>>280912546
I like it the way it is. Gaara is the one who owes Lee and the Leaf, after all. He's the one needing to redeem himself.
>spoiler
Naruto is a great guy. He saw himself in Gaara earlier in the series and really wanted him to be happy. Then he likely heard from Shikamaru off-screen that the sand ninjas showed up to help them in the mission.
And in the rescue arc itself, Naruto vocally states why he cares so much. Gaara spent the entirety of his life being treated like shit for having a monster sealed inside of him, overcomes that to become Kazekage, and still people take that away from him because of the monster. He also seethes two or three times at Kakashi and Chiyo when they talk about "jinchuriki" because of how dehumanising the entire thing feels.
He was very calm in the fight against Kakuzu despite knowing he and Hidan had killed Asuma. The reason why he was so affected by the Gaara situation isn't because of how close they were or how important Gaara was to him, but rather because of how Gaara was just like him.