A Nobody

by Jebest4781

Living a new life in another reality, Naruto now must handle a lot of complications of him interacting with various heroes, villains and anti-heroes. How will things go with them interacting with a Nobody. NarutoXHarem Rated M for language, violence and lemons. NarutoXDC ComicsXKingdom Hearts Please leave reviews. On Hiatus.

35. Catching Up for Old Times Sake

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, Disney, Square Enix or Detective Comics. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Radio/TV

"Headset/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 35: Catching Up for Old Times Sake

The roar of a motorcycle came rushing through the open highway in the early morning. It's rider maneuvering through several vehicles that so happened to be going through the concreted path towards their destinations. No one was bothered in the slightest, as long as the motorcyclist wasn't causing any problems for the fellow drivers on the road.

With the sun starting to rise, the morning rays shined across countless things as it helped reveal the surrounding details in a more intricate light. Showing the beauty of the transition between Summer and Autumn, with the leaves changing to shift the scenery. A natural occurrence that many love to enjoy and interact with.

And for a cyclist, of any kind mind you, it can be truly appreciated when riding right through the scenery at any speed.

Slowing down the motorcycle, the rider pulled the bike to the side of the road so the incoming vehicles wouldn't run the person over on accident. With the engine still running, the rider took a moment to flip the helmet's visor up to let the air circulate slightly and cool off parts of the exposed skin. Breathing in the crisp air through the nose, the person was able to relax slightly while gazing at the 'Entering Gotham' sign some feet away.

'I'm finally here.' The rider thought with a hidden smile under the helmet, matching the slight joy in the blue-green colored eyes. Pulling down the scarf around the neck, the rider fished out a locket and rubbed it tenderly before opening it to see the photo inside.

Displayed in the photo was a smiling pair of individuals without a care in the world in front of a twilighted background. One was a teenage boy with whisker marks, hazel eyes and silvery hair as he held the second person towards his side. Said person was a beautiful woman in her early-mid twenties with shoulder length brown hair framing her face.

The cyclist stared onto the photo, being the only one taken between the two people, with nostalgia running through the forefront of the person's mind. Closing up the locket and tucking it back under the scarf and the leather jacket being worn, the rider readjusted into the seat before revving up the engines. Riding the motorbike into the city, the cyclist had one thing primarily in her mind among lesser things.

'Wait for me a little longer… Naruto.'

-Gotham Elementary-

"...And are you sure you have everything? We can head on back in case of anything."

"Yes Naruto, I do have everything. You asked that a few times already."

"I just needed to be sure Rachel."

Off to the side of the road lied Naruto's car as it's driver and occupant got out of the vehicle. The publisher escorted his charge across the street and towards the school building in a slow pace so she wouldn't be left behind. Said charge was currently wearing a white hoodie with a Bonnie the Bunny graphic printed on the front and pair of jeans and tennis shoes. Around her back was her backpack with her school supplies, lunch bag and other essentials.

With it being Rachel's first day at public school, Naruto wanted to be sure that she was well prepared. When he got her fully registered at the school after her placement test, he went out shopping to get Rachel what she needed from the list given to him by the school. Even bringing the young girl along for the ride.

On the day they went out shopping, Harley tagged along to keep the ashen girl cheered up with her upbeat personality. Of course the changed psychologist thought that Naruto getting Rachel the boring stationery supplies isn't right for a girl her age. So Harley dragged the two to a store she went to in the past to get the more appropriate stuff for grade schoolers, in her opinion, since she did this for both of her surrogate nieces.

It was interesting to see Rachel's reactions when seeing the many cute items on display, to say the least. And Naruto had to admit that his blonde girlfriend tagging along was a good idea since he would've just went with the starting standard supplies. Though as the school year progresses, Rachel will have to resort with the boring ones once some of her 'cute' supplies are all used up.

"I do have to ask, but why are we here so early?" Asked the ashen girl. "Classes don't start in half an hour."

"Sometimes it's good to arrive early, just in case of anything, Rachel. I clearly didn't appreciate it when I was your age, since I enjoy having my sleep on most days. But it does help when arriving early so you can go over your homework and projects along with hanging out with your friends, if there's plenty of time to spare."

"...That still doesn't explain why we got here too early."

Walking towards the administrative office, Naruto opened the door and ushered Rachel inside. "It's because we need to get your class schedule kiddo. It takes a while to get you into the school system and for the school to properly place you into an available class."

Rachel nodded in understanding as she eyed her guardian talk to the person behind the desk.

Walking towards one of the nearby seats, the ashen child waited as she thought of what will possibly happen to her. Rachel will be able to live a normal life, or at least one that could be considered normal in her current case, and going to a proper school helps back up such a claim. She'll get to possibly enjoy what she couldn't have back at her previous home with people ignoring her and not helping out with her studies.

Rachel could possibly get more friends that are more accessible like Artemis and her older sister Jade (which was a bit of a stretch). She did have Queen Perdita as her friend, but she wouldn't really be here as she is on her way to her coronation to her eventual ruling of Vlatava. And she couldn't call her guardian and his three female friends to a better degree, despite on how kind they are to her. Not to mention the ever loveable Isis that tends to comfort her on most nights with her soft purrs.

But getting back to the matter at hand, the possibilities of her gaining more friends at the current time might take a while. Due to her unique appearance, she might be made fun of or picked on because of such features. Rachel already knew on this fact because of what went on back at Azarath, but she barely endured it back then and with the better support she has now, the ashen girl can survive it a whole lot better.

At least the promise of her having a better education is straight on and no one will hinder it.

"Rachel?" Naruto's voice called out, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Got your schedule here." Handing it to the ashen girl, Naruto talked towards the office door and opened it with her following. "Now go look around the place so you could try and get a good layout of the area before heading to your first class, alright?"

Rachel nodded as she shuffled her feet a little to start her current task. However, before she could go anywhere, Naruto pulled her into a small hug. Taking the small surprise well, she accepted it as her guardian spoke to her.

"You'll do fine Rachel. Not everything can be easy on just the first day, you know. I had to deal with the bigotry when I was roughly your age and I hope you can have a better time at this than me years ago." He said in personal reference of his childhood of being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Not knowing of the deeper connections the pair they both shared.

Letting go of her, Rachel gave him a small smile as she went off on her own while several other students were making their way into the building.

Chuckling to himself, Naruto made his way towards the restroom before heading out as he thought of a few other people that have to go to school again. Cat's son, Adam, is having his first day of the new school year back at National City and he wondered how that goes on of him getting to school on time. Naruto figured that Cat sometimes has to adjust her schedule to drop Adam off at school or he has to take the bus to get there. As for getting back home, it's either the school bus again or someone is hired to pick the kid up… He'll need to call Cat about that later today for confirmation along with hearing about how his first day was.

The person across his mind was Dick Grayson as Naruto wondered how he's supposedly doing right now. The trial of his parent's killer was the other day and Naruto was there for support on the Wayne ward, who was very appreciated for his appearance. The publisher clearly saw several things going through Dick's head, that it didn't take a mind reader to know what he was possibly going through.

This got Naruto to wonder how that'll affect Dick's starting days in the new college semester with them so close from the trial date. Would the college acrobat focus all that well, during his little recovery period, or would drift back in thought on Tony Zucco for brief moments? Who knows for sure since big events like that are hard to just brush off easily. But Naruto silently wished that said recovery time eases the college boy well before it just becomes a small sad moment in his life.

Once making his way out of the building, Naruto was nearly ran over by a familiar blonde child.

"Watch it kiddo." Naruto said with a small chuckle towards Harley's neighbor. "You might've knocked me over."

"Oh hi Naruto." Artemis said with a smile. "Sorry about that."

"Meh, it's no problem."

"Is Rachel here?"

"Yes she is actually." Pointing behind him, he spoke back. "Rachel ran off to familiarize herself with the building. Maybe you could go find her and help her out before classes start."

"Will do!" The Crock child spoke out as she ran off to find her best friend.

"You know," Paula's voice rang out as Naruto turned towards her, "I never thought I'd see Artemis be that excited to go to school this morning."

"Odd to believe that huh."

Walking out of the school building, the two adults made their way towards their respective cars as Harley's former teacher spoke again. "Pretty much. Then again having my daughter's best friend attend the same school would possibly do that for her."

"I guess you're right Paula. I mean, those two are pretty close during these past months that they'd want to spend more time together."

"And if they have the same classes, then it'll make it more enjoyable to some degree."

"Right you are. And with Artemis here, she'd possibly help Rachel out with her timid nature." Looking around, the publisher didn't see Paula's husband around. "I take it Laurence is taking Jade to school?"

"Yeah, it helps save on gas since neither of us want to do multiple trips to get our girls to their respective schools. Though it'll be a little better once Artemis hits middle school and when both girls get their driver's license later on."

Naruto chuckled a little in thought before responding back on the statement. "I take it you two will be dreading when those days come, right? Them driving out on the road and possibly causing mischief?"

"Oh don't you start there mister." Paula accusingly said with narrowed eyes. "Don't get me all worried about that too soon. I still got a few years before Jade starts her Driver's Ed class so don't get me dreading until that comes."

"Yet you know with her nature, she might cause problems."

The Vietnamese woman groaned, with a twitch of her eye, knowing that Naruto is right. "At least Artemis will be better, I hope. Just have to make sure Jade doesn't corrupt my youngest on such things like joyriding or something in that nature."

"Don't forget Rachel as well… If I want to get her a car." He pointed out to her. "What if she wants to ride a motorcycle or a moped instead of a car. Did you think about that?"

Tilting her head in thought, Paula admitted she didn't think about it. "Then I'll have to talk to Jade, when the time comes, if she's interested in a car or a motorbike."

"I mean, my first vehicle was a motorcycle and I loved riding it. Though I had to give it away when I came to the states… I do wonder if she still has it."

Feeling quite curious, the Vietnamese woman spoke her thought. "And who is this 'she' you're referring to? The same one you mention every so often, while still being vague on your past?"

"Oh you mean-" *Crash*

Hearing the sudden sound caused the pair to jump a little and turn towards the source. Not able to see it clearly, Naruto and Paula moved from their spots to witness what's going on. There was a car crash, with a car t-boning another before a pair of police vehicles arriving shortly after. The officers soon got out and went towards the crashed vehicle with their weapons pointed towards the occupants inside.

"Get out of the car and down on the ground! We got you surrounded, so there's no use staying in there!"

There was no response as two of the officers opened up the doors to see the occupants knocked out and severely injured.

"Well that seems to take care of them." One of the officers said as he soon radioed in for an ambulance to come over.

"We should be glad that one of us shot their tires or else this chase would've taken longer than it had to be."

