Chapter 3

(Episodes 10-12)

Kakashi was bedridden.

Not that that was unusual for older Sakura.

"Sensei's awake" Naruto came clambering into the room.

"Sharingan is amazing but it puts a lot of strain on the body. I'm not sure it it's good or bad." Sakura observed.

"For Kakashi, the Sharingan is like a double-edged sword. It helps him in battle but afterwards he's a mess. For Uchiha though, there are usually no after effects." Tenshi explained, examining her sensei.

"But you defeated such a strong ninja. We should be okay for a while." The bridge builder piped up.

"By the way, who was that boy with the mask?"

"He was part of the Hidden Mist ANBU Black Ops. They wear masks to conceal their identity."

"Does that mean that Tenshi-san is from ANBU!" Naruto's eyes widened. Tenshi shook her head.

"I was given this mask by Hokage-sama, but I'm not in ANBU. I'm actually only of Chunin rank, even though I've defeated S-class criminals in my day. Another thing that differentiate ANBU from other shinobi is a tattoo. For females, the tattoo is located on the right shoulder," She pointed to show them there was no tattoo, "And for males, the tattoo is located on the left."

"Wow! S ranked criminals! That's amazing!"

"In that case, why were you given that mask?" Sasuke asked warily.

"One: to conceal my identity and two: . . . Well, you'll find out later."

"What's wrong sensei?" Naruto asked bored out of his mind.

"Oh, about what I was talking about before . . . Pursuing ninja are supposed to eliminate the corpse on the spot."

"So?"

"What did the boy with the mask do to Zabuza?" Kakashi asked Sakura.

"How should I know? That masked boy took Zabuza away."

"Exactly my point! All he needed to do was bring back his head as proof. Also, the weapon that the boy used to kill Zabuza is questionable."

"It was just a long needle." Sasuke stated. Tenshi nodded and pulled some out of her weapon pouch.

"They're called senbon, they can be used to kill, but the spot that the boy threw them at were not fatal. They were used to put Zabuza in a death like state."

"That means . . ." Sakura shivered.

"Zabuza is still alive."

"Yes, in fact, that hunter-nin wasn't a hunter-nin at all. He was helping Zabuza." Tenshi said darkly.

"Perhaps you guys are over reacting."

"No, once a ninja feels that there's something weird, he must prepare for it before it's too late. It's one of the ninja's iron rules." Naruto trembled in excitement, happy that he may redeem himself.

"Sensei, how are you going to prepare for this before it's too late? You can't move for a while . . ."

"Tenshi is a medic right? Can't she heal him?" Naruto asked. Older Sakura shook her head sadly.

"I'm a medic nin, but the source of Kakashi's near-immobility is his missing chakra. I can heal wounds, but I can't lend him my chakra, sorry," Tenshi replied. "But Kakashi doesn't have to be able to move to train you guys."

"Yeah! This is going to be interesting!"

"No it isn't"

'And here comes even Mr. More-Emo-Than-Sasuke . . . ' Tenshi rolled her eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna asked merrily.

"I'm here Grandpa!" Wow, bipolar much?

"Inari, say hello to them. These are ninja that escorted Grandpa." Inari's mother instructed.

"It's okay. Right Inari?" And then he says . . .

"Mom, they're going to die. There's no way a person can win by going against Gato."

"Supportive much?" Tenshi mumbled, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed.

"What did you say, brat?"

"He said that we're going to die and no one can win against Gato," Older Sakura yawned and stretched. "I'll be in the forest if ya need me." She walked out of the house and to the training area that Team 7 would meet up at later. She drowsily walked up a tree and nestled herself into the crook of the trunk and a thick branch.

"Time traveling sure takes a lot out of a girl . . . " Tenshi yawned.

"Tenshi, can you give us an example?"

'Nani?' Older Sakura woke groggily. "Example?" She felt herself slipping.

"HOLY CRAP!"

Tenshi fell off the tree.

"Ouch," Tenshi winced when she put her hand to her head. "That's going to leave a mark . . ."

"You're a Chunin?" Sasuke smirked. Tenshi raised a brow at him, even though she knew he couldn't see.

