Disclaimer: I don't own neither Naruto nor Young Justice.

AN: Okay, this will be the last challenge I post until I update one of my main stories. I'm sorry in advanced for not updating as frequently as I should have, but things have been somewhat hectic. I'm now working six days a week, three of which are nine hour shifts, and it leaves me somewhat drained when I get home so writing is usually the furthest thing from my mind. However, with hard work and dedication, I hope to post at least one or two things a month. No promises though! Now, onto this new challenge:

Naruto Uzumaki, otherwise known as Project: Chimera, was always considered an outcast as a child due to his odd appearance with a snakelike body and having a snake growing out of his naval. However, it was discovered that he had incredibly adaptive DNA that allows him to withstand genetic experiments that would kill a normal human. Taken in by Cadmus at age 10, he is infused with the DNA of the Earth's greatest heroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. However, before the mental conditioning could occur, Cadmus is broken into by a group of young heroes.

Like Kabuto, Naruto will have access to a wide range of powers thanks to the DNA graphs as well as some original powers. They will be dumbed down somewhat though since they are only DNA samples, so for example if Naruto was to get into an arm wrestling match with Superman, he'd lose. He'd join the team under the name Chimera, and would be the youngest member at age 12. He'd also be the blueprint for Amaz-O in that he can replicate powers. Also, no pairings until Invasion when he's 17, and can be with either one of the already existing female members (Batgirl, Wonder Girl) or a new one like Starfire or Raven.

Once again with feeling, this is a CHALLENGE and as such, it will not be updated unless it is adopted. So please, if you or someone you know is interested, please don't hesitated to contact me either by Review or PM and let me know you'd like to adopt. Now, on with the show!

Maelstrom of Justice

For as long as I can remember, I was an outcast.

I don't know who my parents were, if they're still alive, or even if they loved me. The people at the orphanage said when I asked that I was found in a basket outside their door one night with nothing but a slip of paper that had what became my name written on it. The other kids always treated me differently because of how I looked. After all, blonde hair and blue eyes aren't a common trait among the children of Japan, and the birthmarks on my face set me even further apart.

Then, shortly before my sixth birthday, my body started to change.

It started out small at first. My skin began taking on a rough texture, and the initial doctors said I was possibly suffering from some kind of skin disease. As the changes progressed, the other kids avoided me more than normal, though it was more than just because of uncertainty now. There was fear too.

My body continued changing, and even though I still 'looked' somewhat the same, I was no longer just an outsider to them. Now, I was a freak. The people of the orphanage kept taking me to different doctors to find out what was wrong with me. I heard the phrase "Meta-Human" thrown around a lot. Test after test they ran, taking more blood from me then mosquitoes. Then one day, the men in the white coats came for me. They said they had found my abilities "unique" and that if I went with them, I'd be an asset to humanity. I wasn't interested until they mentioned that they would try to cure my condition if I gave my full cooperation. Like the naïve kid I was, I accepted.

That was how I found myself at Cadmus.

I soon found myself as more lab rat than human with all the experiments and tests they ran on me, making me "better". Finally, after more time then I'd care to count passed, the man named Desmond said they'd place me in a deep sleep and when I awoke, I'd be "ready". Little did I know that when I did awake, I'd become part of something great. Something that, funnily enough, was caused by a group of sidekicks trying to prove their worth to their mentors.

The four wannabe heroes skidded into a room off to the side, with the clone of Superman forcing the heavy metal door shut behind them. "We should be safe in here," he said, "From what the G-nomes told me of this place, this wing tends to be empty this time of day."

"Um, maybe not as empty as you thought, Supes," Kid flash gulped as he pointed into the room to reveal its contents. It was a room that looked much like the one they had found Superboy in, and in the center was a cryo-tube like what they had found the young clone in.

The sidekicks could only stare at the figure inside the cryo-tube. He looked young, around Robin's age or younger, and had spikey blonde hair. On his face with whisker shaped birthmarks, but it was hard to tell due to the boy's skin. Judging by the texture of the skin, it looked as though he was covered in scales instead of flesh, yet they were all pale in color so it would be harder to tell from a distance. The strangest thing about the boy, however, was what appeared to be a long, thick scale covered tube that seemed to extend from the kid's naval and wrap around behind him.

