"We can't keep waiting for him," said Genma. He stood in the contestant booth with Naruto, Gaara and Shikamaru.

The crowd outside was still buzzing from Shikamaru's bout with Temari. They were hungry for the next round.

"The Aburame kid and the puppet-nin are both still in the hospital ward," said Genma. "Sasuke Uchiha is nowhere to be—"

Anko Mitarashi, another exam proctor, opened the door. She spoke while chewing, and she held a skewer of steaming dumplings in her hand. "Genma, they've just arrived. Kakashi and Sasuke."

"Finally," said Genma. He turned to Gaara. "You ready to fight?"

Gaara gave no verbal response. He walked past Genma toward the steps to the arena, sand slithering around him. His eyes were dark and cold, like a desert night. Naruto ran to the viewing window and looked down at the arena, spotting Sasuke entering from the side. The crowd began to roar as the battle approached.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto. "You better win!"

"How come he gets to sleep in?" said Shikamaru. "Thinks he can show up late and act like nothing happened."

Kakashi joined Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi in the stands. Guy had his hands clasped together, as if in deep thought, staring out at the arena; Asuma lit a cigarette as he sat back and gave Kakashi a cordial nod; Kurenai waved, composure calm and collected.

"Always late!" said Guy, jabbing a finger at Kakashi. "And now you're passing on the bad habit to your student."

"I wasn't going to take any chances with Orochimaru and his crew trying to intercept Sasuke on his way to the arena," said Kakashi. "Had to travel unpredictably."

"You showing up late is perfectly predictable if you ask me," said Guy.

"Hey, how did the match between our students go? It's a shame I wasn't here to see it," said Kakashi. "Weren't you saying that Naruto had no chance at winning?"

Guy's face turned a shade redder as Asuma and Kurenai chuckled.

"How did everything go with your students?" said Kakashi to Asuma and Kurenai.

"Shino drew his match against the sand-boy, Kankuro," said Kurenai. "He sustained injuries, but nothing critical. He's still in the hospital ward receiving treatment. Shino fought well."

Asuma took a drag of his cigarette and laughed. "Shikamaru pulled off a miracle. Sasuke better shut down this last sand-nin. We can't let them beat Konoha shinobi on our turf."

"What do you think, Kakashi?" said Guy. "Is Sasuke prepared enough? Or are you sending him to slaughter?"

There was an awkward lull as each instructor recalled the beating that Rock Lee had suffered at the hands of Gaara. Guy stared down at the floor.

Kakashi put a reassuring hand on Guy's shoulder. "I'm confident in Sasuke," he said. "Just watch."

Sasuke was donned in all black. He stood opposite Gaara. Gaara's sand swirled around him as Genma explained the rules. Sasuke's Sharingan eyes glowed red, two tomoes revolving around each sharp pupil. With the Sharingan, Sasuke saw that Gaara's chakra pool was immense. There was a kernel of strange chakra buried amidst the rest. The kernel seemed to be denser, dark and hateful, and it was not wholly unfamiliar to Sasuke. In the Forest of Death, Naruto's chakra appeared similar to Gaara's, as if there were two sources of chakra in one body.

Naruto… of course you won your match. When Sasuke first learned of the bracket, he had an uncanny feeling that Naruto would find a way to defeat Neji. Regardless of any perceived shortfalls in terms of physical strength, wisdom or experience, there was something remarkable about Naruto's ability to adapt to dangerous situations, and push himself beyond all expectations. Sasuke thought back to their brief exchanges with the Demon of the Hidden Mist and his cohort, Haku. Naruto's power had momentarily exploded. The same thing happened in the Forest of Death.

Sasuke gathered his own chakra as Genma started the match.

A javelin of dense sand fired across the arena. Sasuke dodged to the side, his reaction speed amplified by the Sharingan, and then leapt away from clawing sand hands that appeared from below. Sasuke closed the gap between Gaara and himself, weaving between blasts of sand and swinging sand hands. At closer range Gaara's attacks were faster and stronger, slicing from all directions. Sasuke countered with a volley of shuriken, but Gaara's subconscious sand shield rose to block them. Sasuke jumped over a rushing two-meter wave of sand, performing a rapid sequence of hand signs while in the air.

Katon: Phoenix Fire! Sasuke belted out three fireballs that followed curved trajectories toward Gaara. The fireballs exploded against his sand shield, spraying molten sand across the arena. The earth below Sasuke began to sink as he landed, sucking his feet down into a sandy cauldron. He leapt back with a burst of focused chakra. Gaara's smoking sand shield slipped away, and Sasuke saw that he was unharmed.

"Sasuke Uchiha," said Gaara. His voice was soft. "Fight like I'm trying to kill you."

"Of course," said Sasuke. "You are trying, after all. I'll try to kill you too."

