."
Kara's eyes both shot as wide as saucers at that information, "What!? Why?" When Naruto didn't answer she stood and grabbed his chin lightly before pulling his face to meet hers, "Why does he want you to kill him?"
"Because of what happened to his wife. What he has done since then. He wants to fall in battle, the only place he feels alive anymore," Naruto said while looking into her worried teal eyes. "He want's a death worthy of him. It is why he has been playing both sides. He doesn't want to keep balance, he wants to find someone worthy enough to kill him."
"Then why didn't he just have a villain off him?" Kara asks after letting go of Naruto's chin and backing up some.
"Because at the beginning of it all, before he was Deathstroke. Slade was a hero, probably one of the first ones. His wife was killed by a villain that went by the moniker of Jackal; he slit her throat as a warning to Slade. When he found her, he approached the Church of Blood and tried to have her resurrected. Apparently the demon they worshiped didn't agree but stole Slade's soul anyway. He then spent the better part of twenty years looking for someone to kill him so he could gain his soul back."
Kara nodded her head at the information, "Man that guy is crazy! But you can't fault him for trying to bring her back, he probably blamed himself for her death." Kara thought on what Naruto said for another minute before asking something else, "Ok, I get that. But then why would he still want to die if he's taken his soul back from the demon?"
"He misses her," Naruto said simply before pulling the dossier out of one of the larger pouches on his equipment belt. "When she died he lost most of his self control. The dossier reports that instead of helping his kids, he turned one into a villain that goes by Ravager. And the other into a master thief that goes by RedX. He has committed a thousand and one atrocities, and laid waste to many lives. To quote a recent conversation from him 'You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain'."
"That's deep coming from a villain." Kara said with a mocking tone, not understanding the situation at all.
"Considering that is what happened to him, I wouldn't judge him," Naruto said while standing. "It could happen to anyone on the league. Anyone except maybe Batman with all the shit those goes down in Gotham. None of you have truly seen the horrors mankind can wreck on itself."
"But you have," Kara thought her face softening into a look of worry, "had you not been found by your sensei, do you think you would have been like him after coming here?"
Naruto took a second to answer Kara, thinking over what she asked. "I honestly do not know," Naruto said looking her in the eyes again, "what I do know is that he wants a fight. And I plan on giving him one that sends shock waves through the people who hired him and the villains that are watching me. I'm tired of needless bloodshed Kara-chan, but I will kill those who are looking for death. Those with no regard for human life, consequences be damned."
Walking forward Kara grabbed her boyfriend, pulling his mask down before placing him into a strong hug. "I am sorry for yesterday morning Naruto." she began, speaking slowly into his ear.
"I know," he said returning the hug and kissing her on the cheek, "but I have to kill him Kara. He will keep coming after me, and might put others in danger."
Kara leaned back but still kept him in her arms, "I know," she said before kissing him on the lips. "I don't like it, and I don't have too," she said pulling back, "especially because the league will most likely come under heavy political fire because of it. But I understand."
Naruto nodded before kissing her one last time and ending the hug. Stepping back he grabbed the scroll laying against the wall before sealing up his house once more and pulling his mask up, "Do you mind asking if Jonathan-sensei minds selling my crop? He can keep the profit, apparently Icha Icha Paradise is far more popular in this world than my old one."
She smiled at him before nodding, "Yeah, I can do that." As he was walking away he stopped for a second before pulling something out of one of the larger pouches on his belt again.
Tossing it to her she saw it was an orange bound book, this one had an interesting cover, "Don't kill me when you read it." She laughed mainly because the cover had most of the women from the league's book club on it in very revealing poses, just designed in a more asian look as to not give anything away.
"I am sure I am going to be giving you a beating when you return," she said with a mock glare causing Naruto to laugh.
"Probably," he said before placing his league communicator into his ear, "J'onn, you mind beaming me up?"
With a final wave to Kara Naruto was whisked away in blue light.
"Wintergreen," Slade said walking into the main room of the mansion, "let us begin." With a nod, the british butler began to follow his master deep into the mansion till they reached a training room.
"Are we just testing speed and strength sir? Or will we be working on everything," Wintergreen asked opening the door to the hard light construction simulator.
"Everything of course," Slade said heading over to the prep table where his new gear was waiting. "After all, we both know how bad it would be going into a battle without knowing one's gear," Slade finished while strapping his swords to his back and prepping the weapons he stole from luthor.
Wintergreen nodded before heading into the simulator control room and starting the Z8 combat trainers. "Master Wilson," Wintergreen spoke into the speaker, "I will run the Batman simulation first, and progressively move onto physically stronger heros until we reach Superman."
Slade nodded and drew one of the ninjatos from his back, a smile gracing his one eyed face. "Let's begin," he said as Gotham came to life around him in the simulator.
