I don't own Naruto or DC Comics.


1-01: Subject


The drills pulled back. It separated from his right hand, coming to a halt. His body fluids dripping back to the surface of his hand, some of the droplets dribbled back into the hole where the drills bore.

His vision was red with pain and anger.

A man stood before Naruto. His head was deprived of any hair. There was a sickly shade of gray to his skin. He wore an elegant three-piece black suit with black oxfords. A darker shade of crimson lined his blazer jacket. Most of all, he outfitted his expression smuggest grin Naruto had ever seen in a human being.

"Good! Very good, Subject Scarlet. We need you to remain strong for a few more minutes. The festivities has barely begun!"

"…you," a labored breath passed through his lips. "…you do know that I'm fifteen years old, right?"

"Oh don't worry, Subject Scarlet." Responded Kobra. "I barely see you as a human being. You're more of a generator to me than a person."

Naruto violently jerked from the machine he was strapped to. His legs had free reign to shake about, but his arms and fingers were locked inside thick metal braces. They were isolated from one another, unable to lace the necessary seals to produce a clone.

Naruto laughed hoarsely, "Ooooh, I can't wait! I can't wait to smack your jaw clean."

Kobra leaned forward, leveraging his chin within Naruto's personal space, "I'm right here, Subject Scarlet."

Naruto pounced at the opportunity. His leashes kept him restricted, however.

Kobra roared triumphantly. "You believe my methods to be cruel. But, we're liberating the world. Your power can bring false gods back to the ground. Everyone can have a voice again, back to the way it was one hundred years ago."

"Why don't you find another way. Seems like I'm doing all the dirty work for your lazy ass."

"Obviously. You know nothing about biology. Fortunately for you, I placed you exactly where you need to be. Worms will never comprehend their place in the world."

That got Naruto's blood boiling again, "Wait 'till I bury you six feet under, dickhead. Then, you can get reeeaaal comfy with the worms."

"A curious conclusion, Subject Scarlet." Kobra challenged. "Most unfortunate for you, however, that ending can never be a possibility."

"I'll try over and over and over again." Naruto stretched his own version of a sadistic smile. "I just need to get it right once. And, I never go back on my word."

Kobra didn't break eye contact, "Shimmer, how is Subject Scarlet?"

A young woman with red hair was behind Kobra. The left side of her head was shaved, adorned with a black cobra tattoo. She had a blue, turtleneck top and black pants under her white laboratory coat.

She flipped through her notes in a tablet, "Vital signs are still in considerable conditions. Drills are sanitized and Doctor Monroe and her team are ready to begin another session, my lord."

There was a hint of excitement sprinkled in Kobra's eyes. Dipping his hands into his pants pockets, Kobra distanced himself from Naruto. "Then, another round, Subject Scarlet?"

The drills hissed back to life, mechanical arms hovering above his left hand this time. His palm started sweating from feeling the small whirlwind dancing on the surface of his hand.

Naruto tilted his head to the right stretching his neck, then he tilted it to the left. "Ready when you are, little one-eyed snake."

The drills plunged down his hand.


Naruto was slow to wake up. He passed out in the middle of the procedure and in front of everybody too. He could feel his cheeks warm at the thought of seeing the crew after such shameful display.

"Uhhhhh, hello there."

There was a new person to his left. He was decked out in a black, full-body tactical suit with matching cowl to hide his identity. There was a lightning bolt insignia in the middle of his torso. His spiky red hair was the only element to bring color to his appearance.

"You're not Shimmer," Naruto stated the obvious.

"No, I'm not. Who are you?"

"Why don't you go first."

The new person put his hands on his hips, straightened out his chest, showcasing the symbol on his body armor. "Kid Flash! Fastest boy in the world—Err, man!" The colors departed from his eyes, "…forget about that first part."

Water gathered in Naruto's eyes.

Kid Flash?

This poor, poor child! To go through life with a name like that… He must've had a serious upbringing growing up. Naruto could see Kid Flash sadly sitting on a swing, watching as other parents picked up their children after school.

Naruto found a sense of camaraderie between them in a heartbeat.

"Dude—you okay? Y-you're kinda freaking me out…"

"It's gonna be okay little buddy," Naruto sniffed to clear his nose.

Kid Flash looked peeved, "Who are you?!"

"I'm Naruto. The most unpredictable ninja in the world! Master of Shadow Clones and Creator of the Sexy Jutsu! Future Sixth Hokage of Konoha!"

Kid Flash was clearly lost, "I understood—maybe—thirty percent of what you said."

"So, what, are you one of Kobby's goons? Never seen your ugly mug before and I've gotten real good at remembering everybody's faces since I got here."

Kid Flash looked super offended. "No! Dude, I'm a hero. You know, like the Justice League…"

Naruto perked up.

Even in parts of the world devoid of any sunshine, dancing wind, and cute, singing forest creatures, the Justice League played an important role in giving the residents a sense of hope, truth, accountability, and most of all, justice.

