"You're surrounded, hero," a Thanagarian female announced. Bruce could forgive the woman for being confident, they were surrounded and two people trying to flee with one unconscious and seriously injured… things weren't looking up. But there was a third party that hadn't revealed themselves. It surprised the detective he wasn't swarmed when those first two security guards made him. After what transpired in the hallway he knew someone had been diverting attention away from him to give him a chance to escape. While thankful, it was also a blow to his pride.
"Surrender," she demanded. There was no chance of that, even if he didn't know what a Hyperspace Bypass was they would still assume he knew too much. If he didn't leave here now he wouldn't be leaving here alive. If surrender meant death then fighting was the only real option or more aptly put, no option at all.
A soldier hit the ground, wound to his neck leaking his life's essence. The rest of the Thanagarians looked around, confident it could not have been him who attacked their comrade. Seconds later another fell, stabbed through the heart. Three projectiles tore through the air, traveling faster than Bruce could track and all hit their mark. Panic was setting in as the mystery assailant had killed five of them in a crowded room but no one had the faintest idea where they could be. While they were looking around, Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder and tensed on contact.
"They won't be distracted for long, we need to go," the masked man said but with no effort to mask his voice nor his distinctive red hair, Bruce knew who it was. He watched the Uzumaki cut through the bay doors as if they were tissue paper. Bruce followed him out and then headed straight for the Batwing.
"She's in bad shape," Naruto said. "I can both heal and get her someplace safe faster than your plane could."
"I don't trust you," Bruce said. Whatever Hawkgirl may have done, she was still a member of the Justice League and he wouldn't hand her over to just anyone. But faster than he could react Hawkgirl was out of his arms.
"I'll be in Metropolis but you should be warning the others." Bruce watched him disappear then felt the explosions coming from the Thanagarian vessel. He got in the Batwing and raced to Metropolis, calling the rest of the League as he traveled.
"Wake up you big, blue nerd! I know you hear me, I've got Macy and she's hurt. Clear off a flat, firm surface," were the words that stirred Clark from his sleep. Moments later Naruto appeared with Shayera in his arms. Clark took her from Naruto, gently, and walked her to his dining room table. Naruto was setting up an IV, retrieved from parts unknown as far as Clark could tell, as he got her settled. Both Lois and Kara came to see what the commotion was, both curious as to why a masked ninja was in their shared apartment.
Seeing him so focused on helping his team member, Clark asked them to wait as Naruto worked. It was an hour before he took a break and removed his mask. Lois was surprised but Kara was just short of angry.
"You're a hypocrite," she said. "You judge the "Pajama People" and yet look at you."
"Kara, that's hardly the most important issue right now," Clark said.
"It is not unimportant," she responded. Clark could see the murder in her eyes when Naruto chuckled. She looked ready to pounce but Naruto was uncowed as he began to explain himself.
"The Thanagarians are not here to help. I felt Commander Hro's deception when he spoke to the UN but essentially every world government and our most well-known superheroes welcomed him with open arms. I have no standing with any one who could have swayed them and even if I did I had no proof. I figured the Detective would be suspicious but I couldn't just wait for his investigation to be concluded. The enemy was at the door so I needed to slow them down in hopes the rest of you would catch up."
"Slow them down, how?" Lois asked. Naruto paused. The Boy Scout and Kara needed all the information as they would involve themselves but Ms. Lane was a reporter and dry snitching on himself didn't sit right.
"You can trust her, Naruto," Clark said. He wasn't so sure of that but he did trust the Kryptonian for reasons that often eluded him. The Luthor heir relented and spoke.
"I assassinated the commander the night the UN voted to work with him. Tonight I was going to destroy the materials needed to build whatever it was they were planning, Macy called it a Hyperspace Bypass. But my objectives changed when I sensed her duress and the Detective having gotten himself caught."
"What's a hyperspace bypass?" Kara asked, deciding to ignore the assassination part for now.
"I haven't the faintest idea but I know what they do to communities when they are building interstate bypasses," Naruto answered.
"They tear them down," Lois followed up. Naruto nodded and continued.
