[Caterpillar] Chapter 43 - A new beginning (I) (Patreon)

Seconds after Wonder Woman finished her telephonic conversation with Green Arrow, the spaceship exited the planet's atmosphere. Standing alone in the quarterdeck of the spaceship, she gazed at the blue planet in the distance through the large window at the back of the ship. The image of Earth from space was not a new sight to her. During her tenure as a member of the Justice League, she had gazed at the planet from the Watchtower countless times. However, now it was different. She was leaving the Earth behind for good. Mixed feelings clouded her heart.

She was a bit startled when two arms wrapped around her from behind. It was Naruto. Shinobi habits ingrained in him for a lifetime have made him stealthy without him consciously trying to be. She had not sensed him coming.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked and rested his chin on her shoulder as he hugged her.

Diana leaned back into his embrace and sighed.

"I don't know what I would have done without you by my side," she said.

"Maybe you wouldn't have killed Maxwell Lord if you hadn't met me before? I mean, since you met me, you've always had the option to leave the Earth. But if you hadn't had anywhere else to go maybe you would have been reticent to snap his neck like that?" Sensing her disagreement, he added with a shrug: "I don't know, I'm just saying..."

The princess shook her head and said categorically, in a tone that left no doubts about her stance on the matter:

"No. I would have killed him regardless. That's exactly why I'm wondering what I would have done if you hadn't been by my side because I know myself: I couldn't let someone who had complete control over Superman's mind live. I was still on Themyscira when Darkseid invaded the Earth and brainwashed Superman a few years ago but I've seen reports and footage from back then. Thousands of casualties and a large part of Metropolis left in ruins... An evil Kryptonian would be too destructive, too dangerous. Maxwell had to die for what he did. It was either him or the lives of many innocents."

The tone of her voice changed, becoming melancholic: "With the entire Justice League trying to arrest me and the people of Earth actively protesting against me and demanding for me to be thrown in prison... Alone and abandoned by my friends, I would have probably returned to Themyscira and lived together with my mother and my Amazon sisters, never to leave the island again."

She turned around in his embrace and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"Thank you for standing by my side, Naruto...thank you for not abandoning me like the rest. Thank you for loving me."

She was speaking quietly, her words muffled by her proximity to his neck, but he heard the subtle trembling in her voice.

"I have your mother's blessing. I ain't going anywhere. Now you're stuck with me for the rest of your life." he joked, trying to lighten up her mood.

Though he could not see her face he felt her smile. He ran his hand through her hair and caressed her scalp gently.

"It's not like you're leaving the Earth forever. We can return for visits anytime you want."

She blew air through her nose.

"And have the Justice League gang up on me to arrest me the moment I enter the Watchtower's detection range?"

He chuckled at her retort. "We can always do a few bounties and buy a new ship, capable of cloaking itself, like the one I had before. I can shapeshift myself easily and nobody knows how you look now either. If you put some civilian clothes on, nobody will recognize you with your white hair."

She hummed noncommittedly. Then, she broke their hug and said:

"You haven't told me."

"Tell you what?"

Taking a step back, she twirled her finger around a strand of her long white hair.

"Well, what do you think? About my white hair. Do you...still like it?"

He involuntarily started to smile.

"Diana, you're the last woman that should act unsure of her appearance, you know that, right?"

His words made her lips curl into a traitorous smile. But she quickly steeled her expression and pressed on:

"You're avoiding the question~"

He started laughing at her petulant behaviour.

"You often jeered at me for being shameless for perving on you but look at you now, blatantly fishing for compliments with a straight face. You're no less shameless than I am!"

Being called out like that made her face quickly become an interesting shade of pink. It looked especially striking in contrast with her silvery-white hair. She lunged at him in a tackle but he intercepted her hands with his. Their hands locked together, they were temporarily stuck in a contest of strength.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed." he cooed at her, all the while sporting a shit-eating grin on his face.

His words made her embarrassment spike anew and, with a burst of strength, she overpowered him and tackled him into the wall. The entire spaceship trembled from the impact.

A sudden voice came from the speakers installed in every room of the spaceship:

"Oi, are you trying to throw the whole ship off its course?! Quit horsing around you idiot couple!" Kurama screamed in the microphone.

For a moment, Naruto and Diana froze up like statues. Then, they burst into laughter.

When he finally shook off his mirth, he took her hand in his and kissed it.

