I don't own DC or Naruto
Disordered
Mount Justice; October 31st; 9:39AM
Batman stared up at the monitor in the center of the holo-ring where displayed was a CCTV footage snapshot of Sasuke being beaten unconscious and abducted from Gotham City the night of the failed mental training exercise. Red Tornado approached not taking his mechanical eyes off of the screen, "Any hints to where this masked man may have taken him?"
"None," he noted as he pulled up twelve cameras that aligned the street for the next ten-blocks, "He doesn't appear in any other cameras after defeating Pain, once he's done he disappeared, likely never needing to be seen to begin with."
"Then the trail is cold?" Tornado responded in his monotone.
Batman groaned, "For now," he dispersed the hologram and looked over toward the common area where he could just barely spot M'gaan, Conner, and Dick staring off into the distance. Completely consumed by the amount of unfortunate luck they'd been having the last week. A psychologically traumatizing exercise orchestrated by the mentors they felt they could no longer trust, their leader abducted by a man wearing his own uniform, Madara Uchiha's scheming coming to eventual fruition and the Light's plans reaching their zenith without knowing much of anything about their main objective. They simply stared at the counter-top or ceiling, lost without hope of finding their way back yet.
"How are they?"
"Black Canary has nearly completed her work space and is ready to speak with them soon."
Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel joined them moments later after being teleported in by the zeta-tubes, "How are they?" J'ohn asked as Tornado turned to respond.
"I can only imagine how these youths fair, given what they experienced."
Batman rubbed his chin, "I know the virtual reality simulator effected them poorly but, I hoped they would have rallied by now."
"Trauma tends to linger, as I know you know my friend," Manhunter noted.
"I guess Black Canary has her work cut out for her," Captain Marvel muttered looking back at the group.
Suberboy was the first to enter the room with Canary leaving the others to stare off in their respective positions; Artemis was sitting on the couch, staring down at the ground in deep thought, only wondering what would have happened had she not been so harsh with Sasuke after the simulation.
Naruto sat in the center of the room, his legs crossed in a meditative position; he focused his Honored Sage Mode as best he could scouring the globe for his friends position. Looking under every rock, in every building but, there was a lot of ground to cover for an unconscious Shinobi.
M'gaan sat down after noticing Artemis growing a tear in her eye, "Hey," she mumbled putting a hand on the archer's shoulder, "You doing okay?"
Artemis let allowed the tear to roll down her cheek, "No," she looked back up at the Martian with a cowering lip, "I did this to him, if it weren't for me he wouldn't have been out there alone."
"You didn't know…" M'gaan rubbed her back with one arm and looked down, "You couldn't have."
Naruto sat up with a determined frown, "I need some air…" he stated very boldly causing Artemis to put her head down once again, leaving the room and heading for the mountain tops. He had analyzed the footage as best he could but, it was in black and white, too low quality for him to tell who it was beneath the mask but, it had to be Madara considering the Susanoo battle.
"How could I say that to him?" Artemis muttered putting her hands on her head in shame, "How could I write him off for acting that way during the end of the world? It was the apocalypse; of course he's bound to get screwy…"
"You couldn't have known…" M'gaan repeated.
…
Sasuke woke in darkness, everything around him was completely shrouded in black; it was only a few seconds when he realized that there was a brace of some sort clamped down around his eyes. He moved to touch it but, found his wrists and ankles bound to the ceiling and wall respectively; he was hung mid-air shackled to the room itself, blind and immobile, still in pain from the attack. He remembered it was his brother who had performed the attack but, not much else, "I-Itachi?"
Sasuke waited but, heard nothing. It was a few seconds before he heard foot-steps against the wet stone floor, "No, he's downstairs; you can always talk to me though, son."
He recognized that voice, the slick tongue, that sense of cockiness, "Madara…" he muttered.
"Hello boy, I'm glad to see you finally awake," the ancient shinobi approached pulling off his fingerless gloves, "I bet your wondering what you're doing here."
