[Nevermore] Naruto/Raven (Patreon)

Summary- (Halloween Special) Trouble brews in Jump City, and it's up to the Titans to stop it. A nice night in the town leads into weird happenings and supernatural events. Naruto begins to notice something wrong with his purple hooded teammate. As tensions boil, are the two lone demon-touched Titans truly ready to see how far their relationship can really go? (Naruto/Raven)(One-shot)

Please leave me lots and lots of NICE reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, DC comics, or any other media I use in this story. They belong to their respective owners.(this is a old fic made for Halloween)

Nevermore

Within the confines of her room sat a lone figure.

The room was dark, unlit, as the shadows surrounded her; it was without noise; silent, that was how she preferred it. Many colors of greys, blacks, and purples sat around her around her. As well as various gothic tapestries and objects she had collected such as unused candles, urns, ancient masks, and the numerous grimours she had collected over the years.

As the owner of the room sat in a perfect lotus position, meditating as she used her power to levitate straight off the floor. Using her magics to do so as she focused on nothing but her mind, her body, and her powers, everything melting away.

To many, she would appear to be a rather odd-looking individual, though very beautiful in her own right. Her skin was an unerathly pale as if it had been devoid of the sun, with a pretty heart-shaped face, sharp eyebrows, and unusual purple hair that reached down to her chin. Her eyes were a violet color, like gemstones, with a crimson jewel atop her forehead. Her frame was slim and very slender. Though usually many would not be able to take note of such a fact, seeing as though she usually covered herself in a large, navy blue hooded cloak that covered her from head to toe, wearing matching boots of a similar color. Under it, and rather surprisingly, she wore a dark navy sleeveless leotard that was skin tight. She showed off a majority of her long, luscious legs, as well as an ample bosom that was, admittedly, rather generous for her age. As she also had several other gemstones around her body, particularly on her chest, hands, and belt, which was surrounded by gold.

To the ones that knew of her, they would recognise her as the hero 'Raven,' of the Teen Titans team of Jump City.

She was a woman of considerable power as well as notoriety, though not many knew she was the daughter of a powerful interdimensional demon known as Trigon. Her heritage allowed her access to powerful magics, which she used to aid humanity, as well as powers she herself was unsure of how to gain control of.

Nowadays, she spends most of her time—when not completely in missions or training for the Titans, of course— within the confines of her own room in isolation. Attempting to control her powers that were tied to her use of emotions, leading her to become a rather reserved person to most people who had the displeasure of meeting her.

Today was October 31st, a date right in the middle of fall, as in a few months it led into the start of wintertime. And currently, there was no other way that she would rather be spending such a day.

Locked within her room, she basked in such an atmosphere, not allowing herself to be disturbed in the slightest. She was akin to the winds, the air around her, and the trees that resided in nature as she attempted to find her own peace like them. Yes, that was exactly what she would do, spending her time in a way that was most productive for her soul. As truly nothing could bring her down…

Knock. Knock.

That was, until a loud banging could be heard from her metal door, leading to the hallway that connected her room with the rest of her teammates, disrupting her thoughts completely.

She thought best to ignore such a distraction, hoping that the person would go away soon. Thinking that the aforementioned bother would be Starfire, ever the energetic girl, or perhaps even Beast Boy, the verdant boy, always striving to bother her at the times she wished he wouldn't.

The girl waited, trying to decipher if the intrusion was gone.

When she finally decided that she had waited long enough, the disturbance was gone as she tried to get back into her meditation. Attempting to become one with the world once again, trying to find her own inner peace. That was, of course, when the knocking became louder and more irritating.

Knock. Knock.

"Hey, Rae-Rae, I know you're in there, so open up, will ya?"

The noise sounded once again, this time with a voice accompanying its obstruction.

Raven's brow started to twitch, knowing exactly who was on the other side, as the male continued knocking, unaware of the irritation his presence was giving her.

.

.

.

On the other side of the wall stood another figure, one that was also familiar to the public of Jump City.

He was a tanned, blonde-haired figure with spiked hair and blue eyes. His height was average for his age (5'6). The most peculiar characteristic about the male was the set of three whisker-like markings across his face, birthmarks that he had been born with, denoting his heritage as well as his role as a Jinchuriki. He wore a set of black pants and dark shinobi sandals, sporting a black and orange jacket with his familiar Hitai-ate across his forehead, labeling his connection to his former home, Konohagakure no sato.

This was the famed hero 'shinobi,' or as he more often went by, Naruto Uzumaki, the boy from another world. A former shinobi from the hidden leaf village, he had been sent here due to a mission gone wrong in which he, as well as a few others sent with him, with the sole goal of retrieving his wayward teammate, who had been captured by Orochimaru, an infamous S-rank traitor to the village. None of them expected him to actually have let himself get captured, planning on deserting the village all for the sake of power. Of course, he fought his teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, and in their clash of their two greatest techniques, a wormhole opened, and he ended up in another world.

Being a shinobi, he was granted a modicum of powers from various chakra-based techniques he learned in his years. He was also the village's Jinchuriki, a demon container who held the infamous Kyuubi no kitsune, and all the troubles that followed with such a position.

But even with all the abilities he held, he didn't have any way to actually get home; his toad summoning contract was out, seeing as how he was left unable to summon them to this dimension.

He ended up using his powers to help people, becoming one of the many heroes who saved this new world. Eventually, he got picked up by a team as they formed the Teen Titans, a group that operated in Jump City in a large 'T' shaped tower off the coast. The team fighting villain and danger wherever they found it, though he would admit that at times their personal relationships were less than ideal. Though a majority of the time, they were friends through and through.

Currently, Naruto was knocking on the door of the Titans' most enigmatic teammate, trying and failing to get her to open the door for him.

"Come on, I know you're in there!" He shouted, hitting the door many times once again. And if he were being honest, he could almost see the leaking irritation coming from the door in waves. As a red myasma seemed to leak from the cracks of the door, an eerie light making its way through, as various screams sounded inside, all of which he ignored.

"Hey, Rae-Rae? Rae-Rae?" the blonde prodded, trying and failing to get the girl's attention. But it was to no avail; it would seem he knew their resident goth was seemingly ignoring him.

Well, he knew just how to draw her out…

Putting his mouth up towards the familiar keyhole, what a robot door had a keyhole he didn't know. But it made his job all the easier.

"Don't make me sing, because I'll do it!" he threatened.

The blonde was met with silence, which he found to be affirmative.

"Do you wanna~-!"

"Alright… what do you want?" he was interrupted as the door lay open, revealing Raven's vastly irritated figure. He looked up, the blonde reaching his eyes up to meet hers,

Naruto awakely smiled, Raven having saved herself from a pretty irritating Disney sing-along session. He knew she hated such irritating music.

"Uhh… Hi…" He tried to say. The door was instantly closed on him, much to his chagrin. "Now, come on, don't be like that… I'm not giving up, you hear me? I can be here all day!" he told her, straightening himself..

Surprisingly, she ended up opening the door right there. "Sigh... you can come in…" Raven told him, as he was all but sucked into the murky, darkened black hole that was her room.

"Whoa… I didn't think that would actually work," he admitted, more to himself than anything.

As right before him stood the ever-so beautiful dark-haired girl, as he was dragged into her gothic domicile. Seeing the woman tapping her foot on the floor in frustration, her arms crossed under her very ample bosom.

"Now, what do you want?" Raven questioned once again, repeating her earlier statement to try to get the blonde to go away sooner.

"Now, now, come on, Rae, is that any way to treat your favorite blonde shinobi superhero?" he questioned.

Raven, for her part, only gave him a flat look. "You're the only blonde shinobi I know, and even that also makes you my least favorite…" she spoke dryly.

"Ouch," Naruto clutched at his heart in mock pain at her words. Raven was ever the one for sarcasm; it was one of the things he liked about the girl. Bouncing back up as if he hadn't been hurt by his statement, he decided to actually answer her question this time. "Alright, well… it's October 31st," he said, as if that gave her an answer as to why he was there.

