Injustice: The Path to Hell.
Book 2: Darkness in the Light.
Chapter IX – Not as It Seems.
"Normal Speech."
'Normal Thought.'
"Demon Speech."
'Demon Thought.'
"Other Speech variants."
Location/Time.
Saturday 10th October, 16:50.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
Grunting, Naruto thrust his fists forward, each blow causing the punching bag to jerk backwards. Again, and again, his fists struck the bag as he grit his teeth in frustration, the battle against Black Adam replaying in his mind constantly. He hadn't expected to be able to win in fact, winning had been the furthest thing from his mind, yet he had hoped to at least put up a fight.
But he hadn't even been able to do that.
His 'fight' was a one-sided slaughter in which Black Adam had toyed with him for most of the fight. 'Kin of Kurama.' The title in which the former champion of Shazam had referred to him was playing on repeat in his mind constantly just like the fight, taunting him, reminding him of just how little he knew.
Even when he had been joined by Aqualad and Miss Martian, it hadn't changed anything it made it worse, Black Adam stopped holding back.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Barbara asked, entering the gym. The teams' fitness training session had ended a little under half an hour ago, the rest of the team leaving to get showered and changed. Barbara had thought Naruto had as well until she walked by the gym having left her water bottle here, only to find Naruto still here training. "You should rest."
Landing a final blow, Naruto turned to face Barbara, his chest rising and falling a little quicker than usual, sweat glistening off his skin but overall, he looked able to keep ongoing. "I'm not and I can't."
"Why?"
"Oh, come on, Barbara, do you have to ask?" Naruto muttered irritably as he wiped his face with a towel, Barbara frowning slightly at his words. "Look, I'm sorry about snapping. I'm Just irritated is all."
"Naruto, you can't be blaming yourself, are you?" Barbara asked, moving forward to take his hand.
"And why the hell can't I?" Naruto snapped, running his hands through his hair frustratedly. "I'm meant to lead this team, aren't I? Yet what difference did it make? Black Adam destroyed me and two of the strongest members on this team and if not the Injustice League would have done the same to the rest of the team. He could have single-handedly destroyed us, and I couldn't do a thing about it."
It was now that Barbara truly understood why Naruto was angry like he was. It wasn't them failing to stop the Injustice League because they had done that. Aqualad knocking out Atomic Skull stopped them from powering the plant antenna meaning the plant creatures had less effectiveness. But it was Superboy taking out the Joker early on followed by Atomic Skull that led to the plant creatures being useless.
With nothing powering them or controlling them it meant the Justice League were capable of taking out the plants quickly and easily before making their way to Bayou Bartholomew and provide them backup. Naruto had completed the mission and had by keeping Black Adam busy, a feat that she was still struggling to grasp as to how he did it, had ensured their mission was a success.
But that wasn't what bothered him.
What bothered him was that he had been defeated and if it weren't for the Justice League's timely arrival, Black Adam could and would have turned his attention to the rest of the team. That stung Naruto more than defeat.
"Naruto, you can't blame yourself for that. Black Adam, he's capable of taking on guys like Superman and Captain Marvel."
"And what hope do I have?"
Barbara shook her head. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. Black Adam, he's one of those guys we knew would be the biggest threats, that's why you chose to act as the diversion. Guys like Black Adam, they're not like guys like Talon. They're guys who, if they really cut loose can destroy planets single-handedly, possibly even more than that."
What went unsaid was that Black Adam had a personal connection to Earth, more specifically Egypt and therefore had as much stake in keeping Earth alive. While he didn't aid the heroes, he certainly ensured that when they fought, he didn't use the full totality of his powers to avoid planetary destruction. Something that suited the Justice League's style of fighting, especially the top tier members of the League, each of which was at the minimum planetary level beings.
But even that was up for debate, no one knew the full strength of the top tier members of the Justice League because of that very reason. They very rarely cut loose and when they did, it was difficult to quantify the true depths of their strength due to the sheer impossibility of it. No human, alien or being of any kind should in any conceivable meaning of the term, contain such power. But they defied that impossibility which is why people struggled to understand how.
Black Adam was no different, he was in the same league as the likes of Superman, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel.
"What did you expect, Naruto?" Barbara questioned, knowing that right now it would be best to stop this before it completely took over Naruto, the obsession to grow stronger. "That you'd be able to go from our level to being a top tier member of the Justice League in less than a year. Those guys are freaks of nature; their strength was gained over years of fighting against all odds. I'm not taking away from all you've done, but you shouldn't focus on what you couldn't do, but what you can do."
Naruto was silent, Barbara's words hitting him hard.
Finally, he relented with a sigh. "I know, you're right." He replied with a nod of his head. "It's just...frustrating."
"You heard the news?" Barbara asked, deciding to change the subject.
"About Zatara being our new den mother, I've heard." Naruto nodded his head. "What's he like, do you know?"
"He's a nice guy, a little strict and straight to business, but yeah, he's a nice guy."
Saturday 10th October, 16:40.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
Watching the team take Zatanna around the cave, Naruto slowed down. It was obvious from the get-go that while M'gann, Artemis and Barbara were eager to have another girl on the team, it was Dick who seemed to be the most eager. Even so, whether she was going to join the team was up in the air.
While it seemed like Zatanna would be willing to do so, it was her father who didn't seem too keen on the idea. And now here they were, showing her around the Cave.
"Barbara, I'll be back in a bit." He told her, seeing no need to stay around. Zatanna seemed like a nice girl, but there was no real need for the entire team to show her around and he would much rather spend his time doing something else.
Finding answers more specifically.
"Alright," Barbara whispered back and Naruto turned on his heel, heading back towards the main area of the Cave. Heading there he found Black Canary, Zatara and Captain Marvel still around, the latter of which he was hoping would still be around. The three were currently embroiled in a conversation, or he should say that Zatara and Black Canary were, Captain Marvel standing silently beside them.
"Naruto, is everything alright?" Black Canary asked.
Naruto nodded his head. "Don't worry, everything's alright, I was just wondering if I could speak to Captain Marvel. But if you're busy, I'll come back later." The last part was directed to Captain Marvel who looked to Zatara and Black Canary before shaking his head.
"No, I'm free." He said, waving to the other two League members before he and Naruto started to walk away. "So, what'd you want to talk about?"
"Black Adam," Naruto answered simply, Captain Marvel pausing momentarily. "What can you tell me about him?"
"Didn't you already read the file?"
Naruto frowned. "I have, but I want to know if there's anything else you can tell me?"
"Like what?"
"Do you know about anything called the Kin of Kurama? About why Black Adam has a connection to them?" Naruto asked.
Captain Marvel went silent, not because he didn't want to speak, but because he was trying to jog his memory. The Wisdom of Solomon aiding him as he searched through the information stored within his mind. "I do have something about the kin of Kurama. They were a group of nomadic travellers who were descendants of an ancient and powerful Demon known as Kurama. He's responsible for the Japanese and the Nine-Tailed Fox."
"So, they're descendants of an ancient Demon?" Naruto asked and Captain Marvel nodded his head. "What's their connection with Black Adam?"
"Erm, oh! Well, to be honest, this is a surprise." It was nice to have a storage of knowledge in his head, though it could be pretty weird at times as well when information just suddenly popped into his head. At times it was almost like having a Wikipedia page in his mind. "Turns out, the Kin of Kurama and Ramses the Second had a few, altercations over the years, but that ended when Black Adam became Egypt's Champion and made friends with them, especially the newly named head of the Kin of Kurama, Ashina Uzumaki."
"Uzumaki?" Naruto repeated, but he should have already expected this considering Black Adam was calling him a Kin of Kurama.
"Yeah, Ashina Uzumaki. He and Black Adam were, I guess you call friends for a while. But after Black Adam's wife, Isis was killed, the Kin of Kurama just started disappearing, one by one." Captain Marvel finished.
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "That's it?"
"That's it." Captain Marvel repeated. "Do you, er, need anything else?"
"No, that's everything. Thank you."
"Well, just let me know if you need anything else." Nodding his head, Naruto began walking down the halls in silence. His mind replaying the information he had just received.
"Naruto?" Megan's voice sounded in his head, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"We're going to leave to hunt down, Red Tornado." Naruto blinked, surprised by the sudden revelation. "Naruto?"
