Chapter 8
After the Gordanian retrieval squad had been defeated, Shinobi called Martian Manhunter to detain the enemy and to explain Koriand'r's arrival to Earth. He knew J'onn would want to interrogate her, but when the truth of her story was determined, the League would be more than supportive of her efforts to start a new life on this planet.
J'onn had arrived with the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, in tow. Their power rings made it extremely convenient to transport the large group of Gordanians and the ruins of their ship. The Lanterns quickly gathered them up and made their exit; after all, if the beautiful new arrival to Earth turned out to be less than friendly, they had no doubt that Shinobi and Martian Manhunter could handle the threat together.
Manhunter, Shinobi, and Koriand'r retreated to his apartment where the Martian proceeded to ask Koriand'r to recount the tale of her escape and arrival to this planet. Within half an hour, Manhunter had determined Koriand'r's honesty and raised a new issue.
"Where will she stay?" It was a valid question. Even Naruto had had to spend a few nights at Superman's place before Batman had set him up with this apartment.
"She can stay here for as long as she needs to, I guess. I mean, I only really sleep and eat here nowadays, and I've slept in worse places than on a couch. Besides, I'm her only real friend here. I can't just leave her hanging." It was no great imposition, Naruto's apartment was less a home than a base camp he used to store his things and catch forty winks before he was off again, laying down the law in Suicide Slum and Metropolis at large. "The only thing is, I need more money for food. No offense, Kory, but you eat like a monster."
"I do not eat like a monster!"
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The next day, Naruto awoke to a loud knocking on his door. He rolled off of his couch and made his way to the front door. What he found surprised him. At his front door stood Robin and Kid Flash, dressed in their civilian clothing. Kid Flash wore a long sleeved yellow shirt with a brown short sleeved one over it as well as jeans. Robin wear a black jacket with a green hooded sweatshirt underneath, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of sunglasses. It was odd, the way they were dressed, to Naruto at least.
Naruto didn't bother with the pleasantries and dove right into what was bothering him. "Why are you guys dressed so warmly? It's the middle of summer." His question was punctuated with him scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, well, just 'cause it's the middle of summer doesn't mean you should be walking around without a shirt on, man!" Kid Flash went on the defensive immediately.
"I'm in my own ho-"
"Yeah, get dressed! You skipped out last night, but we're all heading over to Mount Justice. Maybe Batman'll have a mission for us! Try to get whelmed, Shinobi!"
Naruto sighed. He couldn't bail on his teammates two times in a row, it was bad form. And he supposed a team get-together did sound nice; he had been doing this solo hero thing for too long, even if Superman did love to insinuate himself into his fights.
"Yeah, I guess that sounds good. Come on in, I'll just go get dressed and-"
Before he could finish, Koriand'r's voice sounded from behind the closed door of his, now her, bedroom. "Naruto? Is someone here? Are we going to fight crime again?"
Kid Flash immediately zipped into his personal space, prompting Naruto to take a step back. "Dude! Is that a girl in there?! Is she hot?! Can I meet her?!" Robin answered before Naruto could formulate a response.
"If she's in his room, why would you think she'd be interested in you, smart guy?" Kid Flash looked put out and backed away with his arms crossed and a pout on his face.
Naruto waved his hands in front of his face and said, "Hey! It's nothing like that, okay? She was the thing that came up last-" He was once again interrupted by the sound of Koriand'r's voice coming from behind him.
"Are these your friends? Can they be my friends, too?" Kid Flash blurred passed Naruto before he could do anything. He turned around and saw Kid Flash rapidly asking the beautiful alien a plethora of questions. She looked a bit overwhelmed but she was giggling all the while. Naruto palmed his face and sighed. It was going to be one of those days.
After a quick shower and a shave, Naruto was ready to be on his way. He had decided to follow the example of his teammates and dressed in civilian attire. He wore a pair of black shorts, an orange tee shirt, and his old black pair of shinobi sandals. It was lucky Batman had provided him with a wardrobe of simple civilian clothes because if it was up to Naruto, he would have never worn anything other than his crime fighting outfit and underwear; being a ninja had gotten him used to the minimalist lifestyle.