"Yea, now imagine the scale when it comes to space travel. If what they wanted wasn't harmful they wouldn't have lied. But since I have destroyed the components of the bypass and their plans have been uncovered they may retreat."
"How likely is that?" Clark asked.
"Can't say."
"Can we get back to how he's a rank effing hypocrite?" Kara asked.
"Did you really just say effing?" Naruto asked in return.
"Can you shed some light on this. She won't be the only one with questions or concluding you've been inconsistent," Clark explained. Naruto rolled his eyes at the eternal peacekeeper.
"The League and the UN were both fooled by an invading force. The safeguards failed, it would have been irresponsible for me not to act, not with what I knew. If either party had called the invasion for what it was I would have stayed out of it unless otherwise necessary. I wasn't stopping a bank robber nor slapping up a dealer for slinging nickel bags in the park. You lot don't just handle things normal people can't and because you involve yourselves in matters big and small you infantilize people as they become dependent upon you.
Look at Gotham. Why do they even have a police force? They depend on the Detective for major investigations, crime control, and every other thing while swearing they are overpowered by normal people with normal weapons. Also, if I did my job correctly then no one would have known I was ever there."
Clark was ready to concede the point, Kara had other ideas. "Is Hawkgirl stable?" she asked.
"Yes. She just needs rest for now, why?" Naruto's question was answered with Kara grabbing his armor and pulling him away toward her room.
"I need to go to the Watchtower," Clark said as he watched Naruto allow himself to be dragged away. "You should keep an eye on those two," he suggested to Lois.
"I doubt Kara will hurt him, Smallville," Lois responded but was confused by Clark's slight grimace.
"That's second on my list of worries," his words confusing Lois further until her eyes were alite with understanding.
"You think so?"
"They have a… weird dynamic," Clark observed. Lois laughed before kissing him gently.
"If I'm going to be stopping young adults from having sex under our roof then you should just adopt Naruto and make it official."
"I think Lex would come back from the dead to prevent that from happening," Clark joked.
We certainly wouldn't want that. Well, I guess I need to go guard against any trades or relinquishments of virtue because that's what an ace reporter should be doing during an invasion. You owe me. Now, go be heroic," she commanded and endured the gust of wind he generated.
"We can be ready to vacate within the hour," Paran said over the sounds of alarms and several dozen crew members patching the hole in the hull of the ship. She'd just given Kragger a rundown of the damage, all of their major components for the Hyperspace Bypass were destroyed. Preliminary forensics suggests the explosions were placed inside the parts, not outside. That was a mystery but one she couldn't invest in. This mission had been a failure from start to end and they needed to return to the main theater.
"Vacate?" she heard Kragger ask but was confused by his skepticism. "We aren't leaving, Paran." The new commander's voice was so calm she'd be forgiven for overlooking the madness of his words. Kragger steepled his fingers together and leaned forward in his chair, "Thanagar is lost. This, as much as Hro wanted to believe otherwise, was a desperation gambit. The Gordanians have cut off escape routes from Thanagar, High Command confirmed as much. Returning is suicide." Kragger took a moment to let his words fester in Paran's mind. He didn't want to replace her, there had been enough turnover in their chain of command but he wouldn't hesitate if she proved disloyal to his new vision. "
But we have enough soldiers and superior tech to create a new Thanagarian empire here. These Earthlings won't put up much of a fight and we know how to immobilize their strongest force."
"Except for one," Paran observed.
"That's simply a matter of time. Ready the troops, in a few hours time we go to war."
Paran wanted to argue. To state that Kragger had gone mad, that this backwater wasn't worth it. Even if Thanagar was destined to fall, there was honor in fighting to the last person and with them there it may not be so. She wanted to remind him that vengeance had no place in the life of a soldier, that they served the Empire but the words never manifested. As mad as Kragger may have been, she couldn't deny the war had turned against them. She didn't have a deathwish, she wanted to live and possibly see a future without war and strife.
