The Second Daughter

by Em6erPhoenix

Naruto can admit that she can handle a lot of crazy things, time travel or saving the world? Absolutely. Being stranded in a world of heroes after being adopted by Ra's al Ghul, losing her memories, and a goddess sealed in her head who wants to take over her body? No. Naruto walks the path between that of an assassin and a promotor of peace, but finding the balance isn't easy...

Chapter 1

June 15, 2000 A.D.

"Watchtower to the Justice League, all units respond," the green-skinned Martian said, looking at the massive computer terminal in the observation room of the Watchtower.

"This is Superman. What is the problem J'onn?"

"I am picking up a massive surge of extra dimensional energy originating about 20 miles South of the Bermuda Triangle. I'm sending exact coordinates now."

"These coordinates," Wonder Woman growled, "are near Themyscira!"

"Is this an invasion force?" Superman asked.

"Unknown. I suggest sending a welcoming party on the side of caution. Wait! Satellite imagery is clearing. A fight is occurring between two figures, one male and female."

"I see them now, I'll be in contact in forty seconds," Superman said, his telescopic vision honed onto the fighting duo as a sonic boom echoed from his increased speed to hopefully halt the two from fighting before they destroyed the local island and wildlife.

"I'm right behind you," Diana said, praying they did not track their fight closer to her home.

-0-0-0-

Elemental Nations, Land of Lightning, 2 years ago…

If anyone from Konoha were to be asked who Naruto Uzumaki was in recent years they would have described her as a shining light, the protector of their home, someone to believe in when all other hope was lost. With her sunshine-blonde hair and cheerful disposition to anyone who was kind in turn, she was akin to an angel. But if you dare threaten her precious people then you better pray to whatever gods you worship for mercy because she would have none for you. The light of the sun sustains life on planets, but it also has the potential to burn everything in a solar flare so powerful it can turn the planet to dust.

It was ironic that despite her looks, personality, and power to shine like sunlight, she was about as far from happy as could be at the moment. Her pale right eye and the scar that cut upwards diagonally to the left would lead many to believe she was blind in that eye, but it couldn't be further from the truth. It was the Byakugan, the all-seeing eye gifted to her by her beloved friend Hinata before her death in the fight against Madara Uchiha before the arrival of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. As if fate couldn't be any crueler, Sasuke pushed her out of the way of one of Kaguya's Ash Killing Bones just before Naruto tried to destroy the alien goddess with a three pronged attack of bijudamas.

Kaguya was so caught up in trying to absorb her "foolish" attack, that the large condensed chakra bombs obscured Naruto's real attack of her Truth Seeking Orbs in the form of tri-pronged kunai that stabbed into the back of her skull in the blind spot of the Byakugan, her lower spine, and her left inner thigh. If the sudden halting of her absorption of the bijudama wasn't enough of an indication she was dead than the following explosion should have rectified that, but Naruto was furious of her friends deaths and feared Kaguya could still somehow heal from the attack, so she used her last orb to create a sword and split the white-haired Rabbit Goddess down the middle and set her on fire with a magma release rasengan for good measure.

Naruto collapsed to the earth in exhaustion, the previous three days of non-stop fighting in a war unleashing thousands of clones to aid the rest of the Shinobi Alliance had long since tired both her and Kurama, it was only sheer willpower and the need to defeat the enemy in front of her that kept her on her feet. As Naruto and Kurama slept, they never noticed the foreign chakra enter her soul comprised of the remains of Kaguya's will. Naruto slept for an entire day before she found herself summoned by the remaining Hokage. "Super Sage Gramps" reminded her of the rest of the world still trapped within the Shinju.

"But how? Without Sasuke, how am I supposed to release everyone? You just said it takes both Yin and Yang chakra from your family, but I only have Yang!"

"Are you so sure about that?" the spirit sage asked, pointing to her other palm. A purple crescent moon was there.

"...How?" Naruto asked.

"I am guessing that when Sasuke pushed you away, he transferred it over to you. Given how hectic the battle against my mother was, I am not surprised you didn't have the chance to notice."

Naruto collapsed to the ground once again as she sobbed. Even after he died that bastard could still pull out the rug from under her. Two hands gripped her shoulders, her sensei Kakashi and the reanimated form of her father. They both shared her pain but concern for her was the dominant emotion shining from their eyes and chakra signatures. She wiped her eyes trying to pull herself together, she still had a job to do. After that…well that would come later, she reckoned. She raised her palms to the Shinju and slowly the cocoons surrounding the people were undone, dropping them to the earth.

"Well, I think it's time," said Tobirama, his body cracking and slowly turning to dust.

"Naruto!" shouted the excitable first Hokage, "Hagoromo told me we were both transmigrants of his younger son. So, that means you will one day be able to match- no, surpass my own accomplishments! I know you will make a great Hokage!"

"You showed a surprising amount of intelligence despite your words, creatively attacking the enemy when everyone else proved ineffective," Tobirama cut in. "But for goodness sake pick up some books. A Hokage needs to be educated if they wish to properly lead Konoha." Despite his cold words and gruff demeanor, Naruto could sense he approved of her taking on the title.

"I'll do my best. I just really hate staying still reading books."

Tobirama snorted. "Then don't stay still. Workout with one arm while holding a book in the other or run laps around the village. Nothing says you need to be in a chair to read."

"Naruto, I have watched you grow from an irresponsible young girl who pranked the village for attention into an amazing young woman. I am proud of you and wish you the best. I always knew you could take my hat," said Sarutobi. Then last but not least was her father. Minato Namikaze knelt in front of his daughter as tears of both joy and sadness fell onto her cheeks.

"Naruto." That one word was filled with so much happiness and…love that Naruto just buried her face in her father's shoulder. She never had the chance to do so before. It was nice. She was envious that everyone in the academy was able to feel this whenever they failed or were insulted after classes let out, but she let the emotion go. It would do no one any good by her feeling such emotions. They wouldn't change the situation, so why try?

"Your mother and I will always be looking over you, so live a long life. I hope you find someone like I found your mother."

"How did you know? That you liked mom?"

"I didn't, or at least not immediately. She had a fire in her that I couldn't look away from. Her determination to become Hokage and the courage she displayed when everyone else doubted her was what kept me coming back to her. Does that sound like someone you know?" He teased, bumping her shoulder causing her to laugh, though it came out more like a choked whimper. Naruto wrapped her arms in a tight hug around her father.

"I don't want you to go. I want to take you back home and eat ramen with me, to go see a movie, to prank each other around the house, to- to-," she stopped as her shaking shoulders increased.

"I know," Minato smiled into her hair, squeezing her tightly as his own anger and regret forced his family to break apart far before its time. "I know," he kissed her brow. "I love you, Naruto. Goodbye."

Minato's body crumbled to dust within her arms as his soul returned to the Pure Land. Naruto stared at the dust on her arms before wrapping them around herself.

"Goodbye," she whispered.

-0-0-0-

Bermuda Triangle, June 15, 2000

The two dimensional travelers were locked in fierce combat slamming each other down into the earth. Superman and Wonder Woman observed from above as the two moved at near lightspeed racing each other to trade an explosive attack which cratered the ground. The white haired man smirked as he rained lightning bolts down on his opponent who dodged the attacks through flexible contortions and high mobility as she closed the distance. Wind swirled around her palm before a shuriken shape was thrown in an arc and exploded on contact.

The wind buffeted Superman and Wonder Woman even from nearly a half mile away, throwing them back a couple feet before they could regain control. The two rushed to evacuate the citizens nearby, flying them to the nearest ship in the harbor and pushed it out to sea. The citizens watched as their homes were demolished between the fight of two titans as the landscape changed as purple blasts were fired by the glowing female. The white haired man shouted joyously as he absorbed the attack in a portal and returned the attack in front of her. The blonde was launched out to sea creating a massive wave before she floated upwards soaking wet and furiously wanting to return the favor.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Ha, your entire people couldn't match me, what makes you think you will?"

"You are so arrogant. I can't wait to wipe that smirk off your face!"

"Arrogance is just an excuse for the weak to use. I look forward to absorbing your chakra. Tell me, does it hurt to know that you broke your promise? You promised the Biju that you would protect them, and yet I absorbed them all. Tell me, Kaguya's descendant, does it hurt?"

Naruto said nothing in response. Her burning eyes channeled her rage clear enough for both of them. He smirked nastily.

"Good. After that traitorous bitch, Kaguya, went and died on us, you have the privilege of taking her place."

"Many before you have tried, Ōtutsuki."

He snarled before his body started changing shape. His skin turned a fiery red and horns emerged from his skull as his muscles bulged obscenely, growing in size larger than any stadium before he finished his transformation with a roar. Naruto cracked her knuckles as the demon looking alien charged. He fired a blast of magma from his mouth but Naruto met it with a water dragon from the sea. The magma cooled creating a pillar of earth that Naruto took the chance to run on trying to meet his face. The alien shot a giant bullet of wind which Naruto dodged before she sensed there was a ship full of people going to be caught in the attack. She turned around and pushed her limited flight abilities to the max and intercepted the attack with her body. The wind blew through Kurama's chakra cloak and the skin on her abdomen was slightly shredded before she could disperse the wind safely.

It was then she noticed two others flying behind her. She was shocked because she didn't feel them approaching, one moment she was alone and the next they were right behind her. The two seemed to give her a grudging look of respect before refocusing on the Ōtutsuki who was already charging another attack. A shining light similar to plasma was fired before the man in the red and blue suit met the attack head on. Naruto almost shouted in surprise before realizing that beside a minor singe on his arms he wasn't injured.

The man said something in a foreign language which Naruto supposed was something insulting because of the mocking tone and shout of anger from the demon. Her ability to sense emotions also played a factor in conveying his companion's amusement that was buried behind a stone cold look as she studied her foe. Despite her narrowed eyes, the beautiful woman couldn't hide the amusement in her eyes.

The three silently communicated that they would act as temporary allies to defeat the demon rampaging as it fired a dozen blasts of fire. Naruto created a wave to meet half of them while the other two dodged the fire and clashed against the alien. Despite his larger form, it was clear that the man in red and blue was of equal or greater strength as the red arms tried to flatten the flying man and he grabbed a hold of the limb before flying upward unbalancing the demon. The other woman took the chance to stab a sword into the demon's armpit, but after pulling it out of the wound the cut regenerated.

The woman shouted something to the other man who immediately nodded and increased his speed. A thousand punches slammed into the demon before it could blink as its ribs cracked and shattered. The Ōtutsuki screamed as its limbs flailed in pain. The demon spewed fire and set the entire island ablaze in vengeance for its pain and Naruto took the opening presented to charge her largest bijudama to date.

'More, more, more,' she chanted in her head. Once she gathered enough chakra she went to work in compressing the attack. Had she been on the ground everything in a twenty meter radius would have collapsed under the weight and gravitational field created with the purple energy.

"Get out of the way!" Naruto shouted, despite knowing they couldn't understand her. She only hoped her tone warned them of what she was about to do. Naruto "swallowed" the attack and then shot out the compressed beam at the demon. The island was gone. The attack eliminated everything in its path leaving a half mile crater in the sea. It looked as if someone had hit pause as the sea was repulsed and stayed still before it rushed to compensate for the void in the former island's place.

But the fight wasn't over. Halfway through the blast the demon jumped as its arm and leg were blown off. The wounds were nothing more than an inconvenience to the demon though before it soon regenerated its wound. That was when things started to get strange for Naruto. Other flying people arrived from various directions sending their own attacks at the Ōtutsuki.

