-Previously on, Happiness-
With another sigh, Naruto said, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" repeated a confused Raven, "Sorry for what?"
"For everything," he answered. "While I may not have ruined your life, I wasn't in control of my actions and I still hurt you deeply and I couldn't even give you a reason why. My past is something I wanted to keep secret because I am ashamed of it. I wanted it to die with me so that no one will know."
'What kind of life did he have?' thought Raven as she listened intently.
"I'm still not ready to tell my story," he said, disappointing Raven. "But, given enough time, I might be able to tell a friend," he said, extending a hand out to a surprised Raven.
She stared at his hand for what felt like hours. He was willing to be a friend? This all seemed ridiculous to her. "I can't forgive you for what happened, but I can at least understand that neither of us was in control of our actions that night if what you just said is true." She then surprised Naruto as she reached out and shook his hand, "Thank you for your help, Naruto."
He smiled as she smirked a little before they separated. "I'll see you around, Raven. You're free to come by my place if you ever just want to talk."
She nodded as she watched him walk out of the abandoned theatre. Raven honestly couldn't believe that he was willing to be her friend but, if this was a way to get answers, then she was also willing. With another smirk, she opened up a portal and sunk into it as she idly thought,
'Didn't he say he writes books?'
-Story Start-
After everything that happened two nights ago, with the Puppet King and with her and Naruto meeting some sort of middle ground, all Raven wanted was to have a nice long sleep. Instead, with a great win under their belt, the rest of the Titan's decided to celebrate. She was dragged along to the Pizzeria that her team frequented a lot and actually had a bit of fun. And then the team decided to take the party back at their home, where Beastboy kept offering everybody tofu.
Right now, Raven hated Beastboy and his damned cooking. She had politely taken a small portion of his tofu and eaten some. And because of that, Raven now felt sick to her stomach. Tofu never agreed with her, and Beasboy's cooking made it even worse. Now, looking in her bathroom mirror, she nearly looked as green as he did.
With a sigh, she walked over to her bed, taking off her cloak along the way, and sat down on her mattress. She had wanted to sleep but the partying stopped all those plans. Glancing to her side table, she stared at the books she got earlier today. Thankfully, the team took a rest day before the celebrations so she had enough time to go to a local bookstore she usually goes to, to find Naruto's books.
What she didn't expect was to see over twenty of his books, though twelve of them were red, titled 'Make-Out Paradise', and written by someone calling themselves the 'Toad Sage'. The rest were blue books, written by 'Kurama' and named 'True Confessions'. These were the ones that Raven remembered Naruto wrote himself. She bought the whole series and was warned by the cashier that the red ones were just smut.
As she stared at the books in her room, Raven shrugged and picked up the very first 'Make-Out Paradise'. She opened the book and began to read. Not even five pages in, Raven slammed the book shut as she blushed red, getting rid of the green she had earlier. Steam was literally coming out of her ears as she shakily placed the book back on her table.
"How can anyone write something so... dirty?!" Raven nearly shouted, shaking the blush off her face. Naruto's God-Father wrote that? This made her both worried and curious as to how he writes.
As she reached for the first blue book, titled 'True Confessions: The Sin's We Bare', Raven couldn't help but wish that Naruto wrote it better than the other ones. She read the first page, and then another, and then another, and before she knew it, she was already four chapters in. It was incredibly well written and, while she wasn't one for romance novels, she can see why his books were held in high regards.
While still reading the book, Raven stood up and left her room, heading for the kitchen in the Main Ops Room so that she could make herself some tea. "Oh, hey, Raven," a voice said, surprising Raven out of the book.
She looked up and blinked, surprised that she was already in the kitchen boiling the kettle. Looking, she calmed down when she saw it was Robin that spoke. "Hey," she replied with a nod in her usual monotone voice.
He nodded from where he sat at his computer. "Do you mind helping me quickly?" he asked as Raven poured her tea. She walked over and sat on the chair next to him, "I'm making a case report for the other night and I need to know what happened with you and Starfire."
"And you can't ask Starfire because...?" Raven asked, trailing off so that he could answer.
