Chapter 29: Grey Area(3)

Walking over to stand next to Robin, she couldn't help the feeling a dread that twisted in her stomach when he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, well mask really, and said two words.

"Call him"

Not even bothering to argue with him, Raven pulled out her phone and pulled up Naruto's number, hesitating for a moment before hitting the call button. It rang three times before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Naruto...it's Raven."

"Raven-chan! Nice to hear from you. So what's up?"

"I...I need you to come to the Tower as soon as possible."

"...Traffic light-san?"

"...Yeah..."

"I'll be right there"

Before she could say anything else he hung up and, not even having the time to take the phone away from her ear, the sound of the door bell rang throughout the tower almost ominously and without a word all six teens made their way to the door in complete silence, each shearing uncertain looks as they saw the stern expression on Robins face. When they opened the door it was to the sight of Naruto leaning against the wall, as if noting was out of the ordinary. Without a word Robin turned his back on the blonde and made his way to the training room in a large cavern under the Tower, the blonde teen following behind after nodding to the others and resting a hand on Ravens shoulder in a comforting manner.

When they got to the centre of the room the boy wonder turned around to lock eyes with Naruto, who had his hands in his pockets.

"Why are Jinx, Mammoth and Gizmo out of prison and fixing your store?"

"Straight to the point, fair enough, it's because I paid their bail and talked the police into giving them community service. When they finish fixing the damage to my store they will be working off the money that they own me and after that I have offered them the chance to live with me and Gaara so I can help them with some other things."

"Why?"

"...Have you ever asked them why they became villains in the first place, because I have. They didn't have a mentor that could train them or look after them, they were considered outcastes because of the things they could do and because of that they ended up going to the wrong person for help. I offered to help them because no one else ever did."

His frown increasing at his words, Robin moved himself into a loose fighting stance.

"Their criminals, they don't deserve a second chance! They deserve to be behind bars!"

Letting out a sigh, Naruto looked to Robin with a mixture of disappointment and...boredom? In his eyes, as he pulled his hands out of his pockets. Not giving the blonde a chance to make the first move, having seen just how fast he could be, Robin jumped forward to close the distance and attempted to kick him in the head with his left foot. He didn't know how it happened, not having even seen Naruto move, but just before his foot made contact with the blondes cheek the kick was stopped by Naruto grabbing hold of his ankle in a vice like grip. Quickly lifting his right leg into the air and planted it on the blonde's chest in an attempt to break the hold and put some distance between them again, only for him to fall to the ground when it didn't work.

Shaking his head, Naruto throw Robin back to where he started with a small frown on his face.

"You broadcast your moves and it makes you easily to predict, you need to work on your style and maybe your speed a little more."

"Shut up!"

This time when the boy wonder charged he aimed a punch for Narutos stomach, which was deflected by the blondes arm, and followed it up with a spinning kick indented for his side which was blocked again. Growling at his lack of successes Robin let loose a quick flurry of punches aimed at random places in the hope of hitting the whiskered teen, but no matter how hard he tried or how fast he moved everything was either blocked or dodged with ease, making it even more frustrating. It didn't help that Naruto kept commentating on every move he made.

"You need more power behind your strikes, make sure your feet are spread out evenly so you can put more weight behind them. Don't make too many unnecessary movements, it wastes energy and will tire you out faster, don't forget to time your breathing."

The other Titans just stood to one side, their eyes wide as they watched Robin being completely outclassed by the blonde, who was apparently giving him tips even as they were fighting.

After another five minutes of Naruto staying on the defensive as he picked apart Robins fighting style, the blonde ex-ninja finally decides to switch to offense. Catching the boy's wrist as he attempted another punch him in the ribs, Naruto pulled him forwards, causing the brightly dressed teen to lose his balance, before landing a soiled punch into his stomach. Letting out a gasp as spite flew out of his mouth, Robin tried to back away so he could regain his breath but Naruto followed, not giving him a chance, and kicked him in the right side of his ribs.