"Soooo~, any idea who this guy's supposed to be?" Kid asked in a drawl.

"Give me a minute," Robin said as he hooked up his portable to the computer next to the mystery kid's tank. After typing for a couple minutes, the Boy Wonder's hidden eyes widened. "Whoa…"

"What is it?" Aqualad questioned while keeping his senses peeled for any signs of Cadmus' security.

"Well, a lot of this stuff is super encrypted, even Batman would need a few days to crack it. What I have figured out though is this kid is part of something called Project: Chimera," Robin stated.

"Chim-whata?" Kid asked in his usual clueless manner.

"A chimera, a creature of Greek origin that was made of multiple different animals," Aqualad supplied.

"Right, except instead of animals, this guy is made up of super powers," Robin added. "According to this, when this guy was found, he already had his own set of unique powers. He was then tested to see what his powers do when it was discovered his DNA is some of the most adaptable ever seen! The tests showed that he'd be able to survive genetic manipulation that most beings would die from immediately. So, two years ago, Cadmus 'acquired' him from the orphanage he was staying at in Japan and brought him here for their own tests. Apparently, they wanted to make the strongest super hero ever or something, and added the DNA of several members of the League to him!"

"Which members?" Kid Flash asked in curiosity.

Robin scrolled the screen down some as he read out, "He's got the genes from Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Martian Manhunter. He's also been receiving 'lessons' like Superboy was via the G-nomes."

"Whoa, so, he's like the entire Justice League in one?" Wally exclaimed in awe and surprise.

"It means he's a weapon. Like me," Superboy, who had been rather quiet up to this point grunted out as he moved forward, his eyes narrowed at the suspended blonde boy.

"It means he's a captive," Aqualad stated firmly before turning to Robin. "Release him."

"Right," Robin quickly agreed, typing away furiously at the controls.

Soon, the lights above the tube changed color as the glass sides let out billows of steam, the liquid in the tube draining out right before the glass lifted. The human chimera dropped to the ground as soon as his restraints were released and he immediately started coughing up the fluid that had been in his lungs.

"Hey there little guy, are you ok-whoa!" Kid Flash started to say, only to leap back in shock.

The reason for his surprise? A snake that was almost as tall as a grown man and nearly as wide rose its head up from behind the blonde and hissed threateningly.

"Where'd that come from?!" Robin questioned as he and the other sidekicks got into a defensive position.

"Who…are you guys?" an unknown voice asked and they noticed the boy had raised his head, looking at them all suspiciously with crystal blue eyes that had slit pupils.

"Kid, watch out! There's a snake behind you!" Wally warned as he got ready to speed forward and get the kid as far away as possible from the reptile that looked as though it could swallow the boy whole. Though the child experiment surprised them all as he slowly got to his feet where they all saw that the snake was actually coming from the boy himself. The serpent's body was wrapped around him defensively, yet the end of the snake was connected to the child's naval, explaining the long tube they had seen on him in the tank.

"Well…that's certainly a whelming experience," Robin quipped.

"You guys don't look like those mean people who brought me here…though maybe you work for them," the blonde continued as though he hadn't heard them talking about him. The snake reared behind him in a striking position.

Aqualad stepped forward slightly but not suddenly as to not spook the boy and provoke a violent response. "We're here to rescue you, child. My name is Aqualad and these are my friends; Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy," he explained, gesturing to each hero in turn.

"You've probably heard of us," Kid Flash boasted, his normal cocky demeanor returning as the surprise at meeting Project: Chimera slowly faded.

"Nope, never heard of you," the blonde said in a deadpan, causing Wally to nearly fall flat on his face.

"We're associates of the Justice League," Robin supplied, causing the boy to gain a look of understanding. After all, since he was giving the DNA of several members of the League, it only made sense that he'd know who they were.

"You guys are heroes?" he asked, the snake slightly lowering as he got out of his defensive position, the other young heroes doing the same.

"Yep! And we're here to bust you out of here," Kid Flash said, recovering from his earlier embarrassment.