"I know, right Montoya?" Looking over to the ruined car, he sucked in his teeth and cringed. "Man I feel sorry for whoever owns this car. It looks-"

"MY CAR!" A voice yelled out, causing the officers to look over to see a whiskered male and a vietnamese woman rushing towards their spot. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

"Uh… There was a robbery, which escalated into a car chase sir." Officer Montoya said as she pointed to the crashed car. "We had to resort to shooting the tires, causing the pursued car to swerve and crash into… your car I believe?"

Naruto tried to calm himself by taking in deep breaths, but his anger was showing and acting like any normal person in this situation. "I hope these guys will at least help take care of this.

"With the court case, it'll probably help cover the damages or for your replacement car, depending on how bad it is."

"I hope so." Naruto muttered out as he massaged his head. "What am I gonna do for transportation until then?"

"Maybe you could take the bus?" Officer Uchiha, Montoya's partner, suggested with a shrug. "Just a thought."

The publisher nodded as he turned towards Paula, who gave him a sympathetic look on her face. "Sorry about that Naruto, this must not have been a great way to deal with for today."

Naruto sighed. "No kidding. At least I don't have to be in the office today."

"Can't you just call Selina to come and pick you up? I would suggest Harley, but I remember her telling me that she went out for a psychologist convention for work, presenting a panel or two and won't be back till this weekend."

Naruto smiled slightly as he remembered how excited Harley was when she told him that she got such an opportunity. She admitted that she was nervous and needed to prepare on what to talk about on the panel she was participating in. Though Harley wasn't thrilled that she was going to miss out seeing both of her surrogate nieces and Rachel head off to their first days of school.

The publisher shook his head and explained. "Selina went out of town to help some environmental group she has contacts with. Wouldn't say much about it, but it was important for her to be there."

That was partially a lie. The environmentalist thief was indeed helping out an environmental group, but needed to secure funding to help them out. So Selina was running a few jobs for Kurama so he can write her a big check to take care of her problem. And last he heard from her, Selina was currently in Central City to steal some Egyptian artifacts for the humanoid furball before going to some other cities on her chore list.

"And what of Pam? I mean your other girlfriend should at least be here right?"

Paula was quite shocked when seeing Naruto being with the changed botanist the other day while she and her husband were on a date. Obviously she confronted the two, with Laurence dragged along, and started yelling at the publisher. Naruto did have to come clean to her that he was indeed dating Pam while also dating Harley. Pam did come to his rescue and explained her condition that she couldn't bare children and gave Naruto permission to date another woman. Once calling Harley for confirmation, just in case if the two were lying, the psychologist backed up the claim to end the awkward confrontation.

At least Paula got to eventually gain a new friend after a double date, despite how annoying and rude her husband was on some of it.

"Pam's out of the country procuring rare specimens for the botanical gardens. Besides, she doesn't drive a car anymore. She takes a bus to work."

Having to go to Guatemala, of all places, to collect several flora that the Green wanted Pam to protect wasn't what he thought would come out of the blue. Then again with the rainforests around the world losing ground every day because of loggers, the Green needed some of their agents to help stop their advancements for some time. So Pam told her superior, Dr. Cruz, that she needed to go there to hopefully get some plants that her 'friends' contacted her about and bring back to the gardens. Dr. Cruz agreed to let Pam head over there and get said plants to expand their studies before the loggers end up destroying the specimens.

"So how will you handle getting anywhere with them out of town?"

"I could walk and take the bus, like every other person." The publisher said as he left out his other ways of travel.

"If you say so… Do you need a ride back to your place? I'm willing to give you a lift."

He just waved her off on the suggestion. "I'm good Paula, it's a nice day out and it'll be a waste if I don't go out for a good stroll. Though thanks for the suggestion."

Paula nodded in understanding as she walked towards her car. "Then have a good day Naruto. And be sure to pick up Rachel by the time school gets out or else I'll do it for you."

"Yeah, will do."

It wasn't long before the publisher saw the ambulances arrive to help procure the injured burglars. During this time, Naruto had to talk to the police so they can get information from him, along with insurance details, before he could go on his merry way. By the time the burglars were sent away towards the nearby hospital for recovery, and eventual imprisonment, the tow trucks arrived to transport the stolen car and Naruto's ruined car.

Getting his personal effects out of his damaged car, into a backpack he created with his powers, Naruto made his way off of the school grounds. As he did, the Uzumaki made a mental list on what he'll need to do today before picking Rachel up from school. And for the first thing on said list, Naruto pulled out his phone and dialed a number and waited.

"Hello… This is Naruto Uzumaki… I need to report a claim… My car was hit and is badly damaged… Yeah, I'll hold."

-Arkham Asylum-

Sitting inside of the arctic-themed cell, Naruto was currently playing a game of chess with his former landlord on one of their meetups. When he first arrived, the two ate some food from the Big Belly Burger breakfast menu as the publisher also brought over some frozen food for Victor to have. Asylum food can only go so far that consumable items from the outside world is a pleasurable experience. And once having their fill, the two chatted amongst each other on different subjects before starting the match.

'Pawn to C4.' Naruto thought as he moved one of his Pawns. "So you said that Dr. Strange is allowing you to continue your experiments here?"

'Pawn to C5.' Victor moved his white piece to it's designated position. "It pretty much is Naruto."

Moving his ebony black Knight to 'F3', Naruto voiced his thoughts. "Isn't that a bit odd?"

"True but inmates here can have some leeway on what they can do in their confinement, as long as it doesn't really hamper the safety of others." Victor moved his ivory white Knight to 'C6' so his Pawn can be on guard. "Like you giving Pamela various plants in her stay here and giving me many of my possessions from the storage unit you set up."

As Naruto moved his Knight to 'C3', he briefly eyed Victor's cell as it seemed more homier ever since the frozen scientist came to Arkham. The cooler outfitted into the cell was larger than the board expected, so they had Victor transferred to a bigger room to keep the cell chilled to keep Victor alive. Not wanting to make it really spartan-like, Naruto brought over several of Victor's personal effects to at least decorate the place.

At least it brightened up the frozen room to some degree.

But on the far corner of the cell had an array of beakers, tubes, a computer and other forms of equipment to keep the man preoccupied. There was the array of books Naruto procured for Victor, but the whiskered man saw only a handful being read and the rest untouched. Then again, you can only do so much with few objects until you want something else.

"So why did he give you that equipment anyways? Been meaning to ask you that, but I didn't want to impose until you brought up the experiments."

The scientist moved his Knight to 'F6' to set up a mirrored attack on his former tenant. "Dr. Strange stated that a brilliant mind, such as mine, shouldn't be dulled with not working in the best suited craft one has. So he gave me those to continue on my work and preoccupy my time… hopefully curing the disease that plagued Nora so others wouldn't suffer."

Moving his Pawn to 'D4', alongside another one, Naruto sighed as he gained a downcasted look. Even with Nora's death, Victor wants to rid the world of the disease that started it all. The only form of vengeance the scientist could only do now.

"I guess that isn't so bad." Seeing Victor move his Pawn to 'D4' to take his own, Naruto spoke again as he moved his Knight to take the Pawn. "Though have you been getting onto other projects? I know you tend to do a few at the same time."

Taking one of his Pawns to 'E6', Victor answered. "As a matter of fact, I have."

Naruto raised a brow as he moved a Pawn to 'A3'. "Mind telling me what it is exactly?"

Placing his white Bishop to 'E7', the scientist responded. "I've been trying to find a way to reverse my condition."

This got Naruto to halter his thought process towards the game, as all of his attention was brought towards his friend. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Reaching towards the side to grab a carton of frozen yogurt, he ate a spoonful before explaining his reasons. "You do realize that I can't stay here at Arkham for the rest of my life, right? So I've been trying to figure out a way to get my body temperature back to normal for when I interact with the outside world again, I wouldn't stand out for wearing a coolant suit and be ostracized because of it."

"Has there been any luck?"

Victor shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Not really so far and the first step of it was to start with the accident last year."

Moving a Pawn to 'G3', Naruto realized what Victor was implying. "I'm guessing you had to think back and try to remember what chemicals you came into contact with, huh?"

Placing his Queen to 'B6', the scientist nodded with a frown. "It wasn't easy since it took some personal meditation to remember what chemicals were on that table back then and even once Strange got them for me, it took time to get the right combination for the test subjects to become… like me."

Moving his black Knight to 'B3', the publisher voiced his concern. "And by subjects, you mean lab rats and toads?"

Looking at his friend oddly, Victor spoke. "Of course I meant by them. There was no way I'd be having human test subjects."

"Sorry I stated that Victor. Just a slip up there, that's all."

"It's alright Naruto, no harm done." Placing his Knight to 'E5', the scientist explained his reasonings. "I needed to be sure the effects were exactly right before I could proceed on my study. Several specimens weren't quite right when I had them out of my cell, as they could still walk around, but the following batch were the right ones when they died from exposure to heat. And when I planned on starting the process to figure out on how to reverse the changes, Dr. Strange asked me to look further into the applications of the concoction."

"Say what now?" Asked the baffled publisher as he thought he heard that wrong. "Did you say that Hugo Strange wanted to know the uses of that?"

"Yes he did Naruto." Scratching his head as he reflected back on that conversation. "Dr. Strange seemed fascinated, for some reason, and he wondered what else was a result of what became of me. Even asking me to experiment a little on those subjects before I worked on my cure."

Placing his Pawn to 'E4', the Uzumaki asked the obvious question. "And did you?"

"Yes I have." Victor said as he moved his white Knight to 'G4' as it got closer to Naruto's ranks. "He convinced me that there could've been more to my change, than meets the eye, and the scientific portion of my mind won over."

Getting his Pawn to 'C5', Naruto asked a follow up question. "And what did you find exactly?"

Victor merely sighed deeply as he rubbed his eyes. "There is indeed more to what happened to me because of the accident Naruto… and it scares me when I realized it." Seeing his former tenant look at him intently, the scientist continued. "It happened when I was working on my main project when one of my rats got out of the cage. Caused a ruckus and got things knocked over in the process. One of them was a sharp knife that ended up cutting the rat's head off from the body. I was going to throw it away… when I noticed something amiss."

"...What was it?"

"It was like something from one of those B-rated zombie films Naruto." Victor muttered as he rubbed his arms. "The head… The head was moving by itself, without it attached to the body."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion when hearing this. "Doesn't most body parts barely move on their own after severed from the whole? I know it doesn't really happen often with humans for very long, but it sometimes occurs with some lizard tails or octopus limbs."

"That's the thing Naruto, it happened to the rat and it was it's head." The scientist spoke in a louder tone. "The head was moving and it did so far longer than I imagined."

