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.

49. The Demon's Quest

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 49: The Demon's Quest

Opening the door to her apartment, Harley shook herself a little from the rain that was pouring outside.

'Ugh!' Harley groaned out as she took off her coat. 'I knew I should've brought that umbrella.' She thought as she closed the door. The pale woman then flipped the switch before raising a brow to see the lights were out. 'Huh, the storm must've blown the fuse. Then again, the hallways were rather dark.'

As she carefully went further into her home, Harley felt a bit uncomfortable. The asylum doctor didn't know why the feeling arose in the first place.

'Must be my imagination.' Was her thought. 'It has been rather crazy day since I started working on Harvey again.'

Just when she was about to enter her bedroom, Harley felt a stinging sensation in her neck.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" She yelled out from the pain. Quickly placing her hand towards her neck, she felt something was there. Pulling it out, her blue eyes saw it… was some sort… of dart…

Wait… why was everything spinning in her vision all of a sudden?

Harley quickly leaned against the hallway wall as she groaned while trying to stay upright. Though her action was failing as she was starting to slip into unconsciousness. And before long, she fell onto her carpeted floor and went out like a light.

…..

Seeing the unconscious body on the ground, a pair of individuals walked out from the shadows, carefully picked her up and took her out of her home. Others stayed behind in order to clean up what possible mess was made in order to make it seem that nothing seemed amiss.

-Two Days Later, Naruto and Pam's Loft-

Entering their humble abode after a long day, Naruto and Rachel decided it was time to rest and unwind.

The guardian/ward pair spent the past several hours being with each other once Naruto picked up Rachel from school. They went out for an early dinner and stopped on by an ice cream parlor before heading to the arcade. This made things feel great as it made the pair quite happy.

Especially with what has been going on as of late.

When Naruto went to pick up Harley for their planned date yesterday, he was rather confused on her being at her apartment. He tried checking the Crocks, but they weren't home either and figured they were on a family outing at the time. Naruto then went to Arkham to see if she she was still on the clock and might've forgotten on their date, like the past several times.

Yet to his worry, the Arkham staff reported that she hasn't been to work that day.

The staff tried reaching her, but they kept leaving voice messages throughout the day on her not showing up. Harley had a good attendance record so they had let that slide, but they asked Naruto that if he were to find her then tell her that she has a lot of things to take care of once coming back. And it was after this that he ended up calling Paula and asked if she saw her, but there was no luck at all on that end.

Oh and it wasn't just Harley that wasn't responding to her phone, but it was also Pam and Selina.

The Uzumaki tried contacting them to inform them on Harley's odd disappearance, but neither answered his calls. Naruto asked Shizune if she got word from Selena, but nothing. He even tried talking to his girlfriends in the Dreaming, but something… was wrong. They were there, but they weren't responsive to his voice at all.

This greatly unnerved him.

Rachel obviously could tell her guardian was worried on this situation, so she did what she could to cheer him up. This consisted of making him breakfast this morning before heading to school and asking if they could hang out once done with classes. He was happy on both the breakfast and the little opportunity to spend more time with his cute little ward.

"Day could've been better if it wasn't raining." Rachel grumbled out.

"True, but we can't control the weather."

"Yet you do have a conjured weapon that can manipulate the wind." She pointed out as she dropped her backpack onto the couch. "And if you focus hard enough on it, you can make mini-storms. Thus you can manipulate the weather."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "But I don't want to abuse that and keep pulling it out to clear or cover up the skies if I don't like the weather, ya'know."

Rachel merely sighed in response.

He chuckled as he knew how much his ward hated the rain and would glare at it to no end.

Taking his eyes off of her, Naruto shifted through the mail he got for the day. This consisted of bills, Rachel's magazine subscription, work invoice, invitations, bills, barely marked brown envelope, credit card offers-

'Wait?' Naruto thought as he shifted through the pile once more and found the brown envelope. '...This doesn't seem suspicious.' Was the rhetorical thought.

It was addressed to him, but there was no returning address.

Opening up the sealed flap, the former shinobi saw they were photos once he saw their back. Shaking them out of the tight envelope, they fell into his hand. Naruto then flipped them around and-

'No!' He thought with absolute dread. 'It can't be!'

Quickly pulling out his phone, he went through his contacts and found his secretary's number. Pressing send, Naruto waited for her to pick up. After what felt like forever, Jillian answered her phone.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Hey, Jillian, I need you to either cancel or put all of my appointments on hold." He said, getting Rachel to quickly turn her head towards her guardian's direction. "I'm unavailable to everyone at the current time."

"...Are you sure about that, sir?"

"Yes. Something came up and needs my full attention until further notice." Naruto said as he started to fidget in his spot. "I'm sorry that this is short notice, but I hope you and the others understand."

"I-I guess so."

"Alright then thank you." Once he ended the call, he spoke towards his ashen ward. "Rachel, I'm gonna need you to pack your bag for a few days."

Rachel rose a brow on the sudden request. She was about to speak up when she saw the pained look across his face. Rachel then nodded as she quickly went to her bedroom.

Once reaching her destination, she spoke the obvious question that came to mind. "Where am I going exactly?"

"Jason Blood's place."

"And why can't I stay with the Crocks?" She yelled out from upstairs.

"Because he's the only one that can properly protect you at this time."

"...Can we stop downstairs to get Isis then?"

"Yeah since she'll help keep you company." Was all he said before looking down to the photos in his hand with a note attached.

...Naruto was no stranger to peril. For he has pitted his strength, courage, skill and intelligence against the deadliest of foes and most ingenious of criminals throughout his life… Yet the current thought came across his mind in the past, he was not prepared in the slightest for this happening now.

...For the photos showed that all three of his girlfriends and his former teacher, Talia, were bound, gagged and taken.

Dear Vanitas,

Save them while you can since their lives depend on it.

-Batcave-

After dropping off Rachel to her Jason's home in Park Row, Naruto immediately went straight towards Bruce's hidden lair underneath Wayne Manor with a duffle bag of spare clothes and essentials.

You would be wondering why he is here in the first place. Asides from the obvious details of the photos, Naruto needed a full analysis on them for any DNA markers like skin residue or fingerprints or anything else. And for that, he needed to use the batcomputer to start his journey.

Naruto would've called Bruce for help on this situation; but he, Dick and Alfred were currently out of the country and currently heading towards Japan. Something pertaining to one of Bruce's former teachers requesting help. And the Wayne could not deny the request, causing Bruce to drag his grown ward and butler along for the ride.

Coming closer to the batcomputer, Naruto turned on the power switch as the expensive device was booting up. As he waited, the Uzumaki voiced his plagued question for the upteenth time. "Who the hell took them and how did they find out who I was?"

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Meeting the Demon-

"I expect you weren't well protective of your identity, Naruto Uzumaki." At the sound of an icy, penetrating voice, Naruto whirled around to find the source.

It didn't take much longer when Naruto heard extremely faint footsteps and turned towards the source. A pair of shadowy figures made themselves known as more details became more apparent to the whiskered Uzumaki.

The first man was a bald muscular man of Indian descent. He's at least six feet tall, 300 pounds, had black eyes and with thin eyebrows. The muscular man wore arabic style clothing to show off his physique with several knives strapped to his belt.

The second mysterious man was a tall and daunting man with fierce and imposing blue-green eyes. His slicked back, peppered black hair had several grey and white streaks running through it. The man also had a goatee that seemed rather longer on each side of his chin. He was dressed in a regal manner with his clothes covered by a high-collared green cloak with large gold buttons. Underneath, he wore a black vest with gold hems, a white undershirt, and a golden sash to help match his black pants and boots. In terms of jewelry, the mystery man wore a pendant and a ring of some demon-like design.

Once revealed in the light, the daunting man continued to speak. "Or shall I address you as Vanitas."

Naruto's first response in this situation was glare at the intruders while asking the obvious questions that came to mind. "Who are you?! How'd you get in here?!" He asked while stalking forward.

Seeing the Uzumaki advance, the muscular man pulled out one of his knives and quickly threw it towards the whiskered man. Acting quickly, Naruto caught the blade inches away from his face. In his frustration, the former shinobi tightened his grasp on the blade as it briefly glowed before the weapon corroded away into nothingness.

"Now that was rather rude." Said the publisher as he dusted off his hands of any remaining residue.

Seeing this act before him, the regal man rose a brow. "Interesting." He said. "Very interesting indeed." Stepping closer to the Uzumaki, the man continued to speak. "You must forgive my guard, Ubu, for he is well-trained."

"Right…"

The now identified Ubu didn't like the tone Naruto spoke out and moved forward, but his master held up his hand to halt his action. The muscled Indian soon stepped back, but still glared at the Uzumaki.

"Now, I believe I should introduce myself." The dark haired man said as he walked closer and closer to Naruto until coming to a stop at a comfortable distance. "I am he who is called Ra's al Ghul."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "The Demon's Head, in arabic, if I'm not mistaken."

"Which you are not."

"Okay, but mind telling me how you got in here? And better yet, why are you here in the first place?" Naruto asked while a thought crossed his mind. 'Bruce is really going to flip his shit when hearing this. And better yet, he'll really need to update his security, AGAIN!'

Ra's smirked at the publisher as he folded his arms. "That's for us to know and you to never find out." He chuckled at Naruto's little reaction. "Now as to why I'm here is that we have a common problem."

"Which is?"

Pulling out a photo from his cloak, he presented it towards the former shinobi. Taking a good look of it, Naruto widened his eyes. "As you can see, I want… no need your help. For my daughter has been abducted alongside your three lovers."

Naruto still kept his eye on the photo before landing right back onto Ra's as a realized thought presented itself. "You're Nyssa's and Talia's father?"

"Indeed I am. Though I'm surprised you didn't recognize my name sooner. Surely my daughters mentioned me by name in the past."

"...Not really." Naruto admitted. "They kept avoiding mentioning it whenever I asked."

Ra's nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't expect either to-" His speech was suddenly halted by a series of loud coughs coming from the man. Naruto recognized they were rather harsh, causing him to reach forward to possibly help him out.

Ra's held out his hand towards his eldest daughter's student. "Keep your distance!" He said. "I appreciate the gesture, for I am merely old. Older, perhaps, than you can imagine." Ubu came forward and gave his master a handkerchief to wipe away the blood from his mouth and hand. Once done, the Demon's Head continued to speak. "But not so old that I cannot assist you in your search."

Naruto sighed. "Alright, I get the message." His eyes looked back at the batcomputer and showed that it was now usable. Making his way over, Naruto quickly typed into the computer to log himself in. With his access to the device, he quickly took one of the photos and placed it on the microscopic spectrograph scanner. From there, Naruto quickly typed through several more commands to get things started.

As the computer was doing it's job, he turned around and saw Ra's and Ubu standing nearby. No doubt coming closer to possibly see him work. Naruto sighed before pulling out one of the other photos he had on him before presenting it to Ra's. "So while we wait for the computer finishing the scans, I'll get into some details." Pointing to one part of the photo, the Uzumaki spoke. "First off, look at the curved jagged blade. From what I know on it's details, it's used by a cult of mercenaries in the south-eastern Asian territories."

The aged man nodded before the three heard a resounding *Ding* throughout the Batcave. 'Huh, that was rather fast.' Naruto thought as he looked at the computer screen. 'Gotta hand it to Bruce with the fastest computer ever owned.' "And it seems there are powdered residues of a certain hemp indigenous to the more southern areas, which are used in ceremonies." Adopting a thinking position, the Uzumaki continued speaking. "And if I were to guess, the kidnappers are located in… Calcutta."

Ra's smiled on hearing the results. "Well done, Naruto. If the title of 'detective' wasn't taken by your friend, then you'd surely hold the reputation."

The Uzumaki narrowed his eyes a bit in response. Ra's noticed this, but didn't care that much. "We proceed to India, then." He said as he turned around and made his way out of the Batcave. "Come. I have an aircraft waiting for us."

Naruto nodded as he picked up his duffle bag and turned off the batcomputer before following Talia's father. Though Ra's seemed to be a little slow in his step as the whiskered man walked further ahead of him. This caused Ubu to quickly grasp Naruto's shoulder and shove him back.

"What the hell's your problem?" Naruto asked with a glare.

Ubu growled out the response. "Ra's al Ghul leaves the chamber first."

"Forgive my servant, Naruto." Ra's said as he walked further ahead. "He feels that no one should precede me." Turning his head towards Talia's former student, Naruto saw Ra's smile a little. "Call it… overzealousness."

As Ubu walked ahead of the infidel, after shoving him once more, Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the bodyguard. 'I think I'll call it 'strike one'.'

-On the Streets-

Naruto was currently sitting next to Ra's inside of a Lincoln town car, with Ubu driving, as they made their way towards the Gotham Airport. The Demon's Head stated their aircraft was there and they'd be able to easily bypass security to hopefully make it towards their destination in good time. The Uzumaki was skeptic hearing about this, but he'd ignore the current fact in order to save his girlfriends and Talia.

Occasionally glancing at the road, Naruto could feel a reflected glare coming from the musclebound Indian. He could only roll his eyes in response. 'That is gonna get old, real quickly.'

Deciding to break the silence, Naruto turned his attention to Talia's father. The Uzumaki noticed the thousand yard stare in his gaze as he seemed to be thinking many topics. Naruto can only guess they pertained to the current situation and the safety of his eldest daughter.

Though there are currently a series of questions plaguing the whiskered man's mind which he wanted answered.

"You still have me at a loss, Ra's." Naruto spoke for the first time in this ride. Said man broke his thousand yard stare to look at the Uzumaki. "Just how did you learn who I am? Not to mention-"

"How I learned Bruce Wayne was the Batman?" Ra's finished off, getting Naruto to briefly nod. "You see, Naruto, I control a vast global organization. At one point, I took focus towards Gotham and inspected the Dark Knight quite thoroughly." Taking a sip of his drink, he continued his explanation. "Obviously, his activities require certain… costly implements. So it was rather simple for my people to learn which wealthy Americans were amassing what Batman might require. And in the end, along with certain events, my deductions ended up with Bruce Wayne."

Naruto sighed while rubbing his eyes. "Of course you would come to that conclusion." He let out a bitter chuckle. "If someone had the right mind and done their homework, then they might eventually put things together."

"Indeed. Most people tend to be either ignorant or unproductive in wanting to learn the truth. But if one wanted to learn such a secret, one must dig deep. And I believe you told my daughter 'look underneath the underneath'." Ra's smiled a little. "Very wise words if one truly thinks through it.'

Naruto could only nodded at the words that man said, it wasn't far what he does when he is driven. "Wise words, that my sensei once told me. Confusing as hell but when you get it… well kinda says itself."

"Indeed."

"With that out of the way, you still haven't still explained how you learned who I am."

Ra's heartly chuckled. "Now you were quite the challenge. And I have to admit that my daughters were right that you are very unexpected and unpredictable."

Smiling a cocky smile, the Uzumaki felt pride in those words. "I try."

"I have studied what footage and information my people could acquire in hopes of figuring out your fighting style. Reason why, each person's fighting style is like fingerprints. Each and everyone is different and unique to their own."

"Thus you were able to connect that myself and my alter ego were the very same." Naruto concluded.

"Not quite."

"But it at least rung some bells, I guess."

Ra's gave a small hint of a shrug. "From there, I had followed your nightly activities ever since you arrived onto the scene with that Daggett debacle earlier this year to find some additional clues to your identity. But alas, not much could be found."

The Demon's head lightly coughed a few times into his hand. Naruto could tell they seemed a bit pained, but they were manageable.

"With how I was able to find out who you were was due to Talia."

"...Excuse me?"

"You see, Talia has kept a very close eye on you during your interactions with her." Ra's said, getting Naruto's attention. "She had her reasons as to why, but there was one circumstance that she came across on how she learned of your identity. And from there she felt compelled in telling me."

Naruto bit his inner cheek on this. "Must've been one hell of slip if that was the nail on the coffin for my identity." He muttered. "Why didn't she confront me about it instead of going straight to you?"

"I do not know." Ra's said in an even tone. "As much as I care for my children. They do have their stubborn streak. Good thing too otherwise they-"

Suddenly Ra's coughed rather hard, causing Naruto shift over. "Do you need help?" Asked the Uzumaki out of concern.

All Naruto got was a glare. "I *Cough* need nothing." Spoke the Demon's Head before wiping away the blood from his mouth from the back of his hand. "As Napoleon told me: a strong will can fuel a frail physique."

This got the former shinobi to look on in curiosity and had a gut feeling something else was up.

For one, Naruto doesn't know if Ra's hasn't been truly honest with him. And two, Ra's seemed to have been familiar with the Corsican/French ruler in a more personal manner. And this led to a new question forming…

Ra's said he was older than Naruto could've imagined. If so, then how old is Ra's al Ghul?

-Some hours later; On board Ra's luxury aircraft, over the ocean-

Talia's father was indeed true that the three were able to go around the airport security in order to go straight to Ra's private aircraft. The Uzumaki wasn't able to spot the small crew for some reason as they seemed to be confined to the pilot's cockpit. The only person that was able to serve him and Ra's food and drink was Ubu.

Since it was going to be quite the long trip, Naruto needed something to do to keep his mind off from worrying. At first, Naruto decided to talk to Ra's to get to know the man to some degree. There wasn't much the Demon's Head could let out as he remembered Talia and Nyssa telling the Uzumaki of how much of a private person their father is. After conversing for some time, Naruto read a book he brought before he eventually got bored.

It was from there that Naruto asked Ra's if he was up for playing chess. And luckily for him, Ra's had a chess set on board.

And unluckily for Naruto… he was losing… badly… for the last three games.

"I must say, usually people rather give up then continue playing." Ra's said, intrigued that Naruto continued for more matches. But was more surprised that he was steadily getting better.

"Well I ain't one to give up that easily." Naruto said as he reset the board. "Besides I've grown used to playing many sessions of chess, even after I lose a game or so. You can thank my former landlord for beating that trait into me in terms of gaming."

The Demon's Head merely chuckled.

Once things were set once more, Naruto went first by moving his white pawn to 'E4' while Ra's moved his black pawn to 'D6'. Naruto then moved his second pawn to 'D4' before Ra's had his knight travel to 'F6'.

Neither player said a word as Naruto briefly looked up before glancing down to move his white knight to 'C3'. A black pawn moved to 'G3', a white bishop traversed to 'E3 and it's dark counterpart went to 'G7'. The ivory queen moved away from her kings side to 'D2' as an ebony pawn advances to 'C6' before a white pawn goes to 'F3' with it's black counterpart going to 'B5'.

It was from there that Naruto moves his knight to protect the ivory royals at 'GE2'. Ra's mirrors the same action with his knight going to 'BD7' to protect his queen. The publisher sees an opportunity and moves one of his bishops across the board to 'H6'. The bait was set as a black bishop took out it's white counterpart. And this gave way for Naruto to use his queen to take out said bishop.

Ra's smirked a little on Naruto's advancement as he moved his remaining bishop to 'B7'. Sure, the whiskered man could take out his king in two moves, if it wasn't for his black rook defending his piece. Once seeing Naruto move a pawn to 'A3', Ra's moved his one pawn from 'E7' to 'E5' in order to strike hard at the boards center.

The former shinobi decides to have his king become more committing towards it's queen's side. Naruto does so by bringing his rook and king together and switches them ('O-O-O').

