[In the footage, the blond boy slowly lifted his head. Blood trickled from his forehead, staining his cheek red, while those sky-blue eyes were filled with sorrow. He was already very close to Gaara. Gaara lay on the ground, clearly unable to move anymore. The blood on his forehead was no less than Naruto's, his clenched teeth trembling slightly…]
That was a look no one who knew Gaara had ever seen before.
Three parts fear.
Five parts sadness.
And the remaining two parts…
Was that grievance?
That monster… was actually feeling wronged?!
["Your feelings, your pain… they're the same as mine. That feeling is unbearable. Being alone, having no one who needs us, like just existing in this world is nothing but a burden… That's why I really can't just ignore you." The trembling voice, paired with those blue eyes, gave people the unmistakable impression that their owner would burst into tears the very next second.]
"!!!"
Gaara was stunned. Without thinking, he roared at Uzumaki Naruto, "What do you know?! What could you possibly understand?! As a weapon, you only need to understand one thing—and that's killing someone stronger to prove your own existence! That's what I was born for! Born from hatred! Born from war!!"
"Gaara…" Behind him, Temari was on the verge of tears. Kankuro pursed his lips, his chest tight and uncomfortable.
["Gaara."
Replacing Naruto's reply… was Naruto in the footage.]
[Naruto, still just a small child, grabbed Gaara, who was no older than him.. Gaara turned back to look at him, and the two of them gradually grew into seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youths. Naruto treated Gaara like a close friend, without the slightest trace of fear or disgust.]
["Gaara."]
[No one knew what had happened, but the way Naruto called his name was gentle and firm. It carried a sense of reliance so strong that Gaara—who, as a One-Tail jinchuriki, had never been able to sleep peacefully—felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.]
["Na…ruto…" The footage cut back and forth between close-ups of their eyes—gentle, watery blue, and green pupils widened in disbelief.]
The young men and women present suddenly felt a tightness in their chests.
From far away, a little girl who wasn't even a ninja clutched her chest and suddenly screamed, "Ahh~ what an amazing bond~~!"
…Apologies to the ninja with sensitive hearing.
Naruto's face instantly turned beet red. "Th-this… what is this, dattebayo?!!!! I-I… aaaaah, I don't know either, dattebayo!!" He didn't even dare look in Gaara's direction now.
His mind was full of one question—what on earth had his future self been through?! He and that Sand ninja were this close?! He wasn't even that close with Sasuke yet!
"What's with you, dead last?!" Sasuke snapped. "Why are you blushing?!"
Naruto turned away, replying in a weird, flustered tone, "Aaaah, nothing! Sasuke, you're the worst!"
Sasuke: "You—!!"
Gaara: "..."
Other village ninja watching this scene:
Hidden Sand Village—
No doubt about it. This is Konoha's conspiracy!
Cloud, Mist, Stone—
Looks like Konoha and Suna(Hidden Sand Village) form a pretty solid alliance in the future.
Akatsuki—
Konan: "It reminds me of Yahiko and Nagato…"
The daimyo—
What on earth are these ninja doing? One moment it's a ninja alliance, then a ninja world war, and now they're openly declaring friendship in front of tens of thousands of people? We really don't understand these tactics. Truly don't understand…
[After the two boys in the footage exchanged a long, deep look, Gaara glanced around in surprise. The figures that had been hidden by white light finally appeared—it was the Sand ninja.]
[Next came a bird's-eye view. Including Temari and Kankuro, almost all of Suna's core forces had arrived! There were also several Leaf ninja. One could vaguely make out Team Guy, as well as Team Kakashi's Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. Naruto was supporting Gaara from behind, while Sakura supported Granny Chiyo.]
[Whether it was the young Kazekage in the footage or Gaara outside the screen, both looked utterly stunned. They stared blankly at the surrounding ninja, as if unable to understand why they were here, or why their eyes were filled with unconcealed worry. Why? For what?]
"Why…" Gaara murmured to himself. "Why do they look at me like that?"
His heart was pounding wildly in his chest. What was this feeling?
It felt just like back then—when he followed Yashamaru's advice and brought medicine to a Sand ninja of the same age whom he had injured…
That sense of… expectation?
Expectation?
What was he expecting?
Yashamaru's words still echoed in his ears—
"Gaara-sama, to heal the wounds in one's heart, one must receive 'affection' from others. By connecting heart to heart, sooner or later, Gaara-sama, you too will…"
["You really made me worry, you idiot." After Naruto spoke, the scene showed Gaara preparing to shake hands with him in farewell. Naruto, who was always acting silly, was so moved that his cheeks flushed red, his blue eyes sparkling as if tears were about to spill over.]
[It turned out that Gaara had taken the initiative, using sand to lift Naruto's right hand, bringing their hands together. To emotional music, they held that handshake for a long time. It was the friendship between Leaf ninja and Sand ninja—mutual understanding, shared bonds. Though brief, it wasn't hard to tell that Konoha had sent reinforcements to save Gaara, the Kazekage.]
[Pulling back from Gaara's memories, the scene returned to the Allied Shinobi Forces' oath ceremony.]
["That person cried for me, his enemy. He treated me—someone who had hurt him—as a friend! He saved me!!"][
[Compared to the cold Kazekage Gaara from before, the Gaara speaking now seemed filled with vitality and a fearless drive to move forward.]
["We were once enemies, but because we are both jinchuriki who bear the same pain, there is no hatred between those who truly understand each other!" Gaara struck his chest, right over his heart. It was that person who had filled the emptiness within him, who taught him how to receive love from others, to keep filling that void, and thus gain truly greater strength!!]
[At this moment, Kakashi of Konoha and Mifune of the Land of Iron both cast appreciative looks toward the young Kazekage of the Sand.]
Outside the footage, Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi did the same.
And across the five great ninja villages—Konoha, Cloud, Sand, Stone, and Rain—the five great nations of Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth, and Water, as well as the Land of Iron, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Grass, the Land of Demons, the Land of Waves, the Land of Rain… a total of twenty-three large and small countries were all driven into deep thought.
What is war?
Why do we wage war?
Hatred. Distrust.
The inability to understand one another…
The strong invade the weak. That is the rule of the world. Those who wish to protect themselves and what they value gather together, forming bonds of trust while breeding suspicion toward outsiders.
Blood ties above clan.
Clan above village.
Village above nation.
One's own nation above all others.
Layer upon layer of such bonds—are there really people who would cry for an enemy?
"Bearing the same pain…" The Fourth Raikage thought of his own brother, also a jinchuriki. To say he felt no guilt would be a lie. "B…"