First of all, Wow! I cannot thank you guys enough for the massive support. I honestly didn't expect that much feedback on my first chapter alone. Thanks!

Okay, let's continue. Let me get this straight that I am not that much of a hardcore comic-book fan. Anything I know about superheroes came from animated tv shows and movies with some reference to comics here and there. I'm more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan but I can appreciate both for their unique styles. This is just a fair warning that I am winging some of the facts here and changing them up in a way that fits into the story. I don't want any Die-hard comic book fans flaming me like "That's not how it went!" or "You're wrong!" blah blah blah get over it. Now that's out of the way, please enjoy. Obviously, I don't own YJ or Naruto.

Dinah Lance was starting to get frustrated with the man sitting across from her. They had been talking for over an hour and she was no closer to helping him than she was when they first started these sessions two months ago. Things would be going a lot smoother if he just told her the truth from the get go.

"Naruto, this is getting us nowhere." Dinah sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I do have other patients that I need to speak to and if you're not going to be forthcoming with me then we're only wasting each other's time. We'll continue where we left off next week."

The blond man shrugged as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You're the Doc, Ms. Lance."

He got up from his chair and left the office, leaving a very tired Psychiatrist. She decided to call it a day and asked the front desk to cancel all her appointments. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any more patients after Naruto. Dealing with that man always left her exhausted.

When Naruto had walked into her office for the first time, she had been shocked because in all her time working, she had never seen someone look as lost, confused, and defeated as he was. Dinah had seen similar cases when she treated soldiers who had come back from Afghanistan so she knew how hard it was for someone who lived through months of gunfire and death to adjust to normal society again. But Naruto was different. For some reason she couldn't fathom, she felt like he had gone through a hell of a lot more than he was letting on.

She had tried coaxing truth out of him on multiple occasions but to no avail. He was wise to her tricks and would often feed her half truths without actually giving any indication of lying. And so their weekly sessions had turned into a useless back and forth that left Dinah with more questions and a headache every time.

Fortunately for her, she had this job for a reason and after meeting with him a few times, she could already start to read some of his tells and mannerisms. First of all, she would know if he had a bad week or a particularly vivid nightmare if he didn't initiate the conversation with a witty or sarcastic statement. On those bad days, he would mostly just keep quiet and answer questions with short and direct sentences.

Secondly, to her disappointment, he never smiled. Dinah knew from the way he remarked and commented on several things was that he was a person who loved to make other people laugh. During one particular session, she had decided to try a different approach by chatting about unimportant things that weren't related to his mental condition. It had been enjoyable for her since she had found Naruto to be interesting company outside of their treatments. He had made her laugh with some of his dry humor but whenever she tried to return the favor, he would only grunt in acknowledgement.

With a heavy sigh, Dinah collected her things and prepared to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow Jenny." Dinah bid the receptionist good night and made her way out into the cold city streets. She could hear police sirens in the distance and decided to do a little patrol later on. Batman mostly handled the bigger crazies around Gotham but that didn't mean Black Canary couldn't help stop a few drug buys and robberies along the way.

As she made her way back to her apartment, she tried to push away the thoughts of a man who desperately needed a purpose again.

"Alright boys, lunch time's over!" The construction foreman announced. "Let's get back to work gentlemen."

The sound of heavy boots marching across the undeveloped dirt could be heard as dozens of construction workers resumed their respective duties. Teams of workers were unloading large bags of cement while some were loading steel beams on the crane. Sparks flew in multiple directions due to the welding up above.

"Looks like things are moving smoothly." Lucius Fox commented as he studied the blueprints laid out on the table. "At this rate, we might be able to finish ahead of schedule."

"Yep, it'll take a few more weeks to finish the upper levels." Jackson, the lead architect, said. "And we're still waiting for a new shipment of materials to come in."

"I'm sure Mr. Wayne can wait just like the rest of us." Fox said.

"I just can't believe how much he's spending on this." Jackson looked up at the building. "Some of the steel he wanted to use were crazy expensive. It must be nice to be filthy rich."

Fox chuckled. "We all have our jobs."

"Yeah, I know." Jackson sighed wistfully. "But you can't help but want to get a taste of how the other half lives sometimes, you know?"

"Doesn't everybody?" Fox replied in amusement.

"I guess you're right." Jackson agreed. "But apparently some of my employees thought that they could make an easy buck trying to sell some of our imported steel a few nights ago. Security caught them before they could make it out of the gate, so nothing was lost thankfully."

"Perhaps I'll put in a word for Mr. Wayne to add a few more security teams hmm?"