'Could everyone fly these days?' Naruto grouched. It was a point of pride that she was one of the few people capable of flying in her world, but it seemed this place wasn't so stingy in that talent. A black metal machine that Naruto could only awe at was circling overhead. Her world didn't have such advanced technology. They had barely invented TV, but when you are capable of running across countries in a couple days, it makes the need for technological advancements less than important.

Naruto watched as these allies tried to attack the demon, but other than physical attacks, nothing seemed to damage it. If that wasn't bad enough, the demon used a technique that used the seafloor to create three earth copies of itself and the League was forced to split their forces.

Naruto knew she had to do something to help before an idea popped up. She was still new to the ability, it was based on stories she heard about her mother from Kakashi-sensei, but after a minute of concentration she was successful in creating nine glowing, golden chains. The chains responded to her will as she sent them to surround the Ōtutsuki. Naruto noticed that the demon form didn't allow him to absorb chakra except through his palms, so she wrapped the chains around his limbs and the demon tripped to the ground. Then she used two chains to open his mouth as Naruto did the most stupid thing she could think of, she flew inside his mouth and unleashed all of her most powerful jutsu into the demon's body.

The Justice League watched in shock as the dimensional traveler willingly flew into the main beast's mouth and then the demon started thrashing and wiggling in pain as it screamed its agony to the heavens. Some of the newer League members flinched as they would be hearing that scream in their sleep for the next few weeks. It was almost a minute later that the scream cut off, but that might just be because of its neck bulging before it exploded like a blood filled balloon. One new recruit tasted bile at the disgusting display. Fortunately the thrashing stopped not long after. The golden figure jumped out of its mouth and sent some of her chains to the beast's stomach, piercing through and suddenly tearing out, but instead of blood as many suspected it was eight glowing constructs similar to the Green Lanterns attacks that soon solidified into some bizarre looking creatures.

As the fight was over the League watched as the figure exchanged tearful words with the creatures before they all bumped fists. The creatures glowed once more before they disappeared as if they'd never existed. The blonde slumped her shoulders as she shook before throwing her head to the sky and screaming out her rage and pain about her loss. The blonde started shining brighter before the League was forced to close their eyes at the intensity. It was like the sun had decided to momentarily appear in their faces before the light died and the woman was gone in its place.

"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" Flash said, scratching his mask and breaking the awkward silence that befell the battlefield.

"A potential problem for the future," said Batman, his cockpit opening as his jet transitioned into hovering propulsions. "Stay on your guard and keep your ear to the ground. We need to find her."

"You make her seem like a threat. She saved those people," Superman said, pointing to the ship full of people.

"She is an unknown with powers that could match most of the justice league, having widely diverse abilities. We don't know what her objective is, and most importantly the only thing that could reveal that is now gone," Batman growled, indicating the demon had dissolved into the sea.

"While I agree we should remain cautious, I don't think we should treat her as a threat," Wonder Woman interrupted, always trying to be the peacemaker between the two and finding the middle ground. "Kal is right in her desire to save those people. She gave up the advantage to stop him when he exposed himself but she chose to save them. If that isn't a mark of a hero then do we deserve to call ourselves one?"

Batman didn't reply, but his silence was enough of an answer. He'd follow along unless she proved to be a threat.

J'onn flew to the space where Naruto disappeared and tried to see if there was a "trail" to follow the psychic energy, but all he could sense was pain. The public sees J'onn as a stoic individual, unflappable in even the greatest chaos and ignorant to other people's emotions. But he was perhaps one of the most empathetic heroes within the Justice League and conditioned himself to not react when exposed to foreign emotions and thoughts. Which is why J'onn found himself surprised as the emotion lingered so strongly in the air that he felt as if it was he who had just lost his friends and family. The pain was comparable to when many of his people were killed in the war between white and green martians before a tentative peace could be reached. J'onn clutched his ribs as the feelings permeated throughout his chest as if he could physically force the emotions out with his hand before his training kicked in and he separated the foreign emotions from his own. J'onn wiped tears from his eyes as he realized he was affected even more than he thought.

"J'onn?" Wonder Woman asked. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Diana, our new visitor just has some very powerful feelings. It is almost like she projected them to me."

"She's a telepath?" Diana asked.

"No, or at least, I don't think so. It was more as if I was reading her mind without ever touching it. It is…strange. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."

"All these years together and you still feel the need to try and prove yourself," Diana sighed, her tone conveyed her fondness despite her teasing words, yet still sounding resigned, as if asking, "What am I going to do with you?"

"We should-" Martian Manhunter started saying before a massive sonic boom echoed over the ocean as Superman took off.

"-go" he finished lamely. The League went back to their designated cities and continued on with life, hoping to find a trail of the mysterious blonde who vanished without a trace in the faces of all the Justice League. It would be almost a year later when the search call was abandoned and the League put their resources toward finding other criminals. All except for one member who had what imagery he recorded on his Batwing recorded and sent to the Batcave to continuously cycle her imagery through various camera relays around the world. It would be years before a match was finally found.

-0-0-0-

(Unknown Base) Nanda Parbat, One Day Later…

Ra's al Ghul throughout his centuries of living considered himself a, while not a good man, one of the only people who was willing to truly eliminate the evil of the world. Batman for instance, for all his heroic actions, continuously allowed The Joker to wreak havoc in Gotham City. He would be arrested and thrown in Arkham to somehow wind up back in the streets the next week or month later and the cycle repeated. Ra's allowed Joker to continue his murder spree for one reason, if there is ever a villain that could push Batman over the edge and make him kill out of righteous anger, it would be him. Also the chaos the psychopath caused proved to be an excellent distraction for his Shadows to work on cleaning the filth in the world.

As he observed his followers training in the courtyard, he felt a tremor echo beneath his feet. His eyes widened in realization of where the tremor originated. His Lazarus pit. He sprinted alongside his guards and daughter Talia to the underground cave to find a rather peculiar sight. A white haired girl no older than five years old with sky blue eyes stumbled out of his pit completely naked. She looked around in fear and confusion at her surroundings.

Ra's nodded to one of his guards to capture her and the black clothed man rushed in a burst of speed untrained people would not be able to see. The result was completely unexpected. As the man grabbed the girl's shoulder to shove her to the ground, she twisted and used her smaller height to her advantage by throwing him over her shoulder. The guard lashed out but she danced out of the way. She looked bewildered at her own ability.

'What an interesting child. Barely a movement wasted, and yet…she did not look as if she knew how to fight. It was all instinct.'

The guard retrieved a knife and tried to stab her side but with a quick snap of her hand she gripped the knife by the bladed edge and ripped it out of his hand, cutting a deep gash on her palm. She switched the knife to her uninjured hand and slashed his inner thigh before stabbing deep into his carotid artery as he fell from his leg injury. The girl looked at her blood covered hands in silence. Ra's expected her to snap out of her daze any moment and scream, but she did not. The girl took a step away from the corpse before she tripped into the rock below. The group watched in silence as her exposed hand steamed and closed before their eyes.

'Very interesting,' Ra's thought.

"Where do you come from?" he asked the white haired girl.

"I don't know," she said. Ra's could spot a liar from a mile away and he could see she was telling the truth.

"What is your name, young one?" he tried again in a softer tone, hoping to lower her guard. Judging by her tensed shoulders easing minutely, Ra's concluded it worked.

"I don't-" she clutched her head in pain before gasping out, "I don't know."

Ra's al Ghul's actions bewildered his daughter and guards. He was never nice to people unless he was alone with family or acting politely for business purposes.

'What was his angle?' They thought.

"So you don't know where you come from, who you are, and likely where you are, would you be willing to be taken in by me?"

"Father?" Talia finally interrupted. His glare was harsher than any reprimand for her to be silent, so the woman shut her mouth with a click and schooled her features to one of complete obedience. Talia both loved and respected her father, but she also feared him more than anything else in the world.

"What?" She asked.

"This world is a dangerous place. Especially for someone ignorant of who to trust, what to do, and how to obtain information. What would you do if you walked out that door to the outside world? If you don't have an answer, then stay with me. I can teach you what you need to know to live in this dangerous world. So I ask you again…would you like for me to adopt you as my daughter?" Ra's asked seriously.

The child stared at the man in confusion, her instincts warning her that he was dangerous but at the same time she could tell he was being honest. The blue eyed girl stared at the hand outreached to her still fallen form and made her decision. She grabbed his hand in a firm grip and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"From this day forward you will be known as Nyssa al Ghul," Ra's said, smiling slightly as the girl hugged his leg. She would be strong, he already knew it. While incapable of being his heir because of her gender, perhaps she could provide him one in the future if Talia failed to meet his expectations. Ra's smile took on a much more sinister gleam that the newly named Nyssa missed as her face was buried in his clothes.

"Come Nyssa, let me show you your new home," he said, placing a hand on her back to lead her on a tour of their home, sealing her fate as a future member of the League of Shadows.

-0-0-0-

Nanda Parbat, April 10, 2003 (3 years later)…

Nyssa al Ghul continuously outperformed her father's expectations as she ran through obstacles and traps that could maim her as a few Shadows chased her through the course. Ra's learned she did excellently well through doing things as she was a kinesthetic learner, but proved her mind was not lacking in any test he put her through either. But why make someone read a book three times to learn a lesson if they can see it done once and gain a greater sense of understanding? If Ra's believed in divine gifts, Nyssa would perhaps be one of them. It wasn't just her regeneration that intrigued him, she could stick to any surface, completely silence her movements, become nearly invisible when she stayed still that even Ra's had difficulty seeing her, and the rather unique ability to transform her features.

If there was one feature he found his daughter lacked was that she had a sense of dependency. She constantly seeked his approval, something that is helpful in instilling loyalty, but a weakness he wished she could overcome. She must have complete faith in her abilities or else risk the foundation of her character shattering and becoming a useless tool. One way she went about trying to "fit in" with her new family was that Nyssa changed her hair to a slightly darker shade than Talia's, a dark brown so dark it nearly looked black.

"It was for stealth purposes!" Nyssa had said, lying through her teeth in embarrassment. "Do you know how easily white hair can be spotted? It might as well be a neon light screaming 'kill me."' Ra's did not care about such a trivial change. If she desired a change of her looks, as long as it did not affect her abilities to perform her duties, than he would not obstruct her wishes. Besides, he quietly admitted to himself that she was right, it would make describing her more difficult to the authorities should she ever be spotted by a witness on a mission. Spotting a brunette in a crowd versus a paler hue than platinum blonde? It is quite obvious what was more recognizable. White hair is usually only seen in the elderly, so the description would only have to vaguely say 'young' and 'white-haired' and you'd have your culprit.

Nyssa thought of none of this as she was forced to dodge a swinging log by jumping in the air and hearing something behind her, twisted to dodge a half dozen shuriken flying in the air. Hardly losing momentum Nyssa grabbed a shuriken from the air and threw it behind her whilst continuing her run. The pained grunt indicated she hit her target. While she wanted to smile she noticed another danger headed her way as a hail of arrows began pelting her location. A tree stopped a majority of them as she snapped a small branch to block the rest. She threw the now useless branch away while scanning the forest for the next threat. She still had another half mile before returning to the courtyard. Her father held a stopwatch that would decide if she had to run the course another five times or if she could learn a new technique.