Ra's takes a moment to think before moving his ebony queen to 'E7'. The Uzumaki moves his king to 'B1' before the Demon's Head moves his pawn to 'A6' to help strengthen his other pawn at 'B5'. From there, Naruto moves his white knight to 'C1'.

Talia's father mirrors Naruto's move from earlier to move his king and rook closer together and switches them ('O-O-O'). The second white knight moves next to it's twin at 'B3'. A black pawn takes white pawn and a white rook takes said dark piece at 'D4'.

A black pawn moves to 'C5' to unleash the remaining bishop in Ra's forces. In response, Naruto retreats his white rook to 'D1'. One of the black knights goes to 'B6' while a white pawn goes to 'G3'.

It was at this point when Ra's moved his king to 'B8', he spoke. "Do you know what it is to be King?"

Naruto blinked on the seemingly random question. As the Uzumaki moved his white knight to 'A5', he asked for confirmation. "Are you asking on a literal or figurative sense? Like a leader or a ruler, perhaps?"

"Typically yes." Black bishop retreats back to 'A8'. "But what I meant to say is this: What use is a King if he doesn't really act?" Ra's said in an even tone. "Kings need to do more than sitting behind a desk and read and sign documents all day. They must fight and defend. They must strategize and lead so their respective forces willingly follow."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he moved his bishop to 'H3'. "That is true as that makes good qualities of a good 'King'." Looking up, once seeing Ra's move a pawn to 'D5', he continued speaking. "Though it really depends if said King tries to do what's right for one's people." Naruto then moves his queen to 'F4'. "Check."

Ra's moved his king forward to 'A7' to avoid the enemy queen. "Decisions and acting upon them in one way or another makes all the difference."

"Thus said actions makes one either beloved," Naruto moves his one white rook right next to it's brother on 'HE1', "feared or mocked as a result."

"Indeed." A black pawn moves to 'D4' for a little risk. "Sadly, in many cases, to defend the King, sacrifices must be made."

"Right." White knight moves around the black pawn and settles on 'D5'. "But who do you think should be King?"

Ra's took pause and looked at Naruto. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, just an old memory resurfacing. That's all."

"Mind explaining your thoughts then?" He asked before going back to the board and using his black knight to take down it's ivory counterpart from Naruto's previous move.

Naruto shrugged. "You can say that in my mind, the King are the children." He said as he uses his pawn to avenge his fallen knight by moving forward to take down the black knight, thus causes Check. "More so the future children the world has."

"Oh~ how so." The ebony queen moves diagonally to 'D6' to cause an exchange of queens.

"Because future generations lead the next and the following ones, so on and so forth."

Naruto moves his white rook forward and takes the black pawn at 'D4', thus causes Ra's to raise his brow on the interesting move. If he were to take out Naruto's queen with his own, then the white rook would take his queen and then Naruto would soon take his knight or pawn to do another check.

To counter this, Ra's uses his black pawn to take out the offending white rook. "And who told you that?" Ra's asked.

"An old, departed friend of mine." Naruto said with a sad smile as he thought back of Shikamaru when Asuma died on his last mission. "I was confused when hearing about it first, but things did make more and more sense as years went by."

Ra's hummed in agreement before he decided to change the subject. "I have been meaning to tell you this, but you do have my thanks."

Naruto rose a brow. "On what exactly?"

"For protecting and nursing my eldest daughter."

With a clear path on the board, Naruto's remaining white rook advanced to 'E7' to help seal off Ra's advancements for a time for a drag and drop tactic. This also calls another Check from Naruto. "You're welcome, Ra's." He said as he saw Ra's move his king forward to 'B6'. "Nyssa did mention that when she picked up Talia weeks ago."

"Yet neither of us knew you were Vanitas at the time."

Naruto nodded as he moved his white queen to the side to take the black pawn at 'D4'. The black king moved in order to take out the final white knight on the board at 'A5'. A white pawn advances to 'B4' as Ra's king moved to 'A4'. As the white queen heads back to 'C3', it's dark counterpart advances and takes out the white pawn at 'D5' in order to defend her king. From there, Naruto moved his rook to 'A7'.

"Getting desperate, are we?" Ra's said as he moved his remaining bishop moves to 'B7' in order to buy time on the coming turns.

"Desperate times call desperate measures." Said the Uzumaki as he moved his rook to take the remaining black bishop. "Even if that means the battle has to be extended."

Silence befell the small area once more as Ra's moved his ebony queen to 'C4' as the white queen went to take out Ra's final night at 'F6'. In retaliation, the black king kills the neighboring white pawn while escaping to undermine the other white pawn at 'B4'. From there, the white queen moved to 'A6' to take a black pawn as Naruto said a brief 'Check'.

Ra's black king moves back to take a white pawn on 'B4' as a fantastic move to sustain his attacks while being defended by his pawn and queen. Yet this was temporarily futile as a white pawn advances to 'C3' to do another 'Check'. This leaves an opening for the black king to take said white pawn.

White queen then retreats back to 'A1' to defend her king while enacting another 'Check'. Black king advances to 'D2' to avoid said 'Check'. White queen moves once more to defend king at 'B2' to do 'Check', again. The black king moves closer to its counterpart at 'D1' in order to avoid disaster. The remaining white bishop moves back to 'F1' in a sharp, drag and drop move.

The black rook advances from 'D8' to 'D2' before its counterpart moves to 'D7' for yet another sharp move by the whiskered player. This leaves the black rook to take it's remaining white counterpart while as Ra's knows he's getting into trouble now. Naruto uses his remaining white bishop to take the black queen at 'C4'.

'Well played, Naruto.' Ra's thought as he used his black pawn to remove the remaining bishop off the board.

Naruto moves his white queen far back via diagonal to take out Ra's rook at 'H8'. The remaining black rook moves to 'D3' in order to stay coordinated. The white queen is then dragged to the opposite side of the board at 'A8' to start moping things up.

One of the black pawn moves to 'C3' as the white queen advances to 'A4' to land a 'Check'. Ra's king moves away at 'E1' to where it's white counterpart originated at the start of the game. Naruto's white pawn advances from 'F3' to 'F4' before it's counterpart advances from 'F7' to 'F5'. The ivory king was then inched over to 'C1' as the black rook went to 'D2'.

Naruto picked up his queen and placed it at 'A7' as he started to chuckle. "And I believe that's Checkmate, Ra's." The Uzumaki said with a growing smirk.

Eying the board, Ra's chuckled as well before he gave out a hearty laugh. "Oh, this was a good-" The Demon's Head soon coughed into his hand hard as Naruto moved forward in order to help Talia's father. Ra's waved Naruto away as Ubu came over and handed him a water canteen in order to drink some sort of liquid.

Naruto eyed the container as he didn't see Ra's use that until just now. "A prescribed concoction perhaps?" He voiced.

Holding his chest for several moments, one the container left his lips, Ra's nodded. "You can say that. It's a lesser dosage of what I normally take to help me for some time." Tightening the lid, the Demon's Head passed it back to his faithful servant.

Naruto nodded, but still eyed the container for a brief moment as Ubu went to put it away. 'Why didn't Ubu bring it with him if Ra's condition seems that dire?' He thought before looking back at Ra's. "Do you need some rest?"

"Later. But I'd like to play a few more rounds before I do."

All the Uzumaki could do was shrug before resetting the board. 'Now let's see if I can hopefully tie the score.'

-Fifteen Hours Later, Calcutta, India-

Calcutta… City of a thousand miseries and a million tears. Behind every door lurks a horror. And behind every smile, a knife.

Walking down the darkened streets, with the moon brightly shining from the heavens, the unlikely trio kept their eyes everywhere.

"How can you be certain that those we seek are to be found here?" Asked the Demon's Head.

Currently in his Vanitas attire, the masked Uzumaki answered. "I came here when I traveled with Talia about 11 years ago." His hidden gaze took on a nostalgic glint as he briefly reminisce his time here. "I remember this one curry shop some streets away. I don't know if the place is still there or not, but they had the hottest food I've ever had. I thought my tongue was burnt off and a new one was replaced soon after." He chuckled soon after. "Talia handled it like a champ, but I was freaking out like a loon. I mean, sure the spices were perfect with each other, but the sauces were so black and red respectively that I didn't think it was possible."

"Ah yes, I remember Talia telling me about that." Ra's said as he stroked his beard. "But why bring up this curry shop anyways?"

Quickly getting back on track, Vanitas pointed to a certain alleyway. "Because it's nearby an area called the Alley of Windows: a mercenary hideaway where many congregate." He said as they got closer to said alley. "We might find the information we need there."

When the helmeted Uzumaki attempted to enter the alley first, Ubu quickly grabbed his shoulder and tossed him away. The act caused Vanitas to crash into several clay pots.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Vanitas hissed out.

"Once more I warn you, Infidel!" Ubu growled out as Ra's walked past the two. "The master goes first!"

With a twitch of his eye, the costumed Uzumaki glared at the musclebound Indian. "Okay. That's two." He muttered to himself as he got back up.

As the unlikely trio got deeper and deeper into the Alley of Windows, several figures dropped down from the rooftops. Their movements were very quiet as they walked closer to the unlikely trio. But when a small sound was made, Vanitas quickly turned around to see heavily clothed assassins.

Seeing as they were spotted by the helmeted hero, they went into action once pulling out their scimitars.

As the assassins charged, Vanitas briefly called out Ubu and Ra's to stand back before quickly blocking a strike with Kazekage lance. Pushing the assailant away, the masked Uzumaki broke his weapon in half to use it as escrima sticks. From there, the hero blocked, parried and dodged all of their attacks.

Vanitas twisted around to block two sword strikes with his bladed sticks. Holding the attackers back, the hero kicked them away and rolled forward to get some distance between them and Vanitas' unlikely traveling companions. Still using his momentum from his roll, the masked Uzumaki jumped into the air and slashed the chests of a pair of assassins. Coming back down, the hero wrapped his legs around one of their necks and used his weight to toss the assassin into another before focusing on the others.

Another masked assailant charged forward as Vanitas blocked the attack. He grabbed the man's arm, threw him over his shoulder and kicked the man into another assassin as they fell onto the ground. The hero ducked down from a sword strike and used this opportunity to sweep kick the man. When the man struck the ground, Vanitas quickly moved over him and slashed the man's tendons in both his arms and legs so he wouldn't get up that easily and for quite some time.

Vanitas quickly blocked another attack before phasing himself through the attacker to get behind him. The assailant was quickly confused on what happened before the back of his knees were kicked to the side. The man was then put into a headlock before being flipped backwards to be thrown into the alley's wall.

The hero lunged forward and attacked the remaining assassins. He had to bend back to avoid a sword slice to the head and blocked another with his bladed escrima sticks. Vanitas back flipped to kick one of them away before drop kicking the other. The previous one tried to attack once more, but his scimitar was broken in half by Vanitas' bladed weapon before being knocked unconscious. The final one had his leg grabbed by the hero before being spun around and chucked into the far end of the alley.

Said assassin miraculously got back up and tried to flee via smoke bomb. Yet Vanitas brought out a dagger and chucked it towards the general direction the assassin was trying to escape from. Once it came past the masked assailant, the hero teleported to his throwing weapon.

The masked Uzumaki didn't waste any time and got behind the assassin. He then wrapped his arms around the man's neck in a strangling position, and cutting of the assassin's air supply.

''Gah!'' He gasped in pain as Vanitas' arm tightened around his throat, weak arms struggling to free himself from the vice like grip. ''L-Let go!''

The costumed Uzumaki ignored the desperate plea. He was not having a good time with what's currently going on. Vanitas had no mercy to give.

But killing the man right now will not be useful.

''Where are they?''

''W-What?'' He managed to mumble from under Vanitas' hold.

Pulling out a photo from his utility belt, the hero presented it in front of the assassin's face. "Where are they?!"

Getting a good look on the photo, the assailant growled while trying to escape. ''L-Like hell I'm telling you!''

The masked Uzumaki heard the man's tone of voice. 'Seems this guy is too loyal to his job… or possibly too fearful on who he works for.' He thought before an idea came across his mind. ''Suit yourself, but I'm not going to let this matter go no matter what." He then started to tighten his grip around the man's neck to choke the assassin even more. "In fact, whenever you are a step away from passing out I will give you just a bit fresh air, only to tighten my hold once more."

The assassin started to struggle as his face started to gradually change color underneath his clothed face. He tried prying the armored arm away from his jugular, but the strength Vanitas used was not letting up. And just when the hero loosened the feeling, the grip tightened once more like a snake with it's prey.

"I'll keep repeating this cycle over and over again, and then you can enjoy sensation of slowly repeatedly suffocating without the sweet mercy of passing out.'' Was all the hero said before he pulled out a dagger and aimed it towards the man's groin.

"Wh-What the hell?!" The assassin rasped out as he saw Vanitas' attack.

"And don't think on telling me any bullshit." The hero warned. "Think of it as some additional insurance. I don't plan on killing you, but I will gild you and it will be quite painful."

Without warning, the costumed Uzumaki stabbed the man in a very sensitive part of his leg, causing the man to shriek out in pain. Even more so when the hero twisted the dagger.

"FUCK!"

Releasing some slack around the man's neck, the assassin was barely able to breath in some air before the hold was tightened once more.

"I'm not going to ask multiple questions here." Vanitas said as he roughly pulled out the dagger as the assassin was starting to bleed. ''So what will it be?"

He was shaking and sweating in fear, eyes bouncing in his head as he finally snapped from everything he was experiencing at the very moment. ''F-Fine!" The assassin rasped out.

"Good. Now tell me, where are they?"

"Th-They fled… to Ma-Malaysia." The assassin answered. "I-In a pagoda in the shadow of Mount Merapi. I-I know nothing more, I swear it!''

''Thank you.''

The assassin didn't get to get off that easily as Vanitas quickly let go of the man before punching him into the alley wall. The force of the impact left several cracks as the assassin was practically lodged in there. The costumed Uzumaki figured the man possibly had some damaged organs and broken bones as the end result.

"You didn't kill them… or your interrogated assassin." Ra's said as he rose a brow at the display in front of him and Ubu. "Why is that?"

"To tell you the truth, Ra's, you can say that despite me being capable in taking their lives, I won't do such a thing." Vanitas stated as he walked towards Talia's father. "But I want them to know and understand the errors they've made that despite it being kinder to kill them, I want them to know I made them suffer for their actions."

Hearing this after seeing the display before them made Ra's gain a small grin across his features, but it was quickly hiddened from Vanitas' view when the Demon's Head harshly coughed into his arm. And once more, Ubu helped his master by giving him some of the liquidy concoction from Ra's canteen to settle him for the time being.

"We must get back to the aircraft post haste." Ra's said as Ubu pulled out his phone to inform their crew on latest developments.

"Can't agree with you more." Vanitas said as he created a Fair Play card platform underneath the three. "Now hang on tight you two, since we'll be flying rather quickly."

Ubu quickly fell onto his butt when the floating card platform went into the air at fast speeds while Vanitas helped keep Ra's in place. The masked hero chuckled seeing the muscled bodyguard be caught off guard as they sailed back to Ra's private aircraft.

-Four Hours Later, Malaysian Rainforest-

Driving through the rainforest in a safari jeep, Ubu kept his eyes on both the road and his surroundings for any sign of danger. In the back seats, Ra's directed Naruto's attention towards their surroundings.

"Look at it, Naruto, one of the last of the rainforests." Ra's said with a narrowed glance. "The world depends upon its oxygen, yet the rich see only profit in its destruction." He then looked back at his traveling companion. "You, who belong to the overclass, have much to answer for."

"First off, Ra's, I do everything I can to preserve nature." Defended the Uzumaki. "My company uses recycled materials in order to make our products. And second, I donate millions of dollars each year to preserve these forests." He said before thoughts on Pam came to mind.

Naruto wanted to say that his botanist lover does much to help save these forests with her 'Green' working shifts. She and her fellow Green champions help preserve nature at their fullest potential as they do help fight back loggers and plant new acres of trees.

Yet the Uzumaki had to hold his tongue as he didn't trust informing the Demon's Head on this information.

Not knowing his companion's thoughts, Ra's gave his argument. "Which are being depleted at the rate of 120,000 acres a day." He said with his ever growing glare. "Does your money solve this problem? No." Talia's father looked back at the forest with a brief saddened gaze before it quickly hardened. "It will take more than wealth, it will take power. And, I fear… ruthlessness."

Soon the group exited the forest and into an opened, rocky field.

Ra's soon continued talking to the Uzumaki. "Humankind must be forced to serve the planet instead of its own appetites.

"And you're the one who'll do the forcing?" Naruto asked with a narrowed glance.

"I am qualified, yes." Ra's then let out a deep sigh. "But I may not have sufficient lifetimes left to me."

Before Naruto could question more about this risen topic, Ubu spoke up. "Master, ahead. Look!"

The backseat occupants looked onward and saw a large, desolate temple with a large column of steps leading towards the building's entrance. With the moonlight shining onto the valley, a lot of shadows were casted upon the structure due to the neighboring volcano.

"In the shadow of Mount Marabi, just as the assassin said." Said the Demon's Head as Ubu slowed the speeding jeep to a complete stop some feet away from the temple. Once it was safe to exit, the vehicle's occupants got out and made their way towards the temple. "Let us hurry. The next piece of our puzzle surely waits within."

Speeding ahead, Naruto quickly formed into his Vanitas attire and went up the steps. If he were to look back, the hero would've seen Ubu's annoyed look on Vanitas moving ahead of his master. Though the masked Uzumaki didn't care at this point. All he wanted to do was get in, possibly find his girlfriends and Talia and leave.

When the hero got inside, all he could see was darkness with only several windows barely lighting up the space around him.

Out of nowhere, a large metal door fell down from a crevice from up above. Whirling around, Vanitas reacted and tried to phase himself through in order to escape. But he was soon screamed a bit, due to an electrical current ran right through him, before being blasted back and falling onto the floor.

Vanitas got back up onto his feet while berating himself on not realizing his means of escape might not be that done easily.

Suddenly a throaty snarl was heard in the darkness and before Vanitas could react, the creature leapt at the helmeted Uzumaki. It's fangs bared at its prey with the creature's eyes containing unrestrained bloodlust. Almost without thinking, Vanitas smashed his left elbow deep into the creatures mouth. He was glad his armor protected him from the strong bite or else he might have problems with his arm once this was through.

Taking a close look now, the hero saw it was a rather large panther.

'Yeah~ There is no way I'm killing this guy.' Vanitas thought as he fell onto the ground due to the feline's weight. 'If I did, then Selina would be extremely pissed at me.' He quickly phased himself out of the panther's grasp before jumping back some distance. 'I need to render it unconcious.'

The mighty beast leapt forward, causing Vanitas to sidestep in order to avoid it's raking hind claws. As the large feline failed to disembowel it's prey, it quickly turned back to attempt it's previous action once more. In a split-second timing, Vanitas drived himself in and ensnared his body around the feline fury.

Using much of his strength, the masked Uzumaki kept the jaguar in place as he pulled out a vial from his utility belt. He uncorked it before prying open the large feline's mouth before pouring it's contents down its throat. The beast thrashed several times before it started to slow it's movements.

And before long, loud purrs could be heard in the darkened room to show that Vanitas' strong sedative did its job well.

"Sweet dreams, tabby." He said as he let go of the beast and stood back up.

