Hello everyone, here is Chapter 21 of the Crimson Speedster. It's time for a quick jaunt through the Multiverse. Naruto's made some friends during his travels and it's time to introduce them to Linda, Barry, and the others. A quick trip as they've got jobs and Central City to protect but fun, nonetheless. First up is a trip to National City to introduce the others to the Cousins of Steel. But before that, he's off to Freeland. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTE FIRST- Sometime after chapter 20 was uploaded me and Masamunex23 started to add some additions to the chapter from when they arrive and enter Lux all to the way to the end of the chapter. It became almost like a little game where he added something then I did, then him again. Anyway, there was some extra stuff added to that part and we thought you should all know about it. Feel free to go back and check it out, because I bet you may just enjoy the stuff that was added for extensions.

My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and I'm one of the fastest men alive. To the outside world, I'm CEO of STAR labs and an ordinary scientist but that's not the truth. Secretly with my powers I kept Central City safe and stopped rogue metahumans. I helped stop the Reverse-Flash but in the process, I was thrown into an alternate world where I explored the multiverse and faced a whole new kind of evil. With the help of new allies, I found my way back home and gained a greater understanding of my powers. Central City and the world will stay safe so long as I have anything to say about it. My name is Impulse, and this is my story.

A quick jaunt through the Multiverse – Part 1

Central City, January 2016

After the unique end to his business trip in Los Angeles, Naruto and Linda got back into the usual flow of their lives which kept them busy. Linda had written plenty of articles for CCPN which she was now editing and having proof read before they would be published. She had to admit that after so long being away from the office that it was nice to go back to the bullpen. The articles she had written definitely made her editor happy as the information she had regarding STAR labs and their future expansions and plans was stuff that no other news agency had. CCPN became the method for which other news agencies in the country got the news which is then how global news agencies were informed. Naruto had a lot of stuff STAR labs was working on other than what they were currently selling, enough that it made his rivals nervous.

As it stands, STAR labs was a growing by leaps and bounds in record time that the company was pulling in record profits, even compared to when Dr. Wells was running it prior to the Particle Accelerator Explosion. With all his scientific papers published as well as the moves STAR labs was making, many were calling Naruto a visionary with titles such as the smartest man on the planet, the man of tomorrow, the genius of the millennium and even the Da Vinci of our time, though the last one was stupid as Naruto didn't paint and he wasn't Italian. Forbes even put him as number one on their 30 under 30 to watch in 2016 and the year was just starting. Big achievement for someone who was only 23, granted Naruto was technically 27 considering he aged five years in the Speed Force but whatever.

With STAR labs, he obviously had the ARC reactor, which was still only presently working in Central City, but work was already being made on the sites in New York City and Los Angeles and other agreements being reached in various cities around the US and even talks being had for ARC reactors in Europe. South America, Asia, and Africa were still being discussed due to certain geopolitical circumstances which was a headache in its own right. To compensate, he was selling Arc Reactor fueled energy cells for buildings, power plants and such until more reactors could be built, and he was already working on modifications so that they were smaller and more powerful but again, time was just the factor to consider. He could work at super speed but his company, not so much. Another thing of note that made Naruto and STAR labs tremendously rich was the manmade Tantalum/Lithium element called Starium. The manmade element that could be used for all tech-related electronics which given how things were in the 21st century, was basically the new oil and his element was made via Arc Reactor energy meaning he not only controlled a powerful fuel source but a lucrative element as well. His partnership with Wayne Enterprises for sole manufacturing and refinement of the element made both companies rich. And already an Arc reactor for Gotham city was being built in a STAR labs subsidiary there. The Starium helped in STAR labs consumer products like their smart phones, smart watches, and the holographic workstations which were the envy of the tech world. That plus the future of his entertainment projects like his future VR game would really take the world by storm but that wasn't all that was keeping Naruto busy.

Defense was something that STAR labs invested in as well with STAR labs Exo-1 Body armor being sold to law enforcements and the US military in large quantities. With them being lighter and stronger than the current methods of personal protection it was also helping in preventing deaths. And Project ICER was also doing well, mainly dealing with law enforcement and government agencies but still, they were buying them in bulk as it was really the only non-lethal combat firearm that was actually effective in its job. A new military contract had been obtained for armored personnel carriers that STAR labs had presented to some army general, and it was quickly purchased along with the Quinjet project being co-developed by Ferris Air which was going to be a big boon for avionics. Carol Ferris reported that their first prototypes would be finished by the end of the month for testing, and she was truly grateful for the partnership as it meant her company and the people in Coast City weren't screwed. And she told him that her engineers were making headway on his Aerospace projects so soon they'd be making shuttles to transport satellites to space, and he was nearly finished with his anti-gravity component for his aerospace projects. He had big plans for space and made the solemn vow to himself that he'd have colonies in space in ten years. Knowing his genius, likely less.

Then there was the ecological-friendly products Naruto dealt with like Oxohydrine bacteria that's been cleaning up the environment and combating pollution, the ARC reactor as a clean form of green energy, the new STAR labs monitoring station systems that help monitor city infrastructure for damages so things can be treated, on top of the new battery technology he was developing as well as the future waste/recycling sites like the one in New York being built which would push forward as the head for combating pollution and making our cities and lives a bit cleaner both via action and products including radiation pollution as well. Then there were his subsidiaries like Stagg Industries, which he had bought and had done a little corporate restructuring to get rid of all the bad eggs. With the good eggs, they were making headway on his projects. He also was a co-owner of Palmer Technologies/Formerly Queen Consolidated so Star City was also on its way for a STAR labs upgrade as well. And there was his charitable contributions being the STAR labs foundation and FEAST. The STAR labs Foundation was his charitable department dealing with everything from education reform, ecological protection, disaster relief, and social reform like his new project FEAST. He was glad that was beginning with one of its first sites being in Central City but quickly buildings and people were being found to head locations in Los Angeles, New York and all over. He'd help a lot of people, which is precisely the point. And looking after all of his work was his own private security company, Atlas Private Security. Made up of former military/police, his sites were looked after carefully and all of which were monitored by Gideon, so he was confident he was secure. He felt a great swell of pity for any idiot who tried to mess with him now and even more so with the projects he had in development.

With all the money STAR labs was making, Naruto poured it into expansion. Hiring more people and buying more properties to help STAR labs grow. They had recently hired some Entomologists recruited to help focus on bees mainly being their protection, so they don't go extinct and tying their works into improving their cross-pollination into his growing agricultural department focusing on food growth, health, and development. That was all important work, but his medical/biological research and projects were important as well with his Kiseki formula AKA his cellular regeneration/healing formula being the main one. It was already undergoing thorough vetting by the FDA and so long as it was cleared for testing then they could begin adjusting the formula for other serious ailments like cancer and genetic diseases. On top of the formula along with the myriad of scanners and medical equipment which would take modern medicine into the field of sci-fi he was also working out the science for organ cloning. But just because he was working on those types of medical breakthroughs didn't mean he wasn't prioritizing minor medical miracles as well. He was working on health medicines like a formula that would speed excessive fat burning to help people more so than any kind of medicine on the market. It would cut through the buildup of bad chemicals and fats in the body, usually associated with American junk food, so that excessive weight gain isn't an issue anymore. Other small things like better toothpastes to aid in teeth health, special new eye drops to prevent vision loss, new shampoo formulas to prevent hair loss, better contraceptives, and stuff like that. Minor medical miracles that aren't comparable to curing cancer or Alzheimer's and creating vaccines to horrible viruses but important in their own way.

The basic point being was that Naruto had done a lot of good and it showed in the wealth he accumulated. He made a good amount of money, but he wasn't a materialistic person, and he couldn't give a crap about big houses, fancy cars, and such he put most of his money into charities or back into the company for expansion. STAR labs was the envy of the job world as all employees made good money with no pay disparity and all the employees loved what they were doing and felt they were doing good work. Plenty of recent college graduates were vying for work at STAR labs with plenty of scientists and engineers recruited away from other companies or organizations with their own ideas that had the chance to be made into a reality. But unbridled curiosity could be dangerous, so a careful eye was kept on all employees not just for unsanctioned experiments but for potential corporate spies. Thankfully, helping Naruto in all of this was Gideon. Being an artificial intelligence that Naruto would develop in the future, she was able to keep watch over all of STAR labs systems throughout his company including employee files and such with ease. Doing what would take entire departments and massive server banks to accomplish Gideon was able to do it with ease. Not only that but it was barely a struggle with her current processing power. Naruto wouldn't be exaggerating when he said that Gideon was immensely powerful and her ability to multitask made her probably the most powerful thing on the planet. Currently, she helped run and monitor all of STAR labs and its subsidiaries, the actual STAR labs building in Central City along with its vast network of satellites, not to mention the systems at the Hall of Justice and the Green Arrow Bunker. All of that barely accumulated a quarter of her total processing power. With her around, Naruto had an unfair advantage that made running STAR labs so much easier than business analysts had thought and helped make it profitable. And she kept an eye on his potential enemies as well. With her around, no one…correction, no human would get the jump on him, but he had some safeguard for nonhuman threats.

And of course, to keep time causality in play, he had started working on the schematics and designs of an early prototype AI interface for Gideon which would likely later become her full form. Time Travel and retro-causality. So confusing.

Inside his office at STAR labs, Naruto was sitting at his desk and going through a large stack of paperwork that needed his signature on. Stuff sent in from his law firm, documents needing his signature from the sites in LA and New York and from his various partnerships, subsidiaries, and contracts regarding work currently being done and to be done in the future. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the large pile of paperwork would take Naruto all day to go through. It wasn't just the number of documents he had to read but how thick each one was and since each of them dealt with products or projects worth millions of dollars then they were extensive on principal alone. Lucky for Naruto he was a super genius and had super speed, so he was going through every single page of each document in less than a second and able to retain all the information in the super computer of his brain with no issue. There were digital copies of the documents sent through the STAR labs servers so Gideon would have copies. He made quick work of the documents as he planned to send them out before his trip to Freeland.

Off to the side was his suitcase next to his workbench. Resting on said workbench was a recently finished project of Naruto's, one that was important going forward and now that he was heading on his business trip to Freeland it would come with him. He finished signing the last document, so he piled them together and grabbed his things. He took out his smart phone and input a command which made the metallic chittering of his nanites start doing their work. His project on the workbench was quickly shrunk down into his STAR labs smartwatch which was now the sole item remaining. He put his watch back on and grabbed his suitcase along with the folders/files he had and made his way to the cortex.

He walked in and saw Caitlin, Cisco, and Ronnie going about their work diligently, but the sound of his shoes alerted them to his arrival. "Ready for your trip?" Caitlin asked.

"Yup. All the paperwork is done. Make sure this all gets sent out to their correct mailing addresses." Naruto put the stack of documents on a nearby cart. "I'll be gone for a few days but if there's an emergency then let me know and I'll come back."

"Is Linda going with you?" Caitlin wondered.

"No, she's got work at CCPN and unfortunately some of it does require her to be in the office. Besides, I think after all the traveling we did she's happy to sit around in the office for a bit." Naruto admitted.

"I still don't get why you're personally going to this meeting in Freeland? I mean, you've done previous charity work and donations over the phone before so why is Freeland different?" Ronnie questioned.

"Well, it's not just the donations to the school board as I do have some plans for a STAR labs site in Freeland. And…there's something of a personal matter I want to attend to while I'm there." Naruto answered.

"And by personal do you mean hero-related?" Cisco leaned forward with his head perched up on the palm of his wrist with his eyes wide like a child. "Are you going to recruit Black Lightning? Because if you are I have some things that maybe can sweeten the deal."

Cisco jumped off his chair and ran to his lab much to the amusement of Naruto, Caitlin, and Ronnie. Nothing could get him more excited than dealing with hero business. Cisco came out of his lab holding some papers in one hand and a flash drive in the other, quickly putting the former in Naruto's hands.

"You've gone so far as to draw up a sketch and schematics for a new suit for a vigilante that many people think is dead." Naruto pointed out.

"I've got my hopes that he just retired. And considering the fact that you're heading to Freeland personally kind of answers that question. Ronnie's right. You wouldn't be heading to Freeland personally if you yourself didn't think that there was a possibility he was still alive." Cisco stated, showing off some of his own investigative/deductive thinking much to the amusement of the others.

"The second a situation involves superheroes Cisco suddenly turns into Rain Man." Ronnie joked. Caitlin and Naruto chuckled with the latter putting the papers and flash drive into his backpack.

"Much appreciated Cisco and if I happen to find Black Lightning I'll tell him you said hello." Naruto gave them a mock salute before he walked away and left. "Don't burn down the place while I'm gone."

"Why would he say that? We're not irresponsible." Cisco said but a second later one of the Bunsen burners he left on in his lab burst into flames.

"Uh, Cisco…" Caitlin pointed behind him in amusement at the timing it happened as she got him to turn around.

"Damn!" Cisco ran into his lab and used a fire extinguisher to quickly put out the fire before it could spread and do damage. He then turned to the two with an objecting look while waving the nozzle at them. "That doesn't count!"

"Sure, it doesn't." Ronnie muttered in amusement before getting back to work.

Freeland, Georgia

One short plane ride and Naruto arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackon Atlanta International Airport in Georgia without any issues. He flew first class, had no problems on the flight, and thankfully his profile wasn't the same as actors or sports stars, so he didn't have to deal with paparazzi and crazed fans. To be honest, he was able to walk through the airport with no problem. Sure, he'd get a few double-takes by people who recognized his face from the various news broadcasts about him and he stopped for a few photos by budding or future scientists, but he was pretty much ignored by everyone else. He was actually happy about that because he didn't need to be mobbed by people when he was just trying to do his job.

He rented a car and drove from Atlanta to Freeland which wasn't that far, so he made good time and checked into his hotel which was the fanciest, most expensive, and best protected in the city. He was afforded some luxuries with his billions so after he checked in, he headed up to the penthouse suite on the top floor. Using his key, he entered his hotel suite, which was massive, easily big enough for a family of six to comfortably share and kind of overkill for one person although in reality it was two. When Naruto walked into the penthouse suite the lights were already on and there were telltale signs that someone was already there. For one there was a pair of boots by the door, a suitcase near the couch and sitting on said couch was Jiraiya who was watching some TV while munching on some southern comfort food.

Naruto didn't look surprised at all to see Jiraiya there though the exact circumstances were a bit much. "I half expected you to be watching pay-per-view porn when I walked in."

Jiraiya gave him a smirk before he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Oh, I finished that an hour ago. Not worth it though. I've seen it before so sorry for costing you $100." Jiraiya said and Naruto went wide-eyed. "I know. $100 for pay-per-view porn. What a rip off. You can get that cheaper on the internet."

"That's probably why it's so expensive." Naruto walked in and made his way to the master bedroom so he could put his suitcase away. "Food smells good."

"Tastes as good as it smells. Aunt Mary's Fried Chicken shack and while they don't take credit cards, it was worth it to pay cash. I got you some too but it's a little cold now." Jiraiya held up a bag that had his food. Naruto walked over and grabbed it.

"No problem." In a blur of super speed, Naruto had unpacked all the food and used the heat he generated from his movements with a little bit of his lightning to reheat everything in a manner of seconds. He sat down on the couch across from Jiraiya and began to tuck into his Fried Chicken combo with sides. "How were things here?"

"With the information we had, I managed to put enough pieces together and hit paydirt." Jiraiya handed him a large file for him to look through.

After the holidays and New Year, Naruto and Jiraiya discussed their next move regarding their investigation into the Nine. Ever since Orochimaru's death, the organization has kept things close to the chest, so to speak. The loss of one of their own members would do that but Jiraiya still had feelers out there on some leads. Now that Naruto was back, they would refocus their efforts on finding the rest of the Nine and there was a lead in Freeland that he wanted Jiraiya to look into. Naruto's visit to Freeland was part to see if Black Lightning was still around but the other personal reason was regarding information he got a year ago during the whole Firestorm problem with General Eiling. While Naruto's reckless idea to offer himself up as bait for Eiling in order to figure out what the General wanted and what he knew was idiotic and beyond dangerous, it ended up working in their favor, but it also had some fringe benefits. One of them was the information Naruto downloaded from Eiling's secure military servers that gave Linda the smoking gun she needed to write the expose that put Eiling and his covert military operation in the ground, thus freeing Ronnie, and Professor Stein. The other was Eiling's own personal information he had gathered using his military and intelligence contacts. It was information on metahumans and the Nine.

Eiling's file on the Nine wasn't that extensive but it did have some useful information on suspected organizations he believed worked for the group. All of it was gathered thanks to his military and intelligence contacts. Naruto and Jiraiya had used that information on their hunt combined with the data they would get regarding his parents forced work with the Nine and their eventual murder. That was all tied into another file that Eiling had labeled Pre-Particle Accelerator metahumans. According to Eiling's research, the particle accelerator explosion wasn't the actual first documented cases of metahumans as it really began years ago in Freeland. Back then, the ASA or the American Security Agency was a horribly corrupt and unethical organization that did a lot of bad before they were officially shut down in the early 2000s. Eiling's information was limited but apparently the ASA had information on people with metahuman abilities and it didn't seem to make any sense until Jiraiya was able to help fill in the gaps of information with what he knew at the CIA and what they were able to piece together from the message Naruto's dad left behind prior to his death.

In the 1980s, the ASA conducted an experiment in Freeland under the guise of handing out vaccines for diseases but were really an attempt at chemical subjugation. An attempt to chemically subdue and pacify people in an unstable environment, primarily the African-American community in Freeland likely done as a result of the politically charged atmosphere of the time. The vaccine people were injected with didn't have the desired effects the ASA wanted as it didn't work but it inadvertently triggered genetic mutation and gave certain individuals metahuman abilities likely resulting in Black Lightning's creation. But the vaccine was unstable as there were several children who died from its injection and likely hundreds if not thousands more who didn't develop abilities at all, so the ASA swept the whole thing under the rug and being a completely corrupt organization, the Nine wormed their way in and took the research for themselves. Even when the ASA was officially disbanded by the US government, the corrupt agents that weren't arrested were never seen again, likely going to work for the Nine. With an unstable metahuman serum on their hands they needed it stabilized so they went to Naruto's dad under the guise of the ASA to get him to work out the kinks. He did and the Nine got their metahuman serums such as the serums that gave Jiraiya his super-soldier abilities and the one that gave Naruto his burgeoning super intelligence prior to the Particle Accelerator. (1)

If all of this started in Freeland then Naruto and Jiraiya figured that there could be some old trails of evidence or old ASA contacts they could exploit. If Freeland was so important to the ASA's work back then, it's reasonable to assume that they might keep some feelers in the city just in case something pops back up, especially regarding metahumans.

Naruto looked at the information Jiraiya put together on Freeland regarding the criminal element in the city and some ties to the ASA back then that could still be operating now for the Nine. Crime was profitable in Freeland without Black Lightning and a local gang known as the 100 were making moves and all of the crime seemed to be run by Lady Eve aka Evelyn Stillwater-Ferguson. She is a mortician with her hands in a lot of pockets and from some looks into her financials, she's had some past dealings with a certain company.

"Otogakure Miyagi Import company. The front used by the Yakuza under Orochimaru. That's defunct now." Naruto said.

"But when it wasn't, Lady Eve got regular payments from them regarding her business and payments going to them. The Yakuza don't have a presence here in Freeland, Georgia." Jiraiya pointed out. "I went back as far as I could with her financials. Regular payments like clockwork for close to two decades. Nothing changed until about a year ago when Orochimaru was put in the ground. A new company took over those payments. Iwagakure International demolitions and construction, an international demolition and construction company that's done work from everywhere ranging from Los Angeles to Dubai to China. They took over the payment accounts and follow the same pattern."

"Another front for the Nine. Perfect. Something we can look into, and we know that this Lady Eve is in with the Nine or at the very least one of their flunkies." Naruto said when he turned the page and saw a picture of an older Italian gentlemen with glasses. Things looked legit as the guy seemed to just run a custom suit shop but in a few of the old CCTV/surveillance photos of Lady Eve that went back two decades, a few of them had her meeting with the man in less than normal business settings, like backdoor meetings. But she seemed younger then she was now, so it was likely an old association. "Peter Michael Gambi of Gambi's Custom Tailoring."

"That is someone I think we need to look into more. When I was looking into Lady Eve, he came up a few times, so I did some looking into him. Former military but after he was honorable discharged he was a ghost until Gambi's Custom Tailoring was opened in 1987, shortly after the ASA's work in Freeland was over. I think he's one of the ASA agents in Freeland during the vaccine trials but was either undercover or left the organization which is why he was a ghost and there's such a big gap in his life after he left the military. Not sure why he was meeting with Lady Eve so regularly back then. Could be that the ASA worked with the local criminal element for their work." Jiraiya said so Naruto looked through the rest of the information in the file. Among them were records of Gambi's regular interactions with one Jefferson Pierce, the Principal of Garfield High Naruto was going to meet tomorrow. Looking into it further, Gambi was actually the foster father of Jefferson Pierce after his father was killed. No one was arrested but people suspected former politician Tobias Whale when Jefferson was only 12. At 15, Gambi took over custody of Jefferson and raised him, even helping him get to the Olympics where he earned a gold medal in the Decathlon. "I think Gambi worked for the ASA but defected prior to the organizations dissolution."

"Because of his connection to Jefferson Pierce. Maybe he knew what the ASA were doing and couldn't stomach it and tried to do something to help, like for instance looking after a kid who turned out to be a metahuman and helping raise him down the path to become Black Lightning." Naruto deduced, coming to that theory pretty quickly with the limited evidence. Granted it wasn't limited as Naruto's research into Black Lightning from all the old CCTV footage of his exploits gave him all the data he needed to figure out that Jefferson Pierce was the most likely candidate to be Black Lightning given their height, build, and Jefferson's Olympic-level physicality matching the electric vigilante's heroics.

Plus of course there was establishing a motive for why someone becomes a hero. The moment in their life that defined what become their origin for taking up the fight against injustice. Personal tragedy is one he knew best given his own. He might not have learned the truth about his parent's death till after he already became a hero, but it became a driving force for him. The death of one's father would certainly make for motivation to take up arms against crime. But more importantly there was also who said hero might be working with. Information is the most important weapon to fight against crime. Given Gambi's own past as a former ASA agent and access to a database of information he would certainly be the most likely to have been helping Black Lighting behind the scenes. One can't do everything alone after all. Oliver had Felicity to help him watch over Star City, Naruto had several friends and an AI to help him watch over his.

Then of course was the tech supplied to the hero or even their own costume. All that would require some money, materials, and someone with the expertise to make it. Jefferson was a clearly well-educated man, but his area of expertise was more on history, literature, and others of the sort.

"You're right. Peter Gambi could be our best shot to get some more information and if the rest of the defunct ASA went to work for the Nine as we think they did, at the very least he can give us some names to follow."

"My thoughts exactly. I'll keep up surveillance while you're at your meeting tomorrow." Jiraiya said and Naruto nodded in agreement. "Now that you know Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning does this mean you're gonna recruit him?"

"No." Naruto said, surprising Jiraiya with his answer. "What?"

"I just figured you'd take the chance to add another hero to your growing Justice League. I'll admit the name felt a little corny at first but it's growing on me." Jiraiya admitted after he took a sip of whiskey he got from the mini-bar. Another thing Naruto would need to pay for.

"Oh, I would. Next to Batman and Wonder Woman, Black Lightning's one of the longest serving superheroes so he's got experience to go with his powers but if he's no longer active then it has to be for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but I don't have the right to force him back into the hero life. For all we know, he could have stopped being Black Lightning for a good reason, so I'll prepare and do what I do but if he decides to come back then I'll extend an open invitation." Naruto explained and Jiraiya was ok with that answer. He had a point so time would tell if Black Lightning would return.

Line Break xxxxx

Freeland, Georgia

Garfield High School

Naruto's rental car pulled up and parked at Garfield High School. He got out and fixed his navy-blue business suit, making sure it wasn't wrinkled from sitting in the car and trying to fix the collar and tie, so it wasn't as uncomfortable. He made suits look good, but they were annoying to wear to say the least when he was so much more comfortable in a sweatshirt. Other cars and buses were pulling up to the school and students mingled around the front steps before walking inside. Naruto grabbed his briefcase from the car and checked his phone, sending a few texts among them being to Linda to see how she was doing before he walked into the building. His presence was pretty much ignored by the students who figured he was a substitute teacher or something so when he walked into the administrative office he wasn't really spared a second glance until he walked to the check-in desk.

"Hello, can I help you?" The school's secretary asked Naruto, so he took out some ID and the paperwork he had with him.

"Yes. I'm Naruto Namikaze with STAR labs. I have a meeting with Principal Pierce and the school board." Naruto showed her his ID and the documents confirming the meeting. Realizing that the billionaire tech mogul and genius scientist they were anxious for had arrived, the secretary straightened up and immediately pressed a buzzer.

"Of course, Dr. Namikaze. We were expecting you. Welcome to Garfield High."

"Please, just Naruto. Contrary to popular belief I haven't earned my doctorate yet and I'm not big on honorifics. Sorry if I arrived a bit earlier than expected. Just something of a personal habit. I don't mind waiting if I'm too early." Naruto assured her.

"Principal Pierce will be right with you. Please, take a seat and help yourself to some coffee. He'll be right with you." The secretary said and Naruto walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. When he wasn't looking, the secretary raced out of the administrative office as fast as she could down the hall to the principal's office. Naruto poured himself some coffee and after stirring in some cream and sugar took a sip and winced a bit.

