Catching Up for the old times part 2

"I never would've thought on you taking us here." Talia muttered with a raised brow as she entered the establishment. "It's not even the typical bar hours even."

"Meh~ This place grew on me over the months and some of the more private times are before then with anyone hardly showing up." Said the Uzumaki as he waved at the owner, who was manning the bar today. "Hiya Moxxi. How's it going?"

"Doing well Naruto." The barkeep replied before she eyed the woman behind one of her favorite customers. "And who's this?"

"Just an old friend that came into town for work."

Moxxi looked at Naruto for a few moments before giving off a shrug. "If you say so kid. So do you two want a booth or up here at the bar?"

It was Talia who answered the question. "The bar's fine. Besides I'd like to have a better view on what you have on the shelf."

Moxxi nodded as she saw Naruto and his friend sit on the barstools. "Then what would you two like for starters?"

"I'll have some Bud Light Moxxi." Naruto was fine with having some light beers for now, even though he can't get drunk anymore due to his powers. But Naruto didn't want to give away his odd alcohol intolerance to his old friend, who originally knew he could handle so much alcohol before he was considered drunk years ago.

Blame the really strong bottles of Vodka, Rum and Absinthe he had alongside Talia during their time around Eurasia. That shit really kicked his ass hard, even with her drunk alongside him.

"Corona for me."

Moxxi nodded and went to fetch said bottles of beer for her first customers of the day.

"So… What would you like to talk about Talia?"

"Just… you really." Came Talia's response. "I just wanna hear what you've been up to since we last saw each other."

"That's what I had in mind as well Talia. I mean it's been nine years and I'd like to hear what crazy stuff you got yourself into."

And so the two chatted for several hours with different bottles of beer emptied, their glasses and baskets constantly refilled with water peanuts respectively. The old companions enjoyed their time together as they caught up as best as they could in the time frame. Naruto still thanked Talia on getting him his identity papers before coming to the states, in which she stated that it was needed at several of the countries they passed on through in their time together and he did save her life that one time so there was that. Asides from that, Naruto talked about most of his time in Metropolis and being here in Gotham while Talia talked about traveling through Africa and several areas in South America.

"...I keep hearing that Machu Picchu is a great place to visit," Naruto said as he sipped his drink, "even if it's worth the hike."

"Trust me, it's worth it. Though Nyssa complained around halfway through."

"Did she now? And how is Nyssa by the way?" Naruto asked pertaining to Talia's younger sister. He met with her a few times like at the Great Wall of China, several places in both Germany and Spain. She was tough to get through, due to her upbringing, but she turned out well to get to know.

"She's doing well. Stubborn in wanting to get her work done well and to appease our father."

"And where have I heard that before?" He muttered, earning a playful smack from the woman beside him. "Oh come on, you know that's true."

"Not like you were any better."

"Eh… Yeah, you're not wrong on that." Blame part of his stubborn nature on his mother for passing that trait down onto him. Because of that, he got the two into some interesting misadventures due to his stubbornness. Like him breaking into a Chinese Triad stronghold to prove a point of breaking into such a place in broad daylight and not getting caught. He was successful, but one guard sounded the alarm and escaping the place was a bitch with an army on their tail.

...Good times.

Smirking a little, Talia continued. "Asides from that, Nyssa has been seeing someone for about three years now."

"Really?~ So who's the lucky man that pierced through her defences and claimed her heart?" Seeing the look on her face, it seemed Naruto to get the idea now. "Oh~ A girl? Well nothing's wrong with that… So what's her name and how'd they meet?"

Taking a sip of her drink after eating some peanuts, Talia answered. "Her name's Sara and they met when Nyssa saved her from drowning."

"That… must've been an interesting moment between the two." Stretching a little in his seat before he continued. "I take it your dad wasn't thrilled on those two being together."

Talia sighed as she scratched her head. "You can say that... Father is fine with homosexuals being under his employ and all that fun stuff, but as you know he's a traditionalist to continue the family line."

"And with Nyssa playing for the other team, that's not gonna happen that well." Finishing up his bottle, Naruto spoke. "He should remember he does have another daughter that could continue the family line. I mean you're very beautiful and any man would be lucky in being in a relationship with you."

"That is true on both counts and thanks on the complement." She said with a smile as she knew Naruto was being quite honest on the fact. "But as for finding someone special to hopefully spend the rest of my days with and have a family with him… well I haven't found the right man." 'Or pursued the right one.' She thought with some mirth.

"Sorry to hear of that… But then again, you can kick any man's ass and that tends to make men feel quite emasculated."

"Also true. Speaking of, I see you've been keeping up with your fighting skills. It would've been a shame if you rusted over the years."

Naruto nodded as he remembered that during the two years traveling together, Talia was his teacher for a time. Taught him quite a lot on how to improve his stealth and to not just rely on his brawling fighting trait he primarily used before coming to this world. She taught him several fighting styles and he had to refresh his memory on said styles once he tapped into his powers.

"To tell you the truth Talia, I had rusted a little since moving into Gotham five years ago. But after a certain incident last year, I had to retrain myself so it wouldn't happen again."

"You mean with Hiraishin attacking you." She stated with a raised brow. "I had heard about it and I was quite worried for your safety, but I was surprised you took him down."

"Well it was the Batman who dealt the final blow with that odd dust of his that got Hiraishin to not use his powers all that well."

"Yet you were the one that fended him off while civilians got out to safety." Talia pointed out as she drank the last of her drink.

"Though he was there to kill me to be more of a glory hound." Naruto replied back. "It's true I kept his attention away from everyone else, but he was after me so he could seem more popular for others to hire him more often."

"Regardless, it seemed during our small encounter that I hadn't seen any rust in your style."

"Why thank you."

"In fact, I'd like to possibly spar with you again sometime to see the extent of your skill."

Naruto thought about it for a moment before he gave her a shrug. "I don't see any harm in that. I think it would be good to fight you again after all this time."

