Itachi wasn't really sure what to expect following Sasori who kept the same look of detachment on his face he had always shown. He seemed his usual calm emotionless self but something else was there now. A strange sort of spark that was barely visible in his eyes. It wasn't panic. Or at least he didn't think it was, it was too subdued. Curiosity? No that didn't fit. There was as still a speck of alarm in there. Whatever it was, it was surprisingly human. That was probably why it seemed so off putting. His body wasn't that of an unfeeling puppet anymore. He could actually portray human emotion now without his voice.

The pair stopped on rooftop that sat comfortably across a very busy street from a large, ten story tall building littered with bright flashing neon signs in the form of women as well as pure golden letters that spelling out the words Iceberg Lounge proudly on the front of the building.

"Not very subtle is he?"

"Subtlety is a lost art in this world if you ask me." Sasori replied looking down at the frankly obscene amount of cars that seemed to be trying to get into the Lounge's parking area. His eyes followed a couple of wealthy townspeople exit their vehicle then walked off towards a small line of other similarly well off people who all looked to be chatting comfortably in their warm fur coats and jackets as they waited to be served. Itachi's eyes focused more on a few key figures at the entrance. All slightly taller and each wearing matching tuxedos that seemed far too tight around their large frames.

"Security."

"The ones he wants us to see anyway. It's a good signal to outside players that he's not to be messed with." Sasori said.

"Like we're about to do?"

"Exactly." Sasori replied, his eyes darting up and down the outside of the building taking in any obvious structural weaknesses that could be exploited if it came to it. "The Lounge is part casino, part show, and part restaurant. But it also houses a majority of Penguin's criminal dealings. Illegal arms, money laundering, private vault. He keeps most of it here."

"So how's this going to work then?" Itachi asked surveying their surroundings as well.

"My contact gave me a detailed list of several of those caches which are located in specially marked, hidden rooms. You'll cause a distraction that will lock all those down and send security that way. If this all goes south, anyway." Itachi answered.

"So what's the regular plan then?"

"Blend in." Sasori replied handing him a wallet. Itachi took it and saw a picture of himself on a card marked driver's license and several cards each with rows of numbers. It also contained a fair amount of green paper bills that were this place's currency. "You'll act as my security and have the time of your life while I search for my contact."

"Kenta Tokugawa?" Itachi asked raising an eyebrow as he read the name off the driver's license.

"That's right Kenta and from here on out it's Mr. Kobayashi." Sasori replied gesturing to his own wallet. "Oh and take this." Itachi caught a small white dot in his hand. "Place it in your ear. Thank of it as a small headset. Simply press and hold on it and I'll be able to hear you.

"Understood." Kenta said with a nod placing the dot in his ear. "So we just jump in line and wait?"

"What's the one thing I made sure you all knew about me when we met?" Kobayashi asked slightly annoyed at the question.

Kenta could've laughed as he remembered. "Right. You hate waiting." At least somethings never changed. The pair leapt quietly down to the alley below before crossing the street.

As the cold crisp air hit both their faces, Batgirl had to admit, Tim was taking to this like a natural. He didn't have a background in gymnastics like Dick. Or a basic knowledge of fighting like her dad had taught her. And he certainly didn't have decades of travel that had gifted Bruce with his skills. Yet in the past few days, and even since he had figured who they all were, he had picked up everything involved with this type of life, exceptionally well. Especially the detective work, which to her mind was going to be just as good as Batman's if not better one day.

"Wohoooo!" He screamed with a smile plastered to his face. As the grapple line pulled him to a nearby roof top. Once there he flipped through air and landed in a roll atop the grey cement. Batgirl followed just as quickly though perhaps with a little less enthusiasm.

"Wohoo? Really?"

"What?" Tim asked back blinking behind his white eye mask. "How do you and Batman not enjoy this?"

"Because we have jobs to do." Batgirl replied with a stern gesture over over the building that would be their prime sight for the night. "Cobblepot's guys are usually up to something around the holidays."