'Ugh. Note to self, upgrade this school's food supplier. Or at the very least its coffee.' Naruto thought before taking out his phone and sending a quick text message to a contact who could handle that. Once he finished with the text and forced himself to slurp down another sip of the coffee, in walked the secretary along with the principal and vice principal. Both were dressed to impressed and a little frazzled, likely not expecting him to arrive so soon. The vice principal was a notably attractive African-America woman, likely mid-30s and wearing heels, a black business skirt with a matching business top. The principal, Jefferson Pierce, a tall and well-built African-American man with a thin beard, likely mid-30s or early 40s was wearing a business suit as well. "Mr. Namikaze, this is Vice Principal Kara Fowdy and Principal Jefferson Pierce."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Namikaze." Vice Principal Fowdy shook his hand with a smile, and he shook back.

"The pleasure is mine and please, call me Naruto." He said before shaking Principal Pierce's hand.

"Then please, call me Jefferson. It's an honor to have you here at Garfield High." Principal Pierce said to him.

"It's my pleasure. I've heard a lot of great things are done here educationally at this school so believe me it's my honor. And it's not every day you meet a gold medal Olympian." Naruto praised which made Jefferson and the others chuckle.

"Well, the same can be said for a future Nobel-prize winner and tech genius." Principal Pierce countered.

"Not a Nobel-prize winner yet and tech geniuses are becoming more common place, I'll admit." Naruto remarked.

"Tech moguls, yes but geniuses are another story. Especially ones as charitable as you and trying to save the world. And don't let the fact that Principal Pierce is a gold medalist make you treat him any different. I'll admit I did at first but when you see his framed picture every single day, the novelty wears off." Vice Principal Fowdy quipped which made everyone laugh, even Pierce.

"Well, aside from the ribbing from my Vice Principal, we're happy to have you here in Freeland, Naruto though you did catch us off guard. The meeting with the school board isn't for another thirty minutes or so." Principal Pierce informed him.

"Yes. Sorry for any kind of disturbance my early arrival may have caused. I was hoping that with the extra time I might be able to get a tour of the school. After all I've heard quite a bit on how this place is like a community."

"That is something we'd be happy to provide." Principal Pierce led him out of the office and gave him a tour of the school. Jefferson Pierce took the lead in the tour, showing Naruto around but Vice Principal Fowdy chimed in every now and then. They introduced him to a few of the teachers as well as their best students, those with full scholarships to great colleges and universities. Principal Pierce showed him the wall of medals for their student athletes as well as those for academic achievements. Vice Principal Fowdy explained how they've used some of their donations to help with their social outreach programs as well as updates to the school in the growing landscape of technology though Naruto and the STAR labs Foundation would help with both of those. From how they both spoke, the two cared about the school and the impact they had on the students in propelling them forward to better futures than they would otherwise have. More so, with Jefferson Pierce as the love, hope, and dedication he had to his school and his students was palpable. Vice Principal Fowdy as well but it was more evident with Jefferson. He explained how after the Olympics, instead of using that to pursue fame and fortune he decided to return to his home and make a difference there, first by becoming a teacher at Garfield High and then its Principal where he's helped dozens if not hundreds of kids achieve success and better their lives than before. He was there for them, giving them the chance he had and many of them went on to college and more. His reputation in Freeland was evident of his tremendous impact and success. Naruto could see how once Jefferson retired from being Black Lightning he still wanted to make a difference. His passion and commitment to that is one of the reasons Naruto came in person for the meeting.

"…and even despite some of the district wide cutbacks and financial struggles that can occur with some families we still strive to do our best to accommodate and help every single student that is here at Freeland." Jefferson said to Naruto as the two plus Vice Principal Fowdy made their way back to the administrative office.

"That dedication to students first is admirable, Principal Pierce. With how things are going with public education, few principals can go as far as you have especially when dealing with school boards and such." Naruto praised.

"One thing you can count on with Garfield High is Principal Pierce's devotion to his students. That can never be questioned or refuted. Even if it sometimes means we butt heads with the board in question." Vice Principal Fowdy defended but Naruto assured her it was ok.

"I completely understand. The board has to look at things in a much more general picture, so they don't see what you do. Their tough decisions aren't nearly as tough as yours. Despite what some people would think given where I am now, I am a product of the public education system. My parents felt that private schools would have given me an ego." Naruto joked, making the two educators chuckle. "And I'm well aware of the difficulties that public schools face which is what I'm hoping to fix with the STAR labs foundation. While government funding can go to standardized tests I'm more than happy to use the foundation to assist in other ways such as modernization of school supplies, donations for new equipment, budgets for public transportation for the students and maybe better coffee for the office."

Vice Principal Fowdy was caught off guard at the last one. "Excuse me?"

"No offense but the coffee in the front office tastes like it's been mixed with battery acid. Your new espresso machines will be arriving later today after lunch. Full set up and everything. A donation from me." Naruto said, still getting looks of surprise. "No one, especially teachers deserve that kind of bad coffee."

"It is bad coffee. Takes a while to get used to." Principal Pierce admitted. "But still, you didn't have to do that."

"Please, it was my pleasure. And like I said, no one deserves that bad coffee. It is after all what hard workers drink to help them get through their day. So why make yourselves have to endure such a bad taste." Naruto quipped when he checked the time. "Looks like it's time for the meeting. Shall we?"

"Yes, lets." Principal Pierce led them back to the Administrative office where the school board had arrived and filed in. They were all smiles and politeness to Naruto with dollar signs in their eyes at the literal billionaire in their presence. Introductions were made and pleasantries were exchanged before they got to the meeting. It was really a basic meeting that went over the partnership of the school board with the STAR labs foundation, what it would entail and both the contributions the foundation would make to the greater school district but also the obligations the board needed to follow. For one thing, there were plenty of substantial pay raises for all the teachers and with Garfield High in particular, Naruto put in some clauses that benefited the judgement of the principal and teachers over the board. Naruto felt that with the education, the principal and teachers should have overall decision power rather than the school board and if the board tried to fight that then it wouldn't be good for them. Judging by how no one raised a contention, they didn't see that clause or understand the legal wording of it, but they would definitely be in for a surprise. By the time the lunch bell rang the negotiations were all done with everyone walking out of the conference room like something good had been accomplished. The school board had left leaving Naruto with the two principals as he finished putting his papers in his briefcase.

"Well, I think that was a productive meeting." Naruto praised as he and the principals walked out of the conference room.

"I'll admit I've never seen all members of the school board leave that room with smiles on their faces." Principal Pierce remarked.

"Well, when they have dollar signs in their eyes I can't imagine why." Naruto quipped, earning chuckles from the two.

"But that was a very productive meeting. And we can promise that Garfield High will honor its obligation with the foundation." Vice Principal Fowdy assured him.

"And I promise to fulfill my part with STAR labs. The donations to the school districts will arrive tomorrow and the school board can coordinate the necessary installation times required. Once the lawyers get done with the rest of the documentation then you can expect the rest of the support of the foundation to begin including the pay raises." Naruto told them.

"I know plenty of teachers who will be happy to hear that." Vice Principal Fowdy remarked, and Pierce nodded in agreement.

"Dad!" They turned and Naruto saw a striking, beautiful African American woman, likely early 20s with long flowing black hair and a matching body and face that screamed confidence, self-assurance, and drive. She was wearing a multi-colored blouse with long black work pants that led to heels, accentuating her natural curves. "What's going on?"

"And there is one of them now. Naruto, allow me to introduce you to one of our part-time teachers, Anissa Pierce. My oldest daughter. Anissa, this is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze from STAR labs." Principal Pierce introduce the two to one another.

"Oh, wow." Anissa was a bit star struck and shocked. She had no idea he was here in Freeland, so she was caught off guard. Seeing him on the news and talking about the change he was doing, she didn't expect to meet him so soon. And Anissa was a proud lesbian but even she had to admit that Naruto was handsome. Anissa realized she had gone some time without saying anything, so she snapped herself out of it. "Sorry. Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. The pleasure is mine." Naruto shook her hand. "So, I can see you're taking after Principal Pierce and getting into education. Any hopes in one day taking over as Principal?"

"Uh…probably not. No offense dad and I love the students, but I don't think principal is in my future." Anissa admitted.

"Anissa has been helping out here part-time while going to medical school. She plans to take after her mother and pursuing medicine." Principal Pierce informed him.

"Admirable and fortuitous as my work here in Freeland isn't just with education. I do have meetings with the city council regarding a STAR labs site both for green energy and medical advancement. Perhaps a partnership or a sponsorship for a medical research grant can be arranged. I'm always on the lookout for burgeoning scientists and doctors." Naruto suggested.

"That would be amazing. After reading your research and hearing about your healing serum, a lot of people are curious as to the extent of what it can do." Anissa's curiosity was on full display which was rather amusing and cute for her father to see.

"Well, I don't want to come off as arrogant but as the creator behind the serum I can say that it'll follow in the steps of vaccines, anesthesia, and antibiotics. Something that will push medical science into the new millennium and once we get cleared by the FDA for human trials then we can begin modifying the formula for cancer, Alzheimer's, and anything and everything that afflicts us."

"And make STAR labs a fortune. That kind of medical science would be worth billions." Anissa said. Her father was going to stop her before she said something else that could be inferred as insulting but didn't have to with Naruto speaking up.

"True but like I've said in interviews I didn't get into science for the money but to solve problems. And thankfully I don't have a board of directors to report to who will try to make me charge exorbitant prices to save lives. So, rest assured, Ms. Pierce, all STAR labs advancements either medical or technological won't cost people an arm or a leg. In fact, we're working on advanced and cheap prosthetics to help with the latter." Naruto joked which earned him a few chuckles. "But if you're still not convinced now then perhaps some proof would help. I'm in Freeland for a few more days to handle some business for STAR labs as I mentioned before and there is going to be a gala dinner put on by the city and such where I plan to make all these announcements. You and your father are more than welcome to come and you as well Ms. Fowdy. Actually, it might be good if you do because then I can discuss the STAR labs foundation work as well."

Pierce and Fowdy weren't expecting the sudden invitation out of the blue. "Uh, that's kind of sudden…"

"I understand. Don't feel obligated but consider it. At the very least there will be a familiar face in the crowd." Naruto leaned in closer. "In all honesty, these kinds of events are necessary for business, but I end up getting stuck talking to politicians or other rich white businessmen trying to extort me for STAR labs shares. My girlfriend isn't here, and I need an escape route. Please…" he lightly begged almost as if desperate.

His little pleading was amusing which made them chuckle but there was some truth buried there. "It'd be an honor." Vice Principal Fowdy agreed, seeing it as good business.

"Uh, well…" Principal Pierce was struggling for words but relented. "Of course. We'll be there."

"Thank you. I'll send you the details." Naruto checked his watch and saw the time. "I've got to go. I've got another meeting. Thank you again. See you at the dinner."

Naruto shook their hands and bid them farewell, walking back to his rental car while the two Principals and Anissa watched. "He's a kind and courteous young man but also very strange." Principal Pierce admitted.

"Yup." Vice Principal Fowdy agreed.

"Damn…he's hotter in person. How is that possible?" Anissa said, drawing looks of disbelief from both principals.

"I don't need to hear that." Jefferson walked to his office to clear his head.

"I'm not wrong, am I?" Anissa asked Fowdy who gave her an amused smile.

"No…no, you're not." She agreed. Naruto was indeed someone to look like eye candy except he actually had a brain, a quite magnificent one in fact. It's quite a funny contradiction to the reference.

A few hours later…

After lunch and a meeting with the Freeland City council regarding the STAR labs site that was planned, Naruto made his way to Gambi's Custom Tailoring. There was a coffee shop on the corner, so he first went to get a cappuccino and a muffin, enjoying his beverage and snack while sitting at the table near the window. Enjoying a nice moment of peace and quiet as he was people watching while the tailor shop was still in his sights. He finished his blueberry muffin and quickly got back up and ordered another one plus a cranberry scone before sitting back down at his table which had another occupant. Jiraiya had slipped in and joined him so the two looked like people just talking in a coffee shop.

"How'd your meetings go?" Jiraiya sipped his cup of coffee and tried to snag a piece of the scone only for Naruto to smack his hands away.

"Good. The school board was happy and got a good rapport with Jefferson Pierce. Still not sure why he retired from Black Lightning but he's still trying to make a difference. Just doing it with education and not by beating bad guys with his fists or electricity."

"Stop the kids before they go down a life of crime. Got it. And admirable." Jiraiya praised.

"City council was fine. Deal with one city council you deal with them all. The STAR labs site here should be fine. There will be a gala in a few days. I'll get you on the list." Naruto told him.

"And I promise to behave myself. Besides, with how this city is, there's a chance Lady Eve could try and cozy up to you. Worm her way in to STAR labs and go semi-legit while expanding her criminal empire." Jiraiya cautioned and Naruto nodded.

"Just like Thomas Elliott in Gotham. When the bad guys start smelling money they'll weasel their way in, and they think I'm just an inexperienced scientist ripe for the picking that they'll be able to walk all over."

That made Jiraiya chuckle in amusement at how wrong that description was. So very, very wrong. "Boy will they be praying for mercy when they figure that out the hard way." Jiraiya sipped his coffee when he stopped because he had a thought. "I know your super genius brain probably already considered this, but you are aware that if those situations do occur then you'll need to act without Impulse's help. The more instances that Impulse showed up around Naruto Namikaze, especially if we're not in Central City and it doesn't involve metahumans, then it won't be long before people figure out that you two are the same and that could get complicated. You'll need plausible deniability."

Naruto let a smile adorn his face as Jiraiya actually sounded concerned without his usual propensity for perverted one-liners or sexual innuendos. Ever since Naruto came back their relationship had gotten better though if he started sleeping with his friends then he would kill him. "Thanks. I appreciate the concern, but I've already got something worked up that I think you'll approve of. Methods for subtly and when that goes out the window."

"I've got an inkling as to the non-subtle method but what's the subtle one?" Jiraiya wondered.

"Investigating my enemies to find blackmail and pressure points on them that would make their lives living hell if they decide to cross me." Naruto's blunt response was equally impressive as it was scary. Granted the whole blackmail thing was just following in the steps of other rich, powerful people but the difference between them and Naruto is that his intelligence and resources meant that he would be able to find information on any potential enemies that would come after him. Whether they were in the business sector, government, or military, he would be able to find secrets to leverage against them if they dared try to mess with him or STAR labs. If they did then they would rue the day they screwed with him.

"Oh, so business as normal. Got it." Jiraiya sipped some of his coffee. "Well, while you were busy making the world a better place and making yourself richer I kept a close watch on Gambi. Nothing out of the ordinary on the surface and the tailor shop is all clean and exactly what it says is it…at least on ground level."

Jiraiya took out his phone and showed him a scan of Gambi's tailor shop that showed a basement sub-level that wasn't ordinary. For one thing, ordinary basements and sub-levels didn't have titanium-alloy reinforced supports, its own separate generator and a stockpile of weapons, ammo, and equipment useful for a former government agent and the partner to a former superhero. Naruto was impressed with what Gambi had since he figured that once he left the ASA he wouldn't have access to resources like he used to. "Not a bad set up."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "He's got anti-monitoring software set up. The scans took a bit to get through all the countermeasures, but it looks like that even though Pierce retired from being Black Lightning, Gambi is holding out hope that he'll take up the mantle someday soon."

"Well, with how the crime in Freeland is going then I can guess why." Naruto handed Jiraiya his phone back. "All right. Let's do this. I'll talk to him first to put him at ease. You come in when you're ready."

Naruto left the coffee shop and headed to Gambi's tailor shop. He opened the door which rang the bell in the door frame, alerting Gambi of a visitor. Gambit was working on some patches of cloth and silk when he saw he had an arrival but wasn't expecting who just walked into his store.

"Welcome to Gambi's Tailoring, Mr. Namikaze." Gambit greeted. "Interested in a new suit?"

"I am. I was told that my wardrobe needs suits, and I can't rely on jeans and sports jackets from now on. And I figured that since I'm here for a while in Freeland and will likely be visiting every so often that I should take an opportunity while I'm here to get some custom suits." Naruto joked, walking in into the store, and seeing the suits on display while Gambi walked around to the front desk of his store.

"Well, jeans and sports jackets are good enough for impromptu meetings but when handling business that likely involves millions of dollars and changing the world like you do then a professional suit can make all the difference." Gambi told him.

"And I'm hoping that one day pajamas will be seen as professional attire." Naruto joked which made Gambi laugh. "I'm surprised you recognized me. I've been able to go about Freeland without so much as a third or fourth glance and it usually takes someone saying my name or STAR labs for it to click."

"Well, I've been paying more attention to the business and science world than most. And I'm very intrigued by all the work you're doing. That along with your altruism and philanthropic activities. It really seems like you're trying to save the world, and I praise you for that." Gambi said while he got out some of the things he needed to make a suit.

"Thank you but I can't take all the credit. I'm only the vessel for which the mighty being Cthulhu uses to bring about the end of the world." Naruto stated. Gambi paused and looked at Naruto in a look that was equally perplexed as it was slightly concerned. "That was a joke. A bad joke on my part. Sorry."

"It's all right. I definitely wasn't expecting that." Gambi chuckled and had Naruto step to the side and remove the suit jacket he was wearing so he could use the tape measure. Height and waist measurements along with arm, pant, and shoulder length were taken and Gambi jotted them down before bringing over some fabric samples and a design booklet. While Naruto was rich, he wasn't someone who felt the need to splurge on expensive things. Fancy designer labels, expensive jewelry, million-dollar cars, the typical things that most rich people spend their money on Naruto didn't. Sure, he bought Linda a car, he would splurge on fancy ingredients to cook with, and he had plans to turn one of the spare rooms at his and Linda's penthouse into a gaming room, but he didn't plan to go on splurging shopping sprees. But the suits would be necessary for him going forward and he was here now. Plus, it helped open the rapport with Gambi.

After conversing over all the options Gambi had, Naruto ended up ordering six suits in total. Three were business-style suits while the other three were more formal/evening wear mostly in muted colors but did get one crimson colored suit in each style. Six custom-made and personally tailored suits would take some time for Gambi to complete, but it was safe to say that this was one of his most profitable sales.

"All right…" Gambi finished jotting down everything important for the order and tallied up the total for the receipt. He didn't even have a chance to say the total when Naruto handed over his credit card. "Thank you for your patronage."

"And thank you for the suits. That took care of something I needed done." Naruto took back his credit card and put his wallet away. "Now we can get down to business."

"And what business would that be? I'll arrange for the suits to be shipped or for pick up, whichever you prefer." Gambi told him when he heard the doorbell ring and in walked Jiraiya. "I'll be with you in a moment, sir."

"It's all right. I'm not here for a suit." Jiraiya told him, turning the open sign on the door around so it read it now closed from the outside. Gambi then realized the severity of the situation he found himself in.

"Relax, Mr. Gambi. We're not here to start a fight. I just bought six suits from you. The last thing I'm gonna do is cause an issue that would ruin that." Naruto assured Gambi before facing Jiraiya who took out a device that looked like a lighter. He pressed the side, and a small red light turned on, immediately jamming all potential surveillance systems so their conversation would not be recorded. "But my associate and I do need to talk to you, and I believe it'll be about certain topics we all have the same opinion on."

"And what topic would that be?" Gambi asked in indifference, his mood changing completely from the jovial, cheerful tone it was before. For all he knew, this could be an attempt on his life but that didn't mean he wasn't going to go down without a fight. His right hand had gone under his desk and gripped the handle of a hidden compact shotgun he kept there for safekeeping alongside a Glock-17 handgun.

"Protecting Jefferson Pierce and Freeland." Naruto vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared in the same spot holding the shotgun and pistol Gambi had hidden. To further prove he was there to just talk and that he was on his side, the nanites spread out from Naruto's watch and Flash ring and formed his Impulse suit. "You could say he and I have something in common."

"This actually explains a lot of things I've been trying to make sense off." Gambi admitted as Naruto deactivated his nanites and placed the guns on the table for Gambi. "How did you know about Jefferson?"

"I'm asuper geniusremember." Naruto tapped the side of his head. "Process of elimination along with advanced facial recognition system that pretty much matches Jefferson with Black Lightning at a 96.8% match. Plus given Jefferson's past athletics and strong ties to Freeland, he's the most likely the real clincher was figuring out who could be his companion with technical expertise to build him that suit he had and provide information on criminal activity. Once I found out about your past as an ASA agent and how you took in and raised Jefferson it all became clear to assured, that secret won't be leaving this room. It's part of the superhero code of ethics that heroes and our allies keep our secret identities which extends even into retirement." "So, you're not here to recruit Jefferson?" Gambi questioned and got a head shake in response.

"I did meet him earlier today but that was purely for work and a partnership with the STAR Labs Foundation for Garfield High. I don't know how, why, or what caused Jefferson to retire from being Black Lightning and I have no right to force him back into something without knowing what's going on. If he wishes to remain retired then that's fine but should something happen that brings him to become Black Lightning again then you and he can be assured that you'll have allies ready and waiting." Naruto opened up his briefcase and pulled out some papers and a flash drive. "My associate took the liberty to draw up some new suit designs for him should the situation ever arise."

Gambi took the sketches and was intrigued. They were definitely an upgrade to Jefferson's old suit and if Naruto were being serious then it meant STAR labs could give them a serious upgrade. "Thank you. This is very generous but pardon my paranoia if I feel like there's another reason you and your associate came to see me and not Jefferson."

Naruto and Jiraiya nodded to one another with the former pointing to the stools by the main desk of the shop. Gambi nodded and they all sat down with him putting the guns back now that he didn't need them. Not that they would do him any good against a speedster. "Mr. Gambi, first I want to assure you that in no way do I wish harm on you or Jefferson Pierce and his family. I just revealed my identity as Impulse not because of arrogance but to assure you that my intentions are pure. After all, I'm a superhero." Naruto told him and Gambi nodded.

"I understand. But that kind of trust means that you need something from me and you're willing to risk your identity to someone you don't know." Gambi deduced.

"That shows you how important this information could be to me. And the reason we're having this conversation is because it involves your time in Freeland back in the 1980s when you were a member of the ASA." Naruto said and Gambi kept a calm visage but internally, he was stressed. "I mentioned before I'm a super genius so let's do away with the feigning ignorance. I'm aware the organization was horribly corrupt, I'm aware it's officially disbanded and shut down but also aware that many of those corrupt agents were never arrested and have likely gone to work for an equally horrible criminal organizations, Mr. Gambi. I'm not here to drudge up your past to shame you, I'm here because I need information on your associates."

"Why? What does the ASA mean to you?" Gambi wondered. Naruto spared a glance at Jiraiya who nodded.

"Mr. Gambi, we're well aware of what the ASA did in Freeland back in the 80s. Their vaccine experiment and how it inadvertently created metahumans, one of which was Jefferson Pierce. They may have swept their experiment under the rug and the government disbanded them in the early 2000s, but that kind of corruption didn't die and instead those responsible went to work for a new group." Jiraiya told him. "What do you know of the Nine?"

Gambi didn't answer right away, thinking things over in his head. "Stories mostly. A powerful cabal of Nine powerful criminals who control all the organized crime in the world but they're a myth."

"No, they're not. And they're not the Nine now so much as the eight." Naruto stated. "They're very real, Mr. Gambi and they opened their arms to the corrupt ASA agents and got their hands on the vaccine they used here in Freeland and managed to find scientists who could stabilize its affects."

"What?" Gambi's face showed pure horror in that revelation. "How? And who would do that?"

"My parents did." Naruto revealed. "The Nine approached them under the guise of ASA agents, likely having some of the agents going to work for them to add in the deception. Told them they needed some serum stabilized and realized too late what they were actually doing. The Nine were given powerful serums that turned them into metahumans and given eight extras that my parents created out of the intended ten. Those remaining two were given to us."

Jiraiya took out a knife from his belt and pressed it against his palm, showing that his skin wasn't breaking and that the knife was actually bending because of his superhuman durability.

"Naruto's parents were killed by underlings for the Nine to cover up what they were doing. I've been working leads for the past two years trying to track them down and it wasn't until last year that we got the full picture of what was going on. That full picture allowed us to track down and kill one of the Nine. Orochimaru." Jiraiya added.

"Some things happened that put our investigation on the backburner but we're looking into new leads and the best option to find more of the Nine and their organizations is to take it down bit by bit and start here where it began for us. With how important Freeland was to the ASA's vaccine trials then we believed that the Nine would still have some feelers or important assets in the area. It's why we came here to speak to you. We need your help." Naruto told Gambi and let him absorb all that information.

There was a moment of silence as Gambi just sat there and took all that in. He had been bombarded with a lot of information and the unfortunate dredging of his past mistakes. What makes it worse is the mistakes of his past had compounded weren't dead but had been revived under an even greater threat than the ASA ever were. "If what you're saying is really true about the group I used to work for and let me stress this enough that I left as soon as I knew exactly what was going on…you're aware that kicking this kind of hornets' nest could be dangerous. Not just for you but for others as well."

"We're down the rabbit hole already, Mr. Gambi. No other direction we can go except further down." Jiraiya remarked before Naruto spoke.

"I know this is dangerous, Gambi but the Nine need to be stopped and pay for everything they've done and all the lives they've ruined. Both of us played a small part in that and that's on us. This is our burden to bare and it means we need to fix this, but I swear to you that no matter what I will do everything I can and use all the resources I have to keep you, Jefferson, and his family safe."

