A/N: Whoa this fic is 2 years old… Ok lately I kept remembering this fic and thought why not. Yup prompt by Drippingly Sarcastic. There's another coded message here. Clue at the bottom.
—o0o—
The Kazekage's Other Message
It's been days—two exactly— since he sent his message to Temari. It's been two long days waiting for a response—a positive one—from her.
Damn, troublesome woman. She's just a few hours away from his camp. How long does she need to decide?
The lull in the camp is getting unbearable as he waits. Sure, he enjoys cloud watching but if his masculinity hangs in a balance, watching the white fluffy stuff as they slowly drift through the sky is the last thing he wants to do.
Sitting up, he pulls a clump of short grasses. Having uprooted several blades of the green weed, he then starts mumbling, "She will say yes," as he flicks one blade of grass away. "She will say no," he utters and throws another blade of grass irately.
"She will say yes…" Shikamaru continues to toss off a blade of grass with each mumble. "She will say no. She will say yes…will say no. She will say yes. She will say no…will say yes. She will say no." Shikamaru runs out of blades of grass. Frowning at his empty hand, he snorts, "She will say yes! Yes! Damn it!"
Fortunately, he hears his name being called. "Nara," shouts the nin accountable for the messages that go in and out of the camp.
Jerking up from the green covered ground, Shikamaru shuffles to his feet, hastily meeting the approaching nin.
"A missive arrived with a priority seal—from the Kazekage—for you," the messenger pants as he doubles down on his knees, catching his breath with each word. He has just run from the camp then up the mountain top looking for Shikamaru.
"Give me," Shikamaru orders.
The messenger nin stands up straighter, taking the official looking scroll from his bulging backpack. "Here."
Shikamaru grasps the proffered mail, slowly unrolling the missive before quietly scanning the content with his eyes.
The message says:
I understand there will be another meeting on the nineteenth. One of our shinobi will be replacing Temari as the emissary. The said replacement will be crucial to improving border patrol and he will be arriving on the fourteenth. Also an additional four nins will be coming from our village at a later date.
It will take three hours for the substitute to arrive, make sure that his accommodations are ready beforehand. Let him rest for a while but on the fifteenth, I expect him to have already accomplished something. I, the Kazekage have six other issues that I need to address. When those six other duties are done, I believe I have enough time to carry out my message. Just extend my regard to the Nine-tails' jinchuriki. And do not forget to meet the new Suna representative on the fourteenth.
Signed the Kazekage
…Wait. What meeting?
And what does Gaara's '…I have enough time to carry out my message' means?
Shikamaru's brain picks on the inconsistencies until…until he sees the actual message.
Tch. He takes it the troublesome woman had already informed her brothers about his proposal.
Perspiration gathers and trickles from Shikamaru's forehead. Temari is replaced as a go-between and he—he's going to die.
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~3 12 13AF P
A/N: Now the clue… I didn't use letters. So if not letters what else is there?… But that doesn't mean you guys won't need letters. Actually, those letters need to be counted…
Easy, right?
