AN: If you are interested in joining my Discord server, you can do it at /x7xdd53WqE.
Chapter 3 - Kara (I)
The perpetually dark crimson sky, the pits of fire and lava burning all over the place, the acrid smell of the air, the menacing, demonic architecture of the buildings, and the countless people dressed in rags that could not be called clothes: it was Apokolips.
'And I used to think being sealed inside of you in this sewer was bad,' Kyuubi's voice rumbled mockingly in Naruto's head.
The blonde frowned at the fox's words. Over the last two years, his body had adapted to the rough living conditions of this world, but he could not claim that he loved it there. Having visited so many different planets over the past two years, he had yet to find a planet darker and more unappealing than Apokolips. Nonetheless, he could not just agree with the fox, out of principle, if nothing else.
'Apokolips may not be the prettiest planet in the universe, but at least I'm not living in a cage.'
Kyuubi's laughter echoed in the sewer of his mindscape.
'That's what you think. But you are imprisoned. Your cage is just big enough that you don't see the difference. Your prison is far more vile than mine. How pitiful. I almost feel sorry for you.'
'Don't you ever get tired of spouting the same bullshit every day?' Naruto grumbled back in a fed-up voice. The fox had been speaking to him daily and telling him the same thing for the better part of 2 years.
Much to his delight, the fox didn't reply this time, and Naruto got a moment of peace and quiet. Around that time, the fight he was supposed to be watching with attention finally came to an end. He was in a coliseum in the capital city of Apokolips together with Darkseid himself and Granny Goodness, an old and wrinkly woman who was in charge of Apokolips' special forces, the Furies.
The three of them were supposed to assess the potential of the newest candidate who wished to replace Big Barda, the former captain of the Furies who had defected from Apokolips a few months ago.
The candidate in question was a tall and athletic white woman with tanned skin and long red hair. She was wearing a golden armoured leotard, golden greaves and gauntlets, and she was wielding a golden spear.
Having emerged victorious in her duel against her opponent, the woman was about to deliver the finishing blow, but when she sensed Naruto's gaze on her, she stayed her hand.
Granny Goodness stood up from her seat at that moment and walked closer to the fence of the spectating balcony to talk to her.
"My Treasure, you've proven yourself to be one of the finest warriors on Apokolips. But do you really think you have what it takes to be Captain of the Honour Guard to the Allmighty Darkseid?"
The woman raised her spear and shouted confidently:
"Bring them forth so they can taste my blade!"
Granny Goodness smirked before raising her voice to call out the Furies to enter the arena.
Before the large gates of the arena were fully opened, three spinning blades flew out at the candidate. But Treasure had been on her guard, and she parried the first two flying blades by rotating her spear, then slashed at the third, swatting it away.
The following fight was ferocious but short-lived. At first, Treasure went toe-to-toe with Guilotina, who was wielding dual swords, and she managed to repel Mad Harriet's wild claw attacks and even dodge Lashina's spiked whip attacks. But when the fourth of the Furies entered the fray, Treasure was quickly overwhelmed.
Now, lying down in a crater made by Stompa suplexing her, Treasure was just barely hanging onto her life.
"That's enough," Naruto said in a loud voice.
But Lashina didn't stop, and she threw her spiked whip at Treasure, wrapping it around her legs before yanking her up in the air for Mad Harriet, who had jumped up to pummel her. Their coordination as a team was flawless.
Before Mad Harriet's claws could tear her apart, however, a red appendage collided with her, and she was smashed violently into one of the walls of the arena. It was a construct of chakra, greatly resembling the tail of a fox. It came from Naruto. He caught the wounded woman before she could crash down and put her gently on the sandy floor.
Despite her injuries, she wasn't in danger of dying as long as she received treatment soon; after all, she wasn't human but a New God.
"Didn't you hear when I told you to stop?" Naruto asked as he walked towards Lashina, who was now unconsciously backing away in fear and looking up at the balcony, wordlessly begging Granny Goodness to intervene.
"Naruto, my dear, I think she understands now," the old woman began in a sickly sweet voice.
"Understands what? I can feel the rebelliousness in her. She only obeys out of fear, not because she understands the wrongness of what she was about to do! How are we supposed to bring peace and order to the Universe when we can't get along with each other here?!" Naruto shouted, incensed.
