The Crimson Speedster

by choejhulkp9

Barry Allen AKA the Flash wasn't the only one who was affected by the particle accelerator. He and Star Labs find another speedster who has similar powers to Barry, yet he's a bit different. Watch as the Scarlet Speedster joins the Crimson Speedster possibly join forces and protect Central City. Naruto x Linda x ?

3. The Legend Begins

Here is the third chapter of The Crimson Speedster. Naruto and Barry's prowess with their new powers continues to grow as they encounter new meta-humans, new tests with their relationships and crucial markers for their future. Enjoy!

My name is Barry Allen and I'm one of the fastest men alive. When I was a child, I saw my mother get killed by something impossible. My father went to prison for her murder. Than an accident made me the impossible. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensic scientist, but secretly I used my speed to fight crime and find other people like me. And one day, I'll find who killed my mother and get justice for my father. I am…the Flash.

Before the Particle Accelerator explosion, I had a very set belief of principles on how the world works. Rules like gravity kept people on the ground, the sun heated the planet and theoretical elements were theoretical. After my parents' death, I gave up on my path in science but after the Particle Accelerator explosion, my body changed in ways that I never imagined. It restarted my life and now I know what to do. I will use my speed to help Barry and everyone keep this city safe and make my parents proud. Meet Central City's newest Speedster, Impulse.

The Crimson Speedster: The Legends Begin

Ever since Bette's death at the hand of General Eiling, Naruto dedicated more of his spare time to training to his speed, body, and mind to make sure that nothing like that could happen again. That meant he spent more time on the Cosmic Treadmill as Cisco dubbed it and in the training room to keep pushing his powers while also spending as much time on the last stretch of his college work and reading up on everything to get onto the same page as Cisco and Dr. Wells.

After Dr. Wells revealed to Naruto that he was fast enough to break the sound barrier, it started a bit of a friendly competition between him and Barry to see who would eventually be faster. Other than that, nothing else happened. No new metahuman or crisis they had to deal with so their spare time was kept with making sure the city was safe and stopping any crimes in progress. Soon, more news and rumors about mysterious blurs racing throughout the city began spread. Social media and blogs were lit up with posts and stories about a blur or a rush of wind racing past them and then robbers being knocked out for the cops or people rescued from buildings. And with Iris's blog still up, it only fed the fire and made Joe ever more uncomfortable.

It was late at night and Iris was at Jitters, having finished a late shift and was spending some time on her laptop to update her blog on the Streak. She finished her last and pressed post, closing her laptop and got ready to leave when she was whisked away in a whoosh of air and found herself on the roof again. "You're welcome." She heard as she turned to see the Streak.

"How did you-? I literally just hit send." Iris said.

"Speed reading." The Flash replied.

"It's crazy what you can do to your voice." Iris said as The Flash super sped behind her, causing her to turn around.

"You need to stop writing your blog." The Flash told her.

"People need to know that you exist." Iris said to him as her cellphone rang with a call. She saw it was Eddie and hit ignore. "What else can you do?"

The Flash ran around her once before stopping at the other end of the roof. "This is not an interview." The Flash told her.

"Come on, you've got to give me something. Hobbies, pet peeves, favorite color. Wait, scratch that last one. Red, obviously." Iris said.

"You're not hearing me." Flash replied.

"My hearing is fine, it's just selective." Iris told him. "What should I call you?"

"Anything but the Streak." The Flash told her.

"Ok, suggestions? How about the Blur? And for your sidekick, he can be called the Streak." Iris told him as Flash chuckled.

"Impulse doesn't like to be called a sidekick." Flash said as Iris smiled.

"Impulse?" Iris asked as Barry mentally kicked himself as he just told her Naruto's alter-ego as he super sped behind her. "So, your partner named himself. How come he's not here with you?"

"He doesn't need to be, but we both agree on this. You need to stop." The Flash said. "You told me that you were writing your blog to inspire hope in your friend. How would he feel if doing that put you in harm's way?"

"He and I aren't exactly on the same page these days. Besides, you're giving hope to a lot of people. So, I'm doing this for them." Iris said as the sounds of police sirens could be heard a few blocks away and getting closer.

"To be continued. Gotta run." Flash said as he ran away.

"Wait, you can't just leave me up—[Whoosh] here." Iris said as she was suddenly back in Jitters.

While Barry was dealing with Iris and now the police incident, Naruto was just going over his parents' collaborative notebook that had a lot of detailed notes and calculations on a project they wanted to pursue before their accident. He first found it when he went through the box of his parents' stuff when he went through their notes for any clues on what happened to him when he first got his powers. He set it aside because the notes looked interesting and since then he's read over it dozens of times. They were planning to develop a new method of clean, renewable energy that was years ahead of geo-thermal or fusion reactors. They called it the ARC Reactor, a clean and renewable energy source that could run forever and give off enough energy to power a city depending on the scale and design.

The ARC Reactor would theoretically use Palladium as a grounding mechanism and as reactant while Repulsor technology would be the means of power for the reactor. Repulsor energy is created by taking excess electrons and turning them into muons, which can penetrate deep into atomic matter and provide a tremendous amount of propulsive force. There wasn't any current application of this tech but this could one of them. When the muon energy from the repulsor met with the palladium, it generated plasma and once that was generated within the electromagnetic ring of the reactor, it would perpetuate and run for a long period of time, giving off the renewable energy.

It was safer than an atomic fusion reactor but the only flaw was that it never made it past the theoretical phase. His parents only did the beginning calculations and designs for the reactor before the car accident, so Naruto was thinking that he could work on this to honor their memory. Maybe even incorporate some calculations or designs from his senior thesis on Hydrogen fuel possibilities to make it work. Naruto did some of his own calculations and decided to go see Dr. Wells to have him look and ask for his help to try and make this a reality. He grabbed his jacket, the notebook and walked out of his room to see Tsunade in the kitchen. Naruto walked over to the fridge and grabbed a cream soda and took a sip.

"Hey, Tsunade." Naruto said as he took a sip and saw she was really engrossed in a section of the paper.

"Hey, Naruto. Did you read the paper at all?" Tsunade asked as Naruto shook his head no, walked over and read the article she was referring to. "Injuries and hospital visits shoot up: Growing Concern."

"What's going on? A meta-human?" Naruto asked.

"No. It says that there's been an increase in civilian injuries and hospital visits who were attempting to get sights of the rumored Streak." Tsunade said as Naruto cursed.

"Crap." Naruto said as he sat down next to her to read. "The recent increase of people visiting crime scenes and dangerous areas around the city is in response to the surge of unsubstantiated reports and blogs of the fabled Streak in Central City. The rumored Streak, as seen in amateur photos of the red and white streaks throughout the city has fueled civilian interest in discovering if the Streaks exist. The amount of information on the Streaks is limited at this point, with a majority of the reports coming from the blog of one Iris West, whose blog is responsible for a majority of the civilian interests. However, this has resulted in numerous visits to the hospital of people searching for a glimpse of the Streaks. The latest tally of hospital visits this path month of people trying to get a glimpse of the Streaks is in the reported hundred although an exact number is hard to determine. The police have yet to issue comment on the existence of the Streaks and what steps are being taken to keep the citizens of Central Safe from the threats of rumors."

"Aw, man. This isn't good." Naruto said as he rubbed his head.

"I know. Even some of the kids have heard rumors of the Streak and Shizune and I are doing everything we can to keep them from running out there and getting into trouble just for a chance to see you or Barry in action." Tsunade said as Naruto rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry, I never wanted this." Naruto said as Tsunade pat his hand and smiled.

"I know, but it was bound to happen. You and Barry aren't invisible and as long as you go out there, doing what you do, this will only be the beginning." Tsunade said as she got up to get a cup of coffee.

"Ok, so what should I do?" Naruto asked as Tsunade thought for a moment.

"The way I see it, there are two options. Option 1, you and Barry go public and the people of Central City know that the Flash, Impulse and meta-humans exist in the city." Tsunade said as Naruto thought for a moment.

"While I like the idea of not having to hide from the public, if people learned that meta-humans exist, I'm worried about the public backlash. What's the second option?" Naruto asked.

"Option 2, you find a way to stop these rumors about the Flash. You said that Barry's friend, Iris writes a blog." Tsunade said.

"Yeah, and Barry trying to stop her didn't work. I think he just likes that when Iris speaks to him when he's the Flash, he isn't her friend but something else." Naruto said as Tsunade nodded.

"Ah, unrequited love. Such a classic. Well, maybe you should talk to her. Get her to understand the consequences of what she's doing. Just some something to consider." Tsunade said a she kissed him on the head and left.

Naruto got up and super sped to STAR Labs and went to Level 600 where the Cortex was to talk to Dr. Wells. He walked in just as Caitlin and Cisco arrived from dinner. "Hey guys." Naruto said as they greeted him back.

"Evening, Naruto." Dr. Wells said as he greeted them.

"Check the math. Your dispersal models don't correlate." Caitlin told Cisco.

"Uh, they do if you factor in the seasonal fluctuations in reproduction cycles." Cisco said as Naruto and Dr. Wells were confused.

"What exactly are we debating?" Dr. Wells asked.

"The average number of bugs Barry and Naruto swallow in a day of running." Cisco said as Naruto gagged.

"Egh, don't want to know." Naruto told them as they walked to the cortex.

"I look forward to seeing you accept your Nobel." Dr. Wells joked.

They walked into the cortex when Naruto noticed something on the floor and saw it was Barry. "Barry!" Naruto shouted as he, Cisco and Caitlin walked over to see if he was ok. "Barry, say something!"

They rolled him over and saw the bad bruise and blood on his mouth. "Ow." Barry said as they helped him to the gurney and Caitlin began helping him. She patched him up, gave him some pain medication and was putting a brace on his right hand and forearm.

"13 fractures. That's a new record and that's just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal." Caitlin said as Barry nodded.

"Dude, what did you hit? A wrecking ball?" Naruto asked.

"No. It was a man. A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like it turned to metal." Barry said.

"Interesting. A man of steel." Dr. Wells said.

"Oh, I like that." Naruto replied.

"So, you went after a meta-human alone? Dude, why didn't you call us?" Cisco asked.

"I didn't know what he was. [Grunts in pain] Besides, I was off duty." Barry said as Caitlin and Naruto looked at him.

"Hmm." They both said as Barry looked at them.

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth. Those puppies don't grow back." Cisco told him.

"Strange thing is, I felt like I knew him." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

"He said something that was familiar. But he's gonna hurt someone. So, how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?" Barry asked.

"We will find a way. Tonight, you heal." Dr. Wells told him as Barry nodded and laid back on the gurney to rest. Dr. Wells then walked over to the computers to see Naruto with his father's old notebook. "I remember that notebook. Your parents best collaborative work, after you of course. They had an interesting plan to design in the future."

"The ARC Reactor. That's what I came here to talk to you about. I was wondering if you think it's possible for something like this to work. I've read over my parents' notebook dozens of times and I have all the math and science memorized. Do you think we can make a prototype?" Naruto asked as Dr. Wells looked at the notebook.

"It's possible. But these designs and calculations are incomplete." Dr. Wells told him as Naruto smiled.

"Then we'll just have to complete them." Naruto said as Dr. Wells smiled and they got to work.

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning, Barry had healed up and was fine but still sore. He went to work, Caitlin and Cisco were off doing their own things, Naruto went to his only morning class and then after that he went back to STAR labs to work on the equations for the ARC Reactor. Dr. Wells had him and Naruto move to Level 540 to work. It used to be Naruto's parents' own designated floor where Naruto's dad's office was but wasn't being used for anything else now.

Naruto was drinking some water as he and Dr. Wells looked at the white board of energy and dimension calculations for a prototype ARC reactor that would be set up in STAR Labs. The issue was that they were looking over the calculations and it was driving them insane as they tried to figure out the palladium/muon calculations that would perpetuate the energy field and constantly create energy yet all their calculations would either ensure the reactor wouldn't work or would blow up.

"Son of a bitch this is irritating." Naruto said as he put his water down and began chewing his pen.

"Well that is the nature of science, Naruto." Dr. Wells told him as he sipped some tea.

"Yeah, I know that. I vividly remember the long nights. But this is just getting ridiculous." Naruto commented.

"Well, we've only been working on it for a day. Your parents worked on this for years and only got to this point." Dr. Wells said.

"Then how long will this take us?" Naruto asked.

"Weeks, months, years?" Dr. Wells told Naruto causing him to exhale in frustration. "But don't worry, the answers will come to us. We just need to give it time."

"Maybe. You'd think with my speed-enhanced mind that this would be easier but it's not. Ugh, I could use a break. Maybe, there's something in my thesis that will spark an idea." Naruto said as he finished his glass of water when they saw the computer beep, signaling that someone was in the elevator. They looked as the computer brought up the image and showed Detective West in the elevator.

"What's Joe doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Let's go find out." Dr. Wells said as they went to meet him by the elevator.

The elevator doors opened and Detective West walked out and smiled at Dr. Wells and Naruto. "Dr. Wells, Naruto." Joe said as Naruto and Dr. Wells smiled and nodded.

"Detective. If you're worried about Barry, don't be. He's all healed up, he should be at the police station if you're looking for him." Dr. Wells said as Joe nodded.

"Yeah, I saw him but that's not what this is about. I came here to see you. I need your help solving an old case." Joe said.

"What case is that?" Dr. Wells asked.

"The murder of Barry's mother." Joe said as Dr. Wells and Naruto nodded.

