25Author note: before you being this story, know I have no idea where I'm going with this and it might not even be completed. I'm writing this mostly out of boredom and have no real plans for the story outside of an eventual Naruto/Harley. This is rated M for several reason due to my twisted mind needing a reprieve and outlet. There will be mentions of rape, abuse, suicide, depression, and hurt. I'll try to keep them to a minimum, but the warning is there.
The night air was cold on his skin as he walked through the empty village, still with no wind like the air itself agreed to pay respects to the dead. He had failed everyone. His mentor, his predecessor, his leader. He failed, and yet, he somehow did succeed. Success at stopping the end of the world, but what world remained when only a handful of people survived?
Whole villages had been whipped out by the final assault, untold amounts of casualties, but hey, they won. Victory had never felt so empty for him. He had tried opening up to the woman he thought was his, but that fell empty. Not her fault really, he was just cold and numb. Oh sure he'd put on that stupid grin and play cheerful but she could see right through him, in more sense than the fact she could literally see right through him with her eyes. She had called him out for being the liar he was, told him he needed to grieve.
Greif. What a fun word; the deep sorrow, especially that caused by someone's death. How was he supposed to simply overlook the death of millions? Men, women, children, all dead because a rabbit bitch of a wannabe goddess decided she didn't like sharing what wasn't hers. She had ripped chakra from near everyone, even nature itself damn near. This world was dying and there wasn't a damn thing he could do. He wasn't the savior he tried to be, he wasn't the solution to every problem the world could dream up.
PEOPLE HAD DIED BECAUSE HE COULDN'T STOP THE BITCH IN TIME!
Even the combined might of Kurama, nature, and a deus ex machina couldn't stop her. Kurama. His life long companion and closest friend; the damn fox had been with him since birth. His father had died stealing half of kurama into him, his mother had died holding the fox still long enough for the seal to take effect, His god father had died trying to keep the fox inside of him, only for the dumb fox to expend near every bit of the chakra that made his being to save his host from being torn apart by a dimensional wall Kaguya had held him against. Oh the fox wasn't dead, but it might as well be, as it was barely a wisp of itself.
LIke that traitorous duck headed shit cared. All the damn power in the world and he still didn't understand he wasn't alone. The full might of Indra inside the idiot and he still died alone because he kept pushing people away. His oh so precious eyes gouged out, body broken and all that power he vaunted, tossed everything aside for, all that devastation he brought, useless against kaguya. The emo's final breath used to help him seal the bitch away. Not like it mattered in the end, there were only 16 survivors left in the world now. Even less once starvation caught up. The elemental nations barren, lands once rich with life now desolate. They were starving, holed up in the ruins of the village of his birth and there was nothing he could do. Nothing he could say. He truly was a useless dummy, wasn't he?
With only fifteen people, sixteen counting himself, survivors of the chakra massacre as they were calling it, what could they really do? The lands refused to produce growth, the bijuu were gone, no animal life remained, the stores of food now dwindling down to nothing. Nothing he did made any difference. He had moved around the world trying to find a habitable place for them to nurse their wounds and maybe start over, but nothing. It was as if Nature was shuddering her last breath.
Then the deaths began: 16 became 15. Tsunade succumbed to the injuries she sustained in the fight. His last living connection to the Uzumaki and remaining relative passed in an induced coma. 15 became 14, The tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, the only person to survive ALL of her chakra being ripped from her body. Her body was pulled down from a tree limb that morning when the watcher's found her, she had hung herself. They were dying one by one. Iruka, Sakura, Kiba, Karui.
Hinata.
Hinata's death had hurt him the most. He had found her under the rubble of the collapsed hokage tower, her lower body pinched between the ground and about 4 tons of rubble. He had had to send her to the shinigami himself so she didn't suffer. Her last words to him, spoken through shuddering gasps mixed with blood and spittle, were asking him to stop lying to himself, stop hiding under a mask, to stop presenting a fake smile. He snapped her neck in a quick twist so she wouldn't suffer.
There were only eight of them left, as Naruto walked through the ruins of what once was his home. Eight people that held little hope of survival, well Shikamaru still did, somehow. The lazy genius was ironically the only one who hadn't been broken and was still searching for an answer. The laziest of them all was working while the other 6 was waiting for the end. Naruto didn't hold out for hope, but he helped anyways, as it was something to do, something to get his mind of his colossal failure of saving the world, only to doom it.
