Chapter 32
After everyone calmed down, Genma announced the next match, Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Gaara. However, Sasuke was not there. The crowd was starting to get restless and kept demanding Sasuke. After a few moments, Genma was joined by another jōnin who whispered something in his ear. Genma announced that Sasuke's match was going to be pushed back to the end. Everyone was disappointed by the announcement. The loud voice of Naruto was heard and he had nothing but negative things to say. Genma wasn't too happy by some of the things he said. He was not an Uchiha ass-kisser. Lucky for him, Sakura and Shikamaru restrained him before he did.
With that done, Genma announced the next match, Aburame Shino vs Kankuro. However, the match would not happen as Kankuro forfeited the match. This displeased the crowd and made Shino a little unhappy. However, Naruto was somewhat curious. Kankuro was not someone he would have figured to give up. He seemed cocky and looked ready to show off. He kept this in the back of him mind for now and listened on as Genma called the next match, Nara Shikamaru vs Temari.
"Ah man, I don't want to go next." Shikamaru stated. That's when he saw Temari get on her fan and make her way down. This further annoyed him as she was just too eager to fight him. Shikamaru looked ready to give up but he was sent flying by a kick to the back. He screamed as he hit the ground hard. "Damn it Naruto!"
"What? I'm just helping you out buddy! I mean, you did say that this chick's intelligence was nothing compared to yours! Isn't that why you said that the only blond is a stupid blond?" Naruto shouted at him. Shikamaru looked at Naruto like he was insane. That's when he felt and unholy amount of killing intent. He looked across the field to see that Temari was not happy. She was downright furious.
"The only blond is a stupid blond huh? Well then, when I kill you, I'll put on your tombstone 'here lies a slacker moron'. Now, Die!" Temari said and unleashed a large wind attack. Shikamaru balked and quickly got into hiding. Back in the competitor's box, Sakura and Shino faced Naruto.
"You do know that he could die right?" Sakura asked.
"I'm not too worried. Trust me, Shikamaru will give up when he needs to. I'm just getting him some exercise." Naruto stated. Sakura just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. After a few moments, Naruto's prediction came through. Shikamaru was able to outsmart Temari and managed to capture her with his shadow. However, Shikamaru gave up, awarding Temari the match. This did shock the kunoichi but it later changed into fury. Shikamaru quickly left the field as Temari looked ready to murder him. When he arrived, he glared at Naruto who just smirked at him.
"How was your exercise?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru did not say anything. He just muttered a troublesome and sat down. Temari came in a few moments later and glared at him, which he ignored. She stormed over to her team, later punching Kankuro for a rude comment. Gaara had left the area to get ready for his match. However, Sasuke was still not there. The crowd was not happy and Naruto kept throwing insults at Genma. When Sasuke was given five more minutes, Naruto unleashed his words on the poor ref. Even Hiruzen had to shake his head. Again, he was muzzled by Sakura and Shikamaru.
With only five second left, Sasuke and Kakashi did arrive. The crowd cheered and Gaara was now on the field. Sakura decided to go and confront Kakashi about his lateness. The others watched as the battle was about to begin.
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Sakura made her way to the stands when she came across something horrible. There was just blood everywhere and it almost made her throw-up. What the hell happened down here? She quickly made her way back to Naruto. She brought Naruto and Shikamaru with her to see the carnage that she saw. They too were worried about they saw. They all decided to make their way over to the jōnin to let them know to stop the match. They could already hear the sounds of battle coming from the grounds.
They arrived just in time to see Sasuke actually winning the fight. He was blasting Gaara around like it was nothing. However, Naruto noticed something about the style when Sasuke stopped to pose. He couldn't believe that smug asshole had the gall to mimic Lee like that. They all ran up to Kakashi who was with Gai and Rock Lee. He turned and gave them all an eye smile.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" he asked. He noticed that Naruto was giving him a dirty look but he ignored it. Sakura was the first to speak.
"Kakashi-sensei, you need to stop this match. That Gaara person, he's dangerous! We just found the bodies of two Kusa ninja near the tunnel that Gaara took to the grounds. That boy is a killer!" Sakura explained franticly.
"Mah, mah Sakura, you don't have to worry about Sasuke he's doing well out there." Kakashi said with confidence.
"Yeah, it must be great for him since you stole Lee's style and trained him in it. That Sharingan must be a great tool for that." Naruto said. Kakashi looked at Naruto and did not like what was said to him.
"I did not steal Lee's style Naruto." Kakashi said.
"Really? While Gai and Lee don't seem to mind, I know they notice that the way Sasuke is beating on Gaara is similar to how Lee fought him. I know that Sasuke was there but he couldn't use his Sharingan properly for some reason. Who else was there that has the Sharingan I wonder?" Naruto stated, not backing down from Kakashi harsh look.
"Are you accusing me of thief genin?" Kakashi demanded.
"I'm not accusing. I'm down right saying it. You would do anything to keep your student happy." Naruto said. Kakashi looked ready to explode but he was stopped by Gai. Naruto sucked his teeth and turned back. He was making his way back to the competitors' box. Shikamaru decided to follow and wished Sakura luck in stopping the fight. Everyone who was around them was murmuring about what just went down. Some thought that Naruto had some nerve but there were a few that we wondering if Kakashi did as he said. They only thought about it for a while before returning to the match.
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Sasuke was now having some trouble. The style that he was shown by Kakashi would no longer work due to the fact that Gaara was encased in a dome of sand. Every time he got close, spikes of sand would nearly stab him. He had no way to get close or he would be killed. It was time to use that new jutsu he learned. Lucky for him, his Sharingan could read the movement of those spikes. He climbed the side of the stadium and did several hand seals.
