Chapter 2: Brave New World

"And you're saying he just appeared out of thin air? No falling plane, helicopter, parachute, no anything?"

"Nothing. I flew back up after I delivered him to the ER and searched, but there were no malfunctioning air vehicles or other falling persons in the vicinity."

It had been a day since Superman had checked the blond boy he saved into a hospital for his injuries. It had been a tense wait, but the doctors were able to save him. Apparently he was making quite a fast recovery… too fast in fact. The boy's wounds had started to heal on their own considerable quickly once the doctors had administered drugs and stopped the internal bleeding. And that was only the first of a few interesting things Superman learned about this boy since yesterday.

These new facts led him to ask his colleagues, Batman and Martian Manhunter, to meet him at Star Labs, where the boy was transferred for further study.

"Why transfer him here?" J'onn asked.

"Because the doctors found some interesting things as they were performing surgery on him," Superman replied. "As well as in a thorough physical afterwards. Dr. Hamilton and his team are scanning for other anomalies to share."

"Do you believe he is an alien?" Batman asked.

"I believe it's possible. From what I myself saw, he heals much faster than any normal human can. He was in critical condition just yesterday, but after removing the weapons that impaled him and sewing up the wounds, his body repaired all the internal damage and replaced the blood quite fast. He doesn't even have scars now. He's just comatose."

"Comatose?" J'onn raised an eyebrow. "They aren't using anesthesia to keep him under?"

"No, his body just shut down during the procedures."

"I think I've found the answer to that little mystery," the three superheroes looked to the left to see Superman's trusted friend, Dr. Emil Hamilton walk out of the examination room. He was jotting down notes on his clipboard with an intrigued look on his face. "Come inside."

Walking in, the three heroes saw the blond teen on a cot, dressed in hospital wear and hooked up to an IV with several biometric scanners conducting scans for new intel. Hamilton walked to a computer and got body maps to display on a projector screen.

"He shares about 55% of his DNA with regular humans, but the rest is composed of cells, antibodies, and a few unique elements the computers can't identify. Everything from his bone to organ tissue is quite a bit denser, suggesting that wherever he hails from has heavier gravity than Earth's. A few other details I can tell you, but what I am really interested in… is this."

Hamilton pressed a button on the dashboard and a new map popped up on screen.

"Interesting," Batman grabbed his chin. "His body produces a unique bioelectric energy field."

"Unlike any form of energy I've ever examined. Atomically unstable, highly malleable, yet almost impossible to extract and contain. He actually has an entirely separate circulatory system that constantly streams this energy throughout his body. Apparently the energy contributed to his rapid healing, as it started flaring up and engulfing the boy's body as the doctors wrapped up surgery at Metro General yesterday, if their statements are to be believed. But it would appear that the energy is in very short supply at the moment, which might the reason for his low level body function, kind of like in the way your body starts to fail if you lose enough blood or water."

"So what are your thoughts?" Martian Manhunter asked. "Alien or metahuman?"

"I'm thinking metahuman," the doctor answered. "There is still quite a bit of his physiology that is human."

"Anything else you gathered about him?" Batman asked.

"Well, there are a few odd items I found on him yesterday," Superman presented a box which contained a two pouches, a headband with a metal forehead plate with a strange swirling insignia on it, a three-pronged knife with a large handle attached to a string like it was meant to be worn like a necklace, and a wallet shaped and colored like a frog.

J'onn picked up the frog wallet, sporting an amused smirk on his green face. "This has a rather… endearing charm to it, doesn't it?"

"On the other hand, these don't," Batman sounded less amused (when didn't he?) when he emptied the pouches to discover they were filled with shuriken, kunai knives, scrolls, an emergency first aid kit, military rations, and what Batman recognized as smoke pellets. "Most of this is ninja equipment. I've come across many members of the League of Shadows with similar kits as this."

Clark started chuckling. "So this kid is supposed to be a ninja?"

"You find that hard to believe?"

