Division

"No, the ninjas won't be down here until ten at the latest," said Mr. Terrific to Steel as he opened up the lab door. "Batman is going to collect them from their rooms and bring them… down… here…"

His voice trailed off. Inside the lab, sitting on every available chair, counter, and suitable computer, were the Konoha 11.

Steel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm going to have to upgrade the tower's security." He nodded.

"What are you all doing in here?" asked Mr. Terrific.

"Did you think we wouldn't find out about it?" said Naruto, pointing at the projector. "You think that you could hide this sort of thing from us for long?"

Steel's eyes darted to the mechanism. It looked unharmed. "We weren't planning on hiding it from you." He answered. "We just didn't see the need to bother you until it was finished. In fact, Batman was going to bring you down to see it today."

"Ha! Likely story," snorted Hinata.

From his perch atop a filing cabinet, Shino nodded. "You honestly expect us to believe that, idiots?"

Mr. Terrific still stood, studying the ninjas, a peculiar light in his eyes. Steel, though, saw no reason to be so contemplative. "Look, guys, if we'd shown it to you earlier, you wouldn't even have gotten what it was supposed to do."

"On that note… what DOES it do?" Neji arched a curious eyebrow.

Before Steel could answer, Sai cut in. "Never mind. It doesn't really matter what it does, because the point stands that you're messing around with one of my best friend's body parts."

"As if they'd tell us the truth anyways." Chouji nodded his agreement. "Look, don't get me wrong, we got guys who mess around with that sort of stuff back home, but they're not exactly… well respected or anything."

Terrific finally broke in. "Yes, here too. But the damage had already been done, and it was our best chance." His eyes burned into Chouji. "If you're afraid of this device, I can tell you one thing, it won't run without your chakra. And it's not meant to hurt you. We were building it to send you home. If you all come back now, I can show you."

"Come back?" Steel glanced quizzically at Terrific.

"It's no good," said Neji, stepping forward sadly. "It's not just the device. All of my friends have been itching for an excuse to leave for weeks now. They're… they're afraid, you see. Afraid you were just using us. Manipulating us. Trying to work us to your own benefit without ever meaning to really help us." He gestured at the projector. "And then we find this."

"But we're the Justice League! We don't do stuff like that!" burst out Steel.

Naruto, just alongside Neji, shrugged. "Well, all we've got to go on that is your word, right? I mean, it fits with what I've seen, but maybe it's just what you want us to see." A sardonic smile crossed his face. "You don't get it. We're too different from you." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and continued, "In a way, I wish we weren't. In a way, you guys are an example of what I'd like the ninja world to be. But… well," he sighed. "We're not heroes. If you mean it, and I think you do, it's great what you guys have done, training us, trying to teach us your philosophy… It's great. I really do appreciate that, and I wish I had a better way to show it. But at the end of the day…" Shrugging again, he spread his arms plaintively. "We're ninjas. And we've got a job to do."

"Well before you go out on this 'job' of yours, you and your friends gonna have to fight through every single meta on this tower," snarled Steel, whipping his hammer into position.

Terrific sighed. "Steel, you're a good man and a mechanical genius, but that was the dumbest thing you could have said."

"What?" Half-turning, the armored man stared at the scientist. "We can't just let a dozen walking atom bombs loose over the continental US!"

Shino flashed a toothy grin.

"Unfortunately, that's no longer an issue. Because even though we're talking to them…" Terrific gestured at the room of ninjas, "…none of them are really here."

And the room exploded in smoke.

Miles away, Naruto stumbled in mid-leap and came down hard on the next building. "Whoah." He muttered, bringing up his hands to his head. "Lot t'take in all at once there."

The others, seeing his trouble, halted also. "Problem, Naruto?" asked Neji.

"B'fine in a minute." Naruto assured him, waving off Sakura. "All my clones at the Tower just got disbanded. They know we're loose now. Oh, and that Terrific guy is a smart cookie. Saw right through the whole acting thing."

"Did they convey any information about the device?" asked Shino.

Naruto shrugged, still wincing against the pain. "Said it couldn't be used without chakra. Said it was a device to bring us home. Stuff like that."

"H-home?" Hinata glanced at the others.

But the others shook their heads. "I can believe it won't function without chakra," agreed Sakura. "That was always our safeguard against them stealing the bloodlines. But a device like that… they might have found a way to generate it. Terrific's been asking me questions all week about stuff like that…" She shook her head. "I should have guessed. I should have KNOWN!"

Chouji was still eyeing Naruto. "Did they… kill the clones?"

"What did they look like when they found out we were gone?"

"Where do you think they'll look first?"

"I don't know!" Naruto snapped. "No, Chouji, they didn't kill the clones, the clones just disbanded themselves. But give me a break, I've got memories of being Ino running through my head right now!"

Tenten gave a little frown. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have Naruto do all the clones."

"He had the greatest chakra resources. And, if the rest of our time in this world is any indication, the rest of us will need to conserve all we can." Turning, Neji glanced over at Ino. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine." Ino answered. "It's not… too hard to mask people. I'm not sure how good J'onn-sensei is at seeing through them, but I think I can keep him from finding us. As long as we want, anyway." She had a vaguely uneasy look.

"Good. And we've all vomited up the stomach tracers and disposed of our League communicators." Neji gave a little nod of satisfaction. "It should take them a few minutes to find our trail by conventional means, and we already have a thirty-mile start on them." Then he frowned. "Of course, they can fly." He worried his lip. "Shino, how far to where you met the Juugo clone?"

"Not far," came the response. "Another five minutes."

"Then let's move." Naruto pushed himself to his feet. "We've got to hurry."

"This is taking too long." Sasuke muttered. "Hurry it up."

"Hey, relax," said the man Luthor had sent with them, glancing back. "Breaking into a Justice League place isn't easy. Takes patience, just like anything else in life."

"Not in my experience." Sasuke grumbled.

The man snorted as he turned back to study the street. "Then you have an awful limited experience."

Sasuke's gaze narrowed. "What was your name again?"

"Deadshot," answered the man, without turning. "My clients call me Deadshot."

Deadshot. Sasuke mentally filed the man under his "to kill" list. "And what makes your experience so invaluable?"

"I'm among maybe a handful of people who've ever broken into a League place before, that's what." The man shot him an annoyed glance. "The other ones are either serving time, dead, or working elsewhere. You're lucky you got me."

"And them, I suppose." Sasuke threw a disgusted look at the completely ordinary-looking men flanking him, Karin, and Juugo. As a ninja, he was naturally suspicious of any unwanted reinforcements, especially ones cloned from the most unstable of his teammates. The clones Luthor'd provided for the distraction, Sasuke had no problem with. There might be two hundred of them, but with any luck, the entire Justice League was going to be between him and them once the action got started.