There wasn't a single day where Naruto didn't hear Justice League coming out of Kobby's snake people. Since his cell was guarded twenty-four-seven, Naruto often heard his captors reminisce and share their experiences battling against the vanguards of justice. Dark encounters with the Batman, heroic duties of Superman, Wonder Woman's massive influence on the youth, or Aquaman's humanitarian efforts in remote tropical islands.

It was all there.

And the stories fueled Naruto's optimism.

Naruto couldn't help but smile, "Oh, great! Then, can you help me out here?"

Kid Flash made light work of the torture chair. Literally within a flash, Naruto was separated from his metallic overlord and pulled to freedom.

"Woah," exclaimed Naruto as he massaged his forearms then began stretching his body all over. "That was awesome!"

"You're welcome."

Naruto could tell that Kid Flash was still bothered. "Sorry 'bout calling you ugly back there. Now that I know you're cool, I didn't mean any of the things I said. I've been on the edge and the Sun rarely shines on this place. Know what I'm sayin'?"

"I don't," Kid Flash harshly put. "Why were you strapped to that chair?"

Naruto hounded on Monroe's workspace. There were a few workstations scattered about with its set of unique scientific instruments, computers, and notes. He began combing through each workstation, double-checking to delete any information they had on him or his chakra.

Which was pretty much everything.

"They were doing experiments on me. Trying to do stuff with my chakra. Typical bad-guy stuff." Naruto explained, ripping up a document he found in half.

"What's chakra?"

"Energy," defined Naruto. "Let's me do awesome things."

"Like Shadow Clones and the, uhh, Sexy Jutsu?"

Naruto slapped Kid Flash on the shoulder. His hand bounced back due to the shoulder pads, but Naruto was quick to recover and rocked Kid Flash's shoulder for good measure. "Hey, look at you! You're quick on pickin' things up too!"

"Mmkay," Kid Flash didn't like it at all. "Now that you're free. What's your plan?"

Naruto was on a workstation filled with notes.

No vials.

No crates.

"It's not here," disclosed Naruto.

Kid Flash joined him, searching for something abstract. "What is?"

"My chakra. I saw them store it in vials. Had two full crates of them too. Probably more now since they've started the procedures two months ago."

"Dude!" Kid Flash was taken back. "You've been experimented on since May?"

He positioned his fingers to make a cross. After he spent the necessary chakra, a smoke burst producing nine Narutos.

Damn, he thought.

He wanted to make at least a twenty.

The Narutos stormed on the laboratory, wreaking havoc on each workstation like a small hurricane. They tore through mountains of documents, pile-dived on the computers, and dismantled all of the equipment with the help of Kyuubi's chakra. Nothing was safe within his vicinity.

He'd burn it all to the ground!

Glancing to his right, Naruto wanted to observe Kid Flash's reaction to shadow clones. The kid in him wanted to impress his liberator.

Instead, Kid Flash just stared at his clones.

Close enough.

Naruto nodded his head, "I'm gonna go blow it up. I don't want them making improvements of the serum they already have. Make sure they can't use it to hurt anyone."

"Do you have any idea where it is?"

The facility wasn't all that big. Most of the space was allocated to manufacturing lines and barely had any room for a proper laboratory. His mind kept jumping back to the room where he first met the lead scientist on Project Scarlet. "Probably Monroe's office? She's got a mini lab attached to her office so that she doesn't have to keep walking back here. Kinda sucks. I liked making fun of her. Her boyfriend's definitely cheating on her."

Kid Flash shook his head, "You've got issues, dude."

"So, are you in or what?"

Kid Flash cupped his chin, "Destroy evil serum to save the world? Totally! I just have to meet up with Robin and give him new mission updates."

That was another weird ass name, but Naruto would get by it.

Naruto beamed, "Sweet!"

Naruto dressed on more layers. One of his clones managed to break into a cabinet belonging to a researcher in Monroe's team. The jeans he put on now was a little bit too tight for his liking but provided the necessary room for hardcore activities. The graphic tee-shirt had the same story. It hugged his body and it depicted a tall, gray bunny holding up a wooden sign that said, "And remember, 'mud' spelled backwards is 'dum'". Finally, Naruto found the black and white sneakers comfortable to wear. Like he could cruise down the road for hours.

After Naruto laced his shoes, he steeled his eyes towards Kid Flash. "…who's Robin?"


It was exhausting trying to keep up with Kid Flash—even for someone like him who had an endless supply of energy. Which didn't make a lot of sense since he could double dip into the Kyuubi's pool at any time. The simplest task of exploring each room they come across with was draining him to the point where his cheekbones started popping out.

Kid Flash entered a room down the hall. When he didn't pick up on his trail exiting out of that specific room, Naruto concluded that that's where he found Robin.

Naruto made sure to lock the door behind him.

"What you got?" Kid Flash asked.