"Because she usually exaggerates everything that happened," he said with a deadpan look as Raven nodded, agreeing with that statement. "Besides, I need to ask you something."
Raven raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"
"Something doesn't add up," he started, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms with his eyes shut, "While I was trapped in that puppet, I could still sort of see and hear everything that was going on. It was muffled and a little blurry, but I could still hear and see."
This worried Raven a little, "What confuses you?"
"Did you and Starfire get any help?" he asked, "I could hear someone's voice that didn't sound like you or the Puppet King. It definitely wasn't the guys because they were with me so I would have known."
'Damn it,' Raven thought with a frown, 'I was hoping he wouldn't notice.' She couldn't say that he might have heard something, he would never believe that. "Starfire and I were alone. Maybe it was the Puppet King's voice echoing around? That might have distorted the voice to you, especially if it was kind of muffled."
Robin thought it over, that did make sense sort of, "Yeah, guess that's right. Thanks," he said, typing on the computer.
"And as for what Starfire and I did when we got separated? We went through the sewer system and wound up in the middle of the city," she explained as Robin typed everything down, "As we were trying to figure everything out, we had to avoid you, Cyborg, and Beastboy. Eventually, we followed Beastboy to the theatre and you know the rest," Raven said, leaving any mention of Naruto. She would need to speak to Starfire and ask her not to say anything either.
Typing for another minute, Robin nodded, "Alright, thanks. I've got everything I need."
Raven nodded at that, relieved that her leader believed her. "Goodnight, then," she said, leaving as she took a sip. She was hoping to get back into her book.
Watching her leave, Robin frowned. While her idea did make sense, Puppet King's voice was too distinctive so the voice he heard wasn't anything like it. Plus there was also the bruises he had on his stomach and arms. Starfire's strength would explain the bruises but the size was too large for her hands and feet. The bruises on his arms matched his bo-staff, which also raised the question of who used his weapon against him as neither Raven or Starfire could use a weapon as far as he knew.
He shook his head. He would trust his friends with his life, there was no question about that. But he wouldn't trust anyone he hasn't met, especially if one can use his weapon against him.
It was now the morning after and Raven yawned as she entered the kitchen. Her friends weren't awake yet, apart from Robin who was doing his morning training somewhere else in the building, so she enjoyed the rare peace and quiet while it lasted. Pouring herself another cup of tea, she used her magic and brought a teaspoon to her. But, just as it got close enough, her magic disappeared and the spoon fell to the floor.
Raven raised an eyebrow at it but shrugged. She was still waking up so she just wasn't concentrating enough. That and the fact she didn't get a lot of sleep last night, having stayed up later than she meant to, reading Naruto's book. So far she was already a few chapters in the second book, 'True Confessions: Illusions'. She was beginning to be a fan of the series.
She idly thought of going to Naruto just for his autograph and chuckled at the thought. He would probably be very confused at her sudden appreciation of his novels. Thinking of her new friend, Raven felt better knowing that she was making progress with him.
"Hello, Friend Raven!" announced Starfire, scaring Raven enough for her to accidentally use her magic to make her tea explode out of the cup. "Sorry," Starfire said with a giggle at Raven's scowl.
Raven begrudgingly cleaned up the mess that Starfire made quickly and poured herself another cup. The kettle was still boiling so at least she didn't have to wait. "Good morning, Starfire," she said with a nod, after taking a sip of her herbal tea with an appreciative sigh.
"It is another glorious day! Would you wish to do the hanging out?" asked Starfire, alway's happy for the chance to be with her friends. "We could go shopping or to one of your many tea shops."
"Sorry," interrupted Raven, not really caring that she did interrupt. "I'm hoping for a day off from work." She meant fighting villains but a day out with Starfire was also a lot of work.
Starfire's look saddened for a split second before brightening back up. "I was hoping we could invite Naruto to join-"
Raven was fast as she dropped her tea and slapped her hands over Starfire's mouth, shushing her as she made sure none of the boys were around. Once she made sure the coast was clear, she said, "Starfire, no one can know about Naruto, at least not yet." Blinking in confusion, Starfire's big green eyes basically asked why she shouldn't have mentioned Naruto. Bringing Starfire to the kitchen table, Raven sat down and rubbed her head.