Naruto's declaration helped stress just how much this meant to him, but it was in his eyes that Gambi saw the truth. He could see the same drive, determination, and compassion that once drove Jefferson as Black Lightning. Likely the base core personality traits in one hero was in all whether they were symbols of hope or shadows of vengeance: the want to help others. That and likely his own personal need for redemption is what influenced Gambi and won him over.

"Exactly what kind of resources do you have to help keep Jefferson safe?" Gambi wondered, wanting some extra assurance before he divulged any information.

"STAR labs resources, surveillance, additional superhero help should the need arise—" "CIA assets as well." Jiraiya interrupted Naruto to get to the assurance that won Gambi over. Naruto looked over at Jiraiya who just gave him a shrug. "Superheroes are all well and good, but I think he wanted some extra peace of mind as well. And believe me, the CIA doesn't care about superheroes protecting cities here in the US. We're not ARGUS."

That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin so to speak and Gambi was on board. "All right. Well, since you know about what the ASA was doing in Freeland with the vaccines back in the 80s and you're really set on taking down what's left and stopping the Nine then a full picture of what really happened is needed. For one thing…I was one of the agents back then."

"We know but what happened exactly?" Naruto wondered so Gambi began a very long detailing of everything that happened back then and how it impacted today. As Naruto and Jiraiya correctly guessed, Gambi was an ASA agent working in Freeland back in the 1980s. He was known as a spotter which was basically a field agent, and his job was specifically to find metahumans who were being turned by the vaccines the ASA was injected people with thirty years ago. Naruto and Jiraiya were actually surprised to learn that the ASA were aware that their vaccine had created metahumans and Gambi's job was to find them, so Jefferson wasn't the only one who got powers. He was just the only one the ASA didn't get to. From how Gambi tells it, there were other people he reported to the ASA who exhibited metahuman abilities and the ASA picked them up which means that they likely belonged to the Nine now. He was a loyal soldier until he learned that the vaccine was killing the children of Freeland, so he leaked the information of what the ASA was doing to Alvin Pierce, Jefferson Pierce's father. While the article regarding the vaccine was killed by the editor, it did get enough word of mouth going to have the ASA back off their experiment from mounting pressure, especially when Alvin Pierce published a political corruption scandal involved Tobias Whale, an aspiring politician, and some members of the ASA by name. That piece got them to back off from their experiment, but it had the unfortunate consequence of getting him killed.

That was the catalyst for Gambi staying in Freeland and basically going AWOL from the ASA. He changed his name and stayed in Freeland, keeping a watchful eye on Jefferson out of guilt for what happened to his father and to try and help him. Jefferson's powers manifested for the first time during a bad riot in 1987 which is when Gambi took him in, trained and raised him and he eventually became Black Lightning. Eventually the ASA would be officially decommissioned by the US government and all those corrupt agents and the metahuman vaccine would go to work for the Nine which is when Naruto's parents get involved. Gambi's story did much to assure Naruto and Jiraiya that they were right in their assessment that Gambi was a good person and now they had another ally on their side along with giving them some good information.

While Gambi was no longer associated with or wanted anything to do with the ASA, especially now that they were working with the Nine, his past employment with the agency gave them the information they needed. When Naruto and Jiraiya mentioned photos of him with Lady Eve he explained how back when he was an ASA agent they had local people of influence helping them. Among those that helped the ASA were Lady Eve and Tobias Whale who, no surprise, ended up becoming master criminals. Lady Eve was the crime boss of the city and likely worked for the Nine but whether directly or indirectly, knowingly, or unknowingly was up for debate. Tobias Whale was MIA, so Lady Eve was their best bet to explore in order to gather information because of her connection to an old ASA colleague of Gambi, Martin Proctor. He was the ASA head of the Freeland Vaccine project and among many of the ASA agents who went underground after the agency was officially shutdown. He was certainly working for the Nine and likely the go between for them and Lady Eve. Naruto mentioned their looking into Lady Eve's financials and brought up her payments from Otogakure Miyagi Import company which was a front for the Nine member Orochimaru that was now defunct, but another company took over the payments. Iwagakure International demolitions and construction which carried on from the old front in payments so whatever Lady Eve was doing had to involve working with the Nine somehow, likely regarding the crime in Freeland. Now with Gambi's confirmation of Lady Eve's association with the ASA and Martin Proctor, it now gave Naruto and Jiraiya their next lead. They get one and eventually it'll give them another and then another.

Their conversation went on for hours, comparing notes and pieces of information to make sure they had the best, most comprehensive understanding of the situation. Also, during their talks Naruto worked out the delivery of some resources for Gambi to keep him and Jefferson safe and some hero-related equipment should Jefferson ever need to suit up again.

"…not sure how well that's gonna go. Lady Eve has protection and if you're right about the Nine, there's going to be several degrees of separation from her and Proctor. The man is despicable but he's not stupid. Getting him to show his face won't be easy." Gambi told them.

"We know. Taking down the Nine isn't going to be like dealing with the other bad guys the Flash and I usually deal with. The Nine haven't been around as long as they have without being careful and difficult to take down. We got lucky with Orochimaru but to take down the rest of them, it's going to take time. The more we learn, the more angles we can exploit the easier our job gets and right now we've got an exploit." Naruto said, referring to Lady Eve. He was their next target.

"Push on that exploit long enough and disrupt business to the point where things are going bad and the Nine will have no choice but to send a flunky." Jiraiya added.

"And they're ours." Naruto stated before handing Gambi a special STAR labs smartwatch. "Don't worry, Gambi. I promised the Pierce's will be safe and I will keep that promise. With building a STAR labs site here in Freeland, I'll have a reason to visit more often and I'm only a call away."

"You really sure about this?" Gambi asked Naruto. It felt like they were on the edge of a precipice and maybe there was still a chance to walk away. Gambi didn't know but that was long gone for Naruto. He was all in on the Nine and wouldn't stop until they were dealt with.

"I have never been more sure about anything in my life." Naruto said before pausing as Linda flashed in his mind. "Well okay maybe second most sure thing in my life. "After all he knew Linda was his soul mate and he wanted to spend his life with her. Without another word he and Jiraiya got up.

"Let us know if something comes up."

Gambi nodded and watched as Naruto and Jiraiya walked to the door. "Pardon me for asking but how exactly do you plan on dealing with Lady Eve's organization?"

Naruto just turned his head and gave him an expression that was equally stern and grizzled.

"Violently."

Line Break xxxxx

Two days later…

Freeland, Georgia

Garfield High School

The auditorium of Garfield high was at capacity as all the students and teachers had filed in for an assembly. The students had no idea what the assembly was about but hoped that it wasn't some school district forced anti-drug presentation because they've been through enough of those to last a lifetime. Incidentally, even the teachers were a little confused as to what the assembly was about. Usually, they were given advance notice regarding assemblies since they would occasionally interfere with lessons and such, but this one seemed out of the blue with them only being informed yesterday. With the last-minute arrangements some of the teachers suspected it could be administration-related but in the past those were usually done via PA announcements by Principal Pierce.

What was going on?

Once everyone was seated Vice Principal Fowdy and Principal Pierce walked onto the stage to a podium. "All right if everyone could take their seats and settle down. We know that this sudden assembly came as a surprise to you all, but we do have a very special surprise visitor here at Garfield High." Vice Principal Fowdy said.

"That is true. The school board along with myself and Vice Principal Fowdy have had the pleasure of speaking with someone who believes in the values set here at Garfield High as much as we do. Someone who has taken those beliefs and is currently trying to change the world through advance science and technology that many are quickly calling him the smartest man on the planet and having spoken with him I can also say he is one of the kindest and most sincere people I have had the pleasure of meeting. Someone who truly believes in the value of education and its benefits so much that he wanted to be here to speak about opportunities for all of you. So, please allow me to introduce CEO and head scientist of STAR labs, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." Principal Pierce announced and Naruto stepped out from the side to applause.

He walked over and shook Principal Pierce and Vice Principal Fowdy's hands before they stepped to the side and sat down on the chairs put on the stage while Naruto stood at the podium. He smiled and waved at the students, waiting for the applause to die down before he could speak.

"There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope. Stephen Hawking said that, and those words are as important now as when he first said them. I've only known Principal Pierce for a short time but quickly learned that he is a fan of famous quotes, so I wanted to come baring my own." Naruto joked which earned chuckles from the students, teachers, and both Fowdy and Pierce. "First off, I want to thank Principal Pierce, Vice Principal Fowdy, and the school board of Garfield for their gracious welcome and for giving me the chance to speak with all of you. I know this is sudden, but I was hoping to at least say a few words. For those who may still be wondering exactly who I am and what I do at STAR labs, the simple answer is advancing the cause of science. That's the core foundation of STAR labs when it was founded by Dr. Wells and Tess Mercer, and I firmly believe in that foundation to this day. They wanted to push the boundaries of science, how people think about science beyond government or business ventures but to just change the world and to explore what could be done. Their goal was on the future and right now, that is important for all of you. What is the Mantra here at Garfield High, Principal Pierce?"

Principal Pierce stepped up and spoke. "Where is the future?"

All the students stood up and answered. "Right here!"

"And whose life is this?"

"Mine!"

"And what are you going to do with it?"

"Live it by any means necessary!"

Principal Pierce and the students sat back down, and Naruto smiled before he tapped his watch a few times. "The future is indeed right here."

Naruto gave his watch one final tap and to everyone's amazement a highly detailed and mesmerizing view of the cosmos appeared in the auditorium like they had suddenly been taken to a 4-D IMAX scientific observatory kind of experience but right in front of them. Unbeknownst to everyone, Naruto had placed mini-hologram projectors around the auditorium for this little moment. Incredibly detailed holograms were a surefire way of engaging the attention span of teenagers. And as he predicted, all the students were in awe as were the teachers with most if not all moving their arms around and seeing the stars and celestial bodies move. STAR labs holograms were becoming more and more common in certain business and such but were still making their way down into the rest of society. New technologies often went through growing pains of getting assimilated into what was already there. It's why phones, TVs and computers rarely go through such radical change and highly detailed hard light holographic projection is radical.

"When I first heard Principal Pierce say those words I couldn't help but think of a more fitting mantra for students to keep in mind because the future is yours and your time here at Garfield high will be important in shaping that. Now, many of you are thinking I'm here to try and push STEM ideologies on you or go on about the glamor of standardized testing but I'm not. In full honesty, I'm not a fan of that either. That's the governmental oversight for education and don't get me started on it." Naruto's exasperation was a bit exaggerated to get some chuckles. "The STAR labs foundation doesn't care about scores or tests or how students are put into categories because that kind of thinking doesn't work for everyone. What the STAR labs foundation wants to focus on most is to help push education to what we dream it could be so that all of you are prepared for the future. Not everyone's future are going to be the same. I imagine some student athletes here will one day become professional athletes, maybe even future Olympians."

A few students cheered on their friends who they knew would get that far.

"Sports and athletics are incredible but not everyone has the aptitude for that. I sure don't. As much as I would like to say different, I was unfortunately not athletically gifted when I was in high school." Naruto joked. "But perhaps where you do strive is in art, drama, literature, or science. Each and every one of you is different and deserve the chance to explore that in the future of your education. Unfortunately, not all of you will have that opportunity…until today. Because the true reason I'm here at Garfield High is to announce that every junior and senior student here is a recipient of the inaugural Future Foundation Grant. As in…all of your college tuitions have just been paid for."

Naruto's declaration caught everyone off guard, students, and teachers alike as they had no idea if that was true as it was said so casually. "Yup you heard right people. I'm telling the truth. All the proper paperwork and information will be given to Principal Pierce and will be distributed to every junior and senior student, and they will explain exactly what I just said. I would not have made it to where I am now, here, speaking to all of you if not for the help of those who truly believed in me and the potential I had. Their help allowed me to get to the path that I am now on, and it is only right that I pay that help back. When before the thought of your dream schools and paths in life were dampened or thought of nothing more than a fleeting fancy you can now make them a reality. That is what the Future Foundation Grant is for. No strings, taxes, or anything else requiring any form of payment on your go out there and change the world. Reframe the future! Starting now! Where is the future?"

All the students stood up and answered. "Right here!"

"That's right, here is where you shall decide what paths you'll take. What future you shall shape in your lives!" Naruto said almost like a motivational speaker before continuing. "And whose life is this?"

"Mine!"

"That's right it's your lives. Don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't do or be in your life. Because our hopes and dreams are what give us purpose in life and the chance to reach for greatness. The only person that can stop you from pursuing your dreams is yourself" Naruto kept getting more motivated with every sentence he spoke. "And what are you going to do with it?"

"Live it by any means necessary!"

"Yes you will! Live your lives to the fullest with no regrets, follow your dreams and above all never give up just because things get tough! Now go and do it!" Naruto shouted.

[Cheers and applause]

The students were already standing up, but they stayed standing and were all applause and cheers. Naruto waved and took a bow before he gestured for Pierce and Fowdy to join him. Students had taken out their phones and took photos, posting them to social media about this lifechanging announcement. The entire junior and senior class of Garfield High would have their college tuitions paid for by the CEO of STAR labs. Likely costing up to several hundred million dollars or more but he went and did it.

The assembly ended after that, and the students went back to classes but the atmosphere in the school was still electric. The junior and senior student in question were all beyond excited at the prospect of their higher education being paid so that the cost of a college or university was no longer a handicap in their future prospects. Naruto was escorted to the administrative office after the assembly where he and the principals got some coffee on the new espresso machine they had gotten.

They all took a sip and hummed in delight. "Oh, that's good." Pierce let the smooth taste of the delicious coffee tingle his tastebuds and not make him wince like usual.

"Tell me that's not better than the old coffee." Naruto bragged and all Pierce could do was smile and take another sip which made him shut his eyes in bliss as the flavor worked its magic.

"Oh, it is."

"Between this and the donations to the school and now the grant, you truly are spoiling us, Naruto." Vice Principal Fowdy said feeling taken aback by all of the blondes generosity.

"But not just us. You've just helped out a lot of parents and families with the grant." Pierce told him. "I've been working with a lot of students to try and get them ready for colleges with the financial part being difficult for a lot of them. Now it's no longer an issue for them. Naruto…I don't even know what to say."

"There's nothing to say. That grant has been in the works since I began taking on more responsibilities at STAR labs and it was time to finally announce its use and what better way then by funding the education for the foundation of the future." Naruto said and Jefferson realized the meaning behind the name.

"The Future Foundation Grant…" Jefferson enunciated.

"I'm big on meaningful names." Naruto smirked in delight.

"Well, it's one that will definitely be remembered for the right reasons. But again, are you sure? With the junior and senior students, that's gonna end up costing hundreds of millions if not more." Pierce guessed and he was lowballing it.

"There's more than that already in the grant and it's not just STAR labs. My company may be the primary donor, but it's a shared grant between STAR labs, Palmer Tech, and Wayne Enterprises along with donations from other investors as well. It'll be made clear upon an official announcement." Naruto informed them and they nodded when their attention turned to the TV.

The local news broadcast mentioned Naruto and his work with STAR labs in Freeland which is what he was doing yesterday. The logistical paperwork and everything for getting the STAR labs site up and running. The broadcast spoke of Naruto's work and how his coming to Freeland could be seen as a good thing to hopefully invite growth and invigoration for the city but not all were so easily swayed as opinions of people on the streets were kind of mixed. One man's response was amusing.

"You've heard it once and you've heard it a thousand times. It's happening all over. Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC and now Freeland! Some rich white man comes in, tricks us with all his donations and charity when he's just gonna gentrify the city, racking up the value of all our homes and properties to kick all of us out of our home! Here's what I got to say to that STAR labs man. Take your money and shove-"

Thankfully, the news cut the interview before the man could finish his explicative statement.

"I get the angry part about being rich but he and everyone else are aware that I'm not white, right? Despite my blonde hair, I am Japanese. Both my parents are Japanese. I'm Japanese-American." Naruto pointed out but with Pierce and Fowdy unsure of what to say, they chose to say nothing and just sipped their tasty coffee. "Whatever."

Naruto sipped his coffee and left soon after.

Later that night…

The sun had set on Freeland and Naruto was looking over some surveillance photos Jiraiya had taken of Lady Eve. While Naruto had spent the last two days since their meeting with Gambi on STAR labs work, Jiraiya had been following her to get a better understanding of her criminal empire and how it worked in Freeland. As Naruto was looking through the surveillance photos and documenting the data via his smartwatch and phone to be put on his own secure server the TV was playing the local news. Other than Naruto's efforts with STAR labs and his monumental act of charity with the Future Foundation Grant, the major story was that there seemed to be some serious conflicts going on in Freeland. Numerous reports over the past two days regarding attacks on establishments and repeated attacks on gangs in Freeland including the 100. People thought it could be a gang war between factions, but police reported that in each incident most of the criminals were tied up. A few were killed from crossfire but whoever was responsible for the attacks clearly didn't go in with the intent to kill. If this were a gang hit then there would be just bodies and not a mess of people the Freeland PD took into custody. Not only that but all the contraband at the attacks like drugs and weapons were burned and destroyed so with that people thought it could be Black Lightning having returned. But those hopes were dashed upon confirming multiple eye-witness accounts of what happened. The news reported that it was someone in a black hood but there wasn't much else to go on other than the fact that he quick and was at every single attack.

The door to the hotel room opened and in walked Jiraiya with a bag of food. He placed the bag down on the table and sat down on the couch when he saw the news had zoomed in on a still image of the black hooded man responsible for the various attacks on the gangs of Freeland. "They did not catch my good side, and the quality of that photo is just bad. You can't see the amazing detail in the suit you designed." Jiraiya quipped at Naruto.

"Kind of defeats the point of a stealth suit if cameras get a good look at you. Besides, the pictures they did get are perfect for our plan." Naruto remarked.

"I know and can I just say that I think you're plan is great. You're starting to think like a spy. Well done." Jiraiya praise seemed half-hearted but was genuine.

"Well, I may not have the experience Oliver or Bruce do but I've picked up a few things and it's just common sense. You were right in that the more Impulse shows up when I'm around then it won't be long before people suspect that we're the same person and the more we dig into the Nine the greater the risk gets that it could affect the others. Doing this minimizes that for a while longer and it obscures the person going after them." Naruto said and Jiraiya agreed. "The more we learn and can use against the Nine, the sooner we figure out who they are and stop them."

Naruto was determined and Jiraiya shared that, but he also knew that even despite his incredible intelligence, resources, and their powers it was still a long game. This was a game of 3D chess with puzzles and the Nine had a considerable lead on them. While they managed to take out Orochimaru, that was more luck on their part mixed with arrogance on Orochimaru's. He got cocky and clearly his part of the Nine's organization wasn't as rock solid as the rest because after his death Jiraiya hasn't been able to find a solid enough lead on the faction of another Nine leader. The information Gambi gave them was their best bet to then get more information on the Nine they could use to map out the organization. Their objective was two-fold: first was keep up the pressure on the Nine and take them down, obviously, and if they got the shot at another leader of the Nine then they would take it, but the second objective was information. That's part of what Jiraiya was doing the past two days when he was disguised as the black hooded figure. He followed and spied on Lady Eve to learn more about Freeland and her criminal empire, which was important enough that she was doing business with the Nine. Lady Eve's criminal empire in Freeland ran protection rackets, guns, drugs, prostitution, the cliché stuff but also had connections to other criminal organizations along the eastern seaboard netting her plenty of connections and money likely run for the Nine if the payments she was receiving were any indication. They still needed to learn more about her true connection to the Nine, which would only take time. One method that could aid them would be to throw a wrench in her smooth-running organization to see how she reacts, which was part of the vigilante antics Jiraiya engaged in. Taking out her men and revenue streams would affect her standing with the Nine and it could give them another lead to exploit. Jiraiya was more than skilled enough to handle some light vigilante work and with the black hood guise it helped obscure any kind of connection he could have to anyone. He was an unknown, which was exactly the point.

"I'll head back out there and kick the hornets' nest again after I eat." Jiraiya stated while removing his food from the bag.

"No need. I'll take tonight." Naruto offered.

"Are you sure?"

"I may be a speedster, but you and Oliver trained me how to handle myself in a fight and I've only gotten better with my own training. And my speed makes up for being a super soldier like you. Besides, I need a workout." Naruto stood up and stretched, putting the folder of pictures and information off to the side before walking into his bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes.

"I know you can handle yourself, but I thought the whole idea behind you giving me the new suit design was so that it was me out there in the field?" Jiraiya questioned.

"The whole idea of the new suit design was so that we would have an obscure third party that no one would know the identity of. Our own red herring, so to speak so the Nine wouldn't be able to figure out who is pushing against them. Make it seem like Impulse and the Arrow taking down Orochimaru in Star City last year as a random occurrence and not us going after them. Considering our lives, you'll still be the lead for our investigation meaning you'll likely be using this more and more but…" Naruto stepped out of the bedroom wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He raised his left arm up and tapped his smartwatch three times which made a sword emblem appear on the face. Once it was there, he pressed it again with two fingers and nanites began to spill out, covering his entire body from head to toe. Boots and form-fitting black combat trousers fitted with kneepads appeared with crimson accents around the shins and thighs, immediately showing that Naruto wasn't forming his Impulse suit. A black belt formed around his waist with various pouches before a black kataginu formed on his upper-half. The kataginu was a sleeveless Japanese robe/vest with wide shoulders and pleated front worn by Japanese Samurai but this one was more modern combining aspects of the samurai ware with that of a tactical combat jacket as it did have sleaves. An east meets west combination, so to speak as the black samurai robe appeared like a jacket with armored shoulder pads, long sleeves that led to armored forearm bracers and gloves and while the bracers seemed normal there were some hidden surprises there. The shoulder pads and forearm bracers had crimson accents like his pants. His Valyrian steel/Vibranium reverse-blade katana enlarged and was strapped to his back while a hood appeared over his head, providing concealment, and added to the aesthetic. To finish the ensemble, a black balaclava appeared on his head, completely covering him with the exception of his eyes being evocative of a ninja face mask. All in all, a completely new identity that gave zero evidence of its wearer which was exactly why Naruto designed it. "…I don't mind using it every now and then." (2)

Naruto had designed the suit and reformatted Jiraiya's smartwatch, so it was the same. Both of them could wear it and it was exactly the same with the only exception being that they each had their own swords. It was made of the same material so it was bulletproof and pretty much indestructible with plenty of hidden goodies to make it perfect for the type of field world they would use it for. He took inspiration from samurai and ninja when designing it and put in a built-in voice changer so their voices couldn't be recognized.

"All right then. Have fun." Jiraiya wished him luck and just sat back on the couch to enjoy his meal but when he turned his head again he saw that Naruto was gone. "Not bad on the escape. He's getting better."

An hour later…

At a rowdy bar in Freeland own by the 100 gang, people were inside and having a good time. Unlike Club 100 which the gang also owned, this was more a rowdy dive bar with plenty of cheap booze, loud music, pool tables, and card games to keep you entertained and the bar patrons that weren't members of the 100 were at least friendly with them. It was their safe spot for when they wanted to have some fun and not be stuck in a club. Unbeknownst to patrons, Naruto in his new vigilante guise was perched up in the ceiling rafters above the ceiling fans and lights. He blended in perfectly with the shadows with only his silhouette being the thing to reveal he's there.

One member of the 100 noticed something up in the ceiling so he tapped his boss on the shoulder. "Hey, boss." He pointed at the ceiling rafters to reveal the silhouette of someone there. "What's up with that? Is he for real?"

By now, the boss of the bar and the other members of the 100 saw him up there. The boss stood up and walked forward a bit with some of his men joining him and by now the other 100 members in the bar were paying attention and ready to act if something happened.

"Is that Black Lightning?"

"Don't be stupid. Black Lightning's dead."

"Yo, is it the guy who's been attacking our spots?"

The 100 gang members whispered amongst themselves as the boss stood underneath a light and got a better look at the guy but could only really see black clothing. "You better be careful, man. This is 100 territory. What the hell you here for?!"

"Practice."

Three shuriken flew through the air and hit the boss in the left shoulder, sending him to the ground in tremendous pain. The 100 gang members pulled their guns out of their jackets or pants and aimed at him only for several more shuriken to fly forward and explode in a bright flash of light and loud concussive noise like a flashbang. The 100 gang members were temporarily blinded and concussed with some inadvertently shooting their guns in the air. Naruto threw several more shuriken around the bar and took out some of lights with the ones he didn't immediately destroy now flickering erratically. The bar patrons who weren't going to get involved quickly ran for the exits as Naruto jumped down from the ceiling and grabbed the nearest 100 member. He disarmed him of his gun and punched him in the nose before landing a palm strike to his neck, choking him. He threw the 100 member's gun at another, nailing him in the face before he spun low into a 360-sweep kick tripping up several 100 members. He disarmed another member and landed a rising elbow that hit him in the jaw before he threw several shuriken, taking out the guns of the 100 before he did a speed vault over a table and push kicked a guy into the pool table. One 100 member grabbed a pool stick and swung but Naruto ducked, grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed him into the ground before rolling up onto the pool table and spinning into windmill kick, hitting several gang members. He spun himself back up to his feet and threw out a hook kick at another member before spinning into a tornado kick that hit two gang members across the face before his kick knocked the beer bottle out of another gang members hands and ended up hitting his friend. A spinning elbow took him out before Naruto did a butterfly twist off the pool table and landed a butterfly kick on a member of the 100.