She may not have loved Hro like Kragger but he was a hero to her and many other Thanagarians. The boy that survived the Gordanian prison camps, who escaped and found his way home. That boy fought and survived until he became a decorated war hero and fearsome commander. He deserved more than to be murdered in his sleep. His death robbed him of the honor and dignity he'd killed and bled for. It turned something sour in her, that these people would dare. But such cowardly tactics would be all they had. Their Earth weapons couldn't pose a threat, their heros would be easily disabled. New Thanagar could be a paradise. New Thanagar could be worth fighting for.
She left without further word, set on reading everyone for conquest. The planet had been slated for destruction anyway, a life of servitude of their Thanagarian overlords wouldn't be any worse. At least they'd still be alive.
"They've gained entrance!" Diana shouted as he ran out of the conference room. The Justice League had convened so Bruce could share his information about the Thanagarians and Shayera. John had not been comfortable with her being healed by Naruto but Clark's reassurance than Supergirl was in attendance allowed the man to refocus. The obvious question was what should they do, was this a time that warranted a preemptive strike?
Bruce had his eyes on troop movements, it hadn't taken much to convince the Joint Chiefs the Thangarians meant harm and they had mobilized to confront the newly identified threat. But as for the League, they had not gotten to reach any conclusions as the Watchtower was attacked. Their enemies hadn't been restrained in the size of the attack force.
Wally and Clark, being the fastest, pushed forward, knocking out as many Thanagarians as quickly as possible. However, neither were prepared for the gravity and kryptonite beam rifles used on each respectively. Wally, slowed to a crawl, was hit with a stun baton and Clark was cuffed and drug unto an awaiting ship.
Seeing the member he'd gotten closest to, excluding Shayera, and one of the leaders taken down, John ramped up his own attack. But, again, the Thanagarians were prepared for the lantern as several used shields to absorb his ring's energy and redirect it back to him. The yellow energy blasts tore through his constructs and knocked John into a wall. A follow strike with a stun baton rendered him unconscious.
"At least one of us needs to get to Earth," Diana said as she delivered a cross-uppercut combination to a soldier, downing him. The Princess of the Amazons kicked him into a charging horde of hawkpeople before she continued to use her impressive martial ability to fell the nearest enemies.
Bruce was putting his taser knuckles to good use, managing to even things between him and the stronger, faster race. "J'onn has the best chance to get to the Javelin," he relayed as his uppercut crumpled a foe. J'onn became immaterial and phased through the walls. Now just the two of them, Diana and Bruce held off as long as they could but an electrified blast from a rifle, one Diana couldn't deflect, shocked her into unconsciousness. Bruce was overwhelmed and like Diana, restrained with specially made cuffs. As the two were dragged to the hanger they arrived just in time to see the Javelin depart.
Any sense of victory was short lived as they watched the craft explode, the impact waking Diana up and she quickly surmising what happened. Enraged she tried to break free but was struck with several stun batons until she was rendered unconscious once more. "Do we need to do that to you as well?" one soldier asked Bruce. He said nothing but headbutted the Thanagarian, breaking his nose in the process. The other soldiers were prompt in their beating of Gotham's hero.
Kara unleashed her heat vision upon a Thanagarian ship but paid it little attention as it crashed below. She was too angry to care. Breaking bones, wrecking ships, none of it quelled her fury. Possibly because her ire was not directed at the appropriate party. Oh, she'd squash the invasion even if she were the last woman standing but she wasn't actively angry at the invaders. Invasions, criminals, it was all just a part of her duty as a heroine. And that's what she was, a heroine. A person that risked life and limb to protect others.
A gosh darn, melon farming heroine!
Did Naruto Uzumaki care that she was a heroine? Only when it concerned pushing her away. But when an actual problem arose what did he do? Flickered out of existence and left her like some prairie wife waitin' for the end of the war. She was the strongest woman on the planet! Maybe second strongest…. Scratch that, she was the strongest. And fastest. And could fight.
She totally just broke that Thanagarians jaw. Where was Naruto to see that? To see her unparalleled jaw breaking abilities… for justice!
"AHHHHHHH!" she yelled, her war cry alarming all within earshot. Contact didn't end her rampage but contact felt good. Punching the deserving felt good.
Did Naruto deserve a punching?
