dopliss: Ladies and gentlemen… this update, the twenty-sixth of July, is a very special one. If you look closely, you can see why.

Mizuki: Oh, it´s because it´s been one–

dopliss: Shh… You´re ruining the moment…

Disclaimer: I don´t own Naruto. Happy anniversary, everybody!


After having been unconscious for the whole chase in the forest, Gaara slowly awoke. With a tired grunt, he opened his eyes and noticed his exhausted elder sister. "Gaara!" she exclaimed in relief.

He turned his head to look at her, apparently not caring that they were jumping from tree branch to tree branch. "Temari…" he growled, "put me down…!"

She turned her head to meet his gaze. "You sure you´re strong enough, Gaara?" she asked, worried. She landed on a branch and put her brother down, the redhead shortly after holding his head and groaning in pain. "Gaara!" she gasped and looked at his wounded shoulder. Frightful, she looked back at where she came from. There´s no telling of how long Kankuro can delay Uchiha. Every second counts.

She took out a small bottle from her clothes and opened it. Seeing this, Gaara slowly stood up and glared at her. "Leave me alone, Temari…!" he wheezed, turning around. "Go away! You´re nothing but a nuisance…!" With that said, he backhanded her with his left arm, hitting her with enough force to send her flying into the tree´s base. "I don´t need you…!"

He looked sharply at the opposite direction of where they were headed and spotted his previous opponent standing on a tree branch that was higher up, a frown on his face. As the two boys stared daggers at each other, Temari looked with wide eyes at the young ninja from Konoha. Sasuke Uchiha? she mentally gasped. Did he get past Kankuro already? She shook her head in denial. No… it was too quick. Someone else must´ve shown up…

"I have no idea of what scheme you sand village clowns have got going," Sasuke proclaimed, "but I´ll stop it, no matter what it is!" He narrowed his eyes, watching as Gaara´s sand armor cracked. "Besides… I´m dying to see what you really are!"

The redhead let out more pained screams as he held his head in an attempt to subdue the pain and his armor showed more cracks. Temari´s eyes filled with fear as she saw her brother´s misery. "Oh no!" she gasped. "It´s happening! Any second, he´s going to let that thing out! No! Not now! Not now!" Trying to get her brother back to his senses, she shouted to him, "No, Gaara! Remember our mission!"

The sand-user ignored his sister´s pleas, however, focusing his entire mind on the member of Team 7. "We´re so alike, Uchiha," he said. "I don´t have friends as you have, but they´re not what makes you strong! It´s your purpose that does it! In that way, we´re alike!" He felt his mind struggle to remain intact, his inner demon wanting to unleash hell upon the Uchiha boy. "But mine is the stronger purpose! For only by destroying you and all you represent can I even prove that I exist! Only by killing you can I know what life is!"

The growing bloodlust in Gaara´s eyes and the words that he said caused Sasuke to remember something that happened during his training for the Chunin Exam finals.


Kakashi looked at a big rock on the mountaintop that he and his student were currently on. "I sense a trace of bloodlust in the air…" he thought aloud. "Alright, come on out."

From behind the rock, Gaara stepped out in the open and revealed himself to the two. He glared directly at Sasuke, who glared back, and demanded, "Tell me, what is your true purpose? Why is it that you seek power?"

"Like it´s any business of yours," Sasuke rudely replied. "Beat it. You´re interrupting my training."

After a long silence consisting of nothing but glaring, the redhead finally turned around to leave. "I see it," he said. "You have the eyes… eyes that seek power and will do anything to get it… even kill. Eyes full of hate… like mine. We´re the same." He began walking. "Never forget… you are my prey."

"Hold on!" Sasuke suddenly called, causing the redhead to stop and turn around. "Why me? Why are you so fixated on me?"

After a little silence, Gaara answered, "I see in your eyes you know what loneliness is. True loneliness. You understand that it is the most painful form of suffering that there is in the world. As I said before, we have the same eyes – eyes with the hunger for power, full of hate. The same as me: eyes that seek revenge on those who made your soul lonely… eyes that burn to see them all dead! It´s all in your eyes…"

Sasuke knew that this was true.

"Okay, hang on a minute here," Kakashi interrupted. "So you´re the one called Gaara. Seems you can read a lot in Sasuke´s eyes. Be careful – you might not be able to read him as well as you think. If there is something you wanna say before the final rounds, go ahead and spit it out."

