[Caterpillar] Chapter 27 - Break up (Patreon)

"So this is where you live," Naruto said when he entered Wonder Woman's apartment. It was a very spacious and modern-looking apartment, on the top floor of a skyscraper, in New York. The floor-to-ceiling tall windows in the living room offered a gorgeous view of the city.

"Are you surprised?"

"A bit. I was expecting you to live in some ancient manor on a mountain or something."

"That was a dig at my age, wasn't it?" she said with narrowed eyes and slapped him on the butt, making him jump up startled. She laughed delighted at his reaction. "What? You've quite enjoyed touching my butt over the past week, I think I'm entitled to do the same with yours."

It was one of the very rare moments when Naruto's face became red.

"Fufu, so you do get flustered too~"

Grinning from one ear to another, she pressed a quick kiss on his lips and then slipped away, leaving an embarrassed Naruto behind. When she returned from her bedroom 3 minutes later, he saw that she had taken off her white and golden armour and put on some casual clothes instead: a pair of grey sweatpants and a baggy dark blue t-shirt. Despite the plain clothes, he felt like her pure beauty was shown even more than when she was wearing her glamorous armour.

"Don't just stand there, come, make yourself at home," Diana said as she grabbed his hands and pulled him to sit next to her on the sofa.

As Naruto took off his fur-collared cloak and put it on the armrest of the sofa, she looked at him silently, from head to toe.

"I think we should go and buy some normal clothes. You can't go around in your cloak and combat suit everywhere. People will look at you like you've come out of a sci-fi movie."

From an Earthling's point of view, it looked like the battle suit of a super-soldier from a sci-fi video game. There were matt metallic plates protecting his shoulders, his back, his chest and his shins, a utility belt around his waist and two holsters on his thighs that stored a particular type of daggers, daggers that had sealing formulas inscribed on their handles. Naturally, if Naruto was placed next to Earth's superheroes, compared to guys wearing bright red colours or their underwear above the pants, his attire would not catch anyone's eyes. But Diana was planning on spending time with Naruto without their armour, among regular civilians.

"So, when do you start your hero work again?" he asked.

"In 2 days, next week, on Monday."

"Want me to tag along with you? It would be fun to do some missions together," he said.

Diana hesitated.

"I'd love that...but I don't think it would sit well with the rest of the Justice League. Don't forget, you're still the boogeyman for them. It wasn't too long ago that you and Kurama destroyed a planet. They're still scared by that."

Naruto looked bummed out.

"Speaking of Kurama, I haven't known him for as long as you do but I think he's been acting strangely in the past few days."

After leaving the Watchtower and coming down to Earth, Kyuubi asked Naruto to drop him in the centre of Africa, somewhere in the middle of the continent's savanna.

"Now that you mentioned it, I see it too. He's been away for long periods at a time."

"Maybe it's because of me?" Diana asked. "Maybe he's trying to give us space and not feel like the 3rd wheel?"

Naruto looked at her in doubt.

"I don't know about that. I think he just felt in the mood to bully and beat up some lions. He's always doing that to the apex predators of any planet he goes to. The last time we came to Earth, he beat up and ate a bear in the Balkan Mountains, in Europe. Something about showing everyone who's the 'top dog'. But you may be right, he's been quite distant on Genesis Stadium too. I'll go talk to him today."

Then, he stood up and grabbed his cloak from the sofa, putting it back on.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'll go see Doctor Fate. He's helped me a great deal last time with purging the poisoned natural energy from my body. Since I'm back on Earth, I should pay him a visit. Do you wanna tag along?"

She shook her head.

"Maybe some other time. You go, I'll wait for you here, at home. You might even find a surprise when you come back."

Diana followed him to the door but when he was about to leave, she grabbed him by the cloak.

"Didn't you forget something?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Naruto," she said in a warning voice.

He grinned at her glare. But he cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her on the lips. What was supposed to be a quick goodbye kiss became much longer when she wrapped her hands around him, not letting him go.

"At this rate, you'll make me not want to leave anymore," he said when they finally broke away.

She giggled and pecked him on the lips one more time.

"Now you're free to go," she said as she turned him around. Then, she slapped his ass one more time and pushed him out of the apartment. He did not even have the chance to object because she closed the door right after him.

"Good grief," he said in amusement. "Who is she and what has she done with the prudish princess from before?"

