I OWN NOTHING

If you're going to say I am cliché then I shall wear cliché like a hat, a pair of trousers, and drink it like a nice martini and make it look good, damn it!

XXXXXX

Pain for gain

"Man, I feel great! Training is truly the fuel for youth!"

Naruto's enthusiastic voice echoed in the cave with his usual sheer followed by the groans of his teammates, at least the male side. As a shape-shifter, Megan had no trouble getting the necessary bulk, flexibility or fitness she needed to fight due to having all that to her reach with a simple thought. She'd just have to learn how to fight and move around the techniques of a chakra user in her own Martian way. The other three boys Naruto took under his wing weren't as lucky since they were more human, even Kaldur, and would need something to make up for shape-shifting and mind-reading to battle chakra users.

Megan looked up from the kitchen counter as they walked into the living room coated in sweat, and all of them barefoot. One thing to note was that the team's new enthusiastic teacher still had his baseball hat on while training, its emblem proudly displayed on the orange cap. Naruto had on a large smile, and was dressed in a pair of orange sweat pants with a black top. He didn't have his gloves, so his heavily scarred hands showed a few scratches from using them for his that handstand race. The other boys, however, could barely stand up.

"I don't feel my arms…" Kaldur groaned as he dropped on the couch, said limbs limp and near lifeless from the handstand racing.

"I don't feel my legs…" Robin moaned while he used his staff to walk, his white top caked in sweat and his green sweatpants coated in sand.

"I can't feel my… youth…" Wally grunted when he dropped himself face first on the couch, his legs dangling off one side.

The Martian stared in disbelief before turning to the whiskered brawler, "Is training really that strict to fight chakra users?"

Naruto nodded, "I've trained like this ever since I met one chakra user who fought not with chakra, but with his brute force." He lifted his top, and revealed a large scar on his side along a nice growing six pack of abs that caused a tint of red to paint Megan's cheeks.

And then, she saw it, "Oh my!" she gasped, her hands on her mouth from the sheer shock.

What caught the attention, and made the tired boys feel true fear to the point they forgot their exhaustion, was the massive scar on Naruto's side. What was weird about it wasn't that it was made by a blade, fire, or an animal, but it looked like Naruto had been hit so hard on his side that the skin and flesh tore up with such brute force he shouldn't have been alive after receiving such a strike. The thought of a chakra user who didn't use chakra to fight causing such a wound on Naruto, managing to strike the blond brawler so hard with pure brute force that Naruto's body nearly split in two, was terrifying.

Naruto noticed the stares and put down his top with a nervous grin, "Sorry, I shouldn't have made you see something so awful."

After a brief pause, Kaldur finally voiced his and everyone's thoughts, "What kind of monster did you face to do something like that?"

Naruto chuckled at the memory, "Would you believe me if I said it was a youthful Green Beast from Thailand?"

"Wait!" Robin shouted, realizing something, "This guy, he didn't use chakra, and he still did that to you?"

"His name was Rock Lee, and yeah…" he smiled at the memory, "He had some weird condition. He wasn't able to use chakra ever since he was born, but he found a master who also had the same trouble as him." he sighed, "There was a technique to unlock their chakra. The problem with that was that if they went all out, they'd die." He clutched his scarred side, "When I fought Lee, I had to stop him just when he used the sixth form of that technique, and he had two more levels to go. He kicked me on the side to try to defeat me, but I had already connected my fist on his right side, stopping him but not his kick… and you can guess the rest."

"And even without using that technique, he still fought you as an equal?" Robin asked, getting a nod, "Ok, I didn't think I'd say this after you forced us to run with logs on our shoulders, but I'm glad you're training us."

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes and giving a tired but laidback smirk, "Trust me, the training Lee goes through makes mine look like child's play." He then rolled up his arms, "I'll also teach you a few of my techniques, but other than that you all seem to have good ways to move around chakra users. You just need experience."

Wally nodded, taking it all in, "So all of you chakra users have different training. Huh, now that you mention it, Satsuki does use a sword."

"Whoever taught her is no weakling." Naruto said with a stoic look, crossing his arms to look serious.

Megan spoke up, "I think you could use some rest." She said with her sweet smile and plates filled with nutritious food flew around her and towards the table, a breakfast big enough for ten people, "I thought you'd be hungry, and I made extra considering that Wally and Naruto have such high metabolisms."

