Temari wanted to see what Makoto was writing, but he was moving too fast.
As soon as one page was filled with ink, he immediately pulled out the one underneath, making it impossible to read.
Temari even began to suspect that the paper was specially made ninja parchment.
Otherwise, with such friction speed, wouldn't it just catch fire?
While Makoto was furiously speed-writing his masterpiece, Naruto and Gaara finally reached the climax of their battle in the crater below.
"Take this!" Naruto slammed his forehead into Gaara's, the ultimate Headbutt of Love.
BONK.
Both of them fell from the air together, crashing into the dirt.
Naruto, despite being battered, crawled toward Gaara.
He was recounting his tragic backstory—how he was discriminated against, how he met Iruka, how he ate expired ramen—the classic "we are the same" speech.
From a distance, covered in dirt and staring into each other's eyes, they looked like a pair of star-crossed lovers.
"Oh, it's reached this point," Makoto noticed the scene. "I should go over there. The plot needs me."
He shoved the stack of half-written papers into Temari's chest.
"If you want to read it, go ahead. Hold this for me. Don't lose page 4, it's crucial."
WHOOSH.
Makoto vanished.
"Wait! What are you going to do?!"
Temari grabbed the manuscript but didn't look at it. When she realized Makoto was heading toward her vulnerable brother, she panicked and chased after him.
'He's going to stab his butt again! I have to stop him!'
...
In the Crater.
"Naruto," Makoto said softly, appearing beside the crawling boy. "If you knew what Gaara experienced in his childhood, you would understand why he became like this."
Seeing Naruto struggling to move, Makoto considerately stepped forward, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and placed him directly on top of Gaara.
Since both were exhausted and out of Chakra, they couldn't resist.
Naruto was now straddling Gaara.
"Makoto-nii?" Naruto blinked.
He didn't mind the position.
Hearing Makoto's words, he became curious. "Makoto, I can feel his loneliness, his pain... he's a lot like how I used to be. Can you tell me about it? His past."
"Of course," Makoto nodded gravely.
"He really is like you. Since childhood, he had the One-Tail Shukaku sealed inside him. He was treated as a monster. Hated by the villagers. His father is the Fourth Kazekage, but that didn't help at all."
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Because his father, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, is the very reason he became like this," Makoto spat.
"Rasa is truly a beast-level character. A true scumbag."
While Makoto was insulting the father in front of the son, Gaara didn't refute him at all.
He just stared at the sky.
Even Temari, who had rushed over to defend her family's honor, fell silent.
"Rasa went crazy trying to produce children with his wife to find a new container for Shukaku," Makoto explained, his voice cold.
"Just look at the birthdays and age gaps between the three siblings. Temari, Kankuro, Gaara. They are back-to-back."
"His wife almost immediately became pregnant with another child right after giving birth. She was a factory to him."
"It was because of this excessive 'penetration' that their mother passed away after giving birth to the final qualified container, Gaara. She was drained dry."
"..."
Temari remained silent, her head lowered with a sorrowful expression.
At fifteen, she had heard rumors from the older kunoichi.
What Makoto said wasn't wrong.
Their mother, Karura, died in childbirth because her body was weak from constant pregnancies.
"After Gaara became Shukaku's container," Makoto continued, "Rasa constantly tortured him emotionally. He hoped Gaara would forget his emotions to become a qualified weapon."
"He repeatedly sent assassins after his own son. He even had Gaara's beloved uncle, Yashamaru, attempt to kill him while saying, 'Your mother never loved you,' just to break his mind."
"I can only say that Rasa, as a Kage and a father, was both foolish and wicked."
"What Jinchuriki need most is to fill the void in their hearts with love. Yet he filled it with hate. Even by ninja logic, it's stupid. Is hatred easier to control than love?"
"Oh," Makoto added casually. "I also heard that the Sand Village's hero, Pakura of the Scorch Release, was betrayed by Rasa. He traded her life as a bargaining chip to the Mist Village to buy a temporary truce. He even sold his own hero."
"What?" Temari gasped. "How could that be?! Pakura-sama was..."
"Don't believe me? You can have Orochimaru use Impure World Reincarnation later and ask her yourself. She's probably pissed though."
"..."
Temari said nothing more.
Actually, she already believed it.
The fact that Makoto understood Gaara's situation so thoroughly showed he had deep intelligence.