Naruto had been at a loss with what to do about Koriand'r. She wanted to come, but he couldn't very well have her following them outside dressed as she was while him and his teammates were in their civilian personas. After some deliberation, it was decided she would wear one of Naruto's tee-shirts and a pair of his shorts over her less than conspicuous outfit. It would serve well as undergarments and an extra pair of shoes Naruto dug up in his room would make suitable replacements for her thigh-high boots. Finally, an extra pair of sunglasses from Robin would serve well to cover her alien eyes. The result was a shabbily dressed, very tall, orange-skinned beauty in ill-fitting shoes with floor-length auburn hair. It was something out of a bad comedy, but it would work until they reached their destination.
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By the time they reached Mount Justice, Naruto was mentally exhausted. The group had received a large number of stares, and Koriand'r's constant sense of awe and wonderment at all the new things around her didn't help them blend in any better. And then there was also the fact that both Kid Flash and Robin couldn't help peppering her with questions about her home world that Koriand'r was only too happy to answer and return with as many questions of her own. Naruto didn't care much for his secret identity and he only maintained it at the behest of Batman and Superman, but Robin and Kid Flash should have known better.
Their arrival at Mount Justice was heralded by the robotic voice of the computer announcing their names, while assigning the designation of 'guest' to Koriand'r. It seemed J'onn had taken the time to recognize her in the system the night before. Kid Flash and Robin immediately ran over to where Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian were waiting, all of whom were wearing civilian clothing, and proceeded to ask them about Red Tornado and, hopefully, whatever mission he might have for them. Naruto and Koriand'r followed at a more sedate pace.
"Did you ask him?" Robin asked.
"What did he say?" Kid Flash continued.
Aqualad answered them both. "He's arriving now."
"Then what are we waiting for?" That said, Kid Flash jogged away towards the entrance of the cave, his teammates following behind.
As they were walking along, M'gann noticed the new arrival amongst them and asked, "Shinobi? Who's this?" It was a valid question, there was a stranger in their 'secret' hideout.
Naruto rubbed at his whisker marks with an index finger for a second before answering. "Ah, this is Koriand'r. She's an alien. She fell out of the sky last night, and I was the one that found her."
Koriand'r was quick to grab M'gann's hand and shake it vigorously. Robin had told her of the human custom when she had seen two men shaking hands with each other on the street. Her exuberant approximation was also accompanied by her excited proclamation of how nice it was to meet them all. She quickly repeated the gesture on Aqualad which amusedly returned with just as much energy.
"Is she going to be joining the team?" Aqualad directed the question at Naruto.
"Well, I have to run it by Batman, but I'm her only friend here. I can't just leave her to herself on a strange planet. At least it seems like I won't be her only friend for long." He looked over to where Koriand'r and M'gann were excitedly exchanging questions and answers about their respective home planets. It brought a smile to his face. It seemed Koriand'r had a knack for finding friends wherever she went.
The group reached the exit and the wall a panel on the ceiling lowered to create a ramp that led to the outside. The group walked up the ramp and stood around for a moment before their attention was drawn to Red Tornado's arrival. He was flying, his whole lower body engulfed in his namesake, a red tornado.
Kid Flash ran over to Red Tornado's landing area and waved in greeting. "Red Tornado!"
"Greetings. Is there a reason you intercepted me outside of the cave?" Red Tornado was all business, as usual. He was a robot, after all.
"We hoped you had a mission for us," Aqualad said.
"Mission assignments are Batman's responsibility."
"But it's been over a week-"
Red Tornado interrupted Robin mid-complaint. "You will be tested soon enough. For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company." It was as simple as that. Red Tornado had his orders and he wouldn't budge.
"This team is not a social club," Aqualad said.
Naruto chose this time to chime in. "I kind of thought it was. I mean, we can go out there and beat up bad guys whenever we want, right? The only thing that's different about this is that we're going to be beating up people as a team. If I just wanted to go fight people, I'd go do it alone. I agreed to be a part of this team because you all seem like good people. The kind of people I wanna be friends with. Besides, it's not like you can just demand a mission if there's nothing going on right now. We might as well just suit up and go on patrol if you guys are itching for action that badly."
