Originally posted by: wirm
Just because it took a while to catch them doesn't mean that he couldn't draw on his speed. There are any number of reasons that would account for the delay.

Traps set to stop him and taking time to track them as opposed to running all out are only 2 possibilities.

It is also possible that he was conserving stamina for the inevitable fight against 3 dangerous enemies. Sasuke is an intelligent ninja, and doesn't waste his resources. Why bother burning off stamina in a chase when you know you're bound to catch up anyway?

Naruto, Shika, and Sakura were able to keep pace because they had a tracker with them. It is also debatable whether or not they actually "kept pace". Considering the head start that the sand ninjas and Sasuke had, and the time it took before the cavalry arrived, we can't draw any accurate conclusion about whether or not the trackers managed to keep up.

What we do know is that Shino is freakin' fast [img][/img]
The only reason why Shino caught up with Sasuke quickly was because he left the arena much sooner than Naruto's squad, not to mention the fact that he didn't have his fight, making him more "fresh" for tracking and fighting.
Also on the whole Sasuke-chasing-Gaara thing, I agree how Sasuke lost some stamina and chakra in the arena fight. From that, I think that's why he didn't use his high speed to try to catch up. Also, he's probably used to the pace as if he was going with Naruto and Sakura since they've been training together for a while now. But then again, I could be wrong.