Footsteps crushed the rubble under foot as someone came rushing towards him in a quick gait. He could smell the tobacco from shika's cigarette, one of the few things they had in plenty, cruelly enough, dwindling supplies of food, stockpiles full of tobacco.
"I believe I found something Naruto ," The lazy genius exclaimed as he came to a stop beside the hunched and broken form of the man.
Naruto turned and stared at him, his dead blue eyes without hope searching the other man. Tall and thin, Shikamaru had grown so much to resemble his late father. Scars and all. His green flak jacket, covered in dirt and frayed from years of service, hung open on his shoulder. "There is a way to save us, Naruto . I found it."
The man turned to face the other slowly, his head tilted to the side in question.
"It is out there, I get it, but I've worked through every possibility, every algorithm, every theoretical outcome."
The blonde raised his brow as he waited for the frantic man to get on with it,
"I found a way to open the dimensional wall."
Naruto blinked. Then blinked again. Slowly an emotion entered his dead eyes, one he mostly felt aimed towards himself; anger. With a snarl he lifted the genius by his neck and slammed him against the wall and pointed at the burn mark on the side of his head, starting from just above his left brow and ending near his Adam's apple in deep stretched, raised skin, covering the skin from just over the bridge of his nose to behind where his left ear used to be. The pale blue of his left eye and the bright cerulean of his right seemed to shimmer in the moonlight as rage danced in their reflection.
"I know Naruto , but we have no other option. We are dying. We have nothing else to lose. Think about it," he pulled at the hand holding him up, trying to ease the discomfort of the stone like flesh and muscle. What exactly could he say to placate a man who had to regrow half his head 16 times in the space of a second? "It's a seal, not unlike your father's hiraishin (flying thunder god) technique, we would literally be opening the wall for a few seconds, but the chakra cost would be extreme and the people holding the gate would have to be left behind. Only two can be sent."
Naruto glared at the man before sighing and dropping him and running a hand through what remained of his hair on the top of his head and the choppy growth on his chin in thought. Turning in question, he raised a brow and patted his belly.
"Are you asking if Kurama could help?" Nod "I don't think so, as you made clear yourself, the fox is almost gone. No, even with the fox helping, it would still take at least 6 of us. I've already spoken to the others and we are discussing who we will send. I came to get you for the meeting so we could talk it over."
Naruto sighed and turned to begin walking towards the rest of the group. He got three steps before he froze.
"Kagemane technique success" Shikamaru sighed, "I truly am sorry Naruto . I really am, but I wasn't completely honest. Even with as depleted as you are, I know I can't hold you very long, but I did lie. The rest of use already discussed and chose the survivors," He took a pull on his cigarette and blew the smoke out of his nose, "we chose the best of us and our future," he stuck a tag to Naruto 's as he walked around him as he talked, tears gently pouring from his eyes, "we chose you and Mirai Sarutobi," the words were becoming cloudy as darkness began to block his vision, "...am sorry Naruto . Hopefully we'll be done before you wake up from the sleep seal."
This was all he heard before his body was released from the shadow holding him still and falling bonelessly to the ground, the haze of unconsciousness already taking hold.
With a groan, he opened his eyes. The loud noises of the village he was squatting in pilfering through the thin moldy walls and seemed to echo through his skull. It had been a week since he had been thrown in this dimension. A week he had been forced to steal what they needed for food, not that he really minded, food was scarce in the elemental nations after Kaguya. Because of her, nothing would grow, and what was once vibrant viridian was now withered and rotted. Stealing was actually fairly simple in this world, as the civilians weren't trained to spot pilfering shinobi. Stealth wasn't really his style, as he preferred open combat, but he didn't want the warriors, guardians, police or whatever to be onto him so he only took what he needed to feed Mirai and left. He'd seen that big blue person with the strange red and yellow shield on his chest keep a large building from falling, so he did his best to ignore the hunger pains and just take what was needed. Mirai was quiet most of the time, hardly making much more noise than a sniffle, probably still missing Iruka.
