AcclimationShikamaru stared absently up at the ceiling. The softer be - PDF document

AcclimationShikamaru stared absently up at the ceiling. The softer bed is nice, but I should have remembered to ask for a windowe thought absently. Stupid white ceiling is stupid boring. Least they could do is paint some clouds on it.A slight hissing sound alerted him to the appearance of a familiar bald head. Shikamaru “So this vehicle is flying then.”Cyborg rolled his eyes. “Yes, for the thirtieth time, this puppy is FLYING.Proceeding at a velocity of approximately 500mph at a height of 10,000 feet above the ground. That’s whatcha call flying, Mr. Eyes. Anything else you wanna know?” Neji just kept staring around the plane, ignoring the chatter from his comrades in the . “Fascinating. Do you build these flying machines yourself?”“Ha!” A touch of a grin came into Cyborg’s face. “You are talking to the master technicianslashengineerslashalloutGENIUS of the Teen Titans. I make ‘em, rework ‘em, and FLY ‘em.”“He’s humble too,” commented Robin dryly. “To answer your question, he didn’t make this specific one. This is one of the Justice League’s standard Javelins. All of our vehicles are still stuck at base.”“But you build vehicles similar to this one.”obin shrugged. “Sure.”“Wonderful. Truly wonderful.” Glancing around the room one final time, Neji gave a nod of respect to the two pilots. “You are people who make your own fate and do not remain within the cage. That is truly admirable.”Cyborg glanced at Robin. Robin shrugged.“Dude, you are seriously hung up on this whole fate business, y’know?”A grin twitched around the corner of Neji’s mouth. “I’ve been told that before, yes.”“Hey, you’re Robin, right?”Robin turned to confront the hyperactive blonde moving toward the front. “That’s me, yes. You’re… Naruto, correct?”“That’s me!” The whiskerfaced teen flashed a grin and a thumbsup. “Say, thanks for letting us crash at your place and all. We were kinda stuck there for a minute.“Not a problem. We can use the help. Was there something you wanted to ask me?” Robin arched an eyebrow.“Ah… yeah.” Laughing nervously, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “That one friend of yours… does she hate me or something? Or is she always like that?”Cyborg threw a quick glance over his shoulder. “Who, Raven? Nah, she’s like that to everyone. Don’t sweat it.”Though Robin said nothing, he did not entirely agree with his friend’s assessment. Something definitely seemed… off about Raven.She’d been avoiding the blonde and his darkhaired shadow the entire trip.Speaking of which, where was the shadow? The one girlHinatawas almost constantly around Naruto. “I am most happy to make your acquaintance, fellow nonearthling!”Ah. Glancing back, Robin caught sight of a very startled Hinata caught in the friendly embrace of a VERY enthusiastic Tamaranian.“Ummmm…. Ththank you… but I…”“I feel we shall become great friends!” Starfire’s happy yammeringfloated all the way to the fr. “You must come to my abode and play the scrabble, and then perhaps we shall go and partake of the shopping! Friend Raven shall come too, will you not, friend Raven?”“Hmph.”“It is agreed then! We shall journey upon the mall, and do much shopping, and partake of much icecream!”It was fortunate, Robin observed, that Star already knew Japanese. He wasn’t sure how most of these teens would take to being kissed, even if it DID help her understand them. And Star obviously wanted to understand ALL of their new visitors. She had spent the entire trip rushing from one seat to another, trying to acquaint herself with their new “teammates.” Understandable perhaps, she hadn’t had so many new friends in a long time.Still. Robin felt that not all thevisitors enjoyed the attention. Fortunately the pinkhaired girlSakuraknew her already, and Naruto seemed to be just as enthusiastic about making friends as Star. But the one Shino guy had just cocked an eyebrow and moved away, and Neji had simply satthere. Sai had smiled, but that had somehow looked even more disturbing.At least Beast Boy and the one Kiba kid seemed to have hit it off pretty well. He could see them in the back, talking avidlyabout dogs, he imagined, as every so often Gar would shift into one.Frowning, Robin wondered for the twentieth time whether this was really such a good idea. New people raised new problems. He wasn’t sure he or the team could handle ten new members, all unused to their routine, their way of life, their… well, ANYTHING really. For people like Raven, the tower was already too small. Ten new occupants weren’t going to help that.“Yo Robin.” Cyborg’s voice broke into his thoughts.We’re coming up on Jump City, ETA 5 minutes. Our usual landing pad is shot, so I’m just gonna land this puppy on the roof.”