"Naruto," J'onn said seeing the shinobi before him.
Naruto eye smiled before making the leap up to the monitor outlook railing that J'onn hardly ever left, "Hey Marv! How ya doing? Been busy since the desert incident the other day?"
J'onn nodded at the blonde in front of him, "Yes. We have been very busy repairing the watchtower from the fusion discharge. While it is safe, it still requires a lot of work getting the watchtower back into one hundred percent working order."
Naruto nodded before hopping off the railing, "so I need a favor buddy."
"This isn't going to be like the favor that got me yelled at by Batman for three hours about teleporting you into the Batcave uninvited is it," J'onn asked raising a non-existent eyebrow.
Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly, "Um...sorry about that. But no, I need you to teleport me to a remote area. No humans in sight for miles."
Leaving the non-existent eyebrow raised J'onn simply asked, "Why?"
Naruto sighed figuring he wouldn't be able to get away with a random teleport that didn't require a deployment. "I need to work on something," Naruto said, "and I can't have others in the area. It's simpler when I am alone." J'onn nodded typing away at the keyboard trying to find a location that would suit Naruto's needs.
"This isn't something similar to the attack you used to level a half mile of desert is it," J'onn asked and Naruto could tell there was some discomfort in his voice.
"Look," Naruto said drawing J'onn's attention, "I didn't tell you guys because truthfully I try not to rely on Kurama's power. When I first started to tap into it...it had disastrous effects. As I worked through things, and following my sage training, I was able to effectively use it."
"But based on your reluctance to use it something has changed," J'onn said before Naruto could get there.
The resident shinobi nodded before continuing, "At the time I was effectively able to use it I was only tapping into half of his power. His good half. The other half was sealed into my dead father, who transferred it to me when he was brought back to life during the war."
"I assume so it couldn't be used against you? Because they were brought back to life by the enemy if my memory of what was told to Batman that night is correct," J'onn asked assumption to which Naruto nodded. "Pretty much. His full chakra is acidic to my body and system. I recover from using vast amounts slowly, I am going to train to fix that."
J'onn nodded and before he could get back to work looking for a location a golden ankh flashed into the monitor overlook. J'onn being used to Dr. Fate's way of arriving didn't bat an eye, while Naruto being the ever paranoid shinobi had moved into the ready. "I believe I could offer a place for you," Dr. Fate said to Naruto, "but on the condition that we speak once more about your curse."
Naruto relaxed into a normal standing position and nodded, "That is fine, but I would asked that you never refer to him as a curse again. If I wasn't use to the furball making a scene I'd have a headache."
And true to fashion Kurama was currently cursing up a store in Dr. Fate's name, "Why that goody to shoes douche nozzle! I'll show him a curse when I bit off his head and rip so hard that his spine pulls his balls out through his neck! I will bathe my fur in the blood of his children's children!"
"Duly noted," Dr. Fate said before turning to J'onn and nodding.
However before Dr. Fate could teleport them away in his own fashion J'onn called out, "Naruto." Turning to face the martian J'onn continued, "I apologize if questioning your intentions was rude Naruto. You are one of the few outside of the original seven that takes time to speak with me. I do not want any, what is the earth phrase, hard feelings."
Naruto waved him off, "Don't worry about it Marv! We're ok, I could never hold a grudge."
With the air cleared up between the two, Naruto nodded to Dr. Fate, "Well Mr. thing I don't believe in, take us away." Fate paused for a minute before letting out an amused chuckle at what Naruto said before teleporting the two away in a golden ankh light.
"So we are here again," Naruto said once they appeared back in Dr. Fate's tower remembering the decor.
"Yes," Dr. Fate said before mentioning forward and the two began walking, "This is my home the Tower of Fate. It is hidden away in an Oasis in Egypt, plenty of space for you to train whatever it is you need to train."
"However," Jason Blood said from his spot drinking tea, next to him was Zatanna, and this time Shining Knight as well as Aquaman where with the three of them. "We need to discuss more about the Kyuubi. You didn't tell us everything there was to know about the seal or your interactions with him," Blood finished taking a sip of tea.
"And you think I will tell you now," Naruto asked crossing his arms as a show of defiance. But really it was to prep two hidden kunais in his coat sleeves without drawing attention to himself.
"We understand you have doubts Mr. Uzumaki," Dr. Fate said, "but we mean you know harm."
Aquaman snorted, "Unless you threaten Atlantis. If you and your demon do, I will gut you where you stand," he finished by brandishing his spear arm with a growl.
"I'd love to see you try goldfish," Naruto whispered into his ear from behind, and a kunai to the neck. All of the gathered members turned in shock when they realized Naruto was no longer in front of them.
