Chapter 5 – The Challengers

After waking up the next morning, unlike what Naruto was expecting, he was not feeling weak and dizzy and there was no sensation of nausea. Instead, his body was brimming with vitality.

He rose up from his bed and yawned loudly as he stretched his back. But then his nose scrunched in displeasure at the smell in the room... the smell which was, in fact, coming from him. Yesterday he had trained until he became so exhausted that he had not had the energy to at least change his clothes, let alone take a shower. He simply crawled into his room and collapsed on the cherry tree floor sleeping like a dead pig till morning. He couldn't even climb in the bed.

"At least I didn't stain the bedsheets." Naruto mumbled.

Until a month ago, while Sarutobi Hiruzen was still alive, there had been two maids that took care every day of their compound, a compound which consisted of a large dojo and a two-storey house with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a living room.

Naruto's grandpa's pockets had been quite deep so while Naruto could say that his life had been rather bitter with all the arduous training, at least he had never known what poverty felt like. Furthermore, in order for his body to achieve a harmonious growth and to allow Naruto to train every day with the same intensity, his grandfather had spent a significant amount of money on healthy food and natural nutritional supplements. Moreover, Naruto and Misaki had never been asked to do any chores. It could be said that compared to most of the ordinary people in Gotham they have lived a life of luxury.

But ever since Sarutobi Hiruzen died, Naruto has begun to taste the life of ordinary people: he had to wash up his clothes by himself, clean up his room and the rest of the house as well. Nowadays he afforded to hire maids only once per week in order to do a general cleaning of the compound.

But despite that his grandpa had died, Naruto wanted for Misaki to have the same lifestyle as ever...and it was only now that he was finally learning just how much money Misaki used to spend on clothes and on her hanging-outs with her friends. After some calculations, he realized that Misaki needed around $2000 every month. And that, coupled with their other necessities such as food, internet and bills, it reached the large sum of $10000 every month.

How could a 16-year-old teenager like Naruto get this money every month? How could a 16-year-old teenager also gather another $60000 for Misaki's college tuition in a few months? - yes, Misaki was thinking about enrolling into a top-tier private university.

It was these crazy sums of money that he needed that had driven Naruto to turn to underground cage fighting.

Naruto shook his head to stop thinking about these things. If worse came to worst, Naruto had resolved himself to rob the recently "reformed" Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, formerly known as Penguin, "the gentleman of crime".

Naruto didn't believe in people being given second chances. In his mind, once a killer - always a killer. That was especially the case for the lowest scum of the society like Penguin was. Because regardless of what the public was being told, Naruto was aware of the fact that Penguin had actually bought his way out of Arkham Asylum. A few bribes here...a few threats there... there wasn't anything a wealthy and well-connected lord of crime couldn't achieve in a city like Gotham. And Naruto was fully aware of that - that's why he didn't see the point of studying...and that's why he despised the so-called superheroes like Batman, calling their activities as "playing the hero". Because whenever they caught the big bad guys, they would always get out of the prison in a month or two at most. It was like a game of the cat and the mouse, or like a dog trying to catch his own tail: pointless and never-ending.

That being said, Naruto decided that if he didn't manage to get enough money through his ordinary activities - like being a low-level mercenary or a bodyguard for VIPs at open events (such as parties) - he would "clean up" Penguin's hideout. That man had stolen enough artefacts and precious items that his secret vaults were most likely bursting with money.

Naruto rubbed at his eyes tiredly. It wasn't tiredness of the body but of the mind. He could barely wait for his sister to start college. Then, three-quarters of his worries would vanish instantly because by then he would've already gotten enough money for his sister's tuition and Misaki would have gotten out of Gotham's dangers.

Scene break

After taking a shower and cleaning up his room, Naruto went to the kitchen to cook himself some food. Nothing complicated, just some pasta with sauce.

He was slowly eating, contemplating on his training from the previous day when he felt someone trying to sneak up on him. It wasn't that he had heard any noises, but constantly battling every day for more than a decade made his senses reach a frightening level of sensitivity. It was to the point that he almost developed something like a 6th sense, something that allowed one to feel anyone's presence in his vicinity.

"You still have ways to go until you'll manage to sneak up on me, Misaki-chan." Naruto suddenly said with a smile.

His sister came and plopped herself one of the chairs around the table, saying with a 'half-a-pout':

"Can't you at least pretend once that you don't hear me coming?"

"But I didn't hear you-"

"You know what I meant, smartass!" she said glaring at him.

Naruto's smile only widened when she glared at him. That look of hers coupled with her two pairs of whiskers-like birthmarks on her cheeks and her messy bed-hair made her look especially adorable.

"Stop smiling like a dunce and gimme some of that!" Misaki huffed and snatched Naruto's bowl of pasta. But he didn't mind it. It was a common occurrence for his sister to snatch his food so he cooked more. When he asked her why she always took his food when there was enough for her in the pot on the stove she would always say with a tinge of red in her cheeks "Onii-chan's food tastes better!"

