Clone-512 threw down his scroll in frustration. "Gah! Why isn't this working!"
"Didn't you read notes at the end?" Clone-626 asked. Unlike most of the others, he wasn't writing. Instead, he was just relaxing against a tree, eating some cup ramen.
512 glared at him. "So what if I didn't, at least I'm doing what I'm supposed to!"
"Well, if you had read it, you would know that you can't clone fūinjutsu. That means we can't make it with this stuff." Clone-626 waved a blank sheet of paper for emphasis.
"What!" He yelled, getting the attention of several of the, equally frustrated, surrounding clones. "You mean I've been slaving away for nothing!"
"Yep! Why do you think I'm sitting here?"
"Screw this!" As Clone-512 dispelled itself, a loud chorus of groans echoed through the clearing.
"Are you serious!"
"Come on!"
"I COULD HAVE BEEN EATING RAMEN!?"
Over three-fourths of the clones followed 512's example after receiving its memories.
The real Naruto, who had actually begun making some progress on a basic storage scroll, grabbed his head in pain and pitched forward. 'Idiots.' He thought as unconsciousness claimed him and the rest of the clones popped out of existence.
Raven withheld a smug gin. Cyborg had played a good game, but it was time to end this. As she moved her Queen across the board, she suddenly winced in pain, releasing her piece prematurely.
"Ah ha!" Cyborg, who had failed to notice her distraction, moved his rook to take advantage of the opening Raven left him. "Check mate! I finally win!" He yelled in triumph and jumped to his feet. "Go Cyborg! It's your birthday! Go Cyborg! Go Cyborg!"
While he performed some strange victory dance, Raven closed her eyes. She had easily recognized that her brief stab of pain was not hers and decided to investigate. Raven searched her mind, hoping to find some remnant that she could trace. Instead, she was shocked to find herself inside her mindscape.
It shouldn't be possible. Even without Trigon's interference, it usually took several minutes of very deliberate meditation to come here without her mirror. And on top of all of that, she didn't recognize this area.
Before her stood two lush trees, about 8 feet apart. They curved towards each other before meeting as though in an embrace. They twisted around each other and grew as one, sprouting lush greenery and blooming flowers. The only indication that they were still separate were the differences in the flowers. One had striking blue petals with a beautiful sunset-orange center, while sported the same colors, but reversed. She walked forward and placed a hand on a trunk. It felt warm, humming with life.
When she strode beneath the arch created by their joining to view it from the other side, the scenery around her changed. The trees were still there, but her mindscape was gone. The sky looked natural instead of her ominous dark. The rocky ground had been replaced with lush fields, which sported several trees that dwarfed the two she walked through. Despite their size, they seemed insignificant when compared to the beauty of the gate.
That's what it was, Raven realized. They formed a gate between my mind and…
"Welcome, lunch!" A booming voice rang out through the field, before a giant mass of orange landed before her, teeth bared.
Raven wasn't impressed. "Really Kurama?" She asked in a deadpan.
"Bah, you're no fun." Kurama complained as he pulled back. Normally, the sight of a giant demon fox baring its teeth as it threatened to eat you would be a terrifying sight, but Raven actually liked him. Naruto occasionally let Kurama take over so they could talk. At first, they'd mainly stuck to discussing Trigon, but it had since evolved into a sort of friendship.
All three of them, Raven, Naruto, and Kurama, had been feared for matters beyond their control. They had been feared and isolated, and in some cases, hated. Kurama, though, had experienced far more than either of them, and Raven was astounded that he'd managed to overcome his hate. When she had heard his story, she'd cried, and her opinion of both of them had risen greatly.
So, sure, this was her first time seeing him in the flesh, but she'd recognize his voice anywhere. "It's nice to finally see you Kurama." She said with a smile.
"Likewise." He stretched like a cat before laying down.
"What is that?" She asked, pointing to the tree gate. "How'd I get here?"
