Chapter 185 - My CO Stash #85 - Doctor Maelstrom by Houkaru Kisaragi (NarutoXDCU) (1/2)

-Naruto as a Doctor in the DCU! It's quite the AU with some superheroes being doctors~ Surprisingly fun.

Sypnosis: Naruto has every reason to rule earth with his limitless powers, but instead he chooses to be a doctor and save lives in Metropolis. His life becomes more complicated when a Kryptonian spaceship crashed into his backyard.

Rated: M

Words: 62K

Posted on: m.fanfiction.net/s/12112752/1/Doctor-Maelstrom (Houkaru Kisaragi)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

God and Doctors

Anybody working in Metropolis Paragon Hospital are bound by two rules: never say derogatory things about ramen, and leave the hell away from Doctor Naruto Uzumaki's Kawasaki Ninja H2R motorcycle. The last time someone accidentally scratched his motorcycle while belittling his obsession with ramen, let's just say that certain someone was last seen swimming in a shark pit near the coast of Queensland.

Dr Naruto Uzumaki was a complete enigma. For someone with a Japanese name, his comely feature was that of an Englishman. Some said his well-trimmed moustache reminded people of Luke Evans, while others claimed that his alluring and suave smile resembled Tom Hiddleston, which ultimately made him an infamous heartthrob in the hospital.

No one really knew about Naruto's past though, mainly because he always joked about being a ninja, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine. A few years ago, a gang war broke out in the hospital. The gunfight should have massacred dozens of innocent lives, but the surveillance camera caught footage of Naruto subduing all the perpetrators in A&E, escorting patients out of the premise, rescuing trapped children from a nearby medical ward, and having a ramen feast in the cafeteria, and he did all that at the same time.

After the ordeal, coupled with Naruto's unhealthy love for visiting casinos and drinking shaken and not stirred Vodka Martini, the staff in the hospital dubbed the eccentric blond ”James Bond”. Needless to say, he was shameless enough to accept that title with glee. However, his attire left much to be d_e_s_i_r_ed. T-shirt, ripped jeans, worn-out sneakers, if he didn't put on his lab coat and stethoscope, one would mistake him as a trigger-happy sociopath.

This begs the question: how the hell did he get even employed in the first place?

Truth is, even the nature of his employment was bizarre.

It involves a coin, a promise, and a girl from another planet.

Before he was the infamous Department Chief of Neurology in Metropolis Paragon Hospital, he was busy playing Robin Hood, stealing Yakuza's dirty money left and right and giving it to orphanages, thus he was constantly on the run.

”I don't get why are we even on the run. Given that they are the Yakuza, and that they are mere humans – Wait, you do know that they are humans, right? You also know that we are impervious to any physical injuries, right? You know we can kill them before they can even blink, right? Right? RIGHT? ANSWER ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

Naruto rolled his eyes as he took a sharp turn around the corner of an alley, making insouciant looks behind his shoulder to ensure he wasn't followed. When the coast was clear, he sauntered towards a nearby vending machine. ”How many times must I tell you, Kurama? I am not going to kill them just because I can.”

”Aww! Why not?” Kurama w_h_i_n_ed.

”I can rip this planet apart if I want to, but does that mean I have to do it? Wait! Don't answer that question.”

”This is the reason why we can't have nice things, Naruto! It's all your fault! You and your stupid conscience are going to get us killed one day!”

The blond chuckled. ”You do know that I can't die, no?”

”Oh? Getting c_o_c_ky now, huh? Show some respect to your elders, ungrateful punk! Who died and made you god?”

Naruto shut off his thoughts and rummaged his pockets to dig out some loose change, but during his endeavour, a fifty-cent coin fell from his grasp. Scratching his scalp in frustration, the blond traced after his coin, but it halted right before the foot of a young girl.

”Hey! That's mine!” Much to Naruto's chagrin, the girl picked up the coin and stuck out her tongue at him. ”What are you doing? Didn't your parents teach you that stealing is a crime?”

”Finders, keepers.” The girl retorted.

