Light

Gaara looked at Satsuki, at that cold, judgmental face.

He realized that he could no longer hide the truth.

No matter what he says or does, no matter how he begs or pleads, this woman from the Uchiha Clan will not let him go.

However, an unprecedented anger suddenly welled up in his heart.

Since it's unavoidable, since the secret is destined to be exposed, and since Naruto will find out sooner or later—why is he still hiding?

What else is he afraid of? What else does he need to pretend about?

Gaara took a deep breath, turned around, and walked towards his room.

Kankuro followed behind him, looking utterly dejected, his steps heavy as if made of lead. He knew things had reached their worst point, but he was powerless to stop it.

Temari followed behind, her face full of confusion, desperately trying to understand everything. What lovers? What secrets? What puppets? Why did everyone seem to know something she didn't?

Satsuki Earth Flow at the back with a blank expression. Her anger had not subsided, but she wanted to see what other tricks this red-haired man could pull.

As for Naruto... Naruto just followed along out of curiosity.

He was genuinely just curious.

He wanted to see what Gaara's lover looked like, and what kind of person could make the Kazekage, who had been single his entire life in the original work, fall in love.

He had even silently prepared a few words of blessing in his mind, which he was determined to sincerely say when he met the girl later.

The door was pushed open, and the soft light from inside the room illuminated everyone outside.

Then, everyone saw it.

That figure sat on the edge of the bed.

Her long, golden hair was carefully styled into two lively pigtails, which fell smoothly over her shoulders. On her fair cheeks, three faint lines of stubble were clearly visible.

She was wearing a bright orange tracksuit, the style and color of which were exactly the same as Naruto's usual outfit.

She sat there quietly with her eyes closed, like a beautiful sleeping girl, and you couldn't tell at all that she was just a puppet.

But that face—that face—is too recognizable.

So tall that it's impossible to ignore, impossible to pretend not to recognize.

Naruto froze, then he raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard.

Seriously, it seems I've been too busy lately; I'm even hallucinating.

How could this possibly happen?

The Fifth Kazekage of Sand Village, made a female version of me as a puppet and even kissed me on my bed... that must be a hallucination.

Absolutely.

He rubbed his eyes again and opened them.

The blonde beauty was still sitting there.

"Gaara, you..." Temari's voice came from the side, filled with the bewilderment of someone whose brain had been overloaded.

Her gaze lingered on the blonde girl for a long time, from her twin ponytails to the three lines of her mustache, to her orange tracksuit, and then to her face that looked exactly like Naruto's.

The way things unfolded was a million times more magical than she had imagined.

My younger brother's crush is very pretty—it's true. Golden twin tails, a cute face, and probably blue eyes—these are all wonderful.

Temari is very happy that her younger brother has finally found someone he likes.

But the premise is that this girl doesn't look that much like someone, that much like the blond young man standing next to her.

"Just as I expected," Satsuki's voice rang out, "Everything is just as I predicted."

She stared at Gaara, her eyes burning with undisguised rage. "Gaara, it seems I was too careless, actually only seeing you as Naruto's friend."

"Seeing how charming Naruto is, that even the Kazekage is head over heels for him—but I'm not happy at all."

Every word she spoke pierced Gaara's heart like a nail.

"Looks like you've been having a good time with Naruto around. You've been so comfortable that you've started fantasizing about other people's husbands, turning them into this image, and then doing those lewd things."

"Are you so starved for love? So thirsty? So desperate for a Naruto of your own?"

"Unfortunately, he will never be yours. He is my husband. Legally, forever, from head to toe, he is mine."

"And you—you can only cling to this lifeless machine, hiding in your room deceiving yourself. How pathetic."

Each of these words was like a knife, piercing Gaara's heart. Logically, he should have felt ashamed, utterly humiliated, and wished he could disappear into the ground.

But he didn't.

Instead, he clenched his fists, his eyes burning with rage. The emotions he had suppressed for so long could no longer be contained.

"Do you think everyone is like you?!"

Gaara suddenly raised his head and loudly retorted to Satsuki!

Kankuro looked up in disbelief at his younger brother, Gaara had just launched a counterattack?!

They were the ones in the wrong from the start! They were the ones who acted as puppets, they were the ones who violated the portrait rights, and they were the ones who were discovered—they should apologize, they should beg for forgiveness, and they should try to quell Satsuki's anger!

But what is Gaara doing?!

"You greedy bastard, you don't appreciate Naruto at all!" Gaara's voice echoed in the room, carrying an almost desperate determination.

"What do you even know about me?! What gives you the right to accuse me like that?!"

Satsuki was also stunned.

She never expected that this guy, who had clearly done something to disrespect her husband, would dare to argue back so confidently, even with irrefutable evidence and being exposed on the spot.

She was about to explode, about to say something even harsher, about to teach this arrogant redhead a lesson about the consequences of offending an Uchiha—

But Gaara's next words left everyone speechless.