"Let's wait until Naruto wakes up. I don't want to have to explain twice." He said lazily.
"Wakes up?"
Kurama nodded his large head and brought one of his tailes around, depositing Naruto between them "Yeah. Before you freak out, he's fine. Or, he will be. The idiot suffered some brain damage from dispelling so many clones at once."
Raven stiffened. "Brain damage?!" She hurried over to Naruto and kneeled beside him. Placing her palms on either side of his face, she tried to heal, momentarily forgetting that this not being his real body.
"Relax. I told you he'll be fine. He should be up in a few minutes."
Raven sighed as lowered her hands. "How many did he make?"
"About one-thousand."
She groaned. "Idiot."
"Ha! I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Naruto woke to Raven's laughter with a smile. He may feel like crap, but hearing that beautiful noise more than made up for it. However, her next words made his blood run cold.
"He-He actually kissed Sasuke! Twice!"
"I swear to Kami it's true! And let me tell you, that second one… There was tongue."
This sent them both into another fit of laughter as Naruto leapt to his feet. Ignoring his pounding head, he shouted, "TRAITOR! YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER TELL HER THAT!"
Kurama sported a shit-eating grin. "Technically, I said I wouldn't tell her while using your body." He gave his body an exagerateed once-over. "Well would you look at that? This isn't your body."
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that fuzzball!" He yelled, then blinked at Raven in confusion. "Uh, not that I don't love seeing you, but how are you here?"
"Somehow, that connects our mindscapes." She said, pointing to the tree-gate. "Kurama was going to explain, but someone over did it with their clones." She gave him a stern look. "For now on, don't train with more than one hundred."
"But-" He tried to argue.
"One. Hundred." She said, punctuating each word. "I like your mind too much for you to break it."
"Ok." He said in defeat.
"*cough* "Whipped." *cough*" Naruto glared at him, not amused by his poorly concealed jibe. "Anyway, now that you're awake, I'll explain. From what I understand, that is the original link you two formed when you first met. The one that let you understand each other."
"I thought you said it wasn't strong enough to do anything like this?" Raven asked in confusion. After spending a month with him, she was confident that nothing short of her anger getting loose would be a real threat to Naruto. Even then, she had her doubts that anger would even want to hurt him.
"It wasn't. Back then, it barely even let you talk to each other. If it had been left alone, it would have disappeared entirely. But for some reason, the closer you two got, the stronger the link became. Eventually, two saplings sprouted and grew towards each other, though they only met when you got together.
"You know, that's kind of romantic." Naruto commented to Raven.
"And the flowers bloomed when you slept together. Now, I was sleeping, but I can only assume they appeared because you took her flower." Kurama finished with a straight face.
"That's not what happened and you know it, you perverted Fox!" Naruto yelled indignantly.
Raven only blushed, slightly desensitized from that morning.
"Do I? I guess we'll never know." Oh, he was enjoying himself. Kurama made a mental note to thank Starfire if he ever got the chance. "Though in all seriousness, this shouldn't have happened."
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"Linking two mindscapes together like this is next to impossible. This isn't some simple mind reading tequnique; it's a litteral bridge between your minds beyond the confines of space-time. Us Biju have our shared plane, but that's only because we were originally one entity. To develop your small bond into something like this should have taken years, if not decades, of deliberate manipulation. And yet you two did it in a month. On accident." As they stared a at him in open shock, he grinned. "Congratulations Naruto. Even here, you're still the number one most unpredictable shinobi."
"Hey Raven! Raaaaveeen! Are you home?" Beast-Boy flitted around, poking her at different angles. "RAVEN!" She didn't even flinch when he shouted in her ear. He'd been looking for Naruto so they could practice with Naruto's sage mode, so naturally he'd gone to Raven. Unfortunately, she seemed dead to the world.
Suddenly, he got an idea. A dangerous idea. An idea so horribly risky that you'd have to be clinically insane to even attempt it. So naturally, Beast-Boy rushed to get supplies.