The blond placed a hand on his waist and flicked a finger at the child's forehead, startling her in the process. She nursed the sore spot on her forehead and glared daggers at him. ”What did you do that for?”

Naruto stared at the girl incredulously. ”That's my line. Now play nice and return it to me.”

”Or what?” The girl probed with a haughty sneer.

”Or you're gonna get a spanking from me!” Naruto narrowed his eyes, knowing that the relentless girl wouldn't budge, so an idea came to him. ”Fine. We both want the coin. Let's play a game. Winner gets to have it.”

The girl's eyes lit up. ”A game?”

”Yeah, but first, tell me your name.”

”Mary. Mary Batson. What's yours?”

Naruto grinned. ”I'll tell you if you win.”

”Hey! No fair!”

The blond squat down, maintaining eye contact with the boisterous Mary while he was at it, his cheeky grin was still on his face. ”Life isn't fair. Get used to it. Now, I'll explain the rules of the game real quick, so make sure you listen attentively. You're gonna toss the coin in the air, catch it with either hand, and I'm gonna guess which hand has the coin. Sounds simple?”

Mary grinned toothily. ”Yeah!”

”Good, let's play.”

Eagerly, the girl flipped the coin, but when she was about to catch it, the blond had already caught it in mid-air. Mary's eyes widened in shock, registering the fact that she was tricked, and pouted furiously at the blond. ”You cheated!”

”Heh!” Naruto wrestled himself to a standing position. ”I never said no cheating.”

The blond stuck his tongue out at the girl, who was on the verge of tears. However, to Mary's surprise, a beautiful woman with l_u_s_trous black hair fashioned in a punk-and-rock style had come and smacked the back of Naruto's head crudely, causing him to yelp like an indignant five-year old. ”I let my eyes off of you for one minute and I find you bullying a little girl in broad daylight.”

Grail was the no-nonsense, shoot-first-talk-later kind of woman who had been by Naruto's side for many years. Despite the fact that she looked like the love child of Michelle Rodriguez and Gerard Butler, she had many insecurities; some would say she had a chip on her shoulder, partly because she had some serious daddy issues with her father, who happened to be the notorious Dark God of Apokolips, Darkseid.

”Me? Bullying her?” Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the girl. ”She was robbing me! It's highway robbery, I tell ya! You gotta believe me, Grail!”

”I wouldn't if I were her.”

”Shut the f_u_c_k up, Kurama. No one asks for your opinion, you oversized hairball!”

”Come down here and said it right in front of my face, squirt!”

Grail scoffed at the blond, snatched the coin away from his hand, bent down, and smiled cheerily at Mary. ”Here's an extra dollar. Go buy yourself some ice-cream with it, kay?”

The girl beamed her happiest smile at Grail and accepted the coin. ”Thank you so much, big sister.”

Ruffling Mary's hair, the daughter of Darkseid ushered the girl away. ”Make sure to stay away from this meanie -” Jabbing with her thumb at the astonished blond at her side, who looked genuinely hurt, Grail smirked. ”- if you see him next time, kay?”

Mary nodded fervently, pulled down her eyelid provocatively at the exasperated blond, and skipped away. Naruto was screaming bloody murder inwardly, pulling his hair in frustration, and glaring at Grail with eyes reflecting betrayal. He caught a glimpse of Mary turning to him, shaping a 'L' with her fingers, and placing it atop her head, grinning triumphantly at the infuriated blond.

”Did you see that?” Naruto exclaimed. ”She's a demon!”

”She's just a little girl, Naruto.” Grail supplied. ”Besides, aren't you being a hypocrite? You gave away the money you stole from the Yakuza to needy children, but you get pissed off at a girl from taking a mere fifty-cent from you.”

”I never said I wasn't a hypocrite, Grail. In fact, I'm a proud, handsome hypocrite.” Flashing his sparkling white teeth at Grail, Naruto did a strong-man pose, but deflated almost immediately when she shoved a stack of flyers to him. ”Can you not? Can't you just inflate my ego for two seconds and not care about work for just one moment in your life?”

