Chapter 3: Downtime and Debut
Tower of Fate
August 21, 12:00 EDT
Naruto currently stood outside the tower in an all black outfit before a gathered crowd of heroes, both past and present, as they prepared to bid their collective farewells to the late Kent Nelson. He noticed Ted Grant standing in attendance beside elderly members of the crowd and deduced they were former members of the JSA. He also saw Batman present in the back as he had assisted in getting the word out about the funeral.
A brown coffin containing Kent's body was levitating, courtesy of Naruto, and was prepared to be lowered into the open space dug into the ground. Kent's body was to be buried and laid to rest underneath the tower, beside his beloved Inza. At last, Naruto was ready to address the attendees.
"Thank you all for coming. I know it was short notice, and I'm glad to see so many were able to meet us here."
Naruto took a pause to take another glance at the crowd.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Most of you here don't know me. I crashed into the old man's life a little over two years ago. We didn't know if I was from another dimension, another planet, or even another time, but he took in a thirteen year old boy who had nowhere to go. He promised he would help me find a way home. Months later and no leads for getting me home, Kent asked me what I planned to do. I didn't know how to respond."
At this point, tears had begun flowing down his face as Naruto recalled the point at which his life changed forever. The lack of direction that he felt in that moment came to the forefront of his mind. Even so, it was a moment that helped in shaping the future he wanted and the person he wanted to become.
"Kent asked me to become his apprentice," Naruto continued his speech. "He told me that he would rather not have anyone else learn from him. He was the person with the most confidence in me in my entire life."
Raising his head at the floating coffin, Naruto brought a hand upwards to direct the crowd's attention towards it.
"I wanted to live up to his expectations. He trained me for the past two years to help me become used to this world and to prepare myself to debut as a hero. I'm sad that he won't be able to see me become the best version of myself, but today is meant to remember and honor the great man that he was. Now, he is laid to rest beneath the Tower of Fate beside his beloved wife."
Naruto lowered his hand and the coffin began slowly descending into the plot to bury Kent. With Kent's body lowered, the crowd approached in a line to pay their final respects to the man. Each person approached to bow their heads and to shake Naruto's hand to offer their condolences. Batman was the final one to approach Naruto as they had some details to iron out going forward.
"So what's next for me?" Naruto asked.
"You will begin attending mandatory training sessions with the team to improve your skills and teamwork. Black Canary will be in charge of training, and I will deploy you on missions. Red Tornado has volunteered to live in Mount Justice and act as a supervisor," Batman explained.
"Great. When is the first session?"
"Now. Get changed and head to Mount Justice. You will also be transferred into Happy Harbor High School in the future. We plan on having Superboy and Miss Martian attend as well."
With that, Batman left to return to Metropolis as Naruto prepared to start his first training session with his new team.
Mount Justice
August 21, 13:06 EDT
Recognized Destiny, B-08
The hum of the zeta tube activation died down as Naruto once again appeared in the former hideout of the Justice League. He was donning his Destiny costume as he had been told training to fight while in costume was important. Immediately, he spotted the group of young heroes gathered before him in their hero outfits.
The first to approach him was a dark haired boy wearing a domino mask. His outfit was comprised of a red vest held by three yellow rectangular fasteners on the front, black leggings, boots and gloves, all of which seemed to be made of a sort of protective body armor that still allowed him great mobility. On the left side of his chest he had a yellow stylized "R" symbol in a black circle, and around his waist he wore a yellow utility belt with pouches for his various equipment. He wore a cape over his shoulders that was black on the outside and pale yellow on the inside.
"Robin," the boy introduced himself as he held out his right hand to shake. "I've heard about you from the others. I'm Batman's partner."
"I'm Naruto." Naruto replied while shaking hands. "I go by Destiny. They call you the 'Boy Wonder' right? You've been a hero for the longest of the team right?"
"That's right. I've been doing this for five years. Also, don't take this the wrong way, but Batman wants me to keep my civilian identity a secret."
"No problem." Looking past Robin, Naruto recognized the other teens from their hair and skin colors, but this was his first time seeing them dressed in their costumes.
Superboy had no change in appearance from the last time Naruto saw him, so there was probably a reason for that considering Kaldur's words from last time.
Aqualad's costume is a skin-tight, full-body, red-and-blue swimsuit that exposes his arms and feet. The costume also has a set of small dorsal fins on the back of the calves. On his back was a water pack that held his twin Water-Bearers.
Next to him was Kid Flash whose uniform was yellow with red pants, red gloves, and yellow shoes, with a symbol of a red lightning bolt within a white circle on his chest. He also wore red goggles to protect his eyes.
A little further back were the two females of the team. Miss Martian was wearing an outfit consisting of a short-sleeved white top with a red X on it, along with a blue skirt, cape, gloves, and ankle high boots.
Next to her was Artemis whose uniform was a midriff-baring costume that highlighted her build. It was colored in various shades of green and consisted of a mask extending from the hairline to the cheekbones, a sleeveless top with a stylized arrow tip on the front, fingerless gloves, pants with black knee pads, and black combat boots.
"I'm told we're supposed to be having combat training right now," Naruto addressed the group. "What are we supposed to be doing?"
"Black Canary is the one in charge of teaching us and should be here any second," came M'gann's reply.
As if on cue, the zeta tubes lit up once again and announced the arrival of their teacher.
Recognized Black Canary, 13
The light died down as an attractive woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes stepped out from the zeta tubes. Her costume was distinctive as it consisted of a black, one-piece bustier-leotard combination under a blue lapelled jacket, with gray stockings with seams up the front and back. She also wore black, heavy, calf-length boots, black fingerless gloves that went past the elbow to the biceps, and a black choker. Dinah Lance, also known as Black Canary, was one of the League's foremost experts in hand to hand combat as well one of the greatest on the planet.
"Class is in session," she said as she approached the group. "I also see we have someone new joining us today. Please introduce yourself to the rest of your team. The League has been briefed on your history from Kent."
