"Gaara!" Naruto Uzumaki cried joyfully when he saw Gaara finally open his eyes in his arms.
"Where am I?" Gaara's voice was weak and confused. His memories stopped at the battle with Deidara to protect the village.
"Naruto... why are you here?"
Hearing the weak but clear question, Naruto smiled and said softly, "Of course I came to save you. Don't talk. I'll heal you right away."
Yang Release chakra turned into a thin stream and flowed into Gaara's body, swiftly stabilizing his life force.
Under this miraculous chakra, Gaara had escaped immediate danger in mere seconds. He raised an arm before his eyes in disbelief.
"Alright, your injuries are temporarily stabilized. The rest will depend on your own recovery. I'll go help Chiyo first."
Naruto rose to his feet and looked toward Sasori, while Gaara took a step back on his own and found a safe distance.
"Chiyo came too?" With a quick glance, Gaara had already grasped the situation. To save him, Sunagakure had sent a considerable force of experts. As the Kazekage, he naturally understood Chiyo's standing within Sunagakure.
"Naruto!"
Just as Naruto took a step forward, Chiyo suddenly spoke. "You protect Gaara. This is a battle between puppet masters. Let me handle it alone."
"Uh..." Naruto hesitated. He wanted to say that this was a waste of time, but seeing the serious look on Chiyo's face, he could not bring himself to say it.
"Old woman, you're courting death. Those pointless convictions and feelings will only bury you." Sasori snorted and began unfastening the buttons of his Akatsuki cloak one by one.
When he reached the second button, his hand paused. After some thought, he lowered his arm again. He remembered that the puppet made from his own body had been destroyed in Konoha three years