A/N: Okay, it's been a while. Sorry about the long wait, but life happens, you know? Let me explain some stuff before we get into it. There's gonna be some romance stuff in this chapter. I tried to lead up to it, but I might have done a bad job, and if I did, I'm sorry. I've basically tried to show Naruto's building frustration in this world and that leads up to this revelation. It says as much in the chapter itself so whatever. I also want to say that it's starting so early because I don't want some big stupid buildup and then in the last chapter they declare their love or whatever other dumb cliché. It's going to be more or less a normal relationship between two people and you know, whatever.
Chapter 12
"Did you guys know I'm a war hero?"
The team looked at Naruto in confusion. They had all returned not an hour before from a relatively uneventful patrol in New York City. It was not that there was no action to be found in New York City, but stopping a few robberies and muggings could not be considered an eventful evening by any self-respecting hero, super or otherwise. So, they returned from their boring patrol and took up positions in the common room of Mount Justice.
This day in and day out tedium had become Naruto's new normal. He would go out, fight some bad guys, although 'fight' was a strong word when the criminals could barely defend themselves against the overwhelming force of Naruto's power, and come back home to wallow in the building frustration of his new life.
"What are you talking about, dude?" Wally asked.
"For real. I ended a war. Single-handed," said Naruto. "There was a guy, a real asshole, who wanted to cast an unbreakable illusion over the world. He wanted to enslave everyone because he couldn't handle the pain of his past."
"I've never heard about this," Robin interjected as he shifted into a more comfortable position on the armchair he was sitting in.
"You wouldn't have. Not unless Martian Manhunter's been playing around in my head." Naruto stood from his position on the sofa next to Koriand'r. "But that's not important." Naruto started pacing around the room, running a hand contemplatively through his hair. "The point I'm trying to make is... I was the best ninja in the world. The best ninja that had ever lived. A war hero, the next Hokage, all of that."
"Yeah? So what happened, war hero?" Wally asked, resorting to his patented sarcastic skepticism to project an aura of cool nonchalance.
"Wally!" Kaldur scolded wally for his insensitivity. Wally had the decency to look abashed, but Naruto continued as if he hadn't noticed the clear disbelief in the redhead's voice.
"What happened is I let my guard down. I let him speak and he ripped me away from everything I've ever known. My friends, my future, my past, my dream. With a single word he put it all out of my reach. And now here I am, smacking around guys who are too weak to fight back and too stupid to ever stop." Naruto frustratedly ruffled his own hair before continuing. "What's the point of being the best if the people that helped you get there are all gone? What's the point of being the greatest, strongest, most impossibly awesome ninja that ever lived if you're the only real ninja around?"
"That's... pretty heavy, dude." As always, Wally lacked tact. That was to be expected, however, and Naruto just shrugged it off and pasted a grin on his face.
"Yeah, it's pretty depressing, huh? Well, on that note, I'm gonna go to bed. Night." With a wave, Naruto left the room.
"Good job, genius! You drove him off!" Robin said.
"Well, excuse me! What am I supposed to say when he starts dropping that kind of stuff on me?" Wally retorted.
"He is our friend and a part of this team, Wally. A little compassion might be a good place to start," said Kaldur
Before their argument could degenerate into childish squabbling, Koriand'r stood from her seat and flew out of the room, following after Naruto. She found him as he reached the door to his room and tackled him with a bone-crushing hug.
"I understand. The loneliness, knowing you will never be able to return to your home, realizing everyone and everything you have ever loved is gone. I understand all of it."
A small smile appeared on Naruto's face, though from the look in his eyes it might as well have been a frown. He gazed at Koriand'r consideringly for a moment before saying, "I suppose you would, huh?"
He stood up and opened the door to his room, motioning for Koriand'r to follow him inside. He motioned for her to sit on the twin bed while he took a seat on the only chair in the room.
"I'm gonna talk and you can listen if you want to, talk if you want to. I just have to get this stuff off my chest, put it out there into the world so it's not killing me inside."
Koriand'r nodded and Naruto began.
"Before I had friends and people who loved me, I was an unwanted orphan, born on the most horrible day in village history. I had nothing and no one, except for the old man Hokage. The only thing I could call my own was my own sheer will and my ridiculous inability to give up..."
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On August 3rd, Naruto awoke to the smell of homemade breakfast wafting into his room. He took in a deep breath before his eyes snapped open and he hopped out of bed, ready to start the day.