Naruto walked to the table with a smile, being the first to sit down and dig in. The other heroes, however, had to lean on each other or crawl to get closer to the food, showing that even a good meal to recover their energies wasn't going to help them stand the training for long. And they would still have to face Naruto in the ring, which made their bodies feel heavier.

The whiskered blond chuckled, "Come on, give it a week or two and you should start getting used to this. I don't use chakra at all when doing this, so it is possible."

Robin grunted, "Is it possible to actually survive two days?"

Kaldur groaned, "I'd rather not know the answer, so please save it."

Wally nodded, "What kind of monster can go through with this? I've ran out of fuel the first thirty minutes."

The bird boy growled, "Don't complain, I lasted five without super-speed."

Kaldur sighed, "I endured ten minutes, but that may be because I'm not fully human."

Megan felt uneasy at the thought of having to fight people who could endure such a harsh training with ease. She wondered the same thing as Wally: was there a monster capable of training like that without any problem and without the need of super powers like Lee and Naruto?

XXXXXX

Madara's training was a sight to behold, and also something worth being afraid of. The dark man was out of his red business suit and in a more comfortable outfit: a pair of blood red hakama pants like those of a samurai, a black karate coat/gi, a white belt, and white socks. Madara's head was, as usual, flowing as a mess of spikes down his back, nearly blending with his gi.

He stood calmly in the middle of a traditional Japanese dojo in his office building, calmly taking in the news of recent events. Before the man was a quartet of wooden dummies. In a split second, Madara disappeared from standing in front of the dummies to reappear behind the dummies. With a smirk and a barely heard but amused "Hn" the dummy to the right burst into splinters, the one on the left had been split in two while its torso had been reduced to smithereens, and the two in the middle lost their heads which had gone flying off in pieces.

The man's small sense of accomplishment was stopped at the sound of footsteps and a door sliding open, followed by an angry female voice: "Madara!"

"You've heard of it, haven't you, Satsuki?" the man replied, not even turning to face the enraged kunoichi.

She snapped, "How couldn't I?! All your allies and subordinates have heard how my brother was forced to flee from Uzumaki!" she walked over to the yakuza, a hand on her chokuto's handle, "You sent my brother to face my target, and he couldn't even retrieve your pet. Is this all a game to you?!"

Madara turned at her, his red eyes showing his spinning tomoes, forcing Satsuki to show her own set of – as Itachi would've called them – cursed eyes, "You may be powerful, as a descendant of mine or not. But Hashirama's bloodline, that boy's power, is something you would sooner or later have to stop underestimating."

With the last word, Satsuki cringed and fell to her knees, holding her head with one hand while her eyes returned back to their usual pitch black shade, "Y-You bastard." She cursed with clear pain in her voice, her head felt like it would split apart any second, "Itachi and I aren't your toys!" she shouted at him. "Just like always, everything and everyone is a piece for you to play with while you remain hidden like a coward!"

Madara clapped, he simply clapped, knowing too well how much it hurt the girl's ego, "And you have the guts to tell it to me in my face while lacking the power to defeat me, just like your brother."

He approached the girl with a peaceful smile on his face, while she glared harder, "And you never had the balls to stand up to Hashirama or hunt Uzumaki on your own."

Satsuki's brain barely registered it, but she felt a familiar warm embrace take her while a sharp gasp of pain echoed in the dojo, "It's you." Madara's voice stated, sounding disappointed rather than annoyed at the sight of the blonde Kryptonian girl that took a direct jab from Madara to her gut to stop the man's hand from reaching Satsuki's face. Galatea tried to punch him, only to see the man swat her punch to the side before dashing back at a safe distance to use his eyes on the clone girl once again.

"The Princess and I want to take care of Sweet Cheeks. If you got anything against that, try your luck again," she growled at the still calm man.

Madara kept his seemingly disappointed face, before letting out another calm smile that infuriated the girls even more, "You want to capture Uzumaki even after your last failure. I'd be questioning this, but since Itachi has been injured by someone who can fight, I want to see the prowess Cadmus claimed you possessed, Galatea." He then chuckled, "After all, your failures are a risk I expected so I could face this brat."

The blonde was about to punch him again, but begrudgingly remembered that the yakuza had too many tricks up his dirty sleeves, "Expect Fishcake to be on his knees before me sooner than later."

Madara chuckled darkly, "Good, for I expect you to fight him, not run off with an injured kunoichi who can't do her job."

Satsuki growled, "Madara… Madara!" she stood up and was about to charge at him, but Galatea stopped her.

