Friend or Foe?! - 6

"You two have new orders," Their sensei's voice was grave, "Temari, how bad are your injuries?"

She looked up at him, slightly irritated, "It's nothing really. I can fight."

Baki nodded, "In that case, start preparing now. We've received word from Sound that the attack will begin in this arena and you are to prevent any Leaf shinobi from interfering."

"Interfering with what?" Kankuro was confused, "When does it start?"

"Orochimaru intends to release the Ichibi in this stadium," Baki announced, overlooking their horrified expressions, "The signal should be coming soon now…"

"B-But that's crazy! They can't do that to Gaa- I mean, how is that possible?" Temari couldn't believe what she was hearing, "That would mean that a jinchuriki is-!"

"Do not let anyone interfere! Those are your orders," Baki repeated fiercely, not wanting their input, "When you see the signal meet me on the ground level and we'll proceed from there."

He was gone before Kankuro could protest, but then again, he figured it wouldn't have much of an effect on the matter. He hadn't known they planned to actually use Gaara in the attack.

"This is worse than I thought." He muttered, changing his plans of action, "We have to act now."

Temari nodded, her expression dark, "On the signal we get him out of here!"

*

Below Hayate was calling for the next match, "The sixth match will be between Hatake Sato and Gaara."

Sato raced past Shikamaru and down to the arena, glowing with determination. Grudgingly, Gaara turned to Naruto, wondering if he had any advice to give on the silver haired boy.

Naruto shrugged to him unhelpfully, "Just finish him quick, I guess. Don't make it more painful than it has to be."

Haku couldn't think of anything heartening to say as Gaara moved to the stairs, taking his time as he went down. He did wonder how Gaara planned to deal with Sato.

Hinata tensed beside Shino, watching as Sato appeared in the arena with a cheerful bounce in his step. From a short distance away, she smiled as she heard Tama begin cheering for him wildly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Asuma asked slowly, noting Kurenai's troubled expression.

She sighed at length, "I admit, Sato has grown much over the time he has been given but I am unsure of the fight's outcome."

Shikamaru stepped up beside Naruto and Haku to watch, "You two may have to step in, you know, to prevent a slaughter. This match is far from even."

Naruto did not answer him, because even if Shikamaru was being sarcastic he wasn't far from the truth. With Gaara's seal faulty, Sato was in more peril than he would normally be, 'Haku-kun and I have to be ready if anything weird starts happening!'

Gaara looked up to the Hokage thoughtfully as he stepped out into the sunlight. He had considered asking for his help after being unable to find Jiraiya, but he knew that he would only be pulled from the exam altogether if he expressed his concern to him. At least with his perverted teacher he'd have a chance to fight unhindered.

His gaze traveled guardedly to the Kazekage a short distance away: his father. The idea barely registered in his mind. At the moment, the lord of the Sand village seemed the farthest thing from his father, leaving a strange, bitter taste in his mouth.

At the sight of Gaara's arrival Sato had an attack of nerves, 'Just stay calm! Stick to the plan and everything will fall into place!'

Gaara was totally relaxed as far as he could tell. Sato gave him a weak grin and asked, "Hey, Gaara! I hope you're not a supporter of the whole 'turnabout is fair play' idea?"

The red haired boy shrugged, not sure what he was so worked up about.

"You may begin." Hayate stepped back, wondering how evenly matched the opponents honestly were.

Tama's encouraging cries could still be heard clearly from the stands, and Gai and Kakashi returned their attention to the make-or-break fight of the final rounds.

Sato immediately formed hand seals and created ten fire clones, preparing his first strike. Gaara was taken aback at how similar the strategy was to one of Naruto's attack patterns. Undeterred, sand began to surround him and he waited for the Hatake to begin.

A few of the silver haired replications leapt clear over Gaara, nearing the opposite side of the arena. As they scaled the walls with chakra and wire, Gaara could already tell it was the same tactic Sato had engaged in his preliminary fight.

He wasn't much bothered by it. Traps would do him little good in this brawl.

The other observing genin recognized the strategy as well, wondering if it would produce the same results.

While the clones busied themselves suspending weapons on the wire network above the arena, Sato held his ground, facing Gaara. He then deployed a new method of attack.

He drew both kodachi steadily, watching Gaara with calculating eyes, "You know I'm not half bad with these!"

Gaara folded his arms, not impressed. He'd be crazy to attack him head-on, though he wouldn't put it past him. A sand shield began to form around him reflexively as the blades glinted in the sunlight.

