Friend or Foe?! - 7

Sato moved upward with the leftover momentum, a bit unnerved by the terrible height, and Gaara was a mere dot below him, 'If I do this right like last time then maybe I won't die!' It was something he looked forward to.

He spun the chains with great effort, and in seconds the centrifugal force upheld the motion and he began to fall downward again with speed, letting himself be thrown into a wild spin.

Gaara watched the rapidly gyrating nin descend, and prepared himself a thick shield, wondering if it would do him any good, 'This attack will be massive if it hits. I need a way to avoid it…'

Naruto and Haku were alarmed as well, not suspecting that Sato had been able to broaden his arsenal. In contrast, Shino was very pleased by such an unorthodox assault. Hinata held her breath, horrified of what would become of the two combatants.

The velocity of the rotation had distorted his vision, but Sato was aware his target was drawing near as wind whipped past his ears, carrying the cries of the excited crowd along with it, "One Thousand Chains of Saturn!"

The spiraling sphere of blades met the earth and tore up what was left of the even ground, kicking up a storm of debris and forcing Hayate to take cover in a nearby balcony. Gaara disappeared from Naruto and Haku's sight.

"Gaara!" The blonde called down into the thick cloud, the sound of chains still horridly audible, and he received no answer.

Below, unseen to those trying to watch, Gaara's sand had managed to pin one of the chain sickles, embedding the blade into the wall next to him, which was scored with hundreds of slashes from the reckless assault. The second chain of the brace, however, was still in motion and was tossed in a sweeping arc toward him.

Gaara dodged clumsily, barely avoiding the high-speed weapon as it hacked at his sand armor. He watched as Sato struggled to stay on his feet, wobbly yet resolute.

Sand captured the second chain, buying enough time for Gaara to render it useless and wrench it from Sato's hand across the way. He had been too dizzy to retrieve it, and opted for regrouping while in the cover of the dust cloud that was quickly clearing.

Two fire clones attacked Gaara as a diversionary tactic, while Sato attempted to come up with another way to end the match.

The debris cloud disappeared and Naruto was cheering once again to see Gaara in one piece, "This is the best exam ever!"

Tama called down to Sato encouragingly, "Pick up the pace! You can still win this!"

Gaara crushed the pair of clones, avoiding their fiery after-effect and turned to Sato, "Give up. If that was your best technique then this is over!"

Sato hurled a kunai past Gaara's left ear, nicking his cheek, and it embedded itself in the far wall behind the red haired boy. Something had been amiss about the attack, and Gaara glanced over to see if the kunai had an explosive attached. Although it didn't, a small tag was there with the character for 'singularity.'

It was baffling but he decided not to stress about it if it wasn't about to blow up.

"I don't use forbidden jutsu often, but you and your crew seem to be a bad influence, don't you think?" He formed hand seals, his expression grim, "Forbidden Summoning: Prison Gravity!"

'That explains the kunai…' Gaara glanced back at the glowing tag, unsure of what the exact function of the jutsu was since nothing happened immediately.

Kakashi frowned. He knew that Sato would have one last trick up his sleeve, "That jutsu can put everyone in this stadium in danger if he's careless, but if he uses enough chakra this match is over."

Weapons that had been scattered over the gouged ground, along with wires that had been torn down earlier began to shudder and slowly shimmy in Gaara's direction. He didn't overlook the strange force being exerted from the wall behind him.

Gaara chose to react too late, finding it difficult to move against the direction the mass behind him was pulling in. He glued his feet to the ground with chakra, refusing to be pulled back against his will. Sato, a ways ahead of him, watched carefully as if he were waiting for something.

In moments, kunai and other discarded weapons were being pulled in by the strain, soaring past Gaara in the most bizarre, unearthly fashion. It wasn't much later that his own sand shield began to rip itself apart and be pulled towards the amassed gravity point.

It was then he felt slightly worried.

Sand was his main offense and defense; he wouldn't be able to go long without it. From the balcony Temari and Kankuro were just as horrified as Gaara's teammates.

His footing was no longer adequate and Gaara felt the massive power behind him draw him in like a helpless leaf in a gale. He slammed into the wall painfully, his gourd dissolving back into sand.

Sakura stood up, wide eyed, "Gaara-kun!"

By then, Gaara had acknowledged the fact that he was utterly immobile, 'I'm completely vulnerable!'

Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear the Ichibi declaring vengeance on the Hatake, and he did his best to ignore its incensed yowls.

Take my chakra and crush him. He is but a worm exercising power that is not rightfully his! Kill him and show who possesses true power here!

It was a very tempting offer, but chakra wasn't going to do him much good if he couldn't move freely.

Up on the balcony, Lee and Sasuke returned after being inspected thoroughly by medic-nin. As a result of opening the fifth gate Lee walked slowly and carefully, exhausted from the strain it had put on his body. His right arm was heavily bandaged and in a sling, and Sasuke did not appear in much better health either. Lee was still so thrilled over his match that he had been raving about it to Sasuke the entire time the medics had been tending to them. Sasuke endured the excited chatter; he too had to admit it was extraordinary.

Below, Sato was preparing to use the Chidori even as the gravity he had called upon began to slowly drag him in as well. He had stolen the technique from the archives and learned it before Kakashi had pried it out of his hands. Sato had searched for a way to immobilize a foe because he lacked the Sharingan as a means of improving his accuracy. He narrowed his midnight hued eyes purposefully, 'This is it. Now I can prove to my team and Tama that I really have become stronger!'

"Stunning!" Was Lee's first word on the scene, "It appears as if Sato-kun has copied Sasuke who has copied Kakashi!"

"I really can't say what's going on Lee…" Tenten replied meekly, unnerved by the proceedings.

Below, Sato was half-running and half being dragged by the misplaced gravity pulling him in, the Chidori's light blurred into a beam with his speed. Naruto grimaced as he watched, warning Haku, "Gaara's in trouble!"