Naruto tilted his head, a hint of amusement in his blue eyes, his tone casual.
"Are you really that sure you can help me?"
"If you didn't need our help, you probably wouldn't have come here."
Gaara was certain of that.
He finally turned around, meeting Naruto's gaze calmly with his pale green eyes.
Those eyes were completely different from before.
Once, they had held only hollow murderous intent and raging loneliness. Now, they were as clear as a deep pool.
After Naruto sealed Shukaku, Gaara could still enter the Sealing Space to see him. The enormous tanuki still roared, cursed, and jeered behind the iron bars.
But he could no longer affect Gaara.
The whispers that had once plagued him day and night were gone. The madness that constantly gnawed at his sanity had fallen silent.
After a good night's sleep, Gaara felt that his mind was remarkably clear. He had never felt so refreshed.
For the first time in years, there were no voices in his head, allowing his own thoughts to come into focus.
"I can remove the mark on Temari," Naruto said, dropping his flippant expression and straightening up. His blue eyes regarded Gaara seriously. "I need you to help me overthrow the Daimyo's rule."
"You're mad. You're completely mad!"
Ebizo abruptly rose to his feet.
The Sunagakure elder's hair and beard were white, and the wrinkles on his face resembled knife-carved furrows. Now those furrows twisted with anger.
He glared, pointing a trembling, withered finger at Naruto, his voice so shrill it nearly pierced the roof.
Yet although he pointed at Naruto, he kept glancing at Gaara out of the corner of his eye.
He had thought Gaara would stop the blond young man's outrageous talk, that Sunagakure still had someone sensible.
But he was