The whole situation had started when a new enemy launched attacks from a massive steel vessel from the sea. Gaara, along with his ninjas, had fought off the enemy commanders before: the woman who wielded lightning and the other who specialized in genjutsu.
Suna's forces had fended off the attack, destroying one of the ships, but the commanders had escaped.
Inside the destroyed vessel, countless civilians were strapped to strange machinery, which drained their life force to power the ship. None had survived its destruction.
Then more reports arrived. Entire settlements taken overnight; armies of the same undying creatures ravaging the land.
That had been only the start.
Temari led a team sent to investigate rumors spread among people and one of their destinations was Takumi Village.
It was a strategic asset for Sunagakure. The village housed several skilled craftsmen who still supplied Suna with weapons. Only, when they arrived there, the village was empty, no one left behind to tell what had happened, even a few graves had been dug out.
With Temari's report came more information and acting on that, a specialist team tracked enemy overland movements while most of Suna's forces reinforced the coastal villages to fend off the attack from sea.
Gaara led this team. They found and assaulted the mobile fortress. Not something that Suna could leave be.
Gaara kept one of the enemy commanders busy, protecting his troops from the woman's lightning, but he couldn't deal with her while the genjutsu user was still around. That other woman could fly and was always out of reach of his sand.
The battle had been a forced stalemate, with his forces contending with the constructs, while Kankuro and Temari tried to kill the genjutsu user.
All the while, Shukaku had been quiet. Not a peep, yell, or demand for blood.
The one tail had quieted after his battle with Naruto. Or maybe it was because Gaara had been honest with the one-tail for once. Even if he at one point hated the thing sealed inside him, Gaara was also grateful to Shukaku. If it wasn't for the tailed beast, he'd never have met Naruto, and would probably still live in that same darkness.
Perhaps Shukaku had mellowed because Gaara had stopped usurping his chakra.
The battle raged on and amid that, the Slug Princess arrived.
Gaara had seen the woman's bingo book entry. S-class, age unknown, monstrous physical strength, near-mythical healing techniques, capable of shifting an entire battlefield on her own.
He had the privilege of witnessing that last one. He'd always thought the entry about shifting a battlefield alone was because of her healing abilities: it was literal.
Between devastating punches and kicks, the woman upturned earth, flattened overlooks, and destroyed barricades.
He'd received more reports. The sannin wasn't alone. A duo of Konoha shinobi had braved the genjutsu trap and captured the genjutsu user. After that, things moved fast.
Using sand to create lightning rods and make his enemy vulnerable, he crushed her with Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral. Sand Coffin hadn't been enough to stop her.
The captured commander, who looked like a mix of woman and bat, ended up being killed by one of Kankuro's dolls.
Tsunade left to regroup with Konoha's shinobi, while Gaara oversaw the end of the battle.
He received more reports. About the enemy fortress, the strange machinery used to power the vehicle. Most of the civilians inside were dead. Their life force sucked dry to power the fortress shields. Rescuers removed those who survived and gave them proper support.
Would Naruto have done better?
Gaara looked over the devastation and shook his head. Probably yes, but this was a step in the right direction.
"Gaara of the Desert," a woman's voice called out.
He turned, watching the slug princess approach. She had an unconscious old man on her back. By her side, there were two other shinobi. He recognized them both.
The blonde girl from the Yamanaka clan, carrying another unconscious girl. A dark-haired one: the estranged Hyuga offspring.
More information flitted through his mind. Suggestions from the council and actions that would benefit Suna. One of those called for trying to poach the Hyuga offspring. If they could entice her to join Suna, there was a chance to spread the bloodlimit to their own forces. He discarded those thoughts.
He nodded politely. "Thank you for your help, Tsunade-sama."
No need to cause problems here. The woman in front of him wasn't someone he could offend lightly.
Tsunade looked around the devastated area.
"Is this matter settled?"
Gaara looked over the battlefield again, and at his shinobi still carrying civilians from inside the machine.
"Yes."
Gently, Tsunade placed the old man on the ground. The old man didn't look injured, but Gaara couldn't say more than that.
"His name is Kahiko," she said. "We rescued him from inside the palace."
"What happened there?" he asked, looking at the Yamanaka girl and the Hyuga offspring. Their clothing wasn't in the best shape, with blood and tears and marks of combat.
"There was a mine inside," Tsunade said. "We destroyed it ourselves."
Gaara nodded. Suna's intelligence department would give him a better report later.
A commotion nearby caught his attention.
Approaching the fortress were six shinobis, four of them decked in strange weapons. The other two bore Konoha's protectors: two other girls. One which he recognized. A student of Maito Gai, a friend of Rock Lee.
The strange shinobies stopped some distance away using the two girls as hostages.
The two girls from Konoha had a few scuff marks, a few bruises, but nothing immediately life-threatening.
Yamanaka girl called out. "Karin, Tenten!" She took a step forward, but Tsunade stopped her.
"Who are you?" Gaara asked. All four wore headbands with a symbol he'd never seen before. Each held a strange weapon. Not normal shinobi gear.
A man stepped forward. "We're the Four Celestial Symbols."
That name didn't ring any bells. Still, Gaara needed more information.
"And what do you want?"
It was a woman at the back of the group who answered. "You'll pay for what the big villages did to us!"
The leader looked back, but soon faced Gaara again. "We have your student."
Inside Gaara's head, Shukaku laughed: "Crush them," he demanded.
For once, Gaara agreed. He couldn't understand what these people wanted by barging in with this many Suna Shinobi around. Why did they even take Konoha's people hostage when the slug princess was just by his side?
He cast a glance at the princess. Her face was hard.
"Where's Matsuri?" he asked, but that was just a distraction.
Maybe these people thought the battle had weakened him, or maybe they misjudged his strength. Sand erupted around the four, pulling them into a coffin while leaving the Konoha shinobi unhurt.
Then, he crushed.
Gaara turned to Kankuro, who'd been ready for a fight. "Find Matsuri."
Kankuro saluted and disappeared.
"I apologize for the display, Tsunade-sama."
The two girls, now splattered with blood and gore, approached. Their eyes were wide with more fear of him than their captors.
"It's no problem at all." Tsunade said.
Gaara nodded, thinking about how best to improve his relationships with Konoha.
"I'll accompany you back to Konoha," he said after deciding things. "It's the least I can do to repay the help."
Gaara would trust Kankuro to find Matsuri. He'd make up to her later for not being the one to rescue her. It was the least he could do as her teacher.