[Caterpillar] Side Story (Part 3) (Patreon)

AN: The long-awaited third part of the side story is here, enjoy.

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Side Story - Part 3

"When are we going to take Thea on her first mission?" Naruto asked while taking cover behind a building as the enemy squad they were pursuing fired their ray guns at him crazily.

Next to him, Wonder Woman raised her round shield as she prepared to come out from behind the cover and charge at them.

"We've had this discussion before. I know you grew up as a child soldier but I'd rather not have our daughter fight and kill people when she is that young. She's only 13!"

Unexpectedly, while Naruto was the one who always dotted on their daughter and spoiled her rotten, it was Diana (who usually played the role of the authoritative and strict parent) who couldn't bear the thought of Thea going on life-threatening missions and filling her days with fights and violence.

"Thea got your brains but she takes after me in terms of personality. I'm telling you, she's going to get herself into big trouble very soon because ever since she stopped going to school, she's been antsy and bored. A bored Uzumaki is the last thing you want."

Diana's sigh of exasperation made him chuckle.

"What did I ever do to get stuck with two troublemakers like you?"

A laser cannon suddenly evaporated a huge chunk of the wall of the building behind which they were hiding and Diana had to jump on Naruto with her shield to protect him from the incoming fire. But then, she let out a squawk of surprise and yelled at him:

"What are you doing, are you crazy?! Focus, you pervert!" Diana said, the red colour of her cheeks showing how embarrassed she was.

When she jumped on him to protect him from the incoming laser beams, as they rolled onto the ground, she ended up straddling him and Naruto didn't miss the chance to bury his face into her cleavage.

He groaned as he stood up and said:

"Can I just release the limiters and curb-stomp them all now?"

"No! We had a deal," Diana shot down his idea right away. "We promised we'd take it easy and enjoy the process, didn't we?"

The reality was that after ascending to godhood, the two of them had become too powerful. It was to the point where they couldn't enjoy going to missions because there was no challenge for them anymore - most opponents would drop dead or unconscious in one hit. Their enemies couldn't hide anywhere either due to Naruto's sensory capabilities and they couldn't escape by running away either due to Diana's godly speed and her Lasso of Truth.

Slapping to the side cannon projectiles capable of destroying a moon and walking through a hail of laser beams just to watch people's eyes widen in disbelief had been fun for the first few times but it got old very quickly.

Therefore, they decided to seal up a part of their power, to give themselves a handicap. They would limit their strength, durability, speed, and amount of chakra to a bit less than what they used to have even back when they had been mortals. That way, they would need to strategise and actually put in some effort in their missions instead of one-shot killing everything.

After all, they weren't going on bounties because they needed money - not when there were billions of people that worshipped them in the Vega System. The two of them going on missions together was for the sake of adventure and having fun. Their purpose was to keep themselves busy and have a good time together.

"Ugh, fine," he said and sighed deeply as he watched how their enemies ran to their spaceship and were about to fly away. But before they could take off, he quickly went through a few handseals and slapped the ground with his palms.

"Doton: Earth God's Hands!"

The ground quaked and cracked as two gigantic hands made of rocks and dirt suddenly rose in the air and grabbed onto the enemy spaceship by its wings.

In the meantime, Wonder Woman took out a golden bow and a quiver filled with arrows from the storage seal inscribed onto her Bracelets of Submission. One moment later, four arrows were fired in quick succession and shot down the engines of the ship which exploded with a loud bang.

Naruto grinned as he watched how Diana unsheathed her sword and flew towards the spaceship menacingly. He would never get tired of watching his badass wife kicking butt. But while he was lost in his own little world admiring her, a snarky voice rang in his mind:

"Naruto, that naughty brat of yours broke into your hangar."

It was Kurama. The hangar holding all those spaceships wasn't as unprotected and easy to break in as little Athena had thought. The very moment she stepped inside, regardless of the invisibility jutsu that she had cast on herself and Miyuki, the alarm seals were triggered and informed Kurama of her intrusion.