He was a dick to her. But only up to a point and if she seemed genuinely affected by it he stopped. But he was arrogant, rushing off to fight by himself. And she could just see his face if she tried to punch him and missed. He'd have that insufferable smile, that 'oh so cute!' look in his eyes.
He'd be expecting violence anyway. No, she wouldn't punch him. She'd do something he wouldn't expect. Kara cackled evilly at her plan. It couldn't fail.
"Ready the cannon," Kara heard in the distance and watched one already fingering the trigger. Before she could dodge or counter she watched as an arrow pierced the marksman's neck with enough force to toss him with the continued momentum. She watched another arrow destroy the weapon. Distracted, Kara continued attacking the squad that tried to get the drop on her. Activating her X-ray vision and saw her real target standing on a roof, shadowed but ready.
Ready for the Thanagarians but not her. She rushed him and grabbed him before he could flee. His back was against the wall, mask off, tongue in his mouth before he could let loose with a smart alec quip. She was mildly surprised when he returned the gesture, the tip of his tongue teased her own and he even grabbed her ass.
"It's a nice ass," he said when they broke apart and Karak briefly wondered why he… empath. She had to remember he was an empath. "I'm also just a clone."
"Who cloned you? Was it Lex?" she asked in concern. The "clone" chuckled.
"It's one of boss's, the real Naruto's, abilities. He's gone to confront the primary force."
"Then he'll need backup."
"Metropolis needs you, Captain. None of the Justice League has been reported anywhere."
"Do.. do you think they've been captured?" Kara asked.
"I hope they've only been captured. Either way, you can be more effective beating back the forces here and then going to the next nearest attack point."
"What about you? You can't do this alone?"
"Boss will be fine. More importantly, it'll be easier for him to do what he needs to do without you being there."
Kara put her hands on her hips, greatly displeased at the clone's words. "What, he thinks I'll be in the way?"
"He's going to kill them all," the clone said as if it was a fact as indisputable as the sun rising in the east. "He doesn't need you to see him do it."
"Why?"
"You're much too intelligent to need an answer."
"Fine but if I stay here I'm in charge, got it?"
"Aye, aye Captain!" Kara refused to let the clone see her annoyance but got further annoyed when she remembered, again, that he's an empath.
Paran loomed over the sandy battlefield. The NATO forces had been beaten back with ease, their weapons and tech no match for the Thanagarians. Paran wondered if the Earthlings were soft or ignorant to be so behind much of the galaxy. Not that it didn't ultimately benefit her, she wouldn't complain about an easy victory.
She smirked as smoking remnants of blasted tanks were the primary evidence an assault was ever launched. If this was to be the new home of the Thanagarian empire then subduing it without destroying the existing structures and resources was ideal. She wondered what government they'd ultimately install and what her role would be. Would she be given territory? A seat on some kind of high council? Both. The ambitious officer could hardly wait. She never minded slowly working through the ranks, everyone had to but given the mere suggestion of something more and she wanted to grab it with both hands.
A stiff breezy broke Paran from her thoughts and soon a sand started to swirl around the tanks, obscuring her view. She wasn't an expert on Earth's weather patterns but something told her what she was seeing wasn't natural. A faint whirring sound grated in her ears. She looked to trace the sounds and saw a blue-ish white ball heading for them at breakneck speeds. Another soldier called out a similar view, except the ball looked like lava.
"Avoid contact," she commanded and her unit took evasive maneuvers but none were prepared for the balls to expand. As an experienced soldier, Paran was accustomed to the sounds of death; last gasps, grunts, begging, crying, and even pained screams. She hadn't ever heard a sound she'd consider bloodcutterling. To hear dozens at once was to hear the purest agony ever experienced. She couldn't describe the aftermath. It was death. One attack created a vortex of wind strong enough to pull the mightiest of her kind off their flight path. The other felt like the hottest fire that could sear flesh without one being close. Over half her unit was just killed and the remaining appeared to be going into shock, she couldn't allow it even if she understood it.
"All of you in formation, now!" she demanded. "Someone get me eyes on the enemy."