Deadshot shrugged. "Never know when a little extra muscle is going to come in handy. They may not be professional, but if things get dicey in there, they could be useful."

"Hmph." Sasuke turned back to the building. The plan itself seemed sound, however much Deadshot complained about its 'lack of elegance.' His party would approach the service entrance, where the crew of technicians, medics, and janitors employed by the League would be entering. Just as they approached it, the army of clones would attack, prompting the League to admit all outsiders immediately. After that, hopefully the confusion would keep them from being noticed while Karin's sensing abilities took them straight to Suigetsu. The only hobble to the plan came from the fact that once the tower was attacked, it's automatic security would be on high alert. Sasuke and his team would be stopped at every checkpoint. Hopefully, the passes Luthor had provided would see them through nearly everything, but if not, they would need to move quickly.

Currently, though, Sasuke felt a certain irritation that they were not moving quickly enough. "How much longer?"

"Hold on, pal." Deadshot checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes. That's when the shift ends."

"None of the stomach nanites we gave them for breakfast are responding. Or rather, they are, but they're all down in the sewage system."

"So? Maybe they're going through the sewers!"

Green Lantern pinched the bridge of his nose. "Flash, ordinary sewers are incredibly narrow, choked, hazardous spaces that can barely be navigated by certified sewage workers. All the sewers collected to the League tower pass through several material identification grids after an incubation period of several days in the internal recycling system. Trust me, they're not there."

"Besides, I just sent Question down there. There's nothing," said Batman absentmindedly, flicking through computer feeds. "They must've detected the nanites and disposed of them."

"How?" Then Flash shook his head. "Never mind. Don't wanna know."

"I just checked Metropolis. They're long gone. Any guesses as to where?" Superman strode in the door.

Batman shrugged, still flicking through screens. "Titan's Tower is the best bet, but they wouldn't go somewhere so obvious. I put Robin on alert, but I doubt they'll show up there. They'll be looking either to start up a base of operations, locate their last team member, or find Sasuke."

"Which means…?"

"They're either headed for Gotham or the locale where Atom and the Shino kid met up with that clone." Batman's finger drew out possible routes on the screen. "Gotham is most likely. They had a base of sorts there, before they came here. And that's also the last place they met Sasuke." Standing, he glanced to Mr. Terrific. "Forward any new information to me in the Batplane. I'm heading over there now."

Terrific, hand held to his ear in the act of listening to a new message, gave a short nod. As Batman passed out of the room, he turned to Superman. "That was J'onn. The girl's holding him off. He can't tell where they are, just that they're mad and afraid."

"That's a winner combination," groaned Green Lantern.

"Also, Waller's on the phone with the President. For now he's willing to abide by our recommendation that security forces try NOT to intercept the ninjas, but Waller says the clock is ticking nonetheless. Cadmus may be disbanded, but the government doubtless has a trick or two they could use to bring the ninjas down."

"That is the LAST thing we need." Superman bit his lip. "A dozen scared, angry powerhouses getting attacked by government officials. They could blow up half a city before they're through."

"Not to mention make the ninjas even MORE convinced we're out to get them," nodded Green Lantern.

Hawkgirl snorted. "I'm more worried as to whether any prisoners they took would ever be seen again."

"Shayera, try not to assume the government is evil." Superman rubbed his forehead wearily. "Okay. Wonder Woman, take Atom and head to the other site—where he met the clone. The ninjas'll probably be gone by the time you get there, but they might leave something to trace. Green Lantern, I want you to…"

"Hold up here a second." Terrific's hands were suddenly all over the keys, clicking away rapidly. "I might have… no, no, this can't be right. Why would they do that?"

"What is it?"

Terrific turned back to Superman. "One of the ninjas is still wearing their League communicator."

"Picked up the trail, then?"

Shino gave a short nod. "The odor is indetectable to myself or to Kiba, but quite evident to the male insect. The lapse in time has diminished it somewhat, however. We shall have to be very careful."

"We don't have time to be careful." Sai argued. "The League must already be searching for us."

"But we have even less time to NOT be careful, screw up, and go back," answered Neji.

Shino looked at Naruto, who after some thought, nodded his agreement. "Shino, go at whatever pace you're comfortable with, just don't lose the trail."

"What about the League?" persisted Sai.

"Uh… hey." Sakura waved her hand to attract their attention. "I got an idea about that a few miles back. We're all jumping from roof to roof in the middle of a city. Not exactly subtle, but with a little work it can look perfectly natural."

"How?" inquired Neji, raising an eyebrow.

"Henges. We make ourselves look like some of the superheroes. Nobody EVER questions their right to jump across roofs, and they're allowed anywhere they like."

Neji frowned. "They're too well-known. We'll draw attention."

"We're doing that anyway."

"And the discrepancy would only be noticed by someone who already knew where the real heroes are. Which, if that kind of person saw us, would be pretty much a giveaway anyway."

"But those are precisely the people we're trying to fool," insisted Neji.

Naruto finally spoke up. "I say go for it, Sakura."

"You got it." Sakura shot a victory smirk at Neji, who simply glared.

"Right then." Naruto nodded. "Sounds like we've got everything together. Hopefully we can find Shikamaru or Sasuke before the League catches up."

"And then what?" frowned Sai.

"We should go to ground. Hide."

"Depends…" Naruto held up his hand. "If they seem pretty upset, than yeah, we're leaving. But if they're more or less willing to stand by what we did, then I don't see any reason to keep dodging them."

A slightly exasperated expression flitted across Neji's face. "Naruto, have you forgotten a little red eyeball they have back there?"

"Have you forgotten that we left it to them?" frowned Shino.

Nobody looked particularly happy at the reminder, including Neji. "You know we didn't have time. And we couldn't be sure what it would have done…"

"No. But we shall have to recover it at some point, and the easiest way would be to play along with the League. Perhaps we should have deliberated longer, played along to discover its end, and THEN destroyed it and left, but that is in the past."

"If you honestly think we ought to go back to that…"

"Look, guys, cool it." Naruto held up his hands. "Right now, lets concentrate on keeping them from finding us. Speaking of which…" Half-turning, he called, "Hinata? Any followers?"

Hinata, her one hand raised in the act of brushing back her hair, gave a little shake of her head. "N-no one yet, Naruto-kun."

"Good." Neji nodded. "I'll relieve you in another half-hour, in the meantime, watch our backs."

"Y-you don't have t-to, N-neji-ni-san, I d-don't mind…"

"We can't afford chakra exhaustion. I'll relieve you." Neji turned to Shino. "Found it?"

Nodding distantly, Shino answered, without turning, "I believe so. It seems to be fairly straight… following roadways, I'd imagine."

"Then let's go." Naruto stood up. "Shino, you're in front with the bugs. Hinata, you watch our rear." He completely missed Hinata's blush. "Sakura, give us the henges. Let's move, people!"