As the hero painted, he heard loud bangs coming from the metal door. Whirling around, Vanitas saw it cave in several times before it was thrown off its hinges. And following with the door was Ubu via shoulder charge.

"Huh." Vanitas muttered with a raised brow. "Stronger than he looks."

Walking into the darkened space, Ra's looked at the panther sleeping on the ground and eventually put two and two together. "Congratulations on thwarting our tormentors, Uzumaki." Spoke the Demon's Head. "Obviously, our quest was meant to end here."

"Maybe." Vanitas briefly said as he pulled out a small flashlight from his utility belt. "Maybe not." Pointing in a random direction, the hero continued speaking. "The panther was trained, Ra's. Someone taught it to act as a guard." Moving the flashlight around, Vanitas finished speaking his thoughts. "Question is… What's worth guarding here?"

The small search ended as the light beam glanced over a map situated on a small table.

"Hello… What's this?" Said the helmeted hero. Walking towards it, he and Ra's saw it was a map. Shining the light on it more, the two saw what map it's for exactly. "A map of the Himalayas."

"Ah~ Another clue in our quest."

Vanitas nodded before he noticed something on the map. "Look here." He said as he laid the map down and shined the light on it. "There's a faint scratch, almost certainly made by a fingernail tracing a route."

Ra's took a closer look and nodded in agreement. "I see." Backing away from the map, the Demon's Head looked at the costumed Uzumaki. "I am familiar with that area. And I believe the nearest field large enough to accommodate my aircraft is 100 miles or so from our destination." Turning around, Ra's headed straight towards the door. "I will arrange for a helicopter when one is needed."

Vanitas nodded as he walked towards the entrance alongside Talia's father. Just when they were about to exit, the hero paused in his step. Ra's and Ubu looked at the costumed Uzumaki with a raised brow.

With a mock bow, Vanitas ushered the Demon's Head out. "By all means, after you."

Ubu was rather pleased in hearing this, with the smile shown on his face, as he saw the helmeted Uzumaki know his place.

Ra's moved forward and made his way towards down the steps -with Ubu and Naruto not far behind- in order to get back to their driven vehicle. When reaching the bottom, the unlikely group then saw 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 its sides. Before long, it dissipated to reveal a man in a dark leather outfit to hide his features.

The attire was a full length black coat with a hood covering up the person's head entirely with a waist-high slit riding up the back to be similar to a duster. There was a large silver zipper that fastened at the top and zips down to seal the coat. It has silver drawstrings for the hood decorated with a large silver bead hanging from the end and a silver chain ornament adorned with four large cylindrical silver beads that fastens to a loop on either side of the collarbone region. Everything else that could've been visible was covered up by leather gloves and black boots and pants.

Ra's can admit he was rather surprised on this sudden entrance and was about to question the mysterious man when Vanitas rushed forward and pushed the Demon's Head back.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Vanitas growled out as he quickly formed his wind lance.

The mysterious man didn't answer.

"Answer me!"

"Along the road ahead lies something you need." Came the Mysterious Stranger's oddly inaudible voice.

'What's that supposed to mean?' He thought before something came to mind. 'Is he talking about my quest to find the girls?'

"However -in order to claim it- you must lose something dear to you."

Not liking the way the dark cloaked man said it, Vanitas glared at the new arrival. "That's it! Just who the hell are you?!"

-Insert Kingdom Hearts ReCoM: Lord of the Castle Extended-

All the mysterious man did was raise his hand into the sky as a glowing, crimson rose petal fell from the heavens. Once it came into contact with the man's gloved hand, a flash of light appeared as a more colored version of Vanitas' Lunar Rose appeared in the cloaked man's grasp. Swinging his scythe down to the ground, a torrent of black vapor and dark sakura petals surrounded the mysterious man.

"Nobody special."

The hooded figure suddenly chuckled all of a sudden before he flickered out of existence with sakura petals in his place. And before Vanitas even realized it, the new arrival appeared right behind him and slashed at his back. The hero screamed out in pain and tumbled onto the ground. When he got back onto his feet, the helmeted Uzumaki's form was surrounded by red and black vapors before the number '34' appeared above his head.

"Now let's see if you can break through this curse of mine before you die."

The Mysterious Stranger leapt forward and quickly delivered a series of slashes at the helmeted hero. Vanitas tried to block each strike, but the blows were both too fast and strong for him to handle. So much so that he was sent back a good number of feet away from the last swipe of the man's flower themed scythe.

It was as if the Stranger was truly upping his game in order to take him down.

Vanitas briefly took an upwards glance and saw the counter above his head dropped from '34' to '29'. The masked Uzumaki quickly put things together that the moment the counter reached '0', he was dead due to the Mysterious Stranger's curse.

Truly being on guard now, the hero quickly saw his opponent disappear from his place on the battlefield. Acting on instinct, Vanitas quickly rolled away from a scythe swipe before having to leap back when the cloaked man brought his weapon into the ground. Once the blade was dug in deep, the Stranger channeled power into the blade and brought it back out to release a blade of dark pink energy across the field to leave a deep gash into the earth.

Once dodging the energy attack, Vanitas landed on the ground and threw his lance at his opponent. The Stranger knocked the attack away, but the hero teleported to his weapon, grasped the pole and brought the bladed lance down. The attack held true as the blade slashed against the darkly cloaked man's exposed back. Not wanting to let up, Vanitas quickly spun his weapon and set loose a series of slashes to deal in some damage.

Vanitas was a bit too greedy in his onslaught as the Stranger jumped into the air and spun his scythe around his body with great force. The reaction caused three energy pillars of dark pink wind to form across the battlefield and converge on the hero. Needing to counter this, Vanitas summoned two more of his wind lances and spun them around to form his own tornados. The opposing forces clashed, causing a mild explosion to occur as both fighters were knocked back and dealt with some damage.

"Prepare." Spoke the Mysterious Man as he swiped his scythe several times and sent energy attacks at the hero.

Vanitas evaded the incoming attacks before focusing much of his power into his lance. When the last energy slash attack came close, the hero brought his lance up and bounced the attack right back at the cloaked man. An explosion occurred soon after and the masked Uzumaki could feel the glare coming from his opponent.

With a roar, the Stranger flew down towards the ground and slammed his rose colored blade into the earth. Massive cracks formed and energy exploded from underneath, causing the hero to grunt out in pain. Tumbling on the ground, the costumed Uzumaki barely saw his counter reach down to '25' before having to quickly move when his opponent tried to swipe at him once more.

"Your Will shall be judged!" Roared out the cloaked man as he swung his weapon at the hero.

Reacting quickly, Vanitas was able to block the incoming swipes. When the Stranger finished his last swing, the hero knocked the scythe out of the man's hands. The cloaked man tried to reach for it, but Vanitas grasped it and jumped back.

"We'll see about that!" Yelled out the hero. Dashing forward, with his opponent's scythe on hand, Vanitas delivered a flurry of swipes. Each one landed their mark as the Stranger was sent flying into the air. "Now back the Hell off!" He said as he threw the rose colored scythe at the Stranger as it impacted his chest.

Off to the side, Ra's was analysing the fight before him and he was rather pleased with what was occuring before his aging gaze. He did see the counter above Naruto's head go back to '30' and wondered how that was possible. The Uzumaki was able to land blows on the new arrival, yet the number didn't grow from each successful hit. Yet when Naruto used the opponent's weapon to deliver the blows, the number did.

'Now I wonder if he will notice this fact or not.' Ra's thought as he continued watching the spectacular fight behind his loyal servant.

When the cloaked man fell onto the ground, Vanitas dashed forward and attacked his opponent. After quick swings of his bladed lance, the hero broke his weapon in half before continuing the assault. The cloaked man was on the defensive before disappearing and reappearing above the helmeted Uzumaki. Said man back flipped to avoid the downward swing of the rosy blade. Landing back onto his feet, Vanitas swung his bladed escrima sticks to send his opponent back with a gust of wind.

Staggering back, the cloaked stranger was greeted with various swings from Vanitas' weapons as he blocked them with double the effort now since the hero is putting much more force into each swing. Their blades smashed and clanged against one another, neither gaining the upper hand as each blow was countered or parried. Their gazes never broke contact with the other as arcs of silver, cobalt blue and rosy red sparked all around them in a beautiful dance of death.

"You have no chance of winning." Spoke the Stranger.

"We'll see about that."

Seeing as they were in a stalemate of sorts, Vanitas quickly pulled out a flash bomb from his utility belt and dropped it; blinding the Stranger as for a second as he flipped back. As his opponent was momentarily disoriented; the hero quickly dismissed his weapons, kicked the man's chest and grasped the rosy scythe all before slashing the man with his own weapon.

Getting back up from the ground, the Stranger snarled before he called his weapon back from his opponent's grasp before teleporting around the battlefield. Each time he reappeared, the cloaked man was covered in pink ethereal energy as everything seemed to cut all around him. This added more danger when the man swiped his blade as the earth formed gashes with each action.

Vanitas was forced to dodge each and every strike, while several landed it's mark causing the hero to grunt out in pain due to the powerful blows.

Appearing in the middle of the battlefield, the Stranger held his scythe up high. "Do you want to scream?!" The cloaked man then slammed it's pommel into the earth. The ground suddenly shook before large vines bursted through the surface.

And the hero felt something awfully familiar coming from the plants.

'He can use the Green?!' Came Vanitas' thought.

The Stranger pulled his scythe out of the ground and pointed it's blade at the hero. "Sulk in despair!" He said as the recently grown plants shot forward. "And scatter to oblivion."

"I'd rather not!"

Dashing and jumping out of the way from the various vines coming after him, Vanitas tried to formulate a plan. Yet other thoughts overpowered the others.

'This is complete bullshit.' Vanitas leapt onto a growing vine and rushed forward to avoid the plant strikes. 'It's that weapon… My weapon.' He then sliced through several vines that tried to skewer him. 'I forgot it's connected to the Green. But his appears more connected while mine… isn't, like hardly at all.'

Vanitas soon noticed a shadowy, pink energy buzzsaw like blade riding up the vine he recently landed on. He jumped out of it's range, but to his surprise the blade shot out of the giant plant and went after him. The hero made several clones in order to stop the attack, but they were ineffective as they quickly went up in smoke.

Having to flip over the incoming attack, which soon disbursed, Vanitas saw the number above his head drop significantly as each clone was destroyed.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" The vines started growing large flower pods with several detaching from their roots. They hovered in the air and to the hero's surprise they started firing lasers at him. "OH COME ON!"

Back at a safe distance away, Ra's saw the masked Uzumaki avoid the pink projectiles as he summoned another one of his wind lances. He used both of his weapons to either reflect the lasers into a flower pod or skewering them. The Demon then saw the hero form wind spheres and sent them flying all over to destroy much of the newly made flora controlled by his opponent.

...Ra's felt his eye twitch on what Naruto did exactly.

'Focus.' The Demon thought as he fought down a growl. 'Naruto… had no choice in the matter.' He took a deep breath as he saw the helmeted hero switched out his wind lances with his laser arrowguns to fire off a volley of projectiles to destroy the remaining laser flower pods. 'Though I wish he could've done something else than to destroy the nice specimens.'

Landing onto the solid earth, Vanitas looked around for any sign of his opponent. In his search, his gaze caught onto a shower of dark sakura petals littering the area. Something was clearly amiss in this situation.

And without any notice, Vanitas saw pillars of black and pink energy bursting from the ground.

"Crap!"

The hero rushed all over in order to avoid the blasts as he heard a dark laugh in the air. Many were successful while one was not so much as he was launched into the air. He was then sliced by the Stranger's scythe by all sides, causing the counter over his head to drop to '13'.

Growling in frustration, the hero dismissed his arrowguns and quickly grasped his opponent's scythe just when the man reappeared. Vanitas swept the weapon across the cloaked form several times as his counter rose higher and higher. With one final hit, the hero tossed the enemy scythe away before bringing out his own.

'Time to end this.' Was the hero's thought as he brought his scythe down onto the Stranger.

When the opponent was slammed onto the ground, Vanitas rushed forward and spun his weapon in a pinwheel motion before going into a diagonal swing. As the man staggered, the hero grasped the man's shoulder headbutting the man to add in more damage before tossing him over him. With the back exposed, Vanitas formed a Rasengan and slammed it to send the man flying into the air.

Not wanting to end the assault, the hero chucked his weapon into the air and teleported to its position once it flew past the Stranger. Once facing the cloaked man, the hero grasped his scythe's pole, channeled a lot of power into it's blade and spun the weapon in a pinwheel-like fashion. The opponent roared in pain as the two came straight to the ground, even when the hero buried his ivory blade into his chest.

The pair crashed into the ground, leaving a medium sized crater into the earth. The force of the impact caused Lunar Rose to fully go through the Stranger's chest. Vanitas growled as he channeled power into his arms, roughly pulled his scythe upwards and sliced his opponent in half.

The 'dead' body turned into dark sakura petals before they whirled all over Vanitas' form. The speed started picking up more and more in a miniature tornado for several moments. In the process, the petals turned into energy and latched onto both the hero and his weapon as they briefly glowed. Once the last petal faded away, Vanitas' attire disbursed with his scythe briefly glowing.

'That was different.' He thought as he eyed his scythe. 'I prefer that than the last two times.'

The hero heard the sounds of clapping and turned to the source. He briefly thought it was the cloaked stranger, but it was in fact Talia's father as he wore a small smile on his face.

"Congratulations are in order, Uzumaki." Ra's spoke up as he and Ubu walked towards the whiskered publisher. Though the smile seemed to die when he saw Naruto disburse his attire to see the small frown across his features. "You don't seem pleased. You killed your adversary-"

"He's not dead, Ra's."

Aged blue-green eyes blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Not the first time I faced the bastard and surely won't be the last." Naruto said as he swung his newly 'upgraded' scythe around to get the feeling of it. 'After all, I merely fought a clone of his.' Came his thought.

"And how can you be so sure?"

Naruto sighed. "Just call it a gut feeling. Besides, he shows up when I least expect it."

Ra's briefly nodded before looking at the surrounding area. He saw the devastation the fight caused and narrowed his eyes in disdain.

Seeing the look Talia's father was giving, a thought crossed Naruto's mind. Looking back to his scythe, the Uzumaki smirked. 'I wonder…' Taking a deep breath, the former shinobi swung his weapon upward and channeled a lot of power into it. 'Hope this works.'

Slamming the ivory blade into the earth, Ra's saw the action and was about to question on what Naruto was doing. This action was halted when he felt the ground shake. Before his aging eyes, trees sprung from the earth. And if that wasn't enough to surprise him, Naruto swung his weapon to the side as the trees reached across the barren area and started reaching all across the dormant volcano that was Mount Merapi.

'Sweet~' He thought with a fox-like grin. 'I can't wait to show Pam this!' Turning to Ra's, whose eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets, Naruto spoke in a happy tone. "So~ Shall we get goin' now?"

Snapping out of his surprised stupor, the Demon's Head nodded as the three made their way to their jeep. Once getting in, Ubu drove their way through the newly grown extension of the Malaysian Rainforest. It was rather thick, but Ra's didn't mind at all.

In fact, the aging man was rather pleased with the new addition to Naruto's growing list of actions he's seen so far in this quest of theirs.

-Twelve Hours Later, Himalayas-

Mount Nanda Devi, one of the thirteen mountains making up the mighty Himalayas. Rising from the frozen wastelands between India and Tibet; rising 25,645 feet above the sea level into thin, brutally cold air. Treacherous, savage terrain that allows any who dares it only one mistake before it costs them their life.

It would be quite the nightmare of blistering wind, darkened sky and blinding snow trek for Vanitas and his two strange companions once they land their helicopter.

Currently wearing protective and warm clothing, Ra's and Ubu looked towards the whiskered Uzumaki who not only wore his Vanitas attire but also the mere essentials for the trip. When asked about this, Naruto stated that the cold oddly didn't bother him as much and merely wearing all of the warm clothing might slow him down.

Once the costumed publisher opened up the helicopter's side door, Ra's spoke as he gazed at the snowy environment. "Beautiful, isn't it."

"You can say so, Ra's."

The aged man took on a solemn look across his features as his blue-green eyes grew distant. "It is a beauty to which my soul responds… So stark, so pure… as untainted as my childhood home. I am cursed with a love for emptiness… desolation…" The Demon's Head looked back towards Vanita's as the hero scanned the area below as he recomposed himself. "The mountain in question is directly ahead. I've radioed for my men. They await me on the mountaintop."

"While I descend the hard way." Said the black/white themed vigilante.

Ra's nodded. "You must search for clues, I'm afraid, on your end. If we perceive any danger, we can signal you with-" The Demon's Head started coughing as he leaned against the helicopter's innards for support. It seemed much worse than from before.

Being really concerned at this point, Ubu rushed towards his master's side. "Master, we've run out of the spare water." The muscled bodyguard gravely said. "We must get you to one of the pits."

Underneath his helm, Naruto blinked and voiced his thoughts. "Pits?"

"Ignore him, Uzumaki." Spoke the Demon as he sat back down. "We must stay on the hunt for their sake."

Vanitas sighed as he checked his parachute harness one more time. "All right. If that's the way it's to be played." He said before jumping out of the helicopter.

As he plummeted towards the snowy mountain, the masked Uzumaki pulled on the rope to let the chute go loose. By the time it fully unfolded itself, the hero felt the brief yank as he started gliding down towards the harsh snow below. After several seconds of steady drift, the hero saw something sparkle in the distance.

'What… is that?' He thought before he heard a sound. His 'Zooming' ability activated and saw something fastly flying through the air.

The hero then saw it was a missle and it was coming his way!

"OH SHIT!"

Phasing himself out of the parachute on instinct, the missle caught onto the clothed skirt and went straight towards Ra's helicopter. By the time the hero flipped himself in the air, he saw the airborne projectile colliding into the aircraft…

*KABOOM*

...and set it ablaze.

As Vanitas plummeted towards the snowbank below, a thought crossed his mind. 'Talia's gonna be devastated, that's for sure.'

The hero's drop was getting faster and faster, causing him to tuck himself for a safe, abrupt landing. Once crashing into the snowbank, Vanitas popped out and shook himself of excess snow. Looking off to the side, he saw the remains of Ra's helicopter.

The masked Uzumaki was about to run over there and hopefully see if either of its occupants were still alive. Yet the arrival of several men on skis arrived with assault rifles caused him to quickly change plans.

-Insert SSX Deadly Descent OST: Death Zone-

Not wanting to confront them, the hero jumped into the air and formed a black and white snowboard underneath his boots. He quickly formed his ice shield to not only blast the enemy skiers away but to give him a boost to send him gliding across the snow.

'Been years since I did this.' Vanitas thought as he hurtled towards a natural ramp. 'Hope my skills from my old ski-trips with Lois and Cat haven't gone too rusty.'

Leaving the ramp, the hero soared through the air and was forced to backflip from the momentum. As he did so, he saw the skiers were following him with their guns aimed towards him. As he landed on the ground, the bullets flew and tried to get him. Yet the hero swerved to not only avoid them but to round the pass.

'If I remember correctly on the map, it's literally all downhill to make it to my destination.' Came the thought as he left the ground and performed several front flips. Landing back down, Vanitas slammed his ice shield onto the snowy ground to form ice spikes to halter his pursuers' advances.