Naruto quickly searched out a tee-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from the plethora of clothing strewn about his bedroom floor and a quick sniff-test confirmed they were fit for wearing. He threw on the leisure wear and rubbed his face to feel the beginnings of a respectable beard on his face. He considered going at it, quick and dirty, with a kunai before his stomach made itself known with a monstrous growl. Besides, Naruto had always thought Asuma had looked cool with his beard. Maybe he could try the look out. With his course of action decided, Naruto set off toward the kitchen to see what was for breakfast and which of his housemates was doing the cooking. Though he could probably hazard a guess that it was Megan and Kory, considering how unlikely it was that Superboy would do something so nice, even for his only friends.
As Naruto walked down the halls of Mount Justice, his mind wandered to the rather long talk he and Koriand'r had had the night before. He had told her most of the story of his ninja career, focussing mostly on the parts that had to do with his friends and loved ones and his final fight with Tobi. It had taken a while, but at the end he had certainly felt a weight lifting from his shoulders. As a ninja, it should have been in his nature to keep secrets for an indefinite amount of time, but Naruto was, at his core, a free and open person.
Of course, it hadn't ended there. Koriand'r had reciprocated with the story of her own life. Or, more specifically her homeworld and how her sister had come to betray their entire race. It was heart-wrenching to hear, and the story of Komand'r reminded Naruto heavily of Sasuke's own bitter quest for revenge. Naruto could empathize completely and he had moved to her side and placed his arm around her shoulders to offer what comfort he could. They had sat that way for a while and what happened next Naruto could never have predicted.
She had kissed him.
It was soft at first, unlike the businesslike, but still pleasant, feeling for their first kiss. It was passionate and full of emotion. Naruto had been stunned at first, but he quickly reciprocated the kiss. He had never had any experience with this kind of situation, but a ninja was nothing if not adaptable.
Just as Naruto had started to get into the the swing of things, Koriand'r broke the kiss, and the awkwardness of the situation had settled over them in record time. There had been the beginnings of stuttered explanations from both of them, before they gave up and said their awkward goodbyes a Koriand'r left for her own room.
Naruto touched a finger to his lips as he walked before Kurama chimed in.
"I think you're smitten."
Naruto could almost hear the smirk in the fox's voice.
"Well, I mean, she is pretty cute." Naruto thought, while an embarrassed smile spread across his face.
"Oh! And he's not afraid to admit it! However, I have to disagree with you. That Hinata girl back home was cute. This one's downright beautiful."
Naruto shook his head, smile spreading wider before he walked into the kitchen. Koriand'r, Megan, and Superboy were already there, the former two cooking away, while the latter sat idly at the breakfast bar on the outside wall of the kitchen, looking bored. Superboy was the first to speak.
"What are you smiling about? Weren't you all depressed last night?"
Naruto's soft smile spread into a full-fledged grin before he answered.
"Me? I'm just thinking about all the new training I'm gonna put you through today. I have to think about my victim- er, student don't I? Don't want you getting complacent, right?"
Superboy paled and dropped the subject. Naruto had really been stepping on the gas regarding their training recently. It had gotten to the point where Superboy actually went to bed sore on their training days. The massive increase in the challenge had also forced Superboy to also reign in his temper, however little he was able to, to stand a chance against the massively powerful ninja. Even so, he was still lucky if he landed so much as a glancing blow, and he knew Naruto always held back, no matter how much trouble Superboy had fighting him. However, even though the intensity of the training had been stepped up, Naruto had taken more of kind teacher approach than the tough love he had been employing before. It helped the relationship between the teacher and student immensely and Superboy now spoke more to Naruto than anyone else on the team.
Naruto looked away from his pale student, and regarded the two women of the team. Koriand'r was dressed rather skimpily, as she was wont to do, in a tight camisole and very short shorts while Megan was already in her full civilian attire, though that was likely because of her organic clothing. Naruto caught his eyes being drawn to Koriand'r's figure before she caught him looking and they both looked away Naruto with a blush on his face, though Koriand'r was much less embarrassed about showing off her body. It was the way things had always been on Tamaran.
'Oh!" Megan's head had snapped up in surprise for a moment, a blush spreading across it, before she looked back down at the stove and busied herself with her cooking.
"Something wrong, Megan?" Naruto asked.
The Martian's blush intensified before she she dipped her head lower while simultaneously shaking it.
Naruto and Koriand'r shared a nervous glance before Superboy broke the tension.
