At the last possible second

The audience were still talking about the last match even as the time for the next one slowly winded downwards. Ten minutes became five, then two, and certain members of the crowd began growing restless and wondered where the last Uchiha was. "Damn it, where the hell is that bastard?!", Naruto yelled as he looked all over the stadium from his seat among his friends. "Man, I knew our sensei was troublesomely tardy, but this is ridiculous. You'd think he'd make an effort to get here for this on time.", Shikamaru muttered in an annoyed tone.

"Well, he better move his ass then. If Sasuke's not here on time, then I doubt even the Hokage will give Sasuke a reprieve. What kind of ninja shows up late to a fight anyway?!"n Tenten asked loudly as the last minute slowly began winding down, and people began counting as the seconds passed on. Then there were only ten sconds left before the start of the match, and just as the proctor was about to call the match as a forfeit, a sudden gust of wind and leaves kicked up in the area.

When it settled, two figures could be seen. The taller one was Kiba's and Shikamaru's teacher and with him was the last Uchiha, standing there with a smirk on his face. "Well, I hope we weren't late or anything.", Kakashi said rubbing his head as the proctor just grinned. "Next time don't cut it so close Kakashi. I'm sure Kurenais student would love a chance to show off again, considering he won his first two matches already.".

That information made the last Uchiha look up into the stands and see a grinning Naruto, surrounded by the rest of the Gennin of their graduation class, minus Ino and Sakura of course. "Well well, looks like they finally showed up.", Kurenai said with a sigh of annoyance. It was bad enough that Kakashi was tardy, but what if his students started taking after him like that?

"Well now, I hate to make anyone upset. I will let you do your job now.", Kakashi said as he looked to Sasuke with a masked grin. "I'll be watching, Sasuke.", he stated before disappearing in a swirl of leafs, leaving Sasuke and the proctor in the ring. "Right, the next match will start immediately, Konohagakure-nin Uchiha Sasuke versus Sunagakure-nin Subaku no Gaara!", the proctor yelled as Gaara appeared in the arena in a swirl of sand.

"Alright, time to see what Sasuke can really do.", Naruto grinned as he leaned in his seat. He, like everyone else, was ready to see how the last Uchiha of the Leaf would fare against the son of the Kazekage. The judge looked between both fighters and then, with a nod, yelled "Begin!".

As soon as those words left his mouth, Gaaras sand sprung to life as it came out of his gourd and Sasuke, having been told of what this sand was capable of by Kakashi, quickly jumped back, distancing himself from Gaara. Gaara didn't seem to care what Sasuke was doing at the moment as he grabbed his head. "Please just a bit longer... I promise I'll give you a really special taste soon, just a bit more.", Gaara muttered, making Sasuke stare at him.

"I have never seen Gaara act this way, what's with him?", Kankuro asked as he watched his younger brother acting strangely. "He's saving his strength for the fight against Naruto. You remember what Gaara and I found out about him? It's only natural he will want to fight him more then anyone else.", Temari said, watching beside Kankuro as he looked over at her. "Yeah, but you have a match against him first, don't you? Are you really going to go into the ring against him?", Kankuro asked but received no reply as Temari watched on edge.

Sasuke made the first move as he tossed several kunai at Gaara, only for his sand to easily catch them and turn into a clone of himself. "You are not the one I seek, Uchiha. I will not let you stand in my way!", Gaara said in an emotionless voice as he stared at the avenger before him. As though he hadn't heard him, Sasuke charged Gaara and began a fierce fight to get close to the redheaded Suna ninja.

"I don't believe this! Didn't sensei tell Sasuke about how bad it is to fight hand to hand against this guy?", Kiba asked in shock. "Oh, I did, of course.", Kakashi said as the Gennin turned to see him suddenly standing there. "But you don't have to worry about that, Sasuke has an edge in this match.", he explained as Sasuke tried a few fire jutsu against Gaara only for his sand to take the fire and block the attacks.

Then, just as it seemed Sasuke had managed to penetrate Gaaras sand and was about to land a solid hit, Gaaras sand reformed around Sasukes arm and grabbed on tightly, trapping him close to the redheaded Shinobi as he muttered "You're starting to annoy me, Uchiha.".