Learning new things was a pleasure for Nyssa, there was a hunger in her that demanded she fill by seeking out new skills and techniques. Learning new languages was one hobby of hers. Despite only living in the Shadows stronghold for three years, she had already learned how to fluently speak Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, French, and Italian in addition to already knowing how to speak English. There were another half dozen she just started learning, but was a far cry from being called even slightly adequate in them.

The slight whistling of a bullet had her dropping to the ground before she knew it as the round blew the bark off a tree. Nyssa ripped the bullet from the trunk before taking off again inspecting the round. The irregular sized caliber belonged to a unique pistol wielded by her sister Talia. Her sister was merciless in training, inflicting far more broken bones, cuts, and bruises that anyone else she learned under.

'Bitch,' she complained. 'Digging bullets out of the wound is such a pain.' Nyssa jumped to the side as an assault rifle riddled the ground at her feet and increased her pace. Her keen eyesight spotted a cleverly hidden wire trap and just managed to avoid it only to land on a tarp hiding a spiked pit below. Thinking quickly Nyssa threw her arm to the side and slowed her descent with a slight application of chakra and jumped off the wooden spike to find her sister waiting with the barrel inches from her head. Nyssa slapped the pistol and ducked just as the trigger was pulled, severing a few of her hairs and planted her boot on her sister's chest to flip away and continue her escape.

'That was close. That was waaay too close. She's actually trying to kill me this time!' Nyssa panicked.

Nyssa cleared the last tree and raced up the empty pathway leading to the open courtyard. Father was standing at the entrance with his cold eyes observing her with clinical interest as his right hand clearly held the watch. Nyssa was eight feet away from the entrance when a gunshot echoed and pain erupted in her calf sending her sprawling. Nyssa cursed as she tripped to the ground and grit her teeth as the sensation of liquid fire erupted in her leg. Pushing through it as her training prepared her to, Nyssa jumped with her four limbs through the entrance putting an end to the exercise.

Ra's al Ghul pressed the button to end the running clock. 28:07.13 blinked repeatedly. Nyssa ran 30 kilometers in the time it took the best Olympic runners to run a third the distance, and through a forested region at that. Ra's hid a smile behind a harsh scowl, hoping his disapproving look would inspire his daughter to improve even more. He would use her weakness against her until she mastered her emotions. Ra's allowed his daughter to take heaving breaths to calm her heart rate before he broke the silence.

"28 minutes. Is that all you can do?" The look of hurt on his daughter's face would have broken a lesser man's heart, but he showed nothing on his visage.

"You may have five minutes to rest as they set up new traps and then you will do it again. You must beat 25 minutes if you wish to eat tonight." Having said his words, Ra's turned his back with a swish of his emerald green cloak as Nyssa lay on the ground staring at his retreating back. Nyssa internally snarled, clenching her fist as she swore to herself that she would break that limit to pieces.

After she calmed herself, Nyssa ran, faster, and faster, and faster until she reached the courtyard once again. 26 minutes. Again. She did it again. Then again, and again until at last as the last sunlight disappeared when she collapsed into the dirt. Ra's dropped the stopwatch facedown in front of her face as her muscles screamed at her not to move. She ignored it to reach out a shaking arm to grab the watch. 24 minutes and 43 seconds. Nyssa stared at the time in shock before a smile leapt to her face. She turned over to her back and raised her hand to the sky and shouted out in triumph before her hand dropped as darkness claimed her mind.

Ra's snorted in amusement at his sleeping daughter as Talia and Deathstroke emerged from the shadows beside him.

"How did she do?" he asked his most "loyal" subordinates.

"She needs to work on her situational awareness," Slade said gruffly, always one to spit out the failures of others.

"Hmm. How would she compare to you?" Ra's asked, smirking.

"I wouldn't have gotten shot," said Deathstroke, removing his black and yellow mask to expose two dark eyes that observed the unconscious girl in contempt.

"No," Ra's agreed. "But she did just beat your record."

The aging assassin grit his teeth at the news. He was known far and wide as the greatest in the League of Shadows beside Ra's himself. It was humiliating for a little girl to beat his time. The only solace he held onto was that she had powers of some kind that assisted her. He willfully ignored that he had his own form of enhancements in the way of a serum that strengthened him far past the natural peak of human ability called Mirakuru. He comforted himself that he would beat her in any fight because his age and experience were far more deadly than any superpower she held. A hard earned lesson he learned was that an assassin's stealth was his greatest weapon. For all her powers, as long as Deathstroke remained hidden, it would be inevitable that she would lose. Furthermore, Nyssa continuously failed to maintain her focus on her surroundings which was what kept slowing her down and tripping the traps within the obstacle course. It was like she was giftwrapping her head on a silver platter should they ever come to blows.

Besides, a sniper round to the head was effective against all but the strongest targets, and Nyssa was not among those ranks. Slade rarely went after the greatest of the Justice League unless there was a personal interest involved or an exorbitant amount of money and an exit strategy. Unfortunately for Deathstroke, this was one of those days.

"I have a mission for you," Ra's said. "A third party wishes for Superman to bleed on live TV."

"Injure, not kill?"

"No," Ra's smirked. "Superman is necessary until he can be replaced. Which brings us to our secondary task. If possible, get a pure sample of his blood."

"How do they expect me to injure a Kryptonian? I heard Superman destroyed the last deposits of Kryptonite and normal bullets tend to bounce right off. "

"Not all deposites were destroyed. Two prototype weapons were created to temporarily weaken and kill him. It was given to us as the initial reward. Normally, I would rather not have to deal with the fallout of the Justice League actively trying to put our operations at an end but…" Ra's trailed off. "Sometimes sacrifices must be made."

"Talia, please escort your sister to her chambers. Deathstroke, you will find your weapons in the prepared vehicle. Now go!" Ra's urged, his eyes sweeping the area. Bowing, the two left the Demon's Head alone in the courtyard as he turned to the intruder hiding in the shadows.

"You can come out now, Lady Shiva." The woman dropped from behind the tiled roof into a crouch at his feet.

"Have you given any thought to my proposal…Master," she quickly added as if the respected title was an afterthought. If Ra's was annoyed he did an excellent job hiding it. Shiva was constantly testing her boundaries, between her and Slade, Ra's had to maintain his caution around the two before they tried to take his title…and head.

"I have. I will not allow you to take Nyssa as an apprentice."

"May I ask why?" She probed.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" Ra's responded evenly, raising an eyebrow.

"I see," Shiva frowned. She wasn't as subtle in hiding her impending betrayal as she thought. Insubordination is one thing, as skilled as she was her punishment couldn't be anything too terrible or else risk losing a valuable asset, but betrayal to the Ra's al Ghul was a one way ticket to the grave.

"Forgive my impertinence, Master," she said, trying to lessen her master's distrust until she could build up her own forces and take control of the League of Shadows. Lady Shiva hated Talia, she was nothing more than a weak willed girl who spread her legs for both her father and Batman. Ra's al Ghul's plan to make the Dark Knight his heir was foolish, she knew it would only end in failure, he was far too obstinate towards killing. Even if he were to somehow join willingly, he would distort the Shadows' views away from their traditional values. Next he'd have their army dressing in red and yellow while throwing their enemies into Arkham Prison. It was only her vision that could restore the Shadows into what they were supposed to be. She would ask Slade to help her if she didn't hate the man. Despite having the same intentions, Deathstroke would rather empty two magazines from his rifle into her skull than listen to a word she said.

"You are dismissed. Return to your duties," Ra's ordered, departing for his quarters to set up a meeting with the other leaders with the "Light," leaving Lady Shiva to stare hatefully at his back.

Despite the rather traditional and old looking outside of their base, the League of Shadows was a base of the greatest technological advancements on the inside. The Shadows recruited or intimidated people into compliance for them to remain as the frontrunners in science, technology, medicine, and biochemistry which combined together to aid in testing biological weapons, poisons, and performance enhancing drugs to make the Shadows as feared as they could be. While they prominently used traditional weaponry, that did not mean they did not know how to kill their targets with all of the latest modern weaponry. If one masters the blade, they have the diligence and strength to wield any gun.

Within his room, two wooden panels separated from the wall displaying a computer monitor as six other bright silhouettes connected to his call. While they all knew each other's identities, it was best they remained anonymous on the outside chance someone hacked into their call. Their involvement as allies was best left secret. All it takes is one leak and their plan could be derailed should the wrong kind of attention be focused on them.

"You have something to report," said Vandal Savage, it wasn't a question.

"Phase One is beginning. My agents have left to injure Superman, you will have your samples to begin research on cloning his replacement. While I have full faith that Deathstroke is capable of succeeding in his task, I would like a bit more insurance."

"What did you have in mind?" Queen Bee asked.

"A certain cyborg with a grudge against Superman."

"Hmm. Metallo," Vandal deduced. "Yes, that will work. Have your people transport the sample to Cadmus next week. I shall inform Doctor Desmond of their arrival."

"How are your efforts in Atlantis progressing?"

Ra's listened with half an ear to Ocean Master's report of a certain rampaging creature from the depths with slight interest, but the majority of his focus was on making plans for Nyssa after today's test. He felt as if she had only scratched the surface of her abilities and potential. He had to make her strong enough to defeat any member of the Justice League. Her destiny was to remain at his side. Who knows, if she turned out even more powerful than he thought, he might have to pull a "Tale of Genji" if he could not find a worthy heir to impregnate her.

Ra's pondered on experimenting on the Lazarus Pit's healing properties. Each use extended the length and intensity of his insanity. Pretty soon he feared he would not regain his sanity at all. If he could enhance the effects of the pit so he would never have to bathe again to maintain his youth or eliminate the dangerous side effects Ra's might not require an heir at all. He smiled as the Light ended the call. Immortality, true immortality, lied in wait. Ra's ordered five of his scientists to begin experimenting as well as a loyal magician who was interested in testing the bounds of magic. Soon. Soon he would have eternal life in his grasp and he could continue his mission of eliminating the evil of the world forever.

-0-0-0-

Gotham City, December 12, 2005, Museum of the Arts

Selina Kyle was publicly known as a socialite, attending fundraisers as one of the many donors who gave some of the many millions they earned each year. What wasn't as well known was her penchant for theft as Catwoman. From across Europe, Asia, and America she had made her mark in stealing whatever she desired, expensive diamonds and jewels, priceless works of art, ancient sculptures, if it was valuable she wanted it. Sometimes it was for a client, but most of the pieces she stole for the fun of it. She kept some for herself, hell there even was a famous European throne from a dead queen she placed in her family mansion's office where she could entertain guests who were none the wiser about its historic value outside of its beautiful carving and obvious age.

All of her experience in theft resulted in her having an eye for observation and detail. One was the mark of another thief. Selina was attending a gala for the unveiling of some Babylonian ruby diadem. She nearly licked her lips at the size of the rock. The stone was inlaid into tiny silver chains and the overhead lights displayed just how magnificent it was to the entire room. While she was intent on stealing the piece, her attention drifted back to the teen acting as a waiter. She was good, but her eyes had moved to all of the cameras in the room at least once and checked all the exits for a quick escape. Instead of making her move for the ruby though the girl, who looked about sixteen, disappeared into another wing of the museum. Selina tapped her cheek with a very sharp, long, red painted nail as she observed the teen.

'Now where are you going little kitten?' Selina thought.