They sat together by the gate, holding hands in a comfortable silence. It was nice. After everything that had happened over the past few days, it felt good to just relax with Naruto. They were still in his mindscape, though Kurama had wondered off a while ago. She smiled fondly at Naruto. They'd only been together for two days, but it felt like a lifetime.
"Hey Raven?" Naruto suddenly asked.
"Yes?"
"Can we visit your mindscape? You don't have to let me if you don't want to, but I'd like to see it."
This threw Raven for a loop. "I told you what it's like. It isn't very pleasant. It isn't beautiful like this place."
Naruto frowned and locked her in place with an intense gaze. "Raven, everything about you is beautiful, flaws and all. Your mind is beautiful. It's not sinister or creepy or anything else. It's a part of you, a part that I'd love to see if you'll let me."
Raven felt her heart pounding. If it had been anyone else, she would have believed that they were just words or flattery, an exaggeration to get what they wanted. But this wasn't anyone else, this was Naruto. He always meant what he said, and he would never manipulate someone. It was one of the things she loved most about him, how completely honest he was. Despite how close they'd gotten, there was still some small part of her that believed that this couldn't be real, that one day Naruto would realize that he'd made a mistake and leave her.
Her anxieties had only been exasperated by the horrible thought that maybe their feelings weren't real, that they were some sort of side-effect from the gate. Thankfully, Kurama had quickly dispelled that notion, saying that it was the other way around. Yet the anxiety still lingered/
But, here he was, declaring his total acceptance of her. As she stared into Naruto's intense gaze, she felt the last of her worries slip away.
"Ok."
"BEAST-BOY! What is wrong with you!?" Cyborg asked in a fierce whisper. He'd come to ops to get a mid-day snack only to hear maniacal laughter. And what was the source of this laughter? Why, only a suicidal shapeshifter WRITING ON RAVEN'S FACE! Oh, did he forget to mention that he'd somehow wrangled her into a frilly pink tutu over her cloak?
"Relax." Beast-Boy said confidently. "She's totally out of it. Look!" He grabbed her and and, to Cyborg's horror, stuck one of her fingers up her nose. "See!" He pulled out his phone and took a selfie with her, before removing her finger. "See!"
"She is going to KILL you BB! Literally kill you!
"Only if she knows about this." He argued smugly.
"Oh really? And how are you gonna' manage that?" Cyborg asked skeptically.
"All I have to do is take off the Tutu and wash off the ink before she wakes up. Boom! No evidence."
"Beast-Boy…" Cyborg said slowly. "Take a good look at that marker."
"Why? Its just an expo-marker. It's not like... I... used..." He trailed off as he read the label. Ever so slowly, his smug grin turned to an expression of horror.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked around. "This… this is amazing." From Raven's description, he had been expecting a desolate wasteland, but to Naruto, it was strangely beautiful. The night sky was littered with blazing stars, and what looked to be several solar eclipses. None were super bright on their own, but together they cast the rocky landscape into a beautiful silver light. Several rock formations floated above them, almost protectively.
"You really think so?" She asked uncertainly, her face reddening in a cute blush.
"I do." He raised his hand to caress her cheek.
"Why?" She asked. Raven gazed into his eyes, not wanting to miss a single word.
"This place… it doesn't try. It doesn't need to. My mind took a lot of work to get it the way it is now, and even then, with all the color and vegetation, it feels artificial. Here, it feels… right. It has the same grace, the same natural beauty you do."
In response, Raven forward and claimed his lips. The kiss was gentle, but it conveyed all her love and gratitude in a way she never could with words.
After a moment, she pulled back for breath. ""I love you"" They said at the same time, causing them both to chuckle.
"You know, that was only our second kiss." Naruto observed.
"Really?" It felt like more than that.
"Yeah. Should we do something about that?" The look he gave her sent shivers down her spine.
"Please."
However, before they could do anything, a sudden shout interrupted them. "Narutooo!"