"Ma'am" someone with a telescope said, "attack imminent!" was the lone warning as the remaining force was beset by beams of light. Most hadn't had time to dodge. Others had but were chased down. She couldn't even command as she had her own projectile to deal with while flying through the corpses of the ones she had been meant to lead. No matter what she did she couldn't lose it so having enough she brought her axe down. The mystical metal felt like it wanted to give, the attack causing her to brace on impact. But it held and split the beam in two.
Paran breathed in heavily, greedily. Sweat poured down her face as she clung to her weapon. No strategies came to her. Not even the instinct to blindly attack manifested. She didn't understand what was happening. What had befallen them? Absently Paran noticed the sand cloud had moved closer to what remained of her squad, at best a quarter. She felt it all slipping away. Her position, her territory.
Paran couldn't lament her misfortune for long as the world went topsy-turvy. An unexpected bout of vertigo had her, and the rest of her unit, plummeting to the ground. None could right themselves, their equilibrium taken from them. Many shouted for her, for their Lieutenant to help them command them save them. Paran couldn't. She met the sun baked sands with a small thump. Her nonexistent balance was further impeded by the localized sandstorm whipping around them.
The battle tested soldier gritted her teeth as she got to her knees, the world still spinning and the sand nipping at her. She used her axe as a crutch and closed her eyes hoping it would calm things. She felt so unsteady but shakily returned to her feet just as the winds and sand stopped battering her. She opened her eyes and saw it, the rest of her force immobilized in metallic looking sand.
"H...help," she heard one whisper before they were all crushed, pulverized before they could even scream. Paran tossed aside all discipline and dignity. She didn't care anymore.
"Face me, coward!" she shouted irrationally, clutching her axe. She spun around, desperately hoping to get a look at her assailant(s). Maybe she couldn't defeat them, maybe death was assured but she wanted her axe to draw blood. For her enemies to know she wasn't some coward or mere fodder.
"I said-" she suddenly felt cold, lightheaded and wet. In the middle of the desert how was she wet? Paran looked down to see blood covering her lower body. In her final moments, the once proud Thanagarian would wonder when she was cut as she slowly slipped into the eternal darkness.
Kragger looked upon the death of his soldiers with a resigned bemusement. He knew who it was without knowing who it was. He relayed two orders, to ready every able bodied soldier for a direct assault on the ship and to contact the vessel transporting the heroes. He was going to use them to break the will of the people, to show them that not even their champions could withstand the might of Thanagar. Now, he refused to risk them joining forces with whoever had killed Paran's unit. He was going to order the heroes murdered in their cells.
"Sir, we cannot establish contact with transport." Kragger showed no emotional response to the tidbit of information. The heroes felt almost beside the point to him. He needed to put eyes on the man that murdered Hro, murdered the one he cherished above all. He needed to see him and kill him slowly. He needed to hear his screams as the vermin begged for mercy even as he knew it would never arrive.
"We've been breached. Alpha team has made contact, putting it up on projector one now."
Kragger watched a blur cut through the Alpha team. "Rewind that footage and drop the frame rate," Kragger commanded. His order obeyed, he watched a slow motion dissection of the Alpha Team. From the physique it was a man; one wielding two distinctly different blades. Every move, every cut was purposeful. Kragger's concentration was distrubed by the sounding of the fire alarm.
One of the techs pulled up the surveillance video and showed the mystery attacker breathing fire into the passage, burning all caught in the blaze. As the fire alarm blared, the suppression system engaged and a monsoon fought against the unnatural flames. The masked man didn't budge but waited patiently. When more soldiers arrived, Kragger watched the man hold up one hand and create hundreds of needle-like constructs out of the water. The projectiles tore through the newly arrived soldiers for just under ten seconds. Then, the man moved again, striking any soldier still breathing.
The routine continued, the unknown assailant cut down or through some form of elemental magic killed everyone sent after him. Something that bothered Kragger was why the surveillance was catching him now but not before. He'd had his crew go over hours of recordings and they never picked up his presence. The more Kragger watched, the more he internalized that every one of their tactics failed the more resigned he came to be. He was going to die. At some point the staff locked down the room in a futile attempt to prevent the unknown man from gaining access. It would take thirteen minutes for them to realize it was pointless.
