Series: Blue

Title: The Arrangement

Author: Juniper11

Rating: T

Genre: Romance
Pairing: SuperSakura, & mentions of SasuSakuNaru

Sakura had returned to Clark's apartment after spending a little over a week at his crystal palace. He had been grieving the death of his lost love and she had stayed with him to keep him company since the League (although they wouldn't say it) was afraid he'd never come back or go straight crazy. Towards the end of the week he opened up a bit—not about her. He never said a word about the woman he lost, but he was a lot more cordial and calmer as time went on. She never remarked upon it, but she was glad that he was starting to come back to himself.

When they came back home neither one of them expected Diana to be waiting for her. She smiled at her and Sakura noted that she was really pretty when she smiled. "There you are. I've been waiting to take you back to Themsycria." Sakura glanced at Clark who seemed to have frozen.

It wasn't something she and Clark had discussed, but she had been planning on staying with him. She didn't think it was wise that he stay alone. And truthfully she was comfortable in his home. She had grown accustomed to it and his presence. In actuality she'd probably miss him if she left. She'd never say that to him, though.

"Um, actually Diana I was thinking about staying here."

"Nonsense. Didn't Tsunade send you here to train?" Sakura shifted uneasily. She had, but that wasn't the only reason. Thoughts of Naruto and Sasuke floated to the surface of her brain and she flinched slightly in reaction to them. She had been able to push thoughts of them to the back of her mind. Clark's issues had actually been a welcome distraction.

Her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Tsunade before she left.

Flashback:

"Are you serious?" Tsunade eyed Sakura a little stunned that this was the young girl that she had trained. A part of her had been less than pleased with her decisions of the last two years, but she never in a million years thought to hear her saying the words that she currently was.

"Yes, I am." Her eyes were weary but determined and Tsunade felt a brief spark of pity for her. In all honesty, she knew if Orochimaru and Jiraiya had come to her with the proposal that Sakura's boys did before she met Dan, she would have taken them up on it too. And she would probably be as haggard as Sakura was now, but maybe both her fellas would be alive now.

"Running away from your problems isn't going to solve anything." Tsunade said the words because she knew they were true and because Sakura needed to hear them. She had walked down the very path her former student was on the precipice of going down and it had taken a knuckle-headed little boy to bring her back to her senses. It was a shame that Naruto wasn't in the village at the moment because she had a feeling that he'd would have been able to convince her to stay. In fact, it probably wouldn't have even escalated to this point-the damned Uchiha.

"I just need time." Sakura said and Tsunade nodded, knowing there was nothing further she could say.

"Fine. I'll grant you your leave of absence, but don't think that you can just wander around aimlessly. The blonde stood up from her desk and moved to a file cabinet in her office and riffled through it for several moments before pulling out a rolled piece of parchment and tossed it Sakura's way. "I sympathize with you Sakura, but for right now the best thing for you is to train." Sakura blinked and at her expression Tsunade smiled knowing exactly what was going through her mind. "How is training supposed to help you get over heartache? Tell me, Sakura, what do you think?" They slipped back into teacher-student mode almost too easily.

"It…isn't?"

"Is that a question or a statement?"

Sakura smiled wryly at the familiarity of the situation. "It's a statement."

"Are you sure?" Tsunade teased slightly causing Sakura to laugh.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"You're right…in a sense. Training isn't going to help you get over your heartache. It will just give you something to focus on while you do."

Understanding suddenly dawned on Sakura and she nodded her head, accepting her Kage's counsel. "So what's this?" Sakura asked about the sealed parchment in her hand.

"It's a map to where you're going." Tsunade moved over to her desk and began writing on a piece of paper. "You're going to travel far and you'll probably see some things that are rather…unbelievable, but trust me the journey is worth it. You'll learn things that most people in the Five Shinobi Nations will never have the chance to learn. You'll see things that they'll never get the chance to see. It's a big world out there Sakura. Larger than you could have ever imagined." Tsunade finally finished writing and then placed the scroll in her hands after sealing it. "This scroll is not for your eyes. You are to take it to the place where indicated on the map and ask for a woman by the name of Diana. She'll help you."

