Chapter 22: The Final Round Before the Attack

Everyone looked at Sasuke and Kakashi in awe, they had been looking forward to the formers match as he was the last of the Uchiha and the number one rookie of the year.

"He made it," Sakura said as she smiled down at her friend.

Naruto smiled with her. "Come on!"

He leapt down and she quickly followed. They quickly made their way over to their teammate.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted in greeting.

"Naruto, Sakura," Sasuke greeted in turn.

Sakura didn't shout out loud but smiled at her ex-crush then said, "It's been a long time. I haven't seen you at all! You or Kakashi Sensei!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kakashi said. "But we've been working hard training."

"Yes," Sasuke said with a nod.

"We spent till the last minute in fact," Kakashi said. "I hope we're not too late."

"You nearly were," Genma said. "Another few seconds and I would have disqualified you."

"Oh, well its lucky we made it just in time then," Kakashi commented, his one visible eye closing in embarrassment.

"Like Sensei like pupil," Genma said. "Well, you better prepare yourself, Sasuke. Your match is the only one left."

"Right," Sasuke said before turning to Naruto and Sakura. "Did you both win your matches?"

"Yeah! I wiped the floor with Neji like he was nothing," Naruto said.

"At least at the very end," Sakura said. "I won as well."

"Good," Sasuke said before smirking. "But you're still a loser Naruto."

Naruto sniggered. "We'll see about that! After you win your match, I say we have our own fight!"

Sasuke then noticed Naruto's new weapon. "Where did you get that sword?"

"From a weapon shop where else?" Naruto said. "Now who's the loser that can't figure something out?"

Ooh, that was a roast.

Sasuke scoffed. "Fine. But don't think it will be enough to beat me. I'm still the strongest of our group."

"We'll see about that," Naruto said.

He and Sasuke glared lasers into each other for a moment. Then Naruto broke it off chuckling. Sasuke even managed a genuine smile. He looked from Naruto to Sakura, then Kakashi. They were his team, and while they could get on his nerves, he'd grown to care about them these past few months since becoming a genin. He'd formed a rivalry with Naruto who was making remarkable strides, and Sakura had grown far less annoying, though Sasuke still couldn't shake this feeling of resentment whenever he thought of her and Naruto together. Perhaps he'd held a special regard for her among his fangirls without knowing it? But he pushed that away. He had plenty of girls that he might be able to get involved with.

Back when he first became a Genin that thought would have never crossed his mind. But seeing Naruto with Sakura had made him start thinking about the future of his clan. Who knew how long it would be until he got his revenge on Itachi? If he died, his clan died. He needed to take that into consideration, and perhaps open up to girls to find a future wife in order to restore the clan.

"Sasuke! Good luck!" Ino's voice called out.

Sasuke looked up at her briefly.

"Come on Naruto, lets go back up," Sakura said as she took his hand.

Kakashi followed them as they made their way up to the stands where the rest of the spectators were. Naruto and Sakura were fine with that as they found Ino, Chojii, Gai, and Lee there. They looked down and saw that Gaara had gotten there standing across from Sasuke. As the match was about to begin, Naruto thought back to what Gaara had said. He tensed up and tightened his grip on Sakura's hand. She looked at him and quickly recalled the things Gaara had said as well. Worry began to fill her as the match was about to-

"Begin!" Genma said.

He leapt back out of the way of the fight. Sasuke took a fighting stance while Gaara didn't move for a moment. Then sand began to emerge from the gourd on the latter's back. But it quickly fell to the ground and Gaara clutched his head as if in pain.

…

"Please, let me do it… Mother," Gaara muttered to himself.

Sasuke's eyes widened. What the hell is with this guy? He's talking to himself. Maybe he is crazy after all. I always had an uneasy feeling about him.

Gaara then began to laugh as he looked in Sasuke's eyes. "You have hatred, but it grows weaker with every day it seems! Your friends are making you weak! You should distance yourself from them! That is the only true path to power!"

Sasuke didn't reply right away, instead thinking. A part of him felt Gaara might have been right, that friends were a weakness. Was he really getting soft? He didn't know. But Naruto had gotten much stronger recently as well, and he seemed to be making no effort to shed ties. In fact, he had made ties with a few people, Inari, Sakura, Kakashi, and even Sasuke. Recalling their competitions motivating each other, Sasuke shook his head.

"No, you're wrong," Sasuke said as he made up his mind. "I used to think that friends were a weakness and something that would slow me down. But they have made me stronger!"

Not as much as Naruto. But perhaps now I can grow as well if I accept him. Sasuke thought. We'll go back to training together when this is all over and I could be stronger than I ever was before if what I said is true.

He wasn't entirely sure he believed it but he was willing to see for himself.

Sensing his uncertainty, Gaara grinned. "You only slightly believe that. But it will be your undoing."

He gathered up his sand again and sent it flying at Sasuke. The battle had now officially begun.

…

From up in the stands, they watched Sasuke leap away from Gaara's attack. Then Sasuke went on the offensive, moving so fast they could barely see him. Naruto's mouth fell open at the sight, it reminded him of-

"Hey that's as fast as Lee's normal speed!" Gai exclaimed looking at Kakashi. "What were you two doing?"