Kragger didn't even spare a thought for the rest of his people being killed in front of him, instead he focused on the eyes of their killer. Bored. They seemed bored and despite himself, Kragger laughed. They had come to destroy an entire planet and were being executed by one individual. It was oddly fitting.
"Can I have the name of the slaughterer of my people?" Kragger asked.
"I'm no one special," the man said, "just a humble gardner attending to an invasive species."
"Were we mere pests to you, humble gardner?" The man shrugged as if putting forth the effort to verbally answer the question would somehow refute the premise. "Well, let's get on with it then."
"If you call the rest of your soldiers back they will be allowed to leave the planet." Kragger laughed.
"Pests don't flee, humble gardner. You want them gone then you drive them out or exterminate them."
"And you'd subject your people to that when you could protect them?"
"No one can protect anyone, you taught me that," Kragger spat. The man didn't appear affected by the accusation in the least. "I curse you! Even if nothing awaits me in the afterlife but eternal tortures just know the day you die, the day you face a foe you cannot overcome I will rejoice. Whatever my state, I will rejoice. Enjoy being on top for now, humble gardner. It won't last. It won't last!"
"Defeat, loss, and death comes for us all. I refuse to live in fear of it. I only hope the day it comes, I can look back on my choices and smile as whatever brought me to that point, I wouldn't regret it." Kragger was going to retort but grimaced as he felt a sword pierce his heart from behind and the person he'd been speaking to fall away like ash.
"To prey upon the weak while cursing the strong is to be the most sincere coward. You may rejoice the day I fall but after I leave this room I'll never spare you a second thought."
Kragger lusted for one final quip, one last cutting remark but his chest cavity filled with blood and he weakened by the second. He stopped trying to speak and leaned his head back. The once proud Thanagarian died with a scowl on his face as he mind raced to answer the question if this had all been worth it. He slipped away before he could reach a conclusion.
"By Hera!" Wonder Woman exclaimed as she viewed the Thanagarian corpses that littered the desert. She'd been preparing for a fierce battle after J'onn freed her and the rest of the League. His idea to phase out of the Watchtower and follow the ship transporting them had been quite clever. The League subdued the Thanagarians and piloted the ship back to Earth making a bee-line for the main of the Thanagarian forces. But she hadn't expected to see the battle settled and the eerie calm that permeated the environment at the end of a fierce exchange.
"Who could have done this?" Wally asked. She understood his concern, if this was the work of some unknown meta or group of metahumans then they were clearly powerful but Diana suspected it wasn't a team but the work of a single individual. The stern look Bruce shot Kal all but confirmed her suspicion. As they flew into the dock Bruce answered Wally.
"Why not ask him yourself," he said as just ahead of the ship sat Naruto calmly eating as if he didn't have a care in the world. J'onn landed the ship and the team exited in haste, none more than Bruce. He marched toward Lex's son and barked an order, "Explain!". Naruto ignored the demand and continued to munch on his snack. He didn't even look at Bruce, something that visibly annoyed him from what Diana could observe.
"This is who you think can replace you? A remorseless killer?" Bruce asked Kal. The response he got was a scoff from the young man in question. "You have something to say?" Bruce was again ignored and after having, he thought, seen J'onn murdered and his team thoroughly defeated the Caped Crusader was out of patience, actually grabbing Naruto and lifting him up. Diana heard Bruce's grunt as Naruto gripped the offending arm.
"I can either break your arm or remove it from your body but you will let me go," Naruto said calmly but Diana could see something dangerous in his eyes. Kal El must have believed him as he forced Bruce to release the Uzumaki before he could follow through on his threat. "He ever puts his hands on me again I'll put him in the hospital for three months."
"Our time is better served," J'onn said.
"Three months," Naruto reiterated.
"Can you tell us what's going on?" Diana asked.
"Thanagarians declared martial law and quickly demonstrated their technological superiority. Six attack units were sent to high valued, high population targets but central command remained here. Now there's no central command."
