Keybladelight – yes, Ayumi is still alive will have a part to play in the future. You will see by the end of this chapter if Itachi gets his happy ending. Thanks for the support, I appreciate it.

Anime hotty lover.18 – Thank you for your continued support. It has meant a lot to me. This chapter was bittersweet to write, but I hope you and everyone else likes it. I'm glad I got to finish what you started.

Andresskorskiruiz – You are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter because there is still one more big reveal to come.

Rio Skyron – I know right. Just wait till you finish this chapter!

MagicalCatgirl68 – Thank you for all of the support you've given. You'll see at the end about whether a sequel is done. I hope you truly enjoy this chapter!

Rakaan – Sorry, I just don't like the God-like character. I prefer actually development and challenge being conveyed.

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Dudepotatoes – Gotta read on to find out. I'm not gonna spoil it for you.

Disappointment – I'm sorry this story let you down. I think it's only natural to want to progress a character based off of how you think they'd react in certain situations. Even though you disagree with my vision, I'm happy that you were honest enough to voice your opinion. I hope you find a story you like.

Months have passed since Itachi liberated Cassandra from the League of Assassins. Just as he promised, Itachi brought her back to Gotham with him immediately. He had to pull some strings, but Itachi was able to legally adopt Cassandra and become her foster-father. He got the documents he needed thanks to the help of Jade. It was a sort of thank you to Itachi for him holding up his end of their agreement.

They lived together in Ayumi's Mask Shop. He reopened the shop upon his return to Gotham. It was a means to make money and a way to stay hidden until he was ready to face his friends. Itachi knew from firsthand experience that the last place people go to search for a missing person is that missing person's own home.

Itachi wanted privacy so he could get to know Cassandra without any outside interference. She's a very well-mannered child, with the exception of her tendency to resort to violence when she was frustrated. Itachi once came home to find that she had shredded their couch. When he asked her why, her excuse was that she could not find the remote. It was behind the television.

Itachi knew he had a lot of work to do to undo her trauma and original upbringings, but he was willing to put the work in. Itachi had her enrolled in school over in East Gotham. He'd pick her up every day around three in the afternoon and take her for a walk through the city. Sometimes he'd take her to go eat ice cream, other times he'd take her to his spot in the Botanical Gardens to just sit and talk about each other's days. While she grasped the education side of school quickly, minus her speech impediment, the social side of it really flustered her. This was the first time she'd been around normal kids.

"How make friends when you my age?" She asked him one day as they sat near the pond. Itachi looked down at her sunken face and back up to the sky, "It wasn't easy. Like you, I was awkward around others because of my gifts. They all thought of me as unapproachable. But one day a bully tried to pick on a group of children and I stepped in and helped them. Then all of the things that made me awkward and unapproachable to others suddenly made me cool and someone they wanted to be around. So to answer your question, I stayed who I was."

"But if I not know I am?" She asked. Itachi pointed at her heart, "There are adults who don't know who they are so I think you're alright. Cassandra, you can be whatever you want to be."

"Can I be like you…or Wrath?" She asked.

"Anyone. I'll love you, regardless." Itachi responded. She hugged him and stood up, "Let's go home. I want train."

"Okay, I think I'll show you our clan's shuriken technique." Itachi offered as they started to leave the gardens. Cassandra frowned before throwing some shuriken from out of her tool belt that hit trees as they passed and retrieving them afterwards, "I know throwing shuriken."

Itachi smirked at her, "Not like this," Itachi then showed her the technique and had to hide the smile as she gawked at him. Cassandra had never seen anyone hit targets from blind spots without even seeing them. She wanted to know even more about her adopted clan's fighting styles. Itachi could tell he had her attention after that show of him hitting targets that he couldn't even see, "You were taught to be a ruthless killer by the League. I will teach you to be a precise fighter that makes ruthless killers like the League of Assassins quiver in fear instead just off of the vengeance in your heart."

Itachi and Cassandra trained almost every night. He had to data dump all of her instincts to kill and replace them with habits of non-life threatening means. She was a very quick learner in combat as well. Despite her small size and stature, she fought like a brawler who had been raised in the streets, only all of her strike were precise and effective. She had a very powerful and explosive technique with quick bursts of speed added on it.

As time passed, the two of them got so close that they really did feel like an actual family. The look of admiration and love she gave him made Itachi want to be a better person for her. Though, Itachi would always remember what had to happen for him to get to her. The dark deeds that could never be revealed to his friends.

One day Cassandra had finished her homework and was in a good mood from school. She was getting better with socializing. She made a friend whose name is Harper that she talked about often. She looked up at Itachi as he was watching the news on the television and suddenly addressed him, "Father, I love you."

The words took Itachi out of his focus. He turned towards her and smile back at her with the same warmth that she had just showed him. Just like with Sasuke, he motioned for her to come over to him. Cassandra ran to him as he wanted and just as she reached him, Itachi poked her in the forehead before saying to her, "I love you too, my daughter."

She rubbed her forehead in response as she recovered, "May I ask question?"

"We have already gone over this. You don't have to ask me for permission to talk or ask questions. Just say what is on your mind." Itachi responded.

"Oh…yes, father. Why not I meet your friends? Or her? If I your daughter, I want meet rest of family." She said. Itachi turned to the picture of him and the rest of The Team, only they were all in their civilian clothes. It was one of the rare instances that they got him to go out with them as a group. They all went to the beach by The Cave. Of course Itachi was just barely in the frame of the photo but the others were all happy and laughing in it. He noticed her looking at it almost every day and knew eventually she'd grow curious about them.

Itachi sighed to himself before grabbing his Crow mask and putting his vigilante gear on. She was about to ask what he was doing until he threw a black mask at her. Itachi then revealed a suit that was custom made for her, "What this?"

"This…is what you will be wearing tonight for your first mission. For these past few months since you have been here, the crime rate has skyrocketed. I didn't even need to do reconnaissance at night since they all had grown so bold to be committing the crimes during the day. A massive score of all sorts of contraband is about to go down in downtown Gotham and Batman and Robin won't be there to stop it. We will though, if you feel that you are ready to go with me." Itachi explained to her.

Cassandra observed the stand that her suit was attached to currently. It was all black and looked stitched together like an amateur did it, but that was on purpose so that it would mislead her enemies. The inside of the suit was laced with Kevlar armor to protect her from bullets and bladed weapons. Underneath the cloth also housed a frame of flexible steel armor to support her in case she needed to make a hard fall from high heights. On the outside, there was gold armor plates were seen on the ribcages, wrists, waist, and boots of the suit. He thought she'd want some flare added on. On the inside of her gloves and boots had armor laced with Promethium to add to her power when punching and kicking. And to top it all off, the suit did not weight that much, even with all of the enhancements, which made for her to have complete mobility.

"I had this made while I was searching for you. I've cracked down on enough crime to have considerable resources and knowledge on how to make a suit. If I am to go back out and put the Crow mask back on, I want you out there with me to show you that you can break a criminal without killing him. I can tell you that all I want, but you won't truly understand it until you see it firsthand. After that, if you no longer want go out with me, I will turn the suit to ash, but at least see what I see even if you don't have my eyes." Itachi explained.

"Me like you?" Cassandra asked. Itachi shook his head as he put his mask on. She saw his Sharingan and remembered how beautiful it was to her. She thought that it was just as beautiful as Wrath's, "No, you will be better than me."

