Chapter 2: "Flying Foxes, Existential Crises, and a Magician Named Zee"
(In which Naruto debates destiny, yells at a fox in his head, and meets a magician who talks backwards.)
A.N. This story is being rewritten with some changes. The new chapters have a chapter name, and the old chapters don't have a name.
---------------------------
Flying was supposed to be cool.
And to be fair, it was—in the same way getting punched in the face by a god was "an interesting experience." The wind blasted past Naruto's ears. His legs dangled awkwardly, his jacket flapped like a flag in a hurricane, and his hair looked like it had just lost a fight with a weed whacker.
In short, he did not look majestic.
Beside him, Kara flew with the grace of a leaf on the wind. Clark, up ahead, sliced through the sky like he had a personal vendetta against air resistance.
Naruto?
He looked like a flying dumpling on an invisible stick.
But it wasn't the flight that had him sweating.
It was what the fox just told him.
'You will only find failure in this endeavor, boy. We are connected to this world now.'
Naruto blinked through the gusting wind, trying to steady his breathing. 'What do you mean, connected?'
The deep growl of Kurama echoed through his skull like an ancient thunderstorm. 'Our chakra—my essence—is synced to this world's energy flow now. It no longer resonates with the old one.'
Naruto's hands clenched unconsciously. He could almost feel the world around him pulling on his skin, like invisible threads were stitching him into this universe whether he liked it or not.
'You're saying… we can't go home?'
'I'm saying that someone very powerful severed our bond to that world.' Kurama's tone was grim. 'Deliberately. Violently. They didn't just bring us here—they rewrote our link to existence.'
'How the hell is that possible?'
'By someone who doesn't follow your precious rules of nature.' The fox snorted. 'It was no accident. You were summoned. Chosen. And they didn't do it for giggles and tea parties.'
The words struck harder than a Rasengan to the gut.
Someone had ripped him away—from Konoha, from Kakashi, from Ichiraku's ramen, for crying out loud. And they'd done it like he was a pawn on a celestial game board.
Naruto's jaw locked. 'So… what do I do?'
'You can dance to their tune… or break their strings.'
'And if I find them?'
Kurama's voice dropped low, almost reverent. 'Then pray your strength is enough. Because whoever did this? They're beyond us. For now.'
For a moment, Naruto said nothing.
Then, slowly, he exhaled through his nose. The breath came out sharp, steady. His fingers loosened. His back straightened. The wind whipped harder, but his eyes were clearer.
They brought me back to life.
But they don't get to control what I do with it.
"Hey," Kara called over the wind, her voice warm and calm, like sunshine in stormy skies. "You good?"
Naruto turned to her and offered a thumbs-up that would've looked a lot cooler if his hair wasn't sticking up like a startled cactus.
"Peachy," he said.
Clark slowed down, motioning toward a rooftop below. "That's our stop. She's waiting."
--------------------------------
Las Vegas, Nevada.
The place looked like someone had taken a festival, a disco ball, and a casino, tossed them into a blender, and then added fireworks for flavor. Neon lights danced on every surface, slot machines chirped like overeager birds, and giant posters of magicians, singers, and Elvis impersonators loomed over the city like deities of chaos.
Naruto took one look and muttered, "This place makes the Chūnin Exams look tame."
Kara chuckled. "Welcome to Vegas."
But Naruto didn't let the bright lights distract him for long. He wasn't here to gamble. He was here to find answers. The kind that didn't come from fortune cookies or sketchy palm readers.
Their destination? The Majestic Mirage Theater—home of glitz, illusions, and tonight, the one and only Zatanna Zatara.
Backstage, the noise of the audience faded into velvet curtains and golden walls. Incense hung in the air like a whisper of mysticism, mingling with the faint scent of stage makeup and lavender perfume.
Zatanna sat in front of a glowing mirror, her top hat resting on the vanity beside her. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in lazy waves, and her smile was as mysterious as the secrets she kept in her gloves.
"Can I help you, Superman?" she asked, turning her chair lazily like she'd been expecting them all along.
Clark didn't bother with pleasantries. "We need to know if he can go back. To his own world."