"So…"

"So… you know how it is, trick or treating, scaring, you know, stuff you guys usually do in this dimension," He answered. He wasn't usually one to celebrate holidays back in his home world. The shinbi lands rarely had the time or motivation to create any worth mentioning, and the only ones that really occurred were the festival that celebrated the founding of Konoha, as well as the one that celebrated the Kyuubi's defeat.

"You mean stuff you can do in this dimension? I'd rather just sit this one out this time. You know… alone," she told him, emphasizing the last part.

Something Naruto noticed as well, "Okay, point taken…" but even still, Naruto was not perturbed. No, he was adamant about his darkened team member joining in on the fun. "But come on, Beast Boy invited everyone out to go trick or treating as a team, Robin said it would be good team bonding, you should come,"

"Hmmm…no," she drawled, putting her foot down.

Naruto poked her in the shoulder. "Come on."

"No."

He poked her again. "Come on."

"No."

He only continued to poke her, each time he opened his mouth. "Come on."

"No."

"Come on."

"No."

"Come—"

"ALRIGHT!" She yelled, her head somehow becoming bigger than the rest of her body in that moment, and Naruto felt himself getting swallowed whole.

That didn't stop him from smiling, "Great!" he yelled. "It'll be fun. Now get dressed, everyone's waiting for us," the blonde told her.

Leaving her confused. "Get dressed? In what, I don't know if you noticed, but I don't exactly have a costume," she pointed out.

Leaving Naruto to point his index fingers together. "Well…"

XXX

(With the rest of the Titans)

While their two missing team members were getting reading, the rest of the Teen Titans were waiting for them to leave.

The first member was a slightly below average (5'4) light-skinned boy with dark hair that was slicked back, an athletic, almost acrobatic build, and a black and white domino mask that he wore to hide his face almost at all times. Usually, he wore a red, green, and yellow costume that sort of resembled a traffic light that he used to fight crime.

Although here he was wearing a costume that could only be described as a suit of silver armor, sans the helmet, that covered his body. Having a fake shield and all, being dressed as a knight.

The second member was a tall (5'6) female with striking orange skin, green exotic irises, and sclera. She had an athletic build, with long, striking red hair that complemented her skin, nice curves, and a beautiful figure that would leave many wanting. Her superhero costume usually consisted of a purple skirt, boots, and a crop top that had several pieces of silver armor around it, a standard in her homeland of Tamaran.

Here she was dressed in a large, bright pink and white poofy dress that covered her body, as well as a tall cone-shaped hat, with a set of butterfly-like wings across her back and a small wand in her fingertips. For Halloween this year, she was a 'Fairy Princess,' which was not too far off from reality.

The Third member was a tall (6ft), muscular, African American male with a bald head and cybernetics covering his body, including his left eye, which was a crimson light. With numerous circuits and metals covering his body, he usually wore a set of white, silver, and black armor that covered his robotics.

Though currently he was wearing dark sunglasses, a yellow and black body suit that had short sleeves, yellow boots, and arm warmers with several metal bracelets wrapped around his biceps and calves. The boy is dressed as the famed fictional superhero 'Power Man' or Luke Cage from Marvel comics.

The last member is undoubtedly the weirdest-looking amongst the group. He was the shortest (being around 5'1), with strange green skin, dark green hair, pointed ears, sharp teeth, and a rounded face. He usually wore a black and purple bodysuit with purple boots and grey clothes. Though now he seemed to be wearing a rather simple outfit of a brown short-sleeved khaki button-up shirt with matching shorts and brown Timberland boots.

They weren't exactly sure what he dressed up as.

This was, of course, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, of the Teen Titans, the premiere heroes of Jump City.

"Man, I'm not sure what's taking those two so long; all of the good candy will be gone by now," Beast Boy complained.

"Look, man, it's cool, it's still pretty early, and you know the good candy doesn't come out until the lights turn on," Cyborg told his friend, not being bothered to wait as long. It was still pretty early in the afternoon, being about 4 P.M., so they had quite some time to go out for trick or treating.

"Raven is still getting ready, and you know how she is with social gatherings," Robin told them.

"Well, yeah, but… maybe I should go talk to her, see what all the hold up is about," Beast Boy suggested, trying to sneak off to go and convince their goth teammate to join them.

"Not so fast," though, Robin stopped him almost immediately. "Don't you remember the last time you tried to go into Raven's room?" The boy wonder questioned.

As Beast Boy grew pale in recollection, "She turned me into a Toaster, yo!"

"And Cyborg…"

"She turned me into a farm animal!" Cyborg also yelled, remembering when they had tried to sneak into her room. An actual farm animal, he cringed at such a horrific memory.

"Bro, you think that's bad, I can still taste bread in my mouth!" Beast Boy shuddered.

"And that's why you don't go into her room," Robin concluded, which was fine. They all had their secrets, and just as long as they didn't affect the team, he would allow everyone to keep them. Hell, most of his teammates didn't know his secret identity, or the fact that Batman was Bru—

"Alright, I'm ready!" A voice shouted, they all recognised it as Naruto, as their blonde teammate revealed himself to their view.

Gone was his usual orange and black jumpsuit, as his outfit now consisted of a pair of brown boots, ripped denim jeans, a flannel red long-sleeve shirt, and a matching blue vest over top of it. To finish it all off, he had a few patches of fake brown hair glued to his cheeks, right over his whisker marks. As well as numerous tears across his clothes that also had this fake 'hair' coming out of them. Instantly, all of them recognised what Naruto was trying to go for.

"Hey, Naruto, that's a nice Werewolf costume, yo!" Beast Boy told him.

"Indeed, that is a very nice wolf of were outfit," Starfire clapped, ever joyous at seeing her friend in this new outfit.

"Thanks, nice princess costume, star," Naruto said, flashing her a thumbs up. Before he turned to their resident animal lover, "And BB, that's… I'm honestly not sure who you are," he admitted.

"What? You mean to tell me you don't know who I am?!" Beast Boy shouted in surprise.

"Dude, nobody knows who you are," Cyborg admitted, as they all nodded.

Much to BB's surprise, "Bro, I'm Steve Irwin, like one of the greatest wildlife experts ever, yo!" he told them, before he made a cross over his heart with fingers. "May he rest in peace," He said, as he shed a silent tear over his eyes at one of his hero's deaths.

"Right… Naruto, where's Raven?" Robin finally asked.

Naruto blinked. "Oh, Rae? She's just getting her costume ready; she should be coming out right about…"

"I am not coming," Another voice concluded. It was Raven who had hidden herself from the view of everyone. "I am not going out in this outfit, it's stupid."

"Oh, but come on, it's not that bad," Naruto shouted back.

"Yes, I just can't wait to see what costume friend-Naruto has got for you friend-Raven!" Starfire said in joy, as Raven sighed, not wanting to disappoint their ever-excited teammate."Yeah so come on out, you wouldn't want to disappoint Star, would ya?" the blonde yelled.

"Sigh... Fine, here I am, happy?" Raven sighed, revealing herself to the group.

And if they were being honest… her costume was fairly similar to the costume she usually wore. She now wore a purple, black, and orange leotard and cape combo with a tall witch hat with a carved pumpkin face on it. The gothic girl is also sporting an ever-so fake witch's staff, with a carved pumpkin at the top of it. The costume fit her well, hugging all her curves, given that it was based on her superhero outfit with some 'added' colors, something that she absolutely hated. Being dressed as what could only be described as a 'pumpkin ghost'.

If one were to pay attention enough, they would see the pale girl's cheeks were flushed in slight embarrassment at being seen in such a strange costume.

Starfire was so excited at seeing her teammate in such a costume, she flew straight at her to hug her, catching her completely off guard. "Oh, Raven, I am so glad you are coming to enjoy the Ween of Hallo with us!" she explained in utter joy, squeezing the gothic girl with her super strength.

"Easy star… can't… breath…" Raven rasped as the Tamaranian girl hugged her.

"Starfire, why don't you let Raven go? You wouldn't want to knock her unconscious, would you?" Robin explained, trying to diffuse the situation.

As Star's eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I must truly apologize!" Starfire said with the utmost sincerity, letting go of the purplette as she fell to the floor.

