Kasek: Finally got around to finishing this...

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor One Piece

Chapter 29: The Beginnings of War

Ino squealed. "Sasuke! Yes, he's going to fight now!"

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath for a moment. "Geez... could you be any louder?"

Ino glared at him. "What was that?"

Shikamaru sighed in defeat. "How troublesome..." He had to admit, though, he was interested in this match too- after all, it was the Uchiha Sasuke, the number one rookie of the year.

--

Hayate looked between the two competitors. He coughed, and then chopped his hand down. "Begin!"

Sasuke immediately jumped back as soon as Gaara's sand appeared. Before anything could happen, though, Gaara gripped his forehead in pain. "N- Who do you think you are, ordering me around? I can kill and not kill whoever I darn well please! So what if those two had 'bad blood'? So what if this one has 'good blood'? I don't care! I refuse to be a monster anymore!"

Sasuke had no clue what to really think. Is this guy schizophrenic or something?

Temari gripped the railing, causing her fingers to go numb. "He... he said... he doesn't... want to..."

Sasuke grit his teeth. Monster or not, I refuse to lose here! He threw some shuriken at Gaara, hoping to gain his attention. Some sand got in the way, and the shuriken impacted the sand before falling to the ground. Gaara seemed to regain his calm, and focused his vision on the Uchiha. "Sorry about that... now, let's see... how to make this fight go by without making you seem too pathetic for losing to me..."

Sasuke smirked. "Should I thank you for that?"

Gaara shook his head. "Uzumaki did it for his opponent... I thought I would extend the same courtesy to you." Gaara focused his left hand into a seal, and the sand began gathering in front of him. Soon, it formed into a human shape, which then took on color- it was a clone of Gaara. Gaara blinked. "Let's see how long you'll last against this bunshin..."

The clone rushed towards Sasuke, who ducked under its initial right hook. Sasuke made to sweep its legs out from under it, but it jumped, and at the same time kicked Sasuke in the chin, sending him reeling backwards. Sasuke rubbed his chin as he gave the clone a second glance. "You're better than I gave you credit for... guess I'll have to use my Sharingan..." His eyes turned red, two tomoe seals appearing on each iris.

He dashed at the clone, and they began a flurry of punches and kicks, one never hitting the other for almost a minute. Then, Sasuke got a good punch in its face, causing its head to disperse and the clone body to lose its color, reverting back to regular sand... for a second, anyways. The sand began to move to surround Sasuke, and he quickly jumped back to avoid getting caught in it. He knew that it was dangerous- he had seen what it had done to Kabuto's legs.

He smirked as the sand levitated in front of him. "Ah... seems I'll have to do a lot better than this if I even want to get close to you..." He shifted into his 'tengu' form, and with a great flap of his wings, he was in the air. His Sharingan met Gaara's green orbs, and the stared at each other for a moment- before Sasuke seemed to disappear. Gaara doubled over as a punch made it's way into his gut, and before he could retaliate, Sasuke kicked off of him, out of the sand's reach, and was back in the air.

Temari gaped. "Today's just... full of impossibilities..." It had been a long time since she had seen anybody actually hit Gaara. She noticed that Gaara's clothes seemed to be cracked- an indication that he was using his signature Suna no Yoroi technique. So, he was actually anticipating Sasuke getting past his shield? End this quickly, Gaara, so we can get on with the plan... if you use too much chakra, we might not be able to do so...

Kiba was stunned. "Oi, oi, what kind of transformation jutsu is that? First Naruto, now Sasuke- just what is Kakashi teaching you guys?"

Kyuumaru glanced at the battle, obviously bored with the whole thing. "Ah... I don't know where Sasuke learned it, but Naruto's been able to do it since he was little."

Kiba gaped at him. "But, but... isn't that kind of jutsu hard? Yet, I see them doing it without handsigns..."

Kyuumaru sighed. "Look, you either have a talent for it or you don't. Stop bothering me about it, I'm trying to sleep here."

Sasuke flew straight at Gaara, but as the sand got in the way to protect Gaara, Sasuke planted his feet on the ground and turned to the left, and in an instant was behind Gaara. Again, Gaara got punched, though this time in the face, as he had turned to try to face his opponent. His face now appeared cracked, which piqued Sasuke's interest as he backed off. "What's with the cracks? That some kind of armor?"

Gaara nodded. "The Suna no Yoroi technique allows me to protect myself from harm even if someone gets past my Suna no Tate. But... I must admit, to get past the Suna no Tate is no small feat. Perhaps I should take this more seriously than I am... I hope you don't mind if I resort to physical combat." He held his hand in front himself, and the sand seemed to flow off of his body, and began forming in front of him. Soon, he was holding a bo staff made of highly compacted sand. He twirled it expertly, before planting one end in the ground. "Come."

Sasuke smirked- which shouldn't have been entirely possible seeing as how he had a beak. "With my Sharingan... I can read your every move... I hope you realize that."

