Wonder what National City is like part 1

'Man this is a really nice day.' Naruto thought as he was riding on his motorcycle through the freeway towards his destination. The publisher didn't bother in taking a cab in getting to National City, so he formed his Hardy Daytona motorcycle (what he uses as Vanitas) earlier for his little trip from Starling City. Listening to a mixtape on his walkman the entire ride over there with his bags securely tied down.

Several days went by since the CNRI fundraising event, along with Justin Claybourne's death and reveal of his TB outbreak connection. It was an interesting experience suffice to say on hearing the discussions on the later while watching the news. All that Naruto knew was that the Lamb Valley residents were being taken care of for what happened to them and that was all that mattered.

During the rest of the time of him being in Starling City, the Uzumaki had sparred and trained under Ted Grant to get a really great workout from the old boxing champion. Asides from hitting the gym, Naruto hanged out with Perdita a few times while also meeting up with Tommy and Oliver yesterday for drinks. Nothing bad happened during those days and that was all Naruto wanted with how several days since being here have been crazy.

While going out for drinks with the 'party boys', to what Naruto referred Oliver and Tommy as, the publisher got to know the two a little bit better than from first meetings. They were an interesting pair to be with, along with being an odd change of pace with what he was used to back in Gotham. Then again, Naruto currently doesn't have any guy friends his age.

He does have Bruce and Dick but they were older/younger than him respectively and the publisher hardly spends time with them these days. So that night of drinking felt pretty good to him, making the Uzumaki feel a sense of nostalgia when he was back in his home reality. Spending time with Choji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee and Sai was one of the things he missed, but last night made him feel that old feeling once again.

As for Perdita, Naruto did what he can to make her remaining days in the states enjoyable. Going to see what else Starling had in store for them, with some obvious limitations. The Vlatavan child was satisfied, to a certain degree, that she'll cherish those memories very much.

On the other day when chatting up with his girlfriends, Naruto was informed by Pam saying that she caught Rachel talking to Perdita over the phone late into the night. Even a similar one from Harley when Paula said to her that Jade and Artemis, mostly Artemis, were hogging one of the house phones for too long when chatting with Perdita. Naruto could only imagine on how adorable those moments could've been like after Naruto somewhat introduced the three Gotham girls to the royal. But at least now Perdita had penpal-like friends right now so that's all that mattered for the Uzumaki.

Before leaving Starling earlier this morning, Naruto went to the airport to see Perdita head back home to Vlatava. Naruto wished her the best of luck on her coming days and after that tender moment, Perdita headed through security with a little smile on her face. Even though she was going to miss the publisher very much.

The shinobi turned publisher saw a highway sign showing that he is roughly a few miles out of the city limits. Naruto smiled in anticipation of wanting to reach it sooner, especially with the next song now playing in his walkman. One of the many songs he has enjoyed since coming to this reality.

-Insert Jay and the Americans: Come a Little Bit Closer-

*Chuckle* 'Come a little bit closer indeed.' Was the publisher's thought as he revved up his motorcycle to go a whole lot faster. Speeding past a few vehicles that were apparently going a little slow for Naruto's liking. It wasn't long before he entered the city's border that his eyes caught onto the metallic and concrete landscape before him.

In appearance and feeling alone, National City made the Uzumaki think that this was possibly a second Metropolis. It was hard to tell at first glance and wondered what else this place had in store, asides from what he's heard from Cat in prior calls. Naruto could see if Cat could give him a tour of the city, if she has any free time available. But for now he'll do some self exploration before making his way to CatCo to see his old friend/co-worker.

Speaking of, Naruto caught glances of several large corporate buildings that belonged to LexCorp, Lord Technologies and CatCo Worldwide Media respectively.

'At least I could see where Cat's main office building is at.' He thought as he mentally mapped out a little path on getting over there. 'Though I do need to check in at the hotel first-' Suddenly his stomach growled, causing him to chuckle a little. 'Right after I get some food.'

-Noonan's-

There is one inside of National City that is pretty popular for most people that are into their adulthood. Opens up at six in the morning for breakfast, lunch starts at 10:30, and both dinner and the bar opens up around six in the evening. But throughout the majority of the working hours, it does serve basic necessities like tea or coffee related drinks.

"Well here you go ma'am." A waitress said as she handed the customer her order. "One tall strawberry and creme frap, a grande green tea creme late, a venti cappuccino with double shots of espresso, and a grande macchiato with almond milk extra hot. And to top it all off: several assorted, freshly baked muffins."

"Thank you Kara." The customer said as she left a few bucks worth of tip for the waitress. The person grabbed the order and headed out the door to head back to work.

"Have a nice day!" The employee called out before heading over to check on some other tables.

This is Kara Danvers; a dirty blonde woman in her early twenties that graduated college several months ago, earning a bachelor's degree in marketing in the end. Her rich blue eyes showed a lot of joy in her life behind a pair of glasses. She currently had her hair tied into a ponytail while wearing a simple, casual attire that tried to hide her excellent figure with a work apron on.

*Ding*

Turning towards the entrance of the establishment, Kara spoke in a normal fashion. "Hello, welcome to- Oh hey Alex!"

"Hey Kara." A brunette woman responded in kind.

"I take it you want your normal order?"

"Yup." The woman said as she went towards one of the nearby tables. "Need to have it before I head back to work."

"Right." Was all Kara said before writing up the order.

The brunette is Alex Danvers, Kara's foster/adoptive sister and current roommate. She's in her mid-twenties that graduated from med-school last year and in that same year she started working at Star Labs as a bio-engineer. Her dark brown hair was in a pixie cut to help compliment her dark brown eyes that held some mischievous nature laced with intelligence over the years. Alex was currently wearing a simple casual attire for work, given the fact that it's mostly covered up with lab attire.

