The Girl Who Learned Their Terminology

Sakura's head turned toward the door when she heard it being opened. Her ears, for some reason, were overly sensitive since she had awakened.

"Miss Sakura?" She heard Alfred inquire. "Someone is here Alfred."

"I imagine it's Mr. Kent returning home from work." Sakura rose anyway and went to the door because a part of her knew…

The second she turned the corner, she saw him and smiled. He didn't smile back at her and for some reason that didn't surprise her. She glanced behind him to see if Clark was with him, but didn't notice her savior. That left her to wonder how Bruce got inside. He distracted her before she got the opportunity to ask.

"You're looking better."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine. Why the fuss? I told Clark I'd be out a few days."

Bruce raised a brow. "You told him?"

"Yes. I told him that I wasn't dead, just unconscious."

"Has this happened to you before?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not to me, but to friends."

"Is it a disease?"

Sakura shook her head. "We call it chakra exhaustion. It basically means I overexerted myself and my body shut down so that I could replenish my chakra before I killed myself. The body heals itself over time much like a cold only it's potentially deadly." Sakura saw on his face that he didn't think that was like a cold at all but it was the best analogy she could come up with.

"And do you make it a habit to overexert yourself?" Sakura shook her head.

"No. Normally, I'm the sensible one of my team."

"Team?"

Before she had the chance to answer the door opened once more. Bruce and Sakura turned their head towards the door to watch Clark walk inside. Relief was evident on his face that she was up and about and Sakura couldn't help but smile at him.

"Welcome home." Clark returned her smile, but walked over to Bruce and held out his hand for him to shake.

"Thank you for all your help."

Bruce shook his hand and said, "I'm glad the two of you are…up and about." Sakura noted Clark's flushed face and wondered what it meant. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Sakura looked at Bruce quizzically, but moved to Clark's living room to sit down. When Clark looked like he was going to stand where he was and wait for Bruce to spill the beans she went back and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and tugged on it slightly to get his attention. When he glanced down at her small form she said, "Come on. If we're going to talk, we might as well be comfortable."

His lips quirked slightly and he followed along as Sakura pulled him. They sat next to each other and Bruce sat across from them looking back and forth between them. A slight frown was on his lips and Sakura wondered at the cause. Before she could ask Alfred appeared.

"Shall I wait in the car Master Bruce?"

"Yes, Alfred. I'll be out shortly."

It was then Sakura's turn to frown. "You're leaving so soon?"

Bruce nodded. "I've been away from Gotham long enough." Sakura, not knowing how long he had been in Metropolis in the first place, didn't think to question him on it.

"What did you want to talk to us about then?"

Alfred discreetly left the room. Sakura almost didn't notice him leave. It took skill to move that silently and not have anyone notice. Sakura was secretly impressed.

"It has come to my attention that the President is seeking an audience…with us."

Sakura blinked. "What's a President?"

Both men turned and looked at her. She felt awkward under their perusal. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't aware of their terminology. She didn't ask to fall into this world. Clark turned slightly to face her and gently explain to her.

"He's essentially the leader of this country."

A light bulb flashed over Sakura's head, causing her to nod her head. "Oh, he's your Kage."

Bruce raised a brow and Clark flat out asked the question. "What's a Kage?"

"Where I'm from he or she is the leader of our village. Specifically, my Kage is called the Hokage."

Clark nodded. "Yes, then you get the correlation."

"I do. So why does your President want to meet with us?"

"Actually, he wants to meet with all eight of us."

Sakura's eyes widened. He meant with them. The motley group that she had met shortly after her arrival in this world.

"Whatever for?" Clark leaned back in the sofa relaxing slightly at her side. He threw his arm over the sofa behind her and let out a deep breath causing Sakura to turn her head and watch him.

"He probably wants to say thanks Sakura."

Sakura blinked slowly. "For?"

"Saving the world." Bruce said with a slight smile forming on his lips.

"So then he's going to pay us for it."

Bruce's eyes widened and Clark cleared his throat. "Actually, Sakura, that's not how it works."

"Then how does it work? I thought we performed a service. You don't get paid for that?"

"If you want to be technical Sakura what we did was illegal. We're vigilantes and taking the law in your own hands is not looked upon with favor." Bruce interrupted. Sakura opened her mouth and then closed it. That wasn't exactly what she expecting.

"So we're being taken in for interrogation and possibly torture." Sakura concluded startling both men.

"No! That isn't what he means at all!" Clark exclaimed and sat forward no longer relaxing. Sakura turned and looked at Bruce who was smirking at her. She didn't understand their reaction. Her conclusion was a logical one given the information provided. At least she thought it was.

"Then if we aren't being paid, and not facing future interrogation then I don't feel that meeting your President is necessary."

"It is necessary." Bruce contradicted and Sakura turned to him.

"How so?"

"It will make people less afraid of us to know we have the President's backing."

Sakura still didn't understand. "What have we done that will make people fear us?"

"Sakura," Clark started, "not everyone can make the ground crumble with a punch of their fist. Most people if they tried would break their hand."

"Yours wouldn't break." Sakura countered.

"But mine would." Bruce interjected. "We're different and the world is afraid of what's different. I know you're not from this planet, but that's just how things are here."

Sakura thought about the Kyuubi inside Naruto and his childhood. People had been afraid of him because of it. So it wasn't much different.

"I get it. So meeting the President will help us."

"And it would be in bad taste to refuse." Clark also offered. She understood that too. She hated dealing with an angry Kage.