A small kid was standing in front of a computer, madly typing away. His black and red tactical suit was adorned with a flowing cape. Naruto couldn't explain how, but the boy's domino mask did an excellent job of masking his identity.

He looked to be completely inside his own environment. Even the monitor had a difficult time keeping up with him. PowerPoints of reports and data sheets were all laid out for them. But, it wasn't enough for the boy. He ransacked through videos of Naruto's procedures.

"Unearthed their operation, Project Scarlet." Responded the boy. "You're lucky I took control of the cameras before you decided to free Bugs Bunny. Does the word covert mean anything to you?"

"Hey, I help people! That's the gig," disputed Kid Flash.

"And, I'm grateful to you." Naruto entered into the conversation. "I'm guessing you're Robin?"

Robin nodded, "And, you are…?"

"Naruto. Master of Shadow Clones. Creator of Sexy Jutsu. Destroyer of Snakes. Future Sixth Hokage, at your service!"

Robin turned to Kid Flash.

Kid Flash returned an empty look.

"They've been calling me Subject Scarlet," Naruto finished.

"I know," Robin acknowledged. "They have tons of videos and reports about you, the experiments, and the Kobra-Venom."

It was Naruto's turn to dish out a questioning stare, "The what now?"

Kid Flash leaned in closer to the computer monitor. He was also munching on a granola bar he fished out from a compartment on his right bracer. He singled out a cell structure image with graphic data next to it. "That's the Blockbuster formula. How did Kobra get the Blockbuster formula?"

"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier," Robin hypothesized.

"Look! Right here," Kid Flash pointed to another cell structure. This one was quite larger than the previous image. In another slide of the presentation, the first cell structure merged with the second. "Kobra managed to mix Kobra Venom, the Blockbuster formula, and Naruto's chakra to create a super serum. The enhancement properties are temporary and can be artificially flushed from the body. But, still, they've created a way to juice their people nine times the strength of normal Venom."

Robin turned to Kid Flash, "And go toe-to-toe with the big leaguers?"

Kid Flash nodded, "Go toe-to-toe with big leaguers."

Naruto's shoulder slumped, "I'm so lost…"

"They'll use the improved Kobra-Venom to go up against Justice League powerhouses," painted Kid Flash.

His head jerked at the confirmation.

So, they were going to hurt people with the Kyuubi's chakra.

"Okay, so I'm back in!" Naruto didn't know how to work on a computer. All he could do was search for an image of a blueprint of some kind. "Can you locate Monroe's office? I'm pretty sure she stacked more of my chakra in there."

Robin made light work of Naruto's suggestion. Within a couple of seconds Robin opened and pillaged through a new directory, clicking on a document with clear details on Bane's Factory (the Kult of Kobra took over Bane's reigns, apparently). Then, unrolled cable from his glove computer and plugged it on one of the sockets. "Downloading factory schematics."

Robin, then, pressed on his radio. "Robin to Aqualad, we got…"

Robin paused.

The sudden halt roped Kid Flash's attention, "What happened?"

"Static," Robin declared, ominously.

All of a sudden a hulking mass of a monster smashed through a wall. In its descent, it destroyed a platform with two people on it. They were brought to the ground, and amazingly enough, both of them landed with grace.

Typical of all monsters, it released a mighty roar.

Armed Nagas corralled the new people.

"They need help," called out Naruto.

However, he found himself alone in the control room. The door behind him was wide open.

With only one way to exit out of the control room, Naruto followed them through. He made a left, dashing down the hallway, and making a right to the open area.

Robin remarkably slithered through a handful of armed Nagas. Reaching the end of the platform, he stepped onto the railing and leaped. He then snatched a gadget from his belt and grapple to the other side of the railing, passed another set of Nagas, exiting out of the building completely.

The monster was wrestling with another guy. He was tall with short black hair. Like Naruto, he was clothed more casually. His black shirt matched with his black pants and combat boots. There was a huge S on his chest, outlined with a red pentagon to complete the insignia.

In terms of combat ability, the guy seemed capable so Naruto left him to fend for his own.

Instead, Naruto changed his attention to the platform in front of him. There were three Nagas openly firing at Kid Flash and another guy, keeping them rooted in a crappy position. The guy next to Kid Flash was tall, dark skinned, tattoos flowing down his arms. He had a gadget with him that allowed him to manipulate the liquid stored in tanks. The tattoo-guy flowed liquid to his side shielding himself and Kid Flash from a different angle of gunfire.

Naruto would do his share of the group project if he eliminated the threat from above and allowed Kid Flash and tattoo-guy free movement.

Naruto laced his signature hand seal.

Three clones emerged from the smoke. He ran through the squad of Nagas having the clones do the dirty work for him. The first clone broke a Naga's arms. The second clone smacked through another Naga and swiped the rifle from her. Before the second clone could use the rifle, a third Naga gunned down the second clone. The third clone blindsided the third Naga, throwing him off the platform completely.

The first and third clone joined Naruto.

