Author's Note: Here's the next chapter and its right on time. I hope you like it and please review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

This is War

Gaara swiftly rose up his blade, redirecting Sasori's weapon so that it wouldn't pierce his heart. Instead, the tip went into Gaara's chest on the right side and dug close to his underarm where his armor did not cover. He shouted in pain and could feel the blood rushing out. It stung when Sasori pulled the sword out and the King of the Wind felt a queasy sensation when he saw his blood on the sword. He clutched the wound, attempting to put pressure on it while he waited for Sasori to return with a new attack. His opponent twisted his sword around in his palm and casually paced in front of Gaara.

The red-headed king didn't understand why this man wasn't proceeding with any attacks. This was the perfect opportunity for him to strike while Gaara was temporarily detained. And yet he walked around like they were two young boys playing around to practice their swordsmanship. It was starting to irk Gaara. He stepped forward, thrusting his sword out as his arched his back to better aim his blade. Sasori smirked and pushed the weapon aside like a toy. Gaara repeated the motion, having Sasori back up into other fighting soldiers each time he did so.

Then he tried something different. After pushing Sasori back, he added a counter to follow-up with his strike. He brought his blade over his shoulder and stung it across in front of him. Sasori was prepared and leaped back into the chaos of the battle. Gaara lost sight of him in the crowd, but knew that he was close. He scanned the armored bodies for any movement that didn't seem to fit. Rain drizzled around him and got into the open spaces of his armor, soaking his clothes. The rain felt good on his wound, but didn't help the sting it still pulsed.

Feet rushed behind him and he caught a glimpse of Sasori. He swung at the image, but apparently missed him as the man disappeared back into the bodies. Frustrated, Gaara shouted Sasori's name, challenging the man to face him fairly. There was a chuckle that reached his ear and he knew that Sasori was right behind him. He pivoted and immediately sunk down to his knees. Sasori's sword passed over his head with such speed that Gaara was lucky that he had moved in time. With a cry, he thrusted his sword towards the other red-head's gut.

The strike was perfect and made contact, making even Sasori surprised. After he removed his sword, Gaara kicked the man back. Sasori stumbled, but kept his composure. He ran his hand over the wound that Gaara had made, inspecting how deep it was. It wasn't as fatal as either of them had thought, but it did had the possibility of becoming worst if not treated. Sasori looked at Gaara and tilted his head.

"I did not expect you to be as skilled as you are," he spoke in deep breaths.

Gaara rolled his eyes and readied himself for another attack, "I defeated Deidara didn't I?"

Sasori chuckled, "That you did."

Sasori raced forward with his sword pulled back. Gaara waited for the precise moment to block, parring the blade with his own. However, Sasori was aware that what the younger man did would happen and reached his arm out to punch Gaara. Quickly lifting his own arm, the King of the Land of Wind stopped the blow with his forearm. This brought the two men close and Gaara head-butted Sasori. The head of Madara's follower snapped back, making his arms fling backwards to help balance himself. This was good for Gaara. He grasped onto the other man's shoulder and ran his sword into his belly again.

Sasori reacted to the intrusion of the weapon by yelping in agony, trying to reach the blade so that he could remove it. Each time he went for it, Gaara only dug it in deeper. Sasori coughed as he attempted to get more oxygen into his body. The king pulled his weapon out and smacked Sasori across the face. The enemy fell to the ground and his limbs acted as weights, holding him down. He was breathing heavily as Gaara stood above him.

"I'm one of Madara's best," he told Gaara. "How did you? Just how?"

"Never underestimate the strength of a man whose home and loved ones have been threatened," Gaara snapped. "It is futile to go try and take them down."

Sasori stared at the stormy sky, rain pelting his face.

"One of his best," he said again in disbelief.

Shaking his head, Gaara rose his sword over his head, "Apparently, you're not."

The blade went directly through Sasori's armor and into his chest.

Sakura scuttled out of the way of the blue-haired woman's sword and pushed her back into the side of the wagon. The woman snorted and moved herself so that she was fully in the wagon. She stood tall and proud with her weapon pointed at Sakura. With a quick stroke, she made a cut at the medic and continued to do so as the medic ducked when she saw the blade. Sakura remembered the dagger that Temari had given her and attempted to block the blows with it. The woman disregarded the weapon and knocked it out of Sakura's hands with a hit from the side of her boots. Somewhat defenseless, Sakura covered her face with her arms and let the woman's blade slice her arms. She cried out and the woman snickered. What idiot would protect themselves against a sword with their own arms? Sakura did nothing as she was pushed roughly back by the heel of a boot.

"Is this how you plan on defending yourself against me?" the woman asked with a sneer. "With the hope that my blade won't cut so deep into your arms and that the heel of my boot will feel like a cloud against your skin? Pathetic."