“Sounds good.” Robin gave a short nod. No point in worrying any further, he supposed. Sasuke cast a pensive glance out the window, watching the landscape speed past. These mechanical wagons weremarvelously efficient, he considered. He could probably run faster than the vehicle he was in, but it was much less tiresome to ride.It also attracted much less attention. After about two hours of walking along the highway, he’d been stopped twelve times by various people all (apparently) desiring that he ride with them. Fortunately none had observed the sword underneath his trenchcoat. Each time, Sasuke had declined. He did not trust the machines, and could not rely on them to take him where he wanted to go, particularly when he could not pronounce the name of the city. His lack of knowledge about the language hampered him severely, he had to admit.However, Sasuke had discovered a language that EVERYONE understood. Violence.His current driver, a bearded man wearing slightly fogged glasses, had had the bad luck to come last in a string of three consecutive attempted pickups. By that time, Sasuke had gotten so fed uphe decided to take the next one simply to drive the others away.So when the man had pulled up alongside and rolled down the window, Sasuke whipped out his sword, held it to the man’s neck, and pulled out his map, pointing. “Take me here.”Whether the man had understood the words, Sasuke couldn’t tell. But he’d certainly understood the intenThey’d covered a hundred miles in what Sasuke assumed was record time before he grew tired of holding his sword to the man’s throat and simply placed him in a genjutsu. Now they were driving along at a reasonable pace and the man was simply oblivious to him. Much better. He would get there in no time.A flash of color disturbed his view as an opentopped Cadillac cruised into the lane next to them, and several laughing females called out to him.Sasuke sighed and turned away. Couldn’t Kakashi have sent me to an EMPTY world? “Wait so…” Cyborg grappled for words. “You are gonna just… all live in the same room? Like with clothes and beds and everything?”Turning, Shino eyed him impassively. “That is generally what living is termed as.”“But… all of you?”“Of course not!” Kiba glanced up from where he was unrolling his bedroll. “We’re divided up. It’s just us three in this room.”“No, no…” Cyborg shook his head. Theydidn’t get it. “What about… the girl?”“Who?”“You are speaking of Hinatasan?”um… what about me?”“Well, you guys just can’t… I mean you don’t just…” Desperately Cyborg appealed to Hinata. “C’mon, girl, don’t you see the problem with this?”Hinata blinked. “Should I?”“It’s just not…” Groaning, Cyborg resisted the urge to bang his head into the already battered wall. These guys were impossible!“Coed housing is somewhat unusual for us,” Robin’s voice floated helpfully over his shoulder. “I mean, it’s done, but mostly for emergencies.” He raised an eyebrow at the three. “You do this a lot?”Kiba gave a shrug. “Well, yeah.”“We move and camp as a team,” clarified Shino. “Although I suppose Hinata generally does sleep apart from the rest of us, with Kurenaisensei.”“There a problem?” Naruto’s bright face appeared next to Robin’s. “Hey guys.”hello NNarutokun.”“No, no problem.” Robin assured the blonde. “The housing arrangements are just a little… puzzling for us. I guess we were thinking the guys and the girls would sorta… split up or something.”Naruto shrugged. “We usually just all sleep together, I guess we were just thinking we could do the same here. Technically I guess there’s no reason to.”“What’s going on in here?” Sakura’s voice preceded her by a few seconds. “Have you guys seen Sai? He was looking for a room to set up camp in.”“We were discussing that, actually.” Robin nodded. “We have enough room, you could split up by gender instead of by team. Later, when we get the rest of the tower built up, we mayeven be able to give you individual rooms, but until then… well, it would probably be more comfortable for everyone to adopt new arrangements.“Each team is designed around a speciality. Splitting up the teams will reduce combat effectiveness in case ofa surprise attack,” objected Shino.“Hey, ain’t nobody surprise attackin’ NOBODY on this tower.” Cyborg stood tall and crossed his arms. “We got cameras, sensors, alarms, and guns all OVER this thing. We’ll know they’re coming long before they hit this place.”“Plus, we’re not really on a mission, Shino.” Kiba snorted. Sakura rolled her eyes. “Look, much as I love hearing all this, the point is kinda moot. We’ve been doing this for a long time.It works. We trust our teammates.” She turned. Now Naruto, do you know where Sai is?”“Man, what’s with you, girl?” Cyborg arched an eyebrow. “Where do you get off asking this guy for things? You his girlfriend or something?” The simple words brought a reaction immediately. Naruto’s mouth suddenly tightened, and his eyes narrowed almost imperceptively. For her part, Sakura seemed to almost wilt, her face pale and her eyes hidden. Each studiously avoided the other’s gaze.Robin, though, found himself more intrigued by the reactions of the otherHinata’s pale white eyes were darting from one to the other in confusion. Shino’s normally impassive face sported a raised eyebrow. Only Kiba, normally the energetic one, seemed to sigh in resignation as he packed up his gear.This isn’t normal.Robin realized. Not for Naruto or SakuraInterested in the little puzzle, he let the silence sit a while longer before breaking it. “So what do you want to do?” he asked, being sure to keep his voice neutral.Naruto glanced up. “I guess… we should probably break up the teams like you said. It’ll probably be easier on everybody… in the long run anyway.”