Zatanna's gaze drifted to Naruto.
Then it sharpened.
It wasn't just a look—it was a magical MRI scan. Her eyes practically glowed as she examined him, seeing through the layers of chakra, scars, trauma, and (probably) way too much sodium from all the ramen.
Her fingers twitched. Her breath hitched just slightly.
"Oh my gods…" she murmured.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "That good-looking, huh?"
Kara rolled her eyes. Clark sighed.
But Zatanna wasn't amused. She stood up slowly, smoothing out her gloves as her eyes never left Naruto's.
"You've got chakra inside you," she said slowly. "But more than that. It's like… the world's strongest lightning storm got shoved into a teenager."
Naruto gave a modest shrug. "I've been through some stuff."
Zatanna studied him like an ancient riddle. "Your energy doesn't belong here. That much is clear. But it's not alien, either. It's... resonating."
Clark frowned. "Resonating?"
Zatanna nodded, then lifted her hand and began weaving a spell. Her words slipped into the air like silk—ancient, beautiful, and backwards.
"Emanigiro fo htap eht wonhs em."
The lights flickered. The air shimmered like rippling water. And for a moment, the room was no longer just a room—it was a window across dimensions.
Naruto stood still, eyes wide, heart pounding. He could feel it—his essence being traced. His spirit reaching across the veil of worlds.
He saw flashes. Fire. Darkness. A vast void. Then light again.
Then…
Nothing.
The spell faded.
Zatanna lowered her hand, the magic dissipating like smoke in the wind.
Her voice came out quieter now. More hesitant.
"…You're from here."
Naruto blinked. "What?"
Clark stepped forward. "What do you mean?"
Zatanna's brows furrowed, her voice laced with confusion and something more unsettling—certainty.
"There's no trail leading back to another world. No tether. No dimensional residue. Everything in his body, his soul… it all screams native."
Naruto's mouth went dry. "That's not possible."
"You didn't just get pulled into this world," Zatanna said softly. "You were rewritten into it. Down to the atomic level. You're not just here… you've always been here. As far as this universe is concerned."
--------------------------------
So.
Here's the thing about being told you can't go home.
If you're a regular person, you might cry. If you're a Kryptonian, you might punch a moon. If you're Naruto Uzumaki?
You don't accept it.
At least, not quietly.
Las Vegas was still glittering outside, still buzzing with life, neon lights dancing like nothing had happened.
Inside the dressing room?
Everything had shattered.
Naruto's stomach dropped like a trapdoor had opened beneath him. His face tightened, the color draining from his already-pale skin.
"That's not possible," he said again, but it came out thinner this time. Weaker. "I saw everything. Your cities. Your world. Your people. None of it exists where I come from. You… you don't exist in my world."
Zatanna stood slowly, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to face him with this truth. "Someone made you part of this world, Naruto," she said, her voice gentle but unwavering. "They didn't just pull you through a portal. They rewrote the threads that tied you to your original dimension. Your soul is stitched into this place now. You are from here. As far as the universe is concerned."
"No," Naruto said quietly, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry," Zatanna continued, her expression heavy with regret. "This is beyond anything I've seen. Whoever did this… they're not just powerful. They're immortal. If they don't want you to leave, then you won't. And believe me—some doors are meant to stay closed."
For a moment, Naruto stood perfectly still.
Then it hit him.
Not like a punch.
More like a kunai made of grief stabbing him straight through the heart.
He gasped.
His legs gave out.
And just like that—he fell.
Kara flinched. Clark took a step forward, alarmed.
"Naruto—?"
But he didn't answer. He was already on his knees, fists clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms. The floor creaked beneath him as his chakra began to churn—subtle at first, like a trembling volcano, quiet and seething.
His breath came in ragged bursts.
This wasn't about him.
Sasuke was out there.
Alone.
The village—what was left of it—was probably still bleeding.
And he was here.
Stranded. Powerless. Ripped away like some piece on a cosmic chessboard.
His throat tightened.
He tried to speak, but the words turned to ash.
"I…" he whispered. "I can't stay here. They…"
He trailed off. What was the point?
They couldn't hear him.
Not Kakashi.
