As Sasuke and Kabuto stand within Orochimaru's study at either of his sides, Kabuto blinks once when a fellow sound nin rushes in and whispers something into his ear. Furrpwing his brows as the brunette male speaks, he then blinks his eyes wide before quickly uttering. "..Please excuse me, Orochimaru-sama.." And when he recieves a distracted wave, he glances to the Uchiha out of the corner of his eye before slipping out of the room quickly.

Blinking oddly, Sasuke squints in a thoughtful manner before slipping out of the room wordlessly a moment later. He follows Kabuto at a distance until he and the sound ninja stop but stays out of sight, eavesdropping while being still.

"...with her." He hears the tail end of the ninja speaking before Kabuto's voice asks incredulously.

"Sakura?" And when there's a slight silence, the lavender haired man curses under his breath before there's another silence.

"..You know what? If she wants to come to our village so badly; let her come."

"Sir?"

"Let her think she's getting somewhere. Toy with her. Send someone to fight her, and if they kill her; fine. If they don't, then she'll continue on. When she gets just so deep into the village, we'll surround her with every ninja that's available. We'll capture her, or kill her. Either way, I don't care." And when Sasuke hears a few step walking away, Kabuto then adds. "Oh, and make sure Sasuke doesn't find out she's around."

"How do we keep it from him, Kabuto-san?

"Same way we keep everything else from him." He states before the footsteps continue and fade away.

Blinking slowly, an incredulous anger begins to flow into Sasuke's eyes as they narrow dangerously. Is that a matter of fact? Jumping up, the former leaf ninja follows after the less-skilled sound nin to where they begin to lay in wait for Sakura to arrive. So they have been hiding things, using me... Well I will see to it that Sakura doesn't get harmed too badly...

Not much time goes by before the keen senses of the Uchiha can detect Sakura, lingering in a tree not far from his own hiding spot. At this he turns thoughtful and keeps his eyes on her. What if I were to capture her myself...? hm... Taking a moment to weigh the risks, the raven haired ninja then begins moving through the trees in a somewhat circular motion while going a bit higher until he stands in the same tree as she is only on much higher branches. When she looks up for her ninja awareness, he is already making his descent with arms outstretched to grapple her from the tree.

Her eyes widening as they fall towards the ground, the pink haired girl suddenly lets out an oddly calming breath as she wraps her arms around him willingly, murmuring his name happily against his ear. "...Sasuke..."

Sasuke says nothing, and as they land, a few of the sound ninja approach. "Nothing to worry about." He informs them blandly. "I captured the intruder you were all too lax to handle."

As a female ninja scoffs derisively and crosses her arms as a few of the others just frown in silence, Sakura maintains her gentle hold as she quickly and nervously shakes her head. "I-I'm not an intruder..! eheheh... I...I'm a new recruit..." She murmurs softly, biting her bottom lip before looking up to the nin that holds her to him, though in a different manner than her own hold. "..I...had to be by your side..."

As a manner of subterfuge, Sasuke frowns down at her a bit though his eyes seem softer than his features before he begins ushering her forward. "Or a Konoha spy. I will interrogate this girl. Once my investigation is complete, I will determine if it is worth Lord Orochimaru's precious time."

"Sasuke.." Sakura utters with a blink as her grip loosens for a moment berfore she grips him tighter again, becoming all but pleading as a few of the other sound begin wandering off, as Sasuke seems to have the situation under control. "Sasu-kun, I really did come out here...just to be near you, I swear..! ..I left...everything behind...to help you w-with... your... umm..... 'ambitions'..." She echos him shyly, looking off a moment before turning back to him.

Still remaining silent, he ushers her into a more private area and then sighs as he murmurs in a somewhat familiar tone. "...How could you do something stupid like this...?"

"..You know...that I'm in love with you... I had to try..." She admits, putting out a hand before biting her bottom lip and adding softly. "...I know it's stupid, but I... If this is what's best for you, then...it's what's best for me, too..."

Sighing, then seeming to listen carefully a moment, Sasuke utters in admittance. "...You were right. ....but there's little I can do right now... you need to trust me and leave."

"But she just got here." Kabuto's voice offers before heall but appears from the shadows, grabbing Sakura's arm harshly to move and pull her from Sasuke with a smirk.

Narrowing his eyes at the older ninja, Sasuke squints dangerously. "Kabuto. I will tell you this once. After that, I can't be held responsible if you get yourself killed. I am staying of my will despite ....developments. Sakura is of no consequence to you."

"But it seems she is of consequence to Orochimaru-sama." He answers coolly before adding as he looks down at Sakura with a smirk. "She says she wants to join; so he is allowing her to join. I'm in charge of her inductions from this moment on. ..Oh. And he needs to see you about something, Sasuke-san." He says respectfully with a slight bow and begins to turn, not releasing Sakura who half-heartedly follows, for his grip upon her bicep.

Watching this, Sasuke just grits his teeth and frowns deeply. Damnit... The tomoe in his eyes opening as a blood red tone fills them, Sasuke grips his sword and darts forward quickly with a draw-strike aimed to take Kabuto's arm off just as he begins to notice the gaze of the others now noticeable within the vicinity. But when the fair haired ninja shifts only slightly; enough to put Sakura's back in the way of the Uchiha's attack moments before his follow through, his Sharingan warns him of this in enough time to stop, and then flit the sword back until it is held along his forearm with the tip pointed in Kabuto's face. "I do not want her here! She's a distraction at best. If Lord Orochimaru thinks she is more suitable to be in his service....."