"Seriously? Where are you now?"
There was a feeling of discomfort that came from the other end of the psychic link. "We've kind of already left," M'gann admitted sheepishly, and Naruto released a long sigh. "We'll come back and pick you up if you want?"
"No, no, just tell me where you're going?"
"We're going to meet Ivo, Wally thinks that as a rival and former partner to T.O. Morrow that he'll be able to tell us where we can find Morrow and Red Tornado." Nodding his head, seeing the sense in the action, Naruto walked out towards the Zeta-Tubes, bypassing a worried Zatara and Black Canary along the way.
"Right, just continue to meet with Ivo and pick me up in Gotham along the way."
"Gotham?"
"Yeah, I got a few questions I need to answer." Stepping into the Zeta-Tube, the machine began to whirl to life.
"Recognise Maelstrom, B-0-7."
Saturday 10th October, 17:30.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.
Pushing open the door, Naruto kicked off his shoes and closed it behind him. He then began walking down the nicely lit corridor and up the stairs before knocking on another door. There was a momentary pause of silence that was broken by the "come in" from the other side.
Entering into the office, Naruto looked towards Jason Blood who was sat at his desk, a large, ancient text laid out in front of him. It was one he didn't recognise, but whether that was because Blood had kept it out of sight or had recently purchased it, Naruto didn't know. Either way, he made his way across the room and sat down across from his pseudo-mentor.
"Naruto, to what do I owe the pleasure? I wasn't aware you were coming around for training today." Jason said and Naruto nodded his head.
"I'm sorry about coming by unannounced." Jason waved it off. "But I need to know if you know anything about a group called the Kin of Kurama?" There was a pause, Jason's face shifting to show that he was aware of the organisation.
"I am aware of them, yes," Jason answered. "May I ask the reasoning for your questions?"
"Did you know I was descended from them?"
The look on Jason's face said that he had not known that at all, which Naruto didn't know how to react to. "No, I was not aware, though that would explain where your...Demonic nature comes from. If you are a descendant from the Kin of Kurama then that does show you are a natural Half-breed, but how your Demonic nature remained dormant to the point that I've never sensed it before is a mystery to me."
Jason had lived in Gotham for some time now and he knew that based on the personal profile Batman had provided and his research that Naruto had been born and raised in Gotham. No matter how minuscule, he should have been able to sense the Demon blood running through him, even as a small child. The fact that he hadn't led only more credence to his theory that there was someone out there purposefully nurturing a line of Uzumaki. Much like he and told Batman, he'd been doing a great deal of research on those that would have a personal stake in controlling the Uzumaki.
It was extensive and like he told Batman, there were some people on this list that not only was Jason wary of facing but Etrigan as well. That did not bode well, and the fact Naruto's constitution had gone unnoticed for so long further proved his theory correct.
As much as it was difficult to believe that Cadmus had done what sorcerers had tried and failed to do for thousands of years, successfully transfusing Demonic blood into a human creating Half-breeds, it was more believable than Naruto's constitution having escaped his senses for so long.
'But as a descendant of the Kin of Kurama, that means he was born a Demon, but how did they suppress his blood to such a degree that he came across as a normal human?' Jason wondered.
"Jason?" Naruto questioned and the man in question blinked, realising he had been lost in thought.
"I'm sorry, you were saying?"
"I was asking what you knew of them and if you knew about their connection to Black Adam. I asked Captain Marvel about it, but he told me that the Kin of Kurama and Ramses the Second weren't exactly on good terms. It was only because Black Adam became the champion of Egypt and forged a friendship with Ashina Uzumaki that solved the problems only for them to disappeared soon after Black Adam's wife was killed."
"Wait, did you just say Uzumaki?" Jason asked and Naruto's hesitantly nodded his head. "Are you certain that he said Uzumaki?"
"Yes, I'm certain," Naruto stressed and Jason collapsed back into his seat with a sigh, rubbing his temples. "Why?"
"Naruto, the reason why I agreed to help you, was not simply because you had Demonic powers and I was the only one who could help you. I'm aware that Batman asked many individuals for information and aid, he was quite adamant about helping you with your situation. But I found myself curious not simply because of your powers, but because of your name."
"My name?" Naruto repeated. "Uzumaki?"
"Yes, the Uzumaki Clan. They were very famous millennia ago, back before Christianity was even formed. The Uzumaki Clan were a family of Demon Hunters, very powerful, dangerous and skilled Demon hunters, the best there was, perhaps ever. I dug a little deeper after learning your name was Uzumaki and I found a little more information than I had before." Jason explained.
"Like what exactly?" Naruto asked curiously, a frown upon his face at the knowledge this secret had been kept from him.
Jason sighed. "The Uzumaki Clan, like I said, were Demon Hunters. It just so happened that their crowning achievement was also the catalyst for their downfall. It was believed that Christianity finally had a target upon which they could eradicate to expand their religion into Asia. Your family was believed to be wiped out, only a few members, very young children being spared and raised in Christian orphanages. But the problem is, the dates don't match up."
Naruto's frown deepened upon hearing this.
"After their eradication, information on the Uzumaki becomes sparse, the last recorded sighting of an Uzumaki, was one Mito Uzumaki in 2365 BC, in Japan. That's the last recorded sighting, but you're telling me that there was another Uzumaki, Ashina Uzumaki around the time of 1279 BC. Is that correct?"
"Y-yeah, I guess." Naruto stuttered, not entirely sure on the last bit. He didn't exactly know how he got that last date, so he just agreed with it.
"Well, that's where problems come about. Christianity wasn't formed until the first century. Long after the supposed defeat and then later the formation of the Uzumaki clan. Which means, Christianity didn't kill your family, simply erased all records of them. It's more likely, that whoever was responsible for the Kin of Kurama's destruction, was also the ones that wiped out the Uzumaki clan.
"It's fascinating," Jason murmured, looking like he had made a breakthrough and he had done so. "Then that means, that either Mito Uzumaki or her children, mated with the Kyūbi no Kitsune, Kurama. And the children from that union, formed the Kin of Kurama around the time of 1872 BC."
Jason chuckled out loud.
"Fascinating, just fascinating." He muttered once more, he had done what dozens of sorcerers and sorceress' had tried and failed to do for centuries, discovered what happened to the Uzumaki Clan. 'And not only that, but it also confirms that you are an Uzumaki, Naruto. I am sat across from the last living Uzumaki, ever.'
But as that realisation struck him, Jason also realised what exactly that meant. His theory on someone cultivating a line of Uzumaki was no longer a theory, but a fact.
"Jason, I'm glad that you've made this huge discovery about the death of my family, but can you tell me what the fuck this means for me?" Naruto asked, he was shocked, there was no denying that. To suddenly learn that you belonged to two clans or organisations one famous for hunting Demons and the other famous for being descendants of Demons was shocking news. But Naruto didn't have the time to properly process this.
"Naruto, I'm telling you that I've figured out just exactly what may have happened to you," Jason responded.
Naruto looked at him impatiently. "Then what? What fucking happened to me? I'm sick and tired of having no information? I'm tired of everyone keeping secrets and it's pissing me off!"
The normally bright blue eyes shifted to a blood red and Jason tensed up. Staring into the anger-filled gaze of the young man before him and eventually released a sigh. And he revealed everything he knew.
"The Uzumaki Clan were famous for hunting Demons; they were also famous for their selective breeding process. They would marry the strongest warriors from outside their clan, adding their genes into their bloodline and producing stronger children with every generation. You Naruto are a product of that breeding process." Naruto raised a brow questioningly. "Naruto, I'm aware that your stamina even without any proper form of training was leagues above your other classmates, is that true?"
Naruto nodded his head stiffly.
"And look at the rate in which you healed from the beating you suffered at the hands of Black Mask to then becoming Black Hood. Those injuries should have taken months to heal, but you were not only up and out of the hospital in around a month, but then took on the mantle of Black Hood mere days later. Does that seem normal to you?" Jason asked and Naruto paused.
Because at the end of the day, Jason was right, that wasn't normal.
"Then look at you in the space of that month, you grew a few good inches, which isn't uncommon for young boys, but look at the amount of muscle mass you gained in such a short space of time. The only way to gain such quick muscle gains like that for a normal human is through drugs, did you take drugs?"