"We're not even moving," grumbled Sasuke. "This is intolerable."

"They haven't opened the gates yet. That's why we're not moving. If we'd waited in the van as planned, we wouldn't have to wait here."

"Can't you just start the distract…" Karin started, but Deadshot clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" He hissed. "Are you crazy? If you haven't noticed, we're in a crowd of a hundred or so people here. Might I suggest you watch what you say?"

Sasuke's eyes had a hint of red. "Might I suggest you unhand my team member before I rip you limb from limb?"

The moment he said it, he realized how much merit Deadshot's suggestion had. The woman directly behind them in line stared at them, her cell phone just raised to her mouth. Behind him, Sasuke heard the man in front of them turn.

"Hahaha!" laughed Deadshot, in almost-genuine jocularity, as he let go of Karin. "Man, Sauce, you and your jokes!"

"Er… yes." Sasuke eyed the woman and tried to smile. "Ha ha."

Deadshot winced, nearly imperceptibly. "Oh, and promise me you'll see the doctor about that throat of yours. It's awful. You can't even laugh very well." Leaning closer, he hissed: "You think we can maybe try to keep a low profile now?"

Much as Sasuke hated it, he had to nod. "Haha."

"And you can stop laughing," muttered Deadshot, before leaning back. "Just relax. They should open the doors soon."

And indeed, the sudden loud ring from the building seemed to indicate just that. The line began to move, and with it, the suspicion suddenly went away. The man behind Sasuke moved away, the woman sighed and began to gab into her cell phone about some movie star. Slowly, Sasuke and his team approached the gates.

"Make the call already." Sasuke hissed, when he could stand it no longer.

"Sit tight, boss," came the muttered reply. "We want to be too close to get away in time, but too far away to be scanned properly."

"We're close enough!" Sasuke hissed again, aware of several odd glances. "Call them!"

Deadshot sighed as he raised the cellphone to his lips.

"Go."

Superman was halfway to the exit when the klaxons sounded.

"Superman, we're under attack!" Mr. Terrific's frantic voice sounded in his ear.

"I know!" Superman's all-seeing vision roved a complete circuit of the watchtower, enumerating their attackers and their abilities. "What the… what happened to Flash?"

Terrific's reply took a few moments, and in that time Superman was at the speedster's side. The world moved in slow-motion around him, but he could see the plumes of rocket trails, the explosions as they smashed into the Tower's defense grid. Bullets were whizzing past him too, and grotesque figures were galloping across the intervening gap, but at the moment his concern was Flash, who lay doubled over on the concrete.

"Ran right into one of their blasts," rang Terrific's voice as Superman picked him up. "Complete accident, they weren't even aiming at him and he didn't know they were there."

Cracking an eye open, Flash grinned weakly. "Hey Supes. How's it hanging?"

"Don't talk." Superman, already in the infirmary, placed Flash down on a handy gurney. "You there! This man needs help, ASAP!"

"I'm fine, Supes, they just winged me, I'm…"

But Superman was already back outside, batting away the first of the cloned attackers. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see heroes jumping from the roof, the windows, the doors, any possible outlet to the fracas already raging. Atom Smasher and Blue Devil were already beside him, laying into the intruders.

This is insane. Superman thought. Attack the Metrotower? Openly?

The problem so distracted him he nearly got hit with the first punch. Instead, he managed to whip away just in time before coming back with a devastating right hook that knocked the attacker clear across the square.

Or course, doing that meant that he completely failed to see the enormous blast of energy being prepared by the clone off to the side.

It hit him, full force. His skin burned with the strange energy, and instantly he knew what it was. His hand flew to his ear, even as he shot forward to disable the blaster. "Terrific!" he called. "These clones are using chakra!"

"Yes. Very familiar profile, wouldn't you say?"

The Luthor clones. "Why now?" He moaned. "This makes no sense!"

"Keep focused on the battle, Superman. Green Lantern and Static are already en route, they can handle the ninjas." There was a short pause as Terrific reconsidered his words. "Or, at least, the negotiations with them. For the moment, we need you here. It shouldn't take long. Couple hours, tops."

A sudden BOOM interrupted Superman in the act of hurling his fourth clone away, and he glanced over to see an all-too-familiar silhouette emerging from the smoke.

Kalibak, son of Darkseid, grinned at him.

"Maybe longer," conceded Terrific.

"I'm surprised you could find time for our chess game today," remarked Shikamaru idly, moving his knight to a seemingly innocuous position. "Don't you have more important things to do? Now that you have Sasuke, I thought you might finally actually have the ability to move ahead with this 'dominate the world' strategy that you're always talking about."

Luthor shrugged as his rook destroyed Shikamaru's recently-moved knight. "Oh, I AM, Mr. Nara. But my power is such that I do not need to give it constant attention, only a sort of… cursory supervision. Which, of course, leaves me free to devote my full mind to our game."

"Your FULL mind? Oho, I am honored, Great Luthor, to receive so much of your attention." Shikamaru moved a bishop back a few spaces.

"You jest, Mr. Nara," smiled Luthor. "But in truth, your games have grown truly intriguing of late. I find it is quite a challenge to play you, and I do enjoy a good challenge." A black pawn skipped sideways and destroyed Shikamaru's rook.

"Yes," nodded Shikamaru. "I know."

A moment's silence hung over the room as the two contemplated the board. Though Luthor still remained in the glass balcony, Shikamaru played chess with his hands on an actual board in front of him, holograms of Luthor's pieces moving in concert to his own. Luthor had a similar model on the balcony.

Finally Shikamaru advanced a new pawn. "So, shall I tell you a funny story?"

Luthor shrugged. "I'd advise you to concentrate on your game, Mr. Nara, but I doubt you'd listen, so by all means, go ahead." His bishop slid to an empty slot.

"Once," Shikamaru yawned, "there was this guy named Luthor. And boy, was he an idiot."

To his credit, Luthor barely raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you find that story most amusing, Mr. Nara, but I fail to see the point."

"No, you don't get it." Shikamaru shook his head as he moved his king over one space. "He was smart and all, but he was arrogant. Loved to talk. Loved to talk to his prisoners, because he thought they were harmless and everything. And he LOVED being important, so much that when one of the prisoners called him out on it, he did everything in his power to impress that one prisoner."

Luthor, still studying the board, snorted without humor. "Indeed."

"Well, maybe not everything," conceded Shikamaru. "But too much, definitely. He might have done okay, except for the one time he broke down and told the prisoner all about what he was planning and why he needed to know what he did."

Shikamaru's shoulders gave an innocent roll. "Now, maybe he just thought the prisoner was helpless, maybe he just thought he could outsmart this prisoner, maybe he thought the prisoner would actually be impressed enough to join him."

"Maybe."

