I don't own DC or Naruto
Coldhearted
Louisiana Bayou; October 1st
She had never been so terrified in her life, jumped by Atomic Skull behind her entrance into the disguised Gotham zeta-tube and tossed into the back of a van but, that's not where Barbara became scared. Blindfolded and tied to a chair in some strange building that smelled like hot mud? Nope, she wasn't even worried. Hearing the arrival of a group of other villains, listening to them talk about taking over the world? Still not what caused her to cry and shake like a child. It was when they began setting up cameras and lights, someone pulled her blindfold up and the only thing she could see was a spiraling crimson pupil, imbedding the fear within her, "We need a show," his voice said as her body was rushed with emotions, completely out of her control, "Give us something to show the world we mean business."
That's is when Barbara became terrified, when her mascara ran, when her knees became weak, when she finally broke with only a single glance into those brutal eyes. She heard them give their speech to the world about some plants attacking cities, something about billions of dollars, and Joker laughing about getting his jollies. She felt the cool metal of the blade against her cheek but, the blindfold kept her from seeing exactly what was going on and immediately after the announcement she was hit in the head, knocked unconscious.
"Stop! Or I'll kill you on the spot, psycho!" Barbara woke from her sleep being dragged across the mud by someone and what sounded like Naruto shouting from only a little way away, she knew they'd come for her. The energy emitted by the Sharingan she had seen earlier was still causing her to whimper and shake, seeing his eye everywhere she went like a schizophrenic, hearing his voice in her head, "We need a show…" he echoed.
"And you are…?" The man dragging her asked, recognizing his voice as the Joker's.
Naruto screamed back, "You shouldn't give a shit about who I am, you should care more about what I'm going to do to you if you don't let her go!"
"Let her go? Certainly," she heard him say but, she could only imagine the smile he still had on his face; she felt something cold against her lower back staying quiet to avoid getting shot.
"Oops…" she heard a loud shot before feeling a stinging sensation directly in her lower back, the stinging just kept getting more intense until it was excruciating, she saw the world blur and she toppled forwards sending her face first into the dirt, "Finger slipped?" she heard the cackle of the Joker until something blunt and strong made a thud leaving nothing but silence left.
She felt Naruto turn her over, it had to be him anyways as he pulled off her blindfold and cradled her, "Barb…" he slapped her face gently trying to keep her awake and he was right to do so as she was slowly slipping back into unconsciousness, "Stay with me; I'm gonna get us out of here, okay?"
"My legs…" she muttered in response reaching down to her thighs, "I can't feel my legs!"
Even with his injuries, even as Naruto lifted her up and prepared to teleport, Barbara could hear Joker's silent chuckling, echoing through her head as she fell back into a deep sleep.
After that it was all blank, it was all dark, she couldn't see or hear anything; she felt like she was floating through a void, an empty void for maybe a few minutes, or possibly even hours. It felt strangely peaceful for a bit of time but, she still had no clue what was going on or where she was.
Gotham Central Hospital; November 8th; 9:41AM
After what felt like hours, her eyes slowly peered open, the light beaming in from the nearby window; she took a breath as the sterile white hospital room filled her senses, she caught a glimpse of some surrounding cheesy motivational posters and cringed, quickly holding her head. She moved to get out of bed but, became immediately distressed when her legs refused her commands. She grabbed at her thighs but, couldn't even swivel her hips properly, everything from the waist down was numb. She began sweating as she looked around the empty room and panicked mashing the red emergency button on the wall next to her IV drip.
…
Mount Justice; November 8th; 9:41AM
Sasuke's eyes snapped open as he shot up in bed with a cold sweat, it was morning already but, he felt as though he hadn't gotten a single moment of sleep. He was haunted by memories of his brother, nightmares of his friends hunted by Madara and the Light; with Itachi by their side, Sasuke never stood a chance and wouldn't be able to protect any of his friends should they become targets.
He looked around his room, he was alone again, although; this was the way her preferred things, he was almost getting used to having Artemis wrapped around him in the night. He didn't think much of it, she'd barely spoken to him since he'd recovered and he wasn't sure how she felt, he was almost jealous of Naruto who could sense emotions with Kurama inside of him.
He slid his feet over the edge of the bed and sat holding his head, Madara's voice rang through his mind like a recording; every night for a week he'd been interrupted by these nightmares, kept awake. He'd have to estimate a total three hours restful sleep in the last eight days, he could already feel himself beginning to unravel.
