Injustice Book 1: A Journeys Beginning (Naruto + Batman Comics crossover)

Chapter XXXV - Deathstroke

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon Speech."

'Demon Thought.'

"Other Speech variants."

Location/Time.

-X- Line Break -X-

Tuesday 21st April, 21:00.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

East End.

Groaning, Naruto lifted his head up from his pillow and looked around his dark room through bleary eyes. At which point his head once again collapsed against his pillow, trying to get back to sleep but the aching sensation throughout his body made that very difficult.

After a few more minutes of his fruitless endeavour to fall back asleep, Naruto eventually decided that it would be best to get out of bed and get something to eat. And so, he dragged himself out of bed and took one look at himself. 'I think a shower would do me best right now.' He thought and headed to his bathroom and turned on the shower.

As the room slowly began to steam over, Naruto slowly stripped out of his outfit. The simple act proving to be more difficult than he would have imagined or liked it to have been.

Eventually he did so and stepped into the shower and released a groan as the warm water washed over his body. The dried blood still stubbornly resisting the waters attempts to wash it away, but Naruto was content to just stand on the warm water for a few minutes.

'I really need to get stronger.' He thought as he put all his effort into standing up on shaking legs. His body despite the rest he had taken was still battered and exhausted. The simple act of standing in the shower was proving to be more difficult than it should be, but it was certainly an improvement from his state earlier this morning. 'Then again, I certainly did much better last night than I would have done if I had faced the Talon with same level of skill I had when fighting Deadshot.'

Thank god for small mercies then because Naruto had no doubt that if he and the Talon had fought then, he would have been killed quite easily. Even then, Naruto had no doubt that he would have lost if it wasn't for the Talon playing with him.

The trained assassin had, in a moment of mental weakness, allowed himself to be ruled by emotions and that helped Naruto greatly.

If he had come at Naruto with the same ferocity and calculative mindset that he had against Batman, then Naruto was under no illusions that he would have died in a matter of seconds. Then again, at the end of the day, a win was a win.

That was what the Talon had told him.

Whether it was through the enemy already being weakened, underestimating you or simply a matter of pure luck. A win was still a win.

Feeling the water start to gradually become colder, Naruto began to clean himself in earnest. And after a few quick minutes of cleaning himself of last night's blood, sweat and grime, Naruto stepped out of the shower as clean as he could be.

Sighing, Naruto stepped into his bedroom naked as he dried his hair with a towel and made his way towards a dresser.

Pulling on a pair of a boxers and some basic jogging pants, Naruto stepped into his kitchen to see the briefcase once again, waiting for him. 'So that wasn't a dream?' He wondered before shaking his head in annoyance. 'I'm getting really sick and tired of this shit.'