Not Sakura.
Not anyone.
Zatanna knelt beside him. Her voice was gentler now, the spellcaster mask replaced by the empathy of someone who understood.
"I know it hurts," she said softly. "I've been trapped before too. In places I couldn't leave. But this doesn't mean it's over."
Naruto didn't look at her.
He couldn't.
He just kept staring at the floor, as if he could punch a hole through it with his will alone. His fingers curled tighter. His chakra buzzed—no, hummed—like the faint spark of a storm trying to form beneath his skin.
Clark exchanged a glance with Kara, both of them tensing.
Because they felt it too.
A pressure, like the air itself was getting heavier.
Kurama stirred inside him.
'Get up, boy.'
'What's the point…?' Naruto replied mentally. 'They can't help me. You heard her.'
'Yes. And I also heard you whining like a child.'
Naruto blinked.
'You want to go home? Then make it happen. You think sitting here sulking is going to fix anything? No one brought you this far so you could cry into a carpet.'
That did it.
The pain didn't fade, but something inside him clicked.
A spark.
A silent roar.
Naruto looked up—eyes burning, jaw tight.
He wasn't going to wait for answers.
---------------------------------
For a guy who'd died, fallen into another universe, and been told he couldn't go home, Naruto really didn't think things could get worse.
Then Kurama decided to drop this bombshell.
"They will survive with better chances now that you are dead and I am gone from that world."
Naruto blinked. The words echoed in his head like a bad punchline that just wouldn't land.
"…Come again?"
He wasn't sure what freaked him out more: the fact that Kurama had said that so calmly, or the fact that Naruto couldn't immediately tell if he was being sarcastic.
"Don't you remember what Nagato told you?"
Oh, great. Now they were digging into trauma flashbacks. Classic Kurama.
Naruto's stomach dropped as the memory hit him like a kunai to the gut.
Pain—Nagato—standing there, bony, broken, and still somehow righteous, telling him the truth.
The whole "let's-revive-the-Juubi-by-consuming-the-tailed-beasts" plan.
Naruto swallowed hard. "You think it worked? That they actually pulled it off?"
"They were close," Kurama said. "Closer than you ever realized. I didn't think they could be stopped. But our death threw off the balance. The vessel's gone. The chain is broken."
Kurama's voice wasn't cold this time. Not angry. Just… resigned.
"So our death had one good result. I saw no hope in your people stopping the beast's revival."
That hurt.
Not because it wasn't true.
But because… it was.
A cold weight settled in Naruto's chest. He'd always believed things would work out if he tried hard enough. But now he wasn't there to protect them. He wasn't there to stop the darkness.
And maybe Kurama was right.
Maybe they needed him to be gone.
"Why are you being nice suddenly?" Naruto asked, trying not to sound too suspicious—but, you know, it was the Nine-Tailed Fox.
A low rumble echoed in his mind.
A chuckle.
From Kurama.
"You're the only connection I have left to our world," he said, and Naruto felt the weight behind those words. "And at the moment of death, I realized something…"
Naruto tensed. "…What?"
"You are connected to my father."
Naruto blinked. "What now?"
"The Sage of Six Paths. Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. He created chakra. Divided the tailed beasts. He was our father—and, by blood or spirit, yours as well."
Naruto's brain screeched to a halt. "So what, I'm a fox-nephew now?"
"Don't get excited," Kurama grumbled. "It doesn't come with inheritance. Only responsibility."
There it was. The familiar grumpy sass. Naruto almost missed it.
Kurama continued, his tone quieter now—less fury, more history.
"We tailed beasts were made to guard the world. To maintain balance. But humans feared us. Hunted us. Used us. You were the first to treat me like I was more than a weapon."
Naruto looked out over the neon-lit city from the rooftop, the glitz of Vegas now dulled by the truth unspooling in his mind.
"You sound like… you don't hate them anymore."
"I don't forgive them," Kurama replied. "But I see why they feared us."
Naruto clenched his fists. Even now, Kurama's voice carried bitterness—but underneath it was something else. Something heavy and unfamiliar.
Acceptance.
Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat.
"…Thanks," he muttered. "For not abandoning me."