Itachi pointed towards the television, "When we do this, the entire world will be watching. It has been over a year since the Crow was last seen. Most think I am dead. You being with me will paint a target on your back. Even my friends and allies will seek me out looking for answers. Are you ready for this?"

"Yes, they come…they fall." She responded as she donned the black mask for the first time. She put the rest of her suit and looked like a warrior that was ready to hunt. Itachi had no doubts that this was the best move for her. She needed to see another way to give out justice.

"What will your call name be when out on the field?" Itachi asked her. He wanted her to be the one to choose, just like with every other part of her life. Cassandra put her weapons belt on and loaded it with ninja tools provided by Itachi, "I am same as found by Wrath. Me Orphan."

Itachi nodded his head. Tonight would be the night for him to evaluate whether or not his trainings were getting through to her, "Let's get to work."

"Look, I understand your trepidation. I have a…history of incidents of unintended violence when doing deals such as this. It is the stress of it all you see, but for the last year, business has been booming! The Batman has been too busy to care and The Crow is dead. Apparently, the freak was offed by some big time villain. Now Gotham is all mine and nothing can stop me. So are you in or are you in?" The gang leader said as he stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself as KGBeast.

The Russian assassin turned gangster was the new big man in town. He came to the city with the hopes of challenging and maiming the vigilantes of Gotham, specifically The Crow. He wanted to rip the dark hero's head off, with his mask still on, and parade it around the entire city. It disappointed him to hear that The Crow was already dead when he arrived to the city.

"With these guns and armor, no one will be able to stop us. We'll run downtown Gotham…through your supervision of course. Mr. KGBeast, sir." The low time leader of the Triad said as he inspected all of the contraband. They were all in an empty Stagg Industries building as the deal went down. That's how powerful KGBeast had grown in his short time in the city. He didn't even fear all of the eyes of downtown Gotham.

"Yes, well let us discuss your payment for the weapons along with your future protection fees. Since Gotham is mine, you will need me if you want the police to turn a blind eye to you. Or refuse and find out just how I got the name KGBeast." The hulking man threatened.

The Triad members gulped before sitting down at the table to discuss the deal. And by discuss, what really was happening was them agreeing to whatever KGBeast wanted because absolutely no one wants to end up like the last man that told him no; hanging on the roof of Gotham General by his intestines, with both eyes gouged out.

While the criminals were discussing the deal, The Crow and Orphan were out scouting from across the roof.

"There are two guards waiting by the entrance, five on the roof, and over thirty hostiles on the 8th floor. We will be entering the building via the 7th floor. KGBeast is likely on the 8th floor with all of the other so that's why we're entering through the floor below. We hit them fast and we hit them hard." Crow detailed.

"Not forget ten in building next. May they are backup?" Orphan added. Crow nodded as he launched several kunai at the next building. Orphan counted ten in total. She then saw Crow summon a large scroll with the kanji for explosion on to it that seemed to be linked to the others. Above the kanji was also the number ten.

"Why time?" She asked. Crow summoned another pair of kunai and sent them flying towards the Stagg Industries building, "There are ten men, they will get ten minutes from the first thug we take out to change their minds and escape. Even the worst of the worst deserves that much."

She and him then each grabbed a kunai and went flying towards the 7th floor of the building. They entered without detection before getting ready to launch the assault, "You will use the elevator to advance on. Once I hear the signal, I will join in from down below."

"What be signal?" She asked. Her adoptive father started surveying the best angle for breeching. She had a confused look as the elevator opened and she got him. It was also as the doors closed that she heard his answer, "The signal is after they start shooting at you."

Orphan got mentally ready for what was about to happen. She really didn't want to mess up on her first mission. The young girl wanted to make her new father proud. The doors opened and everyone in the room turned to see her emerge from the elevator, and then the gunfire started.

It was forty seconds of consecutive fire before the last round was on the floor, but she stood there unharmed. KGBeast roared in laughter as he stepped forward towards her, "Ah! A new challenger for me! And it seems to be a little girl by the looks of her figure. Tell me, are you Batman's new sidekick?"

"No." She answered as she got into a fighting stance. He started laughing even louder. The Triad and his own gang members joined in on the laughter, seeming oblivious to the fact that they just unloaded all those gunshots and none of them did her any damage. Orphan was amazed at how protected the suit made her feel.

"Oh, is the little girl going to hurt me. Get a look at this one, men! I will break her myself." He said as he stalked forward. Orphan grabbed some shuriken from her weapons belt in preparation, "You not break me."

"Oh, and why not?" He asked.

"Because he break you first." KGBeast was about to ask what she meant by that when a fireball emerged from behind him. The shockwave sent him hurtling forward and landing on the ground as the rest of the men scrambled about. The fireball didn't kill anyone, but it was able to incapacitate about a quarter of the men on the level.

Orphan threw her shuriken at the guns of most of the assailants, causing them to jam and be inoperable. The few that still were able to use their guns shot down at the whole where the fireball emerged from. Crow used the confusion to ascend towards the 8th floor and hid on a steal beam above. Orphan threw a shuriken at the knees of one of the gunmen to make him drop his weapon and clutch his leg in pain. Crow then dropped down and used his left foot to drive the man's head straight into the ground, knocking him out cold.

Crow then stood there menacingly as the rest of the criminals saw exactly who, or what, had just descended upon them.

"It's the Crow!"

"Oh, no! Why is this happening?"

"No, he can't be real. It's been a year! Why now?!"

"I thought he was dead. KGBeast swore he was dead!"

"But that means, that we're dead then."

KGBeast regained his bearings as he stared at Crow, "Why are you all complaining?! All this means is you get to witness him die with your own eyes now by my hands. By the way they talk about you, I would've thought that you were taller. So Crow, it seems the girl is with you. What are you going to do when my reinforcements come and we tear you limb from limb?"

"I hope you don't mean the reinforcements that are in the building next to us because…" An explosion rang out. All of the criminals turned to see the neighboring building be brought down to rubble, "Those reinforcements are now trapped in the rubble. You are all on your own against me and her."

KGBeast turned to see the costumed girl that he was insulting earlier eye him like a lion does before they start a hunt. He charged after her rather than going for Crow. Orphan summersaulted under him and sprinted towards a Triad member to kick her in her chest and send her flying into another criminal. She then back flipped to avoid a running knee from a member of KGBeast's gang. While he was confused from the miss of his running knee, Orphan took advantage by driving both of her knees into his back and falling into on hers to send the man onto the floor with back spasms.

KGBeast hurried out of the room along with a handful of his men. Orphan turned towards Crow, who in turn signaled for her to chase after KGBeast. He planned on taking out all of these Triad members himself and had faith that Cassandra could handle herself. As she ran after KGBeast, members of the Triad tried to shoot at her from behind. It was a big mistake because Crow summoned a kunai with a wire attached to it and threw it at one of the Triad members. It lodged itself into the gangsters shooting arm, causing him to cry out in pain. Crow then pulled the wire just at the man pulled the trigger and made him to shoot his partner in the leg to drop him to the floor.

The former rogue ninja then sprinted at both of them, punched the still standing gang member in the face to stun him, lifted him up into a standing fireman's carry, and slammed him hard on top of his partner on the ground to knock them both out at the same time.