Naruto sighed. A week he'd been here, after waking up in just his boxers for some reason, he had tried to find resources and shelter. And clothes. He had found a newspaper, but the language was weird and very different from the language of the konoha or the land of fire, so information scouting wasn't in the picture until he learned a way to communicate. Which seemed to be his biggest issue. Due to his scarring, he could barely talk above a hoarse whisper and even then it was difficult so he tended to just make gestures. Which got him bloody nowhere, lovely. Still, he had found what seemed to be an abandoned apartment building as a sort of base of operations that he jokingly dubbed the hokage tower, if only in his head, and he walked the streets trying to at least learn the lay out of the land (his godfather may have been a perv but he DID know how to spy and did teach him the basics.)
So many things were quite obviously different in this world. For one thing, the vehicles. One such rolled passed him and left him in a coughing fit from the exhaust of its engine, leaving his eyes watery and his lungs straining for clean air. That was another thing, the air was filthy! Smoke poured from pipes on top of the buildings like out of a Sarutobi's mouth, filling the air with noxious fumes.
Making a mental note to keep Mirai away from tobacco period, he made his way back to the building they were squatting in, snagging a few red sweet smelling fruits as he went. It was dark and he was fast so he doubted anyone really saw him move. He wasn't too worried. Still, it did feel like he was being watched. Whoever they were, they were good. He couldn't sense them at all. sight, smell or sound, it was like they weren't there.
Stopping just in the alley beside the apartment building he stopped and scanned the area again, looking for anyone watching him before jumping onto the side of the wall and walking up to the window he used for an entrance. As he entered, he could immediately hear Mirai sniffling and it broke his heart. They hadn't even given Iruka a proper burial before Shikamaru knocked them out and warped them here, the asshole. Could've at least allowed them to say goodbye. Not like they could go back, their world was dying and Naruto didn't see the seal they used to send them here nor was he some sealing prodigy. Oh he knew a bit on sealing, but not enough to recreate say, an interdimensional gateway. Best he could do is make storage seals and explosive tags even though he tended to overload them and make them short out.
With a snort, he followed the sniffling over to a mound of blankets in the corner where a 3 year old Mirai was hiding and placed the fruits down. He didn't know what they were called, but Mirai liked them well enough. Sitting down beside the mound with a sigh, he cracked his neck and leaned his head against the wall, wishing he at least had Konohamaru or Moegi to help him with the child. Children were not his strong point. Give him a plot of land needing reshaped, he could do that. Cheer up an incredibly withdrawn upset child that hardly knew him? Oh he tried doing the silly faces and the funny noises, but the girl just stared at him. How did Iruka do it?
Weight on his leg brought him out of his reverie as he looked down and saw Mirai laying her head on his leg like a pillow. Poor girl had been through hell. Before her birth, her father, Asuma was killed by the akatsuki member Hiden, she was just a newborn when Nagato leveled the village then losing her mother, Kurenai when Kaguya ripped the chakra from damn near everything on the planet. Most of her life she'd struggled to just to survive and by jove, survive she did. He smiled, as best he could, and ran his hand through her hair gently.
He may not be a smart person, but he could and would fight for her survival. First thing he needed to do was get back some of his strength, though he doubted he'd ever be as strong as he was when he beat Kaguya. Without Kurama awake and able to assist, the fox was barely even a presence in the seal and even then barely an echo of thought as it reformed. To be honest, he was actually surprised he wasn't going into shock from the lack of the foxes presence.
He continued rubbing Mirai's head before looking around the room. That feeling of being watched was back and stronger like someone was in the room with them. He shivered, hoping ghosts weren't a thing in this world, how do you fight something that's intangible? Whatever it was, it was seriously giving him the creeps. Looking around the dark room wasn't doing anything and he couldn't smell the presence, so what could he do? Closing his eyes he focused hard on his ears, trying hard to hear- there, a heartbeat, strong but muted, muffled, like it was shielded by something. Quick as a whip, his hand was in his pocket pulling out a smooth pebble but before he could sling it, there was a bladed weapon sunk into the floor. The weapon was odd. Like a shuriken shaped like a bat but with only two blades on the wings. Movement drew his eyes to the corner as a shadow detached from the wall and seemed to grow white eyes and pointed ears.