"Diana? Who is-?"

"You'll find out when you get there. Now scat. I've got work to do." Sakura rose to her feet a little overwhelmed and maybe a bit glad of it. She headed to the door when Tsunade suddenly called out, "Wait. I forgot one thing." Sakura turned back to see Tsunade forming hand seals as she walked towards her. She wondered briefly if she should be afraid for her life, then realized that with the Fifth one should always be afraid for their life. When she finished her seals she was directly in front of Sakura and she raised a single digit and poked her in the forehead. Sakura felt a strange sensation on her head and reached up to touch where she had been poked. She felt a diamond on her forehead similar, but slightly different to the one her Kage was currently wearing.

Was this the beginning of the seal that she currently used to keep herself so youthful? Why would she need something like this? She opened her mouth to ask that very question, but was stopped when Tsunade said, "It's for you to look, listen, and communicate. Trust me, you'll need it where you're going."

End Flashback-

"She did." But the purpose behind all that was for her to get over her heartbreak and not drown herself in misery. She must have looked like she was going to argue causing Diana to speak up.

"Sakura, Tsunade sent you to me because she trusted me. I can't break that trust." It was like she knew the exact words to say to get her to comply with her demands. Sakura sighed and said, "I'll get my belongings."

She slowly exited the from as if she thought if she moved slower then she wouldn't have to leave as quickly.

"Why does she have to leave now Diana?"

"We've imposed on you enough as it is Clark. I told her master I would train her and train her I will."

"She's not imposing." Diana's brow raised and Clark hurriedly said, "It's just that I hate to uproot her when she is still adjusting to our world. She'd have to start all over again on Themsycria."

"That doesn't change the fact that I promised to train her."

"She can train with the League." Diana paused and studied Clark's face. He looked almost passionate about Sakura staying.

"...Clark what is going on between the two of you?"

"What do you mean?" The look on his face was so innocent and so clueless that Diana didn't have the heart to fill him in. Batman had suggested to her on their way home from Antarctica that something was brewing between the two but she hadn't believed it. Now she was starting to believe. She was also starting to believe that a lot of good could come out of them staying together so she wasn't going to drag Sakura out of here like Batman had suggested (and that was putting it nicely.)

"Nothing, really. Are you sure it's okay if she trains with the League? She's not really an honorary member. Do you trust her?"

"Don't you?"

"Well, she is my friend's disciple...and if she's anything like Tsunade..." There was a lot not to trust, but there was also a lot to trust. Diana didn't say that out loud, but Sakura chose that moment to walk back into the room.

"I don't have my master's penchant for gambling. My vices fall in different areas of my life." Like sleeping with two men at once.

"Then I trust her." Sakura glanced back and forth between the two of them. Sakura wondered exactly what kind of trouble her mentor had dragged Diana into with her gambling. She made a mental note to ask about that when she returned home. She was sure it would make for an amusing story.

"What are you two talking about?"

"We're talking about you staying here." Clark answered and Diana studied her face to see if there was any noticeable change in it.

"I have to train." Sakura said to Clark.

"There's no reason why you can't train with me." Diana noted that he said 'with me' and not 'the League'. Sakura turned to Diana.

"Are you okay with this?" Diana thought about that for a minute. She was going to take a lot of heat from Batman on this situation. Was she sure? That was when she noticed the shy glances that the two of them were throwing at each other.

"Yes, I'm okay with it. Besides, you won't only be training with Superman, you'll be training with the whole League." Diana stressed the words hoping that Clark caught her blatant hint. Sakura eyes lit up and Diana smiled in response. "I'll clear it with the rest of the members." She told Clark who simply nodded.

Diana left shortly thereafter, leaving the two alone. "So..." Sakura began a little awkwardly, "are you hungry?"

Clark smiled and Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. She raised her hand and rubbed at her chest, wondering whether or not she needed to check herself to see whether she was developing any problems.

"Yeah, I actually am."

"Well, I'll cook."

"I'll help you."

The two went in the kitchen and made a nice meal together.