They moved to one of the main labs, just like the cortex on floor 600 where Joe showed them all the evidence and information they had on Barry's mother's dead from 14 years ago. Witness testimony, physical evidence, crime scene photos and Barry's mother's autopsy were all there. Naruto digitized some of them to help the organization so Naruto and Dr. Wells were up to speed. Dr. Wells told Naruto that he didn't need to do this but Naruto was more than happy to help and give an extra pair of fresh eyes to the case.

"Barry described a tornado of red and yellow lightning in his house, with a man in yellow. Then, bam, he's blocks away, on the street, doesn't know how he got there. When I arrived, the place was a wreck." Joe said.

"Nora Allen is dead." Dr. Wells said.

"Single stab wound to the heart. Henry Allen covered in her blood." Joe finished.

"Despite all the evidence that Henry Allen is guilty…now you believe this man in yellow is responsible?" Dr. Wells asked.

"Last night, I saw Barry rescue a young boy from being run over and it looked exactly like Barry explained happened to him." Joe said.

"Like this?" Naruto asked as he super sped back and forth in the cortex in a blur of white/orange lightning.

"Exactly. It got me thinking, what if somebody with Barry and Naruto's abilities killed Nora?" Joe asked.

"There's just one flaw with your theory, detective, and that is all of this happened 14 years ago. Which is long before—""Your machine gave Barry his powers." Joe finished his sentence.

"An accident gave Barry and Naruto their powers." Dr. Wells said.

"Do you think it is possible that somebody with their super speed could have existed before the explosion?" Joe asked.

"Detective, I deal in probabilities as a scientist. And in this case, it's highly unlikely." Dr. Wells told him.

"Maybe we can look at it another way?" Naruto asked as Joe looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"Well, now that we think a speedster or someone with speedster powers did this we should focus on why?" Naruto said as they looked at him, curious as to what he meant. "I've watched enough Law & Order, Criminal Minds and Castle to know that random murders are highly unlikely. There has to be a motive."

"Castle?" Dr. Wells asked.

"What? It's Nathan Fillion, Captain Malcom Reynolds can do no wrong. Besides, Stana Katic is beautiful." Naruto joked as Dr. Wells and Joe chuckled. "Anyway, I know they're shows but the percentage of random murders should be extremely low, especially if we're considering the fact that this guy might have powers. So, if he's out there, why kill Barry's mom? Why not the family next door? Or in another city?"

"Naruto does make a point. The percentage of random murders is not that high. So, what would our killer's motive be?" Joe asked.

"That's the million-dollar question. Along with how this person might have powers." Dr. Wells said as they nodded.

"All right, I've been doing a lot of work today, and now I need a coffee break. Do you guys want anything?" Naruto asked as he grabbed his jacket.

"Yeah, hazelnut creamer and two sugars." Joe said.

"Espresso, please." Dr. Wells said as Naruto nodded and super sped to Jitters.

He walked in and to the counter, seeing Iris placing cookies in one of the jars and talking to the barista. "Hey, Iris." Naruto said as he waved and she waved back. Naruto placed his order and was waiting for it to finish, playing with his phone to kill time.

"Hey, Iris. Long time no see." Naruto heard as he and Iris looked up to see a tall, muscle head walk in. From the way he spoke, he seemed to know her. "I got to say, Iris. You, look amazing."

Naruto noticed how he walked and talked and could tell the guy was either a conceited asshole or a muscle-head jock, either one. "Thanks, Tony. Um, you too." Iris replied, surprised and not happy to see him.

"Oh, yeah. I keep in shape. Got a gym at my place. Been living out in Keystone. The west side. You should uh, stop by some time." Tony said.

"So, uh, can I get you a drink?" Iris asked, trying to walk away and possibly make it behind the counter to gain some distance but he walked closer. He passed Naruto without a second glance, so Naruto decided to switch his phone to video and record him. He had a bad feeling about this guy.

"Actually, I came to see you." Tony said.

"How did you know I was here?" Iris asked.

"Been reading up on the Streak and his sidekick. Found your little blog. Impulse? That's a stupid name." Tony said as Naruto's eyes widened, how did Iris or Tony know his alias. Oh, Barry was gonna get his ass kicked. "Why are you writing about these losers?"

"People say they're heroes." Iris told him.

"I say the Streak's a coward. I happen to know that he took a beating last night and ran off like a little girl. You should write about that. Do you, uh, have any idea who leather boy is?" Tony asked.

"No clue. So, um, if you don't want to drink, I should get back to work." Iris said as she tried to leave.

"Actually, I'd like to buy you a drink. What time are you off?" Tony asked.

"Thanks, Tony, but I don't think my boyfriend would approve. He's a cop, like my dad." Iris said.

"I never really did like cops too much." Tony said as Iris glanced at Naruto who was looking at her. He subtlety gestured to the TV screen and it showed Tony's picture and description and that he was wanted by the police.

"Well, he's picking me up for the policemen's ball. Wall to wall, cops. Couldn't swing a cat around. I should probably call him to see where he is." Iris said as she took out her phone.

"Give me the phone, Iris. Now!" He shouted as she gave it to him. Naruto watched as Tony's hand and arm turned into metal and he crushed her phone like a soda can. He crushed it and put it in the tip jar.

"Sorry." Tony said as he took out a huge wad of 20's and put it in the jar. "We'll pick this up some other time."

Tony then left as Naruto quickly put his phone away and acted casual as his drink order arrived. He then quickly ran back to STAR Labs and to the lab where he saw Joe and Dr. Wells still working.

"Ah, right on time." Joe said.

"We've got a problem." Naruto told them.

"What is it?" Dr. Wells asked.

"The meta-human who beat up Barry. He was at Jitters." Naruto said as Joe and Wells were shocked.

"You saw him?" Joe asked.

"Oh, yeah. It was definitely him. Tony Woodward. Here." Naruto said as he took out his phone and showed them the video. "And he was there for Iris."

"Iris?" Joe asked.

"She's fine. He left, but Joe he sounded a bit obsessed with her and when she mentioned you and Eddie, he didn't sound so happy. But I think I know why he's obsessed with her." Naruto said as he sat down at the computers and began typing.

"Why?" Joe asked as Naruto finished typing and activated the big monitor in the room to show them Iris's blog on the Streak with the latest post from last night about the Streak and his sidekick, Impusle. Wells and Joe saw this and immediately got worried.

"He's obsessed with Barry. He wants another fight and to beat him. He's been reading Iris's blog about us." Naruto said as Joe rubbed his head.

"I knew this was gonna get her in trouble." Joe said.

"I thought Barry talked to her?" Wells asked.

"I doubt that's going to work. And even worse, he slipped my name to her." Naruto said as he rubbed his forehead. "I think Barry's feeling for Iris aren't letting him think clearly on this one. With Iris's blog, the more people who know about us, the more we'll attract new evil meta-humans who want to kill us. And the more people will get hurt."

"Hurt?" Joe asked as Naruto brought up the article Tsunade showed him.

"Tsunade showed this to me, last night. The surge of accidents and visits to the emergency room have sky-rocketed since Iris's blog went up. And it doesn't look like she's gonna stop soon." Naruto said as they were all concerned.

"Well, Tony won't be around much longer. If he's got a place out at Keystone, we'll find him. Barry was with Eddie when they found the hummer Tony stole. He'll have taken some of the evidence here to get it examined." Joe said.

"We can analyze the evidence and narrow down where Mr. Woodward might be. And once we do, we'll put him in the pipeline." Dr. Wells said as Naruto looked at the posts on Iris's blog and got an idea.

"And I think I know how to deal with Iris's blog. You guys go tell Barry and the others, I'll be up in a second." Naruto said as Joe and Dr. Wells went to tell Barry, Caitlin and Cisco what Naruto found out while Naruto made a quick call to Felicity to get something.

Line Break xxxxx

The sun had set on Central City as Dr. Wells was working with Cisco to determine the type of metal Tony Woodward could turn his skin to and use that to narrow down where he might be. Joe told Barry not to worry and that he'd have extra officers on her to keep her safe. While they did that, Caitlin noticed that Naruto hadn't joined them. He was currently in uniform on his way to handle the Iris situation.

Speaking of Iris, she was waiting at Jitters for the Streak after sending him a message on her blog. She had information on someone that she thought he needed to lock up. She was sitting at one of the tables, waiting for the Streak to show up any minute now since she sent the message about 10 minutes ago.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air that breezed past her and she knew he was here. "I guess you got my message." She said as she turned and didn't see the red-clad Streak but instead a white and dark orange colored man. She couldn't see his face because it was covered by a mask and it was vibrating.

"Iris West, we need to talk." Impulse said in a serious tone.

"Oh my god, it's you. Impulse. Your boss told me about you." Iris said as Impulse sped behind her.

"He's not my boss…and I'm not his sidekick." Impulse told her as Iris turned around.

"Sorry. I just figured that since he came to talk to me that he was in charge." Iris said.

"The reason he went to speak to you is the same reason I'm here. To tell you to stop what you're doing, Ms. West." Impulse told her as Iris understood what he meant.

"The Streak told me the same thing. But you guys need to understand that there are people out there that need to know about you. They need to know what you do and that you're out there. Don't tell me that it wouldn't be nice to have people out there thanking you." Iris said.

"We don't do this for the thanks or the fame. The situation is a lot more complicated than you can even begin to understand. You need to stop." Impulse told her.

"I'm sorry but I can't. You don't understand that the people of this city need to know about you two. You two are inspiring hope to a lot of people that need it. And I'm not going to stop until everyone believes in you." Iris said.

"Even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. I saw the message you posted on your blog. Tony Woodward, he was here." Impulse said.

"I never mentioned his name." Iris said.

"I'm resourceful. You need to stay away from this, Ms. West. He's dangerous." Impulse told her.

"I knew him when we were kids. He didn't want to hurt me, he wanted to impress me. But he's fixated on the Streak and you and not in a good way. And he's different, he can change his body. I saw him turn his fist into metal." Iris said as she looked at Impulse. "He's like you and the Streak."

"Yes, and writing about us is what brought him to you. It put a target on your back." Impulse said.

"I know but maybe I can talk to him." Iris said.

"No. He's too dangerous. He may want to impress you but if you piss him off he'll put you in the hospital or worse, in the morgue. That's what you fail to understand, Ms. West is that you may think writing about us is altruistic but, it's putting a lot of people in danger and not just yourself." Impulse told her as she was confused.

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked.

"Your blog has been attributing to the recent surge of hospital visits and injuries in the city." Impulse said as he super sped around and laid a newspaper on a table with the page turned to the article he was talking about. "You may think you're doing a good thing by writing about us but all you're doing is putting people in danger."

"No, this can't be right." Iris said as she read the article.

"It is, Ms. West. So long as you keep writing about us, more people will go seek us out and get hurt. This is your last warning, stop now." Impulse told her.

"I…I can't. This may be bad but it also means that the people of Central City are starting to believe in you two. Believe enough to go out there and see you in action. You may think this is a bad thing but it's good, more than you know. And that's why I can't stop." Iris told him as Impulse shook his head.

"Very well, Ms. West. Then that's why I'm doing what I'm doing." Impulse said as he pulled out his phone and pressed send on a message.

Iris's phone got a message and when she checked it, she saw that her blog was being hacked into and it then crashed with an error message saying that the web page was deleted and couldn't be found. "What did you do?!" Iris shouted as she tried to find her blog but kept getting the error message.

"What I had to do to protect the Flash and myself. Stay away from this, Ms. West. This is your last warning." Impulse said he left the building, seeing police officers arrive to pick up Iris.

Naruto was running through the city, feeling a bit guilty for what he did to Iris but relieved and glad. He hoped that with Iris's blog officially down thanks to Felicity's hacking code, it would decrease the civilian interest in the Flash and Impulse and people going out there to see them in action. If there wasn't a blog reporting on their actions then they wouldn't know where to go and there was no way the police were going to mention that two strangers with powers were solving all the crime in the city.

Naruto was running past his school when his comm system beeped. "Naruto, here." Naruto answered.

"Naruto, it's Caitlin. We found out where Tony Woodward might be staying." Caitlin said.

"Oh, that's good. So, did Joe send the CCPD?" Naruto asked.

"That's the bad news. Barry left before we could stop him and he turned off his comm." Cisco said as Naruto understood.

"All right, I'm on my way to back him up. Where am I going?" Naruto asked.

"The old, defunct Keystone Ironworks. I'm sending the address to your goggles." Cisco said as Naruto got the address and super sped there. He got in to see the place was trashed and no sign of Tony. Naruto walked over to the tipped metal shelves and saw Barry.

"Barry! Barry talk to me! Say something." Naruto said as he grabbed Barry and pulled him from underneath.

"Everything hurts…" Barry moaned as Naruto exhaled in relief.

"This is why is helps to have a partner." Naruto said as he grabbed Barry and super sped back to STAR Labs but before he left, he pulled the fire alarm to signal the police.

Barry was put on the gurney as Caitlin helped him. They informed Dr. Wells and Joe about Tony and that Barry was ok. He also told them that he took care of the Iris situation. "What were you thinking? What were you thinking?! I told you that we would figure out a way to defeat Mr. Woodward." Dr. Wells scolded Barry.

"I'll heal." Barry replied.

"You can't heal if your dead. He could have killed you." Barry said.

"I know, all right? I know! In the past 36 hours, I've had my ass handed to me twice by the guy who tortured me as a kid. I couldn't stop him then and I can't stop him now. Even with my powers, I'm still powerless against him." Barry told them.