"Sure, but I've going over his gang's patterns for a while." Tim replied gazing towards the building than back to Batgirl. "Nothing's really new in the past few weeks."

"Except that warehouse shipment." Barbara corrected.

"Well…Yeah. There was that." Tim replied scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Look, hopefully you're right and this I'll be uneventful. But always be prepared for this to go wrong fast."

"Gotcha boss." Tim replied with such a lack of sarcasm that she nearly did a double take. Looks like rebellion wasn't really a thing she had to expect from him and for that she was thankful.

Just as she turned away to stare at the line of people who were waiting to get inside the infamous Lounge, by almost pure coincidence, she spotted a pair of men just outside the line standing near the entrance talking to a security guard. One of those men though, was the very same meta she had met at the restaurant.

"See something?" Tim asked looking in her direction.

"Remember that guy I told you about?" Batgirl asked.

"Red eyes? Yeah, you see him?" Tim asked.

"Yep." Batgirl replied as the security guard bowed his head and let him as well as the redhead with him inside the Lounge.

"Calling it a night Pop?" Clark asked as his father started after his mother whose shadow had just disappeared up the stairs.

"Yeah, it's getting a bit harder to keep the eyes open." Johnathan replied rubbing his eyes hazel pupils. "I'll leave the house to you until I get back up."

"Sure thing." Clark replied with a nod as Johnathan's hand grasped his shoulder.

"Glad to have you home son. You and Lois." Johnathan said with a wink to his son who simply smiled back and hugged him.

When Clark came back to the living room, he fought back a sigh as Lois sat there pen and notebook in hand writing down whatever Konan answered her questions. Konan, for her part looked confused by the effort and speed with which Lois was chronicling her answers but didn't think too much of it.

"So, you didn't get your powers in an accident?" Lois asked.

"Accident?" Konan asked surprised by the question.

"You know, struck by lightning? Or maybe you got a radioactive paper cut?"Clark had himself a good laugh as Lois turned over to him. "What? Don't act like it couldn't happen."

"No." Konan replied shaking her head. "Nothing like that. I simply trained."

"Training huh?" Lois asked. "What type exactly?"

"Endurance, chakra manipulation, mediation. It was pretty all encompassing."

"Chakra manipulation?" Lois repeated back with a raised eyebrow as her pen darted across her notebook. That was certainly a new one.

"Yes. Though, I'm not sure if that means anything too you." Konan replied. "The Kents didn't seem to have any knowledge of the Elemental Nations or what goes on in them."

Once again Lois's pen dashed across her paper as Clark leaned forward to listen, his interest piqued.

"Elemental Nations?" Clark asked. "Is that where your from?"

"Yes." She replied. "I was a shinobi from Amegakure before….." Her voice suddenly stopped as Lois and especially Clark each noticed a glint of pain return to her eyes. Konan rubbed her neck as her body began to tense up.

"Hey, it's ok." Lois said dropping her pen and reaching over to wrap her hand around Konan's hand. "We can stop now if you're not feeling up to it." Konan didn't reply with words instead settling for a swift nod and sigh of relief as she got up and walked out onto the back porch. Lois looked over to Clark concerned as Clark did the same. "She's definitely been through something."

"Yeah." Clark said with a small nod as he looked out towards the back door with a look of pity. "Amegakure? Any idea what that is?"

"Not a clue. If I had to guess, it's probably Asian but like I said. Just a guess." Lois replied just in time for a yawn to make it's way from her mouth. Much to Clark's amusement. "Don't you say a word." Lois cut him off before he could start.

"What?" Clark asked keeping his smile.

"You're gonna say something cheesy about me being tired and right now I don't want to hit you." Lois glaring at him. Clark allowed himself another laugh as Lois sighed. "Well I'm gonna call it a night. You?"

"I'll stay up a little longer." Clark replied. "You taking the guest room?"

"Konan's got that. I'm taking yours." Lois said.

"Mine?"

"Why thanks for offering." Lois replied with a wink as she moved to the same stairs that his parents had disappeared up to. Clark could do little but sigh as she vanished and the sound of a door shutting came to his ears. After making a quick trip to fridge then the sink, he walked outside.