With a slight sigh of regret and longing, Selina abandoned her plan to steal the ruby as she followed the girl. Selina knew every item within the museum, she always cased the joint and researched everything to know about the location in case a snag interrupted her plans, so she knew that on the second floor there were only two items that might be the teens target. An equally ancient vase as the diadem on display tonight, an unlikely choice for someone so green in her line of work, or a peculiar blue stone necklace. It was found by fisherman in the Bermuda Triangle. Some say the inscribed writing on the metal chain holding the stone was thought to be a magical language of ancients. Selina scoffed at the thought. While she knew magic was real from some of the heroes that roamed the world, she hadn't seen any evidence of objects doing the same. Otherwise she definitely would have stolen one by now.

Selina watched slightly impressed as the girl slipped around the security guards without making a sound on the squeaky clean and waxed floor. Catwoman smirked and followed in her footsteps. At this point Selina didn't even know what she wanted to do. Does she just want to watch the girl succeed in her first heist? Does she steal the object from the girl to show she still has a long way to go? Or, does she join up with the little kitten to have some fun and possibly show her a thing or two?

Nyssa didn't exactly know why she was up on the second floor of the museum when she was ordered to silently eliminate a politician attending the gala. All she knew was that when she was researching the location she saw the necklace online and couldn't look away. Occasionally she'd see a flash of her former life, before she was taken in by Ra's al Ghul. She didn't think she had a happy childhood. The feeling of loneliness was most prevalent whenever she tried to focus on those early memories before an intense headache would force her to stop. She was used to pain, her training had included lessons to resist torture, but there was a difference between being forced through something and willfully embracing pain. The headache felt like mental knives tearing through her brain and twisting the ripped ends for good measure. Nyssa could only hope that one day they would return naturally. The one time she suggested restoring them with a telepath to her father he had harshly rebuked her asking how the memories would help her. So with a mental sigh she abandoned her thoughts in favor of grabbing the stupid necklace and then eliminating her target before anyone was the wiser.

Nyssa observed the glass case. It had an invisible laser grid on the inside hidden behind the tactfully placed wood frame and pressure alarm holding the necklace. Nyssa pulled out a device from her pocket that could disable the laser, but nothing could disable the other alarm without a key held by the head conservator. Unfortunately he was sick this evening so she couldn't steal the key. So instead, her back up plan is switching the necklace with a fake. The fake was made of a glass and carbon polymer that shined similarly to the stone, so it wouldn't be immediately obvious without careful observation.

Within a minute Nyssa was removing the glass from the display and set it to the side. Now this was where it got tricky. She was going to have to "Indiana Jones" this necklace by switching the two. Hopefully with better luck than the explorer. A modern scale was far more sophisticated that a stone weighted one from an early Aztec era. But Nyssa had something that Indiana did not, chakra. With the glass gone she was free to use the substitution jutsu to switch the real with the fake. So after taking a calming breath, Nyssa grazed the real stone with her finger and with a flash of smoke, the switch happened. Nyssa didn't move for a moment in hesitant fear that she would set the alarm off before sighing in relief. The glass was reinstalled within another minute and she hid in a closet just in time to miss the next sweep of the guards. Nyssa stepped out once they cleared the next corner and was preparing to reenter the gala when a voice startled her from behind her.

"Well done."

'How did she sneak up on me?' was the first thought Nyssa had before the words registered.

"What have I done?" Nyssa asked innocently, spinning around to see an attractive black haired woman smirking at her. She amusedly tilted her head and arched a brow as if silently asking her if she needed to explain. For some reason Nyssa felt like a child being interrogated by their mother who knew their kid had done something naughty and was waiting for them to tell the truth. She most definitely was not going to say anything to a stranger though. Especially since she still had a job to do. Nyssa fingered a poison vial that was intended for her target. When the politician toasted champagne alongside everyone else as the Exhibit Designer gave his speech about the piece.

"That necklace in your pocket would look far more beautiful around your neck," Selina whispered in her ear, freezing Nyssa in place. Nyssa contemplated pulling out a kunai to stab the woman, but she was innocent and it would only stop her from being able to succeed in her real mission. Nyssa bit back a snarl as she stared heatedly into Selina's glimmering eyes.

"Oh, don't be so angry, kitten. I won't say anything. I'm actually impressed. If-" Selina paused and emphasized the word. Nyssa growled at what she knew was about to be blackmail.

"-you agree to do a favor for me."

"What do you want?" Nyssa asked shortly.

"There is a certain crown I want that I was forced to give up in favor of watching you. If you help me, I'll help you. It's simple."

Nyssa stared at the richly dressed woman for any sign of a bluff, but surprisingly found none, she was serious.

"Fine. Right after the Designer gives his speech the lights will go out for thirty seconds. You have until then," Nyssa smirked. She would 'help' only so much. She doubted the woman would be capable of stealing the piece without setting off the alarms in only thirty seconds.

Nyssa resumed her waiter duties in handing out drinks and appetizers. After dodging more than a few 'subtle' gropes from the 'civilized' elite of Gotham's richest business owners, politicians, and bosses of the underworld Nyssa was about to say, "fuck the mission," and stab the next asshole in the throat, but her long hours spent tempering her patience and control had her resisting the very alluring temptation. So with a sigh, Nyssa swiveled out of the reach of a nephew of the Falcone family and asked the nearest guest's back if they wanted a drink.

The man turned around at her question and Nyssa had to put all of her training into maintaining her pleasant expression. Of all the people in Gotham City she could have bumped into, why did it have to be Bruce-Fricking-Wayne? Despite her efforts, the man known as the World's Greatest Detective must have seen a hint of her fear.

"Are you alright?" he asked kindly, temporarily ignoring the drink so she couldn't leave. Nyssa thought up a suitable lie in an instant. She shifted her eyes back to the Falcone family member.

"I'm fine, sir, it's just…he doesn't understand the word 'no,'' Nyssa alluded, hoping he would draw his own conclusions. With her transformation into an attractive teenager, and a member of the Falcone family having a list of priors in abusing women, she prayed Wayne took the bait. A single glance was all it took for the flash of understanding to shine in his eyes. He nodded and said, "I would recommend leaving from the back exit after the event is over. I can hire a ride home for you if you'd like?"

"That is very generous of you Mr. Wayne, but I must decline. This isn't the first time someone has tried to go too far in an event like this," Nyssa said, sticking to her cover. "Thank you for the advice," Nyssa finished, inclining her head before indicating to the still untouched glass of champagne on her tray with her eyes. Bruce took the glass with a smile and turned back to engage the others around him in conversation.

Unknowingly to Nyssa, he still kept an eye on her throughout the night. It was only when the last glass was distributed to one of the candidates to the upcoming election as Mayor of Gotham City did Nyssa finally disappear from the room right as the Exhibit Designer tapped the microphone to gather the attention of the guests. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle watched the man's speech with a feeling of trepidation and excitement respectively when the lights suddenly went out.

Selina rushed, retrieving a glove from her bag and cut a circle in the glass with the clawed fingertips and the diadem was gone before twenty seconds were up. She slipped both the tool and jewelry away before starting her departure. Bruce noticed the missing diadem immediately and saw Selina for the first time that night, who winked over her shoulder at him as she slipped through the doors before security thought to lock down the facility. All of the guests and staff were searched 'politely' for the missing jewelry, but Bruce noticed one other missing person. The waitress. To add more chaos to the situation the mayoral elective started choking, clutching his throat before he hacked a wad of blood and collapsed to the floor. Veins bulged on his neck letting everyone know it was poison, which led to the other guests screaming and yelling to get out the door. The lockdown prevented their escape though and the police soon arrived to begin witnessing everyone for their statement.

Bruce escaped out a window from the second floor and rushed to his car to track down the two suspects. While he was confident Selina stole the diadem, poison was hardly her M.O. An excellent thief she may be, but she avoided killing unless it was a last resort. It was most likely the waitress. Bruce grimaced at the thought of a juvenile killer. Unfortunately it was hardly the first time he'd seen such actions from the young of Gotham City. After a short call to Alfred to take control over the wheel from the Batcave, Bruce changed into his Batman attire before exiting the vehicle knowing Alfred would get the car home safe.

Four blocks away from the museum Nyssa ducked to a side alley and released her transformation as a sixteen year old back into her normal ten. 'Transformation was such an underrated ability,' Nyssa thought. Her waitress clothes were stuffed into a backpack hiding behind a dumpster and she slung the bag over her shoulder before entering a waiting electrical van. The Shadow dressed as an ordinary electrician nodded to her once before he took off for Gotham Harbor for the awaiting boat.

"Alfred," Batman said into his comlink. "I need you to pull up facial recognition of a teen. Female, 5'7", brown hair, dark blue eyes. She was posing as a waitress within the museum."

"Running it now, sir. Hmm. That's odd. There's nothing. Other than the video from the museum, it is as if she doesn't exist."

"You think she's deleted her face from the grid?" Batman asked, running over the rooftops hoping to spot anyone matching a similar height as the assassin.

"I think we still would have found something if that was the case sir. No hacker is that good at eliminating all traces of their existence."

"A false face then. I didn't spot any makeup on her face, and as close as I was, a mask or technology would have been easy for me to spot. We're dealing with a meta-human," Batman concluded.

"My thoughts as well, sir," Alfred sighed, knowing this was going to be a long night.

"Pull up CCTV traffic cameras. I want to know which way she fled and the Batwing. If I'm going to catch this person I need to make up for lost time."

"I found a match," Alfred said, not even a minute later. "She headed North. Cameras lost her after two blocks. No other cameras were in the area. It seems our assassin knows the area well."

"Pull up all traffic cameras in the surrounding three blocks. If there is anyone matching her height I want to know about it."

"Have you given it thought that our target could change not just their face?"

"I haven't eliminated the possibility."

"Or gender?" Alfred probed. Batman didn't answer. Alfred sighed as he searched all surrounding cameras as Batman finally jumped into the Batwing's cockpit and took off to get an overhead view."Sir, I don't see anyone on foot matching your description. Although-" he trailed off.

"What is it?"

"An electrical vehicle reported as stolen was just spotted driving away from our black out area."

"A getaway vehicle?" Batman asked himself aloud.

"We can only hope, sir."

Lacking other leads, Batman followed the vehicle on his map as it was reaching the docks. Batman glided out of the cockpit to the nearest rooftop and vanished into the darkness as he stalked the vehicle. It parked outside the main shipping office before the side passenger exited and ran to prep the boat for exit. The driver walked to the rear of the vehicle and waited until the passenger waved the all clear for launch as Shadows exited the boat and surrounded the area.

Batman crouched above the van on a crane's arm as the driver opened the door.

"Mistress, we've arrived."

'Shadows? Of course I'm dealing with the Shadows. Only they would have devised a nearly perfect plan like this. But Mistress? There is only one person addressed by that name. Talia. What is going on here?' Batman thought.

His questions were answered by the child exiting the vehicle. Female? Check. Brown hair? Check. Blue eyes? Lighter colored, but check. And yet Batman wasn't expecting such a young individual to exit the vehicle.

'Is this just another mask?' Batman wondered, sliding down the crane and dropping behind a Shadow and clamped a hand over his mouth, suffocating him into unconsciousness. He slid the body into a partially open shipping container before continuing on. Three more Shadows joined into the realm of Morpheus as Batman before someone realized they weren't alone. A kunai nearly went through his neck before Batman used his cloak as a shield and rushed the nearest Shadows.

