After a break of a few minutes, everyone returned to staring at the screen to witness the end of Gaara and Deidara fight.
Even though Gaara had the upper hand right now, they couldn't relax until they had a definite outcome.
Blood splatter spread on Gaara's sand.
The blonde Akatsuki member who was his opponent quickly made the other clay birds to get away from Gaara.
Gaara watched his opponent walk away, then pulled the sand that was attached to the Akatsuki member's hand and cut off the blonde's hand.
They keep their distance from each other.
"Tch, so he's still alive after being caught by Gaara's sand," Kankurou whispered.
"You're good, yeah," said the blonde as he reached into his pocket, "Geez, I only have a little clay left, just enough for one more strike."
He then looked at the sand that severed his hand.
"I see, the sand he used to crush my hand and the sand protecting it are different from the normal sand he carries in terms of speed and strength. So that means he always walks around with some sand in his gourd. In other words, only that sand is specially made from tons of accumulated chakra."
He then turned his gaze to Gaara who was surrounded by sand.
"Thus, that's where we get the 'Ultimate Defense' of sand, as well as sand to attack in an instant. So in that case, the hole in the sand there was the result of him crushing my hand."
Almost everyone was surprised by Deidara's thoughts, especially the teenagers.
"I know I shouldn't praise the enemy, but…" Kiba said.
"Yeah, his composure is amazing. Even after his arm is severed, he can still analyze his opponent calmly," added Shino.
"That's what it means to be an experienced shinobi, be it good or bad," Kurenai said, drawing their attention.
"Yeah, no matter how much pain you suffer, if you show your weakness even a little, then it's the end of your life. Especially if it's a life and death battle," said Asuma.
The teens nodded and kept the lesson in their heads.
He then took hold of the new clay he had made, "All that's left of my explosives is #18 and this homing bird, yeah."
"What's that?" Ask Ino.
"It's one of his arts that has a big bang, and I think I know what he's planning to do," Itachi said in response to Ino's question.
It didn't take them long to figure out what Itachi meant. And some of them became anxious at the outcome of this battle.
The Suna trio stared at the screen worriedly.
While Gaara was fighting the Akatsuki members, several of Suna's shinobi were gathering.
"From looking at that form, we can assume that Kazekage-sama's opponent is a member of Akatsuki," said one of the shinobi.
"As I thought," said Kankurou who was frowning.
"Hurry up, prepare for the fight! We will back up the Kazekage!" shouted Baki, "Medic team, set up barriers and guide the civilians there!"
"Yes sir!"
Then they all scattered throughout the village, leaving Kankurou and Baki behind.
"Kankurou," said Baki.
"What?"
"Consider the idea of Gaara going crazy again in your head, as well as the scenario when 'Shukaku' comes out too," said Baki while looking at Kankurou.
"That won't happen," thought Kankurou and Temari at the same time. The two of them were the ones who knew best how much Gaara had changed since his fight with Naruto.
Kankurou was silent at Baki's words, then he said, "That… won't happen. Gaara won't hurt the villagers."
He then recalled the conversation he had with Gaara in the past.
At that time in the afternoon, Gaara and Kankurou stood facing the setting sun.
"I don't want to say this, but people think of you as just a frightening weapon," said Kankurou suddenly, "To separate from us and join their gang suddenly like this… would be difficult. The superiors don't think much of you, when it comes to you, the majority of the villagers are overcome with fear."
Kankurou felt annoyed when he remembered the people who were still afraid of Gaara. They still saw Gaara as a weapon and a terrifying monster. They didn't see that Gaara had changed for the better.
"…" Gaara didn't answer, he continued to stare at the sunset. After a while, he then replied, "I know, but… just by waiting, I get attacked by an ever greater anguish."
Kankurou slightly widened his eyes hearing Gaara's words, he then looked at his brother worriedly.
"All I can do is create my own path through hard work without being a loner and taking the easy route. Then one day, maybe I'm… like… so that's why I, as a shinobi of the land of the sands, aim to become Kazekage. To be bound and live for this village."