"That'll be great." Jackson said. "One good thing that came out of the whole ordeal was the replacement they sent us."

"Replacement?" Fox inquired curiously.

Jackson pointed over to one of the construction workers who, was carrying a several pipes over one shoulder. Lucius could see a head of spiky blond hair under his hard hat. He walked over to the platform and set down his load so that the crane could take it to the higher levels. He wiped his hands on his cargo pants and set off to get more supplies.

"I'm telling you, that guy is like a machine." Jackson said appreciatively. "He's a bit of a loner and mostly keeps to himself but he's a good guy. He's never late, doesn't cause trouble, and sure does efficient work. Hell, I'm thinking about giving the guy a raise."

Before Lucius could comment, a loud commotion caught everyone's attention. A metallic grinding sound cut through the area as the large crane began to sway from side to side.

"Shut it off!" one of the workers yelled at the crane operator, who was desperately trying to get the machine under control. However, his efforts were for naught and the controls were starting to smoke. The operator decided to get the hell out of there before anything else happened. Unfortunately, with no one controlling the crane, it spun and hit the side of the building, dropping its cargo of large steel beams.

Workers scrambled to get away from the falling chunks of metal. Regrettably, in their panicked state of mind, one of the men got caught on something and he fell down hard. Several of his coworkers saw him and turned to help but it was too late. The beams fell down with a mighty crash and kicked up a large cloud of dirt in the process.

Silence reigned for several moments as they waited for the dust to settle and the crane's power was cut.

"We have to dig him out of there!" Fox said as he, Jackson, and several others rushed to the pile of fallen debris.

"Todd! Can you hear us?" Jackson called out, praying that the man was still alive.

"Over here!"

Everyone turned to the source. One of the men was waving them over and to their immense shock, Todd was right there sitting on the ground next to him looking as confused and surprised as they all were.

"Thank goodness! Are you alright?" Fox asked as they helped him to his feet.

Todd was still in a daze as he looked around. "Y-Yeah, I think so."

"Well, you should probably have somebody to take a look just to be sure." Fox suggested.

The man could only nod before he stumbled off.

"Alright boys, let's clear this mess up and get back to work! And would somebody fix that God damned crane!"

The workers disbursed and set to removing the pile of bent metal.

"I thought for sure that he was a goner." Jackson said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It was a miracle that no one was hurt."

"Yeah, a miracle…" Fox trailed off as he spotted something odd.

The new employee Jackson had mentioned was helping with the clean up along with several others. What had caught his attention was the fact that he had a handkerchief tied around his arm and Fox could've sworn he saw a splotch of red stained on it. Strange, he was sure that Todd had been the only one that had been in any danger and everyone else had already made it to a safe distance. What was even stranger was the fact that he had been standing close to Todd after the accident when Fox remembered the blond being on the other far side of the area.

How peculiar…

"What can I get for you, handsome?" the waitress of the small diner asked. She gave him a tired smile that signified the long hours she was putting into her job.

"I'll have the cheeseburger and a cup of coffee would be nice." Naruto replied.

She jotted down his order and left him to his thoughts. He glanced down his arm where the cut he had received earlier from the construction accident had fully healed. Thankfully, no one was able to figure out how Todd had miraculously survived and he was sure that the dust had covered his movements well enough. The cut had already begun to close as soon as he got back to work on clearing the debris thanks to Kurama's healing factor.

Damn, I'm getting sloppy.

It was a disappointing thought but no less true. Almost a year of inactivity was beginning to have its effect on him. The reminder of how much time had passed was enough to make him frown. Feelings of despair and grief started to rise to the surface but he immediately squashed it down. Not here, not now.

"There he goes again, the big man himself." One of the customers said. "Can you turn that up darlin'?"

Naruto drew his attention to the small television attached to the wall as the waitress increased the volume.

"This is Lois Lane from the Daily Planet reporting to you live over Metropolis where Superman is engaged in a fierce battle against Toyman." The woman on the screen announced. She was on a helicopter as the camera panned to the city where a giant robot was trying to swat a blue and red blur of motion that was flying around it. The smaller figure had obviously had enough, deciding to end the battle with a powerful punch that sent the robot crashing into the street below.

As soon as everyone in the diner saw the contraption go down, they had immediately lost interest and resumed their previous conversations.

"Yeah, they get the giant robots, and we get the fucking psychos." A cop in uniform commented to his partner.

Naruto couldn't help but agree with the man's sentiment. After all, he didn't end up in Gotham by choice but he learned to make the best of it. The city was infested with criminals that ranged from petty thugs to mob bosses. At first, he didn't understand why anyone would want to live in a place like this but perhaps it had its own gritty charm.