Gaara lifted the bo in a ready stance. "Whatever. Just come already... or do I need to come after you?"

Sasuke nodded, and with one flap of his wings, he was in the air; another flap, and he was speeding towards Gaara. Gaara lifted his staff's front end in an attempt to smash Sasuke in the beak as he got too close, but Sasuke veered off course, and as he passed Gaara, he planted his feet in the ground and jumped towards him. However, Gaara anticipated this, and rammed his staff backwards, hitting Sasuke in the chest- hard. Sasuke had his clawed hands over the area he was hit as he backed off. "Guh... I need to get out of this bird form before you break any of my bones... birds are fragile, after all..." He reverted to his normal, human form.

He again dashed at Gaara, who held his bo in a ready stance. Sasuke saw the bo lash out at him, ducked under it, and made to punch Gaara... only for some sand to break off of the staff and block his punch. It wrapped around his hand, and Sasuke found himself unable to move as Gaara brought the other end of the staff and hit him in the head, knocking him away as the sand released its grip on him. Sasuke rubbed the now sore spot on the side of his head. "Now that's just cheap..."

Gaara's eyes stated that he didn't care. "The sand automatically comes between me and any attack that isn't too fast to get around it... I just took advantage of it and used it to trap you long enough for me to get a hit in... just be glad I'm not using a halberd. I don't feel like killing you today..."

Sasuke shook his head. "Only feel like beating the crap out of me, huh?"

Naruto looked up as he saw white feathers beginning to fall out of the sky. "What the? What's... this..." His eyelids felt extremely heavy all of a sudden. Hinata poked him sharply. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Hinata had her Byakugan activated. "Someone's casting a genjutsu to get everybody to fall asleep."

Naruto's eyes widened, displaying that they were not as heavy as they were a moment ago. "Who would do such a thing?"

Dosu chuckled. "Yes... I do wonder..." He drew up his sleeve, revealing a golden Melody Arm in place of his old, cracked one. "Kin, it's time to go..."

Kin smirked at her mummy of a partner. "Right." They both jumped over the railing and into the arena. Naruto reached out after them. "H-hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Dosu looked back at Naruto. "Orochimaru's order still stands.... kill Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes went back to Sasuke as Hinata snapped Choji3 out of the Genjutsu, and was about to move to Shino, but he didn't need it. Naruto grit his teeth before shouting a warning to Sasuke. "Sasuke! Look out! The Oto Genin are coming to get you!"

Sasuke turned to see that Naruto was right. He swore under his breath- he did not need three opponents right now. He swore again when he saw Temari jump after them, as well. Glancing to his sides, he could see Baki and Kankuro coming from the stands. Today was not his lucky day.

Hinata touched Naruto's shoulder. "Me and Choji will take care of them... you go help whoever you can."

Naruto nodded. "Right!"

--

Hiruzen turned to the Kazekage, who was in turn, turning to face the Hokage. The Kazekage's eyes seemed to narrow in what seemed to be a display of pleasure. "Shall we?" A moment later, and one of his guards took out a small grenade-like device and popped off the top, and an explosion of smoke enveloped the arena.

--

Naruto grit his teeth when he saw the Kage's Box enveloped in smoke. He transformed into his hybrid form and took out a scroll from his waist pouch and unfurled it, and in a small explosion of smoke, Kubukiri Hocho was in his hands. He leapt into the air, and began using Geppou to fly straight towards the box. He noted that Kyuumaru had had the exact same thoughts that he had, and he, too, was flying towards the box, though minus the sword and transformation. Two of the four guards that the Kazekage had brought with him- both of them male- jumped towards them as they approached the box. Naruto growled. "Out of my way!"

He sliced them both cleanly in half as he passed them, and Kyuumaru actually stepped on one and sent him (or that half of him) into the seats below rather hard. Naruto saw four figures dash out of the smoke and onto the rooftop above, and he flew after them, Kyuumaru right behind him. They landed on the opposite side of the two Kages from the Kazekage's two guards. The Kazekage had one arm around the Hokage's neck, and with his other arm was carrying a kunai that was pointed at Hiruzen's face. Four figures landed on the four corners of the rooftop they were on. Hiruzen's eyes widened as he noted the hitai-ate that one of them- who had six arms- was wearing was that of Otogakure. The Kazekage spoke up. "Do it."

The four clapped their hands together, and then pointed their hands outwards from themselves. "Ninpo: Shishienjin!" In a moment, four violet walls of flame surrounded the rooftop, and a fifth wall- or, rather, a ceiling- was far above them. Jiraiya swore as he stood outside the wall. "Naruto! Stay away from them! You're out of your league here, kid!"

Naruto turned to his sensei and grinned. "Oh, have some faith in your student, would you? I may not be able to take on the Kazekage, but with Kyuumaru here, we can take those two guards of his!"

