The Turning Point

Finals Part 2

Sasuke and Gaara's match was met with cheers of excitement and relief from the crowd. Finally everyone would get the opportunity to finally see the two ninja fight. Sakura watched as Genma informed Sasuke and Gaara of the rules before stepping back and letting the match commence.

Immediately the sand from Gaara's gourd began pouring out and Sasuke recalled what Sakura had told him about the red haired boy's preliminary fight. This was clearly the sand technique he had used to defeat Rock Lee but there was no way Sasuke was going to let himself get beaten by it. Instead of attacking him, Gaara remained motionless clutching at his head and mumbling sentences about feeding something sweet blood and his mother.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged concerned looks. From their encounter with Gaara in the hospital they knew that he was hell bent on killing Sasuke and the mental distress he seemed to go through when he tugged on his hair wasn't helping ease their fears. Sasuke wasn't going to waste any time and immediately threw two ninja stars straight for his opponent. A clone of Gaara made of sand quickly blocked the attack; it seemed that Gaara had turned his sand shield jutsu into a sand clone jutsu. But it worked to the same affect and shielded the real Gaara.

Sasuke needed to destroy the clone and Sakura watched as he ran forward and struggled using a series of martial arts moves. Eventually the clone was destroyed and the Uchiha prodigy ran forward seeing that Gaara was now open for an attack. But once again the sand acted as a defence and the crowd groaned as it seemed Sasuke would be unable to get through again. But Sasuke disappeared and reappeared behind Gaara as Lee had done in the preliminary rounds. Landing a skilfully placed punch Sasuke knocked the Sand genin backwards causing his face to crack.

His speed was easily that of Rock Lee's normal speed and Sakura marvelled at it. Sasuke was clearly using his Sharingan to mimic Lee's speed but the downside to that meant it required a lot of stamina to keep it up. Sasuke ran forward again to kick Gaara whilst avoiding the sand, then just as Lee had done in the preliminaries he used his incredible speed to run in a circle around Gaara which confused him. Ducking under the sand he landed a series of powerful taijutsu style moves and Gaara stumbled back.

It looked as though Sasuke had the upper hand and Naruto grinned, this Gaara guy looked like he was all talk and no action. Gaara got to his feet and Sasuke waited to see what he would do next, immediately Gaara placed his hands in a jutsu summoning position. The sand began rising up around him and began forming a sphere which encased Gaara. Not wanting to let the Sand ninja make the first move, Sasuke punched the sphere but the sand shot out in spikes, protecting the user of the jutsu inside. The Uchiha boy jumped back sustaining a small cut to the cheek but his right hand and left leg bled heavily.

Gaara activated the Third Eye which sat above the sand sphere and watched Sasuke who knew exactly what he had to do. He didn't expect to be revealing the jutsu that Kakashi had taught him so early but he needed to break the sphere open and get to Gaara. Direct chakra to the bottom of his feet Sasuke raced up the wall of the stadium and stayed perched up there. Sakura squinted trying to see what he was doing. Sasuke did a quick series of hand signs and placed his left hand over his right hand and held both between his legs.

A huge blue light began to radiate from Sasuke's right hand as the sound of thousands of birds chirping filled the arena. Sasuke whipped his right hand behind him causing the cement of the wall to rip apart. He ran back down the stadium wall and headed straight for the sand sphere hoping to break through Gaara's defence.

Amazing Sasuke's using his chakra control to focus it all in his right hand. Like my chakra punches but it seems to be a lot stronger. What else did Kakashi-sensei teach him? Sakura thought a little enviously

Good he's managed to pull of the Chidori so far without any mistakes, Kakashi mused from his position in the stands of the stadium. He caught the eye of Gai and Lee who had made the journey out of hospital to watch the final rounds. Gai regarded him suspiciously but Kakashi simply smiled and waved.