Chapter 16: Church of Blood

"My lord, we have found the child."

A deep, dark laughter fills the chambers. It is filled with a joy that promises destruction and death. "So she has finally come out of hiding." His eyes glow red unable to contain his excitement. "Bring my future wife to me."

Break

Naruto places the kunai back into his pouch. "Sorry, I have previous plans."

Raven displays no emotion. "I am afraid that if my father is not stopped your entire world will be destroyed."

"If he is so powerful why come to me? The Justice League…"

"I went to them first," admits Raven. "Like you, they chose not to trust me due to my patronage. Once I failed to convince them, I decided to seek out other heroes with the power to help me. I cannot defeat him on my own."

The ninja is unable to sense any deception. But magic is a power that he understands very little. He can sense that she is strong in magic, perhaps even on the same level as Zatara. Judging by her power and lack of emotions, it is possible she is able to disguise her emotions even from his ability. "I work for the Justice League. If they are not willing to help than I will have to…"

A rise in killing intent causes Naruto and Raven to tense. Multiple individuals in black robes with crimson lining start to clamber onto the roof. There are fifteen in total that surround the two. In unison the cloaked individuals begin to chant. "The Church of Blood," states Raven. A mystic rune forms under Raven and Naruto. It rises up into a mystical cage that starts to shrink.

"Who are they?" asks Naruto.

Raven is almost unable to contain her emotions. She turns to face the young hero. Naruto stands with a bored expression on his face. He is not even the least bit concerned as the cage continues to shrink. His eyes glance at her waiting for an answer. "The Church of Blood is a cult that worships Trigon. It is their goal to resurrect my father," explains Raven.

"Do not worry, we have no desire to kill the daughter of Trigon. Our lord wishes to take you as his bride. Once you two are wed, he will have you sire a child of untold power," states one of the cloaked individuals.

"I will not be used to create more evil!" Raven begins to chant. "Azaroth Metrion Zinthos!" She thrusts her arms forward expelling a wave of black magic. The magic slams into the side of the cage. It stops the cage from shrinking for a second. The black magic is unable to destroy the mystical cage and vanishes. "The magic is too strong."

Naruto flashes through handseals. "Futon: Daitoppa!" A clap of the hands creates powerful gale force winds. The winds blow outward from the ninja. Members of the Church of Blood try to stand their ground, but are blown backwards interrupting their chant. The runic circle begins to vanish along with the mystic cage.

"Get up! Capture her!"

Raven rises high into the air. A wave of the hand launches several balls of black magic. Screams of pain come from several cult members. Naruto turns to see three cult members gathering various balls of elemental magic. He flicks his wrist releasing multiple shuriken that impale the cult members.

Together, Naruto and Raven begin to take out the cult members. The leader of the group watches as his fellow worshippers are taken down. None of them are strong enough to stand up to the two young wannabe heroes. A smirk appears on his face. Clasping his hands together, he begins to chant in ancient tongue.

"Azaroth Metrion Zinthos," chants Raven. A wave of black magic blasts the cult members off the roof of the building. She senses a rise in dark magical power. Spinning around, she turns to see one of the cult members chanting in an ancient demonic tongue. "No!" Raven gathers her magic and launches a wave of black magic at the cultist. A roaring inferno rises up blocking the magic. The inferno surrounds the cultist.

Naruto knocks out the last cultist before turning to face the new development. He stares at the rising inferno. The inferno dies away to reveal a creature that he had never laid eyes upon. It rises up to its full ten feet height. There is no skin on the creature just pink-red muscles that bulge obscenely. Instead of fingers there are razor sharp claws on its hands and feet that can shred metal. A roar emanates from the creature revealing teeth that would make a shark jealous. "My true form is revealed! Time to make all those that oppose my lord perish!"

Naruto crouches into a stance. "Care to explain?"

"It is a demon…a minion of Trigon," answers Raven. The demon walks over to a fallen cultist and picks them up. Opening its mouth wide like snake, it bites off the cultists head in a single bite. Naruto and Raven watch as the demon devours the cultist, clothes and all. A wide smile forms on the demon's face and it grows a bit larger. "A demon of Gluttony. The more it eats the more powerful it becomes."

"Food is power."

Raven hovers down next to Naruto. "We need to stop it." There is no point in giving a speech about what will happen should the demon roam free in the city. Both know the consequences if they fail to beat the demon.