"This isn't the end of everything, Diana. It's just the end of a chapter in your life. Ahead of us, there is a new beginning."

As his words ended, Earth could no longer be seen through the large window of the quarterdeck. Now, there was only a spectacle of grey and white lights resembling a tunnel. A wormhole. Kyuubi had initiated the space wrap.

⁂

After the annihilation of the Psions, the Vega System fell into chaos. Whereas before the system had been ruled with an iron fist by the alliance between the Citadel, the Gordanians, and the Psion Monarchy, the current situation was vastly different. The Psions and their planet had been exterminated and their closest allies, the Gordanians, abandoned their homeworld in a panic, leaving the beautiful planet Karna free of their tyranny.

The unexpected fall of the Psion Monarchy greatly affected the Citadel Empire. The Gordanians also became unable to spare any force in assisting them due to the increasingly vicious war between them and the Thanagarians. Because of that, the Citadel was left without any support and the vigilante group of metahumans from the Vega System, Omega Men, was extremely quick to take advantage of its moment of weakness, launching many attacks against the empire over the past half a year. A new planet was being freed from the Citadel's dominion every month.

If that was not enough of a cesspool, the Green Lantern Corps no longer adhered to the pact of non-aggression that they had signed with the Psion Monarchy after its fall. The Vega System was introduced in the 3600 sectors of the Universe policed by the Corps and a team of Green Lanterns was assigned to patrol the system - an act which led to the rising conflict between the Green Lanterns and the Orange Lantern Corps.

"So, to make a long story short, the Vega System is an absolute shithole." Naruto summarized the intelligence report he had bought from a Milky Way Galaxy information broker.

"You have your work cut out for you, Kurama." Wonder Woman said.

The fox in question was not worried in the least.

"I knew the rough situation from the prayers of the people calling out for me," he said. "After becoming a god, their voices aren't unintelligible anymore. They aren't driving me crazy. I can hear them perfectly, every single voice."

Naruto and Diana listened to the fox's confession in curiosity.

"It's strange really. I can talk to you normally but my mind is also perfectly focused on the ones calling my name. Even now, as we speak, I hear millions of souls praying to me. They're asking me to save them. They're asking me for retribution against the ones that are oppressing them, begging me to kill their enemies and give them freedom."

The two of them did not know what to say. The fox was usually acting either like a lazy bum or like a glutton and more often than not he took great delight in fucking up with people and trolling them - like he did with the other dimension Superman or with Cerberus, in Tartarus, or how he often annoyed the hell out of Naruto. It was very rare to see Kyuubi act that seriously.

"I need you to do one thing for me. Please." the fox said.

"You're being weird. You don't need to plead with me to do something, when have I ever shied away from helping you with anything?" Naruto said and looked at him strangely.

Kurama hesitated as if he was trying to find the right words. "I want you to not get involved with the Vega System. I want you to leave."

Naruto became silent. The golden fox was silent too for a while, his attention seemingly focused on steering the ship towards the green planet ahead of them. It was Karna, the Gordanians' homeworld.

"I am a new god. People's faith in me is still not very strong. They're praying to me out of desperation rather than faith. This is my chance to capture their heart and elevate my status in their eyes."

"Elevate my status - when did you start learning new words?" the blond tried to poke fun at him.

"I'm not joking this time...why can't you be serious for a moment?" Kyuubi said in annoyance.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a bunch, sheesh." Naruto raised his hands and said to placate him. "Why do you need me to leave anyway? Afraid I'll steal your glory or something?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Kyuubi said with a straight face.

Naruto was thrown off guard by his straightforward answer.

"You're kidding, aren't you."

"Nope, I'm dead serious. Omega Men and the Citadel Empire are in the midst of a bitter war, the remnant forces of the Gordanians that had not fled the system are wreaking havoc everywhere, and the Green Lantern Corps are having skirmishes against the Orange Lantern Corps too. Who are the ones that suffer the most? Who are the ones that die when powerful forces clash? Ordinary people."

If Naruto and Diana had been surprised before, now they were looking at him as if he had grown two heads. As rude as it sounded, Naruto asked bluntly:

"Since when did you start caring about the weak?"

Kyuubi had never cared about others except for Naruto and, as of late, Diana. The rest had been irrelevant. His attitude had been very clear - the weak died, the strong survived. Outside of the bounties that he completed together with Naruto, he didn't bother with saving or caring about other people. It was only a week ago that the fox had shrugged off the Amazons' potential death as if he couldn't have cared less.

