The love of a sister

The audience was audibly disappointed that the match was over so quickly, but it clearly showed the gap between Sasuke and Gaara. Had Gaara fought like he would fight Naruto, the fight would've dragged on longer, since he would try to savor it. But like this, he just got Sasuke out of the way as quickly as possible.

The Uchiha was left humiliated after his swift defeat. No one could say that he hadn't proven to be a good ninja after showcasing his abilitiy to use Kakashis personal jutsu, but he had been defeated without Gaara batting so much as an eyelash. Then again, Gaara never showed much effort in his matches.

Yet even Rock Lee had fared better against Gaara and had him nearly cornered. Still, Naruto couldn't wait for Sasuke to make fun of the Uchiha. Instead, he hurried over to the balcony where Temari stood with her brother, obviously preparing herself for the battle with Gaara.

He arrived there just in time before Temari would have headed down there to meet her brother in a fight. But Naruto couldn't let her do that it woud be way too dangerous. It seemed Kankuro shared that sentiment with him. He himself wouldn't even dream of against Gaara, especially now when he was like this. "Come on, Temari, don't be stupid.", he tried to convince his older sister to just give up.

"No way, leave me be, Kankuro!", she replied angrily just as Naruto appeared next to her.

It seemed that Temari was determined to face her brother. Still, Naruto had a promise, and what good was a promise if the person you made it with died? "Hey Temari, you shouldn't go and fight your brother... remember, I made a promise, so just leave it to me.", he called out to her.

A brief smile passed Temaris face, but then she looked serious once more. "I can't.", she simply replied.

"Huh?", was all that came across Narutos lips. How could she be seet on doing this, fighting her own homicidal brother?

Temari saw his confusion and shrugged her shoulders. "What kind of a sister would I be if I just left it to you without trying myself? Don't worry about me, Naruto.", she said with a wry smile before she turned to the arena. "I hope we can fight each other in the next match.", Temari told him and then hopped down into the ring below, leaving a puzzled and not less worried Naruto and Kankuro behind.

Her brother did not even look at her when she entered the arena. "Temari, get out of my way.", Gaara said simply. He knew that even his family feared him and thought that Temari would just fold and let him have his will here.

But that was not the case. "No, I won't!", Temari responded, standing her ground firmly as her hands pulled out her fan.

Now Gaaras head snapped back to his sister. He was surprised, even dumbfounded when Temari refused to give up for his sake. "Why would you stand in my way?", he simply asked her, his eyes narrowing at her bold stance.

For Temari, there was only natural answer to this. "Because I care about you, Gaara! Please, you got to stop this madness, this is not you anymore!", she pleaded, calling out to the person she knew was her brother.

But Gaaras face contorted into a grimace of rage. He felt betrayed by his sister, one of the few people he believed would never stand in his path. "Silence! If you don't let me fight Uzumaki Naruto, I will kill you.", he threatened with a grave voice.

"You'll have to go through me first, Gaara.", Temari said, fiercely determined to knock some sense back into her brother.

"The opponents are Sunagakure-nin Subaku no Gaara versus Sunagakure-nin Subaku no Temari! Begin!", the proctor yelled and then jumped a fair distance back, hoping to avoid becoming collateral damage. And he was right in doing so, as both siblings began fighting with all their might.

Gaaras sand rushed towards Temari, who deflected and blew it away time and time again. But even so, she was slowly but surely pushed on the defense and soon, all Temari could do was swing her fan in desperation to fend off Gaaras sand approaching her from all sides. But the, Gaara rose his fist in the air and the some sand that had crept closer to Temari on the ground rose up in a fash, knocking the girl into the air and her fan out of her hands. Now she was helpless!

Gaara used this opening mercilessly and with a swift motion f his hand, the sand enveloped Temari and pinned her against the side of the arena. Naruto saw the way Gaara was holding his hand. It was just like when he crushed Rock Lees le and arm. That could only mean... "Temari!", he yelled and rushed over to her.

Temari was already ****, but the sand covered her entire body safe for her head. And for Naruto, there was no way for him to get her out of there without risking to injure her in the process. The sand was slowly crushing her. Gaara was doing this to his own sister. "Let her go, you're killing her!", Naruto yelled in aggravation, not believing that he would do this to his own flesh and blood.

"It's her own fault for getting in my way. Now, fight me, Uzumaki Naruto!", Gaara demanded, a deranged mockery of a grin on his face. Something was creeping up inside of him, that Naruto could tell... was it the monster that Temari had told him about? Well, he would find out soo, but first...

"Will you let Temari go if I do so?", he asked. This was something that he needed to know right away.

"If you insist...", Gaara growled and summoned his sand to his side again all the while Temari was still trapped by the sand. Naruto saw that he intended to use his very own sister as a threat to make Naruto fight him, and so he had **** Reluctantly, he dropped to the floor of the arena and got into a fighting stance.

It was time. The audience was on the edge with held breath as the two Gennin that were so alike yet so different faced each other. "The final round, Subaku no Gaara versus Uzumaki Naruto! Begin!", Hayate yelled as this entire exam had taken a sharp turn in a direction no one had seen coming.