Break

Zatanna nudges Artemis. "Don't go pouting on me again."

Artemis scowls, "I am not pouting." Zatanna raises an eyebrow. "I am worried about Naruto. He said it wouldn't take long."

"Yeah, I have heard that like a million times from my dad," smirks Zatanna. "Trust me, he never gets back on time. I mean come on, do the missions with the team ever go as planned?"

A sigh escapes the archer. "I guess that is true." Artemis came to the party to spend time with her friends, but not so secretly she wanted to spend more time with Naruto. Going to parties has never been her idea of fun, but she liked being with him. Heck, she even planned on dancing and spending as much as the night as possible flirting with her new boyfriend. After the party she planned to have a make-out session. He is her first boyfriend and she wanted to live it up. Batman completely ruined her plans.

"Are you really worried about him?" asks Zatanna.

"Not really," admits Artemis. "Naruto is one of the strongest people I ever met. He can probably even hold his own with various members in the League. It just sucks that he is not here."

Zatanna had thought as much. She had snuck into the mountain on several different occasion. One of the things she had done is brought up the sparring matches between various members on the team. Naruto had never lost a single match. He beat every member on the team. Superboy, Kaldur, Robin, Wally, Artemis, and Megan all lost. There were times when the members would team up on Naruto and still would not come close to winning or even landing a blow. She had even watched Naruto take out Black Canary with little to no problem at all. Naruto Uzumaki is a powerhouse. It is one of the reasons she was so fascinated with him. A flirty smile appears on her face. Like she said previously, she likes the strong, silent types. She plans to learn more about the mysterious blonde.

"Come on," Zatanna stands up. Artemis gains a curious expression. "I am tired of this party. How about we head back to base and find out what is keeping him so long?"

Artemis smirks, "that is the best idea you had all night."

"I am full of great ideas."

"Whatever."

Manhattan Park

Raven creates a bubble of black magic to protect herself from an explosion. The flames strike her shield and break around it. "I thought it was supposed to capture you." Naruto lands on a branch next to the girl.

"All it cares about now is feeding," states Raven.

Naruto watches as the demon walks through the flames without slowing down. It looks like he won't be using fire jutsu. Leaping into the air, he flashes through hand seals. His right palm slams down upon the ground. "Doton: Doryu Taiga!" The ground starts to turn into a river of mud.

"You think this can stop me?! I will devour you!"

Roaring, the demon shows off incredible strength as it manages to leap out of the mud. Naruto is already flashes through a new set of hand seals. His stomach begins to bulge. "Futon: Renkudan!" He punches his stomach spitting out a ball of condensed wind. A roar of pain erupts from the demon. The wind bullet drills into its chest spraying blood in all directions.

"Azaroth Metron Zinthos!"

A spark of black magic pierces through the demon's chest finishing it off. Naruto dusts of his pants. "It was weaker than I imagined." If he had known that it was that weak he would have dealt with it back on the roof.

"A lesser demon. It didn't have much time to gather power." Raven lands on the ground next to Naruto. "I assure you that Trigon will not be beat so easily. I am not sure that he can be beat at all. All that have tried to defy him have perished."

"Then why is he not here now?"

"Trigon needs a vessel and a special ritual to enter into each dimension. These requirements must be met otherwise he is bound to his own dimension."

Naruto walks over toward the demon. The demon turns its eyes on him. "Fool…no one can escape the wraith of Trigon…your world will fall!" Laughter erupts from the demon as its body combusts into flames. Soon nothing remains except ashes in the wind.

Raven comes up next to the ninja. "His words will ring true if Trigon is not stopped."

"Have you ever heard of a demon known as Kyuubi?" asks Naruto.

"Kyuubi?" Raven gains a pensive expression. "I am afraid not."

Naruto is disappointed to hear that, but doesn't let it show. "How do we stop Trigon from entering this dimension?"

"It takes a large amount of magic to perform the ritual to summon Trigon. There are few individuals with such power on their own so instead cults like the Church of Blood come together. One can also seek out powerful demonic artifacts to gain the power needed," explains Raven. "The Church of Blood is not to be underestimated. We should gather allies."

"How long do we have until Trigon is raised?"

"It will not be long. Even now I can feel his power poisoning this dimension."