“Yes.” Sakura nodded, head to the ground. “That sounds best.” “We’ll need big rooms for that, though. Do you guys know a place big enough for all the guys to hang out in?”Turning expectantly, Naruto shot Cyborg an inquisitive look.Cyborg shrugged. “A few. Here, I’ll show ya.”“I’ll…go find Ino and tell her,” fumbled Sakura, as she fled out the door.Robin was left alone with the three ninjas. After a momentary debate as to the wisdom of prying, he turned and glanced at Kiba. “What was that about?”“Personal issues,” sighed Kiba, jumping to his feet. “A really BAD mistake that’s not going to just go away. Actually I’m surprised it didn’t come out sooner.” He motioned to Robin. “Here. Point me in the direction of the bathroom, will ya?” He flowed with the current, bent with it. Sliding up, around, and through him, it bent each and every which way. Little eddies tickled through his fingers, dissipating into nothing at the ends of his fingertips. He had no form, no limits, no…He hit a glass wall.Suigetsu reeled back into consciousness, slowly reconstructing his eyes and face to stare at the obstruction. A few tentative feelers confirmed his suspicionthe glass enclosed him on all sides. Stuck in a glass tube. AGAIN.Suigetsu resisted the urge to bash his head into the wall, knowing it would do little good anyway. In all his years in a tank, Suigetsu had fully learned all the limitations and benefits of tubebound life, including the few ways you could entertain yourself. Bashing your head into the wall was not one of them.Looking out of the glass wall, however, was. And fortunately his new tube seemed to be in a much more interesting location than his last one. It glowed with steel and blinking lights all over, and a few people in purple suits were walking around.Most interesting, however, the two people in front of his watery cage seemed to be looking directly at him. The green man’s glowing orange eyes were particularly fascinating, but the girl standing next to him wasn’t bad either.After saying something to the woman that Suigetsu couldn’t quite catch, the green one turned to him again and his eyes glowed.Good morning. Suigetsu blinked. What? Where had that come from?Ah yes. I am speaking in your head, it is known as telepathy. As you are currently imprisoned and unable to understand our language, this was seen as the best way to contact you.Therewas a short pause and then the voice said, While I’m in here, I’ll just implant the knowledge of English into your brain. It’ll be much less troublesome that way.“Hey, hang on a…”ood, he can speak English now.” A disembodied voice floated into thetankthe woman’s, Suigetsu realized. “Thanks, J’onn, now I can listen in too.”The green man, presumably J’onn, gave a polite nod and turned back to the tank. “You are Suigetsu. Would you kindly explain your attack on one of our league members?”League members?Oh. They must be talking about one of the wrdos in the tower. “Which one?”The woman and man exchanged a glance. “All of them, preferably,” responded the woman. “I suppose we should start by asking why you attacked Titans Tower.”“Who’s what?”“Titan’s Tower? The building you occupied?”“Oh, THAT place.” Suigetsu shrugged. “We needed a place to stay for the night. It looked like a defensible position.”They exchanged anotherlook. “Didn’t you think it might be occupied?”Well, yeah, we saw the lights. Tough luck on them, I guess, but hey.” He didn’t really see the point of this conversation.“Well…” the woman seemed to be searching for something to say. “Why’d you attack?“I told you. We needed a place to stay.”“But couldn’t you have… you know… asked them?”Suigetsu blinked. “But that would take all the fun out of the thing! Oh, I suppose we could have stabbed them in their sleep or something, but that gets old fast. The fight was a lot better.” He scowled suddenly. “Except for that idiot in the green tights. When I get outta here, I’m gonna kill that kid.”Glancing down, he asked. “Any more questions?” “Well, if you’re not picky about bedding, we could stick you all in the training room, it should be big enough.”Naruto shook his head. “Once Lee finds out this place has a training room…”“TRAINING ROOM?” A green blur dashed up. “There is such a place here? I must find it immediately! Already I have lost so much time, I will train TEN times as hard to make up for it.” Lee stopped a moment and frowned, then brightened. “No, I will train TWENTY times as hard and become even better to take my enemies by surprise! Oooh! Even better! I will…”“It’s uh… that way.” Pointing, Cyborg edged just the tiniest bit away from the enthusiastic chunin.Lee’s face flowed with tears. “Thank you my youthful metallic friend!” He dashed off.“As I was about to say, once Lee finds out this place has a training room, he’ll be in there all day.” Naruto sighed. “We can’t arrange for the others to sleep there.”Cyborg nodded absently, his mind still on something else. “Youthful metallic friend?”“Oh, he calls everybody that. Well, the youthful bit. Not so much the metallic.’ “Gotcha.” Cyborg decided to give up on it and turned back to the problem at hand. “So… training room’s out.”“Definitely. Is there anywhere else? That place we landed in looked pretty big.”Blinking, Cyborg stared at the boy. “You COULD sleep in the hangar, I guess… if you guys don’t mind getting burned into pieces everytime a plane lands.“Hm.” Naruto frowned. “So that’s out too.”