"If you saw the rather garish looking orange turtleneck and pants combo he was wearing when I found him, you would too."

"The weapons do speak for themselves," J'onn interjected. He grabbed the tri-pronged knife on the table and looked it curiously. "What do these markings mean?"

"I recognize the symbols," Batman answered. "These are Japanese characters. But they're arranged in some sort of code. I can't translate it."

"He's waking up!" one of the doctors exclaimed. He rushed to the boy's side as his face started to stir and twitch. "Can you hear me? Are you ok−"

"SASUKE!" The boy shot up in his cot and screamed out, swinging to punch the doctor half way across the room.

"Holy…" Superman rushed over and caught the doctor in mid-air. The blond quickly punched and kicked two other doctors who tried to sedate him and flipped out of his cot, reaching for his weapons. The other workers in the room screeched as the boy spiraled out of control.

"Wait! Stop!" Manhunter rushed over and grabbed him. "It's okay. You are safe."

"Anata wa dare de, dokoni anata wa watashi o torimashita ka? Nani o Sakura to Sasuke de okonatte imasu ka?" The young ninja sounded quite angry and scared. It was apparent that he saw the superheroes as his enemies.

"What is he saying?" asked J'onn.

"He's speaking in Japanese," Batman interjected. "I'll talk to him, but set up a psychic link with me and Superman." J'onn nodded and close his eyes to set up a mental connection with his colleagues. Batman turned to the boy and starting conversing in his native language. "Stand down. We are not here to harm you. We just wish to help."

"Nice try, Kaguya!" the boy snarled. "I don't know how you managed to escape your prison or subject me to Infinite Tsukuyomi, but I will break free and defeat you!"

Batman set his confusion aside for now. "I don't know what it is you speak of, but you mistake us for enemies. Try to calm down, and we can help you."

The boy narrowed is eyes, obviously not convinced of Batman's sincerity. He swung his arm and sent several shuriken towards the two heroes, but Batman countered with some of his Batarangs. The blond then flashed forward at alarming speed, getting up close with Batman as fast as he could blink.

So fast, Batman thought as he countered a strong left hook, only to be tripped up and sent flying with a right knee. The kid then advanced towards the Martian, but was shocked to find his body passing through the alien's body as he tried to kick him. J'onn then grabbed the kid from behind and held him in a chokehold.

"Please calm down," he insisted. "I don't wish to hurt you." His opponent obviously didn't share his sentiments as he kicked up his legs and flipped J'onn to the ground. Superman started flying towards him to intervene, but the blond threw smoke bombs to the ground beneath him. Superman swept through the smoke, only to discover that the kid was gone. Vanished into thin air.

"He's gone," Superman grunted. "How do you ninjas always do that, anyway?" Before Bats could answer him, a boom shook the room and Supes looked up. His target had punched a hole in the ceiling and jumped through to the roof.

"He's getting away!" cried Dr. Hamilton.

"Come on. We have to restrain him." Superman flew up to the roof with Batman and Martian Manhunter in tow.


Naruto leaped across several buildings before he took a moment to pause and gauge his surroundings. He was shocked to see that he was in a city he couldn't immediately recognize, with skyscrapers and towers going out as far as the eye could see. And people… LOTS of people. Far more than he had ever sensed in a single urban area at one time. Naruto didn't have any sensory abilities activated, but his senses were telling him that there were boatloads of people bustling around all corners of this place. Thousands, maybe millions!

There were so many questions swimming through his head. Where was he? Where were his friends? Did they defeat Kaguya? Had she somehow escape their Six Paths Planetary Seal? Was he dead? Under Infinite Tsukuyomi? What was going on?!

Naruto was about leap to the next tall building, but he staggered and dropped to a knee. It only just registered to him how tired he was. His chakra reserves were dangerously low, his body was racked with pain, and he felt dizzy, hungry, and sick to his stomach. In this state, he figured he wouldn't even be able to pull off a Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu or Rasenshuriken.