The ninja scratches the back of his head. Taking on a demon is no small feat. As much as he would like to do this on his own, the last time he tried to take on a huge source of power on his own it almost ended up with him in a bad situation. He is referring to Infinity Man. Sphere is the reason that he managed to survive that fight. "Can you track the Church of Blood?" asks Naruto.

Raven shakes her head. "No, they have found ways to block my tracking spells."

Naruto glances at Raven. "We need to find the Church of Blood." He knows that the best person to track down a dangerous cult is Robin. The problem is that he doesn't know where to find the Boy-Wonder. Robin and Aqualad both turned down the invitations to the Halloween Party. "I am going to have to call in a favor."

Mount Justice

In a flash of light, Artemis and Zatanna enter the cave. A familiar pair of voices fills the air catching their attention. "Church of Blood? I have never heard of them," says Canary.

"I have," says Arrow. He types rapidly on the consul. Various clippings of newspapers articles spring up around the two League members. "Batman had a run in with them a few years ago. As fanatic and lethal as the Cult of Cobra. They are not as open in their activities, but are obsessed with ritual sacrifices and serving some demon overlord."

Artemis and Zatanna silently listen in on the conversation. Their eyes widen when Naruto's face appears on a monitor. "I had a run in with a group of them not long ago. It was an easy enough fight until one of their members used magic to transform into a demon." The screen shifts over to show a bird's eye view of a destroyed park. Police officers and firefighters are in the area dealing with the damage. "The demon spoke about the Rise of Trigon before turning into ashes. I believe that there will be more attacks."

Canary folds her arms across her chest. "Interesting."

Green Arrow strokes his goatee. "I guess that the girl from earlier might not have been lying."

"Girl?" mouths Zatanna to Artemis. A shrug comes from the archer.

"Unfortunately, we don't have much information on them." Green Arrow begins to type at a slower pace. "The most recent information we have on them is from a month ago. An informant, the Question, reported strange mystic activity in Central City. Hawkwoman and Hawkman checked it out, but it was a dead end. Not even sure that the Church of Blood was involved, but it had similar readings to their activities in Gotham according to Batman."

Canary peers at Naruto with a knowing expression. "Is she with you now?" Naruto doesn't say a word, but the image zooms out a bit to reveal a second person next to him. "I thought as much."

"Who the hell is that?"

Zatanna smacks her forehead. Artemis groans realizing she blurted that aloud. Green Arrow turns his head with a smirk. "I see we are going to have to work on staying hidden." Cursing, Artemis walks forward with Zatanna a step behind.

A sigh escapes Canary. "I'll deal with you two later." She turns back to Naruto. "There is…"

"I already know that she is not completely human and that she might be a possible threat. If she tries anything I will bring her in," interrupts Naruto.

"Kid sounds like the Bats," mumbles Arrow.

"Send me the coordinates and I'll head over to Central City. If I find anything I will contact the League," says Naruto.

Canary presses a couple buttons. "Coordinates sent. I have also programmed the Zeta Tubes to allow for a temporary guest."

"Naruto out."

The screen vanishes. Canary and Green Arrow turn to face the two spies. "What have we told you all about interfering in League matters?" frowns Canary.

"Technically, Naruto is part of the team so it is not League…"

"Don't get smart with me, Zatanna. You are not on the team or in the League so this goes double for you."

Zatanna falls silent. "I think I have the right to know what is going on with my boy-teammate," says Artemis.

Green Arrow chuckles in amusement. "I am sure that is the reason." Artemis glances away with a light blush. Zatanna cracks a smile knowing that her friend was caught. "Every time a problem arises, we don't call on the team or even the League to handle it. The team and the League were created to handle the big problems. Ones that can't be done solo or in some cases, shouldn't be. Smaller issues like these are taken care of by one or two individuals at the most. Do you think I call in help every time there is a crime in my city?"

Canary stares straight at Artemis. "When on the job, personal feelings must be put aside." Artemis refrains from making a comment or meeting Canary's eyes.

"I know I am not part of the team or the league, but it seems like you two don't really trust the person that was with Naruto," points out Zatanna. "If she really is dangerous, shouldn't there be someone to help him? I mean, he is about to chase down a cult that can summon demons. The last thing he needs is to worry about some strange girl attacking him too."

The two League members share a look. "Zatara will kill us," states Arrow.