“Probably. We don’t usually get a lot of traffic, but we might now that you guys are here. And if someone needs to make an emergency landing, they’ll need to land FAST.”“Well right! Sure!” Naruto nodded emphatically. “What else would they do?”Sighing, Cyborg tapped a few panels on his wrist computer. “I wonder if Raven has a spare dimension we could use.” He muttered. “Probably not. Let’ssee… I guess we have a few storerooms we could clear out… most of them were fairly wellshielded from the blast.”Rubbing his chin, he commented ruefully: “That’ll take a while, though. We’ll need a lot of manpower. Think you could get your friends to carry stuff out?“Ha!” Naruto brought his hands. “No need! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” A loud pooof, and soon there were twenty Narutos standing in front of Cyborg. “What room do you want cleared out?” “So… what’s the verdict?” Superman asked the other two as they entered the room.The doctor rolled her eyes. “I don’t know where you picked up that loony in the tank, but he’s a nearly certified psychopath. He almost NEEDS to be shut up.”“Excellent.” Waller nodded. “Please file a statement with the lawyers then, your recommendation added to the others should give the League just cause to detain him here as a prisoner of war.The doctor gave a gracious nod and left as Superman turned to the others. “So then.No more worries on that score. We’ve already discussed our plans for finding Luthorbetween us and the government…” here he gave a grudging nod to Waller, “…we should get an idea fairly soon. What else do we have? J’onn, you said you might know something.”The greenskinned alien looked pensive. “Yes, yes.” He nodded. “Not about Luthor, though. About the AntiLife equation.”Observing the various looks of confusion, he hastened to explain. “It might be nothing… but ancient Martian philosophy postulated that free will might be defined in the form of a ‘Life Equation.’ It’s possible that Darkseid learned this and developed the concept of the ‘AntiLife Equation’ in reaction to it.”“Or that your people learned somehow of Darkseid’s ambition and developed it in reaction to that.”Hawkgirl pointed out.Superman ignored her. “So you know this equation?”Blinking, J’onn shook his head. “I never said the Martians knew the equation… they merely postulated that such an equation existed.”“Am I the only one confused as to how, exactly, they thought you could prove free will mathematically?” Mr. Terrific nearly exploded, throwing his hands in the air. “Math implies logic. Cause and effect. One plus one is always two, two plus two is always four. One cannot choose to become six and add up to twelve. Free will has place in mathematics!” The Martian Manhunter’s eyes narrowed. “Pardon me for feeling some attachment to the ideas of my extinct race. The theory ran that the universe could NOT be explained in terms of mathematics, thus proving that one plus one did not always equal two.”“Then that makean equation!” Mr. Terrific shot back.“So what you’re saying is that there’s a possibility the ‘AntiLife Equation’ doesn’t exist,” cut in Superman, anxious to stop the fight. “In fact, that it cannot exist.”“Yes.”“Which would be nice, except that it obviously DOES, since Luthor has it.”“Unless he doesn’t, because it’s not doing what it’s supposed to.”“Unless it IS!”“Shut up, Flash.”Groaning, Superman covered his hand with his hands. “I just want toback to the farm and raise cows.” He muttered. “Raise cows.Why can’t superheroing make any SENSE anymore?”“Hey, Superman, stay with us here.” Green Lantern putout a hand and patted him on the shoulder. “We’ve still got a job to do.”Superman raised himself up on his elbows and blinked blearily at the table. “I miss the good old days of nuclear missiles and giant robots.”“I hear ya there.” Flash grinned.“Is there a situation going on? Anywhere? For once I want to make the world better by punching someone.”“I imagine we’ve all had that impulse,” commented Batman drily, pressing a few buttons on the table.“Unfortunately, that’s not going to do anything to solve the problem, so let’s break it up into smaller pieces to see what we can do.”A series of images floated into existence just above the table. “J’onn, try to recall everything you can about the philosophy behind this ‘Life Equation’ and if anyparts of it were figured out. In the meantime, let’s get in contact with New Genesis and see if Darkseid has resurfaced by them. For finding Luthor, I suggest we get Question…”“No,” responded Superman flatly. A series of nods came from around the tableBatman arched an eyebrow. “He did well when we set him on Cadmus.”“When we set him on Cadmus he became convinced the world was about to end, tried to kill Luthor, and ended up captured,” came the response. “Plus, his recent actions with the Konoha ninhe captured make his ties to the League dubious.”A short nod expressed Green Lantern’s approval. “I recommend we hold off on giving him any more league assignments for a while.”“Very well.” With a surprisingly casual shrug, Batman returned to the table. “We’ll go through the normal channels then. But Mr. Terrific, I want you working on that portal we promised our visitors.”Hawkgirl glanced at the Dark Knight in surprise. “Are you crazy? We need T’s head working on the Luthor problem. If you ask me, those kids can just stick around for a bit, we might need their help.”