"Sakura, how's Gaara? You can bring him back, right? If anyone can, it's you!"
Although Sakura had already pronounced Gaara dead, Naruto still clung to a sliver of hope. When he saw her shake her head in silence, his lingering optimism gave way to despair.
"Damn it!"
Naruto slammed his fist into the ground, filled with anger and sorrow over what had happened to Gaara.
As a fellow tailed beast jinchūriki, Naruto knew better than anyone what obstacles Gaara must have faced on his path to becoming Kazekage.
Gaara had endured it all. His village had finally accepted him, and he had become Kazekage. Everything had been so wonderful, yet the Akatsuki had come along and taken it all away.
It was far too cruel a fate for Gaara.
Naruto had hoped that once he became Hokage, he and Gaara could meet as fellow Kage.
With the gaps in his childhood filled and three years of experience behind him, Naruto was much stronger and steadier in this life than he had been in his previous one. Yet the sight of Gaara's cold body still brought tears he could not hold back.
While Naruto mourned Gaara, Kankuro and Temari finally reached the battlefield with Sunagakure's advance force. An even larger force was still on its way behind them.
They had come to bring home the Kazekage who had saved Sunagakure, but all that greeted them was Gaara's peaceful face.
"I'm sorry. By the time we arrived, Gaara was already dead."
Sasuke, who led the team, could not help feeling some guilt as he looked at the grief-stricken people before him.
If I hadn't waited that night, if I'd traveled day and night without worrying about exposing my hidden abilities, could I have saved Gaara before he died?
But there were no