"I knew it!" was the first thing Naruto said when he heard his words.

He had told Diana just a moment ago that a bored Uzumaki was the last thing they'd want. He knew it was only a matter of time before their daughter was going to get herself into trouble.

"What is she doing now?" he asked Kurama telepathically.

"She took Miyuki with her too and they're about to board one of your spaceships, the red one," Kurama said and he could practically hear the exasperation in the fox's voice. "You really ought to discipline her. You don't want her to turn out like that bratty grandson of the third Hokage, do you?"

"Hey, what do you mean? Konohamaru was adorable!"

"Before he started following you around and calling you 'boss' you smacked the shit out of him," Kurama deadpanned and Naruto chuckled.

As he saw Diana flying back with a metallic suitcase in her hands, Naruto told Kurama:

"Let her think nobody is watching her. Let her take off with the spaceship - she knows how to pilot it and how to use the AI on board, we've taught her well."

In spite of his earlier words, Kurama said in worry:

"Are you sure about that? You know better than anyone just how dangerous the Outerspace can be. There are things out there that could pose a danger even to you and me."

"I'm sure," Naruto said. "If she's anything like me, she won't learn her lesson until the consequences of her actions hit her like an anvil in the head."

Turning his attention back to Diana, he asked her when she landed next to him:

"Is that all?"

"Yep. I took care of them," she said.

"Don't tell me you killed them…"

"Of course I didn't!" she said offended. "Our mission was to retrieve what they had stolen, not to take their lives. Besides, they're so pitiful," she said with a shake of her head.

She did not say that as a mockery, she truly felt sorry for them. The people she had just beaten up were a squad of special forces agents from planet Rann.

The inhabitants of planet Rann had become infamous in the galaxy recently for having driven themselves to near extinction. A nuclear war amongst themselves left the planet in shambles and rendered most of the remaining population sterile. In the present, they were suffering from famine (no crops could grow in the aftermath of the nuclear war), radiation-induced terminal illnesses, and extremely low natality rates. Scientists predicted that the population of Rann would become extinct within 200-300 years if nothing changed.

The survivors of the nuclear war were now desperate to fix their situation - and one of the solutions that they had thought of was to steal unprocessed Nth metal from Thanagar.

The Nth metal was a special metal with all sorts of mystical abilities. Aside from its widely-known abilities to disrupt magic, give the user the ability of flight, and protect them from all extremes of temperature, depending on the level of symbiosis achieved with the user, the Nth metal could even regenerate lost limbs, rejuvenate the body, and extend one's lifespan. The survivors of Rann had tried stealing it for the sake of curing their infertility.

Naruto himself had once tried to obtain the Nth metal from the Thanagarians but they refused him. It was one of the most valuable things in the galaxy and the Thanagarians protected the secret of processing it with their lives.

"If I hadn't built a reputation as someone who never breaks his word, Thanagar would have never issued this bounty to us," Naruto said. "Anyway, remember how I told you Thea would soon get into trouble? That a bored Uzumaki is the last thing we want?"

"...What did she do this time?" Diana said, with a tone that let him know she was almost afraid to ask.

"I just got a message from Kurama. Looks like she broke into the hangar and stole one of our spaceships. She also took little Miyuki with her."

When Wonder Woman pinched the bridge of her nose Naruto started chuckling.

"Let's make a clone, both of us, to send the suitcase to the Thanagar Embassy in Karna and collect the bounty. We'll go after Thea straight away."

"What about these guys?" She asked and gestured with her head towards the ruined spaceship and the Rann people lying down all beaten up and with their hands cuffed.

"We were paid to retrieve the Nth metal, not hand the thieves over to the authorities," he said with a shrug.

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When Naruto and Diana teleported themselves to the Hiraishin marker that had been inscribed on the door of the spaceship's bedroom, Thea had already taken off and flown the ship into the Outerspace near planet Karna.

Suddenly the entire ship started shaking and shuddering.