"Well, we did a number of things," Kakashi said. "First was what you see before you. Getting Sasuke's speed up to the same level as Lee's. It helped that he was able to watch your match against Gaara as well," he said to the injured Shinobi who had to use a support to walk. "He learned to copy your taijutsu with his sharingan."

They watched as Sasuke and Gaara continued to fight. Gaara created a Sand-clone to fight for him. Sasuke rushed the clone, delivering a back-fist to the clone's neck. Unfortunately, that caught his wrist caught in the sand and he had to use his other hand to finish the clone off before it could attack him. Gaara sent another sand attack which he dodged and began running around him so fast he created a cloud of dust. Then he struck as Gaara sent a circle of sand out, leaving himself vulnerable. Gaara was sent flying, however, Sasuke saw a crack on his opponent's cheek where he had struck him.

"Your sand armor again?" Sasuke guessed.

Gaara didn't ask, only sending more sand at him with intention to kill. Sasuke dodged again and struck again, throwing him again. Both of them suddenly began panting, Sasuke from exhaustion and Gaara from his injuries. He hadn't been struck enough to draw blood, and that would never happen he thought.

Sasuke meanwhile, had to use up an incredible amount of stamina to keep up his current speed. As he stood there panting along with Gaara, the sand ninja summoned more of his sand and Sasuke watched, ready to dodge. But instead of attacking, Gaara encased himself in his own sand like a protective dome. Sasuke stood looking at it for a moment. He'd fought without his sharingan up to this point. Now he felt it would be a good time to activate it. He did and charged at the wall of sand, striking it hoping to break through, but it was too hard. Also… spikes formed from the sand flew at him, he dodged the worst thanks to his sharingan. Still, he received some scratches on his right cheek, arm, and leg. Nothing major at least.

It was time to unleash his ultimate new technique that Kakashi had taught him after they finished the part of training to increase Sasuke's speed. He leapt up to the wall of the arena and began weaving hand signs.

…

Naruto tried to get Kakashi to stop the match, fearing for Sasuke's life as he couldn't stop thinking about what Gaara said.

"Please Kakashi Sensei! Gaara thinks that his purpose in life is to kill! He won't let Sasuke walk out of this alive if he gets the chance!"

Kakashi looked at him for a moment. But then smiled with his eye. "Don't worry. Sasuke has a surprise in store for Gaara. And it looks like he's about to unleash it."

They suddenly heard a sound, similar to birds chirping but louder. Blue light lit up in Sasuke's left hand, lightning crackled around it and the Uchiha held that hand with his other for support. His sharingan was still activated. This technique raised his speed even more, and allowed him to attack well, but would have left him vulnerable to counterattacks if not for the presence of his dojutsu. He dug his hand into the wall of the arena, and charged, the wall and ground disforming as his technique cut through it without slowing down at all. He went down the wall, across the ground, and leapt toward Gaara's dome. The spikes flung out at him but thanks to his sharingan he dodged them all and hit a spot that open, his technique breaking through the sand and piercing beyond.

Everyone watched in awe and (in the case of the Sand Ninja) disbelief and concern for Gaara.

…

Gaara felt something he'd never felt before. What is this feeling? He thought. Something wet and warm on his shoulder.

Sasuke hand retracted through the sand and even in the darkness of the shelter, Gaara could see the red liquid making its way down his where it had been punctured, leaking-

"Blood!" Gaara screamed. "My blood!"

It was the first time he'd ever been injured in his life. He cried out in anguish, having never prepared himself for the possibility of being injured.

…

Sasuke leapt back at the sound of Gaara's scream, expecting a vengeful attack, an arm of some kind, colored yellow and brown with spikes around it came out for a moment but fell and retreated. What was going on? Sasuke looked at the dome where he caught a glimpse of a monstrous gold eye inside. That was not Gaara's blue eye. Sasuke was confused but kept focus, trying to be ready for anything.

But soon the sand dome protecting Gaara broke and Gaara stood there before collapsing, blood coming out his shoulder which he clutched.

"You… injured me!" Gaara gasped, breathing heavily.

He was apparently in shock.

…

His siblings watched from the stands. They looked at their sensei Baki, who had a half turban covering one side of his face and red tattoos.

"Sensei what do we do?" Temari asked.

"We have no choice the attack has to happen now!" Baki said. "Go down there!"

The two elder siblings leapt down quickly followed by their sensei who shouted, "Begin!"

The handful of Sand Ninja that had come the match began their attack.

…

Explosions sounded from above, and Sasuke stumbled. He looked up in concern at the stands, even more confused now. Was there an attack?

Gaara's siblings suddenly were down there him.

"Gaara we have to go!" Temari said.

"No, I have to kill him!" Gaara said in rage still clutching his wound.

But he instead passed out.

"Take him away from here and have him transform when he awakes!" Baki ordered. "Then we'll help the Sound take down this village!"

So, the Sand and Sound were invading the Leaf? This was serious. Sasuke's gaze returned to stern focus once again.

Kankuro and Temari suddenly leapt away with Gaara. Baki stayed behind to cover their escape.

"Go after him Sasuke," Genma said. "Your match is over but its now beginning again. This time for real."

Sasuke understood. Gaara was no longer merely his opponent, but an enemy of the Hidden Leaf Village. He ran after the siblings, Baki tried to throw shuriken to stop him but Genma threw his own to stop them.

The battle of the Leaf had begun.