The two guards-one female, one male- jumped over the two Kages and faced him. They exploded into a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, it showed not two, but three enemy ninja- two white-haired girls Naruto's age and a white-haired boy who was a couple of years older. Naruto gulped. "Okay, three guards. But who's counting when I have my Kage Bunshin?"

The girl with shorter hair giggled. "You're a funny fox-person. It's going to be fun killing you~ Right, Nagini?"

Nagini snorted as she transformed into her hybrid form. "Whatever, Tsukiko... the sooner we get this done with, the better..."

The white-haired boy glanced at them. "Take this more seriously, you two..."

Tsukiko's entire body shivered. "Y-yes, Kimimaro..."

Hiruzen stared straight ahead, not giving the kunai a second glance.. "For Suna to betray Konoha..."

The Kazekage seemed to sneer. "An alliance is only camoflage to make the enemy drop his guard... The stupid fighting games end here. Now, history changes..."

Hiruzen sighed. "Do you intend to start a war?"

"Exactly."

"We should avoid solving things through force, and work out things through negotiations... there is still time."

The Kazekage's sneer seemed to deepen, though you really couldn't tell with that veil over his lower face. "Do we become peace loving fools when we age... Sarutobi-sensei?"

All of the Konoha-ninja present widened their eyes. Hiruzen actually glanced at his antagonist. "You...!"

--

Baki, Temari, and Kankuro landed next to Gaara. Kankuro grimaced. "Gaara! The plan!"

Gaara glanced at his older brother. "What about it?"

Baki scowled at his student. "You're supposed to transform now..."

Gaara shifted his attention back to Sasuke, who was predictably on edge. Hayate was next to Sasuke, his sword drawn. "I don't care about the plan... Father can rot for all I care... I will not become a monster just because the village asked me to..."

Kankuro grit his teeth. "Why you little..." Temari slapped Kankuro in the back of the head. Kankuro rubbed the now sore spot. "T-Temari...?"

Temari glared at her brother. "For once in his life, Gaara wants to be something other than a monster... and you want to force him to become one?! What kind of a brother are you?!"

Kankuro looked at the dirt in front of his feet. "...you're right.... sorry, Gaara... I'm not a really good big brother, am I?"

Gaara glanced back at Kankuro. "You were just trying to make sure orders were being carried out... that is your duty as a shinobi. I do not blame you..."

Kankuro smiled at his younger brother. "Thanks... Gaara."

Baki scowl deepened. "Regardless, now this fight is that much harder..."

Gaara took a step forward. "I'll take care of Uchiha.. he's powerful, so if I distract him, he can't take out any of our shinobi."

Baki locked eyes with Hayate. "I've got the examiner, then."

Temari unfolded her fan. "Gaara... I'll fight with you."

Gaara's gaze softened as he observed his sister. "Thanks... big sis."

Temari's eyes widened, and then she smiled. "You're welcome... li'l bro."

Hinata and Chouji got inbetween Sasuke and the Oto nin. Hinata took a fighting stance. "You will not fight Sasuke. Your fight is with me."

Chouji pointed towards Kin, though he apparently wasn't too confident. "A-and with me!"

Shino stood behind the two Oto nin. "And with me..."

Zaku appeared besides Dosu and Kin. "Heh, looks like you two could use some back-up..."

Dosu glanced at his partner. "I assume you'll be leaving the Hyuuga to us, then? Or do you want revenge?"

Zaku sneered. "I could take her out easily now that I've been upgraded, so... yeah, I'll leave her to you. I've got shades here. You two can have the opponents you drew a month ago."

Kin smirked as her hair began to lengthen and surround her. "Heh, how chivalrous of you... and I heard chivalry was dead."

Sasuke looked around the arena, eyes wide as he saw all the chaos around him, shinobi clashing with shinobi. "What... is this?"

Hayate coughed, gaining Sasuke's attention. "You're obviously a skilled fighter... so I'm going to have to ask you, as a fellow shinobi of Konoha, to help me take out these guys over here..."

Sasuke regained his composure. "I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter... I hope this counts as bonus points towards my possible promotion." Sasuke took a fighting stance as he locked eyes with Gaara. This war was only beginning.

Kasek: Took me a while to figure out how I wanted this to go... Next chapter is going to be chaotic

Yes, that's Kimimaro... I have my reasons as to why he's here. I have no idea what I'm going to do with Kankuro, seeing as he doesn't exactly have a puppet to work with right now _ I had this conversation between Temari and Kankuro planned during Gaara's match, and then remembered that Kankuro isn't a competitor this time around D: Good thing I caught that in time. So that took out a bit of what I had planned... yeah... O-o That means.. Shoot, Kankuro's in the box last chapter! Great, now I have to change how that goes, too...

Suna no Tate: Shield of Sand: The shield that's always protecting Gaara.

Suna no Yoroi: Armor of Sand: The layer of sand that Gaara uses to absorb the shock of attacks that make it past his shield.

Shishienjin: Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment: A barrier ninjutsu that prevents both things getting in and getting out by burning anything that touches it. Requires four people to use.