After Itachi and Carson made it back to her apartment, Carson went inside and headed straight for the kitchen area with Itachi close behind. She went over to her refrigerator and took out a small jug of orange juice along with a pack of string cheese because food calms her down whenever she gets stressed. She then went to her kitchen table and took a seat. Itachi followed her to the table and took a seat across from her with his usual unreadable look.

Carson took several sips of her orange juice once she was finally situated. After she was finished with it she set it back on the table in front of her. Her eyes had a glazed over look in them from behind her cracked glasses and her mouth was in the form of a frown. It's been about two years since she last spoke about her mother. The last time it happened her brother had to delay the trip he was currently on now in order to stay home and keep her company. The subject of her mother messes her up and reduces her to a state that she absolutely detests; a state of vulnerability. Here she was, almost twenty years old and the mere mention of that woman makes her feel and act like a fifteen year old, just a sad excuse for a girl who had parenting issues.

"You know…I have only ever spoken to two people about how I truly felt about my mother. That was my brother, James and Carla," she chuckled dryly and took another somber sip of her orange juice, "Listen Itachi, I don't want you to pity me or sympathize with me when I tell you my story okay. It's pretty dark and depressing."

Itachi nodded. He wasn't one to judge a person based on their past. After living the life that he's lived and doing all of the things he's done, he knew that sometimes the past was out of someone's control and it was wrong to cast judgment because of it.

Carson set her orange juice down. "Have you ever asked yourself why certain things happen to certain people, like you and me? Why is it that we have to go through so much in order to live a normal life, one filled with peace?"

Itachi hesitantly nodded. As much as he was dedicated to his mission to protect his brother and his village, he'd be lying if he said he never wondered why it had to be him.

Carson moved her hand over to her shoulder and squeezed it. "I have asked myself that question every single day since I was old enough to understand things about the world." She sighed and mover her hand from her shoulder to the crook of her elbow. "I guess I should start from the beginning, when my life was normal and much simpler."

(Flashback)

March 19th, 1987

My mom, Agatha Rhodes, was a…she wasn't one of those typical moms that you see in those corny television sitcoms. You wouldn't even consider her being a mother if you ever saw her appearance. She had brown shoulder length hair that was pinned up and curled, her make-up was done so well that it would make teenage girls feel insecure, and she had a body that runway models would kill for; along with clothes that weren't exactly appropriate for someone her age. That was my mother, a hooker, who knew how to draw in her patrons with her good looks and persuasive charm. I guess you could surmise that she really enjoyed that life, but I never understood why though. Being someone's booty call is not my idea of something fun…I'm getting off topic. It's also important to mention that she was one of the Black Mask's girlfriends. He'd use her and his other women to get money off the streets from poor, desperate men looking for a good time. It was one of the jobs she was responsible for besides keeping track of how much money she was bringing in. None of Black Mask's other women were allowed near his money because the only one he trusted was my mother.

I guess you could say that was because he loved her, or so it appeared.

It might have looked like love from an outsider's point of view, but to Black Mask and my mom, it was a mutual understanding. 'Just business' if you will. It was a motto that my mom lived by.

Life, for her, was interesting. She did her job as she was told to, was never slighted for anything, and never disobeyed Black Mask or any of her superiors.

She was as obedient and willing as a dog. To him that's what she was, a show dog that obeyed his every whim.

Whenever there was any type of get together between the neighboring gang leaders, Black Mask would bring her with him along with his most intimidating men as his personal guard. He compensated them well enough to look after my mom whenever he left her side. In his eyes, my mother was off limits, to everyone.

It was around that same time that my mom met a man by the name of Gerald Collins, my father. He was one of the accountants that worked for Black Mask. My mom had bumped into him on his first day on the job; he accidentally ripped her dress when it got caught on his belt. She yelled and cursed at him and he apologized repeatedly to her which wound up making my mom laugh. It was a weird introduction, but for them it was romantic none the less.

As you might remember from what I told you earlier, my looks don't come from my mother, I got them from my dad. He was pretty plain, shy, and not all that fashionable; he was the polar opposite of my mother. He didn't really have much going for him other than his North Carolina charm and stupid puns that made no sense. I guess it's why my mom fell in love with him.

For a while they would bump into each other by accident more and more. Eventually their little meetings progressed from accidental into intentional. They had formed a weird friendship that slowly blossomed into love. It may be cheesy, but it was one of my favorite stories that they told. I mean what girl wouldn't want to hear how her parents met and fell in love?