It wasn't long before he flew over a cliffside and performed several tweaked blackflips to help nail the landing. He did jump again several times, but the hero kept himself leveled out so he wouldn't lose track of any enemy skiers.

And he was right as he saw several dark clothed individuals appearing out of nowhere, with snowboards, coming right after him with mini-guns trained at him.

'Man, this is turning out to be something from a James Bond film.' He thought as he avoided gunfire from the enemy snowboarders and returning skiers. 'Some specific mission going on and a chase happens in the snowy mountains.' Vanitas then took a swift sharp turn before spinning around and firing ice shards at his pursuers. 'Heh~ Don't I feel lucky.'

Turning back around, the masked Uzumaki took another sharp turn and soon saw a large dark pit ahead of him. This would normally cause problems for any… adventurous skier/snowboarder to deal with the sinking darkness, yet it was no problem for him.

Especially since he has his light filters in his helmet.

Once diving into the abysmal pit, Vanitas quickly switched to night vision to see his surroundings. His landing was rather rough, but he recovered before doing a forceful flip to get back his momentum. Sliding down the snow, Vanitas ended up performing tricks while navigating through the darkened tunnel. He was careful into not falling into any deep crevices or else he would've been screwed.

Just when he saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel, he saw a massive gap that he assumed was a good yard or so across and wide.

'Time to take a page out of Bruce's book.' He thought as he formed gliders underneath his arms for the wind to carry him across the massive gap. When he thought he was safe enough, he dropped the glide wings and fell towards the ground for another harsh landing.

It wasn't long before he had to fly off another natural snow ramp to cross another gap. Landing once more, the momentum caused the former shinobi to slide up a cliff-face for a moment before sliding back down. He had to try to hug the side so he wouldn't slide off the snowtrack and fall into the abyss on accident.

The long, steep slope in front of him became a blur. every muscle reacting to the challenge of speed, snow and wind. Looking back, the costumed Uzumaki saw his pursuers were still coming after him. It wasn't just snowboarders and skiers this time, but also… armed paraglider-equipped snowmobiles flying through the air?

"...The fuck is up with these guys?!" He yelled out as he went off another ramp and soared through the air. Taking the opportunity, Vanitas flipped around and used his shield to fire off a volley of ice spikes at them. Most of them impaled the ground and blocked the skiers and snowboarders pathways, others were obviously missed as they progressed forward.

Whirling around on the snow track, Vanitas fired more ice spikes towards the air to take down the paraglider snowmobiles. Some evaded while others were shot down as they crashed into the surrounding mountains. In retaliation, they tossed grenades in the hero's path and they exploded on impact.

'This is turning out to be something from a James Bond film!' He firing more spikes at the falling grenades to either destroy them or encase them in ice. Soaring over another large gap, the hero tried to formulate a plan. 'I need to either lose or get rid of them, but it seems I can't lose them that easily.'

Leaping and gliding over chasm after large chasm, Vanitas fired more and more projectiles from his ice shield at his pursuers. At one point of the ongoing confrontation, an avalanche went off all because of the constant explosions due to the paragliders' grenades. Many enemy pursuers were buried in the snow while others sped along to avoid the collapsing snow.

Not wanting to get caught up in the unstable area, the hero focused a lot of his power into his snowboard to help speed him along. He also using his ice shield to propel himself forward with his conjured ice by forming a large ramp to get some much needed air.

High up off the snowy ground, the hero spun around, whipped his shield wielded arm and roared as he blasted a large volley at the remaining paragliders. Each fell from the sky and either crashed in the snow or into a fiery blaze.

Falling across the final chilled chasm, Vanitas flung himself forward once shooting out his grappling scarf. A final, desperate attempt to reach the steep slope thirty feet away with a yawning doom below. The conjured cloth receded, once latching onto the cliff's edge, and brought the helmeted hero forward. Vanitas tumbled across the snow before facing the avalanche that fell over the chasm.

"HAH! Eat your fucking hearts out; George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton!" Cheered out the hero. "Your snow chase scenes are shit compared to mine!"

After several moments of cheering and calming himself down from the large bit of adrenaline, Vanitas got himself up and rode his snowboard down the hill for several minutes. Taking a stop, he looked around to figure out where exactly he was at to where he needed to go.

At one point in his search, the hero found something.

Bending down into the snow, the masked Uzumaki inspected the indents in the snow. He hummed in thought. 'Thank Kami that it hasn't snowed for several days. The trail's barely clear.'

With his path surely clear, Vanitas disbursed his snowboard and ice shield before trekking forward.

He kept himself steady and watched his footing throughout the search. At one point, he came across a cliffside and saw there were foot-and-hand holds hacked into the ice. The masked Uzumaki could only guess they were the remains of the trail he found earlier.

Not wanting to waste time, Vanitas brought out a Kazekage lance and rose himself while hugging the cliffside. He did not want to possibly get spotted if any more shooters were present while climbing the cliff. His method of travel helped out a lot as if he tried to ascend the old fashioned way, Vanitas might've plunged into the icy bottom far below.

Once reaching the top, the hero thought he saw something in the distance. Using his Zooming ability, the masked publisher saw what appeared to be… smoke?

'Hmm… Possibly from cooking fires.' He thought as he moved forward once switching out his lance with his arrowguns. 'Better that than anything. And no point in keeping them in suspense.' The hero hugged the cliffs to hide himself once getting closer to the smoke. 'It's like they're almost inviting me.' Coming to the end, he saw several guards finishing up a meal with one of them killing the flames. 'And since I've come half-way around the world, I'll just accept that invitation.' Vanitas adjusted his arrowguns to fire a tether round to immobilize them and quickly knock them out. 'There will obviously be more inside, so I'll need to stop these guys before moving forward.'

Of course it didn't take long to take care of said guards as they weren't all that great to deal with. Once they were down for the count, the masked Uzumaki boldly strided through a passageway before entering a chamber hewn from rock, ice and darkness.

And in the center of said chamber lied a spotlight hitting several individuals tied up.

Stepping closer, the hero spotted power dampening cuffs on Pam and Selina's wrists while Harley was merely wrapped up in restraints in their respective chairs. They also wore blindfolds over their eyes to obscure their vision.

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Merciless-

"Girls?" He called out, getting an instant reaction out of them. "Are you-"

"PUDDIN!" Harley cried out as she hopped in her restrained chair. "YOU'RE HE-OH SHIT!" The blonde fell onto the ground and groaned in pain. "Ouchie!"

Vanitas chuckled as his heart seemed to lighten of seeing Harley's actions.

"Man, I'm so glad to see you're here." Selina spoke as she turned her head to where her boyfriend is at.

"I'll have you three free in a minute." He said as he slowed his pace and felt eyes staring down at him. "So… Been here long?"

"A couple days, I think." Came Harley's answer.

"A bit longer for us." Selina said as she gestured herself and Pam with said redhead nodding in response.

"Food wasn't great, by the way."

"Well I thought it was." Said the changed botanist.

"Of course you'd say that, Red. It was heavily organic."

"Asides from the food," Selina said as she grew tired of the annoying argument, "we still don't know who took us."

Vanitas stopped his movement several feet away from his three lovers before forming his bladed escrima sticks. He then let out a brief sigh. "Unfortunately, I think I do."

Without any warning, several men appeared from the shadows and leapt forward in order to defeat the new arrival with their halbirds and other bladed weapons. Yet when they came in close for their kill, they seemingly went right through him like he was merely a ghost. In their brief confused states, the masked Uzumaki struck back.

And the entirety of the hero's fury that has been held in rigid check… until now as it explodes!

This was no brutal being. There is a part in the Uzumaki's heart that despises violence… But he is a product of his era, his world.

The horrors of many struggles, missions, conflicts and deep personal tragedies have shaped the man he has become today. So, unfortunately, violence does live within him.

And given the occasion, it can become an icy, remorseless vengeance!

Moving quickly, with precision, Vanitas spun around and sliced the assailant's exposed limbs to render them imobile for the time being. To add humiliation to the fight, he disbursed his weapons into smoke before grasping one of the fallen short swords and used it against them.

He spun around, blocked and parried many incoming strikes before delivering ones of his own. Vanitas channeled power into the blade to easily break their weapons. Though the strain seemed too much for his carried short sword that by the time he defeated his opponents, his borrowed weapon crumbled into nothingness.

'That takes care of the appetisers.' Vanitas thought before quickly reforming his bladed escrima sticks to deflect several arrows at his person. Turning to the source, the hero saw a pair of masked individuals with their bows trained at him. 'Now… for the main course, I believe.'

One of the assailants was Warith, the same female assassin that he had the temporary partnership on the Vertigo incident months ago. The other was also female as she wore a red and black themed outfit. It was vaguely similar to Warith's, but it was more cloth than armor like with the twin tailed coat. The woman also had red vambraces as she wore matching red leather pants with black combat boots reaching just below her knees.

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Team Takedown-

The two assassins let loose a volley of arrows, causing Vanitas to engage them. He dashed towards their positions, causing them to end their archery skills and use their compact bows as blunt weapons. Once the vigilante was close, they delivered punches and kicks while blocking Vanitas' strikes.

"It's been a while, Warith." Vanitas spoke as he pushed the green themed assassin away before parrying an attack from her companion.

"That it has, Vanitas." Warith replied with her synthesised voice. She then pulled out her short sword once tossing her compact bow to the side. "That it has."

Her red themed companion followed suit as both assassins had out their short swords before slashing at the helmeted Uzumaki. The vigilante spun around to lock their attacks with his Kazekage escrima sticks. They were forced to pull back to free their swords, thus causing the hero the chance to stab at them.

The assassin pair were quick to react to evade Vanitas' blows as they flipped into the air. Landing back onto the ground, the two worked together in synch to take down the helmeted vigilante. Vanitas ducked from their sword swipes before spin kicking them off their feet so they would fall onto the ground. Both assassins recovered by flipping back onto their feet to show they weren't going to quit that easily.

"Psst!" Harley spoke towards her girlfriends as she tried to get off the ground. "Who do you think is winning?"

"No clue, Harl." Pam responded. "It's hard to tell without seeing the fight."

"Oh, right."

Both Green and Red champions rolled their eyes in response underneath their blindfolds as they could only listen in on the fight taking place.

Vanitas ducked under another sword slash to his head and spun around Warith's companion and slashed at her exposed back. Yet said assassin blocked it by quickly moving her sword behind her. The black/red themed woman luckily back kicked the hero's stomach. Vanitas took the hit in order to ensnare her leg with one of his arms.

Using the appendage to his advantage, the hero swung his other arm towards her, but she bent forward to avoid the escrima's blade. As Warith's companion bent forward, she placed both her hands on the ground and used her other leg to kick Vanitas' chin. But he moved out of the way and she flip forward to her feet. She then attempted a spin kick at the vigilante's head, but Vanitas grabbed her leg once more and threw her as she then flipped in the air and landed on her feet.

The hero then spun around to block Warith's strike. He pulled back his weapon before delivering a punch towards her chest, which was blocked by her elbow. Vanitas spun around to perform a roundhouse kick, causing the black/green themed assassin to flip over his strike. The hero then threw a wide leg kick behind him to land a hit on her intended path. Warith saw this, causing her to bend forward to barely duck under the kick, yet she kicked her back leg up to hit Vanitas in the head; which he blocked said strike. The black/green themed assassin back flipped once more and tried to hit Vanitas in the jaw with a rising kick, but the hero backed away.

Vanitas charged forward and brought his fist down on Warith but she dove to the side, so his fist smashed into the cavern floor. Moving quickly, Vanitas tried to strike his current opponent, but she blocked his thrown punches and elbow strikes. Yet this was a ploy for him to grasp each side of her head before flipping Warith over his shoulder. With her exposed back present, Vanitas kicked her away.

The sound of a compact bow being drawn was picked up. The hero quickly formed several daggers and threw them to the side which sliced through the incoming arrows down through their very center. Turning to the source, the helmeted Uzumaki saw Warith's companion fire more and more arrows at his general direction.

Rushing towards the black/red themed assassin once more, Vanitas quickly slid across the cavern floor to dodge the incoming arrows. The assassin quickly pulled out her sword out of the ground before using both said short blade and her compact bow as her primary weapons. Vanitas quickly formed his Kazekage escrima sticks once more to strike against Warith's companion as they were put into a deadlock.

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Arsenal Takedown-

"You're good." Spoke the black/red themed assassin with her synthesised voice. "You're very good."

"Thanks."

From his position, the hero shifted his body in order to deliver an upward kick at his current opponent's hidden chin. She bent back just when Vanitas got back onto his feet and brought his leg up to do a drop kick on the assassin. Yet she rolled out of the way and his leg smashed into the ground.

Warith's companion kicked out his leg, forcing Vanitas to go into a split. The hero then swung his other leg at her which she blocked and threw a punch at his head which he dodged. Vanitas then grabbed her arm and threw her over him and onto the ground. He then flipped back to his feet and delivered an offensive punch combo with a rising knee strike that black/red assassin blocked and avoided and countered with a spinning kick to his head, which he blocked but then got hit with a follow up kick to his side.

Vanitas recovered and blocked an incoming kick to his side before noticing Warith coming right at him with her sword coming in hot. The hero soon used his bladed escrima stick to block the enemy blade before spin kicking and nailing Warith's chest in order to knock her away. The black/green themed assassin rubbed her sore spot before charging back in for more.

Warith swung her short sword at a downward slash to which the hero blocked by crossing his bladed escrima sticks. He then used one of them to push her sword away before swinging at her side with the other. Warith backed away and parried the incoming strike and tried to lunge at his head, causing Vanitas to move his head to the side to avoid it.

When Warith lunged once more, so did her companion as she joined in on the fight. They once more forgone their compact bows to focus more towards their short swords. Both quickly threw shuriken at the hero as he rolled away from them before blocking their sword strikes once more. They tried to overpower him, yet he wouldn't let up.

Wanting to end the fight here and now, Vanitas channeled power into his arms and weapons to fully push them away before slicing through their swords.

At the momentary loss of their bladed weapons, the hero performed a sweeping kick to knock them onto the ground. The two assassins tried to get back up, but Vanitas pointed his Kazekage escrima sticks at their throats to cause them to stop fighting. Warith's companion seemingly grumbled under her breath as a response while the black/green assassin remained silent.

Looking at the darkness underneath Warith's hood, Vanitas oddly thought he felt… a joyful gaze directed at him?

'The hell?' He thought in utmost confusion.

Once the fight was officially finished, Vanitas and his three lovers heard a series of claps coming from the darkness. The masked Uzumaki turned to the source to see a figure dressed in all black with a special leather jacket and special vambraces with a black hoodie pulled back as the man wore a jackal mask to obscure his face. And strapped to his waist was a sword with a dragon-themed guard.

And by telling from the person's presence and feeling alone made Vanitas know who exactly the man in front of him is.

"Your cohorts are finished!" Vanitas growled out as he dismissed his weapons and pounced at the jackal-masked man. "Your whole bloody group is done for!" As the two masked men fell onto the ground, the costumed Uzumaki grasped the jackal-themed mask. "No sense in hiding behind that mask any longer..." With the mask free from the man's face to reveal… "Ra's."

Smiling up at the masked Uzumaki, the Demon's Head spoke as the dark cavern started to brighten. "Congratulations are once more in order, Uzumaki."

Hearing Ra's speak Naruto's name caused the Uzumaki's three lovers to suddenly stiffen. Each shared the same thought that their boyfriend's secret identity was practically exposed at this moment.

Getting up from the ground, Vanitas melted his glass domed to reveal his displeased face. "Obviously, your little accident wasn't fatal." Naruto said as Ra's got up from the cavern floor. "I imagine you and Ubu left the chopper when I wasn't looking."

"Indeed." Shifting his shoulders a little, the aged man spoke. "At the moment it exploded, it was proceeding on automatic pilot." Ra's then tilted his head in curiosity. "So… how long have you known that I planned this?"

"Almost from the beginning." Naruto answered. "How could you have known Pam, Selina, Harley and Talia were abducted on the same night?"

"Unless I had done the abducting?"

The Uzumaki glared in response. "Exactly." Suddenly he was being surrounded by the many assassins, causing the hero to be on guard. Ra's then held up his hand and silently ordered them to stand down before Naruto continued speaking. "And do you think I'd have let you take me anywhere unless I suspected you'd lead me somewhere?" He then crossed his arms. "First off was you appearing in the Batcave."

"WHAT?!" Harley yelled out with a wide eyed look, once she was able to free herself of her blindfold. "You mean to tell me he knows-"

The pale blonde woman was soon interrupted when Selina spoke up. "Harley. Now is not the time and place to talk about that, despite… how bad that bit of information is."

Once giving Harley an apologetic look, Naruto went back to his explanation. "As I was saying… you appearing in the Batcave. You must've known I did not have the necessary resources on hand to properly inspect the envelope and photos so you went to the Batcave to confront me. That would show that not only you have known my identity but also the Batmans."

"Correct."

"Next were all those assassins back in Calcutta." Said the Uzumaki as he continued his explanation. "They knew where we'd be and when. So someone had to be tipping them off. And that someone had to be you."

Ra's merely smirked in confirmation.

The former shinobi then glanced over to the muscled bodyguard, who walked towards his master. "Oh and then there was you, Ubu." He said as Naruto narrowed his glance. "You were always by your master's side, always very picky about letting Ra's go ahead of everyone else." The costumed publisher stepped forward and pointed a finger at the large Indian. "Except in Malaysia, where you knew there was danger waiting inside of the temple. If you were to yell at me on moving ahead of you into the temple, then things would've stayed in character; yet you didn't."

Ra's chuckled as his smirk grew. "I am deeply impressed, Naruto. Especially with what transpired at Malaysia. Though I do admit that hooded figure battling you was not apart of the plan. And I was truly amazed with you growing trees soon after your fight. But I must say it rightfully deserves 'extra credit', as it were."

Hearing the last tidbit caused Pam to whip her head around and widen her eyes underneath her blindfold. 'Wait? Did he just say that Naruto grew trees?' She thought in bewilderment. 'But how? He never done so before.'

Warith rose from the ground and helped her companion get back onto her feet. Once done, the black/green theme assassin spoke once deactivating her voice synthesizer. "As am I."

Spinning around, Naruto recognized the voice and saw Warith pull her hood back and face mask down to reveal…

"Talia?" He spoke in a surprised tone with widened eyes.

The eldest daughter of the Demon gave her former student a soft, cheerful smile. "Hello Naruto."

"Wait, Talia?!" Harley yelled out in surprise. If she were to look at her two girlfriends, they would have similar reactions.

And if the surprise wasn't enough for Naruto, Warith's companion pulled down her hood and face mask as well to reveal Talia's younger sister, Nyssa.

"...Seems we finally had that spar, huh Nyssa."

"That we have, Naruto." Said the younger sister before her little grin turned into a frown. "Though did you have to destroy my sword? I worked hard in making it just right."

"...Send me the bill?"

Nyssa scoffed. "Like you'd be able to afford it."

He looked away and coughed into his hand. 'Must be really… expensive then on the materials.' Naruto thought as he went over to his three girlfriends to unbind them.

Talia soon followed as she helped Naruto out. Though the whiskered Uzumaki gave her a glance as he didn't know what to do in the situation. The Demon's eldest daughter saw the pained look in his gaze and could understand what's running through his mind. By the time Naruto's three lovers were unbinded from both normal means and from the power dampeners, each woman looked at Talia with a similar expression their boyfriend had.

