May I Live Once in Peace

by Two Halfs One Whole

"You don't have to forgive me, but no matter what you decide to do from now on...know that I will always love you."- Itachi Uchiha Though he lived a strenuous life he was able to tell his younger brother Sasuke how he truly felt. But now he has been brought back once more and placed in a new world with more problems than he ever thought possible. Adopted from Anime hotty lover.18

35. Ruthless

adam199118 - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Anime hotty lover.18 – I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! It was fun writing him back too. I hope you had a good holiday!

Trollzor69 – I thought it was time to even the odds a bit.

ActionTReaction – Just gotta give me time. I make sure that the story explains itself, though I do make mistakes here and there. I'm glad you liked the chapter though.

Anon23 – hey, if someone burned my 22 million dollars, I'd be pissed too. Everyone can't be billionaires unfortunately, lol.

Anon23 – Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I definitely wouldn't categorize 7 feet tall and 200 pounds as being a stick. Especially since Itachi is from a world where being 5'10 is considered tall.

Mr. Shiki – nope, just gotta have patience and let the story tell itself out. But thanks for the constructive criticism.

Brave2000 – It most definitely got real in this fight.

Mathew5641 – Yup, Itachi definitely has limitations on how he can use his eyes, but man it sure was awesome writing the action scenes out. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it.

Guest – Itachi and PowerGirl would work well together, to an extent. Both come from different worlds and different upbringings so it definitely would take some adjustments. There was no point in making them watch him torture someone. They had already known at that point that Itachi was dangerous. And Itachi is such a multi-dimensional character that I think he goes well with most material/genres. Great questions.

TianYi – Sometimes, someone's safety is more important than their feelings.

Kh fan – sadly Itachi doesn't use Chidori, but Wrath still gets to face the pain in different ways. And Carson and Itachi finally get to take a good next step.

Fax15 – umm, thanks?

Huongdaoroma – trust me, I bet you aren't the only one. Just wait to you get to Wrath's saga.

Devingo1999 – I have purposely avoided watching Young Justice season three so that it wouldn't affect how this story progressed. If you all want it enough, there will be a sequel that goes into season 2 and one into season 3 if you all want that too. I just want the story to stay consistent is all. And I'm glad you liked last chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one too.

Gabe – you ain't seen nothing yet man, this chapter is just as good.

Guest – Just read this chapter and all of your Nagato questions will be answered.

Scpsecurecontain123 – done and done.

---

"Itachi, you're back!" Artemis shouted as she started to run towards her friend. She stopped when she saw the cold look in his eyes. That and the fact that Itachi's right eye was now an ominous shade of purple. Superman noticed the cold air around Itachi and tried to rein him back down to Earth.

"Itachi, we're back. We're not in that hell world anymore. You're scaring your friends." Superman warned, but Itachi completely ignored him.

"I don't sense anyone else here in the Cave. I assume that they're all gone. Where did they go?" Itachi asked.

"I see you're as sentimental as always. We literally just got you back from that genjutsu world and the first thing you can think of doing is going after the guy who put you in there." Artemis argued.

Itachi looked away from her and saw Carson off at a distance. She hadn't said much since Itachi and Superman crossed back into their world. Itachi sensed what was ailing her and tried to put her mind at ease, "I don't blame you for what happened with Wrath. You couldn't have known what he had planned."

Carson hadn't expected those words. It was the first time since coming back that Itachi sounded like the old Itachi. Carson didn't know how to respond to that. All she could do was start crying as everything that had happened from the past month all came crashing down on her. Artemis went to her friend to comfort her as she understood what she was going through. A month ago, someone they both loved was killed in front of them and by some miracle he had come back from the dead.

"The others went to Wrath's hideout to bring him down, or at least hold him off until the rest of the Justice League can finally secure Arkham Asylum since it is his next target. But there was a prison riot and now all of the inmates are running loose. The Leaguers are trying as best as they can to contain the situation but there are already reports of inmates escaping. And to make things worse, we haven't heard from our friends since James told us that Wrath had beaten all of them." Zatanna informed him.

"I see. Superman, can you please go to Arkham to help the other Leaguers? I will take care of Wrath and save the others." Itachi requested.

"I'll go, but a word of advice from one hero to another; you're friends already said goodbye and mourned you once. Please don't make them do it again." Superman said. Itachi gave him a cold look as he responded, "I'm no hero. I only keep moving forward, being whatever the world needs me to be. And I have no intention of dying."

Superman could tell the being in that genjutsu world had changed Itachi. He couldn't find a word to describe how, but the hero knew that Itachi wasn't like how he was before. All he could hope for is that Itachi's kind heart stayed pact through the trauma, "I see. We'll I'll head off to Arkham. Then we can all stop Wrath together."

"Superman! Before you leave, you have to know something." Zatanna called out.

"I'm listening." He responded.

"It's about Billy. He's alive! He's with his foster family recovering. You didn't fail him." She revealed. This news almost made Clark shed a tear of relief and joy. He knew that after the chaos was over that he would fly over to the young boy and visit him. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his broad shoulders, "Thank you. Hearing that means so much to me."

"Now go kick their butts!" She said as he flew off like a rocket ship. Zatanna was glad to be able to cheer Superman up. Now all she had to do was find a way to make Itachi's pain go away too. The problem is that Itachi seems to be holding on to that pain for dear life. Itachi started walking away from the girls and went towards the Cave exit.

"Wrath has the others in an abandoned Argus facility that is serving as his hideout. It's on the outskirts of Gotham. This tracker will show you how to get there using the secret route the others took." Artemis said as she gave him the tracker.

"Thank you, but there will be no sneaking in. I want him to know it's me when I take him down. Plus, while his attention is on me you and Zatanna can sneak in and rescue the others." Itachi revealed.

"You're taking us with you?" Artemis asked while not believing what she had just heard. Zatanna and Carson were also shocked.

"Yes, we are a team, aren't we? Just promise that no matter what happens between Wrath and I that you won't interfere. This is a battle of the Uchiha." Itachi requested.

"What are you planning?" Zatanna asked as she and Artemis started following Itachi. He ignored them and turned towards Carson to give her a sad smile since he knew that leaving this soon after being brought back would hurt her, "We'll talk after this is all over."

"Sure thing. Just don't die again." Carson responded with a warm smile. Itachi nodded his head as Zatanna and Artemis him at the outside exit. Artemis told her friend not to worry because this time Itachi will have his friends as backup.

Itachi flared his chakra and summoned his perfect Susanoo. Zatanna watched in awe because she had never seen this version of his Susanoo before. It towered over most mountains. Artemis and Carson smiled because that was probably their first reactions to seeing it too. Itachi told Zatanna and Artemis to hold on tightly as he rocketed away for his final fight with his clone Wrath. Carson only hoped that the nightmare would finally end after the battle.

---

Wrath had James by the throat as the young heroes that he had incapacitated were all in unique prisons. Aqualad and Miss Martian were in a Hedoro cage that was currently on fire to prevent them from escaping. Wally and Robin were incased in Katamarimasu from the neck down to prevent them from even calling for backup. And finally, Superboy was completely submerged in Katamarimasu and it was predesigned to crush the hero if he even moved an inch while trapped in it. Only James was free and Wrath was taking care of that situation now.

"Who did you just radio for?" Wrath asked as he started choking James even harder.

"I-I'll…never…tell you!" James replied defiantly. Wrath gave him a stoic look as he released the former soldier. James gasped for air as he finally could feel oxygen reaching his brain again. Wrath used his power to trap James in a prison of Hedoro like the others, "I have someone who cares about me. It would hurt them if I died so I will do everything in my power in order to prevent that from happening. So tell me who you just radioed before someone you care about gets really sad about what is about to happen to you."

"Who could care about a murderer like you?! Do whatever you want you murderer. I'm not afraid to die so that you will finally be stopped." James replied in an act of conviction.

"Who said anything about killing you? I already told you that I need you for the new world that I plan on creating. No, I'm not going to kill you. I'll just hurt you and make you bleed…a lot." Wrath threatened.

"Big talk coming from a coward like you! Release us and we'll see who ends up bleeding a lot." Robin threatened.

"You should try to stop talking as much kid. I broke more than a few of your ribs from that last attack so I know you are in immense pain. You don't have to act tough. I've already won. The people of this world no longer trusts you heroes, you're all captured and unable to stop me, and Itachi is dead and unable to save you all. I take it the people that James called were Artemis and Zatanna since they were the only ones who were left behind. I don't know how an archer and some second rate magician is supposed to help you, but if they're in such a rush to get captured I have a cell waiting for them too." Wrath coldly said.