"Maybe next time, little brother," Sasuke heard this and felt two cold fingers tapping the center of his forehead; he quickly stood swiped his hand to backhand anything that was standing within proximity of himself but, he merely swatted air. Sweat still dripped down his temple as he quickly shook his head, he might just be losing it at a faster rate than he'd originally thought.
A knocking came at his door, he peered around his empty room, quickly regaining his composure, he ran his hand through his hair and exhaled, moving to unlock the sliding metal door. As it opened, Artemis stood with an apprehensive look in her eyes, "What?" he asked boldly, without greeting her.
She frowned adjusting her shirt, "I wanted to see how you were doing but, I can see you're fine," turning to walk away he quickly reached out and grabbed her arm, she looked back to see remorse in his eyes, amongst other things.
"Sorry, didn't get much sleep."
She gave a short smile back and turned to continue their talk, "No worries, glad you're doing better," she rubbed her elbows and looked down, still not sure of what else to say.
"We haven't really talked since… you know…" he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, "I just thought we should talk to, uh, see where we're at…"
"Are you okay?" She tilted her head noticing his sweat and exhaustion.
"Fine," he looked beyond her, standing in the background was Itachi, smiling at him passively with his reanimated eyes, "Just… fine…"
She raised a brow and shrugged, "Well, yea, we can grab coffee later but, I'm not sure we're anywhere at all right now; there's a mission briefing in an hour but, I assume you aren't coming?"
He sighed as he looked back to his brother still standing in the hall, staring at him, "Yea, I think I'd be a liability," he looked back down at Artemis, "But, tonight?" he asked.
"Sure thing," she gave him a quick frown before turning around and walking away, leaving him to his own devices, he quickly grabbed his purple hoodie and headed for the bay-doors.
…
After making it out of the cave into the wilderness that led down the mountain side, he was met immediately with Naruto and M'gaan. The former sat in a meditative position on the ground beneath a trees shade with his fists touching and the ladder floated closer to the tree-tops, picking apples into a wooden basket.
"Hey," Naruto announced without opening his eyes, "You're up earlier than usual, feeling better?"
"No," Sasuke muttered walking next to him and leaning up against the trunk of the tree.
"Still not getting any rest?" M'gaan asked tugging on a few apples not ripe enough to pick.
"No," he repeated taking in a breath of fresh air, at least attempting to clear his head, before Naruto spoke up.
"Still refusing to tell us what happened when you were kidnapped?"
Sasuke scoffed, "I told you, Madara beat the shit out of me and locked me up in some cell until I woke up and broke free, it's really simple."
M'gaan plucked an apple from its branch but, accidently let it slip from her grasp, letting gravity pull it down ten or so feet aiming to hit Naruto on the top of the head but, without even flinching he reached up and caught it, "Yea, about that," He took a bit from the juicy red fruit and continued with half a mouth full, "I had to time to examine your wounds while I healed them, they were definitely not inflicted during that short fight you had in the street."
Sasuke groaned and looked away, having holes poked in his story was not enjoyable, "Oh, and that doesn't explain why Madara would dress up like you in your hero outfit, and nothing we've found out so far explains why he took you in the first place."
M'gaan floated down gently, crossing her legs and placing the basket in between her and Naruto, "Whatever," he muttered as the Jinchuriki opened one eye to look his friend up and down.
"No snarky reply? Are you sure you're okay?"
Sasuke looked around for a moment, not spotting his hallucination anywhere, "Right now I'm good, I just need a good night sleep and I'll be more than ready to continue training…"
"Good," Naruto sighed, "Once you're back to full strength I'm going to get you started on opening the first inner-gate," he took another bite from his apple as M'gaan raised a brow.
"What are the inner-gates?"
Sasuke sighed, "Naruto and I, as well as everyone from our world, have a chakra network right along side our nervous system; there are eight major chakra points that are always sealed off to keep us from over-exerting ourselves."
Naruto tossed his apple into the air and stood up, catching it, "I'm gonna teach him to at least open seven of them, it'll boost his strength, speed, and so on…"
"Interesting," M'gaan tapped her chin, standing up next to Naruto, "Well, I have mission briefing soon so, I'm gonna head over to the showers," she leaned in handing Naruto the basket and giving him a peck on the cheek, "Later, we can make apple pie!"
"Sounds delicious," He responded as she practically skipped away.