These two women have known each other for a little over a decade ever since Kara was adopted by Alex's parent's, Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers. The Danvers has been a family of scientists that have spanned back generations, due to their smarts in the field that have expanded each generation. Though it really has jumped considerably when Kara joined the family, but the details on how that happened will be explained a little later.

Coming back to Alex's table, Kara spoke to her foster sister with a questioning look. "I didn't see you come in last night Alex. Work kept you there all night?"

*Sigh* "Pretty much. Practically slept there with the latest project I'm working on."

"And what is it exactly?"

"Sorry, but can't tell ya. Company policy on this one Kara." The waitress nodded in understanding before the scientist spoke again. "And how's preparing for the interview going?"

"Being a nervous wreck actually. I just hope it's my first real job after graduating college Alex."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You have a great resume, to which me and my parents helped you out on, and it does help with your one internship with the Midvale newspaper."

"Not real sure on that." Kara stated, getting a curious look on Alex's face. "When I dropped off my application the other day, I've heard that Cat Grant can be a bit ruthless in terms of hiring people. Supposedly breathes fire, eats babies. Those two were obviously not true or else things would be really crazy at the workplace."

*Chuckles* "It's nothing but rumors Kara. You'll do fine."

*Crash*

The sudden noise got Kara out of her conversation to turn towards the source: broken dishes by a customer trying to balance things too high in terms of stacking.

"I'm so sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to." The customer said getting the waitress to shake her head.

"No it's fine. I'll get things cleaned up miss." Kara said as the customer nodded and walked away.

As Kara went towards the work closet to get a dustpan and broom, her foot landed on a broken cup. Rolling on the curved surface, Kara slipped on her footing and was about to land on top of the pile of broken dishes, possibly having her end up injured in the process. Before making it onto the floor...

"Whoa!" Spoke the Uzumaki as he caught ahold of the spectacled waitress. "You almost took a bad fall right there."

Naruto had just arrived and parked his motorcycle outside as he silently hoped no one would be stupid enough to steal his belongings. If someone did, then he'll have to track the person down and have an interesting chat with them. And what a conversation that would be.

But getting back to the present moment, Naruto was searching for a decent place to eat when he remembered the one restaurant Cat had talked about in the past: Noonan's. It's supposedly a pretty good place to eat for any time of the day and Cat sometimes prefers her meals coming from this place. Trusting his old friend's words, Naruto asked someone for directions and here he currently was. Just in time as well when he saw a waitress about to fall onto a pile of broken dishes.

When Kara realized what just happened, she saw the person that stopped her from taking the fall onto the floor. She took in her features and faintly blushed on how handsome he was with his exotic features and the strong hazel eyes staring right into her own. The two didn't move for a few moments until the man got her right up onto her feet.

Realizing that he spoke to her on the little save, she spoke to him while everyone else went back to their respective business. "T-Thank you for that."

"It's no problem. Accidents happen every so often. But it would've been bad if a pretty girl like you got hurt in the process." He said with a fox like smile, resulting with her blushing a little more with a small smile and looked away from how charming that was.

Off to the side, Alex couldn't help but smirk on seeing the little moment before her. She was really going to be teasing her foster sister for this. Even more so when Kara was fidgeting herself and started… to float? Knowing what might possibly happen, Alex got up from her seat and went up to Kara and placed a hand onto her shoulder to push her down slightly.

"Thanks what you did back there." Alex said with the ever present smile on her face. "Didn't want to see my little sister take the fall like that."

Giving the brunette a regular smile now, Naruto responded back to her. "Like I said before, it's no problem and I didn't want Kara in getting hurt."

"...How'd you know my name?" Questioned the waitress before the whiskered man pointed towards her name tag. "Oh… right."

"Sorry… Haven't introduced myself" He simply said before holding out his hand towards the spectacled woman. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki. And if you'd be so kind, mind telling me yours?"

"Uh… M-My name… My name is Kara Zo- *Cough* ...Kara Danvers." She answered with a slight correction because of slight nervousness. She shook his hand and ended up having a firm grip, to which he responded back to her.

"That's some grip there."

"Yeah I tend to work out… Not that I do that often because of work, but just doing it for fun actually." Kara responded, getting a little choked laughter from her foster sister. With Alex now at the little attention, Naruto let go of the firm grip and looked towards the brunette.

"You said that you're her sister? I... hardly see any resemblance between you two."

"She's adopted actually." Alex responded to get Naruto to shake his head in understanding.

"Not that there's anything wrong with it. Family doesn't always have to pertain by blood, but by the bonds they share." He said getting smiles from the two 'sisters'. "I can probably tell that it's a beautiful relationship between you two, just like how beautiful you two are."

He shortly left the two sisters behind as he went to use the restroom. If he would've stayed, Naruto would've seen the varying looks each of Danver girls had. With Alex, she couldn't help but think on how smooth that was and enjoying the little compliment given towards the two. It was then that the brunette turned towards her 'sister' to see her reaction.

As Kara saw the whiskered man walk away, the waitress couldn't help but keep a smile on her face… that is until she saw Alex smiling at her. "What?"

"You're blushing."

"I-I am not, it's just hot in here…" Kara stated as she pulled her collar a little at a rapid succession to try and emphasise her claim. "Aren't you feeling hot?"

"You're lying." Alex simply said as her smile grew a little more. "I can tell with this little thing you do with your nose. You always move it in a certain way to always show you're not telling the truth."

"I do not!" Kara harshly whispered out.

"Oh please. Even my parents know on this. I mean, how do you think they know whenever you try to lie on taking extra slices of mom's pecan pies or even sneaking back home late at night." The scientist listed off before poking Kara's nose in a 'booping' fashion. "It's always this little nose of yours."