"That someone who cares about you, you didn't mean my sister, did you? She's in love with Itachi, not you. So leave her out of this mess. Haven't you hurt her enough? You tricked her into helping you kill the man she loved. Please, leave my sister be." James begged as he started losing hope.

"I wasn't referring to Carson. I never meant to hurt her or make her suffer. I know she loved Itachi, but for this new world to be born, he had to die. There was no other way around it. There are two people who I have my eyes on. One of them is the person I was referring to. She was the reason I blew up the Gotham Cathedral. I wanted to end her suffering at the hands of men who only sought to take advantage of weak, defenseless, little girls like her. That institution sat there and enabled monsters like the Dollmaker to abuse children like her. How could I sit back and let something so evil keep conspiring? How could any of you? What, just because I killed them all that makes me a monster? Darkness only responds to more darkness. Even Itachi knew that." Wrath said.

"Itachi never killed innocent people like how you did! Itachi-" Miss Martian was interrupted by Wrath's cold glare, "Itachi murdered our entire clan even though he knew not everyone was involved in the planned coup. He did the same thing that I did. He and I are no different from each other. So why do you hate me but you tolerate a murderer like him?"

That silenced the group. They had no idea how to respond. Wrath took note of that and began to leave so that he could take care of business at Arkham. Just as he was about to leave, Wally called out to him, "We care about him because he's our friend and we know he's not evil. You and him are different. You keep looking for enemies to fight, it doesn't matter how many you kill. It will never be enough for you. Itachi fights so that the day may come where he doesn't have to anymore. I'll admit that when I learned the truth about him I thought just like how you do and judged him harshly, but after being around him this entire time, he let me into his heart and let me be able to call him my friend. I mourned him just like how you mourned your family, just like how we all should have mourned that little girl's pain. He doesn't manipulate people's feelings of love and trust for his own gain like how you do! Itachi was, no, is a good man and our friend and you took that away from us, from the entire world. You think you're the hope of the world, well you're wrong! Itachi Uchiha is the hero we need and the one we choose! You're just a fake knockoff who's going to be brought to justice for your crimes! Mark my words! You haven't won yet!"

Wally words shocked everyone around him. None of them knew that Wally thought so highly of Itachi. Wrath glared at the speedster as his Mangekyo Sharingan flared. He started walking towards them as his Shinigami Scythe formed in his hands, "I've had a change of heart. Maybe I don't need you in my new world after all. Goodbye, speedster."

Just before he could strike Wally down, a giant explosion caused the roof to cave in as a gigantic, red sword got in the middle of Wrath and his intended target. Wrath stood in shock as the dust settled and revealed the one person he couldn't believe he was seeing. It was like seeing a ghost to Wrath. The person responsible for this response was none other than Itachi Uchiha.

They both stared at each other for what seemed like years. Though in reality, only mere seconds had passed. Neither of them spoke for the longest time as the blade of Itachi's perfect Susanoo dissipated right in front of them. Wrath smiled at his clone.

"You survived. Of course you did. Honestly, I'm not even surprised. So what brings you here to my home, Itachi? Obviously it's not revenge or else you would have made sure to pierce me with your new Totsuka Blade. I take it you got that one from the Pure Lands like how you got the first one. Don't tell me you're still on this justice crusade. As if you even know what that word means." Wrath taunted.

"Justice…no. I have no desire to see you in a prison. If I did, I would have sealed you with the Totsuka Blade like how you sealed me. That hell is too good for you. I want to be the one who kills you, not some genjutsu. Wrath, this 'home' will be your tomb just in the way that mother and father's home wound up being their tombs." Itachi promised.

That statement managed to break Wrath's taunting smile as rage starting to rise up inside of him. Itachi had to outward reaction to Wrath's change, he only cared about seeing his clone dead. Wrath steeled his face as the pinwheel in his Mangekyo Sharingan stated spinning. He noticed that the Hedoro that was holding his friends hostage started subsiding. He assumed that this is Wrath's doing.

"There will be no excuses this time. No tricks, no gimmicks, and no distractions. This time, Itachi, I will kill you with my bare hands. I even let your friends go as a sign of good faith. Not that you'll be able to rescue them considering your about to be slaughtered. Might as well let them have another front row seat to it. They're used to seeing you die by now." Wrath said.

Itachi ignored his taunting as he felt Artemis and Zatanna sneaking around to try and secure their friends from the area. Before making his big entrance, Itachi dropped the two of them off at the hidden entrance that James had told them about. That took Itachi using his Rinnegan to open an underwater pathway deep enough for them to reach it by using Almighty Push, which drained his Rinnegan's power. The plan was for Itachi to act as a distraction so that Zatanna and Artemis could rescue them. Then once they were all safe, they would join in and help Itachi apprehend Wrath so that he could face justice for his crimes. Too bad Itachi had different plans for them.

'Please forgive me,' Itachi thought as he set his plan into motion. He stared at Wrath as the last of his friends were rounded up by Zatanna and Artemis. He flared is chakra as his true plan began to unfold, "Sorry Wrath, but this will be between you and I alone."

Just as the Team were all rescued and getting ready to join Itachi on the battle field. They were all happy to see their friend alive and couldn't wait to fight beside him again. But before they could do that, Conner caught word of what Itachi just said to Wrath and paused.

"Why did he say that he would fight them alone?" Conner questioned. Artemis looked at him incredulously and got ready to lash out at Itachi for saying this. Before she could though, Zatanna kicked her back into the others, much to everyone's surprise. They all looked on in shock as her emotionless state gazed upon them. Robin called out to her, "Zatanna, what are you doing?! We're supposed to be helping Itachi!"

"Did you forget the plan?!" Artemis shouted. Zatanna had no response. It was like her eyes had no soul in them. Conner recognized this look and so did M'gann. They both new that Zatanna was in a genjutsu, "Be careful. She's been put under a genjutsu. But when did Wrath get the chance to initiate it when she just got here?"

Artemis looked down in hurt when she realized who was really behind this, "This isn't Wrath's doing; it's Itachi's."

They all looked at her in surprise. Zatanna's emotionless face turned into a sad smile which pretty much confirmed Artemis's deduction, "I'm sorry…guys. But I have to do this alone."

"But we just got you back!" M'gann cried out sadly with tears in her eyes. Zatanna shook her head, "I…I couldn't bare it if any of you died because of me. I will live with what happened to Hal Jordan for the rest of my life. I won't lose you too. I'm sending you back to the Cave. It's the only place I know he can't get to you. Enough people have died because of me. It's time someone finally lived because of me. I failed at saving my friends, my home, and my family. Let me, for once, finally be able to save someone."

"But we choose to fight with you! We're a team and we're a family. Family doesn't abandon each other!" Artemis shouted with tears in her eyes. She was having flashbacks to when her sister left her all those years ago.

"I'm sorry, Artemis. Maybe next time." Zatanna said though they were clearly Itachi's words being spoken. Conner had had enough of these words and decided to move into action, "She can't stop all of us! Let's go!"

They tried to sprint past her but Itachi chose to take control of her for a reason. It was for her ability to cast powerful spells, "Laes eht terces ecnartne dna tropelet su lla kcab eht Evac!"

The Team found themselves being sucked into a portal that led back into the Cave against their will. Zatanna was released from the genjutsu and sucked into the portal first. Itachi planned it out that way so she wouldn't be able to undo it. She'd also be rendered unconscious until the fight between Itachi and Wrath ended. One by one, the other members of the Team were all sucked into the portal. Artemis was the last one left as she hung on by a thread. She saw Itachi staring at Wrath and shed a tear. She finally slipped and got sucked in. What hurt Artemis the most was the fact that her friend would be facing someone who was already strong enough to kill him once before. Now, she won't even be able to help him. She won't even be able to know whether or not Itachi lived or died. That was what hurt her the most.

'Damn you, Itachi…' She thought as she got sucked in.

---

Wrath heard the portal sucked the hostages in right before it finally closed. He smiled and shook his head at Itachi, "I take it that portal was something you came up with. I guess your plans and theirs just didn't coincide with each other. Planning on taking me on alone again, Itachi? Did you not learn your lesson the last time?"

"Enough talking." Itachi said as he got ready to fight. Both his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan flared to match his intensity. Wrath took note of Itachi's new eye before getting ready to fight to the death, "Such a fine eye is wasted on an Uchiha peace seeker like you. I'll take it from your smoldering, dead corpse after I've killed you. It'll be of much more use to me in establishing my new world."