This only made Madara chuckle even more, "Good, good. You two are learning." He turned to the remains of his targets, confidently and mockingly giving his back to the girls, "I shall wait for good news."

The two girls left, knowing they had no other choice but to follow orders, for now.

That didn't mean that when they were out of the dojo and in a luxurious hall with the walls covered in expensive paintings that they wouldn't voice their discomfort, "I see he's as charming as ever, as charming as a kick to the face." She clenched her fist at how powerless she felt because of the bastard who abused his powers and Cadmus' programming on her head.

Satsuki didn't stay silent either, "As weird as this sounds, I want to meet Uzumaki again."

That did surprise Galatea, "You want to see Fishcake?"

The ravenette nodded, "For all we know, he is holding back, and I promised him that the next time we met I would show him how strong I really am."

Galatea saw one flaw, "But wasn't your brother supposed to be stronger than you?"

Satsuki lowered her head, "He is…" she gritted her teeth, "But I am not going to remain in his shadow or Uzumaki's. If there's another man as strong as or stronger than my brother, I just have to defeat him."

Galatea knew what the girl meant. She wasn't going to let this weight her down, she wanted to become stronger, to free herself of these chains that Madara put in her life, and for that she needed to face those stronger than her. The Kryptonian turned her head away, not wanting to show her smirk.

"Or," the blonde started, getting the kunoichi's attention, "you could do this to try to get a date with Fishcake."

Satsuki's face matched the color of her favorite meal, roasted tomatoes, "Y-You… You cow!" she shouted her indignation, "Sure, I happen to like blond boys like him, so knock it off!"

Galatea smirked in her cocky way at the girl, "And here I thought Sweet Cheeks would've asked you or another cute girl out for a date already."

Satsuki was seething, "Uzumaki is the first one to fight me as an equal, ok?" she asked, putting her face before Galatea's, speaking seriously, "He'd annoy me, tease me, make awful jokes, and be an unredeemable idiot in our fight, but he was the first person to look at me and want to fight me without resentment, hatred, or fear." She clutched her sword and looked down to her feet, "That idiot was the one, the only one to not feel sorry for me, look down on me, or hate me for what I was about to do. That alone makes it clear that I must take care of him."

Galatea was confused, if anything it sounded like Satsuki did, as hilarious as it was for good teasing material, care for him, "Why? To lose all the fun in life if you beat someone who can give you a hoot?"

She shook her head, "No, because he'd slow me down." She clenched her jaw, "I don't need pity, I just need to be strong, strong enough to defeat and kill Madara. You've seen his power, haven't you?" Galatea reluctantly nodded, having nothing but disgust towards the memories, "He knows he can't be touched, that's why he keeps Itachi and I around, and that's why I need to be stronger by any means necessary to kill him."

The blonde bombshell stared at her ally and, even if she wouldn't admit it, she felt pity for the Uchiha girl. However, "Then don't mind me tagging along," she said, patting the girl's shoulder, "after all, I also want a piece of the guy, and to have some more fun with Fishcake."

That was her best way of saying she wouldn't leave the girl alone, not when they had the same oppressor and a goofball target.

XXXXXX

"Come on! Come on! The key is to move around!"

Miss Martian listened to those words in her hero outfit, but the problem was to deal with Naruto as he threw a lightning jab at her that she was forced to duck under just to be met with a sweeping quick. The freckled girl fell down but reacted quickly by growing four arms on her back to push her back up, which made Naruto grin and get into a more serious stance while still wearing his orange sweatpants and black top. She had one second to react to the other Naruto behind her before he held her arms to her back, all of them, with a strong hold. Megan wiggled in his grip and, with another split time decision, spun her head around a hundred and eighty degrees to head-butt the blond, making him finally release her to see her captor turn into a cloud of smoke.

Kid Flash for his part was trying to run around in circles with the blond he had to face, another Naruto who looked full of energy while the speedster knew his body was too sore to do anything reckless. Even so, he did charge at Naruto and threw three jabs faster than the wind. The blond swatted the first with one hand, caught the second, and tilted his head to avoid the other. The redhead boy then felt the blond brawler's knee on his side, forcing him back but not down. And just as quickly, the speedster dashed again with his fist up, only to throw himself at the ground at the last second, skidding towards his opponent's ankles with his feet aimed at them. The blond fell, and disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

Robin had pulled out his batons and swung them as one towards the whiskered fighter before him. The Naruto he was facing side-stepped the blow and kicked the boy on his side, forcing him to the ground. The bird themed hero gritted his teeth, knowing he had endured a hellish trainer to learn some fighting moves with a freestyler. He flipped himself back to his feet and watched his opponent jump in the air with his leg up for an axe kick. He blocked the strike from the blue eyed Uzumaki with his batons put together as a staff, but grunted from the force before pushing back the more experienced fighter. And then he yelped when Naruto swung down his arm, with a blue ethereal chain shooting out of his palm and right at him like a whip.