He didn't know anything about this strange new world he had stumbled upon and it had taken him a week and a half to get up to speed. The amount of information his shadow clones were able to gather on the first day alone was overwhelming. Technology, superheroes, aliens, and meta-humans were all foreign concepts to him but it was normal for everyone else. Carriages that move without horses, Structures that stood so high that from below it looked to be touching the sky and so much more had been laid out before him.

"Here you go honey." The waitress came back and laid down his order along with a steaming mug of coffee. He nodded in thanks before spooning in some sugar and cream into his hot beverage. He took a bite out of his burger and sighed contentedly. It couldn't compare to a good bowl of ramen but it had been a long day and it sure hit the spot.

He was half-way through his dinner when he heard a plate shatter onto the ground followed by a shrill scream.

"Alright nobody make a fucking move or else I blow this woman's brains out!"

Perfect, just what I needed after a stressful day. Naruto wanted to roll his eyes.

Standing in the middle of the diner was a man in a dark jacket with the hood drawn up. He had a gun pointed at the side of the waitress' head and kept the woman in front of him so that the two cops couldn't get a clear shot of him. The two officers had drawn their firearms and had it aimed at the assailant while the other customers had ducked under their tables to avoid the chance of getting hit by any bullets. The blond decided to follow suit.

"Sir, step away from the woman or we will shoot you." One of the officers warned.

The robber wasn't having any of it, however. "And I say put the fucking guns down or else I'll shoot her and anybody else who gets in my way! You, behind the counter! Unload all that cash and put it in a bag! You got five minutes!"

To prove his point, he cocked the gun and pressed it harder onto the side of the woman's head. The waitress whimpered in fear as the two policemen hesitated. Naruto had to hand it to him. He wasn't as dumb as he looked. He positioned himself near the entrance so that he could make a quick getaway if the need arose.

Naruto's finger's twitched at his side as he fought to control his impulsive desire to take the man out in one fell swoop. He could do it in a fraction of the time too. All he needed to do was disarm the man and he was as good as defenseless. It would be so easy.

At first, he had been skeptical about guns when he had first discovered them. In his opinion, they were training wheels in comparison to kunai and shuriken. Anyone could pick up a gun and shoot it but not everyone can pick up a throwing knife and hit the target with the same amount of accuracy. But still, it got the job done and if there's one thing he'd learned, it wasn't the weapon itself but the wielder that made it so dangerous.

The young shinobi seriously doubted this man was as good as the mercenary Deadshot but at point blank range, there was no way in hell he would miss.

Naruto glanced around the room. The cashier was almost done emptying the cash register and the cops still hadn't moved. The waitress was openly sobbing while the crook glanced down at his watch impatiently. His finger was getting awfully close to the trigger.

"Hurry the fuck up man!" The thug snapped.

If Naruto wanted to make a move, now would be the ideal time. The man was distracted. He didn't know whether to focus on his hostage, the cashier, or the two cops. Perhaps he could take him down without drawing any unwanted attention to himself by rushing out and tackling the man to the ground. After that, all he needed to do was the keep the gun pointed away from him and everyone else. That way the cops could make their move.

Why bother?

The thought suddenly sprung from the back of his mind, making him falter. So what if the place lost the day's profits? They could surely earn it all back within a few days, right? As far as anyone else was concerned, he was just another civilian caught in the crossfire. Obviously all the thug wanted was the cash. Besides, the two cops were already dealing with the situation at hand. Why did he have to get involved any further than necessary?

Voices began to echo around in his mind as images of people who he once cherished popped into his head. Memories of screams, death and the most beautiful pair of lavender eyes wormed its way to the front of his mind. He fought and fought to the best of his abilities and yet in the end, he still failed to protect the people who matter the most to him. If he couldn't protect them, then how could he save a waitress he barely knew?

Naruto's internal strife was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot being fired into the air.

"Alright, everyone face the far side of the diner now!" The thug ordered as he slung the bag of cash over one shoulder while keeping a firm grip on his hostage. He locked eyes with the two cops. "Both of ya, put your guns on the floor and kick them towards me. After that, face the wall like everyone else. If you don't do it in the next five seconds…"

He put his finger on the trigger and cocked the gun with a loud click to prove his point. The two police officers shared a look of defeat and complied. Their firearms slid across the floor near the criminal before facing away from him.

As soon as they did so, the thug pushed the woman onto the floor before dashing out of the establishment with his haul. The two cops attempted to pursue while everyone else slowly recovered from the ordeal. Another waitress wrapped her arms around the distraught woman who had been used as a hostage and slowly led her into the staff room.