Sato leapt upward, startling Gaara, and balanced himself perfectly on the criss-crossing wires. On cue the clones ended their labor and dove for the opponent in unison. Gaara's sand ravaged them, buffering the flames, and while he went about crushing the clones Sato methodically plucked stray lines of the netting with his kodachi to trigger the traps.

Kunai and shuriken rained down from the air and Gaara paused to let his sand shield block the assault, leaving him to ponder how to get near his opponent if he held the advantage of "higher ground." In this fight he realized it would give Sato an edge.

Sato continued slashing specific wires from his vantage point in frustration, dismayed at how Gaara continued to approach unhindered by the waves of projectiles, 'I've got to pick up the pace before that sand of his gets too close!'

Gaara blinked up at him, knowing he wouldn't put up much of a fight.

The battle remained little more than a child's snowball fight until Sato was reduced to his last trap. He slashed through the remaining wires, releasing a fuuma shuriken that he had planted explosive tags on the day before.

Gaara's eyes widened briefly and he dodged, his sand shielding him from the blast. It was almost humiliating to be stuck in such an uneventful fight so Gaara intended to make it more dramatic.

Sand lashed out at the last suspensions and snapped them, intending to return the silver haired nin back to the ground to even the odds.

It was once Sato bit his thumb and formed seals on his way down did Gaara realize that Sato had expected him to dismantle the traps.

Naruto's hands slammed down onto the railing in disbelief, "He's summoning something!"

Haku watched as well as the smoke cleared and a truck-sized bird flapped about, disoriented, as if bewildered by the brightness of the stadium. Sato landed squarely on its head, grinning, "Let's go! I know you're sleepy but it's time to fight!"

The bracken-colored bird was still too dizzy to respond and floundered about pathetically before attempting to land, which was a mistake on its part.

Gaara's sand swarmed as it came nearer and crushed the bird instantly, leaving Sato to jump off frantically and form more seals to call another.

"What is going on? It's like he had no control over it!" Naruto observed, disgusted with Sato's sloppy form.

"Naruto-kun, I don't think it's really his fault," Haku remarked quietly, making his friend turn to him questioningly, "Didn't you see what he summoned? It was an owl; most tend to be nocturnal and now isn't the most appropriate time for them to fight. It must have been sleeping when he called it."

"An…owl? It was pretty big too!" Naruto scratched his head, "Though I thought he'd go for something goofy like a kangaroo or a giraffe."

"That kid's such a bird brain." Shikamaru muttered, not impressed.

Sato successfully called a second owl, this one a mix of white and brown plumage and it appeared fully alert. He landed on it as it settled into a comfortable glide and avoided Gaara's sand.

Sato berated himself for his inexperience. Only recently had he begun summoning his contracted animals and he had been using one main bird for most of his aerial techniques. He admitted it wasn't fair to call an owl into a battle that wasn't well acquainted with him. He decided he'd remedy that later.

It was a fantastic feeling to be able to avoid Gaara with ease, and Sato felt that if there was ever a good time for him to end the match it would be then, "Get ready, Gaara-kun, I'm going to finish this with my most powerful jutsu!"

The bird climbed higher, beyond the reach of the stadium, forcing those watching to tilt their heads up to observe. Gaara suspected the Chidori after seeing him use it once before, and then seeing Sasuke use it correctly. He had a feeling he might try something else after seeing him summon owls.

"He has only recently mastered this attack under my supervision," Kurenai informed Asuma as he watched the shrinking form of the bird ascend, "It is a finishing move. Gaara will be lucky to escape it…"

Asuma gave her a quizzical look and then took a drag, wondering how her eccentric pupil had managed to turn the tables so abruptly.

"Hn…" Kakashi felt an odd sensation develop in his stomach as he watched his nephew rise up into the local sky, "He takes after his father after all."

Gai laughed jubilantly beside him at the notion, "Indeed, he would make Riei proud!"

Sato drew out his trusty chain scythe, recalling how it had failed him during his use of it in his preliminary match, 'Not this time, though! This time I'm ready!' His avian escort provided a second chain sickle that had been concealed in its down, and he took it gratefully, "I'll see you around, Kutaiku! I can take it from here!"

The bird's voice was concerned, "You're wings are still smaller than his…don't do anything foolish!" He had worried for the boy's safety, but departed in a cloud of smoke obediently.