"No," Naruto answered and Jason nodded his head.
"Uzumaki's were bred for one singular purpose, hunting Demons. Admittedly the Uzumaki genes had been diluted, no longer sticking to the original plan of mating with just the strongest specimens, but that purpose, that natural aptitude for combat was there within you from the beginning. It's why you were so much fitter than your classmates, why you healed so much quicker than a normal person and why with just the bare minimum of training your body rapidly developed and grew." Jason said in wonderment.
But he wasn't done.
"Don't just look at your progress physical, look at your development as a fighter. You went from fighting and winning at best, against amateur fighters in the Underground Fighting Rings. You then fought against Robin who is leagues above your level and the level of any amateur and even professional fighters, yet you managed to hold him off for a short time, while still recovering from your injuries. Then, a few days later fought against Deadshot and did better against him than you did against Robin even though Deadshot is a more accomplished and dangerous fighter. Then after a little under a month, fought Batgirl and not only pressured her but was winning. That progression is not normal by any stretch of the meaning."
"My Uzumaki genes?"
"Not entirely, most of that is no doubt due to natural talent and work ethic, but an Uzumaki's inclination for combat aided that progression," Jason answered.
"Okay." Naruto shook his head. "What does that have to do with my situation?"
"Everything. The serum you took, enhanced your physical abilities. As I said, the Uzumaki partook in selective breeding. After their destruction, that stopped and so centuries of that breeding process became undone, resulting in progressively weaker and weaker Uzumaki's. However, the serum I believe fully reversed all those years of dilution. It's just a theory, but I believe that's why you survived the process of unlocking your Demonic heritage."
The enthusiasm Jason had been showing up till this point dimmed slightly.
"I will not lie to you, Naruto, not anymore. I believe someone was responsible for not only the records of the Uzumaki Clan being destroyed but also for the disappearance of the Kin of Kurama after Isis was killed. Someone has not only been hunting Uzumaki, but I am certain they have been cultivating a line of them. For what purpose I do not know. But to go to such lengths...
"It cannot be good." Naruto finished and Jason nodded his head. "And my powers?"
"Like I was saying, someone has been trying to cultivate a line of Uzumaki and went to such lengths of hiding them, that they worked hard to suppress the Demonic blood within an individual. There's a reason that half-breeds rarely exist and why they're not more of them. That's because they're difficult to control. The Kin of Kurama were an exception to this, but considering they are Uzumakis', it makes sense why."
Jason shook his head, realising he was going off-topic.
"Half-breeds are difficult because humans are very emotional beings and Demons are highly susceptible to emotions. So, many have worked on ways of suppressing the power of a half-breed. There are entire texts on sorcerers and sorceress' performing these experiments as ways to learn to not only control but create half-breeds for their purposes, good and evil."
Naruto gave a short, humourless laugh at the last bit.
"One thing that always happened though, was that while suppressing the Demonic blood, was successful, meaning that they could fit in like normal people. However, releasing that Demon side once more and safely was impossible. As I said, half-breeds are emotionally unstable beings, that power is still there, and it just grows."
"Much like my powers?"
"Yes." Jason nodded his head. "Your powers are tied to your rage the greater rage the more power you can access. Now imagine that same power remaining there, sealed away and never being used, with no outlet of any kind for it. All that rage you feel would result in that power growing and growing. What happens to a balloon when you put a hole in it?"
"It, it goes wild."
"Exactly. All that air is released through that singular hole. Now imagine your power is the air, the balloon the body and the key, spell or whatever you wish to call it, that undoes the seal, is the needle. Now imagine what would happen."
Naruto didn't even need to think about it.
There would be years of rage built up making his powers more volatile and dangerous if it were suddenly all released,
"It'd be like Bialya all over again, only much, much worse," Naruto answered grimly.
It was Jason who gave a humourless chuckle. "Naruto, you survived the Bialya incident. The undoing of that seal would and should have killed you in Cadmus. The fact you survived is no doubt down to the serum and your Uzumaki heritage. Every other half-breed who had a seal suppressing their Demonic side and then having that seal undone was killed. They all shared the same fate."
"Death." That simple word left Naruto stunned.
Saturday 16th October, 16:10.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
Cave.
One by one, the team watched as the members of the Justice League were defeated by the alien invaders. Each of them stood watching over the satellites video feeds, Robin had pulled up. Watching as Earths strongest heroes were defeated, picked off like they were ants like they were nothing. It was a horrifying and terrifying sight to behold, a numbing sight.
Except, as the team watched it all unfold, none of them showed any hint of anger, sadness, rage or any emotion of the sort. They were numb and disinterested by the sight before them, it meant nothing to them.
"Red Tornado to Cave." The robot hero called over the comms, the sound of battle in the background heard. "I fear I am all that remains of the League."
"RT..." Before Robin could finish asking Red Tornado to return to the Cave, he too was gone, the other end of the line going static and once again, silence filled the Cave. Silence reigning, yet the atmosphere was plain and calm. It was as if the entire team felt nothing from watch their mentors and loved ones being killed before their eyes.
"We are Earth's heroes now." The calm way in which those words were spoken by Aqualad reflected the team's lack of empathy or feeling from the sight they had witnessed.
Superboy turned to Naruto and Aqualad impatiently. "What are we waiting for, a theme song?"
"A strategy?" Aqualad spared a glance to the absent-minded Naruto, Barbara nudging the blonde in the side jerking him back to life. The rest of the team each watched this happen and not for the first time internally questioned as to why Naruto had been like this, but he had for the last few days.
After informing Naruto of their plan to deal with Red Tornado and T.O. Morrow and learning of his location. They had contacted him but had received no reply and Kaldur had decided to go on without Naruto and deal with Red Tornado themselves. It had been unanimously agreed and they had done so, encountering a new android, Red Volcano. They had succeeded, but only with the aid of Red Tornado, Red Inferno and Red Torpedo, the latter dying in the process.
"Earths weapons are useless, and it has been made clear that a direct assault will not succeed." Aqualad's words rang true and Naruto who up until this point had been absentminded continued to remain despondent.
The bombshells that Jason had dropped on him a few days prior had been on his mind constantly, distracting him from the tasks at hand. In training, Naruto had gone from being the best to being the weakest, his mind elsewhere resulting in easy victories for everyone. But despite his best efforts, Naruto hadn't been able to forget what Jason had told him that day.
The conversation playing in his mind over and over again.
He'd been so distracted straight after the conversation that he hadn't been able to make the rendezvous point with the rest of the team in time. They eventually moved on to T.O. Morrow's base of operations and faced off against the newest addition to the Red Family, Red Volcano.
And even now, the truth of who he was and what could have happened still distracted him. He couldn't get it out of his head that he should have died in Cadmus and that he wasn't born a human. All his life he had believed he was, but that had been a lie. He was a half-breed, neither human nor Demon, belonging to neither world.
"Checking satellite imagery," Robin added, pulling up an image of the earth, numerous red dots popping up all over the world. "Here's where the aliens are now."
"This one get lost?" Superboy asked rhetorically, pointing to one up in the Arctic.
Barbara instantly recognised where it was. "It's not lost, it's by Superman's Fortress of Solitude."
"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?" That was news to Superboy.
"It's power source must have attracted the alien's attention." Robin theorised. "At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate." As Superboy moved away, angered by this new revelation of information about Superman, Miss Martian moving to comfort him, Barbara crossed her arms over her chest.
She, much like the others recognised that if the aliens managed to get ahold of the technology held within there then there would be no stopping them. As bad as things looked now, it would get worse, much worse if they didn't stop them.
"That's where we'll go first," Naruto ordered. "Find more stragglers if you can."
Despite giving the orders, many noticed the almost absent way in which Naruto spoke as if he were simply going through the motions with no real weight or authority in the way he spoke.
It was a worrying sight.
Saturday 16th October, 17:45.
Arctic,
Superman's Fortress of Solitude.
Moving quickly and quietly, Naruto and Batgirl crouched down beside Artemis as they looked at the alien ship parked outside the Fortress of Solitude. They had arrived around ten minutes ago and had studied both the fortress and the ship closely, but nothing had happened.