Grail scowled. ”You promised me you're gonna sponsor the tuition fees for my medical school. That's the reason why I joined your escapade with the whole robbing-the-Yakuza ordeal in the first place. Instead of giving it to me, you threw our effort to charity. All of it! You didn't even spare ten bucks for me to grab something from Taco Bell!”

Draping a hand over Grail's neck, the blond pulled her face close to his c_h_e_s_t. Unbeknownst to the blond, Grail's heart was racing, and she thanked God that Naruto didn't have super hearing, because he would have hear her heart thumping loudly within her c_h_e_s_t, but she did her best to hide her fl_u_s_tered state. ”Don't lie to me, Grail-chan. You enjoyed playing Robin Hood's sidekick the whole time, didn't you?”

”S-Shut up! Let go of me!” The fl_u_s_tered daughter of Darkseid pushed the blond away. ”If you were a doctor in some big fancy hospital, earning big bucks, I wouldn't have to work my a_s_s off. I should be living a cushy life like a princess! I wanna be a billionaire so freakin' bad~!”

”Life is tough, Grail. The challenges you face in life helps build character.” Naruto lectured sagely, but the bright smile he carried never once faltered. ”Besides, if I were to give you whatever you want, then you'll never get to appreciate life at its fullest. Be thankful for the hard times. They make you stronger.”

There is a saying: those who smile the brightest are the ones hurting the most, because they don't wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do. Naruto had gone through enough horrors in a lifetime to become the man he was today. Grail wouldn't say for sure she could have that much compassion and kindness in herself after facing what Naruto had once faced. Perhaps that's the reason why she had fallen in love with a man who had saved her from her broken family.

But, she knew Naruto only see her as a little sister. Nothing more, nothing less.

”Alright, let's do this, yeah?” Rolling up his sleeves, Naruto offered his brightest smile to Grail, and it was as addictive as heroine, because she couldn't help but smile too.

”What happened?” Naruto asked. ”A hit and run?”

One of the witnesses offered. ”Y-Yeah! That van just drove off as if nothing happened! It's horrible!”

As if going autopilot, Naruto removed his trench coat, gestured Grail to ward off the growing crowd, and yelled. ”Someone called 911! Hurry!”

Switching his gaze to the body of Mary's father, Naruto was relieved to know the man was breathing, but barely. He calmly asked, ”Can you move your fingers?”

The man only managed to let his pinkie twitch. Placing a hand on the man's c_h_e_s_t, Naruto transfused a light pulse of chakra into the man's thorax, allowing his vision to be bombarded by visions of the man's inner cavity, and it worked better than any CT scan or X-Ray could ever achieve, because he could pinpoint any anomaly in a matter of seconds. ”Multiple broken rips. One of them has already punctured his left lung. His diaphragm could have been torn. We need to send him to the hospital right now! If his breathing isn't stabilised within the next thirty minutes, things will get dangerous from then on!”

”This man's daughter just swindled your money. Let him die. He deserves it!”

Despite being submerged in a state of mass hysteria, a small smile curled at Naruto's lips. ”You are one cranky, old liar, Kurama.”

”…”

Grail hugged the wailing Mary close to her bosom, rocking the frantic girl back and forth. ”It's gonna be okay. Everything is gonna be okay. Meanie here is a doctor.”

Naruto glanced up at Grail's distraught face and Mary's pleading eyes. Balling his fists, he gave them a reassuring smile. ”The ambulance is coming. Everything will be okay.”

”Answer me this question, Naruto. Are you saving people because you sincerely want to save them… or are you doing it because you're hoping that one day, someone will come and save you like you did others?”

Metropolis Paragon Hospital had always been crowded with patients, due to its prestigious heritage for breeding prominent doctors and its reputation for having the lowest mortality rate amongst other renowned hospitals in the world. However, on that very day, a bank robbery took place near the hospital, resulting in a sudden flood of severely injured patients coming into A&E.