For once, Kurama didn't have a snarky comeback.
No insults.
No huffs.
Just silence.
The kind of silence that felt like a pat on the shoulder from someone who didn't do hugs.
And somehow, that said more than words ever could.
---------------------------------
Naruto didn't cry.
Let's just get that out of the way.
But if he had cried—which he absolutely didn't—it would've only been because the whole "you're stuck in this dimension forever" talk had come wrapped in glittering Vegas lights and delivered by a magician in fishnets. That kind of drama deserved some level of emotional leakage.
Thankfully, he didn't have to spiral for long. Because the universe tossed him a bone.
Literally, in the form of Kara's hands shaking him by the shoulders like a maraca.
"Naruto, relax!" she said with that all-too-cheerful cousin-of-Superman energy. "I know it sounds bad, but we will find a way back. You just need to breathe."
Naruto blinked at her. "I am breathing."
"Through your rage teeth," she pointed out.
"…fair."
Zatanna stepped forward, her magician's boots making barely a sound. She gave Naruto a warm smile—one of those smiles that made you feel like maybe your life wasn't about to spiral into a dimension-hopping dumpster fire.
"There's no need to lose hope," she said gently. "But first, let's fix the language barrier. Please accept this gift of the tongue."
Naruto instinctively flinched. "Wait, gift of the wha—"
Boop.
She tapped two fingers against his forehead.
There was a soft glow. A faint hum. And then—
WHAM.
His brain felt like it had downloaded the entire Rosetta Stone collection in two seconds flat. Words flipped themselves, rearranged, and suddenly, everyone in the room stopped sounding like a group of ramen ingredients arguing with a blender.
Naruto gasped. "I can understand you guys now!"
Kara beamed. "Cool, right?"
Naruto grinned. "This is awesome! Can you do this for cooking instructions too?"
Zatanna chuckled, clearly amused. "Only if you promise not to explode anything."
"I promise nothing."
But the levity didn't last.
Zatanna's smile faded as she brought them back to the serious part. "Now, about getting you home…" She hesitated, and that pause was louder than most speeches. "We might be able to send you back. But we'll need time. And caution."
Naruto nodded. "Because of those 'immortals' you mentioned?"
Zatanna's jaw tightened. "Exactly. If the Olympians are involved—and it's starting to feel like they are—then we're dealing with ancient beings who collect mortals like trading cards."
Kara groaned. "Ugh, don't get me started. Zeus once tried to adopt me."
Clark frowned. "That wasn't adoption. That was kidnapping with extra thunderbolts."
Naruto blinked. "You people really live in chaos, huh?"
"Welcome to Earth-Prime," Kara deadpanned.
Zatanna continued, "Still, it might be a natural rift. Dimensions shift sometimes—like tides. If so, we'll have a better chance of finding your way back."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny glass vial that shimmered with mystic runes.
"I'll need a little bit of your blood and chakra. It'll help me trace your origin."
Naruto hesitated. "You're not gonna summon a toad with it or anything, right?"
"I'm more into rabbits, actually."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
"No more than usual."
With a quick slice of a sterilized dagger (that looked way too elegant for this sort of thing), Naruto gave her the sample. Zatanna capped the vial, already muttering to it like it was a particularly stubborn crystal ball.
"I owe you for this," Naruto said, quietly.
Zatanna glanced at him, her gaze softening. "Don't worry about it. But since you're stuck here for now, you'll need a place to stay."
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, uh… about that. I don't exactly have a job, or money, or… clothes that aren't bright orange."
"You could always work for me," Zatanna teased. "I need a stage assistant. You're already used to getting stabbed."
Naruto made a face.
"Okay, fair," he muttered. "But seriously—I'm not gonna sit around and do nothing. If I'm here, I'm helping. Got any villains that need a Rasengan to the face?"
Zatanna didn't answer right away. Instead, she reached out and pinched his cheeks with gloved fingers.
"Ow! Hey!" Naruto yelped, slapping her hand away. "What was that for?!"
"You looked too sad," she replied, shrugging with a smile. "Had to fix that."