Naruto blinked on what Victor was implying before widening his eyes. The publisher knew well on reanimated corpses, due to his encounter with Solomon Grundy and Yggdrasil's discussion on the Rot. If what Victor was possibly implying, he could've found a way to get the dead to come back to life… in some twisted way.

"And that's not all, I'm afraid."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto asked his friend. "What do you mean Victor?"

"...After this startling discovery, I had to check myself, through testing, to figure out what else occurred. Seeing my bloodwork not decaying and dying away like normally or even the cells from what skin I took off of myself had the same result. And further tests showed that each sample showed a decelerated rate of aging."

This didn't sound good for Naruto to hear and this worried him greatly towards his friend. He wondered how that was happening at all. Then a thought crossed through his mind that was soon voiced out. "The cryo-chemicals… They were meant for cryo-stasis."

"Yes… Freezing the body to a standstill, that one cannot age until thawed out, and I was bathed in it's icy concoction." Moving his arms to the side like presenting something important, the scientist spoke. "Take a good Naruto. I have become what many men throughout the ages have searched and yearned for: immortality." Letting out a bitter chuckle, Victor grasped his face with one of his hands as he continued. "Yet this is a curse that I've gotten myself into. Never able to fully embrace death so I can be with Nora in the afterlife."

Naruto gave his friend a sympathised look as he felt horrible on what Victor was feeling right now. Indeed, immortality can be both a blessing and a curse with how one looks at it, but with the scientist it's the entirety of the later. No one should ever suffer such a fate, no matter how pretty one presents it to be.

"Don't worry Victor, you'll find a way to reverse what has been done to you, I'm sure of it."

Victor gave his former tenant a small smile as he knew Naruto's response was genuine. "Thank you. It means well to hear that from you."

"You're welcome then."

Looking over the chessboard, Victor was figuring out the next move to take but there was something nagging him that needed to be voiced. After some frustrating moments of inner debate, he caved in and spoke his worries. "I should at least mention this to you Naruto, but I don't feel comfortable having Dr. Strange being my doctor here anymore."

"And why would you say that?" Asked the Uzumaki. "Is he just that uncomfortable that you want someone else to help you out here? Or is it something else?"

Naruto could possibly understand a little on being uncomfortable around the spectacled doctor with him giving off a creepy vibe. It was like those glasses of his put up a facade for his eyes that Naruto felt were calculating and in an ongoing chess match for some odd reason. He could never understand why when he looked at them during the past times he had lunch with Harley in the past and Naruto interacted with the good doctor. It was like Dr. Strange was trying to dissect and study him too much for comfort.

Moving his Knight to 'B3', Victor sighed before adopting a grim look on his face. "I wish I never took up his offer and him finding out what I discovered. For I fear that he plans to exploit it in some way. I don't know how or why, but nothing good is going to come from it."

Feeling rather uncomfortable about the current subject, Naruto tried to change into something lighter as they continued with their chess match before his inevitable defeat once again.

As the following matches followed, the publisher briefly thought back to what he learned and was worried on what could possibly happen. This happened before with the late Dr. Jason Woodrue (may he forever burn in Hell) wanting to acquire Pam's formula and look how that ended. So what would Hugo Strange want with Victor's research?

Naruto will need to keep an eye on the bald psychologist. He could send out some Dusks to tail the man and report back on all of his movements. Naruto briefly thought on asking Harley to help him out on this, but he didn't want to risk her life on this task if Hugo was remotely dangerous.

-On the Streets-

"...And how's the convention so far Harley?"

"It's doing quite well puddin." She answered in a cheerful tone. "I'm taking good notes on the interesting panels that I'm attending."

"Glad that you're enjoying yourself over there. And when is your panel?" He asked as he rounded the corner.

"Two days from now and like I've stated before: I'm really nervous for it."

"And I've told you before you left that you'll do fine. You prepared your cute butt for it quite well Harl." Naruto said, getting a little chuckle from her. "All you just need to do is to relax and speak to them like you're saying it to one of us. You've done that several times and you were speaking fine when it was just us in the room."

"I'll keep that in mind… So what are you doing now?"

"I'm running to the store so I can get stuff for Rachel's dinner tonight so I can celebrate her first day of school."

Harley merely wined a little as he imagined her wearing a pouty look on her adorable face. "I wish I could be there puddin. It would've been nice to hear how her first day was and possibly help her out on some of her homework."

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to help her out, you know. I mean you had plenty of times with Jade and Artemis, so I think her response might not be all that different."

"Yet you forget that this is Rachel's first day at public school. And none of us know what her education was like back before we took her off of the streets. So we don't know what it was like for her, with her not telling us a thing. Hell during some of the small sessions I do with her, I barely get a handful worth of information that she's willing to spill out."

Naruto sighed as his bubbling girlfriend was right in what she was saying. Despite the months of her under his care, Rachel hasn't told much on her past and was very secretive about it. He respected her privacy and didn't want to pry for information. But Naruto kept getting worried when he hears her whimpers in the middle of the night or when she wants to come into his bed to ease her worries.

"Then we'll just have to make the best out of things for her Harley."

"Right you are!" She said in a peppy tone. "Oh I gotta hang up now, the next panel is gonna start and I need to find a good seat. Bye. I love you."

"I love you too Harley." Hanging up the phone, Naruto sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Man I wish I had my car."

He's been walking for a while now after he got off of the bus ride from Arkham. The publisher would've used his wind lance to get around town quicker, but it would end up drawing attention towards himself in broad daylight. And he could've tried making that dark door, that corridor into the darkness, he discovered back in his mindscape, but he was uneasy in using it. Not knowing on where it might take him, since he felt that the doorway isn't a typical one that he read dozens of times in the fantasy and sci-fi novels he published.

Anyways, walking around and waiting for certain buses gave the Uzumaki the excuse to call up Selina on how her job was going so far. Nothing bad at all as she was staking out the museum and visualizing on how to acquire her targets. She did admit that getting the items in question were odd for even her, despite one of them being a sapphire statue of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, but they seemed valuable enough for Kurama in wanting them for some unknown reason.

Naruto also called Pam on how things down at the Amazon rainforest was like, but he kept hitting voicemail several times now. He felt a little worried, despite knowing that she can clearly take care of herself, but he just wanted to at least hear her voice. So possibly later tonight, he'll make his way to her Greenhouse out of town and talk to her plants and see if they'll relay the message to her, due to them having a closer connection to her than the ones back at the loft.

If not, then he'll just meet up with her in the Dreaming and chat with her there.

As he made his way across the street, Naruto noticed something at the corner of his eye. He saw a particular motorcyclist driving near the stoplight and the Uzumaki felt the person was looking right at him. Naruto wouldn't mind at all, since it's a common occurrence with everyone out there, but he was noticing this same cyclist for a few blocks now as if the person was following him. A few would've been coincidence, but now he got got confirmation.

Not wanting to be found out on this, Naruto played it cool and went on his merry way to see how he'll get the cyclist to be baited into following his new trail. Deciding to cross yet another street, one that is currently crowded with small stands, he did what he could to lose the cyclist by doing his best to blend in. It's been awhile since he did this sort of thing, so it'll be like riding an old bike.

One that has rusted over the years.

Not wanting to give himself away, to some degree, he quickened his pace a little as he maneuvered his way through the incoming people. Still seeing the rider following him at a good distance behind him, Naruto had to resort to ducking into an alleyway. The publisher walked a little faster so he could go around a few other corner before bringing forth his grappling scarf to get onto one of the nearby fire escapes at a higher level.

Once situated, Naruto heard footsteps coming closer to the current alley.

'Okay. Time to see who's after me.' He thought.

Naruto was willing to just lose this guy by phasing through several buildings, but the feelings he tried to suppress from Victor's chat from earlier was clouding his rational thoughts. The visit was dampening his pleasant mood from this morning, alongside his car getting wrecked, making Naruto to let out his frustrations. And it just so happened that the cyclist was possibly an easy well to misplace his aggressions.

As the footsteps got closer and closer, Naruto soon saw the black leather clad cyclist with the helmet still worn and hints of a scarf around the neck. The person's head turned in various directions as the rider tried looking for the publisher. The action ended as the cyclist paused before flicking the arm to the side for a pair of daggers to appear into the person's hand from the jacket's sleeve.

'Oh crap!' The Uzumaki thought as a dagger flew towards his direction, causing him to duck out of the way before several more came right at him. 'Oh now it's on!'

Cursing himself for losing the element of surprise, he quickly picked up one of the daggers before throwing it towards the cyclist. The person dodged the throwing weapon before having to roll out of the way from Naruto's falling form. Once on the ground, the Uzumaki dashed towards the cyclist and tried to punch his assailant. The cyclist knocked the arm towards the side as he kicked Naruto's side. The publisher grasped the cyclist's leg and tried to elbow the person's chest but it failed when the rider leaned back and kicked Naruto's chest with the free leg.

The whiskered man rubbed his chest slightly before he had to block and dodge several bladed attacks. Backing away, Naruto had to strike back as he ducked down and swept kicked the cyclist to the ground. As the assailant fell, the publisher quickly got to the person's position with one of the daggers on hand and aimed it at the cyclist's neck.

"Okay. Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded in an even tone. "My day, so far, hasn't been going well and you showing up doing this crap isn't making it better."

The cyclist didn't say anything. Just lying there and not moving at all.

"So tell me who you are!"

"...Wow." The helmeted rider chuckled in a feminine tone. "Roughly nine years later, you can still be hot-tempered."

Naruto was baffled on what the rider just said as his confusion started to grow. Racking his mind on who this person was… and how she knew him. His eyes bore into her before something shiny caught his vision.

Reaching down towards her neck, it was a locket that got loose from the confinement of the rider's scarf. It was familiar to him as he briefly remembered giving it to someone years ago. Opening up the locket, he saw a photo which made his eyes widen on the mere sight of it as a memory came rushing through.

-Flashback, 9 Years Ago; Milan, Italy-

"Man, what a view." Naruto muttered as he sat on the terrace of Duomo di Milano while seeing most of the city at it's highest point.

"I told you that it was worth coming here Naruto." Spoke a woman who stood several feet away from him. "Even during the twilight hours to see the city in it's real beauty."

No one is supposed to be on top of the cathedral while the building is getting renovated, but the former shinobi snuck onto the terrace with his friend to see the spectacular view of the old town without anyone bothering them. The array of colors from the clear sky made the pinkish color of the building's stonework seem more interesting. And with the sun setting at the horizon made the setting much more memorable for the two.

"Well you've taken me to a lot of great places to see in our travels together and you've never ceased to disappoint me."

"And have I ever steered you wrong?" She rhetorically asked with a smirk on his face.

Turning around, the Uzumaki saw his companion holding two boxes in her grasp. Each contained food that they purchased earlier, but she didn't let him start digging in until they got to their current placement. Stating that eating while enjoying the view makes the experience much more memorable if you're with others.