Crow turned to see a thug running at him. He tried punching at Itachi, but the attempt was easily snuffed. Itachi threw a quick jab at his stomach to stun him, a right cross at the man's chest, and a chop with the knife edge of his left hand at his throat to have him choking on his on saliva. Itachi put him out of his misery by throwing him against a pile of crate, which opened to reveal that drugs were in this building as well.

Itachi turned to block another thug's punch attempt and quickly counter with another chop to the throat. Only this time, Itachi followed up with a leg sweep to kick the criminal's legs out from under him and kicking him hard in the ribs for good measure so that he wouldn't get back up.

Another Triad member tackled Crow from behind and tried to get him to the ground with a double-leg takedown. Crow used his hips to sprawl on to the ground and his elbows to strike at the man's back until he came to a complete stop. After that, Itachi kneed him in the stomach and threw him towards the concrete wall next to them with so much force that the man actually went through the wall.

Itachi saw two more that were coming for him after that. The first man was taken out after Itachi dodged two untrained punch attempts. Itachi then punched him in the face with a right cross and transitioned to side-kick him down to one knee and roundhouse kicked him into being out cold. His partner seemed a little trained in combat since his attack of choice was consecutive snapback left kicks. Itachi blocked a too wide of a right cross and countered with a quick jab to his stomach to stun him. Itachi finished him off by grabbing him by the throat with one hand and choke-slamming the man to the hard floor.

Crow wasted no time with the next victim as he blocked the thrust kick and transitioned beautifully into a spinning backfist that connected with the man's jaw and brought him to his hands and knees. Itachi finished him off by curb stomping his face directly into the concrete floor.

A woman rushed up to him started throwing all sorts of punching and kicking combinations at Itachi. She was getting frustrated because Crow was either dodging or blocking every one of her attacks. Even without using his Sharingan, Itachi read all of her movements like a book. He used his fighting stance and quick movements to not only dodge, but shift her stance so that eventually she would become unbalanced so that he could go for the final blow. Crow got his opportunity when one of his dodges caused her to cross her feet and lose her balance. Itachi kicked out her left leg to get her on one knee and roundhouse kicked her hard in the face, breaking her nose and knocking her out cold.

The man Itachi assumed was her boyfriend ran at him in a fit of rage while screaming that he'd pay for doing that to his woman. Itachi smoothly wove around his wild kick, grabbed his right leg in a single-leg stance, and twirled him around until he went face-first into the concrete wall next to them.

Itachi turned to give the next gangster a jab-cross-hook combination that left him groggy. Crow then used a hip toss to toss the thug on top of a table. The finishing blow came when Crow lifted his head up and kneed him so hard in the face that his nose looked maimed and blood freely flowed from out of it. Itachi quickly dispatched another fighter by kicking him in the stomach so hard that the man went several feet into the air and landed painfully on the ground.

A woman jumped on Itachi's back from behind in an attempt to strangle him, but he easily, and painfully, got rid of her by elbowing her in her ribcage area, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt, and throwing her down on top of the man he had just got done kicking into oblivion.

Three more Triad members stepped up and brought out knives with the intent of stabbing Itachi. They rushed at him all at once to cut off any route of escape, but of course, it was next to nothing for Crow to counter. Itachi used a front kick to stun the first of the thugs and push him back to the ground. He then turned and started blocking the slash attempts by the second guy before finally catching the hand that held the blade in it, kicking him down to a knee and punching him in the face to stun him, and using the blade to slash at the nape of the man's neck in a non-lethal way.

The man Itachi originally kicked, along with the third man, rushed at him with fury. Crow systematically disarmed both men before stabbing them with their own blades. The first one got slashed in both his left and right shoulders and in his groin while the other one was slashed multiple times across his stomach and left femur before it ended with the knife finding its resting place in his collar bone.

A fourth challenger stepped up, blade already in hand and ready to kill Crow. Itachi used his superior movements and skill block each slash attempt. The female criminal even tried to incorporate punches and kicks to throw Itachi off his center, but they also proved ineffective as Itachi block each one while disarming her of her knife. He then proceeded to stab her in her left hipbone using his blinding speed. He followed that up by slashing her across her chest, flipped the knife into his opposite hand as a form of misdirection, and kicking her to the ground.

Itachi turned to see two Triad members that he had previously faced were back and aiming at him with some of the few still functioning guns. He summoned shuriken from his weapons seals and threw them at the barrels of each gun right as they fired, causing them to misfire and injure each of their hands. Itachi then summoned a kunai with wire attached so that he could throw it at one of them and pull them towards him. He met the man halfway before clotheslining him out of the air. Itachi kept his stride even after that to tackle the second assailant to the ground and throw him into a nearby drug crate to take him out of the fight for good.

Crow saw that only three were left on this level. Crow started by blocking a few kicks and strikes from one of the Triad members and shoving off against a nearby stanchion. Itachi punched him in the rib with a right hook, landed two consecutive left forearm shivers to his jaw, and finished him off by landing a spinning left elbow directly on the man's jaw, breaking it and knocking him unconscious.

The vigilante then saw the second man try to attack his blind spot with a leaping bicycle kick. Itachi sidestepped him, caught the kick and used the man's leg to flip him on him back, and finishing him off by stomping down hard on his face as blood now leaked from the man's mouth, nose and left ear.

The final man sprinted at Crow head on, which was a move that got reciprocated. Itachi wound up leaping above him just as the man attempted to kick Itachi's legs out from under him. Itachi back-stepped out of another low kick attempt before engaging him in hand-to-hand combat. Unlike the other Triad members, this fighter liked to incorporate grappling in between his serious of strikes in kicks. He never had a set distance to measure because he would grab to try and move Itachi whenever he wanted to avoid being hit. Itachi countered by using grappling of his own to move the challenger back in position and break his limbs to stop him from resetting. Itachi wound up breaking the man's left wrist, punching him in the chest, dislocating his right shoulder, and throwing him down to the ground.

The criminal stood leapt back up and tried to use his kicks but Itachi drove his elbow down hard and dislocated the man's right kneecap from socket, making him cry out in pain. Itachi then kicked him in the chest, delivered a right and left hook to his face, and finally used a leg sweep to bring to the ground before stomping down and his spine to knock him out.

After that, no one was left standing on that floor. He had managed to incapacitate every one of them, some more painfully than others. Crow activated his Sharingan and surveyed the rest of the building. He could see that KGBeast and some of his was headed towards the roof, with Orphan in hot pursuit of them.

'He must have a means of escape there. We'll see about that.' Itachi leapt out of a nearby window to confront the crime lord on the roof. He just hoped that his new ward used restraint while taking on her advisories.

Orphan made it to the second to last floor before reaching the roof. When she got there, four Russian men stood at the end of the hallway, all them having short swords. Orphan watched them smile and cackle at her one by one.

"Move way, now. No warnings left." She threatened as she got into her stance. The biggest one stepped forward to respond to her, "And I thought my English was bad. Look, I can tell you're just a little girl. Why don't you just run along now so that we can carve up that Crow downstairs? If you don't, we may end up having to cut into you as well."

Cassandra felt herself grow angry from hearing her new father be threatened like that. She knew that none of them could ever hurt him on their best day, but she the mere intent of it all made her angry, "If so confident, me first."