Sasuke was silent, not saying a word after uttering the man's name, "Well, I can't tell you the specifics but, I can say you won't be leaving anytime soon."
Another pause of silence before he continued, "As for your brother, I had heard much about him from Kabuto during the war spite us never meeting in person, after stealing his DNA from Kabuto's headquarters bringing him back was as simple as performing a jutsu."
Sasuke was still silent, not even moving, "I can tell you're aggravated so I'll tell you the basics of why you're here," he stepped forwards grabbing his face, "I'm going to break you…"
He leaned closer, "I'm going to find out what you live for and then take it from you, right here where you can see it," he chuckled for a moment still receiving silence from his captive until Sasuke took a glob of blood and spat it onto the bridge of Madara's nose.
He chuckled lightly, gently wiping it off with a smile; a swtich flipped and Madara turned deadly sending a right and left cross combination across Sasuke's face with deadly force knocking blood from his lips and splattering it across the walls. He followed this up by uppercutting him in the abdomen, causing the air to be knocked from his lungs. Suddenly, Sasuke pulled on the chains and received a sharp electrical discharge from a collar he was just now noticing on his neck. His skin smoked and his body twitched, "Did you like that?" Madara chuckled, "It's a copy of the device your friend the Hokage created to keep me docile during my capture before I killed all of your friends."
Sasuke tugged on the shackled before receiving another shock, zapping him into submission, gasping for breath, "Of course, I had some of my friends here upgrade it, you won't be able to overload it with chakra like I did…"
Sasuke sighed and faced the ground, "I'm not finished talking!" Another right cross, and another, left straight, uppercut, uppercut; the torture continued for much longer than anyone could hope to survive.
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 11:13AM
"I can't imagine what it must've been like, losing your friends, comrades, in essence your family, convinced all the while that it was real; it must have been hard for you," Black Canary sat across from Conner in a green arm-chair trying to use her degrees in psychology and sociology to help him through his hard time, "I get it," she annpoounced after a pause of silence in which he refused to speak, "You're Superboy, you're not supposed to have feelings of sadness or weakness-"
She was interrupted by his standing up from the chair, facing the door without looking at her, "You don't know what I feel," he muttered before walking off towards the door which slid open for him and allowed him a quick exit.
"Conner!" She shouted but, received no response as he left the room.
…
Sasuke spat as much blood as he could from his lips, he couldn't see the amount puddling below him but, there came a point that he was glad he couldn't. Madara rubbed his bruised knuckles as they begun healing in mere seconds, "What is it that drives you?" He asked aloud, leaving Sasuke to wonder, "What keeps you going in times like these?" He turned and sent his fist into the shinobi's chest, breaking a rib, "A place?" another fist to the gut, "An object?" he turned and roundhoused him in the side of the back, "A person, maybe?" Madara backed away cracking his knuckles.
He closed his eyes and formed a hand-sign which caused a small quake in the ground, the room shook until a single white coffin rose from the ground ten-feet from Sasuke, "Maybe I can find out what it is from a different angle, hm?"
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 12:00PM
"So," Black Canary started staring down at her clipboard, "Where should we start?"
Artemis didn't answer; she simply folded her arms and crossed her legs, "Well, how about with your relationship with Sasuke?"
Her eyes darted over, "What about it?"
Canary shrugged, "How long have you two been involved?"
"Little over a month," she responded with a dry attitude.
"I see," she scribbled something into her notes before putting the bud of her pen to her chin, "So, from what I gather, seeing him change drastically during the simulation was… painful?"
"I guess so, look, I don't need the shrink wrap, I'm capable of handling my own feelings by myself."
"You're too tough to need help," Canary said moving forwards placing her elbows on her knees.
Artemis laid back pulling her knees up, "I dunno, maybe?"
"Or, you think you're too tough; Artemis, it's not a sign of weakness to open up to your friends…"
"I know that," she muttered with narrow eyes, staring at the ground and avoiding her gaze.
"Yet, you still keep secrets from them."