"Good. And besides, I wonder how my best student fairs against me after all this time."

"Really? Well I'm flattered Talia, I really am. And you said you took in other students earlier?"

"A handful here and there during my travels." Was her honest answer. "Even had one student when I was in Russia in the past year and he was fine, despite him only learning under me for 5-6 months."

"And how would you compare me from this last guy?"

"Well… I'll have to spar you, in a better way than from the alley earlier, to get a more accurate response."

Naruto nodded at hearing this since results are better once seeing them at the present time. The conversation would've continued if it wasn't for the publisher's eyes landing onto the hanging clock nearby, seeing that it was 3pm. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!"

Talia was confused in what he was referring to as she saw her friend hastily get up from his seat and quickly pay the barkeeper. "What are you talking about Naruto?"

"I'm almost late from picking up Rachel from school!"

This merely left questions than answers for the blue-green eyed woman as she soon followed Naruto out of the bar and towards their motorcycle. He asked for her keys before he drove them off to the other side of town. While on the way towards his destination, Naruto summarized a little on who his foster child was to her.

-Gotham Elementary-

Sounds of the school bell were rung as children were starting to head out of the building for the end of the school day. Some were greeted with the site of various buses waiting to transport the children to their respective homes while others saw their respective parents and guardians by the sidewalks and parking lots. It was a pleasant experience from what many could see before each person went their separate ways.

In the meantime, Paula was standing off to the side as she saw her youngest walk alongside her best friend.

"So how's your first day of school honey?"

"It was well mom." Came Artemis' response. "Though some of the rotating teachers were a bit boring on their lessons."

"Eh~ It happens." Turning over towards the ashen child, Paula spoke to the timid Rachel. "And how was your first day sweetie?"

The young ward shifted in her feet before looking at the older woman. "It was… okay. Wasn't used to such a place."

"And did you have any trouble at all?" Paula asked as an obvious question. "Like with your lessons?"

"Not really, but…"

"But what?"

"Well…"

Soon the sounds of a motorcycle was heard, causing several people look towards the source. From what Paula, Artemis and Rachel could see was Naruto riding a motorcycle, without a helmet on, which caused the two children to wonder why he wasn't driving his car from this morning. Other questions popped into their heads was who was riding behind the publisher and how did he get the motorcycle in the first place.

Similar thoughts went through Paula's head, but she knew there'd be answered soon. Walking up to Naruto and the helmeted person, the Vietnamese woman spoke to the Uzumaki. "I was wondering when you'd show up Naruto. I was about to drive her back to my place, so you can pick her up there, if you weren't here on time."

"Sorry about that Paula." Apologized the former shinobi as he got off of the motorcycle. "I was catching up with an old friend and I lost track of time."

"And who would that be exactly?" Paula asked before her eyes landed on the helmeted rider. "This guy?" This earned a nod from Naruto's companion. "Well mind introducing yourself."

It took a moment for the rider to remove the helmet to reveal her features, earning varied reactions from each of them. Rachel was nervous when seeing the new person while Artemis thought she looked pretty and strong, given the similar feeling her mother and Selina gave off. As for Paula, she stiffened as several thoughts ran through her head.

'Why the hell is she here? Why weren't Laurence and I informed ahead of time of her being here?' Mentally palming her face, Paula's eye suddenly twitched. 'Laurence is gonna be pissed, that's for sure.'

Holding up her hand towards the Crock Matriarch, with a mischievous look in her eyes, Naruto's companion introduced herself. "Hello there. My name's Talia."

Heir to the Demon, Warith al Ghul and the Demon's Daughter are some of the names Talia al Ghul goes by for the League of Shadows (also called the League of Assassins). Ra's al Ghul's eldest daughter and one of the best assassins in the entire organization, second only to her father and arguably to Lady Shiva while much better than the League's Horsemen. A worldly and cultured, elite warrior who travels around quite often to perform certain missions for her father right on the fly.

Not wanting to be rude, especially to keep up appearances in front of those not in the know of the new arrival, Paula shook the offered hand. "Nice to meet you Talia. My name's Paula."

Looking towards the younger kids, Talia asked the obvious question with a small smile. "And who are these two little darlings?"

Before Paula could answer, her daughter answered right away. "My name's Artemis ma'am."

"Well ain't that a pretty and strong name you got there. No doubt getting a strong resemblance from your mother here."

The Crock child nodded with a bit of pride in the action. She soon nudged her best friend's side as it was her turn to introduce herself. Rachel hesitated for obvious reasons, but with a little encouragement by her guardian, she spoke. "M-My name's Rachel."

"Ah~ So you're the one Naruto talked about on the way over here." Seeing her confused face, Talia explained. "Like he said, Naruto lost track of time and needed to use my bike to get over here on time to pick you up from school. Explanation was really short for my taste, but I think it'll be nice if I could maybe get to know you better. If you let me, that is."

Rachel didn't say anything as she moved towards her guardian for some comfort. Seeing this, Naruto couldn't fault his ward's action since it takes a while for the ashen child to open up to others. When seeing this, Artemis did what she could to cheer her friend up as she dragged Rachel towards the motorcycle Naruto and Talia rode to the school on in curiosity.

"Sorry about that Talia. Rachel has a very timid nature and doesn't open up easily."

"No, it's alright Naruto. I understand quite well since I was like her, to some degree, when I was at her age. She wasn't prepared on meeting someone new right away, especially someone she knew nothing about."

Naruto sighed a little in relief. "That's good to hear."

"So Naruto." The Crock woman spoke. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?

"Well I was planning on grocery shopping earlier to make Rachel's favorite for dinner," Naruto then looked at his old friend with a playful glare, "but Talia ended up sidetracking me."

Said woman merely rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry. I just wanted to see if you still knew if someone was tailing you."