Naruto put himself some pasta and sauce in another bowl and sat back at the table beside his sister.

"How come you woke up this early today, sleepy-head?" he asked knowing that she never woke up this early during weekends. And today was Saturday, just a few minutes past 6 am.

"I wanted to talk to you before you started your training." Misaki said and her playful demeanour melted into a serious expression.

Naruto stopped eating and looked at her curiously.

"I-... I know that our situation has not been the same since... you know..." she said and Naruto understood that she was talking about their grandfather's death.

"Yet despite that, you still managed somehow to keep my lifestyle the same... I don't want to be a burden for you anymore, onii-chan."

"Misaki-chan, I don't think-" Naruto tried to interrupt her to tell her that he didn't see her that way but she shushed him to stop.

"I know, I know you don't see me that way... but I do. I mean I do see myself that way. For the past month, you've done everything. Despite that I'm the older between the two of us, it is you who keeps the house clean, you're the one that makes the food and you're also the one that brings in the money."

She looked down at the glamorous polish on her nails and she bit her lower lip in distress at her own uselessness. Although most of the time she seemed like she had no care in the world, Misaki was much more perceptive than Naruto was giving her credit for. After all, she wasn't an A-straight student for nothing. Although she used to act childishly and like a spoiled girl, Misaki was very intelligent. It's just that she pretended to not know. It's thanks to how she grew up being spoiled by both her grandfather and her brother.

However, after Naruto nearly died in a fight against a metahuman two week ago, she couldn't keep her facade anymore. Sure, she loved her lifestyle and hanging out with friends, going to parties and spending a shit-ton of money on shopping sprees... but she loved her brother much more than all of that. And if her brother refrained from doing crazy things in the future in order to get money for her sake then she had no hesitation whatsoever about cutting down her expenses and start living a bit more modestly if necessary.

When she thought about how while she squandered thousands of dollars on stupid things, her brother had been fighting against criminals in a cage in order to provide her with money, the feeling of guilt burned her from inside and unknowingly tears began to drop from her eyes.

"I want to help you. I'm your sister after all... I don't want to be useless and to only burden you...Not anymore!"

The screech of the chair scraping against the floor was heard and Misaki looked up startled. Naruto rose up from his seat and came to her chair. He engulfed his big sister in a warm embrace.

"What's this bullshit about you being older? I've always taken care of you and you've always been my little sister."

He lightly bonked her on the top of her head making her yelp before saying:

"Baka."

"You're not a burden to me... taking care of you and being able to see your pretty smile every day... that's what makes me happy!"

Misaki's tears stopped and a strange feeling fluttered inside her stomach. She felt her cheeks heating up and a beet-red blush covered her entire face, extending to even her neck and ears.

"W-What are you saying all of a sudden, idiot!" she yelled at him in embarrassment but made no real effort to get herself out of his arms. Instead, she involuntarily nestled her head against his chest and closed her eyes in contentment.

'What did I do to deserve someone like Naruto? Had I been some sort of saint in my previous life?'

'I don't think there will ever be anyone who could possibly love me as much as he does.' Misaki thought and she circled her arms around her brother's back in a tight embrace.

"Don't you ever worry about such things from now on, ya hear me?" Naruto said and cupped her face to make her look him in the eyes to stress better how serious he was. Unfortunately for Misaki, that only made her flush again.

"I didn't hear you answering me!" Naruto said sternly.

"Y-Yes!" she squeaked.

Naruto's face broke again into a smile and he let go of Misaki's chin to her relief and...secret disappointment.

"Alright then..." Naruto said as he took a rather thick wad of cash from his pockets. "Take this and go buy yourself the nicest dress for tomorrow's prom."

"Oh my God, but there's like thousands of-" she exclaimed wide-eyed only for Naruto to pinch her one of her whiskered cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah, enough talking, and run along!" Naruto said in a fake stern voice.

Misaki squealed in joy and from her seat she jumped right onto Naruto, hugging him for all he was worth. After that she dashed out of the kitchen with an excited look on her face, making a bee-line towards her room to call her best friend, Barbara Gordon. The two of them had some serious shopping to do!

Naruto chuckled in amusement thinking that if someone didn't know his and Misaki's real age, they would be sorely mistaken in trying to guess who was the older sibling between the two of them.

Scene break

[Is it here? What do you say, Lee?] a middle-aged man's powerful voice resounded across the street. It wasn't like he was purposely shouting, it was just how he normally talked.

[I don't understand the writing of this country either, sensei. These letters make no sense to me.]

