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[Caterpillar] Chapter 23 - Reunion (NSFW - short lime)
🕑 Added 2023-12-29 23:54:24 +0000 UTCHis hands went through a quick sequence of hand seals that ended in a Tiger seal. His chest inflated and then a serpentine dragon of fire came out of his mouth. Though it was made of fire, one would be tempted to think it was alive when it let out a roar that shook the atmosphere. Next to him, a shadow clone went through a different series of hand seals, one that ended with a Bird seal. His chest also inflated and a cyan dragon of pressurised wind came out from his mouth.
The two serpentine dragons roared as they coiled around each other. But fire always held an advantage over the wind. The cyan dragon was devoured by the red dragon, making the flaming dragon grow to more than 3 times its previous size. It was an over 200-foot-long serpentine dragon of fire.
Under Naruto's control, the fire dragon lunged at the jungle surrounding the military base below. The trees, the rocks, the hundreds of corpses belonging to Mongul's army and the blood pooling on the ground - everything was melted or evaporated.
On Naruto's shoulder, a nine-tailed fox cub alternated between watching the destruction and looking at him. After he finished killing all of Mongul's henchmen, Naruto contacted him and told him to come down.
"How did that plant even sneak up on you? Your Sage senses should've detected any living being for miles around you," the fox said eventually.
"I was careless," Naruto answered in a subdued voice.
Kyuubi sighed.
"What kind of shinobi or bounty hunter lets a damned plant sneak up on him? Haa~ ...let me guess, it's because of Diana, isn't it? You were talking to her and stopped paying attention to your surroundings. Honestly, you're like a little kid."
The following silence confirmed the fox's words. A mixed look appeared in his red eyes. On one hand, he wanted to berate Naruto for messing up like that but, on the other hand, he could see how disturbed he was even despite the mask hiding his face.
After a short while, Naruto extinguished the giant flaming dragon. For hundreds of feet around the military base, everything had been turned into ash and cinders. There was no trace of corpses or blood or the previous battle at all. Due to the immense heat from before, the already cloudy sky had become covered by black clouds and a torrential downpour followed.
Naruto took the fox from his shoulder into his arms and hugged him to his chest. Through his Negative Emotion Sensing, Kyuubi could feel the tumult of negative feelings in his heart at that moment. So he did not try to get out of his embrace. A screen of chakra was conjured from Naruto's hands, shielding the fox in his arms from the rain pouring from above. But he did not create one for himself too. He let the cold and dirty rain batter his bloodied body. On that dying planet, even the rain was polluted.
⁂
After passing through the blanket of purple clouds covering the entirety of the planet, the 5 members of the Justice League were finally able to see the world below. They were above a strange-looking jungle, one that was in the process of withering. An unhealthy purple hue was shining on the leaves, trunks and branches of the trees.
Following the coordinates given to them by Naruto, they arrived at the large military base in that jungle. The wide ring of ash surrounding the base made it look very eye-catching from above. The Javelin landed not far from the place where Naruto stood with Kyuubi in his arms.
"What in the world happened here?" John Stewart was the first to speak after he came out from the Javelin.
"Aw man, it rains with cats and dogs out there. I think you can handle the situation by yourself, right? You don't need me to come out too, do you?" Flash said in a hopeful voice but he was suddenly pushed from behind with a force he had not expected. Taken by surprise, he was thrown out of the spaceship and he fell flat on his face on the ground.
Loud giggles came from behind.
"Kara, that wasn't nice at all!" Starfire reprimanded though her face looked like she was struggling not to laugh.
"I didn't mean to push him that hard," Supergirl said half-apologetically but she was not fooling anyone with the large grin on her face.
The two girls came out of the Javelin too but they were flying to avoid getting in contact with the mud. At that moment Flash also sat up from the ground with wet ash and mud all over his suit. The only saving grace was that he was wearing a transparent breathing mask which shielded his face from being dirtied too. Apart from Green Lantern, the rest of them were all wearing breathing masks as a precaution against the toxic environment.