"And that, students, is why you don't fall asleep in a tree," Older Sakura ignored him, stretching her back. "So what about an example?"

"Show them how to climb a tree," Kakashi answered from his place on the branch. "All the way to the top." The pinkette shrugged and walked toward a tree. She walked up the tree, whistling a tune. Didn't even need to use a hand sign.

"Well this training is going to be too easy for me!" Naruto said loudly, grabbing the kunai from the ground. "Since I'm the one who is growing the most right now."

"Okay, be quiet. Try and climb up any of the trees," Kakashi instructed.

"And if you need me, and I know you WON'T, I'll be sleeping," Tenshi half-snapped, putting herself in a comfortable position.

"I thought she said not to fall asleep in a tree . . . " Sakura sighed.

The Chunin fell asleep just in time to hear Sasuke curse at her younger self's talent.

Haku is hot when he's angry!

We're ignoring that.

Sakura yawned.

"You look bored by yourself. Where' s that blonde kid and that arrogant guy?"

"They're training with a tree climbing exercise." She answered.

"What about you?"

"I'm so smart, so Kakashi-sensei told me to guard you," the younger girl answered egotistically.

"Really? What about the masked girl? She's better protection than you."

'Why you . . . '

"She may be a good ninja, but she's lazy," Sakura retorted haughtily.

"I'm not lazy, just really tired. I used up a lot of chakra the other day and fighting Zabuza isn't helping my chakra recover," Tenshi replied, stretching her arms. "You'd be tired too if you did what I had to do."

"Says who?" The younger girl's voice rose.

"Says me," The elder answered simply. 'Geez, was I really this supercilious back then?'

Older Sakura ignored Sakura's rant and turned her attention to Zabuza and his worker.

"Why don't we stop building this bridge?"

"I can't do that, this bridge is our bridge. This is the bridge that we've been building with the people of the town in hopes that distribution and transportation will increase to this poor Country of the Wave, which possesses few resources."

"But if we die-"

"It's already lunch time. Let's stop for now."

"Oh! Lunch time Sakura! Let's go eat!" Tenshi forgot about the problem for a while and dragged the younger girl back with her.

"This country is withering into nothingness and all you can think about is your stomach? We don't know what's going to happen to this country if Gato gets to us!" Sakura yelled. Tenshi stopped and closed her eyes.

"I've been through this before. I do know what's going to happen to this country," She whispered softly to herself.

"You what?" Older Sakura snapped back to reality.

"U-uh . . . Nothing . . . "

"Hey, how long until Sakura and Tazuna get here? I'm hungry!" Tenshi complained, kicking her feet up on the chair next to her.

"Feet off the chair!" Tsunami scolded her. Older Sakura put her feet down and pouted.

The door slid open.

"Finally! Something to eat!" Tenshi cheered. She took the groceries and ran them to Tsunami. "Can't wait to eat!"

"Tenshi, can you help me make dinner?" She froze.

"I-um . . . Sorry, I can't cook," she grinned sheepishly behind her mask.

"You can't be that bad!"

"I burned chicken noodle soup."

"Never mind."

"This is really fun! It's been a while since I ate with this many people!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"Sorry, but that's one less person. I'm going to eat outside. It's gonna get messy in here." Tenshi tilted her head towards Naruto and Sasuke and left. She felt the cold night air and walked up the walls and onto the roof, balancing her food. Tenshi settled herself on the roof and removed her mask. She looked at the stars and slowly ate her food.

"Heh, this is the first time that I thought that I might fail my mission," Older Sakura whispered, pulling her knees to her chest, folding her arms and resting her head on them.

"Good morning . . . " Tenshi stifled a yawn, entering the room.

"I don't know about that, maybe the idiot really is dead." Older Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"Psh, fine! Ignore me! Continue with your conversation! See if I care!" She nagged.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"I'm going for a walk."

"But we're going to eat. That was fast . . . "

"Geez guys, I didn't mean literally!"

"I wonder where Sasuke is going." Tenshi huffed and grabbed her fish walking outside.

"Well I feel appreciated . . . " She drawled sarcastically. "I gotta stock up on my medicine anyways, don't mind me . . ."

