George Eliot–
"It's never too late to be what you might've been."

Blackgate Penitentiary, home of the toughest and vilest non-insane criminals of Gotham. Criminals dreaded it, civilians avoided it, and corrupt officials loved it like a Priest loves children.

But all in all, everyone was glad that it was on a small island away from sight where they could pretend it didn't exist.

Not all criminals were equal, there was a strict hierarchy in Blackgate, on the top there were the unfortunate gang leaders bosses, unfortunate because they were caught by the vigilante Batman. Below them was their faction, then it was independent killers and murderers who were fearsome enough to not stay aligned with any faction, then came local drug dealers, thieves, other small crimes, and last at the very bottom of everything were child abusers and rapists.

Or as they were called 216 and 261s.

Being sent to Blackgate as either of those was a sentence worse than death. There was no compassion among inmates, especially to 216s and 261s. No factions would defend them and when compared to the hardened criminals they were average, weak. Nobody wanted to go to prison, but especially as one of those two.

And for one James Duke, his future was bleak. James was an ordinary guy, he was a 19 years old university student.

Born and raised in Gotham, his parents were a hardworking middle-class family that tried their best to raise him. But now where was he? Blackgate Penitentiary, on a holding cell waiting for the paperwork to be done to seal his fate.

What had he done to warrant imprisonment in Blackgate? He went to a frat party and was seen talking with a girl, the same girl that later accused him of abuse and rape.

That was all it took to flip his life upside down. One moment he was eating a hot pocket and the other police were knocking at his door.

Till now he still didn't understand what happened. Everything was okay, they flirted, had a good time, and then parted ways. He didn't touch her, but nobody believed him, not his parents, not his lawyer, and not even the judge.

Case opened and case closed, just like that.

Even now it felt like a dream, or rather, a nightmare. He honestly believed that if he did nothing wrong then he had nothing to fear, but that just wasn't the case.

In the end, the truth of 1 person couldn't stand up to the lie of many. Who even were those witnesses that said they had seen him arguing with the girl just before? Why would they make up that lie? What had he done to them?

Those were the types of questions that rang through James's mind as he sat in silence while the other convicts either chatted among themselves or brooded silently like him.

That worked out well for him, he didn't want attention. The less attention brought to him the higher his chances of survival. Everyone knew what happened to rapists in jail, in the best case scenario they were shanked and killed.

As James was thinking about how to increase his chances of survival, someone approached.

"Hey, what about you? What are you in for?" The person asked James, a tall and muscular blond man.

James ignored him.

"Hey! You deaf or something? I asked you a question."

James looked at him.

"Nothing. I did nothing, I was framed. I'm innocent"

"Oh yeah, we're all innocent here. I too was framed for attempting to murder the mayor. What were you framed for?"

"None of your business."

The door to the holding cell opened, two guards came in with a rather rotund man

A few months had passed since little Shiro's birthday.

Sandra's training since then intensified but also simplified as well. Her training days were a mixture of practical combat where he would 'attack' the same attack various times until she managed to block it and the follow-up, stopping a hair's breadth from contact every time.

On other days the training consisted of punching and kicking a strange soft punching bag over and over for a total of 5,000 punches and 5,000 kicks.

At first, she could just barely make it, requiring to be carried back home and given a healing ointment, however as time passed she got used to it.

Her kicks were heavy, causing loud smacks to resound within the room every time, the target however just wobbled slightly.

It was a strange thing, a normal punching bag would have long been torn apart from the abuse, but its surface was unscratched. It also seemed to get heavier as time passed, as no matter how strong or weak she punched or kicked, it always just wobbled slightly.

While she was finishing her kicks, Naruto was watching from the side, seated cross-legged. Shiro was with Sarah, they were working on her 'addiction' to him by slowly increasing the time she could stay without crying.

Now her limit was 2 hours, thanks to her newest companion, Snow, and a plushie that he constantly infused with his energy to mimic his presence.

Truth be told he also didn't like staying away from her. She was his white bundle of joy in this gloomy prison, but unfortunately, it was a necessary thing for her to eventually grow 'out' of him.

