At that moment, a hurried and familiar shout suddenly reached Gaara's ears.
"Gaara!"
"Gaara!"
He turned his head on instinct and looked closely. To his surprise, the ones who had come were Temari and Kankuro.
Behind them followed the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, along with three powerful members of the Uchiha clan who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
All the equipment on Temari and Kankuro had been removed. They looked quite battered and miserable.
When Gaara saw that Minato had actually brought Temari and Kankuro back, he froze for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"You…"
He opened his mouth, about to ask what had happened, but the words stopped in his throat and he swallowed them back down.
Perhaps because too many thoughts were running through his mind at once, Gaara chose silence in the end and did not rush to catch up with them.
Instead, he turned to look at Minato. His eyes were filled with confusion and doubt as he asked in a slightly trembling voice,
"Lord Hokage, why are they here?"
A warm and gentle smile slowly appeared on Minato's handsome face as he replied softly,
"Before Rengoku left, he specifically told me to make sure your family members were brought back safely."
After saying that, he paused and looked at Gaara with gentle eyes before continuing, "Not just the two of them. We also successfully brought back your mother Karura's remains."
Hearing this, Gaara went completely still.
He stared at Minato in disbelief. He had never imagined that when Lord Rengoku left, he would still be thinking about him.
And that he had arranged everything so carefully, even bringing back the remains of his mother, who had been gone for many years.
This deep care and thoughtful concern shocked and moved Gaara beyond words.
For a moment, all kinds of emotions surged through him, gratitude, joy, and deep longing for Lord Rengoku.
Although Gaara had always shown himself as cold and was not someone who easily showed feelings, at this moment his eyes could not help but turn red and moist.
He tried hard to hold back the storm of emotion inside him, stopping the tears from falling, and said in a slightly hoarse voice,
"Thank you, Lord Fourth Hokage…"
Looking at the boy before him, who had suffered an unfortunate childhood just like Naruto, Minato felt a trace of pity in his heart.
He stepped forward and gently patted Gaara on the shoulder.
"Child, don't be too anxious. Rengoku will definitely come back as soon as possible."
Gaara gave a slight nod, as if trying his best to hide the excitement and expectation in his heart, and only responded in a low voice.
Minato smiled and encouraged him, "Grow well. In the future, I'll leave Rasa for you to deal with."
Gaara nodded fiercely and said through clenched teeth, "I will kill him!"
The killing intent in his words seemed to cut through the air itself, sending a chill down one's spine.
Temari and Kankuro stared at Gaara in shock, their mouths slightly open, their faces full of disbelief.
Temari was just about to say something, but Kankuro quickly reached out and stopped her.
She turned to look at him with confusion in her eyes, but soon seemed to realize something and swallowed her words.
Her whole body suddenly seemed to lose strength, and she lowered her head.
After all, Rasa had always been distant from the three of them, and in the village he was known for being cold and ruthless.
When they were little, only the three siblings had each other, playing together and keeping each other company.
But as they grew a bit older, Rasa, in order to test whether the power inside Gaara, who was then the One Tail jinchuriki, was stable and controllable, came up with different cruel tests every single day.
Not only that, later on, Rasa even lost his mind and planned multiple assassination attempts against Gaara.
He made Gaara's life feel like living in hell.
At that time, Temari and Kankuro were still just children themselves. Facing such a powerful and cold father, they were completely helpless.
They could only watch Gaara suffer and had no way to truly help him.
Later, Gaara was sent out on missions and after that there was no news of him. He never returned home again.
As for what had happened in Konoha, they knew nothing about it.
So when they heard Gaara say he wanted to kill Rasa, their first reaction was naturally shock and disbelief.
But after thinking about it again, it felt understandable.
After all, having a father with no humanity at all, anyone might end up harboring killing intent.
At this moment, Temari and Kankuro were finally able to take a proper look at Gaara.
Their eyes first fell on the eye catching Konoha forehead protector he was wearing.
Only then did they realize that Gaara had already joined Konoha.
For a moment, the scene fell into silence.
Temari was the first to break it. She slowly asked,
"Gaara… are you doing okay here?"
Hearing his sister's concerned voice, Gaara's tense expression eased a little. He replied calmly, "At least it's much better than when I was in Sunagakure."
When he thought back to when he was little, with only Temari and Kankuro by his side, playing together, those warm memories rose up like a tide, and his expression softened without him realizing it.
But now, times had changed, and their positions were different.
Gaara looked at Temari and Kankuro with a serious face and said coldly, "Since you've come here, from now on, you are prisoners of Konoha."
"So I advise you to behave and not try to resist."
"If you have bad intentions or bring me any unnecessary trouble, I will personally eliminate you!"
Even though the people standing in front of him were his own blood relatives, at this moment, in Gaara's heart, his identification with Konoha had already risen far above these family ties.
Gaara's words made Temari and Kankuro look at each other, not knowing how to respond.
After all, they were still young. Facing such a complicated situation and tangled emotions, they truly felt overwhelmed.
Temari silently looked at Gaara. She could clearly sense the change deep inside him.
The current Gaara seemed to have completely blended into the big family of Konoha, seeing himself as one of them.
This change surprised her, but more than that, it left her helpless.
She knew that no matter what she said at this moment, it would probably not change Gaara's decision. And they themselves were prisoners.
So she could only respond, "We understand. Don't worry, Gaara. We won't cause you any trouble."
Kankuro stood to the side, silent the entire time. His mood was just as heavy.
But since Temari had already made a promise, he could only nod along in agreement.
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