Naruto noticed a sad little man standing in the middle of the fight. His tactical suit comprised of a blue, heavily-padded top; elbow and knee guards; black pants, matching boots; and a face mask—that, yet again, hid his identity entirely.

The sad little man overcompensated and threw an exploding javelin that hit nothing. Although, Naruto could've sworn he heard a woman groaning in pain after the javelin blew up.

Nonetheless, the sad little man was ripe for the picking.

Launching from the platform, mimicking Robin minus the grappling hook, Naruto ordered the first clone to block any incoming javelins that the sad little man might hurl. Alternatively, the sad little man decided on a weighted disk that bulldozed the first clone's beautiful face.

The first clone's sacrifice, however, was not in vain. Naruto—along with the third clone—gathered enough chakra to birth a lively Ōdama Rasengan.

They stretched their arms, bombarding the factory entrance with the largest explosion to ever hit the party. It cratered the ground, cracking the earth into smithereens. The left half of the gate was blown out of its structure and destroyed several supply crates near the cargo helicopter. Naruto hoped that it decapitated a few Nagas along the way.

After the smoke dissipated, Naruto was disappointed to find that the sad little man had gotten out of the way.

"You!"

Naruto looked up to see a bald man with a sickly-shaded complexion. He was topless, but a flowing, red Kobra hooded cape did a remarkable job of warming him from the elements. The signature Kobra gold insignia sparkled as a belt buckle.

Kobra, the queen of drama, approached Naruto. He parted his cloak wide open to reveal a pair of golden metal bracers. They looked solid enough to give him a few bruises if Kobby caught him careless.

Time to see how good Kobby really was.

Naruto stretched a smug grin, "Me."

Selinda was to Kobby's right. She was ready to jump at his behest. Her fingers were tapping at the safety strap of her handgun.

Just as Naruto pumped chakra into his legs, Robin introduced himself.

He arched his left arm, throwing two pellets to the floor. Smoothly, Robin fortified his right arm horizontally, covering Naruto's eyes in one, fluid motion.

The pellets detonated.

Kobby and Selinda gasped in pain. Kobby jerked back while Selinda rubbed her eyes.

Robin ran towards the factory, "No time! Gotta go!"

Naruto followed him in.

As soon as he entered the open production lines, Robin took to the air. Using his handy-dandy grappling hook, Robin latched to a metal ladder and swung out of harm's way to regroup with his tattoo-guy and Kid Flash.

His sapphire pools settled on a new girl. A flowing, blue hooded cape wrapped around her tactical suit. Her complexion was a shade of evergreen that oddly complimented her berry-colored hair.

She was suppressing the millions of bullets volleyed at her teammates. So much so, that she failed to notice a litter of Nagas loitering beyond her view.

Her story wouldn't end here.

Naruto made sure of that.

He descended upon them like a wrathful war god. Naruto pointed the rifle down towards the Naga's own foot. The Naga, in turn, panicked and shot her foot.

There was another Naga in front of the Naga that shot her own foot. He swirled, frenzy dominating his body. He swung his rifle, letting it rip, neglecting whoever stood in its path. Lamentably for the front Naga, Naruto had already infiltrated his personal space. Naruto elbowed the rifle square on body, knocking the trajectory back into open swing. He pulled on the front Naga's shoulder and landed a fierce haymaker, sending him to the shadow realm.

Spinning towards the Naga that shot her foot, Naruto planted his entire right foot on her chest catapulting her towards his remaining clone.

Naruto's clone used a Naga as a platform, flipping into the air. The clone pumped chakra into his leg, landed a vicious spinning backflip kick on the Naga that shot her foot, then rolled close to the last standing Naga.

Exiting out of a roll, the clone held the barrel of the rifle away from his body. The uppercut that the clone sent cracked the air. When he closed in on the last Naga, the impact was so potent that the Naga was lifted into the air. The clone punched the last Naga square on the chest to seal the deal.

The clone, then, moved on to the Naga he used as a platform. Wrapping his arms around him, he boosted his legs again with chakra, heaving himself towards the monster.

The monster was well aware of the incoming kamikaze and swatted the clone and the Naga in the air like a buzzing fly.

The clone mushed into smoke cloud and the Naga was flung to a group of Nagas. All it took was one swipe, yet the monster thoroughly brutalized the Naga. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that that Naga died on the spot.

"Naruto!" Kid Flash yelled. "This way!"

He turned to his right, zigzagging through six storing tanks to dodge gunfire.

When he landed, tattoo-guy brushed passed him. Robin joined them to their left, reeling his grappling hook in and tucking it back to his utility belt. Evergreen girl hovered near them, trapping all the bullets in the air. The guy with the S on his chest ran up on their six. All the while, Kid Flash guided them through room after room as they retreated from the party.

They made a hard left, passed a gigantic metal door, and into a secret tunnel. The guy with the S on his shirt made sure to lock the door behind them. But, that didn't stop the monster from pancaking the metal door, clearing a path for the armed Nagas to breach through.