That was all they needed to hear before all four men started sprinting down the hallway to try and carve up Cassandra. She ran to meet them halfway. Orphan used the wall as a spring pad to perform a leaping knee to the first man's face. She then kicked him in the ribs and dislodged his blade from his hands before kicking it away from them and shoving him against the wall. Orphan then had to spin to avoid a lunging attack by the second man, all while kicking him in the back as he went past her. She then used her gauntlet to block the third man's attack and countered by punching him in the neck to immobilize him so that she could throw him against the wall as well. The final man got his short sword caught by Orphan with one hand and had his knees painfully kicked out from under him by her while she still had the third man against the wall.

She threw the third man to the ground after kneeing him in the midsection and turned her focus towards the final man. Cassandra had to block to overhead attack before she wound up being kicked back into a wall. She recovered quickly and was able to get him to lodge his short sword into the wall behind her by using the defensive techniques taught to her by Itachi. After the man found himself trying to pull his blade free, Orphan took advantage by savagely elbowing him in the temple and stomping down at the back of his left knee.

The second Russian thug recovered and was able to tackle Cassandra to the ground with his superior strength. He then tried to impale her, but she moved her head at the last second to dodge to blade. Orphan grabbed a wad of his hair and used it to pull him down to her. After two powerful punches to the face, he wound up getting knocked off of her. But before she could make it back to her feet, the first man took hold of both her legs and yelled for his comrades to take her head off. Orphan got one of her legs free and kicked at every one of them until she got the space to get to a knee. She then grabbed third man by his head as he was still groggy and drove his head down hard onto the floor.

She picked up his short sword and started swinging it at the first man as he leapt back from the fear of being cut open. The third Russian attempted to still use his short sword on her, but she was able to counter it and kick him away before going back to the first Russian, whom had gotten to his blade again. She parried and countered all of his slash attempts before kicking him in the stomach to get distance.

The fourth soldier had finally freed his blade from its place in the wall and went to engage Orphan again, but it was a short lived exchange as she brutally cut his face open after blocking two of his slash attempts. He fell to the ground as blood sprayed and he screeched in pain. Orphan was done taking it easy on them. She was tackled to the ground from behind by the third underling again but elbowed him in the face and drove his head against the nearby wall to get him off of her.

She turned to see the first man coming at her with his blade and kicked him in his groin and then again in the chest to push him back. The fourth underling had recovered from getting his face cut open and he looked pissed. The cut went from the right side of his mouth to about halfway through his jawline.

'Russians resilient.' She thought as he tried to stop her from grabbing one of the loose short swords. She then rolled backwards and had to avoid being cut by the third underling again. Orphan had to quickly turn and stop the first soldier from stabbing her by kneeing him in the face. She then engaged the second and third soldiers, who each had short swords, in hand-to-hand combat.

She elbowed the second soldier, kicked the third one's knee out, kneed the second one in the stomach, punched the third one in the head, gave the second man an uppercut, ducked the third man's slash attempt, and kicked the second man to the door behind him and then used a leaping knee to send him through it into a conjoining office cubicle. Orphan then poured her entire focus on the third man since he was the one that made the verbal threat about Itachi.

He tried to overpower her, but she used her technique to easily overwhelm him. Cassandra stomped down on his right foot, breaking it from the force. She then grabbed his right hand and bent it backwards until his wrist broke from the strain. He made one last ditch effort to decapitate her, but she ducked and performed a scorpion kick to send him back towards the wall. Finally, she banged his head against the wall before throwing him to the ground and performing a leaping knee drop that landed on the man's neck, thus breaking it. He looked up at her in fear and apprehension as she glared down at him behind her mask.

"I-I can't move. Why can't I move my legs and my arms?" He asked in fear. She stood up and turned her back to him, "Neck broken. Never walk again. I spare you. Live in shame. Your words reason this is. Never threaten father..."

She turned her attention towards the second fighter. He gave a vain attempt at stabbing her but she easily stopped it, hit him with a jab-hook-uppercut combination, and finally threw him unto a glass table using a shoulder toss. The first and fourth fighters finally joined in to help fight her after that, both with their short swords.

Cassandra quickly stunned the first fighter by kicking him in the ribs and then punching him in the face. The fourth tried to get an attack in too, but she caught his blade arm and used it to throw him against the nearby wall too. The first fighter got back up to attack Orphan and Cassandra had decided enough was enough. She disarmed him of his blade and used it to slash him across his chest. He screamed from the pain but she added on by kicking his knees out and making a shallow cut on the side of his neck. She finished the job by kneeing in the face and driving the blade into his left shoulder.

The second man kicked her in the face and then again in the chest as she flipped over a nearby chair. He stayed on her by clinching her up, with the purpose of keeping her head down, and delivering knees to her body. She eventually shook the cobwebs off and pinned on of his knees to her. Cassandra used a burst of explosive power to lift him up after that and swung him back first into the plastered wall behind her, finally taking him out of the fight for good. Such strength would normally not be possible, but thanks to her training by the League of Assassins and her suit, it made all of the difference.

The fourth and final fight returned with rage from what happened to his comrades. He threw wild punches and kick at her that were all either blocked or evaded altogether. She impeded his progress with a snap kick to his ribs followed by the right cross to his face. He countered by kneeing her in the stomach but she fought through the pain. He tried to hit her with an elbow to her faced, but Orphan blocked it with her hand and used his arm to put him in a two-on-one joint hold to bring him down to a knee. He got a quick right hook in on Cassandra that barely fazed her as she kicked him square in the face. He tried getting up but ate an uppercut to his stomach for good measure. He then desperately put all of his strength into throwing her through the air behind him.

She landed on her feet but was put in a rear naked choke from behind by him. She could feel that he was out of position though and simply pulled him over her body with her free hand so that they were face to face and then she repeatedly head-butted him until his nose was covered in blood. Orphan started dragging him by his neck as she got ready to break it but he sprung up and drove her against the nearby wall. After a struggle, he eventually threw her off of him and got ready to reengage as he grabbed the short sword on the ground.

He started swinging wildly and desperately to try to kill her. She easily found an opening when she kicked his right leg out, elbowed him in the face, and delivered a crushing right cross to the back of his head that dropped him. The final Russian made it back on his feet by some miracle with his short sword in hand. She sprinted at him and tackled him through the window behind them as they started to freefall. She eventually drove the short sword into the side of the building to stop her fall while simultaneously clotheslining him against the building as well. She saw a ladder-well underneath them and let go of the blade as they fell onto it. He landed hard on his back and Orphan landed directly on top of him with her knee to his sternum as he was finally out cold.

She remembered about KGBeast and got a kunai out that had wire connected to it. The guards on the ground floor level started shooting at her when they saw her land on the ladder-well. Cassandra knew her suit would protect her from the bullets, but the unconscious thug next to her wouldn't be so fortunate so she threw him into the window next to them and grappled her way up to the roof. Cassandra figured Itachi would've already dealt with his portion of the criminals and was already up there.

'Not let down you.' She thought as she made her way up.

KGBeast had finally made it to the roof where his two elite escorts were waiting for him. They fired special launchers that connected a long zip line from the roof to a nearby health clinic as soon as they saw him give the signal. A rainstorm formed and started pouring down on the villains. KGBeast got his part ready when he revealed his electronic handlebar that connected to the line. He then signaled for the escorts to stand watch as he got ready to escape.