The loud blaring music and flickering ceiling lights made the bar a chaotic scene which was only amplified but the sporadic sounds of gunfire and fighting. Naruto landed from his butterfly twist and kick and grabbed a 100 member as a human shield from some bullets before throwing a shuriken and disarming the gunman. Naruto jumped back and landed on a bar table on his back to dodge a baseball swing to the face before jumping back to his feet and kicking the guy in the chest. He unsheathed the katana from his back and began striking all the 100 members around him. They came at him with bats, crowbars, knives, pool sticks, and broken bottles and had numbers on their side but that didn't matter. A wide swing hit several guys across the face and when one of them came at him with a knife he knocked it aside and hit him in the back of the right knee then in the stomach and then in the chest and jaw. He blocked and parried a pool stick before striking the guy's elbow hard enough that a loud bone crack was heard before hitting him across the face then spinning into a lateral cut that knocked out another member. From that lateral cut he spun into a low sweep, tripping up more 100 members and striking them in the face and chest.

He was quickly surrounded but he blocked, parried, and struck the 100 members one by one in quick efficiency, moving faster and with greater skill then they did. One of the 100 managed to pick up an Uzi that was knocked aside and fired blindly at Naruto. The only thing that did was kill his friends as Naruto ran to the side and vaulted over obstacles into cover behind the bar. The other nine remaining 100 gang members still conscious picked up their guns and unloaded everything they had but did nothing but make holes in the bar and take out the bottles on the shelves. The second their guns went empty there was a moment of silence with nothing heard except for the music, the crackling of the fluorescent lights in the ceiling and trickling of liquid as beer was coming out from the holes in the bar indicating that they hit the kegs underneath the taps. They reloaded their guns and one of them pointed to the other to go check out the bar. Reluctantly, he stepped forward slowly but kept his gun at the ready.

When he got within inches of the bar he saw one of those metal throwing stars jump up into the air before it exploded in a thick cloud of smoke. No one saw anything and they could all barely breathe, coughing up their lungs as the man by the bar was pulled over and quickly taken out. The other 100 members blindly fired their guns in the dense smoke with the flashes of the gun barrels illuminating their positions and the faint silhouette of Naruto moving to take them down. The sounds of gunfire began to die down as it was replaced the sound of a vicious beatdown until that was all that could be heard. Ten seconds later the fighting stopped, and the smoke began to clear revealing Naruto alive and unharmed while everyone else was unconscious.

[weak groans of pain]

One guy on the floor struggled to reach for a nearby gun so Naruto walked over and stepped on his hand. "ARGH…you're fucking dead, man…you're dead…you don't mess with the 100!"

"I just did. Tell everyone what happened here. Tell them…the Ronin sends his regards."

Naruto knocked him out with a swift punch and looked back at the mess of a bar. With all the alcohol all over the place he got an idea.

Freeland first responders soon arrived at the bar after calls about a fire in the area. The Freeland PD and fire department arrived to see the bar was up in flames along with all kinds of contraband inside while all the beaten members of the 100 were unconscious, tied up and laying on the ground. The fire department got to work while the Freeland PD called in for backup. Watching it all from several blocks away was Naruto who then turned and continued on his vigilante work.

Another hour later…

Among one of the many criminal fronts used by Lady Eve was a used car lot that was a hub for a distribution system for drugs. Because of this it had a heavy presence of disguised enforcers for Lady Eve acting as mechanics or workers. During the day is when they sold used cars but at night is when drugs were picked up and profits were dropped off. Up on the roof of the used car lot building behind some large neon signs was a designated spotter armed with a sniper rifle. Considering the place had millions of dollars in drugs in storage then a spotter overlooking the place was necessary. The spotter looked through his sniper scope and saw another deal finish with profits turned in and more drugs given out in what was supposed to be the last deal of the night.

[Shing]

The spotter froze when he felt the cold pressed of metal over his right shoulder from behind.

"Drop the gun."

The spotter did as he was told before he was quickly knocked out. Down in the used car lot, one of the guards took a walk down the line of used cars when he was feet were swept out from under him and he was dragged under a large truck. The clatter attracted the attention of two other guards who saw their friend disappear. They walked over when the guy in the back got knocked off his feet which made him accidently shot his pistol and hit his friend in the leg before he was dragged away. His friend hobbled on one leg, clutching his bullet wound in pain while everyone else was on alert from the gun shot. Across the car lot, two guards pulled out their guns and raced over only for each of them to get hit with a metal shuriken which released a current of electricity like a taser. They seized up and were quickly taken out. The hobbling guy leaned against a car, grabbing his leg in pain when he was grabbed by the neck and taken out.

The remaining four guards had gathered in the center of the car lot. They were on edge considering they were under attack and the others were taken out, so they stuck together and had their guns at the ready. One of them saw someone moving past the cars so he opened fire. The others shot in the same direction, and they could see someone running by the cars, so they kept trying to shoot him but missed or hit the cars. They didn't get a good look at him since it was dark, but he definitely wasn't someone who was working with them so it could be a rival gang hit or the nutcase who has been running around.

They quickly reloaded their guns when they heard the clatter of boots on the ground indicative of someone running and seconds later a black hooded figure emerged from the darkness. He was running straight at them, so they reloaded their guns. One of them managed to reload faster than the others and took aim only for the hooded figure to throw some shuriken at them. The four men were struck all over and a few had their guns knocked out when the hooded man closed the gap to them.

Naruto raced forward and jumped, grabbing the first man into a headlock, and using him for support as he dropkicked the second in the face. Naruto dropped to the ground and took the man in the headlock with him, elbowing him in him back of the head before rolling forward and did a leg sweep that knocked the third and fourth man onto their backs. Naruto unsheathed his sword and struck the second guy across the face again and then hit him in the stomach before landing a rising knee to his jaw. The third and fourth guy got back up and Naruto blocked and parried their combined assault before striking them each in the legs and chest. While he was handling them the first guy saw his gun on the ground reached over to grab it. Naruto hit the third and fourth guy with a wide lateral swing that knocked them on their asses as the first guy aimed a pistol at him. That's when a kunai attached to a metal chain sprung from the right vambrace on Naruto's forearm and shot forward, hitting the guy in the shoulder, and digging in deep. Naruto wrapped his wrist and tightened his grip on the chain before pulling, yanking the man to him and then took him out with a tornado kick. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes as the kunai was dislodged and was pulled back via the chain into his vambrace. Naruto sheathed his katana on his back and rounded up the men protecting the drug site. About ten minutes later, they were all tied up around a lamp post and Naruto walked away from the used car lot which then exploded, taking with it the drugs and money there. A successful first start for his night but not the last.

The next evening…

The next day there was a gala dinner being held at one of Freeland's finest and most expensive hotels which was also the one Naruto was staying in. Put together by the city council who were going through this to celebrate the continued cooperation and burgeoning partnership between Freeland and STAR labs. They had planned this back when STAR labs first contacted the city council about wanting to open up and build a STAR labs site in the city. With the initial idea to entice Naruto and STAR labs but after the subsequent meetings and talks they had since Naruto's been in Freeland the deal was completed for all parties and notarized, so it was now a celebration. The location for the future STAR labs site was already purchased so now it just needed to be built.

The gala dinner was the Freeland City council showing off their new partnership with STAR labs so there were plenty of speeches with Naruto giving a quick one about hope for the future for Freeland and after there were photos galore. The City Council made sure that journalists, reporters, and photographers were there so they could get all the good PR they could. Politicians just being politicians and there were so many flashes from the pictures taken with Naruto that he was definitely seeing spots after. While not the most pleasant part of his job it was still important.

Naruto was all smiles and handshakes in a nice crimson suit when he was approached by a dark-skinned woman wearing a fancy black dress. "Mr. Namikaze, congratulations on your success. I applaud your philanthropic efforts and am looking forward to what you can bring to Freeland."

Naruto smiled and shook her hand. "Thank you. Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Evelyn Stillwater-Ferguson, a pleasure." Lady Eve smiled.

"The pleasure is mine." Naruto gave a light bow.

"Charm and chivalry aren't a thing of the past just yet." She praised and Naruto smiled.

"I do my best." He admitted.

"That much is true. The city is abuzz about your incredible donation with the Future Foundation Grant. No doubt you've helped many young students secure their future and my praise to you for that. I know I would have loved to have access to that kind of grant and not only that, but your FEAST charity will be working here in Freeland as well from what I've heard."

"It will. Just doing what I can everywhere and hopefully use it to help people get their lives back on track. That and the future STAR labs site here will help bring in a lot of jobs and change things for the better. Of course, that's the hope."

"And that's a good one. I'm sorry we can't talk more but please give me a call if you wish to talk business." Lady Eve handed him a business card. "I have partnerships and cooperation with pillars in the community and businesses who I think would benefit from a possible cooperation."

"I will keep that in mind. I'm always looking for helpful hands. Thank you, Ms. Ferguson."

"Oh, please. Call me Eve." She gave him a wink and a kiss before walking away. When she did, two dark-skinned men in suits had followed her likely being her muscle. Naruto's smile soon turned into a stern look as he reached into his breast pocket and took out his phone. The words clone successful were on the screen, meaning that he had successful copied and cloned all the electronics on Lady Eve's person including her phone. With that they could now learn a lot more.

"Naruto."

He heard his name called and he saw Jefferson Pierce walk over with his daughter Anissa, Vice Principal Fowdy along with two other women. One was near Jefferson and Fowdy's age while the other was younger than Anissa whose concentration was mainly focused on her phone. They were likely Jefferson's wife and his youngest daughter. Jefferson wore a black suit and tie that helped highlight his height and natural physique. Fowdy was wearing a nice dark blue single shoulder strap dress with a slit which showed a bit of leg and highlighted her looks. Anissa was wearing a black ruched bodycon dress that went halfway down her thighs and accentuated her figure quite nicely.

"Jefferson. I'm glad that you, Ms. Fowdy, and Anissa could come." Naruto smiled and shook their hands before slipping the hand that was holding the phone to his side to make it look like he put it in his pocket. Jiraiya walked by, moving his shoulder so he didn't bump into him and apologized like it was an accident but had swiped the phone and walked away, securing the intel while Naruto kept up appearances. "All the handshaking, smiles and photographs have been getting to me. All of those camera flashes and I'm still seeing spots."

"That's not good. You might want to get that checked out. Lucky for you there is a doctor here." Lynn said making Jefferson and the others chuckle. She was wearing a nice red and maroon dress with big loop earrings and matching heels. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Namikaze. Dr. Lynn Stewart, neuroscientists at Bowman College, I'm Anissa and Jennifer's mother."

"Ah, so you're the one that Anissa plans to follow in the footsteps of. It's nice to meet you." Naruto smiled and shook her hand. "She definitely is taking after your medical path. She was very intrigued in my cellular regeneration formula."

"I'll admit that some of that enthusiasm was likely me as well. Your serum is quickly becoming the talk of the medical community along with all your other work." Lynn praised.

"Thank you and as I mentioned before I'm more than happy to set up a research grant to push the medical advancements further. Perhaps using it to help deal with neurological conditions is in the future." Naruto suggested and Lynn seemed enticed by the idea. That's when Naruto noticed the youngest member of Jefferson's family seemed a little left out. "And I'm guessing you must be Jennifer. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Jennifer shook his hand. She was wearing a pink dress with a matching cardigan sweater. "It was really amazing what you did in the assembly. I mean, all the scholarships and everything, that's going to cost you a lot of money."

Naruto just gave her a casual shrug. "It's already in the grant and I wasn't going to use it so might as well use it for something good. And as I said before in the speech it wasn't just my donations for the grant but others as well. I am a big supporter of education."

"Yup. That's definitely true." Jennifer quipped.

"So, Jennifer with your older sister following in your mother's footsteps what are you plans? Perhaps athletics and following in your dad's footsteps? A future Olympian?" Naruto suggested and immediately her family were all smiles and teasing.

"Maybe. I love running track, but the Olympics seem so far and maybe not what I want to do. No offense, dad." Jennifer admitted.

"None taken. Though if time spent on a phone with social media was an Olympic event than she'd already have a gold medal." Jefferson remarked, not so subtly hinting to his daughter to ease up on the technology.

"Hint-hint. Ease up on the phone." Anissa remarked.

"Why is everyone ganging up on me all of a sudden?" Jennifer wondered and everyone chuckled.

"While perhaps easing up on technology is a good idea, ironic coming from me, the social media angle is something you can hope to pursue in the form of public relationships or media management. I have been pushing into that field as well. I'm already working on my own video game sub-division and looking into expanding into other forms of entertainment such as movies and such." Naruto told her which instantly made her put away her phone.

"Ok, now you have my full attention. Please elaborate on the jobs for movies." Jennifer said now 100% engaged in the conversation.

"I don't know how I feel about this." Jefferson remarked and everyone chuckled.

The gala continued and thanks to Jefferson and his family Naruto was spared from conversations from anyone else for the night. Naruto continued to explain his research and science behind the regeneration formula and its applicants to further human healing and medicine. Both Lynn and Anissa were enthralled as he explained everything behind its process and even admitted that he has used it on himself to help with an injury shows that not only was he really a super genius, but he was willing to put his money where his mouth was and use it on himself. Of course, Lynn told him he was very reckless, but he said that if he wouldn't use the serum himself then why would anyone else use it.

When the gala dinner began Naruto made some arrangements and had the Pierce's sit with him, again primarily to keep him from dealing with any other people. Jefferson and his family were wonderful, and they had plenty of good conversations. The band began playing music, so some people started dancing. While not really his thing, Naruto decided to do the polite thing and offer both Jennifer and Anissa a dance. Nothing romantic and was really just him being polite. Anissa was the oldest and she was closer in age to Naruto then Jennifer was, so he'll ask her first. He didn't know this, but Anissa was a lesbian so while the dance was a thoughtful gesture, it wouldn't go past that.

"Would you like to join me for a dance." Naruto offered as he stood up and held out his hand to Anissa who looked a bit surprised.

She didn't want to be rude to the billionaire and truth be told she kind of liked the idea of dancing with him. "Sure." She accepted as she gave her hand and stood up as he gently led her to the dance floor.

"Looks like she might snag him yet." Jennifer teased while taking out her phone. "I better record this. It could be the night they choose to elope." she made sure to snap a few pictures with some funny captions like future billionaire wife club member or didn't get the prenup. All in good fun and Naruto seemed like a good sport.

"You know your sister is going to probably try and delete that." Lynn pointed out.

"I won't tell her if you don't. Besides don't you think this will make for nice memorabilia?" An unbothered Jennifer replied as she continued to point her phone at what she wished were a future couple. Oh well she can have fun messing with her sister later.

Her mother didn't have a remark and just silently watched her oldest daughter being led by the young billionaire. She did have to admit they looked nice together, then again any beautiful girl probably would with Naruto. Although the fact he got to know her and seemed to find her a likable person certainly highlighted how good they seemed together. Too bad he's already taken, and Anissa was into women only.

The memory of how Anissa seemed to show interest when she saw him on tv, however, made her wonder.

Speaking of whom, Naruto and Anissa reached the dancefloor and turned to each other. He saw that she looked to be feeling a bit awkward, no doubt maybe a little nervous, so he decided to lead first. Softly grabbing both her hands he lifted them up and she brought one to his shoulder while the other he held up in one hand while the other went to her waist. The two then began to gently sway to the music in a slow dance.

"She's quite pretty." Naruto thought as he now saw her face up close. All dressed up, there was no question she really was a really lovely young woman. Definitely someone Linda would've been checking out if she were here with him. Heck she'd probably ask her to a dance as well.

"I'm sorry about her." Anissa apologized to Naruto as she saw her sister recording the two of them. Naruto saw this as well and just smiled.

"It's all right. She's just having fun, and I have friends like her, so I'm used to teasing." He assured her. "And as I mentioned before I do have a girlfriend who I love and want to marry back home in Central City."

"I know. I saw her on your interview on TV. And I also have a girlfriend." Anissa told him and Naruto raised a brow at her admitting that she's a lesbian so quickly, but he was unbothered by that small revelation.

"Well then I guess I should feel relieved you play for the other team. Now I don't have to worry about you trying to charm me away from my girlfriend." He quipped and she chuckled. "But I do hope your sister makes sure to point that out when she posts the pictures. I wouldn't want to have to sue her for spreading photographic lies about me online."

He was joking of course but Anissa would make sure she did.

"She better or I'll kill her." Anissa remarked. "Though to be fair I think my girlfriend wouldn't be so upset. Here I am talking to the Da Vinci of the 21st century."

Naruto just shook his head and rolled his eyes much to her amusement. "I still don't get that sobriquet because it makes no sense. I'm not Italian and I don't even paint. I doubt finger painting when I was a kid would even count towards having artistic experience. So odd."

"Well, there are worst things to be called and considering your moves into entertainment then who knows. Maybe you'll paint digitally or something." Anissa wondered what that would be like.

"No, I'll leave that to people with the talent for it. My talent is in designing the software to make those dreams a reality so they can dazzle us in the theaters or on the small screen." Naruto admitted.

"Well, when we start getting incredible CGI that makes things look too real then I'll know the person who made the software to make that possible." Anissa said when she remembered something. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure. You've been asking me them all night, so I don't see why you should stop."

"You mentioned organ cloning before. How serious are you about that?" Anissa wondered.

"Very. Something that future science should look into because it can help thousands of people who need organ transplants. Modern Medical science does what it can but the disparity between people who need organ transplants and then those available on the master list is pretty big." Naruto stated and Anissa agreed.

"I agree. Just because an organ is available doesn't mean the transplant will be successful. Blood type and tissue samples need to be a correct match and even then there could still be rejection issues. One of my classes covers organ transplant procedures."

"And all that's true. It's an unfortunate part of the medical field at the moment but with organ cloning all we would need would be a sample of a subject's tissue to then grow a cloned organ. It actually involves the Kiseki serum as that does stimulate cell growth so with the procedure we would basically be stimulating and facilitating cell growth from a small sample until it grows and matures into a healthy organ. There's a lot of refinement and specifics that occur during the process but that's the general idea and the good thing would be that each organ would have zero risk of rejection since it's cloned from the patient's DNA." Naruto explained and Anissa was in awe.

"That still sounds like science fiction to me."

"Well, it wasn't long ago that rockets to the moon and satellites were science fiction. I plan on taking away the fiction part." He quipped and Anissa just smiled in amusement as the two of them danced and talked. Now that she was this close to the blonde she really took notice of him.

"Damn how does he seem to just get more handsome every time I see him now?" Anissa wondered as the first time she saw him on tv she thought he was nice to look at. The second time, when she finally met him in person at school showed he looked better than on tv. Now tonight in this gala he looked like the definition of handsome in his suit. And those whisper marks on his cheeks, man did she want to see what they would feel like. Would they be like tattoos or scars? Sadly, she wouldn't find out as she figured suddenly touching his face would likely be weird for him and no way was she going to ask.

With Naruto and Anissa slow dancing and talking, Jefferson stood up and held his hand out to Lynn, his ex-wife. Seeing the situation and the occasion she took his hand and joined him on the dance floor. One hand resting on her waist while the other held her hand. Lynn had one hand on his shoulder and the two swayed to the music like they were just an ordinary couple enjoying themselves. Despite their divorce and the circumstances surrounding that, it didn't mean that the two still didn't have feelings for one another and this moment was something that both enjoyed.

Jefferson gently rocked back and forth with Lynn, and both were enjoying themselves. "Well, this wasn't what I had in store for a Friday night." Lynn said and Jefferson chuckled.

"Neither did I but when the billionaire-tech genius of a company who pays for the tuition of your students extends to you an invitation then you can't very well decline." Jefferson pointed out as they saw Naruto and Anissa dancing together, but they were more just talking.

"He's a kind but very odd young man." Lynn said, pretty much saying the same thing that Jefferson said when he first met Naruto. "But it's nice to see that he's really serious about wanting to change things for the better. And I still can't believe he put in all that money in the grant."

"Oh, he did. The banks and lawyers confirmed it. The school board's been hounded by the press which means so have I and I've also been handling the parents. They're still in shock. And from how the night has been going then perhaps the college will be receiving a grant as well." Jefferson suggested.

"Anissa is excited. Look at her. She's chatting with Naruto like there's no tomorrow." Lynn chuckled when she saw Jefferson looking at her. "What?"

"You are beautiful." Jefferson said to her and Lynn shook her head but smiled.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" He asked with an ever so tiny smirk at the corner of his lip. Oh, how he missed this little game.

"You know what." Lynn said and Jefferson smiled as there was a moment of synergy and electricity, no pun intended, between the two. "You look very good in the suit."

"Thank you." He gave her his charming smile which always seemed to work. "Maybe…we could make nights like this a regular occurrence?"

Lynn gave him a smile. "Now why would we do that?" She was being sarcastic but serious as well. There was still love there between the two but issues as well that still needed to be dealt with. With all of that though perhaps there was a path that could lead them down reconciliation. A bit later and she soon had enough dancing and looked over at the table where she saw Fowdy all alone. She leaned in and gave Jefferson a kiss on the cheek. "The night's still 's looking a little lonely by herself so go be polite and offer her a dance, I'm going to get a drink."

Lynn walked off to get said drink while Jefferson walked back to the table, and he then offered Fowdy a dance. She was a bit surprised by the offer but not unwelcomed and since it was a special occasion she decided to humor him. The two made their way to the dancefloor where they got into the same starting position as Naruto and Anissa before they started toslowly sway side to side to the music.

"So, is there a word to describe the feeling you get when you are dancing with your coworker you've known for the better part of a decade?" Fowdy wondered and Jefferson thought it over for a bit.

"I believe the word is…awkward." Jefferson joked and she chuckled. "Lynn was insistent, and it would only be polite for at least one dance."

"Understood. Just one dance and I'm only entertaining you because things are going so well and there is something to celebrate." Fowdy remarked and Jefferson nodded. "Garfield is going to be doing really well and all the donations we've received means we're able to help a lot of students. A good look for the savior of Garfield High School."

"Saviors. I'll make sure that the press know it was a combined effort of both the Principal and Vice Principal." Jefferson assured her. "Naruto did as much to stress that during his speech."

"Good. Glad we have that on the record." Fowdy quipped when her gaze caught Naruto and Anissa. The two were still dancing and seemed to be getting along very well. Especially given that they seemed to be dancing with a little more enjoyment. Which was highlighted when they saw Naruto give Anissa a small twirl and then dip her body a bit before pulling her back up. The elder daughter gave a light laugh of enjoyment as she wrapped her arms around the blondes neck while he now had both hands on her waist. It seemed like they were now focusing a bit more on dancing than talking. "And it seems as though he's made quite an impression with Anissa. Could that be flirting I'm seeing from her? He must be much more charming than I thought to entice Anissa, especially considering her tastes."

"And that is something I don't need to see or think about right now." Jefferson averted his gaze much to the amusement of Fowdy.

She and Jefferson had been working together for a long time now. While things weren't always perfect she was able to see the qualities that made their students look up to him and the parents/community trust him. He was so dedicated, earnest, and passionate about his desire to help the students and people in general. Doing whatever he could to help secure them a good future in college and stay on the straight and narrow. She could understand how some people even came to call him black Jesus. He just had this presence about him, like how a leader's presence could inspire confidence and raised morale.

Despite that, however she knew he was still human like the rest of them. One thing that made him seem normal was how overprotective he could be of his daughters. His youngest Jennifer was the most recipient of that while Anissa was not coddled as much. She figured it's probably cause Jennifer not an adult yet. Sooner or later that man would have to accept they were growing up and would one day leave for college and then get married one day.

While the dance was a nice and polite gesture the question of whether there was something more between the two was unknown. "You know I'm grateful."

Fowdy got a confused look. "For?"

"All you've helped do for Garfield High. Something I feel I should let you know for the good work you've done." Jefferson elaborated as he danced with his coworker.

He'd never truly given up on Lynn since their divorce. Even after all this time he still loved her and wanted to fix things between them. He hadn't shown interest in any other women, but he did have to admit Fowdy looked quite lovely in that dress she wore. Guess seeing your coworker in a different outfit then work clothes would do that.

Fowdy smiled in appreciation. "Garfield and the students owe you the most Mr. Pierce. I don't even want to think what the school would've been like if you weren't the principal. It might make my job easier as it means we wouldn't butt heads with the school board as much, but things wouldn't be the same. You're practically a role model for the people of Freeland. Like Buddy Bolden, Martin Luthor or even Obama."

Jefferson chuckled at the praise. "I'm flattered by the comparison, but those people helped change the world, I'm just trying to help the city I was born in. Also don't sell yourself short, you've done your share of work. The student like and respect you."

"Maybe because I'm better looking than you." Fowdy joked which made Jefferson laugh.

"Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"Hmmm." Fowdy hummed as she got a pensive look as if having trouble deciding.

"Okay now your just being mean." Jefferson humorously stated which made her laugh a bit.

Naruto's dance with Anissa ended up lasting longer than the two realized, mainly because Anissa kept asking questions regarding his scientific research which was fine. Naruto was more than happy to answer any questions she had and through all the back and forth the two found the conversation free flowing and actually enjoyed the chat as it also allowed him to gauge Anissa's own intellect based on what she asked him and how she did, showing her own familiarity with each realized she had been taking Naruto's time longer than she thought so they ended it there.