"Not necessarily. Cisco." Dr. Wells said as Cisco brought up the information on Tony. "Any material, if struck at a high enough velocity can be compromised."

"We ran an analysis on the metal in Tony's footprint. Based on its density and atomic structure, if you impact it at just the right angle at just the right speed you could do some serious damage." Cisco said.

"How fast would Barry need to go?" Naruto asked.

"Factoring in the metal's tensile strength, estimated dermal thickness, atmosphere pressure, air temp…you'd have to hit him at approximately…Mach 1.1." Cisco said as Barry chuckled.

"You want Barry to hit something at 800 miles an hour?" Caitlin asked.

"844 miles per hour, actually." Cisco corrected her.

"That's faster then the speed of sound." Caitlin said.

"I know. He would create a sonic boom which, as I said before, would be awesome." Cisco said, excited at the idea.

"I haven't even broke Mach 1. I've never gone that fast." Barry replied.

"Yet." Dr. Wells informed him.

"I can't believe we're actually entertaining this idea. I mean, he'd need a straight shot from miles away." Caitlin said.

"Yeah, 5.3 miles, theoretically." Cisco said.

"Do it right, and you'll take him down." Dr. Wells said.

"Do it wrong, you'll shatter every bone in your body." Caitlin told Barry, worried.

"Look, Barry…if you're not up to it, I can take on Tony. I'm already at Mach 1, I think I can handle the Mach punch." Naruto said as Cisco smiled.

"Oh, that's dope." Cisco said as he high-fived him.

"Naruto, I appreciate this but it's my fight." Barry said.

"I know, but that's what partners are for. Taking care of each other's problems when the other can't. I already handled the Iris situation so I'm more than happy to help here as well." Naruto said as Barry looked at him.

"What do you mean the Iris situation?" Barry asked as he looked at Naruto.

"Oh, well I know with Iris writing the blog about the meta-human related incidents in the city and that she was fixated on the Flash and Impulse, thanks for giving her my name by the way." Naruto said as Cisco, Caitlin and Dr. Wells looked at Barry who nervously shrugged. "And seeing how you're talks haven't dismayed her I gave it a shot. So, I made a call to Felicity and she sent me one of her handy hacking programs. I spoke to Iris to get her to try and understand and when that didn't work I uploaded the hack and it took down her blog and made it completely untraceable. Score one, for Impulse."

"You went to handle the situation with Iris without talking to me?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, after I told Dr. Wells and Joe they gave me the go ahead." Naruto said.

"And what the hell did you think you were doing?" Barry asked, angry.

"Whoa, Barry. I did us all a favor. Besides, you haven't been able to stop Iris so I tried." Naruto said.

"I was handling the situation." Barry said and Naruto looked at him with an 'are you kidding' expression.

"Really? Because was your late-night rendezvous the other night was handling the situation or an attempt at flirting?" Naruto asked as Barry got in his face.

"I never asked you to handle the situation. When it comes to Iris, you stay out of it!" Barry shouted as Cisco got in between them.

"Ok, let's take a deep breath." Cisco said as he kept them apart.

"Barry, calm down." Caitlin tried to calm him.

"Ok, first off a thank you would have been nice. Second, you didn't need to ask me because we're partners in this, Barry. I'm not your sidekick despite what you told Iris, I'm your partner. Third, I was doing this to keep us safe because you can't separate your feelings for Iris to do what needed to be done." Naruto said.

"She's my best friend." Barry said.

"I know and you care for her more than that and that's why I did this. Because you were unable to. That's what good partners do, they handle the situations the other can't. And besides, what I did was not only to keep us safe but a lot of other people as well." Naruto said.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked as Naruto super sped away and returned with a newspaper.

"There's been a recent surge of hospitalizations and accidents by people who believe all the random encounters and posts about the Flash and Impulse. And the posts about us coming from Iris's blog were increasing the accidents. Even some of the kids at the shelter were thinking of going out there to try and find us, Barry! So, you may think I did this to spite you or get in the way of your ridiculous situation with Iris but I did this to keep people safe!" Naruto shouted in response as everyone could tell how serious he was. "I'm done for the night."

Naruto grabbed his jacket and left in a huff. There was a moment of awkward silence when Caitlin decided to run after Naruto and make sure he was ok. Cisco left and Dr. Wells looked at Barry who exhaled in frustration and walked away.

Line Break xxxxx

Barry walked into the CCPD the next morning, feeling lousy about yelling Naruto and sore after Tony kicked his ass for the second time. He walked through the lobby when Joe called him.

"Barry, hey Barr!" Joe said.

"Joe, I feel lousy enough today." Barry said as Joe stopped him.

"Hold on. We got to Tony Woodward's hideout but it was trashed and he was long gone. What the hell happened?" Joe asked.

"He got the drop on me. I thought I could stop him this time. I tried." Barry said.

"Look, I know what this punk put you through but you can't let emotion cloud your judgement. You have a partner now and friends who can help." Joe said and Barry nodded as Eddie walked up to them.

"Toll-booth camera got a shot of Woodward. Stolen car headed out of town. The State Police are taking over. We lost him." Eddie said as Barry sighed.

"Don't worry, Eddie. They'll get him." Joe said.

"I wanted to take this guy down." Eddie said.

"Not as much as I did." Barry replied.

"Let's go, Allen." Eddie said.

"Go where?" Barry asked as Eddie climbed the stairs and took off his jacket.

"To blow off some steam. I need to hit something." Eddie said as Barry looked at Joe like he was crazy.

"I don't think he meant hit you. Go." Joe said as Barry reluctantly followed Eddie.

Joe then left the CCPD for an appointment with Dr. Wells. Barry spent the rest of the day with Eddie while Naruto went to his classes. When he went home to the shelter last night, he told Tsunade that he stepped in with the blog issue and she noted that without it up, the kids at the shelter didn't have anything to act on. It was a good step but she also told him that unless he planned to nuke the internet to keep other posts and blogs about the Flash and Impulse down, he'd have to come up with a permanent solution.

It was around 3 o'clock when Naruto went to STAR labs to go back to working on the calculations for the ARC Reactor. If someone walked into the lab where Naruto was working, they would see papers with scrap calculations and books on every related notion of science scattered throughout the room along with food wrappers from candy bars and cup ramen.

Naruto was working out the math for the projected energy consumption the ARC Reactor would need to initiate the reaction when he heard the sound of someone stepping on a Pringles bottle. He turned and saw it was Caitlin.

"Geez, how much junk food did you eat?" Caitlin asked as she picked up the Pringle bottle.

"Hey, I have a super high metabolism. And I stress eat when I'm stuck on a problem." Naruto said as Caitlin stepped over a bag of Doritos.

"Yeah, but still this amount can't be healthy." Caitlin said as she moved some Gatorade bottles off a chair. "Can you clean this up?"

"Hang on." Naruto said as he then super sped around the room in a blur of white and orange lightning and in approximately 3 seconds, the room was clean and all the garbage was in a black garbage bag. "Done. So, did you need something?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. Things got a little intense last night. Are you ok?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was a little steamed but nothing Shizune's homemade Boston Cream Cake couldn't fix." Naruto said with a smile as he grabbed a marker.

"Naruto." Caitlin said in an older sister tone, trying to get him to say what was on his mind.

"All right. A little peeved…sure. But I'm not going to hold a grudge like that. Besides, he was in a bad mood after getting his butt kicked by Tony for the second time." Naruto said as Caitlin smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Barry's going through a lot so cut him some slack." Caitlin said as Naruto nodded as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ok, jeez. You could have taken off your rings before you hit me." Naruto said as Caitlin smiled. "I'm fine, really. When Barry's ready to talk, we'll bury this."

"Good. So, what are you working on? Something for school?" Caitlin asked.

"Not exactly. It was something my parents wanted to do before they died. It's called the ARC Reactor. Next generation self-sustaining clean energy source. Years ahead of geo-thermal, even nuclear power." Naruto said as Caitlin was amazed.

"Really? How powerful?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, based on some of my parents' old schematics and data, the reactor they planned to build here at STAR labs would generate more electricity than the largest nuclear reactor in the country." Naruto said as Caitlin was impressed.

"The Palo Verde plants in Arizona?" Caitlin asked as Naruto nodded.

"Yup, and the largest one generates about 4,000 MW of electricity a day at optimal levels. The ARC Reactor, could generate twice that. That would be enough to fuel Central City for 6 months." Naruto said with excitement. "If I could get it to work."

"Oh, stuck?" Caitlin asked.

"More like vexed by this stupid problem. The schematics and equations for the reactor were never finished so I'm trying to fill in the gaps. Once there done, I can run simulations and maybe even built a prototype. If I do that, it would reinvigorate confidence in STAR Labs and people wouldn't look at it or Dr. Wells with hate or disdain anymore." Naruto said as Caitlin smiled.

"You should have Dr. Wells and Cisco take a look." Caitlin said.

"Dr. Wells is helping me with the ARC Reactor. But maybe Cisco could have some ideas." Naruto said as they heard the intercom beep.

"Hey, Naruto. Joe's here. He wants to talk to you." Cisco said as Naruto walked over and pressed the intercom button.

"Got it. Send him down." Naruto replied.

"All right. I've got some work to do. I'll see you later." Caitlin said as she went back upstairs.

Naruto opened a book on thermo-nuclear astro-physics to see if there was anything he missed that could help him as Joe walked in. "Hey, Naruto." Joe said as Naruto smiled and waved. Joe looked around and saw that Naruto was busy. "Wow, looks a lot like Barry's room when he was studying for finals."

"Yeah, something like that. So, what's up? This about Iris?" Naruto asked.

"No, but thanks for what you did last night. I'm actually here about something else." Joe said.

"Sure, what's up?" Naruto asked as he put the book down.

"I was with Dr. Wells and we went for a drink. We got to talking and I asked a question and he didn't answer." Joe said as Naruto looked at him.

"Was it a science question that he couldn't answer? Wow, that's never happened." Naruto replied.

"No, about why he moved to Central City to form STAR labs. Who's Tess Morgan?" Joe asked as Naruto nodded and sat down.

"Ah…I know why he didn't answer." Naruto said as Joe looked at him, waiting for an answer. "Uh, you better sit down it's kind of a long story."

Joe walked over and saw down in a chair as Naruto cracked his fingers. "Tess Morgan was Dr. Wells research partner…and she was also his wife." Naruto said as Joe nodded.

"Was?" Joe asked.

"Uh…she died about 14 years ago. It's why Dr. Wells moved to Central City and it's why he founded STAR Labs." Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked as Naruto cleared his throat.

"Uh…you know that my parents and Dr. Wells were close." Naruto said as Joe nodded.

"Yeah, you said they were partners and worked together for years." Joe said as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, but it wasn't just the three of them. Tess Morgan finished the group. He met Tess when they were in Grad school and ended up working in the same lab in Maryland. The one where my parents worked. Dr. Wells said they were often married to the work as much as each other." Naruto said as with fondness that Joe noticed.

"You knew her." Joe said as Naruto nodded.

"I was born a few years after my parents first started working with Dr. Wells and Tess. They often took care of me when my parents went out…looked out for me…but I was young, barely 8 when she died. But she always was there when I needed someone." Naruto said with smile.

"What happened?" Joe asked as Naruto cleared his throat.

"Uh, Dr. Wells and Tess went on vacation after completing a project. Some time off on the west coast. One night…Dr. Wells lost control of the wheel and they crashed. The paramedics came but it was too late. She was gone." Naruto said as he sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "It's why Dr. Wells moved to Central City. No one knew him…and he could have a fresh start…and rebuild."

"Then why did your parents move here with him?" Joe asked.

"Dr. Wells wanted to start fresh, so he wouldn't be reminded of his loss and that he didn't want anyone who could remind him but…my parents told him that…life never throws us more than we can take. That just trying to forget and move past it, he was never going to be happy again. By trying to ignore what happened and what he lost, it would only hurt more. My parents moved to Central City not only to help build STAR Labs…but they didn't want their friend to go through what happened alone." Naruto said as he remembered what happened. He wiped a small tear that was forming in his left eye as Joe smiled and pat him on the shoulder. "So, that's why Dr. Wells didn't want to answer. It's a painful memory…but one that pushed him to where he is."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"Dr. Wells told him that it was Tess's idea for STAR labs. I think he built this place…to honor her memory." Naruto said with a smile as Joe nodded.

"Thanks, Naruto." Joe said as he got up to leave.

"Anytime." Naruto said as he watched Joe leave and then got back to work.

He kept working through the day and went to Big Belly Burger for dinner. He was at the white board, eating his 20th Big Belly Buster when Cisco ran into the room. "I just got a text from Barry. Tony took Iris." Cisco said as they ran to the Cortex.

They used to computers to try and track down Tony but he could have been anywhere in the city. Then, Naruto got a call on his phone and saw it was Barry. "Barry, we're still searching and we haven't found him." Naruto told him.

"I know where he is. Iris just pulled the fire alarm at Carmichael Elementary. He's there with her." Barry said.

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked.

"It's where we went to school. If I'm going to take him down…I'm going to need my partner." Barry said as Naruto smiled.

"Then let's do it." Naruto said as he got suited up and super sped out of the building.

Naruto was running down 4th avenue as Barry turned the street and joined him. The two were running neck and neck. Naruto looked over to Barry, smile and nodded as Barry nodded back and the two blurs of lightning raced through the city. Tony had knocked out the police guarding Iris and took her to Carmichael Elementary. He smashed the doors open and dragged her through their old hallways.