Taking that as a sign to inform the others about his history, Naruto moved forward towards the illuminated circular area.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, also known as Destiny. I've been staying with Kent Nelson for the past two years to learn about this world and to prepare for my hero debut."
"Learn about this world?" Robin questioned. "Are you from another planet?"
"I'm not really sure myself." Naruto responded while rubbing the back of his head. "Are any of you familiar with the Menma manga series?"
"I am," came the voice of Artemis which surprised the rest of the group. "What? I read a ton of stuff," was all she could respond with as the rest of the group turned to look at her.
"Then that makes this easier for me," Naruto followed up with. "Two years ago, I crash landed in front of the Tower of Fate. The reason I brought up the Menma series is because my life has been exactly the same as the main character's up until my fight with my friend Sasuke. The clashing energies when our techniques collided with each other sent me to this world."
"So what? You're a manga character?" Wally asked with a sarcastic tone.
"No, but finding out my life was a story here shook me up pretty badly," Naruto answered. "It made me question if my life was a lie or if I was supposed to have never ended up here."
"I get what you're trying to tell us," Artemis responded sympathetically. "You must have had some kind of existential crisis, wondering if anything was real for you."
"It was hard, but Kent helped me through it. Now, I'm here and ready to add my skills to the team."
Canary chose that moment to interrupt. "Thank you for sharing with us, Naruto. It's important that you can trust the rest of the team with your life and the first step was sharing a bit about yourself."
Nodding at her words, Naruto gave her his undivided attention as he fell in line with the other teenaged heroes. Canary stepped forward to once again address the group.
"Now, who can remind the rest of us what our first lesson was?"
"Ooh, ooh," M'gann excitedly raised her hand into the air. "You told us that combat is about controlling conflict by putting the battle on your terms."
"Good," Canary nodded with approval. "What was the other thing I mentioned?"
"You should always be acting, never reacting," came from Superboy as he had learned that lesson quite painfully during their first lesson.
"Correct again. I've previously had you come up to be my sparring partner, but today I would like you all to spar with each other to put those lessons into practice."
Looking at Naruto, Canary saw this as a chance to evaluate the newest member of the team in order to get a sense of his skills.
"Destiny, would you please come up here?" Canay asked by volunteering him to step up as one of the combatants. "I want to see how you approach conflict by coming up first."
Seeing no issue with that, Naruto agreed and stepped forward into the sparring area. Looking back at the rest of the team, Naruto wondered who would be his opponent.
"Hmmm," Canary hummed as she pondered who to call up. "Kid Flash, you're up. I'd like to see how you would incorporate our previous lessons."
Nodding at being called up, Wally stepped forward and took his position a few feet away from Naruto.
"This is hand to hand combat only," Canary stated. "This is meant to assess your skill level, especially when you are in situations without your powers."
Both combatants nodded at her to express their agreement to the terms of the bout. Looking back at each other, the two took up their respective stances at the ready. Wally raised both arms to take an orthodox boxing stance while Naruto took a more stance by moving his right leg back while bringing his arms up a little more than shoulder's width apart.
"This spar ends when one of you is knocked to the ground," Canary told the two. "Ready? Begin!"
Wally immediately took off towards Naruto with a right straight to take the initiative. Naruto brought his left arm inwards to block while simultaneously bringing up his right arm to go for a right cross to counter. Seeing the incoming blow, Wally backed off from his initial attack in order to dodge to Naruto's right in an attempt to slip around Naruto's extended arm.
What he didn't count on was Naruto quickly pivoting to face his right side with a left hook aimed towards the evading Wally. Naruto's blow hit its mark on the right side of Wally's face and knocked him off his feet into the air. Wally landed on his back a few feet away, and a holographic screen appeared above his downed form with the word 'FAIL', which indicated his loss.
"Ugh," Wally groaned as he took a few breaths to recover from the blow to his face. He looked up to see Naruto extending a hand to assist him in getting up. Taking the offered help, Wally got to his feet and rubbed his sore face. "Nice hit," was all he could say in response to the blow to his ego.
"It was a nice adjustment, Destiny," Canary interjected as she approached the two combatants. "Please, walk the rest of us through your thought process for this spar." It was plain to see for the rest of the group that she wanted Naruto to explain the actions he chose for his spar.
"Well, my first thought was expecting Kid Flash's fighting style to be more focused on using his fists and not kicks as he would want to keep his feet on the ground when running at superspeed. Also, taking into account his build, I was fairly sure I would be able to tank a first blow from him, so I went for a counterpunch or at least tried to trade blows with him intending to be the one to hit harder."
"Those are good observations which led to a solid strategy," Canary praised as she turned back to address the rest of the team. "I want each of you to consider what you would have done if you had been in either Kid Flash's or Destiny's position. How would you have approached the situation considering your own physicality and hand to hand skills?"
Each member of the team took a few seconds to consider the situation as they each had a different set of skills as well as different physical builds. It was a good lesson in observation and strategizing. The training session continued on as members of the team would pair up and spar in the practice ring. The time flew by as Naruto began integrating himself into the team of young heroes and new potential friends.
Gotham City
August 27, 06:17 EDT
Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Superboy were currently in a warehouse in Gotham City after being dispatched by Batman to pursue a new villain named Clayface. Clayface had wreaked havoc the previous day when it was delivered to the Wayne Foundation in a canister. Batman and Robin were unsuccessful in subduing the creature as it could withstand all of their attempts at harming it. Clayface had previously escaped through the sewers, forcing Batman to call in the young heroes to track it down.
Currently, Aqualad was the only one still conscious as the rest of his team members were laying on the ground near him having been knocked out by the elemental villain.
"Ugh," Aqualad grunted in pain as he was sent backwards from a blow from Clayface. He tumbled backwards and came to a stop in a prone position. Lifting his head, he cracked open his eyes to see the approaching clay monster.
The towering form of Clayface approached as it let out a screeching howl. Its left hand transformed into the shape of a hammer as it prepared to clobber Aqualad. Unbeknownst to the monster, two forms were dropping down from the sky. Destiny and Batman dropped into the warehouse while breaking through the skylight to save Aqualad.