Harley, Pam and Selina trusted Talia and considered her a good friend. Yet the reveal damaged the relationship quite well.

Once the three prisoners were back onto their feet and free of their bindings, Naruto spoke up. "You three ready to go?"

His three lovers nodded as they wanted to leave this place and return home.

As the four left, Talia held up her hand in hopes of stopping them. Yet her actions were ignored but Ubu acted upon them in her stead by rushing forward. "The master gave you no permission to leave." He gruffly said.

Briefly looking back, Naruto shot back a response. "I didn't ask for any, Ubu."

Ubu didn't like hearing this and snarled. "I shall dance on your corpse!" He then delivered a punch at the retreating vigilante. Though much to his surprise, the Uzumaki easily caught it and started applying pressure to it to make the muscled Indian grit his teeth.

"Not likely." Naruto said as he swiftly turned around and kicked the man's stomach to skid the man back. "But size and strength don't count for much."

The muscled bodyguard recovered and dashed forward in order to successfully land a hit on the infidel. Yet his attacks were dodged effortlessly.

"Skill is the trait that counts." Said the former shinobi as he evaded an offending kick. "Agility helps too." Ducking from a right cross, the hero spoke a bit more. "And those things you lack!" The costumed Uzumaki then punched the man's gut, causing the muscled man to heave over from the delivered force. "You're clumsy and soft!" He then sent an uppercut towards the bodyguard's chin. "And you have a chin as fragile as a soap bubble!"

As the larger man staggered, Naruto grasped the man's head and slammed it into his glass domed helm to deliver more damage. "I bet you've been getting by-by scaring people with your intimidating height and stature." He then hoisted him in the air and spun him around. "Problem is, I don't get scared that easily!" Letting go of the bodyguard, Ubu was sent flying into the cave wall and groaned in pain as he slid onto the cavern floor.

Dusting his hands, Naruto spoke with a smirk. "Oh and Ubu, that was three."

Turning back around, the Uzumaki saw his former teacher standing a foot away from him. Pam, Selina and Harley came close to their boyfriend as they glared at their so called friend.

"Please, Naruto. I can't let you leave like this. My father meant you four no harm." She defended spoke with emotion in her voice.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then he had a very funny way of showing it." He said, which caused his three lovers to nod in agreement.

"My time is short, Naruto." Ra's said, causing the four to turn around to face the aged Demon. "I have no sons and I need a man to assume my position when I am gone."

Naruto blinked in confusion and was going to voice an obvious thought crossing his mind regarding Talia and Nyssa possibly replacing their father. Then he remembered their detailed info that Ra's is really old fashioned and wants a man to do so.

Shaking his head a little, the Uzumaki spoke the next thing running across his mind. "I've been meaning to ask this, but what position are you talking about? You said it was a global organization earlier in our quest." He looked around and saw the various assassins littering the cavernous room. "I'm assuming these people?"

Ra's nodded in confirmation. "You see, the position I'm talking about is becoming the new leader of the League of Shadows as the new Ra's al Ghul."

Not seeing his three lover's shocked looks, Naruto narrowed his glance at the Demon's Head. "Then it was a test? All of it?" Ra's nodded. "But why me and not either Talia or Nyssa? They're your daughters and either of them could fill the role in terms of succession."

Nyssa sent Naruto a pleased glance as she greatly appreciated the gesture. Ra's youngest daughter saw her sister have a similar look, though it was more heartfelt in response.

Yet the aged Demon shook his head in response. "It is because you are most worthy, which is now proven beyond any doubt." He said before his blue-green eyes went towards Talia. "And because I want to become Ibn al Ghul, Son of the Demon, by joining your house with mine by having you wed my precious, eldest daughter."

Naruto widened his eyes in response as his three lovers shared the same reaction. "I'm sorry but what?"

"It's because I love you, Naruto." Talia confessed, getting the four to whip their heads towards her. "I have for years." She said with a growing smile. "I wanted to tell you for the longest time, yet… yet I didn't know how to tell you." She came close to him, grasped his hand with hers and held it up close to her face. "You became everything I wanted for a husband and I want you to join the League." Talia's eyes were truly filled with love as tears of joy were threatening to spill. "Become my Betrothed, my Beloved, and the world will be saved from it's corruption."

Many thoughts ran through the publisher's mind, along with his three lovers, on what just happened. The confession was rather sudden and it was truly hard to process with neither being prepared for it.

As the three women shared thoughts on how odd things were getting, Naruto was processing things in a different light.

The Uzumaki started to realize on the certain actions she had towards him in the past. From the two years traveling together to their time interacting ever since she returned to his life months ago. And looking back into her blue-green eyes, Naruto saw they were truly genuine on how deeply she feels towards him.

Looking away and tightening his fists, he gave his blunt response.

"Forget it."

Talia widened her eyes on the rejection and felt a growing pain in her chest soon. Her world seemingly shattered as many hopes and dreams of being with the love of her life were thrown out of the window. And her tears of joy quickly turned into ones of despair.

Nyssa narrowed her glance at Naruto for rejecting her sister as she knew how much the Uzumaki meant to her. The whiskered man helped mend their relationship and strengthened it beyond what they realized. Sure it was fine when they grew up together, but it was rather damaged with how each were taught. But during the times when each sisters interacted with Naruto, he helped them see things differently. Thus causing them to care for each other a whole lot more.

As a result of both past and recent events, Nyssa hoped that Naruto would've made Talia happy by becoming her husband so that the pressure placed onto the younger daughter would be lifted so she can be with Sara for good.

And as for Ra's… well…

"Then this means we must be enemies!" Snarled the aged Demon as rage filled his very being. "You will regret this insult, Naruto! You will-" Ra's started to violently cough as blood started spilling out of his mouth. It wasn't long after as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Father!" Cried out the man's two daughters. The pair rushed to his side as Talia held up his head in hopes of keeping his airway clear.

Turning towards the love of her life, Talia spoke in desperation. "Naruto, he's dying!"

Feeling concerned at this point; Naruto came over, bent down and checked Ra's pulse as the aged man rasped for air. The Uzumaki widened his eyes and looked at his former teacher. "Holy shit. His pulse is bad. There's no way in Hell he can fake that."

"Please Naruto, we must take him to the Lazarus Pit." She urged him as she tried to lift up her father.

Not wanting her to struggle, the publisher formed a card platform underneath the man's body and rose him up to help transport him to wherever they needed to go to.

-Insert Batman the Animated Series Soundtrack: The Lazarus Pit/Revitalized Demon-

After several minutes of travel, the large group appeared in a glowing chamber that reminded the four Gothamites of the green liquid pool located in Pam's Grand Greenhouse. The liquid before them was located several feet below them underneath a rocky ledge. Nearby was a crank with a chained metal slab attached

There was a big difference between the two in the Gothamites' minds. While the one back in Gotham seemed brighter and… cleaner, the one before them seemed darker and dirty like it has been overused as it bubbled in an unnatural way.

"Behold, the Lazarus Pit." Spoke the muscled bodyguard.

The four Gothamites shared a look and rose a brow on the name given on what the liquid was exactly.

It was at that point when Harley spoke up in concern. "You want us to put him in that? You're crazy! I mean, that stuff looks really bad, Talia. And it looks like it would kill your pops."

The eldest daughter argued. "No, listen to me, I know it is difficult to believe but the Pit is what kept him alive. What has kept him alive for 900 years."

"900 years?!" Yelled out Naruto's girlfriends with widened eyes.

Ignoring their surprised reactions, which were clearly understandable, Nyssa came up to Naruto. "Please, you need to believe us."

The publisher contemplated on what to do as he looked at Talia and Nyssa's dying father, who was still on his floating card platform.

The Uzumaki sighed and nodded before moving his construct to the metal slab. It soon disbursed as the body briefly fumbled onto its surface. It wasn't much longer before Ra's followers removed most of the man's items off his person, along with certain articles of clothing.

Once done, Ubu moved the crank to lift the slab off it's resting place before Ra's men pushed it over to hover above the glowing pool. After that, the muscled bodyguard turned the crank to lower his master into the natural concoction below. You can practically hear the faint hiss and smell a thick, musty odor as the glowing green liquid bubbled over Ra's dying body on the metal slab once both came into contact with each other.

After several moments, things seemed to have died down with the vapors all around the area.

"...He's dead."

"No." Talia simply said in response to Naruto's blunt statement. "All is well."

After several moments of being covered in the Pit's waters, the concoction started to do something truly unnatural. A large geyser burst forth from the distance below as the onlookers oddly saw fire surrounding Ra's very being with a growing, unnatural roar. Ra's body soon rode the geyser's current before landing onto the rocky edge in a crouch to show he was completely active.

The drenched man before them was no longer the aged, gaunt man they've seen beforehand. Now it was a man that's practically in his absolute prime! His greyed and whitening hair turned into a strong shade of dark brown, practically black, while his body seemed to gain an athlete competing in the Olympics.

It was as if the man was truly a modern-day Lazarus arisen from the dead.

If the recent event didn't unsettle Naruto and his three lovers, then it was merely gazing into Ra's blue-green eyes. It was as if the Demon's Head was truly someone else as he bore a mirthless, insane joy glittering in his gaze.

Rising to his feet, the now deaged Ra's started to softly chuckle before he let out a bellowed, haunting laugh that seemed to shake the four Gothamites' spines.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Rushing towards her father to get things under control, Talia was suddenly seized by the current mad man via bearhug. She screamed in pain as her father squeezed her sides while in his fit of madness. And it wasn't long before she was lifted up into the air.

"TALIA!" Naruto roared out in absolute worry. He then glared at Ra's as he didn't like where this was going. "PUT HER DOWN, RA'S!"

The Uzumaki rushed forward in order to stop Ra's upcoming action. Yet he was kicked away by a powerful strike towards his chest and sent flying back into Nyssa and his three lovers. Each checked if he was alright, but he got back onto his feet and glared at the Demon's Head.

"I SAID, PUT HER DOWN!"

All Naruto got in response was Ra's continued haunting laugh as the cavern was filled with it's sound. Thus causing the very memory to be forever burned into the four Gothamites' minds for years to come.

Naruto gritted his teeth and tightened his fists as they glowed with raging power. "Damn it, Ra's, that's your daughter! So put her down, now!"

The rejuvenated man ignored Naruto once more as he still laughed maniacally. He turned around and was going to throw his eldest daughter into the waters below. In response, the Uzumaki let loose his grappling scarf onto the Demon's Head in order to restrain his movements.

"Father!" Talia cried out. "Come to your senses!"

Nyssa came up to Naruto, who struggled to keep the man in place. "We must stop him, Naruto. The chemicals can revive the dying, but will kill a healthy person."

"Yeah I get it, Nyssa." He growled out before turning to Pam. "Mind giving me some help?"

The changed botanist snapped out of her shocked stupor and nodded at her lover's request. With a wave of her hand, vines bursted from the rocky earth and helped ensnare Ra's al Ghul. Looking at each other, the pair yanked the rejuvenated Demon off his feet and falling onto the cavernous cliffside.

The action caused Ra's to throw his eldest daughter off to the side as she screamed. She reached forward in hopes of snagging the rocky edge, but her arm wasn't long enough to make it. Talia plummeted towards her inevitable demise…

Yet a yank on her caused the Demon's Heir to look towards her savior as he grasped her arm.

"Talia, I got you!" Naruto yelled out. "Just hang on!"

She smiled at him as the dark haired beauty was pulled up. Once on solid ground, her smile met with his relieved one.

Though this small moment between them quickly died as they saw Ra's get back onto his feet and quickly broke free from his double ensnarement via Naruto's powered scarf and Pam's extremely thick vines with no scratches and burns on his skin.

"...Holy shitsnacks." Harley muttered as she quickly hid behind Nyssa in terror.

"What the hell are you doing?" Snapped the Demon's second daughter.

"What does it look like, Nyssi?! You're my meat shield?!"

"First off, it's Nyssa not Nyssi. And second, you will not use me as such!"

As the Demon's Head stalked forward, Naruto stood up and pushed Talia behind him. "Stay back, Talia." He said.

Talia briefly smiled on the protective gesture. Yet she walked around her love and went towards her father. "I can handle this myself, thank you very much."

Naruto was about to reach out and stop her when he and everyone else in the cavernous room saw her do the unthinkable…

*SLAP*

"...Did… Did you just bitch slap your father to his senses?" Harley asked. She then looked around and saw the various looks from everyone else in the cavern. "What? We're all thinking the same thing."

"No we're not." Nyssa said with an eye twitch.

"...Okay then it's just me, puddin, Red, Kitty and the writer."

…..

(Honestly people, it did look like that in the episode and I thought it was fucking hilarious back then and now. Just saying ^_^)

…..

Feeling the massive pain across his cheek, Ra's shook his head as an odd little change was shown. The mirthless, insane joy slowly faded away as it was soon replaced with the old calculating look everyone was used to.

Rubbing his sore cheek, he looked towards his eldest daughter. "Thank you, Talia. I needed that. For the resurrection process can be quite disconcerting." The Demon then turned his gaze towards the whiskered Uzumaki. "And thank you, Naruto, for saving my daughter's life once more."

"You're welcome."

Nyssa walked up to her father, with a towel on hand, to help wipe off the excess Pit waters. Ra's gave a brief nod of thanks as he dried himself off.

His eldest daughter then spoke up. "You look refreshed, Father. Renewed a whole lot more even."

Giving himself a little inspection, even with seeing part of his own reflection upon a borrowed sword, Ra's nodded in agreement. "Yes, it appears so."

"Mind explaining what just happened?" Selina asked as many thoughts ran through her head. "I get the Lazarus Waters can bring you back from death and all, but what the hell was with you becoming completely and utterly insane?"

Ubu glared at the ravenette thief and wanted to take action, but his master stopped him. "It's alright, Ubu, it's an honest question." Ra's then looked at the four Gothamites. "After all, you four are quite curious on what occured."

Said individuals nodded.

It was Nyssa who answered the question. "You see the Pit offers physical rejuvenation from either small wounds to ones that leads you to Death's doorstep."

Talia then picked up from there. "But the price for escaping Death causes the body so much stress that it leaves one temporarily insane."

"And no man may reap its blessings indefinitely." Ra's finished off the little detail.

Off to the side, Harley oddly pulled out a notebook from out of nowhere and started scribbling down this information as it was actually interesting to know this tidbit pertaining to the mind.

'I should probably ask Pammy later to acquire some samples from the Pit waters back home to test things out.' Thought the Arkham psychologist before something crossed her mind. 'Wait. Puddin's and Red's babies are soaking up in the waters back home. Oh this ain't good if they turn out crazy as hell.' Her blue eyes landed on Pam's face and instantly realized the same thoughts. Her gaze then went towards the Pit below and another idea was formed. 'Maybe something else is amiss that causes the insanity meter to go up.'

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Take My Place-

Not knowing what was running through Harley's mind, Ra's looked back at the Pit's below. "It was Herodotus who first wrote of these waters." He said, gaining Naruto and his girlfriends' attention. "And Ponce de Leon traveled the earth in search of them. Their discovery by Al-Khidr is chronicled in the quran." Ra's turned his gaze back to Naruto. "And they have permitted me to live way beyond my time as I am at least nine centuries old."

Getting this bit of information, Naruto had little response, causing Ra's to raise a brow. "You don't seem too fazed by what I've told you."

The Uzumaki let out a brief sigh. "Throughout my entire life, I've seen things that have helped me to believe that things are a whole lot bigger than people realize. Then again, I was taught to keep a very opened mind to things."

Ra's chuckled. "True. But the truth is… everyone, everything, must come to an end. Even for one such as I. For man can only evade Death for so long." He waved his arm back to the waters below. "The Pit's powers are losing their effect on me and I fear for the worse on what may happen if I prolong my meeting with Death itself." The Demon's Head walked forward as he was handed his leather jacket before slipping it on. "My time is almost over, but my legacy won't be just ash and bone…"

"But it will be history." Naruto finished off. "Is that what you're suggesting?"

"Precisely."

Naruto felt as if that was an insult since the man doesn't have any sons. His gaze went towards the man's daughters as they were just as worthy of taking their father's position of this assassin organization. "And you think that I'll help you secure that legacy?" He asked

"Of course." Spoke the Demon as he slipped his Demon's ring around his finger and strapped his sword to his side. "What better person to help continue my legacy with with a warrior such as yourself." Ra's turned around to look straight into Naruto's eyes. "A man who wants to bring justice… for we are justice." The man tilted his head a little. "Isn't that what you've dedicated your life to?"

Naruto gave no response.

"Then why confine your heroics to a single city when I can give you a whole world to save."

"By executing anyone who stands in my way?" Said the Uzumaki. "Is that what you mean?"

Ra's narrowed his gaze. "You would command resources that you cannot even fathom." The rejuvenated man waved his hand to his many followers. "Numbers greater than any army and more loyal. If you wish for them to renounce killing: thy will be done."

Naruto scoffed. "I doubt that. I mean it's called The League of Shadows/Assassins for a reason."

"When you become Warith al Ghul, Abn al Ghul and then Ra's al Ghul; the League's reason would be your own." Spoke the League's leader. "Which is why I must ask you again, Naruto. Will you truly wed my daughter, Talia, and carry on for me when I am gone?" He said as Talia gazed at her former student with hopefulness.

Naruto merely glared at the Demon's Head. "You kidnapped three of my most precious people in my life and practically scared them half to death. You made me do this entire quest for a bloody test of yours. And for what, your title and organization?" The Uzumaki took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I admit the benefits… are rather tempting as your forces would be at my beck and call." His eyes grew distant as thoughts of his old dream being Hokage resurface. Being the leader of the League of Shadows/Assassins was practically a Kage position and he would've helped the world. "If this was under different circumstances, I would've taken it, but not like this Ra's." His eyes went back to Talia's and Nyssa's father to give his response. "I'm sorry but my answer is still no."

Talia once more became hurt on being rejected by the man she truly loved. Nyssa came over and gave her sister a comforting hand as a response.

And all Ra's did was softly glare.

"A pity." Said the Demon. "You leave me no choice." With a snap of his fingers, every other League member present -asides from Talia and Nyssa- aimed their weapons at Naruto and his three girlfriends. It didn't matter if they were bladed, arrow or of the gun variety.

The small group was surrounded on all sides.

"You see, if you are not with me, Naruto, you are against me."

Talia widened her eyes and tried to go to Naruto's side in order to protect him and even his current lovers, but Ra's quickly grasped her arm and yanked her back. She looked back and pleaded. "Father, please!"

"They has seen too many of our secrets, Talia." Spoke her father. "And he knows too much to be permitted to leave here."

The League members slowly exited the Pit's chamber as the gun wielders were the last ones to leave. Each made sure the four Gothamites remained in the room with Ra's and his two daughters being the first to leave. Naruto would've fought his way out, but he didn't want to risk his three lovers' lives in the process.

Once Talia was dragged out of the chamber, she saw her father press a switch along the wall and realized his intention. "You would destroy this place?!" She yelled out.

"It's only a minor loss, daughter." He said. "There is nothing here that cannot be found in our desert stronghold. And we must leave nothing behind that might be later used against us."