"You want a drink?" Clark asked as he sat down beside her in a separate rocking chair.

"I'm adequate." She replied shaking her head. Clark nodded and took a sip from a poured glass of water before settling into the rocking motions that the chair allowed. For a while, they just sat in silence. Taking in the snow covered fields that still shined under the moonlight and the cold crisp air that flew around them with every occasional breeze. It was serene. The very definition of calm.

"She wanted you to follow." Konan suddenly said just as Clark took another drink which nearly went spewing from his mouth. The sound of coughing soon followed.

"Wha…What?" He asked covering his mouth trying to calm himself.

"Your friend, Lois. She wanted you to follow her up to your room." Clark didn't really know how to respond other than taking in the fact that Konan could hear better than most. He didn't have to however, as Konan's lips formed a small smile. "It seems you men are just as oblivious here as you are back home."

"Speaking of which." Clark said, eager to get on a different subject. "I'd uh like to talk to you about it."

"Do you think your League would know where home is?" Konan asked as she finally turned her head to face him. Clark eyes widened and his words caught his throat. Konan was tempted to laugh at the sight. "Don't act so surprised. It doesn't take a genius to see you and the Superman from the TV look exactly the same. The glasses don't do much to distract." Konan said gesturing to the spectacles that sat across his nose.

Clark took off his glasses and looked at them before chuckling. "You'd be surprised. They can actually fool most people."

"Perhaps I'm a bit more perceptive than most." Konan admitted. "But getting back to the point. Your League, would you be willing to help?"

"That's kind of what we do." Clark said putting his glasses back on. "Though I have to correct you on something. It's not my League."

"You are supposedly their most powerful member, as well as the one who created it if the TV is to be believed. Why would it not be yours?"

Clark didn't respond at first. It was an honest question and she wasn't the first to ask it but nevertheless he always tried to give a different reason for his thinking that also held just as true as the others. "Because I thought I didn't need anyone else." Clark replied looking back up to the sky. "I'm not sure what you've seen on my parents TV, but for the longest time I worked on my own. I was the strongest person I knew so I thought working with anyone else would just get them hurt or worse in the long run."

Konan didn't give any physical gesture but she understood the reasoning.

"Then, one day. There was a threat that I just couldn't stop on my own. No single hero could." Konan's eyes noticed a subtle shift in Clark's eyes as he thought back to what she could only guess was a pretty disturbing memory. "We had to work together. And in doing so, we saved the planet." Clark's eyes fell back to her as she wondered what an achievement like that must've looked like. "That taught me, more than anything else, we're only as strong as our comrades. And that belief is a core part of the League. I can't take credit for it anymore than they can. It's not my League. It's not their League. It's just the League."

Konan's own gaze shifted away from his and soon it was his turn to notice a subtle change her gaze, one that indicated she was thinking back to a memory herself.

"Were you part of a group like that?"

"In a way." Konan finished with a strange tone that Clark couldn't really nail down. Sadness? Regret? Anger? All three? It was up in the air and he could do little but wonder which one it actually was or if it was something different altogether.

The energy in the Iceberg Lounge would've given a nuclear reactor a run for its money. The entire place was buzzing with hundreds of people talking, laughing, gambling, dancing, crying, it was a city unto itself and a sight Itachi had honestly never seen. He had never been much of a gambler himself and had learned that those who favor casinos often end up losing rather than gaining. Sasori however was very much proving his teachings wrong.

"Raise five thousand." Kobayashi said giving his signature blank face to the only person at the table who still held a hand of cards as he slid tossed a few chips from his pile onto the table. Said man looked to be an unassuming business man who was more than likely here to spend his weekly earnings. The man grinned clearly thinking the redhead was bluffing and tossed in the matching amount before shoving his entire entire collection of chips towards the center of the table.

"All in."