"Damn you, Crow. Of all nights for the birdbrain to show up, why'd it have to be tonight?! My entire operations…my future empire…they are in ruins! No one will want to buy from me when they find out about tonight. He will pay! Both he and that new sidekick of his…they will both pay!" He yelled.

"And how will you make Orphan and I pay?" He heard. KGBeast turned to see Crow standing by the edge of the roof. He was hidden by the darkness but the flash of lightning that hit nearby had completely illuminated him.

KGBeast's eyes widened from fear of seeing him. He quickly ordered his men to shoot him, "What are you waiting for?! Shoot him down! Kill him!"

"It'll be hard for them to do that with them being out cold. It's nice to see that a zip line was your great means of escape. Well, are you ready for me, or do you plan on running away again?" Crow said to egg him on.

"What? What do you mean out cold they're right…there? What…what happened to them?! They were just awake, and the zip line! It's gone! What have you done you freak?!" He yelled out at the vigilante.

"I put them to sleep a while ago. By the time you got here they were already out cold. Everything you saw before was merely from a genjutsu that I put you under as soon as you got to the roof. I wanted to see how you planned on escaping. Now I will show you how you will leave this place." Crow revealed.

"Let me guess, you plan on me leaving in handcuffs. Give it your best shot." KGBeast challenged. Itachi shook his head as the monster of a man charged at him. Crow caught the wild punched that KGBeast had thrown before answering his question, "Handcuffs, no. You will leave this building in an ambulance."

Itachi then made a tiger hand sign much to the confusion of KGBeast. The roof had collapsed from under them as soon after the hand sign was made. KGBeast landed painfully in the ground. He looked down and saw that his leg was bent in a way it wasn't supposed to be and knew that it was severely broken.

"Argh! My leg! Damn you, Crow! What the hell is this?!" He yelled out in pain as he slowly tried to crawl away. Itachi landed on his feet safe and sound as he watched the would-be gangster gravel on the ground like trash, "I had this floor laced with explosives before you got there. They were paper bombs so seeing them without light would be hard for eyes as average as yours. That leg looks like its broken…told you I'd have you leave this place in an ambulance. Now, I remember you telling the criminal underworld that you'd snap my neck if given the chance, well here I am."

"Get away from me! You ruined everything. This night couldn't get any worse." The injured man said. As if karma was listening in on them, a news helicopter flew above and shined a spotlight on both of them. Crow looked and saw that it was news anchorwoman Vicki Vale who had arrived with her crew in the air.

"Ladies and gentleman, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, it appears that that is the long believed to be dead vigilante, The Crow. He seems to be taking on the criminal syndicate that is led by KGBeast and has literally brought his house down." She spoke as the news cameras zoomed in on the scene.

"The whole world is watching you now, KGBeast. It's time to show them what type of person you really are. I already know the answer. You're someone who barks loud but never gives any bite behind it. It's a shame you have all of those muscles and yet you are the smallest one of them all. At least your subordinates fought back, you are running away as the world watches. Oh sorry, I misspoke. You're crawling away." Itachi taunted.

That made KGBeast angry. Now it wasn't just his body that was in pain, it was also his pride. He reached to his belt and pulled a gun out. Itachi crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. KGBeast wouldn't be able to hit him even if it was Itachi with the broken leg but he decided that he'd humor him. KGBeast suddenly had a smug look on his face now that his gun was out.

"Yeah, you've shut up now that I pulled this out. You're so scared you can't even move. I'm going to so enjoy blowing your head clean off. What's wrong? Crow got your tongue or something? I can still win this. Now the whole world will see you die by my hands! What do you have to say about that?!" He shouted out.

"What are you waiting for, get it over with." As Crow said that KGBeast decided that enough was enough and pulled the trigger, "I win!"

As the shot rang off, a hand covered the gun to block the bullet from coming out. KGBeast looked over to see that it was Orphan that covered the gun as the shot fired, "You thought I was talking to you when I said to get it over with? I was referring to Oracle."

Her hand didn't have a scratch on it. There was only the blood of the criminals from her earlier fight. KGBeast gulped as she glared down at him.

"You win pain." Before he could get a word out to respond she snatched the gun from his hand and pistol-whipped him with it. He was in a daze as he felt his broken leg get grabbed and his body being dragged by it, "What are you doing to me?"

Crow didn't even respond as he kept dragging the villain. He got to the edge of the floor where the outside structure of the building had been blown off. The news helicopter shined its bright light upon them as every wondered what would happen next. Itachi lifted him up to dangle him upside down as KGBeast cried out in fear of being dropped and killed.

"When you came here, KGBeast, you thought that this would be some crowning achievement of yours to help solidify your way to the top of the criminal underworld. Instead, you will serve as an example of what is to come now that I'm back in my city." Crow threatened.

Itachi the reached down to grab him by the throat so that he was right-side up. Oracle did even flinch as she saw Crow impale KGBeast onto an exposed metal rebar that was the result of the earlier explosion. KGBeast screeched in pain as he hung from the building from a metal rebar as the news helicopter recorded everything.

"Oh my God. The Crow has impaled KGBeast and is leaving him to hand on the edge of the building. He hasn't lost his touch from his time away from Gotham. And it looks like he brought a friend with him this time." Vale fearfully said as she saw Crow and his new partner walk towards the light from the news chopper. Crow looked at the defeated villain before speaking again, "Stop screaming. You won't die from this. I missed all of your vital organs and the police are quickly approaching through the building as we speak. You thought that Gotham and its criminal syndicate was yours but you were wrong. It is mine…mine to destroy. I'm on mission. I will rid the city of the filth one by one just like I did before, only now I have help…and we are starting with you. Enjoy Arkham."

"KGBeast? You like more KGBaby. Vengeance served." Orphan added as she and Itachi went to the edge of the building. The police had just arrived to the floor and saw firsthand that The Crow was really back after all.

"What's our orders, sir? Crow has fought for our city and is one of the good guys." One of the law enforcers asked of his captain.

"Does him being impaled look good to you?! Commissioner Gordon has been too lenient with these vigilantes. Well I say no more! Bring them all in." He replied but they didn't get the chance as the two vigilantes jumped off of the roof and out of the light. By the time they made it to the edge, no sign of them was left. They wouldn't have never known they were there if not for the fact that they actually saw them and the impaled man that paid the price for daring to cross them, "As dark as it may sounds, I'm glad they are back. Now scum like him have something to fear."

"Yeah, but now so do we." The Captain replied as KGBeast had passed out from the pain and stress of the night. The mark of The Crow and Orphan was back in effect for all to see.

Black Canary was currently scrambling inside of The Cave. Why, you may ask? It was because she had just seen the entire scene of Itachi and some sidekick of his basically return as only he could and drop an entire building while blowing the roof off of another. She gasped when she saw him impaled KGBeast through that metal rebar.

"That's how you choose to come back? I don't want to imagine how the kids will react once they get back from their mission." She said to herself.

"They will likely opt to immediately fly to Gotham in an attempt to make contact with him. I doubt it will accomplish anything other than opening old wounds that seemed to have finally begun to heal." Red Tornado responded.

"If Itachi doesn't want to be found, they won't find him. This past year is more than enough proof of that. But on the bright side, the fact that he came out in such a public setting such as that has to mean that he is ready to be found. But where has he been this entire time?" The brawler asked.