Destiny's hands were surrounded by tornadoes as he thrust his hands forward, sending blades of wind through the air and cutting through Clayface's arms, separating them from its main body. This created an opening for Batman to pull out a taser to fire at Clayface, sending tens of thousands of volts through its body. The painful electric shock coursing through Clayface was too much to handle, causing the towering body to be reduced to a puddle.
Looking down at the puddle, Batman was satisfied that the threat had been neutralized. Turning his head to the left, Batman's expression was set in a stern frown towards Aqualad.
Mount Justice
August 27, 07:58 EDT
"I need to talk to Aqualad," Batman addressed the returning team. The young heroes were still covered in remnants of clay from their recent bout. "The rest of you, hit the showers and head home."
"Head home? I am home," came the stern response of Superboy as he and Miss Martian walked past Batman. Both Aqualad and Robin approached Batman, ready to debrief about their most recent mission.
"Just Aqualad," was Batman's stern response at seeing his protege approach alongside Aqualad.
Looking up at his friend in concern, Robin understood that his mentor wished to speak with his field leader without distractions. As Robin walked past Batman further into the cave, he once again looked back at the pair.
Aqualad held his head down in shame before speaking up.
"I am sorry you had to intervene. I know the team performed poorly…"
"The team performed adequately," Batman interrupted as he didn't want Aqualad to get the wrong idea. "The problem was you. You are their leader, and your head wasn't in the game."
"No! You're … correct," Aqualad exclaimed while raising his head to make eye contact with Batman before sighing in resignation at his poor performance. "Of late, I am not even convinced I belong on the surface world."
Aqualad's expression turned more solemn as he contemplated his thoughts before voicing them.
"For so many years, it filled my every thought. But now that I am here, my dreams are of Atlantis."
"Atlantis? Or someone you left behind?"
The line of questioning surprised Aqualad as he went from solemn to shocked from Batman's inquiries.
"You can split your time between the surface and the sea, but not your mind. Either you're here one hundred percent, or you need to walk away. Make a decision, Kaldur, and make it soon," Batman demanded as he walked away to give Aqualad time to think.
"Why did you leave me out of this mission?" came a voice as Batman walked further into the cave. In a nearby hallway, Naruto stood with his arms crossed in his Destiny outfit as he leaned back against the wall.
"My magic would have been a huge help to the team, especially since Clayface had an elemental body and most of them are only capable of physical attacks."
"I wanted the team to have the chance to encounter such a foe to force them to adapt and come up with a strategy to counter such an obstacle."
"I see."
"You disagree?"
"No," Naruto responded after taking a few seconds to think. "But you could have at least sent me as backup ahead of time instead of saving them at the last second."
"I could have," Batman agreed. "But the rest of the team will have to learn to expect the unexpected when they are on missions without safety nets just like how things went for you in your world."
"Are you talking about my mission to Wave Country?"
"As well as your experiences during the Chunin Exams and Sasuke Retrieval mission," Batman reinforced. "I wanted to evaluate Aqualad as team leader as well as the individual performances of the others. You, on the other hand, are undoubtedly the strongest member on this team considering you were able to defeat a Lord of Chaos like Klarion."
"I can understand why you did it. It doesn't mean I have to like it."
"As long as you understand what your role was supposed to be, there will be future missions in which your skills will be needed. You and the team have the rest of the day off."
With his piece said, Batman left Naruto to his own devices with a full day of downtime ahead of him. Seeing as he's been awake for a couple of hours, Naruto decided to get a quick snack from the pantry before taking a nap as he planned to get in a workout later in the day.
Mount Justice
August 27, 18:00 EDT
Naruto was currently maintaining a handstand in the cave's gym while levitating several dumbbells around him. He had woken up from his nap a few hours ago, binged a couple episodes of anime, and changed into a black tank top with orange shorts for his workout. He had passed by Superboy and M'gann earlier in the living room. M'gann was getting ready to prepare dinner as Superboy sat on the couch watching static on the television.
Taking controlled breaths, Naruto kept still as he began directing the floating weights to move up and down to flex his control. It felt good for Naruto to get back into the routine of practicing his control as he had been solely focused on training and integrating into the team for the past week. Having some downtime today allowed him to mentally reset and catch up on a few things he had been neglecting.
"I should probably drop by the tower one of these days and look around the library. There has to be something I can study seals from," Naruto thought to himself as he let his mind wander a bit. He hadn't had the time to return to the tower and look into researching a way to study seals to continue his pursuit of recreating his father's Hiraishin. However, his thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps approaching the gym.
He saw the metal doors open up when he tilted his head to the side and saw Artemis entering into the gym while carrying a green yoga mat. He took a second to take in her appearance as she was wearing her brown jacket over a green sports bra and had on matching green compression shorts for bottoms that ended at her upper thigh. Her hair was tied up in her usual high ponytail as well.
"Oh, hey Naruto," Artemis greeted the upside down sorcerer while also taking the chance to ogle her fellow blonde. She didn't expect a magic user to have a nicely developed physique and toned muscles.
"Uhh, hey Artemis," Naruto dumbly responded as he wasn't used to interacting with a girl his age showing so much skin. He had previously seen her wearing a midriff at the tower and in her hero outfit, but Artemis's current outfit exposed much more in his current line of sight.
"This is my chance to get to know him better and have a bit of fun," Artemis thought to herself.
She was used to seeing him covered up in his Destiny outfit, so this was the first time she had the chance to assess and appreciate the eye candy. She got quite the eyeful of his toned arms keeping him upright as well a good look of his legs due to him wearing shorts. Better yet, she got a glimpse of his defined six-pack abs thanks to an assist from gravity pulling down his shirt. Their initial interaction at the Tower of Fate was a good first impression, and this was the first time the two of them were alone together.
Walking towards the wall that Naruto was facing and was lined with mirrors, Artemis placed down her mat and shrugged off her jacket. Making sure to keep his attention focused on her, Artemis made a show of stretching and getting her body limber. She bowed her head forward, touching her forehead to her thighs, and made sure Naruto got a good eyeful of her backside.
