Chapter 22: On the Defensive

"Alright then, let the second match begin!"

As soon as Genma said those fated words, Sasuke jumped back, throwing a series of shuriken Gaara's way. The redhead didn't even flinch, commanding his sand to stop the attack without batting an eye.

"Shuriken as his first move huh?" Gaara mumbled as the sand formed into one of his sand clones. "At least he seems to know that coming in for a close ranged attack is not the best strategy to go with for this match."

He's smart, I get it. Shukaku groused as Sasuke readied more shuriken. He may not come in for a close ranged attack until he's exhausted all of his long range options, and since he's an Uchiha, expect a lot of fire to come your way.

"Noted . . ." Gaara commanded as the clone's sand exploded forward, launching itself for an attack. Sasuke dodged, jumping into the air before the sand could land. He threw his shuriken, but the sand clone threw some sand shuriken in return, deflecting the attack before it could hit.

Gaara watched on, indifferent as his opponent landed right on his hands close to his clone, hitting it with a helicopter kick that destroyed both its arms up to the elbow. Getting back on his feet, Sasuke swiped his arm into the clone's neck, and as the sand started to close around it, he struck its face, obliterating the head before the sand could fully trap him.

"Hmm, didn't think he would come in for close combat this soon," Gaara mumbled as the sand clone broke down, clearing the path between the two.

He didn't really have a choice, now did he? Shukaku mumbled, watching on with interest. Now look alive flesh bag! He's coming this way.

Gaara remained unmoved as Sasuke sprinted toward him. Seeing the attack before the movement even began, the redhead's sand moved up to form a barrier between the two boys, but before the shield could obstruct his view . . .

. . . Sasuke smirked.

"Dammit . . ." Gaara mumbled, eyes widening when he lost sight of him, the boy disappearing right before his eyes. "His movements are just like that kid's from the preliminaries."

This kind of speed has never been our forte . . . Shukaku grumbled as the sound of movement reached their ears. BEHIND YOU!

The redhead turned in time to feel Sasuke's bandaged knuckles strike his cheek. His sand armor cracked on impact, the momentum of the punch sending him flying. His sand managed to break his fall, though it wasn't enough to fully cushion the blow.

The strike sent a bolt of thunderous applause shooting through the mostly pro-Fire audience, their cheering almost infectious as they watched one of their kingdom's known prodigies make the first big move.

The pro-Wind contingent could only look on in shock as they watched the redhead re-compose himself. Gaara's sand had garnered a reputation for being an absolute defense. For years, nothing could get through it to get to the boy underneath. To see the sand armor crack, to see the prince even touched in the midst of battle, was hard to believe, even though they just witnessed it for their own two eyes.

His siblings were still trying to wrap their heads around it, and they had already witnessed it once already.

"He actually touched him?!" Kankuro almost shrieked as he watched the battle with wide eyes. "Ok, once is usually a fluke, but TWICE?! In the span of a month?!"

"It's hard for me to believe it too Kankuro," Temari mumbled as they watched their brother slowly sit up, sand spilling down his shoulders as a notable crack could be seen on his right cheek. "His speed, it's reminiscent of Lee's."

". . . You're right," the puppeteer mumbled, turning to his sister as a look of realization appeared on his face. "Now that I think about it, that must have been what he focused on during the month-long reprieve."

"He must have worked to improve his speed to make himself less of a sitting duck," Temari added as she brought a hand to her chin. "Considering what Lee managed to do when our brother fought him, I don't blame Sasuke for using this strategy. The fact that he managed to get this fast in the span of a month is impressive."

"Still, Gaara managed to overcome Lee and his speed . . ." Kankuro mumbled, trailing off when he noticed the slightly disgruntled look on his sister's face.

"Yeah, but Lee could only rely on his taijutsu, and Sasuke is no Lee." Temari reminded him as Gaara got back to his feet. "As an Uchiha, he knows his way around fire-based ninjutsu, and you only have to look at his eyes to see what he's like with genjutsu. . . All I'm saying is that Sasuke could prove to be an even bigger challenge than Lee was."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that . . ."