"Thanks for the dance, it was fun."

Naruto smiled as he brought her hand up and kissed it and Anissa could almost swear her heart skipped a beat. "It was a pleasure to dance with someone as lovely as you. I'll admit that I don't dance as much as these kinds of functions. In fact, outside of my girlfriend, you're the second person I ever entertained dancing with.

Anissa raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really?"

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting many girls like you before I became the billionaire I am now." Naruto shrugged. "I've met some who are wealthy, but none were really the kind I would consider friends." he looked at her with appreciation. "Not like you and your family."

"But you've just met us?" Anissa questioned.

"And I've already gotten a good impression on you all. I view myself as a good judge of character, something that's needed now regarding business." Naruto countered. "Your father is clearly a good man with strong morals who's learned valuable lessons from those of the past and has a love for his people. Your mother is clearly a smart and caring woman which is no surprise since Jefferson was married to her. You yourself are clearly a strong, confident, independent young woman with both looks and brains. I'll let you know about your sister when I figure her out." he said the last part humorously which made Anissa laugh, wishing Jennifer had heard that remark.

They both returned to the table where Jennifer still had her phone on them and was smirking after seeing the blonde kiss her sister's hand.

"So, did Anissa managed to dig her hooks in? Can I set the wedding date and begin picking out my dress for Italy?" Jennifer joked and Naruto chuckled in amusement.

"I think both of our girlfriends would take issue with that but alas, I was not able to entice your sister. I'm afraid she is too much woman for me to handle and I so graciously failed to win over her heart." Naruto was overdramatic on purpose to make the situation funny which it was.

"Damn. There goes having a rich brother-in-law." Jennifer joked.

"Sorry to disappoint but I don't think it's in the cards. Anissa mostly talked about my research and science."

"Would you settle for having a dance with me instead?" Naruto cheekily asked while holding his hand out.

Jennifer looked at his hand before looking up at him and giving a light smirk. "You're lucky your cute." She said as she accepted his hand and was led to the dance floor.

"Hey, I'm more than cute. I'm adorable." Naruto pouted, faking offense which made Jennifer roll her eyes.

The two reached the dance floor where Jefferson and Fowdy were just finishing their dance. They gave a nod at the two before returning to the table where Lynn had rejoined Anissa after getting the drink she wanted. The two lightly held each other before starting to sway to the music as a new song had begun to play.

"So do you just go around asking any girl to dance?" Jennifer teasingly asked.

Naruto gave a coy look. "Just the ones who I befriend that aren't stuck up. I'm not sure about you though given your obsessive interest with your phone." He chuckled at the frown she gave him for that remark.

"Keep going and I might accidentally step on your toes."

"Then I guess I should be relieved you're not wearing cinderblocks on your feet." The blonde returned and his dance partner smiled at his smartass remark.

"You sure you don't want to marry Anissa? She might be a pain sometimes but she's good." She playfully persisted on the matter. What can she say, this was just too fun to stop now. Plus, when will she ever get to do this again with the rich blonde.

"You know, I'm starting to think you only want me to marry her for my wealth." Naruto told her with a false accusing tone.

"That would be a bonus, but I have to admit I've sometimes wondered what having a brother would be like and you seem like you'd make a real good one." Jennifer admitted the thought had crossed her mind in her childhood and rarely now.

"I'm touched." He actually was at being considered desirable for a sibling. "I'm sorry to disappoint but I don't think it's in the cards. I enjoyed the dance we had but Anissa and I mostly talked about my research and science."

"Yup. That's Anissa for you. She definitely took after our mom for that." Jennifer admitted and Naruto could tell from her tone that there was some underlying tension.

"Sometimes children follow the same paths of their parents and sometimes they don't. It's really a coinflip but it's up to them to figure that out on their own. I'm guessing you're in the latter for that sentence." Naruto guessed and Jennifer nodded. "Don't stress about it. You're still in your Freshman year so you have all the time in the world to figure out what you want to do."

"Yeah but sometimes following in the path of your parents is easier. I'm guessing you're like Anissa."

"I am. Both my parents were scientists and so it was kind of all I knew but I will admit I did not expect my life to take the path it did." Naruto told her.

"What do you mean?" Jennifer wondered.

"My parents died in a car accident when I was in my senior year of college. After that…I kind of lost the drive for science." He admitted and Jennifer was shocked. She wasn't expecting to hear that.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's ok. After their death…it was hard to focus back on science and I was listless for a while. I didn't know what I wanted to do but eventually, through the help of some really good friends and people in my life I figured out what I wanted. And that's the key. The people in your life, the good influences and even the bad ones help you figure out what path to take. You may not know it at the time, but it'll make itself known when you're ready for it. Back when I was in college I had no intention of running STAR labs. Never even crossed my mind." Naruto told her.

"Really? I figured it would have been your ultimate goal. Working you whole life for that, sort of thing. All the hard work to make you who you are now." Jennifer said.

"The hard work was part of it, but it really wasn't the path I chose at first. It became my path when the opportunity presented itself. After that, I focused on it, and it led me to here. Sometimes life decides things for you when you're ready." Naruto said with a smile sounding like a wise sage but had the charm and looks of a supermodel that even Jennifer, acting all aloof and comedic could see the appeal of.

"Oh, if only I was older then I would be all over you." Jennifer told him.

"And like your sister, something tells me I would be out of your league." Naruto joked and Jennifer laughed. When their dance ended she took a few selfies and photos with him. She was definitely putting them on her profile.

The Gala dinner continued, and it was good times and good company. Naruto's time in Freeland was both informative and continue to develop. One thing was for sure, Freeland would be important going forward and unbeknownst to him at the time, Black Lightning would return.

Line Break xxxxx

STAR Labs, Central City

Naruto returned to Central City after a successful and enlightening trip to Freeland. The beginnings of the STAR labs site construction was starting with local contractors already cleaning and clearing the lot he had purchased for the site. Like with the sites in NY and LA, this part would take some time. Freeland and Garfield High had made some national news due to the Future Foundation Grant. When the youngest, smartest, and richest tech genius who is single handedly trying to change the world pays for the complete college tuition of two entire grades of students at a high school, people ate it up. He'd let his PR team take over handling it as Naruto got some rest from the trip to Freeland, happy to see Linda and the others again. Nothing happened while he was gone so that was good. Jiraiya would linger around Freeland and also look into the other organizations Lady Eve worked with to get some more information they could hopefully use.

After resting up for a few days it was time for another trip but not just for Naruto or him and Linda but the others as well. Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie would be coming as well. STAR labs would be on lockdown while they were gone so they didn't have anyone coming in or out, but they wouldn't be gone long. The trip they were going on? Naruto was taking them on a quick jaunt through the Multiverse to meet some friends.

They were all dressed up and entered the Speed Cannon room where Linda and Naruto were waiting for them. Naruto was synchronizing up the Speed Cannon with his smartwatch to make sure things went smoothly. Having gone through it the first time he was now prepared for any kind of situation that could arise. When he finished he saw the others had arrived.

"All right, you guys ready?" He asked and got nods in response.

All of them had looks of excitement and for what they were doing and going, it was only logical. Naruto tapped his smartwatch making the Speed Cannon come alive and a blue portal appeared. Linda walked up to his side and held his right hand, giving him the final nod he needed to go through with this. "All right. A quick jaunt through the multiverse. Let's go."

He and Linda jumped through first followed by Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and then Ronnie. They were off on an adventure, albeit a short one, and would return soon enough.

Earth-38

National City January 2016

A blue portal suddenly popped into existence and Naruto, Linda, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie jumped out before it closed right behind them. "Ok. That was awesome." Cisco smiled when he smelt something rotten and saw a dumpster to his right before looking down and realized that when he jumped out of the portal he had stomped on an old bag filled with garbage. "Oh, gross! And I just bought these shoes!"

Cisco put them on the walls of the alleyway they were in and scraped off the grossness. Everyone winced as the pungency of the smell was really distracting so Naruto motioned them to follow him, and he led them out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk. Linda, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie saw they were in a metropolitan city. People walking around, cars and buses on the roads, tall buildings and with billboard and on one of them read The National City Gazette.

"Everyone, welcome to National City of Earth-38. Home of Catco Worldwide Media and Supergirl." And like he set up the entire thing, Naruto pointed to the side and a bus pulled up that had a Catco Advertisement on the side with the headlines Supergirl saves the city complete with a picture of her. "Figured that the first stop on our little multiversal trip should be to meet Kara and expand our little league of superheroes."

"Oh, another dope name." Cisco praised, sliding his shoes on the sidewalk to get the gunk off. "But is there a reason you had us appear in an alleyway and I stepped in garbage?"

"Well, I can't just open up a breach portal in the middle of the city where anyone could see. It would raise too many questions. As for the garbage, that's just your bad luck." Naruto quipped and Cisco just gave him a glare.

"Didn't you mention that Kara works for a government agency that monitors alien activity? Why didn't you just teleport us there? You said you had a good relationship with the director and Kara's… sister?" Linda guessed, trying to remember the details of their conversation.

"All of that is correct but I figured that breaching us into their secret base would raise alarms and maybe not be the best thing to do. The first time I met them they handcuffed me to a table for interrogation, so a more nuanced approach is better. And I wanted you guys to meet Kara first. She can smooth things over with Henshaw and Alex." Naruto said as he led them to Catco. Naruto wrapped his arm around Linda's shoulders and the two walked like any other couple on the street while Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie were acting like tourists, taking photos of anything and everything. It was honestly kind of embarrassing.

On the way to Catco they ended up crossing by City Hall and saw a large demonstration/rally going on in the park across the street. "What's going on?" Barry wondered, seeing a lot of negative signs, and hearing a lot of negative chanting that indicated this wasn't a happy rally.

Caitlin noticed that a lot of the signs were anti-alien and even a few of them had Kara's face on them but with a large slash on the front. "Looks like an anti-alien rally."

"One multiversal constant would appear to be bigots and idiots. Let's go." Ronnie told them when Naruto's watch beeped. He checked and it picked up an unusual lifeform signal in the area that definitely wasn't human. "What's wrong?"

"I think there's an alien here at the anti-alien rally." Naruto then looked at Barry. "Your bad guy sense going off?"

Naruto was being sarcastic as they didn't have a bad guy sense but rather a sense that a situation was going to go down. "Yup." Barry gave him a nod. "They're likely here to attack the rally. I've got an idea if you're up for it."

"I'm all ears, Flash." Naruto told him and the six friends quickly got to work on a plan formulated by Barry who showed some nice leadership qualities. Guess all the time with Naruto has rubbed off on him.

Senator Miranda Crane's anti-alien rally had drawn a crowd of staunch anti-alien supporters all of whom were cheering her on or raising signs that pretty much said what they felt and how little intelligence they had. Because there was a US state senator present there were Secret Service agents as well as local law enforcement to keep peace and alongside them were members of the DEO disguised as FBI agents.

"Thank you. Thank you all for coming!" Senator Crane said as her supporters cheered her on. Catco photojournalist Jimmy Olsen walked through the crowd and snapped a few photos of Senator Crane. "Aliens. Extraterrestrials. Non-Humans. Whether they're wearing a red cape or not, they are a threat to this country, our freedom, and our lives. Starting today, we need solutions. We need to know where they live, what they do and who they eat. Most importantly, we need to stop them from landing in our country. If it takes a dome, let's build a dome. It's time to stop talking and start acting. Monsters are coming for your families."

[Alien Shriek]

One of the secret service agents guarding Senator Crane was thrown through the air and crashed into the crowd of rally attendees. Another secret service agent was yanked up into the air as a figure shimmered into existence next to him revealing a large and terrifying alien. It was humanoid with two arms and legs standing at about 8 feet tall and its skin was a sickly-pale tone. It had claws on its hands and talons on its feet with menacing red eyes, a flat flared nose, and two rows of sharp teeth with receding gumlines, so they were more pronounced. The skin's sickly-pale color and abundance of veins seemed to indicate that said skin was fleshy and moist much like human skin, but it was actually heavily armored with calcium buildup ridges and plates primarily on the shoulders, chest, and hips. It threw the agent to the ground head first, killing him with a sickened crack to the skull and neck as the crowd of civilians scattered and fled in terror.

The remaining secret service agents ushered Senator Crane away while the police directed people to safety with Caitlin and Ronnie helping. The alien seemed to move with incredible speed as it blitz around the park, taking out police officers and civilians alike. The disguised DEO agents were quick to move into action while Jimmy Olsen activated his signal watch to alert Supergirl. Senator Crane and her security detail ran to her car parked by the nearby hotel only for the alien to take out more civilians before sliding to a stop in front of the car, backhanding the driver away and roared at Senator Crane. It's eyes then glowed red before the two agents guarding Senator Crane were knocked away via telekinesis. The disguised DEO agents who were Alex Danvers and DEO Director Hank Henshaw ran up, but Hank seemed to freeze when he saw the alien. It looked right at him and its eyes glowed as Hank seemed to be struck with complete fear. He just stood there and seemed to relive a horrible moment from his past, brought on by that specific alien. The momentary distraction was all the alien needed to pick up a car and chuck it at Alex and Henshaw. They were going to get crushed when a white and red blur of crimson and white lightning zipped by and got them to safety.

Alex and Henshaw jostled around as they found themselves off to the side out of harm's way. A blur of yellow/orange lightning raced by and took Senator Crane to safety so when the alien turned around and saw his target gone it roared in anger. It picked up the Senator's car and flung it into the air where it was going to land on a group of civilians only for the white and crimson lightning blur to zip by and get them out of the way. The car crashed down, and no one was injured. The alien saw the crimson and white lightning blur race by and was going to attack when he was blindsided by the orange lightning blur and sent flying through the air. It crashed to the ground, quickly getting back to its feet when it was blasted from behind by a beam of white light and blue concussive blasts of vibration that sent it crashing into a car.

The people responsible for the blasts were Linda and Cisco dressed up in their Dr. Light and Vibe gear. "Nicely done." Linda said to Cisco. "Glad to see you're getting handle on your powers."

"Yeah, well when one too many training sessions with Naruto where I get hit with BBs is enough motivation." Cisco was not only oozing with confidence at being Vibe but really enjoying himself. "Damn, does this feel good."

The orange lightning blur zipped to a stop near him revealing Barry in his Flash suit. "Glad to have you with us, Vibe."

The white and crimson lightning blur zipped next to Linda revealing Naruto in his Impulse suit. "And one hell of a baptism by fire fighting an alien but we just need to keep it contained for now. Backup should be here soon but stay on your toes. The White Martian's got telepathy but the nanites configured neural dampeners that will protect you. Take your shots when you see a chance. Flash and I will keep it focused on us."

"Let's go." Flash super sped forward followed by Impulse and they raced around the White Martian at super speed, creating a powerful vortex of wind and lightning. As they raced around the White Martian they hit it with speed punches all over and while its skin was heavily armored they were moving fast so it was definitely hurting. It roared in pain, trying to swipe and grab them but the speedsters were moving too fast. The two speedsters then skidded to the side as the vortex of wind and lightning continued to envelop the alien before it's eyes glowed red and used its telekinesis to disperse it and sent several cars flying through the air at the heroes. Impulse and Flash super sped around to save any civilians in the path while Dr. Light and Vibe jumped away or rolled to the side to dodge. The White Martian roared and blurred out of view, making a mad dash to escape but Impulse raced by, and shoulder checked it in the side. His suit protected him from injury and his speed made the impact hit harder, so the White Martian slammed into a car, nearly bisecting it in two.

[Sonic boom]

"It's Supergirl!" A civilian pointed up at the sky and the flying form of Supergirl came down, cracking the street as she landed and saw a familiar face.

"Impulse, what are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Came in for a visit when this happened." He said when he saw something. "Incoming!"

The White Martian had stepped out of the destroyed car it crashed into and ripped it in half before chucking both halves at the two heroes. Then a physical hard light barrier appeared in front of them for protection, curtsey of Dr. Light. The Flash slid to a stop near them and threw his lightning as Impulse did the same and their bolts electrocuted the White Martian from head to toe. With it temporarily paralyzed Vibe blasted it with his concussive blasts and Supergirl used her heat vision, sending it down the street. It hit the pavement and didn't move, likely still feeling the paralysis from the lightning and all the pain it was hit with.

"That's as good an opportunity as any." Impulse tapped a few buttons on his computer vambrace and instantly a blue breach portal appeared down the street behind the White Martian. "Supergirl, do the honors."

She smirked and flew down the street just as the White Martian began to get back up on its feet. Supergirl pulled her right arm back and came in with a flying right punch square at the White Martian's face. The force knocked it off its feet and sent it flying into the breach and a few seconds later the portal closed right behind it.

"And that's how we do it, Earth-1 style. Boom!" Vibe cheered and got a big high-five from Flash.

"Not how I expected our first interaction with Earth-38 to go, that's for sure." Flash said.

"But a memorable one." Dr. Light added as they saw Supergirl fly back over and land in front of them.

"Thanks for the assistance, Supergirl. Sorry for the abruptness but uh, surprise? I'm back for a visit and I brought more friends." Impulse gestured to Linda and the others.

"I can see that. That means that you got back home safe and sound." Supergirl came in for a hug and Impulse was happy to reciprocate. "Sorry for the alien attack but it's good to see you."

"You too. We've got a lot of catching up and some proper introductions to make but I think we can wait for that at the DEO." He suggested it and Supergirl agreed. Supergirl walked over to check on Henshaw and her sister, so Naruto looked at the others. "Get Ronnie and Caitlin and make yourselves scarce. I'll meet up with you after I smooth things over with Kara's boss. Be right back."

Paramedics had arrived on scene and tended to the injured. There were some fatalities, mainly the Secret Service Agents guarding Senator Crane but for the civilians and police, they were just bad bumps and bruises. Senator Crane was now under heavy guard by Secret Service and Local Police protection.

"Transport Senator Crane to headquarters now!" Henshaw ordered his agents who would move her after her medical assessment.

"What was that thing?" Alex asked him.

"A creature that doesn't leave any survivors. We have to move her now before it comes back." Henshaw told her.

"What did it do to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're not. You froze."

"Did you hear me say we have to get her back headquarters right now? It could still be after her."

"Actually, it's not." They heard and saw Impulse walk over with Supergirl. "Sorry for the abrupt arrival at a chaotic scene but rest assured that alien isn't coming back here at all. Despite how powerful it is I don't think it can travel the multiverse like I can."

"Surprise! Impulse is back!" Supergirl said, all smiles and excitement that her multiversal friend was alive and popped in for a visit."

"Naruto, wow. Hi." Alex gave him a hug. "Thanks for the save."

"Happy to be of assistance. Director Henshaw. Good to see you again." Naruto shook his hand.

"You too. Where is the alien in question?" Henshaw asked him.

"Supergirl knocked him through a multiversal breach onto Earth-295. An earth that is a nuclear wasteland after Nixon won the presidency against JFK, botched the Cuban Missile Crisis and things spiraled into World War 3. Basically, a dead earth. I've been there, not fun, and now that thing is there too. And unless it's got the ability to travel through the multiverse, it's not coming back. So, no need to worry."

Hearing all of that did much to soothe Director Henshaw's rattled mindset as it meant he didn't need to worry about the alien but Alex and Supergirl could see that what happened had a deep impact on him and brought out a lot of submerged trauma. "Thank you." Henshaw shook his hand again. "Let's move out!"

Henshaw walked away, ordering his men to secure the scene and clear out. Their job was done and the alien in question was no longer a threat, so they didn't need to be present anymore. Naruto looked at the two Danver sisters and they had the same thought he did. "Something is bothering him, isn't it?"

"Yup." They both replied.

DEO Desert Headquarters

Director Henshaw led his team back into the DEO headquarters which included some guests. Not Senator Crane as without the alien present there was no need to keep her secure and the less time with her the better. The guests in question were Naruto, Linda, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie with everyone except for Naruto all wide-eyed and in awe as they entered the secret government headquarters. Kara, Alex, and Naruto couldn't help but smile and chuckle in amusement at the wide-eyed, child-like curiosity and amazement they were experiencing. And considering that they had STAR labs and the Hall of Justice on their earth you'd think they'd be used to things like this but apparently not.

"This…place…is…DOPE!" Cisco's announcement caught the attention of all the agents as he ran around and checked out everything he could. Even Barry couldn't help himself and began speeding around the DEO.

"Of course…" Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "Apologies, Director Henshaw but rest assured that like when I showed up, there are pretty much harmless. Just excitable."

"I can see that." Henshaw remarked as Barry slid to a stop and his speed caused some papers to fly around.

"This place is amazing!" Barry praised and Cisco agreed when their gaze locked onto the alien spaceship in the corner.

"Oh my god. Is this a spaceship?" Cisco asked.

"That's actually my spaceship." Kara told them.

"I love this earth." Barry and Cisco rushed over with Caitlin and Ronnie joining them, mainly because they wanted to see the spaceship as well. "Cisco, I need a picture with this bad boy."

"You got it." Cisco took out his phone as Barry leaned against it with Caitlin and Ronnie joining him for the photo.

"Guys!" Naruto shouted to get their attention, and they saw armed DEO agents arrive, likely on alert because of Barry speeding around. Henshaw motioned his men to stand down and they did. "Maybe we should get through with the introductions before you start acting like tourists?"

"Right, sorry. Sorry." Barry and the others apologized and rejoined them.

"Sorry everyone." Cisco said to the DEO agents, but they were still unsure as to what was going on. "Sorry. Just really excited to be here. We have metahumans and everything but aliens? That's new, even for us."

"Not for me." Naruto cleared his throat. "Everyone, apologies for the disturbance. I hope you remember me but if you don't then that's fine. Naruto Namikaze also known as Impulse, multiversal traveling speedster you guys met several months ago. I helped you guys out with the Hellgramite and then with Reactron as well as made you some gear like the body armor, the ICER guns, and the general upgrades to your computer systems." After those reminders, the DEO agents other than Henshaw and Alex remembered him. "There is it. Glad to see you remember me. Anyways, I'm fine and managed to get home safe and wanted to come back for a visit and bring some friends as well. Granted, my plans for us arriving didn't anticipate an alien attacking a rally so we adapted."

"But we do appreciate your efforts in handling the alien at the rally." Director Henshaw told him and shook Naruto's hand again but this time in front of his men.

"Happy to be of assistance, Director Henshaw. After all, it's what heroes do." Naruto replied.

"And it seems you brought some heroic help as well." Alex added, meaning Barry and the others.

"Yes. I wanted to introduce them to Supergirl and now we can make proper introductions. Everyone, allow me the honor of introducing some people from my earth, Earth-1. First up is Barry Allen also known as the Scarlett Speedster of Central City, The Flash." Naruto started and Barry removed his cowl so everyone could see his face.

"Hello."

"Next we have one of the head scientists at STAR labs Mr. Cisco Ramon also known now as Vibe."

Cisco took off his Vibe goggles and gave everyone a smile and a wave. "Excited to be here."

"While not heroes they are still integral members of Team Flash we have the husband/wife duo of Ronnie Raymond and Dr. Caitlin Snow."

Caitlin and Ronnie waved. "Happy to be here."

"And last but certainly not least, is one miss Linda Park who lights up the sky as Dr. Light."

Linda removed her cowl and smiled. "Pleasure to be here."

"Barry, Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlin, Linda, allow me to introduce to you the members of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations also known as the DEO including Director Hank Henshaw and Agent Alex Danvers. They work to monitor and protect the earth from alien and non-normal threats. I met them when I first came to this Earth after I met the girl of steel and protector of National City, Supergirl."

"It's nice to meet you all. Naruto's told me a lot about you when he was here. I'm glad he got home safe." Supergirl told them.

"There were some bumps in the road, but I managed it." Naruto admitted.

"And it's nice to meet you too, Supergirl. Naruto told us all about you as well. Supergirl, the Girl of Steel. From how he tells it you two had quite the team up." Barry said.

"And from how he spoke about you we could tell that he came to really trust you so thank you for watching out for him while he was here." Linda added and Supergirl smiled.

"It was my pleasure. I was just starting out as Supergirl, and he gave me some really good advice." Supergirl remembered fondly.

"Yeah, he does that." Linda smiled, hugging Naruto from the side and leaning her head on his chest.

"And like before I'm here to help which now extends to all of us. Sorry for the sudden arrival but I kind of wanted it to be a surprise." Naruto admitted.

"Well, you've helped us already deal with the alien so apology accepted." Henshaw told him.

"Happy to be of service and if something comes up again then let us know." Naruto said and Henshaw nodded before he walked away.

"Is that dude all right?" Cisco wondered.

"I think he's dealing with some personal stuff regarding the alien that attacked. Those two have a history." Naruto said and everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Alex wondered and Supergirl was equally intrigued.

"You two should go talk to him. It's his business first. We'll be in your lab when you come back so we can talk." Naruto said and the two nodded. They left to talk to Henshaw while Naruto led the others to one of the DEO labs. When Naruto walked in he was hit with a sense of Déjà vu having been in this lab months ago but also felt like yesterday.

"Oh, this is sick!" Cisco was all giddy as he saw the lab was full of high-tech equipment including some STAR labs patented tech like the body armor and ICER guns. Naruto had made them for the DEO and clearly they were being used.

"I spent a good amount of time in this lab when I was first here. Repairing and doing maintenance on my own equipment and making stuff for the DEO as a way to payback them taking me in." Naruto told them.

"Wow, they must have been really trusting." Caitlin pointed out.