"Well said. And I am told that social interaction is productive to team-building. It will be good for you." With his piece said, Tornado walked passed them and into the cave. It was clear the conversation was over.
Kid Flash mussed up his own hair in frustration. "Argh! They're treating us like kids again! Keep busy? Who does he think he's kidding?"
"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin asked.
"If we're not going to go fight crime, I would at least like to get to know my new friends," Koriand'r said.
M'gann agreed and said, "Well, me and Superboy live here. We could give you the grand tour."
"Don't look at me." Superboy was quick to make his anti-social tendencies known.
"We won't. A private tour sounds much more fun." Kid Flash was quick to perk up at the mention of a tour from M'gann. It was like the disappointing conversation with Red Tornado had never happened. The flirty goofball was back.
The group set off on their tour, exchanging their civilian names on the way. M'gann had chosen the name Megan Morse as her Earthly moniker. Kid Flash had introduced himself as Wally West and Aqualad as Kaldur'ahm, Kaldur to his friends. Shinobi had finally revealed his name to them as Naruto Uzumaki. Robin had refused to give them a civilian name; he was on orders from Batman not to reveal his true identity to anyone, even his teammates.
While the rest were making their introductions, Superboy was left out. It had been over a week since his escape from Project Cadmus, and he still only had his official Cadmus designation to go by. It set him apart from them and reminded him of his true origins. He would have been content to say nothing of it, just suck it up and move on, but a voice invaded the sanctity of his mind.
"Don't worry, Superboy. We'll find you an Earth name, too."
His reaction was immediate and explosive. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He yelled. He glared at Megan and quickly left the room.
"I'll go talk to him," Naruto said and quickly followed the clone's hasty exit. Finding Superboy wasn't hard, Naruto just followed the sounds of violence. He found Superboy in the training area, angrily pounding on a metal post that was jutting out of the ground. Naruto stood and watched Superboy throw his sloppy haymakers for a few moments before speaking up.
"You should really take it easy on her, man. She didn't mean anything by saying whatever she did in your mind, it's just the way Martians are."
"What do you know about it, huh!?" Superboy whirled around and, for a moment, Naruto thought the clone would continue to take out his frustrations on him.
"All I know is what Martian Manhunter's told me. On their world, they all talk like that, through their minds. Actual speaking is like... like sign language. It's unnecessary and more of a secondary form of communication than anything else. Megan's new to this world, just like you. Cut her some slack. Alright?"
"Whatever." Superboy turned back towards the post and resumed throwing his sloppy punches. His lack of technique reminded Naruto of himself in his earlier years. It was almost painful to think of himself as ever being nearly that sloppy. Well, if words couldn't calm Superboy down, maybe a training session would.
"Hey, Superboy. If you really wanna let out some frustration, let's spar. I could use some exercise, and you could really stand to learn some stuff. 'Cause, I mean, you really suck, man."
Superboy gave the post one final punch, before he turned to the ninja behind him. "I suck, huh? I'll show you 'suck'!" With a ferocious snarl, he closed the distance between them and the training session begun.
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After their impromptu training session, Naruto and Superboy were walking towards the kitchen. Superboy had said he smelled something burning and so they decided to investigate. The training session had really done wonders to mellow the clone out. It seemed he and Naruto were similar in that way; vigorous physical activity was just what was needed to help them clear their minds and calm them down.
When they arrived at the kitchen, Megan was hurriedly removing a smoking tray from the oven with her telekinetic powers. The cookies on the tray more closely resembled charred hockey pucks than anything else. Megan lamented the loss of her hard work. "I was trying out Grammy Jones's recipe from episode seventeen of... Uh, never mind."
"I bet they'd have tasted great." Robin made an effort to comfort her while Wally and, oddly enough, Koriand'r started to dig in on the very burnt cookies. "They don't seem to mind."
Koriand'r had the decency to blush and put her charred cookie down, but Wally defended his bizarre appetite with two cookies in his hand and another in his mouth. "I... have a serious metabolism."
The fact that her friends were enjoying the fruits of her labor turned Megan's frown upside down in a jiffy. "I'll make more."