"This isn't a game, kid, capturing the king doesn't mean you win," John said. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Shayera was a Lieutenant but is only a few years older than me. In a military outfit? Suggests you have a glut of middle managers that don't want to be grunts but don't want to truly be responsible either. They do just enough to get a decent promotion and then coast so the truly ambitious or more talented can lap them. Guess who would oversee an attack plan on a weaker, more primitive enemy?
And ya know, that's not even that impressive of a deduction so the fact that you didn't get there makes you the asshole, Space Cop. Now, I have no use for the lot of you but the world needs their security blankie and seeing as how I've already done the hard part I trust you can wrap this up."
"Why not come with us?" Kal El said. "This isn't how any of us would have done it but you still likely saved a lot of people and you deserve recognition."
"Nah, not in it for that. Besides, what I did here wasn't heroic. If I didn't see the need I would have minded my business and let the onesie brigade go to town."
"Onesie brigade?" Wally asked in confusion.
"Because we're the, "Pajama People," Kal explained.
"Yea, and the Captain has been fighting in Metropolis so maybe you should hurry along," Naruto said. "Wouldn't want any remorseless killers getting ideas." Naruto said before vanishing.
"I really hate that kid," John said. Diana did not share his sentiment.
Naruto lied in bed and wondered how he allowed himself to get into this situation. The plan had been simple; one final check on Macy, return her mace, thank Ms. Lane and then go home. But no, Kara had to arrive shortly after he did and insisted he stay as he shouldn't be alone given all he'd gone through. He wasn't a heartless killer, despite what that asshole said, but he also didn't need a support group. However, for some reason he just couldn't turn her down.
Soft-hearted idiot!
He'd assumed he'd have to stay for an hour or so and then could leave but when Kara asked if he had a change of clothes he knew something was up. He should have lied. Why didn't he just lie? It would have been easy, he's the empath so no one could have proved him wrong but like a fool he answered in the affirmative. He always had some things sealed away in case of emergency. He was then pushed in Ms. Lane's bathroom to shower and change.
That was fine. Sharing dinner with the three women, an ex, one whose people he just slaughtered, and a reporter was… fine. It was all fine. Boy Scout returned and informed them the Thanagarians would be returning home, their siege hadn't been cleared by High Command in the first place. No more invasion, job was done. But Kara kept insisting he stay, that he couldn't be alone and for some idiotic reason he relented.
Now, it was the middle of the night and he was in her bed as she'd inched closer and closer to him until she was practically on top of him. He could sense her emotions and hope she lost her nerve. He didn't need any further complications.
"So, Naruto," Kara spoke breathlessly.
"Yea?" he asked
"You still like my ass," she said and snickered as he groaned. His clones knew to be more disciplined than that! "Seriously though, are you okay?" she asked as the feeling of mischievousness was replaced by concern.
"I'm fine, honest." He felt her snuggle closer to him.
"How? How could you possibly be fine?"
"Training? Experience? I don't know."
The room fell silent once more as he felt Kara gather her thoughts. He appreciated her concern and her care. "I guess I can get it. A part of me was so angry today that I think I could have easily started hating them."
"Then maybe I'm weird because I wasn't angry nor did I hate them." He felt Kara's confusion and could understand. "When I fought in Markovia, the loyalists hated the rebels. They also knew what they were doing was wrong but did it anyway. I could feel them relishing in actions they themselves believed to be evil. The Thanagarians however, didn't. Imagine how all encompassing, how reality warping their war must be that killing billions of sapient lifeforms never registers as wrong. I didn't hate them but I also knew people who thought like that needed to be met with force equal to or greater than their own."
"It wouldn't have made me think differently about you," Kara said as she looked up to meet Naruto's gaze. "Your clone said it was easier on you if I wasn't there but I wouldn't have thought less of you, I don't." And she meant it, there wasn't a trace of doubt.
"Thanks, Kara. I truly appreciate it." Kara returned her head to his chest as the two fell silent once more. As she was fading, she had one final thought to share before sleep claimed her.
"And I don't judge you for still liking my ass." She drifted off to the sounds of Naruto's chuckles and a smile on her face.