“Loose cannons.” Green Lantern shook his head. “They’re capable fighters, but I doubt they’d follow any strategy we suggested.”“I’m still not sure we should completely trust them,” nodded Wonder Woman.“Besides, we promised we’d work on it for them. The best thing to do is fulfill that as soon as possible.” Standing to his feet, Superman addressed the room. “Very well then. The only things we can do for now is search and prepare. You all have your assignments, make sure they’re carried out.”One by one the leaguers filed out, with Batman coming last. He had been upgraded to a wheelchair and was swiftly healing, but his mobility was still limited. Just outside the conference room he wheeled to a halt.“Q.”The faceless man emerged from behind a pillar. “I take it I’m to be relieved of League duties.”“For a while. General consensus.” Batman gave a short nod. “Superman will give you details later. In the meantime, I have some private work I want you to pursue.”Question tilted his head in interest.“Uchiha Sasuke. He’s low on the League’s priorities right now, but he’s going to be a problem eventually.” Batman’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Find him.”“Understood.” “Control room smashed, front of the building broken in, training room battered but still usable, submarine bay physically intact but equipment all fried, and primary reactors inactive.” Cyborg listed off the pad in his hand.Rubbing his head in irritation, Robin tried to think. “Secondary?”“Still functional.”“Well that’s somethingAnd the visitors?”“The guys are deposited in our old trophy room, the girlsare setting up in one of our spare guest rooms.”“I assume our quarters are still intact.” “Eheheheh…. For the most part. It looks like the psycho with the sword ripped up your room just for the fun of it, but outside of that, we’re good.”“Good.” Robin nodded.“I’d hate for Starfire to loseany of the few things she’s got left.”Grinning, Cyborg added. “hate for them to have stumbled into anything of Raven’s.”“Don’t even joke about that,” came the response. “Speaking of which, where IS Raven?”“Hard to say. Security systems aren’t back online yet. Last I saw, she was headed toward her room… She’s probably still there.” Cyborg shrugged.“Get security systems online as soon as you can.” Robin ordered.“We’re at our weakest right now and probably half the villains in town know it.”Right.”“Yo!” Robin and Cyborg both turned at the cheerful voice that invaded the doorway. A grinning blonde poked his head in. “The one… green kid said you wanted to see me.”“His name’s Beast Boy. Gar, if you can’t get used to that.” The sooner they figured out the name business, the better. He had a feeling, though, that it would take time.The confused look Naruto sent him did encourage him. “They both sound pretty weird.”“Get used to it.” Turning, Robin picked up the papers Cyborg had printed out moments before. “Are any of your people good at repairs? Building?”Naruto shrugged. “Sure. We’ve all done plenty of Dclass missions.”“You guys get ‘missions’ to fix houses? Seriously?” Cyborg’s mouth gaped slightly. Another shrug. “And do gardens. And catch cats.”Robin decided it best to ignore the issue. “What materials and tools do you usually work with?”“Uh… hammer and nails for tools… materials… I guess I’ve usually just handled the carpentry stuff, but some of the others know how to work with bricks and clay.” Grinning uddenly, Naruto added,“Some of the girls might know how to work with screensand weavingsThis was going to be more difficult than he thought. “I take it, then, that most of you haven’t done technical repair either, with computers or generators?”“Not… really, no.” Naruto blinked. “I guess… Shino might know how to work generators… they use them in his clan to keep the hives warm. And Sakura“ a spasm crossed his face for a moment, “knows how to use computers. But outside of that… not really.”Slightly surprised, Robin tilted his head. “You have generators and computers in your world, but only wooden buildings?”“We have concrete ones too. I hear they have other stuff in Amegakure, but I’ve never seen it,” came the response.“Why?”Anotherissue to forego for now. “Never mind. Send Sakura up here so she can help Cyborg with the computers. After that, collect the others and send them outside. We’ll have to give you a crash course in metalworking.”“Metalworking?” “Please… you promised to kill me…”“Miss Karin, I never promised anything.” The bald man (Luthor, he had introduced himself as) stated calmly as he strode beside her. “You merely volunteered informationon the presumption that I would carry out your conditions. I never said whether I would or would not.”Karin shivered at the intent in his words and fell silent. Lying prone in her bed, she could see the hallway speeding past as the attendants pushed her towardswhatever gruesome fate they were surely planning for her. The thought stirred her fearnumbed mouth into motion. “Please, if you’ll just…”“Now Miss Karin, why should I possibly want to kill you? You have proven to be my most valuable source of information thus farI should hate to lose you at this stage.”“But I’ve told you everything…”Luthor snorted. “You most certainly have NOT.”