Puppeteer

Demon of the Mist

"I'm honoured that I can see the Sharingan that I've heard so much about," Zabuza said as he began to turn around on his sword. "You guys have been saying 'Sharingan', 'Sharingan', but what is it?"Naruto asked only to receive a brief explanation from Kakashi before the Zabuza added more detail. "It is also noted, the man who copied more than 1000 techniques, Kakashi the copy ninja."

"Let's cut the chit-chat here. I have to kill that geezer right away." the three genins instantly raced to protect the shocked old man, kunai at the ready, "But, Kakashi, it seems I have to defeat you first."

-

The fight between Zabuza and Kakashi was rather interesting to watch. The pink-haired girl taking a great interest in the Sharingan and how it worked. It would be incredible if she was able to produce a seal version of it. Imagine that! The ability to perform the same thing, but without giving a single clue of her intentions away.

Over the course of Sakura's planning, her teammates were beginning to feel the pressure of all the KI in the air. The genuine fear in their eyes going unnoticed to the otherwise relaxed female who remained ignorant of the change. However, this strange response did not go unnoticed by the two duelling ninjas, Kakashi making a mental note to ask Sakura about it later. But for now, he had a rogue ninja to take care of.

The moves were unlike anything the new ninjas had ever seen. To the untrained eye, the battling pair looked like nothing more than a blur of monotone colours. The occasional spark appearing as Kakashi's kunai came into contact with Zabuza's own weapon, Kubikiribōchō. The fight itself was rather terrifying for those who could not see what was happening, but even more so for those who could. If you were able to see, you'd notice how close the weapons came to one another. Sometimes missing by no more than a hair in width, sometimes the weapon would even just break the skin before the person was able to succeed in dodging completely.

It appeared that Kakashi was at the advantage for the majority of the fight. Or at least, that was the case until he took a hit sending him flying backwards. The dense water catching him before trapping him within a large sphere. The man's focus now focusing on his student's escape. As long as he was trapped, Zabuza would be stuck with him, arm within the dome, else the jutsu would fail. That gave his students the advantage. All they had to do, was get far enough away that they were safe.

But his lessons on teamwork were too well-engrained in the team. Nothing was stronger than the bonds they'd formed. Despite Sakura's distaste for the boys at times, they were her first friends. The first who were unafraid of her and her strength. The only ones who stayed with her despite her difficult to manage mood swings and easy to anger personality. It was for that reason that she chose to stay. They were close, closer than her family and their bonds tighter than those she'd formed with the Akatsuki. She felt guilty, so terribly guilty about that fact. But there was nothing to be done now, all she knew was that she'd die for them and she was sure that they would die for her as well.

Her protective instincts kicked in when she saw Zabuza give the boys trouble. The sight of him disrespecting them sent her into a fit of rage. Her eyes practically alight with anger and hatred for the man as she saw the blood run down the side of Naruto's face. But it was when an unconscious Kiba slid to her feet that she finally lost control of her own body.

Black threads began to spill from the sleeves of her shirt and from the bottom of both her shirt and skirt. The sound of fabric ripping drawing eyes to the girl as she looked up, eyes focusing on Zabuza and Zabuza alone. "Your a dead man, Momochi." she growled before jumping into action, threads extending her reach as they swatted and throttled the water clones which protected her target. As each clone fell, she felt her anger dwindle slightly, exhaustion taking hold of her body. She hadn't ever activated her father's jutsu to this extent, of course, they'd trained, but that was a long time ago.

When she finally came to face off the original Zabuza, her anger was halved from what it was previously. Her sense coming back to her slightly as her vision was returned to her. But her muscles were still on auto pilot as she lashed out. Her raging subconscious was all that was in control of her threads right now.

Naruto and the now conscious Kiba watched the girl in front of them in fear but also in worry. While she may look slightly different and their senses screamed at them to flee, they couldn't help but remember. That was Sakura. Sakura needed them, she was strong, that fact was undeniable, but she needed them just as much as they needed her. Picking themselves off of the floor, the two boys raced towards Sakura, pulling her into a tight hug as her threads took hold of Zabuza himself. The strange things ripping him away from their teacher as they worked on bringing Sakura back. Their Sakura.

Kakashi had watched Sakura in fear as she lost control. Of course, since the first time he'd seen her use puppets, he'd known she wasn't just a civilian. But this was terrifying to watch. His precious little genin couldn't control herself, she would die if they couldn't stop her. And he was stuck inside water, unable to help her. It was just like with Obito, Rin and Minato, if only he was stronger, he'd be able to help them. But he wasn't. If he survived, if they all survived, he'd help her. That was a promise.