Sasuke Vs Gaara Part 1

Neji entered the waiting room.

("Naruto!") Neji saw Naruto standing right next to Sakura and staring at the field.

"Neji," Naruto turned back upon noticing his presence.

*Ugh!*

Neji felt uneasy to face Naruto, especially after the humiliating loss he just suffered.

"You surprised me with that punch today…" Naruto said.

"Hmph!" Neji snorted.

"Yeah, even I was surprised…" Sakura added.

"Huh…" Shikamaru turned around to see Neji facing Naruto and Sakura.

"No matter what I did…"

"Loss remains a loss, I have been defeated by you Uzumaki Naruto…" Neji said.

"Neji!" Naruto called out.

"Hmm..?" Neji stared at Naruto.

"The past you had worked hard in order to be independent of the Hyūga family…"

"All the hard work you put in before was merely to distinguish yourself amongst their rank," Naruto said.

"What are you trying to say..?" Neji asked in an impatient manner.

"Tell me, Neji!"

"Didn't feel anything different when you worked hard towards this match?" Naruto asked.

Neji stared at Naruto in silence.

"Didn't you have a sense of satisfaction in working hard for yourself compared to all the times you had to put in the effort, in respect to your father's existence?" Naruto asked.

Neji's eyes widened.

"Neji!"

"I know how much hard work you put forth to be the genius you are today, despite not being taught by the main branch."

"I know how much hatred you had for the main branch because of what happened to your father…" Naruto said.

"How did you…" Neji stared at Naruto.

"I have trained with Lee, and I am aware of a few things."

"If you feel this defeated from one rematch, think of how much frustration Lee must have built after facing you thousands of times," Naruto said.

("Lee…") Neji thought back to the times he always defeated Lee, only to see Lee stand up with the same vigor he had in the match before…

Lee never backed down after Losing against Neji.

In fact, Lee would always face him, in hopes of defeating Neji.

Neji lifted his head to see Naruto staring at him.

"Neji!"

"Hard work is only a burden that would wear you out sooner or later if you are doing it just for the sake of doing."

"Hard work is meaningful when it is something you do wholeheartedly."

"It's only then, there is no burden, but results that push you forth…"

"Unlike a failure like me, you are a genius!"

"Don't let your past drag you down."

"Learn to let go and embrace the future in your hands," Naruto said.

Neji thought back to what his dad said.

————FlashBack————

"Overcome your own fate, Neji."

"Fate is something you work out with your own hands," Hizashi concluded his letter.

"Father…" Neji stared at the final words left by his father…

——-End of FlashBack———

"Naruto…" Neji stared at Naruto.

"THE FIFTH MATCH BETWEEN UCHIHA SASUKE OF THE HIDDEN LEAF AND GAARA OF THE SAND."

>>>>BEGIN<<<<

Genma announced the start of the match.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted.

"KYAAAA!!!!!" The girls in the stadium went wild.

"Oh!"

"The match is starting!" Naruto grinned as he turned back to see Sasuke who stood against Gaara.

("Sasuke…") Neji also turned to look at the battlefield.

"YEEAAAHHHHH BOY,"

"LET'S SEE THE POWER OF THE UCHIHA!!!!" People shouted in excitement upon the commencement of the match.

——————————-

Back on the field….

*Shhh!*

Gaara moved the sand out his guard and made it surround him on the ground in a state of standby guard.

"Come!" Gaara said as he looked towards Sasuke.

"Hmph!"

("He's being too cocky…") Sasuke frowned following which he crouched a bit.

("Let's see if you handle this!")

Sasuke took out a few shurikens and brought his hands together.

<Ram> <Tiger> <Dog> <Ox> <Hare> <Tiger>

< Fire Style - Phoenix Flower Jutsu! >

Sasuke blew a torrent of flames at Gaara.

(Whoosh!)

The sand immediately rose up in alert, quickly forming a wall of sand…

(Clang!)

(Clang!) (Clang!)

(Clang!) (Clang!)

(Clang!)

The fire was blocked revealing the shurikens which came in contact with the sand wall.

("Damn it!") Sasuke cursed.

(Whoosh!)

A sand clone version of Gaara appeared who held the shurikens in his hand…

("WHAT?") Sasuke was alarmed.

(WHOOSH!) The shurikens were sent back to Sasuke with a higher speed.

Sasuke immediately dodged by reappearing about two meters away from the place he stood in mid-air.