"We shall find out soon enough, I believe. For now, The Team has returned so we must deal with them. This must be approached in a delicate way, especially as it concerns-" The android got cut off by the sound of The Cave announcing system. The Team had just returned.

"And that's another on for the good guys!" Kid Flash shouted as he walked with excitement after another notch in a string of successful missions. They had really fallen into their groove over the past few months after finally getting over Itachi leaving.

"You act like you did anything, it was Aqualad and his quick thinking that helped the plan succeed." Robin playfully jabbed at him.

"That hurts. But not as much as Brother Blood after we got done kicking his butt! Oh and would you look at that, I even got a souvenir." Wally responded as he pulled out a parchment paper that contained one of the villain's recent scriptures.

"What a creep. I can't believe he was brainwashing all of those children like that. He deserved worse than the handcuffs he left in." Artemis added.

"It is up to the Brazilian authorities to determine his punishment. We are only meant to save the children and stop his tyranny." Aqualad added.

"You can be such a square, Kaldur. You know that, right?" Rocket said as she came up the rear of the group. She saw Artemis take hold of Wally's hand as they headed towards the lounge. She then saw Zatanna and Robin also go in together since they were currently dating.

'Things sure have changed since I first joined. I guess since the whole end of the world thing was stopped by Itachi and his brother, no one has anything to be stressed about. Well, there is still-' Rocket's thoughts got cut off by Canary suddenly coming in.

"How did the mission go?" She asked to the group. Conner and Robin both had weird looks on their faces when she asked that, "It was a success. We told you that when we completed apprehending Brother Blood."

"Oh, you did? Sorry Conner, I must have forgotten. Why don't we all go out into town to celebrate?! I feel like you guys deserve it." Canary suggested.

"We just want to chill out in the lounge and watch some TV. That was a long night operation and it's pretty late out. We can go out tomorrow in the morning to celebrate." Robin countered.

The rest of the heroes all agreed to it. Canary looked at Red tornado with a look of worry, which caught the eye of Artemis. Canary never forgets mission related items nor does she ever suggest going out to town to celebrate. It made her start to suspect that something was up, "Is everything okay? You're acting weird."

"What are you talking about, babe? All she wants is to celebrate with us is all. Hey, you can watch TV with us!" That generated eye-rolls from the rest of them. The last thing any of them wanted was an adult supervisor during their time of relaxation. His level of naiveté still amazed them despite knowing him for all of these years.

M'gann decided to take a peek into her mind and when she did she visibly gasped and started to tear up. Canary knew right away what had just happened and hung her head in shame. M'gann immediately turned towards Wally, "Turn the news monitor on!"

"But my show. Can't we just-" Wally got cut off by her yelling in a manner she only does when it involves someone she cares about, "Just do it!"

"Alright, alright." He quickly went over and turned the monitor. The scene that popped up on the screen left them all speechless. This time it was Artemis who gasped and even took her mask off just to make sure that she was actually seeing what she thought she saw. On the screen was Itachi as The Crow. He had just impaled KGBeast and was staring out into the distance as the rain around him raged on.

"Woah, it looks like he blew the roof off of that building." Wally commented. The camera then panned to the next building that really was reduced to rubble, "And he blew another one down completely."

"I can't believe this. Itachi…is back and is in Gotham. Was he right under our noses this entire time?" Robin asked. KGBeast had been a thorn in Gotham for a long time and with Batman being busy playing damage control, it allowed the Russian mercenary to gain power. Itachi brought it all crumbling down in just one day. It made Robin a little jealous if he was honest. He then noticed something else on the broadcast, "Who is that with him?"

They noticed a smaller figure next to Itachi. It was dressed in all an all-black suit that was stained with blood. They didn't even want to think about where the blood came from. After a confrontation with the police, both Itachi and his accomplice jumped off of the roof, ending the broadcast with the header; after one year, The Crow returns with an explosive vengeance. Who is next?"

"M'gann, get the Bioship ready. We're heading to Gotham!" Artemis ordered as she put her mask on and went for her gear. The Martian complied and headed over to her ship. The others got out of their stupor and immediately made a beeline for the Bioship.

Canary thought fast and blocked her path before she could make it there. Red Tornado joined her as the others had confused looks on their faces. Well, all but Artemis and M'gann. They had looks of anger.

"What are you doing? We need to get to that ship so we can find that jerk!" Artemis declared.

"Please do not stop us. He is our friend." Aqualad pleaded.

"We just want to know that he is okay." Zatanna added.

"You'd just be wasting your time and opening old wounds. Please, just wait for him to come find you." Black Canary said to try and calm them down.

"We have Superboy and Miss Martian. We can find him. You don't know what would happen." Wally countered.

"This is what would happen; you'd spend all night looking for him only to come up with nothing. Then you return here hurt all over again just like you did a year ago. He will seek you all out when he is ready to talk." Red Tornado explained.

"What, you think he's just gonna waltz through the zeta-beam and say that he's ready to talk. That's illogical. We're leaving, now!" Artemis declared.

Before Canary could get a response in the announcing system of The Cave rang off, "Recognize Crow, B08. Unrecognized personnel has entered The Cave."

They all turned towards the zeta chamber and saw that Crow and his accomplice had indeed stepped through. Itachi looked at his ward after she started feeling woozy from her first time beaming away, "it's alright. That will go away the more you do it."

They rushed towards him, stopping just a few feet away. He took his mask off and confirmed that it was in fact him and he had returned to them after a year-long absence. Orphan turned towards her foster father and whispered, "Why no mask. I thought only friends see."

"Don't worry. We're amongst family." Itachi said to her. She took her mask off just in time to see a tearful reunion happen. Artemis and M'gann both had tears in their eyes from seeing him. He gave them a small smile, "I'm glad to see that you all have grown so much since I last saw you. I've missed you all."

"That's all you got to say after a whole year. You missed us? Not where you've been? No explanation of what you've done. We just look up one day and see you on the news. The criminal underworld gets you before your own friends do?" Artemis ranted as the hurt was palpable in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but I had a promise to keep." That wasn't good enough for her, "And what about your promise to us?"

"It is bigger than that. As much as you don't want to accept it, I needed to leave." Itachi said with sympathy in his voice. Even though it was just Artemis speaking, he could tell that they all felt this way. Artemis walked up to try to hit him, but Cassandra intercepted and caught her fist before it connected, "Artemis, no hit."

They turned their attention towards the girl that had Artemis's arm in her grip and wondered how she knew Artemis's name. Itachi gave her a look and she immediately let go. She apologized afterwards, "Sorry, father."

"Father?" Most of them said collectively. The only one who wasn't surprised was M'gann because Itachi told her of his plans before leaving. She took her mask of and revealed her face to them as Itachi introduced her, "This is Cassandra. She is the reason I had to leave you guys so suddenly. I had to keep a promise to save and look after her."

"Okay, but why is she calling you 'father'?" Zatanna asked. M'gann already knew the answer to that, "It's because he adopted her, right? You adopted that little girl."

