Chapter 5 : The Titians (3)

Back at Naruto's, the blonde was in the middle of his daily workout. When he had first finished his underground home, he had made sure to make a room specifically for physical training and filled it with all the latest workout equipment he could find. His workout consisted of 300 sit ups and pushups, 300 pull ups and stomach crunches, weight lifting and a ten mile run on his treadmill. After that, he would increase the weight seals on his arms and legs and do 300 kicks and punches for each arm and leg before practicing the katas that his clones had learned for an hour. It would normally take him around 3 hours to finish the whole workout and, after a few minutes of heavy breathing, it would be as if he hadn't even down anything.

As he finished his punches and moved on to kicks, sweat poured down his face as the sound of his music blasted around the room from the speakers mounted on the wall. The song was called "Pump It" by a band called the Black Eyed Peas and he often listened to it when doing his workout, because of the fast pace.

He couldn't help but think about what had happened that day.

He had known the first time he saw her, that Raven would undoubtedly complicate his new life when she had walked through his door. The fact that she was a Teen Titan made it inevitable that the others would find out about him when she spent so much time reading through the books he had on display in the store.

The whole incident with Mister Gold had just made it worse; he had seen the look in Robin's eyes after the two men had left. They had been calculating, as if he was looking at a particularly interesting frog just before slicing open it stomach with a scalpel. The leader knew something was different about him and if Naruto had done his homework on the walking traffic light, it wouldn't be long before he did a background check on him.

He wasn't too worried, the papers he had acquired were almost perfect and most professionals wouldn't be able to tell they were all fakes. But nothing was ever completely foolproof. All it would take is one bit of information that didn't add up and he was sure Robin would have him in an integration room the first chance he got. Well, he would try at least.

"You should just take care of them all now before he gets the chance."

"That's enough out of you, Wrath! Go crawl back into your hole and mope."

Naruto could hear mumble in the back of his head for a moment before everything went quiet again. Sending a silent thank you to Lust for shutting the irritable sin up, he worried, as always, that Lust seemed to be the voice of reason more often than not out of the seven of them. Shaking his head to try and clear it, he focused back on his workout.

When he had finished, the blonde had a shower and made himself a quick dinner, before moving to his seal study and looking through his notes on the 'Flying Thunder God Jutsu' his father had created. As much as he hated the man, Naruto couldn't help but admire his skill. The Jutsu was a true masterpiece, nothing he had seen in the other scrolls could compare to it in combat ability.

He had actually finished learning it four months ago, with the use of shadow clones, of course, and had decided to try and improve it. Spending hours at a time pouring over different sealing matrix and Jutsu theory he had come up with several ideas. After whittling them down to the most likely to work, he had come up with the idea of combining the Flaying Thunder God with a simple Body Flicker Jutsu. He was hoping that when he was finished it, it would have the speed of the Thunder God and the range and ease of use of the Body Flicker.

After another hour of studying, Naruto let out a sigh, running a hand over his face and standing from his desk. He couldn't focus with his head full of what had happened with the Titans, and he didn't want to make a mistake because he was only paying half his attention to his work.

Putting his research back in its place in a small safe hidden behind one of the shelves filled with scrolls, the blonde made his way to his room and turned in for the night. As his eyes started to close he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he thought about the Titans' reaction when they realized just what was in the book he had given to Starfire.

XXX

Every Monday and Wednesday Naruto would have a day off from running the store and just leave it closed. He would use these days to shop, read, train, and research his seals. It was one of the only times, apart from his trips to the tea shop every morning, that he actually left the building. He would go to a club on occasion, or walk around the park just to stop himself from going stir crazy, but for the most part he liked to stay out of the public eye as much as possible.

But today was different.

The day before, Raven had come to him at the end of the day and invited him to come and see her own book collection, as a thank you for letting her see his. He had been reluctant at first, not just for the fact that she lived in a giant T built on an island in the middle of the river, leaving it completely open to attack, but also because if he was seen in or around the Titan Tower, it would most likely end up on the news. If that happened, he could say goodbye to his peaceful new life.

In the end, there were three reasons that made him agree to come. One, he couldn't resist the chance to see the books. Two, it would probably make the traffic light more suspicious. And three, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he really did like spending time with Raven.

The blonde knew it was a stupid risk, but he couldn't help the way he felt. He still wasn't sure if he liked her as more than a friend, and wasn't completely sure he wanted to see her in that manner. He may enjoy teasing her, and when she would give him one of her rare smiles he couldn't help but smile back, but a relationship with her would destroy everything he had done up to now to have a normal life.

They had met up at their usual table in the tea shop at the same time they always did, talking for a while and then leaving. When they were outside, Raven had placed her hands on his shoulders, a large blush on her face, and used her aura to transport them just outside the tower.

It had been a strange feeling, like being plunged into cold water and, even though he had recovered instantly, the blonde had made a show of wobbling on his feet for several minutes after they reappeared. He had seen the camera's pointed towards them and was sure Robin would be watching every move he made.

Taking a deep breath to steal his nerves, Naruto let Raven lead him into the tower, fixing a small smile on his face as they went.

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