But behind the teasing glint in her eyes, she had seen something. A soul marked with battle, burned by loss, and stitched back together with pure stubborn will.
Clark stepped forward.
"I might have a better idea," he said.
Naruto looked up, curious.
"There's a team of young heroes. They work under our supervision. You could stay with them, train, and get to know this world a bit better while we figure things out."
Naruto blinked. "You mean, like… roommates?"
Kara grinned. "More like superpowered chaos gremlins in tights. You'll fit right in."
Naruto crossed his arms. "I can't just mooch off people. If I join, I fight. I help. I'm not some charity case."
Clark's lips tugged into the faintest smile. "Didn't think you were."
-----------------------
There are conversations that make the air feel heavy.
Like when someone brings up taxes. Or asks, "What's your body count?" and doesn't mean romantically.
Zatanna's voice had been sharp. Direct. The kind of voice you use when you want the truth, not a story.
"Naruto… have you ever killed anyone?"
The room froze harder than a popsicle in Mr. Freeze's freezer. Kara stopped smirking. Superman looked up with the kind of stoic dad-energy that screamed serious time. And Naruto?
Naruto didn't flinch.
Not outwardly, anyway.
Inside? His stomach twisted like a shadow clone hit with a bad bowl of instant ramen. But he stood firm, his fists clenched, jaw tight, blue eyes like twin blades locked on Zatanna's.
"I believe people should be given a chance to change," he began, his voice steady—too steady, like it had been rehearsed in the mirror at midnight. "Killing only spreads more pain. That's why I don't kill unless there's no other choice."
A pause.
"But I have killed."
That landed like a kunai to the chest. Kara's smile faded. Clark's brow furrowed. Zatanna… nodded slightly, like she'd expected as much but needed to hear it anyway.
And Naruto didn't stop there.
He spoke not like a boy, but like someone far older than he looked. Someone who had seen things—real things. Things you didn't walk away from the same.
He told them about Jiraiya—his mentor, his godfather, his first real connection to the idea of peace. About how he hadn't understood what it meant to choose not to kill until he'd lost someone precious.
How he'd been used as a weapon. How he'd fought monsters that laughed in the face of death. How he'd come within seconds of killing men like Deidara and Kakuzu… but the choice had been taken from him.
And how, afterward, he'd chosen to walk a harder path.
A path without shortcuts.
A path where he didn't let rage make his decisions.
"If I kill in the name of justice," he said, "what's to stop the next guy from doing the same in the name of his justice?"
There it was.
Not just a shinobi. Not just a ninja.
A leader.
Someone who'd decided that being powerful didn't mean being merciless.
Zatanna watched him for a long moment. Then she smirked, folding her arms.
"You are officially the weirdest ninja I've ever met."
Naruto grinned. "Thanks. I work hard at it."
Kara exhaled with something between a laugh and a sigh of relief. "Well, that's one less murder mystery to worry about."
Clark nodded, stepping forward with the kind of presence that made you want to salute without knowing why.
"You don't have to worry. The Justice League has a no-kill policy. We fight to protect. If someone dies, it's because there was no other way."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And you all stick to that?"
Superman hesitated.
Just a beat.
"Most of us."
Zatanna coughed. "Batman technically doesn't kill."
"Technically?" Naruto asked.
Clark gave a very small smile. "He's creative with his interpretation of 'lethal force.'"
Naruto tilted his head. "So he's the 'break every bone but leave you breathing' type?"
Kara winced. "Yup."
Naruto whistled. "Glad I'm not on his bad side."
"Yet," Zatanna muttered playfully.
Clark cleared his throat. "Look, we do imprison criminals. And sometimes… we do it ourselves. Governments aren't always trustworthy. Too many times, they've let monsters walk free."
Naruto's expression darkened.
That, he understood.
Kages who turned blind eyes. Councils full of cowards. Danzo.
"Yeah," he said softly. "I've seen that too."
The tension eased just a little. Enough to breathe.
Naruto glanced down at his hands—rough, scarred, not the hands of a child.
"I don't want to be a killer," he said. "I want to be someone people can believe in."
Clark nodded solemnly. "Then you're exactly the kind of person this team needs."