No sign of aliens exiting the ship nor scanning the surroundings.
No reinforcements, nothing.
It was as if they were simply coming here and waiting for something. It had led to the question of whether they had come too late, and the aliens were inside the Fortress of Solitude already.
"There's nothing in the Fortress, they're all in the ship." Miss Martian informed over the link, flying towards the ship as she did.
"Then what the hell are they doing?" Artemis questioned, something the rest of the team were wondering as well. Perhaps they had already stripped it clean and were studying the technology in their ship. But again, that didn't make sense.
The speed in which they had done so beggared belief. But in turn, defeating the Justice League as easily they had was a similar impossibility, or so they believed.
Reaching out telekinetically, Miss Martian ripped off a part of the ship. "Communications disabled. Propulsion's Disabled." Then the ship dropped to the ground, snow being thrown into the air as a result of its sudden landing.
Using this as a cover, Artemis stepped out from behind cover and fired an arrow directly at the large, red circular part of the ship. The arrow exploding and releasing a thick, viscous substance that covered the entire thing, hardening quickly. In response, the turret on top turned and fired numerous beams of energy around the general area of where the arrow came from.
"And the are sealed inside," Artemis called, the three of them bursting from cover and rushing towards the ship, dodging the beams of energy that fired upon them.
The distraction worked as Aqualad burst out from the ice beneath the ship, it sinks slightly and floating precariously upon the freezing water. Just as the turret turned to fire upon Aqualad, Wolf leapt forward, its jaws wrapping around a section of it and turned it away just in time so that it fired harmlessly into the sky.
As Superboy landed, holding the turret in place, safely pointing it away from any of the team, Kid Flash burst forwards over the snow, Robin flipping off his back and onto the ship.
Quickly he ran up, crouching down beside the weapon, his holographic computer coming to life as he typed away. "Identifying weapons structural stress points and links to the ship. Here, here and here." He pointed out to Miss Martian who at each designated point, fired a wave of telekinetic force that cut cleanly through the metal structure. As soon as she had, Superboy shifted his stance, holding the turret on one shoulder and gripping it with both hands, and pulled.
The weakened metal structure stretched, groaned and broke in places, little circular objects dangling out. Both suddenly sparking with electricity, something that Naruto, Artemis, Batgirl and Aqualad noticed.
"Superboy, move!" Batgirl cried warningly, but it was Wolf who acted first.
Ears perked up and eyes widening as if sensing the danger, it leapt through the air and body slammed Superboy out of the way. Wolf did so just in time as it was struck by a beam of energy, disappearing much to the shock of many. For the first time since this whole incident began, a feeling of loss, sadness and anger began to creep upon them.
So small amount that it went unnoticed by them all, but it was there, in the background.
"Wolf?!" There was a moment in which the entire team just stood still, unable to say anything. But just as quickly as the sense of loss appeared, it disappeared. Robin once again turning to the holographic computer.
"There was no indication of feedback. I'm sorry."
"Can't do anything for him now," Superboy answered, leaping up and taking hold of the turret once more. "Let's go." And with one final grunt of effort, Superboy ripped the turret clean off the ship.
Holding the turret, he leapt onto the Bioship, Miss Martian pressing both hands against its side, part of the ship branching out to connect with the bottom end of the turret. "Rerouting systems to integrate ships weapons into bio-matrix. I'll need to de-camouflage for a few minutes."
But it was at that moment that two more alien ships flew overhead.
"We may not have a few minutes," Robin called.
"Miss Martian, open fire!" Aqualad ordered.
"Can't, weapons system are offline to incorporate the new canon and it's not fully integrated either."
As Naruto, Batgirl and Artemis continued to make their way back towards the rest of the team, Artemis suddenly turned around and stopped, notching three arrows into her bow. "Got you covered! Get inside! I'm almost there!" She fired the arrows and continued to follow after Naruto and Batgirl.
The arrows striking true, exploding against one and grazing another. However, the ship that was struck fell and smashed into the other, sending both ships careening into the snow.
"Artemis, behind you!" Miss Martian, the team turning to see one of the ships preparing to fire. Naruto quickly spun on his heel, digging his feet into the snow and burst off back for Artemis who turned to try and fire upon the ship before it could fire.
But just like Naruto couldn't reach her in time, Artemis couldn't fire upon the ship.
"Artemis!" Miss Martian cried, the heart-breaking and soul-shaking cry of anguish piercing through them all. All of the team watching in horror as she was engulfed in a beam of light. And much like the Justice League, and just like with Wolf, she disappeared.
And to everyone, this suddenly all became real.
Too real.
Naruto's eyes widened in shocked horror, the sight of losing her so realistic and the feelings it elected within him so overwhelming that with a snarl of rage, he leapt forwards. A bubbling cloak burst to life around him, instantly jumping from one to two tails as he charged towards the ship. His body moved on all fours, bounding across the snow and zigzagging from side to side as he avoided the energy beams fired at him by the ship.
And with a snarl, leapt into the air and slammed his fist into the ship.
With the full force of his Two-Tailed state baring down upon it, the ship didn't stand a chance and exploded.
The rest of the team watching anxiously as the smoke slowly cleared revealing Naruto unharmed, his energy cloak slowly dissipating. There was silence, everyone turning to the spot where Artemis had once stood, and the feelings of sadness and loss grew. M'gann collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably as tears fell down her cheeks.
The rest, stood unmoving, eyes wide and unable to properly comprehend what had just unfolded before them. Just moments ago, Artemis had stood there beside them, real and alive, and now she was gone.
As soon as that reality hit them all, anger-filled them. Anger at aliens, anger at their weakness, they all found something to blame.
It was Kid Flash who blamed Naruto, the person they had all chosen to lead them. Someone who was meant to take charge and do what was necessary to lead them to victory and someone, who in his eyes should have saved Artemis. And he was angry.
Unable to control himself, his eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched down by his side. Eyes locked upon Naruto; Kid Flash began breathing heavily before rushing forwards in a blur of motion. It was so sudden and so quick, quicker than he had ever moved before and no one could react, especially not the target of his rage.
Naruto had barely a moment in which to see a yellow and red blur appear before him, before feeling a fist drill into the side of his face. Head whipped to one side, the momentum threw Naruto off his feet and through the air where he landed on the ground in a heap.
Grunting as he struck the ground, wind rushing from his lungs, he slid across the snowy surface a few meters, only to suddenly have the front of his suit being gripped hold of by the speedster. Yet all Naruto could do was groan out as his head rung, the sudden and powerful blow leaving his head ringing. "This is all your fault!" He raged, Aqualad and Batgirl rushing towards them to break it up. "If you hadn't been so distracted and led us we wouldn't be in this mess! Artemis wouldn't be dead!"
"N-no, this..." Naruto began, only to squint his eyes, trying to remember something important. Yet the act caused him to groan out in pain. "This isn't..."
"Wally, enough!" Aqualad shouted, pulled Kid Flash up and off Naruto.
"What the hell's your problem, Wally?" Barbara snarled out, gripping hold of Wally by his suit this time, only for him to smack her hands off him.
"My problem?" He scoffed, waving his hand to Naruto. "What's his problem? Ever since he spoke to Captain Marvel and went to Gotham he's been like this! Useless! And because of him, Artemis is dead! She's dead!"
"Wally," Aqualad said calmly. "Return to the ship and calm down. We can't afford to turn on each other right now."
Wally looked ready to argue, looked ready to continue the fight, but eventually let out a cry of frustration before shooting one last glare at Naruto, who remained on the ground, stunned by everything that had just happened. The tears gathering in Kid Flash's eyes were clearly seen, but with one, rough wipe with the back of his hand, he turned and stormed away.
"Are you alright?" Batgirl asked.
"I-I'm fine," Naruto muttered quietly, accepting Aqualad's hand and allowing him to help him to his feet. "Let's go. We need to get out of here before more come."
And as he began walking, both Batgirl and Aqualad shared a look towards one another.
Saturday 16th October, 19:30.
Washington D.C.,
Hall of Justice.
The flight to the Hall of Justice had been a silent affair, occasionally there was a sob from Miss Martian that broke it, but no one spoke a word. Naruto himself had felt the way the team looked at him, besides Barbara and Kaldur, they all blamed him however slightly for what had happened.