"My chakra… so low," he grunted. Kurama, can you help me out. No response came from the demon inside Naruto. Kurama? Kurama, can you hear me? Naruto was starting to get antsy now. He tried to enter his mindscape, but found that he couldn't project his avatar in his own mind! Gyuki, Shukaku, Saiken, Son… ANYONE? Now Naruto was in panic mode. He couldn't reach any of the tailed beasts inside him. What was happening?

His ears perked up as he noticed the three oddly dressed strangers from that prison coming in close. This was bad. He was so weak, hurt, and tired, that he couldn't use some of his greatest jutsu against these guys. And if Kaguya or Zetsu had somehow escaped, he didn't stand a ghost of a chance. But Naruto decided that his fear, fatigue and confusion could wait. Until Kurama or the other tailed beasts woke up, he would stall and fight as long as he could. He had to find his friends and stop Kaguya, and no one, not even bizarrely dressed minions, stood in Naruto Uzumaki's way! Believe it!


"J'onn, you've link us all mentally, right?" Batman asked in his thoughts as he was carried by the flying Martian.

"Yes, we can hear you just fine," Manhunter answered.

"Transfer my knowledge of Japanese between you and Clark. You are going to need it to communicate with him."

The three superheroes circled Naruto, who glared threateningly back at them.

"Listen kid," Superman started speaking in Japanese, courtesy of Batman's knowledge and J'onn's mental powers. "You don't understand the situation. You were near dead when we found you. I don't know where you came from, but this is not the world you know."

Naruto snarled and leapt towards the Krytonian. He buffed his hand with chakra and punched the tights and cape wearing weirdo in the face, but he was baffled when he discovered that his punch had absolutely no effect on him! He didn't even wince, stagger back, or so much as blink even as his fist came into contact with the face! It's like Naruto just punched a steel wall!

Superman tried to grab him, but Naruto spun and aimed a kick at his chest. That at least allowed Naruto to escape the man's grip and flip several feet back. Batman follow up by launching his grappling hook towards him, which Naruto caught, but then jolted when Batman sent a few thousands volts of electricity into him. Batman then retracted the powerful cord, bringing Naruto towards him, but Naruto blocked his punch and pushed backwards once again.

Before Naruto could pounce again, he grabbed his head in pain and confusion. He realized it was a mental attack. Could these people have Mind Transfer Jutsu like the Yamanaka Clan?

'Calm down… Naruto. You don't understand. You don't have to−'

"Kai!" Naruto clapped his hands into a strange hand sign and a wave of psychic energy bounced back towards J'onn. J'onn recoiled and cried out in pain as his psychic power was abruptly forced back at him.

"J'onn!" Superman flew towards Naruto, taking advantage of the fact he was distracted to punch him towards the other side of the roof. The kid slumped out cool before turning into a puff of smoke.

"What?" Superman was shocked. What did he just do to−?

"Rasengan!" A powerful blast of… something, slammed into the back of Clark's head. Clark grunted as he was drilled into the roof of the building. The energy kept pressing into Clark's flesh until he was sent rocketing down into the floor of the building itself, much to the distress of the business executives who were have a board meeting inside.

"Damn!" Batman grimaced as he comforted a hurt Martian Manhunter. The boy had somehow reappeared in the blink of an eye with a blue ball of swirling energy that he smashed into Clark's head. At least now he knew what the bioelectricity system was for, but that only registers this… Naruto, as a bigger threat.

Naruto drew up several shuriken out of seemingly nowhere and let them loose. Batman once again countered with Batarangs, but Naruto seemed to have another trick up his sleeve. He made several strange gestures with his fingers before smoke exploded into view around him. When it dissipated, Batman was stunned to see the biggest shuriken he had ever seen in Naruto's hands. It was just over the size of the boy himself. Naruto jumped high into the air and hurled the giant weapon with incredible speed and precision. Batman pushed J'onn out of the way before diving in the opposite direction. But that wasn't the real attack it seemed. The shuriken burst into a cloud of smoke to reveal… Naruto himself!

"What?"

