The Path To Darkness (Book Two of The Choice of an Uchiha)

Plan C

~Alai~

My breathing staggered as I looked down to the arena. Naruto, Shi and Kashi had left so that the match could begin. Gaara and Sasuke were staring at one another silently as Kalen raised his hand. He waited a moment before shouting, "Begin!" and jumping back to a safe distance.

As Sasuke crouched into a battle stance, Gaara wasted no time attacking his opponent. Sand crawled out of his gourd and created a pool around him, making Sasuke jump back slightly.

A few moments later Gaara was holding his head.

'He's already losing control?' I asked myself.

"Please, I beg you. Don't get so mad at me." Gaara muttered as he struggled for a moment before looking up with a sadistic grin, covering his right eye with his hand. "Mother, earlier I made you taste such awful blood, but this time. I'm sure that it will taste so very good." He continued.

I heard Kankuro and Temari talking about his conversations starting early, but it was difficult to hear the whole statement. Then again I didn't need to hear anymore to confirm my suspicions.

'Gaara's fight will be the trigger.'

I looked down to Gaara as he struggled. He then let his hand fall to his sides, his sand falling with it as he winced in pain. He calmed down before looking at Sasuke. "Come on."

His sand came back up around him, he was waiting for Sasuke to move. The young Uchiha looked at him for a moment before smirking and speaking. "Here's goes."

He threw two shuriken to Gaara, who easily blocked it with his sand. The sand then formed into a clone of Gaara to catch one of the shuriken that Sasuke threw. My teammate charged forward while avoiding the sand that his opponent sent after him. Sasuke jumped up into the air and deflected a kunai before descending down and kicking the clone's hands.

As he landed on the ground with his hands, he swung his legs in a circle to propel forward and slam his forearm into the clone's neck. The clone Gaara took the opportunity to surround Sasuke's arm with sand, but Sasuke reacted by using his other hand to palm the clones face, essentially destroying the clone and leaving Gaara open for an attack.

Gaara stood confidently as a wall of sand provided a safety barrier for him.

What my old friend hadn't seen though, was that smirk Sasuke flashed before pivoting to the right and disappearing. The Sand Sibling let his eyes widen slightly before receiving a solid punch on his right cheek. Sasuke had come up from behind, and left a crack on Gaara's skin.

Nema spoke from behind me, "That boy Gaara, he IS the one you warned me about right? He isn't doing anything!" I shook my head, "Don't think that so quickly Nema, he wasn't expecting Sasuke to be so fast. Don't you see his face? He's enjoying the challenge." We looked down to the arena as the dust surrounding the two had cleared.

Sasuke was smirking, "So that's your sand armor huh? Come on!"

Gaara was slouched on the ground, ignoring his opponent as Sasuke pulled his legs together, and put one hand against his back, while the other was motioning for Gaara to make a move.

Sasuke waited a moment before becoming impatient, "If you won't...then I will!" charging forward once more.

Just like before, the Uchiha disappeared and attempted to attack from behind again, but this time Gaara's sand reacted. Sasuke used this to his advantage and continuously vanished, advancing forward every time.

He waited for the right moment, a weak spot in the sand. When the sand lifted up, Sasuke found the weak point and slipped underneath, spinning fast enough to push his body forward and kick Gaara out of his protective circle. "What's the matter Gaara? Is that all you got?" Sasuke mused as he stood back in his previous mocking position, motioning him forward as he continued to speak. "I'm going to tear off, all your armor!"