Supergirl and Starfire started to laugh out loud at the sight of Flash looking like a pig that had rolled in the mud. But their copious giggles turned into shrieks when Flash's 2 arms transformed into 2 whirlwinds and the two girls were splattered with mud and ash from head to toe, just like him.
"Flash! You'll pay for this!" the girls yelled.
In the next moment, a full-on mud fight broke out between the three of them.
"Will you three stop acting like brats?!" Green Lantern shouted in irritation. "Flash, you're supposed to be older and more mature than that!"
"They're the ones that started it!" the speedster retorted but he knew that Green Lantern was quite angry at that moment and did not push the limit of his patience.
"And you two! We didn't come here on vacation. We have a mission to accomplish! You don't get to joke around and play in the field!" he shouted at the two teenage girls.
Starfire made herself small and looked down.
"I'm sorry," she said meekly.
In contrast, Supergirl crossed her arms in front of her chest and grumbled:
"Sheesh, lighten up a little, it's not the end of the world."
While the 4 of them were bickering back and forth like that, Wonder Woman came out of the spaceship too and flew to the boulder where Naruto and Kyuubi were sitting. She stopped in front of him with a worried look on her face when she took in his appearance. Usually, he wore a black combat suit and a fur-collared cloak on top; coupled with his ANBU-style white fox mask, he would give off the impression of a mysterious and seasoned mercenary. But, in the present, he was far from that. He was bare-chested, covered in mud and coagulated blood that the rain had not managed to wash off. He looked like he had been through a war.
"I'd hug you but-" Naruto started to say but Wonder Woman suddenly closed the distance and took him in her arms. "-your suit will get dirty." he finished in a small voice.
Wonder Woman's new costume consisted of a pure white cloak, white skorts and a white top with a golden owl symbol on its chest along with the golden armoured parts such as the greaves, the pauldrons, the tiara and the ear-wings ornaments. But at his words, her response was to hug him tighter instead of letting go.
"It doesn't matter. I missed you, Naruto."
No longer hesitating, he brought his arms around her and hugged her back too. The white fox mask dispersed in a shower of lights and he buried his face in the side of her neck, in her hair.
Wonder Woman did not possess any supernatural abilities to see the secrets lurking in other people's hearts but how could she not know what he was feeling at that moment? He was hugging her as if he was afraid she would disappear if he let go. She rubbed the back of his head soothingly, just like her mother used to do to her when she was younger. He melted at her gentle caress.
"I missed you too, Diana."
In truth, about one month passed since Naruto left the Earth but for the two of them, it felt like much longer.
On the side, Starfire and Supergirl were about to approach them too but Green Lantern raised a hand and shook his head.
"Don't butt in, let them have their moment. He looks like he needs it."
⁂
After a long time, Naruto reluctantly broke the hug. Diana involuntarily smiled at the needy look on his face and brought a hand to his face, pinching one of his scarred cheeks. Naruto leaned into her touch and raised his hand, putting it on top of hers. Then, he turned his head and lightly kissed her hand.
The fox glared at them with an annoyed look on his face and a low growl came out of his throat. He did not like being ignored. Naruto and Diana both looked at him at the same time and they chuckled. She bent down and took the tiny fox cub in her arms.
"It's good to see you too, Kurama," she said with a giggle.
Kyuubi let out a condescending sniff but did not put up a front for too long once the princess started to scratch a particularly pleasant spot on his back. He became putty in her hands.
It was at that moment that the other 4 members of the Justice League chose to close in and start a conversation.
"Good to see you're alright, man. But dang, they sure did a number on you, didn't they?" Flash said as he looked at Naruto's ruined clothes and at all the coagulated blood on his body.
"Ah, this isn't my blood. Mostly. But what the hell happened to you all?" Naruto said when he saw Flash, Starfire and Supergirl covered in mud from head to toe.
"It's his fault! / It's their fault!" the speedster and the two girls yelled at the same time and pointed at the other accusatorily.
Naruto and Wonder Woman chuckled.