"Not at first. It was really only after a lot of explaining and Supergirl vouching for me that they started to trust me. Had to go through the whole spiel about the Multiverse and everything. Thankfully, Gideon came in with the clincher because apparently Supergirl becomes a good friend and ally for us." Naruto explained.

"That explains why you wanted us to come and visit her. Make that cause and effect complete." Barry said.

"Partially but also just to introduce you to her. Aside from the whole alien thing, Kara and her cousin are great heroes, and I think would make great additions to the League. Plus, they're just good people and expanding our circle of friends seems only like the best thing to do. Get to know her like I have, and you guys will love her." Naruto told them.

"She flies, kicks butt and has a badass costume. I already like her. And I'm already thinking up of designs and upgrades for suits, oh man, do I have ideas running through my head." Cisco's glee and excitement was starting to edge out of fanboy territory and more into obsessive stalker, a fine line between playful interest into dangerous obsession.

"Ease up on the enthusiasm about twenty percent there, Cisco." Barry told him and he did.

"Sorry. It's just, here we are on another earth in the multiverse at a secret government organization dealing with aliens. This is insane. Oh, I'm so interested to learn more. Caitlin, as a biologist don't tell me you're not the least bit intrigued about alien biology." Cisco dared her to say no because he knew she wouldn't. He knew that deep down she was just as interested as he was. She just did a better job at hiding it.

"…yes…the idea does intrigue me." Caitlin admitted but was much more composed than Cisco's nearing stalker obsession.

"If you dial back the enthusiasm like Barry said, I'm pretty sure the DEO wouldn't mind you guys checking out their systems and/or the medical lab. Alex is one of their trained biologists so she can show you around." Naruto said when the door to the lab opened and in walked Alex and Supergirl. "Speak of the devil. How'd things go with Henshaw?"

"Fine. He just needs a moment." Alex told him. "Thanks again for everything and yes, I'd be more than happy to show you around the DEO."

"Thank you. And if there is anything we can do to help while we're here then just let us know. I'm a biomedical scientist and with dealing with metahumans I'd be more than happy to help should you need it." Caitlin offered.

"Ronnie and I as well. If you need engineers to build you special alien-capturing weapons or anything then let us know." Cisco added.

"Which leaves us as superhero backup should Supergirl need some help." Barry said.

"Thanks. And please call me Kara when it's just us." Kara told them.

"Well, then it's Linda, Naruto, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Ronnie." Linda told Alex and Kara, forgoing any sense of formality. Naruto brought them here to help foster a friendship so the first thing to that would be to drop any sense of formality.

Alex noticed that Linda's gaze seemed to linger on her and she found it both intriguing as well as confusing. "Uh, is there's something wrong?"

Linda realized she was staring and straightened up. "Sorry. I just realized who your doppelganger on our earth is. She's an actress."

"What?" Alex was confused so Linda took out her phone and showed her a picture of Chyler Leigh, an actress on Earth-1 most well known for her role as Janey Briggs in the comedy film Not Another Teen Movie and as Lexie Grey in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Whoa…"

"Oh my god, you're right." Caitlin was struck with the same realization as Linda. "I thought Alex looked familiar."

Kara looked at the photo and the two looked exactly alike. "Wow. An actress." She then remembered something from their childhood in Midvale. "Now that I remember you were in the drama club in high school."

Alex felt a wash of embarrassment rush over her as the memories of her youth came back. All the traditional phases of childhood and teenage-hood for her in Midvale from the innocence of elementary school to the rebelliousness of high school came back which included her pop star phase, her grunge and punk rock phase, and then her artistic phase before she managed to settle into science. "Only for like a year and I quit after I passed out during an audition for Guys & Dolls."

"Oh, it's ok, Alex. It takes a lot of guts and courage to act. It's why I chose science." Naruto said to her.

"Well, it made for an interesting childhood, that's for sure." Kara admitted.

"It must have been. How old were you when you landed on earth?" Ronnie wondered.

"13 by human standards. I left my home planet of Krypton with my cousin, but my ship got stuck in something called the Phantom Zone." Kara answered.

"Sick name." Cisco commented. "And the Phantom Zone is?"

"From what I was able to tell from the DEO archives, it's some kind of extra-dimensional section of space where time doesn't flow normally." Naruto recounted and Kara nodded in agreement.

"When Kara's ship landed on earth, her cousin brought her to my parents. They were friends and helped him learn to control his powers when he was starting out and so he had them look after her so she could have a normal human upbringing like he did." Alex explained.

"This cousin being Superman, right?" Cisco asked and got a nod from Kara. "Got it, Superman, Supergirl. By the way, why is it Supergirl? Shouldn't it be Superwoman?"

Kara let out a sharp sigh in annoyance and Alex chuckled in amusement. "Don't get me started. It was my boss who made that decision, but it's grown on me." Kara admitted.

"Not a bad name but not the best. I could come up such a better name if I had the chance in the beginning." Cisco stated.

"Oh, you don't want to fight that fight, Cisco. Trust me. Cat Grant is literally the Devil in Prada. I've met her for a grand total of about five minutes and I would rather be fighting Ra's Al Ghul or be stuck in the Speed Force then mess with her." Naruto warned him like had just experienced some severe PTSD flashbacks. "She's mean."

Barry and the others looked at Naruto in shock as they never expected that kind of reaction. From him of all people too. Naruto's faced off against the League of Assassins, evil Speedsters, some of Gotham's worth supervillains, and the man who ordered the death of his parents but somehow one media mogul managed to scare him more than they could.

"Yeah, Ms. Grant has that effect on people." Kara admitted, seeing Naruto's reaction as pretty normal.

"So, I'm guessing this means we're not gonna get a glimpse of Catco media then?" Linda guessed.

"If you want to. If Kara can show you guys around then take the tour and check it out. But if Cat Grant will be there, I won't. For my own mental health and well-being." Naruto admitted much to the amusement of the others.

"I don't think I've never seen Naruto this scared before. Someone pinch me." Cisco quipped and Naruto did, rather violently. "Ow!"

"There. And you meet her and see how you feel afterward. I'll be waiting for an apology." Naruto told them. "Anyway, enough about me and my trauma. If Alex is up for it, how about a tour of the DEO?"

"Yes, please." Cisco was all giddy with excitement, so Barry calmed him down.

"Ok, then. Follow me." Alex led them through the DEO base, showing them around and introducing them to some friendly agents. She showed them the main ops center where the analysts processed all the information they got from their satellites, scanners, and sensors to help them track down rogue or fugitive aliens. Cisco and Ronnie saw that the computer systems the DEO were using were similar to the ones at STAR labs on Earth-1, if a little outdated. Since they were using the system he used when he first came to this earth which was a while ago, they were due for an upgrade. That's something that they'd handle while they were here and with the upgrades then everything at the DEO would run a lot smoother and faster. After the ops center Alex showed them the armory where they had their weapons and equipment for dealing with aliens. After that was the medical lab and Caitlin was given some access into alien biology. Alex had a degree in bio-engineering and Caitlin was a bio-chemist, so they were two peas in a pod, so to speak. They quickly found a professional rapport going back and forth as Alex explained the nuances with alien biology and its difficulties in combating and then Caitlin would explain some of the nuances and difficulties regarding metahuman DNA.

During the tour Team Flash began to bond with Kara and Alex. Alex and Caitlin quickly formed a bond due to their similar backgrounds in biology, but Barry and Kara got along as well. Naruto knew that the two would become friends and was proven right. Alex continued the tour as Kara eventually had to get back to her day job at Catco, but they'd see her later.

Later that evening…

Catco Worldwide Media

It was in the evening and Kara was still working at Catco. She was catching up on some work and with Ms. Grant no longer in the building it made that easier. She was at her desk going through some paperwork when her nose picked up a distinct smell. A smell she knew all too well. One of her favorite smells.

"Potstickers…" Kara muttered and looked around to see where the smell was coming from when she saw Alex walking over with Naruto, Linda, Caitlin, Ronnie, Cisco, and Barry all of whom were now in civilian clothes and carrying bags of Chinese takeout.

"Food delivery." Naruto held up the bags. "Heard that an assistant at Catco was working herself to the bone so we thought that some food delivery was in order."

"Dear Rao, yes. Thank you. You guys are the best." Kara was all smiles as she immediately grabbed one of the takeout bags and saw it was filled with potstickers. Like literally, filled. "Oh Rao, thank you."

"I was actually going to get us all a reservation at a fancy restaurant but then when Alex told me your favorite food was potstickers well, a fun hang out dinner sounded more appealing." Naruto figured.

"It is her favorite food. Believe me. Just hope that you get any." Alex joked.

"Well, with how much food you guys ordered I don't think that'll be a problem." Kara looked at all the bags and it was enough for the whole building. "How much did you guys buy?"

"Enough that we had to go to five different Chinese restaurant to complete the order. Naruto and I have Speedster metabolisms, so we eat a lot." Barry told her.

"Though those five restaurants got the biggest bills they've ever had so good for them. Any place we can eat?" Naruto wondered.

"Yeah, we'll eat out on the patio. There's chairs and tables there. But uh, I thought you said you didn't want to come here because of Ms. Grant?" Kara said to Naruto.

"Which is why I might have done a little light hacking to confirm she had a dinner reservation at this hour. Just so I knew it was safe." Naruto admitted and everyone looked at him funny. "What?

"Nothing." Barry and the others kept their mouths shut but couldn't hide the smirks they had.

"Wow, she must really scare you." Kara remarked as they began to put the food out.

"She does. How you work for her is beyond me. Patience and nerves of steel must be additional super powers you have." Naruto told her before he popped a potsticker in his mouth.

"Yes, Ms. Grant is tough and…dedicated to her job." Kara did her best to describe her as delicately and politely as possible.

"Dedicated to the point of sheer sociopathy along with a massive ego to go with it but I digress." Naruto added and the wince Kara had on her face pretty much confirmed he was right. She couldn't refute his assessment.

"But they're also what make her good at her job as the head of Catco and a media mogul. Someone who is able to inform and influence millions of people every day and thankfully Ms. Grant uses that power for good. She had a serious code of ethics and moral compass she follows. She has a heart."

"Yeah, a heart buried beneath a foot of ice." Naruto remarked and everyone looked at Kara, waiting for her to counter that but she didn't.

"But it's still there…and still beats." Kara said, not doing much to counter the whole queen of ice thing Cat Grant had. Since she was losing the defending Ms. Grant battle, Kara felt that moving past it was better. She put a potsticker in her mouth and hummed in delight. "Oh, that's good."

"Now I'm a little scared. I think I'll stay at the DEO tomorrow." Cisco remarked.

"Your sanity and self-confidence will thank you for that smart decision." Naruto clinked his bottle of water with Cisco's in solidarity.

"Ok, well I'm not afraid of the Devil in Prada and I've dealt with difficult bosses before, so I'll take Kara up on the tour of Catco." Linda said and Kara nodded. "Besides, I really want to see how her secret identity holds up tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Kara wondered.

"Those are some kind of special alien glasses, right? Like they obscure or change your appearance so you're not as easily recognizable. Naruto's working on something like that too." Linda quipped.

"You are?" Barry was intrigued.

"Yeah but the hard light holographic nanotech mask is still in its alpha-phase. And no, Linda, those aren't alien glasses, just regular ones." Naruto told her.

"You're kidding." Linda remarked so Kara handed her the glasses, and they were just regular glasses with non-prescription lenses. They were purely for aesthetic purposes. "Non-prescription. So, glasses along with changing your hair and clothes and no one recognizes you as Supergirl? I don't believe it."

"I know! That's what I said. No offense, Kara but it's not the most elaborate disguise. For Barry and me we have masks, but I find it hard to believe that no one recognizes you as Supergirl." Naruto reiterated, feeling the same as he did when he first was on Earth-38 and realized Kara's secret identity disguise was so basic.

"I don't know what to say but they work. And none taken." Kara took back the glasses and put them on.

"It boggles my mind and I'm smart enough to work on the principals of anti-gravity and a space shuttle system that can achieve lightspeed capabilities. Still working on it. We'll talk later." Naruto pointed to Cisco, knowing he would have started asking questions but the promise to talk later quelled that. "I swear everyone either knows and is agreeing to keep their mouths shut out of respect or people on this earth are short some IQ points in common sense. Certain people excluded like you Alex."

"Thank you but it's not just the glasses and hair tied into a ponytail. It's the clothes and her personality as well. Kara as Supergirl acts differently than Kara as Kara Danvers." Alex added. "Something she actually picked up from her cousin, Clark. Mild-mannered personality and more demure compared to Superman."

"So, you're basically acting like two different people?" Caitlin asked and got a nod from Kara and Alex. "Ok, well I guess I could see how that tricks people, especially those that don't know Kara."

"Yeah, I'm still not buying it. Kara and Supergirl are both gorgeous, beautiful blondes so I don't think a change in personality would be able to trick me. Though the glasses are a nice touch. Highlight your cheekbones." Linda admitted and gave Kara a playful wink which just made her blush.

"Down girl." Naruto joked before he pulled her onto his lap and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Save the flirting for after we've finished dinner."

"Yes, please. Not all of us are as lucky in love as some people so it's making me nauseous." Cisco sat down in a huff and began eating his food much to the amusement of others.

Everyone joined him and they began eating their way through all the Chinese food they bought. Given that there were two speedsters and a Kryptonian, there was a lot of food with half of it being potstickers. Since they were Kara's favorite they ordered a lot so that everyone could have some but also got noodles, some fried rice, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli and other classics. Chinese food with friends out on a patio with the skyline of National City as their backdrop made for one memorable friend dinner. They ate a lot and had a lot of good conversations mainly with Cisco recounting their past adventures and Naruto filling Alex and Kara in on how things went after he left their earth. They were very intrigued when Naruto mentioned visiting other earths and how some of them were elements of popular culture brought to life. They were intrigued when Naruto mentioned the Vampire Diaries earth which was just a quick enter and exist. Other quick enter and exits visits were the Walking Dead earth and then the one where Barry's doppelganger was an acapella singer. He mentioned the animated earths as well and Kara was intrigued with the picture Naruto took of the first animated earth he went to where he met doppelgangers of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and admitted that's where he got the idea for the Justice League. The Animaniacs earth was fun as was the Simpsons and Family Guy earth and how he set up a cutaway gag. But Kara and Alex were hooked on the story when he mentioned the Supernatural earth. Just like Linda, they were fans of the long-running fantasy/sci-fi series about two brother hunters and they kind of freaked out when Naruto showed them a photo he took while he was there. He made sure to send them a copy and would offer them a future visit one day.

Alex nearly choked on her water from laughing from a funny instance Barry and Naruto recounted. "A flying boomerang?"

"Yeah, it goes flying around the cortex of STAR labs. Caitlin is screaming and running around like bees are after her as the boomerang smashed the lights and nearly took off our heads when Naruto caught it." Barry remembered.

"And then Cisco pops his head out of his lab with Felicity with a super guilty expression on his face and he's like, my bad, that's on me." Naruto chuckled and everyone laughed while Cisco hid his head from embarrassment. "Looking back now, one of the funniest things to happen but they pale in comparison to what Barry experienced for the following week."

"Oh god…" Barry leaned his head back, dreading that this embarrassing and painful memory was coming back while Linda, Caitlin, and Cisco were all smiles.

"What?" Kara wondered.

"Well, to teach Barry a lesson about the dangers of running things solos, Naruto took it upon himself to give him 8 harmless and enjoyable pranks as punishment." Cisco answered only for Barry to groan in annoyance.

"Enjoyable for you guys. I was the one who was suffering." Barry quipped.

"Pranks? Like whoopie cushions and fart spray?" Alex guessed only for Naruto to shake his head.

"That is amateur hour. When Naruto Namikaze decides to prank someone, he does it at an artist level and I can say for certain that Barry definitely learned his lesson." Naruto then recounted the pranks in question and showed plenty of photographic evidence. Beginning with supergluing his pants to a chair which also happened to be laced with extra-strength itching powder escalated into dyed shampoo and paint, so Barry had pink hair and blue paint on his face and ended with the pièce de resistance being sweet foamy vengeance. Suffice to say that many laughs were had at Barry's expense.

About an hour passed and most of the food was gone leaving behind empty food containers to be discarded or recycled and any few leftovers were being slowly depleted by either a speedster or Kryptonian. The conversation kept flowing and Naruto was glad to see that Kara and Alex were getting along with Team Flash. He knew they would but was just glad to see it come to fruition. He saw Kara leaning against the rail looking out at National City. She had gotten up to walk around and was now content to enjoy the view. Naruto was sitting on a bench with Linda leaning on him. Linda saw where Naruto was looking and smirked before she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Naruto smirked and looked down at her before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. She then diverted her gaze over to Kara who was looking out at the city. "What? Everything ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah. So far so great. Kara and Alex are really great. You were right that we'd get along." She told him.

"Guess I just have a sixth sense about this kind of stuff. After spending more time on this earth, I knew that Kara would become a great friend of ours." Naruto admitted.

"Great friend indeed. And it just so happens that your ability to make good friends is with beautiful women. Don't think you're fooling anyone, Naruto Namikaze." Linda told him like she was admonishing him, but her tone was all playful.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have a track record for befriending beautiful women. First it's Caitlin, then Felicity, Laurel, Diana, Anissa Pierce and now you can add Kara to the list." Linda had this playful glint in her eyes that both intrigued Naruto and kind of scared him because he remembers LA and how wild she got that night with Maze. "You have good tastes, that's for sure. After all, you're dating me."

"Exactly. A relationship which I've been 100% faithful in and lest we forget that the circumstances in LA were completely instigated by you." Naruto reminded her and Linda gave him a playful brow raise.

"Are you complaining about a willing threesome between your girlfriend and a hot bartender that we were both making eyes at?" Linda leaned in and whispered to his ear sending shivers throughout his body. Linda had an interesting duality to her in which she could be kind, caring, gentle, and compassionate as well as domineering, fierce, playful, and downright seductive when she wanted to be. Naruto struck gold with her. Linda then playfully bit his earlobe before leaning in a bit more. "And lucky you because after LA your girlfriend isn't afraid to ask for future threesomes. Now go talk to Kara."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek before pinching his side causing him to jump. He smirked and kissed her one last time before standing up and walking over to Kara. She was still looking out at the city and seemed to be thinking about something, so he leaned forward on the balcony next to her. "Hey."

"Hey." Kara smiled and the two chuckled. "Tonight was a lot of fun. Linda and the others are amazing."

"Yeah, they are." Naruto looked over at them chatting with Alex and Kara followed his gaze. Linda saw them looking so she gave them a wave and Kara waved back. "They're a good bunch and Alex is great too. It was nice to get to know her more. I had a hunch that you'd get along with everyone and I'm glad I was right."

"Guess being a super genius means you're rarely wrong." Kara joked, referring to her recently learning that among Naruto's many abilities as a speedster he also had superhuman intelligence as an ability. Like literal superhuman intelligence It's why STAR Labs was going so strong on his earth.

"Yeah but this was less super genius Naruto and more people person Naruto." He joked and she chuckled. "Speaking of which, people person Naruto couldn't help but notice that you've got a lot on your mind. Something you want to talk about?"

"It's ok. I'm fine." Kara assured him she was fine, but he wasn't buying it.

"Come on. People person Naruto has two ears ready and willing to listen. And super genius Naruto says that talking about things can make it easier." Naruto quipped and Kara chuckled. "Supergirl related issued or Kara Danvers related issues?"

"Kara Danvers related issues." She answered and he nodded. "Last week, there was an incident with Winn. His dad was a serial killer, and he escaped, trying to rope Winn into being just like him. We stopped him but then things got a little awkward. Winn admitted that he was in love with me and kissed me."

"And you're not in love with him." Naruto deduced the end and Kara gave him a nod that he was right. "Awkward and difficult. How are things now?"

Kara huffed in defeat. "I wish he'd never kissed me. I wish I never hurt his feelings. He won't talk to me, and I miss my best friend."

"Yeah, that's a tough spot." Naruto thought it over. "If this were super genius Naruto offering, he would make you a memory augmentation device. Something low-powered so it doesn't cause permanent brain damage and would only target short-term memory so Winn would basically forget that he ever confessed to you and then you two could go back to normal."

"I'm honestly tempted and knowing that you're a super genius I know you're not joking. And people person Naruto?" Kara wondered.

"He'd tell you it's not your fault which it isn't. Even for us superheroes there are things we can't control. Sometimes the people who love us wish that we could love them back…but we can't. It's painful but there's nothing we can do about it. It hurts, but that's something we can't change." Naruto looked over at Linda. "Love isn't about grand gestures or the moon and the stars…sometimes it's just dumb luck. Sometimes you'll meet someone who will feel the same way…and sometimes you're unlucky but when things do line up for you…you'll know it. And your whole world changes." He stood up and looked at Kara. "Just give Winn some time. He'll eventually see it soon enough on his own."

"How can you be so sure?" She asked.

"Because even if he can't be with you…just having Kara Danvers as a friend is enough." Naruto said and his words did a lot to help lift her mood. She even found herself blushing a bit as his words had a more profound effect than either of them realized. "Sorry, if that came off as too forward or I pushed where I shouldn't have. When I get into my sage-like wisdom mode I can't really stop."

"No, it's ok, Naruto, really. And you told me exactly what I needed to hear. It's fine." Kara assured him. "And thank you."

"You are very welcome." Naruto smiled and Kara smiled back.

"Linda is really lucky to have you. She's really great Naruto and you two seem really happy." Kara told him.

"We are." He looked back and saw Linda speaking with Alex about something, but both were engaged in the topic. "She's my north star and it's because of her that I'm the man I am today."

"Then a lot of people have her to be thankful for. The two of you are lucky." Kara admitted.

"Like I said, sometimes we get lucky but don't worry, Kara. Luck will swing your way soon enough. Something tells me that Kara Danvers will get lucky in love soon enough." He flattered and Kara chuckled. The two would have continued talking when his watched beeped so he checked and saw it was an algorithm of his and it detected that Cat Grant had come back from her dinner early and was arriving at Catco in a minute. "Cat Grant's on her way."

"What?"

"Clean up." Naruto super sped around and cleaned up all the Chinese food and trash, leaving the patio spotless before reappearing. "Good night, Kara. We'll catch up tomorrow."

Naruto then super sped Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie, and Linda away leaving Alex and Barry in confusion. "Uh, sorry. See you tomorrow?" Barry then super sped away.

"Wow…" Alex muttered with her and Kara kind of dumbstruck at how abruptly things ended.

"He really is afraid of Ms. Grant." Kara remarked. Alex left soon after and true to Naruto's work, Cat did arrive, but she was not in a good mood. Clearly her dinner with her son did not go so well but Kara, being Kara got involved.

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning, Naruto and the others went to Noonan's for breakfast. Noonan's was the coffee shop/café that Kara took him to back during his first trip and introduced him to Sticky Buns. Kara had them meet her there for breakfast and while Naruto and Barry had to supplement their breakfast with some speedster energy bars the former had packed, they were able to enjoy the Sticky Buns. They ate pastries and drank coffee as Kara filled them in on what happened after they left.

"So, Cat Grant, being Cat Grant, messed up her dinner with her son, but you managed to sit them both down and got them to come to amicable terms." Naruto recounted as he finished his fourth Sticky Bun.

"Pretty much." Kara replied as she finished her fourth as well.

"Wow, you are a miracle worker." Naruto admitted.

"Ms. Grant is very…closed off from her feelings which was the problem. She went to the meeting as Cat Grant, Catco CEO and not Cat Grant, mom. Hopefully, things will get better with her and Adam." Kara said.

"Well, things like that take time with personalities like Cat Grant's but the fact you got them to a better place is great, Kara. Maybe you should take up counseling as a potential career." Barry suggested and Kara shrugged.

"Who knows. Maybe that could be my thing."

"Well, as a new friend I hope you consider it but as a journalist I do hope you stick with Catco." Linda told her.

"Unless Ms. Grant decides to fire me today I don't think she's getting rid of me just yet." Kara was hopeful that she still had a job with Catco and that things didn't go bad when she left Ms. Grant and Adam last night. She then adopted a coy smirk on her face. "So, are we going to talk about what happened last night?"

"I would prefer that we didn't." Naruto told her.

"Oh, no. We're going to talk about it. We're definitely talking about it." Cisco promised.

"You've faced off against dangerous metahumans, assassins, a plethora of things people can't even imagine across the multiverse and a crazed speedster who nearly killed you and nothing. You faced them head on without so much as a flinch, but the second Cat Grant is nearby you ran away." Ronnie remarked and everyone at the table gave him a shit-eating grin.

"I'm never living this down, am I?" Naruto guessed.

"Nope." They all said collectively.

"I better get to work on that memory eraser." Naruto muttered under his breath, making everyone laugh. Linda found it adorable and gave him a kiss on the cheek but also now had something she could hold over him in their relationship. She had ammunition in her corner now and she would use if it necessary.

After breakfast, Kara offered to show everyone Catco so pretty much everyone, but Naruto agreed. Guess Cat Grant was his Kryptonite. The others would join him once they were done checking out Catco. Naruto headed back to the DEO to get some work done on the upgrades at the base. He gave their computer system the upgrade it needed so it was running 120% smoother and faster than it was before without any lag time from their network of satellites and scanners. Along with the upgrade he made them some new weapons and advanced body armor and even handed them the blueprints for the Quinjet that they could build. Its VTOL functions and aeronautic capabilities would make it something they could use to combat against aliens. And after Kara told her about her aunt Astra returning, it seemed to be good timing that he arrived when he did.

