Kazekage Rescue Mission

The Rescue Gaara arc spans from chapters 245 to 281 of the manga and episodes 1 to 32 of the Naruto: Shippuden anime. It is the first arc of Part II.

Plot Summary
The arc starts off with an invader in the sand village who turns out to be none other than Deidara of Akatsuki. The Kazekage (Gaara) approaches Deidara and the two fight, it is revealed that Deidara's Target is The Ichibi inside of Gaara. After a struggle on both ends Deidara finishes the match using explosives hidden in Gaara's sand, this came with the loss of Deidara's arm however.

Deidara kidnaps the still living Gaara and joins Sasori of the Red sand as the two head back to one of the Akatsuki lairs. Word gets out to Konoha and Lady Tsunade sends team Kakashi (made up of Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto at the time) to the Hidden Sand to assist them. During this time Kankuro pursues the two Akatsuki members an he has a fight with Sasori, which he quickly looses and is poisoned. An elder of the Sand named Chiyo attempts to heal Kankuro but her efforts are pointless.

Soon After Team Kakashi arrives and Sakura heals Kankuro with some ease. Meanwhile back at Konoha Tsunade Sends Team Guy to the sand to assist team Kakashi. Team Kakashi makes preparations before heading to the land of rivers to rescue Gaara while team Guy is told by Pakkun (Kakashi's summon dog) that they are closest to the Akatsuki and they head straight for the land of rivers. Team Kakashi has a short encounter with Itachi Uchiha as Team Guy has an encounter with Kisame Hoshigaki. The two Konoha teams and Chiyo win and it is revealed the two were just doubles of Itachi and Kisame. The Konoha teams and Chiyo then continue to the Land of Rivers and when they meet up outside of The Akatsuki base.

There is a barrier blocking the entrance and team guy head in there separate directions and remove a seal each as Kakashi removes the fifth seal. Tenten, Neji, Rock Lee and Guy all fight a double of themselves while Naruto and Kakashi pursue an airborne Deidara who has Gaara's dead body. Previously Gaara had had his Ichibi extracted causing him to die. Meanwhile Sakura and Chiyo fight Sasori. In the end of the fights, team Guy win as do Sakura and Chiyo, but Chiyo is poisoned yet the pair still head for Gaara's body. Meanwhile team Guy fight Deidara who has escaped from Kakashi and Naruto at the cost of his second arm but Deidara makes it appear as though he exploded himself but it was only a clone and he had escaped underground.

Chiyo and Sakura arrive at the scene as Chiyo places he life energy into Gaara's body and he comes back to life at the cost of Chiyo's life. Gaara still has his ability to control sand yet no longer has the Ichibi in him meaning he is an amazing Kazekage. The Konoha Ninja farewell the Suna Ninja and head for their village leading into the Sai and Sasuke arc (Sasuke Reunion arc).