Batman's dozens of martial arts styles and years of experience allowed him to knock out three more Shadows before the disguised driver and passenger started engaging him.

"Mistress! Run!" the driver shouted to the girl before he was knocked unconscious with more than a few broken bones. The other disguised Shadow put up enough of a fight for her to reach the boat's wheel, but before she could flee the girl was ensnared by a rope and dragged back to the dock by an annoyingly cackling Robin. Batman bumped the side of his fist to Robin's shoulder as he passed, quietly showing his gratitude as the two heroes stared at the Shadows' Mistress.

"Who are you?" Batman ordered the girl. She was turned upside down and swaying slightly from the rope tying her ankles together. To most of Gotham City, the bat mask was a symbol of terror. The rumors that circulated that Batman would brutalize any thug for information quickly spread and were exaggerated until sometimes all he had to do was drop down next to people and they'd be willing to answer his questions. But the girl before him stared into his eyes without a flinch.

"I don't have anything to say to you Batman."

Batman gripped her hair and yanked her head back.

"I won't ask you again. Who are you?" he growled. To both Robin and Batman's surprise the girl started laughing.

"'Who are you?"' she repeated in a false imitation of his voice, before she laughed even harder at her joke. "You can't make this up. Oo, oo, say, 'I'm Batman,'" she snickered. Batman looked at the laughing girl before he dropped the rope holding her off the ground. She stopped laughing as her head hit the pavement.

"That wasn't fun," she moaned, her blue eyes turned cold as she stared up at the man her father wanted to be the heir.

"What Is Your Name?" every word was powerfully enunciated. Batman didn't need to even raise his voice much to sound more intimidating. He raised her off the ground until their faces were level.

"Why don't you guess. Come on. It doesn't even take the World's Greatest Detective to figure it out," she playfully said.

"I'm not in the mood for games."

"Yeah, that's more up Riddler's alley. 'What billionaire pretends to be a bat? I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with Spruce Pain,' I just don't understand-" Nyssa was cut off by a punch to the stomach.

"I already said I'm not in the mood," Batman said, ignoring for a moment that she knew his identity. Damage control could happen later. He punched her again, this time in the face. "Talk!"

"No," Nyssa growled. A moment later a thick smoke blanketed the area and the weight disappeared from Batman's arm. Batman threw an emp grenade at the rear of the boat, cutting off her expected escape route. Batman saw a foot escaping around the edge of a container and took off. A hand directed Robin to flank from the left, cutting off her escape back to the city, but when they turned their respective corners no one was there.

"Where'd she go?" Robin cried in surprise. Batman searched the surrounding area, but no trace was left. Batman clenched his teeth.

'Not only did someone new know my identity, but she successfully escaped. Her evasive skills are top notch despite her age…no, I couldn't even say for sure if she was truly as young as she looked given her transformative abilities. Her humor was an act that allowed her to disguise her actions of escaping her bonds. This is a dead end.'

"We're done for the night. Let's go." Batman swished his cape and became one with the shadows as he left for home. Robin, otherwise known as Dick Grayson, took off after his mentor all the while thinking, 'She was actually kind of funny. 'I'm Batman,'' he snickered at her impression.

"What's so funny?" growled right in his ear, causing Robin to shriek in surprise as Batman was behind him.

"Nothing!" Robin denied. Batman leaned into his wards face causing Robin to sweat.

'Hmm, I've still got it,' Batman thought amusedly, turning away from his apprentice to smile. Robin sighed in relief. If Batman could read his mind he would be forced to run through his drills until he dropped dead a thousand times over.

-0-0-0-

"What happened?" Ra's unimpressed voice echoed in the chamber. He was sitting on a throne with Talia beside him while Lady Shiva, Deathstroke, and his other bodyguards were leaning against the walls or standing near the entrances.

"A complication. Batman," Nyssa said, kneeling before his throne.

"I had one request. One. Do not be detected while carrying out your mission. What stopped you from fulfilling my only order?" Similar to Batman, Ra's did not need to raise his voice to intimidate people. Unlike Batman, Nyssa was actually scared of her father. Resisting the urge to fidget, Nyssa slowly reached into a pocket and retrieved the necklace that started glowing while touching her bare skin. Ra's stared at the necklace before closing his eyes and took a deep breath as his fists clenched, lightening his knuckles.

'Shit. This is going to hurt.'

Nyssa kept her head bowed as he stood up from his throne. She gulped as he took the necklace out of her hand and watched as the glowing faded the moment it left her own. Ra's brushed her hair off to one side before he placed the necklace on her and clasped the ends together. Nyssa felt a warm glow emanate throughout her body before it steadily faded. It hardly lasted five seconds, but already she missed the feeling. It was like comfort food and a warm hug while resting beside a fireplace in the living room. Ra's circled around until he stood before her and grabbed her chin tightly lifting her to meet his gaze. His dark eyes bore into her with an inhuman intensity and she felt every pore of her being freeze in an instant.

"I will give you a choice. You get to decide who will deliver your punishment for your failure. Deathstroke, your sister Talia, or Lady Shiva?"

'Choose between sadist number 1, 2, or 3? This is all her fault,' Nyssa groaned thinking about that other thief. 'She must have sold me out. Deathstroke is all about training, so he's probably the best bet in getting off of physical punishment. I'll probably learn something from him too-wait. He said deliver, not decide. That means it doesn't really matter who I pick, father will just change the punishment to match the person.' Not wanting to worsen her relationship with her sister, Nyssa chose Lady Shiva. 'She is the worst of the lot, but I already dislike her. I see nothing wrong about furthering that feeling.'

"Lady Shiva." Ra's narrowed his eyes at her answer. He didn't expect her to actually choose her. It was more of a dare. That was like asking someone what they wanted for dessert: chocolate, cake, or cocaine? The last one comes way out of left field and is completely lacking any sense.

"Very well. Center courtyard, tomorrow morning. You will be lashed 100 times. If you remove your hands from the post you will restart at 1. When you are given a mission, there are no personal delays or dalliances, you stick to your orders. I thought you could be expected to join in missions but it appears I was wrong. I do not like being wrong. I will ensure that the next year will be hell for you. Now get out of my sight."

Ra's didn't need to tell her twice to send her scurrying for her room. Lashes. Depending on who and how they did it, it was either the easiest or worse experience she had whilst being trained in resisting torture. Lady Shiva was well experienced in discipling the Shadows whenever they failed. Already Nyssa knew this was going to be one of the worst. Nyssa layed on her bed staring at the ceiling praying for a good night's sleep after not having slept earlier on the plane home in fear of her father's punishment, and now here she was again unable to sleep because of her fear. She was tired, exhausted not just from her insomnia, but of being afraid. Nyssa did not like being afraid, so her fear turned to anger. Anger at herself for failing, anger at Selina for possibly exposing her, anger at her father for…everything. Nyssa did not ask to do this mission. She did expect her first mission to be in Batman's city.

'Did he want me to fail?' the thought crept in. 'Was I supposed to be punished regardless of how I did? No, don't think like that. I failed because of this stupid necklace.'

Nyssa gripped the stone in her hand as it softly illuminated the room. Nyssa felt the necklace slightly drain her chakra, and with it the sensation that she had worn it before.

'I will be Hokage someday!'

'I hate you… Hagoromo… Hamura… You both belong to me.?'

'Give up on making me give up!'

'This place… this earth is my precious nursery. I cannot allow you to damage it any more… Let us end this battle. Here… I shall erase you all from existence right now.'

Nyssa gripped her head in pain as she experienced flashes of memories not her own. A white haired goddess and her blonde haired human descendant…both desired peace but their methods of achieving that peace came into conflict. Before she could concentrate on the memories though, they slipped through her fingers leaving her with just base desires of achieving an impossible dream and two names, Kaguya and Naruto. She was…one of them? No, both of them. Somehow Nyssa knew that she had reached the truth. She felt as if she stood at a precipice.

Did she dare take the plunge and remember? It would change everything. Would she no longer care for her sister Talia? What about her father? Nyssa truly loved the two for taking her in, providing her a purpose. Sure she and Talia fought, but what siblings did not? Yes her father forcibly pushed her on this path, but what father didn't try to sway their child to the road of success? What parent did not try and raise their child to hold the same beliefs that they hold within their hearts?

So, with a heavy heart, Nyssa pushed herself away from the abyss and tried to fall asleep. It hurt, oh Gods did it hurt to run from the truth. All she wanted to do was learn who she truly was. But, not at the expense of her family…not yet. Nyssa tossed and turned all night as sleep steadily avoided her as Nyssa agonized over her cowardice. 'It was not wrong to love her family. This would damage it. That was the only reason,' she tried to tell herself.

Nyssa heard a knock at the door. It was time. She let out a shaky breath and untangled herself from her sheets and changed into a pair of black pants and a plain cotton shirt she didn't care about. They would both be destroyed before the day was out. Nyssa clenched her fists once, twice before moving to open the door and followed the Shadow to the courtyard where the entire compound was waiting for her. Everyone would see the discipline of Ra's al Ghul's daughter. They knew that even his family wasn't exempt from punishment.

Two wooden posts were standing in the yard. She was to hold onto them until Lady Shiva stopped her lashes. Nyssa ran her fingers over the crudely cut wood. Splinters lined the post all over from the quickly created cutting. The air was especially crist today causing her skin to break out into goosebumps and her muscles to clench as she fought down a shiver, whether from fear of her punishment or the cold was unknown. Lady Shiva approached from across the courtyard and stopped behind her. She yanked her hair into a bun to keep her hair out of the way of the leather whip and took out a pair of scissors before cutting a line from the bottom of her shirt up to the back of her neck, leaving only an inch of cloth on the neck to retain her decency.

Nyssa looked over to see her sister's paling face as Talia did her best to remain stoic. Ra's looked angry, as if he was sucking on a lemon though before he ordered Lady Shiva to start. Nyssa's breath hitched as she heard the leather being coiled. Truly nothing could have prepared her for the strike. The tail sliced a line through her flesh as she cried out in surprise and pain. The second strike came just as quickly and Nyssa's right hand slipped from the pole as her body jerked, sending her crashing to her knees.

"Restart from one," her father growled, his voice colder than the frost in the Tibetan mountain air.

Nyssa regripped the post with a snarl, forcing herself not to react beyond a whimper as the next dozen hits cut into her back. Shiva did an excellent job in making sure none of the marks touched each other, but as the next strike did exactly that Nyssa finally let out a scream that had been building behind her clenched teeth. Shiva hid a smirk at finally obtaining the sound. She wanted the girl to break. She wanted Ra's al Ghul's daughter to completely fail in the face of the entire League of Shadows. To know that it was her that did it. She threw the next strike harder, overlapping another cut directly over her spine, her flesh splitting and blood soaked the ground, but to her surprise Nyssa only let out a pained grunt.

'That wouldn't do at all,' Shiva snarled. 'Harder. I have to hit her harder,' she thought, swinging her arm faster and putting her entire body into the strike.

Nyssa bowed her head in pain. She locked her legs to maintain her balance as tears escaped her eyes. Even as her flesh knit back together in a steamy hiss it was being slashed open again at the next strike. Her back was stained crimson as blood pooled at her feet. Nyssa listened closely to every snap of the whip before the pain would reach her back and send her muscles into a frenzy as they tightened in pain hoping, trying to protect her from further damage. But she still stood, willingly remaining in place even though every instinct screamed at her to turn around and kill Shiva. To jump on her, reach down and rip open her throat with her teeth if she had to. Her hands tightened around the post, threatening to break the wood as her body seized in pain.