The snake boy looked hopeful for a moment before uncertainty crossed his features once more. "Where'd I go though? I don't have a home, and I don't wanna go back to the orphanage. They'd always pick on me and call me a freak ever since I started looking like this," he said, gesturing to his reptilian appearance.

Superboy frown at this and stepped forward. "I don't know about you, but freedom and not knowing what the future holds sounds a lot better to me than being imprisoned and being told what to do," Superman's clone stated firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"We can help you find your place, whether it be with us and the Justice League or any other path you choose to follow. It will be your choice," Aqualad supplied.

"And don't worry about being called a freak," KF said jokingly. "Being a freak is basically a requirement in our line of work."

"Speaking from personal experience?" Robin quipped.

"C'mon dude!" Wally groaned at his friend.

The boy seemed to hesitate for only a moment before smiling and said, "I'd like that. Thank you, thank you all!"

Robin grinned, "No problem. So what do we call you? I doubt it's Project: Chimera."

The blonde shook his head, "My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki, or at least that's what the lady at the orphanage said it was. Pleased to meet'cha!"

Before any further pleasantries could be exchanged, there came a banging from the other side of the room's door as someone on the other side tried to break in. "Looks like our cover has been blown," Kaldur stated as he brought his Water Bearers up.

"Guess we're going to have to fight our way out," Robin mused as he brought out his throwing stars.

"Allow me," Superboy grunted before charging like a linebacker at the steel door, causing it to fly off its hinges and nail the security force behind it.

With most of the guards out of commission, the heroes and company quickly fled the room, Naruto being able to keep up despite being smaller than the others thanks to the genes he received from the Flash. They had to stop suddenly when several oversized Genomorphs arrived and blocked their path. Looking back, the group saw that the egg like protrusions from the wall were glowing red before hatching into other, smaller, Genomorphs. The young heroes dodged around the larger bioweapons, but Superboy decided to go through the obstacle instead of around it and punched the nearest Genomorph in the face. The clone then started hammering away at the other Genomorphs, causing the walls and ceiling to rumble.

"Superboy!" Aqualad called out, "The goal is to escape, not to bury ourselves!"

"YOU WANT ESCAPE!?" Superboy screamed as he grabbed one of the Genomorphs by the leg and threw it at the others, knocking them all down.

Aqualad, spying the door to the elevator ahead pried the doors open, the sidekicks using their skills to start climbing the long shaft. Superboy grabbed Aqualad around the waist and leapt up to fly, but was shocked when he soon started to fall instead. Before they fell more than a few feet, however, a scaly body wrapped around the two. Looking up, the boys saw Naruto was hovering in the air and was using his naval snake to latch onto the two teens. Despite their combined weight, the blonde didn't seem to have any trouble in lifting them up and was actually able to stretch out his arms using the Martian shapeshifting ability to grab hold of Robin and Kid Flash, lifting them up as well.

As the group was being lifted by their youngest member, Superboy asked aloud, "Superman can fly, why can't I?"

"Don't know," Wally said in an attempt to cheer the clone up, "but you can still leap tall buildings in a single bound, still cool."

"Um, guys? We got incoming!" Naruto called out as he heard the elevator quickly descend to their position.

"This is our floor!" Robin ordered and the group all dived towards the nearest elevator door, breaking it open in the process. With the direction of Superboy, they soon found themselves in an air vent. Naruto, thanks to his serpentine body structure, was actually having the easiest time navigating the narrow tunnel. Superboy brought them to a halt, however, as he heard the smaller Genomorphs were starting to swarm the vents. Fortunately Robin thought of this and led them out of the air vents, stating he had hacked the motion sensors. Finally having enough room to move, Wally scouted ahead using his speed with the others following behind. It wasn't long before he encountered resistance though, and Flash's protégé barreled through the Genomorphs like bowling pins.

More biological soldiers swarmed behind them, and Superboy slowed them down by literally stomping the stairs in half. They soon found themselves cornered as the emergency doors started closing, leading them into a room filled with Genomorphs and the mind controlled Guardian. Just as the heroes prepared to fight, the horns of all the Genomorphs began to glow and one by one the teens collapsed in a dead faint save for Naruto and Superboy. And even Superboy was brought to his knees from the mental attack. It was only thanks to Naruto's Martian genes enhanced brain that he was able to fully resist the attack. Another Genomorph, one that looked nearly human, stepped forward and had a mental conversation with the two former prisoners.