"I'm fine!" Raven told her, holding her hand up to stop the girl. "Just try not to get so close again…" she told her; she didn't do hugs, and she wasn't much of a touchy-feely person.

"Are you alright?" Naruto questioned, helping his teammate out as he offered his hand.

Surprisingly, she took it, returning to her feet. "I'll be okay…"

As Naruto finally got a good look at his teammate, seeing her in this costume, one that held elements of his favorite color. "You know, you look good, really good," he told her honestly.

"Right… I look like a circus tent," she scoffed, walking off from the blonde. Though if anyone were to see her face at that moment, they would see the small blush on her cheeks, lightly showing across her pale skin.

"Alright, now that Raven is here, we've gots to go! Come on, y'all, before all of the good candy is gone!" Beast Boy announced, trying to get this show on the road.

"You know, Beast Boy, I'm pretty sure most of the houses won't be open until sunset, and that's not for a few hours," Naruto reasoned.

"I know, that's why we've gots to be there right when they open up!" Beast Boy reasoned. It was as they said, 'The early bird gets the worm,' but in this case, it was candy.

Robin nodded, seeing this as a decent time for them all to bond closer as a team. "All right, gang… TITANS GO!… trick or treating!"

XXX

And so the group did just that, hitting the town of Jump City like there was no tomorrow.

Jump City, the town of over a million people, was a rather urban city all things considered, much like places like Boston or San Francisco, with tall buildings, many shops, businesses, and houses. It would take days to go around the entire town, and it was no wonder that Beast Boy wanted to get into it early—though they didn't expect him to want to go through the entire town… at least they hoped.

The group went through a modicum of locations as they traveled, their candy bags growing larger and larger as time went along.

They even stopped by the local Big Belly Burger to replenish some energy before heading back onto the open road.

"Alright, yo! The last place we went to had peanut butter!" Beast Boy announced.

"Score! Give me some!" Cyborg shouted, swiping some of the candy out of BB's hand before he could react.

"Hey, bro, you got your own, give it back!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Ew, this one has raisins! Ain't nobody got time for raisins!"

"I do, now give it back!" BB shouted.

"Oh, I so do love this wonderful holiday, where you can just say the trick and the treating and you are given such wonderful treats!" Starfire exclaimed, holding a bright yellow bottle in her hands as she hugged it. "I do love the mustard I was given."

"Hey, Star, you know that you weren't supposed to take that from Big Belly Burger…" Robin tried to say, but she was in her own little world with her mustang.

As Naruto put a hand on the traffic light-wearing superhero's shoulder, stopping him before he could even start, "Just… let her have this one, she's earned it," he told him, as both males decided it was already hard enough to explain to her how the holiday worked, much less restaurant etiquette.

Though Naruto did notice something, and that was their last teammate, who seemed to be trailing along behind them, not bothering to participate in the conversation, or really even gather around with the rest of the group.

This, of course, was Raven, ever the woman to find herself wanting a lack of social interaction, and she figured that if she had to be here, she might as well make herself the most unseen. Not bothering to integrate herself into the outing. She was content with that, or she would have been, had Naruto not noticed her lying in the background.

Naturally, he hung back, slowing his pace down to meet her as they walked, and what an ever so joyous smile he had on his face. "Yo, how come you aren't with the others?" Naruto questioned, a slight frown morphing onto his face at the thought of her not enjoying.

"Shouldn't you be eating some candy or something?" Raven shot back.

Naruto merely shrugged, "Nah, I'm not one for alot of sweets, I mean, I like them, but not as much as BB or Cy," he said, pointing towards the two, who were still currently fighting over each other's hauls, with Beast Boy transforming into various animals to try and steal from the mechanical boy.

"Right… I can see your point," Raven admitted, watching the two go at it.

"Well, yeah, but you're dodging the question," Naruto pointed out. "You've been acting weird all day. Come on, Rae, let me know what's wrong," he noticed, nudging her.

He had noticed she had been acting… strange, so to speak. She had been hiding herself, trying to stay in her room and away from people, as well as not trying to speak to him or anyone else. Granted, that was pretty much how she always was, but there was something different about her now. Like she was hiding something, like she wanted to get this night over with and be done with everything. He couldn't quite explain it.

But he could tell something was different; he just knew it.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine, now can we please get this done and over with already?!" Raven told him, brushing him off, perhaps more hostile than she would have liked.

"Alright yo, let's get to the east side, that's where all the houses are at, and we gots to get to them all night baby!" Beast Boy shouted, his argument with Cyborg thoroughly forgotten in the prospect of more sweets. He truly was trying to make this go all night.

"Sigh... come on, let's go," Raven told him, rushing forward to catch up with the group.

"Hey, Raven, wait!" Naruto tried to reach for her, missing his opportunity as she dodged his questioning. He wanted to press on and would have, had a new incident happened not too far away from the gang.

Crash! Crash! Boom!

As all were left to hear the sounds of familiar destruction happening nearby.

Leading Robin to order them all to check it out.

"TITANS GO!"

XXX

And so the group did just that, going over to the resounding damage, moving with efficiency to assess all the dangers, and what they found was…

Unexpected.

"What the hell is that?!" Naruto was the first to shout.

"Dudes, is that?"

"I don't believe it?"

"Oh, I did not know that earth flora was able to move like the little tiny creatures!" Starfire announced.

Of all the things they were hoping to encounter, they weren't expecting this…

Pumpkins.

Lots of pumpkins, sentient pumpkins, with plant-like growths for arms and legs as they walked around. Monsters, there were at least a hundred of them, each of varying sizes, some big, some small, there were even ten of them the size of a car. They seemed to be on a rampage, running about on a city block as they knocked over cars and street lights alike. They caused all sorts of commotion as they attacked various nearby buildings and people alike.

Naturally, Robin, being the leader, quickly made a plan as to what to do. "We've got to save the civilians!" He yelled.

"I'm on it!" Shouted the blonde, "Taiju Kage-bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto announced, making the familiar cross sign with his fingers. In a few puffs of smoke appeared several other copies of Naruto appeared, each jumping into he action to make it so any civilians could get to safety.

"Alright, now that that's settled… TITANS SMASH!" Robin ordered.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Beast Boy shouted, morphing himself into a bird to fly into the action, before transforming into a hippo to use its large body and teeth to start smashing some of the pumpkins.

The rest of the Teen Titans followed not long after.

"Boyah!" Cyborb shouted, going on the offensive, as his right arm transformed into that of a futuristic canon, shooting a volley of blue energy blasts in their enemy's direction.

Starfire's green eyes started to glow, as her palms started to glow in the same color, unleashing beams of her ultraviolet radiation at the pumpkins. Robin pulled out his signature bo staff, wacking away at each of his targets without remorse.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted, as instantly her palms started to glow an ethereal color, and she channeled an incantation to use her telekinesis to launch some of the pumpkins towards their companions.

"Alright, let's do this!" said the shinobi as he unsealed his own set of kunai that he had upon his body, using them to impale some of the pumpkin monsters.

"Meh!" Many of them cried out, being instantly put to rest as their relatively short lives ended in a spray of seeds and guts.

Yet even as they killed so many more popped up, leaving them to question where exactly these were coming from."Man, what are these things!" Naruto shouted.

"I don't know… but they seem kind of mystical in nature… Hiyah!" Robin pointed out, kicking a rather antsy monster in the face that was at his knee level.

"Magic, you mean like Raven?" Beast Boy questioned, now transforming himself into a giant green gorilla, and smashing into one of the larger pumpkin monsters as he fought with it.

They all looked towards the goth girl, now dressed in a 'pumpkin' witch costume.

"Why is everyone staring at me?!" Raven shouted, using another spell to launch some nearby rubble.

"It's just… it kind of makes sense," Naruto reasoned. There were times when Raven would lose control of her powers, and they would go haywire, creating monsters. It was rare, but it did happen.

"I'm not to blame for this!" Raven told them angrily.

"Alright, alright!" Naruto reasoned.

As Starfire blasted a giant pumpkin, "It seems that we are not defeating them well enough. Is this one of your ween of Hallo's day events?" Starfire questioned.

"No, Star, I'm pretty sure this isn't normal on any day," Cyborg shouted.