Suddenly, Sasuke kicked himself free before backing up from his opponent. "You're strong. I can really judge myself against you.", Sasuke said with a grin as Gaaras impassive face stared right back. "Again, you are not the one I want to fight.", Gaara stated as Sasuke jumped back, running up the high wall of the arena before standing on it, as he made a few hand signs.

"What's Sasuke doing?!", Naruto asked as Kakashi nevertheless grinned. "Well now, there was a reason why we were late to the arena.", Kakashi said as the gathered Jounin seemed to understand what the last Uchiha was doing. "Kakashi, you taught him that jutsu?!", Gai asked out of shock as Kakashi nodded. "A technique that only one with he sharingan eyes could pull off, my Chidori.", he explained.

A low whistle came from behind Kakashi. "Well now, I wouldn't think you would teach just anyone that Kakashi.", Jiraiya grinned as Kakashi turned. "Ah, Jiraiya-sama, so good to see you! Tell me, when will your next book be out?", Kakashi asked as he pervertedly giggled. "Oh, I just need a bit more inspiration and soon it will be done, though training Naruto here put a damper on that.", Jiraiya grinned.

"Really now? Well, good for you Naruto, Kurenai told me you're a very diligent student and I can think of no one better to learn from Jiraiya-sama then you.", Kakashi beamed as he returned his eyes to the field, not seeing the smirking look Naruto was giving as he was complimented by the strong, if somewhat strange Jounin.

Everyones eyes were on the fight as the sound of birds chirping filled the air, the sound coming from the lightning that surrounded Sasukes hand. "Now I will show you the power of the Uchiha clan!", Sasuke yelled as he charged. But Gaara remained unresponsive as he merely rasied a hand up and several walls of sand formed between him and Sasuke.

A Sasuke charged Gaara, he brought the attack up and it began to cut through the sand walls one by one, but with it, each wall slowed Sasuke down, and he found himself having just cut through six of the sand walls made by Gaara as his attack began to fade. The shock written on Sasukes face was evident as Gaaras stone faced expression remained unchanged.

"Woah, I've never seen anything like that before!", Naruto said as he turned to Jiraiya. "Hey old pervert, how come that attack didn't hit? It looked pretty powerful.", Naruto asked as Jiraiya thought it over. "Well Naruto, I think I will compare it to what I taught you. Say you're trying to make a hole in a piece of wood. What would be more effective, a knife or a drill?", Jiraiya asked in a hushed tone so only he heard it.

"Hmm, well, a drill would, I think... why?", Naruto asked as Jiraiya continued."Well, Sasukes attack is good for a quick cut through an opponents defense, but it requires a lot of speed to be effective. When you have multiple targets lined up, it slows the attacker down and the attack becomes weaker, thus it's not that effective.", Jiraiya stated.

"On the other hand, the attack you learned needs only a constant flow of chakra to work, thus it can deal with more targets easier and keep going. As long as you have chakra, you can keep the attack going.", Jiraiya nodded. "In this respect, your attack is better, Naruto.", he explained. Getting the point, Naruto nodded and looked back to the last Uchihas fight as it seemed to be reaching it pinnical.

"I will not have you in my way, Uchiha.", Gaara said as he willed the sand and it soon wrapped around Sasukes whole body, much like it had with Lees arm and leg. Sasuke tried to free himself from the sand, but it was a useless fight as Gaara spoke again.

"It would be so easy to crush you like a bug, 'till my sand swallowed you whole.", Gaara said without emotion, as Sasuke felt something he hardly did anymore: He felt fear as his life hung in the hands of this crazed Sand ninja standing above him. Everyone watched on edge, and the Jonnin of the village were prepared to jump in if need be.

"But I have a better fight to experience, then I can truly prove my existence. Therefore, you lose!", Gaara stated as he turned and started walking away from the last Uchiha of Konohagakure as he lay struggling on the ground. The proctor sighed, knowing he wouldn't get a favorable reaction from this but nonetheless raised his hand and yelled "The winner of the match is Subaku no Gaara!".