Professor Diana Prince led a platoon of doctors into the emergency ward, her confident gravitas demanded only obedience and respect from her peers. ”Steady your hands when you attend to the patients, no matter how dire situations may be. Am I clear?”

”Crystal, ma'am!” The doctors yelled in unison.

”Move out!” Diana exclaimed, moving in a gait befitting of an aristocrat across the emergency ward, her composure never once wavered.

It was at that time where Naruto, Grail, Mary, and Mary's father were brought into the hospital by the ambulance. Grail was keeping the trembling Mary close to her side, while Naruto was awfully composed. When the paramedics rushed Mary's father to the emergency ward, Naruto was making himself comfortable, pouring himself a warm cup of water from the dispenser and taking careful sips. Perturbed by Naruto's nonchalance, Grail chastised. ”Naruto! Do something!”

The blond blinked. ”What do you want me to do? I'm not a doctor. They are.”

Tilting his chin at the horde of doctors scrambling in disarray to their patients, Naruto heaved a heavy sigh.

Fifteen minutes flew past, but all the other doctors were occupied with other patients that they had not noticed Mary's father was in need of medical attention too.

”We both know that's bullshit.” Grail gritted her teeth and pointed a finger at the disproportionate ratio between the abundance of patients requiring immediate attention and the lack of doctors tending to everybody. ”Something must have happened! A&E usually are not this crowded! The doctors can't attend to everybody at once, especially when the number of patients easily outnumber the doctors ten to one. Nobody is attending to Mary's dad! You -”

”I'm not a doctor.” Naruto interjected. ”Besides, I can't risk getting sued by the hospital because I was masquerading as a doctor. I still have to help pay your school fees, remember?”

”To hell with my school fees!” Grail roared. ”If I have to sacrifice medical school for Mary's dad, then I'll do it in a heartbeat! No question ask! Isn't that what you taught me all these years? To rise above principle and do what's right, not what's easy!”

The blond averted his gaze and stood up from his seat, but he was surprised when the girl tugged at his hand. ”I-If… If I pay you… will you save my daddy?”

Naruto stared at the crestfallen girl solemnly. ”Depends on how much you pay me.”

Mary handed the fifty-cent coin, the same fifty-cent coin she cheated from Naruto, back to him. ”W-Will this be enough?”

The blond answered quietly, ”Of course not.”

Hot tears streamed down Mary's rosy cheeks. It was as if her world had just collapsed. A maelstrom of thoughts struck her. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't want to lose another loved one. Breaking into frenzy sobs, Mary stared with teary eyes at her shoes. Grail clenched her fists and looked away, resisting her urge to shed her tears. She could empathise with Mary, because she had lost her beloved mother in an accident, so she swore an oath to never let another child go through what she had gone through.

Grail was about to reprimand the blond from being heartless, but when she saw the twinkle in his warm sapphire eyes as he studied the coin in between his fingers, at that very moment, she regretted doubting the man she looked up to.

”I…” Mary almost choked in her sobs. ”I want my dad to live, mister. I… I don't want to be alone. P-Please save him!”

Naruto patted the girl's head affectionately. ”Damn it. Me and my conscience is gonna get me killed one day.”

In the back of his mind, he could hear Kurama laughing light-heartedly.

Doctor Barbara Gordon's aspiration to be a physician stemmed from a childhood trauma that involved her father, who happened to be the Police Commissioner of Gotham City. She would never forget that fateful incident; she was only twelve. Her father got a promotion and wanted to celebrate with her, but on their way to a local diner for dinner, a gang of mafia ambushed them. In her father's attempt to protect her, he was fatally shot by a hail of bullets.

Her father would have been a goner if that mysterious doctor with unkempt golden hair didn't arrive in time to save him. Ever since that day, Barbara was invigorated with the passion to save lives in hope of one day meeting her father's saviour. She graduated summa c_u_m laude from Gotham State University and received an internship in one of the best hospitals in the world; Metropolis Paragon Hospital.

