Gaara would've lost anyway. That's just the way story goes.

Anyway, If you bring in the "oh, he had to save those villagers" excuse, I'm gonna have to say that the Akatsuki member was at a bigger disadvantage, not Gaara. All those villagers could've attacked and distracted bird bitch and Gaara could've went in for a hit. Gaara isn't a smart fighter, he's more of the "I'm gonna go all out with my power and crush you" type. Gaara is talented but he is just an extremely poor strategist.[/quote]

On the basis of skill and power, gaara seems to have owned that akatsuki character. There's just no doubt about it from where I stand. And he was smart enough to look out the window and realize that those "birds" didn't exist in the desert. I really can't argue about his strategic ability though, he's never had to use much of it. And yes, the story required him to lose, but, I'm gonna go ahead and say he lost in that particular way to that particular character, because given what was shown, no other way is believable. About the villagers being a bunch of useless, needy vaginas, well, you've nailed that one. The akatsuki member really should've been a disadvange. So, in actuality, I don't even find this defeat of gaara to be believable. He shouldn't have lost, at all.