"What is going on with you guys? You're all being weird."
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Come on, breakfast is ready and I want to get the table set before the others arrive!" Megan declared before floating the food onto a cornucopia of serving dishes and floating those into the dining room. "Come on, Superboy!"
Superboy gave Naruto and Koriand'r another questioning look before begrudgingly following after Megan.
Left alone in the kitchen with Koriand'r, Naruto decided to take the initiative.
"Look, Kory, about last night-"
"I understand. It was too forward. I still don't understand human customs as well as I should-"
"It's not that," said Naruto, waving away her excuses. "Look... I guess I kinda, I dunno, like you. Jeez, this was a lot easier when I was doing it with Sakura." The last part of his statement was muttered. "Okay, I'm just gonna go out on a limb here." Naruto ruffled his own hair nervously before continuing. "I like you. Like, as more than a friend. Okay? And, I dunno, maybe we can go on a date or something sometime?"
Koriand'r grinned, but then tilted her head in curiosity. "A date?"
"You know, just us two, doing something together. A movie or dinner. Stuff like that." Naruto pulled on the collar of his shirt. "Romantic stuff..." He trailed off.
Before Naruto knew it, Koriand'r had rushed at him, and his past experiences with Sakura had him bracing for a punch to the head, but he was pleasantly surprised when her arms enveloped him in a hug.
"I'm sure that would be delightful."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief, and hugged her back. They released each other and he spoke.
"Okay! Now that that's settled, let's go eat!" He quickly darted forward and kissed her on the cheek before running out of the kitchen.
When they arrived in the dining room, they were greeted by the sight of the rest of their recently arrived teammates sitting around the large dining table.
Wally was the only one to notice anything amiss. He looked at the smiles on Naruto and Koriand'r's faces and knew something was terribly wrong.
"Something weird definitely happened between you two!" Wally exclaimed while standing from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at them. The air was quickly taken out of his sails when Megan kicked his shin under the table.
"Jesus! What was that for?!"
The rest of the group laughed at his misfortune and breakfast continued with no further hitches.
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Shinobi stood next to Superboy on a rooftop in Metropolis. After a lively breakfast, the team had gone their separate ways once more. Shinobi had grabbed Superboy and claimed they were going on an educational outing to Metropolis. Wally and Robin had roped Kaldur into a video game marathon. And, finally, Megan had grabbed hold of Koriand'r and proclaimed that they were going to have girl talk, although Shinobi doubted that either girl knew quite exactly what that entailed. In fact, he didn't even know what it entailed.
And so, here were Shinobi and Superboy, looking for low-level crime in Metropolis to use as an aid in the clone's training.
"Alright. Remember what we talked about. You can't just go walking around swinging for all you're worth. You're gonna take someone's head off if you keep doing that, and then you'll be fucked. The League takes a really dim view of people who kill their enemies."
"Yeah, I got it, already. Let's just get this show on the-" Superboy suddenly stopped speaking and cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something far away, which he definitely was. At that moment Shinobi's eyes widened in realization.
"Hey! Earlier when I was talking to Kory, did you-?"
"Yeah, I heard. Whatever, it's none of my business. There's been what sounds like an accident in that direction." Superboy pointed off towards the bridge that crossed the West River.
"Alright, let's go!"
At Shinobi's word they were off, the ninja hopping skillfully across across rooftops as Superboy followed, though his jumps were much louder and caused the surroundings to tremble from the force of his impacts. When they reached the line of buildings that sat before the entrance to the bridge. Shinobi quickly grabbed Superboy's shoulder and held him back before he jumped onto the bridge.
"Stop. We've got to analyze the situation. Superman told me that when there's been an accident on a bridge, you have to be extra careful with your powers. If we rush in and throw our strength around we could make things worse."
As he observed the situation, Shinobi began removing his weights. He could move a car with his bare hands with some effort, but his weights would only make the task unnecessarily difficult. He placed the weights gently on the rooftop, taking care to space them out. He didn't want a half-ton in training weights to break through the rooftop and ruin some innocent person's day.
"Alright. Let's get going. I'll take that car hanging over the edge of the bridge, you grab the bus. Make sure you don't jump. The way you land, you'll probably bring the whole thing down."
With that, Shinobi disappeared in a blur of speed. When he reached the entrance to the bridge, Shinobi started moving at a more sedate speed. Carefully navigating his way through the wreckage and reaching the grey sedan that was hanging precariously over a very long drop.