He turned his attention back to the Furies. He was not entirely aware of it, but his demonic-looking eyes and the heavy pressure of his chakra made not only the Furies sweat buckets but Granny Goodness too, despite that she was not the target of his ire.
"She was your comrade! Who the hell is trying to kill their comrades? This was supposed to be a trial, not a battle to the death. Are you Darkseid's Honour Guard or a bunch of savage beasts?"
The Furies did not dare say a word in front of him. They could not meet his eyes.
"My son, that's enough. I think you made your point," Darkseid finally spoke. "Treasure here needs medical attention. Take her to the hospital yourself and ensure that she makes it, will you?"
Naruto would have wanted to say a thing or two more, but he stopped. He took the wounded woman in his arms, and a gust of wind raised a cloud of sand and dust in the air as he used a Wind Release jutsu to take flight.
Once he was gone, the Furies collapsed on their knees and started gasping for air as if they had just almost drowned.
An evil grin twisted Darkseid's face when he took in the appearance of the Furies.
"The hatred and violence in his heart have grown stronger than ever. His mere anger left the Furies paralysed, unable to stand. It won't be long before he will become my thrall for eternity."
The Furies were some of the strongest warriors among the New Gods of Apokolips. They were the God of Evil's Honour Guard. Those mighty beings were reduced to a trembling mess from the mere projection of Uzumaki Naruto's killing intent.
Darkseid was pleased. But that smirk of satisfaction disappeared from his face when he turned to glance at the old woman next to him.
"You disappointed me, Granny Goodness. You led me to believe that Treasure could replace Big Barda as captain of my Guard."
The old woman showed a sad expression.
"She showed such promise…"
She quickly quit the sad act when Darkseid's eyes started burning with his Omega Beams. Fortunately for her, Darskeid decided not to kill her on the spot.
"I will give you one more chance. There's been an interesting development on Earth. Bring me the Kryptonian girl who fell out of the sky, the one they call Kara. Don't fail me this time, dear Granny. I won't tolerate another failure."
⁂
A training ground was crowded with a few dozen prepubescent children and an adult man wearing a ninja headband around his forehead; he was Umino Iruka, and the young children were his students. Currently, they were in the middle of a Taijutsu class, and he was charged with overseeing the spar between children.
Iruka's facial expression was twisted into a scowl as he scolded the two boys who were standing inside the chalk ring drawn on the ground.
"You two! Make the proper Spar Sign! It's part of the etiquette!"
"To hell with all that! Hurry up and let me defeat this guy!" the young Naruto said impatiently. "This is my moment now! I'm going to become popular!"
The boy opposite of him let out a sigh.
"What a waste of time. Fine, I'll beat you quick, just like you want."
"Hold on, you two, for crying out loud!" Iruka interrupted them in exasperation. "Shinobi Hand-to-Hand Combat is a traditional training method passed down through the generations. It might be stuffy etiquette but here at the Academy we start with the basics. It matters."
Despite the exaggerated face of boredom Naruto started making at him, Iruka continued:
"You always start by showing your opponent a one-handed sign which displays your intention to fight. After the spar is done and the victor is decided, both partners present the Spar Sign again, then bring their hands together to form the Unison Sign as a show of friendship."
Naruto woke up with a start. His clothes were soaked with sweat. It was not exactly a nightmare… …but he could not call it a pleasant dream either. Was it truly a dream? Everything he felt in the dream was vivid, almost as if he were reliving a moment from the past. But he could not remember the names of anyone in that dream. He did not know what to make of it.
He held his head with both hands and closed his eyes in a fruitless attempt to soothe his skull-splitting headache.
'It was one of your forgotten memories. Or, better said, one of the memories that they tried to wipe from your brain,' he heard Kyuubi saying. 'It must have resurfaced in your mind due to the incident in the arena yesterday.'
'And how do I know it's not something you made up?' Naruto spat. 'I'm tired of you never missing a chance to take a dig at my family and tell me how evil they are. Give it a rest already, will you?''
Kyuubi growled. 'I don't even have to bring up the Negative Emotions Sensing ability that I shared with you. Look no further than yesterday. Comrades were just about to kill each other during a spar, and your beloved and benevolent father, Darkseid, was doing nothing to stop it. He didn't say one word of rebuke. If you weren't there, that woman would have been killed. And that woman herself would have killed her opponent before the Furies arrived.'