Knowing that she isn't going anywhere now, Kara caved in. "Okay, fine… He's cute and I've never been complimented like that before, outside of Eliza and Jeremiah. It was… unexpected, yet nice."

"See. Wasn't that too hard?"

Kara could only glare at Alex before leaving her behind to get back to cleaning up the mess. By the time she was done, Kara was heading towards the back to dump the dustpan contents when she saw Naruto walk out of the restroom. When the two were getting closer, things started to shake.

'The hell?' Were the unknowingly shared thoughts between the two as they tried to keep themselves balanced. The shaking increased as the two heard the building's occupants screaming along with various objects crashing and breaking in the process. It got so intense, both Naruto and Kara lost their footing and fell onto the ground.

'That isn't good.' Naruto thought as he shook his head before seeing Kara beneath him. Kara barely opened her eyes to see the whiskered man hovering over her with his hands placed either side of her to give himself some support.

"Are you alright Kara?" Naruto asked as he got up from the ground before pulling her up.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She responded before seeing Naruto looking at her intently for some reason. "Something wrong?"

"…You've got really pretty blue eyes Kara." Naruto muttered, making the dirty blonde blush a little more as she gazed into Naruto's hazel eyes. Though neither one of them seemed to notice a small glow in their respective eyes, thinking that it must've been the light hitting on them.

Naruto was the first to break the 'staring contest' as he looked down to see the waitress' glasses on the ground. He picked them up and presented them towards its owner. Realizing that her glasses were currently off, hence why Naruto complimented on her eyes, she took them from his grasp and placed them back on.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome."

The two then left their placement in the hallway as they made it to the main part of the resturant to see it in mostly shambles. Dishes, tables, and alcohol bottles were on the ground with several people either leaving or staying to check on others. Seeing Alex nearby, Kara jogged up to her sister.

"Alex. Are you okay?"

*Groan* "Yeah I'm fine." The scientist simply said as she nursed her arm. "Okay I think I lied… I think I sprained my arm in the fall."

"Broken is more like it." Kara muttered with part of her glasses slid off before she readjusted it.

Wanting to help out, Naruto took off his leather jacket before pulling off his button up shirt. The Danver girls saw this before they slightly blushed when seeing how defined he was without the long sleeve shirt. Even moreso when briefly catching a glimpse of his lean, six packs before the white t-shirt covered it up.

"Let's get that arm of yours in a sling Alex." He said as Alex tried to lift her arm up, much to the pain she was going through. After getting the makeshift sling wrapped around the scientist, Kara and Naruto helped her back up before Naruto got his jacket back on.

Eventually the three made it outside to see what the damage was from the recent earthquake… and the results were not pretty.

"Oh my god." Kara muttered as she saw the chaos going on. From people running everywhere, varying car accidents and smoke coming out from numerous buildings.

-On the Streets-

The little group of three were riding Naruto's motorcycle down the street from Noonan's after Kara told her boss that she needed to leave to check on some family members. It was a lie since no one else asides from Alex was living in the city limits, but Kara's boss didn't know that. Alex was currently riding in a sidecar Naruto conjured up without either of them noticing with the chaos running around while Kara had to ride bitch as she encircled her arms around Naruto's torso.

The three wanted to help out as much as they could. Hence the reason why they were doing their current course of actions. They even helped pull out several people out of cars while both Kara and Naruto helped several people move debris off of injured people.

"This is crazy!" Alex stated in her current seating arrangement.

"I know!"

The group soon heard a woman cry for help, causing Naruto to swerve his motorcycle a bit before coming to a stop.

"Please! You need to help me!" A woman cried out as she looked like a sobbing mess.

"What's wrong?"

"It's my dad! He needs help!" She stated before running back towards where her father was at. Jumping off of his bike, Naruto ran right after her causing Kara to soon follow him and Alex struggling to get herself out of the side car.

"Sure… Don't really help me get out of this Kara." The scientist muttered before Kara stopped and ran right back towards her sister. "Thought you'd help me on this."

"Sorry Alex."

The Danver girls eventually got back onto the trail where Naruto ran off to before they saw a car crashed into a wall. Nearby they saw Naruto carefully pulling out an elderly man out of the driver's seat and onto the cold pavement. Needing to do a medical analysis; Alex went up to the unconscious man and checked him over, despite the pain coming from her arm.

"He's got a tension pneumothorax." The scientist said before looking over at the woman. "How long ago did this happen?"

"I d-don't know. After the crash, everything blacked out until I woke up earlier."

"And have you called the ambulances?"

"I-I called 911, but they haven't come yet."

Naruto didn't like hearing about this as he commented what was on his mind off to the side. "Paramedics are practically swamped."

"Then that means that we're you're father's only hope." Alex stated as she was about to try and keep the man alive when a low *thud* was heard, causing the others to look towards the source.

"Unless I can help him out." The Gotham hero known as Vanitas revealed himself.

Without the group noticing him, Naruto created a clone earlier and had it quickly go into the Vanitas attire so that it'll help out in the current crisis going on. Said clone formed several other clones and was spreading out across the city in the far limits in what the original could make at the present time. He'd rather exhaust himself instead of not doing what he can to help save people's lives in this natural disaster right now.

The clone ushered the group to stand back before he formed a card platform underneath the unconscious man. Lifting him up into the air, the Vanitas clone stepped on top of it before turning towards the man's daughter. He ushered her to come closer, much to her confusion.

"I'm taking him to the hospital, but I need you to direct me over to the nearest one ma'am." The clone stated in honesty since in general, Naruto hasn't even explored the city just yet to know where things are properly located.