Drawing Mirai close to him he edged slowly to the corner, doing his best to shield her from this intruder who seemed content to just watch him. As best as he could vocalize, he hoarsely whispered "what...do you...want?"
The shadow seemed taken aback for a moment before speaking in that odd language some he had heard in his foraging (read thieving) for food.
"...Japanese"
Naruto jerked his head up. He understood the last word...mostly. What the hell was Japanese? The shadow nodded before it seemed to open up and form the body of a man under its darkness. An arm pointed at the shadow's chest and it, he, tried again, "batman"
Again confusion, the shadow looked nothing like a bat.
"Intruder."
The shadow scowled, "you're a long way from Japan."
"What's...Japan?"
"Nawuto, sweepy" said the little lump in his arms.
Sending a glare at the shadow, he pointed at the door of the room, though the actual door was in tatters, probably busted through, then at the little mound and back at the door. The shadow seemed to understand as when he looked back up it was gone. 'Ok, very good indeed.' He thought as he gently sat Mirai back on the ripped up couch they were using for her bed.
Stepping out of the room he looked to see the shadow standing by the window and Naruto walked over to it.
"Who are you?"
"Nar….uto."
"Naruto ?" A nod was given
"Do you know sign language?"
"Anbu"
"Where are you from?"
"Kono….haga... kure"
"Konohagakure?" Another nod.
"Why are you in Gotham?" What the hell was a Gotham? Was that the name of the village he was in? Naruto scratched at the space where his left ear used to be, his confusion seemingly apparent as the shadow altered his question,
"Why are you in this city?" Oh so gotham was the city, now he had a name for this place.
"Is...where… we entered." The shadow cocked his head to the side at this
"Entered?"
"Not…. from...world. world ...dying, sent…. best ….fighter and future."
"Refugees?"
Naruto pointed at himself and then toward where Mirai was sleeping and held up two fingers, his ring and pinky. "Only...survivors."
He didn't want to tell the shadow, this "batman" much, but if he could get the shadow creature to help him, he would give as much as he could without disclosing secrets. The creature seemed to realize this as its scowl never really left its face.
A voice seemed to catch his attention but he couldn't understand what was said, as it was in the same language he kept hearing as well as muffled but the shadow creature seemed to understand it as well as seem to notice Naruto could hear it though its expression never seemed to change. The creature spoke back to the voice and a moment later a man with short black hair and wearing a tight form fitting suit with a red bird across his chest, and down his sleeves and gloves, entered the room from the door and a teen, looking about sixteen or seventeen came in from the window wearing a red outfit with green and yellow accents with a slanted R on his left pectoral. Both wearing strips of some type of cloth over their faces.
Naruto was immediately on guard and blocking the doorway to Mirai with the pebbles and the one weird shuriken ready to be thrown. The man with the bird on his chest held up his hands and the boy snorted and said something that got a glare from the shadow.
"My Japanese are rusty. Friend here. I are Nightwing."
Naruto snorted and tried not to smile, but didn't lower his guard, instead forming his chakra into his fall back jutsu, the rasengan (spiraling ball), "you….sound like….idiot."
The boy in red tensed and watched the swirling balls, hands inching beneath the cape he was wearing before the shadow placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
"Nawuto wowd." came a quiet voice behind Naruto as a disheveled head poked out of the blankets on the couch, her eyes still puffy from crying and sleep.
The bird man looked at the shadow and said something, gesturing from Naruto to Mirai making Naruto tense in preparation for a fight but the shadow replied back with a firm voice and the bird guy relaxed.
He kept the rasengan going anyways.
"Naruto , correct?"
"Nawuto, who dey?" He pushed Mirai back behind him with his free hand, she had wandered over to investigate and was looking at the intruders with wide eyes.
"Mirai...stay….behind."
His stomach just had to growl at the most inopportune moment didn't it? The noise breaking his concentration, letting the rasengan peter out and making Mirai giggle. Giggle. Naruto 's eyes widened as he looked down at the small child. The same child who was still sniffling had giggled. He smiled down at her in relief, which probably looked horrendous giving his scarring.
"Dey help?" The little red eyed child said, looking at the others in the room. Heavens above help him if the girl wasn't innocent to the ways of the world, but then, she was only three.
