The Crow Who Knew Chaos

Morning came, and Sakura didn't feel any better about the night's previous events. She wanted to lounge in bed and not get up. She also wanted to leave the land of the gods, but Sakura couldn't do that until she completed her training. So the Kunoichi had to figure out which one she wanted more. One decision would force her out of bed; the other would keep her in it.

Ah, choices.

Sakura blinked, and suddenly red eyes were in front of her face. She shouted and pulled back quickly. Thankfully, she didn't have a weapon under her pillow, or Qrow could have died.

"Qrow!" Sakura scolded, but he didn't look chastened. His arms were folded across his chest, and the pout of his lips was severe.

"Your sensei said Athena doesn't know anything."

Sakura sat up slowly and looked around the room. She eyed the place to make sure Athena wasn't in it or wasn't going to appear suddenly and smite them for the conversation they were about to have.

"And how did that make you feel?" Sakura slipped a leg out of bed and let it touch the floor, easing herself onto her feet. Qrow's face scrunched up, and Sakura tapped his nose lightly.

"Angry," Qrow admitted. "How can he talk about the goddess that way?"

Sakura was curious about that as well. She was pretty sure Kakashi wasn't any more suicidal than the next ninja, so it didn't make sense for him to provoke anyone. "Did he really say she doesn't know anything?"

Qrow paused, and Sakura almost smiled because now she was getting somewhere. The pout intensified, but he shook his head. "He said she doesn't know anything about ninjas."

"Well, as far as I know, Sensei and I are the first ones she has met." Sakura let that sink in. Qrow frowned and dropped his head, not able to meet her eyes.

"That doesn't give him the right to try and take her job."

Sakura's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"He sent Athena away and told her that he was going to train us."

"Oh."

That was unexpected. "Let me shower and change first Qrow, and then I'll talk to him."

Qrow bobbed his head and slipped out of her room.

:::

Kakashi was sitting outside on the porch when she finished her shower. She knew he was aware of her presence, but he didn't verbally acknowledge her. He was going to make her speak first. Sakura sighed.

"So, you're training us today."

Kakashi raised his head and directed his piercing gaze her way. "I am, in a way."

Sakura pursed her lips. "Why is that? Qrow was a little upset about it."

Kakashi closed his book and put it away. "I'm sure she can train you, and train you well…just not right now. She knows nothing of the nature of chakra. She doesn't understand how to integrate it with what she wants you to know, but if the boy knows it…."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "I don't understand what you're saying." Or maybe she did but was just a bit dubious.

"I think we can teach the boy to manipulate chakra. Once he knows, then whatever Athena wants to teach you will be easier on you both."

Sakura shook her head. "You can sense Qrow's chakra?" She didn't. She never had, but she did feel a strong attachment to the boy.

"I don't know if it's chakra. I don't know if that's how this world operates. They have aliens, so I think everything might be different. So, I want to find out. If it's just something similar, then maybe it can be manipulated to suit your purpose."

"What is my purpose?"

Kakashi's eye creased. "What do you want it to be, Sakura?"

Sakura scowled at the question because she didn't have an answer to it. She didn't even think she needed Qrow anymore. At least, not for battle. She wasn't like the other members of the Justice League. She didn't have a city to protect. The ninja fought when she was needed. 'Need' was something—

"Stop it," Kakashi said, cutting off her train of thought. She looked at him, somewhat surprised. "You can go anywhere in this world, and you can do anything. This is your life and your decision. Where do you want to be?" It was a question that Sakura already knew the answer to. She wanted to be in Gotham, but she didn't voice the desire. The place had grown on her in a way that Metropolis hadn't. Sure, the area was rough around the edges, but she understood why Bruce loved the place and why he fought so hard for it. "What do you want to do?" She wanted to heal. Her mind went to the clinic that she had abandoned. She thought about Bruce making his announcement about what she planned to do. It was a dream that she didn't want to let go of. She didn't want to disappoint herself in that way. "How do you plan to protect what's yours?" Kakashi sighed. "The people in this world, the ones you called friends, a lot of them are more powerful than we are."

Sakura shook her head. "No, they're just powerful in different ways."

Kakashi turned his head and looked at her intensely. "And what if they decide to use that power in a way that threatens you?"

Sakura's breath caught when she realized what Kakashi was saying. "You don't trust the League."

"Trust is earned, Sakura."

Sakura felt a stab of pain as the image of Wonder Woman wrapped in Superman's arms flitted through her mind, but it wasn't as sharp as it usually was. Sakura sighed. "Sensei, they're good people."

"And yet they threw you out of their League. Why was that? I wasn't able to get all the details on that."

Sakura paled as her mind went back to that time. She remembered hiding the details of the Chaos Bringer from them. "There was a woman, a creature…" Sakura could recall Kaiyo's inky black eyes that were filled with rage. "She is powerful, and she has an extreme dislike of me."

"Why?"

"Because of Superman. She believes that if I stay close to him, then I will cause his death."

"Do you believe that?"