"Gaara…."
"Through hard work, I want to be respected by everyone. I got that after seeing Uzumaki Naruto," continued Gaara, "But until now, bonding with other people... was just a nuisance to the point where I wanted to kill it. But for him to go so far as to say 'What's the deal with bonding?!'. Now, there is something I understand a little better."
Sakura thought back to when she was attacked by Gaara until she fainted. She used to believe that it was Sasuke who had saved her, but Sasuke denied it and said that it was Naruto who saved her. She thought at that time Sasuke was a humble person, so she decided to believe that Naruto saved her because that's what Sasuke said. Now that she had heard Gaara's words, only then did she truly believe that Naruto was the one who saved her.
"I guess I'll have to treat him to something the next time we meet," thought Sakura.
"…" Kankurou couldn't say anything, he only heard Gaara's words.
"Hate, sadness, and even happiness, to be able to share it with others. Uzumaki Naruto, ever since fighting him… I learned that. He felt pain like I did, and then he taught me that you can change that path. I want that someday, I will be needed by someone. Not as a fearsome weapon, but as the Kazekage of the land of the sands."
Gaara ended his words with a smile, Kankuro couldn't help but smile at him.
"Gaara-kun." Lee was touched by Gaara's words, he remembered their conversation after the fight with Kimimaro and Gaara's determination to get people to acknowledge his existence. Seeing Gaara who has now become Kazekage reminded himself as a person who is impossible to become a shinobi because he can't Ninjutsu. But in the end they both managed to turn something impossible into possible.
"You did it Gaara," Kankurou said, "I mean there are even some young shinobi who admire you."
"Shhh," Temari asked Kankurou to be quiet, she felt now wasn't the time to joke around like that.
"Heh, thanks you two," Gaara said with a small chuckle.
Temari and Kankurou looked at each other, it was rare for Gaara to make an expression let alone chuckle that it took them by surprise. The two of them then smiled at their little brother.
All of the current Suna's shinobi have spread throughout the village, they are currently watching the fight between the Kazekage and the member of Akatsuki.
"Do your best, Kazekage-sama!" shouted one of the shinobi.
Gaara stared at his opponent from his sand pit defense, his enemy had now made a large, bird-shaped clay bomb.
"That's all, I will destroy this village, yeah," said the blonde, "However, he's stronger than I thought. It's as Master Sasori said, I was unprepared."
The warm atmosphere was replaced with tension in an instant after hearing Deidara's words.
"Did he just say he was going to destroy the village?" Kankurou asked worriedly.
"Yeah, he said that," Temari replied tensely.
Gaara narrowed his eyes, "So he's really unprepared, I'll have to make good use of that opportunity when I face him later."
He then noticed Gaara.
"Being stopped from the bottom would put me in a bad mood. That and I'm tired of your expressionless face."
Then he dropped the clay bomb he had made earlier into the center of the village, "Hehe, the 'exploding clay' doll I made from clay and chakra from the mouth in my palm. Of all the things I could make, my 'speciality #18' had the highest level of 'c3' chakra put into it. Its explosive power is my greatest artistic achievement."
Gaara widened his eyes when he saw what the blonde was doing, meanwhile the shinobi below looked at the clay explosion in confusion.
Almost everyone widened their eyes at the scene.
"Shit, shit, shit," Kankurou said widening his eyes.
"Run from there!" Temari shouted.
"…." Gaara narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything. From that distance, he was confident he could stop the explosion from blowing up his village.
"What's that!?" asked the confused shinobi.
"This is bad! Stay away!" Baki realized something bad was about to happen and told everyone to stay away.
"You're too late, yeah," said the blonde, then he raised his two fingers, "Release!"
"!" Kankurou widened his eyes and gritted his teeth.
After that, a huge explosion occurred right in the middle of the village.
The teenagers watched in horror at what they saw.
"T-the explosion was huge," Hinata said worriedly.
