With the arena finally repaired by the tireless efforts of the Earth Release ninja, the scoreboard lit up for the second match.
Sasuke vs. Gaara.
'Finally, it's starting!'
The moment the two stepped into the arena, the gaze of every noble in the stands locked onto them. One was the last descendant of the prestigious Uchiha clan, the prodigious Sasuke Uchiha. The other was the son of the Fourth Kazekage and Sunagakure's strongest genin, Gaara of the Sand.
Anticipation for the match was palpable, with many considering it the true main event. The bets placed on this fight dwarfed all the others, exceeding those on Naruto's match by at least tenfold.
"Ohohoho... As expected of you, Elder Danzo. Your eye for talent is impressively sharp." In the VIP room, the Daimyo who had just won his last wager was in excellent spirits, his trust in Danzo soaring. "Who should we bet on this time? I'm leaning toward that Uchiha boy."
"Gaara, of course," Danzo answered without a second thought, casting a disdainful sideways glance at Sasuke down below. 'Uchiha brat... Hmph.'
"Really? But that Uchiha boy looks a bit stronger," the Daimyo hesitated.
"Trust an old man's judgment. You won't be wrong," Danzo said, his tone firm and decisive. "The Uchiha clan looks impressive, but they're ultimately useless. Their eyes are powerful but the Uchiha's lack the brains to use it properly, in their head their eyes are just like shining marbles."
Beside him, the two Root operatives flanking him both flashed a crimson glint in their eyes.
Hearing Danzo's certainty, the Daimyo's doubts vanished. "Since you say so, Elder Danzo, I'll switch everything I put on the Uchiha over to Gaara." He added with a nervous chuckle, "If I lose, this is on you."
"No problem," Danzo said smoothly. "My judgment is always accurate."
--**--**
"Just a little runt. Hurry up and get rid of him." Inside Gaara, Shukaku was still fuming, his booming voice pounding so loudly in Gaara's mind it drowned out all else. "In a bit, just do what I taught you. Beat Kurama and his jinchuriki to a pulp. Did you hear that? Beat them up! Answer me!"
Having witnessed the power of Naruto's two-tailed form, Shukaku was practically vibrating with excitement.
To Gaara, it felt like a subwoofer had been jammed into his skull, *thump-thump, thump-thump*, blaring nonstop with a damn echo.
'Kurama? Jinchuriki? What the hell are those?'
"You two, anything to say before the match starts?" Genma asked, a senbon held casually between his lips.
"Hmph." Sasuke let out a cool snort, indicating he had nothing to add.
"Huh? What did you say?" Gaara could only see Genma's mouth moving, he couldn't hear a word over the internal noise.
--**--**
"Hey, hey, hey, Shibuki! Shibuki! Shibuki!" After staring at Gaara for a long moment, Fu seemed to have discovered something. She grabbed Shibuki's sleeve, tugging it excitedly.
Her voice was loud enough to draw the attention of several people around them. To her left, the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Doto Kazahana, glanced over briefly before turning back to the match. To her right, the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, Sumi, shot her a look of open disdain, as if staring at common rabble, before snorting rudely.
Feeling their eyes on him, Shibuki panicked and whispered, "Fu, I don't have time for this right now. Go play by yourself for a bit."
Logically, as only the heir to Takigakure's leadership, Shibuki wasn't qualified to sit among Daimyo and nobles, but Konoha had still arranged a seat for him. Just his luck, they'd placed him right between two minor-country Daimyos, and the pressure made him feel like he was sitting on needles. He was timid by nature and no good at socializing.
'I represent Takigakure here,' he thought desperately. 'I can't embarrass the village.'
"Hmph!" Seeing Shibuki ignore her, Fu puffed her cheeks angrily and looked around. 'If you won't pay attention to me, I'll find someone else to play with.'
Once she had the thought, she acted. Fu was a girl of action. In a blur, she darted down toward the front rows of the civilian seating area.
Only after Fu left did Shibuki finally breathe a sigh of relief. He offered the Daimyo of the Land of Grass an apologetic smile, only to receive an even more contemptuous snort in return.
By then, Fu had reached the very front row. From this spot, she could see Gaara perfectly.
'He really is the same as me! It's my first time seeing someone like me!'
Fu beamed. 'I'm going to be friends with him! He's going to be my first friend in Konoha!'
--**--**
'Hurry up! Use your sand and crush him!' Shukaku was still howling orders in Gaara's mind.
Suddenly, a crisp, clear girl's voice echoed in the depths of Gaara's consciousness. "Hello, Big Tanuki. Will you be my friend?"
'What the hell?' Shukaku, mid-rant, jolted at the sudden intrusion.
"Long time no see, Shukaku," a more neutral voice followed.
'This chakra...' Shukaku mentally sniffed the air, stunned for a second before he placed it. 'So it's you, Chomei. It has been a while.'
Aside from his bad blood with Kurama, Shukaku got along reasonably well with the other Tailed Beasts. It was just Kurama who was insufferable, always insisting that a beast's strength was determined by its number of tails. While Matatabi wasn't one to pick fights, Shukaku had never been able to swallow that insult, not with only one tail to his name. He'd gone straight to the desert to throw down with Kurama over it.
'Huh? Why do you look different?' Shukaku noted, surprised. Communication between Tailed Beasts was convenient, their telepathic link could even project images. A thousand years ago, the Seven-Tails, Chomei, had taken the form of a plump, cocoon-like creature. Now, she appeared as a gigantic flying insect. She had completely metamorphosed.
"Big Tanuki, can we be friends, please?" Before Shukaku and Chomei could catch up, Fu piped up again.
"No," Shukaku shot her down instantly. What a joke. He was the great Shukaku. Why would he befriend some tiny human?
"Pleeease?" Having finally found someone like her, Fu was determined to befriend both Gaara and his Tailed Beast, and she began to pester Shukaku relentlessly.
'Chomei, your brat is getting on my nerves. Tell her to back off before I eat her.'
The girl and the two Tailed Beasts bickered away, leaving poor Gaara to suffer. It felt like they were throwing a party inside his skull. The single subwoofer had become three. Now he couldn't hear the outside world at all.
This was happening for one simple reason: Sunagakure's sealing techniques were notoriously crude. While other villages seals were airtight, like Naruto's, Gaara's leaked like a sieve.
"Any questions about the rules before we start?" Genma asked Gaara for what felt like the tenth time.
He got the same response. "What? What did you say?"
Genma figured the kid was just messing with him. Giving up, he simply announced, "Match... begin!"
Countdown: 3
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