Visiting the City of Tomorrow
"So glad the snow is starting to let up now." Naruto said to himself as he was driving down the freeway. "It would've been a pain if the snow kept on going with all the ice."
Naruto had been driving for a few hours now from Gotham City because of the snow storm that hit last night. It was not a fun experience waking up to it and having to leave at a good time so the roads and traffic wouldn't be bad. When he stepped out of the towers, he saw the plow trucks were barely starting their jobs for the day, which pissed off the Uzumaki that his plans were going to be delayed.
Naruto had called the hotel that he was going to be late from his desired check in time and they understood since the storm hit them as well. He packed up a small lunch for the road since he could tell he would end up at his destination late in the afternoon instead of 10 or 11 in the morning. But as soon as he got onto the road, he was hearing radio reports of several accidents already happening due to the ice. So now the plans got delayed even further that he might end up at the hotel roughly three or four in the afternoon.
"One of the many things I despise in this world is the kami-damned roads with it's damned ice." He muttered as he was driving a tad slow with several other cars around him so that no accidents wouldn't occur. "I just hope that this storm didn't dampen my plans too much."
One might wonder why the publicist is on the road and of what the destination he has in store. Well it's quite simple really: he is killing two birds with one stone by going to Metropolis.
He was called up by his New York branch to see if he can open up a new location in Metropolis so that things could get processed better with certain dealings. Naruto understood that possibly getting a major business, or even a minor one, would make leaps and bounds if a location was opened up in that city so he decided to give it a chance. Of course he would need to go to the city in person so he could find a suitable building to open up the location at.
While he is there, he might as well check up on a few places to see how things have changed since he last been there.
"Don't know if I should've taken a flight to get over there instead of driving. But nooo...I didn't want to fly in a metal death trap. It would've been cheaper to drive." Naruto grumbled as he pulled out a sandwich and took a bite out of it.
"Should've listened to their advice and booked the damn flight." He said as he remembered his conversation at Arkham last week.
-Flashback-
"There's no way in hell I plan on flying to Metropolis when it would seem better to drive over there." Naruto said as he sat in front of his girlfriend of the visiting area of the asylum. He, however, wasn't alone however as the publisher was currently with a few people in the meeting.
"Don't tell me you're scared of flying now, don't you?" Selina said with a small smirk.
Selina was in the group since she wanted to finally meet Pamela when it seemed good enough for the changed botanist to see other guests that weren't on her 'guest' list beforehand.
"No….It's just that I really don't like being in a confined space while flying thousands of feet in the air." He said while looking away from the two women.
"It is really quite rational of you not wanting to be in a vulnerable position for several hours on end." Harley said as she was sitting on one end of the table with a clipboard in hand.
Harley was mediating the meeting to see how progress is coming along on Pamela's condition. It wasn't normal of an asylum doctor, or an intern in the blonde's case, to be in the visiting area chatting in the party but she was rather insistent in wanting to be apart of them.
"It's not just that actually." Pam interjected with a small smirk aimed at her boyfriend. "He just had a bad case of air sickness on a supposed first flight….among other things."
"Really?" Selina said with a gleam in her eye. "Mind telling us?"
"Pam…." Naruto said with a twitch in his eye.
"Alright….'I' won't say it." She said to wave him off.
"Ok good…" He said as he then realized when she said 'I'.
"But I will~." Ivy said as she took over.
"Oh no you don't!" Naruto said as he tried to lunge forward to cover her mouth when Selena grabbed ahold of him and put her hands on his mouth.
"Don't listen to him Red." Selina said with a cat's smile. "Let's hear the juicy details."
"He told me that after traveling for roughly two years, he needed to fly into the states from Europe." The Green's champion started out. "Sure it started out alright but things started to go downhill…."
It was quite fun for the two women to hear Naruto's experience of his first flight while giving him some pity on most of it. From the usual air sickness due to the bad turbulence, bad food, actually being puked by several passengers, and several other problems that made the other two women understand his thoughts on flying.
As this was going on, Selina somehow had gotten ahold of her leather whip and tied Naruto up while duct taping his mouth shut so he wouldn't interrupt. He could easily get out of his bindings but this was one of those times he couldn't reveal his powers in front of anyone. Wish he could so the Uzumaki can stop Pam from telling the story he told to her in passing of embarrassing times he had dealt with.
"You know Naruto," Harley said after the story was told with her taking off the duct tape, "you don't have to let just one experience ruin things for other ones down the road."
"I know Harley but for all my life I've been on the ground and been fine with not flying at all." He drawled out as he stretched out his mouth to get rid of the odd feeling.
"But flying isn't you then." Selina added in from what she got from her silverette friend. "That's fine and all Naruto but you just need to suck it up at times and go through it."
"'We' agree with Selina here and you might as well just go with it to make things easier in the end." Pam said to back up the raven haired woman's response.
"You could just take a sleeping pill if it makes you feel better." Harley said with a shrug. "Asides from the fact that it'll take you like an hours worth of flight to get from here to Metropolis."
"Look….I appreciate your concerns and take things under consideration, but I don't plan on flying anytime soon. So can we please just drop this?" He asked the three women.
"Alright, alright. Have it your way." Selena said to him. "So asides from that, I think the preserve outside of Gotham got finalized…."
-Flashback End-
*HONK* *HONK* *HONK* *HONK*
"Alright! I'm moving!" Naruto yelled out despite the driver not hearing him. Caught up on his recent memories made him not notice the traffic was finally clearing up, causing the drivers to honk at him in irritation.
Asides from the discussion with him not enjoying airplanes in general, they ended up talking about the wildlife preservation slowly coming into fruition. After weeks of cleaning and removing the remaining military equipment from the grounds, Mayor Hill had given the okay for the land to develop into a wildlife preserve. It'll take a while for things to be properly taken care of from there but environmentalists are very much satisfied in the end.
During those discussions, Naruto noticed that 'both' Pam's and Selina were slowly becoming decent friends at best and it'll take time for them to enjoy each other's company despite having good care for the environment. The silverette knew the two wouldn't become friends by the end of their first encounter like with Harley and 'both' Pams, but it's a start at least.
As for Harley, she was starting to get out of her shyness, even if it's just only a little bit at a time. From what Naruto had learned from Selina, the two had met outside of the asylum by chance while running errands and had hung out for most of that day and on the following day with the two not having much to do. Once again, the progress of Harley having another friend was imminent.
-Few Hours Later-
"Feels damn good to be out of that car and on this comfy bed." Naruto muttered as he was sprawled out on his hotel bed with his suitcase not far from him.