"Where's the rest of the team?" Artemis asked while maintaining her stretch. "I heard the rest of the team had a mission earlier. What's everybody else doing?"
"Huh?" Naruto responded as if he hadn't heard the question. His mind was all over the place as he maintained the floating dumbbells while staring at an attractive female form in close proximity.
"I asked about the rest of the team," Artemis smirked to herself as she knew she had his full attention.
"Oh," was Naruto's short response to her question. Taking a second to recenter himself, Naruto thought about what the rest of the team was up to. "M'gann is in the kitchen fixing up dinner and Superboy was watching TV in the living room. I think Robin and Wally went home. Kaldur went back home as well because Batman needs him to get his head straight."
"Hmm, you don't say," Artemis hummed to herself as she contemplated his answer. Feeling sufficiently warmed up, Artemis changed positions to prepare her next move to entice Naruto. She stepped on top of her mat, making sure to face the mirrors to both check her form as well as get a look at Naruto's expressions in the reflection, and began performing squats.
Naruto's eyes bugged out as he took in the sight of Artemis raising and lowering her body with emphasis on her glutes. His focus wavered a bit as one of the dumbbells dropped to the floor. This didn't escape Artemis's notice as she kept a calm expression while facing away from him.
"He must not be used to seeing girls work out since he came to this world," Artemis thought to herself and she prepared to steer the conversation in another direction.
"Tell me more about yourself, Naruto," Artemis requested as she continued to squat. "I read the Menma manga, but what's it like coming from a world like that and ending up here?"
Thankful for the change in topic, Naruto was able to tear his eyes away from her shapely rear to answer her question.
"It's been a wild ride, that's for sure," Naruto said as he reminisced about his time on Earth. "TV and the internet helped a lot in teaching me about this world. Kent had me learn English and got me up to speed on my schooling."
"What do you like the most?" Artemis asked as she stopped squatting. She got down onto her elbows and knees to start her next set of exercises as she began raising each leg into the air behind her one at a time to perform kickbacks.
"I definitely like all the media you have here. We had books and movies back home, but there's way more to get lost in here."
"I can understand losing yourself in a good book."
"What's your favorite book?" Naruto asked to take the chance to learn something about her.
"Alice in Wonderland was my favorite while growing up. How did you find out about the Menma manga?"
"I've binged a lot of anime since I got sent here. I got drawn into all the cool stories and fight scenes. I even recreated a bunch of attacks from different animes with my magic. Anyway, I came across an announcement about the manga releasing its 500th chapter, so I decided to check it out. The summary messed with my mind though, and I had to find out more."
"I'll bet," Artemis agreed as she couldn't fathom thinking about her life as a story made up by someone else. "Well, that's enough depressing thoughts. How about something more exciting and stimulating? You want to go a few rounds with me?"
"Huh?"
"I'm talking sparring," Artemis clarified as she could imagine the thoughts and images conjured inside his head from her words. Stopping her exercise, Artemis got to her feet and turned around to face Naruto once again. "I bet I can give you a better workout than Wally did."
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Sparring sounds good," was all Naruto could get out as his mind had short circuited for a few moments. Stopping his own exercise, Naruto lowered his legs to the floor and slowly levitated the dumbbells back to the weight rack. He made sure the room was clear of any obstructions to give the two of them plenty of space to work with.
The two met in the center of the room before they began circling each other with their arms raised in their ready stances. Artemis took the initiative to make the first move by throwing out a jumping roundhouse kick aimed towards Naruto's head. Seeing the incoming kick, Naruto chose to step back and created space between the two. However, Artemis quickly followed up with a flying knee after landing from her initial attack.
Not expecting the fast follow up, Naruto raised his arm to block as he didn't have time to dodge. Absorbing the impact of the blow, Naruto tried to counter by pushing the airborne knee away and jabbing at the same time. Artemis quickly shifted her weight into a pivot followed by a tornado kick that caught Naruto on his unguarded side.
Taking a step back, Naruto took a breath to reassess the situation. Artemis was infinitely better than Wally at hand to hand as she struck faster, harder, and with more finesse that the speedster didn't have. She also seemed to favor a kick heavy fighting style. This was probably used in tandem with her archery skills in order to leave her hands free for her bow.
"You're definitely giving me more trouble than Wally," Naruto couldn't help but compliment Artemis on her skill.
"As if there was ever any doubt," Artemis smirked back. With their quick exchange of words over, the two got back to exchanging blows. Artemis continued to control the space between the two with her quick legwork as Naruto tried to get in close.
Seeing that he was unable to seize the initiative so far, Naruto decided to switch tactics. He decided to stop keeping his hands fisted and instead chose to open them up. He needed to find an opening to counter by letting Artemis overextend herself or take a different approach in closing the distance between the two of them. He focused his eyes on watching her hips for any tells on her next move. His chance came when Artemis threw out a side kick and Naruto was able to get a hold of her ankle from her extended leg.
It seemed like he had made a good decision to switch to a more grappler mindset as he kept a tight hold on Artemis's ankle and pulled her closer to himself. The action took Artemis off balance as she had to use her grounded leg to jump and throw out another kick in hopes of getting Naruto to release her. Now that she had both legs off the ground, Naruto took the chance to apply force to the leg he was holding by pushing it back towards the ground which forced Artemis to awkwardly put weight on the leg that was previously being held.
Taking advantage of her being off balance, Naruto ducked and quickly performed a leg sweep that caused Artemis to land on her back. Not giving her a chance to get back up, he quickly got on top of her and pinned down her wrists.
"Guess I win," Naruto panted as his face was mere inches away from her own after his successful takedown.
"It's not over yet."
Not one to take things lying down, Artemis caught Naruto off guard by bringing her legs up and locking both her ankles behind Naruto's neck in a hold. Shifting her weight to one side, she reversed their positions by rotating their bodies so that she was on top now.