The bird boy knelt down and looked at Mirai, "what time is it?"
The shadow spoke again, addressing the bird guy again causing the bird to grimace, "łêþ§ þřý þhæþ æğæįņ what is your name?"
"You tawk funny" the bird's head sunk down, "Miwai Sawutobi" causing the bird man to look up at her.
"Mirai!" Naruto said firmly, before pointing to the couch. His stomach growl again and he punched himself trying to make it shut up, causing Mirai to giggle again. The red teen looked at the shadow and said something which the shadow responded with a nod and the teen was gone out the window.
"I sent him for food. You haven't eaten for yourself in the few days I've watched you, stealing only food and clothing and then only feeding her and not yourself. You wandered around the basic area but never in maliciousness or intent to draw attention to yourself as if to learn the area and scout for info. You say your not from this world, and judging from that energy sphere you formed, I'm inclined to believe you. That or you are a metahuman. I am capable of helping you Naruto , but I need to understand your story."
Naruto scratched the scarring at his throat, "hard….to tell….with….difficulty….of….speech."
The shadow scratched its chin for a moment
"Are you able to write it down?"
Turns out the shadow was actually a man in a suit, who knew? The teen in red, robin apparently, had returned with a meat based sandwich so greasy, it could keep a sheen on an armory of kunai for years, not that he was complaining. It surprised the boy how quickly Naruto consumed it, once he was sure it had nothing of ill intent, as well as the one he handed to Mirai. The sandwich had disappeared down his throat faster than the boy could blink. Come to find out, there were scentless agents capable of putting him to sleep. Not for very long as he had woken up in one of the strange vehicles next to a sleeping Mirai with a much older man driving. Someone had swapped out his and Mirai's clothes for something fresher while they slept, his pilfered orange shirt and blue rough pants were replaced with smooth, loose, clothes that seemed to stretch when he moved and flex.
*insert obligatory flashback*
Naruto snapped up, his body tense as he looked around the cramped enclosed space he was in. The windows showed they were moving, and judging by the vibrations in the floor, fairly fast. The carriage cab was not too unlike one of those norimono things the daimyo would be carried around in, only bigger and more spacious. With very very soft leather seats and some sort of polished wood detailing.
"Ah, Mr. Sarutobi, awake much earlier than expected. I am Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, please, just refer to me as Alfred. I do so apologize, but my Japanese is a tad rusty, as well as for the accommodations you find yourself in. I pray you stay the hand currently near my throat as I must operate the vehicle as the alternative would be most unpleasant. You'll find both you and your daughter are both unharmed merely dosed for sleep for both health concerns and necessary security, not ill intent I assure you."
"Uzumaki"
"Pardon?"
"I am…..Uzumaki, not…..Sarutobi. not daughter…..future….of my world."
"I don't believe I quite understand, are you saying she's your ward?"
"I am….warrior, best of my….people and...worst. She is the last….child, our….future. I must….teach her. Hurts to...talk."
"Ah! Here. I am not quite sure if your physiological make up is the same as ours or not, but I can offer. Master Wayne was informed of your scarring and asked me to see if a əųćæłýpþųß łœżəņğə would help make speaking easier. Apologies, I can't quite remember the word for it in your language. It's a sort of cough suppressant that helps ease inflammation in the throat, though in my experience in medicine, with the scarring, talking is probably forever going to be hard."
"...what?"
"It makes the throat feel less clogged and helps with coughing, would you like one?" He looked into the rear view mirror as he asked this, watching the blonde who was looking at the back of the elder man's chair with suspicion. He held up a wrapped menthol and popped it out of its wrapper into his mouth and smiled into the mirror before holding another over his shoulder. The hesitation and suspicion was evident in the scarred males face as he slowly reached out and took the lozenge and sniffed it before jerking his head back and making a face.
"I would say it is perfectly safe, but after Robin drugged your burger last night, I doubt you would believe me. What you smell is probably the medicine in the sweet. I do not know if they had such in your world but here in ours we make throat candies from the menthol of a ….oh dear, what is the word in your language, yukaro, yugaro, hmm, I need to practice my Japanese more, I fear I'm worse than I thought." He continued
As he turned the wheel to the right, the vehicle responding.