Being in the car for close to five hours when the trip was supposed to be close to three all because of the weather can be quite tiresome. He got to Metropolis by roughly two in the afternoon, an hour or so earlier than he expected, with the city's roads roughly cleared out so it made things quick for him to get to his hotel. Naruto properly got checked in and the moment he stepped through the door he just wanted to be lazy and sleep for the rest of the day. But with him being cooped up in the car for too long made him want to at least stretch out his legs and go out for a walk….after taking a slight rest.
Once changing into a pair of warmer clothes, Naruto had started out his walk of the snowy streets of Metropolis for quite some time. Seeing a lot of familiar sites made things seem nostalgic when he lived here for roughly three years. Even with some other places got replaced made the silverette want to properly check them out when he had a better schedule idea for his duration here.
*Growl* Naruto's stomach sounded getting the organ's owner to notice the feeling.
"I should've packed more than just that meal for the ride over here." He said as he rubbed his stomach. "Now where is a decent place to eat close by?"
His eyes soon caught onto a diner with the name that seemed very familiar to him, getting the silverette to scratch his head to figuring it out.
"Bibbo's Diner…..if I remember correctly, that building was closed down before I left here." He said as he walked towards the restaurant in curiousity. When he opened the door to give off the little bell chime, he was greeted with a familiar site.
"Hello, welcome to my diner…." The man said before narrowing his eyes at the silver haired male for a moment before gaining a big smile. "As I live and breathe. If it isn't the little runt."
"Bibbo?" Naruto asked getting the man to smile a tad more. "Damn, it's good to see you. It's been too long."
"Indeed it has been kid." Bibbo said as he came around the counter to come close to the publisher. He was a short haired, blonde in his early 50's that towered Naruto by several inches with a physique that showed of a retired boxer with him having some weight added on certain areas. He wore a pair of jeans, black non-slick boots, and a red button up shirt underneath a white apron.
"So how've you been old man?" The publisher asked with a smile at his old friend.
"Doing well, obviously." He gestured with a wave of his hand of the diner.
"I didn't expect you to open up a diner Bibbo. I thought you would've gotten the bar….. Ace O' Clubs I believe."
"Oh I got that place as well." Bibbo said with a smirk getting the publisher to look at him in surprise.
"How the hell did you get both places with a fisherman's salary?" Naruto asked before quickly responding. "No offence."
"None taken kid and if you're wondering how….well let's just say I might've gotten some of your 'fox's luck' before you left." The old fisherman stated. "Not only did I win the lottery but I won a poker game to have the bar's deed. Used that money open up this diner and it took time to spruce up both places but it was well worth it."
"I take it that you're working part time at both places then? Here in the morning and the diner at night?"
*Chuckle* "Most definitely. Though during the spring/summer times, I would switch out of working the diner to going out and be a fisherman. Would have some people manage the diner while I'm out and all but I would always manage the bar no matter what."
"You can take a fisherman out of the sea but you can never take the sea out of the man." The Uzumaki said getting the man to nod at the little logic.
"So don't mind me asking kid but why are you in town? Business or pleasure?"
Bibbo's response was a 'so and so' gesture from the young man's hand before speaking. "A little bit of both actually. My company asked me to come over here to find a good location to open up shop. While I'm here, I wanted to at least see some familiar faces that I haven't seen in like 4-5 years."
"Sounds like you got a handful to deal with kid." The fisherman said with a knowing nod. "So asides from that: You hungry? My treat."
"No no no Bibbo." Naruto said as he tried to wave him off. "You shouldn't do that for me man. You should remember my eating habits."
"Oh I remember." Bibbo said in a smile with a twitch to his eye. "Broke my wallet the last time I treated you to a meal. Reason why I'll only treat you to pie."
*Chuckle* "Of course."
*Ring* The door opened up with the chime to interrupting their conversation.
"Hey Bibbo." A man's voice called out from the entryway of the diner. "Party for two if you don't mind."
"Yeah sure thing Tom…." Bibbo said before quickly remembering who he was chatting before turning the silverette around. "Hey Tom, you remember little runt Naruto?"
"Wait….Naruto!" The man said before giving the publisher a bear hug while cracking his back in the process. "Damn kid, its been ages."
"It has…." Naruto said with a strained voice. "Mind letting go? You're crushing my spine."
Tom let got of the Uzumaki's back before giving him a pat on the shoulder. *Chuckle* "Sorry about that son, but honestly why wouldn't I. It's been a long time since I saw ya."
"That it has." Naruto said to the older man. Tom was a man in his late 40's with greying hair with a beard to match his light grey eyes. He was well fit for his age due to him working as a fisherman practically all his life. He wore black pants and boots while wearing a grey shirt underneath a green button up shirt and coat.
But if Tom was here then where's…..
*Ring* "Hey, you get us that table dad? I'm practically starving." A voice called out from behind Tom getting Naruto's eyes to widen when seeing the person in the entry way.
"Arthur?" The Uzumaki called out getting his attention.
"Naruto?" The blonde asked and before he knew it, Naruto came up from behind and gave Arthur a choke hold. Arthur then fell back to get Naruto to land on his back before the two ended up roughhousing like a pair of brothers making Tom smile at the scene.
"I guess it's going to be a table for three then." Bibbo said as he looked upon the two youngsters meeting each other after several years.
"Definitely." Was all the patriarch of the Curry family said as he came up to the two and slammed his fists on top of their heads giving them comical smoking bruises.
The group ended up at one of the tables at the far corner of the diner so they can have more privacy. Once they were situated, Naruto decided to speak up first.
"Why are you two here? In the winter time no less?" The publisher asked getting the head of the Curry household to laugh.
"Oh we still do come by at those times for an occasional visit or getting away from Maine for a while." He said before going into a somber tone. "But the reason why we are here was that I had to come over to pay my respects for an old friend of mine and Bibbo's who recently passed."
"I'm sorry to hear that Tom and hope it wasn't too bad on his passing." Naruto said in sympathies.
"Oh it wasn't. He was in his late 70's and died in his sleep. Me and Bibbo lost a good mentor, who taught us everything we knew on being a fisherman and dock worker."
"Well that's good to know." The Uzumaki said before looking at the blonde haired son. "Not that I'm glad or anything to see you but why are you here?"
"I came along to help support dad at this time." Arthur said to his friend. "Tazuna was practically a grandfather to me. We even had to help support Kaiza, Tsunami and Inari at this dark time in their lives. They very much appreciated it very well though."
Arthur Curry is a year older than Naruto with shaggy, sun kissed blond hair with sideburns down to his jawline with oceanic blue eyes on his strong features that came from his father. His build was a tad bigger than that of an olympic swimmer's. The man was currently wearing a pair of green pants with several pockets in them, a grey long-sleeve shirt underneath an orange button up and black boots along with his leather jacket that was off to the side.
