It's been next to forever since I updated, huh? But I'm back and better than ever! Probably.

As for the chapter, shorter than usual, but my brain was running on empty, so you can hardly blame me.

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own.

Chapter 6

(no episode)

"Sakura, you seem a little shaken," Kakashi observed. Older Sakura and Kakashi were atop the Hokage Monument, discussing whatever topic came into their minds. Kakashi's orange book was mysteriously missing and Sakura was in her 'Tenshi outfit', although the mask was abandoned, laying on the Second's head.

"I-I believe that someone from my time has tracked me here, they intend to thwart my attempts at altering the time stream," She replied to his statement.

"Do you have any idea who it is?" The elder shinobi asked, maintaining his cool composure.

"I may, but . . . " She trailed off, her green eyes staring unseeingly off into the distance.

"But what?"

"I'm afraid of who it might be."

The time traveler sat in an open field, contemplating her mission. She pulled a daisy out of the meadow soil, twirling it around in her gloved fingers. It spun in a whirl of white and gray, the yellow center undulating. Sakura began to hum a random tune that didn't seem to have a steady tempo, fixed melody or the prowess to become an actual song.

"I wish I could at least dig deeper into my power," She told the white flower,"Whoever this enemy is, I'm sure it'll take more than what I have now to defeat them." A flash of the mysterious shadow flickered to life in her mind's eye, a blurry memory with a sort of whiteness to it.

Sakura recalled (or would it be seeing into the future, considering it hasn't happened yet?) Kakashi showing Naruto the method for discovering the elemental nature of one's chakra. A piece of paper held in hand, imbued with the shinobi's chakra.

Fire, it would burst into flames and burn.

Water, it would become soggy and wilt.

Wind, it would split clean down the middle.

Earth, it would transform into dirt and fall away.

Lightning, it would crinkle in but an instant.

Curious to see what would happen, Sakura concentrated her chakra into the flower.

It suddenly crumbled into earth right before her eyes.

"I see. Perhaps that's why I mastered obliterating the ground so easily." Sakura felt the breeze on her cheek. She leapt backwards, a part of her mind registering the fact that her new opponent obviously missed on purpose.

She replaced her mask, becoming 'Tenshi'.

"Who are you!" The ninja's voice rang loud and clear. Sakura did a quick survey, not seeing anything out of the ordinary except the kunai that nearly grazed her face. Tracking the angle and position of the weapon, Tenshi quickly calculated the approximate location of her adversary, most likely the shadow that attacked her before.

"Sa-ku-ra . . . "

"Stop playing and come out here! Fight like a man! . . . Or a woman . . . Depending!" Tenshi made a note to research on whether or not time travel caused a person to develop a fanfiction-like sense of humor.

But the presence faded away, leaving nothing but the kunai.

Sitting back down, Tenshi huffed.

"Not worth the fight, now am I?" she mumbled, pride a little bruised.

"Well, now that I know my elemental chakra, I suppose I should try to make some new jutsu based on it . . . "

Tenshi sat cross legged in the breezy meadow, brainstorming for some sort of original jutsu, so far with no luck.

"DAMN IT! HOW DO PEOPLE DO THIS!"

"And GO!" Her hands formed into claws and were thrust upwards towards the sky, mounds of earth rose along with the action, although not with the menacing power the creator had hoped for.

"Hmmm . . . Perhaps if I . . . ?"

"Oi! Tenshi-san!" A small civilian girl dressed in a dark blue kimono came running. "Hokage-sama requests your presence! Konoha is under attack!"

"What!"

'Orochimaru isn't supposed to strike the Leaf Village until a month from now! What's going on!'

"Quick, get on my back, hurry!" Tenshi loaded the girl onto her back and took off, hurrying back to the center of Konoha, intent on figuring out just what was going on.

"With the genin all taking the Chunin exams, he thought it'd be the ideal time to lay waste to Konoha. The genin 'army', if you will, is the largest fighting force, albeit, not the most powerful. But along with that, all of their jonin sensei and proctors would be there as well, leaving Konoha weak and defenseless! You have to hurry Sakura!" The girl explained. Tenshi came to a stand still and stood with the girl on her back on the rise of the torii bridge.

"Get down." She instructed, kneeling. As the little girl climbed off Tenshi's back, the older girl turned on her, holding a kunai to her throat.

"Reveal yourself, Sasuke-kun," Tenshi commanded. The girl looked frightened, waterworks falling down her cheeks.

"What are you . . . What are you implying Tenshi-san?"

"Don't shit around with me Sasuke-kun!" The face underneath the mask grew furious and dark, and her voice was tainted with hate, betrayal and determination.

"You were always the smart one, Sakura. Tell me, how did you know?" The transformation was overrun with Sasuke's overwhelming chakra capacity, his voice layered over the girl's.

"Call it a hunch, Sasuke-kun. A civilian girl shouldn't know so much about the ninja world, and she shouldn't know who I was, nor where to find me. And I suggest if you're going to pretend to be a little girl, you shouldn't use such high vocabulary. You never really were good at ACTING!" On the last word, Tenshi-Sakura cut at the air with one of her fans, a chakra blade being released from the weapon spiraled through the air, heading for the girl. But at the last moment, she went up in smoke.

"What!" Tenshi's fan burned in her hand, one of Sasuke's fire jutsus striking from behind. The fan dropped to the red-painted wood of the torii bridge, threatening to set the whole of it on fire. However, Tenshi kicked the fan through two of the rods supporting the railing, sending the charred weapon into the water. She reached for her other fan, only to find it not in its pouch.

"Looking for this?" Sasuke held her fan in his hand, crushing it so then it only hung by the pieces of paper attached to the wooden frame. He stood on the ground at the end of the bridge.

"Damn it," Tenshi cursed, flexing her hands.

Sasuke's Sharingan detected a spike in his former teammate's chakra.

"Don't bother, Sakura, I witnessed your latest attempt at that jutsu. It's not complete, and therefore, you cannot use it against me."

"Don't be so sure! Earth Pierce Jutsu!" With the same motion as before, Sakura summoned a prison of earth to surround Sasuke. The pointed spears of rock were positioned to pierce Sasuke's vital organs, a guaranteed and instant kill.

"I don't understand, you couldn't come close to completing the jutsu before, why now?" Sasuke's voice betrayed no hint of confusion, but he really didn't seem to know.

"Isn't it obvious? For as long as I can remember, names have had power. All humans have names, animals, plants . . . Names hold power. When I gave my Jutsu a name, it acquired the power to trap you like so."

"Do you intend to kill me?"

"Yes Sasuke-kun, I do," Tenshi-Sakura displayed a clawed hand. "All I have to do is close my hand, and you will be dead."

"Yes, you have the ability to kill me. All living creatures have the ability to kill. My question is, do you have the will to kill me, Sakura?"

"I don't know. Let's find out."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my failed attempt at a cliff hanger. Hope you like it so far though, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hypothetically of course.

Over and Out

Mistress of Murder, Rin-sama