Her eyes flashed wide, Canary knew about her real family ties, her real past, "You won't tell them, you can't!"
"I won't," She assured as Artemis quickly lay back again, "But, you should. Starting with telling them that you aren't Green Arrow's niece," she folded her hands and pressed her thumbs together as she received no response from Artemis, "Why don't we jump back to Sasuke?"
"Why not, it's not like I have a choice…"
"You ended things between you two right-after the simulation, correct?"
"No," she said quickly before reconsidering, "Yes… maybe," she ran her hands down her face before giving a long sigh, "I don't know."
"Did you mean it?"
Artemis looked away, "At the time, maybe?"
Canary raised her hand to her, "But, the simulation must have messed with your judgment, or are you still sticking to what you said?"
Artemis stared back down, "I was scared because of what he did in the simulation, he was different, I mean I know he's distant and killjoy most of the time but, he was psychotic in there."
"Batman informed me of his outburst but, let me ask you this, do you know what he's been through up until now?"
She looked down, "Sort of? I know his family was killed by his brother…"
Canary looked down at her notes, "For the sake of perspective, I could tell you more, only if you'd like to know…"
"What about his privacy?" She asked, almost eager to hear what she knew.
"This is information that he was open with the League about, if he hasn't told you yet, knowing him, he probably didn't see the point."
Artemis took a moment and looked back up at her nodding slowly, "Okay," she flipped the page of her notes and read through them picking some points she felt were worth mentioning, "At the age of seven his brother was forced to kill his entire family including extended relatives, he devoted his life to revenge on his brother until he eventually managed to kill him himself, he later discovered his home village ordered his brother to wipe out his family as long as he could spare his only brother, are you caught up?"
"Yea, he told me all of that," she sighed.
"Okay, let's move on," she flipped the pages once again, "At the age of sixteen his world was plunged into a devastating war that took the lives of thousands led by Madara Uchiha," Artemis gulped as Canary continued, "He and Naruto teamed up with a rag-tag team of comrades to finally win the day but, to stop Madara's attack he had to seal himself here forever. After that, he spent time at Wayne Manor-"
"Batman," she spluttered before lying back with a short smile but, Canary didn't seem too amused, "Bruce Wayne is… whatever, it's not important."
"Right," Canary said obviously already aware of Batman's secret identity, "After the founding of this team, Sasuke discovered that Madara Uchiha escaped his confinement in his home world before proceeding to annihilate it. He killed everyone Sasuke knew and held dear whilst Naruto watched, apparently helpless to stop him. And you're well aware of the incident in Louisiana where Sasuke's fear of Madara led him to an impulsive decision which put a dear friend in critical condition."
Artemis dropped her jaw as Black Canary put her clipboard down and folded her fingers, "So, now that you know that, could you possibly come to understand that when he lost the last person alive from his former life, the psychological trauma he already endured combined with this new trauma, might cause some sort of breakage in his personality?"
Artemis opened her mouth to refute but, slowly closed it again, looking back down at the ground without another word.
…
Sasuke gasped for air as the blood he was coughing up nearly choked him, he could barely concentrate anymore but, there was one thing he could still hear clearly, "Just tell me what it is you hold dear, brother, and I can stop…" A concrete shattering right hook bashed the side of his face sending a splatter of blood against the ground, juxtaposed to the many other splatters already staining the stone.
Sasuke was silent as Itachi sighed, "I hope you understand that my body is not in my control," he pulled a kunai from his sleeve and approached Sasuke's chest; instincts kicked in as he attempted to lunge forward being abruptly stopped by a jolt of electricity. The smoke slowly drifted off of his skin and boiled the sweat off quickly, "He's even shut off my emotions, I truly am sorry," with a nonchalant face, Itachi carved into his chest dragging the blade down his chest across his pectoral. The blood dripped down like melting wax but, Sasuke simply grit his teeth and groaned through it.
Madara stepped in the room and wiped his mouth, "That was a great meal, almost reminds me of the way my brother used to cook," he approached Sasuke and grabbed his chin pulling it up to look him in the eye-brace.