Gaara closed his eyes. "When we finally fight," he said, "it won´t be to advance to the next stage, but solely for survival." He opened his eyes. "One seeking to destroy the other… Only the last one standing will feel the value of his existence."

"You´re not talking about a match, you´re talking about some kind of grudge bout to the death," Kakashi stated. "It´s crazy."

"Uchiha… in the depths of your soul… it´s what you want to, isn´t it? You want to confirm the value of your existence, don´t you? To know if you´re truly as powerful as you think you are. Whose existence is stronger, yours… or the one facing you with murder in his eyes?"


"You…" Gaara growled menacingly. "You are mine…!" He fell down on his knees as the pain increased in levels. His gourd broke open, and the contents of millions upon millions of grains of sand covered his body. "You aRe mY PrEy! MY PREY! My! PREEEEEEEY!"

The sand altered its master´s appearance, turning him into something demonic. His right arm had become a long, sandy-brown and clawed appendage with purple markings all over it. A big, tail-like limb had grown from the gourd. And his face, now set to look like the one belonging to a madman, had its right half altered to look like that of a raccoon, complete with sharp teeth, a yellow eye with black sclera, and a triangular ear protruding from the top of his head.

Sasuke and Temari were struck with fear, but the latter was hit the hardest. Too frightened by the sight before her and returning memories, she closed her eyes and shielded herself with her arms.

Gaara looked back up at the boy from Konoha with his disfigured face. "Now… LeT mE fEEl It…!" he said, insanity oozing out of his voice.

Sasuke could easily remember the arm and the yellow eye from his earlier fight with the redhead. The sand ninja leapt towards his opponent with a big amount of speed that was never seen coming from him up until now, reeled back his right arm while opening its fingers, and let out a bloodcurdling scream. Sasuke managed to get out of harm´s way just in time, but the impact of the attack was so powerful that it managed to shake the earth and anything connected to it for a small while.

Sasuke panted from behind the tree that he was currently on and grabbed his neck in pain, an obvious sign that the curse mark was acting up again. Taking a peek at his deranged opponent, he could not help but think this: Looks like I may not finish this before you catch up with me, after all, Konran.

Another punch was sent from Gaara, and the Uchiha boy managed to jump away just in time. "Is he human or… monster?" he wondered aloud to himself.

The redhead looked around in search of his opponent, a wicked smile on his face. "WhY dO yoU Hide, SasUke UchIha?" he asked loudly. "Do I FrigHten yOu? Are yOU shOckED by my tRuE Form? Come oUT, come Out, SaSukE UcHiha! To lIve… I must KILL… and YOU are MY PREEEEEY!"

Sasuke quickly jumped up to a higher section of the tree and then leapt towards Gaara, who managed to spot him, unfortunately. "So THERE you aRe!" the redhead shouted and swiped at the Uchiha boy, ripping a big piece out of him!

But then Sasuke turned into a log, and another Sasuke appeared behind the mutated boy. "Guess again!" he shouted as he flung six kunai at his opponent, who blocked them with his massive arm. Sasuke landed on a branch and quickly leapt away.

Gaara laughed as his arm sucked the knives into it, much to the shock of the Uchiha boy. "Here – yOu cAN hAVe tHem baCk!" he shouted and somehow fired the projectiles from out of his arm, throwing them at a speed so high that they became burning hot! They went right through Sasuke, and he faded in an instant. "Only a clone…" Gaara hissed in annoyance.

From behind a tree that was under and behind the redhead, Sasuke panted as he eyed his opponent. "This guy´s a freak…" he muttered.

Gaara looked around in search again. "WhaT´S Wrong… SAsuke UchiHA?" he asked. "Why do YOU Run and hIde? Why don´t you ATTACK?" Another sudden headache caused him to scream out in pain and fall to his knees again, his left hand pressed against his head and his right eye closed. "…Why do you always run away…?"


Several years ago, in a park in the village hidden in the sand, a bunch of boys and girls were playing with a ball. A bit away from them were a young Gaara, the redhead peacefully sitting on a swing, a small teddy bear in his arms. He watched as the other kids were having fun with each other. But then, surprising him, one of the kids kicked the ball with too much force, and it ended up on the top of a very tall wall.

"Oh man, now what do we do?" one of the boys groaned.

