Chapter 21 - Second Step

Just as the lightning was about to descend for the 8th time, a fire started to burn inside Naruto's despairing heart. After everything that happened in his two lives, he was going to die just like that? Was there some sort of twisted god above that took it as his personal job to make his life hell?

In that instant, before the lightning struck, in the eve of his death, time seemed to have frozen over for Naruto, just like years before, when he had been about to drown in the river. In the present time though, it wasn't the memories of his past life that began to flash past his eyes...no, first and foremost, it was Misaki Uzumaki that appeared in his vision: from the small girl that cried pitifully because of the harsh training of their grandpa, to the young woman that was being kept in an artificial coma, immersed into a tank, just like a lab experiment.

Even so...

'She is alive...'

Those three words made his exhausted chakra heart throb painfully.

'Misaki is alive!'

A hurricane of feelings flooded him. He wanted to see her smiling happily. He wanted to hug his 'little' sister, to tease her and spoil her, just like he used to do it before all the time. And lastly, but not in the least, like a venomous snake, a burning desire of revenge made him seethe with rage. It was this twisted mix of feelings that him scream in anger and defiance.

His dying chakra heart convulsed in exertion. But he paid it no mind. It was going to be then or never!

A blinding flash of light transformed everything into a world of white. A deafening thunder followed afterwards, like the sky itself had been smashed apart by a wrathful deity's club.

When the light died down, a smoking crater was left in the place where Naruto's body had once laid...

'T-That was close!'

Gasping for air laboriously, Naruto was barely keeping onto his consciousness. Somehow, right before the 8th lightning bolt struck, he had managed to use the Kawarimi jutsu. A banal technique that 10 year old children used to learn in his past life at the Shinobi Academy just saved his life!

Naruto breathed out in relief. But that feeling did not last for more than a second and a frown crept up on his face.

'What's with this shit? What the hell did just happen?!'

That series of lightning strikes came out of nowhere. He had no idea what could have caused them.

'Is the lightning going to strike again?' said Naruto to himself as he looked at the sky fearfully.

But, to his immense relief, the winds began to die down and, just as sudden as the clouds covered the sky previously, just as fast they disappeared. The crystal blue sky that appeared after 2 minutes made it seem as if everything had been just a dream, as if that tribulation of lightning had never happened.

Filled with relief, Naruto felt the sand move under his feet... he fell to the ground unconscious. Performing the Kawarimi technique, a few moments before, had required everything of him, every ounce of mental and physical strength.

The ground shuddered at the impact of Naruto's heavy body falling. But then, an eerie silence instilled. Not only Naruto had fallen unconscious, it seemed that Lex Luthor had also passed out from the hellish pain of having had his tibia smashed into pieces.

The moment Naruto lost his consciousness, the air near one of the helicopters seemed to become blurred. A silhouette appeared from thin air - it was a plump teen, with two large front teeth and small black eyes. He was bleeding profusely from his thigh from the splinters that resulted after the lightning-coated pebble thrown by Naruto into a tree had exploded near him.

The young metahuman looked at the prone form of Naruto, shivering, still shocked at the carnage he witnessed. But he forced his mind to calm down.

He was, after all, one of the most brilliant minds USA has ever produced. The only reason he was in a prison island instead of being used by the government for his brain, was his very elusive ability of turning invisible - he would be too hard to control otherwise. That being said, his mental discipline was so formidable that he could, for a while, even make his brain stop perceiving the pain from his bleeding thigh, let alone suppress some feelings.

He glanced, at first, at the 4 helicopters. His first thoughts had been to just jump into one of them and get himself out of the island...

'But what comes after that? Living on the run and hiding myself from not only the government, but from other criminal organisations as well?'

For someone like Rupert Jones, it was impossible to live a normal life. His abilities made him too much of a game-changer for the government to leave him be or for the criminals to let him live his life in peace.

Rupert turned his eyes from the helicopters to the still unconscious Naruto. During his stay there, many rumours circulated about him on the island...that he had fought all by himself against the Justice League and defeated most of them. That he had broadcasted himself torturing the psychopath Joker to death. And that he had done all of that just because he wanted to avenge his sister...not many of them had bought these rumours as being true. But after seeing what had just transpired, all of Rupert's doubts vanished.

During his stay on the island, Rupert had also noticed that Naruto was not like the others. He didn't bother anyone, unless provoked, and he wasn't one to oppress the weak like other powerful metahumans on the island did - raping the weak prisoners, taking all the food for themselves or making others grovel in front of them... Naruto had always minded his own business.