They stood in silence as the autumn breeze drifted in a bit cooler than usual, pulling brown leaves through the air, "Are you going to tell me what's really got you shook?"
Sasuke turned away, walking down the mountain side, "Not all of your problems can be ignored, ya know!"
"It isn't a problem, it's just not important!" Sasuke turned to shout at him, "It's not any of your business either way!" He turned and immediately bumped chest first into Itachi Uchiha, knocking him back onto the ground.
"Hello, brother…"
"Leave me alone!" Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground, shaking apart the forest and sending cracks through the mountain side.
"What is your deal!?" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke gave him a glance before turning back and noticing that no one was around, specially not in front of him, Naruto was looking directly at him and didn't see a thing, proving to Sasuke that it was all in his head.
"I just got carried away…" Sasuke huffed and stood to his feet, moving passed Naruto and heading back for the cave.
"You better watch that or you might hurt someone," He gave a serious glare as just then Dick came running from the cave entrance intercepting them both with a smile on his face.
"Was that you just now?" he asked.
"Yea, sorry-"
"Not important, Barbara just woke up! Batman and I are going to see her tonight, apparently this mission can't wait, something about major ice phenomena…"
Sasuke took a glance back at Naruto before turning back to Robin, "We'll go see her, meet you guys there?"
"Sounds good, are sure you don't wanna join in on this? We're teaming up with the League too," Robin seemed a but more excited than usual, likely from getting two sources of good news in a row.
"Sasuke isn't fully healed yet, if he goes he could worsen his injuries," Naruto stepped from behind, putting a hand on Sasuke's ungrateful shoulder.
"Alright then, see you tonight," he ran back towards the cave as Sasuke knocked his friends hand off.
"You don't have to cover for me."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "I didn't do it for you, I did it for them, if you freak out on a mission like that you could kill one of them…"
Sasuke looked away, facing the sky now littered with an overcast of white clouds, "I'll handle it, are you coming to see Barb, or what?"
…
Gotham General Hospital; November 7th; 11:22AM
"I can't get my other shoe on," Barbara complained sitting in a black wheelchair in the middle of her hospital room, she was evaluated and disconnected from life support but, she was still getting costumed with the news that she'd never walk again.
"Here," Her father muttered with a smile, bending down and placing her numb foot in the shoe before tying it, "I know it seems bad-"
"It is pretty bad," Barbara looked herself in the mirror above the sink but, could only see her eyes and the top of her head.
"Okay, good point but, look at the silver lining, you're alive! Two centimeters to the right or left and the bullet could have pierced a major artery," he stood up looking at his handy work with her shoe but, she only sighed I return.
"I guess…" she mumbled.
"Oh! And now you don't have to wait in lines as often, that's pretty good, right?"
"I would wait in every line ever made if I could just feel my ankles for ten minutes," she stared down at her thighs, rubbing her hands down her pale skin.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry but, you'll just have to adjust…"
Just then, Sasuke and Naruto warped into the room, landing ten feet from the father and daughter, "You!?" Gordan shouted pulling his pistol out from his holster, "I think you've done plenty here, move on."
Sasuke raised his brow looking down the barrel of his gun, he stayed silent and looked passed him at Barbara who smiled gleefully, "Sasuke! Dad, put it down, please."
"He's the reason you're in so much pain, I told you what-"
She sighed reaching up and grabbing his arm, "He didn't do anything to hurt me, if you want to point that at someone, Arkham Asylum is only ten blocks away."
Naruto simply analyzed the surrounding area, lifting the bed sheets and picking up equipment, "How does anyone ever get better in these places?"
The Commissioner lowered his weapon and holstered it, muttering profantites under his breath as he walked into the hall to get a cup of coffee, "Hey," Barbara smiled, blushing and pulling a strand of hair out of her face.
"Hey," he gave her a short smile before kneeling down, "So, are you feeling any better?"
She tapped her thighs and gave a chuckle, "Feeling is ridiculously subjective at the moment but, in general I'm feeling way better than when I had a bullet logged in my back."
"Hey," Naruto tapped his shoulder as he turned, "This place is boring, I'm gonna go up to the roof, kay?"
"Whatever," he scoffed as Naruto peered over his shoulder and waved at Barbara.
"Glad you're feeling better!" he quickly warped from the room as space-time folded over him leaving them alone.
Barbara tapped her thighs a bit more, looking around, "So, how has it been with you and Artemis?"