Itachi didn't even humor him with a response as he sprinted forward. Wrath matched him as he, too, burst into a sprint. Both of them were thinking the same thing as time seemed to slow down. Their future, the future of the entire world, and the future of the Uchiha Clan would all be determined by the outcome of this fight.

'I…will not lose here!' Both thought as they charged ahead. Itachi knew he had to wait before he could use his full power because he needed to use his Rinnegan to get Artemis and Zatanna through the underwater entrance safely. That meant that, for now at least, he would have to start this fight in Wrath's most dangerous aspect; taijutsu. Itachi knew that based on how their last fight ended, that Wrath was far more superior at taijutsu than Itachi was. But like their last fight, Itachi hoped his superior visual prowess would help even the odds.

'This fool is really going to charge at me in a straight up fist fight. Fine, I'll just pummel him to death.' Wrath thought as he hardened his fists with Katamarimasu. The two met in the middle of the battlefield.

Itachi swung first with an overhead right that Wrath blocked it with a kick and countered with a fast jab-cross-hook combination. Itachi threw a wide left handed back fist to try and hit Wrath, but his clone ducked it, used his free hand to grip Itachi's right shoulder to stay within striking range, and popped back up with two jabs to the body and a hook that connected with Itachi's jaw and knocked his head back as blood was drawn with the hit.

Itachi tried to recover by coming back with a 12 to 6 overhead elbow that was aimed at the crown of Wrath's skull. Wrath dodged it by weaving over towards Itachi's left since it was now exposed thanks to the missed elbow attack. Wrath got in three quick jabs before Itachi kneed him in the stomach. Itachi threw an overhead left hammerfist since Wrath was still kneeled over by the knee, but Wrath recovered just in time to block it before major damage was done.

Itachi moved fast and threw a right handed shovel uppercut that Wrath was only just able to dodge it. Itachi knew that would be the case and followed up with a left backfist but that was also blocked by Wrath as his clone shielded his face with both arms. Itachi saw this as his opportunity as he changed his levels and hit him in his chest with a clean right cross. He tried to follow up by hitting the stunned Wrath with a left jab to the jaw, but Wrath parried that away and made Itachi pay for it with a sick jab to his body and cross to his face. Itachi powered through it and connected with a cross to Wrath's face. Before Itachi could follow up on it to try and string together a combination, Wrath parried Itachi's follow up attack and countered with a kick to Itachi's body.

Itachi saw that he was starting to be quicker with his counters. Wrath threw a right hook that Itachi was able to dodge with a level change and followed that up with a front kick to Wrath's body. Wrath pushed through the pain and threw a volley of punches, but Itachi only got hit by the last one. Wrath then changed his levels to throw a wide left hook. It was a move that Itachi mirrored as he changed his level to duck the hook shot and countered with another front kick. Only this time, Itachi was able to follow the kick up with a quick right handed back fist that surprised Wrath enough to halt an oncoming left hook. Wrath recovered though and threw a wide overhead right hook that Itachi saw a mile away as he ducked it to deliver a quick right hook to Wrath's body. When Itachi tried to follow up that attack with a power left hook shot, but Wrath ducked that attack to avoid damage. Wrath came back up with dangerous intent as a strong right cross was thrown. Itachi met him head on as he threw a right cross of his own. The result of the clash saw both the Uchiha get launched airborne as both went several feet backwards.

Wrath landed gracefully on his feet as he watched Itachi landed painfully on the ground from having taken the worst of that exchange thanks to Katamarimasu increasing the power of Wrath's attacks. He was disgusted that Itachi was starting to actually push him back in that taijutsu exchange just like he did in that last fight, 'He using his visual prowess to try and make up whatever distance there is between us in taijutsu. But that requires him to actually get in the trenches and stay there until his eyes can finally get a handle on my technique. A good strategy. Too bad for him that I have more than one fighting style.'

Itachi back flipped away from where he landed and launched a surprise attack at his clone, 'Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!'

'He had time to weave hand signs during our exchange?!' Wrath thought as he quickly moved to weave hand signs of his own, "Well two can play that game! Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The two of them launched fire attacks that collided and resulted in a gigantic explosion that caused the entire room to be filled with smoke. Wrath couldn't see anything thanks to the smoke now and prepared his defenses accordingly. Itachi, on the hand, went straight on the offensive, 'Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!'

A barrage of small fireballs was launched at Wrath through the smoke. Wrath saw them at the last second and weaved hand signs for a jutsu to block the attack, "Earth Style! Mud Wall Jutsu!"

A moderate sized wall of earth rose up from the ground to take on the brunt of the barrage. Just as he felt the barrage start to subside, Wrath was blindsided by a Fireball Jutsu that Itachi launched to coincide with the Phoenix Flower Jutsu he had launched earlier. Before the final blast could land, Wrath hardened his Mud Wall Jutsu with Hedoro and Katamarimasu to bulk up his defenses. The result of the clash was another explosion that further hindered Wrath's visibility of the field. Itachi took full advantage of it and charged ahead under the veil of the smoke.

Itachi was able to maneuver around Wrath's wall to try to get a clean stab at his opponent's back with a kunai. Wrath turned at the last second and drew a kunai of his own as the two clashed. Wrath wound up using his free hand to grab Itachi's wrist and halting the attack, and Itachi did the same thing as the two were in a standoff.

"I'm impressed. Using the fire jutsu to not only halt any offense I tried to mount, but also increase the density of the smoke to shield yourself from my eyes so that you could sneak around to get a shot at my back. I'd expect no less from you, Itachi. It's too bad that I also saw it coming a mile away!" Wrath revealed as a clone emerged from the ground with a Shinigami Scythe in hand.

Wrath swung the scythe at Itachi, who was helpless because Wrath's grip on him prevented him from escaping. Itachi planned for something like this to happen as it was revealed that the Itachi in Wrath's grip was just a shadow clone. The clone dematerialized into a flock of crows just before the clone could slice into it. When the flock of crows cleared, an airborne Itachi revealed himself, and he now had both Wrath and his clone in his sights as he prepared his next attack.

'He sent that clone in to draw my trap out so that he'd have a clear shot at both of us,' Wrath thought as he saw Itachi weaved the necessary hand signs for yet another fire attack. He knew what that meant as Itachi aimed his blast directly at him, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

The searing hot fireball shot directly at Wrath, whom had to think quickly or else he'd be burned to death by Itachi's flames. Before it could make impact, Wrath had his clone jump up to take the brunt of the attack. It resulted in the clone being incinerated into smoke. The fireball didn't stop there though and keep moving towards Wrath. Wrath knew he had only one option left as a defense against that and flared his chakra up in preparation of it. Itachi recognized it well since I was the main reason he lost their last fight; Wrath's Susanoo had finally revealed itself.

It was only a ribcage and left arm, but it did the job it needed to as the conjuring palmed the fire blast in is hand to shield its user from harm. Itachi decided to switch it up and take advantage of the fact that thanks to his Susanoo, Wrath was now one giant target that would be easy to hit with one of his more potent jutsu.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi's right eye started to bleed as the black heavenly flames shot at the fireball that was caught by Wrath's Susanoo and completed burned it away just like how he did with Sasuke's when they fought long ago. Only this time, the black flames kept going and engulfed Wrath's Susanoo as Itachi's goal was to burn everything down in his path. Wrath had no choice but to eject himself from his Susanoo and watch as it was burned away by Itachi's Amaterasu.

Itachi moved fast reengaged Wrath in combat with a forearm thrust before he could let up. Wrath met him head on with a forearm thrust as the two clashed and were in yet another standoff. Wrath leered at Itachi as he prepared his counter strategy. It was clear to him that Itachi was trying to even the playing field by using ninjutsu and misdirection. He knew that the only way to get this fight back in his favor was to get it back to a grounded taijutsu fight.

'I'm not done yet!' Wrath thought as he rebounded backwards to get some distance. It was clear by Itachi's stance that he was confident enough in his ability to use his visual prowess that he was about to engage in taijutsu, 'He probably means to conserve chakra and thinks by how the last exchange went that he'd fare better than last time. Big mistake.'

Wrath changed his fighting stance to more of a modern fighting stance rather than the traditional Uchiha taijutsu stance he had previously been using like Itachi. Wrath also rehardened his hands with Katamarimasu to increase his power. He could tell by the small shuffling of Itachi's feet that it threw him off. Both charged forward to reengage in a fight that would determine the fate of the world.