"Maybe, but the point is he was wrong. Dangerously wrong. Because see, when he told the prisoner his plan, he told him a lot more. First of all, he told the prisoner the situation. That gave him some context. Second of all, he mentioned how crucial the Sharingan was to his plans. That gave him something to play around with, something to tempt Luthor with. Third and last of all, he revealed how obsessed he was with godhood." Shikamaru smiled benignly as his knight jumped two pawns and landed on a space in the middle of enemy territory. "And that was crucial, because really, one you know a man's driving force, you can learn how to drive him."

"Depending, I suppose, on the car," remarked Luthor ironically. "And the road map."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Didn't need a road map. No need for one, as long as you know the man's personality. You just need to goad him, annoy him enough into doing overt things, obvious things that will attract attention and probably get him killed."

"Unless you underestimate the man's ability for surviving." Luthor sneered, no longer looking at the board.

"No, that's not the point. The point is, you get the man to OVERestimate his chances of survival, and constantly mock him when he does, so that he finally tries something too dangerous just to show that he can." Shikamaru was no longer looking at the board either, but he was deliberately not looking at Luthor, instead staring disinterestedly up at the ceiling. "Like, say, field-testing his own experiments, or attacking his enemies' base in broad daylight."

Luthor laughed. "So, Mr. Nara, you are telling me that I am being overconfident in allowing Sasuke to attack the Metrotower without me? That I should, perhaps, be giving more of my attention to help him? I thank you for your concern, Mr. Nara, but I do not think I will follow your advice. It does not seem it would be healthy."

"Suit yourself," shrugged Shikamaru.

"Tell me, Mr. Nara, if I am the idiot in this story, and you are the genius prisoner, why is it that you always lose our chess games?"

"Oh, that." A yawn broke loose from Shikamaru. "Not interesting anymore. I'm pretty sure I could have beaten you any time I wanted to. In the past week, at least."

A not-so-funny smile spread across Luthor's face. "I would be interested to see that, Mr. Nara."

"Look at the board, then." Shikamaru gestured.

The ninjas crouched against the parapet of the building, watching as the tiny bug circled around Shino's finger. It was performing an intricate series of whirls, dips, and circles that only it and Shino seemed to understand. As usual, the boy's face was expressionless, but something about the set of his chin indicated that he was deeply concentrated on the bug before him.

The others wisely decided to respect that, and focused on remaining still while whatever-was-going-on went on. A few of them glanced nervously at the loading docks of the office building just across the street, but for now, nothing seemed especially dangerous. And even if there was, Neji, currently on the watcher position (filling the role of scout AND rearguard) would warn them ahead of time.

Naruto, at the lead, paid little attention to anything, at least as far as anyone in Sage mode can. Certainly he remained aware of his surroundings, but at the moment he seemed concerned neither with Shino, nor the building, nor any pursuers that might be behind them. A troubled frown wrestled with his face, and he made occasional worried glances at the rest of his squad. Most of them seemed in fine condition, save for perhaps Hinata, who was huddled up in a little ball on the far end of the building and kept rubbing her ear. But Naruto didn't seem interested in their condition.

Finally Shino nodded and signaled to his insect to join its fellows. "This is intriguing." He said. "Apparently Shikamaru attracted my probe with some chakra-infused honey. It recognized his signature and returned—at his direction, apparently—to inform me." He glanced over at Naruto. "We now have confirmation that Shikamaru is in the building, and better yet, we have a direct route to him."

"Good." Naruto gave a firm nod. "And the trail leads through that building?"

"Yes. The loading docks may not be the quickest entrance, but they are the ones my probe used, so I cannot be sure. We shall have to risk it."

Sai spoke up. "At the other two locations Luthor fled before the heroes could catch him."

"Let him run, it's Shikamaru we're after," grumbled Kiba from further down the line.

"Indeed. But he would possibly prefer to leave WITH Shikamaru, which would delay our extraction mission indefinitely." Shino scratched his nose. "I believe Sai is merely trying to point out that we will need to be stealthy. Why? The moment Luthor learns of our presence, he has merely to teleport away, and all this is useless."

"Stealthy, then." Naruto nodded.

As quietly as possible, Neji managed to hiss over to them. "We'll need henges. Perhaps a genjutsu too. There are a lot of guards down there."

Sakura shook her head. "I have more than enough chakra for that, but genjutsus don't really work here. It wouldn't be worth the effort."

"More traditional then."

Now Tenten piped up. "We could just kill the guards and steal their uniforms."

This practical suggestion cast a short silence over the team. Tenten's suggestion was perfectly reasonable—quite effective, in fact—but it was the style of suggestion they hadn't used for months. Killing was never an option, not even as a last resort, and definitely not as a bit tactic in the mission.

But then, they were breaking free from that, weren't they? Returning to how they should be as ninjas?

"I think…" began Lee.

"It should work if we strike quickly and quietly." Neji spoke over the other chunin. "Everyone picks a target from here, then approaches the building from separate angles, then takes them out with the minimum of mess."

Naruto gave a hesitant nod. "Sure... that would work… but…" He gave a light cough. "Well, we might be able to pass simply by making henge uniforms. That would get us close enough to take them out harmlessly."

"Naruto, time and chakra are of the…"

Suddenly Neji froze. The rest of the ninjas, who had been watching him, froze also. "There's someone flying from the Northeast…" He muttered. "No… two." A second later he hissed in frustration. "It's the League. Green Lantern and Static."

Sai winced.

"How did they find us?" whispered Sakura harshly.

"I don't…" Neji stopped. His head swiveled suddenly, pointlessly, and he dashed across the rooftop in a single graceful movement to loom up beside Hinata. She flinched away at the sudden movement, and as she did his hand came up to brush away the thick hair from her ear.

There, buried nearly out of sight, was a League communicator.

"The League's communication network has to be as busy as hell right now," panted Deadshot as Sasuke's team sped along the halls. "Luthor's disruptor won't completely mess it up, but it'll still be pretty confused. Nobody's going to know who's doing anything."

"So no one's going to stop us?" Karin managed, her brow furrowed in concentrating on Suigetsu's position.

"No. Everyone will. But none of them will actually know what we should be doing, so it won't make a difference." Deadshot cast a nervous glance up and down the hall. "Hopefully we won't meet some bigshot Leaguer looking to draft us helpless technicians."

Sasuke wanted Deadshot's gun. The man had assembled it nearly the moment they were in the door, and now clutched it comfortably in both hands. All his movements seemed more fluid now that he had a gun there. Doubtless the man knew how to use it, but based on the three or four occasions he actually had, Sasuke could almost definitely say that the weapon itself still had to be unbelievably accurate. And powerful.

The two clones were keeping rearguard position, just behind Juugo himself. There had been no occasion for their use just yet, fortunately. Both Sasuke and Deadshot knew that unleashing the unstable clones would undoubtedly draw attention—something they could not yet afford.

