Tada! The miraculously sad third part of my story, "Rebirth." Oddly enough, Dick doesn't play a part in this chapter. Either way, I do introduce a few new characters; see if you can guess who the third main character is going to be! I warn you, this isn't a happy thing to read, so . . . don't expect humor. I like to write it, but at this point in the story, it would be out of place. Anyway, enjoy Chapter three. Please, for god's sake, R&R!!!!

PS-I know I lack a bit of character description in the earlier chapters. If you're not familiar with the other shows, let me know, and I'll think about adding more. I'm generally not into CD, because I like to let it up to the reader's imagination. However, with this, the characters are predefined, so I'm not sure exactly how to handle it. Thanks in advance!

Chater 3: Broken

The Village of Konoha

Sakura spent most of the next week training with Tsunade, as she always did. However, instead of following her master constantly, the young woman decided that their practice sessions were enough, and disappeared quickly after each one. The Hokage, having known the girl for several years now, noticed this quickly. For a while, she merely assumed she was off on some new project, as she was prone to do. But as the pattern continued, the great leader grew increasingly concerned with her apprentices absences. Deciding to check up on her star pupil, she made up her mind to keep Sakura late tonight.

"Sakura," called the Hokage, lightly grasping the girls arm as she moved to open the door, "May I talk to you for a bit?"

"Of course," replied Sakura tersely. Tsunade noted the tone, and lead her down the hall, to a small lounge for the clerical staff. Luckily, it was empty, so they were able to find a pair of secluded seats off in a corner.

"Sakura, you've been awfully short, even angry lately. Can I ask what's bothering you?" The elder leaned forward, smiling softly at her protegee. Shaking her head, Sakura leaned back, not really looking at Tsunade.

"I'm fine," she lied, folding her arms.

"I'd prefer if you didn't lie to me," said Tsunade, the caring grin gone from her face. In its place sat a particularly vicious scowl. "I've got an entire village to run. I don't need lip like that from a little girl."

"It's that," shot Sakura, much angrier than she'd ever openly been with her leader, "every time I do something you don't like, or make a mistake, you humiliate me! You always have to shout how important you are, and then make me feel like dirt!" She was shouting now, and rose to her feet. "Naruto told me that you didn't even want to come and be Hokage! And now you bring up your title at every chance you get, just to bring everyone else's ego down! And . . ." She cut herself off, though; anything else would be a bit much.

"Go on," whispered Tsunade. She was seething, obviously, but managing to keep herself under control. "Say it. I want to know." Trying in vain to regain composure, she folded her hands in front of her, and took a few deep breaths.

"You . . ." Most of the steam had gone from Sakura, but she could still find enough to go on. She couldn't remember being this angry in her entire life. "You even humiliated me in front of my friends. Calling Naruto my ex in front of . . ."

"Lee?" It surprised her that Tsunade had so easily figured it out, though she didn't know why. She was the premier ninja in the village. "I should have guessed, honestly." The Hokage sighed, and leaned back in her chair again, of all things, smiling! "You're this pissed off over what I said around your crush? It makes sense, I suppose. You are a young woman, and I jumped to a very poor conclusion."

"I . . ." Sakura blushed, all her anger finally extinguished. Had she really been acting that childishly?

"It's alright. I guess I can understand something like that. I'll even forgive you for yelling at me," she said, as though she'd just spared her life. Sakura nodded, not entirely sure how to take the sudden change of heart. "Boy troubles . . ." the elder groaned under her breath, as she rose to leave, "happens to every girl." As she exited the room, she shut the door, leaving Sakura completely alone. She was glad, in a way. She had yelled at probably the only person in the village who understood her, had all but lost the boy she wanted so badly, and she'd even made him avoid her; she was going to cry.

Upstate New York

"Mail!" The call rang out through the halls like a bombshell, making most everyone within the school's halls burst forth from their rooms, the kitchen, and even outside. Kids of all ages swarmed the young woman holding the mass of envelopes and parcels, squishing her from all sides.

"Like, thank god it's a small school, right?" she moaned, giving up and tossing the mail into the air, letting it fall over the children surrounding her.

"Having fun, half-pint?" Kitty Pride looked up at the balcony, where Logan, gruff and underdressed as always, stood, sipping from an unmarked bottle.

"No!" she cried, finally giving into the masses. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind on the floor. Slowly, she slid down into the floorboards, passing through them as if they were air. It would have amazed anyone outside the school, but by now, they were all used to each others powers.

A few seconds after the descent, she rose again a few feet away, beyond the mass of huddled children, and turned back to Logan.

"Much better. When did you come back?" Almost a month ago, Logan, who was acting as the combat instructor at the time, decided to take a small vacation to Canada. He never said explicitly what he planned on doing, but the students had long since learned to be cautious when questioning him.