Aqualad watched the youngest hero roll out of harm's way while his Water Bearers had to be put in their shield form to block his opponent's wild kicks and punches. But unlike the strikes of a street fighter this time Naruto was putting his weight and balance in perfect sync with each punch, pushing back the Atlantean. Aqualad got a bit of a crazy idea and let the blond Uzumaki's fist sink in his water shields, before forcing them to be solid once again, perfectly locking his fellow blond warrior's arms in place for him to jump up. He managed to put his feet on the Naruto's gut, but at the cost of releasing him which had been a quite heavy price. The blond had also jumped and slammed his feet on Aqualad, sending him back.

But the water controlling hero didn't flinch, he rolled back to his feet and watched his opponent slam against Robin's, turning them into clouds of smoke. "Hey, that was my opponent!" Robin complained, only to be sucker-punched by another Naruto, which made Aqualad want to help the boy but left him opened for the Naruto behind him. That Naruto wrapped his arms around Aqualad's waist from behind, lifted up the Atlantean over his shoulder, and threw himself and the dark skinned blond down, slamming Kaldur's back on the arena.

Wally, who had been exhausting his tricks since all the Naruto's learned the more they fought them, had been put in a headlock while Miss Martian found herself tied up by two Naruto's' chakra chains.

Aqualad sighed, "If it helps you out, I'm sorry." He told the youngest member of the group, meaning his words.

The avian themed hero chuckled, "Nah, don't be… I should be thankful you stopped him."

"Ok, so… can we get free now?" Wally asked, "Seriously, I need to pee, badly."

One of the Naruto's grinned, "Why should we? The boss told us to train you and make you feel pain, and to dispel ourselves for every hit we took. He never said what'd happen if we won." He had a devilish grin, "Well, I'd say that if he told us to play along the lines that he knows nothing of what you three did some time ago…"

The three male heroes sweated bullets, they knew the clone was talking about them spying on Naruto and Megan's date. And so far, the girl didn't seem to know if the puzzled look on her face was any indication. So, it seemed that Naruto didn't want to ruin her happiness by letting her feel the embarrassment of knowing her uncle and the entire Justice League had been gossiping about her first date.

And the eyes of the clones pretty much said that they had complete control over their fates as part of the original Naruto.

Wally chuckled nervously, "Um… How's thirty pizzas sound?"

"Make those a bowl of ramen for each of us and the boss, and maybe…" the clone replied.

"Deal!" Robin said, not wanting Megan to know a thing for the sake of her happiness.

At that time, the clones disappeared in clouds of smoke, followed by a loud cry from the original Naruto: "Guys, you have to get over here! It's great news!" he shouted, before grinning in a not so innocent manner at the three boys, "We shall talk later." He said with a simple, warm smile that hid how much in trouble they were.

But, moments later, the boys' worries almost died with what the dark knight told them: "Our first mission? Sweet!" Batman expected Kid Flash or Robin to be enthusiastic considering how long they waited and how much they wanted to prove themselves, but seeing the two of them and Naruto jump for a midair high-five should have been expected. Miss Martian and Aqualad looked more composed, but he could see the Atlantean teen's arms tense from the effort of containing his excitement.

He also didn't expect Naruto to know a thing about the heroes' spying on him and Megan, but he decided to wisely stay quiet about it and tell the truth: that he didn't want a part on any of it.

The dark knight nodded, "Considering what I've seen in your training, I think you can endure some heavy stuff." True enough, seeing the three teens forced to swim with rocks on their backs following Naruto who had rocks on his back, his ankles and his wrists had proven they could handle a lot.

Kid Flash felt himself shiver, "Well, spit it out! I can't wait to get running!"

"As I've mentioned, it is a stealth mission. A two-part mission at that: you are to enter a factory in the Caribbean sea that's shown signs of life even after it was locked down, and to investigate and bring back information regarding strange operations on the forest surrounding the area regarding four strange figures and an android."

