Now things get interesting. I wonder what will happen next? I'm not teasing, i seriously don't have a clue. i'm making this up as i go along. planning. is. boring.

Discalimer: (We will rock you.) Na-ru-to-is not mine! Na-ru-to-is not mine!

A whisper of lies

There was silence as Naruto defeated Neji. The Hyuuga had underestimated his opponent, & had failed to spot Naruto's trick.

"Looks like you were right." Kankuro noted. Gaara stepped forward as Naruto spoke to Neji, who was barely able to move.

"What you mean by destiny is that people can't change, well you're wrong." he said, "You can change. Cos unlike me, you're not a failure."

Neji was carted away & Naruto looked at the crowd, who were all staring at him in awe. Naruto looked worried, for a second. But then the audience cheered. He rubbed his nose, smiling nervously. He was unaccustomed to this kind of attention. He soon got used to it.

"Alright! I won!" he yelled, jumping in the air.

Gaara watched as Naruto did a victory lap. He grinned as the fox-boy blew kisses into the crowd shamelessly. It took Genma ordering Naruto to get out of the arena for the boy to stop his round. When he reached the viewing area, he was met by Shikamaru.

"Not bad, Naruto-kun." Shikamaru said, grinning, "You even had me fooled for a minute."

"Thanks." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head, grinning.

He spotted Gaara in the shadows & walked over to him.

"Hey Gaara, how'd I do?" he asked.

Gaara smirked, "Exactly as I expected you to."

Naruto blinked, before grinning again.

"I can't wait for the next match!" he said, "Uh… who is it again?"

Gaara smiled to himself. Naruto was unpredictable, but still an idiot. But his smile dropped as he remembered.

"It should be me & Sasuke-san next, but he hasn't shown up yet." he said.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, "He still isn't here?!"

Genma called something out, but neither of them heard it.

"Temari," Gaara said, "What is he saying?"

Temari turned to Gaara, eyes wide.

"They're postponing your match, it's Kankuro & the Aburame now." she replied.

Gaara nodded. Good. They hadn't disqualified Sasuke. He knew he'd be here, but that didn't stop him growing uneasy.

Kankuro didn't look pleased with his pairing, but he stepped down to the arena anyway. Shino walked after him, apparently unfazed that his match was early.

As they both turned to face each other, the two looked very serious. Kankuro could not lose, the determination on his face was unlike anything he ever had before. Gaara decided he would watch this fight.

"Alright, you two ready?" Genma asked, looking from one to the other. Neither took their eyes of their opponent, "Begin."

Kankuro pulled out his hidden puppet. Shino didn't move, but insects crawled out from his sleeve's & collar, covering his skin. The insects then took flight, forming in the air in a way not unlike Gaara's sand.

"Good." Gaara thought, "In that case, Kankuro may be able to predict his movements."

Unlike his last match, Kankuro unwrapped the bandages, revealing the limp form of Karasu. Shino knew of his replacement technique, he wouldn't fall for it here. Kankuro moved his hands into position & created his chakra strings. Karasu burst into life, flying through the air, making its clicking sound. It finished by perching on Kankuro's shoulder, much like a crow.

"Lets do this." Kankuro said, smirking.

Karasu flew off his shoulder, heading straight for Shino, who dodged to his left, sending a wave of insects after Kankuro.

"He's not going for the puppet, he's going for the puppeteer!" Temari exclaimed.

Kankuro's eyes widened as the swarm of insects neared him.

"Kikaichū no Jutsu!" Shino called, & the insects attacked.

They swarmed around Kankuro until he was completely hidden from view. When the insects moved away, there was nothing left.

"No…" Temari breathed, eyes watering.

Gaara nudged Temari & pointed towards the arena. Temari blinked and looked at Karasu, who was still floating in the air. She slapped herself.

"Of course, it was a Bunshin!" she exclaimed, irritated for not realizing it before embarrassing herself.

Shino looked around the field for his opponent, but couldn't see him anywhere. He looked at Karasu, who was flying high in the air, circling Shino.