Shinobi rubbed his hands together and got into position behind the car. He planted his feet, grabbed the rear fender, and pulled. He grunted with exertion and his muscles bulged in his suit as he inched backwards. Of course, he could accomplish this much more easily with the use of chakra, but he figured it was a good workout, and once he had gotten hold of the car, the people inside weren't in much danger.
Shinobi dragged the car safely back onto the bridge, and rolled his shoulders, before walking around to the driver side door. There was a family of four in the car; the father in the driver's seat, the mother in the passenger's, and two young children, a boy and a girl, in the back. The children and the mother were uninjured, but the father was sprawled over the steering wheel, unconscious. It seemed the force of the crash and the deploying of the airbag in conjunction with each other had knocked him out cold. Shinobi made sure the mother helped her children out of the car and got them to safety before he tried the driver side door.
It was jammed shut and Shinobi reached into the broken window and cut the man out of safety belt before pulling him through the opening. He carried the man over to his worried family and set him down before, checking his vitals to make certain he would be okay. Once he established that the man would live, he searched around for Superboy and found him struggling with the school bus the ninja had told him to attend to.
As it seemed like Superboy would lose hold of the bus, it was lifted swiftly into the air, Superman flying under it, carrying the children inside to safety. As he set the bus down on the bridge, Superman approached Superboy and Shinobi, who had taken the time to walk up beside his teammate.
Superman nodded at Shinobi and greeted him, "Shinobi." He seemed to just notice Superboy and greeted the clone as well, albeit quite awkwardly. "Superboy... What are the two of you doing here? I'd have thought you two would be in Mount Justice or something."
Superboy seemed to take offense. "You're welcome for the help."
"Well, thanks. I'm not one to be ungrateful, but I had it handled. I've been doing this for quite a long time," Superman said and to Shinobi it sounded like the Man of Steel was being quite ungrateful.
"Well, maybe you could teach me some time?" Superboy asked. There was a spark of hope in his eyes, though it was quickly extinguished with Superman's answer in the negative.
"Batman's taking care of that."
Shinobi walked up to Superman and leaned in to speak in a low voice, though he was certain Superboy could hear everything he said. "Hey, big guy, come on. Throw him a bone. He's alone here. He needs his father."
Superman, in an uncharacteristic show of anger, pushed Shinobi away, though it was indicative of the immense control he had over his strength that the ninja only moved back one step.
"I'm not his-"
Superman was interrupted by the ringing of his communication device. He immediately broke off the conversation, taking any chance he could to remove himself from this uncomfortable situation. Shinobi and Superboy heard him speak to presumably Green Arrow about some threat in a different place. He confirmed the coordinates and flew off without so much as a goodbye.
"Yeah, well, I don't need you anyway," muttered Superboy. Shinobi walked over and put his hand on Superboy's shoulder. For once, the clone didn't brush it off.
"Forget that guy, he doesn't know what he's missing out on. Besides, you've got me training you. I may not be able to throw a bus across the city, but I could definitely lay that guy out. And I'll make sure you can do it too, one day."
With that said, the pair started heading back to the city proper. They still had some training to finish up, and they didn't need to be back at the mountain for a few hours yet.
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"I mean, sure, I'll break a wrist here, a leg there, but you have to moderate it. I mean, a broken limb is simple enough, a guy can deal, but you break a man's jaw and it's torture for months. Of course these are bad people, but a little decency goes a long way. It's good for the soul."
This was the conversation the assembled team was treated to as Naruto and Superboy walked out of the teleporter. Naruto had been educating Superboy about the ethics of violence against a weaker foe, and the clone looked genuinely interested.
"So I can break their bones, but only certain ones? I think I get it."
"Yeah, exactly. You can't just go around breaking ribs and spines, that's a collapsed lung or lifetime paralysis right there. Causing lasting damage like that on these guys, it's just not fair. You also have to make sure, whenever you do break a bone, that it's a clean break. Some of these guys, they're just in bad situations and desperate to get out of them. It doesn't help anybody when you're saddling them with crippling injuries and immense medical bills."
Robin chimed in at this point, his voice heavy with incredulity. "Is this what you guys talk about together? The ethics of breaking a guy's arm?"
Naruto and Superboy looked at Robin with identical looks of confusion before replying in unison.
"Well, yeah."
Robin was about to retort before he was cut off by the arrival of Black Canary and Martian Manhunter.