"Has he said anything?" He asked Itachi without looking back at him.
"No," he responded as Madara grabbed the kunai out of his hand with frustration, "He hasn't spoken at all."
He pondered for a moment before looking back at Itachi with a smile, "Talk to him, I'll be back," he dropped the kunai and walked away, knowing full well he could control his puppets every movement with his mind from a distance.
Itachi pulled up a wooden stool from the corner and sat down, "I'm truly sad that this is how we would be reunited, I was definitely hoping it would be in the afterlife, after you had grown old and been happy."
Sasuke was silent, simply letting the blood drip down his chin taking deep heavy breaths, "I was hoping I could finally train you, like I used to," he looked down, almost ashamed that he had to bring up these memories under these circumstances, "Do you remember? We would spend all day throwing knives at targets," Sasuke faced his head down, trying to ignore him, "And then, we'd sleep outside and talk all night long."
Itachi continued sitting back, "Do you remember when we sat on the porch during sunset and I told you about the Uchiha clan?"
Sasuke picked his head up after hearing this, "I told you that the symbol of the Uchiha clan was a fan because you need wind to start a fire, and you asked me if I fought for the sake of the clan."
A long pause erupted as Itachi finally flashed a smile, "I told you I wasn't sure but, I think I was, I just hadn't figured that out yet. I never fought for the clan or even the Hidden Leaf," Sasuke turned his head trying to ignore his words, "I did everything I could with what I was given to make your life better, to make you strong enough to take what the world had to offer; I killed all of my loved ones, watched my friends die, and took the hate of the village on my shoulders alone but, maybe that was too much, even for me to handle."
A tear leaked from beneath the brace on Sasuke's face but, he didn't utter a single word, "Truth be told, there were probably a million different ways to handle that situation better but, I wasn't choosing for my own sake, I was choosing for yours. I made myself your worst enemy so that you could grow in strength, and take on the world by yourself, long after I was gone. And you did, you surpassed me but, I left you with more problems than I solved," he stood up and stepped towards Sasuke who tried to back away as best he could, tears now streaming out from beneath the brace, "Now, you're in this awful mess and I can't help but feel responsible…" he reached out and used two fingers to tap his exposed forehead, "In the end, I still failed to protect my baby brother."
Sasuke felt his touch and dropped his head once again, tears still streaming across his face, he didn't say anything, he didn't even move but, he was breaking faster than he would've ever admitted.
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 2:27PM
Kaldur sat with his elbows on his knees facing the ground, "I was second in command, the lieutenant, yet I acted like a solider and sacrificed myself, I'm not fit to be on this team…"
Canary took on a sympathetic look, "You performed well, Kaldur, especially with the state of your leader."
"I was supposed to be the most logical; I was supposed to be the one Sasuke looked to if ever torn on a decision but, I wasn't there," he closed his eyes and gave a long sigh.
Canary sat back and analyzed the situation, "Who would you recommend to take your place, considering Sasuke is missing, as current temporary leader of the team?"
He looked off to the side, "Artemis is too raw and untrusting, Kid Flash too brash and impulsive, Miss Martian remains too eager to please, Superboy is consumed by anger…"
"Leaving Robin as the most logical choice?"
Kaldur sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, "But, he is so young."
She leaned forward with a comforting smile, "You're all young, Kaldur…"
"I cannot shift this burden to him, not yet," he kept his eyes on the ground and gave a sorrowful exhale; "I suppose I must withdraw my resignation."
…
Sasuke attempted to breathe through his shattered ribs but, felt a sharp pain in his side every time he inhaled too deeply; he was exhausted both physically and emotionally, he could barely fathom the pain he was in as yet another fist dipped into his chest. Madara had long since returned to his most brutal torture, he had switched to blades for an hour or two but, was back to simple blunt trauma, "Tell. Me. What. You're. Still. Breathing. For!" with every word, he sent a bone crushing punch into a different spot on his body.