He raised his brow and turned to her, "What?"
"She came to me for advice a week or two before everything happened, she wanted to know how to talk to you, don't tell me she chickened out?"
He looked down to the ground and gave a sigh, "You missed a lot, we got together and broke up already, I think…"
She chuckled, "Wow, I never took you for the drama type," she wheeled around him as he sat in a plastic chair, putting them on the same eye level.
"I'm not," he muttered, "We were put into this mental simulation, train for failure situation where the entire League was killed and we had to defend Earth."
"Sounds kinda fun," she mused thinking of the possibilities.
He shrugged, "Probably would have been if M'gaan didn't freak out and accidently make us all forget it was fake… Naruto was killed too and after that happened, I snapped."
She gave a grave exhale and put her hand on his, "That sounds less fun, but, snapped how?"
"Like full on psychotic murderer snapped," he clutched her hand in his without realizing it, "Artemis saw it all and says she doesn't know who I really am, and frankly neither do I."
Barbara sat back still holding his hand in hers, "Well, you don't seem psycho murderer now… I'm sure it was just the moment of apocalypse where you figured it didn't matter anymore, who you impressed or what standards you followed."
"Pretty much that but, a thousand times worse," she leaned in getting closer to his face but, neither realized their proximity.
"I know who you are, you're a kind person, maybe you don't have the best emotional pallet and maybe you're a little rough around the edges but, I know who Sasuke Uchiha is, through and through."
He looked up realizing that they were inches from each other, their faces so close they could feel their breaths; Barbara blushed a deep red uncontrollably, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. After looking into his eyes for another second or two, she lunged forwards without restraint, nearly falling out of her chair, pushing her lips onto his.
It was surprising at first, Sasuke wanted to pull away but, didn't for several seconds as his eyes slid closed for a moment; it's not like he hasn't thought of it in the past but, he didn't have those feelings for her like he had them for Artemis so, he was definitely the one who disconnected their kiss, "Oops…" Barbara muttered pulling back.
"Wow," They both turned to face Artemis standing in the door-way with a bouquet of flowers in her hand, her eyelids were wide and her brows raised, "Just… wow…" she placed the flowers on the stand by the bed and walked out silently, simply shocked by what she just saw.
"Sasuke, I'm sorry I-"
"It's fine," he stood and vanished with a gust of speed, blowing back Barbara's crimson hair, leaving her alone in the room.
"Great, now you look stupid in two different ways, thanks Barb," she sat her chin in her palm on the arm-rest of the wheelchair and gave a long regretful sigh.
…
Artemis stepped out of the hospital and approached the sidewalk as Sasuke appeared next to her, "That wasn't what it looked like," he announced getting in front of her.
"Looked like you were kissing Barbara," she felt her own forehead, "Maybe I'm delusional but, I don't see how that could have looked like anything else."
"She kissed me, I didn't initiate anything," he stated stoically, as she pushed passed his shoulder and kept walking.
She turned her head over her shoulder, "I don't want to talk about this, maybe we don't need the coffee to figure out there's nothing left between us."
Sasuke darted his eyes to the side where he noticed a man in a white porcelain cat-mask standing across the street, staring at them. He shook his head and forced himself to ignore it, continuing to walk after Artemis, "Just listen to me for a second!" he shouted.
"There's not a thing you could say, Sasuke!"
Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around to face him, "I don't feel that way about her or anyone, I love y-" he choked, slowly glancing down he noticed a long steel blade pultruding from his just above his left rib-cage; he spat a stream of blood on the ground as Artemis nervously backed away, dropping her purse and slipping into a fighting stance.
Sasuke dropped to his knees as the cat-masked figure pulled his blade out of him, knocking him to the side; another figure grabbed her arm from behind but, she quickly gripped his wrist and twisted it, sending a palm-strike into his chest which sent him stumbling back two or three feet.
Sasuke slowly stood up, trying to breath, his eyes blazed with the spinning Mangekyou Sharingan as three more figures dropped from the juxtaposed buildings, they were surrounded now on all sides. Sasuke quickly formed his Susanoo ribcage as Artemis stepped closer to him, becoming protected by it.
Sasuke closed one eye as his vision blurred, it must've been the blood loss but, he was still sure that he could take down these would be assassins. Suddenly, the group surrounding them separated as a man strolled through with one arm tucked on a sling inside his cloak and the other down by his side, his black hair swung with every step at shoulder length, and his blaring Sharingan commanded respect.