"That's great to know on how much you're looking out for his family guys." Naruto said before glancing at the menu.
"They are the only other form of family I have asides from dad here." Arthur pointed out before he too looked at the menu.
"Even though I keep telling Arthur to make friends but he tends to drive them all away." Tom said as he scanned through the list of meals on what to have for the early evening.
"Bar fights I take it?" The silver haired male guessed with a small smirk knowing it's probably the answer.
"Yup."
"But what about finding a girlfriend?" Naruto asked the older Curry, not seeing the younger Curry's eye starting to twitch. "Surely with his good looks and 'charm' he could possibly get one."
"Same result I'm afraid." The man said as he shook his head. *Sigh* "I even help set up some dates but nothing seems to work out."
"Maybe he's not finding the right girl. He should find one that could actually put up with him."
"Don't talk about me as if I'm not in the room." Arthur said with his eye starting to madly twitch.
The blonde actually forgot how annoying his old friend could unintentionally be whenever he is around him.
Things settled down once Bibbo came to their table and took their orders. The three eventually talked about what things have been like since they had last saw each other. With the Maine natives, it was mainly working at the family lighthouse and usual fishing jobs with not much of a change. After that, the former shinobi started talking about him founding and leading his publishing company.
"...You've done well for yourself in these past five years since we last saw you." Tom said to the publisher as their meals made it to the table. "First seeing you at the docks for a story for the Planet and now a book publisher."
"It's not easy that I can tell ya." Naruto said as he eyed his food. "A lot of times I drink a lot so I can try to numb the pain of paperwork. I even sometimes wish for a simpler life but what can I do exactly. I love what I do."
"I hear ya." Arthur said in agreement. "Sometimes I've wondered what it would be like to be in a different position in life but I've been born and raised in my current one. It would be hard for me to change from what I'm comfortable with."
"Even though I've told you that you should try something else." The eldest Curry told his son.
"But I have dad. I've worked around all over town in various jobs from the post office, the library, construction work…." The blonde listed off.
"But you feel more comfortable working near the ocean I take it."
Nodding at his friend's response, he continued. "I was practically born in the water and I work better in the surrounding areas. So if it means that I'll work as a fisherman, a dock worker or even at the lighthouse for the rest of my life then I'm all for it."
"Then you should keep doing what you love Arthur. There's nothing wrong with that."
"That's the plan Naruto." The blonde said before taking a sip of his drink. "So is there anything else going on in your life asides from work or are you just living day in and day out by the punch clock?"
'Oh if it was ever that simple.' Naruto thought as he reflected back to events that have happened for the past few months. "Well I'm actually in a relationship with someone."
"Really?" Arthur asked getting his friend to nod while taking a sip of his drink. "So who's the lucky guy?"
*PFFT* "Wh-*Cough* What?!"
"Who's the guy you're seeing?"
"You're saying that to get back at me for earlier aren't you?" Naruto said getting the young Curry to smirk at the question.
"Guilty."
With this going on, Tom had to laugh a little on the interaction since he missed seeing this.
"Okay we had our laughs here you two. But honestly though kid: Who's the lucky girl?"
"Her name's Pam and despite hitting a rocky part of our relationship, we still love each other very much."
The publisher started explaining to the two on how he met the botanist at the gala event in Gotham to a few things about her profession. Of course after remembering the little incident at Arkham, he decided to not bring up too much information other than the basic facts.
"Well it's good that you were able to find someone to be happy with kid and hope it works out for the best." Tom said at the end of the explanation.
"I hope so too." Naruto said as they finished up their meals. "Well it's getting pretty late and I need to get back to the hotel."
"Same here." The young Curry said before continuing. "We've gotta head back home in the morning and our flights at that time."
"We would've left today but due to the weather our flight got transferred for tomorrow." The elder Curry added in getting the silverette to nod in understanding.
"Well that's a shame. It would've been nice to hang out a bit more but we can't have everything." Naruto said with a shrug.
"True. But was nice seeing you Naruto and if you're ever in Maine, you know where to find us." Arthur said as he held out a fistbump to his friend.
"The old Curry lighthouse." The publisher said in confirmation as he returned the gesture. "Never been to Maine before but I'll be sure to look it up."
The Curry's nodded at this and said their goodbye's to Bibbo as they left his diner leaving Naruto at the table to pay for the party's meal.
"So since you're here in Metropolis, I take it you're gonna stop on by the Planet?" Bibbo guessed with a small smirk.
"That's the plan Bibbo and sorry to hear what happened."
"It's alright Naruto and no worries. Sure it did hurt hard when I heard Tazuna passed away but I can tell he's in a better place now." The diner owner said as he gave Naruto a box with a full pie inside. "Now don't forget your pie kid since this one's on me."
"Yeah I remember and thanks." The silver haired male said as he finished getting wrapped up for the cold weather outside. "So while I'm at the Planet, should I expect a few changes over there since I last been there?"
Bibbo adopted a thinking pose and thought for a bit before responding. "Asides from Ms. Grant no longer being there, nothing much has really changed….I think."
"Good to know." The former shinobi said as he headed to the door. "Hope you have a good night at the bar old man."
The man nodded before remembering something and called out making the silverette to stop. "There is one thing though."
"Which is?"
"Well...Ms. Lane has been rather moody lately and don't know what's wrong. Maybe you could cheer her up." Suggested the old sailor.
"With me here, she'll definitely be in better moods." Naruto said with a smile as went out of the door and headed back to the hotel. He was going to eat the pie in his hotel room while going over the documents of building candidates for the the future Spiral Publishing location. It will be a long day so he needed every bit of energy he can muster for tomorrow.
-Next Day-
*Sigh* "Well that one was a bust." The publisher muttered as he drove to the next stop of his 'building' shopping as it were.
He got up early and gotten himself a decent breakfast before making his trek throughout the city of the several locations that could be potential for his new Metropolis Branch. It was even better when the roads were cleared out of the snow than from the previous day so that made it seem better. But of course that only hid the difficulty Naruto had to deal with for the majority of this day.
His first stop was at St. Martin's Island, where the rich and wealthy of the city's denizens are located. Sure the location was pretty nice and spacious on what he saw in the tour but the price was practically ridiculous with it being worth a few locations all together. The second was a location in Hob's Bay where the river connects to New Troy, the central area of the city. It sounded promising when he was looking through the documents of the place but when he got there, the location was burnt to the ground due to some troublemakers burning the place up last night.
Currently, Naruto was on his way to New Troy where all of the city's main action was taking place and hoped this last location would do well.