"I became a god because of ordinary and weak people. I can't live selfishly just for myself anymore. And in this desperate situation, people would be willing to believe in any god as long as they are saved. If I save them now, the psychic energy from their faith will empower me. This is my opportunity both to save them and to cement my position in their hearts as their god. You being here would not help me and the power of faith won't do you any good. You're not a god. You'll only end up suffering like a schizophrenic, as I did."

Making a small pause, the fox added: "You can stay with me if you want, Diana. You are a goddess. But I'll be honest with you and say that I'd rather be alone this time."

For the first time since they left Tartarus, Naruto was hit by reality: Kyuubi and Wonder Woman were gods. He may be just as powerful as them and he may not die of old age due to his near-death encounter with the Supermassive Black Hole...but he was not a god. There was a distinct difference between them.

"Look at the good part: you can have all the time you want with Diana, without me getting in your way," Kyuubi said with a grin, only to be met with two vehement shouts:

"You're not a bother!" the couple shouted at the same time.

Kyuubi sighed. "You're making this harder than it has to be... Just think of it as a holiday of sorts. Don't humans spend some time alone after they marry? Go on a honeymoon or something!"

"We're not married yet," Naruto muttered half-heartedly. When he looked at Diana, they flushed slightly.

By now, their ship entered the planet's troposphere. Below them, planet Karna appeared in all of its glory. It was a lush planet with an atmosphere rich in Oxygen and a perfect environment for sustaining organic life. It was a beautiful planet, with even more green than the Earth. Through his Sage senses, Naruto could feel that the state of nature was better than on Earth.

Kyuubi stood up from the pilot's seat and levitated himself in front of Naruto, at the same eye level as him. When he spoke, his deep voice sounded gentle, not like usual.

"We've been together since the day you were born. I hated you for being imprisoned inside your body and you disliked me for the suffering I brought in your life. But we depended on each other to survive. In time, we became more than just unwilling partners. We became comrades. After over a century, I, Kurama, a god, can say with pride that you are my brother. Nothing will ever change that."

At the fox's heartfelt words, Naruto became emotional.

"But after so many years, it's time for you to move on too. I can't babysit you for eternity now, can I?" Kyuubi said with a grin and the blond smiled too in spite of himself. "I can't travel the universe like a vagabond anymore. I am a god now. Millions of people depend on me and I- ...I feel responsible for them. But I can't make you stay with me here either. And you shouldn't. Our friendship should not chain you down."

The ten-tailed fox closed the distance between the two of them and raised his fist. They bumped their fists against each other. At that moment, they could understand each other perfectly. That's why Naruto did not try to put up a fight and insist more on staying together. He understood Kurama's feelings and intentions. He also understood that it was for his own and Wonder Woman's good as well.

"Like you told Diana when we left the Earth - it's not like we won't see each other ever again. You can always come to visit me. I won't leave this place. Now, the Vega System is my home. Just give me 1 or 2 years to end all the wars in this system. You can come after that."

"To not steal your glory, right?" Naruto attempted to joke and smiled weakly.

"Damn straight." Kyuubi laughed.

Diana did not intervene between the two of them. She left the control room of the ship, choosing to give the man and the fox some alone time just like she had been given with her mother, Hippolyta before they left. Absent-mindedly, she thought:

'Life moves on, doesn't it?'

It felt strange to her. A month ago, she returned to Earth with Naruto and Kurama, thinking that they were going to spend Christmas and the New Year together, celebrating happily and making great memories. She had hoped that she would manage to convince them to stay on Earth with her and join the Justice League. She had dreamt of fighting against crime together with them. However, one problem after another followed, as if the whole world was out to get her.

'Who would have thought I'd be the one to end up leaving the Earth with him instead? Or that the gods would take the Amazons with them and leave this dimension? Or that Kurama would part ways with us?'

She had had to part ways with her mother and Naruto was going to part ways with his lifelong friend too. It was not necessarily a bad thing because they could always visit each other in the future. On one hand, she was happy to finally be able to live with Naruto. But on the other hand, she felt pained at the thought of leaving her mother behind. She was going to miss Kurama as well because she had grown to care about the assholish fox a lot too.

'It's...bittersweet.'

Nevertheless, as Naruto had put it, it was not the end of everything. It was just the end of a chapter in their lives. As life moved on, ahead of them there was a new beginning.