Itachi threw a front kick that Wrath checked down. He followed the kick with a wide left hook that Wrath blocked with ease. Itachi didn't stop there and threw a hook, cross, side kick, and knee combination that all got blocked by Wrath as well. Wrath saw an opening and hit Itachi with a straight right cross to his chest and added a strong front kick to push Itachi back. Itachi wound up with his back against the wall with Wrath closely stalking him down. Wrath threw a hook and cross at his opponent that were meant to take Itachi's head off. Itachi dodged both attacks which led to Wrath punching holes in the wall.

Itachi kicked Wrath in his midsection three times to push him back into an open area. Before Wrath could recover, Itachi kicked him two more times only this time in a face. One was a side kick to the head and the follow up was a spinning roundhouse heel kick. This time Wrath was the one who was put against the wall as Itachi eyed him down.

Wrath smiled before getting back into his stance, "I'm going to enjoy watching you die a third time, Itachi."

Wrath's fighting intensity grew even fiercer as he threw overhand left that pushed Itachi back even though he blocked both of them. The Katamarimasu made it feel like Itachi's arms were going to break just from blocking it. Wrath followed up with a right cross to Itachi's chest that stunned him. Itachi threw a kick to try a get Wrath pushed back, but his clone checked the kick and countered by delivering an oblique kick to Itachi's plant leg that was so powerful that it caused Itachi to lose his footing and led to Wrath punching him in the chest so hard that he flew back into the wall, leaving a giant hole from where his body made impact.

Itachi quickly rebounded by kicking Wrath back before the clone could do more damage. Itachi wanted to avoid Wrath's hardened fists at all costs. Itachi threw a right cross that Wrath caught since he saw it a mile away. Itachi used his free hand to slap Wrath's hand away and launched a volley of body shots to Wrath that all landed. In fact, Wrath didn't even make an attempt to block or dodge any of them as the final one ended with Itachi hitting him in his jaw. They seemed to have had little to no effect on him because he quickly countered by catching an incoming hook shot by Itachi and putting it under his arm in a chicken wing hold. When Itachi tried to use his free hand to free himself, that hand was put in a chicken win as well. Wrath started headbutting Itachi now that he had him within range.

After two headbutts, Itachi used his knee to create space to escape Wrath's clinch. Having seen that he was about to lose his grip on the hold, Wrath decided to release Itachi hands and hit him in his chest with a right cross to send him stumbling backwards. He slowly stalked Itachi before throwing a jab, hook, cross combination that Itachi was able to dodge. Itachi threw an overhand right chop to create an angle for a kick, but Wrath weaved in the opposite direction of what Itachi had intended to and now had a clean look at Itachi's ribs. Wrath delivered a hook shot and a forearm shiver to Itachi's ribs and finished the combination with an uppercut that had Itachi reeling.

Before Wrath could follow up with another combination, Itachi exploded forward with a head kick that push the clone backwards. Itachi then followed up with a backfist to Wrath's body, an elbow to his head, and a leaping knee that connected with Wrath's chest. Itachi didn't want to give Wrath time to recover and sprinted to his next attack which was a hook punch that led to a cross to Wrath's body. Only Wrath blocked the cross and landed one of his own that was so powerful that it sent Itachi back several feet.

Itachi landed on his back and started coughing up blood as his body reacted to the damage that it was taking. Itachi got back up, showing no fear of his clone, and got back into his fighting stance with conviction. Wrath charged forward with a leading jab, but this time it was Itachi who blocked it and wrapped it into a chicken wing hold. Itachi used his free hand to get a shot at Wrath jaw before the clone tried to get free of Itachi's grip. Itachi caught Wrath's free hand and wrapped it in a hold too. Now Itachi had Wrath trapped just like how he had Itachi trapped earlier. Wrath couldn't believe that Itachi was still copying his fighting style and pretty much learning on the fly. Itachi didn't used headbutts though, but instead went with high knees to Wrath's head.

After two, Itachi freed Wrath by kicking him backwards and summoned a kunai knife. He then sprinted at his clone and leapt into a triple air kick. He connected on all three kicks before landing and throwing a right cross at Wrath, who managed to grab Itachi's wrist to stop it right before it connected with his jaw. However, Wrath didn't see the kunai that Itachi had summoned and got surprised when Itachi revealed the kunai and plunged it right into Wrath's jugular. Wrath had blood oozing from his mouth and throat. He tried to rip the blade free, but Itachi kicked the hand away and kept on the attack to prevent his clone from healing himself.

Seeing that his clone was on the ropes, Itachi kept pushing the pace with a quick left hook to Wrath's head. Itachi then connected with a right cross to Wrath's chest and followed that up with a side kick to his chest as well. Itachi went for a roundhouse kick, but Wrath caught it and kept the leg straddled to his hip with no intention of letting go. It was fine with Itachi as he took advantage of the fact that Wrath only had one arm to block with now. Itachi connected with a right elbow to Wrath's jaw and a left hook that landed right behind Wrath's ear. He tried for another hook shot to get his leg to be let go of, but Wrath blocked it and lifted Itachi up in the air to slam him hard against the wall next to them.

Wrath had enough of this and decided to reestablish his grip on this fight. As Itachi slowly got back to his feet, Wrath greeted him with countless quick but powerful shots to his body that Itachi was unable to dodge. And with the power of Wrath's Katamarimasu, the attacks did devastating damage to Itachi.

Wrath lifted Itachi by his throat and punched him into a wall all the way on the other side of the facility. The impact was so great that dust riled up by where Itachi landed. And before Itachi even knew what hit him, Wrath launched an extremely deadly fire jutsu at him the further decimated the area, "Fire Style! Burning Cerberus Jutsu!"

The three headed fire-dog shot at Itachi and obliterated the surrounding area. It was one of Wrath's most powerful jutsu. Wrath wanted to end this fight now before he would be too exhausted to take on the Justice League at Arkham since he knew that with Itachi being here, that also meant that Superman was back too. Wrath tore out the kunai that was in his neck and steam started to emit from the wound healing itself.

Itachi was still on the ground in pain and covered by the dust as he heard the footsteps of his clone approaching. Just as the footsteps stopped, Itachi felt a sharp sensation return to his right eye. All of the previous pain seemed to be washed away as Itachi relished in this feeling. What was happening was that Itachi's Rinnegan was finally recharged and ready for full use in this fight. It was just in time for Itachi to absorb that fire jutsu before it could cause him any harm. The three tomoe on each of its two innermost circles had returned.

'It's time. Now, we fight on my terms.' Itachi thought as his Rinnegan began to ominously glow.

---

The Team had all returned to the Cave thanks to Itachi taking control of Zatanna. Artemis was the last member to go through the portal before it was closed. Artemis got back up quickly and saw that Zatanna was out cold so there was no chance of getting her to reopen one. She kicked a chair in frustration as Carson ran in startled.

"What's going on- oh goodness, you're all back! Is it over? Did you all beat Wrath? Where's Itachi?" She asked with concern.

"Wow, Itachi's right. You do ask a lot of question without letting people the chance to answer any of them." Artemis noted as her frustration started to go away and she was left with disappointment and sadness.

"He talks about me? Well, what else does he say?" Carson slyly tried to ask. Robin shook his head with annoyance, "Really? Now is the time that you are asking this?"

"Sorry," She said with embarrassment. Robin shook his head as he got a med kit out to wrap his broken ribs up. Aqualad, who got smashed like a pancake from Wrath's Susanoo, felt sore all over. But despite all of that, he knew that this defeat was on him since he was the leader, "To be honest, I do not know if it is all over. Wrath defeated all of us and held us captive, but then Itachi arrived to challenge him. Artemis and Zatanna were able to recover us from our prisons and we were planning on joining Itachi for the final fight, but he had different plans."

"Oh no…" Carson knew how this story was going from her previous experience with Itachi. James finished explaining the situation, "Itachi took control of the magician and had all of us sent here while he went to fight Wrath alone."

"Why would he do that? We're a Team, but he refuses to fight with us when it matter most despite all of his promises of working together. I just don't get it." Wally commented as he had a bag of ice on his head from the psychic blast he took during the fight.

"I…I saw into his mind before we got sucked in that portal. I kinda get why he had us sent away." M'gann reveal as everyone turned to her. Artemis was in no mood to hear excuses as she just got done laying Zatanna on the couch to recover from the genjutsu she was placed under, "Nothing could excuse why he chooses to fight alone instead of with his friends. Why is he so prideful about admitting that he needs help?"

"Artemis, it's deeper than pride. Itachi…was scared." She revealed to the shock of everyone. They never would have guess that someone as powerful as Itachi, who has already died before, could be scared of anything. Carson asked what everyone was thinking, "Why was he scared?"