Koriand'r clapped her hands in excitement and exclaimed, "I will help!"
Naruto beamed at his team. They hadn't all known each other for very long, but they reminded him of his old friends. Friends that he would more than likely never see again. It made him appreciate them all the more.
Naruto looked over at Superboy who was leaning against the wall. He was the picture of stoic silence, arms crossed, scowl on his face. That would have to change. Naruto nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "Don't you have something to say to Megan?"
Superboy looked down and away. This only prompted a harder and much less subtle nudge from Naruto. "Hey, Megan! I think Superboy had something he wanted to say to you." Megan and the rest of the group turned to look at the two of them. Superboy gave Naruto a withering glare which the ninja countered with a beaming grin. He put his hand on the Boy of Steel's shoulder and muttered, "Come on, man. We talked about this. You'll apologize, she'll apologize and it'll all be great."
Superboy sighed and, without meeting Megan's eyes, muttered an unintelligible sentence. A third elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruto informed him that that half-assed attempt wouldn't cut it. He glared at Naruto once more and took a deep breath before he spoke.
"Look, I'm sorry about yelling at you. Okay? Maybe, I dunno, I shouldn't have blown up like that."
Megan looked like the happiest Martian to have ever set foot on Earth, which she likely was. She beamed at Superboy and reciprocated. "I'm sorry that I went into your mind without permission."
And just like that, the problem had been smoothed over.
The team sat around in the adjoining sitting room making idle conversation and occasionally checking in on Megan and Koriand'r preparing a second tray of cookies. When the cookies were in the oven Megan chimed in with an idea for what to do next. "I know what we can do! Come on, I'll show you my ship!"
She flew out of the room, Koriand'r on her tail, while the rest of the group followed the Tamaranean's contrail. After a short walk, they arrived at a landing pad with a red and black oblong shaped object sitting on it.
Megan made a show of presenting it to them. "Ta-da! It's my martian bio-ship!"
"Cute. Not aerodynamic, but cute," said Wally.
"It's at rest, silly. I'll wake it." Megan held her hand out towards her ship and a change was immediate. The ship quickly lost its oblong shape and morphed into something much sleeker. It certainly looked like a spaceship now.
"Amazing! I've seen many ships in my lifetime, but none that could transform themselves at the behest of the pilot's thoughts!" Koriand'r was certainly impressed. Her people had mastered the art of space travel long ago, but their ships didn't compare to this design.
"And that's just the outside." Megan waved her hand once more and a boarding platform lowered. She began walking towards it and looked back at the group. "Are you coming?"
As they entered the ship, seven chairs morphed out of the ground. Three on either side of the cockpit and one in the center that was obviously the pilot's seat.
"Strap in for launch," said Megan.
Everyone sat in a chair excitedly, but Naruto kept standing, looking decidedly green at the prospect of flight. Koriand'r looked towards him and asked, "Are you alright, Naruto? Do you need medical attention?"
Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Nah. I just really hate flying..." With his complaints made known he took the only open seat, looking nervous but as though he was trying to hide it. Megan giggled into her hand before giving the ship the command to activate the seatbelts.
"Red Tornado. Please open the bay doors," she said.
The doors opened and Naruto clenched his fists tightly before the ship took off. They flew along the Rhode Island shoreline at a slow pace. At least it was slow compared to the way Superman flew. Naruto found himself calming down significantly. He was no stranger to extreme speeds, but it was a completely different story when you were moving at those speeds while thousands of feet in the sky with your only lifeline being a goofily dressed guy that went by the name of Superman. With his nerves calmed, Naruto tuned back into the conversation the rest of the group was having.
It seemed Robin had talked Megan into demonstrating her shape-shifting abilities. She mimicked Koriand'r's form, though in much more flattering clothing, then quickly shifted into a female version of Robin and then Kid Flash.
"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Wally asked.
Robin was quick to answer. "Yes. It really is." He switched tracks quickly though and praised Megan. "That was impressive! But, but, you know, you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those." He looked apologetic, but it was true.
Megan looked a little crestfallen. "Mimicking boys is a lot harder."