“What do you mean? I told you about chakra, about handseals, about the others... What could I possibly have left to tell you?” Actually, there was quite a lot. Karin didnot have very specific information about the Nara, and none about the one “Tenten” girl. Her knowledge about Naruto was only cursorystuff from data files. Nothing about his latest abilities or how they worked.There could be any reason why Luthor foundher information unsatisfactory. But in her heart, Karin knew the real reasonSasuke. She had not told him anything about Sasuke.Even now, knowing that the man knew she was hiding something and would doubtless torture her to reveal it, Karin could not find it in herself to betray Sasuke. It didn’t really make senseafter all, their team had never been close, and Sasuke especially had remained distant from her constant advances. He had only the most passing concern for them. And yet… She still feltshe needed to protect him.Part of it was that she was probably still in love with him, she supposed. But another part doubtless had to do with his behavior at the Kage Summit.They’d been betrayed… by Zetsu, of all people, andexposed to the Kages. Theurai had charged in, but Sasuke had made short work of them. Then the Raikage had come.Suigetsu and Juugo had tried to help Sasuke, but were soon both incapacitated. Merciless and relentless, the Raikage had sacrificed his right armin his attempt to kill Sasuke. The arrival of the Kazekage had provided a momentary relief, but even then, things had looked grim until Sasuke called upon the Susanoo. The impenetrable armor had forced the Kazekage and Raikage to flee.Sasuke had saved her, demanding that she find Danzou and take him to him at once.“Whwhat about the others?” She remembered herself stammering, half incoherent by the bizarre change in Sasuke’s personality.“Forget them! Find Danzou!” He had roared. But then his eyes had changed. “Anyet… they might still be helpful, I suppose.”A quick flick from his Susanoo had saved Suigetsu and Juugo. They’d all charged the Kage roomnearly gotten destroyed before being saved by Madarraand then they’d all attacked Danzou. They’d killed him.But all Karin could remember was that moment of mercy on Sasuke’s part. He’d been a leader. He’d worked for the team. For Karin, that instance of loyalty, however slight, was enough to keep her silent forever.She could hardly explain this to Luthor, however. So she simply continued, “Please, if this is about Naruto, I warned you about the Kyuubi, I told you…”“That was not the Kyuubi.” Words came out in a short clipped tone. “He did not have the ‘chakra cloak’ you described. He had something completely different, something you never mentioned.“I… he’s not on our side. I don’t know everything he can…”“Fortunately, I have decided to give you another chance.” The group stopped in front of a white, glistening wall and the attendants adjusted Karin’sbed to face it. “Something you can help me with. Something you DO understand completely.”At a click, the wall went transparent and Karin gasped. “I believe you called him Juugo. Your teammate. I haven’t had time to do a full examination of him yet, but I’ve observed a number of genetic irregularities already.”A trace of amusement came into his voice. “Are you familiar with the principles of cloning?” The paleeyed boy surveyed the beam floating above the ground with interest. “Fascinating. How do you do that? Is it some sort of gravity jutsu?”Raven ignored him. “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” The steel girder swept upward toward the collection of workers on the roof, where an orange and purple blur shot over and grabbed hold of it.“She is waving to you and smiling.” The boyNejiinformed her. “Now she is carrying it over to the indicated crossbeam…”Flame burst from the roof.“And now Ino is melting the girder in place.” Neji nodded. “Very good.” The communicator on Raven’s cloak crackled into life. “We need a couple lithium bindings on the south side.”Raven touched the device. “Can’t see you, Robin.”“I shall do it!”Suddenly a green whirlwind appeared at her elbow. “I shall carry thirty thousand latrinium bindings up the building, and if I cannot do that, I will…”“Three will be fine, thanks,” crackled the speaker, a touch of amusement in its static. “Hm.” Raven grunted. “They’re in Box A3, over there.” She pointed.“Yosh!” Grabbing three boxes, the odd boy dashed across the water and up the side of the building at breakneck speed.“Just what we need,” grumbled Raven. “Another energy nut. Does he realize those boxes contain thirty bindings apiece?”Neji shrugged. “He’ll be back in a moment with the others.”A cloud of dust and an enthusiastic shout showed the truth of Neji’s words. “Regretfully, I seemto have brought too many latrinium bindings to our youthful comrades on the roof. Where shall I put the others!”“Over there,” sighed Raven.“Yosh!” There was a clatter anda clang as the boxes hit the ground. “What else do you desire me to do, youthful maiden?”Youthful maiden?“Lee, this island seems wonderfully adapted for training. Why don’t you run thirty yards out and circle the island ten times?” Neji’s voice was calm, reasonable.Lee’s eyes seemed to explode with light. “AhHA! You are tricky, rival Neji, but I see through you! I shall run around the island twentyno, THIRTY times, and if I cannot do that, I will do sixty thousand pushups! Yosh!” And the green blur of energy swept toward the water.Turning toward her paleeyed companion, Raven lifted an eyebrow. He shrugged. “You seemed to be disturbed by his presence.”With a snort of agreement, Raven turned back toward the tower. “Thanks.”