The next morning Avaya stood in the waiting room where the contestants would wait before their matches. The genin were in the center of the arena where the spectators could see them. Though she longed to be down there next to Gaara, the wolf knew that it was not allowed. She was not a ninkin, the like Inuzuka dog. Technically she should not be in the room either, but the wolf had snuck in anyway. Avaya waited patiently for Gaara to come to the room.
Eventually Gaara did show up, warping into the room with his sand. Avaya greeted him happily as the others soon entered. Temari was also greeted with a tail wag, though the large wolf ignored Kankuro's entrance.
Avaya focused out to the center again. Being large enough, she was easily able to lift her head over the half wall for easy viewing. Gaara stood beside her as he leaned against the side wall, Temari and Kankuro on the other side of the black wolf.
Gaara stood with his eyes closed. Sasuke had not shown up yet and he could feel the beast inside calling for blood. Only the presence of Wolf beside him kept the demon at bay. Personally he did not care about the plan. He just wanted to kill people and feel their blood soak into his sand. Briefly he wondered what would happen to Wolf during the invasion but he pushed the thought out of his mind. She would be fine.
It was only once his match finally began that did Gaara realize something. His wolf was capable of taking out small groups in the wild. She was smart. But, was not a trained shinobi. A full scale invasion was far different than what she was used to. Unfortunately all these thoughts came too late, as he was already engaged in combat with the Uchiha.
Gaara looked up at the stands to where his wolf was waiting. The last thing he saw before his blood lust took over was a pair of amber eyes gazing at him.
Avaya knew the minute that Gaara did a partial transformation that it was time to begin her plan. She was not a trained shinobi, she would have no defense against genjutsu, so she had to act now, before it was started. She was trying to figure a way out when Temari stepped closer to her.
"The door is open a crack, you should be able to get out." The words were quieter than a whisper, but Avaya's canine ears picked them up easily enough. The big wolf slunk out of the room and away from the area without being seen before taking off. And explosion ripped through the area as Avaya took off. The invasion of Konoha had begun.
Darting into an ally, Avaya took her human form once again. She would need to sate her craving before she was able to enact any of her plan later on. But she was saved from looking for a victim when sound shinobi landed in front of her. Perfect.
Avaya wiped her mouth before assuming her wolf body and darting off. She narrowly dodged flying debris as she raced after Gaara's sent. The redhead was injured and with his siblings. The group was being followed by Konoha and Sound shinobi. If her plan was to work, she had to stop the sound shinobi from interfering and delay the Konoha shinobi. She needed the blond boy to fight with Gaara.
The large wolf ran, a silent blur in the woods. Sniffing the air, one of the Konoha ninja had split off from the group to stop the Sound group. She had to applaud his brilliance, the ploy worked for the most part. Most of the group followed him. Making a split second decision, she too took after the boy. If he failed then his plot would do nothing to help her.
When She caught up, she recognized the Nara boy, who had caught most of the Sound shinobi in his shadow technique. But the boy was tired, he would not be able to hold it for long. Avaya's keen nose caught the scent of another Konoha shinobi. He had disabled one of the Sound attempting to sneak up on the boy and would back him up. Wasting no time, Avaya leapt into the clearing, taking them all by surprise as she landed on the back of one of the shinobi just as the shadow technique was dispelled.
At the same time, the older Konoha ninja leap to the ground. Avaya launched herself at one more Sound shinobi, disabling him permanently before heading toward Gaara. The two Konoha members let her go. The large wolf was not their enemy. That much had been made clear.
Picking off the last few Sound shinobi, Avaya came across the area where Kankuro had fought the bug user. Kankuro was already gone, but the other boy lay prone, having been poisoned. Avaya hesitated. She needed to get to Gaara to make sure her plan was carried out, but if something were to happen to one of Naruto's friends, then everything will be for nothing.
Fazing into her human form, Avaya carefully moved the unconscious boy to sit up against a tree. Digging around in his pack, Avaya found a few bandages. She soaked them in blood from his wounds before tying them to a few branches. The bright red would stand out to rescuers. The girl did not bandage his wounds however. The poison would have a higher chance of spreading if the blood was kept in his body. Best to leave it open so the poison leak out as well.
Avaya leap off the branch, already a wolf as she hit the ground, and run. Not once did she notice the now open eyes from behind a pair of dark glasses. But they closed again.
Avaya reached the clearing where Gaara was at the same time Kankuro did. Temari joined them as she explained what was going on. Avaya needed no explanation. Her nose told her all. The pink haired girl was pinned to a tree, her dark haired companion close by with a small dog. Naruto was engaged in a fight with Gaara, who was already beginning to transform.
Avaya let out a whine. One of the redhead's eyes was already golden. The wolf girl prayed she had not made a mistake in her plan. So far the blond boy was not living up to expectations. She knew he had what Gaara did, so why did he not use it? She would not get her answer until later. As Gaara began his full transformation, Avaya was forced to move.
Separating from the remaining two sand siblings, who went a different way, Avaya landed in front of Naruto's two team members. Pinky was unconscious and pinned to a tree. The other boy was too weak from his mark. Neither would be able to defend themselves from falling debris or wayward attacks. She could do this much for the blond boy.
Naruto and Avaya locked eyes for a moment. The blond understood. In her eyes he understood more than words could explain. She would defend his teammates, but he needed to save Gaara too. He turned to the redhead. It was time to end this.