"I... I'm not like you!"

Gaara's voice echoed in the room, trembling with grievance. "After possessing it, I was consumed by greed..."

His eyes reddened slightly with grievance, a thin layer of tears slowly welling up. "I... I... even with Naruko..."

He took a deep breath. "I didn't touch her even once!"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Kankuro's mouth dropped open in disbelief, Temari's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and Satsuki's expression shifted from anger to astonishment, and then to a complex mix of confusion.

Naruto stood there, blinking, his brain struggling to process the meaning of the sentence.

"What... what are you saying..." Temari's voice was extremely hoarse; she felt she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

Gaara ignored her.

He lowered his head, and the words that had been bottled up for so long poured out like a flood breaking through a dam.

"Naruko... she's so wonderful."

"From the first time I saw her, I knew. She had Naruto's face, Naruto's hair, Naruto's beard, Naruto's smile... She was so much like him, so much like the person who pulled me out of the darkness." Every time I see her, I think of that day. I think of Naruto standing in front of me, looking at me with those eyes. I think of every word he said, every single syllable. I think of the first time I realized what it felt like to be needed, that living meant being able to look forward to tomorrow.

"So... I can't bear to touch her, I can't bear to defile her in that way. I can't bear to associate Naruto's appearance with that kind of thing."

He looked up, his watery eyes gazing at Naruto with a devout light. "Just being held in her arms every day is enough for me."

"As long as I can hear her voice every day, hear her speak to me in Naruto's voice, I feel that my day has meaning."

"Just seeing her face, just sitting next to her, just knowing she's there—it can make me happy all day."

"To me, she is not a tool for venting my desires."

"She is... she is the only comfort Naruto left by my side, she is my light."

That's right, everything Gaara said was a genuine expression of his feelings.

He wasn't making excuses, he wasn't trying to elicit sympathy with those words. He was telling the truth; every single word was true.

From the day Naruko was created, from the moment Kankuro handed this puppet to him, Gaara truly never touched her.

It's not that I don't want to.

On the contrary, it's because they want it so much that they dare not touch it.

Naruko looks so much like Naruto. That face, that beard, that blond hair, that outfit—every detail reminds him that this is the person in his heart.

Every time he saw her, he would think of Naruto standing in front of him, the words Naruto had said to him, and the warmth Naruto had brought him.

Therefore, he dared not, dared not, desecrate this beauty in that way.

I can't bring myself to associate Naruto's appearance with that kind of desire.

I don't dare to become the kind of person... someone I would hate myself.

So he kept Naruko by his side, holding her to sleep every night, listening to her speak every night, and feeling her presence every night. But that was all. He never crossed that line, never let his desires override his reason.

Never.

Even today.

Until Naruto handed him the Sand Crystal containing chakra, until he personally injected Naruto's chakra into Naruko's body, until Naruko opened her eyes again—those eyes had changed.

Previously, Naruko's eyes were simply sapphires meticulously crafted by Kankuro and Granny Chiyo —beautiful, exquisite, yet hollow.

Those were just beautiful eyes, but they had no soul, no warmth, and no trace of Naruto.

But when Naruto's chakra was injected, and when that warm and familiar power flowed through the puppet's body—those eyes seemed to come alive.

No longer just a beautiful gemstone, but truly possessing a spirit. That spirit, that radiance, that inclusiveness and gentleness when looking at him—it's so similar.

He looks so much like Naruto.

Gaara almost forgot that it was a puppet at that moment, and almost thought that Naruto was really in front of him.

So when Naruko opened her eyes, looked at him with those blue eyes that still held Naruto's warmth, and softly said, "Gaara, I'm here"—he broke down.

All those desires that had been suppressed for so long, all those longings that had accumulated day and night, all those emotions that he had desperately tried to suppress—all burst forth at that moment.

He kissed her.

Desire defeated Gaara for the first time.

At that moment, he was no longer Kazekage, no longer a calm and composed leader, but simply... a pitiful person who missed that person too much, yet could never truly possess that person.

Kankuro lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly; it was unclear whether he was crying or laughing.

"No... no way." Temari's voice broke the silence.

She looked at Gaara, her eyes filled with disbelief.

A hot-blooded young man and a beautiful girl puppet he could use at will, spending every day together, being held in his arms and treated gently—and doing absolutely nothing?

Temari couldn't believe it.

She spoke tentatively, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

"Could it be... Gaara, is there something wrong with your body that Gaara from getting up?"

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the entire room seemed to freeze.

Gaara's face flushed crimson at a visible speed. "Every time I see even just his face, I react!"

He shouted it out, his voice so loud it could blow the roof off.

"It hasn't gone down yet!"

"Aaaaaah--!" Temari screamed, covering her ears with her hands. "Don't say things like that so loudly--!"

(The friendship in the Ninja World remains strong; I had so much fun writing this.)