"…" Gaara stared emotionlessly at Sasuke in mid-air.

Sasuke landed on the ground and ran towards Gaara following which he launched a barrage of kicks and punches which were blocked one by one by his sand clone.

< Magnetic Style - Density increase >

(Boom!)

Followed by an internal explosion, the sand clone and the sand around Gaara compressed in size which proportionally increased the structural integrity and speed of the sand by a whole another level.

("What is it with this sand?")

("Why did it suddenly become hard?") Sasuke thought as he continued to punch and kick the sand clone.

(Bang!)

The clone sent Sasuke flying away with one punch.

("WHAT?") Sasuke stared in horror at the strength behind the clone.

"Is that all you have, Uchiha Sasuke?" Gaara asked in a calm voice.

"Gaara is as strong as usual I see…" Naruto stared at the match.

"Damn it!" Sasuke stared at Gaara as though he was a monster.

("Let's see if the new speed of the sand can compare to this speed!") Sasuke thought following which he looked towards Gaara.

("Hmm…?")

("What does he want?") Gaara thought as he saw Sasuke staring at him with a confident look.

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted.

(Whoosh!)

"huh?" Lee saw something amiss as he stared at the field which was devoid of Sasuke's existence.

Sasuke reappeared behind Gaara and sent a punch.

("He's fast just like that guy…") Gaara thought back to the time Lee battled against him.

*Overdrive Guitar SFX*

(Boom!)

Sasuke's punch landed on the barrier.

(Whoosh!) Sasuke vanished and reappeared behind Gaara.

(Boom!)

Gaara turned behind only to see a ripple in his sand barrier.

(Boom!)

(Boom!)

Sasuke kept attacking the sand barrier.

("His sand is way too fast…") Sasuke thought as he continued to fly around the sand barrier.

Gaara was surprised to see Sasuke almost as fast as his sand….

As Gaara continued to watch Sasuke, all he could see was Lee's image overlapping as they performed the punches and kicks in the same way…

("You too have achieved my speed huh, Sasuke…") Lee thought as he continued to watch.

Ino, Karin, Chouji, Kiba were also surprised.

However, the most surprised was Gai.

("He's fast!")

("Nearly the same speed as Lee's ordinary speed") Gai stared with wide-eyes at the scene.

("It's overlapping with the image of my Taijutsu…") Lee thought as Sasuke emulated his moves.

As Sasuke continued to deliver barrages of punches and kicks…

Lee thought back to the five days that he and Sasuke trained together back in the forest.

("Sasuke-kun, you trained with Naruto-kun before to increase your speed and then after we faced off each other for the first time, you limited yourself to sparring against me without using any ninjutsu techniques and soon caught up to me…")

("Now you have caught up to my speed as well…")

("Despite being a genius, you have also worked hard just like Neji…")

("But I won't let that slow me down.")

("I will put in ten times…")

("NO!")

("A hundred times the effort to surpass you all, and one day, all of you will be here when I fight on that grand stage showing how much I have surpassed all of you…") Lee thought as he continued to see the match.

"Lee…" Neji murmured as he looked towards the place where Lee was sitting.

("Those two have surpassed us, but I am willing to work hard just like you.")

("We will surpass them together.") Neji thought as he felt a fire light up inside of him.

("Though I hate to admit it, I will also follow Gai-sensei earnestly, and I will work ten times more hard compared to before…") Neji thought.

Tenten, despite sitting a few columns apart from her teammates, they had all entered into the same state of mind.

To surpass Kakashi's team and become the best ninjas they could be…

Sasuke backed away from the sand shield feeling all his actions were meaningless.

It was not that his action was meaningless; instead, Gaara's sand techniques grew stronger due to the increased density under the magnetic style.

"Given up?" Gaara asked emotionlessly.

meanwhile, Gai turned towards Kakashi.

("Kakashi did not teach Sasuke during the past month…")

("From what I've heard, that boy Sasuke went missing for the whole month until the last few days…")

("To think all this time he had been training intensely.") Gai thought as he turned to look at Sasuke.

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted, following which.

(Bz!)

(Bz!) (Bz!)

(Bz!) (Bz!) (Bz!)

Sasuke coated himself in thunder nature chakra.

("What?") Gai's eyes went wide…

Not just Gai, but most jounins including Hiruzen, Rasa, Jiraiya and especially the Thunder nation's Daimyō.

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS!" The man stood up.