"How have you been, Koriand'r? Are the Earthlings treating you well?"
The redhead grinned happily and flew at Naruto with her arms wide open, grabbing him in a bear hug. Naruto patted her head while looking at Wonder Woman awkwardly. The princess just smiled at his discomfort.
"I'm happy to see you are fine. When I heard that a tentacle monster attacked you I thought-"
Naruto flicked her forehead making her yelp in slight pain.
"Get your head out of the gutter." Naruto scolded before giving Supergirl a mean, pointed look. "You're the one that thought her weird things, aren't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Supergirl said with a large grin on her face. She came to Naruto with her arms wide too. "Don't I get a hug too?"
"No hugs for nasty perverts," Naruto said.
"Hey! I resent that!"
Out of everyone present there, Green Lantern was the only one who still did not have a spec of mud, ash or blood on him. Coated in the green light coming from his Power Ring, his uniform was in pristine condition.
"The other Green Lanterns should arrive in about 20 minutes. Tell me what happened in the meantime." John Stewart said.
After Naruto told him the information he had acquired and what had transpired, a complex look appeared on Green Lantern's face.
"We've come in contact with Mongul before. He used to rule Warworld, a weaponised planet. He captured strong beings from all over the galaxy and forced them to fight in an arena, to the death. Superman was captured and forced to fight like that too. We were the ones who dethroned him. I thought that his former subordinates would execute or imprison him. I didn't think he'd be plotting something like this in the dark."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders.
"That's what happens when you don't pull the weeds from their roots. No matter how many times you cut them, as long as they are still alive, they will grow back. And you'll start the whole thing all over again. Oh well. You guys do you. I'm not gonna lecture you on how to run things. By the way, I extracted some information from Mongul and his son before they died."
"You mean to say you tortured them for information," Green Lantern said bluntly.
"Don't sweat the small stuff," Naruto said and waved a hand. "Apparently, the reason for this planet's ruined nature and environment is that they've been working on transforming Debstam into a new Warworld. But they fucked up when they messed around with the planet's core."
"What about the 4 Green Lanterns that died in this sector?" John Stewart asked.
"Mongul's son murdered them. He was a Yellow Lantern. Probably quite strong for your standards."
The way that Green Lantern squinted at his words was almost comical.
"You'll probably want to notify your superiors that Mongul also has a daughter. She has an entire fleet under her command. If what Mongul said before dying is true, she's planning on starting an invasion soon. As for where - I have no idea. That's for you to find out and deal with it."
When they heard the contents of Naruto and Green Lantern's conversation, the previously bubbly Supergirl and Starfire toned down their upbeat attitude and Flash became more serious too. As Green Lantern had told them before, that was not a place where they could play around. That feeling was cemented for good when they followed Naruto inside and saw the huge hive holding trapped thousands of living beings in fleshy cocoons.
⁂
"Whoa, that dude looks like a meatball!" Kyuubi said in amazement at the sight of a particular member of the Green Lantern Corps.
"Look, there's a squirrel too," Naruto said with a chuckle.
Over twenty Green Lanterns were working together with John Stewart and the other 4 members of the Justice League to cut the fleshy cocoons of the hive open and free the trapped people from it. Wonder Woman was using a sword to cut the cocoons open, Supergirl was using her heat vision while Flash and Starfire were carrying the people outside of the military base.
Naruto approached the Green Lantern which looked like he was in charge of everyone there. It was a very tall and muscular humanoid being with pink skin, pig-like face and tusks.
'First time I actually see a pig man. The universe sure is large.' Naruto inwardly thought.
He did not judge him nor did he laugh at him. He had seen all kinds of people before. To him, be they humans or other species, it did not matter their appearance as long as he could come to an understanding with them - after all, his closest business partner for decades had been a rat-man.
"You're not going to take the Back Mercy plants from around their necks?" he asked when he saw that the rescued people were not being freed by the tentacle-like plants.
