The Battle I

Kakashi frowned at Sakura. She found him roaming with a book in his hand. She briefly wondered what work he had been avoiding but dismissed the thought as minor. At her approach, his head immediately raised. It only took a glance at her face for him to gesture for her to follow him.

They walked until they were somewhere secluded, within the forest of the village. Before Sakura could start her inquisition, Kakashi began his, "Where's Conner?"

"With Naruto and Sasuke." The tension that Sakura hadn't initially realized was there disappeared. "I have to leave."

He realized then what she wanted. "Diana said there was a threat coming. She said it was something they could handle and didn't need help."

"Did you believe her?"

"No, but I trust her to know when to send for help."

Sakura looked down at her feet. "Conner said he couldn't hear Clark anymore. He said Barry needed help."

"You're going to check and see what's going on."

Sakura nodded in confirmation. "You know I can't come with you. You should take—"

Sakura immediately shook her head, cutting off his words. "I have to go alone. I need Naruto and Sasuke here to take care of Conner."

Kakashi frowned. "You don't think you're coming back."

Sakura looked away because she had been avoiding thinking about it. All she could hear was Conner's words reverberating in her brain.

'But he in trouble.'

'Can't hear Dada. He gone.'

"If Conner is right, something took out Superman. You know how powerful he is."

"If it's Kryptonite…" Kakashi began, but Sakura shook her head.

"Conner said he couldn't hear him. If Conner can't hear him, his heart…it's likely that's he's dead." Sakura closed her eyes briefly. "If something took Clark out, then I need to get to Barry now. I can't…I love him Sensei. He proposed to me before he left."

Sakura heard Kakashi sigh and allowed him to pull her into a hug. "We'll both go."

"Sensei, you're Hokage. You can't just leave the Village unprotected."

"It's not. Naruto is here. You know as well as I that he'll be taking over for me. If it happens a little sooner than planned." Kakashi shrugged. "I'm okay with it."

"I didn't come to you for this. I just wanted to know what you knew."

"And now you do, so let's go. I'm not going to argue with you about it." His last words were firm and shut the argument down. She should have argued more but she was selfish and she wanted Kakashi with her. If things were bad she would want a ninja she trusted there. She didn't trust most of the League to not get in her way. Kakashi would run interference if necessary.

"Okay, I'll head back tell Naruto and Sasuke that you're joining me, and I'll meet you at the gates."

Kakashi disappeared, and Sakura did the same.

:::

The world was on fire. People ran through the streets, screaming and searching for cover. Creatures flew in the air picking people up and carrying them off to places unknown. Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances and knew that this was bad. She didn't see one member of the League present and helping these people.

"What are they?" She heard Kakashi ask quietly.

Sakura looked around at the burning buildings, chaos, and death then answered. "Demons." Sakura shook her head. "We need to figure out where they are. I'm sure all the news outlets are covering this."

Kakashi and Sakura moved forward, keeping a wary eye on the skies saving people they could but marching onward to find their significant others.

Kakashi found Diana before Sakura found Barry. She landed right in front of them, slamming two of the demons in the ground right in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Diana demanded once she ascertained her foe wasn't going to get up again. Kakashi threw a kunai and hit the throat of one of the creatures that were trying to sneak up on Diana. Kakashi shrugged.

"Lending a hand."

Her lips quirked slightly, and then she turned and looked at Sakura. "Sakura, you should know…"

"He's gone," Sakura answered. "It's why I came. I knew you needed help." She knew Barry needed her.

Diana shook her head. "We don't think he's dead. Darkseid could have killed him here if that was the case. The parademons took him away to their world."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "And Barry? He's ok, too?" Sakura felt a gust of wind and found herself in the arms of her speedster. She let out a cry of triumph.

"Did you miss me?"

Sakura swatted his chest. "Don't you scare me like this again! Conner said," Barry tossed her in the air, and Sakura spun around, swung her leg, and knocked a parademon out of the sky before falling right back into Barry's arm. "That you were in trouble and needed help."

Barry's lips quirked. "He's a smart kid. I'm glad you came. They took—"

"I know. Conner told me something was wrong. Diana filled in the blanks."

Flash skid to a halt and put Sakura on her feet. She fought off a few attackers while Flash spirited a few people away to safety. When he returned and picked her back up, Sakura didn't protest. "Where are the others?" Sakura demanded. "Why isn't Batman coordinating the attack?"

"We've all been separated, Sakura. I was fortunate to stumble upon you and Diana."

"What about your coms?"

"Communications are down. We lost those first." Sakura growled in frustration. "Right now, I'm trying to pinpoint where as many people are as I can. When I find the Bat, I'll let him know." Sakura swung around onto Barry's back, freeing his hands so he could land a few hits of his own.

"And Conner's fine?"

"He's with Naruto and Sasuke." Sakura couldn't see it but she knew Barry grimaced. Conner tended to pick up unfortunate habits from her teammates. "I'm about to jump. You should too." Sakura cautioned off seconds before she landed on the ground and made the earth ripple like a wave knocking down several encroaching enemies.

Flash appeared at her side and pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard on the lips. "I love you." He declared proudly. Sakura grinned.

"Forever and ever."