"Eh, it was really good. When I was first learning the transformation technique, I couldn't even copy guys right. There was always something wrong. Too short, too tall, too big a nose, whatever. You'll get it. I know you will." Naruto smiled as he reminisced about his academy days.
"You can transform too? How many powers do you have? Like a walking bag of tricks, this guy." Wally had said it in a joking matter, but it was true enough. Naruto had a huge arsenal of abilities and he hadn't had to unleash even half of them since he'd come to this reality.
Their conversation continued in that vein, with Naruto showing off a few transformations of his own, before a call came in from Red Tornado. "Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending coordinates."
"Received. Adjusting course," said Megan.
Robin was quick to complain. "Tornado's keeping us busy-"
"Ah, quit your whining. There's an emergency. We're gonna be helping people. It doesn't matter if we're being kept busy or not, theres people down there that need our help." Naruto had interrupted him quite rudely, but he was sick of their complaining. There was merit in helping the little guy. Maybe it wasn't as glorious as stopping an alien invasion or something, but if they were doing good, what did it matter? Robin, properly scolded, clammed up and nodded in agreement. There was no room for petulant childishness, people needed their help.
And just like that, they were a team on a mission.
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Slade Wilson, more commonly known as Deathstroke the Terminator, sat on a rooftop of the Happy Harbor power plant. He'd been given a mission by the Light, a coalition of the world's most powerful villains, though it was less of a mission and more of a babysitting gig. He was to provide support for one of T.O. Morrow's new creations as it endeavored to draw out Red Tornado and rewrite the robot's programming. It was an attempt by his superiors to plant a mole inside the League. Deathstroke was not to engage unless Red Tornado brought any kind of League backup, but he was growing restless.
The robot, Mister Twister, had been wreaking havoc in the power plant for going on fifteen minutes now, and there was still no sign of Red Tornado, the League, or even a random super powered good samaritan. Deathstroke was starting to have doubts over the merits of this plan. It was so simple, childish really, and there was no assurance that Red Tornado would even show up to this rinky-dink piece of American suburbia. Deathstroke planned to contact his superiors and tell them as much before he saw a speck approaching from the North, following the shore. As it grew closer, he identified it as a red and black ship, probably coming to investigate the alert.
Slade put his hand to his ear and activated his communication device to talk to Mister Twister. "Someone's coming. It's showtime." With his message delivered, Deathstroke jumped off the roof and hid behind an SUV in the parking lot. A wait and see approach would suit the purposes of his mission just fine.
As the ship began its approach, a tornado formed in the blink of an eye and engulfed it. The tornado tossed the ship around for a while before it broke free and landed on the far side of the parking lot. Deathstroke quickly shifted his position and continued to watch.
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The team left the recently landed aircraft and took stock of the situation. A tornado was ripping through the parking lot that surrounded the Happy Harbor power plant and workers were running out of the main buildings, many towards their cars in an attempt to escape this crisis.
Robin was going to pull one of his disappearing tricks but was caught by Naruto holding onto the back of his jacket. "We're a team. Let's start acting like it. Okay?"
Robin removed his jacket from Naruto's grasp and pouted petulantly. "Fine. We should check inside the main building, though. People are running out of it and the windows are bursting out from the inside."
The rest of the team nodded and they all made their way towards the main building. When they arrived, the building was empty except for one tall and very well armored being. His armor was red and black with blue tubes leading from a pack on his back to his shoulders and wrists.
"Who's this guy?" asked Wally.
"I don't know, but I don't think he was feeling to whelmed about this power plant. Maybe he didn't like the architecture." Robin answered.
"My apologies. You may address me as Mister Twister." The figure said before a pair of tornadoes shot out from his wrist mounted devices and intercepted the charging form of Superboy. Superboy was halted in his tracks before he was blasted away into a wall.
The team exchanged looks of determination before charging at the enemy. Kid Flash was the first to reach Mister Twister. His quick was easily stopped by Mister Twister's tornados and Wally was thrown out of the power plant through the open entryway.
Aqualad and Miss Martian were next, but their attempts were rebuffed just as easily. "I was prepared to be challenged by a super hero. I was not, however, expecting children. I'm a little disturbed that you've no adult supervision."