"Meh!" As a majority of the larger pumpkin monsters surrounded Raven.

The girl, using her magic to lift a large piece of rock, ready to launch said obstruction, "Azarath Metrion Zinth—"

…Only for her magic to fall short for reasons unknown.

"Raven, look out!" Naruto shouted as he saw the dark-haired girl's magic spell misfire, her control over the boulder over her head falling. It would have crushed her, had Naruto not been ready to jump into the action to save her.

Pushing the gothic girl out of the way, as they both tumbled off to the side. Naruto went to check on his dark-dressed teammate."Raven? Are you okay?" he questioned, genuine concern leaking into his eyes, a slight amount of fear.

The girl didn't hear him, too focused on her palm that seemed to be leaking her magical energy, fluctuating in a way she could not control, leaving her in an absolute stupor, trying to figure such a thing out.

Honestly, it was as if she had completely forgotten that they were on a battlefield. Naruto did too, worrying about his fallen comrade to care about what else was happening at the moment.

That was why it was a big surprise for a shadow to fall over the two, courtesy of a couple of giant pumpkin monsters that showed up ready to finish them off.

"Meehhhhh!"

Boom!

Before they were instantly destroyed by a sonic blast courtesy of both Robin and Cyborg working in unison.

"Are you two alright?" Robin asked, worried about his teammates.

"Raven?" Naruto questioned, looking back at the dark-dressed girl.

"Ahhh!" Almost the girl's left side started to morph, becoming more demonic as her eyes glowed crimson; she instantly covered such a disfigurement, not wanting to show that side of her to the man in front of her.

"I have to go!" Raven told him, and before they all could react, she got up and left the streets, running away as she covered her now demonic appearance.

"Raven!" Naruto shouted, too stunned to do anything to stop her, only reaching outstretched hands to call her back. "I have to go after her!" the blonde resolved, rising to his feet."Go! We'll finish these guys off!" Robin told him.

As Naruto nodded. "Alright!"

"I should go to, I'll be able to find Raven in the skies!" Beast Boy suggested battling even more monsters.

"No, let Naruto go, he'll be more effective than any of us!" Robin told him.

As Naruto went off, trying to find his wayward teammate… and perhaps something more.

XXX

Raven ran.

She ran fast.

Her demonic abilities were running rampant in her mind, and she was unable to control them.

Feeling her will starting to fade, as her father's influence started to break free. Destroying all of her mental barriers, everything she did to help herself not lose control. All the hard work, everything she did to try and control her powers.

All of it was for naught as she felt herself starting to give in to such darkness.

'It would be so easy to just give in…' she felt her inner demon start to chant to her.

Her left side was turning her eyes crimson, morphing a new set of eyes above her forehead, as a single horn started to form.

No! Things we're supposed to be this way. They weren't she needed to gain control, she needed to find some way to push back her own darkness, she needed something to help her.

But she couldn't seem to find any control, her strength leaving her as she ran upon the streets. Finding herself nearly collapsing within an alleyway, she used the nearby brick wall to help strengthen her feet. But even that didn't help, as she felt her demon side trying to take over.

She didn't know how long she could last, but all of her thoughts at the moment were just to get away. To leave, before they could see her, before she could do any damage to them. Before he saw her…

But that was what kept her going, running along in a haste that not many could manage, given her state, but she pressed on.

'You don't have to run, you can do anything.'

Lies, she knew it.

That side of her did nothing but try to take control. Unleash untold amounts of destruction.

Because that was the plan, that was her father's plan, the ever-so-powerful Trigon. A being of pure evil who sought to turn the whole multiverse into ruin. That was her father; that was the lineage of where she came from.

It was the reason she was so powerful.

She had been created for the sole purpose of giving Trigon access to her world, to give him a backdoor into the reality that she called Earth.

He didn't care for her; he didn't love her. He wanted her merely for the aspect that she would do his bidding, to subscribe to the notion of evil, and to aid him in his endeavor of absolute desolation.

She didn't want to merely be used as a pawn in his sick and twisted game. She didn't want to cause the destruction of her friends.

Her mother was chosen to become Trigon's bride, to be sacrificed for the sick and twisted purpose of harboring the demon's child. Her mother fled, ending up in the interdimensional world of Azarath, where she was later taken in by their leader, who taught her to control her powers, or what little measure of control she could gain. But in the wake of his death, she fled, fearing the worst of Trigon's influence returning. She ended up on Earth and became a Teen Titan. And although it had taken some time, she had warmed up to them; they were a team, and they became like a second family…

And now…

She was beginning to lose control of that.

'Control? You never had control to begin with!'

It was right, she didn't have control, she had temperance, self-restraint large enough to mask her powers as something that could be used for good.

Truth be told, she had always been afraid. Afraid of what she could do… afraid of what might happen should she lose control. Should she give in to her purpose, the demonic side that had festered within her soul. Giving in to her father's will, the aspect of her that only spelled untold pain and misery.

A part of her feared that she would like giving in.

A part of her wanted to let go of her will, the untold and countless restraints and mental blocks that she had put up for the sole purpose of keeping everyone safe.

That was why she had to get away; she didn't know where she was going, but she had to flee. She couldn't stand a chance to match Trigon's influence, and now that this was happening… she didn't know if she could stop it.

She didn't want anyone to get hurt; she didn't want anyone to suffer. She didn't want to be the one to cause all of her friends pain. That was why she worked so hard to keep this side of her in; that was why she meditated so much, to keep her inner self in check. To make sure she didn't lose control.

Because if she did, if she actually enjoyed hurting people, if she found that despite every single mental defense she had put up. And that every aspect of her life she had worked towards in keeping confined was all for nothing. That under it all, when the pain and misery that spilled forth from her hand, she would begin to revel in their blood. She would hate herself. She would—-

"Raven?"

Instantly, she was brought out of her thoughts as a single hand laid itself onto her shoulder. She recognized that voice; it was Naruto's. Looking up, she saw Naruto's face, his usually blonde smiling face morphed in absolute concern.

For the blonde, he had followed Raven as closely as possible, tracking her down as best as he could— he never was really one for tracking, that had always been Team 8's thing. He wasn't able to see everything within hundreds of meters, and he wasn't able to communicate with bugs or to sniff his way through a scent. But he was determined, determined to find his wayward teammate before anything happened that he would regret. He had failed one of his teammates before in the Valley of the End, and he didn't want to disappoint himself again.

So he pressed on, following what little trail he could find.

And what he found thoroughly shocked him.

Because when he found Raven, when he found the teammate who ached so. He saw her…

And she was crying.

It wasn't alot, and to many it wasn't even noticeable, but in the alleyway with her body hunched over, as she turned her head behind her, looking over her shoulder to meet him. He saw it.

A single tear fell down her face, down her right side. It was as if her human half was speaking with him, letting him know of all the pain, all the aches she felt in that very moment. All of her fears, trials, and tribulations that had been brought upon her.

He watched that lone amethyst gem of hers pool over, leaking but a drop of its liquid as it fell, running down her face and taking a trip across her pale skin. Her luscious cheek as it carried itself forth, moving downward towards her chin. As it fell harmlessly down to the ground, imbuing itself with the floor in its moisture, never to be seen again. But he saw it; to him, it was enough. It was enough for him to understand what was going on.

"Raven, please… don't go… can't we talk about this?" he pleaded with her, showing all the care and emotion he could muster. And she didn't just see it… she felt it.

Being born with a high affinity for her empathic abilities, she was able to read people. See them and how they were feeling. She could tell if a person was being genuine; she could tell when a person was happy or sad; it was another one of her curses. To be able to feel the emotions of others, while she herself couldn't even let her emotions run rampant. But she managed.

And right now, in this very moment. She felt everything that Naruto was feeling.

Not just the concern, but the pain, and the understanding. The fear of one's own abilities, the thought that one day you might give in, that your dark side would take over, and that there was nothing left.

Because in a way, they were the same, he and she.

Naruto was a child born as a sacrifice, branded the burden of being the only one capable of holding the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a being said to be strong enough to destroy the whole world. That with a single flick of its tail could cause tidal waves, and hurricanes to form, and that a single roar could spell the end of a village in an instant.

