Chapter 43 - Interlude

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Flash and more than a dozen other members of the Justice League were gathered together in the Hall of Justice - the uppermost room of the Watchtower.

It was a conference hall where the Justice League's upper echelons (the core members) would often meet to plan and discuss together strategies, actions and to assign duties to the other members of the league.

It goes without saying that it was one of the safest locations in the world - it was located in the very Watchtower of the Justice League, a satellite-like building in Earth's outer space. Furthermore, tens of metahumans that had taken the mantle of a hero were swarming the place every day, making anyone sane not even think about ever attacking the place.

However, at that moment, despite being in a place that was supposed to give everyone a feeling of safety, the members of the Justice League that were gathered in the Hall of Justice were not feeling safe at all. The reason for that was the man and the woman standing their midst.

''Holy shit, look at his view, Tea!''

The man was unabashedly ogling around and exclaiming like a child. In his defence, however, the sight in front of his eyes was out of a sci-fi movie. So beautiful that it felt surreal. As mentioned before, the Hall of Justice was at the very top of the Watchtower. On the lower level of the hall, there was a large U-shaped conference desk, while the upper level of the hall was equipped with computers and other machines whose technology was way, way above Earth's technology. But that was not all...to further cement the futuristic aspect of the place, excepting the sturdy metallic frame, the walls and even the ceiling of this circular room were made of glass. The view was spectacular, the planet Earth could be seen in all of its glory.

The man's companion, ''Tea'', was not any better. She flew up in the air and mashed her face against the glass ceiling, looking at the planet below in wonder.

''You've got to be kidding me! Are you telling me that that guy over there is the one that's been kicking your asses for the past 3 years? That...that moron?'' someone said incredulously as he pointed at the man in question who was at that moment poking with his finger at a device that created holograms as if he was expecting it to explode any moment then. The three whisker-like marks on his cheeks only made the scene funnier, giving him the look of a curious animal that saw technology for the first time in his life. It was none other than Naruto.

Naruto stopped his shenanigans and turned towards the one that had just spoken and Galatea also came down next to him.

''Would you look at that! Naruto, they've got another green flashlight!'' Galatea told Naruto in mock wonder, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The man in question glared at her raised his fist in the air, pointing at her.

''You have no idea who you're messing with, have you? I am a Green-''

''Hal, that's enough!'' John Stuart interrupted him, but the other green lantern was more than a bit dissatisfied.

''The power ring is the most powerful weapon in the universe. With my ring I could-'' the man named Hal began, only for Galatea to suddenly say:

''You and what power ring?' ...This one?'' she asked as she tossed a green power ring in the air as if it was a coin.

For a few good moments, Hal looked as if his brain had just had a short-circuit. He couldn't comprehend the situation. He was back in his civilian clothes and he kept touching the fingers of his right hand as if he was trying to convince himself that the ring really was not in his possession anymore.

'W-What the hell?! She was in front of me the entire time! How did she do it?!'

It wasn't only Hal Jordan that was stunned in disbelief, the other members of the Justice League became tense too. Except for Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman and Supergirl, the others had also not even sensed Galatea ever leaving her place.

Although Naruto was inwardly laughing at how she flicked the cockiness out of the new Green Lantern, he didn't show it outwardly. Gently tapping her on the shoulder, he said:

''We didn't come here to cause them trouble, Tea. We have a very important matter to discuss with them.''

The girl tsk-ed in annoyance.

''You're no fun.'' she said, almost showing a pout.

Lightly throwing the power ring back to its owner, she told him one last thing:

''Power ring or not, you still amount to nothing. That insufferable douchebag next to you is 2 times the fighter you'll ever hope to be.''

John Steward - he was the one standing next to Hall Jordan - frowned but knew better than to feed the figurative fire. He chose to stay silent.

Naruto palmed his own forehead.

'I wouldn't be surprised if a skirmish broke any moment now.' he complained to himself in chagrin.

But after a few weeks of living in the same house, he came to understand how unladylike her language could be at times. Orochimaru himself had tried to correct that habit of hers in the past but, suffice to say, he was proven to be unsuccessful.

After getting his ring back, Hal Jordan looked like he really wanted to say something, if the way his jaws were clenching was anything to go by. But, this time around, Martian Manhunter took the initiative to break the current mood and lead the conversation towards the matter at hand - the reason why they agreed to meet like that.

''Mr. Uzumaki, why don't we start discussing the reason why you wanted to meet us.''

''Before that though, I'd really love to know first how did you manage to survive that explosion.'' Wonder Woman said, looking at the two of them searchingly.

