Dark Phoenix of Konoha by White Angel of Auralon

Part 31 - Naruto vs Gaara

Naruto versus Gaara

The crowd was close to boiling. This was the fight everybody had been waiting for. The fight between Gaara Sabaku and Naruto Namikaze. Both the sons of the respective Yondaime of their village, even if Naruto hadn't been known as such until one week ago. They stood opposite each other, Naruto with a calm look on his face, Gaara with a crazy look. Many among the audience were watching very closely, hoping to report to their superiors just how strong the son of the Yondaime Hokage really was. Rumours were flying around why he had been revealed now for the chunin exams. The only hidden village of the great five that hadn't sent spies was Iwa, as they had been stopped long before they could reach Konoha.

The ANBU were keeping an eye on the one Kumo spy and the Kiri spy. So far they had simply gathered information and not acted against Konoha. And as there were no detected other ninjas from their villages, pending the upcoming invasion, the ANBU were instructed to not bother them. The results of the chunin exams were common knowledge after a few weeks anyway and this way it would work as a demonstration of strength to both Kumo and Kiri.

"Mother will soon have your blood Namikaze," Gaara said.

"It is sad that Suna isn't able to properly do a seal. Without the voice in your head that you believe to be your mother's you could have been a decent bloke," Naruto answered sadly.

"So you know; that makes it even better. I will kill you and prove my existence. Your blood will be very tasty for mother," Gaara crazed.

Naruto just shook his head and went into his stance. In the back of his mind he thought back to the orders that he had been given prior to the finals by his sensei, the new Hokage.

Flashback

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of the Sandaime and just crowned Godaime Hokage and waited for being given their special orders for the upcoming finals. They all knew that something big was up. And as the team that the Godaime Hokage had trained they would be under close observation by everybody. Not to mention that they would be prime targets.

"Well, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, you have impressed me with your passing of the second round and the reports from your trainers. We now have a good opportunity to promote the finals all around the elemental nations. We have some well-known names in the fights, especially a high number of clan heirs, not to mention that we revealed Naruto's true identity, so many will be attracted to come and watch. This should bring good business to the village. Not only for the fights but also in the months to come when the employers will send their missions out. From all the twelve finalists nine are from Konoha. That is a very good result for us. I am especially pleased that none of the Oto ninjas have made it to the finals. From what we could find out, Orochimaru founded that village and now there is no reason for his ninjas to stay here to spy while we can't refuse to let them stay.

"Thanks to interrogating captured spies we have a pretty good idea what Orochimaru plans to do during the finals. An invasion of Konoha has been set up by Oto and Suna. We don't know why Suna agreed to this plot, but their ninjas are to be treated as enemies," Kakashi stressed the importance of the point. "During the first round of fights none of you will have to face Gaara, who has been confirmed as the jinchuriki of the Ichibi by Jiraiya's spy network. The only one of you that has one of the three Suna finalists as his opponent is Sasuke. I expect you to make sure that he isn't a problem during the invasion," Kakashi said.

"I'll make sure of that, Hokage Sama," Sasuke said looking proud to have such an important task.

"We can't predict how the fights against the other two will go, but I think that we can be sure that Gaara will defeat Choji. Shikamaru might be able to take out Temari. If not, we'll make sure that in the second round Sakura will fight Temari and Naruto, you'll be the one to fight Gaara no matter what. We'll manipulate the pairings so that our goals are met," Kakashi revealed and the three genin nodded.