"Tony, turn yourself in before things get worse. It's not too late." Iris told him as Tony was looking at a trophy case of all his old achievements.

"Yeah, it is." Tony said as he shoved her. "Cops are already looking for me. So, get ready to cover the showdown of a lifetime because I'm not going out without a fight."

[Whoosh] Tony heard of whoosh of air behind him and saw the Streak and Impulse standing in the hallway. "Good, because you just found one." Flash said.

"You just won't stay dead. And you brought your sidekick. Couldn't take me on your own so you need help to rescue your fangirl." Tony said.

"This is between us. Let her go." Flash said.

"Oh, I could. But I'd rather make her watch while I break every bone in your body." Tony said as he changed his skin into metal.

Flash and Impulse ran forward as Tony winded up for a punch but Flash just slid between his legs and Impulse just slid to the right and both appeared behind him. Impusle grabbed Iris and ran to the end of the hall. "Get her out of here." Flash said as Impulse nodded. He grabbed Iris and ran out of the school and all the way back to Central City and to the CCPD.

Captain Singh, Joe and Eddie were in the main area when a whoosh of air hit them and they saw Iris standing there. "Iris." Joe said as he hugged her, and silently thanked Naruto and Barry. Naruto skid to a stop in the alley of the CCPD and smiled.

"Barry, Iris is safe." Impulse said as he heard Cisco shout over the comms.

"Go, man go!" Cisco shouted as Naruto clicked a button on his goggles and saw the tracker in Barry's suit rushing through the city towards Tony so Naruto ran back to the school. He arrived in time to see Barry fly through the air with his right fist extended and hit Tony with a punch across the face. The impact of the punch created a shockwave that broke the glass windows of the school and sent Flash and Tony to the ground.

"MACH PUNCH BABY, WHOOO!" Cisco shouted as he saw Barry groan in pain but also saw Tony get back to his feet so Naruto ran forward and decked him across the face and knocked him out.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted as he held his right hand.

"Nice cross." Barry said.

"Thanks, but I think I broke my hand." Naruto said.

"Yeah, me too." Barry replied as Naruto chuckled and held his hand out. Barry grabbed it and Naruto pulled him back to his feet. "Thanks for the help, Impulse."

"Don't mention it, Flash." Naruto replied as they both smiled.

Barry and Naruto went back to STAR Labs with an unconscious Tony and put him in a cell in the Particle Accelerator Ring. They were done but Barry wanted to have a few words. Tony woke up and saw he was in a small cell so he immediately got up. He saw a shadow figure outside his cell so he began banging on the door.

"Hey! What is this? Where the hell am I?!" Tony shouted.

"Somewhere you'll never hurt anyone ever again." Barry replied.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tony asked Barry stepped into the light.

"You know who I am." Tony said as he recognized Barry.

"Allen?" Tony asked.

"The thing that happened to you, Tony, it happened to me too. But it didn't just give us abilities. It made us more of who we are. You got strong. I got fast. Fast enough to beat you. You used your gift to hurt people. Not anymore." Barry said as he began to walk away.

"Allen. Allen! Allen, don't walk away from me! Hey! Come back here!" Tony shouted as Barry walked away and the door to the particle accelerator closed as Barry pumped his fist, happy and relieved.

"Dude. That had to feel great." Cisco said as he, Caitlin, Naruto and Barry walked down the hall.

"You have no idea." Barry replied.

"Almost as good as proving me wrong about the Mach punch?" Caitlin asked.

"Actually, that part hurt a lot." Barry replied as he stopped. "But I couldn't have done it without you guys. Especially you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled as Caitlin rubbed his shoulder. "It's what partners are for." Naruto replied.

"Yeah, you're right and I haven't been acting like one and I'm sorry. I now understand why you did what you did. I guess I have a blind spot where Iris is concerned." Barry said as Naruto nodded.

"Apology accepted. And should it happen to anyone of us, I hope you'll do the same." Naruto said as he and Barry shook hands.

"Count on it." Barry replied.

"Although, it was only a temporarily solution. Tsunade said so long as we keep doing what we do, it's going to be harder to keep metahumans a secret. We'll have to come out to the public one day." Naruto said as everyone nodded.

"Then we'll do that together too." Barry said as he pat Naruto on the shoulder.

"Awesome, Flash and Impulse back together. Now that we have this situation taken care of, all I want to know is who's childhood bully are we going after next? Mine or Caitlin's?" Cisco asked as Barry and Naruto chuckled.

"Oh yeah." They joked as they walked to the cortex.

"I vote mine. What? Guys, this is not a joke." Cisco said as he followed them.

Line Break xxxxx

Naruto finished up his classes for the day and was at Jitters getting some coffee before he would head to STAR labs. He placed an order and also got Dr. Wells an espresso and was waiting, people watching to pass the time. He noticed a very pretty Chinese-American girl walk in with a Central City Picture News press badge clipped to her hip. She walked by him as Naruto watched when he saw someone spill a coffee and napkins on the floor in front of her and her foot slipped, sending her flying back.

But, luckily Naruto walked forward and caught her mid-fall, holding her as she narrowly missed a bad accident. "Wow, quick reflexes." She said as Naruto smiled.

"So, I've been told." Naruto said as he helped her stand up as she re-adjusted herself. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I owe you for saving me from a nasty spill and dry cleaning." She said as Naruto smiled.

"No problem. Happy to help a damsel in distress, Linda." Naruto said as Linda look confused.

"How do you know my name?" Linda asked as Naruto pointed to her press badge. "Oh, right. Now that's a little unfair. You know my name but I don't know yours."

"Oh, then allow me to even the playing field. Naruto Namikaze, pleasure to meet you." Naruto said with a charming smile as Linda chuckled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"So, tell me Naruto. Is saving girls in coffee shops one of your pick-up strategies?" Linda asked as Naruto chuckled.

"Well, it's safe to say that you're the first girl I've tried it on. Is it working?" Naruto asked as Linda chuckled and made a small smile.

"Maybe." Linda said as a barista walked up to the counter with Naruto's order.

Naruto walked over to the counter and picked up his order, leaving a nice tip in the tip jar. "So, anything I can do to tip the odds in my favor?" Naruto asked as Linda smiled, pulling out her phone.

"Have you heard of this new phone app? It's really cool, you just touch someone's phone to your phone and its automatically downloads their contact info." Linda said as Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That's kind of cool." Naruto said as he pulled his phone. She then touched her phone to his and Naruto saw her number downloaded.

"There, you have my number. What you do with it now is up to you." Linda said.

"And you're ok with trusting your phone number to a stranger?" Naruto asked.

"I think I'll let it slide for the guy who saved me from a nasty spill." Linda said as she walked over to the register. She looked back and smiled as Naruto smiled back.

"Yes." Naruto whispered to himself as he left.

Naruto walked into the cortex and saw Dr. Wells and Cisco working on some calculations on projected growths for Naruto and Barry's powers as well as other training regimens and applications for their blood. "Hey, guys." Naruto said as he walked over and handed Dr. Wells his espresso.

"Thank you. You seem to be in a good mood today." Dr. Wells noted.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Other than the fact that you're much chipper than you usually are on a day when you have classes." Dr. Wells said as Naruto chuckled.

"Observant as always. I met a girl and she gave me her number." Naruto said as Dr. Wells smiled and Cisco chuckled.

"Nice, Naruto is now a fast-moving lady slaying machine." Cisco said as Naruto chuckled.

"She just gave me her number, Cisco. Save that comment for when we go on an actual date." Naruto said as he sipped his coffee. "So, what's on the docket for today?"

"I was thinking that we could continue to work on the ARC reactor calculations. I briefed Cisco on the project. I hope that's ok." Dr. Wells said as Naruto nodded.

"Great, an extra pair of eyes could help." Naruto said as they went to the lab that Naruto was using and began working on the calculations. They kept working on the calculations for hours and into the night and the schematics for building it were nearly complete but now they ran into a new problem.

Naruto was biting his pen in frustration as he, Cisco, and Dr. Wells looked at the four white boards with calculations and equations as to the design and reaction that would be needed for the ARC reactor to actually turn on and work in a mixture of scientific intrigue, exhaustion, and frustration.

"I've looked at these calculations so many times today that I'll be seeing them in my sleep." Naruto said as he tossed his pen away in frustration.

"And even then, I don't think we'll figure out the fundamental operational issues the reactor is going to pose." Dr. Wells said as Cisco stood up to stretch and get some blood flowing to his brain.

"Ok, let's wrap our brains around this. Even if the schematics and calculations are right and we can actually build the ARC Reactor, it would be the size of an 18-wheel truck. Not only would it be huge, it would take a massive jolt of initial power to start the reaction. The same power equivalent to the amount of energy STAR Labs goes through in a month. And if we do manage to start the initial power reaction, the energy the reactor generates also creates an excess of amount of waste heat, one of the fundamental laws of thermo-dynamics. And the generated heat would melt the reactor or the chemical waste that would be generated would cause an explosion. Do I have our problem spelled out correctly or am I missing something?" Cisco asked as Naruto sighed.

"Nope, you got it. If we wanted to build this thing and actually got it to work, it would take a cooling or management system the size of STAR Labs itself to ensure the reactor didn't blow up, destroy itself, or wasn't a colossal waste of time, effort, and funds. Now I understand why my parents were stuck." Naruto said as he slammed his head on the table.

"Sorry, Naruto. I know this meant a lot to you." Cisco said as he pat Naruto on the back. Dr. Wells continued to look over the board before he began writing down calculations on a spare notebook that was lying around. "Dr. Wells care to fill us in?"

"I believe there is a way we can circumvent the issue of the generated waste energy for the ARC reactor. I believe we can borrow aspects from Co-generation which I believe you gentlemen should know of." Dr. Wells said as he finished the calculations.

"Yeah, the principle of using waste heat or steam generated from plants as energy." Naruto said as Dr. Wells nodded.

"If we cement the inside of the reactor ring with a cobalt-tungsten resin it will prevent degradation in conditions of extreme heat. That would take care of 80% of the excess heat given off by the reactor and a small-scale modified thermoelectric device would absorb the rest of the energy and ensure the reactor is no longer a danger." Dr. Wells said as he showed them the calculations as they looked them over and it could work.

"That's….brilliant." Naruto said.

"I could definitely come up with something small yet powerful to exploit the temperature difference given off by the reactor." Cisco said as they began writing stuff down.

They worked into the night and the next day and when Caitlin and Barry came to STAR Labs to see what was going on they would see Cisco, Dr. Wells, and Naruto working on something. They continued working through the day taking breaks to get something eat or for bathroom stops. Naruto was drinking some soda, eating a sandwich, and looking at his phone, taking a small break. As he was looking through his phone, checking his email and looking through his Facebook, he saw a Central City Picture News article on the success of Central City High's football team getting into the state finals and saw it was co-written by Linda Park.

"One way to meet someone. Let's see where it leads." Naruto said as he decided to give Linda a call and the two would meet for a lunch date tomorrow.

Line Break xxxxx

Two weeks had passed since they dealt with Tony and no new meta-human sighting had caused Team Flash to go into action. With Iris's blog down, it lessened the number of sightings and Joe said the CCPD were sending out more patrol units in response to the growing incidents and it was working. Naruto and the rest of Team Flash were at STAR Labs after a recent series of speed tests and training and to go over the results. And as it turned out from the recent training and tests, Naruto and Barry were pretty even now at about Mach 1.1 each but Naruto showed signs of being slightly faster which Cisco kept to himself for now.

Caitlin was looking over Barry to make sure he was ok after the last test while Naruto was at the computer, running the simulations on the latest calculations he, Cisco, and Dr. Wells had written for the ARC reactor. Naruto watched the screen as the computer ran through the calculations and created a digital construction of the ARC Reactor. It then generated a simulation of the ARC Reactor's start up process and Naruto watched it with anticipation as the reaction in the reactor ring started up and began generating energy. He hoped this time it would work but was ready if it didn't because the last 25 simulations they ran didn't work.

Naruto yawned as he watched the energy reaction start up and it began perpetuating and generating a slowly building yield of energy. He watched as the energy that started the reaction ceased and was expecting for the simulation to end either with the reactor failing to perpetuate or for the reactor to explode.

Another minute or two passed as the simulation kept running and the reactor was still intact and didn't explode. Another minute passed and the reactor was still fine and then the computer said the reactor was now running perpetually by itself and the levels were steady and in the green zone.

"I don't believe it." Naruto said as he looked at the screen in disbelief.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Caitlin asked.

"Cisco! Dr. Wells!" Naruto shouted as Caitlin and Barry were now a little concerned.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Cisco asked as he ran in and Dr. Wells followed him.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Look, look!" Naruto said as they all looked at the screen. Barry and Caitlin were confused but Cisco and Dr. Wells understood what they were looking at and were just as excited as Naruto was.

"Are you serious?" Cisco asked as Dr. Wells got on the computer to double check the information.

"I believe it is." Dr. Wells said as Naruto and Cisco exclaimed in excitement.

"YES!" Naruto shouted as he and Cisco hugged and shouted every kind of happy cussword combination they could think of.

"Ok, would someone please explain what is going on?" Barry asked.

"Naruto just won the next friggin Nobel prize is what's up!" Cisco shouted as he hugged Naruto and kissed him on the cheek as Naruto pushed him off.

"We won the next Nobel prize." Naruto said as Dr. Wells smiled.

"Nobel prize for what?" Caitlin asked.