"And you clearly knew how that turned out." Turning his attention back to the Crock matriarch, he continued. "Anyways, I'll have to drop Rachel off back at my place since I clearly don't have a car to carry both her, the groceries and Talia all at the same time. And after that, I've got to help out Rachel on whatever homework she has gotten today and sign whatever stuff she possibly has for me for her teachers, I think."

"Seems nothing that you can't handle Naruto."

"Obviously." Feeling his arm being tugged slightly, Naruto saw his ward with a questioning look. "Yes Rachel?"

"Where's your car?"

"Ah right, well it was in an accident earlier today and I'm just borrowing my friend's motorcycle for today."

Rachel nodded before speaking. "Mind showing me and Artemis how it works? It looks… cool."

The publisher chuckled as he nodded and excused himself to keep the two younger girls entertained while being sure they didn't mess around with his old motorcycle. As he left, the two women walked some feet away so they can have some space to talk amongst themselves. With the sounds of surrounding chatter and vehicles leaving the school grounds, this helped cover the conversation the two were about to have.

"Why are you here Talia?" Paula asked in a serious tone. "Either you, your father or Lady Shiva would've contacted us ahead of time if either of you were arriving into town for whatever reason. Yet neither did at all. Why?"

The last time any League members arrived in Gotham was when the Zephyr battery was being introduced months ago. Paula and Laurence expected to be brought in to assist on the mission, but were told by Lady Shiva to not bother on the main mission parameters since it was already covered. Though she did ask the married couple to procure the dead League members from the GCPD morgue so things wouldn't be compromised.

Other than that, things were quiet in terms of assignments asides from Paula's and Laurence's mission on the Uzumaki intel.

"Oh I was merely passing through Alsiyada (Huntress), that's all." Talia said offhandedly, earning a small glare from the Vietnamese woman.

Paula scoffed. "Right~ Like it's just that simple. Look, can you just tell me why you didn't inform Laurence or I when you were getting into town? You know that my husband doesn't like unpleasant surprises."

"I know, but I didn't want either of you two to know of my arrival just yet."

"And why not?" Seeing the look of Talia's eyes as they glanced over to the whiskered publisher, Paula somewhat put things together. "Him? You came all the way over here just to see him?"

"Partially." Was Talia's response in an offhanded manner. "You remember Father tasked you two on finding more about Naruto and in the end, he became disinterested in him, resulting in ending the reports… Well I wanted a better evaluation. So I decided to come here to seek out my old friend and student and see what could be obtained that neither you or your husband could not."

Paula subtly nodded in understandment since things were starting to make sense now with Talia's arrival. Naruto spoke fondly of his friend that he parted ways with eight years ago and she didn't realize Naruto was referring to the Demon's Daughter. And when hearing about Ra's getting information from his eldest daughter on some of Naruto's past, it went over her head at the time. Though it seems that Talia wants to use her old connection with the whiskered publisher to get an update on things on a more personal level.

'He keeps making things more interesting without realizing it.' Thought the Crock matriarch before she let out a sigh. "Is there anything else I should know or was visiting Naruto just it?"

This got the Heir to the Demon to become a bit more serious when answering. "There will be a device arriving in Gotham a few days from now and Father wants to acquire the package."

Paula nodded before her eyes glanced towards Naruto coming back to them. "We can discuss more at a later time Talia."

Seeing the reason why on ending the conversation, Talia merely nodded. "Of course Paula."

"What were you two talking about?" Asked the publisher.

"Nothing much, I insure you." Lied the married woman.

"If you say so. Anyways, I think the girls are starting to get a little antsy and need to go home now."

Seeing her youngest by the family car gave Paula the message and nodded in understanding. "Then I'll see you later Naruto."

"You as well Paula."

As Naruto and Talia walked back to the Brough Superior, they saw Rachel waving her friend goodbye. "Ready to go Rachel." Rachel gave a small nod as her answer before her guardian picked her up and placed her on the motorcycle. "You're gonna be needing sit between us Rachel so you'll be safe. And I'll drop you off at the Towers so you can get inside of the apartment. But do you still have your key to the place?"

"Yes Naruto."

It wasn't long before Naruto took the driver's seat while Talia got her helmet back on before riding 'bitch' again. Before starting up the bike, the Demon's Daughter wrapped her arms around the ashen child, who stiffened slightly before relaxing on the reassured safety. Once everything was secured, Naruto drove the motorcycle off of the school grounds and made his way back Skyline Towers.

-Later, Naruto and Pam's Loft-

Grocery shopping went rather quick after dropping Rachel off at the Towers as there wasn't much for Naruto to acquire. He could've gotten this done faster if he went by himself with his powers, but despite Talia being his old friend he didn't want to leave her alone with Rachel. It's not that he doesn't trust her being alone with his ward, but he didn't want to worry Rachel on being around with a complete stranger to her.

During his time shopping, Naruto asked where Talia was going to be staying at while in Gotham. It was obvious to him she was going to be staying at a hotel, but he asked anyway since he offhandedly offered her to stay in one of his guest rooms until she left. Talia appreciated the offer as she declined. Though to make up for it, he asked if she could come over for dinner since it tends to be lonely with just him and Rachel back at the loft.

Naruto was currently making Rachel's favorite dish, Aglio e Olio, ever since she first tried it under his roof while Talia was preparing a complimentary sea bass to go with the pasta.

"How's that fish coming along Talia?"

"It's going well Naruto."

"Just be sure to not overcook it like back in Burma."

"One time and you'll never let it go, huh."

"I never will Talia. Oh how I never will."

Rachel was sitting at the kitchen counter as she was doing some of her homework while her guardian and his friend were cooking an early dinner. Sounds of cooking filled the air as the two adults were in charge of preparing their respective portion of the evening meal. And with the strong fragrant smell wafting in the air added fuel to the fire on her distraction.

'Why didn't I just finish doing my homework in my room?' Thought the ashen child as her stomach soon grumbled. 'This is just making me real hungry right now.'