Naruto looked down at his half eaten food and pushed the plate away from him in disgust as his appetite left him. He took out a hundred dollars worth in bills and slammed it onto the table. It wasn't much but maybe it would help make up for what they'd lost. He grabbed his jacket off the chair and headed out.

Shame couldn't even begin to describe how he felt as he stepped out into the city streets.

Batman crouched on top of the warehouse rafters as he observed the scuffle happening down below. He'd been given a lead on a major drug buy that was about to happen tonight and decided to investigate. However, someone had already beaten him here judging from the sounds of gunfire when he arrived.

Down below, several thugs were unloading their weapons at a spot where a lone figure was hidden behind. The moment that the thugs stopped to reload, their adversary stepped out of her hiding place and unleashed a high pitched scream that brought the mobsters to their knees. Not wasting any time, the blonde woman dashed forward and expertly began to disarm as well as incapacitate the armed men.

Dinah Lance, also known to many as Black Canary, was a meta-human with the ability to unleash powerful sound waves in the form of her Canary Cry. Batman knew that she had taken up residence in his city several months ago and has been doing her part in cleaning up the streets of Gotham. He also knew she worked as a Psychiatrist at an office in the central district. So far, she's been keeping her distance and this has been the first time he's seen her in person.

Black Canary was an exceptional hand to hand combatant as displayed by the way she twisted her opponent's wrist, making him drop his hand gun and delivering a swift hook to the man's jaw, effectively robbing him of consciousness. She handled herself well in Batman's opinion but then again, one of the thugs she thought she had taken care of was crawling to pick up one of the weapons on the ground next to him.

Deciding to step in, Batman leaped down from the rafters and joined the fray.

Canary didn't seem overly surprised by his arrival as she kicked one of the thugs away. "I was wondering when we'd run into each other. Hope you don't mind that I started the party without you."

Batman chose not to respond so that he could focus on ending the fight quicker. Between the two heroes, the mobsters didn't stand a chance and soon, the warehouse was silent.

The Dark Knight unclipped a small communicator on his belt and spoke into the microphone. "Warehouse two at the docks."

With his short message to Commissioner Gordon sent, Batman quickly made his exit as he called his bat mobile to the entrance.

"You're pretty good." Canary commented as she stepped up beside him. "Never seen you in action before and I have to admit it's a scary thing to watch."

"I could say the same about you." Batman said in his usual monotone growl. "Your training under Wildcat has proved to be quite fruitful."

Batman noted the way her eyes widened at the mention of her old mentor. Apparently not a lot of people had access to that particular nugget of information. Fortunately for him, he wasn't like most people.

"Not sure how I feel about you looking into my private life like that." Black Canary crossed her arms in a defensive gesture.

"I make it my business to know everyone who enters my city." Batman said, completely unfazed by the accusation in her tone. "Especially if that person happens to be a meta-human, then I don't take any chances."

The sound of sirens began to wail in the distance as the police drew closer. A slick black vehicle sped into view before skidding to a halt in front of the two heroes. A hatch opened up to reveal two seats along with state of the art technology on the dashboard.

Black canary whistled appreciatively. "Nice car."

Batman ignored her in favor of hopping into the driver seat.

"Get in." Batman ordered abruptly.

"Excuse me?" Black Canary narrowed her eyes. "I'm grateful for the assist but what makes you think you can just order me around like that?"

Batman leveled one of his famous Bat glares at the woman and didn't miss a beat. "Because my way is more efficient and it lets me drop you off at your apartment so that I can make sure you don't disrupt any of my other operations tonight."

Black Canary scowled. "How about a thank you for making your job a little bit easier now that a couple pounds of drugs are about to be seized because of me."

"That shipment was merely a fraction of what the mob has in store." Batman explained. "I was going to observe the meeting and follow the shipment to its source as well as gather more evidence on the suppliers and the dealers. Now the mob will be alerted to their cargo being tracked and will be forced to change their distribution system which makes my job more difficult."

"Alright, I get it." Canary huffed in frustration as she was forced to acknowledge his insight on the matter. "No need to rub it in."

She reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat and clipped on the seatbelt just as the hatch closed. Batman stepped on the throttle and soon they were weaving through the streets of Gotham at a speed that had Black Canary gripping the edge of her seat. Only after the first few sharp turns was she convinced that they weren't going to crash and visibly relaxed.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you know where I live." The blonde said, more to break the silence than anything.

"I know a lot of things." Batman said, not taking his eyes off the road. "But there are some things I'd like to know from you."

"Sorry buddy but you have to at least take me out to dinner first." Canary joked.