"Why must we keep Friend Naruto a secret?" asked Starfire, her head tilting slightly like a puppy.
"Because..." started Raven before falling silent as she made herself her third cup of tea. She still couldn't tell Starfire real the reason why, as Starfire was one of the biggest loudmouths she had ever seen. "Because both Naruto and I are working on our friendship. If the others know of him and how we met, then things would get really difficult." Looking back at her friend, Raven could see that Starfire still didn't fully understand, "And I need you to not mention Naruto at all or I will be angry."
Starfire gulped at that. She had seen Raven angry and never wanted to see that again. "I understand... a little," she said before asking, "If we are secret about this, may we visit him? He is my new friend as well."
Raven groaned at that. 'Why does she need to make friends with everybody she meets?' she thought to herself in annoyance. "Not now. Maybe later, but not now. Do you have any other questions?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea.
"Is Friend Naruto courting you?" Starfire asked with big innocent eyes, making Raven choke on her tea in shock.
'Out of anything she could have asked, she asked that?!' Raven thought as she coughed, being able to breathe again. "No we are not dating," Raven said with gritted teeth. She wondered why Starfire had to be so innocent. Her sister, Blackfire was so different it was almost unbelievable. "Please don't forget that this is a secret."
Starfire nodded, making the zipped shut gesture over her mouth. The door opened as Beastboy walked through with a yawn. "Yo! What are we talking about?" he asked, going over to the kitchen and rummaging through the fridge.
Immediately, Starfire answered with a high-pitched "Nothing!" Thankfully, Beastboy thought nothing of it as Raven rubbed her head again. Why did she have to have a headache so early in the morning?
As if the world was trying to add to her annoyance, the alarms blared in the Tower, alerting all of the Titans that something was happening within the city. Within seconds, Robin and Cyborg appeared from the halls. Heading straight for the computer, Cyborg groaned a little, "Oh, come on! Dr Lights already out and is trying to steal from the museum!"
"How did he get out so fast?" asked Beastboy, "I thought he'd be out for a long time after what Raven did to him."
Raven frowned at that and looked away, "Please don't remind me."
"Doesn't matter right now," Robin said, "Let's get down there and stop him! Titan's GO!"
Naruto sneezed as he typed into a laptop. He was working on his tenth book and was beginning to get annoyed. He has been working on it for a few weeks and has managed to type out a few chapters before deleting it. He has done this a few times and has done it once again. This isn't the first time he has ever had writer's block but that didn't make it any less annoying. With another heavy sigh, Naruto leant back into his couch and stared at the ceiling.
Deciding to take his mind of the matter and to get some fresh air, Naruto stood up and left his apartment. Once he made sure that the door was locked, he walked out of the building and took a deep breath. He frowned a little. Even after living in this world for a while, he still couldn't get used to the smell of the city as he preferred the scent of nature.
With no destination in mind, Naruto began to walk down the street, surrounded by all the citizens of Jump City. This was something he found odd. All his life he had wanted to stand out, to make people notice him. Now, it was the exact opposite. He wanted to blend in so that no one will remember him. Of course, that plan failed because of Raven and their whole night together.
He chuckled a little to himself as the thought of Raven appeared in his mind. He had been thinking of the Titan a lot more nowadays, mostly because they all keep appearing in the news. Which just so happened to be now. That Dr Light guy that Raven mentioned was out again and was stealing something from a museum. He was now behind bars and the Titan's got another win.
After their argument a couple of weeks ago, he felt like absolute crap with how Raven reacted. Helping fight off the possessed Titans the other night actually felt a little therapeutic to him. But thanks to them being on good terms he was actually able to let go of his guilt.
Turning around a corner, Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when someone bumped into him. He easily managed to steady himself within a second, but the person he walked into fell to the ground. Looking, he was completely shocked when he saw Raven of all people. But something was different.
Her cloak was grey instead of dark blue.
"Raven? What are you doing here?" he asked, helping the girl up.