"Hello Sasuke," he muttered stopping a few feet from them.
Artemis gave a glance up at Sasuke, "You know him?!"
He ignored her and grit his teeth, the ribcage sprouted a purple ethereal skeletal fist before growing veins and muscle across it, turning into a full-fledged fist, "I won't let you take me again."
Itachi raised a brow, "Well, you do seem a bit more prepared but, you don't stand much a chance anyways."
"What is he talking about?" Artemis asked.
"Every blade we cut you with during your stay with us was laced with a latent psychoactive poison, should be at full effect by now," Artemis looked back up at Sasuke and noticed the sweat rolling down his temple, she remembered the same taxed look on his face this morning as well, "And with the dose you just received, you should be nothing more than an inconvenience."
Sasuke widened his eyes and glanced down at his bleeding wound, staring down at his hand covered in his own blood, his vision went double and blurred even more. The voices of the people around him sounded muffled and dull, "Sasuke? Sasuke!?" Artemis shouted but, he could only blink and shake his head.
Itachi rushed forwards placing his fist in his brothers stomach, sending him keeling over in pain, he fell to his knees as foam begun sputtering from his mouth; the goons grabbed Artemis who resisted by judo-flipping one man over her shoulder until another stuck her in the neck with a needle forcing her unconscious and dragging her through an ally way with a smoke bomb covering their escape.
Sasuke stared up at the blurry dark clouds which rumbled rushing in an oddly cold breeze, incapable of standing and barely breathing, the last thing he saw was Naruto leaping down from the rooftops and standing above him, "Sasuke? Sasuke!"
…
Mount Justice; November 7th; 3:34PM
Sasuke's slowly approached consciousness, his eyes blinking open, taking in the menial light in his vicinity; it was darker than usual and he didn't understand why but, it was the least of his concerns. He sat up on a cool metal table in the center of the holo-ring, holding his head and rubbing his bandaged wound, he glanced around where Naruto sat in the corner with a blanket, "Good, you're awake…" he tossed the cloth away and stood up.
"What happened? Why are the lights off?"
Naruto shrugged, "I think it had something to do with your team's mission; the power is out and the teleporters are offline because of the insane cold weather."
"And the poison?"
Naruto turned with a serious glare, "When were you going to tell me that Madara used the Edo Tensei to revive Itachi?"
Sasuke scoffed and looked away, "Blood transfusion, got it, I'm going to go get Artemis back."
"I'm serious."
"So am I," he grabbed his stained hoodie from the table and walked towards the bay-doors.
"Did you not trust me or was it something else?"
Sasuke scoffed, "This is pointless," he grabbed the ends of the doors and used his strength to pry them open although, he peaked outside and noticed the massive blizzard sending eighty mile-per-hour winds in every direction.
Naruto sighs, "I dunno, it really signifies how much faith you have in me," he put his hands behind his back and walked in the other direction, "Have fun in the blizzard."
Sasuke released the doors and allowed them to shut completely, "Of course I have faith in you, you're the only person on this planet I completely trust one hundred percent."
Naruto whirled around, "Then why lie to me? Did you think I couldn't take it?"
Sasuke groaned and walked in the opposing direction, dragging his hands across his face, "I don't want to talk about this."
"Itachi Uchiha makes this entire situation a thousand times worse, how could you not tell me about this?"
Sasuke turned with his Mangekyou Sharingan flashing brilliantly, "I was afraid!" he shouted, "The oh-so emotionless Sasuke Uchiha was afraid!"
Naruto reeled back, his anger and assumptions now on the back-burner, "Afraid of what?"
"Of losing you, of losing my friends," Sasuke looked down at the ground with an exhausted expression, "In the simulation, when you died, I fucking lost it, you are the single last piece of my home I have left. And when I was captured Madara told me he was going track down the team and kill them too, I just couldn't handle it."
Naruto gave a quick smile understanding his predicament, after the events of childhood Sasuke became in introvert, not very sociable, and over all incapable of easily sharing his feelings so, to make an effort to tell him about these fears was definitely an improvement. Naruto saw the difference in the Sasuke that he fought the war with and the Sasuke he was talking to now, he was more open and even a bit more talkative than he once was, he was growing and that's all anyone could ask for, "Let's go get Artemis back."
Sasuke closed his eyes and gave a short smile, "Thanks."