Naruto didn't know what to think.
There was a part of him filled with guilt, extremely so, but another part of him felt like he overlooking something. As if the entire thing that had happened didn't feel right and he should know why. But he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried to think, figure out why he felt like he should know something important.
But guilt, guilt for Artemis' death was the emotion he felt most.
After everything he had learned from Captain Marvel and Jason Blood about himself, the Uzumaki clan and the Kin of Kurama, he'd just been reeling from it all. No matter how much he tried, the sudden revelation and truth of it all just seemed to...surreal. His entire life and everything he thought he knew about himself and his family were suddenly flipped on its head.
And because of that, because of his inability to focus on the tasks at hand, he'd gotten Wolf and Artemis killed.
"We're coming up on the Hall of Justice now." Miss Martian said, the team looking out to see an entire company of soldiers, including three tanks that were firing upon three alien ships flying towards them.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto opened his eyes and glared at the ships. "Move up behind them." He ordered, the team pausing and looking to him in shock, having not expected him to suddenly retake command. They had been looking to Aqualad for orders, even Batgirl had expected Naruto to remain silent as he had. "Superboy, Aqualad, you're with me."
Rising to his feet, Naruto moved towards the centre of the Bioship, Aqualad quickly getting to his feet and giving a nod, Superboy rising to his feet slowly afterwards. Despite the shock of the order of dim him, Miss Martian did as he said, manoeuvring the camouflaged ship behind the three ships while opening up a hatch for the three boys. Instantly jumping to his One-Tailed State, Naruto jumped through the hatch followed quickly by Superboy and Aqualad.
As he fell, Naruto whipped his tail around, cutting through the turret before landing on the front of the ship. There he punched the metal roof, each strike denting and breaking the metal before digging his claws into it deeply.
With a roar, he pulled the metal apart and once more, his tail swung round, entering through the hatch and destroyed the ship from the inside. As it spun out of control, Naruto gripped hold of it tightly, looking to his left and right to see Aqualad and Superboy doing the same. There was a sudden jerk as the ship hit the ground, but he kept hold eventually jumping off once the ship came to a stop, landing in front of the army stationed outside the Hall of Justice.
The Bio-Ship lands soon after, a door opening and ramp sliding out down to the ground allowing the rest of the team to step out into the open.
Each of them was greeted by cheers from the soldiers.
"See, it is Superman!" One soldier explained, looking to Superboy, in particular, the S-symbol upon his shirt. "Told ya he wouldn't leave us out here alone."
His compatriot took one look at all the heroes and didn't seem convinced. "I dunno, he looks kinda young, where's the cape?"
"I'm not Superman!"
"I don't know who you are." An older, more decorated soldier stepped forwards, several medals decorating his jacket. "And right now, I don't care. You wear the S, and you got the job done."
Despite the praise, Superboy still didn't seem overly pleased. "I'm not Superman."
"Tell that to the enemy." Naruto stepped forwards, hoping to find a little more information about it. "General Wade Eiling. US Airforce." He greeted.
"Maelstrom..." Naruto took one look up to the Hall of Justice and the faces of the soldiers around them. "Justice League. We're here to help."
Saturday 16th October, 20:10.
Washington D.C.,
Hall of Justice.
Grunting, Naruto picked up a large rock, once belonging to the statues of the founding members of the Justice League and with grit teeth, began walking towards the front entrance of the Hall of Justice. His claws dug into the rock, gripping it tightly as he eventually deposited it next to the barrier they had begun to set up.
For just around half an hour they had been building up the defences around the Hall of Justice. The more experienced commander, General Wade Eiling had taken command, and his priority was to secure the Hall of Justice in preparation for an assault that the General knew was going to come eventually. As a result, Naruto, Connor and Kaldur were taking the rubble from the surrounding area and creating a defensive barrier. It was slow work, they having to move works in positions that would provide the best cover, but the best stability.
Wally, M'gann and Martian Manhunter were leading the soldiers out through the city undercover to find any survivors, supplies and weapon. General Wade Eiling was leading the direction of these survivors with the aid of Barbara, while Robin was studying the Zeta-Beams.
The entire team was hard at work, fulfilling the orders from the more experienced leader to best protect them all from an alien attack.
Dusting his hands off, Naruto let his powers dissipate as he looked to the sky. It was covered in black ash clouds, the landscape in the distance glowing a light orange as it burned. There were barely any parts of the city that hadn't been touched by the alien attack. But while the aliens had caused a great deal of destruction, from what M'gann had told them, a lot of the trouble they were facing was from their fellow man.
Even when being invaded, the scum of the earth still found a way to tear one another apart.
As the wind burst past him, Naruto saw M'gann and Martian Manhunter flying towards him out of the sky, the soldiers tasked to their search party returning with a group of survivors.
"Anymore?" He asked, Martian Manhunter shaking his head. 'So that's the last of the survivors? There's so few.' The frown on Naruto's face as he looked at the few dozen survivors. 'Why can't I just shake the feeling that somethings not right?'
"Are you alright?" Feeling a hand resting on his shoulder, Naruto turned to see that it was J'onn. "You seem distracted."
"I'm fine." Naruto shook his head, dismissing the older man's concerns. "Just, just regret."
"Over Artemis and Wolf?" It wasn't a question, J'onn already knew the answer, he had picked it up from both M'gann and Wally, more so the latter who still blamed Naruto for their deaths. "I would not lose hope, Naruto. I know that some on the team blame you for the deaths of your teammates, but none of you expected the attack, just like we did not. You are young and to be young is to make mistakes."
"Mistakes that cost the lives of two of my teammates." Naruto snapped out angrily. "I don't blame them for being angry with me, because I'm blaming myself as well. I've been distracted for a while and I thought that when the time came, I could still come through and take charge. But I didn't and now Artemis and Wolf are dead."
J'onn remained calm. "Then speak to someone, perhaps by talking about what is distracting you, you may be able to overcome it. The team rely upon you as the leader to take charge, you can't do that if you're too busy dealing with your problems. As a leader, you must be able to put your team before your problems, that is what you need to do right now or else you may lose someone else."
It was harsh, but Naruto appreciated the truth of it.
Saturday 16th October, 20:40.
Washington D.C.,
Hall of Justice.
"Open fire!" General Eiling shouted.
The few artillery weapons, M119A3 105mm light towed howitzers as well as a dozen M1 Abrams all fired into the sky at the dozens of alien ships that flew towards them. As soldiers rushed towards the rock barrier created, M4A1 Carbines were braced against the rubble, fingers pulling the trigger and firing bullets along with the artillery and tank shells that struck out at the ships.
A few were shot down, but many continued to fly around, firing beams of energy from their turrets. And inside the Hall of Justice, Naruto watched as Barbara, Robin, Wally and M'gann led the people through the Zeta-Tubes and to the Cave.
Things had lessened recently with the discovery of the fact that the weapons used by the aliens had trace elements of energy similar to that of the Zeta-Beam technology. This discovery was monumental as it meant those that were believed to have been killed could still be alive, just transported elsewhere. There was still a lot of blame going around, but this knowledge had helped in lessening it.
"Connor, Kaldur, with me," Naruto ordered, clenching his fists and making his way towards the outside, only for the building to be rocked with an explosion. Screams rang out, as dust and rubble fell from the roof, Martian Manhunter catching it with his telekinesis. "Come on, they won't be able to keep them occupied for long!"
"Belay that!" Eiling exclaimed, rushing inside, coming to a stop before the trio. "Can't have you three risking your lives here. The Hall of Justice is lost but we should be able to hold them off long enough for you all to escape."
"General…" Naruto began.
"That's an order. You and your team are the most important asset to taking back Earth from these bastards and I won't have you dying here. So, get out of here now! We'll hold them off for as long as we can." As Eiling spoke, the Hall of Justice continually shook with explosions, the sound of gunfire and explosions ringing from outside.
"We can't just leave you here." It was Connor who spoke, stubbornly refusing to leave behind the soldiers. "We can help you hold them off!"
Naruto and Kaldur looked to one another, sharing a stiff, displeased nod. "The Generals right," Naruto said, placing one hand on Connor's shoulder. "We can't die here, we'll get our chance to fight, but it's not here."
