Ino scouted in every direction as she hopped from branch to branch. After over five minutes of traveling, she came to a clearing near where her fight had taken place, and two figures seemed to be standing in the center. As she got closer, she saw a shadow connecting the two figures, and grinned. "Shikamaru!" she called out, and one of the figures turned to face her. The other one turned to look away from her.

"Ino," Shikamaru commented in the happiest voice he could manage, given the situation he was in. "I'm glad you're here. I have him trapped in my Shadow Possession Jutsu, but I can't really do anything, you know? And I'm afraid the jutsu won't last much lon...hey!" He was taken by surprise as Ino threw her arms around him happily. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, you don't know how bad it was! People showing up one by one until it was only you and Tenten left! There's a fifty percent chance you're facing the real one!" Ino told him. Shikamaru looked from Ino to Sasuke.

"Hmm...I don't know. This one doesn't seem very psychotic. It's probably a shadow clone. Do me a favor though, could you use your mind transfer jutsu on him while he's trapped? Then we can take him back to the others, and they can deal with him."

"Oh, there's no need for that!" Ino said, walking over to Sasuke. "I'll just deal with this one the same way I dealt with the one I fought: a good kick to the groin!"

"NO!" Shikamaru shouted as Ino pulled her foot back.

Ino turned to look at him. "Why not?"

"You can't attack him right now, remember? It'll hurt me too!"

Ino frowned. "Oh yeah. Alright, wait one second..." She made a few hand signs, and her body crumpled to the ground. Shikamaru released the jutsu, and Ino took a few steps forward, now in Sasuke's body. "Okay, could you carry my body, Shikamaru?" Ino asked. Shikamaru nodded, picking up Ino's body in his hands. They hopped up into the trees and began their return to the field.

.

Neji approached a clearing and knew instantly this was where Tenten would be. Kunai and shuriken littered the ground and trees, and when he got closer, he could see Sasuke standing over Tenten, who was on her knees and breathing heavily. He could see a kunai stuck deep into her thigh. "Tenten..." He raced into the field and saw Sasuke raise a kunai, aiming it at a defenseless Tenten's chest. He brought it down swiftly, but in a flash Neji was between the two ninja and his hand was on Sasuke's wrist, stopping him from using the kunai. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Neji..." Tenten muttered between gasps. "I'm sorry...I couldn't defeat him...he's the real thing..." She tried to take another deep breath, but stopped halfway, crumpling over on her side.

Neji let out a loud growl and shoved Sasuke's backwards by his wrist, taking a fighting stance and glaring at him. Without another word, he charged at the Uchiha.

.

Ino and Shikamaru reached their friends a few minutes later. Shikamaru waved at the group, and Ino also started to wave, but then frowned when she saw the small mob charging towards her angrily. She looked down at herself. "Shit!" Ino took off in a random direction, and Shikamaru cut the group off so they couldn't go after her, waving his hands in front of him nervously.

"Stop, stop, that's not Sasuke. Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

"Ohhhhhh..." Chouji said.

"Well, she can go ahead and release it. Just let us make sure we've got him trapped," Gaara told him.

Once Ino was convinced they weren't going to try and attack her again, she let them form a tight circle around her.

"Alright, release it," Gaara commanded. As Ino started the hand signs, Gaara said, "Remember, there's a fifty percent chance this is the real thing. Be careful." Ino finished her hand signs, and Sasuke shook his head. Ino's body, which was still being held by Shikamaru, began to stir.

The circle tightened around Sasuke, and he smirked at the group. "Guess I'm trapped..." He took out a kunai, tossing it in the air carelessly. Everyone else watched him warily. "Well, looks like you guys..." He caught the kunai and looked around at them. "...got the wrong one." He stabbed himself in the stomach, and then was gone.

The other ninja stared. Finally, Gaara shook his head and looked at Rock Lee. "Let's go." He turned to the others. "Wait here in case Tenten and Neji come back."

Everyone else nodded, and Rock Lee and Gaara quickly left.

.

Neji aimed for Sasuke's chakra points with his hands, but it wasn't working as well as it had with the clone. With the clones destroyed, Sasuke was almost back to full strength. Neji let out another growl, flipping himself over the top of Sasuke so that he was facing Tenten. He could use her as a reminder of what he was fighting for. "I've always hated you, Uchiha," Neji snarled, aiming for another chakra point.

"I could say the same thing about you," Sasuke replied, blocking the attack without breaking a sweat, and countering it with a sweep of his leg. Neji quickly jumped over Sasuke's leg, and his glowing hands connected with Sasuke's neck, missing his target: Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke winced, but Neji hadn't hit him at a direct chakra point. In Sasuke's brief moment of weakness, Neji buried a shuriken in his shoulder. Sasuke howled in pain, yanking it out and jumping backwards, away from Neji. He landed a foot behind the unconscious Tenten, and then looked from Neji to Tenten. Neji stood stock-still, staring at him. A grin slowly spread across Sasuke's face.

"No...don't...please, I'll do anything..." Neji told him, taking a step forward.

Sasuke drew out a kunai and pointed it towards Tenten. "Another step and she gets it."

Neji stopped moving, his feet rooted to the ground. "Don't hurt her..." His hand twitched, moving towards his weapons pouch involuntarily.

"Wrong move!" Sasuke exclaimed, bringing the kunai down. Neji moved at a speed he didn't think possible, and when Sasuke's kunai buried itself into flesh, it was Neji's gut. Sharingan met Byakugan, and Neji let out a small cough, blood flying out of his mouth and landing on Sasuke's face. Sasuke gave him a disgusted look, shoving him aside. Neji landed with a thump next to Tenten, using his last bit of energy to intertwine her fingers with his. He could hear new voices approaching, along with something about youth.