Bullets hailed.

One zipped right passed him.

Almost ending the story right here.

Luckily for him, Evergreen girl turned around and sheltered them from danger. Naruto couldn't see the shield she erected, but he could feel the air build pressure in front of her body.

"Superboy!" Tattoo-guy tagged. "The support beams!"

Superboy eyed the beams holding up the secret tunnels to his right. Dipping his shoulder forward, he rammed through the beams like a raged bull.

The ceiling gave in. Dirt, rocks, and boulders alike spilled into the tunnel. It created a natural barrier between them and the monster. Naruto heard the monster roar and threw a tantrum but, eventually, it surrendered.

Naruto surveyed the team giving them a good wave over. Everyone, minus Kid Flash and Superboy, were taking advantage of the mini break afforded to them. Robin went through a mental checklist of his remaining gadgets, tattoo-guy took sips from his water pack, and evergreen girl leaned against a wall.

Kid Flash was grinning, "Not bad, rookie."

"I was gonna say the same thing to you," echoed Naruto, matching Kid Flash's energy.

Tattoo-guy approached him, "Who are you?"

Naruto was prepared to give his spiel for a third time today, however Robin had other plans.

"Naruto. He's Subject Scarlet."

"Subject Scarlet?" The question came from evergreen girl.

"Kobra operated on Naruto using macrosurgical techniques to extract his biothermal energy required to bond the Kobra-Venom and Blockbuster formulas. Subject Mammoth was the result of the Kobra-Venom Blockbuster formula."

"He hit hard," grumbled Superboy.

"That was version one," Robin explained. "They were on their way to update the formula. Make it more subtle. The enhancements are temporary but the tradeoffs are enormous. Imagine your typical bozo with the strength of Superman. There'd also be no clear physiological alteration."

"They'll be able to blend in without us knowing," Kid Flash placed it in layman's terms and Naruto was grateful for him for doing it.

The sad little man burst in Naruto's mind, "What 'bout the guy with the mask? What's he got to do with any of this?"

"Sportsmaster is the buyer," answered tattoo-guy.

Robin agreed, "He's the supplier and the buyer. But, that still doesn't track. He doesn't have the power to pull rank over Kobra or the resources to acquire the Blockbuster formula."

Kid Flash chimed in, "And neither of them have the chops to mix Venom, Blockbuster, and Naruto's Chakra. That took some major nerdage."

That was certainly true.

Kobra might act like he had all the chips on the table, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Kobby sucked at science. This was a universal fact.

Naruto would never pass up an opportunity to slander Kobby, "Well everything was going sour for Kobby until Monroe showed up."

"Kobby!" howled Kid Flash. He leaned to the right, trusting the cave walls to keep him upright.

"Monroe?" inquired tattoo-guy.

"Marcia Monroe," clarified Naruto. "She's the chief scientist. A super bookworm. She's really lame and likes to do everything by herself. She's really desperate when it comes extracting my chakra, though. What really matters is that I get to the remaining samples and destroy it."

"That and preventing the shipment from leaving this island. Those two are, without a doubt, our only priorities. Will you join us, Naruto?"

"Blowing shit up and save the world?" Naruto gave tattoo-guy a thumbs up, "Sounds like my kind of party."

"I am Aqualad," he presented. Stepping to the side, Aqualad pointed to evergreen girl and Superboy. "Miss Martian and Superboy."

He still couldn't get over the fact that they were picking such detailed characteristic of themselves as their full names. But, Naruto prided himself on being open-minded. He was certainly going to give them a chance. "Weird names. But I'll get used to them."

Superboy's eye twitch, "You're one to talk…"

"Superboy!" Miss Martian redressed, "Don't mind him, Naruto. He's a really good guy once you get to know him."

Kid Flash crossed his arms, "Don't hold your breath though."

Naruto chuckled warmly, "Don't worry, I feel the love."

Aqualad glanced at Robin, "Something on your mind, Robin?"

Even though Naruto couldn't see Robin's eyes, he knew that look right away.

Apprehension.

Naruto had seen it a million times, throughout his days in the academy and well into his early genin career. He'd seen it strong-arm hundreds of people. And, in the heat of battle, reap souls in a snap of a finger.

Robin dipped his chin low, "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"

"You do have the most experience," Aqualad started. "But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. Unlike this team. This team needs a leader who is clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan."

"Oh, so, I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?!"

"No," Aqualad countered, firmly. "You can trust us to carry out commands you delegate. What we need are precise instructions to avoid trampling on one another when crisis strikes."

"Sounds like you should lead us, Aqualad." Suggested Robin.

"What," yelled Kid Flash. "I can run circles—"

Miss Martian perked up, "I agree with Robin. Aqualad has my vote."

"Mine too," Superboy chipped in.

Aqualad glanced at Kid Flash.

He sighed, settling in for the night. "Alright, if Miss M's going along with it. Guess he has my vote too."

This time, Aqualad turned towards him.