Connor grit his teeth, glaring out at the battle taking place outside. Eventually, with a huff of anger, he stormed back towards the Zeta-Tubes, the three watching him go. "Thank you, General and good luck," Kaldur said, gripping the hand of Eiling who returned it.
"And to you too, heroes."
Saturday 16th October, 21:30.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
Cave.
"So that's the plan?" Dick asked, looking towards the team. All of them stood around, looking at the holographic image of the earth, red lights blinking to show the positions of alien known alien ships. The largest dot indicating the position of the mothership being placed in Smallville.
"Yeah, me, Kaldur and Connor run diversion." Naruto listed, face stone-faced much like everyone else's. "M'gann and Martian Manhunter sneak inside, disable communications and open a hatch for the rest of the team to enter in. There the priorities will be to find where the prisoners are being kept and destroy the ship. Volunteers for each?"
"I'll search for prisoners," Wally spoke up quickly and nods were shared. Kid Flash was the one Naruto had wanted for that job the most, but in a situation like this, he wanted people to volunteer for roles. He wanted them to understand the risks as well as the responsibilities they bore and to still go ahead and chose to do so. As much as Naruto could and perhaps should hand out roles and responsibilities to people, he didn't want to do that.
"M'gann and I will as well." Martian Manhunter concurred, his niece nodding her head.
While M'ganns' powers weren't as developed as Martian Manhunters, she was currently the most powerful telepath they had. Whatever happened to the Justice League member had weakened his powers a great deal. But even so, having Wally with his speed and two Martians using telepathy to scout out the ship for signs of life was the best team makeup for the role of rescuing prisoners.
"I guess that leaves me and Robin to take out the core," Barbara said, she and her long-time crime-fighting partner sharing a nod of agreement.
"Alright." Naruto took a deep breath. "Get some rest, something to eat, we finish this tomorrow."
Saturday 16th October, 22:00.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
Cave.
Releasing a sigh, Naruto zipped up the hoodie he was wearing and pushed open the door to his room, stepping out into the corridor. There was a bustling group of men and women, the survivors rescued in Washington D.C and transported to the Cave, all making their way towards the main area.
Each had been assigned rooms, some having to bunk up with others. Naruto himself was sharing with Kaldur and Connor due to there being a lack of rooms available for everyone. He had just finished having a shower to remove some of the dirt and grime on him, Kaldur and Connor having gone first. And from the looks of things, those making their way to the main area had done the same.
But the thing that caught his attention was the smell in the air.
Food.
Taking a few deep breaths to take in the smell further, Naruto stepped out into the main area to find that quite a few people had chipped in to help prepare the food for the people here. Moving forwards, he was greeted by M'gann who held a plate of food in either hand.
"Naruto! Have you seen, Barbara?" Naruto rose a brow in questioning to M'ganns' words, he had thought Barbara was already here.
"No, hasn't she come yet?"
"Not yet."
Extending his hand, he took hold of both plates. "Alright, I'll go take these to her."
Flashing him a smile, M'gann made her way back towards the rest of the team were. Naruto meanwhile, made his way back down the corridor towards M'ganns room in the Cave, she and Barbara bunking together.
He gave a knock, waiting momentarily. "Barbara?" He called, knocking again only to receive no answer. "Barbara!"
Suddenly he heard a groan, before the door slid open, a dishevelled and sleepy Barbara standing in the door. Naruto blinked in shock at the sight, though a smile came onto his face soon after.
"Hello there."
"Shut up." She muttered, taking the plate he offered her. "I just laid down on the bed and fell asleep without realising it."
Naruto chuckled. "Can I come in? It's quite hectic out there?" Barbara nodded her head and Naruto followed her inside. The single bed was still there, the spare blankets and pillows that had been distributed to the people were laid out in a fashion similar to what had been set up here, a makeshift futon of some kind.
Both of them moved forwards, sitting down upon Barbara's 'bed,' backs resting against the wall. "Don't know how you managed to fall asleep on this, it isn't that comfortable."
"I could say the same about your old bed, that was just awful." Barbara shot back.
"Touché." He laughed, both enjoying their meal in silence.
Eventually, Barbara broke the silence. "Are you serious about tomorrow?" She asked. "Going out there and acting as a diversion? I don't want to sound, like a bitch, but can't you leave it to Kaldur and Connor? They're strong."
"I can't do that," Naruto responded with a frown. "I get what you mean, I know what is expected of me, Kaldur and Connor for tomorrow. I can't ask them to make that sacrifice and not be willing to do it myself."
Barbara put down her empty plate, bringing her legs up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them, curling up into a ball. "I know that, but it's a suicide mission. You…there's no coming back from that mission. You three, you'll attack, draw all their attention to you, there's no way you're surviving that."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Come on, Naruto, I know how strong you are. You were dominating the sparring sessions with Kaldur and Connor up until recently with whatever's been distracting you. But this, those aliens, they killed the Justice League, Superman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman. They lost and you're…"
"Not on that level, I know." Naruto leaned back. "But I don't have a choice. I've made mistakes, a lot recently. I guess you could say that this is my way of redeeming myself."
Barbara turned to him angrily. "Redeeming yourself? That, that's what you call it? Killing yourself to redeem your mistakes? That doesn't change anything. It just, it just seems like you're trying to run away from your mistakes, from whatever's been bothering you. That's not like you Naruto, hell I've been noticing a lot of changes with you."
Naruto remained silent, just continuing to look across the room.
"I know that you changed or, just started showing who you were after you were put in the hospital by Black Mask." Barbara continued. "And you've changed again after Cadmus. I've been saying this a lot, to myself and you, but I don't know everything that's going on with you, especially recently, but you're different. And I mean seriously different. To me, you changed after Black Mask, then I didn't see it at first so happy to see you back, but you changed after Cadmus again and now, it's like you don't even know what to do with yourself."
"I'm half-demon." The suddenness of his words caught Barbara by surprise, she reeling back in shock.
"W-what?"
"Black Adam called me a descendant of the Kin of Kurama. I didn't have a clue who or what they were. I went to Captain Marvel when you were giving Zatanna a tour. He told me some things, mainly their connection to Black Adam. So, I went to Gotham, met with Jason and asked him for more information."
He ran one hand through his hair, scratching his head momentarily. "He told me that, the Kin of Kurama, they're a family, a group of half-demons descended from the Kyūbi of Japanese myth. But they, just like me are descended from a family of Demon Hunters, the Uzumaki clan." Naruto explained, Barbara, listening with rapt attention. "When you said that I'm lost, you're right, I am."
"I became Black Hood to put an end to Black Mask, then it was to beat the Court of Owls. But I started questioning what I was doing when I was there, Batman, Talon, they both had things to say that I agreed with. After that, there was the Suicide Squad and Deathstroke all that shit. I became a merc because, out of everyone who tried to manipulate me, Slade knew me best and he knew exactly what to say and look what that got me, a sword through the chest and being given to Cadmus as a fucking lab rat."
Both Naruto and Barbara frowned at what he was saying. "I didn't know what to do with myself after that, being Black Hood just tore apart my relationships" The reference to their failed friendship as a result of his former alter ego, made Barbara turn away in guilt. "Being Marauder just made me a lab rat. I ain't had the best of luck when it came to life, but I've always been certain about one thing. Who I am and what I'm going to do? But after Cadmus, I had no idea what to do with myself, and now, I don't even know what I am."
"That's bullshit!" Barbara snapped, both looking at one another. "You're Naruto Uzumaki, always have been and always will be. So, fucking what if you're not entirely human, so what if your family was a group of Demon Hunters. You didn't know that before nor did that affect who you were and are. You became, Naruto Uzumaki without knowing any of that and just by knowing that doesn't change who and what led you to become the person you are. You're Naruto Uzu-fucking-maki and being a half-demon doesn't change shit. You don't have to live up to any expectations because you've never cared about what other people expected of you before, why should that matter now?"
Naruto was silent, looking to Barbara with a look of wonderment on his face. He eventually ran a frustrated hand through his face, shoulders shaking as he let out a low chuckle.
"You give the worst pep talks." He muttered.
"Really? I thought I did a pretty good job. Though I did learn it from you, so yeah, it probably was shit."