The pot now stood at a very hefty three hundred sixty eight thousand as the both former players and onlookers gathered around the table to see which of the two men would come out on top. Kobayashi nodded slightly at the increase, looked down towards his hand and did the same signaling to Kenta to move his chips in as well. Four hundred sixty eight thousand.

As if on que, the man struggled to hold back a laugh as he threw down his cards. A diamond straight of five, six, seven, eight, and nine. A decent hand to say the least. Kobayashi did the same keeping his emotionless face contrasting that of his opponents as sequence of clubs came into everyone's view. Ten, Jack, queen, king, ace. The poor man's face faltered as he realized what just happened. His skin paled, his eyes darting back and forth from his hand to Kobayashi's just the crowd around them murmured to themselves, impressed at the man's luck or skill. Kenta himself had to give him credit. He never would've taken the redhead for a fan of poker.

"Good match." He said standing up. "Kenta." Kenta nodded and gathered the pile of chips as the crowd dispersed.

"I see why they let you right in." Kenta said putting the chips into a case.

"How do you think I first made money?" Kobayashi asked back as the pair started their journey to the main desk of the Casino.

"A lot of money, if the reactions from outside were to be believed." Itachi replied remembering how they skipped the line outside and figuring that took more than just money. "So you know Penguin himself?"

"Oswald Cobblepot. Get any laughs out now before he meets you." Sasori replied just as a smile spread across Itachi's face.

"Cobblepot." He allowed himself a snicker at the name before becoming stoic. " The names just keep getting stranger."

"Get used to it." Sasori whispered coming to a woman who sat behind a sealed of counter. "Cash these please."

"The night's still young Kobayashi." A new distinct voice rang out from behind the pair. The pair turned to see a rather odd looking man dressed in a very aristocratic black and white waistcoat and matching pants. Topped off with a large black hat that sat above a bald head and decently scared face sporting a monocle in his right eye. "Retiring already?"

"Mr. Cobblepot." Kobayashi replied giving the man a small bow of respect. Kenta did the same glancing at the man as well as his two large equally well dressed bodyguards who stood comfortably behind him. " I wasn't aware you were available. Good night so far?"

"Very good." Penguin replied with a grin that showed of a set of almost pure white teeth save for a single gold tooth that seemed to sparkle. " People are happy. People are spending. And even a few are winning." Penguin gestured to the case of chips that Kenta held. "You haven't lost your edge at the table."

"A skill learned is hard to unlearn." Kobayashi replied. "A fairly successful night all things consi…."

"Perhaps you'd like to sit at the big boy's table." Penguin interrupted. Kobayashi and Kenta shared a quick look before replying.

"If there's a seat available." Kobayashi started as Penguin's smile grew.

"Splendid." Penguin replied clasping his hands together. " Just follow…" He stopped as he finally noticed the man next to him. "Well, you've brought some company."

"Mr. Cobblepot. My associate Kenta Tokugawa, ex Yakuza."

"Really?" Penguin eyes scanned over him taking in his size, muscle mass and overall demeanor. "The Yakuza are some crazy bastards. You got someone out for your blood?"

"No more than usual." Kobayashi replied quickly and injecting a bit of humor into his voice. Cobblepot laughed.

"Quite. Quite. Well you know the rules, he stays here and enjoys himself."

"Sir…." Kenta began.

"Kobayashi will be taken care of. I assure you." Penguin interrupted as a tone of annoyance entered his voice. "Unless that's a problem of course."

Kobayashi turned to his companion and shook his head. Kenta nodded at the action and took a step back. "Lead on. Mr. Cobblepot." Kobayashi replied.

"Excellent. Right this way" He said flipping around and walking out of sight as his two guards escorted him and Kobayashi. Once they were gone from his sight, he decided to head to the bar for a quick drink before proceeding any further. He took a seat at the counter and called out the bartender.

"Sake."

"Sorry guy. I just clocked out. Other guy will be here in a sec." The frankly exhausted lady replied rubbing her eyes and disappearing behind a door. Itachi nodded and spun around in his chair to look at all the people who darted across the floor in either happiness or agony. Those were really the only two emotions you could find in abundance in a casino if you asked him. When the door opened back up, Itachi opened his mouth to repeat the request. He was beaten to it.