"Take this!" Naruto hurled several kunai at Batman with weird paper tags connected to them. Once again, Batman deflected them all, but as the kunai fell to the ground, the paper around them started to ignite. Batman grimaced and dived backward, just as all the paper tags exploded. He narrowly escaped the main blasts, being sent sprawling back as a result.

"Ugh," Manhunter groaned as he shook himself awake. "What… happened?"

"Why didn't you enter his mind?" Batman groaned as he stood up. "You should have paralyzed him by now!"

"I tried to enter his mind," J'onn responded as Naruto once again engaged in close combat with him, "but somehow he forced me out." The Martian enlarged his fist and arm and punched Naruto, sending him off the roof.

He then dived after Naruto as he fell, but the ninja was hardly worried. He barrel rolled in the air several times before planting his feet to the wall of the building, sliding down slightly, but then stopping and sticking to the wall like a spider. He stood up straight and started sprinting up the wall until he got closer to J'onn. Naruto leapt towards him with a kunai in hand trying to stab him, but he just passed through him again and got grabbed from behind and thrown towards a reemerged Superman, who was flying towards him with a fist primed and at the ready.

"Sorry kid," Superman managed before he punched Naruto in the face and sent him back to the roof. Naruto hit the roof hard, and struggled to get up, but Batman was ready with a powerful sedative, which he injected into the ninja's arm causing him to lose consciousness after a few seconds of struggling to stay awake.

"There," Batman sighed. He got up, brushing off the pain from the brief scuffle. Superman flew towards him, cracking his neck.

"You guys okay?"

"Fine. Come on, let's get this kid securely tied down. I have questions I want to ask him."

"Ask him or force out of him?" Superman asked with a stern tone.

"Superman, he pressed a fight against the three of us even after just arising from a coma after being treated for fatal wounds. Then there is the matter of his training, his weapons, and the strange powers he used against us. We have to know−"

"And we'll find out," J'onn insisted. "But he's still a kid. He's hurt, scared, and most likely hyped on adrenaline from whatever, or whoever, gave him those injuries. Not to mention he asked of what happened to his friends and of some enemy called Kaguya. He needs to know that he is far from the place he called home. He doesn't need an interrogation… he needs help."

Batman glared at his companions for a moment, but then sighed in resignation. "Fine. But I still want answers as to how he was able to do the things he could do and where he comes from. If he's from another dimension, we need to know if this enemy he faced could come here and cause trouble."

"Very well," J'onn acquiesces. He picks up the boy and carries him back to Star Labs. "Don't worry my friend. We will find a way to help you."


"Kamui Raikiri!" Kakashi cried as he nearly severed Kaguya's arm with a black Lightning Blade. Kaguya gritted her teeth in pain and rage as she sent several bone spears towards the falling jōnin. They merely passed through Kakashi thanks to the intangibility he gained from Obito's Sharingan chakra transfer.

"Now Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he flew towards the rabbit goddess. The last Uchiha leapt towards her from the other side with his hand and Yin seal reached out. Kaguya was panicked now. She was having a harder time controlling her chakra since he had to focus so much on forming the planetary Gudōdama behind her. But she was the original progenitor of chakra. She would not fall to these cretins!

She sent two ash bone spears to her two opponents, but while one hit Sasuke, the other was warped into another dimension before it could hit Naruto, courtesy of a Kamui by Kakashi. Sasuke began to crack and disintegrate, but he burst into smoke, revealing that he was really just a Naruto clone in disguise. From his cover near Kakashi's Susano'o, the real Sasuke used his Rinnegan's Time-Space jutsu to swap places with the dying clone and hurl himself to Kaguya, ready with his sealing jutsu. Kaguya, out of other options, opted to escape by jumping into another dimension, but Kakashi was quicker, and as the goddess opened another portal above her head, Kakashi warped Sakura between them and she punched the woman down towards her comrade's hands.

Team 7 smiled in achievement. The war was over. Victory was theirs.

"Rikudō: Chibaku Tensei!"