Madara exhaled and stepped back but, Sasuke was still silent taking a glob of blooding and spitting it out onto the ground, "Any other man in this world or the last would have died or broken down by now but, not you," He approached and gripped his brace around his eyes, tearing it off with brute strength; he blinked as his eyes opened for the first time in days, everything blurred as Madara pulled his head back by his hair, "Show me your Sharingan, now."
Sasuke evolved his black iris' into the crimson ocular jutsu but, couldn't go further than his three tomoe due to his collar sending jolts through his back, "Look me in the eyes and tell me what it is that keeps you going!"
They stared into each other eyes for several seconds as Madara used his own Sharingan to conduct an illusionary battle of genjutsu prowess but, Sasuke's will was indomitable, "You…" he muttered through a cracked wind-pipe, "Will never… understand…" He reeled his head back and slammed his forehead into Madara's nose, knocking him back several feet. He felt his head but, the attack didn't draw blood so he dismissed it.
"You will be surprised as to what level I understand things," Madara growled pulling a kunai out and stabbing down into Sasuke's thigh, "You'll see soon enough."
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 4:15PM
Wally sat upside down on the armchair across from Black Canary who was bewildered at his nonchalant attitude, tossing popcorn into the air and catching it with his teeth, "So, let me get this straight, you want me to believe that after everything that happened even your own death by fiery explosion, your peachy?"
Wally chuckled a bit and tossed another kernel into his mouth, "I'm, uh, fairly certain I never used the word 'peachy' but, you got the idea."
"So, you really have no intention on confronting your complete denial in your team's death?"
He choked on a chunk of popcorn and sat up coughing, "I'd rather talk about you, babe…"
"Wally, you're in denial."
He thought for a second and reached his hands behind his head, sitting back once again, "I'm good with that."
…
"Hurting? Try traumatized," Dick muttered looking down at the ground, "I finally became leader and ended up sending my entire team to their gruesome deaths; I know I did what I had to but, I hated it."
Canary was silent as Dick continued, "When we started this team I was desperate to be in charge, not anymore, and that's not even the worst of it… you can't tell Batman," he gave her a solemn look.
Canary gave a short smile, "Everything you say in here is completely confidential," he sighed and looked back down at the ground.
"I've always wanted to grow up and be just like him, and the hero part? I'm still all in but, that thing inside of him? That thing driving him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission, I'm not sure I have it in me anymore."
Silence erupted and filled the room with a saddened tension, "I don't want to be the Batman, anymore."
…
"It was my fault," M'gaan muttered with her hands tightly in her lap, "Hello Megan, who else could turn a simple exercise and turn it into a nightmare that terrorizes everyone?" Suddenly, her skin melded into a milky-Caucasian instead of her normal Martian green.
Canary raised a brow, "You've… You turned white."
M'gaan freaked out, standing up abruptly and glaring down at her hands, "Oh," she gave a sigh of relief, "You mean Caucasian; I'm fine being Megan but, I can't be trusted to use my other powers."
Black Canary chuckled, "M'gaan, you're a Martian, refusing to use your powers would be like me refusing to speak, which I tried by the way, after my first canary-cry nearly deafened my entire first-grade class."
M'gaan looked down at her knees and faced her palms up staring at her skin, "So, I know how you feel but, refusing to accept who you are wont help you feel better and it won't make those fears go away," she leaned forwards with a comforting grin, "Learn from your mistakes, train to make sure it doesn't happen again, I'm sure your Uncle would be more than happy to teach you."
M'gaan smiled back as her skin melded back into the lime-green tone it normally was, "Learn to regain your confidence."
…
"Fine," Madara announced after pulling his gloves back over his bloody knuckles, "If I can't force you to tell me what it is you fight so hard to protect, I'll just bring every single person you've met since coming here and kill them in front of you."
Sasuke's eyes widened, still staring at the puddle of blood on the ground below him, "Starting with the blonde-archer…"
He turned to face Itachi when Vandal Savage stepped in the room with his hands at his side casually, "Madara, we have a problem," the ancient shinobi turned back to Sasuke with a grunt.