Raven looked at him and teared up, shocking Naruto. "I-I'm sorry," she said with a sniffle, "I wasn't w-watching where I was going."
"Uh...that's okay?" Naruto said, not sure what to say at this moment. With the way she was acting, it was like she was someone else completely, and after the other night he couldn't rule that possibility out. But her chakra was the exact same.
"I'm sorry that I-I was so angry with you the other day, and I'm sorry t-that I h-hated you as well, a-and I'm sorry that I left you when you were only o-offering to help, and-" Raven was interrupted by Naruto who gently placed his hand over her mouth.
"Raven, it's okay, you don't need to apologise," he said with a kind smile, hoping that it will cheer up the oddly sad girl. "What are you doing here anyway?"
The girl looked shy as she answered, "I don't know. After R-Raven was separated, everything was getting loud, then, then, then the others said they were going to put us back together b-because they didn't want us here anymore." By the end of her explanation, Raven was crying again and onto Naruto's shoulder.
"Wait, what did you mean by 'Raven was separated'?" Naruto asked in confusion, once Raven had calmed down and apologised for getting his shirt a little wet. "Aren't you Raven?"
"I-I'm one of her emotions," she said, making Naruto blink. "An object somehow split Raven into five of her p-personalities."
"...Are you...her shyness?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. If she really was one of her emotions, then this would explain the odd behaviour.
"Timid," she said quietly. She then looked at him with big eyes, "I want to go home."
With a soft smile, Naruto said, "How about I take you home?" She nodded and then surprised him even further by taking hold of his hand. After a second, Naruto gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and they both began to walk towards the Titan's Tower. "You know, this isn't exactly how I thought my day would go."
"I'm sorry that I ruined it," Timid said with a sad look, thinking she ruined his day.
Naruto gave her hand a slight squeeze again, getting her attention, "Raven, I mean, Timid, I am happy when I spend time with Raven, and I am happy that I got to meet one of her emotions," he said with a smile. Timid blushed at that and tried to hide in her hood after she put it up, but she smiled either way. "We should be there in a half hour at least."
"I can take us there now," Timid offered quietly and before Naruto could say anything, she waved her arm as a portal opened beneath them both. Naruto stayed silent as he examined the portal he was sinking into. It really reminded him of the Nara's famous control over shadow's, although he doubted any of them could travel from within their shadows. Thinking of the Nara's made Naruto face drop a little before he shook his head in case Timid saw.
It only took a few seconds and they were now in front of the T-Tower. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the first thing that caught his attention. Right next to the front door was a completely destroyed bed, surrounded by shards of glass. He shook his head, deciding not to ask about that. Walking over to the door, with Timid still holding his hand, Naruto pressed the doorbell.
He waited a second before the video-com turned on. He quickly recognised the person on the other side, "Hey! We're a little busy here but can we help you?" Cyborg asked.
"Yeah, hi, I'm guessing you're trying to find all the Raven's?" Naruto asked, wondering what other emotions the Titan's have found.
Cyborg looked surprised. "Yeah, we are. How do you know that?" he asked. Naruto stepped aside a little, allowing the camera to see Timid. Now Cyborg looked even more surprised. "Wow, you found her! We've been trying to find her! The elevator's coming down, just come on up and sorry in advance for the mess."
The video turned off as the doors opened. "What did he mean by mess?" Naruto muttered to himself, wondering if he should be worried. He also wondered why he was being allowed to enter the Tower like this. Shouldn't they be more suspicious about people showing up at their door? Timid stayed quiet as they rode the elevator up the building. Hearing the 'ding', Naruto glanced up as the doors opened and widened his eyes. The room he walked into wasn't just messy, it was a disaster zone. Rubbish and junk piled everywhere, there were even stains on the roof and an odd smell that Naruto didn't even want to know about.
Walking further into the comm room, Naruto saw the other four Titan's all sitting on the large sofa. Starfire saw Naruto and was happy to see her new friend. She was about to go over and greet him until she remembered Raven's words about keeping him a secret. Robin, seeing Timid, stood up and held a crystal, "Great! Now that's she's here, we can get Raven back."