"Because Itachi didn't know if he could win against Wrath. He doesn't know how this is going to end and he didn't want to risk it." M'gann answered.

"But as a Team we could have beaten him." Wally retorted.

"You don't know that. We can say it out loud as a battle cry all we want but we don't know if we could have beaten him. But we do know that Wrath would kill Itachi if given the chance. And he would do it gruesomely." M'gann admitted.

"Is he scared of dying? We wouldn't have let that happen." Conner adamantly said.

"He's not scared of dying. Itachi grew up in death. What Itachi was scared of was us dying. Or worse, us watching him die…again. It was a single thought, but his most prevalent one when I read his mind. He wanted to make sure that neither of those scenarios happened. He cares about us too much to risk our safety. He sent us away to save us from seeing that if it were to occur." She revealed.

"I think I get it. I wouldn't want my friends to watch me die either." Robin admitted. Artemis looked down in sadness. She hated that Itachi always wound up being so right in the end. M'gann knew this was hard for her to hear, "I'm sorry Artemis, but I think he was right to send us away. We're all banged up and would only get in his way. Itachi may have feared about us seeing him die, but don't mistake that for him thinking that he expected to lose. Itachi, more than anything else, wants to come back home to see us again. He fights for the day we can be together without this chaos in our lives. Like how it was before. I think…the best thing we can do for him as his teammates is to stay behind and respect his wishes."

Almost everyone looked down in despair at having to accept those terms, even Artemis. She wanted more than anything else to fight side by side with Itachi again, but even she could admit that she didn't want to see him die again. It would break her heart all over again. There was only one member who refused to accept the state of things.

"I admit, as his teammates, it probably is the best thing for us to stay behind and leave it to Itachi," Everyone looked at Aqualad as he spoke. He stood up tall as he addressed the room, "But as his friends, all we'd be doing is giving up and throwing it all on Itachi to bare the weight of the world, and that I cannot accept. I will not sit here and do nothing. I will not wait here and let our friend die. Itachi will just have to hate me because his fate will be my fate. That's what friends are for; to help each other bare the weight."

Everyone's hope returned after hearing their leader's speech. They stopped feeling sorry for themselves and realized that they had a friend to go save, "M'gann, prep your bioship for launch. We're about to provide backup for our friend."

"You got it." She said as she went to make the preparations. Everyone else got ready to fight too as Artemis went over to Carson and James, "Please watch over her for me. We're going to bring Itachi home alive and well, I promise."

"Go get him." Carson assured her. James nodded in concurrence as Artemis went over to M'gann's bioship. Robin wondered what Aqualad ha planned for this daring rescue, "What do we do if the battle is still going on by the time we get there? Do we interfere?"

"No, we'd only get in the way. What we will do is be ready to step in should Itachi look like he's about to lose and get ready to save him. We will not let him die by Wrath's hands a second time. Is that understood?" Aqualad replied.

"You got it," They replied. Artemis smiled to herself as Wally went to give her hand a gentle squeeze, "Artemis, we'll bring our friend back home this time for sure so don't worry. Then we can all beat him up for worrying us."

"Yeah, you're right. Wrath won't know what hit him. And neither will Itachi when I get through with him." She swore as she cracked her knuckles. Wally nervously smiled as he felt bad for what was coming Itachi's way when this was all over.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Conner said.

"You heard the man. Let's take off!" Aqualad echoed.

"You got it!" M'gann had her bioship liftoff and fly away towards the Argus facility. They were determined to end this just like how they started this; together.

---

Wrath started walking towards where Itachi laid. His opponent hadn't moved in while so Wrath was sure that this would be the final attack of the fight. After this fight, Wrath would finally be able to put this behind him and move forward with his plans. It also meant that he could keep his promise to Cassandra and see her one more time.

"Itachi, it seems our time is about to come to an end. After this, I will go after the rest of the metahumans of this world, both villain and hero alike. I will eradicate both factions with extreme prejudice. Not that it will matter to you with you about to be killed in a few minutes, but an organization by the name of the Light has their eye on you and your friends. Their being targeted for elimination, but I'll save them because unlike you, they have a place in my new world. A role to fill. Now I will kill you, take your eyes, and be the savior to the world that you never could. It will take a while, but your friends will learn to get used to it. They might even come to like it given enough time. This is where your story ends and mine begins!" Wrath declared.

"Wrath, you have all of my rage and the heritage of the Uchiha wrapped inside of you, but in the end, you're still just a lost cause. You're nothing but a failed science experiment." Itachi coldly replied.

Wrath couldn't help but laugh at his reply, "Itachi Uchiha, still pretending to act like you're special. You're not the top Uchiha anymore, I am! I'll incinerate you to ash!"

Wrath weaved the hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu in preparation to follow through with his threat. Before he could fire the shot off though, Itachi suddenly exploded forward, got to Wrath's back, and stabbed him in the neck with a kunai similarly like how he did earlier in the fight, "I'll kill you like how I killed mother and father."

Wrath threw Itachi off of him as Itachi landed gracefully on his feet. Before Wrath could take a single step towards Itachi, he noticed something about the kunai that he knew only meant bad news. He saw that it had a paperbomb wrapped around it and before he could even try and tear it out of his neck, the bomb exploded.

Itachi looked on with no emotion as the dust settled and Wrath, though still alive, was in a mangled mess. His neck suffered major damage as parts of the bone were showing and from his left shoulder down to his left elbow had major third degree burns and contusions all over them. If Wrath hadn't had spread his Katamarimasu throughout most of his body, the damage would have been a lot worse. Lucky for Wrath, he also had his healing to recover from the attack. He doubled the healing time at the cost of his chakra levels taking a seismic drop.

"Was that enough blood for you?" Itachi asked.

"You…look what you did to me!" Wrath angrily yelled.

"What's wrong Wrath? I thought you liked that kind of sadistic violence. It must be only when your causing it." Itachi coldly replied.

Wrath launched his Fireball Jutsu at Itachi. The shinobi leapt high into the air and met Wrath with a corkscrew kick. Wrath caught it with his undamaged hand and applied pressure on the leg as he intended on breaking it, "Say goodbye to your leg!"

Itachi used a special ability of his Rinnegan to escape, "Timeshadow!"

Itachi disappeared from Wrath's grip much to his surprise and returned to the air like how he was moments ago, only Wrath was still in the position as if he still had Itachi's leg in his grip. Itachi took advantage of this and got the kick off clean this time and sent Wrath hurdling into a wall.

"Timeshadow is one of the new abilities I have thanks to my Rinnegan. For short intervals, I can manipulate time for either myself or a target in my line of sight. That means either going forward or backwards in time depending on the situation. So while I went back to before you caught my leg, you were unfortunately stuck in that moment as I got a second chance at hitting you. And I don't waste second chances. So after everything you've done and all of the people that you have killed, I don't see why I should waste giving a second chance to trash like you. None at all." Itachi stoically said as Wrath clawed his way back to his feet.

Wrath was beside himself with rage as he had all of the nearby Hedoro summoned to him. It started to climb up and incase his upper body in it like a cloak of armor, "I'll kill you. I swear it! I'll kill all of you! You'll die screaming! You're done for. I'll tear you apart!"

Wrath screamed as the transformation was completed. His Hedoro covered the upper half of his body and latched onto him like a parasite. It molded and took the form of an armored Susanoo from the waste up. He had his Shinigami Scythe in his armored hand as he made his intention known, "I will rip your spinal cord from out of your body and hang you with it!"

Itachi didn't look fazed one bit by Wrath's monstrous transformation. Wrath charged forward in an almost feral state and wasted no time in trying to kill Itachi. Itachi easily avoided the armored hammerfists of Wrath by simply flipping away. After three hammerfists, Wrath left himself open and Itachi took advantage by kicking him in the neck hard, though it had little to no effect on Wrath. Itachi then had to dodge two more attacks before coming back by weaving hand signs and launching a pointblank Fireball Jutsu at Wrath.

Wrath simply took the blast as the explosion rocked the room. Before Itachi could wonder if his attack did any damage, he got an answer when an armored, outstretched hand reached out, took him by the neck, and threw him across the room to a wall covered in Hedoro. Before Itachi made impact though, Wrath manipulated the Hedoro to form the shape of spikes and hardened them with Katamarimasu so that Itachi would be impaled on impact. Wrath looked on in glee as his ploy worked and Itachi made impact with the spikes as dust rose up into the air.