His head was pounding too hard at that moment. He could not bear to listen to another word coming from the demon fox's mouth. Going through a series of hand seals, he placed his palm on his stomach, cutting off his connection to Kyuubi completely. He did not have a permanent solution to make the fox shut up, but it would have to do for the moment.
Still, his headache did not disappear. On wobbly legs, he dragged his tired body to Granny Goodness' laboratory. His kind and sweet grandmother always knew how to take his pain and nightmares away.
Inside the seal, Kyuubi thrashed and hit the golden barrier of light that appeared on top of the gates. He was filled with rage. Every time his words were starting to get through Naruto and bring back his forgotten memories, the boy would go to Granny Goodness to 'cure' him of the 'demon's influence'. And then Kyuubi would have to start everything from the beginning, all over again.
The giant fox paced restlessly, his growls echoing in the cage. Unlike in the past, his rage was not directed at Naruto anymore. The only thing he felt towards the boy nowadays was pity. Just like Uchiha Madara had once put Kyuubi under his genjutsu and dominated his mind, controlling him as if he were a tool, it was happening the same with Naruto now too. The boy was nothing but a tool, a pawn on Darkseid's chessboard, and he did not even know it.
⁂
Weeks passed, and life continued on Apokolips as it always did: filled with fear, despair, and suffering. But that was the case only for the regular inhabitants of the planet, who lived as little more than slaves. It was different for the New Gods. It was also different for Naruto because he was Darkseid's Champion, the General of the entire Apokaliptian army. He had an entire palace dedicated to himself alone and dozens of slaves who were instructed to obey his every whim.
Alas, despite his status, Naruto rarely ever got the chance to enjoy that sort of luxury. Conquering 50 planets in two years and bringing them under Darkseid's heel had not been an easy task. He had spent the vast majority of that time away from Apokolips.
It was the same in the present too: currently, he was in the Strena System, in the Andromeda Galaxy. Followed by his army of Parademons, Naruto had come to quell the uprising of those who wished to leave Darkseid's rule. Defeating the army of rebels was not a difficult endeavor, but finding and capturing the ringleaders was.
"You were fantastic in battle today as well, my lord," a blonde woman said, smiling sweetly and giving him the doe eyes as she looked up at him.
"That's right! I've never seen anything as powerful as that spinning orb of magic you threw at them!" another woman with long black hair said, pressing herself into his side and hugging his arm.
They were Lashina and Guilotina, two of Darkseid's Furies. Everyone on Apokolips knew them for their violence, viciousness, and cruelty, but now they were acting like a pair of maidens in love.
'Those two women are throwing themselves at you, all but begging you to take them. Why are you hesitating, Naruto?' Kyuubi asked at that moment. Then he chuckled. 'My Negative Emotions Sensing ability isn't as bad as you make it out to be, is it? Despite how you're always going on about how you cannot trust me, you're still letting this ability influence your thoughts and actions.'
Naruto couldn't come up with a retort because it was just as Kyuubi said. Guilotina and Lashina's assertive behaviour started all of a sudden, several weeks ago, when he returned from his 50th conquest and Darkseid offered them to him as a sort of prize. Until then, they had never tried to flirt with him or show any signs that they were attracted to him.
He could tell without Kyuubi's ability to sense negative emotions that Darkseid must have ordered them to seduce him. The fact that the Furies, who were supposed to be his Honour Guard, and stay on Apokolips at all times to protect him, followed Naruto to battle into another galaxy further proved to him that they did not have pure intentions.
"It's time for us to return," he said indifferently as he pulled his arm free from Lashina's hug. "Parademons. Follow me back to Apokolips."
A chorus of demonic cries was his answer. Taking out the motherbox from the pouch strapped to his belt, Naruto activated a large boom tube.
⁂
As was always the case whenever he returned from battle, Darkseid was there to welcome him home. Naruto took out his helmet and smiled.
"Hello, Father. I have done as you asked," Naruto said as he walked to his adoptive father and dropped to one knee in front of him in respect. "I have pacified the rebellious planet again and the leaders of the revolution were executed."
Darkseid came to him and put his hands on his shoulders, gently nudging him up to his feet.