Naruto barked out a laugh. "More than likely." Reaching round, he wrapped one arm over her shoulders, bringing her in for a hug. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Sunday 17th October, 07:00.
Kansas,
Smallville.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked out at the approaching ship in the distance as they flew closer. He took one look around at the team, the bioship was silent and tense as they made their way towards the mothership. Every metre that they crossed, the more the weight of what to come dawned upon them. And it grew heavier and heavier the closer they got.
He could see them all, nervously tapping their feet a light sweat forming on their brows, breath uneven and unsteady. Each of them knew that the chances of themselves or someone they cared for dying were high, and it terrified every single one of them.
Naruto was no different.
Looking down at his hands, Naruto saw them shaking and taking a deep breath, Naruto clenched his fists. It didn't work as well as he would have liked, and Naruto turned towards Barbara. Her feet were bouncing as she fiddled with the utility belt around her waist, a clear sign of nervousness that Naruto realised he'd never seen in her before.
As if feeling his gaze on her, Barbara turned.
They didn't say anything, just looked at one another, as if trying to memorise every detail of one another. "It's time." Martian Manhunter spoke and the moment of silence was broken. The tense atmosphere grew tenfold, the nervousness and even fear of everyone in the room seemed to grow tenfold.
Naruto flashed Barbara a small smile, that he hoped would provide her with some measure of comfort before pulling on his mask.
He, Aqualad and Superboy rose to their feet and moved to the centre of the ship. "I'll start things off," Naruto said. "Drawing their attention to me allowing you two to deal the main attack."
Both Kaldur and Connor nodded their heads, neither saying a word as a hatch began to open up before them. Naruto took numerous deep breaths in and out, closing his eyes as he quelled his rising nerves. Then when he opened them, they flashed red, pupils shifting into slits as he stepped through the hatch.
The wind rushed around him as he fell through the air towards the alien mothership below.
Drawing from within himself, Naruto pulled as much of his power as he could and as a cloak formed around him, two tails sprouting to life, Naruto released a powerful roar. Landing on the ship, Naruto bent his knees to better absorb the impact force before pushing himself forwards.
The turrets that had turned to fire on him missed completely as he burst across the surface of the ship in a blur.
While his progress in earning control of three tails was taking longer than he would have liked, Naruto had started to learn how to use powers a little better. He was able to manipulate and move his cloak at will, using it similarly as he had against Black Adam where he made a large claw.
But most of his improvement was learning to fight alongside his instincts. As a bipedal creature, Naruto's natural inclination was to move and fight on two feet. On the other hand, when using his powers, his instincts changed, and he wanted to move and fight as a quadrupedal creature.
When fighting, he was not only resisting the urge to lose control but trying to fight against his instincts to drop down on all fours. But even then, he was not very successful and often during the heat of battle, without even realising he would drop onto all fours.
One thing he had been working on with the help of Jason Blood, Black Canary and the team, mainly Connor, Kaldur and Barbara was creating a new fighting style suited to his demonic powers and the instincts that came with it. Was it perfect? No, far from it, it was still a work in process, and he was far from mastering it. But he no longer had the problem of resisting his instincts when using his powers.
A small, simple thing it may seem, but it was not to be underestimated.
How he moved was fluid, all his limbs and muscles working in conjunction that allowed him to move far faster than he had ever done before. And as he bounded across the ground, occasionally his tails would whip out, cutting through turrets with ease. Other times knocking them away and firing upon other turrets.
All the while the motherships defences turned to focus on him.
Which was exactly what Naruto wanted.
At that moment, Superboy dropped to the ground, Aqualad following behind him. A second hatch opening up in bioship and out from it flowed a large torrent of water fell, it collected from a lake they had stopped at nearby.
As they fell, Kaldur took control of the water with his Water-bearers, directing the flow into a single concurrent force that smashed into numerous turrets, crushing them under its force. As soon as he landed, Kaldur kept control not shifting or changing the water into a shape other than a pillar, directing it around and striking out at turrets in a similar fashion to how Naruto's tails worked. But whereas Naruto's tails cut through them because he shifting them more into edged blades, Kaldur kept it as a pillar.
The two of them worked in conjunction to keep turrets away, Naruto occasionally blitzing towards closer defences and tearing them apart with his bare hands. Connor meanwhile, using the relative safety which Kaldur and Naruto provided him, leapt through the air and landing, powerful blows lashing out and destroying turrets with ease.
"Where in," M'gann called over the link, the three of them sharing a nod, pleased that their work had gone rewarded with success.
"You know your roles, find the prisoners, get them out then destroy the core," Naruto ordered, receiving affirmations in turn. "Aqualad, cover the rear, Superboy follows behind me, were moving up further, clear the top and work our way down from there."
"We doing this then?"
Connor's words made Naruto pause momentarily, Kaldur directing his water to protect him from a beam. "Maelstrom!"
Shaking his head, Naruto growled, tails lashing out and cutting through several more turrets. "You heard me, Superboy,"Naruto called out. "We might as well try and take out as many turrets as possible. The higher we go, the less there is, and we can work our way down from there. Clearing it to level by level. I'll take point."
"On it." Both Kaldur and Connor shared their agreements.
Tensing his body, Naruto burst forwards, clawed hand driving a turret into the ground and crushing it under the force. Meanwhile, his tails whipped out, cutting two others down before using it as a springboard to throw him higher up the ship. Connor followed after him while Kaldur manipulated the water he had brought with him to carry him up.
They fought and they fought, constantly pushing themselves to the limit as they drew as much attention to themselves as possible. But there seemed to be no end, the size of the ship was large and its defences great.
"Guys, there are no prisoners. The turrets they…" There was a pause no one knowing how to react to the news. Despite Kid Flash never finishing his sentence, they all knew what he meant.
"The plan doesn't change." But Naruto didn't let it get to him, focusing purely on the fight going on around him. "Batgirl, Robin, move to the core and plant the explosives. MM, KF, Manhunter, be there to help evacuate them if need be."
With his orders given, Naruto looked towards Kaldur and Connor. They were all holding out well, but they were beginning to struggle. The upper levels possessed fewer defences considering the narrower it got. But as they began working their way down, they were facing heavier fire from the increasing number of turrets they faced.
And gradually, little cracks began to form.
With more and more water being destroyed with every beam that struck them, Kaldur was struggling to provide the defence he had given before. Even so, the three continued to push themselves forwards, constantly moving and trying to take out as many defences. But with the weakening defences, it was getting harder and harder to keep themselves out of harm's way.
Eventually, there was going to be a mistake.
In a moment, none could have avoided in time, a beam of energy was fired upon the back of Superboy. Kaldur in response, as he had done before, moved the water under his command to try and block the strike.
But the lack of water he had proved to be a monumental failure that at the moment, had escaped all their notice.
It didn't move in time and the beam struck Connor in the back, it subsiding to reveal him gone. There was a scream of horror sounding over the link, both Kaldur and Naruto gripping their heads in pain. Both trying to block out the sound as best as they could, but without much look.
A spike of anger inside Naruto made his powers grow, seeming to forcibly break the connection between him and the team. By instinct, he dived to one side and this broken connection would prove to be the very thing that seemed to have saved Naruto's life.
He recovered quickly, regaining control of his senses just in time to see numerous turrets fire on Kaldur.
Naruto burst forwards.
He pushed himself further and further. 'I'm not letting you die as well!' He thought angrily, gritting his teeth as he bounded across the ground and unknown to him, he moved quicker and quicker. His cloak bubbled angrily as a third tail began to form, but it wasn't enough.
He reached out with one hand, trying to get to Kaldur in time to save his life. Yet it wasn't to be, numerous beams struck Kaldur and when they dissipated, Kaldur was gone, much like Connor.
Naruto was left there, panting heavily, eyes wide in shocked horror.
Kneeling, Naruto just looked down at his hands, unable to move as he came to terms with what had happened. Everything had been going so well and then suddenly, everything had spiralled out of control.
'Damnit, it's my fault!' He cursed himself for what had happened, blaming himself for everything. Even as the turrets began to fire upon him, the beams of light closing upon him slowly, he didn't move.