Apparently, this Genomorph was the leader of them and had been aiding the group since their arrival to Cadmus. He explained that Superboy, and by extension Naruto, would be their saviors, leading the experiments to freedom. 'What is your choice, brothers?' he asked telepathically.

Both Naruto and Superboy looked at each other for a minute, coming up with an answer simultaneously. "Freedom!" They both said as the other heroes were awaked and Guardian was released from his mind control.

After recovering his wits, Guardian told the young heroes, "Go, I'll take care of Desmond."

"I think not," a cruel sounding voice said from the exit.

Turning, Naruto recognized the man who was standing there holding a vial of liquid. It was the same man who took him from the orphanage and began all those experiments on him two years ago: Dr. Desmond.

"Project Blockbuster will help me bring order back to Cadmus," the scientist declared before drinking from the vial. He then doubled up in pain before his skin seemed to stretch then break as he transformed into a large, grey skinned behemoth. The transformed Desmond let out a roar, and batted aside the charging Guardian like he was an insect.

SB was the next to charge the monster, but surprisingly Naruto followed close behind letting out a roar of anger. While Blockbuster was able to defend against Superboy's assault, he was taken unaware by the smaller yet no less strong Naruto. Leaping into the air, Naruto grabbed both sides of Blockbuster's head and smashed his own skull against it in a head-butt that sent out a shockwave. Dazed, the former scientist staggered back, but Naruto wasn't done. His snake slithered behind the beast and wrapped around his legs, tripping Blockbuster up. The moment he hit the ground, the super hero chimera leapt on top of him, raining down punches that could shatter steel. His snake then reared it's head back and lunged, digging foot long fangs into the creature's hide.

Blockbuster roared in pain and rage before grabbing Naruto and a charging Superboy and leaping literally through the ceiling to the floor above. Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad followed close behind to assist. When they all got to the lobby of the Cadmus building, the three heroes found that Blockbuster was currently trying to fend off SB's punches while simultaneously trying to remove the snake wrapped around his neck attempting to choke the life out of him. Naruto, controlling the snake, began flying up towards the ceiling, making the snake more like a hangman's noose for the transformed scientist. It was only thanks to Blockbuster's thick hide that he wasn't suffocated or have his neck snapped by the sudden upwards jerk.

Backhanding Superboy towards the approaching trio, Blockbuster reached up and yanked with both hands on his scaly necktie. Naruto was jerked down and slammed into the ground. The behemoth wasn't done yet, and he then grabbed the snake and started slamming Naruto up and down like a ragdoll. Despite Naruto's enhanced durability, this level of abuse proved to be too much for his body and the snake's head was literally torn off, causing the boy to scream in pain as he was sent skidding across the ground.

Quick as his namesake, Kid Flash was by the younger boy's side, hoping to help in any way he could. "Oh man, that can't be good," Wally stated worriedly as blood poured out of the stump that was formerly a snake's head. "Was that important?" he asked, honestly wondering how having what seemed like a living part of the boy ripped off like that. As far as KF knew, Naruto's mind was connected to the snake's and losing it could have damaged his brain in some way.

"Don't…worry. I…got this!" Naruto hissed through gritted teeth. Before the young speedster could ask what he meant, he noticed that the stump had stopped bleeding and the flesh surrounding it seemed to be bubbling in a way. Just then, Naruto gave a shout and a new snake's head burst from the wound, hissing angrily.

"Whoa!" Wally gasped before turning to a panting Naruto. "How'd you do that?"

Naruto gave a tired looking grin. "Martian genes mixed with Kryptonian genes," he said tapping his chest with a finger. "Makes for one heck of a healing factor. As long as one of my heads are intact, I can heal from pretty much anything."

Wally gave an impressed whistle before saying, "So do you think you're good, or do you need a minute?"

Naruto's grin turned vicious, "Oh, I can go as many rounds as I need to take that block bastard down!"

Wally grinned back. "Heh, that's the spirit! You're going to fit right in with our group."