"Cisco, Dr. Wells and I have been working on an old project that my parents had on the drawing board years ago. It called the ARC Reactor and it's a next generation clean energy reactor that can produce more energy than any nuclear plant with none of the possible fallout or risk. We've been finishing the calculations for the past few weeks and we just managed to get some calculations ready for simulation testing and every single simulation had failed. But now, it's frickin working!" Naruto shouted as Barry and Caitlin looked and were amazed at what they saw.

"Oh my god. Congratulations!" Caitlin said as she hugged him and he hugged back.

"Naruto, this is incredible. This discovery is game changing, I mean you have the blueprints to something that is worth billions." Barry said as Naruto smiled.

"I know. This is just…it's unbelievable." Naruto said.

"And most of all, I believe your parents would be very proud that you completed something they were never able to." Dr. Wells said as Naruto smiled.

"So, what's next? Are you going to build it?" Caitlin asked.

"That's easier said than done. To actually build the reactor would take time, resources and a lot of capital." Naruto said.

"Fortunately, I believe that STAR Labs should have everything we need to actually build it." Dr. Wells said as Naruto looked at him.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"When we began working on the early calculations for the ARC Reactor, I ensured that STAR Labs was equipped with everything we would need in order to build a prototype. Granted, most of the material was already here but I made sure the rest of the raw materials we would need are here at our disposal." Dr. Wells said as Naruto smiled.

"Then let's build this thing. But first, tonight we're going out to celebrate our little discovery." Cisco said as he wrapped his arm around Naruto's neck.

"Yes, this is something that definitely deserves a drink." Caitlin said as they dragged Naruto out of STAR Labs and to a bar. They invited Joe as well and the group drank and celebrated the recent scientific discovery.

After their celebration, Naruto, Cisco, and Dr. Wells began drawing up the actual blue prints and schematics to build the reactor and where they would actually build it. Dr. Wells said they could use the free space near the Particle Accelerator ring to build it as it was the only place left in STAR Labs that the reactor would fit without calling in a huge construction team to make new space. And it was in the ideal spot for connecting to the STAR Labs system and the reactor ring of the Particle Accelerator would also act as an insulator and protective ring should something happen.

It's been a solid week since the ARC Reactor was a feasible idea and they managed to finish the actual blue prints and assembly of the small parts of the reactor like circuit boards and parts of the palladium ring. Now, usually Dr. Wells would have a huge team of other scientists and engineers to build something like this but with Cisco and Naruto, he had everyone he needed. Cisco was the best engineer and with Naruto's super speed and Barry whenever he volunteered to help, work that would take years could be done in months.

Naruto was in the cortex going over some notes in his parents' notebook while Cisco and Dr. Wells were off working on the thermoelectric capacitor device that would absorb excess waste heat and energy. Naruto was writing stuff down when he heard footsteps and turned to see Caitlin walk in with two cups of coffee.

"Hey, even scientists need a break every now and then." Caitlin said with a smile as she handed him a cup.

"Thanks." Naruto replied as he happily took it.

"So, how goes the work?" Caitlin asked as Naruto nodded.

"It's going slow, as one would expect with something this big. But Dr. Wells said we're making good headway for this kind of project." Naruto said as he took a sip and closed his notebook. "But, I'll be finished with college in another month and I managed to talk to the dean and he'll be ready to give me my diploma in December."

"How'd you manage that? People who finish college in the first semester still have to wait until May." Caitlin said as Naruto smiled.

"I made a very good argument." Naruto said as Caitlin looked at him. "And I might have made a sizeable donation to the school to sway his judgement."

"I'd be careful, Naruto. You may have that kind of money but don't go spending it in the wrong places. I can't believe of Dean of education could be swayed like that." Caitlin said as Naruto smiled.

"Would you say the same thing if you were in his position?" Naruto joked as Caitlin smiled.

"Maybe, it'd have to be a pretty sizable donation." Caitlin joked as she sipped her coffee. "So, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well, Cisco is bringing me to the Angelica movie theater for a screening of Forbidden Planet. Leslie Neilson before his comedy days. It's not really my thing but Cisco managed to convince me. Want to come with?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh, that's sound great but I can't." Naruto replied.

"Why not?" Caitlin asked.

"I've actually got a date Friday night." Naruto said as Caitlin was surprised.

"Really? A date? Like a date-date." Caitlin asked as Naruto looked at her weird.

"Yes, why is it so hard to imagine that I have a date?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just, ever since we've known you, you never really mentioned dating or experience dating." Caitlin said as Naruto chuckled.

"Well I had a life before I was struck by lightning. I've gone on my fair share of dates. I've got the looks and the brain." Naruto said as Caitlin chuckled.

"Ok, sorry for the doubt. So who's the lucky lady?" Caitlin asked.

"Her name is Linda Park. She's the sport's reporter for Central City Picture News. We ran into each other at Jitters and we've gone on some lunch dates ever since but tomorrow's gonna be our first dinner date." Naruto said as Caitlin smiled.

"Great. So, what are you plans for tomorrow?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, tomorrow Linda actually made the plans. There's this Mexican place she knows about for dinner." Naruto said as Caitlin nodded.

"Ok, and what are you plans for the night? You do have plans, don't you?" Caitlin asked as Naruto looked at her.

"Of course I've got my own set of plans. This isn't my first rodeo." Naruto replied.

"True, but with my help, we can make sure it'll be a first date she'll never forget." Caitlin said as she grabbed her bag.

"You know, you're kind of like the older sister I never wanted." Naruto told her.

"And you're like the younger brother I would have enjoyed tormenting. Now come on." Caitlin said as she dragged him out of the chair.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to help plan a date that this girl will never forget. Come on." She said as she pulled him out of STAR Labs.

The next day around 6 o'clock, a few minutes before Naruto was supposed to meet Linda, he was in his room at the shelter going through his wardrobe to pick out an outfit for tonight. And helping him was Tsunade, Shizune, Caitlin and Kurama who were acting as his support. The women, plus Kurama were sitting in the kitchen enjoying some wine as Naruto walked in with a dress shirt, dress pants and vest combo.

"This?" Naruto asked as they looked at him.

"Eh…" They said as they waved their hands, making the so-so motion.

"What else you got?" Shizune asked as Naruto super sped back to his room and reappeared in a second. This time, he was wearing jeans and a button up.

"What about this?" Naruto asked.

"It's too casual. Not the kind of thing you want on a first date if you like her." Caitlin said as Kurama nodded his head in agreement.

"She's right. Maybe, a second date kind of thing. Next." Tsunade said as Naruto super sped back to his room and returned with a black dress pant, red button up, tie, and black sports jacket combination.

"This one? I actually like this one." Naruto said as they looked at him for a minute.

"Hmmm, not bad. Not too formal for a first date yet doesn't say you're a slob." Tsunade said as Naruto glared at her.

"Thanks." Naruto replied.

"I like it. A formal casual rift and anything red and orange is your color, Naruto." Shizune said.

"Definitely. I think you're all set for your date." Caitlin said as she walked up to him and fixed his collar. "And remember what we talked about?"

"Yup. I'll see you ladies, later." Naruto said as he super sped away.

Naruto ran through the city and on the way to Linda's apartment but not before he stopped at a flower shop. Linda walked out of her apartment and saw Naruto waiting on the sidewalk with a bouquet of white roses.

"Oh, punctual." Linda said as Naruto smiled.

"One of my many quirks." Naruto replied with a smile.

"And is that bouquet of lovely flowers for me?" Linda asked as Naruto smiled.

"I hope it's ok I got the white ones." Naruto said as Linda smiled and took them.

"No, it's awesome. And my favorite color too." Linda replied as Naruto smiled.

"All right." Naruto said as the two walked down the street to the Mexican Restaurant.

The two sat to a nice dinner and Linda challenged him with the spiciest tacos in Central City and Naruto was more than up for the challenge. They stared at each other after eating their set up tacos, seeing if the other was going to break and Naruto was close, with beads of sweat pouring down his forehead but tried to be strong while Linda smiled.

Naruto looked at the glass of water on the table and thought he could do it but couldn't and immediately downed the entire glass while Linda cheered.

"Oh, my god." Naruto said as he felt that his tongue was still on fire.

"I told you these were the spiciest tacos in Central City." Linda said.

"Oh, I thought you were bluffing." Naruto replied.

"I never bluff." Linda said as Naruto chuckled. "Although you did a lot better than I thought you would."

"Yeah, so did I. I didn't think I ate anything spicier than Tsunade's Five-alarm curry but I was proven wrong today." Naruto joked.

"I guess I'm tougher than you. Just admit it. I am the champion of all things spicy." Linda said.

"You are the spice champion of the world." Naruto joked as Linda chuckled.

"Well, this requires soap and water, I'll be right back." Linda said as Naruto nodded as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Naruto's phone rung as he got a text and saw it was from Caitlin, asking how the date was going so he sent a quick reply as Linda came back. "Ok, Naruto. What's next?" Linda asked as Naruto smiled. He stood up, paid for the meal, and grabbed his jacket.

"Something I think you'll like." Naruto said as he escorted her out of the restaurant and they walked to downtown.

Naruto then walked them to one of the most exclusive and best-known jazz clubs in the city with a line around the block. "Ok, nice thought but this place is super exclusive. Even the city leadership and elite have trouble getting into this place." Linda said as Naruto smiled and they walked up to the bouncer.

"Line starts back there unless you're on the list." The bouncer said.

"It should be under Namikaze." Naruto said as the bouncer looked and saw it was him plus one.

The bouncer then un-hooked the velvet rope and stood aside. "Enjoy your evening, Mr. Namikaze."

"Thank you." Naruto replied as he and Linda walked in to an atmosphere of cool jazz, great drinks, and a night of great dancing ahead of them.

"So, how did you manage to get on the list? Are you the son of the owner?" Linda asked as Naruto chuckled.

"Nothing like that. A little money and I have a friend with the CCPD who the manager owed a favor." Naruto said as Linda saw the dance floor straight ahead.

"Ok, Namikaze. Show me what you got." Linda said as she and Naruto hit the dance floor and enjoyed themselves.

Hours passed and it wasn't until 1 in the morning did Naruto walk Linda back to her apartment. "So, did you enjoy yourself tonight?" Naruto asked as they arrived at her apartment.

"Tonight I got to torture you with spicy food and enjoyed an evening of amazing music and dancing. I can definitely say that tonight was one of the best dates I've had in a long time." Linda said with a smile.

"Me too." Naruto replied as Linda leaned in and kissed him briefly before parting. "What was that for?"

"To see if I wanted a second date." Linda said as Naruto smiled.

"And?" Naruto asked.

"Let me see one more time." Linda said as she leaned in and Naruto kissed her. The kissed was little heated but no too much before Linda drew away. "Definitely."

Linda smiled as she walked into her building. Naruto smiled as he walked away but then turned into a super speed sprint through the city. "WHOOOO HOOOO!" Naruto shouted as he ran through the city.

While Naruto had enjoyed himself on a date, Dr. Wells was at STAR Labs looking over Naruto's recent speed tests and the schematics of the ARC Reactor. He stared at them before moving away from the cortex to the hallway where his secret room was. He strolled in and when the door closed behind him, he stood up and walked over to the podium. He pressed his hand against it and a hologram of a woman's head appeared.

"Good evening, Dr. Wells." The hologram said.

"Good evening, Gideon." Dr. Wells said, greeting the hologram as he took off his glasses.

"Is there something wrong?" Gideon asked.

"Yes, some recent events I've witnessed have intrigued me. Has the future remained the same?" Dr. Wells asked.

"Yes, with a minor change it would seem." Gideon said as she brought up the article from 2024 and the headline changed since the last time Dr. Wells had seen it. Before it read, Flash missing vanishes in crisis and Impulse hospitalized but now it read Flash missing vanishes in crisis, Impulse urges city to keep hope.

The names on the by-line stayed the same but the headline, body of the article and the picture had changed as well. It still showed a picture of the Flash but it showed a different picture of Impulse. It showed Impulse in a black, white, and dark orange suit. The pants and boots were black with dark orange streaks around the shins. The upper half of the suit was a mixture of white and dark orange. The gloves were black with orange accents on the fingers and orange forearm guards. There were dark orange accents on the biceps and around the rib cage. The lightning bolt symbol on the chest was dark orange as well as the lightning bolts on the ear while the rest of the suit was white, even the face mask part. Everything except for the top of his head to show his spiky blonde hair and from the top of his nose to his mouth was uncovered. (1)

"How is this possible?" Dr. Wells asked.

"It would seem that his accelerated training and drive have pushed Naruto's destiny ahead by 10 years. He has increased tremendously compared to the previous timeline." Gideon said as Dr. Wells was both worried yet impressed.

"But the rest of the timeline remains intact?" Dr. Wells asked.

"Yes, while Impulse's destiny has been slightly altered, the rest of the timeline has remained the same. It would seem your plan B is paying off well, Dr. Wells." Gideon said as Dr. Wells nodded.

"Indeed it would, Gideon." Dr. Wells replied.

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning, Dr. Wells arrived at STAR Labs early to visit his secret room without the risk of anyone seeing him. He strolled into the room and once it was secured, he stood up and walked over to the podium and activated Gideon.

"Good day, Dr. Wells." Gideon said.

"One can always hope, Gideon. Bring up my log, would you?" Dr. Wells asked as he took off his glasses.

"Certainly." Gideon replied as she brought up a record of multiple entry logs. "Go ahead, doctor."