As she tried to focus on her first school assignments after leaving Azarath, Rachel's purple eyes would occasionally glance at the two adults. She clearly saw they were indeed good friends, despite the years that separated them, as they enjoyed each other's company. It was different from his interactions with Pam, Selina and Harley with him being in a relationship with each of them; but Naruto and Talia had history with each other since they knew each other longer.

"I wonder if I'll have such a connection with Artemis and several others down the line." Muttered the foster child before she felt Isis brushing against her arm. "Do you think I'll have such a thing like with Artemis like those two, Isis?"

All Rachel got in return was a feline equivalent of a shrug.

"Only time will tell, I suppose."

Her personal musings ended once she heard the a plate being placed near her, causing the ashen child to look towards the one serving her.

"Well dinner's ready Rachel."

Looking towards the plate in question, Rachel licked her lips slightly alongside Isis as they saw the meal before them. The child's plate contained her portion of Aglio e Olio and cooked sea bass while the feline's plate was just the chopped up, seasoned fish. And without further restraint, Isis gave an experimental lick on the meat before eating towards her heart's content as purrs were soon heard.

"Seems Isis likes your cooking Talia."

"She's not the only one." Motioning towards Rachel, Naruto saw his ward cutting up the fish and eating it before the noodles as the child gave out a pleasant hum. Wanting more room in her space, the ashen girl moved her homework away so none of the delicious food would touch her assignments on accident.

The Uzumaki smiled as he and Talia got their portioned food before sitting down to eat their meal. The loft's occupants ate in relative silence so they could savor their food. By the time Rachel got up to get more food for both her and Isis, the ashen child moved her things into her room to finish things up there. With her out of the way, Naruto's old friend spoke as she took a portion of bass into her mouth.

"You know, it's nice to be a normal person every now and again."

"How so?" Questioned the publisher

Swallowing her food, she answered back. "Enjoying the simple pleasures that life gives you. Like, for instance, savoring the taste of good food without having to block out your taste buds so you'd be very attentive towards your surroundings."

"I agree, but you don't have to do that all the time or else it would've become too much of a hassle." He said before taking a sip of his drink. "But it does save your life if you're primarily on your own or in the wilderness."

"I agree and you were the one to get me to 'loosen up' during our time together." Talia chuckled as she got up to get more food, due to her large appetite. "It does have its uses, when the time calls for it, but without you in my company for so long made me forget it every so often."

"...I'm sorry about that Talia." He somberly said. "You asked me to stay with you more than our intended agreement, but I wanted to make a name for myself with good honest work."

The Demon's Daughter waved him off with a small smile. "No worries Naruto, I've come to accept that you wanted to go your way years ago. You're not the only one as it seems to be a recurring theme with many of my past students."

"That's… good to know, I think."

"Besides... you've done quite well for yourself by starting up a publishing company of all things."

"Well I so happened to enjoy writing while I traveled with you. Seeing many of the sites helped spark my interest to try out the craft." He said as it was partially the truth.

The former shinobi wanted to honor Jiraiya's memory and during his time traveling with Talia got him to take up the hobby of writing his experiences back in his home reality. This in turn got him the idea to try and self publish his 'life story' so he wouldn't try to have someone else reaping his profits. And being just a writer wasn't going to be fulfilling with part of his mind wanting to be in charge of others. One thing led to another for him to consider trying out to become a publisher.

Sitting back down, Talia ate more of the food before speaking. "Some of your books were good ways to kill time and escape some troubles in my life, so there's that."

"Then I'm glad to hear on that."

"Though I would like to get my copies of some of your books signed, if it won't be too much trouble."

"No problem and I could do that sometime… I've been meaning to ask, but how long are you in town for anyways?"

"Less than a week."

Nodding at the answer, he got up from the seat to get another serving. "Maybe you could come over tomorrow after I drop Rachel off at school. This loft has enough room for us to spar in once moving the furniture around. Two birds with one stone, if you will."

Talia smiled. "I'll consider it then. And have you been writing other books since releasing Loveless?"

"Yes I have actually and my next book is gonna be released in the coming weeks."

"Really? And what's it called?"

"Final Fantasy." Came the answer as he got back to his seat. "First of a new series of books and I'm currently working on books two and three right now. And before you ask, they aren't sequels but separate stories with a similar title."

"Well that's interesting."

The two soon had went into different topics as their bellies got full from the delicious meal. It clearly felt like old times between the two and they couldn't be happier. All that was missing was him learning new skills from his old teacher or the occasional spar, but Talia might make up for that in the coming days with her being in town.

By the time Talia was ready to depart, Rachel came down and tugged onto Naruto's shirt.

"Yes Rachel?"

Holding up some of her assignments, the ashen child asked the obvious question. "Can you help me out on some of these questions? I'm having trouble answering them."

"Yeah, I'll head right up."

Rachel nodded before she saw Talia gathering her things. "It's nice meeting you Talia and thanks for helping cook dinner."

"You're very welcome and it's been nice meeting you as well."

Once the young ward made her way up towards her room, Talia thanked Naruto as well before heading out of his loft. She had things to plan for the next several days and the Demon's Daughter needed to prepare for what's to come. Though she couldn't wait to see Naruto in the morning and spend time with him.

Not knowing Talia's intentions, Naruto smiled as he had a similar thought of seeing his old friend tomorrow. He shook his head a little as he made his way upstairs to help his ward out on her school assignments. They were easy for him, but Naruto helped her out so she wouldn't rely on him so much later on.

-Evening, Gotham Harbor-

Things have been rather quiet this evening for the masked publisher and considered taking an early leave for the night. But he had gotten an anonymous tip when Vanitas visited the Stacked Deck and chatted with the barkeep. Moxxi stated that she heard that there was going to be a shipment of drugs coming from out of town and entering from the harbor. Naruto didn't know if the drug shipment was Kurama's or not, but the Uzumaki didn't care at the time and wanted to try and keep things safe for the city's residents.