What she didn't count on was the position they ended up in. It was true that Artemis now had Naruto pinned beneath her weight, but their swapped positions were a bit more intimate than Artemis had intended.
Artemis had her knees on both sides of Naruto's head as she straddled his face. She could feel his warm breath tickling her lower body as well as the bump of his nose pressed directly into her crotch. She couldn't help the involuntary moan that escaped from her mouth when Naruto tried to raise his head, which only dug his face closer to her groin area.
Likewise, Naruto was in shock at the position they were currently in. He could feel heat coming off of Artemis's lower body as well as smell an intoxicating scent emanating from where they were making contact. Furthermore, his eyes stared up towards her face and could see droplets of sweat that had formed from their sparring. His eyes locked onto a particular droplet that slid down from her neck towards her chest area and slipped into the valley of her cleavage.
The feminine moan that came from Artemis's lips was the cherry on top as he lacked experience in the romance department, especially from a female around his age. The most affection he had ever gotten in his life were kisses on his cheek as a token of gratitude from some of the older women he had met while doing missions back when he was a shinobi or the kiss on his forehead that he received from Tsunade after learning the Rasengan.
Finally, as if the universe was conspiring against the two of them, the door to the gym opened up as M'gann entered.
"Hey you two, dinner is uwaaahhh!" M'gann exclaimed as she caught sight of the two blondes in the intimate position. She quickly averted her gaze and covered her eyes with a hand as she processed the scene that she had accidentally stumbled upon.
"Sorry! I came to let you know that dinner is ready. Don't mind me and take your time," an embarrassed M'gann stumbled away before either of the blondes had a chance to speak up to explain the situation.
"Wait! M'gann this isn't what it looks like!" Artemis raised herself to a standing position and tried to call out to the fleeing Martian girl in a feeble attempt to explain herself. Her words fell on deaf ears as the door closed behind M'gann.
"She couldn't have come at a worse time," Naruto stated as he stood up himself. "I think we can call this spar a tie."
"Right …," Artemis trailed off as her mind was still on the awkward situation that had just transpired.
"Well, I think we should hit the showers and head to dinner. We should probably talk about what happened another time," suggested Naruto.
"Agreed."
With their spar complete and dinner waiting for them, the two decided to head to the showers. However, their minds were occupied by thoughts of each other. Naruto needed a cold shower to cool off as well as some tissues to take his mind off of the sinful sounds he had heard his fellow blonde make.
Artemis had a similar plan in mind in order to settle the heat that had gathered in her loins as well. She was going to need the assistance of a special battery powered arrow that would pierce through her to take care of her needs.
Mount Justice
September 3, 16:00 EDT
It has been a week since the team had faced Clayface, and Batman was currently wrapping up a briefing for the team for their latest mission. There had been a large energy spike detected earlier in the day by the Watchtower in Bialya, a desert country in the Middle East. Batman had instructed the team to maintain radio silence during their investigation to minimize the chance of being detected by the Bialyan military. However, Batman had a different task in mind for Naruto that would be separate from the rest of his team.
"Destiny, Zatara has requested assistance in a mystical matter that he has been investigating," Batman informed Naruto as the rest of the team had left to prepare for their journey to the Middle East. "You're needed in New York City."
"Roger that," Naruto responded. "What exactly does Zatara need my help with?"
"Random civilians have been attacking each other for no apparent reason. When taken to the hospital for treatment, each of the victims recounted having seen their worst nightmare on the faces of those they attacked."
"Does Zatara have a lead on the cause of this?"
"Yes, you'll be needed for tracking down who he believes is responsible. Take this with you," Batman handed an earpiece for Naruto to take hold of. "You'll need this to be in contact with both Zatara and the League if necessary."
"Anything else I need to know?" Naruto asked as he took the aforementioned earpiece and prepared for his departure.
"No, but this will potentially be your first public appearance. Do you have any last minute changes you want to make to your outfit?"
"I've been thinking about that, and I know just what I need."
With a snap of his fingers, Naruto's Destiny outfit had some minor changes. His orange robe gained a hood for him to cover his head with and a black face mask, reminiscent of the one worn by his previous teacher Kakashi, appeared to cover the lower half of his face. With his preparations in place, Naruto activated the zeta tube and headed for New York City.
New York City
September 3, 16:10 EDT
In a flash of light, Naruto's body appeared inside an inconspicuous telephone booth that was the cover for a zeta tube. Pressing his right index finger to his earpiece, he reached out to his local contact.
"Zatara, can you read me?" This is Destiny, and I've just arrived in New York City. Where is our rendezvous?"
"Ah, it is good to hear your voice Destiny. We'll meet up in my home here so I can debrief you on what I have learned. Follow the spike in my magical energy."
Turning to his left, Naruto activated Gyo so his eyes could get a visual on Zatara's magical energy spike that wasn't too far from the zeta tube. Naruto took off into the air and made his way over to Zatara's home.
As he approached his destination, Naruto flexed his own magical signature as a signal to Zatara that he was approaching. Zatara got the message as a window opened on the second floor of the building, allowing Naruto to enter.
"Welcome to my home. It is nice to see you again, young man," Zatara welcomed while wearing his usual formal attire of a white-wing collar shirt with a red bowtie under a yellow vest, topped by a black tailcoat, and a black magician's top hat.
"It's nice to see you again. What exactly are we dealing with?"
"For the past few nights, civilians have been suddenly attacking each other without any provocation. When questioned later, they all claimed to have seen something frightening which caused them to react in defense out of fear."
"Do you know who's behind the attacks?"
"I believe I do. His name is …"
"Dad, I'm home!" came a female voice from below the two accompanied by the sound of a closing door. "Where are you?"
"I'm in my room with a guest, dear."
Footsteps were heard coming up the stairs as the person approached the room.
"What's going on? Who's your guest?" came the female's voice as the door to the room was opened.
Appearing in the doorway was a 14 year old Zatanna wearing her school uniform of a white collar shirt with a dark blue bolo tie. She also had on a dark blue sweater with half length sleeves and a matching blue skirt.
"Zatanna, this is Destiny who I will be working with. Although, you might know him by another name."