Again, he looked for the source of the chakra strings, but he couldn't see them. Frowning, he sent a wave of his insects to the puppet. They attacked it, but from the swarm, a crow fell to the ground. Shino whipped his head around the arena, alarmed. He barely had time to dodge as Karasu fired senbon from his arms. One of the senbon nicked his leg. When Shino landed on the ground, his leg gave way. He looked at his wound & saw a thin liquid mingling with his blood. He froze.

Kankuro jumped down from the tree he had been hiding in, a victorious smirk on his face.

"You've got Karasu's poison in you now." he said, "Soon your organs will shut down & you'll die. Painfully. So as a mercy, I'll kill you now."

Kankuro twitched his fingers in a pattern. Karasu revealed many blades hidden in his limbs, body & mouth. The puppet flew directly above Shino, spread out, & fell through the air.

But when it landed on Shino, something strange happened. Shino disappeared in a cloud of black. The insect cloud then surrounded Karasu & blocked it's joints. Kankuro felt a kunai pressed against the back of his neck.

"You've lost." Shino said, "You were so confident in your own abilities that you failed to see mine. That is why you-"

"Heh heh heh. To think I was impressed with your abilities at the preliminaries. What you failed to see is that I have spent most of my life alongside someone who fights in almost exactly the same way you do."

Shino frowned.

"You're puppet is disabled & you are still confident in your victory?" he asked.

Kankuro grinned, "What makes you think I have only one puppet?"

Shino felt a sharp pain in his back. He whipped his head around & saw a tiny puppet. It wasn't much, it looked like a poorly crafted children's toy, except for the fact that it's right arm was replaced with a kunai. A kunai that had both a purple liquid & Shino's blood on it.

"I would like you to meet Omocha." as Kankuro said this, the fragile puppet fell apart, "It looks like that was his last run. Omocha was my attempt at making my own puppet. Needless to say, it didn't prove very successful."

Shino collapsed on the ground, unable to control his own body.

"But… how could I not sense the chakra in it?" Shino asked, a look of disbelief on his face. Kankuro sighed.

"Omocha was the first & only puppet I have ever made." he explained, "I made him for recon missions, so you don't have to worry about the poison; it's only a sedative. After creating him, I found out that I still needed a lot of training in Kugutsu no jutsu before I attempt making my own. You see, the problem with Omocha is that he nearly completely rejects chakra. I made him with chakra repellent material, hoping that enemy jutsu would be ineffective on it. But all I did was make it damn near impossible to control. Even there, I was aiming for your neck, but all Omocha could manage was the small of your back. I had to force a lot of my chakra just to do that, & now he overloaded & collapsed. Now he's just firewood."

Genma walked over to the two. He looked down at Shino and raised Kankuro's hand into the air.

"The victor, Kankuro!" he called.

The cheers weren't nearly as loud as the ones Naruto received, but Kankuro wasn't looking at the audience. He looked up at Gaara, wanting to see his reaction. He found Gaara's face & stared at him questioningly. Gaara smiled & nodded at him. Kankuro threw his other fist into the air.

"Yeah!" he yelled, unable to hold his grin., "Woo! I won!"

He made his way towards the stairway to viewing area, whooping & waving at the crowd. Gaara tilted his head towards Temari.

"Why was he waiting for my reaction?" he asked.

Temari was smiling & waving at Kankuro as he came closer.

"All his life he has lived in our shadows." she answered, "He wasn't so concerned about me, because I was the older one & that was how it was supposed to be. But he hated being in your shadow. He felt it was his responsibility to be like your mentor to being a shinobi, like I was for him. But you never needed him, & it hurt. For years now, he's felt useless. Now all he wants is some form of recognition from you. It's his dream for you to acknowledge him, maybe even admire him."

Gaara looked to Kankuro, who was just coming into the room.

"He wants me to admire him?"

"More than anything in the world." Temari replied, before stepping forward to Kankuro.

Kankuro grinned at her & held out his hand. Temari grinned too as she held her hand out.

"Tag out." Kankuro said, slapping her hand. Temari headed down to the arena. Shikamaru was already down there, courtesy of Naruto.

Kankuro stood next to Gaara as they watched the match start.

"Hey, good match." Gaara said, keeping his eyes on the fight. Kankuro looked at Gaara, blinking.

"You think so?" he asked, stunned by his little brother's praise.

