Ablaze: A Sakura Haruno Crossover Fanfiction Book 1

The Girl Who Trusted the Bat

When Sakura caught up with Bruce he was standing on top of a destroyed car with his arms in the air. It looked odd, and frankly, it made her uncomfortable yet for some reason she didn't walk away. Instead, Sakura jumped on top of it with him and asked him, "What are you doing?"

A small smirk played on his lips as if he knew she was close to having issues with his sanity before he answered her. "Catching a ride."

Sakura frowned. "Catching a—" Before she could complete her sentence one of Darkseid's minions swooped down and grabbed Bruce and thereafter flew off with him. Sakura stared at the empty space where he had once been standing for a few moments before she smacked her forehead and silently swore that when this was all over with her feet would never leave the ground again.

Begrudgingly Sakura raised her arms in the air and seconds later she was following behind Batman and her face was anything, but happy.

The creature that captured her caught up with Batman, who was standing on the ground waiting for her arrival. The body of the one that had taken Batman lay on the ground either dead or unconscious. She was hoping for the former because if it was just the latter, they may have problems later.

It was fortunate for Sakura that the creature grabbed her by her forearms when it carried her off. She was still able to wiggle and move her hands that were considered deadly weapons in the Five Shinobi Nations. Sakura reached out and crushed one of the arms that held her captive. Darkseid's creature lurched and let out a loud cry, releasing one of her arms. She was able to somehow swing herself on its back, smash its head in and crash to the ground. When Sakura finally made it to Batman's side, he remarked with, "That lacked subtlety."

Sakura scowled. "It's no longer my forte given the company I keep."

"Interesting."

The two walked forward in an effort to figure out where the creatures were supposed to take them. A large ball of light caught Sakura's attention. "What's that?" She questioned, since she was certain it wasn't what constituted as normal for them.

"I think it's a doorway."

Sakura pursed her lips. "Should we invite ourselves in?"

Batman studied the ball of light for a second and then walked forward with Sakura close on his heels. When they had completely stepped through Sakura glanced around herself and shivered. She didn't know where they were, but she knew it wasn't where she had been.

The sky was blood red and the ground was on fire. As she stared at it, she could see creatures walking through the fire as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The air tasted like brimstone and ash and the smell was putrid and sickening. She felt an odd stir within her body and she paused for a second to figure out what it was. After several seconds of contemplation she realized it was her chakra, it felt different causing her to want to leave immediately, but if this was where Superman was...how could she go?

"This wasn't part of the plan."

Sakura wasn't even aware that they had a plan. Maybe it was time they made one.

"Then I say we make one. Do we split up or stay together?"

"We stay together. I don't want to have to recuse both you and Superman."

Sakura scowled at the insinuation, but when she studied Batman's face, she knew he said it to get her riled and probably keep the fear that was just beneath the surface of her calm demeanor at bay. She couldn't help but like him more and more as she spent extended periods of time with him.

Sakura didn't bother to respond to his comment, but her lips did twitch.

Batman said, "We stick to the shadows for now and we keep an ear out for what is being said."

"I have a technique that can help us blend in."

Bruce raised a brow. "Use it. It will help us move quickly." She expected him to ask for details about what she was going to do, but he didn't. He'd never know how much she appreciated that. She'd never realize that after the incident earlier with the helicopters he already had an idea of what she was going to do.

They moved quickly and did what Bruce told her they would—stick to the shadows despite the use of her genjutsu. He was right to be cautious, she knew, because anything could go wrong at any time especially since her chakra didn't feel quite like it usually did which was worrying her more than she wanted to admit.

"The Parademon hives on Earth were ill equipped to reprocess his flesh."

Sakura swung her head and looked at Batman to see if he heard what she had. He placed a finger on his lips and Sakura nodded. They crept steadily forward listening to the disturbing conversation.

"But what a pleasure it has been to cut it again and again."

"Do not acknowledge pleasure Desaad. You know it is forbidden. The Kryptonian was not brought here for you." Sakura saw Bruce's eyes narrow and a sick feeling in her stomach told her that they found Superman. They were cutting him, hurting him. In just a short amount of time she had assumed that he couldn't be hurt. However, Darkseid's beams had told her otherwise and the conversation she had the misfortune to overhear confirmed it. Sakura blinked back tears. "He was brought here to become a new breed of soldier who will prove vital in the search for the daughter of Darkseid."

"Our master will not stop until she is found Steppenwolf."

"Then neither shall we. All Hail Darkseid."

Sakura frowned as her mind puzzled together the pieces. All of this...destruction was over a child that was missing? Somehow she knew she was missing vital pieces of information. Who sought to destroy a world over a missing person? Unless she just so happened to be kidnapped by the people on Superman's world. Maybe the war, she had inadvertently been embroiled in was actually justified on Darkseid's end. Doubts began to creep into her mind. That was when Bruce drew her attention to him. His lips moved, although no words came out. She had no idea how he knew she could read lips, but his unspoken words calmed her. He didn't tell her to trust him. He didn't tell her that everything would be okay. He didn't try to convince her that the words she was hearing were lies. He treated her like she was an intelligent human being capable of coming to the correct conclusions on her own.

We have seen no proof that his daughter is in our world. Don't make assumptions. Stick to the facts.