"We don't know where we're going though…"
Sasuke frowned and thought back to his time imprisoned by Madara, "I do."
…
Gotham Pier; November 7th; 4:45PM
Naruto, wearing a set of anbu-black-ops armor with a headband across his forehead, warped into the warehouse just a few feet from the wooden docks with Sasuke in his Pain uniform behind him. They were just beyond a corner where sat a throne, in the stone seat was Itachi Uchiha casually waiting; Artemis was strapped to the same chains as Sasuke was only a week ago, unconscious with her head hanging.
Pain nodded towards Naruto as they both turned the corner slowly, patiently waiting to be noticed, "You brought the nine-tails with you?"
"Let her go," Pain demanded in the deepened voice granted by the vocal-modifier.
"I told you once before, Sasuke, that I would always be here for you," Itachi kept his eyes closed with a saddened expression, "Even as an obstacle for you to overcome; if you can't defeat me here and now, there is no point in facing Madara Uchiha, do you understand?"
"I do," Pain held his arm out keeping Naruto back.
He widened his eyes and raised his arms, "Are you joking? We should do this together and get her out of here, don't listen to him!"
"He's right though, if I can't even stop him, with inferior eyes, then I don't have a chance against Madara," he turned and looked at Naruto, his mask hiding any emotion, "I only need you here for the Indra-Ashura Sun and Moon Seal."
Naruto scoffed, "Glad to be of service…" he chided sarcastically.
"Just get Artemis out of here when you have the chance; I'm sure he's programmed to keep her here as long as he can."
"Right," Naruto backed away, slowly.
Itachi sighed, slowly standing, "Jinchuriki," he announced catching Naruto's attention, "I see you have attained the copy-ninja's Sharingan for yourself, maybe now you can comprehend a battle between visual prowess of this magnitude," he opened his eyes for the first sending intense waves of killing-intent across the room, pushing Naruto back on his heels and sending gusts of winds through Sasuke's cloak. This wave shook Artemis awake with a gasp, still with blurred vision and quite high from the sedative, she wasn't completely sure what she was looking at.
"Sasuke?"
Pain approached his brother, both releasing their Mangekyou Sharingan at the same time, the intense wave was enough to force Naruto's own eye to evolve just to match their ferocity.
They were silent, staring into each other's eyes with such fond memories, shattered by cruel reality; two loving brothers pit against each other by forces beyond their control, it was quite fitting that things would end this way.
Pain leapt forwards, aiming a right-cross for the center of Itachi's face but, was dodged under; Sasuke spotted his brother's attempt at a palm-strike to the chest which he reached down with superior speed to catch his wrist.
Pain tightened his grip and turned, tossing Itachi through the room and into a wall, cracking its foundation with his impact. He quickly opened his eyes with just enough time to roll over narrowly dodging Pain's foot shattering the wall revealing the blizzard going on just outside. Sasuke back-flipped to his feet and darted forwards tackling his brother through the air with a wild scream, flipping passed the docks and onto the frozen solid docks.
They skated on ice for several seconds before Itachi stopped himself and Pain kept his momentum for a dozen or so feet, stopping across from him, each one weaving hand-signs identically.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
Two explosions of orange flame sprouted from their lips only, Itachi's was miniscule in comparison to Sasuke's; the two kinetic forces connected and slowly melted the ice below them. Itachi was quickly being overwhelmed, skidding back on the ice which was breaking apart even as they fought.
Suddenly, Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan leaked a stream of blood down his cheek, "Amaterasu!" the mysterious black flames erupted within the center of their fire-style clash, completely snuffing out his own attack, going after Pain's next. Sasuke noticed this and increased the magnitude of his attack, trying to overcome the unstoppable. He failed as he could feel the heat on his skin, slowly approaching through his own stream of fire, Sasuke dodged, using his Lightning Release to move out of the way just in time appearing behind Itachi who only noticed a nanosecond too late. A round-house hit him in the neck, sending him skipping across the melting ice, cracking it with every impact before tumbling to a halt.
Pain knelt down quickly allowing a cackling electricity to flow through his hand, "Chidori stream!" the lightning style attack quickly flowed through the conductive froze water below them heading straight for the reanimated zombie. He jumped into the air, revealing between his fingers were four shuriken in each hand.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he released them and lit them aflame, sending them down as explosive projectiles which Sasuke backflipped to avoid. Side stepping a few and ducking below the last one.