Naruto raised his hands, yielding. "Hey, man I'm just hitching a ride. I'm probably not even supposed to be a part of whatever this is. If it makes you guys happy, then I'll listen to whatever you say."

There were flashes of smiles all around.

Aqualad continued, "Like I mentioned, we must prevent the rest of the shipment from leaving this island and destroying all of Project Scarlet."

"I messed with the helicopter. That should buy us a couple more hours. What I'm worried about is Mammoth." Robin cleared up.

Superboy frowned, "I had him. This time, it'll end differently."

"We will handle him together," Aqualad redressed. "Pull him far away from the helicopter while Miss Martian destroys it along with the shipment. Robin will make sure Sportsmaster does not pose as an obstacle as well."

Aqualad switched to Naruto.

"Eliminating Project Scarlet is most important to you. Our commotion outside should provide you the necessary distraction."

"You'll need this," Robin gave Naruto the tiniest portable computer he'd ever seen. He could interact with the screen. Putting his index and middle finger closer to zoom out of the factory blueprints or distancing them to zoom it in. "Press this button and it'll guide you to Doctor Monroe's office."

"Sick!" His sapphire eyes sparkled as he played around with his new toy. About thirty seconds out, Naruto looked back up. "I'll join you guys when I'm done."

"What about me?" Kid Flash sought.

"Crowd control," returned Aqualad. "You will be facing against Kult of Kobra armed forces. Disarm as many as you can."

"What about Bane?" asked Superboy. "He planned on using us to reclaim his factory."

"Good," there was a twinkle of mischief in Aqualad's expression, "We will use that to our advantage. When he believes he has the upper hand, it is us who will strike instead."

"We better get out soon. I'm hearing explosives being planted."

Miss Martian flanked Naruto on the right.

"I can add you to our mental link," Miss Martian requested. "It'll allow us to communicate better than any radio. And, I've already received approval from the rest of the Team. I would just need yours."

A mind jutsu? Like Ino's?

No way.

He didn't have any techniques to block Miss Martian from talking to the Kyuu—

Let her in. She won't find me.

Sure, Naruto rolled his eyes mentally. As if I'd trust someone like you in this situation. If I let my guard down, you'll corrupt them.

No. I'm already in a cage. I don't want another one. Earn their trust and get us out of this disgusting island.

Naruto let the thought simmer.

In the end, he didn't want the Kult of Kobra to confine him again. Sticking with these people gave him the best chances of leaving the island. Compromising was the only course to take.

"Okay," Naruto agreed to her request. "Just to talk. No roaming around in my mind."

Miss Martian acknowledged his prerequisites.

A wave hit Naruto mentally. It was a strange feeling, sharing a part of your mind with other people. There was a portion in his mind dedicated to transmitting information to the Team. It was gnarling. A low growl of an unseen animal.

It'll take some time getting used to, Miss Martian helped.

"Ugh," Naruto massaged his temple. "This feels weird. Like I could feel someone spying on me but I can't find where they're at."

Think about what you're going to say and just push it into that space, assisted Superboy.

Oh, that's easier than I expected, commented Naruto.

Duh! Robin joined in. If it got in the way, we wouldn't do it at all.

Everyone ready, asked Aqualad. Naruto signaled to Aqualad that his engines were warmed up. Then let us proceed.

Naruto and the Team advanced towards the exit. He ran in the back and gave Robin the space to navigate them through the cave's maze. This secret route was larger than he anticipated. At one point, they crossed an intersection that had five possible routes.

Making a sharp right, the Team reached an incline slope heading towards the night's light. Naruto was going to celebrate for reaching the end of that claustrophobic nightmare, but a bulky man with black tank top and blue jeans got in his way.

"Halt niños," stated Bane. His left thumb hovered over pen-shaped button. "I'm feeling explosive."

Naruto looked to his left. A small rectangular machine with a blinking red light glared back at him. It was menacing like a tiger hidden within the comfort of the shadows.

"You betray us? Why?" probed Aqualad. As soon as those words left his lips, Aqualad switched to their mental link to reveal his true intentions. Kid, you will need a running start.

Naruto soooo wanted to smack that smug grin off Bane's stupid face.

Bane huffed, "I wanted my factory back. So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the Justice League would come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more! Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect…"

A dark trailblazer ran past the tunnel and Bane in a matter of a second.

Bane slammed his thumb on the button, but it was nowhere to be found.

"With what?" Bane turned around to find Kid Flash leaning on a tree, legs crossed, and a pompous air around him. He waved the button to Bane, "This trigger thingy?"

Roaring, Bane cocked his right arm back. When he flushed his arm out, he struck nothing but the air as he was being lifted ten feet off the ground. As Miss Martian raised her hand, so too did Bane's body. He flopped around in the air like a fish out of the ocean.

Naruto slowly moved in under Bane's body. He swiped at the wind to see if he could feel what was lifting the factory owner. There some evidence of dynamic air pressure, but it didn't conflict against his movements. "So good to finally put a name on that ugly mask of yours!"