When he pulled up to the building, he saw a pair of people walking out of the front door. One of them, the publicist guessed, was a realtor given the suit he was wearing, the badge and clipboard Naruto has seen in the past hours of today. The second one, however, got the former shinobi to groan knowing the man was going to buy out the building. Getting out of the car, he went up to the two like nothing is happening.
"...then it seems we've finished our business here sir." The realtor said as he shook the man's hand.
"But of course. I'll send over the rest of the payment and paperwork by the end of the day." The man stated until he saw someone walk up to them. "May I help you?"
"Oh nothing of the sort Luthor." The publisher said to hide his peeved feeling. "I just showed up for an appointment for a tour of the building, but it seems that you already bought it."
Luthor was a caucasian male in his 30's that had a good physical physique hidden underneath his dark suit. He was bald and the only form of hair he had on his head were his eyebrows. His strong, firm voice that he projects had hints of arrogance while his dark, grey eyes seem to hide hidden agendas.
"I'm sorry Mr. Uzumaki. I was indeed going to give you a tour of the building but Mr. Luthor already came forward and paid the downpayment upfront." The realtor said in a apologizing tone.
"No no no it's alright. Mr. Luthor beat me to it and I can't do a thing about it." Naruto said to the realtor before addressing the billionaire. "So don't mind me asking but what are you going to make this building into?"
"Well since you seem to be such a good sport, I'll humor you." Luthor said with a smile that seemed to annoy the silver haired man. I'll be outfitting the building into either another R&D or science division once I gut out some parts of the area."
"But why this location?" The publisher asked in interest. "Wouldn't it be better if it was in the outskirts of the city or in a safer area in general?"
The bald man took pause at this to quickly think of an answer. "Mr. Uzumaki was it? To tell you the truth, I was taking interest in one building in Hob's Bay but it was burnt to the ground. So I had to make up for it by taking interests in this building. I saw promise in both locations on varying ideas on what could be placed so I needed to snag them when possible."
It didn't take much to think that Luthor had some ulterior motives in this scenario given some small rumors he'd heard in the past years of some business deals but there was nothing to really back it up. So with that Naruto took a sigh of defeat and had to suck it up.
"Then I guess congratulations are in order for you Mr. Luthor and I hope your business decision today does well for you in the future." Naruto said as he held out his hand for good gesture.
The corporate man looked at the offered appendage for a brief moment before taking hold of it and shook the publisher's hand. "Your welcome and yes I do hope this does well in the near future."
Once that was over, he walked towards his car where a woman stepped out of the drivers side and walked around to open up the door for Luthor to step in. From what Naruto inspected of the woman, she was roughly a few inches shorter than him while wearing a black chauffeur's uniform to contrast her slight fair skin. She wore no makeup on to show her beauty with her sharp features with her light grey eyes. Naruto guessed she must have longer hair given the fact with how big of a hat she was wearing to show it was slightly bulging.
"Thank you Mercy." Luthor said before taking a pause and turned to the publisher. "Oh yes….now I remember where I heard your name before. Naruto Uzumaki of Spiral Publishing, one of the best known publishers on the globe. Took a bit for me to remember."
*Chuckle* "I wouldn't brag about me being one of the best Mr. Luthor."
"Oh but indeed you are Uzumaki. Given the chances that you have snagged the best writers, both veteran and upcoming, into your company that ended up making outstanding works. Not to mention of you writing a good handful of novels as well." The bald man said while getting Mercy to look at the silver haired male and gave him a smile with her eyes to light up.
"Well those were honestly good choices I had made with very lucky breaks mind you." The former shinobi said while scratching the back of his head.
"Indeed." Luthor said before continuing. "So pray tell why are you here in Metropolis? I'm guessing with you wanting a tour of the building seems that you wanted to open up a branch here."
Naruto nodded at this before telling the corporate man in front of him. "My branch in New York suggested me to find a suitable location here to help make things more profitable and I wanted to appease them. So yes I'm currently searching for a building to my standings but I'm afraid I've had no luck on my end."
"And such a shame too since as of right now nothing is available at this time."
*Sigh* "Guess so. I'll be contacting my branch and let them know of the bad news since they were hoping something would be available soon."
"Then good luck in the near future."
With that said, Luthor sat down into his car before Mercy closed the door with the realtor leaving the area to head back to his place of business. Naruto was about to leave as well but soon saw the woman walk up to him with a growing smile on her face.
"I take it you're one of my fans aren't you." Naruto said with a small smile knowing where this is going.
"Yes I am." She said as she had no restraint on her gushing over him. "Even though you must've heard this dozens or hundreds of times but I love how you wrote your works with very intricate details like you were there yourself."
"Chuckle* "Then I'm glad to bring you some form of entertainment." He said to her as he saw the sparkles in her eyes.
The publisher then saw Mercy walk over to the passenger's door of the car and opened the glove compartment to pull out something. He guessed it was one of the books but he didn't expect to see all five from the three Icha Icha books, the Gutsy Ninja and Ninja Storm. She practically skipped her way towards him and held them out to him.
"M-Mind doing me a favor and sign these for me. It would mean a lot to me." She said with a slight studder at the start making him laugh a little.
"Sure, why not." He said as he pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and opened up the front cover. "I know I usually say this every now and then, especially with me hearing your first name but: What do I make this out to?"
"Mercy Graves." Mercy said to him with giddiness in her voice. "My name's Mercy Graves."
He gave her a smile that made her blush slightly before looking down to the page before him he wrote inside of it. He then switched to each of the books and wrote down the same passage before handing them all back to Luthor's chauffeur. Once this was done, she opened up the cover to see the message below.
'To one of my favorite fans and hope this brightens up your mood on the darkest of times.' -Naruto Uzumaki-
Below the passage showed a little chibi drawing of Naruto waving at her with one of his smiles to which she couldn't help but find cute.
"Thank you Mr. Uzumaki." She said while holding the books close to her chest. "This means a lot."
"Your welcome and since you're one of my fans I could let you in on a little secret." He said in a cheeky tone that made her smile a little.
"Which is?"
"I'm practically done with my latest book and I plan on having it hit shelves in a matter of weeks." Naruto said getting her eyes to bulge out slightly and made her even more giddy than before.
"Really? Then what is it?" The assistant asked before quickly waving him off. "Wait don't tell me I want to have it as a surprise. But mind telling me what the book is called so I can look out for it?"
"The book is being called Loveless and the only thing I want you to expect from it is being an epic poem." He told her making her smile at the information.
"Can't wait. But anyways I hope you have a good day Mr. Uzumaki." Mercy said as she headed back to the car.
"It's Naruto. You can call me Naruto if you want." Naruto said making her look back with the kept smile. Once turning back around, she kept on walking with a small skip to her step with a small hint of her swaying her hips.