"It won't be the first time and she does make a valid point," sighs Canary. "Alright, suit up…" In a burst of magic, Zatanna and Artemis are in their gear.

"Ready," smirks Artemis. Zatanna winks.

Central City

Raven increases her speed barely able to keep up with Naruto. Usually, the ability to fly gives one an advantage when it comes to traveling. This is not the case. Naruto is leaping from roof to roof at speeds that surprise the magic user. He moves with such grace and elegance. It is like he is one with the wind.

Naruto lands on the ledge of the roof and pauses. "The building up ahead," he states. Raven hovers down next to him. Her eyes travel ahead to see a ten story building. It is in pretty good shape. "It used to be an office building for a small company. The company was bought out a couple years ago by the Luthor Corporation and the building has been empty ever since." Naruto is reading the information from the holo-communicator on his left arm. The device is identical to the one that Robin has, though without the hacking abilities.

"I can sense dark mystic energy," says Raven. A wave of the hand sends a ball of black magic at the building. A purple-black magical force field appears around the building absorbing the magic.

"Is there any weak points?" asks Naruto.

"I may be able to open a small hole in the shield, but they will know that we are coming."

Giving away the element of surprise doesn't sit well with the ninja. He had been hoping to find a way to sneak inside, subdue the hostiles, and make it back in time to enjoy the Halloween Party. "How long will it take you to open a hole?"

Raven gains a pensive expression. "The mystic shield is designed to resist my magic. It will take me time to weaken it."

"It isn't designed to resist my magic."

Naruto and Raven turn around. "What are you two doing here?" he asks.

Zatanna sends the ninja a flirtatious smile. "You don't sound happy to see us. I'll have to change that," she winks.

Artemis ignores Zatanna. "Canary and Arrow thought you could use some back-up." Her eyes drift towards Raven. A small bit of killing intent is released by Artemis. Raven senses the negative emotions, but is not intimidated. She is used to such feelings being directed at her.

"Raven, Zatanna, get to work on opening a hole in that barrier."

Break

"My Lord, we have intruders."

A chuckle fills the darkness. "I am aware." Crimson eyes glow brightly in excitement. "It looks like my bride decided to come to me of her own free will."

The man in purple robes keeps his head lowered. "What do you wish for us to do?"

A silence fills the large room. It seems like an eternity before the master answers. "Start the ritual. I will make sure that our guests receive a proper welcome."

Break

Naruto comes up beside Artemis. "Is everything alright?" He can tell that she is upset. Unlike him, Artemis tends to wear her emotions on her sleeves.

Artemis folds her arms across her chest. "I am fine."

"You do remember I can sense when people are lying?"

"…"

A silence develops between them. She tears her eyes away from Raven and Zatanna to face her boyfriend. "Why didn't you call me in for back up? I could have helped from the beginning."

The ninja tilts his head. "Do you know anything about the Church of Blood?"

"…No."

"Then what would have been the point of calling you in for back-up? You know as much as I do."

"That is not the point."

"What is the point?"

"I am your girlfriend!" Artemis throws her arms down. "We are supposed to be there for each other. If you need help I should be the first person for you to call."

A frown forms on his face. "I can't accept that." She feels her anger rising. "In order to succeed in a mission I need to make rational decisions. Calling you in for backup just to make you happy would be a mistake."

"Are you saying I can't help?"

"On certain missions, yes." Artemis is about to explode. "There are missions I am no help in either. We all have strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn't take it personally," states Naruto.

Artemis scowls, "whatever."

Zatanna interrupts the two. "Hey, we are about to break through!" Naruto walks past Artemis. Angrily, she follows him. Raven and Zatanna are chanting in different tongues. Their arms are pointed at the building with palms outward. Magic bursts from their palm connecting with the mystic barrier. A hole begins to open up growing larger and larger. "Hurry!" grits Zatanna.

"Kage Bunshin!"

Two Naruto pop into existence in identical clouds of smoke. Zatanna, Raven, and Artemis are picked up bridal style by Naruto and his clones. All three Naruto leap from the roof straight through the hole. Naruto kicks the window and turns his body so none of the glass hits Artemis. They land inside the building just as the hole closes.

Raven and Zatanna are lowered to their feet and the clones burst into smoke. Artemis angrily hops out of Naruto's arms. "Solid clones huh? What else can you do?" smiles Zatanna.