Bane growled, "Subject Scarlet!"

Naruto stepped away from Bane's projected landing. Instead, it was Superboy who closed in from his right. He had a big smile, "Finally, drop him."

Bane fell back to the Earth's surface.

He was caught by Superboy's wicked uppercut careening Bane into a party of trees, almost pushing him off a cliff.

While Kid Flash and Aqualad had their hands full in restraining Bane to a sizable boulder, Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian and Naruto were working on removing and disarming the explosives around the cave tunnel. Naruto made ten clones whose job was to deactivate the explosives at Robin's guidance. Then, Miss Martian would organize them in a backpack carried by Superboy.

"I'll join you guys at the hangar when I'm done," Naruto said, departing from the Team.

"Stop Doctor Monroe," Robin called out.

It got the Team's attention.

Naruto paused, "What?"

"Stop Doctor Monroe. Don't kill her. We don't terminate our enemies."

Robin's words brought Naruto back to the Naga that was swatted by Mammoth.

Naruto guessed that Robin noticed as well.

"And, if it's self-defense?"

Robin had a concerned look. His domino mask might have covered his full expression, but it was enough for Naruto to know.

Naruto nodded, swiveling back down the mountain. "I'm more of a shit talker than killer anyways…"


The journey back to the prison was uneventful. And contrary to what everyone back home would've thought, he preferred it this way. Yes, he was seething as he skirted around the facility, beelining straight towards Monroe's office. The thought of letting Kyuubi loose crossed his mind multiple times while patrol groups walked by him. But mission came first. Naruto was dead set on making sure the Kyuubi samples were curb stomped to oblivion.

When he got to near the helicopter, Naruto laid low for a few moments just in case he needed to make a little side quest to delay the shipments. He made lightwork of his intrusion by transforming into one of the Nagas. He managed to slip past many patrol groups this way but he couldn't afford underestimating his opponents much longer. Sportsmaster was able to spot Miss Martian while she was camouflaged, Naruto doubt he could make a play while the man was loitering around.

So, Naruto stayed in his position, stockpiling the opened supply box with backpacks of some sort. Naruto really couldn't care less what was in the backpacks. He was much more invested on the four Nagas fixing the helicopter.

Should he just go ahead and blow up the helicopter now? He was in the prime position to do it. Plus, it could score him a few points with the Team.

There was only one squad of Nagas protecting the technicians working on the helicopter. A simple Rasengan could annihilate half of the cargo plane. And, they couldn't react fast enough to intercept a clone with a handful of Rasengan.

Sportsmaster and Shimmer were pretty close to the helicopter. From his position, they could do a quick 45 degree turn and waste him before he could ever cross his fingers. But, if he took the angle from the east, they wouldn't see him coming.

The monster was nowhere to be seen—thank the Sage.

Neither was Kobby.

It was given to him in a single platter—better yet, gold platter. Something was definitely off.

What we need are precise instructions to avoid trampling on one another. Aqualad's words echoed in his mind.

Naruto just remembered that he wasn't part of this play. He would throw off the Team. And, they were a young team.

Naruto couldn't do that to them.

So, he moved on.

Naruto walked past the helipad and the factory. Snatching a clipboard that was lying on top a party of supply boxes, Naruto surveyed the manifest as he walked past another patrol group. He entered a L-shaped small building northwest of the factory. Walking past the small lobby, Naruto followed a hallway to Monroe's main lab.

There he found Monroe and six Nagas darting all over the lab, stashing lab notes, computer hardware, and the Kyuubi samples onto crates. Two of the Nagas in front of him paused. They were both carrying a crate full of Kyuubi samples.

"Hey, moron, only Forest squad is permitted in here!" The male one called out.

He alerted everyone in the room.

"Really, Subject Scarlet, I'm disappointed in you."

Naruto looked over to the person in the corner of the lab. Kobra was with a computer probably sending and deleting information. Kobra was staring at him with his signature arrogance.

Naruto heaved the clipboard like a shuriken. It smashed the Naga's hand, forcing her to let go of the crate with the Kyuubi samples. With the uneven weight, the crate fell to the floor, tipping on its corner, the crate landed on its side, spilling the Kyuubi samples on the laboratory floor and breaking the glass containers.

"NO!" screamed Monroe.

A Naga on the far left slung his rifle in front. He opened fire and Naruto flung to the protection of the wall, away from the Naga's line of fire. The Naga tried shooting through the wall, but it was sturdy enough that the bullets didn't drill by.

The Naga with the rifle ran out of bullets and scurried to reload his weapon.

"Put down your weapons, and I'll let you live!" Naruto yelled. "All of you, except Kobby!"

"YOU INSIGNIFICANT WORM!" Kobra hollered. "Do you have any idea what you cost us?!"

That earned a laugh out of Naruto, "I just saved the world."