"I don´t know any wall-climbing Jutsu…" a girl muttered.

Then, just as they expected their ball to be forever lost, a cloud of sand had caught the item of entertainment and carried it over to Gaara, who stood up and took the ball in both hands. The kids looked at the son of the Kazekage and took a step backwards. "It… it´s him!" one of the boys gasped in fear.

Gaara looked down at the ground, knowing that the children feared him. But then he looked back at them, a small smile on his lips and a thought about making friends in his head, and held out the ball. "…Here…" he offered.

"It´s that Gaara…!" one of the girls stuttered, eyes wide.

"…He´s really creepy…" another said.

Panic overtaking their minds, the children instantly made a run for it, desperate to get away from the redhead. Gaara stared at them with eyes wide. "No, wait! Don´t run away!" he called, reaching out to them with his right arm.

The sand, misunderstanding the movement of its master, wrapped itself around two of the kids´ ankles and pulled them towards the redhead, the children screaming in fear all the while. As Gaara watched this, his fragile mind reached a conclusion: he wanted friends, no matter what.

Please… he thought, focusing on his powers. I don´t wanna be lonely anymore… Never again…!

The sand raised and attacked one of its captures, but it was blocked when someone suddenly blocked its way, taking the hit. Gaara gasped when he saw who it was. It was a man with a rather feminine appearance, having sandy-brown hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in a kimono with a simple sash to hold it closed.

Lowering his bleeding arms – which he had blocked the sand with – he looked at the redhead and shouted, "No, Gaara! You can´t do this!"

"Yashamaru…" Gaara weakly said, bowing his head in shame.


Gaara roared in a mixture of pain, bloodlust and rage, froth escaping his mouth. "I woN´t let YoU get aWay!" he swore as he frantically looked for his opponent. "You CAn´t eSCapE, do YOU hear, SAsukE UcHiha?" He tore through a bunch of trees with his abomination of a right hand. "What´S WROng? You´RE noT aFraid OF me, aRE YOU? Yes, THAt´s it! You FEAR ME, Don´T yoU, UchiHA? YOU live in FEar eveRy day I´m aLIVE!"

Sasuke watched as Gaara ripped trees in half like they were nothing while laughing maniacally. This is unreal… he thought as he looked on. His strength is off the charts! If this comes down to physical strength, forget it!

As the Uchiha boy thought back to the conversation that he had with Gaara earlier, the redhead screamed in rage and impatience, "WhAt´S wRoNg, SasUkE UchiHa? ARE you reaLLY so aFRAID of ME? Has all YOUR HATRED and sense OF PURPOSE dwindled DowN to this abject FEAR? Is tHIS eXIstenCE you HavE now that of a COWARD? CoME ouT and FighT me! Show me ThAt I´m WROng! PROve thAT your existENCE is STOnger than MINE! You´ll never know UNLESS you FIghT me! You´ll never FEEL IT! ATTAAAACK!"

Sasuke stood up from his position behind the tree, determination in his eyes as he remembered his life´s purpose. He killed everyone but me… he thought as he made hand-seals. I was the only one allowed to live… for what reason? Lightning gathered in his left hand. No… I know the reason. He had to leave one alive… to spare himself the guilt of having exterminated an entire clan! By sparing me, Itachi chose me to be the avenger of the clan! His eyes had become Sharingan eyes. He chose me to be the one to kill him!

Gaara noticed the strong flashes and the sound of chirping birds that the Chidori was emitting. Knowing that he had been spotted, Sasuke stepped out of hiding, ready to finally fight back. The redhead laughed at the sight. "Good!" he said. "Now We´RE gonna HAVe some FUN, SasuKE UchIha!"

"With one blow, I´ll finish this!" Sasuke swore.

The two boys leapt towards each other, Chidori-arm and giant-mutant-arm reeled back and ready to strike. When they were close enough, both of them made their attack…

…and Sasuke managed to cut the giant arm in half! Gaara screamed in severe pain as he fell down onto the closest branch in his path, while Sasuke just landed normally on another.

As the Uchiha boy looked back at Gaara to see if the battle was over, he became surprised when he heard the redhead chuckle. The low chuckle raised in loudness and insanity, until it was an eruption of mad cackling.