"New entry for subjects' A and B. It has now been 311 days since lightning struck and the events are not at all as I anticipated, especially dealing with subject B. But, first things first. Subject A is acting exactly as I predicted he would be and it would seem that I should have anticipated this kind of progress path. Subject A has begun relying on his speed in everyday life. Using his extraordinary powers to solve ordinary problems. Accomplish ordinary tasks. Unfortunately, his penchant for the heroic persists. The fact is, he can be a bit of a show off. And while his desire to help others is commendable, it is impeding him from realizing the full scope of his abilities. But there is still time. As the future remains intact." Dr. Wells said as he swiped the podium and the article of the Flash and Impusle appeared.

"The biggest surprise is with Subject B. Now, going into this endeavor I understood that Subject A was necessary but upon discovering my connection with subject B, a backup plan seemed feasible. In the ensuing years, the connection to Subject B and his parents has been invaluable yet I have not realized up until recent days since the lighting strike how much they have effected myself and my backup plan. Subject B's progress has tremendously outshined my anticipated reports and projections and his discovery of the ARC Reactor notes and its subsequent design has altered his destiny." Dr. Wells said as he zoomed in on the new image of Impulse from the newspaper.

"It would seem that Subject B's importance has improved the chances of my overall endeavor…in more ways than one. And my endeavor seems no longer set on the fate of just Subject A, but now Subject B as well. Time will tell how much Subject B will continue to improve and if he will, at all progress far enough for the endeavor to be completed ahead of time but…all signs point to yes." Dr. Wells said as he finished his entry.

Naruto walked into the cortex with a cup of coffee and saw Caitlin and Cisco near the science lab. "Morning guys." Naruto said as he took as sip and walked up to them.

"Morning." Cisco replied as he and Caitlin shared a smile and looked at Naruto, who noticed them staring.

"Ok…you two are starting to scare me." Naruto told them.

"How was the date, man?" Cisco asked as Naruto smiled.

"A gentlemen usually doesn't kiss and tell but it went great. Even though the dinner burned my tongue." Naruto joked as he sipped his coffee.

"And the club afterward?" Caitlin asked.

"A great idea. Great drinks, amazing music and a chance to show off my awesome dance skills to Linda." Naruto replied as Cisco chuckled.

"Naruto, the dancing, lady slaying machine. Give me some!" Cisco said he and Naruto high-fived.

"It was great and she was great. It's been a long time since I've had this much fun on a date." Naruto said.

"How long has it been?" Caitlin asked.

"Uh, my junior year of college. She was a friend, Hinata and our group of friends thought we could be a thing. We tried but…it wasn't meant to be. She ended up dating a friend of mine, Kiba." Naruto said.

"Well, you win some and you lose some." Cisco said.

"But Linda's great. In fact, we're going on another date tonight." Naruto said.

"Really?" Caitlin asked.

"Aren't you worried you might be moving too fast?" Cisco asked.

"No. It's just a second date." Naruto told them. "Besides, we've gone on a whole bunch of lunch dates before our date last night so we've gotten to know each other pretty well."

"No, no. I meant going too fast. Hurrying? Look, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast." Cisco said as Naruto understood and shook his head. "Am I being subtle?"

"Really not." Naruto replied as he sipped his coffee.

"Cisco's right. With your increased blood flood and heart rate, theoretically your speed can cause you to—" "Ok, stop!" Naruto said, stopping Caitlin from finishing that sentence.

"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies. Like we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers, you know, nuns." Cisco said as Naruto cleared his throat.

"Ok, thank you both for the helpful yet scaring advice. But it's just a second date. Besides, I handled myself perfectly fine at the club last night and a lesser man would have had an accident. Besides, I've had my fair share of experience." Naruto said as Caitlin looked at him.

"Really, how much experience?" Caitlin asked as Naruto looked at Cisco who quickly shook his head no.

"I'm not about to answer that." Naruto said as Dr. Wells strolled in. "Morning, Dr. Wells."

"Morning, how was your evening, Naruto?" Dr. Wells asked.

"Incredible, to say the least." Naruto replied as Dr. Wells smiled.

"Where's Barry? He's late, isn't he." Dr. Wells said, answering his own question.

"Late is kind of his signature move." Caitlin said.

"Hey, you guys want to see my signature move?" Cisco asked as a whoosh of air hit them and Barry appeared with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, look who decided to show up." Naruto joked as Cisco and Caitlin chuckled.

"Sorry, got a little held up." Barry said as they looked at him. "Had to be there."

"I'm going to need a moment or two alone with Barry." Dr. Wells said as Caitlin and Cisco left.

Naruto stood up and leaned over to Barry. "Oh, you're in trouble." Naruto said as before he left as Barry chuckled and sat down.

"Now, may I remind you, Mr. Allen that we had an agreement. That we would help with your heroics out there while you would help us research and develop your abilities in here. Right?" Dr. Wells asked. "And it seems as though lately, you haven't been keeping up your end of the bargain."

"Yeah. No, I know. I guess I've just gotten a little caught up with being able to help people. Put bad guys away. It feels good." Barry replied.

"Naruto helps you with that and he still finds time for us to analyze his body and help test his abilities. Imagine how good it would feel to cure diseases, stop aging, reverse paralysis." Dr. Wells said as Barry nodded.

"All good causes. So, how can I help you do that? You need more MRIs? More blood?" Barry asked.

"I need more speed." Dr. Wells said as Barry nodded. "Speed is the key to progress and speed is the key to unlocking the true nature of your abilities and their benefits for the rest of the world. You need to kick it up a notch."

Dr. Wells stopped as he saw Barry getting a call. "There was a homicide. I'm sorry, I got to go." Barry said.

"Remember, this is not just about you." Wells told him as Barry nodded.

Barry left for his job so Dr. Wells went to check on the others. Cisco and Caitlin were doing their own thing while Naruto was in the cosmic treadmill room, having just finished suiting up in some workout clothes. "Some more training, Naruto?" Dr. Wells asked as Naruto looked at him.

"Yeah. I figured I could take a break from the ARC Reactor and train a little bit." Naruto said as he strapped on his boots. "Besides, I want to see how my powers are going to grow and maybe see if I'm faster than Barry."

Dr. Wells chuckled as he went to the control room. "All right, let the training begin." Dr. Wells said over the intercom as Naruto started up the treadmill and began running, easily passing Mach 1, and was running an average of about 880 mph. Naruto concentrated and tried to run faster, pushing himself as hard as he could but he was still only averaging 880 mph.

"Come on. Come on. Faster!" Naruto shouted as he tried running faster but his speed wasn't changing. Naruto kept trying but after a few minutes he saw his speed wasn't increasing so he slowed down and stopped. Naruto bent over, catching his breath as Dr. Wells came into the room. "I'm not getting faster. I've stayed the same the past week. How come I not getting faster?"

"I don't know. There's still a lot we don't know about your powers, Naruto. It could be any number of different factors: sleep, diet, metabolic rate, environment, mental condition, etc. But with a little more time and research we'll figure out your abilities." Dr. Wells said as Naruto nodded. "But I want to tell you that I'm very impressed and proud of how far you've come since obtaining your powers. I'm sure your parents would be proud as well."

"Thanks, Dr. Wells. I don't I'd be where I am now without your guidance." Naruto said as Dr. Wells smiled.

"My pleasure. It's the least I can do. In the meantime, perhaps there are other aspects of your abilities we can improve besides your speed." Dr. Wells said as he left the room and Naruto grabbed a towel, water bottle, and followed him.

"What other aspects?" Naruto asked as he took a sip of water. "I mean; besides the super reflexes we've been testing and the accelerated healing. You're not going to shoot me, are you?"

"No, nothing like that. But, while speed is your main power, there might be ways you and Barry can utilize it to your advantage." Dr. Wells said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"That will be up to you to find out. You're the one who is better at thinking outside the box than I am, Naruto. Perhaps think less about running faster and more about other things you would normally do." Dr. Wells said as he left, leaving a confused Naruto.

"Other things I normally do." Naruto said as he was confused at what Dr. Wells told him. "What does that mean?"

Naruto wiped his forehead and drank some water, thinking about what Dr. Wells said and how else he could improve his powers. He capped his water bottle and swished it around, tossing it back and forth with his hands, thinking of what Dr. Wells said when he got an idea. Naruto put the bottle down and looked at his hands before he concentrated and began shaking his hands at super speed and they looked like they were vibrating.

"Hmmmm…." Naruto thought as he grabbed his water bottle with his left hand and held it out horizontally. He then began vibrating his right hand like he did before. "I may be on to something."

He then slowly moved his vibrating hand down and when it hit the water bottle, it split it in half, causing the water to spill out and hit the floor. Naruto looked at the two halves of the water bottle and saw the break looked like it was ripped cleanly in half.

"Awesome." Naruto said as he decided to test out his new-found power in one of the spare rooms. Naruto super sped all over STAR Labs gathering different items to test his new-found ability and they ranged from small wire cables to titanium steel beams.

"All right, lets us begin." Naruto walked up to the wire cables, held his hand out like in a karate chop motion and began vibrating it. He moved his hand onto the cable and it snapped in half like it was a twig. He kept doing the same thing to chairs, a plastic table, a wooden table and spare steel plates for the girder dummy and they all proved to be excellent practice as they all broke in half. Next it was the titanium steel beams.

Naruto grabbed one and was about to do the same thing when he decided to do something different. He clenched his hand into a fist and began vibrating it. He concentrated more sparks of his white and orange lightning began to surge around his fist and arm.

"ARGH!" Naruto shouted as he threw a punch and it smashed straight through the titanium beam like it was made of paper. "Awesome!"

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto heard as Cisco and Caitlin ran in and saw Naruto and a bunch of broken objects.

"Sorry, guys. I was doing a little training." Naruto said.

"Training what? Your karate chop?" Cisco asked as he picked up a broken concrete brick.

"Something like that. Watch this." Naruto said as he moved over to the last titanium beam in the room. He clenched his fist and began vibrating it and then punched the beam in two like it was paper, which completely shocked Caitlin and Cisco.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Cisco said.

"I didn't know you had super strength as well as super speed." Caitlin said.

"It's not super strength. It's my speed but used a different way." Naruto said as Cisco looked at Naruto's hand and the broken metal beam.

"I'm guessing Naruto's using his speed to vibrate his fist. An object's force increases as it accelerates, like why a car crash at 25 mph is more preferable than one at 55 mph." Cisco said.

"Or no car crash at all." Caitlin said.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, Naruto's vibrating his fist at incredible speeds that it has enough force to break the beam, giving Naruto the ability to punch through solid metal. And given that Naruto's already broke the speed of sound, I wouldn't want to be on the opposite end of his punch." Cisco said as Naruto smiled.

"Cool, I'm One Punch Man." Naruto said as Cisco and Caitlin were confused. "It's a manga I really like. So, what should we call this new move?"

"How about…the iron fist?" Caitlin asked as Naruto and Cisco shook their heads.

"Eh, not bad but not that good either. More for someone with actual super strength. How about the force punch?" Naruto asked as Cisco shook his head.

"No. I got it, the infinite mass punch." Cisco said as Naruto hmmed.

"I kinda like it." Naruto replied.

"Not bad." Caitlin replied.

"I know you're not yet at infinite mass yet but it sounded better than mass punch unless you'd rather go with a scientific label like molecular vibration?" Cisco asked as Naruto shook his head.

"Infinite mass punch is good." Naruto replied as he got a text from Tsunade. "Hey guys, I'll be back in a bit. Tsunade needs something."

Naruto super sped away from STAR Labs and arrived at the shelter to see Tsunade waiting in the kitchen, prepping a stock base for soup. "Hey, you said you needed to see me?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, thanks for coming. I know you've got a date tonight so do you mind helping Shizune with dinner before you leave. I've got some errands I need to run in the city and I'll be gone for a while." Tsunade said as Naruto nodded.

"Sure, no problem." Naruto said as Kurama walked in with a chew toy. "Hey, buddy. You wanna come hang out at STAR labs or are you ok here?"

Kurama walked up and snuggled into Naruto's hand and he understood what he wanted. "All right. I'll be back to help Shizune before dinner." Naruto said as Tsunade nodded.

"I made the soup base for the ramen. All you need to do is cook the noodles and add everything else. And I made a separate pot of soup for you if you get hungry later." Tsunade said as Naruto nodded.

"Awesome, I'll see you later." Naruto said as he grabbed Kurama and wrapped him in his jacket to protect him while he ran them both to STAR Labs.

He arrived at the cortex as Kurama jumped out of Naruto's arms and onto the desk and shook his fur and tail. Kurama glared at Naruto who shrugged.

"Sorry, buddy. But I don't think fur was meant to go pass 100 mph." Naruto said as Kurama jumped from the table and made his way over to Caitlin.

"Naruto, Cisco told me that you took my lesson to heart and learned a new ability." Dr. Wells said as Naruto nodded.

"The infinite mass punch or finite mass punch for now. Would have been nice to know when we were dealing with Girder." Naruto said, rubbing his hand as he remembered the pain from punching Tony.

"It'll come in handy but you'll have to exercise caution and control in using your new ability." Dr. Wells said as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I could do some serious damage with this thing but it will come in handy. I'll teach Barry later." Naruto said as Barry super sped into the cortex. "Speak of the devil."

"Hey, guys. We've got another metahuman to deal with and this one isn't pretty." Barry said as he held up a flash drive of the data he copied from his lab.

Cisco walked over and uploaded the data onto the computers and the first image they got was of a burnt corpse. "Whoa, now I understand what you meant by not pretty." Naruto said.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked as she walked over holding Kurama.

"Murder at the power plant. One of their workers was found like that. There's no sign of any other kind of accelerant or explosive so it was a metahuman. Finding out who our victim is could help us find our killer." Barry said.