As Naruto pondered the little wrapped object in his hand and Alfred continued to play with his memory trying to remember the word for eucalyptus, Mirai just slept soundly, unaware of the world around her.
A click drew Naruto 's attention away from the object (he had started sniffing it again) as a screen on the dash lit up.
"Alfred, what's your eta?"
"I should be there quite shortly, Master Bruce. Though I feel I should inform you, the sedative seems to have worse off Mr. Uzumaki. He woke up shortly after being placed in the car."
Bruce's face seemed surprised for a moment before adopting a thoughtful expression, "what of the girl? Any change?"
"No sir, the little dear is just simply out of it. I doubt the sedative was necessary for her at all."
"It was necessary to avoid conflict. If they are as….you said Uzumaki?" The butler gave a dip of his chin
"I see. If they are as they claim and refugees from this konohagakure world, we have no idea if they are like the other planetary refugees. We also don't know what forced them to leave their world. Though given the aging of the scar on Naruto 's face as well as the paranoid defensive stance he took trying to guard the girl, we can assume she is of high value and someone may come seeking her. Assume until further knowledge is presented. Regardless, she is small and they were found in a very undesirable locale. With the Joker and Quinn on the loose, as well as Ivy, it's better to play it safe and offer assistance than it would be if the Clowns found them. If he's anything like the last refugee that came to earth, the damage he could bring if he were infected by Joker toxin or Crane's fear gas could potentially be astronomical."
"Of course sir" the butler replied, thinking quietly that it was more likely his employer was helping because there was a small child involved, Bruce Wayne was a sucker for helping children.
"Ah, Master Bruce, before I forget, would you happen to know the word for eucalyptus in Japanese?"
"Yūkari."
Naruto perked up before looking at the lozenge and smelling it again.
"Ah thank you, I believe he seems to be putting it together. He appeared to believe it was another sedative and was most reluctant to eat the lozenge"
"Understandable. We need to either teach him sign or english, though with his scarring that could be difficult. After that, perhaps a way to integrate them into society, they'll need some form of income, but with lack of knowledge on Uzumaki's skills or abilities, I'm not sure what form of employment he is capable of."
"If I may, sir? You did say he was a warrior by the stance he took? One who has seen combat? Perhaps he could be employed under the Wayne name. Say, security? It would make keeping things tidy much easier without the various criminals constantly breaking the windows or dare I say, walls. Not to mention, it would keep them close for observation."
The man on the screen looked thoughtful, considering the idea.
"Perhaps. The idea has merit, problem is, we don't know the extent of Uzumaki's character. From the body language he presents, he exudes guilt and sadness as one would being a refugee, but it wouldn't be the first time I've come across a master of body language."
"Indeed sir. However, I believe it would be more the child than him I would be concerned about. Uzumaki is highly protective of the child, so where she goes, I'm sure he will follow. He's also been trying to open the door for the last couple of minutes. He doesn't trust easy, sir."
The rest of the ride had been quite. Naruto had stopped trying to open what he thought was a door, while he figured it wouldn't withstand a rasengan or his full strength, he really had no idea where he was and couldn't leave Mirai, so he would wait until the vehicle stopped. And it did, eventually, in front of a large building on a well kept sprawl of land. the elder man stepped out and opened the door beside Naruto. As he got out, he held mirai close to him and his back away from the elder, he knew the old rule: old warriors were able to get old for a reason. Case in point, Hiruzen, Mirai's grandfather and sandaime hokage. So since he didn't know what the old man was capable of, he would keep on his toes.
-end flash back-
With the help of the man on the screen, who had introduced himself as Bruce Wayne, the Shinobi where able to moderately learn english, though it was much easier for Mirai, who still found it difficult, she was three after all. Naruto struggled, even though, much to the rich man and his butler's surprise, naruto used shadow clones he still had difficulties speaking. Learning how to write it was much easier for him, due to his throat. He wrote down his tale for the batman, who the rich man-child knew, though as one who wore a mask all his life, he quickly figured out this was a front and had said so. The voice and inflections where where the same if you listened and that was something he had to do to survive, listen. Listen for lies, listen for truths, listen for danger. The rich man had sighed and dropped the pretense of acting like a man-child and quickly became serious, intelligent, and stern. He read over the writings, asking questions, some Naruto wouldn't answer, others he explained in detail, which did little to earn the man's trust.
