It was her?
Although the girl in the image was just a short little sprout, Gaara recognized her at a glance—it was that Uchiha girl, seemingly named something Uchiha.
Gaara was deeply impressed by Satsuki, not only for her fierce strength and Sharingan displayed in the preliminaries, but mainly because every time he saw Naruto, this girl was almost always clinging to Naruto like a conjoined twin, her dark eyes constantly scanning the surroundings vigilantly.
Then, in this memory, Gaara saw little Naruto receive, for the first time, pure kindness from a peer, untainted by any impurities or fear.
This black-haired, black-eyed girl didn't scream and run away like other children, nor did she cast glances of disgust or aloofness.
Little Naruto seemed a bit happy and said something to this girl, who was as beautiful as a doll. And little Satsuki showed no signs of aversion at all. Just like that, the two tiny figures actually began to train together on that training ground, clumsily yet earnestly... First, it was that Old Man with power, then the ramen shop owner, and now... was it her again? Gaara thought silently.
He watched the fragments of memory flow, but it was little Naruto's unusually strange reaction and confirmation of something when he learned little Satsuki's name that made Gaara feel a touch of oddness; it wasn't merely the joy of making a friend.
The flow of memories began to quicken, like turning pages of a book. At the same time, some extremely brief, blurry black fragments were interspersed, flashing by. Gaara couldn't make out what they were.
Was it... his secret that he didn't want outsiders to know? Naruto's deepest secret, the one he least wanted others to know, was protected by his inner self.
Gaara felt like he was watching a film on fast-forward, observing the days pass by.
From that day on, Naruto's life trajectory completely changed. After Uchiha Satsuki learned of the nasty rumors about Naruto in the Village, not only did she not distance herself from him, but she was indignant about the baseless slanders, even almost coming to blows with some children who spoke ill of Naruto once. Moreover, Satsuki was different from the Old Man and the ramen shop owner before.
Little Naruto and little Satsuki agreed to meet whenever they had time at their secret little base to train together, or just simply be together. From seeing each other three or four times a week initially, it increased to five times... until finally, they met almost every day, inseparable.
Gaara clearly saw that, perhaps even Naruto himself had not realized, the disappointment and sense of alienation towards his "hometown" that had permeated his eyes were gradually fading and dissolving with the black-haired girl's daily companionship. His blue eyes were re-infused with light, rekindling anticipation and longing for every new tomorrow... So that's it... Gaara seemed to understand a little, understanding why Naruto ultimately didn't fall into darkness like himself, but instead grew into the warm, sun-like person he was now.
It was because... someone was always pulling him back, pulling him towards the light... "..."
Just as Gaara was immersed in this unprecedented tranquility, trying to sort out the jumbled thoughts in his mind.
"Stinky Fox! You spineless coward! You've actually stooped to aligning yourself with despicable humans! Have you forgotten the pain of being imprisoned for nearly a century? You are a disgrace to us Tailed Beasts!"
A huge, hoarse roar, full of unwillingness and exasperated fury, suddenly exploded in Gaara's ears! Hearing this familiar voice, Gaara's heart abruptly constricted, and a cold fear instantly crawled through his entire body along his spine.
It... woke up? Was he... going back to that dark, desperate state filled with murderous desires and endless whispers? Was this brief tranquility, after all, just a mirage?
The next moment, the surrounding warm memory scenes shattered like torn photographs, rapidly disintegrating and dissipating into the darkness. When Gaara's consciousness broke free from this torrent and "opened" his eyes again, what greeted him was a different sight.
Gaara didn't know where this was; it was his first time in his own sealing space. It was a vast, mist-filled space.
A colossal, orange-red furred, menacing Nine-Tailed Fox was using one massive claw to firmly pin another constantly struggling, relatively short and stout, sand-composed tanuki—Shukaku—onto the rippling surface of the water.
"So noisy, you stupid tanuki." The Nine-Tailed's huge eyes were full of disdain, his tone carrying condescending mockery, "What do you, a useless creature with only one tail, controlled by genjutsu like a puppet, understand? I didn't expect you to forget the Old Man's words completely in such a short time."
"What?! You can't possibly really think this brat is the person from the Old Man's prophecy, can you?! Stinky Fox! Has your brain been damaged from being sealed for so many years?!" Shukaku, pinned to the ground, still roared unwillingly, his sand-composed body twisting violently.
"Hey, watch your mouth." The Nine-Tailed's claw pressed down slightly, making Shukaku's struggles futile. "Reasoning with a simple-minded idiot like you is a pure waste of my time. Forget it." He seemed to lose patience and turned to speak to another part of the consciousness space, "Alright, Naruto, this guy has been 'persuaded' by me for now. Don't waste time, reinforce the seal now."
"Damn it! Stinky Fox! I'll kill you!!"
Shukaku let out a roar of impotent rage, but no matter how he channeled Chakra, he couldn't budge the Nine-Tailed's suppression under his absolute power.
The Nine-Tailed seemed annoyed by his noise, and the claw pressed on his head suddenly added a few more points of force.
"Ugh—!"
Shukaku's massive body suddenly stiffened, his limbs instantly taut, even his voice was pressed back into his throat by the immense force, and then he finally completely slumped, leaving only heavy, resentful gasps, temporarily "quiet."
Meanwhile, Naruto, appearing in his youthful form, watched the Nine-Tailed's almost "bullying" suppression of Shukaku and sighed helplessly. He didn't say much, quickly forming a series of complex hand signs in front of his chest.
"Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!"
With his shout, a powerful sealing force began to spread throughout this consciousness space.
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