Whereas she was born with the burden of her own demon, something that terrified her to her very core.

How was he able to keep his control? How was he able to stand it all? Didn't his own village hate him? Didn't they fear what he could become? How was one person able to withstand such hatred? How were they able to come out as such a kind and caring person?

He was like the sun, burning so bright. Whereas she saw the darkness, an inescapable void.

They were so different. And yet, so alike at the same time.

That was why she was able to stand him; when nobody could see this side of her, he could. And he could understand her to the point that nobody else could.

"Naruto… I-I…" she said, far more hesitantly than she would have liked. All the fear in her voice was leaking out in that instant.

She wanted to run away; she didn't want him to see her this vulnerable. This side of her that nobody else could see.

The fear of herself and what she could become.

"Raven—"

"RAHHHHHHH!"

Whatever conversation they could have had, whatever tender moment they were having, was gone as a mighty roar let itself be known.

Instantly, both heroes had to check and see what was going on in the streets nearby, and what they saw was… interesting to say the least.

"Is that…" Naruto tried to say, but he was lost for words.

"A Kitsune? But I thought they were supposed to be in Japan?" Raven questioned.

And she was right, as before them stood a very tall—although admittedly not the biggest fox he had seen, no, that right belonged to the nine-tails of his own world. But here was a Fox of considerable size, around the height and width of a school bus, with a large maw ready to bite anything in its path.

What it was doing here was anyone's guess.

As it resembled the yokai of Japan, having darker-orange fur, yellow eyes, and four wild tails that swung rapidly, destroying all that was nearby as people ran from the scene.

All were left surprised seeing such a monster, none more than the two superheroes left in front of such a beast.

Kitsune were, like the folklore said, Japanese yokai of great power and age, foxes that had lived for a considerable time a grown in their years, acquiring a new set of tails each century. For them to see a kitsune here of all places, it was quite unexpected. They were supposed to be on another continent entirely.

"Arrrghh!" Raven shouted, nearly falling to her knees, her will fading in that moment with her fault in concentration. As she clutched at her left side, her demon powers welling up within her.

"Raven!" Naruto was instantly at her side, trying to see if she was okay.

"I'm fine, I can handle this," she told him, though even she was unsure of her words. Trying to reassure Naruto that she was in a well enough condition to at least stand on her own.

"Alright," Naruto nodded, though he didn't quite believe her. "You stay here, I'll try to deal with this on my own—"

And before she could stop him, Naruto jumped in on the action, leaving Raven panting on the floor as the blonde tried to shy the violent monster away from the girl, making sure that it didn't hurt anyone else.

How did he do this, you might ask? Well, of course, he made it angry.

"Hey, ugly!" Naruto shouted, throwing various kunai with paper bombs at the beast. Using a seal on his body to change and morph his clothes into his usual combat outfit (A black and orange jacket and pants with black shinobi sandals), as the kunai flew towards his target.

Boom!

"Rahh!" the fox yelled in pain as the explosions went off, booming with a mighty vigor as Naruto leaped onto the fox's back, jumping on him and dodging his waving tail that swung at him. Jumping even higher and landing onto the ground at its opposite side.

"Foxes… why does it always have to be foxes?" Naruto lamented as the beast looked at him with a mighty roar.

Foxes seemed to just converge around him, even from the night of his birth. Why did it have to be that particular animal? Why couldn't he be like Ero-senin and have a thing for toads all around him? That would be nice. He had signed the toad contract after all. And yet foxes still seemed to be ever-present in his life. Big, angry foxes.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted, summoning a few sets of clones. "Alright, fan out, I want this thing annoyed and confused!" the blonde ordered his other selves.

"Right!" His duplicates shouted as they all ran in different directions, all of which were trying to do their own thing. Some punching, some kicking, some throwing kunai, and others throwing shuriken, all doing all they could to get a rise out of the beast. Making it so that anyone who was in the area could get to safety, whilst he kept the monster at bay.

"Rahhhh!" The beast gave a mighty roar as a shockwave rang throughout the city block. Disrupting any shuriken in their path, as every clone began to lose their balance, dispelling them as they hit the ground.

"Whoa, this thing might be tougher than I thought…" Naruto said to himself, seeing the beast in action.

'Oh, please, this thing is nothing to me; with my power, you could defeat this kit in seconds,' his inner voice spoke up. It was the voice of the Kyuubi, someone he still didn't quite get along with, even in this new world.

'Shut up, stupid fox, I'm not using your power, now go crawl back into your cage and let me do what I'm trying to do,' Naruto said back.

The fox scoffed at him, actually scoffed at him, as if dismissing his statement as nothing more than wishful ignorance. 'Alright, but I can't guarantee that this'll end well for that pretty little goth friend of yours.'

'Tch, bastard Kyuubi,' Naruto chanted in his mind, not that the fox heard him, having cut the connection long before he said it.

"Now, to deal with this guy…" Naruto said to himself, sizing up the large beast. If you put int in his world, this thing was basically nothing; he had seen animals bigger in the forest of death for Kami's sake.

Of course, the animals there didn't have the ability to scream so violently that his clones exploded, but still…

Thinking up a plan, he knew exactly what he should do.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto made the familiar tiger hand sign, crossing his fingers as he was engulfed in a large poof of smoke. Instead of creating a large number of clones to distract the beast, he made a small number, just two clones, to get the job done. As he unsealed a large, fuma shuriken, much like the one that Mizuki had used to try to kill him back when he was just about to graduate from the academy.

With a silent word, each clone knew exactly what to do, as the Naruto in the middle began to run towards the kitsune, running along the buildings and using chakra to stick his feet along the glass. He threw more kunai with paper bombs at the giant beast.

Meanwhile, the other two 'Narutos' put their hands together, hovering their palms near each other as both focused on one thing. One, focused on directing power, making it so his chakra shot out of his coils and manifested itself to the world in front of him. The other focused on rotation, rotating his powerful chakra in various directions all over the place in every direction.

This was the famous, or rather infamous, jutsu of the Fourth Hokage, his hero and the person he looked up to even now. He was also the man who condemned him-forcing him to hold the burden of the Kyuubi, as he was the only person who could.

This was his most famed technique, one of his original jutsu, and the absolute pinnacle of chakra manipulation. A sphere of absolute power that both rotated and grinded against his opponent, releasing all the pressure it contained in a mighty explosion.

He had been taught this technique by his sensei, the very same man who taught the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya of the densetsu no sanin. Learning the technique over the course of only a month— something thought impossible by Lady Tsunade the Slug Sanin.

Though he still couldn't manifest the technique on its own, he utilized his clone to perform half of the technique and take on half of the concentration and control. As in the few seconds it took to manifest said technique, his other clone had already been dissolved, having bought the time for the necessary distraction for him to form such a jutsu..

His other clone moved away from him, as Naruto was able to fully take the Rasengan into his palm without needing his assistance. He gave his duplicate a look in the eye, a message sent as if telepathically to one another, as both then took off.

Charging for the giant fox as both weaved out of the way of its large claws and tails, as it swiped down towards the 'real' Naruto, the blonde jumped over its strike, its sharp paws swiping inches from his body. Meanwhile, the clone of Naruto, it seemed, wasn't as lucky, receiving a strike with its tail for its trouble, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto used this opportunity to climb upon the beast's body, running along its stomach and back, all the while trying to dodge its wild strikes. As the shinobi jumped into the air, ready to aim for the fox's head.

"Rahhhh!" The beast roared. Distrupting Naruto with its powerful shockwave, as his fall started to grow even more off course.

But the blonde already thought of this, as within the air he pulled his other hand back, throwing the large fuma shuriken as a last-ditch effort.

As Naruto fell… and poofed into a large puff of smoke as well.

Raven watched all of this in surprise. Just where was Naruto? If all of the copies of him were clones, then…

Her eyes darted towards the shuriken he threw, which was still in the air— Something she thought he threw haphazardly. As she watched it go through the air in slow motion.

Poof.