Sakura didn't know what she believed. The visions that the Chaos Bringer had shown her had seemed so real. When she first saw them, they had haunted her dreams, but she had pushed them aside so that she could function. "There was a part of me that wanted every piece of him for the rest of my life. I would have done anything for him. Good or bad. I'm pretty sure I feel that way for him even now, which isn't a good way to love someone.

I didn't even love Sasuke that way. He asked me to kill his companion, Karin, and I couldn't do it because it was wrong. For Superman, though, I can imagine it." Sakura ran a hand over her face, not mentioning that she probably wouldn't feel any remorse either. That wasn't…healthy. "She attacked me, and I didn't tell the League about it. They were upset, especially since she's possessed Wonder Woman before. I'm not necessarily her only target. I'm just her main one."

"So, she's protecting Superman. Is she a friend of his? What's their connection?"

"No, Cl-Superman doesn't know her. There's no connection on the surface."

"Ah," Kakashi said, and Sakura sighed, knowing what he was thinking and voiced it.

"There's more to this."

"More to what?" Sakura turned her head at the additional voice to find Qrow looking up at them curiously. She gestured to the boy to come closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. "To Kaiyo." Sakura started and was seconds away from explaining.

"The Chaos Bringer?" Qrow chirped.

Sakura paused and studied the boy's face. "Qrow, how do you know about Kaiyo?" Sakura couldn't remember telling him about her.

"She came here, once."

Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a look. Kakashi gestured at Sakura to take the lead. Qrow was her owl, so Sakura couldn't fault the man for that decision-much. She scowled at him.

"Why?"

Qrow shrugged. "I don't know. When I flew by her, she was laughing crazily. I heard her say 'what fools these goddesses' be.'"

"What happened after that?"

"She looked at me then winked before she disappeared."

Kakashi took a step forward. "If that's all you know, then, how do you know her name?"

"She told me when we met that time."

Kakashi stared at Qrow, waiting for acknowledgment for what he had just said, but none came. "Okay, I'm done," Kakashi said and sat down while pulling out his book. Sakura snorted. The turn of events was annoying as well as hilarious to her.

"Qrow, sweetie, can you tell me about all of your encounters with Kaiyo?"

The boy smiled sweetly, and Sakura had no idea how Kakashi could get so frustrated with a face like that. Qrow, after that, began to talk about what happened after he met Sakura for the first time. Sakura remembered the day he had told her that Athena smiled on her.

:::

-Flashback-

The boy was smiling to himself. He had just met the chosen one she who would save the gods of Olympus. He had a skip in his step and was seconds away from soaring away when he noticed a woman watching him.

She didn't look like ordinary humans, but she did look familiar. Seconds later, it dawned on him. He had seen her before on Olympus. She wasn't one of the gods. He would have known of her if that were the case. She beckoned him to come closer. He watched as she climbed up the wall, so he shifted forms and flew up to meet her at the top. As he made himself comfortable on his perch, the woman observed him, probably waiting to see if he would shift forms again. He wouldn't-not yet at least. He wanted to know her intentions first.

"Hello, Little Owl." He chimed out a polite greeting. "My name is Kaiyo…some people call me the Chaos Bringer." He tilted his head. "I couldn't help but notice your conversation with Sakura Haruno." He changed then into his child form. He remained sitting on the side of the building as he swung his legs happily.

"She is the chosen one."

"Chosen for what?"

"To save the gods." Kaiyo nodded her head as if she understood the graveness of the situation. "Why do you bring Chaos?"

Kaiyo shrugged. "I get angry."

Somehow, he knew that wasn't the whole of it, so he pressed. "With what?"

"Life."

The boy wasn't one who understood those that got angry at living. "Why?"

"Because it's not fair."

"Of course not. If it were fair, then it would be easy. If it were easy, then we'd get bored. And if we get bored…"

Kaiyo gave him a grin that was all sharp teeth and rage. "Then we make Chaos."

The boy realized that somewhere he had missed something.

:::

Sakura stared at Qrow for a long moment as she realized that Qrow had a civilized conversation with the Chaos Bringer. "She didn't try to hurt you?" There was no tormenting, no doom, nor any gloom. She had just talked to the boy.

Qrow shook his head. "No. She just likes to talk." Okay, Sakura understood that Qrow was just a boy, but she hadn't thought that mattered. "If a murderous person could be good, then that would be Kaiyo."

Sakura's eyes narrowed into slits. "Qrow, that doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does!"

"No. It doesn't. Go sit down somewhere and think about what you just said." Qrow's mouth dropped open as if he couldn't believe that he was getting in trouble for answering questions honestly. That was life. Occasionally, you got in trouble for dumb stuff. Sakura shooed him off.

When Qrow walked away, Kakashi raised his head and looked at her. "You do realize he's probably older than you are."

Sakura snorted. "Yes, but he doesn't act like it so I can treat him like he's my precious little snookums, and no one will bat an eye."

Kakashi raised his hand and leaned toward Sakura. Sakura, in turn, hissed at him and snarled, "Don't even think about it." Kakashi slowly dropped his hand and looked at where Qrow had transformed and was perched in a nearby tree glaring at them.

"How long has it been since you've seen this Chaos Bringer?"

