Originally posted by: Winged Dancer
I don't think the Akatsuki would want to kill Gaara. They seem to be collecting demons or something, and remember what Kisame said to Itachi when they were about to catch Naruto? Well, I don't! Not exactly, at least. But it was something like "As long as he's alive, it doesn't matter if I cut a leg or two". In other words, they seem to need the demon's "vessels" (i.e. Naruto, Gaara) alive for whatever they want to do to work.
BTW, am I the only one who feels that Naruto's real plot is just starting? It's as if the entire series up to now had been a set-up, a way to get to know the characters.
"Here's Naruto! You have known him for five years now!
Here's Sakura! Now that her character's been established, she'll become useful!
Here's Sasuke! Now you kinda know why he's such a jerk.
Here's Gaara! He was a bad guy but he's seen the light."
And so on. And now the real thing is beggining... kinda, since what we know about Akatsuki is "bunch of strong evil guys dressed in cool cloaks" at most.