Plot_Naruto_I
Naruto VS Gaara
Sasuke, Shino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto chased after Temari and Kankurō, who had been charged with protecting Gaara until Gaara had recovered from his fight with Sasuke. Shikamaru fell behind to stop nine Sound Jōnin from following them, although Shikamaru was still low on chakra from his own match. However, Asuma arrived to bail him out. In the anime, Tamari, before Kankurō stopped to fight Sasuke, sets traps in order to deter Sasuke before engaging him in combat herself. Kankurō stopped to fight Sasuke, giving Gaara enough time to recover. However, Shino declared that Kankurō was his opponent, as they were supposed to fight during the Chūnin Exam. Shino was able to defeat Kankurō by placing a female bug on him. The scent of this bug attracted all of Shino's other bugs, which then overpowered Kankurō, but Shino was also rendered unconscious after being poisoned earlier in the fight, until his father came to his aid to remove the poison. Finally, Sasuke caught up with and fought Gaara. Gaara began to transform into his Shukaku state, overpowering and defeating Sasuke. When Sasuke was about to be killed, Naruto and Sakura arrived. Gaara continued attempting to kill Sasuke until Sakura placed herself between them. Gaara trapped Sakura in one of his Shukaku Sand Claws and pinned her to a tree. He then taunted Naruto, stating that, unless he defeated Gaara, Sakura would eventually be crushed by the sand claw trapping her to the tree. At first, Naruto was clearly overpowered, but, later in the fight, he gained the upper hand by using clever tactics and by employing the techniques Jiraiya had taught him. Naruto used A Thousand Years of Death to injure the partial Shukaku form to prevent any movement, then used the Uzumaki Naruto 2k Combo to pound Gaara, surprising everyone watching their battle. However, Gaara then transformed into the full Shukaku form, and attempted to finish Naruto off with his Sand Binding Coffin and Sand Waterfall Funeral techniques. However, Naruto was able to break out of Gaara's Sand Binding Coffin by summoning Gamabunta, and, after a little convincing from Gamakichi, Gamabunta decided to fight Shukaku. However, Gaara then used his Feigning Sleep Technique to call out Shukaku's real powers. As Gamabunta was no longer a match, Naruto would have to force Gaara awake. Using a combo transformation, Naruto transformed Gamabunta into the form of the demon fox, which was able to grab Shukaku long enough for Naruto to punch Gaara awake. Angered, Gaara attempted to trap Naruto in his Sand Binding Coffin technique again. Although Gamabunta failed in an attempt to stop Gaara's attack, Naruto escaped using the demon fox's chakra. He launched himself at Gaara, but was unable to reach him with his fist, so Naruto headbutted him. As blood trickled down both their foreheads, Gaara's Shukaku form crumbled away around them. The two each only had enough chakra for one more attack. Gaara and Naruto launched themselves at each other, and Naruto knocked Gaara down with one final punch. Despite being unable to walk, Naruto crawled to Gaara to make sure he had been defeated. The two then realized they were almost identical to each other; they both had monsters in their bodies, which had led to them being ostracized by the people in their village. While Gaara wondered why Naruto was so strong, Naruto explained to Gaara, that although he knew exactly what Gaara had gone through growing up and being hated by everyone, he would not let him take away those that had saved him from the hell of being alone and unloved, even if it meant killing Gaara. As Naruto continued to crawl towards Gaara, a recovered Sasuke dropped down next to him and informed him that Sakura was now free of Gaara's sand claw, and was safe. Temari and Kankurō dropped by Gaara and prepared to face off with Sasuke until Gaara told them that he gave up and asked them not to fight anymore. The two agreed, and took Gaara away from the scene. After seeing the job was done, Naruto fell asleep due to exhaustion. In the end, what enabled Naruto to triumph was his devotion to those important to him, which turned out to be a source of much greater strength than Gaara's hatred. After the battle had ended, Gaara wondered whether he would be able to love again, and apologized to Temari and Kankurō for his earlier treatment of them. Also, as Gaara was an opponent that Sasuke could not face equally, this reversed Naruto and Sasuke's roles in their rivalry, and induced deep feelings of inferiority in Sasuke, despite the facade of superiority that he continued to maintain. Later on, a funeral was held for the Third Hokage.