"We have plans for you," noises of several boots squeaking made it to his ears. For some reason, they were distancing themselves from the only exit. "We have plans for you, Subject Scarlet. But, I will make it painful for you."

Kyuubi's chakra pumped in Naruto's veins. He could feel its transformative nature rewiring his human traits. His fangs unsheathed, claws sharpening, and his senses enhanced. "I'm guarding the only way out of the lab, so you're going to have to get creative Kobby!"

Mechanical gears hissed as a metallic door slid open. Boots scampered away from him.

"Secret door, you buffoon!" Kobra yelled out.

Idiot.

Naruto stormed into the lab in hopes of stopping the doors from closing. But, Kobra was waiting for him with a shotgun. Kobra let loose, but not before Naruto could duck under the protection of a table.

Kobra fired more shots and Naruto could tell that he was flanking to the right. Switching to another table, Naruto barely missed the shotgun slugs that would have ended the story right then and there.

When Kobra ran out of ammunition, he dipped out of the lab.

Naruto chased after the pale and bald man. With Kyuubi's chakra flowing through his body, it was an effortless task. As soon as they exited the L-shaped building and joined the chaos between the Team and the Kult of Kobra, Naruto pounced on Kobra. Chunks of meat cleaved from Kobra's shoulder as Naruto swiped his clawed right hand. Naruto moved faster than he anticipated because he was forced to roughly roll on the open field.

Kobra was clamping down on his injury.

"Ohhh, I thought you had a little sippy-sippy of your Kobra-Venom." Naruto enticed.

"I am a pureblood," Kobra seethed. "I would not defile my temple."

A satisfying smirk made its way to Naruto's lips. "That's a bad call, Kobby. You're gonna need it."

Kobra took his hooded cape and ripped a piece from it. He wrapped the piece around his shoulder, wincing from the pressure. Kobra, then, took two more pieces from his cape and swathed his hands and forearm. Exhaling a few deep breaths, Kobra structured in a firm stance.

Naruto just stood there.

Rushing forward, Kobra slithered a jab to the right which was parried quickly by Naruto. Lifting his left knee in the air, Naruto evaded a sweeping kick from Kobra. Fishing out a fist in the air, Naruto twisted Kobra's forearm outward causing the man to scream from his shoulder injury. Planting a foot in the middle of Kobby's chest, Naruto kicked Kobra, skidding across the open field.

Naruto bounded on top of Kobra, hailing down punches of hate and anger. Kobra's cheeks were tossing and turning as each punch forced the pale one-eyed snake to stare at the western horizon, then eastern horizon. He was losing blood everywhere, fading in and out of the world, transporting closer and closer to purgatory.

All of a sudden, Naruto stopped.

He hung his right fist in the air, released all the tension in his form, then brought his arms back to his side.

Blood dripped from his knuckles. All of it Kobra's.

He wasn't short of breath either. There was enough energy in his system to last another nine hours of continual fighting. That much he was confident.

He simply just stopped and got up.

Kobra was lying there on the ground, unresponsive. With Kyuubi's chakra enhancing his senses, Naruto could still hear Kobby's heartbeat. He saw his chest rising up, then falling harshly.

"I thought you weren't going to stop," spoke Robin.

"I told you," answered Naruto. "I'm more of a shit-talker."

Naruto took in his surroundings. Aqualad and Superboy were collecting the Nagas and tying them up. The monster was encased in a red foam and Shimmer was chained to a supply box. The factory was on fire along with the helicopter that crashed down on it.

Miss Martian came up to them, "Sportsmaster got away with Doctor Monroe. But, at least we got this."

There were nine Kyuubi samples bundled up by a rubber band in Miss Martian's hands.

Naruto accepted the Kyuubi samples and crushed the remaining vials in his hand. Kyuubi's chakra protected him from the dangers of glass. He wiped the glass off his palm and sprinkled Kobra's chest with it, in hopes of leaving scars.


Sportsmaster stepped in the middle of the console. He faced seven monitors showcasing bright silhouettes. "All we recovered is a single ampoule of Kobra-Venom."

"Subject Scarlet's extractions were lost in the confrontation. However, I was able to save my notes and data," Doctor Monroe reported.

"Bon," one of the silhouettes answered. French accent was prominent in his voice. "We're only missing one element of the drug."

A woman added in, "I'm sure we will encounter Subject Scarlet again in the future. There will be opportunities to secure our asset."

"Mais, what about the young heroes? First, Cadmus. Then, Mr. Twister. Now, Santa Prisca."

Another voice spoke up. Menace and Malice were interwoven in his words. "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. But, three times is enemy action. And enemies of the Light must not stand."


AN: Yeah, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be working on my other project but after watching the new season of Young Justice I couldn't help it. I've always wanted to do this crossover story.

If you must know, this is pre-senjutsu Naruto. I'm not good enough to write about an OP Naruto.

This story is going to be Naruto-Zatanna strict ship. Jump now. While you still can.

Thanks for reading my story! =)