"Well, let's see if you're a little more 'turbed when we kick your can!" Robin threw a small explosive capsule that Mister Twister easily stopped with his wind manipulation, but it was followed by an explosive disk that embedded itself into his armor. He was as affected by this as a rock was by a gentle sea breeze. He quickly flicked the disk and it exploded harmlessly a few feet away.
"Yes, I'm definitely 'turbed now," said Twister in a mocking tone.
It was a good strategy, but it needed a lot more punch if they were going to beat this guy.
"Kory, do your thing with the energy blasts, lay down as much fire as you can to keep him distracted." With his order given, Naruto jumped to the ceiling of the building while Koriand'r unleashed a salvo of energy blasts on Mister Twister. While the enemy was distracted, Naruto ran along the ceiling until he was directly over Mister Twister. Twister was quick to dispatch of Koriand'r with his tornados, but Naruto was already in position. He dropped down in front of Mister Twister, close enough that he couldn't use his tornados to knock Naruto away.
Naruto would have relished in the surprise that was no doubt spreading over the villain's face if it wasn't covered by a mask, but as it was he started unleashing a blistering combination of elbows into Mister Twister. After the first few hits it was obvious that the armor was mitigating most, if not all, the damage from the blows and Naruto abandoned his combination and delivered a hasty, yet devastating, drop kick that sent Mister Twister flying out of the power plant's main building.
Naruto was quick to follow, a Rasengan spinning in his left hand. He reached Mister Twister quickly and was going to attack his fallen form, before a gunshot rang out and bullet ripped through Naruto's forearm, causing him to release his hold on his technique and opening him up to retaliation in the form of a wind blast from his fallen enemy. Naruto flew into a wall, a spider-web of cracks forming where he impacted, before he slid down to the floor.
Naruto looked at the hole in his forearm. Steam was rising from the wound and it was already starting to heal, but it would be out of commission for at least an hour. Longer if he kept fighting, which he certainly would. Naruto took off his shirt and wrapped it around his forearm as an impromptu bandage and sling to mitigate the immediate blood loss and to keep it in place whule he fought. While he was doing this he looked at the person who had shot him.
He was a man, maybe about as tall as Naruto himself, wearing a black armored suit. It wasn't nearly as armored as the full metal suit of Mister Twister and it was apparent that it provided him with superb protection while also allowing for an excellent range of motion. His head was covered in an orange mask, one side of which was black and was missing an eye hole, and a tail of white hair came out from it at the base of his neck. His gun was holstered as well as the sword on his back as he engaged Aqualad in close quarters combat. From the thrashing Aqualad was receiving, it was obvious this man, whoever he was, was very well trained.
Robin kneeled down beside Naruto to check on him, and the ninja took the chance to ask about this new arrival. "Who's that guy?"
Robin spared a glance and answered. "That's Deathstroke. Most dangerous mercenary in the world. Enhanced strength, speed, agility, and he's extremely smart to boot. We might have to call in the League for this guy."
Naruto shook his head and quickly regained his feet. "Nah. This one's mine. You guys focus on that Mister Twister guy. Make sure you work as a team, if you run in one by one he'll keep making you look like jokes. I'll handle this Deathstroke joker."
"But you've been shot-"
"I'll handle it." Naruto snarled. He really hated guns and he hated being shot even more. "Tell the team what I told you. I'm counting on you guys."
Before Robin could answer or protest, Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed. Robin sighed and said, "You told me to act like we're a team and you go and pull this kind of stunt?"
Naruto reappeared at Deathstroke's side while he prepared to deliver another blow to Aqualad. A front kick was enough to send the mercenary flying while Naruto pilfered the gun holstered on his leg. Batman had taught him enough about firearms that he knew how to release the magazine and pop the bullet in the chamber. Naruto proceed to do so, using his mouth to pull back the slide, and then tossed the gun away while leaning his head to the right to avoid the knife Deathstroke had thrown from his position in front of the car that had stopped his sudden flight.