They were madly in love and together, but it had to be hidden from everyone, that included the top dog himself. My mom had a reputation as Black Mask's favorite while my dad stayed his lowly accountant. It would end badly if people found out. Here in Gotham there is no such thing as happily ever after. Many have died trying to achieve that.

Later on down the way, my parents had eventually found a way to leave their mafia lives behind. They both had the dream of starting a family together and living peacefully in a house or apartment.

You wanna know how they managed to do that? It was wrong but my dad hacked into Black Mask's bank accounts, and stole over a million dollars; just enough to get the heck out of dodge and find somewhere safe to live with mom. It was risky, and stupid, but they pulled it off. A small apartment was bought a few miles from this one along with a small red convertible.

Things, after that, went great for my parents. They found jobs for themselves that paid moderately well so that the million dollars would never run out. Mom was a waitress at Carla's Café; it was called Beatrice's Café back then before the name changed when Carla was old enough to take over. The owner and my mother were actually pretty close to each other, close enough that mom wound up becoming the assistant owner.

Dad stayed in his profession as an accountant. He worked from home and kept a catalog of the money that was earned and spent.

Two years later I was born. My mom freaked out about having to now raise a child and do all of the stuff that 'normal' mothers do when they first have a child. Beatrice said that she'd help her out since she had experience with a child of her own. Carla was eight at the time.

Dad was unusually calm about the whole thing though. To this day I wonder why he never panicked over having me. He usually stayed mellow but acted out when something was truly wrong. Perhaps he was just naturally a calm and patient person. You remind me of him in a way.

As a child, I grew to become more attached to my dad. I was just drawn by his calm demeanor that I would cry for him more than I would my mother. I didn't hate her or anything, I loved her, but I loved my dad slightly more than I did her. He was like the sun to me, just so bright and full of passionate love for his wife and daughter.

... When I was seven, I overheard my mother talking to someone on the phone. I didn't know who she was speaking to because of how low the volume was and she was whispering, but from what I could hear from their conversation I could tell it wasn't anything good. I heard the words drugs and money, there were also some very harsh whispers that were made by my mother. Being at that age, I didn't really understand what certain things meant, but a kid in my class had once said that one time his mom was in rehab for taking too many drugs. She used up a lot of the family funds to buy them from some shady guy off of the street.

I panicked afterwards and rushed away from my parent's room. I was scared and confused about why my mom would do something so dangerous. I was in denial about it for a long time, always telling myself she was just sick or that they were for my dad because I just didn't want to believe that my own mother was capable of doing such a thing.

But denying it only made it harder for me to see the truth that was in front of me the entire time.

A year later my brother, James, was adopted into our little family. He was eleven at the time, three years older than me, and very scraggly. My dad had brought him home one day saying that he would be a part of our family; he said something along the lines of him not deserving to live on the streets and starve because of irresponsible parents. Mom was none too pleased about his decision but held back on her displeasure. She just went along with his decision and went off to who knows where. But remember, she made a mysterious call to some creep about money and drugs, well it turns out my fears were correct. One day, I trailed my mom to see what she was up to after I came home from school. I had spent basically the entire afternoon and most of the evening following her, which by the way almost got me hit by a car. What I saw that day, I couldn't believe it. There stood my mother right before me, holding a bag of cylinder looking bottles that had pills in them. With her was a man in a large trench coat looking very sleazy and slimy. The creep had a stack of green paper-it was obviously money- and was counting it like he just made a big score.

I don't remember much that happened after that but I know that I ran straight home, with no thought of turning back. I didn't want to confront my mom about what I saw. If I did…who knows what would have happened. A few months later things started to change in my home. Mom was becoming harsher and colder towards James. It was like she was a different person when it came to my brother. When she thought no one was there she would talk bad to him, she once said that he wasn't wanted here or anywhere and that I was the only child they wanted. One time she even struck him when he spoke back to her in self-defense. My dad soon grew worried and suspicious. Over time our savings had decreased for some odd reason, but I knew why.

Mom was still buying drugs. She just wouldn't stop and I could never figure out why, that is until a year later. She was being contacted by Black Mask, who had discovered what she and dad had done. I forgot to mention that my mom suffered from mental health issues from even when she was in Black Mask's care. He had a special serum made for her and only her. She was special, up until she left and he had the only resources required to produce the medicine for my mom.