A thought was born in Rupert's mind:

'What if I were the one to save Uzumaki Naruto's life? Maybe...just maybe, he would return the favour...'

Rupert didn't want much. He only wanted to live an ordinary life...to be safe. And someone as powerful as Uzumaki Naruto could offer him that. Moreover, Naruto seemed to not be an evil criminal - Rupert would be perfectly content with working for someone like him instead for a criminal organisation or to become the government's dog.

Rupert glanced then at the only other person alive on the island besides Naruto and him: Lex Luthor.

'If I take Uzumaki Naruto with me, I will have to take the bald millionaire as well. He is, after all, Uzumaki's money bag and his ticket to freedom. And the happier Uzumaki is, the higher are the chances for him to take my offer.'

The fatty went to Naruto first. He grabbed the blonde by his arms, trying to lift him up...only to feel his own spine almost breaking.

"Sweet Jesus!" he couldn't help shouting, letting go of Naruto.

'What is his body made of?!'

It was too heavy for him to lift even Naruto's arms, let alone the rest of his body.

Rupert laid on the ground helplessly. His only option was to wait for the blonde to wake up. With this thought in mind, the fatty limped his way to one of the mangled corpses and ripped a piece of cloth that was not stained by blood - an action that actually proved to be quite a difficult task considering the fashion in which all those metahumans had been slaughtered.

After mending the wound on his thigh as well as possible, the fatty headed towards the building containing the mess hall. The entire island was now covered in tree-sized bones and Rupert had to suppress again a shudder of terror as he passed through the bones. Reaching the destroyed kitchen, he grabbed a bowl and, in spite of his wound, his fear made him almost run on his way back.

A while later, holding a bowl filled with seawater, the fatty returned to Naruto in order to wake him up somehow. But, as if there had not been enough abnormalities taking place in the last few hours, another thing happened: treads of light began interweaving around Naruto's body, wrapping him in a manner similar to that of cocoon.

The poor fatty dropped the bowl to the ground helplessly as he took in the scene. One thought was occupying his mind in that moment - that maybe, just maybe, he bit off more than he could chew.

Scene break

She was in her second year of college. That's basically the time when a people enjoy their life to its fullest...parties, friends, the stress before the exams and the immense relief following after passing them. It is the most colourful period of one's life.

...At least this how it is for most of the people... There will always be exceptions. And Barbara Gordon was one.

Misaki Uzumaki

18 years old

Loving sister of Naruto Uzumaki and granddaughter of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

It was a simple grave, with a simple, square-cut stone. Of course, Misaki's body was not resting in there. But it was a nice gesture made by the mayor of Gotham: a special place was built close to the centre of the city where a few hundred of people were symbolically buried - all the victims that died in the tragedy caused by the Joker two years before.

Kneeling in front of the stone, tears began to pour from Barbara's eyes. Today was the day when the tragedy was caused by Joker two years before.

As she stood there crying, the memories from two years ago, began to resurface into her mind.

That day, the limousine that picked up Misaki from her home, also picked up Barbara. It had been their plan to make their entrance with style, to - as they say - steal the light from everyone.

However, two minutes before reaching their destination, Barbara received a text message from an unknown mobile number, on her secret mobile phone - Something is wrong. Do not board the yachts. Please come home immediately.

Back then, she didn't know who was it. But she didn't dismiss the text as a joke. After all, it was received on a number that only she and her father knew. It was used only in those times of emergency.

However, now that she was who she was, Barbara knew that back then it had been Batman that sent that message on her secret phone. The Dark Knight had realized that something was about to happen and he decided to warn the daughter of his old friend, commissioner Gordon, about the danger.

Back then, she hurriedly asked the driver to stop the car, which, despite his confusion, he did. Barbara tried to find a plausible explanation to give Misaki but she couldn't. What could she have said? – "I've got an anonymous text message warning me that something might be wrong."?

In the end, Barbara couldn't help but let an angered Misaki leave and helplessly watched as her stubborn friend got back into the limo...going without her, towards what was supposed to be the most grandiose party of their lives.

As she was crying in front of the gravestone, Barbara didn't notice the arrival of another person.

"Hey, Batgirl!"

The voice of the newly arrived person startled her. Hurriedly, she wiped her tears away and turned.