Naruto and Sasuke released the fullest extent of their Six Paths powers and the ground beneath them began to tremble. The Rinne Sharingan in the middle of Kaguya's forehead sank beneath her skin. Large chunks of the earth crumbled and rose up to Kaguya, sticking to her as if she was a gravitational force (which she totally was at this point). The Earth itself was being forced towards her to create a new moon seal that would forever restrain her power.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke dropped to the Earth near Kakashi Sensei, ignoring the massed of rock splitting from the ground to encase Kaguya. They were all beyond exhausted, but alive and triumphant.

"It's over! We did it!" Naruto exclaimed, pounding his fist into his hands.

"That you did," Kakashi gave his students his trademark eye smile. "And as captain of Team 7, I have never been prouder of all of you."

"Yosh!" Naruto grinned, but then his eyes snapped open in realization. "Wait, we forgot something… Zetsu!" They all turned around to see the black artificial humanoid stumbling towards them. Without any distinctly human features, Zetsu couldn't display any facial expressions, but he hardly needed to in order to convey that he was fuming with rage and disbelief.

"You… you insolent little brats!" Zetsu growled. "How dare you… how could you have come by such power?"

"Heh, you simply underestimated the power of shinobi," Naruto sneered. "The power we create for ourselves!" In an instant, Naruto was behind Zetsu, striking him down with a powerful punch and impaling two Gudōdama spears into him. Zetsu hissed as Naruto's powerful chakra poured into him, restricting his movements and eating away at the rest of his power and life force. Damn Hagoromo! Even in death, he still managed to best his mother and foil his plans!

"This game is over, Zetsu," Naruto declared. "You've lost."

Zetsu started laughing maniacally. "Naruto Uzumaki, you really are a unique entity after all, aren't you? All those times the members of Akatsuki expressed worry over your growth, I wondered what it was that enabled you to overpower your foes. I need not wonder anymore. You may have bested my mother and saved your putrid world from Infinite Tsukuyomi, but I am the one who is getting the final victory!"

"Naruto! Get away from him!" Kurama yelled from inside his head.

The air around Zetsu started to crackle with electricity. Naruto's eyes widened and jumped back as Zetsu's body started oozing energy. He laughed maniacally as his body started to collapse into itself, opening a black hole that started sucking in everything around it, including the four shinobi.

"What's happening?" Sakura cried out.

"Zetsu's activated some sort of space-time distortion!" Sasuke replied. He poured chakra into his Rinnegan to try to deactivate it, but it sputtered out of control. "Damn! It's too strong! My Rinnegan can't close it! Kakashi! Can you−"

"It's no good!" Kakashi yelled. "I used the last of Obito's chakra against Kaguya. I don't have access to my Sharingan, or Kamui anymore!"

"Dammit!" Naruto extended his glowing chakra arms to grab his friends and tried to run away from the tremendous suction of the portal, but he screamed in pain as he was impaled by three black rods that started nullifying his chakra. Upon looking up, he noticed that Zetsu was hurling spears at his friends too, until at least his arm disintegrated within the portal he was opening up.

"HA! You can't escape!" Zetsu smirked as the last of himself was drawn into his own portal. "We'll all be ripped apart down to our atoms as we are sent hurtling through time and space! You'll never see any peace you helped create, Naruto, never become Hokage. You lose Naruto Uzumaki! YOU ALL LOSE!" Zetsu laughed hysterically as he fully converted into a black hole.

"I… CAN'T… MOVE!" Naruto grit his teeth, in frustration. "I… won't… give up!" The vortex then began to expand, swallowing up everything around them. Ground, sand, the very rocks and boulders that were being used to trap Kaguya.

"This is bad!" Naruto yelled out through the pain and panic. "If this thing continues to expand, it could potentially free Kaguya!"

"Naruto, stop trying to get away!" yelled Sasuke. "I can close it from the inside but we need to get sucked."