"Handle it, I'm busy," he responded as Vandal made eye-contact with Sasuke for a brief second and, for just the shortest instant he could swear Vandal had remorse in his eyes but, it faded just as quickly redirecting his attention to Madara.
"This requires your attention."
"I said I was busy," He turned and flashed his Sharingan but, it didn't faze Vandal in the slightest.
"I have lived a thousand life-times; you can't intimidate me with any amount of killing-intent," he stood firm and stepped forwards as did Madara.
"What is so important?" Madara turned to Vandal leaving Sasuke facing his back-side; now was his chance, he closed his eyes and focused his attention just as Naruto had taught him, he couldn't use his chakra or he'd risk electrocution but, he could focus the natural energy around him in all directions. He focused for several minutes, harnessing the energy and circulating it through his body.
"Intergang failed to deliver the package, the weapon is destroyed and our sole-transportation system now relies on your jutsu," Vandal explained as Madara put his hands in the air.
"What happened?!"
"The Superboy interfered with that meddling team of children from New Genesis," he pulled out a holo-screen and showed him the wreckage of some sort of mecha on the runway of an airport, "The Father-Box was also destroyed, cutting off our communication with our partner on Apokolips."
Madara sighed uncontrollably, "Fine, after I'm done here I'll teleport over and talk to him myself, just make sure we collect what's left of the Apokolips technology, we can't let the heroes get ahold of it."
Sasuke's eyes snapped open with a purple pigmentation over his lids and the narrow snake iris in the center of his pupils, he entered the Honored Sage Mode increasing his strength tens of times, pushing through the excruciating agony of his jagged ribs piercing his esophagus, he quickly pulled his wrists out of the chains, snapping them from the stone walls. The metal clanking across the damp ground caught the attention of Vandal, Madara, and Itachi all at once.
"Sage Art: Massive Rasengan!" He shouted as best he could without choking on blood; the natural energy formed an energy sphere that hit all three of them, carving right through Itachi's immortal body and pushing the other two through the stone walls.
Sasuke huffed as he noticed the reanimation dust reforming; he glanced around and noticed the wall to the left leading directly to the outside world. He immediately used the last of his Sage Mode to close his fist and break down the wall with brute strength, sending chunks of rubble across a wooden dock.
He took a deep breath of sea-air, it was night but, he knew better than to assume it was still the same night he was captured; he realized he was on the Gotham docks after noticing the large sign not too far from him.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation," a wave of orange flames exploded out from the warehouse he'd escaped from causing Sasuke to leap out of the way, rolling to his feet as the flames hit the ocean and created a massive wave of steam which rolled over the docks, covering his escape.
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 9:16PM
"Here's the ugly truth," Conner admitted sitting across from Canary as her last therapy patient of the day, "I wasn't devastated even with Superman, Tornado, you, the whole League dead; even though I didn't save Wolf, watched Naruto and Kaldur die, and abandoned the team as a sacrifice… I felt, at peace," he stared at the ground with completely a destroyed expression.
Canary nearly gasped but, held back as she continued to listen to what he had to say, "You see, since the moment I opened my eyes in that Cadmus-pod, there's one thing that I've wanted and feared, to know what it is to be Superman. And with all of you gone, I knew that feeling so, I was happy, hell, I was thrilled!"
A tear formed in his eyes but, he didn't let it fall, "Everyone I know and care about dead and I'm happy… how do I get passed the guilt of that? How do I live with myself?"
She stood and reached a hand out, placing her palm on his knee, "I don't have any easy answers, Conner but, one thing is clear… admitting it is the first step."
He looked up at her and they met eyes, he knew she understood his pain and he lowered his head in thankfulness.
…
Mount Justice; October 31st; 9:39PM
M'gaan, Artemis, Conner, Kaldur, Dick, and Wally all sat in the common-room a bit more up-beat than that morning but, not nearly as happy as they'd once been, it would be a long time before any of them were back to full strength.