Pain activated his Rinnegan beneath his mask, with a grunt he used his Banshō Ten'in to rip Itachi out of the sky, pulling him through the ice and beneath the freezing waters.
Pain huffed for a moment, taking a step back and analyzing the bubbles slowly rising in the waters; he waited for several seconds expecting for him to appear before him but, what he certainly wasn't expecting was a massive flaming orange-crimson fist to rise from beneath him, shattering the ice and attempting to grab him.
Pain back flipped off his hand before the fist could close on him; the rest of the avatar rose from the icy waters, towering above them. Itachi floated in the center of a giant glowing ethereal samurai, its face framed by locks of hair, and an appendage on its chin reminiscent of a Pharaoh's false beard. When its armor formed, Itachi's Susanoo resembled a long-nosed tengu wearing a pair of magatama earrings.
Itachi's eyes bled profusely, however, his being reanimated allowed him to run an infinite amount of chakra with any damage to his eyes being healed instantly; he looked down on Sasuke who only stared at his brother. He'd never seen Itachi's full bodied Susanoo before but, it wasn't too impressive considering the things he'd seen during the war.
"It's time to end this, brother," Pain shouted in a deep menacing growl.
"Indeed," Itachi replied manifesting a massive crimson blade in his Susanoo's grip, "The Totsuka Blade will seal you away forever."
"No, I don't believe it will," Sasuke muttered clasping his hands together and surging chakra through his Rinnegan, "Outer Path: Cursed Seal Chains!" he quickly thrusted his palms forwards as purple energy flowed around them.
Meanwhile, Naruto glanced out at the frozen waters, fully capable of seeing through the searing cold winds with his Sharingan, he realized Itachi was completely busy so, he turned and made his way back through the compound. Finding Artemis still drugged and dizzy strapped to the wall, he snapped the chains from the wall and pulled her over his shoulder, "Come on, let's go…"
"Naruto? Is that you, bud?" she slurred as he quickly strutted through the torn apart building, towards the exit.
Itachi shouted, a mighty battle cry, as his Susanoo brought the Totsuka Blade down on Sasuke who jumped at the last second coming to eye level with his brother; the energy from the blade sent a single slash through the ice, crushing the wooden dock, cleaving the warehouse in two, and dissipating after splitting apart a nearby office building across the street.
Naruto reached his free hand up and used Kurama's golden chakra energy to send an energy fist above his head crushing some falling debris and keeping Artemis safe, he repeated this process a few times until he finally managed to make it to safety. He was just in time as less than seconds later, the entire facility came crashing down, imploding into a pile of rubble.
Sasuke held his palms out and released his glowing energy chains via the outer path, wrapping around either wrist of the massive Susanoo which pulled and resisted the entire time. Pain continued by landing on the water and bolting the chains to the ground with a large chakra rod; he then proceeded to dash under the Susanoo and wrap two more sets of chains around its ankles, bolting those to the ground beneath the waters too, with no slack whatsoever.
Itachi struggled but, was completely bound by the chakra-chains originally meant to seal away Tailed Beasts; Pain sent two more sets of chains to wrap themselves around the ethereal avatar's waist, restraining it further and bolting those chains to the ground as well.
"It's over," Pain announced turning and waving a hand toward Naruto, watching from the shoreline. He quickly laid Artemis down, and leapt into the air, his chakra cloak immediately enveloped him on a whim sending him into his full powered state, he aimed his fist directly for Itachi and shattered the Susanoo defense, punching through his stomach, and flying through the other side. Naruto's fist pultruding from Itachi's back slammed into a massive slab of ice, shattering it in all directions like glass. Even as a reanimation, he was too stunned to move however, his body was quickly reforming already. Naruto pulled his fist out and opened his palm where the Sun symbol illuminated, Sasuke materialized on the side of Itachi opposing Naruto, facing his crescent Moon symbol down at his brother's face, "Let's not make it too big this time…"
"Unlike Kaguya, this time he won't be able to break free…" Naruto mentioned as the Perfect Susanoo dissipated behind them along with the chakra chains.
Sasuke nodded, "Madara isn't inside him like he was with her, duh," Pain picked his brother up and stood him between their opened palms but, quickly stopped when Itachi began chuckling.
"What?" he growled.