Timid looked scared as Robin approached her. She hid behind Naruto. "Do you mind not scaring her?" he asked the leader.
"Sorry, but we need the real Raven back," Robin said back.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "This is Raven, she is as much a Raven as the whole."
Robin also narrowed his eyes before sighing. "Sorry about that, it's been a long day. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
Nodding his head in acceptance of the apology, Naruto brought his hand up, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I found Timid here wondering the streets."
"Robin," the Titan said as he introduced himself, shaking Naruto's hand, "But you probably already knew that. These are the other Titan's; Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy." They each waved, with Starfire being more enthusiastic than she meant. "And you've already met Raven."
"Can I ask what happened here? I didn't think the Teen Titan's were so... unclean." Naruto said, trying to come up with the right word.
"When Raven split, one of her emotions stayed in the Tower as we were looking for the others. This one was Laziness," explained Beastboy before he folded his arms with an annoyed look, "And she ate everything in the fridge."
Naruto noticed a large object in Starfire's hands, "What's that?"
"That's the prism that split Raven apart," Cyborg said, "We don't know why, but we're guessing its magical. Once Raven split, it broke into five crystals. We've already got Laziness, Rage, Passion, and... Happiness," he said with a sad sigh. He'll miss that particular emotion.
Robin held the crystal, "We just need to tap Timid with this and we should be able to put them all together again...hopefully." That last part he muttered to himself as he knows they were just assuming this was how a magical crystal would work.
Holding out his hand, Robin passed the crystal to Naruto who examined it. The blond then turned and looked at Timid. "It's your turn," he said, "I promise nothing bad will happen." She trusted him easily, much more than she thought she should. She then looked sad again. "What's wrong?" asked Naruto in concern.
"Once we're put back together, I won't see you again," Timid said sadly.
Then to her surprise, Naruto pulled her into a hug. "I'm your friend, as well as Raven's. We'll see each other again." Timid looked hopeful at that and nodded. She closed her eyes and felt the crystal touch her forehead. Naruto watched as the girl glowed and disappear into the crystal, which now glowed grey. He tossed it to Robin, who caught it with ease.
"Thanks," the leader said with a nod as he placed the crystal with the rest.
They all watched as it glowed white and rose into the air. It flashed, forcing everyone to close their eyes and, when they opened them again, there stood Raven, holding the now empty prism. "I told you, you shouldn't mess around with this," she said with her usual monotone voice. "But thank's for making me whole again," she finished with a slight smile. As the other Titan's tried to figure out if she was being sincere or not, she went over to Naruto. "Thank you, for looking after Timid."
Naruto shrugged, "No problem. I liked her, although, I didn't think you would feel sorry for everything."
"I don't," Raven quickly replied, "That's just how Timid is." They both walked out of the comm room and down a hall, stopping at a door with Raven's name on it. She smirked at him, "By the way, I found your books."
"Oh, really?" he said with a smile, "What do you think of them?"
"I've already finished the first book. I would have finished the second if it wasn't for everything that happened."
"Want me to sign them for you?" he asked with a grin. Raven also smiled, knowing it was a joke. "How about we talk some more tomorrow? I've got to go now anyway, still working on my next book."
Raven opened a portal for him, allowing him to return to his apartment in an instant. "If I get to see an early draft of your book, then I'll think about it," she replied. Naruto laughed as he walked thought, saying his goodbye just as the portal closed. Raven stayed where she was for a second before walking into her room.
She still had that second book to read, after all.
-Author's Note-
I can't help but feel as though I rushed this and I don't know why. I'll admit, this chapter could have been longer.
I am including some episodes of Teen Titans GO! Thought this would be good. Also, I know Robin could and probably should be more suspicious of Naruto or at least question him a little. That will happen, probably in the next chapter or so.
The next few chapters I have planned out and will be a lot longer, so they may take some time.
I also know that this chapter is probably a little boring. I might rewrite it and add the Nevermore episode, let me know what you think and I'll see what I can do.
If you see any mistakes grammar-wise then please let me know and I will fix them.
Thank you all for reading. If you have any questions then please PM me and I will answer to the best of my ability.