As the shuriken transformed as it neared the fox's face, right when it was about to strike, it transformed into the 'true' Naruto, Rasengan in hand, ready to strike at the large beast right in its maw.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted. "Rasengan!" he cried out, slamming the glowing orb right into the beast's head.

The orb did as intended, as it ground into the beast with chakra running in hundreds of directions, tearing at its skin, piercing it, and whittling it down. But that wasn't what the justu was famous for, no, if it were merely a grinding tool, it wouldn't have such a famed and feared reputation, nor would it be labeled an A-rank justu. As the technique reached its breaking point, it exploded, releasing the pressures built inside with a mighty crash.

"RAAHHHH!" The beast yelled in pain as its jaw exploded, never to be the same, causing the beast to collapse onto the ground with a rumble.

Leaving Naruto to admire his work as he landed on his feet, seeing the kitsune sorely defeated before him. He turned back to see Raven, as he flashed her a thumbs-up.

"See, Rae, everything is under control," he told her, smiling at the girl.

Everything would be fine now.

As he watched Raven's eyes widen in horror. "Naruto, look out!" she yelled.

Naruto turned, seeing what she was staring at, and what he saw was the large figure of the kitsune he had just 'defeated' rising, mutilated jaw and all. And it looked mad, really mad.

It's form boiling to show its rage, its tail waving like a mighty fire.

All Naruto could do was try to say two measly words.

"Aww, Sh—"

Crash.

As one of its mighty tails crashed into him with a vengeance, knocking him into one of the nearby buildings and sending him straight into it, breaking through the concrete and glass as he went through even more walls from the force of it.

Raven watched this all in horror.

Seeing Naruto struck down before her eyes in what could only be described as slow motion, watching as the figure rose, Naruto's happy and confident smile morphing into that of absolute pain as he was struck. And then there was the uncertain, the thought crossing her mind that Naruto well and truly did die in that moment.

Naruto might be strong, but even he wasn't invincible, and the resulting crash sounded like it hurt.

Naruto… Hurt…

That thought… it made her angry.

No, it didn't just make her angry; it made her mad. Boiling with rage at the thought of this creature laying a hand on her beloved teammate.

And that…

That brought about a new thought, the realization of her own powerlessness. The realization that she hadn't been able to do something. Because her powers had been acting up. Because she didn't have control.

Control.

Control.

CoNtRoL.

cOnTrOl.

CONTROL.

CONTROL.

.

.

.

TO HELL WITH CONTROL.

BOOM!

Raven's form exploded with power.

Her form changed, as she was no longer in her silly little Halloween witch costume, and she used magic to morph herself into her more familiar, dark clothes. A navy cloak and leotard now covered her figure, although there was something different about her than she normally was, darker, more ferocious… evil.

That was the only way to describe her, in that moment.

A pargon of all things dark and twisted. Letting loose, and yet, she didn't care.

All the fear of her powers was gone, all the mental barriers she had placed had been destroyed.

"Hnnnnnnnn…" she let loose an unearthly groan, one that didn't sound quite human, nor quite demeaning either.

As her cloak covered her body, it shadowed her red, glowing eyes that peered out through the darkness. Tendrils of black formed from her cloak, ghastly appendages that moved in all directions.

Almost instantly, the kitsune noticed her; how could it not? After all, every monster within a hundred miles could feel such a dark presence. And instead of fighting, instead of trying to take this creature head-on, to intimidate such a being, or even to run away.

"Mmnhhh Mhmnnnhh Anngh!"

It whimpered.

It actually whimpered, like a mangy mut caught with its owner's shoe in its maw. Like a dog, it put its tail between its legs, kneeling its head upon the ground. But even that did nothing to quell Raven's rage.

"What's the matter? I thought you were strong?!?" her voice echoed, which only caused the mangy mut to grow even more scared.

Dark tendrils seemed to coil around it as 'Raven's' new figure rose, becoming taller and even more demonic. Her cloak opened up, revealing a darkness with tens of more coils, each reaching out for the beast and wrapping around it completely. Trying to drag the poor creature into it towards an abyss unknown.

"Auuumnnnn mnnnnn!" it whined out once again.

But she didn't care, as her smirk only grew in that moment, her teeth sharp and powerful enough to cut flesh. As the kitsune tried all its might to resist its bindings, Raven forcefully pulled the beast even closer to her.

"Aww, come on, I thought you wanted to play?!"

And just as her darkness was right about to consume the creature, just as her tendrils were right about to grab the creature, devouring it within itself and letting it see the very horrors of the universe. Right as it was about to reach into the void unknown—

"Raven, stop!" A void stopped her.

She recognised the void near instantly, knowing exactly who it belonged to.

Turning to greet the figure, seeing that they had risen from the wide hole they had created in their crash, was Naruto, no worse for wear.

Although that wasn't exactly true, the blonde had several cuts and dried blood around his body, all of which started to dissolve as a new aura overtook him. A deep, bubbling, orange aura overtook his body, resembling the shape of a fox with three tails. As his whisker marks darkened, his figure became more menacing; his cerulean blue eyes were gone, replaced by blood red orbs with slitted pupils.

All in all, he looked like a monster, a demon, just like the ones his people ridiculed him for. This was the power of a Jinchuriki, the Bijuu of nine tails, and the strongest one to grace Naruto's earth since the Juubi.

It was also a being that terrified the kitsune in front of it, to the point its instincts screamed out at it to run away. Perhaps it was even more dangerous than Trigon's daughter herself.

This was the same power that Naruto had used in the Valley of the End and when he had faced a particular Ice-powered shinobi back in Wave Country. But back then, he had lost control; he didn't have any in the first place, he had been angry, and with it, he found purpose.

But now he felt different; now his mind was clearer. And now he had a goal in mind.

Surprisingly, as Raven looked at him, her grip on her target lessened, although not completely, still restraining the one that angered her so. The darkness of her cloak grew shorter, in that moment, but her darkness didn't fade. It only tried to claw for control even more.

"Nar...uto… go!" Raven tried to call out, trying to tell him to leave before she would hurt him too. For all she knew, it was already too late; she could feel herself slipping, feel the demon inside of her growing more powerful, its voice was already growing that much stronger.

'Why bother, he's seen you, the real you, he'll reject you, just like they all will…'

But even still, Naruto eyed her, aiming his eyes towards her like a predator. In that moment, he only had one goal in mind as he began to walk towards her.

All the while, the demon inside of her was growing larger.

She reached her large tendrils down upon Naruto, clashing against the jinchuriki's chakra cloak, as they melted completely at his touch. He was undeterred, not letting himself be slowed for a second as he walked towards his struggling teammate.

Raven's demonic palms welled up with black and white energy, ready to cast a spell on him as he got even closer. Her demon side was winning as her willpower started to fade, and pretty soon, they'd both be gone to the world.

"I'm sorry, Rae, but that's not going to happen…" he told her, his voice gruff, more gruff than she had ever heard him before.

As he got close to her, she aimed her magic imbued hands towards him, and he…

He grabbed her.

He grabbed her by each of her hands, not fearing her own punishment or demonic charge that she might incur. Clawed hands grasped at her power, his rising red chakra shielding him from her magic, and her mystics shielding her from his evil residue.

And for the slightest moments, as the blonde receded his own evil chakra, for less than a second, their hands touched, and he felt her skin.

She gasped.

Raven's back arched as she took in a sharp intake of breath, greedily taking in all the oxygen she could get at that moment as she nearly fell over.

She would have, had Naruto not caught her by her back, instantly wrapping her up in an embrace as her legs gave out.

All her tendrils morphing away, she let go of the kitsune, as the fox ran away, never to show its presence in front of humanity again.

Her demon's influence ceased to be, as her hood fell from her face, revealing her beautiful amethyst eyes looking up at him with nothing but surprise.

"N-Naruto… I-I… " she tried to say, but her words left her. What could she say? Naruto had seen her in that state, the true side of her, and the part of herself she kept hidden. Maybe her other self was right? Maybe he would desert her as she so feared.

"I-I… I didn't mean to—Mmpft!" As she found she could not speak, but this time for a different reason.

Finding another set of lips placed on her own, preventing her from speaking, or even taking another breath for that matter. Naruto was… he was kissing her.