Nodding in understanding, the woman soon grasped his outstretched arm before they floated up into the sky and went their way towards the nearest hospital.

"...Why is Vanitas here?" Questioned the scientist as she also voiced Kara's thoughts.

"I thought he was still in Starling City last time I heard."

"He could've heard what happened and flew over as fast as possible." Naruto's comment was a lie, but he thought of the little excuse. The Danver sisters curiously looked at him, making him shrug for a response. "I'm from Gotham and I've seen the guy fly on not only that giant playing card, but also on an odd looking wind lance."

The two girls nodded in acceptance before they made their way back towards Naruto's motorcycle. Naruto wanted to properly take them back to their respective places, whether it be at their workplaces or at their home. They wanted to protest, but the publisher brought up points that Alex is injured and wouldn't help others that much while Kara would probably have to go back to work soon to help clean up the restaurant.

The way Naruto explained it all, on how he exactly said it, made the two women comply. It was a hard pill to swallow for them wanting to do more, but the publisher stated that they can do more near their respective areas instead of running around with no plan on where to exactly go. So swallowing their pride, the Danver sisters made their way towards Naruto's motorcycle to head back to Noonan's.

On the way over to the restaurant, several thoughts were running through Kara's mind. 'I should've done something... I should've done more.' She thought as her eyes soon caught onto Vanitas' form in the sky… with another(?) going towards another incident. She shook her head in remembrance of the Gotham hero making copies of himself from the news. 'I should've used more of my powers... not just my strength. Then I could possibly be able to save more people from this.'

You see, Kara isn't what you call normal… by human standards… if she was human to begin with.

Kara Danvers, or Kara Zor-El of the House of El, came from the planet known as Krypton; which is located in another sector of the known universe. Her home planet was a practical paradise with science being at its peak, but her kind were getting greedy in their planet's resources. Krypton's inhabitants were slowly killing the planet by digging too close into the core, resulting with it's inevitable destruction.

Kara was sent to Earth, located in the neighboring sector, with her infant cousin Kal-El so that she can look after him. Reason being was Earth's yellow sun and the planet's lower gravity will give the two extraordinary powers and go on and do amazing things. Before leaving though, her uncle Jor-El entrusted Kara a crystal matrix that will create a safe-haven for the cousins. Containing much of their race's knowledge, technology and history so they can at least feel a bit back at home.

The cousins were sent out into space, with Kara seeing her homeworld imploding shortly afterwards. She tried to focus on her mother's words that she'll be put into cryo-sleep to make the trip easier, but the destructive wave, followed by a bright flash, separated the two cousins just as Kara was put into sleep. The last thing she remembered seeing was a trio of dots, in a triangular fashion, on her ships dashboard with a feminine voice saying 'All will be well'.

When Kara woke up, she was found by the Danvers family when they were returning home from a nightly outing. The family of three listened to her story and believed her, especially with the technology her ship contained. So after a bit of time, Kara was adopted into the family roughly a decade ago.

Now pertaining to Kara's powers, she had trained under her adoptive parents' guidance and watchful eyes so the Kryptonian wouldn't end up causing accidents. But after one incident years ago, involving a car accident, Jeremiah and Eliza decided it was best for her to hide her powers. Kara reluctantly accepted, especially since part of the car accident ended up having Alex injured by an exploding car door.

So for about ten years, Kara enjoyed being human as she tried to keep everything in check. Loving many aspects on the planet with her adopted family. But as for her real family, Kara didn't know what happened to her baby cousin. With their separation, she didn't know if he'll come to Earth some years later, if he ended up on another planet, or worse.

Regardless, she still kept her uncle's crystal matrix for the safe-haven, but Kara didn't have the heart to activate it without Kal being with her. She's been tempted several times in the past decade, but she kept her promise to her late family that she won't start it up without her baby cousin. So no surviving Kryptonian technology, no history, and no knowledge will be coming anytime soon much to her adopted family's understanding and slight disappointment.

"...ra…. Kara…. Kara!"

"Huh? What?"

"Kara." Naruto spoke out as he gained the Kryptonians attention. "We're back at Noonan's."

"O-Oh… Sorry." She said in an apologetic tone. "My mind was elsewhere."

"It's no problem Kara." He said with a nod of understanding underneath his helmet. "And Kara…"

"Yes?"

"Mind letting go? You're grip is starting to get a little tight."

Blinking in confusion, Kara realized that her head was leaning against his back while her arms were encircled across his chest. Feeling the tight muscles with the white shirt being the only barrier from actual skin contact. She leapt out of her spot on the motorcycle with a blushing look across her face as Alex's giggles filled the small area.

"Oh god Kara! *Giggling* You sh-should've se-seen your face! Hahahahaha!"

With a twitchy eye, Kara responded back with a glare. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Naruto soon got off of his seat before getting to the sidecar to help get Alex out of her respective seat. The scientist was still a giggling mess as she slowly calmed down on her sister's reddened expression.

"So I guess this is where we part ways?"

"Pretty much." Alex responded before her sister came up to the man with a small smile.

"And thank you for letting us help you earlier."

"It's no problem Kara. Anyone can be a hero whether they have superpowers or not; firemen, police, doctors, or ordinary people."

The sisters nodded before moving towards their separate directions. But before anything could happen, Kara stopped from opening the restaurant door and turned around towards the cyclist. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but you said your name was Naruto Uzumaki... Right?"

*Sigh* 'Here we go.' "Yes that's my name." He answered as he saw the dirty blonde shuffle her feet a little with a curious look on her face.

"The same Naruto Uzumaki that wrote Loveless?" Kara asked, getting Alex to widen her eyes on the question as she came to the same realization.

