A little slow episode, more complete than the manga chapter, with some remarkable scenes, a few entertaining moments, and other dislikable. A recap: Deidara takes the unconcious Gaara away on his clay bird. At the gates of Suna, he meets Sasori, who is angry for waiting, and they leave. Kankuro rushes to retrieve his brother, despite Baki's protests. Problems appear as Kankuro and some fellow shinobi find the dead squad at the entrance of Suna. They inadvertently activate a trap from Sasori, and are caught in the explosion. Kankuro survives thanks to his puppets, but only manages to save two fellows. Baki arrives with more shinobis, so Kankuro encharges them the two injured, and leaves. Soon, Baki orders to send a squad to follow Kankuro and to report their situation to Konoha, demanding help. Some villagers ponder what's going to happen with the the Kazekage, a mother comforts her son. In the meantime, at Konoha, Naruto finally returns to his apartment. He finds it in a poor state, dusty, abandoned, obviously given his long absence. He opens the window to breath fresh air and clean, then sees his picture of team 7, and thinks of Sasuke. The morning comes, Kakashi is alone in his bedroom and finished the book of Icha Icha. He realizes he didn't checked the new squads list. Temari gets up early, and prepares to depart. Shikamaru welcomes her, as he was waiting outside, willing to accompany her as long as she's in Konoha, though is troublesome. He asks if she's leaving without having breakfast, and she says she has been away from home too long, she'll get something in the road. When they reach the gates, she gently apologizes if this was trouble, and tells him that he should try to become jonin, will be simple, he just needs to stop complaining about how everything is troublesome. She smiles, Shikamaru seems to agree, scratches the back of his head, and hopes to see her again at the chunin exams. She confirms and leaves. A while later, Naruto gets ready, now that the apartment looks clean (seemingly). Sakura does the same in her house. Soon, Kakashi finds the two waiting for him on the street, and brings the excuse for his delay: checking up the squads list. Naruto is unpleased, says that he is not prioritizing the mission, he'll never change. Sakura tells him to shut up, and says that Kakashi has always been like this after all. The sensei is upset because they don't respect him. Suddenly, he spots a bird that brings the news from Suna. In the road back, Temari senses something in the wind, and starts walking faster. At the desert, Kankuro succesfully keeps tracking Gaara, following the trace of his sand. He avoids Sasori's intents of misleading him, and finally reaches them. Kankuro demands Gaara back, but the two Akatsuki obviously refuse. Deidara goes forward with the captive on his bird, while Sasori faces Kankuro. Gaara's brother uses the three scrolls on his back to summon his three puppets. A battle is about to begin. Kankuro uses the body puppet to reach Deidara, but Sasori uses a metal tail to trap it. He is left stunned.
The episode was slow in some ways given the scenes at Suna. Baki's reactions, Kankuro's impatience, should not take so much time to observe. Still, to show villagers worries about Gaara, the consequences of Sasori's trap, or the way Kankuro reached the enemy, were good details. These parts were not showed in the manga, which is probably a mistake. For one side, the episode depicts correctly how important Gaara has become to the people from Suna. And on the other, tells that Sasori hasn't been useless all this time. He set a trap, and was the responsible in try to deceive Kankuro. The fact that he said he won't return anymore, implies Sasori is from Suna, and how he wishes to forget the village for good. Then, Baki's orders tell how strong is the alliance with Konoha. He is now the "leader", and won't doubt to demand aid to an ally, even if they were in war three years ago. About, Shikamaru and Temari's scene, was the best of the episode. Is not in the manga, but was a great idea from the writer Nishizono. It's clear how the scene draws the relationship between Shikamaru and Temari. He may say is troublesome, but deep down he wants to be with her, and won't lose any moment while she's in town. There's no doubt of how much she means to him, the lazy chunin got up so early just to see her, and escort her to the gates. He even intended to share breakfast with her. Shikamaru was a gentleman here, though he didn't want to admit it. Temari was somehow surprised, and I don't think she wanted to avoid spending more time with him, she simply missed her home. Her words at the gates tells she cares about him, hopes he can grow up and forget about "troublesome". Her smile was a way to tell she enjoyed his company. They surely are the most natural pairing of the whole story. Then, was good to see Naruto's return to his home. Looks like he didn't let anyone to clean the apartment, not any neighbour or friend. What a poor lonely life. I didn't like the part focused on Sasuke in the picture, was not necessary. Kakashi's scene was kind of funny, but also sad. A man of his age, after losing so many people, living alone, keeping himself entertained with books, novels. The character needed something or someone. Then, I wished Sakura could have been shown at least with her parents. It's a shame that Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno had no appearances in the manga chapters or the anime canon episodes. They are the parents of the female lead, the second most important character in Shippuden (2nd in number of appearances), and were ignored in the story. About the morning meeting, Sakura was rude to Naruto. They have been well overall in the beginning of Shippuden, there was no need to write her that way. A dislikable moment. The fact that they lose respect to Kakashi was meant for laughs, but probably was unnecesary as well.
The episode was slow in some ways given the scenes at Suna. Baki's reactions, Kankuro's impatience, should not take so much time to observe. Still, to show villagers worries about Gaara, the consequences of Sasori's trap, or the way Kankuro reached the enemy, were good details. These parts were not showed in the manga, which is probably a mistake. For one side, the episode depicts correctly how important Gaara has become to the people from Suna. And on the other, tells that Sasori hasn't been useless all this time. He set a trap, and was the responsible in try to deceive Kankuro. The fact that he said he won't return anymore, implies Sasori is from Suna, and how he wishes to forget the village for good. Then, Baki's orders tell how strong is the alliance with Konoha. He is now the "leader", and won't doubt to demand aid to an ally, even if they were in war three years ago. About, Shikamaru and Temari's scene, was the best of the episode. Is not in the manga, but was a great idea from the writer Nishizono. It's clear how the scene draws the relationship between Shikamaru and Temari. He may say is troublesome, but deep down he wants to be with her, and won't lose any moment while she's in town. There's no doubt of how much she means to him, the lazy chunin got up so early just to see her, and escort her to the gates. He even intended to share breakfast with her. Shikamaru was a gentleman here, though he didn't want to admit it. Temari was somehow surprised, and I don't think she wanted to avoid spending more time with him, she simply missed her home. Her words at the gates tells she cares about him, hopes he can grow up and forget about "troublesome". Her smile was a way to tell she enjoyed his company. They surely are the most natural pairing of the whole story. Then, was good to see Naruto's return to his home. Looks like he didn't let anyone to clean the apartment, not any neighbour or friend. What a poor lonely life. I didn't like the part focused on Sasuke in the picture, was not necessary. Kakashi's scene was kind of funny, but also sad. A man of his age, after losing so many people, living alone, keeping himself entertained with books, novels. The character needed something or someone. Then, I wished Sakura could have been shown at least with her parents. It's a shame that Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno had no appearances in the manga chapters or the anime canon episodes. They are the parents of the female lead, the second most important character in Shippuden (2nd in number of appearances), and were ignored in the story. About the morning meeting, Sakura was rude to Naruto. They have been well overall in the beginning of Shippuden, there was no need to write her that way. A dislikable moment. The fact that they lose respect to Kakashi was meant for laughs, but probably was unnecesary as well.