“Don’t mention it.”A moment of silence passed between them, broken only by the occasional requests from the communicator and Raven’s manipulations of building material. At times, Neji used his Byakugan to help her guide the materials to the other side.Apparently curious, Neji broached the subject. “So you cannot send items to places you do not see?”“I can send them. I just might smash into plenty of things on the way there,” responded Raven. “It’s hard to maintain control over things you can’t see.”Neji nodded. “True. That is your… power, then?”“Among other things.” Raven really did not feel like discussing her abilities with this stranger. “I take it yours is to see through walls?”“Among other things.” Apparently he didn’t relish the concept any more than she did.“Hm. And your friend’s ability is to walk on water?”“Actually, no. All of us can do that.”Oh right. That was how the others had attacked.“Like the firebreathing stuff, then.” Up above she could just barely make out the blonde girl and the chubby boy, melting another girder into place.“…in a way.” Neji frowned. “All of us can use firebreathing jutsus. But Choujiand Ino have a special affinity for them.” “Affinities?” Just barely interested, Raven shielded her eyes to look up at the workers.“Elemental affinities. Each of us has a particular element that our chakra is suited toward. Choujiand Ino’s is fire. Mine is lightning“Hm. And the others?”Neji hesitated, obviously unwilling to reveal the information, but he finally shruggedand continued on. “Sakura and Kiba are Earth types. Shino, like me, is a Lightning type. Sai and my cousin Hinata are Water types, and Narutois suited to Wind.”Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. And Lightning, apparently. The spiritual elements, if you counted lightning as Quintessence. “What about the green one?”There was a slight pause. “Lee has no elemental affinity.“None?” A frown creased Raven’s face. “I thought you said you could all do that.”“Lee is… unique.”“You don’t say,” snorted Raven. She dropped the subject, though, instead asking: “So which one of you is the leader?”“Naruto,” came the answer.“That so.”Neji glanced sharply at her ironic tone. “I have noted you do not seem to approve of Uzumakisan. Why is that?”“Approval has nothing to do with it.” Raven answered. “As a person, he’s annoying already. That thing inside him just makes it worse. I’d really rather not deal with the whole thing.”“The demon inside him… is that it?” Neji’s face hardened..” Raven gave a short nod. “Personally, I don’t understand why you guys would keep him around, much less make him leader.”“Probably for the same reasons your teammates keep youaround,” replied Neji, his voice cold.Raven shrugged. “I’ve never understood that either.” Sasuke was growing impatient. The vehicle’s formerly impressivespeed had slowed considerably, almost to a crawl, in his opinion. “Can’t we go any faster?” he demanded of the driver.The driver, predictably, did not respond, and Sasuke gave up his quest with a sigh. Although the genjutsu technically controlled the driver, it did so only in a cursory manner, and with images, not words. His driver still could not understand him and thus could not answer any particular concerns. Momentarily, Sasuke contemplated leaping from the car and returning to his journey on foot, but dismissed it as too overt. The men in the vehicle ahead looked official, such an activity would surely be reported. He needed to stay low.With a sigh of resignation, Sasuke reclined back in the seat and studied the vehicle ahead of them. Large. Boxy. Very few windows, apparently very heavily armored. Several people could be seen in the driver’s seat, wearing official suits and nervous faces.Guards.Sasuke surmised. For something in the vehicle, perhaps? But…Suddenly an explosion rocked the road, sending both cars flying. Gotcha!” raspedTwoFace the armored car crashed down into the ditch. “wo for the price of one.” He noted, seeing the crashed truck next to the other. “Not a halfbad day’s work.”Furiously,he gestured to his men. “Go on, then, boys. Lots of coin in there, time to gather it all up. Leave that.” He added, pointing to the rocket launcher. “Don’t need nothing burning up the money.At that moment, however, things went slightly awry.A dark figure, clad in a voluminous trench coat, landed on the ground next to the armored , cocking a quizzical eyebrow at it. The teenager, tall with dark, spiky hair, though obviously very skilled, did not seem to be carrying a weapon of any kind.