Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, was actually the father of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. But due to their complicated relationship, outsiders saw no familial affection in this family.
"The old Kazekage is dead?" Kankuro said in shock. "Impossible. The Kazekage clearly entered Konoha. Did people from Konoha kill him?"
"No," Temari said. "The Kazekage's body was found in the desert. It was probably the work of the Sound Ninja."
"This is bad." Kankuro said with a worried expression, "If Gaara finds out about this, who knows what will happen."
Kabuto Yakushi heard Temari and Kankuro's conversation, and his eyes were filled with unease.
The timing was right, so Naruto hurriedly asked in a low voice, "Who is the Kazekage?"
Kabuto Yakushi quickly covered Naruto's mouth, killing intent flashing in his eyes. What should I do? I never expected Lord Orochimaru's assassination of Rasa to be exposed so quickly. What am I supposed to do...
Kabuto Yakushi's eyes gleamed viciously. Seeing the unconscious Gaara, he came up with an idea. Since he had already gone this far, he might as well silence Temari and Kankuro here.
Naruto smiled faintly to himself. Kabuto Yakushi did not notice his smile, only to see the unconscious Gaara suddenly awaken.
How could this happen! Gaara waking up now was far too convenient! Kabuto Yakushi clenched his teeth and remained hidden, continuing to observe in secret.
Gaara woke up, slowly sat up, and rubbed his head. "What happened to me?"
"You were caught in the Genjutsu of the Earth Scroll and were unconscious for a while," Temari explained.
Gaara said coldly, "Naruto was the one who harmed me. Sooner or later, I'll get my revenge on him."
At that moment, Kankuro shot Temari a look. Its meaning was obvious: he was asking whether she would tell Gaara that the Kazekage was already dead.
Temari shook her head, refusing to tell Gaara about it.
Gaara noticed it. Temari and Kankuro seemed to be hiding something, so he asked, "Is there something you need to tell me?"
"Th-this..." Kankuro's expression changed. In the end, he said with a grim face, "No."
Temari replied, "Gaara, you've been affected by the scroll's Genjutsu. Get some proper rest first."
Meanwhile, Kabuto Yakushi, who was hiding nearby, still refused to make a move. He was uncertain. Without Gaara, he was confident he could take down Temari and Kankuro. But Gaara had awakened at this moment, and Kabuto Yakushi alone might not be able to defeat all three of them.
Seeing Kabuto Yakushi hesitate, Naruto urged him inwardly, Scared, huh? Are you going in or not!
The killing intent around Kabuto Yakushi had not diminished in the slightest, leaving Naruto stunned. Could he really dare to take on three people alone!
Just as Kabuto Yakushi was about to make his move, Naruto hurriedly said, "Do you know medical ninjutsu? Can you save Sasuke? Sasuke is dying."
Kabuto Yakushi was shocked. He had searched for Sasuke before but could not find him anywhere. He had never expected to learn Sasuke's whereabouts from Naruto now.
Kabuto Yakushi weighed the pros and cons. On one hand, he could go save Sasuke; on the other, he could kill Gaara's three-man team to silence them. Kabuto Yakushi was not completely certain he could eliminate all three of them, so he gave up on that plan and decided to save Sasuke first.
After that, Naruto left with Kabuto Yakushi and swiftly headed toward Sasuke's hiding place. Along the way, Naruto and Kabuto chatted quite a bit.
After Naruto and Kabuto Yakushi left, white smoke rose from Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro's bodies. They transformed into Naruto's appearance; all three were Naruto's Shadow Clones.
Naruto had personally put on a show for Kabuto Yakushi.
Naruto led Kabuto Yakushi back to the tree hollow from before. Kabuto Yakushi looked stunned. He had passed through this place earlier, yet he had not noticed that Sasuke was hiding here.
"Naruto!" Sakura poked her head out of the tree hollow. When she saw Naruto had brought back a stranger, she asked in surprise, "Who is he?"
"A great guy from Konoha," Naruto quickly said. "His name is Kabuto. He helped me before, and he said he was skilled in medical ninjutsu, so I brought him here to treat Sasuke's injuries."
Sakura looked at Kabuto uneasily. He wore a Konoha forehead protector and black glasses. He looked refined, and his smile was rather pleasant. In any case, he did not look like a bad person.
"Come in," Sakura reluctantly agreed.
Naruto and Kabuto crawled into the tree hollow together and found that it was quite spacious inside. Sasuke lay at the very back.
Sakura explained, "Sasuke had a high fever earlier and was breathing rapidly. His condition has stabilized now, and his temperature has gone down."
Hearing Sakura's words, Kabuto Yakushi knew that Sasuke had pulled through. The Heaven's Curse Mark had been successfully implanted.
After giving Sasuke a simple examination, Kabuto Yakushi said, "He's not in any mortal danger."
"Heh." Naruto was overjoyed inside. As expected of Sasuke Uchiha. He really is the man I chose. With you here, I won't have to fight alone in the future.
Kabuto asked, "Have you collected both the Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll?"
Sakura immediately became wary and asked in return, "What are you trying to do?"
"Don't misunderstand." Kabuto took out his own Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll. "I collected them long ago. I'm not going to steal yours."
Naruto said, "We collected them too."
"Sasuke's condition isn't good right now. I'll escort you to the tower," Kabuto suggested.
"Then thank you. You really are a great guy from Konoha. You're so good to juniors like us."
Over the next stretch of time, Naruto's group successfully reached the tower under Kabuto's escort. Sakura also gained a much better impression of him.
After exchanging a few simple words, Naruto bid Kabuto farewell. Kabuto then hurried off.
After Kabuto left, Naruto carried the still-unconscious Sasuke into the tower. The tower had several floors, each with several rooms. These rooms had been prepared for Genin who cleared the test.
"Which room should we choose?" Sakura asked.
"Every room has a seal on its door." Naruto observed their surroundings. "Some seals have been torn, so those rooms were probably used by others. We just need to find one with an intact seal."
After finding a room with an intact seal, Naruto pushed open the door and placed Sasuke on the floor. Strange. Why has Sasuke been asleep for so long? The more I think about it, the more wrong it feels. We've already reached the tower, yet Sasuke still hasn't woken up...
Naruto then undid Sasuke's clothes, startling Sakura beside him.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura said, though her eyes were already wide open as she stared straight at Sasuke's body. At the same time, she shouted inwardly, Naruto, hurry up and get on with it...
"There's something strange about Sasuke's condition," Naruto explained. "He's been unconscious for far too long. It shouldn't have lasted this long."
When Naruto stripped off Sasuke's shirt completely, he discovered another curse mark on Sasuke's chest.
"This is... the Earth Seal!" Naruto cried out. "That bastard Orochimaru actually implanted both the Heaven's Curse Mark and the Earth Seal into Sasuke's body at the same time!"
Before you continue