It was at that point that Robin realised something, he had seen a video of Naruto kicking Mammoth of all people threw a wall with next to no effort, yet the blows that had hit him were no different to a normal person. Naruto was holding back, a lot, and the realisation made him lose what was left of his self control as he charged at the blonde blindly. But before he even had a chance to throw a punch Naruto swiped his feet out from under him and, while he was still in the air, followed through with a kick to the stomach that sent him flying across the room before he landed in front of his friend, who just stared at what had happened with wide eyes. Throughout the whole fight the blonde hadn't lost the board expression on his face.

After straitening his shirt, which had gotten ruffled up during the fight, Naruto casually made his way over to the downed form of Robin, a neutral expression on his whiskered face before standing over the teen and looking him in the eye.

"Your good, but still ruff around the edges. You also need to keep your temper under control, the longer the fight went on the sloppier your style became until you were little more then a brawler."

Taking in huge gulps of air in an attempt to get his breath back, Starfire having knelt down next to him to make sure he was ok, Robin glared up at the blonde.

"You don't...know anything...about...me!"

"Bothersome...You're right handed but taught yourself to be ambidextrous; you favour your right leg a little more hen your left but when you need to use it that disappears, most likely due to an old, traumatic injury leaving a psychological scar. You were trained by a man that uses his dark clothes to help him fight at night yet you wear bright colures that attract attention, meaning that although you were trained by Batman, you want to be seen as separate from him. Despite what most people think the bright colures help in your fighting style, which relies on your speed and acrobatics, because they can confuse your opponent as long as you are faster then them. You see your teem as family and go to over bearing lengths to protect them yet the fact you never take off your mask around them means you don't completely trust them and keep everyone around you at arms length, most like because of a traumatic event, probably the same one wear you injured your leg considering your inability let it go, that caused you to lose at least one if not more people that were important to you. Taking into account the fact that you became the 'Boy Wonder' at such a young age means that it was most likely your family that died and probably at the hands of one of Gotham's many 'Super Villains', explaining why you became a 'Hero' in the first place. You suffer from paranoia and an almost compulsive need to control everything in your life and have a very strong view of right and wrong in which there is no 'grey area', a childish view that you need to grow out of if you plan on being a hero for the rest of your life."

If they hadn't already being staring at him in complete shock because of the fight, the Titans would have been now. Naruto knew more about Robin then any of them did and it sounded like he had learnt half of it from the fight they had had not two minutes before. What the blonde just did scared them, especially Robin, who looked like a dear caught in headlights.

"H-how did you-?"

"How did I know? Because it's what I was trained to do, what I needed to learn in order to survive. I was raised in a place that lived in the 'Grey', where good and evil was rarely a clear line and those that believed it was...didn't last long. You wanted to know why I gave those three a second chance, it's because everyone, no matter what they have done in the passed, deserve at least that."

Walking towards the door Naruto stopped to give a quick hug to Raven, who returned it on instinct, before leaving. The room became completely silent as they all thought over what he had said, Robin not being able to look any of his friends in the eye. After a few minutes passed they all made their way out of the room except Raven, who stayed behind to think more on what had just happened.

Naruto had said that he was trained to do what he did with Robin, did that mean she was right the first time and he really was a 'super solider' trained from birth. Was that what being a Jinchuriki meant? Was it the name of a child that was trained from a young age? For some reason she didn't think that was it, at least not exactly, but the idea that the blonde might be a trained killer worried her. He had said that he was raised in the 'Grey' area of right and wrong and that he needed to learn of to fight in order to survive and that could only mean one thing. What about Gaara, was he a solider too? Only he wasn't able to take the pressure and snapped? Was that why he had trouble showing emotions?

Nothing made sense and Raven had a feeling that the only way it would was when, or if, Naruto finally told her the truth himself. But before she could think on it any more the alarm went off and she had to rush to the common room to see what was happening.

When she arrived the others were already there watching as Robin, who seemed to be perfectly fine now if a little bruised, quickly typed on his keyboard. Before she could ask what was happening the boy wonder stood up and spoke.

"There are reports of some kind of fight happening in the middle of the city between meta-humans, Titans Go!"