"You're always making me proud," the God of Evil said, smiling. "Come, I have prepared yet another prize for you."
It was then that Naruto finally took notice of the blonde-haired girl standing behind Darkseid. She was svelte and a bit on the petite side, but he could not deny that she was pretty. Wearing a pair of black and red leather pants, tall platform boots, and nothing but a skimpy black bralet, Naruto wasn't sure what to look at.
The girl smiled and waved at him.
"This is Kara, a Kryptonian." Darkseid introduced her to him.
"A Kryptonian?" Naruto said in wonder.
He had heard many rumours about them over the past two years. He had also heard about one of Darkseid's biggest enemies, Superman, and the Justice League of Earth. However, he had never met either of them.
Earth was off-limits for Apokolips due to a treaty that Darkseid had made with High Father around 5 years ago. Nowadays, Earth was under the direct supervision of New Genesis, Apokolips' archenemy. Should Darkseid break that treaty and attack Earth again, it was not only Superman and the Justice League that he would have to worry about but the army of New Gods from New Genesis too.
"Is she-" Naruto asked slowly.
"No, she's not your prize. You made yourself clear the last time I tried to offer you a lady to warm your bed at night," Darkseid said. "Kara is the latest addition to our forces. Granny Goodness is in the process of training her to take on Big Barda's role, to become the Captain of my Furies."
"She has some big shoes to fill," Naruto said.
Although Big Bard had betrayed Apokolips, there was no denying her strength and skill.
"I'm sure she will. If you are my Right Hand now, I'm sure that Kara will become my Left. With the two of you at my side, no one will be able to stand in our way!"
Naruto walked to her and raised his hand for a handshake.
"I am Naruto, General of Darkseid's army and his adopted son. It's nice to meet you."
Kara smiled, inwardly happy with his friendly attitude. She had heard many things about Darkseid's Champion over the past few days. She had been nervous about meeting him but it looked like her worries had been for nothing.
"I'm Kar Zor-El. I hope we'll become friends in the future."
Naruto was secretly startled. It was probably the first time since he arrived on Apokolips that Kyuubi had not made his Negative Emotions Sensing ability flare up when interacting with someone.
'What are you up to this time around, fox?' Naruto sent a mental question to the bijuu in his stomach.
'I didn't do anything. It just means she is not lying, nor does she have any hidden ill will towards you,' Kyuubi said, his voice betraying that he was just as surprised as Naruto.
Unknowingly, Naruto held Kaara's hand in his the entire time he talked with the fox in his head. It did not take that long but it was more than long enough to raise some eyebrows since it was not normal for a handshake to last that long.
Envy. Jealousy. And Hatred. The explosion of negative emotions from Lashina and Guilotina, who were standing behind him, brought Naruto back to his senses and made him realize what he was doing. He stopped talking to Kyuubi and quickly let go of Kara's hand, whose face was slightly flushed now.
"Oh, sorry, I got lost in thought," he apologised before turning towards Darkseid and changing the subject. "What was the reward you prepared for me, Father?"
It wasn't lost on Darkseid that Naruto seemed to have taken a liking to the Kryptonian girl, but he hid his smile, not letting it show on his face.
"Desaad!"
At this call, Darkseid's closest attendant and subordinate, a skinny and hunchback man wearing a hooded cloak, came bearing a small, dark red rectangular box in his hands. Stopping in front of Naruto, Desaad opened the box and presented its contents with an air of great importance about him.
"What is this, Desaad?" asked Naruto as he looked at the dark red stick inside the box. It was about twice as long as the width of his palm, and, if he were to guess its purpose, it looked like the handle of a weapon.
"This is, my son, the culmination of our effort in mixing the energy called chakra from your homeworld with our Apokaliptian techno-magic. It is a weapon like no other." Darkseid answered him instead of Desaad. "Go on, give it a try."
Naruto grabbed the object from the box curiously.
"Insert the magic slumbering in your body into the weapon. But beware! It could be deadly even to you," Desaad instructed him.
Doing as he was told, a bright blade of light burst forth from the handle.
"We decided to call it a Lightsaber," Desaad said while Naruto looked in amazement at the weapon in his hand.
"Thank you, Father. This is amazing!" he said in awe. "I want to test it right away!"
Darkseid smiled.
