A/N: Wow, I checked last night and it had been 2 months since I updated this. I can't believe it's been that long…
Chapter 49
"You found Tsunade?" Temari asks, face incredulous.
"Yes," Shikamaru mutters offhand.
"And you fought Naruto?" Temari's pitch raises another notch, sounding more disbelieving than before.
Tch, obviously she finds it impossible that I'm still alive. "Yes," Shikamaru answers tonelessly.
Temari clenches her hands; her incredulity is replaced with anger as she shouts, "Baka! Why did you do it?"
"If I wanted to find Tsunade, I had to deal with Naruto first. You probably wanted to talk to—"
"Not if it means you had to fight with Naruto. He's a Jinchuriki for Kami's sake!" Temari explodes.
"I know," Shikamaru tries his most placating tone, hearing the concern in Temari's furious voice.
"You know? That's all you've got to say? What if Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya arrived too late?" Temari snaps; unsatisfied with Shikamaru's reply. "You could have died and—"
"..carry that boy beside you," a blunt voice intrudes. "He needs to rest at the inn. He'll be more comfortable then."
"Tch," Shikamaru mumbles to himself then raising just his head off the ground, he looks at the medic, silently acknowledging that he heard what she said.
Returning back his head on the ground, Shikamaru lies still for a second before twisting his head to glance at Naruto a few feet away from him. Temari's more likely not care whether he's still alive or not, and if there is any concern that creeps into her voice, it will probably be for the blond boy slumped on the ground beside him. Shikamaru releases a tired sigh before slowly getting back on his knees then his feet to obey Lady Tsunade's bidding.
Between predicting fight outcomes and predicting Temari's reactions, Shikamaru will rather do the former. The latter is just an unproductive exercise. There's only one reaction Temari has for him and that's dislike. Hate, more like. Shikamaru shrugs to himself as he grabs Naruto's hand, pulling the unconscious blond nin up and positioning him on his back.
Once he's sure that Naruto is secured on his back, Shikamaru nods towards the older woman who now carries herself the bulkier body of Jiraiya-sama.
Jiraiya's alive. Naruto too. And Shikamaru himself; he owes Tunade his life—in all probability.
That giant frog is right; it would have been less troublesome for them if they had just allowed Naruto to kill him.
So why? Why did the Konoha nins bother? He is still a foreign nin.
Shikamaru gazes at Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-sama's backs, blonde hair mixing with the white as the wind whips them along as they travel along more greens.
The woman carrying the Hokage on her back does look younger than what he would have expected. The two youthful pigtails, the clear white skin free from telling creases and her well-endowed body suggest nothing of her real age.
The past eighteen years appear to have been kind to Konoha's number one medic.
The same eighteen years have seen him and Temari grow up from mere babies.
Does Lady Tsunade know it's him?
Shikamaru keeps his eyes glued on lady Tsunade' progress, unwilling to glance at the passing blur of the scenery. Finding her and having her spill her secrets are two different things.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighs and adjusts the weight on his back. Naruto has started to snore directly into his ear.
—o0o—
Even with the weight of the old man on her back, Tsunade could feel one pair of eyes following her every move, as she runs towards the inn where she and her assistant, Shizune, have been staying for the past two days.
While fighting the four-tailed fox-like Jinchuriki, the dark haired boy had tried to use reason. She and Katsuyu had gotten close enough when he shouted something, trying to reach the out of control Jinchuriki, knowing he was not powerful enough to beat him with any of his jutsu. Yes, she heard it when the dark haired boy admitted, "I'm not searching for Lady Tsunade to harm her but rather to ask some questions regarding Temari and—me."
Tsunade's frown grows deeper. She doesn't need any introduction of the foreign dark haired shinobi looking for her. The boy is Shikaku's son.
That almost black, straight hair, untied and unruly from his fight; those pinpoint-like eyes that looked unfalteringly straight at her and even the way he slumped on the ground beside the shinobi Jiraiya was almost gutted out putting the seal on remind her of his father.
And judging by his telling statement, the boy knows something.
Temari. That's a name she hasn't heard in a long, long time.
Tsunade re-positions the weight on her back but still Jiraiya's head bobs with her every movement and with it his long white hair tickles her left ear. She passes under a low lying branch and it effectively hits the top of Jiraiya's still unconscious head displacing it away from her ear. Tsunade's lips lift slightly before she remembers and twists them in exasperation. Of course, she knows that even this old man is looking for her.
Yes, the time has come for her to pay the past a visit.
Swivelling her head to look behind her, Lady Tsunade glares at the dark haired boy. "Hurry, Shikamaru. The sooner we arrive at the inn, the sooner I'll be able to put down this annoying old man."
Tsunade then runs faster, having not missed how the boy's eyes widen upon hearing his name.
So he understands.
With deepening furrows on Tsunade's forehead, she wonders how understanding Shikaku's son could be.
Especially when he finds out everything was her fault.
TBC
—o0o—
~3 3?/4 8 12AF~
A/N: I think I found my momentum again. I'll try to update faster. You guys review ok.