'How much longer?' she thought. 'What number am I at? It can't be many more.'

Nyssa felt like she could see the whip cutting through the air. It would hit her right shoulder blade. The whip struck exactly where she thought it would. The next would be the small of her back. She was right again. Nyssa "watched" in fascination as if she was staring into Lady Shiva's face as she tensed her body while coiling the whip up around her shoulder and unleashing all of her momentum into the "perfect" strike.

'It wasn't like an out of body experience,' Nyssa noted, 'because I can still see in front of me with my eyes. It was more like she had a second pair of eyes on the back of her head…and the sides…everywhere. She could see everything around her in a 360 degree angle, except for the slightest blind spot she found as she tilted her head side to side. Lost as she was in her new discovery, Nyssa didn't realize her sudden change in attitude was seen by everyone who thought she passed a mental barrier as she retreated from the pain.

Shiva grunted as she did everything she could to bring Nyssa out of the "shell" she thought she'd fallen into. No matter how hard she swung, no matter how many strikes overlapped each other, Nyssa did not make a further sound beyond a grunt or pained whimper. Shiva raged as she struck again and again, but there was no further great reaction. Shiva gripped the whip with all of her might swinging harder than she ever had before, slicing and tearing a piece of flesh from the bone. Nothing. Shiva hung her head and dropped the whip. 100 lashes were complete. She bit her cheek as humiliation spread through her being.

'This was supposed to be the moment where the League sees the great Ra's al Ghul's failure! How was she beaten by a child?' she thought, gnashing her teeth.

Talia did her best to keep her composure as she quickly walked to the post with a towel in hand. Her presence and the sudden lack of pain made Nyssa snap out of her observation.

'It was over,' she thought in relief. Talia stared in a mixture of fascination and horror as her sister's back changed from a fleshy mess back into blemish free skin. The revolting sight was pushed aside in favor of covering her sister with the towel, being mindful of the sensitive skin. Talia wrapped her sister in a soft hug and whispered, "come on, let us get you cleaned up," tugging her sister back to her room to bathe.

"Talia?" Nyssa asked, causing her sister to turn before gasping in surprise. Nyssa's eyes had changed into a soft lavender color.

"Talia?" Nyssa asked again, waving a hand in front of her sister's face in an almost reversal of what she'd just done seconds before.

"It's nothing…just take a look into the mirror before you leave the bathroom," Talia said.

Her words only further confused her sister causing Nyssa to scrunch her features into an adorable pout. Talia's lips twitched before she returned to leading the two of them into the baths.

"Ah, there's nothing quite like the feeling of a hot spring," Nyssa sighed, relaxing in the warm water. All of her lingering pains were washed away as she lounged in the water beside her sister. Talia had stone walled her by throwing her into a shower to wash off the majority of the blood and dirt before finally allowing her to join her in the hot spring. Talia undid the rough bun her hair was forced into and hummed, combing her fingers through her hair. Nyssa leaned her back against her sister as she basked in the feeling of comfort. It was almost greater than the sensation of her necklace the previous night.

"T-Talia," Nyssa started before hesitantly stopping her thought.

"Yes," she prompted her sister to continue.

"Why did Father assign me a mission in Gotham City? He knew Batman would be there," Nyssa's voice shook, almost afraid of the answer. "Did he want me to fail?"

"Father sees Batman as his greatest adversary. He wanted you to prove you had what it takes. If you can escape from the World's Greatest Detective, no one could stand in your way." Her sister's words weren't a lie but Nyssa could tell she was skirting the truth. Nyssa's eyes dimmed.

'Even now, I can't get a straight answer from you.' If she wanted information in this household, there were only two ways to obtain it, being judged worthy of the information or finding it out herself. As this pertained to herself, she knew that the first wasn't an option. Meaning she would have to do something reckless. She would have to spy on her family.

"Young one," her sister said. "You weren't listening to anything I said, were you?"

She sheepishly turned her head to smile awkwardly and said, "Nope!"

"You are lucky I like you," Talia playfully growled.

"I am both lucky and likable, so thank you," she said, smiling so widely her eyes closed. 'Just like her,' Nyssa thought. Her habits were from Naruto then? Her train of thought was again broken as Talia's hand brushed her cheek, stroking her thumb under her eye to remove the leftover tears from her punishment.

"I have my own mission starting in a few days. Stay safe, will you? Father truly will make the next year hell."

"He will try," Nyssa agreed. 'But I'm too stubborn to fail twice. Just you wait. You can hate me, hurt me, scorn me, I'll get back up again and destroy all of your preconceived expectations. Give me your best shot Father. I'm waiting.'

-0-0-0-

Deathstroke leaned against the wall in his master's office smoking a cigarette waiting for Ra's to break the silence. In his office he had the ability to speak freely without slighting his master, but that didn't mean Slade didn't see his master was thinking deeply about something and was willing to wait to just fill his curiosity.

"Speak," Ra's said, keeping his eyes closed as he meditated.

"You wanted the girl to fail," Slade said without preamble, it wasn't said like a question but a statement of fact…he just didn't know why. Why did Ra's want Batman to find her? Was he hoping they would take each other out or did he want one of them to die? Each question was as unlikely as the last. It just didn't make sense to expose a hidden trump card without reason, especially to the Justice League. Once known, it was impossible to reverse the consequences.

"Do you know how a circus trains elephants?" Ra's asked offhandedly.

"No?" Deathstroke asked, not knowing where he was going with this.

"When a baby elephant is introduced to the circus, they are tied with a leash to a metal post in the ground. No matter how hard they struggle to free themselves, they can never get free. They just are not strong enough. Eventually they realize the futility of their actions and they learn how far they are allowed to move. But, as all things do, time goes on and they grow. Eventually they grow strong enough that they could easily rip that metal post from the ground, and yet they do not attempt to do so.

"Why? Because they remember the cost of their actions, the pain they experienced as they struggled so valiantly against their bonds. They are fed, watered, and have a warm place to sleep. They are content where they are with all of their immediate concerns fulfilled, so they remain tied to that post until they die. Nyssa is that baby elephant. She is struggling with all her might to reach somewhere else, but she does not even realize where she wants to go or what she would do if she did escape. She simply is testing the bonds to see if she can. As her father, it is my duty to make sure she has everything she can desire at home so she does not seek to stray despite rumor and hearsay saying there's a better life away from here."

"I see," Slade said, puffing out a perfect smoke ring before flicking the filter into an empty glass. "Do you have any contracts lined up? It has been a while since I crossed someone off."

Ra's wordlessly dropped a stack of files on his desk and indicated for him to choose one. He was already preoccupied mentally preparing a grueling training regime that would make his daughter absolutely loathe him, but in the end to come out stronger for it.

'Oh,' he thought wryly, 'That will do nicely.'

Deathstroke felt his hand twitching for his sword at the cruel smile Ra's was wearing.

'He is one scary motherfucker,' the Australian merc thought, randomly choosing a file off the pile to escape the office.

-0-0-0-

Nyssa's eleventh "birthday", the anniversary of the day she'd been adopted by her family, had come and went. It was the only day that year she had been exempt from her punishment. Everyday she woke up she'd found a breakfast filled with a new poison the researchers had created and then went through whatever version of hell her father had planned for the day. Being blindfolded and forced to work on sword techniques whilst walking on wooden pillars, tightrope walking over a fast moving waterfall, repeating obstacle courses from sunup to sundown, everything and anything to break her spirit for her father to rebuild.

Even when her stomach rebelled, limbs broke, and muscles tore, Nyssa refused to give up. Everytime she thought she hit rock bottom and could go no further it was like there was another pool of energy her body and spirit she could draw from. Her body continued to strengthen everyday to further inhuman levels and Nyssa wondered if there ever would be a limit. Would she wake up one day and realize she could go toe to toe with a Kryptonian?

"Mistress, we will be arriving in ten minutes," Ubu said, the massive bodyguard acting as her support for her second official mission.

'No mistakes,' she chanted. "Thank you, Ubu."

Her priority target was the head of a crime family in Star City, Vasily Kosov of the Odessa Mob who mainly dealt in addictive pharmaceuticals. The drugs had already killed over 50,000 people in the last three years, but no court case could hold up because members of the jury or the judge ended up mysteriously missing or died under suspicious circumstances. In addition Vasily was a sadist who cut up his enemies into parts and sent them to their families. If crime could not be stopped legally or by heroes it fell to the Shadows to do what they could not and put an end to the threat…permanently. And if they happened to benefit from the power vacuum by installing their own people then all the better.

After casing her target's mansion and the surrounding area for two days, Nyssa started her operation by eliminating a guard just before his scheduled shift ended and transforming herself to look like him. The other guards were none the wiser and she slipped inside to a living room where a case of beer was waiting. She had paid a particular interest in this guard she was replacing because he was more of a loner, he was less likely to be found acting suspicious by wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Nyssa nursed the beer listening to the other guards as they spoke of a possible heist of their enemy mob family, the Bertinelli's, who apparently had a mole that revealed they were scheduled to receive a shipment of weapons in a shipping crate from Star City Harbor. Nyssa decided to pass on the information to Ubu later, but ultimately it had nothing to do with her current mission.

'Eliminate all distractions except the mission,' Nyssa repeated. 'Stick to the mission.'

She threw out the beer bottle that she hadn't actually drunk and left for her 'room,' but instead of turning left to the guards quarters, Nyssa vanished into a side room and started her carnage. She planted a few incendiary bombs on the wall and floor and then left the room to meet with the boss. Two of Vasily's guards were outside his office door who she smiled at and continued past the office before turning around once they dropped their guard and two poisoned knives buried themselves into their throats. The paralysis stopped any hope of crying out before they died and Nyssa took the keys to the door off one of the guards and slipped into the room. She knew she didn't have long as she fingered a few senbon connected to her waist pouch.

'Vasily isn't in his office. Why station guards outside if you aren't in the room?'

Nyssa took the chance to gather the bodies from outside the room and dragged them behind a couch. There wasn't anything she could do about the small pool of blood, but hopefully no one paid it any attention. Following along the wall, Nyssa found a small crease in the wood.

'A hidden door!' She wasn't in the wrong place, it just was that he was hiding even from his own men. Nyssa looked around the room with her Byakugan and found a hidden switch…along with what Visily was currently doing behind the false wall. Apparently Vasily didn't want his wife to know he was cheating on her within their own home. That was not an image she wanted to see, Nyssa sighed. Nyssa pressed the switch to the door and had a front row seat to see a naked Vasily fucking his mistress from behind. Two darts, one a tranq and the other filled with a lethal poison, found themselves lodged within the necks of the mistress and Vasily. Before she could count her blessings on her success though shouting could be heard outside in the hallway. Apparently someone had found the blood.

'Not this time!' Nyssa snarled, pulling out a detonator and exploding the incendiary within the room down the hall.

"Look out!" A guard shouted as a conflagration ripped through the hallway setting a couple unlucky victims on fire as the rest of the floor was quickly set on fire. Nyssa peeked out through the door and found a couple guards pounding on the door in an effort to save their boss. Nyssa looked back at Vasily's mistress lying unconscious on the bed, her dead lover lying on top of her.

'No distractions!' She screamed at herself in remembrance. 'But she'll die,' another part of her said.

