ROUND TWO OF THE FINALS! Sasuke doesn't show for his and Gaara's round, causing some mishap in the arena...BUT IT STILL CONTINUES REGARDLESS IS THE STUPID DINGBAT IS LATE! ENJOY!

The next round was supposed to be Gaara's and Sasuke's, but it was postponed due to Sasuke still being absent.

It may have caused the crowds of spectators to greatly disapprove, but nothing could be done about it...

But to make matters worse, Kankuro forfeited his match with Shino. By the time it was Temari and Shikamaru's match, Shikamaru was shoved into the arena by Naruto. As the battle instantly began, the crowds threw heaps of garbage at Shikamaru...oh how mature of them...but what's even worse, is that since Temari's weapon was based around Wind Style and caused large gusts of wind, of course some of those gusts hit the spectators...

...But it ended up completely ruining Haru's hair.

Haru groaned, having spent a long time fixing his hair earlier that morning. Fuyumaru chuckled in amusement as Haru struggled to fix it back, failing multiple times as the wind had hit him over and over, making his hair even worse. Haru growled, ending up aggressively fixing his hair which somehow worked.

Even with such struggles, the battle had continued on. It was an interesting match as Shikamaru proved to be extremely smart, even if he had forfeited in the end. Chances are he'll most likely get to become a Chunin with that match. However...Sasuke has yet to arrive. As Gaara waited in the spectating area near Haru, it was noticeable that he was getting a bit impatient.

Thirty seconds ticked away as the crowd began to become fussy again.

Sasuke's absence was seeming to cause some trouble...

"Alright, the time limit has expired, so I'm officially calling this match-" The proctor was suddenly cut off as a whirlwind of leaves appeared on the other side of the arena. Sure enough, it was Sasuke and Kakashi. I know that there's a thing about being "fashionably late"...but this is just ridiculous. Haru thought from the spectating area, a bit disappointing. "I told you he'd come..." Gaara said with a matter of fact tone.

Kakashi had apologized to the proctor, saying that there was traffic.

Sounds just like Kakashi...

As Haru was focused on watching, he suddenly felt that unease again. He tried to shrug it off, but it didn't work. He flinched a bit as Fuyumaru suddenly whispered to him. "...I feel it as well. Something seems off...but I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see what happens." He said, Haru nodding in response.

The spectators were roaring with applause with the arrival of Sasuke, knowing that the long awaited fight would soon begin.

Haru noticed that Sasuke had changed a little. His hair was a bit longer, and his outfit was different. Haru turned to look at Gaara, and saw how he held that crazed look of bloodlust once more. Haru knew he'd make that expression again. Gaara was going to finally fight the person he was eager to fight the whole month, so it was as expected. As Gaara was about to head down to the arena, Shikamaru and Naruto were on their way back up...but then Haru's ear twitched to the sound of Kankuro's voice.

"Okay, listen Gaara...don't let him throw off the plan-" Kankuro said with a worried tone but was cut off by Temari holding his mouth shut with her hand.

Gaara remained silent as he left to the stairs. "...Now's not the time to talk to him...not unless you want to get yourself killed..." Temari said to Kankuro once Gaara left. Haru furrowed his brows, hearing their words...

...Plan...? He wondered, now getting very concerned.

Something was definitely up, and he wasn't liking it.

Haru's thinking was put on hold as his ear twitched yet again, hearing two other people in the hall Gaara went into. He heard faint talking about how they bet on Sasuke to win, and so were going to force Gaara to lose. Haru prepared himself to hear Gaara mercilessly kill them on the spot...

Without surprise, he heard the blood curdling screams from the hallway.

Even with preparing for it, it gave him chills...

The Sand Genin continued down to the arena, he squared up with Sasuke. "Begin!" The proctor yelled before jumping back. As soon as he did, Gaara's sand went into action...but he started...talking to someone. Haru furrowed his brows as he figured it may have been Shukaku...but he said "mother". This added to Haru's confusion, but after a few minutes, Gaara seemed to have calmed down, and fought seriously. As Haru watched, his eyes locked onto Sasuke's movements. It became obvious that Sasuke's speed was increased drastically, and his fighting had improved. By now, he had already been able to land two hits on Gaara without getting injured by the sand. Soon enough, he was hitting Gaara left and right.

The battle quickly became intense and heated between the two powerful ninja, but Haru's excitement for watching the battle quickly stopped, and his heart sank. He swallowed, sweating a little bit as he began to slightly quiver...

I-I...I'm going to face...the winner of this battle... He thought, and his previous confidence from before was shattered. These two were way out of his league...even if he fought a little bit to show his ability and then forfeit, it'd be extremely dangerous.

What...what do I do...!?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAN THIS BATTLES GOOD! YOU GOT THIS GAARA MAN, YOU GOT THIS! Also big RIP to Haru he's gonna be beat to hell and back if he goes for that round. Review and stuff, and stay tuned for next chapter