And with the grumbling sound emanating from his stomach, the whiskered man couldn't wait to eat the delicious meal.

"Okay, I waited long enough Talia." Naruto said with a bit of desperation in his voice. "Give me my food, now."

The now identified Talia merely chuckled as she let her friend snatch his box from her grasp. The two soon sat down on the rooftop as they opened up their respective meal boxes to reveal the heavenly aroma of authentic Italian pizza with bite sized cuts. Not much was said as they silently enjoyed their meals, with some small chatter between them, while seeing the sun starting to set.

"Talia."

"Yes Naruto? What is it?"

"I've been meaning to give you this earlier, but I kept forgetting." Reaching into his jacket pocket, the former shinobi pulled out a small box and handed it towards his friend.

Adopting a curious look on her face, Talia opened the box and slightly gasped when seeing the beautiful piece of jewelry attached to a metallic string. It was a bronze locket with a floral design etched onto the front and a small emerald imbedded in it's center. She opened it up and saw that it was empty inside to show that it was indeed brand new.

"I didn't know when your birthday was," Naruto began as he scratched his cheek, "but I heard your sister say it was coming up when we last spoke with her. I didn't want to press on the information, but with me being with you for at least a year and a half I needed to at least get you something really nice."

Talia didn't say anything as her fingers traced over her gift. She briefly smiled before some tears started to form in her eyes. And without realizing it, she sniffled slightly as a result.

"T-Talia? Are you alright?" The Uzumaki asked in worry as he saw her expressions suddenly change. "I-If it seemed too much, I'm sorry. I could try and exchange that for something else."

She shook her head in response before looking at him with a pleasant smile. "No, it's perfect Naruto. Thank you."

"Really? Well that's good."

"It's better than good actually." Talia said as she pulled the item out of the box to let the light shine upon it's surface. "I haven't had a nice gift in years and the last one I got was from my late mother, but I lost that some time ago."

Not knowing about that, until now, the former shinobi frowned slightly before mumbling. "I'm sorry to hear that Talia."

"It matters not." She said as she gave him a warm smile. "But thank you for giving me this. It means a lot."

Grasping her hair, Talia pulled it up and ushered him to help put it on. Complying with her request, Naruto took her gift and went behind her to get her locket around her neck. Once done, it lied proudly on her chest before she hugged him.

"We should probably commemorate this." Naruto said as he stood up and pulled his companion up alongside him before whipping out a camera from his pocket. Trying to angle it just right, with the twilighted sky shining in the background, Naruto took several photos just in case if the first one didn't work out all that well.

-Flashback End-

"...Talia?"

The rider reached up towards her helmet and unclasped the buckle keeping it in place. One done, she pulled her off head's protection to release a river of dark brown hair from it's confinement. The rider's blue-green eyes showed happiness that matched the smile on her thin, supple lips upon her light ebony skinned complexion. When taking a closer look of her appearance, Naruto saw Talia's Chinese/Arabic/European features became more defined after seeing her from last time.

"Hello Naruto. It's been sometime."

Naruto blinked as he slowly chuckled before he started to laugh. He brought her up from the ground a little and hugged the one friend he never expected to see after so long. She returned the hug as she wrapped her arms around his form and held him tight.

Once he calmed down from his laughter, Naruto pulled away and spoke to his old traveling companion. "What are you doing here Talia? I mean, not that I mind seeing you again, but why now after all this time? Hell how did you even find me?"

Talia got up, with Naruto's help, as she dusted herself off before answering. "Well I'm here on business really and since you're here in Gotham, I thought I could see you again."

Naruto merely crossed his arms and raised a brow. "And after nine years, you didn't get the chance to visit me at all if you possibly knew where I lived? Or at least try to contact me?"

She sighed as her hand raked through her hair slightly. "Well I kept on traveling and I didn't know where you were exactly until you started your publishing company five years ago. And even then, I've been busy."

"With what exactly? Stuff for your dad?" He questioned as he got the visual answer, causing him to sigh. "Figures."

Despite traveling around together for about two years, Talia has been vague on her past. He only knew a little about her father through what stories she told him, but Naruto never knew what the man did for a living. Only knowing that he too traveled around the world and did things in hopes of protecting the environment. Talia did certain jobs for her father on the family business and had to leave him for a day or so before showing back up like it was nothing.

...Then again, he has been vague on his past as well towards her. So that seemed to call things even to some degree.

"You know how important it is on me helping out my father."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it several times before Talia and I don't want to argue about that again." With a shake of his head, he made his way out of the alley with her on toe. "Let's at least continue this conversation when we're not in a place like this."

"I can agree on that."

As the two made it out of the alleyway, Naruto came across a site he hasn't seen in years. "Is that?"

"Yup." Talia replied with a small smile. "Your little girl. Kept her nice and maintained since you gave it me before you left for the states."

The beautiful piece of machinery parked by the side of the street is a 1930's Brough Superior SS100, considered to be the Rolls-Royce of the motorcycle world. Sixty-nine of these were ever made in the world and were extremely valuable on it's entire run, though there are some other models made later on that others not appreciate it often. With it's impressive speed and durability, many collectors want to nab one if given the chance.

Luckily for him, Naruto won this one from a poker game, becoming the main form of transportation he and Talia used during their time together.

Running his hand over it's darkened surface, a smile graced his lips. "I thought you would've gotten rid of this."

"Not a chance Naruto." Talia tossed him something from her pocket and when looking at it, it were a set of keys. "How about taking her for a spin once more?"

Naruto merely smirked at her before he sat on his old motorcycle to get a good feel of the leathery seat. Placing the keys in and kickstarting the engine, the publisher felt the familiar rumble his old bike going through his system. It felt great to be on this machine again and it feel much more once he rides it around town.

His thoughts were soon halted as he felt the bike shift and a pair of arms wrapping around his chest. This made him realize that Talia hopped right on and assumed the position she used in the past when he rode their bike. Emphasising on 'their' since the two took turns taking care of this old girl during their time together. Even in the past, Naruto rode 'bitch' every now and then, but Talia enjoyed being in that spot for some particular reason.

"You know this town better than I do Naruto." His old friend said from behind her helmet. "So you get to choose where we get to chat."

Nodding at this, Naruto motioned her to back away for a few moments so he could get his backpack off and strap it onto the bike. Once done, Naruto readjusted into his seat before revving up the engine. With a smirk on his face, he had a destination in mind as he soon rode the motorcycle down the street.

-Stacked Deck-

"I never would've thought on you taking us here." Talia muttered with a raised brow as she entered the establishment. "It's not even the typical bar hours even."

"Meh~ This place grew on me over the months and some of the more private times are before then with anyone hardly showing up." Said the Uzumaki as he waved at the owner, who was manning the bar today. "Hiya Moxxi. How's it going?"

"Doing well Naruto." The barkeep replied before she eyed the woman behind one of her favorite customers. "And who's this?"

"Just an old friend that came into town for work."

Moxxi looked at Naruto for a few moments before giving off a shrug. "If you say so kid. So do you two want a booth or up here at the bar?"

It was Talia who answered the question. "The bar's fine. Besides I'd like to have a better view on what you have on the shelf."

Moxxi nodded as she saw Naruto and his friend sit on the barstools. "Then what would you two like for starters?"

"I'll have some Bud Light Moxxi." Naruto was fine with having some light beers for now, even though he can't get drunk anymore due to his powers. But Naruto didn't want to give away his odd alcohol intolerance to his old friend, who originally knew he could handle so much alcohol before he was considered drunk years ago.

Blame the really strong bottles of Vodka, Rum and Absinthe he had alongside Talia during their time around Eurasia. That shit really kicked his ass hard, even with her drunk alongside him.

"Corona for me."

Moxxi nodded and went to fetch said bottles of beer for her first customers of the day.

"So… What would you like to talk about Talia?"

"Just… you really." Came Talia's response. "I just wanna hear what you've been up to since we last saw each other."

"That's what I had in mind as well Talia. I mean it's been nine years and I'd like to hear what crazy stuff you got yourself into."

And so the two chatted for several hours with different bottles of beer emptied, their glasses and baskets constantly refilled with water peanuts respectively. The old companions enjoyed their time together as they caught up as best as they could in the time frame. Naruto still thanked Talia on getting him his identity papers before coming to the states, in which she stated that it was needed at several of the countries they passed on through in their time together and he did save her life that one time so there was that. Asides from that, Naruto talked about most of his time in Metropolis and being here in Gotham while Talia talked about traveling through Africa and several areas in South America.

"...I keep hearing that Machu Picchu is a great place to visit," Naruto said as he sipped his drink, "even if it's worth the hike."

"Trust me, it's worth it. Though Nyssa complained around halfway through."

"Did she now? And how is Nyssa by the way?" Naruto asked pertaining to Talia's younger sister. He met with her a few times like at the Great Wall of China, several places in both Germany and Spain. She was tough to get through, due to her upbringing, but she turned out well to get to know.

"She's doing well. Stubborn in wanting to get her work done well and to appease our father."

"And where have I heard that before?" He muttered, earning a playful smack from the woman beside him. "Oh come on, you know that's true."

"Not like you were any better."

"Eh… Yeah, you're not wrong on that." Blame part of his stubborn nature on his mother for passing that trait down onto him. Because of that, he got the two into some interesting misadventures due to his stubbornness. Like him breaking into a Chinese Triad stronghold to prove a point of breaking into such a place in broad daylight and not getting caught. He was successful, but one guard sounded the alarm and escaping the place was a bitch with an army on their tail.

...Good times.

Smirking a little, Talia continued. "Asides from that, Nyssa has been seeing someone for about three years now."

"Really?~ So who's the lucky man that pierced through her defences and claimed her heart?" Seeing the look on her face, it seemed Naruto to get the idea now. "Oh~ A girl? Well nothing's wrong with that… So what's her name and how'd they meet?"

Taking a sip of her drink after eating some peanuts, Talia answered. "Her name's Sara and they met when Nyssa saved her from drowning."

"That… must've been an interesting moment between the two." Stretching a little in his seat before he continued. "I take it your dad wasn't thrilled on those two being together."

Talia sighed as she scratched her head. "You can say that... Father is fine with homosexuals being under his employ and all that fun stuff, but as you know he's a traditionalist to continue the family line."

"And with Nyssa playing for the other team, that's not gonna happen that well." Finishing up his bottle, Naruto spoke. "He should remember he does have another daughter that could continue the family line. I mean you're very beautiful and any man would be lucky in being in a relationship with you."

"That is true on both counts and thanks on the complement." She said with a smile as she knew Naruto was being quite honest on the fact. "But as for finding someone special to hopefully spend the rest of my days with and have a family with him… well I haven't found the right man." 'Or pursued the right one.' She thought with some mirth.