"How are we going to find out who he is? His face is burnt to a crisp." Naruto said.

"Never fear because of a little thing called facial reconstructive software. It was designed for archeologists, and it should help us ID your crispy corpse." Cisco said.

"I'm more concerned with how he got fried in the first place." Naruto said.

"There were signs of arc blasts so most likely electricity." Barry said.

"It would take a serious amount of electric static voltage to cause that kind of tissue damage." Dr. Wells said.

"Guys, according to the software there's an 82 percent chance your victim looked like this." Cisco said as the computer showed a 3-d model of the victim's face.

"82?" Barry asked.

"It was zero when you walked in here, pal." Cisco told him as Barry chuckled.

"Can you cross reference that with the DMV database and maybe get a name?" Barry asked as Cisco nodded.

"Absolutely. This software can do just about anything, now that Felicity reprogrammed it." Cisco said as he got a match. "Casey Donahue. No wife, no kids. Used to work at the Petersburg electrical substation."

"That can't be a coincidence." Caitlin said.

"That's weird. Someone just used his ID to enter the substation." Cisco said as the computers picked up something.

"The Petersburg grid is experiences a power drain right now." Caitlin said as Naruto looked at the screen.

"That's not good." Naruto said.

"Barry, be…" Dr. Wells was cut off as Barry just left. "…careful."

"I got him." Naruto said as he left.

Barry and Naruto suited up and raced through the city to the substation. They stopped to see a man absorbing the electricity from the main power conduit. Naruto put on his goggles and switched it to electrical overlay mode and saw the power drain was going to cause a serious system error and cause a huge blackout.

"Cisco, this guy's power drain is going to cause a huge blackout. How do I stop it?" Naruto asked.

"You'll need to engage a system reset. There's a panel on the north side." Cisco said as Barry looked at Naruto.

"Go, I got this." Barry said as Naruto ran to the north side of the station.

"Ok, look for a black-colored panel." Cisco said as Naruto saw it. He vibrated the lock and it broke off allowing Naruto to open it. "Look for four electrical router switches. Flip them all to standby mode."

Naruto flipped all four switches and a large red light appeared on the bottom. "The station will begin resetting to its default settings. Now, hit the big red button on the bottom, it should normalize the system." Cisco said as Naruto did and from the sounds of the wires and machines, it seemed to work.

"Thanks, Cisco." Naruto said.

"ARGH!" Naruto heard as he ran to see Barry on his knees as the metahuman hit Barry with his electricity. Naruto froze for a second as he saw orange electricity being sucked out of Barry's body and into the metahumans. Naruto ran forward and shoulder checked the metahuman, sending him flying away.

Barry dropped to his knees in exhaustion as Naruto ran up to him. "Barry! Barry, are you ok?!" Naruto asked, as Barry tried to catch his breath.

"Both of you get out of there." Dr. Wells said as Barry ran forward but instead of moving at super speed, he was running like a normal person.

"Run, Barry." Dr. Wells said.

"I can't. My speed…it's gone." Barry said as Naruto and the others were shocked.

Line Break xxxxx

Back at STAR Labs, Barry was running on the cosmic treadmill at a normal pace of about 7-8 mph with no sign of using his super speed. Watching him was Caitlin, Cisco, Dr. Wells, and Naruto who was still in his Impulse suit with his mask down. "He runs slow even for a normal person." Cisco said as Barry stopped to catch his breath.

"You can't just lose your powers. Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator blast. There's no way to un-transform DNA." Caitlin said.

"Tell that to the treadmill. That metahuman did something to Barry." Naruto said as Kurama walked over and sat next to Barry.

"So, we were wrong. This metahuman doesn't electrocute people. He siphons electricity thereby removing your power." Dr. Wells said.

"That would explain what I saw. It was like…seeing Barry's lightning sucked out of his body like some kind of force." Naruto said as Barry sighed.

"All right, do we think this is temporary or…?" Barry asked Dr. Wells, legitimately scared about losing his powers.

"We have to run tests." Dr. Wells said as Barry felt hopeless.

"Look, Barry we'll figure something out. If this guy sucked out your lightning, maybe we just need to re-energize you. We won't stop until you get your powers back." Naruto said as he pat Barry on the shoulder.

"Ok. I've gotta warn Joe." Barry said as he got up to leave.

"Barry. We'll find a way to restore your speed, I promise you that." Dr. Wells said.

"And he always keeps his promises. Just give us a little time." Naruto said as Barry nodded and left.

"Well this isn't good." Cisco said as walked over to the treadmill.

"I still can't believe this is happening. Poor Barry." Caitlin said.

"We'll help him, Caitlin. The Flash isn't gone yet." Naruto said as his phone beeped. He took it and saw it was a reminder to help Shizune with dinner and get ready for his date. "Aw, crap. Guys, I need to head to the shelter. I promised Tsunade to help with dinner. But I'll be back when I'm done."

"Wait, don't you have a date tonight?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah, I'll call Linda and ask if we can reschedule." Naruto said.

"No, Naruto. Caitlin, Cisco, and I will be fine for the moment while we research how to get Barry his powers back. You should go." Dr. Wells said as Naruto was unsure.

"Yeah, dude. We can handle it for now." Cisco told him.

"Go out and show Linda a good time." Caitlin told him as Naruto nodded.

"All right, but the second you need me you text me and I'll be here in a second." Naruto said as they nodded. "And can you watch over Kurama?"

"Sure thing. We can watch over the little guy." Cisco said as he scratched Kurama on the head.

"All right, I'll have my suit with me in case of emergencies." Naruto said as he super sped back to the shelter and help Shizune prep dinner for the kids. He then made himself a quick meal and got ready for his date.

Barry told Joe what happened with the new metahuman and that until STAR Labs could get his powers back, they'd have to rely on the police or Naruto for now. After witnessing what happened, Dr. Wells went to his secret room to check on the future.

"Gideon, show me the future." Dr. Wells said as he touched the pedestal.

"Certainly, doctor." Gideon replied as she brought up the article to show a completely changed headline. It read, Impulse museum closed for reconstruction and showed a picture of future Naruto in his costume and a destroyed building.

Dr. Wells as he couldn't believe what he was reading. The future had completely changed and even though Naruto was still around and a speedster, the events that Dr. Wells needed to occur, hadn't occurred. Dr. Wells exhaled in frustration and desperation as he knew that time was running out.

"Run a complete search. Show any references to the Flash." Dr. Wells said as Gideon did.

"Zero references to the Flash." Gideon replied.

"Look again." Dr. Wells told her.

"Zero references." Gideon replied.

"Show any references to Barry Allen." Dr. Wells told her.

"Zero references to Barry Allen." Gideon replied.

"Look again!" Dr. Wells shouted.

"I've searched 3,452 times, Dr. Wells. There's nothing." Gideon replied.

"Gideon, does Impulse encounter any of the same events as the Flash that lead to the same outcome as before?" Dr. Wells asked as Gideon did a search.

"I'm afraid not, Dr. Wells. Without the Flash, the events did not occur as its fate is tied directly to that of Mr. Allen. Naruto's destiny is different than that of Mr. Allen's as his are tie to you, Dr. Wells. Mr. Allen must be the Flash for the events you need to occur." Gideon told him as Dr. Wells knew that while having Naruto as a plan B was a valid alternative, he needed Barry as the Flash for the plan to even exist. The Flash needed to exist for Dr. Wells' plan to happen…and he would come back.

Naruto just finished his shower and got dressed. He fixed his belt on his jeans as he put on his black button up when he heard Shizune call him. "Naruto!" He heard Shizune call. He walked to the front door to see Shizune wanted.

"What's up?" Naruto asked as he saw Shizune and Linda.

"You have a visitor." Shizune said with a smile.

"Linda, hey. I thought I was going to pick you up." Naruto said.

"I thought I'd surprise you." Linda said as Shizune heard some kids shout for her.

"Well, I've got some things to do, you two enjoy yourselves tonight." Shizune said as she left.

"She's nice." Linda said.

"Yeah, Shizune's the best. Tsunade to but she's not here right now. Come on, I'll show you around." Naruto said as he showed her around the shelter.

"So, how long have you been living here?" Linda asked as they made it to Naruto's room.

"Oh, nearly two years. I found my way here after my parent's car accident." Naruto said as Linda comforted him.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Linda told him.

"It's ok. Tsunade and Shizune helped me a lot after their accident and I've gotten my life back in order. Anyway, enough about that. So, here's what I got planned for the night. First, a dinner reservation at Table Salt, then we head to an awesome jazz club to hear Mal Duncan and if you're not sick of me by the end of the night we can get some ice-cream." Naruto told her as she smiled.

"Or…" Linda said as she kissed him and they fell on the bed.

Line Break xxxxx

Back at STAR Labs, Barry was looking at his suit longingly, wondering if he would ever get to wear it again. He exhaled in sadness when he heard footsteps and saw Caitlin with Kurama in her arms and was surprised to see Tsunade there as well.

"Hey, Barry." Tsunade said as Barry smiled.

"Hey, Tsunade. What brings you here?" Barry asked.

"I was doing some chores in the city and Naruto called me and told me what happened. I wanted to see how you were doing and to get you something to help." Tsunade said as she handed him a box of cupcakes from the best bakery in the city. "I know the cupcakes always helped Naruto and the kids when they go through rough patches."

"Thanks, Tsunade." Barry said as he happily took the box while looking at his suit, longingly.

"You miss it, don't you?" Tsunade asked as Barry nodded.

"I didn't have my speed for very long…but now that it's gone, it feels like a part of me is gone too." Barry told them.

"With or without your speed, you're still you, Barry." Caitlin told him.

"No, I'm not. I'm not the best version of me. I love being the Flash. I love everything about it. The feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour. Wind and power rushing past my face. Being able to help people. I'm not sure I can live without it." Barry said as Tsunade decided to give him the same advice she gave to Naruto a while ago.

"You know, Naruto went through something similar when Shizune and I first met him. A boy who had lost his world…everything he hoped to be was dashed the day of his parents' accident. But Shizune and I saw the kind of man he was and the potential he had. I told him then the same thing I'm telling you know: what you lost will only define you if you choose it to. I told Naruto that lost and hardships come with living but they will only define you if you choose it to and Naruto eventually managed to get his life in some semblance of order. Barry Allen is as much part of the Flash as your powers and with or without them, the Flash will live on." Tsunade said with a smile as Barry smiled back.

"Farooq Gibran." They heard as Cisco walked in, holding a tablet.

"Excuse me?" Tsunade asked.

"The powers vampire who jacked your speed. I hacked into surveillance footage from the substation. Once I got his face it was easy to find a match." Cisco said as he showed them an article about him hurt during the Particle Accelerator explosion.

"He climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion." Barry said, reading the article.

"No surprise where his powers came from." Caitlin said as they heard the computer beeping.

"YIP! YIP!" Kurama shouted in concern as Caitlin tried to comfort him.

Cisco ran over and saw it was the security system. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This is not happening." Cisco said as Tsunade, Barry, and Caitlin came over and saw Farooq outside of STAR Labs.

"Dr. Harrison Wells! I need to see you! Come on, I know you're inside. Open the door. I just wanna talk Dr. Wells. Wells! Let me in!" Farooq shouted as he then walked out of the security camera's view. Farooq walked over to the main power junction generator outside of STAR Labs and began absorbing all of the electricity not only from STAR Labs but from the entire city power grid.

Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and Tsunade watched as the lights went out along with all the power and security system. "That's not good." Tsunade said when they heard an explosion that shook the room a bit.

"He's inside." Barry said as Dr. Wells wheeled in.

"It's Farooq." Dr. Wells said as Tsunade tried calling Naruto but she couldn't get a call through and got nothing but static.

"I can't call Naruto. I can't get a call out." Tsunade said as the others tried and they couldn't call either, all they got was static.

"Nothing." Cisco said.

"It's Farooq. His electrical powers are dampening anything electronic in close proximity to him." Dr. Wells said as they all panicked.

"I need my powers back." Barry said.

"I have an idea. It's untested…but just might work." Dr. Wells said as Barry nodded.

"I'm willing to roll the dice." Barry said.

"Ok. You've lost your speed, yes. But nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed." Dr. Wells said.

"They just need a jump start." Cisco said.

"How can we jump start him with the power out?" Tsunade asked.

"The spare generator's offline. If we reboot it, we could get a charge big enough to recharge Barry." Cisco said.

"We need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry without shorting out." Dr. Wells said.

"The treadmill. My baby can take the charge." Cisco said.

"What if Barry can't?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, that's up to Mr. Allen." Dr. Wells said as Barry walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm going to talk to him." Barry said.

"No, that's a horrible idea." Tsunade told him.

"You guys didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed. Naruto and I got super speed out of the particle accelerator blast. But his best friends died and he woke up with a disease." Barry said, sympathizing with him.

"Earlier today, you worked a crime scene where this metahuman electrocuted an innocent man. He's a murderer. And without Naruto here, you are powerless against him." Dr. Wells told him.

"He may just need help like I did. I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try." Barry said as he left.

Ten minutes earlier…

Back over at the shelter with Naruto, he was currently with Linda Park, both of them stripped to their underwear. They were on his bed with her on top of him, engaged in a very heated and steamy kissing session. Naruto broke away from the kiss and moved to her neck, kissing it as Linda moaned. Naruto's hands caressed her back and began slowly vibrating his hands as Linda jumped in shock.

