Chapter 36 – Batman's Commitment

"Russia has outright proclaimed that it strongly suspects the USA as being responsible for the assassination of their former leader and his family. The situation is extremely tense, between these two great countries existing now strained diplomatic exchanges..."

That and other similar things were streamed on all the news TV channels from all over the world. It was the end of January now and things were getting more and more chaotic on the international political scene. Igor Ivan's sudden assassination roused a sense of insecurity in everyone and it looked like one tiny spark would be able to ignite the start of a 3rd World War in that moment.

Things were not looking good and even Naruto was feeling restless - which led to the current situation: he was in the middle of Sahara Desert, a place where no trace of human life could be detected for hundreds of miles around. In front of him, Kyuubi was in his great demonic glory, towering over everything around him with his enormous size.

"Oi, Naruto, are you sure about this?"

"Just do it Kurama! Don't hold back or I'll kick your ass."

The fox snorted at his threat, this simple action causing a whirlwind which lifted immense clouds of sand in the air.

A mass of purple-black charka started to gather between the open jaws of the gigantic fox and Naruto gulped rather nervously at the sight. If the Rasenshuriken of his past life could obliterate a small hill, a full-fledged Bijuudama of the Kyuubi could raze an entire city off the map. It was no less destructive than a modern atomic bomb.

Black Lightning burst from his body - Raiton no Yoroi and, at the same time, a bone membrane grew beneath the skin all over his body. It was the Inner Bone Armour, the same technique that had protected Naruto even against Galatea's heat beams which were said to have the same temperature as the sun itself.

What Naruto was trying to see was whether he would be able to survive an attack similar in power to an atomic bomb - because, given the current crisis on the international political scene, a new world war seemed closer and closer with each passing week.

Kyuubi was just about to fire off the Tailed Beast Ball at Naruto when Galatea mocked from the side-line:

"I'm amazed at how much of an idiot you can be!"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a frown, his eyes not leaving the bijuudama forming in front of Kyuubi's mouth.

"Do you think that any country can randomly launch atomic bombs at the USA without them doing anything about it? There are countless anti-missile shields placed all over the country, and especially in the North-Eastern part of USA where the White House and the largest agglomeration of population are located. No atomic bomb or any other missile would be able to reach the American soil easily."

Galatea had been "born" and raised in a military facility. There was no way she would not know such an elementary thing. Understanding this point, Naruto glared at her.

"If you are sooo damn knowledgeable about this why the hell did you agree to flying me over half of the world?!"

To get from Gotham City to the Sahara Desert, Naruto and Kyuubi have obviously not used a plane. Naruto had used Galatea whose flying speed was even faster. It hadn't been a smooth trip for him but it was nonetheless much faster than it would have been had they travelled by plane. Still, it was not comfortable to say the least. In comparison, Kyuubi was simply summoned there, so he wasn't particularly offended.

At Naruto aggravated expression, she just shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly:

"It just now came to my mind."

"Not to mention that seeing you struggling to breathe while flying at a supersonic speed was quite amusing to say the least."

A vein started to pulse on Naruto's forehead.

"I think I should teach you to stop messing with your elders."

Now it was Galatea's turn to narrow her eyes at him. Her being only 3 years old despite having the body and the brain of an adult woman, was a rather sensitive matter to her.

"Care to repeat that?"

Seeing the two of them about to start trading blows, Kyuubi stopped gathering chakra for the Bijuudama and fired the incomplete bomb into the air. An enormous explosion shook the atmosphere and a blinding light made it impossible for anything to be seen in the following few seconds.

Completely ignoring the gigantic fox next to them and the enormous explosion in the sky, Naruto and Galatea continued to glare at each other, their eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

"You wanna go at it?" Naruto asked.

"What, you don't dare?" Galatea provoked.

Black lightning enveloped Naruto's entire body once again. While because of Lazarus Pit Galatea had become immune to Naruto's lightning, using the Raiton no Yoroi was still very beneficial for him: it increased his speed, reaction time, strength and explosive power multiple times. Furthermore, it also acted as its name implied - Lightning Armour - greatly boosting his defence.

"No heat beams." Naruto said.

"And no freaky bone weapons." Galatea countered.

Setting the ground rules, the two of them nodded at each other and, without them even noticing it, a subtle smirk appeared on both of their faces as they plunged towards the other in a manner that would make even a savage berserker proud.