Robin didn't like the sound of that, "Five rogue elements or are they working in the factory?"

Batman shook his head, "We don't know. I sent Red Tornado to investigate the surroundings, but he got ambushed by the android, who called himself Mr. Twister." He narrowed his eyes, failing to hide his anger at having one of his teammates and friends hurt, "Red Tornado fought well, until those four figures appeared. He managed to return before they could even fight him."

"I assure you they were not normal people," a monotone, mechanical voice said, alerting the heroes of the red robotic superhero Red Tornado, "Should you meet these figures, we want you to return after gathering as much information as possible on them."

Naruto looked like he had been kicked in the gut, "So we're not allowed to fight?"

"That is correct." The robot replied without missing a beat.

Naruto looked even more hurt, he hunched over, looking depressed for once in his life, "I see, so, just a boring ninja mission of stealth and info."

Kid Flash blinked, "I think you broke him." he told the dark knight.

Batman sighed, "If you do this…" he started, getting the blond to look up at him, "…I'll teach you a few of my counters."

It was like flipping a switch.

Immediately, Naruto was on top of the couch, one hand on his hip and the other up with a finger aimed at the sky, "A real man never backs down on his word! I shall do this mission and complete it better than anyone could ever do it, and I'll be back to learn some great moves from you!" he ended the speech by dramatically pointing at the bat themed hero. "My Gramps said that a promise between men is signed not by words but by their souls! That's what it means to keep your word!"

Understandably, there was an uncomfortable silence in the cave, and one could even hear the wind blowing. "At least he's back to normal." Aqualad commented, "That's… good…" he didn't sound convinced.

"With that settled," Robin started before turning to Batman, "who will be our leader?"

The bat and the robot exchanged looks, before the former replied, "You'll have to sort that our between yourselves." He cast the cheering whiskered blond a side-glance, who looked like he could blow up from the cheer excitement rushing through his hyperactive body, "Definitely not him. He's more of a mid-fight thinker than anything else, someone like that needs to learn a lot to lead a team."

Even Naruto had to nod in agreement, but had a thumb hooked to his smiling face, "Then whatever the guys tell me to do, I'll do it and make you acknowledge me and my methods." He grinned cockily with both hands on his hips, "Remember! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the guy who'll become the strongest hero in this world!"

To Batman, it sounded like he could contact some doctors, preferably from Arkham Asylum. But the kid was a good guy and a good fighter, so he would try to deal with it.

Red Tornado for his part had another question, "Are there more humans like him?"

"I don't think there's aliens like him." Miss Martian answered, and that statement did make her happy.

XXXXXX

"This is our ship? Cute, not very aerodynamic, but cute."

Wally's statement of the odd red and black ship brought a giggle from Megan, "She's sleeping. I'll wake her up," and with a wave of her hand, the ship morphed into what a bigger and faster looking vehicle.

Naruto didn't waste a second to rush at it and pat it, "It's alive!" he said with an amused grin like a little kid at a pet zoo. He continued petting the ship, "This is so cool! I can actually feel its life force, but… It doesn't feel all too life-like."

Miss Martian nodded, "She is a ship, after all. But she's the one that brought me here, so I owe her a lot."

The speedster tilted his head to the side, "All this sounds oddly familiar, like what you'd expect from a British sci-fi show."

Robin chuckled, "Then let's make sure Naruto doesn't lick it."

"Hey! I wouldn't lick a friend I just met!" Naruto replied, offended, "I may have a twenty story tall fox in my gut, but I can hold myself back from weird urges."

"Disturbing…" Kaldur uneasily commented, "However, we will travel with this to the factory. The only question that remains is if we're prepared?"

"Are you kidding? Why do you think we would waste time before coming here?" Kid Flash answered as he grinned before patting his emblem; his suit turned into a dark shade of gray with black, "How cool is this? New stealth tech so the bad guys don't know what hit them."

Miss Martian smiled and raised her arms, and her outfit morphed from her skirt and white t-shirt into a skin tight full-body black suit with a red cross across her chest, which stunned the redhead and the now grinning Naruto into silence. "Not bad." She told the speedster with her warm smile.

Naruto looked at his friends, "Hmm…" then at himself, clad in his orange jacket and matching baseball hat.

Aqualad stared at him calmly, "Aren't you going to get changed? This is a stealth mission, our first mission too."