"Sake right?" A gruff annoyed voice asked.

"Yes." Itachi's tilted his head at the slightly familiar voice. Maybe he heard it wrong. Not a second later. The sound of glass breaking just a few feet away caught his and the bartender's attention. One man who clearly felt wronged held the other by his shirt up against the wall.

"You peace of shit!"

"Dude, what the hell?!"

"You think you can just walk right in and hit on my wife?!"

"I-I was just making some conversation…."

"Conversation?!" The aggressor yelled pulling his arm back.

"God damn it." The voice behind Itachi growled. The next thing Itachi knew a fist plowed into the aggressor's cheek. Two things separated it from a regular punch however. First, it held enough power to knock the man off his feet and sent him flying across the room narrowly missing a small group of people who had gathered to watch the fight. Second, the fist that had hit the poor bastard was attacked to an arm that had extended out of the man behind him via purple threads.

"Lounge policy. No goddam fights on the Casino floor." The bartender growled out over to the crowd as his arm slithered back across the air and into his sleeve at an unnerving speed. Paying no mind to their confused gazes, he simply moved to prepare Kenta's drink. "Assholes, don't pay me enough for this."

There really was no doubt who the man was now. Kenta turned to finally get a picture of him. He was tall and instantly gave of a dangerous aura to anyone who saw his frame. Draped in a grey button up short sleeved shirt and black slacks, it strangely matched the face of its owner who sported long, rough looking brown hair that stretched down to the back his neck. The man's mouth and chin were blocked from view by a black mask but seeing his green-white eyes made it plain as day who he was. At least to anyone who knew him.

"Right, one Sake." The bartender said placing the full shot glass right next to Kenta seemingly not noticing who he was. He then went about cleaning the various glasses that sat on the table behind him with grace and efficiency that gave the impression that he'd been doing this for awhile.

"Actually, I'll take two." Kenta said.

"Someone's feeling lucky tonight." The bartender said dropping his rag and grabbing the Sake bottle once again.

"Another glass too." Kenta continued.

"Oh, someone so special that he doesn't drink from the same glass twice huh?" The bartender asked with a sarcastic tone of respect. " You know, your type of people really piss me off."

"Just what didn't piss you off Kakazu?" Kenta asked just in time for the bartender to turn around and face him. The bartender froze at the name, save for the eyes that took in the sight of what was supposed to be a long dead Uchiha staring right back at him. And right there, for the first time in his life, a small genuine smile started to form behind his mask.

"You…." He place the Sake bottle on the table at risk of it slipping from his hand. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Afraid not." Kenta replied extending his hand across the counter. Kakazu wasted no time accepting it with a vigor Kenta had never seen before.

"Itachi, you goddam bastard." Kakazu chuckled. "Some asshole really screwed up if they forgot to send you to hell." Itachi smiled pulling back his hand as Kakazu did the same. "Just what hell are you doing here?"

"Working with Sasori." Itachi whispered to Kakazu. The ex-bounty hunter's eyes widened.

"The redhead's here too?" Kakazu asked surprised.

"Just went off with Penguin." Itachi said. "Something about the "big kids table"."

"Shit." Kakazu said impressed. "Looks like Sasori's been making some good money."

"I'm surprised you and he haven't noticed each other." Itachi replied. " He seems to come here more often than not."

"This is a new job." Kakazu clarified rubbing his neck. "I just got to Gotham yesterday. Took some time off."

"Time off?" Itachi asked.

"I'll explain later." Kakazu said as couple sat down a few seats away and gestured over to him.

"Bartender. Two champagnes." The new arrival said as Kakazu moved over to them. As Itachi put pinger to his ear.

"Kakazu's here. Bartender."

"Got it." Came muffled whisper in reply through the device. "Ask about contact. Jacob."

Calling a chapter here. As always I hope you enjoyed it but even if you didn't, don't hesitate to leave a review regardless. Thanks again, and see you guys later.