❝𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒉𝒂❞

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 6: 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆

Gaara no Sabaku vs. Sasuke Uchiha

The tension in the air was stifling as the two fighters glared at each other, both willing the other to make the first move. Sasuke gladly granted Gaara his unspoken wish and charged the Suna genin. Just as his fist was about to connect the sand rushed to his defense just as Sasuke expected. The soft sand latched onto the fist that hit it and began to swiftly encircle the whole being.

"Sand Coffin."

The voice that spoke it was cold and uncaring. His outstretched hand waiting for his target to be completely encased. Up in the contestant' bunker Naruto, Sakura, and the rest of the finalists watched the sand as rapidly surrounded and encased their friend. Sakura was horrified after what she seen that sand do to the Sound-nin and her brain was frantically combing over their options. She then heard Naruto snicker and turned on him so she could knock him into next week. That is when she noticed his eyes.

"Just watch Sakura-chan." He pointed over her shoulder at the mass of sand.

"Sand Burial."

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the stadium. Realizing his mistake, Gaara heard the chirping of a flock of birds behind him. The sand rushed to his defense but the lightning passed right through the sand like nothing was there. Gaara felt a sharp tearing sensation in his shoulder and looked down to find a lightning covered hand protruding from his right shoulder.

"Chidori!"

The cry shot across the cheering audience. Everyone were on their feet as excitement rippled through the air at the display they were just shown. Sasuke did no such celebrating. He felt sand wrap around his throat before it picked him up and launched him into the stadium walls. Gaara still stared at his wound in shock, even when the sand enclosed him in a massive cocoon. The cheering stopped and was replaced by a murmur of curiosity. The eye that floated above the cocoon was unnerving to many and was faced in the direction that Sasuke had been thrown in. The eye was locked onto the crater in the wall.

"Sasuke you have to stop this now!" Naruto's voice rang clear throughout the stadium and many people dismissed his fears. The eye turned towards Naruto for an instant before movement in the wall recaptured its attention. Sasuke pulled himself out and leaned against the wall, bent over and spitting out blood. He knew he had a concussion from slamming into the wall that hard but instead focussed on this final move. He had just enough chakra for it and he was determined to make it count. He took off at a run, hugging the wall, as he built up speed. The whole time he concentrated chakra into the palm of his hand. He was already a blur when the lightning sparked to life and the blur twisted towards the cocoon. The rapidly approaching figure was met with spikes of sand that were easily dodged before the blur stopped, becoming Sasuke once again. His hand was embedded in the cocoon and he felt something moving about before a large claw like hand burst out of the cocoon, knocking Sasuke out and pinning him to a wall. The hand was left there and a new one took its place.

"Shukaku. The One Tailed Demon is released." Naruto ran and jumped onto the railing before he turned and faced the other finalists. "Stay out of this fight. You will only end up dying." With that he jumped into the arena just as the cocoon broke apart and formed a tail on Gaara. The crazed genin spun around to face the interruption. Once his eyes locked onto the ripples in Naruto's blue eyes he began to salivate and he smiled like a crazy man smiles at his next victim.

"You! I've been waiting for you!" The voice sounded half demonic and the star shaped eyes held Naruto's gaze.

"Shukaku release this boy from your control!" Naruto's voice held a commanding tone and signalled no fear towards the transforming boy. The genin brought his one free hand up like he was thinking before he smiled.