I thought that maybe she needed the drugs for her health, I wished it with all my heart, but it wasn't. She was addicted to the stuff; she was popping pills every day. It was breaking my heart seeing just how withdrawn she became. It hurt…it hurt a lot, but the one who was hurt most was my dad when he found out the truth.

For such a calm man, dad was furious. He yelled at her and in response she yelled back. James and I hid in his room but left the door cracked slightly open, we hugged each other for comfort. The yelling got louder and scarier, I felt like a helpless child.

Things went from bad to worse after that.

Beatrice, the café owner, had some unwanted visitors come to her store one day when my mom was working. It was some of Black Mask's thugs and they came armed with guns. I know this sounds familiar because this just happened not too long ago, but this is true. They ransacked the café in order to get my mom to leave with them and Beatrice got shot trying to save my mother, it didn't kill her; thank goodness. She got off with just a mild wound.

In the end they got what they wanted and took my mom, they didn't really give her chance what with them shooting anyone they felt like, if antagonized.

My dad was beyond shocked and horrified. He knew that someday Black Mask would come after us once he found out… We didn't see mom for three years after that day. It broke my dad, making him a mere shell of himself, the sudden change in atmosphere in our household pushed my brother take over things when he saw that dad wasn't getting any better. James was determined to make sure I was taken care of and he was fifteen at the time so I guess he thought he was old enough to become the man of the house. James was…he was very overprotective of me around that time. When we were kids he was distant and wary of all of us. He didn't say a word to anyone until I decided to get him to open up. It took a while but eventually I got him to open up to us…to me. Sorry, I'm getting off topic. I…I just get emotional whenever I think about back then. James was my anchor when dad became indisposed and lost. Maybe that's why he got permission to join the military when he was old enough. He was so stern and disciplined; he and the military were a perfect fit.

It was about three weeks later that we caught word from mom. She told us that she was fine and that nothing bad had happened to her, but she wouldn't comment on whether or not she was coming home. It turns out that she had no plans of returning to us.

Dad was heartbroken, very heartbroken….

One day, after my brother picked me up from school, we walked home. We normally would have gone to Beatrice's house first to hang out with Carla, but that day we decided to change it up and head straight home. I don't know why we decided to do it; maybe it was because James kept saying that he had a bad feeling. In the end that was enough.

…W-What we saw…what we saw that day broke my heart.

I saw…my father; his body was lying motionless on the floor in a pool of blood. There was a gun in his hand and a gunshot wound in his head. He….he…killed himself.

I screamed. My eyes were filled with horror and grief. James ran next to me; he didn't cry or scream like I did, but he did hold me close. He comforted me and tried to assure me that everything would be okay. I knew he was lying though. Nothing was okay after that.

Lou, the guy you met and protected me from, came to us and said that he was a representative of Black Mask. To me, he didn't look like it. He was as dirty then as he is now, but he told us since dad was a once trusted accountant and because he was so excellent at his job, that the mob boss was willing to pay for us.

But just like everything in my life, it came with a price.

I…had to do as my mother once did. I didn't sell myself; my mom's main job was to steal from people on a daily basis. It's how she earned her keep when she was a hooker. When we were told that it was going to be alright, it seems my brother didn't read the fine print. He signed everything away, including me. James didn't accept that, so he went and took out whatever savings we had and used it to buy another apartment.

But that didn't mean I was free from them. Lou ordered me to commit crimes every day. I stole, pick pocketed, and ransacked; it was despicable, but he still seemed like a nice guy…but I was wrong.

A few years later, after Beatrice died, her daughter Carla took over the business when she was old enough and James enlisted himself in the military when he was nineteen. He had such outstanding grades in school that he wound up getting a scholarship to a good military based college. As for me, life was going nowhere. My grades were decent, but not good enough to get accepted into a good college like James, and I was still a thief at sixteen. It was horrible. I was a complete screw-up, doing nothing but ruining any chance I had at having a future. Then, out of nowhere I discovered the whole reason why I was stealing…I got to see my mother again. Lou decided it was time to meet the boss himself. It was an interesting first meeting. He spoke to me rudely, but overall it wasn't that bad. But then I saw her. A few women came into the room, my mother was one of them, and she wore a bedazzled skimpy dress with slits up her thighs. My eyes went wide with pure anger. I was downright furious with her. How could she do that to us, my brother, to me…to dad? Supposedly she wasn't all that surprised to see me; she in fact acted like she didn't know I existed at all. She didn't even glance in my direction. I was hurt by that.