"Damn it. How many people died from that explosion," Kiba grumbled.
"Nothing," said Lee suddenly.
Lee's words caught people's attention.
"What do you mean Lee?" Asked a confused Tenten.
"Gaara-kun must have stopped him, I'm sure of it," Lee said seriously, his gaze never leaving the screen.
They decided to believe in Lee's words, because of all the people in the room except for the suna trio, Lee was the one who knew Gaara's strength the best.
"Hehe," the blonde laughed a little at his handiwork.
Gaara stared at the location of the explosion, waiting for the smoke from the explosion to dissipate.
The blonde's laughter stopped as the smoke cleared and he was speechless.
After the smoke cleared, not a single damage was done to the village. It was because the giant sand covered the village and protected the shinobi from the explosion.
"Th-This…. Is…"
"Kazekage-sama's sand."
"Wow, to be able to make such a huge barrier like that…"
The Suna shinobi below, looked in awe at the sand Gaara made to protect them.
"Gaara," said Kankurou who was smiling and relieved at the same time.
"See, I was right," said Lee excitedly.
"Thank goodness," Kankurou said with relief, he slumped on his sofa.
The youths were also relieved that the villagers had been rescued.
"No, it's too soon to be grateful. The fight isn't over yet," Kakashi said, he had a bad feeling somehow.
"…." Itachi didn't say anything, he felt the attack was not Deidara's main goal.
Meanwhile, Gaara was panting for his quick action, his enemy saw that. The blonde then raised his two fingers again.
"Ok, within shooting range, yeah."
Suddenly a bird made of clay explosion managed to sneak up and was right in front of Gaara's sand pit defense, Gaara who saw it widened his eyes in surprise.
"Release!"
Right after that, an explosion occurred at Gaara's place.
"GAARA!" shouted Temari and Kankurou at the same time, they were worried about what had happened to Gaara.
Everyone gets tensed by what happened.
"So he used that attack just now to distract Gaara, that was his goal," Guy said.
"Yeah, as far as I know, Deidara isn't someone who attacks for nothing," said Itachi.
But luckily, Gaara quickly re-covered his sand defense so no damage was done.
Temari and Kankurou breathed a sigh of relief, they should have known that Gaara wouldn't be defeated that easily.
"As you'd expect, those tailor-made sand guards must be fast," said the blonde, he didn't seem bothered by the failure of his attack, instead he smirked, "But as I thought."
Everyone had a bad feeling hearing Deidara's words.
"What does he mean?" Sakura asked.
"That means that Gaara survived the explosion is included in his calculations," Shikamaru replied, his eyes narrowed and he had suspicions as to what Deidara was up to.
Kankurou and Temari tensed up again hearing Shikamaru's words.
He then raised both his fingers and stared at Gaara's sand defense.
Gaara widened his eyes when he saw several clay explosions right in front of his face.
"Release!"
"Shi-" Gaara shouted.
Right after that, an explosion occurred inside Gaara's sand defense.
"NO!" Temari shouted, her eyes widening at what was happening.
"DAMN! No… no, this can't be happening," Kankurou said worriedly, he gritted his teeth hard.
Both of them became worried and anxious seeing their brother's state on the screen. Seeing that, Gaara decided to speak up.
"Calm down, Kankurou, Temari," Gaara said to his siblings, "This incident hasn't happened yet, and we can come up with a well-thought-out plan to fight them later. That's what we look for in this future."
The two siblings looked at their brother, then they looked at each other. Finally they took a breath to calm down.
"I think you're right, Gaara," Kankurou said resignedly. But the anxiety that Kankurou and Temari had didn't go away when they saw Gaara's fate on the screen.
"Hehe, you did crush my hand but I used the opportunity to take some of your sand and put down my clay blast. You used that part of the sand to guard against your bad luck, yeah," he thought with a grin, "But I digress, I planned it so it would be that way. If I detonate something near you, you will definitely use the sand from the gourd you used to crush my hand quickly."