"I see…!" Gaara shouted as he stood up again. "So THAT´S what it is! Now it´s CLEAR to me why I´ve been looking forward to this!" He clutched his right arm with his left. "This… pain… What a THRILL it will be to CRUSH such an opponent capable of WOUNDING me so badly! Such a victory, it will make me feel TRULY ALIVE!" He crouched down, a scowl replacing his mad grin. "But there´s more… So much more!"

To the shock of Sasuke, Gaara´s right arm formed into its normal state and his right hand and tail wrapped around the branch that he stood on. He pushed himself as far away from the branch as he could and then catapulted himself towards his opponent. Sasuke managed to jump away from the crazy sand villager and hang on to the underside of an overhanging branch, just in time to see the redhead crash through the branch that he previously stood on. Gaara quickly turned around and extended the claws on his right hand, wrapping them around other branches and catapult himself back towards the Uchiha boy.

Using his Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Sasuke blew a massive fireball at his opponent, who blocked the attack by using his right hand as a shield. "YOU´RE FINISHED!" Gaara yelled as he punched his opponent through several branches and into the base of a tree, making a crater.

As Sasuke lay panting up against the tree, he remembered something that he had been told.


Sasuke´s left hand gave its last sparks of lightning. The massive rock in front of him had two smoking holes in them, an obvious sign of being the unfortunate punching bag for the Chidori. "So… looks like you´re good for two bursts," Kakashi summarized. "That´s about your limit. At this rate of your chakra development, you´ve only got two shots of Chidori in you per day – and you weren´t using your Sharingan, which you would be in an actual battle. Sharingan and Chidori are a potent combination, but costly; using them simultaneously burns up a lot of chakra, and fast."

Sasuke looked at his left hand in awe.

"Don´t sweat it. I´m actually very impressed. Even for me, Chidori´s a killer. If I had to use the Lightning Blade four times in one day, I´d be running on empty."

Sasuke turned to look at his sensei. "What would happen if I tried to use it more than twice?" he asked.

Kakashi looked levelly at him. "Well, for one thing, it wouldn´t work," he replied. "But remember this: If you try to force a Jutsu, not only will it not work, but the attempt would drain your chakra to absolute zero. Worst case scenario: you die. Even if the worst doesn´t happen, nothing good can come out of this, trust me; especially in your case."


"Is tHaT it?" Gaara asked, disappointed. "THAT was the BeSt demonstration you COUld make of thE VALUe of your EXIStence? That´s just PATHetic, truly!"

Sasuke frowned in response.

"Your hatred… it´s WEAK!" the redhead continued. "You're FAR too soft and forgiving! The greater the hunger for REVENGE, the greater the HATE! And it´s the power of HATE that gives you the strength to KILL! Your hate is WEAKER than mine! FAR weaker!"

"Shut up…!" Sasuke hissed.

"You know what that means, don´t you?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, growing angry.

"It means you can´t win! You are WEAKER than I am!"

There´s a reason Itachi let me live… Sasuke thought as he stood up. The reason he chose me to track him down and kill him… He glared at his opponent with Sharingan eyes and his left hand sparked with lightning again. I! Am! An avenger!

The Uchiha boy leapt towards Gaara, and the redhead was more than willing to return the favor. However, due to this being the third time the Chidori was used for the day, it immediately dissolved into nothing.

The two clashed and landed on tree branches afterward. A long, eerie silence reigned between the two…

…and then, all of a sudden, Gaara´s right arm crumbled into the sand that it was before, revealing his normal arm underneath, the limb hanging limp. Sasuke had managed to use the Chidori again, but that was by using the curse mark!

While Gaara grunted in pain and his sand covered his left arm, Sasuke fell facedown into the branch, his body strained from today´s events. Not to mention what resisting the negative effects of the curse mark did to him. He watched as Gaara leapt towards him again, like a lion about to deliver the killing blow.

And he would have, had it not been for a certain orange-clad ninja kicking the redhead across the face. While Sakura and Pakkun landed next to Sasuke and checked up on him, Naruto scowled at Gaara, who scowled back in annoyance to taste blood, but internally felt joyful for having new flesh bags to rip open.


dopliss: I hope y´all enjoyed this story´s anniversary. And like with the last arc, I´ll put the finale in three parts.

Mizuki: Question.

dopliss: Uh, yes?

Mizuki: Will you be doing this to every future arc?

dopliss: Mayhaps… We´ll see.