But before he could think about anything further, he felt something. A chill goes down his spine as if he were being watched as if he were prey being hunted by a predator. Slowly, Naruto rose to his feet when suddenly the feeling changed to one of dread. Someone was exuding an intent to kill, and it struck Naruto like a blow.
Quickly he turned around and found himself in a completely different surrounding. Gone was the mothership and the open area of Smallville and he once again found himself in the same sewer as the place he had been in at Cadmus. Murky water up to his shins, high walls that disappeared up into the shadowed sky and never-ending tunnel.
Slowly, Naruto began to move forwards, following the feeling of dread, moving towards where it was strongest and once again, he found himself in front of the cage. "So, it's you," Naruto muttered, hearing the mocking laughter coming from the other side of the cage, blood-red eyes peeking out from the shadows.
"So, you've come."
"You can talk? Who are you?" Again, laughter sounded, and a clawed hand extended out towards him.
"Why don't you come and find out. I'll show you."
Naruto frowned. "You think I'm stupid? The moment I take your hand you'll kill me or something else."
"I can't. This cage indicates that you are the one in charge. I can't hurt you so long as I'm here. If you were to open the gate." The hand indicated where there was a door for him to open. "Then I could. Are you sure you don't want to know who I am, doesn't my voice sound familiar?"
Clenching his fists, Naruto cautiously moved forwards, his eyes peering into the darkness in an attempt to try and get an idea of who those eyes belonged to. But he could find nothing, the darkness seemed to only grow stronger, ensuring Naruto couldn't see who it was in the cage. And so, with great trepidation, he took the clawed hand.
Suddenly the grip on his hand became tight, but the claws never once dug into his skin. And while he was tugged forwards, Naruto managed to grasp hold of the bars and stop himself before he smashed headfirst into them.
"What happened to not being able to hurt me?" Naruto grunted, trying to pull his hand free.
"I'm not." Then the figure moved forwards, revealing himself to Naruto whose eyes widened, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. "I just wanted to get a good look at you."
For there, behind the cage, was himself.
So here we are, another chapter is done and hopefully, you enjoyed it. Naruto has been revealed to be a natural-born half-breed, a little more information about the Uzumaki clan and their process of selective breeding has also come to light. This I took inspiration from the Kure Clan in Kengan Ashura which I think would fit well with a DC clan of Demon Hunters. Not only that, but Ashina Uzumaki (a canon Uzumaki for those of you who don't know) was a friend of Black Adam and the leader of the Kin of Kurama (don't think I need to explain who that is, more on him to come later).
However, this information did have effects on Naruto leaving him incredibly confused and lost as to who he is. Information that can be incredibly shocking and resulted in Naruto struggling to handle the information, especially the truth about his family's history and who he is. Is he human? Demon? Both? Neither? Which I think is something that a lot of would struggle with and that resulted in Naruto being incredibly inept at the beginning of the scenario. Of course, when it became 'real' he snapped out and took control and even worked to redeem himself by sacrificing himself. Though when in that coma-like state, he had a weird encounter and not the first or last of its kind.
Now I just want to clarify why I skipped over the Red Volcano arc and that's because, like above, suddenly having this huge revelation dumped on you would be a huge shock. Therefore, I think Naruto would have gotten in the way rather than been a help to the Team. And I've taken your complaints about Naruto being weak and underpowered, as wrong as they are, onboard and decided to cut out that part. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and now, let's get onto the questions (once again if I haven't replied then it's because I've sent you a PM):
Guest: Possibly in the future, but not right now.
Guest: Which version of Darkseid are you using? If you're saying live-action, cartoon or animated Darkseid then yes, what you say would be the truth because he is severely nerfed. But the comic version of Darkseid can take on the comic version of Justice League singlehandedly including the top tier heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and others that prime Naruto stands no chance against. Darkseid has survived an explosion designed to wipe out not only the universe but all existence. He has the Omega Force which he uses as beams, which are impossible to avoid unless he lets you and once struck you are erased from existence, meaning no death or life, you never existed and there's much more to it.
There's the Omega Sanction which traps a person in a cycle of death and rebirth that grows worse with each cycle. His telepathy allows him to control the likes of Martian Manhunter who once suppressed the entire White Martian population. He can travel to the Source Wall in a matter of seconds which is over Duodecillion times the speed of light. He can one-shot the Justice League and has shown the strength capable of tearing holes in reality. And all this is done by a nerfed Darkseid cos you see, the Darkseid we always see doing this is an avatar. When he travels through universes through boom tubes, not only is his form shrunk or enlarged to match the universe, but his power is restricted as well. The reason because of this is because True Form Darkseid is said to be so powerful that his very presence could tear apart a universe just by simply being there. So yeah, depends on which version of Darkseid you're using, if Naruto (prime or not) went to fight comic Darkseid, he wouldn't just get bodied, it would be a slaughter.
Yakuza2010: Sort of, they'll be heroes from different countries and so on, so I guess yeah. But I won't ever go intotoo much detail about it because they'll be so much going on. No, they won't try and blackmail Naruto into joining the Light. And yes, eventually he will do, but not alone. Doubt him? There will be instances like in this chapter, but that won't be the case for long. And again, if it happens, it won't be something I go into much detail about.
GamerX568: The same FTDS that make Naruto into a God that can solo all the Otsutsuki. The same FTDS who tries to take canon Naruto and put him in a story and says that this is the 'right' Naruto and insults and attacks people over PM before blocking them so they can't reply. I at least have the excuse of making Naruto have a different backstory and not take canon Naruto (same backstory and canon history), dump him in DC then change him into Injustice Naruto with no explanation as to why. The same FTDS who can't accept it when people criticise his work (tbh, this is a little more debatable as some people pose hate comments and say it's 'criticism,' in which case, I can't take criticism either). But the point still stands.
FTDS is the definition of a Narutard and is tbh is one of the most toxic writers on this site. He blows things completely out of proportion. Everyone knows that the data books are a joke, but he takes it as the gospel. There are times when it says an attack is something like as hot as the sun yet doesn't even burn a leaf. Like how does that work? And whenever someone points that out to him or brings up an instance that contradicts his opinion, he ignores it and sometimes attacks the person who pointed it out.
M.D. Hurricane: Both, what I intend to do is have that the regular Bijudama reserved for 9 tails only, then we have the Ama no Hoku lasers for 7-8 tails, then those mini Bijudama that Naruto and Menma use in their fight with the Kyūbi's will be for 4-6 tails. I know that they're officially classed as Bijudama, but they seem so much weaker so kind of like how in Bleach you have Cero and Bala. You have Bijudama (Cero) and those Mini-Bijudama (Bala) with the same concept from Bleach.
Storylover123: So, the official pairing and final pairing is Naruto/Batgirl/Starfire/Supergirl. However, Naruto has had an encounter with Killer Frost and I'm not sure if they'll be any more, it all depends on how the story develops. The scene between Killer Frost and Naruto was one I didn't initially plan to do, so it depends on how the story develops.
SandaKagami: I agree, but one thing to note about the whole Magic vs Superman debate is that it simply bypasses his invulnerability, some people mistakenly believe it works in the same way as Kryptonite. So, he'd still have his superhuman strength, speed and all that, just minus Invulnerability and he's beaten some pretty powerful magic users before. But in turn, he's also had very bad showings against weak magic users, comics are confusing like that.
Sultan Asil Arslan: Adam's actions won't be explained right away, but they will be in the future. But it has to do with one of the Gods that he takes his powers from. And glad to see you enjoy not only his connection to Naruto but also that you understand that the Green Lanterns get shit on too much to the point people forget just how powerful they are.
OgFrosty: Glad to see that you understand that while slow, the power progression is there at a controlled rate, which is what I was aiming for. I don't want to just constantly make huge leaps in strength all the time, will it happen in the future? Yes with good reason, but it won't be for a while.
nliochristou: Yes, he will have the abilities of canon Naruto, though working within the confines of the DC universe powers. However, unlike Naruto, he won't be following the same one-trick pony route. Right now, he is, but he will recognise that in the future and strive to change that.
Yohnos: No, we're far off from the Killing Joke. And you're right, Batman sleeping with Batgirl would not be a good thing, for anyone.
Hope this clears up any questions and if not, please let me know in a review and I'll answer them as best as I can. Though if I haven't answered your question here, then that means I've sent you a PM.