Everyone has darkness

Do you smell it?

Kakashi suddenly became very serious. "We're going to…" But he was not allowed to finish the phrase.

"You wish to know who I am?! I'll tell you who I am!" Naruto shouted. "I am the world's one and only the jabroni beating, LALALALALAAAAAW, pie eating, trail blazing, eyebrow raising, elbow dropping, jutsu stopping, AND, without a shadow of doubt, the best damn Konoha shinobi there ever was, great Uzumaki Naruto!"

If Kakashi had his book in his arm right now, he would've probably dropped it.

"W-What was that?" Sakura asked

The jinchuriki smirked. "That, my dear, was the most electrifying introduction in ALL of Shinobi Nations!"

Living with Gaara for the most of her life gave Temari a few useful skills. One of them helped her greatly right now – to hear only the end of the speech.

'Uzu… Naruto? This is NARUTO?! No fucking way! He was a little shrimp in orange, and now he… he… Damn!' She blinked a few times. "U-Uzumak-ki Nar-ruto? Is this really you?"

"No, I'm Uchiha Itachi under a henge!"

Temari sighed. "Yeah, this is you." She looked up. "So, where are you heading?"

Naruto thought for a second. "Oh, yeah. We're going to rescue your youngest brother who has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki!" He said smiling. "Cool ya?"

The fan wielder played a statue for some moment. "…What?! What do you mean he's been kidnapped?!"

"I meant every word I said."

Temari almost felt her world broken. "N-No, this can not be… Gaara, he's…"

"Captured. And if we won't hurry, he's also dead." Naruto said, becoming slightly serious.

"Naruto's right." Kakashi finally decided to show that he's still alive. "We have to hurry to Suna as fast as we can."

"R-Right!" Kazekage's sister agreed, and they took off without wasting any more time.

Time 23:40. Near the border…

After moving non stop for several hours, the four men cell was finally able to reach the border.

Then Kakashi stopped.

"We'll stop here for the night." He turned around. "Let's set up a camp."

"Wait, we still can run for at least a…" Temari tried to argue, but Konoha jounin stopped her.

"Yes, we can. But in the end, we'll still have to make a nightstand at least one more time. And it's better to spend one night in a desert instead of two." He said and walked off.

Well, she could not argue with that. Nights in the desert weren't the most pleasant experience. "Fine." She only mumbled.

Fifteen minutes later…

The camp was made pretty quickly, and now our heroes were sitting at the fireplace.

"Gaara…" Temari whispered.

Naruto rolled his eyes. Actually, he was a very patient man in these kinds of things… but hearing Gaara's name every two minutes can break even the strongest. Something has to be done with that. He moved closer to her and forced her head to look at him.

"Look, Temari. I know that your family means a lot to you, but worrying about them will only make you feel worse… did I say that?!"

Temari looked at him almost on the verge of tears. "I…"

The jinchuriki sighed. "Listen, yes they captured him, yes they took him away. But they need him alive… at least for now."

"Really?"