Discussion: How the Nine-Tails led Naruto astray

The two of them were so close that they had to face each other.

"My existence... will not disappear... absolutely will not disappear..."

Gaara seemed to collapse. He struggled to break free from Naruto's hands, his voice trembling: "Why... why can you do this for others... in this case... my existence... is not meaningless..."

He didn't care if he lost, or if Shukaku lost, he didn't care if anyone died, and he didn't care about all his companions. He only cared about himself, his existence, the existence of Gaara.

A Shura who only loves himself.

Naruto looked at him quietly, his tone firm: "Because they saved me from the hell of loneliness and recognized me as a companion."

Shikamaru, Choji, Uncle Ichiraku, Sister Ayame, Grandpa Sandai, Teacher Iruka, Teacher Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, the lecherous sage, Hinata, and the most important Kurama.

"Each of them is my most important companion."

Naruto looked at the dazed Gaara and took a deep breath: "The pain of being alone... is not ordinary pain... I don't know why, I can deeply understand your feelings, but I... already have the most important companions, I will never let you hurt them."

"Even if I gamble my life, even if... I kill you, I will definitely stop you!"

[I told you not to talk to that guy! ]

[Let's go. ]

[Ah, there! ]

[That's him, right? That monster? ]

[Get out! ]

[Monster! 】

Naruto had shed too many tears for this, and even now he couldn't shed more tears. He originally thought so...

But when Shikamaru followed him to skip classes helplessly, and he was too lazy to move but insisted on following him.

When Choji was reluctant to let him go, but he mustered up the courage to hand him the potato chips in his hand.

When Uncle Ichiraku saw him walking alone on the cold road, accompanied by the cold wind and hunger.

When Sister Ayame knew that she had no money to pay for the front...

Tears, I don't know why they flowed again, but...but no matter how these tears flowed, even if they flowed into Naruto's mouth, they tasted strange sweetness, and the bitterness had long disappeared.

Gaara looked at Naruto in a trance. If he was a monster in the dark swamp, then the person in front of him might be a monster who struggled to climb out of the swamp...There was no light in the swamp, but the person lying on the swamp saw the light.

Those who are willing to reach out to him and pull him out of the quagmire may be the most important lifesavers in his heart.

"I have never seen that kind of thing." Gaara looked up at the sky with confusion in his eyes. The ceiling blocked his sight. All he could see were the prison doors that trapped him in the darkness, layer after layer. "To them, I am just a relic of the past that they want to erase."

"Then why do I exist? Uzumaki Naruto, why do I live in this world?"

Maki closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Kankuro looked at Gaara in confusion, as if he knew his younger brother for the first time. Temari leaned against the wall with a complicated look. Kakashi watched the two of them outside the cell, and the decadence in his eyes could not be concealed at all.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling, imitating Gaara's behavior: "I am completely unnecessary to this world. This is probably the most painful thing."

"Me too..." Naruto laughed self-deprecatingly, "I used to think that no one in this village liked me, so I started to play pranks, trying to get their attention in this way, just like you."

Temari closed her eyes.

"I thought I succeeded, and everyone remembered me, just like you..."

Kankuro lowered his head.

"But at that time, the night when I was deceived by Teacher Mizuki, I suddenly found that even if I didn't play pranks, it seemed that someone was always paying attention to me and always worried about me. I found that even if I didn't play pranks like that, they could remember my name."

Kakashi leaned against the wall, his eyes full of relief.

"I want to be Hokage, I want everyone to recognize me, so I became a ninja. I met a lot of people, a ninja who was obviously a defected ninja but had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, a beautiful boy who doubted his own existence like you, but was willing to give his life for someone."

Bai

The smile is still so gentle.

"Hey, Gaara." Naruto's eyes were filled with sadness. "Rather than using this method to make yourself exist in this world, why don't you want to believe that you have always existed? Just like the sand that is still with you at this moment, are they just a killing tool for you?"

"After losing your chakra and Shukaku's chakra, these sands are still protecting you... Have you never been willing to take a look?"

The sand floating in the air is like Naruto. Even if there is only a trace of will left, he will stop in front of the enemy and use everything he has to protect Gaara.

"I'm not strong at all." Naruto looked at Gaara, "Compared to Kurama, Sasuke and you, I haven't even learned the Three Body Technique, my kunai throwing is also very bad, and my physical skills are not outstanding, so I'm not strong at all. I just want to protect my important partners and do my best for this."

"Just like these sands."

...

Naruto left, because Jiraiya was ready, and the Anbu informed them that the time was almost up. After saying the last sentence, Naruto was silent for a long time. No one at the scene spoke, not even the torture department and the Anbu.

Everyone was quietly looking at Naruto's background, just as they once looked at their own shadows, blooming their own sparks on the land of Konoha.

Where the leaves flutter, the fire will also continue.

After everyone left, Gaara sat in the innermost cell, looking at the small handful of sand with a blank look in his eyes. Just like Naruto said, without the support of his own chakra and the support of Shukaku's chakra, these sands still did not give up protecting themselves.

Why? Gaara still didn't quite understand, but looking at this tiny ball of sand, he seemed to understand something, although it was still vague.

After a long time, Gaara looked at the ceiling. It was still dark in his sight, but the color of the sand was so conspicuous in the darkness. He slowly spoke: "Kankuro... Temari... Maki..."

The three of them turned their heads to look at Gaara at the same time.

"I'm sorry..."

Gaara's voice was very small, so small that he might not be able to hear it clearly, but the three of them heard it, as clear as shouting in their ears.

"It's okay, Gaara."