Hello fellow fanfiction fanatics! I had an account here a few years ago, and frankly, my writing just wasn't the best. Now, after honing my writing skills to a half-respectable level, I'm back, and I'm going to kick it off by uploading an idea that's been on my mind for a while. Now that that's over with, here's chapter 1!

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"Kill you? I'm not gonna kill you. Now hold still while I break every bone in your body."

~Naruto Namikaze

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Gotham City

August 27, 2009

00:00 EDT

"No, this isn't right, not for either of us." His face was in its typical scowl as he pushed her away, her lips leaving his as their kiss ended. Beside them sat a spotlight that shined his beacon into the night sky, a black bat painted across the clouds. She wasn't deterred.

"Really, because it certainly felt right." He looked in her eyes, and he repressed a shiver as he noticed for not the first time how beautiful she was. Her long brown hair was tied in a pony tail, a large bang on the left framing her face, her high cheekbones and sharp nose. And her eyes, green that shone like freshly dewed grass. Unfortunately, they were so much like her father's, as well.

"I don't want to hurt you, Talia, but we can't be together...not as long as you serve your father." Now she pulled away, crossing her arms under her bust, straining her skin-tight green and black full body jumpsuit. She turned away from him in anger.

"That again! You cannot ask me to choose between you!"

"I don't. The fact that you see it as a choice says all that needs saying." This time he turned away as she whipped around, her face in shock.

"Beloved, wait!" He wouldn't listen.

"No, Talia. This is how it has to be. How it was meant to happen." With those final words, the Batman was gone with a shot of his grappling hook, his cape and cowl disappearing into the night.

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Blüdhaven

August 27, 2009

03:00 EDT

Fire spewed from large furnaces as garbage and refuse was dumped into them, pillars of smoke billowing into the air. Large cranes that ended in metal claws hovered over piles of junk, reaching down and grabbing large chunks, only to drop it in furnaces and repeat the process. One crane halted as it reached its destination, and prepared to drop.

A hand clenched into a fist.

The crane fell in upon itself with a metallic boom, its claws slamming into each other as it bended and contorted into a large distorted ball. The chain holding the now mutilated claw snapped, and it fell to the ground, joining the piles of junk it cleaned up moments before.

The hand relaxed and lowered.

A figure sat in a makeshift throne of metal; pipes and sheets molded into a temporary chair. A wizened and frail figure leaned against the back of the throne, his eyes staring at the wreckage through the bandage that covered them. He was nude, except for a tattered pair of pants that barely reached his ankles. He sat there in silence, contemplating, before his head snapped up as a force of power was sent through the world. Shakily, he stood, leaning against a rusted shakujō(1), his whiskered cheeks spreading as a large grin revealed itself.

"Ah~" He sighed to himself, his voice cracked from disuse. "So that's where one of my Lazarus Pits are..." His body disintegrated into a cloud of black smoke, before zooming off through the air into the distance.

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Infinity Island

August 27, 2009

04:00 ECT

Ra's al Ghul burst out from the green liquid, as he had multiple times before, a scream tearing itself out of his throat. It was not the first time. He had used the Lazarus Pit for so long, and still it's properties burned; healing him, keeping him immortal, but rejecting him at the same time. Speaking of immortality, how old was he now? Somewhere between 600 and 700, he was starting to lose count. Immediately after emerging, a large, muscular man was at his side, helping him out of the stone tub and wrapping his naked body in a robe.

"Are you okay, Master?" The man asked, concerned. He wasn't okay. His pupils were dilated, his breathing ragged. His eyes danced around the room as he regained his bearings of his location. He could still feel the buzzing in his skull, the lures of insanity that came with the use of the Pit, but it would pass. It always did.

He was not okay. But he would be.

"I am fine, Ubu. Thank you." Ubu bowed, proud to please his master. Once the buzzing had passed and Ra's could walk on his own once more, he pulled away from Ubu and made for the exit.

At the doorway stood two figures. One an old and scarred man in a red robe. Sensei. One of the League of Shadows' most senior members. The other was a girl, only 17 years old. Her black hair fell just past her shoulders, and her brown eyes betrayed no emotion. she wore the uniform of Ra's al Ghul's personal guard, and in her hands was a neatly folded pile of clothes for her master to change into when he saw fit. Ra's immediately motioned for Ubu to take them from her, and so he did. She bowed as Ra's passed, and did not rise until he had left the room. As soon as the door at the top of the stairs closed, Sensei turned to the girl.

"What concerns you, Cassandra?" The girl's response was signals with her hands.

"I worry for the master. What if a day comes when the insanity does not retreat as it usually does?" Sensei smiled.

"There is no need to worry. Ra's al Ghul's mind is strong, even after all these years of using the pits. He will not succumb to it any time soon." Cassandra's hands flurried again.

"The insanity lasts longer with each use. It took almost five minutes for the master to return to sanity this time." Sensei frowned, and turned fully towards Cassandra.

"I said do not worry. It is not your place to judge Ra's' mental capacity, you are only to protect him from harm. Do not forget that." Cassandra paused, and she signed one last message.

"...Yes, Sensei."