He was walking through the DEO base with a tablet in hand to show Director Henshaw who he saw talking to a few agents. "Director Henshaw. Do you have a moment? I have something to show you." Naruto said so Henshaw signaled his agents to resume their duties and walked over.

"What is it?" Henshaw asked so Naruto handed him the tablet to let him look through all the designs and upgrades he would give them.

"As a thanks for the access and welcome from the DEO, there are some upgrades and new equipment I can make for you that can help. First up was I upgraded your entire system so things should be running much smoother. Then there will be the basics of new body armor and the Quinjet platform here you can build." Naruto swiped to the schematics he uploaded so Director Henshaw could see.

"Impressive design." Henshaw praised.

"Thanks. With greater maneuverability thanks to its VTOL capabilities and its modular nature means it can be modified to whatever situation the DEO needs. And included are new ARC reactor battery core reactors which will also power the new retro-reflective stealth system. With it active along with the onboard stealth system it'll make the Quinjet completely invisible to sight and any kind of detection system. Something I think a clandestine government agency would need." Naruto said and Henshaw was intrigued. "But I think my new weapon design will be something the DEO will find very useful."

Henshaw swiped to bring up the new weapon design and it looked similar to the ICER shotgun/rifle platform they were already using but it was more advanced. "What am I looking at?" Henshaw asked.

"The first ever STAR labs arc reactor powered energy rifle. These are different from the current ICER weapons you use which are still gas-powered guns that use different ammunition types. Tetrodotoxin, concussive, plasma, etc. But these rifles are pure offensive firepower fueled by a small ARC reactor powered fuel cell which will then fire condensed bolts of ionized plasma set to various settings. On the lowest it will hit with the same force and effect of an ICER round, basically a stun setting. On its highest, the plasma bolt has enough power and energy to put a hole through a Bradley Tank and melt through a sheet of pure tungsten. And they're modular in nature so they can be adjusted and modified for whatever threat you could be facing. For example…" Naruto swiped on the tablet to show Henshaw an example of the modular design. Inputting a fragment of Kryptonite, even a small one inside the secondary slot of the ARC reactor fuel cell would make the rifle shoot bolts of Kryptonite energy. The energy of the rifle that would normally fire bolts of plasma would pass through the Kryptonite sort of like a filter and charge the plasma with Kryptonite energy. This now gave the DEO ranged capabilities against Astra and the Kryptonians and they wouldn't have to worry about wasting Kryptonite on casting bullets or for darts. "…even a small fragment of Kryptonite would be enough to turn the tide against Astra and her men. And like I said before these modular designs can be used for anything. I'll include the design schematics and all the necessary information, so your agents and engineers know what to do."

"Impressive. How soon can these weapons be operational?" Henshaw asked so Naruto motioned him to follow. He led him to one of the labs where he saw several stacks of crates and boxes.

"Already done. The crates hold the rifles, and the boxes contain spare ARC reactor fuel cells. They should last a year and by then I'll figure out a way to get an ARC reactor here. Super speed tends to make big orders like this much easier." Naruto admitted. Henshaw was rarely impressed, and this case was one of them. From the last visit Henshaw could see that Naruto was incredibly smart and brilliant, enough that he could be considered among the brilliant minds on this earth like Maxwell Lord and Lex Luthor. Now he could say for certain that he likely surpassed them.

"Well done. Thank you, Naruto." Henshaw gave Naruto a curt nod to express his gratitude. He was grateful but Naruto could tell there was more on his mind.

"Director Henshaw, you ok? You look kind of piqued."

Naruto's comment jogged Henshaw out of his train of thought and he straightened up and fixed himself. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just, I'm still reeling from the rally. The alien caught me off guard."

"Understandable. That thing was dangerous…and it's not every day that a White Martian arrives on earth, and it must have been especially difficult for you." Naruto said and Henshaw looked at him. "Director, you know I'm a super genius and have an AI that is from the future so I think we can skip with the falsities and speak truthfully. Rest assured, whatever is said will not be repeated."

Naruto walked in to the lab and gestured for Henshaw to join him, so he did. Naruto closed the door and then tapped a few buttons on his watch to ensure that they wouldn't be eavesdropped on or recorded. "What do you want?" Henshaw asked him.

"Just to talk." Naruto answered, pointing to the seats. Henshaw relented and sat down so Naruto joined him. He then tapped his watch and out came a bottle of liquor and two glasses. "I know it's likely against DEO policy but considering that alcohol doesn't affect us like it would regular humans I figured that there could be an exception."

Henshaw grabbed the bottle of liquor, which was a Dalmore 62, one of the most expensive and rare bottles of whiskey in the world. "A 62 Dalmore whiskey. This is expensive." Henshaw remarked.

"Have to use my money for something. Cost me about $150,000. I can't get drunk on normal alcohol, even the rarest kind but I figured that it'd be nice to have something for special occasions." Naruto admitted and poured himself and Henshaw some. He then raised his glass to Henshaw. "Formal introductions. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."

Henshaw hesitated in revealing his true nature as he had kept himself hidden for so long and only recently revealed his true identity to Alex and Kara, which was partially out of necessity. And here was a speedster from another earth who not only knew that he faced a White Martian but who pretty much told him to skip the lying so they could talk. Henshaw, being a bit paranoid read Naruto's mind and found it a jumble, likely because of how fast a speedster brain was. They processed information faster than supercomputers so to a telepath or psychic reading their minds it would be like a regular person trying to read and catch all the passing billboards and signs from a seat on a speeding bullet train. You're able to get most but not all.

'Sorry for the jumbled mind but it's one of the perks of being a speedster. And if you are reading my mind then you know that I don't have an ulterior motive. I just want to talk.' Naruto thought.

"Very well then. J'onn J'onzz." J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter clinked his glass with Naruto and they both took sips. He kept his Henshaw form for safety because anyone could walk by but the fact that he said his real name spoke volume.

"I can't imagine how difficult it must be to trust someone else with your identity, but I promise it's safe with me. I didn't mention this to my friends so it's just between us." Naruto promised. "You can read my mind if you're not certain."

"I don't need to. I may not know you as well as Kara, but you've proven yourself trusty worthy." J'onn said and Naruto smiled.

"Thank you. And I swear to you that the White Martian is trapped on Earth-295. It's not getting back here."

"If only it was one I had to worry about. Its race is dedicated to wiping out my kind. As Martians we share abilities but also a psychic link. It sensed me when I used my powers and attacked the rally to draw me out…and I couldn't fight it today. I couldn't even move." J'onn seemed truly haunted by encountering the White Martian yesterday. Naruto was only aware of the general stuff regarding J'onn J'onnz AKA the Martian Manhunter from the info that Gideon had. Like Kara and Clark, he was the last son of Mars, the last surviving Green Martian and J'onn must feel so isolated being alone on a foreign planet and not even able to take his true form but he must also have tremendous survivor's guilt. Likely no one could understand what he's going through. Kara and Clark have each other and there are other rogue Kryptonians but J'onn is truly alone so seeing the White Martian must have brought back a lot of bad memories.

"Well, then the White Martian we got rid of won't be alone for long. It'll soon be joined by all the others of its kind who were responsible for what happened to your people. You will get justice. That much I promise." Naruto swore.

"You can't promise that Naruto. This was my war, and I brought it to earth. And this isn't even your earth. Why would you feel obligated to help?" J'onn asked him.

"Call it a personal code of ethics but when a friend needs my help, they will get it. If Kara and Alex were here, they'd tell you the same thing that I am. It's not your war anymore and you don't have to face them alone." Naruto said as J'onn looked him in the eyes. "No matter how many White Martians there are so long as you are alive they did not win. I can't imagine what it must feel like for you, J'onn but don't give up hope. The White Martians will rue the day they came against your people and let you live."

J'onn didn't speak for a few seconds as he took another sip of whiskey. It was difficult for Naruto to figure out what he was thinking but from the look in his eyes it looked like defeat. "They didn't let me live, Naruto. I escaped. I survived. To my great shame. I was ready to die with them, but I didn't…and I will hear my family's screams until the day I die."

"J'onn…there is no shame in surviving. I can't imagine what it must feel like for you, what happened to you and your planet, but it was not your fault. And your family will live through you."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Naruto but I'm hundreds of years old. I have lived with the shame of being my race's sole survivor for too long. I'm tired of being the last. Tired of having lived. It is a heavy burden to survive, and I want it over." J'onn admitted. The tremble in his voice conveyed all the pain and misery he was feeling. Being the last survivor of his race was akin to hell and he just wanted it to be over.

"I know I have no right to tell you what to do. We don't know each other well enough for that and I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, J'onn but if it were me…I wouldn't give up until my family was avenged." Naruto told him. "On my earth…my parents were killed in a car accident during my senior year of college. I was in the car with them during the accident and after, I was lost. It took me a while to get back to even some semblance of the normal I used to know. Eventually…I came to learn that the car accident wasn't just an accident but a targeted assassination. The work my parents did had unintended consequences, and it came to hurt a lot of people. My father tried to make it right and they killed him and my mother for it. He left me to clean up his mistake. When I learned the truth, I felt everything possible. Anger, hate, resentment, guilt, sadness…but most of all, a sense to finish what was started and at the very least avenge my parents or get justice. You've been burdened for so long as the last son of Mars and I have no right to ask this…but live just a little bit longer so that you can get justice for them. And you won't have to do it alone. There are heroes on my earth would be more than willing to help."

J'onn wasn't quite sure what to say and just sat there in contemplation. He's been around for so long that a part of him would think that ending it would just be easier. When your whole life feels like a tragedy, just getting through the day is difficult enough and with being a Green Martian it means that J'onn will never be able to forget what happened to him. Wanting to be reunited with his family would be mercy…but…buried down there was also a desire for vengeance, for justice. To fight the White Martians and make them pay for everything they've done to him, his family, and his people but one Green Martian against a planet of White Martians seemed impossible.

Perhaps with help that goal may be a possibility.

[PA chime]

"Director Henshaw, please report to the ops center. Director Henshaw, please report to the ops center."

Hearing the PA announcement put an end to the conversation as there was work to do. "Is that a good sign or a bad one?" Naruto asked.

"We'll find out." J'onn gulped the whiskey down and Naruto did the same before he shrunk them back down into his watch and the two headed to the operations room of the DEO. There they saw various satellite scans and images bring up information from Metropolis of all places. Alex saw Henshaw arrive with Naruto.

"Everything ok?" She asked.

"We're good, Alex." Naruto assured her.

"What's the problem?" Henshaw questioned.

"We got an alert from our system from a civilian spectrometer sensor picking up a high concentration of Kryptonite and red sun radiation heading towards Metropolis." Alex told him. Henshaw looked at the data but was momentarily confused.

"I wasn't aware that our systems had access to the civilian spectrometers." Henshaw remarked.

"You got an upgrade. You're welcome." Naruto tapped his watch and saw a new alert just come up tied to the Kryptonite radiation they detected. It was CCTV footage captured in the area from police that matched a file in the DEO's database. "Got something else. CCTV from Metropolis county sheriffs got something, and it flagged a file in the DEO."

Alex pressed a few buttons on the controls to bring up the file and CCTV camera which was of a police barricade that was demolished by something powerful since it blitzed through the cars like they were made of cardboard. Before the cameras went out they managed to catch an image of the attacker in question. It was a female, based on the anatomy but not human considering she was 8-feet tall with bright orange skin, yellow eyes and red hair which was tied security in a high braided ponytail. She wore a purple sleeveless bodysuit and matching head dress and shoes with brown gauntlets and greaves which housed alien-swords. The DEO file had her identified as Mongal.

"Who is Mongal? Is that a typo?" Naruto wondered.

"It's not. Mongal is one of the most dangerous aliens there is. Her father, Mongal the Elder was an alien warlord and conqueror, the leader of Warworld. He was as brutal as he was sadistic and being from a planet with a red sun makes his natural physique nearly on-par with a Kryptonian. Years ago, Mongal abducted Superman to fight in his gladiatorial matches on Warworld until Superman stopped him and he was put in the Phantom Zone. He was dealt with but left behind two children, his son who shares the same name and a daughter." Henshaw explained. (3)

"And I'm guessing daughter followed in her father's footsteps." Naruto noted.

"With an axe to grind against Superman. If she's on earth and in Metropolis then she's got to be after him. Alex, assemble a strike team and do it fast. We need to get to Metropolis yesterday." Henshaw ordered when he and Naruto locked eyes.

"Even if your teams leave now they won't get there fast enough. Let me go with Barry and Kara. We can get there faster. Besides Mongal, the sensors picked up Kryptonite and red sun radiation, so she has people helping her. We'll stop them until you arrive with your team. Like I said before, you have help." Naruto reminded him. Considering the situation, Henshaw didn't have many options.

"All right but move fast."

"Not a problem." Naruto flickered with lightning before he super sped out of the DEO base.

Catco

Kara and the others were hanging out on the balcony after she had shown them around Catco. Cat Grant was in a good mood this morning considering things with her son Adam went well and he was going to be sticking around a bit longer so they could get to know each other more. Not only that but Senator Crane announced that she was rethinking her stance on aliens after Supergirl, and her friends saved her. With that good mood, Cat didn't mind Kara having some friends she could show around. And to add to the good column for Kara, Winn was beginning to speak with her again.

Kara was sitting on the patio with Linda, Barry, Caitlin, Ronnie, and Cisco or as Cat Grant called them the attractive cast from a soap opera. Guess her good mood meant she didn't give them more unflattering names. They were having ice cream because Kara needed something to help her process a recent event. Adam asking her out on a date. It didn't matter that it wasn't even noon yet. Ice Cream helped her process.

"I mean…what do I do? I haven't been on a real date in forever." Kara admitted, digging into her mint chocolate chip ice cream pint, and letting the sweet treat make her feel better.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how much help we're going to be on that end. My most recent girlfriend turned out to be a reincarnated Egyptian warrior priestess who reunited with her equally reincarnated Egyptian warrior prince. Before her was the sister of Captain Cold so I don't have the best track record." Cisco ate a spoonful of his dulce de leche before he looked at Barry. "Barry?"

"Well, I spent a long time pining after Iris and then there was Ino but that fizzled out. Patty is great…but uh…things are a little complicated. She's planning to leave to pursue her education at Midway City…I'm not going to be any help either." He admitted and sunk his head into his rocky road. That left Caitlin and Linda for advice and since the two were in healthy relationships then they knew what they were doing.

"Kara you can fly, punch a building into rubble, and deal with aliens on a regular basis. You'll be fine." Linda assured her.

"Even if it's with Cat Grant's son?" Kara clarified.

"Ronnie and I worked together before we dated. Things ended up working out for us." Caitlin held up her hand to show her engagement and wedding ring.

"It did…minus the Particle Accelerator explosion but that really wasn't our fault." Ronnie pointed out. The two were sharing some pistachio ice cream.

"No but it's not that he even works at Catco which he doesn't. It's her son who honestly makes it worse. Ugh, switch." Kara switched her mint chocolate chip ice cream with Linda's Neapolitan. "So…so what will happen at the office when the date goes bad?"

"Kara, you're obviously worried but you're worried about what could be nothing. Go on the date first before you talk about it going bad. And if Cat has a problem then it's her problem." Linda told her.

"Oh, her problems are my problems." Kara emphasized.

"Well, if Cat is petty enough to make it a problem then that tells you all you need to know about the job. Leave Catco and do something else, prove her wrong and stick it up her nose." Linda encouraged, thinking that Kara could be doing more than just being an assistant. "And maybe this could be a good lesson in setting boundaries in your personal life. Maybe not helping every single person you come across."

Kara groaned in annoyance. "I can't help it. It's what I do. It's what you guys do."

"Yeah as heroes but in our regular lives we don't save everyone around us. We can't live our lives if we're too busy micromanaging others." Barry told her.

"Ugh, I wish Naruto were here. His advice usually makes me feel better." Kara slumped in her seat and Linda chuckled in amusement. It was cute. She missed Naruto.

"Yes it does and like you he has the same problem. He wants to help everyone all the time." Linda admitted.

[Whoosh of air]

Naruto suddenly appeared on the patio. "Speak of the devil." Cisco quipped.

"Naruto, what are you doing here? Aren't you afraid of Ms. Grant?" Kara reminded him while the others kept a watch to see if anyone noticed his arrival, but no one did.

"Oh, I still am but we've got a situation. Bad alien and others are heading to Metropolis. I think they're after your cousin." Naruto informed everyone and immediately Kara got worried.

"Who is it?"

"Mongal which would be bad enough but there was Kryptonite and red sun radiation detected. Director Henshaw is mobilizing a strike team, but they won't get there fast enough. The three of us can." Naruto said, referring to himself, Barry, and Kara.

"Let's go." Kara stood up and was ready for a fight. Kara went inside to make her excuse. Barry finished his ice cream and Naruto gave Linda a kiss on the cheek.

"Be careful." She told him and he nodded.

"We will. Ready, Barry?" Naruto asked him and got a nod.

"Let's do this." Barry and Naruto super sped away, running down Catco and out of National City heading east. Barry followed Naruto since he knew where to go and the two activated their Flash rings, suiting up mid-run. Flash and Impulse ran side by side when they heard a sonic boom and saw Supergirl fly down above them. They all shared a look, ready for the fight and continued on to Metropolis.

Metropolis

Things in Metropolis were off to a normal start today. People went on their work commutes, children went to school and all the other normal things. For one Clark Kent, journalist at the Daily Planet, he was working at his desk on an article regarding Luthor Corp's subsequent takeover by Lena Luthor. With the backing of the board, she assumed ownership and the title of CEO after Lex's final sentencing to 32 consecutive life terms in prison. Lex's mother Lilian Luthor had not been seen since the trial and neither had Lex's trusted assistant Mercy Graves. Clark wanted to give Lena Luthor the benefit of the doubt considering she did testify against Lex at his trial and was horrified by everything he's done. But then again he gave Lex the benefit of the doubt numerous times and it only served to make him more dangerous. Lex is a power-hungry sociopath, and he just hoped that with him finally in jail that the rest of the world saw it too. It was nice to see that not even the immense wealth and power of Lex Luthor could stop his sentencing.

"Kent! Where's that article on Luthor Corp's new CEO?!" Clark was jogged out of his thought bubble by Editor-in-Chief Perry White shouting his name. Perry White was a legend in journalism so getting to work for him was a privilege but that also meant dealing with his occasional ranting and shouting. Among his many favorite things to yell would be Clark's last name, likely when he needs something done or Great Ceasar's Ghost which was usually when he was either mad or shocked. Kind of old school but it worked for him.

"Proof reading it now, Mr. White." Clark replied in a rather meek tone before picking up a printed hardcopy to give to him only to accidently knock over his cup of pens and pencils on his desk which accidently knocked his water bottle to the ground. "Oh, geez."

Clark had a lot of practice with his mild-mannered persona where he portrays a more meek, old-fashioned, and often times klutzy guy with a heart of gold. It seemed nonsensical to think that would work to keep his identity a secret, but it did. Perry White just sighed in disbelief. "Kent, you can write with the best of them, but dear god get some semblance of your surroundings. The last thing I need is you hurting yourself, especially with Lane on assignment overseas. Get the article finished ASAP. Lane isn't here to distract you so work fast."

"Yes, Mr. White." Clark replied with Perry walking away with his hardcopy. Clark got back to work when his super hearing picked up the distant sound of gunfire and explosions about ten blocks away. Clark looked around to make sure no one was looking and then blitzed through the rest of his proof reading at super speed before he sent it to the layout team. Clark then stood up and walked out of the Daily Planet bullpen and made his way down to the side door that leads into the alleyway. Another quick glance to make sure no one was around, and he ripped open his button-up shirt revealing the red S and yellow shading of his suit. He jumped into the air and flew away, his civilian clothes and glasses left behind as his red cape bellowed in the wind.

Ten blocks away, the police and SWAT were in a raging battle trying to take down Mongal. Bullets broke or bounced against her skin and armor as she picked up a police cruiser and hurled it at a parked SWAT van, causing a large explosion. She jumped into the air and landed near some police officers, her boots cracking the pavement as she sliced one police officer in half at the waist with a sword before stabbing another in the chest with an alien dagger. She spun around, throwing their bodies in the process before giving another police cruiser a push kick which sent it skidding across the ground and taking out more police officers like a bowling ball would pins. Some bullets hit her near her eyes which didn't hurt but were annoying and she saw more SWAT arrive, so she raced forward and jumped up to bring her swords down only for a flying blur to come from the side and grab her.

Mongal tumbled and rolled down the street, cracking the pavement until she slammed into a parked truck. She got back to her feet and saw Superman hover in the air with his arms crossed. His superman suit was blue from head to toe with red boots, a red belt and cape with the symbol of the House of El on his chest. A red upside diamond shield with a red S and filled in with yellow.

"Kryptonian…" Mongal seethed in anger.

"Mongal. What are you doing on earth?" Superman asked her.

"Here for your blood!" Mongal leapt at him, but he just floated to the side, so she missed. When she landed she pressed a switch on her sword and spun around with it aimed at Superman. The blade then shot out revealing it was interconnected to a series of flexible metal links, so her sword doubled as a whip. Superman managed to catch the blade before it could hit his shoulder, but Mongal pressed another button, and it released a high-voltage electric shock powerful enough to hurt a Kryptonian.

"ARGH!" Superman felt his whole body seized up allowing Mongal to wrap part of the sword-whip around his head and pull, slamming him into the ground. His body made an impact crater and Mongal was quick to act, jumping at him with her dagger coming down at his head. He managed to catch her wrist at the last second, stopping it from getting close but Mongal was on top of him and forced down her wrist towards his eyes. Superman braced his arm with his other as the two aliens battled for strength until his eyes glowed red and he incinerated the dagger with his heat vision before punching her in the face and kicking her off. She was knocked into the air, so Superman flew up, grabbed her by the neck and threw her into the ground. Mongal pushed herself up as Superman grabbed her sword-whip and tore it apart with his bare hands. "It's over, Mongal. Stop."

"I will never stop. You actions have tarnished my family's name across the stars. My father is imprisoned in your accursed Phantom Zone. My brother and I are forced with live the shame. Where once our names were to be feared, now we are nothing more than dirt. You have taken my family's honor!" Mongal was enraged at Superman, but she didn't know he didn't mean for that to happen. He just stopped her father from his inhumane rule and treatment of other species.

"I'm sorry, Mongal. I truly am. I never meant for you or your brother to suffer for what your father did, but I had to stop him." Superman told her.

"I don't want your apology. I want your head!" She blitzed him at super speed, pushing his head into the cement of the street as she ran with his body and punched him in the stomach until he kicked off the ground and backflipped, landing on his feet. Mongal charged at him, so he threw out a punch, but she ducked under and slipped around, grabbing him from behind and suplexed him into the ground before punching him repeatedly in the face. After the sixth consecutive punch he grabbed her fist and headbutted her which just hurt both of them, but it allowed him to fire a burst of his heat vision which sent her flying back. Her armor was a bit scuffed and melted from Superman's heat vision but she undeterred and charged again. This time, Superman didn't underestimate her, dodging and blocking her punches and kicks before using his greater speed and flight to his advantage. He punched her up into the air before flying above her and landing a double hammer fist that knocked her to the ground. With her being Mongal's daughter, he didn't need to pull his punches. He couldn't with her and when she got back up she attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. A few hit him but he managed to block and counter the rest with hits of his own.

She threw out a side kick, but he grabbed her leg and slammed her into the ground repeatedly before throwing her into a car which he then blew up with a burst of his heat vision. Afterward, he used his freeze breath and froze Mongal in the now frozen car wreck but miraculously her head was still freeze which meant she was struggling to get free with all her limbs unable to move.

"Enough, Mongal. Let this end. I'm sorry for you and your brother but I can't let you hurt anymore people." Superman told her.

"I could care less about the humans. I just want you, Kryptonian." Mongal then adopted a smirk on face. "And lucky for me, you have just as many enemies as my father did."

Clark was worried by that statement when he was suddenly blasted from the side by a beam of Kryptonite energy. He tumbled on the ground and felt a great deal of stinging pain in his side from where he was hit but also just felt an entire body pain along with being weaker. He saw a man walking down the street towards him wearing boots, jeans, and a black shirt but it was unbuttoned revealing a mechanical prosthetic on his chest with a large chunk of green Kryptonite acting as his heart. The man's face may be human, but he was pure machine underneath. John Corben was once a mercenary who did dirty work for Lex Luthor and after several encounters with Superman, Lex used him as a Guinea pig for an experiment, turning him into a cyborg. The only human part of Corben that remained was his brain but everything else was promethium metal, making him strong enough to face Superman and with the Kryptonite heart as his power source, enough to maybe even kill him. He's been a constant pain in Superman's side for years. Metallo.

"Hello, Superman. Fancy seeing us." Metallo smirked.

"Us?" Superman was confused when he saw Metallo suddenly disappear from view and was replaced by a man wearing a black suit with red sensor nodes all over. This was Edward Lytener, a former Luthor Corp employee who revealed some secrets for an article Lois Lane wrote in an attempt to get her to notice him. Classis obsessive stalker but she didn't notice him since she was more focused on Superman. So, he created a special suit that manipulates light as well as produces red sun radiation, one of the things that can hurt Superman. Lytener became known as Luminous. "Lytener?"