"But then we'll be trapped!" shouted Sakura. "If you can't close, we'll be wiped out by this vortex for nothing! If you do close it, then we'll be stuck in whatever dimension or void Zetsu opened forever! What happens if we are completely erased like he said we would be?!"

"We have to try!" he barked back. "Kaguya will destroy the shinobi world if we don't make sure we stop her."

"Is this it?" Naruto asked, tears rolling down his face as the void began to suck him in. "Is this really the end? Will we really not make it out if we do this?"

"Naruto," he looked towards his sensei, who looked equally depressed and shocked, but also strangely, at peace. "I know this is bad, but we are still shinobi of Konoha. We do whatever it takes to finish the mission. We cannot take the chance of everything we've done up until this point be for nothing."

Naruto looked to his other comrades, who looked equally crushed and scared by the news. He closed his eyes and ruminated on everything that has happened so far. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had finally won. He had finally pushed the world back for everything it had ever done to him. His lonely childhood, the Academy, learning of the fox, becoming a ninja, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Sasuke leaving, the ninja war, the training he underwent, the power and skills he achieved, all the battles he had fought, everyone he gained and lost throughout his life…

How could everything come crashing down on him so fast? Why couldn't he just win?

Nonetheless, Naruto knew Kakashi was right. For all his drive, his ambitions and dreams, his insistence on seeing everything through, he was still a shinobi, one who was willing to make personal sacrifice if that was the only option. He took a deep breath and called upon the tailed beasts in his mind.

"Guys, I'm gonna need as much chakra as you can put out."

"Let's do it!" the tailed beasts said in unison. Naruto felt power, power beyond anything he ever personally tapped into before, flow through and out of him. He encased as much protective chakra as he could around Sakura and Kakashi before giving Sasuke the rest. Sasuke poured as much chakra into his left eye as he could before he activated its power.

The black hole started to condense and short out around them. Blue astral light filled Naruto's vision as the world disappeared from view, and the void of the gap in space-time completely engulfed them. His senses went awry. Everything he heard felt muffled, he felt weightless as if drifting through the ocean, his eyes were assault by bright colors that kept changing form and appearance, and every cell in his body was vibrating. With one final cry of defiance, he encased himself and his party in a barrier of chakra, and everything went white.


Naruto slowly started to feel his consciousness return to him, and he fought to open his eyes. Aside from the bright light that shone right in his eyes, everything looked blurry. He groaned as he felt his entire body hurting. His chakra was still extremely low, and he could still hear the voices from his recently resurfaced memories rang in his head. He tried to move only to discover that his hands and legs were bound by strong metal shackles attached to the cot he was currently lying on. Even when he tried to buff his strength with what little chakra he had left, he couldn't get them to budge.

After several minutes of trying and failing to loosen his restraints, Naruto let out a series of frustrated cries and curses. But after a while he came to terms with the fact that he wasn't breaking out of his shackles anytime soon and settled down to begin meditating so he could manually revitalize his chakra reserves and ponder his options.

Whoever captured him didn't seem to want him for any sort of experimentation because aside from the cot and the bright light shining down on him from the ceiling above, the empty room he was in was pitch black, with not a sound to be heard. This meant that Naruto was mostly likely in for an interrogation, possibly torture. But that only begged to question, by who? Did he somehow end up in a small shinobi village once the portal spat him out? And where was the interrogator?

As Naruto continued to meditate and gain his strength back, he became aware of another batch of memories that had reemerged from his foggy mind. Waking up in what looked like a lab, being attacked by a squad of oddly dressed blokes who could fly and using mind-walking attacks, and putting up a brief fight before being knocked out cold once again. Now that he thought about it, Naruto could dimly recall being told by the three enemies that they were only trying to help him, once they stopped talking in whatever nonsensical code they were conversing when he first woke up. Could they be fellow shinobi who had heard of him, found him, and were trying to attend to any of his injuries? He was so panicked and confused at the moment that he just straight into battle mode before stopping to get a grip on the situation. Maybe he ought to head these people out and see if they could really help. Assuming they weren't still cross with him about his attack.