Naruto blurred into motion once again and drove his foot into the car door while Deathstroke dodged to the side. The mercenary retaliated with a punch that Naruto dodged under. From this position, Naruto wrapped his good arm around the mercenary, over his shoulder, and spun with enough force to trip him and send him to the ground. Naruto followed up with a falling punch that Deathstroke caught and used to maneuver his body into an armbar that brought Naruto to the ground as well.
Naruto couldn't allow his only good arm to be taken out of this fight as well, so he made a one-handed seal with his right hand. Deathstroke was momentarily confused, before a puff of smoke announced the arrival of a clone. The mercenary was forced to abandon his hold or suffer a sudden bout of unconsciousness provided by a foot to the face. With its purpose fulfilled, the clone popped out of existence and both combatants regained their feet and dropped into ready stances.
"You're pretty good. For a kid." They were the first words Deathstroke had spoken, and they pissed Naruto off.
"Yeah, if I had my other arm, I'd show you 'pretty good', old man."
"Hmm. Very few openings, even with only one arm," Deathstroke mused. He seemed to have conquered whatever conundrum had grabbed him and he pulled a knife from his ankle. Naruto expected the knife would be used against him, but Deathstroke proved to have a much more sinister intent for it. He turned completely around and threw the knife with all his might at a recovering Robin who'd been fighting Mister Twister with the rest of the team a ways away.
Naruto's eyes widened before he blurred into motion, moving as quickly as he could to catch up with the knife and save Robin's life. Naruto reappeared behind the Boy Wonder, knife in hand, a centimeter from plunging into his skull and ending his life. Robin was none the wiser and rejoined the fight while Naruto turned to look for the murderous mercenary. Deathstroke had taken the chance provided by the distraction to recover his gun and was in the process of reloading it.
Naruto quickly undid the the clasp the held the heavy weight on the wrist of his bad arm and threw it at the mercenary. His aim was true and the improvised ranged weapon took the gun from Deathstroke's hand and flew with it further into the parking lot. The ninja took the time afforded by Deathstroke's shock to undo the rest of his weights and then close the distance between him and the mercenary.
Naruto lead with an elbow that Deathstroke neatly knocked to the side before retaliating with one of his own. Naruto's head was knocked to the side before a knee landed in his gut, doubling him over and opening him to a falling elbow to his back. Naruto fell but caught himself with his good arm and flipped up into a one-handed handstand. He spun quickly, his legs spread out, creating a deadly whirlwind of kicks that got Deathstroke to back off, rather than press his advantage. Naruto flipped back to his feet and squared off against Deathstroke against.
"That was a dirty trick you pulled, gramps." Naruto snarled at his opponent. Of course, he'd seen such tactics employed many times over the course of his ninja career, but it was the first time he'd seen someone vicious enough to do it in this world.
"Hmm, it's a dirty game, kid. You play long enough, you're bound to get hurt. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Deathstroke gestured at Naruto's shot-up arm and he could almost hear the smirk in the mercenary's voice.
"Oh, I know that, and it looks like your buddy's learning that lesson real well, too." Naruto pointed towards where his teammates were engaging Mister Twister. Their combined might had been enough to corner him, and they seemed about ready to deliver the finishing blow. It seemed the constant barrage of energy blasts from Koriand'r was proving to be a sufficient distraction for the team to lay some real punishment on Mister Twister. The villain's wind manipulation was completely ineffective against Koriand'r's unique form of attack, and it was proving a very efficient method of opening the villain up for follow up strikes from the rest of the team.
Deathstroke, realizing that his mission would be a failure if Mister Twister was defeated, started to run towards the conflict, dropping a number of explosive pellets in his wake. Naruto, undeterred, ran passed the pellets completely and used his momentum to drop into a slide and take Deathstroke's feet out from under him.
The mercenary quickly regained his feet and, having decided he was done playing around, unsheathed the sword on his back. Naruto allowed a smirk to cross his face; after having faced a master swordsman like Sasuke, this would be child's play. Deathstroke was fast, but he was no S-rank ninja.
Naruto closed the distance between them extremely quickly, knocking aside the blade and following with a rising elbow that caught Deathstroke in the chin. The mercenary almost left the ground before a hard kick to his belly changed his momentum drastically and he flew into the power plant wall. Deathstroke fell to his knees on the ground and curled up with his arms caressing his belly.