Anything else to be said would have to wait, as a large explosion rocked the upper levels. Sensei and Cassandra shared a glance, before they were immediately rocketing up the stairs towards the noise.

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Ra's left his quarters, fully dressed now, Ubu following close behind. The sound of an approaching helicopter was heard, and Ra's knew that Talia had returned from her latest "secret rendezvous" with Gotham's Dark Knight. It was a shock to see Talia storm out of the helicopter, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She was followed by two members of her own personal guard.

"Daughter, what is wrong? What happened?" He reached out in an attempt to halt her, but she brushed past him.

"Not now, Father. I must be alone." Ra's made another attempt to stop her, but was cut off by a loud whistling noise.

The torches that lined the wall went out first. The whistling grew, almost deafening, before it stopped abruptly. They stood cautious in the dark, their breathing the only audible sound.

And then the world exploded.

The windows shattered, and flames licked at the walls around the large hole now in the wall. Smoke and dust covered the area. Ra's, Talia, and Ubu stood shakily from where they had been rocketed back into the opposite wall. Talia's personal guard was nowhere to be seen.

A figure emerged from the cloud of smoke, an old and frail man with tattered pants, covered eyes, and whiskered cheeks revealing himself. A rusty shakujō was gripped in his right hand. He inhaled deeply through his nose, and exhaled contently out his mouth. Glancing at Ra's, his grin grew.

"Could you tell me where the Lazarus Pit is?"

Talia's guard struck.

Shooting out from the shadows, their swords were drawn and aimed at the intruder's stomach and neck.

It only lasted a second.

In the blink of an eye, the intruder had had completely decimated the guards. One end of the shakujō slammed into the stomach of one of the female guards, tearing through her stomach and jutting out the back. He ripped his staff out of her body, ignoring as she crumpled to the floor, and caught the second guard's neck within the large circle at the top of the staff. A quick twist, a loud *SNAP*, and the second guard dropped dead. The guard he wounded bled out mere moments later. Straightening back up, he cracked his neck, and turned back towards Ra's.

"Nevermind. I'll find it for myself."

The intruder made to move down the hall, but stopped at the sound of a click. Turning, he found himself face to face with the business end of Talia's pistol.

"Today was a very bad day to cross me." She said, and pulled the trigger. His head snapped back as the bullet rammed into his forehead, tearing through his head. He stumbled back...

...and then stood back up.

Talia recoiled as he stared at her through the cloth. She could see the wallpaper of the wall behind him through the hole in his head, before it closed back up.

"Well, that wasn't very nice-" He stopped as he felt the power of his Lazarus Pit swarm through the room. Snapping to the side, he saw the open door that undoubtedly led to the Pit, blocked by Sensei and Cassandra. His grin threatened to split his face in half now.

"There it is..." His body was black mist once more, and he zoomed past Sensei and Cassandra and down the stairs.

"Stop him!" Ra's yelled, and they were barreling down the stairs after the intruder. By the time they reached the pit room, he was in the middle of the tub, the water reaching his knees. He ignored their presence, his face in an expression of bliss. Talia pulled her gun back on him, firing her rounds.

They never hit.

The green liquid of the pits shot into the air in a large column, blocking the bullets and obscuring him from view. The liquid swirled around him, before it seemed to evaporate all at once, a green mist filling the room. Through the mist, a silhouette formed, similar to the figure that had entered the pool. However, the person that emerged from the now dry tub was definitely different than the original frail, old man that had entered.

What had once been thin, wrinkled skin, was now strong, wiry muscles. His chest and abs were solid, showing not an ounce of fat. His face was angular, and the whiskers on his cheeks had darkened. It was as though 60 years of his life had been restored to him, which was not uncommon with the Pits. However, with the de-aging, came a feeling of power. It rolled of the figure in waves, permeating the room with raw energy. The shakujō was peeling, the rust falling off to reveal shiny gold underneath it. His once wrinkled hands were now smooth, the fingernails sharp like an animal's claws. Reaching up with his free hand, he tore off the bandage that covered his eyes, and the group recoiled at the sight. His eyes were a light lavender color, with black rings rippling out from the pupil. Each ring had three tomoe on it, rotating slightly. Ra's' eyes widened, and a small gasp of shock left him. He'd seen the symbol before, on the bottom of the hole where he'd harvested the Lazarus Pit's waters. The intruder cracked his neck, and let out a contented sigh.

"Much better. Perhaps it's time for a proper introduction." He bowed slightly with a wave of his arm.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze. You may refer to me as either Naruto or Lazarus." His eyes narrowed and his smirk grew, much like the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland.

"Pleasure to meet you, users of my Pit."

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1 - Shakujō: a buddhist ringed staff, used primarily in prayer or as a weapon. the same staff the Rikudō Sennin had.

I'm certain there are a ton of things I can still improve on, but it's a start. Would love to get feedback, suggestions, etc. Just to let you know, this story and another Young Justice crossover I'm planning (in which Naruto will be good) will follow both the show and the comics, so if you haven't read the comics, there may be some events that happen that you don't know about. Thanks for reading!

-The Troon