Baby-blue eyes, straight and silky blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back and the body of a fitness addict. She was gorgeous. Her attire consisting of a blue skirt, a blue cape and a white shirt with a large S imprinted on its chest made it clear who was she - Supergirl.

"Oh, hey!" Barbara tried to squeeze out a smile.

"I've been looking for you everywhere...this was the last place I expected to find you in." Supergirl said as she looked around.

Noticing the flowers at the base of the gravestone, Supergirl asked softly:

"You lost someone that day as well?"

"Yes."

Supergirl glanced at the name elegantly carved on the gravestone.

"Misaki Uzumaki... Uzumaki ... Oh My God! Is... Is she the person I think she is?" Supergirl almost yelled.

Barbara nodded and she said quietly:

"Yes. She was his sister. The one for whose sake Uzumaki Naruto caused the Massacre from Arkham Asylum two years ago."

Hearing those words was like a revelation for Supergirl.

"Were you close to him?"

"Not really. Naruto never had any actual friends apart from his sister. He had always been that Boogey Man that scared away anyone that tried to get anywhere close to his sister." Barbara said and she found herself smiling sadly at the memory of the overprotective brother.

"You have no idea how much he loved her, Kara..." Barbara continued. "I heard from Batman that, after their grandfather's death, Naruto fought, as an ordinary human, in a cage fighting tournament against even metahumans, just so he could offer Misaki the same luxury she had been used to when their grandfather was alive..."

"I had not been very close to Naruto but, as his sister's childhood and best friend, I was being cared for by him as well. I am well aware that my high school life had been as peaceful as it is, not just because my father's position in Gotham, but because of Naruto as well..."

Supergirl looked at Barbara in amazement.

"Wow! I had no idea you grew together with that monster!"

"Kara!" Barbara rebuked in indignation.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to call him a monster...haha. It's just that.. Look, the things you just told me about him are completely different from the image I have of him." Supergirl said as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

Barbara sighed in defeat.

"It's ok, your reaction is understandable..."

A few moments of silence passed. Eventually, Supergirl asked:

"Your childhood friend, you still miss her, don't you?"

"That's an understatement... there is no day passing without me thinking about my dear Misaki at least once."

"Really that much?!" Supergirl asked more than a bit shocked. It was normal to grieve a dear friend's death but to still think so much about them even after two years – every day at that – was not normal by any means.

"Of course I do..." Barbara trailed off as her eyes fell on the gravestone again.

"...After all, Misaki's death was the reason I chose to became the Batgirl 2 years ago."

Scene break

One metahuman was lying in an octagonal ring on the floor, his body convulsing uncontrollably due to the black lightning coursing through his body. He was supposed to be one of the most powerful fighters the prisons all over the world had to offer. However, in front of Naruto, he fell to his defeated without even having a chance to attack...just like Naruto's previous opponents. None of them could stay more than 3 seconds against him in the ring. He didn't even need to move his body, he just sent his lightning, with a thought, to strike down his opponent. It goes without saying that he powered it down in order to not leave only a pile of ash from his opponents after striking them.

He turned his head towards Lex Luthor who had been watching the fights with a bitter face. He should have been ecstatic at the immense amount of money Naruto just won for him, but there was no happiness in his eyes.

"Now that this farce is over, it's time for us to go."

Naruto's words only made Luthor feel worse. Lex Luthor had been supposed to find a weapon capable of countering Cadmus' failed project - Galatea. Failed, in the sense that she could not be controlled at their whims.

Lex Luthor did find one...the problem, however, was that it was an individual even worse than Galatea. For better or worse, Galatea could still be controlled by Orochimaru. But Naruto Uzumaki could not be controlled by anyone.

Luthor inwardly laughed at himself mockingly. He had prided himself for being very smart and cautious; always thinking ahead of others and always being the one reaping the profits...but he made one mistake...one moment of arrogance almost led to his destruction. His mistake had been that he tried to blackmail an individual as vicious as Naruto. Not only that it failed, Luthor was also handicapped - his tibia had been thoroughly smashed, his leg would never be the same.

Moreover, Luthor was clearly aware...aware of the fact that the day when he outlived his usefulness, that would be his last day. The thought that his life was in someone else's hands was like a hot iron in his heart. It made him seethe with helpless rage. And despite his brilliant intelligence, Luthor could simply not find a way out of this situation. Only one week passed from the incident on the secret prison island but Luthor was already contemplating doing something he never thought he would: suicide.