Just before he could gloat about his apparent victory, he heard footsteps saw that Itachi was still alive. In fact, he still had hardened spikes lodged inside of his body. But that wasn't what startled Wrath. It was the look on Itachi's face. Itachi was smiling even though he had spikes in his body, "I'm impressed. You truly are worthy of the Uchiha name, Wrath. Your mastery of your jutsu is almost second to none. It's so impressive that now I want to give it a try."

Itachi then used another ability of his Rinnegan, "Almighty Push."

The four spikes lodged in his body burst out of his body. Itachi maintained control of the spikes, though, as they were rotating around him in a circle. He balled his hands into a fist and the spikes all stopped spinning at once and started pointing at Wrath like he was their target. Wrath couldn't believe that Itachi was actually using his own jutsu against him. Itachi's look of impression soon turned into one of malcontent, "Time to give you a taste of your own medicine."

They both charged forward in a clash of two titans. Sparks flew and the ground shook from how their attacks collided with each other. Now that Itachi had weapons that were just as potent at Wrath's weapons, it was now just a battle of skill. It was ironic. Wrath defeated Itachi by using his own weapons against him and now Itachi has the chance to do the same to Wrath.

Itachi got airborne and started using the spikes to launch long ranged attacks at Wrath. Itachi noticed that Wrath's attacks had grown a lot slower from earlier on. He credited that to all of the bulk Wrath was carrying with all of the hardened armor on his body and attrition from their earlier fight. Itachi launched two of his spikes at Wrath's scythe to keep it out of play while he sent the other two directly at Wrath's body. The tactic worked as Itachi's second pair of spikes hit Wrath with a direct attack. Itachi landed on his feet as his spikes returned to him as he waited to see what Wrath's next move would be.

Furious with how this fight was going, Wrath sprinted forwards with ruthless aggression as he desperately tried to hurry up and kill Itachi. Itachi easily dodged the charge and used his spikes to block and parry every swipe Wrath made with his Shinigami Scythe. In fact, the scythe was all Itachi was even attacking. Before Wrath could figure out what Itachi was planning, Itachi ducked a wide slash that Wrath had attempted, combined all four of the spikes together, and cut through Wrath's right arm so cleanly that Itachi tore it off completely.

Wrath shouted in pain as his arm and Shinigami Scythe went airborne. Itachi dropped control of his spikes and leapt up into the air, "The weapon of yours that I wanted to use to defeat you wasn't the hardened spikes. It was your Shinigami Scythe! Universal Pull!"

Wrath could only watch in fear as the scythe flew back into Itachi's hand. Wrath knew that he had no way of blocking an attack from his scythe and tried to run away. Itachi gripped the scythe with both hand before he swung it down hard at a defenseless Wrath. The result was Wrath being stabbed in the back by his own scythe and being slammed into a crater.

When the dust settled, Itachi stood tall as Wrath's armor withered away from him losing the chakra needed to maintain it. Wrath was desperate and knew that he had to get away somehow to avoid Itachi killing him. He slowly got up and started running as fast as he could, which wasn't fast at all given the state he was in. Itachi showed no mercy as he called out his next attack, "Universal Pull."

Wrath had expected to have his body pulled back to Itachi, but Itachi had something different in mind. Instead, Wrath's femur bone was broken and pulled outside of Wrath's leg in a horrific compound fracture. Wrath fell to the ground while shrieking in immense pain. When he tried to get back up, Itachi did it again only this time to his other leg. Now Wrath had two horribly broken legs and no chance of escape.

This didn't stop Wrath from trying as he started using his fingers to drag himself away. Itachi saw this and used his Universal Pull to break all of the fingers in both of Wraths hands. It also meant that Wrath couldn't use anymore jutsu. Wrath screamed as his fingers were pulled back and bent in direction that they were never meant to bend. Itachi began walking towards his clone.

Wrath heard this and began using his chin to desperately drag himself away, which was impressive considering he still had a giant scythe in his back. Itachi decided to switch it up and used Almighty Push to literally cave Wrath's chest in. Wrath halted and tried to scream but was in so much pain that hardly any sound came out. By the time Itachi had caught up with Wrath, he had all but given up already. Itachi painfully yanked the scythe from Wrath's back and threw away from them. He didn't want to risk Wrath finding a way to use it as a last ditch attack.

"It must feel humiliating. To get so close to your goals, only to have them come crashing down. I bet this is how the corrupted Uchiha clan members felt when I thwarted their plans for a coup. I told you that you would die like father and mother; stabbed in the back by me. Only I have had a change of heart. Now if I remember correctly, you said that you would incinerate me to ash. So I believe it'll only be justice, when I incinerate you instead. Amaterasu!" Itachi set Wrath on fire with his black flames.

Itachi watched as his clone's clothes and flesh were melted away by the searing heat. Wrath screamed as his body became horribly disfigured thanks to being burned. But before the flames could completely take Wrath, Itachi used his Almighty Push to blow the flames off of Wrath. Though massive damage had been done, Wrath had been spared, for now. Itachi flipped him on his back before addressing him next.

"I'm taking father's eyes back. They never belonged to you in the first place." Itachi said as he got ready to rip Wrath's eyes away.

"Wait, please…" Itachi halted as Wrath spoke to him. He was surprised his clone was still conscious, but decided to humor him out, "You're not stopping me from taking your eyes, but I'll hear what you have to say."

"I…I don't…care…about my…eyes. I have…a request. Two…children…I met and…care about. Cassandra Cain, she's…with that cat. Please, Itachi…make sure…they take care of…her. She…deserves to be happy…after what…Dollmaker did to her. She will…cry when she…learns that…I am dead. Make her…happy." Wrath begged.

Itachi put two and two together and guess that she was one of the children Wrath saved when he killed the Dollmaker. It was another reminder that they weren't all that different in the grand scheme of things. They just were on opposite sides of how to go about doing things. Itachi was no curious about the second child, "And the other one? What's the second child's name?"

"Ja-Jason…Todd. On the same night…that I saved Cassandra…from Dollmaker, I murdered Jason's…family. The Gotham Cathedral, his parents were there that night…looking for him. Jason…is angry. Wants…to kill me and all who are like me. That anger…will go to you when I die. And after that…to the world. Find him…and don't let him be like…us. Defined…by death. Please, do this for me. I wanted…to do evil things…to stop evil...and change the world. I never…wanted to create…evil. Save him…from us." Wrath pleaded.

Itachi felt sympathy for his clone. Even though he was evil, Wrath was still apart of him. Itachi nodded his head and gave his answer, "I'll look after the children and make sure they don't end up like us. You have my word."

"Ha…the word of…a liar. What good…is that?" Wrath said with a smile. Itachi shook his head before getting ready to kill his clone. He then noticed that something felt off. He looked down as saw that one of Wrath's hands had repaired themselves and he had formed a tiger hand seal.

Itachi looked back at Wrath who still had a smile on his face, "Told you. A liar's word…is no…good. Later."

The entire Argus facility started falling apart as explosions were felt throughout the complex. Itachi had to leap backwards to avoid a giant piece of debris that fell right on top of where he and Wrath were. Itachi looked on and saw that the entire room was falling apart. Itachi only had one problem though; because of how many times he used his Rinnegan during his fight it now had to recharge before he could use it again. Also, Itachi didn't have enough chakra for even a simple clone jutsu. Itachi dropped to a knee. He could barely move and was barely still conscious so he was resigned to the fact that this room just might be his tomb as well.

'I've lived a good life here on this Earth. I met some great friends here too. Sorry guys, looks like there won't be a next time. And sorry to you too, Carson. I wish…I wish that we had spent more time together. At least now I know that you'll be safe.' Itachi thought with a smile on his face.

"Hey jerkface! You are out of your kunai throwing mind if you think you can get rid of us that easily! Look up." Itachi couldn't believe what he had just heard and sure enough, there was Artemis, riding on top of M'gann's bioship. His friends had really come back for him.

"Do you think you can get him through all of this falling debris?" Robin telepathically asked.

"No doubt in my mind I can," Artemis launched an arrow that was tied to a string that was clipped on M'gann's ship. The arrowhead dispersed once it got near Itachi and wrapped around him securely, "I got him! Let's get out of here!"

"Alright, hang on tight!" M'gann navigated her ship through the falling debris as Artemis started pulling Itachi back up, "Superboy, I could use some help pulling Itachi up."

"I'm on my way!" Conner made his way to the roof and helped in pulling Itachi to safety as Artemis shot away any of the debris that got close to Itachi. After a few pulls, Conner got Itachi to the roof, unstrapped him, and got him and Artemis back inside where it was safe. M'gann also made it out of the debris and into the air safe and sound as well.