'She knew exactly what sort of person Vasily was. She deserves whatever is coming her way. I spared her life, I've done enough.'

'She's innocent. She isn't a part of the mob except for desiring the money Vasily is offering in gifts to keep quiet.'

Nyssa continuously argued with herself as the fire spread through the walls. Nyssa grit her teeth and slammed a fist through the wall, creating a hole wide enough for her to escape through. She took one last look at the pretty brunette lying on the bed oblivious to the danger and she snarled at her sentimental weakness getting in the way. She dashed to the woman and threw her over her shoulder and jumped through the hole to the ground outside. She dropped the woman and vanished into the shadows just as the flashlights of the guards circling the mansion arrived in the backyard. Nyssa stayed still in the shadows waiting for everyone to look away so she could get a clean getaway. She just vaulted over the wall when she heard, "The boss is dead! Find out who did this!"

Taking that as her cue to leave, Nyssa stealthily ran until she met up at the rendezvous point with Ubu and hopped into the back of the awaiting limo. She let out a sigh of relief that her mission didn't turn to shit, but still kept a wary eye on her surroundings until they reached the hotel she'd be staying in for the night. The Verdant Garden. It was an upscale hotel in the business district that, surprise surprise, catered to traveling businessmen and wealthy tourists. The name of the hotel is twofold, recognition to Star City's hero Green Arrow and for the massive multi floored greenhouse garden on the roof.

To fit in with the people waiting in the lobby, she had transformed her looks to match the memory flashes she had of a nineteen year old Naruto, and changed into a white silk blouse and black pencil skirt. To anyone else in the lobby she would probably come across as a young assistant meeting up with her boss…or hooking up with said boss given the late hour. She smiled and gave a saucy wink to the receptionist behind the desk who blushed and ducked his head to hide his embarrassment after acquiring her room key for the single bedroom and departed for the elevator. She felt someone's eyes on her as she crossed the lobby and subtly glanced around.

A man in his late twenties or early thirties dressed untidily in a suit was walking quickly to catch up to her as she walked into the elevator. She secretly smashed the close door button repeatedly but he managed to get an arm in between the doors and Nyssa hid her hands behind her back in a mask of innocence. The man tried to give what he thought was a charming smile but Nyssa could only grimace.

'Please tell me this guy isn't going to start flirting with me. This is the last thing I want to deal with right now.'

But it was not to be.

"Hi, I'm Paul," he said, sticking out his hand. "Paul Belford. How are you liking your stay here?"

"I can't say I have been here long enough to give an opinion but it…looks nice."

"My father owns the building, you know, and the rest of the chain," said Paul.

"Does he? Then pass on my compliments to him," Nyssa said politely, trying her best not to snap and knock out Paul.

"I think he is going to retire soon and I'm going to run this place," he said. Nyssa felt her forced smile dimming even more.

"How wonderful for you, Mr. Belford," she said. 'Can this elevator be any slower? I still have twenty more floors!'

"Please call me Paul, Mr. Belford is my father."

"I don't know you well enough to call you by your name and your father isn't here making the distinction between the two of you therefore rather simple."

Her comment seemed to cut the wind from his sails before he thought on her words and tried again. "I can change that," he clarified, "knowing enough about me so we can call each other by our names. Speaking of which, you never told me yours."

"No, I didn't," Nyssa said with a tone of finality. Knocking him out was sounding sweeter and sweeter to her ears. At least then he would finally shut up.

"How long will you be staying?" he asked. Nyssa had had enough, ignoring him in the hopes he would finally take the hint, but he was as persistent as he was foolish. "How about I order some drinks from the cocktail lounge? There's this gin and tonic combo I really love."

"I am not old enough to drink," she said coldly.

"I won't say anything if you won't," he said, leaning into her space.

"Mr. Belford, if I haven't been clear enough, I said no."

The elevator door dinged as it reached the penthouse floor and Nyssa nearly shouted in joy that she could escape the confined space before she ripped Paul's head from his shoulders. However her hopes of escaping from his company were dashed as he followed her out of the elevator. Nyssa sped up her pace as her instincts screeched at her to end him but her iron will pushed the feelings aside.

She couldn't blow her cover if she wished to remain anonymous and explore the city the next day before she had to return to Nanda Parbat. It wasn't like she was given much opportunity to explore the world as she was constantly training. It would be nice to have a day to simply relax and enjoy the sights Star City had to offer through the eyes of a regular person.

'Room 3014 was written on the key card,' Nyssa remembered, following the sign to the right. She found a security camera in the hallway ahead and smiled to herself. 'That'll do nicely.'

"Wait up!" Paul yelled, jogging to match her pace, "Lady!" He cut in front of her and barred her path with his arm. Deciding to put on a show for the cameras, Nyssa did her best to act like she could get past him as he cut her off from her room.

"Mr. Belford, I will scream for security," Nyssa hid her smile. 'Screw anonymity, this shit is going down hard!'

"I just want your name."

"I suspect that is not all you want, Mr. Belford," her frosty tone heightening the condescending words as she smiled thinly, a dangerous glare of warning peeking through her eyes. But Paul ignored her threat that could only be from a lifetime of living without fear of consequence or reprisal. Daddy's money kept him out of prison and any other criminal charges outside of paying a fine. He doesn't know the value of money or what it's like to go hungry.

Nyssa nearly grunted in surprise and pain as she saw flashes of Naruto's life as a child, the pain of no one willing to serve her food, the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to eat if she didn't catch any fish from the river just outside Konoha's walls. She thought she would freeze to death in her apartment because of the hole in her bedroom during the winter months. The memories shifted to Kaguya as she held her large stomach, her two children demanding food even as she ran away from her home as the enemy chased her towards the Shinju. Nyssa shook off the memories as she focused on the insignificant man in front of her.

"Look, why don't we-"

"Mr. Belford," Nyssa interrupted, yanking his tie to lower his ear to her mouth as she threatened him quietly. "If you don't leave me be I will order my guard waiting outside to kill you and hunt down the rest of your family." Paul paled at her words and from the slowly decreasing amount of air in his lungs as his tie tightened around his neck. "Do we have an understanding?" Nyssa asked, smirking despite the frigid, murderous eyes that dared him to test her. Paul nodded his head as much as he could in his restraints before Nyssa released his tie and he collapsed to his knees and took heaving breaths to reclaim both his oxygen and dignity. His bowels threatened to be released and he ran back to the elevator as fast as he could, throwing glances over his shoulder to reassure himself she wasn't going to pounce on his fleeing back and repeatedly pressed the lobby floor button.

Nyssa scoffed in disgust and was glad he was finally gone as she at last could enter her room. After a routine check for any bugs or cameras in her rooms she set up an alarm at the door in case of an intruder and at last let herself get some rest for the first time in 48 hours. Nyssa's head hit the pillow and immediately her eyes grew too heavy to remain open. Her hand unconsciously gripped her necklace as she once again found herself standing at the precipice of her former memories. With the few flashes she had seen she now recognized something on the ground at her feet. There was a seal carved into the rockface and it was riddled in tiny cracks that were slowly spreading.

'What is this? Why is there a seal in my head? Did someone seal those memories away…was it me?' Before Nyssa could continue her bombardment of questions the scenery crumbled around her before she landed in a…sewer? She searched wildly for an indication as to how or why she had gotten there when she heard the sound of rushing water. She looked up to the ceiling to find pipes carrying the moving water and without any other clues to follow decided to see where it went. Nyssa waded through the ankle high water with a grimace.

'At least the water's clean,' she thought, counting the small blessings.

There were three different types of pipes she noticed as she followed them. They weaved together interchangeably without any rhyme or reason she could see, but oddly reminded her of arteries and veins. It was only when she placed a palm on the smallest pipeline that she realized what they were.

"Chakra?" She blurted aloud. "It's my chakra. But if this is mine, then the other two are…"

Nyssa cleared another of the meandering sewer pathways and the restrictive passageways expanded into a cavernous hall. Three figures were in the room. One held the figure she had just transformed into before entering the hotel, Naruto Uzumaki. The second was closer in image to her real appearance in terms of coloration, white hair and lavender eyes that had the ability to see all around her and through objects, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. The third was a massive sleeping fox with ten tails that was quietly snoring, resting its snout on its front paws as its heavy breathing sent the hair of the other three occupants in the room flying in all directions. It was only after her initial observations did Nyssa realize the tension in the room.

Naruto was hunched over a seal with glowing characters that created chains that surrounded and bound Kaguya like a mummy. Her lavender eyes were narrowed as she focused on the blonde keeping her bound and it was clear she would like nothing more than to break out of her chains and murder Naruto. As Nyssa finally worked up the nerve to approach the figures she had been dreaming about for the last year, Naruto turned to look her over with tired blue eyes.

"Hi!" Ever the cheerful one, Naruto was quick to try and ease the tension she knew Nyssa felt. "I'm Naruto, it's nice to meet you."

Despite her openly cheerful words Nyssa kept her guard up ready for anything. Naruto smiled at her with a deep melancholy that peeked through her eyes. Nyssa held the eyes she had as a child. Searching desperately for someone to know the real her while forcing herself to act in the way her peers expected her to, all the while holding a deep mistrust for others who seeked to hurt or use her for their own ends. Nyssa looked over to the Rabbit Goddess restrained on the floor and Naruto spoke up, "You don't have to worry about her."

"What happened? Why is she…why are you all in my head?" Nyssa asked. Naruto's shoulders further hunched in on herself as if the question pained her.

"That is a bit complicated." Naruto amended herself after seeing Nyssa's dark glare. "Six years ago I was battling a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Her clan," Naruto nodded her head in Kaguya's direction. "When the fight was finished, and with their consent, I absorbed the other eight biju into myself so no one else could mistreat them. Doing so essentially killed them. Kurama is all that's left," Naruto said softly.

"Unfortunately that had consequences I couldn't foresee. The Ōtsutsuki clan can only be permanently killed by one of their own. When I defeated Kaguya, a remnant of her chakra was absorbed into my own. It was only once I absorbed all of the other biju that I realized what she'd done and what was happening. She was trying to take over my body. I knew I didn't have long so I created a seal around both of our consciousness' and then the power overload my body experienced couldn't handle the pressure of absorbing so much chakra without the correct seal or container. I was so focused on stopping Kaguya that I was nearly helpless to do anything." Naruto then smirked widely and set her shoulders proudly, regaining the fire she was known to possess.

"Fortunately I am a sensor and found something that could help stabilize my body."

"The Lazarus Pit," Nyssa cut in, making the blonde pout that her magnificent story was interrupted.

"Yeah. The Lazarus Pit. I could sense that it held healing properties similar to a biju's chakra. Extremely concentrated, it acts like poison to the weak, but it was my only hope to save myself and the world from…her."

"I see," Nyssa said, but there was still something bothering her. "That doesn't explain how I am here. Why did you not have control of your own body? Why do I exist? Why am I a kid?"

Naruto took a moment to gather her thoughts, looking over to the comatose fox with a small smile.

"I'll start with the easier question first. The Lazarus Pit restores the flesh to a more youthful state. When you combine that along with biju chakra and the Uzumaki's own healing factors and vitality, it shouldn't be too surprising that a teen reverted back to a child."

"Why do I exist?" Nyssa whispered, the quaver apparent to everyone in the cavern, even softening Kaguya's eyes slightly before she doubled her glare on the blonde.

"Metaphysically?" Naruto tried to inject some humor to the room.