The others tacitly agreed with her question.

''First of all, the reason why I wanted to meet the Justice League, is to make an alliance-''

A clamour of voices suddenly burst from the members of the Justice League.

''After everything you've done..''

''With a criminal like you?!''

''What the heck?''

This and other similar shouts could be heard coming from the group of heroes. Even Superman found his words incredulous.

''You've killed hundreds of people until now... you've even killed members of the Justice League! Aquaman, Shazam, Hawkman, Red Tornado... they were all innocent! You want us to become friends with the one that killed them?!''

The other members also fell silent at his words. Superman was, after all, their leader and the words he spoke perfectly conveyed their thoughts as well.

But Naruto was not impressed in any way by their outburst.

''Innocent? Being a member of the Justice League automatically makes you a hero and thus innocent, huh? How convenient!'' he mocked. ''Was Aquaman innocent when he sank the USA's submarine, killing the tens of innocent people at its board?''

''What about your favourite martyr, Shazam? Was he also innocent?''

As he asked about Shazam, black lightning started to crackle around his left arm, making the air become filled with static energy.

''Do you see this black lightning?'' he said and showed them his hand. ''It was originally not mine. Almost 4 years ago when Shazam and I clashed for the first time, that fucker called the lightning down to strike me.''

''It's a miracle that I did not die back then. Are you telling me that he was also innocent despite that he tried to kill me? Because at that time I was not even a tenth of how powerful I am now. I was only a bit above normal humans. And Shazam's lightning was of a magical nature, more destructive than the natural one.''

Originally, Naruto would have had the potential to one day control all the 5 elements, to cast jutsus from all the 5 main branches of elemental ninjutsu. But when Shazam's lightning strike nearly killed him, his body's innate instinct of survival made it so the chakra within would absorb as much of the black lightning as possible, to protect the his flesh and bones from being incinerated. The end result was that although Naruto managed somehow to survive the ordeal, he became, in a sense, crippled. He could no longer cast any other elemental technique except for his now black lightning.

''I've said this before and I will say it once more - whoever tries to harm me or the ones I care about, will get killed. It's as simple as that. And you'd do well to remember that every time one of you suffered at my hands, it was because of your own actions - you were the ones that attacked me first, 4 years ago. A few months ago, on top of the Atlantic, it was also you who ganged up on me and tried to hunt me down. All I did was to respond in kind...or you thought that I was playing some sort of game? That the 'bad guy' would not dare to kill the 'good guy'?''

''We all got some dirt on us. Yourself included too, Superman. How many innocents did you kill in Metropolis City while you were supposedly mind-controlled or brainwashed a few years ago? What about Batman, while he was an assassin for the League of Shadows? What about Wonder Woman's actions in the 2nd World War? How many Germans fell at her blade? What about Green Arrow's former vigilante activity in Starling City?''

The members of the Justice League fell silent at Naruto's words. Most of them had no idea about Batman having been a subordinate of Ra's al Ghul in the past and just as many had no clue about Green Arrow's former actions in his city. After all, generally, the heroes did not intrude on each other's 'home turf' unless there was a threat that the local hero was unable to handle alone. That said, the other members of the League had no idea that more than a few people had already perished at Green Arrow's hands. Despite that they were corrupt criminals, if the Justice League knew about Green Arrow's action, he would definitely get arrested; the league did not compromise with murder no matter the reason. But then again, Green Arrow had been wise enough to stop his extreme actions before joining the league of superheroes. Naruto only knew of his past actions because of the dirt that Rupert Jones had managed to dig out.

Naruto's mood became taciturn and he didn't care about speaking anymore.

''Galatea, we're leaving.'' he said.

While some were confused about these words - how was he going to leave from a satellite in space - Batman's thoughts were different:

'Despite not looking like one, Uzumaki is a very careful person. He wouldn't have agreed to meet at the Watchtower if he hadn't had the means to escape in the case where things went south.'

As Naruto was about to press the button of a small transmitter, Batman suddenly spoke up:

''Wait!''

Naruto stopped. While he had no intention whatsoever to beg for the Justice League to accept his proposal, it was still in his interest for this alliance to come into existence. After all, he had given Doctor Fater his word.

''What's the purpose behind this alliance you want? I fail to see what would you have to gain from something like this.''

''Thanks to whatever deal you had made with Lex Luthor, you already have several hundreds of millions in your bank accounts. Furthermore, your sister is alive and healthy... You never showed any signs of caring about anything else besides these two things - money and your sister's well-being.'' Batman analyzed.