It wasn't long after the switch's activation did the hidden complex quake. Large cracks were formed with rocks and stalagmites breaking off from the ceiling and started falling all over the place. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Lazarus Pit seemingly rose higher and higher from it's originated level.

Things were not looking good for the four Gothamites.

Just as the chamber door was closing up, Ra's looked over to the former shinobi and called out to him, due to the growing sounds of the complex's destruction. "Farewell, Uzumaki!"

As Naruto looked on, his eyes met with Talia's. Despite the loud quakes surrounding them, Naruto was able to read her lips saying 'Goodbye, beloved' just before the chamber door finally closed up.

The moment the chamber door met the cavern floor, a large crack formed underneath the Gothamites before it gave way. The group fell through as they respectively screamed in their own ways. As the four got closer to the Pit's waters, a floating card platform appeared underneath them.

"We need to get outta here!" Pam yelled out.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Responded her boyfriend.

He quickly formed a barrier around them as the floating structure flew upwards. Stalagmites and cavern walls fell upon Naruto's defense as they zipped out of the crumbling League base. Once they reached the outside world, the four looked back to see mountain collapse in on itself. Lazarus Pit waters bursted into the sky, like an active volcano, while all the snow fell down the mountain and caused an avalanche.

While the group saw the destruction on part of the Himalayas, Naruto spoke towards his girlfriends. "You three okay?"

Each woman gave a respective nod.

It was Harley who spoke first. "Sure. Though I wish I'd worn something a whole lot warmer." She gestured to her work attire. "But other than that-"

The group soon heard sounds of an aircraft over the blistering, cold winds. Looking off to the side, they saw not only Ra's private aircraft but also a much larger one flying off into the distance. This made them realize that Ra's and his followers fled the area.

"Well that's just great." Selina spoke with a click of her tongue. "Thought we could've had enough time to possibly catch up to them, but it seems they thought ahead for their clean getaway."

"And by the time we get down this mountain Ra's could be a quarter away to his desert stronghold." Pamela said as she scratched her red locks. "Wherever that is."

"And who says you three are going?" Said their boyfriend. He briefly ignored their looks as he directed their card platform to Nepal, which is the nearest city to their current position. "I need to drop you girls off somewhere safe before I go after Ra's… Something tells me that something big is going to happen soon and Ra's needs to be stopped. I need to do this fast so I at least have a chance-" Naruto stopped talking as he noticed Pam carefully walked to his front and stared him down. "Yes?"

"Correction, we have a chance." Spoke the changed botanist.

"Red's right, Naruto." Said the thief. "Whether you like it or not, we're coming with you. We're tired of you doing all of the work and I believe each of us wants some good payback on what they did to us."

"And that means we'll get to crack some skulls." Came Harley's remark as she had a wide grin plastered on her face.

"...There's no way convincing you otherwise, right?"

"You bet your sweet fine ass we don't, puddin."

Seeing their determined looks, he sighed. "Alright, you gals can come." Each woman smirked in their own right at this. "Though there might be a problem that y'all aren't currently equipped-"

"Oh, I can easily get that taken care of." Pamela said, getting a curious look from Naruto. "My cute little children."

Naruto rolled his eyes on Pam's control over plants. Having to go into a deep focus, Pam could control plants from the other side of the globe. And if she wanted to, she can travel to and from that location, even transporting certain items.

And with the current situation, she'd order her plants to acquire Selena's and Harley's gear to bring them to their location.

As he spotted Nepal's border in the distance, he spoke up. "Regardless, we've gotta find out where."

"But where do we even start looking?" Said the pale woman.

"You three were his prisoner for quite a while. You must have overheard something." He pointed out.

Selina and Pam shook their heads in response.

As for Harley, she scratched the back of her head. "I think… there was one thing." She said, getting the others' attention. "A word I heard several times, even though it was a little hard to make out."

"What was it?"

Harley scrunched up her face more while dwelling deep into her memory. "It sounded like Orca… Orpha… Orpheus." She suddenly snapped her fingers with a toothy grin. "Yeah, that's it! Orpheus!"

-Next Day, Sahara Desert-

Heat... Fierce and merciless... A sun that stings the eyes and air that scorches the lungs and hundreds of miles of sand that shimmer and glistens and burns.

This... is the Sahara Desert! A hellish panorama of blazing emptiness that defies living creatures. Yet people do live in this part of the world. And stranger still, some of them do indeed prosper.

Flying over it's sandy dunes, a seaplane… or sandplane in this case cruized at a decent distance off the ground. Said vehicle was acquired by Pamela with some of her hypno-spores that got the owner to give it up for a time. Inside contained Naruto, Pam, Harley and Selina which the later was currently flying the sandplane.

Now you'd be thinking why they be in this remote part of the world.

During their brief resting period in Nepal, Naruto went to the Wayne Enterprises location in the city and used his small access -given by Bruce himself- to get into it's servers. There he properly looked up any reference to Orpheus he could muster.

In Greek mythology, Orpheus, descended into the Hades to bring his beloved wife, Eurydice, back from the dead. The man was successful in convincing the Greek God into letting this happen by playing a beautiful song that was able to shake his and his wife, Persephone, of their very souls. They were free to go and return to the surface, only on the condition that Orpheus can't look at his departed wife until they saw the light of day.

Just when they were about to reach the surface, the man accidentally looked upon his wife and she was dragged back into the Underworld.

Asides from the saddening tale that according to the Wayne Enterprises database, Orpheus is also the name of a privately-owned satellite launched into synchronous orbit over a year ago.

Coincidence? Not by a long shot.

And of course it's orbiting over a desert, but more specifically the Sahara desert. And it didn't didn't take much for the former shinobi to guess out the specific coordinates indicated Ra's al Ghul's desert stronghold.

Checking the Sahara Desert map, Selina called out to the back. "We're within 200 kilometers of the targeted drop off point, Naruto." She didn't have to look back to see him nod. "Gotta hold her steady at 500 feet to stay under their radar, but you can still eject at this altitude."

"Then let's do it." He said as he stood up and walked towards the plane's side door.

"Do you have to go alone, puddin?" Harley asked as she was checking out her gear one last time. "Red and I could join you."

"We've been over this, Harley." He said, earning a pout in response. "I need to go in alone at the beginning so when the time comes, y'all can come in for support if things get dicey when I give the signal by my borrowed signal watch."

Harley reluctantly nodded once more, but her hand got a comforting squeeze from Pam. And for some reassurance, Naruto came up to the bubbly blonde and gave her a chast kiss to help ease her worries.

He did the same towards his other two lovers before phasing himself through the aircraft's bottom and fell towards the sands below. Reaching closer to the surface below, the Uzumaki formed his Kazekage lance to not only break his fall but to fly across the dunes.

Back with the girls, Selina started lowering the plane at a possible good distance away from what could be Ra's desert stronghold. Once coming to a landing, the three sat in their place and thought things over on what had occurred to them within the past week before getting Naruto's signal to move in and take action.

Towards the end of their respective trips outside of Gotham, Pam and Selina were abruptly knocked out and taken when they were alone. They had woken up in a humid cell some unknown time later with Pam having power dampening cuffs on her. Neither were able to get out of them and when trying to contact Naruto through the Dreaming, something seemed to block their attempts. And when Selina tried to break them out with her Red powers, the pair were eventually subdued and re-woke later with the ravenette having dampeners on her.

It was two days after the escape attempt when Talia was brought in and on the next day, Harley arrived in the shared cell. Neither knew why they were taken and were forced to talk to keep themselves preoccupied. The three Gothamites were able to catch up with Talia and vice versa and were able to enjoy their time together, despite the circumstances.

And after the second day of Harley joining them, they were knocked out and transferred to the Himalayas. Once again, neither knew what happened. Even when Talia was taken out of the cell early yesterday, for some reason, when Naruto arrived to save them.

Yet it seemed the three Gothamites were fooled as Talia indeed knew what was going on with her being apart of the whole situation. And in order to keep the facade, the Demon's Daughter had to stay with Naruto's three lovers until the supposed time was right for the Uzumaki's arrival.

This caused them to lose a lot of trust in Talia and they don't know if she'll earn it back.

-One Hour Later, Ra's Sahara Stronghold-

Looking into the vast desert underneath the darkened moonlit sky, Paula Crock sighed for the upteenth time from the mountain complex's walls.

'So many things happening within a handful of days.' She thought as her gaze went to a far off distance. 'Wish this didn't have to happen.'

The Vietnamese League assassin was not enjoying how things started out ever since Ra's called her and Lawrence several days ago to abduct Harley from her home. It left a very bad taste in her mouth as she wondered why the Demon's Head ordered them to do this. The Crock couple asked, yet the question wasn't answered as they were forced to do the assignment.

Harley was practically a younger sister to Paula and doing this made her feel she was betraying family.

When Naruto came and asked where Harley went off to, both her and Lawrence had to lie to his face if they knew of her whereabouts. Their answer was indeed true as neither knew where her former student was transported to after dropping her unconscious body at the rondevu point.

As much as Paula wanted to tell Naruto on what they've done, they were ordered not to… for some reason which raised more questions than answers!

And if that wasn't odd enough, Paula tried contacting Naruto within the past few days, but he ended up disappearing as well. The Crock matriarch tried contacting him on his cell phone, stopping by at both his loft and office; yet he wasn't present in Gotham at all. Only saying that something came up and he had to either cancel or postpone all of his appointments and work schedules until further notice.

Paula's worries grew worse and worse as a result.

Then, out of nowhere, Ra's contacted them to arrive at the League's Sahara stronghold at the very last minute yesterday. Both were forced to leave Jade and Artemis behind, stating that she and Lawrence had a rather sudden business trip they were forced to go to.

Neither knew what their League leader was going to do exactly as many operatives were kept in the dark on the Demon's reasons. All that the pair were assigned to do, until further notice, was to keep lookout at the stronghold's walls and report on both any unusual activity along with the arrival on other League members and the several caravans consisting of one hundred camels and trucks worth of supplies each.

"Doing alright there, Alsiyada (Huntress)?" Came a female voice. "You seem rather distant."

Paula didn't have to fully turn around to recognize Ta-er al-Sahfer (Yellow Bird), the Beloved of Nyssa al Ghul.

Said woman had golden blonde hair that reached past her shoulders as it was tied into a ponytail. Her sky blue eyes was hidden behind a black domino mask that matched her black leather attire consisting of black pants, gloves, shirt, jacket and combat boots. She wore a black choker that has a voice filter function while on assignments. Ta-er al-Sahfer also has sonic devices attached to her belt with a bo-staff that separates into expandable batons.

Paula let out a deep sigh. "You can say that."

"Wanna talk about it?" Asked the masked blonde. "We've got an unknown amount of time until the last of the supply caravans arrive. And I doubt any of our superiors would complain about us chatting."

Ah yes, their superiors… the hierarchy of the League can be confusing for any outsider and newcomers.

On the food chain, Ra's al Ghul is at the very top -obviously- as he's the overall leader of their organization. Right below him are the Children of the Demon, which are currently Talia (Warith/The Heir) and Nyssa (Aibnatu/The Daughter) as their orders are superseded by Ra's himself. After them are the Horsemen, the League's best hunters and Ra's personal hands.

Below the Horsemen consist the Elders, who are the oldest members currently living (asides from Ra's), as they're responsible for overseeing the majority of the training the recruits undergo. The Savant are the League's librarians and knowledge keepers in the organization with the Dhanvan being the organization's head physicians. There's also the Seven Men of Death, who are Ra's personal hitsquad. And after all those positions, there's all the generic members.

Now to place Paula and Yellow Bird/The Canary, they are respectively placed in odd steps in the food chain.

Paula can be considered a pseudo-Horseman, or Horsewoman in her case, as she can take hold of the position -alongside with Lawrence- if becoming a full time League member. But after getting permission from Talia to help raise her daughters, she's been put into the seasonal slots and would only work as an assassin when called in by her superiors consisting of the Elders, the Children and Ra's himself.

Asides from that, the Vietnamese woman would also report to the Horsemen until she decides to become more active in the League and take her place as a Horseman herself.

With The Canary, she's inside of Nyssa's small inner circle and personal guard which consists of just herself and Talibah (the Student/Seeker of Knowledge). They can surely report directly to the Elders, Horsemen and Ra's; but with Ta-er al-Sahfer being Nyssa's beloved, she has some leniency as long as she follows orders to the letter.

"Been chatting with Lawrence about it, but he's been ignoring and brushing off our recent problems too much as of late. It would at least be nice to talk it over with you." Paula admitted.

The Canary smiled a little as she walked to the edged and leaned over to help keep watch with her fellow assassin. "What's on your mind?"

"First off is Lawrence and I having to abduct a former student of mine, under Ra's orders."

The blonde blinked in confusion. "Excuse me, but what? Why?"

"No clue and it's been driving me insane." Paula groaned out. "I tried asking him, Talia and Nyssa about it and the reasons, but they wouldn't budge. I even went to the Elders and Horsemen but I got the same results."

"That sounds quite odd."

"Tell me about it. I see Harley, my former student, as the younger sister I never had after interacting with her for so long. She is also my neighbor as she helps me out in a variety of situations when I'm involved with League business or my civilian job. Hell, she helped Lawrence and I through a lot of couples counseling and babysitting our kids." The Vietnamese assassin then let out a frustrated sigh. "Yet when Lawrence and I were ordered to knock her out and transport her to Gotham harbor for Sarab to take her to god knows where, I felt like I was betraying my relationship with her while being outright confused on the orders."

"...I'm sorry about that, Paula."

"Thanks." Huntress then rubbed her temples to help with her migraine. "But it wasn't just that, but I wanted to tell her boyfriend so much." She said, getting the Canary to adopt a confused facial expression once more. "He made her so happy and got her out of some very dark moments after they first met earlier this year. He earned my respect and trust on what he's done for her. So when he came asking about Harley's whereabouts, it hurt me deeply on having to lie to his face."

The Yellow Bird could only nod in understanding

"Not only that, but Ra's sudden full summons got me rather worried."

The blonde assassin sighed and briefly looked back to see the growing numbers present in the Sahara compound. "You're not the only one."

It was really odd that Ra's ordered every League member to arrive not only here, but to every main location that has a Lazarus Pit. Ones that were 'off clock' and on standby were ordered to come in. And operatives currently on assignments were told to quickly finish things ASAP before showing up at their respective locations.

Not everyone knows what the bloody hell is going on, leaving much confusion among the ranks. Outside of Ra's and his kin; only the Elders, Horsemen and specific technicians in each compound (like the ones fiddling around with a rather large computer system connected to Orpheus' ground satellite off to the corner of the stronghold's courtyard) knows whats up. Said individuals are tight lipped and won't reveal things until the very last moment when everyone was present and accounted for.

The Canary was going to speak up when they heard Ubu speak towards them from behind. "Anything to report?"

Both the Canary and Huntress stood up straight to address Ra's bodyguard. And it was Paula who answered. "Nothing yet, Ubu. The final caravan hasn't arrived yet. Though by from their last radio call, they should be seen at the horizon any minute now."

The muscled Indian nodded. "It's quite understandable."

"And what should be done once they've arrived?" Asked the Canary.

"Immediately report to the main courtyard for further instructions. Ra's al Ghul will then explain his intentions for our gathering."

Both Huntress and Yellow Bird nodded as Ubu turned around and walked away in order to get reports from the other League members manning the complex's walls.

"...Out of all of the Horsemen, I can honestly say I can handle Sarab over the likes of him, Shiva and Cain anyday." Ta-er al-Sahfer said with admittance. She then looked over to Paula and smirked as she saw her fellow assassin nod in agreement. "And if you were to be more active in the League, I would be able to handle you quite a whole lot more."

"Thanks." Turning back around to survey the vast desert, Paula narrowed her eyes on seeing something shine in the horizon. Pulling out her binoculars, she zoomed in and saw the leader of the final caravan flipping on and off a flashlight. "Seems they've finally arrived." She then turned to her fellow assassin and asked a request. "Mind calling it in?"

The blonde assassin nodded and pulled out her radio from her waist to call it in the recent news. "Calling in, Aibnatu. This is Ta-er al-Sahfer. Do you read? Over."

After several seconds, Nyssa's voice was heard on the radio. "This is Aibnatu. What's to report, Ta-er al-Sahfer?"

"Final caravan's arriving." Spoke the Canary. "Approximate time upon reaching the gates will be ten minutes or less."

"Good to know. I'll report this to Ra's now."

With that, the radio went silent as the blonde assassin clipped her device back to her belt. "I should probably get going now."

Paula nodded. "That's fine and thanks for at least listening to my complaints, Sara."

The Canary, otherwise known as Sara, smiled. "It's no problem. Though sorry for not giving you any proper responses to your venting."

The Huntress waved her off a little. "It's fine. With Ubu suddenly showing up for a report and the final caravan arriving now, nothing much could be talked about."

"Not only that, but I think the responses I might give would take time to talk about."

It was roughly ten minutes later after the radio report when Ubu walked towards the stronghold's gates. The musclebound Indian crossed his arms behind his back as he looked towards the handful of League members opening the large gate. The group briefly struggled before a large creak could be heard.

Once the wooden gates were opened wide enough, Ubu saw the final caravan approaching.

"So you've finally arrived!" Spoke Ra's bodyguard as he eyed the group before him. He then called out to them and pointed towards the stables. "Hitch your mounts and follow me while others will unload the supplies! We must not keep the master waiting!" It wasn't long before many of the camel riders went to the stables and got off their mounts while the trucks went off to the side to park. "Quickly!" Ubu ordered. "Our time grows short!"

As the riders followed Ra's bodyguard, one of them walked into a dark alleyway.

Ubu noticed this at the bare corner of his vision. He quickly ordered one of his men to direct the others while going after the wayward camel rider.

When he approached the dark alleyway, Ra's bodyguard called out. "You there! Did you not hear me?" Rounding the corner, the musclebound Indian growled. "What is the matter with-?" The bodyguard was left in a state of confusion and saw no one was there. This was only temporary as his eyes wandered all over to find the wayward camel rider.

If he were to turn around, Ubu would've seen his intended target calmly walk across the courtyard.

'This is rather easy.' Thought the wayward rider. 'Just need to keep calm and pay attention to my surroundings while acting my part.' He adjusted his head wrap to be sure nothing could be seen underneath. 'Just keep my head low, for the most part, and I'll do fine. Along with the fact that I'll need to avoid getting people close to me to notice something is off.'

If one were indeed close to this wayward rider, they would see his whiskered visage underneath the headwrap.

At some point of his journey to find Ra's Sahara base, Naruto came across a suspicious looking caravan with several members wearing League getups. The Uzumaki quickly went into his Vanitas attire and hanged back to find a good person to knock out and play something he hasn't done since his years in Metropolis: identity theft. It involved knocking someone out and wearing their uniform/attire to help sneak through certain areas.

Sure the actual name of it is rather bad and should never be used on anyone, but given the current situation it's quite needed.

-Insert Arrow Soundtrack: Season 3 Storming the Castle-

Coming across one building, the disguised Uzumaki peeked through a small window and saw a control room. Across the screen laid the world's map as various locations were highlighted throughout the world. The hero wanted to know what said locations were for, causing him to attempt to go inside.

Yet his attempt was halted when a firm hand was placed on his shoulder before being tossed overhead. When the disguised hero landed on the ground, he saw Ubu stalking over to him.

"So my eyes did not deceive me." Spoke the muscled Indian. "You will pay for this trespass."

