A/N: Well. This sucks.

I might have to give away my dogs. I only have two, but I'm not around enough to take care of them anymore. They keep making a mess of the house even with all the food and water I lay out for them.

Can't afford to hire a dog-sitter either. *sighs* Life just loves dunking on me lately.

I can't give them up. I'll lose my mind if I do...

Well...here we are then.

I've been updating daily since the start of August, and I'm trying to spread the love around.

As of late, I've been focusing on the secondary and tertiary chapters for some of my more popular stories, but I wanted so very badly to get back to this. I had this whole damn thing written out on paper, an overarching plot just had to write it out. Then catastrophe struck. Not only did I wind up losing two perfectly good computers-one of which and the other being all but useless-but to make matters worse, I lost the notes I had for everything when I moved.

*bows deeply at the waist and begs for mercy*

SORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY!

Props if you get the reference, lets see who's first.

As ever, I own no quotes, references, or relations to any media.

There's a minor timeskip here of, oh, lets say a day or two. Be prepared.

Sorry if its short, but I'm going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment here.

If you think this story is going to have a bad ending; you're sadly mistaken. I don't write those.

"I fought for every scrap of my strength.

"There was no rest for me. No patience. No mercy.

And you. YOU. Where did you train, CLARK?! ON A FARM?!"

~?

How the Mighty Fall (Interlude)

"We're nearing the end, now."

Clark was dreaming again.

Surely this must be some sort of dream; because nothing else made a lick of sense. After all, the world didn't simply go black like that, much less suck him into it. That wasn't how reality worked. One moment he'd been typing of a report for the Daily Planet, quietly concerned about the rising villain menace in Metropolis. The next he found himself tumbling in shadow and flame, a world of perpetual misery and fire, among the screaming wails of countless suffering beings, all but unable to make sense of anything, let alone where he'd been stranded. Was this a dream? Or some horrible new plane of reality? Try as he might, Clark Kent didn't know...

...and that frightened him.

"So this is your nightmare, is it?" a familiar voice drawled. "Not a very friendly place for the great Superman."

When that familiar face emerged from the darkness he lunged at them. Naruto. The fiend. The madman. He had to be stopped, here and now, before...!

Clenched hands closed around naught but empty air, sending him tumbling once more into the void. Someone slapped him on the back and he inhaled sharply as a scalding palm-bringing with it the hideous scent of raw napalm-seared between his shoulder blades. With a cry of pain he tried to round on his attack, only for a hand to close around his ankle and send him wheeling back into the black.

"Where am I?" reeling, he pivoted, trying and only narrowly managing to find his balance. Despite his recovery, his tormentor made no move to approach him. "What are we doing here?!

"I'm here to ask you to surrender, Kal." the Son of Darkseid replied, tilting his head. "Do the right thing. Kneel before my father and swear your allegiance to him. We can avoid so much bloodshed if you just stand down. I know you will, if you just listen-

"What? No! Never!"

Those blue eyes turned cold.

...so be it. You were offered a way out."

Despite knowing he would fail, Superman charged again.

"Patience, old friend." the armored blond sighed. "We'll meet again soon."

With that, he raised his metal clad hands and brought his palms together in a harsh clap.

POP.

And the word rushed back.

"You alright there, Smallville?"

Clark jolted awake with a snort, arms flailing, papers flying from his desk as though they were caught in a hurricane. For a fleeting moment he didn't remember where he was, and nearly lashed out when a hand landed on his shoulder. Only a supreme effort of will held him in check. In that moment he was suddenly and intensely aware of the eyes on him, of just how close he'd come to doing something he'd regret. He'd all but burst to his feet, and the desk had cracked under the sheer force of his grip.

Lois Lane gazed back at him, utterly unfazed by this brief fit of panic.

"Sleeping on the job again?" her lips quirked in a wry smile. "That's not like you."

For a brief moment, the last son of krypton felt relief. Just a dream. It was only a dream.

They hit without warning.

One moment, Clark Kent-otherwise known as Superman-was gazing at the love of his life. He didn't even hear the attack coming; in that moment his senses failed spectacularly.

And the world erupted.

The Daily Planet didn't so much shatter as it did cease to exist; stone and brick bursting like a grand eruption as something-someone!-barreled through the building, tearing it apart with each pass, as thought he walls were made of mere matchsticks. Once. Twice. Thrice. On the fourth and final pass, Clark glimpsed a streak of crimson, just as the ceiling came down on his head. There was no word or warning, no reason for this sudden and abrupt assault. Somewhere, he thought he heard her scream.

Silken laughter jolted the Man of Steel to his feet.

Spitting red and ripping his glasses away, the Man of Steel he turned to face his attacker. "YOU!"

"What, were you expecting Batman or something?"

Gradually, the smoke and shadow resolved themselves into a humanoid shape; whispers of fog and flame peeling back to make way for their master. By the time Clark recognized that face, it was too late to do anything other than balk. Those eyes, those whiskers, that eerie grin. All of it focused on him. HIM! Yet even the realization that he'd been wounded-genuinely hurt without kyrptonite-paled in comparison to the sight before him. Because there, in the man's arms:

"LOIS!"

"You have my condolences." Naruto sighed, stepping out of the ruin that had once been the Daily Planet, cradling the reporter's broken form. "Not about revealing your identity. I'm NOT sorry for that. It's just," his eyes swept back to Lois, limp in his arms. "I don't like involving innocents in my affairs. But is anyone truly innocent in this world?"

"Put her down."

Pearly white teeth flashed in the flames. "Make me, boy scout."

When the punch came, he was almost surprised by the sheer intensity of it.

Almost.

For the first time since he'd met him, Naruto stopped smiling. A hand rose, slowly, taking Clark's hand away from his face. Still holding onto Lois, the Son of Darkness pivoted, putting all the weight onto his back foot; a simple gesture, but it spoke of the power behind the blow. His head cocked back like a spring, and eyes like cinders locked onto him. As such, Clark wasn't wholly prepared when the blond abruptly dropped the blackette and delivered a bruising roundhouse to his solar plexus to fold him in half.

"This hurts me, Clark." He caught the next blow as well, wrenching his arm down and out of the way. "It really does. Why didn't you just listen? This all would've been so much easier if you'd just listened."

Clenched knuckles barreled into the side of his face like a freight train. To his credit, Naruto took the blow like a champ; his head rode out the impact, uncaring as it bloodied his nose. Then he retaliated. Clawed fingers fell harshly across Clark's chest, raking through his suit to craw blood. And still the attacks continued, even as they tore one another part.

"I fought for every scrap of my strength.

A vicious chop to the throat.

"There was no rest for me. No patience. No mercy."

A chambered kick, shattering the blond's ribs.

"And you. YOU. Where did you train, CLARK?! ON A FARM?!"

A crimson claw snapped up, searing with light.

And then the world was sheer pain.

A/N: Ahhhhh you have no idea how good it feels to let the monster out. Of course, it helps that Naruto's hardly the hero in this story. Growing up under Darkseid's rule tends to...well. Lets just say it warps the mind a bit. I don't think his other incarnations would be very happy with him at the moment.

I usually don't enjoy writing stories with dark wit, but this...this does put a smile on my face.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

NO. MORE. PREVIEWS.

R&R! =D