"Yeah, you did excellently."

Kankuro couldn't help but smile at Gaara's words. It was a strange feeling. He was used to grinning or smirking, but never really smiling. Gaara looked down at his right hand.

"I can tell you worked very hard to get where you are." he said, "Your just like Lee-san. I was given my powers, I didn't have to work for them at all. I wish I had an ounce of your strength."

Kankuro didn't know what to say. What could he say?

"Well…" he replied, deciding to try, "There's no such thing as free power, right? The Shukaku, or whatever it is inside you, put you on a path that I thought you couldn't come back from. But you defeated it, a force that was inside your own body. Your strength of will is beyond what I believed possible."

Gaara smiled.

"…Thanks, bro." he said, quietly.

Kankuro was speechless.

"A-anytime." he said, gaping slightly.

Gaara watched as Temari dodged Shikamaru's shadow & marked his reach in the ground.

"My siblings are incredible ." he thought, "I'm lucky to have them."

Kankuro turned to watch the match. It seemed he too, was lost in his thoughts.

As Shikamaru launched his kunai into the air above them, Gaara thought back to the second exam. He couldn't believe he was going to abandon his siblings now. He needed them by his side. He would never have been able to suppress the Shukaku without them there to support him.

Suddenly, Kankuro was grabbed from behind.

"Wha-?" he gasped, as lips were pressed against his.

"You did great!" Tenten exclaimed, her arms around his neck. Kankuro blushed lightly.

"Thanks Tenten-chan." he replied, smiling at her. Tenten smiled back at him.

"You can drop the 'chan'." she told him, causing him to smile wider. Tenten looked behind Kankuro & gasped. As the two brothers looked back down to the fight, they saw Temari trapped in Shikamaru's shadow.

"The lazy guy beat her?" Tenten exclaimed, annoyed, "Does that make him better than me?"

"Not at all, babe." Kankuro replied, hurriedly, "Even I couldn't beat Temari."

Tenten looked at Kankuro suspiciously. He had answered a little too fast. Gaara decided to help him out again.

"I think even I would have trouble dealing with Temari." he said, causing Tenten to raise her eyebrows.

"Really?" she asked.

Gaara nodded, "She could easily blow my sand away, it would take a lot of effort to get it around her, unseen."

Tenten seemed to accept that because she loosened up again. But then she had a thought.

"Hey, what about your match with Sasuke-san, why was it skipped?" she asked.

"He hasn't turned up yet." Kankuro replied, "But Gaara & Sasuke-san's fight is kinda the main event. A lot of people would be angry if Sasuke-san got disqualified."

That made sense. The three of them looked back down to the arena, waiting for Shikamaru to be announced the winner. But for some reason, he raised his hand.

"I give up." he said, to everyone's surprise, "I've got about ten seconds worth of chakra left. It's a shame, I had the next two-hundred moves planned out."

As he said this, his shadow receded. Genma was looking at Shikamaru in surprise.

"Alright." he said, "In that case, by forfeit, Temari is the winner!"

The crowd was still in shock. Some started to boo Shikamaru. Naruto even jumped down & grabbed him by the shirt.

"Why did you give up? Are you really that lazy?!" he demanded.

"Get off me! I said, I'm out of chakra. In case you forgot, I'm supposed to be fighting the next match against that Oto guy. I don't have the energy to face him!"

At this point, Genma stepped in.

"Alright, break it up you guys." he said, before speaking to the crowd, "But he has a point. By default, Dosu wins his match. Now, has Uchiha Sasuke shown up yet?"

As he said this, leaves & petals blew through the air as Sasuke & Kakashi suddenly appeared.

"Sorry we're late." Kakashi said, "Sasuke-kun was having a fashion crisis."

Laughs came from the crowd as Sasuke glared at his sensei. It was true that the Uchiha had had a change in costume.

"Proctor, who's match is it?" Sasuke asked.

"It's you versus Gaara now." Genma replied, "Would everyone else please clear the stage!"

Gaara turned to Tenten.

"You're going to want to get a good view of this." he told her.

Tenten nodded excitedly before running off to find her seat.

"Don't beat him up too much." Kankuro said, grinning.