This bastard got fucking fast in the last month . . . Shukaku grumbled as Gaara glared at the smirking Uchiha. . . How annoying. I hope you're planning to take out his legs in this fight.

"That was the general idea," Gaara mumbled as his sand swirled around him. "If I don't slow him down, this will just end up like the last round all over again."

Yeah, but with actual ninjutsu and genjutsu involved. . .

"C'mon," Sasuke urged, one hand raised in a 'come here' gesture. Gaara didn't respond. He didn't even flinch, which only served to irritate his opponent a tad more. "I see. Well then, if you don't want to bring the fight to me, then I'll bring the fight to you!"

With his blistering speed, Sasuke sped forward, leading Gaara to send his sand out to stop him. He dodged, reappearing at the redhead's left before skidding until he was behind him. Sand rose to meet him, but the Uchiha moved out of the way, moving toward the prince's right before sliding under the sand to nail him with a solid kick to the chest.

You got to be fucking kidding me! Gaara expected the tanuki in his head to yell out his frustrations, but the sound of him quietly mumbling it as he sailed through the air before crashing into another bed of sand was still a cause for concern. Is it possible for him to be even faster than that bowl cut wearing brat!

"Well, he's proving it now . . ." the young prince mumbled, irritated that he hadn't managed to land a single hit on his speedy opponent. "His training has paid dividends for him so far. He's faster than the sand. Every time the it moves to attack, he has already moved away before it's a foot close to him."

Well, you better think of something quick because if you let this keep up, you can kiss your ticket to the second round goodbye! Shukaku ranted as Sasuke moved toward them. Now FIGHT DAMMIT!

Gaara's sand was surrounding him at this point, circling around him to act as a barrier between him and his raven-haired opponent. Sasuke, not the least bit deterred, started running around him in a large circle, his movements so fast to the naked eye that he was kicking up dust clouds of his own.

Finding an opening, he leaped, entering Gaara's protective circle to nail him with a kick to the chin. He wasn't done with him, not by a long shot, grabbing him by the straps to knee him in the ribs. Despite still wearing his sand armor, the redhead couldn't help but grimace as he felt the force of the hit right through the layers of sand. Before he could try anything else, Sasuke kicked him again, sending him flying for the third time this match.

"Is it just me, or is Prince Gaara getting his ass handed to him here more here than in his fight with Lee?" Haruka mumbled as the group continued to watch the battle from their perch.

"It does look that way doesn't it?" Shikamaru mumbled, looking intrigued yet disinterested at the same time. "It seems like he doesn't have an answer to Sasuke's increased speed . . . Granted, it was smart of him to improve on that after what Lee managed to accomplish a month ago."

"There's also the added fact that Sasuke is capable of using ninjutsu and genjutsu," Nanami added as she adjusted her glasses. "Gaara had the added advantage of facing a competitor who was only capable of one of the three major shinobi skills."

"But against someone with a much more rounded skill set, he's not faring much better." Haruka mumbled as she shook her head.

"It all boils down to how fast Sasuke has become," said Izuka as she leaned against the railing. "Remember, Gaara still won last time because he eventually managed to catch Lee. This could very well happen to our resident Uchiha if he doesn't remain careful."

"Yeah; Sasuke does have a bit of an arrogant side to him," Naruto agreed as he looked down at his teammate. "But he'll push it aside to ensure that he gets the job done, especially if he's taking on a tough opponent. That's just how he is."

I really hope you have a plan forming in that damn stubborn brain of yours . . . Shukaku growled as Gaara glared at the boy that had been manhandling him for the past ten minutes. He's making you look weak, and I do not like being made fun of.

"He's fighting me, not you." Gaara reminded him as he stretched out his fingers, the sand reacting to the movement on long-standing instinct alone. "He has no idea that you're even sealed inside me."

