GaaSaku: Childhood & Chunin Exams

Chapter 24: Sasuke vs. Gaara

The fussing continues, whereas one of the jounin informs the third Hokage that there was still no sign of Sasuke yet, but has some details from Kakashi.

Temari hopped back to where her siblings are and looked at them.

"Hey, hey. It's time. Is he really going to come?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara's eyes shifted at the two and assumed. "He'll come... Definitely." His eyes went back as he stared off into space as usual.

Then suddenly, the leaves were swirling in a form of a tornado and the two people had arrived with their backs on each other. Sakura and the others were surprised at the appearances they made, which were similar to hers.

"Sorry, we're late," Kakashi said sincerely.

"Your name?" The referee asked the dark-haired boy.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he stated, whereas Shikamaru thought of him causing trouble for everyone and coming late. "From your excitement, you won in the first round?"

Naruto replied with a smirk. "Of course."

Kakashi laughed nervously as he asked the referee if Sasuke has been disqualified. "Well, we showed up flashy and all..."

"Don't worry. We pushed his fight back till the end. He hasn't been scratched out," he said.

"That's good! Good!" Kakashi rubbed his temples awkwardly and noticed that the red-headed kid was staring down right at them coldly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him while Naruto told him not to lose. Both admitted that they want to fight each other in the future someday and agreed to do so.

Many individuals were looking forward to the upcoming fight and talked so highly about Sasuke. Lee, on the other hand, didn't win his previous match during the preliminary rounds where he got his bones fractured and crushed by the sand. He held back his tears and ignored everyone's praises for Sasuke as best as he could.

Kankuro, Temari, and Baki have no words to speak but watched their young brother observantly at his intentions he will bring.

Sakura, on the contrary, was mostly worried about the two people she cares about. She wished that things shouldn't go the way that they should be, but there was no other choice. All she can do right now is watch the whole thing.

As Naruto and Shikamaru were heading up the stairs, Kankuro and Temari were noticing that Gaara has been acting abnormally strange.

"H-hey... About the plan, do you under-" Kankuro didn't get to finish his sentence when Temari placed her hand to not disturb him?

"Don't say anything right now," she whispered quietly as they both watch him walk down the stairs slowly.

"Come on. Hurry up!" Naruto said eagerly.

"There's no advantage to hurrying through life," Shikamaru quoted, just when they stopped in mid-sentence and looked at the two unknown ninjas, who were confronting Gaara at a distance.

"These low-level tournaments like the chunin exams are great for betting. Many of the ministers are here for that," the first guy sneered.

"And so this fight. Could you lose it?" The second guy said, just when they've seen very dark eyes of a demon and was brutally been slaughtered by the power of Gaara's sand. Their helpless screams were nothing more but death that made Naruto and Shikamaru froze at their spots.