There was no need to lie about this.
Naruto was completely stunned.
"Panda eyes," Naruto looked down at Gaara. "Is everything Makoto-nii said true? Your father really..."
"Yeah," Gaara whispered, turning his head away.
"My god," Naruto shuddered. "I never thought your father was like this."
"I used to fantasize about what it would be like if my parents were here... but now I feel, if that's the case, it would be better if they were dead."
"I have Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Sandaime-jiji. That's enough for me."
Naruto spoke bluntly, looking quite relieved that Minato wasn't around to potentially traumatize him.
"Naruto."
"Huh? What is it, Makoto-nii?"
"Could you repeat what you just said?" Makoto pulled out a tape recorder from his cloak.
"Oh," Naruto scratched his cheek. "I said... it would be better if my parents were dead."
"Okay, that's perfect," Makoto grinned. Click.
He pocketed the recorder.
'Minato and Kushina are going to love this!'
"Miss No-Chest," Makoto turned to Temari. "If you don't mind, you can read what's in your hand to these two. That's my... no, that's Kakashi's derivative work based on Rasa's relationship with you all."
"..."
"If you dare call me 'Miss No-Chest' again," Temari trembled with rage. "I'll... I'll..."
She struggled to find words for a threat.
"I'll tell everyone you're obsessed with my ass! The Tsuchikage can testify anyway! I'll ruin your reputation!"
Temari decided to go balistic.
She glanced at Kurotsuchi hovering in the sky hoping she would back her.
"Huh?"
Gaara, pinned beneath Naruto, jolted in surprise.
'So I wasn't the only one being targeted? Even my sister's ass is in danger?'
"His ass?" Naruto's face lit up with delight. "Makoto-nii! Did you secretly learn our Hidden Leaf's ultimate taijutsu and use Thousand Years of Death on this violent woman? Nice one!"
"What are you laughing at?!" Temari screamed. "Get lost!"
She angrily stomped on Naruto's ass.
However, since Naruto was lying on top of Gaara, the impact transferred directly.
"Urgh..." Gaara groaned in pain.
Seeing the pained expression on her brother's face, Temari realized what had happened.
She quickly pulled back.
'Thank goodness—I almost broke Gaara's spine.'
"Fine, I won't call you that anymore," Makoto waved his hand. "Hurry up and read, Temari-swan."
"Tch," Temari curled her lip. "And you claim Kakashi wrote this? If I hadn't seen you writing it myself, I might have actually believed you."
She looked down at the manuscript.
Title: "Sandstorm of Forbidden Love."
"Rasa is the leader of the Sand Village," Temari read aloud, her voice monotone. "Skilled in Magnet Release. In the eyes of the villagers, he is a beloved leader."
"After his wife died, he often called Gaara to his room for 'special training'."
"One day, Gaara returned home covered in injuries... but strangely flushed."
"Deeply concerned, Temari approached him. Gaara, filled with resentment, told his sister not to seek out that beast—it was Rasa who had 'trained' him like this."
Reading this far, Temari felt puzzled.
Wasn't this exactly the same as reality? Except for the "flushed" part? And the part where Gaara actually talked to her?
She continued reading.
"Temari couldn't understand why their father would treat Gaara this way. She went to find Rasa to seek the truth."
"She asked: 'Father, Gaara said you've changed drastically...'"
"Rasa let out a long sigh. 'Temari... after your mother Karura died, I thought I had lost her forever. But recently... I've realized that's not the case. I've discovered that Gaara... he strongly resembles your mother.'"
"'This must be your mother's soul manifesting in him! Your mother has been revived!'"
"Temari wanted to refute this madness. But Rasa roared—'Do you even understand what filial piety means?! I brought you into this world—can't you let your father have some joy?!'"
"'If you say another word, I won't spare you either!'"
"Temari was terrified. She tried to flee to expose him. But Rasa pierced her heart with his Gold Dust...'"
"..."
Temari stopped reading.
Her hands were shaking!
She admitted she was genuinely frightened!
Not by the story, but by the twisted mind that conceived it.
She felt extremely grateful that, in this fiction, she was killed off early.
Temari looked at Makoto with awe and horror in her eyes.
Was a man capable of writing such things even human?
He seemed calm and handsome on the surface.
But deep down... was he perhaps even more unhinged than Gaara?