As the woman took a step closer, Sakura looked to her side and picked up a wooden crate. She tossed it at the woman and dove for her legs when she was distracted. The woman came down with a thud, the wagon jolted with the sudden pressure. Konoha's queen took this chance to make some distance between them and jumped out of the wagon. She landed awkwardly on the ground and twisted her ankle, but didn't let it slow her down. With a slight limb, she ran towards a large tree and hoped that the woman wouldn't see her heading for it.

However, she was wrong. Sakura looked back for a brief second and saw her coming. As she reached the tree, she looked frantically around for something she could use to detain the woman for a little bit. She picked up a small rock and flung it as hard as she could towards the woman. It nicked her on the side of the face and made her come to a complete halt. Sakura didn't watch as the woman spit out blood and readjust her jaw. Instead, she took hold of one of the tree's branches and used it to lift her body up. She was about to raise her leg over the limb when she was violently pulled back down.

Sakura landed on her back and hissed when the landing sent a vibration down her spine. She looked up in time to see the blue-haired woman getting ready to strike her from above. The rosette rolled onto her side and quickly got to her feet. However, the woman was waiting for that and rushed to pin Sakura against the trunk of the tree. She fastened a dagger into the shoulder fabric of Sakura's ripped dress and stepped back as Sakura struggled to get free.

"You should be honored," the woman said. "I, Konan, am an angel; one that serves a great god whose only wish is to create the perfect world."

"I thought that angels were peaceful beings," Sakura snarled. "What kind of angel causes death?"

Konan snorted. "One that believes that it'll help promote the will of a god. Why not convert to our beliefs? Follow us and you could live in the perfect world. "

Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Sakura spat in Konan's face. Outraged, Konan slapped Sakura across the face and then wiped the spit that she had received from the rosette.

"I'll rather die then live in a world would be made by people like you," Sakura growled, trying to reach for the dagger that pinned her to the tree.

"Then your fate has been decided," Konan stated lifting her sword.

Sakura closed her eyes as Konan's blade came close to her stomach.

Lightning lit up the sky as Sasuke stumbled back, clutching his arm. He took in heavy breaths and looked at Nagato who was doing the same. They both were wounded, their swords were proof of that. As he watched Nagato, Sasuke tried to think of a way to gain an advantage over him. He had to admit, Madara's commanding general was skilled. He would block most of the attacks Sasuke threw at him and came back with a bulk of strikes that seemed impossible to avade.

Taking one large breath, Sasuke let out a battle cry as he advanced towards Nagato. He swung left and then swung right when his opponent blocked his first attempt to disarm him. Sasuke danced back a few steps and then attempted to advance again with a strike to Nagato's chest. This did not seem like a threat to Nagato as he just stepped to the side and let Sasuke pass by him. With Sasuke's back to him now, Nagato gave the young king a kick to the back. Sasuke stumbled forward and when he gained back his balance, he turned with his sword ready to block.

It was smart of him to do so since Nagato was just about to cut him across the chest. Metal met metal and it made a screeching sound. The two men pressed their weapons harder against each other's, hoping that one of them would eventually give. When neither one felt like they were feeling weak, they both jumped back and came at each other with a new attack. It was like a pointless fight since both appeared to be equally matched.

Then Nagato surprised Sasuke with a punch to the face. Sasuke's head was turned to the side with the force of the blow and he coughed blood as his head turned. Nagato followed up by squatting and kicking Sasuke's legs out from under him. Sasuke hit the ground hard and listened to Nagato laugh at him.

"Give up, you clearly don't have the skill to kill me," Nagato chuckled, resting his weapon across his shoulder. "Accept my sword's thirst for your blood."

The King of the Land of Fire shook his head and rose up on his elbows.

"I'll never accept that," he said with a snarl.

Nagato sighed and got his weapon ready. "Fine then."

He spun the sword around in his palm and rushed at Sasuke. As he got closer to the fallen man, he was stunned to see that Sasuke had gotten into a standing position. Before he knew it, Sasuke's blade had pierced through his armor and into his abdomen. Sasuke smirked and twisted the blade closer into the thick armor. But then Sasuke's smirk quickly faded into a confused frown. He looked down his own armored body and his eyes widened. Nagato had pierced his stomach as well.

Author's Note: I thought that this chapter was much longer when I was typing it, but apparently its not. I hope that you liked it. Sasori's death was a little fast and I'm sorry about that. The chapter's title is another 30 seconds to mars song and I am becoming obessessed with them. Don't know what's gonna happen with Temari yet and I'm not sure if I want to kill her off (sorry if that seems like a spoiler to you, its not suppose to be). Anyway, once again I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.

Things to Look For:

1. Sasuke v. Nagato (ending)
2. Sasuke v. Madara
3. Sakura and Konan