'At least she is better than some of my rabid of fans in the past.' He thought as he saw Mercy get into the car and drive off to whatever else Luthor has plans for the day.
*Sigh* 'Now what am I going to do?' He thought as he made his way to his car. He'll need to inform his New York branch of the latest developments that things will be put on hold on the new location by the end of his trip.
"I have a lot of time now to kill till I need to head back home." Naruto muttered as he started up the car. "But what should I do exactly?"
A quick thought came to the forefront of his mind getting him to snap his fingers before driving his car to the next destination.
-Daily Planet-
"I hope these can at least appease Lois and Perry while I'm here." Naruto said to no one in particular as he had bags of food from Big Belly Burger in each of his hands. He was currently in the elevator waiting to get onto the main floor of the business.
On his way over to the Planet, he had stopped on by a Big Belly Burger to grab some food from what he remembers on the various food runs he had to grab for Perry, Lois and Cat. Given the fact from what Bibbo told the publisher last night that Lois has been moody so possibly the food could help. As for Perry, well he might as well get him something if he is showing up unannounced or if the man is in a bad mood.
Once the elevator opened back up, Naruto was greeted to the old site before him of the 'ground' floor of the Daily Planet. The varying desks with the computers attached, the several large windows onto the side giving a grand view of the city, and the giant model of the company logo right above some of the elevators on the side of the room.
"They even have the same old green paint on the walls." He said out loud as he navigated his way to Lois' desk...if it was still her same desk.
"Well well well. If it isn't the old intern Uzumaki." A voice called out getting Naruto to turn around to see a familiar face.
"Hey Ron, how's it going?" The publisher greeted the reporter. Ron Troupe is an african american male with a soldier's haircut and thick moustache working for the Planet, wearing a cream sweater with a grey suit.
"Doing well kid." The man greeted. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
"You know it."
"Not that I mind seeing you but why are you here?"
"Well I'm here on business and I had time to kill. So thought I could come on by to see Perry and Lois." Naruto said before looking around the room. "So just wondering but is Lois here at the moment or can you direct me to her desk? Don't know if she still has her old spot since I interned here."
"I might as well show you her desk." Tom said as he ushered the silver haired man. "She's currently out at the moment but will show back eventually."
"Good to know. Just wanted to drop off her food before seeing Perry."
"I can tell." The dark skinned man stated. "You know….ever since you and Cat left, it's been a bit quiet."
"Yeah I bet." Naruto said, referring to all of the banter between his two female friends and some of his old antics.
It really didn't take long for Tom to show the publisher Lois' desk….with it not far from her old one if he remembered correctly.
"Well here it is." The male reporter said. "I gotta head back to do my thing now, so see you later."
"Later Tom." The former shinobi said as he waved the man goodbye.
The hazel eyed man soon set his gaze at his old friend's desk and saw a few pictures on display. The first one was a picture of Lois' deceased mother, Ella Lane, where Naruto could tell where all of beauty came from. The second one was probably an updated picture of Lois' family members of her father Sam and her younger sister Lucy. The last photo was the three friends together when Naruto and Cat were still apart of the Daily Planet.
'I should probably leave this here just in case she comes back soon.' He thought before writing a little note on her desk.
Once that was done, Naruto made his way to Perry's office to finally say hello to his old boss which was located at the far end of the current room. As he got near, the publisher started hearing some yelling coming from the room.
"Seems someone pissed Perry off really badly….either that or it's one of his off days." He said as he got to the door and knocked.
"Yes, what is it?!" Perry yelled from the other side of the door.
Opening the door, Naruto gave his old boss a reply. "Hope this isn't a bad time for a visit Perry."
Hearing the voice, Mr. White looked up from his desk to see the old intern that used to work for him roughly five years ago. When he set his gaze upon the silver haired male, he gave out a small snort with a smirk before looking back down onto his work.
"It's been a while hasn't it Naruto?" Perry said as he kept his focus on his paperwork. "Sorry if I'm not in a 'hugging' mood of sorts."
"I understand Perry and I hope I didn't come in at a bad time with me hearing you yell moments ago." The former intern said to Mr. White as he entered the office.
The editor and chief of the Daily Planet is an african american male in his early 50's with a 'heavy set' physique with his dark, short hair starting to grey out on various areas. He was currently wearing a white/grey plaid shirt with a red tie underneath a black sweater vest that went with his dark suit indicated with his jacket hanging from the post near his desk.
"It's nothing really." Perry said as he waved it off. "Just some issues in one of the departments."
"Well hope this helps make things better." Naruto said as he brought up a bag of Big Belly. "Got some of your favorites: chicken caesar, fries, and a cheese burger with special sauce."
"Well that saves me the trouble on what to get for lunch." The editor said as he snagged the bag from Naruto's hands.
"So how have things been since I've been gone?" The publisher asked as he sat down on the nearby seat. "I was told by Tom that things have been quiet." Naruto asked
"In a way, yes." Perry said as he moved a few things on his desk to the side for his food. "Nothing really has changed since you left asides from Cat and Lois bickering at each other more often. Though when Cat left things really died down on volume and 'excitement'."
*Sigh* "Yeah I figured as much."
-Meanwhile-
*Ding* The elevator to the main floor of the Planet opened up to reveal several people starting to walk out leaving one person at the very back of it.
"...I know, I should've listened to you sooner when you 'noticed' all of the red flags." The person said as she walked out of the elevator just as it closed. "Hell I should've noticed sooner when I was dating the man."
…
"Yes I'm glad I dumped his ass," she said as she got closer to her destination, "though I wished I could've done that sooner to at least save me the trouble."
…
"Anyways I'm at work now so I'll talk to you later." The woman said as she approached her desk.
…
"Yeah, love you too cuz. Say hi to your parents for me. Bye." She said as she ended the call and shook her head. "God….Chloe can be such a worry wart sometimes…..Wait, what's this?"
She noticed a bag of food from Big Belly Burger on her desk and slowly opened it up to see what was inside.
'With the lettering on the burger wrapper….this is my prefered meal….same with the salad.' She thought before noticing the note underneath the bag before reading it. 'Hope you enjoy your meal. -N- '
Something about this seemed to throw her off for a moment if there was someone that seemed to know her too well to get her meal just right. But even more so was the note.
'The only person who would do this….with the handwriting…..' She thought before her eyes widened as she started looking around for the person.
Leaving the food on the desk, she decided to make her way to Perry's office to ask if he saw 'him'. Once opening the door she called out to her boss.
"Hey Perry…. Have you seen…. Naruto?!" The woman said getting the person in front of Perry's desk to turn over. Once the man looked back, he gained a look of surprise before smiling at her.