"Sorry to hear of that… But then again, you can kick any man's ass and that tends to make men feel quite emasculated."

"Also true. Speaking of, I see you've been keeping up with your fighting skills. It would've been a shame if you rusted over the years."

Naruto nodded as he remembered that during the two years traveling together, Talia was his teacher for a time. Taught him quite a lot on how to improve his stealth and to not just rely on his brawling fighting trait he primarily used before coming to this world. She taught him several fighting styles and he had to refresh his memory on said styles once he tapped into his powers.

"To tell you the truth Talia, I had rusted a little since moving into Gotham five years ago. But after a certain incident last year, I had to retrain myself so it wouldn't happen again."

"You mean with Hiraishin attacking you." She stated with a raised brow. "I had heard about it and I was quite worried for your safety, but I was surprised you took him down."

"Well it was the Batman who dealt the final blow with that odd dust of his that got Hiraishin to not use his powers all that well."

"Yet you were the one that fended him off while civilians got out to safety." Talia pointed out as she drank the last of her drink.

"Though he was there to kill me to be more of a glory hound." Naruto replied back. "It's true I kept his attention away from everyone else, but he was after me so he could seem more popular for others to hire him more often."

"Regardless, it seemed during our small encounter that I hadn't seen any rust in your style."

"Why thank you."

"In fact, I'd like to possibly spar with you again sometime to see the extent of your skill."

Naruto thought about it for a moment before he gave her a shrug. "I don't see any harm in that. I think it would be good to fight you again after all this time."

"Good. And besides, I wonder how my best student fairs against me after all this time."

"Really? Well I'm flattered Talia, I really am. And you said you took in other students earlier?"

"A handful here and there during my travels." Was her honest answer. "Even had one student when I was in Russia in the past year and he was fine, despite him only learning under me for 5-6 months."

"And how would you compare me from this last guy?"

"Well… I'll have to spar you, in a better way than from the alley earlier, to get a more accurate response."

Naruto nodded at hearing this since results are better once seeing them at the present time. The conversation would've continued if it wasn't for the publisher's eyes landing onto the hanging clock nearby, seeing that it was 3pm. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!"

Talia was confused in what he was referring to as she saw her friend hastily get up from his seat and quickly pay the barkeeper. "What are you talking about Naruto?"

"I'm almost late from picking up Rachel from school!"

This merely left questions than answers for the blue-green eyed woman as she soon followed Naruto out of the bar and towards their motorcycle. He asked for her keys before he drove them off to the other side of town. While on the way towards his destination, Naruto summarized a little on who his foster child was to her.

-Gotham Elementary-

Sounds of the school bell were rung as children were starting to head out of the building for the end of the school day. Some were greeted with the site of various buses waiting to transport the children to their respective homes while others saw their respective parents and guardians by the sidewalks and parking lots. It was a pleasant experience from what many could see before each person went their separate ways.

In the meantime, Paula was standing off to the side as she saw her youngest walk alongside her best friend.

"So how's your first day of school honey?"

"It was well mom." Came Artemis' response. "Though some of the rotating teachers were a bit boring on their lessons."

"Eh~ It happens." Turning over towards the ashen child, Paula spoke to the timid Rachel. "And how was your first day sweetie?"

The young ward shifted in her feet before looking at the older woman. "It was… okay. Wasn't used to such a place."

"And did you have any trouble at all?" Paula asked as an obvious question. "Like with your lessons?"

"Not really, but…"

"But what?"

"Well…"

Soon the sounds of a motorcycle was heard, causing several people look towards the source. From what Paula, Artemis and Rachel could see was Naruto riding a motorcycle, without a helmet on, which caused the two children to wonder why he wasn't driving his car from this morning. Other questions popped into their heads was who was riding behind the publisher and how did he get the motorcycle in the first place.

Similar thoughts went through Paula's head, but she knew there'd be answered soon. Walking up to Naruto and the helmeted person, the Vietnamese woman spoke to the Uzumaki. "I was wondering when you'd show up Naruto. I was about to drive her back to my place, so you can pick her up there, if you weren't here on time."

"Sorry about that Paula." Apologized the former shinobi as he got off of the motorcycle. "I was catching up with an old friend and I lost track of time."

"And who would that be exactly?" Paula asked before her eyes landed on the helmeted rider. "This guy?" This earned a nod from Naruto's companion. "Well mind introducing yourself."

It took a moment for the rider to remove the helmet to reveal her features, earning varied reactions from each of them. Rachel was nervous when seeing the new person while Artemis thought she looked pretty and strong, given the similar feeling her mother and Selina gave off. As for Paula, she stiffened as several thoughts ran through her head.

'Why the hell is she here? Why weren't Laurence and I informed ahead of time of her being here?' Mentally palming her face, Paula's eye suddenly twitched. 'Laurence is gonna be pissed, that's for sure.'

Holding up her hand towards the Crock Matriarch, with a mischievous look in her eyes, Naruto's companion introduced herself. "Hello there. My name's Talia."

Heir to the Demon, Warith al Ghul and the Demon's Daughter are some of the names Talia al Ghul goes by for the League of Shadows (also called the League of Assassins). Ra's al Ghul's eldest daughter and one of the best assassins in the entire organization, second only to her father and arguably to Lady Shiva while much better than the League's Horsemen. A worldly and cultured, elite warrior who travels around quite often to perform certain missions for her father right on the fly.

Not wanting to be rude, especially to keep up appearances in front of those not in the know of the new arrival, Paula shook the offered hand. "Nice to meet you Talia. My name's Paula."

Looking towards the younger kids, Talia asked the obvious question with a small smile. "And who are these two little darlings?"

Before Paula could answer, her daughter answered right away. "My name's Artemis ma'am."

"Well ain't that a pretty and strong name you got there. No doubt getting a strong resemblance from your mother here."

The Crock child nodded with a bit of pride in the action. She soon nudged her best friend's side as it was her turn to introduce herself. Rachel hesitated for obvious reasons, but with a little encouragement by her guardian, she spoke. "M-My name's Rachel."

"Ah~ So you're the one Naruto talked about on the way over here." Seeing her confused face, Talia explained. "Like he said, Naruto lost track of time and needed to use my bike to get over here on time to pick you up from school. Explanation was really short for my taste, but I think it'll be nice if I could maybe get to know you better. If you let me, that is."

Rachel didn't say anything as she moved towards her guardian for some comfort. Seeing this, Naruto couldn't fault his ward's action since it takes a while for the ashen child to open up to others. When seeing this, Artemis did what she could to cheer her friend up as she dragged Rachel towards the motorcycle Naruto and Talia rode to the school on in curiosity.

"Sorry about that Talia. Rachel has a very timid nature and doesn't open up easily."

"No, it's alright Naruto. I understand quite well since I was like her, to some degree, when I was at her age. She wasn't prepared on meeting someone new right away, especially someone she knew nothing about."

Naruto sighed a little in relief. "That's good to hear."

"So Naruto." The Crock woman spoke. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?

"Well I was planning on grocery shopping earlier to make Rachel's favorite for dinner," Naruto then looked at his old friend with a playful glare, "but Talia ended up sidetracking me."

Said woman merely rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry. I just wanted to see if you still knew if someone was tailing you."

"And you clearly knew how that turned out." Turning his attention back to the Crock matriarch, he continued. "Anyways, I'll have to drop Rachel off back at my place since I clearly don't have a car to carry both her, the groceries and Talia all at the same time. And after that, I've got to help out Rachel on whatever homework she has gotten today and sign whatever stuff she possibly has for me for her teachers, I think."

"Seems nothing that you can't handle Naruto."

"Obviously." Feeling his arm being tugged slightly, Naruto saw his ward with a questioning look. "Yes Rachel?"

"Where's your car?"

"Ah right, well it was in an accident earlier today and I'm just borrowing my friend's motorcycle for today."

Rachel nodded before speaking. "Mind showing me and Artemis how it works? It looks… cool."

The publisher chuckled as he nodded and excused himself to keep the two younger girls entertained while being sure they didn't mess around with his old motorcycle. As he left, the two women walked some feet away so they can have some space to talk amongst themselves. With the sounds of surrounding chatter and vehicles leaving the school grounds, this helped cover the conversation the two were about to have.

"Why are you here Talia?" Paula asked in a serious tone. "Either you, your father or Lady Shiva would've contacted us ahead of time if either of you were arriving into town for whatever reason. Yet neither did at all. Why?"

The last time any League members arrived in Gotham was when the Zephyr battery was being introduced months ago. Paula and Laurence expected to be brought in to assist on the mission, but were told by Lady Shiva to not bother on the main mission parameters since it was already covered. Though she did ask the married couple to procure the dead League members from the GCPD morgue so things wouldn't be compromised.

Other than that, things were quiet in terms of assignments asides from Paula's and Laurence's mission on the Uzumaki intel.

"Oh I was merely passing through Alsiyada (Huntress), that's all." Talia said offhandedly, earning a small glare from the Vietnamese woman.

Paula scoffed. "Right~ Like it's just that simple. Look, can you just tell me why you didn't inform Laurence or I when you were getting into town? You know that my husband doesn't like unpleasant surprises."

"I know, but I didn't want either of you two to know of my arrival just yet."

"And why not?" Seeing the look of Talia's eyes as they glanced over to the whiskered publisher, Paula somewhat put things together. "Him? You came all the way over here just to see him?"

"Partially." Was Talia's response in an offhanded manner. "You remember Father tasked you two on finding more about Naruto and in the end, he became disinterested in him, resulting in ending the reports… Well I wanted a better evaluation. So I decided to come here to seek out my old friend and student and see what could be obtained that neither you or your husband could not."

Paula subtly nodded in understandment since things were starting to make sense now with Talia's arrival. Naruto spoke fondly of his friend that he parted ways with eight years ago and she didn't realize Naruto was referring to the Demon's Daughter. And when hearing about Ra's getting information from his eldest daughter on some of Naruto's past, it went over her head at the time. Though it seems that Talia wants to use her old connection with the whiskered publisher to get an update on things on a more personal level.

'He keeps making things more interesting without realizing it.' Thought the Crock matriarch before she let out a sigh. "Is there anything else I should know or was visiting Naruto just it?"

This got the Heir to the Demon to become a bit more serious when answering. "There will be a device arriving in Gotham a few days from now and Father wants to acquire the package."

Paula nodded before her eyes glanced towards Naruto coming back to them. "We can discuss more at a later time Talia."

Seeing the reason why on ending the conversation, Talia merely nodded. "Of course Paula."

"What were you two talking about?" Asked the publisher.

"Nothing much, I insure you." Lied the married woman.

"If you say so. Anyways, I think the girls are starting to get a little antsy and need to go home now."