From that day on, I was broken. My mother, the woman who birthed me into this world, the one who played with me and fed me, that…miserable woman who thought more of herself than her own family, ruined my life. She was dead to me.

And I will never forgive her for it.

(End Flashback)

Carson huffed in anger while she took another sip of her orange juice. Itachi surveyed her carefully, barely blinking while doing so. Her story definitely intrigued him and if it did nothing else it confirmed a hunch he had.

Carson was almost a mirror reminder of his brother, Sasuke.

The girl held deep hatred for her mother, a hatred that has been growing for years now. Though he could understand why she hated her mother, he didn't want to pass judgment on her mom without at least hearing her side of the story because if Itachi knew anything from his short life it was that there are always three sides to every story; his side, her side, and the truth. He didn't want Carson to go through the same path as his brother which was a path that leads to self-loathing and self-destruction. As long as he could help it he would make sure she wouldn't walk that path.

"What do you think, Itachi? Was my story depressing," Carson asked catching his attention.

"Your story….is only as depressing as you want it to be," Itachi tilted his head to the side, "You just have to remember that your story is not set in stone. Just because it starts off dark and painful doesn't mean it can't end in the light of joy. It's all up to you, because you and you alone are the author of your story." Since arriving in this world, Itachi has reflected on his life back home, from start to finish. He had been a rogue ninja who committed one of the most unforgivable acts in the history of his village, murdering his entire clan and family with the exception of only his brother. Sasuke grew up surrounded by loneliness and hatred because of Itachi's sins. He thought his death would quell that hatred but it only grew stronger and now he aims it at the place where Itachi and he called home. It was his hope that somehow his little brother would finally see the light, the same light Itachi saw despite all the darkness around him. He knew in order to do that, it would take a friend. And the same goes for Carson. Naruto is Sasuke's friend and Itachi knows he has to be Carson's friend.

"Itachi," Carson called.

Itachi turned her way again. He saw her looking down at the table nervously. She had one of her hands twirling the end of her loose brown hair. She lifted her head slowly; her brown eyes glistened behind her glasses as she stared into his onyx eyes.

Carson looked like she was about to cry as she continued to look into Itachi's eyes. He could see that unraveling old wounds was painful and hard for her, even without his sharingan he could see it from the look on her face. She really wanted to cry. He sighed knowing he had no other choice.

"Come here," he said while scooting his chair out and opening his arms wide. Without another word, Carson got up and ran into his arms. Her face fell into his chest and her hands clutched the front of his hoodie as she began to sob. Itachi wrapped his arms around her loosely. He listened to the girl cry silently except for the occasional chocked out sobs she let out. It sounded like she was saying something but it never came out clearly. He did all he could, which was to be there for her in her time of need since he was never able to do that for his brother.

When he felt Carson had stopped crying he gently pat her back and whispered words of encouragement to her.

"Are you finished," he asked. He felt her nod against his chest. He expected her to let him go and step back in embarrassment, but she never did. Instead of letting go, she held on tighter as if out of fear that if she let go then he might disappear forever.

"Itachi," she said once again.

"Yes." What is she going to ask this time, he thought.

"I know I seem like such a drama queen right now, but…I just wanted to pour my heart out to someone. I couldn't keep that bottled up inside while I kept going on with my life. It would destroy me. I was hoping that if you're willing, that you'd tell me your story."

Itachi was silent. His story was so complicated because his story wasn't just his; it was the story of pretty much an entire bloodline. He didn't know if he had the right to tell it. If he had his way his brother would have never discovered the truth so how could he bring himself to telling it again. He promised himself he'd never have to. But as he looked into Carson's eyes, something about them made it hard for him to lie to her. "Maybe one day…when I'm finally ready to talk about it."

She smiled at him. It may not have been a definite yes, but she still considered it to be a major step forward in their friendship.

"Thank you. Since you're staying with me, I want to know about you; I want to know where you came from and also what hardships you had to deal with in order to get here." Itachi sighed. He really didn't want to share any of his past. It wasn't because he didn't trust her, but because he didn't want her view of him to change and hearing his story would definitely change her opinion of him.