"Yup… That's me alright." He said before he pulled out his wallet to show the sisters his ID for confirmation.

The results were predictable as the two squealed a little before running towards their respective destinations (Kara inside of Noonan's and Alex for her parked car) before coming back with their respective copies of Loveless. The two got their books autographed and everything to at least brighten up their moods from earlier. With that done, the publisher gave the two a little saluted goodbye before driving off towards the next destination he had in mind.

"...Hey Kara."

"Yeah?"

"I forgot to ask him something."

"What was it?"

"...Is he single or seeing anybody?" Questioned the scientist with a thoughtful look, getting a surprised one from the Kryptonian. "Cause I think he might help get mom and dad off our backs on us being single."

"ALEX?!"

-CatCo Worldwide Media-

Once Naruto made it to Cat's building, he saw varying paramedics rushing past him to head towards one of the nearby hospitals. He was doing all that he can with his clones assisting in getting other injured civilians towards any of the hospitals. Even stopping several crimes along the way as robbers tried to steal varying goods and money from different businesses.

The moment Naruto went inside, he created one last clone (in civilian attire) to get over to his hotel and properly check in so his luggage will be safe.

The time it took scaling so many flights of stairs was not that great for Naruto. Due to the earthquake earlier, people were advised to not use the elevator until things fully got settled down. The publisher could've used his grappling scarf or his lance to literally get towards his desired floor, but he didn't know if there were security cameras in the small area that would've exposing his secret. He could sneak into the security room and tamper with the tapes, but that would've been too much of a hassle.

*Phew* "Now that was a workout for the legs." Muttered the Uzumaki as he soon saw the floor where the main action is.

The area was primarily white, silver and blue in terms of color scheme with several glass walls separating varying sections here and there along with a cream colored carpet. Though there are regular walls, but the doors were primarily glass in terms of style. Probably a way for others to effectively see if certain people were currently doing their job without having to open the door at times.

When looking at the receptionist desk, Naruto saw an oddly purplish pink statue of either a jaguar or a leopard situated in an open spot behind the on duty receptionists. It was hard to tell what the feline statue was entirely as the features were really hard to differentiate for the most part. The publisher guessed it was placed there for intimidation purposes, along with Cat trying to make things similar to her taste in style from last time he saw her.

'Her and her cat figurines.' He thought with a chuckle with little nostalgia kicking in. Back at the Planet, Cat's desk had a lot of cat figurines to the point that Naruto called her Kitty Cat and the nickname stuck later on.

Passing by the varying desk islands and the semi clean work place, Naruto saw not only a second elevator door, but the opened doors to Cat's office. As he passed through the opening, he saw many widescreen TV's covering the majority of the back wall with different news channels being shown right in front of Cat's desk. Off to the side was a small bar with different non-alcoholic drinks were displayed for ambiance to match with the couches and coffee table situated at the very middle of the office space. The rest of the space was filled with some lamps next to small, one person couches tucked into the corners with a large window covered with drapes to really give Cat a great view of the city.

'This is quite the office. Better design compared to my boring looking one…. Wonder if I should get the girls to help decorate it.' He thought before he heard someone speak out at the office entrance.

"What are you doing in here?" A familiar sounding voice called out as it seemed to get louder with her getting closer. "This is my office and you shouldn't be in here."

This got Naruto to turn around right as the woman came within a few feet away from him. Making Naruto see his old friend and coworker after five years. And there was only one word that came across his mind when he laid eyes on her: beautiful.

"N-Naruto?..."

Overcoming her beauty and seeing her surprised expression, he gave her a soft smile. "Hi Cat."

Cat Grant is a stunning woman in her early thirties with her shoulder length dark blonde hair with it curled along the edges. Her sharp blue eyes showed her personality quite well to help compliment her sharp features. Her full lips resembled a little to a feline's mouth in some small degree, but only showed at certain times. Cat was currently wearing a small dotted white blouse, a black business jacket and a black and grey striped knee length skirt with a pair of black one inch heels to elevate her height just a bit.

The Media Queen faintly blushed at the stunning man Naruto has become in the five years since she last saw him. Even at the point her breath left her before speaking to him, in person, after such time. "H-Hi."

"I… I'm sorry to… um… to show up while you're working. But I didn't know if you were off today and where you lived exactly."

"That's… That's not a problem. That's not a problem at all Naruto." She said with a growing smile on her face. After so long, Naruto is finally here to see her and she couldn't help but be happier. "W-When did you show up?"

"Earlier today actually. I was planning on getting something to eat, but the earthquake happened and I needed to help out. You know?"

*Chuckles* "Of course." Cat simply said as she came closer to the publisher with a relaxed smile now. "Doing much on what you can to help others."

"That's me for ya."

"We'll I'm so glad that you're here, finally."

"I know and I gotta say," he said before looking around the office and eyes hitting the parts outside of the room, "you've done quite well by the looks of it."

"That I have Naruto." She said as she gazed into his rich hazel eyes before the sounds of phones ringing filled the air, breaking her little concentration. "Naruto… there's so much I want to say to you, in person, b-but I have a million things that I have to do right now. From covering the earthquake incidents, getting coverage of Vanitas showing up out of nowhere and helping calm the masses."

"I understand that Cat and it's no problem… But you know, I'm in town for roughly a week so we can discuss the partnership and try to set up a meeting to get things official."

"Right… that." Cat muttered in slight remembrance on one of the things why Naruto's in town. Sure he came to possibly have the partnership rolling, but Naruto also came in town to see her."

"So are you free for dinner?" He asked, getting a small smile from her. "Or lunch even?"

"I-I will make myself free for dinner."

"Great and since I have nothing else to do right now, how about I help you out here?"

"Naruto you don't have to."