Giving the last kick, Sandra bent forward with her hands on her knees. She took a few breaths, straightened up, took a step, and slipped on the puddle of her own sweat.

As she was losing balance, a helping hand helped her recover, courtesy of Naruto who had appeared behind her at some point.

"Thanks but um…" Sandra tried to step away. "I'm sweaty. You'll dirty yourself."

"Don't worry about it. We have to go now, there is something I'd like to show you."

"Oh? "What is it? I don't like surprises."

"A place, I understand you haven't given up and want to know more about me, isn't that right?"

Her cheeks turned pink and she nodded slowly.

"Then you will naturally learn more in this place. Coincidentally it has to do with the next part of your training."

"Oh, okay. But shouldn't I shower first? I feel disgusting."

"You can shower there, don't worry about it." Naruto urged her to walk and they left the training room.

They went down the hallway, into another room, and towards a staircase. It was the first time Sandra had been into this staircase, in fact she could swear that room that led to the staircase was a dead end and that it shouldn't exist.

They descended for around twenty minutes at a steady pace at which point Sandra began to wonder how far down she'd gone. It was difficult to tell as the staircase didn't give access to a single floor and everything was the same. It was using the lightbulbs on the walls as reference she managed to estimate that they had gone underground.

"This island is very special to me, Sandra," Naruto told her, bringing her out of her calculations. "When I first arrived in this universe, I was confused, wounded, even my skin and hair colors had changed. Everything was so strange and the only thing familiar was the giant creatures that roamed. Unfortunately, unlike in my homeland, nothing here could talk any language.

"When was this…?"

"I don't remember…" Naruto seemed to begin to think. "My memory of the old days isn't very good. They were just occupying space in my head so I remove them to keep space for other more important memories."

Sandra blinked, that didn't sound good.

"But while I don't remember much of the time, I do remember this place. This has been my home for a long time and my heart feels at ease when I'm here. If you want to learn more about who I am and my history, then this is the place. Only a select few have learned of the existence of this place, fewer have come here and among them, almost all of them are now dead and forgotten by time. Now I bring you, perhaps later I'll bring Talia too, she seems like she is here to stay."

They reached the bottom, where there was a metal door made of a very polished metal that seemed almost like silver. A curious thing to note was that it had no knob or opening, it was just a metal rectangle like a silver mirror.

Sandra had heard him mention his other student which goes by Batman, but it was the first time she was hearing that Ra's himself was also his student at some point.

She gave a 90-degree bow. "I understand, master. I appreciate your trust."

"Also, this is something apart from your final decision after you graduate. As your master I'll try to support you however I can, regardless of what you choose." He took Sandra's hand with his left hand, "Now let's enter."

He then stepped into the door, sinking inside it as if it were water and pulling Sandra along with him.

The first thing Sandra noticed was that it was somewhat cold, especially to her who was still somewhat sweaty from training. The floor was made of polished black tiles that didn't reflect light, while the walls were made of the same material as the door, while the ceiling was glowing white tiles that provided the room with light. The air was fresh, especially when compared to the polluted air of Gotham, and the temperature was around 55 degrees Fahrenheit (15 C) which was a cold contrast to the outside but not very cold in itself.

Still holding Sandra's hand, Naruto pulled her into the room and began guiding them. "This floor is mostly just living quarters, if not a bit advanced. This is the living room, couch, minibar, TV, I made that TV myself. I'll show you how to use it later."

Being used to the still modern CRT Televisions, the TV in question seemed like alien technology to Sandra. It was big at around 120 inches in length, half of that in height while being only a quarter of an inch thick. It floated over a base of thin metal structures arranged in a type of crown with a blue crystal in the center.

There wasn't much to see, after the living room was the dining room, the kitchen, until finally stopping in front of a bedroom.

"You can have this room. Since from now on you will be training here, it will be convenient for you to bathe, change clothes, rest, and keep things that we don't want Sarah or Shiro finding. Still, if possible I'd like for you to continue sleeping at home."