Of the whole party, Karin was having the most difficulty. She was, of course, a ninja, but she was also a ninja who had spent the last couple months entirely in a lab with little chance for exercise or fresh air. Now once again on the move, the fatigue was starting to show.

They couldn't afford this. Karin couldn't be left behind, she knew where Suigetsu was. But they couldn't keep at her pace, either. Sasuke threw a look back. "Juugo… pick up Karin and keep running."

"I'm… I'm… fine." Karin managed to pant. "J-just… a little… winded."

"Pick her up." Sasuke ordered, ignoring his technician and glaring directly at his other teammate. The giant gave a little shrug and, without breaking stride, swooped Karin up in one suddenly enormous hand.

"That's going to be real noticeable if we run into… Oh crap."

Deadshot drew up so suddenly that Sasuke nearly ran into him. The others behind nearly ran into him. All of them stared at the trio of heroes in the hallway just ahead of them.

Vigilante hadn't earned his name from following interrogation procedures. "You varmints are trespassing!" He shouted, whipping out his revolvers.

"Damn." Deadshot's pistol was already out and firing, but Stargirl deflected the bullets with a simple. Reacting on instinct, Sasuke's hand flew for his sword—concealed beneath his robe—but already one of the clones was leaping over his head, roaring as he charged into battle.

"Boss!" shouted Deadshot, over the suddenly blaring siren and the tromp of approaching heroes. "You don't have time for this! Run and grab your man, then get out of here! We'll give you the time for this?"

Sasuke had no real objection, but he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the mercenary. Seeing it, Deadshot rolled his eyes. "Professional pride. My assignment is to keep you safe and get you there. Don't exactly plan on facing Luthor if that doesn't happen. Besides," he continued, punctuating the words with gunfire, "I've been caught by these guys before. It's a cakewalk."

Test Subject 39 no longer bothered wondering about the blue sky, the wind, the bustling buildings, all the things that had so fascinated him when he'd emerged to fight the boy. They had faded into the background this time, insignificant details before the glory of the fight.

Oh, and such a fight! Such a warrior! Inefficient, perhaps, but fast, strong, and determined. He could take on three of 39's fellows at once and not falter. Four, perhaps, would overwhelm him, but the men beside the warrior made that impossible.

39 had not been among the fortunate few in the first wave of attackers. Instead, he had had to wait as the others dashed forward to the battle. Hidden in the frail human shell, he had mingled with the fleeing and screaming citizens for a few minutes before triggering his transformation. He'd spent a boring couple of seconds killing helpless victims (no amusement in that, no matter how many creative ways you found to kill them), and then the warrior had been there, eyes flashing.

It took quick reflexes and quicker action to do what 39 had done, and he felt justifiably proud of himself. In the instant the warrior appeared before him—red cape blowing in the wind, blue arms folded across the emblem on his chest—39 had triggered a partial arm transformation and gave the man a jet-powered punch in the jaw.

It had blown the warrior back. Only a few feet, true, and the man had been back the next instant to knock 39 clear across the square, but 39 had made the warrior give ground.

Now, the memory flashing clearly in his mind, 39 watched the warrior keenly from a distance. He would not rush blindly into battle, as his fellows did. No, he would watch and observe, and decide upon his attack strategy beforehand.

The warrior was mostly fighting with the great dark man they had brought with them—Kalibak, was his name. For a brief moment, 39 considered attacking Kalibak, also a great warrior. But no, Luthor had forbidden that. Kalibak would make a useful distraction, 39 could always fight him later.

Even while battling Kalibak, the warrior held off all others of 39's fellows, always whirling around at just the right instant, with just the right force. He seemed to be constantly aware of his surroundings, and had a speed of movement that 39 knew he did not. And each man he hit stayed down. Or rather, nearly every, for he had hit 39, and he was still up.

The thought made 39 quiver with anticipation for battle, but he held himself back, forced himself to observe more. The warrior was continually distracted. In the blink of an eye he would dash to far sections of the square to help other warriors, rescue helpless victims, or even just shake off a few rowdy attackers before whirling back again to join the fray. Once in the fray, nothing could harm him. Bullets, punches, razor-edged fists—all bounced off him harmless. But, 39 noted, he seemed to wince when 39's fellows shot their energy at him.

A crude plan was just shaping in 39's mind, and he could hold it no longer. Leaping down to the square, he dashed away, not toward the warrior, but toward the far side of the square. The warrior must be alone when 39 struck him. As he ran, he snatched a rocket launcher from one of his fellows and, choosing a tall, strong-looking building not quite empty of its denizens, shot it away.

The boom reverberated across the plaza. Every head turned, and nearly every hero raced toward the building, but of course, the warrior was there first. His mighty arms seized the broken pillar, they braced it upright, holding the building upright as a small yellow-and-red warrior evicted the residents.

Out of the corner of his eye, 39 saw other warriors moving, charging forward to shield the great warrior. But they would be too late, too late... He put on an extra burst of speed, throwing himself at the warrior. Summoning up all the black battle-rage from his blood, 39 triggered his full transformation, feeling the dark rush of power from deep within his soul. The alien energy swarmed his mind, and he, with a great effort of focus, sent it shooting out again at the warrior.

The blast of energy struck the warrior full in the chest, and 39 saw him wince. More energy poured from 39's soul, and the warrior trembled. Power drained from 39's arms, legs, head, from the darkest purgings of 39's black rage, and came out in the stream of energy that hit the warrior and made him stumble.

But then it was over, and all of 39's energy was spent in that one great blast. The warrior still half-stood, bowed under the weight of the pillar, but 39 no longer had the strength to stand.

The momentum of his initial charge still carried him forward, though, toward the weakened warrior. Forward it carried him, hurling him headlong, still in rock-hard, transformed mode, straight toward the warrior's chest…

39 smashed into the warrior, and felt as though he had hit a mountain. His hardened skin crumpled under the impact of his own speed, his cybernetically-enhanced bones creaked and broke. But it meant nothing to him, for the mountain moved, it tumbled backwards and fell over. Without its pillar, the building came crashing down upon them all in a roaring tumult of creaking steel and crashing concrete.

I made the warrior fall, thought Test Subject 39 dreamily, scarcely feeling the debris smash his already broken body. I toppled him. A good warrior. A good battle. A good life.

"They've turned left. It looks like they're off the trail for now." Neji turned his pulsating gaze onto Sai. "How long do you think it'll take them to catch your hawk with the earpiece?"

Sai shrugged. "A half hour, perhaps. They can go much faster, the difficulty will mostly be zeroing in on something so small. But they shouldn't be able to track its origin."

"Shall I lift the genjutsu?" asked Sakura, fingers still pressed in a seal.

"No. First we have a matter to resolve." Neji turned to face his cousin. "Why, Hinata?"