"I did. I spent the first six months looking for her and the last six raising her and establishing our bond." Itachi explained. He then went on to explain everything to them. He omitted the part of him killing the League of Assassins and the deal he made with Cheshire Cat, but went into depth about everything else. Itachi spoke of how he found and adopted her. He also spoke of how he took her back to Gotham to raise her and introduce her to a peaceful life. He signed her up for school, trained her, and raised her with love. Itachi spoke to Cassandra about them every day, which is how she already knew all of their names.

"I saw how bad Gotham had gotten in my absence and knew I needed to return. Cassandra couldn't have me to herself forever. But I saw how much she admired you all and how much she truly wanted to be a hero and decided to take her with me. It was a test to see if she was ready to branch out more. Since she performed to my expectations, I decided to let you all to meet her." Itachi revealed.

"Hi…" Cassandra said shyly. M'gann walked to the girl first. She gave a very warming smile as she spoke, "Hello, I'm M'gann. I'm one of Itachi's friend. It's nice to meet you."

"I know M'gann. Father say nice you. Picture of all you." She responded. Itachi went up to Artemis as she glared at him. But the more he gave her that smile of his, along with Cassandra being so shy and cute to her, the more she found it hard to be mad at him. She reluctantly let go of her grudge and pulled him into a hug.

"I really missed you, Itachi. You worry me so sick sometimes." She whispered to him as he reciprocated her hug, "I know. I'll be better next time."

"It's nice to meet you, Cassandra. I'm friends with your jerk father. We can't wait to get to know you more." Artemis said as she addressed the girl. Cassandra nodded shyly. They all greeted her as she replied shyly to them. Itachi knew that this would take a while for her to get used to since she's basically meeting all of her heroes.

They pulled away so that M'gann could get hug in. Soon the rest of the group joined in to welcome Itachi back. He was glad to see that most of them hadn't changed. Wally, Robin, and Kaldur all got taller and some of the girls' bodies started to fill out more, but that was to be expected with an entire year passing by. Conner looked pretty much the same which had Itachi curious, but he chose that that was a topic for a different day.

"M'gann, you didn't tell them about why I was really gone. Thank you. You truly are a kind person." Itachi telepathically said to M'gann.

"I'm glad you're back too. I made a promise, didn't try? Try not to take Artemis's anger too seriously. She really missed you and was affected by your disappearance." She responded.

"So, will you be rejoining The Team, then? You know, the offer for you to join The League still stands as well." Canary offered.

They turned towards Itachi to wait for his answer. He saw Cassandra smiling at him and knew what he wanted to do, "I'm returning to The Team. They are and will always be my family…but when the time is right and I move one to The League, Cassandra will take my place."

They all shouted in celebration of his answer. Cassandra was shocked that he wanted her to join him, "Me Team? You sure?"

"The day will come when you will have to save me, you will need good teammates to help you accomplish that feat. I believe you can do it. But for now, we can settle with you helping me fix Gotham up." Itachi answered.

"I see your friends more now?" She asked. Itachi signaled for her to him. Cassandra happily did so and as she made it to him she was greeted with a hug, "Of course you can. They are your family too."

She smiled at him before squeezing him with a hug of her own as the others watched. Seeing Itachi be a dad to them was strange, yet something about it just felt right.

"Do you guys want to hang out with us? You can tell us about your father-daughter moments and we can catch you guys up on what's been happening with us too." Robin offered.

"Sorry, maybe next time. There one last person that I need to see. She's been waiting for me to come back home to her. And, I want to introduce her to Cassandra." Itachi said as he respectfully declined. They all understood who he was referring to and understood his decision.

"You go get her." Artemis said with a wink as Wally came put an arm around her shoulder. They all gave him a nods of approval. M'gann had a smile as she watched him walk to the zeta-chamber, "You so owe me, big time. I hope you are good on keeping your promises."

"And what promise are you referring to?" He responded. He then thought about Carson, "Was her treatment successful?"

"Oh, you'll see." That was the only hint she gave him as he and Cassandra beamed away. They all were giddy with excitement from seeing him and Cassandra. Artemis smiled to herself as Wally kissed her on the cheek, "It looks like our family is back together."

Conner just looked at his girlfriend and knew that something was off with her now. He figured that just off of that las exchange that Itachi and her had a personal telepathic conversation, which also meant one other thing; Artemis was right all along about M'gann knowing something about Itachi.

'Whatever you're hiding for him, I hope you know what you're doing. Please don't cripple yourself because you wish to bear Itachi's secrets.' He thought as he walked over to the Martian and kissed her. They all went to the lounge and watched the full coverage of Itachi's return and Cassandra's debut as Crow and Orphan. All M'gann thought about as she watched the coverage was of Itachi and her wondering if he could ever truly live a peaceful life.

They got changed to regular clothing on the way to their final destination for the night. Itachi found himself in front of the door where it all began. This was symbolic to him since this represented the doorway to a new path being taken, with either one leading to despair. Casandra tightened her grip in his hand to make him look down at her, "Can do this you."

"Thanks." He replied as he knocked on the door. The sound behind the door made his heart flutter, "Just a minute."

He heard shuffling about and things being put away. He had no doubt that her place was probably a mess. After a while the door opened and on the other side revealed the one person Itachi missed the most, Carson. When she opened the door and saw him, she gasped and stopped in her place.

"I'm home." It was all he needed to say to snap her out of her shock and have her jump into his embrace. Cassandra got uncomfortable as she saw Carson hugging him. It felt different from when his friends were hugging him earlier. After the hug, she took his hands into hers before saying, "Welcome home, you dork. I knew you'd come back to me!"

She noticed Cassandra standing awkwardly behind Itachi and raised a brow, "Wait, who's the kid? You didn't become a babysitter while you were gone, did you?"

"I'll explain later." He said with a smile as they all headed inside. As he stepped inside he noticed how things hadn't changed much. Carson still wasn't very good with tidiness and lacked groceries which told him that she usually ate out for food. One thing that did change was her appearance. She cut her hair to about shoulder length now and she stopped wearing glasses now.

He saw the picture of her, James, and Carla in a new picture frame that had to have been taken recently since James was in a wheelchair. They all had smiles on their faces. Itachi remembered how he left her and wanted confirmation on something.

"Your treatment…what were the results?" Itachi asked trying to cut to the chase. Carson like how Itachi still was not one to mince his words, despite all of the time that had passed. She turned her face towards the kitchen chairs as she started speaking, "At first, it was hard. Megan tried going easy on me but the sessions left me tired and exhausted. There were times where I wanted to quit and I even started to think that my whole life was a lie and that nothing was real about me. Just seeing how much of my life was influence by Ayumi really unwound me. Things that I liked doing or places that I liked going…it was like I was losing it all. I felt lost in my identity."

"I'm sorry. I wish none of it had to happen." Itachi said in response.

"I'm not. When I lost my old identity, it gave me an opportunity to gain a new one. It gave me a new perspective on life. Megan said I should take advantage of it and I did. I started with something small; I cut my hair. I needed to feel like I was my own person. Then I ditched the glasses, changed the wardrobe. Then I started working out more. I didn't want to be weak anymore. Artemis helped me out with getting a good schedule together. I knew that things had to change after it all was done." She replied.

"Did some things stay the same?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, I still love Agents of Shield. I still enjoy going to get ice cream with my brother. I still work at Carla's, I talk a lot when I'm nervous, and above all…I still love you. My feelings for you were not part of the manufactured lie built in my life. It was real. It is still real." She revealed as she smiled at him.