Sandra's cheeks turned pink.

"Understood, master."

"I have to check on Shiro and do some work. In the meanwhile, take a shower, rest or explore, you can go anywhere that opens for you and mess with anything that doesn't have tape written 'don't touch'. I'll be back in around an hour."

Sandra nodded in acknowledgment, and he left.

After he left, she pressed her hand on the door and it spread apart like water.

The bedroom. It was exactly like her bedroom except that the furniture, floor, walls, and ceiling were of different materials. Additionally, there were two doors, one of which she presumed to be the bathroom.

On the bed, there were a few things laid over the sheets: a change of clothes consisting of a black set of underwear, black pants, and a white shirt. Besides the clothes, there was a sheathed sword with a letter on top of it.

Sandra picked up the letter.

"Hello dear Sandra, unfortunately, I can't be here with you in person as there is something I have to do. Still, I hope this letter will convey my message appropriately.

You've been under my care for some time and I've noticed we have never celebrated your birthday.

I got curious and snooped around a bit, but seeing how you never said anything I figured it was a sensitive thing to you and held back on a celebration and instead made this gift for you. I hope you aren't angry with me for prying into your privacy…"

Sandra's hands started shaking.

"You idiot, how could I be angry at you…"

She went back to reading the letter.

"Still I wanted to make you something, so I made this sword. I used a sword an enemy of mine used to have as inspiration to forge it with some modifications to make it usable by you.

It's incredibly sharp so never touch the edge or the tip. The name of the sword is Snake Slayer.

Happy Birthday.

P.S. I think it's about time we get you some new clothes to fill this wardrobe. I could just get them for you, but I figure you'd like to go outside. If you'd like tomorrow we can go to Gotham, you, me and Shi-chan.

P.P.S. There should be no problem with keeping it sharp, but in the event that you run into something really, really, really tough that ruins the edge, then the sheath will sharpen it.

P.P.P.S. Seriously, don't touch the edge, a small cut and you can end up bleeding to death. It is a very dangerous weapon."

Sandra blinked a couple of times and re-read it to make sure she read it right the first time, then smiled.

She could practically hear his voice when reading the letter.

"If we go shopping tomorrow just us three, then wouldn't it be a date?" She asked herself out loud and then picked up the sword's handle and inspected it in its sheath.

Snake Slayer, it was an odd name for a sword but looking at it in her hands she felt it was fitting. At first glance, it seemed like a katana, the handle. was black with silver threads and the sheath was of polished black wood.

Unsheathing it slowly, Sandra inspected the blade along the way. trying her best to steady her shaking hands.

It was not a katana, not traditionally at least. The blade was of a silver-like material sharpened as if it was a knife or a scimitar, as to have a very sharp point that Katanas didn't usually have. It seemed more suited for cutting despite its tapered point, it truly was a strange blade. (1)

There was no decoration on the blade or any type of pattern whatsoever, it's decoration was its edge which spoke a lot about it. It was a weapon meant for killing just as its name suggested. Although it was a beauty in and of itself, it was its edge that gave it beauty as a weapon and not anything else.

Sandra found herself drawn to it, staring at it in a trance-like state. It wasn't until her fingers were almost at the edge that she realized it and retracted her hand, then returned it to its sheath.

Now she understood why he cautioned her so much to not touch it. The blade was much more than it seemed on the surface, it was alluring in a surreal and hypnotic way that bewitched those that gazed into it. She wouldn't have been surprised if those with weak wills actually threw themselves at the blade.

Truly a dangerous weapon.

Sandra hugged that sheathed weapon to her chest and wept, releasing the tears that she had been holding up till now.

Her birthday came with sadness and memories of her sister. Being just the two of them, it was them against the world, they had always celebrated birthdays together and now with her gone, she couldn't bring herself to celebrate them anymore.

She felt like she had gained something much more important than either the letter or the sword.

It was a special feeling to be truly understood and accepted by someone. And that was how she felt, he cared about her enough to look into her birthday and make a gift for her, while knowing and respecting that a party or a celebration would bring back painful memories.