Hinata was pale, trembling, and rather alone in the center of the circle of ninjas, but she stood as steadily as possible and stared her cousin straight in the face. "B-because none of you would listen." She said, hands clenched at her side. "B-because we need the League's help, but none of you want it."

"We don't need their help. Naruto and Tenten both have broken out of Luthor's base before, it won't be…

"Naruto didn't break out so much as get expelled." Hinata interrupted him, her voice tight with determination. "And Tenten barely managed intact, even with help from you and Kid Flash. Besides, they were going out, not charging in like us. What're you going to do if they hold Shikamaru hostage?"

"Kikai bugs…" started Shino.

"Mind switch…" suggested Ino.

"Genjutsu?"

Hinata closed her eyes. "I w-was just asking. Besides, we think Sasuke's in there too, don't we? And y-you can't say we're able to handle him, at least not both h-him and Luthor."

"We need to try. Shikamaru's in there."

"But we can't get to him. N-not without the League's help. We need them, Neji!"

"No! The League can't be trusted! They've been lying to us the whole time!"

"L-like we've been lying to them? How do you know they can't be trusted? We've never tried to trust them!"

"She's got a point."

All heads swiveled to stare at Naruto, who shrugged. "She does, okay? We haven't exactly done very well against Sasuke in the past, and we don't actually know very much about this Luthor guy. Anyway, even if the League IS using us, we might as well use them too."

"The League is useless for an attack like this." Neji shook his head. "They're all about brute force. No subtlety. Shikamaru needs to be rescued secretly."

"If we run into Sasuke in those hallways, secrecy is going to go out the window. The League can at least be a good distraction. Look, Shino even said that we're going to have to suck up to them again sooner or later, why not now, rather than later?" Naruto took a few paces, toward the center. "Look at us. All of us. Sure, the League's been trying to make us into a mini-League. But has that really turned out so badly? We've all got new weapons, new abilities, new ways of looking at the world. And really, what do WE ninjas do, if not use people and try to get them to work with us? What would we do if the League popped into Konoha? Let them set up a watchtower?"

"We wouldn't train them to be ninjas," grumbled Tenten.

"Only because they're too old and can't use chakra." Naruto shot back.

Reluctantly, Sai inclined his head in agreement. "Konoha is not above conscripting unclaimed children." He said softly.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group at the orphan's simple comment. Unsurprisingly, Naruto was the one to break it.

"Look." He said. "I'm usually all for rushing in headlong and trying to bash a problem face-first. But let's say I've started to think a bit more… tactically in recent days. I'm not really sure that the League is all as bad as we're making them out to be; but even if they are, we can still use their help. And you know they'll offer it."

"They'll interfere. They won't let us kill Sasuke."

"Which I seem to remember telling you wasn't an option to begin with." Naruto's eyes narrowed at Neji.

"It's something we have to keep open, Naruto. You know that." Neji also stepped into the center. "Regardless, though, our ties to the League must be broken. For good. We're ninjas, we're not their heroes, and trying to pretend we are is just going to mess things up."

Naruto gave a simple shake of his head. "Not saying we have to. Just saying that we, as ninjas, can use the help of them, as heroes."

There was another short silence. Everyone stared at Naruto and Neji where they stood in the center. Hinata had already backed gratefully away to the periphery, and watched the scene with her old nervousness. Most of them were wondering about Neji's reaction. Though older and higher ranking than Naruto, he'd held the younger genin in undisguised esteem for many years. However blank he kept his face, he clearly was going through a struggle.

"Sakura, break the genjutsu." Naruto ordered.

Neji held up a hand. "Keep it in place, Sakura."

"Guys…" Sakura moaned. "…don't do this to me, okay? It's not going to make much difference in ten minutes anyway, my chakra's beginning to run dry."

Sai's eyes grew suddenly unfocused. "My eagle has been dispersed." He commented.

"Damn. They're turning." Neji whirled around to the rest of the squad. "We need to go, now!"

"I say we stay here. Wait for them, then attack with their help."

"Then stay!" cried Neji, turning on Naruto. "The rest of us will rescue you from the League later, if we can. But for now, we no longer have time to argue. Let's move!"

And with that, Neji leapt from the building's summit, down toward the loading docks.

Sasuke didn't need the loud claxons blaring through the building to let him know he had to hurry. He and Juugo had already cut through two security teams and a number of assorted personnel. For a moment, Sasuke considered that it hadn't been necessary, strictly speaking, to kill the personnel, but he'd been in a hurry and hadn't had the luxury of consideration. Even his power wouldn't be able to hold back any serious grouping of this organization's strength.

"We're close," announced Karin from Juugo's shoulder. "He's… just ahead of us, and a level down."

"Juugo." Sasuke gestured, and the red-haired giant nodded his understanding. Shrugging Karin to a more secure position, he raised two enormous, chakra-transformed fists and crashed them into the floor.

The Metrotower was no wattle-and-daub ninja complex, but Juugo's fists could smash through solid rock at need. The metal gave way with a screeching whine and the team dropped down a level.

"This hallway crosses with another further down, and you follow that to…" Karin's directions suddenly gave way to a gasp. Sasuke whipped around to be faced with a tall, dark-haired woman clad in what amounted to a star-spangled bathing suit.

"Turn back, intruders!" She cried, setting herself in a battle stance.

Sasuke's sword, already out, whipped around in attack as he charged straight at her. Quick as sight, her arm flashed up, catching the sword absentmindedly on one of her metallic bracelets. It rebounded back with a little clang, leaving a small grove in the woman's armor.

Sasuke stared in shock at the bracelets. The woman stared in disbelief at the sword.

"The sword Kusanagi penetrates all defenses!" Sasuke protested.

"The Armor of Athena is invincible!" returned the woman.

Unfortunately, the two had no time to debate the strengths of their respective mythologies, for at this moment Juugo roared past, plowing bodily into the woman. She had seen him, however, and rolled with the impact, floating away from the worst of the hit, and coming back with a Hercules-powered punch. Juugo's body flew through the air and tore through a sheet-metal wall before crashing to the floor in an adjoining room.

Growling, Juugo picked himself up. "Go!" He shouted, his eyes already beginning to shift. "I'll hold her off!"

"But Juugo…" Karin started.

Sasuke grabbed hold of Karin's arm and hauled her down the hallway. Behind them, they heard the hallway explode with the sounds of fighting.

A punch with enough force to split the ground struck Kalibak directly in the temple, lifting his bulky form clear off his feet and into the air. Before he could even strike the building on the opposite side of the square, Superman was there, arms outstretched. He let Kalibak smash into him, deadening the impact, keeping it from the building as he rolled slightly with the momentum. The back of his cape brushed lightly against the glass, and then was still.

After making sure Kalibak was completely unconscious, Superman threw the comatose god over one shoulder. All around him, he could see heroes still fighting, battling back the clones. He was still needed. After all, these creatures were no pushovers, even to metas, and there were still a couple hundred of them. They had no concept of 'retreat,' or 'surrender,' and found the idea of 'unconscious' difficult to understand. Which, considering the League's attitude toward 'death,' made things problematic.

