Thoughts; Let the Fifth Match Begin

("We finally meet!") Gaara and Naruto thought as they faced each other.

"Naruto!" Gaara called out.

"Gaara…" Naruto murmured.

"Thank you for sealing the one tails that day." Gaara said as he bowed a bit to Naruto.

"Thank you for informing about the plan to the village." Naruto smiled.

Gaara lifted his head as he looked towards Naruto…

He felt immensely grateful to Naruto from rescuing him from the insomnia he had, and making him understand that jinchūurikis could live normal lives as well.

He also felt good after being able to look at his father in the eye, unlike the unpleasant meetings that they always had before.

"Naruto!" Gaara called out.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked at Gaara.

"I owe you a lot…"

"If you ever require my help in future, don't hesitate!" Gaara said as he walked past Naruto and entered the battlefield.

"Mm!" Naruto smiled, Gaara would always be his best friend no matter the world they were in…

Gaara was the type to rush straight into battle to protect a friend, especially him.

Sasuke thought back to when Naruto told him about his past, Gaara the general whose speech had won the hearts of all in the army, he was also the man Sasuke was about to face in the next match.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, who walked towards him and put his hand over Sasuke's shoulders…

"Good Luck!" Naruto grinned.

"Hmph!"

"Loser!" Sasuke walked past Naruto and entered the field as well.

Neji also slowly walked towards the entrance of the staircase, only to see Sasuke and Gaara walk out.

("The guy who defeated Lee…") Neji murmured as Gaara walked past him.

Gaara had noticed Neji, but did not respond as Neji was a complete stranger to him.

"Sasuke!" Neji called out.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked in a grumpy voice as he looked towards Neji.

"Be careful!"

"I hope you remember what happened to Lee and stay within your limits." Neji warned as he walked towards the staircase.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger thinking back to how Lee had failed to defeat Gaara after opening the Fifth gate.

("It doesn't matter!") Sasuke calmed himself down as he thought back to the training he went through to get to the Chuunin Exam.

….

"OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" The crowd went crazy as it cheered upon seeing the contestants appearing for their most anticipated battle.

"Hehe.." Naruto grinned as he walked up the staircase, only to see two ninjas, one held up to the wall by a band of sand and another unconscious on the floor.

"What happened?" Naruto murmured as he stared at the two ninjas…

"NO!" A man stood up amongst the audience after seeing Gaara and Sasuke walk out, especially at the sight of Gaara.

"No way…" the man beside him murmured as he fell down from his seat.

"YOU!!!!" The man standing up on his seat pointed at the man fallen down.

"Milord!"

"I swear I don't know" The man on the floor begged.

"It was you, who assured me the two jounins would not fail."

"Not only did they lose to a genin, they made me cough up a fortune to hire them, not to mention the amount for the bet itself" The man cursed.

"Milord.." The man on the floor continued to beg.

"It doesn't matter, you, your family, everyone is going to work for me for the rest of the generations to come!" The man shouted.

"NOoooooooo!!!!!!!" The man on the floor wailed as he grabbed his master's leg even more tightly than life itself.

"Finally…" Orochimaru almost drooled in excitement as he stared at Sasuke who stood opposite to Gaara.

"Sasuke…" Sakura murmured as she watched from the balcony of the waiting room.

Meanwhile Ino also watched Sasuke with interest.

"Sasuke is an elite member of the Uchiha…"

"And it seems like everyone's anxious to see Sasuke's match…" Ino said in an excited voice while Lee stared at the field with envy.

("Despite Naruto-kun warning in time, my body ended up like this…")

("I lost the match…")

("But Sasuke-kun will face that Gaara of the Sand whom I couldn't beat..")

("And Naruto-kun beat that Neji that I had hoped to take down.")

Lee thought as he stared at Sasuke who stood opposite to Gaara.

("Naruto-kun, you said I will defeat Neji someday…")

("During the time I spent on healing, Neji worked continuously to become stronger so that he could face you in battle.")

("Yet, all you did was show Neji a Jutsu to make him give up…")

("Will I ever be able to match up to you") Lee thought back to the time where he and Naruto trained in the forest as they sparred against each other.

"Lee…" Gai murmured as he stared at Lee.

He knew exactly how Lee felt, especially after Naruto had trained with him in the same style Lee did. Though he was too exceptional to be compared, they did train together for a while…

"Lee…" Gai placed his hand over Lee's shoulder.

"Gai-sensei…" Lee murmured.

"I felt the same way as you did when I saw Kakashi back then." Gai said.

Lee's eyes gained a bit of hope.

"Kakashi may have been a genius, but I challenged him despite the odds, to the point where we were both evenly matched."

"…" Lee continued to stare at Gai.

"Naruto-kun may have surpassed you and Neji now…"

"But don't forget, you are at the spring time of your youth, you can still exceed his growth during this period if you put your entire being to the test!" Gai gave a thumbs up accompanied with a huge smile which instantly brightened up Lee's emotions.

"Gai-sensei…" Lee's eyes were almost overflowing with tears.

"Just leave your training to me and watch the match peacefully." Gai said.

"YES!" Lee shouted as he wiped his eyes and turned back to stare at the match.

A few columns away…

(Whoosh!) a ninja landed by a certain feudal lord.

The ninja appeared to be part of the Hidden Grass as depicted on his head band.

"Hmm…?" The Daimyō's expression changed upon hearing the words whispered into his ears.

"What?"

"That girl is here?"

"What's the meaning of this…?" The lord pondered.

"What should we do?" The ninja asked.

"Hmph!"

"Is that a question?"

"When the opportunity arises, kidnap that brat." The man said.

"Yes!" The Ninja accepted and disappeared.

…..

Back on the field…

Genma stared at the two who stood in front of him.

"Are you two ready?" Genma asked.

"Mm!" Sasuke and Gaara nodded.

The wind picked up suddenly following which Orochimaru, Hiruzen, Rasa, Jiraiya and many others stared at the ground intensely…

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

>>>>BEGIN<<<<