"Hello, Superman." Luminous smirked as the sensor nodes on the suit began to glow red. It had absorbed enough sunlight and was converting it into red sun radiation which he fired from the palm of his hand and hit Superman in the chest, knocking him back. "Oh, I've been wanting to do that for three years since you locked me away! You have a lot to think about when you're in prison and you can also make some new friends."

Lytener then vanished as his suit bended the light around him to appear invisible and then in his place was a large man wearing yellow and green armor but the most noticeable thing about him was the fact that his head was just a skull covered in green flames. Joseph Martin was just a security guard at Luthor Corp before an accident ruined his life. Some kind of radiation experiment went wrong and while Superman managed to prevent a nuclear disaster, Martin was exposed to the energy from the experiment which gave him the fiery head, greater strength and durability and the ability to absorb and produce atomic energy from his head or hands. Joseph Martin died and became Atomic Skull.

"Hey, there, Supes. I got something for you." Atomic Skull charged and landed an atomic energy infused uppercut that sent Superman flying away until he crashed onto a car. Still weakened from the red sun radiation, the impact hurt. Atomic Skull then turned and blasted the ice encasing Mongal, melting it and freeing her. Shimmers of light appeared making Luminous and Metallo reappear. Mongal smiled and leapt into the air, landing on Superman and causing him further pain as she pulled out a dagger from her boot.

"My father may have been too proud to accept help from others, but I do not share his weakness." Mongal sliced his cheek with her dagger, revealing it was sharp enough to cut/kill him. "I will make the ruins of your city my new home and mount your skull on my new throne. This whole planet and soon the whole galaxy will know that it was Mongal who defeated the great Superman and ended the Kryptonian race."

[Sonic boom]

Mongal looked up and was struck by something moving faster than the speed of sound, fast enough that it was just a blur of crimson and white to her. Moving at that speed it with the force of a Kryptonian. The impact sent her back down the street where she crashed into Atomic Skull and Metallo. Luminous was confused as to what just happened when a red speeding blur raced by and sent him flying back. Superman pulled himself out of the wrecked car and fell onto the pavement but managed to push himself back up to his knees. The effects of the red sun radiation and Kryptonite were slowly fading, and his strength was returning. He heard another sonic boom and looked up to see Supergirl fly down to him.

"Kal, are you ok?" She rushed over and helped him back to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm all right." He got back up and the rays of the yellow sun were slowly healing him. Despite the circumstances he was glad to see Kara. "It's good to see you, Kara."

"Good to see you too. It's been too long." She said.

"Yeah. How did you know I needed help?" He asked her.

"A friend of mine told me and we came as soon as we could." Kara answered which is when Impulse and Flash slid a stop next to them.

"Superman, are you all right?" Impulse asked.

"I'm good. Thanks for the assistance." Superman held out his hand and shook his. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise." Impulse then looked at Flash. "Superman meet the Flash. Flash meet Superman. Real introductions will have to wait for later."

"Right." Superman cracked his neck and stood up as Mongal, Metallo, and Atomic Skull got up. Luminous did as well and they squared up together, still ready to fight Superman. Superman stepped forward, ready to continue the fight but he was joined by his cousin Supergirl on his right. Impulse then walked in on his left with the Flash right next to him.

"Four against four seems like better odds." Flash quipped.

Impulse saw that Metallo was going to be the real problem for Superman and Supergirl with the Kryptonite heart, so he needed to be dealt with. Luminous too as he was where the red sun radiation was coming from. "Flash and I will deal with Metallo and Luminous leaving you two with the heavy hitters."

"Sounds good to me." Supergirl tightened her fist.

"Two Kryptonians…perfect." Mongal smirked, pulling out a dagger from her boot, the last dagger she had. "Your skulls will decorate my hall when this is over."

"Sheesh, she needs some hobbies." Supergirl remarked.

"Just because you have some friends, Superman, doesn't mean you're walking out of this alive." Metallo charged up his heart and fired a Kryptonite blast only for Impulse to fire a repulsor beam. The two cancelled each other out, creating a huge plume of smoke for cover. Then out from the smoke came Impulse and Flash, the former of whom landed a Mach punch that sent Metallo tumbling down the street. Luminous quickly projected numerous hard light copies of himself to hide from the Flash who began to take them down one by one. Superman and Supergirl flew through the smoke together and took on Atomic Skull and Mongal.

Metallo tumbled and rolled from his impact but managed to get back to his feet and turned around, firing energy blasts from his Kryptonite heart at Impulse who was too fast for him to hit. As Impulse raced around, dodging Kryptonite energy blasts he landed super speed punches all over Metallo's metal body. Vibrating his fists at super speed made up for the fact that he didn't have the strength of a Kryptonian, but Metallo's body was comprised of Promethium metal making him nearly indestructible. Impulse's repeated hits kept Metallo from finding solid ground and put him at a disadvantage, at least that what Impulse thought. Metallo's cybernetics were designed by Lex Luthor with the sole purpose of killing Superman, so they were calibrated to deal with his various powers including his super speed. His cybernetic processing chip installed in Metallo's human brain allowed him to process and analyze how fast Impulse was moving and in what directions so it wasn't long before it managed to calculate where he would be next.

Metallo held out his right arm just as Impulse raced by causing the speedster to get hit like a clothesline. He was knocked off his feet and since he was moving so fast he tumbled and rolled down the street until he hit a fire hydrant. Head first, naturally.

"Shit…" Impulse grabbed his head in pain as Metallo walked over. The cyborg grabbed him by the neck and held him up in the air, so his feet were dangling off the ground and squeezed. "Ack…gak!"

This gave Impulse a good look at Metallo's real appearance. All the super speed punches had cut and torn the clothes he wore over his metal body and the fake human skin he wore. Impulse could see the green cybernetic eyes and the metal skin and teeth as half of Metallo's fake face had been torn off. It gave him a more macabre appearance.

"Did you really think you stood a chance against me? I've fought Superman so what hope did you have in stopping me?"

"Tw—Two…" Impulse managed to utter. "First…I—I'm not we—weak to Kryptonite."

"And what's the second?" Metallo taunted as he pulled his free hand back to punch Impulse's face in.

[Swoosh]

Metallo looked down and saw Impulse's right arm vibrating through his chest. He phased it through Metallo's promethium metal chest and punched the Kryptonite out of his body. It had clanked to the ground behind him. "That."

"YOU BAST—" Metallo didn't finish his sentence as he ran out of power. The Kryptonite was one of the only sources of energy powerful enough to keep him moving so without it, he was caput. He had a built-in backup power battery that would only keep his vitals alive but without the Kryptonite he wouldn't able to move.

Impulse phased his entire body and slipped out of Metallo's grasp. He then walked over and picked up the giant chunk of Kryptonite. "One down, four to go." He subtly broke off a piece of the Kryptonite and put it into his belt before he super sped away.

With the Flash, he was speeding all over a clustered street dealing with the hard light clones of Luminous. The villain realized he couldn't deal with a speedster so he kept him occupied with numerous copies so he wouldn't know which one was the real one and then would blast him with regular light beams from the energy his suit absorbed. Red sun radiation was good against a Kryptonian but against a speedster it was no different than regular sunlight. The Flash was moving at super speed and taking down the copies in quick succession but Luminous was able to make more and more and kept turning invisible, so he was hard to keep track of.

"Is that all you got, Speedster? What's the matter? Having trouble finding the real one?" Luminous boasted as Flash kept running around. The copies all looked alike, and they kept moving so he was having a hard time keeping track of the real one which is when he noticed some things. The copies didn't expand past the block they were fighting on so Luminous had to be in the area. Only one of the Luminous copies would attack him and the others just stood there or walked around so that had to be the real one. After he would attack he would turn invisible, and more copies would appear so he could blend in with them upon turning visible again. The more the Flash observed the more patterns he could see but the light of the sun moving past a cloud in the sky gave him his biggest one. When the sun rays came down it casted a shadow on him but only on one Luminous, the real one. That was the way to distinguish the real one, so the Flash raced to the end of the block. "Tired already, speedster?"

"I sure hope I've got this down." The Flash sped forward and then spun around like a top before landing on one knee, sending a small tornado of wind and lightning forward like he saw Impulse do once. The tornado moved forward quickly taking out the copies alongside the bolts of lightning. Then acting quickly, the Flash threw another lightning at the tornado causing it to explode outward, sending lightning out in a wide arc which took out all the copies and struck Luminous.

"GAHH!" Luminous was electrocuted by lightning which short-circuited the sensor nodes in his suit. The Flash then raced by and knocked him out with a sucker punch before quickly tying him up. Impulse sped over next to him holding the Kryptonite which he had incased in some nanites from his armor.

"Nice work. Let's go." Impulse and Flash raced over to help Supergirl and Superman against Mongal and Atomic Skull.

The fight was brutal and epic as it was two heavy weights against two heavy weights. Atomic Skull gave it his all against Superman, repeatedly punching him with his atomic energy fists and blasting him with atomic energy breath. Radiation was enough to help him fight against a Kryptonian, but Superman had fought Atomic Skull before, so he was aware of his tricks. Superman ducked, dodged his atomic energy fists, and landed punches at his chest and stomach. The atomic energy experiment may make him stronger, but it had limits.

Supergirl was fighting against Mongal to give her cousin a breather. Mongal was strong and well trained, so this really put Supergirl through the ringer and all the training she's done with Alex was paying off here. Supergirl blocked a punch and landed her own to Mongal's face but then was hit in the stomach with a gut punch. Mongal punched her in the face twice but the third was blocked before Supergirl headbutted her. They both recoiled a bit before Mongal grabbed Supergirl by neck and held her up, strangling her. "Your cousin is my target but killing you both will be just as sweet. You were a fool to interfere!"

Supergirl flew up with Mongal still holding her but without the ground beneath her feet she lost her footing. Supergirl then punched her in the face hard which sent her crashing down. Mongal got back up as Supergirl came in with a flying punch across the face before a kick to the chest sent her into a car. "You mess with my cousin you mess with me." Supergirl flew forward and tackled Mongal through the car and down the street.

Superman uppercut Atomic Skull into the air and then punched him into the ground like Supergirl did only to get blasted back by an atomic energy blast from his mouth. Atomic Skull didn't let up and continued blasting Superman when he was struck from the left by something moving fast. He turned and was then struck from behind before two blurs raced around him at super speed. Impulse and Flash hit him with speed punches all over before they increase their speed and made a wind funnel that began to suck Atomic Skull into the air. Superman saw his chance, so he flew forward and grabbed Atomic Skull by the collar and flew straight up several thousand feet. He used his freeze breath to encase Atomic Skull's head in ice before a final punch to the chest sent him back down to earth where he crash landed in his own impact crater. Superman flew down next to Impulse and Flash and they saw Atomic Skull down for the count.

Mongal was thrown into a car before Supergirl picked her up and slammed her into the ground only to get kicked in the head. Mongal ripped a light pole out of the sidewalk and smacked Supergirl with it. She crashed into a car and saw Mongal leap at her so she used her heat vision to melt the light pole mid-swing so it didn't nothing allowing her to uppercut Mongal into the air. Superman flew by and punched her into the ground and when she got back up Impulse and Flash hit her from behind with two Mach punches into Supergirl who reared her fist back and landed one powerful uppercut right in her face. Mongal flew all the way up into the sky until she was nothing more than a blip before falling straight back down. Mongal's landing made a large impact crater and the two Kryptonians looked down to see Mongal in bad shape. Bleeding with dents or breaks in her armor. She slowly tried to get back up but her strength gave way and she passed out.

Impulse and Flash walked over and were glad that it was over. "That was a tough one." Flash admitted as they saw the DEO jeeps and helicopters arrive.

"Right on time." Impulse quipped as Alex got out of one of the jeeps and raced over to Supergirl who was a little banged up and bruised but nothing that some time in the sun would heal.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Alex. A little sore but fine." Supergirl assured her.

"More than fine. She saved me. Thanks for coming. All of you." Superman said to her, Impulse, and Flash. "Metallo and Luminous?"

"Taken care of. And here's the Kryptonite." Impulse held up the incased chunk.

"Good. Nicely done." Superman told them when he saw Henshaw walk over. "Henshaw."

"Superman." Henshaw's greeting was just as curt and brief as Superman's. "Glad you're all right. We'll be taking Mongal into custody."

"Don't let me get in your way." Superman stepped to the side so the DEO could get to work.

Alex, Supergirl, Impulse, and Flash noticed how icy the two were being with one another. "What's that about?" Supergirl asked Kara.

"I have no idea." Alex answered before giving Clark one last look. "Your cousin smells really nice."

"Please, stop." Kara told her.

The DEO took Mongal into custody for transport back to the DEO. Metallo, Atomic Skull, and Luminous were also taken into custody but were handed over to the Metropolis police for transport back to Stryker's Island penitentiary. Impulse handed over the Kryptonite to Superman so he could get rid of it.

The DEO packed up and left once they were done leaving behind the heroes. "So, is this what it's like for you here in Metropolis?" Supergirl asked him.

"More or less." He admitted before the two cousins hugged. "Glad to see you're doing ok, Kara."

"You too, Kal. It's been too long." She told him.

"I know and I'm sorry. We shouldn't let something like distance keep us from meeting up every now and then, especially since both of us can fly. Maybe we can meet up every week or so for lunch or something." Clark suggested.

"That sounds great and I'd love to." Kara smiled when she noticed Naruto and Barry. "Right, Kal. There are some introductions to be made. These are some friends of mine. This is Impulse and the Flash, Naruto Namikaze and Barry Allen. Naruto, Barry, this is my cousin Superman."

"Please, call me Clark. Any friend of Kara's is a friend of mine." Clark shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you too. Kara's spoken a lot about you." Barry told her.

"All good things I hope." Clark hoped.

"They are. Good to see you again, Clark." Naruto said to him.

"You too. And thanks again for the help. What brings you back? Kara told me you were on your way home." Clark remembered from an email she sent him.

"I was and I made it back. Wanted to pop in for a visit and to introduce Kara to my friends. Now that I've got this multiversal travel thing down to an exact science I think we can make trips like this a regular thing. If you're up for it we'd be happy to show you and Kara around Earth-1. I've got something really special in mind that I think you two would like to see." Naruto said, referring to the Hall of Justice.

"Sounds great though I'm not sure how open my schedule leaves me. I get pretty busy." Clark admitted.

"Yeah, we can tell." Barry looked around at all the damage from the fight.

"Yeah…sorry about this." Kara apologized. Looking at all the damage it was kind of bad and would take a long time for it to be fixed.

"Well, there are two Kryptonians and two speedsters here so maybe we can fix all this up. Shouldn't take too long." Naruto suggested. "We helped make some of this mess so it's only right we help clean up."

"I appreciate that." Clark said and the four got to work cleaning and repairing all the damage done in their fight. With the speed of two speedsters and strength of two Kryptonians, what would have taken city workers and contractors weeks or months to fix took only a few hours and most of that was figuring out the logistics of getting some building material.

Later that night…

National City

"Oh, that is good. Hot fudge, brownie pieces, whip cream, and nearly every single flavor of ice cream possible. You know, I was a little upset that you all got ice cream without me, but this is making up for it." Naruto said as he dug into his monster of a sundae. A very large sundae. Comically large.

"Yeah, this is what I needed." Kara licked her ice cream cone and was enjoying herself. Upon returning to National City from helping Clark deal with his rogue's gallery of supervillains and cleaning up, Naruto was in the mood for ice cream so Kara took him to a place she likes. "Thanks again for helping my cousin."

"Don't mention it. Superhero code of ethics dictate that we help each other." Naruto joked. "Besides, it finally gave me a chance to talk to him and you about the possibility of you two visiting my earth."

"That does sound fun and your Hall of Justice sounds great." Kara admitted. During the cleanup, Naruto and Barry had recounted some of their adventures to Clark and most recently how they had formed the Justice League. Naruto opened up an invitation for both Kara and Clark to join as he thought they would be great additions to their growing league of heroes. While the logistics seemed to be an issue since Kara and Clark were on another earth, Naruto's genius and interdimensional extrapolator made that a non-issue. Clark was definitely intrigued and was in the likely yes category.

"So, as a member of the Justice League does this mean I get my own chair and everything?" Kara wondered.

"Yup, you will and I'm working on extrapolators for you and Clark so you guys can come back and forth." Naruto replied when he thought of something. "You think J'onn would be open to joining?" Kara wasn't sure how to answer that. "I know that Henshaw is really a Green Martian. Don't worry, it's between us and he already knows. We talked back at the DEO before I came to get you to help Clark."

"Oh." Kara thought it over. "What do you think?"

"I think it would be good. On my earth, he wouldn't have to worry about Hank Henshaw's identity so he could assume his true form and considering all the strange things the league has already dealt with then a Green Martian wouldn't be an issue. What do you think?"

"I'm all for it. I think it would be good for J'onn. No longer having to hide and being himself. With other heroes and special people like him and doing some good for the world. I'm all for it. Guess we just have to convince him." Kara remarked.

"Well between my charm and easygoing nature combined with your natural likeability then I think we can do it." Naruto joked and Kara chuckled. The two were enjoying this little moment together. Just two friends eating ice cream before they would go join the others for dinner.

"Hey, it's Supergirl!"

The shout from one of the people in the ice cream parlor had everyone look at the TV hanging up in the corner. It had a breaking news report about an accident on the highway and Supergirl just arrived to help.

"How are you there?" Naruto asked her.

"I'm not. That's not me." Kara said. They saw the Supergirl lift an overturned car up off the highway before she hurled it away to the shock of everyone. "Yeah, that's definitely not me."

"Oh, boy. This isn't good." Naruto muttered.

End of Chapter 21

1). For those that don't remember, go revisit chapter 7 of the story. It has been a while, but part of Naruto's parents death involves the Nine and ASA work. It's in chapter 7 if you need a refresher.

2). Naruto's Ronin gear is the same as Ronin in the MCU though instead of gold, his has crimson accents and coloring. This is something that Naruto and Jiraiya can wear when he wants to kick ass like a vigilante and not risk Impulse appearing.

3). For those wondering, I'm loosely going off the backstory and history for Mongol from the DC animated Universe being the 2000s Justice League Cartoon.

And FYI for everyone, there were some additions to Chapter 20, mainly the part between Naruto, Linda, and Mazikeen so please go back, reread, and enjoy. Shoutout to Masamune X23, my Beta reader, they were very prominent in the rewrites/additions.

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. That's chapter 21 done. Naruto's secondary jaunt through the multiverse involves this friends and the first stop is to see Kara. They've met Supergirl and Superman and it'll be the first of many visits to her earth. Also, Naruto has met with Hank Henshaw AKA J'onn J'onzz and is working on earning his trust. And his time in Freeland before his visit was important as well, not only for his work against the Nine but in establishing a solid relationship with Jefferson Pierce should the day Black Lightning ever return.

Next chapter, Naruto helps Kara deal with her Bizarro clone and after that it's off to show the others the Game of Thrones earth and then finish with Supernatural. Until next time.

Updates for September: For September, it'll likely What IF Superman and Mandalorian Maverick updated at the end of the month.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, reviews, and words of encouragement. Special thanks to Masamune X23, my Beta reader. He gives me a lot of great ideas for this story as well as my other ones as well. Also, thanks to War Sage, JhotoLoraxius, Omni-Creator Kami of Anime and all the other people who PM me with ideas for my stories. Thank you, guys. They help a lot. Also, make sure to check my DeviantArt every now and then for new pics I'll put up. I've made cover photos for about all my stories, but I'll have more pics made so check them out.

Also, not sure if you checked my profile page but I do have a P-A-T-R-E-O-N page now. It's Choejhulkp9 writing endeavor. Don't feel pressured to sign up. Regardless, I still plan on doing what I'm doing. Writing for free and updating on and I'm slowly working on Wattpad. Sorry I'm really bad about that. But for those that would like to help with what they can or are feeling gracious, it would be greatly appreciated. I've got tiers for any small amount. Again, don't feel pressured.

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze AKA Impulse

Actor appearance: Lightly Blonde-haired Kento Yamazaki.

Date of Birth 10/8/1992: Technical age on Earth-1: 23. Actual Age is 27 due to time spent traveling the multiverse and in the Speed Force.

Personality: Caring, kind, intelligent, passionate, driven yet easy-going and a jokester. Deeply cares about the people close to him and will give his life to them if he needs to. Always someone dependable and can be relied on. When on a mission or in a fight, 100% focused. Has made peace with his darkness and found inner balance so is willing to skirt the line into a morally grey area.

Casual outfit: modified Nike running sneakers, black jeans, a red t-shirt, and grey and white zipper coat long sleeve jacket hoodie. Or Black dress shoes, Navy dress pants, a long white sleeve button-up shirt and a crimson or black sports jacket.

Business outfit: Black or Blue Three-piece business suit.

Uniform: Impulse (The Crimson Speedster Cover Photo Suit)

Advanced suit made of Vibranium nanotech liquid metal and Quantum State meta-material skinsuit. Quantum State meta-material allows it to be altered and easily adapt to certain environmental changes such as resilience to drastic changes in heat, pressure, or kinetic motion. Material mimics the wearers physical properties and provides protection. Added in layers of Vibranium nanotech liquid metal allow for ease of use as well as incredible protection making suit virtually indestructible. Controlled via subdermal implant on the back of his neck behind the right ear, allowing Naruto to control the suit via mental command. The liquid metal nature of nanotech allows Naruto to adjust and rearrange suit to his desired specification along with creating a variety of items/weapons including his forearm holographic touchpad computer, forearm blades and repulsor blasters on wrists, and battle mode cowl. Embedded with magical rune work to protect user from magical damage or effects. Capable of using repulsors for flight.

Phone with Gideon's neuromorphic matrix

Flash Ring contains suit

Earth-2 Smartwatch. Contains suit and using Pym Particle technology, Naruto has shrunk down various items for safe keeping inside of the watch for future use or in case of emergency

Hidden in Smartwatch: Valyrian Steel/Vibranium Reverse-Blade Katana with black painted scabbard with red and white charcoal lightning, Supernatural Angel Blade, Anti-Demon Possession Charm, Pym Particle Shrinking ray, various medical supplies, emergency shrunken 10,000 Speedster-calorie energy bars, Kiseki cellular regeneration healing serum, piece of Kryptonite.

Interdimensional Extrapolator: Teleporter for multiversal travel and teleporting while on a singular earth.

· Uniform: Ronin

o Black tactical combat uniform resembling a mix of a modern samurai and ninja. Composed of Vibranium nanotech liquid metal and Quantum State meta-material offering complete protection. Primarily black suit with crimson outlines throughout. Black mask with gap over the eyes and a hood for identity concealment with armor on the shoulders, arms, and legs. Armor vambraces contain hidden kunai with chain. The belt contains titanium shuriken for throwing with a few augmented with explosives, smoke, and flashbang modifications. Collapsible bo-staff hidden on belt that can be split in half to form two escrima fighting sticks. Valyrian Steel/Vibranium Reverse-Blade Katana with black painted scabbard with red and white charcoal lighting sheathed on back.

Resources:

CEO and owner of STAR labs with vast access to cutting-edge technology, Satellite system, and billions of dollars. Weathersby and Stone Law Firm.

Partnership with Wayne Enterprises to further business and scientific deals

Co-owner of Palmer Technologies/Formerly Queen Consolidated

Partnership with Ferris Aircraft and STAR labs Avionics/Aerospace

Subsidiaries: Stagg Industries, Atlas Private Security, STAR labs Foundation and Future Foundation grant, FEAST (Food, Emergency, AID, Shelter, and Training).

Known Locations: Central City, New York City, Los Angeles. Gotham, Freeland, and Star City in construction. Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, London, Paris, Berlin in contract negotiations.

Hall of Justice

Current top speed for Naruto Namikaze AKA Impulse: Limits top speed to Mach 40 for safety concerns of surrounding environment/Unknown maximum speed

Current abilities in bold are unlocked now

Super Speed/Speed force aura: Crimson and white lightning

Training in combat by Oliver Queen and Jiraiya

Training in Kali (Escrima), Wing Chun Kung Fu, Sambo, Systema, Judo, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Pencak Silat, Karate, Muay Thai, archery, and Kendo.

Accelerated healing

Superhuman endurance

Superhuman reflexes & agility

Improved homeostasis

Enhanced strength/durability

Enhanced mental capabilities to speed read and process information quickly

Heavily resistant to mind control and most psychic attacks

Superhuman intelligence

Current Level: Smartest person on Earth-1 and Earth-2. Same genius level-intellect as Eobard Thawne

Speed punches: Mach punch

Speed force constructs: Draws power directly from the speed force to create solid constructs like armor or even weapons (Drains stamina quickly)

Speed force armor: increases speed and resistant to damage

Speed force weapons: weapons made up of pure speed force energy, highly destructive

Molecular Oscillation: Vibrate molecules at high frequency

Accelerated Mass/Force punch

Physical disruption

Air solidification-wind funnels

Intangibility/phasing

Dimensional Travel

Speed Mirage

Time Travel

Temporal Awareness: ability to detect any alterations to the time-stream and remember multiple timelines

Lighting generation/manipulation

Lightning Blade attack

Multiple Pairings: Naruto x Linda Park

Eventually: Lena Luthor, Sara Lance, Kara Danvers

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Flash, or any DC properties or any properties used, all rights belong to their respective owners, I'm just a big fan.