"Are you all ready for training?" Canary asked, while Megan ran forward to hug her uncle.
"Uncle J'onn!" Cried Megan. Canary's question was largely ignored while everyone watched Megan's reunion with her uncle.
Superboy watched the loving exchange and turned to leave, but was stopped by Naruto's hand on his chest.
"Stay. It's training time and I'm sure you'll learn something useful."
"What can she teach me that you can't? She's not as fast or as strong as you, her only power is a high pitched scream," said Superboy, with no regard to the fact that everyone in the room could clearly hear him, including Canary herself.
"I can teach you a lot that someone with powers can't. Like how to beat someone that's stronger and faster than you."
Superboy pointed at Naruto and said, "This guy is already both those things, how're you gonna teach me any better?"
Naruto palmed his face and sighed in frustration. "Just stop being so damned stubborn and participate in the training, please."
The room's floor lit up and turned into a makeshift ring that Canary stepped into while making a come hither motion to Superboy.
"Care for a demonstration?"
Superboy cracked his knuckles, walked into the ring, and stood opposite of Black Canary. He raised his fists and stood in a ready stance.
Canary analyzed the stance and turned to Shinobi and said, "You teach him that stance? It's pretty good. Where did you learn it?"
Shinobi shrugged and said, "Trade secret."
Canary let it slide and addressed the rest of the spectators.
"Now, combat is about controlling the action. Putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. Superboy and I will demonstrate."
She turned back to Superboy and assumed her own stance.
Superboy took the initiative and began a series of tight controlled punches. Canary seemed surprised that his technique was as good as it was (although he was no expert) and dodged a few strikes before finding an opening and abusing it. She caught Superboy's wrist when he threw a left jab and use his momentum throw him over her shoulder.
Superboy growled in anger and regained his feet. He reassumed his stance, but it was sloppier this time. He ran forward with surprising speed, though Canary remained unimpressed. She slipped another combination of punches rather neatly, waiting for Superboy to overextend himself. He soon did with a wild right and Canary took the chance to drop down and sweep his legs out from underneath him with a kick. Superboy landed on his shoulder while Canary stepped away to give him time to recover. Superboy rolled to his hands and knees and punched the ground in his anger.
"You're angry, that's good. Now use that anger, direct it-"
Canary couldn't finish before Superboy was up again, running at her with his fist cocked. There was something about getting knocked around by what was essentially a normal human woman that triggered his rage. When Naruto was smacking him around, Superboy could control himself because at least it was someone that was vastly powerful. But this woman had no super speed or strength; she was just better than him.
Canary saw the charge coming from a mile away; it was impossible not to, really. When Superboy reached her, she flipped over him and swept his legs out from under him again. By this point, Superboy's rage was reaching a boiling point, but he was saved further embarrassment by the opening of a holographic display showing Batman's face.
"Batman to the cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the powers of his opponents." The screen was then filled by an image of the menace in question. A robot with red eyes, pointy ears, and green painted legs. The image then cut to a video of said robot manhandling several Leaguers with ease. "Canary and Arrow proceeded to call in reinforcements, which proved... disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."
Wally was the first to react.
"Woah. One guy with the powers of the entire League?"
Naruto was less impressed.
"Remind of you anyone we used to know?"
"Mostly just people who've tried to kill you..."
"It took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."
"Who made it? T.O. Morrow?" asked Robin.
"Good guess, Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so." Batman replied.
"The technology bears the signature of professor Ivo," said Manhunter.
A look of shock crossed Aqualad's face before he said, "Ivo? But he's dead."
"So we all thought... or hoped," replied Canary.
Batman proceeded to outline the plan for safeguarding the android's disassembled parts. They were to split up into two undercover teams and escort two real trucks that would transport the parts to two separate facilities in Boston and New York amongst four other decoy trucks. The team received their coordinates and went on their way.
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They met in a field in Litchfield County, a place equidistant to Boston and New York and the area from which the trucks would depart. Most of the team was clad in riding leathers and seated atop motorcycles, except for Shinobi and Starfire. Shinobi was clad in his normal crime fighting suit because he refused to ride along on one of the motorcycles. He would be fine riding on top of the truck with his camouflage technique activated, and if worse came to worst he could just run alongside the moving truck. Starfire, however was not wearing the leathers because she could fly much faster than any land bound vehicle could hope to match, so riding behind the truck on a motorcycle was more counterproductive than anything else.