The orc-like Green Lantern shook his large head and said:
"Freeing them from the plants is easy. You just have to pull the plants off of them and it's done. But who knows for how long they've been subjected to the illusion of the Black Mercy. It would be not surprising if everyone here went insane after being snapped back to reality. So we're going to take everyone to Oa. Mother Mercy will help them preserve their mental health."
"Mother Mercy?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
The Green Lantern looked like he was debating in his mind whether to tell him or not.
"Mother Mercy is the progenitor of these plants. She is a Green Lantern too."
Although Naruto was back to wearing his white fox ANBU mask, the Green Lantern noticed he was startled.
"Mother Mercy is an empath, with great telepathic powers. She created the Black Mercy with a pure intent in mind. She wanted to offer the terminally ill people a moment of happiness before their death. The original plants would give the terminally ill people the experience of living a perfect life before their death, letting them experience happiness. Then, the people would die painlessly, with a smile on their face."
"Earthlings have a saying: the road to Hell is paved with good intentions," Naruto murmured.
"Well, it was only after creating them that she realized the potential for harm that her children possessed. But is that not the same with everything else in the universe? Powers, abilities, tools, skills - whether they are evil or not will be decided by what are they being used for." the Green Lantern said. "By the way, I'm Kilowog. Pleased to meet you. I've heard many things about you before."
Naruto grabbed Kilowog's outstretched hand and shook it.
"Pleased to meet me? Didn't y'all paint a target on my back? I'm a 'universal-level threat', aren't I?" he said with a laugh.
Kilowog shrugged his shoulders.
"That is the Guardians. Personally, I admire your work. Especially what you did in the Vega System. I never agreed with the Guardians' decision to ban us from acting in the Vega System and letting the Psions do whatever atrocities they pleased. And I'm not the only one; other Green Lanterns were opposed to it as well... But, in the end, we are all loyal to the Corps. We do what the Guardians tell us to do."
"However, I give respect where respect is due. You are a man worthy of respect, Caterpillar. And you helped us with this matter too. You have avenged our 4 comrades' deaths as well."
"Um, wow. I... didn't see that coming." Naruto said, his voice betraying how surprised he was. He had not expected a Green Lantern of all beings to pay him homage like that.
⁂
One hour later, the squad of Green Lanterns made a huge bubble of green light and took flight with the rescued people in tow, leaving the planet. Naruto had not just watched while everyone worked. Although there were thousands of people trapped, with the help of his Shadow Clones in addition to the group of Green Lanterns, it took a very short time to free everyone from the hive.
Covered in mud from head to toe - the torrential rain had not stopped even after two hours - Flash, Starfire and Supergirl plopped themselves at the entrance of the Javelin tiredly. As for Green Lantern, he was already inside the ship, starting up the engines of the spaceship.
"How about that little vacation now?" Naruto asked Wonder Woman.
Her face brightened when heard his words.
"You mean it?"
"But of course! Didn't I say that we'd go on a small holiday after I'm done with this mission?"
There was a small shriek of delight that came from Diana at his words and, in a rush of excitement, she hugged him and pressed a quick kiss on his lips.
"Did she just...!" Flash said, his mouth agape.
Starfire and Supergirl looked at each other amazed too. They had never seen Wonder Woman acting like that before! She was a serious, no-nonsense type of woman. She rarely joked and she never acted in an unladylike fashion. She acted like a warrior in battle and a princess outside of it.
Flash, in particular, was the most surprised because he had known Wonder Woman for almost 2 years already yet that was the first time that he had seen her act that girly. He dressed his voice uncomfortably.
"Erm, you're not coming back with us?" he asked.
"Tell Martian Manhunter that I'll take a few days off-"
"-a week" Naruto supplemented.
"-a week." Diana agreed and gave Naruto a wet kiss on his cheek.
Seeing that Flash looked like he wanted to say something more, Wonder Woman added:
"We'll be back in about one week for sure. We want to spend Christmas together, on Earth." Turning towards Naruto, she asked, her eyes slightly narrowed: "We will spend Christmas together, right?"