Gaara's sand defenses began to crumble, revealing a defenseless Gaara.
Everyone anxiously looked at the defenseless Gaara.
"Gaara-kun.." Lee thought worriedly. This was the first time he had seen a helpless Gaara like this, so he couldn't help but worry about his friend's fate, "No, I have to calm down. Just like Gaara-kun said, this hasn't happened yet, and if they need help, I'll help right away."
With renewed determination, Lee looked back at the screen.
"It was the last strike as well, so in order to properly detonate it, I had to create that opportunity first. That's the reason I used my special skill number 18, yeah," thought the blonde happily. He then saw the sand covering the village move away from the village and begin to fall.
"Heh, a typical kazekage, using the last of his strength to protect the village. It would be much easier to let it fall on them."
"Even though he is in danger, he still prioritizes protecting the villagers," thought Tsunade, then smiled a little, "He has become a great Kage."
"Gaara!" Kankurou who saw that all called out to Gaara anxiously.
"Damn, I can't do anything there," thought Kankurou annoyed, his little brother was trying hard to protect the village and he was just watching from a distance, it made him helpless.
"Kankurou…" Temari worriedly looked at Kankurou, she could feel his frustration, "If only I was there, I might be able to provide remote support for Gaara. The enemy attacked at a very bad time."
Gaara who could no longer maintain his presence in the air began to fall, but he was immediately caught by the enemy.
"Not killing him is a bit more difficult than I imagined, but my job here is done. Mission accomplished."
"So after this you will extract the Bijuu chakra and if I'm not mistaken put it into the Gedo Mazo statue, right?" Kakashi asked Itachi.
Itachi nodded.
"How long will it take to do that?"
"It took at least three days, and maybe more because Orochimaru left."
"I see, so there's time to save Gaara," Kakashi concluded, meanwhile Shizune took note of the information Itachi said.
After his mission was accomplished, he decided to retreat.
The shinobi who saw the battle were speechless, their current Kazekage had been defeated by the enemy.
"They want to bring him alive?" thought Baki who widened his eyes.
Kankurou immediately acted upon seeing Gaara defeated, "Their goal is Gaara? That bastard!"
Baki was cut off from his thoughts after seeing Kankurou running, he immediately shouted at Kankurou "Kankurou! They were at a high enough level to beat Gaara! You won't be able to do anything on your own!"
"So you're only planning to leave Gaara?"
"Don't say something like that. Fine, just follow them, don't take any action. If we can even take control of their base, we can form a group to attack."
"Ok, if I can." After that Kankurou went after the enemy who brought Gaara.
"Tch, Kankurou.." Baki grumbled. He decided to take action, "Form a chase team to follow Kankurou right away! And send an emergency message to Konoha about this situation, this is an emergency," he ordered his subordinates.
"Roger!" shouted his subordinates.
"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen," thought Baki.
"So, in the end we asked Konoha for help, huh," said Kankurou resignedly.
"It can't be helped, this is an emergency of the highest degree, and they are our closest allies at this time," Temari said.
Kankurou who was chasing the enemy saw his enemy landed at the village gate, "He landed?"
The blonde carrying Gaara landed near Sasori who was waiting.
"You're late. I told you not to keep me waiting," growled Sasori.
"Well, he's strong..."
"That's why I said to be more prepared."
After that they decided to immediately leave the village.
Kankurou who has just arrived at the village gate froze and was horrified by what he saw, the corpses of the suna shinobi lying along the gate.
Sadness struck the Suna trio to see their comrades die.
"I won't let that happen again," Gaara determined, it was his duty as Kazekage to protect his villagers.
"What the hell, this is so crazy…" Kankurou said. He gritted his teeth and immediately ran after the enemy, after he exited the gate he saw the enemy who defeated Gaara and the person he thought was the blonde comrade.
"Wait!" he shouted, bringing the two foes to a halt. He worriedly looked at the currently unconscious Gaara. "Give Gaara back to me."
Gaara and Temari were surprised to see Kankurou's actions.