The brawler sighed, "But, this is my hat…" he sounded really melancholic, "It's stained with my sweat, tears and blood from all my fights and adventures… I can't just throw it around. This hat is like a part of myself." He closed his eyes, as if mourning for a great loss, "Even my other jackets which were destroyed by strong opponents were hard to replace, but this hat is like a symbol of my soul. It's like you're telling a truly hardboiled man to end his very romance in life, his own soul…"

That uncomfortable silence from hearing Naruto speak about things that didn't make sense returned, though accompanied with Megan's barely but still muffled giggles, "Then, can you change your other clothes into something more fit for stealth?" Aqualad finally asked.

Naruto looked up in surprise, "Then, my hat can stay?" he asked, clutching said cap with both hands. Aqualad nodded, and the whiskered blond disappeared in a flash of light.

"Do you get the feeling that what he wants to say is meant to be deep… but you just can't take it seriously?" Robin asked his other teammates.

Kid Flash nodded, "It's truly straight out of an anime. And it could work, should Naruto not lose because his villains get super-powers that make all of his training meaningless and useless like many manga and anime authors do, because it's usually all about villains winning because they're ridiculously over-powered. Also, it'd be a good story if he stays true to his character instead of bending over to satisfy someone's needs and whims like Samus Aran in Metroid: Other M."

Robin nodded in understanding while Aqualad stared at them, and then at Miss Martian who shrugged uselessly.

XXXXXX

At a far off Caribbean island, away from laws and ethics, stood a tall factory. A black helicopter flew towards it, the sound of the blades muffled for its single passenger.

On the surface stood three people surrounded by cultists dressed in red robes with viper masks. The biggest of them was a man once, a teen, but his ridiculous bulk that reached absurd levels that ripped off his animalistic hide showed he stopped being human. The second was a girl with a Mohawk and half her hair on the left side of her head and a tattoo on the right. The third but not least important one was a tall, fit man with white skin, a serpentine look, and a hooded red cloak that signaled he was the leader of the cultists.

These were Mammoth, Shimmer, and Kobra.

Once the helicopter's blades stopped spinning, its passenger stepped out, pushing up his glasses with a calm look on his face, "I hope everything's settled." He stared at Mammoth, "Though I see you already got results, but not the ones I expected."

Kobra smiled at the man, "We did refine your little formula, doctor. However, even our best chemists couldn't hold back this enzyme you're so proud about."

"That's why I am here, and why my associates watch over this island." The man replied as four shadows stood behind him, "Shall we get to work?" the man asked with a sweet smile.

Shimmer shuddered at that smile. It was sweet, charming, innocent, and a perfectly played façade that hid a monster. Even the man's so-called associates were uneasy about that happy and cheerful look on his face.

Kobra simply smiled back, "Of course, we got you some fine test subjects, doctor."

The man nodded and stepped into the light of the factory, revealing a young man in his twenties of average stature and with large round lenses. His hair was gray and done in a ponytail, and he wore a pair of dark purple dress pants, black dress shoes, a white button up shirt beneath a purple vest, and black leather gloves. He also carried a small briefcase in one hand, and as the light got to his eyes, reflecting on his lenses, he quickly opened and closed it to pull out a scalpel that shone almost as bright as his delighted smile.

"Who shall be my first test subject?" he asked upon seeing the mercenaries before him, all working for a single giant of a man that was dwarfed only by Mammoth.

This man got the doctor's attention, who approached him when seeing his luchador mask, "¿Quién carajos eres?(Who the fuck are you?)" The man in purple chuckled again, and replied when the blade of his scalpel sunk into the man's chest, making him cry in agony while the doctor's voice was heard as a whisper.

"I am Kabuto, and I shall see what worth your body has. Feel honored, for you will become useful research material whether in life or in death."

Kobra clapped, "As always, I expect a good show, doctor. Tell your master that I am awaiting for the good news about our deal."

Kabuto chuckled, and a voice not his own escaped his lips, "Of course… After all, Madara was kind enough to let us live and see one wonderful glimpse of the future…" The luchador screamed more and more, for Kabuto didn't stop moving the scalpel up and down his chest.

Finally, the masked mercenary passed out from pain rather than blood loss when the doctor finally got to see his beating heart, "Such a big heart… I can't wait to test it out…" he said with his normal voice.

Shimmer understandably left to empty her stomach contents, as did the other followers of Kobra. The man's associates could only watch in silent horror how he enjoyed himself.