"Not more so." Kabuto corrects while staring down the point of Sasuke's blade. "Who knew you were so... touchy? Very well, then, Sasuke. What should I do with her then? Releasing her would only lead her back to the village."

Frowning a bit, and glancing back and forth a moment, Sasuke then lowers his blade and sheathes it. "Put her in with the laborers so I don't have to be distracted from my training."

Seeming thoughtful, a small smirk comes to Kabuto's features while he makes a thoughtful sound. Using his other hand to push up his glasses slightly he allows. "I suppose it will do for now, since Lord Orochimaru didn't exactly specify her usefulness. I can see where we could make use of her physical strength in that area. Good call, Sasuke." Before he nudges the pink haired girl a bit roughly. "It looks like Sasuke doesn't think you're good enough to be a kunoichi of the sound, but cheap labor is always hard to find. Get moving."

* * *

"Hey Naruto, have you seen Sakura at all?" Kiyoko asks, back in Konoha. "I haven't seen her all day; and neither has her mom."

Blinking a bit, Naruto raises his brows before looking down at his Ichiraku ramen. "Actually, I haven't. But she avoids me sometimes..." He offers with a slight chuckle before stopping. ".....though not so much anymore....Hey, Old man, have you seen Sakura today?"

Turning, Teuchi raises a brow and then shrugs. "I don't think so. But I have a lot of customers; you can't expect me to remember every one at my age."

Sighing alittle and slipping down next to Naruto, Kiyoko chews her lip a moment and murmurs. "...I'm worried, Naruto.. she might have left after that Sasuke guy..."

"SHE WHAT!?" The blonde suddenly screams, his eyes all but turning into blazing orbs as he turns to the long haired brunette.

Frowning slightly, the shorter girl then nods slowly. "....I told her we'd hang out today, and I haven't seen her. I... thought maybe just having a friend would... help."

Picking up the ramen bowl wordlessly, Naruto knocks back the rest of the bowl in a nearly painful looking eating habit before setting the bowl down and grunting loudly. "I'm goin'!" Before he turns out of the ramen shop. But before he gets too far, he's suddenly tackled from behind. His legs becoming tangled with Kiyoko's as she locks her hands behind his head under his arms. "Wh-what're you doing??"

"Calm down..." She murmurs in a low tone which makes Naruto blink and start to blush slightly.

"B-But Sakura..."

"You're being as brash as she is.... calm down...." Kiyoko utters again, resting on him in such a way that no matter how he moves, he can't seem to throw her off and she merely seems to wait with an almost humored grin playing on her lips.

"Found yourself someone new to be the punching bag of, eh, Naruto?" A male voice asks from not far from the two, and when they both turn their heads to the side, the three Sand Nin stand in inspection as Kankuro smirks.

Blinking alittle, Naruto furrows his brows. "Huh? What're you guys doing here?" He asks as Kiyoko starts to pick herself up.

"The Chunin Exams, of course." Gaara states matter-of-factly. "It is part of my job as Kazekage."

"Oh yeah..." Naruto mutters as he rubs the back of his head, standing alongside the brunette woman.

"You gonna actually participate this year, Naruto?" Shikamaru asks with a smirk from near Temari which just makes the blonde blink.

"Uh, yeah, but hey, Shikamaru... aren't you supposed to be--"

"--A guide? Yes." He states back knowingly while just staring at the blue eyed genin. "Anyway, I probably shouldn't ask but... why were you tackling Naruto in the street, Kyo?"

"Oh, because he was being generally difficult." She states with a smirk, folding her hands behind her.

"Typical Naruto... heh." Kankuro chortles again before the brunette raises her brows and then claps.

"Oou! Idea. We need your help, Shikamaru."

"...What?" The dark haired man frowns a bit, seeming slightly put off. "What for...?"

While swinging her hands back behind her, Kiyoko looks around a moment before catching her hands behind her back and leaning toward him slightly to utter quietly. "...a secret mission..."

"...A mission?" The shadow user then blinks and furrows his brows. "...What kind?"

Grinning more broadly, and finding herself unable to help but comment jovially, Kiyoko then retorts smoothly. "The secret kind."

As Temari laughs softly, grinning at the two as she crosses her arms, Shikamaru sighs and rubs his shoulder slightly. "Well what're the details?"

Looking around again, Kiyoko gives them a knowing glance before beginning to walk silently, prompting the group to follow to a quieter area. "Well... someone we know went missing from Konoha."

His face dropping alittle, Shikamaru just stares at her. "...You can't be--" But then he pauses noticing her face now devoid of any joking. "--You're serious..." When she nods, he sighs again. "Okay, who?"

"It's Sakura, and we're pretty sure it has something to do with the Sound ninjas." The hazel eyed girl informs, and at the mention of the Sound, Gaara's eyes flare slightly as a highly agitated rumble marks his opinion of them, but he says nothing and remains quiet while Shikamaru turns calculating.

"You mean like the Sound came in to Konoha and took her?" If that's why, it's gotta be because of Sasuke somehow...