Seeing her youngest by the family car gave Paula the message and nodded in understanding. "Then I'll see you later Naruto."

"You as well Paula."

As Naruto and Talia walked back to the Brough Superior, they saw Rachel waving her friend goodbye. "Ready to go Rachel." Rachel gave a small nod as her answer before her guardian picked her up and placed her on the motorcycle. "You're gonna be needing sit between us Rachel so you'll be safe. And I'll drop you off at the Towers so you can get inside of the apartment. But do you still have your key to the place?"

"Yes Naruto."

It wasn't long before Naruto took the driver's seat while Talia got her helmet back on before riding 'bitch' again. Before starting up the bike, the Demon's Daughter wrapped her arms around the ashen child, who stiffened slightly before relaxing on the reassured safety. Once everything was secured, Naruto drove the motorcycle off of the school grounds and made his way back Skyline Towers.

-Later, Naruto and Pam's Loft-

Grocery shopping went rather quick after dropping Rachel off at the Towers as there wasn't much for Naruto to acquire. He could've gotten this done faster if he went by himself with his powers, but despite Talia being his old friend he didn't want to leave her alone with Rachel. It's not that he doesn't trust her being alone with his ward, but he didn't want to worry Rachel on being around with a complete stranger to her.

During his time shopping, Naruto asked where Talia was going to be staying at while in Gotham. It was obvious to him she was going to be staying at a hotel, but he asked anyway since he offhandedly offered her to stay in one of his guest rooms until she left. Talia appreciated the offer as she declined. Though to make up for it, he asked if she could come over for dinner since it tends to be lonely with just him and Rachel back at the loft.

Naruto was currently making Rachel's favorite dish, Aglio e Olio, ever since she first tried it under his roof while Talia was preparing a complimentary sea bass to go with the pasta.

"How's that fish coming along Talia?"

"It's going well Naruto."

"Just be sure to not overcook it like back in Burma."

"One time and you'll never let it go, huh."

"I never will Talia. Oh how I never will."

Rachel was sitting at the kitchen counter as she was doing some of her homework while her guardian and his friend were cooking an early dinner. Sounds of cooking filled the air as the two adults were in charge of preparing their respective portion of the evening meal. And with the strong fragrant smell wafting in the air added fuel to the fire on her distraction.

'Why didn't I just finish doing my homework in my room?' Thought the ashen child as her stomach soon grumbled. 'This is just making me real hungry right now.'

As she tried to focus on her first school assignments after leaving Azarath, Rachel's purple eyes would occasionally glance at the two adults. She clearly saw they were indeed good friends, despite the years that separated them, as they enjoyed each other's company. It was different from his interactions with Pam, Selina and Harley with him being in a relationship with each of them; but Naruto and Talia had history with each other since they knew each other longer.

"I wonder if I'll have such a connection with Artemis and several others down the line." Muttered the foster child before she felt Isis brushing against her arm. "Do you think I'll have such a thing like with Artemis like those two, Isis?"

All Rachel got in return was a feline equivalent of a shrug.

"Only time will tell, I suppose."

Her personal musings ended once she heard the a plate being placed near her, causing the ashen child to look towards the one serving her.

"Well dinner's ready Rachel."

Looking towards the plate in question, Rachel licked her lips slightly alongside Isis as they saw the meal before them. The child's plate contained her portion of Aglio e Olio and cooked sea bass while the feline's plate was just the chopped up, seasoned fish. And without further restraint, Isis gave an experimental lick on the meat before eating towards her heart's content as purrs were soon heard.

"Seems Isis likes your cooking Talia."

"She's not the only one." Motioning towards Rachel, Naruto saw his ward cutting up the fish and eating it before the noodles as the child gave out a pleasant hum. Wanting more room in her space, the ashen girl moved her homework away so none of the delicious food would touch her assignments on accident.

The Uzumaki smiled as he and Talia got their portioned food before sitting down to eat their meal. The loft's occupants ate in relative silence so they could savor their food. By the time Rachel got up to get more food for both her and Isis, the ashen child moved her things into her room to finish things up there. With her out of the way, Naruto's old friend spoke as she took a portion of bass into her mouth.

"You know, it's nice to be a normal person every now and again."

"How so?" Questioned the publisher

Swallowing her food, she answered back. "Enjoying the simple pleasures that life gives you. Like, for instance, savoring the taste of good food without having to block out your taste buds so you'd be very attentive towards your surroundings."

"I agree, but you don't have to do that all the time or else it would've become too much of a hassle." He said before taking a sip of his drink. "But it does save your life if you're primarily on your own or in the wilderness."

"I agree and you were the one to get me to 'loosen up' during our time together." Talia chuckled as she got up to get more food, due to her large appetite. "It does have its uses, when the time calls for it, but without you in my company for so long made me forget it every so often."

"...I'm sorry about that Talia." He somberly said. "You asked me to stay with you more than our intended agreement, but I wanted to make a name for myself with good honest work."

The Demon's Daughter waved him off with a small smile. "No worries Naruto, I've come to accept that you wanted to go your way years ago. You're not the only one as it seems to be a recurring theme with many of my past students."

"That's… good to know, I think."

"Besides... you've done quite well for yourself by starting up a publishing company of all things."

"Well I so happened to enjoy writing while I traveled with you. Seeing many of the sites helped spark my interest to try out the craft." He said as it was partially the truth.

The former shinobi wanted to honor Jiraiya's memory and during his time traveling with Talia got him to take up the hobby of writing his experiences back in his home reality. This in turn got him the idea to try and self publish his 'life story' so he wouldn't try to have someone else reaping his profits. And being just a writer wasn't going to be fulfilling with part of his mind wanting to be in charge of others. One thing led to another for him to consider trying out to become a publisher.

Sitting back down, Talia ate more of the food before speaking. "Some of your books were good ways to kill time and escape some troubles in my life, so there's that."

"Then I'm glad to hear on that."

"Though I would like to get my copies of some of your books signed, if it won't be too much trouble."

"No problem and I could do that sometime… I've been meaning to ask, but how long are you in town for anyways?"

"Less than a week."

Nodding at the answer, he got up from the seat to get another serving. "Maybe you could come over tomorrow after I drop Rachel off at school. This loft has enough room for us to spar in once moving the furniture around. Two birds with one stone, if you will."

Talia smiled. "I'll consider it then. And have you been writing other books since releasing Loveless?"

"Yes I have actually and my next book is gonna be released in the coming weeks."

"Really? And what's it called?"

"Final Fantasy." Came the answer as he got back to his seat. "First of a new series of books and I'm currently working on books two and three right now. And before you ask, they aren't sequels but separate stories with a similar title."

"Well that's interesting."

The two soon had went into different topics as their bellies got full from the delicious meal. It clearly felt like old times between the two and they couldn't be happier. All that was missing was him learning new skills from his old teacher or the occasional spar, but Talia might make up for that in the coming days with her being in town.

By the time Talia was ready to depart, Rachel came down and tugged onto Naruto's shirt.

"Yes Rachel?"

Holding up some of her assignments, the ashen child asked the obvious question. "Can you help me out on some of these questions? I'm having trouble answering them."

"Yeah, I'll head right up."

Rachel nodded before she saw Talia gathering her things. "It's nice meeting you Talia and thanks for helping cook dinner."

"You're very welcome and it's been nice meeting you as well."

Once the young ward made her way up towards her room, Talia thanked Naruto as well before heading out of his loft. She had things to plan for the next several days and the Demon's Daughter needed to prepare for what's to come. Though she couldn't wait to see Naruto in the morning and spend time with him.

Not knowing Talia's intentions, Naruto smiled as he had a similar thought of seeing his old friend tomorrow. He shook his head a little as he made his way upstairs to help his ward out on her school assignments. They were easy for him, but Naruto helped her out so she wouldn't rely on him so much later on.

-Evening, Gotham Harbor-

Things have been rather quiet this evening for the masked publisher and considered taking an early leave for the night. But he had gotten an anonymous tip when Vanitas visited the Stacked Deck and chatted with the barkeep. Moxxi stated that she heard that there was going to be a shipment of drugs coming from out of town and entering from the harbor. Naruto didn't know if the drug shipment was Kurama's or not, but the Uzumaki didn't care at the time and wanted to try and keep things safe for the city's residents.

Currently on top of one of the shipping containers, Vanitas kept a close eye on the thugs that were moving the drug cargo. Getting a pattern in each of their movements so he could pick out the stray link before taking out the rest all at once. The masked Uzumaki didn't know what the shipment was and didn't want to risk anything since things drugs these days could be unstable for all he knew.

His patience was rewarded as he saw one of the thugs break off from the rest and pulled out something in his pocket, which the hero believed was a pack of smokes. Seeing the opportunity present itself, Vanitas made his way towards the thug's position. Using his silencing ability, the vigilante moved himself ever so carefully so he could take him out.

Seeing the thug barely light up his cigarette, Vanitas sprung into action by slamming his head to the metal container, knocking him out. The sound drew in some other thugs to his position, causing Vanitas to quickly get on top of the nearby containers so he'll get the jump on them. As several men made their way down to their fallen comrade's placement on the ground, the hero formed several daggers and threw them at the nearby lights to destroy the bulbs.

This caused the thugs to become rather jumpy and pulled out their guns for protection, but they wouldn't be having it for long.

"Whoever's out there! Come on out, you fucker!"

There was no response as the thugs were looking all over the place. Though several shots were fired, due to one of them having nervous reflexes and was jumping over moving shadows. As the search continued, one of the thugs looked towards the containers above before his eyes landed on something situated on the crane's lowered hook.

"What the-GAAH!"

Vanitas dropped kicked the thug below once he let go of the crane hook. The thug quickly went out like a light before several others were assaulted by the black/white vigilante with his quickly formed escrima sticks to quickly smack their heads before kicking their midsections into other men. The hero made precise work when taking them out with no wasted movements. As the thugs lied on the ground, either knocked out or groaning in pain, the hero wore a hidden smile on his face.

'Well that takes care of them.' Vanitas thought as he moved his head around to see one thug running away. 'Better not let him reach the others too soon.' Taking aim with his escrima sticks, the vigilante threw them dead onto the retreating man's head. Just when it the sticks were about to land it's mark, a shimmering barrier blocked the attack.

'The hell?!'

Back with the thug, he was panting as he ran down the long pathway comprised of metal containers. He and his buddies were ambushed by Vanitas when they were checking out a disturbance from one of the guys, no doubt from said vigilante. The guy took them out one by one and none were left standing. Of course this thug made it out well enough to hopefully get back to the others and get backup for the surprise attack.