"Didn't you say you would just follow them," Temari said angrily.
"Do you think I can stay still? I just silently watched as Gaara fought and was defeated, there's no way I'd stay silent any longer," Kankurou retorted sharply.
Temari couldn't answer, she would also do the same if she were in Kankurou's position.
Gaara didn't say anything, he was grateful that after his cruel treatment in the past, his two siblings were still worried about him. He promised not to worry them again.
The two enemies stared at Kankurou, then Sasori decided to speak.
"Deidara, you go first," said Sasori to his colleague who is now named Deidara. He then completely faced Kankurou.
Kankurou who saw that his enemy did not want to compromise immediately took action, he took the three scrolls that were on his back and spread them in the sand beneath him.
He then performed a hand seal and then the three scrolls named Karasu, Sanshouuo, and Kuroari erupted into a plume of smoke.
Kankurou suddenly had a bad feeling seeing his actions on the screen. The puppet he is currently wearing is made by Sasori, of course Sasori will know every move the puppet he makes. Kankurou realized that he had made a big mistake.
"No, the me over there didn't know that person was Sasori. I'll have to completely modify my puppets later," thought Kankurou.
Sasori and Deidara just watched in silence Kankurou's actions.
After the smoke cleared, Kankurou was seen who was now surrounded by three puppets.
"Kugutsu no Jutsu," muttered Sasori.
"Okay, I'll go first, yeah," said Deidara as he jumped on the bird carrying Gaara.
"You can't go anywhere," Kankurou shouted. He used the chakra threads on his fingers to move the Karasu puppet to chase Deidara.
But before the puppet reached Deidara's place, it was stopped by a tail that suddenly shot out of Sasori's body, surprising Kankurou.
"Since I don't like waiting and making people wait, then I'll end this quickly," said Sasori.
Many people suddenly get goosebumps hearing Sasori's words, especially for teenagers.
"I have a bad feeling," said Ino nervously.
"Yeah, this Sasori gives off a scarier impression than Deidara," Chouji said, a drop of sweat dripping from his face.
"That proves his experience as a shinobi. From the bingo book I read, he belongs to the S class runaway ninja from Suna. During the third shinobi war, he massacred all his enemies in the desert, since then he has been nicknamed 'Sasori the Red Sand'. He's not an enemy to be trifled with," Shikamaru explained to his two comrades.
Ino and Chouji gulped, they couldn't imagine themselves in Kankurou's position. They will surely die.
Chouji took more food to calm himself down.
In Konoha, Naruto and Sakura are waiting for Kakashi to take on their first mission. Naruto was annoyed that Kakashi was late for gathering, after a while of waiting, Kakashi finally came.
"So we go back to Konoha, huh," Kakashi said quietly, he wondered what he and his students would do when Suna was in trouble.
For the suna trio, they felt a little relieved. They can relax themselves for a while.
"You're late!" shouted Naruto.
"Well, this time I was delayed by filling out paperwork for the new team," Kakashi replied.
"Today we start our first mission as a new team. So be enthusiastic Kakashi-sensei, you've always been like this from the start," said Naruto with a frown.
"Oh, just let it be. There's nothing he can do about the fact that he has a face devoid of enthusiasm," Sakura rebuked.
"Hey, hey, now..." Kakashi complained to Sakura.
Several people laughed, because the tense atmosphere for a while had passed, they were finally able to release themselves from the pressure.
Kakashi's face contorted at the words of his student, "I lost my dignity, didn't I?"
"Relax, sensei. We still respect you," Sakura said with a smirk.
"Why don't those words make me happy at all?" said Kakashi shrugging his shoulders.
Then he looked up when he felt something.
It was a messenger bird from Suna.
"So fast," said Kiba in surprise.
"It is one of our fastest birds," Kankurou replied. He was happy that the bird arrived safely.
The bird continues to fly towards the recipient of the message. After arriving there, the bird landed and perched on the place that had been provided.
An officer saw the bird landing, at first he was relaxed because he was used to receiving messages but then he was surprised to see the type of bird that landed.