Still, now that he was free to fully deal with it, the battle should turn very quickly. The clones were already falling, one last push was all it would take.

First things first, though. In a few seconds, Superman was at the League's intensive holding cells, handing Kalibak over to some very nervous technicians. In another second or two, he was back in the battle, smashing back the clones surrounding a rather swamped Shining Knight. Yet another few seconds later, and he found himself pulling back the impassioned Blue Devil from a headlong death rush. A couple seconds longer took him to the Tower's railings, where he pulled some insensible clones from the grip of a malfunctioning electric trap.

Somewhere amidst all these seconds, Superman pieced together the message from Mr. Terrific. "Superman! We have intruders in the base!"

"Clones?" said Superman, running damage control on one of the buildings on the fringe.

"Some, but they're not the problem. Superman, we've got some camera images and a couple reports… we think its Sasuke! This whole thing is just a diversion!"

Superman froze in the act of diverting some rogue clones from a crowd. The moment of hesitation cost him, and he winced under the full exposure of a chakra beam. Gritting his teeth, he shot down and attacked the offender.

Terrific, meanwhile, continued his report. "They're making for Suigetsu's prison chamber. Don't worry, I sent Diana down to stop them and…"

A second, and Superman was gone.

John Stewart felt like an idiot. Here he was, a US Marine and an honored Green Lantern, and he let himself get outsmarted by a bunch of teenagers. If Static hadn't have pointed out the weird-looking eagle, he might not have even have seen it. And if the others hadn't shot that giant plume of water into the sky, it could have taken him another half-hour to have found them.

As it was, he touched down on the roof a scant five minutes after catching the eagle to face Naruto. Behind him stood Hinata, Kiba, Lee, Ino, and Sai; but the others could not be seen, so Stewart landed with his shields fully loaded.

Static, by contrast, practically bounced to the rooftop. "Dude, where's Neji?"

"Gone in," answered Naruto, gesturing to the loading docks below. "Look, we don't have a lot of time to explain, so I'll just handle the essentials. We found Luthor. He's down there with Shikamaru. And Sasuke's probably there too. We need your help."

"You… found…"

"Shino had a bug trace on him. We didn't tell you because we didn't trust you. Yadda yadda. Can we go now?"

"No, look, there's something we need to clear up first. That thing with the Sharingan…"

"No, we're NOT going to clear that up first because we don't have TIME for it!" Naruto snapped. "I'm mad about that, sure, and you guys WILL clear it up as soon as we're done here, but right now we've got a very elusive villain down there holding one of my friends captive, and several other of my friends acting crazy dangerous to try and get him back! We don't have time to clear this up!"

Stewart made his decision. "I'm contacting the League," said he, touching his finger to his ear. "Naruto and I take point, Static and Sai, you've got the rear. Keep together once we enter the…

But at that point the building exploded from beneath them.

Sakura didn't know what she was doing. Well, okay, technically she was very aware she was running through the hallways of a mad genius trying to find a lost comrade, but realistically she didn't understand why she was turning her back on her best friend and teammate to do just that. Or rather, if that was necessary.

Perhaps because she felt she couldn't desert the others. Lee, Naruto, and Ino were all staying behind, SOMEONE had to go with Neji and keep an eye on him. Someone had to keep a cool head… well, okay, there was Shino, but Someone had to provide the muscle… well, okay, there was Chouji, but Someone had to show some feminine sense… well, okay,, Tenten was there too, but Someone needed to lead them… well, okay, Neji was doing a pretty good job of that too.

But they needed a medic. And really, Neji's team needed all the help they could get. Naruto, at least, would have the League to back him up, Neji had nothing except this band.

Partly, though, Sakura knew she was there because Naruto wasn't. It was nearly inevitable, but if there was a chance to distinguish herself APART from Naruto, Sasuke, or Sai, she always took it. Most times, it ended in disaster, but Sakura couldn't help herself. She was good, in her own way, and she yearned for a chance to show that—something hardly practical when Naruto was running around smashing all the enemies.

So hopefully this chance would turn out better than the other half-dozen-or-so chances that she'd had and blown.

They were running through the hallways at breakneck speed, under the cover of as good a genjutsu as Sakura could maintain (that was something else they needed her for, she thought). So far, all the guards they'd met had been silenced with barely a gurgle. Amazing, really, how quickly some things came back to you. She'd had no problem locating and severing the carotid artery, even with all that armor in the way.

"How much further?" That was Neji.

"A good ways." Shino. "At this rate, I estimate we would reach…"

And then the hallway exploded.

Sasuke had to desert Karin. Formerly, that would not have bothered him, but now he was working hard to silence his conscience on the matter. Other heroes were coming, they needed Suigetsu NOW so they could meet back up and break out as quickly as possible. So he'd let go of her, with a terse instruction to hide.

The next steps were simple enough, but painfully touchy. He needed to dash in, free Suigetsu, dash back, finish off the woman with Juugo, then smash their way back out with as little fuss as possible before deserting Luthor and his clone army. The League's probable destruction of the clones was an added benefit, Sasuke was not keen on letting someone like Luthor have access to Juugo's power. Or his, for that matter.

There was the door Karin had mentioned. Kusanagi flashed twice across its thick steel face and it fell apart like cracked pottery. As Sasuke burst through the opening, he caught sight of the tube in the center and the faint but very recognizable form within it. He leapt toward the prison, sword whipping around as he sped through the air…

And then the air seemed to explode before him and he crashed backwards into the wall.

Naruto had been in Sage Mode for the duration of the entire journey. Unbeknownst to the others, he had had two Sage clones running alongside their part for most of the trip. It made the natural energy harder to hold on to, but it meant he had a ready supply of them without needing to summon them.

And because he was in Sage Mode, he managed not only to completely escape harm from the building's collapse, but he managed to save the others from any, well, serious injury, at least. They were alive. Some of them might even be conscious in a few minutes.

But right now, he couldn't help but wish that they were conscious already, because this was one UGLY guy.

Granite-grey skin loomed upwards over a massive muscular body adorned with rock-like protrusions of bone that jutted out at painful angles. Wild white hair cascaded down the beast's shoulders, and jagged teeth growled at him beneath two eyes burning with pure hatred and bloodlust.

"Heh…" Naruto tried a smile. "…uh… so… who're you?"

After regarding him for a moment, the creature raised one massive rocky hand and made a fist. "I am Doomsday." It rumbled. Then it extended a long finger to point at Naruto. "And you… are Dead."

Sakura heaved herself from the debris, eyes snapping about, assessing the situation. Shino down. Chouji wounded. Tenten dazed but otherwise unhurt. Neji, just above Tenten, arm raised in the chakra blast that'd destroyed the block aimed for her, completely unharmed. Overtalented bastard.