"Arthur, Naruto, please settle down. We only want to talk," Zatanna said trying defuses the tension.
"Tell that to the goldfish," Naruto said pulling the kunai away from Arthur's neck and walking back to the front.
"Why don't you sit down," Dr. Fate said taking a seat as well, "Inza will be bringing us tea shortly."
Naruto sat down and the five gathered heros noticed Naruto had yet to put up his kunai and Dr. Fate sighed before beginning to speak, "After the desert incident a few days ago we conversed with Etrigan about the attack you unleashed, and it brought up troubling news aside from the destruction it can cause."
"What could possibly be troubling about the Bijudama aside from it's power," Naruto questioned. He wasn't stupid, he knew that using the Bijudama would put him in the crosshairs of a lot of people. After all it was his home's strongest attack a jinjuriki could use, the ultimate attack.
"According to Etrigan, to use that attack you must either have total hold over the demon within. Or be on terms with it," Jason said slowly causing Arthur to growl.
"I take it that goldfish there has had an unfortunate run in with a demon of some kind," Naruto asked jerking his thumb toward Aquaman, who only growled more.
"An interdimensional deity that stole souls, so yes the knowledge that you hold the Kyuubi and have some kind of terms with it is unsettling to him. And me as well," Jason confirmed.
"Well don't worry about it," Naruto said with distaste for the people in front of them. "As I told you last time we spoke he can't get out without dieing. In the end this meeting is pointless," Naruto said in a bored tone for dealing with people who don't listen to him.
"But why," Zatanna asked, "from what we can guess he is no longer contained by the seal for you to be able to use that attack. Which begs the question as to why a demon as strong as the Kyuubi would want to remain sealed?"
"Because it is what we have agreed upon," Naruto said with little care to elaborate.
"But how did you get a demon as powerful as him to agree to that," Dr. Fate asked the shinobi before him.
Naruto looked away lost in the memories of his war, and the constant battle of wills between him and Kurama until they settled on their agreement. "My agreement is none of your business," Naruto said standing and heading for the door, "if you need me I will be outside training."
"Pleasant fellow," Shining Knight spoke up for the first time since Naruto arrived.
"Do not judge him," Inza said walking in with Shayera, "while I have not met the young man yet; the two times he has visited the tower I have sensed a great pain in him. He feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders." The others knew of Inza's empath abilities and became lost in their own thoughts on the matter after what she said.
"So he just left, not telling you where he was going," Barbara asked Kara, the two of them sitting at the dinner grabbing a late lunch. Barbara had decided not to wake up till one in the afternoon.
"Yeah. And the worst part of it is that he is planning to kill Slade," Kara hadn't wanted any food and was playing with the straw to her soda.
"He realizes what this will do to the league right," Barbara asked, still trying to come to terms with the fact that Naruto was planning on killing him.
"He does, and while I know he's not sorry about it, he does feel bad," Kara said with a sigh.
"How could you tell," Barbara asked with a raised eyebrow. It was widely know that Superman and Supergirl didn't know much about body language.
"It was in his eyes," Kara said, "also while me and Kal aren't great with body language he did teach me how to listen to someone's heart to tell if they're lying."
Barbara nodded, "Let's just hope the media doesn't get wind of this. Otherwise we are in for a whole new set of problems."
Kara nodded silently with her friend agreeing, "I know you feel you have to do this Naruto. And while I understand why, I am still having trouble accepting it. Just be safe and please think of the rest of us."
"Master Wilson," Wintergreen said coming out of the control room, "I must congratulate you on a successful power boost."
Slade nodded with a smirk to his old friend, "Yes indeed. This will make it far more interesting when we finally meet. But," Slade said taking off down a corridor, "testing will only get you so far. Time to ganner a real world application. And see first hand how dear old Nightwing is doing."
"Shall I prep the osprey sir," Wintergreen asked following behind the mercenary who nodded. "It shall be ready at one," Wintergreen said before turning down a different corridor, while Slade finally reach his room.
Opening it, he stepped inside to grab his bronze and black facemask before looking at a picture of his wife. "It has been twenty years since you were taken away from me," Slade said approaching the image, "I was a terrible father, and a horrible husband. I hope when we meet again you can forgive me."
Donning the mask Slade left the room cutting the light off, leaving the picture of his smiling wife.
Jutsu List:
Bijudama: Tailed Beast Ball
Jiongu: Earth Grudge Fear
AN: Updated 1/22/15 - All authors notes are being deleted and replaced with this. I am back baby! I have an SAO and Halo story now as well and will be fully committed to this story soon. Also I know while it won out in the Poll I am changing the writing style and it should be easier for those that complained before.
So just know Chapter 13 is coming….and so is what I promised…..a superhero war the likes of which we hopefully have never seen.