"I insist Cat. I would be out there helping civilians out, but Vanitas is running around saving people as we speak. And with a lot of businesses shut down until things settle down, I got nothing else better to do than helping out one of my oldest friends."

"...Well if you put it like that… then I might know what you could possibly do for me." The Media Queen said with a little smile.

Cat soon asked him to help set up a live feed in her office so she can tell the city's masses on what she has to say in the crisis right now. Getting things set up was a little bit of a challenge for Naruto in finding the equipment on his own, but one of the employees helped him out. Currently the publisher was now fiddling around with the equipment as a woman was doing small touches of makeup on the Media Queen.

"You know… The last time I hooked up a live feed like this was back at the Planet." Naruto said with a small twitch in his eye. "And it wasn't as difficult back then as it is now."

"And the last time I did a broadcast was to end my award-winning talk show. So you and I are both returning to our roots." The Media Queen stated getting a raised look from the publisher.

"...You had a talk show?"

Cat looked away at this since she didn't want to be in eye contact with her former co-worker. "It was very brief and I needed to help get my company off the ground somehow and a talk show was the only thing that came to mind."

"Eh… Fair enough." Admitted the publisher. "Had to clean out a casino when I moved into Gotham to help start off Spiral Publishing and get my opening books on the map."

"That must've been fun." Cat muttered with slight remembrance on Naruto's luck. "You must've been whacked way too much with the luck bat as a child."

"I wouldn't say that. More like born with an odd affinity of it if you will." He said before testing out the equipment to end up showing said live feed from the office. "Okay... we are golden. So what are you gonna say to the masses Cat?"

Looking back at the TV screens to see herself, she turned back with a little smile. "I plan on telling them that they can rise to the occasion to help save this city. Even telling them that they can't rely on Gotham's hero to be here for the entire time.

"And you think that Vanitas isn't here to lift everyone's spirits?"

"Well he resides in Gotham Naruto and he was only out here because of Queen Perdita so he's got to head back East sometime." She answered, getting a nod from the Uzumaki. "Sure he'll raise their spirits, for now, but people need to know that ordinary citizens like you and I, used to doing mundane and small things, finding themselves in a midst of a crisis… doing something extraordinary."

"Self made heroes I take it." He said getting a small smile across her supple lips.

"Exactly."

Out of nowhere the building started to shake, causing many of the floor's occupants to hang onto something sturdy so they wouldn't fall down. When things seemed to calm down, everyone heard a loud explosion causing everyone to go into a small form of panic. Coming up to Cat, Naruto saw a wide eyed look from her.

"That last one wasn't an aftershock… that was an explosion." She said in realization. "It must've been the gas line."

"I'll go check the stairs." Naruto said getting a nod from his friend.

The publisher ran towards where the stairwell with several others checking to see it was okay. It was for the most part when going down from the 23rd floor (current floor). But the resulting explosion caused everything going up to be blocked by debris. Naruto ran back towards Cat's office as she just hung up with someone.

"Good god I just lied to an entire floor trapped in a possible burning building." She muttered loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Cat. The stairwell is blocked going up. We have to at least get everyone on this floor downstairs until proper help arrives."

"But what about the people a few floors up? The stairwell is blocking their way going down and they told me the elevator doors are not opening up so they can use the escape ladder." Cat stated with worry. Taking a deep breath, Naruto walked out of the office getting her attention. "Where are you going?"

"Helping those people." He soon came towards the elevator doors as he saw several people start heading downstairs. The Uzumaki placed his hands onto door and tried to pry them open before calling out. "Can I get some help here?!"

One of the workers came to Naruto's aid as he helped the publisher open up the doors. The one man ended up looking downwards and retreated back to show that he wasn't all that great with heights. Peeking inside of the elevator shaft, Naruto used his powers to see where his targeted location was at. Luckily for him, the purple circles in his vision landed upon the elevator door a few floors up.

"Okay. I'm gonna have to climb up and open it from the other side."

"Are you crazy Naruto?" Cat questioned as she stood some feet away from him. "We are twenty three floors up?"

"Hey. I didn't say that I'm excited about this, okay?" He retorted as he got a worried look from his old co-worker. "Cat. I'll be right back. I promise. And you know with me and my promises right?"

"...That you always keep them."

He nodded before reaching towards the escape ladder before making his way up. Naruto was able to climb it at a quickened pace before he made it towards his little destination. When his hands landed upon the closed elevator doors, he felt the stinging sensation with how hot the metal was getting.

'That isn't good.' He thought before he used a lot of his strength to pry the doors open. Naruto would've been able to do it a whole lot quicker, but he spent a lot of energy on making clones that'll last a long time to help out with current crisis. Once he got the doors wide enough, he called out to the crowded people. "Okay people. Grab the ladder, hug the wall and slowly make your way down."

It took a bit of time with the dozen or so people he helped escort towards the emergency ladder. He soon asked one of them if that was the last of them, getting a positive response out of it. Naruto gazed down to see Cat and a few other employees help get the people onto the floor so they can be safe. By the time he saw the last person make it out, Naruto started to climb back down… only for the building to rumble once again.

"Shit!" Naruto slipped and fell off of his placement at the elevator entrance before latching onto the metallic cable for the elevators. Cat saw this and screamed out in worry of seeing her friend in such a position.

"NARUTO!" Cat yelled out before looking at the employee's. "Go! Go get help! Hurry!" She saw them scamper to do just that before turning back towards Naruto. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" He yelled out as he slowly made his way down the cable. 'Need to get to either the 23rd floor opening and jump or try and reach for the ladder on the way down.'

"Naruto! It's going to be okay!" She yelled out in worry as her heart was racing and felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. "Just hang on!"

"Don't worry Cat! I got this!"