Itachi smiled back at her. He was happy to find out that her love for him still existed. She then did something else that shocked him. Placing her hands together, Carson formed the Boar, Horse, and Tiger hand signs. She had a smug look on her face as if to say told you so to him.

Cassandra had no idea what the significance of her doing that actually meant. To Itachi, Carson being able to weave those signs meant that she was ready for the next step of their relationship, "Carson, do you know what this means."

"It means that you will keep our promise. I'm ready to be a part of your clan and your family. We're gonna be together forever." She declared. Itachi smiled before kissing her. Cassandra had a confused look on her face, "Woman in clan now? She family, too?"

They broke the kiss as Itachi had Cassandra sit next to him, "Yes, Carson is part of our family too. We will be a family together."

"Okay, enough with the suspense. Who is this cute little girl?" Carson asked. For some reason, her question brought Itachi back to when he and Ayumi had a private conversation in Itachi's Tsukuyomi a year ago after their fight. It was the conversation that changed everything for Itachi.

"Come on! What's with the suspense? Who is she to you?" Carson egged on.

"What aren't you telling me about Carson?! Who is she to you?!" Itachi demanded.

"Well, since you really want to know who she is, I'll tell you..." Itachi replied with a shy smile.

"Well, since you really want to know who she is, I'll tell you..." Ayumi said with a sly smile.

"She is…" Carson had a look of anticipation as she waited for his big reveal.

"She is…" Itachi had a look of dread as he waited for this seismic truth.

"…a promise kept between me and God, just like you." Carson's brow raised with confusion.

"…a promise kept between me and God, just like you." Itachi's eyes widened.

"My pride and joy. Someone truly special." He continued.

"My ace in the hole. Something truly terrifying." She continued.

"Cassandra is…" It was as if time stopped for Carson.

"Carson is…" It was as if time stopped for Itachi.

"My adopted daughter." Itachi said with a smile.

"My reincarnated daughter." She said with a sad smile.

Carson's shock was quickly replaced with excitement. To her, it completely explained why he needed to leave and why it was so important. She knew he was doing it for the little girl sitting next to them. Itachi's kindness and selflessness held no bounds to her.

Itachi's shock was quickly replaced with acceptance. He knew she wouldn't lie about this. It even made sense. It may have been in passing, but Ayumi mentioned that she lost another child after she was imprisoned. Ayumi never mentioned the gender, nor if she had any actual attachment to the child. So if she came to a deal with The Sage asking that he restore to her the children she lost, the second child would be included in that. Also, there was the fact now that Ayumi had made herself younger, they looked just alike. He saw it even more that Carson's hair was cut short.

Itachi knew that Carson was the threat that The Sage warned him about. The one thing he couldn't figure out was how she turns from the innocent civilian girl she is now, to some mass threat. According to The Sage and Ayumi, Carson will devastate the world at some point in the future. Itachi didn't care because one way or another, he refused to allow it to come to that.

Carson hugged Cassandra like she had known the girl her whole life. To her, if she was family of Itachi's, that made Cassandra family to her as well. Cassandra didn't know what to do or how to feel about being hugged by some strange girl she had just met, only that the feeling felt right and this woman felt kind to her. So eventually she returned the hug and accepted her as her new family as well.

She looked Itachi with a warm. He could tell that her eyes had hunger in them, but she was holding back since there was a child in the room. Itachi smiled back since he knew he had to honor his end of the promise that they made together, the promise to be a family.

Carson leg of Cassandra and went towards Itachi again. This time she kissed him with the passion she had felt for him after his year long absence. Itachi and her both knew in that moment that their love for each other was real. They broke the kissed and just stayed there embracing each other. That was when Cassandra joined the hug before saying, "You ice cream? Want I!"

"You want ice cream, huh? Well I have plenty in the back so let's get some." Carson said much to the approval of Cassandra. They both went to the back as Itachi looked on. Despite what everything inside was screaming at him, he refused to accept that this scene couldn't last. Itachi did not want to believe he'd have to kill another loved one. The sad smile of Ayumi flashed in his head as Carson wave him over to join them, which made him pause.

'I will never let her become Ayumi…never.' Itachi swore in his head as eventually joined his new family and began the next chapter of his life.

(Some Time In The Future)

The loss and devastation of recent events were still fresh on everyone's mind. The Team was still reeling from the loss they just suffered. Though the speedsters succeeded in saving the world, it came at the cost of the life of Wally West. Artemis had lost the love of her life and felt a great void in her heart now, especially since they had planned on finally leaving that life behind for good. Flash went over to comfort the woman who had grown to become like family to him.

As The Team and The League were morning on the frozen tundra that they were on, a figure could be seen walking in the distance. As it got closer, everyone started to see that it was Itachi who was walking towards them and he was carrying something. They started to see that it wasn't a thing he was carrying, it was a person with a blanket over them.

"Oh, no," M'gann said as she felt the pain of Itachi as he got closer. She could tell that he was heartbroken. Superboy was the first to see it thanks to his vision, "Guys, he's carrying a corpse…and he's crying."

Itachi looked down at the body and recalled everything that had just happened. What he had just lost and how wrong he was about that scene all those years ago, 'I just lost everything.'

The cover on the corpse hid its identity and what it meant. Though they didn't know, Itachi accepted it clear of day. All of the events from this past year led to this moment. All of the happiness and elation was now rage and despair. It meant that the premonition given to Itachi came true; to either kill the one he loved or let her turn into someone who would kill everyone. The questions that remained were which option Itachi wound up choosing and whose body was he carrying.

Itachi stopped right before his friends and didn't even try to hide his sorrow. He saw Artemis in tears too and knew she lost someone important to her as well. He simply thought back to Vandal Savage's warning to him all those years ago, 'All that he fights for is already gone because those things, like him, were never real to begin with.'

Itachi had one thought in his head as his friends came rushing to him in an effort to console him as the wind blew the cover away and showed them just who Itachi was carrying. In fact, both he and Artemis had the same thought going on in their heads, 'Nothing lasts forever.'

Well, that's it! The story that is May I Live Once in Peace is now complete. Itachi has let Gotham know that he is back with authority and now he has Orphan, aka Cassandra, as his backup. Our favorite ninja is also reunited with his new family and got his happy ending. Itachi now has Cassandra to look after and Carson to come home to. But will it last long and what choices must be made? I want to say thank you to, first of all, Anime hotty lover.18 for letting me adapt and finish this story. It has been a joy to do over these last few years. Second, I'd like to thank all of you who stuck by and watched the story unfold with me. All of the reviews, favorites, follow, and PM's, both critical and praise-worthy, are what helped push me to finish this story. I hope you all like the final send off to this story. It has been an honor to write for you all. With this chapter, that makes over 400k words, 45 chapters, and over 300K views. I never would've imagined that when I first started so thank you all. This isn't the end of the saga, the sequel to this story will cover season two of Young Justice. I'll try to have the first chapter out in a month or so, depending on my schedule. The title of it will be The Conflict of Peace. So until next time guys and gals!

Oh and send me some of your ideas for one-offs you all want to see. I'll already have some ideas but hearing your inputs always help. Just PM me and we can see if we can get a good idea going. One story that I'll for sure write about is Jason Todd. His story is something I can't wait to get into. Well for now, see you in the sequel!