“Clear outta here kiddo.” One of his men growled, waving around his gun for emphasis.Instantly the teen’s gaze darkened. A sword slipped from his coat and into his hand.Only one kind of idiot tried to use swords in battle. The superhero kind. (Technically, the insane kind might too, but sometimes TwoFace really couldn’t tell the difference.)Either he’d volunteered to go with the truck, or tracked it on his own, or simply shown up in the wrong place at the wrong time.Didn’t make a difference. “Give ‘im two in the head.” He mutteredto the man.With scarcely a nod, the thug whipped up his pistol and fired. The teen staggered bacand fell over.TwoFace raised a disfigured eyebrow. Usually those clowns moved around a lot morethe ones with swords at least THOUGHT they were fast enough to dodge bullets. That guy had just stared at the gun as if he didn’t understand it. Still. No matter. He was dead, that was the main thing. “Now, get the money.” He growled to his men. Quickly a number clambered over the road and toward the truck. TwoFace smiled as he heard the door being blown open, grinned at the sound of bullets executing the guards within, smirked at the screams of terrorWait a minute. That had been one of HIS men.Screaming, half the men he had just sent came streaking back over the road, firing backwards as they went. Several collapsed in the middle of theroad. “What’s the problem with you idiots?” TwoFace raged as the survivors approached him. “A few guards too much for you?”no… it was…”The answer came in the form of a dark figure that materialized on the road. Straightening, the teenager froma few moments ago glared at TwoFace with murderous red eyes.Huh. He coulda sworn that they’d hit the kid. Was he bulletproof or a replicant or… Naw. Blood was pouring from a hole in his shoulder. He’d been hit, just not in the head. Stupid Murkley, couldn’t aim to save his life. In this case, literally, smirked TwoFace as he recognized one of the bodies in the road.A grunt from the teenager recalled TwoFace to the present. Right. Vengeful wounded superherowannabe in the area. “Kill him already!” he growled at his men.This time, the teenager did not wait for them to fire. Obviously learning from his previous encounter, he leapt and dodged before the guns could even track onto him. His sword leapt and dodged amidst the thugs, slicing them into tiny ribbons. Electricity shot from his hands, and fireballs spouted from his mouth. TwoFace had been in enough brawls to know when the getting was good. He left his men to their fate. Sasuke straightened and glanced at the pile of corpses around him. That seemed to be all of them… except for the one odd disfigured man. That was disappointing, Sasuke would have liked to kill him too. For a moment he contemplated tracking him down and doing just that, but quickly discarded the idea. He was wounded and needed to seek care.A strange wound, though. And a strange weapon that had inflicted it. Though he didn’t exactly understand how they worked, he now had a healthy respect for the small projectilefiring weapons. The weapons of this world were more dangerous than they appeared.In either case, it was over now. Time to find out what they had all been so anxious to get. Striding over to the odd vehicle he’d notedearlier, Sasuke pushed open the charred door at the back.Four of the guardpeople from before. All dead, all armed with the same odd weapons. All surrounded by piles and piles of green paper.Was this what they were all fighting over? Sasuke didn’t understand the point.Still, he picked up several handfuls of the odd green paper and stuffed them in his pockets. If they were important enough to guard or steal, they were important enough for him to take. Maybe they had dangerous jutsus encoded on them or something.His pockets finally stuffed, Sasuke turned to the doorwith a sigh. His original driver was dead, he supposed he’d have to walk the rest of the way. He strode to the door, but paused at the threshold and turned.His head cocked in thought as he studied one of the remaining weapons. “This is going surprisingly well.” Robin muttered, examining the work done on the south side. “If we keep this up we ought to have the essentials in place by tonight.” Touching his communicator, he asked, “Cyborg, how are things on your end?”“Eh… the computers are going to take some work, but I think I got it covered.”A grin tugged at Robin’s face. “What, the interdimensional ninja from steampunk Japanisn’t helpful?”“Dude, the most advanced language she knows is QBASIC. In Japanese.” Cyborg’s voice was justa touch pained. “I don’tdare let her even near my babies.”“What about the generators?”“Okay, I guess. That Shino kid understood enough to start up the secondary generators. But again, don’t think I want him fooling around with the main ones.”“Hm. Probably not.”“Other than that I think we’re all good.Whaddaya want to do now, Boss?”Robin paused and thought. “The crooks probably haven’t heard we’re back yet. Anything on the scanners?”There was a short silence as Cyborg checked. “Not anything major. Some kind of disturbance downtown, but that’s it. We don’t have all our scanners active, though, so we might be missing stuff.” “Hm.” After thinking for a bit, Robin shrugged. “We’ll do it the oldfashioned way then. Cyborg, Beast Boy, do a few rounds of the city and see if you can drum out any criminals on your way. Take two of the ninjas with you too, they should get to know the place.”“Sure thing boss. On my way out now.”“Good.” Robin clicked off the communicator. “You!” He pointed at one of the less active ninjas. “Kiba, right? Go grab your friend Neji and meet Cyborg down on the groundBeast Boy, go with him.”“Right!” The two jumped away. On the mainland, a pair of glittering eyes watched four figures leap into the city.“Well now… That’s interesting.”