"The ritual has begun," says Raven. "It is down below."

"Good, I need to punch something," Artemis leads the way towards the elevator. Upon reaching the middle of the room, a runic circle appears on the ceiling. Artemis notches an arrow. Zatanna and Raven prepare to cast spells. Naruto waits patiently. Magic flares throughout the room blasting away the desks and computers. Imp-like creatures with ugly putrid purple skin, horns, and claws begin to materialize out of thin air.

A six foot tall muscular demon with crimson skin enters the room. "Kill them!"

Artemis notches an arrow. "Eat this!" The arrow sails true striking an imp and exploding blasting two others next to it.

"Azaroth Metron Zinthos!"

"Erif nrub, nordlauc elbbub," incants Zatanna.

Three imps are set on fire. A wave of black magic blasts another two imps into a column. Naruto channels lightning natured chakra through his kunai. He bursts forward decapitating four imps in a single go. The rule among heroes is usually not to kill, but these are demons with no humanity in them at all. There is no redemption or rehabilitation for such creatures.

"I can feel your greed for power! It is intoxicating!" The leader of the demons marches towards Artemis. It dodges several arrows and leaps at the girl. Artemis rolls out of the way avoiding a punch that broke through the floor.

"Eat this!"

Artemis shoots an arrow that explodes releasing a net. The demon slices through the net and charges towards the archer. She fires two more arrows that explode on contact. Out of the smoke the demon continues to charge forward. "Azaroth Metron Zinthos!" Black magic surrounds the demon lifting it into the air then banishing it into the far wall.

Raven floats over towards Artemis. "The demon feeds off emotions."

Out of the rubber emerges the demon. "There is no denying one's true feelings. Greed is everywhere!" The demon begins to bulk up.

A pair of lightning infused kunai pierce the demon's chest. A roar of pain erupts from the demon as the lightning travels through its body electrocuting it. The demon falls to its knees. Naruto steps forward with his usual calm expression. "Do you really think you can defeat me with such weak weapons?" Smirking, the demon rips out the kunai letting blood spray freely from the wounds. It stands up with an arrogant expression. "Hiding your emotions is not the same as not having…wait, where is your greed?"

Raven stares at Naruto with surprise on her face. "He possesses no greed? All humans possess such emotions."

Naruto draws a new pair of kunai. This time instead of lightning natured chakra, he channels wind natured chakra through them. An invisible blade of wind extends six inches outward from each kunai. He crouches down low. "What reason do I have to be greedy? I have everything I want and need." At speeds none of them are able to follow. Naruto appears behind the demon. "I suppose I do have a bit of greed though. I really want to finish this new jutsu I am working on."

"Im…possible…"

Blood sprays from six slash wounds. The demon erupts into flames. Naruto returns the kunai to his pouch. "So hot," whispers Zatanna.

Artemis glances away not wanting to admit that she found it to be pretty damn sexy. She is trying to stay mad at him. Raven on the other hand stares at Naruto. 'It is not that he doesn't possess such emotions it is that the demon was unable to feed off them. How is that possible?'

"Need to keep moving," says Naruto.

Mount Justice

"Staring at me is not going to change anything."

"Remind me to never trust you again," glares Zatara.

Green Arrow steps between the two. "Ok, let's all calm down." He puts up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Zatara, I highly doubt anything is going to happen to your little girl. I know you have trained her well."

Zatara calms down a bit. "She is not ready to go on missions."

"Or maybe you are not ready to give her a chance," counters Canary. "I have seen it in her eyes. She is going to walk the same path as you. Best she learns the difficulties of it now."

Church of Blood

Zatanna takes a small cut across her left arm. An incantation blasts the feminine demon backwards. "Is there an end to these things?" She winces. Muttering an incantation, bandages appear out of thin air wrapping snuggly around the wound.

A dozen spikes of black magic spear the various Lust Demons. Screams erupt from the Lust Demons as they burst into flames. Artemis fires several arrows up at the ceiling. The arrows explode making parts of the ceiling drop down upon a couple Lust Demons. "I am really getting tired of these demons," scowls Artemis.

Raven lands next to Naruto. "The ritual is in the room up ahead. Trigon's evil presence…"

"I feel it too." Naruto has sensed it since entering the building. It reminds him of the first time that he met with Kurama. Pure malice and hatred. The only problem is that it feels a great deal stronger. That does not bode well. "I've noticed none of the demons are attacking you. Either you serve a purpose in the ritual or do I need to take care of you?"