"Monkey, Dragon, Rat, Bird, Ox, Snake, Dog, Tiger, Monkey." Sasuke whispered. He held his hand down and a discharge of lightning appeared in his hand. He had smug grin on his face and he stared down at the dome. With this jutsu, he was going to finish this fight.
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"What is that?" Sakura asked in awe.
"So, that's why you only trained Sasuke in speed. He needed it for that jutsu of yours." Gai stated.
"What are you talking about sensei?" Sakura asked.
"This jutsu is called Chidori (One Thousand Birds). It is a dangerous, A-rank assassination jutsu and the original jutsu of Kakashi. It is perfect for someone like Sasuke as his Sharingan eliminates the drawback of the jutsu. However, I don't believe that it was a smart idea to teach Sasuke such a jutsu." Gai said.
"I know that you are not going to be such a hypocrite since you taught Lee the Hachimon (Eight Gates)." Kakashi said.
"Still, did you have to take Lee's style to get the speed? Wasn't there any other way you could have increased his speed? I mean, if he's using the wall, then he must not have the right speed to punch through the dome like you believe." Sakura stated. Gai gave off a little belly laugh at that. Kakashi frowned but did not answer her. They watched as Sasuke charged at the dome. He dodged the spikes and plunged his jutsu into the dome. There was no resistance as Sasuke arm when through it. There was a cheer that went through the crowd as it looked like Sasuke finished the fight.
After a few moments, a scream was heard although the stadium. Sasuke grunted but it soon turned into pain as he felt his arms getting crushed. He discharged a bit more chakra and was able to escape with his arm in tack. As he backed away, he was startled by an unusual colored eye. The sand dome crumbled down and Gaara was holding his shoulder. It seemed that Sasuke hit his mark. Gaara let out another scream about being wounded.
In the competitors' box, the Konoha genin noticed the worried looks coming from the Suna genin. That's when feathers started to fall down all over the arena. Naruto was the only one to feel the effects of the jutsu and immediately fell asleep. Shikamaru and Shino watched as the Suna ninja met up with their sensei. They quickly grabbed Gaara and made their way out of the stadium. Shikamaru quickly dispelled the genjutsu that was placed on Naruto.
"Huh? What's going on?" Naruto asked tiredly.
"We're being invaded Naruto. Otogakure and Sunagakure are attacking the village." Shikamaru explained. Naruto shot up and looked around and saw that there was fighting going on. He looked down and saw that Gaara was gone.
"Where is Gaara?" Naruto asked.
"His siblings took him out of the battle because of his injury. Sasuke went after them." Shino explained. Naruto let out a curse.
"We have to get Sasuke and bolt. He doesn't have the tools to fight Gaara." Naruto said. He looked at the two next to him. "I'll explain on the way but if we don't stop Sasuke from engaging him, he is going to die." The two nodded at Naruto and they took off after their comrade.
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Kakashi took out another invader. He looked out to see that Naruto, Shikamaru and Shino were making their way out of the stadium. The direction that they were heading in, they were going after Sasuke. Kakashi was happy about this because he had a bad feeling about Gaara. He turned around to see Sakura dodging another kunai strike. She threw a smoke bomb at the man and he was on the ground. It must have been some sort of knockout gas if he fell like that. Sakura then kneed another invader in the nuts before creaming him with a very strong punch.
Thinking quickly, Kakashi made a decision.
"Sakura!" he called out. The pinkette did not turn away from the battle but moved closer to her sensei. Kakashi was impressed. "I need you to wake up two of your classmates and make your way to back up Naruto's squad. They are going after Sasuke and I feel that they would need back-up. This is an A-rank mission." that surprised Sakura but she quickly nodded and made her way into the aisles, keeping her head down. She was about to wake Ino and Choji but neither knew how to track. That's when she remembered who else was at the stadium.
Sakura moved quickly through the sleeping people and saw Hinata and Kiba. She also saw two Kumo ninja going after Hinata. She threw two kunai, which lodged into the man's knee caps. The other one turned only to hit with a knockout blow. The Kumo ninja that she disabled growled and was about to launch a jutsu but he was quickly knocked out by an elder Hyūga. The elder thanked her for saving Hinata. Sakura nodded before dispelling the genjutsu on Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata.
"Oww, what hit me?" Kiba groaned.
"No time! I need you, Akamaru and Hinata to come with me now!" Sakura exclaimed.
"W-What's going on?" Hinata asked. They looked around and noticed the fighting.
"We are being attacked and we are tasked with backing up Naruto's group. I'll explain on the way but Kiba, I need you to get their scent." Sakura ordered.
"There's too much blood in the air. We need to get out of here and fast." The four quickly made their way out of the stadium in order to find their friends. However, they were seen by a man with an ANBU mask on. He was flanked by nine Oto ninja.
"Well now, where are they going?" the man said. He gave a signal and the nine disappeared.
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"Wait a minute, you're telling us that this Gaara has a real demon in him? That wasn't just talk?" Shikamaru asked with shock.
"Yeah, I looked it up after that encounter in the hospital. This Shukaku is similar, like Kyūbi similar. He has the weakest sealed with him but that doesn't make him any less dangerous." Naruto explained.
"Since you have the most information Naruto, what is our plan of attack?" Shino asked.
"We need to get Sasuke and retreat. While we might have had a chance with the four of us against him but with his siblings there, it would make the battle harder. We grab Sasuke, by force if we have to, and get back to the village to find Ero-Sennin (Pervy Sage). He's the only one I know who can stop Gaara." Naruto said. The two nodded at Naruto. It was a sound plan and they would follow it to the letter. They increased their speed.
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