"I'm glad you're so pleased with it. Don't let me stop you. Go ahead!"
Not needing another word, a powerful gale of wind blew as Naruto used his Soaring Wind Jutsu to fly, heading straight to the training grounds.
⁂
Two days later, Naruto was in the study room of his palace, diligently studying the Justu scroll that Darkseid had gifted to him about a month ago—the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He was not alone. More than 50 clones crowded the otherwise spacious room, sitting on the floor, bed, and everywhere with a copy of the scroll in their hands, also studying.
Despite the fact that Darkseid had been unable to conquer Balorat (Naruto's homeworld) the first time around, his spies had long since infiltrated the planet and collected all sorts of data, deepening their understanding of the ninja world. In the process, they also acquired as many jutsu scrolls as they could and sent them through boom tubes to Apokolips, all for the sake of strengthening Naruto and making him as powerful as he could be.
Naruto was not aware of it, but Darkseid's agents had also captured regular people and some of the weaker ninjas and brought them to Apokolips. The Lightsaber that he had just received was the result of the many experiments that they had done on shinobi for the sake of understanding what chakra truly was and how to use it. He had also been kept in the dark about the fact that a new type of Parademons was being engineered, a type that would be able to wield chakra, just like shinobi.
The only thing that Naruto knew was that he needed to become powerful in order to bring order to the Universe and that Darkseid was doing everything he could to support him.
Suddenly, a tremor shook not just his room but the entire palace. At first, he thought it was an earthquake. But another tremor came, and then another.
'Are we under attack?'
As implausible as that might sound (who would be crazy to invade Apokolips of all places?), Naruto decided to leave his clones behind to study and go outside to check the situation.
It only took him a few seconds to find out the source of the commotion. The noise and tremors were all coming from the coliseum.
'Is Stompa going wild again?'
The thick and heavy woman was built like a tank and had the power of one too.
Forming a Snake seal with his hands, his body became transparent, almost invisible. But there was a distortion in the air every time he moved, so anyone who paid close attention could see it. Regardless, the Chameleon Jutsu was a formidable A-rank technique that could be invaluable for hiding. If he stood still, he would become undetectable.
Now that his body was almost invisible, he flew towards the coliseum and landed on top of the stands.
⁂
"Come on, little girl! Fight back!" Mad Harriet laughed as she dove under Kara's punch and clawed at her thigh, leaving a bloodied mark behind.
Kara threw another punch, but Lashina's whip suddenly wrapped around her forearm and yanked her violently towards her. The Kryptonian girl tried to right herself in the air with her flight but Sompa charged at her like a mad bull, the large woman's lariat smashing into Kara's neck painfully and sending her flying into the walls of the arena.
Kara slid down the wall with a moan of pain.
"I thought we were training… Why are you doing this?" she asked, not understanding why they were so violent that day.
She pushed with her hands against the ground with difficulty, but Guilotina kicked her arms, making her collapse on the ground again. Then he crouched next to her and grabbed her roughly by her hair, forcing her to meet her eyes.
"Kryptonian or not, you've only just arrived on Apokolips, little girl."
"What do you want from me?" Kara shouted as he grabbed Guilotina's arm, her great physical strength forcing the older woman to let go of her hair.
But Guilotina punched her in the face with her other hand, making blood and spittle fly from her mouth.
Lashina also walked closer, winding up her spiked whip as she said:
"If you think we'll just sit and watch how you're stealing Lord Naruto from us, you're sorely mistaken. Guilotina, hold her down for me, will you? I'm going to crush her skull into a meat paste."
Guilotina laughed as she rolled Kara's body with her feet and knelt on top of her, pressing her knee into her back.
"We'll just tell Granny that it was a training accident. I'm sure she'll understand us," Stompa also said maliciously.
Before Lashina could throw her spiked whip at Kara's head, Guilotina was unexpectedly blasted off Kara's back like a cannonball. Moreover, right after that, two crimson beams incinerated Lashina's whip, making her cry out in pain as the heat was transmitted to her hand, burning her flesh.
Kara flew up in the air, her eyes still glowing crimson with her heat vision as she glared at the four Furies surrounding her.
Stompa was the first to let out a battle cry and lunge at Kara like a juggernaut. But the Kryptonian girl didn't back away, and her heat vision exploded at full power.
