Puppeteer

Attack on the leaf!

The moment the words fell from the proctor's mouth, Sakura's puppet disappeared with a puff of smoke, the fires being put out by a small group of ninja and a few well-aimed water jutsus. The pink-haired girl scampering off to where her teammate stood, offering a small wave towards Kiba who sat beside Hinata in the crowd. The dog-boy grinning back at her, his fangs making him look almost feral.

"Well done Sakura, that was really cool dattebayo!" the kunoichi smiled at the over-excited blonde who bounced up to her, huge grin on his face, "I knew you'd win of course..." he offered, poking his fingers together as he shuffled where he stood. Sakura simply opened her arms signalling for a hug, "Thank you Naruto." she said, her words more sincere than they'd ever been.

The blonde boy practically threw himself into her open arms at her words. The sudden additional weight causing Sakura to fall over backwards, Naruto muttering a half-hearted apology but didn't let go. "Anyway, who's turn is it next?" she asked, her green eyes scanning the group of genin for someone who had yet to fight. 

"Sasuke-teme and that sand-nin I think, but if Sasuke doesn't turn up, then its the second round and the sand-nin goes through by default." the boy muttered, not once looking up nor letting go, he didn't know when the next hug would come, so he would make the most of this one...

After hugging Naruto on the floor for long enough that they began to receive some very odd looks from their fellow competitors, Sakura decided to end the hug. Tightening her arms around the boy, she squeezed him close before completely relaxing her grip and tapping him on the back.

"Time to let go now, by the sounds of it, Sasuke's just arrived, and the next round is going to begin shortly anyway." Naruto huffed loudly, clearly reluctant, but he knew better than to push his luck, and clambered off her, offering her a hand up as he did so.

-

Sasuke's match was the oddest one Sakura had seen by far. The Uchiha had just begun to tip the balance in his favour when the boy in front of him began to change form slightly, and feathers began to fall from the sky. After that, she could only remember feeling really tired and giving in to the overwhelming temptation to close her eyes.

She had no idea how long she was asleep for, but either way, when she woke up, she woke up to the familiar blue and brown eyes of her two teammates. Kakashi approached the trio to address the group as they helped Sakura off of the floor, muttering something about "traitors" or something along those lines.

He then briefed the group, before sending them off to chase after the reckless Sasuke who'd apparently chased after 'Gaara', but not before instructing them to  stay safe. The group were just about to move away when he stopped Sakura momentarily to ask her to ensure their safety.

"Akamaru, find Sasuke!" Kiba instructed the small white canine who was usually so full of energy suddenly focusing. His brown nose inhaling deeply before he barked, Kiba translating his words as "follow me" and then the group raced off into the forest.

-

To say finding a several meters tall, sand beast in the middle of a forest was not hard would be the understatement of the century. If it wasn't the blatantly obvious trail of sand leading them in the correct direction that gave it away. Nor the Uchiha's 'pungent stench' according to the very bias source known as Kiba Inuzuka. It was the torn up forest, and the general destruction caused by the rampaging tailed beast.

The moment they arrived at the smallish clearing in which the pair were fighting, Naruto was quick to move in to assist. Kiba shifting his weight to move to assist, but he quickly found his way being blocked by Sakura. 

Turning to look at the girl in question, he watched in confusion as she shook her head, "He's way out of our league. This is between him and Naruto unless you want to end up as dog food. No, instead, you should focus your efforts on retrieving Sasuke, I'll wait here incase. But remember, whatever you do, do not engage with Gaara. Understood?"

Sakura watched the boy with narrowed eyes, only withdrawing her arm and sending him off when she received his verbal acknowledgement to his words. Even after that, she watched his actions carefully, ready to assist if something went wrong.

Thankfully for them all, Kiba appeared to have realised the severity of the situation and her words, choosing to only retrieve the unconscious Uchiha, before he returned to Sakura's side. The pink-haired female crouched next to the boy, reaching out to check for his now weakened pulse.

"He's alive, and it's fortunate he is too, I can only imagine how angry the village leaders would be if he were dead." Sakura started, her brows knitting together as a frown made its way onto her face, "You'll have to take him back to the village though, and now." Kiba opened his mouth to complain, but Sakura's next words were quick to silence any objections.

"Think about it Kiba, if I take him back in this state, my life could be put on the line. The only remaining Uchiha lying nearly dead in a girl's arms especially since my background is still unknown to them. Also, if you don't take him now, he may very well actually die. We can't both go, but if you take him, the Inuzuka clan name will protect you from any of their allegations. Leave, I'll stay here and make sure Naruto's okay. Trust me, alright?"

Kiba's brown eyes scanned Sakura's green ones for anything, any hesitation or nervousness, and whilst she was undeniable scared, the firmness in her decision was clear. With a nod, the dog-boy lifted the unconscious ravenette onto his back, wished Sakura luck, and disappeared off into the forest with his dog.