Currently on top of one of the shipping containers, Vanitas kept a close eye on the thugs that were moving the drug cargo. Getting a pattern in each of their movements so he could pick out the stray link before taking out the rest all at once. The masked Uzumaki didn't know what the shipment was and didn't want to risk anything since things drugs these days could be unstable for all he knew.

His patience was rewarded as he saw one of the thugs break off from the rest and pulled out something in his pocket, which the hero believed was a pack of smokes. Seeing the opportunity present itself, Vanitas made his way towards the thug's position. Using his silencing ability, the vigilante moved himself ever so carefully so he could take him out.

Seeing the thug barely light up his cigarette, Vanitas sprung into action by slamming his head to the metal container, knocking him out. The sound drew in some other thugs to his position, causing Vanitas to quickly get on top of the nearby containers so he'll get the jump on them. As several men made their way down to their fallen comrade's placement on the ground, the hero formed several daggers and threw them at the nearby lights to destroy the bulbs.

This caused the thugs to become rather jumpy and pulled out their guns for protection, but they wouldn't be having it for long.

"Whoever's out there! Come on out, you fucker!"

There was no response as the thugs were looking all over the place. Though several shots were fired, due to one of them having nervous reflexes and was jumping over moving shadows. As the search continued, one of the thugs looked towards the containers above before his eyes landed on something situated on the crane's lowered hook.

"What the-GAAH!"

Vanitas dropped kicked the thug below once he let go of the crane hook. The thug quickly went out like a light before several others were assaulted by the black/white vigilante with his quickly formed escrima sticks to quickly smack their heads before kicking their midsections into other men. The hero made precise work when taking them out with no wasted movements. As the thugs lied on the ground, either knocked out or groaning in pain, the hero wore a hidden smile on his face.

'Well that takes care of them.' Vanitas thought as he moved his head around to see one thug running away. 'Better not let him reach the others too soon.' Taking aim with his escrima sticks, the vigilante threw them dead onto the retreating man's head. Just when it the sticks were about to land it's mark, a shimmering barrier blocked the attack.

'The hell?!'

Back with the thug, he was panting as he ran down the long pathway comprised of metal containers. He and his buddies were ambushed by Vanitas when they were checking out a disturbance from one of the guys, no doubt from said vigilante. The guy took them out one by one and none were left standing. Of course this thug made it out well enough to hopefully get back to the others and get backup for the surprise attack.

When he was about to round the corner, the thug stopped when a dark plumb of smoke formed out of the ground. It looked like a pyre of purplish-blue fire that went into an oval shape with dark wisps coming off of it's sides. Before long, it dissipated to reveal a man in a dark leather outfit to hide his features.

"What the fuck?" The thug sounded off. Before he even noticed, a searing pain emanated from his shoulder before his body was being electrocuted from the inside out. "GAAAAHHHH!"

Before long, the thug dropped to the ground dead with sparks jumping around the corpse. This was the scene Vanitas came onto once he got near and tried to stop, but the barrier blocked his path. All that the masked publisher could do was glare at the hooded man he faced before back at Joker's Wild months ago.

"You!"

"Hello… Vanitas." Spoke the hooded man as he crouched down and pulled out an electrified dagger from the corpse's shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Growled out the vigilante.

The hooded man whipped his arms to the side to form several daggers in his gloved hands. "Why to see you again, of course."

-Insert Berserk 2016: My Brother Extended-

Without any warning, the hooded man dashed forward as he threw several daggers at high speeds. The hero had to quickly move out of the way or else he would've been skewered by the electrified blades. As the man drew close, the masked publisher quickly formed his ice shield Yuki to block the incoming projectiles.

"You didn't have to kill that man!"

"Oh but I had to." Vanitas' opponent said in an oddly amused tone, much to the hero's ire. "Both him and his friends so they wouldn't interfere."

As the hooded man drew close, his body radiated with electrical arcs before he tossed more of his weapons at the costumed Uzumaki. Vanitas had to quickly form an ice barrier to block the electric attacks, but they were too strong to hold; resulting with the icy wall shattering. Wasn't long until the hooded man rushed through the shattered wall to knock the hero into the area he fought the other thugs before.

"And to be sure these men won't interfere…" With a snap of his fingers, bolts of lighting came out from the broken lights and electrocuted the fallen thugs.

"NO!"

"And now they've joined the others."

Knowing what the hooded man was referring to, with him killing all of the thugs in the harbor, Vanitas growled out as he dashed towards his opponent. He wasn't even close when the man roared out and sparks of lightning radiated off of his form before throwing his arms down to throw a pair of radiated daggers at the hero. As they came into contact with the shield, Vanitas was thrown back several feet and saw cracks shown onto the icy surface.

"Shit. This thing isn't gonna hold up much longer."

Sounds of electricity were heard right behind him, causing Vanitas to quickly turn and block the incoming strikes. After several swipes from the powered daggers, the hero parried the final attack before he bashed the hooded man away. Before his opponent could recover, Vanitas focused his energy into his shield to help repair the damage before he went in to slash at the man.

The attack was strong, possibly too strong, but it seemed the man dissipated in a plumb of sparks that caused Vanitas to grit his teeth as he felt the electrified pain. Having to fight through the pain, the hero saw what he assumed were clones rushing towards him with the intent to kill. Vanitas rolled out of the way as he slammed his shield to the ground to send icy spikes from underneath to hopefully take care of them. It seemed useless as one of them merely jumped off of the cooled surface and launched towards the hero while one was successful in destroying a clone.

When the clone got close, Vanitas had no choice but to throw his shield at his opponent. With how strong the throw was, the shield came into contact with the cloned opponent rather quickly, resulting of the icy weapon to break as the clone disbursed in a cloud of sparks. Seeing as he couldn't use his shield against the hooded man's current choice of weaponry, Vanitas had to bring forth his Void Shot for quick reflexes.

"Okay asshole. Where are ya?"