Shinobi sat on top of his designated truck, camouflage technique in place, listening to the idle chatter of his teammates over the mental link Miss Martian had established. He had been greatly surprised by this form of communication when he had first encountered it, but Kurama had caught on quickly enough and refrained from speaking to Shinobi when the link was active. It was an imperfect solution, but until Shinobi was ready to reveal the existence of such a powerful being to his teammates and the League at large, it would just have to do.
Finally, it seemed it was time for them to depart. The truck underneath him started up with a rumbling sound and moved onto the highway in convoy formation with the two decoy trucks. He saw his squadmates, Robin and Superboy, following fifty yards behind them.
They were quickly out of range of Miss Martian's mental link and Kurama took the chance to start speaking.
"This seems like obvious bait."
"Yeah, I thought so too. Why not just destroy the android parts unless they're trying to draw out this Ivo guy?"
"But it's a win-win situation as well. If they draw Ivo out, they can arrest him, but if Ivo doesn't take the bait, they still have the parts to study or whatever it is these humans would do with them. It's clever, but it begs the question: why can your team not be trusted with this information?"
"Batman's a paranoid guy. I'm pretty sure he's still got me under surveillance, but whatever. Hopefully we'll see some action. I've been really anxious recently. I could really do with blowing off a little steam."
"Maybe you can relieve some of that tension with that buxom alien vixen. You've already got the date, it's only a matter of time." Kurama started chuckling in Naruto's head, before he shut him out.
"Idiot."
Shinobi regained his focus in the middle of a conversation between Robin and Superboy via the commlinks in their ears.
"What business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?" asked Superboy.
"Obviously a lot, considering the way she handle you back there." Shinobi chimed in. "You can't always assume that you'll win because you're stronger and you can't always use your powers as a crutch."
"Yeah. I mean, Batman and I take down stronger guys all the time. It's part of the gig. Canary, Arrow, Speedy, we all had to learn that the hard way. Just cause she can't punch you across the room, doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's doing," said Robin.
The conversation was over after that. Superboy had no answers and Robin and Shinobi had made their point. They rode in a silence for a few minutes before a rustling in the wheat fields on either side of the road drew Shinobi's attention. The second he turned to look at them, a bunch of what looked like flying black and green monkeys revealed themselves and made a beeline for the truck.
Aqualad's voice came over the commlink, confirming that the other squad's truck was under attack as well. Shinobi didn't have any time to listen to the others discuss the situation. The monkeys weren't fooled by his camouflage technique for a second. They attacked him as soon as they were in range and Shinobi responded in kind, becoming a whirling dervish of monkey death with two Rasengans in hand.
He was doing well until the other monkeys on the truck caught on to the plight of their brethren. Immediately, they swarmed him, knocking him off the truck, though they did cushion his impact with their suicide tactic. Shinobi quickly recovered and disposed of the remaining damaged monkeys in time to watch the truck speed away down the road, all the while being accosted by a growing number of the robot enemy.
Shinobi stopped and closed his eyes, becoming unnaturally still. He drew on the energy of the nature around him and internalized it, entering Sage Mode rather easily. He opened his eyes, felt for the rapidly fading signatures of his teammates and took off at a good clip, doing his best to catch the truck. He could have really put on the speed, but the road was winding, and Shinobi had to see where he was going or he was liable to run into something running at such high speeds for such a long distance. He didn't have super perception like the Flash, or even Wally, so he had to keep his bursts of insane speed down to short, easily measurable distances.
Shinobi ran along, sometimes cutting through the fields, towards where he felt his friends were. He reached them in a few minutes, and it was made dramatically easier when the signatures stopped moving. What he saw was really the worst case scenario. The truck had flipped over, the monkeys had the android parts and were making off with them to parts unknown, and, as Shinobi skidded to a halt next to Robin, Superboy jumped off after the monkeys.
Robin quickly reported Superboy's unexpected detour to the rest of the team and Aqualad, being the ever present voice of reason, tried to get him to radio his position. Superboy had angrily refused before ditching his radio and continuing his pursuit.
"I'm gonna kick that idiot's ass. Hotheaded dumbass..." Shinobi said, perfectly aware of the irony of his own words.
"I think maybe I can figure out where these monkeys were going, actually," said Robin as he pulled a cord from one of his gloves and plugged it into a jack in the back of one of the downed monkeys.
Robin worked his technological magic and soon a holographic map popped up showing the location of the remaining monkeys, and the android parts, in real time.