"The decision is up to you," says Raven.

Naruto glances at Raven. "I can't risk it. I want you to leave the building and do not come back. If we fail to stop the ritual, contact the League and label it an omega level threat. It won't be ignored this time around."

"I understand."

A black portal opens up behind Raven. Raven hovers backwards into it and disappears. Artemis watches as Naruto runs ahead. The archer lowers her bow. She had heard the entire conversation between the two. Without hesitation, Naruto sent away a teammate.

"I can't accept that. I need to be able to make rational decisions while on a mission."

"Artemis!" Zatanna runs over to her friend. "We need to get going!"

Artemis nods, "right!"

Naruto leaps onto a stair railing. He looks down to see an entire floor cleared out. Two dozen individuals in purple robes are in a circle. All of them are chanting in a language he doesn't recognize. In a single leap, he lands behind two cloaked individuals. The two cloaked individuals drop to the ground knocked out cold from chops to the back of the neck. "Futon: Daitoppa!" A clap of the hands create powerful gale force winds that blast the members of the cult in every direction.

A demonic laughter fills the air. Naruto turns to the source of the sound. Out of the shadows emerges a figure reeking of evil. The man stands at an impressive six foot five inches wearing an animal skull over his head with the teeth framing his face. His outfit consists of a blood red cape over a skin tight blue outfit with a red demon skull drawn on the chest. "I had thought that it was Trigon's daughter that I sensed, but this whole time it was you who possessed the power I sought," smirks the man.

"Ever heard of a demon called Kyuubi?" asks Naruto.

"Kyuubi?" The man gains a thoughtful expression. "The Nine-Tailed Fox…I have not heard of such a demon. There was a demon known as the Ten-Tailed Beast, Juubi. Not as powerful as Trigon, but worthy of mention."

Naruto doesn't recognize that name. 'Juubi?' Kurama never spoke of a ten-tailed demon. As far as he knew Kurama was the most powerful with nine-tails.

"If you are truly interested in learning about demons, there is no better teacher then I. Swear allegiance to me, Brother Blood, and I shall set you down a proper path," smirks the man.

"I'll give you the option to surrender."

Brother Blood smirks in amusement. "A pity, I had no intention to harm such a valuable asset. Oh well, I will do whatever it takes to raise my master." Demonic, mystical energy begins to swirl around Brother Blood. Naruto leaps backwards to avoid a few loose waves that rip apart the floor. "Rise Demons of Trigon!"

The magic begin to open up several runic portals. Out of the portals emerge three large demons. One of the demon is seven feet tall and extremely overweight. A second demon is purple with feminine curves, standing at eight feet tall, and radiating waves of lust. Lastly, a third demon standing at ten feet tall with large bulging muscles stomps forward. "Kill him," smirks Brother Blood. "I have a ritual to complete."

"I don't think so!"

"Time to give it up!"

Zatanna and Artemis run into the room. Brother Blood chuckles, "kill them as well."

"Artemis, herd them together!" orders Naruto. "Zatanna, I need water. Lots of water." He begins to toss a barrage of kunai and shuriken at the demons.

Artemis finds a good spot at the top of the floor. Taking aim, a smile appears on her face as she begins to fire arrow after arrow. Arrows impact the floor at the feet of the demon. The explosions cause the demons to stumble backwards. "Niar ti tel ot evoba morf sdoulc eht nommus I!" incants Zatanna. Crackling of thunder fills the air. Storm clouds begin to form in the air above. Soon enough it begins to rain heavily. "I hope this is enough." Zatanna runs out of the rain not wanting to get caught in whatever crazy technique Naruto had planned.

Brother Blood breaks concentration as the cold rain pelts his body. "Such weak spells shall not stop the rise of Trigon!"

It rains so hard that a lake begins to form. Artemis is forced to take cover. "Does he really need all this rain?"

Naruto walks on top of the water. He flashes through hand seals. "Suiton: Suigadan!" Six spinning drills of water rise up impaling the demons. The demons roar in pain as they fall face first into the water. A frown forms on Naruto's face. The demons do not burst into flames like the other ones. Instead, they bleed like humans. There is so much blood that the water is beginning to turn crimson.