"No we aren't, Naruto," a voice called from the blackness. Naruto turned to his left to see a man with green skin and pure red eyes wearing a blue cape over dark clothes stepping into the light. "And yes, we will still be willing to help you despite the damage you caused."

Naruto looked at him wearily for a moment before sighing in admittance. "Sorry about that. I was in the middle of a really tense situation and I thought you and your two teammates were enemies of some sort."

"Not to worry, all is forgiven. My name is J'onn J'onnz. I hope you don't mind but I searched through a few of your memories just to get a good bearing as to what kind of situation you were in before you were found by my colleague. Nothing to deep or personal, rest assured. You'll be pleased to know that this Kaguya and Zetsu you fought are gone. You are safe."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief, but then his eyes widened as another thought occurred to him. "What about Sasuke, and Sakura, and Kakashi Sensei? Where are the rest of my friends? They were sucked into that portal with me!"

"I'm afraid I know not of what happened to your comrades. You first appeared falling several thousand feet from the sky when the man in blue and red, Superman, found you. He swept the area to find anyone else who could've been falling with you, but he found no one. But do not worry. I'm sure they are alive and arrived somewhere on this Earth. If they are out there, my colleagues and I will find them."

Naruto took what small comfort he could find in the man's words. His instincts could detect no lie or ulterior motive hiding behind J'onn's soft, but firm words, so he decided to trust him. J'onn decided he could do the same and released the shackles currently holding Naruto and handing him a glass of water to drink. After downing it, Naruto decided to take a plunge and ask a series of questions he was dreading the answers to.

"I don't suppose I am in the same world or dimension that the Elemental Nations reside in, am I?"

"I'm afraid not. And without the means to send you back where you came from, or knowledge of where your dimension resides, I am afraid that you are stranded here. I am truly sorry."

Naruto grit his teeth and shut his eyes in refusal, before jumping off the cot and breaking into a run. Unfortunately, J'onn grabbed him for he could try to find the nearest exit, or fashion one with his fists. And as hard as he struggled, the ninja could not overpower the Martian's strength.

"Let me go! I have to leave!"

"I'm afraid I cannot advise that."

"To hell with your advice! I have to find my friends and a way back home! And nothing is going to stop me! Do you really think you can keep me prisoner here?!"

"No one is keeping you imprisoned anywhere," J'onn promised. "But I cannot just let you run amuck wreaking havoc in a land you are not familiar with. And setting your weakened state aside, this world is far too vast for you to explore to find your companions without direction. You could search for years and never find them."

"As if that's gonna stop me!" Naruto barked, now on the ground with both hands held securely behind his back. "I don't care how long it takes me to find them. I won't abandon my friends and I won't give trying to find them. I NEVER GIVE UP!"

"And I admire that. My associates and I will be happy to assist you in searching for them, but then you have to consider the fact that you were most likely sent through space and time. And unless you possess the ability to seamlessly and without risk of failure traverse dimensions to go back to your own world, then you are unfortunately here to stay."

"Shut up!" Naruto growled as he struggled against the green man holding him down. If only he had access to more chakra, then he could easily get out of this situation. But turns out he didn't need to fret too much because J'onn promptly let him go, allowing him to stand up and glare at him. He merely looked back at him with an impassive expression on his alien looking face.

"I could easily over power and subdue you right now. But I am not going to, for I want you to stop and think about your next course of action. Do you really think running about on your own is the smart thing to do? Make the right choice, Naruto."

Naruto snarled at him and readied his fist to deck the green man in the face, he held back as he did stop to think about his current situation. After a minute of glaring at J'onn and twitching his knuckles, he came to accept that the man's reasoning was sound. His fury filled face shrank into a defeated sulk as he walked over to the bed, sat down and put his hands in his face, struggling mightily to keep tears from forming in his eyes.