He looked down at her and saw her eyelids were starting to lower. It seems all of that crying made her pretty tired. He lifted her up and walked her into her bedroom. He'd never really been in her room before so when he was inside he took a look around. She had many posters and pictures on her wall. Some of them had people on it while others had shows that she had told him about; such as Agents of Shield. Some of the others had bands that she tried and failed to get him to listen to. Even back home, he found the performing arts to be a bit dull. The rest of her room was pretty basic besides the pink night stand, lamp, and alarm clock she owned. She said she wasn't much of a girly person.

Itachi took her over to her bed and laid her down softly so he wouldn't disturb her slumber. He took one of the blankets on the edge of the bed and unfolded it so he could lay it on top of Carson. He let out a small smile when he saw how at peace she was. Before he forgot, he peered down and took off her glasses to set them on the night stand beside her.

"Hmmm…Itachi," he heard her mumble under her breath.

Itachi smiled down at her while moving his hand to touch her forehead like how he used to do with Sasuke when they were younger. He had his middle and index fingers pointed out and was about to touch her when he stopped. He gazed down at Carson's sleeping form as he slowly started to back away.

He returned his hand to his side and silently left out of her room. As he closed the door behind him he reflected on everything that had happened today. After hearing her story it all was starting to make sense. He needed to end this quarrel Carson had with Black Mask and he knew just how to do it. Itachi was going to find Carson's mother, hear her side of the story, and finally bring her home. That was the only way this would finally end. He looked back at the closed door to Carson's room and sighed from recalling what he almost did earlier.

"What am I doing?"

Right now Batman was buried in deep concentration. He was using his computer to try and deduce the identities of all of the people involved in the Café ransack. Thanks to all of the information provided to him by Gordon the process of it all was greatly reduced. If he knew Roman Sionis like how he thought he did, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time something like this happened. He was a man who held grudges. The identity of the mysterious hooded man that the cafe owner mentioned also greatly bothered him.

As he was typing he heard his ward/protégé walk up beside him to observe what was on the screen.

"Wow Bruce, you really are deadset on finding this hooded guy," he noted. Bruce barely gave him a response. All he did was grunt in reply.

"Why are you looking for that guy? Wouldn't it be better to go after Black Mask for sending those men to that café? I mean…a mother died because of him."

Batman turned and faced his ward, "I plan on finding Sionis, but in order to do that I need to find that hooded suspect. I don't like that he showed up at the café and then one of the Black Mask's most trusted subordinates wound up dead. And if I don't like it, then I can guarantee you that Sionis absolutely hated it. He's going want payback and not just on him, but on this Carson girl as well. I think that they are connected somehow so it is imperative that we find them and get answers before Black Mask does. I will not have a grudge war waged in Gotham."

"How do you plan on finding him Bruce? We didn't pick up any trace of him from street cameras and none of the witnesses gave any indication as to where we could start a search. He obviously doesn't want to be found. He's practically a ghost. Example; you haven't found one trace or rumor about him in our database.

"True, we can't find anything on him and it has piqued my interest, but we do have something on Carson. Though witnesses say they left the café separately, I have a hunch that finding one will lead us to the other. Right now I have her true identity narrowed down to three possible residents of Gotham; Carson Smith, Carson Collins, and Carson Williams. Once I find out which Carson is the one Black Mask wants, we will interrogate her on why she is a target of Sionis and on his possible whereabouts. But most importantly we will keep her protected until Black Mask is brought to justice."

"That sounds like a plan Bruce, but what about our hooded suspect. What are we going to do if we find him with her," Dick asked.

"Well that depends on Carson when we find her; if she is forthcoming with everything including his identity and where to find him then I'll interrogate him and go from there," he answered.

"And if she proceeds to be a problem or isn't forthcoming, then what's our play," he asked.

"We would have to go after him then. She is the only thing that can protect him because the bottom line is that a man died in that café and there must be justice for that. We will bring that suspect down unless she gives us a reason not to. She will determine just how far this rabbit hole will go."

Dick nodded his head reluctantly. He didn't want to go after this girl and her apparent acquaintance but he knew that if they didn't capitulate to Batman then it would not be up to him. Even with his doubts on whether or not they were guilty or innocent he knew not to challenge Batman on it. He'd follow his lead anywhere. He just hoped for their sake that they have nothing to hide, because the Batman will always find your darkest secrets. He left and went up to his room to get some sleep.

Bruce stayed in his Batcave to keep on his search. The quicker I find this girl, the quicker I can end this before another child loses its parent. That won't happen again, not on my watch.

Sorry for the long wait on the update. Family issues delayed me but here I am again. The next update won't take as long as this one did. Hope you enjoy it!