There was no vocal answer as lightning came shooting down from the sky. Vanitas rolled out of the way so he wouldn't get hit by the electric attack. Trusting his instincts, he fired his loaded weapons off towards the nearby container, causing a loud grunt of pain to be heard from the hooded man.

The opponent roared once more as his electric cloak formed around him before dashing towards the hero's position. Having to move out of the way from getting hit again, the masked Uzumaki rolled to the side before he fired his void arrows to hopefully take down his powered barrier. Though it wasn't enough as a lot was being put into his defense.

"I really need something big to take that away." Muttered the former shinobi as he kept moving away from the hooded man's attacks. When his eyes landed on a crane holding a large container, an idea was formed. "That could work."

Jumping into the air, Vanitas took precise aim and fired at the cable holding the container up in the air. It came falling down and quickly crushed the hooded man, or so he thought. It wasn't long before it exploded in half before the man ran out of the debris without his electrified barrier.

Seeing his chance, Vanitas got in close and smacked his opponent several times with his arrowguns. When the man was knocked around well, the hero fired several shots at the man which soon exploded to give off more damage than it was worth. Even firing a tether arrow to a ground held the hooded man down for a bit as the laser arrows kept hitting him.

Having enough of this, the man roared once more to break the tether with his electrified powers. Wasn't long before he seemingly teleported to one of the nearby fallen daggers as several clones were formed before they dashed towards the hero. As the clones were distracting the black/white themed vigilante, the hooded man charged up much of his power before spreading out his arms and fired beams of thunder and lightning from the palm of his hands.

Barely having enough time to see this, Vanitas groaned out as he moved out the way. "Oh come on!"

It took effort to quickly move with the laser lightshow aiming towards him and he didn't want to get hit by such attacks. Especially when he saw them carving through the metal like it was cardboard. So the idea of using them as temporary shields were thrown out of the window. And it didn't help when the hooded clones were still coming right after him.

Having enough with said clones; Vanitas quickly grabbed one of them, kicked his side and tossed him to the main guy performing the lightshow. This got an interesting reaction when they came into contact with them sizzling before forming back into one. Seeing this got Vanitas to smile a little as he jumped towards the other clones and repeated the same action as before which finally resulted in the hooded man stopping his 'live event'.

This didn't please Vanitas' opponent all that well as several sparks radiated off of his form before he vibrated in position and quickly created more clones. And before the hero knew it, each of them ran at him at fast speeds, similar to what Hiraishin used back when they fought over at the Starling City Airport. The hooded man and his clones kept slashing and stabbing at Vanitas, who yelped and cried out in pain as each of the attacks landed their mark. It wasn't long before they rushed in together as one and quickly formed into individual bolts of lightning and struck the helmeted hero.

"GAAAHHH!" Vanitas cried out as he tumbled to the earth. Sparks radiated off of his body as he used his arrowguns to prop himself back up. "I-Is that the best y-you got!"

Nothing was said as the man slammed his daggers into the ground and slashed upwards to send out a pillar of lightning towards his position.

"Oh come on!"

Rolling out of the way, Vanitas shot several laser arrows at his opponent. Some landed their mark and exploded while others were used to help tether the man down for additional attacks. And like before, the man roared Vanitas expected to see the electrified cloak to appear, but something else occurred instead.

"What the?"

Soon six miniature tornadoes were formed around the hooded man before they dissipated into what appeared to be the same wind lances he uses quite often.

"Okay… Are you seriously copying me?!"

"Or are you copying me?" The man taunted with a hidden smirk, which seemed to rile the masked hero up a bit. With a wave of his hands, a pair of lances came into one of his hands while a singular one went into another before the last three lances circled around the hooded man. They started to speed up as a ball of wind was formed right in front of him.

"Now come on!"

"Oh shit!" Vanitas yelled out as he barely dodged the incoming ball of wind. Once it came into contact with the metal container behind him, the hero heard the oddly familiar sounds of grinding that would've come from his rasengan and rasenshuriken attacks. "Are you kidding me?!"

"No."

Feeling pissed off, Vanitas emptied his clips at the man floating in the air, due to him riding the wind with his lances. All that was done of them were dispersing once coming into contact with the high speed, wind barrier that shredded the projectiles. Even ones uses as tethers weren't strong enough now.

'Seems I'll need to change tactics now.' Thought the vigilante as he replaced his arrowguns with his Lunar Rose. 'And I think getting in close and personal might do the trick.'

Throwing his scythe in a buzzsaw motion, Vanitas teleported to it once it got close to his opponent's range. Once there, the hero grasped his Green weapon and swung upwards to knock one of the wind lances away before swiping his blade at the hooded man several times. Getting through the defenses was quite easy for the first time as the man was quite surprised on the attack while grunting out in pain.

Not enjoying the painful sensations he's going through, the hooded opponent grasped one of the lances and knocked Vanitas away. As the hero fell towards the ground, all of the lances shot forward in hopes of skewering the black/white themed vigilante. The wind lances missed as the hero jumped off of the ground and upwardly slashed the undefended man several more times before kicking the hooded man to the ground with a loud thud.

The mysterious man quickly recovered and called back his weapons before disappearing in a gust of wind and reappearing above the helmeted Uzumaki. Without warning, he dived bombed at the hero with the lances piercing through his armor and cutting through the skin. Vanitas cried out in pain as this repeated several times while his powers tried to heal him at a fast rate.

Not wanting to feel the attacks again, the hero ran as several wind pillars came crashing down to the ground and causing damage in their wake. Each one missed their target while he navigated through the maze made out of the shipping containers, but each miniature tornado kept ripping through the metal like it was nothing. Before long, the lances somehow caught up to the hero and quickly spun around him as they tried to keep him in place. Not wanting what might happen next, Vanitas threw Lunar Rose to the side and teleported to it's position as he evaded the incoming attack.

When the hooded man reappeared, Vanitas dashed towards his position and swung his weapon in a pinwheel like fashion to quickly deliver several strikes onto his opponent. The man staggered as this was repeated several times before the wind barrier came back to life and knocked the hero back. Before long, the wind started to pick up again as the lances shot towards the hero's position, causing the vigilante to parry and batting them away from harming him.