However, at the very last moment, a massive earth rampart burst from the ground, dividing the entire arena in half.
Stompa made a crater into the newly erected rock barrier, and Supergirl's heat vision gored a deep ravine into it too, but neither of their attacks destroyed the wall completely.
The women in the arena all stopped when they noticed Naruto appearing on top of the earth wall like a ghost.
"Ugh… Lord Naruto… We-, we were just about to finish our training for today," Lashina stammered and quickly scurried away.
The other three Furies did not dare to stay a second longer and ran after Lashina too. They knew that none of the excuses they could come up with would hold. Their General was infamous on Apokolips for always knowing when someone lied to him.
Naruto let out a sigh as he watched them run away.
"I'm going to have a serious discussion with Granny Goodness about these four very soon," he said in frustration.
Jumping down from the earth wall, he walked to Kara and asked: "Are you alright?"
Still boiling with anger from how the Furies treated her and with adrenaline coursing through her veins, Kara snapped at him:
"I didn't need your help! I don't need your protection!"
Naruto glanced at the deep marks left in his earth wall before turning to look at the girl.
"I wasn't protecting you. I was protecting them. Your heat vision could have killed them on the spot. We don't do this here. We are comrades."
"Comrades? You've got to be kidding. I heard your heartbeat the moment you arrived, so don't tell me you haven't seen the way they were acting! They hate me!" she shouted.
Kara let herself down on the ground again and looked away from him.
"They hated me on Earth. And now it looks like they hate me on Apokolips too. What did I do to deserve any of that?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. He had no idea how to comfort a girl…or anyone else for that matter.
"I don't know what your history was on Earth. But I'll make sure you're treated well on Apokolips from now on."
Kara crossed her arms to her chest and huffed. "What's it to you? Why do you care?"
"Father has very high expectations from you," Naruto said simply. "And I can sense that you're not like the rest. You're not like the Furies," he elaborated at her questioning look.
"You can't be here and watch over us forever. Sooner or later, they will try to bully me again. But next time, I won't just let them have their way. I'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget for as long as they're alive."
Naruto hummed in thought for a few moments.
"How about this: I'll train you. Whether it's about fights, weaponry and technology, or how to lead an army, I'll teach you everything I know."
Kara looked at him searchingly, as if she were trying to find a sign of deceit in his eyes. But his eyes appeared to be clear and pure, with no ill intent or malice hidden within.
"Again, why are you being so helpful to me? What are you after?" she asked suspiciously.
He could not tell her the real reason why he wished to get close to her - that she was the first person in his memory for whom his Negative Emotions Sensing was not being triggered. Therefore, he just gave a simple answer:
"All I'm after is for you to reach your full potential. Farther's will, Darkseid's will, is my will too."
"That's all? Just because of that?" she asked with a doubtful look on her face.
"Well, there's also the side benefit of being friends with a cute girl, so there's that," Naruto said, smirking.
Kara could not fight off the traitorous smile that formed on her face at being called cute.
"Friends?" she asked, grinning.
"Friends," he answered.
As they shook hands, Kara and Naruto smiled. Seeing as neither could remember well their lives from before arriving on Apokolips, as far as they knew, they were each other's first friend.
AN: if any of you have not watched the animated movie [Superman/Batman: Apocalypse], I strongly suggest that you do. It's easily one of the best DC animated movies I've ever watched. Reasons to watch it:
- great, fast-paced action
- this movie has one of the most badass versions of Supergirl ever
- Supergirl's fight with Darkseid in that movie is just top-tier.
- Wonder Woman and Big Barda have some amazing moments in their battle against the Furies. The fight choreography in this movie is outstanding.
But if you're not in the mood to watch the entire movie, you could also just search on youtube "Supergirl vs Darkseid". Or "Wonder Woman vs Furies" to see their fighting scenes. Lastly, for those who wish to support me, you can find 2 extra chapters on ptr e on, at /grumpywolf. Until next time.
PS: I have started a new crossover story. Naruto/World of Warcraft. It is called [Orcbane]. Naruto/Sylvanas pairing.
As for those who wish for more Justice League content, I have 2 other fics:
- Emissary: Harry Potter/Power Girl pairing (+100k words so far)
- Caterpillar: Naruto/Wonder Woman pairing (+200k words).