"Hey Lois." The publisher said as he got up from his seat and walked over to her for a hug. "It's so good to see you."
Overcoming her surprise, she started to feel very happy on seeing her old friend. Thus she returned the hug as well.
"It's so good to see you as well Naruto." The reporter said before she broke the hug with a smile. Not long her smile turned into a frown with her eyes narrowing that seemed to worry the silver haired male.
"Eh….is something wrong Lois?" He asked and all that he got in return was…
*Bam* *Slap* *Bam*
"Why didn't you tell me you were showing up?!" She yelled at his downed form with a twitch to her eye.
'I forgot of how violent she can be.' Naruto thought as he had comedic bumps on his head and a handprint on his face. 'I gotten more bruises from her than from Sakura and Tsunade back home combined.'
"W-Well I wanted to make it a surprise Lois." He said to her as he got up from the floor. "And I was mostly here on business."
"Really?" Lois said as she narrowed his eyes at him again to make him agitated.
"Yes really."
From there, she came up and quickly pulled him back into a hug.
"Oh god I missed you." She said making him chuckle at her antics. Even Perry chuckled at the scene in front of him for the slight entertainment for his meal.
"I've missed you too Lois."
When pulling away, the reporter started checking him out with an analytical eye before giving the publisher a smirk.
"You appear to have turned out alright since I last saw you Whiskers." She told him making him smile a little.
"Same to you I guess." He replied back as he inspected her as well.
Lois Lane looked well for a woman in her late twenties with hints of a fit figure underneath her winter attire which consisted of a slightly thick grey jacket, long black skirt, black leggings and a dark scarf around her neck. With her natural features, she had grown more beautiful in the past 4-5 years since he last saw her with her facial features more defined. Her sharp, purple eyes seem to pop out with her long, black hair that reached past her shoulders with a bang across her forehead. The only makeup she wore was the red lip gloss on her supple lips with no other add ons to her appearance, asides from her mother's earrings.
"So you said you were mostly here on business. So what's the reason?" The dark haired woman questioned him as her 'reporter mode' kicked in.
"Well I'm here since my New York branch asked me to find a location here in Metropolis to help improve certain dealings."
"Ah that usual excuse for most businesses."
Nodding at this, he continued. "Even though I could let my branch find a suitable location on their own here but I felt it would've been better for me to find it."
"I'm sensing an additional 'but' in there."
*Sigh* "But my search hasn't been successful…." Naruto said as he then explained to her, and unintentionally to Perry, of today's events.
"Sorry to hear all that Naruto and I wish it could've gone better for you." Lois said in sympathy.
"Thanks." He replied to her. *Sigh* "It's gonna be a while until I can possibly be able to get a branch opened here."
"You know," Perry interjected into the conversation as he ate a few fries, "I might know a spot that you can possibly do your branch at."
Hearing this, Naruto asked. "Really? Where?"
"It's this one spot at Queensland Park." The editor said as he took a bite out of his salad. "Hasn't been used in years and think it would be nice to have it opened again."
It took a few moments before the two friends to gain a realized look.
"Wait….you aren't suggesting…"
"The old printing plant?" Perry finished their thoughts getting them to nod. "Yes, that's what I have in mind."
"But don't you still own it Perry?" Naruto asked as the thought was trying to wrap though his head.
"I do," he said while taking more bites out of his salad, "but it's been collecting up dust ever since I transferred the whole staff over here in New Troy with the current building you two are standing here."
Scratching his head, Naruto thought for a moment before speaking. "So...Perry. Can I have it?"
"Sure." The editor said as he looked at the former intern. "If you can pay for the building itself and all that fun stuff for me to transfer the deed and rights to you."
This made the former shinobi smile at the offer and went up to his former boss and held out his hand. "Thank you sir and I hope you won't regret this."
"I won't," he said as he shook Naruto's hand, "you're a good kid and pretty responsible. Besides I need to get rid of that place sooner or later."
"Then I'll inform my New York branch to help get things settled with you for the building transfer."
"Good. Now do me a favor and leave my office." Perry said as he tried to shoo them away. "I want to eat the rest of this in peace before continuing work."
When the two old friends left the office, Lois was the one to first speak. "Well congrats on the new location Whiskers."
"Thanks….I need it given the stress I had today."
"So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"
"Well I need to contact the New York branch on the latest development, but asides from that I have no clue what to do." He informed her as they walked towards her desk.
"So when do you need to get back to Gotham?"
"Well…. I was expecting to only stay for a few days just in case of searches, but with Perry offering to sell the old printing plant I could possibly leave sometime tomorrow."
Something about the last part of the statement bugged Lois a bit on how he said that he would be leaving tomorrow even though he had a few days being here. Soon things clicked together making her voice her thoughts.
"You drove here, didn't you Naruto?" She asked making him scratch his head before nodding. "Why haven't you gotten over your stupid airplane problems after all this time?"
*Sigh* "I do not want to go over this conversation again." He said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I already had this conversation with my girlfriend and I don't want to deal with it again."
"...Wait….you have a girlfriend?" She asked in surprise getting him to widen his eyes.
'Shit. I didn't want her to know I'm in a relationship.' He thought as he berated his slight mistake. 'Now she'll be bugging the hell out of me in her 'older sister' mode for more info.'
"Well…." Lois said as she wanted to know everything.
"Can we talk about this later Lois? I don't feel comfortable…. doing it here." Naruto said as he gestured the current environment. This caused her to notice on how he said it that talking about his girlfriend is a sensitive subject to him. "I'll tell you about her Lois. I promise."
Lois thought for a moment to process the information before replying. *Sigh* "Maybe after I get off, we can go hit the Ace O' Clubs so we can not only talk but also catch up."
"Thanks Lois." He nodded at her suggestion. "Hope you enjoy your lunch."
"Still thank you for the meal Naruto."
"You're welcome." The publisher said as he walked away before stopping. "Oh yeah, what time do you get off today?"
This made her slap her forehead before telling him her 'clock off' time. With that said, Naruto said his temporary goodbye to her as he left for the elevator while Lois started to dig into her meal.
-Later, Ace O' Clubs-
The sun was setting upon Metropolis when Naruto pulled up to the bar.
"Gotta say," Naruto said as he got out of his car and looked around the building, "this place looks a whole lot better than the previous place. I actually feel safer here."
At first, the publisher had thought that the Ace O' Clubs was still located back at the 'Suicide Slum' of the city. He was worried as to why Lois had suggested him meet up with her at that bar even though Bibbo had bought the place out. It turned out when he checked online for directions of the place just in case, the bar was relocated to New Troy from its original placement.