Without realizing it, each of the wind lances connected together to form a very large pole. Grasping the far end, the mysterious man swung his elongated pole which widened his attack range significantly that it was hard to move out of the way in time. Even when the hooded man added wind around the entire weapon, the speed was too quick for Vanitas to dodge, resulting in him sent flying to the hanging crane from up high.

"Ow…" Muttered the masked publisher as he suddenly fell from the crane arm. Catching himself by grasping onto the broken cable, Vanitas tried to catch his breath while thinking of a way to defeat the mysterious man. This process was halted when he saw the hooded man ride up into the sky with the connected lances before they started to enlarge and change into something else. "Oh fuck you..."

Stopping in the air, the head of the changed weapon opened up and formed a tri-pronged mouth as wind was gathered up in it's maw. "I wonder what you'll look like under that helmet of yours..." The wind was starting to build up, making Vanitas' eyes widen and his concealed hair to stand on end. "With the face of despair."

The compacted wind was soon released as a tornado was shot towards the hanging hero. Said hero was forced to release his grip on the broken cable so he can get out of the way from the attack. Good thing too since the attack struck the crane, which utterly wrecked the piece of equipment with the surrounding shipping containers. As the attack ended, the giant monstrosity shrunk down and broke down into the six wind lances that formed it.

"Talk about going overboard." Muttered the vigilante as he landed on one of the unharmed containers. As he saw the hooded man float in the air, with his lances guarding him, Vanitas ran and jumped away from the incoming wind spheres.

Wanting to see which attack was stronger, the hero quickly formed mini-rasengans and fired at his opponent to either cancel out his balls of wind or land successful hits. Some were successful while others were merely batted away, resulting with additional damage to the area. As the wind attacks ceased, the hooded man flew in close before his lances connected together once more as the mysterious opponent swung his weapon around. Vanitas blocked the blows before he upwardly swiped the opposing weapon, causing it to lock in place.

"Oh this is gonna be good." The masked Uzumaki said with a hidden smile before he formed a clone to attack the man while he held the elongated weapon in place. Many punches and kicks landed successfully, causing the hooded man to let go of his weapon momentarily so he can strike back at the clone with a gust of concentrated wind.

As the clone dissipated, the hooded opponent rode on top of his lances once more as they enlarged themselves and changed into the giant monstrosity as before.

"Not this time asshole." The hero muttered.

Throwing his scythe towards the opponent's enlarged weapon, Vanitas teleported to the man's position once he stopped moving. Swiping the man's form several times as he was considered defenseless without a weapon on hand. On the last attack, the mysterious man fell from the sky and came tumbling down to the ground. He called his wind lances to help him, causing them to shoot towards his position. But it was too late as Vanitas came closer and poured a lot of energy into his scythe for one last strike.

"How's this for your despair?!" Was all Vanitas said as he swiped Lunar Rose downward to go right through the mysterious man.

As the attack was delivered, the hooded man cried out in pain as he soon landed on the shipping container with a loud crunch and a deep dent into said container. The lances lost power as they soon struck the metallic container before they and the defeated man went up into smoke. Said smoke started to condense into a black and white ball before it shot towards the masked Uzumaki.

"Oh no, not again! GAH!"

He cried out as the black and white ball slammed right into him with enough force to skid him back all the way to one of the damaged containers. The action was so strong that Vanitas was forced to drop his Lunar Rose before it dissipated on it's own. As he started to recover a little, he felt familiar weights in his hands before seeing his Foundre daggers in one hand and a Kazekage lance in the other with a faint glow coming off of them.

The masked Uzumaki felt the familiar sensations coming from his weapons like when he fought the hooded man the first time before they dissipated on their own. They seemingly felt stronger for some reason and figured like when he used his Fair Play cards after the previous encounter, there were more uses discovered when he trained with them again. Maybe the same thing happened to his daggers and lances now.

All train of thought ended as he heard clapping from behind him. Like before, one turned around, the hooded man stood several feet away.

"Is this gonna be a recurring theme with you?" The hero growled out. "Sending out clones to attack me while you just sit back and watch?!"

"Hmm… Perhaps." Holding out his hand, the hooded man formed the dark fiery doorway. "Until we meet again."

With that said the hooded man walked right through the dark portal before it dissipated before the hero's very eyes. All that the masked Uzumaki could do was growl and glare at the spot where his mysterious opponent left. He didn't know what this man's deal was and what he was trying to do at all. This confused him back then and it's confusing him right now.

Vanitas was about to head on out when he heard police sirens coming closer to the area. Guessing someone nearby called the GCPD on the fight earlier, which was causing damage in the surrounding area. Knowing that it'll be hard to leave the area with the dead bodies all over the place, Vanitas decided that he'll need to talk to the officers to clear things up with them so he won't get the majority of the blame.

As the hero made his way towards the officers, he didn't notice the bystanders a good distance away as they stood on the metal shipping containers from up high. Each of them had a pair of military-grade binoculars on hand before taking them away from their respective sites. Before long, each stood up as the surrounding light gave out their details.

One was a woman who wore a bodysuit that was burnt-orange and brick-red in color. Around her waistline, her costume featured two, large tiger stripes that are also seen on her shoulders. On her sternum lies the marking of a feline paw-print. Her facial features were covered with a hard burnt-orange mask that covers her forehead, nose and cheeks that resembled a stylized tiger face. She also wears a black sheath behind her back which stores her sword and also wears a black belt to store her weapons.

The next person is a tall, strongly-built man with an intimidating figure. He has short blond hair that is partially covered by a gray hockey mask, which only reveals his eyes. The rest of his attire seems to be like a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, with a collar that covers some of his neck. Arm and elbow pads are worn on both arms as well as fingerless gloves. On his left arm, he has metal plates attached that act very much like armor. He wears black pants with a utility belt that holds his various weapons and gadgets.