"Whoa, why'd you stop that felt amazing." Linda said as Naruto smiled.

"Just enjoying it. Are you not worried about moving too fast?" Naruto asked as Linda smiled and leaned up.

"It's ok. I hate slow." Linda said as Naruto smiled. He grabbed her and flipped their positions. "Oh, you're a quick learner."

"So, I've been told." Naruto said as he kissed her and she kissed back. They would have continued but soon the power went out and they heard the kids in the shelter scream. "That can't be good."

"And kind of killed the mood." Linda said as Naruto got up and looked out the window and saw the rest of lights in the city go out.

"It's a city-wide blackout." Naruto said as Linda got up and grabbed her phone, instantly getting emergency notifications and texts to get to work immediately to cover the news.

"And with a blackout comes news that needs to be reported." Linda said as she walked over and put her blouse back on. "Where are my pants?"

Naruto went underneath his bed and grabbed her pants. She took them while Naruto put on some jeans and a t-shirt. "Well, this is not how I expected the date to go and it was just getting to the good part." Naruto joked as Linda chuckled and kissed him.

"Don't worry. We'll have a chance to continue when the city gets back to normal. But right now, I'm needed at the office." Linda said as she put on her jacket.

"Yeah, and Shizune's gonna need me here." Naruto said as he put on his sweatshirt. "You want me to drop you off?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. I can take care of myself. I'll see you later." Linda said as she kissed him and left.

Naruto walked out of his room and to the kitchen to see Shizune setting up candles and flashlights. "Naruto, where's Linda?"

"She left for her job. How can I help?" Naruto asked as he grabbed a flashlight.

"I'm going to keep the kids together in the living room. Can you check the breaker and see if there's anything you can do?" Shizune asked as Naruto nodded and quickly sped outside. He opened the breaker panel and saw the breakers were fine. He tried resetting them, hoping to get a little power but he guessed there was something wrong with the city's electrical grid and that caused the blackout.

Naruto walked back inside and saw all the kids in the living room with blankets, pillows, and books to keep them comfortable and occupied. Shizune put candles and lanterns around for light. "Anything?" She asked.

"No, the breakers are fine. My guess it's something wrong with the city's electrical grid. I'll head to STAR Labs and see if there's something we can do." Naruto said as Shizune nodded.

"Be careful. And can you look for Tsunade, I tried calling her but I couldn't get through." Shizune said as Naruto nodded.

"I'll bring her back." Naruto said as he ran to his room and grabbed his backpack. He opened it up to reveal his Impulse suit and he quickly changed before speeding out of the shelter and into the city.

As Naruto was running, he checked his goggles and they were still working but the connection to STAR Labs was cut off and he couldn't get a signal to them. As he was running, he stopped in an alley as he saw a large collection of blue and red lights three blocks away.

'Must be some kind of police emergency.' Naruto thought as he looked and saw the emergency was in the opposite direction of STAR Labs but with the power out, the police would need his help. 'Let's hope it's nothing serious.'

Naruto super sped down the streets and stopped around the corner to see the police had set up barricades, cars, and an emergency tent outside of the police station with armed officers and SWAT members everywhere.

'Something's wrong.' Naruto thought as he ran up a building and stopped on the roof. He put on his goggles and switched them to thermal and got a reading of 13 people in the police station. 12 of them were sitting while the 13th was walking around. 'Hostage situation. I can tap the police feeds with my goggles.'

Naruto switched to the radio frequency setting and set it to the police feed that Joe had provided STAR Labs so Naruto could hear everything. He saw the police captain walk around with one of the radios talking to the man inside holding everyone hostage.

"Tockman." "I am presently in control of eight of Central City's finest, three underpaid assistants, and one very brave civilian girl." "You've got demands. I wanna hear them. But first, let the civilians go." "Would you prefer I sent them out alive or dead? Please be more specific. One helicopter. One vegetarian takeout meal. One laptop with eight gigabytes of RAM will be delivered on this roof at exactly 53 minutes and 27 seconds from now or I shoot a hostage." "There is a citywide blackout. I'm gonna need more time." "Captain, you may delay, but time will not."

'Tockman, the Clock King. Like a sociopathic Sherlock Holmes.' Naruto thought as he switched to thermal again to get the position of Tockman. 'Well, I've broken Mach 1 so hopefully, I'm faster than a speeding bullet.'

Naruto took a deep breath and ran off the roof of the building and around to the back of the police station, entering through the garage. Naruto slowly walked in and down the hallway as he made his way past the evidence room and was nearing the area Tockman kept the prisoners. Naruto heard Tockman talking so he hugged the wall, slowly inching to the door. He peaked his head out and saw the group of hostages sitting in a circle with Tockman looking out the window.

Joe looked and saw Naruto in his suit at the end of the hall who gestured him to keep Tockman occupied and Joe nodded. "End this now, and I'll talk to the DA." Joe told him as Tockman looked at him.

"It was your district attorney that denied me furlough, so I could visit my dying sister one last time. Say goodbye to her in person. AH, TIME I'LL NEVER GET BACK!" Tockman shouted in anger as Joe noticed Eddie about to move and tried to signal him to stop. "So, however long I have in this life, I promise not one second more will be spent in a prison cell."

Eddie then shot Tockman in the back as Tockman grunted in pain. Eddie lowered his guard, thinking that was it but Tockman just grit his teeth, turned, and fired a bullet at Eddie.

"EDDIE!" Iris shouted as Naruto ran forward. Time slowed down as he saw the bullet exit the pistol and sail through the air, towards Eddie. Naruto moved as fast as he could as he saw the bullet getting closer and when it was about a foot away from Eddie, Naruto grabbed the bullet and Eddie and tackled them out of the way. To Naruto, it felt like forever but to Tockman and the bystanders it happened in the span of a second as they saw Tockman fire his gun and a blur save Eddie.

"Interesting." Tockman said as he walked over to the desks and saw Eddie sitting on the ground in confusion. Tockman raised his gun and was about to shoot Eddie in the face when Naruto came around with his vibrating fist and sucker punched Tockman across the face. The punch had enough force to send Tockman off his feet and through the window, outside where the police immediately took him into custody.

Naruto walked over to the window and saw the police taking the Clock King so Naruto quickly super sped over to the hostages and freed them from their handcuffs. He then left as SWAT stormed the building. Joe hugged Iris in relief, silently thanking Naruto for saving them. Naruto appeared on the roof across the street and smile that he was able to save the hostages. Now, he was going to STAR Labs.

Line Break xxxxx

Back at STAR Labs, Barry's plan to appeal to Farooq didn't go well at all and Barry was hurt because of it. Caitlin and Tsunade took him to the treadmill room while Cisco tried to get the generator online while Dr. Wells went to do something. Caitlin and Tsunade helped Barry into the treadmill room as Barry was hurt from one of Farooq's blasts. They set him down and looked at the wound and saw a serious burn.

"I'm not healing fast anymore." Barry said as Caitlin shook her head no.

"Don't worry, when Dr. Wells has a theory he's usually right." Caitlin said as Tsunade looked at the wound and saw Barry in pain. She rolled up her sleeves and moved his shirt away from the wound.

"What are you doing?" Barry asked as Tsunade looked at him.

"Helping you." Tsunade said as she took a deep breath and her hands began glowing green which froze Barry and Caitlin in shock. She placed her hand on Barry's wound who hissed in pain but then the wound got better and the damage cells began to heal. After a few seconds of contact, Tsunade moved away and Barry's wound was completely healed. "It's getting a bit easier."

Tsunade then dropped to the ground in exhaustion as Caitlin and Barry helped her. "Hey, Tsunade. Come on." Caitlin said as they helped her sit up and leaned her against the wall. "Come on. Naruto is not going to be happy is something happens to you."

"I'm ok, just exhausted. Doing that takes a lot out of me." Tsunade said as she tried to catch her breath.

"You're a metahuman." Barry said as Tsunade nodded with a smile.

"Not all of us got super speed. Turns out the accelerator explosion took my pre-disposition for healing people to new heights." Tsunade said as she chuckled.

"How come you didn't tell us? Did Naruto know?" Caitlin asked as she shook her head no.

"He had enough on his plate without having to worry about me. Besides, I was going to tell him when I was ready." Tsunade said as they smiled.

Farooq nearly found them but Cisco managed to get the lights on just in time and it distracted him. They tried jump starting Barry with the treadmill and it slightly worked but his powers didn't come back. Tony Woodward gave them some time away from Farooq as Dr. Wells let him out in order to protect Barry. They then tried to make an escape but Farooq had them cornered in the loading bay.

Naruto ran into the loading bay and saw Barry super speed and save Dr. Wells from Farooq. He then arrived back in his suit as Farooq tried to blast him but Naruto pushed him from behind, sending him flying through the air as Barry then punched him in the chest and knocked him back. Farooq was sent tumbling across the ground hit one of the parked vans. "Sorry, I'm late but it seems like you had it covered. Nice to see you back in action, Flash." Naruto said as Barry smiled.

"I was never gone. Just need a break." Barry replied as they saw Farooq get back up. He yelled in anger as he fired two bolts of electricity but Barry and Naruto dodged them and ran at him. Barry ran to the side as Naruto ran straight at Farooq and shoulder checked him away. Farooq slid across the floor but blasted Naruto with one of his bolts of electricity.

"ARGH!" Naruto shouted as he felt himself getting fried while Farooq was getting stronger. Farooq stood up and fired another bolt and began sucking more energy as he felt himself getting stronger and stronger.

Naruto shouted in pain as he glared at Farooq, watching the orange and white colored lightning get sucked out of his body. "ARGH! YOU WANT POWER! THEN TAKE IT!" Naruto shouted as he began releasing more and more energy as the others watched in amazement and shock. Farooq then stopped and fell to the floor like a ton of bricks while Naruto tried to catch his breath.

"Naruto!" Barry shouted as he ran over and helped him.

"I'm ok…. I'm ok." Naruto said Caitlin, Cisco, and Tsunade ran over to check on him. Caitlin checked on Farooq, trying to feel a pulse but there wasn't one.

"He's dead." Caitlin said.

They moved his body to the pipeline and placed it in bag until they could come up with a burial. "We could've called him Blackout." Cisco said.

"He had a name, Cisco." Dr. Wells said.

"I'm just confused as to what happened. I felt Farooq stealing my powers like he did to Barry. How come it killed him?" Naruto asked.

"Because I think your powers tapped into what you were feeling and reacted. Here is a sample of your blood from when we first met." Caitlin said as she showed him a scan of his cells generating energy. She then showed him another image of his blood she took a few minutes ago. "Now, your cells are generating more energy than ever before. It was more energy than the meta could safely handle. It's almost like he choked on you."

"What does that mean?" Cisco asked.

"I think it means you kicked it up a notch." Dr. Wells said.

"I did the same test on Barry and it's the same. His cells are generating faster than ever before." Caitlin said.

"Looks like Impulse and the Flash are ready for the next level." Tsunade said as they smiled and left after a long day. Barry went to go check on Iris and Joe while Naruto and Tsunade had a talk about her new powers.

Dr. Wells retreated to his secret room for another log update. "Good evening, Dr. Wells." Gideon said.

"Yes, it is, Gideon. Bring up my log, please. New entry. It has now been 312 days since Lightning struck. In the past 24 hours, subject A has taken a great leap forward causing me to revise my initial thesis. I thought…his attachment to people was a distraction, slowing down his progress. Now I realize the opposite is true. Barry's attachment to people, people he cares about is actually the key to getting him up to speed. In the meantime, good news as the future remains intact. Now, this incident has also proven that Subject's B's future is changing…whether for the better or for the worse is up to interpretation. What does remain the same, is that both Subjects are vital for the overall endgame." Dr. Wells said as he finished his log.

End of Chapter 3

I hoped you guys like chapter 3. Not a lot happened because it was just a way of getting rid of the filler episodes from the first half of season 1. Now that they're out of the way, the story can continue. This chapter laid out the groundwork for a lot of things that are going to happen to future chapters and expanded more on Naruto's relationship with Team Flash.

Naruto's part in Dr. Wells/Eobard Thawne's overall plan at the end of season 1 will be explained when it comes to that point. Naruto's powers are growing more and more and he'll explore how else to use them like discovering the vibration punch and other abilities will come in the future. In terms of his future Impulse suit, I liked the Kid Flash New 52 black, white, and dark orange take on the suit for something Naruto would wear. And Naruto's met Linda and I already have plans for his relationship with her.

With Naruto's discovery of his parents' notes on the Arc Reactor, I wanted something to show the potential that Naruto has in science and something that will eventually play out later in future chapters. The Arc Reactor project shows how smart Naruto is and the benefit he adds to any team he's on.

Next chapter, Team Flash meets Team Arrow and friend turns against friend. And Barry and Naruto meet the man in the yellow suit and begin to learn more about why he's so fixated on Barry.

1). Kid Flash's New 52 black, white, and dark orange suit is Naruto's future 2024 suit.

Current top speed for Naruto Namikaze AKA Impulse: Mach 1.25=959 mph.

Current abilities unlocked now

Super Speed (can run on buildings and water)

Accelerated healing

Enhanced endurance

Enhanced reflexes

Improved homeostasis

Enhanced mental capabilities to speed read and process information quickly

Speed punches: Mach punch

Molecular Oscillation: Vibrate molecules at high frequency (Bold is unlocked or learned at the moment)

Mass/Force punch (Infinite mass punch potential in the future)

Physical disruption

Air solidification

Intangibility/phasing

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Flash, both belong to their respective owners. I'm just a big fan.