Gaara grinned back and headed down the stairs. On his way, he passed Naruto & Shikamaru.

"Good luck." they both said, giving him a pat on the back as he went by.

"Did something seem different about Gaara?" Naruto asked Shikamaru, who looked at him like he was an idiot.

As Gaara walked into the arena, he felt every eye upon him. He decided to return to his stoic posture. He walked over to Sasuke slowly, letting off a wave of killer intent. He was pretty good at those by now. When he reached Sasuke, the Uchiha frowned.

"Where's your gourd?" he asked.

"I won't be needing it." Gaara replied, casting a glance up to Tenten, who was shaking with anticipation. He suppressed a smirk as he removed Sasayaki from his back. He unsheathed it & took on a stance. He stretched out his right leg & bent his left one. He held his left hand forward, palm facing outward. The other hand held Sasayaki behind him, the blade glistening in the sunlight. His face revealed pure determination.

"Alright." Genma said, wary of the raw power emanating from the two enemies, "Begin."

Sasuke charged forward. He pulled out a kunai & slashed at Gaara, who leapt back & twisted in the air, swinging Sasayaki forward to deflect the attack, knocking the kunai out of Sasuke's hand. Gaara landed on the ground & rotated Sasayaki in his hands. He then tossed it into the air and lunged at Sasuke, aiming a kick at his shins. Sasuke used the momentum of the kick to perform a cartwheel. During mid-turn, he twisted, sending both feet to Gaara's head. Gaara flipped backwards, delivering a kick to Sasuke's stomach, forcing the breath to leave his lungs & pushing him back several yards. Gaara landed on his feet & caught Sasayaki, Holding her horizontally in front of him.

Sasuke got to his feet, wincing slightly from the pain in his stomach. He pulled out several kunai & with one hand, he threw three into the air. With the other, he threw kunai to the ones already in the air. They collided & caused the first set of kunai to change direction, flying at Gaara from different angles. In a heartbeat Gaara closed his eyes & swung Sasayaki around his shoulders, hitting the kunai perfectly & sending them straight to their owner.

In three seconds, Sasuke felt three things. In the first second, he felt shock. How could Gaara hit the kunai so perfectly? The second second, he felt fear. Just what else was Gaara capable of? The third second, he felt anger. No way was he going to be taken down so easily. He leapt in the air, twisted & grabbed two of the kunai. Holding one in each hand, he charged Gaara.

The two then fought to gain the upper hand. Gaara wielded Sasayaki with the kind of grace that said the two were one. Sasuke wielded hiskunai with the ferocity of a demon, refusing defeat. When Sasuke slashed, Gaara parried. When Sasuke lunged, Gaara blocked. When Sasuke swung, Gaara countered. Then Sasuke tried something stupid. He leapt at Gaara, holding both kunai in the air, he clearly intended to embed them in Gaara's shoulders. But Gaara countered the attack by ramming the safe end of Sasayaki into Sasuke's chest, sending the Uchiha flying. The sheer force of the attack hurled Sasuke into the wall of the arena, a small crater formed from the impact.

But Sasuke didn't fall to the ground. He used his chakra to keep himself attached to the wall. His breathing was heavy, his head hung. Gaara lowered Sasayaki & awaited the Uchiha's next move.

In a flash, Sasuke was on his feet. He glared at Gaara, Sharingan blazing. He unbuckled the belts on his wrists and formed several hand signs before gripping his left wrist with his right hand. Electricity formed around the lower part of Sasuke's arm, a sound like birds twittering filled the air. Sasuke charged down the wall at a speed too fast for the eye to follow. The only thing anyone saw was the blur of his jutsu as he ran straight at Gaara.

"CHIDORI!" Sasuke yelled, swinging his hand at Gaara.

It all happened in a heartbeat. The jutsu came closer & closer to Gaara, as if in slow motion. The electricity drew nearer, the sound of birds ringing in his ears. His reaction was instantaneous. He blocked the attack with Sasayaki.

The electricity flew everywhere, but not a spark hit Gaara. The electricity was then pulled deep into Sasayaki, disappearing within her body. Sasuke watched as his Chidori was pulled into the naginata. Not just that, but the rest of his chakra was drained too. Sasuke collapsed onto the ground, unable to move. The crowd were frozen in shock.