From what the former shinobi remembered of the old location, it was a mixed standing in that particular area of the city as the hangout of the 'lowlifes'. Shunned by those who are 'better', it is often 'infiltrated' by up-and-coming reporters, bloggers and wannabes, eager to make the most of the 'loose lips' a few drinks often encourages. The problem for the infiltrators, though, was that they were quickly sniffed out and ejected. It was a loud place with loud voices, and underneath the din are the mutterings of plans, proposed escapades, and exchanges of information. Kidnappings, assassinations, leg-breakings and so on, are all discussed under the clamor of the latest ball games and heated arguments.
Naruto should've asked Bibbo more about the bar when he saw him yesterday at the diner but instead he ended up looking online for information. In a news article, dated shortly after Naruto had left Metropolis, a fire broke out in the slums and the bar was among one of the various buildings burnt to the ground. Since Bibbo had the deed to the bar when it burnt down, he got a lot of the insurance money and decided to move the bar out of the slums to a safer location.
When opening the doors, Naruto saw things like it was from night and day. From what Naruto remembered of the previous bar location, it was pretty outdated from the style and atmosphere that made things not appealing to most of the public. With the piss like smell, blood stains on various areas, and signs of damages due to the occasional bar and gun fights were the usual sight when entering the establishment. Now it was very different, with it up to date standards for a bar regulations, the clean atmosphere and much more that was hard to list off.
"I take it you like the place so far Naruto?" Bibbo asked as he walked up to the Uzumaki.
"Yeah I do Bibbo." The publisher replied as he looked around more. "Though I do wonder why you didn't mention more of this yesterday that the previous place was destroyed."
"Eh~ It slipped my mind honestly." The sailor apologetically said before continuing. "It's been so long since I talked about it that I hardly even talk about it."
"Hey it's alright and no worries."
"So why are you here kid? Just checking things out more of the city and getting a beer?"
"Something like that." Naruto said to the old man. "Lois wanted to chat with me more after work so I'm just waiting here until she shows up."
Nodding at this, Bibbo ushered Naruto to the bar and handed him a menu of what alcoholic drinks were available with a separate one for meals as per legal standings to having a bar opened. The publisher only asked for a water with lemons and limes before would show up and that's when the alcoholic drinks will be coming their way.
As the former shinobi was waiting for his friend, someone else had entered the bar with a bingle in his hand. With nothing going on, the person walked up to the bar just a few seats away from the publisher. He placed down his bingle to the ground, leaning against the bar's wall before calling out the owner of the establishment.
"Oh hey Oleth." Bibbo called out to the man.
"Hello Bibbo. I'll just be having my usual along with water during the wait."
"Alright. I'll get your order out as soon as possible. Though I wish you go to the diner to make it easier for me."
As Bibbo left to gather Oleth's order, after pouring the man a glass of water, things were pretty quiet at the bar asides from the music playing in the background and some other chatter in the surrounding area. Being a bit bored already on the wait, the man spun around on his seat until he saw the person sitting a few stools away from him. Getting a closer inspection, he soon recognized the man.
"You're the publisher, Naruto Uzumaki right?" The man asked getting the silver haired male to turn to the source of the question.
The man seemed to be at least a head or so taller than the former shinobi with his large stature making the 25 year old wonder how the stool is able to support his weight. Asides from that, Naruto saw that he's a silver eyed, redheaded man with his hair tied back into a ponytail and a 5 o'clock shadow with a goatee. He was currently wearing a green sweater underneath a leather jacket and a pair of jeans and boots. Naruto then noticed the bindle next to him and wondered why the man had that with him.
Taking a quick second to shake out of his thoughts, Naruto replied. "Yes I am."
"Hah, I thought I knew it was you." The man happily said as he got off of his seat and got a bit closer to the publisher. "I actually enjoy your works and those that you had published."
"...Thank you." The Uzumaki replied with a smile since he usually gets this sort of thing with most fans but still enjoys hearing the little praise. Of course with the slight hesitation was all because of how towering the man was when he got closer.
"I'm somewhat of a writer myself." Oleth said as he pulled out a notebook from his jacket. "I mostly write in passing since I've been working on my craft for quite a while."
"Everyone does at some point. Whether it's to vent out certain things, doing a 'brain dump' to put down what the person is truly thinking, expressing things, and various other things." The Uzumaki listed off getting the large man to nod at this.
"That I agree with." Oleth said as he opened up his notebook and flipped through several pages until getting to one section. "Just wondering but what do you think about this?"
As the redhead said that, Naruto was handed the booklet and read the following passage.
Basilisk and Cockatrice: A Moral Poem.
I dreamed I saw a Basilisk that basked upon a rocky shore,
I looked upon the Basilisk with eyes of stone I looked no more.
I dreamed I saw a Cockatrice a chewing on a piece of bone,
I gazed upon the Cocatrice one cannot gaze with eyes of stone.
To look upon a Basilisk is really never worth the risk,
To gaze upon a Cockatrice Is permanent and never nice.
For it can never be denied life isn't pleasant, petrified.
"Well… what do you think?" Oleth asked the publisher as he read it again.
"Well, you used 'never' in the final stanza, making it seem to not really fit in my opinion." Naruto addressed to the tall man. "But other than that the poem reads well."
"Why thank you." He said with a smirk with his arms folded. "At least you're better than Barnabas on his opinions."
"A friend of yours perhaps?"
"A companion of mine for quite a long time actually." The redhead addressed. "Though I sometimes wish he isn't too straight forward on his thoughts."
"Everyone's a critic in one aspect or another." Naruto replied with a shrug.
"True."
Naruto took a sip of his water as a question came to mind. "I think I heard Bibbo said your name was Oleth right? Sounds Icelandic or Norse, I think."
"Actually it's short for Olethros." The now named Olethros stated. "I sometimes prefer Oleth at times."
"Then it's nice to meet you Olethros." Naruto said as he held out his hand, which the large man received and shook it in turn.
"So don't mind me asking but what do you do for a living?" The Uzumaki asked before pointing to the bindle on the ground. "Don't mean to offend or anything but with what you brought in I'm guessing you might be in-between jobs right now."
"Nah it's alright." Olethros said as he waved the publisher off. "I'm mostly a freelance artist if you will."
"Like what exactly?"
"Well I've done some pavement art in London and street art in Paris France. I've done some maintenance works at various Cathedrals in the world. Hell, I've even spent a month living in this one Spanish town and forged cave paintings over there so they can have some tourist attractions." Olethros listed off getting a reaction from the last one from the former shinobi.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that last one illegal?"
"Yes it is, but the town needed the help at the time and I couldn't say no exactly."
"Yeah….I get what you mean." Naruto said as he remembered past times he went out of his way to help others back in his home reality and during the past years here. "So is there anything else you enjoy doing?"
