"Shukaku did give you great power, and it made many people fear you," Naruto continued, "But its power did not include that—the sand shield that automatically appears every time you are attacked or your life is threatened, protecting you at all costs!"
Seeing Gaara completely stunned by this sentence, his face showing immense surprise and bewilderment, Naruto knew it was time.
He had to tear apart and clean up the lie about the "mother's curse" that Gaara's scoundrel father had forced upon him, right now!
"I won't lie to you." Naruto gazed into his eyes, saying each word distinctly, "I personally sealed Shukaku, and in your inner world, I perceived the true source of that power that has always protected you..."
"...Wh-where did it come from?" Gaara's voice trembled uncontrollably, seeking the answer with both longing and fear.
"That's a power that existed deep within your body long ago, even before Shukaku was sealed inside you..."
"If you became a Jinchuriki the moment you were born, then the birth of this power could only have been at the very moment you first came into this world... That power is not a curse at all!"
He took a deep breath and spoke the long-buried truth.
"That is the obsession left by someone who couldn't let go of you! It's the obsession of wanting to continue protecting you, an obsession that even death cannot sever!"
"!!"
Gaara suddenly closed his eyes, and unfamiliar, warm liquid uncontrollably welled up and spilled from his eye sockets.
If... if it was when he was born... if someone died because of him, yet couldn't let go of him... it could only be her... the "Mother" he had never met, yet had borne the name of "resentment" for over a decade.
"...In Konoha, the names of heroes are carved on the Memorial Stone." Naruto's voice carried a distant memory, "Back then, no one cared about me. I occasionally thought... if one day my name was also carved there, would someone... perhaps save a small place for me in their heart?"
But when Gaara heard this hypothesis, he shook his head sharply, with clear resistance in his eyes. He didn't want to see such a sight, even if it was just a hypothesis.
Naruto saw his reaction, a warm smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he immediately changed the subject. "But, later I understood. What's important isn't just existing in others' hearts."
He gently placed his hand over his chest, feeling the strong beat. "In my own heart, what beats is no longer just a lonely person."
"It holds others' expectations, cherish, care, and trust... and," his gaze deeply met Gaara's eyes, "the weight of your choice to live."
"...Why..." Gaara's voice choked, his words blurred and indistinct, "Why... can you... accept me like this..."
He couldn't understand why someone could embrace his cracked, disaster-deemed heart so unreservedly.
"Because we are Jinchuriki."
"With another vast being residing in our bodies, we are destined from birth to have double the capacity to feel pain than ordinary people."
"But this ability, conversely, also means—we can also bear double the warmth, double the hope, double the bonds!"
Finally, he took a step forward and firmly grasped Gaara's cold and trembling hand. An indescribable warmth slowly flowed through their clasped palms into Gaara's frozen heart.
"...Life is beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto said softly. "Someone genuinely wants you to live, hopes you can see the sun tomorrow. Your existence has never been a curse, but a miracle that allows important people to continue breathing, to continue smiling."
His gaze carried disdain for darkness.
"How could someone like Orochimaru, who always hides in the shadows and dares not face the sunlight, understand such feelings? His so-called 'value' is merely treating living people as tools that can be arbitrarily disassembled and utilized, cold and pathetic."
"True strength is never about being flawless, nor is it about being ruthless. It's about choosing to feel the remaining warmth with a broken heart, even after being tormented and scarred by fate, and then... using that hard-won warmth to embrace others who are also cold in the darkness."
The golden Chakra light grew increasingly brilliant, like the rising sun, warm and full of hope, as if to dispel all the gloom and despair in the world.
"So, from now on, you no longer need to grope alone in endless darkness, no longer need to bear this heavy destiny alone. Your pain, I will share; your battle, I will fight alongside you; your future, I will illuminate!"
"I want the entire Ninja World to know that in the deepest part of this seemingly barren, cold sand sea, lies the gentlest, most resilient, and most cherished oasis in this world."
"And that, is you, Gaara."
"Waaah...!"
Hot tears finally completely broke through the thick ice layer that had frozen in Gaara's eyes for over a decade, falling in large, uncontrollable drops. In this unprecedented warmth of golden light, which almost melted him, he trembled, yet raised his arms with immense determination, for the first time, actively responding to the long-awaited embrace.
Through his blurred, tear-filled eyes, he seemed to see a vague but incredibly gentle silhouette behind Naruto in the dazzling light—it was his Mother's smile, filled with relief and blessing.
And in the center of that light, he seemed to see a brand new reflection—no longer a monstrous beast, but a version of himself that was understood, accepted, and deeply loved by the whole world.
"I... I truly am so weak..." He rested his forehead on Naruto's shoulder, his voice hoarse and fragile from crying, "If you do this... I... I won't be able to help but... completely rely on you... and never... leave you again..."
"Hmm, it's okay." Naruto gently patted his back, "If it's scary to go alone, then share the journey with others. How does that sound, just like this?"
"...You..." Gaara's voice carried fear stemming from trauma, "You... won't be like Yashamaru... telling me in the end... that it was all fake... that it was all just a mission..."
"No, I won't." Naruto promised without hesitation, unequivocally, "I will never become your new nightmare."
He tightened the embrace, making an eternal vow:
"Because I will never leave you."
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