Taking that as his cue, Naruto pulled down his hood and lowered his face mask to reveal his spiky blonde hair to her.
"Naruto!" Zatanna squealed as she rushed forward to give him a hug. "What are you doing here? It's been ages since I last saw you, and you're taller than me now."
"Uh, hey Zee. It's nice to see you," Naruto responded while returning the hug. He took the time to get a good look at Zatanna and noted how she's changed since they last spoke. She still had the same medium length dark hair and had grown a few inches in height since their last encounter. Although, Naruto was now the taller one, and he couldn't help but stare at her a little as she had always been cute.
"Heehee," Zatanna giggled as she twirled in place while holding the sides of her skirt. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? I suppose there aren't any Catholic schoolgirls in your world."
"No, there aren't," Naruto absently responded.
Zatara loudly cleared his throat to get their attention and to steer the conversation away from his daughter flirting with the young man before her.
"Zatanna, Naruto is now part of a group of young heroes under the watchful eye of the Justice League. I've requested his help for a delicate matter that's been happening here in our city."
"Oh! You mean those weird attacks that have been happening at night?" Zatanna asked. "Wait, you're part of a group of young heroes, Naruto?"
"Yep. I joined a team that is kind of a junior Justice League with a bunch of proteges of other League members. I go by Destiny when out in the field."
"That is so cool and unfair," Zatanna complained. "Why didn't you tell me about a team of young heroes, Dad? When can I join?"
"You are not ready, Zatanna," came the stern reply of her father.
"Well, maybe she can join us for training sessions when she has time," Naruto suggested. "I think it would be nice for her to meet some others around our age and for her to get the chance to learn skills from other League members while you take care of her magical education."
Hearing this, Zatanna quickly turned to her father and clasped her hands together in a pleading manner.
"Pleaaase, Daddy?" Zatanna begged while pouting her lips and giving her best set puppy dog eyes.
"Ummm," Zatara visibly recoiled from the begging form of his daughter before conceding. "I will think about it."
"You're the best, Daddy," Zatanna declared as she hugged her father before going back to hug Naruto once again. "And thank you for bringing it up, Naruto."
"No problem. Anyway, your dad and I have some work today. We should catch up later."
"Right. Be safe you two," Zatanna wished them good luck as she left the two.
"Where were we?" Zatara asked his younger compatriot.
"You were telling me you had an idea who was behind the attacks."
"Right. I believe an alchemist and magician by the name of Felix Faust is the one behind the attacks. He has been known to collect magical artifacts and use their dark magics to cause chaos. I have been able to track his whereabouts to the observatory on the outskirts of the city."
"Ok then, lead the way."
With that the two prepared to head out and confront the malevolent magician in hopes of ending this nightmare.
New York City
Observatory
September 3, 16:30 EDT
Entering the observatory, the two took notice of the large open space and bookshelves spread around. They spotted Faust in the middle of the room meditating with a purple magic circle that housed a pentagram beneath him. Faust was a Caucasian male with a lean face and deep, haunting eyes. He wore a headdress made up of a golden coronet and black cloth covering his hair along with parts of his cheeks. His outfit consisted of a blue tunic held in place by a golden sash with a black undershirt that had large metal bands at the torso.
"Who dares interrupt my meditation in my sanctum sanctorum?" Faust's question echoed throughout the space of the observatory. "Ahh, what brings Zatara of the Justice League to my doorstep? And who is this cloaked figure beside you?"
"I've sensed magic that has been spreading chaos in the city emanating from this location. You are the one responsible for the attacks on civilians that have plagued this city," Zatara declared as he raised his cane towards Faust.
"You are mistaken. I am not responsible for the attacks on the city."
"But you do know who is responsible, don't you?" Naruto followed up. "The source came from here in your so-called sanctum sanctorum which means you helped the person who is responsible."
"Perhaps or perhaps not. Who are you to ask such things of me?"
"I'm Destiny."
Faust raised his eyebrows in shock at the name he was given.
"Does my companion's name mean something to you, Faust?" Zatara questioned.
"No, not at all," Faust quickly responded as he tried to cover up his shock.
"No, my name meant something to you. Is the word 'destiny' connected to who is responsible?" Naruto pushed.
"Enough, this line of questioning stops now. You have intruded on my sanctity and will leave now."
"And if we don't?" Naruto challenged.
"Then I will make you regret your actions," Faust threatened as he raised his arms to create numerous purple magic circles in the air near his body.
Seeing the impending danger, Zatara quickly fired a bolt of lightning from his cane towards Faust which was easily blocked by two of Faust's magic circles.
"Ha, stored magic? Really?" Faust taunted as he easily blocked the attack. "That's the TV dinner of spell casting, Zatara. Here's what real magic looks like!"
The numerous magic circles conjured by Faust began shooting purble beams at energy towards the duo. Naruto raised his left hand and a barrier of defensive magic in the shape of connected hexagons was raised to block the assault.
"Ok, we don't have time for this. Lives are at stake," Naruto declared as several Adamantine Chains erupted from his back and headed towards Faust.
Seeing the threat coming for him, Faust conjured more circles to intercept the chains. What he didn't expect was for the chains to pierce through his magic so easily and wrap around his body.
"Ugh," Faust struggled against his restraints. "Why can't I use my magic? Release me at once."
"Yeah, that's not happening," Naruto sarcastically answered his captive. "Now that I've got you captured, tell us what you know about the source of the attacks."
"You'll never get me to talk," Faust answered back defiantly. "There's no way you'll get the information you want out of me."
"What do we do now?" Naruto asked Zatara as their only lead was being uncooperative.
"I suppose we'll have to …" Zatara began but was interrupted by the sound of pounding nearby. Both Zatara and Naruto looked around for the source of the noise before zeroing in on a tall mirror hanging on the wall.