Sasuke shifted into Lee's fighting stance, and dashed forward. His speed erupted. The strain on his body would be debilitating if he moved carelessly, or overused the technique. He drew his tanto short sword, and sidestepped Gaara's counterattack, circling around, searching for a weak point with his Sharingan, analyzing the movement of the sand. Sasuke saw that some of the sand was coated more densely with chakra, and this was the sand that Gaara primarily used for his shield. Sasuke spotted an opening and darted within a meter of Gaara, swinging the tanto down. The sand shield materialized mere centimeters above Gaara's head, nearly pressed against his skin, but blocking the blow and repelling Sasuke. Gaara unleashed a powerful gust of sand that sent Sasuke staggering back.

Sasuke caught Gaara's eye with his circling Sharingan, and he took the moment of contact to cast a subtle genjutsu that altered Gaara's perception. While Gaara fired a blast of sand shurikens in the wrong direction in his confusion, Sasuke darted around with another burst of speed. Even with Gaara caught off-guard, his sand shield wrapped around him in time to stop Sasuke's blade. As I thought, the shield can act on its own.

Up in the Hokage's viewing booth, Rasa stared down in excitement at the match. "Incredible! This was worth the wait, wouldn't you say?"

"They're both quite skilled," said Hiruzen.

"Sand vs. Leaf," said Rasa. "These are the delegates of the next generation of shinobi."

Hiruzen watched the match with wise eyes. His instincts were sharp, and they were telling him not to drop his guard.

Down in the lower stands, Guy stood up from his seat. "I recognize that technique, Kakashi! You're going to burn the kid out with moves like that."

"Sasuke is a tough kid," said Kakashi. "To be honest, I can hardly believe how much stronger he's grown in the past month."

"Oh, that's quite the statement coming from you, Kakashi," said Kurenai. "Weren't you a member of the Anbu elite ops by the time you were Sasuke's age?"

"At this rate, Sasuke will be at that level soon," said Kakashi. "He's much more naturally talented than I ever was, he just needs to keep honing his abilities."

"You should know from Lee's match that brute strength isn't enough," said Guy.

"Sasuke has more than brute strength," said Kakashi. "That's not the only trick that I taught him."

Gaara's sand shield was on high alert, clinging closer to him and staying up for longer. Sand armor was forming around his arms and legs. His chakra spiked and he produced a shockwave through the ground and air, pushing Sasuke back.

"Die!" laughed Gaara. His usual cold expression had curled into a grin. "Die! Die!"

The entire stadium seemed to rumble as sand rose from the ground, flying in the air, cutting at the audience as they held up their hands and squinted their eyes. The wind picked up, creating a coarse vortex with Gaara at the eye of the storm. Branches snapped off trees, and stones were sucked up into the air. Snacks and beverages from the concession area were pulled out greasy fingers and lost in the storm.

"What the hell!?" Kiba put up his guard against the sandstorm. "This freak is a force of nature! Can Sasuke even see out there?"

Ino protected her face and peered into the storm. Visibility was getting worse. "Sasuke! You got this!"

Sakura bit her lip anxiously. Sasuke, don't overdo it out there, please.

In their viewing booth, Naruto and Shikamaru looked out.

"This is ridiculous," said Shikamaru. "It's even windier than Temari. Sasuke can't get close to him."

Naruto's grip tightened on the handrail. "Sasuke's got more in store, I'm sure of it. He trained with Kakashi-sensei for a whole month."

Sasuke was buffeted by sand. The center of the vortex was too strong—he couldn't rush in recklessly. The intensity of the wind was increasing by the second, and sand tentacles erupted up from the earth at Sasuke's feet. Sasuke moved swiftly, evading the tentacles and debris, and producing a heavy, four-bladed shuriken, one meter in diameter. He visualized the path of the shuriken, calculating the physics of a ranged attack in these conditions as he locked on to Gaara's chakra signature with his Sharingan. Most of Gaara's chakra-dense sand was rashly dispersed throughout the arena in the sandstorm. Sasuke hurled the giant shuriken into the wind, curving it around Gaara, gripping one end of a thin metal wire, slick with oil—the other end of the wire was connected to the spiraling shuriken. By tugging on the wire, Sasuke guided the shuriken in a circle around Gaara. The shuriken made another loop, and another, continuing to tighten the wire. Gaara was being binded.

Katon: Dragon Fire! A jet of flames shot down the oily wire, streaking in toward the eye of the storm with a flash. The wind vortex fueled Sasuke's flames. The giant shuriken itself was rigged with explosive powder, and Gaara was engulfed in a sudden inferno.

KABOOM! The stadium shook as audience members ducked down out of the firestorm. Air rushed in toward the center of the arena as the flames sucked up oxygen. Burning debris soared up into the stands. A giant conflagration raged at the center of the arena, hot sand and wind continuing to tear through the air.

Shikamaru shielded his eyes. "He's cooking him alive in there!"

Naruto couldn't speak. He stared in awe at the fiery devastation.

"That's fire-style against wind-style for ya," said Shikamaru. "Good use of nature transformation."

Gaara suffocated within the blaze. His sand shield was tight around him, protecting him from direct burns, but the temperature continued to rise. Kill. Gaara was dizzy from the heat. Why won't he die? Why won't he die like a good boy? The demon voice in the back of Gaara's mind creeped into his consciousness.

I can kill him for you, little one…

The sand was so hot it was burning his skin. Let's kill him…