When everyone got inside the ship, they all ran to hug their friend. Itachi didn't know what else to do but be happy. His friends were all okay and actually came back to save him. He smiled with gratitude for his friends, "Thank you."

"We're just glad to have you back. Did you beat Wrath?" M'gann asked. Itachi smiled at her and nodded, "This nightmare is over. I beat him."

"Woohooo!" The heroes celebrated Itachi's victory. Itachi nervously smiled as he took in their genuine looks of joy and relief. Itachi looked down at the destroyed field and knew he had one thing left to do, "M'gann, can you take me back down there. I have to make sure Wrath is dead."

"Dead…" She repeated as the others looked to him for an answer. He nodded as the ship started to lower to the ground, "I can't let him live."

The ship started scanning the area as they all patiently waited. When the scan was done, M'gann turned around to deliver the results, "The scans turned up empty. There is nothing alive down there."

"Then it really is over. We can finally move on." Itachi said as he deactivated his Sharingan. The others smiled before Artemis punched in his arm as hard as she could, "Don't you ever scare us like that again! Sending us away like that. Friends don't do that to each other, we save each other."

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I just didn't want you guys to get hurt." Itachi explained as she caved in and hugged her friend. Everyone was glad that the threat of Wrath was behind them. Kid Flash sat back down and got ready for their next trip, "Let's go back home. I'm sure Itachi's little girlfriend misses him as much as we do."

They all laughed as Itachi stoically looked on to try and ignore his friend's dumb comment. The plane blasted forward to take the heroes back home so that they could properly celebrate their victory amongst each other.

---

When the Team got back to the Cave, they were greeted by the Justice League, Zatanna, James and Carson. The Team got off the ship and Itachi immediately felt the consequences of his recent action. One of the consequences was Zatanna punching him in the face and her muttering about never being put in a genjutsu again. The others didn't even try to hide their laughter at Itachi's misfortune. But after she got that punch off, Zatanna hugged her friend and welcomed him back.

The Leaguers all greeted Itachi back too. Only Batman decided to be absent. Canary explained that after Superman came back and quickly took care of the inmates, he decided to stay behind and conduct interviews to help repair the image of the League. Batman said he had better things to do waste his time at a celebration. Robin wasn't surprised at all by this and knew that he would have a chance to talk to Bruce back at the mention when there was more privacy between the two.

After the interviews, Superman went off to visit Billy to make sure the boy was okay. The man of steel was glad to learn that Billy survived and wanted nothing but to see him personally. The Team could look at the monitors and see highlights of Superman literally swooping in and saving the day as a red and blue blur flew past and took out everything in sight. The only person not surprised by his appearance was Batman and that was probably because he was busy punching Deadshot's face into a wall.

"It really is good to have you back. I take it you defeated Wrath?" Canary asked.

"I did. He won't be bothering us anymore." Itachi answered.

"Good, now we can focus on the Masked Stranger." Superman said as he floated down from the air in a surprise to everyone. He probably had just gotten back from visiting Billy.

"How was Billy?" Itachi asked.

"He's in high spirits and can't wait to rejoin the League on active duty. I tried to talk him out of it, but the kid wouldn't have it. Says being a hero means more to him than anything in the world. He also can't wait to see you again, Itachi." Superman replied. He saw Conner giving him looks when he thought he wasn't looking and decided to throw him an olive branch by smiling at him. He figured there was no point in distancing himself from Conner forever.

"We'll finally take that evil dude down!" Wally declared as mostly everyone agreed with him.

"That 'dude' for starters isn't a man. The Masked Stranger is a woman." Superman revealed.

"How can you be sure?" Aquaman asked in shock.

"When we fought, I got more than close enough to her to see that she had a woman's body under that cloak. I just couldn't see under her mask. I think it is made out of lead. She hides it well by masking her voice, but I have no doubt that the Masked Stranger is a woman." Superman repeated.

"Itachi, do you know anyone woman who could possibly be the Masked Stranger?" Flash asked.

"No, but whoever she is, I'll be ready for her." Itachi declared. Aqualad walked up to his friend and put his hand on his should, "I think you mean we'll be ready for her."

"Yeah, we'll be ready for her." Itachi corrected himself. He saw Carson off at a distance by herself and went over to her, "Ready to have that talk?"

"Definitely," Carson responded as the pair snuck off to be alone. James and Artemis both looked on at the pair. Artemis was hopeful that the two of them could finally find closure while James hoped that Itachi would finally make his sister happy. With all of the hell and pain she had experience in her life, with some of it being thanks to him, he figured she was due a happy ending.

Itachi and Carson walked by the base of the waterfall and stared at the water in all of its beauty. Carson stole a glance at Itachi and he caught her eye and smiled. It was the first time Carson had really taken in Itachi's appearance since he was brought back. In many ways, she felt he was still the same dork that she had fallen in love with, but in others she could see that Itachi left that world a different person. One of those reasons being his right eye.

"Can you turn the purple eye thing off? Not saying I feel this way, but it can be off-putting." Carson noted.

"I can't. This is a genetic mutation. I can stop drawing power from it, but my Rinnegan will stay like that forever." Itachi said as he used his hair to cover his right eye.

"We're going to have to get you an eyepatch for when you go back to work. Can't go around selling masks with a purple eye." She joked.

Itachi shook his head at her lame joke, "I missed this…missed you."

Carson blushed at Itachi's confession. Itachi turned to face her as the pair gazed upon each other. Carson took this opportunity to get something off of her chest, "Itachi listen, back before…with Wrath and what you saw us doing, and I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I really, really thought that he was you and never would have kissed him otherwise. You got hurt because of me, both physically and emotionally. I only want to see you smile and be at peace. And when I saw you after Wrath caved that building on us, and you gave me that cold look, it broke my heart."

Itachi wasn't surprised by her guilt. He knew that she had internalize that moment since it led to him being trapped by his Totsuka Blade, "I don't blame you for what happened with Wrath. There was no way for you to have known. I don't blame your brother either. With everything that I did in the name of protecting Sasuke, I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world. Seeing you kiss him did bother me, but only because it highlighted just how much Wrath had already beaten me. But if it is what you want, I forgive you."

After hearing Itachi say that he had forgiven her, Carson was with joy and relief. She cupped the side of his face and gazed into Itachi's eyes. She even brushed his hair out of the way so that she could see both of his eyes. Itachi had a feeling about what was about to happen, but still made no move to stop it. He was done stopping his happiness.

"I saw you die in front of me, Itachi. When you did, I felt like a part of me died with you. I don't know why, but I've become so close to with you. From a stranger, to my hero, and now my lover. I don't know what life will throw at us after all of this craziness, but I know you'll always be there to save me…and come home to me. Will you always come home to me?"

"...always." Itachi responded. That was all Carson needed to hear as she pulled Itachi down to here and kissed him. It was soft and gentle, almost like a spark. At first Itachi didn't move, but eventually he placed his hands on her waist. Itachi couldn't deny that he liked kissing Carson and Carson had no problem admitting that she relished in kissing him. When the kiss ended, Carson shyly looked at Itachi. Because of Itachi's usual emotionless demeanor, it was hard for her to tell if he liked the kiss or not.

"So was that good?" Itachi nodded at her. She figured that the non-vocal responses just came with the package. She shook her head at what she was getting herself into, "So…are we a thing now?"

"…let's take it one day at a time. But you do have my permission to kiss me when the situation calls for it." Itachi joked.

"We can do one day at a time. And was that an actual joke? From you? And hey! What do you mean I need your permission to kiss you?" Carson said to voice her gripe.

"We can talk about it more in depth later." Itachi said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait, why not now," Carson asked. Itachi summoned his crow mask as he turned back to her, "I've been away from Gotham for months. And with all of the chaos, I'm sure that the creeps in that city have taken advantage of my absence. It's time I reminded them that Gotham still belongs to the people."

"Wow, so soon? You don't waste time at all. But is that really all?" Carson said while giving him a knowing look.

"…and to let Ms. Yumi know that I'm alive. She's probably worried sick about me. No, now that I think about it, she probably has a meal waiting for me. She always believes that I'll find a way to win in the end. She's waited her entire life for me. I won't keep her waiting ever again." Itachi revealed.

"Well get to it then, dork. So…can I give you a goodbye kiss?" she asked. Itachi motioned for her to come over to him like how he used to do with Sasuke. She jogged over to him as she got ready for their second kiss, and just like with Sasuke, Itachi poked her in the forehead to stop her at the last second, "Maybe next time."