She realized it took all too long for her mind to come to such a conclusion, too enraptured by the soft, warm feeling of their mouths colliding. It was a tender action, comfortable, and showing all the care and emotion Naruto felt at that moment.

She melted into it, and truly, she meant melted. If she felt weak in the knees before that moment, it was nowhere what she felt now, her legs giving out, her toes curling as her heart jumped in that moment. Her heart skipped a beat. An actual beat, like the mushy romance novels she was so keen on ridiculing—though she secretly read, such was her guilty pleasure. She didn't even think that was possible, though it happened.

Her mind went blank, as everything ceased to be, feeling as though she were larger than life. That she had nothing to fear.

It was not only a kiss of reassurance, but one with a message…

'I'm not going anywhere.'

He told her. Conveying his words through nothing but their touch. And she believed him, she believed that he wouldn't reject her, that all her fears and worries were gone. No matter what happened, no matter where their life took them, he would still be here.

Though by all accounts the kiss was shorter than she would have liked, having grown far too comfortable in the weightlessness of their embrace.

As the blonde pulled back, Raven came too from a state that she could only describe as euphoria. Looking into his eyes with her, her violet gems locking with his azure oceans, like a tidal wave, he overtook her, his eyes filling with absolute mirth as he watched every thought run through her.

"You know, I wouldn't be much of a boyfriend if I wasn't there for my girlfriend when she needed it," he told her.

And he was right.

Taking her lips in again, this time with the full force and passion as one would a lover.

Because that was what they were. They were lovers.

Two people involved in a romantic passion, even though they didn't know the limits of.

Now, if the first kiss was a message of words, this one was more of a message of feelings. All the love and care he felt for her melted into their touch. The passion he felt for her—not just the passion, but the intention, the fear of losing her, all of it was pressed into her.

She felt it all, unconsciously using her empathic abilities as their lips collided. Her pale lips were melding with his pink skin, and she could tell he was genuine. That he wanted her to feel what he was feeling, that he wanted her to know how much he cared.

If she hadn't gotten the message the first time, this was his reiteration. He wasn't going anywhere. No matter what happened, no matter what side of her he saw, he wouldn't run away.

Because after all, they were the same. A boy burdened with a demon he could not handle, and the daughter of an evil far greater than one could imagine.

He wasn't like the others; he wouldn't run away just because she was different. Because he understood, he understood what it was like to be different; he knew what it was like to be scared of yourself or what you could do. And he would not be deterred, because he cared.

She took solace in that, and solace in the emotions that he conveyed.

Though if she were to tell the truth, unlike the first kiss, the second kiss was unrestrained, unleashing the fire within him that only she could foster. Instead of feeling the ceasing of her heart, she felt another, more natural, carnal feeling within her. Feeling a warmth in her loins, as well as a yearning within her heart.

Just like before, she felt that the kiss was far too short for her liking.

As Naruto pulled back once again, stopping before anything truly started. Although she did get the particular feeling that there was more to come.

The blonde then helped her to her feet, as Raven, still disoriented and weak in the legs, used him for a bit of support, leaning onto his chest as he used chakra to keep them both upright.

"Whoa there," his voice broke through, as she felt her strength returning, firm hands still gripping onto her shoulders to steady her. As the cloaked girl finally felt ready to stabilize herself on her own, though she didn't exactly want to, too enraptured by his warmth.As he looked at her with nothing but concern. "Now, tell me what's wrong…" he asked, genuinely wanting to know what ailed her, and hoping to help. It was strange— she felt that he was helping her just by asking the question, just by being here.

Surprisingly, she felt herself finally able to find her words, her voice more hesitant than she would have liked. "I-I will, just… just not here," she shied away, a light flush on her pale cheeks as she realized where they were at the moment.

The two were still in the now abandoned and destroyed city street.

More people were bound to come by, and she… she didn't like looking as vulnerable as she was. At least to anyone but him, if anyone were to see them now, and find out about their relationship…

She didn't want that to happen.

Naruto got the unspoken message; she was willing to talk about it, just not here. Of course, that only meant one thing: the girl wanted to literally bring this somewhere else, as he nodded slightly.

She took that as all she needed, as she used her magic.

… And soon enough, they were off, gone from the streets of Jump City within an instant, ready to take this tender moment to a more private location, perhaps anticipating something more.

XXX

(At the Tower)

Naruto hadn't been lying when he mentioned they were dating, although not many who knew them knew such a fact.

They didn't know when exactly it started, or when their feelings first began.

At first, they had merely been just teammates, people who fought together, living together in the Teen Titans Tower, and yet strangers all the same. Of course, Raven wasn't quite the social butterfly—paling in comparison to someone like Starfire, but slowly she started to warm up to the rest of her team—sans Beast Boy, who she seemed to have a not-so-subtle disliking towards. Eventually, Raven's backstory came out, and so did Naruto's. The two seemed to bond over said fact, becoming friends.

Though over the course of their time together, Naruto realized he had discovered feelings for the strange-purple-haired girl, something he agonized about telling her. He had been so scared then, worrying about whether or not their friendship would be ruined. Though after a few weeks, he decided he wanted to see where they went, which truthfully caused him to agonize even more if he were being honest.

Eventually, he worked up the courage to ask her out—making a self-promise through his nindo to do so— and he was… utterly rejected. Several times, as a matter of fact.

But he was undeterred, and one day, when it was the cusp of night, when he asked Raven, she… hadn't outright rejected him. Which was good; he didn't quite know how much more he could take.

Though it seemed he had spent so long researching how to ask someone out, he hadn't quite spent enough time trying to figure out what someone would actually do on a date. He wasn't like others; he didn't have parents to instruct him or anyone from his old world he could turn to for advice.

Starfire was from Tamaran, and would likely give him some spiel about some weird courting ritual from her planet. Robin was emotionally reserved, and there was no way in hell a girl would actually go on a date with him—though there was that one time where Killer Moth's daughter tried to go to get him to go to her prom. And Beast Boy was… well, Beast Boy. So he resolved to discreetly ask Cyborg about it, which made sense, given he had dated a few girls in his high school before he became a half-robot.

The metallic male just told him the secret was not worrying about it so much.

Which didn't help if he were being honest. Eventually, the date arrived, and he would say that he was nervous, stumbling upon his words multiple times, and too self-conscious about his physical state. But it went well, and eventually they went on a second one, and a third.

It had been a few months since then, and they were going steadily. Their usual time to meet up was in the long hours of the night when not many people were around.

Raven, like many aspects of her life, wanted to keep their relationship a secret, not wanting it to be too caught up in every aspect of their unordinary lives. Naruto respected her decision, though if he were being honest, a part of him did want to proclaim their relationship to the world. Despite the likely harsh amount of teasing he might incur, likely from Beast Boy.

Nevertheless, they kept their relationship a secret from the rest of their team; to everyone else, they were just teammates, and although they had kept the secret well enough, Naruto did have some hopes that one day they would let their secret be known.

Or perhaps he had been tired of watching a movie late at night in the main room and having to pretend the Tower was haunted every time Beast-Boy wanted to get a late-night snack. Who can say?

Right now, after they had left the streets of Jump City, they were left cuddling up together on the Titans Tower roof, watching the sunset, both of them dressed in their usual superhero outfits after such an event. Raven lay her head upon Naruto's muscled chest, listening to his heartbeat, letting her know that he was here. As the blonde rubbed his hand against her arm, gently caressing her sleeve, and soothing her.

Between them, neither spoke a word, as both took solace in the presence of the other, especially after such a traumatic event. But they would make it through this, just like they always did.

Surprisingly, Raven was the first to speak, letting him know exactly what was going on with her that night. "I don't know if you know this, but Halloween has always been strange…" she began, starting at the crux of the matter.

Naruto merely raised an eyebrow, listening to her words. "Strange? Strange like how Beast-Boy tried to morph himself into different types of animals to try and take more candy from everywhere we visited?" he questioned, not really understanding it. Seriously, he tried to masquerade himself as a extremely realistic 'gorilla'.