He forced a smile. "Lee..." Neji could feel his eyes closing, and he focused on Tenten. "Tenten, I'm sorry..." And then everything went black.

Sasuke felt a foot on his back, and before he knew it, he was flying through the air, slamming face first into a tree. When the stars cleared, he spun around to see Rock Lee and Gaara standing side by side. Gaara switched to a fighting stance. "Lee, check on your teammates. Let me fight him."

Lee looked from Gaara to Sasuke, finally deciding to comply with Gaara's wishes. He kneeled next to Neji and Tenten while Gaara began his fight with Sasuke, studying their bodies. He felt both wrists. There were definitely pulses. "Gaara. I cannot do anything to help them. But I think Ino has some healing abilities. I will have to take them back to her!"

Gaara nodded without looking at him, directing some of his sand to head towards Sasuke. "Go ahead. I'll handle this until you get back."

Lee quickly picked up his teammates and headed off into the woods.

"Just me and you, eh?" Sasuke asked, dodging the incoming sand. "Gaara of the Desert."

Gaara didn't reply, instead directing his sand to swarm around Sasuke on all sides. "You're no match for me. My sand will destroy you unless you surrender."

Sasuke watched as the sand moved towards him from all sides, taking out a kunai and slashing at it. "You're probably right. But I'll never surrender." As if a light bulb had suddenly appeared over his head, Sasuke's eyes widened, and he grinned at Gaara. Gathering chakra at his feet, he sprinted forward, taking a long leap through the air, kunai in hand. Gaara's sand quickly followed, and Gaara realized that Sasuke's target was him. With all of his sand concentrated on attacking, he had none for defense. He ushered the sand forward faster, willing it to catch Sasuke.

Gaara felt the cold metal on his neck just as his sand enveloped Sasuke's whole body. He looked up at the Uchiha, who was now suspended in air with his arm extended, the kunai in his hand pressed against Gaara's neck.

"Try to move me and I'll kill you," Sasuke hissed. Gaara stayed still, and they locked eyes.

Gaara tried to think things through. He knew that the first priority was to capture Sasuke. He was to kill him if there was no other option. If he were to try and move Sasuke, but still keep him trapped with the sand, Sasuke would kill him. And if he tried to move away, Sasuke would still kill him. So they were frozen like this. There was only one option: the one move Sasuke would have no power to stop. But should he do it? Gaara thought back to what Tsunade had said.

"I'd prefer to have him arrested, but if he's a danger to the rest of your group, and you have no other options, you have my permission to kill him."

A danger to the group? Well, of course he had been a danger to the group! Almost everyone had come out of their fights with at least a little damage. Hell, Neji and Tenten were seriously injured! Where was the damn Hokage herself when you needed her? Why hadn't she come along with them? Gaara grit his teeth. Sasuke had injured multiple ninja from his own village, Sakura had even been missing from Naruto's room at the hospital and there was no telling what he had done with her, and last but not least, if there was a situation where there were no other options, this was definitely it.

Sasuke watched Gaara carefully, his smirk fading slightly. Gaara looked back up at him with resignation.

"What're you doin...?" Sasuke started to say.

Gaara grit his teeth and whispered the words.

"Desert Funeral." He clasped his right hand into a fist by his side, and the sand surrounding Sasuke completely swallowed him, crushing him almost silently and muffling Sasuke's screams. The kunai at Gaara's throat was immediately released, falling to the ground with a clatter. The sand fell to the ground afterwards, gathering and then heading back into Gaara's gourd. There were no traces of Sasuke. He was dead.

Gaara turned around and faced the forest, bowing his head to look at the ground. "I should go tell the others."

.

When he arrived at the field, the other ninja were all gathered around Ino, who had one hand on Tenten and another on Neji. Both were glowing with green chakra.

Chouji was the first to notice Gaara's appearance. "Gaara! Did you manage to capture Sasuke?"

The others turned to look at him anxiously. "Where is he?" Kiba asked, looking around.

"He's not here," Gaara told them.

"Did he escape?" Hinata asked nervously. Everyone stared at him. Gaara looked from face to face, finally settling on his siblings. He could tell by their expressions that the two of them knew.

"No. I killed him."

"What!?" Lee said, straightening up and clenching both fists. "We were supposed to capture him! I wanted a chance to avenge my teammates!"

"It was either him or me."

Lee deflated. "Huh?"

"He had a kunai at my neck. I had him trapped with my sand. One of us had to die. And I had orders from the Hokage to kill him if I had no other choice."

Kiba scratched the back of his head. "So...he's really gone?"

Gaara nodded. "Lee, you should go with Ino to the hospital. Take Tenten and Neji. The rest of us should go to the Hokage's office and give her the news."

"Wow...he's really gone..." Rock Lee stated. Everyone was left to their own thoughts for a moment.

Finally, Lee nodded, and he and Ino each picked up a person. "Wait...I'll go too," Shikamaru commented, taking Tenten from Ino. "I can help."

Gaara nodded again. "Alright, let's go."

Each group headed in different directions, and they were almost out of the training grounds when Hinata froze. Kiba stopped and looked back at her. "What is it, Hinata?"

"I was just thinking..." Hinata said. "Where did that girl go? Karin, I think?"

.

"Sasuke?! Neji!? Gaara!? Tenten!? ANYONE!?" Karin exclaimed, wandering through the woods, wondering how the heck she had been split up from the group during the chase to the training grounds. "I'M LOST! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?! HELLO?"