"Wha-" A pink blur tackled him to the ground.
"I'm so glad you're here! Oh, this is the best day of my life!"
Raven growled at the figure straddling her boyfriend. "What do you think you're doing!"
Her pink counterpart giggled. "I'm sorry! But I just couldn't stop myself!"
"I'm… guessing you're happy." Naruto managed from under her weight. Seriously, she weighed more than the real Raven. He didn't even know emotions had weight!
"Yep!" She popped her 'p'.
"Maybe you should remove yourself from his body, seeing as you are currently depriving him of oxygen." A new voice suggested.
"Oops. Sorry." Happy apologized as she got up.
This allowed Naruto to see seven more Ravens, each wearing a different cloak. "Thank you… knowledge?" He thanked the bespectacled girl.
"That is correct. And you are very welcome."
Raven had described each of her emotions to him. Knowledge wore yellow, Rude wore orange, Bravery green, Rudeness orange, Sloth brown, Anger red, Timid grey, and Passion…
"Yes." The Purple cloaked emotion purred as she sauntered over to Naruto. "Now I can have my turn." She said as she trailed a finger down his arm, causing him to shiver. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "We're going to have so much Fun."
"Get off him!" Anger yelled as she yanked Passion away. "Stop acting like a slut!" Naruto went wide-eyed, having never expected to hear Raven's voice say that. "And YOU!" She pointed angrily at Naruto. "Stop..." She seemed to struggle for a second. "Being so handsome! It makes it hard to be mad at you!" She stomped away, dragging the protesting Passion with her.
"I never thought I'd be thankful for Anger." Raven muttered.
"You're telling me! I thought she was going to rape me!" Naruto shouted.
"You don't think I'm attractive?" This came from Timid, who stared at him with teary eyes.
Even though she was only an emotion, Naruto could never stand to see any part of Raven cry. "Of course I do." He said as he rushed over and enveloped her in a hug. "You're the most beautiful girl… emotion I know."
Raven, even though he wasn't technically talking to her, smiled.
"So what's the hold up? *BUURRRP*" Rudeness let out. "With those clones of yours, we could have a pretty good time."
"That could be dangerous." Knowledge commented as Naruto, Raven, and Timid sported full-body blushes.
"Bring it on! Danger is my middle name!" Bravery challenged.
"Yes! And we can join in!" Passion added as she rejoined them, somehow having escaped Anger.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Said emotion screeched.
As they debated the merits of clone sex, Raven snapped out of her funk.
"We're leaving." Raven said. She grabbed Naruto and, leaving Timid, walked back through the gate.
"… The Bahamas have such beautiful beaches, but Niagara falls are so romantic. Or how about Venice! Or maybe Italy, or Fiji, or Rome or-"
"Shut up Harley!"
"-or Paris, or…"
Poison Ivy sighed as Harley Quinn continued fantasizing about vacationing with her precious 'Mr. J'. Usually, Ivy could just tune her out, but she was on edge. For the past month, The Green had been crying out to her, begging her to find someone. It was driving her crazy, but she couldn't, because she was stuck in this damned cell! And Harley was still talking!
"Hello Pamela."
She turned to face the voice. "Isn't this a surprise. I heard you were dead."
Slade emerged from the shadows outside her cell. "And yet here I am."
She snorted. "And to just what do I owe the pleasure for your visit?"
"I have a… problem, you could say. See, there's this boy that's interfering with my plans, and you're the perfect person to ask for help."
She leaned forward, interested. "And why me? We both know you rarely call for help. And even then, you've never come to me."
"It's the boy, Naruto. From my understanding, he seems to have quite the connection to nature." At the name, The Green's call increased drastically, causing her to flinch slightly. This did not go unnoticed by Slade. "I assume you're interested?"
"What do you want me to do to him?" She asked, still weary.
"I don't care, as long as he's gone." Alarms began blaring in the background. "It seems we've run out of time. So tell me, are you in?"