When they had just become a couple, Diana was bashful and she would flush over the smallest displays of affection from him. But it looked like that was a thing of the past. Now, it seemed like the saying 'what goes around comes around' was quite true because it was his turn to be flustered at her forward behaviour. During the elevator ride, he could see his still embarrassed face in the mirrors on the walls. But luckily, there were no other people to see him.

⁂

An over 100-foot-long space ship landed on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts. In the clearing of a forest, there was only one simple building: a rather tall but very narrow quadrilateral tower made of bricks. There were no windows and no doors and the building itself did not look like anyone could live in it.

Naruto walked around the narrow tower with an expression of interest on his face. Behind the white mask covering his face, his slit pupils transformed into rectangular bars like that of a toad and an orange shade appeared around his eyes. After entering the Sage Mode, he became able to see the thick energy surrounding the tower. There was an entire network of spells covering it.

Confirming that he was at the right location, he cancelled his Sage Mode and his eyes returned to their previous appearance, red and slit, like the eyes of a fox.

"Doctor Fate? Do you hear me?"

At his call, one of the walls of the tower started to glow and a bright golden portal in the shape of an ankh appeared.

"Mr Uzumaki, do come in." a voice came from beyond the portal.

Once he stepped through the portal, he found himself inside a rather dark room. It was not to the point of not seeing his surroundings but the lack of natural light and the dark red undertone gave the room a mystical feeling.

"Welcome to my humble abode." an old man greeted Naruto. He had grey hair and he was dressed no different than other men of his apparent age on Earth.

"Nothing humble about this place," Naruto said with a chuckle. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a pocket dimension, isn't it?"

"I take it it's not the first time you've seen one?" Doctor Fate asked.

"You can say that, yes."

"What brings you here, today? Do you need my help?" the sorcerer inquired.

Naruto shook his head.

"No, everything is good. I just returned to Earth today and I came to say hi. Sorry for popping up uninvited."

Doctor Fater turned his head and called out:

"Inza, dear, we have a guest. Do you mind bringing the refreshments?"

Then, he showed Naruto to a couch and they sat down next to a coffee table.

"I've looked at your tower with my Sage Mode for a bit. There's an impressive number of spells. I wouldn't be too far off to call this place a fortress."

"I've made many enemies over the years. Enemies that are far more dangerous than the average thug, beings of a magical nature. As a sorcerer, I can never be too careful," Doctor Fate replied.

Naruto took out a scroll from one of the pockets of his utility belt and, under the sorcerer's curious eyes, he unfurled it on the coffee table, revealing the sealing diagram and kanji drawn on it. Then, he placed his hand on the seal and, with a puff of smoke, a communication tablet appeared in his hand. It was a lightwave device.

"Most intriguing. I didn't know you were a magician too."

"Magician is a very broad term, you know that better than I do. But yes, you could say I am wielding magic powers too," Naruto admitted.

He could create small dimensions in his sealing scrolls to store objects, but that was nothing impressive in comparison to Doctor Fate who created a pocket dimension that could even hold living beings: they were in it right now. Naruto was clearly aware of Doctor Fate's superiority when it came to magic. In the first place, chakra was more like a cousin of the true magical power and it was used mostly for battle, not for fine and detailed spells. To cast detailed 'spells', the use of a fuinjutsu technique was necessary, an array with formulas that would control chakra better than a living being was capable of.

Just then, a beautiful woman that looked like she was in her mid-thirties entered the living room pushing a trolley with cookies and nectar. Wearing ankh-like earrings and emitting an aura of tranquillity, she was none other than Inza, Doctor Fate's wife.

"Diana told me that Earthlings have a custom to give their friends presents during the winter holiday. I know it's still early but I wanted to offer it to you now so I won't disturb you at that time."

Doctor Fate looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Oh my!"

The sorcerer was momentarily distracted. He had only helped cure Naruto at the request of the Justice League. He had not expected that the alien would come to think of him as a friend over something as 'insignificant' as that.

"You're a sorcerer and a very wealthy man at that. I didn't know what else to give you. This is a communication device. You can contact me through it, no matter where in the Universe I am, even if I'm 10 galaxies away. It's a technology belonging to the New Gods of New Genesis."

Then, he grabbed a cookie from the table and bit from it.

