Chapter 119
Shikamaru gestures, with his hand at Gaara's body as Sakura and Kankuro continue, their movements more frantic, willing for Gaara's pulse to be more regular. "Deidara is not working alone. The poison, it's too sophisticated and must have been skillfully developed by someone with patience and time. Deidara's style is crude and destructive, whoever is with him, prefers stealth and cunning."
Sasuke swivels his attention from watching Sakura to look at Kamaru then he approaches him and Naruto. "So we have a pair of enemy nins. They hide their tracts well. It was either luck or it was deliberate that the symbols you found still remained."
"So what do you think is their plan?" Naruto turns to ask Kamaru.
Shikamaru replies, "Gaara is not dead. They just want us to think that. So they must have a use for him. So once he's buried, they'll steal his body and revive him. Deidara must be working with someone from Suna, someone that can be privy to burial information. But this still leads me to ask why they don't just take Gaara when they had a chance. They already have Shikadai to be the new vessel of the bijuu—if that's what they want."
"The intel I gathered, there's no mistake it's the Kazekage's nephew they wanted," says Sasuke.
"What makes you so sure?" Naruto asks.
Sasuke answers, "Dobe, Gaara doesn't need diapers."
"So someone bought a lot of baby stuffs that made them look too conspicuous" Shikamaru utters, "After all, if they were merely after Gaara, we will find Temari and Shikadai here actually...dead."
Naruto begins to nod his head, only to shake it sideways adamantly when he hears Kamaru's last word.
Shikamaru continues, "Those bastards knew Gaara will protect his nephew at all cost. Baiting him to follow was not a problem. They made an elaborate poison because they also need Gaara but not just yet. Their main plan is to abduct Shikadai. We can conclude this to be true and this makes my son at least safe for now."
Sasuke even agrees, "Yes."
"They're not ready yet," repeats Shikamaru, turning that thought around in his head. "They probably plan on stealing Gaara's body then maintaining him in a state of being just barely alive with an antidote until they're ready."
Naruto raises his hand. "Like you said they already have your baby to be the jinchuruki...why aren't they ready yet?" He touches his chin in thought. "I was just a baby when I became a jinchuriki."
"If that's what they want, Naruto," answers Shikamaru. "I'm starting to think that's not what they want at all.
"So we have two enemies who probably have two differing goals," Sasuke utters, frowning.
Shikamaru, seeing that frown, orders, "Tell me everything you know, Sasuke."
"I told you everything you need to know," Sasuke retorts.
"Now, isn't the time to be distrustful of me!" Shikamaru snaps. "You already know that their interest is focused on Shikadai. Tell me did they also buy milk formula?"
"Yes."
"Then that means, Temari—Temari they don't need at all," Shikamaru announces as he watches one of his men approach them carrying a familiar, gigantic fan.
The arriving Suna nin then puts the fan near Shikamaru's feet and then draws closer still to whisper something into Shikamaru's ear before he leaves again.
"What did he say?" Naruto asks.
"He found no track yet. But he will keep on looking. He won't allow the Konoha nins to get all the credits."
"Yoosh, let's work together." Naruto puts his arm across Kamaru's shoulders and his other arm across Sasuke's shoulders. "We should get a move on after those bastards."
Shikamaru turns to glance sideways at Sasuke. "Do you also know where they're heading to this time?"
"Your arm, dobe!" Sasuke hisses, shrugging off Naruto's appendage off his shoulders. "No. I don't know where they are heading to this time. And before you say you don't believe me, Kamaru, you realize yourself there's no need to hide that kind of information from you."
"Nani, you don't know? How are we supposed to look for Temari and her baby now?" Naruto asks. His arm still on Kamaru's shoulders and that's the only reason why he detects it. Tiny tremors just run through Kamaru's body. He's clearly shaken. Naruto clears his throat. "Anou, it wasn't just luck that you found this place. Your men are good at tracking. We can depend on them."
"Yes because Temari helped. She kept dropping off her weapons." Shikamaru gestures at the fan left by the other Suna shinobi near them. There are three other Suna shinobis scouting the area. However, Shikamaru grew up in this village. This is the Sand, he recognizes the fact that if someone wants to disappear in this barren land, it's all too easy. "My men have found Temari's fan. She must be out of weapons to drop by now."
Naruto lets go of his hold on Kamaru shoulders so he can pat his back in support. "You don't just have your men. You also have me and Sasuke. And we will find a way to find your wife and your kid."
"You're wrong!" someone bellows at Naruto.
—oOo—
"Stop!" Temari calls out. Her enemies are walking away with her kid, leaving Gaara and her behind. "I see now, your plan! Gaara—"
Deidara just acts as if he didn't hear anything. He simply follows the puppet with the crying baby gripped in its scorpion-like tail.
"I SAID STOP!" Temari calls out again, the desperation she's trying to hide bleeding out into her voice. When they didn't stop, she finally moves her feet to pursue them. She can't just leave Gaara's body behind but she needs to be where her baby is.
Deidara finally deigns to glance behind him. "If you follow us...I will just kill you along the way. Then my companion over here will tell your baby when he's big enough that both his parents are dead. At least that will be partially true thanks to me."
"Shikamaru is looking for us. He will find-"
"Good. Then when your kid is told both his parents are dead...that will be actually a hundred percent true." Deidara laughs.
—oOo—
The baby sleeps a lot. And only cries when he's hungry for his bottle or when he's uncomfortable in his soiled diapers.
Then at the early age of two years, the boy can write his name starting with a big, squiggly letter S, showing his genius early on.
Then at three, he starts to ask a lot of questions. Why is the sand hot? Why is the sky always blue? What are trees? Where is his mother? What is his father like? Does he look like him? Is he like his father?
He is then given a puppet to shut him up. He is finally told that both his parents are dead. He doesn't believe that at first but…
He celebrates his fourth birthday still without them.
If his father and mother are still alive...they aren't searching for him hard enough.
It's better that they are dead...rather than continue thinking they're still alive and have simply abandoned him.
So when he turns five, he stops asking irrelevant questions.
As he grows older, he starts learning the basics about what his guardian claims to be his father's jutsu and of course, poisons. He's a real genius for starting to grasp the complexities of mixing non lethal ingredients to create something lethal.
The person who adopted him often looks at him fondly. As a student, the boy is like a sponge that just soaks up everything he is taught from the manipulation of puppets to the basic of poison making.
The little boy isn't a jinchuriki. But he's almost perfect. When he turns six, he is told that the reason why his parents are dead is because they were killed by a Konoha shinobi...then what's left of his laid-back nature starts to disappear for good. And with further training, the boy will grow up into a strategist, a highly capable shinobi that will crush Konoha.
—oOo—
~10 25 20 11 25 20 P 11 27 20~
A/N: There are times, I regret putting more chapters in Intertwining Fate. I should just have created a new one and labeled it as a sequel, ne? And the title will be dandadadan...Changing Fate.
Anyhow, I hope you guys share your thoughts.