However, her good grades did not prepare her for the state of mass panic that was happening in the emergency ward. Her mind was overwhelmed with the screams reverberating in the hallways. As she was about to attend to a nearby patient, she was pulled to the side. Aggravated and annoyed, Barbara turned to the perpetrator with unkempt golden hair and scowled.

”What can I do for you sir? I'm kinda busy -”

”This patient is having cardiac arrest! I need a defibrillator now!”

Barbara frowned. ”Who are you to order a doct -”

”Are you a doctor or a thug? Go get it! NOW!”

The dazed and befuddled intern nodded hastily and went to retrieve the machine. When the bemused Barbara brought the defibrillator to the bedside, the enigmatic blond administered the device like an experienced doctor would and shouted, ”200 joules, now!”

”You can't do this without proper -”

”I said, NOW!”

Barbara swallowed down her consternation and pride, and did what she was told.

Delivering the shock into the patient's c_h_e_s_t, the blond growled. ”Again!”

The young intern watched in silent awe as the stranger performed a successful resuscitation for the dying patient. ”There's blood pooling in his lungs. Get me a 28 Fr c_h_e_s_t tube now!”

”I… I…”

”Pull yourself together! You're a goddamn doctor! If you can't even control your emotions in times like these, how do you expect your patients to entrust their lives in your hands? Now go and get me those damn c_h_e_s_t tube!”

Nodding wearily, Barbara bolted to the medicine cabinet, dug out the required tool, and brought the c_h_e_s_t tube hurriedly to the blond. Without hesitation, he applied anaesthetic on the side of the patient's c_h_e_s_t, plunged the blade of the scalpel into the designated spot, and skilfully inserted the c_h_e_s_t tube. ”Hold the patient down. It will be a hassle if the patient starts to thrash around.”

Beads of sweats were forming profusely on Barbara's forehead as she pressed her hands down on the patient's shoulder blades firmly, but she never once left her sight away from the stranger's dexterous hand. Truth be told, Barbara couldn't even fathom how fast and precise the blond was moving.

”Take a deep breathe.”

”H-Huh?” Barbara blinked.

”It's okay to be scared. I take it you're new, huh?” The blond fiddled with the c_h_e_s_t tube, trying to transverse it to the blood pool within the patient's c_h_e_s_t cavity.

Barbara could only nod wordlessly.

”I got over my shaky hands when I saved two patients whose legs were blast off clean by landmines.” Naruto connected the c_h_e_s_t tube into the drainage canister and rubbed his hands together. ”They didn't make it through, but that lesson taught me not to let my fear get to me. The greatest mistake you can make in life is fearing you will make one.”

”You… were a military doctor?”

Naruto smiled. ”Something like that.”

Resting his hand over the patient's head and transmitting a small pulse of chakra into the brain, the blond blinked. ”The concussion he suffered during the accident is causing acute cerebral haemorrhage. You need to get a neurosurgeon to operate on him fast.”

”But it will take us a while to find a suitable neurosurgeon.” Barbara argued. ”Give or take, it'll probably take half an hour for us to find one.”

”We don't have time for that. The longer we delay the surgery, the higher the probability for table death to occur.”

The young intern looked around the emergency ward and spotted Professor Diana performing ad-hoc surgery on a poor sap, whose body was riddled with bullet holes. The other veteran doctors were not faring well either. Biting her lower lip, Barbara was having a war within herself. There was no way she had the aptitude to perform such a sophisticated surgery by herself. Besides, she was a mere intern who didn't have any authority to undergo operation without supervision, which means -

”I'll do it.” Naruto sighed.

”B-But you're not registered as a doctor in our hospital!”

”Is now the time for something as trivial as that?” The blond growled and jabbed with a finger at the dying man. ”Look at him! The patient is going to expire if we don't do something. If you have the time justifying the necessity of obliging to regulation, then I suggest you to take those precious time and put it to good use. A doctor should put the patient's life above all else. I intend to make sure he lives, so are you in or what?”

”Why?” Barbara narrowed her eyes, dubious about the stranger's ulterior motives. ”Why do you want to save him?”