The last person was a woman who wore a bodysuit that was primarily obsidian-black with forest-green on parts of her armor and clothing on her person like the greaves and vambraces. Knives and daggers were strapped onto her waist with a sword attached to her hip while a quiver, filled with arrows, was on her back and a compound bow in her hand. To finish off her appearance, the woman wore a hood over her head and a face mask to hide more of her features.

"So… That was him." Spoke the second woman.

"Of course princess." Said the man in the group with a rough tone to his voice. Though his side was elbowed, causing him to grunt a bit before glaring at the tiger themed woman. "Okay, ow!"

"Stop being rude Sportsmaster."

"First off, I wasn't being rude Huntress." The now identified Sportsmaster said before he pointed towards the now identified Huntress. "Second, why was I being rude?"

"Not showing respect for starters."

"I was showing respect… In my own, personal way."

"...And here I wondered why most of the League doesn't like working with you two together out on the field." The second woman muttered as she shook her head. "Now this would at least explain a few things."

"Yeah, yeah whatever Miss Ghul."

Slightly ignoring the married couple's banter for several moments, the Demon's Daughter looked back at the scene before them with calculating eyes. They came here to observe Vanitas at work as per her Father's orders to get more of an evaluation of the black/white themed vigilante. They leaked the tip of there being a drug shipment arriving so that they'd get a good read on said hero once he arrived. Though if Batman and Robin were to arrive instead of Vanitas, then another opportunity would've presented itself later on while also evaluating the Dynamic Duo of Gotham City.

Talia admitted she was quite impressed with how the hero fought against the thugs all on his own with a pair of escrima sticks so he wouldn't take their lives. The fighting style was good with little to no flaws in his form as it even impressed the Demon's Heir. Though it was a shame that he didn't kill them to preserve a little on the surplus population from the filth, but it seemed to be made up by the odd arrival that fought Vanitas as he killed all of the thugs.

The hooded man caused the three Assassins to worry a little, thinking that Minato the Hiraishin arrived to exact his revenge against his last encounter with Vanitas with his display of electric powers the man possessed. Though this changed once the mysterious figure changed his tactics and went with wind powers, making the three realize that it wasn't Minato down there at all. But suffice to say the entire fight was extraordinary that it entertained Talia very much.

'No wonder Father is interested in him.' The Demon's Heir thought with a hidden smile before it quickly turned into a frown. 'But… But I don't know if I want to be with him.'

From what Talia knew from her Father's request, he is hoping to see if either Vanitas or Batman would become Warith al Ghul and eventually the new Ra's al Ghul. And when that does happen, Talia is expected to marry either man and give birth to the next Warith al Ghul. This could've been averted if her younger sister, Nyssa, was straight or at least bi-sexual so she would marry the new Ra's.

If that were to happen, then Talia would've sought out the person she would've fallen in love with and be married to him to have a family together. It was a nice dream that Talia adopted from her late mother, which was something that came out alright during their marriage. And there is one person that is in her mind that would rightfully become her husband and wishes that could happen.

This is one of the reasons why she came to Gotham in the first place: to evaluate her former student, her friend and odd crush Naruto Uzumaki. If Naruto could fight well enough against her in the coming spars during her time in Gotham, then Talia could hopefully present her to her father for his evaluation. And if Naruto is successful, then Ra's will give his blessing for them to be together and her dream will be realized.

Though there is a little hiccup to this apparently when she was at his loft earlier today: she saw signs of a woman living with him. Oh she's definitely not talking about his young ward, who by the way is one of the sweetest girls she ever met, but possibly Naruto's lover or a possible girlfriend. He didn't speak about her so far, due to the subject not coming up and conversations were just between the two friends, but Talia planned to learn more about his relationship from the married couple beside her and from Naruto himself.

'Though if Naruto does become the new Demon's Head, I could allow him to have a concubine/consort or two.' Thought the Demon's Daughter with a tilt of the head. 'Who knows for sure, but as long as he's happy then it'll be worth it.'

"...I mean come on woman, it was one time with Jade messing up that kids face! What was I supposed to do?!"

"Ground her like you were supposed to!"

"I did by taking away her magazines and what weapons she had hidden underneath her bed!"

"But you were also supposed to restrict her TV and video game privileges Laurence!"

"Uh huh, but what about those books that she likes to read? I would've taken them away from her, but you said that it would've been too far!"

"It would've since I'd like to keep our girls' minds educated."

"Heh. Well I'd hate to burst your bubble, but it seems Jade is starting to like boys and is reading really intently on that Icha Icha series that I keep seeing her borrow from our room's bookshelf and not just the innocent ones the same author wrote."

Huntress soon let out a gasp and glared even harder at Sportsmaster. "She is not!"

"Yes she is and I swear that every time Harley's boytoy comes around to visit, Jade is giving the guy looks that I'm not comfortable with." The male assassin said with his arms crossed. "Like it or not, but those books are giving Jade thoughts on her wanting to be-"

Having enough of the conversation, Talia coughed into her hand to gain their attention. "If you two have had enough bickering, I'd like to finish this night in a better light." The married couple grumbled to themselves as Talia merely rolled her eyes before walking away from the scene. "Come on you two. We still need to survey a few more areas for the upcoming assignment."

Huntress and Sportsmaster nodded as they followed their mistress to the next area on their list for the evening. Though they looked at each other's eyes and silently said to each other that their one conversation wasn't over just yet. Knowing that their complete and utter attention towards Talia al Ghul for the present time.

"So Talia… Do you think Vanitas might interfere with the assignment? Or even the Batman?"

Turning towards Alsiyada, the Demon's Daughter answered. "I don't know for sure, but we're still in the evaluation stage on the two heroes. So them possibly being involved will make things more interesting if done correctly."

"Whatever you say princess." Sportsmaster said before being elbowed again by his wife. "Okay, seriously lay off with the elbow!"