Naruto move to finish him off and knock him out, before Deathstroke's arms came away from his belly and a number of round pellets spilled out onto the ground. Naruto's eyes barely had time to widen before the pellets ignited and a bright flash blinded him and a deafening bang that certainly did its job. Naruto stumbled backwards for a moment before he felt his improvised sling being ripped away. Without his eyesight or hearing, Naruto couldn't pursue and only reached out into nothingness before he was certain Deathstroke had made his escape.
By the time his vision had returned to him, Deathstroke was gone. It was sloppy, getting caught by a simple trick like that. Amateur even. It showed that Naruto had been living the easy life in this reality for much too long if he'd been caught by a grade school trick like that.
"I just wish I knew why he took my shirt..." With that said, Naruto started making his way to the battlefield where his team had been in the middle of defeating Mister Twister. "Yeah, guess I didn't act like much of a team player today."
When he arrived at the battleground, his teammates were standing around the crushed remains of Mister Twister, who was apparently a robot piloted by another robot.
"So, you guys won, huh?"
Robin whirled on him and poked him in the chest. "Yeah! No thanks to you! What happened to all that talk of teamwork, huh?"
Naruto held up his good hand in a sign of surrender. "Yeah, I know, I messed up. I'm truly sorry. That guy just pissed me off, you know? And I guess I'm so used to going solo, I just kinda fell into it. It won't happen again. I promise."
"Yeah, well, whatever. How's your arm?" At the mention of his injury, Koriand'r ran over and started doting over him. Though this mostly involved in her almost ripping the arm from its socket.
"Ow, ow, ow! Kory, please! It'll be fine after I've had some time to heal. Anyway, what's the deal with this guy?" Naruto kicked at the remains of the robot(s).
"He was obviously here to draw out Red Tornado. For what purpose we do not know. He was made to be stronger than Tornado, that much is certain," said Kaldur..
"Yeah. If it wasn't for beautiful here we might not have won," said Wally while gesturing to Koriand'r. "She really turned the tide with those blasts of hers!"
Naruto beamed at Koriand'r. "Well, I guess it's official, huh? You need a superhero name if you're gonna be a part of this team."
Koriand'r nearly exploded in excitement. "Can I really? Would they let me?"
"Of course they would. You're a part of this team now, whether the League likes it or not." Kaldur was right. There was no way the team would let the League take away their new friend. Not in a million years.
"About your name. How about... Starfire?" Robin asked.
Koriand'r pulled anyone that she could reach into a super powered group hug. It was settled, their first mission as a team was a success and only a bright future awaited them.
LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK
Slade Wilson stood in a dark room, the only illumination therein coming from seven screens that held unidentifiable figures obscured by white light in them. His mission had been a failure of the worst sort. He'd allowed a boy to distract him from his true objective and to make matters worse, that boy had only been using one arm to fight him to a stand still. He clutched blood rag that used to be the boy's shirt in his fist. A consolation prize for his superiors.
"You have failed us, Slade."
"Your mission was simple, protect the robot."
"Instead, the robot was destroyed and our plans lay in ruins."
Slade bowed his head lower with every new voice. It was a point of professional pride that he never failed his missions, no matter the odds arrayed against him. The blonde boy had broken his pride and he would pay dearly.
"Worry not, Slade. We've reviewed the recording of this incident. Failure in the face of overwhelming odds is disappointing but to be expected."
Another blow to his pride.
"Leaders of the Light, rest assured this failure will not be repeated. I will hunt the one that caused this failure, and I will show you his head. As a show of good faith, I present you this." Slade held out his fist to present them the bloody remnants of the shirt he'd taken from the boy.
"A bloody rag?"
"Not just a bloody rag. The DNA of the boy who caused my failure. The one they call Shinobi."
A/N: And that's that. Naruto gains a nemesis and the Light is gonna get up to some weird stuff with his DNA. A special thanks to Wing Zero Alchemist who helped me to write this chapter. Also, since someone asked, I'll reiterate: this is not a harem story. I never intended to give anyone that impression and I'm sorry if this is disappointing news to some of you. Until next time.