When he was about to round the corner, the thug stopped when a dark plumb of smoke formed out of the ground. It looked like a pyre of purplish-blue fire that went into an oval shape with dark wisps coming off of it's sides. Before long, it dissipated to reveal a man in a dark leather outfit to hide his features.

"What the fuck?" The thug sounded off. Before he even noticed, a searing pain emanated from his shoulder before his body was being electrocuted from the inside out. "GAAAAHHHH!"

Before long, the thug dropped to the ground dead with sparks jumping around the corpse. This was the scene Vanitas came onto once he got near and tried to stop, but the barrier blocked his path. All that the masked publisher could do was glare at the hooded man he faced before back at Joker's Wild months ago.

"You!"

"Hello… Vanitas." Spoke the hooded man as he crouched down and pulled out an electrified dagger from the corpse's shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Growled out the vigilante.

The hooded man whipped his arms to the side to form several daggers in his gloved hands. "Why to see you again, of course."

-Insert Berserk 2016: My Brother Extended-

Without any warning, the hooded man dashed forward as he threw several daggers at high speeds. The hero had to quickly move out of the way or else he would've been skewered by the electrified blades. As the man drew close, the masked publisher quickly formed his ice shield Yuki to block the incoming projectiles.

"You didn't have to kill that man!"

"Oh but I had to." Vanitas' opponent said in an oddly amused tone, much to the hero's ire. "Both him and his friends so they wouldn't interfere."

As the hooded man drew close, his body radiated with electrical arcs before he tossed more of his weapons at the costumed Uzumaki. Vanitas had to quickly form an ice barrier to block the electric attacks, but they were too strong to hold; resulting with the icy wall shattering. Wasn't long until the hooded man rushed through the shattered wall to knock the hero into the area he fought the other thugs before.

"And to be sure these men won't interfere…" With a snap of his fingers, bolts of lighting came out from the broken lights and electrocuted the fallen thugs.

"NO!"

"And now they've joined the others."

Knowing what the hooded man was referring to, with him killing all of the thugs in the harbor, Vanitas growled out as he dashed towards his opponent. He wasn't even close when the man roared out and sparks of lightning radiated off of his form before throwing his arms down to throw a pair of radiated daggers at the hero. As they came into contact with the shield, Vanitas was thrown back several feet and saw cracks shown onto the icy surface.

"Shit. This thing isn't gonna hold up much longer."

Sounds of electricity were heard right behind him, causing Vanitas to quickly turn and block the incoming strikes. After several swipes from the powered daggers, the hero parried the final attack before he bashed the hooded man away. Before his opponent could recover, Vanitas focused his energy into his shield to help repair the damage before he went in to slash at the man.

The attack was strong, possibly too strong, but it seemed the man dissipated in a plumb of sparks that caused Vanitas to grit his teeth as he felt the electrified pain. Having to fight through the pain, the hero saw what he assumed were clones rushing towards him with the intent to kill. Vanitas rolled out of the way as he slammed his shield to the ground to send icy spikes from underneath to hopefully take care of them. It seemed useless as one of them merely jumped off of the cooled surface and launched towards the hero while one was successful in destroying a clone.

When the clone got close, Vanitas had no choice but to throw his shield at his opponent. With how strong the throw was, the shield came into contact with the cloned opponent rather quickly, resulting of the icy weapon to break as the clone disbursed in a cloud of sparks. Seeing as he couldn't use his shield against the hooded man's current choice of weaponry, Vanitas had to bring forth his Void Shot for quick reflexes.

"Okay asshole. Where are ya?"

There was no vocal answer as lightning came shooting down from the sky. Vanitas rolled out of the way so he wouldn't get hit by the electric attack. Trusting his instincts, he fired his loaded weapons off towards the nearby container, causing a loud grunt of pain to be heard from the hooded man.

The opponent roared once more as his electric cloak formed around him before dashing towards the hero's position. Having to move out of the way from getting hit again, the masked Uzumaki rolled to the side before he fired his void arrows to hopefully take down his powered barrier. Though it wasn't enough as a lot was being put into his defense.

"I really need something big to take that away." Muttered the former shinobi as he kept moving away from the hooded man's attacks. When his eyes landed on a crane holding a large container, an idea was formed. "That could work."

Jumping into the air, Vanitas took precise aim and fired at the cable holding the container up in the air. It came falling down and quickly crushed the hooded man, or so he thought. It wasn't long before it exploded in half before the man ran out of the debris without his electrified barrier.

Seeing his chance, Vanitas got in close and smacked his opponent several times with his arrowguns. When the man was knocked around well, the hero fired several shots at the man which soon exploded to give off more damage than it was worth. Even firing a tether arrow to a ground held the hooded man down for a bit as the laser arrows kept hitting him.

Having enough of this, the man roared once more to break the tether with his electrified powers. Wasn't long before he seemingly teleported to one of the nearby fallen daggers as several clones were formed before they dashed towards the hero. As the clones were distracting the black/white themed vigilante, the hooded man charged up much of his power before spreading out his arms and fired beams of thunder and lightning from the palm of his hands.

Barely having enough time to see this, Vanitas groaned out as he moved out the way. "Oh come on!"

It took effort to quickly move with the laser lightshow aiming towards him and he didn't want to get hit by such attacks. Especially when he saw them carving through the metal like it was cardboard. So the idea of using them as temporary shields were thrown out of the window. And it didn't help when the hooded clones were still coming right after him.

Having enough with said clones; Vanitas quickly grabbed one of them, kicked his side and tossed him to the main guy performing the lightshow. This got an interesting reaction when they came into contact with them sizzling before forming back into one. Seeing this got Vanitas to smile a little as he jumped towards the other clones and repeated the same action as before which finally resulted in the hooded man stopping his 'live event'.

This didn't please Vanitas' opponent all that well as several sparks radiated off of his form before he vibrated in position and quickly created more clones. And before the hero knew it, each of them ran at him at fast speeds, similar to what Hiraishin used back when they fought over at the Starling City Airport. The hooded man and his clones kept slashing and stabbing at Vanitas, who yelped and cried out in pain as each of the attacks landed their mark. It wasn't long before they rushed in together as one and quickly formed into individual bolts of lightning and struck the helmeted hero.

"GAAAHHH!" Vanitas cried out as he tumbled to the earth. Sparks radiated off of his body as he used his arrowguns to prop himself back up. "I-Is that the best y-you got!"

Nothing was said as the man slammed his daggers into the ground and slashed upwards to send out a pillar of lightning towards his position.

"Oh come on!"

Rolling out of the way, Vanitas shot several laser arrows at his opponent. Some landed their mark and exploded while others were used to help tether the man down for additional attacks. And like before, the man roared Vanitas expected to see the electrified cloak to appear, but something else occurred instead.

"What the?"

Soon six miniature tornadoes were formed around the hooded man before they dissipated into what appeared to be the same wind lances he uses quite often.

"Okay… Are you seriously copying me?!"

"Or are you copying me?" The man taunted with a hidden smirk, which seemed to rile the masked hero up a bit. With a wave of his hands, a pair of lances came into one of his hands while a singular one went into another before the last three lances circled around the hooded man. They started to speed up as a ball of wind was formed right in front of him.

"Now come on!"

"Oh shit!" Vanitas yelled out as he barely dodged the incoming ball of wind. Once it came into contact with the metal container behind him, the hero heard the oddly familiar sounds of grinding that would've come from his rasengan and rasenshuriken attacks. "Are you kidding me?!"

"No."

Feeling pissed off, Vanitas emptied his clips at the man floating in the air, due to him riding the wind with his lances. All that was done of them were dispersing once coming into contact with the high speed, wind barrier that shredded the projectiles. Even ones uses as tethers weren't strong enough now.

'Seems I'll need to change tactics now.' Thought the vigilante as he replaced his arrowguns with his Lunar Rose. 'And I think getting in close and personal might do the trick.'

Throwing his scythe in a buzzsaw motion, Vanitas teleported to it once it got close to his opponent's range. Once there, the hero grasped his Green weapon and swung upwards to knock one of the wind lances away before swiping his blade at the hooded man several times. Getting through the defenses was quite easy for the first time as the man was quite surprised on the attack while grunting out in pain.

Not enjoying the painful sensations he's going through, the hooded opponent grasped one of the lances and knocked Vanitas away. As the hero fell towards the ground, all of the lances shot forward in hopes of skewering the black/white themed vigilante. The wind lances missed as the hero jumped off of the ground and upwardly slashed the undefended man several more times before kicking the hooded man to the ground with a loud thud.

The mysterious man quickly recovered and called back his weapons before disappearing in a gust of wind and reappearing above the helmeted Uzumaki. Without warning, he dived bombed at the hero with the lances piercing through his armor and cutting through the skin. Vanitas cried out in pain as this repeated several times while his powers tried to heal him at a fast rate.

Not wanting to feel the attacks again, the hero ran as several wind pillars came crashing down to the ground and causing damage in their wake. Each one missed their target while he navigated through the maze made out of the shipping containers, but each miniature tornado kept ripping through the metal like it was nothing. Before long, the lances somehow caught up to the hero and quickly spun around him as they tried to keep him in place. Not wanting what might happen next, Vanitas threw Lunar Rose to the side and teleported to it's position as he evaded the incoming attack.

When the hooded man reappeared, Vanitas dashed towards his position and swung his weapon in a pinwheel like fashion to quickly deliver several strikes onto his opponent. The man staggered as this was repeated several times before the wind barrier came back to life and knocked the hero back. Before long, the wind started to pick up again as the lances shot towards the hero's position, causing the vigilante to parry and batting them away from harming him.

Without realizing it, each of the wind lances connected together to form a very large pole. Grasping the far end, the mysterious man swung his elongated pole which widened his attack range significantly that it was hard to move out of the way in time. Even when the hooded man added wind around the entire weapon, the speed was too quick for Vanitas to dodge, resulting in him sent flying to the hanging crane from up high.

"Ow…" Muttered the masked publisher as he suddenly fell from the crane arm. Catching himself by grasping onto the broken cable, Vanitas tried to catch his breath while thinking of a way to defeat the mysterious man. This process was halted when he saw the hooded man ride up into the sky with the connected lances before they started to enlarge and change into something else. "Oh fuck you..."

Stopping in the air, the head of the changed weapon opened up and formed a tri-pronged mouth as wind was gathered up in it's maw. "I wonder what you'll look like under that helmet of yours..." The wind was starting to build up, making Vanitas' eyes widen and his concealed hair to stand on end. "With the face of despair."

The compacted wind was soon released as a tornado was shot towards the hanging hero. Said hero was forced to release his grip on the broken cable so he can get out of the way from the attack. Good thing too since the attack struck the crane, which utterly wrecked the piece of equipment with the surrounding shipping containers. As the attack ended, the giant monstrosity shrunk down and broke down into the six wind lances that formed it.