Naruto slid down the cable further down and was on the floor right above Cat when the two heard it.

*SNAP*

"Oh that's not good." He muttered as he saw the metallic cable snapping several feet above him. "Hey Cat! I'm gonna have to jump!"

"No Naruto! Go for the ladder!" She yelled out in hopes of him listening to her.

*SNAP*

"There's no time!"

Swinging himself slightly, he built up the momentum for him to try and reach for the opening. The last swing caused the cable to finally break, sending Naruto downward to end up letting go. He outstretched his hands to latch on top of the elevator opening for a successful grab. But with the bit of momentum Naruto had, he swung too hard to end up slipping from his grip, awkwardly shot through the opening and landed on Cat.

*OOMPH*

The two rolled a little on the floor until both came to a stop, with the Media Queen lying on top of the publisher. They were quite dizzy on their tumble but the two soon shook off the feeling. Cat then looked at Naruto, who soon gave her a cheeky smile.

"See. I told you I'll come back." He said before he was being smacked the woman on top of him. It soon came to a grinding halt when Naruto grabbed the offending limbs. "Ow! What was that for Cat?!"

"You almost gave me a heart attack you idiot!" She yelled out before she soon cried into his chest. "I thought I almost lost you."

Naruto could only let out a tired sigh as he wrapped an arm around her for a little hug as he patted her head. He wanted her to let it out as he felt bad on what he did, but he couldn't let those people earlier die and he didn't even know of how much power he had left that he couldn't risk it. This was a small price to pay, but at least those people are safe and he came back to his old friend.

Though Naruto soon noticed a few people gathering around the two, making him put up a silence field around Cat so she wouldn't hear what came next from the publisher's mouth.

"Shouldn't you guys be somewhere else?" He rhetorically asked in a tone that made the others quickly disperse and do their own separate ways. When they were gone, Naruto expanded the silence field to just the two of them to at least give them some privacy. "It's okay Kitty Cat, Mr. Whiskers is here for ya."

*Chuckles* "God, that nickname really sucks. Haven't heard you say that since I was pregnant with Adam."

"And it tends to cheer you up with how corny it sounded."

She tried to get up from her position when her hands ended up feeling his hard, muscled chest and feeling a certain body part from where she's sitting at. Cat blushed and awkwardly got up without looking at her old friend in the face. "W-Well it's good that you're okay. A-And that's all that matters."

Cat started to walk away when Naruto called out to her. "Are you sure you're okay Cat?"

"No… I'm completely fine."

Naruto knew she was lying but he didn't want to press on with that, possibly asking about it later. "Then are we still good on dinner tonight?"

"Yes. We're still good." Cat said before she walked through the doors. "I'll have my current assistant call you to inform you where to meet."

"And why can't I just pick you up?" He asked, getting Cat to once again stop in her tracks. "I could pick you up here… or maybe at your place? If it's the later then I'd like to see Adam if that was possible."

His response was something he didn't expect to see as Cat turned around and had a look of nervousness across her features. She didn't fully say anything for a few moments, as if she's trying to sort through her thoughts while biting her lower lip. He was going to ask again when she spoke up.

"My place will be fine Naruto." She said with barely any eye contact. "I'll have my assistant let you know when and where to come and get me." Cat then turned back around to head back towards her office to redo her makeup for the live broadcast she needed to do for the city's masses.

Once left alone, Naruto wore a worried expression on his face and wondered what was going on with Cat as he made his way down the stairwell.

-Later, Grant Residence-

"He going to come… He's gonna be here." Cat muttered to herself as she nervously paced by the door to her home. As much as she'd like to attribute that nervousness to the first date she's had in years, she couldn't…. Not without lying to herself.

She's been a nervous wreck after what happened with the elevator incident. Her mind kept going back towards the moments being with Naruto earlier today and said moments made her happy, yet depressed. They slowly crept up to her while doing the live broadcast and suffice to say, she did a good job in hopefully calming the masses. But afterwards, those memories, including ones of the three years working with Naruto; kept distracting her from working on her daily tasks.

In that entire time, feelings she had for Naruto was starting to surface after five years of being away from each other. Cat kept them buried deep, even before he left the Planet, and nothing bad has happened since. Her main focuses in life was her little boy Adam and her career since nothing else mattered to her, even romance. But when Naruto called her last year to catch up a little, and times afterwards, her thoughts tended to drift back towards the whiskered co-worker she grew to care for.

Cat didn't know why all of this made her nervous for tonight's dinner, especially when he came to her Metropolis apartment several times before; albeit unannounced, but it did. For some reason, this specific instance made her heart hammer more than any other recent memory throughout today. Not physically seeing his handsome features after five years, not personally hearing his kind words and not seeing him save those people…. Well actually that last one made her heart hammer just as much then as it is now.

Which was why the Media Queen distracted herself earlier by creating a list of her symptoms, hoping to narrow down everything that was occurring to her wasn't what she thought it was. After all, Cat was not only just a mother but also a reporter. She needed all of the facts so she can get an accurate answer in the end.

First was the uncomfortably tight feeling in her chest, which eased and grew stronger just like their friendship when they both worked at the Daily Planet. Second was the heat that pooled into her cheeks, even across her entire body after feeling some of his muscles and a certain appendage on accident when they collapsed onto each other. The third being a loss of breath that could be attributed to her old co-worker. And, perhaps the most infuriating symptom; the feeling of nervousness that prevailed whenever she knew they were going to see each other.

Of course these symptoms made her remember times back at the Planet, after working together for about a year. Naruto was the one person that made herself get out of bed every morning by that point so she could see and be with him each day. Cat didn't know why back then, but blame it on the stereotypical dumb blonde problems she subjected herself into to get ahead in life and to get men to do everything she needed done...