The arrest of Oswald Cobblepot marked a big event in Blackgate. The vigilante Batman had caught many criminals, most small thieves and crooks with a couple of assassins and small area gang lords, Cobblepot was his introduction to the big leagues.

A criminal above criminals. His imprisonment was a big deal both to the prison and to society as well, which translated to the warden, Naruto, as a lot of paperwork.

He'd only just superficially introduced his pupil, Sandra, to his hideout/true home and there was still a lot to show her, but he figured it would be okay for her to either explore on her own or take a nap and rest for him to meet his new troublesome guest.

He wouldn't take long anyway, and he also still had to check-up on Shiro who was with Talia and Sarah

Stopping in front of the holding cell, the two guards that were outside stiffened and straightened up, surprised at their boss's arrival.

"What is with the smirks?" Naruto asked them.

"Nothing sir, we are just glad that Batman has caught Penguin. One less criminal on the streets." One of the two answered.

"That is something to be happy about. Is there anything else?"

"No sir."

"Okay, give me the keys." Naruto extended his right hand towards the guard that answered him.

The man hesitated for a second, but complied and handed Naruto a large keychain with several keys.

"Yes sir."

Naruto opened the door and was greeted to the sight of a circle of men kicking and stomping on what seemed to be an unconscious man.

Turning his head to the two guards behind him, Naruto noticed them trying to suppress a proud smirk.

"What's going on here?" He asked the two in a calm manner, his voice echoing through the room and bringing the attention of the inmates.

The smirks disappeared.

"We're giving this punk what he deserves." One inmate said, kicking the unconscious man in the stomach.

"Is that so… and who are you to determine what he deserves? Or better yet, how do you know his crime? Nobody here should've been capable of accessing TV yet so there is no way to know unless…"

Naruto turned towards the two guards, who instantly stiffened.

"We didn't say anything."

"Yeah boss, however they heard it, it wasn't from us."

Naruto smiled, a calm and gentle looking smile that to the two guards looked absolutely terrifying.

"Since you two are new here I'll give you a chance to redeem yourselves and lessen your punishment."

"But boss it wasn't us." One of them interrupted.

"Take that man to the infirmary and make sure he recovers well and nothing happens to him there." Naruto continued as if he wasn't interrupted. "Do that and you'll be very relieved if your only loss is your jobs."

They hesitated and glanced at the unconscious James.

"Are you two waiting for a written invitation or something? Take him and get out of my sight."

"Y-yes sir!"

The two hurried their way towards James, pushed out the criminals surrounding him and carried him outside, leaving Naruto alone inside with the criminals.

"Hello there, my name's Naruto and I'm the warden of this prison."

"The warden? So that's why the guards were like that. You're either brave or stupid, to stay here alone with all of us." One criminal said.

"I don't need to be neither for this situation… young man whatever you and the others are thinking, I recommend you to rethink it."

"Oh yeah? And what was I thinking?"

"You were thinking about how I am a high profile person and that if you could get me hostage you could escape this prison… right?" Naruto asked and the man and the others in the holding cell became serious.

"Well, young man, you are absolutely right! If you could make me a hostage then you could absolutely escape. Heck I have the main prison keys right here," Naruto took out a large key chain from his pocket and dangled it around. "The question is, can you make me a hostage?"

Could they? From Naruto's point of view, even if he had his arms tied behind his back and they were without cuffs and had a hundred lives, they would die a hundred times without touching him. They however didn't see that.

To them, so what if they were cuffed? They were in greater numbers in a small confined space/.

After taking a shower and a quick rest, Sandra felt refreshed, training no longer was as exhausting as it used to be, so that was all she needed to get back on track,

Since there was no sign of her mentor, she decided to follow his suggestion and take a tour around the place, leaving her newest gift behind in her new room.

Even now she hadn't gotten used to the layout and overall technology of the base, as she explored she felt like a child discovering television for the first time. Even the shower was an adventure to discover, it took her a minute to figure it out and after almost scalding herself with boiling water, she finally managed to figure out how to adjust the water temperature.