"I can't believe they're brawling inside the ship of all places!" Wonder Woman said, her superhearing having caught the sounds made by the little girl and the white fox fighting.

"Let's lay low for now. Let's lower our presence and henge into something else to hide," he said.

"You're not going to stop them?!"

"Sometimes, a bad experience can be the best teacher. I say let her get into big trouble and realize how dangerous the Universe at large can be. If they get into a life-threatening situation, we'll step in and protect them."

Diana looked like she was torn between the desire to protect her sweet daughter and wanting to educate her. Although she was not spoiling Athena as frequently as Naruto, she loved her daughter like the light of her eyes.

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When the spaceship came out of the impromptu wormhole and Naruto's sensory ability picked up the Rabbit Goddess's chakra signature, his shock was so great he almost lost control of his henge.

'No. Freaking. Way.' - was the only thing he could think of.

He had scoured the known Universe - the 3600 sectors governed by the Green Lantern Corps - for nearly 100 years looking for a way back to his homeworld. There were hardly any individuals in the whole Universe that had travelled the world as much as him.

'I've visited thousands of planets inhabited by humanoid people and I've even gone beyond the borders of the known Universe more than once.'

That was how he had discovered the planet he had named Myoboku, and that was also how he had almost lost his life by going beyond the event horizon of the largest Supermassive Black Hole that he had ever seen.

But it had all been in vain. He had not been able to find even one clue about his homeworld.

'To think that, one day, it would be an accident that brought me back.'

To think that a brawl between his bratty daughter and his baby niece would be the key to finding a way back to the Elemental Nations!

When the ship finally crashed against the rocky ground, Naruto and Diana dispelled their henges too. But he stopped her from going out.

"I know you are worried, I am worried too," Naruto said. "But they are fine. A crash like this is far from enough to injure them. Let's see what happens now."

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"Mother, give me strength!"

When Wonder Woman heard her daughter's prayer, it took all her willpower to not swoop in and engulf her little angel in her arms. Taking a look at her husband next to her she realized that he was just as filled with tension as her. He was looking at his daughter unblinkingly, ready to teleport to her side in a heartbeat. He had almost lost his cool when little Athena pushed her Oodama Rasengan into Kaguya's chest.

Diana found herself smiling widely at the way little Thea smashed her sword and shield against each other in a manner reminiscent of how her Amazon sisters used to do before the start of a battle to psyche themselves up.

'That's my girl!' Wonder Woman inwardly cheered when Thea's shield smashed into the horned goddess and sent her flying like a rocket into a mountain, the impact reducing the impressive landform to rubble.

But after Kaguya's space-time technique moved everyone into another dimension once again and she saw Thea turning her back to Kaguya in order to save the pink-haired girl who was about to fall into the lake of magma below, her heart was caught in her throat.

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Naruto's back was wet with sweat from how much anxiety was eating at him as he watched his daughter battle the Rabbit Goddess. That wasn't what he had in mind when he said he wanted to take Thea on a mission. Fighting against a mad goddess was far from the type of opponent he would choose for his daughter to face in her first real battle.

His chest swelled with pride at the courage and bravery she showed as she saved Kakashi and Sasuke's lives and when she cut off Kaguya's arm he almost let out a cheer of excitement. He knew his daughter was strong - she was his and Diana's daughter after all! - but he hadn't expected her to fight so well against someone like Kaguya!

Alas, getting distracted by the pink-haired girl's perilous situation left Thea open to Kaguya's attack.

"Daddy! Help!"

Hearing her daughter cry out for his help, a vast amount of energy exploded from his being and his rage shook the cave as he screamed:

"You dare lay a hand on my daughter?"

A cataclysmic explosion suddenly boomed and the whole world was drowned by a blinding white light.

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When Kakashi opened his eyes and looked around he could not recognise his surroundings.

'Did Kaguya teleport us to another dimension again?'