Well that and her rivalry with Lois Lane. But Naruto was truly different from what Cat was used to after he knocked down her barriers. She realized that he was practically a breath of fresh air to her and not some potential boytoy for her until she dumped the previous men in her life.

As time went on, they became good friends and even Lois got roped into the small circle somehow. They were the best and they did damn well on making great stories together and getting details right. He practically replaced the cold atmosphere into one of warmth. So much so that Naruto changed the ice queen reporter/assistant to a warm and caring person, only if you don't ruin the mood of things.

Each of them were happy in their own right and things were literally perfect.

Of course things started to change as time went on as Lois and Naruto seemed oblivious on what was happening: Cat started to change her views on things. Not outwardly, but inwardly. With how much time she has been with Naruto for the entire time up to some unknown point, she started to feel differently towards him, something she questioned immensely. Of course someone pointed this out, didn't know what it was, but the person said that she was falling in love with the whiskered man.

From what Cat could remember of the person, said person was definitely transgender that seemed to look like a man and a woman at the same time. With the short black hair and masculine yet feminine features. His/Her skin as pale as smoke and eyes were taunty and sharp like yellow wine. There was no physical interaction, but something about him/her spoke out to the inner parts of the reporter that made Cat truly realize that Naruto was meant for her.

After that conversation, she delved deep inside of herself to figure things out and she ended up realizing this fact. But she got depressed about it thinking that by coming into this, she might end up ruining her friendship with Naruto and Lois and she didn't want things to change between them. Though this soon lead her into doing something stupid by sleeping with him, which resulted into giving birth to her beloved son Adam. The only good thing that came out of her mistake.

Her musings were soon cut short when her doorbell was rung several times.

*Ding Dong* *Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*

*Deeply Sigh* "Oh my god, he's here."

Cat checked herself in the hallway mirror for anything amiss about her appearance. She was currently wearing a purple sweater with some white cloth folded over to help show off her shoulders. Cat was also wearing a black knee length skirt with black nylons, stylish black heeled boots with no jewelry on, some light makeup and a matching purple purse.

The Media Queen was originally going to be wearing something else, thinking Naruto was going to driving her to the restaurant in a rental car. Much to her surprise when her former assistant (her last day being today) told her that Naruto was driving a motorcycle instead of a car. In the entire time working together, he never once rode a motorcycle; only walked or rode a car.

Once checking her teeth and hair, she took a few deep breaths before opening the front door to see Naruto as dashing as ever.

The publisher changed out of his attire earlier, due to him having some grime and dirt on him from helping people for most of the day while seeing the sites in an outward perspective. He was currently wearing a pair of loose jeans and black boots that complimented the black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His attire complemented the brown leather jacket he had on with his silver haired features.

"Wow… You look great Cat." He said as he looked over her appearance.

Getting a very appreciated look on the compliment, she responded back. "Same to you Naruto."

The two were going to say something when a little boy came walking down the hall while wearing a backpack. He was a six year old boy with short blonde hair with innocent blue eyes and even wore a simple pair of shorts and a t-shirt with the Nobody symbol on it, much to Naruto's curiosity. The publisher was going to speak to the child when said child beat him to it.

"Mommy? Has my ride shown up yet?" The boy asked before he spotted the man in the doorway. "Who're you?"

"Wow… You've gotten big Adam."

"...How'd you know my name mister?" The now identified Adam asked with a tilt to his head.

"Because I was there when you were born kiddo." Naruto said with a grin. "I've been a friend of your mom for a long time even."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"...That's cool I guess."

Gazing at the kid's shirt once again, he wondered how this shirt was made with his hero insignia. Sure he saw plenty of Batman and Robin clothing in the past, but this is actually a first with him. So he decided to comment about this.

"I have a feeling you like Vanitas huh."

Adam seemed to brighten up a bit in mentioning the helmeted hero of Gotham. "Very much actually. He's pretty awesome with how he beaten up that Clayface guy earlier this year and even that giant some months ago with Batman, Robin and that odd plant lady."

'So that news coverage really came all the way over here then.' Naruto thought before he spoke once again. "Well do you want to know a secret?... I've actually met him several times already."

"...What's he like?...Is he cool like what everyone says he is? Possibly better than Batman?"

*Chuckles* "Very and he's one of the best guys that I know." The publisher said before holding out his hand. "Sorry that I didn't introduce myself a bit ago. My name's Naruto and like I said before, I'm a friend of your mom for a long time now."

Adam shook Naruto's hand as the two were oblivious to the happy expression Cat currently had right now. More would've been spoken between the two when the a car honked off to the side of the road, getting Adam to peak over the publisher to see that it was for him. So he properly excused himself and ran past Naruto to get to his ride for the evening.

"Where is he off to?"

"He's got a sleepover with some school friends of his tonight." Answered the Media Queen as the two of them got out of the home before she locked the door.

"That's cool." He simply said as the two were walking towards his motorcycle. "You know Cat, if it's not too much trouble, I could look after Adam on some of the days when I'm not busy this week."

"...Excuse me?"

"Oh… sorry if that came out of the blue or anything Cat." He apologized quickly before explaining himself. "It's just... I don't know much about him, asides from what you've told me in past phone calls… And I would like the chance to talk to him, possibly play with him if that'd be alright with you. I'll even promise that we won't be doing anything crazy, I promise."

Cat could only chuckle this time with a small nod on her head to signify towards her date that she'll approve of it. The two soon approached the motorcycle before Naruto gave Cat one of the helmets he made earlier for tonight. He helped her get onto the motorcycle before himself. Once starting it up, Cat wrapped her arms around Naruto as the two soon took off into the night.