In response, Naruto lightly pinched her nose, greatly enjoying how her face scrunched up in annoyance. His cheeks were stretched by a large grin.
"Just get a room you two already!" Supergirl blew her top from the side.
Everyone started laughing at her outburst, and Supergirl herself too.
"The big bad wolf-"
"-fox" Diana corrected
"-is kidnapping the princess and holding her captive for a while," Naruto said with a chuckle and then he unexpectedly swept the Amazon princess of her feet and took her in a princess carry.
Diana's face lit up in an interesting shade of red but she brought her hands around his neck and let herself be held. She was not quite used to being treated like an actual princess but she did not dislike it. Not one bit.
Naruto could not take his eyes off her face. Seeing her embarrassed but happy expression made his stomach churn strangely.
'Gah! She's too adorable!'
Completely ignoring the other three who were staring at them, Naruto teleported himself and Diana away, leaving them without as much as a goodbye. The moment they came out of the body-flicker movement, Naruto instantly took her lips in a passion-filled kiss.
When they parted, they were both breathless.
"This gap-moe of yours is bad on my heart," Naruto said with a faked look of pain on his face. "I want to hold you, kiss you, and never let you go."
Though her face was flushed, Diana said coquettishly:
"What stops you from doing just that?"
She smiled in triumph when Naruto did what he was told and pressed his lips against hers hungrily. Still holding the kiss, she manoeuvred herself in his arms, changing her position from being held in a princess carry to wrapping her long legs around his midsection, squishing her breasts against his chest. His hands naturally went to her large ass and squeezed her buttcheeks, making her squeal in their kiss in delight.
When they parted from the kiss, they rested their forehead against each other and softly rubbed their noses together. They continued to exchange small pecks and whisper sweet nothings to each other.
"I missed holding you like this," he said and pecked her.
"It's been only one month, silly," she said but despite her words, she took his lips in a kiss too, making a wet smooch sound.
Naruto involuntarily bit his lower lip at the sight of her red and full, ripe lips. Her white and beautiful teeth were revealed when she smiled knowingly at his action.
"I missed you," he said again.
"I missed you more," she whispered.
"But you said it's been only one month, didn't you?" he countered.
She bit the tip of his nose in response, making him shake his head to escape. She giggled in delight at him but she let out a cute cry when he suddenly fought back and attacked the tender flesh of her neck with a kiss.
"Not fair! That's-, that's cheating!" she stammered and started struggling to get out of his arms.
But with a hand on her butt and another on the small of her back, she could not go anywhere. She was trapped in his strong arms.
"Arara, did I find a weak spot? What is this I wonder?" he paused his actions and said with a grin.
"That's a horrible pun- Ah! Stop it!" Wonder Woman began to say but let out another cute shriek when his teeth sunk into the skin of her neck and started to suck on it.
From one of the surrounding trees on the side, Kyuubi looked at them with a 'good grief' look on his face.
'These two really are idiots. Both of them! What if I was an enemy trying to sneak up on them?'
For the two lovebirds, it was like the outside world ceased to exist. Being apart from each other for one month not only did not make their passion fade, it fanned its flames even harder than before.
Kyuubi let out an aggrieved sigh but he ended up smiling. Through his negative sensing emotions, he could feel that the previous storm of darkness in Naruto's heart had completely vanished. His brain filled with the love hormone now, it was as though Naruto had completely forgotten about the trauma he had been left with by the Black Mercy. At that moment, only the Amazon princess existed in his mind.
In the end, the fox cub closed his eyes and curled himself in a ball of fur on the branch of a tree, falling into a half-asleep state, ignoring the two 'idiots' flirting below. He only extended his senses to their surroundings, keeping his mind's eye active to spot any would-be threats.
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AN: the reward Naruto received from completing this bounty was not revealed in this chapter but it is a rather important thing, one that would play a significant role in the future. I hope you liked the chapter. More Naruto/Diana goodness coming up soon. Prepare your insulin shots. Diabetes incoming.