Kyuubi reduced his size back to his normal miniature self, knowing that there was no stopping the two of them once they went at it. It was the end of January - Galatea had been living with the Uzumaki sibling for 2 weeks - and it was already the 4th time Naruto and Galatea started a brawl.

Going by the smirks on their faces, there was no real heat between the two of them and no argument really happened whatsoever. Those two loved fighting so much that they were always just waiting for a pretext to start a fistfight.

Scene break

A brown-haired woman dressed in a ninja-like attire appeared from the shadows. Taking out a small tool from one of the pockets of the utility belt she wore at her waist, she picked the lock of the door. It only took her a few seconds!

Once she passed the entrance door, her stance relaxed and her steps became more assured.

But when she arrived at a half-opened door, the sound of gun being loaded was heard from her back and a sharp voice reached her ears:

"Don't move!"

The ninja flicked her hand almost imperceptibly trying to get a hold of the hidden weapon strapped to her wrist.

*bang*

The gun was shot, the bullet narrowly grazing the side of her palm. Only a few millimetres to the left and her left hand would have sported a bloody hole now.

"If I see you move as much as an inch, the next bullet will split your skull."

The tone of the voice was soft and pleasing to one's ears but the killing intent behind it was undisguised. The one speaking was none other than Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman.

A noise came from the other side of the corridor and both women were distracted by it for a second. The ninja however reacted faster: she suddenly threw herself to the floor and a dagger flew from her hand with great accuracy, knocking away the gun from Catwoman's hand.

The one on the other side of the hall had been Alfred, the old butler of Wayne family.

"Alfred, get away from here. Fast!" Catwoman shouted while taking a fighting stance and trying to ignore the pain from her hand after having the gun smashed away from it.

"Miss Selina, calm down! Master Bruce has been waiting for her, they have an appointment." the old butler said quickly, trying to placate things before they escalated too much.

"What kind of person breaks into someone's house like a thief if they had an appointment?" Catwoman asked, her eyes never leaving the woman in front of her.

A taller silhouette appeared behind the butler - having heard the gunshot, Bruce Wayne hurriedly made his way over.

A few minutes later in one of the manor's living rooms...

"Why have you come here Talia? Why did you want us to meet?"

Talia al Ghul, the daughter of the infamous Ra's al Ghul, also known as "The Demon".

"I see you have replaced me with another brunette, Bruce. We even look kind of similar. Did you miss me that much?"

"Cut the chase!" Bruce Wayne said while frowning at her.

"Oh well, you were never one for chit-chat." the assassin relented.

"The League of Shadows purpose has always been to restore balance through eliminating the worst of the evils."

"The Roman Empire's fall, the Black Plague, the Great London Fire and even Gotham's economic depression - these are just some of the things we did."

"You're not telling me anything I didn't know already." Batman interrupted.

"But, now that my father is dead," Talia al Ghul continued "the League of Shadows no longer resembles what it had once been. It changed."

"I did try to take control, to become the new head of the Demon. But I failed. And now, Sarutobi Hiruzen is pursuing me."

"I have managed to elude him for nearly 3 years but I am no longer able to that. I have no other open doors left, nobody else to whom I can turn to. You're the only one."

A rather long silence followed.

"Ra's al Ghul died 3 years ago. Why are you coming to me only now? Furthermore, why would I help you? I will never forget that it was your father that caused my parents' death." Batman said, barely constraining his anger.

"It's in your best interest to help me, Bruce, because Sarutobi is not only after me, but after my child as well...our child."

"WHAT?!"

Scene break

Later that evening, Bruce Wayne's manor was eerily quiet.

Selina Kyle was seated on a sofa, slowly sipping from a cup of tea. It was more like she was doing something to distract herself from the storm that was taking place in her mind.

The sofa's seat was lowered under the weight of someone else when he sat down next to her.

"Selina, can we talk?"

At his words, she felt her eyes misting without her having control over it.

"You never told me you had a son, Bruce."

"Hey, look at me." Bruce Wayne said, cupping her face with his hands gently and meeting her gaze directly. "I give you my word that today is the first time I'm hearing of this too. I would have never kept something so important secret from you."

Selina Kyle lowered her eyes. When she spoke, her voice slightly shook:

"How is this gonna change what we have? How is this going to affect us?"

She was worried that now that Bruce Wayne found out that he had a son, he would want to be together with the mother of his child, not with her.

"Talia and I have had a thing together...but that was in the past."

"I will never forget how desperately you begged Uzumaki to spare my life 3 years ago...But what I feel for you it's not only gratitude."