Going down a few floors she passed by what seemed to be an armory and then what seemed to be a control room. She wasn't sure what that last room was as it was mostly monitors and other high-tech equipment that she didn't want to mess with.

Lastly, where she currently was at was a type of warehouse. It was the only place with things that seemed somewhat familiar, like a soda vending machine.

The vending machine however was wrapped in yellow tape with 'don't touch' written on it.

It was the first thing she had found with that on it, even on the armory there was no weapon that wasn't restricted, yet for some reason, that vending machine was

Taking a better look at it, she noticed that it wasn't a model that she knew, it was similar but there were differences, for example it didn't show what was inside, it just had options demonstrated on the front, like juices and soda and other things she never saw.

Questions began to appear in Sandra's mind. Was it even a vending machine? Why was it restricted? Was it perhaps a monster in disguise that would try eating her if she got too close? Ridiculous, unlikely, but not impossible.

"Stay away from that thing." An unfamiliar voice said from behind Sandra, undoubtedly pertaining to a woman.

Sandra stepped back and turned around to the source of the voice.

It was indeed a woman.

She was around her height and had long red hair, however the top half of her face, including her nose was hidden by a red mask. She wore a tattered red cloak and seemed to have red and black clothes underneath.

"Hello Sandra, it is good to finally meet you in person. You can call me, Aurelia, I'm your senior." The masked woman said in a polite manner. (2)

"Senior? So you were also his student?"

"That is correct, but I've already completed my training. I imagine he warned you to not touch anything with a warning on."

"He did… but why this? What is this thing?" Sandra asked while the woman approached.

"It's a vending machine, can't you tell?" Aurelia asked while pressing a button on the machine causing a water bottle to come out of the tray on the bottom.

"Well yeah, I thought it was… nevermind. What makes it so dangerous?" Sandra asked while Aurelia began to drink from the bottle. "Seems pretty normal to me since you are drinking from it."

"What makes it dangerous is that our master made it. It produces drinks infinitely, and the drinks that it produces are perfect. It, much like our dear master, is addictive, one sip from anything in it and life will lose meaning and anything else you drink will taste like sewage water or piss." Aurelia shook the half-drank bottle in her hand. "I can drink this because I'm not a human like you anymore."

"Oh… what happened? What are you then?"

"You like to ask a lot of questions. You'll know in time, there is no name for what I am in English language, but I host the great spirit of fire within me."

A crimson flame engulfed her hand and the bottle she held, instantly evaporating it.

Strangely enough, Sandra herself felt no heat.

"Come, walk with me, this is your first time here so I will finish guiding you in place of our master. There are many things here that are not good for humans to touch." Aurelia said, walking away from the vending machine and through the hallway.

"Like that vending machine?" Sandra asked while following behind her.

"Exactly."

As they walked they passed a few more restricted objects, most of which Sandra couldn't identify.

"What did that taste like by the way?"

"It'd be hard to explain. You'd have to drink it to understand, but as a human it would be too much."

"Wait a second, if it tastes the same thing for you as it does for me, then how come it isn't addictive to you?"

"What makes you think this isn't addictive to me? Life is shit. Fortunately for you humans, your senses are also shit and you don't realize just how shit life is. The drinks from this machine are perfect, if you drank from it then your mind would open to a new world and you would realize how disgusting everything else in the world tastes like."

"Oh... I think I understand how it works then. So you are addicted to it?"

"Yes and no. It depends on how you define addiction, I won't lose my mind without these drinks, but I prefer them over everything else you people have. I honestly don't know how master can put up with human food... anyways, we have different perspectives, to you this would be amazing and transcendent, to me it is just good. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes, it does. So if I were to become like you then I could drink it too?"

"Yes. Humans are very prone to addictions partially because your standards are so low. However once your standards increase then it only becomes natural, just like water is good to you and mud is bad, this is good to me and everything else is bad. Do you want to join me? Perhaps if you request him then he would turn you like he did to me."