As for her own state, Sakura might have considered herself well, except for the bizarre figure standing proudly in the rubble before her. Red cape, red boots, blue spandex, and red underwear. None of that, however, was crazy enough anymore to make her doubt the evidence of her eyes. No, the figure looked rather like a perfectly ordinary Superman, apart from the unkempt hair, the shambling hunched gait, the waxen-pale face, and the massive overbite.

She glanced over to Neji. "I'm not the only one seeing this, right?"

The ugly face broke into a grin at her words. "Me am not Bizarro." It rumbled. "Me am not sent to help you." A crack of its knuckles punctuated the words. "Goodbye."

Sasuke picked himself from the remains of the wall and straightened up. Reaching down, he picked up his sword and wiped the blade clear of dust. He gave his own clothes a light brushing to make them a bit more presentable.

Only then did he look up to face the angry vision floating in his way. Dark hair, glaring blue eyes in a ruddy face. Red cape, blue suit, red boots.

Red underwear. How could you take a guy in red underwear seriously?

Sasuke remembered the dented wall behind him and abandoned the question. A man who could do that could dress anyway he liked.

"So," said Sasuke, walking forward. "You must be Superman."

"And you're Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't even bother to deny it. "That's my teammate in that tube."

"He tried to kill our friends."

"So?" shrugged Sasuke. "I didn't tell you that so you'd release him. I told you that so you'll at least know why you're dying."

The man's expression did not change. "How kind."

"Don't get used to it." Sasuke whipped up the sword.

And then he charged.

"I don't like this, Kakashi." Tsunade frowned disapproval as the silver-haired ninja moved about the office, packing items into a small bag.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's Kakashi-sama to you, Lady Tsunade. You can dislike it all you want, but at the end of the day, I'm the Rokudaime Hokage, and I'm doing it."

"Yes, you're the Hokage. And AS the Hokage, you can't just desert the village at a time of crisis like this! The attack on Madarra's camp is tomorrow!"

"Konoha's role in that attack is negligible," said Kakashi, tossing a few specialized kunai into the bag alongside a case of soldier pills. "And my role nonexistent. I'm mostly supposed to stay in the command post as backup. Backup the Raikage will never call for, in his current frame of mind. No, I can serve the alliance, and the village, much better by tracking down Naruto and bringing him back before Madarra does."

"Then send someone else!"

"How would they come back? Sending someone there is worthless if they can't return here. And the best chance for returning is the Sharingan." Half-turning to face Tsunade, Kakashi tapped the side of his head and winked. "And I have the only one left."

"Outside of Madarra," nodded Shikaku from the doorway.

Tsunade turned on him in exasperation. "Oh, not you TOO!"

Somewhat embarrassed, Shikaku gave a little shrug. "Sorry, Lady Tsunade, but he's right. That episode yesterday means something's happening in that dimension, wherever it is. It could be Madarra. Even if it isn't, he might have felt the same thing and realized what it means. We need to move now. I think you may have other reasons for going, Hokage-sama, but your logic is inescapable nonetheless." Then he gave a puzzled frown. "Though I'll admit that I don't see how you're going to get there. I thought you'd tried everything."

"Didn't try this yet." Kakashi shrugged the sack onto his shoulder. "It's pretty simple, really, so simple I missed it in all the jutsus I was trying. It's just a variation of Kamui."

"Kamui?" Tsunade blinked. "But you can only…"

"I can only teleport things I can see, yes. That's how it is with nearly every Sharingan jutsu. I need to see the object or area I want to teleport, so that I can create the barrier around it. That's why I was working backwards from Kamui… trying to find out how to reverse it." Grinning, Kakashi walked over to one of the walls and opened the Hokage coat closet. "Really, I should have been looking for a very simple piece of equipment."

Tsunade peered past him. "A mirror? But what does…" Her eyes grew wide. "Oh no. You can't seriously…"

"Hokage, are you planning to use Kamui on YOURSELF?" Shikaku had left the wall and stood a few paces away.

"Why not?" shrugged Kakashi, admiring himself in the full-length mirror that the closet contained. "Naruto and the others got through alive, or else the Kyuubi would be assembling. If I can see myself in the mirror and form the barrier around myself…"

"Then your eye can rip apart like a whirlpool trying to swallow itself," finished Shikaku sarcastically. "This is crazy, Hokage. You have no way of knowing whether it'll work."

Kakashi gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well, not until I try, anyway." Checking the clock, he gave a little sigh. "And everything is all ready now, except for one thing."

"What's that?"

The door BOOMED open with tangible drama. "KAKASHI-SAMA!" roared a backpack-laden vision in green spandex. "I am all in readiness for our youthful journey!"

Shikaku got away with just a raised eyebrow, but Tsunade's eyes were wide and her mouth was open. "You're bringing HIM?"

"Once he heard how dangerous it was, there was no stopping him," explained Kakashi wearily. "I really didn't have much of a choice."

"My students are in danger, Tsunade-sama!" Gai snapped off a salute. "I must not desert them in their hour of need. It would be most unyouthful." Whirling, he gave Kakashi a brilliant smile and an enormous thumbs-up. "I am ready, my eternal rival! I will go to ten times as many dimensions as you, and if I cannot do that, I will run around the Fire Nation five times!"

"Do you… really need all that stuff, Gai?" Kakashi eyed the twenty-or-so packs Gai was carrying.

"Yosh!" Another thumbs-up. "I must prepare myself for whatever the journey holds!"

Simply sighing, Kakashi turned to face the mirror. "Right then, everything's ready." He said, as Gai bounded up alongside him. "Shikaku, please witness that I appoint Lady Tsunade as Hokage until I return."

"Oh yay," muttered Tsunade.

"Well then. Here we go." And, bracing himself, Kakashi faced the mirror and lifted the headband from his Sharingan.

A dimension away, Luthor stopped in the middle of a very intricate chess move. Slowly, a malicious smile spread across his features.

"Hello." He whispered.

to be continued...

A/N: Only eighteen reviews for last chapter. That's what you get for posting your chapter during a period when they're experiencing technical difficulties. If any of you remember your thoughts on the last chapter and didn't get to voice them the first time, I'd be interested in hearing them now. The last chapter was a bit... difficult in parts.

I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. Not because it's specially good-I don't think it's specially BAD, but I don't know as how it's specially GOOD-but because, despite a cool Orson Scott Card book, my brother's house-warming party, my acceptance into grad school, AND Half Life 2, I managed to get it done ON TIME. Haw! Take that, procrastinating inner self!

Oh, notes on continuity. Bizarro, Superman's imperfect clone, actually doesn't do the reverse-speech thing in the DCAU. For this incarnation, though, I gave him the same distinctive way of talking that he has in the comics, because it's so much fun to play with.