"I know you are powerful and don't need anyone's help. But the Universe is a large place and you never know what could happen next. If you ever find yourself in a tight spot, I will help you. It's a promise."

⁂

By the time he left Doctor Fate's tower, it was dark outside. It was the beginning of December and night came much faster than before. There were almost 300 miles from Salem in Massachusetts to New York City but Naruto covered that distance with his spaceship in a few minutes. Flying above New York at night gave him a very beautiful view of the city.

He was in a great mood as he rode the elevator towards the top floor of the building where Wonder Woman's apartment was. A smile involuntarily appeared on his face when he knocked on the door. Seeing that nobody was answering, he opened the door by himself. But then, a thick cloud of smoke blasted him in the face and he momentarily lost his breath.

"What the hell? Diana! Diana!"

He closed the door and ran into the apartment worried that something happened to her.

"I'm here!"

Following the direction of her yell, Naruto arrived in the kitchen. In there, the smoke was so dense that he could almost not see his hand in front of his eyes. And there she was: wearing an apron and with a bowl in her hand, Wonder Woman was...cooking.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked.

Just as he was speaking, Wonder Woman poured the bowl of water in her hands over the pan on the stove. The boiling oil blew up at the contact with the cold water and the pan was blasted off the stove. The smoke in the kitchen became even denser than before and, as on cue, it started to shower from the ceiling in the entire house as the fire suppression system was activated.

And, if that was not enough, only a few moments later, the entrance door was roughly opened and a squad of firefighters burst inside, fully geared to combat the fire. Worried because of the intense smell of smoke, her neighbours had called the fire department.

⁂

After they dealt with the firefighters and stopped the fire suppression system from dousing the entire house with water, they had to hire the services of a specialized company to clean up the mess. Nevertheless, they would not be able to come back and live there for the next 2-3 days or more.

Now, two hours later, they were inside a hotel room, sitting in the suite's living room in silence. The rims of Diana's eyes were red and she looked like she was going to cry at any moment. Eventually, she buried her face in her hands and she really started to cry.

As for Naruto, he was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to comfort her. He came next to her and put an arm around her, rubbing her back softly.

"Hey, don't cry. It's okay, nothing happened," he tried to soothe her.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to give you a surprise but I'm so useless. I never cooked before," Wonder Woman sobbed.

At that, Naruto had to bite his tongue to not laugh. Luckily, she was still with her face in her palms or she would have seen the traitorous grin on his face. As amusing as the situation was for him he gradually became more serious when he realized that she was actually crying for real. In the end, Diana cried herself to sleep in his arms, much to his stupefaction.

He took her in his arms and carried her to the suite's bedroom. Looking at her tear-stained cheeks, he caressed her gently. He tucked a stray strand of her black hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. After that, he left the bedroom and closed the door after him.

'Why did she cry so hard? What was she so upset for?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Maybe because she ruined her apartment? But she didn't strike me as someone who cares about material possessions that much. Besides, I have enough gold to exchange into Earth's currency and buy another place if I wanted. And I'm sure she has plenty of money too.'

He could not help feeling confused. He wanted to ask for someone else's opinion but Kyuubi was not there and he did not really have other close friends to ask for advice either.

'Maybe I'll find an answer on the internet.'

When they left the apartment, Wonder Woman had taken a small laptop with her too, among several other things. By chance, it was still working, it had not been ruined by the water pouring from the ceiling. As he turned it on, he noticed that it had been in sleep mode and that a program was already running. It was Internet Explorer and there was a page opened too.

10 ways to show your significant other that you appreciate him

1. Compliment him. Tell him that he is handsome and that [...]
2. Cook for him. The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Few things make men feel as happy as the image of their wife waiting for them at home with warm food and a smile after an entire day at work.
3. Give him long hugs [...]

Suddenly, Wonder Woman's earlier behaviour made a lot more sense to him. Naruto palmed his forehead and laughed in a mixture of disbelief and amusement, exasperation even.

"Yare, yare...That's what you've been crying your eyes out for?"

It turned out that the reason for her crying had not been her ruined apartment but the fact that she could not cook to make him happy. But he had never had such expectations from her in the first place. He knew that she had been raised as a warrior. He was not expecting her to suddenly act like a housewife and cook for him and do chores.

'To think you were that self-conscious about this. You dummy...' he thought, his heart filled with warmth.