Wearing skin-tight forest-green jumpsuits with red belts around their waists and orange-stripped leg warmers, two men were standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

With the emergence of the superheroes all over the world and after the rise of the Justice League, the general public stopped twitching at the sight of people wearing weird clothes... after all, two of the strongest heroes on Earth were dressed that way: Superman wore his underwear above tights of all things and Wonder Woman who was supposed to be a warrior princess was dressing like a hooker.

That being said, people didn't raise an eyebrow at their choice or clothing. However, there was something that creeped everyone out when they took in the other aspects of their appearance: both the middle-aged man and the teenager beside him had bowl-cut shaped shiny black hair, round eyes and a pair of very bushy eyebrows. The worst thing was that it was obvious for everyone the younger of the two was doing his best to resemble a clone of the older man.

"Mommy, why are those two people dressed like that?" a very young girl asked innocently.

"They're dangerous people, honey, stop looking at them." the mother said as she covered her daughter's eyes and rapidly distanced herself from the scene.

However, while the passers-by all made a scene at the sight of two Japanese people loudly talking to each other in their native language in the middle of the sidewalk, two red-haired girls were unknowingly heading towards them. The two young women were happily chatting with each other while carrying two shopping bags each in their hands.

Misaki Uzumaki and Barbara Gordon were enthusiastically talking about how great the prom from tomorrow was going to be. It was the end of the high school and while it wasn't a common occurrence, this time all the 12th-grade students had decided to end the high school with a bang.

The son of the vice-mayor of Gotham had offered to host the prom on one of his father's boats. It was a large 5-star luxury yacht, one which most of the ordinary people of Gotham would never have the chance to see up close, let alone party in it. So it goes without saying how excited everyone was! For one night, the high school graduates would have the chance to experience the life of a filthy rich man! For a brief moment, they would be allowed to taste the sweetness of the so-called American Dream.

All of a sudden Misaki stopped her chattering when a few Japanese words reached her ears.

[What should we do, Guy-sensei? At this pace, we'll never find Chinatown. Gotham is simply too large of a city.]

[Do not fret, Lee! The power of Youth has never failed us yet!]

Misaki turned towards Barbara with a difficult expression on her cute face.

"You want to help them, don't you? Barbara asked in a condescending tone. "Seriously, don't you have any fear? What sane girl in Gotham voluntarily approaches two very weird-looking men by herself? What if they prove to be dangerous? What if the kidnap you and sell you as a sex-"

"Alright, Alright calm down, hothead!" Misaki hurriedly said before her friend began to get too much into the rant.

"But still, I can at least show them where is the Chinatown district... it's not like they're going to do something suspicious in the middle of so many people, right?"

In the end, Barbara had to agree with her. But that didn't mean she was happy about it. She knew that Misaki was often being careless and that was ultimately her brother's fault. Naruto had violently beaten anyone that touched as much as a hair of Misaki that no-one dared to have any thoughts about her in Gotham. And while Naruto's threats kept at bay all the small fries, it was Sarutobi Hiruzen that made the overlords of crime in Gotham also be afraid of doing anything against the Uzumaki siblings. Because of that, Misaki got used to the idea that no-one would ever have the courage to harm her while having her big bad wolf of a brother protecting her. However, Misaki's grandpa was now dead...and Naruto was not a deterrent powerful enough to assure the same level of protection to his sister like his grandpa could. The big fish in the pond called Gotham were not afraid of a mere teenager.

Barbara shook her thoughts and walked alongside Misaki. If worse came to worst she would call her father and in less than 5 minutes the entire area would be flooded with cops.

[Hello, mister, are you looking for Chinatown district?] Misaki said rather unsure of her Japanese. Although her grandfather had taught Naruto and her how to speak Japanese, they didn't use it in their daily life. They have lived for their entire lives in the United States, they mostly used English.

When the two men heard her sweet voice and turned their heads towards her they were dumbfounded. The teenager's face especially had become a hot shade of red and even the older one was a bit flustered. They have never seen someone as attractive as Misaki in their entire lives. With waist-length crimson-red hair, creamy white skin, large baby-blue eyes and two pairs of whiskers on her cheeks, Misaki was the very definition of exotic beauty. Her rather skimpy outfit consisting of only a pair of jeans shorts and a baggy shirt which exposed her toned midriff did nothing to ease the visual impact she made on them.

The middle-aged man gulped loudly but then he regained his calm and his state of mind became clear once again. This man had very powerful self-control.

[Thank you for your help, miss. Would you be kind enough to show us the way toward "The Monkey King's Dojo?". I would be very grateful!] the middle-aged man said in his loud, boisterous voice and bowed deeply.

Misaki was very surprised at the older man's words. She didn't recall Naruto telling her that anyone was going to come to their dojo today.

[It so happens that the owner of the dojo is an acquaintance of mine. If you don't mind me asking, what business do you have there?] Misaki asked carefully.

The middle-aged man grinned brightly and adopted a "Mr. Nice Guy" pose with his thumb up as he said confidently.

[We're going to challenge it!]