Sakura thought about that. It had been a while. Once she had distanced herself from Superman, it had been like the woman ceased to exist, which made sense since she got what she wanted. She and Superman would never have the relationship they once did.

"I don't know."

"Do you think she's a danger to the boy?"

Sakura and Kakashi both turned and looked at Qrow, who was still glaring. "She could have killed him by now if that was what she wanted."

"She still could," Kakashi countered, "She could just be waiting for the right time."

Sakura realized that was true, and aside from forbidding Qrow from getting anywhere near Kaiyo, there wasn't much she could do. "Do you think I should hunt her down?"

"I think you should train."

Sakura sighed because he was right. "What do you have planned for us, Sensei?" Kakashi looked down at his book and began reading once more. Sakura could tell he was smiling. "Are you going to tell me anything?"

"No."

"Ah," Sakura finally realized. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Mmm. Probably not you," The gleam in his eye told her something different. "The boy, on the other hand…"

Sakura glanced at Qrow again. His position had yet to change. She wondered how long it would be before Qrow tried to kill Kakashi. Her sensei flipped a page.

Probably not long at all.

And so Kakashi, with Sakura's help, started teaching Qrow about chakra and how to manipulate it. He was an excellent student who caught on fairly quickly to Kakashi's surprise. They still weren't sure whether or not it was 'chakra' that he was manipulating, but for the time being, they figured that it was similar enough.

:::

Sakura watched as Qrow attempted to walk on water towards Kakashi. Trees had been easy for him. She didn't know whether or not that was related to his sometimes crow status, but he was a natural at it. Water, on the other hand, he struggled with. Sakura watched him fall in again. His yells of frustration were worse than she had ever heard before.

"You're teaching him to walk on water?"

Sakura blinked at the voice that suddenly appeared at her side. Sakura turned and looked at the male beside her and had to fight not to let her jaw drop. Next to her was the person that she should have given the apple to. The most beautiful.

"…yes."

Sakura said and took a step away from him because an abundance of beauty, while appreciated, was enough to make her wary. He was lean and towered over her like most people tended to do. His hair was dark and curly, while his eyelashes were long and thick. His eyes were a striking green that made her heart do flips. They also made her want to run far and fast.

"Forgive me. I should introduce myself. My name is Eros. Hera told me you wanted to see me."

That was a dirty lie. She never told Hera that she wanted to meet another of the gods. It was true that she thought it would be a good idea, but she never requested a visit. Still, it was an opportunity.

"I don't think your mother likes me much."

Eros started laughing, and it was beautiful. Too beautiful. He made her want to take off all her clothes and ask him to take her right there. His laughter was like bells chiming. It reminded her of a song that she heard Alfred listening to while he was cooking one day. She thought it was called 'The Bells.' Sakura had a feeling that some mojo was being worked on her, and she was very close to not caring.

"My mother doesn't like anyone."

"Yeah, but I was wondering if she disliked me enough to kill me."

Eros brow furrowed, and Sakura's fingers twitched to reach out and smooth it. She stopped herself in just the nick of time.

"What did you do to bring out that sort of ire?"

Sakura frowned. "You weren't at the wedding?"

"They're not my thing." That didn't make a lick of sense seeming that he was the god of love, but that was proving to be a theme on Olympus. Eros must have seen something on her face that caused him to start laughing. "I prefer to focus on other aspects of my godhood."

Sakura wanted to question that so badly, but she wanted him gone more before she did something stupid. "I didn't pick her as the most beautiful at the wedding yesterday." Eros' eyes widened before he started laughing again. A moan escaped Sakura's lips, which abruptly cut off Eros' laughter and caused him to eye her curiously.

"Oh, you're an interesting one. Do I affect you that much?"

"No." Sakura promptly replied and then glanced in Kakashi's direction, hoping he'd come to save her. There was no luck there. All his attention was on Qrow. Sakura shook her head and tried to bring the conversation back on track. "You never answered my question."

"Would my mother try to kill you?" Sakura nodded. "The answer to your question is yes, but if you stay out of her sight, it's possible you can stay out of her mind."

Sakura glanced over again at Kakashi and Qrow to find Kakashi watching her steadily. Sakura beckoned him closer. When Kakashi and Qrow joined them, she asked, "Are you saying I should leave Mt. Olympus?"

"Can you effectively hide from her while you're here?" Eros countered.

Sakura exchanged a look with Kakashi, who shrugged.

"Possibly." They didn't know the extent of the power of these gods. Could a ninja hide from them? Kakashi hadn't been able to conceal himself from Hera, but she was the Queen of the gods, so maybe there was a power difference.

"She won't seek you out because of the whole 'prophecy,' but if you cross paths with her, I'd be wary."

Sakura frowned. "You don't believe the prophecy."

"That our fate hinges on you?" Eros shook his head. "No. I don't believe that at all. I believe that this is a trick, and someone is very amused. Either way, it doesn't involve me, so I don't care one way or the other." Eros rose to his feet and gave her a smile that was should have been illegal in at least twenty countries and two dimensions. "Watch your back Sakura Haruno. It's not always a good thing to have the attention of the gods."

Sakura had already figured that one out.

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