That's not entirely true. The Uchihas happened to be one of the most connected clans in the world, despite being one of the most standoffish. Yes it sounds ironic, but that's just how the world goes I guess . . . Plus, it's a known fact that the royal families are connected to the tailed beasts. We're pretty much a symbol of your power. It wouldn't be hard to connect the dots and realize that the Wind royal family sealed their known sand-using tailed beast in the one member of the clan that can manipulate sand. Shukaku argued, finally noticing the sand that was closing in around Gaara. Now what the hell are you doing?

"What the hell does it look like?" Gaara argued as he brought his hands together, the sand moving faster as a result. "I'm buying myself some time."

By hiding yourself in a sand dome?! Came Shukaku's blunt response as they watched Sasuke approached through the lessening window the dome provided. Look how far we have fallen . . .

"Not every opponent we face can be dealt with by sand-induced crushing Shukaku! Get that through your sand-addled skull!" Gaara bluntly replied as the dome completed its formation, just in time to prevent his opponent's fist from reaching his face. "The more I let Sasuke have his way, the more likely I'll lose. I need to slow things down and come up with a better strategy."

I hope you have a good one because sealing yourself up in a bloody dome of sand makes you look cowardly! What a way to represent your kingdom!

"Oh shut the fuck up . . ."

"Temari, did our brother just retreat into a sand dome?"Kankuro asked, dumbfounded at what he just witnessed.

"Yeah, he did," she mumbled, shaking her head. "I never thought I would see the day . . ."

"It looks like Sasuke really has Prince Gaara on the ropes." said Haruka as she peered over the railing.

"Or he could be buying himself some time to prepare for his next strike." Nanami suggested as they watched Sasuke leap back from the dome. Spikes had formed as an extra deterrent for the Uchiha's attack, but aside from a few scratches, Sasuke wasn't truly troubled by them. He watched as Gaara's Third Eye jutsu manifested, the sandy eyeball watching him blankly as he started to throw shuriken at the structure. "Yeah; measly shuriken is not going to bust that thing down."

"Sasuke needs to pierce through the sand if he wants to get his hands on Gaara." Izuka concluded as they watched Sasuke approach the structure. Seemingly on its own, the structure retaliated, forming into spikes whenever he got too close. Not deterred thanks to his Sharingan, Sasuke managed to avoid some of the nastier looking spikes, but still, he could not put a dent on that dome. "He'll need a powerful Wind or Lightning jutsu for that."

"That's true, but last time I checked, Sasuke doesn't really have an affinity for Wind jutsu." Naruto mumbled as they watched as Sasuke backtracked toward the wall, stopping when he was close to the top of it. "However, he does have an affinity for Lightning."

"Did he just say Lightning?" Temari asked, not liking what she was hearing.

"Exactly how good is that affinity, if you don't mind me asking?" Kankuro asked, not liking what he was hearing either. He was the only one who wasn't paying attention to the hand signs the Uchiha was weaving, and when he finally turned his head, his eyes widened in disbelief at the high level of lightning infused chakra streaming out of his hand, the sound of it reminiscent of chirping birds. "Oh shit . . ."

He was rendered speechless at the sheer magnitude of power that Sasuke was producing. It had to be an A-rank level jutsu at best, and combined with his activated Sharingan, he looked very menacing as a small grin broke across his face. The Uchiha scion swung his arm back, the wall caving in with the movement before he started running down the wall, practically at breakneck speed as he carved a path toward his target.

"Crap Gaara . . . MOVE!" the puppeteer yelled as he watched the raven-haired teen near his brother. The siblings' eyes widened as Sasuke evaded the spikes with ease, striking the barrier with one strong thrust of his lightning covered hand. Sand exploded everywhere as his attack made impact, leading to a sudden stop in the fighting, everyone curious to see what would happen next. "What the . . . Is Gaara-"

That was the last thing Kankuro managed to say before his brother's unexpected, blood curdling scream reached his ears.

A/N: Please review!