"Talk about going overboard." Muttered the vigilante as he landed on one of the unharmed containers. As he saw the hooded man float in the air, with his lances guarding him, Vanitas ran and jumped away from the incoming wind spheres.

Wanting to see which attack was stronger, the hero quickly formed mini-rasengans and fired at his opponent to either cancel out his balls of wind or land successful hits. Some were successful while others were merely batted away, resulting with additional damage to the area. As the wind attacks ceased, the hooded man flew in close before his lances connected together once more as the mysterious opponent swung his weapon around. Vanitas blocked the blows before he upwardly swiped the opposing weapon, causing it to lock in place.

"Oh this is gonna be good." The masked Uzumaki said with a hidden smile before he formed a clone to attack the man while he held the elongated weapon in place. Many punches and kicks landed successfully, causing the hooded man to let go of his weapon momentarily so he can strike back at the clone with a gust of concentrated wind.

As the clone dissipated, the hooded opponent rode on top of his lances once more as they enlarged themselves and changed into the giant monstrosity as before.

"Not this time asshole." The hero muttered.

Throwing his scythe towards the opponent's enlarged weapon, Vanitas teleported to the man's position once he stopped moving. Swiping the man's form several times as he was considered defenseless without a weapon on hand. On the last attack, the mysterious man fell from the sky and came tumbling down to the ground. He called his wind lances to help him, causing them to shoot towards his position. But it was too late as Vanitas came closer and poured a lot of energy into his scythe for one last strike.

"How's this for your despair?!" Was all Vanitas said as he swiped Lunar Rose downward to go right through the mysterious man.

As the attack was delivered, the hooded man cried out in pain as he soon landed on the shipping container with a loud crunch and a deep dent into said container. The lances lost power as they soon struck the metallic container before they and the defeated man went up into smoke. Said smoke started to condense into a black and white ball before it shot towards the masked Uzumaki.

"Oh no, not again! GAH!"

He cried out as the black and white ball slammed right into him with enough force to skid him back all the way to one of the damaged containers. The action was so strong that Vanitas was forced to drop his Lunar Rose before it dissipated on it's own. As he started to recover a little, he felt familiar weights in his hands before seeing his Foundre daggers in one hand and a Kazekage lance in the other with a faint glow coming off of them.

The masked Uzumaki felt the familiar sensations coming from his weapons like when he fought the hooded man the first time before they dissipated on their own. They seemingly felt stronger for some reason and figured like when he used his Fair Play cards after the previous encounter, there were more uses discovered when he trained with them again. Maybe the same thing happened to his daggers and lances now.

All train of thought ended as he heard clapping from behind him. Like before, one turned around, the hooded man stood several feet away.

"Is this gonna be a recurring theme with you?" The hero growled out. "Sending out clones to attack me while you just sit back and watch?!"

"Hmm… Perhaps." Holding out his hand, the hooded man formed the dark fiery doorway. "Until we meet again."

With that said the hooded man walked right through the dark portal before it dissipated before the hero's very eyes. All that the masked Uzumaki could do was growl and glare at the spot where his mysterious opponent left. He didn't know what this man's deal was and what he was trying to do at all. This confused him back then and it's confusing him right now.

Vanitas was about to head on out when he heard police sirens coming closer to the area. Guessing someone nearby called the GCPD on the fight earlier, which was causing damage in the surrounding area. Knowing that it'll be hard to leave the area with the dead bodies all over the place, Vanitas decided that he'll need to talk to the officers to clear things up with them so he won't get the majority of the blame.

As the hero made his way towards the officers, he didn't notice the bystanders a good distance away as they stood on the metal shipping containers from up high. Each of them had a pair of military-grade binoculars on hand before taking them away from their respective sites. Before long, each stood up as the surrounding light gave out their details.

One was a woman who wore a bodysuit that was burnt-orange and brick-red in color. Around her waistline, her costume featured two, large tiger stripes that are also seen on her shoulders. On her sternum lies the marking of a feline paw-print. Her facial features were covered with a hard burnt-orange mask that covers her forehead, nose and cheeks that resembled a stylized tiger face. She also wears a black sheath behind her back which stores her sword and also wears a black belt to store her weapons.

The next person is a tall, strongly-built man with an intimidating figure. He has short blond hair that is partially covered by a gray hockey mask, which only reveals his eyes. The rest of his attire seems to be like a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, with a collar that covers some of his neck. Arm and elbow pads are worn on both arms as well as fingerless gloves. On his left arm, he has metal plates attached that act very much like armor. He wears black pants with a utility belt that holds his various weapons and gadgets.

The last person was a woman who wore a bodysuit that was primarily obsidian-black with forest-green on parts of her armor and clothing on her person like the greaves and vambraces. Knives and daggers were strapped onto her waist with a sword attached to her hip while a quiver, filled with arrows, was on her back and a compound bow in her hand. To finish off her appearance, the woman wore a hood over her head and a face mask to hide more of her features.

"So… That was him." Spoke the second woman.

"Of course princess." Said the man in the group with a rough tone to his voice. Though his side was elbowed, causing him to grunt a bit before glaring at the tiger themed woman. "Okay, ow!"

"Stop being rude Sportsmaster."

"First off, I wasn't being rude Huntress." The now identified Sportsmaster said before he pointed towards the now identified Huntress. "Second, why was I being rude?"

"Not showing respect for starters."

"I was showing respect… In my own, personal way."

"...And here I wondered why most of the League doesn't like working with you two together out on the field." The second woman muttered as she shook her head. "Now this would at least explain a few things."

"Yeah, yeah whatever Miss Ghul."

Slightly ignoring the married couple's banter for several moments, the Demon's Daughter looked back at the scene before them with calculating eyes. They came here to observe Vanitas at work as per her Father's orders to get more of an evaluation of the black/white themed vigilante. They leaked the tip of there being a drug shipment arriving so that they'd get a good read on said hero once he arrived. Though if Batman and Robin were to arrive instead of Vanitas, then another opportunity would've presented itself later on while also evaluating the Dynamic Duo of Gotham City.

Talia admitted she was quite impressed with how the hero fought against the thugs all on his own with a pair of escrima sticks so he wouldn't take their lives. The fighting style was good with little to no flaws in his form as it even impressed the Demon's Heir. Though it was a shame that he didn't kill them to preserve a little on the surplus population from the filth, but it seemed to be made up by the odd arrival that fought Vanitas as he killed all of the thugs.

The hooded man caused the three Assassins to worry a little, thinking that Minato the Hiraishin arrived to exact his revenge against his last encounter with Vanitas with his display of electric powers the man possessed. Though this changed once the mysterious figure changed his tactics and went with wind powers, making the three realize that it wasn't Minato down there at all. But suffice to say the entire fight was extraordinary that it entertained Talia very much.

'No wonder Father is interested in him.' The Demon's Heir thought with a hidden smile before it quickly turned into a frown. 'But… But I don't know if I want to be with him.'

From what Talia knew from her Father's request, he is hoping to see if either Vanitas or Batman would become Warith al Ghul and eventually the new Ra's al Ghul. And when that does happen, Talia is expected to marry either man and give birth to the next Warith al Ghul. This could've been averted if her younger sister, Nyssa, was straight or at least bi-sexual so she would marry the new Ra's.

If that were to happen, then Talia would've sought out the person she would've fallen in love with and be married to him to have a family together. It was a nice dream that Talia adopted from her late mother, which was something that came out alright during their marriage. And there is one person that is in her mind that would rightfully become her husband and wishes that could happen.

This is one of the reasons why she came to Gotham in the first place: to evaluate her former student, her friend and odd crush Naruto Uzumaki. If Naruto could fight well enough against her in the coming spars during her time in Gotham, then Talia could hopefully present her to her father for his evaluation. And if Naruto is successful, then Ra's will give his blessing for them to be together and her dream will be realized.

Though there is a little hiccup to this apparently when she was at his loft earlier today: she saw signs of a woman living with him. Oh she's definitely not talking about his young ward, who by the way is one of the sweetest girls she ever met, but possibly Naruto's lover or a possible girlfriend. He didn't speak about her so far, due to the subject not coming up and conversations were just between the two friends, but Talia planned to learn more about his relationship from the married couple beside her and from Naruto himself.

'Though if Naruto does become the new Demon's Head, I could allow him to have a concubine/consort or two.' Thought the Demon's Daughter with a tilt of the head. 'Who knows for sure, but as long as he's happy then it'll be worth it.'

"...I mean come on woman, it was one time with Jade messing up that kids face! What was I supposed to do?!"

"Ground her like you were supposed to!"

"I did by taking away her magazines and what weapons she had hidden underneath her bed!"

"But you were also supposed to restrict her TV and video game privileges Laurence!"

"Uh huh, but what about those books that she likes to read? I would've taken them away from her, but you said that it would've been too far!"

"It would've since I'd like to keep our girls' minds educated."

"Heh. Well I'd hate to burst your bubble, but it seems Jade is starting to like boys and is reading really intently on that Icha Icha series that I keep seeing her borrow from our room's bookshelf and not just the innocent ones the same author wrote."

Huntress soon let out a gasp and glared even harder at Sportsmaster. "She is not!"

"Yes she is and I swear that every time Harley's boytoy comes around to visit, Jade is giving the guy looks that I'm not comfortable with." The male assassin said with his arms crossed. "Like it or not, but those books are giving Jade thoughts on her wanting to be-"

Having enough of the conversation, Talia coughed into her hand to gain their attention. "If you two have had enough bickering, I'd like to finish this night in a better light." The married couple grumbled to themselves as Talia merely rolled her eyes before walking away from the scene. "Come on you two. We still need to survey a few more areas for the upcoming assignment."

Huntress and Sportsmaster nodded as they followed their mistress to the next area on their list for the evening. Though they looked at each other's eyes and silently said to each other that their one conversation wasn't over just yet. Knowing that their complete and utter attention towards Talia al Ghul for the present time.

"So Talia… Do you think Vanitas might interfere with the assignment? Or even the Batman?"

Turning towards Alsiyada, the Demon's Daughter answered. "I don't know for sure, but we're still in the evaluation stage on the two heroes. So them possibly being involved will make things more interesting if done correctly."

"Whatever you say princess." Sportsmaster said before being elbowed again by his wife. "Okay, seriously lay off with the elbow!"

-End Chapter-

AN:

For some delay on why this was out late is because for one, family as usual keeping me from working on the story. Second is that I'm looking for a new job with me losing a source of income recently. I haven't lost my current job, but I need a better paying one or at least a different position, which obviously pays more. Third… well I've been playing the new South Park: The Fractured But Whole game on some of my free time and it's pretty fun in my opinion. Along with bing watching the new season of Stranger Things and it was freaking awesome.

R&R