Approaching the mirror, the two sorcerers were met with the reflection of a woman outlined in purple. She was pounding on the mirror to get their attention and pointed to her mouth. No sound was escaping from her moving lips, but she instead pointed behind them at one of the bookshelves. Looking behind them, Naruto saw what looked like a small statue of a woman with wings that had a cloth gag wrapped around the mouth. Picking up the statue, Naruto took off the small piece of cloth.
"Finally," came a woman's voice from the mirror. "That asshole Faust cast an enchantment on that statue to prevent any woman from speaking in his sanctum sanctorum. Now help me get out of here. He's kept me prisoner for far too long."
"Who are you, exactly?" Naruto questioned the woman. "Why did Faust keep you prisoner?"
"My name is Asa the Healer also known as the Nightmare Nurse. Faust kept me around to heal the women he brought back here. I did swear an oath to preserve life, do no harm, and all that other crap. He had that silencing enchantment up so those women's screams wouldn't be heard."
Hearing that explanation, Naruto turned to Faust with hatred in his eyes.
"Let her go, now!" Naruto growled out in anger.
"Haha, no. You can't make me," Faust chuckled as he continued to stay defiant despite his captured status. "I have her under contract."
"A contract, huh?" Naruto mused. "Maybe that works out for me."
Naruto approached Faust and placed the palm of his hand on face. A black sealing formula spread throughout Faust's face from the contact.
In the week off since his encounter with Clayface, Naruto had returned to the Tower of Fate to search for books on sealing or runes. From the Menma manga, Naruto was able to read about his father Minato's fight with the Masked Man on the night of his birth. Within the manga, Minato had been able to separate the pact between the Masked Man and the Nine-Tails with a contract seal. Practicing seals was the first step for Naruto in recreating the Hiraishin, and contract seals were part of the learning process.
With the contract broken between Faust and Asa, the Nightmare Nurse was able to step out from the mirror which left an empty vessel. Naruto decided to push his captive into the mirror and switch the captives.
"Hmmm," Asa moaned out as she stretched her body. "I feel so stiff after being stuck inside there for so long."
Now that Asa was no longer confined to the mirror, Naruto got a good look at the rest of her body and outfit. She truly could be called the Nightmare Nurse as she wore an all latex outfit of a purple nurse's cap on top of her medium length red hair, a purple jacket, and a short purple dress that ended high on her thighs as well as black high heeled shoes adorning her sinful hourglass body.
"Now, who are you my savior?" Asa asked in a husky tone. She stalked over to Naruto as she could sense the powerful energies within his body and raised a hand to stroke underneath his chin. "What's this I sense? A virgin adolescent demon before me? Maybe I should reward you for your selfless heroism. What do you think about that?"
"Umm," Naruto stammered out in response as he hadn't expected this for rescuing her. "That, that isn't necessary."
"Hmmm, what a pity," Asa sighed as she had been feeling pent up from her imprisonment. "Well, the least I can do is offer my services for the future. The Nightmare Nurse is at your disposal. Summon me when you have a medical emergency."
"Thanks, I'll do that. You wouldn't happen to have any useful information that could help us out, would you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I may have been trapped in that mirror, but I could still hear what was going on."
"Really? Who is it?"
"The one you're looking for is a man named Ritchie Simpson. He came to Faust looking for the other half of a magical artifact called the Dreamstone which can make people live their worst nightmares. Simpson was looking to reunite the pieces of the Dreamstone because of a deal he made with a sorcerer known as Destiny."
"Destiny?" Naruto asked as he looked over at the mirror. "I guess that explains why Faust was surprised to hear my name."
"Yes, it was definitely a surprise for him hearing someone else with that moniker," Asa continued. "Anyway, from what they discussed, it sounded like Simpson was dying from magic-induced cancer due to close proximity of magical artifacts over the years. Destiny promised him eternal life in return for his cooperation. The Dreamstone was created by Destiny during Arthurian times, so it is probably a conduit of his soul and will most likely allow Destiny to possess Simpson's body."
"Thank you for the information, Ms. Asa," Zatara interjected. "We shall see to it that this Dreamstone and Mr. Simpson are both taken care of."
"Glad to be of service," Asa waved him off. "Now, I'm gonna go find a nice dryad or sylph to sleep with and blow off some steam. The offer reamins open by the way, Destiny. Summon me if you want to have your world rocked."
With her piece spoken, the Nightmare Nurse left the mortal plane through a golden portal that she conjured.
"We need to find this Dreamstone right away before more damage can be done," Zatara stated. Unfortunately, his words appeared to be too late as the skies seen through the glass dome of the observatory turned dark.
"We need to get back to the city!" Naruto exclaimed. Creating a circle with his hands, a portal opened up before the two of them with the roof of Zatara's home as the destination. "We should tell the League to come pick up Faust later."
New York City
September 3, 17:00 EDT
Back in the city, the two sorcerers saw several buildings on fire and pillars of smoke rising. The frantic masses were running for shelter or engaging in violent fights with each other. At the center of the madness was a muscular man floating through the air in a sphere made up of magic circles. He had pale gray skin, black facial hair, glowing red eyes, and wore a dark purple hooded cape. He had on armor that held the glowing Dreamstone fused into his chest.
"Yes, yeees!" the figure exclaimed in a haunting voice. "My will be done."
Zatara and Naruto floated towards the red sphere and prepared themselves for the inevitable clash.
"Naruto, I have heard that you defeated Klarion the Witch Boy. I can tell that you have surpassed me in raw strength. I will focus on protecting the civilians while you take on Destiny."
"Roger that. See you when I'm done."
Separating from each other, Naruto stopped himself before the floating villain to get his attention.
"So you're supposed to be Destiny?" Naruto questioned the gray skinned man before him. "Funny, that's my name."
"Who are you to dare oppose a god?" the gray skinned man questioned.
"I'm the one who's gonna take you down. What happened to Ritchie Simpson and the Dreamstone?"
"Ha, the poor delusional fool was so desperate for immortality that he did my bidding and spread chaos in my name. Now, I am finally free after 500 long years thanks to him giving me a body to use."
"So I guess that means you're possessing him after all."