If it weren't for the hum of the engine, the silence in the car would have been deafening.

"Tough crowd," Canary muttered.

In response, Batman merely tapped on the panel on the dashboard and pulled up a file from the on board computer. "I hear you work as a Psychiatrist. What can you tell me about him?"

A quick glance at her from the corner of his eye told him that she was definitely surprised by what she was seeing on the small screen or more accurately, the picture of a blond man with short spiky hair and vivid blue eyes.

"Naruto? Why would you have Naruto on your watch list?" Canary asked in bewilderment.

"Like I said, I make it my business to know persons of interest in my city." Batman responded. "He's one of them."

He could tell that she was having an internal debate on whether to reveal anything but after a few moments, she let out a small almost frustrated breath.

"I don't know what to tell you other than he's suffering from a major case of PTSD." Canary said.

"Was he Military?" Batman asked.

Canary shook her head. "I can't really say. He told me he was never enlisted in any military and yet he carries himself like a soldier. I see it every time he walks into my office. His eyes dart around the room as if he's looking for a threat that only he can see. He never completely relaxes and always seems tense."

"Relatives?"

"That is the tricky part." Canary rubbed her temples, no doubt remembering some of her sessions with the man. "Whenever I try to get him to open up he locks down harder than Fort Knox. Short of me strapping him to a chair and wringing the truth from him, I'm not sure if even that would work, he won't reveal anything about his past. I'm starting to question why he even bothers coming to my office. The only thing I can get out of him is his name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and the fact that he loves ramen."

"Perhaps he's infatuated with you." Batman suggested. Even he could admit that the woman seated next to him was very attractive. It wouldn't be hard to assume that Naruto could be coming to her clinic merely to converse with the beautiful woman.

Black Canary snorted. "He barely even looks at me whenever we talk. Oh believe me I've tried to coax a reaction out of him for a while. A few unbuttons here and a few stretches to emphasize certain aspects of my body and he doesn't even glance! He's impossible to deal with sometimes."

Batman raised an eyebrow at that. Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe Naruto wasn't the one who was infatuated. However, he could care less about any of that. They were free to sleep with whoever they wanted. What he needed was an insight to this mysterious individual.

"Is he dangerous?" Batman asked. He needed to know if this man was unstable enough to cause problems in the future. Gotham was home to many crazies after all. He didn't want another to add to his already substantial list.

Black Canary carefully pondered on the question before she confidently said her answer. "No, he's not dangerous. I know I don't have any evidence to back it up but for some god forsaken reason…I'm confident that he's trustworthy enough not to hurt others of his own volition. He just needs to get back on his feet."

Batman considered her input and mentally filed it away for now. While her reasoning is justified in a sense and his investigation did provide credence to her view on the matter, he wasn't willing to jump to any conclusions just yet. He'd continue to observe Naruto until Batman himself could clear any doubts he had about the man. It was better to err on the side of caution after all.

The Bat Mobile came to an abrupt halt as they arrived at Black Canary's apartment building.

"Thanks for the ride." Black Canary said, as she hopped out of the vehicle.

"Don't mention it." Batman responded. "Next time, stay out of my way and let me handle things."

With that last statement, the hatch to the Bat Mobile closed and he took off down the street to chase down another lead in a separate investigation. His scanners had indicated that Ubu, the bodyguard of Ra's Al'ghul, had been spotted. He couldn't afford to ignore the League of Shadows working in his city.

The case of Naruto Uzumaki would have to be put on hold for now.

Jade gasped as her father once again struck her in the gut, forcing her to double over and heave greedy breaths of air back into her lungs.

"Pathetic! Get up Jade!" Sportsmaster barked as he prepared to deliver another blow. "Your enemy won't wait for you to gather your bearings! Get up and fight!"

The young eight year old glared at her father in hatred. One of these days, she didn't know when, but one day she swore to get even with her father for all the shit he'd forced her to endure. She also swore that she'd never let the monster anywhere near her precious little four year old sister. Artemis deserved better than to become some punching bag that their father could use whenever he wanted. Her own mother wouldn't be able to stop him even if she wanted to due to her condition.

And so, the beginnings of a plan started to take root in her mind as her father continued to literally beat his lessons into her. Once an opportunity presented itself, she and Artemis would be gone faster than dear old dad could react.

They'd disappear just like the Cheshire cat…

Alright, and done. A bit longer than the last one as promised. Not a lot of Naruto in this chapter but soon rectified in the next. Still can't believe the insane amount of support this story received in the first chapter and I am super thankful. Anyway, leave a review and tell me your thoughts. Oh and Happy New year I guess.