Artemis sat on the couch, staring down at the carpet as Wally, flicked a chunk of popcorn across the counter, for the first time in a long time, he wasn't hungry. Dick analyzed his shuriken but, his stare was distant and he wasn't paying attention to it as it might appear, Conner stared at the static TV but it didn't bother anyone else as they were distracted by their own thoughts. M'gaan sat next to Naruto on the floor as he lay on his back, exhausted from spending an hour and a half in Honored Sage Mode with no breaks. She held his hand for a moment but, he was too depressed to look up at her, the simulation didn't bother him like it did them but, his friends disappearance did, he knew it had to be Madara Uchiha.
Batman and Red Tornado approached them from the main-hall as Naruto perked up, "Any news on Sasuke?"
"Superman and Flash have scoured the city several times over, they haven't found any traces of him," Batman announced as Red Tornado stepped forwards.
"League satellites are currently scanning at their most precise settings," he stated in his robotic monotone, "If he is still in North America, we will find him."
They were all drawn up towards the Zeta-Tubes as they fired up suddenly, "Recognized: Pain A01."
Sasuke stepped through holding his arm and dragging his right foot, "You guys… suck…" he muttered as he coughed up more blood, dripping onto the tile.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted
He was covered in dry and fresh blood, open wounds across his chest and arms, his right eye was swollen over and there were deep purple bruises all across his abdomen; Artemis immediately began shedding tears, getting up and sprinting across the room although, Wally made it to him first catching Sasuke as he fell unconscious. He put his head gently on the ground and Batman already had a medical gurney rolling towards him, "I'm so sorry," Artemis kept repeating as she held his head in her lap, rubbing his hair which was covered in dry blood.
Red Tornado lifted him off the ground with his crimson winds, "My scanners detect extensive internal bleeding; he needs to be operated on immediately."
"Stop," Naruto announced, "Let me handle it," he stepped forward and pushed the gurney into the middle of the room, "Give me some room."
They all backed away except for Batman, "He needs medical attention," he urgently repeated.
"And he'll get it," Naruto responded as he formed three specific and unique hand signs, "Ninja Art: Mitotic Regeneration: One Hundred Healings!" a single diamond formed on his forehead before spreading tattooed tendrils across his arms, chest, legs, and face in a unique design. He didn't have nearly as much chakra as Sakura or Tsunade who saved for years to acquire the energy to perform this technique but, he still wasn't as proficient in medical techniques as he was offensive abilities.
They all watched in awe as his hands illuminated a bright green, holding his palms a few inches above Sasuke's body; as he did so, the cuts and open lacerations sealed up immediately but, he was still in extremely bad shape, "I am no-where near as good as Granny was at this…" he looked up at Artemis on the other side of the gurney, staring into her eyes, "I'll do my best though…"
She nodded as he calmly lit up in a fiery orange chakra cloak giving all the chakra he'd need to completely heal his friend, his Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyou allowing him to better analyze the internal injuries. Artemis grabbed Sasuke's bruised hand in her own, tears still rolling down her face; he opened his eyes and looked up at her tightening his grip on her hand.
"I'm so glad you're okay…"
He gave a short smile, barely looking back at her before closing his eyes, "Whatever…"
…
Gotham Pier; October 31st; 9:45PM
Madara cracked his neck as he dusted off his armor, Vandal had a few burn marks across his face but, they were already rapidly healing, Itachi stood close by completely unharmed by the attack from Sasuke; Savage grunted, "Would that be multiple failures in one night?"
Itachi raised his brow as Madara gave a wide smile, staring off into the dark ocean, "Not quite."
"You failed to find out what he cares for most," Itachi stated boldly but, Madara let it slide.
"Did I? I sensed his emotion, his will, his anger, all coming out when i mentioned the blonde girl," he looked toward a man standing behind them in the shadows, he stood unsure until Vandal nodded his head. Sportsmaster stepped forwards, in complete uniform.
"Her name is Artemis Crock."