Galatea failed to hide a grin and it stretched her cheeks widely when she told Naruto:

''Basically, he's saying you're a simpleton. See? I'm not the only one who thinks that way.''

Naruto's left eye started to twitch at her words and Batman actually coughed awkwardly...which made Naruto nearly choke with his own spit.

'The fuck you're coughing for, bastard? You actually think that, don't you?!'

Naruto felt like yelling those words at him but if he started that, nothing else would be done that day.

'Some people really like to see the world burn.' was what he thought in his mind. Galatea appeared to be hell-bent on starting some sort of conflict. 'Look at her, she's totally itching for a brawl!'

Naruto huffed and glared at her, but chose to be the mature one this time around and did not take the bait.

''What I 'gain' as you put it has to do with how I managed to survive.''

''Originally, Galatea and I did not survive. Following that, more than half of the Justice League's members died, together with Moscow's entire population - over 10 million. Then, after a few months, an alien force invaded the Earth. Apparently, you, the surviving members, didn't stand a chance. You were all killed, except for one: Doctor Fate.''

''...are you saying that someone travelled back in time?!'' Flash suddenly shouted, his eye wide. He was the first one to understand what Naruto was talking about. After all, he knew very well what time travelling was like.

Naruto was surprised that someone accepted his words so readily.

''Doctor Fate did. He said that the future that he had lived in, came to be because of a wrong decision that he had made. Believe it or not - it's your choice - my death was the small pebble that triggered the avalanche. When the missile exploded, he had chosen to only teleport his group away, leaving Galatea, I and my companion to our death.''

''But at the end, he sacrificed his life to come back in time, and change the course of history.''

''Me wanting to 'make peace' with the Justice League is simply what I promised him. That's what he had wanted me to do in exchange for saving my life. He thinks that you will need my, and Galatea's help in the future. According to his words, the invasion coming in the following months is above anything Earth has ever faced before - even worse than the Thanagarian invasion from 2 years ago.''

''Oh hell, I was in prison back then, so I wouldn't really know how bad it was.'' Naruto shrugged.

After he finished his words, he snaked his arm around Galatea's waist, startling her. She nearly let out a yelp when he unexpectedly pressed her body flush against his chest and hugged with both of his hands in front of all those people that were looking at them.

As if he didn't just suddenly intimately embraced someone in front of a group of strangers when he spoke next, his voice appeared to be unperturbed:

''There's no need to decide right now. Take your time and think things over. However, I do expect to receive an answer after a week. And not receiving an answer at all is an answer in itself too. When you need to contact me, you can do it through Batman.''

Once he stopped speaking, he pressed on a small transmitter. Then, with a puff of smoke, they were gone.

The Justice League quickly started to search for them everywhere in the Watchtower. Superman activated his X-ray vision, Martian Manhunter did a telepathic scan and they even checked the surveillance cameras. But they were truly gone.

After receiving Naruto's radio signal, Kyuubi had reverse-summoned him right back into the living room of his home. The summoning contract worked both ways.

Scene break

A red-haired girl was sitting at a desk, studying. There were a dozen books piled up on it, of which half were opened. Once in a while, she was noting down, in a notebook, bits of the information she read. She had been at it for hours and the beginning of a headache was starting to affect her ability to concentrate.

A yawn escaped from her mouth and she raised her hands up to stretched her back...only for someone to suddenly grab them from behind! A panicked scream came from her and she jumped out to her feet, her eyes widened in fright. When she turned around, she didn't know whether to start yelling at the one that scared the living daylights out of her or to jump in their arms and hug the life out of them.

'You scared the shit out of me, asshole!' she yelled but her words did not match her actions: she jumped right at him with her arms wide-open. It was her brother.

'Where have you been this whole week? I've been worried sick about you!' she muttered, still not letting go of her hug.

'Putting where I've been to the side, what was with that gorilla-like scream from before?' he asked and started laughing at her disgruntled expression.

'Hmpf! Jerk!'

Still lightly bickering, Naruto and Misaki went into the living room and made themselves comfortable on the closest sofa next to the fireplace.

'Soo? You've been somewhere away for like a week, together with a particular, hot as hell blonde girl. I'm dying to hear more about it.' Misaki grinned and looked at her brother expectantly.

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

'You have no idea how weird is seeing a guy packed with muscles acting shy. Stop playing coy and tell me already!' she jeered and he couldn't help bursting into laughter at her words.

'We didn't leave because we wanted to have some private time together. Us becoming a couple was just... unexpected.'

Misaki's mischievous expression dimmed.

'Were you involved in what I think you were?'