The underground cave was gone, and the huge lake of magma was nowhere to be seen either. Instead, all he could see were the walls of a crater that at a glance appeared to be several miles in diameter and depth. It was like they were in a gigantic cauldron and he had to strain his neck when he looked up in order to catch a glimpse of the night sky above.

"Who-, who are you?" Kakashi heard Sakura say with a stutter and when he turned towards the direction of the voice his eyes widened at the sight of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

But the tall white-haired woman didn't reply to Sakura's question. Instead, she took the little girl in her arms and embraced her to her bosom lovingly. The words she started speaking were in a language that Kakashi couldn't understand but even so, just by hearing the tone of her voice, it was obvious that they were family.

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"Mom?" Thea said and broke into tears.

She was so happy to see her mother that she wasn't even worried about the punishment she was going to receive after stealing the spaceship and running away from Karna into the Outerspace. It was the first time she had fought against someone who was trying to kill her, the first time she had been in a life-and-death battle. She had been terrified.

"My little sun and stars," Diana said lovingly as she hugged the little girl and caressed the back of her head. "You were so brave, so courageous! Mom is so proud of you!"

Diana's loving words only made little Thea cry harder into her bosom.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," she said and laughed softly as she continued to caress her hair. "Mom and Dad are here with you. Look, your dad is taking care of everything as we speak."

As if they had practised the timing before, at that moment, another explosion of white turned the night into day.

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When a second explosion illuminated the nightsky, Sasuke involuntarily summoned his Susano'o around himself and Kakashi. The two shinobi watched in stupefaction how the massive, miles-tall walls of the crater they were in were obliterated, reduced to atoms. The landscape they could see around them had all been razed off, everything became a flat and barren wasteland.

Much to their surprise, when the blinding light receded, they realized that they weren't dead. Instead, a dome of golden light with the white-haired woman as the centre had protected them all.

"Sasuke, look up there!" Kakashi said and pointed towards the sky.

His eye morphing into the pattern of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke muttered in disbelief:

"...Naruto?!"

"What did you say?" Kakashi asked as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"He looks like Naruto," Sasuke said, not taking his eyes away from him.

Kakashi no longer had his doujutsu but even without it, he could see that the being floating high up in the sky was different.

"Are you sure? Naruto's jinchuuriki forms are yellow and red, not white and blue."

It didn't make any sense to Sasuke just like the sudden appearance of the little girl and the white-haired woman didn't make any sense either.

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The main way for gods to increase their strength was by harnessing the psychic energy released by the faith of their believers - that was the orthodox path, and it was also the path that Kurama and Diana had taken when they chose their domains.

Kurama had become the God of Destruction, Truth, and Justice while Wonder Woman became the Goddess of Courage, Heroes, and Strength. The more that a god or a goddess acted in accordance to their epithets/domains, the more the faith of their believers grew and the more their strength increased as well.

However, Naruto had chosen a different path. Before becoming a god, he had been a Sage. Instead of choosing a domain to represent and live by, he had sought to deepen his connection with nature instead, to become one with the Universe.

"Please, spare my life," Kaguya pleaded as she lied unmoving, powerlessly, on the ground.

With a simple punch, he had obliterated the immense volcano they had been inside of and pulverized most of her body too. Although her body was slowly regenerating now, even her madness was not enough to let her think she stood any chance whatsoever against the godlike being flying above her.

But Naruto didn't give her an answer. Raising his hand, he aimed at the downed Rabbit Goddess below.

"Celestial Bomb."

As he uttered those words, a bluish-white sphere of cosmic energy appeared in his palm. Then, the world was drowned in a blinding white light a second time that night. When the cosmic energy finally dissipated and the light died down, all landforms for dozens of miles in all directions had been reduced to nothingness. Much to Naruto's surprise, however, the Rabbit Goddess had somehow managed to stay alive too by covering herself in her kekkei mora time-space sphere at the very last moment. Although she survived, she appeared to be on her last legs - not even a technique that could rip dimensions apart had been enough to mitigate all the damage from his cosmic energy bomb.