"Dammit. Dammit. DAMMIT!" How could this happen? How could he lose everything when he was so close to finally winning? Naruto couldn't help but let a flood of crushing thoughts and worries sweep him away. Were the rest of his team dead? Were they scattered across other regions of an unfamiliar world confused, weak, and in unfriendly hands? How about things back home? Did Kaguya escape? Was the world still trapped under Infinite Tsukuyomi even without her or Madara's chakra to power it?

How could he fail? Naruto had spent his entire life fighting back against the people who had labeled him a failure and a weakling. This victory against Kaguya… more than any other besides one day becoming Hokage, should've been the ultimate triumph. The last time he'd ever have to tell somebody, 'yes, I can do it.' And now that was robbed from him, and maybe the possibility of ever going home and enjoying the peace he helped create as well.

For the first time since Pervy Sage died, Naruto felt a crushing wave of complete and utter despair crash into him. Were all those people right? Was he ultimately destined to be a failure? Did all his hard work, all his sacrifices, and all he boasted of his potential and persistence mean nothing?

The Martian Manhunter hardly needed his telepathic powers to detect the anguish and despair coming from the boy. From what he had observed from Naruto's memories, he gathered that the boy had spent the last few hours fighting the most important of a lifetime's worth of battles, only for it to be rendered moot. He was now trapped in a world with no family, friends, resemblance to the life he once lived, and no purpose or direction.

But J'onn would not allow this young warrior to spend any more time sulking over what he lost. He had to help him somehow.

J'onn sat down next to Naruto and clamped a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto Uzumaki, I can't begin to understand what it is you are currently going through. I know little about you, your world, or of anything I can do to ease your pain. But I have peered into your mind and heart and seen that you are, at your very core, a good man. You have endured much pain and loss, and yet you didn't hesitate to put your life on the line to protect your world, your loved ones, or your belief in the goodness in people. I know we can never replace the home you lost but… we would be honored if you could learn to call Earth, your home."

Naruto looked up at him and asked, "Even if I could… what am I supposed to do? What is there here for me?"

"Quite a bit actually," J'onn replied. "I've observed from both your memories and your actions that you are in possession of considerable power. What would you say if I asked you that we could teach you to use your powers as a force for good. To protect those who would seek to do harm to the world or people less fortunate than ourselves, not unlike what you did for your own home."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "You'd have me become a shinobi to another village and fight for them?"

"Something like that," a voice called from elsewhere in the room. A door opened and in came the two other men Naruto fought earlier; the man in the grey and black bat costume who kept using gadgets against him and the man in blue and red tights and cape combo who apparently hadn't realized that he put his underwear on the wrong side of his pants before he left the house this morning. Though apparently neither of his colleagues deigned to inform him of this since neither gave him a second look.

"We are a part of an organization of a few gifted individuals with powers and skills greater than that of the common man," said Big Blue, "who are devoted to protecting humanity from crime, disaster, and terrorism. We call ourselves the Justice League, comprised of the world's greatest heroes. If you wish to use your powers for good, then I'll be happy to take you under my tutelage and show you how to be a hero just like us."

The main the bat suit took over for him. "I imagine things will be quite different from the way you do things in the military system back in your world, but with the right training and instruction you could be just as great a hero as you were to your own people. Of course, that's only if you accept this offer. The choice is yours."

Naruto pondered their words for a moment. There were few things in his life he was more proud of than being celebrated as the Hero of Konoha and of the Fourth Shinobi World War, so a chance to attain a similar accolade here sounded quite appealing. Of course he was still hesitant to trust these people, but they had done nothing to convince Naruto of any dishonest or ill intentions, even if they did come across a tad preachy or eager to here an answer from him.

There was also so much he had to think about. His friends, his home, the war, the fate of his people. As tempting as it was to just ditch these guys and try to settle all his problems by himself, he had long received the message that he had to learn to depend on others as well. Even if it was just temporary, he would have set aside his worries of home. Learning this brave new world, securing a good place in it, and following the advice of these self-claimed heroes now took priority.

Naruto looked up with a determined look on his face. "When do we start?"