Naruto didn't deny it but he didn't confirm her suspicions either. Since it passed and he was still alive and well, there was no point in making her worry about 'what could have been'. Instead, he changed the subject.

'What were you studying earlier?'

Misaki narrowed her eyes at him for changing the subject but did not press the matter. She was fully aware of what kind of world Naruto lived in. He surely didn't need someone to nag him when he finally managed to come back home. The girl let herself fall to the side and then placed her head in Naruto's lap. A content sigh came from her when he started to gently massage her scalp.

'Hey, don't fall asleep on me now, I missed you this week. I need my weekly dose of my little sister.'

Misaki's face reddened at his words but still couldn't help bursting into laughter.

'I feel ashamed for your embarrassment. How can you say such corny lines?!'

He grinned at her embarrassed expression and pinched her nose, making her swat at his hand in annoyance.

'I'm the corny one? Remember how you used to steal my food and when I would ask you why were you taking my plate when you had yours, you would say 'Onii-chan's food tastes better'.'

At this point, Misaki covered her face with her palms. Being reminded of that scene made her feel like wanting to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

But he did not continue to tease her about it. He went back to gently caressing her head. Eventually, her fluctuating emotions subsided and she looked up at Naruto. She was startled by how much emotion filled his eyes at that moment.

'I couldn't save grandpa.'

After being rescued by Doctor Fate, he did not let his emotions be seen outwardly. He did not want Galatea to worry about him. Instead, he focused on helping the Russian rioters break into Kremlin in Moscow. He was the one that took down the fortress' walls while Galatea neutralized their artillery.

But now that he was alone with sister, his grief threatened to escape from his control.

'I stopped caring about him once I thought that he had abandoned us...and when I found out the truth, it was too late.'

He felt guilty. But truthfully, there wasn't much he could have done. Who could have known that an apocalyptic nuclear missile would be dropped on their heads? To distract himself from his dark thoughts, he dressed his voice and asked his sister again:

'What were you studying when I came?'

'Law. By the end of January, I will have to go to Metropolis City to submit my application. I'm going to the University of Metropolis, the Faculty of Law.'

He looked at her in surprise.

'Sheesh, you couldn't have gone for something easier like... I don't know, psychology or geography.'

'Wait, what? Psychology is much harder than you think!' she retorted.

'Oh please. It's one of the fields where you can bullshit your way through the most. Even a high school dropout like me knows that.' he laughed. 'Anyway, why go to Metropolis City? Gotham University is just as famous.'

'That may be so, but Metropolis University is better for the field I'm choosing.'

'Hee~h. So you want to become a lawyer...'

Misaki hesitated. But then, she sat up from his lap and said while looking at him with a serious look in her eyes:

'Becoming a mere lawyer would be of no use for you. My aim is much higher than that.'

Naruto was about to ask her to clarify her words when the doorbell rang.

'Don't worry, sit there. I'll take it.' he said. Misaki was still not fully recovered. Not that he was at home, he wouldn't let her do any kind of meaningless effort if he could help it.

When Naruto exited the house and went to the gates, he was pleasantly surprised by who proved to be their guest. Said person was not any less surprised than him.

'Naruto?!'

'Mrs Inuzuka? What ar-'

Whatever he wanted to say was left unsaid as the woman brought him in a vigorous embrace, seemingly intent on snuffing the life out of him. When she saw the news of the nuclear missile's devastating explosion she had feared for the worst. She had thought that he was dead. Seeing him alive and well made her genuinely happy.

Scene break

While Naruto, Misaki and Mrs Inuzuka were catching up and having a nice time together, Galatea and Barbara Gordon were in a supermarket, shopping. Barbara was rubbing her hands rather nervously, unsure of how to interact with her. After all, it was only a few weeks ago that Galatea and Naruto killed a bunch of Justice League and Green Lantern Corps members. While she and Naruto were childhood friends and she trusted him not to hurt her, Galatea was just a stranger.

A stranger of whom she knew nothing about, someone that could be ranked in the top 5 of most dangerous individuals on Earth. They never really talked to each other before, and definitely, they've never been alone together - Galatea had only ever interacted with Naruto, choosing to avoid Barbara and Misaki.

Galatea was not oblivious to her distress.

'Do I make you uncomfortable?' she asked casually while picking up a shopping basket from the stacks at the entrance. 'No need to be scared.'

'Am I like an open book to her?' Barbara thought alarmed that she was being seen through so easily.

'You're unconsciously rubbing your hands together - a clear sign of stress or discomfort - and your heartbeats are erratic and quick. I was trained not only in physical combat but in psychological warfare too. Nothing extraordinarily advanced, mind you, but I know the basics; just enough to let me take advantage of any signs of weakness my enemy showed.'