"I'm willing to submit," Kaguya pleaded again. "Spare me if you care about the ones trapped by the God Tree. The more damage you inflict on me, the more chakra I will need to siphon from them to regenerate."

"And what if there is nothing left to regenerate?" he said.

As his palms came together like in prayer, the aura of white and blue light coming off his body started to expand and it grew until it filled the skies. It was an illusory construct of light of humongous proportions. It was his Celestial Avatar. He had only summoned its upper body but that form was already more than ten times larger than a perfect Susano'o.

A massive gale of wind was stirred as the Celestial Avatar's hands started moving towards each other and Kaguya's Byakugan eyes widened in terror. A black rift appeared in the air next to her but the portal she had tried opening to escape with her Rinne-Sharingan was frozen. The amount of Cosmic Energy contained in the Celestial Avatar had momentarily frozen the space-time continuum in the small area between its hands.

But just as the Celestial Avatar was about to annihilate her, Wonder Woman appeared at Naruto's side.

"If you keep her alive you can use her to go back to your homeworld," she reminded him.

As powerful as the two of them were, they did not specialize in dimension travel like Kaguya. Their only technique of this kind was the Hiarishin and that could only be used to teleport from one formulae marker to another. They had no way of finding the Elemental Nations without Kaguya's ability.

"My home is on planet Karna with you, our daughter, and Kurama," Naruto said.

"I know that, dummy," she said but, in spite of herself, his words had made her smile. "But your old friends and comrades are down there. They have no way of going back to their homes."

Diana's words made his anger subside. In his anger at Kaguya for hurting his daughter he had momentarily forgotten about Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura below.

"You're right," he said with a sigh and his Celestial Avatar dispersed in an aurora of blue and white lights. The white and blue cloak of Cosmic Energy faded away too and he returned to his original appearance.

"Follow me and do as I say," he told Kaguya who couldn't think of doing anything except for obeying his commands at that moment.

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"Dad!" little Athena shouted in joy when Naruto flew down and she jumped into his arms.

Her tears long since forgotten Thea's eyes were filled with worship as she looked at her father.

"I always knew you were powerful but I never knew you were THAT powerful!"

Thea had grown up hearing everyone around her sing praises to her parents and to her uncle, talking about powerful and mighty they were but she had never seen them fight seriously before. Today, she got a glimpse of her dad's true power as a god for the first time.

Turning towards the little fox who had now regained consciousness, Thea couldn't help rubbing it in:

"See? I told you my dad is the strongest!"

Miyuki could not find anything to argue against her words. Just like Thea, it was the first time she had witnessed the true power of a god. The little fox was overwhelmed too. Naruto grinned as he rubbed Miyuki's head too endearingly.

But that sweet family moment was interrupted when the three shinobi came closer to them.

"Naruto? Is... is that really you?" Kakashi asked as he hesitantly took a step forward.

From Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke's perspective, Naruto had been whisked away by Kaguya in one of her portals only a few minutes ago. They could hardly believe that the mature man standing in front of them was the same as the hyperactive teenager they used to know.

Luckily for them, when Naruto became a Celestial Sage a few years ago, the last vestiges of Kyuubi's demonic chakra had been purged from his body and he reverted back to his original appearance - nowadays, his hair was a golden blond again, his red eyes became a normal human blue once more, and his thick whisker-like birthmarks thinned down to their initial form.

Therefore, while Naruto did look older and more mature than in their memories, he was still easy to recognize. After all, his face was hardly forgettable.

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei. Long time no see," Naruto said and smiled.

At the deeper but still familiar sound of his voice, Sakura's courage grew and she stepped forth as well.

"What happened to you? Why are you so... so old?! Is that one of your stupid henges again? And who are the woman next to you and that little girl? What-"

"More importantly," Sasuke suddenly cut her off, "What was that power you just used? And happened to Kaguya? How did you get back from whatever dimension she teleported you to?"

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Until next time!