Desert Flower

Gaara vs. Sasuke

"From your excitement, I guess you won the first round." Sasuke asked Naruto.

"Of course!" Naruto grinned.

"Well, we showed up all flashy like, but could Sasuke have been disqualified?" Kakashi asked the examiner.

"Your tardiness is contagious." The examiner said to Kakashi.

"So, is he?"

"Don't worry, we pushed Sasuke's fight till the end. He's not disqualified." The examiner smirked.

"That's good! That's good!" Kakashi smiled before glancing up at Gaara.

"Don't lose to a guy like that." Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded.

"And Sasuke...I want to fight you too!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke smiled. The people up at the stadium roared in excitement.

"HEY, IS THAT THE PRODIGAL UCHIHA!?"

"THE UCHIHA FIGHT IS GOING TO START!"

"Gaara, get down here!" The examiner called out to Gaara.

"Naruto, let's go back up. We're in the way." Shikamaru told Naruto and walked away.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded and followed after Shikamaru.

"And this time we'll take the stairs."

"What? Are you still mad because I gave you a little push!" Naruto grinned.

"Hey, Gaara, do you understand the plan-" Temari quickly covered Kankuro's mouth.

"Don't talk to Gaara right now." She whispered to him. "You'll be killed!" Yuri glanced over at Gaara, silently, as she saw him walked away, heading down to the arena. She gripped the railing, tightly. Why was she getting a bad feeling about this?

"Come on! Hurry up!" Naruto shouted.

"I'm coming." Shikamaru replied. Then Naruto stopped as they head up the stairs heading back to the waiting area. "Hey, what's wrong?"

There were two grass shinobi, standing in the middle of the hall, blocking Gaara.

"Stop." one of the Hidden grass ninja spoke.

"The Chunin exams are great for betting. Many investors are here for that." The second one smirked, darkly.

"And so...This fight, could you lose it?"

Naruto's eyes widen in horror and so did Shikamaru when they hear the terrified screams from the two shinobi until they went silent. Gaara slowly walked towards Naruto and Shikamaru. Neither of them moved an inch and Gaara passed them, heading down the stairs. Shikamaru sighed and fell down on the steps and so did Naruto.

"If we were only a second earlier, that would've been us just now." Shikamaru spoke, trembling. "I've never seen a guy kill without hesitation. I think Sasuke might be in some trouble."

Gaara walked out, stepping into the arena and faced Sasuke. The two of them glared at each other.

"Now, it's time." the examiner spoke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Gaara, keeping his eyes on him, waiting. Gaara made a dark laugh. "Begin!"

Suddenly, Gaara cried out in pain, holding his head, as a migraine hit. Sasuke frowned, silently, watching Gaara.

"Don't...get so angry." Gaara groaned, painfully, holding his head. "Mother. I've fed you some nasty blood earlier. I'm sorry. But this time...it will be delicious."

"He's finally talking to it. This is bad." Kankuro murmured.

"Conversation? What do you mean?" Yuri questioned. "Are you talking about the beast inside of him?"