⁂

In contrast to the fluffy and feel-good feelings Naruto was experiencing at that moment, other people were not having it as easy. For example, inside a restaurant in Metropolis City, Superman was feeling quite miserable that evening.

"That's it? We're gonna end it just like that?" a woman said revolted.

She was dressed in a very elegant black dress, wearing heels and her black hair fell in waves over her back.

"I thought you invited me out for a romantic dinner not that you were going to break up with me!"

Clark Kent exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen it yet, Lois. It just doesn't work. We have different views and none of us is willing to compromise. We end up arguing almost every time when we go out on dates."

"So you're going to just give up? Am I the only one that cares about this relationship? Hah! I get it! You're a superhero so you can get any woman you want. No point in staying with a nagging, lowly journalist like me, is that it?"

Superman looked around worried that someone heard her saying that he was a superhero and frowned.

"I thought you knew me better than that," he said.

"Yes. I also thought I knew you better than that but it turned out Clark Kent was-"

"Lois!" Superman almost shouted and Lois Lane abruptly shut up.

A few heads turned to look at their table and one of the waiters came to them.

"Sir, with all due respect, we would appreciate it if you lowered your voices to not disturb the other customers."

"We apologise," he said awkwardly. The waiter nodded and then went to clean another table of empty dishes.

Turning towards Lois Lane, Superman said:

"Let's talk like adults, without pointing fingers and throwing insults."

Taking her silence as her expressing her agreement, he continued:

"This relationship doesn't make sense when we're both doing nothing but arguing and hurting each other. Your father also never liked me in the first place and he isn't exactly subtle about it. Furthermore,"

"This is about my latest article on the protest, isn't it?" she asked.

Superman couldn't remember when was the last time he intentionally hit a woman but he felt like he really wanted to smack her at that moment.

"Are you not hearing what I'm saying!?"

"What's there to listen to? Your Justice League work is more important than me. It's as simple as that!" she accused.

He sighed in irritation. At one point, he had thought that he was in love with Lois Lane but he getting more disillusioned with her the better he got to know her.

'Lana dropped everything and flew over the ocean to help me when people believed that Clark Kent had been assassinated and she betrayed Lex Luthor too, putting her life in danger for my sake, while we were nothing but friends. And then here's Lois for whom my feelings didn't matter as much as a damned newspaper headline.'

Any hesitation that he might have had before that evening about ending his relationship with Lois Lane vanished at that moment.

"Looks like it doesn't matter what I say, you'll ignore it anyway. Since that's the case, I'll stop trying to explain myself. It's just not working between us. But I hope you're smart enough to not reveal my identity. It won't end well for you."

Lois Lane clenched her fists.

"Are you threatening me? You think I'm afraid that you'll-"

"I won't have to do anything." Superman cut her off and said. "There are hundreds of metahumans and death-row criminals that would love nothing more than to have the chance to hurt me or those close to me. If that day when my identity is leaked comes, I will make sure to protect my Ma and Pa. But I will leave you to the wolves. And you should be well aware of how incompetent the police and even the army are when it comes to dealing with metahumans. Yes, even your father, General Lane, won't be able to keep you safe. And the only one to blame will be yourself."

Seeing how Lois Lane was livid with anger, Superman shook his head. That was not how he had wanted to end things between the two of them. He had wanted to part ways amicably and remain friends after that. Now, he regretted that he had ever confided his true identity to her.

"See you at work tomorrow," Superman said and he stood up from the table to leave.

After he made several steps, he heard her calling:

"Kent!"

He turned around to look at her.

"You're right, I am smart enough to know to keep my mouth shut. But trust me when I say this, I'll make you regret it!" she said.

"Oh, I am regretting it already. Goodbye, Lois."

Then, he left without sparing her a glance.

Though he was quite a distance from the restaurant already, his superhearing caught the shout of anger Lois Lane let out after he left and subsequently the yelling match she got into with the waiter after he politely asked her to leave. Slightly shaking his head, he went into a side alley and, in a blur of movements, he changed from his elegant dress suit into his red and blue superhero costume. After that, he took flight and left Metropolis.

As he flew, his mind went to a redhead woman, her teasing smile and her mischievous eyes. Thinking about Lana Lang, his bad mood from his fight with his now ex-girlfriend gradually dissipated and he smiled. But little did Superman know that Lois Lane would keep her promise and that it would happen very soon, much sooner than he would have imagined.