"What's so funny?" Naruto's voice was clear as a bell. Older Sakura put the last of the herbs in her bag and walked to a tree, hand to its bark.

"Do you have someone who is important to you?"

'Haku!' Sakura saw the familiar face and instinctively reached for a kunai. 'Wait! No, bad Sakura, no killing the person you're trying to save!'

"Important? What are you getting at?"

" . . . A person is able to become truly strong when they wish to protect someone they cherish." Haku explained knowingly.

"Yeah, I understand that." Sakura's eyes softened.

'So that's where he got it . . . '

"You will become strong."

"Yep!"

"Let's meet again somewhere. Oh, and I'm a boy." Naruto did a double-take and Sakura put her hand to her mouth.

"Why? What an amazing thing . . . This world is engulfed with mysteries."

'Heh . . . no kidding'

"Ouch! What are you doing?" Sakura snapped out of her reverie and watched Sasuke and Naruto talk.

"Way to go Sasuke-kun! You amaze me!"

"Huh? What'd I miss?" Older Sakura asked drowsily.

"They're late. I understand why Naruto's late, but Sasuke-kun?" The door opened, Naruto's arm was slung over Sasuke's shoulders.

"What's with you two, you look really dirty and tired."

"We both climbed to the top."

"Okay, Naruto, Sasuke, you two guard Mr. Tazuna next time, as well," Kakashi said. Naruto cheered, sending both genin to the floor. Everybody laughed.

"Hey, Inari? Is something wrong?" Sakura asked when the boy became quiet.

"I think he's having a flashback montage . . . " Tenshi shrugged. And then Inari stood up and screamed his speech about strong vs. weak and how the strong people always win . . . Geez! Sasuke-ish much? And then Naruto went and did his speech about crybabies and walked away. Tenshi looked at both before going to bed.

"See ya guys in the morning."

"Please look after Naruto. He used his body to the max so I don't think he'll be able to move for today," Kakashi told Tsunami.

"Maybe, but remember, this is Naruto we're talking about," Older Sakura added.

And with that, Tenshi, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and Tazuna headed off.

Hey, I just noticed this was a montage!

"What is this!" Tazuna shouted. His workers were sprawled out on the floor, obviously in pain. Tenshi headed to a few of them, diagnosing their conditions.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"They've been attacked, but none of them will die," She announced, "It seems that-"

Fog covered the area.

"-Zabuza . . . "

"Sasuke! Sakura! He's coming!" The genin reached for their kunai and stood with the bridge builder.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi. And you're still carrying those kids. He's shaking again, how pitiful," Zabuza's voice seemed to reverberate off every particle of the misty shroud.

Then water clones appeared around them.

Sasuke grinned. Wait, no, my bad. Uchihas don't grin; they smirk.

"I'm shaking with excitement."

"Go for it Sasuke," Kakashi half-smiled under his mask. One water clone lunged for Sasuke, and in a few moments, water drenched the area.

'I totally could've done better.' Tenshi thought. Zabuza seemed amused.

"He can defeat the water clones. That kid got stronger. A rival has appeared for you, Haku." Said ninja nodded.

"It seems like it."

"Geez, and what am I? A piece of sliced ham? Hm, I have a sudden craving for ham now . . . But that'd be kinda weird if I'm eating myself . . . " They all spared Tenshi a glance before ignoring her again.

"Well I feel appreciated."

Hey, it's Rin! Thanks so much to everyone who's favorited this story and review. I really appreciate it because it encourages me to write and helps break down that annoying thing called Writers Block. So, I'm here to say that I've written several chapters of this story already, so I'll update quickly the first few chapters, but after that, I'm going to be a wee bit slow. Because to get the quotes and research what happened . . . -sigh-

LowBatteryLife - Uhh, depends on what you mean by rewriting, if you mean using every single word from every single episode . . . no. This is basically an abridged version of Naruto with another Sakura.

xXxFallenSakuraxXx - Thanks, it's nice to know there are people who don't flame a lot and can keep it short and sweet.

I like reviews and appreciate (that's my word for this chapter, appreciate) constructive critism. Not too harsh though please!

Over and Out,

Mistress of Murder Rin-sama