"Just got in," he replied. Running his hand through his long (though vertical) curly hair, he grinned, and started down the stair toward her. "Where's the Professor?" Kitty shrugged, nodding off to her left.

"Probably teaching his Psychics class. I think that's right now . . ." She trailed off, as a muffled bamf rang through the room, and Kurt Wagner suddenly appeared beside them. His blue, fuzzy face was grinning widely.

"Kitty!" he hollered, grabbing her by the wrist. "You have to see this!" Before she could even glance at Logan, Kurt ported again, hauling her with him.

"What could it possibly be?" she shouted as they reached their destination. Fumbling to fix her hair, which was always trashed by the process, she didn't look up for a few seconds. "You know, I swear that smoke stays on my clothes! I like this shirt, too." Patting down her pink tank, she finally looked up.

"Do you like it?" he asked, pointing at a larger-than-life portrait of her. It was well done, with just the right proportions, and even her hair done up in a way which would flatter any woman. Something was sprawled across the bottom in beautiful script, but it was in German, and Kitty couldn't read it.

"Did you . . ." she couldn't finish the question. Her own giant visage standing before her was a bit much.

"Yeah," he admitted, "Do you like it?"

"Kurt . . ." she stammered, "You're kinda becoming, like, a stalker, you know that?" Kurt grinned, thinking it was a joke, but as she turned to him, he could see her face. She was obviously very disturbed by his painting, despite his best efforts at romanticism.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean . . ." he stepped forward, taking her by the shoulders.

"Maybe I should go," she said, trying to turn away.

"No! Please stay." Tightening his grip on her, he smiled softly. She, however, didn't see it as a good thing. Her eyes widening, she phased through his hands, and ran straight toward the wall closest to her.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed as she passed through the drywall and cement, out of his sight.

"Wait," he whispered in vain, pleading to his beloved. Alone now, he glanced up at her portrait, sitting there, taunting him. Her skin, which seemed so soft and pure even in the oil of the painting, is what he liked most about her, at least physically. He looked down at his own gloved hands. Sliding one of the gloves off, he stared with disgust at his own hand, gnarled and furry. At the end, a huge, blue mass of resin made up his clawed nail. He thought idly of the old Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. Even 'true love' couldn't fix him, though.

"Kitty," he muttered, wrapping his three-fingered hands around his face, his tears beginning to mat down the hair on his cheeks.

Gotham City

"Rae . . ." Trevor pleaded for the hundredth time, "Please stop crying." His old friend sat in the same chair as when Dick had left, though it was almost a week later. "Please, tell me what's wrong? The shops going to collapse if you don't compose yourself a little." He knelt down before her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Around him, her lack of control over her powers was shaking the walls and bookcases throughout the store.

"I . . . I'm the reason Dick . . . I hurt him, didn't I?" She looked up, finally, staring him in the eye, her face more pained than it had been in years.

"Because you didn't go with him?" Nodding slowly, she sobbed again.

"He was counting on me, and I abandoned him. Again!" She shouted the last word with an unexplained fury, her mind racing back years to the first time they had parted ways. That time, she'd been the one to walk out the door.

"No. You didn't abandon him. He came here asking us to risk our lives for people who don't even care. Star and BB died, died, working with him! It's dangerous being a hero! And what funeral did they get? Just us, putting them in normal graves by Terra's monument. You deserved to be normal for once." Rubbing her shoulder, he smiled, "You have your dream."

"Normal?" she asked calmly, standing and glancing around at the chattering bookshelves and window panes. "How have I ever been normal? I almost destroyed the world because my father's a demon!" Shouting now, she was glad she hadn't opened the doors today to customers. She didn't want to quiet down. "I can kill people with my mind! How the hell is that normal!?" Her tears had stopped, though the streaks down her cheeks were still there.

"He came asking us to do the impossible!"

"It wasn't impossible when we lived in the Tower! When we all laughed and lived together, gallivanting around, saving the world! We're heroes, Cyborg! This . . ." she pointed around, "This isn't us! At least not me! I'm Raven, I was a Teen Titan! I come from Azarath, and I want to protect this world that took me in! And I don't think it's you, either!" Her hand shot out, grasping his shirt by the cuff. Pulling it up violently, she could see his slimmed down, but still fully mechanical right arm.

"Hey!" he shouted, covering it again, "Maybe I don't want to go 'gallivanting' anymore, huh? I'm not a Titan anymore! You might not want to be live a normal life, but you always had the option! I'm just now getting back to not looking like a big metal monster!" Raven looked down, ashen faced.

"See?" she muttered, "I hurt you, too." Trevor glanced away, gritting his teeth.

"You wanted to go with him?" he asked, turning his back to her.

"Yeah," she answered, sitting again.

"Then why did you turn him down?"

"I don't know." She was crying again, outright, unconsciously knocking shelves on their sides. "I don't know."