"Yes…yes!" Brother Blood raises his arms up. The blood of the demons begin to rise up taking various shapes.

"Manipulating blood that is really dark magic," gulps Zatanna.

The blood begins to swirl around Naruto. He is about to try to escape when a vision of a certain demon with nine tails appears in front of him. "Kurama?" Naruto barely avoids being impaled by several tails. An arrow sinks into the demon's head. It explodes blasting blood in every direction. Naruto makes a mental note to thank Artemis once the battle is over.

Artemis barely avoids a barrage of blood bullets. A scream escapes the girl as two pierce her right leg. She falls forward. A blade of blood forms above her. It shoots downward intent on impaling her. "Azaroth Metron Zinthos," Black magic wraps around Artemis pulling her out of the way.

Brother Blood turns to face the newcomer. "My lovely bride has arrived! Come to me, Raven!"

Raven gently lowers Artemis to the floor. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" Water rises up taking the form of a dragon. It roars loudly before charging at Brother Blood. A protective wall of blood rises up protecting Brother Blood. The dragon slams into the water with great force. Brother Blood's eyes widen as cracks start to form. Gritting his teeth, he pours more power into the wall of blood. The wall barely manages to hold out.

'Good thing I had Zatanna create water. It is far less draining on my chakra to use water jutsu,' thinks Naruto.

"Do you really think you can beat me? I serve the greatest demon lord in all dimensions!" laughs Brother Blood.

"But his power is not your power," replies Naruto. Brother Blood is unable to keep up with the hand seals. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" The water rises up and begins to swirl around into a large vortex. Horror fills Brother Blood. He tries to control the blood in the water, but the water is moving so fast. It slams into cult leader carrying him straight into the wall. So powerful is the vortex that it destroys the wall.

Naruto walks over to the large hole in the side of the building. "Too much power," mutters the ninja. He had thought that Brother Blood would attempt some type of defensive magic. Looks like he overestimated the cult leader. Or Brother Blood underestimated the ninja's power. On the plus side, he defeated Brother Blood and prevented Trigon from entering this dimension. On the downside, he lost a chance to capture the fanatic cult leader.

Raven lands next to Naruto. "Trigon was prevented from entering this realm today, but I fear he will try again."

"It seems like most people in this world are too dumb to realize when beaten," says Naruto. He turns around heading towards Artemis and Zatanna. Artemis is leaning on Zatanna for support. Naruto walks up to Artemis and surprise the girl by picking her up bridal style.

"Naruto?"

"The mission is over. It is time to go back to the cave," says Naruto.

Artemis lowers her head. "Listen, about earlier…" He pauses to look down at her. "I am sorry. You were right."

Naruto continues to carry Artemis. "I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Yeah, I get that now." Artemis cracks a small smile. "This is the best Halloween I have had in a long time. I could have gone without the being shot though."

Amusement dances in Naruto's eyes. "My first Halloween so I have nothing to compare it to, but it wasn't so bad."

Zatanna and Raven walk behind the two. "So what was your name again?"

"Raven."

"Zatanna, nice to meet you." Raven keeps a stoic expression. Zatanna is not in the least bit disturbed by the lack of emotions. "Thanks for helping us back there."

"You are welcome."

Mount Justice

"What happened to Brother Blood?"

"I had a couple of my clones search for his body, but was unable to find him. I am sure he is alive," reports Naruto.

Batman gives a stiff nod. "And the girl?"

"She left after we hit the Zeta Tubes," answers Zatanna. "Not much of a talker."

Naruto elaborates, "Raven was not a threat. She proved to be an ally and as such, I saw no reason to bring her in."

Canary smiles proud of that decision. "You made the right call." Her eyes drift over towards the Dark Knight. "The Justice League doesn't have the right to detain anyone that doesn't break the law." Batman remains silent not agreeing or disagreeing with her claim. "All of you head home." Naruto and Zatanna take their leave.

A sigh escapes Zatanna. "I just know my dad is going to kill me."

"I hope not, you are a useful ally," says Naruto.

Zatanna smirks, "is that so? Like having me around do you?" Naruto nods. Smirking, she leans forward giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, I like being on the team too." With a wave she head into the Zeta Tube and disappears in a flash of light.

Naruto scratches the back of his head. He had a feeling that there was more to Zatanna's comment then he was able to understand. Girls are harder to read then he thought.