"Oh, yeah! I'm awesome. I've managed to track the monkeys, and it seems like they're converging at one location... Gotham City."
"That far south? M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Starfire will stay with us in case we encounter anymore of Ivo's traps. Aqualad out."
"Well, I guess that leaves you and me, huh?" asked Robin.
Shinobi crouched down in front of Robin and said, "Hop on."
Robin took a step back and shook his head fervently. "No way am I getting a piggyback ride from you, dude."
Shinobi glared back at him and said, "We don't have time for this. I can get there fast, and I can do it with you on my back. Let's go!"
Robin couldn't argue that logic and gave a defeated sigh before climbing onto Shinobi's back.
"Hold on tight."
"Do I have t-"
Robin's rebuttal was interrupted by the sudden burst of speed Shinobi had gained.
"He's out of my range by now. Point me in the right direction until I get close enough to sense him."
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By the time Shinobi and Robin had reached a distance close enough to pick up Superboy's trail again, Kid Flash had caught up to them. They were running toward it before it changed direction drastically. Shinobi looked into the sky to see a speck that he was sure had to be Superboy flying through the sky and towards a building on his right. Shinobi changed direction, Kid Flash following suit and they followed the signature to an empty school.
"This is my school! Why would Superboy come here?" asked Robin.
"I don't think he had a choice," said Kid Flash. "By the way, I'm never gonna let you live that down." Kid Flash pointed at Robin's odd situation, perched on Shinobi's back like a small child getting a piggyback ride.
Robin hurriedly clambered down from Shinobi's back while said ninja chuckled at their banter.
"Let's just go, okay?!" Robin tried to fight down his embarrassment as they entered the school. They walked the halls, Robin leading the way. Shinobi had deactivated his Sage Mode, considering they knew Superboy's location and Robin knew his way around this school much better than the ninja did. Besides, they only had to follow the sounds of combat to know where Superboy was in the building.
When they arrived at Superboy's location, they found him sprawled out on a gym floor, the android standing over him about to deliver a finishing blow. Kid Flash ran forward, using his super speed to get Superboy out of danger, while Shinobi followed, charging a Rasengan and delivering it right into the android's face.
The android flew back as the ball of energy burst, crashing into the opposite wall of the gym head first.
"Oh! I'm impressed you managed to hit Amazo. Although it'll never happen again, I'm afraid," said Ivo from the bleachers as he watched the show like a fan at a spectator sport. "Soon he'll have learned all of your tricks and you'll be just as useless as Superman's disappointing son is."
"We'll see about that," Shinobi retorted. He took a ready stance as the android, Amazo, extricated himself from the wall.
"Access: Flash."
Amazo ran at Shinobi with amazing speed, emulating the Flash perfectly. If Shinobi hadn't known exactly what the android's abilities were in the first place, he might have been caught by surprise. As it was, however, Shinobi had a plan in place. The android closed the distance in less than a second and peppered Shinobi with an intensely fast barrage of punches before the ninja burst into a cloud of smoke. Amazo was then hit from behind by a pair of Rasengan held in the hands of the real Shinobi.
The android flew forward, directly in the path of Superboy, who had since recovered, and delivered the hardest punch he could directly to Amazo's face. The android flew back the way he came, Shinobi neatly sidestepping it, and was re-embedded into the gym wall.
"What was that about it never happening again?" asked Shinobi, shooting Ivo a smug smirk.
Ivo scowled, but otherwise didn't show any anger. "Amazo, kill them, priority alpha!"
"Access: Superman."
Amazo flew out of the wall once more, shooting like a bullet towards Shinobi for a second time. Shinobi smirked and readied himself to best the android once more before it called out in mid flight, "Access: Martian Manhunter."
Amazo became translucent and flew right through Shinobi, directly at his teammates. The android resolidified himself and grabbed Superboy's face in mid flight, slamming him into the wall. Kid Flash tried to help, but was swiftly knocked aside. Then the android turned its eyes toward Robin, who threw a number of explosive disks at it. It became translucent again, the disks passing harmlessly through, before it extended its right arm in a long distance punch towards the Boy Wonder.
Robin braced for an impact that never came, and when he opened his eyes he found himself in a completely different location in the gym and Shinobi in his previous spot. Shinobi capitalized on the android's assumption that it would be striking the relatively safe target that was Robin and caught the punch. Before Amazo had a chance to react, the ninja formed a Rasengan in his hand and pushed it into the unarmored elastic material that allowed the android to stretch its arms in this manner. There was a grinding sound for a second and then Shinobi released his control over the technique, causing a controlled burst of energy that severed the hand from the android completely. Amazo glanced at his missing hand but seemed undeterred.