"I'm not sure... I think so? Would he really do the same to me if I asked?"

"If you ask him, maybe. Master might not seem like it but he is a real softie when it comes to us, his students. He typically only rejects our requests if there is a specific reason not to."

"You think so?" Sandra asked and the masked woman stopped in front of the stairs.

"Yes, I begged him to let me stay by his side and he gave me the power to be so. Meanwhile you also want to be with him and he brought you here, to show you who and what he is so that you can decide for yourself. Master is very kind and considerate, his kindness and generosity has no end, it makes you feel both warm and grateful as it makes you feel inadequate. That is the thing about true kindness, one can usually tell when someone helps them for ulterior motives, but when someone helps out of true kindness it brings out this feeling in you that makes you wonder 'how can I repay him', isn't that right?"

"That's right, he's given me so much, I want to give something back to him."

"That was how I thought. Listen carefully, I will give you some advice as your senior. Unless you plan on abandoning your humanity like I did, then when you finish training, just leave. Our master is helping you out of his kindness, there is no need for you to repay him. He has no need for humans and if you stay with him as one then you will only end up hurting yourself, but most importantly, you will also end up hurting him. A human can't satisfy him and a human can't understand him, heck the human eye can't even see him for how he is."

Aurelia sighed. Sandra could tell that she was getting upset from talking about it.

"If you truly want to be with him, then he won't reject you. You can be with him, and you will be happy, but deep down you will know that all you are being is selfish. You will know that you are the only one happy and that you are only leeching out of him... well you don't need to decide now, you have some time to think about it. But do think about it."

"... I will."

"Good, now let's go. This floor here is my favorite."

Aurelia led the way down the stairs.

Unlike the previous floors, the difference in depth of this one was substantial and it took them a while to finish their descent.

"This floor is the garden of tranquility. This is where our master keeps special plants of his creation, and the water of life. Not that you can sense it, but the air here is rich in energy and great for meditation. The fruits in here should be safe to eat, they all possess a special kind of energy, but since your body can't retain it, then it will naturally dissipate."

The floor itself was massive, it was like another place entirely, even the atmosphere was different. The temperature was a couple of degrees higher than in the previous rooms but not to the point of being hot, the ceiling was high at around 30 meters high, but the floor was well illuminated to simulate daylight but with no sun or source.

Right from the start there were several pathways of marble floors, with various trees on the side. Alongside the pathways of trees there were deep streams of crystal clear water, that like everything else converged to the center of the room which was a ring of around 3 meters in diameter surrounded by another much larger ring of water.

Among the plants and trees there were none that Sandra could recognize, the closest was one tree near the entrance that had a vibrant blue, apple-like fruit.

"Oh, here you are, Sandra," a voice said from behind the two women. "Hello Aurelia, I was going to introduce you two to each other, but this saves time."

"Hello, Master. We've gotten acquainted." Aurelia said as both women turned towards the source, Naruto.

"So I see, getting along well?"

"Yes, she was just showing me around," Sandra answered and then took a good look at him. "Um, you have blood in your sleeves."

"Oh I do? How careless of me, I'll swap shirts later before we go back home. You know, it's great that two are getting along well because you two will be spending a lot more time together. As far as theory and exercises go you're ready, what you need now is experience. Aurelia will be your sparring partner. Although not now, your training is done for today and tomorrow is our day off, but since we are here, how about we eat? You haven't eaten anything yet and these fruits are delicious, I planted them myself, would you like to try them?"

Sandra smiled

"Yes, of course."

(1) - It is kind of like the original manga Kusanagi sword of Orochimaru. The manga version while it does look like a sword, it

(2) - Not an OC, she is a DC character. Her mask is like the Wretched Egg's helmet of Deadman Wonderland but her hair is loose.

Honestly this chapter took a lot much more than it should have because I was unsure about what villain to make Batman's first big catch. That plus a lot of things going on in life, got distracted writing my original story and then my grandpa passed away and I just couldn't focus on anything.