Temari flees into the forest, reflecting on her family. She recalls that her father thought of all his children as his personal soldiers, a fitting description of him.It’s also telling that the Sand Siblings don’t think much about their father after he’s gone, as Temari basically only thinks, “That’s Father!” when the Fourth Kazekage is revived.
Temari reflects on how she’s feared Gaara, and found herself almost hating her father for what he did. But she also realizes that she’s had Gaara’s strength on her side, and was unstoppable with it... until now, when many of Gaara’s opponents prove to be actual threats to him.
Now that Naruto had “beaten (Gaara) like an unwanted stepchild,” (a chilling simile for this, given Gaara’s status as a failed jinchuuriki and the abuse inflicted on Hinata), and wonders whether Konoha was on to them all along. But the fear she feels most of all is for Gaara, not of him.
Naruto and the others pursue the Sand Siblings, with Naruto using his clones to help out the village’s defenders and defeat the enemies, from the Sand Ninja to the Sound Ninja with inferior training. Apparently, 30 of his clones take out an enemy Jonin. It seems somewhat implausible for Naruto’s clones to be able to help so much in the invasion. Shikamaru makes some cracks at Naruto’s ability to gauge his chakra.
Yuugao fights off some ninjas, assisted by Naruto’s clones. Elsewhere, Orochimaru sets up his barrier, and a single Chunin slips in.
Elsewhere, the eight Sound Ninja(plus one hidden one) pursue Naruto’s group. Rather than let Shikamaru hold them back alone (since the group is much more powerful than in canon), with Shikamaru holding them down, Shino sending his bugs at them and deflecting the ninth’s shuriken.
The Third Hokage begins his fight with Orochimaru, and is joined by one of his subordinates, the recurring Chunin from earlier, who turns out to be… Haku! It is revealed that the Third Hokage was willing to allow Haku a chance to serve under him (although how Haku managed to become a Chunin so quickly is unclear), and Haku is determined to repay that gesture of trust, with his life if need be.
Gaara begins to lose his stability, as Naruto and the others catch up with them, wondering, with mixed emotions, if they are going to betray Gaara. As Naruto goes after Gaara, his teammates handle Gaara’s siblings.
Hinata goes after Temari, in spite of her condition, and continues being self-depreating in her attempts at making a Badass Boast that “Naruto will stop Gaara and I will stop you.”
Shino and Shikamaru attack Kankuro, whose poison gas proves effective against Shino’s bugs.
Naruto fights Gaara, dodging his claw of sand.
The Third Hokage and Haku fight Orochimaru, who pulls out a poisoned blade as Haku creates his Ice Mirrors.
Naruto fights Gaara, who is in the process of transforming. Naruto realizes that he has a weakness; he’s the only one making more clones, making it easier to tell which one is the real one. That’s an interesting observation, although in most cases, Naruto only makes more clones when all of them are gone, and the enemy only has one target to focus on.
Hinata fights Temari, using her speed and the forest’s cover in order to evade Temari’s attacks and strike back.
Shino and Shikamaru’s fight with Kankuro continues, while Shino and Crow jump around. Unfortunately, Kankuro has learned from Shino’s earlier display of his abilities.
Naruto continues to fight Gaara as he assumes the form of the Shukaku. Naruto launches an explosive tag attack on his back, but going on the offensive, ends up in Shukaku’s paw. Hinata is caught off guard, and Temari takes the opportunity to slam her into a tree, while Shino gets speared by the puppet.
Naruto calls on the Fox’s help. Temari prepares to finish off Hinata, but Hinata disappears and counterattacks, and it turns out that Kankuro struck a bug clone. Shino and Shikamaru counterattack, but Kankuro escapes with a smoke bomb.
The Third Hokage’s fight continues, with Haku helping the Third Hokage fight on even footing with Orochimaru.
Naruto is faced with the problem of dealing with Gaara and Shukaku, as his teammates gain the upper hand on Gaara’s siblings. Naruto is then determined to kill Gaara, in spite of his siblings’ anguish.
Orochimaru lies down with his legs broken, and apparently defeated, but he launches a poisoned blade at the Third Hokage, which Haku rushes to intercept.
Naruto, empowered by the Fox’s chakra, closes in on Gaara, planning to make him pay. Naruto dodges the arm that tries to slam him, as wel as the resulting “sand tsunami” (incidentally, the name of a jutsu Gaara uses on Kimimaro). Nearing the forehead, Naruto uses Shocking Grasp.
The Third Hokage blocks the sword aimed at Haku, and is wounded, with Orochimaru saying that he is already dead. Haku freezes Orochimaru’s right arm,forcing him to sacrifice it before he’s frozen solid entirely, as the Third Hokage sacrifices his poisoned arm.
Naruto succeeds in waking Gaara up, and is about to kill him, but he is unfazed, declaring that his existence has no meaning. Naruto asks why Gaara’s siblings would fight so hard to save him if that were the case, and that Gaara reminds him of himself. That latter part is a good touch, but it comes off as a bit odd without Naruto and Gaara’s hospital conversation, in which Gaara reveals the full details about his life (and, it should be pointed out, the fact that his life was much worse than Naruto’s, particularly in that he had no friends, makes Naruto initially wonder whether he can win).
Gaara, having understood what Naruto was saying to him, surrenders, ending the chapter.
The author deals with the Hyuuga clan being “a lot nastier” than in canon, as a result of where the story diverges from canon, and suggests that there will be a reason for all this. This may be true, but there seems little that could justify turning Hiashi into a dog-kicking villain, and even if there was, doing so is not necessarily a good decision.
The author concludes that Temari isn’t weak, but benefited from a good matchup (which, as he indicated earlier, can be said for several others), that Shino knocked out Kankuro for pragmatic reasons, that Haku has appeared in the story before, that Orochimaru’s plan fell to pieces, that Naruto essentially blew up Shukaku’s paw with Shocking Grasp, and Temari does care for her brother.
What I Liked
- A touching look through Temari’s POV
- Naruto’s team vs. the Sound Genin, a nice change from canon that makes sense given the alternate circumstances.
- Naruto’s team vs. the Sand Siblings
What I didn’t like
- Naruto piecing the information about Gaara together too easily on his own.
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