High above the crowd, the Hokage's mouth was hanging open as the pride of the leaf village was defeated. He didn't believe it possible.

Next to him, the Kazekage stared at the match, beyond frozen. He couldn't breath as he watched Gaara stand over Sasuke, his weapon glowing faintly with a blue light. Although his mask hid his movement, Orochimaru licked his lips.

"Why- why did my Chidori fail?" Sasuke asked, wincing in pain.

Gaara held Sasayaki close to him, surveying the ethereal light emanating from her, making her even more beautiful.

"This weapon once belonged to the daughter of Raijin." he said, "It was created to defeat his lightning. Sasayaki hates the noise that comes from lightning & will do everything in her power to stop it. This is the perfect weapon for fighting someone who has that nature chakra, as I knew you were."

Gaara then went on to tell the story of Sasayaki. As he told it, he sensed that everyone was giving him their full attention, hanging on his every word. When Gaara had finished his story, he looked down at Sasuke, who had been listening intently. He then glared at Gaara with pure hatred.

"So yesterday was just a way to torment me then? You knew I wouldn't stand a chance, so you decided to taunt me!" he said, darkly.

Gaara looked at Sasuke. His next words were spoken quietly, so no-one else would hear.

"I wanted to see your skills without the Sharingan. I must say, I'm unimpressed. I know your goal. You are nowhere near ready for him."

Sasuke glared at Gaara weakly, his eyes losing focus. As he lost consciousness, he could have sworn he'd seen Itachi standing behind Gaara.

Genma knelt beside Sasuke, checking his pulse. When he was satisfied, he stood & looked at Gaara.

"Gaara is the victor!" he announced. Some of the audience, the gamblers most likely, cheered. The rest of the audience were still in shock. All of a sudden, there was an explosion in the distance. Shinobi could be heard shouting orders to one another. Gaara instantly turned his head to his siblings, who jumped from the viewing area & were by his side in no time.

"Alright, what are we going to do?" Kankuro asked, handing Gaara his gourd.

Gaara looked back at the source of the commotion.

"We are going to assist Konoha in fighting the Oto shinobi. Make sure Konoha shinobi see you do it. Just for safe measure, remove your headbands. We don't want anyone attacking us unnecessarily."

Suddenly, Tenten appeared by Kankuro's side.

"What's going on?" she asked urgently, looking from Kankuro to Gaara.

"Suna & Oto are attacking Konoha." Gaara replied, but when he noticed Tenten tense, he added, "We three shall assist you."

Tenten looked shocked.

"Why would you betray your own village?" she asked. Temari answered, thinking quickly.

"Our Kazekage & council were easily manipulated by the leader of Otogakure. We won't follow a village who is that easily manipulated."

Tenten shock changed to surprise.

"We need to act now. Tenten-chan, will you be fighting?" Gaara asked.

Tenten nodded with determination.

"I'll show 'em what happens when they mess with my home!" she replied with determination.

"Alright then. Go find your sensei & get your orders. We'll head towards the main conflict."

Tenten nodded & left the three, who headed for the centre of the village. They encountered several Oto shinobi on the way, but Gaara easily defeated them.

He heard a strange sound behind him. He turned back to see walls of chalra appear around the roof of the arena. Inside were the Hokage & the Kazekage. Gaara looked back to the Oto shinobi in front of him & attacked them.

"Gaara."

Gaara's communication stone had activated. He listened to Madara's words & turned to his siblings.

"I'm going to meet with my master." he said, "You two stay here & deal with any Oto nin you face. I won't be long."

Gaara turned & left. He leapt up to the rooftops, were the combat wasn't any lighter, & ran in the direction of the entrance of Konoha. It didn't take long to reach it. He had managed to kill many Oto nin as he passed, leaving Konoha nin looking at him in surprise. He dashed through the main gates & headed into the forest. He ran for about half a mile before he found someone standing in a tree, waiting.

"Madara-sensei." Gaara said bowing on his knee.

"Gaara-kun, I need you to listen." Madara said, looking anxious, "What I'm about to tell you is of the utmost importance!"