"You've grown so very much, Sasuke, I've never been so proud…"
Pain hesitated for a moment, turning his head, "Ever since you were small I was so afraid that reality would consume you like it had me, but you're different than I was. You used your ties with your friends as an anchor, keeping you from drowning, I just have to say… I've never been so very proud…"
Pain said nothing but, Naruto could sense some very intense sorrow and happiness simultaneously erupting beneath his mask, "Shall we?"
Sasuke nodded and they both simultaneously shouted, "Six Paths: Planetary Chibaku Tensei!" placing their palms on Itachi's chest, he became the center of gravity around them, lifting into the air, he attracted massive boulders and rock from beneath the waters. Slowly, he was engulfed and covered completely by rock and cement forming a perfectly smooth spherical boulder the size of a small building.
Naruto and Sasuke slowly floated it over the water and sat it down on the cement where its sheer weight cracked the foundation of the docking bay, had they placed it on the wooden docks it would have sun to the bottom of the lake.
…
Naruto, after powering down, lifted Artemis back over his shoulder, "Hey guys, you're back, how sweet…"
Sasuke scoffed, "How long is she going to be like that?"
Naruto shrugged, "Hard to tell…"
"Guys look, I'm upside down," she waved her hands in the air, obviously still dazed by the sedative.
"I'll call Batman and have the League come pick this up, they probably have a hole they can throw it in," Sasuke removed his helmet and shook his head staring at the massive sphere they sealed Itachi in.
"Aren't you worried that Madara will break him out?"
He shook his head in response, "He knew this would happen, he knows that Itachi can't compete with me at my best, this was psychological warfare and it worked."
Naruto sighed but, remained silent for several minutes until he remembered what he had found, "Oh, yea!" he announced trying to shift the mood, "Look what I found," he shouted swinging Artemis around as he dug through a small pile of rocks.
After less than a minute, he pulled out a large black and white fan with chains attached to the hilt, it even sported the wrist shackle that allowed for offensive throws, "Madara's Gunbai?" He remembered, "You found it in there?"
Naruto nodded as Sasuke took a step forward grabbing it from him and swinging it around for a moment, "Heavier than I thought it would be," he pondered why it would get left behind, "He must've not needed it anymore."
"His loss," Naruto responded with a smile as Sasuke strapped the Gunbai to his back grabbed his helmet by his waist.
…
Mount Justice; Med Bay; November 7th; 11:52PM
"The League has secured the sphere and Hal Jordan has agreed to escort it to Oa where Madara cant reach it," Batman updated Sasuke as he stood beside him next to Artemis' bed where she was sleeping off the drugs she was dosed with.
He kept his eyes on her the entire time he talked to Batman, "And the Ice Fortresses?"
"Disabled and destroyed, though; I now have my suspicions that Belle Reve has been compromised," he put that thought aside and looked down at Artemis, "She should be waking up any time now, the sedative she was injected with was harmless."
Sasuke realized he was staring at her and looked up, "Right, thanks."
"Hey…" Artemis muttered as her eyes fluttered open, analyzing the room around her.
"I'll leave you two to talk," Batman made his way toward the exit and closed the door behind him, leaving them in silence; as the events of the day prior to her abduction set in, Artemis looked away from him. Sasuke looked down at his feet, unsure of what to say, he opted to say nothing at all; standing up, he turned to walk away when a hand grabbed his wrist from the bed.
He turned and raised a brow, "Before you got stabbed, on the sidewalk, you were about to say something, weren't you?"
If he didn't have such control over his emotions, Sasuke would have blushed deep red, "Well, I-"
"Do you really?" She asked looking over at him with a short smile.
"I mean… yea, of course."
She gave a short chuckle, "I wanna hear you say it," slipping her feet over the side of the bed.
He closed his eyes and groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, "I…I love you, Artemi-" he was interrupted by a tugging on his wrist being used as leverage so she could pull herself up into his arms, connecting her lips with his. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.
She pulled away and put a finger on his chest, "If I ever see you kissing another girl again, I will pull your eyes out and get my own Eternal Mangekyou, got it?"
He rolled his eyes, far more surprised by her pronunciation than afraid of her threat, "Whatever…" he pulled her back in kissing her on the lips as she sat back on the bed, laying on her back.
…
Thanks for reading, review any questions you have and I'll answer them.
Also, 60K reads is a pretty decent stepping stone for story I get nonstop criticism for, thanks for the support I guess lol.
Just for reference I'll be skipping a chapter or two, the next one will be Image, after that either Agendas or Insecurities. Haven't decided.