"Ever since that day, you've been next to me. Supporting me, comforting me, loving me. It was not easy for you but, despite everything, you didn't abandon me."

"You're the best thing that has ever happened in my life. There is no way I will ever choose anyone else over you."

He sat up and took out something from one of the pockets of his trousers. Then, he lowered himself on one knee.

Selina Kyle gasped and she covered her open mouth with her hands in disbelief.

"I've wanted to do this in a select place, after a romantic dinner, at the end of a special day... but I don't think there is going to be a better time or a better place than now and here to ask you this:"

"Selina, will you marry me?"

Scene break

It took Naruto almost two weeks to just get wind of Rupert Jones. The guy was so paranoid and afraid that another criminal organization or that the government would try to capture and use him that, after Lex Luthor's death, he disappeared.

Preoccupied with his sister, Naruto also couldn't care less about him back then so Rupert just faded off from everyone's radar. He holed himself into an apartment, not going out to even get food from the supermarket, only ordering for it to come at his home.

But now, he was in Naruto's house, in the living room, holding an envelope to his chest with both of his hands.

"Um, are you going to show us what you've found?" Naruto asked.

Rupert extended a shaky arm and Naruto grabbed the envelope. But when he pulled it, he realized that the fatty was not letting go of it.

"What are you doing?"

"I-" Rupert began but quieted down instantly when he looked at Naruto's face.

"If money it's what you're worried about, relax. I am a man of my word. I will give you the sum we have agreed upon."

"But I don't want any money! What I want is..."

"Yes? What do you want if not money?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow. The information Rupert had dug out for them about the League Shadows was not easy to come by. Normally, if Rupert were to sell it to an interested party, it would be worth a fortune. After all, he had had to hack into the CIA's classified database. He didn't know what else could Rupert want from him in exchange for it. Sure, Naruto could simply take it by force - nobody would be able to stop him. But, while he had many flaws, he was not a scumbag. He wanted this to be a fair trade for both of the parties involved.

"I am tired of living in fear. I don't want to be holed up all the time in some secret place. I want to live my life in peace. I want to be safe... I want to go to McDonald's and gorge myself with chicken wings and hotdogs without having to look behind me, afraid of who might be following me." Rupert said passionately, making Naruto sweat-drop at the last part.

"And you're telling me this because?"

Rupert's beady eyes widened at him.

"Don't you realize who are you? You're like the frigging Boogie-Man! Even the worst of the metahuman criminals are afraid of you! Just being next to you would ensure the fact that nobody would dare to make a move against me."

With one of his eyes slightly opened, Kyuubi observed the entire situation.

'First, it was Galatea. A super powered alien with god-like powers. Now, it's a genius information broker. Batman was drastically influenced by him too...the brat doesn't realize it, but even in this life, despite his cruel and frightening persona, he still keeps attracting people to him. Soon, he will find himself surrounded by unique individuals once again.' the fox thought to himself in mild amusement.

Scene break

The information Rupert obtained by hacking into the CIA's database was surprisingly bountiful. There wasn't much information in regards to the past and the history of the League of Shadows, but there was a rather lengthy list of names of the persons that fell at their hands. The most recent ones were a Russian geneticist doctor and his wife.

One thing was clear for Naruto: for some reason, his grandfather, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the leader of the League of Shadows, was targeting the Russian Federation. And, at the rate things were going, the large nation would fall on its knees soon.

The president was assassinated weeks ago together with his family and after that many other key figures followed him to the grave as well: renowned doctors, important politicians even some judges. In the wake of the current events, many of the people in important positions fled the country, hoping to escape the invisible death god that was haunting them all.

As Naruto went through the files, Kyuubi was perched on his shoulder, paying close attention to them as well. Much more than Naruto and probably just as much as Galatea, Kyuubi truly wanted to find out Uchiha Itachi's location. The fox's hate for Sharingan was ingrained in his soul. Although a mere Sharingan could not control a bijuu, the Mangekyo could. And Kyuubi didn't want to leave any chance for that to ever happen again. He was going to kill the Uchiha no matter the cost. For Kyuubi, that was a matter concerning his very survival.

Eventually, Kyuubi broke the silence.

"Naruto."

"Yes?" Naruto replied, not really paying attention to him.

"I think I know why is the old monkey targeting Russia..."

"I think it's finally the time I told you about your parents."

If Naruto was not really paying attention to Kyuubi before, at those words, he dropped the papers in his hands startled.