"I do enjoy doing restorative works by going to various churches and other places around the world and either touch up ruined works or make them appear what they were like when they were first made." He said as he gestured to the tab in his notebook in the silver haired man's hands.
Turning to the pointed out section, Naruto saw various photos that Olethros had taken of his various works with ones with him inside of the frame to show proof. Going through several pages, he took glances of the details of the works that he could try and see from the photos taken.
"These look very good." Naruto said with a small smile. "I guess you took a lot of pride when handling these works."
"Definitely…. Helps make me forget of what I did for my previous occupation." Olethros said getting Naruto to look at him in wonder what the occupation was.
"I'm guessing…. it's something that's really hard to get out of."
*Sigh* "You can say that." The man somberly said. "I enjoyed what I did in my previous career. It helped make things out of most to help progress…."
"I'm sensing a 'but' in there."
"But there was something I came across that made me no longer want to be associated with my job with the end result. So I left it all behind: my responsibilities, my home, my family. The only things I had kept from my departing are all in my bindle." The redhead explained getting Naruto to look at him and guess that he went through a lot before making a big change in his life.
"It must've been hard for you to do all that." The publisher finally said. "To drop everything and try to move on from that life. All because of one little instance."
"Yes…. Even with my abandonment of my former occupation; the end result still happened and it made me realize that even with me gone, things still kept going on without me being apart of it."
"Obviously. Some 'wheels' keep on turning without someone being there to keep pushing or turning it. Once the ball is rolling, it keeps on going." Naruto said getting Olethros to nod.
"I realized that fact a long time ago…. Even when I went into 'creating' things being the exact opposite of what I did."
"But what about your family?" The Uzumaki asked to change the subject. "Don't they miss you?"
"They probably are still missing me even to this day. *Sigh* I can tell that they would want me to come back home and even a few of them would want me to take up my old job but I would still refuse." The man said as he scratched his head and looked off to empty space.
"Then tell those siblings that you won't take up that roll anymore." Naruto blantly said getting Olethros to look at him with a raised brow. "You seem very fine with what you're doing and things are still going on with your old job that it probably doesn't really need you anymore."
The large man kept staring at the smaller one as the smaller one kept on going. "They think that you're someone of big significance that things won't really run properly without you, but they are wrong. Sometimes people need to be reminded that you don't always have to follow what destiny has written for you since you can make your own fate. We really can't know what we are doing, we just do things we feel are right and pretend that we don't."
After Naruto finished his piece, Olethros kept on looking at the man sitting in front of him to let it sink in before he couldn't help but chuckle a little before it went into a bellowing laugh for a few moments. This got varying people in the bar to look at their direction, but it was only temporary before going back to their own thing.
"Y-You know….*Cough* You sounded just like my sister just a minute ago and she actually told me almost the same thing you did." The redhead said getting the silver haired man to tilt his head in slight confusion.
"Really?~" Naruto asked him getting a nod from the man. "Then she must be one very smart woman."
"She is." Was all the man said as he kept his small smile on his face in remembrance of that same conversation all those years ago.
"But still Oleth," The publisher said getting the freelancer to snap out of his thoughts; "you should still see your family, even if it's for a little while. You should still visit them from time to time to at least settle their nerves and worries. It would make them happy to spend some quality time with them before you go back doing your own thing. Unless if some of those family members are complete and utter assholes, then to hell with them."
When hearing this, the man leaned back and thought things over from what Naruto said to him. The man scratched his brow a few times before he sighed from what was told to him.
"I think you're right Naruto." Olethros said with a slight defeated tone. "I should visit my family to at least get this out of the way. A few of my siblings would still want to see me and I know I can make them laugh and smile just the way I do to get them out of their funk(s)."
"Good to know. Though you don't have to see your family so soon, just go when you feel seems appropriate to actually see them." The hazel eyed man said to the silver eyed one. "I'm not forcing you on this at all since this is just a suggestion really."
"I know that but I will take your suggestion and try to see them eventually." The large man said as Bibbo came out from the kitchen with a few bags in hand.
"Well here you go Oleth. Took a while but got it all ready for ya." The sailor said as he handed the freelancer the food.
"Thanks Bibbo. Hope you have a good one." The man said as he fished out his wallet and paid for the order.
"Will do." The bar owner said as he went over to some other customers.
When Olethros got up from his spot, he picked up the glass of water and chugged it all down without taking any breaks before putting the glass down onto the counter.
"Well it's been nice chatting with you Naruto and I hope I won't be disappointed in what books you bring out to the masses." The man said with a smile as he picked up his bingle from the ground.
"Oh I won't," Naruto said with a slight laugh as he handed back Olethros' notebook, "I take pride in what I do now and I don't plan on ruining my reputation on that."
"I can tell." The silver eyed man said as he walked to the exit with his items in his hands before stopping for a moment. "There was one thing that my sister told me when I last saw her and it didn't make much sense to me back then but I understand what it meant sometime later."
"Which is what exactly?"
"People always hold onto old identities and faces long after they have served their purpose, but you'll need to learn to throw away things eventually." Was all the man said as he headed out of the door. Once he was out of sight, Lois came in before looking for her friend.
"Oh there you are." She said as she walked over to the publisher. "Sorry I'm late, Perry had a few things for me to do at the last minute."
"Hey it's alright Lois." He replied as he waved her off. "I was having a nice chat with someone and made me think on several things."
"Like what exactly?"
"Nothing that you should really worry about."
"Alright." She said as she sat down next to Naruto. "So you promised me to talk about this girlfriend of yours back at the Planet. Mind telling me now?"
*Sigh* "Yeah I might as well." Naruto said as Bibbo came up to them and asked for their orders. As soon as the sailor left, Naruto put all of his focus on the coming conversation on what is appropriate to discuss. "Her name is Pamela Isley and I first met her at a gala…."
As this was going on, a woman was looking from the scene before her with a small smile on her black lips.
The woman in question appeared as an attractive, pale young gothic woman with hair as black as the night's sky that reached to her shoulders with some bangs coming across her face. She wore a set of black clothing which consisted of skinny jeans with a studded belt and a tank top. She also wore a leather jacket and boots with a silver ankh on a chain around her neck. The last distinguishing feature about her was a tattoo like marking similar to the Eye of Horus around her right eye.
"Thank you Naruto Uzumaki." She said towards the silver haired man with a voice that would make others feel happy to be drawn towards and feel safe. Even though he can't hear what she is saying, he suddenly felt happy all of a sudden while talking to Lois about Pam.
"Thank you for telling my brother what he needed to hear." The gothic woman said as she got up from her seat in the bar and walked out of the door to continue her busy work.
After all…. Death rarely has any time off.
-End Chapter-