Though the dark-haired girl merely shook her head. "No, that's just normal Beast-Boy," she reasoned. "I mean, strange supernaturally. Strange for people like me, and other supernatural creatures as well. Demonic influences are more common on October 31st, and supernatural entities who might not have been strong enough to manifest themselves do so only on that particular day, and ones in hiding show themselves. Usually, I'm able to handle it; my demon side usually only becomes a little more rowdy on Halloween… when I'm mediating, that is, which is how I usually spend the day. But…" she trailed off.

He got the picture. "But I wanted you to come along, which meant you weren't able to concentrate on your powers, and they started to malfunction," Naruto realized. In a way, it was his fault that all of this happened; if he hadn't been so insisted on Raven coming out, then this wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have lost control of her powers, and all of this wouldn't have happened.

"Wait, if you knew something like this might happen, then why did you decide to come along?" The blonde questioned aloud, this scenario not making sense to him. "...Unless you wanted to come and spend some quality time with your boyfriend all dressed up like a witch and stuff," Naruto teased.

As he could hear the distinct sound of silence coming from the girl, which only made him think his theory was more plausible.

"Come on, you know you liked it," he prodded.

She scoffed, "As if I would like to be dressed up like that, I looked like an idiot. Only someone like you would pick out an outfit so stupid." Raven told him, sinking even deeper into his chest to prevent him from looking her in the eye.

Naruto laughed, "Haha! Oh please, you looked hot in that outfit, you should wear orange more often," he told her. It was one of the few opportunities he would get to see her in her favorite color, so why wouldn't he take such a moment when it presented itself?

Raven blushed at his words. Sure, she had been called many things. Dark, mysterious, strange, exotic… but never hot. Only her boyfriend would be so brazen enough to call the daughter of one of the strongest demons imaginable 'hot' like he did.

"I'll, uh… I'll think about wearing it more, orange that is," came her only response.

Easily causing Naruto's smile to widen even more. "Really? You'd do that for me?!" he questioned aloud.

Raven didn't respond to him, perhaps because the flush of her cheeks was becoming too much for her to handle. Perhaps for a different reason, who could say?

Naruto felt content in the silence.

If he were being honest, he never expected such an event to happen. Growing up, being the demon's jinchuriki, he wasn't exactly well-liked; some might even go as far as to say he was pretty much hated. And while he tried to let the stuff not get to him, it would sometimes. He realized that the things that others might find easy, he wouldn't, from having parents to enjoying a social life to even settling down. He didn't quite know how to do all of those things, and the worst part was that he didn't know why. So he acted out, becoming the class clown and the prankster just so the people couldn't ignore him. If they were trying to deny he existed, then he would just get them to dislike him, to realize he was there.

But being disliked didn't exactly lead to loneliness in his life to be quelled.

And although he did eventually manage to gain friends, if he were to be honest, he would say that they didn't exactly stop the painful feelings of isolation.

Now he was here, in this new world, with a whole bunch of new unexpected things happening to him. From living together with a bunch of new kids, to fighting crime, to getting a kick ass-girlfriend who could beat up anyone she wanted. He wouldn't say he disliked how things turned out.

After all, how could he? Having Raven leaning against him like this, what more could he ask for? And he couldn't help but feel ecstatic at how things turned out.

He wouldn't change a thing.

Though thinking of the rest of the Teen Titans, a new thought crossed his mind.

"Wait! If a bunch of supernatural creatures come out on Halloween, does that mean that the rest of the guys are out in the city dealing with them all?" he thought.

Boom!

As the two saw a massive explosion ring off in Jump City, several beams of light green and blue shot into the sky.

"Right… I'm sure they'll be fine," Raven told him.

Naruto was content to agree with her; they still had their team communicators after all, so it wasn't like it was a danger that Robin felt he needed to call them towards. And besides, he felt content at the moment, his girlfriend in his arms.

As nothing could truly bring him down.

XXX

They sat like that for some time.

Lying there in each other's arms, watching the sun go down, as night fell upon them, and with it a full moon, neither wanting to let go of the other.

Not a word was spoken, as both listened to the subtle breathing of the other, Raven hearing the thumping of his chest as she put her ear against him, one of the few signs of life on that rooftop. As the cool breeze fell upon their skin, though it was not overpowering, nor suggesting the notion of heading inside for such warmth, they felt that the other's body heat was sufficient.

Raven, too, was surprised at such events. If she were being honest, she wouldn't have expected them in a million years. From the very beginning, she didn't know what to think of the blonde; he was loud and obtrusive, that much was sure. Being a very bright individual, she thought he could be looked over as someone who was naive to the world, living a comfortable life without any tragedy of their own. Of course, she couldn't have been more wrong.

They were more alike than they seemed.

She had been taken aback when Naruto had asked her out the first time, and she had refused him. It would never work, she thought, and she had been content with that knowledge. But it seemed Naruto hadn't quite been content with her answer. Something about a Pervert-Sage and how often he rode on a chance to get with their Hokage. But she supposed Naruto had been one to back down, not when it really mattered to him.

Somewhere along the line, whether it had been her own exhaustion at repeatedly turning him down or because she assumed that the blonde would refuse to go on another date when the night was over, she accepted him. And that had kick-started their relationship…

At first, she had been less than enthusiastic about letting him into her life. She had worked up some measure of control over her emotions, suppressing and containing them within her mind. Such was the nature of her identity as the daughter of Trigon; her powers were influenced by her emotions, and the more she felt, the less controlled she became. Romance was a whirlwind of intensity that she didn't want a part of; it was sporadic and utterly random, and that, of course, was something she was less than keen on. Trying to keep her distance, it seemed that her plans were all for naught.

Despite everything, despite all the walls she had built around herself, despite her desire for solitude in an effort to protect everyone, she found Naruto's presence… enjoyable.

She had been proven wrong about Naruto, and although he could be dumb at times, he could be surprisingly insightful when it came down to it. She didn't know how, but the blonde had wormed his way through her barriers, and she found she actually enjoyed her presence.

He gave her comfort, knowing they were the same in nature. And yet so different.

To her, Naruto was like the sun, so bright, so beaming with energy, it was hard to look at it, to imagine it was a bright ball of fire with its own dangers it had faced. Whereas she was like the moon, hidden within its shadowy darkness. The two were never to interact with one another, and yet they did. And within his presence, he scared away all of the dark creatures of the night.

With him around… she felt she didn't have to worry about her demonic half. It was calm around him; she didn't know why, but she took it as a blessing, no longer having to shield herself around him.

Even now, she felt such calmness, not having to fear that her other side was going to break out.

It was a strange feeling, to be sure, but she was content with not taking it for granted. Lying on Naruto's chest, she truly couldn't ask for anything else.

Though lying against him, she moved slightly, feeling the distinct hardness poking at her back. Which left her mind to wander, as a small smirk started to form across her pale lips…

As Raven tossed from her position, she shifted her body slightly, leaving the blonde slightly confused at what she was doing. "Raven, what are you—?" He stopped himself, feeling the softness of his girlfriend's hand moving across his groin.

"Well, it seems that someone here is excited," Raven's voice drawled out, feeling at his manhood. The girl, noticing how hard he really was, as she caressed him lightly.

Now, normally, when someone's smoking hot girlfriend were to notice that they had popped a boner while cuddling, one would naturally act with some level of sheepishness. Becoming red-faced, embarrassed, and that would likely turn off any further action that night. Only to realize years later how stupid they were.

Naruto elected to skip such bashfulness; he had never been one to be conventional, so why start trying now?

So when she tried to get a reaction out of him, he merely smiled, "Yeah, but can you blame me? Having such a beautiful girl in my lap for so long, I'm surprised it took you this long to notice," he said, a subtle flush upon his cheeks, but he wasn't unsettled.

In contrast, Naruto did notice that Raven's cheeks were lit on fire at his words. "You… you think I-I'm beautiful?" she questioned.

Naruto nodded, "More than you'll ever know," he told her honestly, and he meant every word. To him, Raven was the most beautiful girl in the world, to the point that even someone like Lady Tsunade or the great Wonder Woman couldn't compare.

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AN: That's all Patreon will allow seeing as they've taken it down, if you want to see the full story, visit: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14520137/1/Nevermore-Halloween-Special