Ra's bodyguard and the intruder rushed towards each other for their own means. One to kill and the other to knock out before continuing in his investigation. When the disguised Uzumaki jumped towards Ubu, the muscled Indian quickly grasped him and tossed him aside. The hero recovered in the air and planted his feet against the nearby wall. And with a mighty push from his legs, the disguised Naruto leapt towards Ubu at a fast speed.

Coming close to his target, the former shinobi flipped around and kicked Ra's bodyguard in the chest, sending him flying into a series of boarded up boxes.

This act drew the attention of many League members, causing them to rush in to not only see what's going on, but to assist Ubu against the intruder.

The first wave of assassins rushed towards the disguised hero and the first one threw a punch. The attack was quickly countered with Naruto ducking to avoid the hit and delivering an uppercut before grabbing the assassin's head and slammed it against another. It wasn't long before he blocked a low kick, a downward punch before he spun around the one attacker and struck the assassin's back with a series of strikes. Once done, he grabbed the man's clothed back and tossed him into several of his fellow assassins.

Needing some extra from the crowding space, Naruto dashed away before he went loose.

The Uzumaki made quick successions with each of the following assassin's with elbow strikes towards several areas of the body when quickly switching from opponent to opponent. Even dodging the various hits on his person with some difficult ease, due to how trained these League members were. Naruto's movements were fluid as he jumped away and kicked opponents left and right that to some it seemed they were looking at a blur with how the masked intruder is moving so quickly. He had purposely taken some hits so he can grab some offending limbs and break them.

"You will pay for your transgressions, intruder." Said one of the assassins as a new wave started showing up.

After tossing an assassin overhead, after kicking his exposed back to collide onto others, the disguised hero whipped out his arms as a volley of throwing daggers flew out of his sleeves and struck a good number of assassins. As they fell, the masked Uzumaki dodged and maneuvered around a good number of arrows trying to take him down. Taking precisioned aim, Naruto threw more and more conjured daggers at said assassins on both the courtyard and at the higher grounds to take them out.

At one point, the hero created his escrima sticks under his loose sleeves before sliding them out to block incoming sword strikes. The intruder made quick successions of smacking the assassin's heads around with his conjured weapons. Blocking several punches, kicks and sword strikes with his escrima sticks before he ducked from a few opponents and spin kicked a few of them to get them on the ground before he immobilized them. Even ducking several times before he headbutted them, quickly grabbing their heads and slamming them down on his knee before he threw them at the other assassins.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Asked the Canary as she, Huntress and Sportsmaster watched from the sidelines of seeing the fighter was winning wave after wave of assassins.

"Whoever he is-is in a whole world of hurt." Sportsmaster chuckled as he popped his knuckles. "We should probably take care of him now before Ra's shows up."

The Canary and Huntress nodded in agreement as they rushed alongside Sportsmaster to help take care of the masked intruder.

The hero wasted no movements as he kept going on through many strikes at the growing onslaught of assassins. He bashed his escrima sticks against their heads to quickly knock them out before flipping over some of them, grabbed the back of their clothes and threw them at several more opponents. Even twisting around several times to evade the sword strikes at his person before he smacked the offending wrists in order to make the assassins drop their bladed weapons.

Just when he finished fighting up against the last assassin, by throwing his escrima sticks at him to quickly knock him on his ass, the hero soon saw a smoke bomb roll to his position and explode into extremely thick vapors. The covering blocked his momentary view, causing the former shinobi to form his Vanitas attire underneath his disguise. From there, he momentarily went to infrared vision to see three stand out assassins (a tiger themed woman, a man in a sleek metallic hockey mask and a blonde biker chick with a domino mask) rushing towards him.

Still using his infrared vision, the disguised hero dodged a sword swing from Huntress before forming his Kazekage escrima sticks to snag the enemy blade. Feeling the vibration in her sword and not seeing the intruder's weapon, Huntress used one of her hands to punch her opponent's head downward before kneeing his waist. This caused the hero to momentarily let go of his weapons, good enough for the tiger-themed assassin to pry away her sword before swinging towards his exposed side.

To her surprise, the hero quickly blocked the blade with his forearm before uppercutting her jaw with his other fist. Huntress staggered back before the disguised intruder delivered a spinning roundhouse to her stomach with a following one to send her flying back.

It wasn't long before the hero rolled across the ground as the Canary came at him with her bow staff as the smoke was starting to dissipate. The former shinobi turned off his infrared vision before he slammed his pommels together to have his Kazekage spear whole and swung to block the blonde assassin's strike. Their attacks were blocked, parried and evaded with precision. Though the Canary could feel her hands shake from her opponent's powered blows. At one point in their small confrontation, the disguised Uzumaki phased through her, thus confusing her greatly before she was struck from behind and thrown away like a ragdoll.

The hero soon heard something metallic clang onto the floor, giving him little time to spin around and dodged what appeared to be a metallic sphere attached to a cable and guarded handle. Seeing the attacker, the disguised Uzumaki saw Sportsmaster pull his weapon back before swinging it around like a whip and flung it towards him. With the attack coming towards him, the hero reared his arm back and focused a lot of power behind it as he launched it forward.

As his fist came into contact with the metallic mace, the weapon broke apart as several parts flew at random directions. With his mace now useless, Sportsmaster pulled out two metallic cylinders and pressed a button as its ends extended to form javelins. The hockey masked assassin threw the first javelin as it came close to the intruder before it exploded once the man kicked it away.

The force of the blast unfurled the head wrappings surrounding the intruder's head to reveal the obsidian glass domed helmet of Gotham's vigilante: Vanitas. And from their places on the battlefield; Sportsmaster, Huntress and the Canary saw this happen and widened their gaze.

'What the hell is he doing here?!' Huntress thought in utmost surprise.

"Seems I don't need this anymore." Vanitas muttered as he phased himself out of his disguise to reveal the rest of his appearance.

Quickly overcoming his shock and with the new opening, Sportsmaster came forward to strike down the vigilante before him. Yet the hero quickly grasped the javelin and phased it out of Sportsmaster's grasp before tossing it aside as it exploded soon after.

With Sportsmaster weaponless, Vanitas charged forward and fired off a volley of punches. The hockey masked assassin blocked the initial barrage of punches but as he makes the counter attack he gets hit with a palm strike to the face dazing him. The hero continues with a right hand punch to the gut and jumps into the air for an axe kick to which Sportsmaster barely manages to roll out of the way, the impact from the kick leaving an impact on the ground. The League member recovered quickly to land a left uppercut to the intruder, only for him to recover as if he wasn't even affected and countered with a hand stance and slamming both of his feet into Sportsmaster's chest sending him flying back.

Landing back onto his feet, the hockey masked assassin rubbed his chest as he felt the recent blow's result.

'God that fucking hurt.' Sportsmaster growled in thought. 'My armor's gonna need fixing and reinforcement after this.'

It was at this point when he saw Ubu get back up onto his feet as he brandished his clawed gauntlets. It wasn't long before Sportsmaster pulled out another cylinder and pressed a button to have the object expand and form into a rapier. The pair then gave a subtle nod to each other as they circled around Vanitas before rushing towards their prey.

As Sportsmaster thrusted his sword, Ubu unleashed a fury of blows upon the vigilante. Vanitas spun around Sportsmaster's rapier before leaning back to briefly dodge Ubu's ferocious strikes. Coming back up, the hero had to block the clawed swipes at his person, he grunted in momentary pain as Ubu attacked with the force of a power hammer. The hero went to the ground and evaded another rapier thrust before coming up and delivering an elbow strike at Sportsmaster's center.

With the hockey masked assassin staggered back, Ubu swiped his claws at the hero once more with his imposing figure. "For this indignity, Infidel, I will see you suffer!" Growled out Ra's bodyguard.

"Right~ Like when I kicked your ass back in the Himalayas."

This got Ubu to get more angry, causing him to swipe his clawed gauntlets at Vanitas. After dodging some of the blows, the hero quickly squatted before backflipping to send a powered kick towards Ubu's lower jaw. This got the man flying back and fell onto the ground.

Just when the fight was about to continue, a volley of arrows were shot towards the vigilante. The hero quickly formed his escrima sticks and blocked the projectiles. Yet one went towards his legs and exploded to reveal a device before it latched onto his leg.

'What the-' "GRAAAH!"

It wasn't long as Vanitas gritted his teeth and fell onto the ground on all fours as he felt his powers were fluctuating like crazy.

"It seems we have had quite the show."

Many of the assassins turned towards the source and saw Ra's standing alongside his daughters, which Nyssa had her bow out, at the top of a flight of stairs. Everyone either kneeled, bowed or stood in their leader's presence for his utmost respect.

Eying Vanitas' downed and struggling form, Ra's smirked before jumping down from the higher placement off the ground. He walked towards the helmeted hero, who was then roughly picked up by his muscled bodyguard to be presented to his master. Once coming close enough, Ra's saw Vanitas' attire start to melt away to slowly reveal his civilian clothing underneath.

"You are rather foolish," spoke the Demon's Head as Vanitas' bodysuit melted to show his muscled arms underneath, "or so brave." Soon the armor melted towards his helmeted visage. "My admiration for you was well-founded." Before long, Vanitas helmet disappeared in black and white wisps of smoke to reveal Naruto's face as he glared at the assassin leader.

"Too bad I can't say the same, Ra's." Said the Uzumaki.

From their respective spots, Sportsmaster and Huntress widened their eyes in utmost surprise once more. Neither expected that Naruto was Vanitas at all. And this didn't go unnoticed by Ta-er al-Sahfer as she looked at their eyes.

'They know him.' Sara thought. It wasn't a question, but a fact. 'Neither of them can't get that surprised that easily.' She then looked towards Nyssa and Talia as it seemed both of them knew who this man was as well. 'I'm gonna need to ask them what's up.'

"Shall I dispatch him, master?" Asked Ra's faithful bodyguard.

The Demon merely shook his head 'no'. "He is powerless with the dampener attached to his leg." He said as he walked away from Naruto. "But do search him. Make certain that he conceals no surprises which might enable him to escape."

Ubu nodded as he and several others ripped off Naruto's civilian shirt and patted down his legs for anything out of the ordinary. All that he has left on him were his cargo pants, combat boots and watch.

This caused the Uzumaki to struggle as he was being frisked down. "You have nothing to lose by telling me what you're doing here!" He growled out.

The Demon's Head stopped walking and turned around to face his successor. "Yes, I suppose I do owe you that much, Naruto. Since, in many ways, you are responsible for it."

"...You have me at a loss at what you mean, Ra's."

Ra's walked forward as he explained to the captured Uzumaki. "You see, I had hoped to achieve my vision of an earthly utopia gradually over time with my heir carrying on my work after I was gone." He then stopped in front of Naruto. "But your refusal to become my heir has left me no other choice."

'His heir?!' Yelled out Canary, Sportsmaster and Huntress in unison inside of their minds.

Ra's narrowed his eyes gestured his men to bring their captive along as he continued speaking. "For I must now use what I call the Lazarus Effect to achieve my utopia in one bold stroke."

Naruto merely rose a brow. "How?"

The Demon's Head pointed then gestured to the large structure nearby, which was several feet away from the control console. "The material of the Pit is an unknown chemical stew that bubbles to the Earth's surface only at certain key places around the globe." Walking up the console steps, the assassin leader then typed a series of commands. Soon, the rooftop of the metallic structure started to recede to let the Lazarus Pit waters to interact with the open air.

It was then that a large crane could be seen carrying a large black sphere as it was drawn outward and started hovering over the exposed Pit waters. "Even now, my people are placing bombs, such as that one, over the various Lazarus Pits around the world." Spoke the Demon. "And these bombs are electronically linked to a private satellite already in Earth's orbit."

"Orpheus."

"Precisely." Ra's started typing in more commands into the keyboard as he kept talking. "And at the moment when sun and moon are in alignment to cause the greatest upheaval in Earth's geomagnetic field, I shall send a signal to that satellite beginning a countdown." Once done, he looked towards the night's sky. "Five minutes thereafter, one bomb will be lowered deep into the heart of each pit which my forces have procured over the years. The satellite will, in turn, relay a microwave signal that will detonate all the bombs simultaneously."

This caused not only Naruto, but several League members not in the know of their master's plans to have shivers down their spines.

"The multiple explosions will result in a global chain reaction. All the Lazarus pits throughout the world will overflow. The globe will be saturated with their chemical solution. And when the resultant cataclysm has abated there will come a blessed peace. And this poor, defiled planet shall find itself restored to its former pristine glory."

"B-But that will cost countless lives!" He yelled out.

"Actually, Naruto, we have counted." Ra's turned around and faced the Uzumaki. "Two billion, fifty-six million, nine hundred and eighty-six thousand."

The feeling of utmost dread filled Naruto's very being along with the several assassins that were not in the know. And both the Demon's daughter were amongst the shocked individuals.

"A most impressive plan, would you not agree?"

Naruto looked down, cutting off the gazing connection for several moments. "Yes, I can see it clearly now for the first time." He said, getting Ra's to smile upon his successor. Though this changed when he saw Naruto look back up and hotly glare at the ancient assassin. "You are completely out of your mind!"

Ubu didn't like hearing this, causing him to lash out against the captured Uzumaki. "Infidel dog!" He growled out as he kicked against his exposed back, causing Naruto to tumble onto the ground. "This time I shall attend to you personally!"

Talia was about to rush towards Naruto's side and hopefully protect him from Ubu. But it seemed her father beat her to the punch by calling out to his faithful servant.

"Ubu!" Ra's spoke out, causing the muscled Indian to halt his actions. "I would prefer Uzumaki live to witness the realization of my dream." Ubu nodded as he roughly grabbed Naruto and hoisted him up to his feet. "Take him to the tower to await my moment of triumph." He said before walking away.

"As you wish, master."

Just when Ra's bodyguard was about to take Naruto away, with a pair of assassin guards, Talia rushed forward.

"Wait." She called out, causing the small group to briefly stop their actions. They wondered what Talia wanted from them exactly.

But out of nowhere, she grasped her former student's head and slammed her lips with his.

The action caused Naruto to widen his eyes and momentarily opened his mouth in a shocked response. Taking advantage of the moment, Talia slipped her tongue into his orifice. And after several moments into the kiss, the Demon's Heir pulled away as her hand caressed his whiskered cheek.

"To remember me, beloved." Was all she could say before Naruto was taken away from her.

The Uzumaki briefly looked back to see her loving, yet worried gaze as he was taken to the prison tower. It took several minutes to get there before Ubu brought the whiskered Uzumaki into his cell. Before he could retaliate, the muscled Indian punched his stomach and then shoved him into the wall.

As Naruto was being chained up by the assassin guards, Ubu harshly slapped the publisher's face. "Not so dangerous without your precious powers are you, Infidel?"

Naruto didn't say anything back, only glaring at Ra's bodyguard. Said man scoffed before leaving the cell with the assassin pair standing on guard until further notice.

The former shinobi eyed Ubu's form as he rounded the corner. After several moments, Naruto moved his tongue around inside of his mouth to poke something out from his lips.

'Did not expect Talia to kiss me, much less slip this lock pick in my mouth.' He thought as awkwardly moved his body to get himself close to one of his arms. 'Mouth's bleeding through, no thanks to Ubu slapping me and making the pick cut into my cheek and gums.'

Once done getting himself out of his chains, Naruto crept forward to the cell's entrance so he wouldn't alert the guards. Reaching his hands through the bars, he quickly grasped the back of their heads and slammed them to the cell door as hard as he could. Soon enough, the assassin pair were quickly knocked out cold.

'That was easy.' Naruto thought as he bent down and reached forward to grab the cell keys. Once nabbing them, he quickly unlocked the cell door and stepped out. 'Now comes the hard part.' He then pressed a button on his watch to send out a signal to his girlfriends.

Outside in the stronghold's courtyard, Ra's stood on a raised platform as he addressed his many followers both in person and by satellite to the other League locations.

"My children, we stand on the threshold of a great adventure." Spoke the Demon's Head. "Even now, the satellite Orpheus is moving into proper alignment and the moment of destiny is finally upon us."

"RA'S! RA'S! RA'S!" Cried out the many League members in both the present location and throughout the world.

As the crowd cheered, Talia came up to her father's side. "Father, it is not too late." She pleaded. "Surely there must be some other way."

"No, daughter. Your sister has already voiced her concerns as well, but the decision has already been made."

Talia looked away and turned towards her younger sister as she too had a displeased expression across her features.

Putting his attention back to his followers, Ra's spoke once more. "In five minutes, the world will be forever changed." The Demon's Head then motioned to his technicians to start the Lazarus Effect through the nearby satellite console.

As this was all happening, Naruto skulked in the shadows and quickly incapacitated several guards as he got closer and closer to the crowd.

'I need to stop all of this.' Thought the Uzumaki. 'But how?' His head moved all over to think of several ideas. 'The girls should've been here by now to help… but I'm guessing the signal watch is getting jammed somehow. So how can I reach them?' Yet his eyes landed to an armament storage room. A devilish fox-like grin then formed on his face. 'Ohh ho ho ho~ This will definitely help on both of my problems.' Looking back down to the downed guard, Naruto pried off a grenade belt before pulling off the pins and tossed them into the armament room.

The Uzumaki then ran away from the armament building as the cheers went on and on so he can get close to the satellite control console.

'Now let's start this off with a-'

*KABOOM*

A massive explosion occurred at the one section of the League's stronghold. A fire started to quickly spread as many rockets were shot out from the blazing inferno to spread the ensuing chaos. As a result, many League members were forced to flee for safety.

By the podium, Ra's looked onward with a shocked expression.

'How could this have happened?' Thought the Demon's Head. 'Has HIVE come to attack us?'

"MASTER!" Cried out his faithful bodyguard over the growing chaos. "THERE! BY THE CONSOLE!"

Ra's wiped his head towards the Orpheus control console and saw his successor quickly battling the technicians.

"Stop him!" Yelled out the Demon's Head. "He'll ruin everything!"

The muscled Indian didn't have to respond as he was quickly heading towards his intended target. Ra's bodyguard soon saw Naruto finish taking care of the last technician, causing the large Horseman to pull out and unfurl his whip. He then pulled his arm back before sending it forward to have the piece of leather latch around the Uzumaki's neck.

"Infidel!" Ubu roared ou as he pulled Naruto off the console and onto the ground. "You will pay for what you've done!"

Rolling across the ground, Naruto quickly got up and grasped ahold of the whip. "If you only knew how sick I am of you calling me that!" He yelled out.

With a hard yank, the Uzumaki got Ubu to stumble on his feet. This gave the former shinobi the opening he needed as he rushed forward to not only get the much needed slack around his neck but something to use Ubu's own weapon against him. As he got close, Naruto quickly punched the bodyguard's soap bubble like jaw to send him back before the man fell onto the ground like a pile of bricks.

"Now stay!"

As the growing inferno raged on around the stronghold, a voice was able to reach Naruto's ears.

"I have been called criminal and genius, yet I am neither." Naruto turned around and saw Ra's approach him. "For I am an artist."

"Then you're a very lousy one, Ra's."

The Demon's Head merely glared at his successor. "Perhaps, Naruto, it is time that you and I finally finish this." Ra's took off his leather jacket to present his athletic body to the growing fires around them. "For it's the only chance you will have to stop my satellite." The ancient assassin then took out his sheathed sword from his waist before pulling his dragon guarded sword from its sheath before tossing the later to the side. "Well? Are you man enough to face your better, Naruto Uzumaki?"