With that, the two got up and began charging a Blockbuster who was busy with the other heroes. The two were moving so fast that their forms were blurry before they unleashed a barrage of lightning fast punches on Blockbuster. Thanks to Naruto's enhanced strength, his blows were stronger than Wally's but both were no less effective as they pushed the hulking monster back. This allowed the others to fall back and plan. Robin soon came up with a plan and called over Kid Flash and Naruto, allowing Superboy and Aqualad a turn at distracting the one formerly known as Dr. Desmond.

Giving them a quick rundown of his plan, the two heroes got to work. Wally distracted Desmond into attacking several of the support beams while Naruto broke several in half using his snake as a whip. Kaldur and SB were informed of the plan and began smashing the beams as well. As soon as Robin had everything into position, Naruto moved. Once more wrapping Blockbuster with his snake, he then grabbed hold of Aqualad who used his ability to generate electricity in order to send a jolt through Naruto to Blockbuster. Thanks to his body's genetic makeup, the electric current didn't even hurt the blonde, but Blockbuster wasn't as lucky as he received shock after shock. Thanks to this and the venom that had been pumping through his veins all this time, the mutant wasn't able to move in time when the charges Robin set went off, destroying the remaining support beams and collapsing the entire ceiling right on top of him.

As the rest of the structure began to collapse, Superboy dove on top of the other heroes, his invulnerable body protecting them from the falling debris. When the dust settled, the group pulled themselves up bruised, battered, but alive. Naruto looked around at the open sky for the first time in two years while Superboy got his first look at the moon. To both boys, it was truly one of the most beautiful sights in the world. The sidekicks started congratulating each other on a successful first mission while nursing their bruises, but their celebration was short lived as the other heroes started to arrive.

Needless to say, it was an awkward first meeting between Superman and his clone, as well as the chiding looks most of the other heroes were giving their protégé. Naruto could even taste the tension in the air, especially from the confused and wary looks being shot his way. The sidekicks weren't wanting to back down, however, as they firmly stated that they did good work together, using what their mentors taught them while working as a team. They all felt ready to use what they were taught to make a difference in the world. And, as Superboy so eloquently put it, the other heroes could either, "Get on board, or get out of the way!"

Days later, the five young heroes found themselves on an island base called Mount Justice that was once a hideout for the Justice League. Wally, Robin, and Kaldur were in their civilian clothes while Superboy had donned a black tee shirt with a Superman logo and plain jeans. Naruto, meanwhile, now had a burnt orange cloak over his body while his snake now trailed behind him like a tail. Batman explained that this would be their new base of operations as they would be handling covert League missions with Red Tornado and Black Canary being involved in supervising them while Batman would deploy the missions. They were then introduced to their new teammate, the Martian Manhunter's niece Miss Martian.

The group couldn't help but smile as Kaldur proclaimed, "Today is the day."

Naruto's Powers List:

Genetically Added

Enhanced Strength (Above Superboy's but below Superman's)

Flight (More Asura Mode Naruto than rocket powered)

Super Speed (Kid Flash level)

Shapeshifting

Breathing Underwater

Invulnerability (No known weakness, is immune to Kryptonite, magic, and fire)

Regenerating

Mild Telepathy and Psychic Abilities

Minor Magical Ability

*Note* While Naruto has many powers, he's still young and inexperienced in using them. And since they're artificially added onto him, most of his powers won't be the same level as the original. That said, out of all the heroes he has the greatest potential, and by the time of Invasion he'd be able to give foes like Darkseid or even Doomsday a decent fight (not to say he'll win, it'll just be more even).

Original

Can produce most known venoms

Naval Snake, which contains a second brain with an exact copy of all of Naruto's thoughts and memories, so even if Naruto's main body is destroyed, he can still regenerate if the snake survives. It is also capable of detaching itself from Naruto and acting on its own accord along with all of Naruto's powers.

Capable of detaching jaw and swallowing most things.

Expert tracking skills.

Body continues to mutate over time, so by the time of Invasion Naruto's 'true' form will be like Kabuto's when he captured Yamato (basically a giant snake with arms and hair). He'll create an outer 'shell' that resembles his human form for the public's sake.

Has expanded knowledge thanks to G-nomes.