Kobra smiled, he liked the cut of this guy's jib.

XXXXXX

And that's my rap!

Basically, get ready for one messed up fight between the Young Justice team and Kobra's army and demented allies.

So, why make the crazy doctor and the snake this sadistic maniac? Let me answer that question with another question: why not? They're already completely mad, sadistic, and were creepy as all fucking shit in the devil's wine cellar. It may not be as creepy or disturbing as some truly masterfully done fucks like Norman Bates or the fat nurse from Stephen King's Misery, but I prefer to make my fics fun, not needlessly dark and gritty.

Also, Naruto's training, while still basic, is meant to help the heroes deal with the unexpected. And I hope you enjoyed him being as over the top as hot-blooded heroes can be. I said it clearly, if I'm going to be cliché I'll do my best to make it look good and go all the way in with no regrets.

-OMAKE-

Innocent days

"Gramps, where are we going?"

Tiny eight year old Naruto was growing impatient. Sure, he had his orange baseball cap on his head, which was a bit over-sized but he'd grow bigger to wear it proudly. It was his favorite thing in the whole world, second only to his Gramps' headband.

To many people, the sight of the tiny boy walking behind an old man wasn't strange, but this one was. The little boy was downright adorable with cute cat-like whisker marks on his cheeks, wore an orange vest over a white t-shirt, and ran quickly behind the elder as fast as his little legs covered by a pair of black shorts allowed him to.

The man he followed was tall, had dark and harsh looking eyes, a long mane of white hair that reached his mid-back, and even if he was ancient as dust he looked to be in his sixties to seventies. He wore a traditional white kimono, with a brown sash, and had a hand on the back of his waist while the other held a cane that helped him move forward. The cane was made of a wood so fine and rich that people wondered how valuable it could be.

Some of those people who wanted to know the cane's worth had met the old man's darker side. For with a punch that not even a professional boxer could acquire the first punk before the old man's path was down for the count. Another four tried to reach for him, only to be met with a swift backhand that smashed all of them swiftly on the face.

One of the punks tried to take the kid hostage with a knife to stop the man from hurting him and his friends… all the knife wielding thug got was an upper-cut from the kid that sent him flying ten feet in the air. A deserved punishment that the kid saw fit for the thug that grabbed his beloved hat.

The elder man chuckled, "We're going to visit a member of our family, Naruto." he said with a kind, fatherly voice, "Remember, sometimes our family may do something mean to us or themselves, but they are family. If they need some tough lessons, then hold nothing back. If they cry true tears of regret, you are allowed to forgive them, only if they realize their mistake."

The kid blinked, "So, is this person going to be like that old pervy sage?"

The elder man's smile remained where it was, but a vein bulged on his forehead, "No, not at all. But, for the sake of being good people, let's forget that I took you to him… After all, you did need to learn his techniques, not his mannerisms."

"I still have to go, the old toad didn't teach me everything." The boy replied.

The elder nodded with a tired sigh, "Yes, I know… But for now, let us meet someone who'll help you greatly."

"In what?" the boy asked, curious as only a child could be.

The elder nodded and cracked his knuckles, "To make your fists as heavy as you need them to be in order to punch and heal others."

The kid was ecstatic, "Really?!"

The elder chuckled harder, "Of course, my boy! The fists we use are meant to protect those we hold dear! You may want to be the strongest in the world, and I'll help you achieve that dream, but I know you can do great things with this power."

The boy nodded, "I'll be the strongest ever!" he pumped his fist at his Gramps, "I want people to remember me as a great guy! I promised you, didn't I?"

The elder chuckled, "You did, boy, you did…" He kept walking forward, but when his face was turned away from the child it took on a somber look. He knew the child needed to grow strong, but even if he wanted it to be for his dreams… 'Such innocence and purity… If strength can keep his heart this undefiled, then I shall give him all I got.'

And then, he felt the child's hand take his, "Let's go, Gramps! I want to be stronger than you! That's how apprentices thank their masters, right? By becoming stronger than them!"

The old man chuckled, the kid's enthusiasm made his worries disappear, "Indeed, boy…"

XXXXXX

And you got a look at Naruto's childhood. Hashirama could look harsh and say things that you may expect someone like Kamina from TTGL to say, but he was a loving fatherly figure for the boy, if still a harsh master when it came to shape the boy into a true fighter.

Oh, and the hints I gave are too obvious, so what you may expect is what you will get… probably.

Swordslinger out!