"This… It's the fastest in the sand, Takamaru!" he shouted as he drew closer to the bird, "Code team, come here quickly!"
He then took the letter that was in the bird's bag and opened it.
"If this one came, then something must have happened," he said as a woman from the code-breaking team came over.
"Understood, I will decode this immediately," the woman said.
"That means that an emergency message will reach Tsunade-sama soon," said Shizune.
Tsunade nodded "Yeah, and I'm quite curious as to what I'm doing, though I have some guesses."
In the office where the mission was taken, Naruto was complaining about the mission he was about to take.
"Ehhhh, that mission. No, thank you."
"Hah, what kind of response is that," said Tsunade in annoyance.
Iruka sighed.
"That brat..." Tsunade grumbled.
Sakura and Shizune suddenly got goosebumps.
"Please stop being selfish, if she gets angry I'm the one who gets affected," thought Kakashi who frowned at Naruto.
Several people stared blankly at Kakashi.
"W-what..?" asked Kakashi nervously.
"Don't worry, Kakashi. I understand your feelings," Asuma said reassuringly.
"Hah!? What does that mean, Asuma-sensei?" Ask Ino. Shikamaru and Chouji also looked at Asuma.
Asuma pretended not to listen.
"Geez," Iruka said with a sigh and massaged his head seeing Naruto's behavior, "Naruto, you're not mature at all, are you?"
"S-sorry sensei, I'll reprimand him," said Sakura while locking Naruto's neck, "You idiot, you don't think how scary Hokage-sama is when you say words like that, aarrrggghh!"
"Noooooo! Why did I say that in my mind!" screamed Sakura in her mind, she was sweating profusely at this point.
"Sakura."
Someone called out to her, she felt goosebumps down her spine, she realized she was in big trouble right now. Stiffly, she turned to the source of the voice, she was greeted by Tsunade's deadly gaze.
"Y-Yes…?"
"So I'm scary huh..."
"N-no, I didn't mean-"
"I want to speak privately with you later."
"Eh? B-but.."
"Do you have any complaints?" Tsunade asked sharply.
"N-No!" she shouted in fright, then lowered her head in surrender.
Shizune and Ino looked at Sakura with pity.
"The third Hokage is more ... wise," said Naruto who was struggling to break free from Sakura's lockdown.
"Stop saying that, you idioooooot!" cried Sakura in her mind.
"Huh, what did you say just now?" Tsunade asked.
"Stop dammit," Sakura shouted at Naruto, choking him even tighter.
"Th-This is bad, Hokage-sama!" shouted a woman who suddenly barged in.
"This is it," Shizune whispered.
"What's that? You're very loud."
"The Kazekage of the sands has been kidnapped by an organization called Akatsuki, we just received the message," the woman said.
Everyone in the room suddenly became serious, some widened their eyes.
"Gaara...? Are they again?" thought Naruto while thinking of Itachi and Kisame.
Tsunade closed her eyes, she took back the mission she was about to give to team Kakashi, after a while she opened her eyes and looked at team Kakashi.
"Team Kakashi, I will give you a new mission. Immediately go to Suna and find out the situation there, then report back to Konoha. After that, follow the instructions of the people from Suna and help them."
"Well, we're at the right place and time," Kakashi said as he settled himself down on the sofa.
"Hmm, this could be risky if things don't go well," said Jiraiya.
"I know, but I don't think he'll be okay. After all, Kakashi is there," replied Tsunade.
"I'll try," Kakashi said while scratching his head.
Sakura sighed and felt a little nervous, "This is a very dangerous mission, save the Kazekage and there is a possibility of dealing with members of Akatsuki."
This reminded him of his first mission, which started as an escort mission into a battle with extremely dangerous shinobi.
But now there was a difference, she was already stronger than she used to be.
"Hey, are you all right?" Ask Ino.
Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."
She had made up her mind.
Thanks for reading!
Next Update: Shokugeki no Shana