"Access: Shinobi."
In the android's left, and only remaining, hand a ball of red energy formed spinning in a controlled chaos in a perfect copy of the rasengan. Shinobi could tell it wasn't chakra, but it was as close of an approximation as the android could produce. The android then blurred forward, matching Shinobi's own speed, and closing the distance quickly. The android's knock off Rasengan was met with one of Shinobi's own and a second one closing in on its midsection.
"Martian Manhunter."
The android's Rasengan dispersed as it became translucent and Shinobi, deprived of an opposing force, was sent tumbling through the android's body. As soon as he was completely through, it spoke again.
"Superman."
Shinobi felt a vice like grip close around his leg before he was thrown through the wall of the gym and landed back in the outside world. He lay there for a moment, catching his breath, and saw an arrow fly over him and through an open window. He followed its path back to the point of origin and could make out a blonde girl clad in green running off of the school campus and into the darkness of the night.
Shinobi shook off the weird occurrence and kipped up to his feet to rejoin the fight. As he ran back into the gym he saw that his teammates had decided to try a different tactic: attacking Ivo directly.
"Amazo! Protect your master, priority alpha!" Ivo cried from his position on the gym floor.
Amazo turned to Superboy and raised his hand. "Captain Atom." A yellow beam fired from his palm, striking the clone directly. It was a direct attack, but it served to distract the android while Robin attacked Ivo from behind.
"Anybody wanna play keep away?" Robin asked as he kicked Ivo across the gym floor.
"I'm game!" said Shinobi as he closed the distance to Ivo in a burst of speed.
"Superman."
The android fired his approximation of Superman's heat vision at Shinobi, who quickly ducked out of the way. The distraction was just in time to allow Robin to throw a batarang at the android who became translucent to avoid it. Amazo regained solidity as Superboy's fist entered his head, causing it to explode.
"Quick! Dismantle it!" Robin cried.
"Dude's got no head," said Kid Flash.
Just at that moment Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Starfire burst through the doors of the gym.
"Don't take any chances," said Aqualad.
As Aqualad and Robin began disassembling Amazo, Shinobi took a seat on the bleachers watching Miss Martian check on Superboy. Starfire joined him a second later and checked him over for injuries, though the few he had gained were already fast on the way to being healed.
"That was a pretty good fight, if a little underwhelming, all things considered," said Shinobi. "I mean Batman hyped that guy up a lot and he was kind of a chump if I'm being honest."
"Speaking of which, why didn't you just do that gold glowy thing you do and tear that guy apart?" asked Kid Flash. It was a fair point and ever since he had heard of Shinobi's strange golden aura he'd been curious of how it worked and why Shinobi didn't use it more often.
"Well, that guy copied Superman's strength, Flash's speed, and Manhunter's density shifting. There's no telling which of my abilities he might have been able to copy. Didn't want to make him some sort of unstoppable killing machine by mistake," said Shinobi, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Pfft, you're hardly unstoppable, dude. But the point still stands; this thing managed to copy Captain Atom, which means he's probably powered by some sort of nuclear reactor. He could likely match any ridiculous increase in power he saw someone else going through," added Robin.
"Oh, well. All's well that ends well, I guess," said Kid Flash. "Just wish we hadn't lost Ivo."
"You win some you lose some, I guess," said Shinobi. "Try not to dwell on it."
The team called the League to pick up the disassembled android and sat around for a few minutes, idly chatting to pass the time. The League arrived on the scene shortly and proceeded to cart of the remains of Ivo's android. As the team prepared to leave Shinobi decided it was a good a time as any to ask.
"So, Kory... about that date."
"Oh, man, he already made his move?! I knew something weird had happened between them!" Kid Flash looked on in dismay and received a consoling pat on the back from Robin.
"If it's any consolation, dude, you never had a chance."
A/N: And there it is. It's something like 7k words long, so here's a little extra length for the long wait. I would have made it longer if I felt there was anything more to write, but twenty pages is quite enough. Also, I received my first flame review for the last chapter. It's quite exciting, and the guy made an alright point. Too bad he probably doesn't read any more. Finally, I wanted to ask you readers if you wanted Naruto to name Superboy, or just keep it Conner like canon. Leave a review if you care, eh. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time.