"You're such a tease." She said as she rubbed her forehead. Itachi put his mask on and teleported away. Just as Itachi left, Artemis walked over to Carson. It was safe to assume that Artemis knew what went down. They stared off in the distance as a semblance of peace finally washed over them, "There he goes again. Off being a hero."

"Yeah, but at least now we know that he'll come back home to us." Carson replied.

"Yeah, he has friends to make sure of that." Artemis added.

---

Back in the genjutsu world of the Totsuka Blade, Nagato stood next to an unknown associate as the pair stared into a blank void that seemed never ending. The figured removed its cloak and reveal itself as the Sage of Six Paths. Nagato looked at his companion as questions ran through his mind.

"This Masked Stranger, it isn't Madara, right?" Nagato asked.

"No, Madara's soul is still at rest." The sage answered.

"Do you know who this person is behind the mask?" Nagato said as a follow up.

"I do. It is someone who is of great importance to both Itachi and I." The sage revealed.

"Why haven't you told Itachi? He could end this madness and kill them." Nagato argued.

"It is complicated. But the child can't learn the identity from me. He has to piece it together on his own." The sage replied.

"That is a cruel answer. You bring Itachi back from the dead and send him to some unknown world to fight this Stranger for you, and you don't even have the gall to tell him the truth. You even brought me back from death, sealed me in this world again, and forced me to lie to Itachi and say that I've been here the entire time. My soul was released when Itachi undid the Reanimation Jutsu and yet here I stood in this hell, waiting for Itachi on your orders. You're playing a dangerous game with people's lives. What is the endgame?" Nagato inquired.

"To fix what I had once broken. I apologize for disturbing your rest, but you were needed to get the child to unlock his full powers. Now, she will make her final move and we can only hope that the child is ready for her." The sage answered.

"At least answer me this; are you the reason why Itachi had Senju Clan cells in his body and was ultimately able to unlock the Rinnegan?" Nagato asked.

"No…that was not my doing. Someone one else put those cells in his body." The sage revealed.

"I see. Whatever your plan is, I hope it ends well." Nagato said as his body began to fade.

"We shall see." Nagato faded away, but the sage was busy watching something that would start a dangerous chain reaction that would reveal the Masked Stranger's master plan.

Wrath had somehow survived the collapse of Argus. He used whatever strength he had left to encase his body with Hedoro and harden it before he was crushed to death. He laid there encased in armor until he was sure that the young heroes had left the scene. Wrath undid the jutsu and started crawling away. He still didn't have use of most of his limbs because of how slow his healing was, so Wrath was stuck with only using one hand.

'I'm not dead yet. I'll be back, and when I do, you had better watch out Itachi. You still owe me blood!' Wrath crawled for what seemed like hours. His only goal was survival. Wrath refused to believe that this is where his story would end, "If Itachi can unlock the Rinnegan, then I can too. I just have to train harder. When I do, I swear I'll make sure Itachi stays dead. I will not be a chapter in his story!"

Wrath heard footsteps coming up from behind and turned to see his mentor, The Masked Stranger, was behind him. The woman stared down at the defeated clone and showed no outward reaction, "You're still alive after all."

"Help me, please. Itachi will pay for this." Wrath said to his mentor. The Stranger took in his appearance, "The femur bones in both your legs are broken and it seems one of your hands got its fingers broken too. And from the looks of things, you suffered problematic spinal damage. Why hasn't your healing kicked in yet?"

"My chest was caved in. I needed to focus on that first so I could properly breathe and then I healed my right hand so that I could use my failsafe plan to escape. I won't let this failure deter me from my goals to change the world…our goals." Wrath promised.

"Our goals, huh. I think you're mistaken on a few fronts. First of them being that you think we share the same goals, we don't. Another is that you think that you failed. You didn't fail at all. Well, maybe you failed at your aspirations, but not at mine." The Masked Stanger said as she looked down at him.

"What do you mean? We both wanted Itachi dead and to change the world." Wrath said as he thought that this was her goal. She shook her head at him, "You poor, easily manipulated fool. I never wanted Itachi dead. Now if you had managed to kill him, I would have had a backup plan. But the goal was always for him to win. And because of you, now I can go into the final stages of my plan because Itachi has finally unlocked the Rinnegan. It was the last piece of the puzzle."

"You…were using me?" Wrath asked with trepidation.

"Of course. It was the reason I created you. You weren't born Wrath, you were built. And all for my benefit. I needed someone strong enough to push Itachi to both his physical and emotional limits, and you did so very well. The Rinnegan is such a strange thing to understand and completely random on when it activates itself. I needed you to speed up that process. Not only did you do that, but you also managed to weaken the Justice League by killing its approval rating with the people. It was wonderful to watch. All I had to do was slice a boy's neck open and beat up on some heroes in space. You literally did all of the hard work for me." The Stranger said smugly as she put her foot on Wrath's throat.

"I should have killed you when I first met you." Wrath said as he glared at the Stranger. She laughed him in response, "You really should have. Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?"

"And what would you have done if I had killed Itachi? I sure was close to it." Wrath taunted as he tried to remover her foot, but it was stuck like steel.

"Oh, that answer is very simple; you. You were created to be Itachi's spare should he die before he unlocked the Rinnegan. I told you, you were built." The Stranger revealed.

The Stranger's hand lit up as she activated her red lightning and she impaled his chest and had a grip on Wrath's heart. Wrath gasped from the pain he felt, "Now, here comes the unfortunate news. In order to get Itachi to unlock the Rinnegan, I had to deplete most of my chakra and life-force. Which means now I need a spare."

By the look of fear in Wrath's eyes, the Stranger could tell that Wrath knew what she meant by that, "I'll be taking your body and eyes now. Since I now know that it can produce a Rinnegan, it means after I've taken over your body and steal Itachi's Rinnegan eye, I'll be able to use it to its fullest potential. And with your healing abilities, it'll solve another problem of mine that has been nagging me. Now all I have to do is wait for the Day of Golden Light."

"This was your plan for the very beginning, wasn't it? You won't kill Itachi with something like this." He said out of defiance. She responded by pulling his heart further out of his body and squeezing it, "Oh, like how you were able to kill Itachi? Who says that's what I even have planned for him. Itachi is special to me and killing him is the last thing I want to do. I want to save him from the lies that have pitted him against me. He will eventually see that I am in the right and all that he considers good is already lost and corrupted. This has been in the works for a long time. I plan for the long haul. I will change the world, but in my image, not yours or the image of some decrepit clan that died off years ago. Don't be so sad, you'll bring about the force that changes everything. Just not in the way you had hoped you would."

The Stranger then made the final squeeze and paralyzed Wrath with her lightning. She learned all too well that no amount of healing can ever fix a broken heart. She placed his heart back inside his chest, hoisted his body over her should, and radioed for Vandal Savage, "Savage, this is Stranger. Prep my room. After the body transfer jutsu is complete, it will be a while before I can rejoin you and the others before the final stage begins. Make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Understood." The Masked Stranger looked up at the moon as it reminded her of that fateful night that started all of this, "I will save you, Itachi. That old man will pay for what he has done to us."

---

This chapter and saga is done! It took a very long time, but we are officially in the third act of this story. The fight scene was the main reason it took so long, I wanted it to be perfect in terms of epicness and storytelling. I only started once I was satisfied with the fight so I hope you all really like it. I hope everyone had a great holiday break and are starting 2019 off great. We all know Wrath isn't off to a great start. He got his butt kicked by Itachi and had his heart ripped out by the Masked Stranger. His story may be over, but he is still going to play a big part of the end. We saw a great many things get revealed this chapter and it is a lot to take in. I was so happy to write the Team's reunion. Friends always stick together in the end. Also, Carson and Itachi finally kissed! I know for a fact more than a few of you were looking forward to it and I hope it didn't disappoint. It's so like Itachi to tease her in the end. We will be getting back to the Young Justice episode arc now since Wrath has been dealt with, but look out for more small teases about the Stranger's master plans. She is nobody to be trifled with (and yes I had her as a woman this entire time. Literally only like two people guessed that, lol). We're about to see just how ahead of the game she has been on everybody, and I'm talking miles ahead. Thanks you to everyone who liked the last chapter. You guys are the best support ever and I'm glad to be a part of this community with you all. Don't forget to favorite, follow, review, or PM to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I hope you all got the same satisfaction that I got. I'm aiming to get the next chapter done in under 3 weeks, but don't hold me to that because work sucks! Anyways, until next time guys and gals!