Swallowing the node in her neck, Barbara also picked a shopping cart and started to walk next to Galatea.

'What brought this on?' Barbara asked. Seeing Galatea tilt her head at her, she clarified: 'You coming with me to the supermarket. Actually talking to me at all...'

'Ah!' the blond exclaimed in understanding. 'Well, I guess it's because I need your help. Before we get to that though, we shouldn't forget the reason why we came here.'

'R-Right!' Barbara said in embarrassment when she realized that she had completely forgotten that they came to buy groceries.

Looking on Barbara's phone over the list of things they needed to buy, she asked:

'Are we buying things for a specific food that you want to cook or it's mostly general things?'

'We're going to have homemade pizza!' Barbara said enthusiastically.

'Eeeh...you need so many ingredients just for making a pizza? This looks like a major pain to make. Why not just order pizza from somewhere?' Galatea asked bewildered.

Barbara threw a sidelong glance at her.

'Because it's a chance to show Misaki my love for her.'

'Expressing your love with food?'

Barbara giggled as she said:

'Misaki might not look like one, but she's a glutton. While ramen is her most favourited food, pizza is a close second. Making food for a glutton is the best way to get through their shell and reach their heart. This is especially true for men though.'

'And just buying it already done, does not have the same impact as something that you cooked yourself. Knowing that you put much time and effort into making food for them will make them appreciate it even more. They will understand that you care about them.'

Realizing how Galatea had been listening to her words with rapt attention, suddenly made Barbara feel self-conscious and she became flustered.

'So, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?'

The girls shared a brief chuckle and smiled at each other. From that moment onwards, Barbara seemed to forget about Galatea's real identity and started to treat her just like she would treat another girl of her age. Soon, the mood between the two of them became comfortable and they finished the shopping in no time.

On their way back home, as Barbara drove the black BMW that Naruto had bought for the family, Galatea said out of nowhere:

'Naruto and I are together now.'

Barbara nearly lost her control over the wheel and the series of angry honking sounds blared from the car behind them.

'WHAT?! WHEN? HOW?!' she all but yelled in surprise. 'Oh my god, does Misaki know? For how you've kept this a secret?'

The redhead shot one question after another, not giving the blonde any chance to answer. She was gushing and unconsciously stepped harder on the gas pedal, wanting to get home as fast as possible and let Misaki learn the big news.

'Get a hold of yourself, hothead!'

Barbara calmed a bit from her high but was still excited. Galatea started to speak again, continuing on the idea she started:

'I'm his girlfriend now but... I don't really know that much about what this kind of relationship entitles. I was raised in a military facility, trained to become the perfect weapon. Human relationships were, to put it elegantly, not an area of interest for my caretakers. A weapon was not supposed to socialize or fall in love with someone.'

Barbara's excitement died a bit when she noticed the bitterness in Galatea's voice. She understood then the reason behind the blonde approaching her and accompanying her to the supermarket today.

'So you think that interacting with me would help you learn how to behave like a normal girl...' Barbara concluded. 'I'm not sure that being normal is very important in the long run though?' she said uncertainly.

'Why is that?' Galatea asked in surprise.

'Um, even when he was a normal guy when he was younger, Naruto was not really as unpopular as he thinks he was. Sure, he was feared by everyone in his school, but they all knew how much he loved his sister. Because of how sweet he was to her every time, quite a few girls fantasised about him. You know, the bad boy that's an ass to everyone but the girl he loves trope~?'

'Err..'

Seeing how she lost Galatea somewhere midway, Barbara inwardly berated herself:

'Sheesh, of course, she doesn't know, she's like what - 4 years old now? She's never even had the opportunity to socialize with others before.'

'Um, what I wanted to get to is that Naruto could've gotten many girls had he wanted to. But he never even spared them a glance. Until he met you, Naruto had never been in a relationship. I think that it's a pretty clear sign that he doesn't really care about you 'not being normal' as you put it.'

Galatea kept silent for a while, mulling over her words.

'I think I will have to ask him directly what he likes at me.' was what the blonde concluded, making Barbara figuratively sweatdrop. 'But even if he doesn't really caring about whether I'm normal or not, I can't be like this forever.'

'When it comes to the mundane aspects of life...I'm not much better than a toddler.' Galatea said and a long sigh came out from the depths of her chest.

'I'm not doing this only to make him like me more. I'm also doing this for myself.'

'I want to develop as a human being too, not just as a human weapon. I want to grow up, to mature.'