Mirai, however, was much happier. Playing in the yard of the manor, chasing a large black dog, though not as big as Akamaru grew to be, named ace and the rich man's ward, Richard. She had a shock when, after some discerning between Naruto, Alfred and Bruce, on the 23rd of June she was greeted with a birthday party (A.N.) for her fourth birthday. She was a ball of giggles and energy, though she did have serene moments of melancholy.
After a year passed, and they created an identity on all the paperwork, Naruto, with the encouragement of Alfred and Richard, published his story in the form of novels, from the events of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagaromo Ootsuki, to its closure, though he altered the ending from dystopic to a bright and hopeful future, as well as changing the name of the character that represented himself, as well as many of the actual secrets of the elemental nations, under the pseudonym "Konoha HiKage" and while it didnt become a best seller, it did sell quite well. He took the job offer to work with Alfred at the manor as security, his shadow clones easily keeping a perimeter. It was a bit of a stumble, to the irritation of Bruce, that Naruto found the hidden mechanism of a certain clock, but after looking around, Naruto had just shrugged, placed a hiraishin marker at the end of the tunnel leading into the cave and went back to playing with Mirai.
It became well known that Wayne manor had hired an elite task force to guard the lands, which Bruce easily excused by pointing out how many times one of the plethora of gothamite villains had tried to kidnap him. It was actually kinda amusing to find Waylon Jones, AKA Killer Croc, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey at the Wayne manor main gate with a giggling nine tailed fox drawn on a sticky note stuck to his forehead. The wire used impressed the Detective enough that, after figuring out its composition, the ninja wire became a mainstay in the utility belt. It wasnt the strongest wire the Bat had, but it was more adaptable, being able to bend and not break until pushed past its weight limit near upwards of 600 pounds (AN)
On Mirai's 5th birthday, Naruto began to teach her simple chakra manipulation from a scroll the Shikamaru had sent with him, starting with the leaf excercises. This caught Bruce's attention and after some questions learned about the secondary circulatory system they had called the chakra network. It was impressive how quickly Mirai picked it up, with naruto giving examples and short wordings to help her along. Every morning he and Miari were up at dawn with leaves sticking to them, though with Naruto's reserves made him look like a shrubbery, something Richard pointed out in hysterics.
The next morning Richard found himself taped upside down to a tree in his skivvies, slathered in honey and had a pink ribbon tied on each of his toes.
That September, a worried Naruto watched Mirai and Alfred drive off to her first day of school at Gotham academy. He was extremely concerned about not being near his ward, which Bruce understood, bringing him down to the cave for some no power sparring, something he enjoyed as Naruto was an unusual think-outside-the-box kinda of fighter and rarely attacked the same way twice. This turned beneficial against some of his rogues that were proficient in combat such as Deathstroke who had the ability similar to something called a Sharingan, able to see a few microseconds into the future. Naruto had showed Batman that though he could see it in his mind, if his body couldn't move fast enough, it didnt matter so Bruce started trying to push to be faster.
Due to their physiological differences however, added on with Naruto's chakra, it was rather difficult to match the speeds Naruto moved. Which made it a challenge to work on for Bruce. A trial to overcome. He had fought much much faster foes and could think of ways to overcome any of them, but he still enjoyed the challenge nonetheless. He quickly learned that though immensely powerful, Naruto could be hurt just like any human. If you overwhelmed him in a fight, though he healed at an accelerated rate, you could bring him down. If you were an experienced fighter, you could exploit the gaps in his defense. He wasn't some immovable object like another alien refugee he could name, sever of them come to mind, but he was experienced and had skill.
When offered a chance to work with him to fight crime, Naruto happily accepted, quickly designing a rather terrifying costume. Since Bruce explained the bat was meant to inspire fear in his opponents, Naruto decided a likewise route, taking on the name Kitsune.
Author note: I cant find any actual date of her birth, the wiki just says blank period.
in Naruto, it never actually says what the weight limit is, though is shown in traps that have massive logs hanging from it. Its actually kinda inconsistent.