"Indeed, thought you do have me curious. You say your name is Destiny?" I can sense the well of magical potential within you. You share my moniker as well. Sounds to me like you would make the perfect vessel for my divine self."
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Naruto declared. "I am sending you back to where you came from."
Wanting to end this as soon as possible, Naruto called upon the fox's chakra to access what he dubbed as his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. A familiar golden shroud appeared around his body as he dashed forward to engage Destiny. With a roar, he reeled his hand back to send a mighty haymaker towards the red sphere surrounding Destiny.
"Eat this!" Naruto yelled as his fist connected with the sphere. Destiny was overconfident in his magic as Naruto blew through the sphere and connected the blow at Destiny's face. The resulting impact created a shockwave that sent Destiny flying back into a building.
Pulling himself up from the rubble, Destiny held his head to ease the throbbing pain he was feeling.
"Ugh, who does that welp think he is to strike a god?" he asked himself. Looking up towards the glowing figure of Naruto, Destiny narrowed his eyes in anger into an expression that promised pain. "I am going to enjoy making you suffer. You will know great pain before I take your body for myself."
Crossing his arms in front of him, Destiny separated them to puff out his chest in order to fire a red beam of energy from the Dreamstone. Naruto responded by surrounding himself with his chains to shield himself from the oncoming attack. The energy met the chains and was dissipated on impact.
"Is that all you've got?" Naruto taunted. "Let me show you what I can do."
Naruto sent his chains out towards Destiny who wasn't prepared for the chains to pierce through his sphere and got cuts around his body as a result.
"Ahhh," came his pained voice, not expecting the chains to bypass his magic so easily.
"I bet you didn't expect to get through your shield so easily. Then again, what kind of god needs a shield?"
"Rahhh!" Destiny shouted in anger. He sent out hands made of dark energy to grab hold of Naruto. Seeing the hands coming closer to him, Naruto dodged and flew in closer to close the distance between them. Charging a Rasengan in his hand, he thrust it towards the red force field and shattered it. Taking the opportunity for a follow up, his chains shot out from his back to grab hold of Destiny.
"What are these chains?" Destiny struggled against his binds.
"These are just the chains meant to send you back to hell," Naruto responded as he raised his palm to aim at the Dreamstone embedded in the chest of his immobile foe.
"Zoltraak."
The piercing magic shot through the Dreamstone and Destiny's chest, eliciting a pained cry from the so-called god. With the Dreamstone destroyed, the tether for Destiny was lost and his spirit was pulled out from the body of Ritchie Simpson. The large figure of Destiny was gone and all that remained was the pale, sickly body of Ritchie.
"Ugh," Ritchie groaned as he was now without the magical lifeline of the Dreamstone. "Please, you have to help me," the man begged as he could feel himself grow weaker. Unfortunately, it was too late for him as his body seemed to expire and he took his last breath. With the big bad taken care of, Naruto took off towards Zatara and to help in repairing the damage to the city. All in all, it was quite the public debut for the young hero.
Mount Justice
September 5, 00:20 EDT
The team had returned from their reconnaissance mission in Bialya. They had suffered through amnesia during the mission and had their memories taken away by a psychic enemy known as Psimon. However, Miss Martian had been able to restore their memories and defeat the opposing psychic. Furthermore, the team had adopted a new friend in the form of a sphere that seemed to act like living technology. Sphere, aptly named by Superboy, had been brought back to the cave with the rest of the team.
"That concludes my report," Aqualad told Batman as the two were standing together in the cave. "It seems that the Bialyan military were experimenting with the sphere and were trying to learn more about its capabilities."
"Good work," Batman merely responded. "You and the rest of the team are dismissed."
"May I ask how Naruto's mission is going?" Aqualad asked as he had been wondering about their team member who was assigned a different task.
"Destiny has completed his mission with Zatara and has been assisting in repairs to New York City. You have nothing to worry about."
"That's good. I will take my leave then," Aqualad sighed in relief as he left to go speak with the rest of his fellow heroes.
Unknown
Within a closed room, the psychic known as Psimon stood before seven screens, each containing a white silhouette with a blue background.
"The Martian girl escaped with both the sphere and the Superboy," Psimon informed his benefactors.
"That hardly matters," came a female's voice from one of the screens. "What matters is the successful test of our new partner's delivery system."
A separate screen turned on to show a recording of the sphere being sent into the Bialyan desert through a wormhole accompanied by a loud booming sound.
"More tech will come. Tech that will put the sphere, and perhaps even the Superboy to shame," the female voice concluded.
"On the subject or interlopers, there has been a new magical hero making waves in New York City," came a male voice from another screen. "I believe you are familiar with him, L-7."
"Grrr," came the annoyed growl of L-7, or rather the annoyed sound of Klarion. "I'll make sure he regrets ever getting in my way."
"Perhaps you will L-7, or perhaps talent such as his should be taken into consideration," came the male voice from the middle screen.
"What are you suggesting, L-1?" the female asked.
"I am merely suggesting that, like all others, this young man will eventually see the Light."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading the latest chapter of my story. I am grateful for all the attention this story has received. Speaking of, I will address some of the reviews to clarify things. The pairing is set and will not take in any reader input. It is as the tags say and is a throuple of Naruto/Artemis/Zatanna. I can appreciate a well written harem story, but I am sticking with this as I feel it makes sense in universe. Furthermore, in terms of Naruto's magic, I will not just give him everything from anime to copy as I want to potentially have him struggle with certain opponents and keep a small repertoire of skills that he is proficient in. That being said, I am happy that readers have been able to pick up on the references I have used. I am also providing a list of technique references I've used so far so readers don't confuse things in their reviews. Please let me know if you enjoyed the chapter with some nice reviews and catch me in Aizenthegoat's Discord channel at /k2fnemnSGe. Catch you all later.
Cantus Bellux and Iaculatio Fulgoris - Negima
Tornado Fist - YuYu Hakusho
Rasengan Wave - Kamehameha (Dragonball)
Lie Detector - Konosuba
Gyo - Hunter x Hunter
Zoltraak and Defensive Magic - Frieren