"My life is not a joke!" Nyssa screamed. Despite the large room it felt like the walls were closing in on her. Her breathing grew ragged as the need to get out of there threatened to overwhelm her, but the need for answers weighed even more heavily on her.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered. "I'm not the best at comedy. Why do you exist…" she trailed off. "You are the remnants of the two of us that escaped through the seal."

Nyssa backed away from the blonde as her reality shattered.

"I'm not real? I'm not a real person?" She asked, horrified.

"Of course you're real!" Naruto shouted. "You have your own thoughts, your own goals, your own family, and you live! How can you possibly think that isn't real? What about Talia? You can feel how she feels about you! She's your sister!"

Nyssa choked as all the memories she shared with her sister flooded her mind. The late nights on the couch watching Talia's favorite movies, the one time Talia tried baking something that resulted in an oven fire as the abundant flour exploded under the heat and pressure and the two panicked to stop it from spreading before they collapsed together laughing hysterically when they managed to finally put it out, completely covered in flour head to toe. Then there were the countless hours her sister spent helping her practice combat moves as her muscle memory was put to the test learning better methods of subduing the opponent.

Her empathy sensing skills forcibly reminded her as Talia changed from helping her out of necessity as her fellow sister to genuinely wanting to see her improve. Love. Nyssa could feel the budding love slowly evolve over the years that she had been seeking so desperately for. However behind that love was the feelings of guilt that she was deceiving her younger sister, allowing her father to turn her into a killer that couldn't be stopped.

"You see, you are real," Naruto said. Her features grew more serious as she said, "But there is a problem, the seal I made is only going to last for so long."

"What does that mean?" Nyssa shouted.

"We are going to merge," she said, sending Nyssa a shiver of panic before she mastered her emotions behind a mask that she could hopeful process later.

"Can't we just redo the seal?" Nyssa asked hopefully, but Naruto's expression deflated the light feeling.

"It doesn't work that way. By the end of the year, our chakras are going to start merging faster and there's nothing you or I can do about it. Within the next four years it will be like we had always been one person."

"Will I disappear?" Nyssa asked. Naruto tilted her head in thought before answering, "No. As I said, you were created from my…template…for a lack of a better word. You just didn't realize it. Your chakra is my chakra. I was actually referring to her." Naruto pointed at Kaguya.

"Kaguya and I are going to merge completely and then the three of us will be one. The process has already begun with our memories slowly seeping through the cracks, lingering attachments and feelings for things." Naruto pointed at the necklace around her neck.

"I…see." It was all Nyssa could think to say. What is the right response to being told that your life and identity as you know it was about to be erased? Nyssa chuckled with an undercurrent of bitterness at the situation; she was only eleven and it was likely 'she' would 'die' before reaching the age of fifteen.

"I'm sorry," Naruto repeated. Nyssa sighed and turned around to hide the tears escaping her eyes.

"You don't need to apologize. I wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for you anyway, right? I guess that makes you something like my mother!" Nyssa tried to find a silver lining by teasing the blond even while her ribs felt like they were on the edge of crushing her insides. Perhaps Naruto knew what she was trying to do because she instantly rolled with it spouting out denials.

"I'm way too young to be a mother! I'm an older sister figure at best!" Nyssa let out a weak laugh feeling her chest ease slightly. She felt like her chest had lessened from being injected with a paralytic venom to a case of heavy food poisoning. Still dangerous but not immediately lethal if she got treatment.

"What about him?" Nyssa asked, pointing at Kurama.

"He'll be sleeping until the process is complete and our chakras stabilize. He's using up a lot of energy by maintaining the seal holding our memories."

"I thought you were doing that?"

"No. I'm too busy making sure Kaguya doesn't escape and kill us both," Naruto deadpanned.

"Ah, right." Nyssa again was stumped at finding the correct response. Naruto offered one more smile before looking up at the ceiling.

"I think it's time for you to go."

"Wait! How do I get here? Will I ever see you again?" Nyssa asked.

"When you fall asleep, just think about this room. But I'm surprised, I thought you would want to stay away from us until the end."

"We're going to be one, one day. Wouldn't it make sense to try and establish a good relationship first?" Nyssa countered. Naruto looked over at Kurama again and smiled widely.

"Yeah, I know just what you mean." Naruto had learned the hard way how much easier it was having her darker half and tenant working alongside herself. Accepting herself, both the good and the bad, went a long way in making her stronger, physically and mentally. When the silence stretched to the point of awkwardness, Nyssa decided to leave Naruto to her thoughts.

"Thank you," Nyssa said, waving an arm over her shoulder before walking out of the cavern to return to consciousness.

"Good bye Nee-chan!" Naruto shouted just before she vanished. Once Nyssa vanished, Naruto hardened her features and pumped a bit more chakra around Kaguya's seal. Naruto got up from her position and returned Kaguya's glare with an equal one of her own.

"Hey Grandma," Naruto growled, gripping the goddess by the throat. "I don't want you making any more problems for me, so here is what's going to happen. You are going to willingly let your 'Will' merge with our own," Naruto said, vanishing the gag over Kaguya's mouth.

"Or what?" Kaguya smirked.

"Or else I will sacrifice part of Kurama's and my own chakra to seal you away permanently in the darkest part of our mind, never to see the light of day."

"If you could do so we wouldn't be in this situation," Kaguya retorted.

"No, I was ignorant about your existence until it was almost too late. What do you think I've been doing the last six years? Sitting on my hands?" She scoffed. "I created a seal that will permanently lock you away so you're nothing but a wraith, unable to interact with your own chakra. I just needed the increase in Kurama's chakra to settle. But what is a little sacrifice of chakra in compensation for beating you forever."

Kaguya snarled hatefully, breaking her noble, stoic image as she fought down the fear that Naruto could actually do so.

"What do you want?"

"I hate you. You killed my friends, and the rest of your clan is going after everyone else. Our ideals will never see eye to eye. You can't stand not being the one in control and see everyone else in the world as insignificant bugs. Even when proof was shoved in your face and I beat you."

"And you're nothing but a fool who believes the world will ever know peace by working together. It is human nature for the world to seek conflict. As long as there are those with something, there will be those without. There aren't enough resources for everyone to have enough and there will always be those with aspirations who seek more than they have."

"So what, you just kill anyone who disagrees with you? Who desires more than the dirt they were born with?"

"The only time humanity was at peace was under my rule-"

"Out of fear! How can you possibly think that living under the threat of death every second is a good alternative?" Naruto asked heatedly.

"Humans already do! Every day is a struggle to survive! The only difference is the source of fear! When humans desire more they kill the people who have more than them. I did not needlessly kill people. I killed enough in a way that made them realize the futility of fighting back against me. If anyone ever attempted to take up arms against another nation they were destroyed. That is peace! Don't you see, your method is only delaying the next war? Humans are greedy, selfish beings who need someone to guide them to the light."

"How fortunate that you aren't the one with a sword at your throat."

Kaguya snorted. "What do you think is happening right now? Comply or never see the light of day. That is what you told me."

"That's because you will try and rule this world the second you escape."

"A heinous act performed under an excuse is still a heinous act. You are no different than me except for the fact that I'm honest with myself and because I have accepted reality."

"We are nothing alike!" Naruto shouted.

"No?" Kaguya asked. "You don't want to see the world at peace? What about parents having to bury their children before themselves? No pillaging and raping of innocents? You just want people to live their everyday lives? How is that any different from me?"

"People don't need a dictator!"

"I TRIED!" Kaguya shouted at Naruto. "I tried it your way! They turned against me and wanted to kill my children. I wasn't going to let them take away the only thing in this world I loved more than myself! So I forcibly brought peace to the world. Then those toads poisoned my children's minds and threw everything back into chaos. My own children wanted to kill me. But I was too strong for them so they sealed me away," she said sadly. "I spent a thousand years wondering if I could have done anything differently, something that would have stopped my children from trying to destroy everything I built." She started laughing brokenly, crying a river of tears of shame and heartbreak.

"There's nothing, absolutely nothing that could have stopped them once the toads trained them in how to use my chakra." She looked away from Naruto as she sighed.

"And I was right. Once I was sealed away my sons spread chakra to the rest of the world and they weaponized it. Humanity again fell into global war. So you see, Naruto Uzumaki," Kaguya said, surprising the blonde at her use of her real name instead of calling her Asura, "humanity will never be at peace without someone to watch over it."

Naruto said nothing for a while after hearing her side of the story. It was true that she'd seen the past through Six Paths Jiji's eyes, but that was his perspective. Hogoromo lost the love of his life through Kaguya's use of human sacrifices to obtain more chakra fruit from the shinju. In his eyes, everything was justified. He was creating a world that did not need to live in fear and subjugation. In Kaguya's eyes it was about ensuring no one could ever rise up in the first place. They were both wrong. While Naruto's ideals aligned strongly with Hogoromo's, she couldn't refuse to see Kaguya's points on the darker aspects of humanity. But just like at the waterfall of truth, Naruto knew it was possible to overcome the darkness in their souls. It just took a lot of effort. Kaguya stared into her eyes and saw the conclusion Naruto had come to and scoffed in disgust.

"It appears my words are wasted on you."

"No. Not wasted. I understand you better now. I don't agree with you, not by a long shot, but I see where you are coming from." Naruto closed her eyes in thought. "I hate you," she repeated. "But I can't live up to my parents, my sensei's, and my fellow student's ideals if I let hatred cloud my judgment. So if we want to get through this, we're going to have to work together."

Kaguya looked like she bit into a lemon. "You are a fool. You say you see my perspective but refuse to acknowledge it. Perhaps you need to feel the sting of betrayal by your own people," Kaguya mused. "Or maybe you are just an idiot who will forever refuse to see reality that is clinging to a childish dream because it is the only lifeline you have left. Stuck in a new reality with no knowledge of how to return and circumstances out of your control you desperately hold onto the hope that you can make peace and gather new precious people who will share your ideals to the rest of the world."

"Think whatever you want, Kaguya," Naruto sighed, she would try to break the walls down between the two of them. Even if she went against, no especially since Kaguya went against everything Naruto stood for, Naruto would try to make relations between them. If she could overcome the barrier with Kaguya, then there was no one she couldn't help acknowledge her perspective.

"You really are a fool," Kaguya said in a rather different tone, looking away again. "I hope you don't turn into my son and watch the world burn because of your actions. Perhaps the greatest difference between us is that I am just further along the path you travel. You just haven't seen the ugliness headed your way because you look at the dirt beneath your feet. No consideration for the consequences for your actions."

Naruto didn't have an answer for her, so she went back to the seal and started reapplying her chakra to the seal…but she noticeably didn't return the seal to Kaguya's mouth. The corner's of Kaguya's lips twitched upward.

"Fool," she whispered.

-0-0-0-

[AN: A bit of a chaotic first chapter, but it will get clearer as time goes on and when I reveal the missing time between the 4th war and Naruto's dimensional jump. I will eventually get to the canon timeline (my notes say around chapter 3 maybe 4 if I decide to split the length up because this was a nightmare and a half at around 20k words.) but I have a few more things to add into the story. Something I don't like in fanfic is when people add a character from a crossover and stick entirely to canon with just a couple dialogue changes. If I wanted the same story, I'd rewatch the show. I can't say I'm guilt free of doing this, but I do hope I can match both your and my own expectations.

Please review anything you liked/hated and any tips for improvement!]

-EmberPhoenix