-Insert Batman Arkham City: Blood of the Demon-

Naruto looked to the ground and saw a discarded assassin sword. Picking it up and giving it an experimental swing, the Uzumaki twirled his acquired blade and held it in a stance that felt natural to him with it's blade pointed at Talia's father. Said man had one hand behind his back with his other gripping his sword up front.

"If you insist, Ra's al Ghul."

Without any warning, the two fighters lunged forward and they met in the middle as their respective blades clashed with each other. Both combatants held their ground in the contest of strength before pulling back to swing their weapons once more again and again. With how strong the attacks were, sparks seemed to form between them.

Naruto swung his procured sword at an angle to which Ra's ducked and jumped back to dodge a following attack towards his legs. The Demon spun around, swung his ancient blade upwards and brought it back down which was soon clashed with his opponent's blade to block the attack. Naruto momentarily moved back before leaping forward to strike Ra's side in hopes of getting close.

Ra's started forcing Naruto to move back and away from Orpheus' control console and towards the structure which was holding the Lazarus Pit. The Uzumaki knew of this, but had no choice as he couldn't risk his life in this endeavour without his powers.

As Naruto parried a strike towards his right, the Uzumaki received a roundhouse kick which staggered him closer to the Lazarus Pit structure's stairs. The Uzumaki briefly looked back to get his footing and placement right in order to travel upwards. Though in retaliation, the former shinobi fell down and kicked his opponent's legs before swiping his blade towards the ancient assassin's left with the utmost force. Ra's was momentarily put off guard when he felt the strike against his form though he kept going as they traveled higher and higher up the structure's steps.

The heat: a vicious, intangible beast hungry for mortal flesh. Standing in the cold night, there was the contradictory heat surrounding the two strong combatants. Each determined and each, in their own way, splendid. The battlefield within their area was filled with the clangor of clashing blades and the stench of bodies strained to the limit of human endurance.

And as the two men were locked in the most terrible of encounters, Talia looked onward with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. It was truly hard to tell if it was from the stinging heat, the sweat forming to close to her optics… or the conflicting emotions she has if she wants to save the very man who raised her or the man she fell deeply in love with.

'What… What should I do?' Thought the Demon's Heir as she looked off to the side and saw more and more League members fleeing away. She even saw her sister with her own beloved staying together and evading the chaos of the stronghold which was burning from the inside out. Yet their gazes went upwards towards the fight currently taking place as neither wanted to miss out on what will happen next.

Back with the ensuing fight, Naruto backflipped away from a forward thrust from the Demon. Landing back onto the steps, the Uzumaki quickly held up his knee to stop Ra's kick before punching the man in the face. The ancient assassin grunted in momentary pain before he spun around to strike at the former shinobi's legs. Said man was able to evade the attack just in time before he kicked Ra's back several steps.

The whiskered man jumped back from a forward thrust as Ra's blade soon buried itself into the rocky steps. Running up the steps, Naruto had to spin around and parried another sword slash before following it up with an elbow strike towards the Demon's neck. Ra's leaned back to evade the attack before he blocked an overhead swing.

Throughout this confrontation, both fighters kept their gazes at each other as neither let up in their duel to their possible ends. When they reached the top, Naruto reared his unarmed fist and used much of his strength to strike down the League's founder and leader. Once more, Ra's grunted in pain but not before returning the favor with a mirrored attack after sending a feint sword swing.

Even with the self training and the ones Talia gave him since coming to this world, Naruto was still at a disadvantage. He blocked another swing from Ra's sword with his own blade trying to read his moves and gain an opening. Even though he was at least 900 years old, Ra's al Ghul has proven why he was a formidable opponent. To Naruto, the man before him became one of his greatest adversaries he has ever faced in his entire life.

But this was a fight he couldn't lose no matter what. Because if he does, then all life on this earth will be doomed.

Another attack was blocked yet Naruto kept on the offensive while managing to block Ra's quick swings. The fire in his eyes showed he was determined to end it all for the sake of everyone he cares about. Now they were fighting to the death while Ra's was disappointed at the much potential Naruto possesses. No doubt he would have been a great leader and the League would have gotten even stronger.

"I offered you a chance to make your life something better, to protect more lives than you can ever do in Gotham. I gave you my legacy so you can turn it into your own, as the new Ra's al Ghul, you could have bring more justice than you can have ever done as Vanitas."

"And how many lives will be taken by taking your mantle?"

"In this world, this life there will always be sacrifices no matter if they're done for good or bad intentions. You will kill, I assure you, but more lives will be saved than the ones been taken." Said the Demon. "You have heard that term 'kill one to save a million' correct?"

Naruto glared at his opponent. "You really know nothing about me Ra's. I'm ending your ambition right here."

The Demon's Head showed no emotion as he quickly performed a roundhouse kick sending Naruto to the ground, who quickly rolled back to gain some distance from a sword strike. The Uzumaki showed more determination to defeat Ra's. Said man was able to block his attacks and at the same time the former shinobi was able to block his as well.

"Feel pride, for you have survived longer than most." Said the ancient assassin. "Though I'm afraid we'll both perish together, Naruto. Accept it. Time is running out and you have no choice, but to accept the inevitable."

The Uzumaki briefly glanced at the satellite control console as an idea formed in his head. "If I can't outrun time, then I might as well buy more of it."

Before Ra's could comment a response to what his successor just said, his blue-green eyes saw Naruto toss his procured sword into the air before grasping the blade. And without any warning, Naruto used much of his strength to throw, with precisioned aim, his sword at Orpheus' ground satellite.

"NO!" Ra's roared out as he saw the bladed weapon strike the console's satellite and destroying it.

"Huh. Didn't expect it to blow up like that." Naruto muttered. "Only thought of having the hanging cables get disconnected." The former shinobi glanced back at Ra's and saw the furious look across his features. "...Well shit."

The Demon came charging forward and tried to strike the Uzumaki down with his own sword. But with both of his hands free of any weapons, along with Ra's blinded by rage, Naruto was able to get in close and strike the man's sword wielding arm to make the ancient assassin drop his weapon. Not wanting to let the League's leader pick it back up, Naruto kicked it away as it fell over the edge and clamored down the structure's stairs.

Seeing what his successor has done, Ra's took a deep breath to steel himself. And without having to speak anything at all, the Demon's Head took on a fighting stance. Naruto understood the message and went into his own.

If they can't fight with their swords from earlier, then they would fight with their natural weapons: their very own bodies.

Once more a wordless signal was made, causing the two fighters to launch towards each other with their strengthened fists towards their opponent's chests. Neither dared to evade as both combatants striked true as the pair momentarily gasped for air from the pain. Both fighters jumped back a bit and readjusted themselves before continuing onward.

It was Ra's who acted next with his fast paced punches towards Naruto's head. The former shinobi quickly moved his body around to evade and counter the blows. Once swatting them away, Naruto jumped back a bit before leaping into the air. Ra's then brought his arms up, in an 'X' formation, to block downward kicks from both of his successor's legs. With a powered push, Naruto was able to skid Ra's some bit aways on the Lazarus Pit's opened surface before he landed on the narrow battle ground.

Going in for the surprise, Naruto dashed forward and tackled Ra's to the ground as the pair tumbled and rolled across the paved area. Ra's ended the toss up by slamming his foot down before pushing Naruto away. Both quickly got back onto their feet and the ancient assassin rushed forward before the Uzumaki could react quick enough.

Once close, the Demon's Head delivered a volley of punches. Naruto parried the strikes and spun around to kick Ra's away. The ancient man brought his arm up in time to block the attack. Yet this left an opening for the Uzumaki to exploit by leaping in the air and used his other leg to strike Ra's in the face.

The League's founder staggered back before blood seeped from his hairline as it started to blind his right eye. But with his other eye, Ra's quickly grabbed Naruto's leg, spun around and tossed him away to give himself some space. He then used this time to wipe away some of his blood from his face.

"Impressive, Naruto." Spoke the Demon as he saw Naruto land back onto the structure's opened top. "It truly has been a long time since someone has drawn my own blood."

"Don't I feel lucky."

Naruto dashed forward once more as he sent a right cross towards Ra's face. His opponent swatted the punch away before doing the same towards the other ones coming his way. Naruto then spun around to kick the assassin's exposed side, yet it was blocked. Not wanting to waste the momentum, the former shinobi twisted his body around to elbow strike the man's leg. Yet it was not meant to be as Ra's palmed Naruto's back and slammed him down to the battle ground, causing the publisher to cough out in pain.

The whiskered man rolled away to evade a downward punch towards his head, which left several cracks on the very spot. Naruto leapt onto his feet only to have met with Ra's own when they struck his chest. The Uzumaki staggered but he grasped the assassin's left leg and brought his elbow down onto its side which resulted in a resounding crunch.

Ra's gritted his teeth in pain before he punched Naruto in the face to send him away. The ancient assassin soon placed a lot of weight onto his right leg at this point to help out his other. Before he realized it, Naruto came forward and delivered a series of punches.

Seeing the fight from the burning courtyard, Talia widened her eyes in amazement. 'So much.' She thought as her legs seemed to move on their own. Before the Demon's Heir realized it, she ran towards the Lazarus Pit structure's steps and ascended them. 'You've grown so much, Naruto. Holding against your own against Father for so long. I don't know if it's by some miracle, your experience or your sheer dumb fox-like luck. But… But as much as I want Father to win, I want you to prevail!'

When she reached the top, Talia was able to see the blood splattered ground before eying the combatants. She saw that both were bleeding at this point, whether it was from their knuckles or from their cut up faces. There were even bruises forming on both their chests and arms.

Before she realized it, Talia saw her father delivering an uppercut towards Naruto's chin; sending him too close to the edge where he might fall into the Pit's below. The Demon's Heir gasped out in shock and was going to rush forward to save her beloved.

Though this was unnecessary as Naruto was able to land on his feet and leaned to the side to punch Ra's exposed side. From there, the publisher quickly went behind the assassin's back, grasped his opponent in a bear hug and performed a German suplex.

The resulting attack caused Ra's to tumble across the surface and fall over the edge.

"FATHER!" Talia cried out as she rushed over.

Naruto quickly moved as well and peaking over, both he and his former teacher saw Ra's was hanging onto a dagger's handle. It seemed that the Demon's Head quickly pulled it out and stabbed it into the wall to save himself.

Without thinking, Naruto reached his arm towards his opponent in order to save him. "Ra's! Give me your hand!" He said as Talia mirrored her beloved's action to help out.

Talia's father brought his other arm up and tried to use much of his strength to hoist himself up. Yet the pain from their recent fight was starting to finally come to him full swing. So all Ra's did soon after was bring his arm back down, much to Naruto and Talia's confusion.

"Well done, Uzumaki. Victory is yours." Spoke the Demon with a smile. "I was indeed right all along that you are indeed my heir, my successor." The smile then grew a bit more as it seemed to unsettle both Naruto and Talia. "Perhaps it is time I am finally one with the planet I so love."

Without any warning, Naruto and Talia looked on with widened eyes as Ra's let go of his dagger's handle; plugging himself into the Lazarus Waters below as the very pit that helped him give life swallowed him whole for his demise.

Naruto could only look away from the waters below him. He then remembered who was currently with him. Looking to his side, the Uzumaki saw his former teacher shed tears from her eyes. He scooted over and brought her into his arms to help comfort her from her loss.

…..

As the fire's eventually died out from the mountain stronghold, Naruto was walking towards the seaplane his girlfriends had waiting for him half a mile away from the League's base. With the power dampener now unlocked and off his body, the Uzumaki felt his powers were fixing his battered body. The tingling sensation was good in showing that things were working…

Yet his powers still didn't fix the damage that was currently placed in his heart.

Looking towards his side, Naruto eyed Talia -who was currently mourning her father's death- as many thoughts raged through his mind.

She betrayed his trust, she helped harmed his three lovers and betrayed their trust as well. Naruto honestly didn't know what to do as he cared for Talia. But with what happened… he didn't know what… what could happen next.

Both sisters were obviously against with what their father intended on his latest plan to save the world. It was long the category of the Moon's Eye Plan from his home reality with how devastating it was.

"...You must understand, Naruto," Talia spoke for the first time since leaving the stronghold, "I share my father's vision and seek the same ends but I do not choose his means to those ends."

Naruto could only sigh and run his hand through his hair. "I know and I understand… with what you and Nyssa want to accomplish."

"But… Where will I go?" She spoke quietly in the silence of the twilight sunrise. "Will I become your prisoner?

Naruto did not answer, but more than that, he was unwilling to. Instead… his body was beginning to move on its own. He could blame this as something automatic for comforting others or… something else.

His hands placed themselves on Talia's shoulders, the action causing her to shudder in surprise. Her face was inches away from his, her soft breath tingling his skin, but he did nothing else but stare.

The sheer allure of her blue-green eyes that glanced to the ground in embarrassment, and the subsequent reddening of her cheeks, all were not lost on him. When they did meet back with his eyes, the sun's rays seemed to brighten them considerably to be that of precious gems. Even for her, she saw his hazel eyes change in the twilight into a sparkling amber that made her heart beat faster that she can truly be lost in them…

Just like her thoughts as what felt like eternity.

The life that they had experienced together, and the journey that they possibly still had in their future.

He could still be the new Ra's al Ghul and she his follower… or vice versa with how he said in the past that either she or Nyssa could take their father's title if they wanted to. Regardless, Talia thought of them being together and raising a family that their children would take over the League when they were old and fading away.

The future had many possibilities and similarly many things that could go wrong, but nothing was truly set in stone. As all manner of thoughts flashed across her mind, something halted them completely.

Neither knew who did the action first as their lips pressed against each others.

All the feelings she buried from him had broken free. They flooded her entire being as her arms wrapped around him and held him tight...

As she was lost in the passion of a kiss.

Like a letter, a phone call, anything that was meant to deliver a message; Talia put her heart and soul into the action as she didn't want it to end. The Demon's Heir feared that if she let go then he would be gone from her life forever. The mere thought of it caused her to cry.

It was Naruto who broke the embrace and saw her tear stained face. He wiped the tears away with his thumbs before kissing her forehead.

"This isn't goodbye, Talia." He said, causing her to look into his eyes. "It's more like… see you later, alligator." This caused her to weakly chuckle in a pained smile. "After a while, crocodile."

Talia nodded a little with hope in her eyes as he walked away from her. He walked towards the seaplane while she walked towards her provisioned horse -with several days worth of food and water- to get to the nearest form of civilization. Hopefully she could run into other League members, maybe Nyssa and Sara even, before going to god knows where.

The Demon's Heir looks back once saddled on her horse to see Naruto's seaplane transport start up with the engines roaring. The propeller slowly spun before going full throttle. It turned and sped across the sandy dunes before rising into the sky.

As Talia motioned and steered her steed to their intended destination, she looked up into the sky as her blue-green eyes saw the dawn was finally breaking further through the twilight sky to help slay the rest of the night. Undaunted by the light of the Sun, Naruto's transport speeds away as if fired like a bow drawn hot. He and his lovers make it for home in order to raid upon the morne.

A phantom feeling overcame her as she rode across the dunes. Talia thought it was merely just the tingling feeling across her lips from their recent kiss to him brushing her tears away to even the kiss upon her forehead.

Though it was merely something else as she if she were to return back to the stronghold, she would've found something quite interesting.

Going back to the Lazarus Pit structure, the green steam seeped into the air from the waters below. If one were to pay close attention and filter out the churning bubbles the waters emit, you'd hear a soft chuckle. Not only that, but a series of scraps along the hardened rock. It wasn't long before said chuckle started to become louder and louder with the scrapes became more frequent.

And once a dagger dug into the very top with a slight bloody hand grasping it's handle, that chuckle became a haunting, bellowed laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

-End Chapter-

AN:

First off, sorry on the late update. Work has drained me and couldn't do much for the progress of things on the chapter. Along with the fact that I've been trying to not only find a more permanent job, but I've been trying to find a new place to live with my little sister/roommate. Sure the place we currently live at is good and cheap, but she wants to live in a bit bigger place. Have to figure things out by the end of the lease or else I'll have to go either month to month or try to sign on for another year.

Now to get this out of the way, I am so glad to have finally gotten to this point as this two-parter episode was one of my favorite episodes when growing up. From the fight towards the end and some of the music.

And most of all: Ra's maddening laugh! Oh dear god that laugh always gave me goosebumps.

Speaking of Ra's… he probably should not have been a main villain in Arrow as he was primarily a Batman villain through and through. And one of the things that seemed to tick off many DC fans was Oliver killing Ra's… and the man not coming back to life because of the Lazarus Pits. This made Ra's character severely less badass than he's in the comics because he's supposed to be on par with Batman and many other DC comic fighters. This is just the fact that Ra's trained Batman or at least partially trained Batman in some manner. Sure in the Nolanverse, Ra's did fully train Bruce before he went back to Gotham but in various other iterations, it was just partial on some techniques.

So going back to Ra's persona in Arrowverse, it was disappointing when seeing him get killed by Oliver, even though he was a much better fighter. I believe that not only I but other fans of the Arrowverse would forgive this bit if they did bring Ra's back to life via Lazarus Pit waters. But the problem is, they had it stated in the show that 'no one was brought back to life before' stick and that pissed off others that they didn't even go with this route. Not only that but this undermines the character in several aspects that he got his ass handed to him by Oliver who is not that great of a fighter compared to Ra's at all and they didn't even bother bring the man back to life.

No offense to Matt Nable who portrayed Ra's in the Arrowverse at all. He's a great actor and did the role quite well, but I blame the writers that they didn't do the man justice on doing character developments and all that fun stuff. On how he turned out, Arrowverse Ra's became the least best portrayal of Ra's. Both Liam Neeson and Alexander Siddig had far better live action portrayal of Ra's character.

If they had Matt Nable's portrayal be put as a semi-minor villain in Arrow instead of a major one with season 3, then it would be more forgiving as he would've been seen more and be more present in the series run. But I do admit he was rather badass on how he beat Oliver the first time and several of his plans, but that was just it.

So this is the reason why I'm going to be having Ra's portrayal in my story be more of a mix between DCAU and of the comics. These were the portrayals I grew up with and loved about the character…

Except for the bit on Batman Beyond with the creepy mind transfer.

I know they had this bit in the comics with Ra's albino son, Dusan, as the guy sacrificed his mind so his father can take over his body. But why in the world did they do this on Talia? It made me really creeped out along with fans everywhere.

So just to drop this bit of information for all you readers, I'm not going to be doing Arrow season 3 events… well to some degree. I will do a good number episodes from that season since I thought they were great and helped build up certain character developments. But I will be doing changes to them to make everyone happy.

And that means when I get to Arrow season 2 events, there will be changes to them as they're connected with season 3 and things wouldn't be all that great if I seem to leave them out.

Now with Talia, yeah… you guys can obviously tell she'll need to regain her trust in Naruto and the girls after what happened in this chapter's events. She'll want to romance him and all that fun stuff.

On other news; Margot Kidder, actress best known for her portrayal as Lois Lane opposite of Christopher Reeve's Superman/Clark Kent… has recently passed away. May you join your Superman in the big blue sky above once more. Rest well…

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R